A bit of food + a Request!

Hi, ya’ll! Happy weekend, to you!

Like I predicted last night, I made some dinner, watched TV (TLC– What Not to Wear: Hoochie special!), finished signing up for classes & hit the hay! I’m going to yoga this morning with my sister (or… HOT YOGA, I should say!), then maybe the beach afterward because it looks like it’s going to be a b-e-a-uuuutiful day (oh, I just watched the movie Bruce Almighty last night, too).

Here’s what I made: there was some leftover whole wheat penne pasta in the fridge & I combined that (maybe 1.5 cups?) with veggies (Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, tomato), edamame (for protein), some garlic powder, pepper, red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast (aka “nooch”– for some cheesiness) in the microwave… when it came out, I added some flax oil to let the spices stick (because heating flax oil takes away the benefits of it!).

I always RAVE about my one-pot meals, because they’re soo easy to just put everything together & enjoy different flavors in one dish!

Blurry a bit? I have the same camera that Kath just got rid of (Sony Cyber-Shot)… which means, if you haven’t read her blog recently, that it’s kind of a foggy picture… it does what it needs to do, though: brings you photos & pieces of my life!

REQUEST/QUESTION?!

• Does anyone want to do an exchange/mailing give-away?! I’ll offer some of my favorite bars, snacks, & a random trinket for any type of package… I’m not too picky. Give me a worn pair of socks, books, more for my collections, (*ahem-flavored PB-ahem*) soap, postcard, or whatever you desire & you’ll see it here on the blog!
• Chia Goodness cereal?
• BettyLou’s balls?
• ??? requests ???
• VeggieGirl: I have some gluten-free Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour, if you want it! I won’t use it, now that I know I’m not gluten-intolerant

The Ghost of Christmas past has come

 < Jasper

 Tucker \/ 

“Ho! Ho! Ho!”

We had Christmas Eve dinner at my aunt’s house (mom’s sis) after church, which was great. My aunt really gets into the holiday decorating and had this display up and kept adding to it, since September! It looked great & festive!

   

 

 Isn’t it just awesome?! Can you see the Grinch on the mountain (pic #1) & my aunt in the mirror (pic #2)?! She has a train going through, which is in motion in pic #4 and she made that cute little peppermint path! She’s worked hard on it- it’s great!

 

 < The mini Christmas tree in my room, with little ornaments, T & J, and there’s also 2 school pictures of the kids I babysit on there somewhere. I got the BELIEVE ornament this year… it’s sorta my word!

 

On Christmas day, we woke up to stockings & gifts at our house, then we went to my grandparents’ (Dad’s side of the family) to do the same & eat breakie. Breakfast was homemade quiche, mixed fruit salad, pastries, *ahem*sausage*ahem*, tomatoes, OJ & coffee. mmMmm… Only one of my sisters could come home for the holidays, so I reveal to you THEE. BEST. DECORATION. OF. OP’s. CHRISTMAS, who stood in for my other sis, who couldn’t be with us. Check “her” out, drinking some wine:

She’s made fun of that thing, since the day I brought IT home in 6th grade, 9 years ago… it’s not Christmas without it! We literally took pictures with (hmm) SISTER CRACKER as if it was really her. My dad ALWAYS reads ‘Twas the night before Christmas in bed on Christmas Eve, so we called her up, had her on speaker phone, and tucked the lil’ cracker in bed with us!!! (aawww) I think she got in more photos this Christmas than if she had actually been here… oh man- GOOD TIMES!

   

  

Some gifts: a great wild-pattern dress shipped from my sista’; an organic cotton long-sleeved tee (I also got the same brand gray bag that can hold the world in it!); some Nike shoes (& a gray half-zip Nike hoodie); salt + pepper shakers to add to my collection (a holiday one & the Wizard of Oz one- isn’t that one soo cool?!); my stocking from home; the obligatory tangerine & in that cute little cloth envelope… a Starbuck’s  gift card!

since I’ve mentioned food in all my other posts, I’ll add one to this: it was a gift from the neighbors, and I’m not quiiiite sure what it is, but I’ll describe what I think it is. It was like toffee/brittle covered in a thin layer of chocolate with almonds in it! sooo rich & buttery & dee-lish! 

I got spoiled for sure! I got so much more than I could need or want, aww, blessings!

So, yesterday I went grocery shopping at the health-food store/work, to re-stock my uncle’s pantry & fridge with some more yum-si-ness. (Bella is laying on my arm, so I keep misspelling things and pressing odd keys!)

Here are some boring staples: garbanzo beans, my favorite Annie’s salad dressing, & plain soy yogurt

Produce: I filled a bag full of salad greens from the salad bar (way cheaper & organic: a bag full, for about $1.50!), an avocado, Roma tomatoes, Sweet Clover sprouts, red bananas (I have some tangerines & apples still!)

…and some goodies I hardly ever get, or have never had, but was excited about: Nutiva hemp protein powder packet, 2 different trailmixes, 3 Betty Lou’s energy balls (tee-hee, I said “BALLS!”), a raw organic food bar, & some dark chocolate ginger

^ MORE goodies:  Ruth’s Chia Goodness cereal (Chia-pet for breakfast!), Food for Life  Genesis English muffins, crackers, & roasted garlic beets from the deli!

I brought my own bags like a good lil’ girl. My store donates 5 cents for every bag someone brings in, to a charity, which is different every month! I helped yesterday with 10 cents! I spent about $35 on that schtuff!

Later, I went to good ol’ Publix & picked up a bag of baby carrots, organic blue corn chips & a Luna sunrise bar: Strawberry flava’.

Yesterday, I went with my parents, sis, & grandparents (who loooove dogs) to see Marley and Me. Loved it! Adorable! I didn’t read the book, but it was sweet, none-the-less! 

Afterward, I met a friend to catch-up at Border’s. We used to meet up there in high school and take allllll the magazines we could carry to the kid’s area, look at them, talk, & put them back. Sorry, Border’s workers- guilty! We didn’t take mags this time because we had a lot to talk about in a little bit of time (because she met her mom afterward)…

You know WHY we had so much to talk about?! Well… 

…well, before that, here was a light dinner with some new goods:

^ a toasted Genesis English muffin with some Baba Ganouj hummus, sprouts, greens, & tomato. Also, a salad with carrots, sprouts, & Newman’s Own honey mustard dressing. After I took it, I added some sunflower seeds to it. My tummy was acting weird, so something light was just what I needed. I had some of my favorite tea, too: Celestial Seasoning’s Honey Peach Ginger to soothe the tum-tum.

Okay- now, the good stuff:

Me, lil’ Miss Orange Poppity-Pop had a date! *GASP* I don’t have much dating experience because in high school, I was always so busy with sports & activities, that I just didn’t care much about that. But, I met him at work– he shops there all the time & eats in the deli whenever he can. Needless to say, he’s super-healthy & a total foodie! He’s also smart, cute, sweet…

We went to a raw/veg/vegan restaurant and got a few different things, tried each others’ food, shared dessert, talked the whole time, he showed me where he is workin‘, he drove me back with plans for something else in the works! We went out once before- met at a pub, actually (he’s not a “pub-guy” but met some old buddies there), and I thought it’d be awkward, but it totally wasn’t! His friends included me & I even recognized/knew some people that were there, too!

YIPPEE! He, like me, am not a night-owl, and he had a busy day today, so we’re not getting together tonight for the last time this year in 2008, but next year for sure! I’m going to dinner with my parents tonight and just layin’ low.

When I was little, my family would turn the clocks back a few hours so we wouldn’t be up so late… we’d bang pots-and-pans and light sparklers on roller blades at like 9 or 10 PM every year! HA! This year, it’s all about the true midnight!

*FUN FACT: this year is one second longer because the earth’s rotation is slowing… so enjoy your extra-second-longer year & have fun (& be safe) welcoming a new, fabulous year in 2009! (PEACE in 2009, as we always say!)

Mug Shot!

My mom’s a teacher. For elementary kids. So, for every holiday or event, she gets gifts: cards, candy, gift certificates if she’s been a good girl, and mugs. You know, dollar-store trinkets. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a frugal gal and love a good deal, and it’s cute that these kids are so proud to be giving my sweet mother a gift, for whatever occasion! But my mom is funny about it, too. As she comes home from school carrying bags with what might look like some pretty good stuff, she starts re-unwrapping them for me to see. Her famous line, when she gets those trinkets she has no use for, is, “Just give me the dollar!” and then she puts it aside like she’s going to give it away. Now she’s on summer vacation, but as I was rummaging through the kitchen looking for a mug this morning, I’ve noticed that I have quite an array of options! She keeps those mugs. Every-stinkin-one! I’ve tried to throw some out, but I find them the next day in the dishwasher because she finds and rescues them!

(^ yes, that’s a Jasper hair)

not just mugs… jars, other cups and coffee to-go cups, too

Happy Christmas in August!

Sister 2 is almost as bad. She goes to thrift stores and collects them that way. She has some pretty cool ones, as well as random, funny and huge ones. She feels sophisticated with some, and calls certain ones her “writer’s cup,” like the one with the tan-brown-blue, below. You know, like those old men writers in old movies, or something. She calls the blue one, below, her “camping mug.” Like she ever really goes camping! No. Actually, the one with the harp on it is from Ireland, from my parent’s trip, so I’ll give her that one.  My favorite mug (I don’t know why, but I have favorite utensils, mugs, bowls, etc.) is the one below, with the fish. It’s from a restaurant down here, called Shells, but I don’t know when/why we got it! And I painted the “beachy” one.

This is not even it. There are more in the dishwasher, in my sister’s rooms, and probably in other random places in the house.

My mom goes out with a bunch of her teacher-friends from school. They steal dishes, napkins, plates, cups, etc. and somehow they wind up on our front porch or hidden in her classroom, or something. They think it’s funny because my mom is not the kind of person that would ever do that, so they make fun of her for “stealing!”

Anyway, there you have it… a small collection from my kitchen, to your computer!

Bloody Heck!

Yesterday, I got some blood drawn, just to check up on things and I asked for my doctor to check for gluten intolerance. I think this is a way to tell, am I right? In the mean time, the past couple of days, my appetite hasn’t been so present… this is weird for me. And definately a sign something’s up! I figured I’d be more hungry because a lot of products I’ve been eating are more corn and rice-based, with less fiber, though I am having a lot of fruits and veggies as calorie-sources. My aunt took me out to eat at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, which is mostly vegetarian/vegan-friendly. Rare, where I’m from. It was easy, as far as I could tell, to order because they served corn tortilla chips and I asked for corn tortillas, instead of flour. Very chewy, though. I’ve got to say I’m not a huge corn-lover. I love my veggies, but corn- eh, I’d rather pick it out of my food, than try to enjoy it. But, corn-products… we’ll see. My aunt left and as I dog-sit for her, she got me some rice cereal. Thanks, but it has barley and malt ingredients=no good. I’m doing a test-run at a gluten-free diet, and so far, it’s been good. Quinoa, soy proteins, fruits, veggies, beans… all things I love. I’ve been doing a lotttt of research, via the internet and talking to people with CD experience! Thanks to those of you who can relate and have shown me that!

The other night for dinner I had some BBQ tempeh strips (with Amy’s bbq sauce + more for dipping) with a sliced tomater and sauteed peppers and onions.

Today for lunch my mom helped me chop a boat-load of veggies for a stir-fry with tempeh, Braggs and chili sauce. Sister 2 painted this bowl for me at one of those pottery places, because she knows I love using chopsticks… it has it’s own “holder!”

It’s orange! My color, favorite!

My parents got home from Ireland on Wednesday night, zonked! They had an incredible trip, but I’m still waiting to see pictures. They wrote down new, cute little phrases those silly Irish people use and are trying to incorporate them into everyday language here. hehe. They brought me some… salt-and-pepper shakers! The black pepper-shaker has a little shamrock on it’s butt. I don’t know why (yes I do- it’s the eyes!), but they remind me of Jasper. Maybe I’ll shake him to see if anything edible comes out… er, um, let’s not be silly by what I just said…

Alright, folks. There you have it. An update from yours, truly. I’ll let ya know what I hear about the blood work! I’m kind of hoping it is, in fact, CD just so I can pin-point the problem! Yes, that’d make it a little more difficult, especially eating out, but I figure once I load up my pantry with g-f foods, I won’t have to continuously search the internet or read the labels of the foods already on my shelves and fridge! Very meticulous!

I deposited my check after the blood-bath work. I also watched Sleepless in Seattle and settled in with a giant bowl of popcorn (my favorite movie, with my favorite type of corn, and my 2nd-favorite pop!) during a rainstorm the other day. Ah, life is grand!

Collecting… dust?

Okay, it’s not all about the food! But… it sort of is!

A while ago, my mom decided it would be nice if I collected something- anything! So, for some reason, I started collecting salt-&-pepper shakers and pitchers (like the drink kind, not the baseball kind ;-)). I have some pretty cool ones, some old ones from passed-on grandparents, and just fun ones and I’d like to share some with ya!

yes, the one on the bottom right are a Statue of Liberty pair… and the black one is missing her arm! My dogs like to come in and “play” with them sometimes, or knock them off with their tails!

 <- they have magnetic lips-I love these!

 <- and some pitchers!

I don’t think I’ve actually used my S&P shakers, but I have used a few pitchers for parties or gatherings. Of course, that lemon one has had lemonade, but I’ve certainly had to dust them off before using. They just sit on my shelves in my room. Is this weird? Maybe, but they can be fun and attractive, so don’t hate!

What do you collect?! And, why?