Life in a Carriage House

How to Stop Being so Competitive and Feel More Comfortable in Yoga Class

2011-05-15T01:22:00.000-06:00

I got published on a website! It's so thrilling to say that, it's just one of those where you submit your article on how to do stuff, BUT they did review my article and chose to run it, so that counts :)

Have you ever wanted to try yoga, yet once you got to class felt so uncomfortable, you couldn't really get into it? The truth is, this happens to most people who are new to yoga, and the whole process of working though those feelings can teach one of the most valuable lessons yoga has to offer: Letting go of competitiveness, and focusing on caring for yourself.

How to Stop Being so Competitive and Feel More Comfortable in Yoga Class

Can you forgive me for a totally out of season baking recipe?

2011-04-20T11:46:00.000-06:00

Especially after I just finished reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver? This is basically the bible of eating locally, and in season, and here I am craving pumpkin bread in April. Not only did I crave, but I gave in and MADE. One day this week, Zak was having a particularly bad day at work, and I was feeling a little blue myself, so I thought "what we need to do is bake, get the house smelling delicious, have something warm and comforting to bite into." Even if we can't control the forces of the universe that can make life crappy sometimes, we can eat well dammit! And for some unexplainable reason (pregnancy) all I could think of was pumpkin bread. So I broke out the canned pumpkin (the horror! not fresh?) and got to work.

Walnut Streusel Pumpkin Bread

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons chilled butter

Bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350°.
To prepare topping, combine the walnuts, sugar and butter in a food processor and pulse until crumbly. cover and keep in the fridge.
To prepare bread, combine all dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a mixing bowl. Making sure to lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife when measuring. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine the wet ingredients (pumpkin through eggs) in a bowl, and add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist. Spoon batter into a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

This Rosy the Riveter hand towel showed up in one of my moving boxes, I have no I idea where it came from

This turned out so delicious! Some of the streusel topping kind of melted down into the middle of the loaf and made a kind of filling inside, I don't know if this was because of some mistake I made or what, but it was a very happy accident! The rest of the topping made a satisfyingly crumbly and crunchy crust of the kind that you leave for the very last bite when you have a slice.

Finally Home

2011-04-15T11:24:00.001-06:00

I am back and finally settled in for good!

It feels so good to say that. For the past six months, Zak and I have been going through the arduous process of buying a house. The last two of these have been incredibly stressful with mortgage lenders and accountants causing us all sorts of trouble resulting in us having to move twice in one month. We have been in a temporary place all of March, where the Internet wasn't so reliable, so I haven't been able to blog, or do anything I normally do, really. The wonderful, amazing good news is that we are finally in our new place, and it is amazing.

The kitchen is everything I could have hoped for and more...I, for the first time in my life, have a nice oven. Gas ranges and everything! I have enough room to cook to my hearts desire, to finally achieve a real sense of mise en place that I have only dreamed of before. What does this mean for my readers, or any random person to stumble across my little blog? MORE recipes! MORE culinary experiments! MORE food!

Also, I am a pregnant woman after all, and nesting has taken over in a big way. I now have all the room and all the tools I need to start some major DIY projects I have been planning for over a year. What does this mean for you dear reader? Instructionals on salvaging old furniture (especially if most of your furniture comes from the dumpster, like me) and rehabbing your own busted up things as well. Slightly less instructional posts on my adventures in learning how to sew. How to turn random crap you find in the thrift store into awesome home decor!

Did I mention I get to set up my garden completely from scratch, exactly how I want it?

So I am back for good, and ready to dedicate some serious time to this blog! What to look forward to in the future:

Homemade Mozzarella
DIY Chandelier centerpiece for the bedroom
The vegetable garden of course
Home brewed beer and apple cider

Thanks to everyone for sticking around through all these delays!

Chicken & Potato Soup with Bacon

2011-03-23T10:38:00.000-06:00

Hello! I swear I haven't given up on blogging. I have a wonderful recipe to share, but first, some updates: These last few weeks have been very fun, busy and exciting. First, Zak and I took a road trip to visit some friends in beautiful Salt Lake City, we learned a lot about Mormons, had some delicious milkshakes (SLC has milkshake and frozen yogurt places to serve as a gathering place for the youth since many of them don't drink alcohol), enjoyed the lovely mountains, and had a bonfire. All in all, the perfect weekend vacation.

The Great Salt Lake

Then, we got back to Denver and I turned 25, which means I am no longer as young as I think I am. Yikes! You know when you fill out a survey and it asks you your age range? Well I just moved up a whole age range, 25-30, not to mention I got summoned for my first even jury duty (didn't get called). All of this, plus the fact that I am currently incubating a child leads me to believe that I must really and truly be getting older. I suppose I will just have to embrace it :)

Finally, on my birthday we went to get an ultrasound, with hopes of finding out what type of little person is residing in my belly. I remember the day before, when it was still a big mystery, I said to Zak "tomorrow, we will be living in a completely different world than we are today, a world where we'll know if we are going to have a son or a daughter." Such a crazy experience! Well I laid on that table for an hour, watching the little thing (that actually looks like a baby now, and not just a goo ball) thrashing around on the screen. The tech did all the measurements, but my belly button was creating a shadow right over the goods, so we were kept in suspense. Then a more seasoned tech came in, and within a matter of moments the great mystery was revealed:

we are going to have a girl! She is growing right on track, everything is looking healthy and good. It really was the best birthday present ever. Afterwards, my dear husband surprised me with a celebration at my favorite pizza place with all our friends, and a delicious gift bag of some of my favorite cheeses (he truly knows the way to my heart!). So we celebrated, and I had the most perfect birthday ever.

Now, for a delicious soup recipe. I got this from the meal planning website Relish! which I adore. I love to make up my own recipes, but I can get stuck in a rut, and Relish! is a great way to get inspire by new recipes. Basically you create a menu for your week by selecting from their recipes, then they create a pdf with a shopping list and all the recipes you selected. The shopping list is great, because they organized it by aisle in the grocery store, and they even have a category for stuff you probably already have (olive oil, flour, salt, etc.) I also love that they include the nutritional info for each recipe. I have been using this service for over a year now, and I love it. It eliminates the whole "I just spent $60 on groceries, but there is nothing to eat" situation, now I use everything I buy which saved us money, and I have picked up some amazing recipes. *disclaimer* I am not paid to recommend this service. I simply felt compelled to share this because it has made my life easier, and is a service I really value.

So here is the recipe, this soup is easy to make, and so satisfying to eat. I did the bacon differently than the recipe, I just cooked it separately, and crumbled it up, adding it to the soup with the potatoes. I also used about half the cream, because I can't handle super creamy soups.

Chicken and Potato Soup with Bacon

Prep and cook time: 45 minutes

2	tablespoons butter
1	teaspoon garlic, minced
1	white onion , chopped
6	bacon slices, sliced
2	leeks , washed and sliced
2	tablespoons all purpose flour
4	cups chicken broth
1	pound new potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch dice
2	boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
4	tablespoons heavy cream
	coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4	cup Italian parsley, chopped

per serving: 438 calories; 31 grams protein; 24 grams total fat; 3 grams fiber; 10 grams saturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 99 mgs cholesterol; 1006 mgs sodium; 10 weight watcher points

[1] Melt the butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes until slightly softened. Add bacon and leeks and cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring.

[2] In a bowl, mix the flour with enough of the broth to make a smooth paste and stir it into the pan. Cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Pour in the remaining broth, then add the potatoes and chicken. Season well with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes until the chicken and potatoes are tender and cooked through.

[3]

Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Empanadas

2011-03-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

I love empanadas. In addition to being one of my favorite things to eat, they are also one of my favorite things to cook. I love foods that you can really get creative with, and when it comes to empanada filling, the sky is the limit! They can be sweet or savory, vegetarian or carnivore friendly, you can just look in your cupboard and fridge and use whatever you have on hand. Which is exactly what I did for these.

I also pride myself in my ability to make a pretty delicious pastry crust. Empanada dough is very similar to making a pie crust. I just use an egg instead of water, and cut in the butter a little more thoroughly, to help keep the pastry from crumbling so much when you eat it. One thing that has completely revolutionized my pastry crust making has been to use a food processor to cut in the fat, rather than doing it by hand. You can do it in half the time, therefore keeping the butter colder, and this results in a flakier crust. I highly recommend trying this next time you make any kind of pastry crust. I might actually write an entire other post just on pastry crust alone.

Without further ado:

Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Empanadas
(makes 6)

Filling:
1-2 Sweet potatoes
2 cloves garlic sauteed in olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 Crushed hot chili pepper
1/4 soft goat cheese
Salt to taste

Cook the sweet potatoes thoroughly (either by baking or microwaving them). Scoop the cooked potato into a medium bowl and mash to your preferred consistency. Heat up some olive oil in a skillet, then add about 2 cloves worth of minced garlic and saute until the garlic is just starting to brown. Pour the garlic and oil into the mashed sweet potatoes, then mix in the apple cider vinegar, crushed red pepper, salt and soft goat cheese (or feta). Once this is all mixed together, cover and set aside.

Dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold butter
1 egg

In the bowl of a food processor mix the flour and salt. Take the butter out of the fridge and cut it into several pieces, then add them to the flour mixture. Pulse the mixture several times until it looks crumbly with BB sized pieces of butter. Now add the egg and pulse again, just until the dough starts to come together into one piece. Put the bowl of the processor in the fridge to keep the butter from melting. Make a space to roll out the dough, either on your cutting board or counter and lightly flour the surface. Dump out the dough onto the surface and get a little flour on your hands. Form the dough into one cylinder and cut into 6 different pieces. Use a rolling pin to roll out each piece to approximately a 3.5in circle. As you are working with the dough, try to handle it as little as possible. The ultimate goal here is to keep the butter from melting and mixing into the dough completely. This is what gives pastry the light flakiness.

Once you have your 6 circles of dough, spoon some of the filling into them and fold the dough in half. press the edges together, then press a fork around them to create the cute little lines. Place them on a lined baking sheet and bake at 350 F, for 15-20 minutes or until the edges start to brown.

One last note, BE CAREFUL taking your first bite, the filling basically becomes molten lava. I break them in half to let out some of the steam before I take my first bite.

Strawberry Cake with Vanilla Creme

2011-02-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

We are finally out of the Carriage House. I apologize for the lack of posts lately, for we were moving into a temporary place (before we finally move into our new house in April) and it took me about three days to get stuff unpacked! While I am sad for leaving the Carriage House behind, one thing I will NOT miss is the oven. It was only 20 inches wide (about half the size of a regular range) and the temp inside the oven was super wacky, causing many many baking mishaps. In celebration of being able to use a regular oven again I decided to bake a cake!

This cake is based off of a regular white sheet cake recipe, but using frozen strawberries gives the cake a satisfyingly soft crumbly texture. The creme is basically a homemade marshmallow creme with vanilla extract, but you could use real vanilla bean if you happen to have it.

Strawberry White Cake

3 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 1/8 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped frozen strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9 inch round cake pans, or a single rectangular one. In a medium bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl cream the butter or margarine and white sugar until light and fluffy. In a food processor, chop the strawberries until they are as small as you like. I did mine very small so that the cake was flavored with the strawberries and had little red flecks in it, but no big chunks. Mix in the strawberries and the vanilla. In three additions alternately beat in the flour mixture and the milk into the creamed mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden.

Homemade Vanilla Marshmallow Creme

2 egg whites
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a bowl combine the egg whites, corn syrup, powdered sugar and vanilla beat on high with an electric mixer for about 6 to 7 minutes. The longer you beat it the stiffer it gets. So if you like a thick creme continue beating a little longer. You may also add more powdered sugar if you want to thicken the creme.

T-Shirt Quilt

2011-02-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am constantly trying to come up with creative ways to de-clutter my life. When I was single, all I needed to do was fill up some trash bags full of stuff I was sick of looking at and take it to the goodwill. In face, I have been almost compulisive in my purging of stuff. This worked great for me...but then I married Zak. Zak is a pack rat, no he's not to the level of those scary hoarder people, not even close. Let's just say he places strong sentimental value in many of his material possesions, and wants to keep them around forever (and ever). I have had a hard time coming to understand this, since until we began our live together, I had just gotten rid of anything I didn't use anymore, why keep it if it isn't uselful? Through the years I have come to appreciate that some items truly are special, so it's safe to say we have both grown together around this issue...that is until we moved in together, and I discovered the giant bags of T-shirts left over from when he owned his own screen printing company.

"Zak, can I take these to the goodwill this weekend?"
"No! I'm keeping those!"
"B-but they're not even in your size, you'll never wear them..."
"Jess, I'm keeping them."

I think we argued about these shirts for the entire first 4 months of marriage. You see these just aren't any old t-shirts, these are shirts that have Zak's own designs on them, and he didn't want to get rid of them, not even duplicates. I tried to understand this as much as I could, but I just couldn't justify having three industrial sized trash bags of shirts sitting around for the rest of our lives. So I started to get creative.

I finally convinced him to donate the blank shirts once we identified that it was the designs he really cared about and not the actual shirts. Then we set aside all the shirts in his size, that he can wear (I folded and put them in a rubbermaid container that fits under the bed, no more trash bags!). After that we were left with one big bag of shirts. If we were going to keep these shirts, they couldn't just sit in a bag, he couldn't even enjoy them that way. Then an idea came to me...T-shirt quilt!

I thought convicing Zak to let me cut up his shirts was going to be impossible, but I still brought it up casually...and he was stoked! Needless to say, I set to work immediately. I am a complete novice when it comes to sewing so my mother helped me get started.

I started by plotting out a basic pattern section for the t-shirt designes with four different cut-out shapes. I think using different sizes makes the quilt look much more interesting than just having the full front of each shirt in a one-size cut-out.

Kind of looks like Easter M&Ms

Then I calculated how many of each shape I would need to make a queen sized quilt. Then the fun part, I started cutting away, which took about a week. Once I finally had all the cut-outs, I started sewing the pattern sections together. Then I sewed all the sections together to complete the front of the quilt.

Back side of the shirts

After I had the front done, I sewed it to the piece of flannel I got for the back. I did this like you would do a pillow case, leaving one side open. Then I slid the batting into the quilt and sewed up the last side. Finally I sewed around each pattern section to hold the batting in place, I used red thred that contrasts nicely with the black and white flannel. Here is the finished product:

Hooray, cool, cozy and sentimental (note the ninjas on the bottom!)

I have no idea if this is the proper way to make a quilt. I just went with what seemed easiest to me. One thing I would definitely do differently next time is to sew the front piece to the batting, then sew on the back, and complete with stiching around the sections. Trying to get the batting into the quilt when I had already sewed the front to the back was a HUGE pain in the ass. and it ended up being all wrinkley inside and I went insane trying to smooth it, lol. Other than that this process was a really fun way to improve my sewing skills, and de-clutter my house a little bit. Most importantly, it now allows my husband to enjoy the shirts he spent his early 20s designing instead of keeping them hidden in a bag :)

I also plan to frame some more of the shirts that didn't make it into the quilt, so we can have a cool wall display as well. Now if I could only come up with an equally sweet way to use all of his old notebooks from college...

I'm back and blogging for two

2011-02-15T14:21:00.001-07:00

Well, I just fell off the face of the blogging world didn't I?

My last post was July 4th of last year, and then my life completely changed, and blogging fell by the wayside. I quit my office job, I became (am still becoming) a yoga instructor, and most shockingly, in early November, I became pregnant! The little one is due to make an appearance in early August!

Also, our life in a carriage house is coming to an end, we have bought a duplex and will be moving into one half and renting out the other. I really like the name of my blog, so I am going to keep it even though we are moving, in honor of the spirit of the year spent residing here.

I had a very tough first trimester, in which food basically became my worst enemy for a while, very very sad. I am finally feeling better, so I am easing myself back into the kitchen. So expect a slow start with recipe posts. BUT! I have started DIYing and crafting and sewing! Expect many more DIY posts, especially when we move into our new place in April. I will be focusing on up-cycling random thrift store stuff into fabulous home decor. And of course starting in late April I will be starting my garden! I am making a dedicated effort to come back to blogging I have missed it dearly.

One last thing, I will try to keep this blog from becoming a mothering blog, as I am sure most of my life will be overridden with baby stuff for a while, this will be my refuge :)

Oh yeah....and happy Valentine's Day!

Oh-ho say can you see...

2010-07-02T13:36:00.001-06:00

A three day weekend?
Pizzas on the grill?
My grandma's 83 birthday?
Taking cool pictures with sparklers?
Fireworks with cheesy music blasting in sync?

Independence day has always been a big deal in my family, because it is my grandma's birthday! We always have a big BBQ at her house and then walk across the street to the golf course for an awesome fireworks show! I'm super excited.

Then...next week is my last week at work!!! Whooooo! After that, Zak and I are going to Chicago for 4 days, and then driving to Michigan to visit one his sisters and her family. I can't wait!

I still haven't taken any pictures of my garden, because I am a horrible slacker blogger, and am rarely home when the sun is out, due to my YTTP. Soon though, I promise :)

Will post grill pizza recipes next week, happy holiday weekend friends!

Pot Holders!!

2010-06-30T12:08:00.001-06:00

I firmly believe that it makes life a little bit more enjoyable if you have everyday items that delight you. For example, getting a toothbrush in your favorite color rather than plain white, or a coffee thermos in a pretty floral pattern rather than a plain silver one.

One of my sisters in law (sister in laws?) well, she is my husband's sister, and therefore my sister too. She is a professional costume designer, and is very talented at sewing things. She has recently opened up a little etsy shop to sell amazingly cute pot holders, they are perfect examples of how to make an everyday item something delightful! She sent me a pair for my birthday a while back, and I absolutely adore them. They are made with beautifully vibrant fabric, and are very high quality (better than you would get from target! lol)

Please, if you are looking for a new pair of potholders, or searching for a nice housewarming gift for somebody, check out her shop, Canezou on etsy.

Here are my little beauties

I love them so!

Black Beans

2010-06-25T09:49:00.000-06:00

When I was a child, I had a very unpleasant experience with beans. A boy sitting at my lunch table chewed up his beans and spit them on to my tray (little asshat). I was so disgusted with this that I never ate a bean again, until my wedding day. Our good friend was the cook for the catering company we hired, and he was so proud of his black bean recipe, that I had to eat some, or risk hurting his feelings. If you were ever a picky eater as a kid you can imagine the internal battle that took place within my head as I got ready to take that first bite. "but...but I don't like beans...I HATE them!!" "yeah, but if you don't at least take one bite and tell him how amazing they are, he will be so sad, because he was so excited to make them for you!" So I did it....and I tell you, I can't believe how delicious black beans are! The whole point of this little allegory is that stubbornness rarely pays off, and can even make you miss out on something delicious for 15 years.

I have made up for lost time however, and have come up with a simple and delicious recipe for black beans that you can use for burritos, eat over some brown rice, or just enjoy alone, as a side. I made these last night, and what made them even better is that I was able to use cilantro and jalapeno (sorry I don't know how to do the tilde thing above the n) from our garden, so satisfying!

JFB Black Beans

1 can of organic black beans
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced finely
1 jalapeno, diced
1 tsp lime juice
1 handful of cilantro, diced finely

Warm some olive oil in a sauce pan. When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Cook until the garlic starts to brown, and the onion is translucent.

Drain the black beans and add them to the pot. Lower the heat to medium and squirt the lime juice over the beans and stir everything up so it is well mixed.

When the beans are well heated, mix in the cilantro, make sure to do this right before you serve because fresh herbs loose their flavor if they are cooked too long. That's it, it's a very easy process :) Enjoy!

Black beans are incredible nutritious. They are low in calories, fat free, high in fiber, high in protein, and contain the entire daily recommended intake for hard to find vitamins such as folate. If you would like to read more about the nutrition profile for beans, or any other food for that matter, check out whfoods.org, here is the link to the article on black beans. I really like whfoods because it's easy to read, and includes a little history and also gives advice on choosing the food at the store (like how to pick ripe produce) as well as how to cook the various foods. It is a cook friendly nutrition database, by that I mean, they do not sacrifice the flavor of a dish just to make it as low in calories or fat as possible. They also believe that health is not just about the absence of disease, rather, it is a state of happiness, and freedom. I heart them :)

Holy Cow!

2010-06-21T10:47:00.001-06:00

I just put in my resignation at my job! I had a revelation on Friday that this was it, I was done working here. I'm not really motivated to do a good job anymore, and me leaving is best for everyone. My supervisor was really nice and understanding when I told her. So now I just have 3 more weeks left and I'm out!

What comes next?

I am going to be looking for some kind of yoga related job, but until I am actually a certified teacher I can't start teaching. I might just get a part time waitress job, or working retail, just to tide me over until I get enough teaching gigs. We'll see what I can find. Honestly, I am just excited for a change of scenery. I feel like my life is becoming everything I dreamed it would be.

I fully intend on keeping this blog and updating it as much as possible with my kitchen adventures and other random musings. Don't be surprised if I start quoting ancient Sanskrit texts, because I have been reading lot's of them lately for my YTT ;)

I have a few posts planned for this week, including a garden update, so stay tuned!

Pretzel Turtles...not as weird as it sounds.

2010-06-14T11:24:00.001-06:00

Yes, I have to review another recipe from another blogging buddy, Ali from Three Baking Sheets to the Wind.

This Saturday, all the folks in my YTTP got together for a BBQ, except it ended up being more of a dinner party inside due to some completely un-Colorado-y rain that lasted the entire day (our rain usually only lasts 10 minutes!). Well our get together was a pot-luck, and I wanted to bring something snacky and fun. Lucky for me, the day I decided to search for recipes was the day the Ali decided to do this post on Pretzel Turtles.

She found this recipe from Rachael Ray Everyday, but if you are going to try these, you must use Ali's version, because let me tell you, she is one funny gal...just go to the link and see for yourself. Her pictures also make following the recipe extra enjoyable :)

Just so you know what your are getting yourself into: these are basically pretzel nuggets, wrapped in caramel, dipped in chocolate, covered in almonds... I know...YUM! They are easy and fun to make, however, for me, they were time consuming. This is a perfect thing to do on a weekend afternoon, possibly with children (they would have a blast wrapping the caramel!).These little guys are delicious little paradoxes, sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy. Also, since I have been posting so much about eating healthily lately, I feel the need to balance it out with something indulgent.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: These photos were taken as I was rushing out the door, I am sorry for their poor quality, they do not do the pretzel turtles justice, what-so-ever. A better camera is definitely on my list of things I want.

Online calorie tracking

2010-06-09T10:39:00.000-06:00

I have been tracking my caloric intake and physical activity for about 4 months now, because I am actively trying to loose a little weight I put on when I started sitting at a desk 40 hours a week. I use the "MyPlate" tool on Livestrong.com.

This is a healthy living website brought to you by the foundation of Lance Armstrong. Basically, the MyPlate tool is an online food and exercise journal, you enter everything you eat, and the amount of physical activity you do, and it shows you your overall caloric intake (minus calories burned). It also shows your intake of basic nutrients like sugar, protein, and fiber versus the recommended daily allowance (from the FDA). It is free to use, but they only keep your journal for something like 40 days, than it is cleared. You can pay for a higher level membership, and they will keep your journal forever and you get more features, but for me, just seeing the calories add up daily is really useful.

I love the MyPlate feature because you can search for specific foods from specific brands or restaurants. I mean, they have everything! My Toufayan whole wheat pita, and Sabra classic hummus? Yep, they have the nutritional info, confirmed from the manufacturer. They have the nutritional content of many dishes from small and large chain restaurants (like Chipotle, Noodles & CO., Pei Wei, etc.) as well as the info for basic foods like fresh fruits and veggies. You can also add in your own recipes and get the nutritional analysis for them, it's pretty amazing.

I have always considered myself a pretty healthy eater, I don't eat fast food, or fried food, I rarely drink soda, and I almost always eat whole foods, rather than pre-made packaged stuff. Still, I was surprised at how quickly the calories add up in the day, and especially shocked at how hard it is for me to keep my sugar intake under the RDA. Seeing my calories add up using this tool has helped me "just say no" to unnecessary snacks, bites, and tastes, because it is just not worth the extra calories. So far, using this tool, and being more active (hello YTTP doing yoga 20 hrs a week!) I have lost about 5 lbs of solid fat (not including water weight fluctuations) in 2 months, but more importantly, I have lost inches. I can fit into pants that wouldn't even button back in February!! That is freaking satisfying!

Disclaimer: I am not paid by any of the companies or services I recommend or review on this blog (unless otherwise stated). I just like to share things that I find interesting or useful!

Cadaver Lab

2010-06-08T12:54:00.000-06:00

Last night, I got to participate in something that I will never forget. Last night was one of the best nights of my life, it was one of those nights where I was hit with such a blinding flash of inspiration, and also moved to tears by how amazing life is. I might risk sounding morbid, and maybe even slightly creepy, but last night we did a cadaver lab for my YTTP and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

I want to start this post off by saying that I have a profound sense of respect and gratitude to the people who have decided to donate their bodies to the cadaver programs that make these labs a possibility for students. Once you see what the inside of a human body actually looks like, how everything fits together so perfectly, how intricate it all is, you never look at another person the same again. Through participating in cadaver labs, I have gained an immense respect for human life (and all life forms for that matter).

In college, I took anatomy, and we had a semester long cadaver lab, but those cadavers were dissected by the lab TA, who is by no means a professional, and it was very hard to see the difference between the tissue types, the shapes of the organs, etc. Everything kind of looked the same. The lab we went to last night was completely different. These cadavers were preserved with such great detail that they were infinitely better than looking at a plastic model.

We began with the extremities, and were able to see all the different muscles, ligaments and major nerves of the arm and leg separated out. Then we saw the whole body, the skeleton with the muscles. We were able to see the major muscles used in yoga, and how they are positioned in the body. Then he showed us all the major organs, and where they are positioned in the body, each was accompanied by a lecture and discussion about how that organ is affected while doing yoga. At the end of class, we had a whole body, put together again. It.Was.Amazing. It was very moving for me to hear somebody from a scientific background talk so beautifully about how yoga benefits the body and mind in so many ways. The lab director who gave us the lecture and demonstrated the cadavers (he also does the dissections) really understands that the human body is more than just a bunch of different parts put together. He talked about how the mind and the spirit have a profound effect on the physical state of the body.

The word "Yoga" can be translated to mean "Union". Ultimately, the goal of yoga is to create a union between the body, mind and spirit. In my YTTP we are inspecting each of those things in detail, in order to gain a more intimate understanding of how they can all fit together. I am so grateful to be in this program, I just can't even put into words how much I am growing from this process.

Burger Review!

2010-06-07T14:28:00.002-06:00

Burgers on the grill are the harbingers of summer, one fleeting whiff of the burning charcoal and meat can send me into an elaborate day dream involving cute summer dresses, bare feet, beer, fresh fruit salad, strings of pretty garden lights, and of course a deliciously juicy burger, just off the grill.

My blogging buddy Liam at My So-Called Knife, posted his recipe for the Perfect Burgers a few weeks ago, and I got the chance to try them out on Memorial Day. His recipe intrigued me because of its use of interesting and exciting ingredients. Unfortunately, on the big day, I woke up with a terrible cold, and no sense of taste, due to a stuffy nose :( Never-the-less, I forged on and made these for my family to enjoy, and enjoy they did. My mother, grandmother, sister, husband, and brother-in-law all declared them the "best burgers ever!" I think is has something to do with the pork sausage...my family has an unhealthy obsession with pork... Even in my sick state, I thoroughly devoured my burger, and it was juicy and perfect, even though I couldn't taste it as well as I wanted too :)

This recipe is also great because he goes into the subtleties of burger making, a great way to take your burgers to the next level of awesomeness!

From MSCK:

"My perfect burgers call for a mix of ground beef and sausage, at about a 70%/30% ratio. I could probably increase the perfection quotient on the burgers if I started grinding my own meat, but that will have to wait for another day. I also occasionally have been known to use some buffalo meat in the mixture if I can get a good source for it. But for this base recipe, we’ll just go with the beef and sausage.

Perfect ingredients…

- 1 lb ground beef (you can go lean if you want, but I usually don’t)
- 1/3 lb pork sausage (Italian, sage, mild, spicy, whatevers – mix it up)
- 2 heaping spoonfuls of sour cream
- 5-6 splashes of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 c bread crumbs
- 3 or 4 slices of cheese (I used Swiss in this iteration)
- 1 egg (optional)
- hamburger buns

Perfect toppings…
- 1/4 lb bacon
- lettuce
- caramelized onion
- raw onion
- mushrooms
- tomato
- your favorite ketchup/sauce

AWESOME ALERT! I got to use my own lettuce for this, grown in a container on my back deck. It’s the first non-herb food product of any sort that I’ve eaten that I have grown myself. I had to have a moment.

Anyway.

First thing you want to do is fry up the bacon for topping. Fry it in a skillet (cast iron if possible), and as it’s frying prep your toppings – slice up the tomato, onion and mushrooms to appropriate size pieces.

After the bacon’s finished frying, take it out of the skillet and lay it out on a paper towel so the oil will drain off. Reserve bacon fat in the skillet and set aside, we will be using it later.

Next, set out a large bowl and put in the beef, the pork sausage, the sour cream, the bread crumbs, the Worcestershire sauce, and the cheese. Break the cheese up into small pieces as it’s going to be mixed in with the burger meat.

You can add an egg here into your mix, I occasionally do, but if you do then you probably want to add more bread crumbs – with the sour cream and the sauce in there already, it gets pretty runny if you add an egg. Top off with more bread crumbs if it is too liquidy, until you get a consistency that’s solid enough to stay together on your grill.

Step away from your bowl now and go fire up the grill. If you’re using a charcoal grill, fire it up 20 minutes ago.

Take your hands and mix all the ingredients in the bowl. You will get good and messy here, so just suck it up. You want to make sure all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly but try not to over-work the meat.

When forming your burger patties, go for something a little bit smaller than the size of your fist. Flatten it out a little bit in the center but not too much. You want it to cook evenly so bear that in mind as you are making the patties.

By now your grill should be pretty warm and ready to go.

Cook the patties over a medium-high flame for 7-9 minutes. You should see the meat browning just shy of half way up the patty when it’s ready to flip. Cook the other side another 7-9 minutes.

Whatever you do, do not flatten your burger patties while they are on the grill. I’ve known people to have a tendency to do this, thinking that if you flatten them they will cook more evenly. Well, they might, but in doing so you’re squeezing all the juices out of the meat when they could be cooking into the burger and you’re losing all your flavor.

Optional bonus: sear over high heat for just 1-2 minutes on either side right before they come off the grill.

While the burgers are cooking on the grill, heat the bacon fat in the skillet back up. Sautee the mushrooms and onions in the skillet in the bacon fat. Take them out after the onions have browned slightly and the mushrooms have taken on a semi-transparent quality. Set aside on a towel to drain.

Can’t make a perfect burger without perfect toppings.

Take burgers off grill. Top with awesome toppings. I like to use Bigg Riggs Awesome Sauce instead of ketchup. It’s technically a wing sauce, but I like it on all kinds of stuff.

Eat. Enjoy. "

Liam, my family and I thank you for making our Memorial Day, Memoriable...memorable...you rock!

Liquid Calories

2010-05-27T16:09:00.002-06:00

*Quick note: I am currently working on giving my blog a makeover for Spring/Summer, so don't mind me if it gets a little schizophrenic around here while I try out new looks.

Today, I was innocently checking out one of my Favorite blogs, Not Martha, and came across a link to

this article:

Harmful Drinks in America

After reading the whole thing, I feel like my innocence is lost, a part of my soul gone... forever...I have been critical of bottled beverages for a very long time, but I don't think I ever really knew the depths of their wickedness until now.

This article reviews several of our nation's worst beverages, and gives the "sugar equivalent" in junk food. The sugar content is not the only shocking thing about the drinks, MANY of them reach 1000 calories or higher. Here's the thing about liquid calories, they don't really make you feel any more full than before you drank them, but your body processes those calories just the same as the calories from solids. This means you are taking in a crap load of empty, potentially harmful (don't even get me started on the evils of high fructose corn syrup, I will save that for another post) calories on top of your daily food intake. This leads to fat storage, weight gain, and all that goes with it.

Now, I could certainly go off on a tangent about food companies and their questionable ethics in making these beverages (especially the ones marketed to children!), I could go off on the FDA for allowing them to sell us this junk, but I won't. One of the nice things about living in a capitalistic society is that we have the choice to NOT PURCHASE these items, and drink water instead (or at least go for a lower calorie option...c'mon). We are fortunate enough to live in a time where nutritional information is widely available on the Internet, and in most establishments where food and drinks are sold. All you have to do is ask, it's easy, I do it all.the.time. It's not embarrassing, and the person behind the counter doesn't mind, as long as you smile and ask politely.

In this day and age, we finally have the opportunity to empower ourselves, and make to good choices that lead to a happy, healthy diet.

When consumers show whats most important to them by buying the healthier (the real thing, not just something claiming to be healthy on the label) options at restaurants and grocery stores, the people making this crap will listen, and supply us with more of what we want. I am an optimist, and I believe that the movement that some call a "trend" or a "fad" to buy whole (not processed), local, and organic foods is going to change the way our nation relates to what we eat.

OK, I will get off my soap box now. I guess that all there is left to say is "power to the people!"

Source

Goosebumps

2010-05-25T16:05:00.000-06:00

I found out last night that two other girls in my YTTP lost their dads in May as well. I used to say that I didn't believe in fate or destiny, but as I slowly move into a more spiritual and emotionally fulfulling part of my life, I might be changing my mind. You know when you first see someone, you can kind of tell you could connect with them. Well, I felt this for both of the girls. I felt sort of drawn to them, like "hm they seem insteresting, I bet we could become good friends."

I was talking with one of them last night before class, and we got on the subject of what we were doing before the program began, and then the subject of loosing our fathers (both in the first week of May) came up, and we both got goosebumps. It was amazing. I think there is a bigger force at work here.

You know what else gives me goosebumps? This song.

I know it's old news by now, but I love it. I think I'm a little bit in love with Imogen Heap. I heard an interview with her on NPR about how she makes her music, and it was enthralling to say the least.

Update

2010-05-17T14:53:00.000-06:00

I want to thank all of my blogging buddies for the love and support in the last post's comments. My dad passed away last week, and needless to say, I am feeling a lot of complicated emotions, and not really feeling very inspired/motivated to cook, or write about anything. We've been eating a lot of omelets (my go to slacker dinner). We are having a service tomorrow for our Denver friends/family and another in June for people in our home town where my dad (as well as myself and my sister) grew up. Thankfully we have managed to stick together as a family and help each other out through all this. So, thanks friends, even though I've never met some of you, your words of support have meant so much to me.

I started my yoga teacher training program last week as well, and oh, it is everything I imagined and more. I love all of my classmates and teachers, and I have already learned so much, it's hard to believe this is only my second week. When I come home from my classes I feel physically tired and mentally/emotionally invigorated, which is the way it should be, rather than mentally exhausted and physically pent up. My love for yoga is deepening everyday, and I can not wait to share it with the world.

We have also been slowly getting our garden in the ground. So far, we have corn, loose leaf lettuce, rosemary, basil, oregano, cilantro, sugar peas, cucumbers, yellow onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, cayenne peppers, strawberries, tomatoes and broccoli. We still need to cultivate the plot behind the house before we can plant the pumpkins, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, and watermelon. I can hardly wait until the little sprouts become a rowdy bunch of green leaves and vines, with bursts of color where the fruit and veggies are growing.

I will leave you with one of my favorite songs. The best version I could find on YouTube is from the Watchmen soundtrack, which is ironically one of my favorite movies. It's like rain washing over me, and taking away all the mud and dirt.

New beginngs, and also an ending.

2010-05-06T14:13:00.002-06:00

This is a very special time in my life. This Saturday, I will begin my yoga teacher training program (YTTP), I have been dreaming of being a yoga teacher since I was 16, and have been dreaming of attending this particular program since I moved to the city when I was 18. It will last for 15 weeks, the class is two nights a week, as well as a half day on Saturdays. I don't know if I really believe in destiny, but I have truly felt a calling to teach yoga for a long time, and I feel that I now have the patience and maturity to embark on achieving that goal. I really feel like this is a beginning of a new life for me, one where I am living my dream!

This is also a sad time of goodbyes. I mentioned in my last post that my family is going through a tough time, and in the spirit of being honest, I will explain. My father has had type I (insulin dependant) diabetes his whole life. When I was 17, his kidneys failed, and he has been on dialysis ever since. He has had a multitude of health problems due to his disease, and last Friday, they finally took their toll. He is dying, and while this is not a surprise to us, it is, of course very difficult to go through, especially for my mom. If you wouldn't mind keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, it would be greatly appreciated. All we ask for is that his passing is relatively painless.

So often in my life, big transitions are bittersweet like this, one wonderful thing happening simultaneously with something that is sad. It is a constant reminder that life will never be perfect, but we have to focus on and appreciate the good times, and to support and be supported by our loved ones through the bad times.

Make your granola at home...

2010-05-04T11:27:00.002-06:00

...you won't be sorry! It costs about half as much as store bought granola, you get to customize it to your taste/health factor preference, and it tastes better! Not to mention, it makes your house smell amazing all afternoon.
This weekend, I gardened and made granola. After a very stressful Friday, it was exactly what I needed to feel like myself again. I love making granola because you can start with a base recipe, and just get creative and add whatever your heart desires. I love to go to the bulk section at the local healthy market (Sunflower Market for those of you in CO) and choose my ingredients, it's fun to try different combinations of nuts, seeds and dried fruit to come up with new flavor profiles.

I got my base recipe from none other than Mr. Alton Brown, I just used this as a guide for measurements and cooking time. I had read online that if you mix in an egg white, it will give the granola more clusters, so I decided to give that a try as well.

Toasty Granola with Coconut and Cranberries
3 cups oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup shaved (or shredded) unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp honey extra if too dry
1 egg white
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Combine the oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, and brown sugar in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, vanilla and salt. It will become thick, with a honey like consistency. Combine both mixtures and stir in the egg white (if the granola seems too dry, mix in 2 tbsp of honey).

Pour into 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color. Remove from oven and transfer all the granola into the same vessel, mix in the cranberries, and enjoy!

This turned out to be so yummy, it is perfect in Greek yogurt with a little honey. Zak actually deemed it "the most delicious food ever." Well, I don't know about that, but it is some of the best granola I've had.

It might get a little quiet around here in the next few weeks, because my family is going through a bit of a tough time, and my energy will be used up supporting them in any way that I can. Please bear with me if my posts are few and far between.

Yoga Inspiration

2010-04-29T12:15:00.005-06:00

These two videos sum up two of the most important values of yoga. The first is a video about a man who has lost over 300lbs, over three years, by doing yoga and eating healthy. To me, this video represents how yoga can give you the power to make changes in your own life that may seem impossible, but through consistent practice and making little changes over time, you can overcome almost anything, no matter how long it takes.

This second video is of a woman who has been doing yoga her entire life, she is now in her 90s and is still teaching classes! Yoga is not just an exercise, it is a lifestyle. If you choose to live this yoga lifestyle, it will continue to provide you with mental/emotional/physical/spiritual benefits for your entire life. Living the yoga lifestyle also gives you to power to have a positive influence in other people's lives. Whether you are like the woman in the video, and leave a vast legacy of teaching hundreds of people yoga over the decades, or you just smile at others more and perhaps let them merge into your lane in traffic, you are bringing more light and happiness into the world. Like the instructor in my class said last night, "you can't just come to class 1 hour a week, and be an asshole the rest of the week, and be a yogi." lol, so true.

I hope these videos has inspired you to do something positive with your day, whether you practice yoga or not, namaste!

Book List

2010-04-27T13:55:00.002-06:00

In addition to my Life List, I have also begun working on a Book List, I got this starter list from Thebest100lists.com. I chose this particular list because it has been voted on by regular people, rather than literary critics (whos' opinions I do not really value that much). I'm just not that into the heady, high brow take on literature. I just love a good story, and high quality writing. I've crossed off the books I've already read, and put stars by my favorites :) I will probably add to this list as time goes on. Please feel free to email me suggestions at jfo_55 at hotmail dot com. Thanks!

~~1984 by George Orwell~~

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

~~The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger~~

~~The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien~~ *

~~Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen~~ *

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Animal Farm by George Orwell

~~Lord of the Flies by William Golding~~

~~The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck~~ *

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

~~Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling~~ *

~~Brave New World by Aldous Huxley~~

Ulysses by James Joyce

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

~~East of Eden by John Steinbeck~~ *

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

~~A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens~~

~~One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez~~ *

~~The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain~~ *

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

~~The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien~~

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

~~The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis~~

~~Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand~~ *

~~A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess~~ *

~~Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury~~

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

~~The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand~~ *

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

~~Frankenstein by Mary Shelley~~ *

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

~~One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey~~

~~The Stranger by Albert Camus~~

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Watership Down by Richard Adams

~~Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad~~

~~The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger~~ hated!

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

~~His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman~~ *

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

~~Life of Pi by Yann Martel~~ *

Middlemarch by George Eliot

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

~~On the Road by Jack Kerouac~~ *

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

The Stand by Stephen King

~~Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden~~ *

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

~~Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez~~

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Dune by Frank Herbert

The Trial by Franz Kafka

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Emma by Jane Austen

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Light in August by William Faulkner

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Grilled Artichokes with Lemony Garlic Sauce

2010-04-26T14:20:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was the perfect Sunday. Zak and I went out to breakfast (paid for by his poker winnings!) at Snooze, a very popular Denver breakfast joint. With popularity comes a 30-45 minute waiting list, buuut, they provide free coffee to keep you from getting too cranky about that. So we sat on the sunny sidewalk (yay alliteration) and played scrabble on Z's phone. We're both pretty bad a scrabble, but it sure did pass the time.Zak got the breakfast burrito, and I got the blueberry pancakes (I just can't seem to get anything else when we go out!). Man, that burrito is the size of a kitten (best analogy I could come up with sorry) so he definitely saved half for lunch later in the day.

After that we played with Irving, my mother's puppy (who we are currently pet sitting), and Watched Jurassic Park II, and let me just say, dinosaurs taking over San Diego? Totally awesome! Finally, we got our garden ready to plant by digging up the weeds and grass clumps and tilling the soil. Then, I made dinner. On the Menu: Grilled Artichokes with Lemony Garlic Sauce.

Please forgive the low quality of this photo, it was really rainy and dark out!

I build the rest of the meal around the artichokes, we ended up having porkchops (also cooked on the grill), salad and mashed potatos. I had been searching for an interesting artichoke idea for a few weeks, because, to me, artichokes symbolize the beginning of the warm season and all the outdoor fun it entails. I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com, and actually followed it to a T because it is simple, and perfect. You will love it, I promise!

Grilled Garlic Artichokes
(with my notes in parentheses)

2 large artichokes
1 lemon, quartered
3/4 cup olive oil 4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Squeeze the juice from one lemon wedge into the water. Trim the tops from the artichokes (this was not easy in any way, I had to sharpen my knife twice, but it was worth it in the end), then cut in half lengthwise (remove the purple fuzzy inside with a paring knife), and place halves into the bowl of lemon water to prevent them from turning brown (I thought it was easier to just squeeze the juice over them, because the juice got inbetween the leaves better this way).

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat (use charcoal if you can, sooo much better!!).

3. Add artichokes to boiling water, and cook for about 15 minutes. Drain. Squeeze the remaining lemon wedges into a medium bowl. Stir in the olive oil and garlic, and season with salt and pepper (This turns out to be very hollandaise-esque, it's cool how the lemon juice and olive oil emulsify so easily, I had no idea they would!).

4. Brush the artichokes with a coating of the garlic dip, and place them on the preheated grill. Grill the artichokes for 5 to 10 minutes, basting with dip and turning frequently, until the tips are a little charred. Serve immediately with the remaining dip.

These turned out to be sooo delicious, I can't even begin to describe how satisfying the smoky, lemony, garlicy heart was when you finally got to it. This recipe is definitely going into my repertoire for the grill. Speaking of artichokes, did you know that if they are left un-picked, they become these insane looking, but beautiful purple flowers? Pretty cool!

San Francisco Road Trip

2010-04-22T11:25:00.001-06:00

Last weekend, I flew out to SF with my little sister to help her pack up her apartment and move back here. We drove back in 2 days, staying with friends in Salt Lake City. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we managed to have a really fun time, and I got to finally eat my beloved Parisian Macarons. I sampled them from two different shops, La Boulange, and Miette. At LB I got a raspberry and vanilla, and from Miette I got a lavander rose, and a grapefruit. These cookies are so wonderful, they are crunchy on the outside, and gooey on the inside. My favorite thing about them is how colorful they are, it's absolutely delightful to see them all lined up in a shop window according to color, ranging from chocolate brown, to bright pistachio green, to pink raspberry.

We also drove to the beach, where I got to put my feet in the ocean (not a common occurance, living in a landlocked state). The water was freezing cold, but the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day. After that we went to haight-ashbury and my sister sold some clothes at Buffalo Exchange to make some extra gas money for the trip home. Then a little more driving around the city, and visiting with a friend before we left SF and headed to Sacramento to stay for the night.

The rest of the trip was just driving, driving, and more driving, except for a brief stopover in Provo, UT (near SLC) and some much appreciated hospitality from some friends who live there. Spending so much time in the car allowed for some serious sister bonding, music listening and book reading. Since my sister opted to drive the whole way (lucky me, I don't like driving) I was able to sit back, and enjoy the ride.

Note my sister's shirt...Bob Marley indeed.

We saw some breathtaking sights, and some really boring ones as well (WTH Nevada?) but just getting out of my city and being on the road provided a nice breath of fresh air for me. The break from my regular routine left me feeling emotionally rejuvinated.

Caramel Apple Pastry

2010-04-20T16:21:00.005-06:00

My sister in law pointed out that I had promised to post my recipe for Caramel Apple Pastry and never did! How flaky (pun intended) of me lol. Sorry to anyone waiting for this, and Medora, thanks for reminding me!

I love love LOVE this dessert. There are so many ways you can adjust this concept to be as quick/easy or as complex as you want. There are 2 main componants of this dessert, obviously the APPLES, and the PASTRY.

First... the apples. You can slice them thinly and arrange them in a pretty design, or you can chop them finely in the food processor with almonds to a relish-like consistency. No matter how I disassemble the apples, I always use the following spices: a big amount of cinnamon, a medium amount of ginger, and a small amount of all-spice. I don't measure the exact amounts, but a good guess is, for 2 cups of apples, use 1 1/2 tsp Cin., 1/2 tsp ginger, and 1/4 tsp all spice.

Now, the pastry. I suggest just buying the frozen puff pastry in the "dessert" section in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store if you don't know how to make your own (I don't... yet). I am not a puff pastry purist.

For the caramel, I like to use easy dolce de leche, you can find the recipe in this post.

Caramel Apple Pastry

1 box frozen puff pastry
2 cups chopped or sliced apples (granny smith are the best)
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 cup dolce de leche

Honey spice glaze (optional)*

Pre-heat the oven to 325 F. Take the frozen pastry sheet and cut into smallish, rectangles about the same size of a napolean (or about 4x2 inches) you will need 3 rectangles per pastry. Put on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and store in the fridge to thaw.

Core, peel, and prepare your apples however you like. I usually put them in a food processer with the spices and pulse until they are small chunks. If you slice them, toss with the spices.

Take out your puff pastry rectangles and arrange them in groups of three for each pastry. Place the apples on two out of the three rectangles, leaving one alone (for the top). Make sure to leave about 1/8 in of pastry along the edges. Spoon about 1 1/2 tsp. of dolce de leche on top of the apples.

Bake the pastries un-assembled for about 15-20 minutes, or until the top layer rectangles are completely puffed, and slightly brown.

After the pastries have cooled enough to handle, stack the two apple covered layers, then top with the plain layer. Drizzle with honey spice glaze, or a little powdered sugar or cinnamon. Enjoy!

* Honey Spice Glaze
Heat a sauce pot over medium high heat, add 3 tbsp. honey. Once the honey is melted and thin, add 2 tbsp. butter and swirl until the butter is melted and incorporated into the honey. Now add a dash of cinnamon, and allspice. Finally stir in a cap full of vanilla extract, swirl until everything is incorporated, and take off the heat immediately. Drizzle over your pastry and enjoy!

An Award!

2010-04-20T11:39:00.003-06:00

Kayla, at Sense of Style is Eternal, has graciously passed on this award to me, thanks K! Her blog is lot's of fun, with some great outfits and now wedding planning! Check it out!

The Rules:

•Accept and thank the person who gave it to you!

•List 10 things about yourself

•List 5 additional things you DON'T like

10 Things About Me:

-I'm short, 5 feet 1 inch

-I am a geek and love Harry Potter, LOTR, Star Wars, and any other good sci-fi or fantasy lit and/or films

-I had a pretty chaotic life growing up, but have overcome the bad things from my past and have a really happy and stable life :)

-I am borderline obsessed with ABBA, I absolutely love their music, and listen to it almost every day

-I did Tae Kwon Do in college, and will probably start taking some kind of martial art (aikido?) again as soon as I can afford it

-I am going to start the Yoga Teacher Training Program of my dreams in about 3 weeks, and I am so excited/scared/nervous I can barely contain myself

-I grew up on a ranch, and hope to move to the country again someday

-I love to dance, even though I look like a total freak when I do

-Biology is my favorite subject to learn about

-I think funny/ugly faces are just about the funniest thing ever, nothing makes me laugh harder

5 Things I don't Like:
-Red onions
-Flying insects
-Driving
-Rude people
-Fried food

I will pass this award on to: anyone who would like to use it as an opportunity to share more about themselves! I just can't choose any one particular blogger because you are all so wonderful and unique :)

Thanks for the award Kayla, you're too kind :)

Strawberry Clafouti

2010-04-15T17:06:00.002-06:00

Last weekend I made strawberry clafouti. I was inspired by Kelly at Make Grow Gather, and her lovely looking confection. She recommends using this recipe, so that's what I did. While mine didn't turn out quite as nicely as hers, it sure was tasty! I served it with some vanilla ice cream on Sunday night when my brother in law came over for dinner.

I had never heard of a clafouti before, so I did a little research on good ole wikipedia and found out that a Clafouti is a version of a Flaugnarde made in the Limousin region of France. It usually uses black cherries with the pits still in, because, apparently, this enhances the flavor. I will definitely test out this theory later in the summer when cherries are in season.

I love this dessert because it is so easy! It took me about 10 minutes to prepare, you can't beat that with baked goods! It comes out of the oven all puffy like a soufle, with the gooey strawberries popping up here and there, very satisfying looking. I tried this twice, the first time I did the recipe as is, and the second time I added lemon zest. I must say, the zest really brought it to a whole new level for me! The texture is very similar to bread pudding, so I served it warm with some vanilla ice cream, very delicious!

Strawberry Lemon Clafouti
(From here, with slight modification by me)

Ingredients:
1/2 tablespoon butter
8 ounces strawberries, hulled and halved lengthwise
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 2-qt. baking or gratin dish with the butter (or use bakers spray with flour, worked fin for me). Toss strawberry halves with cornstarch until evenly coated, then arrange berries, cut side down, in bottom of dish and set aside. In a blender, whirl eggs, milk, flour, granulated sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and salt 15 seconds. Pour batter over strawberries. Bake until puffed, golden brown, and set in the center, about 50 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.

This weekend, my little sister is moving back to Colorado, so I am flying out to San Francisco tomorrow to help her get packed up. Then we are driving like mad to get back here by Monday so I don't miss any more work! It will be a crazy.ass.weekend that's for sure. While I am there, I only have one goal, and that is to finally try a Parisian Macaron. I have seen pictures of these little delicacies all over the internet, and I have even tried to make them. Unfortunately, I failed, and there is no place in the whole state of Colorado (that I have found) that sells these little guys. So please, wish me luck in my pursuit of the most yummy looking colorful cookies!

*sigh* soon we will be together my loves!

Finally! Garden Plans 2010...

2010-04-14T16:06:00.000-06:00

I think it is finally time to start planting my garden! The trees have began to blossom, and the bugs are coming out in full force. Last weekend, I evaluated our new outdoor space to see what I could do, and it looks like the little bed in front of our house is perfect for a vegetable garden, it gets about 8 hours of direct sunlight a day, and is right next to our house, so hopefully only the bravest squirrels and birds will try to eat my produce. I am going to try to grow some tomatoes upsidedown this year. I read about this in Real Simple Magazine. If you grow your tomato plants in hanging pots, you will not have to try to prop them up with flimsy wire cages! I am also going to plant my pumpkins and squash in the backyard, away from the rest, because in my experience, these will take over the entire garden if they are in a confined space.

Front yard flower bed:
Corn
Bell peppers
Jalepeno peppers
Loose leaf lettuce (field greens)
Spinach
Broccoli
Cucumbers
Carrots (I've never been successful with these before, so we'll see how it goes)
An herb garden with:
Basil
Cilantro
Parlsley
Oragano

Tomatoes in hanging pots on the patio

Back yard:
Pumpkins for carving
Pumpkins for eating
Butternut squash
Possible more corn

I will also plant a few flowers, just for fun :)
I have 2 calanchos that desperetely need potting and 2 primroses that also need a home.
Growing up, our entire porch was covered in morning glories, they are one of my favorites. It is such a consolation to me when I have to get up early to see the lovely flowers that only come out in the early morning.

I have found that the Farmer's Almanac website has a plethora of gardening advice, so I will be basing the planting dates off of their guide for my region. I will make sure to take tons of pictures as things start to pop up and grow!

Today=FAIL

2010-04-12T17:22:00.000-06:00

Today, I had grand plans of posting about a delicious strawberry dish I made this weekend, buuuut instead I am posting about my insane morning. On my way to work today, my stick shift started feeling weird when I was changing gears, almost loose. As I was getting going after a stopping at a stop sign, all of the sudden the stick wouldn't go into gear, the stick was wobbly and felt disconnected. Luckily I was on a residential street, and only going about 15mph, so I coasted over to the side of the road, and parked.

I pulled up the leather cover from the stick shift to find that the part that connects the stick to the rest of the car was held on with DUCT TAPE and had come apart! Oh my gosh, I can't believe I have been driving a car that is held together with tape.

LUCKILY we just got a AAA membership a few weeks ago, so I gave them a call and they sent a tow truck to come drag my poor car to the mechanic. Our membership means that the whole tow was covered, so we didn't have to pay anything for it! Which is great since we just found out that it is going to cost $400 to fix the car.

Well, all I can say is that I am SUPER lucky that we got that AAA membership, and also that we have a mechanic that we can trust. I would have been feeling a lot worse right now without those two things.

I left my camera with the pics from this weekend's dish in the car...so as soon as I get it back...Strawberry Clafouti! Weird name, delicious dish :)

Pinatas for adults, and a mustache and rootbeer party

2010-04-09T15:51:00.000-06:00

A month ago I asked my husband "what do you want to do for your birthday?" and he answered "I want to have a moustache and rootbeer party!". So I basically took that and ran with it. For our wedding we had a DIY portrait station where people could pose for funny photos with some props and costumes I had made. The most popular prop were these felt moustaches I cut out and put on sticks so you could hold them up to your face. So my sister and I made a buch of these for the party to hand out as favors. I also asked the guests to bring a few bottles of their favorite rootbeer for a rootbeer tasting. I love organizing surprises, so I decided to get a pinata for the birthday boy and surprise him with it during the party.

There is actually a really cool pinata store about a mile from our house so I ducked in there (underneath all the pinata dragons and ponies hanging from the celing) after work and picked out a traditional star shape. To fill it, I wanted to do something a little different, that adults would have fun with, because I didn't think our friends would want a bunch of crappy candy. I went to a dollar store and picked out the following things:

glow sticks
fake roses
mardi gras beads
mini bubbles
1 bag of candy

Once everybody had arrived, had a beer and a burger in hand, and was appropriately moustached, I told everyone I had a special surprise for Zak, and brought out the pinata. We strung it over a tree with an extension cord (I couldn't find my string!) and let the birthday boy do the honors. When everyone saw the contents they went nuts! I wasn't expecting it to be that big of a hit with everyone, but they were as excited as kids running around trying to get different color glow sticks and putting the flowers in their hair. It was so much fun!

That vampire/scarecrow in the background was a wedding gift from zak's bff, so we set him out as an honorary guest.

After everyone had settled down from the pinata frenzy we had a little bonfire in our landlord's fire pit...

I am the fire Master!!

Everyone decided that since there was a pitchfork, we just had to do an "American Gothic" photo, please excuse my horrific hair, the wind was blowing!

Finally, we all went inside and had some strawberry shortcake :)

haha, looks like someone was caught having 1 too many servings of dessert :)

Mr. Birthday boy was falling asleep by the end of the night, now that's a good party!

Old Family Photos & My husband's birthday!

2010-04-02T10:43:00.003-06:00

My grandfather was a well known horse trainer, he invented a special kind of saddle and wrote a book on his method. It's is my family's one and only claim to fame! He was also a pretty good photographer and has passed down these great photos to us. My grandparents had a horse ranch in Texas before moving to Colorado in the late 50's and building the ranch that would later become my home.

This is my grandpa

This is my grandma

Here they are in KS where my grandpa was stationed in the army

On the ranch with my uncle as a baby

Apparently hats are a great way to scoop up and drink water while hearding cattle!

I don't know who this is but he's pretty badass!

My dad and his big brother on Christmas day, this photo cracks me up :)

This is my dad doing some fancy tricks!

My dad is on the right, the other guy is some dude who came to our ranch to study with my grandpa.

Yet another un-named badass.

This was a road trip my grandma took before she was married, I LOVE these because it reminds my of "On the Road" a little bit :)

I am currently working on scanning all the old family photos onto the computer so we can have them forever. I think these are the best heirlooms, I just can't imagine anything more wonderful than seeing what life was like for my amazing grandparents. I feel so lucky to have these photos!

Also, today is my dear husband's birthday. He is 27 today, and it is our 5th birthday together :) We have been together since I was 19 and he was 22, and we have really done a lot of growing up together. This quote pretty much sums up how I feel about our relationship:

"We had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." - Captain Corelli's Mandolin

He is the love and light of my life. I am so lucky to call him my partner in crime for life!

Halibut with lemon and paprika

2010-03-30T14:22:00.001-06:00

I love the delicate texture of halibut, it's one of my favorite types of fish. I was super excited to get some on sale over the weekend. Last night I made it for dinner with a salad and a little pasta.

When I cook, most of the time I don't really have a plan, I just look in the fridge and see what looks good. When I'm seasoning food, I also let my intuition guide me. This is how I've learned to cook, through trial and error, and, for me, trying new things is what makes cooking so much fun.

Sorry I don't have any pictures, I really need to get better at taking pictures to post here, I will get better I promise!

Halibut with lemon and paprika

Fresh Halibut fillets

Half a lemon

Sea salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Sweet paprika

Take the fillets and dry them off on both sides with a paper towel. Now squeeze the lemon over the fillets, making sure the juice coats each of them completely. Next, cover the fillets with with a few pinches of salt each and a little ground pepper. Then lightly sprinkle with the garlic powder and paprika, you don't really need to measure this, just go with your intuition of how much is enough. Finally, sprinkle some of the zest from the lemon over the top of the fillets, and let them sit for a few minutes while you get the skillet ready.

Heat a skillet over medium high. Once the skillet feels hot when you hold your hand just above the surface, add a little olive oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the fish so it doesn't stick. Once the oil starts to give off little whisps of smoke, add the fish, skin side down and cover the skillet. Cook the fish like this until the fillets feel firm when you lightly squeeze the sides, and the flesh is completely opaque.

This comes out beautifully! The fish is bright white, with the vibrant reddish orange of the paprika, and the bright yellow of the lemon zest, it is a very colorful dish.

A peek inside my grocery cart

2010-03-29T14:51:00.000-06:00

I think we all like to look into other people's lives a little bit, and that's why blogs are so popular. That's also why it's so much fun to look into other people's carts when grocery shopping and see what kind of stuff they buy (or at least...it's fun for me...maybe I'm a freak...). In celebration of a much needed shopping trip, and to give some ideas to those who are less inspired while grocery shopping, here is what was in my grocery cart this weekend:

whole wheat pita bread
flour tortillas
hummus
shredded chedder
shredded mozzarella
a ball of pre-made pizza dough
whatever fish is on sale that week (this week, halibut)
ground beef
local made pork beer brats
round steaks
chicken breasts
no bone pork chops
broccoli
field greens (salad mix)
sweet potatos
small red potatos
cilantro
avocados
baby carrots
cucumbers
tomatoes
apples
oranges
bananas
lemons
limes
grapefruit
light vanilla soy milk
half and half
yogurt with no hf corn syrup, and active cultures, my fav is Cascade Fresh
butter...sweet amazing REAL butter. I gave up on the smart balance type stuff because, taste wise, it just does not compare. I do use it sparingly however :)
eggs from a local eco friendly farm
granola with whole grains and low sugar
dark chocolate covered orange sticks (so delicious)
tortilla chips
organic salsa
coffee
when Zak is with me: diet pepsi :)

These are basically all the items we need to buy about every other week. Things like fresh produce, meat and dairy, not to mention treats! For these things, I go to Sunflower Market, it's a grocer that specializes in local, and natural food. Their meat is all hormone free and mostly comes from local farms, that treat the animals ethically. The things I buy at Sunflower are very affordable, some things are just a few cents more than what you would buy at a regular store (like safeway or target) their produce and meat are actually cheaper (seriously, 2 steaks for $5)!

For other staples like flour, spices, zip lock bags, parchment paper, and toiletries I go to King Soopers because they are the cheapest in my neighborhood. When I shop, I look for what's on sale, then base all my meals around that. This way you can save A LOT of money. I also always look at the lables of what I am buying to quickly check to make sure there is no hf corn syrup, low sugar content, and to make sure the ingredient list isn't full of stuff I can't pronouce.

All in all, we spend a little more on groceries (about $300-400 a month) but it's worth it for me, and I compensate for it by going out to eat very rarely (once or twice a month), and going to starbucks very rarley (once a week or less).

Stay tuned this week, I will be posting some awesome old family photos of my grandparents and their horse ranch!

Homemade Pizza and Irving

2010-03-24T14:11:00.004-06:00

Holy cow! We got 10 inches of snow overnight, soooo I am working from home this afternoon. Now the sun is out and there are huge clumps of slushy snow falling all around the house, I feel like I am working in and ice cave!

This weekend, my mom, my sister, and Zak's brother came over for dinner, and to wach the premier of Life on the Discovery Channel. We LOVED Planet Earth, we still watch the dvds every now and then, so we were so so so excited for the newest project from that team. My mom also brought over her new puppy Irving, a bichon friche. I usually don't really like small "lap" dogs, but he is so sweet I couldn't resist him :)

What a cutie! Oh yeah and my sister's pretty cute too ;)

For dinner I made Margherita Pizza. There was some very enticing pepperoni at the market, so I decided to throw them on too :) I like to make my own pizza dough, but in a time crunch I buy the uncooked dough from Sunflower Market (the Colorado equivalent of Trader Joes).

Margherita Pizza

Pizza Dough (I like this recipe from alton brown)

Extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Fresh tomatoes sliced thin
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Shredded mozzarella (you could also use slices of fresh)
Fresh basil, cut chiffonade style

Pre-heat the oven to 425, Roll the pizza dough out onto a pizza stone* or pan (I love my stone because the bottom of the pizza never gets soggy). Rub a little olive oil over the dough and scatter the garlic across evenly, leaving enough space around the edge for a crust. Let the garlic sit for about 5 minutes, this will season the oil a little bit and also maximize the nutritional value of the garlic. Now add the tomatos, use as many as you like, but make sure to leave about 1/2 an inch of the dough showing so you have a crust on your pizza! Season the tomatoes with the salt, pepper and paprika. Now cover the tomatoes with as much cheese as you like (you can also add any other toppings like pepperoni, or my favorite, green olives!). Cook the pizza until the cheese is just beginning to brown, and the edge of the crust is brown as well. Then you're done, enjoy!

The pepperoni were GIGANTIC, and delicious!

*I usually do not buy so-called "kitchen gadgets" that have only one specific use because they will more than likely end up forgotten, collecting dust in the back of the deepest darkest cubbard in your kitchen. The pizza stone is not one of these gadgets. I use mine for baking cookies, bread, scones, you name it! The stone provides constant, even heat, and keeps the underside of your baked goods from becoming soggy. I also place it in a warm oven when I make pancakes, french toast or waffles, transferring the done items on to the stone to keep them warm until I have used all the batter. That way you can have them all at once, and warm none the less!

New Blog Background!

2010-03-23T13:59:00.001-06:00

I am so proud of myself! I figured out how to change the background of the blog! I got it from shabbyblogs.com. They have lots of awesome (and free) things for blogs on their website, check it out! I also added a list of some of the blogs I follow under the blog archive.

I have so much more to blog about this week, but I need to edit some photos first! Hopefully I will have time after doing taxes tonight. I made some pizza this weekend, and I must welcome the newest furry addition to my extended family: Irving, my mom's new puppy!!!! Stay tuned :)

Life List so far...

2010-03-22T13:29:00.002-06:00

I have been keeping a life list inside of my head since I was a teenager. I was recently inspired to write it down and actively try to make it happen by four outstanding young men, and their quest that has been made into a show on MTV: The Buried Life.

I have come up with 40 things so far, some of them are life long dreams from when I was a kid, some are brand new. I will keep adding to this list as I cross items off, and will begin my journey to number 1 on May 8th!

I am fortunate enough to have already been able to cross off some items from my life list, things such as go hiking in a rainforest (in puerto rico), see the Rolling Stones live in concert, see a live sea turtle, go to a Regina Spektor concert with my husband (she's our fav), backpacking through eastern europe, road trip through Mexico inspired by the Motorcyle Diaries (years ago when it was safer). Writing down my list has been so theraputic for me in dealing with a less than perfect job, it reminds me that life can still be an exciting adventure and it gives me something to look forward too. Also, I believe that if you write something down, it will happen, try it!

My Life List (so far)...

1. Become a yoga teacher

2. Attend a Holi celebration (Color Festival) In northern India

3. Swim with great white sharks (in a cage)

4. Learn how to make a really good parisian macaroon

5. Give birth naturally, without an epidural, outside of a hospital (laugh all you want, I think I can do it!)

6. Travel somewhere awesome with my grandma, mom, and sister

7. Roadtrip across North America

8. All out food adventure in France

9. All out food adventure in Italy

10. Guest host/appear in a cooking show

11. Get a black belt in a martial art

12. Become a registered dietitian

13. Experience zero gravity

14. learn how to SCUBA dive

15. Do the voice for a cartoon (don't care if it's in a movie, just something for myself)

16. Gain more self discipline

17. Participate in some kind of cooking competition

18. Go whale watching

19. Learn how to sew

20. Be more physically fit than I ever have been

21. Eat fresh seafood in New England

22. See penguins in antartica

23. See polarbears in the arctic circle

24. Brew my own beer

25. Preform an awesome action/fighting sequence like in a movie (I think there is some company that does this in Japan)

26. Travel to all 7 continents

27. Meet a real geisha in Japan

28. Read all the Harry Potter books to my children

29. Get a half sleeve tattooed on my upper arm

30. Live on a little farm in the country

31. Volunteer/work closely with animals

32. Build my dream home with my husband

33. Successfully quit a bad habit

34. Learn how to swing dance

35. See Metallica in concert

36. Stop being jaded

37. Have a group of close female friends

38. Volunteer on a regular basis

39. Become an expert gardener of vegtables and fruit

40. Swim with dolfins

Spring in Colorado

2010-03-19T14:48:00.001-06:00

Today I read many a blog post about packing away the heavy coat and boots, starting the seeds for the spring vegetables, and all the blossoms that are apparently appearing on trees elsewhere in the US. Here in Colorado, it has been heaviliy snowing since late last night. I yearn for the sweet sunshine, green grass, and that first day you can leave the house with a sweater instead of a jacket. I do love the snow though, I always feel a little excited when I wake up and look out the window to see big fluffy flakes coming down and a white blanket over everything. These late winter/early spring snow storms do make me grumble when I have to get out of bed and go to work though. Today my husband sent me this to make me smile, and it worked :)

Zak is such a positive minded person, and that is one of the many things I adore about him. Here's to seeing the positive in everything!

Ridiculously cool!

2010-03-17T12:12:00.002-06:00

Ok Go Has some of the coolest music videos around, but this one takes the cake in my opinion! It's like if the dudes from MythBusters (LOVE that show) were trapped in that old game Mouse Trap.

Birthday!

2010-03-15T15:44:00.000-06:00

Today is my birthday! I am a huge fan of birthdays, I think everyone should celebrate them with gusto. I am now 24, and for some reason, this random age is the one that made me go "wow, I am definitely ageing!". I don't really feel "old" it's just a little shocking to me for some reason. I am now in my mid 20's. I'm cool with it though :) To commemorate my experience, here is this weird picture I found when I googled "ageing"

It's a little creepy, no? Well, let's hope that when I am an old lady I will at least have a cooler hair do than that :)

Last night my mom had Zak, his brother, and I over for dinner. We made steaks on the grill despite the cold sleeting weather, and my mom made my favorite cake. It's just chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, but the recipe she uses somehow makes the cake soooo chocolaty it's almost black! It's so cool looking and delicious!

I seasoned the steaks by coating them in whiskey and then covering them with salt, pepper, garlic, lemon zest and cracked mustard seeds. It was really yummy. I pride myself in being a very intuitive cook, I almost never use a recipe, and measure by sight, but for some reason, I cannot cook meat properly without a thermometer. My husband on the other hand, in typical man fashion, will take command of the charcoal grill and use his "spidey sense" to know when the steaks are perfectly medium rare. It's truely amazing, and I am envious. It does make us a pretty good dynamic duo for cookouts :)

I'm still pretty sick, I went to the doctor on friday and instead of getting any answers about what's going on, they only gave me more questions. So now I am going in again this week for further poking and proding. Here's hoping they will be able to help me feel better soon!

Tonight, we will eat pizza and watch Coraline! We might even sneak in a few games of super mario on the wii if we're feeling really crazy, that's right, I know how to party on my birthday :)

Sick sick sick...

2010-03-11T14:59:00.002-07:00

I swear I haven't givin up on blogging already! I have been sick for the past few days, and can barely get through work, yet alone come up with something coherent to post here. Hopefully next week I will be all better! Also: I turn 24 on Monday, WOW!

Revolutionary breakfast idea

2010-03-08T16:38:00.002-07:00

Zak and I both work full time, and sometimes, it is challenging to always have food available to bring to work for breakfast and lunch. We don’t like to get frozen meals because they are really pricey, and not very filling to us, not to mention some of them taste horrendous. Pretty much all the items in our grocery cart are what we like to call “ingredients” for lack of a better word. We do our best to eat “whole foods” basically we limit the amount of processed foods with simple carbs and refined sugars in them, we do the whole “shopping around the outside of the store” thing, mainly buying items from the produce, bakery, dairy sections and the meat/seafood counter.

All of this is wonderful for our dietary intake, but not eating “convenience foods” means anything in our fridge and pantry will need to be prepared first. This is great for when I am making dinner at night, but when I need breakfast as I am running out the door to work I don’t really have time to make some oatmeal or scrambled eggs. I usually grab a yogurt and some granola to eat at my desk, but it would be nice to have a little more variety other than choosing the different flavors of yogurt :)

This weekend, I decided to try something revolutionary! Make a bunch of breakfast burritos, wrap them in paper, and freeze them! Breakfast burritos with eggs, potatoes and vegetarian green chili are one of my favorite breakfasts. Here is my recipe:

1 small handful of shredded potatoes (for convenience, I use Simply Potatoes shredded hash browns)
1 egg
2 tablespoons of vegetarian green chili (I like 505 medium gc, only 5 calories per 2 tbsp!)
1 small handful of sharp chedder, shredded
1 tortilla or whole wheat wrap

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high, once the surface is hot; add a little oil or butter. Once the fat is hot, throw in the potatoes and cook until they just start to turn brown. Now crack in the egg and scramble with the potatoes. Keep stirring until the egg is fully cooked, then stir in the green chili and take off the heat. Heat the tortilla until it is flimsy, then add the filling, and top with cheese. If you don’t know a good technique for rolling a burrito, this one is how I do it.

You can multiply this for however many burritos you want to make, for example, I made 8 yesterday, so I used 8 of everything, easy! You can buy freezer paper at the store, and wrap them in that, or just use a paper towel and a ziplock bag.

This burrito is healthy and filling! Weighing in at around 400 calories, I will eat this for breakfast and have a small lunch (soup or salad) and won't be hungry until dinner time. I brought one to work today, it was a nice break from my granola and yogurt routine :)

Rumo...a love story

2010-03-05T15:23:00.001-07:00

After I graduated college, the first thing I wanted to do was read a book for pleasure. Now, you might think that a recent college graduate would want to stay as far away from books as possible, but this librarian's daughter grew up reading ALL.THE.TIME. I was literally always reading a book until I got into college and had to start memorizing every bone in the body, or the exact order of the 12 cranial nerves, or even better, the various ways in which you can die from diarrhea (studied communtiy health and neurobiology). Anyway, for me, reading was a normal state of being and when I was not reading some book or another, I felt out of whack.

Well right after college I started planning our wedding and working full time. This heartbreakingly (ok that might be a little melodramatic) did not leave me much time to read like I had planned. By the time we were a few weeks away from the wedding, Zak and I both were so burnt out we could barley wait to sit and read for hours straight on our honeymoon. The night after the wedding we went to the bookstore and were perusing the aisle for some dearly missed reading material and I casually glanced at the table where the store employees display their favorite books. There I saw it... it was love at first sight, a bright robin's egg blue cover with the title "RUMO and his miraculous adventures" in a awesome yellow font. Upon further inspection I saw that there was also a pink puppy with horns wielding a sword and some singing dinosaurs (I later found out they are in fact resiting poetry). I was almost hypnotized with curiosity.

Well it turns out, this is probably the most amazing book ever written. I became completely obsessed with Walter Moer's writing because it is so imaginative, funny, and unique. I mean, I have never read anything like this before, and this is coming from a huge fantasy and science fiction fan. Rumo's story is a combination of Huck Fin, Harry Potter, Monty Python, and an acid trip. It is simultaneously innocent and rolicking, and dark, almost brutal, but every part of the story is done with a wonderful underlying sense of humor. It wasn't until I was done with the book that I discovered that the Moers is actually German, and this book is translated from its origional language. This may be why it feels so unique to me.

I have since read The 13 1/2 Lives of Captin Bluebear, and am in the middle of The City of Dreaming Books and still can not get enough of the weird creatures, and ridiculous situtations that populate these books. Did I mention Moers illustrates the books as well? Flip through their pages and I bet you won't be able to put the book down until it is fully read. Happy Weekend!

Bruschetta, radio and animals

2010-03-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I love to cook, it is the way I unwind at the end of the day. I get into my comfy clothes, pour a little glass of red wine, open the fridge and my imagination goes wild. Cooking is not only fun, it saves us money, and it is a way I can be sure that Zak and I are eating healthy meals. Some nights, however I am more hurried/tired/sick and am in need of a quick and easy meal. Bruschetta is the perfect contender for nights like this. It's quick, nutritious, and is made by ingredients you usually have in the kitchen at all times.

Source

Here is my method of preparing bruschetta:

3 or so cups of diced tomatos I like to use Roma because where i live they are cheap and flavorful, but you can use any kind you can find, or even use canned if you don't have any fresh.

2 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped very fine

1 handful of fresh basil chopped fine

1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp dry red wine

a few dashes of balsalmic vinegar (very light on this as the dish is already quite acidic!)

1 loaf of italian style bread (or anything crusty and relatively small in diameter)

Combine tomatoes, basil, balsalmic vinegar, and wine in a bowl and mix well. Heat a small skillet on med-high until hot, add olive oil and wait for the first whisps of smoke to appear. Those whisps let you know the oil is now hot enough to cook in. Now add the garlic and swirl in the oil until fully coated with oil. Let cook until the garlic just starts to brown, if you let it get too dark it will be bitter! Now pour the oil and garlic into the tomato mixture and mix well.

Slice your bread about an inch thick, and toast it, using either a wide toaster, toaster oven or the skillet you browned the garlic in (yum!). Now, just put everything on the table and your done! Easy and delicous!

Now, one more thing I would like to share today is this amazing new-ish show on NPR called Radio Lab. You can listen to it for free online. Basically the show investigates interesting things and tries to discover the science behind them. It is entirely different than anything I have ever heard in my life, and it is better that your just listen to the show rather than me trying to describe it to you.

I just listened to their episode on animal minds. I have always been SUCH an animal lover, so I was very excited to hear what they found out about what goes on inside the minds of our wild (and domestic!) neighbors. I grew up on a horse ranch, and we also boarded other types of animals like donkeys, goats and cows. Spending so much time with animals, you learn, at times they seem so much like us, you could swear that a horse has the same exact feelings you do. Then they would turn around and do something so inexplicable you would realize, that is an animal who has a comepletely different way of seeing and reacting to the world than I do. It's very interesting.

Small talk

2010-03-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't have much time to write today, but I will post this quick article from Real Simple about the "art" of making small talk. This is an area where I am consideralby lacking. I tend to be quite awkward around people I don't know, sometimes not talking enough and sometimes talking too much.

Source

Part of my hold-up with small talk is that I am really uncomfortable asking people questions about themselves because I'm afraid they will be too personal. All in all, I have the tendancy to be slightly anti-social. I want to become more gregarious and learn how to enjoy meeting new people, because right now it's downright painful for me!

Here is a link to the article:
The Ten Big Rules of Small Talk

And also...

2010-03-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

I also want to say this: Although I do not really like my job, I am thankful to have it, I am especially thankful for the fact that I had this job set up before I even graduated college. That is very rare these days and I do not take it for granted.

Making the most of it

2010-03-02T13:41:00.003-07:00

Damn this cat and his eternal optimism! Why can't I be like him? I don't know if I'm just not cut out for my job or if my job is not cut out for me, but whatever the situation is, I know for a fact that this is just not working like it should. Spending 8 full hours sitting at a desk and staring at a screen is starting to make me feel like a zombie slug. On top of that, I can't bring myself to care about what I am doing any more than it takes to be just efficient enough to get by. I am usually passionate about everything I do, but I just can't get behind this adminitrative stuff (who can??)

Lucky for me, I am already enrolled in my yoga teacher training program, I will start in May, and if I play my cards right, I will be able to make enough $$ teaching yoga to quit this mismatched job of mine.

But, for the time being, I am stuck here, staring at this screen. All.Day.Long. That is part of the reason I started this blog, to provide a momentary escape from the tediousness of my work. I also have a few other ways of making my day a little more enjoyable:

Listening to my favorite music on Rhapsody while I work
Listening to story telling themed radio podcasts like This American Life or The Moth when I am doing something that requires little thought
Taking a walk when I can get away from my work for a little bit
Subscribing to newsletters in things that interest me such as nutrition, cooking and yoga so that I can keep in touch with what's new in those areas
Exercising and doing yoga when I get home

None of this makes up for the fact that I am spending the majority of my day doing something that I do not enjoy at all, but it does make me feel like I still have some sort of identity other than the dreaded zombie slug, not to mention, it keeps my brain occupied until 5 o'clock rolls around.

If anyone out there who's reading this has any awesome suggestions for how to cope with a boring job, PLEASE, be my savior and put them in the comments section! Here's to a more positive tomorrow :)

Sweet Weekend

2010-03-01T13:44:00.002-07:00

Good afternoon, and happy Monday! All hell has broken loose at work today, and I am doing about a gagillion things at once....so if my writing seems a little chaotic, THAT is why!

This weekend was full of sweet things, literally and figuritively. Zak and I went to bruch on Sunday, which is a VERY rare occurance, and I had the most spectacular bluberry pancake that was just ever so slightly undercooked so that it was deliciously gooey in the middle. Also, I haven't had real blueberries for months, and it perked me right up. We spent the meal drawing goofy things on the chalkboard above our table, reading the onion to each other, and holding hands. Mushy yes, but just the kind of quality time you start to crave when you both work fulltime jobs and don't get to see one another during daylight hours very often.

Now on to more substantial things, cooking! This summer, I discovered a meathod of making Dolce de Leche (caramelized milk) on my favorite food blog, Not Without Salt. It is so easy it feels like cheating. Dolce de Leche is so delicious you could eat it all on its own, but it is also spectacularly versitile for cooking. You can use it as a spread on just about anything you want to put caramel on (bread, apples...), or you can use it in pastries, because it keeps its form very well when baking (no giant pool of burnt caramel on the bottom of your oven!).

Super Easy Dolce De Leche

All you need for this recipe is a can of sweetened condensed milk and a deep pot for boiling water. Basically, all you have to do is submerge a can of the SCM under boiling water for 3 hours, that's it! There are however, a few things to note.

It's very important that you use sweetend condensed milk and not its neighboor evaporated milk, because you need that sugar in order for the caramelization to occur! When you are boiling the can of SCM, make sure there is at least 1 inch of water above the top of the can at all times, if the water level goes below the top of the can, it might explode! You don't want to scrub sticky caramel off your kitchen celing do you? I didn't think so! Finally, after the can has been in the boiling water for 3 hours, take it out and let it cool until you can touch it with your bare hands before you open it. The first time I made Dolce de Leche, I was so excited to see inside the can that I tried to open it right away, big mistake! As soon as the can opener pierced the can, a stream of hot caramel shot out across my kitchen! You need to let the pressure from the heat subside before you open the can :) Also, let me just say, it is so enjoyable to open that can and see the gorgeous caramel, and your first bite will be heaven, I promise!

I got the idea to put the Dolce de Leche into coffee from The Pioneer Woman. I just brewed some extra strong coffee, stirred in the ddl, topped with hommade, unsweetened vanilla whipped cream and cinnamon to create these little concoctions.

A very welcome treat on a snowy, cold, horribly grey, Sunday afternoon. You might also consider adding in a little Kahlua, or Whiskey if you're feeling fancy.

Also, caramel apple pastry...I will post the recipe for this later in the week, but for now, I will leave you with this:

Sorry for the confusion...

2010-02-26T15:43:00.001-07:00

There was some confusion about my list post. The list from that post was generic, it's supposed to be copied and pasted into your own blog, then you put the things you have experienced in bold. I have started on my very own life list, so far I have 22 things. I will post it once I get to 50!

What I'm happy about today...

2010-02-26T12:49:00.001-07:00

It is suuunnnnyyy finally! As much as I dislike working 8 hours in an office, I do love having big windows letting all the sunshine in while I work.

I have babies on my mind.

I'm making dolce de leche coffee as a sunday treat for me and the hubs.

I'm getting the reading list for my yoga teacher training program so I can get a head start!

We watched "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" last night, which is a totally badass film. I still have the theme song stuck in my head.

And of course, it is almost the weekend. I love not having to get out of bed for anything other than to cuddle with my husband, make an elaborate breakfast and watch westerns on AMC.

A list

2010-02-25T13:39:00.002-07:00

After watching an episode of the buried life on MTV, Zak and I have started to create our own list of things we want to do before we die. I will post my own list as soon as I have completed it!
For now, here is a generic list of life experiences, with the ones I have done in bold:
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain- this is a very common thing to do in Colorado
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive -
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it- I mean it everytime I say it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon -
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne- every night on our honeymoon :) well, not drunk but tipsy!
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight- with complete strangers when there was a huge blizzard and all of denver was under snow!
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn't care who was looking- this pretty much happenes every time i dance.
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign-the things you do for fun when you grow up in a small town.
46. Backpacked in Europe --
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain- we'll have to get right on that :)
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theatre
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class-Tae Kwon Do in college!
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days - is this even possible??
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest -Marylin Monroe
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River --
82. Been on a television news program as an "expert"
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music - does is count if I was a clapper, and not actually the musician?
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date -
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold -
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country-well if biking in the netherlands counts!
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over- 2 days after graduating high school
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane -.
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth - I grew up on a horse ranch, I still get goosbumps just thinking about it, amazing!
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone-
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse- of course!
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon- this summer!
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period- mono will do that to you...
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents- some day!
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach-
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions -
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts- it was actually for someone else during a volunteer project
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you -
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair- so many colors in high school, it's a wonder I have any hair left :)
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head- someday!
149. Caused a car accident- unfortunatly yes, one of my most terrifying experiences.
150. Saved someone's life

Awkward first impressions.

2010-02-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hello,
My name is Jessi, and this is my first real attempt at blogging. I am not really a writer but I would like a place to put my thoughts and feelings out there and hopefully share something interesting with the world.
My husband Zak and I just got married in October 2009, and are living in a tiny carriage house, behind a big Victorian mansion in a very beautiful neighborhood in Denver. For some reason, the minute we walked inside our new home, I felt like living in this little place would bring good things into our life. So in we moved!

Right now, my life is centered around trying to transition out of my 9-5 desk job and into a more active and emotionally fulfilling profession. I have wanted to teach yoga since I was 16 so that is my goal now, to become a yoga teacher. I applied to the teacher training program of my dreams last week, so as long as they like my application, I will starting the program in May!

I will try to post a link to something that is interesting, cool or useful everyday. I am currently working on using all natural cleaners in our house. This is cheaper, healthier, and "greener" than buying cleaners at the store. Here is a link that has recipes for different household cleaners using white vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda:

http://simpleorganic.net/easy-recipes-for-natural-homemade-cleaners/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+SimpleOrganic+(Simple+Organic)