Thoughts Along Life's Highway

On becoming a baker

If you follow my Facebook or Twitter feeds, you’ve probably seen mention of my newest obsession – baking bread.

I went to a bread baking class back in April (thanks to my lovely friend Jane, who gave me her seat in the class!) – I think I have mentioned it here before…

And since then I have been on a path to learn how to bake my own bread at home. I started out with the supplies I already had on hand at home and have been slowly stepping up the game with more and more of the items recommended in my class.

Last week, after saving my pocket money, I splurged on the purchase of this little puppy:

I am soooo excited.

The mill allows me to grind my own wheat and make my own, fresh, flour each time I want to bake.  This is so much more healthy for us and captures all of the goodness of the wheat germ and kernel without stripping away the vitamins and nutrients that most “modern” processed flour lacks.

Since I’ve had my gastric bypass surgery, I haven’t been able to eat much “real” bread.  Which, hasn’t been too terrible except when it comes to making sandwiches or hamburgers, etc.  But I am striving for balance in my life – not exclusion. I want to be able to enjoy food as close to the natural state as possible and not deny myself anything (within moderation, of course!)

Finding this method of making bread has been such a wonderful experience.  I have been learning how to prepare healthy, nourishing food for my family – and loving every single minute of it.

I’ve been baking bread off and on for years. Mathilda, my bread machine, has been in and out of my kitchen more times than I can count. I’d get on a bread baking kick and then, when no one ate the bread (it was hard and tasteless) I would toss her back out into the storage area of the garage or basement until I remembered her and brought her back in again.

But this is different.  This is GOOD bread.

Good in so many ways.

It’s light, airy, and so flavorful. So much more flavorful than store-bought breads, too.

And my surgically-altered digestive system loves it, too. Which is good and bad. I have to be careful and remember moderation but I am so happy I can enjoy some bread in my diet again.

I am learning, though, that the baking of bread is as much art as it is science.

Bread can be temperamental.

• It likes warm environments, it doesn’t like cold (not even cold air conditioning!)
• It likes some attention (kneading) but not too much
• The little yeasty creatures like sweetness and warmth but too much of either causes them to just over-extend themselves and they die.
  (and your bread crashes)
• It doesn’t like to be “plopped” into the oven (my bread fell :-0)
• Yeast and salt don’t get along. Yet you need both to make bread.
• It does like warm places to rise… and you can’t let it get too carried away rising or it looses its energy and will fall in the oven. (that’s happened, too)
• I have also learned that bread in Mathilda is much tougher than bread I mix in my KitchenAid (yet to be named) mixer. Maybe it’s the kneading it gets?
• And there is a delicate balance of too much yeast and too little; too much gluten and too little; too little rise and a bit too much.

It’s all very Zen.

When you get it right, it’s just oh, so good. 

(and the mistakes are pretty tasty, too, even if they may not be as pretty)

I’m baking two loaves about every other day.

Today I did an experiment and did one loaf in Mathilda and two others in the loaf pans in the oven. That’s when I learned that Mathilda is a bit tough on the bread.  I much prefer the loaf pans in the oven. More tender crumb, for sure.

I’m going to keep experimenting and fiddling with the recipes I have. I’m having so much fun trying things out and learning from my experiments.

And I absolutely LOVE the smell of bread baking. Makes my house (and me) happy.

If you’ve never baked a homemade loaf of bread before, I encourage you to give it a try.

It’s not as hard as you think.

Or as time consuming.

And the results are so, so worth it.

I’ll share the recipe with you (below) just in case you are tempted to give it a try. I would encourage you to … it’s sooo good.

And, if you decide that you want to explore the world of grinding your own grains, I would suggest you check out The Bread Beckers website. That is where I’ve been getting my materials (and education!) and they ship worldwide, I believe.

There’s also a great video if you are interested in watching.  I will warn you, though, that it is four hours long. It’s their complete “Getting Started” class that they offer in their facility (and stream online) – it’s well worth the time investment, but I took it in small “bites” over the course of a weekend.

Here’s the recipe… let me know if you try it!

Slightly Sweet but Very Simple Whole Wheat Bread

2 cups warm water
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
3 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 egg (optional)
5 cups freshly milled flour (or “regular” flour)
2 tsp salt
1-2 Tbsp lecithin*
1/2 tsp gluten*

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine water, oil & honey.
2. Add 3 cups of flour, salt, lecithin, and gluten.
3. Mix thoroughly.
4. Add the remaining 2 cups of flour and the yeast.
5. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes)
6. Cover with a tea towel and let rise until double (about 30 min)
7. Split into two and shape into loaves. Place in greased pans and let rise again (15-20 min) until doubled.
8. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes.
9. Makes two 1 1/2 pound loaves.

You can also use this to make rolls, buns, etc. It is a very good basic recipe.

*Lecithin is an optional additive which helps to stabilize the dough and makes it have a softer crumb and a better rise. I can’t tell a HUGE difference between using it and not using it, so if you can’t find it don’t not make the bread for that reason.

*Gluten is the substance that naturally occurs in wheat. Adding a little extra gives the bread a little better rise. Again, not something you can’t live without, but it does make the bread a little fluffier if you add it. I’ve found Gluten in the grocery store. I had to buy the Lecithin from Bread Beckers.

This recipe came from Bread Beckers. They have a great recipe book. You can get it free if you purchase a mill or mixer or you can buy it from their website. (if you are interested – I’m certainly not in any way telling you to do this and I’m definitely not compensated!!)

 

Happy Memorial Day

Saturday in the Park

We're visiting family this weekend - enjoying a little break after the hectic end of the school year.

It's hot as blazes down here - in the 90's every day - but the weather is beautiful if you don't mind the heat and humidity.  Which, ironically, I don't seem to mind as much as I used to. I'm sure it's the fact that I'm almost half the size I used to be. There's a lot less of me to heat/cool these days and I seem to gravitate more towards heat than cool now. Quite the change.

But enough about me.

I wanted to share with you what Mom and I did today.

We went to the farmer's market.

So fun.

They have a weekly Saturday market down in Forsyth Park. If you're ever in Savannah for a visit, it's worth a trip - even if you only go to people watch.  But Mom and I managed to go together and we had such fun.  They had beautiful veggies, organic fruits, meat vendors (with organic, grain fed beef, etc.) It was a bonanza of goodness.

We cooked some of these patty-pan squash for dinner tonight. Grilled them with olive oil, garlic and salt/pepper/onion powder. Soooo good.

It was fun to hang around with Mom and check out all the stalls.  The girls were off on an adventure with SuperMan (story to come) and so we had some good one-on-one time.  Something we don't get very frequently and that is very special indeed.

The rest of the day was relaxing and even included a nap and some serious swing-time. They have the greatest swing in their backyard and I love stretching out in the sunshine and watching the clouds go by as I swing.  

Awesome weekend - and we're just getting started.

 

Good enough

This was in my inbox the other day:

Dear Incredible Girl,

When you've done all that you can do, and you still feel like you have so much further to go, when you feel like all that you have to give still isn't nearly enough, when it seems that you will not be able to keep up everything that needs to be kept up for one minute longer --
stop and breathe.

Look. Really really look at what you are expecting of yourself.

You are an incredible girl. You are amazing and strong and brilliant. But friend, you are also a human being. You cannot do it all. You cannot always hold everything together perfectly, and you cannot be perfectly composed every single day. It's okay to have 'off' days. It's okay to feel weak and overwhelmed and have meltdowns once in awhile. It's okay. YOU are okay.

Everything is going to be okay. It is.

Let yourself have days to be a perfectly imperfect human being. Let yourself feel what you need to feel and process your life the way you need to process it. Let yourself BE.

Bad days will pass, overwhelm will dissolve, and the sun will come up again tomorrow morning, just like it does every day. There will be a brand new sparkling day waiting for your tomorrow, waiting for you to hold hands with all of the joy that it is offering.

You are just right. You are doing great. You are fabulous!

And you are very very very very loved.
xoxo

"A little bird told me" - your Daily Truth from The Brave Girls Club
www.bravegirlsclub.com

 

I just love this.

Absolutely love it.

Why is it that we hold ourselves to impossible standards?

Why do we feel like we must be perfect in everything we do?

And when we fall short (as we almost must do) we feel like we’re worthless and berate ourselves instead of celebrating our successes and accomplishments, no matter how large or small?

When did this become the norm?

And why?

And is this what we want to teach our children?

That good enough is never good enough?

I don’t.

I want my girls to push themselves to be all they can – to stretch beyond what they think they can do and find out what they really can do but I also want them to learn that, as long as they have tried their best, that is good enough.

That they don’t have to measure their success by external yardsticks – by what others think or what others expect – but by their own hearts and their own rulers. 

That giving it your best effort is good enough.

And learning to be okay with that.

And maybe, just maybe, while I’m teaching them, I’ll learn it myself.

Simply Delicious Grilled Pizza

I promised you I’d share with you my favorite pizza crust recipe.

This comes from Cook’s Country magazine – the September 2010 issue – which is chock-full of some of my favorite recipes. I love that magazine (and not just the Sept 2010 issue!)

This grilled pizza crust is so good. Slightly sweet, a little crispy, and oh, so, yummy with a light dusting of your favorite toppings. I think the part that makes it so good is the parmesan that is baked into the crust. Oh.my.goodness.

I make a batch and it is more than enough to make four small (personal) sized pizzas for the family.  Which the girls love because they each get to fix their pizza the way they prefer.

For the sauce, I usually use leftovers from my homemade sauce, but I have been known to either open a jarred marinara or even just open some canned crushed tomatoes and season those to use.  Depends on how lazy I am and how stocked (or not) our pantry is!

And I’m sure you can use this not on the grill but I’ve just always grilled it. I bet it would work just fine in your oven on a pizza stone or baking sheet.

Here’s the basic recipe:

Grilled Pizza Dough

• 1 cup water (heated to 110 degrees ~ hot)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil (plus extra for brushing dough & grill)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
• 2 3/4 cups flour (plus more for dusting rolling surface)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp salt (I use kosher)

For the top:

• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• ~ 3 cups marinara or homemade spaghetti sauce
• toppings of your choice

To prepare dough:

1. Whisk water, 1 tbsp oil, sugar & yeast in large measuring cup. Let sit 5 minutes.
2. In food processor, pulse flour, parmesan, & salt until combined.
3. While machine is running, slowly pour oil mixture down spout until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and forms a ball (this takes about a minute)
4. If dough seems too sticky, you may need to add 1-2 Tbsp flour.
5. Turn dough out on floured surface and knead 3-4 times.
6. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces.
7. Working with one piece at a time, press into a small circle and use a rolling pin to stretch dough to form a 9-inch circle. (mine always turn out oblong!)
8. Transfer each finished circle to baking sheet lined with parchment paper *and dusted with flour* (you can stack them with floured parchment paper between)
9. Meanwhile, heat your grill on high for about 15 minutes (while you are making the dough)
10. Leave your primary burner on high and turn all other burners to low/medium-low. Scrape cooking grate and grease with an oiled paper towel.
11. Brush tops of 2 of your dough circles with olive oil. Peel off of parchment and place OIL SIDE DOWN on the COOL SIDE of your grill.
12. Now, don’t touch them for 3-5 minutes (until the tops are bubbly and undersides are browning)
13. Brush the tops with olive oil, and using tongs, flip the circle.
14. On this freshly-browned top, add your sauce, cheeses and toppings.
15. Cook pizza for 3-5 minutes on cool side of grill and slide to hot side to crisp for 1-2 minutes if desired.
16. Repeat with remaining dough rounds & serve.
17. Finished pizzas can be kept warm in a preheated 200 degree oven if you want to serve them all at one time.

I promise, once you try this, you won’t want the pizza delivery man to bring you his overcharged, under-flavored pizza ever again!

Guts and Nuts

Welcome to the very first installment of this season’s Bachelorette recap.

As I mentioned on Monday, I’ll do these for as long as I can – or at least as long as I can stand watching the show. After 10 years of watching them on/off, I’m getting a little jaded so it is getting harder and harder to suspend reality and watch the weekly installments.

I mean, we all know by now that they are, if not scripted, full of “conveniently” planned situations which will, invariably, bring out the best and or worst in the “contestants” for the Bachelorette’s heart. 

And I am finding it harder and harder to believe the Bachelor/ette when they say that they “only want to find their one true love” and think that this is the “journey they were meant to take” to find that “one true love.”

Now, don’t get me wrong.

I’m not saying it won’t happen or couldn’t happen. I just have to sigh and wonder if their mommas didn’t teach them any better than to go lookin’ for love in all the wrong places. 

These boys (or girls, depending on the season) are most likely NOT there looking for their “one true love” and are more likely there to find their 15 minutes of fame and/or notoriety. (and usually at the expense of their own reputation and sometimes self-image)

The cynic in me says Ashley is only there for the fame, fortune and travel. (as are they) And the romantic in me is trying really hard to shout above the cynic to say the she really is there to find TRUE LOVE but then she (the romantic, that is) has to stop and admit that, with as many issues as Ashley has (namely her own insecurity) finding love in this way is highly unlikely.

But, I digress.

I promised myself I would not spend this post pointing out all of the things that I think are wrong with this show. I will focus on sharing with you the observations I made when I watched it… and I’ll try to be nice. I promise. :-)

On to the opener:

*a side note: why do they always wet the flagstones? Don’t they realize that while they look prettier this way, they make the girls’ dresses WET and wet ballgowns are not fun to wear (or launder)

On to the Bachelors:

First Bachelor of note is Ben F, the winemaker.  My first reaction is that he looks like a little boy. Then, I think, no, he looks like a dork dressed up.  But mostly he just looks like a little boy. The trick to bring the wine was a good one, though. Gotta give him points for that. (+2 points)

Look at that baby face! (or am I just getting OLD!?!)

 

Next is Bentley – I think he has been cast as the “bad boy” of the season.  My first thought with him is divorced=issues=trouble.  Second thought is boy, is he ARROGANT!  I vote him off the island already. Will be interesting to see how things go with Ashley.

Especially since she has already been "warned" about him by a former Bachelor contestant who knows Bentley's ex-wife. Now, it may just be me, but I'm thinking intelligence from the friend of an ex-wife may be questionable intelligence indeed.  But, I still think he is one to watch out for - and not in a good way.  Remember Wes from a few seasons ago? The country singer? This year Bentley is Wes.

Will he play to her insecurities and will she fall for it? I think he is a player. We will see.

Anthony is the next one I take note of -

(if I don’t mention them, they were just
B-O-R-I-N-G and/or didn’t get much screen time)

Now, my initial response was “aw, he’s cute!” And I loved the New Jersey accent. And he’s Italian. Gotta love that.  But once he stepped out of the limo he was just full of bluff and swagger. I think it turned Ashley off. I know it did me. And the sad thing is, it was probably to hide how scared he really was. Poor baby. (no points for you)

Jon is the next one to catch my eye. The whole Neanderthal move of tossing Ashley over his shoulder and walking away with her – REALLY?!?  I think she liked it, but I wouldn’t have been amused. minus 5 points.

Will be interesting to see how things play out with him in the end…

My next thought was about how all the guys are hugging her. I’m a hugger. I don’t mind hugging people.  But, seriously. I bet every single one of those guys was wearing cologne.  And I bet she was, too. So now, after hugging 25 guys she probably smells something awful… like 26 different scents. UGH. I’d be patting them on the shoulder and saying “See you inside!” No hugs for you!

Mickey’s kiss maneuver was cheesy. I thought “oh, my goodness. you didn’t just do that, did you?”

And yes, darlin’ he did.

UGH.

I’d send him home immediately. eeewwww.

and then he BRAGGED about it when he got inside.  You’re outta here, pup.

West with the broken compass – come on? Really? You didn’t have anything more original than to bring a compass to give that is “broken” pointing West and telling her that when she is lost to use it to find her way back to you? I think some producer put you up to that and you fell for it. sigh.  minus 5 points.

There is a second Ben – Ben C. – and he lost points with me with his put-on French lines he delivered. Another producer-induced moment of stupidity, I think. minus 3 points.

I’m sorry this is so long guys… 25 bachelors – and not many superstars in here to choose from. I promise I’m almost done. Thanks for sticking with me.

I don’t know what was up with the one Bachelor who whipped out his camera to shoot some pictures – that, in and of itself, wasn’t so bad..

It was when he asked Ashley if she’d take a picture of him with Chris Harrison when they got inside that I had to shout at the TV “YOU DID NOT JUST ASK THAT DID YOU!?!?” 

Seriously? Is he here on a sightseeing trip or to be a BACHELOR?!?!  minus 15 points!

Moving on…

Constantine was the final Bachelor out of the limos. I have a soft spot for him as he is a local boy -

I actually saw him today when I was out for lunch at his restaurant. He was playing it all cool talking to a friend about the show.  Of course, I just about fell out of my booth trying to eavesdrop but I didn’t hear anything any good.

He’s cuter in person, by the way.

On to the party – We overhear someone saying that “it’s gonna take a lot of guts or nuts” to get through the night. I just about spit out my tea.  OMG.  That was funny. Especially when you really think about it.  You can take that “nuts” a lot of different ways.

I think that was the highlight of the show for me and just about sums up what I bet this season is going to be all about – Guts & Nuts. LOL

I wonder… do you think the boys will have all the drama that the girls have had in seasons past? Boys don’t typically do drama so if they do, I will put money on it being something producer-induced.  We will see if my prediction holds true.

I’ll save future posts to discuss the two Tims – the jerk and the drunk.  And I will leave you with one final observation.  Of the 16 boys we’re left with (and yes, they are BOYS not men) three look almost identical (Ben F/Constantine/Stephen) most all are brunette (can you call boys brunettes or do you just say they have brown hair?) and most of them appear to be rather self-absorbed.  This will be an interesting season, my friends.

I hope we can stand watching it together.

Until next week, peeps.

Just remember… Guts & Nuts, ladies. Guts & Nuts. ;-)

Project Life Tuesday

 

 

Thought I would share with you the Project Life pictures I’ve taken in the last week:

Sunday: My “other job”

Monday: My feet may be frozen, but they’re cute.

Tuesday: The Animal Jam game addict.

Wednesday: Ouch.

Thursday: My favorite snack is back in season!!

   Friday: My newest “toy”

Saturday: Playing Wii

How about you? Did you capture any everyday pictures last week?
I’m logging these daily on my other ‘photo only’ blog if you want to take a peek.

Menu Plan Monday

It’s here.

Finally.

I can hardly believe it.

The last week of school.

The girls are out as of Wednesday – and we can hardly wait!!

These last three days are really toss-out days anyway. They aren’t doing anything of value – playing games, reading books, watching movies… I don’t know why they don’t just let them out a few days early rather than waste time like this. Most moms look at me like I’m nuts when I say that, but I’m happy to have the girls at home with me – and happy to have our schedule slow down dramatically!

Menu planning this week is based around the 90-degree days we’re going to be having. Lots of grilling and quick and easy suppers. I’m thinking crock pot, grill, and salads.

What about you? Do you change your cooking habits when the weather warms up?

I certainly do.

No more heavy casseroles and soups – we’re all about light, fresh and local foods this time of year.

Here’s what I’ve got planned:

• Cool chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. Have you tried my chicken salad recipe? It’s yummy.
• Tonight: Taco Salads (with leftover taco meat from Friday's taco night)
• Tuesday: Grilled chicken with roasted corn and veggies (cooked on the grill, too)
• Wednesday: Stir Fry chicken & rice
• Thursday: Fajitas or I’m thinking we might grill some pizza one night, too. I have a great dough recipe. Maybe I’ll share that later this week. :-)

That’s probably it as I think we’re going to be taking it easy for the holiday weekend that’s coming up – maybe even taking a little road trip.

Check out orgjunkie.com for more delicious menu ideas for your family!

On another note, the Bachelorette premieres tonight.

A local boy is on the show - the son of the owner of one of our favorite restaurants. 

I will be watching, mostly because I can’t help myself, but also because I’m curious to see how he does – he has seemed like a nice boy as we’ve seen him in the restaurant through the years.

If y’all are interested, I’ll share my thoughts (and witty sarcastic comments) after I watch the episodes each week.  I say that, but I will tell you, the last two seasons I haven’t finished. I just got too disgusted with the silliness and never watched past the second or third episode.

So, we’ll see.

Okay, enough random rambling.

Back to your locally scheduled programming. :-)

What I'm Reading Right Now

I realized I haven’t shared with you any of the books I’ve been reading lately. 

As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time I told you what books I’ve read. (let me check, hang on)

Oh. Wow.

End of March. I’ve done a lot of reading since then. Especially on my trip. Lots of time to read on those airplanes…

 

I guess I’ll pick a couple and share with you…

This is the first one I’ll share. It’s totally a Young Adult-type book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was another Friday Freebie on Barnes & Noble (love that!) and I was only too happy to download it and give it a try.

The premise is around a young (18ish) girl whose aunt dies and leaves her a “legacy” of 13 envelopes. Each envelope contains a “mission” and she can’t open an envelope until she has finished the mission in the previous envelope.

It’s all about learning to experience life, live in the moment, go with the flow, etc.

As a mom, I couldn't help reading it and thinking what mother in their right mind would let her child go traipsing around Europe without adult supervision.  But the story was charming and I enjoyed the escapism of reading it every night.

There is a second one out:

But I haven’t read it (yet) May be poolside reading for this summer.

Once I finished that one, I dove into another YA book that was (yet another) Friday Freebie (or discounted offering, can’t remember)

 

And all I can say is oh.my.goodness.

This was a really good book. Really good series, as a matter of fact.
(there are three books so far in the series)

If you liked the Twilight books, you’d love this. I liked them, although I got a little tired of the sighing and drama of them by the time I got to the last book. Enough already, Bella. Really!

This series is even more well-written.

The story is about a young girl who finds out (through the appearance of some rather interesting appendages) that she is a Faerie.  The story is a mix of fantasy, Arthurian-type legend, teenage romance, and adventure.

I was hooked from the beginning and have read all three in the series and can’t wait for the next one to come out.

I would highly recommend it and even though it is technically classified as Young Adult, it’s really, really good.

So, what are you reading these days?

Just in case you were wondering

I’m a week into having my new phone and I just have to say, I am loving it.  Is it bad to be in love with technology? Because I am.

I have joked that I went over to “the dark side” but I am beginning to think that it might be the opposite.

Seriously.

This is the first phone I have had in a loooong time that I haven’t had to reboot it, kill applications, or take out the battery to reset things. It’s been cruising along, responding to all of my needs without a single hiccup or issue.

And it is making some parts of my life easier – for example, I am doing a great job with my Project Life pictures now – the nifty apps and great camera make it fun to snap pictures – and I don’t have to carry another camera with me (or forget it at home, which usually happened) to capture the everyday.

I’m loving the Instagram app. But I’m sure you’ve heard others rave about it.  It’s just totally cool. I’m also enjoying playing with the Project 365 app, but I have to admit I’m using Instagram more to push my pictures to Facebook & my Project Life blog – it’s just easier to use one application for the editing and publishing.

I’m still figuring things out – like yesterday when I was sitting in the doctor’s office trying to make my ringer go to “mute” and kept setting off the ring tone. LOL Everyone kept looking at me like “what in the heck is she doing?” and I just couldn’t stop giggling because the harder I tried to make the phone be quiet the more noise it made.

Almost like it was a toddler and was determined to disrupt.  It just tickled me and I almost stood up in the waiting room and said “Sorry, it’s a brand new phone and I’m still figuring it out. If you know how to make it shut up, will you help me?”  But, I didn’t.

And speaking of the doctor’s visit – what is it with making you sit in those freezing exam rooms with nothing but thin paper gowns on for almost an hour  only to see the doctor for a grand total of five minutes?  I mean, really? I spent more time frozen and waiting than I did with the doctor. At least there is nothing wrong with me. *pshew* (or at least nothing the doctor needs to worry about, anyway!)

Back to phone-dom. I’m sure that previous paragraph was TMI for some of you. :-)

Other apps I love?

Hmmm…

I’m happy with the SyncML program I have to sync my email and contacts. Because of the interface with my work email this program works beautifully.

I also like Netflix.  Love that I can download and watch a video on my phone (my phone for Pete’s sake! Who would’ve thunk it?)

Any of you iPhone users have any other suggestions for me?

It's a Beautiful Life

I think I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I’m doing Project Life again this year.

I just love this format and have actually moved away from doing any other type of scrapbooking. It’s just so easy and so quick and simple. 
I love being able to snap one picture a day and capture what’s going on without having to worry if I have enough to fill a 2 page spread, or enough journaling to warrant a scrapbook page. I love saving receipts, schoolwork, and other tidbits from life to include in there. (documenting the price of gas, anyone?)

And with my nifty new toy, ahem, phone, I have this really cool application I’m using: Project365. I can snap my picture with the camera on the phone, add it to the app and have a little snippet of journaling to go with the photo.  I’ve even added to that by pushing the photos up to the web so I can share with others. (I bought the Pro version, by the way)

And, when I have time, I can go back, print the photos, put them in the Project Life album add the journaling and I’m done!

So cool.

I want to share my photos with you guys, too.  But I didn’t want to overwhelm my blog here with the photo-a-day posts. So, I set up a photo-only blog over here.

So, anyway, if you want to subscribe to that photo-a-day blog you can.  Or, you can just check occasionally.  I think it would be fun to see other people’s ideas for their photo-a-day projects.  Some days I have tons of ideas, others, I’m struggling with coming up with an idea for ONE photo!!

You can find the link to the blog up in the top right corner of this blog.

Of course, there are some great websites with some ideas: Capture Your 365 is one. I like that she sends daily emails to remind you, although I’ve not used any of her ideas yet.

Becky Higgins’ Facebook page has some great photo-a-day ideas, too. I sat down last night and went through all of hers and jotted them down in a notebook (my lovely little moleskine) that I can carry around to give me inspiration when I need it.

What about you?

Are you doing a photo-a-day project?

What do you do with your pictures? 

Share! Share! I’d love to hear some of your ideas…

del.icio.us Tags: project life,project 365,photo a day,scrapbooking

I love these guys

Ever have one of those moments where your breath is taken away because you’re just overwhelmed with love?

Yeah, me too, every time I look at this picture.

I’m a lucky girl.

I love these guys so much!

Menu Plan Monday

Wow. What a whirlwind it’s been the past few weeks. Someone told me last night that I looked tired. Uh, yeah! I’m tired! BIG GIANT CAPITAL LETTERS TIRED!

I will be SO happy when school is out – one less thing to keep up with and get up early for! Our schedule will slow down drastically and I can’t wait.  I think the girls are in complete agreement, although I know they will be bored within a week or two of the summer break.

We’re all still sniffly-headed. I’m beginning to wonder if it is allergies and not a cold, because it has been going on for two weeks now.  And typical over-the-counter cold meds don’t seem to touch it. I didn’t think we’d still be dealing with allergies this late in the season, but we have a weird spring/summer thing going right now.

It’s cold and rainy/dreary here today.

Eeyore weather.

Winnie the Pooh weather.

And then, true to the schitzo weather we’re having, it will be in the upper 80’s by the weekend. Crazy. No wonder we’re sick.

I’ve sort of got a menu plan this week… trying to use some of the food in the freezer and utilize the crock pot to make it easier on me. I’m going to focus on comfort foods and flexibility, too. Cooking based on the crazy weather as well as our sniffly heads.

• Tonight we’re doing chicken & dumplings. I’m using my crock-pot short cut recipe.
• I cooked some ribs over the weekend, so we’ll have those probably Tuesday night for dinner.
• Crock Pot Lasagne (using the leftover spaghetti sauce extras from SuperMan’s manly luncheon last week)
• Chicken Pot Pie  (using the leftover broth/chicken from the dumplings)
• I’m also hungry for some grilled shrimp. May try this recipe with some pasta with a garlic cream sauce. I could do some grilled chicken for the girls.
• And we’ll most likely round out the week with pizza or tacos on Friday night.

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for some more Menu Plan Monday ideas!

Sunday Silliness

There is nothing like starting your day with a giggle (or two)

Little Bit found this today – and we’ve watched it about a thousand times so far and giggled every time.

If you love dogs, you will love this.

Even if you don’t love dogs, this is funny.

Enjoy!

We are BORG

Well, we did it.

We finally succumbed.

After fighting with my Droid phone all week last week on my business trip (and losing the battle most of the time) I decided I’d had enough.  After driving down the freeway in California with no idea where I was going – and my lovely Droid decides it’s time to lock up/freeze/go into la-la land… After turning my fully-charged phone OFF for a 3 hour flight, only to turn it on when we land and find a 90% DEAD battery (um, ok, where did the charge go?)…. I was done. Finis. Kaput. ENOUGH already.

SuperMan’s phone, coincidentally decided that it really didn’t want to charge on a consistent basis, either. His blackberry was over 2 (almost 3?) years old and it had been used and abused enough.

So, I bit the bullet and decided to get us both new phones.

and not just any new phones…

iPhones.

Yes, we did it.

We are BORG.

We have been assimilated.

I can’t really give you a thorough review of the phones yet, because they just arrived yesterday and I’ve made a grand total of ONE phone call on mine, but I can tell you this. They were the easiest to activate, set up and load up of any smart phone I’ve had to date. And that includes all the extras I have to set up for my work access (VPN, chat, email, etc.) Super simple.

His and hers.

Yin and Yang.

(excuse the messy desk, please)

Aren’t they pretty?

We’re so excited. You’d think we’d gotten a puppy and not a phone.

The girls are thrilled, too.

Big Girl got my “old” ipod touch.  Little Bit inherited Big Girl’s ipod nano.

So, we really are BORG.

But it’s OK.

It’s like I told someone the other day.  You get what you pay for. And with Apple, you may pay a little more, but you know it’s high quality.

I’ll post again in a month or so and let you know what I think about the day-to-day responsiveness and use. It will be an interesting comparison to what I had.

Although, I have to say… I think my poor Droid was just overtaxed and underequipped (memory-wise) to handle what I tried to make it do. I have talked to TONS of people (including total strangers in the airports last week- I did an informal poll to see what people thought of their phones) and lots of people (with newer Droids) were thrilled with theirs.  I think mine was just not configured to handle what I needed it to do.

WE ARE BORG.

Recipe Wednesday (sort of)

I’m still under the weather and feeling pretty rotten. This “bug” is a pretty nasty one and it’s taking it’s toll on me. I feel like a limp noodle with a raw throat. Don’t think it is strep, though (a couple of you have asked) so I’m just taking my vitamins and listening to my body.

Since I feel so lousy, I’m not really thinking about food… or recipes.  So, rather than leave you hanging with nothing new today, I thought I would share a few recipes I’ve bookmarked on Delicious that I want to try someday.

If you have a recipe to share, add to the list by including it in a comment below. Maybe we’ll all get some new ideas to try out someday soon!

• The Best Flank Steak You Will Ever Have – Tasty Kitchen

• Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Tomatillo Salsa Recipe - Every Day with Rachael Ray

• Ham and Cheese Sliders - Annie's Eats

• Lemon Sugar Cookie Recipe - Two Peas and Their Pod

• Beef 'N' Broccoli Stir-Fry Recipe - Taste of Home Recipes

• Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites - Two Peas and Their Pod

So, what have you got to share? Let’s see!

"Gel" Manicure: Day 11

I decided to treat myself to a mani/pedi right before my trip last week. The ladies at the nail salon talked me into getting a “gel” manicure. It’s where they put a gel/polish compound on your nails and “cure” it under a UV light for 2-3 minutes. The manicure is supposed to last for 3 weeks and I figured even if it only lasted for one week, that was longer than the manicures I usually get. I’m a frequent hand-washer and I’m hard on manicures.  So, I thought, why not? Pretty nails for the meetings & travel would be nice.

So, here is what they look like – 10 days out from the manicure.

I got a lot of compliments on my nails last week & over the weekend. Which was surprising, because that’s not normally something people notice or comment on (for me, anyway)

You can see there is a little growth of my nails, but they still look nice. 

I did have one casualty – this morning – I think it is from all the hand washing I’ve been doing with this dratted cold I have. The corner just peeled up. The nail underneath doesn’t look bad – I was worried that this might damage my nails (they told me it wouldn’t, but I was skeptical) but they seem to have survived okay. So, a week and a half out, I’m still satisfied with the manicure.  Would I do it again? Probably. For a special occasion.  On a regular basis? Probably not. It is just more high-maintenance than my life is geared for right now.

But I’m enjoying the pretty nails while they last. :-)

Running the Gauntlet

Well, I survived.

barely.

Well, not really. But it felt that way a few times last week.

What a week.

Gracious.

I am soooo glad I don’t travel for a living anymore. I can’t believe I did it for almost 10 years, but that was 10 years ago and I had more stamina then, I guess. I certainly couldn’t do that full-time again. Nor would I want to.

I ended up sick all week with a rotten cold and so on top of the crazy travel, I had sleepless nights (thanks to the stuffy head and wire-you-up decongestants) and lots of snotty tissues (gross, but, hey, it’s reality)

You may have noticed no posts on Thursday/Friday. Those were my marathon travel days – where I really did feel like I was running a gauntlet.  I was in survival mode and had no extra “gumption” for a blog post.

But, I have to say, the week was a smashing success.  Other than one little hiccup on Monday morning, everything went smoothly and I had the most wonderful time with my colleagues. They are a great bunch of people and I truly enjoyed spending time with them while we accomplished the goals we’d set for the week.

Here was my “office” on Monday:

I worked from the hotel room because my meetings for the day were canceled.

These are the sweet ladies I spent my week with:

  We enjoyed an early Cinco de Mayo dinner on Wednesday night…

This week, it’s back to my usual routine. I’m so happy to be home. Only thirteen more days of school for the girls and then things will really slow down.  The girls were talking about it this morning – about how they can’t wait to wake up when they want to as opposed to when the school system wants them to! I think we’ll all enjoy that.

I’ve got a big shopping trip planned today – restocking the kitchen and back to my normal cooking routine.  Here’s what’s on our menu for this week (so far) – I let SuperMan and the girls dictate the menu to me yesterday so it’s mostly their favorites:

• Pizza Braid (and maybe crock pot lasagna, I’m hungry for it)
• Asian Chicken Stir Fry
• Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (maybe)
• BBQ sandwiches
• Meatloaf (maybe)
• Grilled chicken (on Friday when SuperMan is home to man the grill)

Join us over at orgjunkie.com for some more menu planning ideas.

Spring Garden Salad

This recipe comes from an amalgamation of a friend’s recipe for a broccoli salad and a Kraft recipe for a vegetable salad. I kind of mixed it all together to create this concoction, which is really quite good.

I hope you enjoy!

Spring Garden Salad

1-2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped (about 4-5 cups)
1 cup broccoli crowns, chopped
1/2 cup matchstick cut carrots (or shredded carrots)
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raisins or craisins (we like the craisins best)
3-4 slices cooked, crumbled bacon

Toss it all together. Chill & enjoy.

 

del.icio.us Tags: recipes,salad recipes

Kitchen Tips: Buttermilk

I thought I would share some of the tips/tricks I’ve learned in the kitchen – many through trial and error, but even more through panicked phone calls to my momma. The “Help! NOW what do I do?” type of calls.

One of my favorite tricks is making my own “buttermilk” to use in recipes. I love the tang and the brightness that buttermilk brings to recipes, but I don’t use enough of it to keep it perpetually stocked in my refrigerator. I buy those little pint bottles from time to time, but I always feel guilty when I have to toss it because it’s gone bad and I’ve not used it all up. And “bad” buttermilk is a bad thing, my friend. Good buttermilk smells nasty. “Bad” buttermilk? Gulp. It’s awful.

So, what’s a girl to do when she has a craving for some scones or biscuits – and there is no buttermilk around?

Well, I can tell you this much ~ THIS girl isn’t going to get in the car and drive to the market just for buttermilk. Especially since these cravings usually occur when I’m still bed-headed and pajama-clad. No way, Jose.

In lieu of buttermilk, I fall back on my favorite pseudo-buttermilk tricks – and I thought I’d share those with you here.

1. Pour/squeeze 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice in a measuring cup. Fill the cup to the 1 Cup mark with milk. Stir and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes.  The milk will curdle and you’ll have “buttermilk.”
2. The same works with white vinegar if you don’t have any lemon juice around.
3. Martha Stewart recommends substituting 1/2 cup plain yogurt mixed with 2 Tablespoons of milk (for 1/2 cup of “buttermilk”)
4. I’ve also heard of people thinning sour cream with milk to substitute for buttermilk, but I’ve not tried that (yet)

There are a few other ideas over on the GoodLife Eats blog.

I hope this helps the next time you decide to try out my blueberry-lemon scones for breakfast one day.