So Close

It is so close.

I can see myself running on new bike trails

I see making new friends

I see discovering new places to shop and eat and exercise

I see a new yoga master there, recommended by my current teacher

I see our cats enjoying new space

I see our belongings unpacked

I see myself uncluttering with joy

I see our new laundry room

I see hanging art on the walls

I see sunshine coming in the windows

I see cooking and baking healthy, yummy food

I see my husband coming home from work, tired and happy

I see the beginning of our family

I see peaceful space

I see responsible choices and a happy budget

I see traveling

I see hosting visitors

I see a new puppy and walks and dog parks

I see happy work with a nonprofit I believe in

I see a functional and comfortable home office

I see photos of family and friends everywhere

I see fresh garden produce from my garden

I see community service and a connection with our new home

I see checking out the University, maybe taking classes or workshops

I see continuing to blog and to write and to share

I see a home
I see independence
I see growth
I see quality
I see love


~ Donald's official position offer is just out of reach. We should know something more concrete in the next few weeks. We spent the weekend looking at apartment options online, to move in March. Significant, possibly sudden, transition dances enticingly at the beginning of spring. Fitting. ~

Answers

I'm back from my travels and happily greeted by smiling faces in my kitchen with caring and insightful questions. I thought the best way to respond to them would be in a new post. See below.

suZen asked, "What makes your heart sing? What flower best reflects your personality? And if you could ask anyone else (living or dead) to have coffee with us - who?"

My heart sings when I see or think of fields leading to mountains, both covered in green, flowing grass and sparse little wildflowers, the sky grey and trembling with thunderheads, a breeze tossing my hair around, bringing the scent of clean, refreshing rain. I feel free and wild.

My heart also sings when I think of our future children, how I will hold them, dress them, bathe them, sing and read to them, watch them sleep, and dream with them. I already have so many hopes for their futures and I am so excited to teach them and learn from them.

I had to think hard about the flower question. I'm ashamed to admit that I went straight to the internet to find some "what flower are you?" quizzes. The scary thing is, the two I tried came up with the same answer, which was one of the flowers bouncing around in my mind before I looked at the quizzes. I am a lily.

If I could ask anyone else, living or dead, to have coffee with us, it would be my great-grandmother, Nana. She died when I was in middle school just before her 100th birthday and I think of her often. I want to be able to ask her questions about our family and about my journey. She lived through so many amazing and challenging times. I want to learn from her, through her own words.

jchristin asked, "Well, first, what is your favorite baked good, and what is your favorite beverage? And my favorite question to get to know someone is what is it that truly makes your heart happy, and what is the first thing you think to do when you have precious "free" time....."

My favorite baked good is probably the chocolate chip cookie bars my grandmother made. My favorite beverage is probably sparkling fruit juice.

My heart is truly happy when it sings about the things I wrote above. The first thing I do with free time is... Well, I suppose that depends on what free time is. I have a hard time concentrating if our space isn't picked up and clean. For example, I had free time this morning before I went to work and I cleaned the bathroom. No joke. Then I paid bills. I love having time to get productive things done.

True free time, though, would probably be a toss up between walking with Donald, writing, and gardening. Video games do pop themselves in there sometimes though - they relax me.

Sandi asked, "My question to you would be If you were a house, what would you be like? A rambler, a colonial, a Cape Cod? How many rooms and what room is your favorite? Can you describe it for me?"

I love this question! I would like to beg off answering it yet - I think it needs its own post and I want to think it through carefully.

Wilma asked, "My favorite question is how do you like to spend your holidays and what was the one you remember the best?"

I like to spend my holidays surrounded by family, in any setting (our house, their houses, a destination location). Thanksgiving and Christmas are probably the biggest for our families. The best ones were probably those held at one of my grandparents' homes because we didn't get to see them more than once a year or so when I was growing up. The true gift was spending time with them, even if we didn't always appreciate that at the time.

Thank you so much for all of these questions! I look forward to more!

Dinners 3 to 6

I am lagging behind on telling you about our dinners on our own!

I wrote about Dinners 1 and 2 with some projections for what was coming up. Those got changed since I wasn't feeling well when I got home on Thursday. We got Chinese take-out (#3). We had the salmon dish on Friday and it was really yummy, although I overdid the parsley - way too much! The salmon cooked perfectly and the potatoes and mushrooms had a great fall flavor. We'll definitely make it again, especially because it was really quick (#4).

On Saturday, I was successful in making my mom's chili (#5). This is one of those recipes that produces different results every time. I have made it often enough that I didn't use a recipe at all, and this batch was really yummy. I served it over freshly baked corn bread (from a box mix) and since we didn't have normal cheddar, I grated sharp white cheddar over it. Sharp white has more flavor than regular cheddar, so given a choice I'd go with the normal stuff to avoid overshadowing the flavor of the chili. I should also note that my chili balances meat, beans and veggies. I ordered chili in England once and was very confused when they brought out a bowl of ground beef and no beans in sight. Mad-cow, anyone?

I did some more recipe research online over the weekend and discovered a Chicken Tikka Masala recipe on The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Donald had been craving Indian food and I didn't want to go out and spend money, so this was a compromise. It ended up being really yummy (#6). I over-seasoned the chicken, so the cumin taste ended up really strong, so be careful with that. Donald said we could make it for his parents sometime, a real compliment.

Tonight we're having dinner out with Donald's brother, although I don't know where we're going yet. Tomorrow night we're finally having the pasta with sausage and broccoli dish. And then the in-laws return!

Oh, I also made the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies again that I posted about here. This time, I gave Donald one just out of the oven, still gooey in the middle, and he moaned. I nearly dropped a pan of raw cookie dough. When he told me the cookies were nearly as good as sex with me, I took it as a compliment. Wouldn't you?

Dinners 1 and 2

We're on our own again and I've been in charge of cooking dinner. So far, so good. Almost all of my recipes will be coming from Real Simple Magazine.

On Tuesday night, we had hamburgers and Grilled Zucchini Salad with Lemon and Scallions. I made Pioneer Woman's favorite burger and Donald made his own. The burgers were really yummy. The zucchini salad had something lacking, I'm not sure what. It was very plain and simple, very quick and easy to make, and didn't have a lot of flavor. We each had a light beer with it. I'm not sure we'll do the zucchini again (there are better zucchini dishes out there, I'm sure); the burgers will always be a hit.

Last night, Wednesday night, we had Chicken Cutlets (part of this recipe) and caprese salad (tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella, and basil). The salad was made with tomatoes and basil from the garden and was exquisite. It is my favorite thing to eat in the whole wide world. The chicken was very quick and easy, and again, plain and without much flavor. We each had a glass of red wine with this meal. Donald and I agreed that we should definitely make it again on a quick dinner night, and that it would be great for kids and not company.

Tonight, the plan is to have Roasted Salmon with Potatoes and Mushrooms. I haven't cooked fish before, so it might be an adventure. The weather is definitely turning into fall, so this seems like a hearty meal, perfect to kick off football season tonight!

Tomorrow night we'll probably have pasta with sausage and broccoli over it (I can't seem to find the recipe online right now). I'm making my mom's chili over the weekend. I need to find a few more recipes since we are on our own until Tuesday (I thought it was Sunday originally). Any suggestions?

Dinner and Dessert

I had two culinary successes this weekend!

Dinner was Chicken Kebabs with Grilled Corn and Tomato Salad from Real Simple Magazine. I did everything except man the grill - I decided that could be Donald's job.

I mentioned in my other post about the weekend that I handled raw chicken for the first time in years to make this recipe. In the past, that has also been Donald's job. For whatever reason, I have had a hard time dealing with raw meat - sight, texture, etc. - and I had gotten in the habit of passing it off to him. This time I was determined to do it myself, without using tongs!

The meal was a huge success! Donald and I had never had grilled corn before and it actually tastes different than boiling it. Donald remarked that the charred kernels tasted a little like popcorn. The only change I would make is to skip the salt on the tomato salad. Oh, and I used cherry tomatoes from the garden, of course.

Dessert was Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, posted by Cookie Momster on Tasty Kitchen. The batch I made resulted in about 4-dozen cookies, which was awesome when I calculated the calorie count at 137 calories per cookie. My finished cookies were about 2-3 inches in diameter. I followed the recipe exactly and used shiny (not non-stick), un-greased cookie sheets. I also had to leave them on the pan for about a minute before trying to move them to a cooling rack. They needed to harden a little and not crumble into happy little bite-sized pieces (Oh dear! nom nom).

These cookies will forever be in my recipe book from now on. Donald's parents had some after dinner last night and they both scolded me for bringing something so delicious into their home. I enjoyed that very much.

Hopefully there will be some left when I get home this evening.

Return to Adulthood

I mentioned on my Twitter feed yesterday that Donald and I have the house to ourselves until Sunday. I was so excited that I was giddy when I came home from work. I was overjoyed to:

Go to the grocery store because
(1) I hadn't set foot in the store for at least a month, probably more;
(2) Donald and I used to have a weekly ritual of going to the grocery store together;
(3) I had planned our dinner menu for the night and I couldn't wait to try a new recipe.

Cook because
(1) Except for the dessert I made a couple weekends ago, I hadn't cooked in months;
(2) I was making a new recipe;
(3) I feel like I'm fulfilling my role as Donald's wife (more on this in another post).

We also got to have a quiet dinner for two, something we never get to do when the in-laws are home, and something we won't get to do once we're lucky enough to have a family. It's something to cherish.

It also helped that dinner was fabulous! Ree, if you read my blog at all, you should know that I also love your favorite burger. It tasted like heaven last night. The caramelized onions were the perfect complement to the blue cheese. You'll laugh though - we used less ground beef than your recipe called for, but still used the same amount of salt and pepper! We'll fix that next time! I have never had such a juicy burger. I will be making this again (and maybe next time I won't make Donald handle the meat. I know, it's something I need to work on).

The thing that made me most excited though, was a return to adulthood. My in-laws don't treat us like children, but the simple fact that we are living under their roof means that we cannot be independent adults. Last night, we were completely responsible for ourselves again. No one would do anything for us. We had to do it ourselves. I felt liberated. I jumped up and down and whooped and shouted "I love my husband!" I felt whole again and so did he.

Before we went to bed, we laid down on our backs outside and tried to see the Perseid meteor shower. Despite the light pollution from the big city nearby, I saw one and made a wish. I won't tell you what it was.

Burgers!

The Pioneer Woman just made me hungry. I must try this burger. I was browsing the Cowgirl Food recipes on The Pioneer Woman Cooks and my taste buds will not rest until I have feasted on its awesomeness.

PW's description of her high maintenance burger preference hit home with me too, especially because she and I are both former vegetarians. When Donald and I met in college, I didn't eat red meat and only ate chicken occasionally, for a protein fix. Donald, of course, was a happy meat eater, and we politely agreed to disagree.

I definitely blame Donald for my return to eating red meat. It started gradually. I'd catch a whiff of meat cooking when we drove by a restaurant on a road trip, "Mmmh! That smells good!" He would laugh and look at me out of the corner of his eye (his eyes were on the road, of course), and reply "You know that's meat, right?" I had no good response.

The best part was the first time I ordered a burger at a restaurant. Donald looked at me like I had just given him the keys to an Aston Martin. He was so surprised and giddy that when I actually enjoyed the burger I had ordered, he would have proposed to me all over again. Since then, I think it still surprises him when I order a burger, but I'm quite picky about them. They must be medium-well done (I can't handle pink). They must have something fancy on them (like blue cheese). And they cannot be fast food.

The ONLY exception I have made to this burger rule is In-N-Out Burger. Those are heaven, I don't care what you say.

Gardening

Gardening makes me happy. I love the feel of dirt under my fingernails, the quick, satisfying jerk of pulling out weeds, and the nearly immediate gratification of rearranging a tomato plant to make it happier and healthier.

This image makes me happy:



So does this one:



I just cannot get enough of how rewarding it is to be able to grow food. It tastes better. It doesn't take that much time to maintain. It lets me get my hands dirty. And I get to wear the cutest sun hat.

Do you garden? What do you plant? What is your favorite part? Least favorite?

Cookie Monster!

My last post about counting calories made me hungry!

I have enjoyed baking since I started living with Donald, mostly because he loves eating everything I make. That sometimes derails our desire to manage our weight, but I'm ok with that. I used to bake blueberry scones every Saturday, especially in the winter when it felt good to stand in an oven-warmed kitchen. I learned how to make pie crust shortly before hosting my family for Thanksgiving. I made an apple pie and a pecan pie, my first ever! And they actually turned out well. I loved baking cookies, especially when we could take them over to a new neighbor or to work for someone's birthday, or just because. For me, baking is about sharing.

Since Donald and I moved in with his parents, however, I haven't had the same opportunities. My pans and mixer and utensils are boxed up in storage, and even though Donald's mother has a well-equipped kitchen, it's not the same. It has also taken several months to feel comfortable using her kitchen as I would my own. I also didn't know that I missed baking until I came across one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, a piece of the entire Pioneer Woman blog (which I also highly recommend, especially her story of how she and her husband met - I was riveted for several days).

So last weekend, I whipped up a wonderful thing called Earthquake Cake. It's a very easy recipe and the whole family oohed and aahed over it. We cut the 9x13 pan into 16 pieces (only 218 calories per piece!) and it was gone within three days. Donald says it was especially good with a little vanilla ice cream on the side. I will definitely be making that again!

Now to figure out what I should make next! Any suggestions?

Calorie Counting

I mentioned controlling my calorie intake in my last post and I wanted to follow up with a tool that has really helped me. It's an iPhone application called LoseIt! It's super simple to use and it has taught me a lot about the calorie content of what I eat. You can set it to help you lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your weight, and it calculates the number of calories you should eat per day based on your height and age. Donald and I have been using it for a month or two now, and coupled with a little added exercise, we have lost at least 20 pounds together.

The most important thing it taught me was about portion size. Now that I'm paying more attention, I feel good knowing that I'm taking charge of my health and that makes me feel good and in control. Our weight loss is likely to be maintained because we have educated ourselves about what we eat and how many daily calories are healthy. AND, we don't have to skip dessert if we don't want to - just take a walk or eat a little less for the rest of the day.

Counting calories is not everything of course. This app doesn't judge whether your daily calorie allotment is spent on donuts or salad. It's simply a tool. Debates rage about the best way to evaluate the food we eat for nutritional value, as well as how to calculate a healthy weight for someone - BMI, waist circumference, etc. - especially because of recent news on the obesity "epidemic". Hopefully there will be more and more tools and information available to the public so we can all have what we need to make good food choices. When in doubt, though, moderation is key.

Do you struggle with your weight? What would help you? What are your biggest challenges? What can we do to help?

Jimmy John's #12

This is my favorite Jimmy John's sandwich, #12 (hold the sprouts):

I walk to my local Jimmy John's for lunch every few weeks or so for this delectable treat. However, I'm also watching my calories so I avoid what some refer to as "Secretary Spread". Therefore, I enjoy half of my #12 on the first day and the remaining half the next day. It keeps pretty well (refrigerated) and then I get an awesome sandwich two days in a row. It's especially helpful when I don't feel like making my lunch.

If you have never been to a Jimmy John's, I highly encourage it. The staff are always upbeat and say hello and goodbye and the sandwiches are made lightning-quick. I also recommend getting a pickle to go with your sandwich. Enjoy!