A Favorite Song

When I'm cleaning the house, I really enjoy playing worship music and having a sweet time talking to my Father. Besides the shower, it's really the only time I sing very loud, or let myself cry. :) Lol! Today I was playing my favorite mix on my ipod while I was cleaning the house. I am not really very awake in the morning so I usually read my Bible at night. But music in the morning, now that I can do! This is the words to one of my favorites--a sweet reminder that our God is everything that we need!

1. God My God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God be near, calm my fear
And take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up,
Your love is all that draws me in

C. I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

2. God my God let mercy sing
A melody over me
God right here all I bring is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up,
Your love is all that draws me in

Yams!

I have really enjoyed the variety of fruits and veggies that I've been eating lately. I have been trying lots of new things. Today I decided to bake a yam for lunch. When you're eating vegan, your protein comes from nuts, beans, soy products, etc. So I wanted to add some protein and some fruit to my meal. I decided to give the recipe for this impromptu delicious potato in pictures. :)

One ripe, seedless tangerine. Halved & sectioned (like you would do to a grapefruit.)

One ripe pineapple, quartered. 

 Save 3 quarters for something else.

Slice into chunks

Put the tangerine juice & pineapple chunks into a small pot. Squeeze the pineapple juice from the skin into the pot. Add 1/2 tbsp soy butter.

 While the pineapple heats through, open the baked yam and add 2 tsp soy butter.

 Toss a handful of cashews into the pot about 3 minutes into cook time (I had it on medium heat). I use raw, unsalted cashews from Whole Foods.

 Add the tangerine sections.

 Cook JUST until heated through. It took about 5 minutes total.

 After pouring some of the fruit juices onto my yam, I wanted it a little sweeter so I added 1/2 packet of truvia.

Top the yam with yumminess and eat it.

This was really good, but next time I will cut up the yam & fruits, add the nuts & soy butter, and bake it all together. I think it would be really good baked. :) Happy Monday!!

My Silly Furbabies

I love my furkids, which is obvious to anyone who knows me. Here, some shots from the last few days.

Naptime. This lasts only about 30 seconds once they realize we have seen them. 

Innocent little faces. :)

The cat does not like to be seen being nice to the dog. But the next occurrence cracked me up.....

The dog needed a bath...so the cat decided to hold him down and wash him. 

"Man, you are just STINKY!! Let me give you a tuna breath bath!"

I gave the little munchkin a bath...he hates being cold. 

Giving me stinker face...

Mission Impossible: Cluttered Kitchen

Today as I was drinking my morning tea I got overwhelmed with a sense of clutter in the kitchen. Every surface had something on it (including the top of the refrigerator which drives me CRAZY) and every cabinet I opened seemed to be a jumble of junk. I lost some storage space when we moved but that is NO EXCUSE for clutter!! I pulled back my hair and got to work! I spent 2 hours re-organazing and condensing. Finally all of the cabinets are in order. I feel sane again. One of my challenges when I organize is finding space for Rich's list of "required snackage" that must take up all the cupboards. Our house must always be stocked with popcorn, fruit snacks, chips, cracker packs (those little sandwich crackers), etc. But finally today I found a place for everything. We will see how long it lasts. I should have taken before & afters but I didn't think about it!!

My bottom cabinet on the left of the oven

The cabinet above the stove. Notice the repurposed goldfish box in the left corner, which now holds 6 different kinds of popcorn. That's minus 6 boxes :)

Some of the stuff I had to find space for in the next cabinet picture

If you notice, on the bottom right I put the bread--no more bread on top of the fridge! yay!

The ultra clean EMPTY shiny top of the fridge

The cabinet over the fridge. I like having my Dutch oven on the stove cause I think it's pretty but lately it just feels cluttery!!

The top of the microwave--the large container won't stay, it has muffins that I made yesterday. Vegan chocolate ones :)

Another cabinet--my rice cooker, recipe box, measuring cups, and some "snackage," among other things

Under the kitchen sink--before

Under the kitchen sink--after!

Mixing bowls, tupperware, pots & pans, and cutting boards. Another bottom cabinet.

There's nothing better than a glass pedestal bowl to hold snackage

All the empty boxes from the things I "condensed" and random junk that shall no more live in my house.

Tra la la a superclean-neat-organized-awesome-nirvana space. :)

"Burgers" & "Chick'n"

I've made more yummy vegan meals, so far nothing I won't make again! Yesterday I had a veggie burger on a whole-wheat organic vegan bun, steamed green beans and a crunchy dill pickle from a local farm. Yum! Today for lunch I was CRAVING Chinese food so I used Gardein's Mandarin Orange"Chick'n" to make a tasty stir fry. I used a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, some steamed brown rice, and the Gardein Chick'n. After it was stir fried it had a really crispy texture not too far off from take-out Chinese! I'm not in love with brown rice yet and the stir-fry veggies lacked flavor for me, so I added some Thai peanut satay sauce that I had in the fridge, that happens to be vegan! It was delish! The best part is I have leftovers since most things are for at least 2 people and Rich probably won't be touching brown rice, asian veggies or fake Chick'n anytime soon!!

My veggie burger meal

The "Chinese Chick'n" (It actually tasted more Thai once I added the peanut sauce!! Sooo good!)

"Chick'n" means...NOT REAL!!! But it was very good!

Whole Foods!!

Today I went to Whole Foods to get my week's worth of organic produce, and also to get some smoothie fruits to puree & freeze in ice trays and use over the next few weeks. (Hereafter known as "smoothie cubes.") I also needed some other odds & ends, some whole wheat tortillas and short grain brown rice, among other things. I found an abundance of things today! I filled the kitchen sink with delicious stuff. My kitchen smelled like the Garden of Eden as I got everything washed and prepped.

Coconut, red kale, scallions, mangoes, papayas, bananas, nectarines, lemons, tangerines, yams, potatoes, onions, sweet corn, pineapple, apples, & bell peppers. 

I made both "green veggie" and "tropical sunrise" smoothie cubes. For the green cubes, I pureed a bunch of fresh spinach and 4 red kale leaves. I added 1/2 cup of Green Machine juice (which has fruit in it) and the juice of 3 ripe lemons. I put it into ice cube trays to freeze. I add just 1 cube to my smoothies just to give them something green. For the tropical cubes, I pureed 2 bananas, 2 papayas, 2 mangoes, and some of the flesh of a small fresh coconut. The tropical mix didn't need any additional juice, but I added the juice of 2 limes for flavor. 

For dinner I had a brown rice & veggie burrito. It was delicious. It takes forever to cook brown rice, but I did it (and made extra; I don't have the patience to do it very often) and I seasoned it with taco seasoning and added Rotel tomatoes & jalapenos. On my burrito, I layered refried beans, steamed corn, guacamole, brown rice, fresh tomatoes, salsa, and pepperjack flavored daiya "cheese." It was super yummy. I couldn't finish the whole thing...as with tacos I tend to overfill it till you can't even close the tortilla. 

Then I cut all the fresh corn (6 ears) off the cob and steamed it so that it's ready to go for meals this week. And I have 4 leftover containers of brown rice for future meals--2 plain, and 2 of the burrito style rice. I think later this week I will make meatless tacos and use some of the rice with that. Or I might freeze it and use it next week. And no, I am NOT forcing Rich to endure meatlessness. I have all of his regular meaty meals all ready for him. There are hot dogs, turkey "ham", ground turkey, chicken tenderloins, etc. for him. Tomorrow for lunch he is having "ham", mac-n-cheese, and corn. 

Cheers!

Veggie Pizza

Today I made vegan pizza for lunch. Since everything making up the pizza grew from the ground, I think it should count as a salad. :) Haha! I used a whole wheat organic vegan crust from Whole Foods. They only make a large crust that I can find so I cut it into quarters and use 1/4 for each meal. First I brushed the edges of the crust with a teaspoon of olive oil, then spread a little garlic tomato sauce over it. I added daiya "cheese" (mozzarella style) and then topped my pizza with fresh Portobello mushroom, sliced black olives, and red bell pepper. I baked it for about 10 minutes at 400 just until the "cheese" melted. It is delicious. I think for me the only thing that is missing is some garlic and pizza seasoning. I'll probably add fresh garlic and sprinkle pizza seasoning on next time. Buon Appetito!!

Veggie Land

Recently I decided to try a few weeks of vegetarian eating and then a month of vegan eating. For about 10 days now, I have been eating vegetarian food and making vegan choices whenever possible. I've been surviving pretty well, actually!! I even made it in meatland today (Aka Chili's) which barely has anything veg-friendly. I had a cup of sweet corn soup, chips and salsa, and a Caribbean salad without the chicken. Tonight we took Amber to Menchies' and went to Subway for dinner. I had sorbet and fresh fruit at Menchies, which is veg friendly, and had a veggie delite sub on honey oat bread. Yum. I've been surprised at the yummy veggie foods I've found. Starting July 1, I'll be attempting 30 days of vegan eating so look out for blog updates on how that goes! So far I feel a lot better after less than 2 weeks. Cheers!

A Lazy Day

Amber & I slept in today, spent a couple of hours lounging at the pool, had lunch at Fuddruckers' (Rich got to come too!!) got pedicures, and did some grocery shopping. I had every intention of making dinner, but as it turned out none of us were really hungry. Amber & I had ice cream & watched Gnomeo & Juliet. I had a defrosted whole chicken that I needed to cook. I'm again, trying to use up everything in the house. I decided to use up some other things in the house that needed to be used--lemons and a head of garlic. I squeezed the juice of one lemon into a bowl, along with the head of garlic--unpeeled, just cut in half--a few tablespoons of light tasting olive oil, and dried basil. I poured all that into the cavity of the chicken. Then I sliced another lemon into quarters and stuck that in the chicken cavity, as well. I salted and peppered the bird, poured some olive oil under and over the skin, and then sprinkled on some poultry seasoning. I decided to use some coriander and fennel, too. I crushed it a bit with my mortar and pestle, and poured some into the cavity. I dumped the rest on the bird's breast and put it in the oven to roast. It turned out extremely moist and juicy. Unfortunately I only tried a couple of bites of it--just enough to confirm that it was yummy. I've been on a vegetarian kick for a couple of weeks, and I have to say not much meat or dairy has found its way onto my plate (even the "ice cream" I had tonight was dairy free). That's a totally separate post. But overall I am having a great time relaxing with an old friend, and that's a pretty good thing. :)

Pot & A Pitbull

Around 3:30 today a lady calls the office and tells me that her son decided to take his dog for a run and the dog was acting a bit strange. Heat stroke would be pretty typical during these stifling summer months, so I asked the woman to bring the dog in for assessment. When she arrived with her son and the dog in tow, I initially thought that the dog was suffering from heat stroke. He wasn't steady on his feet, and he just looked a bit crazy in the eyes. Once he got in the exam room with the Dr., further examination revealed some strange symptoms that had nothing to do with the heat. The Dr. was really suspicious that the dog had gotten into some drugs. After nearly an hour and a half of ridiculousness, the dog starts vomiting up marijuana. As the dog is vomiting up pot everywhere, the 23-year-old looks the Dr in the eye and says "There is no way that my dog ate any weed!!" Finally we get it out of the kid that the dog did eat some (No, DUH!!). People never cease to amaze me. Fortunately the dog has been treated and left the hospital recovering smoothly. Good grief!

Easiest Man Dinner Ever

Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for the simple fare that my husband craves. Tonight I had Szechuan chicken and noodle stir fry. Chicken, carrots, bok choy, peppers, and all kids of other yumminess tossed with lo mein noodles and unbelievably spicy Szechuan sauce is not Rich's idea of a good time. On those night that he won't be thrilled to share my cuisine, I have a Plan B--Man Food. It is the simplest dish in the world, and loves it. I put it in a small loaf pan and it's just right.

1 c dry pasta (I like ziti or shells)
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 c milk (I use slightly less)
salt, pepper, and seasonings to taste
2 chicken breast tenderloins (I put the salt and seasonings on top of the chicken as well as under)

Layer the dish, in that order, and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

You can put a veggie on the side or mix 1/2 c of veggies (broccoli is good with this) in the mix, in between the pasta and cheese.

My Furkids

 Emmett, after catnip. "Whooooooaah, duuuuuude...."

 I know they are plotting some mischief

Showing who is boss--clearly, the cat. :)

Summer Dining

Today we had our friends Thomas and Tiffany over for lunch. As much as I love to cook, I rarely have company. Now that I only work four days a week, I've decided to start entertaining more. Thomas and Tiffany were my first victims. :) I decided to make a summery lunch.

For appetizers, we  had shrimp cocktails, and fresh fruit that they brought.

For lunch, we had a grapefruit cole slaw with ginger-lime dressing, chicken, bell pepper and pearl onion shish kebabs with apple-mesquite marinade, and fresh white corn with basil & garlic butter.

For dessert we had mixed fruit sorbets: raspberry, mango, and lemon, with fresh pineapple and raspberries. I neglected to take pictures of dessert, so here's a picture of the table, instead. :)

And, my place settings (which I LOVE!)