Hurricane Irene!!!

Ever since we moved to Florida, I have been dreading our first "real" hurricane. Most people here think I am crazy to be so freaked out by them since I have no issues with earthquakes. But I just don't think earthquakes are nearly as scary as hurricanes! As of last night we were expecting Irene to sweep through Florida like an evil stepmother. As of tonight it's supposedly going to stay slightly east of the coast and we won't catch the major brunt of it. However, my worst nightmare is going for a week with no water or power. Or worse yet, having my floor to ceiling massive glass doors shatter into my living room! With these ominous threats looming, Rich and I dutifully set out to Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

I have never seen more chaos at Wal-mart in my life. Today is the first day of school, as well as 2 days before Irene hits. People were flooding Wal-Mart. There was parking only in the auxiliary lots. When we went  into Wal-Mart we headed straight for the water aisle. There were only 44 cases of water left in the store. By the time we left the store, it was all gone. Wal-Mart ran out of water and toilet paper! We laughed our way through the list of hurricane foods to buy...water, juice, powdered milk, canned foods, canned meats, crackers, peanut butter, beef jerky, trail mix, granola bars, etc. all of this made sense (except...powdered milk? um. no.) until we got the bottom. From an official government website, it actually said to stock up on snack cakes, including Twinkies, Little Debbie snack cakes, etc. We still can't figure out why we needed snack cakes but I guess we will know if we lose power cause we didn't buy any. Lol!

I currently have 4 sheets of wood and some 2 x 4s in my dining room. The kitchen table is full of hurricane food. And I am just trying to figure out how to stay alive.

The DPC Blog

We have entered the blogosphere! Hope you enjoy our office's daily blog posts about all things furry & fabulous :)

Happy Tuesday!!

http://www.thedpcblog.blogspot.com/

OR click HERE

The Hamster Wheel

I feel like I am running circles this week. I have had a ridiculously busy week and tomorrow I have to work from 7am-7pm, drop off my pets at 2 different sitters on my lunch break, pack, try to get some rest and make it to the airport by 5am Friday morning in vacation mode. Ha!

Hopefully I will make it to Friday with a better attitude than some of these dogs...

This might be how I am feeling by bedtime tomorrow night!!!

Tropical Fish Fry

When I have had an especially ridiculous day, I make something new for dinner so that I can focus on just cooking. Cooking is relaxing and helps me de-stress. I had 2 mahi mahi fillets in the fridge that I had planned for dinner tonight. As most of my new recipe escapades, I fly by the seat of my pants. I made up a ridiculously weird recipe tonight. I was really in the mood for macadamia crusted fish with a mango sauce. Seeing that I had no macadamias or mangoes, I puzzled for a moment. I had cashews. Perhaps I would roll the fish in crushed cashews and flour?? Wow. Bad idea. Cashews and cornflakes? Maybe. I opened the cupboard and that is when I spied the box of Mango Peach Passion flakes. Hmmm.... I crushed some of the cereal, and some cashews. As I was getting the basil that's when I spied some coconut flakes. So in went some coconut flakes. Now I had a mix of tropical cereal, cashews & coconut. My plain egg didn't seem good enough to batter the fish in. I added basil & salt, and about 2 tbsp of honey. Definitely not the full flavor I was hoping for, but the fish had a nice crusty layer of tropical-y batter after it was pan fried in vegetable oil. It was definitely something worth perfecting. I'm sure I'll revisit it again soon!

Not so bad for a Tuesday.

Curry Lentils

I had some really good curry-style lentils at the Whole Foods prepared foods bar several months ago. I decided to try to recreate them at home because I really liked them. I didn't expect to be able to nail them on the first try. The one tip I got from the cook was to use as little water as possible to keep the flavor full. I added chopped 6 fresh cloves of garlic, then added cumin, coriander, turmeric, dried onion & chicken bouillon. I initially covered the lentils with water and brought them to a boil, then reduced the heat to a simmer for about 25 minutes. The lentils were absolutely delicious. Halfway through cooking I did decide to add some more water to keep the lentils well covered.

My lentils turned out amazing and were great over brown rice. I can't take a picture because I won't be able to upload it until I get the mouse pad thingie on my computer fixed. Happy Monday!

I Answered 313 Phone Calls Today

ANY QUESTIONS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! 

I DIDN'T THINK SO!!!

37 Days of Vegan Eating!

In June, I started considering veganism. I had been feeling really sluggish and had some joint pain and headaches, and a frequent upset stomach. In the early part of June I started eating vegetarian meals. By June 19th, I was eating completely vegetarian. The vegetarian eating was actually ok, so July 1 I decided to give vegan eating a go for a month. I do feel much better. The most noticeable things for me have been the increase in energy I have had, the lack of headaches, and the fact that my stomach is no longer upset. I have to be honest, I expected that a vegan diet would go hand in hand with weight loss, since there are so many things you cannot eat. All products with any form of an animal product are out. You'd be surprised how many foods have to be cut out! Since I started I lost 4 pounds. Kind of disappointing.... but I do feel so much better. I do not like a lot of the meat replacements that you can eat when you are vegan. I have been getting my protein from soy products, nuts, beans, legumes, etc. The meat replacements that I do like tend to be higher in carbs than meat would be. Also I have had to take a supplement tablet to get my iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B12, omega-3s and iodine.

All in all I have not had a bad time eating vegan food. I didn't intend for it to be a permanent lifestyle but I was curious to see how I would feel after a few weeks. I feel so good that for now I plan to remain a type of vegetarian--I will leave out dairy, but I will be adding fish to my diet. Out of the list of the types of fish to eat that are best for you, I like tuna. Lol!! I am going to start trying to enjoy salmon, as well. :-/ I don't so much hate the taste of salmon but I do not like the smell in the house. I can't stand that fishy smell. My favorite fish is swordfish, which is not a very fatty fish (therefore not as good for you as other fish) but I will have to learn to like salmon. After the different foods I have developed a taste for in the past several weeks, I think learning to like salmon will be a breeze.

I enjoyed my dinner tonight with a side of tasty tunafish. I put in smoked chipotle peppers, vegenaise, chipotle mustard, a bit of relish and salt & pepper. Yum!