Not a whole lot to remark upon lately, but last night I made a new dinner. I "fanned" Sunset magazine on Facebook, and now and again they'll cull useful ideas from their readers. A few days ago, they asked "what do you do with leftover rotisserie chicken?" I got a couple good ideas. Rotisserie chickens are great for when you don't have the time or energy to cook but want a homecooked, healthy meal. Idea #1 was to shred the chicken, pour barbecue sauce on it, and put it in a sandwich. Oh so simple but sounds tasty, no?
Idea #2 was last night's dinner -- chicken and biscuits. Cut the chicken (I wouldn't shred it with forks, but using spoons gets just the right size pieces). If you have time to sautee an onion, put that on top of the chicken. Pour a can of cream of mushroom soup (Amy's Organic is the best) on top, followed by a package of frozen peas and carrots. Then top with biscuit dough, and bake according to the directions for the biscuit dough. I used Bisquick, so the whole thing was super easy. It turned out great, and I think was reasonably healthy, too.
This morning, I actually hauled my butt out of bed early and went to the gym! For me, this is a major accomplishment. I haven't been active for the last few months. My workout felt great. Woo hoo!
I'm trying to decide whether I want to give some of my girlfriends a knitted hat or knitted slippers for Christmas. Initially I was going to give them all knitted berets, but I can't imagine all of them wearing berets. Another idea is mittens-- but we either live in the Bay Area or southern CA and I doubt mittens would get much use; it doesn't get THAT cold! Which would you want to have?
Saturday - Productive, mainly got all my errands done. Stopped at the Carlsbad outlet malls -- thought I'd tackle a little early Christmas shopping -- but apparently I wasn't the only one with that idea. The place was packed. Scary packed. I thought I might die under a heap of customers clawing at the 50% off bags at Coach. Narrowly escaped.
Sunday - Went for breakfast and took Bucky. When another jumpy/sniffy/nosy dog got near Bucky, we again found out that Bucky's still not dog-friendly. :-( His next training is Saturday.
Went bowling with some friends, and now my legs are sore. Geez, gotta get back in the gym.
I also tackled my first cheesecake, and it turned out pretty good. I stuck to a simple recipe -- just cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon rind. A lot easier than I thought it'd be.
Had some friends over for dinner last night; that's one of my favorite things to do. Sigh, I already miss the weekend....
Today I celebrate my independence from the British...
Whilst tossing away pretty much everything I own (CDs and DVDs... you're next!) I found a box full of stuff pertaining to that Guy-Who-I-Hope-Chokes-on-an-English-Muffin. Pictures, gifts he'd given me (including a pair of shoes that were not my style), etc. I went through the pictures and laughed as I went along... he really was a goofy dude... but it was sort of surreal, because while I know I dated this guy, it was like looking at someone I never even knew. Even looking at me was weird, because I really don't recognize that person. I pulled out a few pictures that had some other friends in them and tossed the Brit into the trash bag. I found another stack of stuff from the Blood Seller and tossed most of that as well.
Shaniqua came in and said she never would be able to toss pictures. I told her that these people are in my past, and frankly I don't care or think about them any more, so why hold onto these things? To me, they're just taking up space.
Maybe that makes me cold hearted. I don't know. But I do know that hanging onto items from the past has never meant much to me. Whether good or bad, the experiences I had with these people have shaped who I have become now, and really, that's all the reminding I need.
So, goodbye to the Brit, and goodbye to the Bloodseller. You've been cleared out.
I do kind of wonder, though, wherever you are, do you somehow know you've been tossed?
I guess that's a question to which I will never know the answer.
-K.
This is not all, but a good portion of my last seven years in architecture. I'll admit, it's not the most glitzy work with pretty renderings, BUT I am proud to say that my work has been thoroughly researched and rigorously executed... *cough, if I do say so myself :)
I was worried yesterday because both the honey and I had to go to work, leaving our diarrhea dog in the house alone. I got home around 5:45, and miracle of miracles, no messes! YAY! Boy, now I know a little bit of how new parents feel. Except babies have diapers.
Bucky seems to be quickly improving, maybe because of the antibiotic he's on.
This month's Bon Appetit magazine included an article called "The 7 Rules of the Italian Kitchen." Good stuff such as pay attention to what foods grow near you and what's in season, use leftovers creatively in new dishes, keep it simple, etc. But my favorite was this:
Sigh, Bucky is a sick little guy right now. I'll spare you the details, but I'll say this... diarrhea. In the house. We're getting the carpet cleaned but may have to get it replaced; it's in bad shape right now.
We took him to the vet this morning and she's concerned that it's actually a chronic condition (but obviously worse in the last two days). I always thought he was just still adjusting to his new food and getting better... but apparently he should have been fine by now. So, now Bucky is on an anti-biotic, de-wormer (just in case), and a low-residue prescription dog food. I hope he gets better soon, because this dog food sounds like crap... lots of grain, and it includes a chicken "by-product meal". Eesh... I only bought it because the vet assured me that this was best for Bucky since he has some kind of GI issue.
Work, work, work. We had a massive proposal to send -- which is good news for my company. It was a lotta work and all hands on deck, so my weekend was spent in the office, and running some errands. Now I'm feeling gratified that it's all done, off my desk, and well, it looked pretty damn good. Hopefully this means we'll get rich. Well, at least a step in that direction.
I did get a chance to go grocery shopping, and I did menu planning for the week -- something I always mean to do, but almost never actually do. I will successfully avoid eating out and eating cereal for dinner this week! On Sunday, I made a roasted wild Alaskan sockeye salmon with some mushroom risotto and a salad. Last night, I made a big rum roast with onions and had a few friends over for dinner. Served it with some sauteed kale and squash, and sweet potato fries. Tonight's menu is a leek, potato and feta tart; tomorrow - shrimp and corn in cream sauce over rice; Thursday, pasta with broccoli and chicken apple sausage.
It's not the cooking that's difficult or time-consuming -- it's the grocery shopping. If someone did that for me, I'd be able to get home-cooked meals on the table pretty easily. Maybe someday I can get a personal assistant. :)
