Grad School Complete!

I finished my last assignments of my grad school career a week ago today, and gave my final presentation (of library school) last Monday (December 1) in class. So hard to believe! I've spent much of the last week (beyond my full-time job) resting, catching up on errands and cleaning, and thinking about how I want to spend my newly re-found free time!

One of the things I want to do is cook more healthy foods at home. So recently, I picked out an easy, yummy looking chicken curry recipe, and went grocery shopping yesterday. A few minutes ago, I decided to go ahead and make the recipe for an early lunch, and learned that I have TWO bottles of expired olive oil (called for in the recipe) in the pantry! (On the flip side, I have three bottles of lemon juice in the refrigerator, all within the expiration date. Sigh.) I have a feeling I'll find a few more extras and expired items before it's all over, but I'm looking forward to giving our kitchen and pantry the reboot.


Graduation is next weekend! I'll post all about it later.

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Visit to the Farmers Market

I've been reading the book Eat to Live recently, and it's inspired me to go to the Raleigh Farmers Market this afternoon after my workout. I got some tomatoes, blueberries, and peas (I don't remember what kind of peas, but a variety I don't think I've tried before). I did get some cooking tips for the peas, so that's on my to-do list for this evening. Now I wish I'd gotten some squash and peaches too! I guess I'll have to go back soon. (Darn!)

Image from Barnes & Noble

Kitchen Fun

One of my goals for this year is to do more cooking, so I decided to try a new recipe from the cookbook 366 Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains. I bought this cookbook in the spring of 2008, and I think this is the first recipe I've tried from it! I decided on the "Brown Rice and Lentils" recipe on p. 329, went to the grocery store, and came back with several goodies!

For starters, I didn't have a large skillet with a matching top! I was also missing the spices cumin and coriander in my spice rack, and I also picked up lentils, fresh cilantro, and fresh scallions.

Here, I sauteed the fresh carrot and small onion (in the first picture) in olive oil, and added the cumin and coriander. Yummy smell already at this point!

Here, I added the uncooked brown rice and lentils, and sauteed a little more. I added four cups of water, put the lid on and brought it to a boil. Then it simmered for 40 minutes.

The scallion and cilantro got mixed in at the end, and the whole enchilada had to sit under a paper towel for five minutes.







And voila! It tastes really good, and the recipe made several servings! Can't wait to have it for lunch this coming week!

Goals Revisited

Since George and I will be heading to Boone in the morning for a short vacation, I decided to go ahead and recap my goals for this past week.

This Past Week's Goals:
1) Cook one new recipe this week.

I tried some low-fat pumpkin bread (see previous post), but it didn't turn out very well. I decided not to take it to work, but George said it was okay, and ate some of it. Perhaps he was just being sweet. :)

2) Start my Control Journal notebook (see FlyLady.net)

I found the Control Journal I started a couple years ago, and tore out the outdated pages. I haven't gotten any farther than that.

3) Continue with reading, weight loss, genealogy, and getting-to-bed goals, as a habit takes about a month to take hold, I've heard.

I didn't finish a book this past week, but I made progress on the one I'm reading. I should get even more reading done this next week.

I'm up .8 of a pound since last Sunday, but I had a large weight loss last week. I was down for the previous week at this past Wednesday's Weight Watchers meeting. One thing I've learned is that weight loss is a fluid process, and requires persistance and patience. Sometimes the body reponds in quirky and unexpected ways. I'm continuing to log my foods and exercises in FitDay.com, which has been interesting and motivating, so perhaps that will show me some patterns in time.

I continued to get in bed by 11, but may need to do better than that if I continue my running ways after the City of Oaks Half Marathon a week from today.

I made some good progress on my genealogy database this past week, mostly in the cleanup catagory. Several months back, I accidentally merged someone else's gedcom file in with my own, and had a lot of database clean-up to do, including deleting duplicate people and editing all the occupations from the other file that ended up in location fields. (For example, someone who WAS a doctor looked like he/she had a practice IN Doctor.) Now the database is a lot more normal looking, and I feel like I can move forward without worrying about that clean-up anymore.


Since George and I will be on vacation this week, I won't make any goals except to have fun and relax!

Pumpkin Sawdust

I decided to bake some low fat pumpkin bread with walnuts Thursday evening, with the hope of taking it into work Friday morning. I went to two grocery stores to get everything, and was psyched about trying a new recipe.

I decided to change things up a little (creative and healthy cooking!) and use brown sugar instead of white, and whole wheat flour instead of white. The recipe already called for egg substitute instead of real eggs.

The outcome tasted, in my opinion, like pumpkin sawdust! And I like whole wheat stuff in general. This is one case where the batter was way better than the finished product!

I think part of the problem is that the Refectory has set a high standard for pumpkin bread! I'll just have to keep trying.

Goals for This Week (and How I Fared Last Week)

This Week's Goals:
1) Cook one new recipe this week.

2) Start my Control Journal notebook (see FlyLady.net)

3) Continue with reading, weight loss, genealogy, and getting-to-bed goals, as a habit takes about a month to take hold, I've heard.


Last Week's Goals:
1) Check out FlyLady.net and see if I can buy into.
I decided to work on some of the things FlyLady incorporates, but not go "whole hog" yet. I plan to start with the "Control Journal" first, which consolidates a number of things into one notebook, like schedules, routines, emergency numbers, and an address book.

2) Get in bed by 11:00 every night
Accomplished this goal Sunday through Friday nights, though it was right on the dot one night, and I felt it the next day.

3) Finish at least one book.
I finished two books again this week, a book of poetry called Sea Level, by Angela Leighton, and a current events book, The Return of History and the End of Dreams, by Robert Kagan.

4) Plan mountain vacation with George.
We've decided where we're staying and some of the things we'll do. Can't wait!

5) Lose 1.3 lb. this week.
Lost 3.8 lbs this past week-wohoo! I'm not surprised, really, as I had some interesting dieting revelations and activities last week, which I blogged about on my running blog here.

6) Add at least 5 names to my genealogy database.
Input about 15 names this week.

I am the Cookie Master

This afternoon, George had some bananas that were sooo ripe ("how ripe were they?!") that I just had to revisit last Sunday's cookie recipe. This time, however, I added cinnamon (at George's good request) and walnuts (my bright idea), and they're even better than last week! Now, there may be something to the fact that being in the middle of a holiday weekend that makes nearly everything better, but we'll see! ;-)

Sunday Afternoon Baking

I decided to make some cookies this afternoon. It seemed like a fun Sunday afternoon thing to do! I tried a new (to me) recipe for banana-oatmeal cookies. I wish I could remember where I got the recipe, but I saw it somewhere online in passing, and decided to put it in my virtual recipe box on desktopcookbook.com. Today was the big testing day. They taste good, and made the apartment smell even better!

Here is the recipe (which is oh, so simple!):



Ingredients
-3 Ripe Bananas, mashed
-2 cups rolled oats
-1 cup raisins or craisins
-1/3 cup oil
-1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions
Mix all ingredients. Let set 15 minutes on counter. Drop by teaspoons on parchment paper or ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees 15-18 minutes. Will be brown (lightly) on bottom - tops don't usually brown. Makes 3-4 dozen small cookies.

Monday morning update: After trying them warm, and again this morning, George and I think they turned out well, but adding cinnamon, and maybe chopped nuts (walnuts? almonds?) might make them even better. I'll make them again and experiment.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Last night I cooked for George for Valentine's Day, and it turned out quite well! I went shopping at Whole Foods, where I ran into a coworker from the library, which as fun. I picked up some salmon and fresh brussel sprouts to go with the brown rice I already had at home. (While I was there, I also picked up some brown basmati rice to try, and some whole wheat pasta for a pasta salad.) I added some dill, onion powder, and olive oil to the salmon, and cooked it for about 23 minutes. I steamed the brussel sprouts (which George had never tried(!), but liked) on top of the rice cooker while cooking the brown rice, a first for me. It all turned out quite well...I don't think I'd change a thing!

I did miss having bread, and something sweet for dessert, but that's just old habit coming out. I was plenty full!

The Things You Learn...

When I went grocery shopping over the weekend, I learned that the handy "ready rice" 2 cup packs of Uncle Ben's brown rice, which take 90 seconds to cook in the microwave, cost the same (at Food Lion, anyway) price as a 2-lb. bag of Comet long grain brown rice (with many servings) for the rice cooker (or stovetop, I guess). This shouldn't be so surprising, I guess. We pay for convenience, don't we?!

I also discovered this weekend that rice cooked in the morning in the rice cooker and kept on the warm setting until dinner doesn't taste so good, at least in the Cuisinart rice cooker I'm using right now. Otherwise, it's working well. I'm looking forward to trying out the other rice cooker soon!

Burning Water

Last night I decided to cook some frozen black eyed peas I'd bought over the weekend, so I read the instructions and put some water on to boil. Now, this was the first time I'd used the stove in this apartment, and I don't know that George has at all. It started smoking a little, but I didn't worry about it, figuring it to be "stove schmutz" in the drip pan or something, so I went into the next room. George smelled it, though, and exclaimed, "Something's burning!" Gee, my first burned water! ;-) The peas came out fine.

I fixed oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon for breakfast this morning, the Quaker Oats in the cylindar box and not the instant (added sodium, which I'm trying to stay away from). (I had to add the goodies myself.) It was the first non-rice breakfast I'd had in many months, and it was a nice change of pace. Afterward, I fired up the dishwasher for the first time. (George has used it since we moved in, but I haven't needed it!) I had to find the Cascade!Funny how all of this feels so new.

Well, off to work!

End of an Era

Well, after nearly a year and a half of going to the Rice House, part of the Rice Diet Program, for my meals, medical check-in, and some classes, I'll be finishing up there this coming Monday. I'm both excited and a little nervous about venturing out on my own in healthier eating. I have yet to cook a real meal in my current apartment, which George and I moved into in June 2007. I've been collecting some cookbooks and recipes, even a couple of rice cookers (both given as gifts). I've learned so much on the Rice Diet, so I'll miss a lot about the facility, mostly the staff, and some people I met there. I'm looking forward to getting some flexibility back into my schedule, though! I've been going in every morning for breakfast before work, taking my lunch with me (very handy!), and going back for dinner before I could go home for the evening.

I've lost over 100 lbs. on the Rice Diet, but I'm not at goal weight yet. I'm thinking about joining Weight Watchers to stay accountable and get ideas from meetings.

Preparing to Cook

Eventhough I'm still going to the Rice House for my Rice Diet meals, I find myself collecting recipes for things I'll be able to prepare and eat once I'm done at the Rice House. It's been an interesting search, and I'm looking forward to becoming a better cook. I've found quite a few cookbooks on Amazon.com that I'd love, but I'll have to choose! Perhaps I'll head to Barnes and Noble or Borders and actually take a look.

Meanwhile, I've started collecting yummy-looking recipes from various websites, and cutting/pasting them onto a couple of online cookbook websites, MyCookbook, and more recently, DesktopCookbook. Since I signed up for MyCookbook several years ago, they've added a limit to the number of recipes you can add, and now call that a free basic membership. To add more, I'd have to pay. I was glad to find DesktopCookbook, and am taking advantage of their resources now.

Food obsession?

Okay, I think I've gotten a little obsessed with food.

Eventhough I'm still on the Rice Diet, and eating my meals at the Rice House, I've been scanning the web for area restaurants online, to see if there's anything I'll be able to eat once I'm away from the Rice House. I get a kick out of finding menus online. Asian restaurants may be my best bet overall, since several offer steamed rice as well as steamed vegetables. Today I looked up the menu for Red Robin, which is new to Durham. I used to enjoy the nearby High Point location a lot when I lived in Greensboro. Now, Red Robin is known for their burgers. I did find a grilled salmon burger on the menu, which could be interesting. There's also a veggie burger, and a vegetarian rice bowl dish on the entree side.

I am planning to eat at home most of the time, so I'm collecting recipes when I can. There are a lot of recipes out there on the internet, so I'm leaning heavy toward vegetarian and vegan ideas. One website I discovered today is My Vegetarian Recipe of the Day. I saw a yummy looking veggie jambalaya recipe on there, which I saved to an online cookbook I've created at My Cookbook on the internet. I've also added some low-sodium and veggie cookbooks to my wishlist on Amazon, so that I can remember the cookbooks I've come across that look good to me. I'm really looking forward to honing my cooking skills.