steeple guide me

5.17.2010

fun facts

Since I intend to use this blog as an electronic time capsule for my kids (I'm mostly kidding), I thought it would be fun to list some interesting facts about me before I forget them.

- At the tender age of 6, I had surgery to remove a hernia. The story about how I came to develop said hernia is legendary in my family. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. It involved a bottle of "deadly" shampoo and me believing that my mother and grandmother were trying to murder me. Seriously. It's hilariously sad and embarrassing. Maybe one day I'll work up the courage to post it. And, no, they weren't really trying to kill me.

- I am a huge johnny cash fan. So huge, in fact, that on my wedding day, I walked down the aisle (post ceremony) to Ring of Fire and cut the cake to Jackson. During the latter song, my ~~semi drunk~~ great aunt and her fraternal twin brother danced up quite a storm. My mom had to pull her off the dance floor. See below...

(picture: google)

- I surf! Learned in Hawaii when I was 17. It's exhilarating and not to mention a great work out.

- When my husband and I are on road trips, we often have Australian accent competitions. This can last for hours.

- I've been on 4-5 cruise ship vacations but was unable to enjoy the last two out of fear of a rogue wave slamming into the ship and sinking us, Poseidon style. See item # 1 in this post for proof that I still have the thought processes of a six year old.

What about you? Any interesting quirks you care to share?

i'm not a food blogger

Look at these pictures. Do they make my meals look appetizing? Yeah, I didn't think so.

I made the above last week. It's Corn and Quinoa Chowder. I found the recipe on vegetariantimes.com. It was a bit spicy but hearty and filling. My only complaint is that it lacked flavor. So I added some parmesan cheese and garlic powder. I'd give it a 5/10. This was my first time cooking with quinoa so I'm on the look out for more interesting & tastier recipes.

Avocado & Sprouts sandwich

The next night I made my famous Avocado & Sprouts sandwich w/ a side of small roasted potatoes. According to legend, I once ate a&s sandwiches five days in a row. Here's the rundown:

2 slices of toasted ww bread
slice of provolone cheese
small handful of sprouts
fresh spinach
mustard
sliced avocado

Black Bean Burger

Tonight I made black bean burgers w/ a side of lemon garlic green beans. This is my favorite home-made veggie burger. The creamy mashed beans combined with a hint of lemon make this burger a winner. Not to mention that it's a cheap 10 mins meal.

1 C black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 C fresh spinach
2 Tbsp. whole wheat pastry (or regular) flour
1 small garlic clove
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Juice from half a lemon

Combine and form into 2 patties. Heat oil in skillet over medium low heat. Cook for 10 mins turning every once in a while.

(picture: google)

In non-food related news, the husband and I decided to hit up Disney on Saturday. We have passes that we have to use up by the end of May so I dragged myself out of bed at 7 am. That's a lie. I was up at 7 am because I was too excited to sleep. We decided to go to Magic Kingdom since it had been a while since either of us had been there. I sat in the front seat of the first car in Space Mountain and I can't even begin to describe the ~~fear of being struck in the face by an unseen object~~ rush. It was exhilarating. I should sit in the "first car" of roller coasters more often. By 1 pm, it was friggin HOT though. Thankfully, we fast-passed our way onto all the major rides and didn't waste any time waiting in unnecessary lines. And by the beard of zeus, there were SO many people. My husband kept remarking about this in disbelief. I told him that the parks will always be full. It doesn't matter if there are threats of terrorism or an asteroid is on the way. Disney will always hold at least 500,000* people at any given time (*source: me).

5.13.2010

an intro

Welcome!

I don't do introductions very well so I'll keep this short & sweet. This blog is about whatever I find interesting. This includes: food, faith, interior decorating, married life and other. I'm in my mid 20's, creeping steadily toward 30 and have been married 3 1/2 years to my college sweetheart.

Here's a close-up of my handsome fella...

I'm also a runner who was sidelined by an ankle injury in Oct of 09 (I fell down the stairs on my way TO the pub. Here's the ironic part: I don't even drink). I'm slowly getting back into things and plan to run a marathon at some point later this year.

"one of these things is not like the other...."

Since the majority of my posts will be food related, let me tell you what you can expect in that department: lazy, cheap & healthy meals. As a vegetarian (more on that later), my options are easy. Unfortunately, I need to keep things interesting for my carnivorous husband. He's on the same page as me as far as the food industry is concerned (hello, Food Inc!) but he hasn't yet taken that full leap into veggieland. Which is ~~not~~ fine. So I trick him as often as I can (tempeh disguised as a cheesesteak sandwich comes to mind) so he can realize that he, too, can live a satisfying life without animal meat.

Happy Reading : )

5.04.2010

hot

Yesterday was hot. Scorching. The A/C went out at work. It sucked. I'm 99% sure that the temp in my office reached the 80's. When I came home I put on some running clothes, danced with Bella and off we went.

Upon return, I made us some green shakes.

This one had:

cup of soy milk
handful of spinach
handful of frozen berries & cherries
squirt of agave nectar to sweeten it up

So refreshing & healthy.

Followed by a bowl of home-made veggie chili leftovers & cornbread.

I don't remember the recipe but it consisted of:

black beans
red beans
kidney beans
frozen corn
can of diced tomato
approx 1.5 cup of salsa
cumin, chili powder, s&p

I'm just glad today is over.

4.22.2010

What the Kale?

The husb and I took the dog for a run today. Upon our return, we kicked off our shoes and slowly made our way to the kitchen, looking for a bite to eat.

I wasn't sure what to make. Apparently, Bella wasn't either.

Then I remembered the kale that I picked up earlier this week...

I've been hearing a lot about kale in the food blog world. Kale smoothies, kale chips, kale ice-cream (just kidding about that one but I'm sure it's around the corner). It's high in fiber and vitamins a/c/k not to mention its cancer preventing properties. I picked up a bag this week and found this recipe from the Whole Foods website. Sure, hot soup was a terrible dinner idea given it was 85 degrees outside and we were dripping in sweat. But this was easy, hearty and filled us up. And, my favorite part, there were plenty of left-overs.

I chased this with ice-cream and brownies. Don't clutch your pearls, ladies - the ice-cream was Tofutti (dairy free) and the brownies were vegan (made from black beans).

Tomorrow, I plan on roasting the rest of this fine vegetable and making kale chips. If I haven't forgotten this blog by then, I will see you tomorrow!

Easter

Easter. It's commercialized. But it's a great time for fellowship and reflection, ain't it? It also means a 3 hour trip down south to see my folks. My mom is an incredible cook and she creates nothing short of a feast each year to mark this special weekend. Without a doubt, I left her home a few (dozen) pounds heavier. But what a brunch! Here are a few pix: