And Friday rolls around again

… the weeks seem to be flying by!

Some highlights of this week:

• Homemade ice cream – I lugged my thrifted CuisinArt ice cream maker to work. My new-year’s eve attempt at homemade ice cream may have failed, but it turns out that the hospital’s walk-in freezer is much colder than my garage freezer, and the machine worked like a charm. Homemade vanilla ice cream was very much enjoyed by my staff, and it was unanimously agreed that this purchase was $8 well spent! (However… who knew that heavy cream was over $5 a quart? Homemade ice cream is not cheap!)

  

• I still exercise – I’ve been on a bit of a hater phase with my gym lately. I don’t think I’ve been in the past month. The Westin in Chicago had a very nice hotel gym, which I did utilize while I was travelling, but I realize that my membership fees are going doing the toilet regardless of whether I go or not. Since I hate losing money… I forced myself back in to the gym this week. Kept telling myself “just 20 minutes… you can do 20 minutes”. Turns out, once I was on the treadmill at my half-marathon pace and a fast-paced song on my iPod shuffle, I was quite enjoying myself, and walked for a nice 33 minutes. Not bad! Makes me want to go back and walk some more. I do miss my days of half-marathon training, and look forward to living in a neighborhood again that makes that more doable.
• I found (more) pyrex! This lovely piece was discovered at a thrift store, hidden under a salad spinner. It’s another Butterfly Gold pattern, in mint condition, along with the patterned lid! Lovely. I also picked up a set of matching juice glasses at the flea market last weekend, as well as 50% of a butter dish.
• 
• Ticks are here. Not necessarily something to celebrate, but it seems as though tick season has begun. Harley had the first tick of 2011, found inside his ear (gross), and my mom found the second tick of 2011, crawling on her back in bed. Gross. Since then, we have reclaimed the couch as dog-free, which is confusing the poor canines. Mostly Harley, since he seeks refuge on the couch from Sheff (FYI: in his old-age jealousy, Sheff has attacked Harley several times, and Harley is now petrified of him). We also loaded up on Frontline from the vet’s office this week.
• Winter returned. Not really. I’m so glad that we’re not seeing snow this week, like other parts of the country are. However, the warm 70s and 80s (!) are gone, replaced by boring 50 degree weather and rain for the next few days. Boo. Just as I had packed up the winter clothes, electric blanket, and dry-cleaned the winter coats. Not that I need winter coats for 50 degree weather, but you know…

Tomato massacre. My tomato seedlings, planted 6 weeks ago or so, were tragically murdered by Mother Nature earlier this week. A store-bought greenhouse kit was the culprit, trapping in excessive sun, heat, and humidity, that, evidently, the seedlings couldn’t take. Life as a farmer is rough. And so, we’re turning to plants for tomatoes again this year. But never fear, I will still grow an heirloom variety, just trying to choose one. Thoughts?

last summer’s beauties

My free friend

As previously mentioned, my mom and I hit up some garage sales this weekend. Among other finds, was a particular wing chair sitting out front at a church rummage sale.

Price: FREE

We questioned whether this chair was really a giveaway and was informed that indeed it was. Although it needs a bit of steam cleaning, the frame seems in good shape (and hopefully no bed bugs are living inside!).

I’m thinking this will be a piece for me that I can have reupholstered and take to my next place this fall.

it’s getting some fresh air outside

Seeing that I didn’t have to pay for the chair, I don’t feel terrible about the cost of reupholstery.  The shade of blue is actually quite nice, especially with the dark brown legs, but the fabric is really stained/soiled, and the pattern is sort of shiny and not-my-style.

So now… I’ll be looking at color schemes and fabric options. I will admit, it’s slightly difficult to pick a color and fabric when I don’t have any idea what it’s room will look like (or where I’ll even be living this fall, ha!). I know I should stick with some sort of neutral, and then perhaps have colored accent pillows.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome :)

fits me perfectly, doesn’t it?

Baa Ram Ewe

Yesterday we got up early, headed out for some Saturday morning garage sales, and then went to Townsend for the Fiber Festival. Since I am unable to do anything with wool (knitting, spinning, etc), I was really just interested in seeing the sheep herding and shearing demos.

hello Sheepie and little lamb

A lovely couple from Kentucky brought their black-face sheep (seems a non-PC name, doesn’t it??) and 3 champion Border Collies down to demo sheep herding.

Their dogs are trained to respond to their whistles, noting the difference between pitch, length and frequency. We were very impressed. Especially, considering the fact that Rick, their 8 year old nationally-ranked boy, is legally blind!!

He explained that he rarely works 2 dogs at once, as it almost becomes more work than help.

In the sheepdog trials in which these dogs participate, each round lasts between 8-15 minutes, during which the dogs are responding to 200 – 400 commands! Amazing.

A well-trained herding BC can cost in the range of $10,000 – $15,000, but is noted to do the work of 2-3 humans on the farm.

These guys can also run up to 2 miles away from their handler to round up sheep. Not bad!!

Reminds me of Miss Bess, my first foster who was a Border Collie / Cattle Dog cross. She would’ve been great at this!

She’s now living the life with her retired rodeo cowboy owner, who takes her on frequent fishing trips and calls her ‘his princess’

And then there was the sheep shearing…

I couldn’t believe how calm the sheep was to be held in such weird positions while blades are buzzing around them. I suppose they get accustomed to this ritual, and probably enjoy having them heavy winter coat taken off!

just getting started

 there we go. good sheep

might need some sunscreen on that white skin!

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I’ll try to post later today about our findings at the garage sales and flea market!

Happy St Pats!

The weather finally turned into spring today. It’s been absolutely beautiful – over 70 degrees, and staying up there for the next 10 days!! How exciting!

The trees are in bloom, the grass is green, the sun stays out later, and my allergies haven’t started yet. All is good in the world.

What could be better?

Having a lucky day thrifting, and coming home with some new pyrex and federal glassware.

Haven’t photographed them yet, but some of the pieces may end up in my etsy store to generate some grad-school money.

here is a preview – very retro/geometric!

In other news:

Harley is very excited to let you know that he graduated from obedience class last night and passed the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen test! He’ll now have official paperwork and a certificate letting everyone know how well-mannered he his! This might also help if he decides to go into therapy-dog work in the future…

yay Harley!!

(Annie, who still acts like a caffeinated speedster and can’t hold still for more than a nanosecond, decided to skip the test and just enjoy the pizza party)

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March is also National Nutrition Month. Being the RD that I am, I hope to write a few posts about some important nutrition topics, and changes I am making to my own diet, after being educated at the annual SCAN Symposium in Chicago last week.

this was taken at Navy Pier. and no, this is not my dietary advice 

In the Windy City

Hello blog readers,

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while. I am still alive. Currently sitting in the lobby of the Westin on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, for the 2011 SCAN Symposium.

The lobby is packed of people wearing green for the annual St Patrick’s Day parade. Also, cute dogs wearing jackets (this is a pet-friendly hotel).

The Boy is up here with me too (although still asleep in the hotel room… hope housekeeping doesn’t barge in and rouse him from his slumber). We’ve had fun thus far. My camera is up in the room, but here is a recap of some of our activities thus far (pictures will follow!)

• The Museum of Science and Industry – our inner science nerds had a blast in the museum, and were kicked out at their early 4pm closing time, without getting to fully enjoy every exhibit. But had fun!
• Deep dish pizza at Giordano’s
• Architecture boat cruise – on a surprisingly sunny Saturday afternoon
• Hot Chocolate at Ghirardelli’s
• Learning the Chicago Bus System – The Boy is particularly proud of learning routes (although I think google maps on his iPhone is doing all the work for him)
• Walking through Navy Pier
• The Boy received his best and most thorough haircut ever, from a little barber shop named Alfredo’s. He went in the shop looking like a muppet, and left like a well-groomed engineer.
• Breakfast at this wonderful diner named Tempo, where they serve omelets and other breakfast creations straight out of the skillet, and the meals are the size of a football. Even The Boy couldn’t eat more than 50% of his meal!

Alright, time to head up to the conference. Be back later!

Who loves Girl Scout Cookies?

This week I picked up my girl scout cookie order at work. I brought home 4 boxes – 2 Tagalongs, 1 Thin Mints, and 1 Samoas.

(anyone surprised that I buy all the chocolate covered varieties?)

Girl Scout Cookies are delicious and special, probably because you can only buy them one time a year. Tagalongs have always been my favorite. You can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter!

My history with Girl Scout Cookies began in the early 1990s, when I was a Brownie, with an international Girl Scout Troop in Great Britain. We shipped a huge order of cookies across the Atlantic Ocean for our hungry American friends to buy from us :)

My brownie career only lasted a year, followed by many more years of living internationally, sans-cookies. (biscuits are the british term for cookies). Of course, in Australia, we had Tim Tams, which are every bit as good as a Girl Scout Cookie!

Back in the US for high school, I looked forward to buying girl scout cookies each year. Coincidentally (or not?), they always come out around the time of my birthday. In fact, one year during college, I flew home for my birthday weekend, and distinctly remember the box of Tagalongs sitting in the car seat when my parents came to pick me up. By the time we arrived home, the box was empty (oops!).

So herein lies the difficulty with these delicacies. The boxes are small (less than 2 dozen) and the taste so good, you find yourself running through your supply in no time at all, and then having to wait a full year. Oh, how I envy people who will still have some cookies in their house come the hot summer months. What? You still have Girl Scout Cookies? Mine were long gone, months ago!

And so, here are my top 6 cookie guidelines, being a Registered Dietitian and all, as to how to enjoy your Girl Scout Cookies guilt-free

1. Buy one batch and one batch only. Choose the cookies that you LOVE, and wait all year for. If the cookies aren’t special to you, then don’t bother (this is why I don’t understand who’d buy the Trefoils. Shortbread is not special!)
2. Follow the “one open box” policy. If I seriously had all 4 varieties of cookies in open boxes, I’d be in trouble. Instead, I have opened the Thin Mints, and will leave the Tagalongs and Samoas for a later day, week, or month (hopefully!)
3. Freeze the unopened boxes. This way, they will last longer, and you’ll be less tempted to binge-eat. Unless you love frozen cookies. This is one time I’ll be thankful for my cold-sensitive teeth :)
4. Savor the cookies. Sit down and plan to eat your cookies. Get out a couple, put them on a plate, and really enjoy them. Practice mindful eating, people, and you’ll be more satisfied with each bite. Do not hide in the pantry, stuffing cookies down your throat before someone finds you. I’ve been there and it’s not pretty.
5. Drink with a glass of milk. Milk makes everything chocolate better, and also adds important nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, and protein.
6. Set a cookie goal date. This is the day that you still want to have a cookie in your house, uneaten. I have chosen Easter this year, which is April 24. Very reasonable.

This gives me 52 days in which to enjoy the 62 cookies that I have left.

Which results in a 1.2 daily cookie ration.

However, I will be out of town for 5 days in March, so really I have 47 days to eat the 62 cookies. This is a bigger ration of 1.3 cookies per day, which lets me eat 1 cookie during each week day and 2 cookies per day on the weekend.

If you’re not a Type A, neurotic, Sheldonite like myself, ignore the previous ramble and just slow down and enjoy the cookies :)

Lovin my dishes

If you remember well, my 25th birthday was 5 days ago. Yesterday, a big heavy box with my name on it was delivered, from my best friend and college roommate. Hmm, what heavy items would people send to me? Might it start with the letter p? Yes, it might :)

This, my dears, is Pyrex Tableware. A whole new world to explore, separate from the mixing bowls and casseroles that we all love. This are items you can use in your everyday eating! I would like to time travel back a few decades, to a time when restaurants used Pyrex Tableware. Wouldn’t THAT have been awesome??

I already had 3 saucers in the matching blue stripe pattern. If you remember, I ate breakfast birthday cake on it the day after my birthday:

So now I have saucers, dinner plates, and a teacup that all match. Lovely

And the pink flamingo saucers I received match the 3 pink-rimmed bowls I picked up at a thrift a few weeks ago:

Thanks Mandi!!!

Today was 50% off day at East Tennessee are Goodwill stores, and to my delight I found a stack of “Swiss Chalet” saucers for $1.25 total!!

I love this pattern, and just wish I could find some more at an affordable price!

My new dish friends, altogether now:

I don’t think I’ll ever have brand-new, matching dishes. Vintage dishes in various patterns and colors are too much fun!!

February 24th

Thoughts of the day

• Yes, gas prices are going up. Do not start panicking and filling up every possible container you have with gas. The world is not coming to an end (just in the middle east… joking!). Just conserve where you can and drive a matrix whenever possible for top-notch gas mileage :)
• Leslie Sansone is a great workout motivator… until you’ve memorized her lines. Thank you, Netflix, for letting me switch up my workout DVDs regularly!
• My boss, a chef, made a wonderful corn and black bean salad/salsa, which became the basis of my dinner tonight. Along with whole-grain baked scoops. A happy, full tummy tonight!
• I really want an excuse to bake this skillet chocolate chip cookie!
• After living in this house (full of dog toys) for 3 months, Harley played with a soft, squeaky toy for the first time today. It was the squeaky hamburger. A foodie at heart :)
• He also modeled the new boots I bought for Sheff ($1 a piece at Petsmart, although you can’t buy them individually, so $4 for the set!)



• After sneezing for the last week, my mother reminded me that lilies are the most allergenic of flowers. Coincidentally, lilies are prominently featured in the Valenbirthday flower arrangement from The Boy. Thanks, Honey :)

A fast-food refresher

Last night, I went to hear Eric Schlosser speak at UT, regarding the effects of industrial agriculture and the fast food industry. In case you aren’t familiar with Schlosser, he is the author of Fast Food Nation. Hard to believe that book came out a decade ago! His investigative journalism really went behind the scenes, and explored a side of the industry that was (purposefully) kept hidden from the public.

Of course, the effects of the fast food nation are widespread. Their food hasn’t just affected our health and nutrition, but also the living conditions of their workers  the agricultural methods used in this country.

Although most of the facts were not new to me, it was a good “refresher course” to get me re-energized and remembering why we need to care about our food systems.

Some of Schlosser’s points that stood out to me:

• Fast Food’s success is largely dependant on our ignorance of how they operate. The more we know about what goes on, the more we can do to choose something different. Knowledge is power.
• Although Ray Kroc never had children, he mastered marketing to children
• The goal of the fast food mentality and philosophy is for everything to be uniform and controlled. The slogan “one taste worldwide” sums it up. They have gone so far as to dominate and control nature – breeding plants that produce plants/animals that grow at the same rate, look the same, taste the same, etc.
• In the days when there wasn’t a fast-food restaurant on every corner, working in a meatpacking plant used to be a well-respected and well-paid job, with waiting lists for future employees. Today, it is one of the lowest paid jobs with an incredibly high rate of injury and turnover.
• As the largest employers of minimum wage workers, the fast food industry fought hard to keep the minimum wage from rising. During the 1970s-1990s (the period of fastest growth for McD), minimum wage actually decreased (adjusted for inflation). Works out pretty well for the fast food industry; you can pay your workers less, and keep them eating your food because they can’t afford anything better!

As a writer, Schlosser says that the aim of his work is to make you think about what you’re doing. He doesn’t travel and speak with the intent to convert everyone’s diet to organic, vegetarian cuisine, but rather to educate on our current food system. It was exciting for me to see a packed auditorium, and I wondered about the reaction of those who had never heard this story before. 

He also reminded us that nothing is inevitable, and that change is possible. The movements of local, organic and sustainable foods are growing at an encouragingly fast pace, especially on college campuses. Schlosser did point out that the sustainability movement will need to be based on social justice for it to succeed, that we need to be mindful of the farmers, workers, and the “human” aspect of our food. (He also wishes that PETA would be more concerned about the welfare of 2-legged animals, instead of our 4-legged friends only).

To end the night, Schlosser left us with a Buddhist quote “Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what is the point of seeing?”

Post Birthday Breakfast

Mmmm birthday cake for breakfast.

Nothing beats chocolate hazelnut!

Very nutritious, when paired with a glass of 1% milk and a side of strawberries.

Cake recipe from The Houston Chronicle. I baked only one layer, instead of two, for waist control ;)

(and yes, that’s a vintage pyrex saucer. win)

Happy 25th Birthday to me!!