I chose cooking to focus on!  And to make it fun, I decided that I would go through a different cookbook each month and make as many things from it as I could.  This month, the honor goes to Happy Herbivore, by Lindsay S. Nixon.   When I received this cookbook, I dove right in and read it cover to cover, skipping over only the ones that had mushroom in the title.  Between what I read, and the things I did already try and meeting the author later in the month, this book clinched the top spot in my favorite cookbooks list.   The recipes are all low or non-fat, which is a plus, as I am looking to reduce my weight this year as well.

There are 175 recipes in this book.  I will not get through them all.  I don’t bake, so that is a chapter there I probably won’t even consider (although you never know).  I generally do not cook 3x per day and it is already April 8th, so if I get through 30 recipes, it will be a miracle.

Here is a preview of the recipes I’ve already tried.

First up:  Home Fries and Spicy Collard Greens with Field Roast Italian Sausage

Totally yummy.  The only issue we had with it was that we didn’t get the potatoes cooked enough.  I don’t know if it was our oven, or some other factor, but of the ones that were cooked all the way through, they were yummy and we enjoyed them.  I actually plan to make these for dinner tonight, with a little pre-boiling.   The recipe for collards didn’t call for the Field Roast, but  I really wanted some protein with my dinner, and the Field Roast sausages are so yum, so I grilled them on my indoor griller and enjoyed.

In fact, I enjoyed the collards so much that I made them again, without the sausage.  As you can see, they just look like greens:

Next up:  Tofu Scramble

Previous experience with tofu scramble was in restaurants, which was totally yum, and once on my own with a box mix, which wasn’t so great.  But since that attempt, I have learned a lot about tofu, so I tried again.   The book gives a basic recipe, and mentions options, such as vegan sausage and veggies on hand for add-ins.  The above photo is with red peppers, zucchini, and Upton’s seitan chorizo.  I really enjoyed this and it became one of my favorite recipes ever.  I’ve made it three more times – two with just the tofu and the third with just the chorizo.  It doesn’t take long to make, so if you are the type to get up early enough to cook before work, it’s a great option.

And lastly:  Aztec Corn Soup

This is what mine looked like.  It looks nothing like it is supposed to.  This was a disaster – mine, totally, not the author’s.  In the book, it was yellow for one thing – it is corn, after all.  Also, I mis-read the directions, several times, and put a whole can of black beans into the soup, instead the smaller portion called for in the recipe.   It actually tasted pretty good, although a bit more beany than corn-y. I bet that if I had made it right, it would have been even better.   That splashy of liquid in the photo is either tobasco or hot sauce, I forget which I used.   I made this within a few days of meeting Lindsay and she said that hers was yellow because she used amaranth instead of quinoa.  The recipe does say either.  I had quinoa on hand, so I used it.  Apparently amaranth is a little more yellow in color.

You can find the recipe for Tofu Scramble here:

<a href=”http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/tofu-scramble/”target=blank”>Tofu Scramble </a>

I’ll be back soon with more recipe fun, and some notes about life and feline hyperthyroidism.  

]]> http://www.jennriffle.com/2011/04/08/project-food-part-i-happy-herbivore-preview/feed/ 0 http://www.jennriffle.com/2011/03/10/laughter/ http://www.jennriffle.com/2011/03/10/laughter/#comments Thu, 10 Mar 2011 21:32:43 +0000 jenn http://www.jennriffle.com/?p=332 Continue reading →]]> I am the kind of person who can read a funny book or watch a funny show without actually laughing out loud.  I might chuckle, and/or smile, but outright, belly laugh? It doesn’t happen often.   The movie The Hangover was an exception I can think off of the top of my head.

I can find the information funny, and I do feel different and happier after reading or watching something funny.  I never thought much about it, figured I’m still getting the benefits of laughing.

My husband, however, is the total opposite.  If he finds it funny, he will definitely crack up. Out loud.  Heartily.  THAT makes me laugh.  In fact, the other night, we were lying in bed, and he was reading his new book 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth by The Oatmeal.    He was laughing so hard he was shaking the bed!  And so my response was to crack up too.  I had no idea what he thought was so very funny, but I started laughing so hard tears rolled down my face.

I started reading that book last night, and to my utter disappointment, nothing more than a chuckle so far.

I think I need to laugh more often.  Chuckling isn’t nearly as cathargic.

Below is what happened in August, in no particular order:

We celebrated our nephew’s birthday:

We had record breaking temperatures:

Skyler discovered the dryer:

We discovered a dead mouse:

I celebrated my birthday with my cousins:

We were visited by fawns:

The geese started to gather for their southern migration:

I started a quilt:

The cats continued to be cute:

Despite getting a diagnosis of heart failure, Joey the Wondercat continues to keep on keepin’ on:

Oh, if only I could keep his face that clean now:

We went to Cedar Point:

We went to Ohio Pyle to see kayakers go over the falls (do not try this at home):

and attempted to see Cucumber Falls, but the summer was dry and it wasn’t much to look at:

and I had my zoo docent orientation:

All in all, a very good month.

Today, I have a house full of workers, who are repairing the spiral steps that Hope had fallen through.   They are noisy, with the power tools and stuff, but they promised to be done today.   The cats are all in the basement, cursing my existence.

I honestly love pretty much everything about living here.   I love the fact that there is a lot of storage and therefore I don’t have to look at my clutter.   Living in a 100+ year old house for the last seven years and an apartment before that means that there really isn’t a lot of storage.   In our last house, my clothing was in closets in a different room from the bedroom.  I don’t have that problem now.   When I am out and about, I forget that I have an attached garage and I am expecting to have to haul my stuff through the yard, until I get here and am surprised all over again.

I am not spoiled yet, and I still don’t take the house for granted.  I know how incredibly fortunate I am.  However, I keep reaching for the medicine cabinet in the bath because I am used to having one above the sink and I have to remember that my stuff is in a drawer.  It’s funny … it’s a 40 year habit, and I wonder how long it’ll be before that habit wears off.

My favorite thing about the house though is the privacy and the yard.  We have watched a family of geese … six babies grow up from fluffly little things into the almost adults that they are now.  They look like geese … they have the long necks and dark fur.  They are still fluffier than a full fledged adult.  The other day, I watched them learn diving lessons … one of the babies didn’t want to do it and walked around the side of the dock and walked in the old way.

And now we have baby deer.  Two fawns.  They are so cute when they are out there frolicking.   When they run off, their tails seem too big for their bodies!

The only thing I would change is that I would be able to go for a walk without having to drive to the park. I know its only a mile to the park, but I miss being able to just get up and go without needing the car.

But its a small price to pay.

Enjoy some pictures of the babies:

First born (above)

Splashing in the water in our driveway

They are getting bigger!

This is the newest picture … see how they look like grown ducks now!

Our nephews, Jacob and Joey (cousins) both graduated from kindergarten and had their final t-ball games last weekend.  Here is some cuteness from those events:

Jacob graduating from kindergarten

Joey playing T-ball

Nicholas being shy, and telling me that he is three.

Katelyn was in a good mood and we bonded totally.

Jacob playing T-ball.  That was a good hit!

Till next time!

One day, Matt says to me “I used practically all hot water and the shower still wasn’t hot”.  We both took a few showers like that, until last weekend, Matt went to check the hot water heater.  He came up from checking on it and he says to me “Hey, you turned that down way too much, it was on warm.  I changed it to medium” or whatever.

Um, I never actually did that.  Really.  I know sometimes my memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be, but I can definitely assure you all that I never got around to checking the temperature of the tank.  So tell me … if it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Matt and cats don’t have opposable thumbs and therefore cannot do it … who did?

Last Friday, we closed on our new house.   During the inspection, we were told that a GFI switch doesn’t work and we couldn’t figure out the basements heater, but we tried out the doorbell.  And the ring is quite unique … and very long.  So on Friday, my in-laws came with their truck and took us to IKEA for the furniture we wanted.

We were there putting stuff together, when my brother and sister-in-law show up with our nephews (and baby niece).  During the evening, we discovered that the GFI DOES work and Matt figured out how to work the heater.  However, Matt was entertaining our older nephew and told him to check out the doorbell.  Guess what?  The doorbell didn’t work.  And no-one knows why.  We tried turning on all the light switches (there are at least a million in the house) to see if that mattered and it didn’t seem to.

I know its coincidence, but I am blaming the same entity for both pranks.  He or she can stop now.  Thank you.

As far as the move goes, Matt & I are rolling along on the long to-do list. We have selected a painter, bought living room furniture to be delivered the day before move-in day, put a pool table on layaway and picked out the rest of the furniture that we will buy as soon as we close. We did end up picking stuff at IKEA, but our cars won’t hold a lot and there was no sense in having it delivered HERE and then moved again, so we’ll go out at a later time. We also just accepted the fact the we have to build bookcases. I was also quite surprised to see how expensive dining room sets are. I knew they weren’t cheap, but what we saw, besides IKEA was quite heart attack inducing.

There is still a lot to do around here. Still some projects at the house we need to find someone to do. I haven’t made any phone calls this week, except for “one” which turned out to me many to the same place. Yesterday, I spent my whole afternoon with one company. See, there was incorrect information on two of my credit reports. The address I never lived at didn’t bother me much, but the collection charge did. My mistake was trying to have the collection agency take care of it for me. After three, no four, days of talking to different people and talking to about 10 different people and hearing “You know this isn’t your charge, right?” I was ready to explode. YES! I KNOW it’s not mine, but its on my credit report people and holding up my mortgage, grrr. After talking to the very last person yesterday, I was told to call the credit bureau (Experian). Now, this sounds pretty logical right? Well, except that they won’t talk to you unless you have a “report number” and I didn’t have one because I ordered mine online. Finally someone yesterday shows me where to find it. It is deeply buried in the interface. Tell me what sense does that make, considering you need that number just for a general inquiry?

Anyway, after I had that number, Experian was most helpful. The person I talked to there asked if she minded if she put me on hold. That was how I spent my entire afternoon. I didn’t care again. She called the collection agency herself and got confirmation that it wasn’t mine and promised it would be removed in 48-72 hours. This morning, I received the e-mail that said the information was deleted! That was even faster than Equifax, who, when I called for the collection account number I needed, asked what was up and filed the dispute and took care of it for me. I received that confirmation on Thursday.

So while I will say that collection agencies are not necessarily evil, and the people working for them are not evil, they are just doing their job, I will say that they just don’t do it very well. If you are ever in this situation, go straight to the credit bureaus. Learn from my mistake.

So this week was crazy. Monday was the first contact with the collection agency and that took the morning and then we went furniture shopping. Tuesday, I had a vet appointment. Wednesday, an appointment with my neurologist/headache specialist and yesterday, the deal above. Running, running, running. I thought I quit running.

The neurologist told me that I have migraines due to chemical imbalances in the brain. Oh lovely. Sometimes they are helped with anti-depressants, but not the one I’m on. But he didn’t change that.

I’m on a new “retrain my brain” to work regimen. I need to take my medicine right away, not wait to see if it goes away. I need to tweak my supplements and exercise (even walking, it doesn’t have to be intense, high impact every day) even on migraine days. On migraine days, keep it to 30 minutes and take it down a notch. So instead of high-speed walking of 1 mile in 15 minutes, I say, do 20 minutes or more per mile. I am to be on a regular sleep schedule … nice one, doc, I’ve been trying to do that for YEARS ha ha … and eating schedule. That I can handle.

This weekend should be nice. I won’t have the collection thing hanging over me anymore. We are going to be home on Saturday, doing things, although Matt will go running. And on Sunday, we are going to see our girl Kayla at college and take her to dinner and a movie. It’s always nice hanging out with Kayla.

I have more to say, but I’ll save that for another post. Thanks for reading!

Procrastination is one of my very best personality traits. Or worst. But I’m also a perfectionist. And so the perfectionist in me procrastinates doing things until I have time to do it perfectly. Or I just procrastinate doing things I dread or don’t enjoy (making phone calls rates highly). So its a vicious cycle.

There have been times when my procrastination has paid off though. I know a few times I’ve put off making certain phone calls to have the situation resolve itself. However, I have a nice recent example that I wanted to share.

When my husband and I were looking at houses a few weekends ago, we had a conversation about games rooms and spaces. One of the houses had a small basement with a pool table already there. He mentioned that there wasn’t enough space for a ping-pong table as well. I said to him “We can just get one of those covers that converts the pool table to a ping-pong table”. He sneered at me. “I don’t want that” or something like that.

Well, as it turns out, I wanted to buy him one of those for this house to put on our dining room table at Christmas. I procrastinated and the one I had wanted was not available until after Christmas, so I had to make other plans and decided it would be his birthday present.

However, his birthday rolls around and I kept forgetting to order it in time to get here. Then I thought of something that would be better. I couldn’t decide between the two and in the end, I got him neither of those.

It worked out that he didn’t like the ping-pong converter idea … but what is an even better ending to this story … the alternate gift? He already had one. And for the curious, it was a San Antonio Spurs DeJuan Blair jersey.

So, next time you want to procrastinate, realize … it CAN work in your favor.

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What?  Getting ex back?  What post talked about that?  LOL.

Anyway, some updates from my life.

Indy continues to improve.  The last ALT value was 131.  He just had another test yesterday, and we are hoping for that magic number of 100 or less.  I predict it will be 100 teens.

Joey turned 20 years old a few weeks ago.  I can’t believe that I have a cat that is 20.  He has been not wanting to eat and I noticed one day that he was having trouble chewing.  It went beyond just being picky.  I had also noticed a few weeks back that his breath really stunk.  Really badly, like nothing I’ve ever smelled before.  It was not the expected uremic smell from the kidney disease.  So I plop him on the counter by the good light, and open his mouth.  He fought me, but I saw what I thought was bleeding.  I called in my husband to help hold him down and I see a mass.  Pretty large, bulbulous and red.  Not bleeding though.  I also noticed excessive tartar on the teeth.

Not sure what to do, I took him to the vet earlier this week.  The vet was very concerned, but since he is so very old with compromised kidneys, we cannot put him under for a thorough evaluation.  The mass could be something really scary or it could be inflammation/infection from the bacteria on the teeth.  He managed to scrape some tartar off the molars and started Joey on antibiotics.  We’ll see if it looks any better when we go back for his acupuncture next week.

Me?  Well, I have only two more sessions of physical therapy left.  It has helped me build up some muscle.  Not sure though if it helped the pain go away or if it was a result of my stopping most intense exercise.  Was it the rest or the strengthening?  Or both?  I guess we’ll never know, but I am feeling a lot better. I still have pain when out in the cold that is probably a result of the arthritis.  I’ve been cleared to do my own lower body routines and cardio … except for running or jumping still.  I started taking a supplement for joint pain.  It’s not glucosamine/condroitin because I am not sure of their efficacy in humans, and they are made of shellfish, so they are not even vegetarian!  The supplement I’m taking is Zyflamend and I really think its helping.

And I personally, have had a lot of bad customer service coming my way lately.  I’ve mentioned it on this blog.  However, this week, things really turned around.

It all started when I bought a sewing magazine.  I fell instantly in love with one the projects, its a wall hanging quilt for Halloween.  It’s not really hard, and I wanted to make it, but I didn’t want to have to go and find different fabrics to make it. Call me lazy, but I wanted THOSE ones.  Particularly the middle panel.

So I sent an e-mail to the magazine inquiring about the fabric.  On many projects they state the name of the material and where to get it.  But not this time.  I didn’t expect a response.  I thought maybe it might be a question in the letters section in next issue.  To my astonishment, actually got a response.  They gave me the “brand” of fabric and links to three stores that the manufacturer said ordered a lot.  I check out the web sites and … not helpful.  They were pretty much brick and mortar stores, with no option to buy online.  One did have option to buy online, but didn’t have very many of the collection.  The person who wrote me the letter actually called her local fabric store and asked them if they had any before sending me the link to that store, which unfortunately, did not have an internet store.   To make a long story shorter, I did find everything I needed.  Two of the patterns are in different colors than I wanted, but it will still look nice.

To think how many possible letters they get every day and they took the time out to help me.  I was overjoyed.

For an encore, enter Sears Optical Online.  You know how I hate the customer service in the Optical store at Ross Park? I’m not sure if I have mentioned it here, but in the past … well, lets just say that my contacts are usually sitting there and I never get called about them, or they get lost and I have to go back to the store after I was already there.  They seriously are not organized there.  Very unmotivated employees.  The doctor himself though, he’s a good guy.

The last time I needed contacts, I decided to see if I could order them online, have them shipped here and  not have to worry about the store not calling me or losing them again.   I could!   This time, however, my prescription had run out and I wasn’t happy with the brand I was using.  I mentioned that to the doctor at my exam, and he gave me Ciba Vision to try and ordered trial pairs of two other pairs.  I loved the Ciba Vision and wore them for nearly three weeks, before I went to the store to see if my others were there.  The people working in front were all “Were you called?”  “No, but, see, you NEVER call me and they are always here”.  I am sure they called me some bad names in their head.  So they looked for them and couldn’t find them.  I said “I need new ones, I am going away for the weekend. Why weren’t these ordered?”  I was promised that they would be ordered and overnighted to the store.  By the time I got home, I get a call saying that they were there, they had been misfiled.   SIGH!

So, after wearing contacts for the next few weeks and deciding on what brand I needed, I was up against another travel deadline.  The pair I was wearing felt like I had pebbles underneath them.  And well, you just read what I was working against.  So I ordered them online, knowing that they would get the prescription.  And they did, everything was going fine, and then the dreaded e-mail.

My toric (astigmatism) lenses were on backorder and they weren’t going to ship at all until they came in.  I begged!  I replied … ” I have two toric lenses here. I just need the sphericals.  Please send them separately. I need them, I am going on vacation. I hate the ones I am wearing now”.    So the ordering department called the distribution center.   The DC said that everything is in, shipping Friday, when do I leave?  I said “Monday.  I’ll pay for overnight shipping (the post office will even deliver on Sunday)”  and then I get an e-mail …. the DC is sending me two “trial” pairs and I should have them by Friday, to hold me over so that I can get through my trip.  Those are FREE.   And I think are both lenses, not just the sphericals.  The next day after all of this, I received notice that my entire order shipped.

Today, Fed-Ex pulls up to the door and delivers me my new contacts.  I have two toric lenses (those suckers are expensive) and two trial boxes of the regular ones … and each of those has three lenses in there, so that is SIX total.  A WHOLE FREAKING BOX of contacts for free.  All because I was in a tight spot.  And I didn’t even mention the stupidity of the store!

Now THAT’S customer service!

On the tails of that, I am actually communicating with the handyman and Matt had a truly wonderful experience with the University of Pittsburgh Ticket Office today.  We had ordered three tickets to Saturday’s football game, but someone else is going to join us, so he called to see if he could purchase another.  Expected to not be able to do it and we would need a plan B … whether it was buying four new ones and reselling the three or moving back to unoccupied seats in the section.  However, the lady working that day, was awesomely nice and managed to exchange our three tickets for four better ones.

I need to call USAirways tomorrow.  I am afraid, very afraid.  I don’t want my streak to end. 

Last Friday, we attended my cousin’s Matriculation/Convocation ceremony at her university.   You are all probably familiar with Kayla by now.  Her university of choice is only one hour south of here, and we drove down for this rather quick formal welcoming ceremony.  We were looking forward to seeing her and seeing the school, as we have not been there yet.

It is dead smack in the middle of a little town.  Main roads run through it.  Yet it is still private and very beautiful.  Fortunately, it was hot in the gymnasium, so they skipped the opening speech and got right to it.  All 400 something names.  But it was a stroke of luck that we were sitting in the front row of the bleachers and one of the nurses opened the doors and we had a nice breeze coming in at us.  Ahhhh ….

Kayla then gave us a very quick tour of the campus and took us to her tiny dorm room.  So cute.  But it was nice.

I am very proud of that girl.  She has grown up into a beautiful and smart young lady, who is going to make a wonderful RN someday.

***
On the homefront, well, like I said, I feel like life is whizzing on by.  Is there any reason for that?  Well, maybe.  I call it responsibility.  And the beginning of training for a marathon.  I haven’t really been running much, but more than I have for a few months.  I feel like I am beginning again.  You wouldn’t think that six or eight weeks of low mileage with a few 7-days of no running stretches would do that.  But for me … deconditioning is so easy.  I have put on a few pounds, and that is contributing.  But so is the fact that I’ve been lazy about my running. Combine that with the oppressive humidity.  I am having all the usual doubts about me being cut out for running and all that.  But somehow, week after week, several times a week, I lace up the shoes and head out and do my run/walk.  I manage to improve each time.  Obviously, I can do this.

Other noteworthy things:
*Hallie gained a pound of weight.  Yay!

*I think I actually have a handyman to do our work.

*I discovered that I hate the Swiffer Wet-Jet.

*My dryer died.  Now I have to go to the laundromat.  I hate the laundromat.  The only advantage is the ability to do multiple loads at once.

*The owners of the condo we rented in Kauai have not sent us the important information that we were promised by now.  Naturally, this stirs up a lot of anxiety, as I worry that something went wrong and we really don’t have the condo.  Although the rental agreement is right here on my desktop.

*After the initial excitement of my weight workout, I have never done them again.  Each time I think I’ll start again, there is a trip in the way.  So now … I will say after I get back from Hawaii.  Maybe I’ll be ready to commit to those again.  I know I have commitment issues, despite being married and having a tattoo, but this is a 2x per week, 25 minute workout.  You’d think I’d be able to handle that. 

*Technology is starting to overwhelm me.

*These smileys show up in places I didn’t put them.  Drives me nuts.

I promised the cats that we could play with their new toy, so I should probably go attend to them.