Big things on my mind these days:
Current job positives:
Interesting work
Great hours
Some travel but not much
Great boss
Good salary
Run to work 3 days per week
Work from home 1 day per week (could be 2 if I wanted)
Many friends in ofc
Great network of professional relationships built with people I regularly interact with
Can work from other places or other cities/states (if I want to visit friends or family in other cities and there is wifi, I don't need to take vacation to do it; all that matters is that I get my work done and my hours billed)
Great gym in office
Boss knows I want to move to Italy in about 10 years and work remotely (not clear if this will work, will depend a lot on what changes technologically in 10 yrs, what travel is req'd for my job (right now about 8 trips/year), and if someone else could cover that, but at least boss knows that's the goal)
Good benefits (some 401k match (unknown in the law firm world), employee stock purchase plan, pretty good insurance, reasonable amount of paid holidays)
No real office drama (at least none impacting me really)
Current job negatives:
Billing time (tracking what I'm doing EVERY SIX MINUTES...)
Glass walls in office (well, walls between offices, but glass on outside of bldg and toward inside of bld, so people walking down hall can see in my office)
Ofc location may move in 2.5 yrs to location 10 miles away in city where my husband works
Incompetent idiot assistant
Only 2.67 weeks of vacation per year until 2016 (then more)
Theoretical new job positives:
Approx 20% pay increase
Work from home 1 day/wk (more if I want)
Some travel but not much
Great hours
No billing time
One colleague left here to work there and I like her, so at least 1 friend in the ofc
Presumably a standard office with no glass wall
Theoretical new job negatives:
Longer commute (about 10 miles each way, but to the same city where my husband works)
Less interesting work expected
Boss is an unknown
No running commute (unless we moved, then maybe even a short walking commute)
Unknown assistant (and unknown level of support)
Unknown amount of vacation (presumably no less than I have now)
Unknown if there is a gym in bldg
As to the location issue, the theoretical new job is very near where my current job will likely move in about 2.5 years. If we wanted (and if my husband had his way), we could sell our condo, buy an identical condo by the same builder with same floor plan and everything, and make over $100k on the deal. But if we did that, we wouldn't be living in our awesome 'hood, near our awesome neighbors and near our awesome running store. If we moved, I could possibly run to the new job (not sure of shower situation), but I could also possibly just walk -- that would all be true also if my current job moves in 2.5 years.
So what does it boil down to?
Significant pay raise at theoretical new job (I know the data says that once you have a comfortable salary, making even significantly more doesn't increase happiness, but in this case, what if the hours stayed exactly the same and instead we were able to pay off the condo sooner? Or is it really mo' money, mo' problems?)
Great boss at current job
Love running to work at current job, but this may end either way in 2.5 years (but by then, maybe I'll be over it, have met my marathon goals, etc.)
More interesting work at current job
No daily recording of time at theoretical new job (time recording seems to be the bane of most attorneys' existences, and I thought I got away from it when I moved out of law firm life, but surprise, some places still expect you to bill time so they can track resources/time; I'm fairly used to it and I don't hate it, but it would be lovely not to have to do it)
Hmmm... thoughts?
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
FMM: Summer Fun
I'm a day late on FMM and was happily avoiding the computer throughout the long weekend.
We had a low-key Saturday consisting of lots of tv, napping, and organizing. The highlight was watching The Running Man. Hubby had been insisting since we saw it that The Hunger Games was a remake of that movie. I'd never seen it, and now I suppose he has a point.
On Sunday, after our "long" run (only 8 miles right now), my local bestie, her sister and I went to their parents' house for the rest of the weekend. They are both going to Germany too to run the Berlin marathon, so my bestie and I spent some time Sunday afternoon playing on our phones with fun German apps. So incidentally, it was great that I'd spent a couple hours on Saturday watching Arnold -- it helped a lot with my German pronunciation!
Monday's highlight was a half marathon. It is a hilly course, and we also had wind (and of course Texas at Memorial Day is hot, but at least it was overcast). The race was really a beating. I planned to go out pretty conservatively, around marathon pace, and then hold steady on the second half of the race, which was very hilly.
Well, that plan didn't work. I went out a little too fast, but pretty close to the goal. But I slowed a lot on the second half. The hills were tough and unfortunately right into the wind. So even on the downhill, when I was working hard and trying to pick up speed, it was still right into the wind, and my pace was nearly a minute slower than I expected -- and of course I expected slow pace on the uphills, and that was also a minute slower than expected.
When I had about 3/4 of a mile to go, I got lucky. Three guys were running backwards on the course and they u-turned right near me and the 2 guys near me. The 3 of them were encouraging us to run harder, that we were almost done. I ended up being the only one of the 3 of us still running who tried to humor them. So I had 3 escorts to the finish line. As we talked, it turned out they had finished first, second and third! The lead guy carried my water bottle for me and told me to tuck in behind him so he'd block the wind. Since he probably weighed less than me and was about 6 inches taller, that was fairly useless, but the sentiment was sweet. We tried to catch the woman immediately in front of me, but that was too much. But I was still thrilled to have the company and to be running fairly hard for the finish. Particularly with my escorts. I was very surprised to see my finish time -- only almost 5 minutes slower than a PR, and good enough to win my age group. Crazy! I guess everyone else out there (at least in my age group) had the same struggles with the heat, the hills and the wind. It was a nice little bonus. And it was a good excuse to spend the rest of the day drinking beer, eating too much, and relaxing in my bestie's parents' pool.
Anyway, here is my belated Friend Making Mondays...
If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!
1. What is your favorite summer fruit? I like so many summer fruits but if I am forced to choose a favorite, I'd go with cherries I guess (followed by peaches, then strawberries, then watermelon).
2. Do you know how to swim? Mmm, not really. I mean, I can get around in the water, swimming out to a raft or something (and I can even do it with one arm up holding a beer out of the water). But I don't have good form or anything. I hate putting my face in the water -- remnants from when my asthma was much worse as a kid and I was almost always wheezing and struggling for air when I tried to do anything strenuous. But if I'm going to do an Ironman someday, I think I'll have to learn.
3. Do you prefer sun or snow? Sun, sun, sun (unless it's the week of Christmas, then snow please, can't imagine a non-white Christmas).
4. What temperature do you like most inside your home? If it were up to me, I'd say 78 or so. But hubby is more of 76, so we compromise on 77 when we sleep and 78 during the day if we're home.
5. Is it humid where you live? Not too bad most of the year, but May and the first part of June usually are. This morning it was in the mid-70s and the humidity was in the upper 70s. Made for a(nother) tough run...
6. What is your favorite food to put on the grill? As a vegetarian, I'd go with veggies. I love veggie skewers on the grill. I have a recipe I like for grilled tofu, and I love grilled fruit, but my fave would be veggies. Corn on the cob, mushrooms, zucchini, love it.
7. Do you prefer to wear a one-piece or two-piece swim suit? I wore a bikini yesterday but it should be noted that I was just with my friend and her family, not quite sure I'd wear something like that where others could see me, but I didn't care too much around them.
8. What is your favorite summer drink? Tough call. I'm usually in marathon training season over the summer, so water, sadly. In terms of fun drinks, something with vodka and a fruity taste. Made a recipe for "dirty Shirleys" off Pinterest a few weeks ago, very good.
9. Do you prefer the pool or the ocean? I wouldn't complain about either. If I have to choose, I guess I'd go with ocean.
10. What are you looking forward to most over the summer? My 20 year high school reunion is at the end of summer. That will be interesting and there are a few people I can't wait to see.
Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions. Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments! Happy Monday (a day late)!
We had a low-key Saturday consisting of lots of tv, napping, and organizing. The highlight was watching The Running Man. Hubby had been insisting since we saw it that The Hunger Games was a remake of that movie. I'd never seen it, and now I suppose he has a point.
On Sunday, after our "long" run (only 8 miles right now), my local bestie, her sister and I went to their parents' house for the rest of the weekend. They are both going to Germany too to run the Berlin marathon, so my bestie and I spent some time Sunday afternoon playing on our phones with fun German apps. So incidentally, it was great that I'd spent a couple hours on Saturday watching Arnold -- it helped a lot with my German pronunciation!
Monday's highlight was a half marathon. It is a hilly course, and we also had wind (and of course Texas at Memorial Day is hot, but at least it was overcast). The race was really a beating. I planned to go out pretty conservatively, around marathon pace, and then hold steady on the second half of the race, which was very hilly.
Well, that plan didn't work. I went out a little too fast, but pretty close to the goal. But I slowed a lot on the second half. The hills were tough and unfortunately right into the wind. So even on the downhill, when I was working hard and trying to pick up speed, it was still right into the wind, and my pace was nearly a minute slower than I expected -- and of course I expected slow pace on the uphills, and that was also a minute slower than expected.
When I had about 3/4 of a mile to go, I got lucky. Three guys were running backwards on the course and they u-turned right near me and the 2 guys near me. The 3 of them were encouraging us to run harder, that we were almost done. I ended up being the only one of the 3 of us still running who tried to humor them. So I had 3 escorts to the finish line. As we talked, it turned out they had finished first, second and third! The lead guy carried my water bottle for me and told me to tuck in behind him so he'd block the wind. Since he probably weighed less than me and was about 6 inches taller, that was fairly useless, but the sentiment was sweet. We tried to catch the woman immediately in front of me, but that was too much. But I was still thrilled to have the company and to be running fairly hard for the finish. Particularly with my escorts. I was very surprised to see my finish time -- only almost 5 minutes slower than a PR, and good enough to win my age group. Crazy! I guess everyone else out there (at least in my age group) had the same struggles with the heat, the hills and the wind. It was a nice little bonus. And it was a good excuse to spend the rest of the day drinking beer, eating too much, and relaxing in my bestie's parents' pool.
Anyway, here is my belated Friend Making Mondays...
If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!
Summer Fun
2. Do you know how to swim? Mmm, not really. I mean, I can get around in the water, swimming out to a raft or something (and I can even do it with one arm up holding a beer out of the water). But I don't have good form or anything. I hate putting my face in the water -- remnants from when my asthma was much worse as a kid and I was almost always wheezing and struggling for air when I tried to do anything strenuous. But if I'm going to do an Ironman someday, I think I'll have to learn.
3. Do you prefer sun or snow? Sun, sun, sun (unless it's the week of Christmas, then snow please, can't imagine a non-white Christmas).
4. What temperature do you like most inside your home? If it were up to me, I'd say 78 or so. But hubby is more of 76, so we compromise on 77 when we sleep and 78 during the day if we're home.
5. Is it humid where you live? Not too bad most of the year, but May and the first part of June usually are. This morning it was in the mid-70s and the humidity was in the upper 70s. Made for a(nother) tough run...
6. What is your favorite food to put on the grill? As a vegetarian, I'd go with veggies. I love veggie skewers on the grill. I have a recipe I like for grilled tofu, and I love grilled fruit, but my fave would be veggies. Corn on the cob, mushrooms, zucchini, love it.
7. Do you prefer to wear a one-piece or two-piece swim suit? I wore a bikini yesterday but it should be noted that I was just with my friend and her family, not quite sure I'd wear something like that where others could see me, but I didn't care too much around them.
8. What is your favorite summer drink? Tough call. I'm usually in marathon training season over the summer, so water, sadly. In terms of fun drinks, something with vodka and a fruity taste. Made a recipe for "dirty Shirleys" off Pinterest a few weeks ago, very good.
9. Do you prefer the pool or the ocean? I wouldn't complain about either. If I have to choose, I guess I'd go with ocean.
10. What are you looking forward to most over the summer? My 20 year high school reunion is at the end of summer. That will be interesting and there are a few people I can't wait to see.
Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions. Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments! Happy Monday (a day late)!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
State of the legs
Well, I have officially been doing 5 commutes per week on foot for over 6 months now (well, 5 per week at most; I've missed about 8 or so total). And marathon training started this past week.
If I hurt anywhere in relation to running, it is generally something in my calf. I know way too much about the various calf muscles and primary tendons (the gastroc, the soleus, the Achilles, the peroneus lungus). All of those have been identified at one point or another in one leg or another as the problem and source of my calf pain.
Well, after the 5k on Saturday, I felt solid. The race hadn't gone particularly well (about 45 seconds slower than a PR, and about 5 seconds per mile slower than my other two 5ks within the last month), but I attributed that primarily to the weather and to the course (a bridge hill that we ran over and then back over). I finished the race, grabbed some water, and immediately headed out backwards on the course to find my accounting buddy as she was finishing up her second 5k ever. I found here, and we walked and ran the last 3/4 of a mile together.
Then I had a fairly typical rest of the day Saturday. I spent some time after the race hanging out, having a beer, waiting for the AG awards. I went home, had an early lunch, showered, went to volunteer for a couple hours (seated work), went to that confirmation/communion thing, went out for dinner.
What was unusual was what happened Saturday night -- I woke up in the middle of the night from calf pain. I usually sleep partially on my left side, partially on my stomach, and somehow my right leg was on top of my left leg and pushing against my calf -- and it hurt a lot.
I'd already decided to take Sunday as a rest day. My very last Sunday off until Oct. 7, the week after the marathon probably. Though I suppose there may be a couple random Sundays that we are out of town or something and I have to reschedule or skip my long run. But basically the last Sunday before my Berlin training season gets underway.
All day Sunday, it hurt. It seemed to be worst when I dorsi-flexed my foot. But the absolute most intense pain was when I touched it. Even lightly rubbing my inner upper calf on my left leg caused A LOT of pain.
I have no good explanation for why I went to boot camp Monday. Well, that's not true. This is the explanation:
If I hurt anywhere in relation to running, it is generally something in my calf. I know way too much about the various calf muscles and primary tendons (the gastroc, the soleus, the Achilles, the peroneus lungus). All of those have been identified at one point or another in one leg or another as the problem and source of my calf pain.
Well, after the 5k on Saturday, I felt solid. The race hadn't gone particularly well (about 45 seconds slower than a PR, and about 5 seconds per mile slower than my other two 5ks within the last month), but I attributed that primarily to the weather and to the course (a bridge hill that we ran over and then back over). I finished the race, grabbed some water, and immediately headed out backwards on the course to find my accounting buddy as she was finishing up her second 5k ever. I found here, and we walked and ran the last 3/4 of a mile together.
Then I had a fairly typical rest of the day Saturday. I spent some time after the race hanging out, having a beer, waiting for the AG awards. I went home, had an early lunch, showered, went to volunteer for a couple hours (seated work), went to that confirmation/communion thing, went out for dinner.
What was unusual was what happened Saturday night -- I woke up in the middle of the night from calf pain. I usually sleep partially on my left side, partially on my stomach, and somehow my right leg was on top of my left leg and pushing against my calf -- and it hurt a lot.
I'd already decided to take Sunday as a rest day. My very last Sunday off until Oct. 7, the week after the marathon probably. Though I suppose there may be a couple random Sundays that we are out of town or something and I have to reschedule or skip my long run. But basically the last Sunday before my Berlin training season gets underway.
All day Sunday, it hurt. It seemed to be worst when I dorsi-flexed my foot. But the absolute most intense pain was when I touched it. Even lightly rubbing my inner upper calf on my left leg caused A LOT of pain.
I have no good explanation for why I went to boot camp Monday. Well, that's not true. This is the explanation:
Yes, that photo seems like a good reason to go to boot camp! I'd eaten a very healthy dinner Sunday night when I hosted book club, but I followed that with too much of a very unhealthy dessert!
So I really felt like a slug and I needed to get up and get moving on Monday morning. I decided I'd go to boot camp but give the instructor a heads-up about my pain and just avoid doing the running, and avoid any leg work that caused pain.
When I got home from camp, there was still the same issues -- pain when I dorsi-flexed, pain when I touched it. Fortunately, Mondays are my day to drive to work (so I can bring my laptop and my clothes). I put a bunch of Bio-Freeze gel on under my work pants and went to work smelling like I was made of menthol.
All day, I made a conscious effort not to cross my legs, and it seemed like even after the Bio-freeze wore off, it was somewhat less painful.
Tuesday morning, there was still some pain, but I set out for my first group training run of the marathon season. And of course the first day is always rough in a group at our pace. Lots of the guys turn it into something of a pissing match, outdoing one another on the pace, but honestly, the women are almost as bad. Everyone runs too fast, thinking they have to prove they belong. And I was more guilty than some. Our group got very spread out (usually that's a no-no, but this season for this group, that is the plan), and I stayed toward the middle, when in reality, I belong at the back. The run was very tough; it didn't help that it was 79 degrees at 5:15 a.m. I ran much faster than I should have, and while I didn't have any calf pain, when I finished the 6 miles, pretty much everything hurt.
I went home, had breakfast, loaded up on the bio-freeze again, and then set off for my slow paced easy run commute. I had a friend keeping me company for the first mile, which was nice and ensured I wasn't picking up the pace.
In the end, I think I had one of my slowest commutes ever. My friend u-turned and I had no gas in the tank to pick up the pace. It was a nice, slow run.
The main thing I noticed during the day Tuesday was not calf pain, but all over leg pain. My hamstrings on both legs were very tight. I could touch the back of my leg and it felt like a taut rubber band. Ugh. At one point, I was in my boss's office on a call, and I was trying to remember a judge's name. I knew I had it on a printout in my office on top of my desk. In my office next door. So I attempted to stand up, run to my office, grab it, and run back. But what happened was that I heaved myself up, hobbled out, grabbed it, and hobbled back. Oh, it was painful.
Due to some pretty big thunderstorms, the track meet on Tuesday night was cancelled. Instead, I worked late on Tuesday so that I wouldn't be running home in thunder or lightning, and ideally not even running home in the rain. Fortunately, I'm so far behind at work, I could have stayed all night! I had a dry run home, but one of my slowest commutes going home (downhill) ever. My legs were so tight and sore, and I felt like I never got into my stride. At one point, I could see that I needed to speed up to catch a traffic light, and it was so awkward and painful.
Wednesday morning, I woke up and I hesitate to say this, but something miraculous happened overnight. I woke up pain free. No calf pain on dorsiflexion. No calf pain to the touch. Hammies are still tight, but not excessively. I still skipped out on about half the running at boot camp and elected to jump rope instead during those times, and I ran pretty slowly to work, but I think it's all good.
Wednesday night was a smooth and slow run home, half of it with my accounting buddy, and on this morning's group run, I did a better job of hanging toward the back of the pack and taking time to stretch pretty throroughly when I finished. I'll head to work in about 20 mins and take it nice and easy, part of it with a friend again.
So my current biggest leg complaint is that I have had some chafing for two or three days in a row in the most awkward place ever. Pretty much right where the liner of my shorts hits my inner thigh. I've had inner thigh chafing before, but this wasn't that -- this was higher, and actually from the liner. Ugh. And I have no idea why. My weight hasn't changed at all and these are all three pairs of shorts I've had and worn for a long time without issue.
But I feel like aside from the chafing and a bit of tightness, I can honestly say that I'm starting this season pretty strong and injury free. Usually at some point in marathon training, I realize that when I flex my legs just right, my quads sometimes feel like rocks. Surprisingly enough, I'm already there. And I'm already at my Boston marathon weight (which is my current PR), so ideally, I'll be a couple pounds below that for Berlin. All that remains now is to do the training and to stay where I am physically, pain-free and at PR weight.
That is the official state of my legs.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Carina Cooks, 2013 Edition v2
In 2013, I resolved to cook 52 recipes from scratch, and I'm trying to keep track of most of them. I posted my first batch of recipes here.
As before, if any recipe in particular sounds good, let me know and I'll either post it or scan and email it to you (though I can't promise it will be prompt).
11. Undated March 2013: Two mushroom barley stew from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Blah, not one I'd probably make again. Hubby seemed to have some trouble finding pearl barley, so we used regular barley and maybe that made a difference. It was fine, just nothing special. Included carrot, onion, dried mushrooms, white mushrooms (and we added portabella mushrooms). Fairly bland.
12. 3-20-13: Chipotle-kissed red bean and sweet potato chili, from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Blah. That chipotle/adobo flavor just doesn't do much for me, and the sweet potatoes didn't seem soft enough. Would not recommend, will not make again.
13. 3-23-13: Bulgar pilaf from a website (recipe here). Good. We doubled the recipe and ate leftovers as our grain for about a week afterward. The recipe contains orzo, bulgar, and zucchini. I used my alligator dicer and loved the tiny, tiny perfect squares of zucchini. Nice way to eat bulgar, which is not in our regular rotation.
14. 3-23-13: Two different tofu recipes to see which I liked more. Easy tofu marinade and baked tofu. From Kim's page (look for "easy tofu marinade"). Can't remember the second source unfortunately, but I have it printed (called "perfect baked tofu").
15. 3-31-13: Asparagus citrus salad from Asaparagus Festival (a special little cookbook all about asparagus!). My Easter brunch contribution -- a salad with mixed greens, asparagus and blood oranges, with a homemade dressing made of blood orange juice, shallots, blood orange zest, sherry vinegar, balsalmic vinegar, and olive oil. Good, would gladly make again.
15A. BONUS: For Easter, two recipes for sweets from Pinterest. No bake bird's nests (chow mein noodles coated in butterscotch and chocolate, formed into nests, topped with chocolate eggs and peeps) and no bake marshamallow squares (white chocolate and pastel colored marshmallows, topped with spring looking sprinkles). The nests looked and tasted awesome. The marshmallow Easter bark was okay, not great.
16. 4-6-13 Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad from this link at gourmet.com. Not a new recipe to me, but a good one. Roasted eggplant and zucchini, added to barley -- again, the recipe called for pearl barley, but we only had regular, which I've done before and enjoyed. But to my surprise, we didn't have enough regular barley, so I did half barley and half orzo. And I didn't have parsley or mint to add, and I forgot to add the tomatoes (which were only going to be in my husband's half), but it was still delicious. Actually, when I mention all that, it sounds like I didn't even follow the recipe, so it's somewhat questionable whether I should count this as a meal from a recipe!
17. 4-12-13 Homemade whole wheat pizza dough from this recipe at selfdishes.com. A recipe we got from friends years ago and we've made it every year for our rehearsal dinner anniversary party. It's a whole wheat pizza dough that you grill, and it's easy to have dinner guests then build their own pizzas.
17A. BONUS 4-12-13: For our rehearsal dinner party this year, we also made a cannllini bean-garlic dip from a cookbook we got for our wedding from my cousin called Dips (a very, very, very simple recipe), and a creamy avocado yogurt dip, from this recipe (also very simple), and a recipe from a law school friend for spinach artichoke dip (fairly simple, and easily made in advance and then baked on the day of). We also made brie-raspberry tarts from a recipe found on Pinterest (very simple again, using frozen phyllo mini tart shells).
18. 4-14-13 Red lentil curry from this link, but had originally gotten from Pioneer Woman (just doesn't appear to be on her site anymore, at least not in the form I like and make). I've made this a few times before and it's definitely a winner. This time, however, I made it with petite red lentils, which meant they practically dissolved and it had more the consistency of a red lentil mush, but man, it was tasty! The first night, I ate mine over a baked potato (primarily because I cooked the recipe on a Sunday, I forgot I had a potato to eat from the grocery store, and I knew I wouldn't have an hour to cook it on a weeknight), hubby ate his over brown rice. The second night we ate the leftovers, hubby had his over quinoa, and I had mine over tortilla chips. Definitely a recipe I should make more frequently.
19. 4-28-13 Black bean sweet potato burritos from Vegan a Go Go. A friend emailed me this recipe years ago and I love it (I don't actually own the cookbook). We've had it several times. Basically just mashed sweet potatoes on a tortilla, topped by salsa, topped by seasoned and cooked black beans, then with cheese for me (but no cheese for hubby). I used 2 sweet potatoes and 1 can of beans and we had enough for 7 burritos (more like tacos really since I couldn't close them this time). I think that was because we're using a new kind of fresh tortilla that is smaller. Insanely good.
20. 5-5-13 Vegetable stew from Little Big Vegetarian cookbook (below, just turn your head sideways...). Hubby's choice (I am trying to get him to choose more recipes). Very good. Lots of dicing of eggplant and zucchini and bell peppers, but super healthy and very tasty. We had enough for two dinners and one lunch. For some reason, I thought black beans were in the recipe (well, because the picture made it look that way, but I guess for the photo the eggplant got very dark and there were olives), but it was just veggies, so no protein. I served it over black beans and brown rice so it seemed more balanced.
As before, if any recipe in particular sounds good, let me know and I'll either post it or scan and email it to you (though I can't promise it will be prompt).
11. Undated March 2013: Two mushroom barley stew from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Blah, not one I'd probably make again. Hubby seemed to have some trouble finding pearl barley, so we used regular barley and maybe that made a difference. It was fine, just nothing special. Included carrot, onion, dried mushrooms, white mushrooms (and we added portabella mushrooms). Fairly bland.
12. 3-20-13: Chipotle-kissed red bean and sweet potato chili, from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Blah. That chipotle/adobo flavor just doesn't do much for me, and the sweet potatoes didn't seem soft enough. Would not recommend, will not make again.
13. 3-23-13: Bulgar pilaf from a website (recipe here). Good. We doubled the recipe and ate leftovers as our grain for about a week afterward. The recipe contains orzo, bulgar, and zucchini. I used my alligator dicer and loved the tiny, tiny perfect squares of zucchini. Nice way to eat bulgar, which is not in our regular rotation.
14. 3-23-13: Two different tofu recipes to see which I liked more. Easy tofu marinade and baked tofu. From Kim's page (look for "easy tofu marinade"). Can't remember the second source unfortunately, but I have it printed (called "perfect baked tofu").
15. 3-31-13: Asparagus citrus salad from Asaparagus Festival (a special little cookbook all about asparagus!). My Easter brunch contribution -- a salad with mixed greens, asparagus and blood oranges, with a homemade dressing made of blood orange juice, shallots, blood orange zest, sherry vinegar, balsalmic vinegar, and olive oil. Good, would gladly make again.
15A. BONUS: For Easter, two recipes for sweets from Pinterest. No bake bird's nests (chow mein noodles coated in butterscotch and chocolate, formed into nests, topped with chocolate eggs and peeps) and no bake marshamallow squares (white chocolate and pastel colored marshmallows, topped with spring looking sprinkles). The nests looked and tasted awesome. The marshmallow Easter bark was okay, not great.
16. 4-6-13 Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad from this link at gourmet.com. Not a new recipe to me, but a good one. Roasted eggplant and zucchini, added to barley -- again, the recipe called for pearl barley, but we only had regular, which I've done before and enjoyed. But to my surprise, we didn't have enough regular barley, so I did half barley and half orzo. And I didn't have parsley or mint to add, and I forgot to add the tomatoes (which were only going to be in my husband's half), but it was still delicious. Actually, when I mention all that, it sounds like I didn't even follow the recipe, so it's somewhat questionable whether I should count this as a meal from a recipe!
17. 4-12-13 Homemade whole wheat pizza dough from this recipe at selfdishes.com. A recipe we got from friends years ago and we've made it every year for our rehearsal dinner anniversary party. It's a whole wheat pizza dough that you grill, and it's easy to have dinner guests then build their own pizzas.
17A. BONUS 4-12-13: For our rehearsal dinner party this year, we also made a cannllini bean-garlic dip from a cookbook we got for our wedding from my cousin called Dips (a very, very, very simple recipe), and a creamy avocado yogurt dip, from this recipe (also very simple), and a recipe from a law school friend for spinach artichoke dip (fairly simple, and easily made in advance and then baked on the day of). We also made brie-raspberry tarts from a recipe found on Pinterest (very simple again, using frozen phyllo mini tart shells).
18. 4-14-13 Red lentil curry from this link, but had originally gotten from Pioneer Woman (just doesn't appear to be on her site anymore, at least not in the form I like and make). I've made this a few times before and it's definitely a winner. This time, however, I made it with petite red lentils, which meant they practically dissolved and it had more the consistency of a red lentil mush, but man, it was tasty! The first night, I ate mine over a baked potato (primarily because I cooked the recipe on a Sunday, I forgot I had a potato to eat from the grocery store, and I knew I wouldn't have an hour to cook it on a weeknight), hubby ate his over brown rice. The second night we ate the leftovers, hubby had his over quinoa, and I had mine over tortilla chips. Definitely a recipe I should make more frequently.
19. 4-28-13 Black bean sweet potato burritos from Vegan a Go Go. A friend emailed me this recipe years ago and I love it (I don't actually own the cookbook). We've had it several times. Basically just mashed sweet potatoes on a tortilla, topped by salsa, topped by seasoned and cooked black beans, then with cheese for me (but no cheese for hubby). I used 2 sweet potatoes and 1 can of beans and we had enough for 7 burritos (more like tacos really since I couldn't close them this time). I think that was because we're using a new kind of fresh tortilla that is smaller. Insanely good.
20. 5-5-13 Vegetable stew from Little Big Vegetarian cookbook (below, just turn your head sideways...). Hubby's choice (I am trying to get him to choose more recipes). Very good. Lots of dicing of eggplant and zucchini and bell peppers, but super healthy and very tasty. We had enough for two dinners and one lunch. For some reason, I thought black beans were in the recipe (well, because the picture made it look that way, but I guess for the photo the eggplant got very dark and there were olives), but it was just veggies, so no protein. I served it over black beans and brown rice so it seemed more balanced.
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