Today - January's Modified Present Participle List

Wow, its been 6 months since I've done an update - perhaps a modified list is in order.

Outside My Window: This winter cannot decide what it wants to do. Snow on Sunday and 55 degrees and windy today. It is either 10 degrees or 45 here this year!

Eating: Starting out the year pretty well. Five months of primal eating and feeling great. So many more veggies and rarely any grains or legumes.  Still #teamwhiterice in this family or I might get hung but everyone is adjusting pretty well to the meals I make as long as there is popcorn and wheat free cereal or oats in the pantry. Down 20 lbs. since August and my skin is clear and hair is thick.  Sleep is so much better too!

Reading:  So happy with my reading success last year. The digital selection from our library is really great and having book club every 2 months gives me a reason that I must read. This puts me into a habit so that I stay caught up which usually gets me an extra 2 books in before book club rolls around again. Plus, continuing to read with the boys regularly ensures that we have down time together.  Currently reading: My Life in France by Julia Child, The Blood of Olympus (#5), and Homespun Mom Comes Unraveled. Just finished Daring Greatly (a must read), The Look of Love by Sarah Jio (always love her books), and The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown which was a beautifully written book. As my mother in law says - "WWII and the Pacific NW, how can you go wrong?"

Working: Having such a hard time getting back into the groove of work after the holidays.  Glad I am doing Leadership Tri-Cities this year to help learn about our great community and do great things in it. I do feel like I need to work hard on my personal mission and figure out what I want to do with my life. Darn that economic security! I'd prefer to go back to school or drop out of the workforce completely and homestead but alas, neither is really an option without major risk taking. And those risks affect so many more than just me so I'll just continue to find the passion in the work that I do. So grateful that I CAN do that!

Listening: Haven't really fallen for any new music lately.  I've been listening to lots of podcasts and even an audiobook. Josh had a download that needed to be used so I bought Eat the Yolks by Liz Wolfe. Highly recommend (audiobook or real book) if you are interested in debunking the garbage science that we've been fed regarding our food (and its actually a light read).

Planning: Need a getaway with my hubby! Would love sunny, sandy trip somewhere to celebrate our 15th year of marriage.

Feeling: Like I'm getting to know myself this year. Enneagram, Meyers Brigg, monthly work for Leadership Tri-Cities, bi-annual counseling appointments, reading and exploration...its all contributing.

Making Dough

Thanks to the Pioneer Woman, I am going to attempt a few recipes tomorrow!  Can you believe I've only make real bread once before?  And that was before we were married (but right after I got my Kitchen Aid Mixer).  Pioneer Woman's famous cinnamon roll dough recipe is the same dough base for Hot Cross Buns and her Rosemary Dinner Rolls too!

Scalded Milk , Sugar, and Oil

So I'm making dough today and two different bread recipes tomorrow!  Wish me luck!

ETA:  I decided against Hot Cross Buns because I just couldn't get excited about raisins in my breakfast rolls, so Cinnamon Rolls it was!  And they were fantastic - hopefully the dinner rolls turn out as well!  Have a Wonderful, Blessed Easter!

Cinnamon Rolls on Easter Morning! (Brody was in a hurry for his)

Total Foods

I am a total hypocrite when it comes to my kids and food. I completely admit it! Only certain very healthy things unless of course they are not very healthy things that make life easier like Kung Fu Panda Fruit Snacks and McDonalds. Yikes! So, this really cracked me up!

Random Blathering

I made a cheesecake yesterday.  Josh told me it was a must do after we went grocery shopping and I bought cream cheese again without checking to see if we already had some.  After we were done shopping, we had about seven bricks of cream cheese in the fridge.  

Good thing, because I used the recipe for New York Cheesecake from the "America's Test Kitchen" cookbook and it called for 5 bricks of cream cheese.  FIVE, can you believe it.  That's not a heart attack waiting to happen. But it is ooohhh so good!  Apparently they do all that testing for a reason.  Everything I've made from that cookbook has been fabulous!

I called Josh on his way home to pick up some graham crackers for the crust.  When he came home he was putting the extra packages away and noticed a Brand New box of graham crackers in the cracker keeper.  Something tells me I am going to have to start actually checking for groceries before we shop!

Is this this new blogger background I put up giving anyone else a headache???

And I've decided that I am a better cook than Dream Dinners is, even though the convenience is nice.

Yum, Yum, Yum

I realize that this isn't the best food photo ever.  I have a lot of work to do there but this steak however was Phabulous, totally with the "Ph".  It was the seasoned sirloin that Josh and I really like from Fred Meyer.  I haven't been too happy with our last two attempts to grill it so I requested a new method.  For Josh to turn the steak over to me was a pretty big deal!  I used Alton Brown's pan seared rib-eye recipe (minus the seasoning) and it worked out perfectly.  I did the extra minute on each side for medium, since I don't like to chew my meat long enough to work through rare.  

Josh made garlic mashed red potatoes and the green beans were a la Sesame Street Del Monte (amazing what Elmo's picture on the can will do for getting them to eat green beans).  I also made some caramelized onions and mushrooms in another cast iron skillet.  We pretty much just left them to cook on Medium Low with out moving them around a lot and the texture stayed great, not slimy!

So the best complement was Josh saying it was "as good as, or better than Outback"! Wow!