No Worries

My Dr wasn''t concerned about the rash (it was gone by the next day), so I'm good. Ya!!! It would be just about impossible for a tick to have been on me long enough to transmit anything since I usually take 2 showers a day, and even if I did skip and took one a day it still wouldn't be long enough. So good no antibiotics.

So for this week we are eating.......
Aubergine, Lemon, and Caper Salad - Jewish (p.363) We had this tonight and it was good!
Curried Parsnip Soup - Practical Soups (p.11)
Yogurt and Spinach Soup - Practical Soups (p.17)
Potato Salad - Jewish (p. 154)
Sesame Noodles - Fresh current month (p. 18)
Goat Cheese and Chive Souffles - Fresh /current month (p.28)
Quinoa and Black Bean Salad - Fresh /current month (p.35)
Zucchini Rotini - Flat Belly magazine /current month (p.65)
Potato and Radish Salad - Ultimate Vegetarian Book (p.145)
Courgette and Asparagus Soup - You Are What You Eat (p.109)
Fig and Cranberry Oatmeal
Chocolate Almond Macaroons - Flat Belly magazine /current month (p.77)

We had the aubergine, lemon, and caper salad tonight and it was good! I had to tell DH not to eat it all so I would have some for lunch tomorrow. The courgette and asparagus soup we have had a few times as it's a good way to use up the tougher part of asparagus that you would normally throw away, or in my case compost. I didn't blend one bowl of it because DH likes his soup unblended and chunky. Oh, and even though I made the potato and radish salad last week I decided to make it again to use up some more of the radishes we have, and I really liked it even if DH didn't.

Rash?

Crap. I have a sort of bulls eye rash. I had a rash a few days ago in the same spot, and now I'm getting a little more concerned. I emailed a picture of the current rash to my doctor, and I'm really hoping it's not Lyme disease. I do NOT want to be on antibiotics for 3 freaking weeks! CRAP. I'll give the doctors office a call tomorrow, to make sure they got the email. DH wants me to go on antibiotics now, but I'd rather wait if I can. If it turns out I do have it I'm going to have to wait another month before we start trying for a baby, which also sucks. And I am so not looking forward to the massive yeast infection I will get from being on antibiotics for so freaking long. I'm pissed.

BTW DH did not like the cold chickpea soup because of the cucumbers in it. =( Well, I thought it was fine, although I'd eat it more as a dip than a soup. It's pretty much like hummus with cucumbers. Ah well.

Not Over It Yet

Well, since I was still mad about DH's reaction I told him if he wanted to eat dinner he was going to help make it. So he picked through the spinach leaves washed them, and grated and sliced the cheeses. He said he liked the veggie stuffed portobello's a lot, but I'm not sure if he really did or if he was saying that because he knew I was still mad. He was going to go back for seconds though untill I reminded him we had more food so maybe he really did. We also had corn on the cob, figs with goat cheese and honey, and more of that really yummy salad.

Menu for August 9, 2009

So since I usually don't go on here I figured I might use it to keep track of my weekly menus as opposed to how I usually do it which is keep the paper that I write it on. OK, I'll probably still probably keep the stack of papers, but now I can also add notes about what I cook. So for this week.....
Dosas -India (p.173)
Potato Masala Filling - India (p.174)
Sambhar - India (p.178)
Mung Dal Na Poora - East (p.263)
Beet Raita w/ Dill, Lime & Honey - 3 Bowls (p.119)
Vegetable Bowls w/ Yogurt Lime Dressing - Better Homes and Gardens (p.190)
Chilled Cucumber Chickpea Soup - Better Homes and Gardens (p.195)
Veggie Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms - Better Homes and Gardens (p.201)
Veggie Flat breads w/ Goat Cheese - Better Homes and Gardens (p.202)
Fresh Chinese Parsley & Mint Chutney - East (p.364)
Mushroom & Swiss patty melt w/ Peas - Whole Deal- Aug/Sept (p.6)
Fig and Cranberry Oatmeal - Foodnetwork (Goodeats, Alton Brown)
Goat cheese Honey & Figs
Paximadia Cookies - Lunch Box (p.243)
Honey Bee No-Bakes - Lunch Box (p.241)

Since I can't get curry leaves here I'll be using plain curry powder and am considering buying a curry tree, for the future. I also can't get drumstick vegtables so I'll eather leave them out, or substitute asparagus. Since we don't eat meat for the turkey patties I used TVP and chickpeas and just mixed it all in so we could eat it wrap or taco like with some flat bread. I made the no-bakes with real honey, but about half what was recomended, and more than double the almond butter, and a big dollop of soy nut butter, and more coco powder than called for, and made half with a shot of agave syrup.

So Sunday we had leftovers and the figs ad honey, and we both liked it. It was tangy sweet and tasty!

I loved the no-bakes, DH was ok with them.
Last night we had the patty melts and veggie bowls. I liked both. DH only liked the veggie bowl, he hated the patty melts so much that he actually spit it out onto the table! Which quite frankly pissed me off. He has no problem saying "ewwww", "that's gross", "this is awful" (which, let me tell you, does wonders for the ego), but he's never actually spit it out onto the table! I pretty much wanted to smack him. I'm not sure it was the taste though as the only thing he did say was that he didn't like the texture, which really doesn't make sense as he's had TVP before and has been fine with it. I'm still pretty pissed over his spitting his food onto the table, and I really feel like I'm cooking for a very cranky, picky 4 year old sometimes. He rarely compliments what I make, unless I prompt him as to what he thinks about it. I know he usually likes what I make, and he's always asking me to make things to bring to his co-workers, but it would be nice to feel appreciated. That and when he doesn't like something I've asked him to say he doesn't care for it, not "Ewwww", althought that would be better than spitting it on the freaking table!

I made the oatmeal this morning and used dried cherries instead of cranberries by mistake , but I think my cut oatmeal is old and I need to replace it. I knew that I was putting in cherries, but I thought I was supposed to instead of looking and seeing it said cranberries not cherries.

I am so excited....... about a weed!

Dude! Seriously I am so excited! I was just looking online how to grow artichokes, since I bought a pack of seeds and have no clue how to do it, but was a little concerned when I noticed on the back it said 180-360 days until harvest. Whoa! How long????? I live in a cold place here, our growing season is so not long. Then I found out it's OK, they should be ready in about 100 days and I can totally start them inside. Cool! But as I was reading along I also happened on a site for Jerusalem artichokes. I totally love them, and they are a tad expensive, so I don't buy them often, not to mention the nearest grocery store I know of to buy them is about 2 hours away, and we only get to go there about once a month if we are lucky (DH has a once a month class/conference thing and I go along so I can go to the "big city" and go grocery shopping for all the stuff I can't get where we live). So anyway, I find out Jerusalem artichokes are super easy to grow. As in some consider them a weed, that is nearly impossible to kill. Are you kidding me? I'd love to be overrun with these things! I can even grow them in a big pot, so that means I could have them year round even, maybe. I am so excited about this!
I like gardening, but I grew up with my parents method of gardening, so my idea may be slightly different from the average gardeners. See we planted seeds, and plants, and all that, and we were really good about weeding, at first. But then around the middle/end of the summer, it was like why bother, just step on/over the weeds pick what you want and don't worry about the weeds. Now my dad does try, his newest way of dealing with weeds, and this does work fairly well, is to mulch with all his grass clippings. So anyway how cool is this to find a plant that you can pretty much ignore and you are still going to have a ton of crop!
On a similar note, I am so freaking sick of winter I have decided to grow, just about anything I can in a container. I of course have the usual herbs, but I am now trying salad greens, soybeans, beets, strawberries, peppers, kohlrabi, potatoes, kale, broccoli rabe, avacado trees, radishes, carrots, turnips, pretty much anything I can get to grow. Ha! Take that winter! I will see green things growing! Yes I do know it is technically the first day of spring, but if you look outside my windows you are going to see plenty of snow still. It is finally melting, and I can see grass where our septic tank is, but there is still a bunch of snow out there and honestly, the grass that I do see isn't exactly green and growing. So at least I can have my bit of life inside the house.

So it''s been awhile.....

Well a LOT has happened! We got married! Moved half way across the country, went on our honeymoon, and are looking to buy a house. I am considering trying my hand at a craft show, but I'm nervous. Of course AC Moore was having a sale, and I bought a ton of stuff, so now I had better make something out of it to sell! My husband is getting very irritated that I am not working, I know I should be, but dear god I don't want to start up some crappy job that I will hate. I've done that before (when I was with my ex) just to pay the bills and I know it's a kind of laziness, but I just don't want to do it again. I'm going to have to get serious about subbing soon, and if I do sell stuff at a craft show that would help too. And if for no other reason, soon my money from my last teaching job is going to run out and I will need money for stuff I want like yarn. However, my DH did offer to buy me a wheel, but I think that's because he felt a little guilty buying his bike after getting so upset over money, and I'm not sure he really understands how much they cost, although I'd be happy with a cheap one. BUT I do own a spinning wheel (even if it is an irritating used one), it's just that it got left behind at his parents, and I am hoping to go back and get it soon sometime, so I don't really feel like I can justify the expense right now. Besides I have my two spindles, and I can throw them in my backpack.
By the way on a whole new topic..... it is freaking cold here in ME like seriously. As far as I can tell Maine only has 3 seasons and unfortunately the one I like the best (summer) is the one that is missing. I only wore shorts about 4 times here during the summer. I like the heat, I love the heat actually I think anything below 75 is freaking cold. But apparently I must be getting used to it here because we didn't turn on our heat until just this last week (I finally called and set up the oil delivery, it's comming Monday WHO HOO!) so I convinced my husband to let me turn on the heat (and use our last few gallons) at least a little. I was cold all the time, but now just having the heat on 65 feels nice (60 when we go to bed), I never thought I'd be so excited about having heat before. But all utilities are a LOT more expensive here and I've lived in several places in the country now. So I guess I'd better get used to it because we are here for at least 3-4 years.

THE Wedding Dress!

I am using my grandfather's parachute from WWII(I hope) for the fabric of my wedding dress. I have been really, REALLY nervous about cutting it, since if I make any bad mistakes (are there really any good ones?) I will not have enough fabric to finish it. My wonderful mom actually ripped out most of the seams for me which is HUGE considering the army REALLY didn't want the seams to come apart. So they sewed each seam with these tiny stitches FOUR times. Yes, that's right to rip out a seam it's not like a normal seam where you rip out just one row of stitches. On this thing four rows of stitches have to be riped out for each seam. My mother has the patience of a saint. OK, so as of today the parachute has been cut, but I don't know how well it will hold up since it's cut almost entirely on the bias (it was the only way to fit the pattern pieces). It also took some very creative folding of the parachute to be able to cut the center panel of the dress without it going through any seams. I'm kind of afraid of what will happen when I unpin it from the pattern. I really don't want to have to iron stabilizer to the entire thing (although if I have to I will), BUT at least I am done for tonight! and I'll worry about the rest tomorrow.