Sunday, October 24, 2010

Ah, to hike w a friend!

Had a great hike with my new friend Maegan at the notch.
The time flew by so fast because we were chatting
so much. She is so nice and it seems like we have a ton
in common. Thanks to Pam I have a
hiking buddy!

Lazy sunday

Making chili today. It's coming out pretty good so far
I already had almost everything I needed for it
in the house. Making brownies and corn bread too.
It's been one of those days where I've been chillin inside
getting stuff done. Yesterday I went through all my
cupboards. It wasn't that bad of a job. Brought some
food items to granby food bank, some was expired, but I have
quite a bit to work with here already.
I decided I'm going to start sending all our
plastic bags to Lou the upcycler so I have a bag
almost full all ready to go. It's kind of
a new project to see how little I can put
in our landfill.

I also got rid of another bag of clothes
I never wear. Cleanin house! It's so freeing!

Almost time to eat!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Baked squash seeds

Amazing little revelation from yesterday-----

I was making butternut squash soup and decided to keep the seeds and toast em up in the oven.

I washed them off under water in a colander and put them in a pie pan and sprinkled with kosher salt. Then i put them in the oven with the potatoes I was already cooking at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. I kept taking them out and giving them a shake although i am not sure that is necessary.

They are so good!!!! Especially warm. They are full of protein and iron. Yummy!!!!

I also just put some on top of my soup for lunch and it gave the soup a little crunch. Who needs bread???

Thursday, October 21, 2010

a vent

It's been a very difficult week for me. I mean, I have definitely had worse, but it's been rough.

I have chosen to take the high road. I refuse to stoop to their level. The way i see it, if i can hold my ground and keep my cool i will come out on top.

Sometimes it is so hard!!!

But today i could see through it. They are not happy with themselves somehow and are taking it out on others. I am happy for the most part, and don't need to be mean and nasty! I refuse to do it!!!

Just venting............................

Fantastic weekend!

I really need to invest in a new laptop. This one is terrible. Everytime I think to post something, i dread using this old, slow thing!

I had a fantastic weekend! Saturday I went shopping for some pants for hiking and i ended up getting some, plus new socks, a few shirts, and a puffy vest. The vest is reversible!! So cute.
Saturday night, Ron and I went bowling on base with a bunch of his friends. I always have a blast when i bowl, but i had even more fun that night than usual, not sure why!

Then on Sunday, i had an epic hike with 3 great girls i just met that same day! I mean, we planned it earlier in the week by email, but i had never met them. We hiked the "Seven Sisters", which is the stretch of the Holyoke Mountain Range between Bare Mountain and Mt. Holyoke aka Skinner. It is 6 miles. We were of varying degrees of hiking experience, but we made it work. It was so great meeting some new friends and we are planning more outings.

What a great weekend!!!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

My job

Ok, so i went to a billing and coding seminar today and the only thing i could think was that i do not want to do this for the rest of my life. Yeah it is a career, but in the scheme of things, why would i waste my precious time with such a meaningless and picky way?

I will do the best work i can while i am doing it, but i still don't think it's what i want to do for the rest of my working life.

People are different

How is it fair that some people think they can walk all over other people only because they have different views than another?
For those who think they are so open to new things, open to alternative lifestyles, and full of liberal thinking-and i don't mean that in a bad way i just mean free thinking people- how can they blame others for thinking differently?

Seems ridiculous to me. and unfair. and ignorant.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Chicken Pot Pie

I made a fantastic chicken pot pie last night if I do say so myself!

I had roasted some chicken thighs on Saturday and i made too many on purpose so i could use the leftover meat for a dish on Monday.

So I started by cooking some chopped onions and carrots in olive oil in a large frying pan. I cooked them very slow (on med low) because i wanted them to be very soft and not burn.
While those are cooking, peel and chop up 4 small potatoes and boil them until almost done.
When the onions were mostly cooked, i added some chopped raw chicken breast that i seasoned with salt and montreal chicken spices. i also turned up the heat a bit to get them going faster but you really have to watch that the onions don't burn.
When the chicken was mostly cooked through, i started to make a gravy by melting a tablespoon of  butter in that same pan. When it is melted and bubbly, add a tablespoon of flour (i just eyeball it) and whisk together until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Then you can add your chicken broth and mix it all up so it gets nice and thick. I used about a cup of chicken broth, but it all depends on how thick or thin you want it.
Then add the leftover chicken, cooked potatoes, and some frozen peas. Season it up with salt and pepper. This is your filling!

So for the pie crust i cheated and got pre-made. I am all for homemade everything, but this is one area that i am willing to take a shortcut.
I hate it when the bottom of a piecrust is soggy, so i put the bottom layer in the pie pan and baked it at 425 for 8 minutes.
I took it out and let it rest for a couple minutes and then added the filling and put the top filling on and put slits in the top.
I baked it for about half an hour which was a bit too long because the crust ends burned a tad. It was delicious though!!! I can't wait to eat it for lunch.

Beautiful Columbus Day Weekend!

Well i didn't get to the blog i wanted to do on the Garlic Festival, but i will just say it was so much fun and there was a lot of great people-watching. Tons of vendors, food and animals in a beautiful setting. I can't wait to go back next year!!

This weekend i did not go on a hike and now i am totally regretting it. I drove by the mountain and there must've been 100 cars packed in to the lot. I am not kidding! I felt a twang of jealousy that i didn't make the time to go.

Sunday night i went to see Ingrid Michaelson at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton. She was so fantastic! Yeah, her songs can be kinda slow sometimes, but she makes it so interesting and fun!! She tells jokes and stories and even played Toxic by Britney Spears in her own quirky way. So cool. Can't wait to see her again and watch her make it big.

Yesterday was one of those days that i was feeling uneasy. The weekend flew by and i felt like i had so much stuff to do and not enough time. But i did get it all done, and had plenty of time leftover to go to a yoga class with Pam in the evening. We had a new teacher who kicked our butts! I was sweating like crazy, but it was wonderful to get all warmed up and stretched out.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

I want a dog

Ok, so here's the thing: I really want  a dog. I love dogs, always have, but I have 3 cats and i have always been nervous to upset their lives. I definitely do not want to create a problem, but i feel like we could give a dog a great home and lots of love. There are so many out there that need a home and i just want to hurry up and find the perfect addition to the family.

We are going on vacation in April and i will need to find petcare for my 3 cats, bearded dragon and the new dog. This makes me very nervous. Plus it could get quite expensive!!

I guess the logical thing to do is to wait. But all these nice people keep finding dogs for me to take and my heart is breaking. I know if i go to visit Dakin Shelter i will be in trouble and probably come home with a dog.

Oh, what to do????

Monday, October 4, 2010

What a week it was!!!

First of all, welcome to my newest followers! I must apologize for my lack of updates last week, but i was just so busy. This is a good thing, more to talk about, haha!

So my boss, Dr. Goldstein, has been in Turkey on vacation for 3 entire weeks. While he has been having a wonderful time, us girls in the office decided to take a day off all together and go to New York City. The six of us all piled into a Suburban and headed down early on Wednesday morning.
We got into the city around 11 am, parked 5 blocks from Times Square, and headed in. We found a wonderful place to have lunch, ate, and went to see the best Broadway show evaaaahhhhh, WICKED!!!! It was perfect and if you haven't seen it yet, you have to!!! I hear it's playing in Boston right now and it's a must see.

After the show, some of the girls went to the wax museum, some went shopping, and I went people watching on Times Square. I love to people watch, and doing it there is the best place in the world.

It was a long day, but worth the experience for sure, and i can't wait to go back.

So Saturday, i went to yoga with Pam which is becoming one of my favorite things to do. Everything about yoga is perfect. The breathing, the stretching and the self growth is amazing.

After that, Ron and I went on my favorite hike in the Mt Holyoke Range. We took the M and M trail to the Robert Frost trail, through to the Horse Caves and up Mt. Norwottuck and then down the mountain back to the visitor's center. I was able to help two parties of people with what i have learned on all of my hikes, and that felt awesome. I actually think there should be someone there during the weekends to talk to people and tell them where to go. I enjoyed finding out for myself, but the tourists have no idea where they are. One guy thought he was at Skinner Mountain, but that is about 3 mountains away!

That was the first part of the weekend, the second part is for another blog!

I was very happy that Ron went with me and i think he enjoyed it a lot. I think the next one I take him on will be up Bare Mountain.