The Thing About Nothing

Home. Home Sweet Home. I'm finally here!
What a semester! Whew! So glad it's over. I have never worked so hard throughout (and at the end of) a semester in my life. Grades turned out really well too. Except a B+ from a crazy person. Seriously. I don't like to make excuses for my grades, I hate excuses all together. All I am saying is that perhaps I would have gotten an A++ because I find the subject extremely interesting (Public Budgeting) if my teacher didn't have so much disdain for his students. For example, he would continually respond to my emails by calling me "Sheena" even though my name was all over them. But that's not really a big deal, right? I mean, he could just be senile, right? People get that way when they're 104 years old and still teaching, right? Well what about when he yelled at the girl who was nearly deaf that if she spoke in class again he would ask her to leave. She explained that she was asking her friend to repeat what he (the professor) had said because she was hard of hearing. To which the professor replied, well then your friend can leave too. Cray cray. These were common occurrences in this course. So basically I knew from class 2 what my grade was going to be and I have had time to cope. I sound like it, right?

Any way, all is well that ends (moderately) well and I am ready for an awesome summer. I haven't said much about it, but as of Friday I'll have a second Master's degree. I haven't made a big deal out of it, and I am not walking at graduation, even though I worked just as hard (actually probably harder) for this one that I did for the first one. I guess I figure that I had enormous life events happen just 2 years ago (can you believe it has been 2 years?!?) with graduation and the wedding all within 2 weeks of each other.  It feels a little gluttonous to try to get people excited about something else. But rest assured, this girl is totally celebrating in a very big way when I finally graduate with the PhD (Lord willing).

But now it is time to celebrate the summer.  I still have many projects for school to work on this summer, but without the pressure of deadlines. I am also teaching a course again this summer online (technology really is amazing).  I resolved a few weeks ago that I as soon as I got home I was going to take a few days off from school and just regroup and try to put the rest of my life back together. And to readjust to being home. Like, pulling clothes out of a drawer rather than a suit case. Yesterday on Facebook I proclaimed that I was going to do NOTHING.  I did a great job. I did my part to clear off some of the DVR.  I read something that I actually wanted to read. I laid out on top of the hot tub and tanned.  I unloaded a whole 2 boxes out of my car. I went to Sprouts and grocery shopped which was more fun than a chore because I was curious. Then my dear friend Anna texts me:
-Are you in town?
-Come with me to the Thunder game tonight! My treat!
-Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?!? We can celebrate your being done with class!
-And you have plenty of time to get ready because it doesn't start until 8:30

I think she was getting anxious because I left my phone in the house when I was laying out. Of course I said yes! She got some AWESOME tickets from someone at work who was a very generous soul.  I had a great time catching up with her and watching the game. It was SOO close! And if you were watching the game last night, I totally called that Randolph guy from the Grizzlies missing those free throws.

We sat next to a girl who told us she had just had her last round of intense chemotherapy. She had a wonderful attitude. My heart breaks for her, and my prayer is that it really is the end of the treatments for her, so she can go on and have a long and wonderfully happy and healthy life.

Today I decided to channel my inner hippie.  I went out to the garden because I wanted to make a salad from our home grown goodness. Here's an update on how things are going.

This is plot 1. Check out that head lettuce! It really is making heads of lettuce with leaves that fold upon each other. I don't know what I expected (maybe that the bugs would try to eat them before it got to that point) but it's awesome!

We have very tiny strawberries growing. I ate one the other day. Tasted like a strawberry!

This is Plot 2. We have artichoke on the right growing really well, but still no artichokes. Then Kale in the middle. Then broccoli on the left. 

Now our broccoli looks more like something you put in a vase than something you eat. This is problematic. So I've spent part of the morning watching YouTube videos on how and when to harvest each type of vegetable we have. It turns out we let our broccoli go tooooo far. So I cut off the tops and they'll grow again. I stuck them in the composter so they can be part of future gardening projects. Circle of life folks. Circle of life. 

This is Plot 3. My pride and joy! My experimental plot. You may remember me describing this when we first put the garden in. I used my own compost and we planted everything from seeds (except Matt's tomato plant). I wasn't sure that this was going to succeed because well, I had no idea what the true nutrient content was of my compost like I did with the store bought stuff. I also worried about growing from seeds. But look! It's doing great! We have spinach, lettuce (not sure which variety), squash, zuchinni, and egg plant on the right. We also have some random stuff growing that we forgot to mark when we planted it, so it will have to be a surprise. 

I went through and grabbed as much as I needed of each thing. I forgot to mention the green onions too. I also cut off the roots of the green onions (not the entire bulb, just the entire root plus a tiny portion of the bulb) and replanted them in my experimental plot. Don't tell Matt though because he probably thinks that's a goofy idea. You might think that too. But what if it's a genius idea??

Because I am clever I have decided to make planters out of my "planters" nut cans. I tried this once and it didn't work out, but I think it is because I didn't have holes in the bottom and the water can't percolate out and you don't want your seeds water logged.  So I rummaged through Matt's tool box (don't tell him that either) and jabbed some holes with a screw driver (free therapy!). I used my compost again and planted some dill and Swiss chard (which will have to be transplanted if it takes off). This is upcycling if I have ever seen it, folks! Assuming that this works. 

So I came in with my veggies and sprayed it all down really good with some fruit and vegetable wash which gets all of the bad stuff off. Although, when it comes from the garden and we don't use pesticides or anything (or not as far as Matt tells me) water would probably do just fine. I also use this stuff when I get things from the grocery store. It cost about $3 at whole foods.  And while we're on the topic, I've started to steer away from using those plastic bags for produce.  I have some reusable ones that I use when I remember to bring them in (I have many fewer produce bags than the actual grocery bags). I've decided that while it may seem less sanitary to set the produce itself in the basket and on the conveyor belt at check out, in reality it can't be much different than having a bunch of hands on your food anyway. I just make a practice of thoroughly washing everything when I get home and I save myself having to recycle those bags, and I save the planet in the process. The check out clerks don't seem to mind either. Not that that would bother me. 

Here's a bowl of our salad for tonight! Shown is 100% from our garden. I am going to add some carrots and strawberries that I got at the store, but this looks great! Considering the number of inputs we have made to this garden already, this may be the most expensive salad I will ever eat. However, I'm hoping those costs drastically improve over time and we will have great fresh produce for years to come.

I am going to pair it with Seared Ahi Tuna which I Googled how to make today. It was on sale at Sprouts so I decided to go for it.

Going to continue my relaxation days with more reading, maybe drink some wine, hang out with the boys, and watch some Modern Family.

My version of "nothing" is really "lots of things" but filled with things that I prefer to do. But truth be told, I like to keep busy.

Tomorrow I may even be inspired to leave my house and pick up some items for our Italy trip and a gift for Danielle's birthday. Look forward to many more posts this summer!

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The Everlasting Apple

How old would you say this apple is? It looks pretty normal. It feels pretty normal when you pick it up. No discoloration. Looks pretty good. No reason not to eat it, right?

Well this apple has been sitting in my office refrigerator since before Christmas break. So 3+ months. Gross.

Matt and I signed up for Netflix and intended to cancel it after the free 3-month trial. Of course that hasn't happened yet because there's just so much interesting stuff on there. I am a total documentary junkie. I especially like documentaries on food and farming. I've also been reading some books on farming. If you have any interest, I really liked the book "Farm City." It's about a woman who lives in the ghetto of Oakland, California and she created her own little farm using an open plot of land next to her apartment. The book is really entertaining and funny, and it also makes you realize how much effort goes into producing food. It makes it painfully clear that what we pay at the grocery store is grossly under priced if we actually think about the inputs of producing quality food. 

So the reason why I think it's gross that this apple is perfectly fine after 3+ months is what the heck type of stuff is put into or on this during its growth to make it last this long?? Our food is supposed to decay. What is all of the processed food doing to our digestive system if it doesn't naturally break down? What are we so willingly putting into our bodies? This is produce for crying out loud! This should be the ideal food to put in our bodies. If this isn't breaking down, what can be said for all of the boxed meals that we put into bodies? What about cheaply made convenience foods?

 Yesterday morning I watched the documentary "Killer at Large."  It specifically discusses the obesity rates of children and how much sugar and processed food goes into the meals provided by the school systems. What makes matters worse is that the system of payments to the school by the USDA is essentially built around providing nutrient deficient foods to meet calorie requirements. A tator-tot is considered a vegetable. Yes, you read that right. Now, I'm not a parent and so I try to be careful about the things I say I am going to do in terms of parenting until I've walked in those shoes, because something tells me that choices made based on convenience and time are a whole new ball game when you have someone who demands so much of your time. I am especially convinced that this is true because when I am super busy with work, I just eat what ever I can find because there's no time to prepare. Fortunately, I typically stock my work fridge with healthy options so I am forced to eat those items instead of something that may taste better. Essentially, when you're short on time you eat what is available to you.  I can imagine that this is why many of moms spend a lot of time in drive-thrus. 

The more that I read and watch, the more I am convinced that I just need a little farm of my own and should just produce my own food. There are two limitations that come to mind with this. First, I'm a little short on the funds to just go out and buy a farm. Second, I am extremely short on time to facilitate such an endeavor. The concept is awesome, but even with extreme interest, I don't even have time to be writing this blog. Maybe when I am done with this school business, I may have some more time but some how I doubt it. So what is a girl to do? Just put the fate of my health in someone else's hands? Those that are driven by profit rather than health and quality?? In the mean time Matt and I have joined the Oklahoma Food Co-op. Through the co-op we are able to buy foods such as meats and breads (there's 1000s of options) that are all grown or produced in Oklahoma. This reduces the transportation (and thus emissions) of our food which helps our carbon footprint. Matt argues that the per unit emissions may be higher because we are shipping much fewer items than those shipped to grocery stores, so that's up for debate. I guess I could do a study comparing local vs. mass purchased food one day. That day is not today. We also get the benefit of supporting local producers and promoting the local economy. I am also convinced that the items that we purchase are fewer in additives and preservatives and they list the ingredients which tend to be things that I can pronounce which is a plus. I was watching a documentary called "Farmageddon" and someone said that if you can't pronounce the ingredient, you shouldn't eat it. The downside to the co-op is that some items are more expensive, such as a pound of ground beef. It is really difficult to sell a concept when the cost is higher. This is really about prioritizing.  I also try to think about it from the standpoint of the cost of a meal. Eating out typically costs Matt and I around $30. I am convinced that the quality of food served at most sit down restaurants in only a slight step above fast food. I don't really trust anything that tastes exactly the same no matter where in the country you eat it. For example, if I gave you a recipe for my mom's chicken and dumplings, undoubtedly what you make and what I make will taste a little different, even if we follow the same instructions. You may use more water or add more broth. You may use a different brand of flour and your chicken would probably come from a different producer. If I go to Chili's and order the buffalo chicken salad, it's going to taste the same every.single.time. I think this is concerning because for it to taste exactly the same, their food must be pretty prepackaged and all coming from the same place and shipped out and distributed accordingly. Okay, so say that meal at Chili's for the both of us costs around $30. Well I could buy items from the co-op and undoubtedly make a similar meal for less than $30 and probably have left overs so that covers lunch the next day. I also get to stay home and eat and visit with my husband. I could also have a glass of wine with my dinner with a per glass cost of about $3 instead of $7-9. And I get the added health benefits. SO, I'm saving money and my body. I do have to take the time to prepare the meal and have to actually do the dishes myself, but is that really too high of a cost?? Like I said, this is more about priorities. 

Now don't get me wrong. I don't always eat right. Not even close. I love love to go out to eat with Matt or with friends, or to spend time with family we usually go eat some meal that isn't good for us. It's part of our culture, and a part that I enjoy. I just worry about the long term consequences of the concepts our society is built around. Who says that we are entitled to have everything that we eat taste good? Who says that everything we eat should be minimally time consuming? Isn't nourishing ourselves one of the most fundamental things we do as living creatures? Should our input time really be soooo low? Meanwhile I work 12+ hour days in front of a screen to produce papers that may or may not mean something one day. And at what cost? What if I come up with some really great novel concept that changes the way the world views the environment? But then I die at 50 because I was a slave to my work instead of taking care of myself and my family. These are the difficult decisions that we make every day and I'm not sure we are getting it right, myself included. 

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In the Name of Health

I try to give you guys some updates on what I read and experiment with health. Obviously I am no expert, but I am really trying to make an effort to get my body as close to nature as possible because I think that is the path to optimal performance. I never want to say again "I can't run a mile" or "Surfing? No way, that looks too hard." I've spent a lot of my life being out of shape and mostly just completely lacking confidence in my ability. Now I can proudly say, "I can run a mile. I can run three miles, it might just take a while." I no longer have that "can't do" attitude which has inhibited me from doing a lot of things that probably would have been a lot of fun, if I would have just believed in myself.
Well along with making an effort to increase my physical stamina, I read a lot about nutrition. I'm trying to find the best way for me, Shanna, with my body type, to perform optimally. I don't have time to be tired. I also don't have time to die early, which sounds morbid, but I am very aware of my family history and so help me if I die young, it better be from an awesome ski accident, shark attack, or bungee jump that went wrong. No heart attacks here.
For 2 weeks now I have been on the South Beach Diet. I feel like a hypocrite because you have heard me rant about carbs and how they're good for you, aid brain function, and they give you energy. Well I talked it over with my nutritionist and she mentioned that for my body type, South Beach might be the way to go. I bought a book and looked it over. The no carb thing is only 2 weeks. I like the principle of South Beach because it's trying to teach you to quit eating white stuff. Don't eat bleached flour or refined sugar.
If you think about it.. why would we ever put something in our body that in no way contributes to its performance?? There's no way that you can get all of the vitamins you need in one day if you're putting fillers like simple carbs in there. Unless you eat constantly, which I don't have time for that either. The snow storm was actually really good for me because I had all the time I needed to prepare my meals at home. I learned how to get in the swing of things and eat a balanced diet with LOTS of veggies.
Now that the 2 weeks are over (Phase 1 of the diet) I can reintroduce carbs. It actually recommends several servings of fruit and whole grains every day. WHOLE GRAINS. In all honesty, it's going to be work, but I should never ever eat anything "white" unless it really is a special occasion. Obviously I'm going to eat some of my wedding cake. But I also need to limit what I consider a "special occasion". I am extremely blessed and I could think of something to celebrate just about every day, but while my mouth is having a party, my organs are having a funeral.
The good thing about doing the South Beach diet is now that I've got all of that sugar and simple carbs out of my system, I'm really not craving them any more. Yes, I ate cheese cake with Katie on Saturday, but it was a choice, rather than a need. I didn't have one piece of candy yesterday and I wasn't even tempted. See, yesterday didn't count as a special occasion because it's a stupid holiday.
I came up with the idea for this blog post while I was drinking a can of V8. It's not tasty. Some people love it, but I'm not those people. I will say that it is a good way to start my day. And where in any nutrition book does it say that being healthy means that you have to enjoy everything that passes your lips? Eating to LIVE not Living to Eat.
Obviously I'm going to have to work daily, forever, to practice what I preach. I am not the picture of health, but what I can tell you is that over the last 3 years I have made some serious (but gradual) changes to my life and habits, that I firmly believe will increase my life expectancy. I am so blessed and have so much fun, I don't want to give up one moment, not even for a Pepsi.

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Heaven Help My Future Husband

I don't like waste. I hate it. My despise for waste is the fundamental root of environmentalist practices. I've dedicated 7 years of higher education to the cause because I really do hate waste that much. People like to give me a hard time about environmental issues from Climate Change to Fossil Fuels to every environmental subject under the sun. I engage in these conversations because some things just make good common sense and it baffles me that people would argue otherwise. But my big hang up, the reason why I chose my field at all is recycling. I looooooooooove to recycle. It's waste avoidance. It makes sense. Why put stuff in a land fill when it can be reused? It uses less energy, reduces land usage, minimizes landfill leaching. Most importantly, it's something that I can do that makes a difference. Ah I love to recycle. My life's dream is to see recycling become an every day way of life for Oklahomans. I envision trucks coming to every ones home to pick up recyclables in the same way that a trash truck comes by.

I tell you all of this because not only do I hate landfill waste, but even more than that I think I hate food waste. Especially food that I paid for. I even got a composter last year so I could avoid wasting even the scraps from food.

Well you know that we've been trapped here and replenishing food supplies isn't the easiest thing to do. I also prefer to preserve cash flow so I start getting creative. Here's what I came up with:

1 can mushrooms (I recommend getting them sliced next time)
3/4 c. small shrimp
1 egg
1/2c. sliced asparagus
1 tsp butter
Pinch Garlic Powder
1/2 c. cubed tofu (small cubes)

Sound random? Because it is! Was it yummy? You betcha!

You're probably saying tofu?!? Some how tofu has become the spam of the health food world. It doesn't matter if people have ever tried it before, they already know they don't like it. I've had tofu in a few things before and there's really not much to it. It really takes on the flavor of whatever you add to it. So I saw it in the store, it was cheap, and I had time to experiment. My first experiment went terribly wrong when I tried to fry it. It all fell apart and I had a mess to clean up. This time, not so bad. I don't see myself buying a lot of tofu in my future, but you never know.

I almost feel bad for Matt because he doesn't even like left overs and I'm over here trying to figure out a decent way to combine them. Don't feel too bad for him though, he currently thrives off of mini corn dogs and Digorno pizzas. I can make a lot more than a pot of random what not, but in a pinch, I'm your girl!

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Carbs? Who needs Carbs?

Who needs carbs? This girl. I would require a medical statement from a doctor stating the absolute and dire necessity that I eliminate carbohydrates from my diet before I would ever consider it. I like carbs. They make me happy. Seriously, I'm grumpy with out them. I also can't wrap my head around the idea of eating endless amounts of bacon and cheese and that being good for me without consequences. I'm not knocking low carb diets, I've seen them work (temporarily) for people and to each his own, but they're just not for me.

BUT I did tell you about my new year's resolution to eliminate simple carbohydrates. I gotta tell ya, so far so good. At first I struggled because I wasn't sure what to eat and I didn't have a lot of time to plan out my meals. I made a little trip down to Whole Foods on my lunch break the other day and picked up a few things that will satisfy my need for carbs, the good kind. I got some 100% whole wheat bread to make sandwiches. I also got some whole wheat pasta. I picked up some other odds and ends because I really like that store. It is the best smelling grocery store that I have ever been in.

I also found this yogurt that I am kind of in to. The brand is Siggi's. It's organic, non fat, has 120 calories and 16 grams of protein. It is a little thicker than a traditional say, Yoplait yogurt, but I think I can get used to it. It was on sale and I had a coupon, so it's about $1 each. Yoplait is usually about $.50 each so it's more expensive, but probably more than twice the nutrition benefits. A lot of people are all over the Greek yogurt craze. I haven't been able to jump on board yet. It's more expensive and I think it tastes bad. I also made the mistake of getting the plain kind and didn't add any type of flavoring or fruit to it and I guess that's a novice mistake in the Greek yogurt world. It's not bad in a smoothie though. It changes the consistency a little bit, but I can handle that.

Whole foods is a cool store but I always feel like such an idiot in there because I go by myself and I really have no idea what I'm doing. They do things differently than traditional grocery stores. I'm a big fan of the buying in bulk section, but it's almost ironic to call it the bulk section because I buy such tiny quantities. I highly recommend trying out some Quinoa in the bulk section because it's really good for you and there's a lot you can do with it and it's cheap. It's currently my experimental ingredient of choice. They also allow you to buy spices in tiny quantities which is cool because I'm usually cooking for one (my parents don't like the random weird things that I try to make). Spices are expensive! One time I tried to buy some Oregano and I got such a small amount that it wouldn't register on the scale so they just gave it to me. I was willing to pay the $0.12!

Anyway, back to simple carbohydrates. I'm doing alright so far. Just planning ahead and bringing my lunch like I normally do anyway. We only have subway and some little burger cafe on campus and I can only eat so many sandwiches. AND I don't think Subway has the kind of bread I am looking for. I like a good salad, but not every single solitary day. It also concerns me that the chicken at Subway always looks exactly the same. Makes me think it's fake food. Just being honest.

Here's the part where this simple carbs gets tricky though. Tomorrow morning I will jump on a plane and go see my beloved. (Ha ha I promise to never say "beloved" again I wanted to see if I could make it work). Well this man of mine really has no concept of diet, nutrition, or restrain. He's one of those annoying people that have been really thin their entire life no matter what they eat. AND HE'S A REPUBLICAN! Just had to throw out the things I don't like about him. Although he's probably going to register into the Party of Shanna before too long. We could be the Party of Matt & Shanna. The name isn't important. Maybe we'll make up a new name. Like the Party of .... well never mind I couldn't think of anything that wasn't offensive. So all that nonsense being said I'm a little nervous about this weekend. Matt tempts me with things I shouldn't eat all the time. I told him that I'm giving up beer until the wedding (going strong since September!) so he has offered me beer at least 2938 times since then. Why??? WHY!??! Because he's a punk. That's why. There has been exactly 1 occasion when I have visited Matt and came back weighing less than or equal to the amount that I left with.

So, I'll let you know it goes. I would hate to break my New Years Resolution a mere 5 days after I start it.

Tonight it baby brother's homecoming (although he's a junior). Tomorrow I get to see my child. I will take pictures of all of these happy events and post soon!

Thanks for being a loyal reader. I think you're awesome. I hope my blog doesn't make you crazy. I hope you don't read my blog despite it making you crazy because that means that you're addicted to the punishment and I don't want that for you!

Oh- one last crazy thought. I just recently realized that I can see how many people read my blog (obviously not who specifically) and what country they read it from and all that good stuff. Turns out that someone from Alaska regularly reads my blog. I hope it's not Sarah Palin because that would be a horrible way for her to start her day. Or maybe I do hope it's Sarah Palin 'cause maybe she's learning a thing or two. If you see her on TV and she said something about conforming her policy "To the Party of Shanna Don't ya know!" we'll have our answer!

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My Resolution 2011

Well it's January 10th but I have decided what my New Year's Resolution is going to be. Something hard, but not too hard. Something I can see myself doing. Last year, I gave up aspartame. It was hard at first, but I Shanna, have gone an entire year without a diet pop, sweet-n-low, and well that's basically it. These are my resolutions and I'm really only accountable to myself, so I make the rules. But I did it! First resolution to ever be completed!

Now for this year. Are you ready??

I'm giving up simple carbohydrates.

I'll give you a few insights from the "Skinny B**ch" book (Hey, I didn't name it but they have some serious points!)

- "Simple carbohydrates suck and are as nutritionally beneficial as toilet paper."
- "S**tty simple carbohydrates include white flour, white pasta, white rice, and white sugar."
- "These are the bad boys that give all carbs a bad reputation"
- "The most irritating thing about the low-carb craze is the resistance to eating fruit. Fruit is, quite possibly the most perfect food in existence. It is unique in that it barely requires any work to be digested.
- "So shout it from the rooftops until everyone of your dumb-*ss misinformed friends hears "YOU CAN EAT BREAD AND FRUIT!"

That book is hilarious. It's a no non-sense approach to telling people what to eat. They go off the deep end regarding vegan what not, but I just skip that chapter. For some reason I always imagine that if my friend Anna wrote a health book, she would write it like this one. But seriously, people do need a little honesty in their lives. Literally sugar coating everything is a reason why America is in (or out of) this shape. Me included.

So there is it. I have a lot of secret readers out there, so if we're going to dinner together sometime and I reach for the bleached not good for me bread, make me stop! You don't have to swear at me like they do in this book though.

Tonight I am going to go to Whole Foods and pick up some staples. I've actually done a pretty good job of avoiding spending my 401k there.

I recently bought the "Hungry Girl" cook book by Lisa Lillien. Tonight I am going to make:

Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo

1 pkg Tofu Shirataki, Fettuccine Shape
1/2 wedge The Laughing Cow cheese, Light Original Swiss
2 tsp reduced fat Parmesan style grated topping
1 teaspoon fat-free sour cream

microwave noodles 1 minute
Drain excess liquid, slice noodles in fettuccine-length pieces
Add cheese, grated topping, and sour cream, mix well. Microwave 1 minutes and then stir.

Makes 1 serving

81 calories, 3g fat, 242 mg sodium, 9g carbs, 4g fiber, 1 g sugars, 4g protein.

I'll probably throw in some grilled chicken and a salad. If this is a terrible experience I promise to blog about it.

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My Kind of Pioneer Woman

I don't know if you've heard of The Pioneer Woman or not (surely you have!) but she's a woman that lives on a ranch in Oklahoma and has become famous for her cooking blog. She has a book and my mom bought it for me. I have yet to make a thing out of it, despite that I have heard that the recipes are fantastic, because frankly, they're ridiculously high in fat. She cooks like a southern cooker, and I can appreciate that. Well I was looking for a recipe to make for the holidays and I found one on her blog. So what you're about to read is my version of what she put on her blog for this recipe http://http//thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/pumpkin-cream-pie/. Ready? Okay, here goes:

Pumpkin Cream Pie

(See her recipe for full list of ingredients)

First, here's me with all of my ingredients set out. Oh, and it turns out that I have to wear glasses which is big news to me. I thought I had perfect vision!!!!!!!!! Anyway, that doesn't really relate to this blog post. (They're cute though, huh?).

1st you preheat the oven to 300*. Then you begin to make the crust. Crushed Graham crackers, 1 stick of butter (yikes!), and 1/2 c powdered sugar. Mix it up evenly and then press into the sides and bottom of a pie pan to make the crust. Pop it in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Mmmm Crust goodness.

Now you take pudding, ground cloves, nutmeg, whipping cream, half and half, and cinnamon in a pot and put over medium heat.

Oh, and don't forget the tunes. Bake happiness into your culinary creations. It tastes better.

Whisk your ingredients until it's fluffy and then remove from heat.

Add 2 tablespoons of whiskey. This pie says "I like to party"

** actually you can't taste it at all....

And here comes the star of the party. A cup of pureed pumpkin. Just stir it in. Then let the entire mixture cool.

If you're bored waiting for the mixture to cool, don't taste the pumpkin by itself. Not delicious.

Then I realized that I didn't have the 2 tablespoons of brown sugar that I needed. Ahh! Crisis! I looked online for a substitute. Turns out if you add regular sugar with molasses, Wa-la, you have brown sugar

(However I think it's a strong assumption that a person who doesn't have any brown sugar would have molasses lying around. I guess they were right because my mom had it!)

Looks normal! Tastes the same!

Now put 1/2 cup whipping cream in a bowl with the brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Then fold in the pumpkin mixture until combined.

Then pour it all into the pie crust that you made. Refrigerate over night. I added whip cream and some graham cracker crumbs for garnish.

Then serve it to your family and be delighted that they ate it so fast that you didn't get a picture of the entire final product. They LOVED it.

Make it! For Christmas! For Friends! Doesn't matter, just eat it. You'll be happy!

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Summer Food Fun!

Is there really a better time of year for food than summer? Is there really a better time of year than summer period? I have definitely been frequenting the produce stands and farmer's markets. Coming home from Duncan I went through Rush Springs, the Watermelon capitol and picked up, of course, a watermelon, zucchini, and squash. I had all of those things for lunch, which was delicious. AND I cooked some Quinoa which is supposed to be amazing for you. I would copy and paste a link about it, but I have no idea how to copy and paste on blogger.

The farmer's market that I go to the most is on Tuesdays downtown from 10:30-2:00. It doesn't have a huge selection, but it has traditional vegetables and a really nice flower assortment.

Some of these flowers are a week old (still doing pretty good! Especially the sun flower!), the others I got today. I pay $3 each time and she makes me a little assortment and I put them in a vase that I already have. I love it! I really enjoy having something alive in my office because I don't have any windows. And besides, what girl doesn't love flowers?
There's a really good produce stand on HWY 51 & Utica that seems to have everything, and their prices aren't too bad! It's a great time of year to eat fresh, healthy, and try new things!

One of these days I'm going to get up in time to go to the Farmer's market on Cherry street. They close at 11:00 a.m. so we'll see how that goes.

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Food Diary

So I get a cool benefits plan with my job that helps with co-pays and various things that my primary insurance may not cover. Sometimes being a grown up actually has it's benefits (no pun intended... well maybe a little). So, I decided to go see a dietitian because I don't want to be some unrealistic paper thin human. I just want to be the best Shanna that I can be. I also think fad diets are ridiculous and I don't want to participate because they're not sustainable. I've been working pretty hard the last year or so to get into shape and just be healthy, really a preventative action because I have a very poor family medical history and I'm getting older all the time. Well one thing that my dietitian has me doing is keep a food diary. She doesn't have me count calories or anything. Mostly she wants me to be able to meet fruit/veg, carb, and protein goals each day. I have found this helpful because it helps me plan my meals better because I have to meet all these goals, but I'm not supposed to eat when I'm not hungry.

But- there's more to this. This is accountability. Ya see, I want to do this right because even though my job pays for this, I am paying a silly amount of money to do this, and I hate the idea of wasting money. I really think everyone should try this for a week. Just write down everything you eat, the time, and rate how hungry you were when you ate it. Know the whole time that you're going to let someone at the end of the week look at it. You'd be surprised at what you'll avoid because it turns out that I randomly eat some strange things.

For example: This morning I ate an egg, a hash brown, an organic all fruit smoothie w/ protein powder..... and two oatmeal cookies. Now I have to write this down and I'm going to look ridiculous.
I got in lots of protein and fruits... but those cookies! I'm not even a sweet junkie. But those cookies were callin' my name so I ate 'em. Give this food diary business a try and see what you think.

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My Footprint

My latest read (so I took a little break from "The Blind Side") is called "My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World" by Jeff Garlin. This book is about Jeff (he's on Curb Your Enthusiasm, a show that I've never watched and actually don't really even know who Jeff Garlin is) and his journey to loose weight while lowering his carbon footprint.

It's a really easy read and is set up sort of like a journal. I laughed out loud at least 15 times and read it in just a few days. He is really honest about how hard it can be to lose weight. He's also a comedian, so if you're a really sensitive person to PG-13 themes (it's infrequent, but it's there) then this book may not be for you. However, I thought it was a great, fun read and I recommend it to everyone (well, maybe not my preacher).

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