New Floor and Renewed Old Dog

It has been a beautifully lazy afternoon sandwiched in between a jam-packed Saturday and a very full upcoming Monday.  Lots of good stuff going on around here...and I'm in the mood to blog a bit, so here are some unrelated happy highlights!

Brad is finally wrapping up a very slow-moving project.  He is not fond of leaving things unfinished...it actually drives him a bit crazy.  Once he starts something, he goes at a dizzying pace until it's done.  Well, about a month ago things were taken out of his hands and forced a project to come to a stand-still.  The cracked rib?  That happened the day he had begun the demo of the bathroom floor to replace it with tile.  He couldn't lift the boxes of tile, couldn't be down on the floor...lots of frustration for him.  So for about a month now, the bathroom has been in a state of in-between.  He's feeling well enough now to get it finished...and it's looking so great.  His attention to detail shines through in these projects!  Now it's my turn to pick the paint and get that room painted, which I hope to start and finish tomorrow.  Then baseboards and all the "little things" and it will be done.  Here's a peek:

On a totally unrelated topic, I'm amazed at what some doggie Advil can do for a fading pooch.  Archie's brother passed away recently from a nasty bout with cancer, so when some lumps and bumps showed up on Archie, and an eye began to get a very strange droop, we were thinking he was going the way of his brother.  As much as I complain about this dog, and the daily vacuuming he drives me to, I really had a knot in my stomach at the thought of saying goodbye so soon.  However, a trip to the vet and some x-rays revealed that the lumps are not the bone cancer we, including the vet, suspected.  And the droopy, ugly eye is just a droopy, ugly eye.  Horner's Syndrome, it turns out.  Still have to watch him to make sure there's nothing underlying causing that syndrome, but for now he is in no immediate danger.  Some strong doggie meds and this dog is downright perking up!  He's back to being annoying, I'm happy to report.  The eye even looks better!  This is a picture of his "good" side.  I tried to get one of his whole face, and it's just a bit too pathetic.  But the same could be said of myself, so I'll choose a flattering shot.  It's the least I can do.

And, in case you are itching to know, the running is going quite well!  I am being very good with a gentle re-entry, and so far only mild soreness.  I'm believing for more of the same!

Now I have a new Paula Deen magazine to enjoy.  Hoping to be drawn to some new recipes to help me crawl out of that disastrous Fig Newton debacle!!

Relief, Running and Redemption

****Before I begin with all things that seem so very frivolous in light of all the devastation that is happening in Haiti, I thought I needed to say that I am not being shallow and ignoring the obvious.  Images that they are showing are impossible to imagine.  So very heart breaking.  We are so spoiled in all we have, and if all of us just shared a miniscule portion of our spoils, it would go so far to provide the basics to people who literally have nothing.  Just my two cents worth.  If you haven't had a chance to help and want to, here are some organizations that already have people in place in Haiti to offer help:

Compassion International
World Vision
Red Cross
World Concern

I'm going to be asking my kids to consider giving a small amount to one of these organizations.  I think it's a great opportunity for them to see that although this is a great big world, we still all need each other.  Imagine if every person who makes going to Starbucks a regular habit gave up just one and instead sent that money to help in Haiti.  Just something to think about.  All done.****


Now back to our regular programming:

Ah...it's so very good to be back on that treadmill.  I couldn't help myself today, and went an extra quarter mile.  Just was feeling so good...  The longer I went without running the more I realized how much I need it for my mental health:  I am just a happier and calmer person when I get that workout in.  So thankful to be back at it.  Please, Lord, let this foot take it!!

And I'm needing some redemption here.  That could go many directions, but I'm talking specifically about that lousy recipe I posted with the FIg Newtons.  Awful.  Just awful.  Even my Brad, who will honestly eat just about anything, turned his nose up at that.  THAT is a testimonial not to be denied.  And Brenna really liked it until she tried it the second time.  Then she just couldn't bring herself to finish it.  So we are down to Alex and Beth singing its praises.  And you can take that for what it's worth. 

So I am out to redeem myself in some way.  It can be hard to crawl out of a hole, but I will do my best.  I'll start with this non-recipe "recipe" that I came up with for dinner last night.  Here is Brenna's review:

"Mommy, this is even better than McDonalds!!"

Now, to qualify, my kids really only eat McDonalds when we are traveling or some other "special occasion", so it is held in high, high esteem by them.  To be put on a level above McDonalds by my children is true praise.

So here's what I placed before them for dinner last night:

Chicken Ranch Burgers

chicken breasts
deli ham
cheese slices (I used Colby-Jack because it's what I had)
avocado
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix
onion slices
lettuce
buns

pound chicken breasts between waxed paper until they are even in thickness, about 1/2 inch thick.  rub with ranch dip powder.  (I would have grilled these outside if it wasn't for the driving wind and rain...)  In a large skillet sprayed with non-stick spray, cook chicken on each side until just cooked through.  remove to cookie sheet or oven-safe plate and top each with 1 piece of deli ham and slice of cheese.  (I heated the ham in the microwave slightly first.)  put in oven at 350 just long enough to melt the cheese. 

meanwhile, add 1 TBSP butter to same skillet used to cook chicken.  after it melts, add the onion slices and saute just until beginning to caramelize. 

layer 'em up with chicken, avocado, onions, and lettuce.

Okay, I feel better now.  That's more like it.  More of "that's more like it" to come in the near future!

Figs, Fur and FINALLY!!!

First things first, HAPPY FIG NEWTON DAY!!!  If you happened to be reading a few posts ago, I alerted you all to some upcoming dates.  Of that whole list, the most unappealing one of all, to me, was Fig Newton Day.  Fig Newtons have never really done anything for me.  The look, shape, smell...all very unappetizing to me.  So I must be honest...until I bought them today for this recipe, I had never even tasted one!  That all changed today.  And I learned something.  My instinct for food is spot-on.  I didn't like them at all.  They taste like they look and smell.  Not a fan.  But, I forged ahead and made this recipe that sounded like a good way to disguise them.  As it turns out, these sad little cookies made a waste of perfectly good coffee and ice cream.  And whipped cream.  And vanilla.  And sugar.  Stop me now, or I'll just keep going.

BUT!!  I had my official taste-testing team give me their verdict, and they loved it.  If you give any credibility to a crew with a combined 35 years food-tasting experience (less if you are only counting solid foods), then you might want to try this.  Me?  No thank you.  And since I'm trying to avoid sugar, that's okay by me.  But to each his own:

Mocha Mousse

(taken from cooks.com)

18 Fig Newtons
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup coffee
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla
1 pt. heavy cream or 8 oz. Cool Whip
1 cup toasted nuts (I left these out.  Who needs all that fat??)
1 qt. chocolate ice cream

In a saucepan, combine crumbled Fig Newtons, evaporated milk, sugar and coffee.  Stir while heating and cook about 5 minutes.  (This recipe was painfully vague, and I didn't know what time to start timing the 5 min.  I just waited until it was well-heated and then started the timer.)  Remove from heat and add in cinnamon and vanilla.  Refrigerate until cool.  When cool, stir in whipped cream or Cool Whip, nuts, and softened ice cream.  Pour into mold or parfait glasses.  (I just used small ramekins.)  Freeze. 

For the fur part of this post, I'm very relieved to report that our dear old dog is not in immediate danger of seeing his last days.  It's a long story, and I'm feeling impatient because of my next topic...but suffice it to say there is no evidence right now of cancer, and we are going to "wait and see" on one suspicion.  In the meantime, he gets some doggie Advil and some extra TLC.

And, now for the FINALLY!!!  I have been waiting to type these words for so long now:  I have official clearance to RUN!!  Woot-Woot!  As soon as I finish this, I'm firing up the treadmill and going for a very controlled, experimental one-mile run!!  I'll take it.  I'm so hopeful and prayerful that this old foot responds as beautifully as I need it to.  I shudder to think of how much I'm going to labor through ONE mile, but it's a start, right?!  WOO-HOO!!

"I've Got a Feeling (WOO-HOO...) that tonight's gonna be a good night..." 

Contemplation & Change

My head...and heart...have been so full of contemplation for quite awhile now.  I don't think I've come to any solid resolve on everything, but I'm creeping closer. 

I'm not a girl that likes change.  Some people are thrilled and excited by change.  Not me.  I could go into a ton of self-analysis and lay out some really legitimate reasons that change is a scary thing to me.  But all that doesn't really matter or change that fact that I just don't care for change. 

Along with that, when faced with a choice, I will almost always choose the option with the greatest security.  I lean into jump into the camp of insecurity very easily.  Again, I have some very legitimate reasons for that.  Things that shaped me from very young make my natural tendency to be towards insecurity.  That, as most people can either relate or imagine, spills over into so many areas.  Stepping out is not easy.  Trying something new is not easy.  Making change is not easy.

And it's all pretty ridiculous.  I no longer am the child that heard "You can't..." or "You never will..."  Powerful words.  But just words.  And now I'm a grown woman who does not hear that anymore.  The ones that hurt me with it, I'm sure, have no idea how powerful their words were.  And how long the sting lasted. 

But now I am surrounded with people who are quick to say, "Yeah, you can do that!"  or, at least, "Give it a try, see what happens."  For whatever reason, those words sound like whispers to me, and if I let my mind go "there", I can still hear the shouts of the negative words.

So for...hmm, probably about a year, I've been very purposeful to not allow those words to hold any more power over me.  I've been purposeful to try new things.  I've run for a looooong time, but always at home on my treadmill.  With the exception of a couple months when I was between treadmills and was forced to run outside, I never ran where people could see me.  So ridiculous.  I know it when I say it, and especially now as I type it.  I'm tempted to hit that delete button and drive it all away.  But, this is all leading somewhere, and I want to be able to come back and read this when I need to.

In 2009, as I watched myself coming upon the big age of 29 40, I did what many people do at that age and took a good look at where I was and, more importantly, where I wanted to be.  I spoke a bit of "Oh, for Pete's sake!", complete with eye-rolling, in regards to myself.  Then I decided to just start stepping out in 2009.  I was careful about it, of course.  Cause, you know, insecurity makes you pretty careful.  But I did it.  In several areas, some more obvious than others.  And it felt really mostly great.  One of the big ways, for me, was running in the 5Ks.  It meant a lot to me, more than I admitted to anyone.  It was a big deal.

(Hooray!  I've finally found a post where I can use that line-through-the-word feature that I think is so great!)

SO when this stupid stress fracture started messing with me, I ignored it for a long time, knowing I would hear that I had to stop running.  One thing led to another, and here I am 3 months later waiting to get the all-clear to hit my stride.  I'm hoping to get that Tuesday.  I already have a raced picked out for February.  And March.  And May.

And in May.  A friend asked me awhile ago if I would be interested in running a half-marathon with her in May.  Ha!  I literally laughed and told her that there was no way I could do that.  I know it's a big mental hurdle, and I am the first to jump in and say that I don't have it mentally to do that.  Or even to prepare for that.  Why?  Fitness should be something you enjoy and feel better from doing, not something that punishes your body.  Right?  So I said all these reasons to her and told her there was no way. 

Then, later that night, I heard this little-bitty voice say, "What if?  What if you could do it?  Why not at least try?"  I first told that voice to shut up.  Then I tried to ignore it.  But, as Beth Moore is fond of saying, "My God is so bossy!!"  And I really believe it was my God whispering that to me.  He's pretty pushy about getting us where He wants us.  Does He really care if I cross a finish line of a half marathon?  I don't know.  But I know that He cares that I continue to listen to His truth in my life, and not the negative junk that I have used as my measuring stick for too long.  Can I do it?  I don't know.  Can I try?  Absolutely.

So there's the punch-line of this excruciatingly long and picture-less post:  I'm going to try to train for a half marathon. 

Will I run the whole thing?  Or will my goal be just to finish?  I don't know.  Will my foot even let me try the training?  I don't know.  But I'm going to step out and try something I've always told myself I could never do.

The other areas where I'm going after some change will pop out in this blog eventually.  Not big life changes to many, but significant to me.

Not many people in my life know how deeply this runs.  Probably only one person knows the depth of this.  And he's pretty great.

And if you are one of the very few who just read this all the way to the end, you are pretty great too.  

Happy Shortbread Day!

So I decided to be a good sport and celebrate Shortbread Day by making my favorite shortbread cookie.  And remember how I said one of my New Year's resolutions was to eat less sugar?  Well, good news!  These cookies only have 1/2 cup sugar in them!  So they are definitely less sugar than my normal cookie.  Almost healthy, if you are only counting the sugars.  But I really don't even know what I'm talking about in regards to "counting sugars", so I'll quit and just share with you a shortbread cookie recipe as my way of wishing you all a very happy Shortbread Day!!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Sticks

1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

glaze:
3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 tsp. butter

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  With mixer on low, gradually add flour just until blended.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half.  Place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. 

Fold wrap over dough, flattening the dough as you go until you have a nice little flat disc of dough.  Repeat with other half of dough. 

Refrigerate dough for 2 hours or overnight.

Very lightly grease 2 cookie sheets, or line with parchment paper.  Take small chunks of dough and roll into sticks, 3 inches long and about 1/2 inch in diameter.  Arrange 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
  

Alex wanted to help, and since he needs to expand his culinary skills a bit beyond cereal and oatmeal and quesadillas, I let him roll the cookies for me.  He did a mighty fine job!

Place cookie sheet into freezer for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, heat oven to 350.

Bake frozen sticks for 12-14 minutes, or until edges are golden.  Let cool 2 minutes on pan, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

To make glaze, place chips and butter in small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir and microwave again in 15 second intervals until melted smooth (stirring well after each 15 seconds).

Dip each end of cookie in melted chocolate, place back on parchment to let chocolate set.

mmm mmm good!

Because I'm a Firm Believer in Giving Honor Where Honor Is Due...

...I give you a list of very important dates. 

Please transfer these to your calendar for the New Year!!

January 6 – Shortbread Day

January 12 – Fig Newton Day

January 23– National Pie Day

March 7-15 — Chocolate Chip Cookie Week (please note that this cookie gets a WEEK of honor!!)

March 18 – Oatmeal Cookie Day

May 31 – Macaroon Day

June 12 – Peanut Butter Cookie Day

July 1 – Gingersnap Day

July 3 – Chocolate Wafer Day

July 9 – Sugar Cookie Day

July 20 – Fortune Cookie Day

September 21 – Pecan Cookie Day

October — Whole month is National Cookie Month

December 4 – National Cookie Day

December 23 – National Pfeffernusse Day (I don't even know what that is.  It sounds like something that Ikea should sell.)

Stay tuned for these dates to be honored individually on this blog!

Happy Anniversary To...

...My blog!!  Today is the one year anniversary of this silly little random outpouring of my life!

New look to the blog, since the Christmas decor needed to come down.  I did love that Christmas background, and could have persuaded myself to keep it until at least Spring, but figured this was a good occasion to give it a little fresh make-up!

So what does one do to celebrate an anniversary like this?  I have no idea.  It just occurred to me this evening, otherwise I would have prepared something dynamic and interesting.

Instead, I have a whole lot of not much to offer.  Let's see...maybe I'll give some random updates of frequent topics from the past year.

It all began with a discussion of r.a.t.s.  I still can't bring myself to say it.  If you must, you can refresh your memory here.  Or not.   But the update is all happy!  We are still thoroughly excluding those things, thanks to the exclusion work done by "to NASA standards" by Brad.  We have our regular check-up in a couple weeks...I expect nothing but continued happy news!

I also talk a lot about food and recipes.  I continue to love both!  Not sure if I'll keep up with the Monday Menu or not, can't quite decide that.  But it has been a great way to document a huge amount of great recipes into one place!

And the running...it's a work in progress!  But, at least there is progress.  I am totally out of my boot, and hoping my doctor is happy about that when I see him in a couple weeks.  I am back on the bike trying to regain some degree of fitness.  Oh, it left me so very quickly.  It fled like Jack Bauer was chasing it down a dark alley, in fact.  But I'm now chasing it back.  I even got on my treadmill on New Year's Day since the gym was closed.  I mostly walked, but I did break into a run for only 4 minutes, just out of curiosity.  It felt...great and pathetic all at the same time.  Great to feel a stride, pathetic to feel all the shaking goin' on.  But I'm thankful, thankful, thankful that my foot is mostly handling this well. 

And the Flashback Fridays...those have been fun.  And I'm continually making new memories today that will be tomorrow's flashbacks.  Time is slipping by so quickly.  Again, not sure if I will keep this going or not.  It's hard to make any of those decisions at the end of this winter break.  Everything feels a bit out of sorts.  I am ready for school tomorrow just so that the routine can hit its groove.  I love the sleeping in and loose schedules, but now I'm ready for routine again.

So, I literally have nothing more exciting to offer today!  My mind is as empty as my sugar canister.  Hopefully after some grocery shopping tomorrow both will be refilled and ready for the new year!

Can you handle on recipe in celebration of this anniversary?  I mean, how could I not?  In honor of the name of the blog, I give you a replay of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Remember to stop and smell the bag of chocolate chips when you make these.  It's winter.  There are no roses.  So stop and smell the chocolate chips!!

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 cup unsalted butter
2-1/4 cups bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 TBSP milk
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

Melt butter. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream with mixer on medium speed. Add egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to butter mixture until thoroughly combined. Do not over mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. (Dough should be very hard.) Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough onto sheets, 6 or 8 per sheet only. (Too many on the sheet for this recipe and the heat won't circulate well enough around them to bake evenly. I tried.)

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on cookie sheets for 2-3 minutes, then remove onto wire racks. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container.
 
I just may have to make some of these to celebrate my little anniversary!!