Monday

"Well begun is half done."

~Aristotle

Finale.

I can't believe tonight is the MadMen season finale! It's such a fantastic show. I love the story line, the of the 1960s as the backdrop, and the way it kinda makes me want to be suppressed into wearing skirts & dresses. sigh. It will be a long, lonely winter without it. True Blood's over and Project Runway only has a few episodes left...seriously, what else is good on Tv these days?

In honor of the finale....
Rolling Stones Inside 'Mad Men' with on set and behind the scences photos...

I also love how the cast is made up of new talent...people that weren't really know before but now famous, recognizable actors.

Also worth checking out is the John Hamm interview on Fresh Air. Fresh Air is overall a good program that I often listen to on late night home commutes, but it's also available on podcast.

Or you can MadMen yourself here. Doesn't it look just like me?

Today

I hate driving in the rain.

I hate driving in the rain in the dark even more.

But driving in the rain, in the dark, in traffic & construction for 2 hours and 18 minutes never traveling over 40 mph even though my entire commute is on highway roads, needing to pee about half way through, and totally starving is the worstest!!!

(yes. I am aware that worstest isn't actually a word)

That is why I'm finishing my second glass of wine...and will probably have a third. Who am I kidding? I'm definitely going to have a third.

No need to judge me friends. Jim is drinking too, so that means I'm not an alcoholic. That's a rule, right?

Plus, every good commuter knows that drinking is the 2nd best way of coping. The first being cigarettes. The obvious, ultimate, supremo choice because you can consume while driving. A direct and immediate reward. Some days I would die for a smoke. Ahh...a deep inhale, an instant tobacco buzz, calmness coursing through your body, the traffic surrounding you just melts away. Somedays I want to yell out my window to the guy smoking in a car next to me. But I know that one will lead to a pack, leading to another pack, and the next thing you know am a smelly, hacking, raspy smoker. No thanks. I'll drink.

On a brighter note, I had an excellent hair day today thanks to a much needed new haircut. I am extremely apprehensive about changing stylist. Curly hair is apparently difficult for a lot of stylist, resulting in many bad haircut and some serious traumatic events, (like the time a girl dry cut my hair!? What the heck was she thinking?!) so I usually avoid it as long as possibly. Liz was my second shot at someone in the this area and she's definitely a keeper.

It's the best haircut I've had in a really long time.
I got a lot of compliments too, which is always nice.
And I really like the jacket/blazer I was wearing today.

In the end the extra good cancelled out the extra bad, leaving me with just another day.

Soup

So the problem with kale, at least at my local grocery store, is that you can't buy just a little. The bag is HUGE, not only taking up way too much space in the fridge, but also requiring a lot of kale consumption.

So, in addition to a couple of nights of roasted kale, I made made up a batch of soup. It was kind of a hodge-podge recipe (I was trying to use up a lot of left-over veggies) but turned out really tasty.

Veggie Soup with Spicy sausage and Kale

Ingredient

(oh by the way I don't really measure stuff when making up my own recipes)

carrots

celery

yellow or spanish onion

italian sausage (I used spicy)

1 can diced tomatoes

chicken stock

kale

salt, pepper, italian seasoning

• Wash, trim and dice carrots, celery, and onion. I like soups to be a little chunky so I keep everything on the larger side.
• Sautee in soup pot with a little olive oil with salt, pepper, and italian seasoning on medium to medium-high heat.
• When onions start to look a little 'sweaty', add in italian sausage, remove the casing and pinch off chunks.
• Sautee until sausage browns, stirring often.
• Add chicken stock. I added 2 cartoons of the Trader Joe's low sodium brand. I always keep this stuff on hand, especially in the winter, and just kinda eyeball it according to how many veggies I have in the pot.
• Simmer 10-15 minutes.
• Add 1 can diced tomatoes, including the juice.
• Simmer until your hearts desire...or until the veggies and soft and it's nice as steamy hot.
• Add kale (no stems) at the last minute and cook.

Serve and enjoy!

Veggie Tales

Who eats kale, right? Aside from the occasional appearance in a soup, I never did...until recently. I think most people think of the semi-slimey consistancy of kale in a soup and assume it will cook up that way. Well, my friend, this recipe is super simple and makes a great crunchy side dish and it's super healthy and loaded with vitamins.

Roasted Kale

4 C. firmly packed kale
1 Tbsp olive oil
Sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Wash & trim kale, removing any hard stem pieces (at our local grocery store it's mostly trimmed up and ready to go, so I just sort through and break off any remaining stem). Toss with olive oil.
Roast 5 minutes. Toss. Return to oven for an additional 5-7 minutes or until it turns a crispy (kind of brittle) and starts to brown on the edges.

Warning. 4 cups looks like a lot when you start but it cooks down A LOT!

Also pictured above:
Southern style eggplant (It was freakin' delicious!!)

I've had issue trying to make eggplant recipes in the past, but this one was a hit. I choose this recipe because it used corn meal, making it gluten free. I think the key to my success this time around was draining out the excess water. I didn't have buttermilk on hand (and didn't feel like leaving my house to get some) so I found this little trick with the help of a little google searching....

Buttermilk substitute
slightly less than 1 C. milk (I actually used soy because that's all I had)
1 Tbsp white vinegar

Add white vinegar to empty measuring cup. Add milk until it reaches the 1 C. line. Let stand for 5 minutes. Use required amount for the recipe you're using. It actually looks really gross, but tasty like buttermilk in some wierd way.

The pasta pictured is the elbow style Bionaturae, making this gluten free, vegetarian, healthy, and delicious.

Monday...

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions; it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life Goes On.

Well, since Jim already leaked this for the world to see...

A little reminder of drunken summer nights & a fantastic simple 'family' vacation. I should warn you that I have no business in karaoke and teaming up with Jim doesn't really help matters. The entire thing is pretty close to horrible...and amazingly I start out with one goofy off-key voice and some how end in another equally horribly, off-key voice. Overall we got a pretty good crowd response. I think it's in part due to our fantastic dance moves. Personally, my favorite part is the voices in the background...like my friend Nicolette's beau laughing.

...i can't get the video to upload so you'll just have to see it here.

Sisters

Do you think we look alike?

We certainly have similar mannerism.

And a lot of people have always said that it was obvious we were sisters.

I have never really agreed and have thought the Jenn favors my mom and more my dad.

But this picture made me change my mind a little bit.

I think it's because my eyes are hidden.

We have very different eyes.

So different that it has always distracting me from the little features we share.

Eyes can tell you a lot about a person.

I think it's where you can really read a person emotions.

It's easy to smile and hide your sadness or vice versa.

But eyes never lie.

Gluten Free Favorites

1)

I kinda wish these had a different name. I don't like thinking of them as a "diet" food. I actually starting eating these before my gluten free-ish days because they have a ton of protein and no sugar, which is perfect for my post morning workout snack. And now an added bonus that they are gluten free. You can find them at Trader Joe's, WholeFoods, or purchase them on the website. My favorite is the chunky peanut butter ( i don't really care for the chocolate/fudge ones).

2) Bionaturae GF Pasta

Also organic so that's a plus. I've tried the elbow variety first, thinking somehow that a smaller shape was less likely to taste different than regular pasta. I don't know...it just seemed to make sense. I made it as a side with plain red sauce and a little cheese. Jim said he could definitely tell the difference but it was Ok and he would eat it again...he knew ahead of time that it was GF pasta. Last night I made the rigatoni with a spicy ground turkey meat sauce and lovely big chunks of steamed aspargus, sprinkled with parmasean. It was so YUMMY. Jim commented that he loved pasta and should eat more of it... this time he did NOT know ahead of time that it was GF pasta.

3) Bob's Red Mill GF Brownie Mix

The company makes a really extensive line of GF products, but I have only tried the brownie mix so far. The texture was a bit gooey and kinda cake-like all at once...if that's possibly, but the flavor was just as good as any regular brownie mix. I added chocolate chips but think I will try a icing/frosting of some sort the next time. I brought a batch to work and the were gone by the end of the day (not mentioning the words 'gluten free' is key here!) I'm planning to try more products in the future. They get really great reviews and offer a lot of variety in pre-made mixes and GF flours and grains. Although gluten free baking is definitely a whole different ballgame from cooking, so I think I need to do some more research & planning before I get to crazy with it.

4) French Vanilla Coffee-mate

A dear old friend... Thankfully GF, requiring no changes in my morning coffee routine. (check out the website for printable coupons!)

5) Potatoes

I don't know why but somewhere along the line I got away from eating a lot of potatoes. But, now there back in full swing. Baked, mashed, home-fried...I'm loving it. I also think it's comforting to know that I can order them as a side dish if we're out to eat...especially for breakfast at the local diner..." cheese and spinach omelette with home fries, no toast please"

I've also been cooking up some damn cook dishes using corn meal and tortillas...Hopefully I'll get some time to post some recipes this week. The cool temperatures really have me in the mood for cooking!

Citrus

Another busy weekend at the Robinson house. I started off my Saturday with an early trip to the flea market in our town. Flea markets are the best. And the weather was perfect for browsing around with a hot coffee. For a whooping $15 I came home with a set of coffee mugs that match my moms old dinner plates, 2 rolling bins, a coffee urn, a candlestick, and 4 super cool 50's style glasses with orange stripes! I'm still so psyched.

The rest of the weekend wasn't so luxurious.

We're trying to tackle removing a bazillion layers of paint from the front doors...

Looks like fun, right?

For the most part we (mostly Jim) have had good success with the a non-toxic, biodegradable paint stripper called Citristrip. There are just a lot of layer and a lot of small details on the doors, so it is proving to be very time consuming. This was basically the second straight weekend working on them. It has required all kinds of little brushes and scrappers and is a very messy process. I think Jim was getting frustrated by the progress, so he tried out some old fashion smelly chemical stripper. I couldn't take the smell. I'm not sure that it was that big of a difference, especially for all the terrible fumes it caused.

Not complete, but we're getting there.

Speaking of citrus...

World on the street is that my little spider friends are not so fond of lemon or orange. Would you think I was crazy if I happened to spray all the bushes, trash cans, mail box, and patio areas with lemon antibacterial spray cleaner? Hypothetically speaking of course...

P.S. for a reminder of the true before check out post here and here

Monday...

" Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

~Ernestine Ulmer

Equal opportunity employer

We have major laundry issues at the Robinson house these days.
It's not necessarily dirty laundry.
It's mostly piles of half folded clean laundry.
Laundry that started out neated folded, fresh from the dryer and fairly organized...but just never found it's way to the closets or dressers, and ends up looking that this....

And of course there are random piles of actual dirty laundry on the floor because all the laundry baskets are consumed by clean laundry...

And then there are just random pile of jackets, sweaters, and maybe clean/maybe dirty stuff in the recliner in the kitchen.

Yes. That's right.

Our recliner (and couch) are in the kitchen.

We have issues. Issues we didn't take into consideration when deciding to rennovate a house while living in it. Issues that I may need to seek counseling for.

Jim has a separate laundry problem that really has nothing to do with our home rennovations. He really does try so hard to be neat and tidy for his psycho clean freak wife. No matter what, his dresser always looks like this by mid week...

When we buy new bedroom furniture, I'm consider a large toy box that he can just pile everything and shut the top. Seems like a reasonable solution to me?

In the meantime he can live happily with the new found equality that home construction has brought our relationship.

Manic Monday

Start out with a rainy, dreary morning, followed by a 7:00AM dentist appointment, 2 accidents, throw in 1 disabled vehicle, and bridge repairs and you've got a 2 hour and 30 minute commute.

I really love Mondays. (insert sarcasm)

Did I mention there was a spider in the car with me?

Did I mention I've developed a bit of arachnophobia complete with crazy spider dreams?

We have a serious spider infestation.

I can't get into that right now. I can feel my blood pressure rising....

Deep breaths.

sigh...

After a long rainy, humid day I walked in the door looking like this.

I know. You're jealous.

We all can't be blessed with a natural rat's nest that thrives on humidity and moisture.

Jim's one lucky guy.

Monday...

"Only a fool test the depth of the water with both feet."

African Proverb

What's mine is NOT yours.

We have 4 travel mugs in our house. Two of them are absolutely Jim's...they were both given to him as gifts. Of the remaining 2, one is pink (obviously mine) and one was sent free in the mail through a chiropractic association that I belong to, so I'm going to claim it as mine.

I'm really not a mine and yours kind of girl, but in some scenarios it's necessary. Jim is terrible about bringing the travel mugs back. So, he typically ends up with 3 of the 4 mugs at his office or stuffed into the bottom of his bag with mold growing on a damp papertowel inserted into the bottom to absorb in remaining coffee. But he always curtious enough to at least leave the pink one alone. Until today. When I opened the cupboard and there were NO travel mugs!!!!!
Where is MY pink mug?!

It was 5:30 and I was tempted to shake Jim in bed a throw a royal fit. How am I suppose to make it through my hour commute without coffee? It's almost as bad as the time my friend Sarah substituted my morning coffee with decaf. gast!!

But, I'm not that mean and decided I would just prefer to call him out on it to a larger audience (i.e. my blog). And I found the 'free' mug in the dishwasher b/c I had used it yesterday.

You got lucky this time Jim....

Soup to nuts

Yesterday an older-than-me lady in the locker room muttered under her breath oh so subtly something along the lines of, "girls thinking they can expose themselves in front of everyone..." She was referencing me. I know this because I was the only other person in the locker room and she was gumbling at the exact moment I was exposing my breast between the time it takes me to take off my sports bra and close my robe, literally about 2 seconds. I was even still wearing pants and shoes.

Apparently she has never met Naked Lady!

Today commuting was back to normal. Leaving at 5:55 caused me to encounter about 15 minutes in traffic delays, resulting in a total loss of about 20-25 minutes from my normal workout time.
"No soup for you."
Actually only soup for me for lunch today.
Trader Joe's Organic, low sodium tomato and roasted red pepper soup to be exact.
I will consume about 10 gallons of this stuff before winter is over (and it's only their no gluten list!). It's so yummy.
And it was already packed for lunch today and has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of time I spent burning calories this morning. I'm not that psycho.

Although I did recently purchase these really cute skinny jeans from Gap and need to keep my girlish figure at least long enough to wear them once...and preferrably throughout fall and winter.

Monday...

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

~Dr. Seuss

My uncle's bonfire.

At some point last week I got an voicemail from Jim's old chiro school roommate, and our good pal, Troy. He had some how deleted Jim's number but wanted to invite us to his uncle bonfire on Saturday night. Troy lives in Massachusetts and we obviously don't see him frequently...the last time actually at our wedding nearly 2 years ago. His uncle lives in Allentown, about a hour drive for us. "Bring a tent and some sleeping bags if you want to stay over."

Troy & Jim sporting their Garden Club t-shirts

We gathered up another chiro buddy and decided to make an appearance and head back home that night. We didn't really want to be imposing on a family gathering with Troy's family, but decided it was a good opportunity to catch up for a few hours.

My uncle is having a bonfire....

What a ridiculous understatement.

His uncle's bonfire is actually more like some kind of mountain festival.
Hundreds and hundreds of people.

A beer truck, rumored to house 30 kegs.

A hotdog and hamburger line that wrapped around a block.

A tent city filled with college kids and hippies.

Rope jumping into a pond.

Acres of wildflowers mowed down to form a parking lot.

And a bonfire the size of a house.

After a few hours of relaxing, enjoying the perfectly fantastic weather, & catching up with the Wilson crew, the festivities set way with a million little snap crackle pops of firecrackers exploding over the bonfire.

Followed by the most amazing display of fireworks I'd ever seen.

The thunderous boom echoed through your chest, rattling your organs and sending shocks through to your limps. Tragically loud. Deafening. Grasping your breath from the air before you've fully exhaled. It was exhilarating, almost panic.

At the end of the fireworks, the bonfire was set ablaze.

We ventured up close to watch.

In only a matter of moments, the crowd was inching back further and further because of the heat. Firetrucks set by patiently in case of any stray embures.

We lingered for awhile longer, then hit the roadways back to Philly with plans to return for the next event, schedule for 2012.

It was quite an unexpected experience. As Jon put it so nicely, not for any single cause or even a cover charge. Just because.

Moral of the story...if Troy Wilson invites you to ANYTHING, no matter how lame the desciptions, just go. It's bound to be a good time.

Wide Open Spaces

I wonder what my life will be like when I don't commute anymore. It has to come someday. My new commute is 55 miles one way straight down 95 past the grand 'ole city of Philadelphia and it just ain't gonna last forever.

I try to get up at 5:00 so I can be on the road around 5:30. Getting on the road before 6:00 is essential to my sanity. Some days I get up a little late, some days I become distracted by some kind of behavior and/or cognative disorder and start putting away or washing dishes, cleaning countertops, or organizing stacks of mail and don't get out the door until 5:45. The closer to the 6 o'clock hour I leave, the more volume starts to pick up and traffic problems defeat the whole purpose of getting up so damn early in the first place.

Today I stayed in bed until almost 5:30. Jim and I were sleeping on an air mattress in the basement because we are banned from the upstairs during the hardwood floor refinishing project. For some reason, I thought this was reason enough to sleep in. I pulled out of the driveway at 5:52. Cutting it a little close for my liking. For some odd reason, there was absolutely NO traffic. Hardly another soul to be seen. Even the traffic reports were all commented on how trouble free the roadways were, essentially having nothing to say except, "guess you could've slept in this morning."

It was so barren that I started to be concerned that I had missed some kind of newsflash about an approaching natural diaster or terrorist threat. Is it Saturday? I am suppose to be at home? Seriously. The roads are never this free and clear during the 6am hour on a Friday unless it's Christmas. I really became alarmed when the paramedic in the passenger seat of the ambulance that was passing me slowed down and he just gawked and gawked. I'm certainly not wearing a skirt or looking dolled up at this point, so there's no real reason to stare unless he wondering why the hell I'm on the road in the first place.

Maybe all the Jews stayed in preparing for Yon Kippur. Maybe everyone drank too much last night and decided to work from home or take a 2 hour delay. Maybe the darkness is finally starting to push peple into early stage seasonal depression. I don't know what was going on. And I'm not really complaining... I'd certainly rather being cruising solo than surrounding by all the crazy loons forging toward the city. I just don't like so much confusion bouncing around in my head so early in the morning.

Gluten Free Week 2 & 3

I celebrated the end of week 3 of gluten free living with lasagna, garlic bread, & bruchsetta...all stuffed full of gluten. It was a party...what was I suppose to do? Overall I think I did excellent job over the three week period. I had a few beers with my brother over Labor Day and a Corona on Saturday night. I guess beer is my weakness?! Otherwise I was gluten free (except for that piece of italian bread with butter with my pot roast on Saturday night...and 2 bites of carrot cake. I guess 2 weeks and 6 days is close enough!)

I've discovered the real key to sticking with a gluten free diet is planning ahead. All the easy quick foods tend to be loaded with the enemy. It's also forced me into really preparing dinner every night. Typically two nights a week Jim and I grab something from the freezer, which is stacked with Trader Joe's stuff, add a steamed vegetable, a small salad, and maybe couscous or rice. This "laziness" is mainly a result of our work schedule. Who feels like cooking dinner at 8:30 at night? Now, almost all of our favorite frozen pre-made meals are off limits...forcing me to plan ahead.

It also forced me to get creative and try some new things, especially with my vegetables. I good up some delicious fried eggplant, roasted kale, piles of roasted veggies, and lots of different salads. Recipes and a few photos to follow...

If you're looking to start a gluten free diet, start basic: meat (no marinades or sauces), vegetables or fruits, and dairy. Rice, corn, potatoes, and quinoa are also on the O.K. list, but again I have to be careful with any additives or sauces. I'm still trying to figure out which preservatives/additives are in and which need to be left alone. I've been a label reader for a lot of years now and try to stick with the rule of thumb...less is more. The smaller the ingredient list, the better I feel about consuming the product. I also try very hard to avoid products with ingredients that I can't pronounce or just sound gross. And no high fructose corn syrup. Now, I just need to decipher which ones contain gluten.

Because it's likely that I'm gluten sensitive, opposed to allergic (celiac disease) a little is Ok anyways. Gluten sensitivity causes inflammation in your gut as it builds up. The main idea is to flush the gluten out of your system (i.e. 3 weeks gluten free) then only consume in small amounts. I will say I feel better...not 100% cured of my angry gut, but definitely better (no one's looking for details I'm sure) so I'm planning to stick with it. It will just be easier knowing if I'm going to a party, out to dinner, or eating at a friend's house that I don't have to be a complete weirdo and pass on everything but the salad. I'm weird enough with out dietary restraints!