So, today is the 12th and I haven't posted since the 4th. Which means I am failing at my regular blog posting, but I've been so busy! Between catching up on work, recovering from surgery, taking care of stuff around the house, kids, dogs, writing a book and auditioning - I've barely had time to think!
However, the NaNoWriMo project is coming along (I'll admit, I'm a little behind on my word count but I have not given up!) and my audition was a great success.
I will be playing Felicia Dantine in "I Hate Hamlet" in Bowie, MD. So if you live in the area, come see me in February.
As for DIy / home posts, we have had a bit of a lull at the house. We finally got the garden in a little better shape but I seriously need to spend a couple days just completing projects in the house. I'm hoping to get some serious work done this weekend.
Anyway, that's a quick update and a promise that I will complete some of the previously drafted blog posts and get them up for you. I have tons I want to talk about - I just have to start talking.
My husband would be shocked I even said that...
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Kin-wah!
Growing up Southern, I have a healthy appreciation for all things fattening. In Louisiana, you get the benefit of French sauces and love for cooking in butter to the rich southern meats grilled, fried, and smothered along with whatever vegetables are nearby. Dessert is a required course and is usually decadent in every way. Food is to be explored and enjoyed the way one might sink into a hot tub and absorb the warmth and vibrations.
This is not why I'm fat, but it sure as heck didn't help.
To that end, I'm learning about some other food and preparation methods that are much healthier and still as enjoyable as my childhood food experiences. Today's topic is Quinoa (Kin-Wa).
We went to the Bolivian Embassy in the spring with the kids and my sister. We were all introduced to the grain quinoa then. I'm sure I had seen it before or heard of it in something, but I honestly had no real information about it. A grain is a grain, right?
Wrong.
Did you know that quinoa has a large amount of protein in it? 14% of it's volume to be exact. (I had to look it up) Less than meat and beans, but more than the average grain. It's gluten-free and unlike many starchy grains, it doesn't trigger those same insulin reactions in your body. But it can cook up like a meaty or starchy grain - how cool is that? Also, it has calcium which, for this lactose intolerant girl, is fabulous!
Technically it's a seed, to my understanding and is in the same family as spinach and tumbleweeds (TUMBLEWEEDS?!). I wonder what a tumbleweed tastes like. I always assumed it was a dead bush. I may have to look into that....
Anyway, there are other grains with more protein etc. but they either take longer to cook, or (like oats) are often processed to the point that they lose much of the nutritional benefits. Quinoa, while cleaned of saponin (outer shell), is otherwise left alone most of the time. Yet it cooks relatively quickly (~15 minutes).
Anyway, I've now tried it in breakfasts, main dishes, and even chocolate. It takes on the flavors of the surrounding ingredients, which is cool, but maintains a slightly crunchy hearty texture.
Enough of the National Geographic special, let's try a recipe, right?
Here are some I've had before and think are delicious:
Quinoa with Latin Flavors make a great side with grilled chicken and salsa.
A friend made this soup, years ago, and I just found out it is Quinoa Peanut Soup. So good!
These were served at the embassy to show off the quinoa and the chocolate together, they were awesome! Check out Quinoa Blondies. I was reminded the ones we had were more brownie than blondie, but I think this has to be pretty close to the same recipe.
If you just want to try it for yourself at home in your favorite recipe, here are some tips:
Use enough liquid but not too much! You can lose the crunch with too much water and not enough will leave uncooked seeds, which are not that yummy.
Also, prepare that this will take longer than rice to cook. I recommend using a slow cooker for family sized dishes. That way you don't have to wait as long for dinner.
If your quinoa is not pre-rinsed, you need to rinse it well with a mesh strainer. Those little covering on the seeds are not good at all for eating. Most quinoa, however, come pre-rinsed, so check the packaging.
Drain and rest! If you get the hang of getting your liquid to quinoa measurement dead on, this is less of a concern, but the seeds to absorb a lot of liquid. If you're making a casserole, this is not a concern but if it's a side dish or a salad component, you'll need to drain the excess liquid off. Draining comes after letting it rest for at least 5 minutes once it leaves the burner. Like a good steak, the seed will settle and finish during the resting period. Then you can continue whatever dish you're making.
So, there you have it - now I'll let you in on a little secret. My next attempt it to make quinoa to replace grits and to try them in pancakes, breading on chicken, and (gasp) jambalaya! I'll let you know how it turns out.
-N
This is not why I'm fat, but it sure as heck didn't help.
To that end, I'm learning about some other food and preparation methods that are much healthier and still as enjoyable as my childhood food experiences. Today's topic is Quinoa (Kin-Wa).
We went to the Bolivian Embassy in the spring with the kids and my sister. We were all introduced to the grain quinoa then. I'm sure I had seen it before or heard of it in something, but I honestly had no real information about it. A grain is a grain, right?
Did you know that quinoa has a large amount of protein in it? 14% of it's volume to be exact. (I had to look it up) Less than meat and beans, but more than the average grain. It's gluten-free and unlike many starchy grains, it doesn't trigger those same insulin reactions in your body. But it can cook up like a meaty or starchy grain - how cool is that? Also, it has calcium which, for this lactose intolerant girl, is fabulous!
Technically it's a seed, to my understanding and is in the same family as spinach and tumbleweeds (TUMBLEWEEDS?!). I wonder what a tumbleweed tastes like. I always assumed it was a dead bush. I may have to look into that....
Anyway, there are other grains with more protein etc. but they either take longer to cook, or (like oats) are often processed to the point that they lose much of the nutritional benefits. Quinoa, while cleaned of saponin (outer shell), is otherwise left alone most of the time. Yet it cooks relatively quickly (~15 minutes).
Anyway, I've now tried it in breakfasts, main dishes, and even chocolate. It takes on the flavors of the surrounding ingredients, which is cool, but maintains a slightly crunchy hearty texture.
Enough of the National Geographic special, let's try a recipe, right?
Here are some I've had before and think are delicious:
Quinoa with Latin Flavors make a great side with grilled chicken and salsa.
A friend made this soup, years ago, and I just found out it is Quinoa Peanut Soup. So good!
These were served at the embassy to show off the quinoa and the chocolate together, they were awesome! Check out Quinoa Blondies. I was reminded the ones we had were more brownie than blondie, but I think this has to be pretty close to the same recipe.
If you just want to try it for yourself at home in your favorite recipe, here are some tips:
Use enough liquid but not too much! You can lose the crunch with too much water and not enough will leave uncooked seeds, which are not that yummy.
Also, prepare that this will take longer than rice to cook. I recommend using a slow cooker for family sized dishes. That way you don't have to wait as long for dinner.
If your quinoa is not pre-rinsed, you need to rinse it well with a mesh strainer. Those little covering on the seeds are not good at all for eating. Most quinoa, however, come pre-rinsed, so check the packaging.
Drain and rest! If you get the hang of getting your liquid to quinoa measurement dead on, this is less of a concern, but the seeds to absorb a lot of liquid. If you're making a casserole, this is not a concern but if it's a side dish or a salad component, you'll need to drain the excess liquid off. Draining comes after letting it rest for at least 5 minutes once it leaves the burner. Like a good steak, the seed will settle and finish during the resting period. Then you can continue whatever dish you're making.
So, there you have it - now I'll let you in on a little secret. My next attempt it to make quinoa to replace grits and to try them in pancakes, breading on chicken, and (gasp) jambalaya! I'll let you know how it turns out.
-N
Monday, November 3, 2014
Not another political ad
I'll brief here. I'm not into talking politics on my blog. Much like your faith, that's between you and God. But I do want to address the inundation of political ads on every form of media you can think of and more.
First: Vote. Right, wrong, otherwise - it doesn't matter what you choose to vote, but the lack of voting is lazy and undermines the very principles this country is founded on. You can do / be / create anything you wnat for yourself in this country, but you have to be part of the process or you're part of the problem. So seriously, find 30 minutes and vote. It's important.
Second: STOP WITH THE ADS TEARING DOWN OTHER PEOPLE. Sorry to yell, but I'm so sick of it. We go on and on about teaching kids not to bully others, but then we spend millions on ad teaching them how to bully with the best. Sure, you may not be pushing down your opponents on the sidewalk, but if the only way you can look good is to make them look bad - perhaps you're not all that great either?
When did it become the national argument to deflect attention from what people are actually doing / capable of doing to pointing the finger at everyone around them and saying, "But they are worse!"
If electing or hiring the lesser of two evils is the only choices we have, then this country had better take a long hard look at the people we are allowing to run things. Not only that, but we better start paying much closer attention to the younger generations who will take over those spots in our golden years. They aren't learning how to keep this nation healthy, prosperous, and whole - they are learning how to behave like 5 year olds.
If you don't actually want to do the work involved - don't try to get the job. The interview shouldn't be about how you're better than the other candidates because they are terrible people, but about how you're best for the job period. It's how everyone else gets hired, right? If you can't prove you want to do the work and are on fire for the position, that you're the best person they could hire to represent their company and brand, you shouldn't get the job. (Unless you tell them you're willing to work for half the salary they want to pay, then you don't have to be able to the job at all. But that's another conversation altogether...)
For us, the voting constituency, we're the hiring managers for those in leadership. Collectively, we're the people that get to choose who best should fill those positions. When did we start hiring for popularity over results? Why? Is this really the lesson we want to teach our children? The legacy we want to show the world?
The political ads are a shining example of losing your way in America. They are prolific. The amount of money spent on them, if used for any number of other much needed reforms (education, transportation, healthcare, etc.), could change a number of political conversations. They are not flattering nor, in my opinion, productive. For the most part, there is no intent to enrich the national debate through them and they make the entire nation look worse for their existence and current usage. It certainly feels like for every one informative ad, there are 49 nasty, personality bashing, dirt-slinging, ideal-biased, and even untrue ads in our face.
It's not okay. This message brought to you by me. No one made a dime or was harmed in the making of this message. Hopefully, it's just some food for thought for all of you.
First: Vote. Right, wrong, otherwise - it doesn't matter what you choose to vote, but the lack of voting is lazy and undermines the very principles this country is founded on. You can do / be / create anything you wnat for yourself in this country, but you have to be part of the process or you're part of the problem. So seriously, find 30 minutes and vote. It's important.
Second: STOP WITH THE ADS TEARING DOWN OTHER PEOPLE. Sorry to yell, but I'm so sick of it. We go on and on about teaching kids not to bully others, but then we spend millions on ad teaching them how to bully with the best. Sure, you may not be pushing down your opponents on the sidewalk, but if the only way you can look good is to make them look bad - perhaps you're not all that great either?
When did it become the national argument to deflect attention from what people are actually doing / capable of doing to pointing the finger at everyone around them and saying, "But they are worse!"
If electing or hiring the lesser of two evils is the only choices we have, then this country had better take a long hard look at the people we are allowing to run things. Not only that, but we better start paying much closer attention to the younger generations who will take over those spots in our golden years. They aren't learning how to keep this nation healthy, prosperous, and whole - they are learning how to behave like 5 year olds.
If you don't actually want to do the work involved - don't try to get the job. The interview shouldn't be about how you're better than the other candidates because they are terrible people, but about how you're best for the job period. It's how everyone else gets hired, right? If you can't prove you want to do the work and are on fire for the position, that you're the best person they could hire to represent their company and brand, you shouldn't get the job. (Unless you tell them you're willing to work for half the salary they want to pay, then you don't have to be able to the job at all. But that's another conversation altogether...)
For us, the voting constituency, we're the hiring managers for those in leadership. Collectively, we're the people that get to choose who best should fill those positions. When did we start hiring for popularity over results? Why? Is this really the lesson we want to teach our children? The legacy we want to show the world?
The political ads are a shining example of losing your way in America. They are prolific. The amount of money spent on them, if used for any number of other much needed reforms (education, transportation, healthcare, etc.), could change a number of political conversations. They are not flattering nor, in my opinion, productive. For the most part, there is no intent to enrich the national debate through them and they make the entire nation look worse for their existence and current usage. It certainly feels like for every one informative ad, there are 49 nasty, personality bashing, dirt-slinging, ideal-biased, and even untrue ads in our face.
It's not okay. This message brought to you by me. No one made a dime or was harmed in the making of this message. Hopefully, it's just some food for thought for all of you.
Productivity in the house!
Hello all and Happy November!
I hope you all enjoyed your extra hour of sleep, I know I did! We had a very busy and productive weekend at our house. First Halloween in the new house was a little bit of a let down. We have a lot of kids in the neighborhood but we only saw about 40 of them. It was so cold parents were driving their kids to each block then rolling alongside as they ran up to the houses for candy. Kids skipped some houses simply because it was too cold and they wanted to ride in the car for a bit. Parents tag-teamed the duty of walking with the kids to the front door. I hope next year is a bit warmer - we have a ton of leftover candy at this point. I bet we're not alone!
Saturday, the entire family worked on cleaning up the garage, sorting tools, and figuring out the organizational system we're going to install. It ended up being a great day capped off with a visit to Home Depot. We took the kids and by the time we left, my husband was asking if I remembered the blow darts for them. It was pretty funny (to me). So now we just need to install the system and make a couple repairs to existing storage items, and the garage will be empty! So we can park there when the winter weather hits in full - and y'all, it's coming.
We also figured out a plan for the laundry room! It won't be the final version of the laundry room, but right now it's just not functional. We need to move into it as it is for now, then renovate in a few months or so. I'm ok with working rooms not being painted and perfect.
My next goal will be to spend some time and attention on the office, sun room, and main family living room. They are in states of 75% completion and it would be a relief to have them complete by Thanksgiving! So, that's the plan.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, we have to figure out how we're going to make all of this work. We have two (or three) potential family get-togethers and while it doesn't look like I'll be able to host this year (my grandmother's dining set is still in North Carolina and I have no way of retrieving it right now), I'm hoping that we can at least have some small friendly events before the year end.
Did I mention I'm writing a book? As part of the NaNoWriMo project, which I did in 2012 as well, I am going to write every day and hopefully finish a short story / novella of 50,000 words by the end of the month. It may not be stellar, but it will be mine! It's a good goal and should also help me improve this blog. So - good for you as well, right?
I will warn you, this month may consist of a lot of recipe ideas. Mostly because I like to experiment around the holidays with new things. I also have some new kitchen toys I'm dying to play with, so what better than to create some yumminess to share with you?
If you're curious about the dining room leak - it's still not handled. We have to get someone out to inspect the exact cause of the leak in the bathroom. Then we can talk to the insurance company about how we're going to pay for the fix. Maybe Santa will give us an early gift? Otherwise, we'll continue showering in the main hall bathroom.
So that's it for me. What did you dress up as for Halloween? We didn't get to do costumes this year, so I'm living vicariously through you!
-N
I hope you all enjoyed your extra hour of sleep, I know I did! We had a very busy and productive weekend at our house. First Halloween in the new house was a little bit of a let down. We have a lot of kids in the neighborhood but we only saw about 40 of them. It was so cold parents were driving their kids to each block then rolling alongside as they ran up to the houses for candy. Kids skipped some houses simply because it was too cold and they wanted to ride in the car for a bit. Parents tag-teamed the duty of walking with the kids to the front door. I hope next year is a bit warmer - we have a ton of leftover candy at this point. I bet we're not alone!
Saturday, the entire family worked on cleaning up the garage, sorting tools, and figuring out the organizational system we're going to install. It ended up being a great day capped off with a visit to Home Depot. We took the kids and by the time we left, my husband was asking if I remembered the blow darts for them. It was pretty funny (to me). So now we just need to install the system and make a couple repairs to existing storage items, and the garage will be empty! So we can park there when the winter weather hits in full - and y'all, it's coming.
We also figured out a plan for the laundry room! It won't be the final version of the laundry room, but right now it's just not functional. We need to move into it as it is for now, then renovate in a few months or so. I'm ok with working rooms not being painted and perfect.
My next goal will be to spend some time and attention on the office, sun room, and main family living room. They are in states of 75% completion and it would be a relief to have them complete by Thanksgiving! So, that's the plan.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, we have to figure out how we're going to make all of this work. We have two (or three) potential family get-togethers and while it doesn't look like I'll be able to host this year (my grandmother's dining set is still in North Carolina and I have no way of retrieving it right now), I'm hoping that we can at least have some small friendly events before the year end.
Did I mention I'm writing a book? As part of the NaNoWriMo project, which I did in 2012 as well, I am going to write every day and hopefully finish a short story / novella of 50,000 words by the end of the month. It may not be stellar, but it will be mine! It's a good goal and should also help me improve this blog. So - good for you as well, right?
I will warn you, this month may consist of a lot of recipe ideas. Mostly because I like to experiment around the holidays with new things. I also have some new kitchen toys I'm dying to play with, so what better than to create some yumminess to share with you?
If you're curious about the dining room leak - it's still not handled. We have to get someone out to inspect the exact cause of the leak in the bathroom. Then we can talk to the insurance company about how we're going to pay for the fix. Maybe Santa will give us an early gift? Otherwise, we'll continue showering in the main hall bathroom.
So that's it for me. What did you dress up as for Halloween? We didn't get to do costumes this year, so I'm living vicariously through you!
-N
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