Last year for the superbowl the guy and I ate foods you can dip. This year he works so I’m headed to see friends and eat tacos- yum.
This week for my new recipe of the week I made Veggie Chicken Pot Pie. It was carrots, broccoli, green beans, onions, celery, mushrooms, and fake chicken strips, sauteed all together. Then I lightly coated the veggies in flour and added warm soy milk until it thickened. I seasoned and topped with biscuits and cooked for about 25 minutes.
It was super yummy, lasted quite a few meals and reheated well.
I never made it to the knitting group last weekend- the couch was just too comfy. But I did get to work on the baby blanket I’ve been needing to make. The pattern is Beth’s Little Star Afghan. They’re having a boy and their furniture is chocolate brown and blue. The bedding is rock’n'roll themed, so I thought the star would be an easy fit. It’s about half done. I have 9 more rows of solid blue and two rows of gray as a border.
I finished “The Likeness” midweek and started “Finn” by John Clinch for my book club. It’s a pretty dark portrayal of Huck Finn’s father. I’m not too far in, but it’s intriguing. I’m also supposed to read “The Awakening” for another book club, but I can’t find it in our boxes and I haven’t checked it out from the library yet. I read it and loved it in high school, so I’m hoping it will come back to me quickly.
Still no further work on the house, though the list gets longer everyday.
Another new year’s choice was to try two new workouts a week to keep myself motivated. This has been an easy one with the new gym membership. Saturday I did yoga, Monday I did shadow boxing, Tuesday I took hiphop class, Wednesday I started week 1 of C25K, Friday I did a hill workout and yesterday I took the puppy on a *long* walk. This week started with a new yoga workout. Yay for me, especially in this season of girl scout cookies.
I worked for a few hours on my cable scarf. It looks the same as last week, only a few inches longer. It’s taking forever, as all knitting does for me. A coworker is having a baby, so I’ll start a crochet blanket soon to make me feel more productive.
I picked up my gray shawl and once again started it over because it had so many dropped stitches. After restarting 5 times, I gave up on it for now. So I decided to teach myself to make cables. I’m starting with a simple scarf pattern. It’s really easy and the cable is looking great.
I’ll likely finish American Wife today (only 50 pages left), and I think I’ll start on Wally Lamb’s The Hour I First Believed. But in recounting what I read this summer, I forgot to mention Tana French’s In the Woods. It was a thriller-type novel about a detective who, as a child disappeared with two friends and was the only one to be found. He is assigned to the case of child murdered in the same woods where he was lost. Great story, quick read, though only a meh ending.
Parent conferences are half over. Tomorrow I have 6 more, then Thursday I have one in the afternoon, then I’m done! Only 2 weeks until fall break!
It smells so yummy. I think it will taste great on some lettuce with some tortilla chips. It’s red, green and yellow peppers and onions in large pieces- mixed with olive oil, canned corn, and red wine vinegar- black beans rinsed and drained. Salted and peppered to taste. So not exactly kitchen cooking, but definitely kitchen prep work.
The pattern is from Blankets, Hats, and Booties to Knit and Crochet by Kristin Spurkland. I used lightweight organic pima cotton. I’m working on a matching hat, but it’s not turning out the way I’d like right now. Maybe I’ll post it later if it magically fixes itself.
For SuperBowl Sunday stayed in. I assumed we’d make a pizza and drink beer, but the husband had different plans. He wanted to do a theme-dinner- anything that can be dipped. So we cut up veggies- carrots, turnips, celery, had chips, cheese, cheezits, pretzels, olives, mini pickles, pita bread. I made two dips- guacamole and salsa ranch dip, and we bought some olive hummus. It was quite a spread. I was eating raw veggies and dip almost all week for lunch.
At school we watched the Inauguration with the kids. It was an amazing experience to share with them. They couldn’t quite grasp how historical an event they were watching, they were excited and attentive regardless. A parent brought in Obama cookies. I think they’re crazy- the image is laser-printed onto the frosting. That can’t be good for you!
I’m nearly finished with my first time-intensive cross-stitch project. I’m finishing up the shadows and then I need to outline everything. It’s looking really nice, despite the many, many errors I made in counting.
I’m still working on the sci-fi books, but I did manage to finish three other books. 
I also read Light on Snow by Anita Shreve. I’ve never read anything by her, but this book was on mega-discount a while ago, so I picked it up. It was totally contrived and mostly uninteresting. It’s the story of a twelve year old who moves from New York to rural New Hampshire after the death of her mother and baby sister. The father becomes a recluse. One day they find an abandoned infant in the woods and then meet the mother and blah blah.
This morning, I started and then finished Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity by Elizabeth Gold. She’s a published writer who took a job at a “progressive” high school in Queens in 2000. She went in in February after 3 other English teachers quit. Her story is interesting and, at times, hysterical. I laughed out loud at this part:
This weekend we’re headed out of town. Yay!
I worked a little on my mom’s afghan. I added a golden yellow color, because I realized two skeins in that I didn’t have enough green. I haven’t picked it up since I’ve been back to school; with conferences, mid-year assessments, and report cards coming up I’ve been stay at school late.
I have been all about food, though. Food is one area where I don’t slack! A few weeks ago I made cabbage rolls, inspired by 
I also reintroduced myself to the Sunday Farmer’s Market. I LOVE citrus and ’tis the season, right? I could wax poetic about Cara Cara oranges, Oro Blanco grapefruits, Satsuma mandarins, Meyer lemons. Here’s my fruit basket from on excursion:
Kalrabi, Cara Caras, Pink Lady apples, persimmons, bananas, avocados, oh yum!
It’s carrots, cukes, and sliced turnip, with kalamata olive hummus, wheat pita, hard boiled egg, and left over lentils. I’m attempting a “beefless stew” from The Cooking With PETA Cookbook tonight. I’ve never made stew, but anything that holds all my favorite roots and tubers is worth the work!
