I ate one off the floor.

Have you been baking?

What did you think of that restaurant?

Are you still blogging?

Oh, the life of a horrible blogger. The second year of your PhD is a bigger kick in the ass than I thought it would be. I’m on campus from 7 to 4 (usually), and then I come home and hit the books. My weekends: wine. My life: hectic.

I thought I would get my shit together before I started blogging. Well, my shit is half together.

Life updates:

• Teaching business writing is the bomb.
• I am slowly recovering from a cold.
• My friends have been a fantastic support system and I’ve actually had some fun times, emo shit aside.
• I am unpacked, finally.
• I have a bed now, after sleeping on the couch for a month. I love that bed. It’s a queen. Every bed before that has been a twin. I know, right? This is a big deal.
• I’m defriending a lot of people on Facebook. It is fun.

Yeah, this is why I didn’t blog. Blah, right?

I’m staying in tonight, to read. But to earn myself some cool points, I did go to a pub last night. I ordered a beer and a hot toddy. And, I ate some pretty good fish and chips for this side of the pond. I bitched about things with some great women.

But tonight, I read.

Before doing so, I cleaned the trail of tissues my cold left. Then, I finally made…kale chips. I bought a lot of kale at the farmers market today, so I thought it was time. It was simple: 375 degrees, bite-sized pieces of kale with olive oil and sea salt, and for 15 minutes. It was so good, I ate a kale chip off the floor. The taste reminds me of the roasted pumpkin seeds my mom used to make.

This paired well with my prosciutto and Gouda sandwich.

Time to make some tea (with milk, I’m a lady) and read.

Welcome back, blog, to my life.

Turkey Tears

Today was one of those days.

I know I should be like, “Hell yeah, Scotland!” But, I am very broke. Grad students aren’t really rolling in the Benjamins, or whatever. I also have two conferences next week, which cost money. So, anyway. I was trying to pay for a hotel online today, my credit card wouldn’t work, and I started crying. I’m on my period, too. I am a woman and all.

Anyway, it ended well. I paid for a hotel at Clemson University for a conference and one night at a Bed and Breakfast in Edinburgh.  I am studying abroad in Dundee, Scotland, but since I’m arriving  a whole day early, I thought I’d spend it at a Scottish Bed and Breakfast in the city of Edinburgh and really live it up. It only cost 40 pounds for 1 night. I thought that was a bargain. The guest house is called Aonach Mor and its deep in the city, so score.  I rock. I am a woman and all.

I’m writing this after two glasses of wine.

Anyway, Lars and I cooked, which is the purpose of this blog and all; turkey burgers and roasted red potatoes. It is hard to find a good turkey burger recipe, and I think condiments are especially important in turkey burger building. I found a recipe on Cooking Light for Quick-and-Easy Turkey Burgers. The recipe uses teriyaki sauce and cajun seasoning so it’s pretty flavorful and it was surprisingly juicy. We put it between two slices of the Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Sourdough. I topped mine with Trader Joe’s Gouda Cheese (I know, so much TJ lately). To roast the red potatoes, I just covered them with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I ate all this with boxed wine (see crying above).

And all, I’m glad to be back and I’m trying to be a good blogger. Sorry if I don’t respond quickly to emails or posts. And I LOVE READING YOUR BLOGS, but I may not be able to read them as much as I want. That saddens me. So, just know I’m trying. And thanks for your patience. You all rock. I toast to you.

Good night!

Potpie and Regrets

Hey all! Good News: Today I made a potpie.

I found the recipe on Cooking Light’s website (yes, where I find all my recipes). This Old-Fashioned Chicken Potpie was a little extravagant and time-consuming for lunch, but it was my day off. This recipe was easy considering the crust is homemade. I loved it. Lars was so excited about it, he devoted a Facebook status to it.

Recipe Notes: I used store-bought rotisserie chicken from Target and it worked out great. I took out the potpie 10 minutes before the minimal time suggested on the recipe. It was golden and still cooked throughly. So maybe keep your eye on the oven. 

Making the inside in a skillet.

Before diving in.

Plated and Good!

I was proud of myself.

Bad News: ugh, weight.

I have weight issues. More specifically: binge eating issues. I’ve gained maybe 15 pounds over the past year, which is not surprising…I’ve been stressed. This could be the major (embarrassing) reason why I haven’t been blogging. When I’m in a phase of binge eating, I am so aware of the extra weight. It is so difficult talking about this to other women, because I am skinny. But, over the next month I am going to be on a “diet.” I use the term loosely, because I just write down what I eat. I don’t crunch numbers. I don’t weigh myself. I don’t have a goal weight. I just want to have more control over the situation. I am telling you all this, because I want to be a honest food blogger. So, over the next month, I’m going to be struggling. But, I think this community will be helpful.

Wine is a Fruit

I slept in this morning until 8:30. I spent the entire night awake, theorizing student-centered computer instruction and other various nerd things. The academic never rests, I guess. Anyway, I woke up, made coffee, and forced myself to eat. Sometimes I forget to eat breakfast during “exam week.” I ate Quacker Oatmeal Squares (Brown Sugar) and brutally attacked an orange.

Oranges are the most annoying fruit. How can you even tell if an orange is a good one? The one I had this morning had wedges that refused to separate. I ate half.

I was surprised to finish my paper in only a few hours this morning, but I did stay up all night thinking about it. Right? Yes. Everyone has their own writing process.

During the last two hours of writing I was starving, but I refused to eat until the paper was emailed to my teacher. This self-threat worked and I celebrated with the last bit of tortellini in my refrigerator. I tossed cook tortellini with salt, olive oil, shredded Parmesan cheese, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. That was not enough carbs, so I had to two small slices of Great Harvest’s Virginia Savory bread (buttered with Great Harvest’s Garlic and Herb butter).

So much carbs, I know. I am prepared to defend myself.

1. I just finished my paper, so I can do what I want.

2. I am playing soccer tonight, so I have to be ready.

3. I drank wine with it, which is technically a fruit.

4. I’ll eat veggies later.

Lunch look only 10 minutes and it tasted good. Now, I’m drinking wine and catching up on blog reading. I apologize in advance for any drunk-comments.

Backstreet’s Back, Alright

Everybody, I am back. I know. You haven’t been this excited since Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Which rocks, by the way. Right? Totally.

Anyway, I guess I should explain myself. I have mentioned several times I have been in a funk. I blame it on the longest winter ever; it was like 30 Days of Night. I blame it on my heavy wine and Law and Order: SVU consumption (but I don’t apologize for that). I blame it on the first year of my PhD. You are never good enough and you feel like a freshman all over again. I feel like I have been stuffed in a locker by the school bully for an entire semester. But, I’m better now. The sun is shining. I turn in my last paper tomorrow. I don’t have to teach freshman English next year (I get to teach Business Writing and work in the Writing Lab). I go to Scotland in a month. I found out my best friend will be in Scotland while I am there. Life was bad, now it is good.

I think I just needed to adjust. I think I just needed to be humbled.

Sorry, the post is late. I’ve been at the coffee shop most of the day, writing a paper. I look confused, because I was confused. It was an interesting day at the coffee house, because a Michael Lohan look-alike sat across from me. I was kind of rude to him, but he is a horrible father. Yes, I know. It is not the real Michael Lohan, but he kept staring. I’m not Kate Major, jerk. I’m busting out the pop culture references tonight, people.

Lars and I made dinner! Oh, by the way: I haven’t been posting (als0), because I never had time to cook. Double Oh: Lars is good. He got a professorship. He will only live 3 hours away. He is as cute as always. Blah, blah. Let’s not get mushy.

Lars and I teamed up and made a delicious Italian dinner. Lars made Herbed Chicken Piccata (Cooking Light). I love lemon and chicken. I love meals that don’t involve the oven. This was made in one skillet and it was fantastic. It was breaded. It was lemony. I made the very easy Tortellini with Olive Oil, Parmesan, Garlic, and Red Pepper from Cooking Light. It is simple and delicious, but I recommend adding the cheese after all the shit has gone down. If not, the cheese makes a big goopy ball that looks like an antagonist from a Goosebumps book. Yeah, dinner was awesome.

For dessert I had boxed wine and Starbuck’s Chocolate Java Chip ice cream. I didn’t eat the whole pint, which is a small victory.

Well, I’ll be spending the rest of the night commenting on y’all’s blogs and writing a paper. I’m glad to be back.

Sorry for spelling errors, I may be buzzed.

Triscuits

That was the shortest spring break OF MY LIFE. I woke up today, realized it was Sunday, and almost cried and/or jumped out the nearest window. I was so lazy and so not productive. I am a hot, hot mess. I am not ready for tomorrow.

To make matters worse. I am so broke. You see, I just bought plane tickets for my summer (study abroad) trip in Scotland. “Oh my gosh! You are so lucky, Ashley!” Oh shut it! At this point, I’ll be living off shortbread the entire trip. I think I’ll be excited about the trip when I know I’ll survive and can afford food. Some days, I want to marry rich man (Jon Hamm) and have him pay off my student loans. I know, I’m bringing us back to the 50s. I apologize. But Jon Hamm is so dreamy.

Anyway, I’m emo. I still like food, though.

Lars and I have been eating like a king and a queen lately. So, I’ve been trying to put us on detox mode. When I say detox, I mean smaller portions and more veggies. I’m not just eating bamboo shoots and smoothies.

For lunch yesterday, I made Broccoli-and-Cheese-Stuffed Baked Potatoes from My Recipes. We loved these, especially with the small addition of turkey bacon. These were easy to make, but took about 2 hours to prepare. I recommend the recipe, but I also recommend adding more garlic.

I was also excited about our snack last night. Lars and I love the flavored Triscuits. I recommend the Fire Roasted Tomato and Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil. They are good, I promise. These are woven blankets of whole grain goodness. They were woven by Penelope or Arachne, I think. If you eat cheese and crackers with wine, this is your cracker.

Yesterday evening, we watched Orson Welle’s The Stranger (watch it, now) and snacked on Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits, Rembrandt Gouda cheese, and Columbus’s Pinot Noir Wine Salame. All of this was fantastic. I could seriously live off this stuff for the rest of my life. Wait. Add wine. Done. Put me on a desert island. The salame was especially delicious. I don’t usually like salame, but the pinot noir and pink peppercorn really made it a treat.

Well, I’m going to bum around and randomly yell about school, student loans, and Carla getting kicked off Top Chef: All Stars. Also, I’m catching up on your blogs. It was nice to hear from you all again.

SNOW DAY!!!

So, I was told the Midwest is supposed to have the snow storm of the century. Last night (Monday) I was flipping out. Lars is stuck in Ohio. My mom called frantically asking if I had flashlights, because the power may go out. People were going crazy on Facebook. I thought: What should I have for my last meal?

When I was getting my Master’s at Miami University (of Ohio, not Florida…boo), I had few options for restaurants. I would say three places. During our last semester, my friend and I would enjoy some Wild Bistro after our evening seminar. Lately, I have been missing Wild Bistro’s Steamed Broccoli and Chicken. I thought I would recreate it for my last meal.

I used my wok to steam chicken and broccoli, but at the last minute I decided to throw in 3 mini vegetable potstickers.

For a dipping sauce, I mixed Hoisin and Low-Sodium Soy Sauce.

It was a filling, yet light, meal. The picture is not the most appetizing, but I am making this again tonight. The chicken was so juicy and the sauce was baller (Lars’s recipe).

I did not sleep well last night. I woke up at 2:23, 5:33, and finally at 6:30. I could hear the ice rain hitting my window all night. I thought, “OMG, I’m going to be blown away. I’m too cute for this shit.” At 6:30 I was awaken by a text message saying school was postponed…at Miami. Crap, I forget to stop my emergency text messages from my Master’s institution. But then…Hooray! I got a text message from my school saying all classes were cancelled. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to make the breakfast of snow day champions: pancakes! I’m not a Bisquick fan, but we had it and I wanted to save my flour for the scones I am making later. It was nothing dark chocolate chips cannot fix! I also poured a glass of V8 Fusion Light’s Pomegranate Blueberry juice. It was a quick breakfast for a day of relaxation. And by relaxation I mean reading school crap all day, but at my speed.

Stay safe!

Coming out of the haze…

This last week has been a hot mess. I have been drugged for most of it, so I cannot recount most of the details. I’m feeling much better and I am thrilled about the week ahead. School has been demanding. Along with taking a course about teaching composition, I have two graduate seminars: Environmental Rhetoric and Empirical Research. My classes are great, but my reading load is ridic. And my own students? Well, they are certainly the most sassy class I have ever taught. Being sick on top of all of that made life hard. I am ready to take on this week with full force. I need to get my shit together. For real.

In other news: I had success antique shopping this weekend. It was fun, since my apartment hunting is done. I do not know where I am living, because the landlord needs to work some things out. BUT, the two places the landlord said he is giving me and this other tenant are great. So, it is just a matter of which one out of the two. I am sure either place will be awesome with my antique finds! Holler. (Did any of that apartment stuff make since? Maybe I’m still drugged…)

I love robots. The one above is an antique toy that still walks. So, that is cool. And, I found this old Hollywood framed picture. I’m going to lie and tell guests she is my great grandmother.

Well, back to the point of the blog. For dinner, I kept it simple.

Yeah, I just boiled Buitoni’s Whole Wheat Three Cheese Tortellini, warmed up some pasta sauce, and shredded some cheese. Although, it was awesome and I am lazy. I also opened a bottle of wine. I’m like a serious chef today.

After all that work in the kitchen, I am going to drink my wine and watch The Bachelor. These girls are whack.

Look forward to catching up on y’all blogs. Sorry if you get drunk comments.

The Tale of 2 Shoes (well technically 4…)

It snowed today like a mother. I hate snow. I think it is stupid. Sorry. I wasn’t prepared for this. I almost missed my first class of the semester. I didn’t have the right boots. I pretty much wrecked my favorite boots. Wah, wah. It wasn’t a bad day, but a long, wet one. I got home at 5 PM ready to pass out. But, there was a shopping trip ahead. Lars and I had lean ground beef from last week, so we decided to make taco salad. I’m not much of a salad person, which I’ve mentioned before. I’m just picky. I have to make my own salads. Blah, blah…I’m so out of it. Too late for coffee, though. Salad…

Lars prepared onions and beef with low-sodium taco seasoning. I used to hate onions, unless they were fried. This is a huge step towards my future as a salad person. I chopped up some romaine lettuce. I also opened the salsa jar. Archer Farms’ salsa was on sale and I picked out Green Chile and Roasted Tomato; it was bold and rustic. We topped it with reduced-fat Mexican cheese (which is my favorite Mexican cheese blend thus far) and I crumbed up 3 Archer Farms’ multi-grain tortilla chips. I would walk miles in the snow for this. AND, I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Holler!

At Target, I decided to get snow boots. Their snow boot aisle disappeared, which freaked me out. I should have shopped sooner? NO! I found a pair of 35-dollar waterproof boots in the clearance section, but for only 17 dollars. Holler! I wore them out of the store.

I am hoping the snow will end soon, because I want to wear my new vintage loafers. Lars got them for me.

I only have to teach tomorrow, so I have the whole day to catch up on work and blog read. I look forward to seeing what is going on in your lives. Hopefully, your posts don’t sound as whacked as mine.

Post Insomnia

I got a total of 2 hours of sleep last night, but somewhat made up for the lost hours during several short naps today. When I did sleep, it was a tossing and turning type of sleep. Therefore, my day was in complete shambles. I was extremely unproductive. I laid like a zombie on my couch. Hopefully, tonight is full of sleep or at least 3 hours. Geez.

Today I continued my apartment hunt. Currently, Lars and I live in sin. The sin will end next school year, when he moves to a new institution to be a professor. Thus, I’m hunting for a one-bedroom apartment. This will be my first time living alone. I am excited to take this step, but afraid of how well it will go after my recent insomnia. Anyway, today I went to apartment #2. I am looking for a unique place in a multi-unit house. This is harder than I thought. Apartment #1 was in a basement. I guess that was fine, but the fact that it had wood paneling made me feel like I was living in a house boat. Although, the landlord did inform me that I could have a gun. Great.

The second apartment (which I visited today) seemed great. The pictures online seemed fantastic. I met the landlord at the apartment. We were greeted by a sick man, who informed us that his wife and him were sick. Awkward. He decided to let us in, but I wish he hadn’t. The apartment looked like one of those drug den’s on Law and Order: SVU. I felt like Ice-T trying to question a prostitute. Anyway, there were toys EVERYWHERE. They were smokers, so it smelled like shit. I hurried my butt out of there. The pictures weren’t even from that apartment. I see apartment #3 tomorrow. WISH ME LUCK.

So, today has been a weird daze and I feel so….weird. Dinner helped soothe any oddness.

I made a pita pizza. I’ve never been a fan of these, but I think it is because I take them out of the oven too soon. I am very impatient when I want pizza. This pita pizza turned out great. I topped my wheat pita with Muir Glen Organic pizza sauce (canned and used at Whole Foods when Lars worked in the deli), part-skim mozzarella cheese, sweet Italian turkey sausage, and crushed red pepper. I would have loved veggie toppings, but I only had carrots in the house. I ate those on the side. This was so good. Go me! Something went well today. About F’IN time.

Well two things went well: I had wine! I had the official wine of graduate students: 3-Buck Chuck (or if you must: Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw). I tried the Nouveau. Good, for being three bucks. I was excited to drink out of the wine glass my mother got me for Christmas.

I’m going to keep drinking until I pass out.