SNOW!!!!!
Carpe diem,
J
Friday, March 8, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Thursday, March 7th, 2013
Good morning! I know. This photo is nothing to write home about. but the meal I made last night was GREAT! I tried something new - the Kasmati rice + the stewed lentil & tomato curry was not new - just as delicious but not new. The topping, on the other hand, was new.
I won't count it as one of my "15 new recipes" because it's not quite a "recipe." I topped my stewed lentil, tomato, and carrot curry with oven-toasted chickpeas.
I went on to eat the entire can of oven-toasted chickpeas.
They make a great topping for a whole range of things and I think they'd even be good as a little appetizer for a party. They have a pleasant salty crunchiness to the shell and starchy on the inside - which is potato like and delicious. Here's how you do it.
Oven-Toasted Chickpeas:
Rinse canned chickpeas in a strainer
Place 2 paper towels down on an oven tray
Spread chickpeas on top of the oven tray and shake them around until they're mostly dry
Press down lightly on top of them with more paper towels to dry further
Top with olive oil or coconut oil and shake them around so they're all evenly coated
Top them with herbs & spices of your choice (this is where you can get a little creative - summer? fresh thyme, rosemary, sage; in the mood for middle eastern? curry, turmeric; potato? salt and pepper)
I used a bit of salt + smoked paprika because i love both the color & taste & smell of smoked paprika
Roast at 400 for 15 minutes, shaking frequently until they're a bit browned and crispy on the outside.
Enjoy!
Carpe diem,
J
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Why Sofie & Bear are good for your soul:
They're never in a bad mood
They're always in a good mood...in fact a fantastic mood!!!
They don't complain
The weather is never too bad for an adventure (but rain might take a block or two to get used to)
They !enthusiastically! and genuinely appreciate the little things like,
Snow
Scratches
A warm, cozy couch
Leftovers
New friends
Delivery guys
Chasing things
Ripping the squeaker out of toys
[[They're always better friends than we humans will ever figure out how to be]]
It's cool to just do nothing all day except hang out and scratch each other.
They've never held a grudge in their lives
They aren't afraid to tell us they love us. They're super good at it, in fact.
They don't beat around the bush - they always tell me what it is they want.
Their wants and needs are the same...and they are simple:
Food
Love
Exercise
Comfort
Safety
Believe it or not, they're a source of inspiration
Believe it or not, they make me a better person - a more patient, loving person.
They do stupid things and it makes me laugh
They don't ask questions...and they don't talk too much ;)
What are your favorite three things about dogs?
Have you ever had a favorite dog(s)?
Good morning! First, just in case I get in trouble, I will wish HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little sister, Sarah who is now 25! I feel like I should still be 25. I keep forgetting I'm 26 now.
These are pics of my 2 guys - all Birthday-ed out last night around 10pm. Bear had spent the previous 2 hours humping his bed so he was pretty worn out. He ushered in year 1 fittingly - as a hormone-laden teenage boy.
I got it DONE this morning. I have to get to work soon - so I'll keep this post short. I have to bleed 60 mice that I've been breeding to see what genotypes I've gotten in the litters. 60 mice bleeds means that I'll be bleeding them from 9am until noon (probably). To get in everything I wanted to this morning I awoke at 5:30am - and I just popped out of bed, which kind of weirds me out that has been happening lately - I won't complain. I walked the Rups and then ran 5 miles in CP before coming home to eat oatmeal + coffee.
I have yoga tonight so it will be a double good workout day! I haven't done yoga in 2 weeks so I'm dying to get back to class - I <3 yoga :) Especially with my instructor, Stacey - she's the best! I keep hoping nobody else realizes how awesome of a teacher she is so she doesn't get stolen away from our little Cornell gig to go teach at some fancy studio :(
Anyway, have a great day!!!!!
What's your favorite thing about the start of Spring?
Carpe diem,
J
Monday, March 4, 2013
Good morning! Do these photos seem familiar? Well it's because you've already seen them all before. They are all from when we first brought Bear home. I will now do something that will catch me much flack with my Dad. I will wish my sweet little Bear a happy first birthday. Back then he was only about 7 pounds, but yesterday at the vet he was 18.8 lbs! :) :) :)
In other news, this weekend was a good one. Saturday I worked a lot - but it was ok because I had pretty nice/exciting results from my most recent experiment. It's always good when things work. On Sunday we got up really early (for a Sunday) and walked the pups before heading across Central Park to the West Side and taking the train up to 175th street to Washington Heights. We met up with our friend Brendan and his girlfriend to run Coogan's Salsa, Shamrocks, and Blue's 5k.
Coogan's is a tribute run for an NYPD police officer that died during 9-11. There is a 5k for the general public and then a whole collection of highschool & middleschool track events that happen at the Armory - the USTA track and field hall of fame is also up there, too. This year nearly 6000 runners ran the 5k! Apparently there has been so much popularity associated with the run that the Washington Heights neighborhood could no longer afford to put it on by themselves so NYRR took it over and hosts it now. During the run, there are several different live bands set up - probably about 4 or so. They all play different styles of music including Salsa, Irish Folk music, Blues, etc... There was also a group playing Van Morrison.
It was a super hilly route - but very spirited so it wasn't too bad. It was also really nice to get OUT of Central Park for a change and go somewhere new! I know...you're all wondering....who won?
Welll.....I did! Not to be a sore winner or anything, but I never beat Brian at these short distances so I really have to enjoy it while it lasts. I ended up beating him by 18 seconds :) It was the perfect convergence of a semi-bad day for him and a really good one for me. I really badly wanted to break a 7min/mile pace, but it was not to be. I finished in 21:49 for an average pace of 7:02 minute miles. So close!!! Maybe next time :) I was also the 138th woman to finish and 50th for women in my age group. Ok, I'll stop being obnoxious now ;) It was also 2 races down for my 9+1 requirement to run the 2014 NYC marathon. It was Brian's first. 7 to go for me, and 8 to go for him. He has 2 races during the month of April to make up for it - including a 15k, whereas I'm only running one in April.
After the race we headed home where we ate some breakfast & had coffee then trekked the whole way down to Brooklyn to take the dogs to the vet - they needed more heartworm pills (you have to get them tested for heartworm before they'll refill your prescription). Sofie also needed a vaccine. They're good and healthy aside from that. News update: Bear still doesn't like to have his teeth examined. Not ONE BIT.
Anyway, have a great one.
Carpe diem,
J
Friday, March 1, 2013
Good morning! I made a new friend in the Park today. Her name is Jan and she walks 2 dogs. One is a German Shepherd named Lena and the other is Nell, and she's a Gordon Setter. I see Jan almost every day and we usually say hello but have never chatted. She was very pleasant to talk to and we even got into such a good conversation about healthcare, horses, and NYC that I ended up doing two big laps of the great lawn. Extra long walk for me & for the ruppies. Bear loves Nell. At first it was a little embarrassing to be chatting away at Jan while Bear awkwardly tailed Nell - Nell, by the way, Is about 4x the size of Bear. Not a chance. Nell did what most female dogs do - she completely ignored Bear and he eventually tired of his efforts and left her alone.
It was cold this morning, but very nice out. I saw a few Blue Jays today - which are my favorite birds besides Robins and Cardinals. Robins are my second favorite bird and Cardinals are third. I think there's almost nothing more picturesque than a Cardinal in the snow. I haven't seen any Robins lately. Too early I guess. Robin's remind me of thaw, Easter eggs, baby bunnies, and the promise that school will be out soon (even though it won't anymore). Someone once told me that Seagulls were their favorite bird. Are you kidding me? Those are the most annoying birds on the planet and they're not nice looking really. I think they only like Seagulls because it means they're at the Shore. Every time I try to get close to a Blue Jay and check it out, Sofie and Bear notice that I'm interested in something and run over to see what is so fascinating and scare it away. I have to be very stealthy.
Anyway, happy Friday. I've been told I'm getting some kind of breakfast treat with Sarah this weekend in early celebration of her birthday. I asked her what she wanted to do and she said "Go out, party, and have you give me presents." Well, good luck with that. That presents thing. I have to take Sofie and Bear to the vet this weekend for their heartworm pill refill and to get 2 vaccine boosters - aka my bank account will be sad. On Sunday Brian and I also have race #2 in our trek towards the 9+1 requirement for the NYC marathon in 2014.
What's your favorite bird?
Do you think we like things because they're beautiful or are they beautiful because they remind us of happy things/times?
Carpe diem,
J
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