Poor sleepy Drew

Last week was pretty grueling for Drew.

He would ask me to check his alarm before we went to bed every night, to make sure it was set correctly...

Yes, thats right, 3:30am!!! Every morning last week.

This week is a little better, he gets to "sleep in" till 4:15am. However he is on call tonight which means he is working all night at the hospital and will not be home until 5pm tomorrow.

Please pray for him to have sustained energy. He is in really great spirits for as little sleep and downtime as he has. He is enjoying this week getting to work in the Orthopedic Surgery department.

He has a big exam coming up next week (just before Thanksgiving) and will be studying for that this weekend. Meanwhile, I will be working on fund raising...and possibly seeing Harry Potter?

Halloween - Roman Style

We decided to dress up for Halloween this year. We dont usually, but thought it would be fun this year. We also thought we were going to a costume party, but turned out we got a trick rather than a treat...no one else dressed up. :(

Can you say awkward?

Here's a shot of us all dressed up:

We are the worlds worst picture takers. We had to take at least 6 shots because one or both of us was not looking at the camera or it was out of focus or our faces were cut off. But I think we did a pretty good job taking it ourselves with my phone camera. :)

Fall is (Almost) Here!

We dont really get much of a fall in Texas. It kind of goes from summer to winter. But in honor of the season and the fact that we have had milder (70s) weather this week I am choosing to claim that its now fall. 

 To celebrate I got these cool decorative squash at HEB

House Plant update

I tend to kill plants pretty easily, but I really wanted to try again. I mentioned a few posts ago that I found $1 house plants at HEB and felt safe buying them. If they die, at least they were only a $1.

I thought I would give you an update:

2 out of the 3 are doing pretty well.

The third one, as you can see is sad, wilted, and appears to be dying.

Those of you with green thumbs out there...any thoughts?
Its pretty demoralizing because it started to look like this literally the day after it came home with me.

I have been watering each of them once a week, although the sickly one seems to dry out more quickly so I have watered it twice this past week.

My mom also passed on one of her basil plants to me. I baby it, because we love basil around here and it is way to expensive to buy fresh herbs. She told me it needs full sun, and our apartment doesn't really have a spot that gets full sun (most of the time this is great because it decreases our electric bill). So to keep my basil happy and alive I move it around throughout the day (on the days I am home) to catch full sun - by our front door in the mornings, on the patio table in the afternoons. It seems to be doing very well too. :)

Happy Basil in the Afternoon:

It is sitting on our porch table. When we first got the table and chairs (for free from my parents' neighbors!Thanks!) I had grand hopes of having dinners out there often...it has only happened once so far. But the weather has been nice lately so maybe we will get in one more patio dinner before the winter sets in - it literally moves from summer to winter here. 

Drew's 25th Birthday

We had a great weekend for Drew's 25th birthday (October 24th). Thankfully, he had the weekend completely off and did not have to go up to the hospital!

We kicked it off on Friday by going shopping and then had dinner at BJ's with some other med school buddies. And as we all know now, the Rangers brought down "the Evil Empire" (as Drew likes to call the Yankees) just for his birthday. :) It was alot of fun, especially since everyone in the restaurant was watching the game.

I was a really bad wife and neglected to bring the camera and then forgot to even snap a shot with my phone. I apologize.

Saturday we totally lounged around all day. Slept in, at least, as much as Drew's body would let him...when you only get 5-6 hours of sleep a night 8-9 seems truly indulgent. We watched the 3rd season of the Tudors, which we got as part of Drew's present.

That night I made one of his favorite meals: Fried Ravioli with Chicken in Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Marinara. It was tasty :) Drew didn't want any kind of dessert, even for his birthday. He really doesn't crave sweets like he used to - this is a terrible development for me because if I make something sweet I can no longer count on him to eat most of it so I dont have to.

Sunday was pretty routine - church, laundry, clean-up the apartment, studying, emails, work-out, and relax.

Hope your weekends were great too!

Chicken Taco Soup

This is one of my favorites, its easy, quick, cheap, and tasty. Plus you only have to dirty one pot and you can dress the meal up with other items (tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, cilantro, etc)

It is a great way to get a couple veggie servings in one meal and better for you than drinking a V8. :)

Here is my recipe (there are lots of versions of this soup, make it how you like it, I change it all the time):
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2-4 cups chicken broth (depends how much liquid to solid ratio you like)
1-2 bell peppers (one green, one red), chopped
1-2 poblano peppers, chopped
1-2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup corn (frozen, fresh, or canned)
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
If I use both cans of beans I only use one chicken breast, believe me this makes plenty, save your meat for another meal. :)

Cook chicken breast in skillet or large pot with EVOO and garlic. Cook on medium high for 5min. Add onion celery, and peppers. Saute, stirring, for about 5-10min. It might look something like this:

Add seasonings: black pepper, cumin, thyme, red pepper/cayenne, smoked paprika, 2-3Tbs your favorite BBQ sauce (trust me its good!)

Add corn, tomatoes with juice, beans, and chicken stock. Cover with lid. Turn heat down to low and let simmer this lets all the lovely flavors meld. And it just keeps getting better, we usually enjoy it the next day for lunch or dinner too. Like I said above, you can dress it up too. I just made this for Drew last week because I was out of town.

Its straight forward and low-maintenance enough that I made it as I was making dinner for us that night. Drew then had a few meals already prepared. He likes to eat it with some awesome HEB fresh tortillas.

If you have people over you can make this and dress it up with all those extras I mentioned above. ;)

Pocket Pies

The long and short of this post is that these were not worth the effort. I like alot of stuff from William Sonoma, and this was a cute idea. I had grand aspirations to make pocket pies in some form every week throughout the fall and winter. They would be great lunch and snack options for Drew. I thought I could make both sweet and savory versions.

They did come out looking nice...but they take forever to make!

I think the next time I want a pie I will just make a regular pie. I feel like, in this day and age, I am doing really well to make my own crust and my own pie from scratch. I guess I will just use the pocket pie tool I got as a cookie cutter from now on. Or I could use it to cut out stars to place on top of a regular pie. At least the tool was not too expesive...I got it on sale this summer. :)

I am proud of myself for at least attempting to make them. I also made my own filling - peach and apple. It would have been great except I used way too much lemon zest, so the sweetness of the peaches and apples was cancelled out by the zing of the lemon. Oh well, I consider myself a baker in training.

I also find taking risks in the kitchen to be helpful to me learning to try new things and responding in a more mature, healthy way to failure.

Developing Community in Temple

Drew and I seem to be settling into Temple life well. It has been 4 months since we moved. I have pictures of our move and our new apartment btw. So stay tuned. I would like to post a video tour of our new apartment again, but I am waiting until we have cleaned our bedroom. :) We seem to do really well at keeping the living, dining, and kitchen areas clean, but our bedroom is a bit of a disaster area. We spend so little time in there - we are either changing, folding laundry, sleeping, or well, you know, not sleeping...

Anyway, pictures and video tour to come soon.

Drew has been meeting up with a group of guys from his med school class on Sunday nights. They gather together to talk, eat dinner, laugh, share life, and pray for each other. I only say this is what they do because that is what Drew tells me they do. I dont really know.

Anyway, I have been looking for a group of women to hang out with here in town too. I told you about my friend Ashley who lives in Temple too, but apart from her I had not really connected with anyone. Thankfully, two of the guys in Drew's group are married and have lovely wives. We thought we would like to start getting together on Sundays too - its convenient because the guys are already meeting, so we are not spending more time away from our spouses. :) We just started meeting and I really enjoyed it. I had started praying regularly with the two women on my staff team in College Station, and I was so blessed by it. I felt like I really grew in my prayer life and I always walked away so rejuvenated. I am so happy to have another couple of women to pray with together.

I also love our apartment now - it finally feels like home. We both really enjoy having people over and it feels spacious enough that we can have more than 2 people visit. Unfortunately, we do still have second-hand smoke leaking through at various times, but the air purifier seems to take care of most of it. I also just bought some indoor plants ($1 each at HEB!) to hopefully help purify.

Thats the short update on us. I have loads more to share with you about what is going on in our lives, so keep coming back.

Ina Garten Parmesan Chicken

I keep forgetting to take pictures of things...

But, believe you me, this is a great and simple recipe. I had it last night with a friend (another med school wife) while Drew was on call and again tonight with Drew.

Last night's menu:
Caprese Salad
Parmesan Chicken
Field Green salad
Garlic & Cheddar Cheesy bread

Tonight's Menu:
Caprese Salad
Parmesan Chicken
Roasted Asparagus

So besides the Parmesan chicken I have had Caprese Salad alot the last few days. Mostly, this is because my mom gave me one of her basil plants. I LOVE basil, but buying it fresh at the grocery store is really expensive. But there are a whole host of things you really can only make with fresh basil (there are plenty of herbs that I dont mind substituting dried for fresh, but basil is NOT one of them). So I am often caught in a catch-22 which means that I end up not making the things I need fresh basil for...so now that I have my own abundant and fresh supply I am going a little overboard. I need to slow down; I dont want to be left with a completely bare basil plant. That would be sad. :(

But, back to the Parmesan Chicken...like I said, tasty and simple. As you can see Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) serves her chicken with a field green salad in a lemon vinaigrette, but you dont have to. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
• Unsalted butter
• Good olive oil

Directions

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Lemon Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Yield: 6 servings

Penne con Pico de Gallo

If you are not fortunate to live within range of an HEB, I pity you. I can say that because I have lived that sad existence without even knowing it for many, many years. Until one day, I moved south of Waco with my husband, and we discovered it...HEB - cheaper than Kroger (even with discounts and coupons), with a myriad of selections that you can often only find at specialty or ethnic grocery stores. Its truly wonderful.

One of those many wonderful things about HEB is that they have a monthly magazine, completely free, chalk full of recipes and coupons! The recipes are usually really great, and if I dont like them they at least inspire me to make something similar that I do like.

One of the recipes from this summer was, you guessed it, Penne con Pico de Gallo. Its fabulous and you can have an inexpensive vegetarian meal that will satisfy even men like Drew (read "ravenous carnivores"). I try to have at least one vegetarian meal each week - its way cheaper. This is one we have had all summer. I would make up extra pico de gallo and have it later in the week with a grilled chicken breast and tortilla chips.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

14 oz. whole wheat penne pasta

1 cup pico de gallo (I make my own and use 1 green bell pepper, 3 roma tomatoes, garlic, 1/2 yellow onion, 1-2 jalapenos)

15 oz. black beans, rinsed and drained

15 oz. whole kernel corn, drained

Juice of two limes

1 cup shredded parmesan or asiago cheese

1/2 cup HEB Texas Twists Creamy Cilantro Cotija Dressing (or something similiar, I ran out one week and used Ranch instead with some cayenne pepper and it was still great)

Salt and pepper (I hardly ever use salt anymore after learning how much extra I probably already get in my diet)

Optional - grilled chicken or beef

Directions:

Prepare pasta according to packaging. Drain, rinse, and set aside.

Combine pico de gallo, rinsed and drained black beans, corn, lime juice, shredded cheese, and creamy cilantro dressing in large pasta bowl.

Add pasta to pico de gallo mix and toss to combine. Season to taste with pepper and salt. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 15 minutes.

Nicole's 25th Birthday!!

Yep, July 8th 2010 I turned twenty-five! Its pretty hard to believe. Twenty-five sounds like an adult, I am not sure if I feel like an adult, or if I am ready to be an adult. Maybe I can just be a kid in my heart, forever. :)

I told you about celebrating at the Cheesecake Factory in Dallas already. Have I mentioned how much I like that place?
My mom also got a german chocolate cake and decorated it herself! We lit the candles and celebrated before heading back home on Monday.

Thats a real action shot! 

My parents and my brother also got me some lovely cards:

Can you tell which one is from my brother? The inside of the booger one says: "the more you have the harder it is to breathe." Thanks for that wisdom Bubba! It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

On my actual birthday, Thursday I woke up and baked the Cinnamon Baked French Toast I made the night before. (I got the recipe here from The Pioneer Woman; it is truly awesome! She has some devilishly good recipes. Next time I will put fresh peaches in it too and then serve with blueberry syrup). It is really good on its own, but eating it with some texas pecan coffee was scrumdiddlyumptious! (and yes, that is the correct spelling, i looked it up).

After that I half heartedly worked on a few things until my friend Ashley, who is an Austin College grad, former InterVarsity member, lives in Temple, is an opthamologist, is married to a Psychiatry resident, and is super smart, beautiful, and kind (can you tell I am so happy she is friends with me and living in the same town?) picked me up for lunch. We drove to Georgetown, a quaint little town just north of Austin, to have lunch with another friend from Austin College, and a former roomate of mine, Samantha (she is also beautiful and smart,  and very creative, she lives in Austin and is a teacher). We ate at The Monument Cafe. They use local and organic growers and have daily specials that make use of the seasonal selections. It was very tasty. Mostly I enjoyed some girl time with two lovely women. Sam made me a homemade birthday card, her specialty:

Isn't she sweet and thoughtful? 

We all drove back to Temple to watch a Bollywood movie using my birthday present from Drew and my parents. Its pretty awesome, and can I just say, I am a little embarrassed by it? please dont judge me...

Its so big! I never thought of myself as a big TV person. 

We had just been using our 12 inch laptop to watch internet TV or movies on, but now we can actually relax, kick back, and watch them on our TV that is now hooked up to its own computer tower! With Drew busy with school I end up reading alot of books and watch alot of TV to keep myself entertained and decompress after busy days. But we also love having people over and when you have a nice entertainment system, somehow, it is easier to get people to come over and chill at your place - so I am looking forward to hosting people in our home more this year.

Which is why it was so awesome that Sam and Ashley came over to our place and watched the movie there. I loved it! Thanks ladies!

Later that night Drew and I also kicked back and watched Valentine's Day over Greek food (both of which were definitely my choice). Drew grilled the chicken; I made the tzatziki (cucumber garlic yogurt sauce, so good!), fried the pita bread, and put together a greek/country salad. Definitely an awesome birthday! I finished it off with a root bear I bought myself (I am trying to steer clear of alcoholic beverages, they give me migraines) and Ben&Jerry's mint oreo ice cream. I have definitely put on a few pounds from celebrating this week, but I am happy. :)

Grilled chicken pita with tzatziki, tomato, red onion, and green bell pepper.

Tzatziki - the pic isn't much to look at but, OMG this stuff is good!

Greek country (horiatiki) salad - there is no lettuce because it doesn't grow very well in the dry, rocky mountains of Hellas (Greece). Instead there is plenty of seedless cucumber, tomato, green bell pepper, red onion, and feta, lots of feta!

Yeah, our breathe smelled real good after this meal. :) 

Speaking of food, I am also planning on making myself a birthday cake of sorts, or at least, I am saying its for my birthday. The reality is that this cake looks so dang good, and I love cooking so I just decided my birthday was as good a reason as any to make this cake. I will post pics and tell you how it turns out. Its called Strawberry Shortcake Cake (I didn't come up with the name) and its another recipe from the Pioneer Woman. Check out the recipe - I dont think mine will turn out as pretty as hers, but as long as it tastes good I dont care. ;)

Fourth of July

I was just looking at my post on Fourth of July last year. I cannot believe its already been a year! We are living in Temple again this Independence Day, just like last year, but we are not just here for the summer, we are staying for the next 2 years. I have declared us officially moved in - all the boxes have either been recycled or stored in our awesome (and surprisingly large) outdoor patio closet. We have not hung pictures yet, but things are cleaned up and organized enough that I am willing to let people into our home without embarrassment. :)

Last year we needed to stay in Temple as Drew was working on research at Scott and White. This year, we had a weekend over which to go to Dallas. I thought it would be fun to go to a Rough Riders game (local minor league baseball team) - its very quaint (which is hard to find in Dallas), feels like a small town get together, and it seems very American to me (they have the standard baseball fare, plus they launch fireworks at the end of weekend games). This was a great idea - my parents, Drew's mom, brother and his girlfriend were all going to come along...it was perfect. I was so excited.

Okay, mostly I was excited for the snacks and fireworks (I never claimed to be a big sports fan of any kind)

And then this happend...

Downpour of rain!

So we walked around the Stonebriar Mall instead, but I still enjoyed that. Drew is particularly fun to shop with because he invariably finds something unusual and has to pick it up. Case in point: this is how I found him in Harry and David

We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert and to celebrate my birthday - I love that place. I had a new addition, Red Velvet cake cheesecake and Drew got the Snickers. Drew is always really sweet in asking for my input on what he should get, so that when we share we both get to try two things we want. I love sharing and when the portion sizes are as large as the Cheesecake Factory's there is no harm in giving some of your dessert up. :)

We managed to drive home just in time that night to catch the fireworks from Kaboomtown - its the fireworks show in Addison, TX. Its really large and well done, and you can see it from my parents' house. I love fireworks. Not setting them off, mind you, that is just crazy and I don't understand why boys like it. And I mean boys, because if you have ever watched a male of any age (even grown men like my dad and my husband) buying fireworks or shooting them off you know, boys are what they become in those moments. Watching them giddy and excited by this is fun though. As is watching the light show they set off, but I have no desire ever, ever to light any of them off myself. My mom and I end up looking more like police cautioning them in this picture, make that the one behind the car door (he's clearly the smart one):

On the actual 4th of July, Sunday we went to church with my mom and then celebrated the nice weather (thankfully the rain cleared up) by hanging out in the backyard, grilling, eating, and swimming. Here are a few pictures.

Later that afternoon Drew and I went to see his dad in Dallas to have dinner. Unfortunately, I got a migraine (probably was not a good idea to have a magarita and then sit out in the sun when I already have a predisposition for migraines...yea, I'm smart like that). So I had to go back to my parents house to get my medicine and lay down for a bit. Drew got to hang out with his dad and later that night I watched Life is Beautiful with my mom and little bro (who is not little anymore, now he is a smart, hunky film student at Carnegie Mellon). Have you seen Life is Beautiful? It is one of my favorite movies of all time - it makes you laugh and cry, the characters are wonderful, and its just good story telling. Its definitely not the most patriotic movie to watch for Independence Day, but I enjoyed it none the less.

I hope you all had a restful and celebratory Independence Day too!

Cheaper than Orzo

I seem to be drawn to orzo recipes lately. Do you know what orzo is? Drew didnt know. :) It is pasta that is about the size of rice in an elipse shape. Here is a picture:

I know it might seem redundant to have pasta that is rice shaped when you could just use rice, but it has that wonderful pasta taste and texture that I just cant get with rice.

The problem with orzo though is that it is not a high demand food like rice or spaghetti, so its expensive as far as pasta goes and I feel ridiculously indulgent buying it. So I was thrilled when I found a past that is similar to orzo in size and shape, it was less than a dollar for the whole package. Its called La Moderna.

You cant really make it out in this picture, but I found "melon seed" shaped pastas and they worked great for this Mediterranean orzo recipe I had been wanting to make. It was really easy because I basically just cooked the pasta and then dumped all these other ingredients in, gave it a stir and then served it room temperature or cold. We had leftovers for lunch the next few days too.

Here is what I put in:

Sundried tomatoes, chopped
2-4Tbs. milled flax seed - for protein and omega-3s
2 grilled chicken breasts, cubed
2 Tbs. roasted red bell peppers, chopped
2-3 generous handfuls baby spinach
3-4 Tbs feta, I love feta!
1/2 jar HEB artichoke antipasto tapenade
2 Tbs. pecans, roughly chopped
salt, pepper, greek seasoning

I think it turned out pretty well

Like I said, it was really easy to put together. I am all about easy and keeping the kitchen cool in the summer. I put it in this fun star bowl I have from Pottery Barn, I am sure pretty dinnerware makes things taste better. :) But seriously, look at all the yummy deliciousness in there...

I dont know if you can get this cheaper "melon seed" pasta everywhere, but if you can, I highly suggest using it instead of orzo. It worked great for me.

Easter Season and what I am pondering...

Some of this is directly related to where I am personally and may not make sense out of context. Our local church body has been talking about some pretty serious stuff (all good) lately and considering what following Jesus really looks like, the cost of following, and the life that brings. If you would like to listen to the latest sermon from our Easter service you can listen to it here: Community Church Teachings (I am reflecting on 4.5.10 specifically, but all of them under spiritual disciplines contribute to the conversation)

The following are my attempt to put into some coherent words some of what I am cognizant of the Lord doing in me lately (I know he is doing more that I am not aware of at all)...

I have been trying to live into the reality of the Resurrection this week. This past Sunday's sermon definitely spoke to me. 

I have been considering areas of death/sin in my life throughout Lent, but didn't really rest on any one thing (not because there are so few places of death in my life, but because there are so many). I felt the Lord just asking me to rest in him, spending time reading scripture, trying to listen to his voice, and taking time to pause in my day. 

I dont have any great revelations, summations, or answers from this week, but the Incarnation/Indwelling and Resurrection are themes that keep coming up for me in prayer, reading, and thoughts. I think part of it is that these are real events are substantial in the way we view and interact with the life of Christ and ultimately, like Thad (one of our church pastors) expressed they point to God's character as a Life Giver and Death Conquerer. I think I am stuck by how different this makes him from us, and yet (I dont even know how to express this) how if we want life it comes only from him, we have to be connected to the True Vine; wound inextricably into him, and how our life is really about or created from becoming more and more entwined into him. 

I am also just meditating more on the Incarnation and the Resurrection and struck by the mystery and power of these two things that really illuminate each other. I am including two items from other people that have been part of my journey this week...

1. I have been using a devotional guide lately called Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross. I am happy to tell more about it, but for now I am just including a quote from the author's introduction to the season of Easter:

"The followers of Jesus watched their leader die. They were disheartened - confused, afraid, grief-stricken, and drained of hope. Despite Jesus' enigmatic statements about rising after three days, they had no expectation of his immediate resurrection. So when the women reported the tomb empty and word of his appearances reached them, joy eclipsed disbelief. They experienced what Tolkien calls eucatastrophe, the sudden turn of events that brings a disastrous story to an unexpectedly good conclusion, which 'pierces you with a joy that brings tears.'"

"'The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of [human] history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation,' asserts Tolkien, adding that 'this story begins and ends in joy.'"

2. InterVarsity has a big missions conference every 3 years called Urbana; our last one was this past December and our theme was The Word Became Flesh (so basically Incarnation). Anyway, I have been thinking back often to one speaker in particular who pointed out some really great things about God's character and his sending out his Son and the ways he is calling us to go out to pour out life also. If you would like to listen to it, the video is 30 minutes long and can be found at Urbana09 Vidoes under Day 3, go to Money and Power: Oscar Muriu (he is pastor of Nairobi Chapel in Kenya and one of the most Spirit-led and powerfully prophetic speakers I have ever heard).

Homemade Pizza

I have been wanting to make my own pizza for a while, but I was too intimidated to make my own dough and couldn't find any at the grocery store. We get take-out every so often, but what I really like is a blend of unusual flavors and lots of toppings, which is expensive in takeout. Drew and I are fans of California Pizza Kitchen, but there is not one anywhere near where we live.

So, I finally found frozen pizza dough at the grocery store. Its not very expensive and I was able to use a few ingredients I already had in the pantry as toppings. We had one BBQ Chicken (yes, I totally stole this idea from CPK) - it had BBQ sauce, cooked chicken breast cubes, mozzarella cheese, fresh cilantro, corn, Carribean spices, and red pepper powder on it. I wanted to add some black beans, but didn't have any on hand. it was plenty filling with out it. The other pizza was a mix of Mediterannean flavors - it had pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, and greek spices on top.

I forgot to take a picture, but apart from burning the sundried tomatoes on the Mediterannean pizza they turned out really well. I know we will be making these more often in the future.

Cornish Hens

Drew has mentioned to me a few times that he always wanted to try Cornish game hens. They always look so festive and delicious when they are in pictures.

They also look ridiculously hard to make and like they will take forever! But I love my husband and I want to make him happy. Plus, I inherited a few William-Sonoma holiday cookbooks at our church group White Elephant gift exchange and it included a cornish hen recipe. I was also feeling adventurous and cooking is a good way to satisfy this urge (most of the time).

Here is how they turned out:

So before you comment, yes I am aware that this dish is very orange. I didnt realized everything I made had an orange hue until I took this picture. I was craving sweet potatoes and I like having them more often than regular potatoes because they have more vitamins, and carrots, well because they were easy and what I had on hand. Maybe my body was craving whatever assortment of vitamins and minerals come in orange foods (I am sure Drew could tell us, plus why it is good for you and the pathways it takes to be deconstruction and turned into energy in your body, I dont know how he memorizes all of this stuff!)

Anyway, the birds turned out pretty good. They were a good deal of work, mostly butterflying them - after that you just put the seasonings on and stick them in the oven. Its almost a shame they came out so good because after I slaved away making them Drew took a bite and said, "you have to make these again!" Well, I probably will, I am a sucker for that guy. :) But I will probably wait until next winter.

Snow Day!

Today was a snow day! It has been snowing since around 11 this morning! Here is what it looked like this afternoon from our apartment, and it kept coming down.

Of course, being the Texans that we are we all go a little crazy in the snow. Most of our neighbors have already been out throwing snow balls at each other and I have seen several snow men of varying shapes and sizes. We are trying to keep off the roads to stay safe. I cancelled all the student meetings I had planned for today and tonight. I do not want a meeting to be the cause of an accident that someone could have avoided.

So Drew and I are tucked safely and warmly away in our apartment for now. I was planning on making pasta for dinner tonight, but because of the weather I think I will make chili instead. I found this great recipe for black bean corn pancakes that go great with warm and spicy chili. I will have to post that later.

Sorry for the complete negligence of our blog lately, life has been pretty busy. I do have a few entries started from the last month which I will try to post soon (over the next few days).

Hope you are staying cozy and warm wherever you are...

Christmas

Christmas this year was alot of fun and very busy for us. Drew and I only had a week in which he was off from school and I was not gone to Urbana, so we packed alot into that week. :)

We hung out with my family for a few days which was very fun. Ate lots of good food, opened presents, watched movies, laughed, ate more food. We have taken to sleeping out in the garage because it is actually very comfortable on our air mattress and best of all there is no animal hair or dander out there to both Drew's allergies. He said it was the best visit yet for him. I think he was able to breath through both nostrils the whole time (BIG victory, who wants to feel miserable when they are on vacation with family?)

Then we went and hung out with Drew's family. I have lots of good pics of our cute niece and nephews. We also ate lots of good food, opened presents, and laughed with them. There was also a good deal of snow, ice, and a slow driving trip in that snow, ice, and blustery wind from Christmas Eve service in Sherman back to Jameson. But all turned out alright; Drew did a great job driving and keeping us safe. :) Here are some pictures...

After all of the excitement Drew and I headed back to Dallas to spend the night in the garage again before I headed out to St.Louis for URBANA and Drew headed back home...to study, play video games, and (in true best husband ever fashion) clean and organize the apartment 'til it glowed. I was so relaxed when I got home because there was nothing left for me to do! I really love my husband and the ways he cares for me.

Back at Home

I have a few posts and pics from Christmas with our family. It was alot of fun! I also have a few posts from Urbana09 - InterVarsity's Missions Conference, held every 3 years. There were 16,000 university students in attendance! It was held in St.Louis Missouri and I was working there most of last week.

For now, I am taking this week off...as Drew goes back to regular (grueling) class schedule. We had a fantastic and relaxing weekend together though. We bought ourselves the Platinum Extended Edition of Lord of the Rings (used & cheaper on Amazon) and had a marathon watching them over the course of a day and half. We pretty much just took breaks to eat and sleep. For us, there are few opportunities to indulge in such complete relaxation and little responsibility. We enjoyed every minute. Drew definitely made it a great weekend for me because he cleaned the whole house, top to bottom (even inside the fridge), so I had nothing to worry about and could just focus on spending time with him.

So the rest of this week, I will be getting back into the swing of regular life, without adding work on top just yet. I went grocery shopping yesterday and have all our meals for the week planned out. I have a stack of library books sitting on my desk, waiting to be read. I am so excited to have time to get lost in several good books. And since the apartment is so clean I can get to some reorganization projects I have been putting off (closet, desk, and that pesky corner in the living room). We like to keep clutter to a minimum, and especially since we move so often purging unnecessary items is vital. I also plan to bake a few things, I enjoy doing this when I feel I have the time to both create something tasty and then clean the kitchen. :) I am also planning a short trip up to Dallas later in the week to spend some time with my brother before he returns to the frozen north at Carnegie Mellon. He has been telling me all about Avatar and how awesome it is, so I think we might go see that together. Feel free to give me a call if you would like to catch up this week, its definitely a good time.

Do please pray for Drew, it is hard for him to return back to school, knowing that he has NO BREAKS until this summer. He has a spring break, but he needs to use that time to study for his licensing exam (part 1), called the Step 1 that is in May or June. The next 6 months for him will be spent gearing up for this important milestone. The next 6 months for me will be spent supporting him, helping him stay sane, and encouraging him when he does not want to do it anymore.