Life (and Cooking) Adventures

             To my few readers out there, I am sorry for being so lazy and not updating my blog!  I think the last time I checked in, I had just finished taking my first set of Grad School Midterms!  Now I have almost finished the semester, papers, projects, and finals!

              And so, I'll attempt to catch you up on the highlights of cooking for myself!  By far my favorite thing to cook is Smoked Salmon pasta with Peas.  Its so simple, some frozen peas and any pasta I have on hand plus a splash of cream (or half and half because its slightly healthier and I actually use it beyond this recipe) and some smoked salmon.  Yes, the salmon is a little pricey, but it goes a LONG way in my kitchen! It makes simple things into tasty gourmet delights!  Any honestly, a little left over salmon would work the same!
           
        Second favorite dish of recent cooking adventures is Corn Chowder!  I found this recipe an old cooking for one  Betty Crocker cookbook.  Most of the book is full of simple and plain dishes.  The corn chowder is pretty simple, but is such a good comfort food!  Who knew you could turn a can of creamed corn into a delicious soup.  It probably isn't that healthy for you, but its nice to have super easy meals when I get home from class at 7:30!   I get so hungry in class, I am surprised my classmates do not hear my stomach growling!

     Finally, with my cooking adventures comes a few holiday treats.  I spiced up a pumpkin muffin recipe I found online because I LOVE Pumpkins! I took some to a study group and some to my office, they seemed to go over pretty well.  Mostly guys ate them, which goes to show you that they way to a man's heart is through his stomach!  I also attempted to make peppermint bark for a department fundraiser.  Peppermint bark is so easy to make, all except unwrapping the candy canes!  The plastic kept clinging to me!.  I put all the candy in a ziplock bag and used a hammer to crush it up.  By the end I ended up with peppermint dust all over the floor!  The bark was very tasty, but next time I think I will try using a food processor!

Baked goods and studying go together very well!

      The semester has had its ups and downs!  I got the opportunity to help build a habitat house, I got elected at the President of the Masters in Public Administration Student Association, and I have some amazing friendships. There are those days when there just is not enough time in the day, or I feel that I lack the right skills to do a job or assignment well!  Yet every day I get to wake up in this desert (complaining that it is still to hot but then remembering that its a beautiful) and I am reminded it takes a long time to be good at anything!  Malcom Gladwell said the magic number is 10,000 hours to practice. I cannot learn how to do everything overnight! So, I'll just have to work hard each day anyway!  I love my job, my classes, and my life! Don't let me convince you otherwise!

Amazing Friends and Coworkers!

Take out

This weekend I had take out and leftovers.  I ran out of time to cook!  This week doesn't look too good either!  I did stock up on cereal, fruit and sandwich supplied however! Last week I did manage to try some pasta with tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella, and I concocted a stuffed pepper with chicken, rice and some left over veggies in the fridge!

I have two exams this week, each covering more material than I can manage!  One is in Economics and the other in Organizational Theory.  Org Theory is a class where we cover so much in class and in the 1,000 pages of extra readings, and I am still not sure how all the concepts relate! or perhaps it is that the concepts all relate to each other that it is too hard to find a logical process in the content!

So here I am, sitting at my laptop.  Procrastinating.  Listing to the same song I always listen to when I need to calm down.  Sweet Afton by Nickle Creek.  I listened to that song on my ipod while I was falling asleep on my Study Abroad trip in 2008.  Since then, it is my Go-To soothing song.

Also looking on of the pictures on the wall behind my desk.  Funny how things have come so far! :-) 

Comfort Foods, Comforting Thoughts

        I know it has been a while since I have updated! I missed last weekends update becuase I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law in LA.  You should check out Alicia's blog for details about how great that trip was.  In fact, it was another comforting thing in my life. The trip was slightly unplanned, and I came home ready to not have to travel anytime soon.  However, I have learned recently just how special it is to have the siblings I have.  I miss hang out with them so much!
       Have NO FEAR however, I have been eating lots of good food recently.  Since my last post about keeping things simple, I reverted to cooking some comfort foods.  While I have spent an night or so cooking up something extravagant from my new "Serves One" cookbook or from the Food Network (including smoked salmon and pea pasta, and chicken tacos!), I ate some comfort foods too.  I started to get in this habit of waking up early on Saturday mornings.  I read somewhere that your body adjusts fast to sleeping in, that is why Monday Mornings stink so much!  So I wake up, and cook breakfast! I have made eggs, bacon, and sometimes grits or biscuits! YUMMY! Anyone in GA reading this should consider sending me some more grits...I am almost out.  I also baked homemade chocolate chip cookies and hosted an open house for the students who live in my building.  Chocolate chip cookies are such a comfort food and I think the residents loved them.  I also enjoyed baking them! I used to love baking :-) and I somehow manged to do it in my tiny kitchen.
      This week I started an internship with the United Way.  My program requires an internship to graduate, and I am really excited about all the opportunities I am going to have a the United Way! However, I now have even less time to myself, balancing working as a Graduate Community Director for 20 hours a week, being an MPA student for 10 hours, and interning for another 10! That is like a full time job.  Each has its own ups and down! I never thought I would be juggling so much so quickly after college! So the comforting thoughts I have been giving myself here: First, I got into Grad school, so the program thought I could gain from getting a Degree, and they thought I could succeed. Therefore I can!  Second, I got hired and approved to intern.  There are people out there who believe in me and believe that I have the passion and knowledge to achieve my dreams (or at least succeed). And Finally, God put me here.  He have a plan for me!  It is a comforting thought (“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” Psalm 119:105). I'm comforted to remember that I am here for a reason and I have a purpose!
    So there you have it! Comfort foods are yummy and comfort thoughts are even better!

We made s'mores in LA last weekend, that's a comfort food right? Taking you back to the good ol' days as a kid at summer camp right?  Well this is Stephen making s'mores...

      

Keeping it Simple

         This weekend was pretty chill. :-) On Friday night, I used up some ingredients in my fridge to make a homemade pizza.  Feta, spinach and tomato pizza.  It was delicious! (and very simple!)  I bought some strawberries and made some whipped cream for dessert.  Then I settled in with a few redbox movies: Letters to Juliet and Date Night.  There is a redbox within walking distance of my apartment which is great for nights in!  Both movies were good.  Letter's to Juliet made me think about my own trip to Verona, Italy for a Summer  Study Abroad experience in 2008.  Date Night was pretty funny with Tina Fey and Steve Carell.  I would recommend them both!

        Saturday morning, I slept in a little and then got up and did my usual Saturday morning routine: Laundry and cleaning the apartment. I also made a great breakfast!  Eggs and Bacon! There was a big game against Iowa.  I was supposed to go to the game and sit in the student section (Zona Zoo), but it filled up so fast, we couldn't get in! Lucky for me, a stranger on the street offered me 2 ticket for free! The game was very intense, but Arizona won!  After the game, I went and watched an after game concert performed by the Pride of Arizona, the schools marching band.
    Sunday went by fast.  I prepared a few meals so that cooking during the week might not be so difficult. We shall see if I can keep life simple!

Sometimes you just need to use your instinct

        It is hard to cook on weekdays, with classes going from 5pm to 7:30.  That is prime dinner time you know?  Even living on campus, I generally meet up with classmates to discuss group projects, and therefore get home closer to 8!  No Time to cook.  I have been generating ideas that take little time, or eating leftovers on class days.        
        On Sunday night, I cooked "Steak and Shake" Chili.  Steak and Shake chili is my favorite!  My sister, Alicia, gave me a recipe she claimed was very good.  The secrete ingredients are coco powder and coke!  The chili didn't have time to cook and melt together for a long time :-(.  Overall the taste lacked in spice and the chili was very thick. 
       On Monday I made a lemony mustard pasta.  I had a recipe from a healthy cooking for 2 cookbook, which I followed to the letter. Yet my final product looked nothing like picture.  Nor did it taste as good as I thought it would.  This is where I think instinct plays a role,  I probably should have added a little less garlic, and a little more mustard.  I have leaned that lesson a lot recently.  Sometime, you have to just make a guess and hope for the best.  Especially in the kichen, it is okay to experiment.

       So on Tuesday I "whipped" up beer battered fish tacos after class.  The fish was so tasty with a little avocado salsa. YUMMY!  The only thing that was not so good was the store bought tortillas!  Can't wait to make that recipe again!

       Wednesday was a sandwich during my RA staff meting and some GEORGIA PEACH froyo with the staff after the meeting  (after all, it was my half birthday!).  Today, was some takeout from the University Union (the student meal plan) and Brownies at the Hall Council Executive meeting.  Do you see a theme here?
      The weekend is here, and the next chore is to get creative with the left overs I have in the fridge!  That, and maybe catch up on some homework and class readings!    

Joining the crowd...

            I have never been much of a writer.  The only time I ever managed to keep a journal for more than 3 days was the time I studied abroad in college.  Now I am in Graduate School at the University of Arizona Studying Public Administration and working as a Graduate Community Director.  I live in a very tiny apartment with a very tiny kitchen.  I LOVE the food network and have been inspired to attempt to learn to cook.  Cooking for one, is no easy task either. So I decided to blog my experiences of not just cooing but eating.  I'll probably write most about my cooking adventures (think Julie and Julia) but I hope to include my adventures of not just eating food, but eating for the soul...who knows where this may go?

Here is my kitchen:

Tonight I made Chili...its was not that great :-/ something was lacking in the flavor department.