Spring?! and a book review

It's been a long while since I've blogged. There are a few reasons, but mostly I'm just lazy. Here's a brief summary. In February, in addition to my birthday, and my in-laws (including my husband's brothers), my 93 year old great-grandmother passed away. I'm sure more will come about that when I'm ready. I spent most of March dealing with my knees - the brief version is more surgery in October, but I'll get to try replacement cartilage. I'm 100% positive more will come on that later as well. I've started tons of blog posts in my head, which is how I write, but I haven't gotten them down. The laptop I usually use to blog and I don't always get along, and I finally just decided to go ahead and do it on my ipad.

nail polish update - toes are purple, fingers are dark grey with raspberry metallic messy tips
crossfit update - as previously stated, knee problems. I have been walking though, and my last workokut I managed to do bench press at 105lbs again.

Here's today's big deal:
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Courntey gave me this book. It's a YA, Teen Fiction book. and I couldn't put it down. Courtney went to PLA (a public library convention in Philadelphia) and brought me back an autographed copy. Courtney is always way cooler and hip than me, but it seems no matter when she recommends a book or an author, I wait a bit to start. She's always right. always. She told me about John Green years before I read my first of his books.... But how much cooler Court is than me is not the topic of today's blog.

This riveting book is. Now, I don't often say a book is riveting, but I couldn't put it down. I read it straight through - and I started it at bedtime, and thought to myself, I'll just read a little and finish tomorrow. I actually did put it down. Twice - to blow my nose, because I was red faced sobbing. It's an amazing story about Mia, a high school senior who loves her family and music, - and the day when her life is at risk - and her decision. The prose is wonderful and heartwrenchig.

 

 

 

Primal Bacon Cheeseburger "Mac and Cheese"

I've been working on this recipe for a while now, and have finally decided it's ready for public consumption. Please note that because I use cheese, it's not strictly Paleo.

Ingredients:
1 large spaghetti squash
1 lb ground beef
1/2 to 2/3 lb bacon
l large onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons coconut flour
2 tablespoons bacon grease
2 tablespoons butter
2 + tablespoons coconut milk
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded


Cut spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise. Scoop out seeds. Place in in baking dish, inside down in one inch of water. Bake spaghetti squash at 350 degrees until done. About 45 minutes. Spaghetti squash is done when it's tender on the inside, and the outside is slightly browned.While the spaghetti squash is cooking, dice and then cook bacon in a skillet. Place bacon in large bowl. Then brown the hamburger and onion in the skillet. Also place these in the bowl. When spaghetti squash is done, go ahead and shred it. Keep the baking dish out as you'll use it again. If you've never done this before, hold the squash with one fork and shred it with the other. Add the squash to the bowl of meat and onions. In the skillet, add the bacon grease, butter, and coconut flour. Whisk to make a roux and add milk until it reaches the desired consistency. You want a sauce. Add the sauce to the spaghetti squash and meat. Mix it in the bowl and add two and a half cups of cheese. Pour mixture into the baking dish and top with the rest of the cheese. Bake about forty minutes, or until cheese on top is golden brown.


This was super tasty.You can make some adjustments as needed. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.

Yes, I really am a second child!

     If you've met me, you may think I'm a type A personality. Which, let's face it, is true. But I'm also a second child.  During the holiday season, there's lots of reminiscing about childhood memories, and tales told of childhood misadventures. My most favorite childhood memory is about being a second child.
     My brother Mike is two years and two weeks older than I. When he started kindergarten, there was a first day of school picture (of course I didn't get one!) but as where we lived kindergarten was an all day - every other day affair, he was still home a lot of the time. If you're curious, this was because we lived waaay out in the boonies and they only wanted to run the school buses on one route, not send them out again in the middle of the day for a handful of pesky kindergarteners. Also an interesting fact, there was only one bus route for k-12. The. Boonies.
     However, the year he went to first grade was pay dirt! He was gone every day. Which means I got to hang out with my mom, just me, every day! Our daily routine consisted of this: We'd have breakfast with Mike as per usual. We, and the plethora of dobermans, would walk to the end of the long driveway with him and wait for the bus. We'd walk back, and have tea and toast! My mom would make a teapot full of Lipton, and since we only got three stations, and only one of those stations got cartoons, we'd watch the same channel every morning.You know what it was? Tennessee Tuxedo. I loved that cartoon. He'd scheme to get out of the zoo every morning while my mom and I would have our tea, snuggled under a blanket on the loveseat. Sometimes she would have bread or cinnamon rolls rising, but that's not what this memory is about. A pot of Lipton Tea, Tennessee Tuxedo, and my mom. Every morning. That's the joy of being a second child.

Brief updates

Nail polish color: ruby red slippers - glittery red

I plan to spend some time over break from school labeling and organizing the posts, and maybe redoing some things. Expect changes!

Shoes- a fond recollection, and let's face it, a bit of whining

   At Thanksgiving, my grandma and I spent some quality time talking about our arthritis medicines. Turns out, I take more maintenance meds than she does. Exciting, right? Not so much. I was told two weeks after my thirtieth birthday that the arthritis in both knees is permanent, and that even though they realigned the left knee so it tracks correctly, it won't get better as the cartilage is gone. My right knee continues to pull over bone every time I move it, and I've accepted that sometime I'll have to have that knee done as well.
   The thing that I miss the most though, is shoes. Not running, or playing soccer (although it's a close second) or finishing my black belt in karate, or yoga, or actually being able to kneel or squat....Having been a tomboy for much of my childhood, I spent high school wearing converse and then Dr. Martens. But look out - in my twenties, I discovered shoes, and makeup, and dresses! My friend Regina and I would spend hours in a shoe store, or as we wore the same size, we could swap.
   I loved shoes - finding the perfect shoes to wear to work, or wear with my favorite outfit - and I loved to go shoe shopping! But now I can't wear heels at all - my knees start to swell almost immediately, and I've had to give away all my cute shoes.I kept one pair of black heels that I can wear for about four hours, and made the move to flats - but not just any flats, the comfortable ones.Many of my shoes have had to find new homes, and it's very sad.
   When I first started teaching, I remember looking at the women in their forties and fifties who wore Clarks clogs and mules to work every day, or orthopedic shoes, and I always thought to myself, "I'm never going to be that woman." Turns out, I am! A survey of the shoes I can actually wear for any length of time are almost all Clarks or Merrells. I've recently gotten a pair of Dansko clogs, and although it took a bit of warming up to them, I think they'll work. I did also just sneakily order a pair of shoes that look dressy, but are actually Vans.I hope they are both cute and comfortable.
    So here's to all my friends who can still wear whatever shoes they want: I'm jealous, and enjoy it. Don't take wearing pretty heels or sandals for granted. One day you'll be wearing comfy shoes. Just like me.

Comfort Cooking

     It's been raining a lot here lately, which I love. But even for me, it's been a lot of grey, rainy days all in a row. As I cooked today, I realized it was a comfort food kind of day. Trent picked out muffins, blueberry "real" i.e. non paleo muffins, for his part of brunch, and Corey wanted ham and feta omelets. I often only cook two large meals on sunday, a brunch and then an early dinner. Trent picked out beef stew a couple of days ago, so that simmered along in the crock pot while I ran my normal thousand and one errands.

     But for me, comfort has always been cinnamon rolls, and today I made grain-free cinnamon rolls! Brought to me by the great blog Real Sustenance They are amazing! Corey even ate one. First I gave him a bite of mine, and then later he had his own, so they can't be that bad. Since cinnamon rolls NEED frosting, I made Paleo Frosting homemade buttercream and iced them! Can't wait to try more recipes from that blog.

Impatience and Television

    I have been described, upon occasion, as a tad impatient. At times, I think I exhibit lots of patience, especially at work, with my son, and my husband. I'm not particularly even keeled in this aspect of my life - I either can wait for a really long time, or I want something NOW.
     This is best exhibited with television shows. I love a good storyline, with a complex plot. I also like silly comedies with bad laugh tracks. What I love best, is the ability to watch an entire series in one sitting, so should I decide to devote time to it. This is how I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Sex and the City, and countless other shows. Corey and I are working through The Wire (actually on loan from a friend on dvd), and Star Trek TNG. This is one reason I gladly play for my netflix subscription. It's so much easier than loading dvds....
     But every once in a while, a show comes on and I will love it so much that I will watch it, and wait, week after week for the new episode. Most notably in this category of shows are Bones, Castle, and Sons of Anarchy. Growing up, I always felt that my teachers, especially English teachers, had a certain disdain for television. I'm not certain if it's the prevalence of television, the decline of modern civilization, or better writing for shows. Perhaps a bit of all three. I do love watching for allusions though, and it's really interesting to watch Sons, knowing that the writer intended it to mirror Hamlet. Sure enough, just like Shakespeare, it's all drama all the time...with lots of gratuitous death. Perhaps that's why I like it so much, that and all the eye candy.