Menus 5/24/10 - 6/5ish/10

 No real menu posts last week or this week, but here’s some things we’ve been making and eating:

•    Mustard grilled chicken with fettuccine picante
•    Left-over mustard grilled chicken with pesto linguine and easy make-ahead garlic bread
•    Teriyaki-marinated and grilled London broil with roasted red & sweet potatoes (recipe to come)
•    Left-over London broil made into French dip sandwiches with crispy Parmesan potatoes
•    Spaghetti (organic whole wheat) with slow cooker Bolognese sauce
•    Tangy chicken with couscous
•    Cheesy pasta and vegetable casserole
•    BBQ sloppy turkey joes (recipe to come) on homemade wheat buns
•    Fresh spinach lasagna
•    Bean and cheese tostadas
•    Lime chicken tacos
•    Hot corn dip
•    SuperFood Smoothies (I add about 1/8 cup ground flax seed meal to these)

[Remember, we also have a big green salad almost nightly as well.]

There'll be some other stuff, too... with GrandmaT and the kids gone, we're being slightly more casual about planning. On the other hand, they'll be back on the 4th, AND MyDarlingSam will be visiting for a few days (more on that later!), so we'll be gearing up again with more yummy recipes and dinner plans. Stay tuned!

Fettuccine Picante

I got this recipe from the newspaper quite some time ago. I don't know it's source beyond that. This had a nice, low warmth that went nicely with the spicy grilled mustard chicken that it accompanied. Add a green salad and you have a perfect dinner!

Fettuccini Picante

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup picante sauce (we used Costco's Kirkland organic salsa)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 pound fettuccine, cooked and drained (we used Barilla whole wheat linguine)
• 2 tablespoons whopped fresh cilantro leaves (ours came straight from our garden!)

Directions:

1. Heat picante sauce, sour cream and Parmesan cheese in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until hot and bubbling.
2. In a large serving bowl, mix fettuccine and sauce until pasta is thoroughly coated. Top with cilantro and additional Parmesan and picante sauce if desired.

Crazy easy, super yummy lunch!

Bean and Cheese Tostadas

Crazy easy, super yummy, and made with stuff we always have on hand!

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Lightly grease (or spray with non-stick stuff) a cookie sheet.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together one can of refried beans (we like Amy's Organics with mild green chilies) with one can of Ro-Tel diced tomatoes (drained).
4. Lay corn tortillas on cookie sheet.
5. Spread a couple of spoonfuls of bean/tomato mix on the tortillas, then top with shredded cheese.
6. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
7. Top tostadas with whatever is handy - salsa, more cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream, sliced green onions, chopped cilantro, baby spinach - anything that sounds good! But don't overload them.
8. EAT and be happy! These are great for lunch, dinner, breakfast snack... any time!

(Sorry, despite having fixed these twice in the last three days, we were too bust snarfling them up to get a photo.)

Hmmmmm, tough decision!

Here's the question of vital importance I asked Mr. Mamie today:

Where would you rather continue your education?

S

Starfleet Academy

or... 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

????????

Starfleet image credit

Hogwarts image credit

Ack!

This is me.

OK, not really. But represents by general outlook right at the moment... kinda overwhelmed. Lots to do as this school year wraps up, with one month left on my contract as Program Director, and no replacement in sight.  I'm also moving into teacher-mode, with trainings and "meet your new teacher" day, etc.

So, blogging might be thin for a few days. But fear not, I'll be back!

Image credit.

Six Word Saturday 5/22/10

Got my class list - so excited!

Just wondering...

Hank is a propane salesman. Dale is an exterminator. Bill is an Army barber.

What the heck does Boomhauer do???

Happy Feet Friday 5/21/10

Another pair of Teva flip-flops - these are brown, with thick soles. The straps are metallic green print with brown flowers. I sure do love me some flip-flops... yay, warm weather!

Dinner Tonight - 5/20/10

Dinner tonight was  Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas with Arroz Mexicano  - another delicious vegetarian meal! We used Westbrae organic black beans, an organic frozen mixed veggie combo from Costco, Lundberg organic brown rice, Costco's organic salsa, and green peppers from Bountiful Baskets (along with some "conventional" ingredients).  The quesadillas along with the rice makes for a very satisfying and filling combo.

Since Nephew was gone to Boy Scouts and not here inhaling large quantities of dinner (he ate two bananas, two pieces of left-over homemade pizza, a bunch of baby carrots, a hard-boiled egg, a snack-sized bag of Fritos, and who knows what else before leaving!), there's plenty left over for tomorrow. We'll do it as tacos in grilled corn tortillas with lettuce and tomatoes - YUM!

In case you're wondering what happened to last night's dinner post, we didn't cook. Mr. Mamie and I had a number of errands to run in town, so we ate dinner out at Appl*b**'s before he went to his class and I went to Barnsie for some book browsing. Dinner was totally over-priced and blah.... we have reached the conclusion that we pretty much are becoming incapable of eating out, because nothing is as good as what we fix at home!

I won!

Remember the Bagnesia give-away from Retro Green Housewife that I mentioned earlier this week? Would you believe that I actually WON? I never win stuff... of course, I only ever try when it's something I actually want. But, I do love me some good reusable bags and accessories, so I'm a little excited about this. "Wheeeeeeeee!" as my friend BonBon would say!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 5/19/10

Cousins

Dinner Tonight - 5/18/10

Tonight's dinner was Anti-Oxidant burgers with CrockPot mac and cheese and corn on the cob (from our Bountiful Basket).

The concept of the burgers is that the meat is mixed with specific spices that act as anti-oxidants. The flavor that the spices imparted was good, but what was even BETTER was the quality of the Dakota Beef organic ground beef we used - excellent! We are able to purchase this at our local Costco. According to the company's website, their cattle:

    •      are born and raised on certified organic pasture
    •      never receive antibiotics
    •      never receive growth-promoting hormones
    •      are fed only certified organic grains and grasses
    •      have unrestricted outdoor access
    •      receive humane treatment

Not only are these good production and life principles, but they create conditions in which the meat is more tender, juicy, and flavorful than "factory farmed" beef.

Mr. Mamie and I put some slices of the Gruyere cheese we got at the farmers' market on our burgers - decadent!

The bun in the above photo is homemade, from this recipe. Sooooo much more "real" tasting than store-bought buns! Also, easy to make the night before you want to use them. They freeze well, too.

The CrockPot macaroni and cheese was VERY cheesy! It cooked well in the CrockPot, though I think next time I will either up the macaroni or decrease the cheese a bit. This was NOT health food!

No greens on my plate... good thing I took lots of salad in my lunch!

Ten Things Tuesday 5/18/10

10 ways we are changing our eating habits:

1.    I no longer keep pop/soda at home (for my own consumption). That is, no more 12 packs or 2 liter bottles of Diet Coke in the house. I DO still but fountain drinks regularly when out of the house.
2.    Everyone is drinking WAY more water!
3.    The water being consumed in #2 is NOT coming from single-serve plastic bottles. We’re all about the cups/glasses, BPA-free reusable plastic, and stainless steel.
4.    ALL chicken we buy is now organic/free-range/humanely raised. After watching “Food, Inc.” about how chickens are raised in CAFOs (concentrating animal feeding operations), we HAD to make this change (CAFO procedures are well-documented in other sources, lest you think one movie caused this shift for us).
5.    All ground beef and ground turkey we now buy are organic/free-range/humanely raised. See #4 for why.
6.    We try to buy as much organic produce as possible, and certainly make sure that we buy ONLY organic if the item is on the “Dirty Dozen” list. Click here for some info on this topic.
7.    I make from scratch almost all of the bread we eat, including hamburger buns.
8.    We cook dinner almost nightly, never order D*min*’s pizza, and rarely eat out unless for a special reason.
9.    We participate weekly in a produce co-op, and now that the farmers’ market is open for the season, also shop there weekly.
10.    We pay MUCH more ATTENTION to food – what is is, how it was grown/prepared, what the impact of eating it is, and WHY we’re choosing to eat it.

Image credit

Dinner Tonight - 5/17/10

Tonight's dinner was excellent!  We started with anitbiotic-free, hormone-free, never-fed-animal-by-products pork chops from Maverick Ranch.

Maverick Ranch Pork Chops

We turned the chops into delicious Cajun Pork Chops, done on the grill. Sooooooo tender, juicy, and tasty! Cooking meat on the grill is a snap with the nifty wireless remote thermometer that GolfDad gave Mr. Mamie on his birthday.

I tried another new side tonight (undeterred by last night's Lentil Pilaf FAIL) - Stuffed Acorn Squash. I altered it slightly by mixing up all the stuffing ingredients (including liquid), spooning it into the squash halves, and piling the remaining stuffing around the squash in the baking dish. Then I covered the whole shebang with foil (rather than each squash half individually). It came out very good, and we will have it again (the next time an acorn sqush comes in our Bountiful Basket).

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Along with the pork chops and squash we had corn on the cob (from this week's Bountiful Basket haul) and leftover Cheddar Cheese Biscuits from last night. A great dinner, and I'll enjoy leftover pork chop and squash/stuffing in my lunch tomorrow!

My plate before adding squash. Yes, we put our corn on the cob in hot dog boats - then it in can bathe in butter! Mrs. Igor, The Wombat, and I came up with this idea several years ago.

President's Cancer Panel Report

Go read The Good Human on this topic.  THIS is why we are eating and living differently... because cancer will NOT steal me, like it did my mom.

I Heart Saturdays!

Today has been a busy, yet relaxing day.  We started by arriving at the cinema parking lot in The Village to pick up our produce co-op haul. We are members Bountiful Baskets, which operates in three states in this region. Each week that you want to participate, you contribute $15 for a share of the produce. There are also often optional purchases, such as bread loves, special produce packs (like ethnic ingredients), or deals on large quantities of one particular item (like strawberries or mangoes).  The produce comes from small farms in the region and in Mexico. While it's not always organic, it's definitely better than the crap sold in the regular grocery stores, and the price is AMAZING! The quantity of the week's share is always huge, and we often share with Mrs. Igor (she is also a member, so sometimes just one of us gets a basket to split) or with GolfDad.  Here's a picture of this week's bounty:

There were two butternut squash, a small seedless watermelon, about 3 pounds of bananas, three pounds of apples,  about 2 pounds of peaches, about 10 small limes (great for poking into water bottles!), a pound or so of Brussels sprouts, 6 ears of corn, a bag of baby carrots,  around 2 pounds of tomatoes, a pound or more of mangoes, and a head of green leaf lettuce.  ALL for only $15!!!

I love the community aspect of the co-op - in the few minutes it took us to pick up our basket, we saw our neighbor from across the street and two teachers I know.  I also like that my money is working with my neighbors' to support smaller farms, and that the big companies are cut out of this process. LOCAL ECONOMY!

After picking up our basket we headed to the Big Town to the Ancestor's Square Farmers' Market.  We bought two kinds of fabulous raw milk cheese - Desert Heat and Gruyere - from a local farmer/cheesemaker (love him and his wife!), a pint of precious baby strawberries, a loaf of asiago sourdough bread, and a dozen fresh eggs in varying shades of brown, cream, white, and light green.  

Farmers' Market purchases

After that it was off to Costco for a few staples, including gas for the car. Gas is up to $3.05/gallon for 87 octane now in our area. Boo.  The most exciting purchase at Costco was three pounds of organic ground beef for a little over $12.  The beef comes from South Dakota. I wish it didn't travel so far, but local organic beef is not really available here.  I've found one source, but the ranch won't have any available until at least mid-June, and you have to buy a really large quantity. Not sure of that's in the cards for us.

After Costco we came home to put everything away and regroup before heading to GolfDad's to do some chores. Niece showed up before we headed out again, and she insisted that we had to IMMEDIATELY have a funeral for the dead mouse she'd found in the gutter the day before. She had made a beautiful, sparkly gravestone and everything... Ooooookay... Mr. Mamie fetched a shovel, while I got the camera for documentation purposes.

Digging the mousie grave.

Niece shows the sparkly headstone she made for the mouse.

GolfDad is gone on his big driving tour of the USA, so we have to go over daily to "sit on the cats"... well, not literally cat-sit, but rather, feed and water them and clean out the litter boxes. There are also tomatoes to water daily, and grass to mow weekly. Today while Mr. Mamie mowed Niece and I got out all the summer-colored candles, coasters, Kleenex cozies, bath towels, table runners, etc. that Wombat has made and collected over the years. I have to say that the house looked much fresher and nicer when we were finished!  We decided that next weekend, just before GolfDad returns, we'll re-plant the big pots on the back patio (which currently hold wilting pansies) with some summer flowers. The experience ended happily, as no one was clawed (today, at least) by CrankyPants aka Mom's cat, Snickers... he's gotten exponentially meaner since she's been gone, and he's not happy about GolfDad's temporary absence, either.

A brief mention here of our trip to The Walmartz - we needed a couple of hardware-ish items and a can of olives and pineapple tidbits for our pizza dinner. Walking back to the car, Niece was carrying the bag with the can of pineapple... and klutzy Mamie kicked it while wearing flip-flops... and now I have a pineapple injury on my toe. Wah.

After getting home again, it was relaxation time. Mr. Mamie took a big, long nap while Niece and I headed out to the patio. if you're wondering, Nephew was zoning out in front of the TV, having just returned from a Scout camp-out.

Niece played in the pool with her coconut shell turtles...

 ...while Beagle lounged under the table...

 ...and GrandmaT knitted...

 ...and Mamie read (using the Kindle app on my iPod Touch).

We ended a nice Saturday with pizza and movie night: Create-your-own for GrandmaT and the kids; Mexican Pizza for us; and a showing of The Goonies! YAY, SATURDAYS - I heart you!

Mexican Pizza, YUM!

Dinner Tonight - 5/16/10

Okay, this was actually dinner LAST night... too much other stuff going on to get it posted.

The chicken is Zesty Roasted Chicken, done in the CrockPot.  We used a whole, organic/free-range chicken from Costco. This is the second time I've done chicken with this recipe, and it is FABULOUS - juicy, flavorful, delicious! The whole chicken gives us enough for dinner (3 adults, 2 kids) and a couple of cups of shredded chicken to add to the freezer stash (for enchiladas, soups, etc. later on). I also end up with a couple of cups of stock, which I strain and cool, then de-fat before putting in the freezer for soups later. The scrappy-scraps (but not the bones) go to the doggies - enough for a couple of servings on top of their chow.

We tried a new recipe, Lentil Pilaf with this dinner. I loved the veggies, loved the idea of a lentil side, loved the flavor, but... the lentils I used were tiny red ones (organic), and they ended up cooking into a sort of mush.  NOT a good texture for any of us.  I will try this again with larger lentils that won't cook down so much. I've used these tiny red ones in soup, and they work fine, but not so much for this dish.

The biscuits are from this recipe for Cheddar Cheese Biscuits, which are a knock-off of what is served at Red Lobster. I've made these several times before and they are a favorite with everyone! The recipe calls for Bisquick mix, but they can be made with "homemade Bisquick" as well (I've done it both ways, and it comes out fine regardless).

Of course, we also had a nice salad made with organic mixed greens and organic spinach, as usual (thanks Mr. Mamie!)

Mom's Arroz Mexicano

This is the Wombat's recipe for Arroz Mexican (Mexican Rice).  When we have it this week with quesadillas, I am going to attempt to modify it to use brown rice (mainly will need to adjust coking time, and possibly amount of liquid). If you missed the menu post, you can see it here. I will post a picture after we make the rice this week.

Mom's Arroz Mexicano

 
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1/3 cup chopped bell pepper, red and/or green
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 ¾  cups water, chicken broth, or combination
½ cup chunky salsa
Frozen corn, peas, carrots, etc.

In skillet, sauté rice, onion, and peppers in butter/olive oil until onion and peppers are tender and rice is lightly browned.

Gradually add liquid; stir in salsa.

Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

Stir in frozen vegetables of choice – if serving immediately, add vegetables about 5-7 minutes before rice is done.

 

Bagnesia Giveaway

Everyone who knows me knows I loves me some great reusable shopping bags!  There is a nice giveaway of Bagnesia bags on the Retro Housewife Goes Green blog - check it out!

Menus 5/17/10 - 5/23/10

Here's what we'll be eating in the coming week:

• Cajun pork chops done on the grill with stuffed acorn squash and green salad.
• Anti-Oxidant burgers (held over from last week) done on the grill with CrockPot mac and cheese and green salad.
• Tangy chicken with Parmesan couscous (a box mix from Near East) and green salad.
• Black bean and corn quesadillas with Arroz Mexicano.
• Navajo Tacos (we have the meat/bean mix in the freezer from a few weeks ago). I don't use canned chili, but instead cook a pound of ground beef and then stir in 1 - 2 cans of Bush's chili beans (with liquid).
• Pizza! Mr. Mamie and I will be doing a BBQ Chicken pizza, while everyone else does create-your-own.
• Bean burritos with zesty corn and orzo salad.

Six Word Saturday 5/15/10

Spring produce, so beautiful and delicious! 

Our haul from the produce co-op this week.

Dinner Tonight - 5/14/10

Tonight we had Creamy Turkey Taco Mac. I didn't get a good photo, so go to the original recipe for a visual.

This was a nice, easy dinner - it took less than 40 minutes from start to finish to prepare. It was reminiscent of a "Hamburger Helper"-type meal, except made from scratch and much healthier. We made ours with organic ground turkey, organic canned tomatoes, organic sour cream, and whole grain pasta.

We had green salad, but being that tomorrow is produce co-op and farmers' market day, no other vegetable side. I also figured that since pasta was involved we didn't need bread or rolls. Niece, however, wasn't impressed - she commented "But you ALWAYS make something else with it!" and wanted toast with her dinner. Huh!

More yummy lunch-ness

I'm posting this for a few reasons:

1. To show off Niece's super-cute new insulated lunch bag that we got at Tar-Jay for the STEAL of a clearance price of $4.99! This lunch bag is by "Built NY" and sells on ReUseIt.com for $24.95. I loved the bag and deal so much that I went back a couple days later a bought two more (different patterns). They will come in handy for trips, etc. We used Niece's last week to carry frozen juice pouches in the car when we went to Zion Ponderosa.
2. To tell you about the "Late July" organic vanilla bean and green tea sandwich cookies - YUM! Bought these at Natural Grocer's yesterday and LOVED them... they won't last through the weekend. Like an Oreo, but organic and no HFCS. Mr. Mamie said that they're BETTER than Oreos! 
3. To point out all the hideous plastic sandwich baggies... which will soon be disappearing from our lunches!  I just ordered a variety of different re-usable sandwich and snack bags from ReUseIt.com and am so excited for them to arrive! I am trying a bunch of different brands and styles to see what works best.  Pictures and descriptions to come.

Okay, here's what was actually IN the lunches:

• Niece: 1/2 of a ciabatta sandwich consisting of ham, organic lettuce, organic tomato, and a spray of balsamic dressing; small baggie of low-fat kettle chips; 1/2 organic apple; 2 of the above-described cookies; "Honest Kids" organic juice pouch.**
• Mr. Mamie: 1 and 1/2  ciabatta sandwiches consisting of ham, organic lettuce, organic tomato, "Desert Heat" cheese from the farmers' market, and Miracle Whip (which he loves); Sun Chips; 1/2 organic apple; 3 of the above-described cookies; "Honest Kids" organic juice pouch.** Plus, he has stashes of granola bars at work.
• Mamie: Black beans/corn/brown rice left from last night with some cheese and organic lettuce; organic corn chips; organic apple; 2 of the above-described cookies; cheddar cheese stick; Kashi wheat crackers.

Nephew gets to go out for lunch with the Safety Patrol as an end-of-the-year reward.  5th grade boys descending on the buffet at Golden Corral... can you imagine??!!

**We are trying to get away from the juice pouches and switch to reusables.  We have plenty of stainless steel and plastic BPA-free water bottles, but they are a little large for juice or lemonade, which is nice in lunches sometimes.  I want to get a few of the smallest-size KleenKanteens with the sport top, but the company is re-doing the sport top or something, and there haven't been any available for a while. Sigh.

Happy Feet Friday 5/14/10

Teva "Mush" flip-flops, with pink and aqua straps. Toes are still polka-dot! I am wearing aqua pants and a black shirt today, making me ever-so color coordinated.

Dinner Tonight - 5/13/10

Dinner tonight was fabulous on so many levels! It was "Mexican Black Bean and Rice Bowls", and here's what made it so good:

1. The bean mixture (green peppers, garlic, spices, etc.) smelled heavenly while it cooked.
2. It was a way to eat brown rice without the "meh" factor.
3. We were able to use many organic elements - the black beans, corn, brown rice, salsa, corn chips, lettuce, tomatoes, and cumin were all organic.
4. It's a meatless meal, which we're trying to include in our menu plan at least once per week. The production and transportation of meat products uses tremendous resources (and has a large "carbon footprint"), so even one fewer meal involving meat makes a difference.
5. It's a relatively inexpensive meal, as beans and rice tend to be.
6. IT WAS DANG YUMMY!!! Definitely a hit with everyone!

We had lettuce, tomatoes, multiple kinds of shredded cheese, and corn chips (for crunching up) as toppings.  You could add sour cream and guacamole, too, among other things. The recipe calls for serving this in a bowl (which is how Nephew ate his), but I heated some corn tortillas on the electric griddle and the rest of us had ours as tacos.  The recipe makes A LOT, so we'll be eating this as leftovers for weekend lunches.

Niece compiles her black bean and brown rice taco creation.

My bowl and tortillas, before I made it into tacos with lettuce and MORE cheese.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 5/12/10

Mom's rose bush... wish she could see how it's grown.

Dinner Tonight - 5/11/10

Excellent lemon-themed dinner tonight!  We had grilled lemon chicken made with organic chicken breasts from Costco. I will NEVER go back to rubbery, hormone-pumped, factory chicken after having switched to organic - the taste and texture of the organic/free-range is incredible! Mr. Mamie did an excellent job of grilling the chicken breasts.

With the chicken we had baked lemon pasta, made with organic, whole wheat spaghetti -also very yummy. The parsley on top is from our own garden!

To complete the theme: Annie's Naturals Lemon and Chive dressing on green salad - perfect!

Ten Things Tuesday 5/11/10

Ten things I have done in order to prepare for my return to the classroom (in August):

1.    Receive my “contract change notice” from the school district.  The GREAT thing about this is that it means I’ll be an actual classroom teacher again! The not-so-great thing is that as of July 31st I’ll leave the administrative salary schedule and return to teacher pay… ouch.

2.   Start relabeling my stuff with my new married name. THAT feels a little weird!

3.    Download TONS of new clip art, and use the clip art to make new schedule signs, posters, alphabet charts, table signs, etc.

4.    Clear out old binders and start re-labeling and numbering them for class records.  I was removing some name labels from an assessment binder I had for a class back in 2002-03.  Here are the names from that binder:

I’m proud to say that I could put a FACE to every name in that pile!

5.    Move my hard drive from a MacBook owned by the program I currently run to one owned by the district’s Title I program, which I can take with me to my new (old) school.

6.    Get on the school’s email listservs. It has been a good way to ease in to the current culture and goings-on at school by reading the emails that shoot around.

7.    Meet with my grade level team on the day the new core reading program was introduced.  That was helpful for meeting a couple of new people (who have been hired since I was at the school three years ago).

8.    Buy a bunch of books at the recent Scholastic Warehouse Sale! For a picture see this post.

9.    Work on building my class website on Google sites. It’s slow going.

10.  Tell everyone in my program that I am resigning as Director… that was hard, but there was a lot of understanding and positive feedback regarding my decision to return to the classroom. I know it’s the right one!

Foot-grater

On our way to The Walmartz to pick up a prescription for Mr. Mamie, I told him that I thought I might buy one of these:

I tried to describe it, but maybe didn't do such a great job. When we got to the store and The Mister saw it, he said, "Oh, so it's pretty much a cheese grater for your feet!"

Um, yeah. Pretty much.

Image credit

A Meme for Monday

I got this from Mrs. Chili. Happy Monday everyone!

1. What’s your favorite Dr. Seuss book?
The Lorax and The Sneetches - it's really hard to pick between them!

2. If you could live in any home on a television series, what would it be?
Oooh, I've been fond of many... the Ingalls' home on Little House on the Prairie; the Bradfords' Sacramento home on Eight is Enough; and I kinda like Sheriff Taylor's house on The Andy Griffith Show, except the kitchen is cut off from everywhere else.

3. What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleep?
On a road trip in college a friend and I drove from Eugene, OR to Seattle during the day; once I got to Seattle I met up with another friend and we stayed up all of that night; the next day he and I drove to Canada and took the ferry to Victoria and stayed all day; driving back to Seattle that night - after around 48 hours without sleep - I truly thought we were gonna DIE on I-5!

4. What’s your favorite Barry Manilow song?
Pretty much NONE.

5. Who’s your favorite Muppet?
 Oscar the Grouch, no contest!

6. What’s the habit you’re proudest of breaking?
If I could ever break one I would tell you!

7. What’s your favorite website?
So many to choose from... maybe Facebook? Or Post Secret? Or People of Walmart? Or RecipeeZaar?

8. What’s your favorite school supply?
Oh, you’re KIDDING me, RIGHT?!  I love them ALL!  Pens, sticky notes, binder clips, folders and tabs and poster tack and… [that was Chili's response, and it was PERFECT for me as well!]

9. Who’s your favorite TV attorney?
I really used to love Michael Kusack and Grace Van Owen on L.A. Law.

10. What was your most recent trip of more than 50 miles?
Yesterday we went to the Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort on the eastern side of Zion National Park.


11. What’s the best bargain you’ve ever found at a garage sale or junk shop?
Not my usual shopping milleau, so I don't really have an answer. Best I can come up with is some purple fleece fabric (AKA "fetish material") I got at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse about 13 years ago.


12. Where were you on September 11, 2001?
At a staff retreat (for my old school in Oakland)  in a cabin on the Russian River in Guerneville, CA.

13. What’s your favorite tree?
The tree in my Grammie's front patio! (That's a picture of both the tree and Grammie below.)

14. What’s the most interesting biography you’ve read?
Perhaps Sylvia Plath...?


15. What do you order when you eat Chinese food?
Spicy beef, such as Hunan Beef from King Yen on College Blvd. in Berkeley.

16. What’s the best costume you’ve ever worn?
Either the Bubble Yum box that Mom and Ron made me in 3rd grade, or the bee suit my mom sewed for me the first year I taught.

17. What’s your least favorite word?
Hate.

18. If you had to be named after one of the 50 states, which would it be?
I would like to say Montana, but I don't want to be associated with that Hannah character. So maybe Kansas.


19. Who’s your favorite bear?
The Bill Martin Jr./Eric Carle polar bear.

20. Describe something that’s happened to you for which you have no explanation.
Hmmmmm, can't really think of one....

21. If you could travel anywhere in Africa, where would it be?
All over!

22. What did you have for lunch yesterday?
Organic corn chips, an organic apple, and water from my newest stainless steel Camelback bottle. It was a snacky-lunch, becasue we'd had a big breakfast prior to heading to Zion Ponderosa, and anticipated a nice dinner at the ranch, so no need for major lunching.


23. Where do you go for advice?
Mom used to be my main source; KathyP fills in pretty well. And of course - Mr. Mamie!


24. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?
Thesaurus.

25. Have you ever been snorkeling? Scuba diving?
Neither. I would love to snorkel but not so sure about scuba.

Menus 5/10/10 - 5/16/10

Our dinners this week:

• Marinated, grilled London broil (held over from Sunday, becasue we ate at Zion Ponderosa Ranch), roasted potatoes with garlic and Parmesan, Costco demi-baugette, green salad.
•  Lemon grilled chicken (using organic chicken breasts), baked lemon pasta (using whole-wheat spaghetti), green salad.
• Black bean/corn/brown rice bowls with toppings (cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, etc.)
•  Creamy turkey taco mac (with whole-wheat rotini), green salad.
• Anti-oxident burgers and toppings, CrockPot mac and cheese, green salad.
• Zesty CrockPot roasted chicken (using organic whole chicken), lentil pilaf (NO mushrooms!), green salad, cheddar cheese biscuits

Lunchboxes

Everybody took "cold lunch" today, which equates to:

NIECE (back left, the black and grey one): 1/2 pita pocket filled with spring mix greens, shredded cheese, chopped ham, and a spray of balsamic dressing; 1/2 apple; Horizon organic yogurt "tube", small baggie of low-fat kettle chips; low-sugar granola bar; Honest Kids organic tropical flavored juice pouch.

NEPHEW (back right, light blue with stripes): two halves of pita pocket filled with spring mix greens, shredded cheese, chopped ham, and a smear of non-soybean oil mayonnaise; an apple; Horizon organic yogurt "tube", small baggie of low-fat kettle chips; low-sugar granola bar; Honest Kids organic grape flavored juice pouch.

MR. MAMIE (front right, navy blue and black): Container of spring mix salad; container of salad toppings that includes marinated artichoke hearts, banana peppers, chopped ham, and feta cheese;  1/2 apple; Camelback bottle with lemon water. He also has a stash of Kashi bars at work, along with a couple of hard-boiled eggs from earlier this week and some pomegranate salad dressing in the mini-fridge.

MAMIE (front left, red): Baggie of spring mix salad and container of feta cheese; container of grilled chicken and sweet chili linguine left-overs from dinner earlier this week; an apple; a Luna bar (vanilla-almond flavor); a cheddar cheese stick and one large organic multi-grain flat-bread cracker; two stainless-steel bottles, one with lemon water and one with iced Tazo black tea. I have a microwave at work to heat up food, and I keep a bottle of Annie's organic Goddess salad dressing on the fridge. I also transfer my food to "real" dishes before eating - a purple Fiestaware bowl and plate, plus real utensils.

Everybody gets a cloth napkin and a blue ice in their lunch, plus silverware as needed, all of which they are expected to bring home at the end of the day.

These are pretty good examples of the kinds of things we usually have in our lunch boxes. Sometimes there are homemade brownies, cookies, or muffins; sometimes it's homemade bread for sandwiches. I am the only one with access to heating food at work/school.

Happy Feet Friday 5/7/10

Black Teva criss-cross "mush" flip-flops - HAPPY FRIDAY!

Welcome, new friend...

Meet the newest member of the Geek Family:

This is the tablet PC we recently acquired.  I have been a little jealous of the diminutiveness and portability of Mr. Mamie's netbook. Now, don't get me wrong... I ADORE my 15" MacBookPro - it is a FABULOUS production machine, and I love the Mac operating system. I have thousands of photos, videos, songs, etc. on my MacBook, not to mention all my work and personal files.  But sometimes all I want is a little machine to cruise the Interwebz, ya know? Something small, easy to take out to the patio.... hence, this little refurbished tablet.  It's a fun addition to our collection of computers and gadgets!

Books!

Returning to the classroom in the fall means I need BOOKS! Returning to first grade after six years away from it means I need BOOKS! Being a nerd, and a teacher, means I need BOOKS! Scholastic warehouse sale at the District Office today means I BOUGHT BOOKS!