I Love Weekends

Is there anything better than a weekend. Nothing is better than a whole two days (three if your luck) to do whatever you want! Working professionally really makes you appreciate you own special time to do you own thing. I think my boss is hinting at me doing more work and training on my own time. I think about work enough as it is, and I need my weekends to refresh.  

This weekend that is what I did. It was so much fun. First I made this tasty dish. From my light cooking book. It contains Spaghetti, Cherry Tomatoes, Shrimp, Onion, Garlic, Pesto and shaved real Parmesan. Nom Nom Nom. I ate it all. :-) 

Then Alex and I went and saw Sherlock Holmes. Loved it! Super fun movie. Its so funny and exciting. Just something that makes you feel good.

The next morning Alex had to leave early to go this volunteer tax thing he is doing. After walking the dog I went back to bed...and slept till 11:30! Who knew I was so tired. After lounging around, and doing my workout video I made a Katie Classic.

Below you will see the Katie Burrito. Yum. There are lots of ways to vary it. At min you need a tortilla shell, re fried beans and some salsa. It is obviously improved by cheese (i used fat free this time), and avocado slices but pre made guacamole is much better, some sliced tomatoes to top it. Roll it up. See it explode out the sides. Nom Nom Nom.

Saturday evening we went to visit Alex's sister in Beavercreek. Their kids school was having a fundraiser for the adults - Beer Tasting. It was so much fun. You walk in give them you tickets and they put a pink X on your hand. You hang your coat in the coat area and the gym is decorated with low lighting and playing music. Hello...very reminiscent of middle school dance aye? It was super fun anyways.

There was even a 50/50 raffle. They were raffling off three prize baskets and half the ticket proceeds. As I am sure you guess from the photo, I WON. Alex and Dusty (his sister's husband) were joking when the tickets started to be called how funny it would be if I won a very parent specific prize. Luckily this basket was full or beer labeled glasses, beer openers, beer bumber stickers and beer t shirts. Super cool! I am so excited.


Next I am going to break my cardinal rule or blog. Post a picture of me and boyfriend Alex. It was such a cute picture I wanted to post it. We haven't been taking photos lately so its nice to have a new one. 

The next thing I am going to show you is from my new past time. Pinterest. Click here to see my posts. This tasty dish below is something I saw. Call it what you want but its definitely in the Mexican food family to me, Mexican cream cheese chicken perhaps. Super yummy. It starts like this...contains cream cheese, chicken, salsa, black beans, and corn.

Then it looks like this. I served it over brown rice. Super yummy. Next time I think I will add more of something. More veggies perhaps? Peppers and onions? Either way it turned out great. And thickens if you let is set.

I will leave you with these parting thoughts. Motivational Quotes when your feeling down. These were my favorites. 

Wayne Dyer...

"How people treat you is their Karma. How you react is yours"

Jim Rohn...

"Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present"

Mike Ditka...

"Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal"

Albert Einstein...

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"

Erica Jong...

"Everyone has talent. What's rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads"

Ralph Waldo Emerson...

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment"

Carrot Pumpkin Soup

Sunday's are nice. 

I walked the dog. Did my workout video. Put some twirls in my hair following the advice of this new blog my friend showed me. Now my hair is light and bouncy and fun. 

In an effort to procrastinate my homework and wait for them to load I decided to make soup. I am trying to be efficient. So I decided I needed to use up the rest of the pumpkin and the few carrots I had left from my goulash and make soup. I searched in the tasty kitchen and found this recipe Carrot, Ginger and Pumpkin Soup. I don't have real ginger but I do have powder ginger.

FYI - I don't measure. I am a mix and match type of cook. 

I adapted the recipe as I went. First I started with onion and garlic. I love onion and garlic. I cooked it for about 5 minutes. Oh yea there is some olive oil in there. 

 Then I chopped up my carrots.

 I got out the pumpkin.

I mixed them all in the pot and tasted the broth (3 cups - half chicken broth half water). Seemed bland to me. I am trying to stop consuming so much salt so I will stop feeling so fat. Unfortunately my palate craves salt in my food. So I tried my best to season it otherwise.
I threw in various amounts of seasoning including: paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt free original blend, thyme, salt.

 Then I got nervous that it was too broth-y. I kinda like my soups thicker. So I decided to add some protein. Shrimp sauteed with olive oil, paprika, cayenne pepper, and garlic.

 Once I purreed the soup it really thickened up which was great. I added the shrimp and topped with some Parmesan. Turned out pretty good and used ingredients I already had. I have enough leftover for tomorrow as well.

Restaurant Week and Pumpkin Cupcakes

Finding a way to write and post this blog has been like pulling teeth. My internet sucks so bad. I can't wait until I move. I may have to pay for it but at least then it will work consistently. This drives me crazy. 

   Well I have been having a wonderful weekend. It started out on a excellent note. First I solved the cold draft  problem with that saran wrap your window thing. Did it all by myself. I was proud. Boomer was impressed. 

    Then I got to go out for restaurant week. Alex is in Pittsburgh for a "Bro" weekend with a bunch of friends visiting his friend pat. Since that left me dateless for the weekend my good Friend Jackie stepped in. Jackie and I joined Jessa and her boyfriend and another couple they are friends with for a Fantastic Meal. 

    Let me paint you a picture. ;-) 

Price Fix 3 course menu, lots of red wine, and good company. We laughed so much. Jessa's boyfirend Ryan is easy to tease and is nice enough to play along. He also graciously paid for the wine for the evening - Thanks Again Ryan! 

The Full Menu Options can be found here

Course #1

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts - with vidalia onions, almonds, and carrots in Dijon Gastrique

OMG this was AMAZING. Ate it all the. Waitress made fun of me for cleaning the plate with my bread. 

I also got to taste the sun choke soup. It had a great smokey flavor at the bottom of the bite. Idk how else to say it. 

Course #2

Pan Roasted 8 oz New York Strip - with Idaho Potato and Gorgonzola croquette, green beans, peppercorn reduction, and port wine roasted shallot compound butter. 

OMG this was AMAZING. Ate it all the. Waitress made fun of me again. 

 Course #3
Lemon Gingersnap Tart - Lemon custard tart with gingersnap cookie crust, fresh berries, whipped cream , and passion fruit sauce

Really the meal was so good this light dessert rounded out well for me. 

Since there was freezing rain last night, Jackie stayed at my place so she didn't have to drive home in it. It was fun having her around - we used to be roommates FYI. We had a great chat in the morning, just like the old days. And Boomer liked having her here, he loves her. Its noticeable. 

After spending a glorious Saturday relaxing. Napping. I decided to do a little baking tonight. I recently discovered this blog dessert for two. Recipes paired down to only make enough for two. Love it! So this only made 4 cupcakes. Which is great. They won't be hanging around for two long and it was fun. 

Dessert for Two

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chai Buttercream

Step 1 - Dry Ingredients

Step 2 - Wet Ingredients

Step 3 - Whisking

Step 4 - Not Pictured...combine wet and dry ingredients and whisk some more

Step 5 - Put them in the cupcake tray. It makes only 4. Which is awesome. Cause I don't need over a dozen just hanging around.

Step 6 - Bake...mine tool about 26 minutes

Step 7 - Steep a bag of Chai Tea with 2 Tbls hot water.

Step 8 - Beat butter and powder sugar. I sorta made a mess.

 Step 9 - Add the chai tea and continue to beat

 Step 10 - Let the cupcakes cool

Step 11 - Frost

Step 12 - Consume. I looked it up. Approximately 420 calories and 11 grams of fat. Give or take.

Well thanks for reading.
Ktbug

Hello Blog,

  I was once told that I shouldn't write "hello" at the beginning of emails because then the reader knows I am a girl. Well news flash blog world, I am a girl, and I say Hello. 

   I decided on Saturday I should attempt P90X again. The "lean" version because I want to be "lean." Also because I don't want to do the plyo video, I have never tried it and I am told its the hardest one. I don't like video's I can't do. With moves I can't do. I have to be able to do the move and then overtime progress into more reps and better form. 

   Day 1 is core synergistic. I waited to long so I didn't end up doing that video. Which is when I made my second amendment to my p90x plan. I can substitute in cardio at the gym. So on Saturday I walked my butt to the gym. To find 2/4 cardio machines broke and people on the other 2. I decided to write off this day and move on. 

  Part of my plan to motivate me is to actually give myself a gold star (sometimes its not gold) when I workout.  Then I can look at the month and feel better. 

  Boomer sometimes (always) interferes with the workout. He lays on the mat. He licks my face. He stands in the way. How am I supposed to workout like this. During my yoga video he kept walking through the tunnels I created with my body. Like right now I am trying to type and he is doing his best to sit in the way...as close to me as possible...pushing his weight into my arm. 

  I started a new knitting project. I finished a lacy scarf I have had on the needles part way done for years. Yay! One skein wonder. It was a little shorter than I hoped but I wanted to save my other skein for a matching hat. I plan to attempt the hat picture below. Its in the book Knitting to Share.

I plan to use white as the other color. It took me a while to figure out the colorwork part. Sometimes it makes holes like the first picture and sometimes it doesn't like the next picture. Idk. I may tear it out now that I get it and redo the color rows. 

  So I hit a mental block with the whole p90x fitness thing today. I just don't want to do it today. The arguments for powering through are as follows:
1) stick with it you will see results
rebutal: not for at least a month. So its very low on the effort reward scale. Unlike knitting, much higher on the effort reward scale.
2) It will release endorphines that will make you happier.
rebutal: I call bull shit, who feels better doing a wall squat. That hurts like hell. And your gonna have to do a lot of those before your legs will look any better.
3) There is no number 3, I am too mad about the first two.

  Now, boomer is starring at me again. You know the song - "I always feel like someone is watching me..." When you live with Boomer, someone is ALWAYS watching you. And 50% of the time he will be whining because he wants to go outside. He ALWAYS wants to be outside. I walk him plenty.  I am not being inhumane. He just needs to suck it up he lives in an apartment now.

   New plan. Stop buying snacks and sweets. Step 1: Eat the rest of the stock. Step 2: Look like a supermodel. There might be a step 1a in there somewhere. Who knows.

   I like not having any roommates. You don't have to share the bathroom. You don't have to clean until you want to. You can sure no one will mess it up once you clean it. It will be quiet when you want. You can have people over whenever you want.

   Whats missing without roommates. No one to workout with you. No one to watch TV with you. No one to tell you not to chocolate while typing your blog (oops). No one wake you up if you sleep through your alarm. Someone to tell you if your outfit matches before your stuck with it all day. Someone to car pool with.

   I sense I am rambling now so I will stop.

Thanks for reading
Ktbug

P.s. Boomer is still staring at me?
 

I am confused

Hello Blog World

  How are you? Good I hope. Today's post is about what I have been up to, since this is my blog and I can say almost whatever I want. 

  In order to not start with work I will show you my latest knitting project. Zig Zag scarf. I don't often make scarves because I find them boring. But this went pretty fast. It ended up using up the whole skein except for the little bit pictured below. Its acrylic so its not particularly luxuriousness but its pretty and new. 

  I hate that I always start with work, that's why I opened with the scarf. But you know what, work is 5/7 days a week. I have now been working professionally for almost 6 months. I want to clear something up. I like my job. I work with fun people. I do challenging work. That's good. Sometimes its stressful, and sometimes you bump into people you don't particularly like and that may put a veil that I don't like my job over it. But what I want to be clear about is I DO like my job. Part of the first job experience is learning to not let it consume you. I am still learning.

  I am being encouraged to look into getting various certifications. Initially I was overwhelmed because this looks like very intense certification. It requires a lot of studying, and you have to pass a test. I DO NOT test very well. I am smart, but you may not believe me if you looked at my scores only. Oh well. I guess I will just have to start studying cause that's what the boss man wants. 

  Since I am still learning to not let work consume me. Sometimes its still a struggle to figure out how be happy at home on a stressful day. Its so consuming. I want to be perfect and impressive at my first job. I am trying really hard. I am probably just spinning my wheels most days, since my imperfection has a lot less to do with me and a lot more do with everyone else that day.

  These are things I am thinking about. Pretty mundane and general stuff here. Nothing ground breaking. 

  My neighbors are fighting again. I actually only have 1 neighbor. But his girlfriend comes over a lot, just to fight as far as I can tell. They are always yelling at each other. I can't wait to move. I feel like the walls are caving in on me here. I need to be able to spread out more.  

  While Alex is at a beer festival thing with his friends I am having a night at home. I bought myself some treats and wine. It should be nice to unwind with no (know or no? I can never tell) expectations. 

 

   I feel confused. What is even more confusing is I am not sure why.

Thanks for reading
Ktbug

Happy New Year!!

Hello Readers (if your out there)
I hope you had a great holiday season. Any time not spent at work is great and nothing like the holiday's to prompt the use of vacation time. I have been enjoying my time away immensely.

How I spent my Vacation

Part 1 - The Kalters

Spent some quality time with my boyfriend. He is in law school and was basically in finals study mode since before thanksgiving. Things sound a lot like this - "I don't have time to think/talk about anything right now" for a few weeks. His finals occupied him all the way until December 22nd. I started my vacation on the 23rd.

We (a loose use of "we" here) spent my first night off making Christmas presents for his family's gift exchange. I am sorry I didn't take any pictures - I was trying to get it done. We made one of those fleece blankets where you cut the strips all the way around and tie it together. By we I mean me of course. I showed him what to do and he exclaimed "Do you see the perimeter of this thing - you seriously want me to cut strips all the way around! - Isn't this already two separate blankets?" I knew I had lost his attention when he shouted test drive and laid on the less than 10% complete blanket on the kitchen floor.

Now in his defense he pulled an all nighter to get his last paper done and was running in the strange fog that comes when you stay up all night. So I took pity on him and finished it.

I also made chocolate suckers. I had never done this before - so I asked one of the ladies at JoAnn's for some help. I asked if she had ever done melting chocolates before and she said no. She showed me where the stuff for this project was and explained to me how she did her chocolates this year - strange since she just told me she had not done this before - oh well. I got a smiley face sucker molds, green and red melting chocolates, the little bottles to melt them in, and the sucker sticks. They turned out really cute, I will likely make these again sometime.

On the 23rd we headed over to his parent's house to see his family and do the exchange. My boyfriend has 4 older sisters, 2 brother in laws and 4 nieces - there is always a big crowd and its really fun. His nieces are super cute. The newest niece is about 1 month old and I got to hold her - yay! There aren't that many tiny babies in my family so it was fun to see a real life cabbage patch kid.

Three of the nieces are pictured below - SO totally cute.

 

Alex's gift to them (i picked it out) was this cute pink tent. They loved it. The blanket and chocolate suckers were popular gifts in the gift exchange and everyone walked away happy and well fed.

Part 2 - The Lozier's Christmas Eve

My family has this funny tradition where every Christmas eve after church we go to this hibachi restaurant. I don't know if that is strange but we always go and its super fun. I had big plans to photograph the meal. But one thing led to another and I ate most of it before remembering to take a picture. Oops. Ill tell you about it though. 

First course - ginger salad and mushroom soup. Yummy. LOVE the ginger salad dressing. (Pictured Below)

Second course - This time I got filet mingon, this was a great choice way better than the chicken. It is served along with stir fry veggies (zucchini, mushrooms etc.) and fried rice. There are two sauces - a decadent creamy sauce and a lighted soy/ginger flavored sauce. None of it went to waste.

Third course - scene change, we go to our friends house (who is also at dinner with us) for deserts and drinks. Whiskey and wine, cookies and cakes.

All good things must come to an end. Time to sleep and hope santa comes ;-).

Part 3 - Christmas Day 

This is the first year my parents didn't make my 21 year old brother and I sit at the top of the stairs to wait and see if santa came. My parents were redoing the floors at home so Christmas was moved into our small family room. I think that contributed to the change in tradition. Christmas was fun - everyone liked their gifts and had a good day hanging out at home. Blaine came and went (which is very typical of him) to his girl friends house. My boyfriend joined us for dinner. It was great fun. Over the next few days it started to snow and made it finally feel like Christmas. 

Part 4 - Pittsburgh

Alex and I did a quick day trip over to Pittsburgh while we were at my parent house. His best friend from high school recently moved there, since Alex has never been to pitt we thought it would be a fun trip. Since there is an IKEA there I was sold. An epic wrong turn led us on a crazy trip through the city to get to our friends house, we made it and got to see more of the city. 

My prized purchase while at Ikea is the blue dutch oven (cast iron pot) I purchased. We helped Pat (the friend we were visiting) purchase a new couch. We enjoyed a few beers and a giant sandwich at FatHead Saloon. It was fantastic - highly recommended the restaurant. 

Part 5 - New Years Eve

For Christmas I got the pioneer women's cookbook and made the egg in a hole. Very yummy - mostly cause of the butter - but still recommended (both the book and the egg). 

To celebrate new years eve we went to vino vino with my friend and her boy friend. Had lots of wine and fantastic food. Baked brie and goat cheese for appetizer. I had crab cakes for entree. We had two bottles of yummy white wine and a bottle of champagne esq bubbly. And a chocolate flight - white, milk, and dark chocolate - creme brulee. OMG so good.

After a good meal we had a some drinks with our college buddies, brought in the new year on the dance floor at a local bar. And as i carried my heels home, we hailed a cab to end our night bringing in the new year. 2012 is gonna be awesome.

Part 6 - New Years Day

I must eat pork and sauerkraut on January 1st. Every year without fail, its for good luck I think. I found this fantastic recipe on the pioneer womens blog. You must try it. 

It is super easy to make. You just get a dutch oven (which I did a few days earlier) brown the meat in some oil on all sides. Deglaze the pot with some sugar free applesauce.

Dump some sauerkraut in pot. Put the mean on top. Chop and onion into big chunks and stick them on top. Cover and bake at 325 for 1.5 hours, check and make sure there is enough liquid, bake for another hour, and then take the lid off and bake for 30 more minutes.

While this was baking I finally finished my first toe up two at a time pair of socks. I love toe up and two at a time. The sizing is a little off but now I know for next time.

The final product of pork is served on mashed potatoes with green beans steamed and sauteed with garlic. The pork is tender and falls apart without a knife. The kraut if sweet and tangy and is amazing. The onions cooked tender and really soak up the flavor of the pork.

Its incredible. Alex says its the best thing I have made in a while.

I also served it with salad. I was trying to replicated the apple gorgonzola salad from Bucca di Beppo with this. I think it turned out pretty good. I don't think I bought enough lettuce so it got a bit soggy from the dressing. And I couldn't find sugar glazed walnuts so I used cinnamon roasted almonds.

Part 7 - Resolutions

What is a new year without vowing to not make the same mistakes you made last year. That is really what a resolution is right. Promising yourself that you will do and be better. My resolutions this year fall into several categories. Its time I got my act together. 

Professionally

- Succeed at my first job. Seek to be happy, hard working, confident and proud. 

Personally

- Work on my relationship with Alex. I love him a lot.  

- Work on my friendships. Where is a girl without her girlfriends. 

- Give everyone the benefit of the doubt - lord knows I have my bad days and who am I to hold anything against anyone else. If I am happy personally then that should manifest in every other facet of my life. 

Physically

- Whats a new years resolution list without vowing to get in the best shape of my life. Hopefully this year it will happen. 

Ultimately I want this to be the best year ever. No regrets. The five resolutions I have listed here are what I think will make me happy if I succeed. Honestly I have no idea what will do it, but I have to keep trying. I will finish school forever (hopefully I won't ever have to go back) this year. Alex has a great job lined up for this summer. I will have my first full year as a working girl. Nothing in particular is looming in the future, all the makings of a great year. 

Thanks for reading - Happy New Year!

Ktbug