I'm back

So, I have been quite AWOL for a long time but promise not to leave for this long again. I have had a wonderful couple of weeks-went to Moscow to watch Steph and a few of her friends graduate from college (first one in our family to do that!) and then a trip to Atlanta to get her settled. We had an awesome time and now WE want to move there. I do like Alaska but.....Atlanta...LOVED it!!

I am off work now for the summer and am in the midst of planting and trying to clean up this place. We still talk about listing it with a realtor but so far have not. I would love to have a smaller house here and then a townhouse in Atlanta to spend my Christmas break as well as my summers there. It has been pointed out to me that that this is very backwards--winters in Alaska and summers in the HOT HOT South but that would be pretty consistent with my usual pattern-backwards!!

Jeff and I are going on a strict diet (yes!! a new one-this is just a never ending theme with me) starting the first of June. We will be "clean eating" (read NO WINE or sugar :( ) and doing the P90X workout videos. I will keep you posted-if I live thru it although, I will probably live but kill Jeff-he annoys me when we diet together. I lose a pound-he loses three dress sizes.

But, until then I plan on drinking the vino, snacking on EVERYTHING and pretty much having an awesome weekend. Charlie and Sam will be here Tuesday, Blaise may swing by for a bite at some point and time and STEPH....she will be here in spirit but whooping it up in Atlanta-you go GIRL!!

Here are a couple of quick pictures--yes, the can of sauerkraut and the ring of sausage--dinner!! This is what happens when I don't want to deal with Fred Meyers on Friday night!

Winter has returned

Wednesdays Dinner-a nice break from leftover HAM!



















Well, this Swiss Chard and Asparagus stirfry did have some of the aforementioned LEFTOVER HAM!

YES! It is snowing AND blowing and it feels much more like October than April. I used to love the saying "April showers bring May flowers" although growing up in Tok that had NO MEANING what-so-ever. But, the idea is so lovely, don't you think? We did have purple crocuses that would peek through the snow but they were few and far between.

None of this matters when today--it is winter again! I wanted to curl back into bed, watch a little odd TV-- Tales from the Darkside or The Outer Limits. My kids think these are just the creepiest shows but I think they are sooo fun!! Nothing like a little dark TV first thing in the morning. But, darker still is the fact that I got out of bed, threw on my favorite yoga pants, and after LULU's drive-thru made it to work with moments to spare.

My puppies are behaving poorly. I have a heavy heart (much like I did when my children were up to no good-this means you BLAISE!!) when I say that my puppy (Abby) peed on my bed last night. I accused Jeff of this misdeed but he wasn't going for it. I hate to be the bad guy but she got a prompt spanking (one little rap on the bottom) and got sent to the dining room for the rest of the night. She is a tough read-her little face always looks very contrite so either she feels very bad about it or is just kinda laughing in her own little cross-eyed way-maybe even giving me a little middle finger action in her own little MIND!

Dinners this week-frozen pizza tonight!!

( this is Abby--she likes the look of the organic veggies)







So--here it is.. My dinners for the week! I have cooked the BEST dinners, used organic veggies and eaten light! I am SOOO GOOD!!! But....tonight-we had frozen pizza, topped with sliced ORGANIC tomatoes and roasted cauliflower and it was AWESOME!!

Jeff has hockey tonight so it is just me and the puppies (the puppies who have EAR MITES!! YES, this is true even though the vet ( I think she is twelve) has NEVER SEEN ear mites in DOGS-our puppies have them. FOR the LOVE OF GOD!!! I am now absolutely positive that our beloved puppies are from a PUPPY MILL! I find this hard to believe (Karen, if you are reading this--of course, I know that you are not , BUT IF YOU ARE-SHAME on YOU!!) My little 8 lbs dogs are being driven crazy by small crab like creatures(SHUDDER) and I AM VERY sad for them. So-with a massive dose of killer medicine I am ready to face the ....infestation!! EWWW!!

Okay, I am moving on from this-I will let you know how it pans out. I currently have everything we own in the wash ( Again, thanks KAREN-Puppy MILL OWNER) I am hoping to hit the hay soon. Taking my little pups (bugs and all) and hitting the hay!)

So, following a night of frozen pizza (it rocked) I am OFF!!!

I think that Spring has in fact...SPRUNG!!

The snow is not melting, the flowers are not blooming but the SUN IS OUT!! I don't know if anyone who does not live in Alaska can fully appreciate the darkness that we have been shrouded in for 9 MONTHS!! I go to work in the dark...I come home in the dark. I have grown sooooo weary of darkness but now..the sun has come back and life is good again! It is 6:15 and yes, the sun is still high in the sky ( not as high as it is going to be...but in the sky--YEA!!)

Here are a couple of photos that we took while Steph was in town--I MISS HER!!

Here is the diet version of our summer drink-

*crushed ice

*lemon juice

*light tequila (the color is light and Steph thinks that means the calories are less....not sure if this it true or not

***Blend and then add a couple of tablespoons of limeade

Rub a little lime juice on the rim of the glass, turn upside down onto a plate of sugar and a bit of salt...pretty much HEAVEN in a glass!!!

Dinner is in the oven as I speak (or write) and I am pretty excited about this concoction! It is a vegetarian lasagna which includes, eggplant, zucchini, red chard, onions, garlic, cheese and noodles. I think it is going to be AWESOME--I will let you know if it is! Here are some photos of the process-yes, it was a bit of a process but what the heck...it isn't like I have any little kids who need my help with anything, although these puppies...they are keeping me busy.

UPDATE: I was a "tad" confused by the recipe directions--It said DRY lasagna noodles and NO where in the directions did it mention cooking pasta--so...based on MUCH research that says noodles do NOT need to be cooked prior to making the lasagna...I seem to have less than perfect lasagna in the oven! I will need to ply the husband with MUCH wine prior to taking the crunchy lasagna out of the oven. Should be easy.....I will keep you posted !!

Atlanta!!

So, after much agonizing over what to do with the rest of her life my Stephie has a plan! She worried about what this year would bring, whether she should graduate or not, would she go away for the summer to Europe, take classes....there were just so many options!! But--she is moving to ATLANTA!! This has worked out so well that it can only be viewed as a "God Thing" as we could not have planned it nearly this well on our own. She has an apartment lined up and a job. We are so proud of her!!

My only complaint is that I will be living in Fairbanks...not in Atlanta! I love the South...I love the food, the humidity, the flowers--the only thing I don't love is the bugs. But I don't like Moose either and I live in Fairbanks. Seems kinda the same. Can't wait to see her walk in her graduation and see her go to her first day of work...gonna be awesome!!

Now, if I can only get the other daughter convinced that we will need to go down at least one other time this summer to visit. I really must go and visit the WATERPARK!!! Maybe I can convince the whole fam damily to go!!! I just love having the husband and the kids at a waterpark(although we have never been able to convince Jeff that sunscreen IS his friend!)

Cheers to a plan, a purpose and a summer in ATLANTA!!!

Wedding photos and pasta for dinner

We finally got the wedding photos and I must say---they are awesome!! So pleased!! We planned so long and when all is said and done--pretty much a crap shoot. Everything is kind of left up to the gods of circumstance. We got lucky and this wedding was so perfect!! Charlotte had done her homework and she really had everything planned down to the last detail but....being a struggling photographer I do understand that photos can be good...or GREAT!! I do think we got some great photos here. (A beautiful bridal party always helps!!)



Cooking show for tonight: Chopped--The food Channel-GREAT SHOW!! Who would ever want this pressure--EWW!!




The veggies for the pasta-broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, shallots, garlic, green onion, red pepper, and summer squash( this would be zuchinni but I don't know how to spell it so there you go)



Dinner-pasta, veggies with feta and parmesan. The garlic toast with cheese (another kind of cheese I can't spell but starts with m and has some z's in it-think pizza cheese) was really lovely AND fattening!! I think I had three pieces!



And to finish this all off-photos of the couple-Sam and Charlie--Wedded bliss...or at least...ignorance is bliss...or something like that!! We love you guys!

Chopped Salad update

The chopped salad was soooo good! I get a little tired of salad that is just chunks of lettuce with stuff on top but this was really a nice change. The best part was the home made dressing-just the right amount of tangy!

I Hulu'd Ghost Whisperer and started chopping!




I always watch TV when I cook which is odd. When the kids were little I never wanted them watching TV so I was alot better about tuning in so much. But now.....not so good. Maybe I didn't watch much TV because I like creepy stuff (note the screen above) and it always terrified the girls. STeph is especially sensitive to things that are remotely scary. She will never let me forget renting an old Bette Davis movie in which her character is being driven crazy by a friend and they roll a fake head down the stairs. This apparently was quite scaring for my small children-good job MOM!!

I had assumed that all black and white movies were "safe" viewing. I know better now but of course it is too late--the damage has been done. I guess I can relate to this a bit as I watched a show called "Green Slime" when I was about 8 and never slept again...well, that might be an exaggeration but you get my point.

Onto dinner-chopped salad!


I didn't use as many veggies as I thought I would but I liked the combination:
Avocados, bacon, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese, green onion and purple cabbage--I think that is it.




And here is the husbands photo-this is take number 37. Poor man thinks he is a "real" photographer. This fallacy is quite apparent when he takes the SLR camera, sets it on Auto and then proceeds to try and FOCUS the thing. What can I say, at least he is charming and handsome so I guess I will keep him.

Black bean, Sweet Potato and Kale Enchiladas ...sooo good!

Ahhh, another cookbook on the way from Amazon!! Again, the debate--another diet book OR another cookbook. The cookbook WON out- I can't wait for it to arrive on the homefront. Although I have realized that I rarely cook out of cookbooks. I almost always get recipes online, looking for specific items that I have on hand. I sit and LOOK at cookbooks for hours on end though so what the heck-cheap entertainment.



This recipe that I used tonight was from an online source but it is a Moosewood Recipe so.....maybe on some cosmic level this all makes sense....The only change I made to the original recipe was to add the Kale which added color and flavor. What really made this recipe rock was the homemade tortilla shells. I know I have talked about them before but you will NEVER eat another store bought shell again once you make your own. These are the easiest things in the world to make and they are amazing. I made a couple extra and then just fried them with some PAM and a little cheese in the middle. NUMMMO!




Sweet potatoes from Thursday's CSA box





I cubed the potatoes and boiled them until they got soft enough to mash up





Sauteed shallots, garlic with a bit of chicken broth,green chilies, wine and black beans. I threw the kale in a pot of boiling water for a minute or two just to soften it up a bit.



I rolled out the tortilla shells, cooked them, and then filled them. I did top the finished product with a bit of cheese and salsa.



The finished product!! EXCELLENT (even if I do say so myself)




An old guy and his food-not to mention his WINE!! He looks pretty happy-in a simple minded, sort of way!

And so my weekend is winding down. Aside from the HUGE pile of laundry I am supposed to be doing (yes, I am blogging instead of washing) I have a pretty open evening ahead of me. Sam and Charlie should be driving home from Anchorage about now. I BETTER have an ARBY's heading my way or heads are gonna roll!! Charlotte is very good about forgetting these small requests of mine (I think this is because she is not as motivated by food as I am) Steph on the other hand would NEVER forget the Arby's --she would know that my day has been filled with visions of roast beef, topped with horseradish sauce!

But, for now I will make chopped salad for dinner. I have never made it before but it sounds quite intriguing...
The directions are as follows:
All veggies must be the same size, use as many colored veggies as you can find, throw together. There should be plenty of fresh herbs and the dressing must be homemade and use Fancy vinegars such as champagne vinegar (YES--I did make this part up but I do have this vinegar on hand!)

Here is what I will be using:

avocado

bacon

purple cabbage

romaine lettuce

feta cheese

hard boiled eggs

red pepper

celery

peas

cucumber

green onion

and anything else I can find. I will post pictures but now I must go and make some chocolate chip cookies and turn my new Norah Jones CD back on play!! Puppies are snoozing, the fire is crackling and that laundry is just NOT washing itself!!

Beignets!

Ah, the children are in town!! Well, not really children as they are grown up and married BUT...to me they are the children!! Charlotte's husband Sam is playing with his brother's band this weekend opening for Mercy Me. They will play Thursday, Friday and then head to Anchorage and play there one night. Jeff and I thought we


would go down but being the semi lazy poops that we are we decided that there is in fact...no place like home. MAYBE I will start some seeds. We shall see as that would require I actually use the new soil block makers that I bought (no-I have done nothing with them).




BUT...tonight my night is going to be quite extraordinary! Charlotte is making beignets for us!! They are currently dough, rising to perfection in a pan on the back of the stove. At EXACTLY 9:00 she will start cutting them and then..yes, she will start to deep fry them!! Almost like being in New Orleans!!

My week has been spent pondering the reasoning behind living in this frozen, dark stretch of the planet. WHY live here when people all over are thinking about blooming trees, tulips breaking through the ground and grass starting to green up. WHY??
Well, I suppose the fact that we have jobs here, two of our three kids live here and we are in debt up to our eyeballs here. THAT may be the reason but, is it a good reason???? This I am not sure of but the one thing I do know is that we have wonderful friends here. That in itself may be the REAL reason that we stay and fight the cold, the dark and the knowledge that spring is NOT around the corner!

But tonight none of that matters! For tonight WE DINE on Beignets!!!!!!!!!

My lonely dinner watching a netflix movie--pretty good flick.


Fried purple potatoes with/greens (kale, mustard greens, and all other matter of greens) with a poached egg cracked on top. AWESOME!!



So-this is just a photo of what Jeff eats every day for breakfast. I eat oatmeal with pecans, vanilla milk and a banana EVERYDAY for breakfast. He eats this on a regular basis and he isn't fat....what the heck is up with that!! In my next life-Gonna be a 20 year old male--forever -gonna totally ROCK the sleeve tattoos (these I don't have BUT if I did come back as a male-oh...the tattoos I would sport!!) ANd I would just eat the french toast!!

Do I have a moral to this story??? No--I guess I would just say-if you are a 20 year old male-GET SOME TATS! If you are a 20 year old female (this if for my girls--thank GOD for your good genes--you won't be fat, cranky or mean BUT you may drink too much wine-I am monitoring this STEPH-fear not) AND let's see ...smile more, fear less and live like every minute matters!

What a bad blogger I am!!

I am not sure why I have not posted anything in awhile...hmm...nope, I got no excuse! I guess I just get sidetracked on a pretty regular basis and... Jeff and I have put our house up for sale! We have talked about it AND TALKED ABOUT IT but for the most part that has been about it. We live on the river and that makes the house in that "upper end" real estate that is currently not selling in Fairbanks. (according to the realtors that we have spoken to) Hence, the Craig's list and Alaska list adds!

Aside from the fact that we live on the river--We are NOT river people. Now, I do like a boat-on a lake-with a fishing pole and a sandwich but racing up and down the river...EEK-Not a fan!! This is our second house on the Chena. Both times the houses have kind of fallen into our laps and we have loved both houses but it is just time to move on. So-if you need a house on the Chena-call my people! (no, I don't really have people but if I did...you could call them. Otherwise, check out Alaska list)

UPDATE: the S diet.
What an easy thing for me to follow!! I am pretty much the queen of this diet. Remember the rules?
no snacks
no sweets
no seconds
EXCEPT for days that start with S (Saturday, Sunday and Special Days)

Oh, YA! This has been the easiest thing in the world for me to follow. Not sure why but....I like it. Have I lost ANY weight?? NO!! Not a pound. So, I have to ask myself ....why?

Maybe it is the EXTRA large breakfast, lunches and dinners I eat now. Yes....that could be it! I now eat two pieces of bread with dinner because the only rule is that it has to fit on a normal size plate (there has been no info on how high the plate can be stacked)

Previously, I never ate bread or BUTTER! God Forbid you eat the butter! But with the no S diet.......eat all the damn butter you want!! I can only say "Thank you JESUS"

Did I mention there is no limit to wine????! You know this is the diet for me!!

When I hit the mark on the scale at the gym that makes you "move the heavy thing" up a notch- I may go back to calorie counting (I call this death by number but that is only my take on it)

BUT-until then....the NO S diet is going quite well thank you.

I will leave you with a few parting pictures of Saturdays dinner. Sorry, tonight is left over minestrone-not exciting at all.



Broccoli Salad



Marinating Chicken Breast



Salsa made with the tomatoes and avocados that came in the CSA box NUMMY!!



Grilled chicken sandwiches w/swiss cheese/onion/sprouts and Grey Poupon!!

Pad Thai, Dumplings and boxed wine!!

Here is the ground up chicken for the dumplings--I ran chicken tenders through the food processor because I didn't have ground pork--it worked WELL!!



cooking dumplings!






Dinner!!

My day off nursing puppies has not turned out quite as I had hoped for. According to the Dr.s at the clinic--these two little turds cannot play together for 10 Days! Seriously!! This is going to be .....hard. I have been home with them now for about 8 hours and this is not working out so well. Of course, Bosely-had a little snip here, a little snip there--he is doing GREAT!! Abby--"must not play, must not be have contact with 'Bosley' (the evil male)".

So--I COOKED!! My answer to all stressful situations. I would have much rather made cookies but it was not to be. Jeffrey get your butt home and eat your dumplings, your Pad thai and for God's sake- grab yourself a glass of boxed wine!!