April Goal Review

1. Budget – Stick to my spending limits! I'm over in three categories this month, gas, groceries, and eating out.  At the point, spending a lot on gas can't be helped.  Gas is expensive and I have to drive.  I don't live in an area that is pedestrian-friendly nor can I walk or take public transportation to work.  I'm trying to batch errands and avoid driving as much as possible, but it's difficult.  As far as groceries and dining out, yes grocery prices are rising, but let's just call this one an overall fail.

2. Food - Stop collecting recipes.  I only printed recipes that I knew I needed (a cookie recipe and something I REALLY wanted to make for dinner) and the rest I either ignored or added to my Pinterest board.

3. Blogging - Set aside time each day to blog.  As I disappeared for a week this month, this just didn't happen.

4. Social - Stay connected.  I was much better about reaching out to people and hanging with lots of different people.  I feel much better about social things this month.

5. Personal - Organize my office.  Um, this didn't happen.  Maybe next month. 

How did you do with your goals this month?

Weekly Wanderings

Food:
Fresh Gnocchi with Mushroom Cream Sauce - Must make homemade gnocchi.  Must make a mushroom cream sauce.  Must make this recipe as soon as possible. 

Mini Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon Glaze - Somehow I think that might life would be more complete if I owned mini bundt pans and made individually-sized desserts to serve at the dinner parties I never actually throw.

Pasta with Marscapone, Chicken, Sundried Tomatoes, and Spinach - I totally blame The Pioneer Woman for any weight I gain related to all the pasta recipes she shared this week.

Polka Dot Cake - How adorable is this?? And super simple too.  I need an occasion to make this.

Everything Else:

How to avoid the “My homemade food must be fat-free, sugar-free, salt-free, and 100% whole grain!” mindset – Kristen at The Frugal Girl has a way of putting exactly the right words in her post.  If you’ve ever been terrified of how much butter/sugar/salt/etc is going into your homemade foods, read this post.

The Librarians Antidefamation League versus Nabisco – I usually don’t like the Annoyed Librarian, but this post was laugh-out-loud funny.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and if you haven’t read it, you will too.

In Defense of Chick Lit – Some of you may have read the slightly obnoxious comments (brand new) Pulitzer Prize winner novelist Jennifer Egan made in the New York Times about chick lit.  I’ll let you read both the original article and the subsequent response post on The Frisky and let you make your own judgment on whether or not Egan should have said what she said.  But I agree wholeheartedly with Jamie Beckman’s last line “Now’s the time to advocate for your fellow writers, not step on other women as you make your way to the podium”.

Brian Cooley: Libraries Are for the Very Old or the Very Unemployed – Be ready to be offended and then read The Krafty Librarian’s excellent response to these ridiculous claims.  

Don't forget you can check out everything else I'm liking by following me on Pinterest!  

This post is linked to Friday Favorites.

Devestation and Heartbreak

Many of you are aware that I live in Alabama and I received several tweets and an even an email from concerned readers inquiring about my safety.  I thank you so much for your kind thoughts and I assure everyone that I am okay.  The major storms in my area were south and north of me and I only had some minor wind damage (limbs down, shingles missing) from some straight-line winds that came through yesterday morning.

I wish I could say the same for the rest of my state.

This is a picture of a community about 20 minutes north of my house.

 

I have mentioned before that I attended library school (and undergrad) at The University of Alabama which is located in Tuscaloosa.  Tuscaloosa was one of the hardest hit areas and at least 15 deaths have been confirmed.  We knew it was going to be bad when we saw the actual tornado barreling down on the town that I spent 6 years in. 

I don't think anyone could have imagined such destruction and such devastation.  This picture was taken on one of the main highways in Tuscaloosa and is about a block from where I used to live.  

My heart is breaking for my friends who lost their homes, cars, and so much of their lives.  The damage from this storm is unbelievable and so sad.  I hope you will join me in praying for those that have been affected by this powerful storm.

If you would like to help, the best thing to do is to donate to The Red Cross.  You can do that by texting "REDCROSS" to 90999 to make a $10 general donation or you can visit this site to donate money directly to the Birmingham chapter of the American Red Cross. 

If you would like to see more pictures of the devastation from around the state of Alabama, the Flikr stream set up by The Crimson White, The University of Alabama's student paper, and The Alabama Weather Blog have some great (and horrible) shots.

No New Recipes Today

I don't have a recipe to share with you today!  My menus have been really boring lately and I haven't tried any new recipes (with the exception of the amazing pizza I made last week).  Part of that is because I've been going out to dinner a lot (for legitimate reasons) and because I've been trying to eat everything that's in my house to prevent food waste. 

I also set an April goal of not printing any new recipes.  While I haven't entirely stuck to this, I have been doing a much better job of not bringing home countless new recipes to try. 

That doesn't mean I haven't been spending lots of time pursuing new recipes.  I just haven't been printing them out.  Instead, I've been pinning them. 

My friend Ashley sent me an invitation to Pinterest forever ago, but I didn't get around to checking it out since early this month.  And now I'm obsessed.  And I pin things, especially recipes, obsessively. 

So what is Pinterest, exactly? Pinterest is like a giant bulletin board where you put up pictures of all your favorite things, except it's online and you are "pinning" things you find online.  You create boards, title them, pin your favorite new finds, and share them with the world (or at least, other Pinterest users).  You can check out other peoples' boards and "repin" their finds.  You can also "follow" other users and certain boards.  You can even add a "Pin It" button in your browser.  It's super cool and super addicting.

So instead of printing new recipes out, I've been pinning them to my recipe board.  I'm quite addicted and I think you should be too. :)

If you are already on Pinterest, follow me!  If you aren't on Pinterest, but want to be, email me at lizy1285 [at] gmail [dot] com and I will send you an invitation!

Disclosure: I am NOT affiliated with Pinterest and no one is paying me to say anything about the site.  I just think it's super awesome and think you should think it's super awesome as well. 

Menu Plan Monday

This is one of those weeks where I plan my menu as I'm wrote this post.  I was out of town this weekend, the grocery store was closed yesterday, and I have plans for today and tomorrow, so I'm not even going to get to go to the store until Wednesday.  Luckily, I have plenty in my fridge and freezer to keep me fed. 

I probably have enough stuff in my refrigerator and freezer to keep me fed for three weeks.  But that's a different story.

Sunday
Dinner: Stuffed shells (verdict: decent, would buy again if I had a coupon)

Monday
Lunch: Beginning my post-Lenten gorging with a Soho Club wrap from Wall Street Deli
Dinner: Continuing with the gorging at Mugshots and a huge hamburger

Tuesday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: grabbing something on my way to babysit

Wednesday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Roasted shrimp, green beans (bumped from last week)

Thursday
Lunch: Soup and sandwich
Dinner: Happy hour with friends

Friday
Lunch: Leftovers, a sandwich, or something else boring
Dinner: Celebrating the royal wedding with Britain's unofficial national dish of chicken tikka masala and homemade naan 

Saturday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Girls' Night In  - we always have a potluck and I'm in charge of the main dish and bread.  I think I'm going to make turkey divan, but with chicken because I don't have any turkey.  And possibly the best rolls ever. 

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a blessed and happy Easter.  Whether you celebrate this holiday as a spring celebration with bunnies and dyed eggs or as Christ's resurecction, I wish you all a very happy holiday!

Happy Easter!

Weekend Reads

I know this is a really bad picture, but Caty is in it, therefore it's an awesome picture. :)



What are you reading this Easter weekend?

Food Waste Friday

It's been a while since I've done a food waste Friday post, but in that time, I've only had one week where things were really terrible.  I can't remember all that I threw away, but I do remember it being really bad. 

This week wasn't too terrible.  I had some leftover pasta that wasn't enough to make a meal out of and I never got around it eating it as a snack and I lost half of a red onion in the back of the refrigerator.  I meant to cut it up and freeze it, but it got hidden behind something and when I found it this morning it had started to sprout and felt really soft to the touch. 

Other than that, the fridge is looking very empty so I'm pleased!

Did you waste any food this week?

This post is linked to Food Waste Friday.

My Love/Hate Relationship with Spring

Love: Watching the daffodils bloom in February.
Hate: Watching all the daffodils die because we had another freeze.

Love: The first green leaves on the trees.
Hate: The smell of Bradford Pears in bloom.  Dead fish smell = disgusting.

Love: Putting on open-toed shoes for the first time in months.
Hate: My ashy, pasty skin.

Love: Seeing flowers everywhere.
Hate: Not being able to open my eyes in the mornings because my allergies are so bad.

Love: The smell of a clean spring rain.
Hate: Tornadoes.

What do you love/hate about spring?

A Lenten Update

I had big plans to post regular updates on my Lenten promise to give up meat.  But seeing as how this is me we are talking about, of course that didn't happen. 

I'm sure you're not surprised. :)

I intended for this Lent to be very meaningful and to think of Christ and His sacrifice every time I was tempted to eat meat, but that didn't really happen either.  I was very conscious of my choices and my reasonings at the beginning of the Lenten season, but as I got used to choosing vegetarian options, this sort of went by the wayside. 

However, in terms of sticking with my promise, I think I did very well.  In the past 43 days, I have eaten meat twice.  Once in an egg roll (pork) and in a few wantons (pork again) in some wanton soup and the other time was a chicken biscuit (chicken. obviously). 

Wait, do the egg roll and wantons count as two separate incidences?  I'm going to say no.

The Chinese food meat intake happened because a) I was sick, b) they were out of hot and sour soup (how this happened I have no idea), and c) I can't eat Chinese without ordering an egg roll.  It's un-American.  Or is it un-Chinese?  Probably un-American.

So that was really an accident.  I had a sinus infection and was very medicated and not thinking clearly.  So - not my fault.  Plus I had a great case of Catholic guilt after which has to count for something.

The chicken biscuit incidence was not a mistake.  It was intentional.  I was running late for work, I was starving, and dammit, I wanted a freaking chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-A! (Side note: Chick-fil-A is the only place where I will eat a chicken biscuit.  Whoever says a chicken biscuit is a chicken biscuit is a liar.)  So I allowed myself to be even later for work and got my chicken biscuit and some tater tots. (Second side note: Chick-fil-A is also the only place where I will eat tater tots.  I'm not weird at all.  Not one bit.) 

And you know what?  That chicken biscuit didn't taste good.  Not at all.  I was devastated.  Here I had made myself late for work (okay, so not that big of deal), sat in a never ending drive-thru line, paid close to $6.00 for breakfast, and broke my Lenten promise for chicken that tasted bad. 

I have no idea if my taste buds were off from not eating meat or if that chicken biscuit really wasn't great to begin with.  Needless to say, one bad experience has not stopped me from craving a chicken biscuit almost every day. 

So what have I learned from this experience?  I've learned:
1. Being a vegetarian is hard.  It gets you weird looks, especially in the south.  It's hard to eat out at places with limited options (such as my hospital cafeteria which specializes in chicken wings and hot dogs).  And peanut butter and jelly gets really old really fast.
2. Being a vegetarian does not mean weight loss.  If anything, I've probably gained weight from relying too much on pasta, cheese, and other, wonderful but unhealthy, dairy options. 
3. I like tofu. And quinoa.  And veggie burgers. Okay, these are all things I've eaten before, but I reaffirmed the fact that I like them.  I didn't expand my vegetarian cooking options quite as much as I hoped, but I did try a few new recipes.
4. That I cannot be a vegetarian forever.  My waistline can't handle it and I really like having the option of eating meat when I want to.
5. That giving up something for Lent just for the sake of giving up something doesn't mean jack if you don't keep the real reason behind it.

Lent comes to an end on Sunday and I've already planned out exactly where I'm going to be eating on Monday.  I'm sure I'm going to make myself sick eating meat three times in one day , but I really want a hamburger! And a chicken biscuit.

Did you give up anything for Lent?  How did you do?  What did you learn?

White Pizza with Spinach and Caramelized Onions

As I said on Twitter the other night, this is BEST pizza I have ever made.  It simple and oh so delicious.  I can't think of a single thing that I would change, which may be a first for me.  I'm always tweaking my recipes, but this one is just be perfect.  It's a keeper recipe, that's for sure.

White Pizza with Spinach and Caramelized Onions
makes one 14" pizza or one cookie sheet sized pizza

Crust:
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 cup warm (110 degrees or so) water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
scant 3/4 teaspoon salt

Pizza topping:
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup ricotta cheese (splurge and use whole-milk here, it does make a difference)
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons garlic bread seasoning or other pizza seasoning
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 ounces fresh baby spinach, stems removed

Make your crust: combine all the ingredients in stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on 2 for 4-5 minutes or until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl.  Cover the bowl and allow it to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes.  Transfer it to the refrigerator and let it continue to rise for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake, remove the crust from the refrigerator and stretch it into a rough oval on a lightly greased surface.  Cover and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.  Grease your pizza pan or cookie sheet with olive oil (helps the crust get crispy).  Stretch out your dough the best you can to make it fit.  Cover and let it rest another 15 minutes.  Come back and finish stretching it out.  Your crust will be thin.  Preheat your oven to 425 and then cover and set aside the crust while you make the topping.

Melt two tablespoons of butter (with a teaspoon or so olive oil if you like) in a medium skillet over medium low heat.  Add in thinly sliced onions, cover and let the onions sweat for 10 minutes.  Uncover, and continue to cook, over medium low heat, for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Meanwhile, mix your cheeses and seasoning in a bowl and set aside for flavors to marry.  Lightly (2-3 minutes tops) wilt your spinach in a skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil.  Put it in a strainer to drain. 

When your onions are almost done, pop your crust in the oven for 10 minutes.  Remove the crust from the oven and brush with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Season your caramelized onions with salt and pepper to taste and mix them in with your cheeses.  Spread the cheese/onion mixture over the hot crust and then top with the wilted spinach.  Return to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until crust is crisp and the cheese is beginning to brown.  Serve warm.  YUM!!

-Adapted from King Arthur Flour

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday, Tuesday Night Supper Club, and Delicious Dishes.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was a bad week.  Not in terms of menu planning or eating according to plan, but just a bad week in general.  I always feel like Mondays are a clean slate.  And I really need a clean slate after last week.  I think a week of simple, easy to fix, but still well-planned meals is a great way to climb out of my slump and get back in the swing of things.

Sunday
Homemade pizza (recipe coming soon!)

Monday
Lunch - peanut butter and jelly, chips, carrots, hummus
Dinner - leftover pizza

Tuesday
Lunch - leftover pizza, fruit
Dinner - grab something while on the way to babysit

Wednesday
Lunch - soup, crackers and cheese
Dinner - roasted shrimp, green beans

Thursday
Lunch - veggie burger, macaroni and cheese
Dinner - out with friends

Friday 
Going out of town!

This week looks terribly boring doesn't it?  Since I'm leaving town on Friday, I wanted to eat up a lot of things in the fridge and freezer that could potentially go bad.  I don't have that much in there, but it's always best to be on the safe side.  Plus, with rising food and gas prices (not to mention all the money I spent at the mall yesterday), I thought it best to keep the grocery bill down as much as possible this week. 

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

PS: Have you noticed the blog changes I've made?  Look for more coming later this week! 

Changes Ahoy!

Well, hello there!

I realize it's been almost a week since I last posted and I apologize.

Tap tap...are you still there?

I sure hope so! 

If you are reading this through your feed reader or in an email, I invite you to click over now.  You may be in for a surprise.

Notice anything different?  A new title perhaps?  The new domain name?

I have finally (finally!) made the jump to my own domain name and changed the title of this here humble blog.  Since I'm approaching the one year mark of being gainfully employed, I figured the time was ripe for changes. 

That and I'm not so much the newly employed librarian any more.  :)

The next few weeks will be bringing several other surprises.  The content will not be changing, however.  I'll still be here sharing recipes and the general randomness you've come to expect.  But, by all means, if you have any suggestions or ideas of what you would like to see more of (or less, your choice), please feel free to drop me an email or leave a comment!

Menu Plan Monday

This weekend was crazy so I didn’t plan my menu until very late Sunday night.  I had an absolutely terrible week last week for food waste; I was so embarrassed I didn’t even do a post.  Trust me when I say it was that bad. 

This week I’m trying to prevent that from happening again, so I’ve drafted a menu that uses up things in my refrigerator (spinach and a variety of cheeses being the two biggest things I’m concerned about).  I also seem to have an abundance of chips and crackers in my pantry; I foresee them making an appearance in my lunch box this week. 

I had dinner with my parents on Sunday and am cooking for dad on Tuesday lest you think I’m suddenly cooking major meals just for me. :)

Sunday

Shrimp and asparagus risotto

Monday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Leftovers and fruit

Tuesday

Lunch: Out with a friend

Dinner: Mushroom and spinach pasta, garlic-cheese flatbread  

Wednesday

Lunch: Soup and sandwich

Dinner: Leftovers

Thursday

Lunch: Leftovers if needed; sandwich if I’m out of leftovers

Dinner: Breakfast for dinner

Friday

Lunch: TBD

Dinner: Homemade pizza using either my own pesto pizza recipe (minus the chicken of course!) or this awesome looking recipe (I was also thinking of adding caramelized onions to it.  Thoughts?)

Breakfasts this week will be blueberry-almond muffins and Greek yogurt parfaits.  

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Weekly Wanderings

Food:

Apple Yogurt Cake – This is probably more suited as a fall recipe, but since I just came across it, it will have to do for now.  I’m also a fan of how simple this recipe appears to be.  It doesn’t even require beaters!  That’s exactly the kind of thing I need right now; simple and sweet.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake – I love raspberries, cream cheese, and coffee cake so this sounds perfect for me!  It’s going in a long line of to-try breakfast recipes. 

Eating Organic on a Budget – Some great advice from Cate of Liberal Simplicity.

Lemon Shrimp with Mustard-Herb Roasted Onions – Roasted shrimp is suddenly popular (I feel so fancy that it was on my menu last week!) and while I’ve found several different recipes, I think I like this one the best.    

Everything Else:

2011 RITA Nominations – The RITAs (so named for the first RWA president) were announced on two weeks ago and, as usual, there is much debate and commentary on what did and didn’t get nominated.  Personally, I feel that Meljean Brook was cruelly overlooked for her two Steampunk books, Here There Be Monsters and The Iron Duke.  They’ve gotten rave reviews both in and out of the romance world and deserved a nomination.  I guess RWA isn’t ready for Steampunk.  But it was good to see some of my favorite authors including Tessa Dare (a fellow librarian!), Zoe Archer, Nora Roberts, Loretta Chase, and Eloisa James get well deserved nods.

10 Things to Do Everyday to Stay Organized – Some great advice from Laura of I’m an Organizing Junkie.  I’ve started doing a 10 minute tidy up before bed and it has much such a difference!

Vegetarian Mezze Party – I officially want to throw this party; the recipes look fantastic!  Who wants to come?

What Do You Want to See – This is super timely for me as I just spent half the week agonizing over how I look in a dress that I may or may not be wearing in a couple of weeks.  Many thanks go to Reese for helping me see all the good stuff instead of the bad.

This post is linked to Friday Favorites.

A Bit of Randomness

I'm feeling a little scattered today so I thought I would upload a few random pictures I had on my phone of my house.  These are fairly horrible pictures as the iPhone (or maybe it's just me?) isn't the best camera ever. 

One of my April goals is to organize my office.  Why?  Because it looks like this:

Clearly, it needs some work.  You can't really tell, but I have all sorts of papers on my desk and on the chair.  That purple basket?  FULL of paperwork.  I need to get started on this ASAP. 

I recently acquired this chair for an empty corner of my room.  I think I need a lamp on the right side to hide those cords, don't you think?

A friend needed a place to keep her piano while she was looking for a buyer.  I volunteered my empty landing and Caty approves. 

I reorganized my bookshelf this past weekend and created a To Be Read (TBR) shelf instead of mixing them in with my other books, which are arranged by subject, then alphabetized by author.  This is good for the OCD librarian side of me. :)

Caty likes to get my attention by clawing at the carpet.  She only claws at the carpet on the stairs, and only on three specific steps.  No clue as to why and I'm not having any luck getting her to stop.  Any ideas?

What's random in your life at the moment?