My Birthday, the beginning of a journey

Today I turn 49..for the next year I am going on a journey..a journey to be a better me. Why? Because next year, not only am I turning 50, I am getting married for the second time. I want to feel and look fabulous..don’t get me wrong, I feel pretty good now…but I can, and want, to be better. So, starting today I am going to do at least one thing each day, just for me..to help ME  become a better person…and I am going to stop talking about eating better and moving more, I am going to do it because now, I have a goal..to be 50 and fantastic and look like a 30 year old bride (or at least 40). I am going to write about what I do, what I eat, how I move, and what I did to become a better human being, each day.  This is for me…but if you are reading this and want to come along on my journey..welcome and here we go…

Today is my Birthday…and today I am not going to have any negative thoughts about anyone, I will be as kind as my grandma, she could always find the one good thing in the worst possible thing/person/place…being like her is something I aspire to..and, what better day to start anew and be more positive, then the day I was born…today I channel my grandma..and hopefully it will leak into tomorrow and the next day..and the next…………….

PS…because it’s my birthday, I am going to eat whatever I want…because you get to do that on your birthday!!

pps: my lovely fiance also got me a mani/pedi...so that counts a little toward becoming a better me...and it felt fabulous!!

Peanut Butter Vegetable Soup-YUM!

3 Stalks Celery, sliced

2 Medium Carrots, sliced

1 Large Onion, chopped

3 Cloves Garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons Butter

3 Cups Water

1 Medium Potato, diced

1 Medium Zucchini, sliced

4 teas. Vegetable Bouillon granules(use chicken if you have to)

1/2 teas. Pepper

1 16oz can diced tomatoes

2 Tablespoons snipped parsley

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Hot Broth

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(I added a handful of unsalted roasted peanuts and, if you like it a little hot, a couple dashes of cayenne pepper)

(I use reduced sodium bouillon and canned tomatoes)

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In a large saucepan or Dutch oven cook celery, carrots, onion, and garlic in hot butter, covered about 5 minutes or until onion is tender (I put onion in first while I am cutting the other vegetables) Stir in water, potato, zucchini, bouillon, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in undrained tomatoes and parsley. (this is where I tossed in the peanuts and Cayenne)

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While soup is simmering, measure one cup hot water and add 1 teaspoon of bouillon, stir to dissolve, in a small bowl measure peanut butter and slowly add broth and stir until smooth. Add to saucepan and stir and cook until heated through.Ladle soup into bowls and enjoy!! YUMMY!

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Nutrition information: 348 calories, 12g protein, 31 g carbohydrate, 16 g fat (2 saturated) 0 mg cholesterol, 1385 mg sodium, 1007 mg potassium.

(there is less sodium by using the reduced sodium bouillon and tomatoes)..

The Perfect Recipe

When you love to cook and create great meals, you spend a lot of time looking for just the right recipe, the one that will create not just a good meal, but the PERFECT meal. A meal that everyone will enjoy and find to be delicious, satisfying, and filling. There is only one problem with that, not everyone has the same tastes and you cannot please everyone. So instead of trying to find the one perfect recipe, it's better to find the person that will love what you make, because it is made with love. Someone that will see the effort and thought behind it, not just the outcome. Because, let's face it, sometimes the outcome sucks! Some things are over done and tough, or bland and tasteless. Sometimes things are done in a rush without much thought and the outcome is nothing like you had planned and turns into a total fiasco. You search for someone to love you anyway, even when you do burn the dinner, or forget to start it, or it's late. Someone who will love you when you do things without thought and create a bigger mess then you started with. Someone that has seen the messes you have made in the past, but loves you anyway, because of them, not in spite of them. A person that will help clean up the messes, that will throw the garbage and wreckage away and never speak of it again. We all have those...messes, mistakes, wreckage, and garbage. The search is not for perfect, but for the one that will love you because you are not. Because the messes and garbage of our past has made us who we are now, better than we were, but not as good as we can be. We need that person that will love us anyway and help us to be as good as we can be. Because it is so much easier to become a better person when someone loves you as you are now and only sees the efforts you make, the good thoughts behind the bad actions and garbage. When they trust that no harm is meant, just sometimes thoughtless actions seem to be on purpose. I never mean to burn the dinner, sometimes I just don't think, I become selfish and wrapped up in my own needs and forget to see that a burned dinner means the one I love goes hungry. I never want that to happen, but sometimes it does. I don't know how to fix it, I just hope that he can see that it was not on purpose, it was not done with malice, and all I can do is hope he will let me try again. I promise to pay more attention and I will try not to burn it, but that is all I can do, try. I will fail again, I will make a mess again, I can only hope that he will forgive me for my failings and know that I love him anyway.

Curried Tofu

We have started a new weekly event in our house, Tofu Thursday, or as I like to call it "Tofu Tursday". The greatest thing about this is, I don't have to make it or come up with the recipes. All I have to do is make sure we have the ingredients and place them all on the counter for my "cook" (he has no idea where most things are in my kitchen) to prepare the meal. Our first foray into TT was Curried Tofu with vegetables. I had to struggle not to try to take over in my normal "control freak must do it myself" way. I turned my back, drank my wine, and did my algebra to sounds of sighs and a few grunts and groans. I give him much credit because he asked me questions when he did not know quite what to do. He grated ginger, zested a lime, chopped onions, and cut potatoes, and he did it very well. I seldom do those things when I am cooking, but HE picked the recipe. The aroma of the spices simmering was mouthwatering. I was very impressed with the way he found my little spice bowl and pre-measured all of the spices before cooking. He prepared couscous to go along with it. It turned out not quite spicy enough, or according to him, it needed to be currier. While it was not the typical spicy curry dish, it was really good, filled with sugar snap peas, red peppers, potatoes, and tofu, and having my tall, handsome Cowboy cooking it for me, made it taste like heaven. I am looking forward to next Thursday and what it will bring...whatever it is, I know it will be wonderful, because it was made for me by my CB.

What a difference a little Thyme does make..

Cook something for too long and is is over cooked, burnt, inedible, cook it too little and it is still raw, unset, and kinda slimy and again, inedible. It is amazing what time can do. It can ruin something beyond recognition or leave it still quivering and runny. But time can also produce perfect results. It can change something that seemed unsaveable into something better, maybe still a work in progress but definitely a lot better than it was before. Sometimes you can scrape off the burnt crust and find that the insides are not quite done and need just a little bit more to become perfect or at least better. Add a little more TLC and it becomes something else completely, I am consistently amazed at what time can do and when I think something is done, I find that it is not, and that it has transformed into something else. Something I can work with, something I know that I can give my attention to and help to turn it into exactly what I wanted and was looking for....a little time...that is all I need...just a little time...

missing...

Is it possible to miss something that isn't gone yet...? Can one's heart hurt long before it is actually broken? Well, yes..I think it is and I think it can...I feel a sense of loss, of heartache, of loneliness...yet I am not alone, my heart has not been broken...but I sense it coming..I can feel it in my very soul. I'm not sure when, or who will break it, but I know it is going to happen. When I say who, it may well be me..I have been walking a narrow path recently trying not to stray, not to crush what is on either side, trying to keep it all good...but it does not seem to matter, I still stumble into the wrong place, or step on something I shouldn't, sometimes I don't even know what I've done, but it seems to be wrong. The intimacy that should be a given, is gone..in its place is uncertainty, confusion, and hurt. When I am sad there is no comfort, no sympathy, no understanding. I feel so cold all of the time. Who will break my heart? It might have to be me...because the thought of going on like this is too much to bear...I am missing something that is still here....but truthfully..left a long time ago. The time is coming to let it go.....

This post has nothing to do with cooking, but it was an assignment for my media class and I am quite proud of it.

Music is the one form of popular media that transcends cultures, genders, classes, ages, and time. Music can bring a group of very different people together, or it can create divisions and controversy. It can move people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The history of some civilizations was passed down in the form of song and dance. Many tales and legends would have been lost to time had it not been for song. It tells a story, creates emotional response, and is almost impossible to ignore. Music stirs people’s souls and can take them out of the moment to another place and time. It can help salve a wounded heart and is used as therapy for emotionally disturbed people. Song lyrics have stirred a nation into action against wars, helped to feed the hungry and brought attention to the plight of less fortunate people. No media can speak to such a broad spectrum of humanity the way music can. Every culture and civilization, since the beginning of time, has had some form of music. Each generation has created music that has influenced and helped create the next generation’s popular music. Many current trends can be traced back to music and songs from centuries past. Musicians of today often use parts of other composer’s and song writer’s music in a new form, borrowing pieces of older melodies to enhance current songs. Every generation claims a genre of music as their own, not realizing that music cannot be claimed, it is owned by whoever hears it. It can be replayed in one’s mind over and over. Of all of the types of popular media, music is the one form that always has existed and can cross all barriers.