Birthday happies!

It was a great birthday celebration week and it's not over (yet).
I have great colleagues, friends, and family. Feeling so much love!

Birthday cake at work

Flowers and champagne at home

Wordless Wesnesday

(right before leaving the house, we haven't adjusted the time from daylight savings, the overnight low was 26)

Kitchen happenings

Turkey bacon and Brussels Sprouts Fried Rice

Crockpot Pumpkin soup with a dollop of sour cream

Asian beef stir fry over rice noodles

Pork sirloin cutlets with asparagus and mushrooms, served with gravy and biscuit

Happy Halloween

This Halloween we have been pretty boring, but I give you this picture from the final Penthouse party in August, where Tom and I dressed like characters from Game of Thrones (it was very disturbing if you know who we are).

Finally Friday

If you know me, you know that I am not one to have only one focus. My latest non-science endeavor is joining the Junior Board of a local non-profit called GirlSpring Inc. - they recently got some much needed PR for their mentoring program called Dream Days. Other dream days have included spending a day with Chef Hastings (famous guy here in Bham), an architect, and Alabama Ballet. Kudos to Lauren, the executive director who works so hard to get all these events together.

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2013/10/birmingham-based_girlspring_pr.html

Kitchen happenings

Yea, the blogging hasn't resumed to its usual routine, but there is hope. I'm really enjoying cooking on Sundays (even though it does take time and it is draining) but it makes for easier weekdays and because of that, it's all worth it.
Tom was craving Mediterranean salads for lunch; so one Sunday I made a rosemary chicken - with olives, onions, and cherry tomatoes. This was served with couscous (to which I added almonds for some crunch) and some lettuce. I then took the breast meat and shredded it to go with lettuce, olive, pepperoncini, cucumber and bell peppers for salads for weekday lunches (served with red onion + red wine vinaigrette).

That same Sunday, I made meatless meatballs (vegetable kofta) and turkey meatballs (sorry no pictures here). For the kofta, I followed this recipe (http://sindhirasoi.com/2009/02/16/vegetable-kofta-curry/). I baked the balls and stored them for later use.
I made kofta curry on Monday, using my mom's Mauritian curry recipe to make the sauce, served with garlic naan from Publix and cucumber-carrot raita (veggie in yogurt). Our first meatless Monday.
On Tuesday night, I shredded the dark chicken meat from Sunday and simmered it in a bit of canned red enchilada sauce. I couldn't get the corn tortillas to not tear as I rolled them, so I made my version of Mexican lasagna: corn tortilla, layer with chicken enchilada, cheese, repeat. Serve with sour cream and lettuce.

Wednesday night was leftover night although Tom got home and decided he wanted spaghetti with turkey meatballs. I can't remember what we did for the rest of the week or the beginning of the next. I know that on last Thursday night I made a roast which didn't get done until close to 11 pm - which mean minimal cooking on Friday. I made garlic mashed potatoes, mushrooms, green beans, and asparagus. I also tried zucchini Parmesan crisps and those were very yummy.

Another Sunday came - I shopped for the entire week and tried to stay under budget (we went over but slightly). I cooked up some chicken in the evening and made the Mediterranean salad that Tom loved before. All prepped, ready to pick up and go.

On Monday, we went to my friend's house for Canadian Thanksgiving and it was a blast. Tuesday night was leftover night, with roast and green bean casserole.
On Sunday, I had sliced my peppers and have everything ready for fajitas. I also have stuff ready for fried rice if I want. Decisions decisions. We'll find out in the next post. Thanks for stopping by!

Wordless Wednesday

Oh, hi October

Hmm, October, you are here already. I guess time flies when you are having fun, mostly in Mauritius.
We had a lot of fun on the island and celebrated our wedding a third time.
While I was gone, I got two papers accepted and since I came back I've been working on two new ones. I also have several hours of teaching this semester, so in brief I am keeping busy.
We are also trying to get better at eating in, which means better meal planning. Here is a recap of the happenings in our kitchen.
Breakfast Sunday with leftovers: Egg and veggies frittatas with a side of turkey kilbasa and my new favorite drink, pink champagne.

I also decided to try a recipe from my Spark cookbook, caramel popcorn (made out of air-popped corn), only 116 calories for 2/3 cups. Filling and oh so yummy.

Also in the same weekend, Tom made a pot of chilli (he added a 1/4 teaspoon of cocoa and he said it has changed his life or rather the way he makes chilli) and I made a pot of broccoli cheese soup (from Spark People again). This made for 8 meals (lunch or dinner), which meant a few nights when I didn't have to worry about supper.

And finally on Saturday, I had a sweet tooth craving and decided to make my own apple pie, basically one apple cooked in butter, sugar, and Mauritian rum, then topped with graham crackers. Into the oven, and comes out with a dollop of fat free Cool Whip.

Hopefully, we're caught up now and my blogging will be more frequent.

Wednesday blessings

I woke up this morning at my regular time and thought, I have an hour until I talk to my parents on Skype. I made a mental list of everything we needed to talk about and the errands I have to run. Then I dozed off. I woke up about 40 mins later when Tom's phone rang, and I heard him say, "Yes, I'll be there". Who would call him that early? Soccer friends? Are they trying to set up a scrimmage game for today? Tom came back to bed and I asked who it was. He said his dentist, trying to confirm his appointment for today. The following conversation ensued:
K: "Why are you going to the dentist on Sunday?"
T: "Whaaatt? Dear, what day is it?"
K: "Sunday"
T: "Oh sorry honey, it's Wednesday."
K: expletives

I managed to be late by only 10 minutes. But I count my blessings - I have a fabulous job where my boss doesn't care at what time I come in and my co-workers don't say judgmental  things (at least to my face) about my attire or hair. And I live 5 minutes away from work.

K to the lab: "everyone brought their lunch today?"
Lab: "Yes, did you?"
K: "No, I don't pack lunch on Sundays!"

ps. Sunday mornings are Skype mornings with the island folks and Sunday is usually soccer day for T.

Weekend in review

This weekend was different, the past week was different. I got pulled in several directions at work: I taught aspiring medical students on Tuesday and I really enjoyed it. Then I had to do bench work, which hadn't happened in a while this year. I am also helping a faculty understand some of the computer work that we do. Plus we had a few deadlines from our collaborators.
On Wednesday, I hosted craft night and managed to finish all of Nitin's (my sister's future husband) 24 boutonnieres.On Thursday, I made coconut macaroons for Tom to take to his lab meeting on Friday. We had book club on Friday night, I think of it book club with reading optional (since this was my second attendance and I hadn't the book again). We had fun, ate yummy food, drank adult beverages, and chatted the night away. I think Tom might have enjoyed having the house to himself after a stressful week at work.
Saturday was weird, I put in a full day of work - I haven't worked a Saturday since I started this position. I managed to sneak in a workout in between experiments and after work, I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby to get the flowers for Payal's 24 boutonnieres. I'm hoping that hers won't take too long to make. Saturday night we went to a going away party for one of Tom's soccer friends. It was a late fun night. Sunday was an easy going day. I managed to drag Tom to Pelham to pick up a gift for my sister, then we went to Party City looking for costumes for an upcoming party, and finally landed at Cajun Steamer's. I was craving crawfish and this is a decent place for Cajun food. The plan was to then walk to the theater and catch a movie but with an hour in between finishing dinner and the movie starting, we decided to just go home and be lazy. Or somewhat lazy. I tackled a few loads of laundry, and made banana nut bread. Tom doesn't usually ask specifically for food but he had requested banana bread. I also cooked some asparagus and mushrooms to go with our lunch pork chop wraps. 
I think my goal as far as cooking for the next four weeks is to use up everything (almost) in the fridge/freezer. I'm also switching us to a low(-er) carb household minus the bread I just made ;) So plenty of proteins and veggies.
I'm finding it really hard to not show how excited I am about going home! My last trip was in 2009, time flies!