rainy day recipes

it's raining in provo, again.
but the gang in 205 refused to be brought down by the drizzling today!  to warm ourselves up, we tried a few new recipes, and a few old ones.  it was a baking day - a delicious one!

for dinner:

broccoli cheese stuffed potatoes
(coined by the food network hit rachel ray and adapted by her superior - my mother)

4 potatoes
2-3 tablespoons olive oil (i used coconut this time)
1 bunch green onions minced
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon dejon mustard
1 cup veggie broth
grated cheese (i used raw sharp cheese - super yum!)
salt and pepper to taste

throw the potatoes in the oven to bake, and steam the broccoli lightly (5 minutes).  in a small sauce pan, sauté the onions in the 1 tablespoon of oil for about a minute.  sprinkle the flour and cook another minute (stir so the mixture doesn't burn).  add the mustard and broth and simmer until the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.  toss in the cheese (i didn't put an amount, but i used a little over a heaping handful), and season the sauce to taste.  stir in the broccoli, then pour over your baked potatoes and be careful not to burn your tongue!  this recipe is one of my comfort foods - it reminds me of mom, of saturdays cleaning the house, and board games around the dinner table.  today, it was a perfect rainy day dinner: it warmed us from the inside out and filled our tummies to the top.

and....

now for dessert!

chocolate chip banana bread
(another one adapted first by mom, next by me - because my pantry isn't quite as stocked as i'd like to be)

2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup honey (i used some absolutely delicious local honey i've had in my cupboard since christmas)
1/4 cup coconut oil
egg replacer for 2 eggs
3 medium sized bananas
1/3 cup plain coconut kefir
1 teaspoon vanilla

*remember to preheat the oven to 350!  i always forget and have to wait another 15 minutes for the slow-to-warm-up apartment stove and it just delays the satisfaction even more.  beat the coconut oil and honey together till its really combined.  add egg replacer, bananas, kefir, and vanilla, then beat beat beat it up.  dump in the flour, soda and salt and mix until its all moist and yummy (oh yeah, with the chocolate chips, too. don't forget those).  grease a bread pan and spoon the dough in.  finally, shut it up in the oven for a full hour (too long, i know! but no peaking).  after, let it cool in the pan on a cooling wrack for five minutes before slipping it out and enjoying a thick, delicious slice!

rainy days aren't so bad when you have time to whip up some fabulous warm food, are they?
what are your favorite rainy day recipes?

no worries

i have this little sticky note stuck to the overhang of my desk - right above my computer screen.  it's yellow, an energizing, soothing and happy color (the color of the sun).  it's a reminder to take a few yoga breaths, stretch a little, smile at my homework, and say a little prayer.  it's been quite the help this week preparing for all these crazy tests (another one down!).

it simply reads:
i am free from excess worry.

to me, it's a powerful statement.  one that brings a little more balance and perspective to my life.  it reminds me of a woman that i would visit with my mother when i was young.  her name was shiela and she lived in a little trailer surrounded by animal cages.  every desert animal imaginable loved this woman, and she loved them back. snakes, raccoons, wolves, coyotes, golden eagles... you name it, she probably rescued it at some point.  besides all the furry (and scaly and feathered) animals to make friends with, i predominantly remember one thing about sheila, the phrase she would say to mother often:
don't worry, just pray.

so.  because worrying never gets anyone anywhere in life (except for stressed and sick), i'm not going to worry about the rest of my tests.  i'll study, and i'll pray.  but no more worries.
(i'll be controlling this with a very large quantity of yoga breaths, spaced throughout the remaining few days).

so. to all you worriers out there: stop for a moment.  then just pray.  and see what happens.

it's a random day.

i have a visitor this week!

at an attempt to maintain my sanity through the last push of the semester, i captured my sister hailey.

she's definitely keeping up my spirits while i'm doing everything i can not to get sick:

feeding me nutella,

sitting me in front of the couch to watch a knight's tale,

and giving me a little bit of company in my last few classes (only one left!).

really, only one left.  one class. three tests. 

yesterday was so busy (and sleep was so little the night before) that i was physically ill.

but.

the sun is shining. the sky has given provo beautiful showers at night and the sun still scares the clouds away in the early morning.  i love springtime. 

i have an unusually short attention span this morning.

i can't wait to finish fablehaven (my guilty pleasure fantasy series of the year).

i can't wait to really test out my sewing machine.

i have thirteen different lists on my desk... is that bad luck, do you think?

i have fresh strawberries in my fridge.

and kefir. we'll see if i like it - it's a trial run.

i switched some of the fortunes on my bulletin board this morning (it's been quite a while).

today's fortune:

today is a good time to take some extra relaxation. 

i think it's telling me to lay off the studying, go finish that test now, and then buy myself some frozen yogurt. don't you think?

catch up

it seems i've been having more adventures than i expected, lately!  life is always busier at the end of a semester than any other time of the year, and this time around, as the pace of school picked up, the mounting level of homework squeezed everything else entirely out of my brain.  including the good old blog, apparently.

but, i persevere.

just to catch up a little...

the presentation: much better than expected.  scared me to pieces (as most public speaking related assignments do), took entirely too much time to prepare, covered a gargantuan amount of fascinating research (the effects of personality on marital outcomes), and is now over.  it felt so good. and it feels even better now that i can breath again.

one and a half weeks left of the semester - it's going by so quickly i almost don't dare to blink for fear i'll forget to take one of the remaining four exams.  luckily, this semester has been a little boost to my gpa - thus, i don't have to worry quite so much about minimum qualifications to keep my scholarship.  

now: my focus shifts (again) to a job hunt... which i'm relating more and more to a witch hunt.  i'm jumping at every minuscule sign and opportunity.  

despite the busy level jumping from 10 to 20 the last two weeks, i have had a few little adventures (that didn't involve presentations, papers, or gpas).  more to come about these few things very soon: the return of the roommate, the beginning of the tolkien marathon, old friends reunited, new vegetarian friends found, an exciting update on fibromyalgia issue, and some absolutely incredible new recipes (which is usually the case after another trip home - you can't be around my mother for very long and not find at least a few new favorite recipes!).  

but. those are for later. 

for now, it's time for a sunday nap.

goodnight!