Pound Puppies...

I'm trying to get the pups used to being in the cage together for our journey home. Needless to say they were not happy about it. But they are tricky little pups.

Um... Mom? Are you seriously going to leave us in here?

Just stay calm. Let's just give her a second to change her mind about this.

Orrrr not...

Let me just stick my nose out here and try to sniff out the situation.

Hey pup, wake up!

I think I may be able to eat our way out of here!

.

OK. OK. I'm up. Let's not resort to eating metal.

Aww. Hey Rae, it's OK. I know you tried.

Here look. I'll kiss your ears and make it all better.

OK Mom. Like seriously. We are NOT amused.

Um Excuse me... Dinner was like 5 whole minutes ago.

You're going to have to let us out for a snack soon

OK. Quick, look sad. Maybe she'll feel bad for us.

Or hey! I have another idea. Let's pretend to nap together.

Mom will think we're super presh and let us out for snuggles!!

Shhhh. Keep your eyes closed. I think it's working!

Clearly mom has too much time on her hands...

Pizza

One of my favorite pizzas is topped with prosciutto, arugula and shredded parmesan. Sadly, after going to the grocery store 3 times this week I couldn't come up with the arugula. So instead I scoured the internet to find other toppings that would go well with the prosciutto I already purchased. I came up with caramelized onions. The internet promised it would be tasty.

So to make this pizza I bought Pillsbury pizza dough. (If I was in NY I would just run to the bakery and pick up fresh pizza dough. Sadly they don't do that here.) I spread the dough out on a greased pizza pan and popped it in the oven for 5 minutes. While that baked a chopped an onion and threw it into a pan with butter and a teaspoon of sugar. I also blended the tomatoes for the sauce. I took the crust out of the oven spread tomato puree over it and added chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Then I added shredded Fontina cheese and popped it back in the oven for 10 minutes. During that time I kept stirring the onions. Once the pizza was done I topped it with the caramelized onions and laid the strips of proscuitto over that.

It was delicious. Like I ate the entire pizza in one sitting delicious. I still am craving the arugula and prosciutto pizza- it's much lighter. The caramelized onions make this repice very rich. But if you're in the mood for rich, it will not disappoint!

Recipes... and Leaving (Not necessarily in that order)

So I will be moving back to NY in a few weeks. I now vacillate between multiple extreme emotions on a daily basis. I go from pure joy: Chris on a daily basis... forever... all mine, waking up together, going to bed together, cooking together, fighting together (in person! So we can actually make up with hugs!!), apartment all to ourselves... privacy, creating our life together... puppies, decorating, finding shared hobbies... It's blissful to think about. Really.

To hopeful: wanting to spend more time with my family... hoping that we'll all get along after not having spent very much time together since I left for college over 8 years ago... wanting to find fun stuff to share with each of them on a regular basis... hoping to finally have a chance to soak in and make sense and make peace with the new family situation that has occurred since I was actually living in NY over 8 years ago...

To anxious: about moving in with a boy... about living with someone I've spent most of our relationship talking over the phone with... about starting internship and hoping I fit in and do a good job and find that this is truly the perfect fit I anticipate... about leaving school (where I have comfortably lived my life for the past 20 years) and entering the real world... about living in a new place (I know it's not exactly new, but I've gotten very used to living in my nice little bubble here)...

To sad: leaving good friends that I've made here... leaving my program, which has become a nice, safe little place for me... leaving the sunny weather... leaving the dog parks... leaving several restaurants I've become quite attached to.

It's weird. I thought moving would the happiest time of my life. And in some ways it is, but it's also filled with a variety of other emotions I wasn't quite expecting...

But on to slightly less dramatic things... One of the things I am very excited about in having a whole month of from school is the opportunity to try out new recipes. I'm already thinking about the delicious dishes I'm going to make. I'll be updating this post throughout the next few weeks with a list of mouthwatering recipes:

Doughnuts

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Steak Sandwiches

Curry Chicken

Cupcakes

Chicken Piccata

Mushroom Soup

Butter Chicken

Peanut Butter Pie

Coffee Cake

Eggs Benedict

Stuffed Mushrooms

4th of July Cake

Hostess Cupcakes

Rainbow Cake

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Muffins

Pound Cake

Vanilla & Jasmine Rice Pudding

New Baby

I am not really a spontaneous person. I think I used to be... in high school. College too perhaps. However, once I got to grad school apparently all my fun, youthful, crazy, spontaneity went away. Sometimes I look back on those days fondly and remember how fun it used to be to just get up and do something without excessive planning. I would often wake up and just feel compelled to do things. Picnics. Day trips. Redoing my bedroom. Parties. Fun times. These days I tend to plan things in advance... way in advance and in painstaking detail. It's kind of boring. Chris often tells me that I need to stop planning so much and start being more spontaneous. I know I need to find a better balance.

This week I made a step in that direction. (Sort of). As you know Chris and I have been talking for awhile about getting another dog. We wanted a companion for Reaghan. We had planned to get one most likely in the month of June, so that I'd have time to socialize them before I started working full time. We had just recently decided to move away from a blood hound (which in the end we decided would be too big for our apartment) to a basset hound a la The Pioneer Woman. I had been looking into some puppies in the area, even going so far to contact woman from a local ad in the paper for some more information. She had let me know that her litter was already sold out and that they just had a "show" puppy left which was double the price. I kindly let her know that we could not afford such a puppy, but 'thanks anyway.'

This Tuesday said woman e-mailed me to let me know that she was willing to sell the "show" girl for the regular price. She also said that this puppy would be available "right now" and then sent me a picture. In the matter of 5 minutes I called Chris, had a brief decision making conversation, called a friend to see if she'd come with me to pick up the puppy (I was scared to go alone) and then e-mailed them back- YES! She e-mailed back to meet her in about 45 minutes in a town that's 30 minutes away. Within an hour of getting that initial e-mail I had a new puppy in my apartment. To me that felt pretty spontaneous. (I may or may not have had an anxiety attack in the car about my "lack of responsibility" in being so spontaneous. Luckily, I had my friend who talked me down.)

So without further ado. Please meet our new baby girl.

Chris has not yet determined a name. I said he could pick it, since he isn't here for our first 3 weeks together. He is taking this responsibility VERY seriously. Hence, having to run around yelling "Puppy!" when she's eating my shoes. Although she's quite the handful, Rae and I (and Chris through Skype) are quite smitten. She's a sweetie pie.

Seafood

So living in Texas does not do much for my seafood habit. Growing up in NY and vacationing every summer in Rhode Island, I developed a deep love for seafood. Clams: whole belly, on the half shell. Oysters. Calamari. Lobster: steamed, stuffed, rolls. Scallops. Cod. Flounder. Mahi Mahi. Tuna. Sea Bass. Red Snapper.

OK. I'll stop now. I'm drooling onto my computer. But as you can see I have a deep love (or some might say obsession) for seafood. Unfortunately, there are no fresh seafood stores in Texas. Or at least where I live. So when I need a seafood fix I have to buy it at the seafood counter of the grocery store, usually frozen. It makes me sad. Very, very sad.

A few weeks ago I had a craving for seafood and gave in and bought some of the frozen stuff. I found two recipes on the Food Network that looked good and tried them out.

Steamed Mussels by Bobby Flay was the first. I did not have shallots, so I substituted onions. I also did not have tarragon, so I used dried marjoram. (Always use less if you're substituting dried herbs for fresh herbs. They are much stronger.) I thought this recipe was good, but not great. I've had some mussel broths that are so delicious I want to lick the bottom of the bowl. This was not one of them. However, it was quick and tasty and did the trick.

Next, I tried Scallops Provencal by the Barefoot Contessa. Again I substituted shallots with onions. I never have shallots in the house. I made some spaghetti and served the seafood over it. I thought this recipe was yummy. The sauce thickened up nicely and it made enough that I could heat leftovers up the next day for lunch.

I must say though- I am counting down the days until I'm back in the northeast with fresh seafood. It makes a WORLD of difference. Excuse me while I go dream of lobster rolls and clams on the half shell...

The Kentucky Derby...

I love horse racing. This is not too surprising, given that I love sports, gambling and animals. If you combine them in a way where I feel like the animal actually enjoys it- then its my dream come true. I love watching how beautiful the horses look as they run, I love the joy on the trainers and owners faces when a horse wins and I love how the horses run their little hearts out, showing everyone that they were born to run as fast as can be. I also love getting so invested in something that it consumes your whole soul for the 2 minutes the race lasts.

I remember the derby my first year away at grad school. I ordered Pizza Hut to be delivered and it arrived just as the derby started. There was no way I was missing any of it, so I insisted the delivery man come inside and watch with me. Given that I was a single gal living alone in the country, this is probably a clue as to how involved I get in these races. As born and bred New Yorker, I am usually overly cautious with strangers. But put me in the middle of a derby race and sane thoughts fly out the window. There was no way I was missing a second.

I always pick the filly if there's one in the race. Girl power and all. But if not, I usually go for something Irish. This year my money's on Paddy O'Prado. The son of El Prado, the Irish champion. This year every member of my family has bet on a different horse, so it will be a fun time as we do the conference call for this year's race. I'm sure that Paddy will win though...

You tell me that this isn't the face of a winner.

A Raise Would be Nice...

So one of the new campaigns I'm participating in as a BzzAgent is the "America Deserves a Raise" contest. A raise? Yes, please! I've spent all day trying to figure out how to pay bills on my grad school budget. Sadly, however, I'm not sure what I do qualifies as an actual job yet... but I can still win if the person I nominate does! I'm still thinking about who I want to nominate. I know lots of people who work really hard and don't get paid enough. Who do you have in your lives that you could put up for the $40,000?

I Want a Bloodhound...

So Chris and I have always said we would get another puppy when we finally were able to move in together. We already have Rae, but Rae needs a sibling and I wanted to wait until we had a bigger place (and someone else to help me take care of them) before we got another one. Plus I wanted it to be "our" dog and not just my baby that he has to adopt. We (I) have gone back and forth about the type of dog we want to get. For awhile we were very hooked on bulldogs. Their squooshy little faces are just too cute and I totally fell in love with my cousin's. Recently, though, I decided that a bloodhound would be perfect for us. They are nice and mellow when they're indoors, even though they're really big. And they love the outdoors and need to be taken out daily for exercise. Picturing Rae following around a great, big ol' bloodhound just melts my little heart. They would be just too cute. I can just picture Rae tugging on his floppy little ears to get him to do her bidding. So since then I've been trying to convince Chris that this is the dog we've been missing all our life. Seeing as how our move is about 39 days away I thought I would up my game a little bit. I discovered that bloodhounds are very famous. They have been in lots and lots movies/tv shows. So here's a little tribute to all the famous bloodhounds.

Ladybird (King of the Hill)

Old Towser (One Hundred and One Dalmations)

Napoleon (Aristocats)

McGruff (The Crime Dog)

Copper (The Fox and the Hound)

The Bumpeses Hounds (A Christmas Story)

Bryant (Sweet Home Alabama)

Bruno (Cindarella)

Trusty (Lady and the Tramp)

Hunny. Clearly a bloodhound is the type of dog we need in our life. Practically every movie ever made needs one, so we do too. And if that didn't melt your heart, then maybe these will:

Aww! Look at the baby!

Floppy Ears!!

Random Things...

So I've been cranky for about a week straight at this point. I have a chronic ear infection that 3 doctors have not been able to make go away, insomnia so bad I wake up at least 4 times every night, a dissertation that won't apparently write itself, and a lack of money necessary to pay for the pile of bills that will be coming along in June. I really don't know how Chris has put up with me this week. I have very much lived up to his nickname for me.

Today I should be productive. I was productive all weekend and got a nice, big chunk of my dissertation done. The productivity should flow into Monday no? Unfortunately, the answer to that is a big, fat NO. I was cranky and lazy all morning, so no work done then. And now I've taken a Benadryl in the hopes of clearing my ear out (since the ear drop antibiotics, oral antibiotics, Mucinex, Flonase, vaporizor, hot showers, yawning, chewing, swallowing, holding my nose and blowing, and three doctors I've tried over the past two weeks haven't been able to do a darned thing). The Benadryl hasn't even made me sleepy yet, but I refuse to do work in the anticipation of the sleepiness that is sure to follow. I almost see it as a strike against my ear. You don't want to get better? Fine I will just sit here and stay miserable until you do. Let's see who can wait it out the longest. (Clearly, I'm being very mature and rational about this).

Regardless, since no work is getting done today (or at least right now) I thought I'd post a dinner I made last week. It was similar to one I did the week before. I picked up some swordfish and pre-made mango salsa at the grocery store. Marinated said swordfish in a quick Asian-style marinade (rice vinegar, sesame oil, peanut oil, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper) and then baked it at 450 for 15 minutes. While that was cooking I cooked up some Near East Garlic & Pecan Rice on the stove-top. I served the salsa over the fish over the rice. The fish cooked up with a nice pile of marinade left over which I poured over the whole thing as sauce. Pretty similar to the meal last time, but without the serving of veggies. There was enough left for lunch the next day.

I may do more take-out this week. My cranky-lazy disease is making it hard to get up and plan a meal, grocery shop for ingredients and then cook. We'll see. I'll try my best not just to rant and rave about my ear all week. (But I'm not making any promises!)

Breakfast for Dinner

I felt like a light dinner tonight, since I stopped at Red Mango for some frozen yogurt on my way home. (It was really yummy by the way. I had ginger yogurt with mangoes, strawberries and mochi balls). I found this omelet recipe over at the Food Network and was surprised that it was Paula Deen's, because I don't really associate her with healthy eating. I ended up using the yolks too; egg whites just seem too boring. I also didn't use frozen spinach. Instead I just chopped up some baby spinach. It was really yummy. I paired it with a slice of oatmeal toast with orange marmalade. Breakfast. It's what's for dinner. :)

Sorry, the pics came out terrible. I'm not sure what's up with the yellow tint.

Quick (and Healthy) Dinners

The last two nights I've stuck to the healthy meals plan, even though I am seriously starting to crave some fattening food. Here are the last two dinners I made. Last night I made some salmon, which I marinated in a quick marinade (peanut oil, sesame oil, chili oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and pepper). I baked that at 375 for 10 minutes. While the salmon was marinating I baked a potato in the microwave and chopped up some veggies. I sauteed some mushrooms in a little bit of butter and garlic. I sauteed some zucchini in a little bit of peanut oil, salt, and red pepper flakes. It was about a 30 minute meal and there was enough to save half for another meal this week.

Tonight's meal was a little weird. I make a spinach salad that I really love with baby spinach, Sesame Ginger dressing and pancetta. I was really in the mood tonight for a BLT, but I don't have iceberg lettuce or bacon. I did have all the ingredients for the spinach salad, though, so I combined them to make what I call a Spinach Salad BLT. I had a package of pre-chopped pancetta and popped the pancetta in the oven at 400 for 7 minutes. While that cooked I put two slices of oatmeal bread in the toaster oven. Then I whipped up a quick salad dressing: peanut oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic, and pepper. While the marinade is mostly oil, the dressing is equal parts oil and vinegar. Then I dressed the spinach and let it sit to soak in the dressing. I sliced up some tomatoes and put salt and pepper on them. Then I spread some mayo on the toast, put some pancetta bits on top, tomato slices on top of that and finished with the spinach salad. I had some pita chips and hummus as a side. I was a little wary of how this was going to come out, but it was actually really yummy. I would definitely make it again. I guess the healthy meals are going well. I just wish in between healthy meals I could have some chips and dip and easter chocolate and still be able to get into my pants. ::sigh::

Babies!

So as a BzzAgent I was alerted that there's this new movie coming out that I *might* like. If you know me, you know that I am baby obsessed and it's all I can do to not have a baby as soon as possible. But you know career goals and a need for money keep getting in the way. ::sigh:: So this new movie coming out has me very excited. I already spend many of my lunch breaks watching "A Baby Story" on TLC and this does it one better by looking at babies in different cultures! Check it out:

Healthy Lunches

So I finally had some free time today after I finished running my first batch of analyses. I ended up making some pasta salad and fruit salad for the week. The pasta salad recipe is from the food network: Whole Wheat Pasta Salad. I followed that recipe exactly. I made the fruit salad out of watermelon, strawberries, tangerine pieces and grapes. I always pour a little orange juice into my fruit salad to make some extra juice.

For lunch I grilled some spinach and feta chicken sausage and had the pasta and fruit salads as sides. My grocery store always has a variety of sausage flavors and this is one of my favorites.

Yes, that's mayo on the plate. I know it's not healthy, but I need to dip. Like I said I'm really a big sauce person. I'm still trying to work on healthy snacks. The meal thing has gone well so far (yea I know it's only been 3 days), but I find myself craving snacks during the day and plain almonds have not been cutting it. I'll keep you posted.

Exhausted From a Day of Running Analyses Dinner

So I've been working on my dissertation all afternoon (and was up early working on a midterm for my class). Hence I'm exhausted. Mentally drained. I wanted something quick and super easy. I picked up some swordfish yesterday and whipped up a quick marinade inspired by my stir-fry sauce (olive oil, chili oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar and soy sauce). Marinated the fish for about 15 minutes, then sprinkled with cracked pepper. Baked at 450 for 15 minutes.

While that was cooking I sliced up some hot peppers, onions and yellow squash. I cooked that in some peanut oil, salt, pepper, garlic and a splash of white wine.

Topped the swordfish with a mango salsa prepared by my grocery store. Dinner in 20 minutes. Given that I'll be up super early tomorrow continuing the dissertation analyses, that makes me a happy girl. Now I can spend the rest of the night watching LIFE (if you haven't seen it on Discovery Channel yet- You MUST!) and with some coffee flavored frozen yogurt for dessert.

Quick, Healthy Dessert

The original recipe called for figs, which I couldn't find- so I just used dried plums. Dried plums, with a dollop of ricotta cheese, topped with honey and crushed pistachios. It was a little tart, with the plums and ricotta, but I think you could make up for that by using more honey if you wanted it sweeter. All in all a quick and healthy dessert.

Stir-Fry

Quick post, since I'm writing as I'm cooking. For healthy dinner #1 I'm making stir-fry. I followed Pat's recipe (You know of the Neely's: the cutest tv cooking couple ever. They just seem so in love and use cooking as a bonding experience. I think they're adorable.): Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry.

I added some extra veggies: zucchini and mushrooms. I also made a double batch of the sauce. (I love sauce. Plus I knew I was making rice and I like extra sauce to mix in with my rice.) I also added 1 tbsp of chili oil to the sauce, since I found a bottle in the Asian section of the grocery store today and thought it would be good extra spicy.

For a side I made Near East Sesame Ginger Rice Mix.

I paired it with a Cherry Wheat Sam Adams, since I had one at BWW the other night and it was magically delicious. (Sidenote: The Cherry Wheat did NOT mix well with the stir-fry. Hence I stuck it in the freezer for after dinner).

The rice was really moist and flavorful. The stir-fry was really good. The sauce thickened up really nicely and was spicy and delicious. Not sure if it really was the healthiest meal, but it had lots of veggies, so let me pretend.