Healthy America!!!

Daniel and I cheer today for the people of America. We now have health care!!! People can no longer be denied for pre-existing conditions, dropped for getting sick (don't we keep insurance in case we get sick?), and more women will be covered (women are grossly under-covered now).

Mind you, Daniel and I already have health care. I have fantastic insurance, Dan's is OK (we can't afford to have him on mine). My wish is that everyone has my coverage. However, as we all know, working does not equal coverage.

I've worked other jobs, full-time, 40 hours a week, and was given no option for coverage. Also, in college I did not have coverage. Now, adults can keep their kids under their coverage until they turn 26. That gives kids enough time to graduate and find a stable job.

I watched coverage of the debate all day on C-Span (it's one of our "bonus" channels now that we have only 13 channels). Dan came home for dinner and afterward, we watched it some more. We talked about how we fell upon an Obama speech in New Hampshire...

From New Hampshire Trip

From New Hampshire Trip

Picking apples after...

From New Hampshire Trip

At the Obama speech...

From New Hampshire Trip

Good job America!

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

I decided to venture into the gluten free cooking world today. After a month of gluten free, I missed some old favorites, namely, mozzarella cheese sticks. So I whipped up a batch today.

I cut some mozzarella into sticks. Then I used a gluten free flour mix to coat them. I dredged them in an egg and milk mixture and finished them off with gluten free breadcrumbs mixed with seasoning. Here they are before going into the freezer.

From 2010-03-15

I put them in the freezer for an hour to make sure the cheese wouldn't just ooze out of them when I fried them. I fried them on the stove in some canola oil. It only takes about 30 seconds per side (at about 350 degrees). Deep fried goodness...

From 2010-03-15

Crunchy yet gooey...

From 2010-03-15

The last picture is blurry because the steam from the mozzarella stick kept fogging up my camera lense. However, blurr aside, you can see the delicious, melty cheese. Yum.

Do you want anymore baby?

Do you want anymore baby? It's going kind of fast.

That's what Dan said of my popcorn. It really is quite marvelous. All the credit goes to 2 people. First... My mom. Thanks Char! She bought me real popcorn for Christmas. I didn't crack it open until about 3 weeks ago. I've made it 4 times since.

From 2010-03-15

It's been an adventure! Popcorn and kernels fly everywhere. Second credit goes to a food blogger. The stove-top tequnique I use is from Elise. She's a food blogger. Of course, I don't know her, but I read her blog a lot, and that's the name she uses. You can find her at Simply Recipes. She suggest putting a few tester kernels in until they pop... take them out and let the batch fly. It's been perfect every single time!

From 2010-03-15

Holy Moly it's good! Real kernels, real butter, salt...Microwave popcorn tastes like drano compaired to this stuff. And, it's a lot cheaper then store bought stuff. I'll never go back!!!

Seussssan

Seussssan. That's what I heard yesterday. It was my birthday (32 if you are counting) as well as the late, great Dr. Seuss' birthday. I'm happy he shares his birthday with me. My co-workers dubbed it "Seuss-an's Day."

Dr. Seuss wrote a lot of catchy children's books, however, he wrote quite a few progressive books based on adult issues; They still rhyme, have colorful picture and made up words, but they talk about deep issues. Conflicts, resource/earth mangement, hatred, etc... Interesting stuff. My students love our Dr. Seuss study. I highly recommend the Sneetches and the Butter Battle Book.

I received a lot of flowers this year (which I LOVE!). My wonderful sister came through with some of my favorite flowers, tulips. She is solid. I don't like to expect a lot for my day, but I admit, I rely on her to celebrate Halloween and birthdays with. Not that I need a gift from her, but I know she gets excited like I get.

From 2010-03-03

Dan got me an orchid, my teaching team got me a gorgeous bouquet (amongst other gifts) but one of my favorite things was a potted daffodil from a sweet student of mine.

From 2010-03-03

I'm gluten free! No more wheat, barley, rye, etc... I feel a million times better. I'll talk more about it later. For now, know that I still enjoyed a gluten free cheesecake I made. Almond, butter crust. Yum! Dan loved it too!

Thanks to all of you who got me this far!

Back on Program

Dan and I officially started weight watchers again today. Last time we were on program for a little over a month. I lost 6 pounds, was working out, and that's when I got pregnant (which ended with the miscarriage). Here's hoping the diet works again!

Dan is doing points, I'm doing simply filling. He has 34 points a day. We entered in all his food for today and he still has 6.5 points leftover to eat. What a rat!

Menu this week:

Sunday: Ham, Twice Baked Potatoes, Broccoli and Salad
Monday: Steak with Sauteed Onions, Mashed Cauliflower, Salad
Tuesday: Spice rubbed chicken, Green Beans, Brown Rice
Wednesday: BBQ Pork Chops, Pineapple, Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower, Salad
Thursday: Buffalo Chicken Burger (Dan), Sloppy Joe (Susan), Raw Vegetables, Apples
Friday: Will be traveling to the Harbor. Maybe Subway. Maybe we'll pack something.

Made up some black bean soup for my lunches. Dan is eating his roast beef on sandwich thins. Bonus of the week? Found out our sugerfree fudgesicles are 0 points! Yeah!!!

It's boo-tiful outside!

It's finally fall. My favorite season. It was foggy on the way to work this morning, and I'm breaking out my scarf collection. Dan hauled out the fall decorations for me. Thanks to all of those who have contributed to them along the way. Happy fall everyone.

From Halloween '09

This is a tower of chocolates I got from Teresa one year. Delicious! Dan was very excited. The white ghost next to it is a candle holder I got from her the year before.

From Halloween '09

These are some cute little wooden signs my mother sent me. She got them from the drug store in Monte, I believe.

From Halloween '09

Perhaps the classiest of all the decorations. I got this one playing this game at a bar with my brother Dale. It was a punch board. I think we one this ghost and also a dozen eggs from some lady out the Wishkah. We never collected on the eggs.

I have a lot more decorations up, thanks to my family. If you have decorations up, send me pictures, or blog about them. It really is my favorite season.

Roses

Last week when my mother was visiting, one of the places we went to see was the International Rose Test Garden in Portland. There are over 550 varieties of roses here, with most of them blooming in June.

We were there a little early in the season, but it was still pretty amazing. Here are some of the pics that we took.

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009

From International Rose Test Garden, May 28, 2009