I was up early today and it was such a beautiful morning. Crisp cold air and a light covering of snow. I was out on the road watching the sun come up and glowing on the mountains. I'm not a morning person but it was one of those mornings where you just feel peace. I said that I was just feeling good vibes today.
Work was dull but I got a lot done. I had an incredible meal planned out by the time I was ready to go home. I picked up the dogs from daycare (Whitman has been passed out since getting home. Sleepy boy) and went to get some groceries for my yummy dinner.
What did I have for dinner? Baked summer vegetables and sweet chicken bacon bites. Mmmmm. It turned out wonderful though I did burn my knuckle. Then for dessert I had a banana smore. Oh mouth watering.
But the best part of the day? Coming home to a letter confirming that I'd passed my certification test for my CPDT-KA, which is a knowledge based certification. Wow that felt incredible. Just looking down and seeing that "Congratulations..." I have wanted this for so long and done a lot of work to get here. Now I'm certified. It makes me feel like I have worthwhile and useful knowledge, which I know I have but it makes me feel validated. It is just an incredible feeling. I took the test way back in September and tired to put it out of my mind. I was pretty sure I passed but at the same time what if I didn't? It was just a lingering thought so I tried to just put it out of mind. And then my training buddy got her certification and I kicked up the anxiety into high gear. Thank goodness I only had to wait a day though.
Wow. I am certified. I am a certified dog trainer. Wow. Congratulations to me. And to my training buddy!
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Friday, October 26, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Whirlwind Weekend
That was a whirlwind weekend. I need a couple of days to recover! Good thing it is Columbus Day... Wait... I'm at work...
...Columbus Day is a stupid holiday! I didn't want it off anyway! It's not like he did anything important.
So this weekend started out with a double puppy class for me because a few people missed last class so I was kind enough to come in and do a quick catch up for them. It's not something I mind doing at all but I do tend to get irritated when people ask me to do them and then don't show up. Luckily that didn't happen this time and they showed up. I can tell they haven't been practicing much at home (yes your trainer can tell when you don't practice) but they seem engaged in class so they come out on the positive client list anyway.
After class I went home and put together a shopping list. Since it is getting cooler I am breaking out the crock-pot. I like the idea of putting together crock-pot meals six to eight at a time and freezing them. That way in the morning before I leave for work I can pop them in the crock-pot and they're cooked by the time I get home. See, in the interest of eating better I'm coming up with an effective plan of attack against the nights were I tend to eat poorly, coming off of my 13 hour day where I am just TOO EXHAUSTED to even contemplate cooking. Enter the crock-pot in all it's crocky glory. Of course for this plan to work I have to do a lot of meal preparation all at once on days where I have time. This is the first time I've done it so we'll see how it turns out. Anyway, I got my shopping list together and took off to shop. I don't tend to shop in bulk so it seemed like a lot of food to me. On the plus side, I did get to push around the cart and I did do some cart riding doing the empty aisles. You have to make shopping fun.
I returned home with all of my fresh purchases and yes I carried them all into the house at once. Second trips are for babies! I got to chopping and filling bags and then I realized that there was stuff I was missing. Damn it! The shopping list I worked off of wasn't complete. After I got done cursing I called my sister and bribed her with some Margarita Cupcakes to get me the missing items. Which she did because she's the best.
And yes, I did say Margarita Cupcakes. Caught that did you? Yep, I totally made Margarita Cupcakes from scratch. And they turned out WONDERFUL! Yes I did have to resort to calling my mother to find out what the heck lime zest was (I will never hear the end of that.) but it was worth it for the complete scrumptiousness of the cupcakes.
After a long day of chopping and crying over the onions (first time chopping onions has made me cry) I trucked off to Angie's house to see her new DVD. Very exciting! Raising an Off Leash Puppy which she knows a lot about since she has a wonderful dog Owen to prove it. Someday I'll be as cool as Angie. It was well past my bedtime by the time I got home.
So as you can see I already had a busy Saturday. Bring on Sunday.
It began with a family brunch which has become a regular affair. My Aunt Kim was visiting from St. Louis and it was very good to see her. I do miss my crazy St. Louis family. After that I managed to herd her, my mom and my dad over to the house I'm buying so we could go over just how much needed to be done and what needed to be done first. That is a whole different post. I'm actually starting to get excited about how cute this house is going to turn out to be.
Then we were joined there by my besties Caitlin and Kathleen. Caitlin of course lives in the Springs and had seen the outside of the house but Kathleen hadn't seen it at all. She stopped here in her treck across the country with her mom to kind of check it out. I hope she decides to move back here from Ohio! I wanted a three bedroom house so both Caitlin and Kathleen could live with me but that didn't work out. I love them both and hopefully one of them can move in once this house is finished.
Then we went down to Manitou for some lunch. There is this incredible Middle Eastern cafe there with some of the best falafel I have ever had. Not only is falafel yummy but it is so fun to say. Falafel. FA-LA-FEL! Great word. Did some quick walking in Manitou then we were off to meet my mom and aunt at Lowes to look at paint colors and such.
Aunt Kim is an interior decorator and has some serious talent. I will have to fly her out again when the house is finished so she can decorate it. Between her, Kathleen and my mom we were able to get a nice pallet that I can use throughout the house. It is very earthy and natural, which I love. We also picked out some tile to frame the tile already in the house around where my wood burning stove is going to be.
Then we went back to my brother's house where there was pizza had and a movie watched. Long ass weekend.
And now the first week of the flu shot study is starting which means for the rest of the week I have to be at work by 6:30am and I have to work on Sunday. *sigh*
...Columbus Day is a stupid holiday! I didn't want it off anyway! It's not like he did anything important.
So this weekend started out with a double puppy class for me because a few people missed last class so I was kind enough to come in and do a quick catch up for them. It's not something I mind doing at all but I do tend to get irritated when people ask me to do them and then don't show up. Luckily that didn't happen this time and they showed up. I can tell they haven't been practicing much at home (yes your trainer can tell when you don't practice) but they seem engaged in class so they come out on the positive client list anyway.
After class I went home and put together a shopping list. Since it is getting cooler I am breaking out the crock-pot. I like the idea of putting together crock-pot meals six to eight at a time and freezing them. That way in the morning before I leave for work I can pop them in the crock-pot and they're cooked by the time I get home. See, in the interest of eating better I'm coming up with an effective plan of attack against the nights were I tend to eat poorly, coming off of my 13 hour day where I am just TOO EXHAUSTED to even contemplate cooking. Enter the crock-pot in all it's crocky glory. Of course for this plan to work I have to do a lot of meal preparation all at once on days where I have time. This is the first time I've done it so we'll see how it turns out. Anyway, I got my shopping list together and took off to shop. I don't tend to shop in bulk so it seemed like a lot of food to me. On the plus side, I did get to push around the cart and I did do some cart riding doing the empty aisles. You have to make shopping fun.
I returned home with all of my fresh purchases and yes I carried them all into the house at once. Second trips are for babies! I got to chopping and filling bags and then I realized that there was stuff I was missing. Damn it! The shopping list I worked off of wasn't complete. After I got done cursing I called my sister and bribed her with some Margarita Cupcakes to get me the missing items. Which she did because she's the best.
And yes, I did say Margarita Cupcakes. Caught that did you? Yep, I totally made Margarita Cupcakes from scratch. And they turned out WONDERFUL! Yes I did have to resort to calling my mother to find out what the heck lime zest was (I will never hear the end of that.) but it was worth it for the complete scrumptiousness of the cupcakes.
After a long day of chopping and crying over the onions (first time chopping onions has made me cry) I trucked off to Angie's house to see her new DVD. Very exciting! Raising an Off Leash Puppy which she knows a lot about since she has a wonderful dog Owen to prove it. Someday I'll be as cool as Angie. It was well past my bedtime by the time I got home.
So as you can see I already had a busy Saturday. Bring on Sunday.
It began with a family brunch which has become a regular affair. My Aunt Kim was visiting from St. Louis and it was very good to see her. I do miss my crazy St. Louis family. After that I managed to herd her, my mom and my dad over to the house I'm buying so we could go over just how much needed to be done and what needed to be done first. That is a whole different post. I'm actually starting to get excited about how cute this house is going to turn out to be.
Then we were joined there by my besties Caitlin and Kathleen. Caitlin of course lives in the Springs and had seen the outside of the house but Kathleen hadn't seen it at all. She stopped here in her treck across the country with her mom to kind of check it out. I hope she decides to move back here from Ohio! I wanted a three bedroom house so both Caitlin and Kathleen could live with me but that didn't work out. I love them both and hopefully one of them can move in once this house is finished.
Then we went down to Manitou for some lunch. There is this incredible Middle Eastern cafe there with some of the best falafel I have ever had. Not only is falafel yummy but it is so fun to say. Falafel. FA-LA-FEL! Great word. Did some quick walking in Manitou then we were off to meet my mom and aunt at Lowes to look at paint colors and such.
Aunt Kim is an interior decorator and has some serious talent. I will have to fly her out again when the house is finished so she can decorate it. Between her, Kathleen and my mom we were able to get a nice pallet that I can use throughout the house. It is very earthy and natural, which I love. We also picked out some tile to frame the tile already in the house around where my wood burning stove is going to be.
Then we went back to my brother's house where there was pizza had and a movie watched. Long ass weekend.
And now the first week of the flu shot study is starting which means for the rest of the week I have to be at work by 6:30am and I have to work on Sunday. *sigh*
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
In the kitchen
I've been attempting to make changes in my life. Of course, like many people, my new years resolutions tend to be good intentions more than anything else. One thing I have been steadily working on is cooking more. I've always been able to cook but I don't necessarily like to do it. I don't want to spend an hour cooking something that will take me 15 minutes to eat. However, in the interest of eating better and spending less, I've started doing just that. Eventually hopefully I will get faster because I do want to keep at it.
Pinterest has been a big help in this. (which reminds me I need to post about Pinterest in general) But anyway I began seeing some yummy looking things on Pinterest and began to gather them up. Then I thought about actually trying them out. So I bought a recipe book and put together my Pinterest recipes.
I haven't tried them all, obviously, but what I have tried has been very good. This is encouraging.
So tonight I'm making some Mexican Stuffed Shells.
The picture looks good doesn't it? I have found that my food doesn't look nearly that pretty but it tastes just fine... so far.
I still haven't figured out THE system for shopping. I did discover this site BigOven that I can upload my recipes to and create weekly shopping lists and such. Now when I actually get to sit down and get those recipes on there it will be a nifty thing. Until then I just kind of pull up Pinterest on my phone while I wander around the store. And King Soopers is big into changing everything around so it makes no sense and is hard to find those little things. I sent my brother to shop for this meal and he came back with taco shells instead of pasta shells and he couldn't find green onions. (he's adorable). I go to pick up those two things, and of course come out with about 15 more things than I needed damn them, and it took me about 5 minutes of staring at the pasta wall to find large shell pasta. Finally found it way back in the corner. Someone must be making A LOT of Mexican Stuffed Shells tonight because there were only a couple of boxes left. I knew where to get the green onions and then my 15 extra items and I checked out. Can I just note, that I will not go to a human checker unless forced to. I like those self checkout things.
I must say that my stuffed pasta was VERY nummy. Took me longer than it should have because I was watching the debate at the same time but I think this was a successful cooking experience.
The how to!
Mexican Stuffed Pasta
Pinterest has been a big help in this. (which reminds me I need to post about Pinterest in general) But anyway I began seeing some yummy looking things on Pinterest and began to gather them up. Then I thought about actually trying them out. So I bought a recipe book and put together my Pinterest recipes.
The picture looks good doesn't it? I have found that my food doesn't look nearly that pretty but it tastes just fine... so far.
I still haven't figured out THE system for shopping. I did discover this site BigOven that I can upload my recipes to and create weekly shopping lists and such. Now when I actually get to sit down and get those recipes on there it will be a nifty thing. Until then I just kind of pull up Pinterest on my phone while I wander around the store. And King Soopers is big into changing everything around so it makes no sense and is hard to find those little things. I sent my brother to shop for this meal and he came back with taco shells instead of pasta shells and he couldn't find green onions. (he's adorable). I go to pick up those two things, and of course come out with about 15 more things than I needed damn them, and it took me about 5 minutes of staring at the pasta wall to find large shell pasta. Finally found it way back in the corner. Someone must be making A LOT of Mexican Stuffed Shells tonight because there were only a couple of boxes left. I knew where to get the green onions and then my 15 extra items and I checked out. Can I just note, that I will not go to a human checker unless forced to. I like those self checkout things.
I must say that my stuffed pasta was VERY nummy. Took me longer than it should have because I was watching the debate at the same time but I think this was a successful cooking experience.
Mmm mmm good eating.
The how to!
Mexican Stuffed Pasta
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 14-16 jumbo pasta shells
- 1.5 cup salsa
- 1 cup taco sauce
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 cup monterey jack cheese
- 3 green onions
- Sour cream
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.
- While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.
- Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed. Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.
- Enjoy with yummy noises.
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