Back from the beach!

After we got back from Japan, both T and I needed about a week to get back into East Coast time and routine.  Slowly, the jet lag wore off.  Throughout the week, I took my time unpacking and sluggishly went through all of our many omiyage and personal souvenirs.  We brought home a ton of stuff!

This photo is just the stuff we brought home to give away!

By the weekend through, I managed to make it to (and through) my Saturday morning ballet class and the next morning, we picked 10 lbs of blueberries at our favourite local pick your own orchard.

Look at those giant, sweet blueberries!

Since then, we've spent three consecutive weekends at the beach.  I spent a whole week there with my friend Feder and I turned 28!  it's been a comfortable and relaxing mid summer.  Now we're back home.  T's back at work and I'm busy trying to tackle all those "I'll do it later" projects accumulated throughout the year so that I can have a nice, clean slate of a to do list by the time Fall classes begin.

My youngest sister, Sneetch has been helping me get all my inventory photographed so I can stock my Etsy store and I've listed books on Amazon to try to decrease our book collection a little.  So far, so good!

In other news, today Sneetch and I made a variation of a veggie stir-fry type dish Feder taught me to make while we were at the beach.  I've never been a fan of squash/zucchini type veggies, but this dish has made me change my mind!  It's super simple to cook up and nearly zero points on the Weight Watchers program!  Here's the recipe, as I made it, if you can call it a recipe; it's super simple!

Summer veggie stir fry!

Delicious Summer Veggie Stir Fry

Ingredients:
1/2 t olive oil
1/2 t butter
1 yellow squash (long and not too bulbous at the bottom = fewer seeds = better)
1 zucchini squash
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 cob of cooked, fresh, sweet corn

To Make:

1. Wash the squashes and cut off the ends (I cut off about 1/2 an inch from each end).  Cut in half lengthwise and then slice, making half circles about 1/4" thick.
2. Wash and cut up the peppers, removing all the insides and seeds.  Pieces should be bite size.
3. Break the corn cob in half and pick off all the corn  kernels.  If the corn is cooked right, you should be able to easily pick off a row or two of kernels one at a time and then remove entire rows at one go.
4. Time to cook!  In a large frying pan, heat the oil and butter together over med-high heat.  Toss in the squash half circles and allow to cook until slightly soft; but not translucent!  Stir infrequently so that some pieces get a nice golden brown colour.
5. Add in the pepper pieces and cook until slightly soft.  The peppers should add a nice, light crunch.
6. When squashes and peppers are just about done, toss in the corn kernels and turn off heat, leaving the pan on the burner.
7. Enjoy warm or at room temperature!

For the week while I was at the beach, I prepped a pork shoulder for T to make himself some pulled pork.  A concoction of my own imagination, the pork came out pretty well, but there was a whole lot of it and we returned to at least 6 servings of it in the fridge.  So Sneetch and I enjoyed our veggies with a serving of pulled pork on top; yum!

Long time no post... sorry!

Sorry for the lack of posting. My Montessori training classes started the Monday right after graduation at GHS.

Quick overview of some interesting happenings over the past... month!

• Strawberry picking (2x) - not so great because the weather has been abnormally rainy which is apparently bad for strawberries.
  
• Interesting happenings at GHS - Unfortunate happenings really. Fortunately, I don't look back with any regrets and I don't think I will.
  
• Yard sale of junk from Mom and Dad's house - Everyone except T, Flea and I were at the beach house. So we held a yard sale on our own. It rained poured almost all morning... We did manage to give away some clothes to 2 very nice ladies and their respective families.
  
• Blueberry picking (this past weekend) - AMAZING! It rained Friday night, so when we arrived at 8:30am on Saturday, the bellies were perfectly washed and bug free for us. The bushes were FULL of bellies too! We picked for just over an hour and got almost 14lbs ($31) off of 1 giant bush - though it wasn't totally picked clean.
• My Montessori training course has started!
  

Classes have been going super swimmingly! I’m really enjoying them. I’ve met some wonderful new friends and am learning so much. It’s really fun to find out the reasoning behind the materials – especially the ones I remember from when I was little.

Thus far, we have studied Montessori philosophy, the practical life lessons and we are finishing up our week of sensorial lessons.

Tomorrow evening, T and I are driving out to the beach to meet up with everyone for a mini family reunion. I’m hoping to get in a lot of sun, knitting and general relaxation!

Rain, rain, wash the pollen away!

Our summer days have been temporarily replaced by rainy, somewhat drear-some weather. The silver lining is a great one; the rain is going to relieve us of the 1600+ ppi pollen count. Phewf! In celebration of the hot weather yesterday (and knowing the forecast for today), T and I decided to have our old favourite summery dinner. We came up with the recipe for this delicious and nutritious tuna pasta in college. It's the perfect, light, cool summer meal; especially when followed by some slices of yummy watermelon. Here's the recipe:

Tuna Pasta (college style)
Makes 6 large servings

Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat twirly pasta (or some other shape that will hold the sauce well)
2 cans tuna, drained and rinsed
1 large bell pepper (any colour) diced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 T dijon mustard
3 T French mustard (the kind that comes in the yellow squeeze bottles)
1/4 c Italian dressing

To Make:
1) Cook the pasta according to box instructions.
2) Meanwhile, drain and rinse the tuna, and dice the pepper.
3) In a large bowl (enough to hold all the ingredientes), mix the 2 mustards with the dressing.
4) Drain and rinse the pasta in cold water, then add all of it to the dressing bowl.
5) Toss to coat and then add the pepper pieces and peas.
6) Serve at room temperature, or chilled. Enjoy!

Sick day

I'm back in Blogland! Yep, sick again. The same thing I had before, but I went to the doctor earlier this time. Hopefully, that means that I'll get better sooner! Actually, it better mean that I am healthier sooner, because now is not the time to be sick!

I've got 2 parties at work this week, (one of which I am helping to organize), the Downtown Holiday Market and Celebration of Mrs. Wiechelt's Life this weekend. Then next week is the home stretch to Winter Break which means I have to get cracking on the babies' presents! At least I think I have finally decided on what to make for them.

I have had a hard time concentrating recently. I think it has been the excitement for Thanksgiving and now the winter holidays coupled with the overwhelming sadness and unfortunate surprise of Karen's death. It was really a reality check for me; things don't just keep going so that you can go to bed and wake up tomorrow. She always encouraged everyone to enjoy life the way it is and savor every moment (and every bite of chocolate). I need to work on that.

In the meantime, I'll share a recipe I made up all on my own! This dashi based soup is great for the freezing cold days we've been having. It's filling, warm, healthy and delicious! Even T agrees and is willing to have it for lunch the next day. :)

Ingredients:
3 T Dashi soup base (available in most Asian food stores; look for one with no MSG or where MSG is at least towards the end of the ingredient list; this can be substituted with chicken broth)
4-5 cups water (depends on how much soup you want, you can always add more)
1 lb. pea shoots (tou-miao in Mandarin Chinese)
1 cup diced celery
1 cup sliced kamoboko fish cake
1 cup firm tofu
1 lb. somen noodles

1. Wash the pea shoots very throroughly (there are often little teeny bugs). Peel off the leaves and discard the stems.
2. Heat the water on medium high heat, it doesn't need to be boiling and stir in the dashi to dissolve. It will look like miso soup broth.
3. When the water is hot, add the noodles and pea shoot leaves.
4. While the noodles and leaves are softening, slice the tofu and fish cake. I like to cut them small, but still arge enough to be picked up easily with chopsticks.
5. Add the celery, fish cake and tofu.
6. When everything is heated through, serve and enjoy!

For extra deliciousity, T and I enjoyed this "fruit salad" as our dessert after our soup for lunch today:

1 apple, diced
1 pear, diced
1/2 a pomegranate's worth of seeds