The Quest for Imperfection
Okay, let's be honest, I haven't been very good at the whole blogging thing. I started off pretty good, but then things happened. The PhD thing became really stressful (FYI, teaching an upper-level class while taking 2 PhD seminars is a recipe for insanity). At the same time, I dealt with sickness and death of people that I love. Note that I said that I dealt with it, not that I dealt with it well... which absolutely did not happen. It was a confusing time, I did not find much comfort in the knowledge of certain beliefs that I hold dear, which was not what I was expecting, to say the least. I was sad and lonely and confused, and I did not feel like blogging.
Fast forward several months. I am still a PhD student, an experience that I find more stressful with each passing day ("How is your dissertation coming?" along with its many variants has officially been added to the list of banned questions - seriously - please don't ask.) I am having some trouble keeping on track with meeting my goals (academic, social, physical, spiritual... and everything else.) So, I have thought a lot about it and concluded that I need an extra source of accountability. What better way to induce accountability than making myself accountable to y'all - I mean, the way I understand it, posting this to the internet is literally the same thing as telling the world. However, I will not be posting links to facebook, because I'm fine if random strangers stumble upon my accountability experiment (and obviously my tiny handful of followers will receive notice), but I don't necessarily want anyone who passes for a "friend" nowadays to be all up in my business. Is that wrong? If so, oh well.
So, here's the deal: I am trying to both make healthier choices (which we all know is universal code for losing weight) and do all that is necessary to get the heck out of dodge (aka this particular institution of higher learning) within the next year. In an effort to further my progress on both fronts, I will periodically be reporting to y'all on the status of things. And so begins the great accountability experiment. We'll see how it goes. I will provide further details on the specifics of my plans in a later post.
Just FYI, there is a reason I titled this blog post "The Quest for Imperfection" - as a (hopefully) wise man keeps telling me, this is a marathon, not a sprint. I fully expect to have a few stumbles along the way. Because I'm still me, I draw inspiration from random and funny places. Note the picture below, which yes, is a shot of my TV screen.

 
See? Trisha Yearwood gives tips like the above on "Trisha's Southern Kitchen" (love, btw) - and she has her own TV show (among loads of other successes)! So, bumps in the road are to be expected, instead of trying to "pervent" stress, I hope I can learn to laugh, dust myself off, and keep going!

The Evils of Pinterest

Has anyone invited you to join Pinterest yet?  Consider yourself warned - it is highly addictive!!!  As far as time-wasting potential is concerned, facebook has got nothing on Pinterest - and I love it!  I mean, really, where else can you find a recipe for something called "slutty brownies"?  (Well, other than the actual blog, I mean?  But really, Pinterest is so much easier...)  And how could you possibly be able to resist making some when there's a party to attend?  (No idea, as I didn't even try...)  Because really, what says "Happy Birthday Hanna" better than slutty brownies?  Um, nothing - even the birthday girl is in accord, and it's all thanks to Pinterest.
So, if you're wondering what I've been up to, that's about it - lots of pinning, the usual PhD student stuff (if you lose your mind and decide you'd like to know more about content analysis in mass communications research, give me a call), and I'm still trying to figure out the teaching thing (if anyone out there knows how to teach the audit risk model, please divulge your secret - I don't currently have any money, but there may be a batch of slutty brownies in your future...)  Oh, and I went to Hanna's b-day party and had loads of fun!  (On a related note, we should definitely play more board games around here...)  
OK, even though I have confessed to whipping up a batch of slutty brownies (without regret), I have decided not to count that as my recipe of the week - since the goal is actually supposed to be healthy recipes, I'm pretty sure slutty brownies do not come close to qualifying.  And, I admit to cheating a little, because I am partly relying on a recipe I have loved for a while now: Breakfast Fried Rice, from I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening: Over 150 Ridiculously Easy Recipes for the Super Busy by Chef Devin Alexander, who, btw, also authored The Biggest Loser Cookbook, in case you're interested.  I highly recommend her cookbooks - she has some really great easy recipes using simple ingredients that are both delicious and healthy (the magic combination).  Anyway, I have been craving some Breakfast Fried Rice, and decided that I should find a healthy side dish to serve alongside.  I came up with the Blue Wave Smoothie from Eat What You Love by Marlene Koch (totally love this one, too.  Can you tell I have a teeny cookbook obsession?)

 The best thing about Breakfast Fried Rice?  Only four ingredients!  Also, I totally cheat and use the pre-cooked brown rice (let's be honest, I am much too lazy to make brown rice solely for use in this dish - especially because you only need 1/3 cup).  And, FYI, you only use the egg whites (if you actually had use for the yolks in some other dish, I suppose you could save them - I generally throw them out...)

 The smoothie is also super easy - only five ingredients (fresh blueberries were cheaper, so I used those, but you could always use frozen, or try some other berry of your choice - experimenting is half the fun).



And there it is, your whole meal, really yummy and satisfying, plus it literally takes under 15 minutes to throw together - start to finish!  It's basically the perfect meal, and in the interest of full disclosure, it may be called breakfast fried rice, but I have only ever eaten it for dinner.  If you want to try Breakfast Fried Rice, look here.
As for the Blue Wave Smoothie (adapted from Eat What You Love by Marlene Koch):
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt (I like greek yogurt)
1/2 cup light grape juice
2 packets Splenda (or one tablespoon granulated Splenda)
1/2 to 3/4 cup crushed ice
Give it a whirl in the fancy blender of your choice!

Oh, I almost forgot the stats:
Breakfast fried rice: 3 Points+
Blue Wave Smoothie: 3 Points+
(Yes, that's a whole meal for 6 Points+... you can thank me later :o)

Until next time, happy pinning!  (Speaking of which, would it be totally wrong of me to pin my own blog post?)
    

Adventures in teaching, apartment dwelling, and (more) Southern Cooking

OK, so you know how they say bad things come in threes? Well, if this week is any indication, it's totally true....

First, on Thursday, I attempted to teach the audit risk model - it did not go so well. For all you non-auditors out there, I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that the audit risk model is to auditing what the abc's are to reading. Anyway, it's truly a terrifying moment when you finish teaching something so foundational to the rest of your course only to look up and see 44 of these staring back at you

(A reference that the vast majority of my students have no hope of understanding, since they were all born in like 1990...) Yeah, back to the drawing board on that one, we'll be having more fun with the audit risk model in tomorrow's class.

Then, on Thursday night, I came home to find a vibrant deep pink liquid running down the side of the refrigerator and pooling on the kitchen floor. My much-maligned fridge (which has been a thorn in my side from the moment I moved into this apartment 18 months ago) finally gave up the ghost, causing everything in the freezer to completely defrost (including a large bag of frozen berries, hence the deep pink liquid). So I spent Thursday night mopping the floor and throwing out lots of food, like this:

Yes, I took pictures and made an itemized list. I'm pretty sure that "appliances in good working order" is a clause in my lease, so I am totally requesting reimbursement. However, as of late Friday afternoon, I am now the proud possessor of a late-model refrigerator that actually seems as though it was manufactured within the last decade (trust me, it's a huge upgrade). Some days it is really hard not to think longingly of my lovely late model home currently being occupied by my renters... one of the many joys of grad student life.

Now, I'm not going to discuss the third thing specifically here, but I will say it was a serious bummer also related to teaching and has something to do with that healthy stack of papers on the left (in the event that you're dying to know the details, call, text or email me and we'll chat):

But, since you can't keep a good man down (which must also apply to women), I decided to use the necessity of replacing all perishable goods as an opportunity to purchase ingredients needed to try a new recipe (my goal is to try one per week). I found this recipe for Red Beans and Rice in a cookbook that my mom got for Christmas, and it seemed fitting to continue in the theme of Southern food (I actually made a very long list of loads of recipes I wanted to try from that cookbook, thank heaven they have a blog....)

You need all of this, and loads of spices:

And after about 5 hours in the crock pot and some help from my trusty potato masher (yes, I totally cheat and use slow cooker liners - thank you to the good people at Reynolds for inventing such a handy item):

Here is the finished product (so yummy!)

Another smashing Southern "comfort food" success, not to mention a total bright spot in an otherwise distressing week! Also, in case anyone is interested, according to the handy-dandy weightwatchers.com recipe builder (because, as of today, I am officially back on the WW bandwagon), this dish clocks in at 7 points plus - including half a cup of rice (woo-hoo)!

We Love Us Some Bobby Deen

OK, so this is my inaugural blog post (yay!), and it seems appropriate to cover something else inaugural - like my first foray into the wonder that is Southern cooking (which some have claimed makes you good looking; given the vast amounts of butter involved, I have my doubts). Since moving here to the South, I have tried lots of new things, most of which I have come to love (pig pickin' anyone?), with the notable exception of cane syrup. Also, I confess to not loving my first pimento cheese experience, but have subsequently learned that not all pimento cheese is created equal (thank you, Anna). So, one of my favorite people in the Universe (I'm looking at you, Joleen Kremin - literally, you're sitting right next to me) is here visiting, and we were watching an episode of "Not my Mama's Meals," featuring "lighter and leaner" pimento cheese sandwiches. Needless to say, we were intrigued. However, given that it was Sunday, and desiring to remain unspotted, we waited until Monday and visited the local Wal-Mart to scout out the necessary ingredients. And may I just say, I now officially love me some Bobby Deen and cannot wait for another pimento cheese sandwich.

Here we are (complete with fun aprons) preparing for our awesome pimento cheese experience.

Ingredients assembled (certain spices not pictured - this blogging thing is a work in progress for me).

After some team chopping, grating, measuring and mixing...

Add some tomato slices (not being a lover of store-bought tomatoes, I was doubtful about this, but it was delicious!) Don't you love my fine china?

Grill 'em up (we skipped Bobby's suggestion to use light mayonnaise on the outside of the bread and used Pam instead - aren't they brown and beautiful?)

The finished product - so yummy (you know you want one... and maybe one of these...)

Yep, we love us some Bobby Deen!