Let's get caught up, shall we?

It's hard to believe its been over a month since my last post.  I've thought about blogging every day (i swear), but never picked up the computer to do so.  But finally...here I am...laying in bed at 2:30 in the afternoon with no excuses.


Let me begin by saying that my holidays (Thanksgiving included) were wonderful.  We got to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas in London (KY, not England) with our families.  It's always great to see everyone and of course the food is always amazing.  I got some really great gifts, including my favorite perfume, Dolce & Gabbana 'Light Blue' which I've been out of for months and a heart rate monitor that I've been drooling over.  Now to hit the ground running...literally.


My first semester back in school finally came to an end and i'm happy to report a 3.2 GPA for the semester--if you'd seen my previous grades you'd know what an accomplishment that is for me!  It's amazing what showing up for class will do for a persons GPA haha...lessons learned the hard way I suppose.  Spring semester starts back on January 9th and I've got a full 19 hours ahead...wish me luck!  Its weird, but I actually enjoy school now that I know what I want to do with my self :)


My internship is starting to gain some momentum...I'm really looking forward to the coming months, but I am expecting nothing less than pure mayhem by the time April rolls around. I'm excited to see what doors this will open for me!


That's it in a nutshell!  I hope everyone had a great holiday season...now its time to make new year resolutions :)

Burnt Toast and Sunshine

Toaster Oven: 165  
Me:0


In our sprint back from Mississippi, Adam and I left most of our "small appliances" there (ie: microwave, toaster, old toaster oven, george foreman) as there simply just wasn't room in the truck/UHaul (seriously, we looked like the Clampett's).  We have yet to replace anything but the toaster oven. 


Do you know how hard it is to toast bread in a toaster oven?!  Next to impossible!  The only way to accurately toast bread in this stupid thing is to stand there and watch it the whole time.  I don't know about you guys, but 5 out of 7 mornings a week i'm rushing around like a crazy person trying to get ready for work/school...I don't have 3-5 minutes to stand and stare at toast!  As a result, this is how my toast turns out most of the time.

So screw you, toaster oven, i'm heading to the nearest dollar store and picking up the best toaster $10 can buy.  

Survey Says...

In an effort to blog more often, I thought this was a fun idea...I used to love doing these things back in the myspace days!  

ABC'S of ME SURVEY

A - Age: 23
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: folding/hanging clothes
D - Dog's name: Jackson & Derby
E - Essential start your day item: toothbrush
F - Favorite color: Purple
G - Gold or Silver: Silver 
H - Height: 5'4"
I - I am: awesome.
J - Job: secretary to my husband 
K - Kids: no thanks.
L - Living arrangements: Apartment w/ husband, 2 dogs, and a cat
M - Mom's name: Delena
N - Nicknames: Jecka, Jess
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: oy...too many to list. mostly asthma when I was younger and Kidney Stones 
P - Pet Peeve: leaving turn signal on
Q - Quote from a movie:? "you know what they say.  If you dont have anything nice to say...come sit by me!" -Steel Magnolias
R - Right or left handed: right
S - Siblings: 1 sister, Courtney and 1 brother, Michael 
T - Time you wake up: varies
U- Underwear: uh...yeah
V - Vegetable you dislike: brussel sprouts
W - Ways you run late: always forget something and have to turn around
X - X-rays you've had: dental
Y - Yummy food you make: biscuits and gravy (the only thing I make better than my husband)
Z - Zoo favorite: any of the jungle cats

Meatless Monday

Yes, I realize that another week has gone by with only a single blog post.  I promise that as soon as winter break hits I'll use that entire month to organize my thoughts and get the ball rolling...I have a notebook dedicated just to blog thoughts, but not enough time to get them started between school, interning, and volunteering.  


I was out of town this weekend and didn't get a chance to make/take pictures of a meatless meal, but I wanted to do this post anyway so I thought i'd share one of my favorite recipes--especially for the chilly fall weather we've been enjoying!


Potato Soup


Ingredients:

• 5lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/3-1/2 block Velveeta cheese, cubed (depending on how cheesy you like it)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion (I use dried onion flakes)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• salt & pepper

Peel and cube the potatoes and add to large pot.  Add enough water to cover the potatoes, add the onion and bring to a boil until potatoes are soft. 

Add cheese (I do this 3-4 cubes at a time so it doesn't all stick together)

Once cheese is melted, add soup and cover pot.

Turn heat down and allow it to simmer for at least 20 minutes then salt & pepper to taste.

This is by far my favorite potato soup recipe, but its clearly not the healthiest option so we don't make it that often as I can never control myself.

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post with it, but feel free to post your own if you try it!

Meatless Mondays

As I mentioned in my 10 things about me post, I try to stay away from eating meat.  Most days I succeed, but there is a day or two every month or so when I either can't avoid it or I can't resist it.  I realize that cutting meat out of your diet completely just isn't an option for some people, but did you know that cutting meat out of your diet just once a week can help prevent diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes?  It also lowers your carbon footprint, minimizes water usage, and helps reduce fossil fuel dependency.  In addition to being healthy and green, by eliminating meat just once a week you can save almost 15 animals from being slaughtered each year.


There is a movement you may have heard of called Meatless Monday.  This movement aims to encourage people to have a meat free diet every Monday.  That means no bacon or sausage for breakfast, no turkey sandwich for lunch, and no steak for dinner.  


I thought very hard about making the decision to become a vegetarian.  I'm one of the pickiest eaters I know and was sure I would starve to death if I couldn't eat meat.  But after doing some research, I decided that I couldn't continue to eat meat with a clear conscience.  One of the hardest problems I have faced is finding good substitutes for my favorite meat dishes.  In keeping up with new ideas for blog entries, it is going to be my goal to provide you with at least one easy vegetarian recipe that will taste just as good as (or better!) than a meat recipe.  


My first "Meatless Monday" recipe is...........Chick(pea)en Salad and Pumpkin Pie Pudding


By far my most difficult meal of the day is lunch.  I'm usually at school or at work during lunch time and eating a healthy vegetarian fast food meal is not always an option.  Chicken salad sandwiches were always one of my favorite lunches PV (pre-vegetarian) so I was elated when I found a recipe for vegetarian chicken salad using garbanzo beans (chickpeas) in place of chicken.  I've had this recipe in the back of my mind for a while, but just finally had all of the ingredients to make it.  

"Chicken" Salad

• 2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas (3 cups), drained and rinsed
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/4-1/3 cup mayo, miracle whip, or veganaise
• 1 heaping tablespoon dill relish
• 1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard
• freshly cracked black pepper

                                          (i didn't have any onion...oops!)

First, you'll want to put your beans in a large bowl then lightly mash.

(i made 1/4 of what the recipe called for since i'm the only one eating it)

After that, add in the celery and onion and mix.

Last, add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl and mix again.  Salt and Pepper to taste.

I put mine on a toasted bagel thin with some laughing cow light swiss and ate it with wheat thins and a salad...delicious!

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

I got this recipe from a fellow Weight Watcher and it is so good I couldn't wait to share!  It's a great, low calorie dessert for these cool fall days and i'm thinking about trying to tweak it into dish for Thanksgiving.

• 1 large box of sugar-free vanilla instant pudding
• 1/3 cup of pumpkin
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Make the pudding as directed, add pumpkin and stir until well mixed.  Add pumpkin pie spice to taste.

I ate mine with a few teddy grahams :)

If you want to get more info on how to participate in Meatless Mondays, visit www.meatlessmonday.com .

If you're thinking of making a bigger commitment, check out PETA's website--they have a lot of good information and can also send you a vegetarian starter kit.

Are there any of your favorite meals you'd like to see a meatless version of?

Beginning the Bourbon Trail

This past weekend Adam and I met his parents in Loretto, KY for a tour of the Maker's Mark distillery.  We got to tour the grounds and see where the mash was made, where it was distilled, and where the barrels were kept.  We also got to have a tasting of the original Maker's as well as the new Maker's 34.  The tour was a lot of fun, the weather was perfect, and it was nice to catch up with the family doing something we all enjoyed!  I also got some great photos on my new iPhone, which i'll share below :)


For those of you not familiar with the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, it's a tour of six bourbon distilleries: Maker's Mark, Woodford Reserve, Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, Four Roses, and Jim Beam all located here in the Bluegrass State.  When you visit your first distillery, you get a "Bourbon Passport" and will have it stamped at each location.  Once you have been to all six distilleries you mail your passport in and will receive an official Bourbon Trail t-shirt and you'll also get your passport back.  It's something Adam and I have been wanting to begin for a while so I'm glad we finally got started and can't wait to visit our next one, which will probably be Heaven Hill.

My Passport!

The grounds we're gorgeous with all the fall colors!

This sign was on the door at a little cafe that was part of the grounds...we had some amazing bourbon balls there while we waited on the in-laws to arrive

Adam and I with some of the barrels 

Us with Adam's Parents

Barrels where the bourbon is stored and aged

Where the still is housed

Copper Stills

Lastly, as I mentioned in my last post, I would really like to post something new at least 3 times a week, but as it turns out either i'm not very creative or my life is really boring (lol).  I'm working on some new idea's to get some more consistent posts up so just bear with me as I learn how to blog!

Volunteering

It's been too long since my last post--I promised myself i'd post something new at least 3 times a week and obviously I failed miserably at that this week, but I really didn't have anything fun or exciting going on...until today!

Today was my first day volunteering for the Humane Society.  For those who know me, you know I love animals.  I have been extremely blessed with a husband who let me take some time off work to focus on school; and while school does take up a ton of my time I was able to secure an awesome internship and even had some time left over to volunteer with something very near and dear to my heart.  For those of you who may not be familiar with the Humane Society, please check out their website http://www.kyhumane.org.  They work very hard to provide homeless animals with a safe and enjoyable place to live while they wait for their forever homes.

Today, I got to fix kongs for the dogs and distribute them...needless to say, they loved them!  Giving them the kong was the easy part...going in to get it was a whole different story!  I had 2 pups get loose on me and had to chase them down the hallway, but I eventually (with the help of some other staff/volunteers) got them leashed and back in their holding run.  Every dog I got to interact with was so amazing and just wanted to be loved...I'll never be able to understand how anyone can mistreat an animal.

I also had my puppy pal orientation today and can now start to care for the puppies...i'm not sure how i'm going to be able to not stick one in my purse on the way out though!

The best part of my day was being able to help find Kelsey a forever home.  Just as I was finishing up I had a family that wanted to play with some of the dogs...we tried several, but from the moment we got outside I think everyone knew Kelsey was the one for them...it was the best feeling in the world to leave knowing I got to help so many deserving dogs.  They were filling out her adoption papers as I left--hopefully everything worked out and Kelsey will be sleeping in her new home tonight!

I strongly encourage anyone even thinking of adding a pet to their family (dog or cat) to adopt.  There are so many animals that need a home and will repay you a thousand times over for adopting them.  If you're not in the Louisville area you can always check out www.petfinder.com for a great list of adoptable animals in your area.

Also, for anyone who is thinking of volunteering, but doesn't know where to get info www.volunteermatch.org is a great site!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend and is enjoying this amazing fall weather!