Mmmm... cabbage?

I don't know exactly how everyone feels about cabbage. Growing up, Mom boiled it with corned beef in March. Occasionally during the summer she'd quarter it and add a few pads of butter, wrap it in aluminum foil packets and throw it on the grill. I thought all of that was just fine. But then, last summer Will and I had dinner at my grandparents. Papa made smoked pork chops on the grill. These were amazing, but for me, the real star was the vegetables Grandma served on the side!

This recipe is pretty easy and I don't have any exact measurements to it, but here is what you will need:

• Head of cabbage
• A sweet onion or red onion
• Minced garlic or garlic cloves
• Olive oil
• Pepper (and salt if you like)

First, start by slicing your onion. Put a few table spoons of olive oil in the bottom of your pan and turn the heat to medium. Add the garlic, pepper, and salt if you choose. (I don't usually use salt, but some people like to. I add about one heaping spoonful of minced, but we really like garlic. Add as much or as little as you like!)

Add the onions into the pan and begin to saute as you prepare the cabbage. Be sure to stir the onions so they don't stick. Next, add the cabbage. It's important to separate the layers of cabbage so when they are added all the pieces get coated with olive oil. Add more oil if the pieces aren't getting coated, but don't get too carried away! You'll need less than you think!

Cook until the cabbage is tender (but not mushy! It should still have a bit of a crunch!) and the onions are soft. Depending on how large of a head of cabbage you use, it could take around 30 minutes or more to cook. I usually buy a head of cabbage that weighs between 2-3 pounds and this makes enough for Will and I for 2-3 meals. I have even added the leftovers into soup! The final product will be slightly sweet and pretty flavorful.

For other ideas, you could also add in grated carrot with the onion to add color. It's sort of a bland colored dish and makes for a sort of sad plate if served with chicken breast. But it certainly doesn't taste boring!

Back to Business

So, it's been awhile. A long while since I've blogged with any substance. I've been doing plenty of writing for fun this summer and even in some forum-style roleplay blogs in the Harry Potter universe, but nothing for my blog. It's a real shame. Real, big shame. So I'd like to introduce a few things that I want to do with this blog every week/month.

1. Try new recipes and share them! I really enjoy cooking and have lately been trying a lot of new recipes and new techniques and even a few new foods. I have a plan in the works to try quinoa. I'd like to share that with you! 
2. Writing prompts. I got this idea from Scarlett and the prompts she's been getting from Mama Kat. I love to write. I love to edit,  I love to tweak. I want to share that passion with you.
3. Photos. Photos are something else that I enjoy. In fact, later this week I will be judging 4-H exhibitor's photos for $10/hr. Pretty awesome gig, huh? But I want to share you moments in my life that I have recorded. They might not always be traditionally pretty, but they will hopefully at least be a glimpse at my less-than-interesting life. 
4. Other ramblings. That was the whole point of this blog anyway when I first started it. It was supposed to be a place for me to record all my thoughts about random things and the things happening to me as I went through life and searched for answers in my own way, on my own terms, and in my own time. 

So there you have it! I haven't assigned days to any of them or anything, but I do have a post in the works tomorrow for one of my favorite vegetable side dishes. I made it a few weeks ago and took pictures with the intention of blogging about it and haven't done it yet. So guess what? It's happening tomorrow. Or maybe later tonight to show up tomorrow..... Haha! Either way, we'll be talking soon. If not, poke me, e-mail me, tweet me, Facebook me, whatever and remind me I "should" be blogging!

What do I need?

Ok, so you know how I don't blog very often? Sometime I think it's maybe because I don't like the way that this blog looks. Like if I were super inspired and it was all pretty I could feel more inclined to write more. Maybe that's not true. But a pretty blog couldn't hurt right? I need to start doing this more and a new shiny blog look would be REALLY helpful.

Do you need a new look for you blog? Well, Green Jello with Carrots is giving away a custom lay-out from LeeLou Blogs thanks to this contest! So enter, or don't! Because I really, really, really want to win. Haha!

A very [un]romantic Valentine's Day

So, this is our first Valentine's Day together as a married couple. It should be very romantic and such right? Well, as of today, Will has worked 16 days in a row. (Not full days, but still had at least one appointment to deliver/pickup surveys every day.) I have been getting progressively sicker (and now better) since Saturday. On Monday (V-Day) Will worked 11 hours. I had class. By the time he got home, I was so sick and he was so tired, we both were asleep on the couch by 9 pm. He's been working so hard that he forgot to buy me a gift. I wasn't even upset. I was just like... "Meh, do it later." *cuddle* (So maybe today he'll remember since he's only working 7 hours.)

He did bring me supplies for being sick. These included chocolate covered cherries, Vick's vapor rub, ginger ale, saltines, and chicken noodle soup. Yesterday, I only ate around 600 calories. Half of those were chocolate covered cherries. I hate being sick.

Sunday though, he took me to eat at Cheesecake Factory. He had the "grande" burrito. (Which really is ginormous) and I had the Fettuccine with garlic sauce and sun-dried tomatoes. It was heaven. Then we split a piece of strawberry cheesecake. It was romantic, relaxing, and perfect. Even if the music was too loud and this weird little kid kept running up and down the aisle next to our booth. Who said you only get romance and love one day a year? But really, we just need more alone time together.

Seriously. I'm tired of his crazy hours. I'm tired of my crazy schedule. But it's all going to be worth it. Someday. For now, we're just gonna deal.

Will loves his new San Francisco Giants "World Series Champions" hat so much that it's looked like rain the past two days and he refuses to wear it outside. Haha! (There was no rain, just cloudy. What a stinker!) Waffles just enjoys looking like a haunted demon dog.

2 Week Menu!

I'm trying something new and trying a page from Erin's book. I'm going to plan out our meals. I know this will change because we haven't talked about what night we'll be going out for V-Day, or if we're going out at all. But here it is!!! (11 meals, should last 14 days with left overs/going out to eat once, etc!)

Today

Weekday Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday

French Onion Soup

Freezing left-overs?

Sunday

Apple-mustard glazed pork chops 

(look for post for recipe!)

Monday

White Wine Marinated Steaks

Tuesday

left-over "garbage" soup from freezer

"garbage" soup is something Mom does. She just throws together whats left in the fridge. I froze what was left of mine last time.

Wednesday

Layered Chicken Bake- Bruschetta 

Thursday

Chinese 

I use one of those stir-fry kits found in frozen foods and add chicken breast

(tasty and pretty healthy- plus, Will can make it!)

Friday

Homemade Pizza

(look for a post on this later, too!)

Saturday

Grilled chicken breasts, rice, veggies

Sunday

Hamburger Stroganoff

Monday

Cuban "flank" Steak (for 2)

Crock-Pot (woot woot!)

I am not spending the extra money on Flank steak. I will be buying a more economical cut. It'll be in crock pot ALL day. It will get plenty tender.

free write

Today during my American Lit class we were talking about "local color" in literature and how some stories can only happen in certain places at certain times. This is what came out of my ten minute free write. It's rough, but it's a start and I'd like to someday expand it.

Balmy summer nights begin with pizza and friends on the tailgate of a rusty blue Ford next to a small khaki Chevy four-door with blankets strewn between. Frisbees fly on children's laughter as small orbs of light float, eluding capture as the picture projects on a screen in the sky. Semi's add their sound effects to the latest action flick. I giggle with friends curled up and we wonder about those caught in an embrace behind the white brick snack shed, shadows cast on their face from the moon and from flickering farm lights. The same kind found on every rural property from the Mississippi to the Missouri along highway 30 or I-30 or highway 20, but what teenagers here have on hot summer nights in not-so-secret kisses in front of an outdoor picture show. The glow of cell phones are new to a nostalgic call back to the classic cars and soda fountain that once graced these small knolls. Instead of Nixon and Vietnam, we rode through summer on Bush-isms and Iraq waiting to turn 18. Instead of the Beatles and flower power, there was Green Day and the fervent need to leave this small town behind.

That's it for now. Tell me what you think!

Back in School (and some rambling)

So classes have officially started for the spring semester at GVU. I am taking 15 credits and have a crazy hectic schedule. Until March 5, I will be gone for 12-15 hours a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One of the worst things about this time of year is the cold. Currently, I'm sitting in a work room for education students and freezing my you-know-what off. It's about 10F outside and they haven't adjusted the heat indoors to make up for it. There seems to be no middle ground. It's either too cold or too warm inside. My hands are cold as I type this. I'm restless in this nearly 5 hour break even though I have plenty to do. It would appear that I just can't sit still these days. Maybe I'll take a quick walk around the building and see how I feel then.

I realize this blog is about nothing in particular except to say I'm back in school and taking classes and enjoying most of them so far. Some of them seem like they'll be full of busy work or worthless memorization (Developmental Psych), but I might be surprised. My favorite classes by far as my Survey of American Lit II (1865-present) and Women's Lit. My two education classes aren't really doing much exciting. Have I mentioned how much I hate busy work? Oh, I haven't? Well, I do. And so far in one that seems to be what we're doing. But I guess it's easy and sorta fun. And has a point. So it's not really busy work. I just... don't know why it's a 3 hour class. I've taken plenty of diversity classes already. Why do I need another one?

Anyway, Dad had his 3rd cath lab since last February last Thursday. He had one stint put in. The good news is his cholesterol is under control along with his blood pressure. The bad news is, the doctor said genetics are the big factor in why they keep finding blockage. They will most likely have to put in a few stints a year for the rest of Dad's life. That's not great news, but it could be worse. There is a fix for this.

Additionally, the health care repeal has me nervous. If it gets repealed, I would lose my heath care insurance, be unable to take care of somethings I need to (like go to the dentist). I should probably make sure I go as soon as I can so that I can at least get one cleaning before it could possibly be taken away. It's all so frustrating.

Well, there you have it. Some random tidbits from my life. By the way, are you following my friends and me over at Twitter to Get Fitter? It's an awesome group blog with everyone offering their own perspective with their own goals, their own life stage, and their own insight. Make sure you check it out!

Who me? Irresistibly sweet?

So today was overall a pretty great day. I was lazy with Will who got a day off mid-week. We were bums in pajamas all afternoon, took a shower, and went out for Chinese food. Then we stopped and rented a few videos to watch. After that, he went to the gym for an hour so I decided to hop online and see what all my friends are doing and I got praised in an inexplicably amazing way! That's right! Scarlett over at Confessions of a Shieldmaiden gave *me* The Irresistibly Sweet Award along with some amazing praise about my writing, my blog, and me!

However, in order to accept this award (and accept the fact that I really am irresistibly sweet) I must first share FIVE guilty pleasures with you. Piece of cake! (Ha! Get it? ..... Seriously, you can tell me to get a life any time.)

1. Online role play games- I currently play in more than I care to admit and have in the last month finally branched out into universes past Twilight. I am also beyond the Twitterverse. I am on forum boards and doing actual writing within a Harry Potter universe. It is so amazing. I'm also starting on a new site in a completely original universe. It so relaxing. I get to plot, I get to write, I get to scheme. It's a dream come true.
2. Facebook/Twitter/AIM/Blogger- I spend more time than I care to admit on Twitter, Facebook, AIM and other places chatting with online friends and real life friends. I just love to talk. I love being social. I feel like social networking was made JUST for people like me. I am addicted. Yes, addicted. But it's entertainment and it's free. What more could you ask for?
3. Wine and chocolate- I love a glass of wine or a (tiny) piece of chocolate at night while I'm Facebooking/Twittering/IMing/Blogging or RPing. Wine, chocolate and I.N.G.ing. It's the best.
4. Snuggling- So there is nothing better than snuggling with my hubby under our big feather comforter or just smooshed together on the couch. If the 60 lb. dog jumps up on top of us (him) it makes it all the better especially is I'm also getting my back scratched. Human touch and animal companionship help make anyone happy. Seriously. They do research on this stuff.
5. Shoes- I love shopping for shoes, trying on shoes, looking at shoes online.... looking at other people's shoes. The same goes for handbags and jewelry. And if it looks vintage? Bonus points!

So, now comes the part where I get to recognize three bloggers who I think are irresistibly sweet! So, here goes!

• Erin and Erica over at domestic daredevils- WOW! What creative cooks! I get inspired to make delicious dinners for my hubby here! I don't always use their recipes, but seeing someone else do it makes me want to do it! I'm neither a domestic or a daredevil, but maybe with their help I could come a tiny bit of each.
• Niche White's Bridal Loft- I wish I would have seen her site BEFORE I got married. She has so many pretties on her site that are great to look at. Even if you've already gotten married or aren't anytime in the near future, who doesn't like looking at pretties? She's also super friendly and interacts with her followers on Twitter and within her blog! She even remembers who I am! :-D
• Lele and Belinda of The Seam Rippers- Lele is an amazing new mother and together with her mother they share all of their wonderful crafty projects. My! Do I wish I were that talented! Belinda also leaves the sweetest little comments on my blog! They are the nicest women and even if I don't know them in real life, I know they would do anything for their family, friends, and loved ones. Amazing!

Did anyone else notice a thread in those blogs? All the owners have skill and are creative! I love filling my days with the pretty or tasty things they share! Thanks, ladies! <3