Thankful

I have been spending time today pondering what I am most thankful for this year. We have had a whirlwind of a week and so was disappointed that Graham and I haven't had an opportunity yet to discuss our many blessings yet together (I'm sure we will tonight in our car ride to Bellingham).

One thing that is really on my heart is the blessing of caring friends and mentors who have really helped walk us through these first 20 months of marriage. We have had one couple from church in particular who have taken us under their wings, encouraging and supporting us, letting us cry and be honest with them through the challenges of being newlyweds, inviting us into their home to be loved and cared for--they are amazing! I just got back from coffee with the wife and my heart is so touched that she took time away from her two kids and husband on a busy holiday eve to hear was is going on with me and let me just be me. I am so very thankful that I have people in my life like this!

Cooking Tales

Over the past 2 weeks, I had a total of 7 people request frozen meals. My goal was to get the orders cooked and delivered by Thanksgiving so that I could rest and relax and enjoy my LONG weekend off! This means that I cooked a total of 35 frozen meals in two weeks time but I actually only cooked on three separate occasions. Whew! So far I am hearing good reviews from my coworker "customers" and more and more people are getting excited about my little business venture. Actually, some of them are probably more excited than I am! Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to have a small number of friends and coworker "clients" but really don't have a desire to launch into a full blown commercial-kitchen business at this moment in time...but I'll keep you posted! I was very much looking forward to having a little extra cash to spend on Christmas gifts this year but that idea was put quickly to rest yesterday (more on that later!)

In addition to my freezer entrees, I've also been doing some cooking for Graham and I and a few of our friends. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites since I haven't done so recently. The big hit for us this week was a Creamy Indian-Spiced Halibut Curry--oh my! It is so incredibly tasty and also super spicy for spice lovers (you can cut back on the cayenne pepper if you don't). I made it with half and half instead of cream and low fat yogurt instead of whole. It still turned out great.

Tonight I was in the mood for a comfort meal so we had:

Gnocchi Gratin


Yield 6 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup)

Ingredients
1 (22-ounce) package gnocchi
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
2 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
Cooking spray
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
Cook gnocchi according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour, salt, and pepper to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk and broth, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil; cook until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add Gruyère, chives, and bacon; stir until smooth. Add gnocchi; toss well.
Spoon mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve immediately.


It is a Cooking Light recipe that was especially creamy-real treat in our house! Graham's comment was that it tasted like a really yummy, glorified mac n' cheese. Try it!

Right now I have a pot of Cranberry Cherry and Walnut Chutney bubbling on the stove for our Thanksgiving dinner at my parents. We're leaving tomorrow night after work and I get to stay through Friday (Graham has to work Friday) so I'm super excited.

So going back to the extra cooking cash I've earned....why exactly can't I spend it on Christmas gifts? Well, let me tell you using a couple of illustrations:

So yeah, Graham got in a little fight with a short yellow post in the Overlake parking garage--it appears that the post won. Poor guy! He was so upset and he made it sound so bad over the phone that I was quite excited to find the damage as limited as it is. I just smiled and said "Now the Jetta has a bright yellow racing stripe!" :o) Unfortunately, we've taken it in to 2 places for quotes. One said it would cost us $1400 for the repair and the other $2000. Whew, that's a lot of cash for such a seemingly minor scrape!! Anyway I am very THANKFUL that Graham is okay and now I'll be looking for some more cooking clients to help us pay the bill--any takers? ;o)

This always makes me happy

One of my all-time favorite things to do since moving to the eastside is walk in downtown Kirkland. Without fail, it always makes me cheerful to go down to the waterfront parks and walk and people watch. Because it was so sunny yesterday, I insisted we head down to Kirkland for a stroll. I also had the bright idea of bringing along some old bread in hopes of finding ducks to feed. Thankfully, our Kirkland duck family was still here and had not yet headed south (we had the pleasure of watching a couple of duck families grow up over the course of the summer). We made it just in time for sunset. Here are a few fun shots.

Walking through the gorgeous homes in the "West of Market" neighborhood

What a beautiful view!

Doesn't he look super cute? He had quite a gathering of duck fans.

I took my turn feeding and got 2 ducks to eat from my hand!

The two of them kept "pecking" each other (especially the greedy male who wasn't into sharing)

Half Job Offer

It's probably time I write an update about my job situation....Apparently the Children's Center job (in Everett) had a lot more applicants than was expected so the interview process took longer than planned. On Thursday, I received a call from the manager, apologizing for the delay and asking for references. I gave her references but meanwhile was thinking "Oh shoot what do I do!? What do I say!? Do I tell her?" In other words, I'd decided a couple weeks back NOT to take the job and had been debating whether or not to let them know before I heard from them or wait until I received a call and then tell them. Well, the decision was made for me! The manager told me that I was their top candidate and that she needed to go through the process of contacting my references and after that, would be offered the job. Of course then she asked if I was still interested. I told her I was thrilled to be the top candidate but that a lot had changed since I initially interviewed. She was very understanding and told me that having me in the NICU is important to them too as my patients there are the ones that are referred to them and so we kind of work together already and they like what I do.

So what changed to make me stay!?? There were a number of factors. I was honestly so ready to go, was feeling burnt out and tired and was 98% sure that I would accept a new job if offered. But I really feel that, for some reason, God wasn't ready for me to leave yet and in the end, He made it pretty clear. I had reached the point where I had a bad attitude about work and was having a hard time seeing the positive aspects but it was like all of that changed overnight. Graham and I had a lot of long conversations about what is most important to us and it came down to the fact that we really both need Sundays off. We love our church and are so refreshed every time we are able to attend and serve together.

When Shona, the dietitian I job share with, found out that Sundays were a huge part of the issue, she offered to trade for one of my Sundays so that I will only have to work one/month (I'd been told back in August by my manager that having more weekends off was not an option). I had a wonderful conversation with her (whose previous careers were in upper management) in which she said a lot of very kind things and basically begged me to stay.

Meanwhile, all of a sudden I felt excited by my job and even challenged (which is huge for me). I realized that I am never going to find a group of staff who are as incredible as the ones I work with now---seriously they are like a huge extended family to me and it has been pretty neat to have them know me before I was engaged (okay, so that was only for like a month), when I was engaged, and now as a newlywed. They are a great group of people and I really feel like I'm having opportunities to minister to them as I get to know them better.

Once I decided to stay, I was brave and sat down with my supervisor and told her some of the things that could be done to make my job better, to help me continue to grow and develop. I'd realized that it wasn't fair of me to expect her to just know what I need and then be upset when she didn't provide it (arrggg, that passive aggressive thing never works!)

All in all, I am so thankful for my job and am excited to see why God had me stay. I'm thankful that He gave me a new perspective and attitude and is providing positive encouragement and feedback along the way to keep me going.

Sorry for the lost post but for those of you still....and they lived happily ever after..... :o)

"Our" Kitty

So I think we've become foster owners for a sweet kitty. I call him Tuxedo. He's been showing up at our back door meowing and just sits there and watches us through the window. Graham wanted let him in (the poor kitty is just begging for attention) but I told him that was a bad idea and that he might truly become ours if he comes inside. Today we arrived home to find Tuxedo waiting at the front door. He let me pet him for awhile and then tried to dart into the house when I opened the door. After making it safely inside (without him), he just sat outside the door and meowed. He waited there for about 5 minutes before he gave up. Next thing I knew, I looked up to see that he'd migrated to the back door to see if his luck was any better from that side. Graham tried to feed him peanut butter--which I think is just wrong--but Tuxy wasn't interested (can cats have peanut butter?) I'm not quite sure what to do with him but he sure seems to be intrigued by us. Guess we have a peeping Tom Cat...

More Art

Graham's been making modern art again! This time he used an old glass coke bottle and one of my flower pots. My photo of the painting doesn't do the color justice (the colors are navy and Restoration Hardware blue). He used left over paint from our guest room and office and by hanging it in the hall, it sort of ties the two rooms together. We've received many compliments on it. If anything, it's a conversation piece!

For the record...

My last fill up at Arco cost me a whoppin' total of $22.68.

And yes my tank was empty. I'm feeling thankful!

I jinxed myself!

So since my last post about NOT cooking, something crazy happened. I've been cooking freezer meals on and off for random people over the past year but have not had any consistent clients since the spring. Awhile back, one of the nurses at work found out that I make freezer meals and asked me to make 7 dinners for her. I did it and it went went and that was that. That was over 3 months ago.

Well apparently, Thursday night after I left work, this nurse had a conversation with a few other NICU staff that I make freezer meals. NEWS SPREADS LIKE WILDFIRE AROUND THAT PLACE!!!! I walked into work on Friday morning (having no idea about the conversation that had gone on the night before) and was almost immediately approached by 2 staff members, asking if I could give them a list of the freezer entree options that I offer. As the day went on, a couple more people were asking me about the meals. And then today, a whole new group of people were working and somehow the word spread to them. Everyone was asking for a list of meal choices. I had 3 people sign up for meals on the spot and have at least 2 more who plan to give me their "order" tomorrow and then about 3-4 more who are going to look over the options and get back to me. Holy cow--what have I got myself into??!! I'm super excited by the possibility and am sort of in shock that it was so easy to get this many people interested. And to think I did NO advertising! I am definitely working with the right group of people--busy moms working 12 hour shifts who don't arrive home until 8 PM and need easy, healthy dinner options for their kids/husband at home. I don't anticipate many of these "clients" will be consistently ordering meals on a biweekly basis (thankfully!) so I think if I stagger everyone, I can handle the load. Especially if a couple people want the same entree, I can just make a big batch and split it into 2 dishes....We'll see what happens!

So if this many people are desperate for meals, I'm going to have to expand my options. I came home today and in 2 hours flat, prepared and froze the following:

Spicy Grilled Chicken with Lemon Rice Pilaf

Asian Sirloin Steaks w/ Hoisin Sauce and Sesame Seeds

Herbed Lime Chicken

Pork Loin Chops w/ Pears and Cranberries

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Ham and Gruyere Strata w/ Turkey Bacon

I haven't cooked since Halloween

This is actually rather absurd come to think of it! I think the last time I didn't cook for a week must have been when we were in Italy on vacation....I feel like I am ALWAYS cooking but we've had a very busy week w/ dinner at small group, being out of town over the weekend and then out on a cheap date last night. Feels weird to have to cook tonight...
Anyway, we took a look at our finances about a month ago and were SHOCKED to realize we'd been averaging $200/month on dining out for 3 months straight! WHAT!!??? Where did that figure come from?? We really don't go out that much but somehow it was all adding up. So our challenge as of late has been to aim for $15-20 dates which we've been quite successful at using our entertainment book (thanks to my father-in-law--he bought 3 books--one for him, one my brother-in-law John and one for Graham, informing the boys that they needed to "keep dating their wives.") :o) A coupon can go a long ways!

New Kittens!!

Unfortunately they are not ours....much to my dismay. My parents just got this brother and sister pair last week and we were able to pay them a visit over the weekend and welcome them properly into the family. They are adorable! The smokey-colored one, Bear, is the boy and once he falls asleeps, he is SOUND ASLEEP (as illustrated by Graham's successfully putting him on his head without him waking). The girl, Monkey, is very playful and energetic and you have to make her run around for a long time before she'll snuggle with you. SO cute! Wish I would have been a good girl this year so I could ask for a pair for Christmas...

Monkey

Bear

Cuddling w/ Monkey

Bear can sleep through anything!

See?