Color Me Happy
I have been pretty open here about my health challenges. And sadly I have more bad days than good days. Most bad days I can handle okay. There is such a thing as getting used to feeling sick, if you can believe that. What I can’t seem to get used to is how isolated it makes me feel, and how difficult it can be to fight the constant sadness that comes with it. I always find myself looking for a bright spot in my often dreary world.
There is something I do. It always makes me smile. I can do it comfortably, no matter how bad I feel. It even engages my foggy brain, helping me think without frustrating me. I lost touch with this thing for a while. To get acquainted again I had to go back to my childhood.
And now it happens to be one of my favorite things to do in the whole world.
Recently I was having a particularly bad day. A lot of pain, a lot of frustration and a lot of tears. Husband wasn’t sure of what to do, but he really wanted to make me smile. He was a man on a mission. He grabbed his keys and said he would be back in an hour. I went straight to bed and pulled the blanket over my head. My attempt to shut out the world and bring an end to a miserable day.
When he returned, he pulled me out of bed and led me to the living room. Waiting for me on the table was a brand new box of Crayola crayons and a coloring book. A Disney Princess coloring book! And not just Disney Princesses, but Disney Princess Brides!
Yes. Coloring is one of my favorite things.
I opened the box and ran my fingers along the perfect crayons, sharpened and bright. With that fresh, waxy crayon-ey smell I love. I picked up my new coloring book, and there they were: Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty, waiting for me to bring them to life with 120 colors to choose from.
Husband made my day. And the best part? Visions of my very masculine mate getting excited over his hot Disney Princess find. Mission accomplished.
Fresh Crayola crayons and a crisp, new coloring book. What a magical combination. There is comfort and joy in going back to the simplicity of a childhood. Beautiful colors to make me feel happy and bright.
It works every time.
Photo Source (crayons): http://weheartit.com/
Until 2016 . . .
The Olympics took over my life seventeen days ago.
I probably won’t know what to do with myself tomorrow.
I have had a sincere interest in events both popular and obscure. If I wasn’t watching them on tv, I was online obsessively checking results and medal counts, and not just for my own country. I was fascinated with everything. I’m like this every time. I have given some thought to why, and I think it has everything to do with witnessing human commitment and greatness, talents and camaraderie, seemingly ordinary stories about people who really aren’t so ordinary after all. Differences and conflict seem to be put on hold for just a little while.
But again, I know it only seems that way. The events are never without controversy. And bad things happen around us all the time. All we have to do is turn on the news every day to know that. I guess I’m just grateful for the reminder that we can be better, and there is something amazing waiting to come out in all of us.
On Monday I will be fully engaged in my life again, but grateful for all I did see; the magic that unfolded in a city eight time zones away, when over 10,000 athletes from around the world decended upon it, all in the name of sport and the potential in us all.
Until 2016 . . .
and Winter 2014 . . .
Photo Source: http://weheartit.com/
Photo Source: http://www.getintravel.com/sochi-russia/
Too Funny
I pulled this off of George Takei’s Facebook page. He posted it in honor of the Curiosity Rover’s successful landing on the surface of Mars last night. This is a humorous twist on the very first image the rover sent back to Earth. Too funny!
I actually took a break from watching the Olympics last night, went online and watched the live streaming coverage of the NASA crew as they awaited confirmation of the landing. All of that hard work over ten years, and it culminated in one dramatic moment. Really cool. I wish I was smart like that, and knew all about space and science and building amazing things that advance human knowledge. I guess I’m smart in a different way. At least I like to think that.
Within minutes of the landing, the rover signaled two photos back to earth of the Martian surface. I can’t even get my mind around that. How this thing, the size of a car, loaded with computers, cameras and other stuff, can endure a fiery landing onto the surface of another planet, and in just a matter of moments send photos from millions of miles away. I love this kind of story.
The very first photo from Curiosity, telling all us humans here on Earth that everything is A-okay:
Curiosity is ready to get to work and find all kinds of interesting stuff on Mars.
I am grateful for the people who still think space exploration is important, and who continue to work hard on this very worthy cause. They inspire me.
Will You Be Watching?
The Olympic Summer Games begin tonight with the excitement and pageantry of the Opening Ceremony. Will you be watching friends? I certainly will be, with Husband at my side. I am excited that London is the place where all the action is this time, one of my favorite places to visit.
We will settle on the couch and most likely enjoy some pub type fare in honor of the host city. I enjoy the parade of nations most. There’s just something wonderful and inspiring about it. I think my feelings come from the idea that cultural and political differences can be set aside for this (albeit brief) period of time.
The differences, especially the cultural ones, are something to be celebrated anyway. How tragic it would be if we were all the same.
Some of my fondest memories from childhood revolve around this night. I remember watching the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Opening Ceremonies in my grandmother’s living room on the east coast. Los Angeles 1984, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 were enjoyed with my parents at home in California (I don’t recall Montreal 1976 all that well, I was a little one then-I wish I could remember Nadia’s perfect 10). I watched Beijing 2008 with my new husband. It was wonderful having time together as a family and watching something so amazing.
History is always made. There is always something about it you will never forget. For me it’s about seeing people demonstrating what is good in us, and what we all have the potential to do. It’s about celebration and emotion, dedication and love. It is incredibly brave, going before the world and trying, even shining, like that. Every single participant is a success, no matter how they finish.
When the Beijing games ended four years ago it seemed like London was such a long way off. But here we are. Time always finds a way to fly by, for better or worse. Of course the Winter Games are equally exciting. With two year intervals between we don’t have long to wait in witnessing the excitement and experiencing our national pride. Sochi, Russia 2014 will be here before we know it.
Watching all the athletes and their healthy, powerful and amazing bodies over the next two weeks will inspire me to get off my lazy butt and get in shape, eat well and make better choices. This happens every time. I hope I can stay inspired long after the games are over.
They make it all look so easy. Whether it’s running a marathon, swimming for miles, lifting 500 pounds overhead or showing a 4 inch wide balance beam who’s boss.
Go World. And good luck, athletes.
To me you are all as great as gold.
Weeknight Dinner Challenge: Super Easy Chicken & Pasta With Butter Sauce
Even though I no longer keep a conventional Monday through Friday, slave-every-evening-until-5-or-much-later work schedule, my weekdays are still all about routine and responsibilities.
That all too familiar week night time crunch is very much a reality in our household. Dinner time rolls around and I’m a complete mess. I hate to plan meals and I’m always freaking exhausted. I’m not exactly jazzed about working my butt off in the kitchen after a long day of housework, errands, writing, resting and whatever else I need to do. Yep, us health challenged people need to schedule down time. We all should.
Granted, there are two of us in this equation. But Husband works a lot harder than I do, so I feel like the dinner job should be mine. And frankly he deserves better than some gross frozen lasagna, hot dogs, or something similar every night (nothing against frozen lasagna or hot dogs, but you know what I mean).
I want to be a sophisticated, highfalutin foodie. I really do. I want to sit around with fancy friends and talk about the merits of truffle oil and red wine reductions, and sound like I actually have a brain in my head. But I just don’t think I have it in me. I know it’s ridiculous. I mean, come on. It’s food. Not flipping quantum physics.
What I really need to do is suck it up, focus on simple and accessible ingredients, give it my best shot and hope for a delicious end result.
One of my favorite blogs is Dancing Branflakes. It’s lovely. Tiffany, aka “Mrs. Branflake” , loves to wax poetic about dancing, food, marriage, beauty and whatever else inspires her (please check it out, she won’t disappoint). I have something really cool in common with her, we both live in the Sacramento area (which makes me enjoy her posts even more, she often talks about local spots and interests). Not long ago she posted this totally delish looking chicken and pasta recipe with a very simple homemade butter type sauce. And it seemed easy. Exactly what I need. I saved the post for future reference, knowing I would want to try something similar if I ever had one of those all too common dinner crises.
Mrs. Branflake’s timing could not have been better. Last Thursday was one of those evenings. Even on a really good week, by the end of it I’m toast. Husband got home from work early and he went right to work outside, doing whatever manly tasks he does out there. Shit. He was going to be ravenous by the time he came in. This meant only one thing: I would have to get my inner domestic goddess goin’ on and come up with something good for dinner. Then I remembered. Mrs. Branflake’s awesome chicken and pasta recipe! Perfect! I had everything I needed, too. I set out to put my own spin on it.
I know I have talked about my vegetarian tendencies in the past, so chicken normally isn’t my thing. But for health and energy reasons I have had to experiment with my diet lately. I am finding that animal protein does help with my energy levels a bit, but sometimes I get tired of fish. I have been introducing small portions of chicken into my diet here and there.
On this night, with Husband outside doing God know’s what, I poured myself a tall glass of iced Pellegrino and cherry juice and put on a Little House On The Prairie rerun to watch while I worked. Don’t laugh. Little House reruns take me back to my childhood, when life was a lot less complicated. I need those memories sometimes.
Here are my ingredients:
2 large organic chicken breasts
1/3 cup chicken broth (not really sure why I decided to use this, but it worked beautifully)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & pepper (to taste)
Assorted herbs & spices (To your liking. I actually found a jar of Herbes de Provence in my spice cabinet! One of Husband’s stocking stuffers from Mom. You can see who she has confidence in when it comes to cooking. I used a pinch, along with a few random others, just to feel extra fancy.)
About 1 & 1/2 cups sliced white mushrooms
About 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 cup whole milk (I don’t mess around, full fat all the way)
3 tablespoons salted sweet cream butter
About 1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese (we are cheese freaks, you may want to use less and then add more gradually if you feel the need)
Spaghetti (darn it, I was out of angel hair. I made about six servings of pasta because Husband always eats more than he should {okay, I do too}, and besides it never hurts to have leftovers)
Fresh steamed broccoli (as a healthy side veggie)
Level of difficulty: Easy, even for a food idiot like me.
I put the olive oil, broth and chicken in my grooved grilling pan, seasoned with my salt, pepper, herbs and spices and set on medium low heat. I cooked the chicken, turning consistently for about twenty five minutes until almost completely cooked through. While my chicken was cooking, I chopped my broccoli and mushrooms, and cooked my pasta.
When the chicken was almost done, I removed it from the pan and set it aside. I raised the burner to a medium temperature and deglazed the pan with my one cup of milk, stirring consistently until all the delicious brown chicken bits and juices were blended. I then added my butter, garlic and sliced mushrooms. When the butter was almost completely melted, I then added my pecorino romano, a bit more pepper and herbs and stirred my sauce until the cheese was melted and all ingredients were well blended. I adjusted the burner to low heat, returned the chicken to the pan and covered for about five minutes.
The chicken turned out perfect and juicy. I placed each breast on a bed of pasta and generously poured the sauce over it. Being the cheese nuts that we are, I sprinkled more pecorino romano over the chicken, and even some more on the side dish of fresh steamed broccoli.
It was delicious. Husband was pleased and impressed with my mad skills. I was so happy to create a super yummy and balanced dinner, and I didn’t have to work too hard on it. Thanks for the inspiration, Mrs. Branflake!
As a side note, for those of you out there who like to write about and/or photograph your food, there is a really cool app available for iPhone called Snapdish. Sometimes it is hard to photograph food correctly-lighting has to be just right, etc. Snapdish can help you improve the quality of your images and can help you easily share your recipes online. Something worth checking out!
For more information on Tiffany and her awesome blog, visit: http://dancingbranflakes.blogspot.com/
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