Arrrrrrgh! Me blog is the spoil of the grad school invasion!

Enough of that.

the view from my seat at the desk

The dust has once again settled after the semester. It was so serious that I had to do the deep clean the week after finals. Besides dust, dog hair, and wadded up pieces of papers, I had the flu. Yes, the real flu. I had a flu shot, per work requirements. I contracted this nasty disease after a patient coughed in my face while I was doing her physical exam during clinical. Sharing, in this case, is not caring. I was innocently sitting in class on Thursday after giving our final group presentation for research (the day after my health assessment final), when my body started aching. By the time I got home, I had a fever, severe chills, sore throat, headache, and could count the hairs on my head.

All I wanted the day following the onset of the plague was soup. And my favorite blanket. And my dog.  The problem was I didn't really feel like eating. Eventually, I threw some things in the old standby crock pot and tried to re-make our healthy award-winning chili from the chili cookoff at work.  Once I got to the end, I realized I didn't have any chili powder. So when you go to make this heart-warming, stomach-filling stuff, my recommendation is to check the spice cabinet first.

Some Really Good Turkey Chili

1 package of ground turkey meat (about 1 pound)
1 big can + 1 little can of crushed tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 cup water
1 16-ounce can dark red kidney beans
1 16-ounce can garbanzo beans
1 16-ounce can pinto beans
1-2 cloves of garlic (deending on how you are feeling)
2 tablespoons of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
EVOO

1. Heat about 1 tablespoon EVOO in a large pot over medium heat. Add the turkey to the pot and cook until the turkey is brown. Break up the turkey as it cooks with a wooden spoon. Stir in the onion and cook it until its tender (but not limp).

2. Pour water into the pot. Add in the tomatoes, beans, garlic, and spices. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for thirty minutes. -OR- Bring to a boil, plop in a crock pot, and cook on low until you can't resist the amazing smell anymore.

Here is a link to an interesting article related anemia to the vast majority of untreated Celiac patients.  Could this be you?

http://www.haematologica.org/content/93/12/1785.full

Willy's at GSU

I feel like Georgia State is much cooler now that we have a Waffle House and a Willy's in the bottom of the new science building.  Willy's didn't have the GF info posted (or not posted where I could easily find it), so I emailed them.  Here is their response:

"Thank you for your interest in Willy's! Willy's prepares fresh food items


in its restaurants daily and has made adjustments to its recipes to be MSG

and gluten free.



With the exception of the flour tortillas and our cookies, everything on our

menu is now gluten free.



However, it is possible that cross-contamination can occur from the

tortillas used in the steamer and on the cutting boards. To help prevent

cross-contamination, please tell the manager that you are ordering a gluten

free meal and ask that they change gloves before handling your food. There

is a high risk of cross-contamination from the steamers, some utensils and

the gloves if they are not changed prior to making a gluten free item they

use at the counter.



We hope this is helpful and you'll keep coming back to Willy's!"
 
...and now I am full of burrito bowl and very happy.  :)

Christmas

We all have holiday traditions in our families.  Some are things we as individuals due during a holiday; some are activities we do as groups.  I like to start December off by reading David Sedaris' essay "Six to Eight Black Men."  David's essay is one of my all-time favorites out of his library of humor.  While the story makes me laugh, it reminds me of the quirks of cultural holiday traditions.  I do find it a bit odd that the Christmas celebrators all cut forests worth of pine trees down to decorate and decompose in our living rooms over the holiday.  And the idea that Christmas involves the economy. 

Call me a cynic, but I wholeheartedly despise two pre-Christmas traditions.  The first is laying out Christmas decor in stores before fall semester starts.  All that is pointing to is commercialism, something I will address later.  My second pet peeve is playing of Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  Let's be real.  Usually the music is used to get people into "the Spirit."  Funny how I only hear Christmas music before Thanksgiving in stores, who are relying on this spirited music to get people to spend money.  Thanksgiving is both my favorite meal all year and a day to give thanks- it should not fall in the shadows of Christmas.

Let's address the commercial aspect of Christmas.  When Jesus was born, he was supposed to bring people closer to God.  The Three Wise Mens' gifts to Baby Jesus lead to current traditions of gift giving.  Society has made gift giving into a huge ordeal that involves stress, guilt, and large bursts of economic activity.  So is gift giving wrong?  No.  I just believe giving should be within reason.  I believe the focus of Christmas should be on community, family, sharing, love, and closeness with God. 


You may be stunned after reading the above that I not totally hard-hearted.  My favorite memories as a child involved the night when my sister would come home.  My parents and us kids would spend time making ornaments from hand-made dough, baking them, and then painting them when they cooled.  Often, we would enjoy loves of bread made from various members of the squash family that my mother or sister had made.  There was laughter.  Nobody had a knock-down, drag-out fight, and, most importantly, we all were together.  As a family.  That was as close as we would ever come to a vintage magazine add perfect day.  Now that I am an adult with a mortgage to pay, its time to make my own Christmas traditions with my husband.  I hope that once we have kids, ornament making over pumpkin bread with  be involved in the mix.

My husband, an electrical engineer, has lit up the condo with lots of fun colored lights.  We drive through the neighborhood looking at other homes and their light displays.  His childhood in CT involved whole neighborhood participation, and he is always upset to see people without "the spirit."  It seems like a silly tradition, lighting up your house, but I love it.  The tackier the better.  I love the absurd displays of giant mangers and blow up arctic friends in people's yards.  Yes, its fun for the kids to look at, but I think it helps adults get in touch with their memories of childhood Christmas magic.

I set up our four foot tall fake tree this year, hung the stockings, and wrapped the gifts.  I love wrapping gifts.  Its fun.  What I love more is seeing the surprise when my family opens their gifts.  In my husband's family, the adults all draw names and buy for one person.  We have a spending minimum.  This is an idea I tried for years to get my family to do, because its much less stressful.  This tradition also lets us all save money for traveling to see each other and to focus on the kids.  Christmas for kids is so magical.  Some eternally living saint drops down the chimney (or finds a random way in) tom homes and leaves surprises?  Yup.  Its crazy and fun.  The magic for the adults, I think, is seeing the happiness on the kids faces when they open their presents.

Mayo

I made mayo.  Yes!  from scratch.  The mayo making was easy, and its very tasty.  I used my beloved food processor.  The recipe was in the last issue of my Living Without magazine.  As silly as it may seem, making the mayonnaise was a goal of mine for this month off of school.

What else have I done?  I made photo tags for my gifts again this year.  This time, I did them in color and used wedding photos.  I caught up on the pile of laundry and ironing that has been sitting in the laundry room. Nick and I decorated for Christmas two weekends ago.  He hung the lights and I did the little tree and stockings.  Today, I made a card tree.  I had wanted some crafty way of displaying everyone's Christmas cards, so I walked outside and gathered some sticks from outside.  I stuck them in a bucket of dirt, and WHALLAH! Insta-card tree.

I worked on my craft-for-charity project today.  I am making magnets out of the plastic caps that come off of medicine vials from work.  About two months ago, I put up little collection bowls (made out of washed micorwave noodle bowls). I had no idea how many of those little caps one small hospital could collect so many of those plastic things!  The idea of how many of those are sitting in landfills is totally disturbing, and I am not a crazy recycling tree hugger girl.  The idea is that I am going to sell them for a few bucks at work and give the money to the adolescent team (my team of patients) for outings and such.

For my birthday, my hubby got me a new android phone!  I am officially a woman of the present.  I downloaded a free recipe app.  So, last week I made white chili and this week, turkey chili.  Last week the chili action seemed more appropriate, because it was actually cold.  Today it was 62.  Ha.  Both chilies were stellar!  The turkey one was surprisingly spicy.

Coupons & Butter

Right, right.  It's been a while.  It seems like the story of my life is a stream of consciousness.  Things just happen when they have time to happen.

I've been clipping a few coupons a little bit to save some cash.  The first place I checked out is Southern Savers.  But, let's be honest, coupons for GF foods aren't so prevalent.  You could waste a lot of time hunting them down.  I just went straight to the source today, and found a great Udi's coupon.  Udi's a a great bread, and my new fav for sandwiches.

In watching the Today Show this morning, I was the Neely's cooking up some delicious steakage.  This weekend, we're going up to a cabin in North Georgia with three other couples.  (Its the annual trip we take... the trip Nick proposed on!)  Since we're grilling steaks this weekend, I thought I might bring this awesome butter to go with.  Below is the butter section, but here is the link to the whole recipe. 

Roasted Shallot and Herb Butter

• Roasted shallot and herb butter
• 1 medium shallot, peeled
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 stick salted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Pinch of crushed red- pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Roasting the shallot gives it a deep, sweet flavor, and the lemon zest lightens the whole thing up. This butter would also be an excellent topping for fish or chicken.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the shallot on a square of foil, drizzle lightly with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Fold up the foil into a little packet, and place in the oven for 1 hour. Let cool completely.
Pulse the roasted shallot and remaining ingredients in a food processor until combined but still coarse. Scrape the butter onto a piece of plastic wrap, spread it across lengthwise, and roll into a log. Twist the ends to seal. Place in the fridge to firm up for at least 35 minutes before serving.

Periodicals of Note

I was looking for an old posted recipe, and realized I haven't posted a recipe in quite a while!  Honestly, I was hoping to post a recipe from Gluten-Free Living magazine.  I've been so busy I haven't done any of them.  First it was because the issues was about grilling (we're limited on that on with the condo), then it was cupcakes, this month's I haven't finished reading.  Here is the bottom line.  When I received the magazine subscription as a gift, I was not sure that I would fin much enjoyment in it.  This thin mag is chock full of goodness; it has everything from the latest research studies summed up to product reviews to recipes.  Yes, it is quite pricey.  That'll give y'all something to think about. 

I have cooked a few Real Simple recipes.  My husband and I have had a subscription for a while now.  He even gave it to his mother and sister as Christmas gifts last year.  This one was deemed by my husband as a "you can make this one again!"  I love this recipe for apple season!  I served it over rice, but I bet it would have been stellar over some GF noodle-age.  This week I have my first exam in graduate school, so I will be working the slow cooker.  Bon appetite!

Real Simple Recipe Link

Chicken Sautéed With Apples

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 25m | Total Time: 25m

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 firm apple, such as Braeburn, cored, halved, and cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Directions

1. Place each chicken-breast half between 2 sheets of wax paper and pound with a meat mallet until about ¾ inch thick.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the chicken until golden, about 3 minutes per side.
3. Add the apple slices, apple juice, onion, garlic, thyme, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Simmer, covered, 6 to 8 minutes or until chicken is fork-tender.
4. Remove the chicken, apple slices, and onion to a serving platter and keep warm.
5. Bring the sauce to a boil for about 5 minutes or until slightly reduced. Whisk in the mustard. Pour the sauce over the chicken.

By Jane Kirby and Kay Chun,  October 2002