Before I Forget: Spanish Rice

Alright, I know I need to move on, and let a new post take the first position.  I've been avoiding it.  In part because I can't find much to say.  However, I made a pretty fantastic version of Spanish rice this weekend, and while I was a terrible blogger, and failed to take a picture, I am going to try and recall what I did, so that I can recreate it in the future.

As a warning, you should know that I rarely follow a recipe exactly, if I attempt to follow one at all.  More often, I randomly start throwing things together that sound good.  It usually works out well, though.  There have been a few times that were complete disasters, too.  This one, was delicious, and will be kept for posterity.

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

1 Tbl butter
1 Tbl olive oil
1 green pepper, chopped
2 small onions, fine dice
2 small hot peppers (not too spicy?  I grow these, and have no idea what they are.  Less spicy than a jalepeno), fine dice
1 ear of corn, kernels removed
1/2 a Tbl??? Emeril's Southwest Seasoning (approximate guess here)
1 tomato, chopped
1 cup rice
1 can V8 (soda-sized can?  is that like 12 oz?)
1 can black beans
Water

Directions:
Alright, I love risottos, so I took that style of approach.

1)  Melt the butter and olive oil in a deep skillet.  Add the pepper, onions, hot peppers, and corn.  Sprinkle liberally with the Southwest Seasoning, and saute until the onions begin to look translucent, and the veggies soften.
2)  Add the chopped tomato and the rice.  Allow the rice to heat a bit, but not burn before adding liquid.
3)  Add the can of V8, let it soak in a bit.  Add the can of rinsed black beans.
4)  Continue to add water about 1/2 to 1 cup at a time, and let it cook down on a slow simmer.  You should add more water when it starts to dry, and as long as the rice isn't cooked thoroughly.  This will usually take about 2 1/2 cups of liquid to 1 cup of rice?  Remember, the V8 is liquid, though won't be as much moisture as the water.  So...I may have added about another cup and 1/2? 

Alright, there's insight into how I cook.  Aren't you scared?  Little of this, little of that...sounds good.  Enjoy!

** Note for you meat-eaters:  The next day, Chris threw some cooked kielbasa into his portion and said it was wonderful.

Grief

Today is hard.  Really hard.  I just found out that a dear friend decided to take his own life.  I can not even begin to comprehend, but all I am feeling is tremendous guilt that I lost touch with him.  This is the last picture I have with him (4 years ago), though I ran into him once since.  Both of us had moved to different cities.

I'm glad that I'm next to him in the photo.  It gives me a feeling that there's still some connection there.  We were much closer in high school, and even had a flirtation at one point, but he was a freshman, I was a senior, all of that.  I still will always remember driving around town, with him making fun of me, saying I was the "Barbie Girl" referred to in the Buzz Poets song.  Or sitting in my parent's basement watching tv.  Or our town's fireworks, or ...all the times.

I have such respect for the man he had become.  He always took time for people, was smart, funny, athletic, kind...there are not enough good words to say.  I love his family, and my heart breaks for them.  Most recently, I ran into his father when Chris was in the emergency room, and he stopped everything he was doing to check on how I was.  I know where his sons got their kindness and generous spirit from.

I cannot stop crying, praying, eating, anything to try and relieve the horribly guilty thoughts I have.  I hope that no one else in my life, or no one else period feels so alone.  I wish I had known enough to reach out.  I wish I could stop his family's pain.  I wish that all of us that were friends in high school, and pictured in that photo weren't having to reconnect under these circumstances. 

Matt, I wish you knew just how many of us loved and cared about you.  I will miss you. 

The "Correct" Relationship Style

Dogs and cats may not seem to be a good example here, but it's exactly what I've been throwing around in my mind.  Harper and Monster's relationship is at best love/hate.  At worst?  There may be some murder plots involved.  However, they can not stand to be apart from one another.  They will always check up on where the other has gone, and go bat or nudge the other just to ensure that they are aware that they're in the room.

This then leads to lots of screaming by Monster, and lots of running by both of them.  They would be happy to play this scream, run, swipe with the claws game for hours, and I don't think it's just Harper enjoying it.  But for Chris and my sanity, we usually don't let it go on that long.  Still, we'll turn around, and Monster will have gone up to the sleeping dog and wailed in her face, or Harper will walk up to Monster and be licking his head.

What does this have to do with relationships?  I know we all have friends or family that are in relationships where there is seemingly more bickering than friendly interaction.  Yet, I am often believe that some of these may be entirely healthy relationships and it is just their method of communication.  Whatever works for them, right?

It's a lot of the reason I have issues with talk shows, or even scripted television.  You rarely see more than one style of interaction that works.  Do I think we should encourage everyone to scream on occasion?  Absolutely not.  I do think it helps some people to vent, though.

The irony is that neither Chris or I are screamers.  So, who knows where the example came from.  I am somewhat confrontational in my argument style, though.  I am not one to beat around the bush.  I say what's on my mind, and that's that.  Chris can be passive-agressive.  I know that these roles are a little reversed from the male-female stereotypes, but that sounds about the norm for us.

For example, let's take cleaning bathrooms.  All of our favorite task.  *heavy sarcasm*  I have taken the "I absolutely do not want to do it, and will take chores x, y, and z instead" route.  I own up to avoiding it, being lazy, and generally doing everything in my power to give it over to Chris.  Chris takes a more circuitous approach.  Meaning, I find the bathroom cleaner and rag following me everywhere I go.  It will be sitting on top of my make-up, or next to my pile of clothes, or anywhere else that he thinks I might notice it.  DRIVES ME UP THE FRICKIN WALL.  He can spend an eternity plotting how to get me to "notice" something, rather than just doing it.  And then, his most recent tactic, was that he "gave in" and cleaned the tub.  Kinda.  It was still absolutely filthy and disgusting.  He knew that would drive the perfectionist in me up the wall, and of course, it immediately had me in grungy clothes scrubbing down the tub 5 minutes after he claimed to be done.

Long rambly post later...I wish there were more examples of functioning relationships that embraced different styles.  It sure would be nice to have role models that looked like real people!  So often, you only see the dysfunction, though I guess that makes for a better sitcom. 

Restaurant Portion Size

Restaurant portion sizes are out of control in the United States.  I do not go out to eat to store up for a long winter.  I go to enjoy a quality meal...not a quantity one.  However, most restaurants do not seem to subscribe to this philosophy.

I was very aware that when I moved to Ireland, everything that came on your plate was substantially smaller.  From a McDonald's hamburger, to the size of a soda can, it was "super-sizing" in reverse.  And I loved it!  Thank goodness you could indulge on occasion without it being so out of line!  We'll forget that I was there during the mad cow outbreak and never actually ate beef, and they feed their turkeys fish, so the meat tasted so odd to me that I wouldn't eat poultry, and so was essentially vegetarian before my time.  Alright, a tuna-terian.  I was a college student, after all. 

Back to U.S. portions.  Chris and I went to Cheesecake Factory on Saturday night.  Yes, I recognize that they are one of the biggest culprits of over-sized portions, but who better to highlight?  In fact, their website states, "The Cheesecake Factory is famous for our generous portions which are ideal for sharing or taking home for a second meal – but be sure to save room to enjoy one of 50 legendary cheesecakes and specialty desserts."  The joke here is that they only state a "second" meal!

I LOVE their food.  This is not a criticism on their recipes, service, atmosphere, or anything else.  I ordered Evelyn's Favorite Pasta.  According to their website, again, this is, "Penne Tossed with Broccoli, Oven-Dried Tomato, Roasted Eggplant, Peppers, Artichoke, Kalamata Olives, Garlic, Pine Nuts and Parmesan."  Can you say, HEAVEN?  Well, Chris would find this disgusting, but I loved it.  Little heavy on the olive oil, but otherwise delicious.

The problem?  When the meal came out, I estimated that they had given me a full pound of pasta.  No, that is not an exaggeration.  The meal was presented on a serving platter.  No worries, I would just eat until I felt full.  When that occurred, you could barely tell I had touched the food.  The amount served lasted me 3 meals, and I felt like I had over-eaten each time.

1/3 of Evelyn's Favorite Pasta

Out of curiosity, I looked up the calorie content.  According to LiveStrong, Evelyn's Favorite Pasta contained 1192 calories and 33 grams of fat!!!  And this is for a dish that "sounds" somewhat healthy!  I know that long ago we all learned that we can't judge the health-quotient from the description on a menu, but to use almost an entire day's calories in one meal is beyond ridiculous.  And, after factoring in 2 pieces of bread and a glass of lemonade (that was also gigantic), I would probably have reached my daily goal.

Fortunately, our bodies are smart if you listen to them.  I didn't finish the lemonade, and eating 1/3 of the pasta dish would have equaled about 397 calories and 11 grams of fat.  MUCH more rational.  Why are we put in this situation, though?  Obviously, much of the country has lost the ability to hear their inner voice (including myself a lot of the time!).  I wish that restaurants would make it a little easier on us and reduce the portions to a rational size, that we could relish with gusto, and not have a food coma afterward.

I think the portion confusion that exists is what has led our country to try so many unhealthy diet plans.  I 100% believe in not limiting what foods you eat, but to eat a variety, and to do so in moderation.  I don't eat much meat or dairy, but that's not for diet purposes, but rather for the comfort of my body and mind.

Here's my call to arms!  American restaurants?  Please do your part to stop inflation.  Of our waistlines, that is.     

30 before 30: #8 FAIL

I can't even say I tried.  My problem is that I have no follow through.  Saturday, people started talking to me, so it gave me the perfect opportunity.  However, I have not pulled off #8 yet.  It is:

#8. Talk to 5 random people in the hopes of becoming friends

Saturday, Harper was up bright and early, so by 6:30 am we were out the door walking.  She was being a loon since she is FINALLY done with her heat, healthy, and feeling energetic.  We get to the bend in our road, about 5 houses down, and she goes crazy barking at a mom and her daughter exiting their house to walk their dog.  This dog is angelic.  It is a shepherd mix, but unlike our loon, never barks, never tugs, and frequently runs with his mom off leash.  I believe his name is Bear.  Why am I not friends with this family?  I suppose it's that they have kids.  

I have this hang-up that anyone with kids must be older than me.  Which, of course, is absolutely ridiculous.  I have friends, who I graduated with, who have MIDDLE SCHOOLERS.  I should not assume that baby = old.  In my mind though, I never really see moms as potential friends, unless I knew them pre-kids.  Maybe I don't feel like I can relate?  I don't even know if that's it.  Anyway, Bear's mom strikes up a conversation with me about how I probably don't have to lift weights with the Harper work-out.  And, I got to thinking, why am I not friends with her?  She lives a couple doors down, has a shepherd, is friendly, runs, seems about my age...where's the problem?  But do I say more than a couple sentences?  No.  Admittedly, Harper's still barking at Bear, but I probably could have made more of an effort.  FAIL #1

Break in the action, but at this point, Harper startles a squirrel out into the road where it gets hit by a car and dies.  I start crying.  So now, I'm bummed at my friend failure, crying over a squirrel, and walking a very vocal dog.  Yeah, I look approachable.  

Ok, now we're at the park.  I see another my-age woman entering the park with a fluffy little purse dog.  I get nervous.  These are the people that always get paranoid that my mean, giant shepherd is going to eat their little angel.  In contrast to that scenario, though, Bitsy yanks the leash away from her mom and runs at us and tries to ATTACK Harper!  It was pretty hilarious.  This little 3 pound miniature poodle jumping up and down trying to get at Harper's throat, and failing.  Harper's just standing there looking at me like, "What the heck is this toy trying to do?"  Bitsy's mom comes running over, apologizes profusely, says, "Bitsy, you're really lucky that's a nice dog", and chats briefly.  But do I follow through at all, or, again, even find out the woman's name?  No.  FAIL #2    

Later, I'm shopping for Chris's birthday present and briefly chat with a woman at the store.  No name, no follow-through.  FAIL #3

I don't even know if this counts, but next, at the grocery store, I felt really fantastic about myself.  I was the last person in line before the cashier went on break.  She was a very young girl, who at MOST was maybe 16.  People kept trying to get in line, and she'd respond pleasantly that she was closing.  This was fine until some jerk of a man tried and threw a fit saying he had lost his place in another line because she couldn't manage to shut her light off.  I told him that that was a lie, as people had tried previously to get in her line, and she had had it off for all of those occasions.  He huffed, said, "Thanks for sticking up for me", and some meaner things under his breath.  I told the girl, "I know you're not allowed to be nasty, but I can."  Later, as I was walking out, he came up and apologized to me for his comments.  Well, at least he realized he was being a scrooge.  I was proud that I had stood up for the girl. 

Alright, so I don't have 5 fails, but I do have enough that I need to try again on another day.  Back to square 1!

Friday Night at the P's

I'm sorry I left the 2 of you without your daily dose of my ramblings.  Ok, there's more than 2.  But, Philly?  I'm not making money here.  Thank goodness I don't live within the city limits where they have been tracking down bloggers.  Truly ridiculous, unless you're one of the blogging divas, and we all know who they are.

Anyway, here is a typical Friday night at our house.  I must warn you, that I am on my 2nd gin and tonic, and it is 5:45 pm.  Typical Fridays involve Chris working a half day, and me coming home to FREEDOM.  He cooks dinner, I get handed a drink, and typically, there is Dave Matthews on in the background.  However, tonight, I won and we plugged in my iPod, which usually means dance music (right now?  It's K$sha - Tic Toc), but immediately, it started playing DMB.  ARGH!  No escape!

Chris has set up a projection screen in the back yard to see at exactly what level of darkness this will work to show the football game.  He is hoping to be able to watch Penn State vs. Alabama on the big screen during his 30th birthday party in a couple weeks.  We'll see.  So far, it's a little faint, but we're hoping to watch the Phillies at 7?  7:30?  Something. 

I am supposed to be feeding the dog.  She is currently spoiled on a diet of boiled chicken and rice since she has an infection of the upper digestive track and is on antibiotics.  This has kept us up all night a few nights this week, and made my only thoughts about dog poo, which I was sure you didn't want to see a post about.

And...images of the night so far:

My biggest wish?  That we actually had friends in the area.  We moved in quite a few months ago now, but really don't know anyone that can just "stop by".  So I ramble to you.  And wish our friends were closer.  Anyway, good night and have one for me!

Native Plants of Pennsylvania

I am late in the season to be doing this post so I apologize for past-their-prime flowers that look like this:

Bee Balm.  It looked impressive before but...well...those days are over.  Next year.

Chris is very adamant that we only plant native plants.  I agree, but would still love some peonies.  These flowers are all from our yard.  The only non-native plants that we've sown are the garden vegetables, Lantana camara, and some tulip bulbs I did early on.  Otherwise...welcome to our prairie.

Black-eyed Susans are some of the easiest plants to get to thrive in southeast PA.  This is one of the benefits of growing native plants.  They are perfectly suited to the soil type and moisture levels of your environment.  You do not have to spend extra resources (time, energy, money, water) getting them to reach their full potential.

Think these are both varieties of aster?  One might be wild geranium (only because I think I planted it somewhere?).  Aster is more of a ground cover, and comes in a variety of colors.

Non-native plants like Lantana camara can even start to take over!  If they somehow show up again next year, we will be overrun.  They sure are gorgeous, though.  Chris tries to claim these are annuals, but I believe he is incorrect.  This is an example of not believing nurseries!  These were in a section labeled native but most certainly are NOT.  Big mistake on my part.

Cone flowers also are exuberant multipliers, and are the rabbits of the plant world.  They also are TALL.  Be careful where you plant them.

This is the bees' FAVORITE.  We have swarms that feast in our bed.  This is Anise Hyssop, and once again, beautiful, but tall.  And not one to plant if you're scared of bees!

Why do you want to plant native plants?  Why WOULDN'T you?

-  Low maintenance -

You don't need to adjust soil, water frequently, fertilize or do any finicky tending.  These plants were MADE to grow right where you are!

- Supports the local ecosystem -

Many people have the mistaken impression that insects are just like us and can adapt what they eat to what is available.  Not true!  With more manicured lawns and foreign plants showing up every day, nature's bounty isn't quite so bountiful to these small but IMPORTANT links in the food chain.  Support your bees, butterflies, and other creepy crawlies, and you're supporting other plant growth, and other, larger animals and birds

- Suppresses non-native "pests" -

How many people enjoy stink bugs?  Kudzu?  Any of the other invasive species?  Do your part to try and make the native culture thrive!

- Cost -

Not only the energy and water costs are reduced, but you can probably get some native plants for free from a neighbor who has had great success!  Once the plants start multiplying, it's easy to share!

- Beauty -

Obviously, I'm a fan of the peony, but these flowers have their own appeal!  There is no reason to think that if you plant native, you are limited to some dull grasses.  Check and see what's local to your area!