Updates on things

I tried the rice pudding again with some leftover rice from dinner a few nights ago.  The rice measured a barely a cup and a half cooked, but I used all other ingredients as measured.  It turned out much creamier this time and much closer to good ol' Uncle Ben's.  I forgot to add the raisins which was disappointing, but that's just mentioned because I forgot.  Also, the recipe says to pour the liquid over the rice, but I suggest mixing it too because I got a nice custard type overlay and then just plain rice on the bottom.  Once I stirred it all up it was fine, but it might have cooked more flavor into the rice if I'd mixed it up before baking.  Finally, I set the timer for only one hour so I could check it every few minutes after, but I was busy putting Sophia to bed and Zoë pulled the pudding out of the oven when the timer went off.  Turns out one hour was the right amount of time and everything turned out pretty yummy.

I have a bunch of recipes to post, but I'm too tired to post them tonight.  Now that school has started I'm barely finding time to do anything that isn't completely revolved around studying.  Trying to finish my classes three weeks early is challenging and requires my complete and utter attention.  Sometimes I look at school and wonder what I'm doing this for.  The school keeps preaching about the importance to future employers of involvement in school activities, but how do I find time?  Between school work, housework, kids, husband, any kind of social life (it's very slim right now), and just having a moment to breathe... well, I already have to give up sleeping, eating, and bathing.  I suppose I could quit going to the bathroom and that would free up some time to engage in club activities, but at some point I just have to release the (excuse me here) crap.  I hope future potential employers will appreciate my endurance and see my "extra-curricular activities" as valuable despite their obvious lack of academic prestige.

I'm now at 24 weeks and the baby is moving quite a bit now.  He rolls and kicks.  I find it funny that I can press on my belly two times and he kicks two times or I can press three times and he kicks three times.  Only once has he missed.  I'm not sure if this is a sign of his inevitable genius IQ or if this is copycat behavior with no real thought.  It's hard not to wonder what a baby thinks about in there.  They surely have thoughts, but no reference as to what to think about.  I imagine he's thinking, "I need more room in here."  Of course, I also imagine he's a 10 pound baby that is 4 feet tall already.

Maternity clothes still disappoint me.  I was looking at Old Navy maternity the other day and noticed that all of the tops make the women's breasts look saggy and gross.  What's up with that?  And while I haevn't bought much (thank you Erin and Ana) I finally broke down and bought a few things that were more... my style.  The jeans, however, while completely cute cut into the middle of my belly and are super uncomfortable.  I can't decide if I should take them back or not.  I was very excited that Forever21 has a maternity line until I saw what they had.  Where are the funky, fun clothes they usually carry?  I need someone to write to about this.  Someone that can design a line worth wearing and still affordable.  I found a cute pattern book on etsy.com in Amy Japan's store, but I can't find it now.  Maybe it's gone.  It had some really nice patterns and if I could sew as well as I wish I could I would have bought the book and whipped up some interesting and fun things.  For now, I'll just settle with complaining about my lack of selection and wear my hand-me-downs.

I'm off to bed.  It's been a long weekend and I have a long week ahead of me.  Good night!  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............

Mmmm.... Chicken Salad

I was never a fan of chicken salad until I got pregnant in 2004.  I fell in love with McAllister's chicken salad during my short-lived pregnancy.  My love was rekindled at a friend's house last summer.  But she couldn't remember the recipe so I started a search for a recipe that had all of the ingredients I wanted.  It turned out I had to just put a lot of recipes together until I found a taste I liked.  I've had confirmation by a friend as well as by the husband that this recipe is tasty so I'm sharing. 

Beware:  there are absolutely no "measurements" here.  It's really mostly just throwing a bunch of stuff in a bowl until it's just right.  Also note that in my pictures I used the food processor.  I usually hand chop everything, but I actually liked it better in the food processor because it tasted more blended and smooth, not so chunky.  I like to eat this spread on Ritz crackers, but it's also good on bread or toast or however you like to eat your chicken salad.

2 Good sized chicken breasts
3 Celery stalks
1/2 yellow onion
1 Granny Smith Apple
A handful of raisins
A glob (yes, that's the technical term) of mayonaise
Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil chicken breasts until they're done

Trim celery and wash

Cut the core out of the apple and peel

Throw chicken, celery, onion, and apple into food processor

OR chop celery, onion, and apple until pretty small pieces and shred chicken
Add raisins and mayonaise

Serve in your favorite way.  Like I said, my favorite way is spread on Ritz crackers in blobs (yes, another technical term).  It's definitely better on crackers when it's more spreadable, but the chunkier style is good as a sandwich.  YummmmmmY!

The Fresh Market

I LOVE the Fresh Market.  Sure, it's generally overpriced on some of the basic staples- although a lot of the "staples" there are organic and/or special in some way.  And yes, I'd rather hit the local Farmer's Market for vegetables and fruits.  Fortunately, Raleigh has an amazing Farmer's Market.  But the Fresh Market is a chain grocery store that offers that little something special.

It's not really the food, or the prices, or the specialized selection that appeals to me.  It's the atmosphere.  There's always some kind of quiet music playing in the background- probably classical, but I can't say for sure.  The smells of fresh flowers intermingled with coffee and fresh baked goods all swim in my senses.  The lower lighting makes everything look and feel softer.  The displays are very neat and personalized.  Everything adds up to exactly how I wish my house looked, felt, smelled, sounded.  It doesn't, but I can dream, right?

The Fresh Market seems to cater to older, wealthier clientele or more gourmet shoppers than I am.  I found a beautiful aged Ghouda there that I hadn't been able to find in any of the local chains (i.e. Food Lion, Kroger, Harris Teeter).  And they have this wonderful meal deal that for $13.99 you can get a rotisserie chicken, corn bread, and two baked sides (we usually go with mashed potatoes and macaroni).  It's all fresh baked/cooked foods in their deli department.  For that price, it's a great meal and even the four of us can usually get two meals out of it.  I often throw in some fresh green beans or peas just to color the meal up.

My favorite thing at the Fresh Market, besides the atmosphere is their spice selections.  Here is where you can actually get a great deal.  For $1.19 you can get a little empty spice jar.  Then for nearly half the price of your normal grocery chains you can get your spices in little plastic bags marked with the type of spice and the expiration date.  I bought 6 or 7 spices at Kroger- a few Kroger brand and a few McCormicks if Kroger brand wasn't available.  Only one spice was cheaper at Kroger and it was on sale and only cheaper by a few cents than the Fresh Market.  These included paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, and ground cumin (all staples in my house).  The jars, of course, are reusable so I break out my label maker... well, I don't actually have a label maker so I break out my post-its and packing tape.... and label each jar.  Plus, this is awesome for creating your blends like the fajita blend I made.

I still frequent the local chains because let's face it, I'm can't afford every meal from the Fresh Market, but for any of those special meals or any time I want a spice or just when I need a short little get-away from the kids I'll take a quick "vacation" to the Fresh Market and usually come out feeling happy I did.