Currently

ENJOYING being on Mardi Gras break and getting an unexpected extra day!

WEARING grey Louisiana Love tank top, black leggings, and an old camo jacket that belonged to my husband

LISTENING to a lot of Imagine Dragons radio

CELEBRATING that the school year is nearly over with and that I finished my second pair of socks!

LOOKING forward to moving to Korea 🙂

EATING things that are bad for me for now, though to be honest after 2 weeks of clean eating, definitely has me paying for it in nausea and sluggishness

SPENDING not nearly as much as I used to.

DRINKING Diet Coke (but not nearly as many as before!)

DREAMING of not being so lonely

STRUGGLING for balance and clarity

INSPIRED to start a running and cycling regimen (especially with my new Garmin Vivoactive HR coming in the mail soon!)

WATCHING Criminal Minds

READING The Handmaid’s Tale

What are you currently up to?

March on Out

I’m glad it’s not 2 weeks into April or anything…

Better late than never, right?!

I didn’t end up really going to the parties and such that I mentioned, mostly because of borrowing a vehicle. I did go home for my mom’s birthday though! I cross stitched her a quote from the poem Footprints (my first completed project!). I also got to go home for part of spring break (which I talked about here).

March Goals:

Complete weeks 2-5 of Couch-to-10k
Record all meals in My Fitness Pal (friend me if you want!)
Read Bossypants and I am Malala
Practice the yoga routine posted by my local yoga studio for its March Madness at least 20x and attend one professional class
Purchase a “new” vehicle
~~Apply to three jobs (part-time or summer)~~
Enroll in classes at community college

So I did apply to some jobs, though what I’ve heard back wasn’t that great. I applied to be a summer camp director (haven’t heard anything back yet) with an art camp and a program specialist with children (the latter I was rejected from).

Good-bye March!

Easter

I hope everyone had a happy holiday! Because I live in Louisiana (a very Catholic location), our spring break aligns directly with Easter. Z’s break, unfortunately, was the week before and mine is this week, so no fun trips anywhere for us! Although, he spent last week with his mom and I spent this weekend and some of this week with my family, so it was unlikely we’d be taking trips anyway because we’re all family-oriented and boring 😛

Since being home I was able to plant herbs I bought on my last trip home (basil, sage, thyme, peppermint, dill, lemon balm, as well as grape tomatoes and a banana pepper plant). I went to Sunday church with my mom (although I’m not particularly religious, this is meaningful to her). I worked a lot on Z’s birthday present, which I cannot share here (yet) because he is a reader of this blog as well. I also went to a crawfish boil hosted by a family friend (really very much family at this point) and ate my weight in crawfish on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter.

As an Easter gift, my mom got us all tickets to see Foreigner later in April! I’m super excited because I love Foreigner and have never been to a concert before! I also got a giant chocolate bunny (which I have since devoured). I took my cats home this trip. It’s the first time I’ve brought them anywhere. Although Max yowled the whole time (with intermittent mews from Kat Kat), it was an overall uneventful trip with them. They seem to be doing fine in the new environment.

I had a pretty eventful week at school, but aside from saying it was exhausting and my first experience with a parent-teacher conference, I shall stay silent on much of the matter out of professionalism and job security 😉

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday!

Currently

ENJOYING that it’s the week before spring break

WEARING blue gingham cami-dress with blue tights, blue shoes, navy cardigan, and silver jewelry (I’m feeling blue today)

LISTENING to 70’s music a la Guardians of the Galaxy

CELEBRATING that it’s nearly spring break!

LOOKING forward to going home for spring break and planting the herbs I got this past weekend!

EATING soooo much oatmeal! And bananas. Gonna do WW again.

SPENDING not as much as I thought, but still more than I should be

DRINKING Vanilla Coke Zero and also Chai Latte Coffee (because caffeine)

DREAMING of sleeping in.

STRUGGLING for direction.

INSPIRED by my kids talking about their savings accounts to work better on my own.

WATCHING the episodes of The Walking Dead I’d missed!

READING Shaping School Culture and Bossypants

What are you currently up to?

Buttermilk Biscuits

I made breakfast the other morning! I made sausage patties, white sausage gravy, and biscuits from scratch! Want to try to make your own buttermilk biscuits? Check out the recipe below!

Ingredients

2 c. all-purpose flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
0.25 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
0.25 c. lard or vegetable shortening, chilled
2 tbsp butter, chilled
0.75 c. buttermilk

Directions

Heat oven to 450°. Adjust oven rack to center position.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. I used a whisk to mix it up. Cut in chilled shortening and butter. I used a pastry cutter to mix until they were pea-sized bits.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; pour in buttermilk. With a wooden (or plastic) spoon, gently blend dry ingredients into the buttermilk, just until the mixture is clumping together. Do not overmix. If necessary, add a few more tsp of buttermilk. I didn’t need to do this.
Transfer dough to a LIGHTLY floured surface. Don’t put too much flour, or they’ll end up dry. Pat the dough out into a circle about 8 inches in diameter and half an inch thick. Using a 2.5-3 inch biscuit cutter (I used a cookie cutter), cut out and place on an ungreased baking sheet. You should get 10-12 biscuits. Bake on center oven rack for 10-12 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned. It took me 12 minutes.

Currently

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ENJOYING that we’re on track with my lesson plans and the students seem to be kind of paying attention.

WEARING black cami-dress with little seashells and a pale teal cardigan with black ballet flats

LISTENING to Paramore (hello memory lane)

CELEBRATING that it’s a new month!

LOOKING forward to going home for my mom’s birthday and spring break.

EATING Korean BBQ Lays (they taste like meat…it’s weird, but really good)

SPENDING too much. Thinking of transferring money into my mom’s account so that I won’t be able to spend it.

DRINKING Diet Coke (CostCo was out of tea 😦 )

DREAMING of figuring things out, whatever that means.

STRUGGLING for balance in my life.

INSPIRED to actually keep an inspiration journal. I keep reading about how negativity and complaining can negatively impact one’s life.

WATCHING The Returned…though I spoiled it for myself by reading the Wiki page. I want to watch more Longmire, but Z and I had been watching it together, so it feels like a jerk move. Also Broad City, which has been amazing so far!

READING Shaping School Culture , Teach Like a Champion, and Bossypants

What are you currently up to?

Vetri’s Reuben Sandwich

Remember that cookbook back from the Book Bazaar? The deal was Z would get it for me if I cooked something from it. My only Reuben experiences have been with Z. He made me turkey Reubens (which were amazing), and we tried some while in Natchitoches. The recipe I decided to choose from Made in America was Vetri’s Reuben Sandwich. This involved a few hours of work. I’m unsure if it was worth the work to be honest, but whatever! It was a great companion to the potato soup I made Friday night (which I’ll post later). You’ll need a stand mixer with the hook attachment (comes with the KitchenAid Mixer, or at least it did with mine).

Bialys (fancy bread)

4.75 c bread flour
1.5 tsp salt
2.25 tsp active dry yeast (one packet)
1/2 onion, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
Poppy seeds
Sea salt

Heat 1.75 c water to 130°F. In a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, mix the flour, salt, yeast, and hot water. Knead for 10 minutes for low speed, adding additional water or flour if needed, to form a soft, smooth dough. I didn’t need to add any additional anything.
Cover and proof for 1 hour in a warm place. I didn’t know of a warm place, so I left it on the counter.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Weigh out 3oz balls (13 total) of dough and let them rest for 30 minutes. Cook the onion for 30 minutes over low heat in olive oil. I actually ended up making exactly 13. That never happens. Also I cooked the onion while they rested to use time more effectively. I also worked on the pickles during this time.
Shape the balls of baily dough into rounds with center indentations. Fill with teh onion and then sprinkle with the poppy seeds and sea salt. Place the rounds on an oiled sheet pan and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. I ended up making the first batch too round, so make sure they’re a little bit flat or they’ll stay little dough balls. I also had to wet them a little to get the poppy seeds to stick. I also baked them for 14 minutes.
Cool on a wire cooling rack.

Spicy Pickles

1/4 c. white wine vinegar
2 whole jalapenos
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 clove garlic
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp whole coriander seeds
1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

Combine all ingredients except cucumber slices and bring to a boil. I didn’t use jalapenos because I think they’re gross. I also ended up grinding the peppercorns into large pieces because the whole peppercorns were $3 more and I’m cheap. I also used a little less coriander (and ground coriander). I also left the skin on the cucumber and put them in an old Tostito’s jar I’d washed.
Pour the boiling liquid over the cucumber slices and let sit for 1 hour. Set aside in the refrigerator. It was REALLY handy that I used a jar for this. Made storing it easy too.

Salsa Rossa

2 red bell peppers, roasted, skins removed
3 tbsp bread crumbs
1/4 c. olive oil
1/3 c. mayonaise
Sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Firstly, I didn’t buy roasted red peppers. I bought whole red peppers. I then cut them in half, put them on parchment paper, and baked them at 450°F for 25 minutes. I then skinned them.
Place the roasted peppers and bread crumbs (I used garlic herb flavored) in a blender and blend until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil to emulsify.
Season with sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper. I only added a little pepper.

Slaw

1/2 head savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 tbsp white-wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix together all the ingredients and marinate for 1 hour.

Other Ingredients

Italian Mortadella (I had to get it from the deli part of the grocery store. Also I got 2 lbs. That was way too much meat)
Soft pecorino cheese (Parmesan can also be substituted – I used Swiss)

Assembly:

1 tbsp salsa rossa
1 oz slaw
1 oz cheese
3 oz mortadella
1 tbsp unsalted butter
spicy pickles on side

Slice each bialy in half crosswise and place the salsa rossa, slaw, pecorino cheese, and mortadella inside
Melt the butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Place the bialys in the pan and press with another pan or a brick. Flip after about 3 minutes and cook another five minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown. This was actually not easy. My sandwiches ended up a hot mess.
Slice and serve with spicy pickles on the side.

First photo is the idealized version from the cookbook. Last photo is mine. Delicioso, no?

Book Bazaar Haul

Our local university has a huge book bazaar it hosts each year. This was my haul for $9 (plus a $10 cookbook that Z sweetly bought me with the condition that I cook him Reuben sandwiches from it). I’m pretty excited to see what I can learn and create! The atlas is from 1986 and for Great Britain. I plan to use it for tons of decorating ideas I’ve seen on Pinterest!

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Currently

ENJOYING my first foray into cross-stitching. It’s tedious, but that’s okay.

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WEARING black jeggings, blue v-neck, blue flats, and a black cardigan.

LISTENING to the movie Maze Runner play while my kids watch it. Today most of them are on a field trip for college visits, so I just have a collection of ragamuffins who didn’t go. It’s hard to progress with a lesson if only 3 people show up out of 25.

CELEBRATING that it’s a new month!

LOOKING forward to spring break and beginning to consistently practice yoga.

EATING homemade maple oat banana bread from the Thug Kitchen cookbook.

SPENDING too much, but making an effort to spend less this month so that I can purchase a new car by the end of the month (and get my wisdom teeth out by the end of April)

DRINKING diet green tea with citrus from CostCo (my new addiction)

DREAMING of being able to take courses at the community course to raise my GPA so I can apply to a master’s program.

STRUGGLING to decide if joining the Navy would be a wise or appropriate decision for myself.

INSPIRED to do yoga and be more mindful.

(re)WATCHING Maze Runner with my class of seniors. I’ve also been rewatching The Office and Criminal Minds.

READING Shaping School Culture (and taking notes), my Praxis II-Mathematics book, and Bossypants. I also want to start I am Malala.

I first saw this lovely layout over at Ginna’s site My Pretty Pennies.