Delicious Days

The weather has been so gorgeous here lately, that though I'm ready for fall (I'm always ready for my favorite season to start), I am relishing each sun-dappled dawn. 

 

The mornings are cool enough to put on a sweatshirt when I take Ralphie for a walk, but the sun comes out after the clouds burn away and reveal a peaceful, blue, summer sky. 

 

Every shadow cast, means a cool place to rest for a bit on our walks.  Ralphie has always enjoyed stopping on our walks, but I always propelled him forward.  Now I am the one reminding him we need a bit of rest along the way ~ all this extra belly-weight makes for labored breathing.  At least I know it's good practice for what is to come!

A Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...A semi-sunny, semi-overcast day.  Cool breeze blowing and the leaves are starting to turn.  There are still some boaters left on the lake.
I am thinking... About a coconut bread pudding I saw on the Cooking Channel.
I am thankful...For a negative gestional diabetes test.  And homemade chocolate chip cookies still left in the kitchen.
In the kitchen... A simple dinner of rice, lentils and spinach.
I am wearing... A black, men's size Medium North Face sweatshirt to stay warm and cover my belly and hot pink Victoria's Secret sweat/yoga pants.
I am creating... A craft shopping list for baby nursery preparations.
I am going...  Nowhere tonight, but off to work tomorrow.  TGIF!
I am wondering... How quickly it will turn to full-fledged FALL here in Washington.
I am reading... The Quilt by T. Davis Bunn and Better Baby Food.
I am hoping... I develop an appetite this evening.  I am ravenous until about 4 pm and then don't seem to want anything, but tea after that.
I am looking forward to... Getting my jeans hemmed this weekend.  I know, I lead such an exciting life.
I am learning... That my body really knows what is best for it and if I just trust my instincts when it comes to my health, I'll be just fine.
Around the house... Ree Drummond is telling me how to make "Prairie Sushi" (aka tortilla roll-ups).
I am pondering... Throwing out a perfectly good box of popsicles because they take up too much space in the freezer and I never actually want to eat them.
A favorite quote for the day... "That's one of the finest women God ever set on this earth.  Then somebody else would nod like they were thinking it for the first time and say, yes sir, a real beautiful woman.  And no one would dispute it.  Of course, they weren't talking about any beauty that you could see.  Sometimes somebody would talk about how she'd been a real beauty when she was younger, but it was all hearsay.  There was nobody alive anymore who had known Mary as a young girl, except some people  as old and doddery as Mary, and they had more sense in their heads than to talk about something that didn't mean two shakes to anybody anymore."
One of my favorite things... Frozen, semi-sweet chocolate chips.
A few plans for the rest of the week... Dismantling my old desk and tape the legs to it.  "Preserving" and packing away my wedding dress.  Clearing all the baby gifts out of the nursery to make room to assemble the nursery furniture in there.  That's going to be quite the undertaking.
A peek into my day...

Give Thanks

"That evening he told a couple of his buddies it had seemed as if the old needlepoint that hung above the hall door, the one that said, 'In Everything Give Thanks,' had shone in his eyes the whole time he'd sat in Mary's front parlor."

~ From The Quilt by T. Davis Bunn

"Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

~1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Dinner Tonight - Pineapple Rice with Veggies

The Hawaiian answer to the stir-fry, this dish is exotic, colorful, and bursting with flavor. To fill out the dish with more veggies, add 1/2 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms along with the onions and garlic, and 1/2 cup peas just after the carrots.
2 ¼ cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
1 cup long-grain brown rice
1 ¼ cups diced fresh pineapple, divided
1 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
2 Tbs. toasted sesame oil
½ cup diced yellow onion
6 cloves garlic, minced (2 Tbs.)
1 small carrot, finely diced (½ cup)
½ cup finely diced red bell pepper
5 green onions, thinly sliced (⅓ cup)
1. Bring 2 cups broth and rice to a boil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

2. Blend 1/2 cup pineapple, remaining 1/4 cup broth, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes in blender until smooth. Set aside.

3. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add carrot and bell pepper, and sauté 3 minutes more. Add remaining 3/4 cup diced pineapple, and cook 3 minutes. Add cooked rice to skillet, and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add blended pineapple mixture, and cook 3 minutes more, or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in green onions; season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Dinner Tonight

Chili Lime Cellophane Noodles

Serves 4
30 minutes or fewer

4 oz. glass (cellophane) noodles
3 ½ Tbs. hoisin sauce
2 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbs. lime juice
½ tsp. chile-garlic sauce, such as Huy Fong
1 ½Tbs. toasted sesame oil, divided
18-oz. pkg. plain tempeh, diced (I just used firm tofu)
1 12-oz. pkg. button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1lb. baby bok choy, thinly sliced on diagonal
2 cups bean sprouts (I subbed water chestnuts for personal taste preference)
6 green onions, thinly sliced (1 cup)
2 ½Tbs. minced fresh ginger
½ cup chopped basil
¼ cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

1. Soak noodles in large bowl of hot water 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

2. Whisk together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, and chile-
garlic sauce.

3. Heat 11/2 tsp. sesame oil in skillet over high heat. Add tempeh, and stir-fry 4 minutes, or until golden 
on all sides. Add 1/4 cup water, and cook 2 minutes, Transfer tempeh 
to bowl.

4. Add remaining 1 Tbs. sesame oil to skillet. Add mushrooms and bok choy; stir-fry 2 minutes. Stir in noodles and bean sprouts, and cook 2 minutes. Stir in hoisin mixture, green onions, ginger, and tempeh; stir-fry 1 minute. Serve topped with basil and peanuts.

Delight in White (and Pink)

My birthday was last week and Numbers Man brought home roses for me. He's always so good about giving me flowers! This bouquet he chose because: 1. White Flowers are my Favorite! ...and 2. Pale pink flowers in honor of our little, baby girl in my belly. How sweet is he?!?

And now they are blooming so big, their petals are crowding up against each other. Beautiful rest for weary eyes.

True Contentment

One of the lovely women I work with gave me a beautiful book for my birthday called,

The Bride's Bible: A Treasury of Inspirational Verses from the Bible. 

The following is an page from the section on contentment.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and

be content with what you have, because God has said:

"Never will I leave you;

Never will I forsake you".

Yet true religion with contentment is great wealth.

After all, we didn't bring anything with us when we came

into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with

us when we die.

So, if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil.

~ Hebrews 13:5; Timothy 6:6-8 & 10 ~