Send in the Clowns

I love musical theatre with all of my heart, and Dame Judi Dench is one of theatre's golden stars. The other day I started humming this song and remembered how much I love hearing her sing this piece. Nobody does it better.

Heartbreaking and beautiful. Brava!

Smoothie Semi-Fail

As part of my efforts to cook more and kick ass in the kitchen, I decided to try making a kale smoothie since apparently kale is the new wonderfood and will basically keep us alive forever. My sister makes great smoothies, but when I asked her how she puts together her delicious kale smoothies, she just sent a vague e-mail saying, "I use Greek plain yogurt, peanut butter, and bananas." That sounded easy enough, but I still didn't know the proportions to use.

After searching the internet, I figured I could make something that somewhat resembled her smoothies. I couldn't find fresh kale in the grocery store, so I settled on frozen chopped kale. This may have been my first mistake.

This is what I originally based my smoothie recipe on:

*2 cups kale (I just chopped the 10 oz. block of frozen kale in half and figured that was enough)
*1 sliced banana
*1/4 cup milk
*2 tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt
*1 tbsp honey
*1 tbsp peanut butter

I combined all of this in our blender and let it spin around for a while to mix up all of the ingredients. However, this resulted in a very thick, goopy smoothie that had huge flecks of kale in it and was difficult to drink. So to fix it, I poured in some more milk and orange juice to give it more liquid. That definitely helped the consistency, but I still ended up with large pieces of kale in my drink, which I wasn't anticipating and didn't particularly like.

Overall, it still tasted good, but I would have liked a smoother smoothie. Next time I'll go with a different recipe and perhaps use fresh kale to see if I end up with a better result. At least I tried! :) Any smoothie suggestions for next time around?

Me and my blog

I have a love/hate relationship with blogging. In theory, I'm the type of person who was born to blog. I'm a bit of an introvert but act like an extrovert. Does that sound weird? I mean that I can be pretty shy and quiet at times, but other times I'm a kooky, loud, ridiculous person who loves to laugh and make others laugh. I have a need to share my life with others, and the lure of the internet is perfect for putting your life out there for others to see. Back in the day, I used to rock my Deadjournal (like Livejournal, but for dorky emo kids) until a former friend started a hate campaign in my comments section, and then I had to make all of my posts friends-only. Oh, high school, I do not miss your drama.

I've dabbled in Livejournaling, YouTubing, Tumblring, and the other usual suspects. Last year I became convinced that I was destined to have a Psychology blog, but I quickly ran out of steam. The Quixotic Chica is inspired by my Tumblr account, which I still love, but isn't all that conducive to straight-up blogging. So here I am!

I'm not sure what the identity of my blog will be, but I envision it being a throwback to how I used to blog, meaning that I just want to write about whatever is on my mind and have a record of this crazy weird time in my life where I am definitely in adulthood yet still feel like a 16-year-old. It will be a little frustrating not to write about identifying personal details (I'm a counselor and try to keep my personal life private from clients who are prone to Googling me), since I think that's a big part of blogging, but I'm going to try to figure out how I can fit into the blogging community in my own way.

Whatever happens with this blog, I look forward to exploring my creative side and hopefully making a few friends along the way!

:D

Giving Thanks

Snoopy usually says it best:

Happy Thanksgiving to all! What are you thankful for?

Friendsgiving

This past weekend I was fortunate to experience my very first Friendsgiving. Our friends hosted a lovely dinner, and as we went around the table saying what we were thankful for, I was struck with the comforting sense of belonging. I never could have imagined when I first started graduate school that I would be part of such a tightknit group of people, and our development from nervous nerds to forever friends has been a blessing. These individuals and their partners comprise a solid group of people who I feel so lucky to know, and the family we have created with each other is one that I cherish dearly.

This time of year reminds me how important it is to take a step back, observe my life without judgment, and acknowledge how much I have to be thankful for. Being thankful is a state of mind and a way of being, and we don't need to wait until November to reflect on the good that is present in our lives.

Scrumdilyumptious

I admit that I can be pretty lazy when it comes to the kitchen. When I get home from a long day at work or school, the last thing I want to do is think about what to make for dinner. As a result, the hubs and I usually end up staring at each other pitifully until one of us asks the question on both of our minds: "Should we just order take-out?"

While this is certainly an easy, effortless option, it is not the most financially responsible one. The hubs and I are both in graduate school, and our very limited budget can't keep up with our love for the spring rolls at the Thai place up the street. So about a month ago, the hubs proposed that we ban ourselves from ordering take-out for dinner until after Thanksgiving. Now, with just a few more days to go until T-Day, I am pleased to report that it looks like we will reach our goal!

If I'm being honest, I have to admit that I wasn't able to refrain form purchasing meals for a few lunches. I try to bring leftovers with me for lunch, but a few times I either forgot to pack a lunch, or we didn't have any leftovers for me to take. So we didn't stay 100% away from buying meals, but we did manage to do so for dinners.

Being forced to think about what to cook for dinner initially seemed stressful, but once I sat down with the collection of cookbooks we have accumulated over the years, I found that the process wasn't too bad. I stuck with recipes that seemed easy to learn or that I had already used in the past. We ended up with a lot of zucchini casseroles and stuffed shells, but I also learned to make chili and fritattas.

Here were some of our recent successes:

Olive sourdough bread with spicy mustard, tomato, and cheese

Vegetable stir-fry

Waffles with cream and fruit

Saving money and becoming more comfortable in the kitchen are two good motivators for me to continue this challenge of cooking dinner. It's fun to learn something new, and it feels great to know that I've made something that looks and tastes delicious.