Tomato Chickpea pasta soup

I intended for this to be soup, but it turned out very thick. It also turned out yummy!

1 quart of chicken broth
1 small onion
Lots of garlic
Tuscan seasoning
Dried parsley
Dried oregano
Cumin
1 package of thin spaghetti noodles (I used orgran which is 13.5 oz)
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (with juices)
1 15 oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed)
Small amount of olive oil
Shredded cheese (Optional, I used taco seasoned)

In a big pot, saute the onion and garlic using the olive oil. Add the chicken broth, slowly, and then the can of diced tomatoes. Season as desired. Let this come to a boil and add the bag of noodles. Cook on high for about 5 minutes or so and then add the chickpeas. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are soft. Allow to sit for a few minutes. When dishing, stir in some cheese and enjoy.

To appease the viewer...

I'm not really sure how many people actually read this, but I know my Mom does and she's been asking when I'm going to post again.

Like everyone else, my job is loosey-goosey. Work has been getting slower and slower and the bad part is that it isn't all due to the economy. Of course with most of my job having to do with printing blueprints the economy has taken a huge bite out of my job since there just isn't as much construction. However, the other thing is that technology, while a great benefit to what I do, is also killing me. More and more companies are distributing plans via CD or FTP site and there is a lesser need for printing. There are programs that will basically read a .pdf (or other generic file) and do take-offs for the contractor. So, we've been cutting hours and talking about possible lay-offs.

On the other hand, I fear looking for a job right now since as of today's paper there was one general job and it was for a lumber jack in WY and everything else was specialized. I have no real marketable skills. However, I am seriously considering changing that. There are several thoughts to this: tech school instead of the 5 year degree program I had originally looked at and going into something that I used to be awesome at and still have an interest in: computers or maybe try to relearn some of my old skills on the side.

After all the hard work that my Mom did to try and change me from a geek to a girl... I seem to be heading right back to that direction. Whereas the only games I had been playing were on my Nintendo DS, now I've been getting into computer games again. This time they aren't only turn-based like Heroes of Might and Magic, but also things that are hack and slash (totally not something I thought I would go for) like Diablo. I totally blame my bf in this. I am actually looking forward to the new Diablo coming out next year because the graphics look soooo cool. Obviously I hadn't been playing a lot of PC games and didn't know how much better they looked then they used to. Bf has been trying to get me to play world of warcraft and has even set up a character already. I'm losing my hold on non-geekedness.

Unfortunetly it's almost the end of October and I really, really have to get to finishing some knitting for Christmas. I should be going to knitting night I suppose but I just haven't felt comfortable there in awhile and end up leaving quite a bit earlier than I used to.

Online dating

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Life has been fun and interesting. Where to start?

I'm trying online dating. It's rather interesting. The ones that amuse me are the guys who are 33 and are looking for a woman who is 18-34, or sometimes they are even more blatant and say 18-32. Oh, come on. Although, I must admit, I am a lot like them, though I don't come out and say it. I'd rather go older than I, than younger. I'm 27 and I wouldn't have an issue with someone who was, maybe 24 or 25, but I wouldn't feel comfortable dating someone who wasn't even legal to drink. I don't know why, but that's how it is. So when an 18 year-olds profile comes up, I click no. Another thing that makes me click no: lack of grammar or bad spelling. I can ignore some mistakes, because that can be normal. However, in this case: "I am the modern day cattle driver so it will take a its all or nothing will for me to find my cowgirl so don't be afraid just enjoy the ride i just want someone that will want to be cared about an when the storms of life come at u theres someone to say i got youre back ", I'm not even sure what he's saying. Then this e-mail: "how ya doin i guess rembering a bday wud b a good thing u can reach me". Yikes. He has no picture and doesn't even give eye color, height, hair color, etc. The only thing he does give out is his income. Odd. However, there are lots of nice, sane people out there. I've had a successful first date already.

I know lots of people who have tried online dating. Some of those people have long, long term relationships or have even got married. This brings up the question: what did people, like me, do before online dating? I don't have much of a social life outside of my few friends and my knitting group. I volunteer, though I don't think that taking dogs for walks will lead me to meeting any nice guys. I have in the past met guys through work, but almost all of them where I work are married and in a small business it's not really a good idea to date your co-workers.

Puppies

For the past several months I have really been wanting to get a dog, but I live in a different town than the one I work in. This means that I can't get home at lunch to let him/her out. Plus, there are the issues of breed or size restrictions in other apartments. The other day I was looking at http://www.montanapets.org and found Rex. He's a German Shorthaired Pointer/Lab mix. Unfortunetly, I dreamed about him all night that night. Baron was a GSP.

The solution to the problem that I've been thinking of for the past few weeks is volunteering at the animal shelter. So, I did. My job is to cuddle the kitties and take the dogs for walks or play with them. It's fun! There are rooms for strays, adoptables, violent intakes, a cat isolation room, and a room where the non-violent animal control intakes or post-surgical animals are. There was a poor cat who had a broken jaw, though she'd already been adopted. Also, in the same latter room was an 8 week-old puppy who was a police hold. She'd been left in a hot car and so she was evidence. How could you forget that you had a puppy that cute and little? Oh, did I mention that she was a GSP/Lab mix? I wonder how they determine what breeds these mixes are. All I saw in her (or Rex) was their GSP side. So, the lady at the shelter humored me and let me carry her around and to take her out last and play with her the longest. Oh my gosh she was cute. Since she's a police hold she has to stay until the end of the trial. I can't ever let her off leash just in case she'd get away, but she could be there for several months.

There was also a mother and her tiny, tiny kittens that were maybe 2 weeks old, if that. Their cage was in the office, where it turns out I'll spend some time since they asked if I was good with numbers and I laughed and said, yep I have a weird thing for numbers. I think that when I go in on Sunday I'll take a picture of my favorite.

Cupcakes, riding

Yummy, yummy! I used a new GF Betty Crocker mix in devil's food and a Rich and Creamy milk chocolate frosting. These made 12 brownies and left extra frosting. The batter had a off taste, but the cupcakes were moist and delicious. I just need to find a cupcake holder for taking them to work.

I've been riding a bike a lot lately. I wanted to buy one but I found out that nice bikes cost a nice amount of money. My Dad has his brother's bike just sitting and collecting dust. We fixed it up a little and I bought a woman's seat for it. I'm still getting very sore in the rear but I hope that will be better by the time I ride in the Velo Bella ride, which is 15 miles. It's a mountain bike which means I'll have to work twice as hard during the ride, but I hope I can do it. I think that the Trek bike I fell in love with will go on the Christmas list. It's a hybrid so it would be a lot easier for me to ride around on the streets.

Hello life

Locally, we've started a celiac support group. It's great. I'm learning new things and meeting people who have been at this way longer than I have. We're going to start having a recipe exchange, which will be great, though a lot of the way I cook is throw some of this and throw some of that in without really measuring things out. At our next meeting we will be having a naturopath. Future plans include having a GI doctor and a nutrionist. Next Saturday there is supposed to be a gluten free products booth at our local farmer's market and coming up at the end of August there will be a state-wide meeting in Bozeman.

I've also decided to start my own "bucket list". I should have a lot of time to do everything on it, but it's always good to have an idea of where I'm going.

Hi

I've been soooo tired lately that I haven't had much of anything going on to talk about.

My nieces and I have done several fun things this summer-- the Strawberry Festival, roller skating, and softball and baseball games. My oldest niece has been doing very well in softball, even making it into the All-Stars this year. It's only her first year so she has definetly shown a lot of promise. In the fall both of my nieces will be in sports, with the younger doing soccer.

Billings has started a celiac society which I attended today for the first time. It's really nice to get new ideas and speak with others who are local. I've already learned that there is one place that serves fried food I can eat.

On the knitting front... I've gotten nowhere. I have a project going for my Mom for her birthday, however I still need to finish the sock from Christmas. Agh!

Balance

I'm having trouble with balance in my life. I wasn't sleeping, though by the end of the the day I would be exhausted. I would go to bed and then only sleep for a few hours. Finally, for the past few days I had been sleeping through the night. Yesterday I took a nap, which worried me that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night again. But, I was babysitting last night.

Last night was fun. I took the girls to Taco Bell and then to roller skating for about 5 hours. My younger niece knows her limits and didn't skate near as much as my older one. She is so cute. We were headed back to their place and my older niece told me that she was hungry. I was ready to take them to McDonald's when my little niece said, "Noooo, I want to go home. I want to go to bed." We went inside and she immediately went to bed, clothes on and all. I had to undress her as she was falling asleep.

Then, I shouldn't have worried about my nap last night. I slept all day. I woke up, had breakfast, went back to bed, had lunch, went back to bed, and now I'm struggling to stay awake through the few shows that I watch. I have a feeling that I won't be seeing the end of Army Wives. I would really like to find the happy medium in all of this medication.

I've been away

My Mom pointed out that I've been remiss in posting.  The truth is that I've been remiss in a lot of things. 

I hadn't been feeling like doing anything and my mood had been getting worse.  So, I went to the doctor and was put on zoloft.  However, zoloft made me extremely tired and now I'm taking prozac. 

Unfortunately, as of yet, I still have no desire to do anything and have the constant nagging thoughts about my future. 

I did finish a hat for a co-worker's grandson.  The same co-worker that I knit a hat for her granddaughter just a few months back.  I need to get back to knitting since I have a super-secret project that needs to be worked on, and a sock to finish.

The story that I was writing has also been put on hold.  I'd like to get back to it since I have ideas that sometimes pop into my head.

The gluten free eating is getting better.  I have very few slip-ups now and I've pretty much got it down to a science.  I just need to find motivation to cook instead of eating chex cereal for dinner.  I just borrowed my Mom's old ice cream maker and the bowl is currently chilling in the freezer.  Tomorrow I'll try making some ice cream.  There are lots of healthy recipes out there to try. 

As far as being healthier... I'm working on it.  I've been taking walks (when able, it's been awful rainy here for about a week) and working out on my heavy bag.  I bought some weights also.

I'll try and post more often.  I have some cute baby bunny pictures that I should upload.  'Tis that season.

"There's a hole in your seat".

My niece's second softball game was tonight. It was the oddest game I'd been to. No matter how many times either team was out, everyone got to bat. They would also keep pitching until the ball was hit. Maybe that's how it is supposed to be at 9. It started with my sister confusing me by sending me looking for a field called Boulder at Poly Vista school. As it turns out, I was supposed to be at Boulder school. So, we all arrive, a little late (not my niece thankfully). My brother-in-law was really hurt at work today, so he wasn't in the best of shape. They invited me out to dinner afterwards and I took the girls in my car.

Here's a little flashback: about a month ago I lost my cell phone. I completely cleaned out the car and searched for it in the house and at work. No luck. I have been using my old phone and researching a new one. I don't like Alltel's choices and here in MT we're still temporarily Alltel. I thought about a blackberry since it would give me internet access (imagine being able to find out what foods are gluten free while standing in line waiting), the ability to have my grocery list and such with me. However, that's not really the case with a BB. You must download the apps and they are $$$$. My new iPod Touch (an early birthday present) is sooo lovely and that's what I wanted in a phone so I didn't have to carry both. All of my apps are free! I might download a fairly pricey one to get the celiac's shopping guide. However the BB apps are on average: $15. In theory, Verizon gets the iPhone next year. So, I was considering keeping the old, old phone (hate it but why buy one that I'll be disappointed in).

So, continueing on: I have the girls in my car and the conversation goes something like this:
Older niece: "There's a hole in your seat".
Me: "no, there's not" (I thought she was pulling my leg)
ON: "Yep, right here on the side."
Me: "Oh, come on."
ON: "I'm telling the truth. There's plastic and then a hole in your seat. Hey, there's something in here," she says and slides her little 9 year-old hand in the "hole". "Oh, I found your old green phone."

She handed it to me and I held my little, battered phone in amazement. When I got home I searched for the "hole". You won't believe this (at least if I'm right about what hole she was talking about). If you push where the rounded part of the fabric seat meets the plastic base, then there appears to be a "hole". If that is where my phone was then I have no idea how it got there. It's a fairly tight fit. She had told me it was "way down there". I had felt under all my seats, but it must have got stuck up in there somehow. So, assuming that the ESN number on the phone is now clear, I'll go back to my mildly easy to text on phone.

Also, all of you GF people need to head to Starbucks. The valencia orange with almond cake is DELICIOUS. It's moist, but fluffy. I don't like almonds but the only ones there were slivers on the top. I'm mildly allergic to oranges so I can't eat more than one for awhile, but at $1.99, I could have one next week for my birthday if the cake someone gets me at work is not something I can eat. I was surprised since the lady at SB said that was the same price as their other baked goods.

Angel food cake -- a failed first try

So I tried to make angel food cake for my friend's birthday. I had wanted to take some to Mom's house but she said we didn't need a dessert for Easter. Then she had hernia surgery and so I went to my sister's house and she wanted to make a complicated tart. So, as it turns out, my picky friend's fave cake is angel food cake and so I am making one for her birthday at work.

On the first attempt I learned that egg whites from the carton won't form peaks. So I got a carton of eggs from my Mom. Those worked and since I was all out of potato starch (well mostly out), I switched recipes and went with another one that used a pre-mixed GF flour. I used 3/4 c of Carol's Sorghum mix and 1/4 c of sweet rice flour to add some body (oops forgot about the egg whites doing that). I pulled it out of the oven and, using a new oven mitt which was apparently too thin for this purpose, started burning my hand. I dropped the bundt pan and thankfully, while it didn't fly out of the pan, it didn't break inside the pan. I needed to make 2 to feed everyone at work and so I'll still make one more tomorrow and that'll give me 1 1/2. I plan on taking a little slice of the more broken up part into a friend to pre-taste the cake. Next time, however, I'm using 1 c. of the mix and no rice. I tend not to like the taste of rice flours. Plus, I'll be bringing either strawberries and cream or some kind of a pie filling for the top so the taste will be slightly hidden.

Ok, so Mr. Greenjeans has taken a little hit. My carpal tunnel has made my hands flare really badly (hey it was this time last year that it got really bad) and so it's slowed a lot. I'm knitting on a sleeve. I was almost done with one sleeve but I didn't like how it looked and so I pulled it out. Someone had suggested a smaller needle size for the sleeve for a more fitted look, however I saw the line from one size to the other. Now, I'm just decreasing a little differently.

Also, wish me luck with the dentist tomorrow. The tooth that was filled last year is bothering me again. I hope it doesn't need a root canal. I have no idea what my new insurance covers. Too bad that the insurance lady didn't get us any info on our plan. Wonder if she'll be able to tell me if I call?

A picture of Mr. Greenjeans

Finally I get to uploading a picture.

The color is much nicer in person, but I took the picture without flash. According to the pattern I only have about 4 inches of ribbing left, but I'm going to make it a little longer as I'm not really a fan of cropped sweaters. The sleeves are live stitches held on scraps of yarn for easy pick up. I love that idea. The hardest part will be picking up all of the stitches needed along the sides and neckline for the ribbing. Yuck! There is a very real chance that I'll have this done at the end of the class, though.

Recipes: Seared Scallops and Parmesan Rissoto

I have 2 awesome recipes to share with you. These are very loose recipes, since I didn't measure most of the stuff out.

Parmesan Risotto
Arborio rice
A couple of tablespoons of butter
A heaping spoonful of garlic
Chicken broth (or if you're out like I was, chicken bouillon and water) to make enough to simmer the risotto in
Parmesan (I used the stuff in a jar sold by the spaghetti sauce)

You'll want to get this started before starting the scallops. Melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a pot. Toss the rice in and coat it in the butter. Lightly stir every 20-30 seconds as it starts toasting. Once most of it is toasted pour the broth in and add the garlic. I don't know how much rice I had since I bought out of the bulk bin at my health food store to see if I could figure this out. I would guess that I had 1 1/2 cups of rice. I used 3 cups of water and 4 teaspoons of bouillon. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes. Before removing from heat melt another tablespoon of butter into the rice and throw in your parmesan cheese. I had about 1/4 of a jar left and used that. Toss together. Makes 3-4 servings.


Seared Scallops
5-6 tablespoons flour (I used a GF mix, regular will work also)
A good sized sprinkling of pepper
A smaller sized sprinkling of garlic powder
1 Tbsp. of Tuscan seasoning (I might have used more but I like things heavily seasoned)
Olive oil
1 Tbsp. White wine vinegar
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1/2 pound of scallops

In a gallon-sized bag, combine the flour, pepper, garlic powder, and Tuscan seasoning. In a pan, get some oil heating. Drop the scallops into the bag, shake, and then put onto the pan. Cook about 3 minutes each side. I had huge scallops so I stood them on their sides and slowly cooked and rolled them also. Cutting them in half would have been easier. Put them on a plate. Add the vinegar and wine to the pan, stirring until thickened. Make sure to scrape up the coatings stuck to the pan, they're yummy. This should serve 2. I had 2 scallops for dinner and 2 for tomorrow (remember I said they were huge) with a nice serving of rice.

I also made a yummy drink out of a clementine, a couple of strawberries and some tonic water. My Mom does the same thing with strawberries and meyer lemons but they were out of the lemons at Costco.

While I'm at it, I'll share my gourmet grilled cheese I had for lunch.

2 slices of bread
butter flavored cooking spray
Spray butter (or real)
2 slices of ham (the natural stuff is GF and I stick with it)
2 slices of cheese (I used fat free swiss and fat free sharp chedder)
Tuscan seasoning
Parmesan cheese (grated or the stuff in the jar, not the faux-sprinkle type)
Aioli sauce (faux recipe below)

If making aioli sauce:
1 1/2 Tbsp of mayo (I use fat free)
small sprinkling of mustard powder
1/2 Tbsp of garlic (I used the jar, real garlic will make it taste more like traditional aioli)
small sprinkling of pepper
-- Combine all of these. Season to your taste.

Coat the pan with the cooking spray. Butter (or spray) the bread outside. Place them onto the pan. Put a slice of cheese on each slice. On one slice put the two slices of ham and on the other, the aioli sauce. Sprinkle a little Tuscan seasoning and put one slice on the other. Spritz more butter onto the top slice, coat with more Tuscan seasoning and parmesan. Flip the sandwich and do the same. Flip once more to melt the cheese to the bread. Place on plate and enjoy.

Mr. Greenjeans is in trouble

I started my Mr. Greenjeans sweater at class last weekend and when I got done with the increase rows I was two stitches short. I'm going to get some help from the teacher to figure out where. I'm either one stitch short in each, the beginning and ending sections, or 2 in the middle. The second and fourth sections are right since the pattern tells you, you are slipping those 56 stitches onto holders. I'll try and take a picture tonight after class. I'm loving this all in all though. So far it's super easy, and fast. Maybe I'll knit more sweaters top-down.

New Chex cereal formulations

Recently, as in not long before I was diagnosed as having celiac disease, General Mill's changed the formulation of rice chex, replacing the barley malt with molasses.  As of June 1st, corn, honey nut, strawberry, chocolate, and cinnamon chex cereals will also be making the switch.  I know it seems silly to be excited about this, but it's  huge thing.  I've never tried any of the flavored chex cereals but I'll be buying several (excluding cinnamon since I don't like red hots and cinnamon things usually taste that way).  An official GF cereal can cost $5-6 and chex is $2.50 to 3.50.  I can also eat sugar laden kix or fruity/chocolate pebbles.

Oh and Betty Crocker will be coming out with GF mixes in May or June, according to internet rumors.