I Am This Woman

I am pursuing a nationally renowned weight loss plan that has Points and meetings and suchlike. In their online tools, they have a recipe builder which says that the following recipe is 3 points per serving. I always eat more than a “serving” which is approximately 1-2 tablespoons. However, I make no claim that this is an approved Plan recipe, um, you know, in case the recipe police are out today.

By combining the nationally renowned weight loss plan’s recipe with that of Deceptively Delicious, and my infamous Killer Pesto (now archived offline, probably 6 pts per serving), I came up with this recipe with far less fat from olive oil and parmesan cheese, which my son said, “tastes the same.” This recipe also works in sneaking vegetables into my kid, with his permission. HUZZAH!

Pesto Schmesto

2 oz. pinoles (pine nuts)

2 oz. hard parmesan cheese, grated (reduce points further by using reduced fat or fake parmesan cheese, but I’d rather eat Real Food and count the points)

1 c. fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon olive oil (use less to reduce points further; one recipe replaces the oil completely with chicken broth eyes warily)

1/2 c. pureed cauliflower (yellow squash or zucchini puree will work as well)

3-5 garlic cloves, depending on your tolerance and desire for garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in the food processor and blend well. Place in pasta bowl and then add boiled, drained hot pasta (rotini, capellini or farfalle are great; whole wheat pasta means you can eat more!). Toss and eat.

Can be frozen ahead. Also good as an additive to eggs, cream cheese or salad dressing, or used as a cracker spread.

The garlic and basil leaves are wonderful as warding off upper respiratory crud and sore throats in this house.

Lucy in the Park, originally uploaded by tigerwillow.

Lovely girl. It’s been six weeks since her adoption, and she now notices a pattern to the days. I get herded to the dog food twice a day, I am alerted to the presence of squirrels in the back yard, the trash truck in the alley or the guy with the spaniel on a ridiculously long leash. I am also told when it is time to go for walks on leashes so that the neighborhood may know that it is safe.

At 2:50pm, she comes into my office and looks politely at her watch. Time to pick up the boy from school. She has a following of squealy girls and a few guys at the schoolyard. But if that little black fluffy dog is there, forget it – all her manners go by the wayside.

When we go to the dog park, she spends a lot of time herding the smaller dogs, and chasing the ball-chasing dogs. She only herds the resident terrier at the end of the day when she is bored with everything else. He growls a warning, then apologizes and they snooze together on the dog couch, on opposite ends.

She also goes to all doctor appointments, shows promise as a service dog, and exhibits impeccable car manners. Except on the road trip when she nosed into the scones I was saving for Monahans. They were gone when I looked for them - an innocent but faintly orange and cranberry-loving look on her face.

She sleeps under my bed, and when she dreams, the woofs and quick inhalations come up through the mattress more than become audible. ONe night only, I let her sleep on the bed with me. She was a most amiable companion and did not hog the bed at all. When she sleeps under my chair during the day, she sometimes leaves a puddle of drool and then modestly cleans it up when she wakes up.

She is my last three dogs rolled into one and I adore her.

Normally, I try to be all willowy and wonderful and positive on this blog. But sometimes, the tiger has to show her claws.

I just received a cheerful notification that my subscription in an online dating service “automatically renewed”!! Isn’t that GREAT?!

(more…)

Hi. We really only know each other online. But I think we have so much in common, more than is readily apparent. I was raised by a military wife, and learned well the lessons that military families must in order to survive.

I’m going to say some things that you cannot say because you are indeed a good military wife. Maybe you agree or disagree. Maybe you are pumping your fist in the air, or quietly disapproving. But I can say these things because I have no ties anymore, except by memory and loyalty. But I am on the “outside,” I’m a “civvie,” and while some military folks secretly sneer at me, I know better. As a civilian, I get to express some of the opinions that you hold, and hold private. (more…)

(It’s been a while since I posted, so this is a catch-up catch-all entry.)

Tuesday was the Texas primary and it was a corker! In our precinct, there was a preponderance of Obama supporters but still Hillary managed to pull nine delegates vs. 21 for Obama. And she won the state, but not by the huge margin she really needed. We’ll see what happens.

And the caucus was a zoo! For our little area, there were maybe 200 people interested in the caucus, as opposed to three or four in previous years. This scenario played out all over the Metroplex, and Texas as well. It was exciting to be a tiny little part of history!

In other raucous news, I have been busier with a new forum for knitters and crocheters, though oddly (not really), the conversation has not focused much on knitting. A favorite topic seems to be copyright laws and practices, and that particular thread is never ending and self-propagating. Is it “fair use” to copy one pattern from a book in the library? Can one sell a knitted item from someone else’s pattern? Will this yarn felt? etc. ad nauseum.

I have photos of Lucy to upload, mostly on the couch as she rarely sits still when awake. I need to remember to take the camera when we go walking on the nature trail. She is a very good companion - biddable, cheerful and so smart. Her nose is always working, and you can see the wheels of her brain turning. (Although, as a border collie, she has undoubtedly upgraded from an analog brain to a digital one with Intel core.)

There is a dusting of snow on the ground, it’s a Friday and I think the district should declare a snow day, not because the roads are impassable or anything, but because a day off would be fun. But it doesn’t look like they will. Alas.