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World Series!!!!!

October 27, 2011 by Sarah 9 Comments

Hey guys! This week has been so busy busy busy! Projects to finish, a paper to write, another assignment to finish, and a test to study for! But it’s slowing down just a bit- one of the projects is finished, the paper and the assignment are done, and I made a 94 on my test! Huzzah!

Guess what we did this past weekend? We went to the World Series!!! (or as some of my fav DJs on the sports station I listen to on the radio are calling it… the World Effing Series!)

You guys I LOVE baseball!! And I also love the Rangers! I’ve been going to games for as long as I can remember. And I’ve honestly never cared that the Rangers hadn’t been to the World Series. They’re my team win or lose. But It’s still super exciting that they’ve gone to the World Series two years in a row!

We couldn’t afford to go to any of the playoff games last year, but this year I knew that I had to get tickets as soon as they went on sale. So I was online the second they went on sale. I stood in e-line for 4 hours waiting to buy my tickets. And as soon as I printed those bad boys out I was so happy. I think I smiled the whole rest of the day!

So on Sunday we got there super early so that we wouldn’t have to fight traffic since there was also a Cowboys game and the stadiums are right next door to each other. So we picked up some food at whole foods and had a little picnic!

You guys! Whole Foods has this Chia bread and it’s freaking AMAZING!!! I got the veganize me sandwich and it was so freaking good! Next time I get it I’m going with mustard though- I’m not a big mayo fan.

It’s not a picnic without a cookie!! (or 3 or 4, haha!)

While we munched we listened to the Cowboys game on the radio. I don’t like football so that was pretty torturous for me. At least I had cookies. Winking smile

Then they opened the gates to the stadium, so in we went!

Watched the guys warm up a bit…

Then headed up to our seats with a beer in hand!

Our seats weren’t as high up as I thought they were going to be.

This guy was pretty hardcore with his camera!

National Anthem time! (Zooey Deschanel was pretty amazing!)

The game was AWESOME!!!!! Rangers won! 4-0. And Napoli was of course a total badass! And Holland’s pitching was on fire! (P.S. my prediction from as soon as I knew they were going has been Rangers in 6. I’m sticking with that one! Though I wouldn’t turn my nose up at Rangers in 7, lol!)

These are the faces of two very happy Rangers fans!

GO RANGERS!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: baseball, Texas Rangers, World Series

Meatless Monday: Chana Masala

October 17, 2011 by Sarah 3 Comments

I finally found the scratch paper on which I wrote this recipe! I’ve been looking for it for weeks! That will teach me not to write a recipe without my spiral that I keep all my recipe scratch in! That was a close one!

Ever since we got back from NYC I’ve been craving Chana Masala. I’ve tried making it before but I didn’t get it quite right. The Indian place we went to inspired me to try again and I think I got it this time! I think this is the perfect blend of spices and tomatoey goodness, and served with a big piece of Naan? Forget about it! And an added bonus… it’s incredibly easy to make!

Chana Masala
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 T corriander
1 T cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika

Directions:
Sauté onion and garlic in a little cooking spray over medium heat until tender.

Add chickpeas, crushed tomatoes, and spices and let simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with rice and a big piece of Naan. I also served mine over a little spinach to get a little extra veg in there!

Hope you love it- happy Meatless Monday!

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Meatless Monday on Tuesday: Spanish Quinoa (+ Taco Salad)

September 6, 2011 by Sarah 9 Comments

Hey friends!!! Sorry I’m not getting my Meatless Monday recipe out on Monday, but I took a little internet break this weekend that ended up extending into Labor Day. But I figure since it’s a holiday there aren’t a lot of people hanging out around their computers reading blogs anyway!

This is one of my favorite recipes right now! Sometimes I’ll make up a big batch of this Spanish Quinoa at the beginning of the week and just scoop it out and munch on it all week. I’ll use it on a taco salad, or a burrito, or even just eat it plain! And for all my protein obsessed pals, we all know that quinoa is packed with protein! And adding it to a big salad with some romaine lettuce, black beans, corn and diced avocado makes for one mega nutritious meal! If you’re not sure what quinoa is, check out my quinoa post to learn the ins-and-outs!

Spanish Quinoa (6-8 Servings)
(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 cup tomato sauce
1 Cup vegetable broth or water
1 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes

Directions:

Add rinsed quinoa, tomato sauce, and vegetable broth or water to a medium sized saucepan. Bring up to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. OR I like to just put it all in my cheapie rice cooker and turn it on and let it do its thing!

Meanwhile, sauté together the onion and the bell pepper with a little cooking spray or veggie broth.

Add garlic and chili powder to the sautéed vegetables and let cook until the garlic is fragrant.

Stir sautéed vegetables and the fire roasted tomatoes into the cooked quinoa.

Serve as a side dish or pile on top of a nice big salad!

maybe a salad like THIS!

Step 1: pile some romaine lettuce in a big bowl

Step 2: crumble up a handful of tortilla chips onto the lettuce

Step 3: add 1/2 cup of the Spanish Quinoa and 1/2 cup of black beans

Step 4: top the whole thing with your toppings of choice- a little cheese, some salsa, chopped avocado, and a small dollop of sour cream for example.

Step 5: devour and send me a thank you note!

Hope you all had an amazing labor day. Make sure to say a prayer for all the people suffering devastating losses here in TX right now because of all the wildfires we are having. We’re in an extremely serious drought and it’s very scary around here. My heart is breaking for all of these families that are losing everything. Let’s pray for some rain around here too!

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Pity Party, table for 1

August 25, 2011 by Sarah 5 Comments

I don’t usually get too serious here- for the most part I like my blog to stay light, fun, and full of food. But sometimes I like to broach a more serious matter because it’s something I’m struggling with and I’m sure others out there are struggling with the same and maybe it would help them if I shared.

So today we’re going to talk about feeling sorry for yourself.

We all do it sometimes, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. But I find I do it a lot. Like sometimes it’s an everyday occurrence. And when you feel sorry for yourself on a regular basis it becomes obsessive and that’s when it becomes a problem. It can become addictive!

Sometimes the smallest thing can trigger me feeling sorry for myself and I end up wallowing in it all day and I find that I completely wasted my day feeling sorry for myself. Some of the things that have set me off this past year include:

My car has been in the shop most of the summer. I was so excited about being able to get my car paid off and as soon as I did it broke down. It’s now on it’s third trip to the shop and we’ve already spent around $2,000 on it this summer. This past trip into the shop I felt sorry for myself for a whole week! I just wallowed and wallowed, it was ridiculous!
Grades. My school grades are good. A 3.71 GPA is nothing to sniff at. It’s soooo much better than the last time I went through college (I barely scraped a 3.0) and yet I feel bad about it? When I see all the people bragging about their 4.0’s (don’t get me wrong I think that’s amazing- I’d be bragging if I had a 4.0 too!) it makes me feel like a complete dunce. I love school. I love learning. I’m just not naturally smart or good at it so I have to work my butt off for a B in my science classes. But I can never feel a sense of accomplishment for that because there’s always someone that’s done better. So I wallow and feel sorry for myself about how stupid I am. This one is a vicious circle and happens every semester when final grades come out. Sigh.
Weight loss. Every time I think I am doing good or had a fantastic week I’ll step on the scale for my weigh in and will have gained 2-3 lbs. And of course that triggers me feeling sorry for myself for days or even weeks sometimes.
Getting behind in my degree. Last year financial aid decided I made too much money (which I still don’t understand because I didn’t even have a job) so I had to get a job to pay for most of my tuition, my books, and my gas. I also had to drop a couple of classes and was only able to take 2 classes a semester. Of course that put me behind which was frustrating enough. But the first semester I worked 40 hrs a week (at a labor intense job) and I was so stressed out trying to balance it with my crazy commute and my classes, not to mention physically exhausted from the hard labor and being on my feet 8-10 hrs a day. Let’s just say there was not much energy left for studying- I was barely able to drag myself to bed when I got home from work much less study! Last year I fell into the deepest depression I’ve ever been in my whole life. When I look back on it I’m not sure how I survived it much less how I pulled myself out of it.

These are just a few of many things this past year. For me these pity parties are almost always a tale tale sign of depression. Wallowing in my own self pity. Buried in it. Not sure how to pull myself out.

Plan of action. If I don’t start the pity party, it won’t lead to depression. So here is my plan of action for combatting it. These are things that I’m starting to work on every day, but I think that it’s helping!

Raise your awareness. Do you justify your self pity? Do you play a victim in your own head? Do depression and anxiety accompany? It’s good to be aware of the things that trigger your self pity- be honest with yourself when you answer these questions.
Zero tolerance policy. I cannot tell you how much this one helps me when I enforce it!! Don’t allow yourself to wallow. Don’t even go there. Don’t let yourself indulge- not even a little!
Build your self-esteem and focus on the positive. This is the thing I struggle the most with and need to do the most work on. I don’t have much self-esteem for various reasons I won’t get into quite yet. I work on this every day, but it’s very hard for me. (anyone have any tips?)
The glass is half-full… Focus on gratitude. What are you thankful for? Finish this sentence: Today I am grateful because… I’ve started doing this and it helps tremendously!
Prayer. Ask for help. This helps me so so much. Every day I ask God to help me have a positive attitude and to help me be kind to people even if they’re not kind to me. (If you don’t pray then you could just skip this one or maybe you could try meditation?)
Physical exercise! Get those endorphins going my friend and you will feel an amazing sense of peace come over you!
Change your perspective. find the silver lining in any bad situation. Learn from it. Move on! You can’t change what happened, so don’t dwell on it!

These are some things that are helping me right now. It’s something I struggle with every day, but the more I work on it the easier it gets! And just to add my disclaimer- I’m in no way a Dr. or a Psychiatrist so if you have serious problems with depression please see your doctor.