julie’s blog

What are the 10 foods you must have in your refrigerator and/or your kitchen cabinet? 
Submitted by Carol.  

flour tortillas

refried beans

cheese

salsa

unsalted butter

semisweet choco chips

flour/sugar/salt (i'll count this as one since it's for baking cookies, ok?)

trail mix

maker's mark whiskey

maraschino cherries

strange little things, those hiccups. especially when they're coming from the baby living in my womb. the other morning i woke up at 4am because The Bump was hiccupping. then it started kicking. then hiccupping. then kicking.

that went on till 6am, when i finally got back to sleep - at least until orange cat woke me up at 6:45am with his early-morning kitty antics.

conclusion? baby hiccupps are WAY cuter than feline wake-up calls.

If you could eat only 3 foods for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Submitted by formance.

interesting question considering how much of virtually everything i've been eating recently. i've been fairly non-discriminatory in my 2nd trimester.  :)

but here are my 3 faves:

• ice cream (mint chip tops the list)
• mexican food (specifically maya's chicken mole burrito)
• indian food (chicken tikka masala & saag paneer w/ aloo naan...mmm!)

i'm a slacker. it's been AGES since i've posted. but dammit, i have good reason(s).

1st: we bought a condo & moved. but before that, we got rid of tons of crap that had accumulated in the 4 years we had lived in our last space. can i tell you how freeing it was to get rid of literally car-loads of stuff?!!! i vow to practice purging my goods more often.

2nd: i got knocked up. yep. it's official. i'm well on my way to mommy-hood. and so since february not only have i been packing up to move, but i've been nauseaus, tired, achey and dealing w/ sciatica....thankfully all of those earlier symptoms seem to have taken a hiatus. now i just get to enjoy the fact that my belly is growing daily (and sometimes hourly, it seems)....just shy of 18 weeks in, and i'm expecting to start feeling initial baby gymnastics any time now.

Rumsfeld Leaves Most Recent Job Off Resumé

brilliant.

What is your favorite ring tone?
Submitted by rach. 

surprisingly i prefer rings that don't sound like a phone - or anything uber-electronic, for that matter.

when i call b, his ring is set to sean paul's 'get busy'. sweet.

my phone sounds like leetle birdies chirping.

yesterday i experimented with what is quickly becoming one of my favorite methods of cooking :: the slow cooker. my aunt gave us this really excellent cookbook as a wedding gift. it's called The Gourmet Slow Cooker, by lynn alley. you won't find one single ingredient that comes out of a can (sans tomatoes) in this book - unlike another book i have that calls for canned mushrooms. umm. i didn't even realize those things came in a can.

but i digress...i made up a mean batch of split pea soup before i left for work in the morning. got home from the gym at 7pm and was greeted with a houseful of good smells & hot, fresh cooked soup. here's the recipe. it couldn't be easier.

2 c. split peas (i used yellow cuz that's what they had at the store)

6 c. water or chicken stock

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 smoked pork chop (i actually used a smoked ham hock, which worked out just fine)

salt

rinse & sort through the split peas. place the peas in the slow cooker (you'll need at least a 3.5 quart one) and add the water/stock, onion, carrots, celery and pork chop/ham hock.

cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, until the peas are tender and the meat has fallen away from the bone. season with salt to taste. remove and discard the bone and break up any large chunks of meat with a fork.

one to enjoy on these chilly winter evenings! 

Would you rather go back in time or visit the future?
Submitted by Auds.

oh gosh. future future future. no doubt. back in time just screams high school, or some other equally awkward time in my life. you couldn't pay me enough to do that over again.