friday five!

so I don't know about you but I had a loooong week. you know what would make it better? a friday five that makes me giggle the entire time I write it. so without further ado...

5 hilariously ridiculous animals*! (no particular order; also cats are a given since I have 3 so they are not on the list)

1- capybaras!

(I love how studious this guy looks. image from best week ever. for more capybara love, go here)

2- miniature horses

(image from here. I picked it because the horse's name is peggy sue and there are so many weird things happening in this picture, I mean is that an elf?? also, don't know if I ever told you but I used to ride horses (regular sized ones). it was the only sport I was ever good at, since the pony did all the work. also, one of the first times I ever played truth or dare was with other girls at the barn. long story short, I ended up having to lick a salt lick. also, one time I sprained my wrist falling off a horse. good times)

3- pudus

(image from here, which I love because it is a post about a heavy metal song written about pudus. also, have you all seen planet earth? if not, go watch it. now. thats where I first saw these guys)

4- corgis

(image from here. Ryan's mom's neighbor has one and I get so excited when I see it and it runs over to see me. It is like a furry little sausage in the grass)

5- lisa frank's animals (realize this is cheating to put more than one animals here, but its my list and I do not care)

(image from here...anyone else notice how lisa frank bears do all the work? well the painting anyways. everyone else is just being neon and chillin on rainbows and the poor bears are on the clock. well, I do like bears in overalls so atleast there's that)

bonus! top 5 animals that freak me out but I am strangely fascinated by**:

1- armadillos (they had one for sale at a pet shop I went to when I was younger. I was terrified of it)

2- anteaters (seriously, just look at them)

3- bats (there have been 2 separate occasions where bats were hanging out in my bedroom. both times they were caught using my fisher price net. once was when I was probably 7, then next time I was 20)

4- mongoose/cobras (these are combined because rikki tikki tavi freaked me the eff out)

5- eels (they look like such creeps)

*can we discuss how I apparently love animals I resemble? all of them are short and squat too! I especially look like the capybara since we both wear glasses

**Ryan always teases me because I always think animals are going to attack us. once we saw a deer and I think I said 'wow! it didn't even come at us or anything!' and he said 'why do you think everything is trying to gore us?'

a lesson learned.

so not all recipes are going to come out good. no matter how closely I follow the recipe, sometimes I just don't like what I made. the following recipe is a good example of this. but maybe you would like it, so I will share it with you:

some sort of yellow split pea mash with chicken sausage

(loosely based on this lentil soup recipe from epicurious)

a handful of baby carrots, chopped (I need to use those up! why did I buy such a big bag?!)

half a small onion, chopped

3 cubanelle peppers, chopped (my garden all of a sudden decided to produce a bunch of these)

3 chicken sausages, sliced

1 bag of yellow split peas (I meant to use lentils but I didn't have any)

broth ( 5-6 cups)

1 bay leaf

atleast 2 garlic cloves

1 tblsp tomato paste

salt, pepper

feta

bring split peas, bay leaf, cloves, and broth to a boil. simmer covered for about 45 minutes. once the peas are done, pull out the cloves and bay leaf. stir in tomato paste. keep watm. in a seperate pan, saute sausage in a little oil utnil browned. remove from pan. saute onions, peppers and carrots (add more garlic too if you want a more garlicky taste). once softened, add this and the sausage into the peas. serve with salt, pepper and feta. (steps not listed: taste. remember you don't really like split peas. instantly regret making this (it made so much there are a couple extra tuperware tubs in the fridge too). pick out the sausage and carrots and eat those. decide to make pumpkin muffins* instead.

(yes that is a super warped IKEA cutting board)

(final step: put random herb on top to make photo fancy)

*pumpkin muffins

(based on this recipe)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

1/2 cup yogurt

3 tblsp honey

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 2/3 cup flour

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 bag chocolate chips (would also be good with chopped crystallized ginger)

preheat to 350. mix all wet ingredients. mix all dry (except chips) in a seperate bowl. incorporate dry into wet. lastly mix in chocolate chips. pour into muffins tins (or make weird cakey cookies). the recipe has 10-12 minutes for baking time but mine probably took 5-10 minutes longer. muffins are done when your princess toothpick comes out clean! enjoy!

(yeah that's right, I classed it up with my tinfoil heart tins)

car thoughts.

(image from here)

like many people, I commute. I drive about 40 minutes in and back each day. that's 40 minutes of me day dreaming to avoid focusing on the increasingly annoying traffic situation (and/or people's awful driving skills. for example, why do people drive like dummies in the rain? what?! you've seen it before! its not scary at all!). here are some things I think about to pass the time:

thought trail 1:
should I get breakfast? you know I really should pack a breakfast or wake up earlier to cook one. I really want something fall-ish like a pumpkin scone. hmm, how many calories are in that? probably a million. what about a bagel? then I just won't eat carbs for the rest of the day, right? no, probably not a likely scenario. ooh didn't our awesome work study bring in apple crisp?! no, thats worst than the scone (I think). I really should have packed something.

thought trail 2:
look at that guy beside me. he looks mad. where is he going? I wonder where he works. oops he saw me looking at him. usually I'm too busy singing loudly to look at people. blah, I've overplayed this cd. wonder whats on the radio? wish they would play something fun. hmmm...ooh! this station said nelly! I could use some 'hot in here' to make this commute faster. damn, they meant nelly furtado. maybe I should put the cd back in. hey wheres that guy I was looking at? great, now nelly furtado is stuck in my head.

thought trail 3:
ugh. why did I even bother ironing this shirt? wait, did I? yes, I did. I wonder if anyone notices that I wear the same pants all the time. I don't remember what anyone else wears but they might remember my pants (for some reason). UGH! what is that weird stain on my shirt?! shit. I'm such a mess. wait, did I leave the iron plugged in? no. did I leave the stove on? no. as mentioned above, I did not cook anything, so most likely no.

thought trail 4:
if I could eat anything today and it would not be bad for me (note: this is magical thinking), I would have: bagel and cream cheese (either veggie and egg bagel or french toast bagel with honey walnut cream cheese); a really good cheeseburger and fries; pizza or fried calamari; random awesome deserts/treats (also note: in magical thinking, this would not make me ill)

thought trail 5:
not really a thought trail, just that song stuck in my head. just the chorus. on repeat

thought trail 6:
if I could go anywhere instead of work, I'd go pumpkin picking, then have a pumpkin carving party (with my cats) and roast the seeds for snacking. also, drink cocoa and stay in bed with my husband.

((note: I got a bagel.))



what do you day dream about?

spaghetti squash: where have you been all my life?

so I may not have been eating it out of spite. any vegetable that can claim to give me the same satisfaction as one of my favorite carbs is treading in dangerous waters. I have stopped eating pasta so much lately because I am usually pretty 'go big or go home' when I make it and I'm trying to be good. hello, this is me rambling. So anyways, I bought a big spaghetti squash at TJs and heres what I did with it:

good dinner #2 (we'll call the soup #1, I'm not counting the spinach pesto and ricotta pizza I made the other night because the crust was bad... or the enchiladas that made Ryan sick)


spaghetti squash with meat sauce!
(makes enough for 1 dinner for a hungry person & leftovers for lunch the next day!)

for the squash:
(got this from Emeril)

preheat oven to 375. attempt to cut squash in half. succeed! scoop out seeds and goop in middle. place squash cut side down in pan and add water about half way up sides of squash. cover with foil. roast/bake/whatever for 45 minutes. once squash is cool enough to hold (or don some badass oven mitts), scrape out the 'spaghetti' strands. toss with a little butter and your favorite tomato sauce, or use my recipe below!

for the sauce:
1/2 lb ground turkey
2 cubanelle peppers
1/2 an onion if you have it (I didn't)
couple cloves garlic
2 cans tomatoes (I used no salt added store brand from whole foods, pretty good!)
salt & pepper
any spices you like ( I used oregano & basil)

saute the turkey in a little oil until cooked through. remove from pan. add in onions (if using), garlic and peppers. cook until peppers are soft. add the meat back in and add the tomatoes and spices too. cook until delicious.


(one day I will make something to eat that is also pretty to look at)

sleep! thats where i'm a viking!

so I have weird dreams. I know I'm not the only one... but that doesn't make my dreams any less weird. Last night, I dreamed that I went to this spooky lake with friends ('dream' friends, I don't actually know them) and there were tons of alligators in the lake so I did not want to swim there. Then I was at some kind of strange underground amusement park. There were also alligators here. They were blocking all the exits. We were trying to escape (not sure why??). I was with some friend and I think we eventually escaped by wrestling alligators. I have a lot of dreams where something is after me (people, dinosaurs, what have you) and I am hiding from them. It almost always involves me hiding in some room that has a lock. When I was younger, the dreams always involved me hiding in our house's bathroom since I knew that had a lock. It also had our washing and dryer which were behind these wooden panels doors which locked. So in my dreams, I would sit on the dryer. Anyways, once we escaped the amusement park, I went to IKEA with Justin Timberlake.


(you know an animal is badass when even a t.rex is like 'oh shit!' when it sees one. from here)


This dream can be (partially) explained because:
A- saw The Social Network on Friday*. That would explain JT.
B- watched a show last night called '5 Animal Attacks' (sorry! seriously nothing was on!), which you think would explain the alligators? even though the show only had orcas, sharks and deer?


so what do you dream about?


*it was good. I would recommend it to anyone who is as big of a fan of Aaron Sorkin as my husband is.

so i'm a ridiculous person

want to hear a funny story? sure you do! so I go to the grocery store this morning to pick up a couple things and I spy this adorable looking bottle of water. I had actually bought a bottle of this brand of water a couple months ago because I liked the packaging (this is how I do most of my shopping). so I put it in my cart. as I am checking out, it is the last thing the cashier rings up. it does not ring up. it takes me and another cashier to find another bottle of water to rescan. by the time I get back in line, there are several people waiting behind me. I can only imagine what they were thinking when they saw me come back with the tiny water bottle that is clearly designed for children. damn, I hope this water tastes good.


(yes you read that right, its grape water)



(and just in case you needed a close up)

friday five!

happy october, all! its about time! now if it would just stopping being 80 degrees out, I could make this or this. the hell with it, I'll make them anyways. What is up for your weekend? I have something miraculous: a free weekend. !!!! I think I will clean, maybe garden (my only gardening attempt so far has been 1- let pumpkin rot 2- throw pumpkin in backyard 3-cross fingers and hope for pumpkins next year). tonight I am possibly doing the dinner/movie thing. I really want to make these too. alright, enough jibber jabber, heres your friday five:

five youtube videos to make your friday better:

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