Down to Earth Granola

We scheduled an appointment with Home Depot to have the bathroom floor in the basement measured for tile.  They didn't call until 9:00am to tell me that they were going to be here some time between 2:30 and 4:30pm.  I was going to go into work, but with driving, I only would have gotten in about 3 hours of work...

So, I decided to stay home and work on channeling my inner housewife.

This recipe has a little story.  Doug's Aunt Leslie is a great cook... well all of his aunts are because they learned from grandma.  Each time we go to her house, Doug snacks on her homemade "grainola" the whole time.  I asked for the recipe last time I was down there in June and finally decided to make it today.

Down to Earth Granola - Aunt Leslie
4 c. Old Fashioned Oats
1 1/2 c. Sliced Almonds
1/2 c. Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/3 c. Cooking Oil
1/3 c. Honey
1 tsp. Vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a bowl mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a saucepan, warm the oil and honey (do not boil).
4. Stir in vanilla after the oil and honey are warmed.
5. Pour liquid in saucepan over dry oat mixture in bowl.
6. Stir until just coated
7. Spray baking pan with non-stick spray (line with aluminum foil beforehand if you like)
8. Spread mixture into 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan (deep cookie pan).
9. Bake 30 minutes stirring gently every 10 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and let cool before breaking into pieces.

Step 2: Mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl.

Steps 3-4: Warm oil and honey in saucepan, then add vanilla.

ALL DONE!  Time to eat it all!

I despise doing dishes, so most of the time I make Doug do them since I do all of the cooking.  I went ahead and cleaned up after this because it was so easy.  I just made sure to put down aluminum foil in the cookie pan first.  It took two pieces because I want to make edges to keep it all in.

The good thing is that this stuff is cheaper (AND TASTES BETTER) than the granola I buy in the grocery store.  It wasn't hard at all to make.  The hardest part was remembering to set the timer so I could stir it each time.  I also like that all of the ingredients, except for maybe the sliced almonds, are things that you have in your food pantry already.

After I took it out of the oven the last time, I let it sit for about 20 minutes before eating it.  It wasn't quite hard yet, but OH was it SO tasty.  Once it's completely hardened, I'll put it in a cereal container and add it to lunches to put in yogurt.   That is, if I don't eat it all first.

Bacon-Wrapped Little Loaves

Disclaimer: I didn't take pictures, but this is basically what it looks like.

So, I'm not sure if this recipe is something that others had growing up, but my family had it tons.  Yesterday, I was trying to come up with something new for dinner that I had the ingredients for and I ended up making Bacon-Wrapped Little Loaves.  Basically it is little meatloaves wrapped in bacon... and since bacon basically makes everything better, they were VERY tasty.

I cut the recipe in half for just the two of us and made a few simple substitutions because I didn't have some exact ingredients.  I crossed those out and put what I used instead. (If you make it, you can use whatever is most convenient.  I personally didn't notice a change in taste.)

Bacon-Wrapped Little Loaves Recipe
2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1 c. dry bread crumbs toasted bread (crumbled)
3 Tbsp dehydrated minced onions
1 tsp instant beef bouillon 1 package onion soup mix
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. water
8 slices bacon

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Mix beef, cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, onions, lemon juice, water, and bouillon.  (onion soup mix)
3. Shape mixture into 8 little loaves.
4. Cut bacon strips in half
5. Place bacon strips crisscrossed on each loaf, tucking ends under loaf
6. Place loaves on a rack (or broiler pan) in shallow baking pan.
7. Bake uncovered for 50 minutes

Makes 8 servings

I didn't have a rack OR a broiler pan, so I just put them on one of my deeper cookie sheets and lined it with aluminum foil.  I turned the edges of the foil up so it created a sort of bowl to keep the juices from going everywhere.  (Clean up was a BREEZE!)

I like this better than just plain old meatloaf because ONE - the serving size is already determined by the little loaves, so dishing up is a breeze. TWO - each little loaf is cooked perfectly and gets a little crispy, and THREE - the bacon (duh!)

Enjoy!

Presenting... Eva Lynn

My sister Kierstan had her baby yesterday!!!  Eva Lynn (the E is a long A sound) is Kierstan's first baby.

Eva Lynn, born 4:35pm, 7lbs 14oz, 20.5in long

I felt pretty grateful for modern technology yesterday.  I used my iPad to video chat with Kierstan and Court (her husband) while they were at the hospital.  They "called" me beforehand and we were able to talk and make bets about how big she would be.  (My guess was a little high at 8lb 4 oz.) My sister said that the epidural went in okay, but apparently it was only numbing one side of her body so she would feel some of the contractions in her right hip.  I think she said that they were supplementing the epidural with something else.  She honestly seemed a tad bit out of it.  They had induced her earlier that morning just a day after her due date and she had been in labor for several hours at that point.  They had to go suddenly whenever the doctor came in and told her it was time to start pushing.

Afterward I got a "call" back from Court and was able to see Eva pretty soon after she was born.  I got a little teary-eyed as I saw her for the first time.  She just looked so quiet and peaceful.  (Court said that she entered the world much more loudly and has quite the set of lungs on her!) Seeing my sister lay there with Eva on her chest was amazing.  Kierstan seemed so much more alert than when I had seen her before the birth.  She was just completely spellbound by Eva and couldn't stop looking at her.  I could tell that she was totally and absolutely in love with her.

You can't tell in the picture, but Eva has dark hair and dark eyes (definitely my family's strong gene's at work).  She is also the smallest baby born out of all of my nieces and nephews.  I am so excited for my sister.

Being able to be "there" (even though it wasn't in person) was amazing.  With all of the problems I've had getting pregnant and the pain from the cysts and surgery, there were little fleeting moments when I thought that maybe I wasn't meant to be a mother.

I want it now more than ever.

Starting Running... Again

So I started running again yesterday.  At the post op appointment I had on Tuesday, my doctor said that I could start exercising again, so I decided to go RIGHT into it.  If it wouldn't have been like a million degrees outside when my appointment was over, I probably would have started right then.  Why so enthusiastic?  Well, it's not that I'm totally addicted to running. (I do LIKE it though.) Honestly, I was just really worried that I would never go running another day in my life if I didn't start up immediately.

This time around, I'm going to do it differently.  First and foremost, I'm going to try to do what I didn't do before.  LISTEN TO MY BODY.  I pushed myself way too hard last time and ended up getting injured by hurting my knee very early on.  I know the whole cyst/surgery mess was what forced me to stop running, but I probably would've had to take a break anyway with how much I was hurting.  The last two days that I've gone running, I've started with a warm up where I walk for about five minutes and then do some stretches.  It's worked well.  I have a teeny tiny bit of soreness that I can tell is related to the surgery, but I'm really fine besides that.  I haven't gotten new running shoes yet, but I'm waiting to see if I can keep this up AFTER the school year starts before I make the investment.

If I can continue some sort of running routine at least a week into school, then I will reward myself with a pair of shiny new running shoes.  I saw the Potomac River Running store near the new Cobb theater the other week, so I'll probably go there to get an evaluation done.  Hopefully its not ridiculously pricey because I'm feeling broke with all of the costs of finishing the basement.  (I'll be posting some pictures and blogging about the basement progress soon, but you can check out the album on Facebook for right now.)

I stuck with my same neighborhood routine from last time of two miles and I've been feeling GREAT afterward.  I seriously get depressed in the summertime when I don't have anything to do.  Running gives me this burst of energy throughout the day and I feel SO much better!  The funny thing about starting up again is that my legs totally itch while I'm running, but I remember that from last time and I think it will go away soon.

Here's a picture of the sunrise this morning!

Honestly though, it is super hard to get out of bed.  Knowing that it is summer and I can totally sleep in until noon if I like, makes it hard to get the motivation in the morning.  I've been getting up at 5am with Doug the last two days and STAYING up.  I have to literally force myself out of bed and into my closet to get into my running clothes, but after that I'm usually ready. :)

This morning when I went out it surprised me how dark it was.  It was seriously scary and depressing at the same time!  Scary, because it feels like something is going to jump out at you with every tree and bush you run by.  Depressing, because I know this means that the days are getting shorter and summer is almost over.

That leads me into a question that I've had in the back of my mind... How do you continue your running routine in the winter?  We have a treadmill that my parents gave us in the basement that works well, but I seriously hate running on it.  Is that the only solution or are there like hardcore ice runners out there. :)

A Little Insensitive

I realize that by writing this on my blog, I may be offending some family members, but I'm kind of tired of hiding my feelings and then having people hurt me unintentionally.  Some of my family can be really insensitive (without meaning it) about the whole not getting pregnant thing.  I REALLY do not want people walking on egg shells around me, but I think there does need to be a teeny tiny bit of sensitivity.

For those of you that may have been following my blog for a while you may remember this post.  I was snowed in the house with nothing to do except sort through all of the baby clothes that my oldest sister had given me.  It doesn't say so in the post and I haven't talked about it before, but I was actually pregnant (and pretty sure of it) at the time while I was going through everything.  I went through all of the clothes separating them by size and carefully folding them into Tupperware containers.  I envisioned the little life growing inside of me (if it was a girl of course) getting to wear a lot of the cute outfits my sister had passed down to me.  I was really excited.

Unfortunately things did not turn out the way I had hoped and my pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. 

I announced it a while ago when I started blogging again, but my sister Kierstan, who lives in Utah is pregnant.  She is due to have her first baby, a little girl named Eva, any day now.  When my sister found out that she was pregnant, I was VERY happy for her.  She had expressed some concern that she was nervous about talking about her pregnancy with me because of the situation I was in.  I told her, that if the tables were turned, that I would want to be able to talk to my sister, so I INSISTED that she call me about EVERY little thing.  She would call and update me on the latest and I'm glad she did.  Honestly, it was a little hard, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

During the time I was going through all of the scary surgery stuff, my sister who gave me the clothes was in town to visit.  She was really awesome and drove me to all of the doctors appointments that I had prior to my surgery.  My mom, during all of this, explained to me that they wanted to go through the baby clothes (that my oldest sister had GIVEN me) to send it to Kierstan.  I was a little surprised at the request, but told them they could come any time they liked to pick it up.  I never heard anything else from anyone about the baby clothes, so I figured that they had made other plans.

Today, I am picking up my mom to take her to the airport so she can be there with Kierstan when she has the baby.  My mom called me early this morning and  ... asked ... about ... the ... clothes.  She wondered if I could sort through the clothes and just pick out the dresses that we had all worn as children so that little Eva could have something to wear on Sundays.

I hadn't said a single thing to her about how offended I was that they wanted me to sort through the clothes until today.  I matter-of-factly told her that I was not going to dig through the clothes.  I told her that I thought it was pretty insensitive that they asked me, the person who was having trouble getting pregnant, to sort through the baby clothes that were given to me, and pick out the "cute stuff" to send to my sister.  She didn't really say much in response and then just said that she guessed she wouldn't have time to be able to get the clothes.

A big part of me feels really terrible and guilty that I'm not down in my basement digging through all of the little cute baby clothes to give them to my sister.  It's the most practical solution and it makes sense.  I WANT to do it.  I just don't think I CAN.

At this point, I HOPE they come and take all the clothes away and I never see any of it again.

Post Op Appointment

I went to my post-op appointment today.  My doctor was very impressed with my quick healing and said that I could gradually return to exercising (but no ab workouts... understandably).  The incisions were pretty small and I don't think the scars will be bad, not that I'm really that concerned.

Teeny Tiny Incisions

I actually think it's pretty weird that I'm posting a picture of my abdomen, but I figured that I took the picture, so I might as well put it somewhere.  I added the arrows because the incisions really are that small.

At the appointment, my doctor showed me pictures that she took during the surgery that showed the endometriosis.  It looks like tiny specks, some dark and some clear, on my insides.  She said that she could tell that I have had endometriosis for a long time and was really surprised that I hadn't complained about it to my OBGYN before because apparently it's pretty painful.  Endometriosis, like cancer has stages.  If it hadn't been for the endometrioma, she would have said by the looks of it that I was a "Stage 1," but she puts me at a "Stage 2" because of it.  She told me about a patient of hers that had stage 4 Endometriosis and still was able to get pregnant, but it was through IVF, so there is definitely hope for me at only a stage 1-2.

Cool little purple case!

I had a lot of questions about the Clomid and whether or not it caused my insides to go crazy and produce this gigantor chocolate cyst inside of me.  My doctor told me that the size of it was way too big to have just started when I took the Clomid.  She said that it was probably in the works for at least a year.  She was actually surprised that I hadn't reported feeling pain earlier.

The very good news is that she was able to tell me pretty definitively that this was why I was not getting pregnant.  Whew!  Once we take care of it then things should start working as they are designed to.  The short term treatment is actually birth control, which is weird, but after a lesson on the body's hormones, I am a believer.  I've never actually taken birth control pills, so I am pretty enamored with the cool little case that they come in.  I'll be taking them for a little while, but I am pretty excited because an end (or a I guess a beginning) is in sight.

One random thing that made me happy was realizing my doctor (who I absolutely love) is totally OCD detail-oriented like myself.  While she was typing my follow-up and patient instructions during the appointment, she told me that she hated Times New Roman (me too!).  She went back and made sure that everything in the instructions was the same font and the same size.  I have also noticed that my incisions from the surgery are symmetrical.  I thought this was standard practice, but after looking at some photos online, I found out that it's not.  SO thankful for a doctor that makes me symmetrical AND is a font snob. :)

I've never really connected with a doctor before, but then again I haven't really gone to the doctor regularly at any time in my life.  I have really connected with my doctor and nurses this time.  As I walked into the office, all of the nurses and my doctor knew my first name.  They told me how they were very pleased with my surgery results and how my doctor had talked with them about it.

As I left this time, my nurse expressed optimism that the next time she saw me I would be pregnant.  My doctor said that my little sister, Kate, who she met before my surgery might as well start calling herself an aunt because she is just that sure that she can help get me pregnant! :)

Liza is a "Ghana!"

So my little sis, Liza decided that she wanted to study abroad for a semester in Ghana.  Yep!  She's pretty crazy and likes to do things that are cool and adventuresome unlike me who like to be safe and boring and not infected with malaria.  I kept on forgetting which country in Africa she was going to until my dad exclaimed, "Liza is going to be a Ghana (goner)!"  Yeah, so that's where my post title comes from.

In the car we talked about cultural differences between Ghana and the United States.  Apparently giving something similar the thumbs up sign is pretty crude and basically means, "Your mother is a prostitute."  Also, waving to someone the way we do in the US means that you want someone to come over to you.  When you go anywhere, you basically need to greet everyone or you will seem rude.  I found this pretty cool site today called Cultural Crossing.  It's pretty cool because it tells you how you should act in different countries.  It's interesting to read and probably really helpful if you're an international traveler.

Liza and Johnny heading up to ticketing at Dulles Airport.

We took her to the airport this morning to catch a flight there.  She will be in the country of Ghana going to a University there for the next five months and will be returning all "culturated" in December.  They told her that she would be living in a hostel with minimal furniture and that's basically all she knows about where she is living.  That would totally freak me out.  I'm totally imagining a huge room full of squeaky bunk beds, no air conditioning, and scary bathroom facilities.  For her sake, I'm hoping it's actually better than that.

Couldn't get the darn machine to scan her passport, so we had to go to the desk.

 And what do you think said sister is majoring in that she is going all the way to Ghana to study???

...International Relations? Nope.

...a Foreign Language? Nope.

...International Business? Nope.

Mom and Liza laughing at Johnny before she went to security.

 
Give up?  Yeah, well you wouldn't have guessed it anyway.  She's studying ...theater!  Yep, that's it.  My sister is going to learn about theater . . in . . Ghana.  I'm just being mean about it because I'm jealous.

I told her as I hugged her goodbye that my goal was to be knocked up by the time she was home.  She laughed and told me her goal was NOT to be knocked up.

Have fun Liza!  Don't catch malaria!

Taylor Swift Concert

Last night, I went to my FIRST concert, Taylor Swift: Speak Now.  A friend from work got some free tickets through her husband's work and was looking for some company.  Both nights were sold out with over 13 thousand fans packed into the Verizon Center in DC.  I have to say it was pretty dang amazing!  I like Taylor Swift's music and I'm familiar with her big hits that are played a lot on the radio, but I'm not like a crazy fan or anything.

The SWEET Suite

The cool thing about the tickets were that they were suite tickets meaning we had a SUITE that we watched the concert from.  Having never been to a concert, I had no clue what to expect, but I'm pretty sure this was NOT your average concert experience.  When we arrived at the suite which fit about 20 people but had about 12 in it, we were welcome by an attendant who checked our tickets and took us on a mini tour of the suite.  Inside, they had tons of food and basically unlimited drinks.  The suite had it's own super nice and CLEAN bathroom which I was pretty thankful for after seeing the long lines on our way up.

The concert started with a young, talented singer named Hunter Hayes and then a really good band called Need to Breathe.  They were both really talented, but their shows dulled in comparison to the performance by Taylor Swift afterward.  She puts on a really good show!  Part of the entertainment value of the concert was seeing all of the crazy fans.  At the Metro on the way there and back, we could easily spot the people going to the concert.  Most of the fans were wearing sundresses with cowboy boots, self-made Taylor Swift t-shirts, the number 13 somewhere, or something sparkly.  It was quite the crowd.  Many of them had lighted signs and glow sticks.

 

I didn't understand a lot of the fan lingo, so I did a little research on her fan website to figure out some of it. Apparently, 13 is Taylor Swift's lucky number and he writes it on her hand before her concerts.  On her left arm, she also writes lyrics from other musicians that inspire her.  I thought it was interesting that she writes all of her own music.  She kind of has some funny mannerisms, but overall she seems like a nice person.  The show was pretty neat.  I was trying to get some close up shots with my camera that seemed pretty good on my little camera screen, but pretty grainy when I looked at them on my computer.  Darn!  I wish I would've taken more far away shots like the one above.  The screen behind the stage had some pretty cool effects going on.

Here's a picture of me with my two teacher friends, Caitlin and Laura.

There were tons of young girls there that seems to ABSOLUTELY adore her.  I think that she does an okay job as a role model to them.  I don't know all of the juicy gossip, but she seemed almost overly cutesy nice at the show AND the kids just ate her up.  Her lyrics seem very personal, real, and seemed to be aimed for a wide age spread of an audience, but mostly for preteen/teen girls.  It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go!

Oh, and a teeny tiny update as far as surgery recovery: I'm completely off pain meds, feeling clear minded, and overall much better.  I'm still waiting for my energy to come back, but for the most part I'm feeling good.