Oreo Cheesecake

Last Christmas, I got a springform pan…so I figured I should finally use it!  We’ve got a ton of toppings leftover from The Scoop; so when we were asked to bring a dessert for our Thanksgiving, we thought this would be a great way to use up some of it!!!

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups Oreo cookie bits (about 23 Oreo cookies finely chopped, if you don’t have a bag of pre-chopped crumbles like us)
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

• Three 8 ounce packages of light cream cheese, room temp
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 5 large eggs, room temp
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 cup flour
• 6 - 8 ounces nonfat Greek yogurt (or light sour cream, or a combination of both if your refrigerator requires it); room temp
• 3/4 cup Oreo cookie crumbs
• For the top: More Oreo cookie crumbs (or about 10 coarsely chopped Oreos)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Crust: Mix the Oreo crumbs with the melted butter and press into the bottom of a 10-inch springform cheesecake pan.  Stick this in the fridge to chill while you prep everything else.

Put the cream cheese in a large bowl and beat on low speed with your mixer until it's light and fluffy (super easy if you have a stand mixer). Slowly add the sugar until well incorporated, scraping the bowl periodically.  Now add the salt, vanilla, flour and Greek yogurt/sour cream and beat some more until everything is mixed in and smooth.

With your mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg fully into the batter and scraping down the sides of the bowl again before adding the next egg. You don’t want to over-beat the mixture after the eggs have been added in.

Gently fold the 3/4 cup of Oreo crumbles into the mixture. Then pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Sprinkle the top with more Oreo cookie crumbs.

Set the top and bottom racks of the oven far enough apart so that you can set a pan of water on the lower rack and the cheesecake on the top rack. Set a roasting pan filled 2/3 of the way with water on the lower rack. (This acts as the "water bath" without having to go to all the trouble of actually putting the cheesecake in the water. Way easier—I’ve had other cheesecakes get a soggy crust because of water infiltrating the pan with a regular water bath.)

Place the cheesecake on the top rack of the oven and bake for about an hour. When it’s ready, it should jiggle slightly in the middle. When you reach this point, turn the oven off, prop the door of the oven open, and let it sit for an hour. Then remove, cover, and stick it in the fridge for 8 hours (or overnight).

Run a knife around the edge of the pan before you pop off the springform.  Then serve at will!  It’s pretty rich, even with the lower-fat ingredients in there, so serve small slices.

NUTRIFACTS: (16 slices)

  Calories 347.0

  Total Fat 18.2 g

  Saturated Fat 8.4 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.9 g

  Cholesterol 116.4 mg

  Sodium 394.5 mg

  Potassium 114.0 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 36.6 g

  Dietary Fiber 1.2 g

  Sugars 26.7 g

  Protein 8.3 g

Eggplant Caponata & Sausage Sandwiches

Aaaaand I’m back.  The Scoop is closed—for good, rather than just the season.  We decided it was all just too much—juggling our full time jobs plus trying to make sure our business ran well & didn’t fall into disrepair.  There are so many things I wish we could have done with it—more recipes, more branding, more promotions, more fundraisers… but there was just never enough time.  And given that we’d like to start a family soon, that would be WAYYYYYY too much to juggle. 

Closing up shop for the last time.

It’s a little bittersweet… I mean, yes, it definitely ran us ragged and most people just went all “O_o” when we told them we had full time jobs in addition to running the Scoop, but at the same time…it was our baby.  We have a lot of pride in our ability to have even attempted owning a business while still holding on to our “day jobs”, and the fact that it was also SUCCESSFUL (in a town with 899 other restaurants, and the home of Andy’s frozen custard) feels good too.  And we had some truly awesome employees who we won’t get to see every day anymore, and I’ll miss chatting with our regular customers…not to mention the look on every kids’ face when you hand them a giant ice cream cone, so they can cram their face-hole full of sugar & sprinkles… that little twinkle that says, “no nap for me today!  MUahahahahAHAHAHahahah!!!!”

This load of cuteness brought to you by my sis-in-law’s womb. Yes…we stuff them full of ice cream, AND buy them 100-piece toys for Christmas.  She’ll get us back one day.

So, now that I theoretically have some “free time” again, it’s time to get caught up on some posts!  Because I haven’t stopped cooking!

First up, this tasty sandwich.  Our local farmers market had these gorgeous white eggplants on sale & I couldn’t resist.

I’m usually not too versatile with eggplant, typically making baba ganoush or eggplant parm, but I wanted to mix it up a bit.  These sandwiches on Pinterest looked awfully inviting, so I ran with it & was very pleased with the results!

This also makes a really delicious dip to have with crostini; or you can toss it with a bit of pasta!  It makes a good sized batch, so you can be versatile with it—make a few sandwiches one night, have the dip the next night, etc.

INGREDIENTS: (makes 8-10 sandwiches)

1/3 cup olive oil
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into small cubes, about 4 cups total
4 chicken sausages (I think these were sundried tomato & mozzarella)
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 ounces white mushrooms, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced (NOTE: if you have a hubby like mine who doesn’t care for olives, you can alternately just add about 1/4 cup of the brine from the jar to get the saltiness & a hint of the flavor, without it tasting too much like olives for them)
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
French Bread
Provolone, Swiss or mozzarella
Fresh basil leaves

DIRECTIONS:

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat,  then add the eggplant, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper (lightly—you can always add more later, but it’s going to cook down quite a bit so you don’t want it to get too salty). Cook for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are soft.

Add the olives (or olive brine), tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, and oregano, and stir well so that the tomato paste coats everything. Season again with salt and pepper. Lower heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Stir a few times during cooking, and add a tablespoon or two of water if the mixture is too thick and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

While that’s going, cook your sausages according to their package directions.  Once they’re done, allow to cool for a bit & then slice at an angle to make about 1/2 inch slices.

Allow caponata to cool slightly, but serve warm.  Spoon onto your bread, add the basil, sausage, & cheese.  I didn’t let my cheese get melty enough before taking pics, but if you like, you can place the sandwich open-face beneath the broiler before serving to make sure it’s good & melty.  If you have some fresh mozzarella, that would also go nicely with this sandwich.

Loose Meat (Maid-Rite) Sandwiches

So, this is DEFINITELY not Cajun cooking.  Loose meat sandwiches, as made famous by the Maid-Rite chain and Roseanne,  are definitely a Midwest thing.  Pretty simple stuff:  seasoned ground beef, mustard, pickles, bun. Boom.  Tasty stuff.  Not a Sloppy Joe, since those have a tomato base sauce.
Earlier in the year we were considering making a loose meat sandwich as a monthly special at The Scoop.  We tested out a few different recipes but could never quite find one that wouldn’t reduce down too much over the course of the day & change the flavor or dry out.  However, we did REALLY like this recipe fresh from the pot.  The steak sauce and the brown sugar make a nice sauce that helps to bind the meat a little bit so it’s not super-loose, and there’s a good balance of spicy, sweet & acid.

INGREDIENTS: (Makes 4 servings)

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced (or 1 Tbsp dried onions)
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp steak sauce
• 1 Tbsp spicy mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• For Serving:  hamburger buns, mustard, dill pickles

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the meat and onion in the bottom of a large pot; cook over medium heat until browned.  Add the remaining ingredients & heat to boiling, then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid has evaporated.  Typically takes about 30 minutes.
Warm the buns in the oven (or a toaster oven), then spoon on the meat, and add  the mustard & pickles.


NutriFacts (per sandwich):
Calories 463.9
  Total Fat 26.1 g
  Saturated Fat 9.9 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 10.3 g
  Cholesterol 85.1 mg
  Sodium 1,040 mg
  Potassium 424.7 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 29.8 g
  Dietary Fiber 0.4 g
  Sugars 7.6 g
  Protein 25.1 g

First Day Post-Daniel Fast: Chili Cookoffs & Toilet Seats

Well, I’m posting, which means we did NOT fall into a meat-sugar-caffeine induced coma.  Though…we tried.  Really.

Breakfast:  I’ll just let the picture tell its thousand words.

That’s biscuits, sausage, coffee (decaf) w/caramel syrup & some almond milk, and yes….CUPCAKES.  Half of each of the cupcakes that I brought home & froze after Amy’s wedding shower.  Because…I mean…CUPCAKES.

Then we headed over to the Sertoma Chili Cookoff to sling some tasty steak & sausage chili!

(We end up next to the Toxic Chili guys like, every year.)

We never win, but it’s still fun, and for a good cause.  After our shift was up, we headed out and tasted some chili!

(Oh…and beer, of course.  PS—the first person to figure out the clothespin thing was BRILLIANT.)

After we’d filled out still shrunken bellies with chili (which only took about 15 booths, or about 2.5 total cups), we wandered about to check out all the booths:

(Elks Lodge is on the left—they place pretty high every year.  Good stuff.  Waffle House…ehh, I was too afraid it would be ACTUAL Waffle House chili to try it.)

Then we headed over to The Scoop to take advantage of the awesome weather and pick up some trash on our Adopt-A-Street stretch! With all the snow & cold weather, we haven’t been able to get out there in a few months, and it’s…well…always an interesting experience.  We tend to find a lot of the usual:  empty beer cans & 50 mL bottles, fountain soda cups, random junk mail & newspapers… and then there’s the just plain sad ‘n nasty: socks, a couple syringes (needles gone), a tampon applicator (*gags*  WHO does that on the side of the road???)…. and then there’s the “WTF?”

Half-full bottle of E&J, and a TOILET SEAT.  (We also found a full set of keys, but that doesn’t beat toilet seat.  PS—Jo… I’m sorry my hubs is not wearing gloves. I was, just FYI. But I PROMISE he washed his hands as soon as we got back to the shop.)

After the trash pickup, we headed home so I could pack, since I leave for Louisiana tomorrow:

And then…what to eat for dinner?  With so much chili in our bellies, we weren’t really that hungry, so we snacked a bit (I had a few sweet pickles), and…well… we just HAD to have some ice cream! *grins sheepishly*

Blue Bunny “Perfectly Peppermint” + hot fudge.

So..while we managed to eat pretty much EVERYTHING that was forboden on the Daniel Fast (white flour, meat, caffeine, dairy, sugar, alcohol), we actually still only took in about 1600 calories.  And with all the walking around and trash pickup, we burned off most of those.  Not too bad.  Just gotta remember—if you want to eat the garbage, gotta be willing to work it off.

How do I feel?  Well…like not getting up off the couch for a while.  But that’s partly because my calves are still burning from our trash pickup adventure (our stretch of road is about 1.8 miles round trip & has some steep slopes).

Daniel Fast, Days 17 & 18: Homemade pizza!

Day 17 (Wednesday)

Today’s Devotional: “Thankful Hearts- Psalms 105:1 ‘O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.’  1 Thessalonians 5:18 ‘In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
We should be the most thankful people in the earth. We have had all our sins forgiven & forgotten as far as the east is from the west. We have received life because of Jesus death, He became poor so that we could be rich, weak so we could be strong. He has given us the ability to make a great exchange & this should be the message of witness to those who do not yet know Jesus as Lord. Why don’t you take a few minutes today & thank him for all He has done for you.

I am truly a blessed woman.  I have an amazing husband who’s taken this Fasting journey with me, a loving family, good friends, a paid-for home that keeps me warm, enough to pay the bills, keep our stomachs full, and afford us even a few luxuries, a good job that I enjoy, hobbies to keep me entertained.  My cup truly runneth over.  We are without want.  Our lives are never completely stress-free, but our issues are minor in comparison to some others in this world.  And even when we are in the midst of a trial, we still always come out on the other end; perhaps a little emotionally banged up and teary-eyed, but alive & changed, hopefully for the better.  In this life, I think that’s really all a person can ask for; anything more would be excessive & superficial.
Breakfast:  Oatmeal with a few chopped dates & figs leftover from the Antipasto party
Lunch: a baked potato with a drizzle of olive oil, pepper, and some Cajun Seasoning, and 2 tbsp of homemade “guacamole”  (actually leftover sauce from the cilantro-avocado pasta the other day, with a little lime juice added in) and corn tortilla chips
Dinner:  The Hubs’ parents were in town visiting, so they took us to Qdoba.  I got a Grilled Veggie Burrito (whole wheat wrap, brown rice, black beans, fajita veggies, grilled squash, pico, corn salsa, salsa verde, & lettuce) and had them cut it in half so I can take the other half for lunch (because remember, even just their veggie burrito with no meat, cheese, or sour cream has over 700 calories).
Day 18 (Thursday)
Today’s Devotional: “He Has Established My Goings- Psalms 40:1-3 ‘I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.’  Phillipians 1:6 ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.’
You are standing in the middle of the purpose of God because He loved you & chose you before the foundation of the world. He set your feet upon the rock (Jesus) & gave you the ability to stand on a firm foundation that can hold you up, unlike the clay ( flesh) that you once trusted in. He has given you direction for your life & because of this a song of Victory has filled your mouth. There is nothing impossible for you, nothing out of reach, you have your eyes fixed on the prize & refuse to allow anything or anyone to stop you. You are determined, directed, destined, & you will not be denied.”

This was a great message to start the day with, as we’ve been having some issues lately. I won’t mire you with details, but suffice to say it’s mechanical, annoying, and has involved a repairman coming out to our shop THREE times,  only for us to realize that they *may* have caused the issue to begin with (but of course won’t admit that). *sigh*  These details are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, but they are definitely aggravating enough to make us fret and worry about the days & weeks to come.  Mechanical issues when we’re closed are one thing…mechanical issues when we’re open and trying to keep things frozen; that’s a whole new animal.  But we power on, and pray over it, and ask God to reign over the situation & to give us peace in the matter.

Important things to remember with all we have going on in 2014, the least of which is my upcoming professional exam on March 7.  I’ve been taking practice tests a few times a week to see where my weak areas are, and then studying whenever I get the chance (mostly at the gym, so I can multitask):

This exam means a lot to me, because I *technically* don’t have a hard “science” degree, let alone a degree in Geology.  My bachelor’s was in Mass Media (with a focus on environmental photojournalism) with a minor in Geology.  My master’s degree was in the Geography program, with a focus on Environmental Analysis (ie, using GIS and remote sensing imagery, along with environmental law), with another minor in Geology.  It’s through those minors that I have enough Geology credits (30 hours) to qualify to take the Professional Geologist exam—and really, only barely, since right after I got accepted as “qualified” to take the exam, they changed the requirements for future applicants so that the 30 hours have to require a specific set of courses (which I only have half of).  The slightly egotistical part of me likes to think that I’m the reason the made the change…I’m the last one to slip through without having a Geology degree… (muahhahahha).  In reality, it’s likely a coincidence. :)

When I started my professional career down in Louisiana, all the scientist positions were titled as “Biologist” (Biologist I, Biologist II, etc.)  I never cared for that because, well, I haven’t had a biology course since high school.  Not to mention the confusion it caused in the field, when a client would assume I was a biologist and start asking about some weird fish he caught last weekend, and then try to describe it, assuming that I must OF COURSE know what he was talking about.

(Sidenote: I don’t.  If it’s not a catfish, crappie, or trout, I have no clue.  I have a reference book in with my scuba gear for anything more complicated than that.)  After a couple years, they changed the title to “Environmental Professional”.  Which encompasses a much more broad swath of disciplines….but it makes for a very vague job description.  I would meet people and when you say “I’m an environmental professional”, they say “ohhh” and nod…then pause, and ask, “but what do you DO?”  My aunt used to tell people when we were out & about that I was marine biologist. I would correct her but she would shush me and wave her hand dismissively and say, “oh, but sweetie, ‘marine biologist’ just sounds sexier.”

Here, I’m a “Project Manager”, which is a bit more descriptive as far as titles go:  I manage projects!  That’s what I do!  But it still ends up sounding a bit vague and almost…administrative.  So to be able to have that title of “Professional Geologist” really hits home.  And I will finally be able to say, “I’m a geologist.  That’s what I do.”

We have ONE DAY LEFT!  Friday (tomorrow) will be our last day.  Normally this would be a 20 or 21 day fast, but Saturday is the 33^rd Annual Sertoma Club Chili Cookoff, and we have to work my company’s chili booth. And then Sunday I fly down to Louisiana for work…and trying to travel while on a Fast would definitely be tough.  When we were looking to schedule our fast, we picked the time between SuperBowl & my Louisiana trip because it was the only time close to 21 days that we had “open”…our lives get pretty chaotic.  And here in a couple months, The Scoop will be open and the option of not eating meat or dairy would be near impossible, since we often spend all our extra time at the shop and end up having to eat there.
Breakfast:  Oatmeal with a few chopped dates & figs
Lunch: The other half of my Qdoba burrito
Afternoon snack:  Pineapple & cantaloupe
Dinner:  I decided to take a whack at making pizza.  I found a recipe for matzah dough (unleavened bread)—however, we only had about 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour left, so I used that plus 1/2 cup of corn meal.  We had to bake it a little longer than the original recipe (about 4 minutes on each side) but it held up well.
I had marinated some veggies (mushrooms, asparagus, bell pepper, red onion) in a combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and yellow mustard) for about 30 minutes while prepping the crusts; then I put the veggies on a grill pan for about 5-7 minutes so they would get tender.

In a small pot, I used one 8oz can of tomato sauce (pre-flavored with garlic & basil) and added 2 Dorot basil cubes, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp crushed rosemary, and 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning.

When the crusts were ready, I loaded them up, and spinkled crushed cashews over the top (I read somewhere that they taste similar to parmesan), and baked for 8 minutes.

Not quite as good as “real” pizza, but still darn tasty!  And the crusts held up really well, crackery like a thin crust pizza!

Daniel Fast Days 10 & 11

Today’s Devotion: “Day 10- Seeing The Big Picture Genesis.50:20 ‘But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.’

I believe I can say with certainty that Joseph had no idea of all the adversity that his dreams would take him into & if he had of known I’m not sure he would have even began the journey. But as it is with any dream it will take great faith to walk it out. The things that he faced, the rejection of his brothers, sold into slavery, accused of adultery, cast into prison, would be enough to make some of us quit before we ever got started, but as it is with most things in life we don’t necessarily control everything that happens & I believe that is where the sovereignty & the providence of God comes in. If we will continue walking toward His purpose no matter what trouble we encounter we will eventually run into our destiny. This is exactly what happened with Joseph. His ability to stay faithful to the Lord in every trial eventually exalted him to second in command in all of Egypt & the purpose of his promotion was bigger than his life alone. Some of the things you’re walking through may not make any sense to you either but like Joseph you have to stay faithful in the journey. Open your eyes today & begin to See the Big Picture.”

I can empathize with Joseph. I’m sure we all can.  “Dreams” very rarely include the nasty bits of reality that come along with achieving them.  The recent college grad doesn’t think about the menial, mind-numbing tasks they’ll be given at their first job. The desperate “wannabeamom” doesn’t focus on morning sickness, or the complete lack of sleep after the little one comes, or “Baby’s First Blowout in the Bathtub”.  The new groom typically doesn’t stand at the end of the aisle  thinking about the fact that someday, he is going to see his blushing bride on the crapper--she may be 30, she may be 90, but it WILL happen.  The new entrepreneurs don’t think about the hours they’ll spend fending off advertising offers and requests for donations, or screaming at Quickbooks for generating duplicate entries, or trying to figure how many “servings” are in a head of lettuce *raises hand*.  At some point on every journey, there comes a moment, however fleeting (or not fleeting) of, “OMG…why did I do this to myself? This was my DREAM!  This was SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING???”  And in those moments, it can be near impossible to think about the Big Picture.  That each little crappy thing that happens to you is part of a bigger Plan.  That each of those crappy things changes you, in a way that you will need for the future.

As the second season of having The Scoop nears (assuming it ever warms up), I feel those knots re-tying themselves in my stomach. I think about all those un-fun moments that are surely waiting for us:  unexpected equipment failures, employee call offs, purchase orders, finding a new food vendor, and customer complaints and customer “suggestions” (‘I realize you only have this 500-square foot building and no extra space anywhere, but maybe you should get an oven bake your own bread, and get a giant ice cream maker, and you should probably install a drive thru on this building you don’t own, and maybe make your own waffle cones by hand, one at a time as people order them while you have a line out the door...’)… okay, maybe my thoughts on that one are transparent.  It weighs on me a lot.  But I know that God never gives us more than we can handle, so whatever His will, as long as I keep the faith, he’ll bring us through it.

--

Breakfast: Smoothie, made from strawberries, banana, blueberries, orange, pineapple juice, and spinach.  Yes, this would be a pretty spot on representation of the “Christmas Poop” smoothie I mentioned the other day.  But don’t judge by the color—it’s actually really tasty.

You can see now why I cried.

Lunch:  Vegan Minestrone

Dinner:  Trivia night again!  I tried to pick up some brown rice veggie sushi rolls for the Hubs & I, but when I got to the market they were already shut down and there weren’t any in the case.  So the Hubs (being the wonderful man he is) brought me some chips & salsa & a banana from home.  Then we split an order of herbed fries at trivia.

Best Fries On The Planet.  Thank you Finnegan’s Wake!

~~~

Woo—over halfway through!!!

Today’s Devotion: “Day 11: Enduring Mercy --Psalms 136:1 ‘O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.’

If you look up Endure in Webster’s dictionary you will find that it means to continue in the same state; to last; to abide; to submit; to sustain; to bear; to undergo; to tolerate; That is an amazing fact especially when we are talking about the Mercy of God. His mercy is able to tolerate whatever foolishness you get yourself into. Mercy is “not getting what you deserve.” Now that is good news, not that you are living your life in foolishness, but that even in times when wisdom is not employed the Lord’s mercy never changes. His promise to us is that he will never leave us nor forsake us. We need to be thankful for his great mercy & allow that same mercy to flow out of our lives to others.”

Mercy is a true blessing.  We’ve all needed it from time to time, whether from God or from others.  I am the first to admit that I am flawed, however well intended.  One only need look as far as this morning, when I accidentally dropped an F-bomb while grabbing hot bread from the toaster.  If we tried to keep track of all our shortcomings throughout the day, we’d end the day feeling like utter failures.  But just as the troublesome screaming toddler is still loved by his stressed-out mama at the end of the day, God still loves us too, no matter how bad we screw up.  I’ve heard some agnostic/atheistic people state that “God” is just a substitute parent for immature & emotionally needy adults, because the God/Follower relationship so closely mimics to that of a parent/child relationship.  But the Bible states that “we are made in His likeness”; it just makes sense that our most hard-wired, intimate human emotion-- the unfailing love of a parent for a child (no matter how demanding & seemingly unreciprocated at times)-- would be the same that God, who created us, has for us.  Perhaps that’s circular logic, but it makes sense to me.  As teens, our parents are uncool and overbearing…but as we grow, we realize just how wise they truly are, and just how forgiving they’ve been to us. So we try to show them more appreciation, and try to love them as hard as they love us.

Breakfast: ½ whole wheat flatbread + 1 tbsp natural peanut butter, and an apple

Lunch: I had high hopes of getting a brown rice veggie sushi roll at the local supermarket….but alas, the Sushi Dudes told me they were out of brown rice.  They politely pointed at the brown rice rolls that were already out on display, but all of them contained meat.  BOO.  So it was a salad bar instead, with some Greek dressing with no sugar that I found after several minutes of searching (seriously…nearly all dressings seem to contain sugar. Even the “olive oil & vinegar” dressing I picked up.  Stop with the sugar!)

Dinner: Salsa Rice!

 

This is probably the ONE dish that we’ve had since on the Fast that was already a regular in my repertoire. We LOOOOOVE this dish.  So fresh and still filling.  And here, you get a little glimpse into my Typical Thursday evening routine—looking through the sale ads while we chow down.  I know, I know…our lives are uber-glam.

$1.68/lb for asparagus?  Looks like I’m cookin’ some asparagus next week!

So…tomorrow….Valentine’s Day!!! (…???)  Perhaps you’re wondering how we’ll navigate the Day of Chocolate & Champagne & Oysters & Cheese & Other Delectable Non-Fast Friendly Things?  ….Yeah, us too!  Tune in & we’ll see how it goes!

Day 8: Beans, more beans, and crying

Today’s Devotion: “Day 8- Renew Your Dream  Psalms 126:1-3 ‘When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.  The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.’
The number eight speaks of new beginnings. This is a new year full of new opportunities & a place for a fresh start. The Lord has never failed you & He never will, so leave behind you any mistakes you have ever made & allow the dreams He has placed within you to begin to arise again. Dreams birth the faith necessary for you to fulfill the word of the Lord for your life & you are not the only one to benefit from the fulfillment of those dreams. There are multitudes of people affected by the decisions we make & as we move forward in the Lord we only represent one domino but our movement causes a chain reaction to be released. Yes, our obedience to our dreams can actually activate a dream in someone else.”

This is an interesting take on the “butterfly effect” theory, with a pinch of “cog in the wheel” and “pay it forward”.  I like the idea of being “one domino in a chain”. Little actions can have big consequences.  Someone cutting you off in traffic (or, say… 4.82 miles [yes, I checked] of backed up traffic on your morning commute due to less than 2 inches of snow) can really affect your mood for the rest of the day, and in turn, affect  how you act toward other people.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious and grumpy as I sat in traffic this morning, passive aggressively posting about it on Facebook (because, seriously… 1 INCH OF SNOW, PEOPLE.)

But I really tried to not let it affect the rest of my day.  Because crummy traffic isn’t the end of the world, and if anything, it gave me a chance to listen to more of my audiobook.  Life is all about putting a positive spin on crummy situations.  Sometimes it’s easier than others.
Last Spring, the Hubs & I were in the middle of our own personal nightmare, trying to learn to run a business while working our regular jobs 40-45 hours a week, dealing with employee turnover, having to take time off from our “regular” jobs so we could interview and train new employees…only to have them flake out on us a week later, causing us to AGAIN have to take off from our “regular” jobs so we could cover their shift slinging ice cream.  Then, at the end of our first month, we ran the books and sat there slack-jawed, staring at our first month’s profit report thinking, “we did all this work…for that?”  Between broken promises, broken dreams, and broken equipment, we were each having a mental breakdown.  I cried.  Several times.  I can admit it now.  I bought Dave Ramsey’s “EntreLeadership” book so I could learn to feel empowered about running a company…instead I felt inadequate and like a failure.  Dave preached about having a zealous passion for your business, and I broke down sobbing, thinking “I’m too exhausted to have a passion for ANYTHING!” 

Ice Cream: Both the cause of, and the relief from, all our problems.

The Scoop was supposed to be this wonderful creative outlet where I could exercise my culinary whiz-bang and think up delicious frozen concoctions that would have our customers raving and talking us up to all their friends.  Instead, the end of the month would roll around and I’d be knee-deep in cost control analysis and purchase orders and suddenly remember, “CRAP! I have to come up with the new Specials for next month!”  Oh, and make demos, and photograph them, and make posters for the menu boards, and update the website, and advertise them on our social media sites…the creative portion of my job started to feel like a burden.  

One month I was testing out a last-minute idea for a Specialty smoothie (strawberries & spinach), and….it was brown.  Like POOP brown, with little green & red flecks.  Like a poopy Christmas in a glass.  I cried. Again. (And then I put my big girl panties on & replaced the spinach with blueberries and it was just fine, and very pretty.)  Another time, after a veeerrry long day at my “regular” job plus a couple hours at the Scoop, I came home to discover a displeased customer had blasted us all over social media saying our hot dogs were “worse than the ones at the gas station”.  I cried.  AGAIN.

But eventually…it got easier.  We got into a groove.  We got great employees and didn’t have any more turnover.  I got better at pre-planning my monthly Specials.  We were still exhausted all the time, but it wasn’t as bad. It wasn’t easy, but it was easier.  We even got to take a day off now and then.  And now, I can look back and smile about these things, because no matter where our business goes in the future, all of those experiences helped us grow: as a couple, as entrepreneurs, as individuals.  Life is the best learning experience you can get.

(All closed up for winter. Which is the only reason I have time to blog this much.)

Anyway….on to today’s foods!
Breakfast:  One sweet potato pancake w/ a tablespoon of natural PB, plus a banana (eaten while stuck in traffic)

Lunch: Yummy leftover red beans & rice!

Afternoon Snack: a roma tomato w/salt & pepper, and a handful of baby carrots
Dinner: More yummy red beans & rice!  We’ve only got one serving of that left, so I’m prepping some molto delizioso vegan “pasta e fagioli” on the stove right now (recipe tomorrow)!