I love weekends!

So today was one of those relaxing but super productive days. I love days like that! I slept in this morning, and ran some errands after lunch. Then I got back and talked to mom on skype, and then I cleaned my entire apartment. And I’m not talking a little tidying up like I usually do. Nope. Today I ORGANIZED. I cleaned out all of the cupboards and rearranged them, and I rearranged and organized my desk and books which had gotten kinda crazy, and I organized my closet, and some shelves too! I even folded AND put away laundry! Man, I’m good. And the apartment is back to being tidy and lovely and quite nice if I do say so myself. The only thing not done are the dishes. I hate doing dishes, but I will probably go do them after I get done with this post……… probably.

I am also planning to make some gluten free sandwich wraps tonight. I found a pretty simple, awesome recipe that I’m going to try out… If it ends up being amazing, I will post a link to it on here, but I’m going to test them first and I’ll let you all know how it goes! Wish me luck! I’m looking forward to trying them tomorrow for lunch, I haven’t had a wrap in aaagggeesss!

111 In 2011!

Due to being sick this weekend, I got loads of time to read when I got tired of just laying there in bed wondering when this cold was going to end. Which was great because I had gotten really into the book I was reading, and I was able to finish it! I love books where you just get super into them and can’t put them down, so it was awesome to be able to just read until I got to the end, although I was also disappointed that it ended because I was enjoying it.

My second book for this challenge was ROOM by Emma Donoghue, and it was a really good read. Its sad, and haunting, and makes you think. I loved it, and if anyone is looking for a book that will keep them enthralled, this is the one you should read!

My next few books for the year are some that I have heard about in class, so I’m going to read them for fun and learning! I love books that combine those two things! I’ll keep you posted on my progress 😀

For people who aren’t familiar, this is a challenge that I saw on my sister’s blog, that has a goal of reading 111 books in the year 2011. Pretty exciting! 

The Joys Of Cooking Gluten Free :D

One thing I love about cooking is that it can feel so therapeutic. Sometimes after a crappy day (or few days) in my case it can be just so nice to turn on some crazy music and spend an hour dancing around the kitchen cooking something amazing and yummy to eat!

I have missed a few days this weekend because I was sick again… No fun! It’s just a head cold, but the kind that makes you so exhausted you can hardly move off the couch, which is no fun whatsoever. I had a conference on Saturday, and I was really looking forward to it, and although I was feeling really cruddy when I got up, I still managed to make it and I’m so glad I did! It was a conference about Caring for Deaf People in Time of Sickness, and a few of my professors were lecturing so it was really great. I had a lot of fun, and got some good practice signing which was a bonus 😀

Today I spent the day pretty much either in bed or on the couch feeling yuck. I got to skype with my mom which was fun, and I had the apartment to myself coz Dave was working, so it was a nice quiet day. Despite that, I have still been feeling just down in the dumps the last few days… So I decided to make a favorite of mine for dinner: Thai Fried Rice.

It’s a really tasty recipe that I got out of my absolute favorite gluten free cookbook, and I wanted to share it on here for everyone to try if they are so inclined!

Thai Fried Rice (This recipe makes a lot, in the book it says that it serves four, quite generously)

1 1/2 cups Jasmine Rice

5 tblsp Vegetable Oil

3 Large Eggs Beaten

1 Yellow Onion Diced

2 tblsp Minced Garlic

1 Cup Diced Carrots

1 Cup Frozen Peas, thawed

1 Cup Frozen/Canned Corn

1 Cup Mushrooms

3 tblsp Fish Sauce (I leave this out, and add extra soy sauce)

2 tblsp Gluten Free Soy Sauce

1 tblsp Salt

1 tblsp Ground Black Pepper

2 Cups Chicken

• Cook the rice according to the package instructions

• In a large skillet heat 1 tblsp of oil (I just use butter) over medium heat until bottom of the pan is coated. Add the eggs and cook, stirring, 5-7 minutes (until cooked through) Shred or break up the scrambled eggs and set aside

• In same wok heat 3 tblsp of the oil, add onions and garlic and cook, until translucent (I also add the raw chicken all cut up at this stage, instead of baking it separately and laying them on top at the end like the recipe says to do) Cook 5-7 minutes, or until the chicken is pretty much done

• Add the carrots, peas, corn, and mushrooms and cook 3-5 more minutes or until everything is soft and cooked all the way through

• Stir in cooked rice, fish sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper and 1 tblsp oil and cook stirring constantly until the rice begins to brown. About 5-6 minutes

• Stir in the cooked eggs, serve in bowls (if you cooked the chicken separately add the cooked chicken to the bowls

I always love making this, it takes a little extra time and attention than most things I cook, but it always turns out beautifully. It’s also great for me that it makes so much because then I can take it cold for lunch for the week and it ROCKS!!

The other nice thing is you can add whatever other veggies you like, or take out ones you don’t really like that much. I added the mushrooms to the recipe, because they are my favorite. I have also been thinking the next time I make it I will add some broccoli, or maybe bean sprouts. And for Dave, if he’s around the next time I will add some peppers because he likes his food to be spicy.

Anyway I hope you’ll try it out! It’s really good I promise! Here’s the reference for the cookbook where I got this recipe as well:

Maltin, Vanessa., (2010). The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook. John Wiley & Sons Inc: Hoboken, New Jersey. (p 118).

Busy Busy Busy!

So I have had quite the productive day today, but its getting to be my bedtime and I have a bit of a mess to tidy up because I was too busy today to get to it. My desk is absolutely buried in piles of paper, hats, scarves, makeup, headphones, gloves, folders, and who knows what else! So before I get to that and then to bed I figured I would drop a few lines on my blog…
I had Language Acquisition this morning and it was really quite interesting because we had a guest lecturer. Then I ate some lunch and headed to the library to look up books and make photocopies of things I need for class and I spent a few hours reading away. I actually got a pretty good amount read 😀 Woot!
After that I ran errands and went home to a lovely dinner cooked by Dave, and then back to school for a yoga class. I was so stoked because I finally was able to touch my nose to my knee in a certain pose that I have been working on for awhile. EXCITING FOR ME! Now I am home, and I have done some organizing and caught up on emails…. so there’s nothing left except the cleaning. I guess I will go and do that now… Blah!

Optimism/pessimism

The Daily post idea for today caught my eye, especially since I was just wanting to write a quick note for tonight! It is: do you consider yourself an optimist, pessimist, or something else?
And my answer to that one is pretty simple, I see myself as an optimist. I try to find good things in all situations, even though sometimes managing that can be incredibly hard! I probably wouldn’t actually be in a foreign country studying deaf studies if I wasn’t an optimist…. So I guess that character trait makes me pretty lucky 🙂
Dave and I just watched the movie Dinner for Schmucks tonight and it was super funny, i also spent the afternoon in the library reading which was great and made me feel quite productive! And now I’m heading to bed, its another busy, long workday tomorrow!