Plated: Quinoa Grits with Squash

February 13, 2015UncategorizedCadyLy

After last Sunday’s homerun with the Peanut Chicken Curry, I was looking forward to making my next meal from Plated. The opportunity came up last night, and I made the Quinoa Grits with Squash. Here’s their reference picture. Sorry that I don’t have as many pictures as I did for the other dish, but my camera was at work and my phone battery had died. And I was too hungry to wait for it to charge so I could take pictures as I went. 🙂

The recipe is slated to take 25-35 minutes to make, and it took me 30 minutes. So, again, they were spot-on as far as cook times go. The only thing I would do differently with this recipe would be to either reduce the temperature of the oven or the bake time for the squash. And probably try to stir them around a bit halfway through. My squash got a little burnt on the bottom.

I also ended up cooking the quinoa a little longer than what they had specified, as it was supposed to be cooked until “tender” and never seemed to get to that point. But I got it to be acceptably cooked and went on from there.

Grits.

I’m not really a big fan of grits. But I’m willing to give it a try. As soon as I was done, I put half of the meal in a container to take to work today for lunch. Which worked out perfectly, since it’s a vegetarian dish and today’s (No Meat) Friday!

This is how mine turned out. Not too bad. And taste for this one? It was okay. It was slightly on the bland side. Were I to make it again, I would add a little more cheese and seasoning to the grits, and perhaps more sumac on the squash, as that flavor didn’t stand out as much as I thought it would.

Lunch today, even reheated, was also good. And both meals were filling.

Plated: Peanut Chicken Curry

February 13, 2015UncategorizedCadyLy

So, on a whim, I decided to try one of these services that ships you all of the ingredients that you need in order to make a dinner. I thought it would be a good way to try out some new recipes and flavors, since they only give you what you need to make that dish, instead of having to purchase, say, an entire bottle of Worchestershire sauce when you only need a teaspoon.

My first trial was the Peanut Chicken Curry. I made this last Sunday after Mass.

All of the ingredients were packaged well, clearly labeled, and fresh.

There were a few ingredients I was not familiar with. (I’m looking at you fish oil, red curry paste and gochujang!) I wasn’t sure what they would taste like, so I tasted a tiny bit of each before I used it. The fish oil was not as fishy as I expected, which was a relief. 🙂

The instruction card states that this recipe should take between 30-40 minutes. I was interested to see how long it would take me — being a fairly novice cook and not pre-prepping the food at all beyond what they packaged for me. It took me 35 minutes from start to finish.

It didn’t look *exactly* like their photo, but it was close enough. And taste? It was *amazing*! I seriously could eat this ALL THE TIME!

For my first trial of Plated, they hit it out of the park!

Creating Habits

February 5, 2015JennspeakCadyLy

I really envy people who have rigidly disciplined lives. I would love to be one of those people who have a comfortable routine.

But I’m not.

My life is rather chaotic, actually. I can’t think of a single thing I do consistently. And I know that a certain level of self-discipline and routine are healthy, especially for one’s spiritual life, but I never manage to make it work. I’m not sure why, but something always gets in the way. I make lofty plans and then things fall through. Life happens.

But I try again. It’s like an epic struggle against entropy. We know that entropy will always win, but we make the effort anyway.

So…. Why am I thinking of this?

I want to keep my blogs up to date. Not that I have any real expectation that anyone reads them, but more for myself. So that I can read about my life and know that I did things and loved people and *lived*. But blogging is not a habit. I don’t have a time set aside where I do this. I don’t have a schedule or a method or a whatever. But I’d like to.

Perhaps I can start creating habits by baby steps. Like taking 5 minutes a day to write a post. 🙂

Top Five Things About Right Now:

1. My hands really hurt. I have some weird form of eczema and in the winter my skin freaks out. Fissures split and bleed and little itchy bumps are everywhere. It is painful. All the time. Every day. For the past few weeks, I’ve had a little patch on my right pinky finger that is akin to a dime-sized burn. Ow! Can I please have it be Spring already?

2. I am *still* sipping on my Venti Mocha. According to the label, I bought it at 10:18 am, and now it’s 6:33 pm. This is typical for me. Large coffee, but really not that much when you consider how incredibly long it takes for me to drink it.

3. I have a ringing in my ears. I’ve learned to deal with it, but there it is. When I pay attention to it, I think of silt… you know, that fine sand. I’m not sure why, but this is always my image for it.

4. I have a lot of things that I’d like to do around the house, but I have a feeling that I’m just going to have dinner, watch TV and go to bed. Rinse, repeat. Hopefully, I’ll get to bed early tonight, since I’ll be working early tomorrow.

5. Tomorrow is payday. Payday means I will finally replace my comforter and be able to sleep with more than just a feather blanket. Oh, the exciting things…. 🙂

Bonus… Remind me to charge my camera battery. I have photo-challenges to catch up on, and blog posts without pictures are kind of boring, right?

Getting Ready for 2015!

December 31, 2014Challenge Accepted!CadyLy

I’ve been thinking about New Year’s Resolutions a bit this past week. I love fresh starts: New Year, First Day of School, Advent, Lent… and I love making plans for these new starts. But I find that I tend to lack the discipline to follow the plan all the way through. I think because it’s *my* plan and I’m only accountable to myself. I’m very good at rationalizing my way out of my own plans. I know what arguments will sway me.

So…

What if this year I didn’t make any “Resolutions”? Sure, I’ll still make a few plans and try out new things, but…

I think I’ll accept challenges instead!

I’m pretty competitive by nature and I like completing challenges. Plus, then I’m accountable to whoever gives me the challenge.

I’m up for it! Are you?

What challenges do you have for me for 2015?

2014 in Review: Stats!

December 30, 2014UncategorizedCadyLy

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here's an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 310 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Moving?!?

December 18, 2014Blogging and Blog FriendsCadyLy

UPDATED: Critical Mass has been ported over to my Paroxysms of Giggles site. The two blogs have now become one. I am sorry for all the jumping around, but hopefully this will be a good solution all around. Thank you for your patience!

This web site has been limited in ways since the beginning, and I’ve more or less dealt with it over the years. Recently, I noticed that ONLY ONE of the 9 different themes that are available to me are displaying the sidebar correctly, and the one that does is not letting me make it look the way I would like.

So it is with not a little sadness that I have mirrored this blog over to cadyly.blog.com. Please update your links and I hope to see you there!

P.S. I will keep this site open for a little while. I may return if conditions improve. But until then, all new content will be at the new site!

2nd Day of Advent

December 1, 2014AdventCadyLy

I know it’s already day 2 of Advent, but I’m still planning out how I will spend this time. I came across a good idea on a website, so starting today, I will be praying for the intentions of any person who sends me a Christmas card. Because we can all use prayer, right? 🙂 Join me in sending greetings to friends and loved ones and keeping them in prayer!

Zuppa Toscana

November 27, 2014RecipesCadyLy

A friend posted a recipe for Zuppa Toscana on Facebook, so I’m reposting it here, lest I forget. Zuppa Toscana is my favorite soup at Olive Garden and I order it nearly every time I dine there. Yum!

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb. Italian sausages (use spicy to get that signature Olive Garden flavor)
4-6 russet potatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/4 c. REAL bacon pieces (optional)
2 Tbsp minced garlic (about 3-4 cloves)
32 oz. chicken broth
1 c. kale or Swiss chard, chopped
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp flour

1. Brown sausage links in a sauté pan.
2. Cut links in half lengthwise, then cut slices.
3. Place sausage, chicken broth, garlic, potatoes and onion in slow cooker. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables and meat.
4. Cook on high 3-4 hours (low 5-6 hours) until potatoes are soft.

30 minutes before serving:
5. Mix flour into cream removing lumps.
6. Add cream, kale, and bacon to the crock pot, stir.
7. Cook on high 30 minutes or until broth thickens slightly.
8. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

Catholic Connection at Sea

November 18, 2014Marriage and Family, Things to PonderCadyLy

I usually don’t listen to “talk radio,” much preferring to jam out to my favorite songs during my commute, listen to an audiobook, or play back my favorite podcasts. (It’s a long commute!) But over the past couple weeks, I’ve tuned into Teresa Tomeo’s “Catholic Connection” show on EWTN, and have found it to be surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable. Which means that I’m much more informed about world events than I usually am. 😉

Anyways… This week, T is on a marriage retreat cruise and is broadcasting from the boat. Yesterday, they were talking about marriage as a sacrament and what they said really struck me as being profound and important, so I’d like to pass that on to you who may be married.

God is love. Think about that for a moment. If God is love and if he is the source of all love… If this is true… Then, how do you strengthen the love between spouses? You strengthen your relationship with God.

I’ve been doing a lot of algebra with my cousin Marissa lately, so I know that if X = Y, then if you increase X, you increase Y.

This is why it’s so important in a marriage for a couple to remain grounded in and fed by the sacraments. The more they grow in their relationship with God, the more capacity they will have to love, both in general, but in a particular way to love their spouse, by means of the sacrament of matrimony, which is far more than just a statement that you will spend your life with another. The sacrament gives you a special grace to be able to be as Christ for your spouse. Just as Christ, crucified, poured out His life for the good of all of us, spouses are called to pour out their lives for the good of their spouse.

Which means that it’s going to be painful at times. And difficult. And they may not reciprocate the love you give them. But you are called to it anyway. Christ endured a lot, and didn’t deserve any of the rough treatment He received, but He kept loving. And look at the fruit of His sacrifice.

While it’s important for each individual to seek out opportunities to grow in their relationship with God, it may be particularly important for spouses to spend time doing this as a couple. Pray together. Go to Adoration together. Pray a family Rosary. Attend retreats together. Read Scripture together and discuss it as a family. Go to Mass together.

And one final suggestion. If you are struggling with your faith or upset at God for whatever reason, try to do it for your spouse. You don’t have to talk to God. You can be angry and upset and sad and every other emotion. But try to be present. It will mean more to your spouse and your marriage than you can imagine.

Much love to you all!

Jennie Giraffe!

October 14, 2014Exciting Adventures of the Everyday, Health & Medicine, PlannerJennieGiraffeCadyLy

Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is feeling well today!

Does anyone remember those giraffe toys? Where you push up on the bottom and they collapse?

Well, I’ve taken them to represent me when I’m sick.

Jennie-Giraffe!

In looking for stickers and such for my EC planner, I found these adorable giraffe stickers, and figured that I can use them to mark when I’m feeling particularly bad. That way, when I look at my planner, I don’t see a bunch of depressing pages, but a whole herd of cuteness!