ch-ch-changes

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I’ve been debating writing this post for a while, but to put it concisely – I’m just plain burnt out. I never wanted to come to dread something that I love so much, but I have. So, I’ve decided to stop forcing myself to post on a regular schedule, and let things happen organically. It might mean that I might skip posting a week, or I could post 5x a week. I’m hoping that by letting myself relax a little bit, I will get those creative juices flowing.

In other news, my husband has been living with IBS for the past 8 months ago. Actually, let me rephrase that, his IBS has gotten significantly worse over the past 8 months and his doctors are trying to figure out what is causing it to worsen. I’ve mentioned that he avoids dairy before, but at one point it had gotten so bad that he couldn’t digest anything with fiber in it or anything with gluten. Which sucked. Big time. He went through a battery of tests and has had so much blood drawn that I’m surprised that he has any left, and the doctors still haven’t found anything specific to cause it. Right now he is still avoiding gluten and diary, but he is back to eating fruits and veggies. He was tested for Celiacs and gluten intolerance – both came back negative, but he has found that not eating it seems to be better on his stomach/intestines. Needless to say, it has made cooking a challenge because I am not avoiding gluten or dairy and I’ve found that most recipes are either one or the other. Moving forward, I’ll be adding more gluten-free recipes and continuing with dairy-free options because that is what I cook at home. I’ll be adding new categories in case you are also avoiding certain things, and plan on going back through my recipes and tagging them as such. I’ll also try to add in suggestions for substitutions that can make something gluten/dairy free if you want it to be.

Since I won’t be posting regularly anymore, you can sign up and follow me with a feed reader or subscribe to get posts delivered by emails. Both are located on the right hand side of my page.

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salmon with oranges & beet salad

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salmonwithbeetsalad

Beets are still one of my favorite veggies to put on salads. The beautiful color and sweetness is a great contrast to a spring mix of lettuce.  I wanted to mix it up slightly, so I added oranges and avocados. The salmon is flavored a sweet beet glaze, then the beets are reused on top of the salad. This cooks the beets, while infusing them with a slight citrus flavor. It is all topped off with a tangy vinaigrette. It is a perfect way to come out of winter and into spring.

Salmon with Oranges and Beet Salad

serves 2

Ingredients:

  • 2 fillets of salmon
  • 2 tbsp orange juice
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 medium beet, peeled and sliced thin
  • 1 large orange, supremed
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 avocado, sliced thinly
  • 6 cups mixed lettuce
  • pinch of salt
  • pepper

Dressing:

  • 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tbsp orange juice
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/8 cup olive oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a small baking dish with parchment paper. Place salmon on parchment and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine orange juice, lemon juice, sugar and beet slices. Cook over medium heat until mixture starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.
  3. Strain liquid into small bowl, reserving beet for the salad. Brush salmon with glaze and roast for about 15 minutes, or until salmon is just cooked through. Let rest while preparing the remainder of the salad.
  4. Combine champagne vinegar, orange juice, lemon juice, salt, and sugar in a small container. Whisk in olive oil. Add some freshly cracked pepper and whisk again.
  5. Assemble salad and top with salad dressing.

new-ish candles

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brokencandle

I found a candle that I loved, but accidentally dropped the bag with it on the way home. Unfortunately, the ceramic was shattered beyond repair. Instead of throwing the whole thing out, I melted down the wax and poured it into 3 smaller containers to make new candles. If you don’t have any broken candles lying around, you can also use the last little bits of jarred candles. Just freeze the whole container, and use a butter knife to pop the wax out of the container. The container can then be cleaned and reused.

candletools

I keep a couple small bags labeled by type (wax, soy, etc), and when I get enough scraps, I melt them down and pour new candles. I bought a big spool of wick and some wick tabs, so I can always have the perfect length of wick. I’ll collect containers when I see them for future projects. The ones that I used in this project are from Target.

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I ended up pouring a little too much wax into one of them, but after a few uses, it won’t matter.

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space & an update

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Well, I am still in Florida. My plans were to post regularly while I was down here, but that kinda got away from me. I may do a couple more posts this week, but if not, I’ll be back next Monday. In the meantime, here a some photos from my trip up to Kennedy Space Center. The last time that I went, I was really young, so a lot has changed. It was an incredible experience, and reminded me why I wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger [I actually wanted to be an astronaut-doctor if we are being specific]. The are all pretty self explanatory, but the one with the water with the white towers in the distance, was the Space X flight that launched on Sunday night. And the last photo is that launch.

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