21 Beautifully Nutty Questions

Dinner last night came from a crockpot. In the morning I threw together leftover Adzuki beans that I had cooked up (without seasoning), a half of a can of crushed tomatoes, diced onion, chicken stock, garlic powder, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, barbecue sauce and a little bit of salt. I set it all to low and let it go from 8:00 am til 7:00 pm. It didn’t need to go that long but that’s just when we happened to be ready for dinner. The crock pot transformed the ingredients into a thick “baked” bean type of dish. I served it along side a cabbage and broccoli salad and Dana served his on top of brown rice.

Definitely not the most glamorous looking meals, but it did turn out really well. I ended up mixing everything together on my plate and it reminded me of an outdoor barbecue. I went back for seconds.

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21 Questions

Anyone remember those emails you used to get in middle school that asked a bunch of random questions that were a fun way of getting to know your friends even better? Well, let’s reminisce shall we? I gathered some random questions off of a google search, and had some real good old fashioned fun with them. I kept it light-hearted too.

1. Are you a morning or night person? Definitely a morning person, once I’m up.

2. Ninjas or pirates? Pirates have a better sense of humor.

3. What was your favorite childhood television program? We had so many great shows growing up but if I have to pick just one, I would say The Bozo Show. I always wanted to play the game where you throw a ball into the baskets and if you make it to the 10th basket, you win a one-hundred dollar bill. WHOA.

4. Any food dislikes? Any fishy tasting, chewy or slimy seafood.

5. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Teleportation; I would travel ALL of the time to different destinations and spend a day here, a day there. Fiji, Thailand, Australia….

6. What is usually your first though when you wake up? Thank goodness there is fresh coffee waiting for me in the kitchen or aw man, I’m supposed to go workout right now, but it’s really early. Maybe I’ll just go after work. Yea, I’ll do that.

7. What is your favorite color? This changes every day depending on my mood. Right now this very second it is sky blue but ask me again tomorrow.

8. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes.

9. Have a any bad habits? No, I’m perfect. Kidding! I would say having to check my curling iron or other hot hair tools one million times before I leave the house. It’s not a “bad” habit, but it’s a little bit OCD.

10. Biggest pet peeve? When people are late for no good reason.

11. Any celebrity crushes? Gerard Butler, Bradley Cooper

12. Clean or messy person? Just two days ago I said, “I thought I was a clean person until I started living with Dana.” He is very clean (which is awesome!) but I am a fairly clean person too.

13. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? I would have vacation homes all around the world because I wouldn’t want to stay in just one place. I would have enough money to fly my family and friends out and stay with me wherever I was currently living too.

14. Name 1 thing you miss about being a kid. Your biggest worry then, was smaller than your smallest worry now.

15. Name 1 thing you love about being an adult. Being in love and being married to my best friend.

16. Any regrets? In keeping with the light-hearted theme, it would be spotting Missy Elliot at the airport and not stopping to ask for a photo with her. I like Missy Elliot, so what?

17. What was one of your favorite foods as a kid? Mom’s tacos

18. What would be your dream job? Travel throughout the country testing different foods, and offering advice on improvement (food critic?), recipe creator or tester, or my own cooking show.

19. What would your last supper be? A half of a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter slathered on, an extra large ice cream sundae with multiple toppings including hot fudge and cookie dough, a slice of veggie pizza, a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup, and a brownie. Ha ha I don’t really know actually. I am just really craving sweets again today.

20. Ever wish you were born the opposite sex? If so, when and why? Yes, while camping I often have this thought, and when I’m not feeling well for womanly reasons.

21. Name 1 thing not many people know about me. I can’t watch the news before bed. It started back when I was little and there would be stories of kids being kidnapped. I would have nightmares and end up sleeping on the floor in mom and dad’s room. Since then, no news before bed.

So there you have it. A few things you maybe didn’t know about me! Have a great Thursday. Keep on a truckin’.

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How to Cook Dried Beans

I’m no professional when it comes to cooking dried beans. I think I’ve only really cooked them two times before yesterday and haven’t been completely successful either time. I was not about to give up on it though. Dry beans are so economical, they aren’t packed in sodium-filled liquids like the canned kind, and they just taste so fresh when you cook them yourself. I’ll be honest though, I DO use canned beans too. I rinse them off under cold running water to get rid of about half of the sodium.

My dad bought these beans for me called Adzuki beans. He had heard about them from Dr. Oz who says they are a nutritional powerhouse (most beans are really). They are packed with protein, fiber, and many other vitamins and nutrients, and are relatively low in calories. I thought I would give them a shot tonight especially since my family was coming over for dinner.

Third time is the charm in my bean-cooking trials. Here’s how it went down.

1. First, soak the beans in a pot of hot water for 2 hours.

2. Next, drain the beans, then add fresh water to the pot (I believe the directions were 4 cups of water to 1 cup beans but I just made sure the beans were covered with 2-3 inches of water). Place cover on pot. Bring to boil.

3. Once water has reached a boil, reduce to simmer and tilt the lid slightly so that air can escape. Let simmer for two hours.

4. Drain and rinse beans and go wild!

I decided to make the beans into a beans and rice dish last night because I thought it would be a nice side dish to the kabobs I was making for dinner. I sautéed a little onion, garlic, and green pepper, then added the beans. I then added in some chicken stock, cumin, a dash of Mrs. Dash’s Southwest Chipotle seasoning, a little salt and pepper, and let it simmer until the stock was absorbed. I then added a half of a can of crushed tomatoes, let it heat through, gave it a stir and served alongside brown rice.

On the kabobs: yellow zucchini, onion, mushroom, green pepper, pineapple, and chicken breast, marinated in teriyaki sauce.

Dinner was a hit!

This photo is kind of bright but I had to post it because it is so funny to me. Mom and dad had brought Abbie over and Moose was getting jealous because everyone was holding (11 lb) Abbie and not him. Okay, he probably wasn’t really jealous but still Kevin wanted him to feel included in the love. So this is what happened.

Meanwhile, Miss Queen Abbie was sitting on her throne observing it all. It was pretty funny!

I am off to work. I am going to get my run in after work today. I’ll let you know how it goes. Have a good day everyone.

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