back to the simple life

goofing off ... and showing what i've been wearing lately (disregard mess of a life in flux in the background ... i'm not usually quite so messy!). most of what i wear (more than 90 percent, I'd say) is thrifted. yay!!




It's really good to be back home. Baked and cooked at long last ... after a week of restaurant food (albeit some of it really good ... mmm for Indian food twice in one week! And a VERY good sushi restaurant that had amazing vegetarian fare available) and takeout from Whole Foods and the local co-op. So I ate well, but still ... just. not. the. same.





It's still chilly and wintry here tonight (though not nearly as bad as my native New England, I'm thinking of you guys buried under all that white!!), so I made the mushroom-barley soup that Salt and Chocolate Mama (see my sidebar for the link) suggested a while back. And a "pan corn bread" from the Kripalu cookbook (recipe follows post).

Just a few notes, and then I'll share some recent pictures with you.

I'm feeling better after my last post (which no one commented on ... guess it means not to take myself so seriously, lol!)...really this always tends to happen when I'm away from the routines I know best. I've already recommitted to rein - ing in my spending. All I have to do is think of how most of the rest of the world lives to know I can BE A SAVER. I AM A SAVER. :-)

So ...as of this past Friday ... I have 80 hours of student teaching and 90 hours of observation under my belt!! I still have a lot of work to wrap up, though ... in addition to preparing and gathering (and buying....) materials for my classroom next year. I had my second child interview ever today. It went very, very well. These children are going to be so special to me, and so is the classroom I create!

Good news, I am going to buy my CSA through a farmer friend of mine, and share it with another person he knows. Only $200 for 6 months of fresh local produce. yay!

I might make Frugal Trenches' kitchen sink soup with lentils and sweet potato and some dying veg this week ... before it's hopeless for my collards and carrot and celery still sitting there.

Tonight, I'll cut up some old National Geographics found at a yard sale last year, then out for drinks with this sweet gentleman I've kinda sorta been seeing lately. We are moving like turtles through it, and I like that pace just fine, thank you very much. I have so much else going on ....

Tomorrow, I'll be working on Montessori stuff all day (diligently, I might add!), stopping to go meet the guy who needs extra help organizing an estate for coffee. This money will all go into my savings account.

I'll also try to go to a yoga class in the afternoon, since I missed it today due to the interview.

I'm still pondering the 10-day trip to Montana .... not sure when I'd go. I'd go by train, though. For sure.

How are you all? Stay warm if you're in cold climes!

::vegan super bowl party, louisville


::a clean home is a happy home!! I try to keep it like this as often as possible. It's no small feat ...








::mmmm wheatberry salad ... containing mushrooms, amazingly yummily roasted courtesy of Heather's suggestions over at Beauty that Moves (see my sidebar to link to her blog, which I highly recommend)


choppin' up collards for green smoothies ... collards do last forever in the fridge!

::This vegan treat, and the soup below it, were eaten at our amazing local Japanese teahouse the day I joined the Louisville Vegetarian Club. Great group!


::Valentine's Day, preschool style. Hmm ... Do I spy a Jonas brother card in my packet?


::Yep, that's vegan sushi, followed by my plate and the vegan serving table at the monthly Earthsave potluck I go to. I was stuffed after all of that, AND a huge bowl of fruit!



::found this one day at the end of the court I live on ... a child could stand up in it ... probably an adult, too, though I didn't try it.

::a recent trip to the zoo, where my friend laura works. the gorilla was staring intently at a child, and the tiger was huuuuuunnnngry (for me?)!!


more of the kind of stuff i wear ... I have a clearer mirror in the sewing room but I kind of look this old-timey look ....




::here's me in lexington, not getting any work done, but surrounded by some of my favorite things.

::here I am, fiddling with Montessori purchases. I made the hat, the sweater is thrifted and appears elsewhere in this post.

::my friend Cynthia's husband's band, in a real "dive" bar here in Louisville...i love this place. it has art all over the walls by locals.

::vegan sushi and rice ball with jalapenos, louisville. this is my favorite place to get it in town.


::the rest of these I took today. They depict a recent Goodwill sweater and pants combo I like, an INCREDIBLE antique child's rocking chair find (you know where this will go!), and some knitting projects on the hush-hush. LOVE those buttons ... hmmm I wonder where they'll go?








And, as promised, here is the pan corn bread recipe from the Kripalu cookbook. HaPPY weekend, everybody! I am off to fancy-pants drinks!

Ingredients:
olive oil
2 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/3 cups unbleached white flour (I used spelt in place of both whole wheat/white pastry and it worked fine ... it always does!)
3 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/3 cups soymilk
2/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Oil a 9x12 baking pan (i used glass) with the olive oil.

In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, stir together all of the wet ingredients. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix together until just blended.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake 25 minutes.

Let cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Cut into squares and serve! :-) It's YUMMY warm .....