2010 in review

Today is the last day of 2010.  I would have to say that this year has been about change, and I’m not talking about the Obama kind. 

Jake had his 1st birthday in January and has changed tremendously,  from learning to walk to learning to talk.  He is still hard to understand sometimes, but we can usually figure it out.  He has become a bit bossy though.

A post I wrote back in February talked about how overwhelmed I was feeling.  That is when work started to go downhill.  One day I had enough and I finally told my boss and his boss that I needed to move to a different position.  It took until August for the new position to begin, but if I never said anything it wouldn’t have happened.  That definitely falls into the Seize The Moment category.   And I am so much happier at work and one of my co-workers even called me on my way home from work to tell me that she likes working with me.  It feels great to be appreciated.

The house has changed with some remodeling.  The two upstairs  bathrooms have new tile, we repainted the garage, front hallway and Jake’s room, we replaced the hot water heater and dishwasher and bought a new refrigerator earlier this month.  Most of this was mandatory due to leaky toilets and appliances breaking, but some was in need.

Jamie has continued to do well at his new job.  He seems to really enjoy it since he gets to drive around the state and be home every night.  He started working on-call early this year and that brings challenges but also extra income which is always good. One big change that happened for Jamie this year was when his good friend, Brian, moved to Germany. Jamie won't admit to it, but he really misses Brian.

I’ve had a couple health issues that I was trying to work out.  I had an endoscopy and colonoscopy and also swallowed a pill camera to see how my insides were doing.  Turns out everything is in good working order but I did find out I am anemic and have to take iron supplements (which means I have to take fiber supplements too), but now I can donate blood again.

I’ve also accomplished a lot this year.  I received a check from the USBC bowling championship tournament.  Apparently I took 1069 place for something!  I received my first patent in July and also just found out that my first manuscript was accepted for publication after some minor editing.  I’ve been baking a lot this year: cake pops, star sugar cookies for the troops, all sorts of cakes that I brought into work, more cupcake brownie hamburgers and sugar cookie fries for a bake sale and of course Christmas cookies. 

To finish out the year I had the girls over for Christmas.  We went to dinner at the Fox & Hounds and came back for dessert: Dark Chocolate Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.  We also had our traditional ornament exchange and then the picture in front of the tree. 

I could keep rambling on with 2010, but Becky pointed me to a website that took all the common words from this blog and put it into a shape.  Here is my blog’s handprint :)

Happy New Year Everyone!

 

How many ways can you cook cauliflower?

Jamie is currently on his “Atkins” diet.  It’s in quotes because he doesn’t follow it but has his own rules.  Anyways, we have been eating a lot of meat lately, I mean a lot!  And no carbs which is painful to both of us since Jamie does all the cooking.  Recently, Jamie heard about mock mashed potatoes using cauliflower.  So we tried it out and it was pretty good.  It has an off flavor, but if you add enough garlic you can’t really tell its cauliflower. 

In addition to the mashed potatoes Jamie found a recipe for mock mac & cheese (which is more like cauliflower casserole), mock twice baked potatoes and a cauliflower, chicken & bacon bake that I didn’t try but Jamie seemed to enjoy.

The most interesting recipe is cauliflower pizza crust.  It sounds weird but it wasn’t too bad, or at least I don’t remember what pizza really tastes like anymore.  Here’s the recipe if you are ever inclined to try it out:

1/2 head cauliflower chopped finely in food processor

1 egg, beaten

1 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

italian seasoning & garlic powder

Boil the cauliflower for 5 minutes, then drain well using paper towels.  Mix with egg and mozzarella cheese.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and press mixture onto pan, spreading evenly and sprinkle with italian seasoning and garlic powder.  Bake at 400F for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Top with any pizza toppings you like and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese melts. 

You can also broil instead of baking which might keep the crust more crispy, we baked it and it wasn’t very crispy.

I am hoping Jamie’s diet ends soon so we can get back to normal meals.  Or even have a real potato again!

EDIT: Don't broil the crust, it became soggy and not good at all. But, Jamie's off his diet now and he just brought home two Jack's Naturally Rising Pizza's :)