Bagels = success!

I wanted to quickly share that the bagels came out well!! Look at them!



I am having half with some almond butter and ginger preserves. I can't wait to have a full one with my lunch tomorrow. Go me and my bagel making powers!

Here is a delicious bite for you!

March in Review and some homemade bagels

It is the last day of March, which means it is time for a summary of the month! A month in my wonderful, amazing life:

Person of the month: Rachel Via, the Exxon trip leader. My new role model and someone I aspire to be like. She has a version of my dream life. She does yoga. She is gorgeous. She is intimidatingly intelligent. How can I not want to be like her?

Moment of the month: The first night home from New Mexico.

Favorite outing of the month: Going to Dallas with Stephen and seeing a play, the first real play I have seen without wearing my usher outfit in a very long time!

Favorite meal of the month in a restaurant: Mi Tierra, a latin fusion restaurant in Dallas. Amazing Puerto Rican food. It made me feel like I was with my family on the island.

Favorite meal cooked: Chicken enchiladas. These were amazing. Unfortunately they are not on the blog, because my camera was not charged!

Favorite movie: Alice in Wonderland!! I saw it twice. Once in 2D and once in IMAX!

Favorite accomplishment: Spending a week in New Mexico as part of a very smart group of Exxon recruits!

Now time to share the dinner I made today. I had no idea what to cook, so Stephen and I brainstormed, and we came up with buffalo chicken sausage burgers with toastadas and veggies on the side!


Corn tortillas are baked in the oven until crunchy and then topped with cheese!

Wheat buns with buffalo chicken sausage patties (mixed with a bit of ground turkey and some greek yogurt). It was a very juicy patty! Also in my burger is melted Jack cheese, tomato, and greek yogurt.

My mind was in a very bad place this evening. This was horrible, because Stephen had to leave for work tonight, so that meant a night alone by myself while I was in a bad head space. I keep saying "was" because I managed to get out of it without doing anything harmful or negative!! Instead, I decided to make homemade bagels so that I can have half for a night time snack.

Ambitious, I know. But there is something about the smell of yeast and the kneading of dough that soothes me.

I got the recipe from 17 and baking, and adapted by using white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. Hopefuly they come out nicely (they are still in the oven).

Now they are out and cooling. Hopefully they taste good!

Here it is after it had risen for 1 hour and I punched it!

Formed into rings.

Boiled and then sprinkled in sesame seeds, ready for the oven!

I am excited to try them.

But the important thing is that I was able to have a good night and get myself out of a scary state of mind. Is there anything you do to ground yourself when you are starting to feel out of control? Apparently I make bagels. Hehe, actually I bake or do art. Tonight I did both!

See you tomorrow in April.

Salmon and Cookies

For your information, today is Vincent Van Gogh's birthday! Happy birthday to him. But since he was born in 1853, he does not get to celebrate with us (at least not here). And here is a silly quote for you from one of the most amazing characters in the world, Kermit the Frog.

"Time's fun when you're having flies."

Have you ever listened to The Rainbow Connection? It is a gorgeous song. If you've never heard it, look it up and listen to it. Listen to the Kermit version. It seriously makes me tear up sometimes!

Today I made a very delicious dinner! I made a tomato and salmon sauce over wheat pasta.



The sauce has a good 0.59 pounds of salmon, canned tomato, garlic, and onions.



I used my brand new steamer basket to steam some brocolli. I dressed the brocolli in lemon zest, sea salt, and pepper.

The meal in its entirety.

A close up. This was very satisfying! I very rarely buy salmon, but it really wasn't expensive, so I may pick up fish from the counter more often. Since I only need a little more than half a pound of fish for two people, it will never be that expensive. Plus, we all deserve splurges once in a while!

And for dessert: freshly baked cookies.

I love my cookies underdone. This, in my opinion, is my perfect cookie. Nice and gooey and filled with dark chocolate. Oh, and dipped in milk. Yum yum yum!

Fruit and Nut Cups

"You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough. You must want it with an exuburance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world. ~Sheila Graham

Quotes like this make me think about what I want in life, which is something that has been on my mind lately. So much so that I had a bit of a breakdown last night. I am not sure what will happen by the end of the year.

Questions that are up in the air:
Will I finish my masters?
Will I find a job?
Where are Stephen and I going to live in May?
Where am I going to go once I graduate and maybe get a job?
What do I even want to do for a job?

Things I do know:
I am happy with my health
I am happy within my relationship
I want to see more of the country and live somewhere else (eventually)
I want to work with people

Basically, what I really want is to be happy with what I am doing. So I am challenging myself to tackle the negative voice that enters my head far too often.
When I start to feel badly about my research, I will complete something that I can to help it go further. For example, tackle a section of my proposal, or outline what I will do tomorrow.
When I start to get mad at someone, I will focus on the positive things, but I will also voice why I am angry, in an effort to prevent it from happening again, and more importantly, to keep it from building up inside me!

My main problem is that while I was in New Mexico, I didn't cry once. I didn't feel sad at all. Now, since being home, last night I cried and today I almost did. What in the world do I do?

Answer: Bake bake bake.

Yesterday I made a batch of whole wheat chocolate chip cookies that I put in the freezer and just pop in the oven to be ready for an after dinner dessert!

Tomorrow I'll take a picture of some cooked cookies. I enjoy cooking them slightly under done so that they are gooey. With a small glass of milk, I feel like I am in heaven. These are pretty phenomenal!

I also found a genius recipe today on Joyofbaking.com. It is a fruit and nut bar recipe, that I baked in muffin cups.

These just have an egg, a small amount of brown sugar, some wheat flour, mint extract, and tons of craisins, raisins, and nuts. I made these because I had a nice bag of trail mix left over from New Mexico, but I probably wasn't going to eat it. Now in little bar form, I will definately eat it up!

There is so much amazingness in that one cup!

It made for a great night time snack. But honestly, these would be good at any time!!

Back home

It feels so good to be back in College Station. I never thought I would actually say that. I had an awesome time on the field trip, and I will miss seeing all of the mountains and being out in the fresh air for most of the day.

Highlights of the trip:

Seeing lots of carbonates and cool fossils!

Learning about structures, such as the teepee structure seen below, that influence how good of a source rock you have.

More fossils!

The cool people! Five days is the perfect amount of time to be with a new group of people. By the end of the trip you start really liking the people, but it isn't enough time to start being annoyed by them. You get to leave with the fond memories and really miss being with the awesome people!

Meals at pretty good restaurants in both El Paso and Carlsbad.

We went to a very good mexican restaurant on our last night in El Paso. They had full tortillas in baskets to dip in salsas. I have a confession to make. I eat my salsa. The chip is mearely a spoon. I made it through 3 little bowls of salsa with one tortilla!

Some people got 42 ounce margaritas! Not me. I had 2 coronas during dinner. My tolerance is abysmally low, so I like to keep it to one or two drinks. Anything ese and I feel a little out of control. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. But I like to wake up without a hangover!

The restaurant put together a nice buffet for us so that we could get our meals more efficiently. I decided to go a little light, and just got a cheese enchilada, some chicken to make myself a soft taco, and some rice and beans. It was pretty phenomenal mexican food. The cheese enchilada was definately my favorite. And with the coronoas...yum!!!

They even brought us dessert, which was a sopapilla!

Overall, it was an excellent experience. It was pretty amazing being around so many brilliant people from all over the country and world. I learned so much about how the oil industry works and how it can actually involve a lot of field work and a working knowledge of the environment. My dream job in the oil industry would be the position that the trip leader has.

She has only been in the company for a little over 4 years and now she is in charge of recruiting and leading field trips. She also does a lot of research on carbonates, and knows so much about them!! Her job involves daily challenges, people, and never seems to get boring. I honestly couldn't say how much of a chance I think I have at getting a final interview invitation, but I feel so honored to have had the experience!!

Back home

Being home feels good. I woke up this morning and ran 5 miles and did some strength training. Then I got to cook my own breakfast!! No more crappy eggs from hotel breakfast bars!

Lunch was sandwiches!

Tuna melt and chippies for Stephen.

"French toast" sandwich with tomatoes, greek yogurt, tempeh, mustard, and relish for me! Sounds weird? It was delicious!

On brand new plates!! One dollar at Kohls.

Dinner was so fun to make. I made a chili concoction with buffalo chicken sausage, beans, tomatoes, and beer!

And I found a good way to make baked potatoes that are actually cooked through and flaky and perfect!! It's just Alton Brown's version. You bake the potatoes at 350 for an hour. And ta-dah!!

Some butter and cheese.

And the chili!

Some greek yogurt and it was perfection.

A great first dinner back in College Station with my amazing boyfriend. It was nice being around different people during the week and having a little mental break from the relationship. I didn't realize how much I missed him, and really, how much I missed "US" until I got home. Until I was laying in bed next to him. That's when it hit me. College Station and Stephen have become a nice home for me. It isn't my ideal fairy tale situation, but life isn't like that. I think I can be happy with that.

Carlsbad!

Hello!

I am in Carlsbad New Mexico and I have internet access! This is going to be quick, but I took some cool pictures to show off my geology nerd side.



This is an awesome carbonate on top of some sandstone layers. It was much more gorgeous in person. I hate how cameras don't capture true beauty!

Here is some laminated bedding with a sandstone layer next to it. Very cool contact! Sorry, no scale on this picture.

Cool blocky fractures!

Some very awesome sandstone. Pencil for scale!

So far it has been a fun trip. They have been taking care of us and keeping us hydrated and vlood sugared with drinks and snacks. The people are pretty cool ad absurdly smart. What is really awesome is that people are from everywhere. There is a guy who grew up in Massachusetts (like me), went to Colby College (Bowdoin's rival), and played rugby (like me). Talk about a coincidence! And there are people form Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Vermont, California, etc.

One very awesome thing is how alive I feel. There is something about mountains and nature that makes me feel "better". I can stare at the scenery for hours and feel so at peace within myself. I promise to make an effort to get out in nature (actual nature, not just random parks) more. At least a couple times a month. My spirit needs this.

I will update tomorrow!

Packing!

Tonight I am packing and getting ready for my early flight tomorrow!! I have a 7:00 am flight to Dallas and then to El Paso, so that I can start my fun field trip! I have a bunch of snacks and things ready for the trip and am starting to get nice and excited for it!
I'll be bringing my computer, but no guarantees that I will have wireless, so I may or may not be posting before Friday.

Today I made myself quite a few good treats!


Morning snack: baked apple with ginger preserves and pumpkin!

Lunch: Buckwheat pumpkin pancakes with white chocolate peanut butter and coconut. Some cashews, zucchini, and greek yogurt to round things out.

These do not taste healthy at all. Love it when food is like that! These were awesome.

Dinner was a baked pasta dish.

Homemade tomato sauce with turkey sausage on the bottom.

Topped with mac and cheese!

And baked with some cracker crumbs on top!

Served with some bread, brussel sprouts, and tomatoes! It was absolutely delectable. This meal actually made me moan a few times. There is something awesome about pasta and sauce and bread and cheese. Yum.

Sorry to hurry off, but I must keep packing!!

Peanut Butter Shortbread Fudge Cups

My Awe-Manac has an awesome quote for today:

Imagine if birds were tickled by feathers. You'd see a flock of birds come by, laughing hysterically! ~Steven Wright

This week, I do not like that it is Friday. It is coming to the end of spring break. Next week I am going to New Mexico on an Exxon recruiting field trip. I'm getting pretty nervous about that, and hate the fact that I won't get to cook. But it should be fun being outside a lot of hiking around New Mexico. I haven't been out in the field in a long time, so it will be a nice change of pace. Although right now I am getting anxious about the change, I know it'll be great for me.

For lunch I made a "french toast" sandwich with almond butter and ginger preserves! It was basically a panin that was dipped in egg and milk before it was grilled up. It was absolutely delicious with some zucchinni and greek yogurt on the side!

Dinner was another taco night! This time, it was fish tacos with cod.

The cod was fried in a beer batter.

Yum! I love taco nights!

What do you do when you run out of taco shells? Stephen makes fish tacos!

I felt like baking once again. This time I had a whole lot of fun and success!

I made Peanut Butter Shortbread Fudge Cups, which have a peanut butter shortbread on bottom and a peanut chocolate fudge on top!

Here is the shortbread all baked up in the muffin cups. You can use any basic shortbread recipe and replace 1/4 of the butter with peanut butter.

And you can use any easy fudge recipe that uses sweetened condensed milk, chocolate, butter, and then add nuts of your choice.

The fudge is spooned on top of the shortbread.

And cooled to perfection!

Umm, this thing is awesome!

This is a prime example of playing around with baking for me. I kind of put things together, cross my fingers, and hope it turns out well. I am coming to realize that I don't always have success with cooking and baking, but the mishaps make me appreciate the times when I do come out with something awesome. The last time I tried to make fudge, I failed miserably! I didn't have the right ingredients, and just tried to wing it. It didn't work. This time it worked!!