Policy Competition

Read about the project I've been working on since December: Students to compete in Public Affairs Competition.

Cheese.

Let's grow mold together

Who has a champagne headache this morning? That would be me. I know people tend to stop celebrating their dating anniversaries when they get married, but when your first date was on Valentine's Day it is easy to remember and cute love-y cards are everywhere.

I don't think Valentine's Day is really a gift giving day, besides the little things like cards and chocolate and flowers. Aaron convinced me we were giving each other anniversary gifts, not Valentine's Day gifts and he really decided to spoil me. 

                           

I have been drooling over this Breville Tea Maker for two years (since I realized coffee was not making me feel good). It didn't help when we got an awesome coffee maker wedding gift and I couldn't use it. Everyone knows the best part about coffee pots is the auto-start option that lets you wake up to your coffee already made. I wanted that with tea! Now my dreams have come true and I can be even lazier in the mornings. This morning I just woke up and poured my tea into my cup instead of waiting for the water to boil, pouring it over the tea, and setting the timer.

Yay for making mornings better.

Diet Variety: Spelt Berries

I have been trying my best to keep up with my goal to include a new or rarely used item on our weekly menu. It has actually been hard to think of things that are healthy and that I can consider rarely used. When I take the time to think about it, though, even things like broccoli could be considered a rarely used item in our diet!

We basically buy/eat some combination of the following every week:
Carrots
Celery
Cucumber
Sweet potatoes
Onions
Avocado
Kale or swiss chard
Spinach
Brown rice or quinoa
100% whole wheat bread
Garbanzo, black beans, or lentils
Peanut butter
Apples or bananas
Frozen blueberries and mango
+ seasoning: fresh and dried herbs and spices, lemons and limes
+eggs for breakfast on the weekend

...so basically anything not on this list can count as a unique weekly addition.

This week, however, I came up with something actually different that we had never cooked before. At work recently I had a prepared salad made with spelt berries and I absolutely loved how chewy they were. I went on a mission to find a recipe using spelt berries (spelt is more commonly used in its flour form) and came up this carrot and raisin salad: Carrot Raisin Spelt Berry Salad with Cumin and Cilantro. This recipe makes great leftover lunches, too (as you can see from my picture).

I don't know much about spelt except that it is a whole grain and I was afraid it would take forever to cook. The good news: it didn't take forever and it is a delicious change from rice and quinoa.

For more info about spelt, check out this pantry staples post from The Kitchn: Good Grains: What is Spelt? We did not cook it according to these methods (we followed the directions in the recipe), but I think using spelt in risotto is a great idea. I recommend trying spelt berries if you haven't. If you have, send any good recipes my way!

Denver Zoo

During our recent trip to Colorado, we had the chance to spend some time in Denver with Aaron's friend Chris and his wife, Meghan. Chris hurt his knee earlier in the season and wasn't able to go skiing with us, so this was a good way for us to spend some time together off the mountains. We stayed in a hotel (thank you credit card points), went out for a great dinner, and played Wii bowling at the Front Porch bar.

The next day the weather was beautiful and warm, so we wanted to spend some time outside. After brunch, we headed to the Denver Zoo (along with every other person who had Martin Luther King Jr. Day off from work).

We loved seeing a little bit more of Denver, since our last trip to Colorado didn't go as planned, and I'm still craving the seitan hot wings we had during brunch.

Because it was so sunny and warm, the animals were mostly all outside getting some sun.

Cat nap.

Scratching his back.

Bear paw and my paw.

Giraffes.

Off Week.

it looks like this outside and its freezing.

I'm having one of those lose your student i.d.-the internet doesn't work when you really need it to-trip on the stairs-5 minutes late to everything kind of weeks. It is probably just a side effect of getting back into the swing of things (after winter break AND a vacation), but it is making me pessimistic about how this semester is going to go.

Plus it has been a really busy week.

Hopefully next week goes smoother, although it is shaping up to be just as busy! (probably along with this whole semester)

Stay tuned for more pictures from Colorado!