Recipes and update on my life (off to Houston again)

Drew says; DRINK YOUR VEGGIE (with beets) JUICE.
Hey everyone,

I have some recipes to share with all of you, but first you have to read about me first.

What’s new….hmmmm..

I found some aluminum water bottles that are a good price at Old Navy. They are cute and they have the tops I like. Anyway, the Sigg water bottles are expensive, but Old Navy has some that are like the Siggs that are about $7 or $8. Go check them out. Yoga pants are on sale there too right now. And, I just saw a couple cute aluminum bottles at Pottery Barn for $10. I’m glad I found ones everyone can get without spending too much.

Kevin and I booked our flights out to Arizona (March) and we will be going to the Grand Canyon from there. Time to start checking off some stuff from my bucket list. We'll see the Canyon, hike the Canyon, I’m not sure if we can camp or make it all the way down to the bottom of the canyon so we can white water raft or kayak the canyon. Either way, we plan to do some cool stuff there. I'm hitting up Sedona too because they are all crazy hippy spiritual healers there. Right up my alley.

I have been attending my Toastmasters meetings (2 so far) and the second meeting I was voted best table topic speech (2 minute impromptu speech) Go Shannon! I was a little surprised to get the votes, but so far so good. Not checking off being a good public speaker off my bucket list yet. I still need some training.

I fly to Houston on Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, the sports fanatic will be on a plane in the air while the Superbowl is starting. Think of me. Hopefully I will be able to get to Paul’s in time to watch it DVRed on his TV. Oh, and I’ll get all the scans, blood work and have a doctor’s appointment so I’ll let you all know what comes of that. We’re looking for lower blood counts and stable or shrinking scans. I’ll keep you posted. My magic 8 ball says "Chances of success are high"

I've been watching my nephew, Miles, every Wednesday. We have a lot of fun. He’s 4 months. He laughs, smiles, talks baby gibberish, and he loves to be held by me.

We went to our niece Lauren's, 3 year old birthday party. We got her a dress up wedding dress, because her favorite thing to do by far is dress up and make believe. If there was a prize for best present brought to the party, I think I would win (or come in tied for second or something because she did get some really cool stuff.)

She's sad about something else (not the dress).

Kevin got this icicle off our roof. We have some very dangerous ones dangling off the sides of our house. I keep knocking them down. For one reason; it's hella fun. The other reason; I think it's bad chi to have them hanging over you when you enter the house. SCARY

Last bit of news: Kevin and I went bowling tonight. We needed something to do on these freezing winter days. Anyway, Kevin started with two strikes in a row and ended the game with three strikes in a row, which is a Turkey I just learned. His score was 150. Go Kevin. I broke 100 on a game and that was enough to make me proud. Kevin is thinking about joining the bowling league and soon we will be watching him after SportsCenter ends before Football on Sundays. JK

Want some new recipes I've tried so far as part of my New Years Resolution????? I was going to include pictures, but I forgot to with the avocado rolls and Kevin said my soup looked like throw up. He said he liked how it tasted, but I was discouraged from taking a picture.

Avocado Rolls:
Here are the ingredients:
Spring roll wraps (the tapioca rice ones)
cabbage or some lettuce leaf wrap
shredded carrot (I used my spiralizer)
cucumber (I slice it into long thin strips)
Avocado (about 1/2 of one per roll)
Peanut sauce to dip the rolls in them

Then, you dip the spring roll wrap in luke warm water (they are hard before) for 2 seconds. Then you put them on the plate.
Put the lettuce wrap over the spring roll wrap
put the carrot and cucumber in there.
Then put avocado slices over that (The way I saw them when I decided to try them myself the avocado was on the outside of the lettuce inside the spring roll and the slices were all aligned perfectly and it made them look really nice. I'm no sushi roller, so I just put everything on the inside and it still tastes the same)
Then, you roll it like a sushi roll. Or like a burrito. Or like a doobie. You get the point.

Dip it in the peanut sauce and enjoy!!!

Clean your fridge out veggie soup (This will be enough for leftovers)
Make this soup when you need to use up those veggies that could go bad soon. Keep a couple things of veggie broth on hand all the time and you can make this soup anytime. I don’t really measure so you’ll have to bear with me.
Cut up about 4 carrots
Cut 1 large stalk of celery
Cut one large yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
In a pan simmer these with olive oil and some water for 10 minutes or so
In a large pot add two things of veggie broth and start that on low
Add the veggies cooked so far
Add some garlic salt
Add some pepper
Add some thyme
Cut up some potatoes
Cut up some mushrooms
Simmer theses with olive oil and water for 10 minutes and add them to the pot of veggies
Cut up a bunch of green cabbage and add that to the pot
I then added some quinoa noodles from some pasta I made the night before
Then I just let the pot cook on low for 20-30 minutes
Tasted great

Insulin Reducing - Gluten Free - yummy sweet cereal (do this with whole grain oatmeal too)
So the cereal is Bon’s Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. It’s wheat free, gluten free and dairy free. The ingredients are whole grain brown rice, corn, white sorghum and buckwheat.
I boil water and then simmer the cereal for 10 minutes.
Add some cinnamon
Add a little vanilla flavor
Add some Stevia
The cereal is sweet and tasty. I love it. It’s nice to have something this sweet that would actually over your insulin levels. Why does it do this? Both cinnamon and Stevia reduce insulin levels so they act opposite of what sugar would do. Yeah!


Grandmas Hummus
Mix one can of chickpeas in blender
Add 6 medium garlic cloves
2 tbsp of tahini
juice 1 lemon and add juice
Veggie Oil
blend in second can of chickpeas and blend very well
Tada. Your own homemade hummus

Well, I have to go pack for Houston. Yeah!!!

Your traveling to Texas friend

Shannon