LADDventure

Wordless Wednesday

Scorpions Don't Swim

Thankfully, scorpions do not swim as was made evident when Jeremiah found this little beauty at the bottom of the pool. He probably fell out of the neighbor's tree that hangs over our pool a bit. This is officially the first scorpion either of us has ever seen in real life and we wanted to document it. In almost a year of living here, if we've only seen one and it was a dead one at that, I guess I can deal. Even though he was dead, it was all I could do to get the camera close enough to see the disgusting details of this horrible little creature. The bug treatment guys were coming today anyway for a second dose. Timely I would say.

Wordless Wednesday

Yummy Things I've Made Lately

So, between house guests and the fact that it's Good Wife Season, I have been trying out a lot of new recipes lately and have LOVED all of them. So, I thought I would share:

French Toast Strata

from www.shaunaniequist.com

This is even better the longer it sits, so it's perfect for a brunch buffet or shower. Also it should be made the night before and baked in the morning.

-1 loaf cinnamon bread, cubed

-1 package cream cheese, cubed

-8 eggs

-2 1/2 cups milk

-6 T melted butter

-1/4 cup maple syrup

Arrange half the bread cubes in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Top with cream cheese, then remaining bread. Combine eggs, milk, butter, and maple syrup until smooth. Pour over bread and cover. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from refigerator 30 min. before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 50-60 min. or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with maple syrup. I sprinkled powdered sugar on top and adding raisins or craisins would also be tasty.

Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

A fantastic appetizer that I got from watching Down Home with The Neelys.

Soak toothpicks in water for at least 30 minutes.

Wrap bacon around thick stalks of asparagus, securing on both ends with a toothpick

Grill until bacon is done, turning frequently with tongs.

So easy and a huge hit!

***These next three recipes are adapted from Sunset magazine; my new-found love! It's about food, travel, gardening, and living in the west. It is awesome, and I'm sure I will continue to share ideas from it in the future. ***

Creamy Lime Slaw

4 green onions

1/2 head green cabbage sliced thinly

1/2 head red cabbage sliced thinly

1/2 cup cilantro

2 limes

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 1/2 t. sugar

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

Slice green onions long and on the bias so you have pieces similar in shape to the cabbage. Toss together onions, cabbages, and cilantro in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, zest both limes and juice 1 lime. Mix zest and juice with yogurt, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour dressing over cabbage mixture. Stir to combine.

(Only 49 calories per 1 cup serving :-))

Tandoori chicken

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 T. each of minced ginger, minced garlic, ground coriander and cumin

1/2 t. cayenne

1/4 t. turmeric

(Hint the above spices are almost always found in curry spice so you could just use that if you already have it. Or go run around and buy all those spices like I did. I think the fresh ginger and garlic did make it really good though.)

3 T olive oil

1 t. salt

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts

Whisk together yogurt, seasonings, and oil in a medium bowl. Pour into a large ziploc bag and marinate the chicken in the bag at least 5 hours.

Grill the chicken.

We had this with the chicken sliced up and served in a pita pocket with feta cheese, tomatoes and green onion. Then I was proud of myself cause I improved a sauce with the extra yogurt, fresh mint, and cilantro to go in the pita also. Yum!

This would also be good served over rice or with curry veggies, or in a salad.

Feta Crema

sour cream

crumbled feta cheese

juice of 1 lime

1/2 jalepeno minced

Stir it up and serve it with anything Mexican!

Yup, it is!

A favorite phrase of non-teachers when talking about the summer vacation that teachers get is, "Oh, must be nice!" If you are a teacher this can be infuriating. You feel as if they don't understand how many hours you work during the school year, how necessary the closure is, or how we don't really have that time "off" cause we are constantly doing things to prepare for school, coaching, tutoring, etc. Well I have decided that I will never convince anybody of how hard I work, and that it doesn't matter. My new response when faced with the proverbial, "Oh, must be nice!" is "yup, it is!" with a grin.

So here on this Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, (on which I have nothing but time because I am a teacher) is a list of all the little things I love about summer:

warm nights under glowing sunsets

tan feet in perpetual flip-flops

fluffy beach towels on lounging chairs

crisp vegetables in raw flavor

bright fruit in colorful salads

humming lawn mowers in fragrant grass

long breakfasts with lingering conversation

picnic lunches on sandy blankets

grilled dinners with icy cocktails

finished books on patio tables

floating rafts in lazy pools

dripping swimsuits on shower doors

freckled noses under constant sunglasses

Top 10

Now that I have time and energy to breathe and reflect, I thought I would make a top ten list of all the things I learned (or was reminded of) teaching out of my comfort zone for the past 10 months ...

10. Document, document, document

9. Assignments can be modified beyond what I thought possible.

8. Without student motivation, it doesn't matter how you've modified said assignment. The key is always finding out what makes a student tick.

7. A sense of humor is invaluable.

6. One cannot underestimate the importance of a good educational assistant/classroom aide.

5. Sometimes kids don't get what is best for them because of things out of your control, so sometimes your best within the situation has to be good enough.

4. Teacher collaboration/planning is becoming more and more essential. This is hard for me as I considered myself bossy and a smidge controlling when it comes to the classroom. I learned A LOT about this and am really glad I did.

3. Kids need to feel successful at something every day.

2. I can handle more than I thought I could!

1. While words cannot express how grateful I am for the experience, Special Education is not for me and I cannot give enough credit to those who are passionate about it and feel it is their calling. My heart and strengths lie in the general education classroom, so next year - THIRD GRADE!!!!

Yoga for Two

So, lately we've been trying to be more active together. We've been popping in my Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga DVD and attempting yoga on our "his and hers" yoga mats in the living room. It's been one fitness activity which I've found we are on similar ability and comfort levels with, so it's been interesting pursuing it together. Hitting the gym with Jeremiah is a bit of an exercise in frustration as he hangs out in the "heavy breather" section (you know, the place with the huge dumbbells where very large men lift one obscenely heavy weight a few times, and then walk around breathing heavily and looking at themselves in the mirror for the next 10 minutes). He has also been fairly impatient in showing me how to use the complicated machinery that tends to resemble medieval torture devices, and so needless to say, I stick to the treadmill when we go.

With yoga however, we have met on fairly equal playing ground. I show him how to straighten his leg in Warrior position and he shows me how to keep my back straight in Plank, and we both sweat profusely and drop to the ground occasionally in exhaustion and yell at Bob on the DVD. So we're strengthening our core muscles and our relationship as we bond over Yoga for Two.

Really it's more like Yoga for Three as you will see in this next picture of Buddy demonstrating Downward Dog pose...

Wordless Wednesday