Meal Supplementing.

Recently I decided to put my Vitamix to major use. Don't get me wrong, we use it quite often as is, but I wanted to use it even more for meal supplementing. I decided to supplement at least one meal a day with a protein smoothie. I have never done this before and had no idea how to start or what to even use, so I went to Mother's Market. If you live in California, then you know about this shop, but to others....its pretty much much smaller operation of Whole Foods and they don't sell red meat or alcohol.

Fortunately for me, Mother's Market is walking distance from my home (not that I have ever walked there or anything). So one day, while on break, I DROVE to this market and spoke to the person who managed the vitamin department. What I learned is that whey protein is a bit more difficult for women to absorb. I don't know how to prove this statement, but it sounded believable and so I went with what she recommended. It was cheaper, plant based, and super high in all the vitamins and nutrients that I cared about.

I went this:

The taste is fairly decent, it has that normal powdery vitamin stench, but I add a banana and a spoonful of almond butter and about 10oz of water. I let the Vitamix go into crazy fast mode on it, because it adds some froth and thickens it up a bit.

My only problem right now is that I have developed some super painful gas. I know, too much information, but its true. I am not sure if its from this or maybe my body is adjusting. I wasn't like this the first couple of days. I am taking gas-x and its helping, but if this doesn't stop, I may need to venture into another brand. What do you drink?

Lovely Things.

My current obsessions.

I cannot thank my sister, Isis, enough for telling me to watch Downton Abbey. The scandal of a period drama has never enticed me so much as this. Everything is impeccable from the plot line to the set design, to the landscaping...everything...amazing.

Simple quilt, that I believe I can pull off. What great color and sharp geometrical design.

My sister is the only other person I know who is super sensitive to light. We hate florescent lighting, and really cannot stand how certain ceiling lights cast down on a room. This is a simple and beautiful lamp that would be really calming in any room...and stylish.

Wooden popsicles.

Love the wallpaper.

*swoon*

Coolifornia <3

My Etsy Shop

After many years of resisting the notion of opening an Etsy shop to sell some of my crafts, I decided to give in. A few weeks ago, I decided to take advantage of the fancier and much more advanced sewing machine that Erich had given me for Christmas. I made a few blankets and put them on my Etsy shop
(www.etsy.com/shop/juliefunderburk).

It was scary, the nerves were all over the place. Will this be a waste of my time? Why would it be a waste if I am doing something I enjoy...duh, Julie! Anyways, within the first week I sold my first blanket and nearly 2.5 weeks later I have 2 custom orders.

With the amount of views the page is getting, I need to generate more business, because the reality of it is, I have had 1 order with 767 views. Hmmm...where am I going wrong. I think the following need to occur:

• I need to build up my Treasuries, because Treasuries are displayed on the front page of Etsy. 
• I need more product 
• I need a variety
• I need higher Pinterest traffic

Tomorrow I shall visit the fabric stores and pick up a few more items and see what else I can create to add to my shop. Do you have any ideas?

Emma is 2!

Everyone always asks, "where has time gone?". It rings so true when having to care for someone you love so much. My daughter, my love, my little lady. As much as I pretend to be jealous of the fact that shes a daddy's girl, I am in complete admiration of the love and respect that she and her daddy have for each other. Its a special thing to be able to parent, so each day I am grateful that she came into my life. Each day is a celebration and one that I do not take for granted.

For Emma's 2nd birthday we decided to have it at our home. Having a winter birthday means we have very unpredictable weather in Southern California. Its either rainy, gloomy, sunny, crazy Santa Ana winds, or hot. We got gloomy and slightly rainy. We pushed forward with the bounce house and had some friends and family come over to play.

Words cannot express how lucky and blessed I feel to have such an amazing source of support from both my family and friends. As I have gotten older, I realize more and more what champion parents I have. They raised 4 children and did it so well. I look to them for guidance and knowledge on how to do the same with Emma. Aside from my parents, my in-laws have also been incredibly supportive and loving and full of parenting knowledge that I would not known otherwise.

Below are a few images of the day....I wish I had some of the family and friends, but when hosting a party, taking pictures is the last thing on my mind...I just want to party too :)

I made her cake this year. Strawberry with vanilla frosting.

                             

Birthday decor.

She woke up to streamers on her door.

She found the cupcakes and helped herself to one for breakfast.

Singing Happy Birthday! 

Pinata time. Daddy is operating the string and Uncle Buj is instructing.

Chance cracked open the pinata and the kids were collecting their goods.

More goodies to pick!

The princess palace bounce house.

Emma catching some air with auntie Isis on the watch :)

Chicken Soup with Rice

Now that the holidays are over and life is a bit more calm, I can pay more attention to my blog. Its a new year and full of great and maybe some challenging things to come. Well - 8 days into 2013 and my little lady has gotten a terrible fever. I made her some chicken soup and rice, because thats what my mom used to make when me or my brothers or sister were sick. And somehow it always seemed to work out in our favor.

Here is the recipe:

Stock
1 - 3 or 4 pound whole chicken
4 carrots cut in half
4 stocks of celery cut in half
1 large onion cut in half, leave the skins on
1 head of garlic cut horizontally in half

Finished Soup
4 carrots
4 stocks of celery
salt
pepper
1 or 2 tsp of chicken base (I use better than bouillon, its cheaper and has a nicer flavor)
1/2 cup of cooked rice...or 1 cup (however much you think you would want, I like a lot of rice)

Stock Directions: Place the whole chicken and all vegetables in a large stock pot and cover with cold water. Remember, don't pull the skins off the onion. My friend Marilyn taught me that the onion skins add additional depth in color and flavor to the stock. It gets strained out and tossed anyways, so don't worry. Cook the chicken until the meat falls off the bone.

Pull the cooked chicken out of the pot and into a bowl. You won't be able to pull it out as 1 whole bird anymore, it will be so tender it will fall apart.

Place a strainer in another pot and pour the liquid and vegetables (from the first pot) through the strainer. Throw away the cooked vegetables. Now you're left with stock. This liquid will have a nice layer of fat ontop, because you cooked the whole bird with skin on. I recommend you purchase a fat separator so you can get rid of that fat easily. If not, then just take the time to skim it off with a ladle or spoon. I bought my separator from Crate & Barrel for 16 bucks.

Ok - now that the broth is beautiful lets focus on the chicken. Take off all that nice meat, break it up a bit and put it into the broth. Chop up your celery and carrots into sizes that you prefer and throw it into the broth. Don't throw away the celery leaves, chop them up and put them into the broth too!

Finished Soup Directions: Season your soup with salt and pepper and add the chicken base or bouillon. I use Better than Bouillon, this stuff is great and lasts a long time.

When I made this batch, I threw the dry rice into the soup. Some people might not like it this way, because it really soaks up the soup. So really its like you're eating rice with some soup. I really like it this way. BUT - next time I am going to make rice on the side and pour soup over. I recommend you try it that way first (cooked rice with soup ontop). I recommend that way first, so you can really enjoy the look of the broth that you dedicated some time to making. You will see what I mean when you make it.

Marilyn told me to add the skins after I took them off...see, they're added :)

Chicken Base

Fat Separator 

People.

I can't recall if I have shared this in my previous posts, but I work from home. I have never met the rest of the team that I work with, so this week I traveled to Ohio to visit them. I used to travel a lot with my previous job, however its been years since I've had that kind of schedule. This trip has been different...maybe because I am older. I recall traveling in my past to be a very solitary thing. On planes and in airports, people keep to themselves. Especially at restaurants, if you ate alone...you really ate alone.

From Orange County to Atlanta I sat in the last row in between two people. I expected to just read and mind my own business. I didn't do any of that. The gentlemen that sat to my right, told me about his wife and two boys, his career as an engineer and his adventures to India and China. The lady on my other side slept the whole ride, but woke up for coffee and treats...something I thought I would have done.

From Atlanta to Dayton I sat in between two people again. The lady on my right was from my neighboring city in Texas and she was on her way to visit her grandma (she calls her Boo). Boo's dementia has taken a turn for the worse and is on her last hours in the hospital. I never got her name, but she showed me her grandmas pictures, she looks like a sweet grandma. As she told me about her, her eyes would well up, but I could tell she enjoyed telling me about what a great woman Boo is/was. When we departed, I gave her a hug.

The man who sat to my right, well he is a technical analyst and knew everything about the area that I am visiting, even the company that I work for. He is a photographer on the side and as a hobby writes about the historical homes and structures in Ohio.

At the hotel, I sat at the bar and enjoyed a beer and burger. One seat away was a 67 year old guy who saw the book that I brought with me. Again, an attempt to read. He asked to see my book Wicked. He then told me that when he lived on Long Island his neighbor Tom Watson was the master wig designer on Broadway and created all the wigs for Wicked. He also is the designer for operas. Incredible! I can't quite remember the old mans name, but he told me all about his lady friend, Jeanie. They knew each other in high school, both divorced with grown children and now they are best friends. He is retired, but works on jobs when hes needed. He has worked on power lines for years, in fact he worked on getting the power back on in Ny and Nj after Sandy touched down. Nowadays, he usually stays home as a 67 year old would, but if there is a need for his expertise and someone calls him up, he will head on out. He says he enjoys working so he welcomes the random calls.

The point of this blog is that, it was really until this trip that I understood that if you take the time to listen, people will talk. I've always been a listener with my friends and family...but strangers need it too. I got to hear from 4 random people and they each had something interesting to share. Life is a little more fun when you get to tell stories and I am glad to be part of the audience. Life is good.

Ricotta.

Whenever my sister and I get together, I am compelled to try a new recipe. Shes such a fun and daring person in the kitchen that it makes trying new recipes not seem so daunting. While she was in town this past weekend we made ricotta. It takes a total of 4 ingredients and a few minutes of your time. Here is the recipe we followed, which can be found on www.epicurious.com.

• 2 quarts whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbl lemon (we ended up using close to 5 tbl, really depends on how acidic your lemon is, I guess)

Bring your cream, milk and salt to a rumbling boil and then add lemon. Allow the lemon to curdle the milk and then pour through a cheese cloth lined strainer. Be sure to have the strainer placed on top of a bowl or in the sink.

Once the whey has separated from the curd, you're left with ricotta. The consistency/texture of the ricotta will be determined on how long you wait to eat it. If you eat it immediately it will be soft and easily spreadable. We waited till it was fully cooled, which meant it was a tiny bit more firm. Homemade ricotta does not taste like the store bought stuff. It is incredibly mild and delicious. We spread the ricotta on toasted baguette and drizzled it with balsamic. I also reduced some balsamic, which took the ricotta to a whole nutha level of amazing. I beg each of you who has taken the time to read this to make the ricotta, reduce the balsamic, toast the baguette and then thank me.

Combine cream, milk and salt.

Bring to a rumbling boil. 

Add lemon so that the milk will curdle. This should take about 2 minutes.

Pour curdled milk into cheese cloth, over a strainer, over a bowl. We used a mesh bag, purchased from Mothers Market. Its used to make nut milk and cheese (doesn't that sound nice?). It's washable so I bought it.

 Eat it however you'd like.

And lastly, look at this huge awesome delivery of flowers from my neighbor. I love Babies Breath. Its simple and classic and so pretty when all by itself. It doesn't need other plants or flowers to ruin it. Now, I have to make several arrangements for my house from this bounty.

JK - one more of the trio.