Police Knock!

As a rule, I sleep with my phone on the nightstand beside my bed.  That way, if anyone has urgent Real Estate business, I can take care of it.  Working nights at the jobby job means that I am not the agent that typically gets started at 7am.  I realize others are so I try to accommodate.

For several weeks, I have been awoken by the phone.  In fact, there may have only been one or two times in the last 6 weeks that I have not been startle awake by the alarm or the phone.  It was effecting my sleep.  Friday, I decided that I was going to sleep in.  I anxiously left my phone downstairs so that it would not disturb my sleep.  Everything was going to wait.

I was a bit uncomfortable falling asleep, feeling like I might miss something important but I knew my body needed it.  Sleep.  Finally.  Then I was shocked awake with a police style banging on my front door.  Still not quite awake, I laid in bed for a few seconds, looked at the clock next to me to realize the power was out.  The police knock came again, this time longer.

In my PJs, I darted downstairs and threw the door open to see my neighbor fully dressed, on my front porch.  He asked me if I had power.  I told him I did not and he asked if I had already called the power company.  I looked at my own PJs and imagined my messy bed head and politely told him no.  He said he would do it and walked back to his house.  I grabbed my phone to check the time.  7:15am.  Needless to say, I was unhappy, especially when I could not get back to sleep.

Luckily for me I tried the same tactic on Sunday morning and was able to sleep until nearly noon.  It was great and I felt refreshed.

I had a busy morning Saturday, luckily, Ashley helped me out by making me a pasta salad to take to work that night as well used my tofu scramble recipe to make us some nice breakfast burritos for brunch.  It was nice to not have to rush to get food prepared myself.

I also was able to whip up some nice Bar B-Que tempeh for my lunch before work on Sunday.  It was a nice healthy(ish) lunch for myself.

I am really enjoying the Real Estate market.  I have been spending as much time as I can with clients and it is great.  I hope they keep coming!

Pesto Sandwich Spread

It has been great being busy with Real Estate.  However, that combined with still logging more than 40 hours a week at the jobby job, I have had little time to cook.  I decided to make some wraps as a simple grab and go meal.  They have been great too me.  I have been eating them for days.

I used the recipe below to make a pesto sandwich spread, added red onion, sprouts, avocado, shredded carrots, greens, cucumber, and some pre-package vegan deli slices, topped with a little balsamic vinegar.  This would also be great with some of my homemade deli slices.  It has been great to have a healthy meal while I have been working so hard.

Pesto Sandwich Spread

3 cloves of garlic
2 cups of fresh basil
1 cup of pine nuts
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of sun dried tomatoes
1  1/2 tablespoon of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of salt


In a blender or food processor, add the garlic, oil and pine nuts.  Puree until the garlic i broken down.  Add the basil, salt, nutritional yeast, sun dried tomatoes, and lemon juice.  Puree until smooth.

This has recipe has made enough pesto for about a weeks worth of sandwiches.

A productive day after a good visit this weekend

I had quite a good day today.  I got up early and took a client out to see some property.  As we pulled into the second house, we both knew it was the place they wanted.  We rushed back to submit an offer.  Later in the evening I was able to go out with another client and look at some other properties as well.  It has felt very productive.

It was good to feel accomplished after a weekend with some quality relaxation.  Friday morning I received a text from and old punk rock friend saying he was coming through town and wanted to get together.  He and his buddy came over for dinner and crashed at my place for the night.  It was a short visit but really nice to catch up some after nearly 8 years.

For dinner I made a simple brown rice with veggies, Ashley made a strawberry mango and banana smoothie and as a main dish, I made some really great chic pea patties.  They were a little more crumbly then I would have liked but will certainly be made again.

More with the Seitan Steaks?

A night off was just what I needed to refresh myself. It was a nice evening and I had some nice fresh salad to make me feel even better.  I fried up some seitan steaks that I made earlier in the week to top the salad.  I drizzled some poppy seed vinaigrette over the top for a complete salad taste.

Ashley does not care much for vinaigrettes so I promised her that the next salad we have will be a "creamy" dressing.  She did however request some cookies.  I whipped some up in the late night and they were gone with a quickness.  Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Evening Off, Big Things?

A day off!

I spent the morning looking at some properties on my own.  It was a nice relaxing time and something I needed to do.  Tonight I have some nice dinner plans with what I hope turns out to be a relaxing evening.  Sadly, there is no basketball on tonight.

The last evening I had off, I made a nice stir fry with my stir fry sauce.  It was a nice meal filled with great veggies!

Let the Chaos Ensue!

The weekend began with a relaxing Friday off.  Saturday started with an early meeting which spiraled into an unexpected double shift at the jobby job.  Nearly 17 hours later, I was done with the day, slept in Sunday morning, and ended up back at work soon after awaking for another long day.

Monday was a day "off" from the jobby job.  Gladly, I spent the day showing houses and looking at some investment properties.  It was an early bedtime for another double shift at the jobby job.  Wednesday came and I was showing some houses in the morning.  I had three days off and was set to spent some relaxing.  However, my boss at the jobby job forgot that he gave me Wednesday night off and I am heading to work again shortly.

Needless to say, cooking has not been a top priority.  I have done a bit but it has been infrequent.  Luckily, I will be taking some time off in the next couple of weeks!

Steamed Veggies with Paprika and Thyme

Seitan Steak Fajitas (for work)

Chocolate Cake!

Vegetable Soup for the Work

Blogger has been down for about 2 days and I have not been able to write a post.

Recently I have been doing very well about taking lunches to work.  In fact, I have not go out for lunch while at work since October.  I figure it has saved me hundreds of dollars.  However, I am getting bored with the foods that I have been taking.  I have been brainstorming with other folks recently to have some fresh ideas.  If any readers out in the blog world have some ideas, let me know!

For my long weekend at work, this evening I made some nice vegetable soup to take with me.  It turned out really well.  I may share the recipe if anyone is interested.  It seems like everyone has a vegetable soup recipe though.

Recap!

With Tato visiting for the weekend, I tried to spend some time at home with him.  It has been a long time since I was able to see him so I wanted to take advantage.  More time at home meant, cooking!

It began with some very basic mashed sweet potato.  It was a nice shot of vitamin A and went well with a generic vegan rib sandwich.  It was a nice dinner late on Friday night.  It coupled well with a nice spinach smoothie!

The following day, I made a massive batch of my chic pea chicken salad.  This has been a hit with everyone that has tried it.  I made enough that both Ashley and I could take sandwiches to work the following day and have some left over.

Weekend Visitor!

This weekend I had a little extra time off.  I took the opportunity to have some weekend company.  My good buddy and old roommate,Tato, came for a visit!  It made mt weekend.  It was great to see him, even if he did headbutt me awake at 5am, twice.

A neighboring town, Pine Lake, had a city wide yard sale on Saturday morning.  Ashley and I headed out.  We found some great canisters for my ingredients that litter my counter-tops.  They are perfect.

It looks like I will be heading to Bryson City, North Carolina for a weekend soon.  That should be a nice time and I am looking forward to getting away.

Blackberry Banana Smoothie

Since I got my high-tech blender back in November, I have been taking a lot smoothies to work.  It has been almost everyday.  Not only has it saved me money, it has felt good to have some nice fruits in me.  I tend to not eat incredible well at the jobby job.  In saying that, I have been asked to come up with a high protein, gluten free, soy free, fat free, smoothie that tastes great.  I was thinking about trying to make some sort of oatmeal smoothie but I am not sure.

In the meantime, I have been tearing up the fruit smoothies and the green smoothies.  Here is one I threw together recently.  I realize that for many foodies, these are silly recipes to post but many of my readers are people that are not foodies and have used some of my basic recipes in their own homes.

Happy Cinco De Mayo, for whatever that is worth.

Blackberry Banana Smoothie

1 banana
2 cups of blackberries
2 cups of apple juice
2 tablespoons of non-dairy ice cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Put all ingrdients in a blender and puree until smooth.  To remove the seeds, sift through a cheesecloth.  I generally do not mind the seeds and drink them down, but blackberries may grow in my belly.  We will see.

Busy Boy!

I have spent a lot of my week working.  I am coming close on a few deals I have been working on for Real Estate, which feels gratifying.  It will be nice to see my hard work pay off.

This weekend I have a really nice schedule at the jobby job and am hoping to have a fun time.  I had plans to go see political hip-hop group, Dead Prez, but right after I bought my tickets, the show was canceled.  Bummed, I realized it might be a chance for some needed relaxation.

Food-wise, I have been cooking a little on and off.  I made some tempeh, however, the flavor did not turn out nearly as well as the picture.

I also had a late night snack with the a great basketball game, a big bowl filled with my famous popcorn!  That recipe will have to wait for a book deal!

More Rhubarb!

More rhubarb fun!  This is like having pie without the hassle of that pesky crust to get in the way of the good stuff.  I like the addition of the sugar as it add a thickness to the texture.

 Strawberry Rhubarb Smoothie

1 banana
1 stalk of rhubarb
8 med - large strawberries
2 cups of apple juice
1 tablespoon of agave nectar
1 tablespoon of sugar

Combine all items in a blender.  Puree until smooth and the sugar has melted into the liquid.  Using frozen fruits will make the drink cold, otherwise, chill for at least 30 minutes prior to serving.  If the smoothie is chilled, an additional trip around the blender may be required due to settling.