Morning Book Review

I just finished this book in about 2 weeks after it sat on my bookshelf for a couple years. It was a pretty easy read so I was able to read a chapter every morning. In this book he follows the Lord's prayer and devotes a chapter to each line relating it to our lives today. The premise is in the title, how we must "Travel Light" and let go of the baggage we carry around each day. The "suitcases and duffel bags of sorrow, disappointment, and guilt", whatever it is that a person holds with them. The idea was good but to me not one of Lucado's best. Insightful on occasion, but some of the "baggage" I had a hard time relating to. Easy read though, of course still has redeeming value but to me not one of his best.

~ N. Schmunk

The last winter dinner...

Last week Jill and made this dish after I snagged it out of a magazine at work. We weren't sure how it would end up using the chickpeas for a stew but were not disappointed. This recipe was delicious, I got two meals at work after the fact with the leftovers and it was still good every time. We of course substituted the sausage in the recipe with a breakfast chicken sausage from Trader Joe's that had a nice smoky flavor. For the bread we also got from a Trader Joe's a whole grain crusty bread (french would not work well) that was very good. Sourdough may work if that's all you have but a dense bread works well to soak up the broth of the stew without turning to mush.






Chickpea and Sausage Stew
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
12 ounces Italian sausage, thawed and casings removed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 10-ounce package frozen leaf spinach
Kosher salt and pepper
8 slices bread, toasted (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, crumbling it with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the parsley and cilantro and cook for 1 minute more. Add the broth and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Add the frozen spinach and simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally with a fork to separate the leaves. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Divide the toasted bread, if using, among individual bowls and spoon the stew on top.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Last weekend Leanne / Mom came down to visit us and help us paint some of the rooms in the house (pictures to follow). Friday we went to the airport where Jill had to drive around in circles 4 times before Leanne and I got her bags, but then we enjoyed a nice quiet meal at a Korean restaurant before heading home. Saturday we went to Loma Linda University Church followed by a light lunch of blue cheese and steak spinach salad. That evening Leanne and I created our golfing characters on Tiger Woods 07' that she and Pat had brought us as a gift, we eventually tied after 9 holes. We couldn't help but go to sushi that night at SGC in Corona and Kay Kay decided to come with us. Sunday was pretty much a full day of painting but we did manage to barbeque some burgers after long needed showers that night. Monday we went to the Redlands Country Breakfast (that's just what we call it) and then it was off to the "links". A beautiful day and the most crowded I've ever seen it. The greens were as hard as concrete which made for an interesting game, but we all had a great time.

Tuesday Date Night

Last week for date night we decided to just stay at home and cook something ourselves. Jill had to study so we couldn't really go out anywhere, so we dreamed up a our own recipe with things we had left in the fridge. I will have to say it tasted pretty good, so try it yourself. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Grilled Chicken with Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
(Serves 2)

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers:
2 yellow peppers
¾ cup chopped pepper (or pepper tops)
½ cup diced onion
2 Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped (about ½ cup)
1 Tb oil
½ tsp salt or to taste
¼ tsp dried basil
1 pinch fresh ground pepper
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
1 ½ cup cooked quinoa
4 thin slices fresh mozzarella

Chicken:
2 Tb oil
1 packet Archer Farms taco seasoning mix (@ Target)
2 chicken breasts`(thawed)

Cook quinoa as desired. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut the stems and top half inch off the bell peppers and scoop out the seeds and membranes. Boil trimmed peppers for 5 minutes, then drain them upside down. Heat 1 Tb of oil in a nonstick skillet. Add onion, chopped yellow pepper, salt, dried basil, and fresh ground pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Remove from heat and stir in the tomatoes. Using a spoon, scrape the quinoa into the skillet and toss with the vegetables. Stir in the crumbled goat cheese. Place peppers upright in the baking dish and fill them with quinoa mixture. Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile combine 2 Tb oil and taco seasoning in small bowl and coat both sides of chicken breasts. Place chicken breasts on preheated grill and grill for 15 min. over medium heat turning every 5 min. Pull peppers out of oven. Place 2 slices of mozzarella on top of peppers and place under open broiler. Broil 5 min. or until cheese is melted. Garnish with remaining tomato if desired. Serve chicken and peppers immediately.

The HoneyMoon

The next day after staying at the Hotel Lucia ( www.hotellucia.com ) very cool, I surprised Jill with our honeymoon destination of Whistler, BC. We flew out Monday afternoon to Vancouver and then took a 2 hour shuttle to the Hilton hotel which was a ski in / ski out hotel in the main village. We enjoyed celebrating the new year on our balcony with fireworks shooting off of the mountain. The week was filled with lots of lounging around, warm fires, morning coffee, sampling as many restaurants as possible, snowboarding, and finally zip lining through an actual "rain forest". We had a great time and are already planning our return some day.

Darla's New Blog!

Hey everybody...check out Darla's new blog!

www.darlaschmunk.blogspot.com

Convince her to keep on posting...we want to know what they're up to in Fall River. :)

-J

Weekend Fun

Just thought I'd share a little about our weekend. Started out Friday night with making a delicious meal from a recipe that my mom sent me. Here's the recipe...I would highly recommend it.

TOFU PARMIGIANA

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 (12 ounce) package firm tofu
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

• In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon oregano, salt, and black pepper.
• Slice tofu into 1/4 inch thick slices, and place in bowl of cold water. One at a time, press tofu slices into crumb mixture, turning to coat all sides.
• Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook tofu slices until crisp on one side. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil, turn, and brown on the other side.
• Combine tomato sauce, basil, garlic, and remaining oregano. Place a thin layer of sauce in an 8 inch square baking pan. Arrange tofu slices in the pan. Spoon remaining sauce over tofu. Top with shredded mozzarella and remaining 3 tablespoons Parmesan.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 20 minutes.

Saturday we both woke up super early for some reason and so decided to go to the 8:30am early service at Loma Linda University Church. Karl Haffner spoke (used to be the pastor up at Walla Walla, but now out at Kettering in Ohio) and concluded the North American division's Week of Prayer here at Loma Linda. Every day this week we had chapel and a different pastor or president of an Adventist College spoke each day. After church we made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and invited Trevor and Leah over. Then the four of us went rock climbing on Mt. Rubidoux. I really need to get some rock climbing shoes! So much fun, but every other turn I had to borrow Leah's shoes. It was a beautiful day and not even very windy. Lots of people hiking and climbing and bouldering on Mt. Rubidoux. For those of you who aren't familiar with the area...Mt. Rubidoux is in Riverside, kind of behind the Mission Inn. They are planning some very nice upgrades to the facilities in the near future. That evening the four of us decided to see CLOVERFIELD!!! Yikes....so fun, so exciting...I screamed twice....had to close my eyes to stop the dizziness....but I would definitely recommend it if you like those kinds of disaster type movies like I do! At the theater we ran into Jen & Mike, Mike's bro Jared, and their friends Melissa, Glen, and Jon.

Finally, today we went to Jenece & Brenden Hanks' wedding at the Azure Hills SDA Church. Very nice and simple wedding with tasty Thai food catered. There were only two people in their bridal party (her sister and his brother) and the reception was in the fellowship hall. They did something really nice that I've never seen before...they took communion together in front of the congregation and then had both of their immediate families come onto the platform and offered prayer together in a big circle. After the wedding we headed over to Byron and Tracey's house to watch the NFC Championship game (so sad that the Packers lost) and ate some pizza and popcorn and root beer. Now we're just chilling at home once again and Nathan is breaking in his new demo download on the Xbox while I delay studying. (I have all day tomorrow :) MLK day)

Hope the weekend was as good for you as it was for us.
-J

Dinner on Jan. 10

Well, I'm learning to play housewife and what better way to start than to think about planning meals? Lately my schedule has been conducive to this way of life... Our days have been going something like this: wake up, eat breakfast and drink coffee together, Nathan leaves for work and I walk to school around 8am, I'm in class until noon, come home for lunch or scam a free lunch while listening to some presentation at school, then either go to lab or clinic or start studying (often with Kay-Kay). This time at home studying allows me to start preparing dinner while memorizing bacteria, drugs, or other unappetizing subjects. Nathan then arrives home around 7:20 on Mon, Tues, Thurs, and 6:20 on Fri. We then sit down to a tasty dinner together (often at our lovely new coffee table) and possibly watch a show that we've recorded or perhaps a football game. Finally, I usually grab my notes again and Nathan turns on his new Xbox 360 and we alternate chatting, studying, and playing games. Good times. Wish I could play more games :)

Anyway, where was I going with this post? Oh yes, I tried out a new recipe last Thursday night and I had forgotten to post it...very tasty. Got it out of "New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant"-Nathan says his mom gave him this "recipeasel" that we have thoroughly enjoyed. So, here's the recipe:

PASTA VERDE
2 Tbs. olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups coarsely chopped raw spinach
1 cup ricotta cheese (9 oz.)
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tb. fresh basic (1 tsp. dried)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt to taste
1 to 1 1/2 lbs. pasta (fettucine, spaghetti, or egg noodles)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Saute the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent. Rinse the washed, chopped spinach in a colander and then add it, still damp, to the onions. Cover the pan. When the spinach is wilted and still very bright green, puree the sauteed vegetables with the other sauce ingredients at medium speed in a blender or food processor. Cook and drain the pasta. Toss the sauce with the hot, drained pasta in a warm bowl. Serve immediately, garnished with grated Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!
-J

Road Trip For Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving began with us driving up to Aptos, CA to Nathan's Grandma Schmunks' house. Since we had all day on Wednesday to get up there we decided to take our time and drive up highway 1. We loaded up Jackson in the back seat and set out, we stopped at San Luis Obispo and had breakfast at a coffee shop, next we stopped at San Simeon and went inside the Hearst Castle visitors center, drove through the little town of Cambria, ate lunch in car, and stopped again in Carmel, one of our favorite places to eat. As the sun went down we took Jackson for a walk looking in all the shops and scanning every menu from all the restaurants till we finally found one that was in our price range and didn't require a dress code : ) . After dinner we drove to Aptos where Grandma Schmunk waiting for us. Later that night Bill, Darla, and Grandma Cottrell drove in and after visiting for a awhile we went to bed. Thanksgiving day was pretty relaxing since we didn't really have to cook due to the fact that Aunt Marie had it taken care of (we had dinner catered by Marie Callender's). After dinner, dishes, and football games, we took one of our many walks to the beach with Jackson and Sebena (Aunt Heidi's dog) in tow. Friday was again relaxing and quiet until we all decided to make the drive to the nearest BART station in order to take the train into San Francisco. We wanted to visit Union Square to see the tree lighting in front of Macy's. Before the lighting we all got a table at a nice restaurant just up the street and enjoyed sharing dinner as well as dessert till we were full. At 6:30 the countdown started and then the Christmas season began.

Beach House 2007

So it's been basically a whole year since my last post back in October, 2006. My last post was my trip up to my parents beach cabin near Brookings, OR where we enjoyed multiple sunsets on the beach, played a couple rounds of golf, and my dad and I hooked into 4 salmon (which we had smoked and canned).
This year we did the same trip only this time we had a few more people along, my fiance Jillian, my sister Heather, and my niece Sidney. Again we had many nice walks on the beach as well as building a driftwood fort for Sidney so that we had a place to use the bucket and shovel that she got and eat our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. My dad and I "attempted" to catch some salmon (which we didn't), we did play 3 rounds of golf, and we did eat good food. It was nice to have more people this year and I was glad that Heather and Sidney were able to stay so that Jillian and I could see them.

The Great "Fall" Outdoors

In October I got the itch to head home and take advantage of the fall colors and the crisp tempatures at home. After flying into Medord the next day was filled first by flyfishing on the Pit River with a trip up to my parents beach cabin. The next day again started with an early morning rise to try to catch a few salmon running up the Chetco River. Of course we did have to sit on a rock in the dark for an hour before we could even start fishing. By the time the sun came up we had about 20 guys craming for space on one rock, trying to through their lines in to hook a big fish. With one hour to spare I hooked two in the span of twenty minutes to reach my official limit. My dad had to wait till the next day of fishing (without me) to finally catch his 36 lb. salmon. We did manage to squeeze in many walks on the beach, a hike in the redwoods, and two rounds of golf. It was said that it was one of the best times had at the cabin. We may have to make this an annual event.