duh. .

some geese flying south. . . lovely gray sky.

i just needed to go to yoga.  feeling much better after some serious sweating and stretching and breathing. . . ah. . . it's amazing how much better i feel yet i tend to be a bit kapha.

so i had a brilliant idea last night while i was drifting off to sleep about a project to start. . . i bought some new water colors today at meiningers, oh i love that place.  anyway. . . i thought of a story, hopefully i can illustrate, paint.  will keep you updated.

so did you hear about this breaking story about mammograms.  

Do more frequent mammograms pick up some breast cancer tumors that might have gone away without treatment? Possibly, according to a study published this week in Archives of Internal Medicine.

a summary:

2 different groups, 1 group group had routine mammograms (3) and another group got one over the same 5 year period

The women who had more mammograms had more cases of invasive breast cancer

The study suggests that some of the tumors detected by mammography would have spontaneously regressed had they not been caught and treated.

it makes me wonder does breast cancer kill women or the treatment?  i know i know this if a very controversial idea but it wasn't that long ago MDs were treating people by draining their blood.  this is how george washington died.  or is it the fear and inevitably one must feel after that diagnosis.  the stress weakens the body, the attention and fear go to the site of the tumor.

pretty interesting huh?

primal scream therapy

why is this day against me.  nothing has gone right.  well i guess a lot of things have gone right but i just don't feel right.  i feel blah and ugh and errr.   my head and back hurt.  i deleted a huge amount of work on accident, all data entry bull so i am only half way done for that.  ugh ugh ugh.  

i don't know what's going on but i don't like it.  i hope tomorrow is a better day.

so cute

i forget where i found this. . . on one of the many blogs i follow.  i want to create one of this of us. . . kiko + abby = palmer.  so super cute i love it. 

i've been pretty lazy since i finished my huge long history of photography paper.  it was actually pretty interesting.  i did it on this book of found photographs of couples.  the same editors have one of behinds too.  i'm going to take a photography class next semester, just for fun as my final semester winds down.  i have 2 finals, 1 quiz, 2 papers and 2 oral reports then i'm done.

i also need to make up some gift card for my whole foods business.  hey, how are you liking my to do list!

i'm still going to start studying for the GRE and go to graduate school i think.  i'm scared about the GRE.  everyone i know that has taken is says it HARD. . . 

keeping it moving

man i'm all about food lately.  well not exactly, i did rearrange the living room, getting ready to create some space for creativity.  just need to move in kiko's desk and maybe get a desk for myself.  i don't want it to be too crowded though.  i found a nice ikea desk on craigslist for $75. . . i should probably jump on it.  here's some yum yums i made the other day. . . 

so these are kiko's favorite mashed sweet potatos we got the recipe from good eats.

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Prep Time:10 minInactive Prep Time: hr minCook Time:30 min

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 whole canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can of peppers
1/2 teaspoon salt
Put cubed potatoes into steamer basket and place steamer into a large pot of simmering water that is no closer than 2 inches from the bottom of basket. Allow to steam for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Add butter to potatoes and mash with potato masher. Add peppers, sauce, and salt and continue mashing to combine. Serve immediately.

then i made his favorite stakes with a quick marinade i've been doing.  so easy and so good:  

Steak Marinade, Quick and Easy Recipe #39145

This turns an average grocerty store bought steak into a good restaurant tasting steak. It takes only minutes to prepare and marinade can be for 30 minutes to overnight. Ooh, so good!
by Keri Caldwell
20 min | 5 min prep

SERVES 2 -3

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons minced garlic, from jar is fine
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Mix it all together and marinade steak for 30 minutes to overnight.
Garlic will be stronger the longer you marinade.
Don't be afraid of the garlic it makes the steak taste wonderful!
Either grill the steaks or pan fry them in butter.
Either way they're great!
I do both; I grill them til they're almost done then finish the cooking by pan frying.
This turns an average grocery store steak into a delicious good restaurant tasting steak.

energy shift

now with all the election drama in the history books my brain is having time to think about other things. i watched top design on bravo and i love that show!  i'd like to think with tens of thousands of dollars i could do all sorts of amazing home design.  i realized that after moving in there are some redesigning i'd like to do in my house.  i wish i had money to buy a new kitchen table, a new computer desk, a desk or drafting table for myself to have some work space, some sort of storage for the kitchen, and some art work.  my energy is flowing and dreaming all around, but i'm a little short on funds for all these dreams right now.  then i feel guilty because i really have more than i need but i guess that's they way of the world.  i'm still going to move around some things and see how it works.

we had the most delicious dinner the other night.  we bought some pumpkin gnocchi at the italian deli by our house and were trying to figure out the sauce that would best complement it.  one of the blogs i follow had a recipe for great pumpkin pasta and it was delicious.  we obviously used the gnocchi instead of pasta and hot italian sausage instead of mild but oh man, it was totally decadent and delicious.  kiko said it was worth at least $20!  i need to learn how to make some good pictures of the food i make.  

yesterday morning i made sweet potato pancakes:

SWEET POTATO PANCAKES

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup cooked sweet potatoes, mashed
1 egg
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (use graham flour for a nice taste!)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk (or more)


Mix sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl with egg. Stir in the flour and add the baking powder.
Add up to 1/3 cup of milk, stirring. Stir in 1 tbsp butter.
The mixture should have the consistency of thick, lumpy sauce like an "instant" pancake mix
Place a non-stick or heavy iron skillet over medium heat on top of the stove and add 1/2 tsp butter.

Spoon batter into the skillet and cook until bubbles rise to the surface of the pancakes and break. Approx. 1 to 2 minutes.
Using a spatula, flip the pancakes and cook another 2 minutes.
Remove pancakes from the skillet and keep warm on a covered plate in the oven. Freezes Well!

i got it of this site for healthy toddler food.  i doubled the recipe and added cinnamon, nutmeg and a little vanilla and used a gluten free pancake mix instead of flour.  they are super delicious!

hallelujah

is it normal i'm still getting teary eyed. thank god, thank america.