Newlywed, Newly Veg!

Hey guys! Happy Thursday!  It’s been a low-key morning here.  Got some work done early this morning, then hopped on the t-mill for a lovely six mile run (walked the last half mile).  I took the dogs out for a stroll too because we’re supposed to be getting MORE snow this afternoon—ugh!  I hope I don’t get stuck up at campus when I go up to teach my classes!

Speaking of which, funny story.  On Tuesday, my first class starts at 1:05, hence my rushed lunch posts.  So, this previous Tuesday, I rushed up to campus, made it to my class right at 1:05, and practically NO ONE was there.  We didn’t have bad weather or anything, so I was so confused.  My class usually has 25 students, and there were about six kids sitting in the seats.  “Where IS everyone?” I asked.  My students just shrugged their shoulders.

Well fine, I thought, if they’re all going to skip class or come in late, I’m going to give a quiz.  “Alright, pull out some paper,” I said, and they all (well, all six of them) groaned.  I started rattling off questions from the reading in my “stern teacher” voice for the quiz, and as I gave the quiz, some students started streaming in with panicked looks on their faces, upset that they were missing a reading quiz. 

Finally, one students raised his hand tentatively.  “Yes?” I barked.  “What is it?”

“Ummm…doesn’t class start at 1:15?” he asked in a timid voice.

I looked at the clock.  Ohhhhhhh.  Whoops.

Apparently I’ve been starting class ten minutes early for the last FOUR classes, and no one said anything!!!  I guess when I cancelled those classes because of the snow, I just kind of got my schedule messed up in my head!

“I just figured you were a real go-getter,” one of my students told me, shrugging.  Gotta love ‘em.

We all had a good laugh about it.  Plus, I got to tell them to rip up their quizzes, Rod Belding style:

Funny stuff.

So, with ten extra minutes in my schedule, I got to have a nice, relaxing lunch today. 

Sunshine burger in an Ezekial pita (I’m loving these! So soft and chewy!), plus sprouts, ketchup, tomato, and raw cheese.  I also had a Kashi Crunchy snack bar (chocolate caramel flavor) for dessert.

I have some exciting announcements about the sugar challenge coming up, plus the unveiling of the March challenge (which I am super psyched for!) is right around the corner!

Happy Thursday, everybody!  See you tonight for dinnah.

What do you get when you combine split pea soup:

…with one overly eager dog:

…and a husband who’s too busy watching Jeopardy to guard your food when you leave the room?

A living room that looks like a scene from The Exorcist!

I didn’t take pictures, so use your imagination.  Trust me—it was as bad as it sounds. 

And speaking of scary movies, you know what isn’t one?  Shutter Island!

I know a lot of people are raving about it, but I thought it was really disappointing!  The previews had me shaking in my boots, but the movie was just so-so.  Everyone keeps talking about the “crazy” twist at the end, but (not to sound arrogant or anything) I kind of saw it coming.  I don’t know—I think my expectations were SUPER high for it too, because The Departed is one of my favorite movies, so I was kind of hoping that this one would be on the same level, and I just didn’t think it was at all.

Moving on.

After our disaster in the living room with bowl of soup number one, I served myself another bowl, and I’m glad I did, because this soup was delicious!

We served it with warm pita bread, perfect for scooping:

Curried Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp. yellow curry powder

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. cardamom

1 tsp. garam masala

1/2 tsp. cumin seeds

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup dried split peas

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup water (optional)

Directions

In a heavy-bottom soup pot, heat olive oil.  Add onion and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another 10-15 minutes, until onion and garlic have really softened and begun to brown.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add spices and cook for another 10 minutes.  Add split peas, cook for another minutes or two, then add vegetable broth, stirring the bottom to deglaze the pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. 

Cook for at least 1 hour, until split peas have softened and absorbed the liquid.  If the mixture is too thick, you can add water until it takes on the desired soup-like consistency. 

Voila:

Mmmm…this was SO good!  I made this before the movie and let it cook on the stove on the lowest setting while we were gone.  The garlic really mellowed out with the lengthy cooking time, and all of the spices came together so well.  It kind of tasted like a dal, but was also very much a soup.  Definitely a different take on split pea soup from the traditional soup we made back in January. You can see that (equally delicious) recipe here. 

I guess it was so tempting, Baxter just couldn’t help himself.

Did you know that they really did use split pea soup to act as the vomit for the famous exorcism scene in The Exorcist?  Fun fact, right?

Okay…I think we’re going to take it easy for a while and then head to bed!  Tomorrow is Thursday, which means…we’re almost to the weekend!!! Hang in there!