Foodie goodness.

So, the huge plus (among the many plusses) to being a SAHW is that I get to really cook. I love cooking, but I loathed cooking for one and usually after a full day of work I only had the patience/time/energy/motivation to throw something haphazardly together. Not any more. I am totally getting to embrace my inner foodie and I love it! Also, I finally get to make great use of all the fantabulous kitchen goodies/gadgets we got for our wedding!

Just since Swiss has been home I've made Chicken rolls stuffed with feta, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and olives in a yummy tomato sauce. I've made Teriyaki (homemade marinade of course) pork tenderloin* with (again) homemade mango salsa*. And last night I made adobo chicken soft tacos with avocado salsa* and it was To. Die. For.

Tonight, shrimp. I'm sitting here pouring over my pile of food p*rn cookbooks and trying to decide what to make. Do I go asian? Caribbean? Garlicky? Spicy? And you know what? I love this. This is the stuff I never did before... and now that I have time for it? I am totally digging it. And so is Swiss.

Anyway, I've been super thrilled with the recipes I've found lately and all the ones with a * behind them are from this awesomesauce book: The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger. Go buy it! It is full of healthy, low fat, flavorful and easy recipes that make me drool. Seriously, that avocado salsa? I thought Rich was going to leave me and marry it instead. It was THAT good.

I think I will make Red Shrimp and Mango Curry (can you tell the mangos at the commissary are fabulous now?) from the divine Ms. Nigella Lawson (recipe from Nigella Express) tonight... must get more limes and cilantro because we are going through them like nobody's business. Seriously, we are going through fresh produce left and right and I must say, the food is so much better and we eat so much healthier this way. And y'all are welcome for dinner any time!

SAHW: Sports edition

I am sort of giddy. And by sort of I mean really, really giddy.

I just realized that this year, this non-working year of mine, includes not only the annual bliss that is March Madness (Rock Chalk!) but also the Vancouver Olympics AND the World Cup. All deliciously uninterrupted and work free.

BOOYAH!

So I get to stay up late or get up early to watch it all live from the comfy confines of my sofa, I get to watch the games not on the internet but on our glorious TV in HD, and I get to see my favorites play (Spain! Kansas! England!) for the first time in years. Color me one happy SAHW. Remember that bit about me saying I've not been watching copious amounts of TV? Come mid-February, throw it out the window! Wheeee!

Being a SAHW, sans husband.

So pretty much I feel like a slacker (apart from the mighty task of getting this house together). I also feel like a college kid home on Semester break, wondering when this easy, breezy gig will be up. Which is to say that I don't think I've entirely grasped the fact that I'm not going back to work for a long time... at least not for another year, which seems like a long time to me.

Now that isn't to say that I'm not digging it. Work is overrated... though only in the sense of 40+ hours a week all dressed up doing what someone else tells you to do. However I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I do miss the intellectual challenge, the secretly awesome feeling of putting my degree to really great use, the satisfaction that comes with actually helping someone and doing something that matters... and getting paid for it.

But this life of leisure is pretty great too... I finally feeling unstressed (for the most part) and able to do a lot of the things I have always wanted to do. I'm running! Two weeks in to the Couch to 5K program and I'm staying motivated and actually doing it. Something I never really had time for when I was working and keeping the house clean and running errands every weeknight to keep the weekends free for Swiss, or when I was constantly cleaning, tweaking, obsessing over the sale of the house and prepping for the move. Excuses? Maybe. But before there was only so much I could do and maintain my sanity... working out was what got cut. Now? I have the time. And I dig it, plus the side benefit is that I'm getting in better shape and feeling better about myself. Win, win.

Do I watch a lot of TV? I suppose no more than I did before. Honestly, apart from my dedicated 2 hours every morning to watching the West Wing (Good Maude I love that show!)... I pretty much work throughout the day and only sit down for a few half hour stretches here and there (I can never say no to the Barefoot Contessa or ColorSplash) until dinnertime which is usually after 8. Which sort of surprises me. And I'm truly looking forward to having my studio totally set up and ready to go... then I hope to set aside an hour or two every day for creative me-time. I need to get my paint on for serials.

I've also done some awesome reading in regards to healthy eating and cooking. I read "Eat This, Not That" which was eye-opening and alarmingly helpful (the yogurt I've been buying has 28g of sugar per serving!!! Holy crap!). I also bought "The Food You Crave" which is an awesome cookbook with all sorts of healthy substitutes in the foods we (Swiss and I) love and Ellie Krieger is awesome and a registered dietitian so her recipes are full of flavor and healthy and well balanced. So there will be a lot of time spent in the kitchen, whipping up drool-worthy meals that aren't all bad for us, with a few tweaked gems from "Nigella Express" because, secretly, I want to be Nigella Lawson.

But I digress. Do I sometimes feel weird about being college educated with a certification in cytopathology sitting at home doing laundry and cooking? Frankly... Yes. Do I sort of feel like I'm not living up to my potential, not using the brains the good Lord gave me and the education my dear parents paid for? Yep. Do I also feel like, for the first time in ages, I'm able to relax and breathe and focus on me and my relationship? Yes. So despite all the conflicting feelings I have over this... I'm happy with my, our, decision. And I'm guessing that being home every day when my husband comes home for lunch and home from work and being able to explore the more creative aspects of my personality will go a long, long way to making me a happy person. But I'd also bet I'll be pretty stoked to get back to work in a year. Then again, maybe not!