Tamale Pie

My camera was not working properly when I was done making my tamale pie so I don't have a picture of it, but it was a hit! My dad actually ate two helpings of it, my boyfriend loved it, and my brother's friends finished what my family couldn't.

If you don't know what tamale pie is, it's basically a "pie" with chili (like beef chili) as its filling and with cheese and cornbread as its crust/topping. It's a deliciously fatty comfort food that I think most men would enjoy. I'm a comfort food kind of girl so I loved it. I'll have to put the recipe up sometime soon since it was such a hit.

Tutoring

I've missed my adorable tutees :) Well, I only saw one of them today, but she's so cute! Whenever she messes up she goes, "Whoopsies!" I really don't want to stop tutoring her and her older sister in March, but I must. It would be cool if I could help them all the way up to college, but I should have a real job by then (hopefully.)

Darryl got mad at me for shopping yesterday, haha. He says it's because shopping was the reason I got sick in the first place, but I think it's also because he doesn't like me spending money. I always tell him that he has no say over my spending habits until we're married, so HA! to him. Also, I am still feeling healthy, so another HA! to him. I'm much nicer to my boyfriend than I sound right now :)

Yay!

Finally, I feel well!

To celebrate my newfound wellness... I went shopping hehe. I got multiple items from Gap and a pair of shorts from Express. I was going to wait for the Gap sale on Thursday, but there weren't too many items in the size and colors I wanted and I didn't want to risk not getting them at all.

Here are some of the items I bought today:



1. Gap pants. I've never worn white pants before but I've always wanted a pair. I finally found one that looks good on me so I figured, why not? We'll see how much bravery it takes to wear it around town....

2. Gap shirt: I absolutely LOVED this shirt!! I want more of them in every color. It's comfy, soft, and it has a nice shape. The color looks really washed out on the model, but it looked a lot better in person. I got it in a medium because the larger size gives it more of a casual menswear look.

I also bought a cardigan that wasn't on the Gap website. Here's a color similar to it:



I bought another cardigan at Nordstroms with a gift card, but after trying it on at home, it doesn't look as good as in the store. I hate when that happens!! Now I must return it some time soon...

Green Bean Risotto

Since I've been sick I haven't been able to cook, but Darryl is visiting me later this week so I told him I'd attempt to make tamale pie. Sadly, my dad doesn't enjoy tamale pie because he had to eat it often as a child, but Darryl really likes it. Hopefully the recipe I am going to use can make both of them happy. I'm reluctant to post the recipe since it's so long (it has a ton of ingredients!) but I will definitely post pictures of the results! I should be making it Thursday night, but we'll see...

I will post a recipe for my favorite risotto, though! It's so simple, it just takes some patience since you have to constantly stir and/or watch it.

Green Bean Risotto (from Southern Living)

• 1 pound fresh green beans
• 1 (32-ounce) container low-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 red onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Trim beans and cut into bite-size pieces. Bring beans and 1/4 cup broth to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; cook 10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove beans, and set aside.

Bring remaining broth to a simmer in a saucepan (do not boil), keeping warm over low heat.

Add butter, chopped onion, and garlic to broth in Dutch oven; cook 3 minutes. Add rice and white wine, and cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Reduce heat to medium.

Add 1 cup simmering broth to rice mixture in Dutch oven, and cook, stirring often, until liquid is absorbed. Repeat procedure with remaining broth, 1 cup at a time. (Takes about 20 minutes.)

Stir in beans, thyme, pepper, and Parmesan cheese.

My favorite parts of this recipe are the thyme and Parmesan cheese. They just add such a perfect flavor and texture to risotto.

Still sick...

So I'm still sick... what is wrong with me??? I've been laying in bed and pretty much doing nothing for the past 4 days, yet I'm still not feeling good. Back in the day, I would be going to class and acting like a normal person while sick, yet I would be better in like 3 days. Granted, I'm also having lady troubles so that might have weakened my system more (sorry tmi,) but this is an unusually long cold for me.

Now that I'm going back to "work" I've been thinking about grad. school (yay?) and the future (ugh.) I feel bad ditching my students for grad. school in March, but I am actually kind of excited about going back to school. I've been teaching nouns, verbs, adjectives, and algebra for much too long and I need something that challenges my brain. I feel like I've lost brain cells since graduation!

Speaking about losing brain cells... I want to start speaking Spanish again so that I don't forget my verbs and conjugations. When I was at Trader Joe's like a month ago I think the cashier was hitting on me haha (sorry, Darryl.) Anyway, he was Korean or something, and since he carded me for alcohol he noticed I was Japanese so he said stuff in Japanese to me. I know some Japanese, but being the idiot I am I responded in Spanish because that was the most recent foreign language I've learned. Of course he started talking to me in Spanish after that, and talking in Spanish made me realize just how rusty I've gotten in just 5 months. I guess that's a long time to go without using a language, but still, my brain is getting dusty!

Hopefully I'm well enough to tutor on Wednesday :(