Superfluous Explained

People keep asking me what 'superfluous' means and why it is the title of my blog.
Well first of all, Superfluous is my favorite word. And if I was ever on Inside the Actor's Studio, that would be my favorite word pick. Secondly, I used to not know how to pronounce superfluous, and I even looked like a total idiot trying to impress a guy with my expansive Russian Literature knowledge. (My favorite short story is called "First Love" by Ivan Turgenev, which can be found in the book, "Diary of a Superfuous Man").

Well of course I said Super-FlU-ous, when you should say: Su-Perfluous. Whatevs!
Here is the definition of Superfluous, which I guess if you read between the lines, you could say that is a definition of me. You tell me...

su·per·flu·ous –adjective
1.
being more than is sufficient or required; excessive.
2.
unnecessary or needless.
3.
Obsolete. possessing or spending more than enough or necessary; extravagant.

su·per·flu·ous·ly, adverb
su·per·flu·ous·ness, noun

Girls Night Out...Part Deux

O! U R HERE!!

Friday did finally come around. The girls from WMHS met up in Jordan, MN at Jaime's place. Shannon, Cindy, Jaime and I enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Jaimes... We headed out to do what I call, The Carver County Pub Crawl! We enjoyed good times and drinks and laughs at the local bars, putting to good use Jaime's BOGO card. I saw a few people I hadn't seen since high school. Including a very creepy teacher who is still creepy!! YIKES! (and Puke!). Overall we had some good laughs and no one got into any fights, although we came a wee bit close at the T-Road Tavern, but that is a whole other story. At the last bar, we girls stayed to close the place down and headed back to Jaime's to crash. We had a great breakfast in the morning and I headed out to help my friend Ellen move into Sarah's place... now i must chill, and maybe there will be more fun to have later... but for now this party girl is sleepy!

Well it's a Girls Night Out...

The Judds sang it best...

Friday finally came around This girls ready to paint the town

Tonight aint nothin gonna slow me down

I did my time workin all week

Tonights all mine, tomorrow Ill sleep,I wanna hear a band with a country sound

Well, Ive been couped up all week long

Ive been workin my fingers to the bone!

Well, its a girls night out Honey, there aint no doubt

Im gonna dance every dance til the boys go home

Well, its my night to rock No watchin that ol clock

Oh, aint no doubt, lordy its a girls night out!

One more day of work and then I'm heading out with my H2OTown Posse. I will report more on this outing tomorrow.

(P.S. As much as I loathe country music, The Judds are a very guilty pleasure!! I love you Winona & Naomi!!!)

The crux of the matter...

I didn't blog yesterday, and I was about to let today pass me by without blogging as well. The weather is a good indicator of my mood today, a bit gray and a lot gloomy.
I've just been thinking about people, friends really, who were friends but now are not. I'm not talking about the friends that you gradually lose touch with over time, but more of the friends you purposefully lose touch with. I have a handful of ex-friends that I am not friends with any longer and not ending on good terms either. Some are boyfriends that have decided either they couldn't remain friends with me, or vise versa. I have had girlfriends where the friendship has been so wounded, no bandage could heal the wound. Looking back there are no fingers to point, I have no ill will towards any of them. And if I could get all these lost friends in a room I would tell them how special they were to me, and if I could have my way all would be made well. I am a firm believer in forgiveness, I love the thought of reconciliation. However, sometimes people come into your life, but for a brief moment. And sometimes there is just the memory that is left, even if it is a painful memory. I've hurt people, people have hurt me. Life moves forward and hearts do heal with time... much time. Grace.

"Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past!"

Blueberry Waffles & Chocolate Zucchini

My wonderful cousin Kelly has hooked me up with my all time favorite candle: Blueberry Waffles! For the longest time I have gone to her house and literally drooled over the smell of this candle. Now I have my own! Actually this has been a good "find" week. Blueberry Waffle Candles, Hebrew National Hot Dogs, and my favorite Ruffies garbage bags! (Thanks Shannon & Sarah!) Does life get any better?!

Tonight I made yet again one more Zucchini dish:

Recipe from Auntie Lori:

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

zest of 1 lime (that is my addition)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate until melted. Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla and chocolate; beat well. Stir in the flour baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean.

For dinner I made myself steamed corn on the cob and a Hebrew National Dog. I ate my dog with ketchup & dijon mustard but I also added some Habenaro lime Salsa! Fanfrickentastic!

Here is my corn recipe:

Corn on the Cob with cheese & lime

Serves 4
INGREDIENTS

4 ears corn

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp. salt

6 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup finely grated queso blanco ( I used grated parm.)

1 lime, cut into quarters

In a large saucepan filled with salted boiling water, cook corn for 10 minutes in a basket steamer until corn is tender. (you can also grill the corn with husks on, use whatever method you prefer)

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine chili powder, paprika and salt.

Rub corn with butter and sprinkle with cheese and paprika mixture. Serve with lime wedges.

Saints

Tonight, Kyle, Kelly and I went to a St. Paul, Saint's game. I have not been to a Saint's game since 2 years ago, and funnily enough it was with Kyle & Kelly. We had a fun time eating dogs, cheese curds and smuggled in treats. Fun time had for all!

Oh and I am happy to report that i have finally found my Hebrew National 97% Fat Free Hot Dogs! I have been looking long and hard, and of all placed they were at a Super Target. Go figure! Dos gefelt mir!

Get your grub on...

Today I took a personal day off of work. I needed to start using up all that zucchini I have. I decided to make 2 pans of Zucchini & Basil Lasagna and Zucchini-Lemon Muffins. Tomorrow after work I am making Zucchini Bacon Quiche and Zucchini Chocolate Bread. And for the grand finale a Zucchini Moroccan-Spice Bread. Which will be interesting because i haven't made a yeast based bread in 10 years!! Yikes! However, I have always had extremely good luck with yeast and having it rise. (Rach, remember "pulling bread" when we had bad yeast!, good times!) I have to mention the 1 ingrediant I can not live without. Penzey's Very Hot Red Pepper Flakes, I put them on everything! And i mean everything! http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscrushedredpepper.html



Zucchini and Basil Lasagna

Ingredients
2 cups fat-free cottage cheese
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1 large egg
Cooking spray
4 cups chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups bottled spicy tomato pasta sauce
9 oven-ready lasagna noodles (such as Barilla)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine first 3 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth.
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in sauce; remove from heat.
Spread 1/4 cup zucchini mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 3 noodles over zucchini mixture; top with one-third cottage cheese mixture, one-third zucchini mixture, and one-third mozzarella. Repeat procedure with the remaining noodles, cottage cheese mixture, zucchini mixture, and mozzarella.
Cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until lasagna is thoroughly heated.
Yield 8 servings
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 227(24% from fat); FAT 6g (sat 3.1g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 17.8g; CHOLESTEROL 40mg; CALCIUM 251mg; SODIUM 537mg; FIBER 2.9g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.4g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2003

Zucchini-Lemon Muffins
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup coarsely shredded zucchini
3/4 cup skim milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg
Cooking spray
Preparation
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl, and make a well in center of mixture. Combine zucchini, milk, oil, and egg; stir well. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans immediately, and let cool on a wire rack.
Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 147(26% from fat); FAT 4.3g (sat 0.8g,mono 1.2g,poly 1.9g); PROTEIN 3.1g; CHOLESTEROL 18mg; CALCIUM 69mg; SODIUM 62mg; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 24.3g
Cooking Light, JUNE 1995