Griswold's a grownup!

So it's official, Dan is now a homeowner, as of October 23rd! Kris Kashimba, one of Dan's best friends and co-workers, has been his real estate agent these past few months and every time he sees me that is his favorite thing to say - "Griswold's a grownup now, Val!" All of his friends have been really excited for him throughout this process, and I'm happy that he found a place he likes in a great location - right at Papago Park, with great running/biking trails and parks right outside his door. Cheers to opening up the next chapter in your life, Griz :)

Here are a few pictures I took this morning after I got to see inside the place for the first time, and I'll post more in the coming weeks as we paint and get his things moved in! Just click on the pictures to see a bigger photo in a separate screen.

Song of the Week

In the spirit of fall I'm posting a song from one of my favorite James Taylor albums, October Road. It is a beautiful spread of colorful music, musings on life, fall, family, traveling... all in typical JT style. In high school I was a fan of older JT music, but then along came this gem of an album. I fell in love with it immediately after my dad ordered it from the BMG catalogue. If James Taylor had a season it would be fall - his reassuring, reflective tone encapsulates all the best feelings of fall to me. It has been a favorite autum ritual listening to this album all the way through over the past 6 years. This time of year has such a special and distinct feel to it... like the earth itself is showing off its best colors and giving us the best temperatures in which to enjoy them. When you finally reach the first weekend of fall you know it immediately, because something just feels right in the air, and suddenly I find myself looking a little closer at the things that have been around me all along.

Well I'm-a going back down
Maybe one more time,
Deep down home,
October road.
And I might like to see
That little friend of mine
That I left behind
Once upon a time.
Oh, promised land
And me still standing,
It's a test of time,
It's a real good sign.

Let the sun run down
Right behind the hill,
I know how to stand there
Still till the moon rise up
Right behind the pine,
Oh, Lord,
October road.

Let the sun run down
Right behind the hill,
I know how to stand there
Still till the moon rise up
Right behind the pine,
Oh, Lord,
October road.

It's the big-time life
That I can't abide,
Raise my rent,
Tan my hide.
Sweet call of
The countryside,
Go down slow, open wide..
I did my time
And it changed my mind,
I'm satisfied, oh.
I got so low down,
Fed up, my God,
I could hardly move.
Won't you come on, my brother,
Get on up
And help me find my groove.

Keep me walking,
October road.
Keep me walking
In the sunshine, yeah
A little friend of mine,
October road.
Keep me walking,
October road.
Keep me walking
In the sunshine, yeah.
A little friend of mine,

October Road,

help me now.

Recipe of the Week - Beef Stroganoff

It was time to try out another crock pot recipe this week so Dan & I made a last minute decision to make beef stroganoff on Sunday afternoon. We biked to the store and got the ingredients before going to his indoor soccer game. I think Dan is officially sold on the crock pot because we were able to make this recipe in just 5 minutes before getting on our way for the long drive out to his game. And then after 2 soccer games he ate, seriously, 3 full servings of this. I made a spinach salad to go along with the stroganoff and it was delicious! We ate dinner with my roommate Sarah, and then one of her friends came over and we watched Quid Pro Quo, which turned out to be a very thought-provoking and interesting film. All in all it was a perfect Sunday!

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 pounds of beef steak
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can beef broth
½ red onion, ½ sweet onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried mustard
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/3 c. flour
2 c. sliced mushrooms

½ c. low-fat sour cream
Egg noodles or brown rice, whichever you prefer

DIRECTIONS:
Cut the beef into bite size pieces and place at the bottom of the crock pot. Coat the meat with the dry ingredients, add the broth and cream of mushroom soup, mix in onions and mushrooms, and BOOM there you have it! It can cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 7-8 hours. Add ½ c. sour cream in the last 15 or so minutes before serving for that nice creamy taste. Serve over extra-wide egg noodles or brown rice.

A few things that made me smile this week

Two of my favorite things - flowers and breakfast!

Dan just loves celebrating anniversaries, which I will not complain about for a second ;) It could be the one month anniversary of us going on our first bike ride together and he'd probably remember it and bring me a little present, it's cute.

I'm also posting my favorite breakfast as of late, cracked wheat cereal. Dad used to make this for us a lot growing up and we'd always groan and say it was so gross. But I woke up a couple months ago and randomly just really wanted some cracked wheat. I couldn't find any cracked wheat at the store, but I did find a 10-grain cereal at the health food store that has barley, flax seed, rolled oats and all sorts of other grains in it. I cook it up and throw some frozen blackberries and half a banana in there, top it with plain yogurt and slivered almonds and there you have a deliciously nutritious way to start your day!

In other news, this was Dan's first week of his new work schedule, and it has been interesting for sure. He has been doing shift work for 3 years now, where he works 10-12 hour days and has Thursday-Saturday off and every other Wednesday. He got tired of working Sundays and decided he needs to be around town more often now that he bought a condo, so he switched to Monday - Friday. Now we are just enjoying a normal weekend together and it's really nice!

His soon to be ex-roommate Kyle just got back from his two month sabbatical in Europe so we're all hanging out and having a great time. Next weekend Dan is putting on a Tailgate party for the ASU/Oregon game, so that will be a fun time as well. And then the next weekend after that two of my best friends, Chelsea & Tina, will be flying in from Denver for Halloween weekend! I am very excited to show them around my side of town and catch up with them! And then just one more month till Annie gets here for Thanksgiving Break! I could not be more excited! Good times are on the horizon. School and work are challenging but keeping me very busy and happy. This has been a great semester, and it sounds like it's only going to keep getting better. Dan moves into his condo at Papago Park next weekend so I'll have to post pictures as soon as he gets settled in. Hope all the family is enjoying the end of Fall Break! I miss you guys!

Song of the Week

Hot Chip

The Warning
_______________________

I know I tend to post a lot of slow and depressing music, so for a change I'm posting something upbeat and a little wild - Hot Chip! They are one of Dan's favorite groups. He converted me as a fan on our first date and I've been listening to them ever since. We drove down to Tuscon a few weeks ago to see Hot Chip & Vampire Weekend in concert and they did not disappoint! It was more than your average Tuesday night... they put on the most high-energy show I've ever been to, and we soaked it all up, dancing and having a great time :)

Excuse me, sir
I'm lost
I'm looking for a place
Where I can get lost
I'm looking for a home
For my malfunctioning being
I'm looking for the mechanical music museum

This is a warning
I'll spell it out for you
For you
This is a warning
I'll spell it out for you

Excuse me miss
I'm a dog on heat
I'm a complicated being
With love songs to eat
I'm a poor, starving baby
who can march all night
I'm a mechanical music man
And I'm
Starting a fire

Hot Chip will break your legs
Snap off your head
Hot Chip will put you down
Under the ground

Excuse me child
I am trying to see
All the colours of wonder your brightness can be
Return to nothingness enjoy
Just might be right
But prepare yourself
For a mechanical fright

This is a warning
I'll spell it out for you
For you
This is a warning
I'll spell it out for you
For you

Hot Chip will break your legs
Snap off your head
Hot Chip will put you down
Under the ground
Hot Chip will break your legs
Snap off your head
Hot Chip will put you down
Under the ground

Excuse me son I'm found
I'm looking for a place
Where I was once found
There's nothing in a world
Where the melody is broken
There's always some way
To make a silence be spoken

Hot Chip will break your legs
Snap off your head
Hot Chip will put you down
Under the ground
Hot Chip will break your legs
Snap off your head
Hot Chip will put you down
Under the ground

Look who's officially on the loose...

So I hear that another Porter has joined the world of motor vehicle operators. Here is my toast to Nate Dawg enjoying better (and safer) driving days than the rest of us Porter sibs! Good luck - it's a jungle out there :) I love ya bro!

In My Place

Fall is finally being ushered into Arizona! (In its own way, of course). Now it’s not a blasting 110 anymore, just a cool 95 during the days :) But in the morning and late afternoon we are seeing some 80-85 degree days and it is just wonderful. I was finally able to go for an afternoon hike and not double over from heat stroke.

On Sunday I got all of my laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping done and then decided to head out to South Mountain to hike and watch the sunset. In one of my favorite songs that I’ve posted before “Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight” Amos Lee sings, “We all need a place that we can go...” I have found that to be so true in my life. I have always seemed to need a “place to go” where I can remove myself from my current environment... get away from my “things”... have a break from people... and just contemplate the mysteries of life... reflect on memories from days gone by... and dream about possibilities for the future.

I’ve always had at least one place I go to when I’m feeling out of sorts or want to be alone. Growing up, that place was my room. In high school I painted my room myself and put up a lighthouse border on the walls. I looked forward to coming home from school and lying on my bed, napping and daydreaming in the afternoon, listening to James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. In college I used to go to the one coffee shop in Utah County, Juice & Java, which also had a sandwich place connected to it called Baileys. The owner used to make me a great veggie sandwich and ask about how my classes were going and what was new in my life. I would study and read in the afternoons, while sipping on a vanilla latte that came with the best-ever chocolate-covered espresso beans, with Iron & Wine as my music of choice. I really loved those days because they marked a real period of discovery for me. I was constantly reading and learning, and enjoyed going to the coffee shop because it somehow always got me in the mood to study.

After I graduated and wasn’t reading all the time I found another place to go to, and that was my sister Misty’s house. Throughout her pregnancy I would come over and hang out on my lunch breaks, watch lame TV with her, eat bean dip, and just talk about everything on our minds. After Gavin was born I’d come by in the mornings and find them napping so peacefully together on her bed - it was as if the world had stopped turning and everything was perfect in that moment. I think I will always have that image in my mind, and it will remind me of that time I had with Misty and how special it was to me.

When I moved to Arizona there was so much chaos in trying to figure out how to get around, and not getting lost was pretty much my only goal in life for the first 2 months. Now that I can partially navigate myself I spend less time worrying about that and more time exploring new places. Just after I met Dan we went on a hike to South Mountain with all of his friends as part of Ryan’s birthday festivities. It was spring and the hike was very pretty... the view of the city of Phoenix was awesome! That hike motivated me to get in better shape so I started going back after that day, mostly on the weekends. Sometimes I went with Dan on Saturday mornings, but I started going by myself and really enjoyed the way I felt when I was there alone. The months of July and August were very hard with the 115 degree days, but I kept going back and hiked slowly through the torturous heat. Last Sunday was my first day back on South Mountain that felt perfect. The fall weather is arriving and I have “my place” back, just the way I like it. I hiked out to part of the Mormon Trail on Sunday and then turned around as the sun was setting and ran back to the trailhead. I usually listen to music that I’ve discovered since living in AZ when I go to South Mountain, because it really makes it feel like my home. I listen to Feist, the Kooks, Hot Chip or other indie bands I’ve discovered from Dan and other friends.

I was listening to “I Feel it All” as I was soaking in my runner’s high, the beautiful orange and pink stretches of color in the sky, perfectly warm weather, and I thought to myself... this is the best of Arizona - to me. This is where I can come and set aside all of my worries and just enjoy getting lost in the desert. And that is how I found my newest “place.” In that moment I flashed ahead to a perfect fall, where I will be able to go to my place any day I want and enjoy a little run amongst the red rocks and cactus.

Song of the Week

Feist
"I Feel it All"
The Reminder, 2007
_________________________

I feel it all I feel it all
I feel it all I feel it all
The wings are wide the wings are wide
Wild card inside wild card inside

Oh I'll be the one who'll break my heart
I'll be the one to hold the gun

I know more than I knew before
I know more than I knew before
I didn't rest I didn't stop
Did we fight or did we talk

Oh I'll be the one who'll break my heart
I'll be the one to hold the gun

I love you more
I love you more
I don't know what I knew before
But now I know I'm wanna win the war

No one likes to take a test
Sometimes you know more is less
Put your weight against the door
Kick drum on the basement floor
Stranded in a fog of words
Loved him like a winter bird
On my head the water pours
Gulf stream through the open door
Fly away
Fly away to what you want to make

I feel it all, I feel it all
I feel it all I feel it all
The wings are wide, the wings are wide
Wild card inside, wild card inside

Oh I'll be the one to break my heart
I'll be the one who'll break my heart
I'll be the one who'll break my heart
I'll end it thought you started it

The truth lies
The truth lied
And lies divide
Lies divide

Recipe of the Week - Taco Soup

Welcome to the newest addition to my kitchen! Target was having a sale on cooking appliances and I ended up getting this for 17 bucks, which has made me infinitely happy!!! It's a 4-Qt. slow cooker with a carrying case included. I am really excited to try out all the slow-cooker recipes I've found recently. Now that it's fall (even though an Arizona fall isn't a "real" fall), I am still going to try out a lot of different soups because I love soup, no matter how hot or cold it is.


So here is the first meal I made in my slow cooker today: TACO SOUP. I threw it together before going to work this morning. I kind of ripped off Misty's recipe... she used to make it a lot when we lived down the street from each other, and I would come over after work and steal a bowl before Nate got home :) Hopefully it turns out as good as hers always did!


INGREDIENTS:
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can whole kernel corn

½ lb. extra lean ground beef or imitation ground beef
2 cans Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce (no sodium added)
1 can diced tomatoes w/spicy green chiles (in the Hispanic food aisle, as well as the green chiles)
1 7 oz. can green chiles
Add any medium salsa - to taste, about 1/2 c. (I used a Cilantro Lime salsa)

1 large green pepper, chopped
½ sweet onion, finely chopped
½ red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3-4 tbs. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
½ package McCormick taco seasoning
½ package Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning

DIRECTIONS:
Brown the ground beef, drain. Add all ingredients into the slow cooker and leave on low for about 8 hours. Serve with low-fat sour cream, sprinkle of cheese, sliced olives, slice of avacado, and blue-corn tortilla chips! Enjoy!

Beautiful Weekend in Portland

Last weekend Dan & I headed up to Portland with Beejal to see their fellow Intel friend John Epple tie the knot with his beautiful bride Lucila Cejas-Epple. Dan completed an 8-month assignment in Portland in '06 and made a lot of friends while he was there. They came to visit us in Phoenix a few months ago when they did the Rim to Rim Run at the Grand Canyon, so I was very excited to see them again in THEIR city! From the second we stepped off the plane until we were welcomed back to the oven at the Phoenix airport on Sunday, it was an amazing weekend. Portland is such a beautiful city and we crammed a lot of good times into just three short days. Sushi, Bachelor/Bachelorette party at Dixie, Hip Hop dance class on Saturday morning with our friend Selena, BBQ with the family and other out-of-towners, and the Wedding!

This weekend also got me really excited for an opportunity that I may have coming up. Dan was asked again to go on assignment to Portland next Spring - April through September. If all works out I will most likely be taking the summer off of school and spending May through August with him in Portland! I am really excited to spend more time with the "Portland Crew" and just be able to soak in all the culture that Portland has to offer.

Dessert of the Week :)

Sunflower Cherry Oatmeal Bars

Okay, I’ve got another one for this week :) I made these last night for Dan’s softball team. The other girlfriends of guys on the team bring treats and come faithfully to every game... and well, I’m a little spotty on my attendance and haven’t ever brought treats. So yesterday I decided I would go to at least his second game, and even make some healthy treats to share. Woah!

Dan’s softball game is actually where I met my current roommate Erin... her boyfriend Roman has been playing on the team for a couple years, and was also Dan & Shashi’s previous roommate in 2007. Erin has been a great roommate, so going to that softball game last spring definitely paid off. She is a really healthy and active person, so I love being around her and soaking up all that positive energy.

So give this recipe a whirl, you won’t regret it. Plus they only take like 15 minutes to make, how could you not?

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup rolled oats, either quick cooking or old fashioned
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup packed natural brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sunflower kernels
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup dried cherries
*You can use other dried fruits...
I used dried cranberries because I had some I needed to use.
1/3 cup canola oil

Orange juice
1/2 cup black cherry preserves
**You can use any flavor preserves
I used raspberry because that was what I had on hand.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325̊F. Combine oats, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, sunflower kernels and dried fruit in a large bowl.

Add oil and 4 t0 6 tbs. of orange juice, mixing well until all ingredients are fully combined. Reserve a half cup and press the rest into a lightly oiled 8-by-8-inch baking pan.

Mix about 1/4 c. orange juice with the preserves and spread evenly over the oat mixture in the pan. Sprinkle reserved oat mixture over the top and press down lightly with fingers.

Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Cool in the pan on a wire rack then cut into bars or squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

NUTRITION:

Per serving (1 bar/47g-wt.): 170 calories (60 from fat), 7g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 3g protein, 26g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 14g sugar), 0mg cholesterol, 60mg sodium

Recipe of the Week - Gazpacho

I know a lot of people have their own recipes for this dish... and as such, I've read a LOT of them over the last month. So I've combined ingredients from different recipes to make the perfect mix, for me anyway :) I am starting to come up with some "staples" - good recipes I can make on a Monday and have them last throughout the week as lunches and snacks. This is a fun recipe to make and then enjoy all week long. The best thing about this is that the ingredients are cheap and it feeds several people for multiple meals.

Every week I get the Sunflower Market ad sent to my e-mail, and depending on what they have on sale I plan out my cooking accordingly. I think that's a great way to eat on a budget, while at the same time getting great variety with the best foods each season has to offer. This week on-the-vine tomatoes were $.89/lb. And they were really sweet, which made this soup even better.


I love this soup because it is so healthy and I actually crave it, which a good thing for once! This cold soup could make anyone fall in love with veggies, seriously. It is a perfect meal for a hot day in Phoenix. I know it's starting to get cold for other people, but we're still rocking 105 degrees during the day around these parts. For dinner last night I ate it with whole wheat pita bread, which was delicious.

Chilled Gazpacho
_____________________

1 32 oz. bottle of organic Vegetable Juice
4 large and ripe on the vine tomatoes, chopped
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3-4 stalks of celery, chopped

chopped fresh parsley, to taste
chopped fresh cilantro, to taste
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
(about 1-2 tbs. of each)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
½ freshly squeezed lemon
salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
10-15 drops of any flavored hot sauce
1 tsp. honey

1 purple onion, finely chopped
1 small sweet onion or yellow onion, finely chopped

*add more or less onion according to taste;
I prefer more purple onion because of the flavor it adds