Where the Magic Happens

Introducing: My New Kitchen

It may not look like much, and this picture is borderline terrible, but I’m in love with my new kitchen.  It’s the nicest kitchen I’ve had since moving to AZ in 2006. As a struggling, unemployed college student, my options were limited when it came to rentals and for the last four years I was lucky to even have a kitchen.  (Okay, that came out a lot more woe-is-me than I intended!) Anyway, I’m pretty stoked on my new digs. I even have a dishwasher! But if we’re being totally honest, I still do dishes by hand and use it as a drying rack.

I didn’t do much cooking this week. Actually, that’s a lie, I cook every night, but I ate the same meal 5 out of 7 nights, so I didn’t bother taking pictures. There are only so many ways to artfully present grilled chicken and veggies, so I deemed it a waste of memory card space. But here’s some hummus for you.

Has anyone tried Pita Pal brand hummus? I found it at Safeway & it was almost $2 cheaper than Tribe hummus. It was pretty good, on par with Sabra, but still lacking what I love so much about Tribe (although I still can’t pinpoint exactly WHAT I love about it). I polished off the tub in a week if that says anything.

I ventured out of my grilled-chicken-comfort-zone and made Danica’s Baked Cheesy Turkey Ziti one night this week (which I found on Janetha’s blog). The recipe makes 6 HUGE 250-calorie servings so this fed me for days and I still have leftovers!

Sorry for the crappy food photography, I haven’t quite regained my mojo. Also, the basil is from my very own (really it’s K’s) basil plant. I’m pretty excited I haven’t killed it yet!

This week in teaching:

What started out as a very rough week, ended on a pretty good note. I’m learning that teaching high school is a little like BEING in high school. There’s drama, arguments, cliques, etc. But I still love it and that’s what really matters.

I was expressing to a friend last night that teaching just feels right to me. I’m still surprised every other Friday when I get my paycheck! Sometimes I forget it’s my JOB. But that’s the thing, it doesn’t feel like a J.O.B. Yes, it’s challenging. Yes, it’s hard WORK. And sometimes it can be stressful, but it never feels like a job. I’m pretty blessed to be in this place in my life and I’m glad I have this little blog to document it!

I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend.  The temperatures here have finally cooled off a little (we were having 90-95 degree days last week) and we’ve even had a little rain. Yah for rain in the desert!

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