Happy Pi Day!! (food focused house and the projects that keep me from running)

Happy Pi Day!  Did you get out and get a run in?  3.14... miles, maybe?  Did you eat pie?

I won't lie, I still need to get a run in, but I did eat some pie... 

Chickpea Pot Pie

Serves 6

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 lbs small white mushrooms (quartered)

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1 onion chopped

1 poblano pepper chopped (and deseeded.  You could also use a green bell pepper instead.)

2 garlic cloves minced

3 cups veg. broth

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 ounces soft neufchâtel cheese (or cream cheese softened)

1 (15oz) can of chickpeas (rinsed and drained)

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large pie crust (14 ounces)

(we ended up using two pie crusts, each in a 9 inch pie pan.  Our favorite recipe is from a vintage Betty Crocker cookbook that is 1 1/4C flour and 1/3 C butter and 4-5 tablespoons cold water and 1/4 tsp salt. Mis the dry together and cut in the butter.  Slowly adding in the water.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray pie pan with non stick spray.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over med heat.  Add mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion, poblano (or green bell) pepper and garlic.  Cook, stirring until veggies are softened.  Stir in broth and cornstarch in a med bowl until blended.  Add to skillet and stir constantly.  When mixture starts to boil and starts to thicken, add in neufchâtel cheese and stir until smooth.  Stir in chickpeas, sage and salt.  Spoon mixture into pie crust.

Place pie crust over filling; press edges with fork for decorative edge and cut one inch slits throughout top for ventilation.

Place on baking sheet and cook until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.... about 25-30 minutes.  Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Hope you enjoy!  I loved it!

I'm not really injured, but this was a good segway picture...

I had a spring cleaning bug bite and have been reorganizing a closet in my "craft" room.  Well, to be completely honest, it's the "zoo" room.  We have birds and a couple bunnies... and it's a dusty mess.

Anyway, I've been cleaning and sorting... and came upon some old clippings and note pads from my beloved great grandmother...  Oh, how I miss her.  

The irony is I came upon this stuff in the back of a spare closet... just sitting and waiting to be looked through and remembered... on the anniversary of her death.

12 years now without her.  

I still remember the feeling of her knotty hand holding mine so tight, and I think some of the stuff still smells like her, so I've hidden it away again so it will keep those memories fresh....  but not before scanning it in the computer for some craft projects.  

Her handwritten recipe for zucchini bread, an open notebook of hers with writing peaking through the pages, a business card from the 1950's for a cafe in Boise and a different aged note pad.

I typed "on" to the paper with a computer program to create a "menu board" to hang in my kitchen...

I'll create something like a scrapbook page with her recipe, some old coupons for spam and fake butter, and other odds and ends (that will fit without being too crowded) and throw it all under glass in a picture frame... then I'll get a fine point dry erase marker to write out the week's menu and any grocery items we need to add to it.  Then, in theory, it can all be wiped off and used again.

And, in theory, my sweet family can stop asking me "What are we having [for lunch/dinner]?"
"Go check the Menu board..."

The best part is this is all scanned in a high resolution in my computer, so if I don't like the size/shape of the board, I can start again with a bigger picture frame.

This is what I have so far and will post a finished product (as soon as the spray paint on the frame dries and I can get it all together.)

Family Menu Board!

So, with heart strings tugged and lots of tears the last few days as I sort through this stuff and work on this project, I have been ignoring my fitness.  

Tomorrow I'm working at a half marathon to help direct runners on the course... I'm really looking forward to that and then I get to be a walking buddy to an amazing young gal who is walking her first 10K race.  I promise to get an interview up with this young lady, but you will be inspired.  She has a disease that is wrecking her muscles and deteriorating them... but before she is made to be unable to walk ever again, she has a goal to tackle a half marathon, and since she's up to 9 miles on her training walks, it's only a matter of time before you see her on the half marathon course!  ;-)

Happy Pi Day and Happy St. Patty's day tomorrow friends!  Hope it's a good one for you.

It's been a week of deep reflection for me... I won't lie, I might end the day tomorrow with a little Irish Whiskey to wash down my corned beef and cabbage dinner.  But not before getting a run in... really.

I really really need to run.

Does running help you sort out your thoughts and work out the heaviness in your heart?
Does grief for a lost loved one ever ease?