artichoke pasta

Made another easy and tasty pasta dish this week....
I used multi colored linguine (tomatoe and spinach flavored) and cooked that like normal.
Then I fried up a can of artichoke hearts, a bag of spinach, and a jar of sun dried tomoatoes with some garlic.
Once the pasta and veggies were cooked I stirred them up together- it was a tasty meal for me and Mark, and good leftover lunches for the week!

maybe I am a LEO.....

We've had an interesting (and silly) conversation at work a couple times now, with different people. Turns out several people at work like astrology (don't really believe in it, but know a lot about it and find it amusing to follow). I have had three different people at work ask what my sign is, and all three responded "That makes so much sense, you are such a Leo" when I tell that I am one.

I used to completely disagree. I always remember as a kid reading things about Leos wanting to be the center of attention, conceded, bossy people....but then we were all reading about our signs at work and I read this site:

http://www.astrology-insight.com/leo.htm

I would have to say, maybe I agree, maybe I am a Leo.

an interesting vegan "dinner" from Mark

I had been picking on Mark for not doing anything for valentine's day/our anniversary, and he kept saying he was going to cook me dinner, and he finally did a week later!
It was actually quite good, I thought I would share his creation since he randomly thought it up on the spot.
Ingredients:
tortilla wrap
firm tofu
daiya mozzarella vegan cheese
spinach
chili powder
1 yellow onion

DIRECTIONS:
Cut the tofu in to thin 1/4 inch strips a lay flat on the tortilla. Add a layer of fake cheese and then the spinach. Slice the onion and carmalize in olive oil, then layer on top of the spinach. Sprinkle with chili powder. Roll up and secure with toothpicks.
Slice the roll in to 1-2 inch thick rolls.

Fry in olive oil (not sure where he thought of this, but it worked).

When all was said and done it was delicious, but it was tedious, so Mark only made one wrap's worth, which amounted to two pieces each...not sure if I should let this count as dinner ; )
We both agreed it would be a great appetizer though.

I also thought it reminded me of what a breakfast burrito should be like, so the next day I took the leftovers along with a can of mushrooms and made breakfast burritos.
The directions for this:
Crumble tofu.
Fry Tofu, sliced onions, mushrooms, and spinach in olive oil.
Layer a tortilla wrap with daiya vegan cheddar cheese. Layer some of the fried burrito mix on top of the cheese (making it melt) and roll up to enjoy!

artificial intelligence...

Mark wanted to watch Watson on Jeopardy tonight, so I joined him, and Watson the computer kicked the contestants assess!!It freaked me out a little, I told Mark it seemed like some flashback from a sci fi movie in the future- some made up movie I would watch, where A.I. takes over and the flashback is to Watson winning Jeopardy, and being one of the first computers that could control us and exceed quicker then us. Mark said I was silly for those conspiracy theories ( am not really scared of it, but it was a neat idea).

Well, at the end the final jeopardy question was a US city question, it asked which US city had its first airport named after a world war 2 hero, and its second airport after a worl war 2 battle. I guessed NYC. The two human contestants knew the answer was Chicago, but Watson had no idea so he guessed Toronto and only wagered a small amount so he was still in the lead by over $25,000. Interestingly Mark was very bothered by Watson leading, and at the end when I commented that Toronto was not even a US City Mark exclaimed "Ughh, Watson totally did that on purpose so his lead wasn't too far and people aren't too mad at him!". I doubt that, but what if Mark is right? To me that would be even scarier...it would really imply that Watson had A.I., and that he understood human emotions. It's kind of a scary thought that a computer could understand that and make a choice based on what type of impression he might make...I think Mark is wrong, but it is an interesting thought.

set to high standards

Sometimes I am really amazed at the high standards veterinarians are held to. I have a lot of respect for M.D.s and sometimes I am jealous of how they can do so much for their patients that we can't yet. But there are also a lot of times when I realize as veterinarians we do so much more in other ways. And we really hold the bar high too.

For instance, when I think about follow up, I know the amount of time we as veterinarians spend talking with owners on the phone is INCREDIBLE. I have never actually received a phone call from one of my M.D.s to discuss lab results. In fact, I used to get a phone call from a secretary, but now I don't even get that, I get a letter in the mail saying that the labwork was ok. If I ever called the doctor to discuss a question I had as follow up I have never been allowed to speak with them, instead I leave my message and then the doctor's assistant calls me with an answer later, however if I have a follow up question after that i have to go through the same delayed process. Yet when it comes to being a vet, we call all owners personally to discuss labwork results. Owners will call us months to years after I saw the patient with follow up questions, and half the time it is a separate problem that we have to tell them to come in for to get evaluated for, but we still discuss the implications of what could be wrong with them over the phone.

And then when it comes to discharges, we take it to another level as a veterinarian. For instance, when I send a patient home I have a handwritten discharge anywhere from 2-3 pages long explaining what happened in the hospital and discussing step by step instructions for at hom care. And these instructions are expected to be idiot proof. Sometimes I write these handouts with step by step instructions even when I treated the patient as an outpatient. For instance, a newly diagnosed diabetic about to start insulin gets a 2 page handout on insulin care, administration, urine monitoring, etc. I have never received discharge instructions from an M.D. and asking around I don't know anyone else who has either.

And then there is the whole financial thing. I am jealous of M.D.s then, they often can run whatever test they want without worrying about finances. Yet we are forced to make estimates, revise them, and often time pick and choose diagnostics or treatments based on financial capability, hoping that we choose right. Our hands are often tied even when we have the capability of giving a patient everything a human with the same disease might need, because the owner is not willing or able to pay the $5000-10000 it might take. I know, that is a lot of money, but most of the time we charge 1/10th or less of the price for the same thing that a human patient gets cahrged for that.

We definitely take it to another level. Sometimes I wish M.D.s would take some advice from us!

another great wine night!!

It was a little crowded, but it all worked out and we had an amazing wine night.
I was particularly fond of some of my food too!
Let's see, first was the asparagus rolls, which were the best food of the night if you ask me.
Basically I took some cooked asparagus stalks. Then I trimmed the crust off of some white bread.
I whisked together 8 TBsp melted margarine with 1 TBsp mustard and some italian spices.
Spread the mixture on the inside of a slice of bread, and put the asparagus roll in that. Roll up and then drizzle some melted margarine on the outside. Bake at 300 for 10 minutes.

Then I made some artichoke and sun dried tomatoe focacia...I didn't think it was that good, so I will not post the recipe. Interestingly, the recipe is quite complex normally but I was lazy and tried to shorten it...which is probably why it wasn't that good.
There were vegan and gluten free cupcakes for dessert.

And the pasta as the main dish was tasty (and easy to make).
I cooked three pounds of penne before the party and cooked 3 cans of plum tomatoes in a pan with some basil until the tomatoes were mushy and broken down some. I then added I package of Daiya Mozzarrella to the sauce. I filled some lasagna dishes with the penne once cooked, then topped with the sauce. I kept them in the fridge until the party, and then cooked them for 10 minutes at 350. Tasty!


I think our next theme will be Sonoma Valley wines.

rainbow soup

Well this is a simple recipe, modified from one of my mom's. I literally just take all the leftover vegetables and cook them in a soup that is tomatoe based. It makes tons and then you can have leftovers for weeks!

This time I used a chopped up purple cabbage, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 1 bag frozen peas, 1 bag frozen corn, 1 bag frozen brocolli and cauliflower, and 1 bag of frozen spinach.
I put all of them in to the pot and then filled it up to the top with water, then cooked it on medium for 2 hours.

I also made this delicious vegan chocolate cheesecake, but I don't think I can post the directions since the recipe is directly from my new vegan baked cook book.