Baked Dijon Salmon

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lemon, for garnish
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
3. Brush each salmon fillet lightly with honey mustard mixture, and sprinkle the tops of the fillets with the bread crumb mixture.
4. Bake salmon 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

I turned this:

    Into something that looked a little like this:

I used almonds instead of pecans and only made about half of the honey mustard and bread crumb mixture. 

It was really good.  My boyfriend ate his piece and half of mine! 

I made some green beans with onions and rice to go with…

I could totally be the Next Food Network Star!  :)

Encouragement to Being a Vegan and Eating Less Meat

As Tom Regan said:

“I think everybody has the capacity to stop and think and say, ‘If I knew you, I wouldn’t eat you.’ And in some ways, it really is that simple.”

Or, from the New York Times:

“There’s a schizoid quality to our relationship with animals, in which sentiment and brutality exist side by side. Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the miserable life of the pig – an animal easily as intelligent as a dog – that becomes the Christmas ham.”

Tornados and Thunder

The two big things in Oklahoma news right now are tornados and the OKC Thunder.

On Tuesday, we had several tornados hitting the ground.  One was pretty close to our house.  Luckily, it dissipated before it got to our area, but we saw debris falling from the sky after it had passed us.  It was pretty crazy!  If you were raised in Oklahoma and you hear tornado sirens, you run outside to see if you can spot it.  Kind of messed up but true!

Most everyone was sent home early from school and work to take shelter.  We don’t have a storm shelter in our duplex.  We would either have to try to make a run for it or take cover in my closet, the room in the centermost part of the building.  The puppies and I were freaking out a little (or a lot), but my boyfriend kept saying, “it’s going to miss us.” and “we’ll be fine.” and “you wanna go see if we can track one?”  ummmmm…… no……

Here’s some footage of the tornados:

It’s kind of like the movie Twister.

In other news, the OKC Thunder lost to Dallas.  Boooo… We didn’t make it to the finals. 

Usually, I know nothing about sports and could care less, but it was actually pretty cool having a national team make it so close to the championship from my city.  My boyfriend and I went to a few games last season.  It’s a lot of fun to be there.  It’s much more fun than watching it on the TV.  Anyways… maybe next year!

Day 30: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss.

Lately, I have been missing my Grandpa Howard.  My grandpa handmade instruments.  He made a few guitars and two mandolins, but he made several fiddles.  My boyfriend loves music and playing string instruments.  My parents gave my boyfriend a mandolin and guitar that my grandpa made.  Before my boyfriend started playing them, they were just sitting in a closet at my parents’ house. 

My boyfriend loves music including bluegrass, blues and everything else.  My grandpa would have really enjoyed talking to my boyfriend and vice versa.  I really wish they could have met.  I know they would have loved each other.  Sometime I joke that my boyfriend would probably have liked my grandpa more than me. 

It makes me miss him. 

I always remember that he was kind to me and made me laugh.  He used to tell me if I didn’t eat my vegetables I would grow hair on my chest.  He liked to tell tall tales like that.  (That was a little bit of a tongue twister.) 

I love you, Grandpa Howard!  I know you are watching over me from somewhere!

A Little Trip to Palm Springs

I haven’t been able to blog very much lately.  My boyfriend’s computer cord broke.  We haven’t ordered a new one, and my boyfriend usually needs it for school.  So, school comes before blogging… i guess. 

I took a trip over the weekend for work to Palm Springs, CA.  We stayed at the Hyatt Suites.  It was really nice.  My boyfriend would have loved it.  It had TWO big screen TVs.  It had a nice little living area:

It leads to the bedroom:

The best part of the hotel was the pool area.  It was so nice and had amazing pool chairs with pillows.  There’s nothing like a cold drink by the pool. 

 

We had a little balcony in the suite.  It looked out at the swimming pool.

Palm Springs is desert with some mountains and lots of palm trees.

  

They close off the street on Thursday nights and have a street festival.  They sell food, jewelry, art and lots of little things.  There are also a lot of street performers and music.  It was really neat!  I wish I wouldn’t have been so tired from the flight!  I would have walked around more!

Palm Springs has their own stars on the sidewalk.  Here’s a shortened path:

        

I think this may have been a hospital, but I am probably wrong.  I thought it was really pretty with the palm trees and the blue sky. 

The scenery was really beautiful!  I love the palm trees and the mountains. 

 

I was there for work, and I wasn’t able to do a lot of sightseeing, shopping, etc., but it seemed like a really nice little town.  I think a lot of people from LA go to Palm Springs for a weekend side trip.

Day 29: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.

There are a lot of picture that make me smile.  Here are just a few…

What dog sits like this?

 

Day 28: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of.

I do NOT like these little guys at ALL!!  Just looking at this picture makes me squeamish!

Unfortunately at our last rent house, we had a mouse problem.  It was really gross!  We had to set traps and poison.  We caught too many to count.  Thankfully, we are out of that house and in a much nicer place!

This Sunday was another rainy day!  Makes me sooo tired!  It’s crazy how much the weather can affect your mood!