once upon a time, i used to bake

and waayyyy back then (all the way back to august, oh my!), i made a coconut cake with my sister. it was for my dad's birthday. we tried to make it really pretty. tried to see if we could trick my dad into thinking we bought it. i think it might have worked.

new title for "case of the mondays"

so here's the thing, i'm no longer working and am no longer susceptible to a "case of the mondays." i LIKE mondays. it's the beginning of a whole new week with endless possibilities (and endless recruiting events, endless group meetings, endless coursework . . .)!

but i'm loving it.

it's great to be a michigan wolverine (again)

being a ross mba is an adventure and i'm glad hubby and i are traveling down this road together.

we actually drove across country this summer. the cadotte's very own m-trek.

so in case you're having a case of the monday's, take a cross-country trip and visit our beautiful national parks, even if it's just visually.

driving "across" the country from west to east: Yosemite National Park

Arches National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Pike's Peak (Colorad0)

Badlands National Park

Hope you enjoyed the short tour of our beautiful nation!

another late case of the mondays

beautiful utah

a couple weeks ago, hubby and i went to st. george, utah for his sixth ironman.

that's right, his sixth!

in case you are unfamiliar, an ironman consists of:

2.4 mile swim

112 mile bike

26.2 run

swim, bike, run for a long, long time.

hubby can be a little intense.

(that jacket, btw, is from a 50 mile ultramarathon that hubby completed)

in the past for races, we've gone to florida, idaho, arizona, etc.

but utah is by far, the most gorgeous place out of all his race sites.

here's some proof . . .

view of the the lake where the swim portion of the race was held

the area behind our hotel, with a trail in a lava field

view of a canyon nearby

wildflowers growing in the lava field

beautiful utah

(late) case of the mondays

destination: london

recently got adobe lightroom

played around with presets

here is my favorite so far

coming up next: flatbread and hummus

case of the mondays - santa fe

going crazy here folks.

my top choice for an MBA is sending out decisions on this Friday. however, if you're accepted, they start making phone calls a few days prior. so i wasn't going to start to worry until wednesday afternoon. then, some jackass on the online forums actually pretended that he/she got a phone call today and threw everyone into an anxious panic, including myself. until i read a few posts down that they were just kidding and that we should all relax. my response to him? go to hell. i was relaxed until you posted, shithead.

so for today's case of the mondays, i'm imagining going to a calm, peaceful place while i push away the demons in my mind.

i've posted on Santa Fe before - http://doughmesticity.blogspot.com/2009/02/our-santa-fe-trip.html, but i'm really just taking you to one place on our trip

let's all go to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.

here's a view from hiking among the rocks

in particular, i'd like to escape to this narrow passageway. the rock walls were tight and high. i remember feeling like this was my own space. my own world of hard earth.

if felt like there was nowhere to go, but up towards the sky.

the laziness continues

actually, i've been baking up a storm, but since the actual baking is taking quite a lot of time, this blog post will be about a very simple, but delicious pasta dish that can be thrown together in less than 30 minutes.this is what hubby likes to call a one-pot meal. just everything thrown together. there are many variations that i go through, but this is one of hubby's faves. and mine. it's tasty, easy, and like most of our other food, somewhat healthy.

3 links of turkey sausage (we like jenny-o, sweet italian style)

penne pasta (you could use whole wheat to up the healthy factor)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp olive oil

~ 3/4 cup frozen spinach

jar pasta sauce, about 1 cup

break out the Forman grill, heat it up and put on the 3 turkey sausage links.

while that's going, start pasta water

chop the garlic

heat pan and oil

saute your garlic, then add the frozen spinach and saute, then add pasta sauce

pasta water should be ready now, add penne

turkey sausage should be done by now. take off the grill and let it rest for a minute on a cutting board.

slice turkey sausage, add to garlic/spinach/sauce and cook on low until pasta is ready.

drain pasta, but keep a little water and add it all to sauce mixture.

mix and let cook together for just a minute.

check to see if you need any more salt/pepper.

that's it!

the whole thing should take about 20 minutes.

you could add other things if you want. it's just a very casual weeknight sort of dinner.

lazy cake

sometimes, i want cake. but i don't want to bake. so i microwave.

yes, microwave chocolate cake.

it's not fantastic, no, but it's quick, easy and you only need to clean one cup, and two spoons.

take a microwave safe mug and add:

1 tbsp + 1 tsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp flour (i use whole wheat)

1/8 tsp baking powder

tiny pinch of salt

2 tbsp sugar (i actually like 1 heaping tbsp instead of 2)

1 large egg

1 tbsp milk (non fat)

1 tbsp plain yogurt (non fat)

1 tbsp chocolate chips (or more, however much you feel like)

mix it all together and microwave it for 1:30 min on high. my microwave's pretty strong, so if your microwave isn't, maybe 2 min. i like to spri

nkle a few more chocolate chips on the top when it comes right out. b/c i use non fat milk and non fat yogurt, i admit, it's a little dry. also, if you don't eat it within 30 min, it gets hard b/c it was microwaved. but, the whole thing is done in just a few minutes and there's so little cleanup.

and it's still pretty tasty.