Wednesday, February 1, 2012

dear february

a-a-ahem.
boy this is going to be tough.

You see February,
I don't like you. Nope. Not really. At all.
Because I just can't seem to figure out what you are good for. What is it that you do, February? Please, enlighten me. And don't say Valentines Day.....because that is one sorry excuse for a holiday, if you ask me. February, you make me realize, that I do in fact, miss summer. You make me long for days of sitting in the grass eating ice cream. 
You can't do that for me, can you February?
july 2011
icecreamcone copy
I didn't think so. I am ready to break up with you, and we have only just begun.

Dear Valentines Day,
Yep, you heard me. (stop booing and throwing rotten vegetables at me!) I LOVE love. I just don't need a cheesy holiday full of cheap candy and the worst color combination ever, to celebrate it.

Dear February,
No, I'm not done. I mean REALLY. You are the shortest month--they only gave you 28 days.....NO ONE wants you to stick around.

Dear Leap Day,
I think you are the coolest part about this month. You were smart enough to tell them you were only going to show up every four years. I applaud you.

Dear The Super Bowl,
let's keep it real. I have no idea who is playing, but I do like treats, so you should be fun. 

Dear Snowboarding,
remember me?
We used to see each other on a weekly basis back in my younger years.
There is a rumor flying around that we may be meeting up again soon. ha!!
I am so excited, and I know I am going to break something.
In front of my children! fun.

Dear TV,
speaking of breaking up, and rumors flying around......
I think we are kicking you out.
We don't use you that often, and our handful of shows we love (parks and rec!), we can watch online.
Who doesn't have cable? How do you like it?

Dear trail races,
hurry up and get here!! The weather has been so nice, and I have decided I need to start training for something. The soonest I can find anything on the trail is in April.
Do you have races planned for this spring/summer yet? Which ones?

Dear Mountains,
I vow right now, to spend as many days of this tiny boring month as I can, exploring you.
via foot/showshoe/snowboard/sled.
deal?

Dear future kitten,
my family talks and talks and talks about you.
I'm still not sure if I am ready to take the plunge.
a cat?
But who knows what February will drive me to do.....


Dear Attitude,
You obviously need to be adjusted.
Grumpy! 

Dear Curry, 
you are the BEST on a cold winter night.
Or, any night.
chickencoconutcurry copy
Chicken and Coconut Curry
I saw this recipe on Cooking for Seven and knew I wanted to try it. I made a few additions, and skipped the broth since it is originally a soup recipe. 

Ingredients:
coconut oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, sliced thin
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 TBS grated fresh ginger*
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
1 TBS red curry paste
pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

*did you know you can freeze fresh ginger! yes! keep it in the freezer if you can't use it all up fast enough, and you can just grate it frozen when you need it.


Directions:

1) Heat a few TBS of coconut oil in a medium sized soup pot over medium heat. Add the chicken to the oil, season lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until cooked through and golden. Remove chicken and set aside. Sauté the onion, pepper, and jalapeno, adding more oil if necessary, until tender.

2) Return the chicken to the pot with the onions. Add the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute. Add coconut milk and curry paste. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add cilantro, a pinch of salt, and simmer an additional few minutes. Stir in lime juice. 

Garnish with cilantro and serve over rice. 99% of the time do brown rice, but this time splurged with jasmine rice and boooooooooooy was this good.



Sincerely yours/Let's get this over with,
me.

ps. Please tell me your favorite things about February.....
....I obviously need help.

46 comments:

julie said...

i was not a huge fan of feb myself until my daughter was born 2 weeks early on feb 18th. she'll turn 3 this month. now feb is a cause for celebration! ...also,that rice looks tasty.

mina said...

we haven't had cable in years and it's great. you don't end up watching nonsense just because it's on... and we watch what we like online with no commercials. you'll be so glad when you get rid of it!

Sanda Vuckovic Pagaimo said...

Yes,I share your opinion about February.It is mistake month,it just shouldn't exist.Let's skip it and go to March,shell we?

geetabean said...

I'm not generally a fan of February....unless it brings us snow. Which its not looking like that will happen, it's been unseasonably warm all winter. Boo.

We dumped cable about 3 years ago and have never looked back. It is so unnecessary and the cost is ridiculous when you can watch almost everything for free on line or through Netflix. Some times it means waiting to watch something we like, but I find that we hardly watch any shows anymore. We play more games as a family and I get a lot more reading done. Getting rid of cable is one of the best things we have done. Never a regret! :o)

Katie said...

we don't have cable and i didn't have cable for most of my teenage years. i LOVE not having cable. we don't watch senseless garbage for hours on end. we watch movies and the shows we like online. i totally recommend cancelling cable for EVERYONE!

birdhouse productions said...

Haha! This is too good! So many truths to February in this post. Not having cable (or a TV in the "family" room) was one of the best decisions we ever made. It really brings the whole "family room" focus back to the family instead of it being centered around a TV set - literally, think about how people set up their family rooms. (Right?) We just have a TV for watching DVDs and use a Roku player for Netflix, Hulu & Amazon - all of which we pay for when we feel like watching movies or catching up on shows. It's the best!

Beatrice Bachleda said...

While I agree that Valentine's day is overblown, cheesy, too commercialized, and way too overpriced, I still like it. Here's why, if you just bypass all the bad chocolate, the expensive dinner-for-two menus at restaurants, and let go of any notion that something "big" needs to happen, e.g. a small sparkly ring or whatever, you turn it into a GREAT reason to celebrate for WHY THE HECK NOT? in the middle of dreary, cold, boring February. Now THAT's what I'm talking about. :D

Patricia Scarpin said...

I bet that you would love February if you lived in Brazil - Carnival! 5 days (Saturday through Wednesday) off to do whatever one likes. :D

eden greer said...

I enjoy February because my daughter came a year ago today, during the big blizzard in the Midwest.
I also like its birthstone. But that is about it.

No cable here either, we just use Netflix and the local news channels, for sports and some of our favorite shows. Netflix is awesome for our girls because they get to choose from a ton of cartoons and watch them whenever their 30mins of tv is going to happen. our favorites are Sesame Street and Shaun the Sheep.

Hope February surprises you!

Nicole Jessop said...

We got rid of our tv too. Most of the time it's really nice because we just watch what we miss online. However, I am a big football fan and I hate that I miss the games. So, that's my only complaint and it isn't even a huge one. I like not having it.

Nicole Jessop said...

Correction: we got rid of our cable, not tv. We still need that.

bell and whistles said...

just started following your blog! adorable...my husband and i just cancelled our cable and purchased the Roku streaming player. its WONDERFUL! pandora, hulu and netflix are uploaded onto it and you can get a cheap monthly subscription to those and watch only the things you want to watch. its great!

Elise said...

Life without cable/tv is great! We had Netflix instead so we could spend a little time each week enjoying a movie or something together. My husband and I decided that our first few years of marriage, we didn't want a tv. So we dont have one! Its fantastic, although EVERYONE will comment when they walk in and don't see a tv.

summer said...

we are currently waiting out our contract with Direct TV (it will cost us more to cancel it!) and then we are going cable free, too! i'm excited. Netflix is just too good to be true:) speaking of Netflix... Sheena, have you seen Downton Abbey?! it's been a cozy little winter pick me up miniseries. SO GOOD.

Meg said...

You need to go read MY post today. I love february! Why? Because it's the beginning of the end. Tulips arrive in the stores! I now have an excuse to buy fresh flowers for my kitchen. And valentine's day is fun when you're a preschool and get exactly 100 macaroni covered cut and paste glittery hearts and sticky I love you's from 4 yr olds.

And then, oh then, there is gringo fiesta! 10 days straight of mexican food. limes! guac! salsa! cilantro! tomatillos! pork! peppers! tortillas! carnitas!!! beans!!! I can't stop !!!-ing!!!

We've never paid for cable. nevah. In fact Aaron signed up for a free 30 day trial of Netflix on Jan 1, and by the 14th we had cancelled it. Yeah. we didn't even use the FREE subscription. We watch our shows online and it's totally fine. Do it. Cancel. You'll never miss it. Ok, maybe for like a day (hello, food network? I'd probably be all over that if I had cable.)
Make plans for the saved cash. Like withdraw the cash each month put it in an envelope for a vacation. It's more fun to watch and envelope of money grow fatter than it is to watch tv. promise!

I know what you mean about Jasmine. My friend, Carolina talked me into a 25 lb bag of it awhile ago, and I swear we'll never go back. Long grain and brown are totally dead to me.

Meg said...

I too, have been sucked into downton abbey. They had me with the yellow dog's butt in the opening credit.

Shannon said...

We never had cable our entire marriage. We always found it cheaper to just have Netflix. We never watch regular tv. All of our shows are available online and we like it better because then we can watch them whenever we want. We also still have Netflix and watch stuff on instant or watch the one dvd we have at a time.

As for February it's pretty blah. I can't think of anything I really like about it. This year I have been looking forward to it because all of my sisters and my mom are coming and we are having an epic girls' weekend! Can't wait!

Brett Elizabeth said...

For the cable thing, well I've lived with and without it and here's what I discovered: if I have cable I will inevitably watch more TV, but if I don't I automatically adjust to not watching much TV and I end up not missing it at all. And you're right, a lot of the good shows are online anyway!

Darcy said...

We also got rid of cable several years ago because we were being, well, cheap. But now that we could probably afford it we still choose not to have cable. Not only can we watch everything for free thru Hulu and Netflix, but we have found that after several years of not watching we find all the shows and commercials just plain annoying. Whenever we visit our parents or stay in a hotel we are reminder just how obnoxious TV can be. All the over-the-top editing, narrator voices and scripts, and contrived reality TV just overwhelms my senses now. I will admit, however, that I do miss watching all my favorite cooking shows on Food Network, but that's it. I don't think you'll regret giving up cable.

In recent years I've learned to embrace February, or more importantly Valentine's Day. In an effort to still enjoy the holiday while not participating in the commercialism of it all I started a new tradition of making homemade Valentines for our family. Lots of glitter, heart stickers, and pretty paper cover our table and we mail off our little creations to all the grandparents and our friends. Also, I've found the holiday a good excuse to have an informal, but 'fancy' dinner party with other couples and to make some sort of gooey chocolate dessert. Plus, I guess I'm a sucker for heart crafts and making the kid's valentines for school. For me, I try to fill the month with sweet memories, chocolate molten cakes, and an excuse to have pink tulips on my counter. Hope this month can eventually grow on you too.

Faith said...

I love February. My hubby was born, it is our dating anniversary month, it is the month that we celebrate love. I celebrate it every single day but I love that we can take one day to really savour it and just enjoy a day that is used to celebrate the greatest gift ever given. I say, what's not to love about Love?

Kaitlyn Luce said...

I'm running a 5k in a month! Thanks to your writings about running, I've gotten myself into gear and have been training. I'm so excited!

Lisa said...

Um, Februrary is that much closer to Spring? I'm with you on the Valentine's rant. If you don't love someone 364, than that 1 day is just a copout. I don't need that day to tell me to love someone and treat them right. But I will take the candy, thank you very much.

Unknown said...

I haven't had cable in a few years (mostly due to being a post grad and not wanting to spend money on unnecessary things) but I absolutely LOVE it! Once or twice a week I will sit down and watch all my favorite shows of the week in a row on Hulu and then the rest of the week is free and I am able to get so much done as opposed to vegging out in front of the TV. Plus, if you hate it you can always let cable back in to your life :)

Jenny said...

We have been debating the tv/no tv thing too...
ps - check out http://www.DevilDash.com for a fun obstacle race near you! J :)

Christine said...

I used to hold the same opinion about February. Then, almost 14 years ago, my first baby was born on February 13th, smack in the middle of the month. Now I love February! I spend the first two weeks excited about celebrating my girl's birthday, we party, and before I know it the month is half over. Perfect!

I enjoy your blog immensely!

Moments and Impressions said...

No cable is great - you will love it.

Unknown said...

No cable was a big New Years Resolution for my household. Mainly because my husbands mother is addicted to cable, and instilled in us that you just had to have it in your house. She literally called the cable company hysterically crying when there was a cable outage. Anyway, we kicked cable t.v. to the curb at the first of the year, and watch shows online. It's great. We find ourselves keeping busier and being more productive, and not to mention we saved about $110 a month!

Ally said...

We do not have tv. Just the bunny ears and we get all the main channels. We only need New Girl/Parks/Cougar Town... they are all come in in HD. We save money and do not waste hours practicing to become one with our couch.

Chelsea said...

We have no cable and for the most part it is great. We just use netflix and watch shows online. Your curry looks AMAZING and I think I am going to make it tonight. I agree with hating February, and, well, it's only the first!

Chelsea said...

P.S. Just pinned your curry so I can remember where I found the recipe. :)

Rach H @ FamilyEverAfter said...

We hadn't had cable for the last year and a half and I loved it!!! We just broke down and got it because we were going crazy not being able to watch the GOP debates online. but after elections, i vote to get rid of cable again!

Lacey Parr said...

We LOVE not having a TV. It's so easy to just watch our favorite shows whenever we want online. (Parks and Rec is my fave too!) It's so much better than being sucked into keeping the TV on...all the time. That's just me though.

The Rowley's said...

Um hello? Your awesome brother was born. So thats about the only thing February gets credit for in our house. But it was a pretty great thing so I'd say it throws Feb right up there next to December and July.
On another note- we dont have cable and we love it. Ok I love it. It forces me to do other more productive things than mindlessly surf the channels looking for anything half interesting just so I dont have to get off the couch.

Rachelle said...

no tv since i was prego with daphne. best decision we ever made!

Courtney said...

I really loves Valentines Day haha I would say that is the best thing about February. In fact I'm doing a whole thing about Valentines Day on my blog, sort of like a count down to the big day.

So you've got me I can't think of anything great about February besides that. Maybe you could just think of it as one month closer to summer. And it is a pretty name for a month...

thehungryfashionista said...

Seriously, you will love not having a TV. I haven't had one for a few years now and it's the best thing I have ever done. The temptation is gone, forcing me to do other things I love. And if I really need a tv fix, I have internet!

Nellie and Jason said...

Almost a year without cable...trust me, you won't miss it one minute.

Hillary said...

We don't have cable either! We're going on four years, I think. We've got bunny ears which work flawlessly with the local stations and we have Netflix instant streaming. Our TV is almost never on, which I love, and my kids (as a result, I think) LOVE to read.

jenniferhoiyin said...

we've been without cable for a number of years, best decision ever.

Anna Scandinavian Cottage said...

February is for longing for spring and light. December and January are Dark here in Scandinavia! And for long walks in the park where you inspect the grass or signs of Snowdrops.
I thought they had come last week but all of a sudden Snow came to Denmark.. and now they're lying underneath it waiting to peek back out again.
And then the telly, we just got one after having been without it for 6 months, a conscious decision after having lived without it for a while up in our Swedish cottage in the forest where we have no water or electricity. Surprise,surprise, nothing interesting on it as per usual..

FoodEpix said...

This looks absolutely delicious. Would love for you to share your gorgeous pictures with us at foodepix.com.

Jenny D. said...

I'm glad I finally found someone who is willing to admit their dislike for February. I get dirty looks when I tell people I don't like Valentine's Day. I told my husband, before we ever got married, that I don't celebrate Valentine's Day and he should never feel pressured, or worse, obligated, to get me anything or do anything for V Day. I have similar feelings about Mother's Day actually -- I would like to know people appreciate me and love me everyday, and vice versa, and not once a year on a designated holiday. I don't think I helped much, sorry!

Jenny D. said...

Oh, and the only thing we use the TV for is DVD's. We watch everything else online or through Netflix. We enjoy not having TV.

Kell said...

We don't have cable. Don't really care about it now. We can watch stuff online now that we care to watch.
About the kitty - Go for it. I never though I was a cat person until one spur of the moment day and now I can't imagine our life without her :)

JoAnna said...

Ugh this is how I feel about March!!

Renae said...

I know this is a late comment but I totally don't miss cable, haven't had it for at least 5 years - watch things online for free or sometimes Netflix (only pay $8 for streaming). ...and also, getting a kitten was the best thing my husband and I have ever done. Would HIGHLY recommend going to the humane society near you and "interviewing" cats/kittens until you find one that seems compatible and likes you!
... as far as Feb goes? probably my favorite part is dreaming up plans for spring, XC skiing and snowboarding if theres powder :)