Let's Get Personal: An Update in the life of Samantha

So I’m quite irregular when it comes to blogging. I’ve tried writing as many posts as I can when I feel inspired, and then set them to post on a schedule, when I was posting daily a couple years ago, I think I might have done a couple things wrong: 1^st off, not picking a theme for my blog and 2^nd just trying to do too much. If I would have spread things out, I might have been able to make it work. 3^rd is that there isn’t a specific space to work. I live in a one bedroom, 610 sq ft house and don’t have a desk anymore, because there simply wasn’t space. My laptop usually lives on the coffee table amongst clutter I can never seem to conquer.

I do have a hard time with habits. After a couple months, whatever I’ve been doing has seemed to just stop. I miss one time and then I feel like I’m incapable of resuming.

But! There’s hope! A new wind is about to blow in, a new season, which may leave room for consistency in blogging!

Drumroll please!

I bought a house! Well, not me by myself, but that wonderful boyfriend of mine and I did. And we mostly got it for our dog, Ruger, so he'll be able to have a nice backyard to run around and patrol. He's also been going to agility training, so I'll be able to invest in those "obstacles" and train him at home.

It’s got 4 bedrooms and is over 1000 sq ft. There will be plenty of space to set up shop. I’ll be able to take consistent outfit of the day photos, because I’ll be able to leave my camera set up. I’ll be able to have a desk, so my laptop will always be ready to be used. I can make that whole space an office, so that when Max and I are in there, we mean business. No fun goofing off time, it means working time. We’ll be blogging, or I’ll be working on photos (I photograph as a hobby). I’m really excited for it. I’ll never have to try to make space, or have cords draped all over the place.

Along with having this new house will mean remodels and revamps and painting and pinterest project-ing the place. It’s not a brand new freshly built house. It’s about 30 years old. But it’s not a crappy starter house that will need a TON of TLC. So look forward to fun house posts to come.

And finally, thank you to any loyal readers I have out there. I know I’ve been inconsistent, but I promise to be better about blogging and voicing my opinions and projects. If you’ve stuck around, and read this through the years, please please please comment below. Readers are why I blog. If I actually don’t have any, and the random one a day page views are random stumbles, then how will I know? If you think I’m doing something wrong or something could be done better, please speak up! Constructive criticism is crucial.

With that, until next time

-S

Foodie Thursday: Homemade Pad Thai

Ok, so maybe it'll be a Food Day Thursday too :)

A friend and I use to go out to eat on occasion. And I had some delicious Pad Thai at a local pho place here. I saw an "easy pad thai" recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a go. (due to another favorite recipe of mine disappearing off the internet, I decided to post the link, and the recipe here as well)

Here's the recipe. On her blog page, she has photos with a step by step instruction and photos to help.

Easy Pad Thai

(adapted from Everyday Food)
Serves 4
8 ounces dried, wide and flat rice noodles
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 squirt (about 1/8 teaspoon) Sriracha (optional)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 scallions (green onions), white and green parts, separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs, light beaten (optional)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts

1. Soak noodles according to package instructions. Drain.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, and Sriracha.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add eggs and cook, scraping skillet with spatula until eggs are almost set (about 30 seconds). Transfer eggs to a plate.
5. Add noodles, scallion greens, and sauce to skillet. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are soft (about 1 minute). Add egg mixture and toss to coat, breaking eggs up gently.
6. Serve noodles with lime wedges, topped with cilantro and peanuts.

Notes and variations

• Per serving: 315 calories, 7g fat (0.9g saturated fat), 3.6g protein, 60.5g carb, 1.4g fiber
• Per serving: $1.50 or less.
• As long as you use a gluten-free soy sauce, this is a gluten-free recipe.
• Vegetarian, even. Skip the eggs for vegan.
• If you’re a carnivore try this: While the noodles are soaking, cut up 1 small chicken breast (or half of one of the colossal ones) into bite sized pieces. Marinate the chicken in a little bit of soy sauce and garlic (or make a little extra of the sauce for the noodles and marinate the chicken in that). OR: use shrimp (marinate same as chicken)… heck, use both. Cook them before you add the noodles to the pan.
• Leftovers: heat in the microwave or toss in a hot skillet for a minute to warm the noodles. Not as good as the first day but with a little extra lime juice, it makes a nice leftover-lunch.

My own edit: I couldn't find those thai noodles at my Walmart, so I just used some fettuccine pasta instead and it worked just fine :) I think it might 'degrade' the authenticity of it being pad thai, but I worked with what I had :) Enjoy!