...And I'm Back!

Wow, 2012 has been a crazy and busy year!  It all started when I got a phone call the day we were going to fly to Houston (I think it was 12/29/11) to see Northwestern play in a bowl game against A&M.  The call was from Austin State Hospital, where I applied for a job as a psychologist.  I ended up flying back to Texas the next weekend (I think it was the 2nd week of the new year) so that I could interview for the job on a Monday.  I thought I did my best during the interview, but they were also interviewing others, so I wasn't sure what my chances were.  A few weeks went by as they interviewed other candidates, and I finally heard in mid-February that I got the job! 

Things were pretty crazy busy after that...as soon as I accepted (which was within about a week), we gave our apartment in NJ 60 days notice and ended up moving out about 45 das after giving our initial notice.  We planned to move at the end of March/beginning of April, and we began to pack our stuff at the end of February.  In the end, we had about 150 boxes and all of our furniture...we do not travel lightly.  Packing is so tiring!  We hired movers to ship our stuff to Texas and also shipped our cars.  My 1998 Toyota 4Runner that I've had since high school is still kickin'!  We stayed with Mark's parents the first week of April (Mark continued to work everyday) and left for Texas on Easter Sunday (4/8).  We arrived at our apartment in Austin and slept on the floor with 2 pillows and a bedsheet for 3 nights!  It was quite uncomfortable but we survived.  There was really nothing to do in our apartment and literally not even a place to sit except for the floor.  Our stuff and cars finally arrived on Wed. and we spent the rest of that week and weekend unpacking.  I don't consider my person who necessarily "loves things" but boy, did I miss our stuff! 

I started work on Monday, 4/16.  Good thing work started off with a 12 day orientation.  Although it felt long, it was kind of nice to ease into my job and responsibilities.  The state hospital is a much different environment and patient population compared to private practice!  My orientation is officially over as of yesterday.  I'm making progress on determing what my job responsibilities are and getting more comfortable working with the patients here.  I'm working with patients who have both a mental illness and mental retardation.  I think I'm going to learn a lot while I'm here and hopefully can help the patients too. 

After one week of work/orientation, we went to Houston to celebrate my 31st birthday.  We had a wonderful crawfish dinner...yum!  It was so nice to spend time with my family and catch up.  The last time I saw them was around the time of the New Year and my aunt's funeral, so circumstances were much better this time. 

So far I am loving Austin.  It seems like there is so much to do and so many places to eat!  My blog might shift from a cooking blog to a "pictures of things I ate" blog.  I am dreading the heat of the summer months though.  At least we have a pool in our apartment complex, so that should help in keeping cool. 

I'm adjusting to life with a full time job and finding that there is much less time for "life" when you work.  Most people already know this, but I am just now living it.  I've been spoiled working basically part time for the last year or so.  I am not a morning person, so having an 8-5 job is a little difficult for me.  It is nice to have evenings to spend with Mark though. 

Now that things have finally settled down a little and I've established some semblance of a routine, I hope to keep my blog more up to date. 

Chocolate Fudge Pie

I decided to try this recipe from this blog I like to read called Chocolate Covered Katie.  I really don't have a huge sweet tooth at all, but I thought this recipe sounded interesting and easy, so I figured I didn't have much to lose by trying it.  I originally bought a chocolate graham crust I was planning to put the pie mix in, but when I tasted the filling, it was so rich on its own that I decided the chocolate crust would make it too rich and sweet for me.  So I ended up just putting mine in a container.  The recipe uses tofu, which if you aren't familiar with buying tofu, I bought this in my local grocery store:

The original recipe calls for 12.3 oz of tofu, and I think this container is slightly more than that, so I just cut a small piece of tofu off (what I estimated to be about 2 ounces) and added it to a stirfry I had made earlier).  I'll tell you more of my thoughts on it once I give you the recipe:

Chocolate Fudge Pie

Ingredients:
1 package firm tofu, drained
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 T milk (any kind, I used coconut milk, but regular milk would do)
1/8 tsp salt
8-10 oz chocolate chips (I used 1 1/3 cups of Ghiardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Directions:
Melt the chocolate (either on the stove or in the microwave), then throw everything into a food processor and blend until super-smooth. Pour into a pie crust if desired.  Fridge until chilled. This gets firmer and firmer, the longer it sits. (It’s firmer if you use firm tofu and more like mousse pie if you use silken.)

My thoughts on the finished product--it was much richer than I thought it would be!  This would certainly satisfy your sweet tooth.  I thought it was really good without being sickeningly sweet.  Mark liked it at first (he didn't love it), but then I told him it had tofu in it and he won't touch anymore of it.  I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with the rest of it since I don't have a huge sweet tooth, but I thought it would be really yummy with a banana. I think it's cool that this recipe is vegan.  Even though I am not, I do try to be conscious of what I eat, so it's nice to know animals were not used in the making of this product.

Apparently, it's not too bad for you either.  The nutritional info for this, calculated using 8 slices, according to Katie's website is:

• 143 calories
• 6 grams fat
• 2.5 grams protein
• 0mg cholesterol

Update:  I wrote this post shortly after I made it, but it's been about 3 days since I made it.  I've been eating it with a banana, just like you would peanut butter and banana and it is delicious!  I would definitely make it again, but I would probably halve the recipe.