A few faves for the New Year

I know it's almost February and I've been MIA for quite a while. That's ok. I started blogging for fun, not out of obligation. But I have collected some things that have made my new year/month rather enjoyable, and I thought I'd share them.

1. The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook. This book on muscle tension is changing my life and helping me address pain issues I've had for seven years and three chiropractors. It's clear, easy to understand, and is teaching me to throw around words like "suboccipital" like I know what I'm talking about. And it's rocking my world, showing me where to massage my neck to get rid of a headache. Amazing and totally worth the $20.
2. These t-shirts from American Eagle. I feel utterly, shamefully teeny-bopper admitting that I still shop at this store, but it's true. And I have been on a years-long quest to find a perfect t-shirt. So if I find one, I don't really care where it's from. The length on the large is a glorious 29 inches, which means it is perfect fit for me. I want 12 in every color. So far, settled for two white and two gray. But don't think I'm done...just waiting for clearance.

Nature override successful

Just thought I'd report that my forced grape hyacinth bulbs are starting to bloom! The color's not as intense as it would be if they were in the ground, but hey...flowers on the windowsill. No complaints here.

Cashew Chicken

Last summer, we had really good cashew chicken from Panda Express (which you are more than welcome to judge me for if you feel so compelled, but I like what I like. And you are probably a food snob). I decided that it couldn't possibly be too difficult to duplicate at home. Wrong-ish. The sauce copycat recipes I found online all sucked (hoisin sauce...disgusting) so I decided to just use some bottled sauce. And it turned out to be really, really good.

So here's my thoroughly modified version of Panda's cashew chicken:

Ingredients
1 pound of chicken breasts
2-3 red, yellow or orange bell peppers (I use a combination)
1 large white onion
3-4 stalks of celery
1 can of sliced water chestnuts
1 bunch of cilantro (my clump of leaves are about the size of both of my fists together, so kind of a lot)
4-6 green onion stalks (to taste)
1 cup (or less) of cashews or cashew pieces
1 clove garlic, minced