Doesn’t the start of a new season seem like a chance to start fresh? So, with the start of October and fall, I wanted to post my goals on the blog for accountability and support. I’ll post how these things are going throughout the month and post a wrap up at the end of the month.

Fitness
* Start running again – I’m running a half-marathon relay with a friend at the end of the month. We’ve already signed up, so there is no backing out.
* Work out 5 days a week. This should be easy with with running and my twice-weekly aerobics class with a local adult education program.

Food
* Try new recipes with fall foods – apples, pears, pumpkin, butternut squash.

Blog
* Update the layout and get moving on changes/ideas that I have in the pipeline.
* Post more!

Career
* Keep applying for jobs and be more proactive in follow-up. Since the G-20 was in Pittsburgh last week, things were kinda slow for a while. Things have picked up again and I am optimistic.

Fun
* Expand my social circle and don’t be afraid to put myself out there.

Well, there they are. Stay tuned. What goals do you have for October?

Another weekend comes to an end…I’m watching the Emmy’s and catching up on all my blog reading. Despite the crappy ending to the week by finding out I didn’t get the job I wanted, I still had a good weekend and lots of eating and baking to keep me busy!

On Friday, I finally got a chance to visit the Hofbräuhaus with some new and old friends. I had so much fun and can’t wait to go back to have some more of these…

If anyone wants to go, let me know! I want to actually sample the food next time!

In the never ending quest to use up all my zucchini, yesterday I baked Zucchini Muffins. I found the recipe from Sarah at Glamour’s Vitamin G Health and Fitness blog. Glamour has become a good source for recipes lately – I love the Vegetable Enchiladas recipe I found this summer and have made   it several times since. Plus, I love their blogs – Storked! and Single-ish are two of my other favorites.

These muffins are so good and so easy to make. I’m going to make some more and freeze them this week.

Sarah’s Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 cup of brown sugar (if you’re cutting back on sugar, use closer to a half cup)
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 and 1/2 cup of grated zucchini
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup of raw pumpkin seeds (for sprinkling on top), optional

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl.
4. Combine wet and dry, and add the shredded zucchini.
5. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or use muffin liners.
6. Distribute batter evenly and top with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds.
7. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

How was your weekend?

Last night I made ratatouille with my farmer’s market loot. I used Julia Child’s recipe, but adapted it sand didn’t follow the directions exactly. So, I guess you could say I didn’t make Julia Child’s version. The recipe is very involved and takes time with all the cutting and sauteing. However, the end result is very flavorful, colorful dish and the house smells fantastic when it is cooking. We ate this with brown rice and I ate the leftovers cold today, yummy!

I still need to see Julie & Julia, but this Julianne will just settle to find her own Julia in the meantime. What are your favorite Julia recipes?

Julia Child’s Ratatouille
1 pound eggplant
1 pound zucchini
A 3-quart, porcelain or stainless-steel mixing bowl
1 t. salt
A 10- to 12-inch enameled skillet
4  T. olive oil, more if needed
1/2 pound (about 1 1/2 cups) thinly sliced yellow onions
2 (about 1 cup) sliced green bell peppers
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, if necessary
2 cloves mashed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound firm, ripe, red tomatoes, peeled, seeded and juiced (makes 1 1/2 cups pulp) (I used canned tomatoes since I did’nt have time for this part nor enough tomatoes)
Salt and pepper
A 2 1/2 quart fireproof casserole about 2 1/2 inches deep
3 T. minced parsley
Salt and pepper

Peel the eggplant and cut into lengthwise slices 3/8 inch thick, about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. Scrub the zucchini, slice off the two ends and cut the zucchini into slices about the same size as the eggplant slices. Place the vegetables in a bowl and toss with the salt. Let stand for 30 minutes. Drain. Dry each slice in a towel.

One layer at a time, saute the eggplant and then the zucchini in hot olive oil in the skillet for about a minute on each side to brown very lightly. Remove to a side dish.

In the same skillet, cook the onions and peppers slowly in olive oil for about 10 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Stir in the garlic and season to taste.

Slice the tomato pulp into 3/8-inch strips. Lay them over the onions and peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, or until tomatoes have begun to render their juice. Uncover, baste the tomatoes with the juices, raise heat and boil for several minutes, until juice has almost entirely evaporated.

This is the part where I don’t follow directions….I just mixed everything together and did not layer it. Julia’s directions are below.

Place a third of the tomato mixture in the bottom of the casserole and sprinkle over it 1 tablespoon of the parsley. Arrange half of the eggplant and zucchini on top, then half the remaining tomatoes and parsley. Put in the rest of the eggplant and zucchini and finish with the remaining tomatoes and parsley.

Cover the casserole and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover, tip casserole and baste with the rendered juices. Correct seasoning, if necessary. Raise heat slightly and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes more, basting several times, until juices have evaporated leaving a spoonful or two of flavored olive oil. Be careful of your heat; do not let the vegetables scorch in the bottom of the casserole.

Set aside uncovered. Reheat slowly at serving time or serve cold. Serves 6-8.

So, I have considered joining an online dating site to keep me somewhat entertained as I job hunt. I haven’t yet, because a, it costs money and b, I am not 100% impressed with the options. Volunteering seems like a much better option.

But, it does make for some blog fodder, so here is what I suggest NOT to do as you are filling out a profile, especially guys:

*Create a username that refers to a celebrity, i.e., Cary Grant. You will disappoint ladies everywhere.

*Poor grammar. It is not hard to use the proper capitalization, periods and complete sentences. I know my grammar isn’t perfect, but at least its readable!

*Pictures…where do I start? One, please do not post 23 photos of yourself even if you can. That is a little excessive. Two, please do not post photos that where taken with you phone in the bathroom 5 minutes before you published the profile. Three, please be considerate of the people in your life and think before you post their photos in a public place, especially women. Maybe you had permission, I don’t know. It just weirds me out when I see tons of pictures of other people. Four, please do not post photos from the same event, but just different poses. Originality people!

*Write that you are sick of the bar scene and you just want a nice girl and you are interested in sports, traveling and love your family and friends and blah blah. Everyone writes that. Show passion for something, intrigue me!

*Don’t appear desperate. Desperate = dateless.

That my friends, is why I haven’t taken the loop. But, yet another one of my friends got engaged yesterday… Anyone have any dos or don’ts to add?

Yesterday I went to the farmer’s market with my Grandma and came home with local zucchini, eggplant and sweet corn. I always bake zucchini bread, so I wanted to do something a little different with the zucchini. Enter, zucchini chocolate chip cookies from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver. This cookbook is on my wish list and I was excited to see that this recipe and others are on the book’s Web site.  Speaking of wish lists and holidays, I saw Christmas trees in Kohls today – its not even Halloween yet?

I baked these last night and I love making baked goods that are a little more nutritious and include chocolate. When I make these again and I’m sure I will, I may grate the zucchini more finely, but I like seeing the zucchini and adding color to the the cookie. The zucchini adds a lot of moisture, so the cookies are very cake-like. Delicious!

And now for the recipe…
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. honey
1 T. vanilla extract
Combine in large bowl.

1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture.

1 c. finely shredded zucchini
12 oz chocolate chips
Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes. Makes about two dozen.

Enjoy, and let me know if you bake these. Do you have a favorite zucchini recipe? Please share, I have a lot to use!

Finally, the moment I have been waiting for…the start of football season! It is weird watching the game at home instead of at a Steeler bar, but I’ll take it. I hope to kick some butt in the Muzzy family football pool this year too and win the big bucks.

And hockey season is not that far away either. The Pens visited President Obama at the White House today.

I’m looking forward to watching both upcoming seasons here in Pittsburgh. Speaking of Pittsburgh, I’m going to be meeting up with some blog friends this weekend and I am wicked excited to meet these ladies in real life! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I’ve been home for about a week and I’m starting to get a little stir-crazy being in the house all day. I am going out on interviews and stuff, but for the most part I am home, without a car for most of the day.

Tomorrow I have an exciting day planned. I will be going to the bank with my grandma then off to the grocery store and walmart. Yay for getting out of the house. I’m going to see if I can get a bike helmet at walmart so I can bike to places during the day using my mom’s bike.

My social life kinda sucks and is pretty much non-existent. It is hard making new friends and reconnecting with old ones. I did go to trivia with my friend Jen the other night and that was fun, but I haven’t been too active on the social front lately.

Even though I am a little down in the dumps lately, I must remember that friendships and jobs don’t happen overnight and I’ve only been home a week. I am happy to be home and I’m enjoying the break from the fast-paced work environments I’ve been working in over the past few years. I’m also excited that Fall is coming. This means I’ll get to enjoy some of my favorite things:

* Pumpkin Spice Lattes and everything else pumpkin
* FOOTBALL and October baseball
* Tights, boots and scarves
* New TV episodes

I’ve also been keeping busy cleaning out my room and I’ve been finding the most random stuff…

* Every single book V.C Andrews has written – I was obsessed with her novels in my preteen-teenage years.
* Lots and lots of arts supplies from my career as an art major. Someone on freecycle is going to be very happy.
* Lots of art projects, I can’t bear to throw them away, but they are just sitting in boxes. Including the one where we had to draw ourselves in the nude for drawing class, life-sized. When am I ever going to need a 6 foot drawing of myself naked?

What would you find in your childhood bedroom that would make you scratch your head today?