I think it’s safe to say that we are firmly entrenched in the season of change here in upstate NY. Just in the past week we’ve seen a 40+ degree temperature swing, rain, frost, blazing sunshine, and hurricane-force winds. Just your typical fall (or spring, for that matter). But this year, in addition to the crazy weather changes, I also have some crazy life changes going on. Just about a month ago I found out that I’ve been accepted into nursing school. I start classes in January! Woo hoo!

Needless to say, I’ve been doing a fair amount of scrambling around lately to get things in order before school starts. Besides all of the paperwork, immunizations and phone calls, I’ve also started to collect some quick and easy recipes in anticipation of those days (weeks?) when I simply can’t pull myself away from my books for more than 15 or 20 minutes to make something to eat. Since I’m kind of the reigning queen of the 2-hour dinner preparation, this has been no easy task for me. However, I’ve learned a few things already in my recent attempts at efficient cooking that are already helping me to shorten up my time spent in the kitchen just a little bit. (more…)