Friday, January 15, 2010
Christmas Pictures
I forgot to share Christmas pictures! But I need to get to work today, so you can view them at our website :) Just click this picture to go to our web album....
Friday, January 8, 2010
Cooking Lately
I have been slacking on creative cooking lately. Not that my cooking, as a rule, is ever all that creative or complicated. Eh, it works for us. I did make a meal plan for the next two weeks, but it's at home stuck to our fridge with a magnet. So I will just write what I did this past week and comment because I feel like talking about cooking for a little bit.
This week:
Monday: Hashbrown stirfry
Tuesday: pre-cooked Turkey Breast and mashed potatoes
Wednesday: Chicken soup and corn bread
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Beans & Rice, and leftovers
Saturday: homemade pizza
Monday: Everyone needs a "go-to" meal for when they want something yummy and fool-proof, but don't actually want to make anything hard. This is mine. Just go to your frozen foods aisle in the grocery store and pick up a bag of Ore-Ida diced hash browns with peppers and onions in it. Add 1 or 2 scrambled eggs and bacon-bits. Top your bowl with a slice of American Cheese and you're good to go.
Tuesday: My mom had brought me a turkey breast that was precooked and packaged. I warmed it up in the oven and made mashed potatoes from a quick packet where you just add water. The turkey was better the next day as cold leftovers in my lunch actually. I even have a picture!!! Please note my fabulous new lunch box courtesy of my husband for Christmas. It's a "Bentobox" I will note that corn in the prepackaged singles is gross. Don't buy it.
Wednesday: This soup was actually pretty good. Blake commented that it was a good "sick soup".
Thursday: Spaghetti is also a go-to meal for us but I hadn't made it in a while. All I had was angel-hair pasta, which Blake loves, but I hate. To me it's so disappointing. You're ready for a big satisfying bite of pasta and then you get this dinky half-diameter string.
Friday: Beans & rice. Um, another go-to meal for us... Okay, here's the real reason I made so many go-to meals this week. Blake and I got fat over Christmas. So I'm trying to cook things with less ingredients and less calories. And less grocery store purchases. And we like beans, so there you have it.
Saturday: I've been buying "pizza blanks" at the store. Just premade, unfrozen, pizza crusts. Then I just brush the whole crust with olive oil and sprinkle garlic powder on it. I put frozen chicken fajita strips on it and top with mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven until crispy. Oh, and you can add bacon bits on it too :) It's kinda plain but we don't care. Yum.
Now I'm hungry for lunch.
This week:
Monday: Hashbrown stirfry
Tuesday: pre-cooked Turkey Breast and mashed potatoes
Wednesday: Chicken soup and corn bread
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Beans & Rice, and leftovers
Saturday: homemade pizza
Monday: Everyone needs a "go-to" meal for when they want something yummy and fool-proof, but don't actually want to make anything hard. This is mine. Just go to your frozen foods aisle in the grocery store and pick up a bag of Ore-Ida diced hash browns with peppers and onions in it. Add 1 or 2 scrambled eggs and bacon-bits. Top your bowl with a slice of American Cheese and you're good to go.
Tuesday: My mom had brought me a turkey breast that was precooked and packaged. I warmed it up in the oven and made mashed potatoes from a quick packet where you just add water. The turkey was better the next day as cold leftovers in my lunch actually. I even have a picture!!! Please note my fabulous new lunch box courtesy of my husband for Christmas. It's a "Bentobox" I will note that corn in the prepackaged singles is gross. Don't buy it.
Apples, cheese, leftover turkey, corn!
Wednesday: This soup was actually pretty good. Blake commented that it was a good "sick soup".
Chicken Soup (the kind good for when you're sick )
2 cans Chicken Broth
2 cups shredded chicken (I used the leftover turkey I made the night before)
3/4 of a can of cream of celery soup
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
-Cook on stove top until warm, or in crockpot all day on Low like I did :) Next time I would add a can or two of some sort of vegetable. I felt bad about the lack of nutritional elements in this soup. But it did make me feel warm and fuzzy when I ate it.
2 cans Chicken Broth
2 cups shredded chicken (I used the leftover turkey I made the night before)
3/4 of a can of cream of celery soup
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
-Cook on stove top until warm, or in crockpot all day on Low like I did :) Next time I would add a can or two of some sort of vegetable. I felt bad about the lack of nutritional elements in this soup. But it did make me feel warm and fuzzy when I ate it.
Thursday: Spaghetti is also a go-to meal for us but I hadn't made it in a while. All I had was angel-hair pasta, which Blake loves, but I hate. To me it's so disappointing. You're ready for a big satisfying bite of pasta and then you get this dinky half-diameter string.
Friday: Beans & rice. Um, another go-to meal for us... Okay, here's the real reason I made so many go-to meals this week. Blake and I got fat over Christmas. So I'm trying to cook things with less ingredients and less calories. And less grocery store purchases. And we like beans, so there you have it.
Saturday: I've been buying "pizza blanks" at the store. Just premade, unfrozen, pizza crusts. Then I just brush the whole crust with olive oil and sprinkle garlic powder on it. I put frozen chicken fajita strips on it and top with mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven until crispy. Oh, and you can add bacon bits on it too :) It's kinda plain but we don't care. Yum.
Now I'm hungry for lunch.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Not cute at 5am
This morning was a rough morning with the cats. I know I'll probably get a "you asked for it" from a few friends and family members, but oh well. Sticker, my adult cat, has had a rough adjustment to the new kitten. From comparable reports, though, I think she's doing well with adjusting to the kitten. In only a week she's accomplished: staying in the same room in which the kitten occupies, letting me pet her with said kitten's smell on my hands, then progressing to being on the same couch the kitten is sitting on for more than a couple of minutes, being able to eat while kitten is in the nearby area, and finally, surviving a kitty-zooms episode which included a flyby pounce on her rump by the kitten on his way under the couch.
So, all things considered I think Sticker is doing pretty well. I've noticed slight personality changes this week in her though and I'm lamenting my normal-Sticker-personality which lays dormant under her kitten-tormented-personality right now. At first Sticker shunned us all in her obvious distaste for the foreign and unwelcome kitten we brought into our house. But now, Sticker has become rather velcro-like. She follows me room to room and meows for me to pet her. Last night it evolved into Sticker persistently trying to push our bedroom door open to climb into bed with us. She has never slept with us. Ever. Nor will she ever. And she knows this. So why now?? Falling asleep last night I noticed she pushed our door open so I figured what the heck, "I'll lock it, not that it will matter." Low and behold, at 4:30am I am woken to sounds of Sticker pushing her shoulder repeatedly into our door trying to force it open. I fell back asleep amazed that she cared enough to still want to come in. 5:00am comes around and she again is pushing on our door. This made me mad, so I got my water squirt bottle and promptly open the door quickly and sprayed her in the face with an emphatic "No!" Satisfied that "I got her now" I climb back into bed. Not 10 minutes later she is back at the door, pushing. This infuriated me. Not only is she disobeying me, I am wide awake at 5:00 in the morning when it is quickly approaching wake up time and I won't have enough time to get back to sleep before I wake up, but it's way to freakin' early for me to actually get up. I'm mad. I get up, yank the door open and spray that cat with more water. She prances away from me with that look of "You just watch, I'm gonna do it again." Seeing red, I march over and pick her up and all but "boot to cat" kick her outside in the 32 degree cold. I don't even care at this point. I stomp back into the bedroom and try to make it back to sleep before my alarm beeps.
7am rolls around. Still angry about Sticker, I go through my morning routine. Fix hair, wash face, then wander into kitchen to start the coffee. Blake is still asleep through this. I endure the kitten yowls from the laundry room as I open the door for Sticker to come in and eat her breakfast. She's acting fine and I set out her food and complete my coffee setup. I let the kitten, Doogan, out when my coffee is finally percolating. I glance at the clock and realize I need to get it in gear, but first have to dish out Doogan's meal serving. Sticker has noticed by this point that Doogan gets different food than she does - the good-smelling kitten kind, I guess. I dish out half a day's serving to Doogan which he bolts in 2 minutes and haplessly left his second half out on the kitchen counter. On which Sticker is not allowed. And she knows this. I'm tearing back into the bedroom trying to pick out what to wear and slap on makeup and grumbling that I should have gotten up earlier to take care of the stupid cats so I won't be late, and chasing Doogan away from the couches and squirting him off the kitchen table, when all of a sudden from my bathroom I hear a big thud and rattle-rattle. Sticker has knocked the kitten food off the counter and is hastily seeing how much she can gorge before I come get her. I'd had it. I roughly grabbed her and started to shove her outside when I hear her subtly hiss at me. By this time Blake is lying in bed trying to get his last moments of sleep before kitty-patrol switches to his watch. I ignore Sticker and start scrambling to try to get the last of my stuff together: coat, scarf, shoes, lunchbox, coffee cup... and I enter the laundry room which Doogan is kept in to be able to go into the garage. Doogan usually never tries to bolt past me into the garage when I'm leaving for work, but of course this morning he does. I know if I try to chase the little booger he will be dancing under the cars away from me until doomsday. So I put all my stuff in my car and tromp back inside to get his little dingle-ball. So here I am, in tears, rolling a little dingle ball on the garage floor calling "Here, Doogan" when Blake peeks through the laundry room to see what all the commotion is...and to see why I haven't left for work yet. Frustrated and teary, I grab Doogan (who by that time had been helplessly lured to capture by the dingle ball) and hand him straight out to Blake: "HERE", who wordlessly and a little frightened, takes him from my outstretched and tense arms. I get my coffee and tear off to work (safely though, Mom, I promise.)
So for all of you who in your heads laughed and sniggered when you found out we got a kitten, anticipating much mayhem and loss of sanity - this story is for you. I'll let you know if I, and the cat and kitten, all survive each other tonight. The Sheriff is back in town and those kitties are going to be subdued with a smackdown.
So, all things considered I think Sticker is doing pretty well. I've noticed slight personality changes this week in her though and I'm lamenting my normal-Sticker-personality which lays dormant under her kitten-tormented-personality right now. At first Sticker shunned us all in her obvious distaste for the foreign and unwelcome kitten we brought into our house. But now, Sticker has become rather velcro-like. She follows me room to room and meows for me to pet her. Last night it evolved into Sticker persistently trying to push our bedroom door open to climb into bed with us. She has never slept with us. Ever. Nor will she ever. And she knows this. So why now?? Falling asleep last night I noticed she pushed our door open so I figured what the heck, "I'll lock it, not that it will matter." Low and behold, at 4:30am I am woken to sounds of Sticker pushing her shoulder repeatedly into our door trying to force it open. I fell back asleep amazed that she cared enough to still want to come in. 5:00am comes around and she again is pushing on our door. This made me mad, so I got my water squirt bottle and promptly open the door quickly and sprayed her in the face with an emphatic "No!" Satisfied that "I got her now" I climb back into bed. Not 10 minutes later she is back at the door, pushing. This infuriated me. Not only is she disobeying me, I am wide awake at 5:00 in the morning when it is quickly approaching wake up time and I won't have enough time to get back to sleep before I wake up, but it's way to freakin' early for me to actually get up. I'm mad. I get up, yank the door open and spray that cat with more water. She prances away from me with that look of "You just watch, I'm gonna do it again." Seeing red, I march over and pick her up and all but "boot to cat" kick her outside in the 32 degree cold. I don't even care at this point. I stomp back into the bedroom and try to make it back to sleep before my alarm beeps.
7am rolls around. Still angry about Sticker, I go through my morning routine. Fix hair, wash face, then wander into kitchen to start the coffee. Blake is still asleep through this. I endure the kitten yowls from the laundry room as I open the door for Sticker to come in and eat her breakfast. She's acting fine and I set out her food and complete my coffee setup. I let the kitten, Doogan, out when my coffee is finally percolating. I glance at the clock and realize I need to get it in gear, but first have to dish out Doogan's meal serving. Sticker has noticed by this point that Doogan gets different food than she does - the good-smelling kitten kind, I guess. I dish out half a day's serving to Doogan which he bolts in 2 minutes and haplessly left his second half out on the kitchen counter. On which Sticker is not allowed. And she knows this. I'm tearing back into the bedroom trying to pick out what to wear and slap on makeup and grumbling that I should have gotten up earlier to take care of the stupid cats so I won't be late, and chasing Doogan away from the couches and squirting him off the kitchen table, when all of a sudden from my bathroom I hear a big thud and rattle-rattle. Sticker has knocked the kitten food off the counter and is hastily seeing how much she can gorge before I come get her. I'd had it. I roughly grabbed her and started to shove her outside when I hear her subtly hiss at me. By this time Blake is lying in bed trying to get his last moments of sleep before kitty-patrol switches to his watch. I ignore Sticker and start scrambling to try to get the last of my stuff together: coat, scarf, shoes, lunchbox, coffee cup... and I enter the laundry room which Doogan is kept in to be able to go into the garage. Doogan usually never tries to bolt past me into the garage when I'm leaving for work, but of course this morning he does. I know if I try to chase the little booger he will be dancing under the cars away from me until doomsday. So I put all my stuff in my car and tromp back inside to get his little dingle-ball. So here I am, in tears, rolling a little dingle ball on the garage floor calling "Here, Doogan" when Blake peeks through the laundry room to see what all the commotion is...and to see why I haven't left for work yet. Frustrated and teary, I grab Doogan (who by that time had been helplessly lured to capture by the dingle ball) and hand him straight out to Blake: "HERE", who wordlessly and a little frightened, takes him from my outstretched and tense arms. I get my coffee and tear off to work (safely though, Mom, I promise.)
So for all of you who in your heads laughed and sniggered when you found out we got a kitten, anticipating much mayhem and loss of sanity - this story is for you. I'll let you know if I, and the cat and kitten, all survive each other tonight. The Sheriff is back in town and those kitties are going to be subdued with a smackdown.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
New Kitten: Doogan
Until I get some pictures of our real Christmas....enjoy these of our new kitten! His name is Doogan and he's a handful. At least he's not destructive like a puppy...yet. But he sure has the energy of one. He's hyper in the morning and at night, extreme, but calms down to a manageable level during the day. While we're at work he stays in the laundry room. Our adult cat, Sticker, either gets to go outside or if it's too cold, she stays inside with full run of the house. I may need to put her just in one room so she doesn't develop bad habits though.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Almost Christmas
We have been busy! We painted the guest room and I am so excited. It looks so pretty. I'm not going to post pictures because I want my parents to be surprised, but I'll get plenty posted after th holidays. We picked this color and our trim work and doors are white. The room gets a lot of sunlight so I thought a darker color would be pretty:
I have my work party tomorrow and we're doing a Dirty Santa Exchange. I'm bringing the movie "Benji" because Blake thought my idea of a roll of toilet paper was too inconsiderate. He's probably right. We do have several workers here with kids, so Benji should be a hit gift ;) I loved Benji.
I am going shopping for the last of my grocery items today.
Here is my Christmas Menu:
That should be enough. We're having 5 family members come so I'm excited and hope my meal turns out well. Again, the boiled eggs will be the hardest part for me. My mother in law boiled them for me at Thanksgiving.
I have my work party tomorrow and we're doing a Dirty Santa Exchange. I'm bringing the movie "Benji" because Blake thought my idea of a roll of toilet paper was too inconsiderate. He's probably right. We do have several workers here with kids, so Benji should be a hit gift ;) I loved Benji.
I am going shopping for the last of my grocery items today.
Here is my Christmas Menu:
Mashed Potatoes (still need to decide on exactly what recipe to use)
Nana’s White Salad (has marshmallows)
Broccoli Cheese Casserole
Deviled Eggs
Hawaiian Rolls
Peanut Butter Fudge Pie Dessert
Cheesecake Cookies
Chocolate Fondue for Christmas Eve night
That should be enough. We're having 5 family members come so I'm excited and hope my meal turns out well. Again, the boiled eggs will be the hardest part for me. My mother in law boiled them for me at Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
20 Little Things I’m Looking Forward to This Christmas
I think it's time I focused on these things:
20 Little things I'm Looking Forward to this Christmas
in no order
1. Wrapping presents with Blake. Or, rather, watching Blake wrap all the presents :)
2. Stocking Stuffers
3. Eating Dirt cake I make for work next week
4. Listening to Christmas Music on Blake's super duper nice concert system
5. Showing off our house to family coming next week
6. Waking up Christmas morning and making coffee and drinking it with my grandparents and Mom. (Sorry Dad, I'll pour you a Diet Coke or something...)
7. Christmas Eve service at FBC Moore
8. Christmas Day movie!
9. Seeing my little brother
10. Making Sticker her own stocking
11. Making Christmas Ribs in the crockpot!
12. Blake's face when he gets his present
13. Wearing PJs all Christmas morning
14. Having a fire in our fireplace
15. Taking lots of pictures and blogging about it
16. Watching "A Christmas Story"
17. White chocolate kisses with peppermint.
18. Seeing Millie's first Christmas
19. Seeing our friends the Littau's
20. Trying to be a good hostess and make a warm welcome
20 Little things I'm Looking Forward to this Christmas
in no order
1. Wrapping presents with Blake. Or, rather, watching Blake wrap all the presents :)
2. Stocking Stuffers
3. Eating Dirt cake I make for work next week
4. Listening to Christmas Music on Blake's super duper nice concert system
5. Showing off our house to family coming next week
6. Waking up Christmas morning and making coffee and drinking it with my grandparents and Mom. (Sorry Dad, I'll pour you a Diet Coke or something...)
7. Christmas Eve service at FBC Moore
8. Christmas Day movie!
9. Seeing my little brother
10. Making Sticker her own stocking
11. Making Christmas Ribs in the crockpot!
12. Blake's face when he gets his present
13. Wearing PJs all Christmas morning
14. Having a fire in our fireplace
15. Taking lots of pictures and blogging about it
16. Watching "A Christmas Story"
17. White chocolate kisses with peppermint.
18. Seeing Millie's first Christmas
19. Seeing our friends the Littau's
20. Trying to be a good hostess and make a warm welcome
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Book Club
I joined a book club. Hooray!! :) My friend at work had a friend who she'd read books with and they wanted to start a book club. So they grew from a meager 2 members...to now 4 which includes me. We just finished "The Ten-Year Nap" by Meg Worlitzer which was really really good. I liked it because it made me think about my identity as a woman and if having kids steals that or enhances it, and if not having a strong career makes you less of a success. It was good discussion material, though I think we all had the same opinion. I'll have to work on being more dissentious (is that a word? spellchecker is screaming at me that it is not).
Our new book is "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell. The movie was really good. I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD. The book...well, let's just say it has a lot of "f" words. So I'm hoping it gets less vulgar. Who'd have thought that a cooking memoir would be vulgar? I'll give it some more time.
3 days left until my Girls' night. I'm excited but trying not to be nervous. I think I was born without a hospitality muscle. It's not that I don't want to be hospitable...it's literally that I don't know how!!! Thankfully the girls that are coming over are totally cool and easy :) So I think I'll just make a big batch of Potato & Bean Soup and have some store bought munchies available.
Our new book is "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell. The movie was really good. I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD. The book...well, let's just say it has a lot of "f" words. So I'm hoping it gets less vulgar. Who'd have thought that a cooking memoir would be vulgar? I'll give it some more time.
3 days left until my Girls' night. I'm excited but trying not to be nervous. I think I was born without a hospitality muscle. It's not that I don't want to be hospitable...it's literally that I don't know how!!! Thankfully the girls that are coming over are totally cool and easy :) So I think I'll just make a big batch of Potato & Bean Soup and have some store bought munchies available.
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