Life's great journey is made up of day by day delights.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Just another manic morning....

Yesterday I had one of those mornings. The kind where I wake up later than I want. The kind where, because I wake up late, I miss going to the gym. The kind where my hair is like, "PSH! I don't wanna be straight. I'm rocking my own look today." Yeah, I gave my hair a voice. Might as well if it makes its own decisions, right? My hair was supposed to be straight....... Needless to say there were curls everywhere. It was the kind of morning where my only clean shirt for work has a HUUUUUGE hole in the elbow so I have to wear an awkward, oversized cardigan over it. The kind where I finally feel composed, set off to work, and see some bright RED and BLUE lights flashing behind me. The kind of morning where I cry while the nice police officer looks me up in the records but I wipe away the tears before he can see me because I don't want him to think I'm pulling "the crying girl" gig. The kind of morning where I get to work, hair crazier than before, and I spill my coffee on my shirt. Ya' know...the one with the hole in it. But that kind of morning turned into a day where I come home and find my husband as sweet as ever! <3 It makes the crummy day seem done and totally worth it....till he tells me I had a speck of spaghetti sauce on my cheek. Was it there all day???............yep. Did my customers most likely see it? Oh yeah.  Awesome. Good thing I get a do-over today. :-)

Have you had a morning like that? One where nothing major goes wrong but is filled with little annoyances? SHARE! :-)

  

Monday, May 9, 2011

A Hypochondriac's Point of View

The past few days Hubs and I have been very ill. We've been pretty pitiful. He is a day ahead of me in the healing process so he has been taking the reins of being the caregiver in our house. I don't know what I would do without him!......Oh wait. Yes, I do. I'd google my ailments. AND FEAR FOR MY LIFE.
Website: Please select your symptoms.
Me: Well...uh....let's see. A sore throat, ear pain, body aches, chills, fever, headache, and coughing. Oh! And this weird thing where my vision out of my right eye is very blurry. Probably unrelated but let's just throw it in to be safe.
Website: Rate the severity of your pain from moderate to severe.
Me: Severe. Definitely severe. I think I'm dying.
Website: Have you recently been exposed to someone with an infectious disease?
Me: ....what? Maybe....I....I don't know. Why?
Website: Here is a list of possible conditions:  Viral pharyngitis, strep throat, mononucleosis, laryngitis, tonsilitis, acute sinustis, common cold, dust exposure, indoor allergens, smoke exposure, heartburn/GERD, shingels, scarlet fever, epiglottis, mumps, thyroid cancer, hiatal hernia, bird flu
Me: SAY WHAAAAAAT???? Scarlet fever? Cancer? bird flu? GERD?!?!?
Website: Please list other symptoms. Are you currently panicking?
Me: Yes, of course!
Website: How about hyperventilating?
Me: Well I wasn't but now that you mention it....I....oh....it's {gasp} getting {gasp} harder {gasp} to {BIG gasp} breathe.
Website: Are you breaking out into a sweat?
Me: Yeah, the hyperventilating kind of brought that on..........
Website: Well it's what we suspected. You're a goner.
Me: Oh my word!  I knew it! Farewell cruel world! {cue dramatic, old school death scene}

Ok, so maybe it didn't happen exactly like that. I just feel so awful that I think it's causing me to become delirious. BLAST! I knew I forgot to add something to the symptom checker.
Well, I am going to go nurse myself back to health while I wait on Hubs to get home. A good movie, some tea, meds, and a second opinion are just what I need right now!....Eric jokingly calls me his "little hypochondriac." Hypochondriac. Hmph! I don't know where he gets that idea from! ;-)

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Tuscan Bean Soup

Major changes have been made in my household as of late. Sick of feeling sluggish and bogged down by the food we eat, Hubby and I have ventured into the land of Good Food. Organic, gluten-free, no GMO's, and no High Fructose Corn Syrup are just some of the avenues we've been traveling down. And let me tell ya'! It's been a great journey so far.
Well except for last night. I made, from scratch, Tuscan Bean Soup. Nothing but goodness in it....oh well....goodness and spinach. Although Hubby expressed strong focus to eating right and trying
things he didn't like, when push came to shove, he chickened out opted to eat something else. Something less....spinachey (word?!? I'm going with it.) Silly Hubby! ;-)
Disappointed but not deterred, I instead invited Mom over for lunch today. I thought she would enjoy the meal plus I needed a guinea pig. :-D The menu consisted of:
*Tuscan Bean Soup
*Grilled cheese sandwiches with a twist = I used gluten-free white rice bread, mozzerella, and red onion slices. This was the first time I tried using gluten-free bread. The consistency is definitely different....um...firmer and maybe slightly more dry than your typical bread but overall it's delish!
*Fruit = strawberries & kiwi's...seriously, you can't go wrong with that fruit combo! So good!
The meal was a major success! Super filling but afterwards we had tons of energy and did not feel heavy after eating. Do you know what I mean by heavy? Like the Titanic was served to you and you ate every bit of it + dessert. Yeah, no Titanic feast here. Just good and good for you food! The recipe is not my own, although I wish it was. I found this great recipe at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/. This site is amazing and has been a huge help to me!


A lovely half eaten sandwich....what? It was really good. I coudn't help myself. ;-)

May not look scrumptious but believe me! It's yummo to the max!....do I really talk like this? Note to self: Find less cutesy, descriptive words.
I encourage you to check out Kitchen Stewardship and to try this delicious recipe! You and your body will be glad you did!

Have you tried any new recipes lately? Let me know! I'd love to try it out too! Have a terrific Tuesday! :-)

Monday, May 2, 2011

The Nameless Dish

Budgets are a great thing! They keep one organized and, obviously, on top of their finances. But what happens when one runs out of money from their grocery budget for the month?? They are left to dig through their cabinets and refrigerators, praying to make something edible. What would you do if that happened to you? Scream? Panic?! Curse the day you spent too much at the grocery a few weeks ago?!? "Why did I have to buy that extra (fill in the blank)????"  Years ago, Mom ran into the situation and created a dish called macasagna. It was really good and is now one of our family faves!

As you can already imagine, this happened to me just this past weekend. Hubby and I are very strict with our cash budget system....meaning, if we run out then we are out until the next month. Not like we couldn't just go and use our debit cards. BUT discipline is key! And apparently I forgot that last month because when I looked in my grocery envelope it was empty! So what did I do? Looked at what I did have and got to work. Lo and behold! We had some sausages in the back of my meat drawer. Perfect for grilling! Meat? Check. Side dish....uh.........hm.....I had some mashed potatoes mix, 1/2 cup of sour cream, ranch dressing mix, 1/2 a bag of bacon bits, and some cheese. TADAH! I had my side dish. A little thing I like to call....well, I don't actually have a name for them yet. If you come up with one, let me know! ;-) Here's what I did:
1. Made the spuds according to directions. Spread half of the potatoes in a casserole dish. Set aside.
2. Mixed together the last bit of sour cream I had with the ranch dressing mix. I then spread that on top of the potatoes and spread the remaining potatoes on top.
3. Then I sprinkled the top with the cheese and bacon bits.
Into the oven (you could also use your broiler) it went. I kept it in there till the top was melted and the middle warm. *I personally prefer homemade mashed potatoes but the box mix was all I had.* Sure, there are a few things with the dish I would tweak but all in all I was a happy camper with the way it turned out! Hubs was too which is always an A++ in my book!

What dishes have you created out of desperation? Were they awesome? Were they awful? Are they now a regular at your home?