Tuna Noodle Casserole Awesomesauce.

Back before I started this blog, I always had an obsession with everything
"white trash".

I still do.

Calm down and untwist your panties. I don't mean this in a bad way.

Though I love the glamorized "trashy" part, how I see "white trash"
is really the being comfortable with what you have, making it work
whichever way you can and not gussying up the parts that you think
should just to impress others. Money isn't usually taken into account
because there isn't a whole lot to speak of anyway.

I don't know about you but when I was young, my family didn't have
a lot of money. I'm not ashamed, it was what it was. Mom knew how
to feed us on a budget, simple comforting food usually made with
"cream of" soups and gov'ment cheese. It was filling, usually stretched
to feed us more than one meal and always comforting. Now that I'm
older and a parent myself, I find myself turning back to those same
foods Mom made for me so my kids have the same memories and
instant comfort I had.

Years ago, I happened across two cookbooks called "White Trash
Cooking" and "White Trash Cooking II". These were written JUST
for me, I KNEW it. I bought both cookbooks on the spot, drove home
and read those cookbook cover to cover. During parts, I even flashed
back to my childhood and remembered times when my mother, or
grandmother or even a babysitter cooked me specific recipes and I
was back at that same time, remembering the exact feelings I had
that moment and instantly comforted. I own both cookbooks now
and every couple months I look through them and pick something
out to make for my family.

Flash forward many years later, I finally decide *this* is what I want
to blog about. A sense of comfort in knowing that we're content with
what we have and finding humor and beauty in the simplest things.
I want to bring this feeling to my friends. My blog readers. The public.
I think that if we all touched on this part of ourselves more often, we'd
all be a heck of a lot happier.

One recipe for me that covers all those bases AND is true white trash
comfort food is Tuna Noodle Casserole. We all know the stigma with
Tuna Noodle Casserole. It smells, it's usually flavorless (besides salty,
which some people will argue that salt IS flavor), and it tastes
like rewarmed dog pooh. Yep. I used to think that, too. I never had a
Tuna Casserole I liked, until *I* made it. And it was AWESOME.

My recipe is loosely based on Midnight Crunchy Crumb Tuna Casserole,
which is from "White Trash Cooking II". I changed a few ingredients to
make it stretch a little farther and add in a few "vegetables" to goose it
up a bit. I cooked the casserole in my cast iron skillet from beginning
to end (except for boiling the noodles, those I did in a seperate pot).
Feel free to add or subtract what you like from this, this is MY comfort
food but it may not be yours exactly. It's all relative.

This recipe feeds five, which for us means dinner and one bowl leftover
to rewarm the next day.

Cast Iron Tuna Noodle Casserole

1-2 tablespoons butter
2-3 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 large red pepper, chopped fine
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sweet onion, chopped fine
1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped fine
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
2 small cans of tuna, drained
1 can Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 cup evaporated milk
Couple tablespoons Hellman's mayonnaise
Good shake Frank's Hot Sauce
4 ounces swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 can French's French Fried Onions OR 1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350*. Warm the butter in cast iron skillet over medium
high heat. Add in celery, red pepper, garlic, onion and mushrooms.
Saute until vegetables start to look limp. Add in macaroni, tuna fish,
mushroom soup, evaporated milk, mayonnaise, and hot sauce. Stir
everything together until well incorporated. Remove from heat and
fold in cheese. Sprinkle french fried onions (or crushed crackers)
over the top. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Becoming one with my cast iron skillet.......and a pretty killer product review.

I didn't own my first cast iron skillet until a year or so ago
when a friend had purchased one for me for Christmas. I didn't
get what the big deal was. And I'll be honest--I asked a buttload

of questions when I got it, too. I drove everyone crazy about how

to keep one seasoned, how to clean it, how to cook in it, how to love

my cast iron skillet. Because I just didn't get it.

Until I did.

This all ties together. Trust me.

I have another blogger friend, http://kitchengirljo.blogspot.com/,
who whispered in my ear about a product that she was asked to test drive
but for personal reasons, she opted out. (I think her personal reason
was to boot my butt into blogging again, but I can't prove it.) She

was right, though.) The name of the company is Lancaster International

Trading Company, http://lancaster-trading.com/, who imports and

distributes sun dried apricots and sun dried tomatoes. When I got the

package, I was quite excited. As you can see, it was carefully packaged

with beautiful packaging. I'm pretty much a sucker when it comes to any

kind of dried foods but these products were just GORGEOUS.

I was so tickled over this new product to play with that I went on
a hunt right away to find new recipes to use these beautiful little

gems. Through google, I found a wonderful recipe for Chicken Parmesan
with Sundried Tomato Sauce at a fabulous website called

Good Life Eats. I've never cooked with sun dried tomatoes EVER

but I figured that now was as good of a time as any. Not only was it

my first time cooking with sun dried tomatoes, it was my real first

time cooking with my cast iron skillet that a) wasn't egg-related or

b) cornbread.

To tell you the truth, I was a freaking ROCKSTAR. I don't often

brag about how awesome I am, but dude, I rocked it out. I should

have jumped right in to cooking with my cast iron a year ago and

gotten rid of all my other pans. (And really, I plan on doing this

immediately. No, really.) The sun dried tomatoes were off the charts

delicious. I used the recipe on Good Life Eats as a base. I always like

to play with recipes a little to see if I can't put my own spin

on them. The end result was absolutely fabulous. As you can see

from my pictures......they speak for themselves! They're practically

runnin' their mouths!

Here is the recipe, if you decide you want to try this awesomesauce

for yourself. Again, I used the recipe from Good Life Eats as a base,

this is MY version. What I like to do is cook the chicken breasts first,

then let them sit in a warm oven while I cook the sauce in the same skillet

that I did the chicken. It cuts down on dishes AND I think it adds another

layer of flavor to the sauce. It's completely up to you on how you do it, really.

Just DO it!

Sundried Tomato Sauce:

Couple turns of olive oil

1 medium sweet onion, diced

2 red bell peppers, diced

4-6 garlic cloves, minced

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1/2 cup red wine

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 teaspoons dried italian seasoning

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup Lancaster International Trading Company sundried tomatoes

Healthy glug of balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

For the Chicken:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt, if desired

4 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Couple good glugs of olive oil

For the Sauce: Add the olive oil to a large cast iron skillet and

heat over medium-high. Add onion and red peppers and saute for

3-5 minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and saute a minute more.

Add the tomato paste, the wine, the tomato paste, the diced/

crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning and bay leaf, stirring well to

combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then stir in the sun dried

tomatoes. Reduce heat and let simmer for at least 15 minutes or until

sun dried tomatoes are tender. Stir in balsamic vinegar and season with

salt and pepper (if desired).

For the Chicken: Preheat oven to 350°. Combine the flour, parmesan,

garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or plate

with a rim. Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of saran wrap

and with a tenderizing mallet, pound the breasts down to half the original

size. Coat each piece of chicken on both sides in the parmesan mixture.

In a cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken

pieces to the pan, cooking cook 5 minutes per side - or until golden.

Add chicken to a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Top each chicken breast

with mozzarella. Bake at 350° for 5-10 minutes (or until chicken is cooked

through and cheese is melted.

When assembling the chicken parmesan on the plates, I like to set

the chicken and pasta on the plate, then spoon the sauce over the

chicken and pasta. I'm not one of those who cooks the chicken in

the sauce or mixes up the sauce with the pasta. If you feel like doing

it that way, go nuts.

I hope you'll try this recipe out for yourself, as well as the products from

http://lancaster-trading.com/. Both the sun dried tomatoes and apricots

were delicious, I'm quite blessed to have had the chance to sample their

outstanding product. Much thanks go to http://lancaster-trading.com/

and http://kitchengirljo.blogspot.com/ for this wonderful opportunity.

**DISCLAIMER** Lancaster International Trading Company provided me with a gift pack of the products described for me to try. As always, any thoughts and opinions given on "Double Wide Skillet, Single Wide Budget" are my own.

Love, Me?

Okay. It's been a year since I posted last. I have no good excuses or
reasons why I let it go for so long. I think about blogging all
the time. But for one reason or another, I can't seem to make it work.
There's always something that's keeping me from something I love.

Ooooooooh, I'm gonna sit on my a** on the couch and fondle the remote.

No. That's not always what happened. Just a majority of the time.

Truth be told, it's been one. long. year.

We picked up from our home state and moved way out of our comfort
zone to a brand spankin' new state. Since then, it's been a struggle
to keep afloat and find solid ground. Even though it's almost been
a year, we're still working to find that solid ground. It's really
tested our marriage, our sanity, the very core of who we are as a
family. I really didn't feel like I wanted to air the dirty laundry
of my personal life because it was bad enough I had to see it myself.

And truth be told, I'm struggling with my food addiction.

I won't get down to the nitty gritty because, we'll.......I think it's
time for me to stop wallowing and going over the things I do wrong. I
need to focus on what I do right. I've got one heck of a voice, I've got
a knack with cooking and I think I know how to connect with people.

Basically, this post is stating that I'm back. I'm going to blog and I'm
going to find my way back to what I love.

And I hope that what I love turns out to be me. For once.

Struggling with Food Addiction

It's been a while since I posted the huge food revelation blog.

I'm sorry. I'm just doin' what I do. Which isn't my best but
I'm working on it. It's always been a work in progress.

I was sitting pretty at 75 pounds lost. Then, I was maintaining.
After that, I was gaining. And now, I've gained. And I don't like
that AT ALL. It's not a huge amount but it's enough to where I
am feeling uneasy about my relationship with food again. I notice
that my pants are getting tight, I'm not making the best food
choices and I just don't make myself stop and say to myself "Why
are you eating, stupid a**. Don't you remember that you can't stop
when it comes to food?"

Addiction is a serious monkey on my back. The other day, I'd
gotten to the point where I'd seen food everywhere. Not one
thing all day gave me relief from the constant, unrelenting
food thinking and I wanted to jump out of my skin and I was
just screaming inside my head for it to all stop--for me to
stop. And you know, it never really does. This effing sucks,
man. It's SO hard. Food is everywhere and it's socially acceptable
to have it around, you go out and it's readily available and
it's encouraged to indulge as much as you like. Seems like
there's a new holiday around every corner of my calendar that
invites me to cook something "special" or have something I
wouldn't normally eat because it's a "special occasion". I can
get past it for a while, get cocky because I seemed to conquer
the issue, but it always comes back with a vengance and I just
can't seem to not only be okay with food and have it around and
not overindulge but to draw the line as to not cross it again.

I can have the greatest support system ever, and I do. But it
really comes down to me. And it's really just some days where
I wish it didn't come down to me. That I wish someone else could
carry this burden for a while so that I could seek relief for five
minutes. I know that it's to the point of wanting to to choose
food over everything else in my life or get serious. And duh, of
course I want to be serious. I don't want to struggle with this
so hard. But when do I get there? When is it enough? When is it
that I can finally say this will not be my struggle anymore?

Finally being honest about my own weight issues.

This is a hard entry to write. I spent a long time turning it
over in my head.

I was talking with a good girlfriend of mine last week about
the sudden realization that I had when I hit the heaviest I'd
ever been. And when I had this realization, it about stopped
me cold, because I'd never really said it out loud to myself
because....we'll....who really wants to hear the cold, hard
truth about themselves? I mean, it hurts. Bad.

My name is Sarah and I am a food addict.

You can laugh, but it's true. And if I'd had the cojones to say
this eight years ago when I started putting on weight, I would
not have gained over a hundred pounds. Food for me is an addiction.
I cannot say no to almost any kind of food. I have no cap as
to what is "enough". And it's not like eating or having food is
illegal. So, it's not like being overweight is as socially unacceptable
as using drugs or drinking to oblivion, so I thought I was okay.

Until I wasn't.

And it's really that I looked in the mirror and I could not
recognize who I was anymore.

I can literally count on one hand the people I've talked to who
really have been honest andsaid "Oh my god, yes. That's exactly
what it's like." And though it's refreshing to have people
that I can talk about this to, it's terrifying how close this
is to any other addiction. For me, it was. All I thought about
all the time was food. Eating. When the next meal was. What I was
going to cook. How I would get the food I would be cooking/eating.
I'd eat more than I was supposed to eat and beat myself up all
day because I overate. And then, when I gained more weight, I
started to isolate. I didn't want to do much with my family or
friends because I was not the weight I wanted to be and I was
embarassed to have others see what I had become. But, because I
was isolating, I would go right back to comfort eating and the
cycle would start all over again. I hated myself so all my personal
relationships suffered. I figured because I hated myself that
it was just pity that others wanted to spend time with me as
I really had noone else.

Isn't that an awful way to live? I am so angry and disgusted
with myself because I just couldn't be honest with how I was
living my life and just face it, start to heal and move on.
This is no different from friends/family that I've seen struggle
with addiction. It's not exactly the same, but the cycles are.

Why am I blogging about this? Honestly, I can't let someone
else feel this way. I felt so isolated and really thought that
noone could feel like me. Or if they did, they would never
be honest about it. I mean REALLY be honest. And I'm telling
you that I don't hate you. Because I've been there. I am there.
And I understand. I've found that I've got to keep this active
in my mind. That I've got to keep reminding myself that this is
like any other addiction and that it's a daily (sometimes I've
even got to take it by the hour, minute and second, too. Depends
on how difficult the food-issues are for that day.) With keeping
this active, I've got to talk about it. Find others who feel
like me so that we can get it out there so we don't feel
this way alone and go back to our triggers.

Now that I've faced my truth, the weight is just coming off.
I'm learning about what works for me, food-wise. I don't keep my
trigger foods in the house because...we'll....I'd eat it all
in one sitting. I don't bake as much as I used to. I don't go
to fast food restaurants. I've eliminated all sugar, processed
foods, all sugary drinks, and binge/bored eating. It's been
almost four months and I'm down 46 pounds and six pants sizes.
I finally got under 200 pounds a couple days ago and that was a
HUGE milestone for me. I hadn't been under 200 since my oldest
son was two.

I can't take the credit all for myself, either. I now have eliminated
most of my unhealthy personal relationships from my life and
since starting this weight loss journey, I got up off
my couch and formed new, healthy friendships with a great
group of women who all love and support me and are honest with
me about their food issues, too. That was huge. (Nothing makes you
feel more powerful than having a conversation with your "girls"
and having them either say something that you are too afraid to
say out loud or you vocalize how you feel and have them say yes,
I feel that way, too. It's like, you aren't carrying the burden
alone anymore. And that's such a wonderful feeling.) My dad has
always offered his love and support when needed which has always
been a blessing.

So, now that I've put all this down on paper....kind of.....if
you feel the same way, leave a comment. If you'd rather not air
your dirty laundry for everyone to see, leave a comment that you'd
like my e-mail address and I'll get it to you. I really just
wanted to finally have this said and out there so that maybe
my struggle can help someone else as well as be
a little cheap therapy for me, too.

Thanks for reading.

Loyalty......yes or no?

Hey.

Still feeling a little blah. It's been a crazy week, to say the least.
Lots of health issues that both my husband and I are struggling with.
Nothing we can't handle, but with a normal weeking work for him and
a couple wrenches thrown in my week of housewifing/mothering, come
Sunday, I'm wiped out.

Go figure. Sunday is my busiest day. Or every two weeks, it is.

That's when I figure the budget for groceries for two weeks, get
my couponing in check, refine my shopping list/checklist for the
week, round up the rest of the laundry and all the loose ends
I couldn't get to during the week. Weekends mean time off for
Husband, not for Wife/Mom. Seems like my work is at least doubled
on the weekends. Anyone else with me?

Anyway, we've had to change our grocery shopping to once every
two weeks and have one mother of a trip, with one or two trips in
between for extra produce. I've noticed that we spend less this way
and I'm more likely to stick to a list. The last month I've
been lucky to have one of my favorite cashiers who's SUPER
attentive on how I shop, she's an EXCELLENT bagger, and she
makes my work when I'm unloading at home at least half. (For
those of you who are a Type A like me, this is HUGE. I can't
tell you how many times I've gotten my groceries home and half
of my produce is banged up or squished. If I'm spending time
picking out great produce, I want it to come home close to the
way I found it. If it's smushed or bruised, it'll go bad that
much quicker. Or, that's been my experiance.)

I have to say that I've been pretty loyal to my local grocery
store. I've strayed here and there, but I keep coming back to
them. I've noticed that their produce is better than what the
other stores carry, they have a higher selection or organics,
they've gotten better about their pricing so it's more of a
draw to spend because I save more AND they've almost always have
sales on what I need. But for me, what it comes down to is the
personal relationships I have with the staff. This store opened
locally when my oldest was just walking. He's a pretty loving
kid, really forms solid relationships with about everyone
he knows and the core staff all know him and make sure to touch
base with him every time we come in. Same with my younger boy
and my husband and I. I will tell you that I will sacrifice a
little bit more of my money to have that personal relationship
with the employees.Sounds silly, I'm sure, but....it's more of
that small town feel. We're far from a small town so much anymore
but for me, it matters. Because they notice we shop there.
And we're not just flashing dollar signs to them.

I really want to know if others feel the same way.

Do you stay loyal, for the most part?
Do you coupon and what are your best couponing tips?
How much do you spend usually and how many people are in your family?
How often do you shop?


And you know, thanks to those who read and comment! I do read all
of them and do my best to comment back to everyone. I do appreciate it!

Mix tapes like your first boyfriend made......but better.

I've renewed my love of mix tapes again. Kind of.


Let me explain.


I own a Blackberry. And this is after having the most basic of
phones for over a year and how I would go on about how I would
*never* own a cell phone. EVER. But, I heard from friends about
how GREAT the Blackberry was and I drooled over everyone
else's.....until I bit the bullet and got one last February. And
I love it just as much as I did the first day I got it. Even more.
It's like my own wife. Honestly. I do everything with
it. It remembers all my appointments, my mom meetups, holds all
my favorite ringtones and games, takes pretty boss pictures (or
it does compared to my first phone, the Kitana), it holds my grocery
list (and other various lists, because I am an avid list maker....
seriously I've got an issue) and it keeps me connected to all my
friends and family.


I have a point. With the mix tapes. I didn't forget.


The best thing about my Blackberry is Pandora. What's Pandora,
you ask? OMG, you don't know? Seriously? (Okay, so I'll be honest..
..I didn't really know-KNOW either. I mean, I did. But not like
I really know now. Anyway....) Pandora is like the best mix tapes you
ever heard. Like the ones you and your friends would make off of
the radio or with your killer system, which was really only a turntable
with a tape deck. Basically, you start off your search for your
favorite artist (mine yesterday was Melanie, like Brand-New-Key-Melanie)
and it will generate songs that are close to that sound or
the time period and will let you thumbs up/thumbs down or just skip it,
if you aren't feeling it. Super freaking cool. I really started
listening to it on Friday and I've been pretty much listening to it
non-stop since.


This is even more exciting for me because....we'll....my MP3
player bit the dust last week. It'll do that when it's been through
the washing machine twice. (I know, I'm a MORON.) I had just started
walking my two miles in the morning again and having Pandora going
while I'm walking got me to my happy place and I actually walked two
and a half miles! Having Pandora instead of my MP3 player is just
wonderful. I can make a new "radio" at any time and I don't have to
worry about loading all these different songs on my MP3 player when I
want a change. It does all the work for me and you know, it does it
better. Because you're listening to these songs and it's kind of
like....oh, yeah....I LOVE that song.


So, anyway. It really is great. I can't say enough good things about it.
And it's so nice to have a new motivation to get me walking and happy.
Because when I'm happy about walking, I'm more apt to do it and
that'll help me that much more in my weight loss.


For those of you who have a Blackberry and use Pandora, what are
some of your "radio" mixes that you've come up with with your beginning
search?

Sure, it smells like mothballs but I had THE best time.

I haven't talked about the whole single wide budget, double wide
skillet frame of mind I have while raising/feeding two kids and a
husband in a long time.

I apologize.

I am a hardcore thrifter. I started when I got a job at Value Village
at seventeen and it was over from there. Dude, they used to give you
50 percent off all your purchases. How can you NOT be hardcore and act
like a child let loose in a candy store? Come on now.

I have a friend who discovered not long ago that there is a local by
the pound thrift store. Seriously? How did I not know this? She'd been
once before and really scored and she thought we could go together and
check it out. I did end up going without her for the first time with
the family and that was a huge mistake. For a hardcore thrifter who gets
"into the zone" when she's looking for bargains, bringing her three men
was an EPIC mistake. It's just a bunch of clothing and housewares/toys/
books dumped into bins and you dig for what you're looking for. Whatever
IT is. Sometimes, you don't know until you put your hands on it that
that was EXACTLY what you needed. It usually smells really bad (like
fourty boxes of old mothballs, urine or the rare bins that smells
like old vomit), there are a few lurkers who are waiting to grab
what you discard, and there's no air conditioning. Oh, and most
important? Watch out for the clothing with nasties. You'll find at
least one. But it's a hardcore thrifters dream. You have to trust me
on this. When I went for the first time, I had a half hour before
the family gets bored and I get ImhungryImboredthisplacesmells
canIhaveadrinkofwaterIhavetogotothebathroomIwanttogohomethatpersonissorude.
Never again. I'll head with my friend next time.

Her and I headed out yesterday and got to the store right as
they opened. Four and a half hours later, we came out with two
huge carts full. HUGE. But, our kids' school clothes were
all taken care of. And it wasn't all nasty, stained clothes. There's a
lot of high end clothing that's just sitting there waiting for you to
find. You just have to dig for it. I spent $67 and I think my friend
spent ten dollars more. The great thing about this place is the more
you buy, the cheaper per pound it gets. I didn't really understand that
until I realized that the price was going down. (I wished I'd kept
some of the gems I threw back, I don't know why I didn't get it.)
For my 67 bucks, I got six huge bags packed full of clothes and one
bag of books. Not bad. And there was a ton of name brand clothing.
I even was able to find some clothes for my youngest that I could put
away until he could fit into them. Not bad. I highly suggest
you take a friend. Her and I kept throwing clothes back and forth
for each other. You find something great, you want someone you know
to have it. Trust me. She found this great almost new pair of Aeropostle
jeans that she couldn't just leave there, so she walked them
over to a girl that she thought would fit into them. You just can't let
it sit there!

Because I spent time digging, I was able to afford groceries next month
instead of spending money on brand new clothes. I still have to get the
school year basics and new shoes, but everything else is taken care of.
For 67 dollars.

Oh! And to tie in the weight loss, I did buy two pairs of pants for the
next size down I go for a small portion I would have spent elsewhere.....
even at the regular thrift store. (OT, I'm down 40 pounds!)

So. Yesterday was a productive day. Thrifting owns. Seriously.

Pillow Talk.....kind of. In a different way.

I've kind of plateau'ed again.

It's not because I'm lazy. Gosh no. I've just realized that I
like sleep and am kind of in this whole passive aggressive
relationship with my bed.

It's warm and cozy and quiet. We'll, kind of quiet. My husband
sounds like a gosh-darn buzz saw when he's sleeping. And we also
share the bed with our ten pound mini-doxie and she's a bit of a
cover/bed hog. (How is it that little dogs can seem like they're both
50 feet long but also 50 feet wide. We only have a queen bed but
she makes herself ginormous so we're both huddled up while she's
spread out over precious bed real estate.)

I don't have a lot to share about what I'm doing with my weight loss.
It's nothing huge. Still not drinking soda. Still eating super healthy
and eliminating all sugar/white flours. I've even recently decided I'm
going to cut out my nightly sleeping pill that I've been taking
for years just to kick everything I can that's unhealthy. I started
last night. I slept better than I thought I would but the two things
that took me by surprize were 1) I don't act like I did before kids
and get "the munchies" an hour after taking the sleepy-ni-ni-pills (why
does that happen? Someone PLEASE tell me) and 2) I didn't wake up
and act like a Linda Blair before her exorcism. Two very strong
bonuses in my book.

I have a point.

What I'm getting to is now that I don't have two little ni-ni
sleepy pills to knock me out at night, I'm hoping that I get back
into the swing of things and get up early and do my two miles again.
I miss my morning walks, more than just for weight loss sake.
And I want to really enjoy sleeping and wake up refreshed, instead
of taking two pills and conking out an hour later and waking up six
hours later more tired than when I went to bed. I like my bed, yes.
But I want to LIKE my bed.

So. That's all I really have to share. Oh, and I'm now down 35 pounds
and two pants sizes. Even if I'm not walking two miles in the morning.

How is your weight loss journey going?

I may take the scenic route, but I eventually reach my destination.

My body took a road trip the last couple days.

No, not really, but the time I take to figure out what works for
my diet and what doesn't is kind of like a road trip. Think about
it. When you get in the car with the whole family, you're super
excited about your destination because it's going to be OMG, fun. Dad's
secretly dreading it because he'll be driving most of the way and
will become the family pack mule. He just wants to get there and
get it over with so he can relax. Mom wants to check out all the
side bonuses on the way, like the Biggest Ball of Twine and she wants
to take pictures of the kids in every state. The kids are just excited
to be going somewhere new, until the excitement wears off in the
first few hours and then they have to stop at every rest stop to
pee.

Dieting is kind of like that. It's super exciting in the beginning,
but once you get going, you hit all kinds of bumps in the road. Like
all the extra peeing due to the water you're drinking. Or the pitstops
your body makes when you've leveled out. And it's true that you get tired
of being a pack mule for your extra weight and you just want to relax.

It's not that I'm lazy. Goodness no. It's just it gets to be that
"time" and I get sluggish and I want to do things like lay in bed
in the morning instead of doing my two miles and I want to have lovely
things like white flour and processed food in bags. Which I did both.
In moderation, so it wasn't too awful. But still, my body was angry
and protesting. It's really no different than being in a hot car with
all your angry family members who want nothing to be somewhere where
everyone else isn't because they've just had enough.

Nothing about me is subtle.

My friends joke that I'm a little slow. It's the god-honest truth.
I am. I'll believe most any untruth I'm told. And my body told me a
HUGE one. I got on the scale yesterday morning and saw I put on
six pounds in....two days. I seriously thought it was a joke.
Come on, I had a few slices of veggie "pizza" and a portion of
Smartfood white cheddar popcorn. And I didn't do my morning walk
for two days. Okay, three. But I was tired. I jumped off the
scale, all the while giving the scale a talking-to for lying to me.
Got back on and the same six pounds were there, taunting me. And
then, I was cranky because I was sure that pizza and popcorn were
coming back to haunt me. Serves me right, yes? I knew that my body
can't handle it but I didn't want to listen, then am surprized
when all my inside organs go juvenile and just let go of everything. A
ll at once. And sit pouting because they'd warned be right before that
if I didn't get to a rest stop soon, they'd sure show me.

I have a point.

Once I got to thinking about it all day and crawled into bed and
REALLY thought about it, I was just about feeling as slow as all get
out. Because yes, I did put on six pounds but only one was really
something I could have controlled. Because I didn't think, oh yeah....
uh,you have five pounds of bloat EVERY MONTH. Doi.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I want to be the change. I
know a lot of you are like me who constantly torment yourself over
"falling off the wagon" and indulging in something now and then. I
know that you've got to let yourself have something every once and
a while or you'll never get to where you want to be, weight-wise.
I know now that processed white flour and packaged popcorn dosen't
work for me but I can find a way to make those things healthier
again so I can have them and enjoy them without my whole body going
on strike. And once I do this a time or two, I eventually find out
these shortcuts so the trip isn't quite as long and hard on the whole
body-family. This way, we enjoy the trip and it dosen't turn out like
a really bad version of National Lampoon's.

Do you know what I mean? Eh. Play along anyway.

So, for those of you who are also traveling to a new weight
destination, how's it going for you?

Still going strong.....though my pillow is calling to me.

I'm still going strong with my new way of life. So far, down 28 pounds.

I only have one issue.

I cut out soda a week ago. Which is freaking HUGE for me. All
I had were a few small headaches and I was a little tired-er than
usual. Which, considering all the new things I'm doing with my
Mom's group and the responsibilities at home were just a little
more for me to juggle. I'm Supermom, right. My job is to juggle
everything, right, and just kind of roll with it. And most of
the time, I do alright with this.

And I thought I was doing okay, but once I hit two in the afternoon
the last two days, I hit the wall and am completely out of energy.
I took a nap at two yesterday. I NEVER do that. EVER. But I had to
because I was just wiped out. And when I got up, I was even more
exhausted. I asked around about what I could be doing to help with
this and it turns out that I might not be getting all I need by just
taking my D vitamins (which are a GODSEND by the way.).
So, I'm going to be adding in B12 and a good multivitamin or prenatal.
And, I've just got to give my body time to ride itself of all the
nasty toxins I was taking in from the Diet soda.

(And let me tell you about that evil diet soda. As soon as I
dropped it, the scale started moving down again and I lost three
pounds by the next day. Holy cow....can you believe it? I got off
the scale and got back on because I thought I was hallucinating.)

Why am I telling you this? Because even Supermoms who think they've
got it all under control could use a little help. If you are on
the weight loss track and all gung ho about "Woo-hoo, I'm losing
weight. One step closer to skinny jeans!", you might be missing out
on something that you need along the way. And even Supermoms get
lost now and then and need to ask for directions on where she
should be going.

So, if you are doing this weight loss thing and either have
commented or are lurking, how's it going for you? Are you struggling
and need a boost or are you a rockstar and want to gloat?

I'd love to hear from you!

Craving-squashing soup, my way.

What a busy week.

I'm glad to have one day at home before the madness starts all
over again.

We spent most of the week at the lake, which was wonderful.
Washington only has about a month of hot weather and when it
is finally hot, we do it up. At least to Washington standards.
This meant a lot of juggling my meals because I don't do sandwich
with thick deli meats, sliced cheese and lots of mayo from the
cooler or packaged treats, like chips or crackers. I mean,
the ones I buy for my boys are organic and all low in sugar/fat,
but I try not to eat much out of a box/bag/package if I can
help it.

I ended up throwing together a soup from a suggestion that I got
from a friend and just kind of making it my own. It was too hot
to roast broccoli for soup so I skipped that step and just
steamed 4-5 cups of broccoli. (If you can do it, roast your
veggies for your soup. Just toss your veggies with a little EVOO,
about a tablespoon, and a little salt/pepper and roast for about 20
minutes at 350*. Super simple and really bumps up the flavor of your ingredients/soup.) If you'd rather use cauliflower, I've done that
instead of broccoli. Just use a whole head.) Anyway, once you get
your broccoli just barely steamed, let it cool just a bit and
puree in batches with enough organic chicken broth to make it
into a thick puree. Set that aside for a second and get going
chopping whatever veggies you have on hand. Last batch I made,
I used zucchini, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, mushrooms and
cabbage. I sauteed my veggies in a large saucepan with a tbsp.
each of UNsalted butter and EVOO until just a little limp, then
added it to a medium-large pot with the pureed broccoli adding just
another cup or so of organic chicken broth or so. It's really
depending on how thick you want your soup. I like it a little
thicker so I use just a cup. I warmed it through and added 1 cup
2% sharp cheddar, some red pepper flake and about a 1/4 cup fat free
evaporated milk. (If you don't have evaporated milk,
you can also use fat free milk or fat free half-n-half) I just
warmed it through to melt the cheese
and wa-la.....a creamy vegetable soup that's both filling and
fooling because you think you're eating a fattening soup but
you're really not. Sometimes, I add a tbsp. of dijon to give it a
little twang. I find that a cup of this is filling enough for lunch
and the little cheese and butter curbs all my wanting for foods that
I shouldn't have. One pot of this will do lunch for me all week OR will
go about three days if I eat it for lunch and dinner, which I did
last week as it was too hot to cook and again, I didn't
want a sandwiches with fattening cold cuts and processed cheese.

And you know, it fits into the "single wide budget" because it only
uses a smidge of cheese and all the veggies were bought from my local
produce stand and really only cost me a couple bucks to make a huge pot
of soup that fed me very well for up to a week. Just think how much
you'll save making a pot of soup from home and brown bagging your lunch
for work every week!

So, that's what I ate last week. I plan on making the soup again and
roasting the veggies as it's a little cooler in Washington next week.
I love that I am cooking with all these local fresh vegetables that
last month, I would have completely passed over for a less healthy
choice. I have tried this with the cabbage soup diet and as it's
a very tasty soup, it didn't have the little touches of the
creaminess that I love in soup. My soup has a just enough of that
where I can have my creamy-cheesy goodness without gorging myself
on a high-calorie, carb-laden soup. I hope you try it for yourself
and let me know how it works for you.

Cheating in any way always comes with consequences.

Hey. Guess what?

My "visitor" is gone. Glory be. I've never been more glad
to see something end. We'll, that's not entirely true. I've
felt that way about more than one thing in my life a time or two.

I admit. I kept at it. I really did. And I was down almost another
five pounds. Almost.

But, I fudged last night. Big time. We'd had a long day yesterday
and I was bone tired when I got home and didn't have the energy
to juggle the kids until bedtime and cook dinner. So, when the
kids asked if we could do pizza for dinner, I caved. They make
it so easy now, you don't even have to call it in if you don't
have to. You can order pizza online!

I've got a secret, though. I think the "diet" gods were waiting
for me to eff up. Honestly.

I don't know how I did it but when I ordered my Veggie Lovers
pizza minus the green peppers and plus jalapenos, it came back to
me exactly how I ordered it. Supposedly. Only it didn't. Half my
Veggie pizza had cheese and extra jalapenos and the other half had
the veggies and extra jalapenos. But, of course, I was too tired
to pay attention and notice that something was different. And,
my saint of a husband said nothing to me while I kept stopping
for a while between bites and remarking how hot it was. Noooooo,
he waited until I'd finished my first piece that he thought I'd
ordered my pizza really different from usual but that he thought
I "knew what I was doing". (Lord. When do I ever really know what
I'm doing. I fake it REAL well.) I will fess up that I was suffering
for that pizza in more ways than just one last night.

And this morning, too.

My husband, of course, thought this was a RIOT. And kept singing
a particular Johnny Cash song all morning to me. What a guy.

Jerkface.

Let me be a lesson for you. If you plan on swerving off your new
path for a healthier body, make sure you don't bring passengers.

Dieting stinks sometimes. Trust me.

Hey. It's me.

I'm still doing my best to eat healthy, walk an hour a day
and generally treat my body as a temple. Even though my body
looks like it could seat 100. Easily.

I was doing great. Down another five pounds since the last time
I wrote a blog. Then, I go to weigh in this morning and I'm up
the five pounds I dropped, basically overnight. I chalked it up
to water weight gain and went along with my day.

Then, I realized what that really means. Aunt Flo is coming.
And she's like any pain in the ass visitor who brings everything
in her closet and puts her feet up for the whole danged week
while you run around cooking her her favorite fatty snacks and
sugary treats. By the time the week she stays is over, you're
ready to drop kick her all the way back where she came
from. I don't need her luggage in my closets, I've got more
than enough baggage for the both of us in my trunk.

I've got news for that bitch, Aunt Flo. I'm not cooking her
any calorie laden treats. I'm not making any special trips to
the grocery store for her favorite ice cream or that one
brand of kettle chips. She can stay and be comfortable but
I won't appease her excess weight or mood-induced cravings.
Screw that.

I have a point.

Yes, being a woman stinks sometimes. And "dieting" stinks even
more when you're raging because Aunt Flo's come over again and
made it danged near impossible to go on with your life as planned.
But, I won't let her own my body and my common sense. I have not
caved. And I don't plan on it. I can't promise that I won't eat my
weight in SF jello, but that's a heck of a lot better than a whole
gallon of full fat ice cream and a bag of chips in one sitting.

Check in with me next week and ask me how it went. Who was left
standing after I kicked Aunt Flo's butt to the curb.

Put your money on me. I fight to the death.

Week one down......ten pounds lighter.

School has let out for the summer.

And I swear, I am more tired now than I was before it let out.
But this is a good thing. Because it's a different kind of tired.
The kind of tired that you feel great that you
accomplished something to make yourself a better person.

So far, I've been doing great with my weight loss. I'm down ten
pounds, have almost completely kicked sugar and feel better than
I have in years. I even walk with my olderson in the morning
which is truly a blessing because we can catch up about the day
before and we can spend time together just the two of us before
anyone else gets up. (He told me yesterday that it's really
about coming home and having a hot cocoa and quiet but I know
he just dosen't want me to get a swelled head about how much fun
we're having.)

With all this extra energy, I get things done. I want to go out
and PLAY. Before, I didn't really do that. I just sat around
and felt like crud all the time. No fun for anyone. It's really
been an eye opener for me how much I couldn't get accomplished
because I was so tired.

I don't know why I ever went back to eating the way that got me
this way. It's like.....what in the heck was I thinking? If it feels
so good to eat better and exercise, why in the heck did
I stop? And you know, I don't know why. I really don't.
I could tell you all that it was my Mom brain and because I
juggle so much on a daily basis that it was just easier but we all
know that's a load of poo. Sure, I had two kids and I got married
but I didn't gain the weight because I was a happy new mother or a
happy newlywed. S**t happens.

So. Make it unhappen. Whatever the reason.

Am I making any sense? I tend to babble and talk the long way
around most of the time. First week went well. Making recipes
lighter isn't all that difficult. And yeah, I miss butter
and sugar but 1) not enough to keep on bein' overweight and
feel sick all the time 2) it's almost like a fantasy, where the
idea of eating sugar and fat is better than it really is.

That's kind of where I'm at lately. Trying to get my shit together.

Whatcha think?

Summertime....and the livin' is easy......

Hey! It's summer!

We'll, kinda. For those of you who live in the Northwest,
you know what the weather's been like here. This weekend was
actually the closest to summer weather we've had in almost two weeks.
And it's been glorious. Sunny skies, perfect temperature and the
outside is ripe for all kinds of fun times.

I've actually gotten up and out of the house. You see, over
the winter I kind of hibernated. I stayed in and played board
games, cooked winter-y dishes and just enjoyed the whole
sweats and blanket mentality. Which means I gained back a
lot of the weight I lost last spring/summer. I was kicking my
own bootay for a while, doing the whole talking shit
deal to myself about how stupid that was until I kind of
took a step back and was all "Uh, stop complaining and get off
your ass.

So, I'm getting off my ass and exercising. I walk two miles in
the morning, I've cut out all energy drinks from my diet over
two weeks ago (and LORD, that was hard.....I loved
my Cherry Bombs.....), and I've started to trim my diet down
to include even more fresh local produce, lots of water instead
of coffee/soda and cutting WAY back on the sugar.
It's really a pain in my backside right now because I miss all
my butter, carbs and lord help me, sugar. I'm a serious sugar addict.

I have a point.

I'm going to try to sit around less. Which means I'm going to have
to really bust my butt to get my blogs out in record time so I can
be out doing things. And, I've got to start revamping my recipes
again to suit a healthier lifestyle. Which.....is going to suck.
I'm afraid the fat girl inside of me is just waiting for the skinny
girl to close her eyes for just one second......this way
she can have her full fat cream and butter in exorbant amounts.

Lord have mercy.

These are the changes I've made so far. I now use FF cream/sour
cream/yogurt, whole wheat pastas, half the butter, healthier
cuts of meat and even cauliflower subbed for potatoes in my
potato salad. Some of this stuff I already did before, to a point
but it can't help to do more. And you CAN do this on a single-wide
budget. You'll actually find that you're spending less when you buy
more healthy ingredients and less "filler". It's already been almost
a week and I feel GREAT. If this interests you at all, stalk me!
(Okay, not REALLY full-blown stalking. A little stalking would
be okay.) Or shoot, give me some pointers on what works for you
and we all can be the body-happy people we want to be, whatever
our shape. Shoot. I'd be happy with being a size 12 jeans again.

I like junk in my trunk. Ain't NO shame here.

Take-Out Fake-Out, Mexican-style numero dos.

I did it again.

I won't take total credit because I had help. And it wasn't
originally MY recipe. But I did make a few changes and now it's
mine all mine.

We'll, no. Not really. I'll share it with you. Because what's
the point of making great food and not blabbing all over about
how good it is?

How did I not know about Carne Adovada? Ohmaigawd. So good.
And really, easier than it looks. When I read over the recipe
I was stumped by two things. What in the heck is New Mexico chili
powder and do I have to not only marinade the meat but do I have
to roast it in the oven? (Okay. My secret's out. I'm always
looking for the easy way out. If I can find a shortcut somewhere
......GREAT. I know there's more like me so why not
just say it flat out so we can all celebrate shortcutters everywhere!)

Anyway. I have a point.

The original recipe wants you to marinate the meat for at
least twelve hours or overnight. Pshaw. Right. Like I'm going to
remember to do this. Please. My house is chaos. (And if I'm telling
you the truth, I read that in the recipe and seriously meant to
marinate it. I DID. But I forgot. You know how you forget?
I forgot.) And I was all sideways about the kind of chili powder
it called for. When I was growing up and first started cooking
on my own, I knew of only one chili powder and if you use too
much of it, it blew your socks off. This recipe called for New
Mexico chili and FOUR TABLESPOONS worth. Oh lord. I was
concerned if my husband and I would be able to eat it, forget
the two kids. I did ask around and eventually found out that
New Mexico chili is much tamer than the regular hot chili that
you buy and it's really not an issue. Phew. And for all you
wondering where to find New Mexico chili, you can find it hanging
from a j-hook in the "ethnic" or "mexican" part of your grocery store.
It didn't cost me any more than about 60 cents and it's the
perfect amount for the recipe. If not four tablespoons exactly,
it's danged close.

So, this is what I did. I followed the recipe as close as I
could, only adding sauteed onions in with the garlic and using
tomato juice instead of water. I took another reviewers advice
and adapted it to the crockpot. I braised the pork stew meat
in the oil, added it to the crockpot, then sauteed the onion and
garlic and layered it over the pork meat, then added
the tomato juice (think V-8) to the hot pan and scraped all
those good bits off the pan before adding the spices. After
pouring the sauce over the pork meat, I cooked this meat on
high for most of the morning. By dinner time, it was perfect.
Nicely flavored with quite a kick. We ate these wrapped up in
soft taco tortillas with all the fixin's. Good stuff! It's
kind of like eating chili, but it's not chili.

And you know, everyone loved it. We'll, almost everyone. My
littlest projectile vomited all over the kitchen table but he's
a stubborn child. He did that on purpose, only because he
didn't like the looks of dinner from the start. (He's got an
thing against most food wrapped in tortillas, unless it's coated
in peanut butter and wrapped around a banana. He's not my
child, I swear.) My oldest boy raved about it all night and
how good it was and he couldn't wait to have it again. I want
to believe him only because 1) it was that good and 2) I
hope against all hope that he wasn't kissing my behind over
his temper tantrum that lasted all day.

Projectile vomiting and behind-kissing children aside, it was
off the charts good. Like something you'd get from a mexican
restaurant. My husband actually suggested that the sauce that
I made for this recipe would be good as an enchilada sauce or
even a taco meat sauce, if you are so inclined. I urge you to
try it for yourself. Because it's awesome. Either with my own version
of Mexican Rice or my Cilantro-Lime Rice, that's a little tamer
and a good mouth-cooler-offer against the Carne Adovada.

Give it a go. You'll love it!

Carne Adovada

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Salt/pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
One large onion, cut in half and sliced
4 tablespoons New Mexico red chile powder
12 ounces tomato juice, like V-8
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin
3 pounds cubed pork stew meat


1.In a skillet or deep frying pan, heat two tbsp. oil over
medium heat. Toss pork stew meat with flour, salt and pepper
in a large bowl and brown in hot oil until light golden brown.
Layer in the bottom of your crockpot. Add the remaining two
tbsp. of oil to hot skillet and saute onion and garlic in
oil until translucent. Layer over pork meat in crockpot.
In the hot skillet, add tomato juice making sure to scrape
up all browned bits off of the bottom and edges of the skillet.
Blend in chile powder, stirring until lumps are removed,
then add oregano and cumin. Simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and pour over pork meat and onions/garlic in
crockpot. Cook on HIGH for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.
Serve with tortillas and all your taco/burrito fixings.


Take-Out Fake-Out Mexican Rice

3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. minced onion
2 tbsp. sofrito sauce
1 1/2 cup long grain rice

1.In medium sized skillet, melt butter and saute onion in
butter until translucent. Add chicken broth and wisk in
sofrito sauce. Bring ingredients up to boil, stir in rice.
Briefly stir rice and cover, reducing heat to low. Cook rice
over low heat for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Take Out-Fake Out, Mexican style numero uno.

My birthday was last week.

The ONE thing I wanted to do for my birthday, other than have
a drama-free family day was go out for mexican food. Even though
I hoped, I knew this wouldn't happen for two reasons.

1)Even if we did have the money to go out, I wouldn't do it
anyway. I'm cheap. And honestly, I have a hard time paying someone
to make something for me when I could make it cheaper and
pretty close to the real deal. Sure, it's nice to have someone
to cook for you once in a blue moon. BUT, I just can't get past
that I spent all this money when it could have paid a bill or bought
groceries. (Sometimes, I wish I could just tie up the penny pincher
inside of me and just boot her off a cliff. She's a real pain in
my backside and no fun at all.)

2)I share my life with three boys, one of which is my husband.
All of them possess little to no table manners and they are loud
and obnoxious and generally make me want to spork myself
whenever I take them out. If I'm spending money on a dinner
for me, you best behave. Otherwise, I feel no different than
when I'm at home, disgusted with their record-breaking burps/
farts and the bickering back and forth. I feel like I'm running
defense. And my husband has no freaking patience for two boys
in a restaurant. So, if we do go out, even if it is my freaking
birthday, I'm still the main parent in charge. So, I either
wolf down my food because I stress eat, then get a huge
bellyache and feel sick for the rest of the night
or I pick at my food and it gets cold which means I won't eat it.

So, anyway. My favorite place to go out for a "me" meal is Mazatlan.
Other than the best freaking Cadillac Margarita I've ever had,
they make this Pollo Con Crema that is to die for. Don't ask me
what else is on the menu, I couldn't tell you. Every time, I order
the same danged thing. And it's always SO good. And it's a gazillion
calories. And I eat myself silly and complain about how much I ate
but it was SO good......

And then I get the bill. And it's fifty bucks. And I want to cry.

I decided I wasn't going to do that this year. That I would
save the money I really didn't have and make Pollo Con Crema myself.
I've done it before and it wasn't quite right. Close, but not
quite there for me. (Props to the people before me who attempted
their own personal versions, if they hadn't given me a
jumping off point, I would have NEVER made my own.) I played
with the ingredients and what I thought would be right and just
kind of went balls out and just did it. I also made a mexican rice
that is pretty close to what Mazatlan serves on the side of
their platters. I found this wonderful sauce called sofrito sauce.
Why had I not heard of this before? It's like my new BFF condiment.
Freaking wonderful. Just wisk a couple tbsp. into your rice water
and cook like normal and wa-la, mexican rice. Seriously made of
win. I found mine at Fred Meyer for just a couple bucks
but you can order it online, too. I will warn you that it
does contain MSG, so if you are sensitive,
you can find copycat sofrito sauce recipes if you google.
Really looks easy to make.

Oh. Em. Gee. Words can not express how freaking good it was.
Like a religious experiance. And I was just beside myself
because I freaking did it. I made it myself and it was perfect.
And it cost me well under twenty bucks to make a whole pot of it!
I was riding that high all night. And this morning, if you want to
know the truth.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to try it,
too. And be happy with me that food like this exists. And,
honestly, you owe me a birthday present anyway......;) Go make
it and celebrate with me, though a little late.

It is seriously SO good. You'll thank me later. I know you will.

4 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
2 large red bell peppers, cut into chunks
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons ketchup, or to taste
2 dashes hot pepper sauce (such as Frank's RedHot®), or to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground dried Anaheim or California chiles (optional)
12 (6 inch) flour tortillas


1.Sprinkle chicken cubes with salt and pepper. Heat 1
tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat,
and cook and stir the chicken until the juices run clear,
5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl, and heat
1 more tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium heat.
Cook and stir the mushrooms, bell peppers, onion, and garlic
until the vegetables are beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables into the bowl with the chicken.
2.Melt butter over medium-high heat in the same skillet,
and whisk in the flour. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly,
until the roux is lightly browned and gives off a toasted fragrance,
about 2 minutes. Whisk in the broth, bring to a simmer, and whisk
until thickened. Reduce heat to low, and whisk in the cream,
sour cream, ketchup, hot sauce, cumin, and ground dried chiles.
Cover the skillet, and simmer until thick and the flavors
have blended, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Gently stir in the chicken and vegetables. Serve rolled in
flour tortillas.

My bigger master bathroom.....no.....not really.

(I'm a little more scatterbrained than usual today.
Please bear with me and perhaps
pretend that I make sense today.)

This weekend was really great. Weather was perfect, we had a
lot of good quality family time and really packed a lot into
two days.

Including the weekly grocery shopping.

Now, it's Monday. And I'm like my littlest boy all fit-tastic
and am just not wanting to make my weekly menu. And it's nagging
at me because I didn't make one last week. I made it work
but it was a lot more work than it should have been because
I'm flighty and would think that I had my meal planned out
and it was the one area of my life that was settled for the day
but at the last minute, I'd look at the blueprint I made for o
ur dinner and decide that I wanted a bigger master bathroom.

Lemme explain.

Picture yourself on a pasture and you're looking at blueprints
for your house and seeing how the plans for your house work to
fit your pasture. It's got all the typical rooms for your home
all mapped out and it's just a basic family home. But, then you
get that nagging in the back of your mind thinking that you want
to change it just a bit. Like you'd like more closet space and
a bigger master bathroom and a skylight in the kitchen.
So, you start erasing and drawing in new plans and the house
just keeps getting bigger and you get excited with the new additions
you make on your blueprints. Then you get to work on the finished
product you had all worked out on paper and you didn't add in all
the extra work, materials and time it'd take when you were making
all these plans on paper.

I have a point.

I have a basic family. No frills. My boys are pretty cut and
dry when it comes to food. But me? I have all these lofty ideas
to how to make a recipe better and to just take your typical
menu for a dinner and just turn up the flash just a bit.
Sometimes this works, most of the time my boys look at me like
I'm growing an extra nose on my face. So, without a meal plan and
a SET recipe for every day, I do this every day. And it's tiring.
And sometimes it works out and you feel accomplished, but most
of the time you're just disappointed with yourself because you
just couldn't keep it simple, stupid. Sometimes, you need the
house built already so you can just be done with it.

So.....I know I went the long way around but honestly, that's
how I roll. So, from now on, I'm sticking with blueprints written
in permanent ink unless it's a special occasion. Because all
these lofty plans are just wearing me out. No need to imagine you
can build a mansion on a single wide trailer budget.

I mean, REALLY. How's that for a mental picture?

Relating lasagna to my personal life.

I'm having a bumpy week.

Just rough weekend heading into stormy weather, personal-life
wise. Ah, we all get there, don't we? Have some personal
tribulations and just kind of mope. I hate to admit that I do
this myself, but.....I pout worse than my own kids some days.
And to make this week my own shiny penny, my husband is thrilled
because my emo-ness comes with treats.

(I love my husband. I do. But, he's just like a big kid.
Awwww, I'm sorry you're sad. Oooooh, cookies! God bless him, the twit.)

So far this week, my cooking has been really good. I don't know
about you but when I'm stewing something over, I really hone in
on what I'm doing and work it out in my food. My husband will tell
you that is the god honest truth. And it always seems to me that
I pick the recipes with as many steps as I can. Like.....lasagna.

Now, I can relate lasagna to my life. Don't you walk off in a snit
thinking I'm an idiot. I've got a point. In the beginning of my life,
I viewed everything as too much bother. I didn't want kids or to
be married, I just wanted to be young and dumb and fart around.
Anyone who is a beginning cook will look at lasagna and just
kind of pshaw and pass it off as too much work.
Once I found the man who would eventually become my husband,
I could see myself having kids and being a wife and mother and
perhaps I could handle it. But, LORD, was it difficult.
I fumbled around our first few years together and really
struggled with my first child. And it's the SAME with making
lasagna. You take on the recipe thinking that it really won't be
all that difficult and all the steps will be a piece of cake.....
and then you over cook the noodles and the sauce is too runny and
when you go to cut pieces out of the pan, they flop all over
and look like a big ol' plate of throw-up on your plate. And
your family dosen't want to eat it. And you feel like crying
because you thought it was gonna be SO easy and you feel like
you failed.

Now that I've been married for quite some time and my kids are
getting older and more dependant on themselves and you get
into a routine, life gets a little easier. It's not as hard
as it was when you first started. Sure, you stumble here and
there. Everyone stumbles. But the bumps and bruises don't hurt
as bad as they did before. Just like making lasagna. I've
made more since my first disaster and they always get better.
You learn what works. You don't add as much to your sauce so
it won't be so runny. You don't overcook your noodles.
You add your own personal touches to make it your own. And what
used to take hours in the past now really only takes an hour.
And you feel better because you've accomplished
something that really was so daunting before.

I really DO have a point.

I'm sharing this with you because I know I'm not alone. And
I want you to know that you aren't alone. We're all entitled
to have our bad days and work it out in our minds to make
sense of it all. And we ALL have to eat. So......

GO MAKE SOME LASAGNA. ;)