Mrs. Boomstick

Recipe Deliciousness - Two of Two

2011-08-14T21:04:00.005-05:00

Welcome to part two of the recipe deliciousness introduced yesterday with Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken. Today's recipe takes the leftovers from yesterday's dinner and turns it into a dinner that will make other leftovers jealous.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza:

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 2 1/4 cups bread flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. white sugar
- 1 Tbsp. dry milk powder
- 1 tsp. active dry yeast
- Olive oil
- Approx. 1/2 cup Barbecue Chicken leftovers
- Approx. 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions:
- Pull out your bread machine from the back of your cabinet and dust it off.
- Coat the inside of the bread pan and paddle with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add all the wet ingredients to the bread pan.
- Add the bread flour to the pan, followed by the salt, sugar, and dry milk powder.
- Create a small well in the dry ingredients and add the active dry yeast to the well you created.
- Close the lid to the bread machine and turn it on the dough cycle and walk away.
- Once the dough cycle has completed, turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Punch down the dough and re-form into a ball. Cover with a damp paper towel and let rest for ten minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Stretch and roll out the dough into a circular shape and place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Brush lightly with olive oil and use a fork to poke holes all over the dough that will be covered with toppings (leave approx. an inch of dough at the exterior without holes).
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for approximately five minutes until the crust is slightly risen and darker in color. Remove from the oven.
- Spread the barbecue chicken and sauce over the pizza and sprinkle cheese on the pizza. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and crust is a light brown.
- Here's the hard part - let it sit for about five minutes before slicing and serving. This helps to thicken the barbecue sauce and not burn your mouth. While you're waiting, brush the crust with garlic butter. I get mine from a local pizza place but you could also use regular butter and top with garlic powder or salt.
Is your mouth watering? The crust is incredibly soft, doughy, but can hold up to the heavy barbecue chicken. The latter is even more delicious as leftovers and in pizza form. I'm not gonna lie, I ate half of the pizza myself. This recipe deliciousness combo - day one and two - has become a weekly staple in my house. Let me know if you try it and how much you love it!

Recipe Deliciousness - One of Two

2011-08-14T20:35:00.004-05:00

Ignoring my absence, I am diving in to a dinner of deliciousness that must be shared. And eaten. Immediately.

This is part one of two because it is really two meals in the making. Make today's recipe one day, eat it for dinner. Use the leftovers the next day for a delicious meal that doesn't feel like leftovers.

Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken:

Ingredients:
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup fat free Italian dressing
- 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bottle (12 oz.) Jack Daniel's Hickory Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce
- 3 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:
- Mince the garlic and add to the crock pot.
- Add the brown sugar, Italian dressing, Worcestershire sauce, and barbecue sauce to the crock pot and whisk to combine.
- Place the chicken breasts (yes, still frozen!) in the crock pot, turning to cover in the sauce.
- Place the lid on the crock pot and cook on low for eight hours or high for four hours.
- Shred the chicken using two forks and serve on sliced rolls.

Be sure to save some for leftovers! You'll need about a half cup for tomorrow's recipe.

I love this recipe's versatility, its delicious smell that permeates your house throughout the day, and its ease of making. What could be easier than throwing everything in a crock pot and coming back eight hour later to a savory, sweet, home-cooked meal?

Chicken Chimichangas

2010-12-06T09:07:00.004-06:00

I have been on a Mexican kick for awhile now. At least two dishes each week consist of something of the Mexican theme, which is interesting considering as a child I hated Mexican food. Couldn't live without it now!

We had these chimichangas last week and the smell and taste were out of this world. The components are extremely versatile - we ate the leftovers the next day as chicken tacos and were disappointed that there wasn't any left!

Try it and let me know how you like it!

Chicken Chimichangas

INGREDIENTS:

16 ounces chicken broth
1/4 cup taco seasoning
2 frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. dried, crushed oregano
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 can black beans (drained, rinsed)
1/2 cup salsa
8 ounces shredded monterey jack or mexican blend cheese
4-8 taco-size flour tortillas (depending on whether you want more now or leftovers for tacos the next day!)
Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

The morning before, combine the chicken broth and taco seasoning in your slow cooker. Add the chicken breasts. Cook on low for 8 hours, shredding once cooked.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine the spices. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, spices, black beans, salsa, and cheese.
Heat the tortillas (I cover in a damp paper towel and microwave for a few seconds). On each tortilla, add about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture to the center. Wrap like a burrito (top and bottom first, then sides. Place it seam-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas.
Brush each chimichanga with olive oil and sprinkle salt lightly on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly toasted on top.
Serve with salsa or queso. Swoon.

New (to us) House!

2010-09-05T20:30:00.008-05:00

It's been more than two months since my last posting (thanks for the reminder, baby cuz!). I have no idea where the time went! I started a new job, packed our apartment by myself, moved to a house with help from my in-laws, immediately went on vacation, and have been unpacking ever since. Since I don't have anything significant to report, I thought I'd report my unpacking/designing progress!

Excuse the poor quality of the photos.

This is the open shelving in the kitchen. My sister-in-law Lizzy helped me come up with this idea to showcase my all-white china with green accent pieces. Love it and love the gal that helped me with it!

This is one side of the office. Don't get on to me about the blue walls. The landlord was shocked that I even thought about getting rid of them!

Here is one of the two bookshelves I put together in the office. I bought them at Walmart for $25 each. I will say that the quality reflects the price. I wanted to jazz them up a bit and lighten them up a bit since they reside in a blueberry room. I purchased the fabric from Hobby Lobby and thought it did the job!

This is our guest room. The dogs love laying on this bed and playing with their chew toys.

And finally, my favorite room of them all:

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this room. First, it has two of my favorite colors - green and grey. I bought the grey curtains from Lowe's on a whim. They caught my eye and I was unsure as to whether they would "go" with our bedding. But they were my favorite grey color, matched the throw pillow perfectly, and I had to try them out. End result is perfect, in my opinion. Not to mention, our furniture fits in the room with no space to spare, like the walls were built to fit it. LOVE it.

Welcome to my world!

June 26, 2010

2010-06-27T17:02:00.003-05:00

In between now and my last post, I've seen Hubby twice; hence, I have not updated with daily pictures. Back to regular programming.

The title of this photo is Puppy Kisses. Don't ask me how I caught this moment of Finn licking her lips.

June 11, 2010

2010-06-12T07:05:00.001-05:00

Granted, I was parked next to a gas guzzler who needs a lesson in fuel efficiency, but how cool is this? Kudos to Best Buy.

June 10, 2010

2010-06-11T09:59:00.004-05:00

It was a long day yesterday - both for me and for Hubby. So long for me that I didn't get to send him my June 10th picture until today! Whoops. Seeing as how he worked 18 hours yesterday (from 5:30 AM to at least 11:30 PM), he wouldn't have seen it until today anyway.

This is my calculator at work with a figure that represents what he brought in from work. While this figure is mighty close to my semi-monthly paycheck, it represents what he earned yesterday.

I am so thankful for answered prayers and for him finally finding a job - and one that pays well too! I know that he has to work hard, long hours to do so, but it is greatly appreciated on my end, and great experience for him, too!

June 9, 2010

2010-06-10T09:09:00.002-05:00

No, this is not brain matter. It is an extreme close-up (i.e., IN the crock pot an inch from the delicious-ness) of the Zesty Barbeque Chicken I made for dinner last night. The quick, easy, and DELICIOUS recipe I found here. I made it because it makes a lot and I was planning on having dinner with two friends, but those plans fell through. Guess who is eating barbeque for the next week?

June 8, 2010

2010-06-08T18:11:00.003-05:00

The completed nest on our across-the-hall neighbor's lamp that I diligently destroyed every day, until I missed a day.

I'm an animal lover, but terrified of birds, especially when they swoop to protect their nest and babies. Once I saw it complete though, I couldn't destroy it and vowed instead to wear a hat and park on the far side of the building.

Update

2010-06-08T10:10:00.011-05:00

The past few weeks have been tumultuous. On May 22nd, Hubby got a call about a temporary job in Mobile, AL (four hours away from us) and was asked to be there the next morning at 6:00 AM to start. We jumped at the opportunity which pays for his living expenses in addition to an hourly wage, but it does mean that he is living (temporarily) away from home. I miss him, and he misses us!

Two days later, I drove to Durham, NC to celebrate my dear friend Lyndsie's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, with a stunning bride, and everyone had a great time! Here's a picture of the beautiful bride and her father (photo taken by Adam Labbe).

On my way back home, I stopped to visit Hubby in Mobile. I'm planning another trip down to visit him this weekend (he's now in Panama City, FL). While it's a seven-hour drive, it's worth it to see my Hubby!

Hubby and I talk on the phone every night, text during the day, and I've taken to sending him a daily picture of something around the house or around town. I feel it keeps us connected, and I like sharing a little snapshot of my day!

I've decided to share those snapshots here as well. I will warn you that many of these pictures will be of our two dogs, Finn and Tolkien. The photos are also taken on my iPhone, so quality is lacking. Regardless, this is a part of my life and I hope you enjoy!

Tolkien, June 2Tolkien, June 5

Can you tell which dog is Hubby's?

Finn, June 6
Katie/Eponine, June 7

Katie was one of our foster dogs (see my post about her here). She has since been adopted by a friend, Rachel, who renamed her Eponine and who we ran into at the dog park yesterday! Always good to see a happy foster and a happy adopter!

Eggplant Lasagna

2010-05-17T20:29:00.003-05:00

Oh, if only I could describe to you in words the deliciousness of this South Beach-friendly lasagna. That's right - lasagna!

Don't like eggplant? Try it in this recipe. I guarantee you won't be able to tell the difference between eggplant and regular lasagna noodles.

Eggplant Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole eggplant
Salt
Pepper
2 C. mozzarella cheese

MEAT SAUCE:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. hot breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-12-oz. can tomato paste
2-14.5-oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. parsley flakes
2 Tbsp. basil
1 tsp. salt

CHEESE MIXTURE:

2 eggs, beaten
3 C. fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. parsley flakes

INSTRUCTIONS:

Begin by preparing the meat sauce. I did this the night before and stored it in the refrigerator overnight.
In a LARGE skillet, heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
Add hamburger, sausage, and two cloves of minced garlic, and cook until brown.
Drain fat.
Add tomato paste, tomatoes, parsley, basil, and 1 tsp. salt.
Stir and simmer for 15 minutes, adding water if necessary (this sauce will be fairly thick, and you want it to be that way, but you should be able to simmer the sauce).
If proceeding with the rest of the lasagna, preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the top and bottom of the eggplant and peel it. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Slice the eggplant (preferably using a mandolin) to 1/4" slices.
Spread the eggplant slices on your prepared baking sheet. Liberally salt and pepper the slices.
Bake the slices for five minutes; flip and salt/pepper the other sides; return to the oven for another five minutes.
While this is baking, beat the two eggs.
Add the cottage cheese, 2 tbsp. parsley flakes, 1 tsp. salt, and mix well.
Lower the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using a 9"x13" glass baking pan, begin layering your lasagna. Begin with the meat sauce, followed by half of your eggplant. Top with the meat mixture, cheese mixture, then 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat, using the rest of the meat mixture, cheese mixture, and mozzarella.Cover with foil and bake for an hour.
Remove foil and continue baking for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let rest for another 10 minutes if you can stand it.

-----------------------
I couldn't wait the resting 10 minutes. We dug in - it was a bit sloppy but oh-so-good. Hubby went back for seconds, then thirds! There's really no reason to bake lasagna with noodles now, with this delicious vegetable-ladden alternative.

I will admit, while it is full of veggies, it is also full of meat and cheese. Tasty meat and cheese. While it is Phase 1 friendly, I would recommend it as a rare treat. Or, if you're not trying to lose weight, enjoy it all the time!

Ahhhhhh

2010-04-29T09:38:00.002-05:00

I'm waiting for the big sigh of relief that is surely due to come to me.

I finish my master's degree on May 1. No more school for me, at least for another year. This girl needs a break!

I am looking forward to only having work and fun stuff on my to do list.

One of those fun stuffs is moving to a new house! We have decided to move to a cute rental house in town, and will move in in August. In the meantime, there will be much packing, organizing, and getting ready for the move. To say that I'm excited is an understatement. Two people + (at least) two dogs + 3rd floor, 2 bedroom apartment = Unhappy Martha

Another of the fun stuffs is a month of travelling in May! It starts with a visit to my sister, followed by a trip to Alabama for one of my oldest friend's weddings (he's my age, but I've known him since kindergarten!), then a trip to Durham, NC for one of my best friend's weddings! Can't wait for all of them!

I hope to start posting more frequently, now that there aren't papers to write looming over my head.

See you again soon!

South Beach

2010-03-30T16:26:00.002-05:00

So I've decided that my adoration of spaghetti, chocolate, bread - really all things carbohydrates - is perhaps contributing to the fact that, in spite of working out diligently and eating healthfully for the past three months, I haven't lost any weight.

I have decided to try my hand at the South Beach diet and yesterday was Day 1.

Avoiding temptation is DIFFICULT. I literally opened my drawer at work to get a pen and was stared down by the Lifesavers Gummy that I put in there last week. Open another drawer - popcorn, oatmeal, chocolate, oh my! In the past I would just pop whatever it was in my mouth and not think another thing about it..

Yesterday, I avoided it.

Today, I avoided it.

I think I can do this!

It helps that the results come quickly. In the first 24 hours of South Beach, I lost 2.2 pounds. Just about 1% of my body weight.

That's nuts.

Anyway, wish me luck with my latest endeavor! I hope to lose 10 pounds in Stage 1, which is the next two weeks. This weekend, I'll be faced with the delicious challenge of my mother-in-law's cooking.

A Taboo Subject

2010-02-22T16:21:00.007-06:00

Let's talk about something that, if my grandmother reads this blog (Hi Grandma!), she will cringe at the topic.

Poop.

The context I'm using this in is not in expletive-format, but the literal topic.

You see, Hubby and I are suckers for fostering animals from the local shelter. Our latest is Katie, the Australian Terrier mix you see here:

Normal looking dog from this angle. From this one, though...

... you can see that she had a parasite problem. She gave birth to them six days after she came into our home. Here's one of the six:

This one's siblings all look like this one, no need to post six pictures of identical puppies! There are three boys and three girls, all named with a V-name to reflect their birthday which was Valentine's Day! There's Victor, Vincent, Vaughan (three boys), Victoria, Valerie, and Veronica (three girls). For the time being, we are now a nine-dog household (don't tell my landlord).

Which brings me back to the subject at hand. Katie is understandably going through some hormonal changes. Add to that being in a new place and her little tummy has been upset. I won't go into specifics, just that we went through two cans of my first miracle product to tell you about:

Spot Shot is by-far the best manual carpet cleaner I've found. I have NO idea how the thing works, I just know it works. Spray it on the stain and pat it up. Amazing. You can buy it at Sam's Club here for $9.66 for a three-pack.

Those of you who know me personally, however, know that the closest Sam's Club to me is an hour and a half away. We make a trip about twice a month, but hadn't planned on having a dog and her six puppies in our house, so didn't stock up on the carpet cleaner.

Sunday morning, I awoke to multiple clean-ups and said, "Enough is enough!" I did some quick internet searching for products and reviews, decided on what to buy, then searched for it locally. Hopped out of bed, jumped in the shower, and went to the store. Here's what I purchased:

The Bissell SpotBot, not to be confused with Spot Shot. I bought it at Lowe's which, surprisingly enough, was cheaper than Walmart. By a whole $2.86.

What can I say? I'm a bargain shopper.

It is a pricey machine, at $119; however, I fell in love with it at first use. The cleaning we did with the first day of it made it absolutely worth the purchase price.

You see, you put the machine over the spot on your carpet and press a button for either a surface stain or a set-in stain. The difference is apparently in the time it will take to clean the stain. Three minutes for a surface stain and six for a set-in stain. Once you press the button, you walk away. You don't get your hands dirty at all. The machine sprays the formula, brushes the carpet clean, and suctions the mess and the cleaning solution away. There's also a manual feature for spots not on carpet (i.e., upholstery... which, yes, I had to test out) featuring a hose with a spray gun, brush, and suction feature all-in-one.

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this machine. I expressed my undying affection for it at least a dozen times Sunday - so much so that Hubby got jealous. Don't worry, he loves it too.

Mrs. Boomstick Rating: 6/5 (Yes, that's right... it exceeds my rating scale!)

Wake Up Call

2010-02-10T09:05:00.002-06:00

I posted back in January about my recent endeavor to lose weight and get healthy. That is still my goal and I've been working towards achieving it. I am supposed to meet with a trainer (!!!) this evening to get a comprehensive work out plan in place. And I think it's crazy that I am actually looking forward to it!

One more reason to add to the list of why I need to get healthy.

My dad called me yesterday while I was at work. My immediate thought was that something was wrong - he only calls if 1) something is wrong or 2) he feels guilty about not calling. The latter reason only occurs about twice a year.

(I love my dad, and his sporadic phone calls. He's the no-frills kind of parent, very low maintenance and I appreciate it!)

I wasn't able to grab the phone at work so I listened to the voicemail a bit later. Something was wrong: he's been diagnosed with Diabetes, Type II.

When I talked to him later, he said that he's not worried, that he had anticipated this happening since his mom had Type II and since he hasn't been taking good care of himself (I asked him what he eats on a daily basis, and the first thing he starts talking about it how Rally's french fries are tastier than McDonald's).

I am worried about him, but know that if anyone has the willpower to make a change, it's him. I might just start sending him some healthy, low-carb recipes for him to try out. It's times like these that I wish I still lived within biking distance of him, even though when I did, I only saw him as frequently as I do now.

Low-maintenance parents. They're great =)

Not to be ego-centric, but the diagnosis of Diabetes in a parent has seriously implications for their children, not only in the care of their parents but in their own care. The likelihood that my sister and I will get Diabetes is now much higher.

Seriously, if I needed one more reason to get healthy, this is it.

Wish me and my dad luck!

Ketchup

2010-02-08T09:10:00.003-06:00

Why is it that every time I've tried to type "Ketchup," I end up typing "Ketchip?"

For those of you lucky enough to know me in real life, you know that I love ketchup. I eat ketchup on nearly every cut of meat (ask for ketchup on the rare occasion I eat steak!), I eat ketchup with potato chips (don't knock it til you've tried it), and when I was growing up I ate bologna and ketchup sandwiches.

Fortunately, I outgrew that last one.

(Side note: I feel like I've just lost a lot of credibility with the recipes I post. Please note that none of those posted have ketchup in them. So far.)

Recently, Heinz announced that they are redesigning the ketchup packet. You know, that tiny little package that would do nothing to quench your thirst, hunger, and passion for ketchup.

Here is the redesigned package:

No more uni-function ketchup packets. This is a dual-purpose - dip or squeeze (they have somehow misnamed it Dip & Squeeze... how are you going to dip if you've already squeezed? You're going to make a mess of your hands if you try to squeeze after dipping).

This is a FANTASTIC enough design as it is, but if you keep reading the press release, you'll learn that the new package will hold three times as much ketchup as the tiny packets currently do. THREE TIMES!

I am salivating at the prospect. This will revolutionize the way I eat. It will cut down on the time it takes to open and squeeze up to 15 ketchup packets (yes, 15. I love the stuff). My life will become more efficient and thus more productive.

The only downfall? It won't be rolled out until the end of this year.

Once it is, though, ohhhh man!

Heavenly Scents

2010-02-07T17:43:00.002-06:00

You need to make this recipe now.

Reasons:
1. It's delicious.
2. It's not horrible for you.
3. It doesn't cost a whole lot.
4. It's simple, easy to make (you don't even have to follow the recipe word-for-word).
5. It makes your entire house smell fantastic!

Slow Cooker Barbeque Chicken

Adapted from here

INGREDIENTS:

Two frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 oz. barbeque sauce (about half a bottle, we use Corky's BBQ sauce, but any will do!)
1/4 cup italian dressing
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

Toss the chicken breast into your 5 qt. slow cooker.
In a small bowl, mix the remaining four ingredients until well-incorporated.
Pour the liquid mixture over the chicken.
Put the lid on your crock pot and turn on Low for 8 hours (or High for 4 hours).
Walk away, enjoying the delicious smell that this recipe puts off. Try to resist the urge to eat it now. Ignore your neighbors knocking, itching for an invitation to dinner.
Fifteen minutes before you're ready to serve, shred the chicken using two forks and mix so everything is sauced. Re-lid the crock pot and enjoy 15 minutes later.

-----

There are just so many reasons that I love this recipe. You can change it up based on whatever you have on hand. Add some peppers for a bit more of a kick. Mix up the types of meat - this would be great with different cuts of chicken or with pork. Eat it on a bun or just with a fork. Eat it hot or cold. There's usually enough leftovers for lunch the next day, and what a delicious lunch it is!

Enjoy!

Blog Slacker

2010-01-20T14:25:00.002-06:00

I admit it. I've been a blog slacker.

Here's my confession - I work 40 hours a week. I go to class 6 hours a week that requires several hours of reading each week - another 6 hours is probably a safe estimate. Add to that starting my latest hobby of working out (2 hours/4-5 times a week), and I barely have time to do fun things like tell the Internets about my day!

I do want to tell y'all about my latest hobby of exercising. As my sister, Hedge (who is ALSO a blog slacker), will tell you, I did not grow up with exercising as a regular part of my life, other than the requisite P.E. While P.E. wasn't horrible, I never understood why we did it. No one explained that to me (and I had no interest in learning) until 10th grade. (Thanks Mrs. Poling!)

I'm not in 10th grade, obviously. I've had spurts through the years where I'd exercise for a bit and then stop. I remember in high school I got obsessed with it and would run up and down our street at 10:00 PM until I had run X number of miles that I had promised myself to run. My friends (and sister) would hang out outside with me while I ran, smoking. Glad Hedge has kicked that habit!

Maybe it's because LK's wedding is coming up. Maybe it's because I'm tired of hearing the doctor get on to me about lifestyle changes. Maybe it's just another of those spurts. Regardless of the reason, I've been counting my calories, giving up soda, and exercising regularly for the past two weeks.

And I've enjoyed it.

CRAZY.

I hope to continue my trend and hope not to fall off the wagon. For some reason, I feel like now is the time that I'm actually going to accomplish something GREAT. Meaning permanently shed some of those pounds I've been meaning to. Meaning getting to a place where my body is healthy and I don't have to fear the doctor or his scale.

Wish me luck!

More Puppy Pictures!

2009-12-20T16:13:00.017-06:00

Enjoy!A view from above - this is where the - now four! - pups live, in our spare bathroom. It gets a little messy in there.

We decided to bring them to the living room for an impromptu photo shoot. They immediately climbed into Finn's (not pictured) crate. Tolkien's in the shot with them, for scale, and also because he wanted to play!

This is our latest addition, Little Man. Believe it or not, he is from the same litter as the other three. He was being cared for by another foster parent who was doing something (or, more likely, not doing something) that caused him to be about 1/3 smaller than his siblings, his coat is duller, and he has an 1.5" gash in his side. He seems to be about 2 weeks behind, developmentally. Needless to say, that foster parent is no longer fostering for the shelter. He has happily put on weight and is healing.

Here are a few shots of Karma, the pup my A-Anne and U-John are thinking about adopting:

In case you didn't know, photographing four eight-week old puppies who want to play with your own two dogs is an extremely difficult task. Regardless, enjoy and happy holidays!

A New Way to Shop Online

2009-12-14T19:33:00.003-06:00

Every time I shop online, which is often recently due to the impending holidays, I check several sites to make sure I get the best deal. Here's my procedure:

1) Retailmenot - the best online source for coupon codes for a ton of vendors. I can usually find $5 off coupons or coupons for free shipping.
2) ShopDiscover - as I said in one of my previous blogposts, I LOVE ShopDiscover! If you have a Discover card and shop through ShopDiscover, you can get a certain percentage of your purchase back as CashBack. 5% of your purchase total from Target, 10% CashBack from Barnes & Noble, on up to 25% CashBack from some lesser-known vendors.
3) Ebates - if you don't have a Discover card, or can't find the vendor you want through ShopDiscover, Ebates will likely have it. In the past three months, I have earned about $22 - just by shopping online! $11.33 on one purchase alone! I've also found some great coupons there.

Just wanted to share my opinion! Oh, and if you click on the Ebates links above and sign-up, I'll get a bonus $5 for your referral. Why not get paid to shop?

Baby puppies! Doo doo doo doo da doo

2009-11-22T22:05:00.004-06:00

Now for some pictures I can claim as my own. Feel free to joke on the quality - these were taken with my cell phone in all of its glory.

Meet our three latest (temporary) additions: Karma, Hope, and Chaos

No, this is not my hairy arm.

Don't ask me which one is which from these pictures... they are all black pups whose differentiating marks are the white marks on their chests (obviously not photographed).

Yes, they are even MORE PRECIOUS than these pictures convey. They are three-week old lab mixes (we guess?) who were abandoned on the side of a road. We are bottle-feeding them for the next week until we travel for T'giving, then will have them back until they are ready for adoption just before Christmas.

There is nothing like these little guys (two girls and a boy, rather) to brighten your day with fuzzy puppy bellies, sweet little puppy kisses, and that milky puppy scent. Need a pick-me-up? Come visit these pups! Or better yet, adopt them!

Photography

2009-11-13T20:26:00.002-06:00

I WISH I could claim that I took the picture above, but in all honesty:

1) I am NEVER up early enough to catch the sunrise.
2) I am NEVER on a dirt road.
3) I am BYFAR not that talented with a camera.

Pioneer Woman "gave away" this picture today and I've adopted it as my computer desktop and, for the time being, my blog header. It needed a lil something anyway, and I'm grateful for Ree sharing her beautiful photography! Wanna download it? Visit here!

Speaking of photography though, I truly wish that I could get into it. I think I would enjoy it but, typical Martha, I only do something if I can do it 110%. I can't afford a super nice camera and don't have time right now to snap photos. I feel like I need to start taking more pictures though... I have all of three pictures of me and Hubby since we got married a year and six months ago!

Til I can afford it, both time and money-wise, I'll just have to enjoy the photography of others. Pioneer Woman is one of my faves, also Pastor Ryan, and my real-life friend Lauren.

Success and Disappointment

2009-10-30T09:49:00.002-05:00

It's funny how things come in complementary pairs - you get the good with the bad, the yin with the yang. It's all about the balance of the two. If one outweighs the other, you always hope that the good wins over the bad.

This week has been a tumultuous week in the Boomstick family. Hubby and I had been in the process of buying our first home and were two weeks away from closing. This weekend we shopped at Lowe's for paint and other projects we'd take on in the new place.

Tuesday, Hubby lost his job.

We're fortunate in that it was not immediate; we have two more months of his income. We're fortunate in that we have loving family close by to bring pick-me-up cookies and hugs, and to call to offer their ears and open their homes.

Understandably, we had to cancel on the house. While the cost of it would approximately equal what we're paying in rent, our future in this area is not as permanent as I had thought. Similarly, if he is not able to find a job here, I'd rather be evicted from an apartment than foreclosed on. The loss of the house was and is devastating.

We had a great success today that, while it does not equal the disappointment of job and house loss, is a step in the right direction. Hubby's insurance FINALLY paid on his surgery from five months ago. They had denied and denied til they could deny no more, apparently. What a huge relief to see a $12,000 hospital bill go down to just under $2,000. We are still waiting on them paying his surgery from earlier this month, but the fact that they paid on the earlier surgery is greatly promising.

We also found out that Hubby can keep his insurance until August of next year, in spite of the fact that he won't be working for his current employer. Another HUGE success because adding him to my insurance would have cost 1/4 of my take home pay.

All in all, it's a pretty sucky situation, not one that we had ever anticipated, but we'll be okay. It's all about taking perspective, taking the bad with the good, and enjoying the small successes.

An open letter to my downstairs neighbors:

2009-10-18T20:11:00.003-05:00

Neighbor,

Welcome to the building! Before you moved in three months ago, this was the best apartment I had lived in. Granted, the building was nearly empty, and the apartments that were occupied had professionals, graduate students, and older adults in them. You know what I mean - there were no kids in the building. Not that that's a problem, only when you have five of them in your apartment at once.

Before you moved in, the building was clean and quiet. In the past three months, there has been vomit on the communal stairs at least three times (thanks SO much for not cleaning it up... I have dogs who don't know any better but to walk in it and eat it), bags of rotting fast food on the stairs (did I mention that everyone in the building shares the stairs?), spit on the stairs, and, last but not least, a McDonalds bag with a pair of dirty boys underwear in it. It's still on the stairs because I'm not going to touch it. Maybe I should one day put it on your doorknob - would you take the hint then?

Before you moved in, my husband and I moved around peacefully. Now, every move we make, I hesitate for fear of hearing the incessant banging on our floor (your ceiling). No matter how much you bang, or even if you call the cops (thanks for doing that once... we were playing RockBand), it won't stop us from walking around the apartment and won't stop our dogs from running from one place to another every now and then. Don't like people making noise over you? Me neither. That's why I selected an apartment on the top floor. Could I suggest the same?

Before you moved in, our apartment smelled normal. Not that ass-like smell of pot that permeated our floors into every room of our apartment. Had I known that I couldn't just report you to the office, I'm sure you'd be in jail right now.

I'm sure Hubby and I are not MODEL neighbors, but we are quiet (aside from our footfalls) and expect the same of our neighbors, we don't hold parties, nor do we run illegal daycares out of our 2 bedroom apartment.

Soon, however, Hubby and I will be bidding you adieu as we move to the house that we are in the process of buying. You know, the one where we won't have anxiety over how our neighbors will ruin our day.

Til then, we'll be walking around, as normal.

Nothing but disdain,
Martha

Books!

2009-10-16T13:35:00.005-05:00

I don't know why, but I've been on a reading for fun kick recently. It's not as though I have the time (I have 60+ chapters left to read this semester, meaning, in the next 6 weeks). In spite of that hefty task, I have been checking out library books and buying books online.

Which leads me to my greatest discovery of today: Walmart and Amazon.com's pricing war, news article here. Walmart started out by offering 10 highly anticipated new books on its website for $10 each, with free shipping. The books include the latest from John Grisham, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and other popular artists. After Walmart started the $10 promotion, Amazon.com jumped on board with the same price, and Walmart countered with lowering the price another $1.

That's right, the new Stephen King hardback, Under the Dome, for $9 shipped to your doorstep.

Needless to say, I ordered two as early Christmas gifts (and had them shipped directly to my pops) and then started checking out the other books that Walmart.com has for sale.

I bought three more.
The Scarpetta Factor, by Patricia Cornwell (by far my favorite fun-reading author of all time) - $13.50, list price $27.95
The Ghost King, by R.A. Salvatore (one of Hubby's favorite authors) - $14.00, list price $27.95

and finally... the much-anticipated...
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl, by Ree Drummond (by far my favorite blogger) - $13.32, list price $27.50

Including tax and shipping ($1.97 per book), the total came to $50 even. More than 50% savings off of list price.

Man, I can't pass up a good deal!

Worst Enemy - Best Friend

2009-10-12T08:51:00.009-05:00

I'd like to introduce you to my worst enemy who introduced you to my new best friend.

Don't let that innocent puppy-dog-eye look fool you. Ignore my Croc on the coffee table.

This is Tolkien, the puppy that Hubby and I adopted within two weeks of our wedding. Hindsight is 20-20 and I'll recommend that everyone NOT follow in our footsteps.

Tolkien looks like a cross between a rottweiler and a dachshund - he has the coloring of a rottie, the short stature of a dachshund, and weighs somewhere in between the two breeds - about 45 lbs. He also has some basset hound in him as his bark is more of a deep, gutterall, howl. At just a year and a half old, he is still a puppy in all senses of the word and aptly terrorizes our dog, Finn, who could do no wrong.

Seriously, look at that innocent face. Now imagine Tolkien with bits of that fluffy hair stuck in his teeth from biting her. Lil bastard.

But I digress.

24-7-365, Hubby takes care of the dogs. From walking them, feeding them, pulling Tolkien off of Finn, you name it. Well, since he's under the weather, I've had that responsibility added to my plate. I'm not ashamed to admit that I am inexperienced, which led to me taking my eyes off of Tolkien for two minutes.

I thought he was laying behind the couch chewing on one of the fifty bone-bones (rawhides) that we keep in the living room to keep him busy. It wasn't until he started tearing through the living room, shaking something as if he were trying to kill it that I realized he was not gnawing on a bone-bone.

But rather one of my favorite pair of black heels that I wear no less than three times a week.

The outside of the shoe is just fine - no harm done. For whatever reason, though, Tolkien decided to tear a 3" chunk out of the insole of my shoe.

I couldn't just throw them away - they are my FAVORITE black heels. I resolved to check out the Dr. Scholl's section at Walmart to see what my options, if any, were.

I found this little beauty:

Dr. Scholl's has developed a line of "For Her" shoe inserts, including the Dr. Scholl's For Her High Heel Insoles, which I purchased. It's a bit pricey at around $8 for the pair, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try it out.

I slapped those puppies in my shoes when I got home and immediately started prancing around the living room. In heels no less.

Not only did they cover the 3" gouge courtesy of Tolkien, but they provide this fantastic gel right at the arch of my foot which is supposed to shift pressure off the ball of the foot.

My favorite black heels are now my uber-favorite black heels, all courtesy of Dr. Scholl's, which I'd never have discovered if not for that dumb dog.

Side note: Dr. Scholl's has never met me, nor I him! Just wanted to share my latest fantastic product find. If you want to try them out though, there is a coupon available on their website for $2 off that you can get here.

Enjoy!

October

2009-10-09T12:00:00.004-05:00

The past few days have absolutely flown by and I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing.

Hubby had his gallbladder removed on Wednesday. Tuesday, while I was at work, he was fielding phone calls from his surgeon's office. First, we were scheduled to show up at the hospital at 7:00 AM. That's fine, I said, only an hour before I'm usually at work, no biggie. At lunch time, the office called and asked Hubby if we could come in at 6:00 AM. I gripe a little, but say that at least we'll get it over with quickly.

Later that day, they call back and ask if we could be there at 5:00 AM. You know, when it's still dark outside.

Needless to say, we woke up at 4 that morning to get ready and be at the hospital by 5. He was the very first surgery that morning (surgery actually happened at 7:30) and was back in the hospital room recovering around 10:30.

We ended up staying at the hospital overnight because Hubby was a little nauseous after eating his liquid lunch. I mean, really, can you blame him? Liquid hospital food, yum!

I was a very sleepy wifey, to say the least. The TINY hospital room had this "couch" that pulled out into a bed. Before you go thinking that it was a pull-out sofa from the 80s, think again, this was not so luxurious. Add to that nurses coming in every 2 hours to check his blood pressure, and Hubby getting up every now and then to take care of business, there was not much sleep to be had.

Fortunately, work granted me another day off so, after Hubby was released around 10 AM yesterday, we hightailed it home for a little R&R, including a 2.5 hour nap on my part. It was glorious.

I've declared a moratorium on either of us getting sick. Two surgeries in one year is more than a gal can handle!

Sweet story: Apparently Hubby had a dream while we were in the hospital that we were actually there because we had just had a baby. I shuddered when he told me about it, but then asked whether it was a good dream. He said it was, that he was happy in the dream. While I am by no means eager to start popping out young'uns, it makes me happy to know that even subconsciously Hubby's eager to meet little [insert name here - it's decided, but not sharing yet, especially since I'm not with child!].

Think of me for the next few weeks as I'm taking care of Hubby, two dogs, and a house all by myself, in addition to continuing work and school full time. Stress is pretty much guaranteed, and I hope I can handle it!

Blogless

2009-09-23T20:30:00.002-05:00

I'm still alive and kickin', don't you worry.

In the past week, I've started a new job, been to the hospital with Hubby for tests, learned that he's due to have surgery in two weeks (gallbladder), and begun the search for a new place to live. All this in addition to everything else I normally do.

I'm sorry that the blog has been on the list of those neglected things... but srsly, once I catch up, I'll be back to quality posting.

<3

Belly Laughin'

2009-09-16T15:40:00.005-05:00

Hubby has been hurting for the past couple days with what we think is his gallbladder. He's going to a specialist tomorrow to get a firm diagnosis and treatment plan, but until then, his stomach has been in pain and swollen.

Me being the kind, considerate Wifey that I am, I decided that some belly laughs might get him feeling better. So we watched two old episodes of The Office on TBS last night.

Including the episode Grief Counseling. You can find a clip here.

Some highlights of the episode include Michael's old boss Ed Truck dying. Michael was sad and became even sadder when Creed informed him of how Ed Truck died - drinking and driving, he ran into a truck (irony!) and was decapitated. "His cappa was detated!"

Michael forces everyone to endure "grief counseling" where Toby tries to make Michael feel better by saying that death is natural, happens every day, and in fact, just that day Toby saw a bird fly into the glass doors and die. Michael accuses Toby of killing the bird and makes everyone attend the bird's funeral. Pam makes a nice casket for the bird which the staff buries in a box of shredded paper that they light on fire. We finally see Dwight extinguishing the fire with a fire extinguisher and stomping the remnants of the fire out (including the still-in-tact casket).

My belly was shaking I was laughing so hard. I snorted at least three times.

Belly laughin' cured my ails, but not Hubby's unfortunately. I'm glad that Lortab will suffice for now!

Dynamo!

2009-09-10T18:57:00.007-05:00

Hubby mentioned to me today that it'd been awhile since I blogged. It's so true, and I have good reason. There's been a lot going on in my world.

The biggest thing? I start a new job in a week and a few days. It was a difficult decision, but I think it is the best one for me and Hubby. I think it will do a lot for my career and I will still be able to go to graduate school full-time. Hurray!

I decided to write tonight though, to tell you all about my new toy. We decided to celebrate the new job with a new netbook. Okay, not just to celebrate, but out of necessity since I've given my work laptop back to work because I'm leaving.

So we bought this beauty, a Dell Inspiron 1011 Netbook (1.6GHz, 160GB, 10" LCD) from Sam's Club online.
Side note: I absolutely LOVE Sam's Club! They have fantastic prices, bulk quantities (although only one netbook in this package), and are so customer friendly. We coordinated our travel last month through them for cheap and with 0 problems. Mrs. Boomstick gives 'em 2 thumbs up.

We priced netbooks and found that this Inspiron Mini (what Dell calls netbooks) was both the cheapest and had the most features that we wanted, namely a significant hard drive for a netbook, built in webcam, a keyboard not significantly smaller than normal (this'un's 92% of a regular laptop keyboard) and a brand that didn't look like someone's cat walked over a keyboard and named a company. Seriously, the price of this bad boy, named Dynamo by Hubby, was $50 cheaper than its exact same counterpart on Dell's own website.

So far, I love it! We ordered it Friday and, in spite of it being a holiday this week, got it today, ahead of when I anticipated it. It is an adjustment to convert to a smaller keyboard and smaller screen, but I'm doing fine. Let me just say that I am glad that I got my new glasses in last week though. I don't know if I'd recommend this for folks who aren't comfortable with computers (not to generalize, but the elderly may not like it too much). I've been able to type as quickly as I usually do, though, and lemme tell ya - if anyone were to make a mistake, it'd be me. My fingers fly over the keyboard.

Mrs. Boomstick Rating: 5/5*

* So far. I've only had the thing for an hour. I'll let y'all know if my rating ever deviates from this in the future!

My Favorite Things

2009-09-02T08:28:00.004-05:00

Stealing from a blog I follow, I hope to share a few of my favorite things with you every week.

Here goes!

1. Chocolate Silk Soymilk

I found this delectable beauty in the organic/vegetarian/health food section at Kroger, which far exceeds my local Walmart's mostly nonexistent section. They sold four-packs of 8.25 fl.oz. containers of the Chocolate Soymilk. I figured it would be better to try it out in these little containers rather than get a larger size and wind up hating it.

I love it!

It tastes light, is made from organic soybeans, and has a yummy chocolate (!!) flavor that I think surpasses regular milk.

The nutritional benefits alone are excellent. One 8.25 oz. serving is 150 calories, 3.5 g of fat, 2 g of fiber, 5 g of protein, and 30% of your RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of Calcium.

YUM!

2. We Are Not Martha blog

The source of my inspiration for my favorite thigns list! I came across this blog through another of my favorites, The Pioneer Woman. I absolutely had to check it out since these ladies "are not Martha," when I, in fact, AM! Granted, I'm not that Martha, but you get the gist.

The blog follows Chels and Sues who claim "WE ARE NOT MARTHA... but that doesn't mean we aren't going to try!" They have fantastic recipes, ideas for projects (homemade body scrubs, anyone?), and share their fun lives on a weekly basis.

These fun girls make me smile and I'm sure will do so for you too!

And the name of their blog reminds me of a shirt I bought at Joe's Crab Shack once that simply states: Martha doesn't cook here. It's hanging in my kitchen for the irony.

3. Target's Daily Deals

Target has taken a cue from Woot (another of my faves) and brought its consumers a daily deal that is usually too good to pass up! The daily deal is one day only, one item only, and features free shipping. The items are not regularly available on Target.com, so if you miss it, you miss it!

Hope y'all enjoy a few of my faves!

Samford

2009-09-01T10:35:00.006-05:00

Look at this precious picture of Samford:

I've made it my goal to get this precious pup adopted to a forever-home!

Samford is still living at another foster home. October will mark his one-year anniversary of not having a permanent home. Let me repeat that... Samford has been living in the local animal shelter or a foster home for nearly a year.

Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

He is the SWEETEST dog with soulful eyes that tell you what he's thinking. He's polite - he'll wait for you to call him over before sprinting and collapsing at your feet for belly-rubs. He loves cats, children, and his BDF (best doggy friend) Tolkien who comes to visit a couple times a week so he doesn't get lonely.

Samford is a little funny-looking but it just adds to his character. His nose turns up to the left and his ears stick up like a gremlin but it hasn't stopped him from making friends with everyone he meets.

He loves being outside and will need to go to a family with a yard and another dog.

Interested? Know someone who is? Leave a comment! Let's not let Samford go another year without a permanent home.

I Love My Hubby

2009-08-31T08:31:00.000-05:00

No one can doubt it after this weekend. And I'll tell ya why:

You see, Hubby has a second love, and that's video games. His second love is a-okay with me because I ask him weekly how much he loves me and he says, "More than video games," along with some other platitudes.

He's so good to me.

In spite of his love, we are not rich and Hubby is resigned to buying video games whenever his secondary income from online surveys generates enough for a $50-60 game. Which is once every other month or so, so it's not a bad gig.

Hubby knows my weakness though. A good deal. I can't and won't pass it up! See my entry here on the crazy deal we got on our TV.

So this weekend, I'm browsing Target's website for good deals and come across this one - Rock Band 2 for $89.99 only available in stores, $70 cheaper than its usual price. (It has since gone up $10, justifying my crazy actions described below)For whatever reason, I decide that we HAVE to get it. Not only for Hubby, but I played it at the family reunion and had a blast. "I'll play it too," I tell myself.

Also, for whatever reason, I don't check the local Walmart to see what they have it on sale for. It doesn't cross my mind.

So, after visiting my in-laws this weekend, we make the 2-hour trek to Target. Yes, it's two hours away. Yes, it's worth it. I love Target. I love Hubby more than Target.

We score the last one. It's a bit banged up, so we open it up at the check out counter. Looks like everything is there, let's buy it!

When we put it in the car, my mind thinks that maybe someone put a Rock Band for another gaming system in the wrapper for the Xbox system. I get Hubby to open it up to check. He apparently looked at the inner box that said "Xbox" but I could have sworn he said that he saw the game disk that said Xbox.

Flash-forward five hours later when we get back home (after other shopping and another 2-hour drive). Hubby is excitedly putting everything together. Drum kit, guitar, microphone. Everything looks great.

Except, there's no game disk.

You know, the thing that looks like this that you put in the Xbox to actually play the game with the fancy drum kit, guitar, and microphone? Not there.
Frantic searching ensues. As do phone calls to Target and EA Games to find out if there is ANY solution to this problem aside from returning the game to Target.

Nope.

We are both kicking ourselves for this oversight.

Could we buy the game disk at Walmart or GameStop? Sure, and be out another $50. No, we want what we paid for!

Because the game is drastically on sale, we decide that we need to return to Target the next day to make sure we can exchange it. Frantic phone calls, we find another set at a different Target.

Still two hours away.

At first, Hubby was going to go by himself. After all, I have laundry and other important things to do. After some thinking, however, we decide that it would be better if I went as 1) we charged it on my credit card and 2) Hubby gets flustered when dealing with customer service situations. He would much rather pay extra and avoid a conflict than get what is truly his. Which is fine, except when you're expecting a fight.

I make him a deal. I'll go and take care of the game if he takes care of a Honey Do list. He doesn't agree right away, but wants to know what's on the list. My response: "Everything I usually do on Sundays." It ends up being half a page long, but he would rather do that.

So I wake up at 6:30 the next morning and drive 2-hours to Target. I anticipate a problem with customer service, but there's none at all. They didn't even ask me if there was a problem with it (I told them after the transaction occurred so they won't resell it and put someone else through this mess).

All in all, I spent 8 hours on the road this weekend. For a video game.

For my Hubby.

Can't you tell I love him? =)

Review: Enterprise Car Rental

2009-08-28T08:40:00.000-05:00

I've decided to start posting reviews about my various experiences with purchases. I often search the internets to get others' reviews before purchasing a product or service, why not throw my own two cents in?

Enterprise Car Rental:

Let me preface this by saying that I've bad a bad history of renting cars. I'm a fabulous renter, of course. There just always seems to be a problem with the car rental company. The 17 foot truck I rented to move wasn't available (even though I made a RESERVATION, which should mean that the truck is RESERVED and unable for someone else to RESERVE). Then there was the debacle at Christmas when our flight arrived beyond the car rental office hours. Long and angry story short, we ended up paying an extra $60-ish to use the vehicle a day less. Makes no sense at all.

Fortunately, this was not the case with Enterprise Car Rental this time around. I booked my reservation through my Sam's Club membership and got the best deal I could find (without coupons which may or may not work) - $355.15 total which included:

$214.13/week
$43.04/extra day
$28.70/extra two hours
$70ish in taxes and fees (which is ridiculous in itself)

I showed up at the car rental desk early, and prepared myself for a customer service fight (based on my last experience). I told Justin that I had a really bad experience the last time I rented a car and I hoped that I wouldn't have a repeat situation. He assured me that I wouldn't. He gave me a free upgrade from a full size car to a "luxury" car.

One tip for Enterprise... you might want to re-evaluate "luxury." It all depends on who is driving the black Mercury Grand Marquis with leather. Old lady = luxury. Young person = ghetto cruiser.

My family was throwing fake gang signs at me the whole week I was driving.

But I digress.

Hubby and I ended up returning the car to the airport early, trying to hop on an earlier flight. I told the perky rep our situation and asked if there would be an additional charge. At that point, I just wanted to get out of town and have the fee be equal to what I anticipated paying.

No luck.

It was actually less! I ended up saving $30 by turning it in early, bringing the total to around $322.

Kudos: for making the check-out process flawless, for offering an upgrade (although I think it was to get this car off the lot)
Could improve: for expecting customers to sign a 4-page contract without reading it, for having the initial car inspection in a dark parking garage but the check-out inspection in a parking lot in broad daylight

Mrs. Boomstick Rating: 4/5

Exploding Finger

2009-08-28T08:39:00.000-05:00

The weirdest thing happened to me last night while I was ironing.

No, it's not that I was ironing - although it is my first time ironing in as long as I can remember. I hate it with a passion.

More than hanging clothes. And I can't even quantify my hate for that.

All of the sudden, my left pointer finger experienced a sharp pain between the second and third joints. When I looked down, that small area began swelling and I could see the vein prominently under my skin (this is not normal!). I didn't slam my finger or do anything to it - I wasn't even holding anything.

I freaked out, thinking it was a clot or something. My solution was to call for Hubby and massage the area. My nonmedical rationale was that maybe I could break up the clot before it returned to my heart.

I could see the headlines now. "Death by finger clot." It'll be all over the six o'clock news.

As you can tell, I didn't die. Fortunately.

My finger swelled something awful and felt as if it was going to explode. The tip of my finger (beyond the swelling) increased in temperature, again leading me to believe it was going to explode.

It didn't. Fortunately.

After some quick googling, I found that this apparently happens to a lot of people - spontaneous blood vessel bursting - with no accurate diagnosis. Looks like it's nonlethal and doesn't merit an actual study or explanation.

Has anyone had this happen to them?

Panic aside, all is well, aside from a nasty blue and purple bruise on my finger at the spot of the swelling. I sure wish I had an explanation for it, or at least a cool story to go along with it (saving child from burning fire, finger shut in door, anything to get workman's compensation).

I guess spontaneous blood vessel bursting ain't too bad.

Steve's Fabulous French Toast

2009-08-26T11:43:00.001-05:00

One of the perks of spending an entire week with family is the delicious food that everyone makes. One cousin in particular, Steve, mans breakfast every morning and it's never a disappointment. He's going to open a breakfast diner next to my dessert restaurant in the future. It's been decided.

Here's one of my faves - his "Fabulous French Toast." I made a specific request for it before we went on vacation because I hadn't had french toast since LAST YEAR'S vacation.

And that's far too long to go without french toast.

Steve's Fabulous French Toast

INGREDIENTS:

1 large egg
2 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 loaf French bread

INSTRUCTIONS:

Whisk together all ingredients (except for the bread. It's a bit difficult to whisk!) Pour into a large baking dish.
Slice the French bread into 1" slices. Put the slices in the baking dish and let it soak in a bit before flipping to the other side.
Cook in a preheated frying pan for approximately one minute on each side.
Top with powdered sugar, sliced strawberries, and syrup for an added delicious touch!

-----

Seriously, it is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in the morning. I'm going to search my local grocery stores for the veggie-friendly items (butter-alternatives and fake eggs) to see if I can reproduce it.

Another thing I'm going to try out is adding half a shot of whiskey to the batter. I think the taste would perfectly compliment it without getting you drunk at 9 AM. I'll let you know how it goes!

Know what else is a trip?

2009-08-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

Vacation!

Hahaha, I kill me.

After a nice long vacation and associated break from blogging, I'm back. Family vacation was a blast with tons of highs and lows. Here's a glimpse:

Low: Hubby's bag getting dragged behind a luggage truck.
High: Getting a new suitcase and $150 in compensation!

Low: Crappy waves at the beach on Wednesday. Seriously, I could have been on an inflatable $1 float and floated gently for hours.
High: Amazing (and dangerous!) waves at the beach on Friday, thanks for bypassing Hurricane Bill. While the older cousins (read: in their 40s) went out, the younger cousins (20s and younger) waded. It was still dangerous in knee-deep water!

Low: A certain meal.
High: Every other meal with the whole fam damily!

Low: 9 days of vacation away from home.
High: 9 days of vacation away from home!

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and I am already looking forward to next year!

I promise to update more regularly, especially now that I'm getting serious about my conversion to vegetarianism and subsequent veganism!

Google Analytics is a Trip!

2009-08-13T16:07:00.000-05:00

I got a comment from a new reader today (welcome Provident Woman!) which made me wonder where my new visitors stemmed from.

So I checked out Google Analytics and I'm glad I did! I wish I could visit each state and country my readers are from.

Seriously, will you invite me?

I'd LOOOVE to visit Canada. In fact, I decided I was going to move to Canada if Bush declared war with Iran for no reason. France, I've visited you before and long to return. Je t'aime! Portugal and Singapore, I wouldn't mind visiting you although I can't say I've declared my love for you in the past. I'm sure there's a lot to love about your countries!

Back to the U.S. - California, Texas, Illinois, and Massachusetts - y'all are awesome states and I would love to visit you. In fact, one of these days, I will. Especially Massachusetts - I have family in Bawston and would love to hear everyone's funny accent!

On to the REALLY interesting part of Google Analytics - seeing how people ended up here!

There were three people that visited via search engine. Here's what they searched for:

"poor nonprofit management" - probably attributed to my rant here
+"what is the color of your toothbrush" +"made you smile" - I think this is about the 50 Questions survey I posted. Why they would be searching for that, who knows! Regardless, welcome!

Last and certainly not least, my personal favorite: ifeel (sic) bloated after eating a bean from taco bell should i throw up

You want my advice? My recommendation would be no - let that bloated feeling linger and let it be your lesson to avoid gorging yourself in the future. Believe me, I've learned many a lesson that way. You won't learn if you throw your lesson down the toilet, literally.

However you end up at my humble site, welcome! Glad to have ya'!

I'm not at all excited...

2009-08-10T11:25:00.001-05:00

I'm going on vacation next week!

For the past several years, my dad's side of the family has rented a house for the week in either Virginia Beach or the Outer Banks. Fifteen or so family members come together from all sorts of states to live together for a week.

You know, describing it like this sounds like a reality show. [Announcer voice] Find out what happens when fifteen family members live together at the beach for a week.

Before we started doing this, I had not seen a lot of my extended family in years. Several of my cousins had had kids whom I hadn't met. Crazy! Since then, we've started staying in touch more although we still only see each other once a year at the beach house. It's about all some of us can stand (thinking in particular of my elderly, Jewish uncle, bless his heart).

I look forward to this every year. It's not so much the location, although I do LOVE Virginia Beach. I wouldn't care if we were in a shack in the mountains.

As long as it had plumbing.

And air conditioning.

And access to delicious restaurants.

I really just enjoy hanging out with family, catching up on what's going on in their lives, laughing, and having fun. I'm counting down the days until I am done with work and in Virginia Beach for nine glorious days.

Five days remaining!

I am already packed. I wish I was joking.

Ranch-Style Chicken

2009-08-07T13:23:00.000-05:00

Whew! Now that I've gotten that off my chest about eating meat, I wanted to share the recipe I made for Hubby the other night. The entire meal was a la The Pioneer Woman, although that was not my intention!

Here's the links to her posts about what we ate. I'll do my step-by-step of the Ranch-Style Chicken which has NOTHING to do with Ranch dressing, FYI.

PW's Ranch-Style Chicken
Roasted Potato Wedges
Oven Roasted Asparagus

** Note: These recipes combined for one meal made me DEMAND a double-oven in the next place that we live. I had baking sheets upon baking sheets, stuff cooking at different temperatures than what PW recommended, all around craziness. If you are like me and not blessed with a double-oven, you might want to consider doing one of these dishes at a time.

That's really the smart thing to do.

I was not smart.

Ranch-Style Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

2 boneless skinless chicken boob
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. salt
Crushed red pepper to taste
Cheddar cheese
4 pieces of bacon
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

The night before, combine the honey, dijon mustard, lemon juice, paprika, salt, and red pepper (a couple shakes of the can) in a small bowl, whisking to combine. If your chicken boob is too thick, put it between two pieces of wax paper and pound to a thinner consistency (no more than 1" thick).

Pour the marinade into a Ziploc bag and add the chicken boob. Remove as much air as possible, seal the bag, and stick it in your fridge.

Day of: Here's where PW and I differ because she's feeding hungry ranchers who have been doing manual labor all day and can afford to give them some extra calories through bacon fat.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the bag from the fridge and let sit for 15-30 minutes so it's not fridge-cold. In a skillet (I used cast-iron), heat a couple Tbsp. canola oil along with 2 Tbsp. butter. Once it's up to heat (carefully throw a bit of water in the skillet.. it should bubble up quickly), place your chicken boob in the skillet using tongs. Cook for a few minutes on each side until brown.

Transfer browned chicken to foil-covered baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, top each slice with two pieces of cooked bacon (I nuke it in the microwave) and a handful of cheddar cheese. Return to the oven to bake for another 5 or so minutes until the cheese is melted and bacon is sizzling. YUM.

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Yes, the technical term for the meat I used was "chicken breast" but I always refer to it as "chicken boob." On the menu in my kitchen, I write "chicken boob." On my grocery list, I write "chicken boob." It was difficult for me to translate my thinking "chicken boob" to writing "chicken breast" so I just left it as is.

I'm not gonna lie, I had a teeny bite of Hubby's chicken and it was REALLY good. Don't leave off the bacon and cheese - they add a good bit of smokiness and excellent texture to the dish.

Enjoy!

My confession

2009-08-07T13:16:00.001-05:00

I ate meat yesterday.

The problem stemmed from Hubby being out of town. I've had to adjust my schedule to doing both of our chores - his include doing the dishes and taking the dogs out. Dishes, I don't mind. Taking the dogs out = gross. We live on the third floor of an apartment and have no yard. It is my least favorite chore and I'm so glad Hubby doesn't mind doing it. Or he hasn't said anything about it anyway =)

Anyway, I'm not used to waking up and leaving enough time to take care of the dogs in the morning, so I was running late yesterday and didn't have time to pack a lunch. I had to take an abbreviated lunch break due to a doctor's appointment and thus had to grab something at a fast food joint.

I debated where to go.

I ended up at Taco Bell. I figured if I was going to eat meat, I'd go all out.

That was a mistake.

I felt tired, bloated, and sick all afternoon. I ended up taking a walk that evening and skipping dinner to make up for the calories (ha! I'm sure it didn't come close).

I think I've lost my appetite for meat already, probably from the combination of what I read and Taco Bell. I'm back on the wagon!

Shout out

2009-08-04T08:42:00.000-05:00

Just a lil' shout out to the new states represented on Google Analytics - Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Welcome!

I've been doing alright veggie-wise since, well, yesterday. I'm not gonna lie - I did have some meat with lunch yesterday. I had bastardized a perfectly fine vegan recipe over the weekend (before I decided to turn veggie) by adding cheese and taco meat (hamburger) to a Mexican Burrito Pie. It was delicious and the leftovers hit the spot at lunch yesterday. I'll share the recipe later this week.

Tonight's dinner will be interesting. I'll be making Hubby a chicken recipe and will try to resist stealing a bite of it. I think as long as I have delicious sides I'll do fine. If the chicken is delicious (new recipe - for me anyway - from The Pioneer Woman), I'll share what I did for the chicken and sides.

I think that my main challenge for vegetarianizing is eating more fruits and veggies. So far so good today, with a big cup of OJ, strawberries, and grapes for breakfast. I'll be trying my hand at asparagus for the first time for dinner tonight and have e-mailed my A-Anne (mom of Jennifer in Mali!) to learn how to cook it. Wish me luck!

Mexican Chef Salad

2009-08-03T19:31:00.000-05:00

Today was my first foray into becoming vegan.

I've decided to take it easy and start out vegetarian. My primary reason - I forgot to get fake cheese at the grocery store.

Second reason - I decided to try to stick to my already-created menu for the week which includes two of my favorites (both from my mother-in-law - Mexican Chef Salad and Broccoli Cheese Soup. Did I mention Hubby's going out of town?).

This recipe was a cinch to adapt to the vegetarian style. If you want it meaty style, sub hamburger for the Morningstar Farms Recipe Crumbles.

Mexican Chef Salad

- from my mom-in-law!

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. Morningstar Farms Recipe Crumbles
1 bottle fat-free 1000-Island dressing
1 bag Tostitos tortilla chips
1 can light red kidney beans
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
Tabasco
Head of lettuce

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large skillet, heat the Morningstar Farms Recipe Crumbles (frozen) over medium heat. The package looks like this and more information and varieties can be found here.

As it is heating, drain and rinse the kidney beans.

Wash and chop the lettuce.

Crumble the bag of Tostitos.

Once the crumbles are well-heated, add the kidney beans and cook for a few more minutes.

While this is cooking, put the lettuce and chips in a large mixing bowl. Once the beans are a bit sweaty, turn off the heat and add the crumble/bean mixture to the mixing bowl. Top with the 1000-island dressing, the cheese, and a couple shots of Tabasco.

Your bowl needs to be LARGE! Mix everything together until everything is mixed and evenly coated in the dressing. Add more Tabasco to taste (make sure to mix - there's nothing like a bite of Tabasco when you weren't expecting it).

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The first time I looked at this recipe, I didn't understand it. Chips, lettuce, meat, beans, and dressing - that sounds DISGUSTING. Seriously though, there is something absolutely delicious about the combination. I get cravings for it and I'm excited to know that it is easily vegetarianized!

To make it completely vegan, you'd have to sub out the cheese and find an alternative to the 1000-island dressing that I used (has egg yolks in it which is gross to think about).

Enjoy and let me know what you think if you make it!

New Me

2009-08-03T08:43:00.000-05:00

This will be a surprise to my sister who recently became one herself... I've decided to turn vegan.

Typing it brings a tear to my eye, especially when I consider Strawberry Shortcake Cake, Broccoli Cheese Soup, really any recipe that I've posted so far on my blog. My mouth is watering now just thinking about 'em.

I was a vegetarian for about a year in high school after I saw some television show in which a goat was slaughtered for food. I gave vegetarianism up for really no reason aside from my lack of willpower. My chocolate cravings turned into hamburger cravings. I've been loving meat ever since!

So what brought about this vegan desire in me? Somewhere, on someone's blog (I can't remember who), they mentioned reading a book, Skinny Bitch, and learning a lot from it. I picked it up at the library thinking I might get some tips for getting healthier. It's pretty funny, complete with cursing and in-your-face admonishing, but it's also informative. It reminded me of why I became a vegetarian in the first place (yes, the cute fuzzy animals and the repulsive way in which they become their end product) and I also learned about why animal products are so BAD for you, period.

I wanted to include a quote from the book, but everything is a bit graphic and I don't want to scare you off, nor do I want you to think I'm going to become some hemp-wearing hippy. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But really, if you're interested at all in learning about where the food you eat comes from, pick up Skinny Bitch. You'll likely want to become vegan too.

I posted on facebook about my new revelation and found it funny that most of my friends' comments were related to what Hubby would be doing while I was vegan. Well, I shared with him one short passage in Skinny Bitch that discusses how cows and chickens are slaughtered and he's agreed to go semi-vegetarian with me. He says he has to have a steak every now and then. I understand and might falter a bit too. I'm going to do my best though!

Again, I promise - I'm not turning into an environmentalist, tree-hugging, protesting hippy (although I guess I am all of those, except for the protesting hippy, so far =)). I do believe that God gave us animals to eat. Do I think He intended for us to be treating and killing them inhumanely? Or injecting them with hormones and other crap so they'll be bigger and produce more food? Somehow, I don't think so, but I welcome information to the contrary.

Until then, wish me luck on my quest towards veganism!

Oh... ice cream. I forgot about ice cream.

Ahhh... =)

2009-07-27T09:30:00.000-05:00

I realized, in typing the above subject, that it is difficult to distinguish between a sigh of relief (Ahhh) and a groan of frustration (Ahhh). I hope that the placement of the smiley helps to distinguish my intentions.

As some of y'all know, I am a lady of many hats. Aside from my familial responsibilities, I work full-time (8 AM - 5 PM Monday through Friday) and am in graduate school full-time. It amazes me that I'm able to do both simultaneously but after weekends like this past one, I have come to think that I'm a bit crazy for attempting it.

It'd help if I didn't procrastinate. But I do. I wait until two days before the 10-30 page paper is due to nail down a topic that has to be approved. I wish I could say that I've learned my lesson, but in five years of higher education (4 for my bachelor's and 1 in graduate school so far), my behavior has only been reinforced by decent grades. While it may some stress to me while I'm busting out papers and assignments last minute, it seems to get the job done.

I turned in a 16 page paper on Friday and threw together a 2 page assignment due on Saturday. Once that was done though, boy did I feel a wave of relief. I have two days of class left, including a final exam and a presentation, but the bulk of my work is done and I'm 95% done with my summer classes.

I have five courses remaining until I get my degree. I'm planning on taking three in the fall and two in the spring. Yup, no lessons have been learned and I'm crazy.

But I sure feel pretty good now!

I actually cleaned my bathroom this weekend for lack of anything more pressing to do. While it was gross, the end result made me "Ahhh... =)"

A lesson in independence

2009-07-23T11:20:00.001-05:00

I am very fortunate. I was raised by parents who taught me that I could do whatever I set my mind to. They reinforced that lesson by encouraging my independence, letting me handle things on my own, letting me make my own decisions, and learn my own lessons. They always were in the background, waiting to help when I needed it and asked for it.

I went to a small, private college for my undergraduate education. While my mom recommended that I apply to this specific school, it was I who made the ultimate decision about where to go. When I registered for classes, I selected (with the help of my advisor, of course) which courses to take. When I applied for financial aid, I was the one completing the FAFSA, requesting information from my parents to supplement it.

My first job at college was as a student worker in the Financial Aid Office (I decided to get a job. I found said job and applied for said job). Enter my first experiences with "helicopter parents." You know what, I'll amend that to "helicopter mothers" as I've never spoken to a "helicopter father." A "helimom" is one who hovers over their child, in spite of the fact that that child is now 18+ years old, old enough to vote, tie their own shoes, legally sign a contract, etc.

Helimoms tell their kids what classes to take, what to major in, which dorm to live in. Helimoms contact their kids' advisors, admissions counselors, and other university representatives. I can only assume that they do the same with other vendors, calling to schedule doctor appointments, doing their kids' banking, submitting their job applications, etc.

What is the child of the Helimom learning?

Answer: NOTHING.

I remember speaking to a parent on the phone whose child was attending the college more than a year away. This child has not yet even applied to the college, but the Helimom wanted to know what *they* have to do to get out of taking a certain class. Helimom kept referring to "What do *WE* need to do to register for *OUR* classes?" I'm 99% certain that Helimom was not planning on enrolling at the college.

I corrected her once, "Oh, you mean your daughter's classes." She hesitated for a second, but continued with her question.

I understand wanting to make sure your child is taken care of, but what is better? Taking care of your adult child for his college career (and beyond)? Or teaching that child how to take care of himself (and come to you for advice when they need it)?

Thanks, Mom and Dad. I am absolutely a better person for your lessons in independence. Your leadership and support through the years has made me a strong, independent woman. And you can be damn sure that I'll teach my (future) children the same lessons.

I'm always right

2009-07-22T18:50:00.000-05:00

... or at least, I claim to be, conceitedly. It's a flaw - I know it (as I should because I am always right). But I can't help it if it's true! =)

After my prodding, my glorious sister started a blog! Check her out here. I asked her what the heck was up with Hedge. She claims that people call her that, although I don't know why. A pale red-head, she looks nothing like a green, leafy plant.

Regardless, I'll enjoy keeping up with her Jew-y self (I'm her sister and can call her Jew-y because 1-I'm her sister and 2-She's a new Jew!) and will refer to her henceforth as Hedge. At least on the internets.

Bienvenue Hedge!

What were they thinking?

2009-07-22T14:42:00.000-05:00

Hubby and I allot each other 3 things to buy that are not on the grocery list each week. We usually don't buy 3 things each, but it's nice to have that cushion.

One of the items we bought this week was this:

Asian Helper. We didn't get the Beef Fried Rice variety pictured, but rather the Chicken Fried Rice. Sounds delicious, right?

So you're probably asking yourself, what's wrong with Asian Helper? Well, let me introduce you to its friends:

Tuna Helper

Hamburger Helper

Chicken Helper

The name is "[Ingredient] Helper." Therefore, one can deduct that one is supposed to add Asians to "Asian Helper." What in the world were they thinking?

More acceptable name: Chicken Helper - Asian Chicken and Rice (a la the Chicken Helper above that is Mexican Cheesy Chicken Enchilada.

Regardless, it's what's cooking for dinner tonight*.

Hope it's delicious.

*No Asians will be harmed in the process of cooking dinner.

50 Questions

2009-07-17T13:13:00.000-05:00

Facebook has become the MySpace of those "answer-a-bunch-of-questions-about-yourself-and-get-your-friends-to-share" things. I definitely don't participate in them on either social networking site, but I thought that this one might be good for the blog. Don't know me? Get to know me by the color of my toothbrush!

1. What is the color of your toothbrush?
White with blue accents

2. Name one person who made you smile today.
Hubby

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
Singing along to the chimes that announce my tardiness. "Mar-tha you're late. Mar-tha you're late"

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?
Reading The Pioneer Woman

5. What is your favorite candy bar?
M&Ms, affectionately called Ms.

6. Have you ever been to a strip club?
No

7. What is the last thing you said aloud?
"Good afternoon, [Work name], this is Martha."

8. What is your favorite ice cream?
Haagen-Dazs' Sticky Toffee Pudding which is no longer made. Shoulda stocked up!

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Water.

10. Do you like your wallet?
Sure! Just cleaned it out yesterday. I'd like it a lot better if there was money in it though.

11. What was the last thing you ate?
Peanut butter and [homemade strawberry] jelly sandwich. It was yum.

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
Nope. I splurged twice earlier this month. I'm hoping to hit the outlet malls in August though. Don't tell Hubby.

13. The last sporting event you watched?
Something Hubby had on TV that I glanced at occasionally.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?
Mmmm... the kind at the movie theater. No butter, extra salt.

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to?
Hubby

16. Ever go camping?
Like in a tent? Haha. No. I was a Girl Scout though and went to "camp" which included cabins, electricity, and plumbing.

17. Do you take vitamins daily?
Nope.

18. Do you go to church every Sunday?
Sadly no.

19. Do you have a tan?
I am less see-through than I have been in the past, but still wouldn't consider myself "tan." Hoping to change that with our August vacation!

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza?
Nope.

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?
Only when it comes in a cup at a restaurant.

22. What did your last text message say?
"Running late can u come up?" To Hubby re: me not leaving work Wednesday until after 5:00. The horror!

23. What are you doing tomorrow?
Something lazy. Maybe turning in the 3-page assignment that's due or working on the 10-30 page paper due next week. Maybe just watching TV all day and hanging out with the dogs.

25. Look to your left, what do you see?
Work telephone.

26. What color is your watch?
Silver.

27. What do you think of when you hear Australia?
A really bad movie with Nicole Kidman. I'm thankful for Blockbuster Total Access which means that I'm not really paying for bad movies when I rent them.

29.Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
Drive thru

30. What is your favorite number?
Anything even. Hubby proposed to me on 11/9/2007. I wasn't too happy about the date, but happy about the proposal! We got married on 5/24/2008. Much better.

31, Who's the last person you talked to on the phone?
Some student.

32. Any plans today?
Worky work til 5, making dinner (spicy lime chicken, will post recipe later if it's delicious!), watching TV with Hubby, sleeping.

33. How many states have you lived in?
5 - Indiana, Alabama, West Virginia, Virginia, Mississippi

34. Biggest annoyance right now?
One of my co-workers.

35. Last song listened to?
Something Lady Gaga. She shows her boobies but I love her music!

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards?
Yes. Although my crowning achievement when I was young was saying the alphabet forwards. Not impressive? Oh, well, my EYES WERE CLOSED. Booyah!

37. Do you have a maid service clean your house?
Does Hubby vacuuming count?

38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
Grey flats. I lost one once and my feet were lonely.

39. Are you jealous of anyone?
I try not to be.

40. Is anyone jealous of you?
Not that I am aware of. Are you?

41. Do you love anyone?
Absolutely!

42. Do any of your friends have children?
Sure.

43. What do you usually do during the day?
At work, sometimes doing work.

44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now?
I try to use "strongly dislike." Do I strongly dislike anyone? Yup. Aforementioned co-worker.

45. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
Nope. Typically "Hi!", or as evidenced in my previous blogpost, "HIII!"

46. What color is your car?
Silver. I heart Cap'n Planet.

48. Are you thinking about someone right now?
Nope. Sorry Hubby =)

49. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
Yes.

50. How did you get your worst scar?
The only one I have really is on my chin. My sister and I were riding bikes/scooters down the street toward our house. She started going faster than me, so I thought she was trying to race me. I couldn't let my sister beat me, so I went faster and somehow ended up flying over the handlebars and landing on my chin. I remember bleeding on the front of my favorite purpleish t-shirt. I think I was more concerned about not being able to wear it again. Dad took me to an urgent care center and the doctor told me that he'd stop giving me stitches once I told him to stop. One prick of the needle, I told him stop. I also learned that Sis was NOT trying to race me as I thought. Whoops!

Ooh, I just remembered I have another scar. Rather than delete the above story, you're getting a two-fer. I have a scar on my middle finger on my right hand. During my senior year of high school, I lived in Alabama with my Dad and I drove up to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with my Mom and her family. It just so happened that Thanksgiving coincided with my A-Anne's birthday.

I was wrapping her gift, a candle in a glass jar, in front of the fireplace which was on. I decided to try to pull the lid off the jar to smell it or something. It wouldn't move. I kept pulling and pulling and finally got it off. By breaking the glass lid in my hand and putting a piece of glass through my finger.

Mom and Sis were in the living room with me and just gaped at me as I jumped up and ran to the sink, put my hand under cold water, and wrapped it in paper towels. Mom was freaking out, and somehow I calmly told her that I needed to go to the hospital and get stitches. The three of us piled in the two-door Chevy Monte Carlo (I miss that car) and I remember having a hard time opening the door, what with my bleeding right hand and my left hand holding my make-shift bandage.

Best part of the whole thing? I had to drive 12 hours back to Alabama after Thanksgiving. My finger was in a splint and taped up to 2-3x its regular size. With my hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, I was inadvertantly flipping folks off the entire way back. Whoops!

Hi!!

2009-07-17T11:38:00.000-05:00

I recently installed Google Analytics. Not because I have 10 million readers, but because it's interesting to see who ends up at my blog, where they're from, how they end up here, etc.

In the past week or so, I've had visitors from two countries - the U.S. and Mali. I can tell you who exactly the visitor from Mali is - my baby cuz Jennifer! I love that baby cuz, who is no longer a baby. She's a Peace Corps volunteer starting her second year of service. I check her blog every day in spite of the fact she posts only once a week, and usually on Mondays. I like reading up on what she's doing and how she's living without the comforts of air conditioning of adequate sanitation. HII JENNIFER!

In the U.S., my readers are limited to two states - Pennsylvania and Mississippi. I can tell you who exactly the visitor from Pennsylvania is - my sister who as of yet remains blogless. She keeps agonizing over checking my blog daily (even though I too post once a week or less) and really just needs to start a blog herself. HIII SISTER!

The Mississippi readers are, for the most part, myself. Yes, I live in Mississippi. No, I don't check my blog daily for new postings. That would be silly. No, I'm not going to say hi to myself. I will, however, say HIII to the anonymous reader from Tupelo. I don't know who you are, but welcome! Tell your friends and I'll say hey to them too!

Needless to say, it looks like I need to branch out. My goal is not to have a gaggle of readers, although that would be awesome. I like the semi-transparent veil of anonymity and, well, my postings aren't earth-moving. Thanks for sticking with me and reading along!

Happy Friday!

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

2009-07-13T08:58:00.000-05:00

Saturday night, I did not eat dinner in preparation for this. Sunday, I wanted to eat it for breakfast, arguing the nutritional content of strawberries. But I decided to go for cereal instead.

One of my favorite bloggers, The Pioneer Woman, created this recipe back in May and I just now got around to testing it out. It might have been because last week I had strawberry shortcake custard from Bop's and it initiated a craving. This definitely satisfied it and then some.

I'd like to say that it's good for you, but fact is - it's only good for your taste buds. Consider that your waistline's warning.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Direct link to original recipe here complete with great photography that I will never be able to accomplish. I took pictures but they don't look a thing like hers.

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
9 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

ICING INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 lbs. sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. strawberries
5 Tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray and flour an 8" round cake pan (must be at least 2" deep - if not, use 2-8" pans).

First, let's deal with the cake ingredients. Sift together first four cake ingredients (flour, corn starch, salt, baking soda).

Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy (If you're lucky enough to have a stand mixer, you can be doing this while sifting the dry ingredients. Use the flat beater). Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add sifted dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just slightly combined.

Pour into prepped pans and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes until no longer jiggly. A word of caution - don't take it out to jiggle it before 45 minutes because it will fall (personal experience!).

Remove from cake pan immediately after removing from oven and place on cooling rack to cool completely. COMPLETELY. As in, take a break from the kitchen.

After about 30 or so minutes, start on the filling. Hull and halve your strawberries (after washing) and throw them in a bowl with 3 Tbsp. sugar. Let sit for 30 minutes. You should take out your cream cheese and butter now for the icing so they'll be at room temperature when you're ready for 'em.

After 30 minutes, mash the strawberries (however you see fit - I used a fork on a plate which was kinda messy) and add the remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar. Let sit for another 30 minutes.

On to the icing! Combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a dash of salt in a mixing bowl (stand mixer: use the wire whip). Mix until light and fluffy. Stick it in the freezer when complete for about 10 minutes to help with icing the cake.

The cake should be completely cool by now. If not, be patient!

When completely cool, slice the cake in half through the middle using a long serrated knife (I prefer a long bread knife). Put each half cut-side-up. Top each half with half of the strawberry filling mixture, pouring any leftover juices on the cakes.

Remove the icing from the freezer. Top one half with 1/3 of the icing, being careful not to disturb the strawberries too much. Top with the other half of the cake and repeat, covering the top and sides of the cake with the remaining icing. It gets a little messy and you might have some strawberries poke out, but it surely doesn't impact it's taste!

Enjoy! Store in the refrigerator and find some friends to give it away to. You definitely don't need to eat the whole thing yourself. Although you'll want to!

I <3 being thrifty!

2009-07-11T16:10:00.000-05:00

Just under a month ago, Hubby I and bought a TV - I told y'all about it here. It's a great TV. No complaints whatsoever (Hubby's only complaint is there's no picture in picture, but we've never had it so whatev!).

Whenever I make a big purchase like this, I like to make sure that the price doesn't go down right after I buy it. Well, I check Walmart's website today and find the same TV for $568. That's $29! $29 could buy dinner out, groceries, or something else of vital importance. Starbucks!

I was ready to go back to Walmart to get the $29 back. I didn't care if I had to bring the TV in with us. While I was looking up their return policies, I happen to see that they have this bad boy - the SAME TV, but a 42" for $598. A mere dollar more than what I paid for the 37" TV.

I tell Hubby what's going on and give him the option. Does he want me to go and get my $29 back, or would he prefer to pay $1 for a bigger TV? After some contemplating (he dislikes confrontation and returning things), he decided that we should go for the 42". Typical boy, but I'm glad he chose that option.

We pack up the 37" TV and call our local Walmart to make sure it's in stock and they can put it on hold for us. Go to exchange them at Customer Service and the 42" TV rings up at $697 - not the $598 quoted online. I explain the situation to not one, but two different customer service people before they bring out who I like to call "The Man Who Gets Things Done," aka Mike. Mike explains that they can't pricematch online prices. I said that I understand, however, the TV listed online is only available in the store. You can't buy it online.

Fortunately, Mike agrees to check the computer in the store rather than send us home to print out the proof (note to self: print verification before going to the store!). He agrees with us and knocks $99 off the price of the television.

I paid $1.07 for a 42" LCD HDTV.

On the way home, Hubby and I kept looking behind us for the Walmart police to take the TV back, but we made it home safely.

It might have been a bit of a hassle for us and the customer service folks, but it ultimately worked out in our favor. Our old 30" CRT broke, we got a refund check for $535.99. Ended up paying just $167.94 out of pocket for a much better, bigger TV.

I can't believe it. I <3 being thrifty!

Entertainment

2009-07-10T15:09:00.000-05:00

Man, after an absence from blogging and a promised return, the topic of the blog becomes of utmost-importance. It should be riveting. It should make you want to come back for more. It should make you want to share this blog with the rest of the world.

Somehow, I don't think this one is gonna cut it. I'll settle for easing back into the blogging world with this'un.

Hubby and I have a pretty strict budget that neither of us follow strictly. $200 for groceries twice a month? Try $300. If we're lucky.

The one item that we've done pretty good on is our new-founded Entertainment budget of $40 twice a month. We first instigated the budget when Obama passed the legislation that upped our paychecks $20 each, hence the $40 twice a month. We usually end up spending it on eating out (which is not budgeted, whatsoever), or on one of my favorite activities...

GOING TO THE MOVIES!

The last movie we saw in theaters was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. That's right - the one that has a mere 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hubby loved it because he grew up with Transformers, the toys-er-action figures. He said afterwards that if you go in expecting the next Best Picture film, you're going to be disappointed. If you go in anticipating what it truly is - an action film with a lot of CGI, cheesy jokes, and innuendos - then you'll be happy.

Or, if you're like me and really go to the movies for the popcorn, you'll be stoked.

However, if you go in on opening weekend and don't like other people's children, you'll be miserable. Seriously, who brings two babies in CAR SEATS to a PG-13 movie? Or kids under 10? The movie has gratuitous shots of (the admittedly gorgeous) Megan Fox. It shows a robot that has testicles. Seriously.

Needless to say, I've learned my lesson. I REALLY want to see this movie next:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

It hasn't even been released yet, but it's got 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. That means it's gonna be awesome. I love Harry Potter - I've read and own all of the books and have seen every movie so far. I remember seeing one of them at a midnight showing (thanks Nate!) during college.

So am I planning on seeing it again at midnight? Heck no! I'm an old woman now (ha! Only Hubby can call me that to my face though). I can barely stay up past 10 PM. I usually hit the sheets long before then. Am I planning on seeing it during opening week? Heck no! 1) I detest crowds. 2) I'm not a huge fan of other people's kids.

It's a shame too. I wonder how the movie theaters would fare if they would offer a showing of "kiddie" movies with only adults allowed in the audience. I'd pay $3 extra for that. What about you? And maybe drive 30 miles out of my way, in spite of the local movie theater being within walking distance.

Harry Potter, you'll have to wait for me. I can't wait for you to reveal your dark secrets! Well, actually, I will.

I'm still here!

2009-07-10T08:30:00.001-05:00

I promise you this: I will post a new blog once I complete an assignment that's due tomorrow for one of my classes.

For your visual enjoyment in the mean time, here's a picture of yet another of our foster pups who is still waiting for a loving home. Meet Oliver, or as the shelter renamed him - Raphael (?? Don't ask me - we named him and his sisters after orphan-characters. Oliver, Annie, and Cindy). He's one of three foster pups who came into our home a few months ago just a week old after someone abused his mom to the point that she could no longer nurse.

Ollie's the runt of the three pups and Hubby and I had a few scares with him where he nearly didn't make it. In spite of all of his trials, Ollie's pulled through and is looking for his forever home. His sisters have already been adopted and Ollie's all by himself now. The picture was taken when he was about 6 weeks old, so I imagine he's grown up quite a bit. But seriously, who could resist that sultry look?

Break from regular programming

2009-06-30T10:40:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a week. Not that I haven't wanted to post, believe me. Just that there have been a couple things standing in my way of posting, including:

Taking care of Samford, the foster dog (now at another foster home due to below)
Taking care of Hubby with his kidney stones and gallstones (ouch!)
Being in class all day Thursday and Friday
Doing work and reading for aforementioned class
Writing an 8-10 page paper due Wednesday (tomorrow!)
Writing a 20-30 page paper due Monday (next week - yikes!)
It's the end of the fiscal year at work which means LOTS of worky work to do

That being said, I'll probably get back to quality posting after my 30 page paper is turned in on Monday.

Til then, enjoy this picture of Samford, who is STILL available for adoption. He's a bit funny looking but is one of the best dogs I've ever interacted with.

Strawberry Pie

2009-06-23T18:08:00.001-05:00

Strawberry Pie

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 oz. strawberry Jello
2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 graham cracker crust

Mix sugar and cornstarch until well-blended. Add water.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes.

Stir, microwave on high 2 minutes.

Add Jello and strawberries, stir. Pour into crust and refrigerate.

Top with Cool Whip before serving.

-----------------------

With strawberries on sale (I saw $1.88/carton at Walmart!), this is an excellent, easy, delicious dessert. It's byfar one of Hubby's faves and the recipe is from his mother. Can't go wrong there!

Car Insurance

2009-06-22T14:57:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year. Well, at least for me. Time to renew Cap'n Planet's insurance!

I've been with Progressive insurance since 2007 and haven't had any complaints. Granted, I haven't had any claims, so you'll have to take my word for what it is. No complaints with not using the service, just paying them every 6 months.

Regardless, the past two times I've renewed have been wonderful. Last year, I added Hubby to my car insurance since he drives Cap'n Planet a lot and since, apparently, you can't be married and not have your significant other on your car insurance. I was worried that adding a person would increase the premium but, lo and behold, it saved us $78! Hurray for being married!

This time when my renewal came up, my policy renewal came up as $8 more expensive than the last six months. $8 - that's two Starbucks drinks! I got quotes from other agencies, found a rate a little less than Progressive, but determined that I'd rather maintain my customer history with one agency if possible.

I created a new quote with Progressive, pretending I was a brand new customer. My results - higher coverage for $80 less! I called Progressive to ask what was up and the EXCELLENT customer service representative said that it was probably because they had not run my credit since 2007. Since my credit is much better, I qualify for a lower rate. I tell you, the representative was fantastic - answering all my questions, linking my customer histories, telling me about different discounts, etc. I've always thought that I would hate to be a customer service representative for such an agency, but I figured out today that if you're actually able to HELP customers, it must not be that bad.

The $80 is a savings of about 18%. Not bad!

My recommendation: call your car insurance company when your renewal comes up. If they haven't checked your credit in awhile, you have an update in status, etc., it may pay you back in dividends.

Misery

2009-06-22T08:23:00.000-05:00

I am going to be miserable.

I tell you, thank God for next Wednesday's high of 91 for restoring my faith in "decent" weather. There is something wrong when the lows outside never dip below what I set my AC to.

These are the days that I'm more than thankful for having a cushy inside job where the thermostat is set to a nice 72 degrees. And I don't have to leave for anything until 5.

Why I Love Discover

2009-06-16T10:07:00.000-05:00

I have been a "member" of Discover, according to my credit card, since 2005 and have loved it and want to share with y'all my most recent discovery of their ShopDiscover program.

As you know, in addition to being a secretary, I am going to school full-time to get my master's degree. With three classes each term, it amounts to several hundred dollars worth of textbooks. As the spendthrift that I am, I shop around for the best prices and ended up purchasing many of them through Barnes & Noble online.

ShopDiscover is an excellent program where you can get 5-20% of your purchases at certain online retailers as CashBack Bonus. Barnes & Noble is one of those retailers (you can earn 10% CashBack Bonus), so my $300 textbook purchase netted me $30 in CashBack which can be credited to your account, transferred to your checking/savings account, donated to charity, or used to purchase giftcards at other retailers ($20 in CashBack sometimes nets $30-40 in giftcards).

All in all, an excellent program that benefits everyone involved - you, Discover, and the retailer. I'd highly recommend you checking Discover and ShopDiscover out. In the past year, I've earned over $90.00 in CashBack, most of it through the ShopDiscover program. Not bad!

Another reason why I love Discover? They're offering $50 gift cards to the first 50 bloggers who post about their experiences with ShopDiscover. Here's hoping that I'm one of 'em!

Required of my entry: I am writing this post in response to Discover's recent "ShopDiscover Blog Promotion" and this post represents entry in the ShopDiscover blog promotion with a chance to win a Discover Gift Card.

It's About Time

2009-06-16T08:31:00.000-05:00

One of the classes I am taking this summer has, thusfar, provided me with some excellent life colloquialisms that have been very poignant with me.

"No job is too difficult for the person who doesn't have to do it."

I guffawed, aloud, in class when I heard this one because it applies so much to my work life. Take, for example, someone who asked me to take on a project for them. It was something as "simple" as scanning about a dozen documents a week. When I declined (with my boss' support) due to lack of time, he said, "It's just scanning something. It's not too difficult and shouldn't take too much time." Well, if that's the case, why don't you do it? I'm at the beck and call of dozens of individuals who ask me to do similar "simple" projects. If it takes me 5 minutes to scan your documents, and everyone else has me doing similar 5 minute projects, that takes away HOURS of my day, hours that should be spent doing more pressing tasks.

"The allocation of an individual's time is a fairly good index of what he or she values most."

I found this in my reading yesterday and subsequently bold-faced and underlined it in my notes. If an outsider looks at how I spend my time, what does it look like I value? It's probably not that flattering at all and does not reflect what I truly value.

So, I've decided to do a little experiment this week - I'm going to keep track of how I spend my time. I think that once I can visually see the number of hours I waste in front of the TV, for example, I may change my routine to better-emphasize those things that I value. It may also help me to cut down on waste and create more efficient routines. I LOVE efficiency!

Here goes:

Monday, June 15, 2009
6:35 AM Alarm goes off
6:55 AM Out of bed / Shower / Get ready
7:20 AM Make lunches / Prep dinner
7:35 AM Leave house / Drive to work
7:50 AM Run errand at work
7:55 AM Pick-up Starbucks (yum!)
8:05 AM Arrive at office
--- I figured I don't have to detail what I do at work as I can't really change the number of hours I spend at my desk. I do get some personal things done in my down time, but it's hard to allocate XX time to paying bills if it's done sporadically throughout the day.
5:05 PM Leave office
5:20 PM Arrive at home / Make dinner / Put movie in
6:30 PM Hubby arrives home from the dog p-a-r-k / Eat dinner
7:30 PM Movie ends / Drive to Blockbuster to return film / Talk to my old high school friend on the phone
8:00 PM Watch TV / Computer
9:00 PM Head to bed with Hubby for QT and TV before bed
10:15 PM Go to sleep.

Exciting, eh? You now know what I did all day yesterday. Stay tuned tomorrow morning for an update about Tuesday.

New baby

2009-06-12T21:41:00.000-05:00

Or at least, that's what Hubby will call it. About a month ago, our living room TV started making a high-pitched noise about an hour into running. We'd shut it off, turn it back on and it'd still be making the noise. It's a 30" Samsung "Slimfit" (HA! The beast weighs more than 100 pounds) that I purchased as a single gal three years ago. Best accessory for it? A five year extended warranty that I purchased for around $160 because it was a floor model.

The repair shop came and picked it up, hauling it down three flights of stairs (I'm sure my brother- and father-in-law remember hauling it UP when I moved in), and took it to their shop. In the mean time, Hubby and I would haul our 15" decade-old CRT from the bedroom to the living room and back each night so we could enjoy TV in both rooms. Annoying, to say the least.

At the shop, a part was ordered, but the vendor sent the wrong one. The repair shop (Electronic Services, Inc. - great people, especially Bryan!) ordered the correct one, but determined that it was on back-order with no sign of ETA.

Cue the extended warranty people! A phone call last week, followed by a follow-up call from me today. Claudia, the FANTASTIC customer service representative at the warranty company (whomever took over for Circuit City... I know, amazing!) said she'd check in on it and give me a call back. Yeah right, I planned to call back next week. Surprisingly, she called me back less than 5 minutes later to tell me that she gave my information to her supervisor who would be investigating and who would call me back within the next couple days. Yeah right... I planned to call back next week. Well, Claudia called me back about an hour later to tell me that they decided it would take too long to wait for the part and that they were going to send me a check for the purchase price of my TV!

You see, back in the day (3 years ago), the TV I bought was moderately-priced at $535.99 - on sale! I was anticipating getting MAYBE replacement cost of the TV which, to CRT standards, would be a couple hundred bucks at most. If you could find a CRT.

But I digress. After a couple hours of internet price shopping and TV comparison, we settled on this one: Vizio 37" Class Eco 1080p LCD HDTV, VO370M. It's been installed for all of an hour and I can already tell you that it's a winner.

I learned after the fact that this came out just last month. Who knew we were so cutting edge?

The picture is AMAZING and the TV is actually somewhat eco-friendly! It only uses, on average 110 W of electricity, compared to 210 W of the comparable TVs that we were considering.

The contrast ratio was also the highest of the TVs we were considering - 15,000:1 (others were around 6,500:1).

The number of colors is 1.06 billion compared to 16.7 million. Bet you can't name all 1.06 billion of them.

Anyway, both Hubby and I are happy. Both with Electronic Services, the extended warranty company (I wish I knew their name!), Circuit City for selling me a crappy TV but a great warranty, and Walmart for having the new TV in stock so we could buy it at night in our PJs. I know Hubby's waiting for me to go to bed so he can enjoy Xbox in HD... I better indulge him.

Oh, and we did buy another extended warranty with the new TV. A cheap $60 for peace of mind and great service.

My Apologies

2009-06-09T14:29:00.000-05:00

There are several blogs that I follow. Two of my faves being listed to the right - Bakerella and Jennifer in Mali. Love them both and check them daily (sometimes multiple times daily!) in spite of the fact that they routinely post once a week. That's right - they post once a week, I check them about 14 times. What can I say? I love cake balls and my baby cuz.

But man I wish they posted more to indulge my over-clicking. Says me, and I haven't posted in a week and a half!

My apologies.

I made it a week without soda and decided to reward myself. I've had a couple since (currently sipping on a juicy, delicious Dr. Pepper), but I'm not addicted. I can quit anytime, I swear. =)

Last week at work was crazy, which explains why I had multiple sodas and was unable to update my blog. (Hey, at least I'm turning to soda in stressful times as opposed to alcohol!) One of my co-workers, Jill, left me hanging on Wednesday. She's had surgery on her knee scheduled for the better part of May and left Wednesday to have it done. Also for the better part of May, she was supposed to be taking care of a grant-funded project that requires us to spend $$$$$ by the end of the fiscal year, which really means we have to spend it YESTERDAY to make sure everything gets here by the end of the fiscal year. She'd had more than enough time to get everything ordered, but for some reason (I have my theories that I'll leave off of here), she did nothing. Zero. Zilch. Actually made negative progress. And left me with the work to do, completely unexpectedly. I didn't even know that I'd be doing it until after she was gone, so I didn't get a chance to ask her questions. While I knew how to do some of the work, most of it dealt with budget which is purely Jill's domain. I had to run around all day Wednesday trying to get everything done, relying on the help of kind people in various departments, all the while making myself and the department look unprofessional for not communicating among its employees effectively about an important project.

In spite of the learning curve, I was able to get it done. Mostly by 5:00 Wednesday, although I had to deal with a dozen e-mails the next day while I was out of the office, in class all day.

I was not a happy secretary. I'm still not, really, because I know that Jill will never think she did anything wrong.

Other than that, things are well. I'm 1/4 of the way into my summer classes now, trying to stay on top of the reading and assignments. In this sense, I'm thankful to have a flexible workplace so that I can go to graduate school full-time while working full-time as well. Hurray for tuition benefits! I'm looking forward to finishing my degree in less than a year (!!!), then who knows where the world will take Hubby and me.

I promise to post another entry later this week. Perhaps a delicious recipe to share? I found my camera and might be able to give a nice visual step-by-step as well!

Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Drops with Burnt Butter Icing

2009-05-29T17:32:00.001-05:00

You know, there are several "normal" things that Hubby will not eat. Peaches, melon (any kind), broccoli, and sour cream being just a few. He does eat potato soup, however, which requires 8 oz. of sour cream. Sour cream comes in 16 oz. containers - what to do with the other half? I hate wasting food.

I came across this recipe, made it last night, and loved it. Hubby does too! The cookies come out slightly cakey and not crispy at all - I wonder if they can even be called cookies? They are more of a dense cupecake-like thickness. Regardless, delicious!

Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Drops

INGREDIENTS:

.5 cup softened butter (one stick)
1.5 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2.75 cups flour
.5 tsp. baking soda
.5 tsp. baking powder
.5 tsp. salt

Mix together butter, sugar, and eggs thoroughly.

Stir in sour cream and vanilla.

Sift together remaining ingredients and stir into wet batter.

Chill batter for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls (yes, teaspoons! These are lil cookies) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2" apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes until, when cookies are lightly touched with finger, little indentation remains. They should remain light in color with a few golden brown spots on top.

Cool on a cooling rack.

This recipe makes about 5 dozen cookies (!!). I made half of the batch and froze the rest for another day. I've never frozen cookie dough before, but know it has been done. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Burnt Butter Icing

INGREDIENTS:

.5 cup butter (one stick)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 tbsp. hot water

In a small saucepan, bring the butter to a boil until golden brown (not dark brown).

Remove pan from heat and gradually add powdered sugar. (NOTE: The mixture turns into more of a thickened gruel - like hard mashed potatoes - this is fine)

Add vanilla, then hot water until icing is smooth.

Spread with a knife, or dunk the tops of your cookies in the mixture.

---------------------------------

For a Hubby who doesn't like sour cream, he really enjoys these cookies both with and without the icing, and I agree! I could really taste the sour cream in the batter, but couldn't even tell it was in there once baked. RE: the icing, I think it adds a bit of needed moisture to these cookies, but it definitely sweetens them up. If you aren't a fan of super-sweet treats (like I am, usually!), the cookies sans icing are perfect.

Enjoy!

[One of these days, I'll get a decent camera and share fun photos of my baking/cooking. Til then, I'll let your imaginations run wild =)]

Day 3 of my conquest

2009-05-27T11:27:00.000-05:00

Wednesday is my third full day without soda and things are going well.

Last night, I fell asleep before 8 PM and slept until 6:30 AM. 10.5 hours of sleep is lovely, of course. Is it an effect of my lack of caffeine? Who knows. I wouldn't mind sleeping 10.5 hours every night, except for the fact that I'd miss out on quality time with Hubby and quality TV. I can't wait for our living room TV to be fixed so I can catch up on our DVR.

I'm trying a new recipe tonight. If I remember to take pictures and if it turns out as delicious as I think it will, I'll share it tomorrow.

Addiction

2009-05-26T13:54:00.000-05:00

Addiction is a sticky subject, and not one that is often polite in public conversation. Politeness aside, I've decided to blog today about my addiction. Thankfully, it is nothing serious; however, it still has negative effects.

I'm addicted to soda.

When I was growing up, I remember my beverage options were extremely limited. For breakfast, I drank orange juice. At lunch and dinner, skim milk. Any other time, it was either soda (Pepsi was the drink of choice in my household) or KoolAid. I really do not recall drinking water until I entered high school and my beloved health teacher Mrs. Poling taught us the benefits of doing so.

Pretty sad, huh?

I've given up soda on several occasions in my life, and have reaped the benefits of doing so. I remember once I lost 11 pounds just by giving up soda, and I didn't even drink that much then. My problem is once I fall back on the wagon, I just can't seem to rid myself of the cravings for delicious Coca-Cola.

I'm trying again.

I had my (hopefully) last soda Sunday at my in-laws house. Haven't had one since, although there have been plenty of opportunities for me to do so. I'm doing alright so far. I bought a Starbucks today to provide me with the caffeine I need. It worked lovely, but I am starting to feel the withdrawal effects of not having soda. Specifically, my right ear is ringing and clogged... sounds weird, but it is something that a Coke would fix within 30 minutes. Other symptoms, from my past experience, include raging headaches and lethargy. I think that it will all be over in another day or two.

It seems like such a minor problem, especially compared to others' addictions and problems. Yet it is important for me to combat this addiction for my health. I appreciate your prayers and support and will let y'all know how many days I stay on the wagon!

Chicken Parmesan

2009-05-22T08:48:00.000-05:00

Prepare your mouth to water. I know mine does whenever I think of this recipe. It's crazy simple, yet oh-so-good if you don't butcher it like I've done twice already. Just follow the instructions, and you'll be fine!

Chicken Parmesan

- adapted from here (Yes, the bakebakebake LiveJournal community - gotta love my fellow bakers!)

INGREDIENTS:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic (about 1.5 clove)
1/3 cup breadcrumbs (regular, but you can use panko if you're comfortable with them)
1/4 cup Parmesan (regular from a can, but you can use freshly grated if you're comfortable. It just needs to be finely grated)
1 tsp. dried basil
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam.

Rinse chicken in water and pat dry with paper towels.

In small, shallow bowl, combine olive oil and garlic. In another bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, basil, salt, and pepper.

Dunk the chicken in the oil mixture, then transfer to the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure every part of the chicken is covered. Place on baking sheet and repeat until all chicken is ready. Spread any remaining breadcrumb mixture on top of the prepared chicken.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

---------------------------------

Seriously, this is the best chicken parmesan I've ever had - restaurants included! Serve it with a side of pasta (angel hair or spaghetti is fine) and top with heated spaghetti sauce (Ragu is simple enough, but you can make your own if you need to). YUM!

Well, Mrs. Boomstick, how did you mess up this simple recipe?

I'll tell ya.

Second time I made it: did not pay proper attention to the recipe and threw in 1/4 tsp. of black pepper. Hubby and I choked down 2-3 bites a piece before declaring it inedible. Do NOT over-pepper!

Third time I made it: we decided to be fancy and use Parmesan cheese not from a can, but from the refrigerated section. I think it would have been fine, had we selected a finer grated cheese, but we got essentially shredded Parmesan that was about 1/4" long. It ended up cooking faster than the rest of the chicken and was crunchy (read: burnt).

Hope you enjoy!

ET Phone Home

2009-05-22T08:35:00.000-05:00

Earlier, I posted about the importance of getting out of debt and one simple start to doing so - writing down what you spend for a month. Hubby and I do an altered form of this, but probably would benefit greatly from itemizing everything.

Regardless, recently my in-laws canceled their home phone service because 1) it was too expensive and 2) it was rarely used. Cue me to start thinking about our phone bill as well.

As it stands now, Hubby and I spend around $140-150 a month on home and cellular phone service. Believe it or not, it used to be higher than this! I looked at our bills for the past few months, and around $50 of our total phone bill is going to our home telephone which is called only by my mother when she can't reach me on my cell, my uncle Ed who is anti-technology (he has a cell phone from the early 90s still and can't understand that my cell phone is on 24-7), and wrong numbers. We don't even get telemarketers! And we're paying $50/month for this?!

The reason I got the phone line in the first place was for security. I have [irrational] fears of being burglarized, in a medical emergency, or in a hurricane and without use of my cell phone. While I recognize these as somewhat irrational, I have been in experiences when cell phones would not work when needed and a home phone has come in handy. But is it worth $600 a year for my peace of mind? Perhaps, if $600/year was not 3% of my pre-tax salary.

So I called to cancel today and "Mrs. Young" of AT&T played to my fears and convinced me to keep the phone line, but cancel all of the extra services that I didn't know I could cancel (call waiting, caller ID, etc.). She said our phone bill would shoot down from $50 a month for home phone to around $26. And I can still cancel if Hubby and I decide differently.

All in all, not a total win, but a healthy compromise. Cut the phone bill in half, keep my peace of mind against [irrational] fears. Now to decide: what to do with the savings?

Relief

2009-05-18T15:59:00.001-05:00

It was a great trip, although still in process. I give GREAT kudos to the Charlotte airport for providing free wireless. Boo to the Norfolk airport for wanting to charge $7.00.

I can't believe everything that I jam-packed into one weekend. A farewell party for an old boss, filled with dozens of old friends, colleagues, and faculty members that I hadn't seen in several years. Also lots of crying - I'm going to miss that lady! This weekend was a fantastic mixture of family, friends, and responsibilities that turned out better than expected on many levels. The only way it would have been better was if Hubby had been able to go with me. I'm a mere five hours from seeing him now - flight leaves in half an hour, to be followed by a three hour drive from Memphis. I can't wait to get home to Hubby and our pups! (Gate attendant just announced they need volunteers to give up their seat in exchange for a free round-trip ticket - heck no!)

Not looking forward to returning to work tomorrow, but that's the life and a necessary evil. Can't wait for when Hubby and I start our "real" life, upon completion of our degrees, and I might be able to take time off from working. A girl can always hope!

Here's hoping for safe and quick travels!

Stewardship

2009-05-12T10:34:00.000-05:00

Some of this was stolen from a note I wrote on Facebook back in June of 2008. In spite of the time lapse, I think that the message is still timely, especially with the economy and government today.

Back in June, Hubby and I were listening to my favorite Christian radio station, K-Love. They had their annual pledge drive several months prior, and fell short of their financial goals. They are in the midst of another pledge drive now. The president, in this recent radio address, spoke to listeners about their faithfulness to Christ, and their faithfulness in fulfilling their pledges. Apparently of the folks who pledged, K-Love had a fulfillment rate of somewhere in the 60% range.

While I do find this despicable to pledge support and not fulfill this pledge, I encourage smart charitable giving, which too many people unfortunately do not practice.

After listening to the president of K-Love give his address, I decided to check into K-Love to find out what kind of financial struggles they were experiencing. If you have yet to visit it, please go to www.guidestar.org. It is a free website that gathers and publicizes information about nonprofit organizations. You do have to register, but they don't bother you with e-mail or ads.

When you visit, look up Educational Media Foundation which is the umbrella organization for K-Love. In just one short click on their latest (from 2005) 990 (nonprofit tax return that is made public), one can find that their income from gifts and contributions has increased between $6-9 million each year to $55 million in 2005. In addition to that, you'll find that the president, Richard Jenkins, who pleaded with listeners to contribute, made more than $250,000 in 2005. Not including benefits, to which the organization paid more than $50,000. Additionally, there are more than 50 employees (exclusive of directors and trustees) that make more than $50,000 a year.

EDIT: I checked again today and found their 990 from 2007. Gross receipts in 2007 were more than $83 million. Richard Jenkins made more than $280,000. His salary, along with seven other officers, totals more than $1.4 million alone. Additionally, there are 95 employees who make more than $50,000 a year.

When I think of the impassioned listeners of K-Love, some of them destitute and sending their last dollars to support their mission, I am heartbroken at the fact that many of them don't know, nor will ever know that their monies are lining the pockets of these individuals. I have no doubt that the people who run K-Love are talented people who provide a service to those in need - I myself have been moved by listening to it. I just wonder how else that $55 million donated in 2005 could have been better used by the organization, or by other organizations. Is K-Love being a good steward of their donors' funding?

I continue to listen to K-Love; however, I will not pledge or send money to an organization that appears to be practicing poor nonprofit management.

While I am using K-Love as an example, there are many nonprofits that do the same thing of using the guise of being nonprofit to make an excellent salary. There are also many nonprofits who have an exemplary record of keeping administrative costs down while ensuring to put most of the money to where it was designated - the programs that help feed the hungry, send kids to college, save lives.

Good stewardship is important and relevant not only to nonprofit organizations, but to governments for-profit businesses. Take, for example, the recent government snafu that had a 747 flying low over New York City causing residents to go into distress. The purpose? "A training mission and a government-sanctioned photo shoot" The cost? $328,835 of taxpayers money. The government, in this case (and perhaps others), was not acting as a good steward of its constituents' money. The same applies to businesses. I won't even touch Enron as an example, but really any company that has stockholders and employees (who are stockholders by mere existence and association with the company) needs to consider their stewardship.

As we all are growing into mature adults, I urge you to investigate the organizations that are sending you pledge cards, calling you on the phone, or soliciting you over the radio. Question your government's financial designations - make sure they are looking out for their constituents' best interests. Check into the companies you are considering purchasing stock from, and even the companies you are purchasing goods and services from. Be a smart donor, constituent, and shopper. I am certain that with increased awareness, the mismanaged charities, governments, and businesses will be forced to take notice and change their practices.

Dad

2009-05-08T09:28:00.000-05:00

Hurray for Hubby's return! We had a joyous reunion and boy were the dogs excited to see him.

It appears that May is the month to travel. Hubby just returned from Florida, we're going to visit his parents this weekend, I'm headed to Virginia next week to be there for my dad, and the next week we hope to take a trip for our anniversary, perhaps to visit Hubby's grandparents in Arkansas.

It'll be a short trip, but I'm trying to squeeze in time with family and friends too. I miss Virginia and the people there and wish that I could visit more than twice annually (though I'm thankful for the two trips).

My dad has some personal stuff going on (hence the trip up north). He's an absolute character who becomes even more of one with age (he's pushing 70). We didn't always get along during my lifetime, but he has become one of my greatest advisers with a no-bullshit clarity and sensibility. He always listens to me when I need it, and offers advice only when I ask for it. He offers help when he can, but realizes that I'm an independent gal who has to solve her own problems. Dad is a proud man who doesn't accept help easily, nor realize when he needs it. I guess we're a lot alike.

He and I were e-mailing back and forth this morning (he hasn't been a fan of the phone since his laryngectomy) and below is a section of our dialogue:

Dad: Subject Geeze: Sweetie, Did I miss your birthday? Major booboo if I did.
Me: Hehehe, you did miss my birthday, but understandably so. You've got a lot on your plate!
Dad: Hehehe, my butt. Will make it up to you, kiddo.

He's worried about missing my birthday last month amid his own problems. How could you not love the guy?

Please keep him in your prayers over the next week.

EDIT: Had to remove some personal details so that those "not in the know" don't stumble across them here. Silly WWW being open to the wide world!

Also wanted to share my dad's first text message ever. He got an iPhone last week (again, he's pushing 70 but is up on the technology) and had to test it out:

Yo mar
Sup home girl!
Dis my 1st msg.
4 real!
Problem is my big fat fingers & all da spelling mis-steals.
; )o
Dad

Homecoming

2009-05-07T15:27:00.000-05:00

Hubby will be home in less than two hours - hurray! This is the first time we've been apart since we've been married. I missed him, of course, and am glad to have him home. Especially so he can take care of the dogs again.

Nothing but love =)

Debt

2009-05-05T09:51:00.000-05:00

I am tired of being in debt.

I know, who isn't? Just once, I'd like to spend money on something without that nagging thought in the back of my mind that this oil change, groceries, or gas is putting Hubby and me further in debt.

We aren't that bad off, and we have made a SIGNIFICANT amount of progress in the past year or so. In fact, we went from around $31,000 in debt in July of 2008 (after losing a job, our wedding, combining our finances, and just plan poor personal financial management) to just over $15,000 this month, with the bulk of that remaining being a car loan. We've eliminated all credit card debt, save one card that has 0% APR until August (when it will be paid off). The only other debt we have is my car payment and Hubby's student loan. According to our plan, the car payment will be eliminated 1-2 years ahead of schedule and we're hanging on to the student loan in hopes that his future employer will pay it off.

How'd we do it? My favorite toy and obsession - our monthly budget. I look at the thing multiple times a week, even just to worry about our debt or be excited about how much we've dropped. I'm not a financial guru by any nature, but in my progress to learn about our own finances, I've learned a lot about my mistakes and hope that my errors can help someone else not go through what we've been through.

My first step for anyone wanting to get out of debt, save money, or even just be aware of their financial situation, is to create a monthly budget. Hubby and I break ours down by paycheck which comes twice a month. Here's a glimpse (not our real financial numbers):

Item: Amount: Estimated:
Wifey Payroll $700.00 $700.00
Hubby Payroll $750.00 $750.00
Rent -$650.00 -$650.00
Water -$9.86 -$20.00
Electricity -$116.80 -$120.00
Phone -$143.40 -$160.00
Entertainment -$40.00 -$40.00
Groceries/Gas -$180.00 -$180.00
Debt Payment -$280.00 -$280.00
Savings -$29.94 $0

The estimated column is filled out (okay, I admit it), months before we receive our paychecks. Whenever we get paid, regularly Hubby acts excited until I say "It's already been spent." Anything under what we estimated gets shoved into a high-interest online savings account, along with a regular savings contribution. Anything over usually gets covered by my overestimation of charges.

It's a simple start (and only a portion of my "Money" spreadsheet), but it's easy enough. Don't even change your spending habits yet - just keep track of where your money goes for a month. You'll be amazed when those java chip frappucinos (yum) add up to enough money to pay for something you really want or need. Like new tires for your car (which Cap'n Planet is needing right about now).

Just don't do like I did and live financially blind for years until you reach a panic-attack-inducing level of debt or lack of savings.

Do any of you have any must-do tips for those starting out managing their money?

Broccoli Cheese Soup with Breadbowls

2009-05-04T15:35:00.000-05:00

One of goals here is to share what's cookin' in the Boomstick household. Hubby's out of town this week, so my menu consists of things he doesn't like to eat. Like broccoli, hence the recipe for today.

Breadbowls

- adapted from here

INGREDIENTS:

4.5 tsp. instant dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. cornmeal
1 egg white
1 Tbsp. water

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large bowl (or KitchenAid mixer with dough hook, if you have one), dissolve yeast in warm water. Because it's the instant kind, you don't have to let it stand.

Add sugar, salt, oil, and 4 cups of flour, mixing well.

Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time.

When the dough is well mixed and starts climbing the dough hook, it should be done. Put the dough in a large, well oiled (I used olive oil) bowl and toss to coat (or, if you're like me and can't toss a giant dough ball, add some oil to the top of it and rub over it).

Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. I used damp paper towels and stuck it in my empty microwave over the oven.

After 40 minutes, turn the dough out onto a floured countertop and punch it down.

Divide into 6 equal portions and shape them into a round loaf.

Place the loaves on a lightly greased baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WARNING: These things will RISE and EXPAND. Don't do like I did and stick all 6 of them on one baking sheet. They still turn out okay, but you have to separate them later and they'd be much more aesthetically pleasing without the cut edges.

Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk (about 35 minutes). I just stuck them in my oven that had been on "Warm" for a few minutes, then turned off.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (remove loaves from oven if you kept them in there for the second rise!).

In a small bowl, beat the egg white with the 1 Tbsp. water and lightly brush the loaves with half of this mixture.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Remove and brush with remaining egg mixture, then back to the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Cool on wire racks and try not to eat them yet!

When cool to the touch, turn these loaves into bowls by cutting a small circle (think biscuit size) in the middle and either scooping out insides or pressing down the insides (better to eat with the soup, IMHO).

Broccoli Cheese Soup

- recipe from the mother-in-law, so you KNOW it's good!

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch chopped broccoli
1 cup water
1 cup half & half
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 lb. Velveeta cheese (cubed)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup cold water
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

In large pan, pour in 1 cup water, the milk, half & half, and chicken broth. Heat on medium-low.

Add cubed cheese. Stir frequently to prevent burning on bottom.

While this is heating, steam the broccoli (I used one of those packages that steams in the microwave in about 5 minutes).

Once cheese has melted, add steamed broccoli.

In a separate bowl, stir together 1/3 cup cornstarch and 1 cup cold water. Add to soup.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir soup continually until it starts to thicken. In my experience, do a taste test. If it tastes kinda gritty, it needs to heat and thicken more. Once that grittiness goes away (I think due to the cornstarch), it's good to eat!

----------

This was my first time making either item, and I think they were a huge success! In the future, I'm going to play around with seasonings for the breadbowls. They taste just like you'd expect a white loaf of bread to taste like. Not bad, but there's definitely room to play around. I'm thinking different seasonings, maybe a mixture of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour... yum!

Too bad it's not the season for soup; otherwise, I'd eat this every day!

What's in a name?

2009-05-04T15:21:00.000-05:00

For the longest time, I've wanted a blog. I keep thinking of topics to cover, recipes and ideas to share, and I desperately want to write about them, to express my thoughts to the public. What's stopped me?

The all-important blog name.

Of course it can't be TOO identifying, but I want it to have some sense of identity. Perhaps a nickname! Alas, no nicknames here.

In the-opposite-of-writer's-block (is there a term for this?) agony, I've settled on a key related to my most recent identity-change, my marriage. Hubby and I are coming up on a year of wonderful marriage and I love being his Mrs.

Regardless of the name, hope you enjoy!