What's For Dinner Wednesday Week 11

Tortilla Soup

I've become a huge fan of tortilla soup in the last few months. I now try it at every restaurant that offers it, but I have still found my personalized recipe to be my fave. How awesome too, cause that means I can have it whenever I want it. YAY! It's not spicy at all, and has a lot of flavor without adding any spices to it.

Ingredients Needed
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
3 cups water
2 cartons chicken broth
1 yellow onion quartered
1 cup diced tomatoes
juice of one lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
*toppings for each bowl*
1/2 avocado
handful of broken tortilla chips
1/4 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

Supplies Needed
5 qt dutch oven
knife
cutting board
two forks
medium bowl
ladle
bowls
spoons
measuring cups


Directions
1) combine water, broth and onion in 5 qt dutch oven and bring to boil.
2) add chicken (frozen OK), tomatoes. Boil until chicken is poached (about 12 minutes)
3) remove large onion pieces and discard.
4) remove chicken and using two forks, coarsely shred, then return to pot. Reduce heat.
5) add lime juice and simmer for another 5 minutes.
6) turn off heat and add cilantro.
7) Ladle soup into bowls and add the toppings. Serve.




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Cold Air

I stood there eating one of the delicious new "Nature Valley Granola Thins Dark Chocolate " bars, with the fridge door wide open, cold air blowing out onto my sticky after shower body while the baby's bottle was warming up and I couldn't help but wonder how many other mothers experience insane days like mine.

Not 15 minutes prior, I had arrived home from my (second) shopping trip to Target. With my new coupon saving/ad watching/bargain hunting adventures in shopping, I had to leave mid shopping trip to pick up my son from preschool. I was rushing into the house with the kids and the bags, desperate to get the cold stuff from the first trip into the freezer. I also needed to figure out what to eat, because if I went any longer it would have become yet another day of "headaches due to not eating in time". Oh, how I despise those days. Frantically, I threw into the microwave, *one serving* of Tyson popcorn chicken. I am being very good about my new "temporary calorie counting diet". I threw all the frozen crap into the freezer and rushed into the shower, bowl of chicken in hand. 

See, Mother Nature has this cruel idea to play pranks on us women every month. Today, happened to be such a day she saw fit to flow as heavy as she could. This left me, trying to get my son in bed for his nap, trying to get frozen items cold, and trying to eat lunch before I got a headache. All the while I felt the "overflow" of my lovely DivaCup making it's grand arrival. So, chicken in hand, I rushed to the shower, and ate it while in the shower. The shower which was so much desired after my work out this morning. 4 hours after my visit to the gym, I finally got my chance to get cleaned up and fed. 

Flashing forward again, there I stood, munching on my new snack (which tasted like a smores minus the marshmallow), letting the cold fridge air cool down my body. For just a moment there was a peace around me, a calm before the storm, so beautiful and quiet. Then the baby decided she was hungry and began to wail.

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What's For Dinner Wednesday Week 10

Shrimp Aspennaper

My creative name for this pasta. Aspennaper (asparagus, penne, and capers)  The picture doesn't make it look that good. It's easy, yummy, and healthy. Pair it with some garlic bread and a Caesar salad.


Ingredients Needed
1 16 oz bag of penne pasta
1 bundle fresh asparagus
1/4 cup capers
1 bag frozen medium size cooked shrimp
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes


Supplies Needed
frying pan
medium pot
kitchen scissors


Directions
1) In your medium pot, cook penne pasta according to package
2) In your frying pan, saute the shrimp, asparagus and capers until shrimp is fully thawed.
3) Open can of tomatoes and cut up with your kitchen scissors. Add to frying pan.
4) Cook an additional 5 minutes, then combine with cooked pasta and serve.




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"Death is near, and our mutual company is short."

Early this morning my husband had gone off to work, so I was lying in bed alone, awake, and on my side. Out bed is the futon in our living room. Anyway, I had my eyes open to look at the clock. That's just when I saw in my peripheral and felt in my presence, this big dark shadow walk out of the hall towards me and turn into the kitchen behind me. This obviously shocked me, and thinking immediately about "Paranormal Activity", I put up my psychic defenses and started mentally clearing out the house and setting up protection bubbles. This is a normal and effective thing I do. I didn't feel this "presence" was going to hurt me, but I knew I should get it out just in case.

This morning, I was going about my daily vacuum routine, where I pull out the attachment and clean up the bedding the hamster has pushed out. When I do this, I also say hi to hamster and make sure he is doing OK. This morning, he was on his side, not moving. Oh no! WHAT WENT WRONG? I freaked out a little wondering what I did? If you've kept up with my blog (or if you look back) we lost a Betta fish this year too. I try so hard to take good care of these pets.... I feel so guilty like it's my fault. He had food, and water. The only thing I can think of is our past week of weather. Here in L.A. it was literally smoldering hot last week (apparently our record high) and two days ago it was cold and raining. I keep the house warm enough, but maybe it still effected his little body. 

We went out back, buried him, talked a little about decomposition (right over my son's head), and we left a "grave stick" for remembrance.

Kids still bring laughter to a sad situation. 

1) We placed the hamster into the hole and began to cover him with dirt. Just as if we were playing "Peek a Boo" he asks, "Where'd hamster go?"

2) We walk back in to find my husband asleep on the couch after a long night of work. My son says, "Dada's dead". Well, clearly, he has no clue what dead is. 

Coming back around to the beginning of my story here, I sat there after the burial and found myself remembering the early morning shock I had. Was it "death" I saw walk through my house? The hamster wasn't very hard, he couldn't have been dead long. Did I really witness that spiritual presence early this morning? Interesting isn't it?

P.s. If it was "death" walking through my house. There was no cape and sickle. It was more like the shadow of the Brawny Man ha ha.

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What's For Dinner Wednesday Week 9

 

Monster Face Bowl

 

Easy and fun snack/lunch for a toddler. Kids love faces in their food, and this is sure to bring a smile to their face as well. 

Ingredients Needed

2 cooked meatballs

1 large olive

mozzarella cheese

ketchup

1 long sliced pickle

Supplies Needed

1 bowl

2 toothpicks

knife/scissors

Directions

1) Slice olive in half length wise

2) Cut the mozzarella into two flat circles

3) Arrange the eyeballs in order: Olive, cheese, meatball. (hold in place with toothpicks)

4) Place eyes at top of bowl, pickle at bottom for the mouth and a squirt of ketchup in the middle for the nose.

5) Remove toothpicks just before serving, if your child is to young to have them.

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An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth.

So, I knew I haven't had a chance lately to write a blog that had story (like this one here). I just realized though, I wasn't able to write ANY in September. WOW! I'm not trying to be one of those bloggers that apologizes for not being around either, it's just that I have been wanting to sit down and write every single day and it amazes me that a whole month went by before I could.

I started school August 30th. Really, that explains the dry spell entirely. Between cooking, cleaning, preschool, my preschooler, my 4 month old, chores, errands, AND now school - well, no wonder I haven't had time to blog huh? Honestly, I haven't even hardly had time to do my school work. I've been turning my work in last minute. Thankfully, I am still turning it in. (Now I see why mom's don't go back to school) Taking my son to school, I thought, would help me. Instead I am out driving all morning. He goes in at 9, then I go to the gym (which is important to me, as well as part of "me time" to make me feel good about myself) then it's chores if I go home or errands if I stay out. At 1 I pick him up from school. Chores and naps follow, and then cooking, more chores, bedtime routine, my shower, and me planning to stay up but crashing cause I'm so tired.

I'm trying very hard to squeeze in my own time, as well as time for my husband between his two jobs and need for sleep. My son just turned 3 and I have been planning his party which is tomorrow. He is actually more demanding for attention than my 4 month old daughter. My family gave my son a cat for his birthday. Adorable, and we love him, but a extra few chores came with it. My son named his (boy) cat, "Lady Doubin", by the way :)

I don't know, life is super hectic right now. Is it because we don't have a lot of money? I can see having more helping me with the time factor quite often. Is it because of my kids ages? I'd really like to think things get easier as they get older. Is it because I've been planning a party (and making a lot for it)? I'm sure that has a HUGE effect on my time this past month. Overall, I feel it's a phase for me to learn from and get through. Life should not always be this crazy, and I won't be in school forever. One day I will look back and breathe a huge sigh of relief that I have finally gotten to a place where I have enough time to be the great wife, mother, writer and person that I wish to be.

Well, now I have to change the baby, take the pie out of the oven, switch loads of laundry, fold laundry, change our clothes, get ready for the gym, feed the cat....



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