Monday, October 6, 2008
Simple Delicious Sandwich Spread
Ingredients:
♥1 part Mayonnaise
♥1 part Dijon Mustard
♥fresh Dill Weed to taste
Directions:
♥Squirt equal parts of Mayonnaise and Dijon Mustard into a pretty bowl
♥Snip fresh Dill Weed into bits and add to mixture
♥Stir together and slather all over two slices of wheat toast
♥Slap on your favorite sandwich ingredients (I like cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, easy microwave bacon, freshly sliced onion and red pepper)
♥Satisfy your taste buds
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Kitties Misbehavin'
It's finally that time of year again, when the kitties begin accusing us of bad parenting.
Kitties: "Open the door! We wanna go play!"
Us: {Opening the door} "Okay, go have fun!"
Kitties: "But we wanna come and go as we please just like we did all summer! Don't just stand there, leave the door open and walk away!"
Us: "But look at all of those leaves on the ground. It's too cold to leave the door open!"
Kitties: "But we want to go play!"
Us: "So go out there and play!"
Kitties: {Refusing to exit} "I will go outside in a minute. Just leave that door open while you go back to what you were doing."
Us: {Knowing it's pointless to argue with kitties} "No way! I'm not leaving this door wide open, so you have to choose right here and now if you really want to go outside."
Kitties: "Well fine. I refuse to leave the house, if you're gonna be that way about it."
Us: {Closing the door} "Well fine. I will go back to what I was doing."
And Repeat.
Kitties: "Open the door! We wanna go play!"
Us: {Opening the door} "Okay, go have fun!"
Kitties: "But we wanna come and go as we please just like we did all summer! Don't just stand there, leave the door open and walk away!"
Us: "But look at all of those leaves on the ground. It's too cold to leave the door open!"
Kitties: "But we want to go play!"
Us: "So go out there and play!"
Kitties: {Refusing to exit} "I will go outside in a minute. Just leave that door open while you go back to what you were doing."
Us: {Knowing it's pointless to argue with kitties} "No way! I'm not leaving this door wide open, so you have to choose right here and now if you really want to go outside."
Kitties: "Well fine. I refuse to leave the house, if you're gonna be that way about it."
Us: {Closing the door} "Well fine. I will go back to what I was doing."
And Repeat.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
TAG! You're it!
1 - List the person(s) who tagged you
2 - Mention the rules on your blog
3 - Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4 - Tag 6 fellow bloggers
Desi tagged her readers, so I'm doing the same, meaning you're IT!
QUIRKY THINGS ABOUT MOI:
1. I really love the smell of cutting into fresh lemon, fresh basil, fresh red pepper, and just about any fruit, herb, or vegetable... they are all marvelously wonderful! I get supremely giddy whenever I slice into a cantaloupe or a butternut squash or a sprig of dill weed... the produce section of any grocery store gives me goosebumps while my heart sings and I want to dance in the kitchen all night long!
2. My black long-haired snobby kitty smells really, really nice when I pet her with my long nails and she purrs and sings while making bread on my flabby tummy. She's so preety. And needy. And smells nice.
3. I have a fetish for order and business as usual, especially in the work place. Nothing annoys me more than someone coming along and taking advantage of a good thing with no regard for where it came from and no respect for keeping things professional.
4. I hardly EVER watch movies. Dusty and I will be watching one today, the first one in a LONG time. And we will enjoy it immensely. We just don't do it very often due to school and work and things. I'll be lucky if I remember anything about the movie we watch today. And I'm really bad about that.
5. I love to feed people the nummy things I cook. Sadly, I don't have many people around to feed. We'll have to see about fixing that. (CHRISTMAS!!)
YOU'RE TURN!
2 - Mention the rules on your blog
3 - Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4 - Tag 6 fellow bloggers
Desi tagged her readers, so I'm doing the same, meaning you're IT!
QUIRKY THINGS ABOUT MOI:
1. I really love the smell of cutting into fresh lemon, fresh basil, fresh red pepper, and just about any fruit, herb, or vegetable... they are all marvelously wonderful! I get supremely giddy whenever I slice into a cantaloupe or a butternut squash or a sprig of dill weed... the produce section of any grocery store gives me goosebumps while my heart sings and I want to dance in the kitchen all night long!
2. My black long-haired snobby kitty smells really, really nice when I pet her with my long nails and she purrs and sings while making bread on my flabby tummy. She's so preety. And needy. And smells nice.
3. I have a fetish for order and business as usual, especially in the work place. Nothing annoys me more than someone coming along and taking advantage of a good thing with no regard for where it came from and no respect for keeping things professional.
4. I hardly EVER watch movies. Dusty and I will be watching one today, the first one in a LONG time. And we will enjoy it immensely. We just don't do it very often due to school and work and things. I'll be lucky if I remember anything about the movie we watch today. And I'm really bad about that.
5. I love to feed people the nummy things I cook. Sadly, I don't have many people around to feed. We'll have to see about fixing that. (CHRISTMAS!!)
YOU'RE TURN!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
My Own Frugal Family Challenge
Check out this article from Good Morning America and USA Today on their Frugal Family Challenge. If most American families are anything like the families profiled here, I don't feel so bad about our lifestyle.
But... after careful scrutiny of our spending habits I was mortified to discover 43% of our income was spent on eating out last month. Like the families profiled in the above article, we were going to a restaurant or fast-food joint every day, sometimes more than once. This is just plain unacceptable! My parents raised me better than that! Being a student and working full-time has probably facilitated this indulgent lifestyle, but no matter what the excuses are, the economy is struggling and so is our little household budget. Our biggest expense has not been rent, but FOOD. Something had to change!
We want to save money for many good reasons: to buy a house, to buy a replacement for our truck that stopped running, you know, because it's smart to have a savings account. So I put myself in charge of the kitchen (for good this time) and made myself cook every day. I am very happy to have a kitchen. To have running water and working appliances we should consider ourselves like royalty because for most of human history, we would be lucky to have a fire pit and a running stream.
Anyway, we've already seen success! This month I've reduced our eating out to just 16% of our income! I know I'm a little premature in this ruling since we have 3 whole days left in September, but I feel justified in announcing this success because we have plenty of food left in the house and I won't have to get fresh groceries for at least another week.
It hasn't been easy to make this change. We have slipped up and gone out for a quick meal here and there out of desperation for food fast (and I love Wendy's fries!). In the meantime, I am expanding my cooking skills and remembering how fun it is to plan and prepare meals. Cooking is an art form and I am demonstrating a lot of talent here, at least my husband seems to think so. ♥
One thing I have to learn yet is how to better use leftovers. Why is it so much easier cooking for a large group? That reminds me, Thanksgiving is coming up! Hooray for food!
But... after careful scrutiny of our spending habits I was mortified to discover 43% of our income was spent on eating out last month. Like the families profiled in the above article, we were going to a restaurant or fast-food joint every day, sometimes more than once. This is just plain unacceptable! My parents raised me better than that! Being a student and working full-time has probably facilitated this indulgent lifestyle, but no matter what the excuses are, the economy is struggling and so is our little household budget. Our biggest expense has not been rent, but FOOD. Something had to change!
We want to save money for many good reasons: to buy a house, to buy a replacement for our truck that stopped running, you know, because it's smart to have a savings account. So I put myself in charge of the kitchen (for good this time) and made myself cook every day. I am very happy to have a kitchen. To have running water and working appliances we should consider ourselves like royalty because for most of human history, we would be lucky to have a fire pit and a running stream.
Anyway, we've already seen success! This month I've reduced our eating out to just 16% of our income! I know I'm a little premature in this ruling since we have 3 whole days left in September, but I feel justified in announcing this success because we have plenty of food left in the house and I won't have to get fresh groceries for at least another week.
It hasn't been easy to make this change. We have slipped up and gone out for a quick meal here and there out of desperation for food fast (and I love Wendy's fries!). In the meantime, I am expanding my cooking skills and remembering how fun it is to plan and prepare meals. Cooking is an art form and I am demonstrating a lot of talent here, at least my husband seems to think so. ♥
One thing I have to learn yet is how to better use leftovers. Why is it so much easier cooking for a large group? That reminds me, Thanksgiving is coming up! Hooray for food!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Career Qualms
I'm a 25 year old woman with 12 years working experience a class away from an AA Degree in Humanities and no idea what I want to be when I grow up.
Since I began my college adventure (in the Fall Semester of 2001) I've majored in: History, Sociology, Humanities, Middle-Eastern Studies, and now I'm afraid I'm back to Undecided.
I never knew exactly what I was planning to do with a Middle-Eastern Studies degree, except that it's such an interesting region of the world and I believe Westerners could benefit to get out of their comfort zones and know more about the people we are at war with. I just finished Arabic One (with an A-) but had to drop International Relations and Development for lack of interest and motivation. It's discouraging and makes me want to rethink what my goals are.
Settling on one of many interesting career choices has been the source of much grievance lately as the weather changes along with my monthly season. At times I feel frantic, as if I should know without a doubt what I'm studying for and yet...
I'm so undecided I couldn't choose if my chocolate fix depended on it!
Listed below are some subjects that I love to dabble in:
♥ Humanities
♥ History
♥ Writing
♥ Architectural History
♥ Music
♥ Counseling
♥ Public speaking
♥ Classic Literature
♥ Current Affairs/Politics
♥ Family History
♥ Culinary Arts
♥ Interior Design
♥ Diet & Nutrition
♥ Photography
♥ Travel
I couldn't choose just one all-time favorite, okay, maybe history is mentioned in three or four instances, counting the classic literature, but what could I possibly do with a history degree besides teach? I certainly don't feel like repeating myself four times a day or acting like a public babysitter... Except I've always had this idea that teaching university students wouldn't be half-bad but it would have to be in the subject of Humanities because it's so vast of a subject within itself that it couldn't possibly get boring.
*Sigh*
Recently I've been happy to create art on my fingernails, prepare hearty cooler-weather meals, and organize the household finances. These are just diversions! Shouldn't I want a career? Shouldn't I know what I want?
Since I began my college adventure (in the Fall Semester of 2001) I've majored in: History, Sociology, Humanities, Middle-Eastern Studies, and now I'm afraid I'm back to Undecided.
I never knew exactly what I was planning to do with a Middle-Eastern Studies degree, except that it's such an interesting region of the world and I believe Westerners could benefit to get out of their comfort zones and know more about the people we are at war with. I just finished Arabic One (with an A-) but had to drop International Relations and Development for lack of interest and motivation. It's discouraging and makes me want to rethink what my goals are.
Settling on one of many interesting career choices has been the source of much grievance lately as the weather changes along with my monthly season. At times I feel frantic, as if I should know without a doubt what I'm studying for and yet...
I'm so undecided I couldn't choose if my chocolate fix depended on it!
Listed below are some subjects that I love to dabble in:
♥ Humanities
♥ History
♥ Writing
♥ Architectural History
♥ Music
♥ Counseling
♥ Public speaking
♥ Classic Literature
♥ Current Affairs/Politics
♥ Family History
♥ Culinary Arts
♥ Interior Design
♥ Diet & Nutrition
♥ Photography
♥ Travel
I couldn't choose just one all-time favorite, okay, maybe history is mentioned in three or four instances, counting the classic literature, but what could I possibly do with a history degree besides teach? I certainly don't feel like repeating myself four times a day or acting like a public babysitter... Except I've always had this idea that teaching university students wouldn't be half-bad but it would have to be in the subject of Humanities because it's so vast of a subject within itself that it couldn't possibly get boring.
*Sigh*
Recently I've been happy to create art on my fingernails, prepare hearty cooler-weather meals, and organize the household finances. These are just diversions! Shouldn't I want a career? Shouldn't I know what I want?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Parsley, Sage...
Well, I finally got around to mounting this handy spice cabinet on my kitchen wall.
My Papa made it for me! It was a gift for Christmas (2007)... yea I know, go ahead and scold me!
The time it took for me to utilize this fine handcrafted wooden fixture does not minimize the joy I get out of it, as now I can see exactly what spices I have on hand, and my cupboards have so much more free space! Plus, with all of the extra cooking I've been doing, I can appreciate it even more.
My Papa made it for me! It was a gift for Christmas (2007)... yea I know, go ahead and scold me!
The time it took for me to utilize this fine handcrafted wooden fixture does not minimize the joy I get out of it, as now I can see exactly what spices I have on hand, and my cupboards have so much more free space! Plus, with all of the extra cooking I've been doing, I can appreciate it even more.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Weekend Escape
Dusty and I spent two glorious days with my father at the family cabin in the mountains.
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