kinda pathetic...

i'm still here... kinda... *sigh*

i finally took a full day off of work last weekend and had a few minutes to prowl around and comment on a few blogs. woohoo! it was the highlight of my weekend...

wow! when i actually see those words, i realize how pathetic my life has become as of late. *sad face*

i'm trying my d*edest to keep it together. with all this anxiety, i'm actually surprised that i haven't have a major freak out yet.

on the upside i get to eat stuff like this, so yay for that!

this is the elk... it's beautiful, yes?

i know that i'm still off in la la land, but at least for now i'm eating well.

in other news: tomorrow is thanksgiving. i will be avoiding the phone. i hate to, but i don't like crying on holidays. and since i'm THIS homesick this year, it's just best that i not talk to any of my family until it's all over with.

hugs to you! i'm thankful for you all <3

happy thanksgiving!!

so random: insomnia

aaaaaahhhh... i got nothin'...

random fact #1: i got 4 inches cut off my hair (and bangs and layering)on monday. and how insignificant am i? no one noticed...

random fact #2: the runner for the lawyers office that we do work with brought me a dead bird today. weird!! in his defense, he wasn't sure if it was dead. he watched it fall from somewhere and hit the sidewalk. still weird.

random fact #3: i sent a link to this here blog to some one important to me and i'm not really sure what to think about the response. f* you anxiety!!

random fact #4: the non sleep a.k.a. insomnia is back! last night i was up at 2am for no particular reason. so i did laundry and cleaned my kitchen. and now here i am, it's after 1am. yay me!

if this keeps up, i'm thinking i see some late night baking in my future... again.

i think i've got these pumpkin muffins down pat, plus the modifications for apple and pear. maybe now i'll start working on banana bread, either that or i'll try working on that baked french toast again. i did see a nice recipe for chocolate cake, but like i need chocolate cake around the house...

ugh! oh well, i'll figure something out.

oh st valentine!

so yeah... valentine's day this year, was um.. weird/bad. weird because this is the first valentine's day in at least 10yrs that i didn't have an actual valentine. bad, because i spent the whole day and part of the next puking my brains out.

i still made sure that the kidlets had fun. we met one of my girlfriends and her daughter at this really great little diner called the creamery. their food is wonderful. it's all homemade diner type food. they even make their own ice dream. and their sweet potato fries are heavenly. the kidlets def enjoyed themselves.
me, i didn't get to eat, because of the my stomach's spectacular acrobatics. i did however, take my noms home and the kidlets ate that later, so it wasn't a total waste to go ahead and order, and at least look like i intended to eat.
i had wanted to take them shopping, but instead we laid around and watched movies all day. how many times can you watch transformers in one day without losing you mind? you ask... i have no idea. they loved it though and since i was already without said mind, it was fine.

hey, soul sister

hey, heeeeyy, heeeyyy... hey, soul sister :)

again, my friends are flippin amazing! when stupid sh*t happens in my life, here they are to help pick up the pieces... and i love them for it.

mg and i text or talk several times a day, everyday. she is as close to a sister to me as my own sister. we've known each other since we were 13. that's a long freakin time! in dog years, that's like more than 100yrs.
dude! we're getting old.
well, yesterday we were texting about all the lamerific stuff that's been going on recently and she said "you deserve better and he deserves to be b*tch slapped". she's awesome like that, just tells it like it is. but she is SO right! i do deserve better. there, i've said it. i deserve to have someone be honest with me, that's like a total deal breaker.

anyway, i've been meaning to post this, but i wanted to make it at least one more good time to make sure i had it just right. so i made it last night and it was heaven on a plate.

heaven on a plate a.k.a. spinach and pesto chicken quiche
adapted from pillsbury

ingredients:
1 refrigerated pie crust
1lb cooked pesto chicken cut or shredded into bite size pieces
1box frozen spinach, thawed
1/2c shredded colby jack cheese
1/2c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2c shredded parmigiano cheese
4 eggs
1c light sour cream
2tbs milk(i used soy milk)
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp pepper
1/2tsp dry ground mustard

for the pesto chicken, i wanted to make it a little more figure friendly so i mixed garlic salt, black pepper and dry basil together and seasoned the chicken with that before browning it in olive oil.


layer chicken, spinach and cheese into the pie crust.
beat eggs, sour cream, milk and spices together until smooth.
pour egg mixture over the chicken, spinach and cheese.
bake at 375 for 35 to 45 min until it's not jiggly and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

the recipe says it's supposed to serve 6, but i think it could easily serve 8 for a nice lunch with a salad.


i had mine with a salad of baby greens and a glass of white zinfandel. yum!

[hearts] for las chicas!!

a slightly more health conscious baked potato

i am an avid reader of food blogs and well, other blogs too. but i was inspired to harden my arteries by my friend saint tigerlily. she always has super fun ideas :) so in honor of saint tigerlily's overstuffed potatoes i made my own version.




i used red potatoes instead of russets to start with 1) because they are smaller(yay for smaller portions!) and 2) because they are sweeter, so the kidlets like them.

the toppings included:

diced turkey kielbasa
garlicky spinach
light sour cream
cheddar jack cheese
and diced tomatoes

i served it with a strawberry and spinach salad. because yeah, strawberries + pepper = awesome.

this was a great weeknight supper. super easy and super fast, plus i have leftovers if i want to make it again this week. the girl wasn't really impressed with the spinach, but she liked everything else. and the boy was all over the spinach and kielbasa, so this meal was def FTW.

p.s. not the clearest pic, i know. i'm having issues with uploading pics... so bear with me *wink*

i [heart] scallops with asparagus

so yeah... this week has just gone to sh*t...

i did manage to go to the movies on wed night and see sherlock holmes. i give it an A. of course, 2 shots of jeager and a couple of beers always improves a movie experience... just not so good for the morning after. (note to self: hangovers suck a** on thursday mornings.)
i'm not really sure what my problem is today though. i'm so nauseated. ugh. not a good thing for me. i hate hate HATE throwing up.



oh yeah, i made this last night. i think i deserved it. ny strip steak, scallops, asparagus, and a white wine sauce... it was REALLY good. i didn't eat that much of it, but it still tasted awesome. i [heart] my dear friend saint tigerlily for the recipe and method. i've made it several times with scallops and shrimp and it always turns out amazing.
the running joke about it last night between me and mg was that 'someday i'll make an AWESOME wife, but until then i'm going to eat awesome sh*t like this ALL BY MYSELF!!!'

green chicken chile kiles

i've been asked to post this a few times and had just never written it down. (still using paper @ work, btw) they are my fav 'go to' meal. i grew up on flavors like this, so to me chile kiles are a kind of comfort food.

my understanding of chile kiles is that they are super simple, just fried tortillas strips simmered in tomato sauce. they come together fast and easy. and as a single mom, fast and easy rule my kitchen most nights. (oh, that sounds so bad. lol) bonus for me, is that they taste a lot like enchilladas. i think i could eat my weight in enchilladas, so they are def FTW :)


green chicken chile kiles

ingredients:

10 corn torillas
1 10oz can green enchillada sauce
1 10 or 12oz can chicken (white or white and dark meat, your preference), drained
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1/4 cup vegetable oil
seasoned salt

cut tortillas in half and then into 1in. strips
pan fry tortillas strips over medium heat until slightly crispy and golden
(try to only turn them once. mixing them around too much will make them break up and get mushy. when they're crispy, they'll stand up to stirring)
salt cooked tortilla strips in the pan
stir in chicken and enchillada sauce
spread cheese over top
heat over medium (without stirring) until bubbling and the cheese is melted.

serve with a green salad and refried or black beans.
if you like it spicier, you can always add some salsa verde or jalapenos when you add the sauce.


hope you enjoy them as much as i do. muy delicioso!


p.s. i would have pics to post, but i make this so often that i always forget to take any. i'll try to remember next time.

if life starts to get you down, slap its hand and tell it NO!

ugh. i'm still without a computer at work and have been super busy playing catch up to formulate a post until now.

quick rundown of this past week:

saturday: i was invited out to the club by dj. VIP, bottle service, the works. had a great time, but drank too much. i just can't do that again.

sunday: black ice + tree = expensive new passenger side door and front fender. that sucked! i'm so thankful that no one else was in the car with me and that no one got hurt.

monday: i had a stomach bug. it was so bad that i didn't actually put food in my mouth until halfway through tuesday.
also, i had my dreaded doctors appt. the doc says everything looks good. but i'm still waiting for my post card that says that the cancer hasn't come back.

tuesday: i was still kinda sick. i was so tired and wanted to crawl under a rock, but i went to work instead. blah

wednesday: the girl got sick at the sitters. poor baby threw up everywhere. when i got there she was shaking and warm, but she got better as the day went on.

thursday: i was feeling much better. i ended up going to hooter's with the girls after work. it was casual, relaxing, and all around a great time. wings, beer, cute girls(my girls, not the waitstaff). where's the downside?

friday: the kidlets and i had a quiet evening at home with chinese. yum!

saturday(today): i started the day off at 4am. why? i have no idea. i just woke up and was up. so i baked. i made blueberry muffins and apple cinnamon bread pudding. they both turned out pretty well, but i think i'm going to tweak the bread pudding a bit more before i post it.

in other news: i've decided to take melissa's suggestion and call my new guy nj (for new jersey). while that nickname doesn't necessarily describe his whole personality, it kinda works for him. things are going slowly, but that's kinda a good thing :)

apple pizzas

seriously... i might be losing it, but i'm totally baking in the middle of the night. for some reason i get this wild hair and am all of a sudden wide awake at 1 and 2 am. so tonight i'm making apple pizzas. i've had something similar before. it just sounded good for breakfast in the morning.

the ingredients:

for the glaze

1 1/3 c sugar

2/3 c water

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

4 T butter

1 T vanilla extract

2 apples peeled and sliced

3 small pizza crusts

boil the sugar, water, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice til it starts getting syrupy. add butter and let melt. let cool for maybe 10 min. mix syrup with apples. add mixture to top of pizza crusts. bake at 425 for 20 min. the edges of the crust will be slightly browned, the apples should look soft and opaque, and your house should smell like apple pie. let cool and enjoy.

p.s. i know i'm not the best with the recipe terms, but i'm not an actual chef... so there. i just make what i think tastes good :)

quick note: i think 3 apples would have made it even better, but may add to the cook time.

playing catch up

*sigh* half the week is already gone and i still feel like i haven't caught up on everything from being sick.
i finally got my new car back yesterday. well, it's not brand new, but it's new to me... anywho, it had a blown head gasket after i'd only had it for 3 weeks. can we say expensive?
so i've been driving a loaner car. omg, it was so depressing. it was so bad that i worried that it would fall apart before i got my car back. so, i appreciate having my blue bell back that much more.(yes, i name my cars. shh... it's not weird)

in other news: it's 2 days til my birthday! yay me! don't get me wrong, i have plenty of chances to go out and spend time with friends. but i usually don't make a big deal about anything to do with myself. it's usually all about my friends or the kidlets. this one time a year, it's all about me! i love it!
my mom is flying in on thursday night to celebrate with us and spend time with the kidlets. i miss her so much. it's funny, the older i get the more i appreciate the time that i spent growing up in a large family. i truely wish that i could give that to the kidlets, but alas there are certain circumstances that stand in the way of me taking them home to california to live, mainly their fathers. plus, there's that whole thing where i actually know in my heart that i don't belong there.

in other other news: i've started with my cooking and baking again. not the everyday stuff, but the fun pretty stuff that i take pics of. i love trying new recipes and i especially love modifying them to fit my taste. i had taken a break from it for a while, because when all that crazy drama was going on i had the attention span of a goldfish.
so, stay tuned for yummy recipes and pics to come in the near future:)