Well, here I go adjusting again. Oiy. I didn't cook last night and I made myself a grilled cheese for dinner tonight. Why? Well, last night, I got home from work around 7:30 and my daughters were off in two different directions. Only my son was home and he had made some pasta. So, I poured some jarred sauce on it, baked some chicken nuggets, put some Parmesan cheese on...Voila - dinner.
Tonight, I got home at 7:05 and Audrey had to leave in 25 minutes for basketball practice with Ken, my husband so he put some burgers on the George Foreman and out the door they went.
I had class tonight and we were talking about modern literature. Today, we're in the post-modern era. (Wonder what comes after that??) In Modernism, they wrote about their disillusionment and discontentment about the way the world worked. For the first time, the lowest classes had a voice because they could read and write and they could talk about their struggles. It's an interesting to think that we go through our lives thinking that we can work hard, achieve more, become successful but it doesn't always work out that way, does it?
I don't think of myself as successful in a career. I have a marketing degree, was a retail manager for several years, worked as an ad rep for a radio station, moved back to my hometown, worked again in retail at a cookie store and then, I had twins. I would have paid two-thirds of my salary to day care so I stayed home instead. I worked part-time as a cookie store shift supervisor, ended up with my own store when my girls were two and got pregnant because I was so busy, I didn't have time to go to the pharmacy. Since then, I have had several part-time jobs but nothing that leads me into full time work. So, I started on a teaching degree. And, each year, the state of Ohio adds new requirements so that I will spend around $40,000 by the time I am done. That's more than a year's salary. I have wanted to work full time for quite awhile but nothing ever pans out. For example, I had two friends/acquaintances who offered to help me at a company that had a job that I would have been perfect for but the company was bought out by another company and the position was eliminated before they interviewed anyone for it. It's always something.
Right now, I am working three jobs and going to school and raising a family. So to say if you work hard, you will have success in a career isn't necessarily true. I'm proof of that. But, I also think it has a lot to do with stay at home moms. I have many friends who have had a very difficult time finding work. Now, I'm 43. Who wants to hire a 43 year old on an entry level job and put them on a career track? It just doesn't work, does it? So, what's a girl to do? Blog about it, I guess.
Tomorrow, I have some free time after class so I will go through the cookbook, plan out menus and go shopping so I have the ingredients. I don't want to do too many fish dishes because I will need those when Lent comes around...that's if I don't work the fish frys.
Well, off to study.
Bonne nuit!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Superbowl Sunday!
I'm sitting here watching the Superbowl with probably 50 million other Americans doing the same thing. What do you think of Roethleisburger? Think he did all the things he's been accused of? Any thoughts on the commercials? I just have one comment - if I never see that Doritos commercial where the guy puts another guys Dorito fingers into his mouth, that will be okay with me. Yuck!
I am sort of rooting for Pittsburgh - they are a rival of the Cleveland Browns, but they're closer to Ohio than Green Bay... I don't know, guess I don't really care. But, if you are a Green Bay fan, this is really good news for you because my record for picking the winner of the SuperBowl is pretty slim. I was always a Dallas fan as a girl so if you are a sports fan, you know what that means. Yeah, I can't pick em. At least when it comes to this particular game. Ask me about the Buckeyes and I'm your girl!
So, what do you make for Superbowl Sunday? Well, I focused on the Sunday part and made Brick Roasted Chicken which features the old fashioned, skin on, bone in chicken breasts with an herb crust. The funny thing is that Ellen actually said, "Oh, there is a bone in here! Is there supposed to be?" What can I say? I've raised boneless, skinless chicken breast kids. Once we went to one of those dinners with the jousting show and where they serve half a chicken. My girls couldn't eat it because they said it looked like a dead chicken on their plates! Uh, well it is but so is that boneless, skinless slab of meat. My grandmother back in the day had to help cut the chicken's heads off, pluck them and gut them and my kids have trouble just eating pieces of chicken that don't look like a big nugget! We've come a long way, Baby!
The chicken was good. I didn't make the salad like Rachael suggested because it had capers and I don't much care for capers. I made my favorite salad instead which goes something like this - Spring mix is best but all we had was Romaine so that works, gorgonzola, dried cranberries, fresh pear, walnuts and a dressing of two prepared dressings mixed together in equal amounts - Paul Newmans light balsamic vinagrette and Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame dressing. The two balance the spicy/tart with a slightly sweet and gingery and balance the fruit with the cheese. It is so good!
Okay, it's 3rd quarter, Steelers have burned two time outs and is down 21-17. I think Green Bay has got it but they have a lot of their defensive players out with injuries so we will see. Good night! Have fun!
Bonne nuit!
I am sort of rooting for Pittsburgh - they are a rival of the Cleveland Browns, but they're closer to Ohio than Green Bay... I don't know, guess I don't really care. But, if you are a Green Bay fan, this is really good news for you because my record for picking the winner of the SuperBowl is pretty slim. I was always a Dallas fan as a girl so if you are a sports fan, you know what that means. Yeah, I can't pick em. At least when it comes to this particular game. Ask me about the Buckeyes and I'm your girl!
So, what do you make for Superbowl Sunday? Well, I focused on the Sunday part and made Brick Roasted Chicken which features the old fashioned, skin on, bone in chicken breasts with an herb crust. The funny thing is that Ellen actually said, "Oh, there is a bone in here! Is there supposed to be?" What can I say? I've raised boneless, skinless chicken breast kids. Once we went to one of those dinners with the jousting show and where they serve half a chicken. My girls couldn't eat it because they said it looked like a dead chicken on their plates! Uh, well it is but so is that boneless, skinless slab of meat. My grandmother back in the day had to help cut the chicken's heads off, pluck them and gut them and my kids have trouble just eating pieces of chicken that don't look like a big nugget! We've come a long way, Baby!
The chicken was good. I didn't make the salad like Rachael suggested because it had capers and I don't much care for capers. I made my favorite salad instead which goes something like this - Spring mix is best but all we had was Romaine so that works, gorgonzola, dried cranberries, fresh pear, walnuts and a dressing of two prepared dressings mixed together in equal amounts - Paul Newmans light balsamic vinagrette and Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame dressing. The two balance the spicy/tart with a slightly sweet and gingery and balance the fruit with the cheese. It is so good!
Okay, it's 3rd quarter, Steelers have burned two time outs and is down 21-17. I think Green Bay has got it but they have a lot of their defensive players out with injuries so we will see. Good night! Have fun!
Bonne nuit!
Bus Ride
Last night, I did not cook. Here's why: Yesterday morning, Feb. 5th, Ellen and I left the house at 6:45 in the morning, drove to school to meet her cheerleading team to hop onto a bus and drive to Toledo for a cheerleading competition. On the way there, I fell asleep and when I awoke, it was snowing. We got lost but with the help of a cheerleader's GPS via her cell phone, we made it.
I spent the day watching cheerleaders go through their routines, do back handsprings, tucks, cartwheels, etc. and sometimes was forced to watch cheerleaders make grotesque faces called "spirit faces." If you've never seen this, oh my! The girls contort their faces to exaggerated smiles, 'Ooh' faces, winks, and such to the point that they look like they have some sort of disease that makes their faces into something like your mother warned you your face would freeze that way if you didn't stop making that expression. Seriously. The first time I saw this, I was so appalled that, without thinking, I literally said out loud, 'What's wrong with their faces?' and the lady in front of me said, "I know. They're trained to do that!" Oh, it is so ugly and it lowers the perception of IQ for all women kind. You just have to try to avert your eyes when you watch.
Anyway, our girls performed, did pretty well except they did drop one stunt but they made enough points to go to states. Then came the ride home. By this time, the snow was coming down heavily and there were six inches of snow on top of the bus. We started down the road, following another bus that was headed our way and at one point, I thought there was a white out because we couldn't see it. No. It was that the driver's window was so foggy that we couldn't see the bus that was 20 feet in front of us. So, the driver turns on this little fan and uses tissues to wipe it off. Why she needed us to say something before she did anything about it was a concern. But, we want to trust her, right? Well, then the window fogs up again and snow covers the out side of the window because the wiper is not working properly and she literally cannot see out the window and is still driving us! For 3 and a half hours, we drove like this, stopping twice so she can use a broom to know the snow off the front of the bus. It normally takes an hour and a half to get to Toledo and we more than doubled that time. Meanwhile, we are seeing cars spun out on the side of the road, cars are spinning out in front of us and we all are thinking we are going to die. I could see the headline now - "School Bus Careens Off Road, Killing Cheerleading Team. Oh, dear God, it was so scary. And, honestly, I think it was all our prayers that saved us.
So, we got home late, the girls had a game to cheer for so we all just stayed and I didn't get home until 10:30. It was a little late to make dinner. Such a long day. And we are so tired of the snow. Every day it snows. I need to move to Phoenix. I really, really do.
Okay, I will make a new post for tonight's dinner.
Bonne nuit
I spent the day watching cheerleaders go through their routines, do back handsprings, tucks, cartwheels, etc. and sometimes was forced to watch cheerleaders make grotesque faces called "spirit faces." If you've never seen this, oh my! The girls contort their faces to exaggerated smiles, 'Ooh' faces, winks, and such to the point that they look like they have some sort of disease that makes their faces into something like your mother warned you your face would freeze that way if you didn't stop making that expression. Seriously. The first time I saw this, I was so appalled that, without thinking, I literally said out loud, 'What's wrong with their faces?' and the lady in front of me said, "I know. They're trained to do that!" Oh, it is so ugly and it lowers the perception of IQ for all women kind. You just have to try to avert your eyes when you watch.
Anyway, our girls performed, did pretty well except they did drop one stunt but they made enough points to go to states. Then came the ride home. By this time, the snow was coming down heavily and there were six inches of snow on top of the bus. We started down the road, following another bus that was headed our way and at one point, I thought there was a white out because we couldn't see it. No. It was that the driver's window was so foggy that we couldn't see the bus that was 20 feet in front of us. So, the driver turns on this little fan and uses tissues to wipe it off. Why she needed us to say something before she did anything about it was a concern. But, we want to trust her, right? Well, then the window fogs up again and snow covers the out side of the window because the wiper is not working properly and she literally cannot see out the window and is still driving us! For 3 and a half hours, we drove like this, stopping twice so she can use a broom to know the snow off the front of the bus. It normally takes an hour and a half to get to Toledo and we more than doubled that time. Meanwhile, we are seeing cars spun out on the side of the road, cars are spinning out in front of us and we all are thinking we are going to die. I could see the headline now - "School Bus Careens Off Road, Killing Cheerleading Team. Oh, dear God, it was so scary. And, honestly, I think it was all our prayers that saved us.
So, we got home late, the girls had a game to cheer for so we all just stayed and I didn't get home until 10:30. It was a little late to make dinner. Such a long day. And we are so tired of the snow. Every day it snows. I need to move to Phoenix. I really, really do.
Okay, I will make a new post for tonight's dinner.
Bonne nuit
Friday, February 4, 2011
wrap something in bacon, it's bound to be better!
Just checking in tonight. It's late and I have an early morning as Ellen has a cheerleading competition tomorrow.
I made the bacon wrapped individual meatloaves with red skin mashed potatoes. Very good. I used ground pork instead of hamburger so that Ellen, my 'cow's are cute!' daughter could eat with us. It was fast, fairly easy and looked cool. I mean, c'mon, you can't go wrong wrapping something in bacon! Most of the bacon crisped nicely. If I had a little more time, I might have turned the loaves on their sides to crisp that little bit a bit more but it was good enough.
I subbed today and then worked in the fruit shop - 13 hour day. I'm tired. Going to bed now.
Bonne nuit!
I made the bacon wrapped individual meatloaves with red skin mashed potatoes. Very good. I used ground pork instead of hamburger so that Ellen, my 'cow's are cute!' daughter could eat with us. It was fast, fairly easy and looked cool. I mean, c'mon, you can't go wrong wrapping something in bacon! Most of the bacon crisped nicely. If I had a little more time, I might have turned the loaves on their sides to crisp that little bit a bit more but it was good enough.
I subbed today and then worked in the fruit shop - 13 hour day. I'm tired. Going to bed now.
Bonne nuit!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Bad day
Like the title clearly states, it was a bad day. It started off with an opportunity that I was hoping to get into and I found out that it wasn't going to happen. Then, I was called for subbing at the last possible minute so I had to run around like crazy, got in the car, I'm half way there...where is my I.D.? Husband took it out of the van because he thought I might need it and we were trading cars for the day - last week!! I had told him I didn't need and he didn't replace it right away and Voila! I'm half way to work without my i.d. Crud!
Even before that, though, the day started off with a bad dream that repeated itself and seems so true and just fits what I have been feeling lately. Aren't dreams amazing that way? So, I'm going to try to explain it and, honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, I swear a poem is the best way because it follows the thought process so here goes.
Eyes glued shut.
Can't open them.
Drunk.
Driving my car.
Going down the road.
My hands are gripping the wheel.
But I can't open my eyes!
Pulling, pulling my lids
They will not open!
But I'm driving!
Where am I going?
Expecting to crash
Any minute
Can't get my eyes open!
Yeah, wake up after having that same dream twice in one night and see if you don't feel a little out of sorts. And, it feels absolutely true. I'm in school, working on a teaching degree but the state of Ohio keeps adding on requirements and it's expensive. I'm subbing but haven't been getting the work that I need to pay for school. I'm painting but that keeps me from subbing and doesn't pay as much. I'm really not sure what is going to happen next and it feels like I could crash at any minute. If I do finish my degree, I have five years to spend another $15,000 on a Master's degree. At age 43, is this worth it? I love the kids, I love teaching them! Today, I taught, actually taught Algebra 2. Yeah. My specializations are Social Studies and English. Last year, I taught French as a long term sub. Yeah! French!! I had three years of it in high school! I had to re-teach it to myself and then teach it to my students! It was so hard but I loved it and loved them. Now, I don't know if financially I can follow through and I'm struggling with that. If I knew I could get a job right away - it is a question in Ohio, we have a surplus of teachers here. If I knew that we could swing it financially. If I could just open my eyes for crying out loud! Then, I would know what decision to make. I'll keep praying on it.
So what the heck does this have to do with Rachael Ray and the 365 day cookbook? I didn't cook tonight. I figured out that if I took one day off per week, that would still be over 300 recipes made. I will try to do it every night and hopefully, I won't take 52 days off over the year (way more than that 3 days I was allotting myself, right?) but tonight, I needed WonTon soup and some Chow Mei Fun and I needed not to cook.
Time for bed. I need this stinky day to be over!
Bonne nuit!
Even before that, though, the day started off with a bad dream that repeated itself and seems so true and just fits what I have been feeling lately. Aren't dreams amazing that way? So, I'm going to try to explain it and, honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, I swear a poem is the best way because it follows the thought process so here goes.
Eyes glued shut.
Can't open them.
Drunk.
Driving my car.
Going down the road.
My hands are gripping the wheel.
But I can't open my eyes!
Pulling, pulling my lids
They will not open!
But I'm driving!
Where am I going?
Expecting to crash
Any minute
Can't get my eyes open!
Yeah, wake up after having that same dream twice in one night and see if you don't feel a little out of sorts. And, it feels absolutely true. I'm in school, working on a teaching degree but the state of Ohio keeps adding on requirements and it's expensive. I'm subbing but haven't been getting the work that I need to pay for school. I'm painting but that keeps me from subbing and doesn't pay as much. I'm really not sure what is going to happen next and it feels like I could crash at any minute. If I do finish my degree, I have five years to spend another $15,000 on a Master's degree. At age 43, is this worth it? I love the kids, I love teaching them! Today, I taught, actually taught Algebra 2. Yeah. My specializations are Social Studies and English. Last year, I taught French as a long term sub. Yeah! French!! I had three years of it in high school! I had to re-teach it to myself and then teach it to my students! It was so hard but I loved it and loved them. Now, I don't know if financially I can follow through and I'm struggling with that. If I knew I could get a job right away - it is a question in Ohio, we have a surplus of teachers here. If I knew that we could swing it financially. If I could just open my eyes for crying out loud! Then, I would know what decision to make. I'll keep praying on it.
So what the heck does this have to do with Rachael Ray and the 365 day cookbook? I didn't cook tonight. I figured out that if I took one day off per week, that would still be over 300 recipes made. I will try to do it every night and hopefully, I won't take 52 days off over the year (way more than that 3 days I was allotting myself, right?) but tonight, I needed WonTon soup and some Chow Mei Fun and I needed not to cook.
Time for bed. I need this stinky day to be over!
Bonne nuit!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Pretzel coated chicken
Tonight, my daughter made the meal which was so nice. It was a pretzel coated chicken with a cheddar mustard sauce. The sauce was so so - not great, not bad. But, the chicken was soooo good! Oh, so good. It was crunchy and crispy and fried in vegetable oil which means it was probably fattening but oh! delish. It made me think of Chick-fil-a's chicken nuggets which I love too.
And this was very good entre for such crappy weather. Ice, snow, cold, wind - we had it all today. The kids had another snow day (they had yesterday off as well) and I painted a basement with a friend of mine. I came home, realized I had to run out to Kohls to pay my bill and my daughter, Audrey, offered to make dinner tonight. Nice, huh? I had planned on a beef meal but Ellen, my 'cow's are cute!' daughter doesn't eat beef. She was supposed to have cheerleading practice tonight but the schools are closed so no practice which means she would skip her usual mac and cheese and eat dinner with us. I love that I didn't have to drive over and back - takes me an hour round trip. She's bummed though because regional competitition is this weekend and they need the practice!
Having high school kids who don't drive yet is one of the most time consuming things possible. An hour round trip here, an hour round trip there. Oiy. Sometimes I feel like I spend more time in my car than in my bed. Not good. They will be driving soon and then the worry will start. Life is a balancing act, isn't it? On one side, thank goodness they're driving because it means that I don't have to drive them here, there, everywhere. But, on the other, oh Dear God, please keep my baby safe! She's driving!! Can you feel my pain?
Okay, for tomorrow night....I have no idea. Tonight's dinner was what I planned for tomorrow night so I will have to shoot from the hip. I do love that there are all these ideas for dinners. What I will do at the end of this year when I have run through everything but the mushroom casserole, I don't know. But for now, I still have approximately 350 recipes to try. That'll hold me for a while.
Well, good night. Bonne nuit!
And this was very good entre for such crappy weather. Ice, snow, cold, wind - we had it all today. The kids had another snow day (they had yesterday off as well) and I painted a basement with a friend of mine. I came home, realized I had to run out to Kohls to pay my bill and my daughter, Audrey, offered to make dinner tonight. Nice, huh? I had planned on a beef meal but Ellen, my 'cow's are cute!' daughter doesn't eat beef. She was supposed to have cheerleading practice tonight but the schools are closed so no practice which means she would skip her usual mac and cheese and eat dinner with us. I love that I didn't have to drive over and back - takes me an hour round trip. She's bummed though because regional competitition is this weekend and they need the practice!
Having high school kids who don't drive yet is one of the most time consuming things possible. An hour round trip here, an hour round trip there. Oiy. Sometimes I feel like I spend more time in my car than in my bed. Not good. They will be driving soon and then the worry will start. Life is a balancing act, isn't it? On one side, thank goodness they're driving because it means that I don't have to drive them here, there, everywhere. But, on the other, oh Dear God, please keep my baby safe! She's driving!! Can you feel my pain?
Okay, for tomorrow night....I have no idea. Tonight's dinner was what I planned for tomorrow night so I will have to shoot from the hip. I do love that there are all these ideas for dinners. What I will do at the end of this year when I have run through everything but the mushroom casserole, I don't know. But for now, I still have approximately 350 recipes to try. That'll hold me for a while.
Well, good night. Bonne nuit!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
My favorite so far
Tonight was Spinach and Spicy Ham Pasta Bake and it was dee-lish-ous! Now, I didn't have spicy ham - I had left over spiral glazed ham that I had frozen after Christmas but take that ham, parmesan cheese, some onion, some garlic (I threw that in) spinach in a bechemel sauce with nutmeg and a hint of cayenne pepper over pasta! Oh, yeah, baby! Then, if that isn't enough, throw in some chunks of fresh mozzarella and a bread crumb topping! Rachael calls it a gut buster and I don't even want to know the calorie count but it was fabulous and perfect on a night like this.
This is the night, if you live in the Midwest and you are reading this later on, is the night of the big snow and ice storm. It's after 10:00 and the ice has been hitting the roof and the windows since before 6:00. My son's school is already canceled for tomorrow. Now, we just have to wait for the girls' school.
Today, they were off because of this crazy weather and we watched the obligatory movie for this time of year - Groundhog Day. Made some pizza and mac and cheese and sat and watched Bill Murray go through the same crappy day over and over until he finally gets the girl. Classic.
I have the rest of the week planned out for meals and went to the store tonight to stock up - who knows how long this ice will last. In this area, we can deal with snow pretty easily but ice is another story. Tomorrow, it will be bacon wrapped meatloaf. Sounds good for a crappy winter night, right?
Bonne nuit!
This is the night, if you live in the Midwest and you are reading this later on, is the night of the big snow and ice storm. It's after 10:00 and the ice has been hitting the roof and the windows since before 6:00. My son's school is already canceled for tomorrow. Now, we just have to wait for the girls' school.
Today, they were off because of this crazy weather and we watched the obligatory movie for this time of year - Groundhog Day. Made some pizza and mac and cheese and sat and watched Bill Murray go through the same crappy day over and over until he finally gets the girl. Classic.
I have the rest of the week planned out for meals and went to the store tonight to stock up - who knows how long this ice will last. In this area, we can deal with snow pretty easily but ice is another story. Tomorrow, it will be bacon wrapped meatloaf. Sounds good for a crappy winter night, right?
Bonne nuit!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)