Meal Plan Monday

Had a great weekend getting caught up on some sleep, the laundry, and getting caught up with friends.  I knew Mr. CPQ would be out Friday night, so I had played with the Netflix queue in order that Pride and Prejudice would be delivered just in time to enjoy it by myself.

I didn’t want to subject my dear husband to watching the rain scene over and over and over and over and over again.

Swoon.

I slept in a little on Saturday morning, but got up feeling productive and tackled some laundry and a little bit of cleaning.  I’ve got some company coming next week and I want to have the housework done early so we can play and eat and relax while they’re here.

My Sunday School class got together for a Chicken Pickin’ Saturday night, and let me tell you what, when you get a boatload of Southern women together (and a few displaced Yankees), there’s some good eating.  My marshmallow fluff lady didn’t make an appearance, but someone did a right fine job filling in with the lime jello with cream cheese and pineapple.

Swoon.

I took an orzo salad that was a last minute desperate Google dish with a CPQ twist.  The funniest part of the evening was the look on Gretchen’s face when she was informed that the roasted mushrooms she was scarfing down were really pieces of eggplant.  I thought she might hurl right then and there, but she rallied. It reminded me of the time I ate escargot and right at the point where I was going to bite down on it, I got this visual of a slug crossing the sidewalk and I just couldn’t go there and I ended up gagging into my napkin.

Did I mention I was in a formal ball gown and on a cruise with random strangers at my table?

Nice.

The boys had a great time playing with the other kids that were there.  My class takes the “be fruitful and multiply” thing rather seriously.  I saw Tommy and JJ for all of fifteen minutes the whole time we were there.  They were too busy jumping up and down on the trampoline and climbing in the fort and burning down the woods enjoying the bonfire to be bothered with their mother.  Travis and I hung out by the food (always the first place to look for me at any party) and caught up with girlfriends who are becoming dearer and dearer to me.

Mr. CPQ wasn’t there (he was busy winning another ribbon at the Shelby, NC Hog Happenin’ BBQ competition), so I was handling T by myself.  There was a huge bonfire on the back side of the property where the smores were going to take place, but it was going to be too far to carry Travis and I wasn’t sure about rolling his wheelchair over the beautifully tended yard.  It was very touching to see the guys from my class step up to haul him out there, and he loved every single minute of his campfire and marshmallow time.

Thanks, guys, for making it such a special time for him.

On the way to the car, I stopped by the food table to pick up my bowl and happily discovered it was empty which meant I wouldn’t have to figure out where to fit it in my fridge, and a couple of the girls who were leaving wanted to have the recipe, so since they lurk on the blog (ahem, Samantha), I’ll post the link to the one I took my inspiration from, but here’s the way I made it.

Roasted Vegetable and Orzo Salad

1.  Slice a mix of vegetables lengthwise (I used 2 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, a red and a yellow bell pepper, and 2 purple eggplants)

2.  Drizzle the vegetable slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and throw them on the grill for 10 minutes or until they’re soft.

3.  Rough chop them into bite size pieces.

At this point you can proceed with the recipe or you can refrigerate the grilled veggies for a couple of days until you need them.  Briefly sautee in some olive oil to heat them up.

4.  Boil a 1 lb. package of orzo according to package directions, drain and toss with grilled veggies.

5.  Whisk together the following dressing and pour over veggie/pasta mix:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice (2 lemons)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon dried basil

6.  Stir everything together and let it come to room temperature.

7.  Add in:

4 ounce package of crumbled feta cheese

4 sliced scallions

Handful of chopped parsley

Adjust the seasonings and serve at room temperature.

Have a nice day.

 

In which I carboload and go shopping

This baking kick is getting out of control.  I made a couple of loaves Wednesday night and decided that the only way to avoid eating them both by myself was to set one aside to take to Kellie’s house on Thursday.  We were getting together for lunch, and she always cooks something and I always show up empty handed like a total leech and just sit at the table and watch her cook, then I eat and run and leave all the dishes.

It works well for me.

Anyway, I was all proud of myself to be taking her some bread (even though it was white bread and not all healthy or crunchy), and I walked in the door and I immediately spied these sweet rolls under the glass dome of her cake pedestal and I asked, “What bakery did you get these from?” and, of course, she MADE THEM and I felt inadequate over my little loaf of white bread, but I soldiered on and drowned those feelings of inadequacy with two bowls of her fideo (chicken noodle) soup.

And then, because she’s the Coffeegal, we had coffee from her mack daddy Keurig (Swiss Chocolate Almond for me, Pumpkin Spice for her) to accompany our dessert rolls (which were FANTASTIC), and we may or may not have added half a cup of French Vanilla creamer to our mugs and we retired to the living room where we put up our feet and talked about how much we wished we lived next door to each other just a little closer so we could do this every day more often.

After leaving Kel’s and hightailing it back home to pick up the boys from school, we made our way to Kmart because Travis has been obsessed with buying a Skarloey train and with the latest bounty that the Tooth Fairy left for him this week, he finally had enough cash saved to go a-purchasing.  I decided while we were there to go ahead and knock out some Christmas presents for my niece and nephews, so I cut the boys loose in the toy section and told them to bring me what they thought their cousins would want.

No agonizing, no wondering if it was going to be the right thing.  I bought it, and if it’s not right, I’ll blame the boys.

I did nix the 12 pack of lip gloss that they wanted to buy for my 8 year old niece.  I want my sister-in-law to be on speaking terms with me in the new year, and something tells me that 12 glass tubes of sticky gloss rolling around in her car and in her house wasn’t going to cut it.

Besides, you know what they say about paybacks.

Have a nice day.

Wacky Wednesday

If you’re not one of my Twitter peeps, consider this your public service announcement for the day.

TODAY IS NOT NOVEMBER 3, 2009.

Which I discovered when I showed up today for a meeting at the boys’ school that occurred yesterday.

Which goes to show that you’re never too old to stop learning.

And in other news, Mr. CPQ hit a deer last night, which means I didn’t get any sleep because I stayed awake all night wondering if the deer was dying and if he was in any pain, and did his mama know and thinking my concern might be a sign that it was time to join PETA.

The latter thought was dismissed as I was enjoying my third piece of bacon for breakfast.

And yes, Mr. CPQ is fine because he drives a behemoth of a car and apparently Germans are all about killing Bambi without getting a dent on the bumper.

Continuing on our theme of unrelated news, I went to a restaurant supply store yesterday and spent an hour wandering the showroom because oh, the possibilities! that spring to mind when I’m in a store like that.  I went in looking for some specialty baking items which they didn’t have (should have called before driving 40 minutes) but that didn’t deter me from picking up some things I didn’t need like a pretty little clear dispenser that’s supposed to be used for olive oil but I’ve filled with dish detergent and a new bread knife to handle the chewier crusts on some artisan/peasant bread I’ve been experimenting with/baking/eating.

I also bought some scoops that are supposed to help you with portion control, but I have a feeling they’re going to be perfect for portioning out giant scoops of ice cream.

Have a nice 4th day of November.

Ranger Rick Safety Tip

Don’t turn your back on your KitchenAid mixer while it’s kneading.

It may be sneaky on you and decide to walk across the counter and make a headfirst dive onto the floor.

And damage the Pergo.

And bend the bowl.

It will not, however, break the mixer.

And the bread will still be delicious.

It’s all about looking on the bright side….

Have a nice day.

Weekend Update

I had a good weekend filled with lots of little things that would have made good blog posts but in the sugar-induced fog in which I find myself this morning, nothing is coming to mind.  So let’s pretend we’re having coffee together and catching up about our lives, and you might want to sit a spell because I’m feeling chatty.

First let’s talk about the fact that I’ve come to the conclusion that I make poor decisions.

This poor decision making was on high display on Friday when I decided to go to the grand opening of Trader Joe’s, and Oh.My.Word, the humanity that turned out to be there for the free tote bag was incredible.

I would have taken pictures of the thronging crowds, but my hands were full with a certain little Squishy Baby that threatens to reverse the signs menopause every stinkin’ time I see her.

No, she wasn’t nekkid and I am not at Trader Joe’s in that pic, but Squishy’s mama took this picture and I love it more than I love the half empty bag of Twix bars sitting in the pantry.

Sadly, Squishy Family had to leave and to console my bereft self, I bought double creme Brie and a baguette which went a long way toward healing the pain.

And ate it in the car.

While I was eating my car picnic to strengthen myself for the day at hand that consisted of wandering aimlessly in search of inspiration on the Christmas gift front, I saw a Hancock Fabric Store that looked as though it were calling my name, but one step inside and I realized that my name was Lame Seamstress and I clearly had no business being there.  I did, however, buy two yards of black polyester for a cape for J’s Phantom of the Opera costume and skeddadled, but not before seeing this sight and wondering if I was out of touch with current bridal fashion.

Nothing says marry me in a classy and elegant fashion like an orange feather boa.

This year I left the costume making up to the boys and that relieved me of running around on Saturday, and  I was a horrible mother and didn’t get pictures made the boys had fun running up and down the street and showing off their costumes to their friends.

I did get one shot of Travis, so this one is for Mom.

And yes, the child who has spent more days than I care to count in a hospital and has endured excruciating surgeries and therapy wanted to be a doctor.

He amazes me.

Every.

Single.

Day.

So after all the festivities and candy on Saturday, I clearly did what any rational person would do and ordered the Endless Shrimp Platter at Red Lobster on Sunday.

And baked pumpkin apple streusel muffins later that afternoon.

Good decision.

Have a nice day.

Coffee Card Winner

Congratulations to Karen for winning the $10 Starbucks give-away!

If you click over to her blog, you’ll see exactly why she’s deserving of a little extra caffeine to boost her day…

I hope your Halloween/Fall Festival activities are fun and your baskets are full of Take 5 bars.

Have a nice day.

P.S.  In case you haven’t decided what to cook for Halloween dinner tonight, check out this idea.

Happy Halloween Giveaway

I had a couple of things on my to do list yesterday, one of which was to get the car inspected.  Truth be told, “get car inspected” has been on the to do list since August, but it’s obviously not been high on my priority list, and it has thrown Mr. CPQ into a tizzy every time he’s driven my car and seen the expired inspection sticker.

I personally don’t see how he’s noticed it over the mountain of coffee cups, library books, bakugan cards and dried out banana in the floorboard, but he’s got a eye for detail.

I had never been to his car place before but the minute I walked in the door I knew they were good people who obviously had their priorities straight.

 

Looking at that Krispy Kreme sign made me crave coffee, so I swung by Starbucks to pick up a grande cup of my new favorite Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte, and while I was there I decided that it has been a while since I had a little giveaway so I’ve decided to share the love today because it’s Friday and it has been a long week.

And it’s coffee.

And I’m an enabler.

Leave a comment by midnight tonight and tell me your favorite hot beverage and I’ll draw a winner on Saturday for a $10 gift card to Starbucks (or Caribou, if it’s preferred).

Have a nice day.

Morning has broken

We have two kinds of people in this house.  The early risers and the “it’s too early to rise”ers.  I happen to fall into the latter category.

I’m sure it does not surprise you in the least to discover that Mr. CPQ belongs to the former.

Two of the boys have taken after their father.  It’s not unusual to hear Baby B headed down the hallway at 5 a.m., and Baby C wakes up and immediately reaches for a nearby Lego and starts his day CHEERFULLY and ENERGETICALLY and with LOTS OF WORDS.

I now know why tigers eat their young.

But my sweet Baby A?

This morning at the breakfast table as I sat nursing the first life breathing cup of coffee and he stared blankly at his growing increasingly soggy bowl of Cap’n Crunch, he said “Mom, you know why I don’t like to get up in the morning?  I’m just too weak.”

Amen, honey.

Amen.

Have a nice day.

In which I have nothing to say but I say it anyway

I took the boys to the library yesterday because I was getting tired of the daily calls from the automated voice lady saying that my books were overdue and telling me to Press 1 if I needed an application for the second mortgage to pay my fines.

My problem is that I’ve been checking out knitting  books and I have three projects in differing stages of completion, none of which are within the library’s three week return policy which is driving me batty because all the books promised “knit in under an hour” and they lie!  they lie!

Anyway, I went to return them and while I was there, I thought that maybe I could be more efficient with my time if I let Travis play on the computer while I searched for my next book.  That was a wee bit of a mistake because I didn’t stop to think that the library computers don’t have sound and while I was happily searching the stacks thinking he was quietly engrossed in his favorite activity, turns out he was getting a little agitated about the no sound thing and turns out that the rest of the library patrons found out about it when OVER THE LOUDSPEAKER I hear “Will the parent of the child on Computer 19 please come help him?”

I knew that would be me, just as sure that I know  that “cleanup on aisle 5″  involves one of my offspring.

Speaking of offspring, I was reminded yesterday that you never stop being your mama’s kid.  My mom pulled me from the ledge yesterday with a well-timed phone call that I received when I was in the middle of spinning myself into an ugly state because I had misplaced a Very Important Prescription that I had picked up at the doctor’s office two weeks ago and had promptly misplaced in the house before I could get my ducks in a row to fill out the paperwork to mail it in and get it filled.

I had looked high and low for about 10 minutes an hour and it was nowhere to be found and Mom told me I just needed to call the doctor back and get another prescription and I was trying to tell her that was just going to be beyond painful for me to do because though my house is usually just shy of disastrous on most days, I have this need to appear perfect and on top of everything and calling the doctor to admit I had lost it was somehow going to turn  me into a candidate for Worst Mother of the Year award.

And Mom gently told me that these things happen and just call them and get it over with and move on with important things in my life like calling my mother and telling her what charming things her grandchildren had said that day, and then she asked the magic question, “Have you looked in your purse?”

Looking in my purse is akin to going dumpster diving outside a Georgia-Pacific plant.  Mr. CPQ says I have a little bit of  a “problem” when it comes to organizing receipts, etc. and I have to agree with him on this one. Let’s hope he doesn’t read the blog today.  Don’t want it going to his head that I said he’s right.

Anyway, wouldn’t you know?  When she said “purse”, I remembered that I had placed it in there so I’d KNOW WHERE IT WAS and it wouldn’t get lost in the other piles of paper I have on the counter that sit there until they’re overtaken by events and I can then throw them away.

Hello, my name is Susan and my mother is still saving my bacon.

Speaking of bacon, I have eight pounds of it in the refrigerator.  Mr. CPQ and I didn’t coordinate shopping schedules and we went to the warehouse club on the same day and both decided to buy bacon, and now I need to find  recipes for bacon casseroles or it will go bad.  I guess I can freeze it, right?

I think I better call Mom.  She’ll know.

Have a nice day.

Gladi-CPQs-day

 

 

1.  I’m so glad my friend Gretchen chose Tuesday for Gladitudes.  I didn’t have anything to blog about this morning.

2.  I’m glad I have weird people at the gym who serve as amusement.  Hearing today’s recitation of Larry’s IKEA purchases kept me on the bike for an additional fifteen minutes.

Who knew IKEA sold pickled cranberry herring?

3.  I’m glad for confirmation of “next steps” I need to be taking.  It never ceases to amaze me how God shows up at the right time – never early and never late, but exactly when I need to hear from Him.

4.  I’m glad that Target stocks Jose Ole chicken taquitos.

5.  I’m glad for signs of growth and maturity in my boys.  In the past few weeks they have expressed sorrow over truly difficult situations instead of crying over who got the last brownie.

6.  Speaking of crying, I’m glad I didn’t over the spilt milk on my freshly mopped kitchen floor.

Deep breaths.

7.  I’m glad for the new food processor I got this week.  There was something a little hinky about having to stick a knife blade into a little slot to make the old one work.

8.  I’m glad for candles that mask the scent of cooked turnip greens.

9.  I’m glad nothing fell out of the door when the kids got out at carpool this morning.

10.  I’m glad that I haven’t heard the squirrels in a week and haven’t smelled anything dead in the walls, either.

What are YOU glad about today?

Have a nice day.