11/6/12 - Carnitas Casserole

Warning! This is going to be a REALLY long post. And, it does include my political views and opinions from today's election, so feel free to skip over that section if you don't want to hear it :)

HAPPY ELECTION DAY! I’m not super political, and would never force my views and opinions on others, but I definitely need my one day to post my feelings on this year’s election. And, now that it’s actually over, I feel like it can’t hurt anything.

Big day, for the world really, but especially here in the United States. This year I definitely got way more into politics than I usually do. I am nearly the definitely of an independent voter. I do not, and would never, follow one political party blindly. I hate that people do that, I think it is a HUGE downfall of our political system. I do my best to really look at the issues, especially those important to me and my family, and I vote on the person, and what they stand for, not the political party that backs them. I wish with all my might that more people would do that. Unfortunately, in the last few presidential elections, I feel like it’s really come down to voting for the lesser of two evils. I really wish it weren’t that way. I would say more often than not, I tend to lean conservative in my political views. But, this year was definitely different for me. Much to my own dismay, I did vote for Obama this year. While I did NOT 4 years ago, and I don’t necessary agree with a lot of his past/current performance, I do feel he is the right choice for our country RIGHT NOW; especially when his counterpart is Mitt Romney. I could never, and would never, vote for Romney, especially as a woman, after everything that came out during his campaign. All of his “Freudian” slips that gave view into what he really thinks. I’m no feminist by any means, but to me, he would have set us back a good 50 years, and I think that’s just “where he comes from” – and most definitely not right for our country. I was actually a really big fan of Rick Santorum. Had he received the republican nomination, there’s a good chance I would’ve voted for him. Similarly, if Hilary Clinton would’ve received the democratic nomination 4 years ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to vote for her. So, you see, there’s no party consistency with me – I prefer topics, agendas and history vs. party and blind leading the blind. In the end, as we all know, Obama did win his 4 more years. While I don’t think this is PERFECT for America, I do think it was the best in this situation. So, YAY for that! And, his acceptance speech was humbling and definitely showed his true, all around character, and I liked that.

Here in Minnesota, it HUGE year. We currently have a democratic Governor. After this election, the democratic party also rule our house and senate. So, I think we’re up for a very different upcoming 2 years than the past two. It will be interesting to see how that pans out. See if things actually get done in this state now (whether I necessarily agree with those "things" or not). Maybe no shut-down this year?!? Again, I’m definitely no democrat, but I like the POTENTIAL idea of some peace and harmony in our government.

We also had 2 MAJOR amendments up for vote: an amendment to our state constitution regarding marriage, and a voter ID amendment:

1.      The marriage amendment was a complete disgrace. Basically, they want to amend our constitution to define that “Marriage will only be between one MAN and one WOMAN”. Obviously, that is what the law is currently here, and that is not even up for debate right now, nor has it ever been here. Apparently, people want to be pro-active in their hatred though, and they want to push this amendment through so that it never can be up for debate. It truly disgusts me – and, as I read that on my ballot and PROUDLY colored in that circle as dark and perfectly as I could, it saddened me. To think there were so many close-minded, selfish people in this state that were going to be marking yes, made me want to cry. I just can’t fathom, with any part of my being, why people care so much about who somebody else loves and wants to spend their life with. It doesn’t affect you; it has absolutely nothing to do with you, so why do you care? Why should you have any say in who somebody else marries? Basically, if you don’t agree with gay marriage, don’t get gay married. If your church (because, of course, church and bible are the ONLY arguments the “vote yes” side has on this issue – and, apparently the separation of church and state is no longer valid) does not accept or recognize gay marriage, then your church does not have to perform same sex marriage ceremonies. It’s really, truly as simple as that. Have YOUR morals, beliefs and opinions. But, understand that they are YOURS, and YOURS alone. You do not have the right to push them onto anybody else, you do not have the right to discriminate against somebody else and take away a freedom that EVERYBODY should have, especially in our state constitution, which should be protecting such freedoms.  I just think, what if Christian and I weren’t allowed to marry. Because he’s Mexican and I’m American, because he speaks Spanish and I speak English, because he was raised in Mexico and I was raised in the United States, because he has black hair and I have down. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, it’s really the same concept, and it’s sad. In the end, this amendment was voted down, THANK GOD! I've never been so proud to be a Minnesotan, and pray that the sad 49% that voted yes on this bill can one day open their hearts, and their minds if an issue like this ever comes up again.

2.      The Voter ID amendment was a little different. Personally, I do think it’s odd that you don’t have to show ID when you vote, so I kind of like the concept of it. But, this Amendment was mess, with too many holes and issues that were not thought through. It makes it incredibly hard for the elderly, handicapable or active military to vote. It makes it impossible to register same day, which SO many people do, especially for college students, the newly eligible voters and people who have recently moved. It required that the state provide free ID to the citizens, yet FREE does not mean FREE as the money to produce and provide the ID's has to come from somewhere. It would be very costly to the state – where was that money going to come from? Again, definitely a “vote no” situation, and this one was also voted down. Happy day!

So, that is my one and only post regarding this year’s election. I’m happy. I know many aren’t but I hope people are able to move on and come together as a country to unite and make this a better county.

As far as the rest of the day! I took a long lunch break to head into the doctor for my yearly check-up. The appointment went well. She was ecstatic about my weight loss, my blood pressure was great and everything looked good. I do need to get my cholesterol checked, but since I have to fast before it, today was not the day for it. I had to pick up a prescription in the pharmacy after my appointment, and that just about pushed me over the edge. There was a family in the waiting room BLASTING some mariachi music on their phone, singing along like they were having a little fiesta. There were two other people on their phones, talking really loudly, but kept losing reception – so their phones kept ringing and ringing, and dropping calls and dropping calls. The wait took forever, then they proceeded to mess up my prescription, so I got to wait some more. It was seriously the pharmacy trip from hell. In the end, I did get the cough drops I was buying for free for having to wait so long, so I guess there is a silver lining in everything! LOL.

I made my way back to work for a few hours, then I was off to go vote. I picked the PERFECT time to vote, I literally walked in, signed in, and headed to my booth. No wait at all, perfect! I stopped into Walgreens after to pick up a couple of free prints I had, then picked the girls up. They spent the evening playing in/destroying their room while I made dinner and laid my sick butt on the couch. I most definitely have a full on cold, and it’s no looking good. Congested, hot, couch, sore throat and exhausted. NOT a good start to late fall/winter, that’s for sure. Christian seems to be getting better though, and Olivia is still fine. Amelia still seems OK, and no fever, but her teacher said she was really quiet today, which is not like her at all. I guess her little BFF at school, Niko, is out with strep throat, so hopefully he didn’t have it last week when she was there…

Once the girls were in bed, I dragged myself from the couch, to bed. I watched a show, then flipped back to check the election results just in time to see them project Obama the winner. Most of the Minnesota races were still too close to call, so I called it a night at that point. Gross, colds – I’m not ready for that fun to start up again yet.

Tonight’s dinner was a Carnitas Casserole with Rice. YUM, YUM!

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Yellow Corn Meal
• 3 tbsp Granulated Sugar
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 can Diced Green Chiles
• 1/3 cup Milk
• 1 Egg
• 1 can Cream Corn
• 2-3 cups of Carnitas
• 1 cup Enchilada Sauce
• 1 cup Shredded White Cheese (I used mozzarella)
• Fresh cilantro

Side:

• Box of Rice-a-Roni (prepared according to the less-fat package directions)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Mix the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk together. Stir in the oil until the mixture makes soft crumbles. Whisk in the milk and egg. Add the cream corn and green chiles, and stir until just combined.
3. Spray a square baking dish with non-stick spray, and layer the mixture into the dish. Bake for 25 minutes, or until set. This will be more of a tamale-base than dry like cornbread.
4. After 25 minutes, remove the dish and poke holes in the crust with a fork. Pour the enchilada sauce over the crust. Arrange the shredded carnitas over the crust, and top with the shredded cheese.
5. Reduce the oven heat to 350. Cover the dish with foil, and bake for and additional 20 minutes.
6. After 20 minutes, remove the foil, and continue baking for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
7. Top with cilantro and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

This was really, REALLY good. Christian LOVED it and we'll definitely make this one again. Though there are a lot of ingredients, it flows really well, and is really easy to progress through. YUM!

11/5/12 - Italian Chicken, Green Beans and Potatoes

Starting off another week! Christian still has his cold. Amelia still has her runny nose, and was really tired tonight. She first complained her mouth hurt, then her legs hurt, then her tummy hurt. Hmmmm. Maybe just tired? Hopefully. I do still think those molars are giving her trouble though. So far, Olivia and I seem to be OK – fingers crossed!

Christian actually had the day off. He still has a decent amount of leave time to use up before the end of the week, but it’s really hard for them to actually take time off. I guess his boss told him to take today off – I think Monday’s are their slowest day of the week, so it’s the best time to be off. He ended up spending the day packing up the rest of the “outside” for the winter. He took everything off the deck, packed everything up and tarpped it under the deck. So, at least we’re kind of ready for winter…

Work for me was OK. I had a nice long meeting mid-day to help speed the day along. It was off to work a WHOLE Monday though, I’m so used to leaving early to do my shopping. LOL. I am fairly certain I’m coming down with something though. Pretty sure the cold is making its leap to my system now. I just felt off all day. Warm, tired, headache (still) and my throat was bothering me. Hopefully it doesn’t get too bad.

I sent Christian on a mission to buy some Carnitas I need for tomorrow’s meal, so I picked the girls up after work (he usually picks them up on Monday’s, when they’re at his parents house). I chatted with his parents for a bit, and then we were on our way.

The girls were both pretty tired (residual effect of daylights savings time, I believe), so I sat them on the couch with a Tinkerbell movie. Amelia even sat there and watched it, and she NEVER watches TV. She was acting ill – looked worn out and really subdued and cuddly. But, she didn’t have a fever or anything. She refused to eat tonight; she just laid on the couch with her juice and apple, then went straight to bed when we finished dinner. Poor thing. Olivia ate, watched a couple videos, then was off to bed herself. YAY for earlier bedtimes!

Rico Update – Rico has been doing well. I've got a bit of a routine going with the cats now. I still have Rico set up in the kennel, with a litter box, bed, water and his food at meal time in our bedroom. He’s really adapted to that, and runs right into it when it’s time to eat, so that’s good. Chloe is still set up in the entry way of the house, and is NOT liking being on a schedule. LOL, diva. I feel them in the morning before work/when we get up. Rico stays in his kennel all day while we’re gone – I hate to do it, but he seems OK with it, and he actually eats all of his food throughout the day, which is great. I still don’t really see him going to the bathroom, but he doesn’t seem to spend as much time in his litter box as before, and still seems like he’s doing well and looks good, so hopefully everything is OK. He hasn’t had dry food for quite some time now, and seems to be adjusting to everything well. He’s back to fighting with the dog and running around, he still follows me around everywhere I go. So, we’re really happy right now. I do need to call this week to schedule his follow up appointment. Then, I guess we’ll REALLY know how he’s doing.

Tonight’s dinner was Italian Chicken, Green Beans and Potatoes. SUPER, SUPER easy one.

Ingredients:

• 3-5 Thawed, boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I did 3 since the girls split a breast, but I think I’d do at least 4 in the future)
• 4-5 Potatoes, cubed
• Green Beans (I used frozen. They recommend fresh or canned – they would probably work OK too, but would worry about them getting overcooked…)
• 1 packet of Italian Seasoning Mix
• 1 stick of Melted Butter (I think you could get away with ½ - 1/3 stick)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Layer your green beans along one (long) side of the dish; your chicken next to the beans, then your potatoes along the other (long) side – so, you end up with three rows of food in your dish. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning over everything, then pour the melted butter over that.
3. Cover with foil and cook for 1 hour
4. DONE – one pan, no mess, easy!

Christian LOVED this one, and Olivia ate it well too. Italian isn't my all-time fave, so I wasn't raving about it quite as much, but I loved the ease, and it did turn out well.

11/4/12

Today, was one of those “Rockstar Mom” kind of days!

Today we “fell back” for daylight savings time. The girls were basically up at their usual time. I made them stay in their room for a while after they woke up, so that gave us some time to wake up and gear up for the day. We had breakfast, and I got to work on my Sunday chores right away. Picked up the bedrooms, living room, kitchen and entry. Did the dishes, swept the entry, cleaned litter boxes. The usual. I did laundry throughout the day, and actually got it all done! WHAT?! I planned our menu for the week, and Olivia and I ran to the store to do our shopping. They had some pretty awesome samples today too, so it was definitely a score!

By the time we got home, Amelia was napping. Olivia had a quick lunch, and went down herself. During naps, I did some final cleaning, folded some laundry and watched some TV. We finally woke the girls up around 4:00 because we had somewhere to be, so who knows how late they would’ve slept. Now that it starts getting dark around 4:00, I think that made them want to stay asleep. Maybe a little bonus this winter!

We got them ready and were on our way…tonight, we were spending some time at Bella’s house with her family. The girls had a blast running around and causing chaos all night long. We all ate dinner together and watched the Vikings game (a horrible loss…again). They had a couple other friends over and they all played some dance game on the Wii – it required way more coordination than I have, so I was just a spectator. It was a fun night though, good times!

We left at bedtime and got the girls down for the night. I did the last of my folding before bed, while Christian passed right out. With that, the weekend came to an end. Always a sad thing.

The girls took their shot at Wii dancing tonight, and it was too funny. Amelia won, LOL, she can really shake it!

11/3/12

Today was a fairly low key day. Amelia was again up way too early for some reason. So, again, no sleeping in for our house. I’m a little worried about what that means for tomorrow’s daylight savings switch…

After a little “waking up”, and some breakfast, I got the girls dressed and we spent the day together. Christian and his friend, Lorenzo, spent the day hanging out Christmas lights outside. NO, we do not turn them on right now…that excitement is reserved for Thanksgiving night, when we “flip the switch” as a family. YES, we hang them around this time, because it’s not quite freezing yet, and there’s no snow. It took them pretty much all day, and a trip to the store, but it’s done. YAY!

The girls weren’t quite as trying as they were yesterday, but naps were still a welcomed relief. I did a little picking up, and rested while they napped. I’ve had a small, nagging headache pretty much all week, so it’s been wearing me down.

It was just about dinner time when the boys finished the lights, and the girls woke up from their naps. We treated ourselves to some Noodles and Company for dinner (always exciting for me, because I can actually have SHRIMP in mine, YUM). Christian and Lorenzo went out for a while…so I had the house all to myself once the girls went down. Love my alone time!

Before he left for the night, I got this picture of the girls, making him pretty. It was so cute, I couldn't resist. Nothing quite like seeing your husband let his little girls do his hair and get him all dolled up :)

11/2/12

OK, so I finally made up for the last few lame weeks of dieting, and I lost 2.6 pounds this week, for a total to date of 39.2 pounds down. However, I’m still definitely not on track. I haven’t worked out for WEEKS, and have been slacking on my walks at work. I don’t really log my food anymore, BUT, I do feel like I have a good handle on it. I know the right decisions to make – and when I make the wrong ones, it’s usually intentionally, and knowingly. My new mission in life was to be more on top of keeping the house clean/picked up, REALLY cooking and getting out of the “box” rut that I’d been in and really taking some time to myself to wind down at night. Of course, all of that meant literally NO time for working out. I want to continue all of the above, but I just don’t know how to do that, AND fit in my workouts. If I can get the girls to bed ON TIME, every night, I can get myself into bed, watch my 2 shows to wind down, and get to bed at a decent time. Then, get up a little early (or, maybe even just ON TIME) and do my workout then. Otherwise, I just need to go back to doing my workout right after I put the girls down and just get back to being diligent about it. Time to get back to it!

Amelia was up WAY too early this morning, so there was no sleeping in on my “day off”. But, we did get in some quality time before Olivia woke up, and all hell broke loose. They were pretty much at each other’s throats all day long, and not listening to anything, so it was a really frustrating day. It makes me SO ANGRY! Yes, ANGRY! They are so good at school, and they are SO good when you are with them, one on one, but as soon as they’re together, it’s like two colliding tornados. I don’t get it. I just DO.NOT.GET.IT. There has to be some solution out there, I just wish I knew where to start.

I did manage to get them to eat, got them ready and we made our way to Target. We needed a few things to get through the weekend, and I picked up a few clearance Halloween items. We didn’t get to decorate this year for Halloween, because our storage area is jam packed with stuff we moved out of the spare room a month or so ago, so hopefully next year we can get back on it!

Once home, it was time for lunch and naps. Finally, some peace and quiet! I spent nap time catching up on the DVR and my super out of date blog. I started dinner shortly after they woke up…we repeated last month’s Sweet N Sour Chicken and Fried Rice, Take-Out Fake-Out meal, and it was again, delicious! YUM, one of our new faves for sure.

Christian and I were both pretty tired by the time the girls went to bed. I had a long, stressful day with the girls; he had a super busy day at work. One of our local casino’s is going to start selling alcohol (I think they were the only one that didn’t), and Christian’s work is their distributor, so they’ve been swamped this week getting them started. That’s a great, HUGE new client for them, pretty exciting.

Nothing else interesting really happened today. The sky was really eerie on my way home tonight, so I snapped a picture of it...

11/1/12

How can it possibly be November already?!? I cannot believe how quickly the time goes. I mean, Halloween is already over, all of our fun Fall Festivities, that I feel like I was JUST planning, have come and gone, Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, Christmas is already on my brain. MY BABY TURNS 4 IN TWO MONTHS! What?!? It’s truly amazing (and, quite sad) how time speeds up year by year. Hopefully, that’s a sign of a life well lived and experienced!

We were all up and at em’ pretty well this morning. I was pretty tired, but the girls seemed refreshed after their busy night. Amelia has been rocking a runny nose the last couple of days…I’m hoping the last of her molars are coming in, and it’s not a sign of illness looming. Christian has had a cold all week – nose, sore throat, cough – the real deal. Let’s see how many of us that has to fly through! Hopefully not me, because I don’t seem to be very good at shaking illnesses once I get them!

Today was my Friday at work, so it was pretty busy, as usual. I picked up the girls after school, and they had another successful week. Olivia’s little friend Jayla gave me a picture she colored, which was pretty cute. They were both pretty sad to see all of the fun Halloween decorations down though. Sorry girls, back to reality!

Our evening was pretty low key. We had tacos for dinner – Tacos have always been a fairly weekly staple in our house (YUM), but my new goal was no repeat dinners (except leftovers) for a month, so it’s been a LONG time since we had them. Otherwise, we just took it pretty easy tonight.

I got this cute shot of Olivia in the car tonight, she's such a happy thing!

10/31/12

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I was never really into Halloween growing up. A couple years before we had Olivia we started carving pumpkins, going to the scary theme parks and doing random things to celebrate Halloween. I still wasn’t super into it, but I felt like I was at least participating. Now, with kids, I absolutely LOVE this holiday. Watching them enjoy everything and get so excited is just an amazing feeling. Olivia definitely knows about Halloween and what it’s all about, so she gets really into it. She’s been asking for weeks if it’s Halloween yet. So, she was pretty dang exited this morning when I was finally able to say “yes”! Amelia participates and has fun, but I don’t think she quite understands it all yet.

Work went well today. I left early to pick up the girls and get everything ready to go. My in-laws had stopped over during the day to drop off a Papa Murphy’s Jack-o-Lantern Pizza (yay, saved me a trip!) and some treats for the girls. I got the girls in their costumes and took them outside to snap some pictures of them while I could actually hold their attention. My mom stopped over to bring the girls some treats and take some pictures, and then it was time to eat quick. Christian was able to get off “early” (aka, on time), which I was kind of worried about. We loaded up the stroller, blankets and coats in the truck and off we went. Luckily, we actually had some great weather this year. It’s been so cold, I didn’t know what to expect. I had the girls layered up…tank, long-sleeved t-shirt, sweater, two pairs of socks, leg warmers, pants and costumes…and they never ended up needing their coats, so that’s always nice.

We met Bella and her family over at Kari’s house so we could all go out trick or treating together – we love going out in a big group, it just makes the experience that much more fun. Bella and Olivia ran from house to house, Amelia straggling behind. Of course, Miss Diva Amelia had to do everything HERSELF, so she was quite entertaining all night. Bella was amped up and ready to go all night, but Olivia and Amelia started to lose steam and bundled up in the stroller – we did get a good hour and a half in though, so I think that’s sufficient. We now have two pumpkins FULL of candy…I think we’re going to have to finally dump out last year’s candy and swap it out! LOL. My camera was DOA when we started out, so I only got one group shot, and a shot from the first trick or treat house, but that will suffice!

We arrived home around 8:30, got the girls in their jammies, and Amelia passed right out. Olivia watched a video to wind down, and went right to bed as well. I wasn’t feeling too hot…I think I pulled something in my back when we were walking, my head was rapidly starting to hurt and I was freezing for some reason. So, I tucked myself into bed, hoping to wake up refreshed!

Another Halloween done…it’s hard to believe. Time to start planning Thanksgiving!

10/30/12 - Apple Pork Chops

Today was a pretty good day. I don’t know if ya’ll remember, or how much I really went into it, but a few months back my office at work was having a lot of trouble. Drama, fighting, a lot of childish behavior. Just, the works. It was high school times infinity. Anyway, we all had to meet individually with a staff counselor to answer some questions and explain how we were feeling/what our perspective of the issues were. Then, she was to take all of the information, evaluate it and meet with us as a group to work out some of the issues and give us some advice and information to move forward. Well, today was that group meeting. I was really dreading it, but I actually kind of enjoyed it. A lot of the things she talked about seemed super obvious, but I think it’s stuff that most people really don’t think about. Just, about how we act towards other people, how we interact, how our actions/words/moods can affect those around us. Now, I honestly don’t think it’s going to change anything in our office, but I still found it super interesting.

I left work early again today. First up, I had to stop into the license bureau. BOTH of our vehicles were due for new tabs (registration), and my car needs new license plates too (which, I think is super dumb – we shouldn’t need to get new plates). So, $193 later I was on my way out (and, I shouldn’t complain, seeing that Christian’s truck alone cost that much not too long ago).

Next up, a Halloween Party at the girls’ school. They were SO excited. All of the kids were in their costumes and there were a ton of people there. I only put the girls in their costume dresses, not any of the accessories or anything, so they didn’t look quite as exciting as some of the other kids. They had so much fun though. They decorated cookies, played some little carnival games, went “trick or treating”, did some face painting (doesn't show up well in the pictures).

Finally, we stopped into the store on the way home. Since I was sick yesterday, I didn’t make it to the store. I picked up a few items to get through the next couple of days…Amelia really isn’t into shopping, so we have to make it quick when she’s with, otherwise she starts getting way too antsy.

Once we were done, we made our way home. Christian didn’t get home from work until 6:30 – seems to be the new norm. The girls played and checked out their goodies from the party while I started dinner. We ate shortly after Christian got home, watched a little TV together and it was pretty much bedtime. Amelia was pretty refusal of bed tonight – she didn’t come out of the room, but she yelled at me for a while through the door. She finally undressed herself completely, and passed out. LOL. I watched a couple shows and went to bed as well.

Rico’s Update for the Day – personality wise, he’s still doing great, and seems a little better every day. He runs around, he’s playful, he follows me around and he REALLY wants to eat his old food – so there’s obviously some appetite there. However, there’s still no movement in the potty area. Today, I left him in the kennel all day. We have a litter box in it, and I left his food and water out for him all day. Today, I again mixed some of his fancy feast, with some prescription food and some pumpkin. He ate about half of it by the time I got home, and then a TINY bit more before bed, so at least something. He didn’t drink much water though, and, did not go to the bathroom. When he pee’s, it’s still just little bits – I don’t know if it’s because he’s having issues with that too, again, or just because he spends so much time in his litter box, that he just goes a little big every time. I think as long as his spirits are high, and his personality is there, we’re going to wait it out through the week before calling the vet. I’m just going to keep adjusting our process and see if I can find something that works.

Tonight’s dinner was Apple Pork Chops, with scalloped potatoes (lazy, from the box) and some leftover glazed carrots from last week. I needed something quick tonight – I asked a friend at work for a suggestion, knowing I had thawed out pork chops, and this is what he gave me Also, my two little mini-chefs helped me get tonight's meal going!

Ingredients:

• Pork Chops (I did three, totaling 15ozs)
• Salt & Pepper to Taste
• Olive Oil
• 2 Apples, with peel, diced
• Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon

Sides:

• Glazed Carrots (leftover, heated in the microwave)
• Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes (cooked in the oven, according to the package)

Directions:

1.      Layer a pan with olive oil, and warm over medium-high heat. Sprinkle both sides of each chop with salt and pepper, to taste. Once warmed, add the pork chops to the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on the size (I did 3 minutes).

2.      Layer a cookie sheet with foil, place the cooked chops onto the foil, wrap the foil around them and place the pan in the oven to finish he chops off. I timed it so I could put them in with my potatoes for the last 10 minutes.

3.      While the chops bake, use the same pan to cook your apples/topping. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add a little more oil, if necessary (I didn’t have to). Pour your diced apples in, sprinkle cinnamon, brown sugar and a little more salt and pepper over and stir until the seasonings liquefy. Let that warm, cook and tenderize the apples until the pork chops are over.

4.      Once the chops are cooked through, plate them and spoon some of the apples and sauce on top.

This was actually REALLY good. I would definitely make this again. My friend added onion to his (1 apple, 1 onions) – but, I do not cook with onion. He also added pecans, which would be good too. This meal was super yummy!

10/29/12

Monday. It’s always horrible. But, when you have to leave work early with a migraine, it’s just that much worse. I was actually planning on leaving a tad early anyway to do our grocery shopping, but instead, I just made my way home to rest it off. I thought I could rest for a bit, get a quick dinner done before Christian and the girls got home, and then run to the store. But, I never really shook the headache. I just laid in bed most of the night. We heated up some leftover pasta for the girls when they got home, and it was bedtime shortly after. I just made my way back to bed to rest when they went down. I hate when plans go array!

Rico’s Update for the Day – I did some research on how to relief constipation in cats. I read, and a few friends confirmed it works for them, that canned pumpkin works great for relief. So, on my way home I picked some up. I mixed it into his fancy feast/prescription mix, and put him in the kennel with it for a while. He was a little apprehensive about it at first, but ate a little bit. He actually pretty much licked as much pumpkin as he could from the rest of the food, so he must have liked it. I was really careful about not letting him have any of the dry food, and will continue to hold it back, no matter how much he cries and yells at me about it. I sure hope this does the trick! I thought about calling the vet, but I’d like to try some home methods first before we get pressured into bringing him in, which we REALLY cannot afford right now. Fingers Crossed!!!

I snapped this picture of Rico, cuddling up with me tonight. Such a sweetie.

10/28/12 - Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing

Today was a fairly low key Sunday, with some Halloween fun added in.

We were all up bright and early and watched some cartoons for a while. Christian made breakfast while I started doing some cleaning. I got some laundry started, cleaned up the bedrooms and kitchen, swept the entry and did my usual tidying up. After breakfast, I jumped in the shower, we got the girls ready and we were off.

We stopped back at the market down the street to pick up two more pumpkins. We actually found the corn pool this time, so the girls played in that for a while. Luckily that was in the green house, because it was COLD out! We picked our pumpkins, stopped at the jump house for a few minutes, then made our way home.

I started lunch for the girls while Christian started helping them clean out their pumpkins. Olivia dove right in this year and was all about it. Amelia was not really into it. She reached in a few times, and got mad at me when I took over, but wouldn’t do it herself. Drama queen. After cleaning them out, and eating some lunch, they went down for a nap. Christian and I carved their pumpkins, cleaned ours out and carved our own. They turned out great! Love carving pumpkins! Once we finished, he headed out to rake and mulch the leaves in the backyard. The girls woke up shortly after. They helped me do some picking up, switch some loads of laundry out and it was finally dark enough to light our pumpkins. They loved it…they were so excited, it was cute.

We had dinner, and relaxed for a while to finish off the weekend. Nothing like a productive, but fun family weekend!

Rico’s Update for the Day – well, this morning I noticed Rico going into the litter box a lot again. And, realized quickly his trips were pretty unproductive. I started to worry right away, but we kept an eye on him, and we think he’s constipated – so, that’s not good obviously, but not quite as serious. I’m guessing the stress of everything, changing his diet and all of that just took a toll on him. We’ll have to keep an eye on him and see if there’s anything we can do to relieve it. Otherwise, he’s doing pretty good. He’s playful and seems content, so he still seems to be on the mend. He’s still not eating great…we’re still mixing his prescription food with some fancy feast. He’s been sneaking some of the dry food too. I know we shouldn’t let him, but it’s hard when you really just want him to eat SOMETHING.

Tonight’s dinner was Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing with a Broccoli and Cheese steamer on the side.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Chicken Breasts (I did 3)
• 6oz Box of Stuffing
• Can of Cream of Chicken Soup
• ½ Cup of Sour Cream
• ¼ Cup Water

Sides:

• Veggie Steamer Bag (cooked according to the package)

Directions:

1.      Place the thawed chicken on the bottom of your crockpot. (PS, make sure to spray your pot with cooking spray for this one! I forgot…)

2.      Dump the box of stuffing on top.

3.      Mix together the soup, sour cream and water, then pour over the suffing.

4.      Over, cook on LOW for 4 hours. Done!

The stuffing is fluffy and perfect, the chicken is tender and falls right apart. I was amazed! The whole family ate this one up. YUM! Another keeper!