Merry Christmas!!!

After baking well over 12 dozen cookies over the past week I was glad to have many appreciative friends and family members thankful for the effort and the undeniable sugar rush, lol.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!
Be Safe.

 Much love from me & my family!

Celebrate the new year with a COFFEE-MATE Cafe Party!

I Love coffee, I love to add different creamers to my coffee to change it up.. it all started a few years back with the Peppermint Mocha creamer and had grown since then.  Coffee-Mate is the creamer that I tend to stick with because the flavors are really good and never too sweet like some of the others tend to be.  Right now my favorite flavor of coffee-mate is cafe Latte, it's so good!  I've managed to cut down going to get coffee at my favorite bakery to once a week.. saving me a good chunk of change.

Here's your chance to Save a chunk of change too while sharing some good times with family and friends.  On February 4, 2011 COFFEE-MATE is giving away 100,000 bottles of COFFEE-MATE in the form of coupons, to celebrate 25 unique flavors and encourage coffee fans to discover their favorite!
On Free Flavor Friday, where you can introduce friends and family to COFFEE-MATE and its 25 unique flavors, including our three new coffeehouse-inspired flavors.

Hosts of the COFFEE-MATE Café Party will…
• Enjoy and share COFFEE-MATE’s newest collection of classic coffeehouse flavors featuring Caramel Macchiato, Café Latte, and White Chocolate Caramel Latte.

• Choose one of four entertainment themes to host your party with kits loaded with fun activities – Bistro Baking, Classic Game Night, Art Party or Office Party.

• Give your party attendees free product coupons to purchase any one of COFFEE-MATE’s flavors.

• Receive exclusive COFFEE-MATE recipes, party tips, and insider news on Free Flavor Friday.

Click here to sign up to host a Coffee-Mate Café Party

If any of you have any questions please feel free to let me know and please leave a comment if you sign up.

Ash~ 

There are cookies.. and then, there are These

These are the cookies that are one of the most incredible cookies I've ever made... these are the ones that have been known to mysteriously disappear from the cookie plate or, in last year's case they were snatched up by a certain someone and stashed in a box where nobody else could find them. 


Yea, they're that good. So good in fact that I now double the recipe and make 2 batches of it so nobody gets left out.. and make a reminder to myself to make one without coconut because of an allergy.  Leaving out the pecans isn't a huge deal.. and if I'm making them to give on a platter I will leave them out and sometimes, pecans just aren't in my cookie baking budget.


We refer to these as "The Sticky Cookies" they're so amazing.  I made these the first time with The bestie, who is now in Mozambique and made a special request for the recipe, so when I shipped her a box full of goodies the other day, I added the recipe in along with a conversion chart because Everything's different on the other side of the world.  


I'm Mailing some of my friends cookies, but unfortunately I'm not sure these would ship well.. so here's the recipe to share so nobody gets left out.

Chocolate-Caramel Bars

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Cups coarsely chopped Pecans (we used walnuts)
1 Cup Flaked coconut (Oops, I forgot the coconut when we went to the supermarket, lol)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. vanilla
20 vanilla caramels
2 Tbs. Milk
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°f. For crust, in a medium bowl stir together flour and brown sugar. Cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Press flour mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes. 

2.  Sprinkle coconut and nuts over partially baked crust. In a small bowl stir together sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, pour over coconut and nuts. Bake for 25-30 minutes more or until set.  Let stand in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes

4. In a small saucepan combine caramels and milk. Heat and stir over medium-low heat just until caramels melt (be very careful here, molten caramels will give you a nasty burn!) Drizzle caramel mixture over baked mixture. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Cool completely and cut into bars.

Being Proud of myself

If you're a regular reader and read This post you'd know I'm making a more concerned effort to eat healthier and start drinking water. Yup, you read that right.. START drinking water.  I never liked the stuff.. and it was always a huge chore to mange to get myself to drink any unless I was absolutely dying of thirst and there was no other option.

But.. since that post.. I've been doing it. I've been downing at least 1 23 ounce bottle of water a day, sometimes 2 and I even drink it when I'm home.... really people, this is HUGE.  I'm actually going to get one of those water filtration pitchers so I can drink healthy water at home.. because the tap water in my apartment is, well.. it's pretty damn gross.

And ya know what's really the best part.. I feel better.

Like, Duh Ashley.. try being properly hydrated you stupid girl.

*sigh* it only took me thirtysomething years to figure this one out.

Friday Flip Off's 12/10/10

Gooooooooooooooooooooood morning Fellow Flippers.



It's Friday!! I'm absolutely positive today's Friday.. only because I got paid yesterday.. but damn I've been messed up with my days All week. Big hugs to MommaKiss for being our gracious host.

OK.. Ready?

You sure?
I'm gonna flip off TIME.. because there's just never enough of it.. it moves too fast and DAMN! There's 2 weeks until Christmas, next Saturday is my Nephew's birthday.. he's gonna be 7 and I still can't believe it. Damn these kids and their growing up nonsense (lol)    I've barely started my Christmas shopping.. for none other reason than the fact that I just don't have the money.. yet. (here's to hoping for the Christmas bonus).

Winter.. Flip the hell off.. it was 20° when I got up this morning, my poor truck doesn't like the cold so I have to give her a good 15-20 minutes to warm up when it's cold like this.  I'm absolutely Dreading snow.. I hate the stuff.  It's all pretty and shit at first.. but I hate being out in it.

My job...
moreover.. almost everyone here with very few exceptions.

... and the Huge WTF of the week.........

Someone Stole the UPS box from behind my office building.  One of the girls went to take a package to the UPS box on Monday night and the box was gone so on Tuesday when I got to work I called UPS and asked what happened to the box and they didn't know and said they would have someone call me back.  A few hours later a rep came to my office and said that they'd had a few complaints and from the looks of it, it seems the box had been stolen.  When I asked Why and how.. the guy said that they're taken apart and sold for scrap metal and that apparently this box wasn't bolted down to the sidewalk.  I was really shocked.. but then again I guess it's really true in most cases.. if it ain't bolted down it'll be stolen.  sheesh though.

Now.. Get your act together.. join the other flippers and GRAB THE CODE and be one of the cool kids ;:)



Enjoy your weekend and stay warm.. I'm planning on putting up my tree and get some cookies baked this weekend.. I WILL blog cookie recipes.

My Christmas Wish

Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is to get out of this apartment. Top floor with nobody upstairs, 2 bedrooms and a landlord who isn’t a complete asswipe.

Love,
 Ashley

Friday Flip Off's 12/3/10

Eventually I'll get my shit together today... a little late, but better  late than never.

I do Not remember giving December the OK to get here already.  WTF?  *sigh*  OK, fine... not like I can do anything about it.  So here we are, Decenber 3rd, 2010..FRIDAY!!!

So, in honor of it being Friday and thanks to our gracious host MommaKiss... Let the Flipping Begin.





First off..
Fuck off Cancer.. Fuck you for messing with people's lives, destroying families and being an all around asshole.

Second, my landlord and his family.
I am thankful to have a roof over my head.. but I pay these people rent that is more than this crappy apartment is worth and the only reason I'm still stuck here is because I can't afford anything else other than a studio and I'm not doing that to my kid.

I don't know if these people work at all anymore and I'm almost convinced that my landlord lost his job because he's been home for 3 weeks. Anyway, the constant noise until Midnight every single night this week is getting on my nerves, I get up at 6:15 every day (unless Jackass kid#2 up there is up at 5am, because then I'm up at 5 because of the stomping and blaring TV noise over my bedroom).  I need sleep, I enjoy sleep.. but when I'm getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night because of these people I'm not a very happy person, and nobody likes a cranky receptionist.

Third, my job.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful that I even have a job but I'm so freaking under appreciated here not to mention underpaid.  I am the receptionist, accounts payable, in house IT person, open and distribute daily mail and take care of the deposition transcripts, I also do medical authorizations and legal research.... I'm also the "voice mail"of the firm since we don't have real voice mail.. yea, I've got paper messages and have to jot the messages down in to the guys' message books.

Forth, Winter.
I hate winter, I don't like the cold and don't even get me started on snow.

Fifth.. ToysRUs

Fuck off for the item in my cart going out of stock AS I WAS CHECKING OUT ONLINE.. WTF is that all about?

Since my apartment is as dry as the Sahara desert I'll be investing in an artificial Christmas tree this year, which really makes me sad, but I can't afford to have another fire hazard in the middle of my apartment like I did last year.  I'm also planning on getting at least a few batches of cookie dough made this weekend so I can get a move on the holiday baking and get some boxes of cookies shipped out soon.

Now... get your shit together and grab the code and get on the list

Kale has been the star of the show this week

Starting with the soup on Sunday I’ve been on a Kale kick this week.  If you follow me on Twitter you know I’ve got a goal of losing 10lbs by the new year.  I know I’ve been saying for months that I needed to start eating healthier and all that jazz, it just hasn’t seemed to kick in until now... or, actually it happened on Thanksgiving when I was at my aunts house and decided to step on the scale that was in the middle of the hallway.

Big mistake.

Or, well.. Maybe not.

I mean, all my clothes fit loosely and I haven’t felt like I’ve gained any weight in the past year, I’ve actually gone a notch down on my belt. But even so, I’m almost 15 pounds heavier than I thought I was... because I do not own a scale.  We didn’t have a scale in the house growing up and I never had issues with body image.  I am what I am and if you don’t like it, too bad.

But, it’s bothering me.

So I’ve upped the ante and have started drinking water.. My goal at this point is at least 1 23oz bottle of water a day. (Right now, I’m on my 2nd)  It might not seem like much, but for me it’s HUGE.  Mostly because Every day I have a 16oz coffee in the morning and more often than not I go without drinking anything else until I get home and then it’s either juice or a glass or 2 of milk with dinner. Occasionally I’ll get an iced tea with my lunch but that’s it. Yeah, I know.. It’s pretty bad.

So this week Kale was on sale at the local supermarket for $0.99/lb so I grabbed a few bunches.  I like it Sauteed with a tiny bit of oil, a bit of sea salt, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a splash of lemon as a side dish and just last night I made it sauteed with turkey sausage just like I make Broccoli Rabe & Sausage and The Kid gobbled it up.

So yes, now I’m making a concerned effort.. For myself and The Kid.  We will eat more Vegetables and fruit and I will drink more water, The Kid likes water and it’s never been a problem for him to down a glass like it is for me.

So... Stay Tuned because this time I’m doing it.

Does Kashi Make You Smile?

I Love Kashi.  There is a box of Kashi stashed in my desk at work at all times.  It's great for breakfast to give me a boost, with milk or mixed into yogurt or to just munch on as a crunchy snack... and for the days when lunch just doesn't happen it's Kashi to the rescue.  Kashi Go Lean Crunch in Honey Almond Flax is my absolute favorite and is packed with protein.  

Can the taste of Kashi cereals actually make you smile?  Kashi wants to find out if people think their cereals are as tasty as they are good-for-you.  And they are looking for your help!  You can share your thoughts on how eating Kashi cereal makes you feel in a quick and easy video on KashiSmileReview.com.

Please visit www.kashismilereview.com to get started (and to see example reviews).  Kashi will be reviewing all entries until the deadline (December 19th), so make sure to get those cameras rolling!  Your feedback will help Kashi make eating healthier something to smile about.

Portuguese Kale Soup

Some days are soup days, you just want warmth and comfort and a full belly with little effort.  Sunday was that day for me.  It was in the low 30's when I got up and I woke up knowing I was going to make soup.  I had picked up Chorizo at the store on Saturday with this soup in mind.  It's so incredibly good that between The Kid and myself, the entire pot of soup was gone by the end of the day.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb chorizo sausage 

1 quart chicken broth
1 large onion, roughly diced
4 large potatoes, cubed
1 bunch kale, stemmed washed & chopped (abt. 1 lb.)
fresh ground black pepper
salt (optional)

Cut sausage into bite sized pieces.

Heat oil in a heavy soup pot; saute the sausage& onion just until the fat is rendered, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Drain on paper towels.

Add other ingredients except kale

Bring to boil and simmer 10 minutes.

Add kale and simmer about 8 minutes until tender.

Taste for seasoning- depending on how spicy your sausage is, add salt and pepper to taste.

Granting wishes and baking Christmas cookies

I’m asking for a little help from my friends here.

'Tis the Season of holiday baking and giving, why not reach out and help grant the wishes of strangers in need of some holiday help.

I always make the same Christmas cookies and this year I’ve taken it upon myself to grant a few wishes at Wish Upon a Hero and help some people out with Christmas baking and mailing cookies and Christmas cards to help make their holiday a little brighter.

What I’m asking for here is if any of you would be willing to share a few cookie recipes with me by email @ inthekitchenwithme@gmail.com. I’ll pick a few and then post them up here along with pictures of the boxes that I’m going to send.

Thanks guys, it's very much appreciated.

Things I've learned this week

I am, in fact the lowest paid employee in my office.. although I've been there 6 years my file clerk who has been there for 3, brings home nearly $100 more than I do weekly.  What does that mean, you ask? It means that it's total bullshit and the first chance I get I'll be telling these people goodbye. I asked my boss for a raise in May and he acted like it was a big deal.. well, it looks like other people got the raises they deserved and I got bullshit, so they can shove it.

Bitter? No.  Utterly and completely pissed off, yes.  I'm not here to play games and I've been trying to move out of my apartment for 2 years now and can't because of the bullshit pay I make here.

Reynolds non stick foil is some seriously awesome stuff, the best I've ever used.

You never forget how to care for a newborn.

There is no rule that you have to be nice to your co-workers every day, esp when you work with an office like mine where 90% of the ladies are in their own clique.

You can't choose your family, even though you might wish you could.

Some people are chronic procrastinators and no matter how hard you try, you can't change them.

There are never enough leftovers of what you really like.

It really hurts to be under appreciated.

One of the best things in life is knowing you're doing a huge favor for someone.

Holidays aren't the same without my best friend.

OMG, Thanksgiving is this week! Cranberry sauce should not come from a can

I'm not ready.

Seriously.. this is insane.

Who's idea was it for time to fly bye this year? Not mine, that's for sure.

*sigh*

OK.. so Thanksgiving.

I'm having dinner with my aunt this year.. time with my family.. should be interesting to say the least.

I've been told to come early to help cook.. because if I don't nobody will be eating before 6.

I'm making fresh cranberry sauce, because I do not and will not eat that crap that comes in a can.


This recipe has very few ingredients and it's fairly easy to put together.. I've been making this since The Kid was just a little peanut and he's never had the stuff from a can.


Ruby Red Relish

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 (12 ounce) bag cranberries, rinsed and picked through (because stems are not tasty)
2 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon orange zest

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat bring sugar and water to a boil. Add cranberries, apples, cinnamon and allspice.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until cranberries pop - about 8 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in orange peel.
4. This can be made up to 3 days in advance and stays in the refrigerator up to 7 days in a tightly sealed container. (but it never lasts that long, lol).

Friday Flip Off's 11/19/10

Is it Friday yet?

Yes?

Finally!  I'm just gonna flip this whole Damn week off and give the rundown.





Big, hugs and a huge Thank you to MommaKiss for being the grateful host to the Friday Flip off’s.

This week started with me in a bad mood...  My boss is a cheap fuck tightwad and to be honest with y'all.. I'm getting a little seriously tired of making so much less than everyone who works here... I've been here almost 6 years and I should be bringing home a lot more than I do. I’m actively looking for another job but right now I figure to just wait until the new year because I really need my week off at the end of December.. I work all damn year just to have that week off.

I hate my apartment.. (shocking, right?) The detest for this Godforsaken place gets worse daily.  Between the TV blasting until 11:30PM and the wake up noise at 5:30 it should be enough.. But no.. it’s the constant humming noise that comes through my bedroom ceiling as soon as these people are home and goes on for hours. I have no idea what it is, but it’s continuous. You hear it turn on, you hear it running and you feel a sense of peace wash over you when it turns off. Sometimes to just have it turn right back on again and then you feel it back in your bones again. I can’t even describe the sound... maybe something like an amp turned on all the way to Ten left speaker side down on the floor over your head.. Something to that effect.

I haven’t had a full night’s sleep all week & I don’t know what’s really bothering me but it’s starting to piss me off.. I can’t get to sleep until well after 11 because of the noise upstairs and then I’m fighting to fall asleep.. When I finally do it’s for maybe 2-3 hours and I’m up before the sun. I've needed massive amounts of concealer under my eyes so I don't look like the walking dead.. Bless MAC for making industrial strength concealer.

Thanksgiving is next week..? WTF? How? 2010 has been a whirlwind of a year that's gone bye way too damn fast.  I'll be off Wednesday baking pies for my family.. I haven't had Thanksgiving with my family in a long time.. it's gonna be interesting, lol.

Now, don't be a punk and get the code and link up with the rest of us Flippers

Sometimes it's the simple things...

Yesterday I was having a bad day.. I was hating my job & hating my apartment (so what else is new there) and blaming one on the other (My boss is a tightwad and I have no hopes of a better salary here so for now I'm stuck in my apartment because I don't make enough to move into a better place).

I miss my best friend like Crazy.. we haven't even spoken in a month and it doesn't help that she's in Africa with a 6 hour time difference.

To top it all off, I had the most disgusting lunch and my stomach was in knots by the time I got home.

When I walked in I sat on my bed to talk to The Kid while he was on the computer playing his game online with his dorky friends, when my phone beeped that I got a text...

It was The Guy

And in an instant my day got better.
♥
Sometimes all it takes is a reminder that you're loved and cared about to make things better..

I'm a fairly simple girl.. it doesn't take much... ☺

In the words of Andy Wood
♪"Love is all good people need, and music sets the sick ones free, without love no one ever grows no one will ever sing"♫

Cooking on a Budget, day 7

Almost forgot to post this...

This is a very simple recipe, easy to throw together and have in around half an hour...

Pasta e Fagiole

Friday Flip Off's 11/12/10

It's Friday again already? Some days I don't know if I'm coming or going.

Thanks to MommaKiss for hosting the Flippage






First off: Flip off to my EX-hairdryer.. yes you lasted almost 5 years.. but it was really unnecessary of you to start to smoke and crap out when I was only 1/4 through blowing my hair out on Sunday night, at 10:00.  Monday was a hair tied up day (even though it was cold as hell and I really wanted my hair down). On the upside, the Awesome, albeit Pink hairdryer that I got on sale for $10 marked down from $35 is freaking awesome & makes my hair all shiny

To the Bitch across the street who's "perfect at everything" kid's in my kid's class, flip off.  Just because I'm a young single mom and you're not doesn't make you better than me, so quit looking down at me whenever you see me.

2010, Flip off.. Really, I've been more broke this year than I have been in a long time, I just can't seem to make ends meet at the end of the month and it's making me crazy.  It's not even like I'm going nuts buying stuff, because I'm not... so this week I haven't bought anything except a new hairdryer.  I haven't used the debit card except to get groceries last night (another $25 week) and Gas this morning.  I try to save, but I gotta keep taking it back out.. so I've surrendered and had to stop my automatic transfer.. at least until next month when I better get my shit together.

Christmas commercials.. Flip the hell off.. they didn't even wait for Halloween to be over this year and wtf is up with the commercials ratting parents out as Santa? That seriously pisses me off.. Just announce that y'all have layaway without the fanfare. Christmas is for Kids to believe in Miracles, not a reminder that us parents are broke and have to put shit on layaway.  I haven't even started Christmas shopping.. I have a sick day somewhere between now and 12/22 that will be dedicated to that shit Task.

Speaking of Christmas Flip off pine needles from the tree from last year, which turns out was the driest tree ever! I'm still vacuuming up needles that pop up in odd places like the middle of the kitchen and in the crevices in between the stairs.  I live in the driest basement ever.. EVER.  I'm most likely succumbing to getting a fake tree this year, I really don't want to and it makes me hate this apartment even more, but I really have no choice... unless I get a really small potted tree but then there's still the issue with the pine needles.

Ugh.. One more.. Flip off this goddamn sore throat that decided to sneak up on me last night.. feels like I swallowed a lit match and a handful of pine needles. Yay, I'm sick just in time for the weekend when I was supposed to see my cousin & her baby.. FML.

Now, don't be a punkass and get the code and link up with the rest of us flippers:

Cooking on a Budget, day 6

I learned a valuable lesson last night, well.. this morning actually.  Don't put rice in the crock pot overnight because in the morning you will have a pot of mush.  In my own defense the mush turned out to taste good, but it looked... well...like mush.

Que sera sera though.. right?

Last night after dinner I took the leftover tomato sauce and dumped it into the crock pot along with the last 3 pieces of chicken, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning, 1/3 cup white cooking wine, turned the crock pot Onto High and let it cook until 10, took the bones out because by now the chicken was soft and perfect.

Now, here is where I made the big mistake.

I added 2 cups of water and a cup of rice, then I turned the crock pot down to warm.  I gave it a good stir, put the lid on and went to bed.

The smart thing to do would have been to just cook the rice separately and stir it in at the end, but Apparently I'm a jackass.

This morning when I got up... it was a pot of mush.  It tasted awesome though.  But instead of leaving this to sit any longer in the fridge I packed it up in 2 plastic containers for myself and The Kid to have for lunch.. and surrendered the rest to sit in the fridge and hopefully if I get some Mozzarella cheese I can make something better with it (I'm in no place to be throwing perfectly good food out at this point).

Lesson learned = no more rice in the crock pot.. at least not for hours on end.

Cooking on a budget, day 5: Sicilian Fish Stew with Tomato and Parsley

Parent Teacher conferences were today, so I left work at 3 for my scheduled appointments with The Kid's teachers (and all went well, thankfully).  I was home by 4 which was awesome since 1. I skipped lunch and was starving and 2 I had a little extra time to work on a good dinner.

I had the 2nd pack of Tilapia that I had bought on Saturday and that had to be used today.  I got a little tired of always having the fish the same way, so I did a little searching online and then tweaked a recipe that had the ingredients that I had at home and it came out really, really good.

I got this recipe from Epicurious


Sicilian Fish Stew with Tomato and Parsley

6 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup chopped tomato ( about 1 medium)
1 1/3 cups cold water
2/3 cup dry white wine
2 pounds mixed fish fillets (such as sea bass, shark, orange roughy, cod and snapper), cut into 2-inch pieces


Heat olive oil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and sauté 4 minutes. Add parsley and stir 2 minutes. Add tomato and cook 2 minutes longer. Add 1 1/3 cups cold water and dry white wine and simmer until fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Season stew to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Cooking on a Budget, day 4

I was unbelievably happy when I realized that I had venison in my fridge late on Sunday night.  One of my co-workers gave it to me from her hubby, he's a hunter and they're the only two in the house who will eat it so he's nice enough to share a little with me.

Not many people like venison, but it's something I ate every so often growing up and thankfully the kid likes it too.

Last night when I got home from work I took 2 venison steaks out of the freezer and let them thaw out in the fridge for a few hours.  Before I went to bed I cut the partially thawed steaks into cubes, seasoned them with salt and pepper and let them sit in the bowl for a while as I cubed up a few medium sized red potatoes, 2 carrots, one celery stalk, 1/4 of a large white onion and half a Roma tomato. I tossed the veggies onto the bottom of the crock pot and the meat went on top, cover on and cooked it overnight (about 6 hours)

Cooking on a budget, day 3

This recipe is, well.. it's an experiment.  The Pizzeria by my office makes a chicken club pizza.. this is loosely based on that.

It's sort of a crock pot chicken club.

1/4 onion, chopped
4 chicken thighs, skin removed
4 slices turkey bacon, chopped
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1 Roma tomato, chopped

In a pan over medium heat add bacon and heat for 1-2 minutes, add onion and a pinch of salt.  Sautee until the bacon is just a little bit crispy and the onions are translucent.

Line the crock pot with a crock pot liner (if you don't have any an oven bag will do).  I always line my crock pot because cleaning that dang thing is a royal pain.

Bacon & Onion first on the bottom
chicken
ranch dressing
1 tsp Dry Italian seasoning
1 Roma tomato
Pinch of salt (to taste)

Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours
Add tomato in the last 1/2 hour

Serve with a salad or a side of veggies.

Now, it may not be pretty but it's pretty damn good.

Vanilla Coke

It’s a very rare occasion that you’ll find me drinking soda.  I don’t really like it, there’s too much sugar (and diet soda = Poison) the carbonation burns my throat, but for some wicked reason (pms) I’ve been craving vanilla coke for the past few days.

Now, the only place I can get Vanilla coke is at the Walgreens by my office, or surrender to the 12 pack at Stop & Shop (and that’s not gonna happen) So I did the next best thing..

I bought a bottle of Caffeine free coke and added ½ tsp of home made vanilla extract

Served in a glass over ice it was perfect.

Cooking on a budget, day 2

This morning when I got up and started my coffee I also started the tomato sauce, I like it cook it for a few hours on low heat to get that same flavor like my grandma's sauce.  This isn't grandma's recipe.. but it tastes pretty damn close.

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 can water
1 clove garlic, minced
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1 tbs olive oil

In a large pot over very low heat sautee the garlic in the oil just long enough for the oil to get flavor 2-3 minutes, don't brown the garlic.

Pour in the tomatoes and stir, add 1/2 can water
add basil leaves

cover and let cook over low heat 1 hour, stirring every so often so the bottom doesn't burn
add the next 1/2 can of water and let cook for an hour or so longer, either until you're ready to eat or can't stand how good it smells and have to eat, lol.

For lunch I just boiled up some pasta and fixed a salad and we were good.

For dinner I went and made up a batch of meatballs with the ground beef that I bought yesterday (that I didn't realize was only good until today)  I made 12 small meatballs, Spaghetti and another salad.

Now we have leftovers for the kid to eat tomorrow when he comes home from school and enough for me to take for lunch tomorrow too.

Cooking on a budget.. 6 days $25

To say I'm broke this week is an understatement.. it's going to be one of those weeks.

I went to the grocery store yesterday with one thing in mind...get what's needed to make 5 dinners with enough for leftovers so kid won't starve after school and I can bring in lunch.

Luckily I have a freezer full of frozen veggies, so that's one thing that was already ticked off the list when I got to the store.

What I bought was:
5 28 oz cans of Hunts Crushed tomatoes (on sale for 5 for $4)
1 package turkey bacon (on sale for $1.99)
4 different kinds of pasta (@$.79/each)
1 family size pack of chicken thighs (6 pieces @$5.69)
1 loaf whole wheat bread ($1.99)
2 packages of Tilapia, 3 pieces each (@$2.75 each)
1 can cannelini beans (@1.50)
1 package ground beef (@.3.49)

The only thing I anticipate having to get this week is milk.

Last night I made one of the packages of Tilapia, coated in seasoned flour (red pepper flakes, a few shakes of old bay, pinch of salt, pinch of cumin, pinch of black pepper) and pan sauteed served with a side of broccoli sauteed with 1 tsp minced fresh garlic, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and a pinch of sea salt.

Right now I have a pot of tomato sauce on the stove and I might make a batch of small meatballs later.

I'll be posting the dinner recipes every night for the rest of the week.. this is going to be an adventure.  Thankfully my kid isn't a picky eater.

Friday Flip Off's 11/5/10

Happy Friday!!! Jeebus Friday took forever to get here.. between 2 days of morning detention and then The Kid's realization that he actually LIKES to get to school that early but then he was sick and then... well, then it was back to being there semi-on timeish, but not late. It's a start in the right direction at least.

Ok, well.. lets get this show on the road and start flipping off.. which, actually I have two giant flips and a mini flip this week.. so here goes..










Fuck You to my stupid asshole landlord  Big Empire State building sized flippin' fingers to my jerk asshole fucktard inconsiderate piece of crap landlord.. for leaving me this on Monday night. (Cell camera pic, didn't trust myself with the good camera for this one)

 That is only part of the mess too, the wall next to it from floor to ceiling and the whole 2 feet width of it my Entire kitchen floor (off white ceramic tiles) and the other side of that door and the wall too.  I had a piece of carpeting at the other side of that door that was so full of soot I had to toss it, as well as the mat I had on the floor in the kitchen by the sink.

This guy finally decided to turn the heat on Monday, ya know since it was like 30° on Sunday night it was the least he could so I don't get sick and die and not be able to pay my rent. asshole 


He didn't call, or knock on the door on Sunday or anything to just let me know that he was going into my apartment (which by law he's supposed to give me 24 hours notice) nothing.. the only way I knew he was down here (aside from the fucking mess he left me) was that the heat was on.  Had there not been soot marks, a shitty attempt at trying to clean the godforsaken mess up and boot tracks all over my off white kitchen floor I'd have never known he was even in here..but no. and the fucker never called me to apologize for the mess or anything, not one word.

When the kid got home on Monday he called me and said yes, the heat was on and OMG Mom, you're not going to believe the mess.  I didn't think it was going to be a tenth as bad as it really was..

When I got home Kid says to me "mom, don't be mad" and I was like, ok.. whatever it can't be that bad.. and holyshit I almost passed out!  after working 10 hours on Monday that was what I had to clean up.. for almost an hour.... scrubbing with Mrs.Meyers Clean day* diluted wasn't going to do it so I poured it full strength on a rag and to my surprise it worked.. you have no idea how happy I was that it did, because my next guess was gonna be to use bleach..  I scrubbed and rinsed and scrubbed some more and then attacked the floor.

The only thing I was happy about when I was done aside from the floor and the wall being clean (the door is now a very pale shade of gray) is that Mrs. Meyers Clean day smells freaking amazing.  So it didnt' smell like I was cleaning.. it just smelled... clean.

I need out of this apartment.. I need a second job to afford another apartment too.. why the hell is NY so damn expensive?

  Please send me some good luck wishes so I can get the hell outta this place by at least March, otherwise I may have a breakdown. I've had enough with these people and their blatant disrespect.

Flip off Daylight savings... I know I've been doing this every week but really.. is the time change even necessary anymore? It's just an inconvenience and that "extra hour" of sleep on Sunday is Bullshit.  I get up the same damn time anyway so what does it matter?

To my boss.. Flip off.  I've been coming in at 8 since school started and you compensate me with $50 for the Overtime? Really?  I feel so unappreciated in my office y'all have no idea.  I'm the receptionist, legal assistant, in house IT person and billing department. I'm the one who orders the office supplies, I'm the the only one who knows how to add postage to the postage meter (despite the detailed instructions on the wall), and the one who knows what file belongs to which attorney along with a gazillion other duties yet I get crapped on when it comes down to pay.  I am the lowest paid employee here, next to the file clerk who, at times makes more than I do.

 I've been here going on 6 years and I'm still making less than what most people start at nowadays. My boss knows my situation, he knows I don't get diddlysquat from the kid's "sperm donor" so rent, bills, clothes, stuff for school and anything my kid needs or I need has to be provided by me and only me, he knows I've been looking for an apartment for almost 2 years and can't find a place I can afford on my salary yet when I asked for a raise (the first in 3 years) I got a measly $25 extra a week, that's not even enough to fill my gas tank.

I've started to look for another job... and I think if I get one and I was offered fair compensation to stay.. I would stay because I genuinely do like it here, I just can't go on living paycheck to paycheck like this.


**Disclaimer**
I did not receive any kind of compensation for mentioning Mrs. Meyers or directing y'all to their site.  I had purchased the cleaner one day on a whim when I ran out of Method cleaner and I really liked the fresh scent. It cleans amazingly well and leaves no chemical odor at all.  I can't use Chemically smelling cleaners because The Kid gets really sick.  After using aerosol carpet cleaner just once, I wound up rushing him to the Dr because he couldn't breathe and she thought he had asthma, after a shot of steroids, an inhaler and albuterol for a week, it was some scary shit that I never want to go through again.  Poor kid barely was able to make it from the car to the Dr's office without having to stop to catch his breath.  Since then I've been very careful with what I use to clean my house and I never, ever use aerosol anything.

Now.. get together with all the other moms & dads.  Flip someone off today and don't forget to Link up, it's not that hard and this way Everyone shares in the flippin'

Foodie Blogroll & Marx Foods: Iron Foodie Contest!

Why do you want to compete in this challenge? 

 I feel my foodie skills slacking, with the lack of counterspace and lack of even a kitchen table in my tiny apartment I need to be challenged a little bit again

Limitations of time/space notwithstanding, whose kitchen would you like to spend the day in & why? Julia Child, Thomas Keller, Ferran Adria, James Beard, Marie-Antoine Careme, or The Swedish Chef?

The Swedish Chef of course!  He always uses the most unique ingredients, although his accent is a little hard to follow I’m sure I’d do fine.

What morsel are you most likely to swipe from family & friends’ plates when they aren’t looking? Roasted Potatoes

Sum your childhood up in one meal.

Pasta, home made meatballs, freshly grated cheese, salad and fresh Italian bread

The one mainstream food you can’t stand? 

Sushi.  My kid loves it, I want nothing to do with it.

..The Witch may be gone, but her replacement isn’t far off..

She’s not mean... but she’s so fakey nice that it’s sickening... and you know she’s full of shit anyway.

She will stand around and stare at you if she has to ask you something and you’re on the phone or having a conversation with someone. Most other peeps will walk away and come back at another time.. Nope not her..she stands there, looming like a dark shadow.  So you have to stop what you’re doing and be like WHAT!?!? or.. Yes, can I help you? In a totally exaggerated annoyed tone like Can I.     Help youuuuuu?

She decided when she’s gonna take lunch and for how long.  We get paid lunch hour here and I get extremely pissed off when people take advantage. I rarely take lunch unless I have to do something important, I hate losing my parking spot and really hate parking on the upper level of the parking garage here.

When she started here, it was like she had no idea what she was doing.. She didn’t know how to use the fax machine for christsakes! She would ask me or the file clerk how to do a Dr’s authorization and other paperwork that should come as second nature to someone who’s supposedly been doing this for 35 years.

I’m not saying everyone here is perfect...and, unlike the witch, she actually does work. But she spends a shitload of time on the phone with personal calls.  I just think that these guys should have maybe interviewed more than just one chick for the job before deeming her perfect.  Because in all honesty people do fudge on their resumes and just calling her last employer who may have been sympathetic towards her does not make her the right person for the job.

New lady recently decided she was going to invite herself to lunch with the other girls here who were sitting in the back conference room having lunch, and when it was over one of the ladies here who thoroughly enjoys  chatting it up with the other girls and her time not sitting at her desk said she would rather sit at the Deli next door by herself than have to endure another lunch hour with that woman.  I almost died laughing!!!  Apparently new lady spend the whole hour talking about her “stomach issues” and how much she loves food. Yea, you just really want to hear about someone’s ïntestinal distress”while trying to enjoy your lunch... Um, eww, and no thanks.

Friday Flip Off's 10/29/10

It's Flip Off Friday yet again... This week has been a fast one!





Lets first say a Grand Thank You and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our gracious host MommaKiss.  Thanks for being there when I need ya.

Now.. without hesitation let the Flipping begin!

First off... my kid's math teacher for giving him MORNING Detention and Ruining MY day.  stupid bullshit gotta be at school by 7:15 detention. What the hell happened to after school detention like we all had to suffer with?  Morning detention can kiss my ass.  So where am I at 7:30? Instead of being home getting ready to leave enjoying my coffee I'm AT WORK. The sun wasn't even up when we left the house at 7!  It's gonna be a loooong freaking day.

Next up.  Coffee.  Flip off Coffee manufacturers who think it's OK to charge $7 for a can of my (wonderful, aromatic, delicious) Lavazza Espresso. It's not even that it went up a couple cents.. it went up over $1! Starbucks can flip off too for a $6 latte, forget it. I got a pumpkin Latte from Dunkin Donuts that was so nasty  2 sips in and it went down the drain.  I was so hoping for a better experience with Starbucks that I was so crushed when it wasn't much better than the sludge I got from DD.

Flip off Nintendo for making me have to wait until at least March for the 3ds.  I was hoping this would be out in November so I could get it for The Kid for Christmas.. at this rate he's not gonna have it for his birthday either.. maybe Easter, but I'm not hopeful.  It's not helping the situation that his current DS decided to bite the dust a few weeks ago either.

One more week of driving home in the daylight before F"ing daylight savings begins.  I hate it. Flip off Daylight Savings.

I hate to say it, but the fucktards upstairs have been, dare I say it...almost civil this week... almost.  Aside from the 5am wake up call from Fucktard kid#2 on Monday and the incessant noise until Midnight last night it's been, well... pretty quiet.  Not nearly as quiet as when they went on vacation for 2 weeks 2 years ago (it was Absolute friggin' Bliss) but fairly bearable.

I can't believe Halloween is Sunday.  My kid will be trick or treating.. because, why not?  I have a neighborhood full of old grumpy people who don't like trick or treaters.. so we'll be taking a drive to the neighborhood by his school and hoping for some good candy.

Have a Great weekend everyone!
Keep your Trick or treaters safe and remember to check the candy.  The weirdest thing I ever found in my kid's TOT bag was a snack size ziplock baggie full of peanuts and pennies.. it got tossed.  every once in a while there will be candy that looks a little open, that gets tossed too, people are nuts and I'd rather not take chances with my kid... no matter how old he is.

Now, Link up with us crazy Momma's and Flip off whatever's pissing ya off.

So the General consensus is I need a stand mixer

Granted, I might not really exactly have the counter space for it, but If I don't want to make myself crazy making 150 batches of cookies using the little hand mixer I have I need a stand mixer.  I was determined to get one last year... but then I just didn't have the $$$ for the Kitchen Aid that I wanted.  I almost crumbled and got a crappy one, but all the bad reviews changed my mind.  It's not worth spending money, no matter how much if it's not going to work to the capacity that you need it to.

I love baking, but it's a chore with a little hand mixer because you're limited as to the amount of dough you can make in one batch without blowing out the motor like me & the bestie did when making the train cake for her son's birthday this past April.  We made so much buttercream frosting and vanilla cake that halfway through the icing the motor died on her mixer and I drive the half an hour ride back and forth just to go home, grab a change of clothes for myself & the kid and grab my hand mixer.. it was a long night, we were baking and decorating until 2am.  It was totally worth it though :)

This thing was immense.  It was as long as her dining room table with the extender leaf put in.  We had a blast making it.

Wordless Wednesday This is the coolest Pumpkin.. it will be carved tonight to make it cooler though

Fish baked in Puff pastry or if you want to be fancy, Fish en croute

I’ve found a new friend in Puff Pastry (I’m sure I’ll grow tired of it soon, but for now it’s fun creating new things with it)

Last night I wanted to do something different than the usual pan seared Tilapla that I usually do.  I like Tilapia because it’s not a fishy fish, it’s pretty inexpensive and it’s readily available at my local supermarket.

When I started making the Tilapia I found a recipe online that I still kinda hold close when making it, but I make my own variations.  I dust the fish in seasoned flour (whatever I feel like using, which always contains at least salt, pepper and red pepper flakes but has recently included old bay) and then I sautee it in a little bit of canola oil and finish it with lemon juice.

Sunday night I looked at the fish in the fridge and decided I wanted to do something different with it. So I took the fish and put it in a zippy bag and *gasp* I poured in some of the marinade that I was using for the chicken.. A chili lime marinade that is so incredibly good.

And I just left it in the fridge overnight.

Now, I know that you don’t usually marinate fish for that long. But I work full time so what was I gonna do? Take it out in the morning? No.. I was determined it was gonna taste good.

When I got home last night I turned on the oven to 350̊, rolled out the puff pastry and cut it into 3 even pieces then stretched it a bit more so that it could be neatly crimped around the fish like neat little packages, brushed the packets with egg wash and baked for 30 minutes.

While the fish was in the oven I washed and trimmed the stems off a bunch of spinach and gave it a rough chop. Minced a clove of garlic and then Poured some canola oil into my pan, I heated the garlic and a teaspoon of red pepper flakes over low heat just to release the oil, turned the heat up a bit and added the spinach a little at a time until it was wilted and just a tiny bit crispy.  I finished that with some sea salt and lemon juice.

Now y’all know my kid is not the picky type, but I was a little concerned that he wasn’t going to like the fish.. Well, boy was I wrong because he gobbled up every last bite.  It really was very good and the fish was perfect and looked so pretty. Sorry about the crappy Cell phone pic.. I hate it when I realize I made something that looks really good ad the battery in my camera is dead.

I love when I try something for dinner and it's a total success. :)

Friday Flip Off's 10/22/10

First, Fuck you Flip Off Cancer.. really.. just go die. (don't y'all wish it was that easy to tell cancer to just fuck off and it would go away forever?)

I've got MommaKiss over there with her girl A who lost her "girls" yesterday to that damn bitch and then I've got my girl who's in Portugal and who will be on her way to Mozambique tomorrow (really, God help me here, I can just feel the white hairs sprouting,) I know she wouldn't be doing this shit on this journey if her mom was still here.. but no, Cancer took her mom last October. Not six weeks after being diagnosed, mom was gone.

Flip off people who think it's OK to edit someone else's writing, change their words and feelings and ruin the whole feeling of said written word.  Yea, I'm Mighty pissed about that one, it meant a lot to me and I expected it to be left alone.

Flip off stores that think it's OK to have Christmas stuff moved in along with the Halloween stuff.  THAT IS NOT OK.  Stop pushing the seasons and let things be like they're supposed to... it's not benefiting anyone, it just makes the holiday season more stressful when you've gotta shove it down our throats.

Flip off Daylight savings.. I know you're coming.. and I hate you!  I hate driving home from work in the dark, makes me feel like I spend even more of my life in that damn place.

Can I give growing up a flip off too?  yea? then good.. here goes:
Flip off growing up.. I'm not ready for this shit.. my kid is like 6' tall and getting facial hair.  Seriously.. I"m not ready for this. AT.ALL.
I've got my cousin asking me if kid's gonna start Drivers Ed next year.. NO.. Please don't drive me to drink. Kid's a winter baby, he'll have to wait until the next year to do Drivers Ed.  And he's not driving my truck, that's for sure, Bestie almost broke my truck before she left, and she was just moving it in her driveway.. *sigh*

7 months from today is my birthday.. then hopefully the bestie will be back here in the states and will rethink this life adventure she's got going on. I seriously miss her like crazy. doing ok so far holding myself together, just a minor breakdown here & there.

Now, of course my week isn't complete without flipping off my assclown landlord.. so here goes:
Flip off jackass landlord.. if your TV is loud enough to wake me out of a sound sleep at 5:30am IT'S TOO GODDAMN LOUD!
It's been like 40° at night, Turn on the damn heat!
The wife stomping around in her heels at midnight? Look, I don't give a shit what kind of night job she's got but take the damn shoes off in the house, heels on the hardwood floor are seriously annoying to the people who live downstairs.

Now, join in the fun and flip off your week here with the rest of us

Apple dumplings

This is quite possibly the most perfect thing to come out of this kitchen in a while.. and I seriously can't believe how easy it was.

Apple-y goodness.

1 sheet of puff pastry cut into 6 squares
1 gala apple, quartered and sliced thin
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp flour
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400°
in a bowl mix together apples, raisins, sugar, flour and pumpkin spice
place 4-s slices of apple and about a teaspoon of the sugar mixture in the center of the square
fold up the corners and pinch the ends closed
place on parchment lined baking sheet
brush the tops with the egg wash
Bake for 20 minutes
Viola

Friday Flip Off's 10/15/10

It’s that time of the week again... Oh yah Baby.... Friday Flip Off’s.  MommaKiss is hosting again so lets join her in the weekly flipping off of stuff






  I would like to make my first Fuck you Flip off to my Landlord and his asshole family Oh yeah.. The whole damn gang this time.

 Saturday, after very emotional farewell to my bestie before her Portugal adventure all I wanted to do was go home and sleep (and cry, but my kid gets upset when I cry so I keep that to myself).. But the Fucktards upstairs decided that it was time for another party. (This has been every weekend for the past month or so now)  Tv was blaring inside, the obnoxious Columbian music was blaring outside and I got pissed and started to cry.. Then my kid got pissed and he went and asked the Fucktard General to please turn the Tv inside down. And it went down a smidge.

 After midnight (after like 3 hours sleep the night before and already 8 hours of listening to this bullshit) I was thisclose to calling the cops when they showed up. I heard the doorbell ring upstairs and then all was quiet.

My neighbor on one side is a sweet old lady who is suffering from breast cancer (again, mind you.) I’m thinking if it wasn’t her who called it was her son who lives across the street.

Yea, my landlord and his whole family are a bunch of total assholes with no respect for anyone.

One more flip.. to this Damn twitch under my right eye... Stop it already.. it's annoying!

Other than that I can't complain about this week.. sad as hell that my bestie has moved away and I'm trying to deal.. but shit, I miss her :(.

Join the other Momma's in the flippage this week here:

Wordless Wednesday

A Broken Rule, but some Sweet Apple pies

I don't buy prepackaged things..especially if it's something I can do myself, but I broke this rule on Sunday.

After buying the apples last week at the Farmers market over by work I wanted to make something with them, but I was so uninspired.  I put a shout out onto Twitter for something to do with these apples when my friend Allyson gave me a link to some apple puffs made with puff pastry.

I could have sworn I had puff pastry in the freezer so when the kid called me when he got home I asked him to take the box of pastry dough out of the freezer.

When I got home I realized I was mistaken.. it was Phyllo.

I used it anyway, but it wasn't the outcome I wanted, they were good, but I wasn't happy with the phyllo texture.

When I made a stop at the local supermarket on Sunday after doing my laundry I had in my head to get puff pastry.. but the only kind they had was $6 a box, and I just didn't have the extra $ to splurge on that this week so I stood there for a minute and let the wheels spin to find an alternative.

Then it dawned on me.. Crescent rolls!

But then again, no.. they were $4 for the big ones (Friggin' overpriced local supermarket)

So I scanned the shelves and I decided on a tube of Grands rolls.. those should work.

And ya know what?

They worked!

This is what I did

1. 2 medium sized appled, cut into small pieces (I used 1 Fuji &1 Granny Smith)
2. 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3. 2 teaspoons flour
4. 1 teaspoon lemon juice
5. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
6. 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
7. 1 tube of refrigerated flaky biscuits
8. 1 egg, slightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 400°f

In a medium sized bowl mix together the first 6 ingredients

Pull apart the biscuits and stretch them out to about 4 inch rounds

Line a baking sheet with Parchment

Add a tablespoon of the apple mixture to each round and take the left and right sides and pinch them together, then do the same with the top and bottom (like a little dumpling with open ends)

Brush the dough with the egg (or if you're like me and don't have a pastry brush just use your fingers)

Bake for 8-10 minutes until the dough is puffy & golden.

Let cool & enjoy.

These were so good I can't wait to make them again!

So it's official

The bestie is in Portugal.   She packed up her suitcases while I sat on the floor with her on Friday night.  I stayed at her house on Friday night too with the kid, it was bittersweet. I spent a good portion of my teenage years in that house, lots and lots of great memories. I spent more time there than my own house growing up.  I'm really sad that we're not gonna ever be in that house again.

It was seriously hard leaving there yesterday.

I stayed up and tracked her flight last night and was relieved when they landed an hour ahead of schedule. I don't like flying.. I've been to Florida twice in my life and I'm lucky I made it that far because I wanted to kiss the ground when I landed.

She said she's just going on vacation. (A seriously extended vacation).  I won't see her again until June.

I told her I love her... and that she's a crazy bitch for doing this, but I love her nonetheless.

What the hell am I supposed to do now?

I need a webcam... and suggestions as to what's the best one that's not gonna break the bank.

Now is the time this guy in my life needs to step up and be here for me the best he can.. I hope he realizes this.  I rarely talk about him... sometimes it's very complicated.. and I wish it wasn't so much with us.

I might slip a little sometimes, just don't let me fall.

Friday Flip Off's 10/8/10

Friday Flip Off's 10/8/10







Dear Friday October 8, 2010,
I hate you.  Instead of taking your sweet time to get here you rushed ahead like you were in for a big prize.  I’m not happy you’re here and I am incredibly sad that you’ve arrived.

You suck!
Ashley

Bestie’s leaving tomorrow night. I won’t see her again until late June (hopefully she’ll be here for my birthday).  I’ve got skype so we can chat.. I still need to get a webcam though.  This day got here so fast.. She told me she was thinking about moving on June 18th and when she got back from Portugal on July 31st it was all set in stone that yea, they were definitely moving and the wheels set in motion... from then on in time has just flown bye.

BBQ at her house tonight.. There will be tears, lots and lots of tears.. See, I’m crying again, I’ve been so good at keeping my emotions in check.... there goes that.  If I seem to go missing please give me a kick in the ass via email or Twitter @ChefAshbabe.  I’m gonna try my best not to lose it.. I’m not losing her, she’s just going on an extended vacation.  I told her she has to move back in 5 years, I’m hoping she holds to it.

This is my only flip of the day... otherwise it’s been a pretty decent week aside from the crazy ass weather.

Join my fellow Friday Flippers here:

That is one big fishie

I wasn't kidding when I posted that my favorite fish was Swedish.

I grabbed some at Walgreens this morning when I stopped to get milk for the office (we have a shop in the lobby, they charge $2.75 for a quart of milk, which is totally freaking outrageous.

Anyway... in this box of fish.. I got this

.. 

Looks like a harmless little fishie doesn't it... 

Except for the fact that he's twice the size as normal fishie

 That's a normal fishie.. 

Yes, I'm slightly warped.. it's why y'all keep coming back for more, lol.

The Suburban Farmers Market

I really Love the fact that there's a farmers market at the courthouse every Tuesday from September-November.   Not only is it totally out of left field (because, really? In the courthouse parking lot?) but the vendors are from some local establishments (like The Cupcake Corner) and from upstate farms.

I got myself a pound of McIntosh  apples along with a quart of some little dainty apples (I don't know what they're called, they're not lady apples but they're about the size of a Q-ball and crunchy)

They have all kinds of fresh baked bread, veggies and fruit, home made pastas and sauces and all kinds of meat.. it's great!

But, being I only had $8 on me this morning (money left over from the weekend, because I hardly ever carry cash) all I got was the apples and a quart of cider ( I love fresh apple cider).

I'm going to make something apple-y tonight.. I can't wait because this damn weather can bite me.  It's been raining since Sunday night, and it's cold and crappy.. I mean, it's cloudy, windy and only 60° right now.  I hate this weather... but then again, it's not 22° and snowing so I should really shut up and stop complaining.

So, yea.. Apples.. I'll be baking tonight.. and blogging about it tomorrow :)

Apples!

I'm really kicking myself for not getting apples yesterday when I went grocery shopping, but then again I've been nothing but disappointed in the produce I get from Stop & shop.

Searching online and the closest place to go apple picking is over an hour away.

Farmers market by work is every Tuesday, hopefully if I have cash on hand (which doesn't happen often) and I have enough time I'll stop there.. which isn't helping me now... but good enough.

I'd go ahead and order myself a FruitGuys box, but then again.. I'm kinda broke since it's the beginning of the month and all my bills need to be paid before I can think of myself. (really, I love my job, but getting really sick of being the lowest paid employee).

I have 6 days until my bestie leaves for Portugal, I"m taking Friday off so we can hang.. it's the only thing I have to look forward to before the impending doom of her departure. :(

This is going to be a very interesting week and I'm absolutely certain it will be the fastest week of my life.

Friday Flip Off 10/1

Here we go Friday Flip Off's






First off Fuck Flip off October! I wasn't ready for you but here you are.  Now as I face the impending doom of my best friend moving to Portugal she's leaving next Saturday!  It's no longer weeks, it's down to days. (Please pray for my sanity)  Bare with me if I have a nervous breakdown, I apologize in advance.

 I’d like to flip off Sealy.  Sealy Posturepedic.. You suck!  I bought a mattress 4 years ago from Sleepy’s and it sucks.. One sided no flip piece of crap mattress. My back hurts constantly and no amount of extra cushion from a memory foam mattress pad is going to make it better.  You know this thing sucks when I’d rather sleep on the futon than lay down in my own damn bed.

Flip off this damn pinched nerve in my neck/shoulder area.  I’m a rightie, so of course it’s gotta be on the right side, and don’t even ask about the 5000000 times I have to answer the phone here and when I’m holding the phone on my shoulder while I take messages... ARRGH!

Flip off Rain! It’s been raining almost all damn week and it almost totally screwed with my plans to hang with the girls last night... the 60MPH winds were scary as hell driving home in, but we made it.

Y'all KNOW there can't be a week without some kind of bullshit nonsense from the assmonkeys upstairs.. so FLIP OFF Landlord, bitchface wife or one of the 2 punkass kids that thought it was OK to listen to music/TV/play video games or whateverthefuck that noise was coming through my bedroom ceiling until 1:30 am last night while I was trying to sleep. Yes, I didn't get home until 11, but honestly it's none of their goddamn business and if I'm home By Law they need to have courtesy after 10pm, which (of course) they do not. so, Flip off asswads.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so Feel your Boobies and together we can kick cancer's ass.

It's the beginning of a new month so lets Kick it..

Wordless Wednesday

Here we go again: Friday Flip Off's

So it's Finally Friday again, time for the Friday Flip Off's hosted by my gal MommaKiss.



First off I'd like to flip off Fall.. I'm all for the changing of the leaves to the pretty fall colors, but I don't like cold weather and don't even get me started on Daylight Savings, that's a whole load of crap all together.  My summer totally SUCKED, but even with that being said I hate to see it go because that means that my bestie is leaving.  You can read about that ordeal Here.






Second, after reading MommaKiss' heartfelt note about her bestie's ordeal with cancer, I'd like to join her (as well as all the awesome peeps who commented in support) to tell cancer to Fuck Off.  Cancer took my dad and my grandma and just last October it took my bestie's mom. So I raise my voice and shake my fist and scream FUCK OFF Cancer, you Evil Bitch.






Of course a week can’t go bye without me flipping off my assclown of a landlord.. Because of this:

it's mold.  In the utility closet in my bedroom. I would never have known it was there had it not been the incessant drip drip drip I heard last Friday morning. I went to inspect Friday nite, and the assclown took a look on Saturday and said to me “no, it’s just the paint” No fucker, it’s Mold. I ordered a test kit to get solid proof.  The incessant dripping was water coming from somewhere in the ground dripping out from the circuit breaker (oh yah, that's safe.)  You all have NO idea how I can't wait to get the hell out of this apartment.


I'd like to Flip off my kid's first period teacher, but she's kinda right in her being pissed with his Chronic Lateness Disorder and threatening to mark him late and give him detention.. but DAMN it's 7:45 in the morning.. and despite my best efforts it's not that easy to get this kid moving in the morning.. it's gotten better this week (because honestly, who wants to sit through detention at the end of the school day?)  So, OK, Fine I won't flip off the teacher.. but I will flip off the asshat genius who thought school should start at friggin' 7:45am.

It's Friday Y'all.. so man up and check out these other great Friday flip off's and make the most of your weekend.