Friday, November 30, 2018

The Family Shirt

I've been looking for a flannel shirt (for myself).  One that is long enough to wear untucked, but, not too long so I can still tuck it in (if needed).

After a long search (it really wasn't that long), I found a shirt that I'm happy to wear.  I found it in the Men's department.

I wore "the shirt" when I went to visit my Mom.  My brother happened to be there.  I told him about the shirt.  Where I got it, etc.  A week later, while visiting my mom, and wearing "the shirt", in walks my brother wearing the same shirt!  He starts telling me how he bought this shirt, where, etc.  I said, it's nice.  Just like mine.

There we were....twinning.

I went home and I was talking to Nick.  He then moves closer and says, "Are you wearing my shirt?"

It seems we all have the same tastes in shirts in my family, so...

I'm expecting all family members to have "the shirt" in their wardrobe and to plan on wearing it to any and all family get togethers.  I'm sure we can get a family discount.

You're welcome, everyone.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

The Battle is On....

In this corner, our reigning temperature champion.  Able to feel out any temperature change within a few degrees.  Very quick on his feet.  Able to work those temperature dials at lightning speed.  He has been unchallenged for 24 years*.   He says there is no discussion about where the temperature dial is set.  He feels he can win any and all rounds in this area.

Meet our challenger.  She is a sneaky one!  Changing the temperature on the sly.  Watching as her children get blamed for any and all temperature changes in the house.  She likes the house nice and cool (especially in the winter months).  She will definitely put an end to any temperature adjustments.  Watch out!  She will not back down!

Who will win this season's Thermostat Controller?

Stay tuned.

*He did have to throw in the towel at one point during the challenger's pregnancy, but, he doesn't like to talk about it.

Monday, November 26, 2018

Deep Dish Cookie Pie - Vegan

This is a great vegan recipe that we used for our Cadette New Cuisines Badge.

Here's the recipe:

Deep Dish Cookie Pie

ingredients
2 cans white beans or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup applesauce
3 TBSP oil or 1/4 cup nut butter
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup brown sugar or refined sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

directions:
Put parchment paper into an 8x8 baking dish.
Blend everything except the chips very well in food processor.  Mix in chips and pour baking dish.  Cook at 350F for 35-40 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

*you can use a Vitamix
*I would cut down on the sugar to 3/4 of a cup, but, that's me.


I have made this recipe numerous times for my family.  No one can tell that there are beans in this dish.  A great dessert and healthy, too!

Enjoy!

Moroccan Couscous with Roasted Vegetables

Another recipe to go along with our New Cuisines Badge for Cadettes.  This can be served with our Grilled Moroccan  Chicken.

Here's the recipe:


Moroccan Couscous with Roasted Vegetables

ingredients:
1 large red bell pepper, diced
2 medium carrots, halved and sliced thin
1 small red onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, halved then sliced
4 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
2 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
salt
1 1/3 cups couscous
14.5 oz vegetable broth
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup raisins
1 14oz can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
3 TBSP minced fresh cilantro
2 TBSP minced fresh mint

directions:
Oven 475 Degrees.  Spray 18x13" rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.  Place bell pepper, carrots, onions and zucchini on baking sheet.  Drizzle with 1 TBSP olive oil and season with salt and toss to coat evenly.  Roast in oven about 15 minutes until tender, tossing halfway through roasting.  Then, move rack closer to broiler and broil for 1-2 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting..
In small bowl, whisk 3 TBSP olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and season some salt and set aside.  Bring chicken broth and turmeric to a boil.  Place couscous and raisins in a large mixing bowl and pour hot chicken broth over couscous and stir, cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 5 minutes.

Add roasted vegetables, chick peas, almonds and lemon mixture to couscous and toss to evenly coat.  Serve warm.


*we somehow purchased Quinoa instead of Couscous and it turned out perfectly.


Enjoy!

Grilled Moroccan Chicken

This is another recipe that went along with our New Cuisines Badge for Cadettes.

Here's the recipe:

Grilled Moroccan Chicken

ingredients:
1 1/2lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP minced garlic (3 cloves)
1 TBSP peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions:
Pound thicker parts of chicken breasts with flat side of meat mallet to even out thickness.  In medium bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, paprika, cinnamon, turmeric and cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place chicken in a gallon size resealable bag.  Pour marinade over chicken and seal bag while pressing out excess air.  Rub marinade over chicken breasts.  Transfer to refrigerator and allow to marinate at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.
Preheat grill over medium heat.   Grill chicken until center is 165 degrees on thermometer, about 4 minutes per side for 6oz breast.  Transfer to plate, then cover and keep warm for about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with cilantro and serve warm.


This can be served with the Moroccan Couscous with Roasted Vegetables.

Enjoy!

Classic Hummus

This is one of the recipes that we made for our New Cuisines Badge for Cadettes.  The center where we met did not have a Vitamix, so, we found a recipe using the food processor.  The hummus came out great!


Classic Hummus

Ingredients:
1 15oz can chick peas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
3 TBSP tahini
1-2 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup water or more if needed
*optional topping ideas:  extra drizzle of olive oil, chopped fresh parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, toasted pine nuts, chopped roasted red peppers, basil pesto

directions:
Add first seven ingredients to food processor, and blend until smooth.  You might want to scrape down the sides.  Add in the water and continue blending until the hummus reaches your desired consistency.  Add additional water if needed.


For something different, I like to chop up a jalapeño and make jalapeño hummus.  You can also chop up chipotle pepper and make a spicy chipotle pepper hummus.

Enjoy!

Cadette - New Cuisines Badge

Our troop normally meets for an hour, but, we made this into a field trip.  We were lucky that we have a teen center in our area.  The center is teen driven, giving opportunities for teens to explore and be leaders in various areas.  We had a teen volunteer teaching the girls how to cook a few dishes to complete this badge.  This meeting was about 3 1/2 hours long.

The girls made:

Classic Hummus (dish from a different time period)
Grilled Moroccan Chicken (from another country)
Moroccan Couscous with Roasted Vegetables, Chick Peas and Almonds *
Deep Dish Cookie Pie (dish that makes a statement:  Vegan)

*had to skip the almonds, due to an allergy in our troop


Our teen volunteer put the girls to work.  She split them up and had them working on various parts of the meal.  Every girl was able to help make a dish.

We have a girl with nut allergies, so, we had to select recipes that did not contain nuts.  We modified one of the recipes and just eliminated the Almonds.  We also have one girl who is a vegetarian (my child, of course) so we used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth in our Couscous recipe.  The girls were a little skeptical of the dessert (again, except for my child).  No flour or eggs.  They were pleasantly surprised at the result.

I had to marinate the chicken prior to the meeting.  The chicken had to be marinated at least 2 hours.  We didn't have time for the girls to do this during this meeting, so, I went ahead and did this step for them.

Once everything was cooked/baked, we all sat together and ate our meal.  The food came out delicious.  The girls were so excited about the meal they made.  We even had copies of the recipes for them to take home so they can make the meal for their families.

The center did not provide the food for this badge.  We had to purchase the groceries.  We were lucky that the center has a kitchen with utensils.  We priced various places for this badge and the prices ranged from $50 per girl (plus groceries) to $400 for a kitchen to cook in (not including groceries).  We felt this was the best deal (free venue and we paid for groceries).  Having a teen as an instructor was great.  She goes to the local high school and related well with the girls.  She also teaches a cooking class at the center once a week.

The next few posts will be the recipes for these dishes.  I'm trying to make it easy for those who want to get to these recipes for this meeting and, well, just to try the recipes.

Friday, November 23, 2018

Black Friday

It's here again!  

My Black Friday post!

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day and is the biggest shopping day of the year.  For retailers, it marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

For those of us working, it's a crazy, long, tiring day.  Make sure you take lots of vitamins and try to have fun.

If you are shopping, it can get a little crazy out there.  Be safe.

Also, be nice to the store employees.  

Here's a standing list of my black Friday songs:  

Man in Black - Johnny Cash
Paint It Black - The Rolling Stones
Back in Black - AC/DC
Black Cat - Janet Jackson
Black Magic Woman - Santana
Black or White - Michael Jackson
Black Widow - Iggy Azalea
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
Black - Pearl Jam
Blackbird - The Beatles
Black Betty - Ram Jam
Black Gold - Soul Asylum

Some additions this year:

Men in Black3 Back in Time - Pitbull
Black Night - Deep Purple
Black Rain - Soundgarden 
The Long Black Veil - Johnny Cash

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

What's that smell?

Bella had a few friends over for a sleepover.   The next morning, when I returned from my walk, I noticed an odor as I was walking into the house.  This awful smell greeted me.  I immediately went to the kitchen, thinking it had to be the garbage.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?), it wasn't the garbage.  I searched the family room, thinking it may have come from the dog.

RT, sitting comfortably in the dining room, said that it's probably coming from the basement.

Me:  What smells in the basement?

RT:  It's probably the girls.

Now, if it was Alex and his friends sleeping over, a nasty  gross  bad smell coming from the basement wouldn't surprise me.  But, with a few girls, who probably showered prior to coming over and who believe in smelly body sprays, I found this hard to believe.  RT said, You know, girls, sitting around, farting all night.  RT was convinced the smell was coming from one or all of the girls.

Once the girls left, I searched and thought the smell was coming from the laundry room.  I couldn't pinpoint where the smell was, but I had a few ideas.  RT did some investigating and found the source.  A problem with our sump pump.  Apparently something froze and there was a little back up that was causing the smell.

I asked Bella about the smell.  She said it was pretty bad.  I told her about RT's thoughts on the source.  She wasn't too happy that RT thought her friends came over and they sat around and farted the whole time.

Yea.  This girl stuff is a little new to RT.  I'm sure he'll figure it out.  Eventually.

Monday, November 19, 2018

Free Freddy

RIP  Free Freddie.

We rescued Freddie from the trash  his previous home.  His previous family didn't like the way he sounded at volume 58.  We didn't mind his sound, because we don't need the TV that loud  we can hear  we enjoyed him at the lower volume levels.   We enjoyed many years, many shows and many movies together.  Freddie enjoyed surprising us by turning on in the middle of the night.  There's nothing more frightening  like waking up in the middle of the night and wondering why there is a really bright light coming from the family room.  Freddie's final days were tough.  He tried to keep it together in front of us.  We knew that he was putting up a really strong fight to stay with us.  It was very hard for him to let go.  We know he is now on tuned in to a better place.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Friday, November 16, 2018

Emergency Contact

Everyone has someone that is their emergency contact.  This special someone is a person that knows you.  they are a person you can rely on.  They will be there to help out when needed.  You can call them anytime, from anywhere, and they will be there to help you out.

Most people have just one person that they call.  That person is a spouse/partner, family member or close friend.  For most people, that person is their spouse.

I was thinking about this one day, as I was reflecting on how my phone calls and texts go unanswered from my husband.  What if they were a matter of life and death?  If he doesn't answer my calls and texts now, what if it's an emergency?

Now, don't get me wrong, I know RT would be the one to call and he would help out and make sure all was OK.

But, what if he doesn't answer that call?

I started going through people I know and came up with lists of who could be contacted and who would respond.  My kids would respond because they are always on their phone.  Well, Nick might not respond quickly, because he isn't on his phone that much, and if it required him to download a text or something, well, forget it  (I can hear his grumbling now).

And, maybe my brother, Steve.  Unless it's after a certain time at night, when he decides to turn his phone off.  I can just make sure he's not needed at those times.  My other brother works, so, I couldn't bother him during work hours.

I'm going to have to plan my emergencies around my emergency contacts' schedules.  I mean, scheduling an emergency seems a lot easier than say, not knowing when it's going to happen, right?

It made me feel good to know that I had a couple of people to call in case of emergency.  Let's just hope I don't have to use them, right?

Who is your emergency contact?

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

The Splits

Apparently, Alex has signed up (for fun) for a split contest.  The winner will be able to do the splits by November 18.  It's nothing sponsored by the school, just some of his friends.  The winner gets, "bragging rights."

I told Alex that I would train right along with him.  Not sure I will ever be able to do the splits, but, I'm sure it will be fun trying.

I mentioned  this to RT and he said, "You'll be able to do it....it will be the last thing you do, but, you will do it."  (thanks for the vote of confidence, honey!)

I'm sure if something goes wrong (I'm in pain, I pull a muscle, I can't walk) I will definitely let you know.

Wish me luck!

Monday, November 12, 2018

Things I Forget

I always forget:

1.  Where I put my To Do notebook (it has all of my lists in it..i.e., grocery lists, etc.)

2.  What I wanted to make for dinner (I should probably write it down in my To Do notebook)

3.  to wear deodorant.*

*Yea.  Not sure how I make it through life when I forget this one.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Alex came home for the weekend.  It was also Bella's birthday.  There was a lot of food happening over the weekend.  So much food was eaten (mostly by my kids).  My kids even said that they ate too much.  In fact, I was told that I shouldn't cook because they end up eating too much.  < I'll take that as a compliment.

All this from the same kids who tell me that, "there's nothing to eat in this house."

Monday, November 5, 2018

The TV

We aren't your typical crazy TV house.  You know, the ones where there's a TV in every room and they are all turned on at the same time, but different stations?  We are a two TV household.

We got the TV that's in the basement when the boys were little.  Still works.  Our other television is a hand me down.  My in-laws got a new TV and gave us their old one.  Perfect timing, because we just got rid of our old one.  It seemed like it was in good condition.  Well, except if the volume was turned up to 54, then it sounded tinny.  But, we don't turn the volume up that loud, so, we were good.

About 6 months ago, the television started acting a little strange.  If you want to watch it, it would take a few minutes to turn on.  It goes through a series of turning on/off.  Sometimes the screen is all black, sometimes it's green.  And sometimes it makes a really loud noise.  That usually gets Pippen's attention.

About a week ago, the whole turn on ritual, that was about two minutes, turned into a ten minute ritual.  At one point, I asked RT, "What if it just decides to give up?  Will it say, "I give up."  or "I can't do this anymore." ?  He replied it's now a battle of wills.  Who will give in first?

Obviously not us.

We now have to turn the TV on a half hour before we want to watch a show.  Yes.  It takes that long for it to go through it's little song and dance  cycle.  Good thing that watching television isn't a matter of life or death.  We wouldn't be around very long.

I came home yesterday from work and the television was on.  RT said, "I just left it on all day so I wouldn't have to wait for it to turn on."

I think at this point, my money is on the television.

Friday, November 2, 2018

Pen Update

I wrote about pens, fancy pens, hotel pens in this post.  By the way, I did throw that pen away from that post.  It was awful!

When I'm at work, writing blog posts, I use the pen that I keep in my apron.  It writes quite nicely, thanks for asking.

I have been going through some of the pens at home.  Especially the bad  hotel pens.  I really would like all of those to be gone.  I don't think the kids even like using them.  Maybe I can just drop them off at a hotel (any hotel).   Maybe I can label them, "vintage" and sell them on Etsy?  I'm sure some one would think they were cool.

I'm hoping to use the rest of my hotel pens up soon so I can start using some of the "fun" pens.

Do you have a collection of hotel pens?

If not, do you want to buy some?

I know where you can get a great deal on them!

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Belly Ache Day

Another Halloween has come and gone.  And tons and tons of candy have entered our house.

Bella went Trick-or-Treating and came home with gobs of candy.  I think we might be able to start our own candy store!

Unfortunately, she likes to eat candy.  And, so does, RT.  They've already dug into the huge candy stash and ate quite a bit last night.

My Dad always called the day after Halloween, "Belly Ache Day."  You know, from eating too much candy on Halloween?  I always thought it was funny.  I never ate too much candy on Halloween, so, I never suffered on Belly Ache Day.

Here's hoping that all of you are not suffering this Belly Ache Day!