When I was a little girl my two favorite fairy tails were Rapunsel and Rumplestiltskin. Rapunsel because she had really cool long hair, a feat that always escaped me, but I've given up caring about that so that story is off my adult my hit parade. I loved and love Rumplestiltskin because of his angry little conniption fit where he slams his foot down so hard it opens a chasm in the earth and he is swallowed whole.
I get that kind of rage.
July and August have been bad months just about anyway you want to cut it. The weather is so hot I can't run outside so I run at the Y which makes me crazy because of all the idiot people who think nothing about stepping out in front of me while I'm moving swift...like the wind. Seriously, if I hit them with my car going seven miles an hour, they would pay a pretty penny for their oblivious instrusion into Cappytown but since most of the adult world is bigger than me, when we collide, I bounce. Its embarrassing and it hurts and the clueless clod that caused the accident almost always looks at me as if I'm to blame for their rudeness. It makes me angry. It ruins my workout. I have a hard time letting go of the angry.
My husband is between jobs and that adds enormously to the stress-o-meter at Chez Hagman. He's looking hard and being very deligent but the economy stinks. STINKS! Very few people are hiring and those that are want someone for damn near free and when you can make more money on unemployment, it hardly seems worth working. And don't give me a bunch of drivel about the intrinsic noble value of all work. Intrinsic noble value doesn't cover the cost of squat. I'd much rather have a morally bankrupt paycheck any day of the week than an intrinisic noble value bankruptcy. It all makes me angry. I hate it for him. I have a hard time letting go of the angry.
Both of my kids are home. I love my kids. My youngest daughter is getting ready to go back to school, which, while making me sad, is right and proper, but her departure isn't without stress. Various important bits of information - like whether she got financial aid - are held out by her school until the critical mass point. It goes to hell in a hand basket and you spend days scrambling trying to piece things back together and naturally the school -when you can get a live human rather than a recording telling you they are too busy to take your call - acts like some ancient cabal for which you have been denied the secret password to knowledge. Its extremely frustrating and stressful. It makes me angry. I hate it for my girl. I have a hard time letting go of the angry.
My eldest daughter is home from college for good. She's working hard, saving her money waiting to go off to become rich and famous in NYC. Some days we get along great. Some days less than. Its a tough time for her in her life and in our relationship. She's too young for us to be friends and she has mixed feelings about whether she needs a Mom. Sometimes yes. Sometimes, no. The line is always blurred and it makes it hard for both of us which is frustrating. It would be so much easier on both of us, if she would stop having to learn things for herself and would just listen to me! Of course she can't and she doesn't but it kills me to see her struggling and the fact that her choices make her life harder than it should be makes me angry. I hate it for my girl. I have a hard time letting go of the angry.
Dietarily, for a month I have pretty much been off the rails. I'm stress eating a lot. A LOT. I've put back on a couple of my victoriously slain pounds and it makes me nervous. Very nervous. I know I'm doing it, I hate doing it but I almost seem driven to do it. The arm wrestling that goes on in my head is ridiculous and stressful and more often than not, I'm losing. It makes me angry. VERY ANGRY. I have a hard time letting go of the angry.
And so on, and so on, and so on until I slam my foot into the floor..........
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
4 on 4 The Final Tally
Drum Roll Please.......$483.79. In a word UNBELIEVABLE! Going to keep doing this because 1. It helps financially 2. Its a more respectful approach to food. 3. Less waste 4. It requires me to be very inventive to keep from getting super bored. Will continue to post on this and if August comes in on budget I going to jump for joy!
The last week of the challenge was really about simplicity. I grilled some chicken, turned the leftovers into chicken salad (yeah I know I already did that this month but everyone liked it), repeated the shiskabob and mushrooms from an earlier post, salads, baked sweet potatoes, grilled corn. PEACHES...oh my they are so good right now!! Pinto Beans, Black Eyed Peas, Hummus several different ways. Stir fry. My stir fry is seriously easy. Meat,(or not, in my case) frozen Baby Broccoli Blend with the edamame beans in it, a bag of carrot shreds, a bag of broccoli slaw, ginger, garlic, onion. (you can pretty much throw in any vegetable you have floating around. The more the merrier) Roll it around in a wok, sauce it with 1/3 cup soy sauce mixed with a 12 oz bottle of beer, some 5 spice blend, a little corn starch, voila! Serve it on rice or roll it up in a tortilla with a little hoisin sauce spread on the wrap (mu shu cappy!)
August will be an odd month. Caylyn goes back to school. (Did you hear that teeny sob escaping my heart?) So while long term the food budget will go down, I'll be stocking her up AND fixing all her favorites right before she leaves so she'll have a crumb trail to follow when she wants to come home. Bryn will be gone the first couple of weeks on an adventure in the wilds of Minnesota and if she doesn't get eaten by a bear (ask her, its a theme in our house) she'll probably roll in here hungry for some mama cooking. Always happy to oblige!
Brian and I will KBO (google what Churchill said to King George about the war effort) and life will settle back in.
Be well, my friends
The last week of the challenge was really about simplicity. I grilled some chicken, turned the leftovers into chicken salad (yeah I know I already did that this month but everyone liked it), repeated the shiskabob and mushrooms from an earlier post, salads, baked sweet potatoes, grilled corn. PEACHES...oh my they are so good right now!! Pinto Beans, Black Eyed Peas, Hummus several different ways. Stir fry. My stir fry is seriously easy. Meat,(or not, in my case) frozen Baby Broccoli Blend with the edamame beans in it, a bag of carrot shreds, a bag of broccoli slaw, ginger, garlic, onion. (you can pretty much throw in any vegetable you have floating around. The more the merrier) Roll it around in a wok, sauce it with 1/3 cup soy sauce mixed with a 12 oz bottle of beer, some 5 spice blend, a little corn starch, voila! Serve it on rice or roll it up in a tortilla with a little hoisin sauce spread on the wrap (mu shu cappy!)
August will be an odd month. Caylyn goes back to school. (Did you hear that teeny sob escaping my heart?) So while long term the food budget will go down, I'll be stocking her up AND fixing all her favorites right before she leaves so she'll have a crumb trail to follow when she wants to come home. Bryn will be gone the first couple of weeks on an adventure in the wilds of Minnesota and if she doesn't get eaten by a bear (ask her, its a theme in our house) she'll probably roll in here hungry for some mama cooking. Always happy to oblige!
Brian and I will KBO (google what Churchill said to King George about the war effort) and life will settle back in.
Be well, my friends
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Sucky Paws
RECIPE POST: If you've followed notes of my on Facebook, you'll know that we have a family phrase, no tradition, on the weekends when Big Mama refuses to cook (well okay, I do cook but its thrown together stuff, last minute, no effort) called Sucky Paws. Sucky Paws is the incredibly descriptive image of someone standing, hungry, in front of the fridge sucking their "paws" while they try and find something, anything, to EAT!!!!
Its Friday night. Its been a long week. I didn't go grocery shopping so the larder, while not bear, was looking kinda sad. So, I gathered up a bunch of loose ends, scraps and this and thats and made a silk purse out of a sow's ear (a tofu sow, naturally)!
Here's what I had
1/2 a chicken cooked
Some Onions, cauliflower, a few sweet potatoes that were headed towards the end of their natural lives, a few baking potatoes, some peas, a piece of ginger, garlic.
Barbeque sauce
A pizza crust
A can of Lite Coconut Milk
The last little bit of a jar of Pataks Mild Red Curry Paste
The heel of a bar of smoked cheddar cheese.
A box of vegetable stock (yeah I said it, despite lecturing you earlier for using boxed, I had one on hand - I'm sure some evil kitchen troll slipped it in the pantry!)
1/2 box of couscous
PRESTO CHANGO! Here's what it became and everyone was happppppppy!
Barbeque'd Chicken Pizza
2 big onions, sliced
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken chopped into big pieces (it was the breast and the thigh)
2 TB Olive Oil
1/2 -3/4 cup approximately barbeque sauce
1 TB dried Basil
Already made Pizza crust
4 oz, grated smoked cheddar cheese.
Caramelize the onions in the olive oil. Don't make me mad - by now you know the drill. Put the onions in the oil, LEAVE THEM ALONE, as they brown stir them occasionally and then leave them alone again. When they are all nice and browned, add the barbeque sauce and basil. Cook to thicken. Depending on your pizza crust, follow the directions folks, preheat the oven. Spread the onion mixture on the crust, top with the chicken, then the smoked cheddar and bake according to directions! This is REALLY Good - or so I was told - and a great use of leftover chicken!!!
Curry in a Hurry
1 onion, diced, When I buy onions, I come home and dice them then freeze them so they are ready when I need them. I don't use frozen ones when I need to caramelize onions as they have too much water in them to brown. So I used maybe two big handfuls of the frozen.)
4 sweet potatoes, skinned and cubed
3 baking potatoes, cubed (I didn't bother skinning them, no one was offended.)
1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets
1/4 cup garlic, if using fresh back it down
1 2in piece of ginger minced
2 TB olive oil
1/2 bag frozen peas
1 32 oz box veggie stock
1 can lite coconut milk
1/3 cup Pataks Mild Curry Paste
Salt to taste. It needed it which is a big admission for me as I am extremely light handed with the salt.
Saute the onions, ginger and garlic in the oil. Add the potatoes and stir to cook for a bit. They will tend to stick so be careful. As they start to soften, add the cauliflower cook for a few minutes. Add the stock and simmer until the veggies are done. Add the coconut milk, curry paste and peas and cook for a few minutes to blend the flavors.
I served it over couscous,because it was fast but I think I'd rather have it on rice. You could also up the liquids with maybe another 1/2 can of coconut milk and serve it as a stew with some nan for dipping and slurping!
Anytime I have one of these nights, sucky paws will be the blog title. Also, if you want to tell me what you have in your pantry, I'll see if I can put something together for you.
Its Friday night. Its been a long week. I didn't go grocery shopping so the larder, while not bear, was looking kinda sad. So, I gathered up a bunch of loose ends, scraps and this and thats and made a silk purse out of a sow's ear (a tofu sow, naturally)!
Here's what I had
1/2 a chicken cooked
Some Onions, cauliflower, a few sweet potatoes that were headed towards the end of their natural lives, a few baking potatoes, some peas, a piece of ginger, garlic.
Barbeque sauce
A pizza crust
A can of Lite Coconut Milk
The last little bit of a jar of Pataks Mild Red Curry Paste
The heel of a bar of smoked cheddar cheese.
A box of vegetable stock (yeah I said it, despite lecturing you earlier for using boxed, I had one on hand - I'm sure some evil kitchen troll slipped it in the pantry!)
1/2 box of couscous
PRESTO CHANGO! Here's what it became and everyone was happppppppy!
Barbeque'd Chicken Pizza
2 big onions, sliced
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken chopped into big pieces (it was the breast and the thigh)
2 TB Olive Oil
1/2 -3/4 cup approximately barbeque sauce
1 TB dried Basil
Already made Pizza crust
4 oz, grated smoked cheddar cheese.
Caramelize the onions in the olive oil. Don't make me mad - by now you know the drill. Put the onions in the oil, LEAVE THEM ALONE, as they brown stir them occasionally and then leave them alone again. When they are all nice and browned, add the barbeque sauce and basil. Cook to thicken. Depending on your pizza crust, follow the directions folks, preheat the oven. Spread the onion mixture on the crust, top with the chicken, then the smoked cheddar and bake according to directions! This is REALLY Good - or so I was told - and a great use of leftover chicken!!!
Curry in a Hurry
1 onion, diced, When I buy onions, I come home and dice them then freeze them so they are ready when I need them. I don't use frozen ones when I need to caramelize onions as they have too much water in them to brown. So I used maybe two big handfuls of the frozen.)
4 sweet potatoes, skinned and cubed
3 baking potatoes, cubed (I didn't bother skinning them, no one was offended.)
1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets
1/4 cup garlic, if using fresh back it down
1 2in piece of ginger minced
2 TB olive oil
1/2 bag frozen peas
1 32 oz box veggie stock
1 can lite coconut milk
1/3 cup Pataks Mild Curry Paste
Salt to taste. It needed it which is a big admission for me as I am extremely light handed with the salt.
Saute the onions, ginger and garlic in the oil. Add the potatoes and stir to cook for a bit. They will tend to stick so be careful. As they start to soften, add the cauliflower cook for a few minutes. Add the stock and simmer until the veggies are done. Add the coconut milk, curry paste and peas and cook for a few minutes to blend the flavors.
I served it over couscous,because it was fast but I think I'd rather have it on rice. You could also up the liquids with maybe another 1/2 can of coconut milk and serve it as a stew with some nan for dipping and slurping!
Anytime I have one of these nights, sucky paws will be the blog title. Also, if you want to tell me what you have in your pantry, I'll see if I can put something together for you.
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