~ Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween and GO BIG RED!!

~ What's For Dinner

The past few nights, except for the raging monsoon like winds, the weather in California has been almost ‘fall-ish.’ During the days, we’ve been seeing temps in the 70’s and at night, when the sun sinks down below the horizon, we’ve been enjoying much cooler temps....sometimes as low as 50. With the lower temps comes my nesting instincts. It’s the time of year when I want to sit in front of the fireplace with a good book, a nice warm throw and a glass of wine....or two.

I miss fall in Nebraska where I could come home from school, slip into my jammies, fix a chili or a stew for dinner and then just enjoy. So, last night that’s exactly what I did. Well, except for the coming home from school part. I fixed a white chicken chili for dinner, using a recipe I got when I was in Oklahoma City with my mom. Her friend Margie fixed this wonderful chili for us and of course I had to get the recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as KJ and I did.

Margie’s White Chicken Chili

1 32oz box of chicken broth

3 cans (14.5 oz) white beans - undrained

5 cups cooked chicken (cans from Costco)

1 16oz jar salsa

8 ozs shredded pepper jack cheese

2 tsp ground cumin

2 cloves garlic (minced)

Black or white pepper to taste

1/2 cup finely crushed corn chips (optional for thicker chili)

Place all ingredients (excpet corn chips) into crockpot and cook on high until cheese is melted. (Chili may also be cooked on stove top on medium high heat until cheese is melted.)

When chili is ready, add finely crushed corn chips and let simmer for 10 minutes to thicken.

Garnish with more crushed corn chips, cheese or sour cream.

~ You're Moving Me Where????

I moved to Omaha the summer of 1977 as a 16 year old girl about to enter her senior year of high school. At 16, the last thing I wanted to do was leave my friends, move to a new state and attend a new high school for just one year. Seriously? Do I have to do this?? Yes, my mom said....you do.

When it came time to move, I kicked and screamed. I’m sure I threw a major hissy fit. I begged and I pleaded with my parents to please let me stay in Wichita so I could finish high school with the friends that I had started with. Tears didn't work. Threatening to run away didn't work. My older brothers godparents lived in Wichita and they were more than willing to take on another teenager. Hell, they had a house full of kids; they wouldn’t have noticed another one. (One of those ‘kids’ is even on my Facebook page...lol.)

Plus, it was partly because of them that we were moving. My dad had taken a job with my brother’s godfather. His mission? Move to Omaha, Nebraska and turn an all news radio station into a country music radio station. My dad had been in the radio broadcasting business for as long as I could remember and I know that the challenge of this job appealed to him.

In the end, my parents won and I was whisked away to God forsaken Nebraska. Let me just state now that I hated it. Can we say COLD?? Moving to a new school when you’re a senior in high school isn’t something I’d recommend. In fact, it affected me so much that when I had Ryan and Lynsay, I told KJ that if he ever got transferred while the kids were in junior high/high school....he was on his own. Seriously.

While to me my reasoning for this was simple, I’m sure it was also totally emotional. We moved right after my 6th grade year. I was able to go to the same junior high all thru 7th, 8th and 9th grade. We moved to Wichita my sophomore year but then moved to Ft. Worth for the 2nd semester of my sophomore year. We moved back to Wichita for my junior year and then to Omaha my senior year. I had no consistency and being a teenage girl, it was hard making friends. I didn’t ever want my kids to experience that, especially Lynsay. Junior high and high school is hard enough without moving around and having to make new friends and try to fit in. Yes, I know that military families move around a lot too, but we weren’t military and I wasn’t supposed to move. Especially right before my senior year.

Looking back, I know that what my dad did was the absolute best thing for his family. I certainly never held it against him. Well, maybe for a few months I did. Okay fine. I did. I was probably a holy terror that first year we were there. I’m just saying that sometimes what is best can still be really hard and looking back, while it was hard, it probably wasn’t nearly as traumatizing as I thought. But we all know that when you’re a 16 year old girl, friends are your entire world. Your family is your family but you still wouldn’t be caught dead out in public with them.

That being said, everyone knows that not only did Omaha grow on me, it became my home. It was where I 'grew up'. It was where I met KJ and got married and where we raised our family. Pure and simple, it's home.

The radio station transformation turned out just fine and the ‘ranch hands’ became my 2nd family. To this day, I'm still in touch with some of them. The picture above is a copy of one of the fliers that were printed up every year for the annual anniversary show. Seeing this brought back so many memories of my dad, of the ranch hands and of spending many a weekend at various KYNN events. I went to concerts, was able to go backstage and ‘hang’ with the artists and I met people I would never had met otherwise.

My dad has been gone almost 27 years and now and then, I have a hard time picturing what he looked like. But when I do conjure up a memory, this is how I see him....with his cowboy hat planted firmly on his head and his feet slid into his favorite boots.

~ Nutella's Anonymous

Hello. My name is Mickey and I’m a chocoholic. It’s been 9 hours, 45 minutes and 10 seconds since I last dipped my spoon into my jar of Nutella.

Sighs . . . .

How is it that I’m 49 years old and have only just recently discovered Nutella? Where has this been all my life? Hell, where have I been that I had no clue that this beautiful jar of spreadable, creamy chocolate with a faint hint of hazlenut even existed? Have I been living in a cave?

I was watching ‘Everyday Italian’ on The Food Network Channel (KJ LOVES Giada, btw) and Giada fixed a lovely dessert using pound cake, Nutella and strawberries. Nutella, I thought? What is Nutella? Little did I know...

I immediately copied down the recipe and had the makings for the dessert by the weekend. The dessert was fabulous but OMG! Nutella? It’s heaven in a jar. It should be a staple for every pantry in America. It should be it’s own basic food group.

On the front of the jar are countless ways to enjoy your Nutella ~ on whole wheat/multigrain breads, bagels, english muffins, waffles, toast and of course, croissants. My favorite way to enjoy my Nutella? The same way I enjoy my peanut butter...on a spoon. A big spoon.

Okay, I confess. The truth is I enjoy my Nutella and my Peter Pan at the same time. *hangs head in shame* It’s like having a Reese’s cup on a spoon only so much better. Seriously.

In my defense, I have tried to think of healthier ways to enjoy my Nutella but the thought of drizzling a perfectly good spoonful of Nutella over my broccoli? *shudders at the thought*

Fortunately, I haven’t become so addicted that I’m sneaking into the kitchen at 3am for my Nutella fix. And I have yet to bathe in it . . .

I’m afraid that Nutella has the possibility of becoming my new BFF. (sorry Ya Ya’s)

sighs....I wonder if there’s a support group for this madness in the Nutella aisle at my local Jensen's. hmmm.....give me my spoon and I’ll do some research on that.

In the meantime . . .

Hello. My name is Mickey and I’m a chocoholic. It’s been 3 minutes and 20 seconds since I last dipped my spoon into my jar of Nutella.

~ Red Wine Dessert

I've been recipe hunting again, came across this one and knew I had to share. I immediately thought of the Pipettes because, well, we're basically all winos and dessert freaks and this looks to be something we'd enjoy ~ wine and dessert all in one BIG glass.

Sighs...pure heaven.

I know, I know, it sounds all kinds of fattening, totally sinful and it would more than likely blow any diet we might be on, but let's just rationalize, shall we?

Red wine is good for our hearts. Point for us.

Prunes help keep our system working properly. Another point for us.

Raisins, cherries, grapes ~ all fruits. Points for us.

Cheese, condensed milk and ice cream ~ all dairy products. Points for us.

Shaved ice ~ nothing but frozen WATER. Point for us.

Looks to me like we're getting everything we need with this little dessert.

Red Wine Dessert

Main Ingredients:

ice, chilled wine (a sweet red wine - Cabernet Sauvignon wine is ideal)

Toppings (adjust according to your taste):

ice cream, sweetened condensed milk, brie or Camembert cheese,

favorite fruits such as red grapes, cherries, raisins, dried prunes.

Cut brie and prunes into bite sizes.

Pour chilled wine into the glass only about 1/7 full. (Too much wine will melt all of the ice as you add!) A big wine glass or any huge glass with a stem is ideal.

Add shaved ice into the cup about half full.

Drizzle sweetened milk on top.

Top it with more ice.

Now, carefully drizzle wine to avoid collapsing the ice. (The total amt of wine used should be no more than 1/3 cup).

Add all the toppings one at a time including ice cream.

** This recipe is courtesy of the website Hip Girlie (www.hipgirlie.com)

Now, who's ready for dessert?

~ The Floor Saga

Finally! My floors are scheduled to be fixed.

In August, we noticed that some of the tiles in the house ‘popped’ if you stepped on them. After going through the process of getting in touch with the tile company, having someone come out to look and verify that yes, something was wrong, then waiting til the ordered tile came in, we thought the tiles would be replaced.

Wrong!

At the beginning of September, the crew showed up with the box of tiles that were ordered and they got to work. We already had a box of tiles left over so they assumed there would be plenty of tile to get the job done.

Wrong!

A few guys are working in the master bathroom and a few guys are working in the kitchen. One of the guys comes out of the master bath and the conversation went something like this ...

Tile Guy: Umm, we have a little problem

Me: Problem?

Tile Guy: Well, it seems the box of tile we ordered is the wrong color. And, the box that you had? One of the tiles is damaged and can’t be used.

So, I need to know if you want the master bath fixed today or the kitchen because we only have 5 tiles that can be used.

Thinking that the problem would be resolved in a reasonable amount of time, I chose the master bath. So, they assured me that they’d order more tile and the rest of the floors would be fixed in no time.

Wrong!

The next day, one of them came back to grout the tile in the master bath. Before doing that, we decided to go through the entire house to see just how many tiles would have to be replaced so they made sure they ordered enough. The final count? 90 to 100 tiles have to be replaced throughout the house. Ugh!!

So, I told the guy not to bother with grouting the bathroom because we found another 6-10 tiles that have to be replaced in there. No sense in grouting when you’re going to have to pull the surrounding tile up, right?

He leaves with the assurance that the tile would be ordered and the floors would be fixed asap.

Wrong!

When they went to order the tile, they couldn’t find enough of it in the right color. From what I understand, they searched all over California and in some parts of Arizona. Seriously, how tough can it be? Finally, while I was in Oklahoma City, the manager of the tile place came out with a few tile samples to show KJ. KJ picked one out, the guy wrote down the number that was on the back of the tile so he could get it ordered and then he left. He did leave that sample here for me to look at when I got home.

I get home and I’m home for about a week and we didn’t hear anything. When I finally caught our developer and asked him about it, he immediately got on the phone and called the guy who came out a few weeks before. He tried telling our developer that he left several samples at the house for ‘the wife’ to look at and choose and they were just waiting to hear back from her.

Wrong!

I explained to our developer that yes, he brought some samples out, yes he left ONE sample, not several but that KJ had chosen the tile he wanted, the guy wrote the number down so he could get it ordered and that was that. So, our developer took the sample to the tile guy.

A week or so later when I still hadn’t heard anything, I caught Dusty (very good-looking guy who works for the developer) and asked him. He immediately called the guy, got him on the phone and then handed the phone to me. I was told the ‘tile is on order.’ Sighs.....

Anyway, yesterday afternoon I finally got the call that said my tile was in. You can picture me doing the happyhappyjoyjoy dance now. They’ll be here first thing Monday morning to fix all the tiles and while I’m thrilled that my floor will no longer be pock marked with pieces of blue tape, I do have one small concern.

It goes without saying that this was a bad install job. Who’s to say that the rest of the tile won’t start popping up and we’ll have to go through this process all over again??

Maybe I should keep a roll of blue tape handy . . . .

~ Happy Friday

Sounds good to me; I think I'll just stick with this ~

~ My Addiction

I've been giving this a lot of thought and I think it’s time I finally talk openly about my addiction. Yes, I know ~ you’re all shocked and speechless. But, I’ve heard it’s always best to be totally open with your friends and family about any addiction. That way, they can plan an intervention.

That being said, I’m totally addicted to HGTV and the Food Network channel. Because of my addictions, I’m slowly becoming my own version of Martha Stewart and my decorating sense is now being fine tuned.

On a trip to Atlanta with my friend Kate about 8 years ago, I brought back this rock that says, “Martha Stewart Doesn’t Live Here.” To this day, that rock sits in its little stand right next to my stove. This has been fair warning to anyone who enters my kitchen that while it's my domain, I’m still only mediocre in the kitchen and in my decorating sense.

When the kids were small, they could always expect the cookies to be burned on the bottom. And bless Lynsays little Stinkerbell heart; she would always give me that big, beautiful smile and tell me she liked them best that way. God, I love her!

But now my addictions are helping me overcome my obstacles in the kitchen. Last night I wowed myself with homemade Ham & Bean soup with Cheesey Biscuits. Tonight, it was Scalloped Potatoes w/ Ham and for dessert, I made an apple cobbler. While KJ isn’t a big fan of apples, he said it wasn’t too bad. I love apple cobbler but admittedly, my mom’s peach cobbler is the best I’ve ever had.

The recipe for the apple cobbler came off the Food Network channel and the show was Semi Homemade with Sandra Lee. Because I enjoyed it and because it turned out really good, I’m blogging the recipe with pictures.

Apple Raisin Betty

Ingredients:

Butter flavored cooking spray

2 (21 oz) cans apple pie filling (recommended: Comstock)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 packets Instant Oatmeal w/ raisins & spice

6 tbsp butter, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Spray a 8x8 inch casserole dish with cooking spray

Spread 1/2 of apple pie filling on the bottom of casserole dish

Sprinkle w/ cinnamon and 1/2 of the packets of oatmeal

Dot w/ butter

Reapeat w/ remaining ingredients

Cover w/ foil and bake for 1 hour

Remove from oven; let sit 5-10 minutes before serving

*Side notes:

Because I was at Walmart picking up a few other things, I went ahead and got my ingredients there. I found that Walmart carries the Comstock brand and right now, they’re carrying a limited flavor....Caramel Apple. So, I used one can of the Caramel Apple and one can of the regular apple pie filling. With the instant oatmeal, I used 2 packages of Cinnamon & Spice and 1 package of Apples & Cinnamon.

Because KJ isn’t a big apple fan, next time I’m going to try blueberry or cherry; Quaker makes a Blueberry & Cream instant oatmeal so that will be perfect.

Now, did someone say intervention?? Wait, let me make coffee first . . .

~ Monday

Sighs ~ every Sunday night I sit and think to myself, "Where the hell did the weekend go?" I used to hate Monday's when I was working. Sleeping in late on the weekends and then having to get up early for school on Monday morning was not my idea of a fun day. I rarely looked forward to Monday mornings. No, I take that back. I never looked forward to Monday mornings.

Tomorrow is no different. Tomorrow morning I'm going to start walking on the treadmill again. It's no longer in the triple digits outside. Well, it was 102 on Saturday but I'm hoping that was a fluke. Since it's no longer triple digits outside, that means the garage is no longer in triple digits, either. So, I'll get up, hit the treadmill, shower and get cleaned up and then go take a typing test.

Yes, you read correctly. A typing test. We all knew it was only a matter of time before I became totally bored out of my mind. Well, I'm not quite there yet but we also know that I don't particularly like to be idle. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind being idle all summer long. I mean, hell, that's what summers are for when you work at a school. Being totally lazy and idle.

However, I miss having a paycheck of my own. I miss interacting with other adults. Murphy is good company but he's not like my girlfriends ~ he can't go to lunch with me, he can't get a pedicure with me, etc.

So, before I start to feel like a total loser for having to take money from KJ or before I go completely out of my mind, I'm job hunting. I've applied for a secretarial job at the College of the Desert but you have to attach a typing certificate to your online application. A typing certificate? WTH??

It's been YEARS since I've had to look for a job, let alone take a typing test. But tomorrow that is exactly what I'm doing. Taking a typing test, getting a certificate and attaching it to my online application.

Shit, tomorrow is Monday.

~ Just A Thought

~ Grins & Giggles

I'm always looking online for images to use on my blog and when I find one I like, I save it in a folder until I need it for a blog. This image is one I found quite some time ago and I just knew I'd have the perfect blog for it someday.

We can thank my sister-in-law Donna for this one. She sent this to me this morning ~ how could I not post it when I had the PERFECT image to use?? I know I forwarded it on to most of you but again, the image and the sentiments . . . a perfect combination.

Calmness In Our Lives

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives.

By following simple advice heard on the Oprah show, you too, can find inner peace.

Dr. Oz proclaimed, 'The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.'

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Tequila, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now!!!

~ Gotta Have This!

Where the hell has THIS couch been?? Seriously, this idea needs to be marketed and put in furniture stores across the country. Can’t you just see this scenario . . .

You give your grandkids a box of colored markers and say, “Here my sweet babies, go on over there to the couch and draw a great big colorful picture for me to show my friends. Yes, pumpkin, that cushion would be perfect!”

Hell, I have to have this couch ~ One of these days, I’ll be the most popular Mimi on the block!!