The Triple P

I packed the kids up and took them to park day yesterday. It was a gorgeous, sunny, 90* day, it couldn't have been more perfect. Now this particular park has what I call the bird's nest in the middle, a place with benches and what not that the mommies like to congregate in so we can have as much of a view of the kids as possible. I'm sitting there, chatting with friends when one of the other mom's starts yelling, "Trina, oh my god! Stand up quick you HAVE to see this!" I stand up and peer out toward the parking lot to see, much to my great horror, my son with his pants around his knees, bare-arsed, and whizzing on a tree! I could have freakin' died! Well of course the entire "bird's nest" is roaring with laughter as I race out to confront my child about the COMPLETE inappropriateness of his actions. I mean for crying out loud, the bathroom was less than 100 ft. away!! And it wasn't like he picked some inconspicuous tree behind the playground, no, no... he chose the one tree between the playground and the parking lot! I think I'm still blushing! Needless to say, trying to keep a straight face with all the cackling in the background was damn near impossible, but I did manage to pull off my best June Cleaver and gave him a stern talking-to in regards to appropriate vs. non-appropriate places for urination. Besides, this kid has a lot to learn about being stealth IF public urination is ever necessary. I mean you just can't drop trow and leave your shiny, white hiney hanging out for the world to see! We need to discuss what the "fly" is for on his briefs! Or better yet, maybe that's a job for Big Daddy!

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

Well I don't know about Mary, Mary, but MY garden is growing great! The rain last week really got things going. It's amazing how much better a garden does with rainwater, mostly since we've hardly seen rainwater in 2 years! Both cauliflower and broccoli almost doubled in size, and carrots, spinach and lettuce sprouted! The only downfall being the pesky rodent that inhabits my neighbor's shed. That rat is eating all of my beautiful spinach! So this weekend I plan to erect some sort of cage around that bed. It may not stop him completely, but hopefully it will be a deterrent. I also plan to sprinkle the bed liberally with cayenne as soon as the wind stops! Maybe if Willard gets a big snoutful of pepper, he won't be so inclined to come and steal from my garden. But knowing my luck, he'll be a fan of pepper and he'll come back for twice as much! Rat nibbling aside, the garden looks great, the cauliflower and broccoli are starting to make florettes (if that's what you call them) and they are so cute! Ian is looking forward to the day he can start pulling up carrots! I am looking forward to the day we eat our first head of cauliflower! I heart my garden!

This may look like a lot of mud to you, but it looks like teeny carrots, teeny lettuce, some rat-gnawed spinach and some onions to me! I have high hopes for this bed!


Itty bitty lettuce, Aaaawwww!


Look at that broccoli... can I get a YEE-HAW!


And that cauliflower! I've never seen anything so cool!


Green, growing and gorgeous!

Making every little bit count!

In this hellish economy, you just have to make the most of everything you buy, especially when it comes to food! I am not a fan of cheap pre-packaged foods, nor am I a fan of wasting food. So, I thought I would share how I make 1 Costco rotisserie chicken into at least 4 meals to feed a family of four.

Meal 1: Chicken Pastini
Begin by boiling the water and starting your noodles (I use about 3/4 of a 12 oz. package, enough to fill a decent sized oval baking dish) preferably curly noodles or even bow-tie. Start tearing into that chicken and use about one half of ONE breast and alot of dark meat from one side of the chicken, cube into small pieces. Saute red bell peppers, onions and garlic, (mushrooms are good too) in a large pan, then once they're tender add the chicken, one 14 1/2 oz can of diced tomatoes (with juice), about 1/2 - 1 small can of tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste and some fresh or dried parsley to taste. Once the noodles are done, mix pasta with the chicken and veggie sauce. Mix in about 1/2-1 cup mozzarella cheese. Put into a baking dish (about 2.8 L), sprinkle with bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and dot with a little butter. Bake for about 20-30 min. on 400*.

Serve with broccoli or a salad, YUM! This dish feeds my family one dinner and usually has enough left over for hubby to take to work the next day!

Meal 2: Chicken and black bean quesadillas
Chop up the rest of the first chicken breast and a bit of the dark meat. Lay out about 4-6 tortillas, sprinkle with cheddar or monterey jack, or both, open one can of black beans, drain and rinse, and put a couple of spoonfuls of beans over the cheese, add some chicken, and a little more cheese (if you're feeling spunky a little Rotel is good too). Fold in half and bake in a 425* oven for a couple of minutes, until the cheese is melty and tortillas are lightly crispy. Serve with salsa or fresh guacamole!



Meal 3: Chicken Salad
Use about 1/2 of the SECOND chicken breast, chop into small pieces. Add chopped celery, onion (green onions are super yummy, but regular onions work just fine), apple, halved grapes, slivered almonds and chopped cilantro (VERY important ingredient, makes the dish so fresh and luscious!). Add a yogurt to desired consistency. If you like, you can add a bit, just a bit, of Miracle Whip to give it a little kick, but it's not necessary. Serve on iceburg lettuce cups, or fresh bread or wheat crackers! The nice thing about this recipe is it is so full of other ingredients you really don't need to use that much of your chicken, yet it is completely satisfying!



Meal 4: Sante Fe Chicken Skillet
Pick the rest of the meat off the chicken, cut into cubes. Saute thinly sliced or small cubed potatoes, green bell pepper, onion and Hatch green chile (if you have it) in olive oil cook until tender. (If you're using HOT green chiles like I do, cut them up and leave them to the side to add later if your kids are whimpies like mine!) Add the chicken to saute, just to get hot, remove it all to a plate and keep in a warm oven. Start frying eggs. We like ours over medium. Add a bit of the potato and chicken mixture to a plate, put a fried egg on top, then sprinkle with cheddar or monterey jack cheese. Cut up the egg, so the yolk runs over the rest of the goods, add a bit of Tabasco and ENJOY!



Now, if you're really industrious, toss the carcass into water and boil it to get broth! Then it could lead to at least a portion of meal #5! So there you have it, 4+ meals from one Costco rotisserie chicken! Cheers!

Ouch! That hurts!

I just got my car back yesterday. Turns out my transmission went bad. Just my luck, I was 3 payments away from paying off my car and now BAM! another $2600 in payments. I don't know what it is, but I seem to attract lemons! Everyone that heard about the transmission was SHOCKED to hear that a Honda was having transmission issues, especially when it's under 70K miles! Oh well, I suppose things could be worse. It is now fixed, it has a two-year written warranty and money is just money! But I was sure looking forward to that extra $300 a month! Transmissions suck!

For all my "urban chicken" lovin' friends!

Mom sent me a couple of tubes of this lip balm. Of course, it gave me a good giggle when I read the label. I took it upstairs to a freshly bathed Monkey Man as he has had chapped lips alot lately. Anyway, he grabbed it and started smearing it on. I looked at him with my best surprised and shocked face and said, "Buddy, you should read the label of things before you just start to smear them on your lips!" He jerked it away and read the label and had this sudden look of horror and repulsion that was priceless! "MOM!" A moment of silence, then, "Wait a minute, this doesn't REALLY have poop in it!" A look of relief and a giggle from a mean Mommy! I love terrorizing my kids! Is that bad?

Anyhoo... for those of you interested in obtaining your own "Chicken Poop" you can find it at:

www.ilovechickenpoop.com

It's not what you think!

I am kicking myself now for not getting a photo as it was a sheerly magnificent sight! Yesterday we tackled the festering pit of hell most of you would refer to as a garage. It was so backed up with shit that the kids couldn't get scooters or bikes out or in, we barely had a path to the beer fridge (which of course is a must) and there was no POSSIBLE way we would ever be able to work out there or find our camping gear! So, there was no way around it, we had to get it cleaned out. We opened up both of the doors and began to haul EVERYTHING out. This is the best way to do it you know? Take it all out, then assess what is needed, what is not and what actually should go back into the garage. Our goal is to have a place for Big Daddy and the Monkey Man to play drums, a place for me to do arts and crafts with the kids and a place to set up my easels or sewing machine or whatever I need to paint, sew or craft in order for me to maintain some sense of creativity and sanity!

We managed to get most everything out in fairly short order. I sorted through various buckets, bags and boxes and began to fill recycling and trash bins with wild abandon. And then it began... every so often people would pull over, get out of their cars and start perusing our stuff. Again and again, we yelled out from the garage, "This isn't a garage sale! We're just spring cleaning!" A couple of people laughed and some even chatted with us for a few, claiming we were inspiring them to do their own spring cleaning, but the majority of people seemed quite incensed! We were told many times that there was a sign as you entered the neighborhood. OK, but that doesn't mean WE were the ones having the garage sale! I was amazed at how persnickety some people were about it. I don't know, maybe it's easier to be snotty than to be embarrassed. Either way, there were many a sad bargain hunter that left our yard empty-handed! Sadly, they will once again be tempted and annoyed next weekend when we open the doors up and finish the job! Maybe I should set aside a pile of things I do want to be rid of and see if anyone makes me a offer!

Oh no he DIDN'T!

Took the kids out to a nice leisurely dinner at Maudie's tonight. It was packed, obviously lots of families getting out for a nice dinner before the hordes of lovers come out tomorrow night (GAG!). Big Daddy and I had finished up and we were all waiting for the Piggy to finish her enchiladas when the Monkey Man cut this rip-roaring fart! I was mortified! Not that I'm all uppity, I understand the need to crack a good one on occasion, but NOT in the middle of a busy restaurant! Luckily because there were SO many people and it was very loud, we were the only ones that noticed it, but still. It is just not cool to emit gasses while in the company of large amounts of people eating food! Big Daddy and I gave him our best stern looks and told him it was absolutely unacceptable. Then on the way to the car I had to keep myself from giggling out loud, cause it really was a prime pooter!

Resurrection!

Last year I lost my big toenail. It was horrible! I mean it hurt and all that, but in the eyes of vanity, it was devastating! Me, "Queen of Pretty Pink Toes" was left with a nail-less, funky little stump! I had to resort to painting the unaffected toes and wearing pink camo band-aids on the big toe or going "nude"! I have spent the last 10 years of my life with impeccably painted toenails and I love it! Just a little something to make me feel good about myself! Well, much to my great joy, that stubby, funky, ridiculous toe has FINALLY grown a nail! And I indulged myself this morning and painted them HOT pink! And they are DAMN sexy even if I do say so myself! I feel great! I love my super sexy hot pink toes!

What's on the menu? Soup for the soul!

When you're sick, all you want for dinner is something hot, soothing and EASY to make! I'm normally a fan of chicken soup in these instances, but after a week of sick kids and being cooped up in the house, my chicken supply was depleted, so I opted for a hearty beef soup. All I can say is it really hit the spot! Enjoy!



Trina's Makeshift Whatever You Have in the Fridge Beef Soup

1-lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion-chopped
1 stalk of celery-chopped
2 med. carrots-sliced
Handful of mushrooms-sliced
2 cloves garlic-chopped
salt and pepper
1-32 oz. container of beef broth
water
1-14 1/2 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/2-3/4 cup of barley (rice would be great too, but barley and beef just work well together)

Brown ground beef with onion and garlic, add celery, carrots and mushrooms then saute for a few minutes. Add beef broth and diced tomatoes, if the soup is really thick, add some water to thin in out, salt and pepper to taste. Get it boiling and add barley, cook per directions on the package.

I served it with a fresh loaf of wheat bread and it really did make us all feel ALOT better! In my book, soup equals love! :)

Time to catch up!

It seems as though I've been out for the count for a couple of weeks, juggling illness, birthdays, and a new part time job! I am feeling much better today and motivation is slowly but surely creeping back in! It will be even better in the next few minutes when my tea is ready!

Yes you read right, I have a new part-time job! Nothing exciting, I'm cleaning Big Daddy's offices once a week. It's a decent little gig, gets me out of the house ALONE for a couple of hours and I make an extra couple hundred bucks so I can have some spending $$$. It's been years since I've had my own frivolous spending money, so this is kind of exciting. Granted, the frivolous stuff will have to wait, as I really NEED a few things first, but still, it's nice to know there is some extra cash coming into the household. I hope to find something better within the year, but for now it's great and I'm happy!

In the last two weeks we celebrated my birthday, my son's birthday, had a Super Bowl bash and one serious Rock-N-Roll Party. I'm glad it's all over and I can get back to my boring little life! Parties and birthdays are fun, but oh so much work! So in short, glad to be back! Stay tuned for some fun stuff!

Haiku of the day

Stuffed up, full of snot
Why won't this shit go away?
Cedar fever sucks!

My apologies

To those of you that follow my humble little blog, I apologize for my extended absence. I have been dealing with sick children and a nasty bout with cedar fever! I feel as though I'm on the mend and I hope to have some new and interesting posts in the near future! Thanks for being patient and check back in a day or so!