Ethical dilemma Tuesday

1. What is the least amount of clothes I can ethically wear to class today?

I went through a few before I was somewhat comfy but I think I finally found something we can all live with. Apparently between my neck and the white part on my shoulder is the worst of it. The hot shower spray hurt like hell for a few minutes.

The kids ate something that gave them attitude today. They forget that I have a bigger one then all of them.
2. What is the line between Mom & Tyrant?
3. Have I crossed it?

No, a tyrant would deny them food until they finished their tasks. I just made them eat one at a time.

Last day of actual class today. WOOHOO! And BOOHOO! I have enjoyed this class immensely. I am excited to have another class with Dr. W in the fall too because he is a great teacher. He made us think and was always honest about his beliefs without being disrespectful and he expected the same from us. There were no HOT debates that included 4 letter words and I almost always left reflective. I think this is what school is about for me.

Hamburger helper tonight. I won't be home in time to cook dinner so S is cooking. I'm thinking Chicken Taco Stew in the crock pot tomorrow though since I will be studying for my final. I will post the recipe, pictures, and reviews at some point tomorrow.

Genetics

What do we really pass on to our children? What do they see when we aren't looking that stays with them for life? Did I pass on my temper? Did I pass on my hair? Did my sons get the cardiac markers that I got from my father?

I am getting better all the time at the Mom thing. I am constantly trying to do the best for my children and lately I have realized that doing the best for me plays into that equation.

My oldest son, C, looks just like me. I mean there is NO doubt that he is my kid. He acts like S though and even a lot like his Aunt MiMi. He is smart and serious and so very cute the way he says pecan. (Pee-Can). He has bad eyes like his parents and has already had surgery to repair them. I was 10 when I had the same surgery that he had at 6. I cried when the doctor told me that he had to have it. I wondered if my need to be a Mother had led me to make a truly selfish decision in having kids without exploring what I could pass on to them. His Dad and I both have glasses, we both had braces, I had gestational diabetes during both of my pregnancies putting my kids at risk to have diabetes themselves. Hell, I have Type II Diabetes that is in remission now and their Dad was diagnosed Pre-diabetic a few years ago. What did we set our kids up for?

And then something hits you out of left field. On Valentines day in 2008 my little Prince N ate a tiny shrimp out of his Dad's salad at dinner. He had had a bit of exposure to shrimp before with no problems at all so we thought nothing of it. I will never forget the 7 minute drive to the Emergency Room. My little boy was swelling up, red, and having issues breathing. I will always be so very thankful that by the time I had finished the hospital paper work they had given my son the allergy medicine that saved his life. No one in either of our families has food allergies that severe. N has a severe allergy to shellfish (he will not grow out of), allergies to some fish, and one to eggs that he will grow out of later.

What I am trying to say is that even though you may have done all the research in the world, you cannot predict everything. All we can do is work hard to be the best parents possible and always put the kids first.

The first thing that I remember wanting to be when I grew up was an astronaut,however, I have a bad case of hydrophobia and deep water scares the shit out of me. I want to learn to swim but I am deathly afraid of it. I wanted to be a lawyer for a very long time and I still have a deep love of the law but when I was 10 I realized that I wanted to be a Mom. (My own Mom has made a huge difference in my life. She gave up everything to raise my sister and I. She worked her ass off to give us what we needed. I knew that if I could be half the Mom that she was I would be a good Mom.) I put everything on hold to go into the Texas Air National Guard/ USAF and study nursing when I was 19. I needed a change and I had lost my way. I broke my back in 2 places during a training exercise. Compression fracture of T-12 & L-1, a lot of bullshit red tape, and physical therapy later and I was told that my career in Nursing was over before it had begun. Broken, I went back to civilian life. I met a very nice guy at work and we became friends and then lovers. He was in need of a transplant. Odd, because he seemed so healthy. Eventually things caught up with him and he had a heart attack. He wasn't coming out of the hospital without a new heart. One of my customers told me to get out while I could and go out and live. (He just wanted to get into my pants.) I was in my early 20's by now and dammit I was in love. I have never run away from a challenge or a friend and I wasn't about to start then. He eventually got a new heart and I got the sense that my life was not over. I might not be a nurse but I could make a difference. B and I had a great time together. We walked through hell and back, we laughed, we loved, and we fought but I wouldn't trade that 3 years for anything. We didn't always have the healthiest relationship though and I had to break the cycle so I walked away. I went back to work and threw myself into that. I decided that I wanted to be a Mom. Eventually I got together with S and I was pregnant before we knew it. It was unplanned....shocking even as I was told I might never have kids. I was thrilled. S was surprised. We had wanted more time to cement our family with B & J but God had other plans. Number 2 (for me) was a true SHOCK.

Had you have asked me how I thought my life would turn out this is NOT the story you would have gotten from me. I will tell you though that I am TRULY blessed. I have wonderful kids and an awesome family and I finally feel like I found my way. I went back to school in 2007 but it really was not until my last semester at COM that I was sure I was on the right track. I have applied for the Bachelors of Social Work program and I am excited for the future. I can follow the law, help people, and make a difference. Maybe I will share my essay that I sent in with my application to the program some day.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone that I met along the road. And thanks to B... despite everything I wouldn't be where I am without you.

To my kids, I will be there for you no matter what. I love you unconditionally. Thank you for enriching my life beyond my wildest dreams.

NPNG part 2

Spinach & artichoke Baked pasta was a success. A few notes on it though:

1. I doubled the recipe since we have 6 people in the house for now. BAD idea unless you have a HUGE bowl. The salt and pepper did not mix as well as they could have and this was even with two of us stirring it. I think I will try recipes first before doubling for kids.

2. The kids all loved it. They had seconds and even some thirds. S thought it needed something but that didn't stop him from eating seconds. I guess it might have but I was too hot to really eat. I'll eat some later.

3. I think it needed more cheese in it and less on top. Maybe 3/4 of the amount inside and 1/4 on top.

4. It needed more time in the oven to warm but the cheese and some of the top pasta was toasty from the 425 degree oven. Maybe it should have done 15 minutes in before the cheese got added to the top.

I did use 1/3 fat cream cheese in it and it tasted great. I also shredded a rotisserie chicken to put in there to add to the protein. I am trying to meet my 60 gram protein goal even though I probably have not yet today.

The power went out at some point at my Mom's house which shut down the pool pump. The power had come back on but the pump has to be manually reset. I had to shock the pool with chemicals tonight in hopes that the kids and I can swim on Wednesday. I smell like chlorine now since that stuff clings to everything.

Tomorrow is our last day of presentations and our review for the Ethics final. Time to go wash off this chlorine.

Have a great night!

No pain, no gain part 1

I'm heading in to shred the chicken to go in this now. This is what is for dinner. In other news, I have a meeting with the BSW program head Thursday afternoon. Is it too much to hope I can wear clothes by then? No, you pervs I am not naked but I am in a strapless dress with Solarcane sprayed on my back. I won't forget the sunscreen again anytime soon. However, I might get in the cold pool later when I swing by my Mom's place.

Back later with my review of this dish.

http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com/2012/02/spinach-artichoke-baked-pasta/#




Spinach and Artichoke Baked Pasta
4.7 from 12 reviews

Print
Recipe type: Entree
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 35 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: 8
Comfort in A Dish.
Ingredients

14 oz of Orecchiette Pasta ( or short pasta)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup of Chopped Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic ( Minced)
1 Cup of Sour Cream
4 oz of Cream Cheese ( Room Temperature)
3/4 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice + Zest
10 Oz of Spinach ( Make sure to squeeze excess moisture, after it has been thawed of course)
13.5 Can of Artichoke Hearts rinsed and chopped
1 Cup of Mozzarella
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
1 Teaspoon of Pepper

Instructions

Preheat Oven To 425
Cook pasta according to the box. Keep 1/4 Cup of the Pasta Water before you drain the cooked pasta.
Heat oil in pan and cook onions for 8 – 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute.
In a large bowl – Mix Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, Parmesan, Lemon (juice and zest), onions, and garlic. Add Pasta and mix.
Stir in spinach, artichokes, 1/4 cup of cooking liquid from the pasta, salt, pepper, and 1/2 Cup of Mozzarella
Place mixture into greased 2.5 – 3 qt casserole dish and place the rest of mozzarella cheese on top
Place in the oven till golden brown on top – about 10 – 15 minutes.
Enjoy!

Manual labor and Catastrophe Averted!

Well, I got a few hours of sleep before I was awakened by the pain of sunburn. I haven't been sunburned like this is years. So i got up, tooled around on the computer, and got to chores.

I got the grocery shopping done for the week and then decided today was a good day to clean the kitchen. I scrubbed the stove and counters down before dinner and finished dishes and mopped the floor after. After a few hours in the kitchen I find out that the man threw away the 'broken' bucket weeks ago.

He actually waited until after I cleaned out the sink to tell me to use it as a mop. Not this sink baby, I scrubbed it all nice and clean once today.

I am waiting on the pieces of my stove to dry so I can put the stove back together. Oh how I miss my gas stove some days. The floor is drying as I type this. Don't you love it how you realize that you forgot to get things out of the kitchen after you have mopped the path through.

Tomorrow I guess I move on to the dinning room. I am contemplating my room and bathroom tonight too. It depends how my back is holding up when I get off this chair. :-)

It seems that my laptop is working. It is acting kind of buggy and 'seeing' stuff in the USB ports where there is nothing. I hate to lose her since she has almost all of my school work from COM on it. If it keeps acting up I guess I will have to look into getting a replacement. I would like to have something smaller for school but I love this laptop too. I will do some research this week and see what my options look like, Here is a picture of my baby drying out after my husband spilled iced tea on her.

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Stouffer's. Tomorrow I am trying a brand new recipe that I will post later for you. It is from Budget Savvy Diva and is called Spinach and Artichoke Baked Pasta. I hope it is good especially since the big boys are back from camp and we have a full house.

I'm looking forward to going to San Antonio in August for my friend's wedding. The husband opted to stay home with the kiddos so it should be fun.

This post is dedicated to the 5 hour energy shot that kept me going today. Those things taste like crap but they work. I guess I need to go check on the kitchen floor now.

Happy Sunday night everyone! I hope you have a blessed week!!

Clown noses, tomatoes, and lobsters

What do all these things have in common? Well, I am as red as they are right now. We took the littles swimming today for 2 hours with some friends and I forgot to put on sunscreen. I am paying for it now. So S got a sunburn on his face, N got it on his face but mostly he will tan up (he didn't get that from my side of the family), C has a decent sunburn on his back, and I am fried. It was a lot of fun though.

Then I went to have coffee with some friends and we sent back to D's house and played games. We had a lot of fun. I think the game Pimps and Ho's would have been better with alcohol, which is saying a lot because it was a blast.

I have some really great friends. I love them so much.

Saturday July 28th was my friend Donovan's birthday as well as my sister-in-law E. I wish them both many, many more very happy brthdays.

I guess I should try to sleep soon. I need to update my mp3 player later so that I can commence cleaning. Yes, I am feeling fine.... I just have things on my mind and keeping busy helps me work through it.

I realize that people change over time but not usually practically overnight. I am having trouble processing some things that have happened in my life since January.

B & J come home from camp tomorrow!! I cannot wait to hear about how it went.

I wish you all peace, love, and happiness today and always. <3

What Dreams May Come

Do you remember your dreams? I don't always. The thing is that when I do they seem to mean something is going to happen. It seems to be something many of the females in my family share.

I have had dreams about my best friend who passed away in 1998 a handful of times since he died. I feel like he has been around to guide me through the things I needed. My oldest son has his name as his second middle name. I almost wish it was his first one. I keep in touch with his kids as much as I can. They are a fantastic group of people and I feel very close to 3 of them and love them all very much. Even if it was my subconscious working on me it sure has helped me deal with my grief and the temporary anger I felt. Even today I feel that loss all the way to my core. I still feel like a piece of me is missing. I bet his kids feel it too.

That being said, a few weeks ago I had a dream that contained my husband's ex. I don't really remember specifics but in the years we have been together that has only happened maybe 2 or 3 times and something always happens after those dreams. This time was no different. A few days later she called us with very shocking news that rocked everyone's world. The boy's world got turned upside down while they were with us this month and they have some adjusting to do. Don't get me wrong, it isn't all bad or anything just shocking. I talked with the boys and relayed to them that if their Mom is happier and in a better situation then life will be better for all of them. Regardless of the past, we are all in this together and that isn't going to change.

Last week I had a dream about an old friend. This person and I went through a lot together. Without getting too much into things we went had a very interesting 3 years and it was good and bad as friendships usually are. I learned a lot about people, about friendship, about love, and about myself. Looking back there is very little I would change about that time in my life. This person came into my life during a very turbulent time and the crap we went through together really gave me back a sense of confidence that I thought was lost. So, a few days ago I had a dream about this person. I don't remember much about the dream other than it was friendly and pleasant. I think of him from time to time and I have often wondered how he was doing and how his family was doing. The odd part was I was tooling around on Facebook the other night during another bout of horrible insomnia and in my friend suggestions I saw his name pop up as someone I might know. So I clicked on it and as soon as I saw the college education info I knew it was him. Anyway, I added him as a friend. Tonight he approved that request while I was out at my Mom's house taking care of the animals and I almost fell over. I hope we can catch up with each other. Things were not always great between us but I honestly wish him all the best. We just lost track of each other.

I really love Facebook. I have actually reconnected with people I went to Elementary school with while my parents were together. I have enjoyed catching up with old friends, keeping up with family, and even making new friends.

I guess I should try and sleep since I have plans with the littles (my name for my 2 boys) and a friend and his kiddos. It will be our only chance to hang out with his daughter before she goes back to her Mom's house.

Drop me a comment if you have had any interesting experiences with your dreams. I love to explore that further. It is the Psychology lover in me.

It's that time again!

I would say TGIF and such but the weeks have really been flying for me this summer. Or even flying for a while now. When did time speed up? I wonder if it officially did that when I became a Mom? Or even when I became a student? When I was working, the weeks seemed to drag more often. Things definitely sped up when I became a Mother, it seems like the kids turned into weeds who were growing overnight. Of course, once I knew what I wanted to do with my adult life things got faster. Biology 1 & 2 with Dr. Y FLEW by because we had so much fun in those classes. Then Graduation was upon me and I worked very hard to graduate earlier than I anticipated. Partially to get out of COM, but mostly so I didn't have to reapply to UHCL. The Gov't would have paid my application fee but I didn't want the hassle. SO, I pushed through a 16 hour semester and ended with a 4.0 GPA.

Almost everyone in my life agreed that I should take a summer off this year but I couldn't. There are a few reasons for this, but we will just say that it wasn't feasible and leave it at that because in the end I am happy I pulled in a summer class that will end in another A. There is more to it that that though, I feel like I wasted used a lot of time already. I want to be on course with going into the career field as the kids are getting older and less needy for me to be around at their school, however, be available to go to their school functions still. So far I have managed to be rather involved during what I deem is the most important time. They are going to be coming into their own about the time I won't be able to be around as much. C will be too cool for Mom. I don't know about N though.

I have been contemplating anonymous blogging on top of this blog. I have a few reasons for this. For one, some of the people in my life that I could share everything with without worrying about being judged are gone now. I hope you have that kind of person in your life. You know the person that would give you a hug and hold you whether you made a stupid booboo or did something horrible. I don't want feedback, I want catharsis. I hate physically writing anything down because then people can find it and connect it to you. This way you might happen upon it but it takes a lot of effort and time to positively attribute it to me. Also, sometimes I want to blow off steam without hurting anyone's feelings. Usually even if I feel wronged I will get past it before it gets to a confrontational point.

I feel like I have learned a lot about myself in the 8 week class I took this summer. I'm changing and evolving as a person, as a parent, and as a budding professional. The journey is never ending (I hope!) and exciting.

Now to beat the insomnia monster after final exams. I'll be back to getting up T 6:30 am to get the kiddos to school on time. My actual classes are all over the place Mon-Thurs. Now that I am at UHCL I have realized that my days of easy semesters are OVER. On the other side of that, I am getting into the meaty classes that challenge me and make me think. I am not looking forward to the 2,000 word paper in Advanced Writing but that will be Spring semester.

I thought a lot about going back over the content of this blog since I have applied for the Bachelors of Social Work program. You know I don't put it past anyone to do web research on candidates. I decided to leave it as it was. I hope that it will reflect my own personal growth. I had a blog at one time that was focused on petty crap but I deleted it. There are people in my life that I hurt and I am truly sorry. Just because I do not agree with how you handle things all the time doesn't give me the right to judge you. I am pretty sure that you find some of my decisions to be not to your tastes. However, we have to 'live' with each other and I would rather do it peacefully and in the best interest of our mutual loved ones then to be at odds. Especially now.

So, in the future this blog will be a mixture of my reflections on life, recipes, and whatever else I feel like posting.

Oh Happy Day

Well, C and I had a bad night. He couldn't get to sleep and neither could I. However, he is still asleep and I am awake. I didn't want to wake him and I hope he isn't coming down with something. I told his brother to leave him be for now.

Happy Thursday! I hope you have a lovely day.

Dinner, check ups, & School days...OH MY

Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble

OK, it is only gravy and it isn't in a cauldron at all. I tasted the au jus that surrounded my pork loin and it was really good. In fact, it was SO good that I thought leaving it as au jus would be a waste so I turned it into gravy.

I tried to cut the pork loin but it just fell apart. It was super yummy. The only complaint was that the onion soup was a bit salty, therefore the resulting gravy was too. I can see why this is an au jus because it gave the meat a great flavor but the salt stood out somewhat in the gravy. Next time low sodium onion soup or find a recipe for homemade onion soup mix that contains less salt. And before you ask, I only use unsalted butter in cooking. I prefer to let the adults add salt as they please and to keep the kids' salt intake to a minimum.

Anyway, here is the finished product: (No, I am not a food photographer.Not sure? See the gravy picture above.)

All in all this was very good. It made enough to feed 6 for those times when all 6 of us are together for dinner. So, if pork loin is on sale I give this recipe a thumbs up! Tomorrow is leftover night. Friday I think I will make the Taco Stew from a previous blog.


Tomorrow morning I have a check up at the VA. I haven't been sleeping much so I guess I should get in the shower and hit the bed early tonight since I have to drop the kids off early. And class will be a breeze... all I have to do watch presentations since ours is done!

I see a swimming pool in my future. I hope your weekend is wonderful. I'll be around.

I cannot wait to coast into the weekend.

Torture

Holy slab of meat, Batman! It smells wonderful in my house. I knew it smelled good when I woke up but I am drooling after going out to check the mail. Tonight we are having Pork Loin done in the crock pot. It is a brand new recipe so I cannot say how it is for sure yet but if smell is any indication we will be happy diners tonight.

So, I will share the recipe with you because even an insomniac can make it at 3AM! :-)

Oh just a note... I did not use tenderloin. I think of those as the 2 pieces of meat that are skinny and come in a package looking like one slab. I used Pork Loin which is one big piece and has more fat on it. People say it is not as tender but I think it all depends on your cooking method.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/amazing-pork-tenderloin-in-the-slow-cooker/

Amazing Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients:
1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
3/4 cup red wine

3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker with the contents of the soup packet. Pour water, wine, and soy sauce over the top, turning the pork to coat. Carefully spread garlic over the pork, leaving as much on top of the roast during cooking as possible. Sprinkle with pepper, cover, and cook on low setting for 4 hours. Serve with cooking liquid on the side as au jus.


It has a 4/5 Star review!! I think I might serve it with dressing unless I decide to use the sauce for gravy and make mashed potatoes.

More on how it turns out tomorrow.

Tuesday's Ethics

I have a presentation with my partner D tonight in Ethics class. Sloppy Joes are on the menu tonight. Brown ground beef. Drain ground beef. Open can of bold Manwich sauce (sloppy Joe sauce of your choosing), Pour it in. Simmer 5 minutes. Mmm, dinner is served!

But there is a recipe from Hillbilly Housewife that I have decided to try. It is sort of similar to my turkey taco soup recipe which is a wonderful winter dinner. I think it will be yummy, I only worry about the salt content.

Taco Stew – Crock Pot

3 FROZEN chicken breasts
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg ranch dip dressing
1 can rotel (as hot as you want)
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can white beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans

In crockpot place the FROZEN chicken breasts on the bottom, sprinkle taco and ranch dip seasoning on top of chicken. Then place cans in the order they appear (rotel, corn, white beans, black beans, kidney beans)—DO NOT DRAIN!!

Cook on low for about 5 hrs. Take chicken out and shred, place back in crockpot and stir. Enjoy!!

I plan on trying it this week and will post more about it later.

Oh and pictures of the hubby's birthday cake were supposed to post here but did not so I will add them manually.

I had it done with whipped icing to cut the sweetness back a bit and it was delicious. Thank you Kroger Bakery team!

One more time....

Wow, one more thing today and I will quit this posting stuff. I guess I am making up for all the time I will not have once Fall semester starts.

There is NO shame in asking for help if you need it.

Some of you may know this already....

but I absolutely LOVE the Hillbilly Housewife website. I have gotten some great recipes from there and neat ideas. So today I will share the direct link with you all so that you can see that some of my favorite recipes are from these lovely people!

There is SO much more there than recipes too. Frugal living is important in this economy and HBHW has great tips.



http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

My links have taken to not working so I will post this twice so that you can copy and paste it into your browser if nothing else.

I want to wish my husband a very Happy Birthday today! We have shared 9 birthdays as a couple and many more as friends. As far as husbands go, you are pretty good and probably deserve either a Medal or a Purple Heart for putting up with me.

I *ALMOST* forgot to welcome my new members!

WELCOME to Nantzee and Bev from Blue Velvet Vincent!!

You should definitely check out their blogs if you are a fan of Vincent D'Onofrio. Also they are absolutely fantastic people!! I know them from Facebook and Twitter and love them both dearly!

Kids, presentations, vacation, and so on...

YAY! Just found out tonight that our big boys will be coming back for a few days on the 29th! I'm happy we have a bit more time with them. Hubby mentioned tonight that he was glad that he would have the boys closer so that he can take all four of the boys to work next year on what he calls 'Take your spawn to work day'. Of course, it is also known as 'Annoy this piss out of your co-worker with your kids day'.

Today Mom, Tam, and I went to the Dog Show at Reliant. It was tons of fun. We met some fantastic people and dogs. Tam worked it with Petco. She has some really great co-workers so it was fun.

Tuesday my partner and I present our Ethics Powerpoint. I think it is definitely A material. I'm excited that this semester is almost over. Hopefully we get to have some fun before fall semester starts up.

The littles are spending the night with Nana and are excited to be going swimming tomorrow while Mommy goes to the dentist.

Speaking of the morning, I have an early appt so I guess I should be heading to bed.

It is very quiet here tonight but I know the kids are in great hands so I am not worried.

Much peace and love to all! Take of yourselves and each other!

Family is precious......

Even when you want to strangle them. And it is actually not who you think.

I made a nice dinner and got Hubby a birthday cake with Star Trek on it. We planned to have a nice family night since it was our last night with all 4 kiddos. After dinner B and I watched Ghost Stories and some of Ghost Adventures. C joined us for the new GA, and then we watched Dead Files and had cake. B asked if the majority of people agreed could we watch Captain America. Since I had wanted to watch it with them anyway, I said yes. It was a good movie. J joined us on and off and N did really well watching it. N is 6 and doesn't sit still well. C was being a butt. ADHD makes it hard to watch a movie and sit still. B did great though. Now I can take Thor and Captain America back to Nana, which will make her happy. :-)

Hubby spent the whole night on the computer. ARGH. On one hand he hasn't played on his computer for most of the month. We opened up both of our desktops for the boys to share so that they could play Minecraft together since their computer is on the fritz. And it is his birthday weekend but I was hoping we could hang together on our last night. At least the boys and I hung out. They'll be back in a few weeks and they are closer now so....

Anyway, as it is 1 AM and I have to meet the partner at Noon. I should hit the hay because I need to do a few things before I go to campus.

I hope this weekend treats you right! Tomorrow we are having Bratwurst burgers (new from Johnsonvile) and sloppy joes on Sunday so I may not post many recipes this weekend. I will try and fins something in my collection for my lovely readers.

Actually, in the spirit of my love for Vincent D'Onofrio, maybe I will post his Mom's lasagna recipe. If I have some time I will do that. I had the pleasure of meeting Vincent once and he was absolutely lovely, and most of his fans are lovely as well.

Getting older is mandatory, Growing up is optional

Now cooking in the crockpot is Creamy Italian Chicken. I will serve it with no yolk egg noodles and a veggie. I love having dinner cook on its own all day. I need to run and pick up the birthday cake for the hubby. It is chock full of yummy geekiness. Pictures to come. In the meantime, here is the recipe for dinner:

Creamy Italian Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope of Italian salad dressing mix
1/4 cup water
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can 8oz mushrooms

Put chicken in the crockpot. Mix dressing and water; pour over chicken. Cook on LOW for 3 hours.

Soften cream cheese in microwave for 30 seconds. In mixing bowl beat cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms. Pour over chicken stirring to combine the dressing with the soup mixture. Cook 1 hour longer or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over rice or noodles. Serves 4-6

NOTE: I have 6 people to feed. 5 of those are males. 4 of the 5 males are growing. I am using 2 packages of boneless skinless chicken thighs and doubling the sauce. Plus I use 1/3 fat cream cheese and fat free soup. I would have to advise against using fat free cream cheese because it tastes wrong. I can spot NO difference between 1/3 fat or regular cream cheese. Just a personal opinion though.

This is a yummy recipe.

Thursday afternoon Ethics

Well, it is Ethics class day. I really have enjoyed this class. It is very nice to have people in the class with the same major as me. Also, I will be with most of the throughout the BSW program which is nice.

In case you are interested in the UHCL BSW program you can look into it here:

http://www.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/HSH/HOME/HSH%20Programs/Social%20Work



Tonight I will go to Denny's and have coffee with Ella. I enjoy our weekly evenings out and this one will be great since I had to cancel last week. I wasn't feeling well and did not go to class either. Plus the boys had just found out that they were moving the night before. We wanted Thursday night to be a family night. I even made a cake for dessert.

I hope you all have a great day!

DnD, Blogging, Academia

The children and their father are gaming tonight at home. They killed a whole carton of strawberries. I took off with the blueberries. WOOHOO!

I really need to go get another gallon of milk for breakfast. Milk does the body good.

I still have not managed to get through 'Never Been Kissed'. We were going to watch 'Captain America' but Daddy decided to run a game. Maybe Friday night we can watch it and the boys can have bacon flavored pop corn. Our last hurrah for a few weeks.

I spent the evening reading my friends blogs that I have neglected.

My partner in academia is pissed pouting not particularly thrilled that he waited until the last minute to talk to me about our presentation and paper and I have stuff to do this weekend. We will figure it out tomorrow before or after class. I'm not sure he likes my attempt to fit him in Saturday morning. Of course, I can hook up with him Monday too. I told him I am open until 3 PM on Saturday. I will even get up early. I don't think it should take that long to share notes and work on the Power Point for our presentation Tuesday night. Tomorrow we need to clarify if we need to write one paper or 2.

To the grocery store.....

Been a long time....so let's bake spaghetti.

Wow, I haven't been here in a while. I didn't fall off the face of the earth or anything. In fact, things are going really good for the most part.

On May 12, 2012 I graduated from College of the Mainland with my Associates of Art degree in General Studies. June 11, 2012 I began my first class at University of Houston- Clear Lake. I sent off my application to apply for the Bachelors in Social Work program yesterday and now I wait. It can take them up to 30 days to decide whether to accept me at this time or not. I am pretty sure I will get it, I just don't know if it will be in time for the fall classes. It would be probationary for now anyway until I finish the other class that I need. I have some general education classes to take as well. Advanced Writing, Behavioral Statistics

The boys are all great and getting BIG. B is 12 and going into the 7th grade. J is 11 and heading to 6th grade. C is 8 1/2 and heading to 3rd grade, and little N is 6 and heading to 1st grade. The big boys have moved down to our side of town again which means no more 3 hour Sunday rides for us. My Pop-in-law was picking them up on Fridays for us so we wouldn't be in traffic all night on Fridays. It was a very kind thing to do. I know he is glad that is over now. I hope the boys like their new school. I know change is an adjustment but it seems best for everyone.
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We have had the big boys since June 29th and Saturday they go back to Momma's house and off to Boy Scout Camp on Sunday for a week. B wasn't all that excited about Camp after he found out that Momma was moving but now that he has seen the new place things are better. I think he was worried about his Momma and there being more radical changes when he got back. Completely understandable. Now that they have seen the new place they seem to be doing better. It has been a good summer. We got stuck inside for a week with the rain but they were very well behaved.
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Tonight I made Baked Spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread for dinner. J gorged on salad as usual. I wonder if he was a rabbit in a past life? Not complaining though, there are worse things to gorge on for sure.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil water for spaghetti.

My Baked Spaghetti is was just Ragu sauce simmered while the noodles cook. Mix the sauce and noodles together. Put 1/2 of noodle & sauce mixture in a baking dish and add a layer of mozzarella cheese. Add remaining noodle & sauce mixture and top with more mozzarella cheese. I like a lot of cheese and add it liberally. You can make it to your liking. You could even do more layers if you like.

Then put in oven for 8-10 minutes until cheese is nice and melted. It perks up regular spaghetti nicely and the kids love it.
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I can't promise that I will keep up with this but I will try. Even if it is only to add more of our favorite recipes. Tomorrow the kids are eating at their grandparent's house. Friday is Creamy Italian Chicken and birthday cake for my husband's upcoming birthday. His birthday is Monday but the older boys are leaving Saturday so we shall celebrate early.