yeah, um

There are not enough hours in a day.  There just are not.  I think I could do quite nicely with 26 or even possibly 28 hours in a day.  I am doing laundry.  And sewing.  Oh yes, you read right, sewing.  I am fixing a hook on camo coveralls in preparation for duck season.  Because I am awesome.

This week I have also cooked like a crazy person. 
Saturday: Lasagna.
Tuesday:  chicken enchiladas.  **Did not have sour cream for them because I don't read when I go grocery shopping and instead of sour cream got a small carton of cottage cheese.  Dur!
Wednesday:  Mac & Cheese with brats.  Oh yes, just like the childhood mac & cheese with hot dogs.  But all grown up as shells and cheese with brats.  It was delicious.
I was desperately hoping I was done cooking for the week and could survive on leftovers.  Tomorrow night I have class and I usually don't cook when I have class.  That's when those extra 2 hours in a day would come in handy.

Also, during all of my wonderful cooking, my dishwasher continues to suck.  Not just kind of suck.  It's really pretty pointless.  I'm fairly sure the dishes are cleaner when they go in than when they come out.  Gr!  I spent a couple of days handwashing my dishes and then realized I didn't have time for that.

Back to repairing coveralls.  And looking for more time in my life.

tackle

I've started the closet. I bought some more hangers. I wish Wal-Mart would sell bright pink hangers year round. Now I'm stuck with some white mixed in. I'm color coding though. All the sports shirts are on the white ones. And jackets are on the light pink ones. It's already so much better in there. I always loved organizing my closet when I was a kid.

I'm also doing laundry. Mountains of it. Now I remember why I should do it way more often. Last week I refused to do it. Now I regret that. Oh well. 2 loads are already done. :)

This week is going to be great. Today is laundry and the closet. I'm going to start on a scarf for one of my friends (I promised it to her last winter, oops!). I'm going to make cheesy chicken and green beans for dinner. Yum! There are also plans for a chocolate pie and tailgating food for 2 football games. I'm also going to clean the whole apartment. Yesterday when I went to buy the Kaboom shower foam they didn't have any. Rats! I was so excited. I love the regular spray!

I wish I could have taken this week off from work too....

what it's not

I should be studying for a lifespan development final. Doesn't that sound like oodles of fun. I should be unloading and reloading the dishwasher. I should be unpacking from the weekend.

I'm not doing any of those things. My brain is tired. I'm not sure it could hold any more. Good thing I have another final on Thursday. And a paper due. Whee.

All I really want to do is the fun stuff I have planned for next week. The glorious 7 days I have off from school. Like clean my closet. And crochet a scarf. And make a chocolate pie. And sleep in. And so many things that are so much more fun than studying. Even unloading the dishwasher.

on being.... a grown up

So I did two relatively icky things tonight that might classify me as an adult. Are you ready for this? Because I'm not sure that I am.

One. Because I am the best (I do mean best girlfriend in the whole world) I skinned a chicken. Can I just say that it was super gross. I mean yuck! Blech. I pride myself on being able to cook whatever I set my mind to. But skinning chicken grosses me out. Ug. I usually buy boneless chicken. Everyone is happier that way. But, because I am awesome, I skinned a chicken. It is currently in the oven with cajun butter injection and Famous Dave's chicken marinade cooking away. Deliciousness is sure to ensue.

Two. I cleaned my air vent thing on my heat/ac/water heater closet. It was disgusting. Don't judge me. I'm reasonably sure it wasn't even clean when I moved in. But I have people coming over on Friday and it looked gross. I got out that big duster thingy and tried to knock the dust(?) off. It sort of worked. So I got out my tiny Dirt Devil vacuum and attacked it. It's still not good, but it's better.

Are you impressed yet?

Well get ready. Here's how to make a chocolate pie. Not the actual ingredients, but a photo summary.

iPod. Check. (By the way, much cooler now bcs. I have an iPod dock)

Betty Crocker cookbook. That's the recipe doubled on the pink sticky note4 separated eggs. I rock at separating eggs!

Milk Lots of milk. Here is the milk all measured out in a 4 cup measure. 1970s tupperware measuring cups and measuring spoons. All necessary

All ready to startMmm! It's going to be delicious

It's almost pie.

I didn't take any pictures of the finished project. I think I ran out of time. It was delicious though. And I don't know why everything is showing up as a link. If you click nothing will happen. I just failed. I wasn't even trying to make links. Crazy.

Back to cleaning. Hopefully nothing else gross.

toaster ovens and tests

So I went shopping today. I had two gift cards to spend. One from Kohl's (a birthday gift) and one from Target (from returning a bag) I got such good bargains. I think I only ended up spending about $10 of my own money.

From Target:

I've been wanting a toaster oven for a while. I asked for one for my birthday and didn't get one. This seemed like the perfect time to buy it. It was pretty cheap but should get the job done.

And from Kohl's:

I'd been wanting some actual beverage glasses. They were 40% off! So that made it even better. We are having margaritas tonight. Pretty excited to try out the new glasses.

And now there is space in my kitchen to store all of this new stuff. Cleaned off the top of the microwave for the toaster oven. Classy, I know. And I bought a drawer to put my tupperware stuff in so now my mixing bowls and bar glasses can go above the sink. Yay!

tonight

I'm trying really hard to find a balance. And right now that balance means life is very very busy. But full and joyful. I may be exhausted at the end of the day, but it is worth it. Since I have been off work....
....watched Gilmore Girls
... made flash cards to study for Intro to School Counseling final
... did 2 loads of laundry
... folded and put away about 1000 loads of laundry
... made a lasagna
... did the dishes
... emailed a good friend whom I miss
... took a shower
... straightened my hair
... checked facebook a thousand times even though I hate it
And I feel satisfied. I am ready to sit down on the couch, watch some Boston Legal and relax before I go to sleep.

disappearing act

I've been working on feeling incredibly overwhelmed. And my domesticity has taken a definite slow turn. I'm trying so hard there is just not enough time in the day. Tonight I did a halfway cleaning of the apartment. It's not really clean. Just picked up. And I bought a few groceries. And I will be studying until I die.

Mondays and Thursdays I work 8 hours and then I go to class for 4 1/2 hours. If you're counting, that is over 13 hours that I am gone (including drive time). Ug. It's fairly exhausting. I like school. I do not currently like my job. Preschoolers are insane. I think we had 19 on Friday.

I did manage to make some really good chicken on Wednesday despite being sick. I keep getting dizzy, I'm pretty sure it's not good. Anyway, I pounded chicken breasts out and then marinated them in Baja Chipotle sauce. Then I rolled them up with cream cheese and jalapenos. I had planned to wrap it in bacon but forgot. They were still delicious.

Tonight I'm making spaghetti. Noodles and Hunts sauce. Nothing complex. I can only do so much.

I still need to do dishes and straighten my hair so I don't have to deal with it for a few days. I just finished writing a mini-paper that my brain was definitely not up to writing. I took a nap and I'm still so tired. I wish I could hire a maid. The other day I did come home and the dishes were done, I was so happy I almost cried.

muffin tops

No, not those kind of muffin tops. Even though those are a tragedy. Nobody (no matter how skinny you are) looks good with ill-fitting jeans. Anyway.

So tonight I was eating a biscuit for dinner (yup, breakfast for dinner). I definitely have a favorite biscuit half. I love the bottom of the biscuit. Not so much that I won't eat the top though that definitely seems like a me thing to do. But I always eat the top first saving the best (the bottom) for last.

Same with muffins only my favorite half is the muffin top. I'm not one of those people that will only eat the top, I enjoy the bottom as well, it's just not as delicious. I think it's something about the texture post baking.

So, what do you think? What are your weird eating mannerisms?

-I do not like my food to touch. Unless it is food that is meant to touch. Biscuits and gravy; taco salad; cereal and milk. You get the picture.
-I also eat one food at a time. I think this goes back to not liking my food to touch. Don't even want it to touch on the way down.
-I think eating meat off the bone is disgusting. I don't care if other people do it, I just don't want to do it myself. Yick. I once made a cave woman reference that I am yet to live down.
-I will not eat cold canned pineapple. I want it straight out of the can or not at all.
-When I eat a piece of cake that has icing, I always eat the cake first and then the icing. Yes, this makes me about 4 years old.
-I only like American cheese on eggs. Everything else tastes weird.
-Milk and eggs together = gross. Coffee with food = gross. Milk for breakfast (unless accompanied by something covered in syrup)=gross.
-I made chicken pot pie last night that smelled more like beef stew.
-I once had an elephant ear at a festival (Cornerstone to be specific) and have not really stopped thinking about it since.

chicken fried

Only it was turkey. Last night I tackled a new cooking project. I happened to have wild turkey in my freezer and it was requested that I fry it. So with my dad's phone advice, I made fried turkey. I thawed out this lovely turkey and sliced it really thin (while making gross faces. Raw meat is soooo gross). I dipped it in milk and egg and then flour with cajun seasoning and garlic. End result -- absolute deliciousness. And not just my opinion. I was pretty impressed with myself. I was initially a little terrified. I'd honestly never fried anything before in my life. And hot grease is scary especially considering I'm quite accident prone in the kitchen. It was a success though. There will definitely be more turkey frying going on at my house.

And now I'm getting ready for house guests. My sister is coming for the weekend. I'm pretty excited, I have a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives weekend planned. We're going to eat all the places in my area that they've visited on the show. Should be fun.

I'm also in the process of baking 4 dozen cupcakes for work tomorrow. I'm having an un-birthday party for the kids tomorrow to celebrate all their birthdays. Oh yes, inspired by this record....

seafood boil

I'm doing a crab boil and it just may kill me. The minute it started boiling the fumes drove me out of the kitchen. I've turned on the exhaust fan, the living room fan and opened the door. And still. I wish I were somewhere else. Hopefully it will taste delicious. I cannot stop sneezing.

saucy

So tonight as I was preparing to eat my dinner, I realized I have way too many condiments in the refrigerator. I don't believe this is really all my fault. I believe other people enjoy dipping. So, now for your enjoyment, a picture of my refrigerator.
1. Kraft Blue Cheese Dressing. For putting on fake buffalo chicken.
2. Jiffy All Natural Chunky Peanut Butter
3. Cocktail Sauce (it got cut out of the picture) And there's probably cheese behind that little door.
4. Cottage cheese -- for the lasagna this week
5. Hunt's Ketchup. The only kind to buy.
6. Miracle Whip
7. Silver Dollar City Barbecue Sauce (my sister buys it for me because they don't sell it where I live. It's delicious!)
8. Ott's Wing Sauce. Oddly, they do sell this here. It and SDC sauce are bottled the same place. Weird.
9. Kraft Caesar dressing.
10. Applesauce. Made by my mom. The best ever.
11. Sweet & Sour Sauce. Not just for Sweet & Sour. We inject it in chicken sometimes. Yum!
12. Kikkoman Soy Sauce. I have an addiction to Chinese food. It can't be helped.
13. Roberts Skim Milk. Not a condiment but that's where it fit when we bought groceries.
14. Salsa. This is Medium, the Wal-Mart brand. Until about 3 days ago, there was 2 other kinds. Mexicali Blues Salsa and Peach Pineapple Chipotle. Oh how I miss those 2 salsas.
15. Beer. Some kind from Montana.
16. Tony something's Creole Butter injection. Primarily for cooking whole chickens. I injected a chicken last week. It was gross.
17. Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
18. Pancake syrup

What do you think? Too many condiments?

On a side note, I cut the crap out of my finger on a ceral box today at work. Last week it was a box of Goldfish crackers. Damn super size boxes.

the lottery or grad school

Well apparently my message sounded a little excited. I found out today I got accepted to the grad school program of my choice. I filled out my FAFSA and tomorrow after I mail my first $100 to them it will all be official. I can't believe it! Five years ago if you had asked me about grad school I would have said no way. And now I'm so excited about it. A little terrified, but I know I can do it.

I went shopping yesterday. Ug. Sometimes shopping makes me absolutely crazy. Yesterday was one of those days. I should never go to Bass Pro by myself, it makes me super grumpy. But I redeemed the day with a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond. I loooove Bed Bath and Beyond. I bought 2 fantastic things I am so excited about. I bought this:
It's now hanging inside the cabinet under my sink and holds a few plastic bags. I try not to get plastic bags at Wal-Mart and what not but sometimes you can't help it. And I always use them as a bag for the trash can in the bathroom. I feel less bad about getting them if I reuse them. I took a ton back to Wal-Mart to recycle the other day. I usually use these charming green Walgreens shopping bags my sister gave me. I always feel like a goober carrying them into the store but at least I'm doing my part I guess.

I also bought 2 of these. Yeah, I know, I'm like a 70 year old woman.
Only my are filled with Busch Light and Sam's Choice Cola. Neither beverage is mine, they just live in my fridge and I figured they might as well be organized. So now I'm very happy when I open my fridge and see nice rows of cans instead of a half empty Busch Light box and cans of soda in the case in the dining room.

Even though it replaced Life on Mars (and I'm kind of pissed it went off air) I've been watching The Unusuals. And it's been driving me crazy. The chief, or whatever his official title is, was so familiar. I knew he was from something else I'd seen. Um, he's the dad from Save the Last Dance. Oh yes, if you are in your mid 20s you know exactly what I am talking about. I was so glad to solve that mystery. Ridiculous, yes. And that's why I'm going back to school, so I can think about education instead of pop culture trivia.

laundry: how to

I learned a laundry lesson long ago from my high school speech coach. Sometimes us busty gals have problems finding t-shirts that fit right. If you wash a shirt and while it is wet, turn it upside down and stand in the shirt, you can stretch it with your legs and it will stretch evenly. Then air dry and perfection!

So I bought a little boys Royals shirt to wear to the game tonight and well, it didn't quite fit right and I grew disgusted in the quest for a good Royals shirt so I did the trick above. And now I'm drying it hillbilly style. I have to leave for work soon and obviously did not want to put it in the drier because it would shrink back up. So my shirt is laying on the bench on my porch with a fan pointed at it. It's working but it's a little.... well, you know. I wouldn't want anyone to catch me doing it.

being domestic

So you may have already figured out I seriously love being domestic. I love making a delicious dinner. I love having things put away, all neat and organized. I love making my place look pretty. I don't even mind terribly doing laundry or dishes. I love the end result.

Over the weekend I learned how to make my mom's potato salad. It was a big hit. And now I have a new appreciation. Everytime I thought I was done she would remind me of something else that needed to go in. It was frustrating but delicious. All of the leftovers at my house have been eaten (I think I got 2 forkfuls....)
Potato Salad:
6 potatoes (or so, depends on how many you're feeding)
4 boiled eggs
Onion
Relish
Cheese (we use Velveeta)
Mayo
Mustard
Salt
Add ingredients until it looks right.

Oh yes, these were the instructions I really got. And that is really how you make it. It's totally by how it looks and not exact measurements. Because well, potatoes are not specific sizes. It's very frustrating to me because I really like exact recipes. I like things to be black and white. Very organized, very precise. I'm working on it.

someone's in the kitchen with dina...

So tonight as my meatloaf bakes, I bring you kitchen tips. Yes, I'm also wearing heels and pearls while I cook and my hair is sprayed within an inch of its life. Think June Cleaver.

Tip #1: Make sure dish scrubby is not in drain before running garbage disposal. Otherwise you may learn what a dish scrubby is actually made of. I'll just tell you and save you ruining your scrubby -- that plastic stuff that you scrub dishes with and weird little pieces of sponge. Rats.

Tip #2: There is a right way and a not right way to load the dishwasher. I am fairly sure dessert/salad plates do not go on the top rack. I think that is for glasses, coffee mugs, bowls, etc. I could be wrong...

Tip #3: If you are designing your own kitchen and don't know what to put in that large empty space, may I suggest cabinets. Always more cabinets. Maybe even add on a kitchen annex for more cabinets. Nothing is worse than a lack of cabinet space. Come to my house and you will see every appliance I own stored on top of my cabinets. And a bag of flour on top of the drier.

Tip #4: Always smell the milk to make sure it's good. Because rotten milk is super nasty. I seriously smell it everytime I open the milk to use it. Even if I've already used some that day. It may have turned....

Tip #5: Seal up the brown sugar. Why, you ask. Oh, let me tell you. I had to dump out a 1/4 of my lovely pink Tupperware canister of brown sugar because I failed to put the lid on all the way. Know what happens to brown sugar when exposed to air? Yup, you guessed it. It becomes a giant rock of brown sugar.

Tip #6: The crisper drawer is not the beer drawer. I know, it seems like a really good idea. And in theory it is. However, think about it -- opening and closing the drawer causes the beer to roll back and forth. And what happens when you shake a can of beer (or soda for that matter)? You got it, it explodes everywhere. I suggest keeping it in the door. And then you can open the fridge and smile at all the lovely bottles of Boulevard there to greet you.

Tip #7: When expecting company for dinner, always set the table ahead of time. It will make you look more ready than you may actually be. *I learned that from my mother.

Tip #8: Do not put knives in the oven. If say, you are heating up wings and for some reason you were using a knife in your dinner preparation (???), make sure you do not leave it on the baking sheet. The handle will melt. Yes, the knife may still be usable but it will be a little special.

Tip #9: Tupperware is the greatest invention ever. Okay, that's not a tip. That's just me admitting I love Tupperware. I really truly do. It's a little embarassing. I may need help.

Tip #10: When in doubt, ask someone older and wiser.