Wife, Then Mama

Last week I tried a new recipe.  Actually that isn't really true, I kind of half-way created my own recipe.  This is based on a recipe from Cooking Light, but I changed it around.  The recipe was for a rub, but since I HATE touching raw meat, I don't really do rubs (every once in a while I will suck it up and make a meatloaf though), plus my chicken was still frozen, and you can't really rub anything onto frozen chicken. RECIPE: 1 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp pepper 1/2 cup water 2 tbsp vinegar 2 tbsp oil however much chicken you want to eat, this is a marinade/sauce, so it doesn't really have to be precise Pre-heat the oven to 350 ° (or whatever temperature you like to cook chicken at).  Mix all the ingredients except the chicken in a bowl.  Put the chicken in whatever baking dish you are using, and then pour the mixture over the chicken.  You can then leave it to mar...

So mostly I did another failure week on meal planning.  But I do have two recipes for you, and they are both yummy!  We didn't really have any fails, because we had old stand-bys instead of the new stuff I had planned. Super Easy Pork Chops So these are actually Michael's recipe, but I changed it up a little bit.  He always used Cream of Mushroom Soup, but since I avoid that whenever I can, I made the sauce myself. These pork chops are super easy to make! If you choose to use a can of cream of mushroom soup instead of all the other ingredients making it absurdly easy! This is delicious served over rice. Serves 2 Ingredients 2 pork chops 2 tablespoons butter you could also use coconut oil (slight flavor change) or lard 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon beef bouillon you can also use 1 cup beef broth and not add the bouillon or the water 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup water you can also use 1/2 water and 1/2 cup milk if you want it a little creamier Di...

This is a picture of scrambled eggs.  The eggs on the top are from a friend's chickens.  The eggs on the bottom are from Winco (probably, every once in a while I shop elsewhere). I was cooking the "farm" fresh eggs, and noticed that they seemed really yellow.  So I took some "regular" eggs out of the fridge and scrambled them too.  The second batch looks almost white compared to the first batch.  I didn't add anything to them except salt and pepper.  Which was pretty unnecessary seeing as how I didn't NEED more eggs for breakfast and ended up giving them to the dog... Now I REALLY want my own chickens.  That much more color has to mean all sorts of good things that I know nothing about.  I know that butter is more yellow in the summer than the winter (at least when free-range, pastured cows are producing it) because they get gresh grass instead of hay and get out in the sunshine.  But these are winter eggs, so that shouldn't be a...

I just spent about two hours planning all of our meals for the next two weeks after payday.  I used a free trial of Plan To Eat, which is pretty cool.  I actually won a free years subscription on a blog giveaway, but I have not gotten any info about it so I might end up paying for it later.  I am trying to get on top of it, as Michael and I have been eating like crap for the last year or so since we moved out of our apartment.  I want to cook and be a good wife, and make healthy food for us, but if I don't plan it out, I usually revert back to Hamburger Helper or a trip to McDonalds.  You can judge me if you want, but I know its bad for us, and that is why I want to change it!  My meal plan involves some very expensive grocery shopping, and I might need to reign in the spending depending on how it actually turns out to cost.  The main expense is going to be from my desire to make smoothies almost every morning.  Frozen fruit is generally pretty ...

Peanut Butter Cookies! I have literally never made peanut butter cookies before.  Well I probably helped my mom make them at some point growing up. I don't like peanut butter cookies, or I didn't last time I tried them, and now I don't want to try them again.  Nothing good can come from liking another type of dessert! Anyways, last night Michael brought me home tons of baking stuff because I had been complaining that I couldn't bake for Christmas.  He also bought me a poinsettia and a rose because he is a sweetie and knows I have been stressed out lately and he loves me.  He remembered everything: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar, powdered sugar, chocolate chips.  He even bought be some yeast in case I wanted to make rolls!  I asked him if there was anything he wanted me to make, and he said peanut butter cookies.  So this morning I did (Hadlee helped.  And by help I mean broke an egg on the counter because she though...

Tropical Traditions sent me a free 32 ounce jar of organic Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to review. I have never used coconut oil, so I don't really have anything to compare it with, but I can say that it is a HUGE jar!  The ones I have seen at Trader Joe's are probably about half the size. I have not used much of it, but I am totally in love, and will be VERY sad when I run out! I have used it in cooking, and used half coconut oil, half butter to make a sauce, when usually I use just butter.  It turned out great! I have used it as moisturizer, and it worked wonderfully.  I mean it is OIL so it leaves you a little greasy, but it feels amazing! I have used it for Oil Pulling , and it worked well.  Hopefully if I continue to do it I can whiten my teeth! There are a couple of things you should know about this oil: It tastes/smells like coconuts.  I have always thought I HATED coconuts, and only really wanted to get this oil because I have heard tha...

Something I enjoyed doing, but fell out of the habit of is menu planning. I don't know how other people go about meal planning, but for me it is a pretty long process, and I only plan dinner! Step One: I write down the meals we have on a regular basiss.  For us these are usually tacos, spaghetti, and pizza night.  I also note nights that we will be gone so I don't need to make dinner. Step Two: I look through cookbooks to find the rest of the meals I need to have enough for everyday we need to have dinner.  This part takes forever!  I am REALLY picky AND I try to keep the calorie count below 500-600 for the meal (main dish, sides, dessert). Step Three: I categorize the meals by what sort of meat they use.  I don't really do the meatless things (and my husband really hates when I do), and I am not big on fish, so usually its just beef and chicken.  To ensure variety I switch them every other day.  So if we have spaghetti on Monday, then Tue...

vaccines epidurals pitocin sunscreen pretty much all pharmaceutical drugs, but I am still kinda willing to take them to get pregnant Satan/demons shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc. milk (unless it was organic and raw) the end of the world being scared of the end of the world, since as a Christian I am supposed to be excited about the end of the world not ever being able to have a baby eating new foods spiders (big ones) snakes (no matter what the size, they just freak me out) all the things that some people say are occult and then I wonder if they are, for example: acupuncture, mindlessly reading your horoscope (even if I just think its a big joke), yoga, etc. cleaning products meat (unless it was grass fed, free range organic meat) c-sections (aka, being gutted or being chopped in half)

It is stupid to get a flu shot. A systematic review of 51 studies involving 260,000 children age 6 to 23 months found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo. The Flu vaccines contain mercury One report shows that people who received the flu vaccine each year for 3 to 5 years had a 10-fold greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease than people who did not have any flu shots. Research shows that over-use of the flu-vaccine and drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza can actually alter flu viruses and cause them to mutate into a more deadly strain . I love Christmas movies I love Christmas specials (Rudolph, Frosty, etc.) even more For some reason I think watching Christmas specials on network channels is better than watching them on cable channels. I am really sad that I can't ever go visit my family at Christmas because Michael works at a retail store and can't get time off during the holidays. I really suck at crossword puzzles, except f...

So I don't really hang out with anyone.  Or rather not with a variety of people.  But I try and branch out every once in a while.  About a week ago Michael and I had people over.  By people I mean not one of the two couples that we have over on a regular basis.  I thought we had a good time.  They ate the food I cooked, said it was good, we had an abundance of dessert because they brought cookies and I made brownies.  Then we played games (board and video). They went home.  Then Michael decided it was time to make me sad.  He asked how I thought it went, and I said I thought it was fun, and everyone had a good time.  He looked at me and was like oh, I don't think they had fun.  He wasn't really trying to make me sad, he just chose a bad time to do that honesty thing.  I told him that if they didn't have fun it was his fault for making us play Parcheesi instead of Apples to Apples.  Next time we have people over, he...

Originally this post was going to be titled "I <3 Netflix".  Now its not.  I think after you read this you will see why.  Now Netflix will get another post, because this one didn't get to the point. I am pretty cheap.  This post is all about my two favorite guilty pleasures :) Sure I have my little indulgences, but in general I don't spend more than $5 at a time.  Usually closer to $1.  Honestly, I just love soda and tend to buy one pretty much everyday.  It is disgusting, and adds unthinkable amounts of calories to my diet, but no matter how often I say I am quitting, temptation gets the better of me.  I think I am going to temporarily "go Catholic" and give it up for Lent.  That way I will actually stick to it. The worst part about my soda habit is the fact that I refuse to drink it out of anything but a Styrofoam cup.  The environmental impact is probably unbelievable.  But if you start on Styrofoam  cups, you...

mas·och·ism (ms-kzm) n. 1. The deriving of sexual gratification, or the tendency to derive sexual gratification, from being physically or emotionally abused. 2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from being humiliated or mistreated, either by another or by oneself. 3. A willingness or tendency to subject oneself to unpleasant or trying experiences. See as how I am not a pervert, nor do I derive pleasure from pain, I was more aiming for definition #3.   Today I took a pregnancy test.  I waited until I was 20 days late.  I am on cycle day 47.  My longest previous cycle was 45 days last month.  I have been having lots of cramping but no bleeding, and I REALLY want ramen and peanut butter.  This was my best shot at a positive pregnancy test.  It was (of course) negative.   I knew it would be.  After 47 cycles without getting pregnant its a pretty good bet.  I am NOT a gambler, but I would totally put mon...

On Wednesday one of my best friends had a little girl.  Her name is Gabriella and she is adorable.  9 lbs. 14 ozs, vaginal delivery with no drugs of any sort (other some Vicadin after she was born : P  )  This is pretty awesome, since some people think that big babies require c-sections, and I would say almost 10 pounds is a pretty good sized baby.  YAY Melissa! Yesterday my baby sister (Noelle-who is 15 and not really a baby at all), my friend (Brittany) and I went to meet the new baby.  We took the little girl I baby-sit (Hadlee-who is 13 months) with us.  Now Noelle is the baby of the family and as such has not really had much experience with diapers.  But she changed all of the diapers while she stayed with me as I thought that she could use the practice.  She had gotten the baby up from her nap and changed her poopy diaper without any help from me at all.  I was there, and offered to help but she wanted to do it herself. ...

I am steadily getting fat (I also played CandyLand for two hours today).  I am not there yet, but I am certainly not going to be called skinny anytime soon, unless its by an obese person, who probably would consider me to be skinny.  But the skinny people wouldn't call me one of them anymore.  Which is sad.  I never really thought I was pretty, just average, but what I really had going for me was being skinny with big boobs.  Now I just have big boobs, which isn't nearly as uncommon.  I'm not overweight, and if I could guarantee I wouldn't gain anymore weight, I probably wouldn't care.  I have gained about 10 pounds in the last 3 years.  Not that much, only 3.33 pounds a year.  Alright, lets times that by 21... I am of course using the calculator to do this... 69.93 pounds.  116 + 70 = 186.  At 45 I will not be considered in a healthy weight range.  I also won't be able to look at myself naked.  Not that I like to d...

Let me start out by acknowledging my lack of application of the knowledge I am going to share. Everyone always says if you want to lose weight you have to exercise.  Let us take a moment and do some math (don't worry I am doing it for you, who wants to do math?). We are going to have a delicious snack, well we are going to pretend we are anyways.  First I am going to give you 13 Puffy Cheetos.  You are probably thirsty, so I'm going to be nice and buy you a fountain drink (32 ounces), and its going to be Dr. Pepper.  Plus, I'm sure you want some chocolate, so I am going to buy you some Junior Mints too.  Just a regular size box, not the king size or anything.  How many calories do you think that is?  780!   There are 780 calories in that "snack".  And other then the soda, which you might sip on for hours (rotting your teeth... yes I am being a downer today), its pretty much gone in 10 minutes.  More than one third of your d...

Some people blog everyday. Some people blog every other day. Some people blog once a week. Then there is me. I blog whenever the heck I feel like it. Its not that I don't care about my loyal blog readers (yes, all 4 of them (: ) Its just that I don't really do much, and my thoughts tend to verge on obsessive. Since no one cares that I took a shower this morning and then went to work, came home, ate pasta, and wasted my entire evening on the Internet, I don't have much to say. I am fairly sure that most people do not want to hear about my menstrual cycle on a daily basis (cycle day 14, 6 days past ovulation, and hopefully in the middle of an implantation dip, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up, in case you were wondering), but when you have been trying to have a baby for 3 years, its kind of a main focus. I got peed on at work today. Don't worry, I'm not some weird fetish hooker or something, I baby-sit for an 11 month old and although her diaper w...

Today I could have spent my entire paycheck at Goodwill. Getting books. Books that I don't care to read. Books that I am hoping to someday have a daughter or two that wants to read them. Instead I spent seven dollars. Which is still alot considering that I am pretty broke. They are Baby-Sitters Club books. Baby-Sitters Little Sister Super Specials actually. But someone had dropped off what looked to be at least half the series in near perfect conditon at my local Goodwill. My goodness, my husband would have been SO mad if I had bought them all. I would have been pretty mad at myself tomorrow actually. To be a little fair to myself I AM collecting up ALL the BSC books for my future daughters (okay I admit it, its a little bit for me too) as well as ALL the Animorphs books for my someday sons (and yes, for my husband). At Costco today I nearly had a break-down. Because they were out of pizza and hotdogs and my husband was going to run out of time to eat dinner on his break. I man...