Pages

Friday, May 18, 2012

I’ve been eating instead of blogging….

Yep, so much for that challenge.  Blogging.  I was doing so well.  What have I been doing instead.  Hmm.. let’s see. 

Eating – New foods.  We bought some peppers and I stuffed them.  Those were really good.

  IMAG1362

For the Mother’s Day Banquet in RI, I made a gluten free Hawaiian style potato mac salad

IMAG1360

We decided to get real adventurous and try some artichoke

IMAG1365

Sadly, I did not get a picture of it after we cooked it.  we definitely did enjoy this. 

We also tried fresh papaya.

IMAG1370

It was okay.  Didn’t care much for the taste as you got closer to the rind. 

Angel also made Kimchi Stew and Kimchi Fried Rice.  No pictures of those either Sad smile 

Last night we tried stuffed mushrooms

IMAG1384

I really enjoyed these.  I used a recipe above as a guide.  I did not have tarragon and I used a mixture of ground beef and ground turkey. 

For my chocolate craving I decided to try Black bean brownies with homemade chocolate sauce.  It was heavenly. 

IMAG1377

Wonder what we will try next…  any suggestions? 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

My New Favorite Place to Eat…

Anyone recognize this place?? 

File:2008-0830-UVA-FiveGuys.jpg

It’s Five Guys! 

I love Five Guys.

IMAG1353

I love that I can have whatever I want on my burger.

IMAG1351

I love all the onions, mushrooms and jalapenos that are hiding under the burger. 

I love that I can say no bun and they ask if its an allergy. 

They will put my burger in a separate bag.  

I love that I can eat there fries! 

IMAG1355

No hidden ingredients like wheat or dairy. 

It's just plain fries in peanut oil...  

We can order a small and they still dump so much fries into the bag.  Enough to feed 4 people! 

IMAG1359

I also love that you can snack on peanuts while you wait. 

IMAG1357

Did I mention how much I love Five Guys?? 

Monday, May 7, 2012

Eureka!

A friend commented on one of the blog posts, asking what Eureka was. 

Here you go! 

Eureka is a fictional town where strange things always happen..

eureka.jpg

Sheriff Carter is just a normal guy who ends up working in a town full of geniuses.  Anything that seems impossible, could happen in this town. 

 

We really like this show.  Unfortunately, it’s the last season.  Although, we are so thankful they will actually have an end to the series instead of what we thought would be an abrupt goodbye. 

Here is a little clip for your viewing pleasure..

Past seasons can be watched on Netflix with subtitles. 

This season is available on SyFy.com

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Almost forgot!

I almost forgot to blog!

I am actually in bed right now. Settled for the night. I feel so tired but I am really not sure why.  I thought I slept well last night.

Today was a good day.  The sun finally made an appearance, which was wonderful.  Anna had her six hours of dance today.  After dropping her off, we headed to a few markets.  We went to the Indian market first and picked up a huge bag of jasmine rice for 14.00 and I got some dried beans. Then we headed to the Asian market for a few items.

When we got home, Angel napped while I started dinner.  Something I swore as a child, I would never eat.  Stuffed Peppers! 

It was actually really good. Even Angel enjoyed it.  I had some meat mixture left over.  When we picked up Anna, we decided to stop and get more peppers.  While we were there we spotted artichoke.  We had Pnever had that before.  We decided to check it out. Tomorrow I will be digging for instructions.

Now I am really getting sleeping.  Please forgive all grammatical errors. This is my phone's fault.  :-)

I will leave you with a picture of our meal.  Doesn't it look good?


Saturday, May 5, 2012

Woke up sick!

I don’t feel good at all.  I woke up with a runny nose and sore throat.  Blah!  We still managed to get up and head to Rhode Island for the Mother/Daughter Banquet at our old church.  It was really nice to see familiar faces.  It’s always great to spend time with Jade and my mom. 

I would post more but sadly I did not take pictures.  I am sitting here right no dreaming of sleep.  Off to bed I go..

Friday, May 4, 2012

Five Question Friday!! 5/4/12

 

1. What did you wear to prom? Include a picture if possible.

Never went to the prom.  High school was so hard for me due to hearing and health issues.  I actually dropped out.  I always had good grades.  One D in my lifetime (which I cried over) until 10th grade.  I missed school because I was sick constantly, then I popped my knee just before final exams.  My report card was straight F’s.  They couldn’t give me my real grades because I had missed 6 days of school and their cut off was 5.  Doctor’s notes didn’t even help.  I was struggling because high school was so different.  Our English class was learning Latin and our French 2 class was listening to French records (with French accents!)  I am hearing impaired.. I was so lost.  Records are static to me.. I just gave up.  Which really stunk because I loved school so much growing up.  I did ace my GED test and then graduated from a business college. 

Ok.. so I went off a bit there.. Sorry, no prom.   I probably would not have gone anyways since I was way too shy.  LOL 


2. Would you rather be on the biggest loser or a food eating challenge?

The biggest loser!  As much as it would freak me out, it would be what I need.  I probably would never watch me on the show.  No way!


3. fave sonic drink? Refreshing summer drink?

We don’t have a Sonic!  Sad smile  So I would have to say, homemade ice tea. 


4. What was your first car, and what did you call it?

None.  Yep, you heard me correctly.  I was a single mom for 10 years and lived in the city with buses.  I felt a car was a waste of money.  I had no clue how I would pay for the car, maintenance, insurance, etc.  Oh, but I guess I can say I inherited a car when I got married.  That would be a white 1995 Neon. 


5. What's one thing your child or spouse does that sends you over the edge?

Hmm.. just one? Ohh I know.. not filling the ice cube trays!  We have a container to dump them in.  When you run out in the container, you dump the trays and refill.  I become a raving lunatic when we have no ice in the bucket and the trays are sitting in the freezer completely empty!  Usually it’s hubby’s doing. 

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Random Thoughts

  • I am so tired!
  • I almost forgot to blog today
  • We really need sun! 
  • The clouds and rain for the past week is leaving me grumpy..
  • are leaving me grumpy
  • that still doesn’t sound right…
  • We just watched Puss in the Boots
  • It was cute.
  • I finally made some fried onion rings
  • First I discovered my deep fryer of 15+ years died today
  • I have been itching for a new one..
  • with a basket and a cover..
  • oh yea…
  • Also made hot wings
  • I am so thankful that Red Hot is gluten, casein and corn free
  • Even Angel loves these wings
  • I am really tired
  • Angel wants to watch Eureka
  • I want to go to bed. 
  • So tired……

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

My Baby Girl is now Eleven!

The month of April just flew right by, but not without a wonderful celebration.  Annaleah had another birthday. 

I just can’t believe she is eleven years old! 

Let’s go back in time…

To April 23, 2001

I was scheduled to have a c-section the following morning, due to my pelvic bone being too narrow.  We decided to eat at the Ground Round the night before.  The food just wasn’t sitting well with me at all.  After dinner, we headed to Walmart where I just started feeling even worse.  That night the feeling would not go away.  It took awhile to realize that the sensation seemed to be coming back every so often.. Oh my, I think I was having contractions! 

You may think this is funny but I had never felt contractions before.  Yes, at this time I had a twelve year old son.  He was born by c-section due to being breech.  I never had a chance to have contractions.. water breaks, off to hospital, surgery, it’s a boy!

Poor Angel!  He did not get much sleep.  Every time the contraction came back I would wake him up to time it.  Off we went to the hospital.  The doc made a joke about how we couldn’t just wait a few more hours for the scheduled c-section.  I guess Anna did not want to wait any longer! 

P4240010

She was perfect!  After a few complications with the nurse forcing formula because she wasn’t interested in nursing, we discovered she had a hole in her soft palate.  We had no clue what that meant.  The formula ended up getting in her lungs (thank you, nurse) which landed her in the NICU. 

P4280020

What followed was a week of misery until they decided to send her to the Children’s Medical Hospital in Hartford because they had no clue what to do with her.  They were not familiar with Cleft Palate in babies.  Thankfully the Children’s Hospital was wonderful, and after teaching Anna how to eat (she got lazy with those tube feedings!) we could finally bring her home at almost 3 weeks old. 

P5200033

Time really flew by!  She just kept growing! 

P5250002

P1010006

She looked so much like Daddy!

P7160033

 

P9040021

She absolutely loved her thumb! She couldn’t suck it because of the cleft but she loved gumming it. 

P2140002

At 10 months old, she went in for her palate surgery.  The night before she at a huge pancake!  This was a good thing since she was going to be on a liquid diet for a long time after surgery.  It actually took her even longer to like the texture of foods again.  I think it was a few years before she would eat any bread products. 

P2150005

P2160007

She was miserable after surgery.  She did not like the tubes all over her.  She refused to drink anything.  Thankfully we managed to finally get a sip in her so they could send us home.  She was back to herself once they got the iv’s out. 

P1010035

We thought she would be miserable with the arm restraints, especially since she could no longer ‘gum’ her thumb.  The restraints didn’t hold her back at all.  She focused her energy on what she could do and learned how to walk during this time..

P1010062

Her first birthday, she hid under the table.  There were too many people at her party! 

 

P1010044-001

Anna’s 2nd Birthday

p4110018

Anna at 3

p4200064

Anna at 4 – She loved the chickens and could put them to sleep in her lap.

ap4070052

Anna at 5 (I just love this pic with Runaway!)

p4300011

Had to post a better pic of Anna at 5.

 

P4140149

Already 6 years old

026

Anna at 7

129

Anna at 8

096

Anna at 9

IMAG0155

10 years old! 

This was such a tough birthday for her.  We celebrated at the hospital.  This is the day we found out that Angel was getting another liver.  His second one that week.  Anna proved to be such a strong girl this year.  We are all so proud of her.

100_9100

Now 11!

Happy Birthday Anna. 

You are blossoming into a beautiful young lady. 

Could you please slow down??? 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

May Already??

Where did April go?  I have been a terrible blogger.  Things have been so crazy around here.  I have been going through some emotional issues.  Just so much going on.  I was sitting here watching tv with hubby when I realized something.  I need to get back to blogging regularly.  I was staring at the little calendar on my screen that says May 1st and thought, “this would be a good time to challenge myself”.  Of course the other voice in my head says, “oh you are just setting yourself up for failure”. 

The first part wins.  I am challenging myself to blog every day in May.  Now it could get really crazy because this is the month of Anna’s dance recital.  When I think back to last year, I actually vlogged for the entire month of March!  If I could do that, I can most certainly do this.  So this is day 1 of the May Challenge (sorry, not good with catchy terms.. lol).  Since it is going on 11pm, I won’t be saying much more tonight.  Just too tired to think more clearly.  Be prepared for a random month.  Smile 

I will end with this.  Tonight I made some Peppermint patties and they were yummy! 

IMAG1343

You can find the recipe at Chocolate Covered Katie.  I just love this blog!