#when I ate my lunch it was soggy salad and bad :( it also was not enough

[crypticpine]

Guys what do you do when you have a bad day that's actually healthy for your mental health cause pretending everything is fine is starting to crack and I cried 3 times today and I'm about to go on a 4th.

[imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch]

I Love You, You Pay My Rent: Chapter Twenty One

First Chapter (Prologue)

Previous Chapter (Chapter Twenty)

Nico had been living –

Nico wasn’t living with Will.

The worst part was in the morning, before he opened his eyes. Reyna’s spare room was tiny ad the sofa bed was uncomfortable, and yet each morning before he opened his eyes when his world was still half blurred with the dreams he had when he and Will had never broken up, for just a minute he thought he was back hom- back at Will’s. In that moment, just before he opened his eyes he could pretend.

The smell of coffee could be Will making him his first cup of the day. Will insisted he only did it because Nico was such a disaster in the mornings he didn't quite trust the task to him, and cited the fact Nico had once tried to put the coffee beans in the toaster as proof. No matter what Will said, it took him very little time to learn how to make Nico's perfect cup of coffee, better than Nico himself could make it. Will could do a lot of things better than Nico could do them. At times it had seemed Will knew Nico better than Nico knew himself.

Eventually he'd have to open his eyes and face the cold winter sun coming in through the cracks in the blinds. Face the day. Face that he'd thrown Will away. Face that his life was now a cold spare room in his friends apartment.

Reyna must have called Jason and Jason must have freaked out and dropped whatever he was doing in LA to fly over because at some point he ended up in Reyna's flat. Nico wasn't trying to ignore him this time but his words were just white noise. Jason's concern barely registered, nor did the hushed conversations Jason and Reyna had about him. Then Jason was gone again. Nico didn't notice him go either.

Percy clearly had no idea how to help either but it didn't stop him trying. He too came to Reyna's talking about everything from his own wedding to mythomagic in an attempt to get Nico to engage. But Percy had no idea how it felt. He'd only ever been with Annabeth, the two had never fought like Will and Nico had fought. Maybe that should have been a sign. Ever since they'd officially started dating there had been problem and drama and fight, one after another in a never-ending line.

Maybe that should have been a cue, the sign from the universe that the two weren't going to work out. That Nico would destroy Will and he'd destroy their relationship. That he should walk away.

He should have listened.

He lost track of time. The days blurred into an endless line, waking up to the brief desperate lie that he was still at home, that everything was okay. He didn't eat breakfast anymore, couldn't face it. That always made Reyna frown but he didn't see what the big deal was - he hadn't eaten breakfast before Will. He usually skipped lunch too, which made Reyna frown more but he wasn't hungry.

He and Reyna would have dinner. She'd usually order take-out because, in between taking classes far too advanced for normal people her age in politics and business and ancient civilisations, she'd forgotten to learn to cook. Nico would pick at the food, Reyna would hold herself back from trying to force him to eat. Then there was work. Work was easy because Nico could zone out legitimately, mixing drinks on autopilot, glad for the dim lighting so people couldn't see how empty his eyes were.

Everything reminded him of Will. Once he'd tried to walk down his old street, heading on autopilot for home before he remembered it wasn't home. He'd gotten close enough to see the lights on in the windows, the curtains open and undrawn before he realised his mistake. He'd frozen, feeling a stab of something unidentifiable and tangled. He stayed clear of the apartment building now, refused to go within five blocks of it. There were too many memories surrounding it: the ice cream parlour Will liked to drag him to, the Chinese Will ordered from because they knew about his hatred for fortune cookies, the spot under the streetlamp where he'd kissed Will for the first time.

Nonetheless, even with avoiding large sections of his part of the city, and refusing to watch TV, or drink coffee, or eat he thought he was coping with his first break up reasonably well. He hadn't gotten drunk yet, begging Will for another chance, if only because he didn't think he deserved another chance. He hadn't texted Will's friends asking how Will was, and maybe that was because he didn't have their numbers and there was a good chance they would kill him, but he hadn't done it and that was an achievement right?

Reyna, and presumably Jason and Percy, apparently disagreed because one day Hazel was in Reyna's kitchen cutting up tomatoes for a salad. The kitchen smelt of fresh baked bread, there was cheese and cold meats - Reyna's idea of a fancy picnic lunch probably brought in especially.

"I thought we'd go to park," Hazel said.

Nico didn't want to go to park, but he didn't want to upset Hazel in the same way he was perfectly happy turning down Percy and Reyna's offers for company, so he agreed.

It was too cold for a picnic really. There had been threats of snow, but it hadn't arrived yet and the sky was still a dull pale blue. Nico ate a carrot and then when Hazel frowned, picked at a sausage roll and a bit of cheese.

"Are you going to talk about it?" Hazel asked.

"I'm okay," Nico said.

"You've been a zombie for three weeks. Reyna said you don't eat, you don't respond to anyone. Percy came round at one point to tell you there'd been another attempt on Dad's life and he said you didn't even seem to hear him."

Nico hadn't heard that. He didn't even remember Percy coming over, just the texts he sometimes read but didn't answer. He also hadn't realised it had been three weeks already. Will would be on break now. He wondered how his essays went.

"Nico please!" Hazel said, drawing his attention back to the present. "You turn up at Reyna's and act like you're not even really here, you don't even tell us what happened. We're just left to assume you -"

"Broke up with Will," Nico finished. "We broke up Hazel."

It was the first time he'd it out loud. It sounded wrong.

Hazel's eyes were soft.

"I'm sorry Nico," she said. "I'm really sorry. I know how much he meant to you."

Nico closed his eyes. He hadn't cried yet, not even as he'd been making his way to Reyna's right after it had happened. He hadn’t felt sad - just empty. Numb. He still felt numb, was still in shock. Which was strange because he'd seen it coming. And it had been him who -

"Nico?"

He'd been ignoring Hazel again.

"Nico I know it probably hurts like hell but you can't keep on like this. Things are getting bad. After they came for Dad, someone attacked Jason on the street."

Hazel paused to give a small smile.

"They actually came off worse. But that's not the point. At the moment Nico if someone came to attack you I don't even think you'd notice."

It was a valid point. Nico also didn't think he'd notice. He barely noticed anything these days unless it was a pair of bright blue eyes that turned out to be the wrong shade, or a flash of golden hair that he then realised didn't catch the sun in the right way.

"I'll stop going out as much," Nico promised. It was an easy thing to promise. The only times he went out at all were when he had to go to work. "And I'll be on the lookout for potential murderers."

Hazel didn't look entirely happy with that solution, but she nodded and accepted it.

"I mean it," Nico said. The expression on Hazel's face was clearing his head slightly. "I'll be careful. Is dad okay?"

It was the right thing to say because some of the weight lifted off her shoulders. She told him about the attempted murder but Nico lost all interest in the plots and intrigue after she told him he was actually alright. Luke and Thalia and Jason and Percy could fight all they wanted. He was done with all of that.

An indeterminate number of days later, Reyna forced Nico to break his promise about not leaving the house when she sent him for proper coffee to keep her going while she tried to fix the kitchen sink which was challenging her refusal to spend money on a plumber.

The nearest cafe turned out to be the one he'd sat in with Lou Ellen and his heart stuttered wondering if she was there, if Will was there but the odds of that were astronomically low. Nico left without seeing either of them and he didn't know if he was disappointed or relieved.

Was Will okay? Had the sunlight come back into his eyes yet?

Without meaning to, Nico began spending more and more time in the coffee shop. At first he'd go and get coffee before work. Then he went for breakfast too, picking up a pastry he usually ended up picking apart and throwing in the bin when he couldn't bring himself to stomach it. So he started picking up breakfast for Reyna instead.

Then when Reyna's apartment became too small, and her endless muted concern became too much he began going to for an hour or so. He'd watch the rain outside, or the sky turn from a dirty grey to a light brown as the sun dipped below the horizon. Before he knew it, he was there every day and the baristas knew his order by heart. Other than Will, no one had ever know his order by heart before.

He didn't know what he was waiting for, though it should have been obvious, until Lou Ellen came in one day, trailed by Cecil and - no it was some other blonde completely unconnected to either of them.

Lou Ellen spotted him first and nudged Cecil. They ignored him at first, joining the queue for drinks. Nico had diverged from the beaten path and tried - for the first time - a green tea as Lou Ellen had suggested once. The dregs sat at the bottom of the cup in soggy patterns. He wondered what they said about his future - to him they just sad and bleak.

Lou Ellen sat first, Cecil beside her. Lou Ellen slid him a fresh tea. None of them said anything.

"You here to kill me?" Nico asked eventually when the silence became too much.

"Thought about it," Lou Ellen said. "What did I say Nico? What was like the one thing we asked of you?"

Nico closed his eyes as his chest constricted.

"We changed our mind when we saw how sad you are," Cecil said, uncharacteristically solemn.

Nico frowned then, letting that distract him from how his eyes were burning.

"Then why are you here?"

"When Miranda told me she'd seen someone matching your description in here like all the time, looking like joy had been banned we figured it must be you. We thought we'd try and cheer you up. You know as far as we can under the circumstances."

Lou Ellen was gentle and somehow that made it harder.

"Why?" Nico demanded. "Why on earth would you do that? Why don't you hate me?"

"You're our friend," Lou Ellen said, managing to make it sound like Nico was an idiot for thinking otherwise.

Nico pushed his tea away, the liquid burning in his throat and stomach, and sniffed the tears away, turning so neither of them would see him cry. Cecil tactfully got out his phone. Lou Ellen passed him a napkin.

"How's Will?" Nico asked thickly when he'd forced the pain into submission.

"Don't know," said Cecil. "He left a couple of weeks ago. Dreadful before that though so we're assuming the same."

"Left?" Nico said, in sudden alarm. "What do you mean left."

Cecil and Lou Ellen exchanged glances.

"Left as in his apartment is now empty," Cecil said. "He's staying with Kayla and his aunt I think."

Nico stood on shaky legs. He ended up in the bathroom, doubled over the sink as he tried to decide whether it was just mild hysteria or whether he really did want to throw up.

"Nico?"

"Should you be in here?" he asked haltingly between panicked breaths.

"Probably not," Lou Ellen admitted.

"Definitely not," Cecil said who was looking more uncomfortable about Lou Ellen being in the men's bathroom than Lou Ellen herself did.

"Nico I'm going to be honest I don't really know what you expected."

Nico didn't know what he'd expected either. They'd been wrong and fighting and miserable and it had been Nico's fault. Nico had thought maybe now he was free, Will would be happier. He vocalised that thought and it actually made Cecil laugh. There was no humour in it though, just pure disbelief.

"Are you happy?" he asked.

No. He wasn't.

Nico forget his promise to Hazel as he left the coffee shop and walked paying very little attention to his surroundings. Someone could have come up to him brandishing a knife and Nico would have been oblivious. He then forgot his promise to himself, and gravitated towards home. There were no lights on in the apartment this time. It was cold and empty.

Police sirens echoed as he walked back to Reyna’s, reverbing around the city streets. He nearly missed the police tape blocking off the pavement outside a restaurant, and had to be caught by an officer. The lights on the cars flashed blue and red. Nico apologised vaguely, circumnavigated the tape and went back to Reyna's.

Reyna was in front of the TV the next morning eating cereal with a slightly glazed expression. The morning news was on, talking about a triple homicide, and an election and the coverage for the two topics seemed to blur into one. Reyna was only paying token attention to the anchors as they discussed alibis and statistics, voter confidence and blood.

"You know we might lose the bar?" Reyna said as Nico entered the room. Reyna always referred to work as though it was hers, but that was just Reyna. She threw herself into everything she did, and she gave it her all. If the bar did change hands and their jobs were in danger, that might actually be a good thing for Reyna: she could do so much better.

And there were other bars Nico could work at.

Reyna was working a shift without Nico that night. Nico stared at the ceiling and counted the cracks and tried not to cry.

The bar did change hands and the new owner made it clear that he was looking to replace the current staff as soon as he could pull someone else through the door. Reyna continued working, but Nico gave up on his shifts immediately. He saw no reason to ever go back.

Lou Ellen suggested he get a job in the coffee shop that had become his second home. She and Cecil were taking it in turns to keep him company and, he suspected, were also trading keeping Will company. At first Nico asked after Will, but the answer was so discouraging he stopped after a while and neither Cecil or Lou Ellen brought him up.

Nico thought about Lou Ellen’s suggestion but eventually didn't think he could cope with having to deal with so many people all day. A bar had been bad enough, but at least most drunk people didn't notice if you were ignoring them, it was usually not so busy that people started shouting but busy enough that people were just grateful when you handed them a drink.

Cecil suggested he become a professional shut it, or extra in a horror film since he already had plenty of practice in staying indoors and he looked like a zombie. Nico had dismissed film extra out of hand, and he didn't have anyone paying his rent anymore so shut in looked unlikely.

The snow began to fall and it dulled the sound of the city slightly. Now when the sirens rang they didn't have the same bite, but the red and blue reflected off the snow brighter than ever. Two cars shot past Nico as he walked back to Reyna's. Another was parked by the mouth of an alleyway. An officer was unrolling the tape, beginning to string it up as more cars arrive.

Red flashed again and that caught his attention. He looked down and saw it in the snow. The smell hit him then and he didn't know how he hadn't noticed it before, sharp and metallic like rust. It didn't look anything like ketchup.

His chest clenched as he thought about all the people it could be - Reyna, Jason, Percy, Lou Ellen, Cecil. Will. He forced himself to follow the trail of blood, to the shadows of the alleyway. It was just an anonymous man with brownish hair and a scraggly beard. He didn't know why he'd expected any different.

He'd left his phone at Reyna's. He often forgot it these days, left it lying all over the place. As soon as he walked through the front door Reyna brandished it at him.

"Jason's been calling for the last hour," she said. "And then he started calling me. Call him back or he'll come over here and say whatever it is in person. In fact the only reason I think he hasn't done that already is because he's supposed to be in class."

"He's in LA; he's not going to do that. You call him. Just tell him I'm fine," Nico answered dully. "Tell him I'm eating properly and sleeping properly and I'm well on the road to recovery."

"He transferred here two weeks ago."

Nico hadn't known that. He guessed it was one of those things he'd missed.

"And I'm not going to call him and tell him that because I'd be lying," Reyna continued. "Besides he said it's urgent. It's about Will."

Nico's head felt light and his legs barely managed to get him shut away in Reyna's box room. His fingers on the other hand felt incredibly heavy and it made it hard to bring up Jason's number on the screen. He held the phone to his hear, hands trembling and his arm like led and listened to the dial tone and the thudding of his heart.

Jason answered after two rings.

"I was literally about to come over," he said. "Why didn’t you tell me Will is working for Luke?"

Next Chapter 

[chimaeracabra]

My dad wanted to take me out to lunch to celebrate getting my master’s. So I met him at the Cheesecake Factory earlier. My mom took my sisters and I there but in NY over the weekend, and I feel like the presentation of the avocado toast I had there was better than this location. Here, it was falling apart worse, but tasted good. I got the Thai Asian Chicken salad thing without the chicken. Couldn’t finish it, and boxed it to go, but later threw it away while walking around the mall to do a little bit of shopping with some money my dad gave me. It was gonna be too soggy to enjoy later anyway. I gotta cash the check tomorrow, but yeah. He gave me more for my outstanding school bill and also for living expenses.

So, to congratulate myself, I bought some wants. I got this Bare Minerals liquid foundation that actually I like. I tried some on when I got home and it offers better coverage than the powder foundation. My color for the liquid foundation is Latte, and for the powder, my color is Warm Tan. I just hate these hyperpigmentation marks I sometimes get from acne or my skin freaking out because of PMS! I also got a Sephora brand eye shadow. I thought it was some kind of purple, but it’s called metallic effect, or something. Didn’t try it on yet.

Nick called me while he was on break and when he asked me how my day was going, I wanted to tell him about the whole Nathan situation. But I told him I would rather talk about something in person, which he was fine with. He’s SO sweet. He was asking me if I was upset because of period stuff (I told him before that I have PMDD). He remembers things and thinks about how I feel. He also reminded me that I should pee after sex so I don’t get a UTI. Lol. I don’t think I was doing that yesterday, which I should have been because marathon sex probably increases the likelihood of getting a UTI.

He told me the cops came TWICE again to the unit he’s working on because of a dangerous patient, who tried to reach for their guns again! I was like, “Why don’t they stop bringing their guns on the unit?!” He wondered the same thing. He said he might quit and work elsewhere because that is extremely dangerous. I just don’t think that’s reasonable, bringing guns onto a psych ward in response to a violent patient. But Nick said he was happy with the staff he’s working with tonight. After he had to get off break, I texted him, Be careful and let me know when you get out of work alive.

I set a special ringtone for him so that I know when it’s him calling without having to look at my phone. It’s a song called Just One Girl (from Carousel Waltz) by a band called The Robot Ate Me. I can’t remember when he played it, but it was one of the times a week or two ago when we were sharing music. I thought it was really sweet and sounds kinda upbeat. So, I was happy to hear that as my ringtone a bit ago when he called me while he was on break.

He’s so sweet ;__; He asked me if I am sore today. And I am, but it was worth it. Dick whipped. Dickmatized.

Anyway, the other things I got myself were two candles at Bath and Body Works; they had a buy one, get one free sale. So, I got one called Toast Champagne and one that is supposed to smell like honeycrisp apple. Maybe I’ll bring one to Nick’s. I got some more of my favorite YesTo Grapefruit scrub, a travel sized BioTrue contact solution, more contact cases, makeup removing face wipes, and the L. Organic tampons I like. I am worried my period will be bad when I get it because of the Plan B. I was Googling other women’s reviews of that emergency contraceptive and some said it made their periods heavy. Sigh. I don’t need that. But I’d rather have a heavy period than be pregnant.

Nick likes giving me massages. He gave me one yesterday. He literally got baby oil and had it heating in a hot water bath before so it would be warm on me. I don’t even ask for these things, he just likes to do them. I feel spoiled. I could get used to that.

I am going to start doing more serious job hunting as well as looking at programs that let me just get the last two requirements I need to become a registered dietitian. But this weekend, I’ll probably spend most of it with Nick, just relaxing.

[chilinati2]

Special #22 - The Governor

Well, this Second Tour has certainly not gone the way I had hoped, and that is understated to say the least.  Not being able to visit parlors and experience their chili fresh and in-person makes this Tour impossible at the moment, especially when the only options within reasonable driving distance from our house is Skyline and Gold Star.  But then, out of the blue, one restaurant gave us an out to get something new on this stagnant blog... The Governor, in Old Milford.

The Governor is a relatively new restaurant in the Old Milford strip, and seems to be the most prepared for the pandemic in that strip to serve take-home food, taking advantage of large roll-up doors and an outdoor serving counter.  The menu is modern all-day-breakfast, as well as lunch and dinner.  Our one previous visit was for their take-home fish & chips during Lent, and it was very good.  I believe their menu is still limited right now, due to the pandemic, but we’ve been following their daily “family meals”, as they’ve had some pretty tempting and unique offerings (as one of two “Governors” we’re paying attention to right now, it’s also made for some confusing conversations).  Their family meal on Monday, April 27, was one we felt required to get... house-made Cincinnati chili 3-ways, served with a chilito and a greek salad.

I don’t believe we ever saw anything to indicate that Cincinnati chili would be a regular offering on their menu, but it’s pretty darn cool that they would whip up a batch for a day!  Traci and I were game and ordered two as they were.

OK, so there is a LOT of food here!  The large container had chili and spaghetti on one half, a giant-sized chilito on the other.  We also got a baggie with a sufficient amount of shredded cheddar, a cup of chopped onions (no beans... fine by us) and a bag of oyster crackers. It smelled wonderful!

Let’s get the obvious “bad” out of the way... I’m not a fan of putting the 3-way in a foam container, especially when there are other things in that container.  The 3-way juice was all over, giving the chilito (as well as the paper) a very soggy bottom, and it was really difficult to eat out of (fork-to-foam, with chili juice slopping about).  However, given the circumstances, I would doubt that they would have any better options for a one-day special, and frankly, they could’ve served it in a Ziploc bag and I still would’ve eaten it up!

The salad came in it’s own smaller container. It was better than I thought it’d be and I ate some of it, but I’m not a big fan of that type of salad and saved the space for the chili. 

Their Cincinnati chili was... really good! It had probably the “sweetest” initial taste of any chili I’ve had, but it followed with a healthy kick of spice, and had all the flavorful notes you’d expect from Cincy chili.  I think I would liken it to Camp Washington Chili as far as flavor.  It was thick, too, especially since all of the “juice” had been filtered out by the time we got to it.  The chili did not do a great job of covering the pasta; I had a good chunk of plain noodles when I had finished.  But the pasta was cooked right and the cheese was on par.  It was a HEARTY serving size for a 3-way, especially with such thick chili... and we still had that beast of a chilito to eat, too!

The Governor had a slightly different take on the classic chilito... aside from the size, which was bigger than I would’ve expected a side item to be.  In addition to the traditional chili and cheese, their chilito included what we guessed must’ve been additional corn tortillas (not sure if they were meant to be crunchy, like Fritos, but they ended up soggy from juice and time) and a green onion cream cheese mixture spread on the inside of the flour tortilla.  Crunchy or not, I could’ve easily done without the additional tortilla, but I really liked the cream cheese spread.  It was unique and complimented the spice of the chili.  However, both made this large chilito even heavier.

Traci and I each ordered one of these meals, and afterwards both agreed that we’d have been satisfied splitting one of them!  I ate half the salad, the majority of my 3-way (just some plain spaghetti leftover) and all of the chilito.  It was like I was on a mission to gain my “quarantine 15″ all in one night!

Traci did not make it through half of her meal before calling it quits, not only because of the size, but the spiciness was getting to her some.  I don’t think she enjoyed the food quite as much as I did... but she was also saving space for the triple fudge brownie we got for dessert (also very good).

So, how do I rate The Governor’s Cincinnati chili offering? If this were a Stop, I’d probably give it three Oyster Crackers out of four.  It’s a good quality chili made by people who clearly know Cincinnati chili and how to make good food.  I don’t know if it’ll be part of their menu or not when this is all over, and we didn’t eat it there, so I can’t call it a full Stop on the Tour.  But if it does, we will be back.  Please follow them on Facebook, and if they bring back their Cincinnati chili, I absolutely would recommend giving it a try.

Well, it may be some time before my next posting. All I can say is... stay healthy, be kind and understanding of others, and for the love of chili... support your local Cincinnati chili parlors, especially the independents, during these tough times!

[stressbakeling]

Hiding from Writing and an Italian Interlude - 8/24/2019

Let’s get meta on writing. I used to write Hamilton style, cranking out poems, prose, rap song parodies and unrequested book and film reviews fueled by what I can only guess was a combination of dormitory stir-crazy and teenaged angst. As I move into my mid to late twenties (such demography), I find myself having to negotiate with myself to keep my buns on a seat long enough to put my words somewhere every thirty to ninety days. Did I stop having creative thoughts or time or... has my personality changed? I feel like I have so many conversations in my head. All day long I’m asking questions, I’m having arguments--I close my eyes and have vivid dreams night after night as the filing cabinet that is my brain dumps itself onto the floor and the tender, anxious nerves of my dying youth rush in to sweep it away and prepare for the next batch. I don’t think it’s because I have nothing to talk about. Yesterday I mused on why blueberries don’t usually end up in jams for about an hour on the train, conceding that it’s probably because their weirdly whitish flesh does not match the color of their purple/blue peel and people just don’t know how to embrace that kind of dissonance (and surely not because of their lack of naturally occurring pectins). I also regularly have time to sink into social media, reading hefty books by dead people, painting tiny figurines for games I don’t play, and of course that super laborious hobby that involves zero dead time whatsoever--bread making. I have time. The time I’ve spent on YouTube watching a Croatian man talk to his giant spiders alone is revealing to the room in my life I have available to barf my head thoughts onto a social media platform that the next generation will probably remember as readily and fondly as mine does of the teletype. “So say it, Marisa! You just don’t wanna!” Well, if that were true, why do I dust this puppy off so frequently? I do wanna. I used to think I wanted to do this for money! Adamantly! When a professor told me my future in such an industry would be compromised if I didn’t show up to three hour workshops weekly and write about ghosts haunting my childhood home, I believed! And while I do occasionally push when it says “pull,” I’d like to think I’m no dunce--certainly I managed to get this far, and ten years ago I don’t think my logic was tragically worse off. K, let’s revisit that list then: - too busy - nothing to write about - no desire - no strong opinions - no avenues or opportunities - too expensive - not as interesting as it used to be - afraid

Ah ha! It’s the dust. It’s the piles of beautiful leather bound notebooks and fountain pens I’ve been gifted over the years that look so beautiful in their clean slate state. It’s the negative feedback. It’s the positive feedback. It’s the it’s-too-late-nows and the it’s-already-been-saids. But no one is asking me to quit my day job. I’m not even asking me to do that. Yeah, but what’s the drive, why do it at all? I’m not a fiction writer, I do love a good story but there isn’t a song in my heart that’s dying to be sung. I think writing is highly therapeutic, it’s cathartic, it’s informative, it’s definitive. People have been keeping diaries and journals for centuries just to help make sense of the world--to capture something that our memory sieve of a brain will lose inevitably. It’s also entertaining and performative. I could write into little books and shove them under my bed at night, and indeed, some of the best writing was found in this state--never prepared to be shared with the world--but then I build my own bubble. And part of the fear of writing (offending, triggering, or even directly endangering people in certain situations) can and must be offset by the great things that come of it (discussion, connection, mental expansion). “Well, that’s very bold of you. Thank you for your contribution to the body of literature that is fine, poignant, and enriching Tumblr posts.” Yeah, yeah, let me do my yoga in the public park and chill in the hot tub at my apartment complex. You are welcome to join me. So, then also let me talk, and in return I will also listen.

Now, wait isn’t this a baking blog or... something?

I went to Italy for two weeks in July, so it’s worth talking about the pastry, bread, and other sweet and savory encounters I had there. It started at baggage claim at FCO where I ordered a cappuccino (like a goddamn American!) and a caprese sandwich while waiting for Eric’s plane to land. This pedestrian airport Italian coffee kicks the living cajones off of any American coffee I’ve ever had outside of artisanal roasteries, and even still--it’s close. The sandwich nearly made me cry. I was starving but was mostly expecting waterlogged tomatoes, spongy but weirdly wet mozzarella and wilted/blackened basil on soggy bread since these things were probably prepared this morning and it was officially 1:30pm Roman time. Negatory, doctor. Everything was death defyingly fresh (I didn’t yet know that I basically was kicking off the lunch hour at this counter, Italians eat pretty late) and the Italian woman behind the counter laughed unabashedly at me as I moaned into the baguette and drank my breakfast milk.

Italian pizzas from the Roman countryside. Italy knows how to make a fucking pizza. Really brilliant work combined with crazy fresh ingredients made these super memorable. This experience makes me very scared of pizza dough knowing how crispy and light and perfect it can be. These pizzas were each about $9 USD and cranked out faster than my sister and I could down a glass of wine.

Meredith and Alan had a beautiful wedding and our hosts made us an incredible dinner, but the two most memorable parts of the meal had to be the lasagna (good lord I’ll never have lasagna that good again) and the dessert--an Italian take on a croquembouche. Croquembouche (a French invention) is typically profiteroles (read: cream puffs) piled high in a tower held together by a crunchy spun caramel. The Italians basically take French pastry and proverbially deep fry its butter. Instead of a tower with lightly spun and delicate caramel strands, the Italians pile the cream puffs in a mound and cover it in rich but creamy dark chocolate ganache. Instead of the choux pastry puffs being filled with a light vanilla scented whipped cream, they go chantilly or bust--but don’t worry they save that light whipped cream that would go in the croquembouche for the outside, and ring the chocolate mountain with beautifully piped examples of the stuff, adding strawberries while they’re at it because Jesus why not. We ate it gleefully with stomachs that were bursting, and when we couldn’t eat anymore, we popped the plastic tub with the leftover contents open and ate the rest hungover at the breakfast table the next day. Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Semifreddos in a super cold fridge in Vernazza on the Cinque Terre. I think they’ve figured out sweet dairies over there. Gelato is served in tiny cups and is everywhere and the rainbows of flavors make each one novel. I had pistachio, fig, hazelnut, coconut, coffee, amaretto, peach, orange, mixed berry, cantelope, mint, tiramisu and stracciatella. I think I had at least two scoops of gelati everyday and I never regretted it, it was scorching.

I had this vanilla ricotta and mascarpone filled cannoli with pistachio crumbs down by the Arno our last night in Florence. It came out of a food truck. It was 85 degrees outside and the sun was down. I melted into a puddle and had to be scraped off of the ground to be carried back to our rooms. Cannoli are always done wrong, they have a bad rap of being too greasy, too sweet--this thing could have fallen in the dirt in front of me and I would have talked it right into my mouth without hesitation.

Amuse bouche from our final meal outside of a hotel or airport in Italy on the main piazza in Arezzo Antico. The shortbread cookies remind me of my Italian Nanni’s favorite nibble, the thing she always had in tins when we’d come to visit. They fall apart without much convincing and melt in your mouth--the butter to sugar content isn’t what I’d make for myself, but the execution was excellent. The cream puffs continued to kick choux ass and take chantilly names.

My final stop was a layover in Munich where I chased down a pretzel that came with this cold wurst salad. The German bartenders were fascinated that as an American I would 1) order this dish 2) eat all of it. Onion breath for days. No regrets.  In conclusion, I think my hesitation to post is unwarranted. I’ve also baked many things in the month of August I won’t post here because I wouldn’t want to sully the beautiful golden rays of Italia we’re basking in right now, but if you can do me a favor and ask me next time you see me why I haven’t posted lately, I’d be entirely grateful. :)

[kidtrappedinadultsbody-blog]

Heyy! I’m back with a review of one of the high end restaurants among youngsters in Jakarta, Bakerzin. Bakerzin is actually quite famous for their desserts. But well, we ate there for it’s savory items. This time, I got to go here with 2 of my siblings. Lucky enough, we got a voucher from aunt so we could eat IDR 350k worth for free, and if we want to eat more, we can just pay for the rest. And yea, I can only go there if there’s vouchers like this. I went to the branch in Kota Kasablanka Mall. And so! Let’s take a look at what we ordered.

* Red Velvet Frappe (comes with cream cheese ice cream on top) IDR 45k * Garlic Butter Spaghetti IDR 85k * Sirloin Steak with Brown Sauce IDR 155k * Tuna Melt Sandwich (oops didn’t have record for that. So sorry!) * Beignets & Bacon Ice Cream IDR 65k

What came first was our Red Velvet Frappe. We were so curious about the taste and we were so excited about the cream cheese ice cream. It was so good! But then, maybe it’s our mistake, we didn’t dissolve the ice cream to the drink. So all we could taste from the drink was chocolate. Yup, like you know the Cadbury’s instant hot chocolate powder? It’s exactly like that. Well I understand that Red Velvet is actually made out of chocolate. But I was a bit disappointed that it’s too similar to the instant hot chocolate. Maybe someday I’ll try mixing it with the ice cream. But by the way, the taste wasn’t bad and not too sweet, it’s just how I like it. But price wise, ummm not worth it for me.

Garlic Butter Spaghetti was the menu my brother ordered. To be honest, I’m kind of sick of pasta. I ate a lot of those back in Europe. But this one, it is REALLY REALLY GOOD! It has a hint of chilli and pepper and they’re quite generous for the chicken to me. The chicken was very good too. As an Asian, i approve this flavor. It’s not spicy, but the flavor is there. I TRULY RECOMMEND THIS, GUYS! Definitely one of the best pasta I’ve had in a while. The price is worth it, at least for me since nowadays cafes and restaurants in Jakarta also have quite similar prices compared to this one.

Sirloin Steak with Brown Sauce was the menu that I was looking forward to. I asked the waitress for recommendation of the most tender steak. She said Sirloin should be best compared to rib eye and tenderloin. I was a bit suspicious since tenderloin sounds more tempting (there’s the word “tender” duh) *sorry I sound so stupid* But yeah, I decided to trust her. I wanted it medium rare for this time. Usually I eat it medium well-done since I have kind of trust issues when it comes to food hygiene in the process. But since this restaurant is the professional kind, I decided to try. When I saw my plate, I was expecting a more sheered outer. But then it was not bad. Turns out it was pretty good at first bites, even tho it is kind of rare for me (look at the pic and see how red it is. Please leave a message if you know more about steaks and tell me if I’m wrong). It’s not a bad taste afterall but then I don’t get excited at each bite. I just wanted to finish it quickly. Not a very good thing for me. What’s worse is that the fries that comes with it was very soggy. I was kind of disappointed. I don’t recommend this. Maybe it’ll be better if it’s medium well-done. The brown sauce was such a delight tho! I couldn’t have a bite of the steak without having the sauce with it.

Then my sister’s menu was Tuna Melt Sandwich for the day. It also comes with salad and fries just like my steak. There awas only tuna spread and melted cheese inside I had a bite of it. It was not bad but I would love it to be a bit more toasted since it become too soggy from the cheese and a bit too salty for me. I liked it but I bet my sister is not full from it. Well, it’s not meant to be eaten as lunch indeed.

Then last but not least, we had dessert which was Beignets & Bacon Ice Cream. The description says it was a New Orleans’ style Beignets served with vanilla Bailey’s sauce and bacon ice cream. Beignets were only like a regular donuts with powdered sugar on top of it. It tasted so good, by the way! It was fried properly so it was crunchy outside. I could barely taste its vanilla sauce. The highlight, Bacon Ice Cream! We actually ordered this since in the menu it’s included in chef’s recommendation and we were so excited and curious about the Bacon Ice Cream. Turns out it’s just like another vanilla ice cream. I could barely taste the bacon, but there was a hint of saltiness though. I would still prefer regular vanilla ice cream. Well, while eating the dessert all I could think was “I should’ve ordered anything else”. Not bad, but not worth the money spent.  

Overall, it was a great experience trying food from this restaurant. We were quite satisfied from it and we kind of had to take a walk after it. I love having this chance to try unique foods like this.

Rate: 3.75 out of 5

[arysthaeniru]

a little tag meme by the wonderful @ienveeus! I have yet to do the voice meme and that’s because whenever roomie leaves the apartment, I forget to use that time to my advantage and record? But I’LL DO IT SOON <3 PROMISE. thank you for tagging me~

1. Are you named after someone? Yeah, in a way! The full version of Niru is a variation of my grandma’s name! But also, it’s one of the (many) names of goddess Lakshmi, so. 2. When was the last time you cried? I think it was last month, when my period was in full force and I was talking about something vaguely sad about me to a friend, and not super emotional, but I legit started crying, and I was so glad that roomie wasn’t at home, because it was the dumbest thing and it reset my count. Days since last nonsense: 26 3. Do you like your handwriting? Kind of? I liked it more back when I used to write a whole lot more in hand. Now, because I do everything digitally, my handwriting is a fucking mess, even more obese and illegible than before :D 4. What is your favorite lunchmeat? As a vegetarian, I pass.  5. Do you have any kids? Nope, thank goodness, that would be FAR too much responsibility. I am the mom friend though... 6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Duh. I’m the best. 

7. Do you use sarcasm? Yes. Moreso in real life, because it doesn’t transfer so well online, but definitely online as well.   8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yeap~ 9. Would you go bungee jumping? If somebody pays for it, HELL YEAH. Otherwise, it’s expensive as hell, so I’d be like. hesitant. Stuff like sky-diving which has less chances of back injury would be my first go tos for adrenaline rushes.  10. What is your favorite type of cereal? I wasn’t a cereal person until this year, which my friends’ obsessions have converted me. I really like the chocolate ones that are super crunchy, bc they absorb the taste of the milk without getting soggy, which is ideal.  11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? LOL nope. I don’t have shoes that need laces, solely for more slipping-off ease. I’m like Tae, I HATE wearing shoes more than I need to. 12. Do you think you’re a strong person? Depends in what context. I’d say I’m fairly strong mentally. Emotionally....I no longer bottle up things for as long as I used to, I think I’m getting better at dealing with the existential sadness of existence and being a flawed human being, though I’m by no means  perfectly strong person in that aspect. And not that much physically, no.  13. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Strawberry! Strawberry is so good as an ice-cream flavour, especially if they use fresh strawbs in it <3  14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Clothing, but that’s just because I’m short and that’s usually the first thing I’m confronted with.  15. Red or pink? Pink! Red is a little too bright.  16. What is the physical feature you like least about yourself? My chubby stomach, because otherwise I’d have a body like Hyosung. But I don’t plan on doing legit exercise for a while, because of time constraints, so that’s not going to change either :’) 

17. What color pants and shoes are you wearing right now? Black tights and brown leather boots! Though I took off the boots, so my wet feet can dry.  18. What was the last thing you ate? Salad for lunch! Wasn’t feeling eating anything else, and in that case, better to eat healthy than nothing at all.  19. What are you listening to right now? On and On by VIXX! I got into VIXX’s music lately and I really enjoy their vocals and production value.  20. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple Mountain’s Majesty! what a cool name and it’s purple too, so. There weren’t enough cool green names.  21. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? My dad, to tell him about my phone working again.  22. Favorite sports to watch? Tennis!

too british to love anything else. Though tbh, cricket is second best, because as a british-indian, I’ve been brainwashed by the rest of my family.  23. Hair color? Black 24. Eye color? Black 25. Do you wear contacts? By necessity. I need it for dance, since glasses in America apparently have the crappiest nose-pads. Otherwise I wouldn’t touch them in a mile, contacts expose my disgustingly large eyebags and I have to put on makeup whenever I  wear contacts to not scare the world. Plus, my eyesight is so bad that they don’t quite make contacts that are my prescription :))) so i can’t quite see perfectly, i prefer to not wear contacts. 

tenipuri fam remember me complaining about contacts for ages two years ago hahaha.  26. Favorite food to eat? I mean, food is generally a struggle. But Pasta and noodles are usually my go to food of choice! Though lately, I’ve been craving indian snack food, like pani puri and chaats....

27. Scary movie or comedy? neither, because I usually dislike comedy movies? they’re not as funny as they want to be. and scary movies are very very rarely good: only the psychological horror ones are really interesting! Like the slasher flicks are just boring and gross. 28. Last movie you watched? HIDDEN FIGURES!!!! BLACK LADY SCIENTISTS PUSHING FOR SPACE OUTSELLING GENERIC OSCAR WINNER ROMCOM IS SOMETHING I AM ALWAYS WILLING TO SUPPORT.  29. What color shirt are you wearing? green jumper, the one with a billion gems on it. I feel like a holiday~! specifically. christmas.  30. Summer or winter? fuck this is hard, because both are hell in their own ways.... But I’ve got to pick winter, the fashion’s great and I don’t have to worry about shaving, because I’m huddled in twenty layers for the most part so.... 31. Hugs or kisses? hugs, most of my kisses have been awkward and not fabulous, lol.  32. What book are you currently reading? just finished fun home by alison bechdel. I think i want to reread the ender’s game series though.... 33. Who do you miss right now? A lot of my new friends at uni, this semester has been hell on my social life, I spend so much time at my job/dance, that I barely get to eat with them. and we don’t have a class together anymore ether so :(  34. What’s on your mouse pad? nothing lol, I don’t have decals.  35. What’s the last TV program you watched? yikes...sense8, back in summer? Or does LastWeekTonight count? Because I bingewatched hella yesterday to get the facts I needed for a meeting.  36. What is the best sound? on any other day, I would agree with Phoebe and say rain, but today the rainstorm knocked over a tree in our apartment complex so. I’m a little salty, and am gonna pick Suran’s voice, her voice soothes me so much. 

37. Rolling Stones or The Beatles? The Beatles, mostly because I know nothing about the Rolling Stones. I do love a lot of Beatles songs, even if I think their expedition to India as ‘the land of hippies and weed’ was a little tone-deaf.... 38. What is the farthest you’ve ever traveled? No matter where I cut it, the voyage from India to Britain, probably. Though Britain to America is a pretty goddamn long plane fight too.  39. Do you have a special talent? Gosh, I don’t know. Is putting your foot in your mouth a special skill? But honestly, I have a really gorgeous voice and a talented debater/speaker and a pretty good linguist? So my voice in all ways is probably my gift.  40. Where were you born? Chennai, India ^___^

I’m low-pressure tagging.... hmmmm @thelaziesthufflepuff, @hobisparkles, @namseok @alloyscreen @hashtagbts @nommonkeypie @arcadiafalls and @amane-yasuchika~

[nutriyumaddict]

Rules: Complete the survey and say who tagged you in the beginning. When you are finished tag 5 people to do this survey. Have fun and enjoy!!!

I was tagged by @benjis-cool-times - she is a wondrous and playful sea otter. :D

1. Are you named after someone?

I was named after a song. That Beatles one.

2. When is the last time you cried?

Hmmmmm...I do not cry very often but I think it was during my super sad period last fall?

3. Do you like your handwriting?

Sometimes. It's kind of sloppy if my hand is tired but if I take the time, then yes, I like it.

4. What is your favorite lunch meat.

Hmmmm...weird. I guess turkey? But I'd honestly prefer a sandwich w/ BLT or tuna salad or just straight-up veggies & hummus.

5. Do you have kids?

Nope. Just a cat. She is a demanding feline but we don’t have to send her to college.

6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you?

Probably. I hope so.

7. Do you use sarcasm?

No. Neverrrrrrrr.

8. Do you still have your tonsils?

Oh god, I read this as "toenails" first and I was like - wtf? Hahaha, yes, tonsils intact (toenails too).

9. Would you bungee jump?

Probably not. I have a fear of heights thing.

10. What is your favorite kind of cereal?

Um...so I generally don't like cereal because I don't like cold, wet, soggy things BUT...I do make a fairly killer granola w/ oats, nuts, cherries, flaxseed meal, brown sugar, and maple syrup.

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Most of my shoes don't have laces but I guess I just usually slip off my running shoes. So, no.

12. Do you think you’re a strong person?

Hmmmmm....maybe? Depends on the context.

13. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

All the Spumoni, please! Second favorite - malted chocolate.

14. What is the first thing you notice about people?

I think hair. Is that weird?

15. Red or pink?

Red.

16. What is the least favorite physical thing you like about yourself?

That I do not have the power to be invisible when that would be a helpful super power to have.

17. What color pants and shoes are you wearing now?

I am wearing multi-colored flannel pajama pants and multi-colored slippers.

18. What is the last thing you ate?

Maple-glazed salmon, roasted sweet potatos, and green beans (yay! I felt okay enough to actually make a healthy dinner!)

19. What are you listening to right now?

My husband play guitar in the bedroom.

20. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

Green.

21. Favorite smell?

Coffee.

22. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?

My mom.

23. Favorite sport to watch?

Um, not really.

24. Hair color?

Red.

25. Eye color?

Hazel.

26. Do you wear contacts?

Yep.

27. Favorite food to eat?

Tacos. But then also everything else. (Except bananas, blue cheese, and beets.)

28. Scary movies or comedy?

Probably comedy.

29. Last movie you watched?

Rogue One. I've really wanted to go see Hidden Figures but first husband and then I got a dumb cold.

30. What color shirt are you wearing?

I am wearing a brown t-shirt that has Jack Skellington discovering the TARDIS in the forest.

31. Summer or winter?

Winter. Although, tbh, I am kind of getting sick of this winter.

32. Hugs or kisses?

Hugs. But both are delightful.

33. What book are you currently reading?

I just finished The Invisible Library last night. I have not started a new one yet.

34. Who do you miss right now?

My friend Dana. She lives far away and we kind of lost touch after we both moved to different corners of the US.

35. What is on your mouse pad?

An illustration of three macarons.

36. What is the last TV program you watched?

I just watched the latest ep of This is Us.

37. What is the best sound?

Silence when I'm stressed out or music when I'm happy.

38. Rolling Stones or The Beatles?

The Beatles.

39. What is the furthest you have traveled?

France.

40. Do you have a special talent?

I don't know. Cooking? Arty stuff?

41. Where were you born?

Elmhurst, Il. (suburb of Chicago)

Tagging: @bookwormm03, @merger-she-wrote, @sakurablossomstorm-blog, @benwyattforcongress and whoever else wants to do this! I am bad at tagging!

[happy2bmyownboss]

I had to do my grocery shopping this past weekend and our internet was DOWN! This meant that I needed to physically go into the store and push the buggy down the aisles… pure TORTURE, right? Well, maybe it doesn’t seem that bad but I have been spoiled by the Walmart Grocery Pickup.

I did survive and I posted a picture of my overflowing buggy on my Instagram that evening and had a contest for the person who could most closely guess how much I spent. The winner will be receiving a Walmart eGift card for $10.00!

Before we go any further I will let you know that this post does contain affiliate links to products and/or services that we use. If you happen to click through a link and make a purchase we may earn a teensy-weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission. This means that we can keep bringing you great recipes, ideas, and tips for FREE! Click HERE for a full disclaimer.

I did spend quite a bit more than usual as I had some freezer cooking on the schedule. My grand total ended up being $330.46! I did have to grab a couple more things on Sunday morning when I went out to grab the pizza for Ms. Bellas’s birthday party. There was no freezer cooking happening on Sunday as we spent the day celebrating with family.

Thank you, Aunt J, for the red velvet cake and the pizza! It was delicious!

Here was the plan for Monday:

My notes are a little crazy I know!

I still have a couple of meals in the fridge from the Holiday Meal Planning Made Easy With The Deck The Freezer Party! but I really wanted to get some more ready because I know things gave a tendency to get REALLY BUSY around the holidays. I think they may get even busier with our new house coming SOON and I don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen when I can be playing around with decorating our new home.

We are still adjusting to the time change around here so the past week or so has been even CRAZIER than normal. I’ve really had to work on some of the parenting techniques that I’ve been learning from Positive Parenting Solutions which have been a lifesaver during some of our roughest parenting days.

Loaded Breakfast Biscuits

The little boys wanted to help with the breakfast meals I was working on. They washed their hands and got ready to work:

It is always important to check the oven before turning it on to preheat!

I had completely forgotten that we had a stack of pizzas in there from the day before!

The first recipe we made was the loaded breakfast biscuits from over at Jamerrill’s Large Family Table. I had purchased some of her freezer bundles a while back and have tried quite a few of her recipes. Many of the recipes I have cut in half as I wanted to give them a test run first.

While I prepped the ingredients the boys worked on smushing the biscuits into the muffin pans.

I improvised and made a little bit of space on the top of some of the totes we had in the kitchen.

The assembly went rather quickly and I did some laundry as they baked. They looked amazing when they came out of the oven! Just make sure to press down the ingredients well with a spoon to get them filled.

We ended up with about 30 biscuits and some leftover sausage gravy which will be enough for five meals, six if you count the gravy. We will probably have some fruit, yogurt, or applesauce with these.

Baked Oatmeal Muffins

Next on our list was to make a BIG batch of Baked Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins.

I’m not really sure how the cheese got in the picture but we didn’t use it for the muffins. Our Kitchen Aid mixer came in really handy while making all of these meals but it could have been just a little bit BIGGER as I had to keep the guard on to prevent messes.

These smelled AMAZING while they were baking and we ended up having 42 of these yummy muffins which will be enough for about 7 breakfasts or snacks. We will probably have some fruit and/or yogurt with the muffins.

While they baked I was able to get another load of laundry swapped and hung out to dry.

Freezer PB & Js

These are very simple to make and very nice to have in the freezer for busy days. The key to not having soggy sandwiches is to make sure you spread the peanut butter thinly on both slices of bread.

You can microwave the peanut butter for a few seconds to make it easier to spread. We’ve also found that the jams spread easier than jellies.

We ended up with about 40 PB&Js and a couple of PB only sandwiches as I have one who doesn’t like PB& J. This will make at least 4 lunches which will be great for busy days or for outings. The kids usually have some fruit with their sandwiches at lunchtime.

I keep a bag in the freezer for the bread heels and leftovers so I can use them for croutons and/or crumbs.

Ham & Cheese Potato Bake

I got this recipe from one of the packs I bought from Jamerrill’s Large Family Table Sale as well but it tasted very similar to my Cheese Potatoes only with the addition of the cubed ham.

I added the leftover hashbrowns from the loaded breakfast biscuits to this as well. I probably could have used a little more ham and maybe a little less cheese. We made 3 of these pans but ate one for dinner that night. IT WAS DELICIOUS!

We will most likely eat this with some kind of veggie side dish.

  While making all of these meals I was also running back and forth doing up my laundry as Monday is Mommy’s Laundry Day. I also had to keep chasing down my camera as Mr. Jacob was practicing his photography skills:

Yeah, he still needs a little practice but he kept getting better as the day went on.

Freezer Meatloaf

I needed to get some ground beef and chicken cooking so I worked on the meatloaf while this was going. I threw in a package of finely chopped mushrooms with the ground beef while it was cooking… Shhhh! Don’t tell the kids!

I made up a batch of Manly Meatloaf and divided it into 2 loaves to put in the freezer. I used some mix veggies and chopped mushrooms in it this time. These will make 2 meals plus leftover that we can eat for another meal.

We will eat these with a side of Super Yummy Caulitaters and some kind of veggie side dish.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

This is another one of Jamerrill’s recipes. It was super easy to make and looks so good!

I shredded the cooked chicken with the Kitchen Aid mixer. I then combined the rest of the ingredients together in the foil pans and may or may not have gone a little crazy with the cheese. We ended up with 2 pans of this which will be at least two meals with leftovers. These will probably be served with some green beans, a Salad and/or Quick & Easy Garlic Bread or Garlic Cheesy Bread.

Mr. Jacob had to check out all the yummy dishes:

Beef Stroganoff

This recipe was fairly easy to make. I threw the brown rice in the pressure cooker with the broth from the chicken that I had cooked earlier which made it really tasty.

I’m not sure what happened to the photo of this meal but we had 2 pans of this which will definitely be 2+ meals. We will definitely be serving these with some kind of bread and side dish.

My photographer in training did catch a few other photos during the time this was cooking:

I think he may be better with my new camera than I am!

Baked Ziti

I still had a pile of ground beef left so I made up a mega batch of Mama’s Secret Spaghetti Sauce. Other than that I pretty much stuck to Jamerrill’s recipe for the baked ziti which actually looked a lot like my recipe for Red & White Pasta only with meat in it.

By this time I was running a little low on cheese but I will add more to the pans before I bake them. We will serve these two meals with a nice helping of veggies or a Salad and/or Quick & Easy Garlic Bread or Garlic Cheesy Bread.

Here are a few more photos I found on the camera around the time I was making these:

Stuffed Shells

I’ve seen a couple of videos where Jamerrill makes her freezer meals and the stuffed shells looked like something I really wanted to try so I did!

It was a little tricky to get the hang of stuffing the shells but it went rather quickly once I got in the groove. I then added some diced tomatoes to the remaining spaghetti sauce that I had and divided it up between the pans being careful not to fill them too full because I needed a little room for some cheese, right?

I sprinkled them with some Parmesan and the rest of the shredded cheese I had on hand. I will add some more cheese before I bake them. These will be another 2+ meals when we have some hearty sides with them. I can’t wait to give them a try!

Garlic Bread

While everyone was eating dinner I pushed and finished up the last couple of items on my list. The Garlic Bread is super easy to make… so easy that the kids can do it.

We may end up adding a bit of cheese to these before we bake them to make them cheesy garlic bread.

Freezer Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

We haven’t tried the Freezer Ham & Cheese yet but I did see a video a while back about making them. They said the key to keeping the bread from getting soggy was to put cheese on both sides… that’s a lot of cheese!

We used up some cheese we had in the fridge and ended up with 16 sandwiches that will be enough for at least 2 lunches when they eat it with some fruit or veggies.

English Muffin Pizzas

Last but not least was one of the kids’ favorite meals… I thought I had posted this recipe before but maybe not. It’s super easy.

We took the English Muffins and cut them in halves. Then we spread some of the leftover spaghetti sauce on them and topped them with a little bit of cheese. (I was out of shredded cheese so I just sliced up some block mozzarella that I had in the fridge.) We then topped them with a few pepperonis.

I then put them on a large baking sheet and placed them in the freezer to flash freeze. Once frozen they will get wrapped with a little bit of wax paper and then put into baggies for the freezer. They will get baked at 350 for 10-15 minutes until hot and bubbly.

The kids love to eat these for lunch with some ranch drizzled on top.

Finishing Up

My feet were so tired last night and I was wishing that we had our new bathtub installed so that I could soak but hopefully, soon that will be a reality. I almost forgot that I also made up a cute little gift for Nanny J as it was her birthday as well:

I still have about 4 pounds of ground beef to cook and put in the freezer. I’ll try to get to that tomorrow. The cooked meat will be used to pull together some quick meals like Taco Ring, Sloppy Joes (I thought I had that recipe posted… I’ll have to look for it.), or another meal from this list HERE. I’m going to try to get a few batches of Buttermilk Biscuits in the freezer as they are great for a quick side or as a quick breakfast with some gravy, honey, or a bit of jelly.

I still have a few of the pans in the fridge outside as well because they needed to cool down and I didn’t get around to rearranging the freezers to make room today… internet issues have had me on the phone with customer service for several hours!

We’ve got quite a busy week ahead of us with hunting season starting (maybe it has already started) the guys are itching to get out in the woods. Our van needs to go have an oil change and brakes this week. We also have a couple of dentist appointments this week and we also need to take out the toilet and work on it as someone flushed part of a hanger down it… sigh. Friday night will be a dance and Saturday we had planned to go to a BIG annual dance but I’m not really sure if that will be happening or not… if it doesn’t I may have a Norwex event to go help with and I will have the kiddos in tow!

Here’s a flyer for our latest sale:

I definitely have a few things that I want to grab while they are on sale! You can also shop my current part HERE.

I know this was a long post but I wanted to get all the recipes out as I’ve had several requests for them. If I missed anything you can let me know in the comments below!

Here are just a few more pics from the day:

35+ Freezer Meals In One Day! I had to do my grocery shopping this past weekend and our internet was DOWN! This meant that I needed to physically go into the store and push the buggy down the aisles...

[kk-tries-her-best-blog]

I’m literally back & literally better than ever. I mean it.

Hello! I don’t know why, but I am the VERY best at losing earring backs for no reason. I’m sure you can order them on Amazon or something, but I am running very low. I guess ordering new ones would be the “adult” thing to do, but that’s just not me. I haven't quite reached the part in my life where I truly become an adult. Anyways, here I am. Sorta skinny, sorta being a boss ass bitch (until you hurt my feelings, then I cry). Idk why I’m like that. ~I just am!~

Probably TMI, but my stomach has been pissed off at me today. Probably from the GROSS Chipotle I ate yesterday, which is fair. I really struggle to find my love for Chipotle anymore. it’s really been super hit or miss lately, and more often than not, it’s a swing and a miss. You probs won’t catch me there anytime soon (why am I making all these baseball related puns? idk). 

OK, BUT WHAT I AM REALLY HERE FOR: A fun (or whatever adjective you want to use to describe it) update on where I'm at.

this past weekend, a bitch ATE. Sometimes I ate a lot of healthy food, then sometimes I ate a decent portion size of bad food. It was never both, so I guess that’s somewhat ok? I did a nasty lower body workout on Friday, which basically had me unable to move for 2 days. I am finally recovering. Idk why, but I find that when I enter the gym without much of a plan, I always have the best/hardest workouts. instead of sticking to my plan, I end up pushing myself a little harder than I normally would. Not sure if that makes any sense, but that’s what happens. 

I did only workout 4 out of 7 days of the week last week....ugh. not good of me! I had a really tough week at work, so I used that as an excuse to relax and not stress about the gym. However, 4 out of 7 days isn’t sounding too cute right now, so I shouldn’t let that happen again. 

TODAY, I was good. I woke up, had a coffee and a sugar free red bull (5 calories, the coffee was 80-100. not exactly sure). I didn’t end up actually eating anything until around 1pm just because one of the other receptionist was sick today, so I ended up being incredibly busy. My lunch was SO healthy and SO well planned. It was a piece of salmon seasoned with salt/pepper/lemon/butter, then topped with a little drizzle of sriracha (just recently learned how to spell sriracha). ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! However, I added a side of edamame. You can get it frozen in the frozen veggie isle at any store. MY DUMBASS put the FROZEN edamame in a container, then stuck it in the FRIDGE. this result in very soggy, very wet edamame. I tried to tough it out, but nope. the texture was absolutely repulsive. I did this with TWO servings of my lunch this week, so I ended up tossing the second serving that’s tomorrow’s lunch (wasteful, but necessary). with that being said, I had a cheesestick and a piece of salmon for lunch, then a very mini portion of baked ziti. VERY high carbs, so I stuck to a small portion just to avoid too many carbs in one day. Luckily, I also had some sweet baby bell peppers and ranch for a small, healthy snack before working out. For dinner, I had 3 pieces of flank steak, half a baked potato (yes, I put sour cream on it. Sue me), and a salad. Thank god there’s some leftover salad for me to take tomorrow. I just plopped my salmon down on top of it and BOOM. delicious and health af. Also planned a little avo toast for the AM after my workout (breakfast -- something I want to address in a later post). 

SO yeah, a little bit of a longer update since I’ve been skipping out on making serious posts. Tomorrow I gotta get my ass up and into gear for my fab Tuesday! Hitting the gym early so I can head home and RELAX after work. goodnight, girls! xoxo

[tebbyclinic11]

Trader Joe’s Newest Products in 2018, Reviewed

New Post has been published on http://kitchengadgetsreviews.com/trader-joes-newest-products-in-2018-reviewed/

Trader Joe’s Newest Products in 2018, Reviewed

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "c8415-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Shop Related Products"; amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "cooking"; amzn_assoc_default_category = "Kitchen"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "51fe4d035c7af8dc5928e6f5e5b79c4e"; amzn_assoc_default_browse_node = "284507"; amzn_assoc_rows = "4"; amzn_assoc_design = "text_links";

Trader Joe’s has it all figured out. The new products, they just keep coming. We’re on a hare-brained mission to try every new product at TJ’s in 2018. Trying. A noble pursuit, a “good use of time,” “what is this, an ad?”, call it what you will. New this week—Valentines gummies, coconut clusters of fun, pretty good chicken sausage, and more.

Organic Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, $4.99These floppy shingles of roasted turkey are a lunch meat staple, though I’ve never tried to bind two pieces of paper with them. Instead, I roll them with sliced Swiss cheese and dip them in mustard like the grown adult person with an expired license I am. A subtle, roasted flavor elevates the turkey from its natural state of taste (soggy meat Kleenex) to a whisper of Thanksgiving leftovers. Good product. Reliable sandwich material. Real meat. Gluten-free. Protein. Precisely circular. Not salami.

Gummy Xs & Os, $2.99In time for Valentine’s Day, we have a big bag of gummies. The ”natural flavors” flavor reminds me of rosé–supposedly grapefruit, strawberry, and mixed berry—but they all blend together to me in the way you’re pretty sure gummy bears are different flavors for different colors but are they, really?? All I know is that the Xs taste better than Os. The big downside–sorry, gummy enthusiasts—is that the texture is too soft. Like that moment you’re making out with your Valentine and finally come to terms with the fact that he’s a body pillow named Ted. Gummies need a little bit of chew, some struggle, a reminder that it’s not gonna be easy all the time. A nice metaphor for love if you ask me.

Electric Buzz Coffee Cups, $5.49I drink coffee the old-fashioned way—by pouring off-boiling water into a filter directly in my mouth—so I enlisted a guest reviewer for these TJ branded K-cups that are supposedly EXTRA CAFFEINATED! “It’s no special cup of mud,” texted my friend Keith, a man who puts plastic cups in a machine expecting roasted bean juice to come out. BA’s Alex Delany described these coffee pods like he does beer, ridiculously: “It tastes like someone walked across your tongue with brand new dad sneakers on. Rubber soles.” Did he really need to offend all of dadkind like that? Probably yes.

Organic Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage, $5.99Like many chicken sausages, it tastes like chicken sausage. Throw in some garlic powder and basil particles and poof, Italian. Out of the package, they have a slimy smooth, bouncy hot dog texture because the casing has been removed. I don’t get how this works, but I‘ll try anything once. A sweet, kind cashier with a striking resemblance to my Uncle Manny (RIP) said he loves to make sausage and peppers with them, so that’s what I did. I mean, we’re practically family. The sausages are smaller side, more the size of Ball Park Franks, and crisp up in the pan as intended. Two people in my household ate the entire package of five links, dipping each bite in mustard and trying to find something more meaningful to say about something as mundane as chicken sausage. Notes of peppercorn tingle the tastebuds. Solidly Not Bad.

Coconut Sesame Seed Clusters, $1.99These are little shards that aren’t quite granola and yet aren’t anything else. Purgatory snacks! They’re crunchy pieces of toasted coconut covered in sesame seeds, sealed together with coconut sugar and tapioca syrup. Okay so they’re candy. Serving suggestions include: casually eating out of a hollowed coconut shell, on ice cream, but more likely, by the handful until you read the nutrition facts and realize the bag is empty but hey, at least they’re gluten-free? If this isn’t impulse purchase material, I don’t know what is.

Previously

The Week of January 22

Churro Bites, $2.49The only thing these churro bites share in common with hot-off-the-oil churros is a coating of cinnamon sugar. Other than that, these crunchy nuggets are their own category of cookie-chip. They have a near-velvet outer texture, the combination of shiny hardened butter and sandy sugar, like when you dropped a doughnut hole at the beach but ate it anyway, because seagulls. (Because you’re a monster). Sort of like giant Corn Pops, rolled cinnamon sugar. I won’t even begin to describe what they visually resemble (😺 💩). The cashier at TJ’s looked at the nutritional details and then slowly raised her eyes to mine. Me: “These are not good for you.” Her: “Then why are you buying two?”

Gluten Free Oat Cranberry Flaxseed Cookies, $2.99As a general life principle, you should never trust a cookie with more than three names. These gluten-free-oat-cranberry-flaxseed-cookies seem to think that they can trick us into believing they’re some kind of health food but we know, ohhhh we KNOW. These are cookies. With plenty of butter and sugar. Because of that, I have some great news: They taste like cookies! Like a very good grocery store oatmeal raisin cookie, with a surprisingly soft and chewy texture (I see you, molasses and rice flour.) They crumble a little, but then again who doesn’t in this current political climate? Still not sure what a flaxseed is, but I’m already starting to see definition in my abs.

Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce, $1.99This so-called simmer sauce is the pale minty green of my grandmother’s bathroom walls, with much more flavor (and a lot less lead!). Even though a simple green curry is easy to make, at this price, it costs the same as just the can of coconut milk, and there’s Kaffir lime peel in here. It’s fragrant with lemongrass and ginger, and super creamy, a little sweet—overall, delicious. You cook some protein or veg, add the sauce, serve over noodles/rice. What does this sauce have in common with a certain presidential marriage? There’s absolutely no heat. BYO-chile if you need to spice it up.

Tahini, Pepita & Apricot Slaw Kit, $3.99Inside one plastic bag you get four more little plastic bags! It’s like a Russian nesting salad of environmental doom. Or something. The slaw is a combination of veggies from the aisle-land of misfit produce. Spiky broccoli stems. Faded carrots the color of construction cones abandoned by the highway. The curly split ends from a kale haircut. Cabbage. Unfortunately the dressing, a sweet honey tahini (try this one!), which is pretty good, can’t mask the musty taste of the veg. The pepita and apricot sprinkles are a nice idea, but like hoping the 14 throw pillows on your couch hide all of the cat hair, they can only do so much.

Previously

The Week of January 8

Photo by Chelsie Craig

Frosted Sugar Cookies, $2.99Trader Joe’s imitation of Lofthouse’s iconic packaged cookies is the best thing they’ve brought to the new year. The freakishly smooth, delightfully underbaked sugar cookie is topped with frosting and randomly distributed purple-pink sprinkles. Whoever was in charge of sprinkles appears to have sneezed them out, some gather along the edges, holding on for dear frosting life.

But they really did it. It’s mythic, and it dissolves into dust the second it touches your saliva. The minute you bite into it, you forget it was ever there. And it’s everything you’ve missed since the last time you had one, stoned at 10 p.m. in Kroger with your middle school friends who’ve all had babies on Facebook by now. It’s a cookie that will send you back in time, in memory, in a sugar-induced nostalgia nap.

Photo by Chelsie Craig

Cocoa Almond Cashew Beverage, $2.29Who doesn’t love a beverage? AKA the FDA-approved term for milks that aren’t milk. Remember milk? Pause to pour out some beverage in the memory of milk. Those days are over.

This incredibly silky not-milk is chocolaty and sweet, with a vaguely nutty aftertaste, like a burp after too many bar peanuts. The creamy texture, thanks to the beautiful food science that is locust bean gum and other emulsifiers, ends on a near slimy note, reminiscent of the inside of the cardboard chocolate milk carton. It would be nice in a banana smoothie, heated as faux cocoa, mixed into iced coffee, or given as a bribe to children who have never known the cult of cow.

Photo by Chelsie Craig

Italian Marinara Sauce with Barolo Wine, $3.49Have you ever spooned straight marinara sauce into your mouth? It’s acidic and sweet, smooth save for the little toenails of tomato skin here and there. The saltiness left my chapped lips burning and tingling, like I’d exfoliated them with French fries. The addition of Barolo seems to say, “I know wines other than red,” while the black-and-gold Deco packaging suggests a Gatsby-themed party at the Olive Garden. It tasted like pretty good pizza sauce. Sign me up.

Organic Fruit and Seed Granola, $3.69These little clusters of organic seeds, held together by plasticky tasting tapioca syrup, are nuggets of health. I think. No pesky oats here, just seed bombs that I imagine are only slightly larger than what well-fed pigeons expel. The sharp and crunchy texture is appealing to parents who bring healthy snacks to the movies. They’re also the perfect snack for mindful eaters, as you will mindfully spend every bite doing tongue yoga to get chia seeds out of your molar fillings from the 90s. There are surprise bites of sweetened dried cranberries that will make you exclaim, “SUGAR, for MEEEE?” Somehow you will eat the whole bag.

Stay tuned for more, next week.

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; amzn_assoc_search_bar_position = "bottom"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "c8415-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Shop Related Products"; amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "cookware"; amzn_assoc_default_category = "All"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "b45319dac495d29e17b5eff312392025"; Source link

[son-of-a-duck]

July 6, 2017

This morning I set my alarm clock for 9:00AM and I ignored it until 10:20AM.  That was a mistake on my part but I needed the sleep.  The mistake was the fact that I was meeting my friend for lunch at eleven o'clock.  I rushed around after getting up and ended up only being a few minutes late.  It gave my friend the opportunity to give me crap for being late because I gave him crap last weekend for being late.

Lunch was at a taco place we have gone to before.  I got the grilled romaine salad, which I got last time, and it was pretty tasty.  My theory is that they cook it on the meat grill.  Today they cooked it a little too long so it was a bit soggy, but it was still tasty.

After lunch my friend met me at the library and I gave him a tour before settling into the workday.  A good chunk of my day was spent thinking about and working on the conference proposal.  I'm still not feeling great about it but it was also kind of dropped in my lap, so I would say it's not bad for a first attempt.

I participated in a phone interview with the PR lady for the magazine interview for the adulting series.  That seems like a poorly formed sentence.  Anyway, the person writing the article is a guy I know from working at the elementary school, which was nice because that made it much more relaxed.  I think the interview went pretty well and he sent us a rough draft of the article an hour or so later.  It could use some tweaks but I'm glad I didn't sound like an idiot.

The HTC Vive arrived today instead of tomorrow.  That was a surprise and threw off my plans a little bit.  The FedEx store would have been closed after work and I didn't want to pick it up before work today because I didn't want it sitting in my hot car all day.  So I picked it up on my dinner break and left it at my Mom's house.  It would have been nice to just call in sick the rest of the day so I could play with it.  Although I doubt my current ability with my desktop and laptop to use it.  I'm wondering if I can do basic stuff, like the virtual desktop, things that aren't as intense as a video game. I will find out soon, and if it doesn't work, my new processor should be here by Monday.  It'll just be a long weekend.

Tonight at work after calling it good with the proposal, I took a little break and counted prize tickets.  Progress was made.  In the middle of that a patron had an outburst.  We still don't know if it was all in his head or if he had a bluetooth hooked on his ear.  He shouted out some curse words in the stacks and then a little while later he started did it again while storming out of the building.  It was a bit odd but also short and sweet, which is always appreciated.

After work I went over to my friend's parents' house and watched Bottle Shock with him and his mom.  His mom had actually picked it up at the library tonight and had heard the dude make his outbursts.  Small world.  The movie is not one that I would have ever watched but I liked it.  All the drone shots became a little tedious, and I'm not sure why Chris Pine ended up with the girl because that didn't make sense, but Alan Rickman totally made the movie.  I'd watch it again just for him.

We talked briefly after the movie but when his parents went into a topic that my friend knew would take forever, he basically pushed me out of the front door so I wouldn't get stuck.  Always a good friend.

I passed by my house and went to my Mom's house to grab the Vive off the front porch, where I had her leave it so I wouldn't wake up the dogs.  And then I came home.

I ate a snack and now I am watching a livestream while writing this. I opened up the Vive and it looks pretty sweet, but it is one o'clock in the morning and I am freaking tired.  I'm going to record my audio journal now so I can go to bed.  That sounds very appealing.