2010

It's not a New Year's Resolution. Many, many years ago I resolved not to make any more resolutions and I've stuck with it.

I do think I'd like to blog more (and perhaps Facebook less) in the coming year.

I'm going to start with Menu Plan Monday. It helps me prepare healthier meals and I don't have to wonder what's for dinner at 4pm.

We'll be serving more vegetables around here, too. My health is deteriorating since a knee injury. I've found an exercise routine I can do, so I'm at the gym every day now, too.

I'd prefer NOT to have a stroke this year, so changes are needed.

Looking forward to seeing all of you in the year to come.

Christmas Eve

Mexican Train arrived from Oregon. We had a great time playing it!

The kids being silly.

The tradition is to open one present that came in the mail on Christmas Eve.

Ana got TONS of nail polish.

And Sam got a shirt with a guitar on the front that plays music! Very cool.

She's a Whiz!

A new post is required because I'm tired of looking at colonoscopy prep!

The wine glass is not hers. The sippy cup is.

Colonoscopy Prep Made Easy(er)

Let's face it. Colonoscopy prep is not easy. It's long, dreadful and tedious. It's also a LOT more tolerable than chemotherapy and radiation, and so, we endure.

Four litres is A LOT of liquid to consume. And the stuff tastes nasty. I discovered the following on my most recent prep.

• The package (TriLyte) now comes with flavor packs! Big whoop.
• Throw away the flavor packs.
• Buy bottled water (in 16.9 ounce bottles) to mix with the powder
• After the powder and bottled water are well mixed, pour the liquid back into the bottles.
• Pour Crystal Light on-the-go packs (or something similar) into each bottle. I used Propel fitness water packs since they are clear. NO RED food coloring is allowed!
• Chill well.
• Be sure to mark your bottles with big black XXX or something so they are not mistaken for plain old water in the fridge.
• Slice a lime into small wedges and have ready with your Prep solution.
• Drink through a straw as far back in your mouth as you can stand it.
• The cold liquid through the straw can produce a slight "Brain Freeze" but pressing the tongue to the roof of the mouth usually fixes it.
• If you start to gag (which I do) take a quick squeeze of lime and drink some more.

See #5 on Day Before the Examination on this website. This doctor does the prep slightly different than my doctor, but puts on his website that the use of Crystal Light is okay. The manufacturer says not to add anything else. I'm listening to the doctor in Utah.

All of these things got me through the prep much more easily than the last time where I threw up roughly half of what I managed to swallow.

See you again in five years for an update. The pharmaceutical companies really need to come up with a better prep!

Menu Plan Monday

Yes, there is a plan this week.

I went back to old stand-bys that everyone will eat.

Ana has her pre-test to determine her eligibility to test for Second Degree Black in October on Wednesday, so I'm making her favorite, Chicken Dijon.

• Clam Chowder, salad, crusty bread
• Spaghetti, tomato sauce, Italian sausage (I had Mike grill the sausages with last night's dinner)
• Chicken Dijon, couscous, broccoli
• Tacos, refried beans

Brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Sweet 16

My baby is 16 today.

Menu Plan Monday

What's for dinner this week? So far, this.

• Carmelized Onion Penne, garlic chip greens (Sorry. TWO food network recipes. Their website sucks, but the food looked good so there you are.)
• Breakfast - Pancakes, eggs, bacon
• Turkey Burgers, Macaroni Salad
• something else. I'm going to end up at the store again (we're out of dog food) so I'll probably put fish on the menu.
• Pizza Friday (which I dislike, but the family likes it so I'll eat salad or something.)
  

Bon appetit!

Brought to you by I'm on Organizing Junkie.

Happy Birthday

We have two family birthdays this month.

Ana is Sweet 16.

Mike is 46.

Random Things I LIke

• crushed up saltines in my chili - there was a time when I wouldn't eat saltines because they are carbs!
• Earl Grey Tea - Hot or cold
• summer
• black tea with honey and lemon - hot, when I have a cold
• Tropical Black Iced Tea from Fresh and Easy - but I only buy it on clearance, because I'm cheap
• the smell of rain on pavement - a rarity in Las Vegas
• freshly mowed grass - although it makes me sneeze
• being able to provide frivolous things to my kids on occasion
• pesto, especially homemade - so bright and fresh and green
• listening to Sam play his electric guitar - but I'm still buying him headphones


• Naveen Andrews - a little mancake on Lost
• Traveling to Utah by car if I'm not driving. Seven and a half hours to do NOTHING!
• Las Vegas 51's baseball

Not Quite.

They look rather the same to me, but I realize upon closer inspection that they are not.

Mark Harmon and Bruce Greenwood

Menu Plan Monday

Ah, yes. Meal planning time again. Here we go!

• Turkey burgers, chips (I buy two snack size bags and we split them between four people.)
• Ground Beef Stroganoff, broccoli (Yes, I'm using ground turkey instead.)
• Chicken something. A family favorite. I have frozen chicken breasts. I have NO IDEA what they will turn into for dinner. I also have frozen vegetables.
• Ummm...There's pasta and eggs in the house. Maybe Pasta Carbonara (a la Rachael Ray.) I'll have to buy pancetta, but it's pretty cheap at Fresh & Easy.
• Payday! The sky's the limit! I'm hoping to avoid Pizza Friday. I really don't like pizza very much. Don't tell Joe. He'll unfriend me!

Another pantry/freezer week. Somehow I managed to spend all of our money last week so this week is a little tight. Happily, I keep a pretty well stocked pantry.

As always, more menus to steal at I'm an Organizing Junkie. I'm posting the blog, not the Menu Plan Monday entry because it's not up yet and I'm lazy like that.

Bon Appetit!

Food Update

It's interesting and helpful for me if I have a Menu Plan, but I don't lose any sleep over changing it.

This week:

• Monday: Leftover buffet
• Tuesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken (What's that weird sauce on it?)
• Wednesday: Karen and kids to Joe's for a karate thing. I made tacos earlier in the day so Mike would have something to eat.
• Thursday: Roast Chicken. I found a whole chicken at Fresh & Easy for $2.04. The execution of the dish was less than stellar. Next time I'll stick with my Williams-Sonoma prep and skip Tony Bourdain. Mike's prep of the Tony Bourdain Roast Chicken results in a fabulous meal. Mine resulted in having Mike come home and having to rescue dinner. Sigh.
• Friday: Mike's birthday! He's bringing home steak to grill on the barbecue. When he told me he wanted grilled steak, I was sure to tell him that I would ruin it. He already knew that, so had planned to grill it himself.

In case you didn't know: we have a Weber Kettle Charcoal Grill. No gas or propane is EVER used to grill our food. If we had gas or propane, I could probably be trusted to grill. Mike uses kindling, briquets and real mesquite charcoal to build a perfect fire. He then waits for perfect coals and cooks over indirect heat.

Because I know you're all worried about us eating charred beef which will kill us!!

Menu Plan Monday

Brought to you by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.
There are many, many menus to cheat from.

My plan looks something like this.

• Monday: Leftovers-including: roast chicken, asst cheeses, salami, artichokes, marinated mushrooms, harissa beans, homemade pesto, homemade hummus, pita
• Tuesday: Baked chicken. There are two breasts with ribs leftover from the weekend.
• Wednesday: Pasta, I think. Lots of it in the pantry. Sauce? Pesto or maybe I'll whip up a tomato sauce. I might just serve it with butter and cheese.
• Thursday: There's frozen ground turkey in the freezer. Maybe tacos. Sam likes them.
• Friday: Mike's birthday. He hasn't decided if he wants me to cook or if he wants to eat out. He doesn't usually like to eat dinner out, especially after a busy week at work.

Updates as they occur, I guess.

An update before it even posts! I'm making Baked Teriyaki Chicken.

Just Getting Here?

Then you're too late. The home page of K*Bot World has already changed.

You gotta be fast to keep up with some people!

Getting Famous

Sam is getting famous! Read the first paragraph on the home page of K*Bot World. He's off to a great start at the World Championships.

Menu Plan Monday

Short week this week. Our international karate tournament starts on Thursday so we're only eating at home on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The kids have not been eating well lately (owing to sickness) so they each had to plan a meal.

• Chicken tacos (Sam) Says he doesn't like ground meat in tacos so will dice chicken for him instead. Still sounds good.
• Chicken Dijon, Parmesan couscous, broccoli (Ana) A little more knowledgeable with regard to nutrition and balanced meals.
• Turkey burgers, potato salad (Karen) This may end up in the freezer since after I went grocery shopping, Mike did his shopping for tonight's dinner and came home with turkey burgers to go with my potato salad. We have a lot of frozen things. Maybe I'll whip up a miracle.

Brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Friday Food Update

OMG!! I actually made everything on my menu plan this week. Most of it got eaten, too.

Ana had a status migraine for 3 weeks so she didn't eat much at all for the last week or so.

Finally took her to the ER and knocked the darn thing out of her. She is much happier now and eating again.

I guess I'll give in and do Pizza Friday to stick with the plan. Maybe Dominoes. I haven't eaten theere since I was in college. Or Pizza Hut! So I can say, "I just feasted for five dollars."

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie

In no particular order

• Teriyaki Beef with Noodles (We have leftover Teriyaki Tri-tip from the weekend. I'll create something with it!)
• Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken (I can't remember where I first saw this recipe or I would give credit but it was probably here.)
• Pork Medallions with Olive-Caper Sauce, Vermicelli with garlic and herbs (Cooking Light)
• Gnocchi with Asparagus and Pancetta (Cooking Light, April 2008)
• Friday, Friday, Friday...I've grown weary of Pizza Friday.

Updates as needed.

The Food Reviews

Potato Leek soup with Chicken Andouille Sausage: Delicious, as always. It's hard to go wrong with this soup and the slightly spicy sausage complimented it quite nicely. I served it with Garlic Naan that I picked up at Trader Joe's.

Mexican Lasagna: Not bad. It's good that the kids did not see it being assembled as I'm sure they would have turned their collective noses up at cottage cheese. As it was I got "What kind of cheese is that?" Also, my family has a preference for corn tortillas rather than flour. And lastly, as usual, it made entirely too much food for my light-eating family of four. I served this with a black bean and roasted corn salad so there was a lot of corn and lots of black beans on the table.

Cheesy Penne with Chicken & Broccoli: This is pasta, chicken and broccoli with cheese sauce. What could be better? Nothing! Don't be afraid of making cheese sauce. It's incredibly easy.

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie.





Another semi-plan for the week. I'm only responsible for three meals this week.

• Mexican Lasagna, Roasted corn and black bean salad
• Cheesy Penne with Chicken & Broccoli (except that I'm using Mike's leftover grilled chicken from this weekend. It was spectacular AND it's not breaded!)
• Potato Leek soup with Chicken Andouille sausage (I had a hankering for sausage, so I'm putting it the soup.)
• Thursday is Las Vegas 51's baseball. We eat in the air-conditioned restaurant before heading out in hundred (plus) degree heat for the game.
• Friday is a holiday for Mike, so he will cook.

Trying some new recipes from a new website, Meal Makeover Moms. They bill themselves as Healthy Meals with Kid Appeal. I can't seem to get the boy child to eat meat and even he thinks the lack of protein is making him tired. They also have a cookbook. I have a 30% off coupon. Maybe I'll go buy it.

Menu Plan Monday

Brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie.

I sort of have a plan, so here it is.

• Asian Grilled Salmon, broccoli salad
• The Marlboro Man Sandwich, broccoli salad
• Tacos
• Slow-Cooker Turkey Meatballs, spaghetti, broccoli salad
• Pizza Friday (Last week I talked them into KFC!)

Mike made (a lot of) broccoli salad so we'll be eating it all week.

The Weather

Las Vegas just finished it's hottest May on record with 27 days over 90 degrees.

How is it then, that last night I went to pick Ana up from soccer camp at 8:30pm, had to sit outside for 30 minutes because I was early, and - Dare I say it? - I was a little cold!!

It was 85 degrees out and the wind was blowing. Either my thyroid medicine isn't working or I've become a desert dweller with all rights and privileges thereunto appertaining!

I think I'd freeze to death if I still lived in Oregon.

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

This week we're eating whatever is available in the house. There's plenty of food so it shouldn't be a problem.

So far;

• Baked oatmeal (I'm trying something new.)
• leftover chicken (Mike smoked it on the charcoal grill. I'll turn it into something.)
• leftover tri-tip (Same thing. Mike grilled this weekend.)
• ground turkey in one form or another (It's in the freezer.)
• Pizza Friday (I don't have one, but it's pay day!)

I'll add fresh produce and we'll probably need milk at some point.

The menus are about to change. It will be over 100 degrees this week which means the oven will not be in use again until sometime around late September or early October.

Second Time

I hit it red again. (Click "red" for the original post.)


I think the emergency vehicles rolling code put the signals out of sequence.
There was a structure fire a few blocks away and fire trucks en route.

Why My Work Isn't Getting Done

Because today, I discovered these two web sites.

Be forewarned. You will waste countless hours.


Fail Blog

Engrish Funny

Have a fun day.

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Dinner this week will be determined largely by how much walking I can do at grocery stores. The MRI on my knee is Monday, May 4th at 0730.

So far, the plan is:

• Tater Tot Casserole*, corn
• Bourbon Chicken, broccoli, brown rice
• chili (I don't use a recipe. I'll just make it up.), cornbread
• fish (whatever I can find), a vegetable, a side dish**
• pizza Friday

I'm keeping it simple and using mostly what I have on hand.

*Am I the only person on the planet who does not cook with Cream of Mushroom, Chicken, Celery or any other food Soup? Mike hates it and I refuse to cook with it!

**Who says meal planning is hard?

Chun Kuk Do Tournament

Today was the 5th Annual Region 2 Tournament in Chun Kuk Do (our karate style) and United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF, our organization). Our students did very well in the competition.

From left to right: Savannah, Tirza, Angelo, Devin and Maria

Ana and Kobie also competed and did well.

We raised around $900 which will be donated to charity. It's a really fun event with lots of families involved. It's great practice for our International tournament in July.

Great job everyone.

Medicinal Purposes

I'm not sure if an apple fritter is a curative for aching legs, but I'm trying it instead of ibuprofen.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

That's all.

An Omen

I had high hopes that it was not a bad omen.

As I sat in the chair in my dentist's office today for minor work (seating of permanent crown) on the radio, R.E.M. was singing their hearts out with Everybody Hurts.

After that was Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel. You know, clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. I was between the dentist and his assistant at the time.

I really don't think the nitrous oxide had anything at all to do with it. Why do you ask?

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by Laura at I'm on Organizing Junkie.

In no particular order:

• Steak with Sun Dried Tomatoes, broccoli, corn-on-the-cob

• Sesame Fish, salad, brown rice
• Pizza (for Sam)
• Pasta Carbonara, peas
• Tacos, refried beans (Sam again)

Sam gets much of what he wants because he states a preference.

Prom

Ana went to her first prom last night with Michael.
They looked so young and beautiful.

Spotted on the Dam

We spotted this box directly under the tall construction cranes on the Hoover Dam.

A stretcher? It looks more like a coffin.

The Photo Shoot

On Sunday, Ana had her first photo shoot.

It's part of the modeling and acting classes that she is taking.

Prior to the shoot. Waiting for the photographer.

Posing with the photographer.

Trying to be discreet and taking pictures from behind.
She did great!

The camera loves this girl.

Dump Truck

I'm easily amused.

I liked it enough to take a picture AND do a blog post.

Gizmo

A little tribute to my dog, Gizmo.
This trailer belongs to Professional Rodeo Clown,
Gizmo McCracken
who was on his way to Logandale, Nevada when
we passed him outside Boulder City, Nevada.

Sunbathing

This is how I sunbathe.

I'm Irish.

Need I say more?

Menu Plan Monday

Brought to you by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

There was a lot of complaining about last week's menu.

We actually ended up eating:

• popcorn chicken (on the menu)
• turkey burgers (on the menu)
• sloppy joe's (on the menu AND they hated them)
• tater tot breakfast casserole (yum!)
• Pizza Friday turned into Pasta Friday because that's what I wanted.

This week I asked the question again. The following responses were given:

• Chicken Dijon, couscous, broccoli *Ana*
• Tacos (No, we're having Enchilada Suiza. Choose again.) *Sam*
• Turkey Burgers on regular buns (not English muffins) and crunchy (shoestring) fries *Sam*
• Whatever you're making *Mike*
• Enchilada Suiza
• Gnocchi with Asparagus and Pancetta
• One day stays open - things happen and we have an early appointment on Friday.

Looks like a decent food week to me.

Welcome

In the last week I've seen many, many visitors from Alberta, Canada.

And most of them are driving a tan minivan.

Although not this one.

This is a Grand Am.

How a Loss Becomes a Win

or, if you're the Roadrunners, How a Win Becomes a Loss.

Ana's soccer team played the Roadrunners today for the second time this season. On the first outing, Ana's team lost 9-0. Today, Ana's team lost 1-0.

At the end of the game, one team was jubilant and one team was dejected.

Ana's team - the losing team - was thrilled to have only lost by 1 goal.

The Roadrunners were completely dejected that they didn't smear them all over the field.

Ana and her teammates played a great game, held their opponents to only one goal and very nearly scored several times.

Great job Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Gnome Place Like Home

This is what happens when the high-energy dog is left in the backyard alone.

I guess they'll have to roam alone.

Survivor

Enough with the pictures of snakes and talk of dragons already.

Amazing Jakes

While in Phoenix, we visited Amazing Jakes.
The kids had a great time.
It was an All-you-can-eat buffet so I was happy.
We stayed for six and a half hours!

Quick Trip

The week prior to Easter is Spring Break. We took a quick trip to Phoenix to visit family.

First stop: The Pit Stop for gas and snacks
Stop two: Gus's Really Good Fresh Jerky
An oxymoron by my way of thinking, but the honey is excellent.

Dinner at Olive Garden

The long road

Pictures of Wickenburg.

We've never done that before.

Hoover Dam

Always a favorite to look at but too much traffic!

The bypass should be done in a year or two!