Holidaze Time

I completely love the holidays.  For a few reasons.  One I have so much fun picking out presents for people and spending time with family and friends.  But a close second is that I adore this tasty treat:

Let's be honest.  I drink Starbucks year round.  But it is ultimately more fulfilling during the holidays because there's a ton more variety.  Peppermint signature hot chocolate just to name one.  But chai tea latte's and normal signature hot chocolate with cinnamon and cream always hit the spot.  I just can't get enough of this lovin'.  So fan.freaking.tastic.

I compromised my values....

Normally I'm a very "stick to your beliefs" kind of a person.  But I recently made a decision that went against everything I knew and trusted in.  I was trying to be a risk taker, part of the 'in' crowd, trendy if you will.  And I can now share with absolute certainty, that you have values for a reason -- they should never be put aside just to be "cool".  

I just didn't think the consequences would be that great.  I thought I would just try it once, because so many other people like it, and then I wouldn't have to do it again, or I might even like it, and it might even be good for me! 

No. 

Big Mistake.

I bought banana walnut oatmeal squares. From Costco.

I don't know what on earth possessed me but it had to have been evil.  I have known for more than twenty years that bananas are a plague.  They contaminate everything they come in contact with and thus can only be eaten by themselves and then disposed of immediately and far from your vicinity or they continue to contaminate from the grave!  Nuts also are of a contaminatory nature and should be eaten alone as well (if not covered in chocolate).  They should never be anywhere near something as precious as a brownie and trail mix is pushing it.  (On a more personal note, walnuts are my least favorite nut.)  Again. What was I thinking?

Here's what happened.  First, since it was Costco, the offending oatmeal squares were packaged with similar oatmeal squares with chocolate chips.  Who doesn't want those?  Second, I rationalized how healthy oatmeal is for you especially when paired with a nut, because as I've recently learned the good things in oatmeal combined with the good things in nuts creates the entire spectrum of good proteins you need to fight things like bad cholesterol and all those other things.  And then my kicker thought was, "really, how bad could these things really be?"  

Then yesterday I ate one.  And they were everything I imagined they would be.  Now I have like 20 more to choke down.  These things better be damn healthy for me.

It's Begun

Began? Beginning? I don't know that just doesn't look correct.....

Anyway, my English deficiency aside. Thanksgiving. More specifically stuffing. Or dressing. I'm still not completely sure (and yes I could google it daddy but ignorance is way more fun). Every year I ask my aunts (the cooking guru's of our family) what the difference is. I think it's only stuffing if it is actually cooked inside the bird, and dressing otherwise. I just always say stuffing. Mostly because I don't like to think about it coming from inside the bird, and I've just always known it as stuffing. Glorious, fragrant, bringer of all good, tasty delectable stuffing.

I'm pretty sure this is about the fourth blog I've written about my love of stuffing, but ya I just can't stop. I wasn't actually thinking about it that much this year because I was just concentrating on the going home part. But then I was listening to my ipod which has a cool/completely annoying feature where if you shake it, it shuffles through your entire library. So one day I'm rocking out to Lady Gaga and then it shuffles to...... BRIAN REGAN. What's the relation to stuffing you might ask? Well if it isn't entirely obvious I've failed as a story teller. Or it's just obscure.

I'll take pity though and maybe explain a little better. My amazing friend Kara loves Brian Regan as much as my sister and I do. She also happens to be a fan of stuffing. Last year during school we used to take breaks by having Stuffing/Brian Regan dates. They saved my sanity often.

So that long winded story about randomly hearing Brian Regan made me realize for the first time this year that Thanksgiving is coming!!! And very soon I will get to lovingly make and then devour stuffing. I can't wait.

Is anyone else as obsessed with a Thanksgiving food as I am? It is completely possible I'm just a weirdo ; ).

Krazy Jim's Blimpie Burger

So this place was featured on Food Network by Guy Fieri. So when Abbey came we decided we should definitely try it out. And let me tell you it was really good. But I really hate the guy working there. I want to punch him in the face. I will go back but when I do, I am fairly sure I am going to be as rude as I am capable of being to someone who is handling my food. And here's why. The method that you order in that place is screwy, and it makes it painfully obvious if you've never been there before. Which is fine, ya know every place like that has to have some kind of schtick. Here's my problem. Just because I've never been there before does not mean you get to patronize me. I am not a moron and just because I've never used your random form of ordering does not mean that I am not capable of rapidly adjusting. The fool who I think has worked there for more than ten years and will continue to work there long after I'm gone told me that I needed a tray. Thanks, didn't see them at first. And then I only got one, because Abbey and I are not going to eat that much and we were paying together. In my analytical head there was no reason to waste another one. Then fool says in the most patronizing voice I have ever heard "She's going to need one too if she wants to eat." Do you want to know what I wanted to do with the tray? No but it played out like another scenario of have mused over involving a very large book. I DESPISE being talked down to. And if the hamburgers were not as good as they were I would not ever go back. But I think whoever goes with me may have to restrain me if that guy is working when I'm there.

I have a problem.

Why do they sell Halloween candy 1) for cheaper than normal and 2) at the beginning of September and 3) at all?

Mini Snickers. Okay I don't like snickers. The full size ones, I can't eat an entire one, they make me sick and wish I'd never see another one. The mini snickers however are an entirely different story. I think it's because of more chocolate. But really, they are my curse. I can down them all day faster than should be allowed. They shouldn't sell these things in the regular store. They should only sell halloween candy at a special store that you have to seek out, not randomly run across on your normal shopping trip.

I'm a Peanut Butter Brat

You heard me. A peanut butter brat. Aside from just being fun to say, it's also true. There are actually very few things that I must have name brand on. The only other thing I can think of is soda, which is a whole other post/rant. However, peanut butter is definitely one of them. I think because it was bred into me since I was a small child. My mom has tried all kinds of peanut butter... but she's the only one who eats them. All my dad eats is Skippy Extra Crunchy, and for some reason that's all I eat too. I had a brief but intense affair with chocolate peanut butter (anyone remember that stuff?!), but that ended somewhat violently. I can no longer look at it unfortunately. Sadly that's how many of my love affairs end. But back to skippy. It's the only kind of peanut butter I can and will buy. I am reminded here of Brian Regan talking about his mom buying peanut butter. BUY SMOOTH! Haha except I'm opposite. Still a funny man though. So there you go, another look inside my crazy mind. My yummy peanut butter brat mind.

Industrious...

Today's post is about how proud of myself I feel.

Today I came home from work and proceeded to chop the following items:






One Vidalia Onion
Three Potatoes
Three Red Bell Peppers
Two Orange Bell Peppers
Two Yellow Bell Peppers
One Green Bell Pepper
Two Celery stalks
One Bag of Baby Carrots


These items were chopped to make the following dishes:
*Vegetable Soup for a soup diet
*Vegetable Beef Stew
*Meatloaf
*And other random dishes I will make with the tons of celery and bell pepper that I have left over.



Just the two dishes I made tonight (the two stews) will feed me for many days lunch and dinner. And I'm making the meatloaf on Thursday for my roommate and I. All in all I'm pretty proud of myself because one they look good, all the colorful vegetables, and two they actually taste good. Which is awesome because I basically made it all up....Well I had a recipe for the soup but pretty much completely changed it. I'm doing the soup diet one with Abbey so I tested it first and let her know that it really does taste pretty good. And I guess it's only like 80 calories a cup so... sweetness. So this is totally random but I just had to share my cooking urge. I'll probably make cookies some time this week as well because they just sound amazing.

Thoughts of the Day

So today's post is separated into my thoughts of the past few days. They're incredibly random but that's just how I work I guess... Ha I have random thoughts during the day and since I have no one to tell them to they just get logged away until I can write there here : ).

Humidity
I have lived in two places in my life, New Mexico the driest place in the country, and Arizona the hottest place in the country. And although AZ is more humid than New Mex, come on, who are we kidding, it's so dang hot it doesn't matter. In fact, that there is any humidity at all really amazes me, you'd think water would be smarter than to hang around in that state. (ps this is not a bash on AZ, I love it there, but it's hot) But that's beside the point. The point is, that now I live in Michigan. Great Lake territory, the great North, whatever you want to call it, it is super humid up here. And it hasn't even been that humid since I've been here, weird summer I guess. But yesterday was different. Yesterday it was cloudy all day and rained in the afternoon, so really humid. I didn't realize this. I did my hair all up nice and then went outside and immediately regretted that I didn't have a hair tie so I could just pull my mess of hair back and forget that I had even showered. Because it was a disaster. So lesson learned...haha from now on I'll have to be more creative with my hair. Although I suppose it didn't look too bad...I don't know though because I have no one here to give me an opinion of it. *Cue singing of "I feel pretty, oh so pretty..."*

Regional Cliches
Cliches, ya know I love them. They work because they are true and even though we make fun of them relentlessly, they're true. That being said, they are at times the things that motivate me to wanting to punch people right in the face. I am so unbelievably tired of meeting new people and having them ask me if I like it here, yes I do, and then follow up with, oh just wait until the winter. It's like they're rooting for me to hate myself in the winter because I chose to come to this miserable state. How dare you even think of liking it here! The winters are terrible! Get depressed now! You have no shot at even having the will to live once October comes around. I'm sure they're just being good nice citizens warning me that Michigan has harsh winters. Well thaaaannnkkks, I got that part. We can move on to other topics. I've even tried saying, oh no I am excited about the winter, I love cold weather and I love the snow. Ha. HAHAHAHA. No they say, you don't know yourself, you sad naive little girl, what could you possibly know. There's no way to like this. So while I'm thinking of punching them in the face for the mere case of being in the wrong time after being the 10000th person to spew the same regional cliche, they punch me in the face for thinking I might actually like the cold. I know this happens in every place to every new person who moves, so I am speaking out for the masses! Ha no, but really, cliches are cliches because they're not original. Don't think you are.
And for the record I am excited about winter here.

Boys on Motorcycles
Everyone has their stereotypical 'dream' girl/guy. Guys have cheerleaders, girl in the school uniform, whatever. Girls have firefighters, some girls like guys in other uniforms, I don't but I know many girls who do, and then the motorcycle guy. Monday I drove kind of around town and saw so many guys on motorcycles and yup, still the 'dream' guy. And it's all because you can't see there face. I'm sure 90% of those guys are not good looking at all, but you can't see that. All you see is the leather jacket, or nice arms if they happen to not be wearing a jacket, and so you get to create your own guy. And who doesn't like create-your-own? Plus they all seem to be such jerks, tailgating you when you're going 15 over the speed limit and then powering around you. They think they're cool and since you've inserted your own hot guy under the helmet, you think they're cool too. It's a fascinating adventure in imagination. However, like all dreams, you don't really want to achieve it. If I was dating a guy who rode a motorcycle, and I cared about him at all, I'm pretty sure the motorcycle would eventually have to be let go. Because they're pretty dang scary. I think it would be SO much fun to ride one and go incredibly fast as long as I never had to turn. That would ruin it for me. So me thinking about a guy I cared about turning, probably going faster than me, wouldn't make me happy. So while I don't want this particular dream to come true, it's still fun to think about.

More Men's Fashion
White sports socks, are never okay with black flip flops. Okay, maybe that's too restrictive. Socks are never okay with flip flops of any kind. Ah I'm so glad we got that cleared up.
Although it should never happen, it never fails to make me happy when it does. But honestly how is it comfortable? I've tried to wear socks with flips before, when I'm in a hurry to go outside and grab something and then come straight in. And it's not comfortable. Who wants sock bunched up between your toes? The point of flips is to let your feet be free! Why go and make them more confined by adding socks into the mix? Ah well, I'll just have to accept that I will never understand this.

My skills at Mindreading and the Amazing ability of Hot Chocolate to lift your Spirits
I'm not a good mindreader. It's unfortunate because I have a lot of other skills but mindreading is just not one of them. Honestly though I think it's a really rare skill. I'm almost completely positive that there are way more people who can't mind read, than those who can. That being said, I think it's a really safe to make the assumption that people you meet can't read your mind, and you should act accordingly. It saves everyone time and frustration. I promise. So unless you meet Cris Angel, go a head and just let me know what you want me to do and I'll be happy to do it. It will get done SOOO much faster than if you just wait for me to read your mind. K? Thanks.

As to hot chocolate, it really does make everything better. It's all warm and chocolatey and doesn't expect anything from you. It's fantastic.

That Time of Year

I love stuffing. I crave stuffing. I go to Boston Market all throughout the year just to get stuffing. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the best times ever because people make me stuffing. I love leftover stuffing cold or hot, doesn't even need gravy. I just want the stuffing. I can't wait for stuffing!

I recently traveled to the foreign place of Austin Texas to visit my best friend Lauren and while we were there we went to whole foods to eat. Apparently Whole Foods started in Austin so the one there is ridiculously large. But the point of this ramble is that they are advertising buying your thanksgiving dinner through them, so they were giving out samples.... of stuffing. Real home made stuffing with sourdough bread and it was the best stuff I have ever eaten. I can't wait for stuffing.