RIP Melvin Joyce…

6/1/39 – 5/25/16

We love and miss you dearly…

Holy Carp…

A year? I’m not even going to begin writing what’s ‘new’… Just Fuck. Fuck and sweet dreams…

Greek Yogurt Pizza…

For the past several months, Mr. BFF and I have both been trying to be more aware of what we are eating. Along with portion size and knowing exactly what we eat during the day, that also means knowing what is in what we eat. I’ve always had to be more aware of my food choices, because I have some food sensitivities, plus I hate eating things I can’t even pronounce. We’ve been going to the gym and working out regularly every week, even if it’s the treadmill at home. So, Mr. BFF has also been more aware of what he is eating, along with his protein intake as well.

I came across a 2-ingredient pizza dough recipe, so we tried it for the second time this evening. This time, I opted to use the Kitchen Aid instead of kneading the dough by hand. Wise choice for tonight and for the future…

• 1 cup of plain Greek Yogurt (We used Greek Goddess yogurt – it’s not organic but it has 3 ingredients that I can pronounce!)
• 2-1/4 cups total Self-Rising Flour

That’s it! Put the yogurt in the Kitchen Aid, start with about 1-1/2 cups of flour and let it go. The dough should be sticky and tacky, but not leave anything on your hands. I guess it can depend on the type of Greek yogurt that you use, but we ended up with 2-1/4 cups flour in total. Use a bit more flour to roll it out and put in on your pizza pan. Top as desired and cook at 450 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes, plus or minus. Voila!

Tonight’s pizza featured a light layer of homemade tomato sauce, followed with sauteed mushrooms, onions, garlic and spinach. Goat cheese and mozzarella were next. We topped it all off with some Roma tomato slices and Italian seasonings. Yum!

Snow Day…

Weekend Cooking…

Particularly since winter is upon us (my, how the weather has changed since my last post), we’ve been spending our weekends cooking. It is definitely the way to go for us, as everything is made for the upcoming work week. And since it’s wintertime, we’re inside anyways. So, we’ll hit the grocery store tomorrow after work. There’s less people then and it’s easier to zip around. Plus, it saves us time on Saturday because all our ingredients are already in the house.

We’ve also been making ‘extra’ meals for Mr. BFF’s family. His Granny had a fall and subsequent surgery last month. She is recuperating very well, but since the food there is “not so good”, we bring her nibbles now and then. Mr. BFF’s parents are visiting her every day, along with other things, so they appreciate the extra meals also. We’ll have them over for a sit-down dinner on Saturday, so they can actually sit-down for a bit. And we’ll bring some Chicken Enchiladas to Granny on Sunday, as she requested them. 🙂 Yes, they are cheesy…

Weekend Cooking:

• Chicken Enchiladas (to eat and distribute among family members)
• Tomato Basil Soup with Cheese Toasts (for dinner with the in-laws)
• Salad for Week – Romaine, Roma Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Artichoke Hearts, Green Onion, Red Onion, Cheddar Cubes
• Croutons – I probably need to make some more croutons for our salads
• Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower
• Pudding – Flavor to be determined
• Tropical Bread – Mr. BFF is going to try this with our ‘new’ basic loaf recipe, by adding Pineapple, Coconut and Macadamia Nuts. On my birthday weekend, he made Blueberry Lemon Bread with this recipe, on my request. Last weekend, he made it as an Orange Cherry Bread. Surprisingly, at least to me, the Orange Cherry Bread was my favorite. Never would have guessed that one…
• Then, there’s always sandwiches and/or eggs/breakfast for dinner too if we get bored with the above 🙂

Time to go put our list for tomorrow together!

Ahh… Cancun

The required toes shot… We had a fantastic time! We were in Cancun about two months ago, just after waking to an overnight snow flurry the Wednesday morning before we left. It was beautiful… Perfect weather with 80 degree temps, sun and more sunshine, ocean breezes, warm sand, warm ocean water where I could see my toes below, waves and surf. Ah!We had been wanting to go on an all-inclusive tropical vacation somewhere for a few years now. A year and a half ago we finally got our passports – me my first one ever and Mr. BFF his renewed. That way we’d be ready when the time came. Mr. BFF’s work could be hard to gauge, so it was somewhat tricky to plan something for too far out. We found a good time had arrived however, about 5-6 weeks beforehand. After a long, cold and record-snowy winter, it was time. And it was fabulous.

Mr. BFF sitting on our patio

Me swimming in the ocean

We had a great room with a patio right on the ocean. We spent our nights sitting out there listening to the waves and enjoying the warmth. We basically went to the beach each day, , stopped by the jacuzzi before getting ready for dinners, ate our fill of food – some hits, some misses and the Mexican restaurant was outstanding (as it should be!), drank our share of beverages and simply hung out on the property. A time for relaxation and ‘nothing-to-do-ness’ indeed… We can’t wait to go back!

*Funny story… The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders showed up there a few days in. We saw them at dinners, breakfasts, on the beach and working out. They were there doing a photo shoot for their upcoming calendar, I do believe. Here’s a pic from their shoot (tee-hee):

Peek-a-Boo…

Yes, it’s been a bit of some time since I’ve been here. I think Winter tends to do that. And oh what a Winter we’ve had. Chiberia, I’ve heard it called. We’ve had over 80 inches of snow this year, pretty close to the record. Now, however, the daffodils are out, along with some tulips too. It’s still unseasonably cool… Just 53 degrees today. Quite a bit of rain recently too.

I do have an adventure to share, but that will be for my next post. 🙂

Catching up, for now, I’ve just been doing my yoga classes weekly, which I do so enjoy. Been going to the chiropractor every other week. That has mucho helped my tight, sore and dysfunctional left neck and shoulder area. Helped quite remarkably, I’d say. It’s been 6+ months now, but the pain and the tingling and the tightness have gone down dramatically. Enough so that I could say I feel closer to “normal” (whatever that may be).
Work is work. Winter is winter. I finished all 5 books of George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series. I am now anxiously awaiting for the next novel. 🙂

Here is a pic of early Winter this year… probably November or December 2013. Puggles had her labyrinth going in the backyard, as happens when the snow accumulates.

Now, and perhaps this weekend, we should put the snowblower back in the shed and pull out the lawnmower. The grass is up to Puggles’ shoulders in areas, though it doesn’t feel, temperature-wise, that it should be lawn mowing season yet. C’est la vie. We tend to procrastinate on such things at times.

Oh, and we still have our Christmas tree up. We usually leave it up until the time changes, as we like the lights in the dark evenings. However, this year, my parents have still not yet been out for “Christmas”, so there are still presents under the tree. With them helping out my sister and my brother-in-law, and all the unknowns around the holidays, they didn’t make it out here then. They are still helping out getting Big J to his doctors’ and therapy appointments during the week, while my sister is working, so we’re not quite sure when we’ll see them next. They are all planning to come out this summer, as they usually do, with my sister and nephew, but Big J. will be along this time as well, seeing as it’s the first summer he won’t be working. Believe you me, it will be quite good to see him.

OK, I think that’s most of the catch-up stuff for now. Nothing else major that I can think of… Though there probably was. 😉 Next post, our latest adventure… 🙂

Home…

Well, my brother-in-law is home. He came home last Saturday, after a combined total of 3 months being in ICU and then a rehab facility. This all stemming from a ~20′ fall at work in early December. This is quite extraordinary news now, as they were at one point saying it might be 6 months to a year until he was able to go home.

We spoke with him last night, and he sounds fantastic, for what he’s been through. He sounds just like himself, with some extra gratitude and thankfulness thrown in. He is lucky. He said it. We all know it is true…

My sister, of course, is thrilled. What a year for her. First, her son was run over by a utility truck in July. He was in the ICU for awhile and came home after about a week. Then, early December, her husband suffers a fall and goes to the ICU. He was there for more like 3 weeks, followed by the rehab facility. He had a traumatic brain injury and suffers from some traumatic amnesia, along with the loss of vision in his right eye. Both he and his son had punctured lungs, broken ribs, etc… Both are home now… Little J. has fully recovered, and Big J. will continue with outpatient therapy.

My BIL still must have 24/7 supervision, though he’s not really restricted to what he can do (other than the 3-D’s – driving, drinking and drugs!)… He still must not be by himself at any time. But gosh, how good it was to talk with him last night. He will probably join my sister and Little J. when they come out here with my parents for their annual summer visit. He would normally be working, so he’s not been out here yet. But this year, he will be able to come out and visit our slice of Indiana heaven. And, it will be very good to see him. Yes, indeed…

Flat Tire…

The weather this winter has been insane… Lots of snow, ice, freezing temperatures past 20 below and more recently, thundersnow and rains. Which makes for terrible road conditions due to all the frost heaves and potholes. Oh, and fog. Thursday night on my way home, it was incredibly foggy… I could see the fog rolling across the road. However, the fog and the melting snows and huge puddles made the road quite difficult to actually see. Thump… right through a big pothole. A short while later, my tire pressure light came on. Shit. On a two-lane back road with ditches on both sides. But, I was able to make it to a parking lot. I called Mr. BFF, who came to my rescue.

My car apparently doesn’t have a spare tire. It has some sort of air compressor and a canister of sealant. The idea being fill the tire with sealant, let it set and then fill the tire with air to get the car to a tire shop. Though we didn’t follow the instructions precisely, through the rain and fog, we were able to get it to the tire shop about 2 miles down the road. I wouldn’t have driven on it any further than that, though. The instructions said it would be good for 100+ miles… Not even remotely close. So, tire has been replaced, and I need to look into getting an actual spare for the trunk.

I did get a good chuckle that night though, after I tweeted that I had a flat tire…
Here was a reply:

LOL!

Food…

For Now, Food…

Tonight, we made baked chicken breasts, roasted broccoli and cauliflower with leftover cheesy mashed potatoes. I had forgotten how moist baked chicken can be… Very yummy.

Tomorrow, we are doing a bit of experimenting. We’ll be doing a test run of Buffalo Meatballs, and if successful, they will be featured on Super Bowl Sunday. Tomorrow I’ll also be making my Macaroni and Cheese… albeit with havarti and cheddar, a different mix of cheeses, so experimenting there as well. That should go well with the Buffalo Meatballs, we are thinking. For breakfast, there will be French Toast, which will also turn into a “leftovers” dinner one night this week. Top top it off, there will be Goat Cheese Dip and cooking some Bacon… Sundays are good cooking days.

Bacon will come into play for BLTC’s during the week… Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Cheese.

I also have a new recipe to try for falaffel. I’ll try that later this week, to go into pitas with some hummus and lettuce and tomato.

Fried Egg Sandwiches are also on the list for the week. I’ve got my usual cherry tomato, pepper and cucumber mix for work snacks. This week too, I’ve opted for orange slices as an additional snack. I won’t mention the snickerdoodle cookies that I also have for snacks… 😉