Boo

Shingles.

Really is there anything else I can say other than that? Oh yeah, one other word comes to mind.

OW!!

Holy-mother! Yowza! and  Aiyiyi! come to mind as well.

Needless to say, I may have even less posts than previously stated. Boo on that. I will be missing my little internet family. But, to tide y’all over, I thought I would show Heather Armstrong (aka: Dooce)  doing her shingles dance. It’s the most terrifyingly frightening thing you may ever witness.

SHINGLES! from dooce on Vimeo.

Til next time, much love to you all!

It’s The Most Wonderful Time!

Sorry it’s so quiet around these parts. As I am sure it’s true with most of you, last week was crazy hectic, and this week isn’t much different. That’s why I love the holidays! People like me, who are neurotic and can’t ever seem to sit still,  just sorta blend in with all the other harried people. It’s nice to wallpaper every once in a while. =)

Christmas was wonderful here. I hope it was for all of you. I will try to pop in before 20-10, but in case I don’t- Please have a safe and fun night!! I want all of my precious readers to make in into the new year with me!

I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled rambling soon. {I say that, but next week I am going out of town for a few days. D’oh!}

Til next time, much love from my family to you all!

Woah, Black Butte!

So… you’re sitting around. It’s Monday night, getting close to dinner time, and you realize that you managed to slack off enough all weekend that you never got to the grocery store. Your family’s stomachs are growling, tempers are getting short, and all you have is a Portabella mushroom and a jar of artichokes.  What do you do?

Duh, red truck. Make lasagna.

It is SO super yummy, and only took me about 45 minutes total to make (that includes 20 minutes of baking time.) I got this recipe from Cooks.com . The original had sausage and browned ground beef. If I had any on hand, I could have subbed either Veggie Italian sausage, Veggie ground sausage, or even Veggie Crumbles (ground beef). I’m sure that would have been just as yummy. However, I didn’t, and I have to say, I didn’t miss it one bit.

BLACK BUTTE LASAGNA

1 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms (Or one Portabella cap)
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 (15 oz.) carton ricotta cheese
1 lb. grated Mozzarella cheese
1 pkg. spinach salad
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lg. can/jar spaghetti sauce
12 oz. lasagna noodles, cooked
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
1/2 lb. shredded Parmesan cheese (not grated)

Sauté mushrooms, onion, and garlic in olive oil until limp and golden. Starting with sauce, layer into baking pan as you wish, using 2 layers of noodles and ending with about 1/2 inch Mozzarella topped with Parmesan. I actually layered mine like this: sauce, noodles, mushroom mixture, ricotta, Mozzarella, sauce, noodles, spinach, ricotta, Mozzarella, sauce, noodles, artichokes, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan. Bake at 425 degrees for at least 15 minutes (longer if not using foil pan).

Hands down, this is one of my absolute favorite lasagnas I have ever had. You will love it- with or without meat. It is super fast to make, very easy, and is an easy recipe for kids to help out with. Let me know if you try it out!

Til next time, much love to you all!

Hello Gorgeous!

(Welcome to the weekend, everybody! It is time for Mama M’s Five Question Friday (or 5QF for those of you who have been subjected to military acronym speak for so many years that you can’t actually hold a full sentence without abbreviating at least half of it.)

For anyone who wants to play along at home (You really should. It’s popular in the hipster crowd- and as we all know the hipsters are the cutting edge of all things cool right now.), just copy and paste the questions to your blog, answer them, and grab the McLinky code, as well. That’s it! Easy peasy.

Or, if you don’t have your own blog (Gasp! That is so 2007 to not have a blog!), but would still like to play along, you can always answer the questions in my comments section. Whatever floats your little boat.

Here we go!

1. Which boygroup did you like most in your teens?

Let me show my age now. New Kids on the Block had pretty much sizzled out by my 13th birthday, and I am pretty sure Nirvana doesn’t count as a boy band. I was a country red-neck, and we don’t do boy-bands in country music. They are called “groups” in Nashville. Although, as a young twenty-something I loved N*Sync. J.C. Chasez was soooo hot. Does that count?

2. Do you do Christmas cards, letters, photos, nuthin’, all of the above?

Technically, I don’t celebrate Christmas. We aren’t Christian. But- all of our family is. So we put up a tree, and exchange presents. Typical Christmas stuff, but it’s more for our kids than us. Once we have an empty nest, I doubt we’ll even do this much (which isn’t much at all). So, in that vein, no there are no cards, letters, photos, nuthin’. Just a tree, a wreath on the front door, James has a Santa Yoda bobble head in his room, and that’s it for us.

(On a sidenote- James is lobbying for us to become Jewish so we can have Hanukkah. He figured that one out early! LOL!)

3. If you could meet one celebrity who would it be and why?

Ummm…. I don’t really know. Maybe Britney because I {heart} her. But, that’s probably it. I worked at a radio station and met a lot of celebrities back in the day, so I kinda got over my star-struckedness. They’re just people like you and me.

4. Favorite thing to cook with (i.e. stainless, non-stick, Dutch oven, microwave, debit card…or, perhaps, a cauldron, etc.)?

At the moment it’s my bread machine. I made a whole loaf of bread for 23 cents! Woot! But, I also love my stainless steel pots that I paid a king’s ransom for. They cook so nice and evenly, and FAST!

5. What is the one thing you wear the most, besides your unmentionables?

My earrings, wedding ring, and house shoes. They are actually those “toning tennis shoes”. I got them from Avon a few months ago, and absolutely adore them. My gams are looking HOT!

And that concludes this week’s episode! I hope you will all play along with us. The more the merrier!

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Til next time, much love!

Desicions, Desicions

I am a perpetual planner. I cannot handle being unprepared for whatever life might throw at me. I have a contingency plan for pretty much everything from forgetting a phone number when I am in the middle of nowhere to a comet striking New Jersey. I got this covered…

So… with that in mind, I shall segue into next year.

2010. Is that “twenty-ten” or “two thousand and ten”? How do you say it? I say 20-10 usually, but I don’t think it’s probably correct. Ehhh… I digress.

Next year is going to be a big year for us. There are a lot of happenings planned, and several big events that I would like  to commemorate. Here’s the sitch: We live two hours from the majority of our family and friends.  (The rest of my family is only three hours southwest in Cajun Country. I am very lucky to be so close to everyone. Especially, since I’ve lived most of the past decade 500 miles or more away from them all.) I would like to have several parties next year at our place. The problem is deciding which ones should be here and which we should just take to Memphis.

First up, Tommy is finally going to be getting his Bachelor’s in May. {Technically, as of TONIGHT he will be a college graduate!! However, the commencement ceremony isn’t until May.} Next, in October, Tommy & I will be celebrating a decade of being married. Woot!! Go us! And lastly, I want to start celebrating New Year’s Eve at our crib. How do I choose? I need to start planning soon, so I need to make the choice now.

I think I’m leaning to a graduation party (14 years and two Associates in the making!), and our anny party. I’m thinking NYE comes along every year, but these are only once, right? Opinions?

I’ll be including everyone in the planning process for these parties and taking suggestions along the way. I have some fantastic ideas for whichever parties we decide on.

I’ll leave with you with the holiday decor that is hanging in James’ room.

Til next time, much love!

Tangy!

Last night for dinner, I asked Tommy what he wanted. He told me he wanted something tangy and with pasta. I let my little brain get to whirling, and finally settled upon a lemon/artichoke pasta something-or-another. What I came up with is absolutely delish! For all you carnivores out there this would be yummy with some grilled chicken tossed in.  Bon appetit!

Artichoke-lemon pasta

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

1/4 c. chicken broth

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp. parsley (fresh or 1 tsp. dried)

1 or 2 tsp. lemon juice

14 oz. marinated artichokes, drained

2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp. lemon zest

Linguine or Spaghetti pasta

Melt butter in a small pan. Add flour and stir until thickened, about 1 minute. Add broth and cook until bubbly. Reduce heat to low, add chopped garlic, parsley and lemon juice. Simmer about 5 minutes. Add in artichokes, simmer 8 minutes. Pour over al dente linguine. Top with cheese and lemon zest.

Wordless Wednesday

I absolutely adore Polaroid photo collages. I have a special project that involves them for next year. Be on the lookout for the details soon!