Oh, hey guys! Sorry for the delay in posting, the fam and I have been down and out with a cold bug since Saturday and things are finally starting to smooth out enough to be called normal. Here are the latest updates.
Daylight Savings Time happened, which anyone with children knows is just kind of a pain in the ass. Extra hour of sleep? Super! But then not because children do not understand that and will wake up whenever they damn well please. Which is exactly why we effed up giving Little Bear cold medicine early Sunday morning. Due to some daylight savings confusion (we thought it was still too early for him to wake up, it was... and wasn't), I groggily told the hubs to give Little Bear another dose of his PM meds instead of regular daytime goods. And then we realized what time it was and thought it would actually somehow be ok and we would get to sleep longer. How wrong we were. The hubs was nice enough to let me sleep in while he dealt with an abnormally amped up Little Bear. The kid literally walked around the house talking non stop for two hours. Lesson learned.
Halloween came and went. Little Bear had a wee kid Halloween party with his friends. It was adorable. He also went trick or treating. In the rain. And I am still answering questions each day regarding why we cannot put our costumes on and "go trick or treat more!
Cat#1 does Halloween quite well
Dog
Screw Papa Murphy's, my Jack O Lantern pizza is way cuter!
The Flash! (The hubs is a dedicated Daddy)
Also, in Halloween news, I figured out a way to combat the teenage bastards that don't dress up and beg for candy. (Effers.) Mini-Tootsie Pops. You're going to come to my house with a backpack FULL of candy that you have collected? Fine. But I'll only giving you one crappy sucker. Cute little kids in costumes, on the other hand, get gummies and stickers and smiles. (Sure, I could give those bastard teens nothing... but they scare me a little.)
I finally got out and planted my tulips, three days before the first snowfall hit. Most are planted over Izzy's grave which I feel is pretty fitting. Girl loved to garden with me. I've never done bulbs before but I'm pretty excited to have my fave flowers ready to pop up and greet us with pretty colors in the spring.
We've finally decided it's time to start trying for another tiny human (Oh lawd!) When we were trying to get PG with Little Bear I watched my cycle and became a pro at temping and charting. This time we're thinking we'll just roll with it. (I say that now, knowing full well that a few months in I'll probably crack and become a chart freak again.)
Monday came and I set myself to put SOMETHING together. It had been a while since we had cooked up some waffles so that seemed like a super choice. Buuuuuut, waffles have been done. How can I switch it up? The Joy of Cooking knows!
Yeast! In waffles!? Yikes! O...k....
I'm glad I gave Belgian Waffles a shot but I think they will be a one time thing. The main issue? Rise time. Cooking up a full batch of waffles takes long enough, let's not add 90 minutes for the batter to rise. Also, by the end I was really sick of that yeasty stank. They were good but not nearly as sweet and yummy as classic waffles.
I was left with a dozen or so to freeze so we will definitely be eating them in the future, just not fresh.
The plus side, since Belgian Waffles weren't as sweet as regular ones, they would make a rockin' egg sandwich. So basically, I know what next Meatless Monday will bring!
I'm sort of proud to say I have seen most of these!
The Shining - Yes. Watch this. If you haven't seen The Shining before, drop what you are doing a put it on now. Not only a great horror movie, also one of the most legendary movies. Of. All. Time.
The Exorcist - Ain't nothin' creepier than a demonoid board game. This movie prompted my Ma to buy me a Ouija board when I was about 14. It was made by Hasbro, purchased at Toys R Us and glowed in the dark. Creeepy!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Scarier than the recent remake but mostly because of the '70s filming techniques.
The Silence of the Lambs - "Hello Clarice"
Jaws - I don't feel like this fits the "horror" bill. I mean yes, it's scary. And sure, it has a lot of blood. And death. And the ever annoying Richard Dreyfuss. Never mind. It works.
The Ring - VHS Tape! Scary!
Halloween - Another film that is only made more creepy by the era that it was made. Plus, young Jamie Lee!
Psycho - WTF Norman Bates!? So many "mommy issues". Plus, young Janet Leigh!
Seven - Somehow I didn't see this film until recently. Just more proof that Kevin Spacey plays an amazing crazy person. Diabolical.
Rosemary's Baby - We are not allowed to watch this in our house. I made the hubs watch it years ago and he was scarred for life.
Poltergeist - This movie won't scare you, but it may cause you to laugh your ass off. At least it the filming was rumored to be cursed, so that helps.
28 Days Later - Oh lordy! This is the film that made me realize my issues with zombies. They hunt people! HUNT THEM! Not ok, ya'all!
A Nightmare On Elm Street - It has a young Johnny Depp. Apart from that, it's a classic '80s horror film.
The Thing - This one I have not seen. the fact that the director is quoted as saying, "When The Thing was released, it was one of the most hated movies of all time." Doesn't make me want to do a Netflix search for it.
The Evil Dead - I had to turn this movie off. Legit. Once the trees started raping a woman, I had to call it. That's enough evil for me. Not ok.
Carrie - Damn the opening scene of this flick. Really?! Really!? It was the '70s and awkward nudity seems to have been a must.
Night of the Living Dead - Daaamn. Original zombie creeping. A solid flick if you can handle the odd quality of it all.
The Omen - IMO, this movie ruined the name Damien. For reals.
An American Werewolf in London - I have not seen this and I don't know if I would be able to stop singing Werewolves of London long enough to watch it.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - Another movie I could not make it through. I'm not even sure what it was that made me turn this flick off but I do remember being upset by how OK it was that he was brutally murdering people.
Or just stick with some Ghostbusters action and keep things light but spooky! You can't go wrong with a movie that was mostly ad-libbed by Bill Murray.
For those who pay attention to such things, there was no Meatless Monday this week. Nor will there be a Totally Meatless Tuesday, Wacky Vegetarian Wednesday, Thrillingly Meatless Thursday or Fabulously Vegan Friday.
Both Monday and Tuesday require warm cozy comfort food so we had spaghetti. Same exact thing. Both nights.
Shut up, I needed to not worry about dinner for a couple of days.
Things are perking up a bit around here since Monday's sadness. Little Bear has asked about Izzy a few times but it's always been in passing so we haven't said much. The hubs and I both decided that if he straight up asks, "Where is Izzy?" we will tell him. Until then, we are being vague. Dog has been a little off but seems mostly unchanged by the loss of his tiny friend. Cat#1 has been a little more cuddly and a little less of a dick. He's also started opening the giant container I have always kept the cat food in and is now regularly trying to help himself. So apparently Izzy must have kept him from doing asshole things like that. He's lucky we love him.
Tonight will be spent putting the finishing touches on the hubs costume (Little Bear's and mine are ready to go), for tomorrow is Halloween!
Like most pet parents, our pets are part of our family. Which makes it even more difficult when one leaves to cross the Rainbow Bridge.
Isabel. Oh, little Izzy. In this house of boys, she was my girly little girl. A tiny cat with a huge heart and not a single mean bone on her body. Izzy loved everything and if she didn't love it, she simply hid from it. She was neurotic. And odd. And lovey. And cuddly. And had the sweetest little meow.
Izzy joined our family not long after the hubs and I moved in together. I had Cat#1 when we moved in together and he was my boy. The hubs, feeling left out of the pet love, convinced me we needed another cat.
We took a trip to the pound and were told, "Sorry, it isn't really kitten season but feel free to look at what we have." The hubs spotted a tiny cat hiding in a litter box and looking scared of the world. She had been abandoned with her brother and left with a note that simply said, "Please take care of these cats." We instantly fell in love.
The early days, hiding in a closet and covering our clothes in fur.
We brought our tiny kitty home and she became part of our family. Izzy brought many trials to our apartment. She hid in the walls and in the floor. She crawled inside the giant heater and almost became a fireball. She curled up under covers and mostly kept to herself but was always a furry ball of love.
Soon after bringing Izzy home, we realized she was "special". Special like, not so smart special. Cats can't really be trained to start with but Izzy took that to a new level. Basically, she had to be protected from herself and her own absentmindedness. The up side of that was that she was a little too dopey to be mean. She just didn't know how. Izzy never really figured out that she had claws so there was no need to declaw her. She never really whined for food like Cat#1 because she trusted that her loving pet parents would feed her when she needed to eat. Even though she was spade, Izzy made nests like a girl cat about to give birth (again, not so smart). She built homes inside couches and box springs, under dressers and in the crawl space. Girl could always find a good place to hide.
Unlike Cat#1 who rolls with things, Izzy was a prissy girl about her litter box. She peed on more piles of clothes and blankets than I even know. But damn that cute little face, we could never get mad.
When we moved 600 miles away, the pets came along for the ride. Izzy arrived at our new home with a new social personality. She became friendly and hid less but was always a little skiddish. We moved back home a year later and again Izzy switched to being an even more amazing cat. With every new adventure (moving to a house, getting Dog, bringing Little Bear home), Izzy brought out a bit more of her lovely personality.
The change of me becoming a SAHM suited the little kitty wonderfully. Izzy no longer needed to spend her days hiding, Mom was home! She would chirp while I was busy in the kitchen and roam the garden or chase Dog in the grass while I did yard work. She was my baby girl. Always ready with a cuddle. Instead of scurrying away from Little Bear when he wanted to snuggle, like Cat#1, Izzy would go limp and let him curl up on her. When Little Bear was a baby I spent many night nursings with a fluffy cat curled up on my lap along side him.
The house is not the same today. It's a little quieter. A little less fuzzy. There is only one food dish to be filled. There's nobody at the patio door chirping at birds. Nobody to bring Cat#1 out of his bad ass shell and give him a cute little bath. No little bell jingling into the kitchen for a cuddle or running after Dog for a game of chase.
I miss my kitty.
Izzy had a wonderful life. She was part of our brood. When Cat#1 was being a crab ass and Dog was being a beast, there was always Izzy around to keep things lovey.
She helped to make our family whole and we will always miss her love.
In the past, I have been lead astray by many "healthy" fried chicken recipes. Most use bread crumbs and egg to try and duplicate the most delicious and unhealthy of chicken coatings. Most end up with a dry and crumbly outside that is not anywhere near true finger-lickin' fried chicken.
This one was different. And delicious! They key? Butter, of course!
Oven Fried Chicken
3lbs chicken pieces, rinsed and patted dry*
½ cup melted butter (I only use about half this amount and can’t tell a difference)
½ cup flour, heaping
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ teaspoons paprika
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together flour, salt, pepper and paprika (I do this in a Ziploc bag). Dip chicken pieces in melted butter and then coat evenly with flour mixture.
Place in a single layer on a greased shallow baking pan (skin side down – if you’ve left the skin on).
Bake 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn chicken pieces over and continue baking an additional 30 minutes.
Serves 4
*The original recipe calls for the skin to be left on, but I usually remove the skin. It’s good either way!
I followed the tips in the posted recipe (1/4 cup butter and no skin) and was pleasantly surprised by how close to real fried chicken this was. I also added a bit more pepper and some garlic powder.
The skin was moist and not weirdly crumbly like most oven fried chicken recipes and overall it was pretty damn good! Next time I think I will add some herbs to the flour mixture as well.
Yes, the butter sort of takes away from the "healthy" aspect but in comparison to true fried-in-a-pan-of-oil chicken, I'd say this is a healthy step up. Plus, WAY less mess.
Nearly 600 pets have died and more than 3,600 have been sickened in an ongoing, mysterious outbreak of illnesses tied to jerky treats made in China, federal animal health officials said Tuesday.
Most of the cases have been in dogs of all breeds, ages and sizes — although 10 cats have been sickened, too — after eating chicken, duck and sweet potato jerky treats. The pace of the reported illnesses appears to have slowed, but federal Food and Drug Administration officials are now seeking extra help from veterinarians and pet owners in solving the ongoing puzzle.
“To date, testing for contaminants in jerky treats has not revealed a cause for the illnesses,” Martine Hartogensis, a deputy director for the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in the new report. “Despite these warnings, we have continued to receive reports of illnesses in both cats and dogs.”
The new numbers are up from some 500 deaths and 3,200 illnesses tallied in January, but the rate of reports has fallen sharply since then, mostly because two of the largest sellers of pet jerky treats announced recalls tied to the presence of unapproved antibiotic residue detected in the products.
FDA officials don’t think that antibiotic residue is the big problem that has stumped the agency since 2007, when pet owners started reporting their animals were suffering gastrointestinal and kidney problems after eating the popular jerky treats.
Instead, it’s likely that the recall of Nestle Purina PetCare Co.’s Waggin Train and Canyon Creek Ranch treats, plus Del Monte Corp.’s Milo’s Kitchen Chicken Jerky and Chicken Grillers home-style dog treats simply resulted in fewer treats being available. Three other smaller retailers also recalled the treats because of the problem.
In fact, FDA officials remain as uncertain as ever about the source of the problem that has led to reports of illnesses and warnings about the possibility of Fanconi syndrome and other kidney problems in animals that ate jerky treats.
“We still are extensively testing treats for a number of things,” Hartogensis told NBC News. “We do seem to be getting some leads, but we still have a little bit of a ways to go.”
Kendal Harr, a veterinary clinical pathologist who has been tracking the problem, says that the specific compound responsible for the illnesses continues to elude experts.
"I think that what it tells us is that the intoxicant is something that we're not used to dealing with as a toxin in North America," she said.
Now, in an open letter to US veterinarians, FDA officials are asking the vets to track and send detailed information about any animals sickened by jerky treats, including results of blood and urine tests. In addition, the agency is asking vets to send urine samples from suspect pets for analysis.
“This testing will allow FDA to get a better idea of how many of the suspected cases involve Fanconi syndrome, whether or not the pets display symptoms of kidney or urinary disease,” the report said.
About 60 percent of reports cite gastrointestinal illness in the animals, and about 30 percent flag kidney or urinary troubles, the report said. About 135 cases of Fanconi syndrome, a specific kind of kidney disease, have been reported.
At the same time that they’re seeking help from vets, FDA officials are putting out a fact sheet for owners that can be posted at veterinary hospitals, pet supply stores and other sites.
The agency has repeatedly cautioned that the treats are not necessary for a balanced diet, but the warnings stop short of a recall, Hartogensis said. The agency is still validating tests to detect the same kind of antibiotic residue that New York officials found earlier this year.
“If we do find an adulterated product, we will recall them,” Hartogensis said. “In terms of doing a blanket recall, at this point we don’t have enough evidence to do a blanket recall within the authority that we have.”
Because there's no formal recall, it's not possible to list affected brands, although a previous FDA analysis indicated that three of the top-selling brands of jerky treats sold in the U.S. were mentioned in connection with pet illnesses.
That doesn't sit well with pet owners like Robin Pierre of Pine Bush, N.Y., who contends that Waggin' Train chicken jerky treats were responsible for the sudden death in 2011 of her previously healthy 2-year-old pug, Bella, who developed kidney failure. She has long called for FDA to crack down on treat makers — and manufacturers.
"I am disgusted that our government continues to protect corporate American and China," she told NBC News. "They need to start protecting the American consumer so that this does not happen again. As soon as a product is in doubt, a warning label should be placed at the point of sale so that consumers can make an educated choice."
If a pet does become ill after eating the treats, FDA is asking owners to provide detailed information — up to and including results of a necropsy to test an animal’s tissues after death.
In the meantime, officials are trying to reach pet owners who might still have treats on hand to make sure they know about the potential problems.
“Right now, the focus for us is to make the public aware that these cases are still coming in,” she said.
To me, Brinner pretty much always involves eggs. Sometimes they are in french toast form, sometimes an egg bake or omelet, sometimes just straight up classic-grandma's-cheesy-eggs. Tonight we did Brinner, sans the eggs.
Due to an extended "You have to go potty!" battle with Little Bear, I was running a little behind on dinner prep for the night. Actually, come 5 o'clock, I hadn't even decided what we would have apart from the fact that I was determined to stick to the Meatless Monday deal. Brinner is easy but we had all had eggs for breakfast and there is a limit to how many eggs one family should consume in a day. So what to do? Zero time, limited creativity flowing and must be meatless.
Man, I love me some delicious oatmeal. Not the instant from a packet stuff (I'd demolish that too though), but from the stove oatmeal with delicious mix-ins.
Oatmeal usually falls into the cereal category and as a cereal is always ruled out as a dinner food because, well, now we have a child. Our days of eating cereal for dinner went out the window when Little Bear started eating solids. Tonight, I reconsidered.
When we have oatmeal for breakfast, we usually have a variety of mix-ins to choose from. Milk, fruit, raisins, etc. So when I got to thinking about it, I realized it's a damn balanced meal. Cook it up!
10 minutes later, bam! Meatless Monday done and Brinner revamp!
AND since I wrote this up, it's no longer a great example of me being lazy, just good blog fodder. Happy Monday, all!
