Cooking Healthy for Two....

It's a daunting task when you take on a new eating plan with the goal of eating healthier and changing your lifestyle. What makes it even more daunting is the other people in the house you have to cook for.... your spouse. He or she may not be seeking the same goals, and that can be particularly problematic. The evening meal I believe should be a melding of the partnership in the home. Just because David works outside the home does not excuse him from not being an active participant in meal planning and or cooking dinner. Yes, my  'job' may be household manager aka home maker, but I do more than just that. Being the home maker I research and plan the meals, then David and I shop together for our weekly groceries. That's what we hope to happen, in reality meetings happen, we go out to eat, I get stressed and order pizza.... then the whole thing just goes to Hell in a hen basket. David usually cooks on the weekends when his work and activity schedule is less chaotic. We both belong to community service organizations that has week night meetings, and are both active in our church, and I have my weekly women's group that I go to. Yet I always strive to have a consistent meal time, and it usually happens. Being 'just us' has it's advantages, we don't have to deal with the chaos of a child's activity schedule of sports and other 'lessons'.

One of the ways we are eating healthy is cutting out the 'box meals'... the prepackaged bombs of sodium and Monsanto chemicals. Yeah they taste good, but the end result for me is pain from aspartame and sucralose, and elevated blood pressure from all the salt. The average amount of sodium per serving of a box meal is about 750-800 mg. Mmmmm salt lick. I'm a human being, not a deer out in the woods. The frozen convenience meals are no better, healthy food 'glazed' with preservatives to keep them fresh... most of them sodium based and very bad for your cardiovascular system. So David and I are eating fresh, fresh from the butcher for our meats and seafood, and fresh from the local farms for our vegetables. This way we keep our local farmer's economy going, which is currently suffering due the drought, and we feel safe in knowing that there are no nasty pesticides and hormones in our food.

I have found Pinterest to be a valuable source for planning meals, and finding healthy recipes. I've even got David on Pinterest and as I find meals to my liking I 'share' them with him by sending a pin.... well, you know how that works. We also have a great program on our iPhone that allows us to share a grocery list called Any List... I have mentioned this one before. The new updates with the iPhone 6 and IOS 8 now have meal planning and nutritional information, and as you meal plan, the ingredients go straight to your grocery list. I haven't done the upgrade yet.... I'm still a penny pincher when it comes to that.

Well, it's almost midnight and I've got a weeks worth of meals to plan. Nighty night....

My Chicken Tortilla Soup...

Chicken Tortilla soup....

1 can of Rotel (diced tomatoes with chilis)
1 can of corn
3 medium chicken breasts
4 cups of chicken broth
1 can of black beans (drained)

2 tbsp of cumin
1 tsp of chipotle powder
1 tbsp of garlic powder or granules
1 tbsp of onion powder

The night before....
add chicken breasts to slow cooker with water and cook on low until morning.

Morning:
Drain and shred chicken then put shredded chicken in crock.
Add beans, Rotel, and corn and spices to taste (I used the measurements based on my taste)
Add chicken broth.
Stir
Set crock on low and cook for 8 hours or more...

When finished add crumbled tortilla chips.

Great Brunch....

One of the finer things in life, Sunday Brunch with friends. This week brought David and I and our friends Tammy and Richard to one of our favorite spots up the hill at Selland's Cafe in El Dorado Hills. You order cafeteria style and pay for it in line, but they bring it to you... the hitch, you have to pass by all of their baked goods....the fresh baked snickerdoodles, red velvet cupcakes...just to name a few. It is very busy on Sundays, but the line is quick and the service is always top notch, I don't think I've ever had to wait long at all. They feature both indoor and outdoor seating. 

Pictured above is one of my favorite dishes, the French Toast Casserole with bacon. The French Toast is a work of art, a melee of cinnamon, sugar, and an added treat of candied pecans. To balance the sweet they have four pieces of perfectly cooked and peppered bacon. Not burnt to a crisp, and not an underdone stretchy mess... perfection. I tried something new today, Vanilla Lemonade. Yum! So my Sacramento Valley friends, this is well worth a ride up the hill.... 

DINK and other ramblings...

DINK, it's been a while since you've heard that acronym. This refers to those of us who are married with no kids. When you say the acronym out loud, as in 'Dink', to me it sounds rather demeaning and derogatory. In the Navy this term means to be behind in work and qualifications. My husband and I do not have any children, we tried, I had faulty plumbing thus no children. It is my observation that society expects married couples to have children...why else would you get married? Um, love, companionship, commitment... What happens when you aren't able to have children? For my husband and I it was a period of pain and disappointment, we wanted a family. Lately it seems in society's definition that we're 'dink'... behind because we don't have any children. Seriously, who determines this definition of what a modern family should be like. We've come a long way in the definition of marriage and family.... mixed families, blended families, same sex families, yet they all seem to have the addition of children when represented in mainstream media. But what if you can't? What if you don't want to have children?

Mother's Day has come and gone. It's a double edged sword that day is. We want to honor our own mothers, and we also feel the pang of loss of not being able to be mother's ourselves. I was blessed to have lots of 'Mom's' in my life,  and for the longest time I yearned to be a mother. Yet my body had other ideas and it just wasn't going to happen. For those of us, for whatever reason, who cannot be mothers this is a rough day for us. I used to feel inferior, less of a woman because I couldn't be a mother. I was blessed to not have one of those mothers who was constantly asking me when I was going to produce a grandchild. Thank GOD for feminist mothers. Yet inside I carried the pain of infertility and the empty womb deep inside of me for a long time. I felt like I had let my husband down as well. Sounds a little old fashioned, a little 1950's, but that's what I felt. I also felt like a square peg in a round hole when it came to what group I fit into... I was no longer a single, I was married, but I didn't fit in with the majority of married women because they all had children and I just couldn't 'relate' to them. Along with the pain of infertility I was having an identity crisis. I was very fortunate to have a wonderful family who supported me emotionally, and a mother who didn't lay a load of guilt on me for not giving her grandchildren.

Yet I do have a child... he's about 14 lbs, orange fur, four legs and lots of 'catitude'... my boy Tybalt. Even though we didn't spend hours pushing a child out of our hoo-ha physically, we can be 'mothers' in many other ways, so don't despair. And not being a mother physically does NOT make you any less of a woman.

Late night ramblings...

Once again asthma is kicking my butt. No fun.

Camping and other things...

Yes, I have been seriously dink in posting here. Something I intend on remedying in the weeks to come. This past week David and I went camping out at Pfieffer Big Sur park to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our first date. We had been here before almost 18 years ago on our honeymoon. That trip we spent less time in camp and out in Monterey and Carmel doing the touristy things. This trip was a nice peaceful retreat for us both. David has been swamped at work and I have been stressed, depressed and pretty much a mess since the beginning of the year. I'll spare you the dramatic details, but I had enough and needed to get away.

It's amazing how clear your head is without the interference of everyday life (phones, texting, Facebook, TV, the Xbox, committee meetings, and the schedule of chores...).... Out at our campsite we had NO internet or data on our phones, hardly any cell phone service for that matter, so for the few texts that got to me, it was a pretty quiet week. This trip allowed me to think about a lot of things, and one of them was the idea for starting an informational camping blog. On that note, Camping the Cole Way was born....I'm pretty excited about this. We spent a couple of days driving up and down the Big Sur Coast. Big Sur isn't just one place, it's a 90 mile stretch on the CA coast from the Monterey peninsula all the way down to where Hearst Castle is. Our first day out we went north and found a small artist's colony of shops and a great pub called the Maiden Publick House. All I can say is great food and great hospitality! We went back twice! I highly recommend the roast beef and brie sandwich and the macaroni and cheese poppers. On the down side the night David and I etched out to have our anniversary dinner well, I think this says it all.

On April 21st around 7PM  my husband and I stopped in to have dinner to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We didn't get through the door, evidently the waiter who spoke in a very Monty Python French (we apparently were those dirty English k-niggits) accent said we needed a reservation, and was rude beyond belief. Wish I had taken his picture because his expression said it all. Nowhere on your sign outside on HWY 1 does it say needing a reservation. As a restaurant on a prominent coastal highway the thought did not even enter our mind that we would need one. With a name like Roadhouse and the vintage truck on display out front we were expecting BBQ/Bar fare, peanut shells on the floor and a very laid back atmosphere. NOT this place. To the road worn and hungry traveler this restaurant is very deceiving in name and appearance. We will not return. EVER. I have no tolerance for rudeness or snobbery. You might want to change who you have welcoming people at the front, as well as your reservations policy. 

This was an e-mail I sent to the owners of the Roadhouse on HWY 1 in Big Sur. We ended up back at the Big Sur Lodge in the park we were camping at and had a great dinner with friendly service. As a Southern gal I know the value of hospitality and as a formal retail associate I know the value of customer service, it can make or break you. As a lifestyle blogger and writer I acknowledge the greats (Maiden Public House) and not so greats (The Roadhouse). As a reader, you let the chips fall where they may. I'm not one to complain, but I will correct you for your own good.

When people ask me what we did on this trip, I will answer, nothing. That's exactly what we wanted to do. Rest. David, being the fabulous cook that he is, made two loaves of quick bread and pull apart (Monkey Bread) bread in the Dutch oven using coals. Turned out fabulous. We mainly read, napped, took a few trips up and down the coast visiting the Hermitage Chapel, the Henry Miller Library, and a few vista points along with way to take pictures. 

Pardon me... but it's none of your business you pretentious twit....

That's really what's on the tip of my tongue lately when upon meeting a new female and their first question is 'How old are your children ?'...Why do other women assume that if you're married and stay at home that you have children? Then you get the 'pity' look when you say no. Since when did my ability to procreate be the basis of friendship? It's a lonely world out there for us married with no kids.

What the heck happened to Halloween?

I know there are those out there with genuine food allergies this Halloween season, so please take this as being a very tongue in cheek reflection as to what Halloween has morphed into... an overly PC fearful, nut fearing, Elsa ridden (I love Frozen, don't get me wrong) over-thunk Holiday that has just become sucked free of the joy from my childhood.

I just want to be 8 again, dressed as Wonder Woman, approach the door and say 'Pardon me, but may I partake of your fine stash of sweets so that I may go home and jump up and down on the bed all night and cost my parents hundreds of dollars in dental care, oh, and give me the one that is peanut flavored with nuts in it and not wrapped, I just want to see my mother's head spin off her shoulders.'

More on the joys of being a 'Free Lancer'

Let's see, where did I leave off... oh yeah...

7. Save EVERYTHING! Every receipt from every purchase you have made that's business related... and no, as much as it pains me to say this, chocolate is NOT a business expense. Business related is software and computer hardware that you use to make your business work (No, World of Warcraft accounts do not count), office furniture (ergo chairs do fall under the realm, sparkly chandeliers do not), business lunches and social engagements (with clients, you feed yourself every day and you do not count that as a tax write off do you... no, didn't think so), transportation (if you are meeting clients, and be sure to track mileage, there are smart phone apps to do so), and general 'office supply' expenses (paper for printer, ink cartridges, business cards, not 'twinkle lights' for your home office or Bose stereo speakers...)

8. Get your own e-mail address, do not use your home/personal one, and ABSOLUTELY do not use your current employer e-mail address (had someone do that at my former job, and it became his former job, I have to say this, because it has been done) and not with a 'cutesy' name, keep it along your 'brand' and professional. If you're marketing a hard line of survivor equipment no one is going to take 'pinkfluffybunny@aol.com' seriously if that's your business e-mail address.

Well that's all for today from the business side of Altered Whimseys... I'm going over to the 'other' side of my office and work on Christmas card elements for the rest of the day.

The joys of being a 'Free Lancer'...

Although I'm disabled, I am doing some pro-bono work as a PR and Social Media consultant for a non-profit called Joy House SLE. I love the joys of 'working' from home, here is a list I have compiled for those considering 'self' employment.

1. I'm going to be straight up about this, you're not going to have a 401k, or benefits of any kind (medical, dental, corporate SWAG)... you're on your own. Do your homework first before cutting any ties and for Pete's sake, don't EVER burn any bridges when planning on a solo career. Fortunately my husband has great benefits through his work place, as well as his Navy retirement, and I have benefits as well from my former employer as well as my disability that I EARNED. (Some people are confused about the disability that you EARN rather than is just handed out to you like it's your birth right. Throughout my 30 year working time I paid into disability, and after my Dr. pretty much said 'you're done' I applied for disability. That's as personal as I'm going to get on that subject, if you want more information on that, e-mail me.)  Just do your home work, period. This is your baby, no one else is gonna raise it for you.

2. Brand it, then Blog. Blog, and blog some more. When I mean brand it, I mean get a logo (make your own, don't steal, that's a whole other can of worms you don't want to deal with as a start up) take pictures of your merchandise and create a catch phrase about the work you do. Facebook, and dare I say this word... Twitter... Get out on the social networks and make yourself known. I use Blogger through Google. It's easy to use and has lots of templates that look professional that you can adapt with a certain amount of skill. Linked In is nice (ahem), but beware, you can be seen, but for a ridiculous price they can 'allow' others to contact you. (They're like an angry mother who has grounded you...I do not recommend them for start ups).

3. It's not all sit at home behind the computer in your jammies, you will have to get out in the 'real world' and network, and meet with others if you plan a client rather than consumer based business. Client based is more intimate and requires more attention, consumer is the shop and ship. Even with shop and ship, you will have to get out there, unless you order your boxes and shipping materials delivered to your home (USPS and Fed Ex does that, not sure about UPS) With clients you will most likely have to meet them face to face. Especially if you have a photography or PR/Social Media  type of business like I have. You're going to have to network for them as well...so don't throw away your 'office clothes'... just make sure they still fit and are presentable. Common sense people, common sense.

4. Be sure to have your I-9 and Tax information prepared come January. See the IRS website for that kind of info. Do your homework, I'm not going to do it for you, otherwise I will charge you... :) 

5. Be on friendly terms with your UPS, Fed Ex Office and US Postal Service people if you plan a shop and ship kind of business. They can make you or break you, be kind to the hand that feeds you. I've seen so many people get that 'They're civil servant' attitude towards their carriers, and well, it bit them in the proverbial tushie. 

6. Before you lay down the bucks for a .net or .com ....research what's out there and what you can afford. Also, be sure that you can either build your own site with a template that you can import to your .net or .com, or have the cash ready to dole out to some out of work coder who needs a job to get through grad school, or to pay their way into Comic-Con to build your site for you. Or better yet, an up and coming Techno-Diva looking to hone her skills. 

7. Network through your friends, but ask their permission first. Don't start posting your brand on their FB page or hashtagging your name all over their Twitter. Baaaaaad idea. That's a bad way to end a friendship, because 9 out of 10, they will tell you to knock it off. I love my friends, I'm just not their political or business platform on my FB page. I have to say this because I've had it happen. I've had the Amway and 'home business'  trolls in my crafting message boards years ago.... they're like bamboo, irritating and hard to get rid of. I tell them once. Politely. Then I push the 'ignore' button. 

Well, it's time for my lunch... or brunch... I got up at 10... another 'perk' of self employment... Stay tuned for more of this article... the words really seem to be flowing today. My executive decision for the day... noodle soup or left over chicken fried rice. I know, the pressure, I think my head's going to explode.

Slowly getting back into the swing of things...

Well, my cooking mojo is back.... I enjoy going out to dinner and letting someone else do the cooking; but nothing beats a home cooked meal. David has been great these past three weeks taking care of things and doing some of the cooking. Tonight I made baked chicken with a spice rub, garlic Brussels sprouts sauteed, and white rice with orzo.

Dink... yes, dink...

For those of you non Navy folk, dink means to be behind in something or not do something at all... I have seriously been dink in keeping up with my House Frau blog. I have good reason to. Since the end of August, continuing on, I have had kidney stones from HELL, in both kidneys. I have gone from being ok and managing the pain, to literally not being able to get out of bed the pain is so bad. I am so frustrated because I haven't been able to finish my Project Clean, which should have been done the last weekend in August. So my bedroom still remains a disaster and my master bath floor and tub is still dirty. But I'm not dead, and life goes on, and I will get back to my normal routine. Once I get rid of those horrid little bastards. Ugh. So that's it in a nutshell. No fleeting words of wisdom or tasty recipes... those will have to wait.

Monday....

So far so good... our new A/C and heating unit will be installed on Monday of next week, I got the fridge cleaned out (scary and stinky and I will never let it go like that again), a load of laundry done... I'm done for the day. Well, for the most part. Going grocery shopping tonight. Hot date with the hubby.

Friday... what will I do today?

Once again it's almost three in the morning and I'm not asleep. The UVerse drama is over and all is well in that department. Right now I just can't sleep. Ugh.

Craptacular...

Today is a rare day, I am in a REALLY bad mood and my 'filter' is not on, so I apologize in advance. I can't be Miss Sweetness and Light all the time. Yesterday started out great, got the living room clean (I'm not going to vacuum until ATT is done with their install...which is another part of this blog rant), the dining room is clean except for the floor which I'll do when I do the kitchen, they're connected and the same tile so I'll do them at the same time. Then afternoon hit, ATT couldn't finish the install, and then I just had meltdown when I found out about Robin. I spent the whole night crying. Not sure if I'm done yet, right now I'm just supremely pissed at ATT because Well it's 10AM (they said they'd be here at 8:45 and ATT is still not here (strike 2....) ) Something about they couldn't get behind the back gates. HELLO! They had our phone number they could have called. Grumble grumble. Trying to stay positive. I will be sending a letter to corporate along with a letter to the Installation Manager about how he needs to re-evaluate how he does things, because right now this is just unsat (Navy term for beyond unacceptable). So I go into the kitchen to make myself breakfast, I wanted cereal in my brand new cereal bowl.... I HAVE NO MILK... no one to blame but myself, but still it was a kick in the jimmy. So I'm being good and drinking my 'green juice' and blogging while I'm doing laundry. I really wanted to take a day off today because I'm tired. Ladies, don't get your panties in a wad, no I didn't run any major marathons nor am I balancing the schedules of three rugrats and doing all this... remember the name of the blog... the House Frau, House Wife with NO KIDS. (It's not that I don't like children, I love children, I would have loved to have had one or two, but my plumbing just didn't work)... I deal with major health issues and tire easily. Well, the laundry just beeped at me... must go throw it in the dryer...be right back. 

This is my home... it's no palace, but it's home.... 

the bed is made and the day begins...

Well, the ATT guy just called and the install tech is on his way. I need to NOT get my BP up today, that would not be good. For those of you who don't know I have a a condition called malignant hypertension. Basically, my blood pressure can go from normal to ridiculously and dangerously high within a split second. It damages my kidneys and weakens my heart. Which reminds me, I need to take my meds... ugh, see, my day is all catty whompus.

Today we do not post.... we just remember the light that went out.

In Memory of Robin

Let us remember him like this. Let's not speculate on the how or why, let's remember him. The tour de' force of comedy as well as drama. A man of deep compassion for all.

I know about depression, and I know about addiction, that's something we both (Robin and I) shared . I've suffered from bipolar from the age of 26, and I've been sober for 19 years. Alcoholism and addiction in general is a hard road to hoe, it takes lots of strength. It makes me angry when people say it was 'selfish'... depression is a disease that we have no control over, and it's not about 'THEM (who say he's selfish), it's about Robin, he was suffering while you were laughing at his movies and stand up. If he would have died of a heart attack would you have called him selfish?

All by myself...

Well this weekend was David's weekend with the 'Water Buffalos' as I call them, so it was just me and the kitties hanging out for the weekend. I did rest as ordered, but I picked up little things here and there, and finished off a small project of clearing off the dining room sewing table. We have this antique sewing table that belonged to David's grandmother that we inherited and it lives in our dining room. It had also become the 'place where we put things where we don't know where else to put them table'... and it had become a mess. Half the stuff that was on it went into recycling, and the other half was put away in it's place. The dining room is almost done with the exception of my 'purse collection' in the corner and David's 'chair of crap he needs to put away'. There's just no delicate way to put it.  I also need to do the floor in there as well as replace the cat's dish and feeding area. I think that might be the last thing I do as I'm going to have David slowly clear his chair. As I said before, his 'man cave' is his responsibility. I am not going to touch that with a ten foot pole except to put his stuff in that belongs in there. I've been doing the rest of the house mind you, that's his. I certainly don't want him attempting to organize my 'sacred' creative space upstairs. Although we do 'share' the sewing table in it, the rest is MY territory.

Resting today.... it's ok to rest...

I'm resting today.... had a little setback last night, and I've been ordered to rest the next several days while my body gets used to some new meds. I have a hard time resting, makes me feel lazy, like I'm not doing my 'part'.  One has to remember a marriage is 100%/100% not 50/50. I grew up in a household where my grandmother pretty much waited on my grandfather hand and foot, HE was her life. Almost like she had no identity. I know that's not totally true, but when he died, she's pretty much become a fixture on the couch that does nothing but watch TV. It's sad. I love my husband, and I love to do things for him, and with him but we both have our own identities as well. Yesterday David and I had to derail our usual after work rest and dinner routine to go to the urgent care. Because of my background, I felt like I was being a big imposition just asking him to drive me to the clinic. That is totally not the case, David was ready and willing and it's just what married people do. I had a very dysfunctional role model for marriage and home life.

Anyhow, today I'm resting...and I'm frustrated because the bathroom floor and tub need finish cleaning. The towels need washing, the living room needs dusting and 'decluttering'. But I must rest.

Salty 'Gumbo' and other derp moments...

Well, as I'm feeling better I'm getting back into the swing of things. Yesterday the ATT people were supposed to come and install UVerse, but for some reason when I re-scheduled last week I screwed up. They're not coming til this Monday. So yesterday morning I was up bright and early and had laundry done, the kitchen cleaned, I mean REALLY cleaned, the living room vacuumed and dinner prepped.

My 'new' kitchen stove top...

Anyhow, I made a sausage and vegetable 'Cajun' slow cooker meal of my own invention. I won't list the ingredients because you won't want to fix it for yourself... derp #2.  It came out too salty, and when I say too salty it was, even for me. As a heart patient I have to watch my salt, and it was redundantly salty. So needless to say my husband smiled and ate it, he said it was good, but the heart patient here just had a dish of buttered rice for dinner as I was just plain disgusted and didn't want to fix anything else. I was so mad, I worked so hard on it. Have you ever done anything like that? To add insult to injury, over the course of the day my feet and ankles had decided to swell, that was a new one for me. So I resigned myself to the couch, watched Bobcat Goldthwait on Netflix and proceeded to fall asleep. I guess Bobcat isn't as funny as he used to be. 

Yeah, it's been a while

After spending two weeks with my Idaho family in their nice home I came home and felt really depressed. My house is a disaster. I won't mince words. It's not gross with garbage laying around and other things I won't mention, but it's a mess none the less. So with steady resolve I have been constructing a plan to have it in shape by the end of the month. Mind you, David's office is his own to deal with as is his 'chair'. I will be strongly encouraging him to clean off and organize both, or I will do it for him. I just refuse to live in a mess anymore. I used to be very laid back about that kind of thing, but it just kind of snowballed and now I can't find anything anywhere and I lose things constantly in the clutter. I'm a homemaker, and I should be doing as such. Ugh. (Insert mini pity party). Last week both David and I cleaned the downstairs bathroom/cat's room, I've been working on the kitchen (still have to finish cleaning the stove), and all I have now is the living room and upstairs bedroom.