Mashed Potato and Cheese Soup!

I can't believe I almost forgot to post about this. Yesterday I made baked chicken (sooooo yummmm!!), cheesy broccoli and "Creme Fraiche" potatoes. I was a little intimidated by the fraiche being all fran-say, but, they were delicious. It was a Paula Deen recipe. Which means loads of butter and heavy cream. What kind of freaked me out was the sour cream/heavy cream sauce stuff you dumped on the potatoes and then baked?! 'Huh?!? Well I did it and my pan was almost not big enough. Thirty minutes later, it was done and kind of runny. But, runny or not, it tasted great!

That said, let me get back to my story.... So, I had the brilliant idea to make the creme fraiche mashed potatoes into soup. I sauteed some carrots, onions and celery. Added a few chicken bouillon cubes about two cups of water, four slices of Velveeta cheese (it seriously melts the best) and VIOLA! Mashed Potato and Cheese Soup. And I must say it was delicious!!!! C#1 came in to ask me if it was scalloped potato soup, like the scallop potatoes his Gramma makes. I said it wasn't. But, he said it tasted like it was. Very high praise. I had fixed other food to go with the soup, but, kind of wish I hadn't. The soup was so good, but, oh so very filling. I will definitely have to make a special  note on the recipe to remember to make it into soup the next day. The lovely hubby said it was better as soup anyway. I kinda agree.... Here's a picture:

There are leftovers, too. And I am looking forward to eating them in the next couple of days!

I do love dessert and COFFEE!

I got this really nifty cookbook called "Entenmann's Big Book of Baking." I purchased it at a discount store for super cheap. It has loads of awesome recipes. Anyway, I made the "Apple Cinnamon Bars." They didn't actually turn into bars, since, I doubled the recipe because I could not find the right size pan. AND I had lots of apples that I needed to use.. Anyway, it turned out GREAT!!! The ultimate compliment was the hubby asking for seconds AND for some cheddar cheese to eat with it! I know that some of you might think that cheese and apple pie or apple whatever is nasty. It is actually quite good and a huge compliment that the hubby wanted to have it with these bars, or actually cake, since it was more cake-y.

I must say the recipes in this book are something you might see in a "Barefoot Contessa" or Paula Deen cookbook with all of the butter and heavy cream! Butter is the secret to everything -- the more the better!!!

After picking up C#2 from a birthday party, I had to stop at the store and was delighted to find coffee creamer on sale! And there were some yummy new flavors to choose from. I usually buy the sugar free french vanilla by the bucket load at Walmart, but, I am open to a variety. There was Cafe Latte and Sugar Free Peppermint Mocha. I was happy that one of them was sugar free.  The only reason I go the sugar free route is because I was shopping with my sister and she made the observation that there were less calories in the SF flavors. Less calories is always a good thing! I glanced at the calorie difference between my two new finds and it was only 10 calories more for the not SF kind. So PSHAW to the calories.  The Cafe Latte was the creamer choice for today and I must say it was delicious! It must be those extra 10 calories. I still like my  french vanilla, though....

There you have it dessert and coffee! My favorite things (well two of them....)

CUPCAKES!!

Now that is definitely a good inspiration to blog.....

I was searching out the "perfect" birthday present for my Dad. It should be stated he is a difficult guy to buy for. I seriously don't have any good, creative ideas on what to get. So my usual default is his favorite foods. The hubby and I were at Walmart and we managed to find his numerous "favorites."

I was then thinking that getting him his own cake might be fun and a surprise. He usually "shares" a birthday party with my sister and I. Walmart has a very nice selection in their bakery and they had some cute very frosting-ey cakes (my Dad loves frosting, almost as much as I do.) When the husband spotted some vanilla cream filled cupcakes with awesome looking buttercream frosting on top. WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!! Who knew such a thing was done?!? I know that my favorite donuts at DD are the vanilla cream filled (not the pudding ---- it has to be the cream stuff.)   Thankfully they are only sold in a twelve pack and I knew the parents were going out of town, so we (me, hubby, C#1 and C#2) would have to eat some or most of them and still share! Whooohoo!!

Anywho....  I went over to my parents house for breakfast and brought the tasty treat. My Dad did not know about the cupcakes (or the presents.) I made sure to bring some candles and my stellar voice. Mom and I broke out the birthday song and gave my Dad his own birthday song/treat!

They were delicious!! Definitely in the past tense, since they are all gone, since, they were DELICIOUS!!!! I know I already said that, but, it needed to be repeated.  My surprise was a success and yummy to boot!

ANDDDDD... To top it off, my Mom took me out to lunch for my birthday, since she won't be in town when that lovely event occurs! It was definitely a beautiful day in the neighborhood. :)

Till next time......

Lazy...Lazy...Lazy...

I know I have been a blogging slackard.... I have been watching the news and fascinated by what is going on. Maybe, I'll blog about that in the future, maybe not. Hopefully I will have some inspiration soon... No promises.

I wish it would STOP raining. I have packages to put in the mail box. Booooooo!

That's all for now.

Later!

Place your order...

This is a really great book!

I was introduced to this author a while ago. I was a little apprehensive at first, since she's one of those mega-church people. There are other things that don't sit well with me, but, I'm not going to get into that. This book (and the other one that I read) has some very solid points and helpful tips to live by biblically, whether you agree with her 100%  or not. 

I have also decided to read parts of it to C#1 & C#2. I have made it a morning ritual, to hopefully help them with their daily "people testing."  I do some adult content editing, for some of it.  I know they could probably "handle" it, but, not at 6:30 in the morning. I know for me and for most people that "people testing" is a daily struggle. Our emotions/feelings can make or break a day and lots of other things.  I know I personally say tooooo much, at the wrong times. AND my thinking. UGH! I know you know what I am talking about... Don't even deny it!

Anyway --- I thought I would share this and maybe it will help you, as I hope it is helping me.  Now if I would just apply some of these great tips, ideas and suggestions, then my life might be a little bit easier....... Don't hold your breath. I know I won't. ;)

DARN!

The message for the day.

I really should have done this a LONG time ago.

Well.... I am happy with the new laptop. I have all of the back up disks, ecetera.  So, it occurred to me that I might want to do a back up disk or two for my desk top computer. It should state that I have had it for over a year. The previous desk top had an imminent problem, which required  I purchase a new one, in case it broke and I lost everything. 18+ dvds later, I think it's almost done. I didn't dare stop after I'd started and gone through five dvds. UGH! Now I am almost entirely out of blank dvds!! I guess that will be my next purchase on my next shopping trip. Let's just hope that if/when it decides to crap out, that all of the dvds are workable and fix it!  Note to self: The next time I buy a computer, make a back up dvd BEFORE putting a zillion pictures and music files on it.

Today I took C#1 in for "phase 2" of his orthodontic adventure. He wasn't too impressed to find out the news of his future braces. However, he needs some more work done. The hubby says, " Is this going to cost more?" Ummmmmm... Well yeah. But, hopefully this will be the last of it. I am sure C#2 will have some more lovely fun orthodontics, too. The joys of being a child (and the parent  -- $!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!$!)

It is just one of those days...

Four cups later (yes four) and I could take a nap!!

Well that was really dumb.

I have two email addresses. One is the main and the other the more anonymous (aka where I send all of my spam crap.)  I was expecting an email so I checked the anonymous one and happened upon a very odd email. So, I clicked into it and got a little too click happy and lo and behold a trojan virus infected my laptop. I did not know this until the next day when I turned it on and it kept putting up weird messages and notifications. I feel like a complete fool. I am usually VERY good about not opening anything and I was bamboozled by this.  The stupid virus completely toasted everything on the computer. Thankfully it was the "back-up" computer and that my memory sucks, so I don't really know what I lost. Grrrrr.....

The hubby was able to format the hard drive and reinstall Windows.  It was decided that I would indeed purchase a new laptop for work and give the newly formatted computer to the children. So, I guess win - win. Except that I didn't necessarily want to spend the extra money on a new computer. The children are excited, especially C#1, since the "old" laptop (I've had it for more than 6 years) will run some of the games he likes.  I was already considering replacing it, just not so soon.  Now I will trust NO email unless I know exactly where it is coming from. I feel like such a dunce. I sure hope this doesn't happen, again.....

On a happy note. We ordered the new laptop Tuesday afternoon and it was here Thursday afternoon. Now that was fast!!!!!!!!!!!  It works great and was super easy to set up. And C#1 is giddy. So all is good...

On a side note, has anyone noticed the abundance of spiders in their houses?! ICK and EWW!! And more ICKKKKKKKK!!! I've found them everywhere. Big mammas in containers and even one crawling up my leg. Yes, I did shriek. And I was NOT amused.

Till next time.....

Me Negative?!?! Nahhhhhhhh....

I call it being a realist. Here's a definition - realist - a person who accepts the world as it literally is and deals with it accordingly. Yeap... That's me. I don't apologize for it either. I have decided to take off my rose tinted glasses and see the world as it really is.  I am right MOST of the time. Does that make me negative or a pessimist?! I think NOT!  I know we are supposed to give people the benefit of the doubt, which I do --- sometimes. But, while being all gracious and benefity you need to be a realist. Then if it turns out like you think, you won't be surprised. Disappointed maybe, but, surprised, no. OR if it turns out all peachy keen, then you CAN be pleasantly surprised. Sounds good to me!  


I was recently speaking with one of my BFFs about life and how the past/present have two separate blocks.  I think I finally figured out (well at least for me....I might be slow on the uptake, but, it makes perfect sense, slow or not.)  I view my life in a "Before and After" mode. There were certain life events that skewed my vision.  Before life, was all rose tinted glasses. I was invincible and everything thing was hunky dory.  I should state that I was accused of being a "Miss Negative" before, too -- but, not at the same level as now. "After" life mode isn't all rose tinted glasses. I know I am no longer invincible and life isn't ALL hunky dory. Bad things happen more often than I'd like. That doesn't mean I am all down in the dumps. It just means I'm a realist. I enjoy things when they are all peachy keen and I (try to) handle bad things appropriately when they come along, too. 


I am thankful for the Bible doctrine in my life. I do try to live life with grace...  But, I think I will always be a realist. I will do my best to have the right attitude towards "things." But, that's a HUGE work in progress (I think it's a lifetime job/task) Thankfully we only need to live one day at a time. Any further than that and I'd be a mess....


On a less "negative" note (heehee dontcha love my play on words?) For dinner tonight I made chicken pot pie with a twist.  You ask what was the twist? Bacon.  I came up with that, because I didn't have the right kind of soup. BUT, I did have a can of chicken/bacon/corn chowder. It all started with an empty pie shell that I needed to use. I notified the lovely husband and he wasn't impressed with the idea, but, agreed to eat it anyway.  I used a total of three recipes from three different cookbooks. One was a chicken/turkey combination cookbook. The other two were a Campbell's soup and Paula Deen. So in a sense I made my own recipe. Another twist was sauteed mushrooms and onions. You canNOT cook anything without onions (well dinner food.) I believe it is against the law.  Anyway, after all that explanation, I have to report that the darling hubby did indeed LIKE the pot pie. HA! It had a cheater biscuit Bisquick top and he was thinking it was going to be a pie top crust. I thought it was quite good, too. I made sure to make my extensive notes in the Campbell's soup cookbook, so that hopefully I could make it the same way, again. I couldn't take a picture of the inside (well at least not a nice one). It was falling all over itself, so you will have to be satisfied with the picture below...

That's it for today. Later!

I knew it wasn't me...

On Friday afternoon my ISP decided to be all flaky. It would continually disconnect, and reconnect all afternoon, evening into the next day. The lovely husband insisted I call (WHY do I have to do it every time?!)I made the call and after talking with the tech dude he said he thought it was our line and it might need a repair. He issued a ticket for a diagnostic dude to come check it on Monday. Bahhhh Humbug! I hate it when the internet gets all flaky on the weekend. It NEVER fails!!!!

At about 6:30, Saturday night, it all of a sudden started working. What?! I know I didn't do anything. I did try and cram all the cords tighter into the modem thingy -- but, that was out of pure desperation. It continued to work fine all night and into Sunday morning. 

When we got back from our Sunday routine, we discovered that, alas it was still working. I decided to call the ISP and tell them to NOT come on Monday, since they said morning and no one here had to go anywhere, because of the holiday (aka DAY OFF!) The tech guy sounded like a moron. He said he wouldn't cancel the ticket, because it takes longer to cancel and if I needed to reissue one, blah, blah, blah.... I am not sure how THAT was my problem. But, I agreed.  I asked if there had been any problems in our area. I figured he could check. He said there was a similar issue in the area, but, to still keep the ticket. 'HUH?! Whatever. I was determined to stay up late and if they insisted on sending someone out to look at it IN-THE-MORNING, I would answer the door with my pjs and they would just have to deal. 

Well the morning came and went and no diagnostic person showed up and no telephone call was received. I guess they fixed it. Which I knew and it wasn't MY fault..... I guess a phone call might have been nice. But, I didn't expect that either.  Anyway, the internet still seems to be functioning. Let's just hope it stays that way.

On a sad note. I have recently lost my battle with the salt and vinegar chips. I wasn't going to proclaim my weakness to the world, but, decided to 'fess up. I am soooooooooooooo ashamed. DAMN chips! I have NO self control.  AND I refuse to stop buying them. Good thing I kept all of my bigger sized clothes... I'm gonna need'em!

Till next time...

VERY true....

This says it all!

This must be a new trick...

In yesterday's mail I received a large"ish" package from one of the magazines I subscribe to. It was definitely junk mail and I am not usually that good about looking at junk. Normally it's straight to the garbage or recycle bin. Anywayyyyyyyyy I decided to open it and it turned out to be a "dvd program" that they were starting and I had the "special" privilege to get it first. I skimmed the letter and come to find out if you don't want to participate you had to return the dvd in the envelope provided. What would have happened if I had just tossed it or didn't read the fine print and braille and did NOT send it back?!?! Hmmmmm.... Well, I'm not gonna find out. I am sending that tricky piece of mail crap back to the sender. And I wrote a big "DO NOT SEND ME ANY MORE DVDS EVER!!" on the returning note. I wasn't even interested in the dvd, so it was a complete waste on their part.  But, very sneaky.

I very recently watched the movie "Trust." It was very disturbing. The teenage daughter has a "boyfriend" who she only knows through chat rooms and texting.  Needless to say he lies and I am sure you can figure it out.  I thought it was actually very eye opening for parents who don't monitor what their children are doing with the internet/cell phone age. I know you can't protect them from everything, but, I felt this movie brought to light the real danger of letting your teenagers have unsupervised access.  I guess I will be the mean hag Mom, who doesn't allow my child to have a cellphone till they're 40 (yeah I know, not very realistic.)  I will insist on 100% access to anything they have on the internet. Privacy Shmivacy. Not when there are major scumbags out there.  Did I mention I'm not looking forward to the teenage years?!?

Well that's it for today.... Later!

Now hear this:

Everyone should be watching the show "The Middle." It's on Wednesday, at 8:00 pm, on ABC and is HILLLLLARIOUSSSS!!!  You only have to commit 30 minutes of your life. The sacrifice is small and well worth it....

AND I finished off that bag of salt and vinegar chips. It took me four WHOLE days.  That is an improvement! I deserve a medal!!

Later!

Heeheeheee....

One of my BFFs emailed me this lovely picture. And thought I'd share with you all.....  

It's my message for the day. :)

Evil, evil, evil, evil, evil...

Did I mention these are EVIL?!?!?

Yes, I finished a bag -- it was only crumbs, but, I HAD to open a new bag. The new bag was ohhhhhhhhhh so vinegary!!! I seriously could have eaten the whole thing. I only consumed about 1/3 of it. The bag says there are eight servings in each bag. I DON'T THINK SO!!! Maybe three if I'm lucky. Usually only two. I really need to stop buying them..... BUT.I.CANNOT.HELP.MYSELF!!!!!!  

HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(No don't. I love them too much!)

I'm too old for this!

Zits and acne that is! What the H-E double hockey sticks is up with that?!? I should have been over this at least 15 years ago. I figure if you've survived your teen years, you should at least be done with dealing with pimples. But, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.... It continues to be a problem. Thankfully it isn't as bad, but, I think it should just be done!!!  The only good thing about it, is that I don't have to make a special trip to buy C#1 any special face wash. I already have it well covered. Sheeeeeesh!

I have also watched a few very odd movies. I am not sure I would recommend them. But, I will mention them, because I can. "Chalk" a mockumentary about life as a HS teacher -- mildly amusing. "Peacock" a very strange story about a schizo -- well acted, but like I said, very strange. "Resident" about apartment renting gone bad -- Gerard Butler is a psycho (putting it mildly.)

So there you have it. My two cents for today. Later!