Tuna Noodle Casserole?

Before I get into this story, let me give you some background on my MIL's eating habits.

This woman likes nothing and when I say nothing, I mean nothing.

She is extremely picky, to the point she is flat out rude about it.  She has no problem making gagging noises when invited over for holiday dinners.  She also has no problem finding out exactly what you are serving and bringing over her own tasteless versions of the same food.

I won't even go to a restaurant with her anymore because she is so picky, she will send her food back numerous times, ask for the impossible and by the time you are done you are just so embarrassed and exhausted that it isn't even worth it.

Not to mention she will only eat at chain restaurants, god forbid she step foot into something a little classier and locally owned.  She prefers shoe leather over a good steak.  No shit, she instisted we go to Applebees for dinner a few years back and sent her steak back over 3 times because it wasn't done enough.  By the time she got it back it was like a piece of leather, but she enjoyed it.

Now, onto my story.

Last week my husband declared he wanted me to make tuna noodle casserole because his mom made it when he was a child and he loved it.

I said fine, I'll make it for you.   I am not a huge fan of tuna, but he asked for it, so I will make it.

I start looking through some of my recipe websites for recipes.  I found several and they all sounded pretty darn good.  Cheese, cream of mushroom soup, onions, celery, crushed crackers or chips.  Not bad.

I read him some of the recipes and he tells me NO, those are nothing like his mom's recipe.  Her recipe is apparentely awesomeness and he will call her to get it.  I said fine, get your mom's recipe and I'll make that.

He gets a hold of her and gets her list of ingredients. 

Tuna.

Egg Noodles.

Milk.

Butter.

Wah???  I say, Jeff, something is missing.

That cannot be the recipe.

It sounds horrible.

In fact, it sounds like something they serve in prison.

He gets mad at me, tells me that just because it isn't my mom's recipe I don't like it.  I said back to him, Jeff, seriously, something is missing.  It can't just be those 4 ingredients.  Where is the flavor?

Then I remember who his mom is.

The pickiest woman alive.

I'm pretty sure she took one of those fabulous sounding recipes, removed everything with flavor and voila, her version of Tuna Noodle Casserole.

I will be making this recipe for him and I will report back on whether he enjoys it at the age of 36.

My guess is no.

Watch Out Ladies

Annoying cackling heard in the background is compliments of my MIL and her mother.

Also, my husband needs Visine.

Toddler Beds

My MIL was visiting tonight and showing us the Wal Mart (her favorite store ever) website.

She found Davis all sorts of Lightening McQueen toddler beds.

Let me break down the problems with this.

1. He doesn't even like the movie Cars anymore.

2.  I think themed rooms like that for kids are a gigantic WASTE because at this age they like something one week and are onto something new the next.  See #1.

3. The plastic toddler beds are just tacky. (aplolgies if you own one)

4. They are expensive.
5. Our kid is super tall, these beds use a crib mattress and let me tell you, he wouldn't fit in that thing for more than a year.

6. She was also obsessing over Cars comforters and curtains, BARF.

So see, I have a bunch of reasons why this is dumb.  If my husband says ONE thing about this I'm going to flip the EFFFFFFFFFFF out.

My plan is to leave his room alone, it is painted blue and very basic.  We will take the front piece off his crib and add the rail to make it a toddler bed and when he outgrows it in length in probably a year or less we will either get a twin or full sized bed.

And there you have it.

Heavily themed character rooms are a waste of money, not to mention tacky.

I mean really, who in their right mind would spend $200 plus shipping on this ugliness.

My response to this idea was, yeah, my mom saw one at a garage sale for $50, I told her absolutely not.  Then I said, I didn't realize we were doing a Cars theme in his room, let alone re-decorating.  She got all flustered.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

I frequent our local TJ Maxx almost every single week.

Mostly because it is right down the street from where Davis goes to therapy and considering I leave him there for the 1.5 hour session I need something to occupy me.

I don't buy something every week.

I'd be broke.

Usually I just wander around, see if anything catches my eye.

A few weeks back I found two tops that I loved, but I just didn't want to spend $25 each.

I know, $50 for two tops doesn't seem like much.

But I'm cheap.

I went to TJ Maxx today and was scanning the clearance racks when I found both tops marked down to $12 each.

$24 for two tops.

Yes please.

It just goes to show you that if you find something you like, if you wait, it might just go on sale.

On Being Tall

Davis is 38 inches tall.

He grew 7 inches in one year!

He is the height of most 3 year olds and some 4 year olds.

He towers over other kids his age.

I didn't start realizing how tall he was until friends started posting stats of their 2 year olds on FB.

We are not really sure where he gets it.

I'm 5'4" and my husband is 5'10".

Average.

My mom's side of the family is tall though, I have a female cousin who is nearly 6', all my male cousins on that side are well over 6' tall, and my sister is tall.

I think it will be interesting to see how Davis' growth continues.  He may stop and average out to my husband's height or he could tower over both of us.

All I know is his height did cost me a new car seat as he outgrew his old one in height already.

Quizzes, Exams and Nerves, OH MY!

When I went to college in the past, I didn't really care that much.

I studied, sorta.

I partied a lot more.

I never worried about exams, tests, etc...

If I got a C I would be happy.

Sad.

I strived for Cs.

I was such an idiot.

Thank god like NONE of my business classes even apply to this degree, so my slate is basically wiped clean, the grades I got don't count.

Except for a C I got in English I.

I will take that over again.

I had a quiz and an exam in one of my classes already.

Can you believe it?

I was very worked up about them given my past history.  But I actually read the book, did the study guides and actually studied.

Even though I did all that stuff I kinda felt like puking today over taking them.

I sat down and was shocked, holy crap, I knew everything on both of them.

I got a 100% on my quiz and a 98% on my exam.

I'm so proud of myself.

I feel comfortable saying that those are the first two As I've ever received in college.

Woot Woot!!!

It Just Hit Me

I know I'm not old, but I'm older than I feel.

I still feel and think I'm in my very early 20s.

I'm taking my first semester of classes online.

For both classes we have all had to go through and introduce ourselves on the discussion board.

There is a 15 year old HS student taking a class with me.

That means he was about a year old when I first started at Owens.

1997.

Day 1: Back to College

It is only day 1 of my new adventure and I'm already feeling frustrated, confused and on the verge of tears.

First of all, I still don't have my book for one of the classes, it is supposed to be here tomorrow.

I have an assignment due by Thursday in that class and a test Friday and no book.

Being a full time stay at home mom I didn't expect this to be easy.

It is hard to concentrate on anything with a 2 year old running around.  So I'm hoping to drag my butt out of bed a few hours earlier than normal a few days a week and dedicate that to school.  It also helps that Davis spends each Thursday at his daycare/therapy facility for 5 hours, which I may bump up to an entire day.

Okay, rambling, sorry.

This morning while Davis was being good and watching a show, I printed my syllabi for my classes and sat down to read them.

I get through one and am onto the next one when I hear a ton of commotion and crying.

This is totally my fault, but I left a bowl of oatmeal within his reach.

He managed to grab it and spill the entire bowl all over our carpeting in the family room.

It would have been an easier clean up if our carpent wasn't that stupid shag that came back in style.

Oatmeal and shag carpet don't mix well.

Then to try to clean that up with a very inquisitive 2 year old equals disaster.

He had a fit because I wouldn't let him take apart the Little Green Machine.

He takes everything we own apart, phones, remotes, vacuum cleaners, whatever he can take apart he does.

So, while trying to clean up this awesome oatmeal mess, I also had a very unhappy little boy who wanted the Little Green Machine to play with.

I spent an hour cleaning the mess up, all while Davis cried and yelled at me.

I felt like this was a sign from god telling me that going to school just isn't in the cards for me.

I feel like a failure already and it is only Day 1.

Leftovers

When I started staying home I started being a little more conscious of food waste.

Before, when I worked, we would sometimes eat leftovers and mostly we'd just throw them away.

Most meals I make serve 4-6 people.

We are a family of 2.5.

I say 2.5 because Davis doesn't always eat what we do for dinner and if he does, it is such a small amount that he only counts as 1/2 a person.

So, since we really only eat half of what I make for dinner, what to do with the leftovers?

Like I said, pre-stay at home mom I would have let the sit in the fridge for a week, we maybe ate them, we maybe packed them for lunch, but mostly they just went in the trash.

Now I always freeze the other half of our dinners, as long as it is something that freezes well.

I love it.

Then the next week or in a few weeks I don't have to actually cook as much, just thaw and re-heat.

I'm saving money and saving myself precious time.

Whenever we grill chicken, we always have leftovers, here is a great recipe that my husband and I love.  I've modified it from the original recipe, so don't ask what that is, it is long gone by now, but here is my recipe.

1 lb. or so of cooked chicken, cut into small cubes

1 medium size green pepper (cut into strips)

1/4 - 1/2 cup Feta cheese (depending on your taste, I go heavy on the feta so I do 1/2 cup, if your not a feta person, use whatever kind of cheese you like.  I've even been known to use shredded taco cheese!)

1 package of frozen cheese tortellini (think it is usually about 10 oz.)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup of nuts (I say nuts because I use whatever, the original recipe calls for chopped walnuts, but I use pecans or walnuts, both equally good, sometimes I don't even use them)

About an hour to two hours before you want to serve dinner make the dressing by mixing 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of nuts.  Put in the fridge.

When you are ready to eat chop up your green pepper and chicken.  Heat about 1 TB of olive oil in a pan and sautee the green pepper until cooked to your desired way, I like mine kinda burnt.  Once those are cooked throw in the already cooked chicken and just brown it a bit. Remove from heat and put in a bowl to cool off.

Next, boil the tortellini according to the instructions on the package.  Once they are cooked and drained, I like to run cold water over them so they are not hot.  This salad is better on the cool side.

Toss together the chicken/green pepper, tortellini, dressing and feta cheese.

Feel free to add your own twist to it, sometimes I add in baby tomatos or little sliced black olives.

I'm not very good about sticking to recipes, I like to experiment if you will, which sometimes drives my husband crazy.  He always comments how nothing I make is ever the same as the time before :o)

Enjoy!!!!!

I'm Not 80

But I have shingles.

Seriously?

I thought I had a spider bite. 

I noticed this red spot near my hip bone on Monday and assumed it was a spider bite.

I also noticed that I was in a lot of pain around my back, down my butt and down my leg, but just thought it was from chasing Davis.

Today I woke up and the spot was so painful that I decided I probably had a bite that got infected and better get into the doctor before the weekend.

She took one look and said, that isn't a bug bite, that is shingles.

Then asked me if I had any other symptoms and I told her about the odd pain that started before I noticed the spot and she said, yep, most likely shingles.

Here's to a little Valtrex and Benadryl cream.

The Trolls

We have a gang of trolls that live in our attic.

They only come out after I go to sleep though.

It never fails.

Every single night I swear I go to bed with a spotless house and every single morning I wake up to a disaster.

Half empty water bottles in various places, wrappers from Little Debbie snack cakes on the tables, crumbs on the countertops in the kitchen, men's clothing laying next to the hamper (not in the hamper), toothpaste all over the sink, a collection of men's "beauty" products if you will all over the bathroom counter, a total disaster I tell you.

These trolls are a total nightmare.

Know anyone that exterminates trolls?

Mom, NO!!!

Davis' two favorite words.

When Davis didn't talk I was worried.

I was jealous of other kids his age that talked.

I felt kind a left out.

I cried about it.

Now that he has started talking, there are two words he says together that kind of make the hair on my neck stand up on end.

They are similiar to that newborn cry.

MOM, NO!!!!!!!  (said in your most whiney, screechy, toddler voice)

**Davis has a speech delay and a sensory disorder, I have yet to write any blog posts on this because my story is long and quite frankly, I haven't had time because it will probably be a mini series when I get around to it**

The Great Debate

Formula or Breast.

One of my FAVORITE shopping sites actually posted this on their FB fan page last weekend.

Talk about a way to piss off customers.

This is one of the greatest mommy debates, ever.

It puts some breastfeeding moms up on their high horse and surely can bring a formula feeding mom down to a feeling of complete guilt.

And quite frankly I'm sick of it.

I formula fed Davis and am proud of it.  There.

In the end it doesn't really matter how you feed your kid.

Formula or breastmilk, just feed them one or other or a mix of both.

I'm neither pro-formula or pro-breastfeeding.

I'm pro-feed the baby.

What about you?