scores a "zero" on the husband-meter

If you were to take a peek in my fridge last Monday you would have thought it was already empty. In need of a good scrub down yes, but mostly empty. Really, not even one bottle of beer.

OK, you got me. The beer lives in the garage fridge. Unfortunately, this fact hasn't curbed my imbibing as much as I'd hoped. The laundry room is much closer, yet it is largely ignored.

The garage though, is visited nightly.


Back to the fridge. So, the plan was to make a dinner with whatever I could find in the mostly empty refrigerator and pantry. The (un)usual suspects:


sesame oil
vegetable oil
onion
carrots
potatoes
bok choy
ginger
Leftover chicken legs
light coconut milk
red curry paste
ramen noodles

I found that I had a good start to a curry of sorts. Not exactly authentic, but we're dealing with the kitchen of a midwestern woman here folks. And yes, I actually had bok choy already.

Since the carrots and potatoes were raw and take a while to cook, I threw them into the wok with the onion and oil on medium heat to get a head start on cooking. Next I added the bok choy and the ginger. About 2 inches of ginger, chopped. What can I say, I like ginger.

Once everything had cooked for 7-10 minutes, I threw in a glass of white wine and let it simmer and reduce.
Wine makes everything (and everyone) better.

When the wine was almost gone, I threw in 1 1/2 tsp or so, of the red curry paste and stirred it around so everything got a little color.

Last came the coconut milk. Gave it a good stir, popped on the lid and let it sit over low heat until the carrots and potatoes were soft.

I served this over plain ramen noodles because that's what I had. I know, I'm not in college anymore, what am I doing with Ramen? Look people, I'm not proud, it was cheap and makes a quick lunch.

I don't recommend the Ramen avenue however. Curry is meant to be with rice. Even Midwestern Housewife Curry. In fact, that's the name of this "recipe". Midwestern Housewife Curry.

And as you have probably gleaned form the title, this will not go down in the regular repertoire as a "go-to" recipe.

Make this at your own risk.
Good luck.

Scatterbrained

It has finally happened. I've become my Mother in yet another aspect of my life. In many ways this is a wonderful thing. Anyone who has met her could expound on this for hours. But, perfect she ain't.
For example, she was almost always late to pick me and my sisters up from school, church, friends' homes, you name it. Plus, and I have a complex about this to this day, she frequently sent me to find something in another aisle while shopping at the grocery store, and then she would disappear!! I was onto her after a while.



Me: You promise you'll be right here?

Mom: Yes, Natalie, just go get the spaghetti.

Me: Promise!?

Mom: Hurry up, and get the spaghetti! Erin, get that out of your mouth! Betsy, stop teasing your sister!

Me: Cross your heart?

Mom: Just go!



So off I would go, quickly as I could so she couldn't move too far. Running back to the place I left her, I would be frantic. She's not here! Spaghetti in hand I would quickly pace the length of the entire store, checking each and every aisle. Sometimes, I would run into one of my sisters who had been sent on a similar errand. I often wondered if she was tired of caring for five girls and was maybe trying to "thin the herd". I haven't yet resorted to this particular method of alone time but I'm not ruling it out entirely.



Back to how I have become like her. This morning I sent poor Linus to school out of uniform. According to the calendar sent out at the beginning of the year it was a no uniform day. I mean, I had it written in my agenda book and everything! To have had it written down... really, this is a big step forward for me.
Apparently, it was changed somewhere along the way. Thankfully, he doesn't appear to be as anxious as I was as a kid, so he'll probably survive this mishap with minimal psychological scarring, but still.
I try, as God is my witness I try, but things just get away from me.



At least my Mom had a few excuses. Like 5 kids, and working night shift for a while, then going back to school for a time, then 12 hour shifts, and did I mention 5 kids.

The good news is, I haven't lost anyone in the grocery store yet.

Not so small victories

I feel so proud, relieved and wary all at once. You see, after 5 and 3/4 years we have reached a milestone in this house. No, Carlo hasn't stopped asking when I'm going back to work. I keep telling him I do work, I just don't get paid nearly enough.
No, the milestone is... wait for it...

*fanfare*

Linus has made it through two whole nights with no pull-up and no accident!

Awesome, right? Now don't get me wrong. I know there will inevitably be setbacks. There will be the urine soaked sheets at 6:45am. One more wrench thrown into the middle of all the getting dressed, breakfasting, brushing teeth, "for the love of all that is holy, get your shoes on!", and oh yeah, can't forget to feed the poor dog.
I know there will be those mornings. But, for today, I will enjoy this small victory.

Now, to tackle the mountain of non-urine related laundry...

Target = Mommy's little helper

Yes, Target.

With a Starbuck's inside.

And no kids. Which means no obnoxiously big cart with extra seats. Yes!

It was great! Except that they didn't have the silly desktop paper holder thingy that fits my other ones. Or a cute autumn-themed runner for the dining table. Or the kind of shoes I want for Gus.
So, I guess not so helpful today after all.

And then, enter the crabby lady who, when I said quite nicely "Excuse me," gave me one of those *heavy sighs* and moved her cart one inch.

REALLY? Is there a rule I don't know about? Only one person in the Dollar Spot at a time?

So, I move forward with my cart knowing full well I will bump into hers. Because she barely moved it! All the while I'm thinking, "I don't why you're so cranky today lady, but do what normal people do and SAVE IT FOR YOUR FAMILY."

In my experience, Target shoppers are generally more congenial than that. If they are exasperated, frustrated, angry, or any other negative emotion it is usually aimed at the whining, screaming, yelling kids they have with them.

That's why, when I had the chance, I went without mine.

Yes, I started a blog

So, here it is.
Another blog.
Another narcissist talking about themselves.
blah, blah, blah. Or should that be blog, blog, blog?

I figure since I'm so bad at keeping in touch with my family and friends, maybe they can see what annoying minutiae I post here and then THEY can get in touch with me.
Then I'll chat with them about what's been going on and I won't be out of the loop.
As much.
Let's face it, I'll still be in the dark. They're almost as bad as I am about these things.
Almost.

Blogging seems akin to communication with someone suffering from Asperger's. Communication, but not on a very personal level...

Like marriage can be at times.

...but I'm doing it anyway.