Some Birthday...

Happy birthday to me yesterday. I don't mind my birthday, I usually like it since I'm young enough to not mind getting another year older. Unfortunately my weekend took a nosedive :( Spending all that time around family is bound to hit a rough patch. I went shopping and went to dinner, but was being bashed on Facebook by family and mean texts all over not showing up for Black Friday. I give up on my family.

And I'm cranky. PMS'ing and exhausted. I'm also self-diagnosing myself via WebMD and currently in debt from this weekend's shopping extravaganza,but I am 80% done Christmas Shopping. It was all worth it. Stop by tomorrow for my Thanksgiving recap or a more light-hearted post.

I cooked/baked alot so I will have tons of recipes to share. Back to work :(

Confession Time :x

1.) This may come across as unamerican or hated by many, but I wish it were Saturday. Or even January 5 :( These next 6 weeks are the most stressful of the year and I don't feel like dealing with them. Last night Mr. P and I made out our Christmas lists and then budgets for the holidays and lists of everyone we need to buy for. There is so much to do.

Mr. P's SIL called last night to invite me to start shopping Thursday night @ 10. Yes, 10pm! The earliest I've started was 3am last year @ Kohl's. Tonight I will be starting my Holiday Planner and printing off my Black Friday sales. Without this wonderful aid, I'd probably lock myself in my room for the next month. I promise to show pictures.

2.) Mr. P gave me my birthday presents last night :) It was a wonderful surprise and boy am I glad he did! It's a good way to start a stressful weekend. Here they are:

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My honey keeps me spoiled! Couldn't ask for a better boyfriend :)

Tuesday Blog Hoppin'

I can not believe it's the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed. I'm glad we aren't hosting more than a couple informal get togethers over the holiday season. I was going to share my lasagna dinner from last night, but it was a complete FAIL. Mr. P still liked it, but I forgot to add the meat. It was vegetarian so healthy at least! I ended up making taco soup this morning with the meat that was still in the frying pan on top of the oven. Guess I should have had that on my list right?

I decided to participate in a few blog hops today. So leave me a message if you stop by :)

1.) My brother to come home for the holidays. I know he's fighting for our country, but I miss him sooooo much!

2.) To spend some quality time with my man. His work schedule has gotten crazy with the holidays and we're pretty much on a phone relationship until January of next year :( Thanksgiving will be our last day to hang out together and we're going to see family and then I'm going up north so I don't even get to sleep next to him :(

You've just been given $500. You have 24 hours to spend it and can spend it on anyone/anything other than yourself. How do you spend it?

$300 - buy my school books :( I can't believe they are going to cost me that much for two class. I'm very unhappy.
$200- send the money to my brother. He's overseas, not making a ton of money and I know he will just spend it on my niece :) Also, he just found out someone stole his Best Buy Credit Card and has racked up a huge bill. They don't even have a Best Buy in Japan :(




My best Black Friday Tip is know your sales early. I've been scoping out the sales since mid-October. I have found several websites that post the ads as they are released or "leaked" and I've joined their mailing lists. My favorite is www.bfads.net go there! They let you save a printable customized list by store and have alot of helpful information. They also include what time stores open :) 2am Friday morning to get to Kohl's/Old Navy by 3am. I think I qualify as crazy :) I know I missed yesterday :( I'll try to post that later.

Organizing Christmas

I'm a list girl. I make grocery lists, to do lists, birthday lists, cooking list. I will make a list for pretty much anything. I learned this trait at a young age at my job as a secretary and have applied it to all aspects of my life.
I forget things. Like minor things that don't matter, like my natural hair color, to huge things, like picking up Mr. P from a dr's appt (it only happened 1 time!).
So, back in September I stumbled across some Christmas Organization lists! I downloaded those pdf's and filed them for safe keeping. Now that it's "that time of year" I'm getting ready to print them off and start my Christmas 2010 Planner!
I found these here. They were part of the free printables, but so we're clear I didn't make these. I am just passing them along. 

They have a gift and budget spreadsheet, christmas card list, baking list, to do list, etc. Check them out! When I'm able to print them off and file them, I will show you my Organized Christmas Planner. Am I way too excited for Christmas? I get like this every year.

My weekend revisited....

My weekend was busy, but super productive! The house is semi-clean, we ate all home cooked meals AND the tree is up! I know it's early, but with Mr. P's schedule it was do it this weekend or halfway through December. I needed to see how Mercedes would do with the tree. This is what happened:

Isn't she a doll? Anyways, I made an apple pie, a pumpkin roll, roast pork tenderloin, sauerkraut and kielbasa. 

I was in a Betty Crocker mood :) I squeezed in a trip to Wal-mart and made a run to Costco.

Now I need to make my Black Friday list. I can't believe Thanksgiving is Thursday and my Birthday is Sunday!

Almost forgot, I got a haircut and I love it!

I'm hopping on Mingle Monday over at Life of Meg. If you aren't a follower, go check her out!




This week Q: { Are you going Black Friday shopping? If so, what awesome deals are you hoping to snag?! }
A: Of course! I'm not sure what deals yet. Mostly gifts, but I do buy a couple things for myself :)

Haircut Need Suggestions

I need a haircut, BAD! My ends are split, my color is uneven and my hair is breaking :( I'm not good about getting my hair trimmed every 6-8 weeks and it's showing. Everyday this week I've sported the pony because I'm embarrassed I let it get this far (and I think everyone else is too).

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These past few weeks I have completely ignored my appearance (which isn't like me) and decided a pony is enough and barely any effort at all is enough. I'm claiming my sickness is what has prompted me to get to this point. Anyways, I now need some sort of guidance on my latest haircut which I'm doing this weekend, strep throat and all. 

I'm at work early waiting for a customer to show, so I'm browsing hairstyles. I need a new holiday do and I promise to keep it up and even schedule my next hair cut at the current appointment :) Now can I get some votes on what I should do?

Here was my last haircut I loved

I had the blond highlights, side bangs and just long enough for my pony :) Now my hair has turned to this:

As you can see, breakage, uneven and just not healthy :(

So here are the top contenders for my new hairstyles. Any advice is much appreciated.

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I think I'm going to stay the same color I have, probably a little darker to even it out, but I want something easy to keep up and that doesn't take much effort. With the holidays and starting school I won't have much time to play. Please take a second and let me know your thoughts. Followers, lurkers, people passing through just leave a comment or send me an email and give me your 2 cents. My hair is super straight and fine, but I have alot of hair. ANY thoughts appreciated!!!

Thrilling Thursday & Easy Chicken Florentine

Well my ultrasound came back fine. They found fluid around my right ovary indicating I had recently ovulated or a cyst had finally burst. I'm thinking the later since I'm on birth control, but with dr. you never know. My aunt also recommended I ask my dr. about endometriosis? WebMD makes me think I'm dying, so I will wait for a professional opinion.

I woke up yesterday with little red spots on my tongue and by lunch my throat was super sore. Mr. P suggested tonsilitis, I called my regular dr. I was able to get in and surprise! I have strep throat. I'm typing this at work....hmmm. I'm a dedicated employee, does it show? (I called and told my boss, he told me to come in) Thanks guys.

I did manage to make dinner last night and it turned out great. It was easy and perfect for me since I wasn't ready for too involved of a recipe. I found this show Pantry Raid on netflix and his recipes seem super simple. It was on the style network for one season in 2007 and then was canceled. The Take Home Chef with Curtis Stone was better, but this other show was for the "normal" cook. No weird ingredients and most everything is on hand. Anways, here's the recipe:

Chicken Florentine

4 chicken breasts

1 cup flour

4 tablespoons spinach dip

1 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon butter

Salt

Pound chicken into thin pieces and season with salt. Lightly dredge each breast in flour. Add oil to preheated oven-safe skillet large enough for all four chicken breasts. When the oil is hot, add the chicken breasts and cook until golden brown on one side. Flip chicken breasts and carefully spoon spinach dip on top of each piece. Sprinkle cheese on top of the spinach dip, add butter to the pan, and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

I served with steamed mixed veggies and mozzarella sticks. There's a recipe for mozzarella sticks that he makes from string cheese. When I try those I will post the recipe :)

Blog Hops for Thursday!

Italian Breaded Pork Chops & an Ultrasound!

Last night I finally felt well enough to get out of the house! So I went grocery shopping :/ I used my coupons and saved 52% :) Of course, the cashier hated me, but oh well. It's her job.

I raced home and made dinner for the first time in awhile (well unless you count the microwave meals). It was super simple and Mr. P loved it. Enjoy!

Ingredients

    * 3 eggs, lightly beaten
    * 3 tablespoons milk
    * 1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
    * 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
    * 2 tablespoons dried parsley
    * 2 tablespoons olive oil
    * 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
    * 4 pork chops

   1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
   2. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and milk. In a separate small bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and parsley.
   3. Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook until lightly browned. Remove garlic, reserving for other uses.
   4. Dip each pork chop into the egg mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating evenly. Place coated pork chops in the skillet, and brown abut 5 minutes on each side.
   5. Place the skillet and pork chops in the preheated oven, and cook 25 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

 Credit

And this is what you get!

I made a side of sweet potatoes and garlic butter crescent rolls. I usually make a green veg, but Mr. P was so glad to see home cooking, he didn't mind.
I'm leaving work early for my ultrasound, I can't wait so hopefully they can come up with a plan of action. Wish me luck!

Finally feeling better

All it took was a heating pad and mega dose of pain killers :) I don't care if it involved eating frog testicles, if it relieved the pain I would've done it. I'm not sure the temperature of a heating pad or recommended amount of time to apply heat to the stomach area, but I may have fried some of my eggs. Hopefully it was just one or two.

I'm behind on my reading :( and poor Mr. P had to eat frozen perogies for dinner. Over the weekend we celebrated my birthday and I had fun. When I saw the pictures, it looks like I had alot of fun I don't recall....hmmm :) Apparently I was the life of the party. 

Next month, instead of a girl's night, we are having a girl's date and having a cookie baking party :)

Oh, I'm thinking mozzarella sticks and chicken florentine for dinner tonight. I found a show on my netflix called pantry raid and they showed a super easy way to make things straight out of what you have on hand. I'll post the recipes in the next day or so. Something for you to come back for!

Leave a comment so I know you stopped by!!!






1. Do you ever burp out loud in private or public?
- In private yes, in public I make an effort not to
2. How often do you get sick each year?
- Define sick? Like stay home from work about 4 days out of the year, hospital twice per year. I have a bad immune system and my diabetes gives me health complications.
3. Would you rather paint a room in your house yourself, or have someone else do it for you?
- Someone else, I would like to help, but I would get bored about halfway through. Welcome to my ADD.
4. If you get 30 minutes to yourself, what do you do?
- Read or catch up on my DVR. Although I'm never alone, the dogs are almost always with me. I don't mind them though.
5. Do you allow people to wear shoes in your house? 
- Yes, but when the floors are redone, we will be a barefoot house :)

Ovary Pain

I am once again in agonizing, clutch your stomach, lay in the fetal position ovary pain :( Lucky me, I'm also @ work. I decided I would rather tough it out at work, then sit at home in bed (now I think that was a very dumb decision). I somehow forgot I work with all men, who not one has an empathetic cell in their bodies. 

I wish I could trade with them for one hour so they understand exactly how I feel instead of giving me death glares because I'm not moving fast enough.

I know for a fact, women are the stronger sex! Now I'm going to go cry in the bathroom :( Weekend recap will come later....

What I'm Reading, Stocking your Kitchen and Busy Weekend

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My most recent book. I know I'm behind, but working, going to school, having a bf, two dogs and a niece plus trying to have a life. I just don't have the time. Plain and simple :/ I'm in chapter 4. Started off slow, but it's really picking up.Maybe I'll finish it next week.

I'm combining a few subjects, forgive me now. At least I'm posting!

Last night, I had a small little bake-a-thon. I made the lovely

banana muffins

&

pumpkin cheesecake.

Also, my pot roast was quite good.

Anyways, while I was baking the cheesecake I ran out of 2 main ingredients (vanilla extract and sour cream) that are essentials in a baker's kitchen. So I decided to share with you all what the essentials of a baker's kitchen should be (according to me).

• Flour (50 lb. bag in my kitchen, thank you Costco!)
• Eggs (no less than 2 dzn)
• Sugar (or appropriate sugar substitute you know how to use)
• Milk (any variation 2%, whole, soy, etc)
• Lemon Juice (used to make buttermilk and used as an acid)
• Sour Cream (another acid and used for moistness)
• Cream Cheese (I add to anything from breads to mashed potatoes)
• Vanilla Extract (Good quality, not to be skimped)
• Brown Sugar 
• Almond Extract (I use in a pinch instead of Vanilla)
• Cooking Spray
• Baking Powder 
• Baking Soda 
• Salt 

I can probably make about 75% of my standard recipes from the above ingredients. With the holidays coming up I thought this would be a good reference guide for all you bakers out there :)

This weekend, the girls and I are celebrating my 24th birthday! It's not for 2 more weeks, but this is the only weekend this month that works for everyone's schedule. We're having my infamous skittles vodka and pudding shots. Pictures to come on Monday.

"If you find a book that looks interesting but is part of a series, do you always start with the first title?"

I have to start with Book 1. I have to know everything I can about the characters and don't want to miss anything or be lost. I hate starting something in the middle.

Too Happy not to Post

Not sure what was slipped in my coffee this morning, but give me some more! I feel super productive, when in reality I haven't done any more today than a normal day, but do I feel good :)
Also, shopping after work is getting me giddy. I'm also thinking of having a bake-a-thon tonight! Finally make some banana muffins.

YUMM-O

Wow, those look awesome. I also would like to bake this pumpkin cheesecake.

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 Substituting splenda of course.  I would also like to make cheddar and bacon scones. The perfect hangover food for Sunday morning :) Not sure how far in advanced I can make them though (and I need bacon).

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*wipes drool* As soon as I hit the door to the house, my beautiful pot roast is going to smell yummy. I have a couple books to read, a few shows on my DVR and some comfy pants to hang out in. Life is so much better happy :)

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