inner monologue-ing

I have started to constantly ask myself if the way I could act is necessary. Choices to be made, life affecting choices are coming my way more than ever. Well, at least I'm noticing these opportunities now rather than ignoring them as I did years ago. When I moved away from Louisiana (which I definitely regard in hind-sight as a stupid decision) I was still thinking off the cuff. It was shortly after the move (a very short two months after) that I realized it was a dumb decision that (at the point I realized this) could not be reversed. I had no choice but to make the best of my situation. I tried living the way I had in the past, and it got me nowhere fast. So I took stock of the people I knew, chose the ones who were good for me and went forward. Not all of my choices panned out, but I can honestly say that I have no hard feelings toward the totality of the people I called friends starting the year off in 2009. When I had to concede defeat to independence in Manhattan (KS) I was finally at a point where I could humble myself enough to ask for help from my parents. It was rough going after a while, but with help from my grandparents I was able to move out and get on some solid solo ground again. This was a little over a year ago, and I once again thought I would be able to pick up my carefree independence where I had left off in Louisiana. After just a few months I discovered that was not the case. I no longer found joy in the idea of, as they say down south, "Laissez le bon temps roulez" (Let the good times roll.) I found a routine and stuck to it, as best I could. I was lucky enough to find three jobs that worked within each other and slowly struck a successful note. It's been through that schedule, this last year, the positive changes made and friendships acquired that I've finally come to realize myself as an adult. Resulting in the eye and mind opening experiences of this last week. Twice I have been put into situations that came about completely out of the blue, and as I look back on them, have come out sparkling. Yeah, I know, that's not too humbling. And I'm aware that it may be too early to judge, but let me explain a bit further. I think a lot while I drive, and while I'm in the shower, and when I start to go to sleep. Lately I've been thinking a lot about where I am in regards to the rest of my life and relationships. I always say I don't want to get married. And I really don't. I have no plans to get married and I never have. I was never one of those little girls who planned her wedding, or picked out what kind of dress I wanted, or what names I would have for kids or anything like that. Recently, this singleness has made me sad. So sad that I've gotten myself into some really stupid relationships. Not that the guys were bad to me, or for me for that matter, but I really had no place being in any sort of resemblance of a relationship at all! And for that I apologize to those guys for wasting their time. So, back to my recent revelation. All my thinking lately has made me decide that I'm turning a leaf over. Here is my declaration. I'm no longer looking for Mr. Right, Mr. Right Now, OR Mr. Whatever. I've got a job with responsibilities to maintain, friends who are good to me AND for me that I want to be there for as well, and a life to cultivate. I have for too long been preoccupied with getting my kicks right now. I am officially becoming an old fart and saying no. I am only here to be your friend, and if you want more than that, please have the where-with-all to stop yourself and say no. There are plenty of great ladies out there who want to be with you, now and or forever, and I am not one of them. So fellas, let's be buddies. I'm good at that.

Let the title of this post be "An inner monologue that turned into a diatribe on singleness"

more veggie pasta experiments

I needed another quick lunch today, so I decided to go a more italian route.

I once again boiled a small amount of wheat linguine. I then seasoned a frying pan with olive oil, minced garlic and crushed red pepper. I opened a bag of frozen italian style veggies into the pan. After about a minute I added some thyme, basil and oregano. I tossed the veggies in that and then added about a teaspoon of honey, tossed the veggies some more then added a little italian dressing, tossed again. As I was waiting for the veggies to cook all the way through I opened my fridge and thought about what else I could add. I had some blackberries and raspberries that were about to spoil if I didn't use them soon, so I thought 'what the heck... I'll try it'. I put in a handful of the berries, stirred them about the mix a little then tossed the mix. The finished result was very tasty. The sweetness of the honey, dressing and fruit complemented the seasoning well. This was just a bunch of stuff from my kitchen thrown together off the cuff though. Now that I've tried them together, I think next time I'll make a glaze with the honey/dressing/fruit mix... possibly add some fruit jelly (apricot, orange marmalade) into the glaze.



The pic is a bit blurry, but you get the idea. You can see the seasoning and the berries all up in there. YUM!

mid-day quickness

Today I was contemplating what to eat... I boiled some noodles and decided to do some stir-fry with my own seasoning choices. I seasoned the pan with about a tablespoon and a half of sesame oil and garlic with some thyme. Then I added the veggies, just a stir-fry blend from the frozen section in the grocery store. I added a little more sesame oil and some hoisin sauce and put the veggies over the pasta. YUM!

Just a quick documentation. This was a yummy and easy lunch and I'm taking the rest for dinner at work.

Added bonus: it smells amazing!

still cooking

Yeah, I'm still cooking. February was quite hectic though. I did a lot of Crockpot-ing last month. Yesterday, however, I got back into my cookbook. I Made some Thai Cashew Chicken... it was delish! Good company shared it, and now the weekend is made.

On another note, I'm up for a promotion of sorts at one of my jobs. If I get it I'll have to quite the other two for the most part, but I'll be moving up in the company. I need to do some serious future looking in the next few weeks. Interviews start monday.

Then again, maybe I'll just move to Florida and hang out with my brother and his family. HAH I'm sure they'd love that!

Peace out.
LQM

as usual

Yes I'm still cooking, I just haven't been cooking a whole lot. Last week my boys got sick, and I got sick of pasta. I got the bug at precisely 2:30 in the morning on saturday before I had to go to work. I went back to bed and felt fine when 6 O'clock rolled around so I went to work, but I felt pretty puny for the next couple of days. Not to mention the fact that we went out to my parents house saturday night to have Christmas with my brother who has just returned from deployment with the Marines. Then sunday David's mom made some lunch so we headed out there. Lots of food for my poor tummy.

Monday I cooked my next pasta dish. I really only cooked it because it called for a lb. of ground beef and I had already bought it. Didn't want it to go to waste! However I guess it really didn't make a difference becuase I've only eaten the leftovers once and it's now thursday. Whatever.

I made dark chocolate chip cookies yesterday, so that's yummy! I missed the gym though (until yesterday) due to feeling yucky and crummy weather. By the way, this is the third day in a row that schools are cancelled but the first day it actually affects me! I think I may actually get my laundry done today!!!

So that's what's up. Sorry for the no updating. Also, since I'm so sick of pasta I think I'm going to change up my approach. I'm gonna go chapter by chapter... not recipe by recipe. We'll see how this works out.

yumyum
LQM

WEEK 2! restaurant pasta

Tonight was Spaghetti Carbonara. I'm going to be brutally honest about myself. I'm a bit of an idiot. I burned the bacon. And of course I only got enough for the one dish because I don't cook bacon that often so I had to go to the store to get more bacon. Now, the guy at the meat counter is kind of an idiot so for my second time around (which was during the after work shopping rush) I decided to bite the bullet and just get the pre-packaged bacon. Whatever.

Aside from that, this turned out great. Plus, yay because the bacon MADE the dish! Very flavorful and spicy.

Day 5: woot

No, I didn't post yesterday. Yes, I did cook. I had a very long day again and had company all night and another early morning.

Last night's meal was Linguine (again) with a Tuna red sauce. I'm still pretty drained from today so I don't really feel like going to check the actual name of the recipe.

It really turned out delicious! Yay, again.

I'm not 100% sure I'm going to cook this weekend, there's a lot going on. My oldest brother is back in town from his deployment with the Marines. Church is tonight. I joined a gym so I need to get at least one workout in this weekend (for my own good). We'll see.

And you know, if I do end up cooking the next recipe, I'll be posting. Keep your eyes peeled!

LQM