Category: Food

Wet Rats

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This morning we headed to Target on the frozen roads to buy a ham. Joe got one for free from work but it was so big we didn’t have enough room in the fridge so after taking it out of the freezer we let it defrost in the garage. Then I read doing it that way could have allowed bacterial growth, and while I may not be getting any presents, I certainly don’t want food poisoning for Christmas. So we went from planning on having a 25 lb ham to a 7.5 lb one which is why I’m not cooking it until tomorrow. Originally we were going to have it today, tomorrow, and Saturday, but the new ham is much too small to last three days and I’m sure the kids would like some too.

After Target we made a big breakfast, then laid around the house until mid afternoon when we finally took our showers. Then we gave the rats a bath and cleaned the bathrooms. Now I’m doing laundry. I feel better when I’m productive.

I love giving the rats a bath because afterward Templeton will sit in my lap and let me dry, pet, and massage him. He really enjoys it – it’s the only time I’ve seen him eye bloggling.

Thanksgiving and Party Planning

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Thanksgiving was very low-key this year. We didn’t go to my parents’ or have the kids so it was just Joe and me.

We roasted a Target turkey breast and made all our faves – this super yummy sweet potato recipe I came across a few years ago and make every year without fail, green bean casserole, crescent rolls, suddenly salad (the blt one), stuffing, and scalloped potatos. Along with that we had cottage cheese and cranberry sauce (which I was not digging this year for some reason).

By the time the turkey was done it was 4 pm so we stuffed our faces while watching a movie we rented – Four Christmases (which wasn’t that great).

After dinner was ready I threw a Sara Lee apple pie in the oven and we ate that a few hours later.

Friday morning while I was cleaning out the roasting pan, I discovered the magic of Scotch-Brite sponges. It says they can scratch surfaces so I’ve never bothered with them before even though I owned some that I must have bought years ago.

It was driving me crazy how dirty this pan had gotten with stuff that would not come off so I tried the Scotch-Brite and was amazed how with a little elbow grease I could get it looking like new. Then I read the package and realized I could remove all the burned on gunk from the stove burners too so I tackled that next.

At that point I figured I might as well clean the inside of the oven too which I will admit I’ve never done before. We’ve had the stove for a few years now so you can only imagine how dirty it had gotten. I couldn’t even see inside it through the window anymore! Joe kept trying to tell me all stoves are self-cleaning which, while skeptical, I actually believed.

I had purchased some Oven Off a month ago so I followed the directions and sprayed that in the oven after I had pre-heated it (and subsequently turned off first, of course). Oh what a smell! I had to open the windows to stop us from choking to death. I bet that stuff would make a great weapon against an intruder. Everyone should keep a can of Oven Off by their bedside.

It took me a good three hours to thoroughly clean the oven. The gunk actually came off easily but it took a long time to remove all the Oven Off residue. During that process I touched the oven’s lightbulb with the sponge which caused it to explode. Luckily my head wasn’t in the oven at the time so when the glass came shooting out I wasn’t hit in the face!

What a process! I never anticipated it taking that long, but I’m proud to announce my oven looks brand new now. I never realized you could clean it that well. I stupidly thought once certain stuff got on it that it was impossible to remove. I feel rather silly now, but at least I know better!

Friday afternoon we picked up the kids and had another Thanksgiving dinner with them. I made regular mashed potatos and corn that morning just for them which they loved. I was already tired of hot turkey, so I made a turkey sandwich instead which I got addicted to and ended up having twice a day for the rest of the weekend (including breakfast on Saturday).

We didn’t do any Black Friday shopping unless you count the comforter and knives set I bought online from Carson’s. Oh, and in the afternoon I ran to Target for something for one of the kids (don’t want to say what in case they’ve found this blog). Ok, so I guess I did do some Black Friday shopping but not in the sense that I went out at a ridiculous early hour to battle a sea of crazy people for the latest deal. Target was pretty busy at 4 pm though. I’ve never seen it so crowded and disorganized before.

Saturday we took the kids to the movies. Joe and K saw Twilight New Moon while E and I saw Planet 51. I was rather disappointed in the movie. It wasn’t nearly as good as I was expecting but E liked it so that’s good.

Sunday we did a bunch of shopping in preparation for our annual holiday party which is this Saturday. I consulted last year’s notes and here’s the spread so far:

Dinnerware:

Styrofoam mult-section plates
Red styrofoam bowls
Red plastic cups
Clear plastic silverware

Beverages:

Coke
Pepsi
Diet Pepsi
7-Up
Dr. Pepper
Sunkist
Miller Beer
Mixed drinks to order

Food:

Veggie Tray (Olives, Celery, Carrots, and Cucumber) w/ Ranch Dip
Crackers and Cheese (Cheddar, Swiss, and Monterey Jack)
Shrimp Cocktail
Italian Stuffed Jalapenos
Totino’s Cheese Pizza Rolls
Chicken Wings w/ Blue Cheese Dressing
Chips w/ Onion Dip
Fritos w/ Onion Dip
Tortilla Chips w/ Salsa
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Homemade)

I hope that is enough. I wasn’t planning on baking cupcakes or a pie because I noticed they weren’t eaten last time. I do plan on getting tons of celery, though, because we actually ran out last year. I “make” good celery. How is that even possible, you ask? Well, I cut very thin strips which I think makes it easier to eat. There’s nothing I hate more than a huge piece of celery with a little dip on it. You can’t double-dip at a party so there’s a better dip to veggie ratio if you make the veggie pieces smaller. Yes, there is a method to my madness.

Dirty Rat

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So another weekend comes to a close and there’s a ton of stuff I thought about doing but didn’t. Typical pipe dreams when you’re at work thinking about how great the weekend is going to be and then it gets there and you don’t have the motivation to do squat. I really want to get back into shape but for some reason today I felt incredibly exhausted even though I got a good 8 hours of sleep both nights. WTF?

Yesterday we took the kids garage-saling which was mostly a bust. Nothing real good although K and I each got a purse for $1. I was even more excited about my find when I looked it more closely after getting home and found it came from New York & Co.

K wasn’t in the mood to do much yesterday and since it was her birthday weekend (her actual birthday was the 19th), we let her choose what to do which was sit at home on Facebook. Teenagers! LOL! She’s 15 now so I can hardly blame her. She wasn’t even in the mood to shop with the money and gift card she was given. So it was a pretty lazy day.

This morning we ran errands and then contemplated what to do for fun. Couldn’t really think of anything and since we were both feeling run down we ended up just having lunch at Sonic (strawberry limeade = yum) and then coming back home and taking a nap. I know, how lazy can you get!?

After that we gave the rats a bath. I bought ferret shampoo at Petsmart and while neither rat was happy about it, we managed to get them a bit clean. Let’s put it this way – the water was darker when we were done. I didn’t use nearly as much shampoo as I should have, but this was their first bath so I wanted to ease them into it. Templeton was really enjoying being rubbed down (dried with the towel, pretty much) and was doing this chattering and eye-bulging thing that rats do when they are happy/content. Even Nutterbutter, who really isn’t a fan of being petted or picked up, let me pet him after his bath. Then they got treats of grapes (with the skin peeled off). I’m hoping that they will associate the massages and treats with the bath experience and come to enjoy it. We’ll see since I plan to give them a more proper bath next weekend as they still are smelly.

Indiana Beach

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Yesterday was our annual visit to Indiana Beach. We mixed things up this year by choosing a weekday which was a good move since even though they waived the admission (normally $2.50), they raised the wristband prices from $23 to $27, but we had a BOGO (buy one get one free) coupon valid Mon-Thur for the combo ride/waterpark pass which is $30. The coupon was only valid for one wristband, but they also have the same BOGO promotion if you bring in any Coke product so we only paid for two wristbands but got four. We didn’t use the waterpark portion of the wristband but overall between the free parking and admission, it was still cheaper than last year.

We got there around 2 pm and the free parking lot was pretty dead. I guess Mondays are good days as it was less crowded than when we’ve gotten there first thing on a Saturday. Plus the weather was beautiful – only 78 and a bit cloudy so we weren’t sitting in the sun all day.

Amazingly, E went on three roller coasters with Joe. He’s become quite the adrenaline junkie. I think his recent visit to Great America with his school’s band might have started that. And they say peer pressure is a bad thing. ;)

He even went on the Falling Star which used to be my favorite ride when I was a kid. Alas, my stomach hurt yesterday so I barely went on any rides at all. But I got my tacos that I talk about every year (and who even have an entry over at Yelp!), so I can’t complain. And if you follow me on Twitter you’ll see that I was posting tweets while the kids were on the rides. I think they went on the swings at least eight times each. It’s by far their favorite ride.

We left the park a little after 8 pm and got home around 9:30 pm our time (the park is in the Eastern time zone). Everyone had a sandwich and then retired to their respective rooms to watch tv. I managed to get in an episode of my new favorite show, The Big Bang Theory, before passing out on the couch. All in all, a pretty good day.

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During the ride to the park we were Googling info on Indiana Beach and I found out why they painted the skyride last year and raised prices – they are under new management as of February 2008. It’s kind of sad – the same family owned and operated the park since its inception in 1926. Luckily the management change hasn’t affected the quality of the park. In fact, it seems less run-down than before. I also noticed the ride operators seem more attentive to everyone’s safety, so as far as I’m concerned the increase in prices is worth it.

We’ll definitely be going again on a weekday to save money and not have to wait in long lines. We might only have a few years left before the kids would rather go to Great America anyway.

Sweet Relief

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It’s so sweet that my husband allows me to verbally abuse him in order to blow off steam after a frustrating day at work (which lately seems to be every day). He is very understanding when I end up snapping at him due to the irritation that builds up all day; then I come home and he’s the only one around to lash out at.

Tonight he took it in stride and even took me to the mall so I could get some retail therapy. $40 later I had a cute powder blue hoodie from Kohl’s, and a bracelet, necklace, and lightweight cardigan from New York & Company. I feel much better now!

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Hey, did anyone else get their coupon from Mars for the Real Chocolate Relief Act? I’ve been going to the site every Friday and yesterday I got two of the three coupons I requested. They are good until August 21st but I doubt they’ll last long. Chocolate is a nice stress reliever.