Alopecia Sucks Update…. bummer

His hair started to come back.  

It apparently is on a 4 month schedule.

Well here's is the beginning of the next  round

These photos are right before we went to Studio Boom to get it shaved.

He left just a little in the front so that when he wears his hat , there is a bit of fringe in the front.

The third picture is the worst.

It is the first time it has started to fall out all connected istead of patches.

He tries to not be efected by it.  Plays the tough guy, but his grades are starting to reflect other wise.

It's hard to watch and not try to micro manage.

16 years old…it should be about making out and goofing off.

Not worrying about if your hat will stay on.

Veggie Pot Pies with Olive (the kid)

 So we decided to make some good hearty food for the -1 degree weather we finally got here in Colorado.  It was cold and I wanted Pot Pie.  I wanted the kind that comes in the cardboard box from when I was young.  The peas were bright green and the carrots unnaturally orange, but to me….ohhhh so good.

I searched for recipes but most were meat, or vegetarian and way too complicated, I mean, I don't want bok choy or fennel in my pot pie.  I just want yummy, thick, burn your mouth pot pie.

I took the best recipes I could find and used the basics then went ol' free form on it.

Here's the pics…(the recipe will be below)

 Get your stuff together.  Fresh chopped, but feel free to use frozen…I'm not eating it, you are.

Saute, have the kids help…more likely to eat/try it.

This looks like…well, I'm guessing if you are still reading this you know what it looks like.

It taste good, I swear.

Olive..helping.

 Make your own crust if you want, but I had 2 in the freezer.

Each pie crust (cut one…ball up and re roll) makes 2 tops.

Plop them on…brush some cream/milk on top

they don't need to be perfect…they are "rustic"

Don't forget to poke holes

Done…and HOT.mmmmmm

Recipe (give or take)  

3 large carrots chopped

3 potatoes cubed 

1 Cup frozen peas 

1 onion chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

1 container of button mushrooms

(feel free to use whatever you want, but this is POT PIE NORMAL)

1 box (15 oz) veggie broth

3 T. flour

Butter (yes butter)

Milk or cream

2 frozen pie shells thawed but kept cool in fridge.

sage, thyme, salt  and pepper

white vinegar

preheat oven to 350

use dutch oven or heavy bottomed sauce pot

Add butter, let melt.  add onion, sautee until translucent.  add celery and carrots, sautee for about 5 minutes until cooked al dente.  Add mushrooms and potatoes.  Now add the flour and 3T butter stir over medium heat for about a minute or so, turn the heat down if you need to.  Don't burn the flour!  just cook it until it gets kind of gloppy and coats everything.  Don't panic, It looks bad but just keep going.

 At this point I added enough veggie broth to make it look like filling.  I believe I used the entire box.  

The broth will start to thicken due to the flour.  I then added about a 1/2 C of milk/cream.

as the filling cooks it should thicken.  If it thickens too much add more milk or broth or water, watever you have.  Turn the heat down to low and add the peas….mmmmm peas. 

Now season with the seasonings to taste.  Please taste it.  Your tongue will know what it needs.

It should look about like that gross picture up there.

I turned the heat off and let it sit.

I had 4 new bowls I got from Target Home section at $1.37 a piece on sale.  They were a little big for the average kid, but Ilin, Bobby and I thought it was an ok size.  they probably hold 2 cups.

Throw what ever oven proof container over the pie shell, cut out with about an inch extra. Set aside.  Do this for all 4 dishes.  I had to re roll the dough and cut again.

Put the dishes on a cookie sheet to save you a mess.

Take a ladle and put the filling into each cup.  I left about 3/4 inch from the top.  Put the crusts on top of each dish and pinch it at the top, around the bowl edge.  Be fancy if you want, but these little buggers are impressive no matter what you do.  

brush with a little bit of milk (makes them shiny)

Poke holes in top for venting.  I put each persons initial on theirs.

cook for 45 minutes.

Take out and let sit for 10-15 minutes

Enjoy!

(be careful, they are atomic hot)

have a salad on the side to balance.

PS: if you want to make these vegen…I don't know.  sorry  If you want to add meat.  add rotisserie chicken or precooked chicken.  ( I did that for Bobby)

write ya later 

m

spread the love

365 days give or take 1/12/13 & 1/13/13

Boys will be boys.

Smells like Teen Spirit…

Or Something

365 days, look a shoulder

Sorry for the non makeup look but I have a shoulder.  Barely.

But that thing poppin there, it's an actual muscle, and with the correct lighting it would look great.

There is also a bicep but with the pasty skin it just doesn't POP like it should.  

I'm not trying to be super woman here, I'm just trying to show you the 40's aren't so bad.

Jillian Michaels and I have an understanding in my basement.

I show up for the 30 minutes and try not to quit and she will continue to tell me, "you can do ANYTHING for one minute"  which I scoff at and call her a C#*@, and continue to carry on.

Because feasibly, you really should be able to do anything for one minute, and even though I am all by myself, except for Eddie, in the basement…I don't want Jillian or Eddie to think I'm a quitter.

I also want to acknowledge that I had a wine last night at bday dinner and then at knitting the night before….so, now I have to start my clean slate over…it's not quitting it's just a hitch in my giddy up …and for the record, my giddy up is a little saggy so the hitch doesn't always hitch properly.  

But it's pretty good…trying to sober up all alone, with Jillian yelling at me, a sick kid, a teen boy who is shedding like a malamute in Georgia heat, and a husband who has taken up space on the couch and the garage.

It's all good.

It's allllll good

xo,

m

Ps spread the word…

40 is hot, and not in a cougar kinda way…

In a smart, I've been there kind a way.

The 40's rock, just earlier…and usually on the couch

365 days of my so called life

16 years ago,

this happened.

Happy Birffday, Bubba

love

m

365 days of my life

Pistol Packin Mamma part 1

I'm so frightened of guns I can hardly stand having a gun in the room…or house, or anywhere around me, unless it is strapped to an officer or military personel.
With that said I headed out to complete one of my bucket list check offs.  I realize many people have shot guns.
BANG!!! hit a plate
BANG…hit a watermelon….
drink some Schlitz…
PING….hit a Schlitz can.
That is the norm, but I'm not always normal.  I shot a shotgun ONCE in my life.
I was 10 years old or so, and my redneck hunting brothers said, "here, shoot this rifle".  There was no gun safety, I'm pretty sure there were people all over.
"Where do I shoot it?"
"Just aim down the dirt road and shoot."
Hindsight is amazing.  Aim down the road and shoot….seemed perfectly A-OK back then.  Who gives a shit if a car is coming.  This is redneckville Florida, they probably have bullet proof windows.

I remember the weight of the rifle.  Not a clue in my mind as to what I was doing.  KABaaaaAAAm!
Rifle UP…
Ass on the ground
Hysterical laughter from the brothers and
the screaming of me " I'M TELLING MOMMMMMM!"  It took at least 2 weeks for the bruise to fade.

It has been many years, and my fear of guns has never faded.  I'm very serious about not having guns around.  They scare the shit out of me.  With that in my back pocket I set out to conquer one part of my bucket list: To learn how to really shoot a gun…really, like if someone was after me, I could Angelina Jolie their ass and curve that bullet right into their head, looking all sexy and stuff. .. so I headed to the Defensive HandgunTraining of Colorado…without a gun and without a damn clue.

 Up to this weekend I had never had a gun in my hand, except for the rifle at 10.  I picked up an airsoft gun a few months ago and shot 2 shots then started demanding, "Everyone be careful…You can put a goddamn eye out with that thing!!!!"  Ruining the party that was so much fun 7 minutes ago.
I signed up and recieved a list of the equipment to bring to class.  First on the list:  150 rounds of 9mm shot.   Hmmmm . The List suggested I head to Walmart (of course it did).  This, on its own, is a nightmare for me.  I go to Walmart as often as I buy ammo or shoot a gun…But, I put my big girl panties on, checked myself in the mirror to make sure I wouldn't end up on "People of Walmart" and headed out.  I arrived at the 3rd World Country Parking Lot, parked where my car wouldn't get dinged, opened the car door, checked the ground outside my door for melted chocolate churros, gum, or vomit…and carefully made my way inside to the "sporting goods" section.
Pre Walmart, a friend had clued me in," They won't sell you Ammo if you wear a bra." (thanks Kelli)
So, I was hoping Mr Eighteen Zitty would not notice I had a bra on because I needed this stuff for my class.
I had to wait in line because apparently the ammo counter is the busiest place within Walmart, short of the $4 prescription counter and the Icee machine.  Mr Zitty looked at me and I stood up tall ,without giving away the bra fact and said, "Bullets, please."
"Um, yeah….what kind?"
"For a gun…I'm taking a class"
silence….dumb look….me, shuffling a bit….
"Wait, a minute, here…I have a list."
I hand him my neatly folded list, with nothing checked off.
As I hand it over I wonder, is this the list of a serial killer?  Shit!  No, this is Walmart, they are good with this stuff.  I watch Mr. Zitty….He does not appear to reach his hand under the counter to hit a special button.  I relax a bit.  He acknowledges the list with a small nod.
"Ok, cool.  How many you want?"
"I don't know, how do they come?"  I think to myself, do they come in packs of 3 or do you buy 1 bullet at a time?
The guy behind me starts making weird noises.  "look, I DON'T know.  What do you think?  How much are they?"  He starts pulling out boxes of 9mm shot, explaining what they do, what they are good for and the price. He never once mentions what they will kill.   "jeeeeesus, just give me the cheapies and give me 3 boxes. "  I turn around and smile at the guy behind me who apparently is irritated.
"52$"
I pay and think how that is not too much for 3 boxes of bullets. I walk out of the store feeling weird.  Like I have commited a crime, but I haven't.  I glance at my list.  It says I need a gun belt and glasses.  I'm not going back in there, no way.  I'm all ready in the parking lot…groovy cool belt and Chanel shades will have to work.
I get to my car and throw the bullets in the side seat.  I start the car and glance over.  Hmmm.  I turn the car off, grab the bag, then put the bullets in the back of the car. You know, just in case they implode, better chance of survival…plus I have a 6 pack of beer in the back seat if I get pulled over the beer, Walmart bag, and 3 boxes of bullets are not what I want on my first criminal record.
Home safely, I unpack everything and leave it on the kitchen table.  All day I walk by it thinking about how bad ass I am.  I have bullets on the table.
"It wasn't me".  I come down the stairs to see the teen in the kitchen holding a box of bullets.
"put those down! you might drop them!"  he laughs and puts them back on the table, "Why, you don't really think they will blow up do you?"  "of course not, just don't touch them….they are for my class"
"Cool, what are you shooting?"
"Damnit Ilin, I don't know…just put them down, you are making me nervous"
"ok, Ok…tell them you want to shoot Zombies."
I put the bullets back in the bag and then decide to put them back into the back of the car.  Locked.
I'm never going to make it to this class.
Yeah, shoot Zombies.  perfect.
Little did I know…Zombies.

…to be continued

New Year's and Green Juice

Happy New Year, 2013.  I slept right through it.  I did wake at 11:58, just in time to hear a few gunshots ,then right back to sleep.  

Today we started the day with cleaning of the teen's room.  2 hours of inhaling his dead skin flakes ,lost hair, and forcing him to part with clothes he has had since 7th grade.  He was finally able to sit in a clean area and start the New Year fresh.

We lounged about in our jammies, read, played the ukeleles and knit.  It was glorious.

In order to keep with the spirit ofthe new year we had our daily juice., which I am going to share .

it is kale, apple and carrot

Even the kids will drink that one.

It's a good way to get dark green veggies in.

so far this year, Life is good

xo,

m