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2/9/09

AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

Okay, I've been out of the blogger loop for quite a while. I'm just so overwhelmed with wedding stuff right now. Anyone seen my countdown on this page??? 19 days people. Oh my god!! I'm leaving for Georgia in two weeks. The wedding's in 19 days and I'm not ready. How did that happen?

And to top it off, I got this brilliant idea to start an 'online thrift store'. So I've been trying to get that going but it's going to have to be put on hold. I just can't keep up with the wedding stuff, my daily stuff, and trying to start a business. Too much.

I will be posting lots of photos on here....maybe I'll add a 'slideshow' app.... when we come back from Georgia. Super excited to be taking my new Canon with. The city skyline and River Street. Not to mention the mansions and churches. Ohhhh, **sigh**. I can't wait. :)

1/21/09

Peapod

This past Sunday I ordered our entire week's groceries from Peapod.com! It was amazing!! You can load your list into the little widget and it guides you through the virtual aisles. You can sort the products by many different factors: price, unit price, and so on.



As if that weren't good enough, the products are priced just as they are in a store. So for a can of diced tomatoes, I paid $.89. Yeah, that's bodacious!!!



AAAAANNNNDDDD, the delivery is only $9.95 (gets lower if you buy more than $50 worth of groceries). This is so worth it to me for many reasons. First, I don't have to actually go to the store. I hate shopping. Second, when I do, I never can stick to my list, so I end up spending AT LEAST an extra $20. Plus, there's the gas factor too. I don't waste any gas... true our store is about a mile away, but still.



They now have a promotion going on for free delivery for 60 days after your first delivery. YEA!! The delivery man was so nice, he brought all of our groceries in, bagged and set them on the counter for us. It could not have been any easier!! Sunday morning, I was drinking my coffee reading my ad papers and my shopping was ALL done for the entire week. I didn't have to go anywhere!!



I seriously don't know why I didn't start doing this sooner.

Wedding Makeup Choices (REVISED), please help me choose!!!

Okay, I'm trying out some wedding makeup looks. I could really use some help choosing.


Here are the first three. The first two are kind of the same look, one is just a bit more intense. The third one is a little bit more purple-y.
We will be in Georgia in March, so it will be fairly warm, around 70 degrees. Here's a photo of me in the dress (still needs to be hemmed in spots) to help get a feel for what the makeup will look like against it:


Leave me a comment with which look you like best.
Choice A:




Choice B:

Choice C:

I've gotten behind...

I haven't blogged in quite a few days. There's been soooo much going on. My mom decided to throw me a bridal shower at the last minute (as in February 22, 3 days before I leave for Georgia). So we've been getting the invitations assembled, addressed, stamped, and such. Those all went out today! Yea! And they're so pretty. I'll take photos tomorrow and post them up here.

I have lots to blog about, it's just been very hectic around here.

1/16/09

Swiss Burgers

Easy and SURPRISE healthy too!! These are not Rachel Ray's recipe, they are my own. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup oatmeal uncooked
1 tsp. worstechire sauce
salt and pepper
2 TBS. Italian seasoning
1 15 oz. can chickpeas
2 TBS. olive oil
2 TBS.Garlic powder
8 slices swiss cheese
buns

Directions:
-In food processor, chop oatmeal until it resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
-In food processor, pulse chickpeas, olive oil, and 1 TBS. of olive oil until completely smooth.
-Combine ground beef and turkey, oatmeal, chickpea mixture, all seasonings, salt, and pepper, and worstechire in a large bowl. Mix well.
-Form into patties.
-Broil until desired doneness.
-Remove from broiler and place 1 slice of cheese on each patty.
-Toast buns in stove if desired and place patties on top.

Deconstructed Lasagna

Yum, this was easy, quick and of course Delicious. Courtesy of Mrs. Rachel Ray!!

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
1 pound long fulili
2 TBS. EVOO
1 pound ground beef sirloin
1 small carrot finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely grated or chopped
1 cup beef broth
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
A few leaves of basil, torn
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 TBS. butter
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
-Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
-Meanwhile, heat EVOO in a large skillet over edium heat. Add thae beef, crumbling into bits and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 ninutes. Add the carrot, onion, and garlic. Season ith salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are softened, 5 minutes. Stir in the beef broth, then the tomatoes and basil; simmer.
-In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta and parsley.
-Toss the pasta with the butter, then stir in the parmesan and meat sauce. Scoop the ricotta mixture into each of 4 shallow bwls, then top with the meaty pasta.

This was super easy to make. I substitted the butter used to toss the pasta with olive oil. Also, I used Smart Taste Rotini instead of fusili and added ground chickpeas and olive oil to the meat mixture.

1/15/09

Fiber One Muffin Mix Review

I’ve been trying to work more fiber into my family’s diet. Namely my oldest daughter, Angel. She has stomach problems and her doctor said that more fiber would help to alleviate this. So among some of the foods and other remedies we’ve been trying, I came across a new product at our grocery store. FiberOne muffin mix.
There are two flavors, Apple Cinnamon and Banana Nut. I picked up the apple cinnamon and crossed my fingers. When I got home, I made them immediately adding about ¼ cup of blueberry flavored ground flaxseed to the mixture. Before pouring them into muffin cups, I tested the batter (force of habit) and was genuinely shocked. It was DELICIOUS~~ So I poured the batter into the muffin tins and baked it according to the package directions. Once they were done and cool enough to eat, I tried one. Again I was floored…. Not only was the taste incredible, but they were MOIST. I just couldn’t believe it. The true vindication came when my picky-as-hell daughter Angel tried one and actually liked it. These babies contain a whopping 20% of the daily fiber suggestion!!! That’s great.

These were so good and not too bad, price wise. We’re going to try the banana nut next. I just wanted to share this with anyone out there who has the same problems as Angel. Her stomach gets blocked and she has such a hard time… but she’s so very picky about what she eats, it’s hard to make her eat healthy (see my Sneaky Ways to add Healthy Foods blog)

Sneaky Ways to add Healthy foods to your family's meals

All right, so my oldest daughter has been having BAD stomach problems lately. Actually, this has been an on and off thing for a while now. The doctor has told us repeatedly it is because of the way she eats. This of course, falls back to me. I fix dinner almost every night. But, I’m Italian. So, even though I’ve learned how to personally control eating the bad stuff…. Pasta, potatoes, bread, etc…. I haven’t quite mastered how to consistently shy away from cooking them for my family. My bad. So I’ve recently taken up preparing healthy dinners for my family along with the healthy lunches and breakfasts I was already making for myself.

I’ve found some really interesting (and admittedly delicious) ways to “sneak” healthy foods into the ones that I already make. So as not to cause a huge rebellion from my husband and kids.

Here are a few that I’ve tried with tons of luck! They actually went over big. Of course I didn’t tell any of them what was really in the food they were wolfing down, I just smiled to myself and watched as my family began the journey to healthy.

-Sloppy Joes-
My family LOVES ground beef. In pasta sauce, meatloaf, burgers, sloppy joes, you name it. Here’s an easy way to turn these otherwise not so healthy foods into ones you can be proud of.

For sloppy joes…. Forget the canned sloppy joe mix. Brown your lean ground beef in olive oil. Instead of all ground beef, use half ground turkey and half ground beef. To the browned meat, add ¼ cup ground flax seed and 1 pureed avocado (I place mine in the food processor with a bit of olive oil, garlic powder, and pepper). Mix well. Then add 1 small can tomato sauce and 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Mix well and heat through. Serve with whole wheat buns if desired and TADA! You’ve just made HEALTHY sloppy joes!!


-Sweet fruit Salad-

My kids actually love fruit, so I capitalize on this.
Mix peaches, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and grapes in a large bow. (I use frozen fruit, except for the grapes) In a small bowl, mix together 3 TBS. honey and the juice from half of a lime. Add a dash of cinnamon and 1 packet of Splenda. Pour over your salad and serve at room temperature.

-Pasta Sauce-

This is an easy one. Tomatoes are healthy by nature. You just have to make it homemade. It takes barely any more work than opening a jar and heating it. But the rewards are soooooo much better.

In a food processor, pulse 1 can chickpeas, 1 TBS. olive oil, garlic powder, and a dash of MRS. DASH until smooth. Heat 2 TBS. olive oil in a large pot. Saute ½ of an onion until they begin to carmelize. Add about 1 cup of red wine to this. Boil down for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 can of whole tomatoes to the pan. Let them heat through, then begin lightly smashing them down. Add 1 can tomato sauce and the chickpea mixture. Mix well to combine. Your sauce will be a bit light in color, so add another can of tomato sauce if desired. Season to taste with Italian Seasonings, garlic powder, and pepper. I add a packet of Splenda because we like our sauce not quite so tart. Serve this with Smart Taste Pasta of Whole Wheat pasta.

If you would like to see more of these easy healthy ideas, let me know. I have an eBook that has so many more ideas in it. I’d be happy to send it to you!!

1/14/09

Tilapia with Roasted Corn

Here's our recipe from this past Tuesday.

Tilapia:
Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. chili powder
salt
4 tilapia fillets
1 1/2 cup
1 lime cut into wedges

Directions:
-Preheat the broiler. In a small bowl, combine the mayo, chili powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
-Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with 1 tsp. of the mayo mixture.
-Place tilapia fillets in he baking dish and coat with the remaining mayo mixture.
-Top with the corn.
-Broil until the corn is lightly browned and the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
-Garnish with the lime.

Chickpea Salad:
Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 cucumber, diced
2 TBS. olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
-Heat oil in large pan.
-Add all ingredients.
-Saute about 5 minutes, stirring often.
-Remove from pan and place in bowl.
-Refrigerate until ready to serve.
(Best served cold, but can be eaten warm). Also delicious on a salad!!

1/12/09

Lean, Mean Meatloaf

Okay, as mentioned in my Menu Plan Monday post, here is the recipe for:

MONDAY"S recipes

Meatloaf:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup oats
1 red onion, quartered
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 TBS. Olive oil
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 egg + 1 egg white
salt and pepper
6 TBS. parmesan cheese

-Pulse oats in food processor until they have a crumb-like texture. Set aside in large bowl.
-Place onion in processor and pulse until finely diced.
-Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, cook, stirring until soft. About 5 minutes.
-Place diced tomatoes in processor. Pulse until mostly smooth.
-Combine tomatoes (reserving about 1/2 cup), egg, egg white, parmesan, salt and pepper, and ground beef with crumbled oats. Mix very well.
-Add onions to mixture. Combine well.
-Pat into 9x9 baking pan. Top with remaining 1/2 cup tomatoes.
-Bake, at 375 for about 45-50 minutes.

I topped ours with a little mozzerella at about 40 minutes. Let it melt and then placed it in the broiler for a minute to golden brown it. Yum!

Papaya Salad with Honey Lime Dressing:

Ingredients:
-Papaya
-Peaches
-Blueberries
-Blackberries
-Strawberries
-Grapes
2 TBS. honey
Juice from 1/2 of a lime
1 tsp. cinnamon

-Place all fruits in large bowl.
-Mix well.
-In small bowl, combine, lime juice, honey, and cinnamon.
-Pour over fruits and combine well.

1/9/09

Menu Plan Monday



I'm taking my inspiration from THE Mrs. Rachel Ray this week. I'm a subscriber to her magazine (hell, I'm a subscriber to A LOT of magazines) and there were some DELICIOUS looking recipes this week. So, without further ado:

Monday-Lean Mean Meatloaf, Papaya salad with honey lime dressing, Mashed garlicky cauliflower


Tuesday-Tilapia with roasted corn crust, chickpea salad, baked corn fritters


Wednesday-Deconstructed Lasagna, Honey flax bread


Thursday-Swiss Burgers with Baked Zucchini Chips


Friday- Inside out Pizza rolls, Peach and Berry salad


Saturday-Fried Chicken roll-ups, Strawberry salad with honey lime dressing, salsa and whole wheat pitas


Sunday- Greek Chicken Salad and Garlic Cottage Fries

Dealing with the office Bitch

I love my job. For many reasons, one being that it reminds me sooo much of when I was head chef and shift manager at a popular chain restaraunt, we'll call it CB. Of course, what I do now is not even in the same industry as food service. I am an executive assistant to the Human Resource Manager in a major Medical Billing Firm. However, my job is a lot like my shift manager job in that I am well known (in an office of over 100 people, everyone knows me), well liked, and most importantly, well respected and looked up to. Aside from that, I feel like I am very good at what I do. Probably because I like it so much.



But here's the thing. There's this woman, let's call her KB, who I swear not only hates me, but is out to tear my carreer down. She is very condescending and rude. I've tried being rude back, but that's just not in my nature. I can't do that. And I don't want to get that kind of reputation.



I looked up some articles online on dealing with people like this. One in particular had me laughing with it's gentle humor but it also struck true. It's a very good article. It says that (and this is something that my pyscaitrist told me of my mother-in-law) some people simply are not capable of 'normal' socially acceptable behaivor. It goes on to explain why this happens (scary) and how to deal with it.



Personally, I'm thinking of putting my whole dog/personal space theory to the test. Not sure what my boss would think when KB tells on me though. Hmmmm.

Truthfully, I need to handle this professionally, but it's getting out of hand. I'm going to be 29 in about 2 weeks. This woman treats me as if I'm an incompetent 13 year old. I am neither and I'm not willing to take her shit anymore.

Does anyone have any more suggestions?


1/8/09

Are humans really that bad???

In a typical week, I visit our local Dunkin Doughnuts about once or twice. They know me there.... I always order an extra large coffee with extra cream and 7 splendas and either a blueberry cake doughnut (I know so bad for me but it's my once - or twice - a week indulgence) or a bagel.

The man at the window always has a big smile and a "How are you today?" for me. Today I drove through and ordered my usual (coffee and doughnut) and was instructed to pull around, which I did. Unfortunately by the time I'd gotten to the window, I'd uncharacteristically decided I wanted an order of hashbrowns, too. So, after telling the drive-up window guy this and apologizing for being a pain in the ass, he kindly asked me to pull around to wait. I did this of course, thinking "I don't want to hold the line up."

My hashbrowns only took an extra minute or so. One of the other clerks came out to bring them to me and before I could get another "I'm sorry" out, he started apologizing to me. He appologized for asking me to pull around. That got me thinking... are most other people just such jerks that they would have required the apology from this nice man? Would other people have been put out by the fact they were asked to 'pull around'? I mean, it was me being a pain in the ass, so of course I pulled around. I didn't feel like the guy was in the wrong for asking me at all!

It makes me wonder about where the human race is heading. I try so hard to teach my children to be humble, compassionate, and honest people. Am I alone in that? Good god, I hope not.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

1/6/09

Free eBook

Hey everyone! I just wrote an eBook. The premise is a month's worth of healthy, easy, DELICIOUS meals all rolled into one book. This book is focused solely on dinner items. My next one will be breakfast, then lunch.

If you're interested in receiving one absolutely free (no strings attached):

-add yourself to my followers list
-email me at amberavon1@yahoo.com

I will send the eBook directly to you, FREE! I'm just trying to get it out there.

Thanks all. ;)

Personal Space

Has anyone ever noticed how dogs have NO sense of personal space???

Take our dog, Violet for example. She'll just come right up to you and stick her big long sausage dog nose right in your face. And leave it there. Or worse, start kissing you. It's nothing for her to try to slip someone the tongue. :)
What if that was socially acceptable human behaivor? I tried it this mornigng on my mom.... she wasn't too happy. But wouldn't that be a good tactic to get on someone's nerves who you couldn't actually tell off but wanted to??? Think of what would happen if I went up to my mother in law and stuck my face under her chin. What would she do? At least she'd have something real to talk about then instead of making stuff up. :)
Well, regardless of personal space or not, we love our Violet-dog. What's not to love? She's happy to see us always, knows to curl up by my legs when I'm reading and never talks bad about us... even if we do stick our nose in her face. :)
Violet Bass

Cranberry Bars

Okay, as promised, here are the delicious Cranberry Bars that I made the other night.

Here's the easy recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Cranberry 'sauce' ingredients:
1 bag cranberries (fresh)
about 1/4 cup sugar
1 TBS. vanilla extract
2 TBS. water
Directions:
-In medium saucepan, combine 'cranberry sauce ingredients'.
-Bring to a low boil until cranberries begin to pop.
-Physically mash the cranberries a little bit. You should see a sauce starting to form.
-Continue to 'low boil' for a few minutes until sauce is thick and still coarse.
-Remove from heat and let cool.
-In medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy.
-Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended.
-Add flour, beating until JUST blended... it will be crumbly, that's ok.
-Reserving 1 cup dough, press remaining dough firmly into a lightly greased 9"x9" baking pan.
-Spread cranberry sauce on top evenly.
-Sprinkle reserved dough evenly over the top.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 28 minutes or until golden.
-Cool completely on wire rack.

1/4/09

FIVE

I saw this in Sarah's post and couldn't resist reposting it... customized to my taste, of course. This is just too good. :)

These are in no particular order.... Five things I suck at:
1. Accepting Dave's family and ex-wife
2. Saying "no"
3. Focusing on just one thing at a time
4. Making friends
5. Having patience

Five things I'm good at:
1. Cooking
2. Dancing
3. Loving my husband
4. Reading
5. List-making

Five random things about me:
1. I have one brother.
2. I have an extrememly soft heart for dogs.
3. I'm mildly obsessive compulsive (in a good way).
4. I have big plans and not ever enough time to accomplish them all.
5. I've watched the Friends series (the whole thing) 6 times (I own it).

Five things I will not do:
1. Party like a rockstar.
2. Quit trying to 'do it all'.
3. Easily admit when I'm wrong.
4. Give up my love of Georgia.
5. Stop loving my husband.

Five people I have to talk to:
1. Dave
2. Angel
3. Alexis
4. Mom
5. Dad
6. James (yeah, I know.... that's 6)

Five places I'd like to go:
1. Georgia (home, for good)
2. New York
3. Italy
4. Fiji
5. Georgia (haha)

Five celebrity boyfriends:
1. Matthew McConaughey
2. Tim McGraw
3. Brad Pitt
4. Kid Rock
5. Johnny Depp

Five things that annoy me:
1. People who think the wold owes them everything (Dave's family and ex-wife)
2. When you email/call someone and they don't email/call back.
3. Drunks
4. When I clean the house and an hour later it's a disaster again.
5. When I can't figure out what to make for dinner.

Five things that scare me:
1. Flying
2. The thought being without Dave
3. The dark
4. Ghosts
5. German Sheppards

Five things I cannot live without
1. Dave
2. My daughters
3. Pasta
4. Books
5. My computer

Menu Plan Monday

Okay, this is my first 'official' Menu Planning Monday. I actually do this every week, but on paper. I found this great site, Orgjunkie.com that does a link up to like a billion people who do this electronically.

I've not been feeling the greatest today, so I'm only going to post partial info for right now. Tomorrow I will have it completed and with recipe links!!

Monday- (I cheated) Takeout Pizza :(

Tuesday- Bacon, Tomato Bagel Melts (thanks Laura, these sound DELICIOUS!!), kicked up salad, and Homemade Mac n Cheese

Wednesday- Inside out tacos, spanish rice, and sister-in-law dip

Thursday- Black forest Reubens, Homemade potato chips, hummus and grapes

Friday- Pork Chop Balsamico, corn salad, hawaiian rolls, baked potatoes

Saturday- Filet mignon in wine sauce, double baked potatoes, broccoli au gratin

Sunday- Stuffed shells, homemade garlic bread, kicked up salad, white chocolate pudding

I'll post recipe links tomorrow everyone. Check back for them and more posts. I made this AWESOME cranberry bar the other night and just haven't had the energy to post the recipe on here. So that will be up as well as a few more little things. :)