A Stat Hound’s Woe

Posted by goodoldgirl

So, I all but ignore my blog for a few days and what happens? Not a thing!

No one (well, hardly anyone) visits my blog for days – and days – and days.

What gives? Do I have to write a new post every day? Really?

So many books. So little time!

Can’t do it. Got too many other things to do! For example …

Reading: my stack of books-to-read is growing, and growing
I need to fill out my 1040 – yep, I pushed it to the edge this year (haven’t even started)
Work, work, work, work, work
Emmie and Ollie (my cats): they need some attention soon or they’re going to blackball me out of the family (caught them in a corner whispering the other day, nothing good can come from that)
My garden: pitifully small as it is, I still had to take a big chunk out of last Saturday to clean it up and get it ready for Spring planting (that’s assuming Spring ever comes back, been pretty chilly here the last few days)
House cleaning: nah, that one won’t fly
Sore ankle? oh, never mind

So, have I convinced you that I’ve got a lot on my plate?

Speaking of plates, it’s time to fix dinner.

AACK!

Let me think. What’s in the fridge?

I know! I can make Good Old Girls Shrimp Fried Rice and broccoli with cheese sauce. Only takes about 40 minutes! Here’s how:

1 Box of Frozen Broccoli with Cheese Sauce (I like Green Giant)
1/2 Pound of small shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1 Bag Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Boil-in-Bag Brown Rice
2 eggs
2-4 Tbsp. Butter or Margarine
1-2 Tbsp. Finely Chopped Onions (can use dried if you don’t have fresh onions)
Garlic Salt (as much as you can stand)

Follow directions on box for frozen broccoli. Green Giant requires 12 minutes in boiling water – on each side.

When you turn over the broccoli, put the rice in a pan of boiling water per instructions on box. If using Uncle Ben’s, takes about 12 minutes to cook.

Good Old Girls Shrimp Fried Rice

Melt butter in saute pan, add onions, add eggs and scramble in pan (chop into small bits while scrambling), add garlic salt to taste. When eggs are done, add shrimp, stir and let simmer. When rice is done, drain and add to egg and shrimp mixture. Mix well. Serve with broccoli and bread of your choice. (I like the Wheat Bolillois from the Walmart bakery. They freeze nicely and are easy to heat in the oven.)

Serves two to four, depending on how hungry you are.

Yum!

PS: My daughter loved this when she was a kid.

What’s up with lemonade?

Posted by goodoldgirl

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”

Why?

I mean, I get it — turn something sour or bitter into something sweet — but why lemonade? Why not lemon meringue pie? Or lemon ice box pie? Or Kool-Aid for that matter, if liquidity is essential?

Lemonade is okay. Not my favorite beverage, but if someone fixes it I’ll drink it, if it doesn’t have a pound of sugar in it. But, what possessed whoever first spouted that phrase to use lemonade as a metaphor for turning hardship into a piece of cake or bad luck into good fortune.

And, while we’re on this topic, what’s with using the phrase “it’s a piece of cake” to describe something that’s easy to do? Why not just come right out and say it’s easy?

Are we so enamored, as a species, of our literary capabilities that we can’t just call a spade a spade?

Oops, there’s another one!

What’s for dinner?

Posted by goodoldgirl

I should be fixing myself something for dinner right now but it’s one of those nights when I just can’t figure out what I want. You know what I mean?

Nothing strikes me as the least bit appetizing and, besides, my cat Emily is sitting between me and the keyboard purring up a storm. I don’t want to upset her apple cart but I am beginning to get hungry. I guess I could nudge her off the desk and slyly mosey on into the kitchen but not much gets past Emmie and I still don’t know what I want to eat.

Well, that’s not completely true. I want a big bowl of mac and cheese and some scramble fried potatoes and about a gallon of ice cream.

Can’t have it.

Sigh.

When my daughter was small, and was a very picky eater by the way, she loved mac and cheese and green beans. Sort of an odd combination in my book. Anyway, she wouldn’t eat much else for about a year. One day she decided she didn’t like green beans and then it was mac and cheese and applesauce. That lasted for about a year too. After that, it was mac and cheese and broccoli. (Her taste buds were maturing.)

She went through a spaghetti phase too so I cooked that about three times a week for a year or so. One night she wanted spaghetti and I’d run out of canned tomatoes so I ended up sauteing some sliced mushrooms with butter and garlic salt and poured them over the spaghetti. She took one look and said, “What is this? Where is the red stuff? I’m not eating this.”

So, I made her sit there while I ate. I must have made a really good show of loving that stuff because she finally started eating and even wanted seconds. Mushroom spaghetti became a staple at our house and we both still love it.

Mushroom Spaghetti:

1 lb. of Sliced Mushrooms
8 oz. of Spaghetti
2-4 Tbsp. of Butter
Garlic Salt

Heat 4 cups water until boiling. Add spaghetti and cook until tender (but not too soft). In the meantime, melt butter in a saute pan then add mushrooms. Add garlic salt to suit your taste. Saute over medium-high heat until they look like they’re supposed to.* Stir to keep from burning. When done, add spaghetti to mushrooms and mix thoroughly. Serve with french bread and steamed broccoli. Serves one adult and one slightly starved 7-year-old.

Enjoy!

*Supposed to means no longer white or hard. You know, it means just the way you like them.

Gosh, I’m hungry now.