#7- Cooking something I never made before

One of my 40 things to do before I turn 40 is expand my cooking horizons. I said I wanted to cook something exotic or something I've never fixed before. I have no idea what I meant when I wrote exotic. Did that mean some weird ingredient or what? Nothing I fixed was exotic. I wasn't sure what I was thinking and other than being expensive or strange, I couldn't think of exotic food. I went with stuff I knew everyone would probably like with ingredients I could afford, a twist on normal foods, I guess!

Also, I thought, once I got on a roll, I'd do more than one dish. So here are my efforts and the recipes! Enjoy!

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Ever since my mom died, my family and I have been trying to re-create some of her dishes, often to no avail. I don't think I'll ever get her potato soup right. Ever. However, I've never, in my life made chili, so I think I was channeling my mom, because I nailed her soup. Daddy-O and I brainstormed about what was in it and we got the ingredients. We had no idea of how much of anything so it was a guess, and a good one at that. And for the first time making chili, I was pretty happy- it was a nice memory, a good taste, and a warm yummy dish for a cold, winter day! So, here's the recipe for my mom's chili. (I also want to say, I don't really like chili very much, but this really appeals to me!!!)

With the chili we had crackers, cheese and corn bread muffins, from scratch!

Mom's Chili:
1 large can of tomato soup
1 can of dark kidney beans with the juice
1 can of light kidney beans drained
24 ounces of tomato juice
1 can of black beans, drained
1 pound of hamburger, browned and drained. I cooked a small very well diced onion with the hamburger.
2 teaspoons of mild chili pepper
2 tablespoons of salt
3 dashes of pepper

Put everything into a stock pot and cook on very low heat, covered, for 60 minutes. Cook another 2 hours uncovered, stirring occasionally.
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Fried Green Beans
2 cans of cut green beans, drained
milk
Italian Bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese
olive oil

Heat olive oil in pan until hot. Combine bread crumbs and cheese together in a shallow pan. Dip green beans in milk. Roll beans in bread crumb/ cheese mixture. Brush off excess. Put in hot oil for 4 minutes. Scoop out of pan with slotted spoon and lay on paper towel. Salt while still hot. Serve while very warm.

Everyone really liked these and requested I make them again. They were pretty good. So good they were gone before I got a picture! (tonight I also made lemon pepper cod and salmon, and roasted new red garlic potatoes to go with the beans!)
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Oven Ranch Chicken

It's really saying something about how much I love this recipe because it's a school cafeteria recipe. Yes, you read this right: this chicken is SCHOOL FOOD!!!! I asked the woman in the cafeteria and she shared. I gave it a whirl at home and while mine was good, I think the school's is better. I think this is so because I used dark and white meat chicken, with bone in. At school, they always make it with boneless, skinless chicken breasts on 'Wellness Wednesdays'. I think that had something to do with making it crispier. Not the wellness part but being white meat and boneless part.

Again, this was a popular dish and everyone voted I fix it again! (We had Julianne cheese potatoes and mixed veggies with the chicken.)

Oven Ranch Chicken

6-8 chicken breasts (though I made it with bone in chicken, it is best with boneless!)

16 oz sour cream

1 pkg dry ranch dressing ( mix with crumbs)

cracker crumbs or Italian bread crumbs (which ever you prefer)

butter

Take thawed chicken and rub/coat with sour cream and then dip them into the cracker mix. Drizzle melted butter over the top and bake covered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done. Bake uncovered the last 10-15 minutes to crisp up the chicken.

Happy cooking!

Maggie

I'm at a loss & I'm so angry I don't have words

Okay.......... some of you know this story and others don't. For the "dos" sorry for the repeat. For the "don'ts" well... here.

A few months ago I decided I wanted to be licensed to be a foster parent so when Princess was released in May she could be sent to live with me. I knew there were about 3494570431 things that could go wrong and stop the process but since it was a long shot it was worth taking.

I talked it over with her case -manager, who thought it was a good idea.

I talked it over with ITSam. He and I have talked about getting married so this was something that would certainly affect him as well. He was all for the idea.

I talked it over with Mac who was all for the idea as well.

I talked it over with Daddy-O who thought I was crazy and as long I wasn't going to foster her here at his house he was supportive.

Though all involved decided it would be a good idea to not tell Princess, she figured it out. She was VERY in favor of this idea.

I did some research online and talked to tons of foster parents and decided this is something I wanted to do.

I met with the people in the foster division of Alcatraz. I wanted to ask some basic questions. That meeting was extremely positive and I was given the huge green light with this idea. I got a stack of paperwork and signed up for classes. I was told that since we needed to meet a deadline of may 26, I could take classes as they were offered through them and then to get what else I needed Alcatraz would do individual one-on-one training to finish it up. COOL!

That took care of the issue of timing.

ITSam has to be licensed as well so he signed up too.

To be licensed together we had to be married by the time we got her. Okay, we decided that wouldn't be a problem and sort of loosely planned a small wedding that would take place at the end of April. Okay- check.

We knew we would need at least a 3 bedroom house or apartment. A guy at work said he had 4 bedroom house he would let us rent with a huge discount because we were going to be foster parents and he thought that was admirable. It was in the school district we wanted and we could move in mid- April. AND the guy who makes sure houses are foster care approved had been there said it was and doing the home study would be fine. Check!

Everything was falling into place until a few weeks ago when Princess's case manager call me to her office. She dropped the bomb that probation department in Princess's home county (her PO there) wants her in a placement in her own county so though they won't be reunified as a family, they can still have twice weekly meetings. Her PO wants her in an independent living situation or foster care there.

Well damn.

Yes, she should continue to foster a positive relationship with her mother and sisters. Yes, she should stay connected to her family. It sucks for me, for us, for Princess who so wanted to be with me.

Okay so she and I put on happy faces and think positive thoughts and focus on the good stuff about being there.

Then Friday night Princess drops the bomb. She was shell-shocked herself. he stupid case-manager casually mentioned that recently the PO sent an email that said after consideration maybe Princess should remain in this county so she could graduate from Alcatraz since she's academically successful and she could be placed in a foster home here.

Of course the witch of a case-manager said nothing to me about this and won't give Princess any other information.

I just can't believe this............. And I can't manage to write more here without coming unglued. I can't even talk about it without having a fit. I'm so mad, angry, furious, hurt, shattered, frustrated, ugh!!!!!!!!!!

Maggie

Sunday Stealing meme

Evil Pixie is doing a meme called "5000 Questions"; I have no intention of answering all 5000 questions but here's some of them. Since I have dry rot brain I'm cheating with a meme. Maybe something here will stimulate the writing portion of my head and I can come up with some posts...

Who has done something today to show they care about you?
No one because I haven't been awake long enough to interact with another human

Do you have a lot to learn?
Yes. I believe everyone has a lot to learn.

If you could learn how to do three things just by wishing and not by working what would they be?
Pick stocks to make piles of glorious money, fix computers, and learn a foreign language

Which do you remember the longest: what other people say, what other people do or how other people make you feel?
I think what people say and how it made me feel.

What are the key ingredients to having a good relationship?
Communication, the ability to laugh, and trust

What 3 things do you want to do before you die?
Travel the world

What three things would you want to die to avoid doing?
Other than be tortured I can't think of anything I would want to die before I had to do it. I had a root canal and lived so that takes care of one thing. maybe go to prison? Die before I did that?

Is there a cause you believe in more than any other cause?
I'm not sure of funding libraries and arts is a cause but if it is, that's the one for me

What does each decade make you think of:
Depending how far back you want me to go... 20s- gangsters and cute flapper dresses, 40s- Billie Holiday and WWII; 50s= The Leave it to Beaver Life style; 60s= hippies; 70s= my yellow bike with the black banana seat and ugly clothes; 80s= Back to the Future, my teens years and way too much blue eye shadow which was not totally narley dude; 90s- college and becoming a mom...

Which decade do you feel the most special connection to and why?
The 80s since I was a teenager then...

What is your favorite oldie/classic rock song?
There are too many to list.

What country do you live in and who is the leader of that country?
I live in the U.S.A. and Obama is the leader.

If you could say any sentence to the current leader of your country what would it be?
You gave people hope. Now do your damn job and to hell with pleasing Republicans.

What's your favorite TV channel to watch in the middle of the night?
It used to be any channel with reruns of CSI or Without a Trace

What Disney villain are you the most like and why?
Not sure which one I'm most like but I do like Cruella de Ville

Have you ever been a girl scout/boy scout?
I was a brownie once

If you were traveling to another continent would you rather fly or take a boat?
I'd want to take a boat just once so I could say I did and then fly the rest of the time.

Why is the sky blue during the day and black at night?
It is blue during the day because we directed toward the sun.; black at night because we're facing away from the sun.

What does your name mean?
Flowering tree

Would you rather explore the deeps of the ocean or outer space?
Depths of the ocean

Word association... What is the first word that comes to mind when you see the word:

• Air: breathe
• Meat: steak
  
• Different: unusual
  
• Pink: me
  
• Deserve: a break
  
• White: black
• Elvis: dead
  
• Magic: Harry Potter
  
• Heart: break
  
• Clash: Titans
• Pulp: fiction

If you could meet any person in the world who is dead who would you want it to be?
Hmmm.... so many to pick from. Famous people would be either Elvis or Marilyn Monroe. family would be Daddy-O's dad. Grandpa F

What if you could meet anyone who is alive?
Johnny Depp

Is there a movie that you love so much you could watch it everyday?
No.

You are going to be stuck alone in an elevator for a week. What do you bring to do?
My laptop, food and drink, a pile of books, my quilting supplies, a cell phone, my ipod, a pillow, and a toilet (plus toilet paper).

Have you ever saved someone's life or had your life saved?
no

What can I say?

I feel I don't have much to blog about these days. I hate it when that comes around. I've been blogging long enough to know this is a phase. It doesn't always come at the same time of year for me but it does happen in phases where I don't have anything to say and my brain feels all dried up.

Right now I have a lot I could say but it's a litany of complaints.

There's also a bunch of stuff in my life that was up in the air and I hate writing cliff hanger posts when even I don't know the ending. I hate to "put it out there" and then not want to finish it up. Things with Princess and work have been hanging by a thread and I didn't know how it would go, but at least now I'm getting some answers. But it's been such an exhausting process I don't feel like I could write even a cohesive enough post to explain it all.

I feel like I could do post after post of random thoughts because I can't seem to eek out enough to make an entire post of anything.

I'm tired a lot lately and just feel disconnected with my world.

Sorry I'm such a lame blogger.

Maggie

Lazy

I slept late. I still haven't showered. I'm drinking coffee and eating cinnamon rolls. I may take a nap.

The big plan for the day is to see Mac in his show and take Princess out for dinner.

I guess this is me- I'm the one in the middle:

My "kids"

Mac:

He was great last night in his school play. He just blew me away. His drama club has accumulated enough money in the kitty and they bought some seriously extravagant sets. The costumes were awesome as was the make up. And the students did an amazing job. They were impressive. But I have to say this about Mac. He was the lead and in a four Act show, he had about 60% of all the lines. He had two terrifically long monologues. And he was just..... wow. He nailed that part. I've never seen anything like it. He has more acting talent in his little finger than I do my whole body. He was fabulous.

The second bit of good news is that he received an almost full ride scholarship to his first choice of schools. We owe around $3k out of a bill of $30k. They take payments. I am so proud of him and so relieved.

And he made the all A and B honor roll at the end of this quarter! Even with the high amount of senior-itis that's affecting (in infecting?) him he hasn't given up on academics.

He's also been attending 2 different church youth groups, all on his own. I don't make him go. I thought he was was going because of a girl but when he was no longer interested in that "skirt" he still kept going. He even goes to youth group when his friends bail. Furthermore, the youth minister is taking him to dinner tonight to get to know him and celebrate Mac's positive contributions to the youth ministry.

Finally, he's looking for a job- and not complaining- so it's great to see that responsible side.

Princess:

She's on the all A honor roll- not a single B+ but all As!!!!!

Because of her outstanding academic record she was presented a trophy at the academic awards ceremony today!

Princess has decided to run track! She's a distance runner and is in three different events. She's been diligent in attending practices and working hard. Today is the first meet!

I'm also impressed because she's given up drinking soda pop for Lent and she hasn't fallen off the wagon yet!!!!

The Alcatraz kids live in a world of points. They earn and lose points at school and in their campus homes. For the 7th week in a row, she's earned 150 points here in school, which is the max number of points students can earn in a week. So she's had perfect school behavior for seven weeks; she so rocks!

Aren't my "kids" awesome?!?

Maggie the Mom

Random Hump Day Musings

In our community, we have a pizza place what has a Godfather theme to their business name. Godfather as in the mafia movie. What I hate is that the radio DJ who does the commercials does a TERRIBLE, and I mean TERRIBLE, impression of Brando as the Godfather. If I owned the place I would wall and just tell them "no" and to stop.

Tonight is opening night of Mac's school play! It's his first huge lead so I'm excited to see how well it goes for him. He's a bit of a diva about it all so I hope his performance lives up to his ego.

I'm adding a shelf here and there to the library bookcases. Well, let me rephrase that, I would LIKE to do that. I can find the extra shelves but the pins that actually hold the shelves are gone. Really. Who takes the pins? And I'll be honest here. We don't think it's the kids. Someone on the library committee who's been here since the invention of dirt said she wouldn't be surprised if a previous librarian- 2 or 3 ago- tossed them in the trash. Seriously?!?

Gasoline is so expensive right now that I put $30 in my tank this morning. I was so on Empty that the fuel light was on. And $30 filled it only half way. Prohibitive. It really irks me, and it's completely unnecessary.

My school didn't use all of their scheduled calendar snow days so I get this Friday off. Yup, no school at all. Just a day to hang out. Thank you to the day off gods! Did I mention Mac will be at school all that day? I'm going to sleep in and read and just be a bum.

I can't believe it could snow tomorrow. Not nice.

Princess did some work in her art class and it's been submitted to a local art school competition. I'll be visiting the gallery! She's one of the top contenders for ribbons in the categories she's entered in- I'll let you know what she wins!

Speaking of Princess and weather, she's running distance races in track and her meet is tomorrow. Of course, I'm going to watch and cheer her on but it's supposed to be a high of 31 degrees with possible snow. Today it's a high of 62 with a chance of rain. I'm so thrilled about standing outside in that weather tomorrow. Not.

One thing I miss from when I lived in Northern Civilization, Armpit, and even in the Wild West is that I always had a group of folks with whom I met for "Thirsty Thursday" festivities. I miss Thirsty Thursdays at the local watering hole. I don't even have a local watering hole.