A Day In The Life and Lots of Other Stuff

Today was very much a Monday. I used Colin's morning nap time to plan out the menu for the week and make my grocery list. I made lunch today using the chicken breasts that were in the "freeze or use now" zone and it was pretty tasty! Since I began cooking in earnest last January, I have slowly gotten better at making random creations out of stuff I find in the fridge. I used to require a strict recipe to do anything, but I am getting much more crafty as I spend more time in the kitchen. Today I made the chicken into a parmesan cream dish that I served with the end of a box of whole wheat penne pasta. It was a perfect portion for Colin and I to share for lunch with just enough left over for Jer to take to work tomorrow. I don't usually full out "cook" at lunch and Colin and I both enjoyed the change today.

We then made our trip to Wal-Mart for the groceries. I don't like doing grocery shopping there at all, and even after all these months of being a stay-at-home mom, I still hate it. The prices are so much less than a regular grocery store that I have to keep doing it, but it remains my least favorite concession to budget conscience living. I think my mental block comes from growing up with a father who ran a small-ish local grocery chain. I am used to a small store full of friendly people, parking close, getting a free cookie for the little ones, having my groceries taken to the car by a sweet 16 year old at his first real job...just the nice southern small town grocery experience. My dad is still running the show at that grocery chain and I still love shopping there when I go home for a visit. We have two Wal-Marts to choose from relatively close by and both of them are packed no matter what hour of what day you go. I always have to park what feels like 10 miles from the entrance and lug poor Colin around in the white-hot heat of the day. The aisles are teeming with people and carts and children running loose and just general chaos. The layout annoys me since I have to walk 400 miles from the "grocery" area to the complete opposite end of Dallas...er....the store to get get dog food or pharmacy stuff. Today I really needed to get some stuff from the "girl" section, but as I stood in the produce area and looked down the length of the store with Colin shouting "IN-SO! IN-SO!" at everyone that passed by, I just decided to leave it for later. I do that almost every time I am there...if I need something that is non-grocery, I will leave it for a separate trip since I consider anything that needs to be purchased from the other end like going to the Olympics in Beijing. Every now and then I will treat myself to a visit to the lovely Tom Thumb and I always have to laugh to myself that I seriously get excited to buy groceries at Tom Thumb. When I become a world famous novelist, I swear I am going back to doing all shopping at places that stock impressive selections of imported cheeses and good wine. I will be a food snob again, world!! :-)

After our illustrious shopping trip, Colin took a short nap and I worked on dinner. I made a simple veggie bake for Colin that consisted of a frozen bag of broccoli and cauliflower (you can use any mix that you like) that I steamed and then mixed with one can of cream of celery soup and one tub of garden veggie flavored cream cheese. Once mixed, I poured it into a small 8-inch baking dish and crumbled one bag of croutons (crushed up) onto the top. I baked it at 350 for about 20 minutes. It was creamy and yummy and Colin loved it! It was SO EASY and we have plenty of leftovers for the little man. I am always pleased to find new ways to get veggies in Colin, so I wanted to get this out there for my fellow mommies. I made pizzas for Jer and I that I copied from the new specialty pizza place by our house. I used an herbed focaccia crust that I topped with sauteed pears, grilled sirloin, and Gorgonzola cheese. It turned out really really good and I am very proud of myself tonight. Jer and I had their house special pizza a couple of weeks ago and I have been craving it ever since. I think my version turned out really close to the original and I will make it again for sure. Oh, and Dana now has me reading Pioneer Woman and I am trying some of her stuff this week. So hopefully I will have more to report on the food front soon!

As this post continues to ramble on with my random thoughts, I would like to add that the upcoming Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off is officially freaking me out. I watched all 10 years of that show since I was in high school when they were and it followed my age group exactly. I was 15 years old and in love with Luke Perry...you know, the whole nine yards. SO, now the show is coming back and "Brenda" and "Kelly" are in it for sure and at first I was giddy (and a little embarrassed to be excited about something so silly). Tonight, I caught a preview on television and the old characters are now the "parents" and "teachers" and "grown-ups" and while they are probably going to be fairly hip, they are still going to be the voice of reason amidst the rebellion of youth. WHEN did I get old enough for THIS? When did I become the age group that was grown-up?? Obviously I have known for some time that I was not the target market for MTV anymore since I don't believe boys should wear skinny jeans, but this 90210 thing has me feeling very old tonight. I think I better just buy the original series DVDs and pretend it is 1994 instead.