Monday, December 6, 2010

The Butter-Free, Sugar-Free Evening Edition

It seems that my posts have been baking heavy lately, so I thought instead of posting pictures of my latest baking endeavors, I'd charm you with my words, instead.  :)

I actually have some baking to do tomorrow and in an effort to provide you with a variety of content here at The Neurotic Housewife, I figured I'd share some of the random junk going on around here.  Random is good, right?

Let's see.....

  • I bought Caroline some Nike basketball shoes at Ross yesterday for $17.99.  I'd like to give Debbie, a fellow basketball (and soccer) mom who tipped me off to this great deal, a shout out.  I was not keen on the idea of spending $50+ bucks on some ugly basketball shoes for Caroline to wear for three months.
  • Also at Ross, I bought some throw pillows.  One is brown, the other is brown and blue.  They're for my bedroom, but I haven't figured out a new bed pillow configuration, so as of now, they're not on display.  I'll have to fiddle with them tomorrow.  You may laugh at the thought of my bed pillow configuration, but I assure you, I take this issue quite seriously.  I don't go all crazy uptight and draw a diagram, but it's safe to say I have a mental map of how the pillows should be arranged.
  • It's cold outside.  And windy.  Horribly, gusty, hurts your face and ears windy.  I can't say that I'm a fan.  Thankfully, the wind is supposed to die down before our 16 mile run on Friday. 
  • Craig is finally feeling better.  For the better part of last week, he was in quite a pitiful state.  The doctors couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with him (that's no surprise, I've been trying to do the same for 15 years without any success), but they gave him some antibiotics which seem to be working.  He's much more chipper and a lot less puny, which is good.
  • Despite Craig's on and off fever last week, his appetite was unaffected, which means that he's eaten almost all of our Dove dark chocolate peppermint bark.  I guess I'll give him a pass, since he was sick and all.  I'm being awfully generous, though.  You know now possessive I can be of my candy.
  • O Holy Night used to be my favorite Christmas carol, but it has recently been edged out of the top spot by O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
  • I still do not like Little Drummer Boy, nor am I a fan of Feliz Navidad.  It's a bit too peppy.  Or, something like that.
  • I've been drinking hot tea like it's going out of style lately.  Must have something to do with the chilly, windy weather?  I'm really digging Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh and Candy Cane Lane.  Twinings Christmas tea is also a favorite, but it's caffeinated, so I only drink that it the morning.
  • We still have two or three cupcakes leftover from Friday's Girls on the Run dinner and I'm so tempted to lick all the icing off the tops and throw away the bottoms.  The temptation is strong, but I'd like to fit in my pants tomorrow, so I'm drinking sugar cookie tea instead.  It's an okay trade off, but nothing beats buttercream.  Can I get an amen?
  • I made my traditional Thanksgiving leftover casserole for dinner tonight.  I always freeze a couple containers of cut up turkey and a big hunk of stuffing after Thanksgiving to use later on.  I use one container of turkey to make turkey pot pie (haven't done that yet) and the other + the stuffing to make my famous casserole.  It's easy and tasty, but you mustn't be afraid of canned cream of crap soup to make it.  I drink green smoothies and eat vegetables like it's my job, yet I'm wholly unafraid of cream of crap soup. I'm quite the paradox.  Honestly, I'm *some what* afraid of it, but I don't use it often, so when I actually do use it, I let my reservations slide.  I once tried the Whole Foods version of cream of mushroom soup and it was really gross.  Must be the missing MSG?  Anyhow, I mix the cubed turkey with cream of chicken soup, a little bit of sour cream and some seasonings (salt, pepper, onion powder and poultry seasoning) then dump it in a baking dish.  Then I add a sprinkle of cheese, because in this house, dinner isn't dinner unless cheese is involved.  We keep those dairy farmers in business.  On top of the cheese, I crumble up the cooked, leftover stuffing.  Then I bake until it's all bubbly and the stuffing browns up a bit.  Maybe at 375 for 20-30 minutes. 
  • Later this month, we're going to the Gaylord National to see their ICE experience.  I'm so excited.  I've been to the Gaylord Texan before and it was incredible; I can only imagine what this one will look like all decked out for Christmas. 
Okay, that's all the random I can muster up for now.

I'll be back tomorrow....and, because I'm in full-on holiday baking mode, with pictures of sweet and buttery things.

5 comments:

Hilary said...

Oooh! I am trying to convince Mr. R to take me to the Gaylord ICE hotel in Orlando. I say if Alison says it's awesome then we must go!

As far as the cream soup... I can't handle it. I actually can't handle casseroles, which kills me since we live in the south where casseroles are king.

Alison said...

See, I like my food to be all mixed up. But I know that a lot of people don't like casseroles for that exact reason.

I know what you mean about the south and its overabundance of casseroles. I didn't know so many casseroles exisisted until I moved to Florida: squash, green bean, sweet potato, hashbrown, corn. You'd think with all those vegetables listed, they'd be healthy, but....we know the truth. Butter and college football: the south's greatest loves. Oh, and bacon.

Alison said...

ps--my neighbors saw the ice exhibit last year and are going back this year, so that must mean it's worth the trip.

I say drag Mr. R there.

Sissy said...

For a couple of sentences I thought you were saying "cream of crab" soup which I thought sounded really disgusting, and not at all something that would go with turkey. Then I realized you were talking cream of whatever flavor soup.

Alison said...

Sissy--Ha!
Cream of crab would be really gross. I suppose I should have found a classier way of describing the soup. Unfortunately, klassy I ain't.

:)