Riot and Frolic

Jif

I'm actually not going to talk about peanut butter.  This is surprising because besides any frozen concoctions (popsicles, Frappuccinos, frozen grapes), my favorite food is peanut butter.  

Nope, I'm talking fast-action recipe today.  Monday (wait, it's Tuesday; but let's say it's effectively a Monday because of the holiday) is apparently my recipe day.  I plan my meals for the next two weeks or so and get in the swing of cooking after lazy weekends.  

Just like any other busy lady, I'm prone to stopping for some fast food on busy days.  Little Caesar's is right behind my workplace and is a deliciously-terrible habit on late work nights.  

But sometimes, my health conscience kicks in and I remember I have a super-fast and easy standby recipe that actually fulfills some nutritional requirements.  This recipe didn't really sound great when I first heard it, but I was brave and tried it and love it.

5 Can Soup

1 can chicken broth

1 can creamed corn

1 can whole kernel corn (drained)

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can tomatoes with green chilies 

Combine and heat.  I love serving it with a scoop of sour cream, some shredded cheddar, and smashed tortilla chips.  You can throw in some cooked chicken or ground beef for extra protein.  G and the ladies love it.  

When you're done, you can five empty cans that you can make fun things like this with:

- organizer for kids' crafts at laissezfaire.

- or kitchen utensils!  (also at laissezfaire)

- tin can lanterns.  Chris and I made these for our annual holiday party two years ago and they are FUN to make!  It is a great way to get out a little aggression.  We made lanterns like the ones shown below, but I love the idea of the second picture below!

Oooo!

- garden planters.  "Free" tin cans + spray paint + green things = *love.*

Nifty.

Rather charming Irish bloke, Chris O'Dowd.

 

List of Last Week's Labors of Love

- the discovery that my "no time to do my hair!" look results in super-awesome hair after it's dry and I take out all the bobby pins (there are eight).  

- another fun discovery after two hours at work was that my no-time look resembled Pebbles' hair.

Not this Pebbles...

This one...

See?

If you don't know who that first Pebbles is, don't feel bad.  You probably don't know what this song is either...

 

Maybe you were born after 1990, I don't know.  You know who does know that song?  This guy...

But he might not to know all the words to this song...

 

10 The Mariner's Revenge Song

And that's okay.

If I lost you somewhere, don't feel bad.  I had to keep the male following of my nonsense happy (there are five!).

- some pretty awful attempts at writing CSS code and trying to design my own blog. 

 

- another night out on the town for fun without the babies (hence on referred to as FWB, or "fwib" [it's fun to say]) to the ye olde Dubliner to hear the awesome debut of Broken Spoke.  *like* in Facebook parlance.

- the realization that I need to wear an apron when I cook, since I am always wiping my hands off on my clothes.  

I bought this apron in Dixon, IL.  (Shout out to the Bratts!)

It is spelled D-I-X-O-N.  Not Dickson.  Just so you know.  Common misconception.  

There's a baby bump picture for you, too.

 

 

- two delicious pizzas.  Check out the fast hands helping me.

- a sneaky veggie-infused "milkshake."  I tricked all of us ladies into drinking a good amount of juiced spinach.  Yes, the top layer is green.  Juiced spinach and carrot, vanilla yogurt, cherry juice, protein powder, and ice.  It was tasty, believe it or not.

- really tasty "chicken parmesan," no questions asked.

- a trip to the playground or two.

- a visit with my great aunt to pick up a new-old mixer and then the use thereof.

After taking a vote on Facebook, I made some chocolate ganache to top a white cake (the vote was for chocolate sour cream or ganache frosting on a chocolate cake).  The cake is baked and cooling right now, and the ganache is, I don't know... setting?  I've heard good things about ganache and really wanted to try it, so I happy the ganache won out this time.  

I was going to use some food coloring to make a red, white, and blue cake in honor of Memorial Day, but I forgot...  The end.

 

 

 

 

 

- a request.  To anyone who's reading this (ooo, that's YOU!): would you mind subscribing to my posts?  There's a button at the bottom of the page that will talk you through how to subscribe, in which case you get updates sent directly to your email.  Neat!  You can also subscribe through Typepad by clicking on… something.  Sorry, I should really figure that out.  

    UPDATE!- If you are one of the over 500 million people who have a Facebook account, if you click         on "follow" button at the top left of my page, you'll get new posts in your news feed.

        Otherwise, I recommend using the button (it's orange) at the bottom of the page to get new stuff         sent to your email.  

        Thanks!

- a million scans of Pinterest and Facebook.  You evil, delightful timesucks.  Many thanks.  

- overuse of the ellipsis...

 

Unsolicited Opinions

I'm not a doctor, nor have I played one on TV.   But there are a couple products that I use almost every day that I think are totally worth the time and money to use.  And by "a couple," I mean three.

This is the magical juice of goodness.  It's 10 times more effective as an anti-inflammatory than aspirin.  Tart cherries have some fantastic chemical combination that makes them fight inflammation AND block your brain's ability from receiving pain signals.  They're also high in melatonin, so it can be helpful in getting a good night's sleep and fighting fibromyalgia and arthritis. No other fruit has as many anti-oxidants as the wee tart cherry, so I'll throw in that it helps guard against cancer.  And duh, it has a Vitamin A, C, and potassium, and even iron!

I've had random excruciating pain in my shoulder joints for a few years and nothing seemed to make it better.  I would wake up in the middle of the night, cry for a bit, eat half a pan of brownies, then settle in on the couch with some 30 Rock DVDs for several hours of severe discomfort.  The pain would go away completely in a day or two, but it would come back every six weeks or so.  

I read and heard from a couple people that cherry juice was good stuff, then saw it on sale at Target, so I tried it.  I've been drinking a small glass of this every day for about three months now and I have not had any shoulder pain.  I highly recommend it to everyone, plus it tastes great.

R.W. Knudsen has some great products.  They're all earthy and whatnot, so that's great, too.

 

 

Almond oil?  Doesn't smell like almonds.  You actually have to get it scented with almond… scent.  

This is what I found out after I read the almond oil is great for your skin.  I checked out my local Garden of Eden store and got a great deal on some almond scented almond oil.  Generally, it's used as a massage oil, but every night, I rub a couple drops all over my face.  "Really?  Oil on your face?" you say.  It seems stupid and I can't believe I tried it, but my skin feels great and I haven't broken out since I started doing it about a year ago.  It probably helps that I do a little face massage (start at the center of my forehead and rub in little circles to my temples, then from my nose out to my cheeks, chin out… you get it) and it really doesn't feel oily.  Hey, Jackie Kennedy was a fan and she was gorge, so just try it.   

 

Here's the obvious one and the most expensive suggestion I have: massage.  I'm not going to list the benefits because there's supposedly 7,789 or so reasons massage is good for you.  I happen to have a super-bomb deal going with a massage therapist I know where we trade massage for dance lessons, but I would spring for one on my own as often as possible.  

Here's my personal benefits:  it feels great, I like the music, and it's time alone where no one asks me a more complicated question than "is that too much pressure?"  Awesome.  

 

 

 

I also recommend this.

 

 

 

Epic Fail

I had to fire my web designer today.  She was terrible; absolutely no idea what she was doing and she wouldn't acknowledge it until she had wasted five hours of my time.  I mean, who voluntarily tries to design a website without knowing any CSS or HTML code?

If you see this girl, do not let her convince you she knows anything about computers.  She does not.

In other words, I apologize for the lack of post the last few days.  I've been trying in vain to upgrade Riot and Frolic with a little swank and swagger, only to discover that I can't do what I'd like to do.  If you happen to know any gobildigook code for making a blog look fancy and will work for cookies, hamburgers, or ballroom dancing, you let me know.  Until that person makes an appearance, I'll be sticking to the status quo.

In an effort to cheer myself up from my techno-fail, I'll share some fun with ya.

I needed a win today, so took an out-grown Mae Cake outfit and started cutting it up.

 

Flowery, buttony things!  Most of the buttons are from my good friend, Ms. Brown.  *drool.* Donated craft supplies.  There's going to be some rolled flowers out of the green stuff and maybe a yo-yo in there, then it'll go on… something.  Neat.  One point for Kate.

More good times?  Costco.  We just joined after everyone told us it was awesome and I made a field trip to see one with my auntie.  Here's my fun buys from there:

I think these two juxtaposition themselves nicely.  

I have to say, we bought the vodka just for the BA label.  But now I'm reading more about Prairie Vodka and it seems pretty neat all around.

That's all the screen time I can stand today, but I have a great plan for the coming week, so stay tuned!

 

Media Frenzy

 

 

 

12 Lost In The World [feat. Bon Iver]

I don't buy a lot of books.  Or music.  Or movies…  Anymore.  My friends buy books and then tell me to read it as they put the book in my hand.  I listen to the Current or all my favorite tunes on my computer and if I'm really motivated, I *insert air quotes*- buy it on iTunes- *end air quotes.*  As for movies, I can't fathom spending $10 for something I might not enjoy and had to find a babysitter for, so I use Redbox (it's a dollar) or wait for The Office or 30 Rock to come out on DVD so I'm not disappointed.

 

 

But lately, I've been on a roll.

Por ejemplo, I got invited to be in a book club.  I won't even tell you how excited I am about that now, it will distract from the task at hand.  But I just got the book and it looks very good.

 

It's going to be on the big screen in July, starring stupid Anne Hathaway (bad Jane Austen) and hot Jim Sturgess (not bad at singing Beatles' tunes).  

 

Upon many years of recommendations, I decided to pick up my very battered version of Atlas Shrugged (I'm pretty sure it's a first edition) and start a political debate on Facebook.  If you've read the book and want to know something about a person, it's a good litmus test to ask them what they think of it.  

  

"They" made it into a movie recently and it looks terrible, but this handsome guy is in it.  I award you one point.  

UPDATE (5/25/12)- The Atlas Shrugged movie TOTALLY BLOWS!  I watched about twenty minutes of it before I had to throw myself off of the couch in disgust.  It is, literally, one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and I saw this.  Apparently, they're going to make Part II (with D.B. Sweeney as John Galt?!) anyway, so let's get together to see it, armed with popcorn.  For eating or throwing, is yet to be seen.  END O' UPDATE

Since I finished all the Twilight books, I have been off teenage-supernatural fiction for awhile.  I was pretty happy to kick the habit, since I'm pretty sure it was rotting my brain, keeping me up at night, and making me ignore my children.  But then, my darling friend, let's call her Mitten, introduced me to this series.  Mitten is also the lovely bird who got me started on Twilight.  I'm starting to think I should not walk down a darkened hallway with her because clearly, I can't resist her product.

So here's the fourth book in the Mortal Instruments line of crack.

 

And yes, I've heard of the Hunger Games trilogy and am trying to stay off them.

Hubby o' mine came home for Date Night with this book and a dozen roses under his arm, so we all know that night went the way we both wanted.  Great food and a happy wife…  What were you thinking, sicko?

Onto the music scene, Jeremy Messersmith is a local guy who keeps puttin' on the Ritz with catchy pop tunes and some heartfelt lyrics that make me buy all his albums, especially because you can get them on tape.

 

 

Awhile back, I stuck in a song from the new Fleet Foxes album, Helplessness Blues.  I gave in and bought it today and it's beautiful. 

 

If you haven't heard Adele, you're living under a rock more than I am.  She rocks.  Figuratively.  In a whole bunch of different ways, and not only because she smokes publicly.  

 

Listen.

05 Set Fire To The Rain

I'm not very excited by many movies, but this has Steve Carrell AND Ryan Gosling in it and I love both of them.  Plus, the preview made me laugh at least three times.

 

Anything billed as" The Hangover for women" is a movie I have to see.

 

 And this guy rollerskates for fun.