Chicken Enchiladas

This is one of my family's favorite meals:

3 chicken breast halves cooked shredded or cubed (boiled, fried, whatever you have time for)
2 Cans Cream of Chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream

Mix and divide among ten burrito style tortillas:
Cover the bottom of your pans with a little sauce. Roll the enchiladas up and place seam side down in either a large baking pan or I use a 9x13 and a 9X9 - six in one, four in the other. Then pour equally:

One can of enchilada sauce (I use Rosarita)

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Cover with grated cheese (as much as you like). Put back in the oven uncovered for another 5 minutes until cheese is melted. So genius. So easy. Serve with a salad so you can get some veggies into those kids!

My Parasitical Twin

I kind of grossed myself out with my title. I saw this documentary that had people born with parasitical twins and like one guy had another mouth on the side of his head and it even opened and closed. A baby had whole extra torso and limbs and it had to be removed. Now I don't feel like whining on Whiney Wednesday.

I was going to complain about zits again because this week I have had three bad experiences with them:

1. I had a Siamese twin zit that had two heads. Two heads are NOT better than one.

2. I gave birth to something from my chin that had an umbilical cord and a heartbeat.

3. I had my husband get one in my scalp (what the?) that resembled my cousin. Too bad it didn't look like Obama so I could have sold it on E-bay. Actually......

Now, see. Zits aren't so bad in your 40's when you think you could have been unfortunate enough to have an extra mouth on the side of your head instead. I'm feeling a little more grateful. Still sucks.

Parking Wars

I went to that store known as "The Evil Empire" today. I can't understand why on such a mundane day the parking lot is completely full. As I'm driving down a row to find a parking spot a teensy car full of teenage boys tries to whip out in front of me from the side. I wasn't going to back down. I have the right of way and my mini-van is way bigger. As I was saying, all of a sudden there was this speed bump from out of nowhere. I looked at him. He looked at me. It was a stare down. I didn't mean to have a stare down. I wasn't wearing my glasses and I was just trying to focus on his face (in case I knew his mother). He put on his brakes and his passengers experienced a force called "inertia".

I wanted to burst out into an evil laugh, "bwa-ha-ha-ha!" I totally did that on the inside. My toot for the day is we are finally in that place that we can hold our own. We can approach parking spot poachers who steal our spots. We can afford more insurance.

Got any good parking war stories?

"Mother" - Another Word For %!#@&

I've been on the search of good blog reading. I have found it very difficult to find very many that don't involve potty training. Don't get me wrong, they are cute blogs and stuff, but I do like to play with children my own age, too. There are a lot of "Mommy Blog" networks out there. It's like the word "mommy" has taken over who we are.

Don't misinterpret what I'm saying, being a mom is a very huge part of our lives. Some women don't get that chance and we that are should consider ourselves lucky. It's not as easy as 1+1=3 all the time. It's 1+1+X+Y+another X + Dr. + OBGYN ÷ $ sometimes = 0, 3 or 8. And some women just never wanted the whole "alien growing within" experience.

Fifi has three children. Those who know me know I have a ba-jillion stories about each one of them. Being a mom has definitely been the most worn hat. It's been my favorite hat stained in my children's slobber, baby vomit, fecal matter, urine, blood, dirt, cake, homework, tears and the only way to keep those stains under control is with continuing love smoothed on it. There's nothing like the mommy hat.

There comes a point when it is so ragged and you don't really want to wear it in public and sometimes you have to anyway. It's part of who you are. There comes a time it embarrasses your children when you wear it. That's when finally Motherhood pays off!

Mom: "Remember that tantrum you threw in the mall and EVERYONE looked at us?"

17 Year Old: "C'mon, Mom. I said I was sorry a million times."

Mom shouting: "I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE LOOKING AT STUPID JEANS!!!! I WANNA GO HOME!!!"

17 YO whispering firmly: "Mom, stop it! People are looking at you."

Mom shouting: "I DON'T CARE! I'M SICK OF LOOKING AT STUFF! I WANNA GO HOME."

17 YO walks away like she doesn't know her own mother. Mom follows making gurgling sounds with the mucus that has formed in the back of her throat, snorting, sniffling.

So worth the stretch marks at this point. Then there was that time I accidentally farted in front of all her friends. I'll save that for next Monday.

I think motherhood is very much like breeding dogs. I've never bred dogs, though I seriously refer to my children as puppies. They say that when you have a female dog (AKA bitch) and she has a litter of puppies, it makes her a better bitch. Some women are the same way. It's only after they have a puppy or five they become a better bitch. They can't be so wrapped up in themselves and learn to attend to other needs. I've heard many a time "she just needs to have children." C'mon, you've heard it, too. Now you know why that makes sense.

Even though like dogs, we are left with sagging breasts forever, the pups move on, gain some independence and we have to go back to remembering who we were. That's why we have this identity crisis thing happening.

Back to good blogs - if you know of any good blogs that don't trigger the smell of a dirty diaper in my head, please refer it. I need to put a blog roll on my sidebar and would love other women who are also going through mid-life (or close enough) and even men, if they aren't scared off from female dogs.

Trying to Remember

Choosing a Fresh Fish

I keep reading about the benefits of fish in your diet. It's an excellent source of Omega-3 Fatty Acids which reduce the risk of strokes, heart attacks, lowers your triglycerides. I don't like the supplements because they tend to make you burp tuna all day.

I don't really like fish much so it becomes a problem. Finally, I found a fish I can eat. It has red flesh, glossy eyes, firm skin - everything you're supposed to look for in a fresh fish. And no fishy aftertaste. It's absolutely perfect! I don't know how they get all the little bones out of these little suckers. They're a special fish grown in Sweden and taste great tossed in your salad.

I Hate Buffets

What's worse than a bus load of teenage boys at a buffet? Being there at the same time. It was like the school cafeteria all over again, but worse. How can it be worse you may wonder? There weren't any teenage girls there to help them keep their social skills in check.



No, there wasn't food flinging or alphabet belching. It was just very crowded and I felt like I was in the land of the reeking giants, because my nose was in direct line with thier armpits. Their hairy, sweaty, hormone infested armpits. Lucky they were wearing shirts and I didn't see their pits but we moms know what is under those cheap graphic tees.



I bet the restaurant made a loss tonight because the boys kept piling their plates up higher and higher with any food they could get their hands on. That's the problem. Some of them used their hands instead of the tongs or serving utensils provided. Their hairy little knuckles reaching for fried chicken and self-serve ice-cream cones. I tried not to think of them picking their nose and hoped the bus stopped at the bathroom first so they could wash their hands before they were set free.

And because these ravenous creatures eat so much, it's us, us, that have to pay the extra price. Though I barely eat $4 worth of food (I just don't know how I gain weight), I have to pay $10 to make up for their gluttony.

So that's my whine for this lovely Wednesday. Though I'm considering sending my own son to eat there so I can save on my own grocery bill.