i pity the fool

We are having quite the hair growth happening here in the Baby Swiss department.  The only problem is that it is all in the middle on top of her head.  Tell me if you can see the resemblance…

Why yes, if it were Halloween season, I would be loading my child up with gold chains and painting on a mustache and beard with eyeliner.

yum

Jen asked for my recipe for tator tot casserole.  Since it is a favorite around our house, I thought I’d share it with everyone as well as a chicken & stuffing recipe that is also a big hit at the Mouse house.  Both are super easy and can be easily doubled into a bigger pan – bonus!

Tator Tot Casserole

Brown one pound of hamburger meat with minced onion, salt and pepper.

Once brown, add one can of cream of mushroom soup, some milk and sour cream to desired consistency (not too soupy, not too thick).

Pour into a baking dish (I use a corningware dish approximately the size of a deep 9″x9″ pan.

Spread frozen tator tots on top of mixture until covered.

Bake according to tator tot baking instructions, turn broiler on for the last couple of minutes.

Chicken & Stuffing

Cube 3-4 boneless chicken breasts and place in the bottom of a 9″x9″ pan.

Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup and sour cream (I don’t measure – approximately 1/3 c.).

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Mix 1 package of chicken stuffing with 1 stick of melted butter.

Top chicken mixture with stuffing and bake an additional 20 minutes.

(I hate stuffing and I love this and the leftovers actually reheat better than you would expect, although obviously the stuffing is not as crispy as the first time around.)

Perhaps we’ll have a dessert edition some time.  I have some great dessert recipes.

french fries and food courts versus salads and smoothies

So, you might be wondering with all of my Chick-Fil-A references what on earth happened to my diet plans.  First of all, last week was an anomaly in our household in terms of eating out.  The refi appointment plus the niece in the hospital unexpectedly equaled lots of unplanned eating out for us – only some of which was documented here.  (We did manage to both stuff ourselves at Costco on Saturday for under $7 total.)

Truth be told, I have fallen off of the “Project-High-School-Reunion: A Quest for Hotness” wagon a little bit.  I’m planning on hitting it hard again this week and getting back in the saddle because referencing a wagon and a saddle in one paragraph is super cool.

I did weight myself yesterday morning with much trepidation, to happily find that I haven’t gained any of my lost weight back.  That will teach me to fall off the wagon.

Part of my problem in this Quest for Hotness is that it is about just that – hotness.  I don’t care about being healthy.  I’m just vain.  Not exactly noble intentions.

Anyone have any recipes for low-cal delicious food?

#1 fan

Setting: Sunday night in the Mouse family living room.  Mr. Mouse is sitting in his recliner with his laptop on the arm of the chair and the baby snoozing on his lap.  I’m across the room on the floor with my laptop on my lap reading my Google Reader.

Mr. Mouse: whatcha doin’?

Me: reading my Google Reader.

Mr. Mouse: are you blogging?

Me: no.

Mr. Mouse: were you blogging earlier?

Me: no.

Mr. Mouse: are you going to blog tonight?

actual thoughts I’ve had recently

• I wonder how much my toenail clippings can contribute to my weight loss efforts.
• I can’t believe my hair looks this great considering the fact that I haven’t showered for 3 days.
• It’s always a good day when you can find an America’s Next Top Model marathon on tv.
• I love adverbs.
• I wonder what kind of dance moves they’ll come up with for the blind guy in this week’s America Idol.
• Why do I smell so bad?
• It’s a lot harder to stalk people on Facebook since they made the new changes to the home page.
• Why can’t I seem to cook anything other than Cashew Chicken, Chicken & Stuffing and Tator Tot Casserole?
• I think lugging this baby around is starting to pay off in the toning-of-the-arms department.  Key word: starting.
• I love those dumb Sonic commercials.

it looks like we eat out more than we really do

We are home from the hospital for tonight.  Niece (18 months) is suspected to have rotovirus which is a nice diagnosis and all, but apparently does not explain the seizures.  She is going to see a neurologist tomorrow and we’ll know more then about what the plan is.

I gathered a few things from around home and ran to Target before going to the hospital because sister-in-law needed a few essentials.  When Mr. Mouse and I were dropping Baby Swiss off at friend’s house (hello! rotovirus!), sister-in-law called to request a pair of sweatpants because apparently she keeps getting pooped on.  Since we were already close to 15 minutes from home which is the wrong direction from the hospital, we ran to Target to pick up a pair.

While I was grabbing the pants, I encouraged Mr. Mouse to run to the nearby Chick-Fil-A (a different one from last night) to grab some dinner for himself, since he hadn’t eaten and WE HAD A COUPON.

So, he comes back at the exact moment that I’m walking out of the store, which is just great timing.  I start to get his food out for him and we realize that we got TWO free chicken sandwiches instead of just the one that he ordered and for which he had the coupon.

The Chick-Fil-A gods are still shining down upon us.

i did it all for the milkshake

My niece was brought by ambulance from town-that-she-lives-in that is 1.5 hours from here to our big fancy Children’s Hospital today because she was having seizures.

Right now they think it might be a virus of some kind.

Pray please.

Who knows, it might get you a free milkshake.

prayer points, waffle fries & $1.57

Last night, Mr. Mouse and I packed up Baby Swiss in her car seat, piled into our minivan and drove down to the bank to sign papers regarding refinancing our mortgage.  We are so grown up.

Then, we went to heaven’s cafe Chick-Fil-A for dinner.  Because we had coupons.  Okay, so maybe we’re bordering on elderly.

We paid $1.57 for an order of fries for Mr. Mouse and enjoyed a free chicken sandwich (him) and free kid’s meal (me).  Then, we sat.  We prayed.  And we ate.  As we ate, we marveled at our thrifty ways and talked about treating ourselves to a milkshake after our meal.

Halfway through our meal, as often happens at Chick-Fil-A, the manger stopped by our table to ooh and ahh over our kid and ask if we were enjoying our meal, needed refills, etc.  Except, this manager had an oreo milkshake with two straws in his hand.

Yep, he gifted us with a milkshake.

Do you want to know why?

Well, I’m going to tell you.

He gifted us with a milkshake because he saw us praying before we ate.  (He probably doesn’t know that we only contributed $1.57 to his fine establishment on this particular visit.)

I will forever sit within eye-shot of the manager at Chick-Fil-A.

ode to the Old Navy tank

In honor of going through 6 Old Navy tanks in 2 days – all while wearing the same yoga pants, I am now going to post about fashion.  Because nothing says credibility like that track record, right?

Every so often, I find  myself in a bit of a fashion rut.  I’m definitely in one now.  I have the right clothes flung over the armchair in my bedroom in my closet, I just don’t feel like wearing them.  The further (farther?) I get from my college days, the less I want to find myself running around town wearing one of various colors/styles of a printed Hanes t-shirt sporting either my church’s or my college’s name and logo.

I’m well aware of the fact that wearing a pair of jeans, a pair of flats and a fitted t-shirt or some other version of a simple t-shirt that was made exclusively for women requires no less effort than dressing like a messy college student and yet I really have to force myself to do it these days.

So, what’s the cure for my fashion slump?  Who knows.  Sometimes I get into these when we’re in between seasons, so perhaps the calendar will fix my problem?  Or maybe losing some weight will be enough of a confidence builder to make me want to look [even more] hot?  Or maybe I need to go on a shopping spree…