Monthly Archives: October 2011

Oct30

Sunday Stew, a quick and easy recipe

Posted on October 30, 2011 by jennifer lynn

Ingredients:
1.5lbs Chicken thighs (boneless, skinless, cut in bite-size chunks)
1 28-oz can – crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz can – white beans
1/2 large onion (diced very small)
1 stalk of celery (diced very small)
4 slice bacon – chopped in small chunks
1/2 cup whiter wine (whatever you have open in fridge – I think red would work)
1 tablespoon veg oil
1/2 teaspoon splenda
Dried oregano
Dried rosemary
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Start with veg oil on medium heat, add onions and celery.
2. After onion and celery are sauteed for a few minutes, add in your bacon.
3. Once bacon starts rendering its fat, add in chicken.
4. When chicken is almost cooked all the way through, add in your spices. Stir and cook for a few more minutes
5. Stir in crushed tomatoes and splenda (or sugar).
6. Add in beans.
7. Cover and cook (on medium low) for about 10 minutes or until beans are warmed through and chicken are completely cooked.
8. Serve with a hunk of crusty bread and a side salad!

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

Oct28

where does the time go?

Posted on October 28, 2011 by jennifer lynn

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It has been a busy week in my world!!

In fact, this school year has just flown by! I am looking at the calendar and I realize that today is the LAST Friday in October.

Time flies……

I have a lot going on right now.

School has been absolutely insane this year – did I mention it somehow became October and somehow its the END of October already?!?!?

School has been nutty: I became the Lead Representative for my school for our district teacher’s association and I have been attending a function every other week. I have also added to my school responsibilities in other ways. We have two new computer based programs to learn and use. Let’s just say, I am one busy lady!

Q has been needing more and more of my time. She is so close to being a teenager and we have mother-daughter (seriously intense MD) conversations all the time. 7th grade has been its own emotional rollercoaster. Expect many posts about 7th grade/pre-teen “stuff” in the near future!

And then on top of all the school and Q drama, I have been going to physical therapy two to three times a week since early September. Just the other day, I went for a follow up visit with my ortho, Dr. B. My sprained ankle is getting better and my knee is feeling stronger. Yet they both ache a lot and are still quite a mess.

soooo….

I have talked to the doctor and he has recommended surgery. To be fair, he recommended the ankle surgery four years ago but I put it off . I have decided its time to bite the bullet and have the surgery.

On NOVEMBER 17, 2011 I will have 2 surgical procedures – one to fix the busted, stretched and otherwise useless ligament in my ankle and the other procedure will fix a very tight lateral knee ligament.

I will need a good, long time to recover and heal. I will be out of school for approximately 6 weeks and for the first 4 weeks, I will be in a hard cast and not able to put any weight on my ankle. Lucky for me (or unlucky depending on how you look at it – at the moment I am choosing to look at the positive side) my husband is currently laid off from work so he will be able to help me out. In fact, my husband and daughter are stepping up big time to help me!

I have less than three weeks and there is SO MUCH to do! I need my house CLEAN and all the laundry CLEAN and I need the dog CLEAN and my bedroom needs to be CLEAN (which means I need some organization)! I have been cooking some meals to freeze but Big Man says he will take care of most of the cooking. Q has been baking (oh lordie, help me) and says she wants to make a whole dinner by herself while I am healing.

If the last two months are any indications, these next few weeks are just going to FLY by! I can only hope my sanity stays intact!

How do you stay sane, when you have a to-do list a mile long??

where does the time go?