Merry
Christmas!!!!

Menu plan and housewifeliness

So my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, and I've actually been a productive housewife so far today. I got my menu planned through Sunday, and I actually get to cook dinner for 6 nights in a row! I'm trying a few new recipes this week that I think are going to be FABULOUS. It's been a while since I've done much cooking around here, so it'll be nice to get some good, fresh, homemade food in our bellies. I'm also going out on a limb and trying steak again. I've generally not liked steak for my entire life, but I think I might be missing out, and the Pioneer Woman has a delicious looking recipe in her new cookbook that I think is going to be a serious treat for us. :) Without further ado, this week's menu!

Tuesday - Rib eye steak with whiskey cream sauce (The Pioneer Woman Cooks, page 166) and roasted garlic and new potatoes
Wednesday - Homemade pasta Alfredo (both noodles and sauce from scratch)
Thursday - Shrimp pasta in a foil package
Friday - White bean stew with Swiss chard and tomatoes
Saturday - Comfort meatballs (PW Cooks, page 172) and (forgive me) instant mashed potatoes
Sunday - Roasted asparagus with poached egg on toast with bacon

Man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! I'm also going to be whipping up a batch of chicken broth tomorrow. I still have to get the whiskey and the Swiss chard for tonight and Friday's dinners, but I'll be out running errands later, so I can pick those up then. This will be my first time ever purchasing whiskey. :p

Now I've got to finish up my laundry, switch the dishes in the dishwasher, go get my hair cut, continue sorting through my pile of randomness for Goodwill, and I should probably eat lunch sometime soon. I get to play with my camera today as well, as we've got a good-sized snowstorm headed our way. :)

Shoot Me

This week at work has been absolute hell for me. This is the week that we prepare for the ultimate in shopping days: Black Friday. The Day After Thanksgiving. Also known to those of us in the retail business as HELL. We generally aren't allowed overtime at the Wal Marts, but this week, if we volunteered to work on Thanksgiving day (which this glutton for punishment did), we are allowed darn near unlimited overtime. I don't like working more than my 40 hours/week, but getting paid more than $22/hour to do so is a pretty damn good incentive. Not only that, but the position that I hold in my store (Zone Merchandise Supervisor) easily will fill up more than that 40 hours/week on a NORMAL week, so this week is extra horrible. And it's so far from over that it's not even funny. I went in on Sunday morning (I wasn't even scheduled, but I had a lot of work to get done with planning), with the intention of only being there for 2-3 hours. 5 hours later....I finally left. Both yesterday and today, I worked over my scheduled shift. Not only do I get that overtime, but I actually got scheduled for 42 hours this week. I got SCHEDULED for overtime.

I'm ready to die. Today I spent my whole day out in the back of the store, taking "Black Friday" merchandise out of the boxes and re-palletizing it so that it's ready to go on Thursday. I live/work in Minnesota. It's November. I was actually GRATEFUL for the fact that it's been a warm November here, and was only in the 40's today. A little gloomy, but I didn't get too rained on. Tomorrow, however, I'm supposed to be doing the same thing. And tomorrow's forecast calls for snow.

If I survive my 50 hour week, I'm going to deserve not only a trip to the bar, but a much-needed vacation. If you don't hear from me for the rest of the week, it's because I'm rocking my awesome skillz at the Wal Marts.

Best. Husband. Ever.

So, yesterday, I wanted to go see the Pioneer Woman at the Mall of America, where she was signing her cookbook. However, I had something else that I had to do, and was very upset that I missed it. :( I got home from my other engagement to find a cute pink Hello Kitty gift bag on my chair. I opened it up, and not only was the cookbook in there, but Brian had stood in line for FIVE HOURS waiting to get it signed! AND, there was a really cute t-shirt that came with! I'll have pictures at a later time, as right now I'm making PW's meatloaf (OMG, it's wrapped in BACON!!!).

Sinfully Delicious

World's simplest recipe, but absolutely delicious and one of Brian and I's favorites. I love when he makes these lovely little things. There is absolutely nothing exact about this recipe (the measurements, the cooking temp/time, anything. Make it your own.)

1 lb ground sausage
1/2 lb Velveeta
8ish pieces of frozen garlic bread (You know, like the Pepperridge Farm stuff)

1) Preheat oven to 350ish.
2) Brown the sausage
3) Drain the sausage
4) Mix sausage and Velveeta in pan, just enough to melt the Velveeta.
5) Bake the garlic bread pieces for 5ish minutes, just enough to get them a little crispy. (If you're feeling particularly gluttonous right now, go ahead and eat a spoonful of the Velveeta mixture while you're waiting. YUM.)
6) Flip the garlic bread and bake for another couple minutes, just to get them a little crispy on the other side.
7) Top the garlic bread with the Velveeta/sausage mixture and bake for another 5ish minutes, until the bread is good and crispy around the edges and the fake cheese/sausage mixture is fairly set.
8) Eat it. Feel fat. Love it.

Hmmm....

I think I forgot how to blog. It's been so long since I've just regularly blogged, that I don't remember what to do any more. I don't just readily talk about my day. I'm gonna go ahead and try this:

Today, I cleaned my house. It sucked. I did a shitload of laundry. It sucked. Made fucking amazing potato soup for dinner. That didn't suck. Tomorrow, I have to go to work. That'll suck.

The End.

Make this tonight!!

Tonight for dinner, I made this delicious gnocchi dish. I'd never cooked with gnocchi before (and didn't know how to pronounce it either!), but this really was delicious! And it's really filling. Oh man, is it filling! I substituted the spinach for the chard, since SuperTarget doesn't have chard, apparently.

Skillet Gnocchi with Chard and White Beans

Make it for dinner tonight!!