Catching up

Since I last posted, our apartment sustained water damage, I have had several doctor's appointments, my car needed major repair work, and both of my interns are done for semester. It's been a crazy week and half.

Due the water damage, we had mold on our bedroom carpet. The mold actually grew on the bottom of my desk. So, I am currently without a desk which means no computer right now at home. It stinks not having a computer at home.

Back in February or prior months, not sure when, I strained my ACL in my knee. Now I have to go to physical therapy starting early next month. I also went to see my OB/GYN doctor. The birth control pills that he prescribed sent me through a loop. I was constantly moody and could snap on anyone at any time. I know this was one of the side effects, but I just could not handle to emotional rollercoaster. I have tried several different kinds of the pill, but I get severe side effects from them. Normally, I am a calm mild-mannered person. My doctor and I decided to try no birth control pills and gave me another prescription to regulate everything. Let's hope it works.

I am hoping that next week will be much calmer than the previous two weeks. I have been itching to get back into the kitchen to make some sweet gluten-free desserts. I have a huge sweet tooth. However, nothing will ever replace ice cream. During the past two weeks, I actually had ice cream and chocolate for dinner.

Beef, Beans, and Rice

Lately I have been craving beef, hamburger in particular. I made my boyfriend hamburgers for dinner. I wanted something different though. For my dinner, I started thinking back to the days when my family couldn't afford alot of food. We always had rice and hamburger on hand because back then, it was cheap. Well, those ingredients were my base then I started to clean out the pantry and freezer for the rest.

Ingredients:

Ground beef (I like 80/20) - I know it's not the healthiest, but it has so much flavor
Favorite Spices - Cumin, Cayene Pepper, Chili Powder, Salt Pepper
Gluten Free Beef Broth - can use water instead
White Instant Rice
Red Kidney Beans
Can of Hunt's Diced Tomato with Sweet Onion
Mild Thick and Chunky Salsa
Corn Kernels - thawed - I had frozen on hand - Use whatever you have


I used my 5 quart dutch oven pan to brown the meat. I added my favorite spices to the meat as it was browing. Once the meat was browned, I drained grease from the meat. Put the meat aside. I quickly rinsed out the pot, but leaving some grease in there for flavor. I then boiled the gluten-free beef broth. Add equal amounts of instant white rice. Cover and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Once the rice is cooked, add the drained meat, kidney beans, diced tomato, salsa, and corn kernels to the pan. Stir. Adjust the seasoning levels to taste.

I made a big pan of this so it would last me for a week. I think I will add some sharp cheddar cheese to it for lunch one day.

Enjoy!

HR

Sometimes I don't like being the Human Resources administrator. At times, you are put into tough positions. On one hand you are a co-worker to these people. Other times you are their friend through work.

No one ever tells you how hard HR really is.

I'm still alive. I haven't had time to write due to work. Will try to write more as the month end nears.

Tortilla Casserole

While shopping in my local market, I found Dr. McDougall's Vegetarian Tortilla Soup Mix. On the back, it gives a recipe for Tortilla Casserole.

The recipe sounded good, but it needed more flavor. This recipe can be altered in many different ways. So here is what I did:

1 Package Dr. McDougall's Tortilla Soup Mix Pouch
4 Cups Water (I used gluten-free chicken broth)
1 14 oz Can Stewed Tomatoes (with liquid)
1 Cup uncooked white rice (To use brown rice, substitute 4 cups previously cooked brown rice for 1 cup uncooked white rice)
1 Small Onion
1 Garlic clove, minced
Raw chicken meat (I like to chicken breasts with rib meat and use the rib meat for this dish)

Seasonings: (Use what you like)
Cumin
Black Pepper
Salt
Red Pepper Flakes
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper

Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 Lime
Handful cilantro

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pour dry soup mix into a 3 quart casserole dish. Add water, stewed tomatoes (with liquid), rice, onions, garlic, chicken, and seasonings. Stir. Place casserole uncovered in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Cover loosely with foil and bake an additional 25 minutes. With ten minutes left, spinkle on cheese. Use as little or as much cheese as you like. Let cool a few minutes before serving. Right as I was serving, I squeezed some fresh lime juice and placed some cilantro on top.

This recipe makes about 8 servings. I had a lot of leftovers.

I have been tagged

I was tagged by TAB to list 6 weird things about myself.

1. I don't like watching movies in movie theaters.
2. I consider Valentine's day a made up holiday, which was created by Hallmark.
3. I have had only one serious relationship in almost 26 years. The relationship is now in its
seventh year.


Do you have any weird things you are willing to share?

A little of everything

I am not particularly fond of this time of the year. Why? It's TAX TIME! Granted, I am not a tax accountant. Thank goodness. However, I help oversee a payroll that consists of approximately 285 part-time employees. The part-time employee base is mixed; students, home makers, and retirees. The students are the worst around tax time. The students start coming in asking why there weren't any federal or state taxes taken out of their paychecks. They were hoping for a refund. I try to explain this is the most basic terms possible. Some students get it, some students will never get it. The students who don't get it, better hire a tax attorney right after college or marry someone who has a clue about taxes and withholdings.

This time of the year also brings a new host of fresh meat, interns that is. I have two this semester. One of them is great right off the back. He actually gets here right around the time I do. Impressive. The second one, well, I just get this vibe that I am not going to like him too much. However, I must treat all interns the same. I think the second one is fake. Fake pesonality; faking to be interested in this internship. Yes, I know I hired him, however, he was the second best out of the pool. What was I to do? Only three more months.

I found some great recipes last week. The first one is San Francisco Pork Chops. Not too sure why it's called San Francisco. I was able to convert it so it was gluten free.

The other recipe is from one of Rachael Ray's cookbooks. I can't think of the name, but it has spinach, black beans, red peppers, onions, garlic, and other items. I'll post one day. It's a good recipe to add your own twists too.

I am looking forward to trying a recipe boyfriend and I found in one of our New England cookbooks. Basically, you take salmon, vermont maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter and grill it. Don't have a grill, so I am going to make it work on the stove top. Will let you know how it works out.

Thanks, aLs for adding my link. Check out his blog, if you have a chance. It's always a good read.

Seven Years

In my short life span, I have had only one real relationship. I dated two other people prior to my current relationship, but as you can see it didn't work out. This one real relationship has lasted seven years as of Sunday.

Boyfriend and I met during my freshman year and his sophomore at college. We met on the internet back in December '99. We communicated through email for about a month or so then decided to meet. Less than two weeks, we were actually dating. We instantly clicked.

In the seven years, we have had our fair share of battles, but nothing too big. We agrue once in a while. I like to think that we bring the best out of each other.

In the seven years, there were a lot firsts for me:
* Attending professional basketball, football, baseball, and hockey games
* Attending college hockey and basketball games
* Trying Portugese food
* Exploring a lot of Southern New England
* Attending a NASCAR event (I enjoyed myself)
* Trying New England Clam Chowder
* Trying clams, quahogs, oysters, little necks
* Trying a variety of new seafood (Little Necks)
* Watching my boyfriend try some of my food from backhome, scrapple and Tasty Cakes.
* There were many more first items during this time, but I can't think of all of them

It's been a good seven years and looking forward to many more. Yes, one day, we will eventually get married. But, I am in no rush to get married. It will happen in the next few years.

My boyfriend and I have it easy, we don't celebrate our anniversary! We spoil each other year round.

Recap

It's been over a week since I last posted. I had a bunch of deadlines that I had to meet last week. Never want to go through that again.

Recently when I am watching television, I noticed that I would rather watch Trick My Truck on CMT (TMT) over most other television shows. Not too sure why. Maybe it reminds me of being back home, where life was easier and calmer. I know TMT is based on MTV's Pimp My Ride. However, I can't stand MTV's version.

Thinking of about being back home, I miss scrapple. I sooo miss this breakfast treat. When I was home visiting my mom last time, she took me to an auction. On the auction premises there was a small restaurant operated by an Amish family. (Not sure if they were actually Amish or something close.) There they had homemade scrapple. I cheated! I had to have a piece. The piece of scrapple was one inch thick and about 6 inches across. It tasted so good. Unfortunately, I paid the price, but that is the one and only time I have ever cheated while being on gf diet.

Frustrations

There are some days I just want to punch something, cry, and go for a long walk all at the same time. I have been feeling this way since the beginning of the year. When I am angry, frustrated, or sad, I get like this. I am not angry or sad, just frustrated that there isn't enough time to accomplish everything in one day. I don't allow myself get stressed. I actually do quite well handling stress. I have a lot on my plate both personally and professionally at this time.

I usually manage my time quite well. I make lists prioritize them and usually follow them. I need to work off of lists. I have been staying late and coming in on the weekends to catch up on my work. By staying late and coming in on the weekends, I am neglecting somethings in my personal life. It's a vicious cycle.

I was going to watch Sunday's AFC Championship game (Go Patriots!) with my boyfriend and his family, but I am thinking that my time will better spent working during the day and prioritizing my personal life at night. I don't know when I last balanced my checkbook. Don't worry, I check the balance online and have a mental account for everything, but come on, I am an accountant. Even though it's online, I still need to have everything in my check register. It's drilled in me.

I am hoping once my new interns start in little over a week, things will calm down at work. Some of my other co-workers don't understand that my two interns do a lot of work for me. When they aren't here, the work is left up to me. The vicious cycle starts again.

During the summer in college, I was able to walk after dinner. I would go walking/running 10 miles 4-5 times a week. Talk about feeling relieved. I used that time to clear out my mind. I didn some of my best thinking during that time. Once I finished college, my company allowed employees to join a gym at a discounted rate. I enjoyed that time too. The company that I have been with for the past 2.5 years, doesn't have anything like a discounted rate for a gym membership, etc. I am not about to pay those outrageous gym membership fees.

I am also not about to go walking in the New England weather. Yes, the New England winter weather has finally arrived. I left the apartment around 7:00 this morning and it was 10 degrees. Not sure what the temp was if the wind chill was included.

I need to find something to clear my mind and get rid of my frustrations.