Animal Farm

Oh, the things I do for money! Once again I've got animals in my house--this time 2 dogs. These little ewoks are soooooooo cute! But their cuteness:gross ratio gap is closing every day. I have cleaned up barf, snot, pee, poop, and unidentified fluids.

Additionally, these dogs have these weirdo hairy tails, so their poo gets stuck in mushy clumps and in little dried pellets. The other night one of them took a nose dive off my bed, landed on his face, stared at me while he took a juicy dump, and then jumped back up into my bed with his poo tail and rubbed his poo-juice all over my white sheets! And guess what! Poo juice does not come out in the wash, my friends. It is a permanent reminder of the insolence and disrespect shown to me by a hairy little ewok dog. It was so gross I had to stick his butt in the sink and in the end cut out his butt-hairs. I'm pretty sure my regular pay does not cover this sick and unusual situation, and I continue to wonder how it can come to be that I always get this sick dog stuff, but at least it's not as bad as this time. Ooooooor this.

Day Drinking: Gearing up for Round 3!

Boy, I blog about drinking and everyone comes out of the woodwork! I got schooled up, down, and all around for my failed experiment. I have been pounded for my choice of alcohol and believe me! I will not make that mistake again. I guess I'll have to take a poll about my drinks so you chumps can tell me what to drink and I don't have to get anymore beat-downs. Sheesh! I've been told I should throw some whiskey in that coffee, to try champagne (ok, I did just do that one last sunday, but that doesn't count because it's a weekend), bloody marys...I can't remember the rest. Apparently there is also a technique...one must drink and eat simultaneously. Take my food-drink combo poll and let me know what I should try...send me a comment if you have a better combo and I'll take it into consideration.

Crockpotted: Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

She's broken in! I did it! I finally busted her out of her box! Listen, don't be mad, but I didn't do the veggie chili like you voted on...it's too hot outside! I went to an Emmy party and made the pudding cake as dessert. It was goooood! (If you were there, feel free to comment on this assertion.) Very, very rich but delicious. I will probably make it again, but I'm trying out other dessert recipes first. But the best part about the recipe is that I had all the ingredients in my house! I didn't even need to go to the store! So it felt like I made dessert for 8 for free...the best part of all!

Crockpottin'!

Okay, I admit I still have yet to take the crock pot out of the box (!!). But I'm prepared! I went to the farmer's market to get all these root vegetables ($14) that I'm going to throw in there...and then I realized I don't really have a recipe. I thought I did. Hmmm. I am not familiar enough w/ the crockpotting-arts to have the skillz to make up my own yet. However, good news! I came across this book at my sister's, and she gave it to me!! OMG! Providence! Now there are a bunch of meat recipes in here (rabbit!), but also tooooons of veggie side dishes and even desserts! I can't even wait to get started, I am totally inspired! The crock pot will surely see the light of day any moment now...

Oh, as a bonus, here's a great-looking chocolate pudding cake crock pot recipe I found online...I'm for sure going to try it.

The Smugal Gourmet

As I'm on a (very!) tight budget, I've decided to pay better attention to how much my groceries are costing...yet still be able to eat deliciously. I'd rather not go on the spaghetti and ramen diet. Last week I made lasagne! In place of meat, I used kidney beans as my protein (which is also cheaper!). I did some number crunching and determined that it cost approx $15 to make an entire pan, which was supposedly 8 servings. However, I ate it for like 5 meals and I still had a ton left over. This works out to around $1.87 per serving if I did the math right (doubtful), which isn't too shabby! However, I'm going to be able to get like 12 servings out of it, so that cost/serving will be even lower! (I don't feel like doing the math on that one.)

Initially, I meant to share with friends, before I was given various and sundry reasons why no one wanted to eat it: they "don't like noodles," "leftovers are gross," "I'm avoiding wheat/dairy/beans..." Whatever. I ended up freezing 2/3 of it and I'm hoping I can finish it all eventually so I get my money's worth! Cooking for 1 is kind of lame, I've discovered, when no one will share your food! If you have to toss 1/2 of it, it's not that good a deal.

I think I'm gong to have to work out some kind of meal-exchange program with those who don't "hate leftovers." Or get friends over here who are less picky!

Day Drinking: Revisted

Well, during one of my last layoffs, I tested drinking during the day (just because I could), and was not impressed with the results. With some encouragement, I decided to give 'er another whirl, and had a few mugs of coffee today with a few splashes of Bailey's. Not a good idea, folks! Bailey's was not the best choice. I felt all syrupy and nasty and headachy and dehydrated when I went on a walk later. I have since decided I think Bailey's is best for decaf before bed.

I might get better results having a 1pm beer, but it may be a while before I try that again. It might make me feel like a lush if I down a few by myself.

I Have a Fan!

Yay! A reason to update! I just assumed I was blogging into a black hole. Said fan requested a Crock Pot update. Well, I'm ashamed to admit that the update is that the pot is still in its box in the basement. I know!!! Inexcusable. Here is the website I'm using for my veggie crocks recipes! My fantasy plan is to go to the farmer's market, get some farm-fresh food, and toss it in the ol' crock for a delicious dinner. My ultimate goal is to become an expert and make a ton of non-soupy veggie crock entrees! A noble goal. Additionally, I think this will be a very cost-effective way to get economeal prices. Obviously I will do a per-meal price breakdown.

This new crock pot goal is a good idea--I need to create more structure into my day. Yesterday I was on the computer for hours, and then rolled over to a friend's house for dinner LITERALLY looking like a homeless person. It was like something the cat dragged in. Must remember to put on real clothes every day, not just lounge around in my Pillsbury dough boy jammie pants and fleeces.