A recipe post from a woman who doesn't cook

A couple of weekends ago we went to the local Greek festival and because I'm me, I didn't get ANY pictures, but we had a great time.  We enjoyed the dancing (the littles were SO cute and the others were AMAZING!) and we had to check out the food.

Man-Child was all about the desserts, I can't even remember all of the goodies that we brought home.  But the one thing that was intriguing to me was the Spanakopita (spinach pie).  That was the one item I couldn't wait to try.

Now, before we go further there is something you need to know about me.  Spinach and I have a love/hate relationship.

As in I simply CANNOT stand spinach if it is steamed (or whatever) and slopped on a plate.  Oh sure, I'll eat it but I won't enjoy it.  BUT, if that very same vegetable is chopped and placed into something else, well then?  Then it becomes AMAZING.

In fact, the Spinach Artichoke souffle that Panera's offers is something I could eat every single day, no lie.

And, as per usual, once I got my hands on the Spanakopita I was in heaven.  So much so that I had to source a recipe and figure out how to make this heavenly delight.  Many long time readers know, I don't cook.  Yeah, I'll bake on occasion but cook?  Food?  For people to consume?  SOOOO not my thing.  In fact, I've actually been asked NOT to cook for my family, true story (Although, now that I think about it, technically this could be considered baking but since it involves chopping, sauteeing AND a vegetable, I'm calling it cooking).

I followed this recipe - minus the parsley because we didn't have any on hand.  Although, I almost added cilantro by mistake (which proves my point about why I don't cook); which almost certainly would have ruined the recipe.

Now, as a non-cook I can say this is a pretty easy dish...IF you think it through enough to thaw the frozen spinach beforehand (which pretty much tells you I did not).  Yes, I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time running cold water over the spinach.  But, in the end, it was all worth it because it was DELICIOUS!

And how do I know (other than my own tastebuds singing after trying it)?  Because The Husband aka The Chef raved about it when he tried it.  AND?  He ate it cold and still enjoyed it.

I'm going to have to watch myself.  God knows, I don't want to become known as a cook.

Yeah, I know...not the best picture.  But believe me, it was delicious!

10,000 Q-Tips....

A couple of weekends ago, I found myself in Target (a place I often find myself at least once on any given weekend) when I remembered I needed Q-Tips.

Not a huge deal.  But, as I was pondering the many Q-Tip offerings I realized...that somewhere at home; packed away in the myriad of boxes that I navigate on a daily basis since our recent home-buying debacle, is a fairly new box of Q-Tips.  The myriad of boxes I have refused to unpack in the hopes that the perfect home would miraculously land in our laps.

At the time, I pondered my options.  I COULD buy the smallest box of Q-Tips to get myself through...OR I could dig through the boxes (meticulously labeled, of course.  Those first few boxes that are packed are ALWAYS meticulously labeled...it's those later boxes that end up biting you in the butt; those are the ones that end up un-labeled and containing all kinds of random stuff.  Kitchenware thrown in with pairs of shoes and whatnot).  At the time I did NOT want to dig through boxes so I ended up buying the smallest box...which, in case you are wondering, was about 300 Q-Tips....(really?? That's the smallest offering you have when it comes to Q-Tips?)

No, it wasn't a lot of money, but still...do you know how long it will take me to go through 300 Q-Tips?

At least a year.

Fast forward to today.  The day that I have decided that I must unpack a good portion of these boxes (because seriously??  I honestly don't think we are going to find anything worth buying before next spring at this point AND I'm thoroughly sick of having my home decor scream "A HOARDER lives here!!").  Where I then realized that the last time I bought Q-Tips (prior to the above mentioned trip to Target) I bought the largest box available at the time...thinking that if I did so, I wouldn't have to buy Q-Tips for a good, long time.

Ha-ha.  The joke's on me.

I'm about to have more Q-Tips than I can possibly need for the next 20 years.

And, yes, we are still in limbo...hoping for that perfect house to pop up.  Or the perfect lot and the Husband's desire to build to surge to the forefront.  Yes, I still think that is the best way to go.  And no, he's still not there yet.

In the meantime, do I unpack these boxes or do I just send the ones I haven't been digging through for the past three plus months to Goodwill?  Because honestly?  If I haven't needed anything from them in over three months, odds are good I don't need it.  But on second thought, the last move resulted in lots of "missing" items.  Items which were probably shipped off to Goodwill during a manic "If I haven't used it in X amount of months, I don't need it" phase.  Which CAN be a good thing until you realize that you've gotten rid of your very favorite pan on which to bake cookies at Christmas time.

I need a house y'all...this limbo is killing me, the boxes are killing me, and the 10,000 Q-Tips are silently mocking me.

Q-Tips...it's all come down to a post about Q-Tips.  *sigh*

Beach bound

Currently, I have THREE posts in my drafts folder (not counting this one) which, for whatever reason, I just cannot seem to push the PUBLISH button on...something must be wrong with me...

Which is why I am happy to declare that as of tomorrow, Man-Child and I are headed to the beach for a long weekend.  And?  This is something I SO desperately need.  Life has been insane, disheartening and pretty much lopsided for a while now.  Between the house hunt (seriously? SERIOUSLY?!  If you would have told me TEN MONTHS ago that we would STILL be looking, I would have thought you were crazy), the whole "transition" thing (which, honestly?  I KNEW would be hard but didn't think it would be THIS hard), which at this point I seriously believe it will be at LEAST two years before everything shakes out and we know what is what; and everything else that life has thrown at us lately....well, let's just say that I NEED this time to contemplate the waves and relish in the one on one time with my boy.

Hmmm....in that one paragraph, I was able to sum up those other three drafts.  Maybe I should just delete them and have one less thing hanging over my head?

MC and I have tried hard over the years to spend some one on one time together every year.  Since he's been in college that has been kind of hard as he tries to work over the summer to rack up as much cash as he can.  This past summer found him interning (unpaid) for one of the local college football teams (which we whole-heartedly encouraged him to do.  Since his major is in Physical Education this will look SO good on his resume) AND working as many hours as he could for the company that hired him last year. And then he went scurrying back to his school home early, because he had landed a job up there.

Finally, I put my foot down and said "ENOUGH!"  We need to take this time.  He needs a break and I definitely need a break.

So tomorrow, after he skips his last class (not my idea, by the way) and he makes his way home, we will be headed off to the beach for two...maybe three, days of pure relaxation. We will eat FAR too much, because this boy of mine demands meals every three to four hours (who else eats this way, other than growing boys?). we will laugh, at times we will argue (we always do), we will play miniature golf and most of all, we will spend time with each other.

Something I think we both could use right about now.

And...I'm hitting PUBLISH before I think too much about it. *dusts hands* One less thing to think about.