How To: Break Some Rules?

I came across this on FoxNews. It's a brief article on How To Conceal and Office Romance.

Is this innocent advice? I mean, the article itself states that "...sometimes emotions — and hormones — get the best of you" and "While an office romance is a very common occurrence and not quite as taboo as it once was..."  


But aren't most office romances, I don't know, against the rules? The first sentence even says it: While most people don’t find a problem with letting their co-workers know about the love blossoming between the cubicle walls, the fine print of many company contracts says a little something about office romances. Usually, this fine print is a warning of some kind, so it’s often a good idea to conceal your passionate office romp.

 Is it weird that I'm a bit bothered by this?

19th Meal MAYhem

We're back!

Tonight's dinner is one I got from the label of the Tomato Sauce Can! It's called Lasagna Sausage Rolls. (Sorry in advance for poor photo quality...I'm using my cell phone)

You need:
- Italian sausage (sweet or spicy is your choice)
- Lasagna noodles
- Either 2 cans of tomato sauce OR one tomato sauce and one can of tomatoes
- Italian seasoning of some kind...I used oregano
- Cheese if you want

Cook the noodles to package directions.

Cook the sausage. Now, you can slice them in half and cook them like that or cook them whole...just make sure you have a noodle for each piece of sausage.

After draining the noodles and pulling the cooked sausage out (and draining the pan) let everything cool enough to handle.

Now, wrap a noodle around each link and place it back in the pan.

Cover it with your tomato products.

Heat everything through and serve!

And if you're serving a 13 month old make sure you have a rag handy!

"I've seen worse"

This comment really bothers me. Maybe I'm a prude, but when I saw these news articles I was bothered.

Yes, the woman isn't "showing anything" and I'm sure you've "seen worse" but is that really a good standard of measurement? Should we really be able to look at a totally naked woman on display and say, "Well, at least her private bits are covered" or "At least she's not having sex"?

I know that there are plenty of people that will say, "Nudity is natural" and "Look at art! Nudity is in art!" Well, if you do your research, there's also PORNOGRAPHY in "art." There was violence and murder in "art." Are those things also to be universally accepted and celebrated?

As long as people keep making excuses companies will continue to push the envelope! If we let them get away with this what will be next? A little more breast? A little more of her rear? Maybe her laying flat while covering her "private bits" with her hands? Just a little bit more at a time. I'm sure we've all heard the "frog in the water" story. If you want to cook a frog there's a specific way to do it. If you drop the frog into boiling water it will jump right out every time. However, if you put it in while the water is cool and THEN start the heat the frog won't realize it's boiling until it's too late. My dear readers, we are that frog!

You can sell lotion in a tank top and shorts. You can sell lotion using a close-up of hands or feet. You can sell lotion using a woman in a pretty dress in a field of flowers. You can sell lotion using a picture of a mom in an apron washing dishes. There are all sorts of images that would sell lotion without using nudity!!


Prude:

–noun

a person who is excessively proper or modest in speech, conduct, dress, etc.

 I didn't used to be a prude...but I guess I am now...

Uplifting Needed

I needed some uplifting...

“Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him.” (Psalms 126:5-6 NKJV)

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (NIV)  

Joshua 1:9

This is my command—be

 strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

 

Dearest Readers...

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with my Meal MAYhem stuff. I do have good excuses!

Thursday my son was fairly sick. He had a fever and needed me all day. Dinner was thrown together before I had to hold him again. Ditto on Friday...and we had guests. Saturday we were doing errands and we had guests again. Sunday was our family day.

Saturday is also the day I found out I'M PREGNANT AGAIN!!!!!!!!

The exhaustion set in FAST. It's like the second I found out I was pregnant my body started the symptoms.

I'll try to get back into things!

12th Meal MAYhem

Another throw together meal I made up! Sausage and Potato

You'll need:
- potatoes (one if it's just you)
- link sausage (amount depends on how much you like sausage)
- onion finely chopped if you want
- any other veggies you want to add
- salt (lightly)
- pepper (black, white, OR cayenne)
- garlic powder

Basically, you chop everything up and cook in a pan. Cook the potatoes first (VERY LITTLE OIL) if you buy your sausage pre-cooked. Season everything to taste (be careful with the spicy because it will sneak up on you!)

Potatoes. Secret: If you cook with a lid it cooks better because the heat gets trapped and cooks on both sides!

 Sausage added. 

 Very important!!! DRAIN IT! The sausage will leech a lot of fat.

 See? BLECH!

I dont' do it but I bet this would be great with cheese on top...

11th Meal MAYhem

Tonight's Dinner: Chicken Fried Steak (yes, Dani, another meal with "fried" in it! lol)

I didn't get this one to work like I usually can....but it was good nonetheless.

First you cut potatoes into chunks and put them in water to boil. They're ready when you can spear them with a fork (soft).

Normally my steaks don't look as...dead. ALL of my breading stuck to the pan and came off. 

I promised I'd teach you gravy.  

 Step one is to drain off pretty much all of the oil/grease. Then, carefully sprinkle flour in the pan. The amount of flour you use depends on how much gravy you want. Stir it up.

 I add chicken stock (homemade of course) and stir it up. I also added a splash of milk. 

 Just keep stirring and adding flour or broth until you get the consistency you want.

If your gravy is a huge failure the first few times just keep trying. It takes PRACTICE.

I added butter and milk to the potatoes.

 

10th Meal MAYhem

Tonight's dinner: Fried Tilapia.

This is another favorite of mine. It's quick and easy to make and tastes oh so good.

First, you're going to want to heat oil in a large pan. It can be vegetable oil or, like we use, peanut oil. You want just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and then a small splash more. You know it's hot enough when you toss a sprinkle of flour and it actively sizzles.

Next, in a small bowl, beat an egg. You can add a splash of milk if you want, but it's not necessary.

Pictured: Egg

Next step is to make up your breading. This is a bit of a secret. I like the crunch of breadcrumbs but they don't stick very well when pan frying. So, I add flour! I used about 1/2c of breadcrumbs and a 1/4c of flour. Season with whatever you like. (I used garlic, salt, and Old Bay) Note: You want it to taste a bit OVER seasoned  because you'll lose a lot of it in the frying process.

Seasoned and ready to go!

Your oil should be pretty warm by now so go ahead and dip the fish in the egg and then the breading. Make sure and coat it pretty heavily.

  See how the oil doesn't cover the fish?

Another note: This fish is fragile. It only takes about 4mins a side (max) to cook all the way. You only want to have to flip it ONCE!

  Doesn't that look amazing? Such a pretty brown color!

This is a versatile food. My husband had macaroni and cheese with his. I chose potatoes and green beans. You can do whatever sounds good to you.

These were my potatoes pre-oven. Drizzle with olive oil and season with garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. I baked them for 10mins and then broiled for 10mins (I was impatient)

My finished plate. SO GOOD!!!

There are no changes to be made to make this dairy free! 

So...I noticed that my blog counter is going up but only a couple of people post comments. I LOVE to hear from you guys! If you make a dish that you've seen here let me know! And if you have a modification that makes it even better I want to know that too!  I want to know what you guys are eating!

9th Meal MAYhem

So...I apologize for only having "finished" pictures for you. I've been really off my game this evening (having my phone mess up, ordering a new one and getting charged $50, and then having it start working again ruined my state of mind)

Tonight's Dinner Linguine Arrabbiata 

Ingredients

serves 4

• coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving (optional)
• 1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes in juice, cut into chunks
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 pound linguine
• grated Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes; cook until garlic is fragrant and beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and wine. Simmer over medium, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Cook pasta in boiling salted water 2 minutes less than package instructions for al dente. Drain; add pasta to skillet. Cook, stirring, until pasta is tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt. Serve, if desired, with Parmesan and red-pepper flakes.

My addition: CHICKEN! If using it raw you'll want to cook it FIRST (even before the water) and then chop it up and add it with the garlic and flakes. We cooked ours in the crockpot all day and just stripped the bones.

This is another "it takes as long as the pasta" meal. These are great. I start the water boiling and start making the rest of the meal and it all ends up done together. 

The basic ingredients. I used 2 cans of tomato sauce because Stefan isn't a tomato fan. (You'll see I do this a lot)

 This is the sauce in it's finished state. (with chicken added)

 Note: Obviously, if you want to cut the spicy you should cut the flakes you use. A little goes a LONG way so just experiment. When I first made it, the "called for" was a bit spicy for me. So, tonight I used 1/2 tsp instead...and couldn't taste it at all. It's up to you how much you use.

Dairy Free Readers: The cheese is totally optional. We've made it without twice now and the dish is fine.

Kosher Readers: Dani, correct me if I'm wrong, but this meal is fine right? :) I don't know all the rules! 

Because men don't have self worth...right?

 Disclaimer: This post is not for young viewers.

When commercials like this come on:


Feminists around the world get up in arms about how it's demeaning to women and "real women don't look like that" and blah blah blah.


However, commercials like these:




And television shows with this:


have everyone strangely silent.

Let's look at the definition of the word DEMEAN
–verb (used with object)to lower in dignity, honor, or standing; debase
—Synonyms  degrade, humble, humiliate, mortify. 

Uhm, am I the only one that sees it? When women are used as sex objects people jump to defend their honor. When it's men it's okay?  Can we see the definition of DOUBLE STANDARD please?
any code or set of principles containing different provisions for one group of people than for another
Yeah, that's what I thought it meant...