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...

Feelin' MAYhem

Quick update for both!

We went out to dinner last night. We usually hit the restaurants the night BEFORE a holiday so that it isn't super packed. So, no dinner photos from me. Tonight's dinner is fun though! Definitely check back later.

And I'm not doing a skirt today. The weather is gross outside. I spent yesterday trying to avoid a Marilyn Monroe Incident:

I was successful, but I really don't want to fight that fight again. I know, buy longer skirts...but until then...

Feelin' Feminine 5

I like this dress...It's one of the few feminine things that I've been able to find at a clothing store (that wasn't a prom dress anyway)

It's kind of low in the front, but not too bad. I don't usually buy things with even the slightest hint of empire waist...but with my post baby belly I felt obligated.

7th Meal MAYhem

So, tonight's dinner was Fried Pork Chops. Quick, easy, not kosher *winks*...a total "I have no idea what else to make" kind of meal...

It was one of those nights where I had no idea what to do for sides...so we ended up having corn and that was it. Kind of a fail night... :)

Feelin' Feminine 4

I love this skirt because it's full and flowy.

So...I've been doing this for 4 days. Do I feel more feminine? Not really, actually. *shrugs* It's made my mornings a bit complicated because I have to THINK about what I'm wearing as opposed to just pulling on jeans and a tshirt.