OH HEY, FRIDAY

This shugpie was home today, and I enjoyed some happies in the form of

// some tutorials from Emily at The Sweetest Thing

After watching, I felt an urge to go play with makeup in my jammies that I'm still wearing at 3 pm. 

 

I do dearly love me some mascara.

That laundry, not so much. 

However, I did do am in the process of doing two loads, one of which is the sheets on our bed, which means I have to put them back on, which I think should count as a bonus laundry effort.

// some Reese's from the giant container of sweets we still have from Christmas

 

 

// some free {today's the last day!!} ebooks from Beth Moore

// lunch with the hubs. We had some tuna salad with bacon and cheese on toast, sliced apples, and some gluten free pretzel sticks. Then Anj remembered this delicious salted caramel we had left over from this Southern Living Salted Caramel-Chocolate Pecan Pie recipe, and we started to dunk the pretzel sticks and apples into that, and let me tell you friends, healthy food tastes better dunked in homemade salted caramel. YOLO.

// decided I'm sick of our bed. I think I'm going to go up and add more pillows, or change the way I make it in the morning or something. Is this weird? Do you ever do anything to switch up the look of your bed outside of going out and buying all new bed linens?

Have a magical weekend, lovelies!

FRIED CHICKEN & PANCAKES FOR US GLUTEN FREE PEEPS

If you are livin' in GlutenFreeville, get you somma this, seriously.

Since going gluten free, three of the things I've missed the most are fried chicken, pancakes, and biscuits.

Welp, thanks to this stuff, I've gotten the pancakes and the fried chicken. And let me tell you, 

DAMN. It was good, y'all!

{Never had a biscuit made from Bisquick even before I was gluten free, so we'll have to see how that goes next go 'round.}

We followed the recipe on the back of the box for the pancakes, with the exception of adding some fresh blueberries. It was totally magical. Tasted like a regular pancake to me!

For the chicken, we did our own thing. {I mean, I was tryin' to have my shit fried, you know?}

We just did chicken strips dipped first in egg, followed by a combo of the mix, plus some cajun seasoning.

We fried ours in our electric fryer {lid off, and only flip once!}, and added some salt when they were fresh out of the pan and still hot.

Holy smokes! Soooooooooooo friggin' amazing!

It wasn't just as good as "real" fried chicken, but honestly, it was better than a lot that I've had.

Yummtasma.

If you wanna make these for a gluten free shugpie that you know, I'm sure they won't mind. :)

cast iron skillet chicken with potatoes & onions

If you don't have a cast iron skillet, go get one right now.

They will last foreverrrrrrr, and you can bake and fry in them.

None of that nasty anti-stick surface stuff goin' into your body either.

We first tried this a few months ago, and now it's on our menu about three times a month.

Prep is really easy, and you have lots of leftover chicken for sandwiches, tacos, nachos, salads, whatever.

Spray skillet with cooking spray (or coat with some olive oil), then add potatoes and onions to surround the chicken.
I use red potatoes, and half peel them to get any spots off.

Be generous with the onions because they provide lots of flavor.
I like to give 'em a little sprinklin' of garlic powder as well.

Cut up lemon and garlic in small pieces.

After removing chicken innards (what a grody word), sprinkle the inside and outside of the chicken with salt.

Then, stuff the chicken with the lemons and garlic.

Don't forget to tie Mr. Chicken's legs together.

Coat the outside of the chicken with olive oil, then sprinkle with rosemary and thyme.

{It won't hurt the potatoes and onions to catch a little rosemary and thyme too. ;) }

Cook at 425 ° for 75-90 minutes or until thigh measures 180 °.

Boom!

Yummy supper.

britt's donuts. better than krispy kreme.

i know. 

it sounds blasphemous, but i wouldn't lie to you.

 if you are ever in carolina beach, you must go to britt's donuts and get you a dozen.
and then, maybe another dozen the next day.

holy shizzam!

best. thing. on. this. earth.

even if you are allergic to gluten.

oops.

they only take cash.

they only make plain and simple good ole glazed.

and it's still worth getting up on vacation, walking over a mile from your condo, and waiting in line for 40 minutes to get 'em.

and it's not because they might run out.

it's because they are just that good.

period.

worth every penny.

and calorie.

and gluten cramp.

yummy pesto

Over the weekend, hubs & I Anj made pesto while I watched and taste-tested.

The recipe was from Southern Living.

 

All My Single Ladies: MARRY A MAN WHO CAN FEED YOU.

I'll tell y'all, the pesto turned out salty as helllll. But, 1) who sits around eatin' pesto straight up? and 2) we are thinkin' it's because we used the shakable parmesan from the green container (salty on its own) instead of fresh parmesan. 

However - once we added about 1/2 c. of walnuts (per a different recipe suggestion), and mixed it in with our {gluten free} noodles, it was perfect.

I opted to add some leftover baked chicken breast to mine.

De-lishhhhhhh!!! ohmagyahhhh.

We spent the rest of the evening enjoying our bevies and listening to the rain.

{Have you gluten-free shug pies tried New Planet? I love their Pale Ale. Hubs likes pale ales and he gave it a thumbs up. They also have a blonde ale, a raspberry ale, and a few others. I got mine at Earth Fare.}

Before bed, I wanted me a lil Diet Coke night cap. {That sounds like a problem, no?} And, I decided to add me a lil lime in there. The jury's still out on that one ...

Anj was like, "Diet Coke with lime? Isn't that a thing?"

Yep, it is. And like I said, I just haven't decided ... I think Diet Coke should stand alone {except the occasional cherry add in}.

 

Cheers to a good rest of the week! 

fresca frisk? frescalicious? fantastic frodkafruit?

don't this look good?

all citrusy and icy in this psycho hot weather normal-introduction-to-summer-weather we havin'?

the correct answer is,
"YEAH, it do!"

it's pretty simple.
you just need:
some grapefruits
a case of fresca {oh, heeeeey, fresca, i ain't seen you since elementary school!}
a bottle of club soda
some crushed ice
some salt and/or some sugar/splenda/whatevs
a cocktail shaker
crushed ice {or cubes - shiiiit, it's yo birfday, no?}

get your cocktail shaker all pre-chilled - i recommend a stainless one, natch.
pour in vodka and some ice cubes.
add fresca & club soda.
{i am a pooh and i like more fresca than club soda, but you can start at a 1:1 ratio on the fresca/club soda and go from there ... same with the vodka ... make it as strong or weak as you like ... hell, for that matter, if you don't dig grapefruit, you could easily get down with some orange or lime slices}

shake, shake, shake
shake, shake, shake
shake yo boooooty cocktail shaker

pour out onto your magical glass full of crushed {or cubed} ice

add salt.
or sugar if you are a puss.
garnish with grapefruit slices to be enjoyed post-beverage completion. mmmmm ... it's the best part. ;)

and this is how vodka, fresca and club soda lived happily ever after.

~ brought to you by someone who prefers beer and always will, but this shiz has less calories and i can't get half my shorts/pants buttoned.

bottoms up!

grits -n- greens ... put dis in ya mouf

because it's awesome.

I would love to give credit to the original recipe source, but I swear I have no clue where it came from. 

Some magazine. And then we made copies from copies from copies.

Lo siento, shugs. 

my extra two cents:

1) i have done both frozen and fresh collards. i recommend fresh. this time, i didn't have enough chicken broth to cook the collards in them, but i cooked them in water with salt and bacon grease, and then drained them as directed. shit was good. i also kept the collard green "broth" afterward, because it is excellent for cookin' grits, rice, etc. yummation. #callmecray

2) i recommend cooking the grits on a low simmer, like 2.5 or 3 ... it may take a little longer than 30 minutes to cook, but it makes for a creamier casserole. otherwise, on higher heat, the grits thicken quickly, and they dry out faster, and you have to watch that mo like a hawk and stir constantly or they will stick like crazy.

3) use a dutch oven rather than a stock pot if you can ... otherwise, stir constantly

4) i only used one stick of butter instead of two, and it was still plenty rich

5) don't cheat and use instant grits

6) you can do more or less collards - your preference, but don't mess with the portions on the part when you are cookin' just the grits

7) i like to eat mine with some sliced tomato with salt & pepper ... mmmmmmm

* ps - am i the only one who gets blake shelton stuck in my head?

i got a friend from new york city,
he's never heard of conway twitty,
don't know nothin' bout grits & greens, 
never been south of queens,

but he flew down here on a business trip,
i took him honky-tonkin' and that was it.
he took to it like a pig to mud,
like a cow to cud

no?
okay, just checkin'

yummy fish tacos

We got our recipe from Better Homes & Gardens Special Edition Pink Plaid: For Breast Cancer Awareness {i highly recommend!} but i found a similar one here at bhg online. {the recipe written out below is how we made it.}

Ingredients
 
1 lb fresh or frozen skinless fish fillets {we used cod}

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Cut fish crosswise into 3/4-inch slices. Place fish in a single layer in a greased shallow baking pan. Combine butter, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Brush over fish. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 4 to 6 minutes or until fish begins to flake when tested with a fork.

In addition to the fish, we:

diced up some fresh mango
made some slaw {i just used cabbage, mayo, pickle juice, salt & pepper - sorry, didn't measure anything out}
smashed some avocado
sliced some lime for juice as a final topping

we added a little salt to each one, and i thought they were heaven in my mouth!

life lately ... and thug kitchen

got a hankerin' here lately for some deviled eggs, y'all.

a friend of mine has me hooked on these damn stephanie plum books by janet evanovich.
and, i checked the great gatsby out from la biblioteca. i read it in high school and remembered liking it. that's about all i remember about it.
me and the hubs rarely go to the movies, but this is one i look forward to. hope it doesn't disappoint.

sometimes i get a little carried away takin' pics of reflections - be it water or pictures on the wall.
it's the little things.

the water thing.
on a scale of 1-10, i give myself a 6.
and a half.

these little worms are cute.

but annoying as hell when i'm tryin' to get my walk on.

and, yesterday at the store, i felt somethin' crawlin', and i grabbed it and looked at it. at first thought a booger had somehow landed on my neck. then i realized i had smushed one of these fellas on my skin, and screamed like a bitch.

this is still. goin. on.

please let the owner of the plumbin' company who is here as we speak, be able to fix the continuous trickle of hot water comin' from our tub. 

third time's a charm?

and lastly,

have y'all heard of thug kitchen?

if you love some veggie cookin', and some ummm ... non-traditional cooking blog dialog, then this is your place.

as long as you don't mind super frequent f-bombs.

this ain't no martha stuart kinda outfit.

stephanie, my yankee friend - she totally blogged about this shiz today as well.

great minds ...

{image below is from a carefully positioned screen shot}

happy wednesday, 'lumps.

fast & easy. sign me up.

y'all.

the other day, i made chicken salad, and i always save the broth.

{i always salt the water real good before i boil the chicken}

and i had this random cravin' for egg drop soup.

i googled several recipes, and i left out the corn starch because i don't care about the consistency.

i just care about the taste. 

anyhoo, i just boiled the chicken broth that i already had, threw in some finely diced onions to boil as well {didn't have any green onions on hand}, and slowly stirred in some whisked eggs {i used two egg whites and one whole egg, but you can use whatever you like}

and BAM!

delicious.

this makes me happy because i am all the time wanting something to eat, but not something really carby. this has a little protein too!

win. win.

this may be the shortest post ever.

and maybe y'all don't care.

but, i'm tellin you.

this is easy.

and good.

mmmmmmmmmmm.

baked potato soup

It's been raining here for four days, y'all, with Thursday being the coldest one.

We had two bags of potatoes sitting around, so I figured, why not use some of em up making a delicious potato soup?

This soup is really a traditional potato soup ... the toppings that were added at the end are what give it a 'baked potato' taste ... to me, it was just as good if not better without the toppings, up to you.

Sorry. We still workin' wit cell phone pics up in heah, y'all!

Now, here's where I'm gonna get on y'all's nerves, because I didn't measure anything, but it's still really basic.

I probably used about:

8-10 medium potatoes

2 medium yellow onions

3 garlic cloves

64 oz. chicken broth

1 c. heavy cream

1/2 stick butter

(you can do some substitution among the broth, cream and milk, if you happen to have more of one than the other on hand ... just depends on how rich you want it - mine was mostly broth and it was still plenty rich)

toppings optional:

bacon

cheddar

sour cream

pepper

green onion

The Soup:

So, first thing in the morning, I peeled and diced the potatoes and left them to soak in water for 2 or 3 hours. {I only peel off the bad spots, and leave the rest of the skin on.}

{You don't have to do that, but it keeps all the starchy goo in the potatoes from being part of the soup. I then rinsed them before adding them to the soup later.}

Chop up yellow onions, cut up/mince garlic.

I used a dutch oven and got all the chicken broth hot, and then added the chopped potatoes, yellow onions, and garlic {I minced mine, but you could chop it as fine as you can get it}. 

If you don't have a dutch oven, a stock pot would work just fine, too.

I let these cook together for about an hour, and came back to taste. 

Added some salt. {My broth already had a good bit of salt in it because it was homemade broth from chicken I boiled earlier in the week ... so, just go by taste as far as how much salt to add.}

An hour later, based on taste, I added about a cup of heavy cream and the half stick of butter.

Toppings:

I just cooked some bacon and cut it up to sprinkle on, as well as chopped green onions, shredded cheddar, and Anj ate some sour cream on his, but I didn't.

Oh, and pepper. I added some black pepper. 

And that's it!


Oooooh Wheeee!

This is perfect for fillin' up your belly, so you can lay around in your NC State PJ pants, while readin' your Kindle, and havin' your wife nag the hell out of you so she can have a photo to finish her "blog post".

Enjoy!!

i'm sicka y'all's shit! {and a recipe}

did i show y'all that shirt from my MIL?

priceless.

Welp, today, I am here to say, that I AM sick to damn death of y'all's shit, as a matter of fact.

"Y'all" bein the diabeetus and the emotional flare ups post preggo-ness.

WTF? When do I get "me" back? Never apparently.

If you are new around these parts, you may have missed my episode with having an ectopic pregnancy, and then somewhat of a personality disorder thereafter.

I think I'm dealing with being mad at my body in general.

1) I am only twenty-effin-nine. K? So, you little remnants of diabetic neuropathy can suck. it. dry.

 Ya heard? You too, carpal tunnel. Really? Bite me.

I've been diabetic since age 5, and while the road has not been perfect, I have taken 'better care of myself than most'. I give thanks to God for giving me the brains and determination for that, because I certainly don't just pop up willingly at 3am to check my blood and see what's up. I got a BOMB ASS a1c result of 5.8 a few months ago.

That. shit. was. epic.

I worked my imaginary balls off for that prize.

And my reward? The first signs on neuropathy.

2) Since my body also decided to try to grow a baby in my left fallopian tube, which is no longer with us, I am feeling like my pancreas and whatever is responsible for getting the egg to the uterus need to take some classes on how to do their jobs and shit.




{Let's take a time-out to assess how cray-cray-licious I am soundin' right about now.}

I know. It could be worse. I'm not dying. There are other couples out there dealin' with shit, too. I can have kids, supposedly. My a1c is excellent. I might can reverse some of these symptoms with exercise, continued control and acupuncture. Part of my psychosis is the anger/guilt pendulum I am ridin', which contributes to me feelin' like I'm one loose screw away from a total derailment.

But sometimes, Psycho Shug shows up. Because, even though she is not normally hangin' out, chit-chattin', she is lurkin' in my subconcious bein' all negative and shit, makin' me think that just because I haven't gotten pregnant in two months, with one fallopian tube that I am probably never gonna get pregnant. She also be spreadin' rumors about how I'm gonna have all my limbs amputated, and be blind and shit. I'm tellin' y'all, she is one crazzzzzzzy biotch.  



And she never calls ahead. She just shows up. Bitch ain't had no 'raisin's whatsoever.

Anyhoo. Had me a 180 on the hubs. One second, super hype about life, next, cryin' on the couch over some carpal tunnel and the baby I ain't growin.' It's like the pregnancy gave life to an alter ego that is bat cave crazy. What's really nuts is that some days, even though the what-if's, fear and sadness are always in the back of my mind, I almost feel like I dreamed the whole thing. Telling Anj I was pregnant, being pregnant, the bleeding, the trip to the doctor's office to find out it was ectopic, the surgery. Sometimes I stare at my scars in the shower and remind myself that I didn't hallucinate it all.

After my meltdown he suggested I get on blogger and dump this shit out on y'all make myself feel better by writin' my thoughts out. I asked him to fix me a half caffeine-free diet coke/half cherry coke zero. {during a commercial break from the NC Stizzle basketball game, duh}

But -
I cried it out, and now I'm back to either normal, or my state of denial - the cryin' fit/total meltdown lasted a total of 20 minutes, start-to-finish.

To end things on a less whack ass note, we ate some bomb ass soup, and y'all deserve to know about it, especially after sufferin' through that shit up top. Whew.

____________________________________

remember that time we made kale soup?

did you like it?

yeah?

well, you'll looooove this.

it is equally magical.

came from this book from the grandparents for christmas.

__________________________

Sausage & Red Cabbage Soup

Go ahead on and put you on some yoga pants and a hoodie.

It's that kinda party.

Thanks so much for bravin' the crazy train tonight, shugpies.