mommy MEAL

Over the past 16 years I have gotten used to alone time in the evening. And I kinda like it at night when all the kids are in bed and Kenny is still at work, and it's just my time to do my own thang.

Life with an ER doctor or any doctor for that matter, is unpredictable. I have learned that if it is a day that Kenny has to work, then I pretend he is unattainable that day. If he is suppose to get out at 4 then I think 6 (and then sometimes its 7 or 8) He never, ever can just walk out of the ER. "Oh, sorry Mr. Lacerated Head, and Johnnie Broken Femur but my kids have a soccer game, gotta go. And Mrs. Puking Your Guts out you are just going to have to deal with it. " Nope you stay until the last stitch is stitched and for the most part all the tests have come in. I never even talk to him when he is at work, unless it is an emergency.

When I had three wee ones in diapers this made for some loooooong days.

I think that is when I really started my mommy meal ritual. When the kids were little and it would have been a waste to fix a big meal for them, and me. Now, fifty percent of the time when Ken is at work I will fix a regular meal. The other fifty percent the kids have grilled cheese or what ever is easy and THEN when they go to bed it is MOMMY MEAL time.

Which I realize, the after 9pm eating, has most likely significantly played a part in the donut around my middle.

I usually have some sort of chips and cheese or quesadilla. "Napoleon! Just make yourself a dang quesa-dilluh!"

Or a glass of Chardonnay and cheese and crackers....with all kinds of yummy stinky oohy-gooey cheeses, that NO one else in this house will eat.

But my favorite is.....

drum roll pleeeease....

rat a tat a tat a tat, rat a tat a tat a tat, rat a tat a tat a tat....

GREEK GUACAMOLE!

HEAVENS to mercatroid! This is the best dip on the face of the earth! I first had it at a Greek Feast put on by friend of mine...who is you guessed it Greek. The only downside, or I guess you could look at it as an upside depending on your mood, is that it gives you horrible garlic and onion breath. So if you want the hubby to back off in the bedroom make yourself a bowl of Greek Guac before bed and it is nightie night sleep tight for you. Unless of course he has a cold or pewtrid mouth odors have no effect on him.

Yes, it is a good night when I can plant my butt in front of the T.V., little Food Network, with a bowl of this stuff and a bag of the Kirkland brand organic tortilla chips and have me a FEAST! (I love those chips Costco did not pay me to spell it out for you, but I would be willing to recieve a lifetime of free chips, if they wanted to give them to me)


So I guess you want the recipe...

First, how about a saliva stimulating picture...

Oh YAY Baby! That is the good stuff. Big chunks of tomato, onion, avocado. This is also awesome on top of a hamburger or a grilled chicken sandwich or as a side with any Mexican meal or Greek meal. OK you could just about eat this anywhere anytime, well.....maybe not with Chinese food.

GREEK GUACAMOLE

printable recipe
(recipe shared with me by Kristy Buck...thanks friend)
2 cloves garlic, peeled, and chopped finely
1/2 cup Wishbone Italian Dressing
Juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (remove stems)
4 medium tomatoes diced in large chunks ( I like roma tomatoes best)
1/2 medium red onion, diced in medium chunks
3 or 4 medium avocados (should be slightly firm for best results, not too ripe)
1 cup feta cheese drained and crumbled
optional: 1cup of black olives drained and sliced


1. combine garlic, dresssing, lime juice, cumin and cilantro in a bowl, whisk together. set aside



2. In a medium sized bowl combine tomatoes, avocado, and onions (and olives if you like)



3. now pour the dressing over the vegi's mix well. top with feta cheese



This is best if you give it at least an hour before diggin' in, but if you must then GO for it my friend just dig right in.

Serves 8-10 (thats what the recipe says....um this really serves one mom 2 to 3 nights)







You want the onion, tomato, and avocado to be in chunks, not smooshed up or diced too small. This is a very chunky guac. So take your knife and slice a grid in your avocado.


Then take a spoon and scoop out the chunks they will fall right out perfectly in your bowl....



like this. Voila..chunks of avocado mag-nee-freeak!



As you can see I did not have red onion on hand, so a sweet vidalia onion worked just fine too. And I never have put the olives in. I like olives just fine I just have felt the need to add them, so they have stayed out of my "Mommy meal".

This is a meal fit for a mom, simple, a little fancy...hey crumbling cheese can be deemed as fancy....and just down right dee-lish.

I hope you enjoy!

luvYA!

Dinner in the E.R.

Well, if you didn't know already my husband...Ken...is an Emergency Room Physician. Which when I met him was the beginning of the show E.R., remember in the George Clooney days? No, well if you don't then you are too young to be reading my blog! It's not like the show, everyone used to ask that, and it's not. They actually go home and have a life. And when they are at work they are so freaking busy there is no time for smoochin in the utility closet....although Kens says there have been stories. But he's a good guys. He doesn't go there, no time for gossip when people are dying, literally. I have to brag about him...cause he is AWESOME. Everyone likes him, he is an awesome teacher, in that he takes time with the residents and the patients to try and teach them about what they need to do to help themselves. I used to kinda get sick of hearing what a super duper guys he was....(that was back in my barefoot, fat, and pregnant days when I rarely left the house....and my self esteem was at record lows), every time I'd meet someone from the hospital they'd always gush about Dr. Johnson...yeh yeh yeh...like I don't know he's amazing!

Okay where am I going with all this blah blah about my hubby? The other night we were eating some sort of noodle and sauce concoction, and Kenny starts in telling a story about a Q-tip (a.k.a. cute old lady with grey hair) he had taken care of and how sick she was and this and that about her bowels....well you get the idea...and Cece (7yr) drops her fork leans back and says "pleeeaaase, how am I suppose to eat when you are talkin like that?". Really the rest if us hadn't even missed a bite, ...guts-"hey anymore noodles left", blood, bones sticking out of flesh- "pass another piece of chicken", puss squirting across the room- "could I have more mashed potato's?", body impaled on a pole- "wow this spaghetti with meatballs is awesome!". You see this is how our dinner conversation usually goes. The older kids and I are just used to it, or are desensitized to it, I don't know...

What my husband deals with and sees, is incomprehensible most days to me. He is not at an intercity hospital, anymore, he used to be. He also used to be a flight physician for AeroMed. Those days are behind him. But he stills sees humanity at it's finest. I always say that Kens view of "normal" is not what most people would say "normal" is. Like what's a normal cut, or a normal zit, or a normal rash, or for goodness sake a normal family dynamic. He has seen a lot.....

Do you know some people that are funny and when you are around them you just want them to be funny? It's like our friend Mike, he is so blasted funny, but he just IS funny he doesn't try to be. People always ask him to be funny. That's kinda like Ken with his E.R. stories. Sometimes they are all at the surface and they come flying out, and people start gathering around, but mostly it's just a day to day thing for him. Just another day at the "office". Everyone always remembers his stories though. My sister just said there other day, they had some friends over and they got telling "Ken stories". We were like "what stories were those?", and they rattled off a handful of crazy things that Ken has seen....we were like "oh yeah, uh-huh, that was crazy, ooooh that was horrible".

Of course I have to be careful, there are laws, PRIVACY laws, ya know?! Not that I know any names, he never tells me that stuff just the stories... and unfortunately most are rated PG-13, so my E.R. Doc wife story section might not be for the faint of heart. Stay tuned....