Captain Kirk WTF Wednesday

WTF?

This photo is seriously begging to be meme'd. What could the caption be? Any ideas?

Beam me up, Scotty, and have a good Hump Day!

White Chili

What could be better on a cold, almost-Winter day than a steaming cup of chili? Well, if you're like my picky Hubs some people, you don't care so much for chili. So what's a gal to do? And the answer, for not quite $1,000, is: White Chili.

It's true, the Hubs is not a major fan of chili of the red tomato variety. So I took it upon myself to scour the Internet find a suitable and tasty alternative for his  particularly picky palate. [Say that 3 times fast!] And after much trial and error and a combination of several recipes, I've finally created the perfect--at least in my own mind--bowl of White Chili. So for this Tasty Tuesday (and just a wee bit earlier than Tuesday) I'm gonna share my recipe with you. No applause, no applause. Really just throw money. So here it is.

Ingredients

1-1/2 TBSP Oil
1 Medium Onion, Diced
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1  Cup Celery, Diced
1 Cup Green Pepper, Diced
1 Lb Boneless Chicken Breast, Cubed
2-14oz Cans Great Northern Beans (Rinsing & Draining is optional)
4 oz Chopped Green Chiles (Optional)
1-1/2 TSP Ground Cumin
1 TSP Oregano
1 Can 14.5oz Chicken Broth
1 Can of Water (use the broth can)
Kosher Salt (or regular salt), and Pepper, to taste
6 oz Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1/2 Cup Sour Cream

Directions

Heat the oil in a Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, green peppers, and garlic, stirring frequently, until veggies are tender and onions  are translucent. Add the chicken and cook until it's no longer pink. Add the remaining ingredients, EXCEPT the cheese and sour cream. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes. Then add the cheese and sour cream and heat until all the cheese has melted. If you like a thicker chili (I do!), you can thicken with a little corn starch mixed with cold water just before serving. That will thicken it up nicely.

The Hubs loves this chili, as do I. He will even eat the leftovers, and that's saying a lot, my friends. I defy you to make it and not love it too! OK, well, maybe "defy" is too strong a word. But I do think you'll like it. It's definitely a nice change from regular chili. Whip up a batch and see for yourself. And maybe make some of our new favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies to have for dessert while you're at it. :)

Oh, and just as a side note...you can substitute leftover turkey in place of the chicken in this recipe. It is a great way to use your Thanksgiving leftovers and it's still Tinaliciously delicious!

Enjoy!

MJ and Madonna Memes

This week's Michael Jackson memes feature the King of Pop and the woman who could arguably possibly claim the title of Queen of Pop, Madonna. They knew each other and were photographed together numerous times over the years. So I challenged myself to come up with brand new memes for 3 photos that I found of them together.

So on with the Madge and MJ show for your MJ Monday...

Enjoy your Monday!

Destiny's Hanger

You know, babies never cease to amaze me. I went through babydom with my daughter, Jennifer, and again with my grandson, Dylan. And now that I baby-sit my granddaughter, Destiny four days per week, I get to experience it all over again.

Aside from the predictable downsides, like changing poopy diapers (that sh*t literally never gets old, eh?), the joys of teething, and struggling to keep up with a crawling baby who seems to have more energy than the Energizer Bunny, it's all a fabulous experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. And it produces some wonderful little moments as I see the world anew through Destiny's eyes.

Case in point: I was doing some Christmas shopping the other day and picked up what is unlikely to be the last of Destiny's Christmas gifts.  And since babies grow at a rate far faster than seems humanly possible--even putting aside the fashionista factor-- she always needs clothes. So, being my cheap frugal and thrift-minded self, I decided to look through the clearance rack for some bargains. I found a couple of really cute jumpers for only $3 apiece. Perfect! So I snatched them up and decided I'd give  the pink one to her now and save the brown one for Christmas.

I stopped by my daughter's house on the way home, to drop off the jumper. Destiny sees me and comes crawling toward me at her usual bionic speed, and wearing her pretty-as-a-princess smile. So I pulled out the pink jumper as she gains momentum and she seems truly excited by her trendy new outfit. Then I handed it to her. And what does she do? She proceeds to wiggle the jumper off its plastic hanger...and drops the jumper on the ground...so she can play with the hanger. Apparently that was her plaything of choice for the next half hour or so. And now that hanger is part of her little living room toy stash.

You just gotta love a baby's view on what's important in the world, don'tcha? Plastic hangers? Yes.  Cute little pink jumpers? Not so much. And I definitely love the face that looks up at me from the baby who truly appreciates her prized plastic hanger. She is truly my Treasure.

Beat It (Semi) Wordless Wednesday

In trying to find a good picture for this week's (semi) Wordless Wednesday, I found one that was oh so cute. It made me smile. Hope it makes you smile too.

Surely MJ would be proud. ;)

Now Beat It and enjoy your hump day!

Adventures in the Air Freshener Aisle

The story I'm about to tell you is real and true. No names will be changed to protect the innocent, because the Hubs is anything but innocent.

So The Hubs and I were shopping at Wally World on Friday, as per our usual Friday night routine. We had our 7-year-old grandson, Dylan with us, as we do every other Friday. You would think that a grown man would use the quality shopping time we share with Dylan to set a good example and behave as any good grandpa would. But does he? Um, no.

Part of the shopping routine for the Hubs and his pint-sized cohort in crime is to find appropriate sized grocery items that they can use to play catch with. And once they find a good item they proceed to toss said item back and forth to each other as we make our way up and down the aisles. Never mind the fact that the person pushing the cart [yes, me] often ends up in the line of fire, turning their all-for-the-sake-of-fun-so-lighten-up-grandma-game into a game of dodge the deodorant...but they also often come just this shy of pelting complete strangers with rogue projectiles in the form of cereal boxes or packages of paper towels.

OK, so I'm used to their little game of catch. And I've become fairly adept at ignoring their juvenile carefree behavior, or pretending that I don't know them, as the need arises. And I guess it could be worse, right? I'm sure there are much more embarrassing things that they--or the Hubs--could do, no? Well, of course there are,  or else there would be nothing to serve as fodder for my blog on this fine Sunday afternoon.

So you just need to picture me, pushing my cart, turning to look for Dylan behind me, and then navigating the turn into the air freshener aisle to find the Hubs. He's standing there, smiling. And he sort of looks like the Cheshire Cat the way he's grinning.

No, not this one...

More like this...

I think we can all agree that a guy does not stand in a grocery store aisle, leaning his arm on a shelf full of air fresheners, wearing a big Cheshire-Cat-Grin for no reason. Of course there is a reason, and before I even had time to ponder what that reason might be, the Hubs enlightens me.

"Good thing this aisle is full of air fresheners."

In appraising his stance, with hiss ass up against the shelves, it takes me less than a second to realize that the Hubs has indeed just farted. In the grocery store. Right up against the vast array of air fresheners.

Yes, a very fine example to be set for the grandson, and the perfect lesson  in anal emission etiquette at the same time (you gotta love a double-duty-tooty): if you're going to fart in the grocery section at Wally World, at least have the decency to do it in the air freshener aisle. And be sure your ass is right up against the shelves, so as to look as inconspicuous as possible while your gaseous expulsion permeates the shelves.

So that was my Friday, and now it's your Sunday.

Enjoy!

Beer Baby (Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Nothing says good parenting like weaning the baby off the bottle...by replacing it with a good ole can o' beer. ;)

Happy (Semi) Wordless Wednesday, y'all.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Yes, you read that title right, folks.  You haven't gone crazy and you are in the right blog. And this is indeed a recipe post!  I wasn't quite sure how to post this since I don't generally do recipe-related posts. And since I'm not posting the actual recipe (since it's not mine), that made it even a bit more challenging. I was clueless as to what category to post this in, but I totally want to share it, so I'm creating a new category. Are you ready for it?

Are you sure?

Well OK then.

It's Tasty Tuesday. ;)

That'll work, I think. And so for the rare occasion when I decide I might like to post a recipe, or post a link to one, as the case may be, at least I'll have the proper forum for doing so. So off we go into the Tinaliciously tasty world of cookies! [That IS my kind of world, I must say.]

Now I got this recipe link from one of my favorite blogs, Kludgy Mom. If you haven't read the Kludgy Mom, you really should. I mean, Gigi is funny and clever and everything you could want in a fabulous blogger--and no, she didn't even pay me to say that. And if that ain't enough, she also posts fabulous recipes, or links thereto. So grab her feed pronto!

But the cookie recipe itself originated from another blog, Popcorn Served Daily. And good gracious, that blog title alone makes her blog worth a visit. But it was the recipe that was calling my name, so I was thrilled to visit Lisa's blog to snag it. And even more thrilled to test it out this weekend. This was the result.

What? How were they, you ask? Hold on a sec while I stop chewing long enough to find the right words...oh yeah...

Freaking AWESOME!

And being the cookie-loving gal that I am, when I find a cookie that is freaking awesome, I want to share the fat and calories the recipe with everyone! So, click below to:

Snag the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Recipe

When you try this recipe...and you will...be sure to tell Lisa that Tinalicious sent you...via the Kludgy Mom.  Now I've got to go make some more cookies. That's the only problem with making freaking awesome cookies: they don't last long. I blame the Hubs. He ate most of them!

Yeah, that's my story. And I'm sticking to it.

Have a Happy What?

So the Hubs and I were eating dinner awhile ago.  And it's Monday, which means I don't usually cook, because it's "My Day;" meaning that I usually work in my studio on Mondays and don't want to be bothered with the menial tasks of wifedom that obligate me the rest of the week, especially when I could be hiding going crazy creative in my studio instead. So, we had frozen pizza. And it wasn't even half bad, which is saying a lot for frozen pizza, considering how much I generally despise it.

Anyhoots, I'm minding my own pepperoni and sausage business when a commercial comes on the boobietubie. It's for Always. You know. Sanitary napkins, a.k.a. feminine hygiene products, a.k.a. MFR's (monthly flow receptacles). And guess what their slogan is:

Now I have been out of the loop for awhile, considering I'm "lucky" enough to have needed a hysterectomy several years ago, so I no longer have to deal with the monthly descent into hell that was my regular period. But I just have to say to Procter & Gamble:  um,  WTH?!

Happy + Period = Does Not Compute

Granted, I had abnormal menstrual issues, so my monthly descent into hell was probably worse than a lot of other women. But even though I was not a stereotypical "bitch" when good old Aunt Flo came to town, I was anything but the happy hostess to that messy and painful house guest. I dreaded my period and all the maintenance and hormonal mayhem it entailed. I hated it almost as much as I hate The Freak Next Door, and golly, girls, that's saying a lot!

So what gives, P & G? After some Googling in-depth research, I've learned that this slogan of yours has been active for quite some time. Clearly I've overlooked it since I no longer have to purchase your overpriced things with wings. But I just don't get it.  Blood flow, cramping, migraines, mood swings, bloating, breast tenderness...what exactly about all that spells H-A-P-P-Y to you? It's not like women are gonna put on one of your pads and suddenly the theme song from The Partridge Family starts playing all around us or something.

Listen up, P & G, it's time for a new slogan. For a slogan to work, it's got to be authentic. Valid. You know...for real. So let's cut the crap and just say it like it is for many women:

Have a Happy Monthly Descent into Hell. Period.

WTH (Semi) Wordless Wednesday

I'm gonna keep this (Semi) Wordless Wednesday post as wordless as possible. It pretty much speaks for itself, don't you think?

But I do think the kid's expression echos the 2 thoughts in my own head:

1. WTH?


2. EW. EW. And EWWWW!

And if that photo isn't the best argument for the use of sunscreen on the planet, then I don't know what is.

Happy Hump Day, y'all.