A Night Of Firsts

Kid had her very first sleepover last night. Technically I wouldn't have thought she was old enough for one... and both Mr F and I agree that she probably wouldn't have been able to sleep over somewhere else. But her cute little (emphasis on little) friend came over after school and I could hear then dreaming up schemes of a mythical "sleepover". The playdate started at noon so I wouldn't have thought I had the stamina to follow through on an all day/all night playdate adventure. However, when her mom came back to get her after the 1st playdate extension I heard her say to her daughter "well... we're you invited?"

I'm pretty sure I myself wouldn't have offered... but... by then the kids had been together with no problems and our little friend had proved to be the most quiet yet completely direct kiddo I had come across... a truly delightful combination I assure you. So I promised she could go home at any time and her mom drove away.

A little while later I asked her what her favorite dinner was. She replied "miniature hamburgers". Hmm... we don't have that... but then genius struck... Mc Donald's playland has both hamburgers and a play structure on which to tire them out. "Do you ever go to McDonald's" I asked? (she goes to the hippie school with Kid remember... McD's may very well be on the NO list). She nodded emphatically (which may have been a lie since she also assured me she'd seen Sleeping Beauty... and that turned out not to be true) and the girls began to squeal with delight. I wanted to squeal with delight over not having to cook or make a mess in the kitchen! And so when Mr F drove up... we all drove off into the sunset. I decided whatever risk I was taking in offending her mom (should they be against McDs) was more than worth it for the memories of 1st Ever Sleepover fun I was creating.

When the playstructure filled with "big boys" who were a bit to crazy for my taste (and Kid's... but not that adorable tiny fearless friend!) I told them it was time to go. Our little friend ran right over to put her shoes on without being asked!!.... of course I had to tell Kid about 50 times to follow suit but what else is new? (maybe her mom will trade kids?... it really made me wonder if Kid would be equally cooperative for someone else... she'd be good but I don't think she'd be this good) Then we headed home to enjoy "movie night" featuring the aforementioned Sleeping Beauty. They put on pjs and snuggled up together on the couch.

After the movie they popped in their beds... and... get this... went to sleep! Apparently no one told them they were supposed to stay up all night trying to levitate each other while chanting "light as a feather, stiff as a board". They didn't get the memo that sleepovers equal all night singing and interpretive dancing to Tiffany's version of "I Think We're Alone Now" until your friends Dad comes in at 2 AM to tell you to be quiet (dude... he was scary). They slept all night long. Not a whimper, not a glass of water, not a potty break. It was heaven.

Baby on the other hand decided to throw our blissful evening a curve ball when she threw up all over my bed. Freshly made bed I might add (1st night of flannel loveliness). What is it about clean sheets that draws puke to them? I swear it happens nearly every time! Oh and yes... that was another first. Baby made it nearly 22 months without vomiting (not counting baby spit up). And let me remind you all that there is a difference... and it's a horrific one. Spit up you just think "oh that's gross"... wipe it up and lie down on the wet spot. Puke and you need to practically put on a hazmat suit while you decontaminate everything with even the tiniest of splatters. It's good times.


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Hey all if you got even the remotest of chuckles out of this one... could you please GO HERE and click the little plus sign and add a nomination. You don't have to sign up for anything or write anything. You'll see Mr F's nomination right above the comments box. Just click the + and add a vote to his nomination.

This is not like that totally stupid award I accidentally asked you to vote for me for ... I do apologize... I had no idea it was a weird join up type of thing and completely meaningless. This is the real deal. This is for the same awards I was up for last year. It's a big deal and it really does make a difference. So thanks. And hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be able to let you know that I was picked as one of the best diarists.

Who Said Muffintops Aren't Hot

Kid had a lunch time playdate today with a friend after school today. I was in such a rush to get her (having completely forgotten that she in fact had a half day of school today) that I left a pot of boiling water on the stove while I was out. So when I finally got back and realized what I'd done I was a bit frazzled. Fortunately we were only gone about 20 minutes or so and I had left the lid on so we didn't burn down the house.

I proceeded to make the kids pasta and was still kind of shaky I suppose because when the buzzer sounded and I went to drain the pasta.... I inadvertently missed the sink by about 2 inches. And I poured boiling water directly on my MUFFINTOP... you know... because it was sticking out that extra inch or so.

Boiling water is motherfucking hot folks. And since I was holding the pot I couldn't immediately remove the shirt that was now soaked in boiling water and was continuing to cook my flesh. By the time I realized the reason it was still burning was due to the shirt it was too late and I had really burned my skin.

Thank god it was on my stretch marks and not my virgin flesh or I'd be really pissed right now.

Just In Case You Missed This The First Time Around

I put THIS up last year. It's the story of the armed robbery we had the great misfortune to stumble upon two years ago. That year was a rough, rough, year. And I will say that the top 3 worst days of my life happened in a very short time span. Its a tough call but I'm placing this in as the 2nd worst day of my life.

Wherefore Art Thou ...You Jackass?!

It is 8:24 PM. Bedtime was at 8 PM. Unfortunately he has the kids.

More Compacting Christmas

I'm sorry folks but Baby is whiny and needy as her cold has entered her chest. I'm feeling a bit rundown myself. This is all I've got for you... maybe I'll have a bit of time to post a written accompaniment a bit later on.

I do get a bit off on an organics grocery tangent during the first half... skip ahead if all you want is more compacting Christmas.

Mostly I'm just putting out a call for any and all homemade (simple & cheap) craft ideas. Send links if you come upon them. I would really like to make our gift boxes as full and joyful as we can.

Oh Wait There's More...

I forgot that at one point an Elder said...

"We just want you to join the Church cause you're so cool."


And then later I said to Mr F..

"If we did join the Mormon church and pretend we believed in it... we would be the most popular Mormons is Asheville!!"

Mr F Almost Converted!

Here's the play by play of the last two missionary visits. Since SO much stuff has happened and been said I think this is one of those times when the video format is best. But just in case you really need to know what a missionary visit is like here you go...



Well, well, the night finally arrived. The night of our missionary dinner. You all may recall that long ago (or at least it seems that way) I clicked on the link for my free Book Of Mormon which set this whole thing in motion. After some shenanigans they dropped in, Kid flashed them, they admired our woodwork (how could you not?), and then they said they wanted to come back and share a lesson. But no Book Of Mormon. Now not being Mormon I was a bit surprised... I kind of thought you ask for the book they bring it to you and share their message. Not so in Asheville. They like to do this in slow, very slow, increments apparently.

So visit number two goes down. They came over one evening a couple weeks ago, I think you may recall that they can't come in unless Mr F is home (let's face it...I'm just too hot), to share a "lesson". Still no Book Of Mormon! At this point Mr F is trying to kind of bow out of the discussion because he is factually not interested... but they are intent on having a "family meeting". To make matters more awkward they kept reading things and then asking us pointed questions like "What do you think a Prophet is?" which kind of took us off guard since... um... we are not religious... at all. But at some point they gave their testimonies and I was just so touched and taken with their youth and sincerity. After quite some time they had us pray (which if you don't believe in a Heavenly Father per se can be incredibly awkward to lead... which of course I did... since there was no way in Hell Mr F was going to do it). Then we got our hands on the book. They bookmarked some passage for us to read and asked us to pray to God about whether or not Joseph Smith was in fact a prophet. They wanted to come back in two days but I had them schedule us in for two weeks later because I knew there was no way I was going to get that kind of homework done in a couple of days. To make up for it I asked them to come back for dinner. They seemed pleased.

They were really so eager and hopefully that both Mr F and I confessed, after they had left, that we had both questioned "what if Joseph Smith really is a prophet? Now don't go getting too excited. Even if he is, and maybe he is, neither one of us believes that... we just don't believe he isn't either. Does that make any sense? I suppose I'm agnostic when you get down to it. But I digress. One thing they did say that particularly tickled Mr F & I is that "The Book of Mormon is either all true or it's all false". Is it just me or is that a weird thing to say? So Mr F and I spent the rest of that night chanting "It's all true or it's all false!" Over and over. Kid asked what was true or false and I told her either Joseph Smith is a prophet or not and that we were supposed to pray about it and God would give us an answer. So she went into the living room and knelt down by her desk with her arms in a highly contorted and exaggerated prayer position and prayed. She came back and told us that he was a prophet.

In the next few days Kid was quite taken with our new "bibles". They have color prints of paintings of biblical and mormon images... Kid was loving them. She was also loving the bookmarks which had paintings of Jesus on them. She stole them. We lost our spots.

Another week goes by and I'm getting nervous because the missionaries are coming back and I don't know what sections to read. I was feeling like I do in those weird high school flashback dreams where I have an exam but I haven't gone to any of my classes all semester. Because while I don't want to be Mormon I did say I would read it and pray on it and I follow through on my word goddamn it! I was also starting to stress about how I was going to let these guys down... and really starting to regret agreeing to another meeting... and to making them dinner. I was trying to be nice but now it was starting to feel like I had set them up.

Through an insider tip I get some appropriate reading recommendations. I read the passages. I *prayed* on it. And I have to be honest I didn't receive a message, or feeling, or enlightening that this was the religion for me. So there. I followed through. What more could be expected of me?

So I start to obsess about the impending meeting. I plan my menu and get the house clean. And I start researching Mormonism hardcore style. And, people, I'm serious when I say it is just not a good fit. Forget about the fact that I'm not even technically Christian, I don't believe in God in that kind of a way, I don't believe in Heaven, I don't believe that men and women should have different roles, or that there should be a hierarchical church structure, and I do believe in gay marriage & drinking strong drinks and hot drinks when necessary (daily)... in short I don't think I could get more un-Mormon. So I decided that I was just going to be honest and straight forward. Why should I be afraid to tell some 19 year old guys that I don't believe in their religion?

So about 15 minutes before they arrived I downed a *strong drink* to take the edge off (Don't worry I chased it with a piece of orbitz gum so that they wouldn't be scandalized). I put my crescent rolls in the oven and then they walked in. But low and behold it was not our original dynamic duo. They'd switched out one Elder for another... and this one you knew was the "big guns". I'm serious. He had a completely different air about him and I thought to myself "shit". I was mentally prepared for the other Elder. I had been as upfront as possible with them about not wanting to convert... but I admit agreeing to "pray on" the Book of Mormon may have left them with mixed singles. It is just so hard to disappoint people!!

The evening started off nicely. We talked about the election as they were eager to hear more about what had happened and which states had flipped. Then we had dinner and they ate as much as I expected... and I was really glad that I made as much as I did!... and we talked about the Biltmore estate. The conversation was easy and comfortable (at least for me, I was drunk... just kidding).

Then we adjourned to the living room and started the discussion. The badass Elder asked how I came to have contact with the missionaries and I laughed and then explained the whole saga. I was explicit that I was not looking to convert and that I just love to study different religions and cultures (you all know that's true). I was really proud of myself for getting that out in the open right away. But that was not the end of the conversation. They asked if we had ever felt the Holy Spirit in prayer and in what ways we felt the LDS church was similar to other churches. I wowed them with comparing it to the Amish church (dude... I'm serious there are a lot of similarities).

That's when Mr F started going on & on (& on & on) about Catholisism.... keep in mind he hasn't been to church in about 20 freaking years. Now I knew he was trying to be polite and add to the discussion in the way he could... and that he didn't want to overtly hurt anyone's feelings by admitting how he really feels about religion. But at some point an Elder asked what we felt about baptism and that triggered some kind of long diatribe from Mr F and instead of saying I don't believe *that* he said "I can see that" "I can see how that would give you the true authority". Dude! I wanted to jump out of my skin. He was seriously saying exactly the wrong thing if you don't want to be signing yourself up for more visits (and he doesn't). I'm not kidding for a couple of minutes I think the missionaries thought we might be converted afterall. I tried to jump in and help him redirect the conversation. The truth is Mr F doesn't want religion and I got him to say he isn't missing it in his life. Then they asked me if I was missing religion in my life and I laughed and said "the truth is I'm missing a LOT in my life... I don't have any friends for one thing."

I honored the guys for their commitment to their mission. I sincerely do hope that what they believe is true and comes to pass for them. Mr F and I both do. But it doesn't make us believe it. It doesn't even makes us want to believe it. If we're wrong we're wrong.

They invited us to read some of the Book of Mormon everyday and sincerely pray about it's truthfulness. They asked Mr F if he would do that. He laughed and said "I don't want to say I'll do something and not do it" They respected that. Then they asked me and I said I would. (I know, I know). But to clarify matters when they said they wanted to schedule another visit I said I'd be more than happy for them to come back and discuss what I had read and that I'd be happy to make them dinner if they'd like. BUT that I wasn't searching for one religion and that that wasn't the answer within me and I know that they need to use their time wisely and that their mission is to proselytize. AND I wanted them to make the best decision for their mission. That kind of stopped them in their tracks. The badass's whole facial expression changed and you could see him evaluate the situation. I told them I enjoyed their company and I'd be happy to spend time with them and continue the discussion but I really understood that they had goals to meet and it was up to them. Either way I would read the book because I would have anyway. The badass said they'd come back and talk to me some evening... but that they wouldn't have time for dinner.

So... long story short... 3 visits down... one to go. I think (think) that they are getting the message.

Although I did leave out that at one point Mr F said he would need a serious sign like being struck by lightening to have the kind of revelation they have had. And I said "like a burning bush!" Then one Elder said to the other "Next time bring gasoline."

I thought that was hilarious.



Mr & Mrs F rehash the visit for your enjoyment:

The Mormons Are Coming

Check back later... I'm hoping to write up an actual post about it!

The Moment You've Been Waiting For

Yes I finally got to finish my discussion on Compacting Christmas...

Plenty Of Goodies In This One

Your Dinner Awaits

Aw Yeah... the day after Thanksgiving style! This casserole was fantastic. Seriously. Super fast, super easy, and super delicious! I wanted to try it since Mr F is always a fan of cranberry and turkey and I've been desperately searching for some more surefire dinners. Well, add this into the rotation. I modified the recipe to reduce the fat and calories and added in more flavor with a little more cranberry sauce. If you're worried about the whole cranberry/enchilada sauce combo... don't... it was great. I'm not sure you would have identified the flavor of the cranberries if you didn't know they were there... it just made for a more flavorful sauce. I also used leftover (frozen) chopped turkey meat (mine was dark) from the roast turkey I made last month. While the dark meat added a few more calories I didn't have to saute it and I was able to reduce the oil by half. Seeing as many of us are about to have a whole lot of turkey and cranberry sitting around you might want to keep the recipe on file.

( I know... the picture does not do it justice!)

Layered Turkey Enchiladas
from Better Homes & Gardens

ingredients
1 lb. turkey breast tenderloin, cut in bite-size strips
1 16-oz. pkg. frozen sweet peppers and onions stir-fry vegetables
1 10-oz. can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
9 6-inch corn tortillas, halved
1 8 oz. pkg. Mexican blend shredded cheese (2 cups)
Lime wedges (optional)
Cilantro sprigs (optional)

directions
1. Position oven rack toward top of oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In extra-large skillet cook turkey in 1 tablespoon hot cooking oil over medium heat 4 minutes or until no longer pink. Add frozen vegetables, enchilada sauce, and cranberry sauces. Bring to boiling. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

2. In 2-quart baking dish layer one-third of the tortillas, then one-third of the cheese. Use a slotted spoon to layer half the turkey-vegetable mixture. Layer one-third tortillas, one-third cheese, remaining turkey-vegetables (with slotted spoon), and remaining tortillas. Spoon on remaining sauce from skillet; sprinkle remaining cheese. Bake 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut in squares. Serve with lime and cilantro. Serves 4.

nutrition facts
Calories 615, Total Fat (g) 25, Saturated Fat (g) 11, Monounsaturated Fat (g) 1, Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 3, Cholesterol (mg) 120, Sodium (mg) 1171, Carbohydrate (g) 52, Total Sugar (g) 16, Fiber (g) 6, Protein (g) 45, Vitamin C (DV%) 72, Calcium (DV%) 39, Iron (DV%) 14, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet




My modifications:

* I used 1 & 1/4 c reduced fat mexican blend cheese
* I reduced the tortillas to 7, using 2.5 on the two bottom layers and 2 cut into strips placed decoratively on top.
* I increased the cranberry sauce to 3/4 c
* I decreased the oil to 1/2 T
* I used precooked roasted turkey meat, chopped into bite sized pieces

saute peppers & onions in 1/2 T oil. Add 10 oz of enchilada sauce (I used mild) and 3/4 c whole cranberry sauce. Add 1 lb chopped roast turkey meat. Bring to a boil.

In a square pyrex pan (or similar sized casserole dish) cover bottom of dish with 2.5 corn tortillas cut in half (some torn to completely cover pan). Cover with 1/3 of the cheese. Ladle 1/2 the hot turkey mixture onto the cheese. Cover with another 2.5 tortillas. Top with 1/3 of the cheese and then ladle on the remaining turkey mixture. Cover this with 2 tortillas cut into strips (I laid them in a lattice pattern) and then the remaining cheese.

Bake at 450 for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

My modifications resulted in these calorie changes:
If using dark meat the calorie count is 506 for 4 servings, 337 for 6 servings.
If using white meat the calorie count is 471 for 4 servings, 314 for 6 servings.

P.S. This would be a kickass potluck dish!

This Week The Plan

Well last week was a complete bust in the exercise department. In fact I didn't workout at all. That is the main problem with the after dinner exercise time slot... it is also the family time slot and if there are things going on I have to sacrifice my workout. Then on the weekend I was just so freaking tired from Baby's nocturnal shenanigans that I actually thought it would be dangerous to get on a treadmill... I'm serious. Shockingly, despite eating half of the notorious red velvet cake, my weight didn't go up this week... stress helps in that department I'm thinking.

Baby is now officially sick and now that her symptoms have surfaced she is sleeping a bit better again. She is still running me ragged and making me want to turn to drink every night around 5 PM so I can make it to the home stretch... and believe me I would if it didn't mean that I'd be throwing my workout right out the window with it.

On a positive note Mr F and I had a "discussion"... different from an argument because during a discussion I talk and Mr F yeses me. Anyway it was regarding his half assed cleaning projects and how they effect my overall morale. Not well. Nothing like trying to keep things together (and really making tons of progress) but always having some pile of shit left out or things *put away* in a way that is not only not helpful but not where they belong to really throw a wrench into my daily efforts. Mr F actually felt bad and has been trying to make an effort to take things *all the way*... but I know it is a serious challenge for him to make it to 100%. He seriously has a brain issue that makes him naturally want to stop a project at about 80% complete. I know many of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Somedays I can look past it and somedays it makes me homicidal. What can I say?

Okay onto this week...

Menu:

Monday - Turkey Enchiladas

Tuesday - Shrimp Paella

Wednesday - dinner with the missionaries! Paula Deen's Goulash, salad, crescent rolls

Thursday - Chicken, Gnocchi & Acorn Squash

Friday - frozen pizza

Saturday - go out

Sunday - Turkey Kielbasa, Baked Beans & Pan Fried Sweet Potatoes


Diet & Exercise:
Okay last week was a wipe out. This week I'm just going to be diligent. We don't have any events or evening plans and I should be able to stick to my program. My plan is to eat 1700 calories a day (kind of wish I thought of that before I was half way through today... oops). Seeing as I haven't lost any weight obviously 1800 is too much for me right now. As far as exercise goes I'm going to do 6 hours of cardio. I'm planning on working out Monday, Tuesday, Thursday evenings for 80 minutes and on Saturday & Sunday afternoons for 60 minutes.


Chores:

Monday - grocery shopping

Tuesday - laundry, vacuum

Wednesday - clean off fucking desk for once... not just "file" everything in the back of my drawer!

Thursday - take down Halloween decorations


Kid's Lunches & Snacks:

Monday - pasta w/ shrimp & green beans, milk, yogurt, hard boiled egg and kiwi

Tuesday - avocado sandwich, milk, yogurt, smoked salmon and kiwi

Wednesday - spelt pizza (from school), steamed mixed vegetables, milk, yogurt, smoked salmon & apple

Thursday - pb & j, milk, yogurt, smoked salmon & apple

half day Friday

Long Before The Shaggy D.A., Before The Shaggy Dog, There Was The Shaggy Kid

It's Either The Cake Or I'm Dying

Let's just say eating red velvet cake can result in some freaky side effects.

Things I'm Making This Week

I'm trying some new recipes this week after stumbling upon them in this month's Better Homes And Gardens. I happen to have turkey in the freezer and an acorn squash sitting on the counter so these two caught my eye. The enchiladas are bit calorie heavy for us but I'll let you know if they were worth it. I'm hoping the chicken and gnocchi dish will turn out to be something like chicken & dumplings... we'll see. Either way I'm really working on using up stuff we have and trying to reduce our grocery spending and these two babies fit the bill. It's part of my compacting... bringing in less... spending less... and using up what we have. So simple... and yet so hard.

Layered Turkey Enchiladas
from Better Homes & Gardens

ingredients
1 lb. turkey breast tenderloin, cut in bite-size strips
1 16-oz. pkg. frozen sweet peppers and onions stir-fry vegetables
1 10-oz. can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
9 6-inch corn tortillas, halved
1 8 oz. pkg. Mexican blend shredded cheese (2 cups)
Lime wedges (optional)
Cilantro sprigs (optional)

directions
1. Position oven rack toward top of oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In extra-large skillet cook turkey in 1 tablespoon hot cooking oil over medium heat 4 minutes or until no longer pink. Add frozen vegetables, enchilada sauce, and cranberry sauces. Bring to boiling. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

2. In 2-quart baking dish layer one-third of the tortillas, then one-third of the cheese. Use a slotted spoon to layer half the turkey-vegetable mixture. Layer one-third tortillas, one-third cheese, remaining turkey-vegetables (with slotted spoon), and remaining tortillas. Spoon on remaining sauce from skillet; sprinkle remaining cheese. Bake 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut in squares. Serve with lime and cilantro. Serves 4.

nutrition facts
Calories 615, Total Fat (g) 25, Saturated Fat (g) 11, Monounsaturated Fat (g) 1, Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 3, Cholesterol (mg) 120, Sodium (mg) 1171, Carbohydrate (g) 52, Total Sugar (g) 16, Fiber (g) 6, Protein (g) 45, Vitamin C (DV%) 72, Calcium (DV%) 39, Iron (DV%) 14, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

and this:

Chicken And Gnocchi With Squash
from Better Homes & Gardens

ingredients
1 1-lb. pkg. shelf-stable potato gnocchi
1 small acorn squash, halved and seeded
14 to 16 oz. chicken breast tenderloins
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
2 Tbsp. milk
Tiny whole sage leaves
Grated nutmeg (optional)

directions
1. Prepare gnocchi according to package directions. Drain. Cover and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, place squash, cut sides down; in a microwave-safe baking dish with 2 tablespoons water. Microcook, covered, on high (100 percent power) 7 to 10 minutes; rearrange once. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes.

3. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In large skillet cook chicken in 1 tablespoon hot oil over medium heat 6 to 8 minutes, until no longer pink. Remove; cover, keep warm.

4. Scrape flesh from squash; mash. Transfer to hot skillet; stir in broth and chopped sage. Bring to boiling; simmer 1 minute. Stir in milk. Spoon into bowls. Top with chicken and gnocchi; sprinkle sage and nutmeg. Serves 4.

nutrition facts
Calories 366, Total Fat (g) 6, Saturated Fat (g) 1, Monounsaturated Fat (g) 1, Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 3, Cholesterol (mg) 59, Sodium (mg) 796, Carbohydrate (g) 50, Total Sugar (g) 1, Fiber (g) 4, Protein (g) 29, Vitamin C (DV%) 22, Calcium (DV%) 7, Iron (DV%) 10, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Heck while I'm at it I'll make this too... I've got a whole bag of frozen shrimp (which I'll use in place of the scallops & shrimp). In fact the only thing I'll need to buy are the plum tomatoes! Added bonus is the super low calorie count... it'll help balance out those enchiladas.

Speedy Paella
from Better Homes & Gardens

ingredients
1 10-oz. pkg. frozen long grain white rice with vegetables (peas, corn and carrots)
1 Tbsp. cooking oil
1/2 lb. fresh sea scallops, (halve large scallops)
1/2 lb. cooked, peeled, deveined shrimp
4 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 to 1 tsp. ground turmeric
Salt
Ground black pepper
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
directions
1. Prepare rice according to microwave package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in large skillet heat cooking oil over medium heat. Add scallops to hot oil in skillet; cook 3 minutes or until scallops are opaque. Add shrimp and tomatoes; heat through.

3. Transfer rice to bowl; stir in turmeric. Spoon seafood-tomato mixture over rice; lightly toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle fresh parsley. Serves 4.

nutrition facts
Calories 229, Total Fat (g) 5, Saturated Fat (g) 1, Monounsaturated Fat (g) 1, Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 3, Cholesterol (mg) 129, Sodium (mg) 374, Carbohydrate (g) 22, Total Sugar (g) 3, Fiber (g) 2, Protein (g) 24, Vitamin C (DV%) 25, Calcium (DV%) 5, Iron (DV%) 13, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Flashback Weekend

While lying in bed trying to get Baby to go back to sleep, the other night, THIS popped into my head. Then THIS came to me the next night.