ugh! Heartburn!
ugh! Heartburn!
What is with the heartburn!? Holy crow, enough already!
Up until recently I never had heartburn except for during my pregnancies. In my first pregnancy it was my husband(who is a longtime heartburn sufferer) who clued me in as to what I was feeling, I had never had it before, I didn't know that's what heartburn felt like, had never really thought about it actually. As soon as that pregnancy was over the heartburn went away, and I meant instantly! As soon as I delivered I didn't feel it again until my next pregnancy, then the same thing again, it was gone as soon as I delivered. That was almost 9 years ago.
Fast forward to about a year or so ago and I suddenly started getting a little bit of heartburn if I had more than one glass of iced tea. Now our iced tea up here is not like the south iced tea that's actually made out of tea, it's the powdered stuff that actually doesn't even taste like tea. We drink it a lot though and always have, so I was a little puzzled as to why all of a sudden it was causing me problems. I have to admit I was a little scared at first since I had only ever had heartburn while pregnant, fortunately I was not pregnant again, but I was left with the question then of why was I getting heartburn?
Over the past year since then I still cannot have more than one glass of iced tea, I pretty much don't have it at all anymore. But then in the summer the heartburn started to become a little more frequent. Then about a month or so ago it started getting REALLY bad! In the past few weeks I have had heartburn almost every day and now along with it what I believe is acid reflux. Thank goodness the Rolaids soft chews work pretty good and can usually ease the discomfort, and on my husbands advice I've been drinking a bit of milk when I feel it coming and it seems to help a little bit too.
I still don't know why I'm getting it though. I can't seem to pinpoint certain foods or drinks contributing to it because it's pretty much every day, and besides, my diet has not changed at all, I eat and drink the same things I always have and they have never bothered me before. And it wasn't even all that gradual, it was like *poof* here's some bad heartburn for you.
The only thing I can think of is it being maybe stress related. I'm a stressed out sort of person, when I have no stress I'm stressed. Shortly after this bad heartburn started a little over a month ago, my husband got laid off and is still laid off, so right now I definitely have some stress and major worry. And for a couple of weeks before he got laid off I had that bad feeling thing telling me something was going to happen, just something that I felt. We've had enough bad luck in our years together that it's like I have this little radar that detects when something is going to happen, so even though his job loss was a complete shock to us, the fact that something happened was not a complete shock to me.
So, so far stress is the only thing that I can guess is the cause of my heartburn, whether I'm right about that I have no clue! I will go to the doctor, but until the hubby starts work again I have no prescription coverage, and I already know one prescription I'm pretty sure I will leave the doctors office with for other things. So I need to wait to see the doctor until we have coverage again, if I need meds because of the heartburn issue I have no idea how much it would cost without coverage, but I know the other prescription I need is very expensive without it.
My husband goes tomorrow for a supposed "final" interview with a company he's been in talks with for over a month. If he finally gets the job offer we've been waiting for I'm pretty sure they said his medical coverage would start in 30 days. So hopefully he gets this so we can get that 30 days gone and get ourselves to the doctor again! It's time for the yearly check-up anyway!
Me Me Me Me
Me Me Me Me
ahem, hmm, umm, ok, well I guess I'm slowly figuring out what this is about, not completely clear yet. My friend Rene(subscribe to her, she's awesome :) ), she told me about this site, and well Rene and I are a little addicted to signing up for almost anything, so here I am!
I have a couple of other blogs, see the feeds to the side :), so I don't know how good I will be at keeping up with this place too LOL.
It's just hard to find the motivation to keep blogging anymore, before it was my readers that kept me going. Life is busy as always, we are on the move again(this time not by choice, our landlord has decided to sell so we must move from this lovely house :( ).
I really would like to blog again in the future, but I honestly don't see it happening anytime soon. I have started trying to use Twitter more again though, so if you're on it you can find me via the Twitter widget over to the right.
So, I guess that's all I have to say :), just thought I would leave some sort of closing post for now so y'all know I'm still alive and kicking. Depression has been kicking my butt lately, so that definitely doesn't help get the excitement for blogging to flow.
I guess it's not goodbye, but see ya later!
Doesnt matter what I title it, nobody reading anyway. I dont miss all the time Entrecard took up, but I miss the readers it brought, guess Im not a good enough blogger for anyone to read without incentive. Oh well, whatever. Story of my life apparently. You think that once you reach adulthood you would no longer have to worry about fitting in and all that crap.but you do. Im well into my 30s and have actually found fitting in even harder than it was back in school. So whatever, I dont think I really even care anymore.
So this is just for my own tracking then.
<table width="482"><tbody><tr><td width="148"></td><td width="158">Bought</td><td width="174">Ideas</td></tr><tr><td width="148">Bear (9, Boy)</td><td width="158">Soft Cat Blanket, Watch, PJs</td><td width="174"></td></tr><tr><td width="147">Jman (almost 12, Boy)</td><td width="158">Soft Dog Blanket, Watch, PJs</td><td width="174"> </td></tr><tr><td width="146">Jman & Bear</td><td width="158">Nintendo Wii, Extra Wii controllers, Wii accessory kit, 3 Wii Games</td><td width="174"> </td></tr><tr><td width="146">Alex (hubby)</td><td width="158">PJs</td><td width="174">
Camcorder</td></tr><tr><td width="146">Prestin (under 1, boy)</td><td width="158">Rock N' Ride Brown Pony</td><td width="174"> </td></tr><tr><td width="146">Madalyn (2, girl)</td><td width="158">
Doll Gear(Stroller, P.Pen etc)</td><td width="174"></td></tr><tr><td width="146">George (4, boy)</td><td width="158">Hungry Hungry Hippos,Crayola Pip-Squeak Thin Markers</td><td width="174"> </td></tr><tr><td width="146">Ian (almost 8, boy)</td><td width="158">Monopoly City,
Crayola Pip-Squeak Markers</td><td width="174"> </td></tr><tr><td width="146">Mom & Dad(Old! LOL)</td><td width="158">Christmas Ornament</td><td width="174">The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Gift Card</td></tr><tr><td width="146">MIL & FIL(even Older! LOL)</td><td width="158">Digital Photo Frame, Mini-Frames</td><td width="174"> </td></tr></tbody></table>
So, as I mentioned in my previous post(ok, I start way too many sentences/paragraphs with so LOL), I plan to get hubby a camcorder for Xmas. Way more than I should be spending, but nobody seems to be talking me out of it, more talking me into it LOL.
But anyway.Ive looked up lots of reviews and I *think* Ive decided on which one to get, I would love to spend about $100 less than that(would be a much more manageable amount), but you get what you pay for right?
So(there I go again!) if anyone owns this camera I would like to know what YOU think about it:
Omg why does figuring out gifts have to be so darn frustrating? Or is it just me? LOL
I guess I have always had this thing for wanting to give the perfect gift, but have never had the money to give me a lot of choices. For most of my gifts for others this year I chose to go pretty simple, when I look back at all the time I spent trying to figure out a great gift I just dont feel it was worth it because it was no better received than any other gift. So either the gift wasnt as great as I thought, or the recipients really didnt care. So its pretty much first thing I see that I think is good(or my kids have said, hey get that for them), that is what I got. My niece is different because for some reason she is so easy to buy for! For her its hard not buying up everything, but I had an idea leftover from last Christmas and her Birthday because I couldnt find it, well I found it this time! So I have to force myself not to buy anything more for her.
Anyhoo, for my hubby and kids its different, I still want to get great gifts(not that my kids honestly deserve something so fantastic LOL, they have not been so great this year!, but theyre still my boys and I love them). So I decided on a Wii for the kids, really its for the whole family, I think it will be great for all of us. By the time I get the Wii, games and accessories for it, my usual PJs for everyone, and stocking stuffers, I will already be over what I ever spend on Christmas. So I stressed over where to buy everything from. I finally got that figured out, so far we only have the actual console itself, but thats the important piece anyway LOL. So now Im trying to figure out hubbys gift. Normally our limit is about $100 to spend on each other(at least for the years we actually have money LOL). Well, what I really really want to get him I am not going to get for under $100, so after input from friends on Facebook I think I am going over our limit and buying him a camcorder. We have wanted one for a long time and always say next year, well as we keep saying next year our kids are getting older and there already have been so many memories I wish we had recorded, were only going to keep missing them until we actually get a camcorder. It looks like I can get a fairly decent one for under $300.
While I try to get over the fact that Im spending so much and knowing Im going to have to do some real number crunching and budgeting in the new year, Im totally stressing and frustrating myself over what camcorder to get! I have like a dozen tabs open on my browser looking at different cams and reviews and all that. It seems every one of them has a good number of people that like that particular model as well as a good number who didnt. I cant figure out which one to go for!! Of course I would rather spend less, but I dont want to buy something and find out its one that takes crappy videos, or its one that is a headache to actually put your video on discs from.or whatever of the many other complaints I see here and there about the cams. Add on top of that that I have never had one so I dont quite understand some of the differences of what they record onto and how to transfer that to the computer and onto DVDs. I dont want to buy something that we will end up having to buy expensive cassettes for, or something that we will have to buy a specific program to convert things.
I guess we are having a good Christmas this year LOL(hubby already got me a Dyson, early gift, I was in BAD need of a new vacuum), making up for the many years we have not. But it still doesnt mean we can necessarily afford it LOL. I get told a lot that I stress way too much over this kind of thing. We dont smoke, we dont drink, we dont do drugs, we dont go to bars, we dont even go on holidays to spend money on, so I shouldnt feel bad spending money on something like this.but I do.guess its from spending so many years with no money LOL.
Anyone have anything to say good or bad about some of the under $300 camcorders on the market I would love to hear it!!
Yes, its technically not Winter yet. But what else do you call it when its 30 and deep snow everywhere? We had a wonderful Blizzard on Friday, and while the snow stopped falling Saturday morning, we are still have what it left behind, and extremely cold temperatures. Thank goodness our street isnt as bad as some, we had to go out Saturday for a bit to return library books and get some food and we got stuck briefly but myself and 3 wonderful guys who I think had already been pushing people out all day got us out fairly easily. I have seen pictures friends have posted on Facebook and seen pictures on the news of some communities where the snow drifted so high that cars were almost completely covered.
I have great thoughts of things I want to get done right now. I want to do some baking. I have a basement that is in complete and utter chaos that is going to remain that way until I do something about it, because I know nobody else is going to do it. My pantry yet again needs completely emptied and re-organized, I made my kids do it only a week ago because they are the ones who make a mess of it, but they didnt even clean it well in the first place and had it a disaster again within 2 days. I have blinds that need pulled down and cleaned, curtains that could use a washing, walls that need a scrubbing. But instead of doing all that Im stuck sitting on the couch with a heating pad because my back and hip are in such pain I can hardly walk without crying in pain after each step. All of last week I was in pain, but this morning its worse than ever, even just sitting here I want to cry it hurts so much. I dont know if its so bad because of the cold, or its something more than that. It sucks though whatever the reason for it. I know pushing the car out on Saturday didnt help, but while it hurt bad afterward, it didnt hurt as bad as it does this morning.
Since the storm ruined my plans to go out and do some Christmas shopping this weekend I ended up ordering a few things online, one thing I really wanted to get was on sale and I was worried we wouldnt get there before the sale was over or they sold out of it, so at least I was able to take care of my niece and 2 of my nephews gifts. Found what I want for my other nephew too I think, but it wasnt on sale and would have cost extra shipping, so Im taking a chance I will be able to go buy it next weekend. So here is my updated Christmas list.
<table width="501"><tbody><tr><td width="148"></td><td width="158">Bought</td><td width="174">Ideas</td></tr><tr><td width="148">Bear (9, Boy)</td><td width="158"> </td><td width="174">Wii Game, Soft Cat Blanket</td></tr><tr><td width="147">Jman (almost 12, Boy)</td><td width="158"> </td><td width="174">Wii Game, Soft Dog Blanket</td></tr><tr><td width="146">Jman & Bear</td><td width="158">Nintendo Wii</td><td width="174">Wii accessories</td></tr><tr><td width="146">Alex (hubby)</td><td width="158"></td><td width="174">
</td></tr><tr><td width="146">Prestin (under 1, boy)</td><td width="158"> </td><td width="174">Rock N' Ride Brown Pony</td></tr><tr><td width="146">Madalyn (2, girl)</td><td width="158"> Doll Gear(Stroller, P.Pen etc)</td><td width="174"></td></tr><tr><td width="146">George (4, boy)</td><td width="158">Hungry Hungry Hippos,Crayola Pip-Squeak Thin Markers</td><td width="174"> </td></tr><tr><td width="146">Ian (almost 8, boy)</td><td width="158">Monopoly City,
Crayola Pip-Squeak Markers</td><td width="174"> </td></tr><tr><td width="146">Mom & Dad(Old! LOL)</td><td width="158"> </td><td width="174">The Pioneer Woman Cooks</td></tr><tr><td width="146">MIL & FIL(even Older! LOL)</td><td width="158">Digital Photo Frame</td><td width="174"> </td></tr></tbody></table>
oh yum yum, mmm...so good!
I actually JUST made this and it's so good that I snapped a quick pictured before I finished my piece because it was the last piece! The cake disappeared that quick!
Super easy to make and with ingredients you probably have on hand. I got this recipe from Recipezaar(you're shocked, I know, anyone want to buy me a membership to that site? No? Ok then, maybe I'll ask hubby for it for my birthday :), back to the recipe at <strike>hand</strike> mouth). The poster of this recipe is Kittencal, I have made a few of her recipes and they are great, she is a wonderful contributor to the site! Here is the link to the actual recipe page Kittencals Easy Cinnamon Flop(Cinnamon Brunch Cake).
I definitely topped the cake with WAY more cinnamon then the recipes states, our family loves cinnamon so much and a "hint" of cinnamon just doesn't do it for us! I literally put an entire layer of cinnamon on top, and even with that hubby and I both agreed that it could use some cinnamon actually mixed into the cake batter as well. The cake was ever so slightly on the dry side(and I did add the egg, it would be even more dry if you omitted the egg), so I think next time I might add some applesauce or something to help make it a little moister. Not that the cake was bad dry or anything, it was incredible, but I just think it would taste that much better if it was a little moister.
Sorry for the pic being a partially eaten piece lol, if I remember I will take a pic of a full piece of the full cake next time.
2 cups all-purpose flour(I did 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat, which could be the reason for the slight dryness)
1 1/4 cups sugar(I used brown sugar)
1 1/4 cups milk or half and half
1-2 teaspoon vanilla (optional) or almond extract (optional) (I used a generous amount of vanilla, always do :) )
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 large egg (optional)
TOPPING
1/2 cup brown sugar, more if desired
1-2 teaspoon cinnamon(like I said, I added way more, a full layer, yum!)
1/4 cup melted butter
chopped walnuts (optional) or pecans (optional) (didn't add these, we're a little nuts, but not big nut people ;) )
1. Mix together the first 7 ingredients.
2. Pour into either an 9"x13" pan or 2 8" or 9" round pans.(if you're using a 9"x13" why not save yourself a dirty bowl and mix it right in there, suppose you could do the same with the round pans then just pour half in the other as well).
3. Sprinkle your brown sugar and cinnamon toppings on top and pour on your melted butter.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes if you are using a 9"x13" pan, and for 20-25 minutes if you are using 2 8" or 9" pans.
We call these "Sloppy Mommy's" in our house, why? Because I'm Jo of course! LOL
This is a tasty lower fat/calorie Sloppy Joe that I found on Recipezaar(Diet Coke Sloppy Joes). Quick and easy to make, I usually serve them on some of my homemade buns, but if I don't feel like baking buns I just buy some whole wheat hamburger buns to use. If you are a bean person I think a can of kidney beans would go good in them, my family does not like beans though and I'm not much of a fan either so I don't use them.
1 lb Lean Ground Beef
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp Corn Starch (original recipe calls for arrowroot which I have never had in my pantry so I use corn starch instead)
1 cup Diet Cola(I generally use Coke Zero because that's what I drink and have in the house)
2/3 cup Ketchup
2 tbsp Vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Mustard
1. Brown ground beef and onion in a largish pot, drain/rinse or whatever it is you like to do to get all the fatty stuff off.
2. Dump beef/onion back into pot and add in remaining ingredients, mix well. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
3. Scoop out onto toasted buns or bread. If you prefer you can serve it on pasta or rice or whatever. I like it on buns though, yum yummy!
I think I mentioned this before, but I'll say it again anyway ;). I find draining the fat off of ground beef and pork to be nothing but a pain in the rear and it still leaves the meat very greasy, so anytime I brown ground meat for a recipe I dump the meat into my colander after it's done and rinse it under warm water to wash away all the greasy yucky stuff.
Wow, how neglected my poor food blog is. I can't believe it's been more than 4 months since I posted on here...oops! LOL. So I'm going to try to get at least a few recipes posted this weekend.
This is one of my favourite cookie recipes. Not only is it so chocolaty and full of yumminess, but it's super easy to make and you don't even have to turn on the oven to do make them, just need the stove. I will most likely be making these again within the next few days. They are definitely bad for my ever widening body, but they are definitely the perfect comfort thing right now with what's going on with us right now(if you don't read my main blog, My Absent Mind, my hubby got laid off a couple weeks ago).
So enjoy this great addition to any holiday cookie tray, but great all year long! Can you believe I took this pic last Christmas and never got around to posting this recipe! Not that it's a hard recipe to find mind you lol, I think this is a pretty popular cookie!
1/4 cup cocoa
2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Margarine
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
3 cups Quick-Cooking Oatmeal(I've used regular Oatmeal before by accident and they came out just as good)
1 teaspoon Vanilla(am I the only one who thinks there's never enough vanilla and adds a few good chugs of this stuff?)
1 good pinch of Salt
1. Mix cocoa, sugar, milk and margarine in a saucepan and bring to a boil, cook for about a minute.
2.Remove saucepan from heat and add all the remaining ingredients, mix well.
3. Drop spoonfuls onto wax paper and let cool.
I will often put a sheet of wax paper on one of my baking sheets and put some of the cookies on there so I can set it in the fridge or freezer so some of them set quicker so we can enjoy them sooner.....I mean who wants to look at them and have to wait for them? We want them now don't we?
This is my mom's recipe! I am not a big fan of eggplant, but I LOVE this casserole! You can't even tell it's eggplant in it!
I don't have a pic because I haven't made this in years, though I really need to one of these days because I have been craving it! But my friend Rene asked me for it, that is why I'm posting it! When I make it again I will update with a pic.
1 Medium Eggplant
3 tbsp Butter
3 tbsp Flour
1 Onion, chopped
19oz Can Tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Dry Bread Crumbs
Peel and dice eggplant. Cook in salted boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain. Put in a buttered casserole. Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in flour. Add onions, tomatoes, brown sugar and salt. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thick. Pour over eggplant and mix to combine all together. Combine cheese and bread crumbs and sprinkle on top.
Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes.
These are the BEST Potato Skins!! I got this recipe as well from www.recipezaar.com, it is recipe #439008 posted by CrAzYcOoKeR222 and I thank them immensely for posting it!! I just found this recipe last week and have made it twice already because they are just sooooo good!
They are different then any other Skins I have had before, because you actually season the skins before baking them and wow does it ever taste fantastic!! Once again, very little change made to this recipe for me because it was so darn good to begin with!
4 large Baking Potatoes(ok, use whatever you have, I usually buy big bags of Russets and just pick the nicest ones out of the bag for baking, I actually find the medium sized potatoes make a nicer size Skin)
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder(ok, I put in closer to a full tsp because I love garlic powder)
1/2 tsp Paprika
Pepper, to taste
Bacon, as much as you desire :), cooked and crumbled (I always use Turkey bacon, my family likes it better, lower fat and to us has way more flavour)
3 cups Shredded Marble Cheese
Sour Cream
Green Onion, chopped(I find cutting green onion with scissors to be much quicker and easier then chopping with a knife)
1. Bake Potatoes(my way: stab with fork a few times,coat with olive oil and bake directly on rack at 425F for 50 to 60 minutes depending on size). Then cut in half lengthwise and scoop potato out, leave a little bit to support the skin.
2. Combine oil, parmesan, salt, garlic powder, paprika and pepper. Brush all over both sides of the skins and place them on a baking sheet.
3. Bake at 475F for 8 to 10 minutes, turn over then bake on other side for another 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Turn skins right side up, fill with cheese and cooked, crumbled bacon. Bake for a few more minutes until cheese is melted.
Top with sour cream and onions and E-N-J-O-Y!!
jolene
Second post! Proud of me?
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