8-28-11 Dessert

Last post for today, geez i don't post for days and then I bombard everyone in one day. Well who am I kidding, not everyone. I don't even know if I have more than one reader. But anyone who drops in I appreciate!! :) So I did decide to make dessert, I wanted something sweet. And with the winds, rain, storms, wind, hurricane stuff going on outside I was not leaving to go and get milk to make my cornbread. But I was able to make some chocolate brownies. I didn't need milk for them! WOOHOO. Thinking tomorrow I might try to make a Hollandaise sauce, haven't decided yet. Anyway, brownies were delicious, just wish I had some sprinkles, or chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips to add into the mix, to give it a little kick of something else. But I am NOT complaining, they were awesome!!! YUMMMMMM. Good Night Everyone, sleep tight, Sweet Dreams!!

Dinner? ~ 08-28-11 Cheddar Bay Biscuits and Turkey Bacon

Well I guess it is dinner for the day, as I want to get to bed early, need to be at work before 5am tomorrow. So, I did go and make those Cheddar Bay biscuits, SUPER YUMMY!! I love having a biscuit that I don't want to put butter or jelly or anything on. I had also defrosted some bacon so I cooked that up as well. It is turkey bacon and i fry that in a pan. It takes forever with my tiny stove and a small pan I can only cook about 3 pieces at once. Have I mentioned I hate cooking in my apartment sized kitchen. UGH But I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook! SO I make it work! :) So I made the Cheddar Bay biscuits and no they aren't frozen and they aren't left over from Red Lobster. They are Homemade. They actually aren't that difficult and don't take long to cook. And surprisingly it is stuff I usually have in the house all the time,and I made some turkey bacon on the side. There will be plenty of leftovers biscuits and I made large biscuits so I am thinking of putting some turkey and cheese on one and wrapping it up to bring to work as lunch tomorrow. No idea what dinner will be tomorrow but, I have time to think about that. And if I make the turkey sandwich on the biscuits with the bacon I will take a picture. Hope everyone made it through Hurricane Irene with their loved ones safe and sound. Thoughts and prayers out to all those families affected by this tragedy.

08-28-11 Lunch Chicken Rings and Mac & Cheese

Power has been flickering on and off all day with the hurricane, but i am hungry so time to cook. I was going to make some corn bread, but I don't have any milk. UGHHH. So, for lunch I made some chicken rings and mac and cheese. Almost comfort food. But mainly something I knew wouldnt take long to make. Just in case the power wanted to go out, I was trying to be fast. lol

Still need to decide what to make for dinner. Had cereal for breakfast, the above for lunch and now what.... Hmm almost out of meat in the freezer so this is when my cooking becomes the most interesting. But this is what I am best at. Throwing things together that come out super fabulous. I can't make cornbread, BOOO, but maybe I can make biscuits, cheddar bay biscuits (Red Lobster style) I have been talking about them for weeks now... Its about time to make it happen...



Saturday 08-27-11 Chicken Cutlets

Nothing too fancy today, had some chicken that I took out to defrost, needed room in the freezer for some more water, trying to prep for a hurricane, yes that is my excuse. lol Decided to make chicken cutlets in panko breadcrumbs, side of angel hair pasta in some garlic and oil, and some corn on the side. One of these days, I am going to get a pasta making machine and make my own pasta. I would LOVE to do that. I had a bread maker and love making bread, just need to buy some ingredients so I can do that again. I was planning on making chocolate chip cookies tonight, but then didn't go well. I was being lazy and going to use a break and bake cookie, and well it backfired. The baked but never settled, so I am thinking it was a bad batch. I will be calling to complaint about that since they were fresh. I need to get one of those cookie guns that have all the different designs you can use, and then I could make my own cookies, snicker doodles, sugar cookies, oh goodness maybe even learn to make those cookies with the jelly in the middle. They are super yummy. Anyway, so dinner was quite simple, I bake my chicken cutlets, I do like it fried but too greasy. And Baked comes out delicious.

Thursday 8-25-11 Marinated Turkey Breast

Ok, I give up, rather than giving day #s I am just going to put the day I cooked it. I simply can't keep up with this for me to remember which day is which. So much going on, car has to go back in shop, Gotti is doing GREAT, Hurricane Irene coming to visit, right after the earthquake. Come on who pissed off mother nature. Goodness. So Today, Dinner was DELICIOUS!!!!!! Made some marinated turkey breast, loaded baked mashed potatoes, and french stlye green beans. Super YUMMY!! I was actually just going to make chicken but Scott had already defrosted the Turkey breast, so that worked out real well. And i just LOVE his plates, wish I had these.

Tuesday - Day 18 Stuffed Chicken 08-23-11

So, I didn't get my car back. Worked 10 hours today, totally exhausted. Came home in a car that isn't mine, I will get my car tomorrow. Anyways, So with very little energy, I looked around the kitchen to see what I could make for dinner. Mind you, I got out of work at 5pm, by the time I got home after talking to the dealership and everything it was maybe 5:45pm, and I have to be at work at 5am in the morning. That makes me tired just thinking about it. So I almost made peanut butter and jelly on Ritz crackers. It sounded so good, and I know how easy that is to make. Takes no energy or thought process at all. But I wanted something better, I was thinking about chicken all day almost. So let me see what I have. I had some chicken breast, and I know I even had my panko bread crumbs, but do I really want chicken cutlets?? Then I remembered I had these delicious stuffed chicken breasts. They are filled with broccoli and cheese. And SOO yummy. OK, so it isn't quite something I made, rather than something I unwrapped and tossed in the oven, but it still counts. Doesn't it? Well I think it kind of counts. It was better than the PB&J. I'm sticking with that thought. So normally on the side, I will just serve some extra broccoli, however I didn't have any. So, I had corn the other night, carrots the night before, string beans last week, OK, I will make some peas. Maybe one of the odd combinations, but I knew I wanted something with this. And since the chicken breast is already breaded, I didn't want to serve a pasta with it, nonetheless I have had that garlic chicken pasta skillet for 3 meals now, and the end of the leftovers will probably be lunch or dinner tomorrow. But then that will be gone. SO of course I took a picture, even though it wasn't anything pretty to look at, but I didn't bring the connector cord to connect the camera to the computer, so the picture will be added later today. I still want those Cheddar Bay Biscuits and some cookies, maybe I will make those tomorrow. I get out of work earlier tomorrow so that will give me more time. Well I guess that all depends on when I can finally pick up my truck. And I still need to figure out what is for dinner tomorrow night. Maybe I will start making a weekly meal plan so I am not trying to figure these things all out at the last minute. Maybe...

Donate to my walk for Making Strides for Breast Cancer Awareness

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Tuesday - Day 18 - Car

Today, I have no idea what I am going to cook for dinner. I made a lunch to bring to work with me. A turkey sandwich with cheese on a wheat bagel. But of course I forgot the lunch bag on the kitchen table. Smart Cookie that I am. Ooohh maybe I will make some cookies this afternoon. Well today, I overslept again, I think the stress is getting to me. However that should get better soon. But today I have to leave work to drop off my car at the dealership. When I got the car it came with one white glove detail cleaning and waxing and well basically, they make it showroom ready. Just like the day I got it. I knew I had to use this free service within the first year, so I made it to exactly one year of having the truck. Now it is time for that baby to be cleaned. Thank goodness with Gotti and the way he sheds that truck needs some loving and hard cleaning. Luckily they will do it for me. And it is time for the yearly NYS inspection so when they have it they are doing that as well. Which works out great for me, as my sales guy told me he will put me in a car while they are detailing mine, so I wont even have to wait in the waiting room while they do my inspection! WOOHOO. I don't care for their waiting room. Can you tell. But this way at least I can drop off my truck get into another vehicle and come right back to work. If things work out really well, I am hoping that they will finish my detail and inspection before I get out of work. I just don't like driving a vehicle that isn't mine. But we shall see, I know I also need to make an appointment for work on the front arms of the truck, I got a voluntary recall notice and need to get that done as well. I plan on discussing that with them today to set up that appointment. I also need to renew my license in the next two weeks, and then in the beginning of September the car has to go to Ziebart for an inspection. They cover me for rust, paint, leather, etc, etc,etc. So they need to inspect the vehicle yearly to make sure everything is in good condition and see if anything needs to be resealed. Like the under body. Busy Busy Busy time of the year. It is crazy. But at least I am getting it all done. So I still don't know what I am making for dinner tonight, I am sure that will partially depend on what time I finally get home today. And what time I get home with my car, if I leave work before my car is ready, i certainly wouldn't want to start cooking and then have them call and say it is time to come down to get it, then what. Say Umm no you have to wait cause I am cooking. I don't see that going over well. So we shall see, but hopefully some good cooking tonight and early to bed. Have a great day!

Monday - Day 17 Gotti 08-22-11

Yup today was a leftover day as suspected. Nothing great to report on cooking today. Wasnt even planning on posting today. Just wanted to give a Gotti update for anyone that reads this. We went to the vet, well that was interesting enough as it is. For some reason I thought his appointment was at 3:30pm, and was planning to leave work around 2:15-2:30 so that I could go home and get him and head back across town. At about 1:50 something told me to go in my wallet and look at his appointment card, well don't you know that his appointment was at 2:15. UGH, how did I do this. So I ran out of work, got home, got Gotti in the car and it was already 2:20, so I called the vet and luckily they had a 2:45 open and I took that appointment. Since I missed mine, so I get to the vet and lift him out of the car put him down and turn around to grab my pocket book out of the front seat and then lock the doors. So I turn around to find the leash in my hand, attached to a collar, and no Gotti. Talk about a heart stopping moment. Here I am in a parking lot of a strip mall, and my dog is loose are you kidding me. Normal English Bulldog trait, his neck is bigger than his head and he can slip out of his collar quite easily. Normally he ALWAYS has a harness on to prevent this from being an issue. However with stiches down his sternum, he can not wear the harness, as it would rub against the stiches. Luckily Petsmart was not busy (My vet is Banfield, which is located inside of my Petsmart store) So it was a fairly empty parking lot. Here I am screaming GOTTI GOTTI GOTTI, and this dog, oh my goodness, this dog, well he was walking into the store without me. He was that excited to go to the vet, seriously?!?!? Luckily he is a good boy and when I called him (frantically) he turned around and came back to me. This poor pup has had about 10 surgeries in his 4 years of life, and had basically grown up in the vet. For the first year, almost two he was at the vet at least twice a month. You would think with everything they have done to him that he wouldnt like the vet. But oh no, he thinks of it like a second home. Anyway, everything went great. Stiches were removed, everything looks good. He still has an ear infection so I need to continue his meds for that. Since he doesnt have his spleen now, which fights infections, I need to be SUPER attentive to anything that may even look infected. But he had to get some shots, and had to update his flea/tick meds, and his heartworm meds, and get him some doggie vitamins to help boost his immune system back up for him. He is going to be super high maintence now and will need meds year round. But I have enough for 6 months, and his next appointment is in February, so I am going to break down the costs, and figure out exactly what needs to be put aside each month to cover his meds, so that it can attempt to be a little easier. and less stressful then waiting until February to try to cover his meds. I updated my calendars with reminders for him, for his meds, to get everything on track and try to be the organized person that I can be. So now that the puppy is ok, tomorrow I handle the car situation.

Sunday - Day 16 - Travel Again 08-21-11

So today it was time to take the trip back home. I am never happy to do that. I simply overly enjoy being with my family. Went to church in the morning, and went out for breakfast after that, so no cooking there for me. Drive home is a few hours, so I missed lunch. But great thing I had breakfast at around noon :) After a long drive the energy to cook a great dinner just isn't there. But if you remember from Friday night we had the skillet meal, and I took the other half of the bag home with me. Thank goodness. Tossed that in a pan, tossed some corn in a pot to add to it. And about 20 minutes later, dinner was done. Now this was a huge 3lb bag, so I just made approx. 1 1/2 pounds of food, so this certainly isn't just one meal. But this will come in very handy as I doubt I will have time to cook Monday, Gotti goes back to the vet. Time for the stitches to be removed, and to hear the game plan going forward for my poor puppy. So I made a plate of the garlic chicken skillet for tonight's dinner and packaged up about 3 servings worth and put it in the fridge.

I know the picture looks the same as the other night, well that could be because it is. What was the point in taking two pictures of the exact same dish. Truth be told, I forgot to take a picture Friday night when we made it so this is the picture from tonight, and I just borrowed it for the Friday night post. :) Might as well keep open disclosure. Tomorrow I most likely will have leftovers of the garlic chicken, between work and the vet I am sure my day will be jam packed. So I hope to have a great post for Tuesday. Have errands to run that day and the car has to be at the shop for a detailing and inspection, but nothing that I am sitting there waiting for so it should not interrupt my cooking. And I want to get to better cooking then just taking something out of the freezer and dumping it in a pot, I mean how appetizing does that sound. Even though they are delicious. I always want to stop cooking for ten people and making one night of cooking the meal of the week. Hoping to get a little smarter than that. So here is to hoping that on Tuesday I am wearing my creative cooking hat. Have a great night !

Saturday - Day 15 - Breakfast and Dinner 08-20-11

So Mom and I were trying to decide what to eat today. We were talking about bagels. My goodness I have had bagels all week, and I have another roll of bagels in the freezer to take out at some point here. Not anytime too soon though. She asked if I wanted to get something from Dunkin Donuts, or get a sandwich from the deli. Well these things cost money, and they just sounded greasy. So I asked her if she had bacon or sausage. Told her I was going to make sausage, egg, and cheese on a bagel. She thought that sounded good too, so I made her bacon, egg, and cheese. Mom like her eggs scrambled, so I scrambled two eggs for her, and tossed them in the pan, She didn't want her cheese on top , but rather in it, so before I folded the eggs I added some shredded Mexican cheese blend. Then folded it over and over again to make a quarter size from the pan. Once I was done flipping that around and knew it was cooked I added her bacon to the top and placed it on a bagel for her. Then I went to make mine, I just fry one egg for my sandwich. So I crack the egg on the pan , break the yolk, and let it cook. Once I flip that a few times, I just place a slice of cheese on top and let them get to melt a little. I had already cooked my sausage and cut them lengthwise in half. So I just placed them on top flat side down. The sandwich was delicious!!! For dinner, I made my Mom the baked ziti that I promised her. I actually cooked it all when we were done eating breakfast because I had the energy to do it then, this way when we wanted dinner we just had to bake it and everything else was done. Thank goodness I did, because by the time dinner came around I was exhausted. But all i had to do was toss the ziti, and the french bread in the oven and wait for the timer to go off! I didn't take a picture because I forgot again, something about this ziti, I never remember to take a picture before we all dig into it. And I wasn't going to take another picture of a ziti half eaten. So In case you forgot what my ziti looks like just go back a few posts. lol
Have a great night!

Day 14 - Traveling & Cooking

Friday, Oh How I love my Friday's. This Friday is a little more hectic than most. Traveling to Mom's for the weekend. Nervous to travel with Gotti, as he shouldn't be in the car for this type of trip just yet, but going there for a purpose and have to go. Always excited to see my Mom. So today, still had to work, just had a bagel for breakfast, nothing too exciting. I actually have to do some research, I want to make a honey Cinnamon butter. I know I can buy it in the store, but what fun would that be, I would rather try and make it. I will have to work on that. It would make the bagel so much better. One of these days I will make bread again. You know, in my free time! :) So today, was work then travel. It is about a 3-4 hour drive and well today was 4 1/2. Not the best but certainly far from the worst trip I have had. Decided to kick my Mom out of the kitchen when I got there. The original plan was she was going to cook tonight and I planned on making her my baked ziti tomorrow night. Well I kicked her out of the kitchen tonight and made a garlic chicken skillet. And before you go getting all excited, it just came out of a bag. :( Certainly something you can make yourself though! It had grilled chicken, pasta, and vegetables. We even added an extra half can of carrots to it. I put more of the carrots on Mom's plate than mine, as I do not really care for cooked carrots. I like mine raw. But don't tell her that. Hi Mom! :) Came out delicious and the garlic sauce was super yummy! Put in a pan, cook for 15-20 minutes, and its done! Perfectly quick and easy dinner and certainly they are cost effective! If you are cooking for one the regular size bag will last 2-3 meals. Mom shops at the super size store, and this was a 3lb bag! HUGE! So we didn't cook the entire bag, just cooked half the bag and had a big portion for each of us. The rest went back in the freezer.

WAY BEHIND!

Well I never got back on to post the Sunday picture, and goodness me that was over a week ago now, well it has been a long week. Made a big meatloaf that day so there was three nights worth of leftovers, but hey 4 days worth of dinner for one night of cooking! Woohoo!! Next time I think I will make mini meatloafs instead of one big meatloaf and freeze the rest when they are done cooking so it doesnt turn into the meal of the week. Wont be making that anytime soon though. Working today, Monday, August 22nd, then off to the vet to have Gotti's stitches removed , hopefully, after that I plan on getting this updated, and getting the pictures added in. So hopefully this week I can get caught up and start posting daily. Well , vet today, car appointment tomorrow, it will be another busy week, but I can do it. I took some pictures of the food, just not the leftover nights, so I will probably skip those days, no need to tell you how many times in one week i can eat meatloaf! :) So I will go back to the Sunday post and update it with a photo just in case you want to see it! Have a great day!

Well other than leftovers I had some cooking. Thank goodness pictures come with dates, otherwise I couldnt remember any of this,

Made a sausage pizza and cooked up a breadstick. Quick and easy!!

Made some tri-color rotini and topped it with some garlic and oil. Simple and delicious!

Day 9 - Sunday ~ Meatloaf 08-14-11

For Breakfast, Oh goodness what did I have for breakfast, understand I am about a day or two behind now just from everything going on and trying to think back and racking my brain, well oh boy this is getting confusing. I guess I will update this later with the rest of the post once I go home look on the camera and check the photo of breakfast, then I might remember what day it is! lol :)

For dinner I have been wanting to make a turkey meatloaf, so finally tonight I am making one. Ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, seasonings, just delicious. Made some french style green beans and a loaded baked mashed potato. And yes I said that all correctly. :) Dinner was just absolutely delicious. It has been quite a while since I have made a meatloaf so I couldn't remember what to cook it at, but it came out perfectly. I should have made some biscuits or something with it,  but I never got that far. Still working with a tiny oven so having more than one thing in the oven at the same time is virtually impossible. I am meant to have a large kitchen with lots of counter and cabinet space, and a normal oven. Ahh in my dreams, right after I win lotto! Oh my dream kitchen, I would be so happy. Granted it doesn't need to be too big since I know I can manage in my small kitchen now, I don't need to have the room I once thought I did. Really who would want to clean up all that extra room anyway. But more cabinets and counters would be GREAT!


Gotti update ~ He is doing great, officially off of critical care now. Still on some good meds, and a little loopy. But he is acting more like himself, I am curious to see how he acts once he is done taking pain pills. I wonder what he will feel like then. I am quite nervous about it.Especially that he is home alone all day. But he is a trooper and is having a fabulous recovery!! Rocko is taking good care of him during the day!

Day 8 - Breakfast - Eggs and Dinner - Chicken

Well today was a productive day, Gotti is much better and almost out of critical care! YAY! OK so now to cooking for the day. For Breakfast I decided to make eggs with basil, sausage and a bagel with strawberry jam and butter. Nothing to fancy but just something a little different and delicious.

Now for dinner, I had some nice cut chicken breasts. So I decided to make chicken cutlets, mashed red potatoes, and corn. Nothing fancy, kind of a normal old fashion meal in a way. But basic, delicious, easy, and ever soo yummy! What else is there to say about a chicken cutlet?? Well I didnt fry them, for one. I try not to fry anything if I can help it. I like the way baked taste and I try to avoid all of the oil when I can. Some things need to be fried but chicken cutlets taste great when they are baked. Normally I bread with panko but didn't have any left so just used regular bread crumbs and added in some extra seasonings, such as, garlic powder, paprika, lemon herb, italian seasoning, parsley, and a few more. Just something to give it a slight drop of extra flavor, nothing to powerful, nothing that really stands out when you are eating it, just something small to make each bite a little better. I just mixed it into the bread crumbs and started from there. I used egg to moisten the chicken before breading it, normally I would use ranch dressing, or barbeque sauce, something different to give some extra flavor to the chicken while it is cooking, but since I was spicing the bread crumbs I didnt want to go overboard. Came out delicious!!

Corn was cooked in some butter, salt and sugar. Nothing fancy there. It was a great dinner, now time to take care of the puppy. Not sure what is on the menu for tomorrow yet. We shall see! Have a great day/night!

Day 7 - Pizza 08-12-11

So today was another long day, still utilizing most of my attention and time on the puppy. Who is getting better!!! So I opened the fridge to try and figure out what is for dinner. Do you ever have those moments where you open the fridge, freezer or cabinet and almost wait for something to jump out at you. Like we expect the food to scream out, Make Me! Make Me! Well of course that didnt happen. Then I noticed I had a lot of leftovers and things I needed to use before they start to go bad. I still had some extra sauce and cheeses from the baked ziti some wraps (not filled, just the wrap) and sausage from the breakfast for dinner. So I decided to combine all the nights and make a pizza!!! Something simple and yet yet new and yummy! So I placed some sauce on the wrap, then some shredded cheese, and i cut up the sausage to make small pieces and topped it off with that. I have never been a fan of sausage pizza, but how bad could it be I like this sausage with my breakfast, so why not! Then I put it in the oven and baked it. It came out super yummy!!

Certainly not the best looking pizza in the world, but it served it purpose of using extra leftovers before they went bad and completing a dinner which was great. I added some grated parmesan on top as you can see, still I know I suck at presentation. I will work on it when I have time, this week just slightly too crazy here. Well Have a great night! Wonder what to make tomorrow???

Days 5 & 6 - No Cooking-Sick Dog turned into Surgery

Where to even begin, my poor sick puppy. I have a 4 year old English Bulldog. His name is Gotti, he is a happy little lovey puppy, and since my other dog is 8 years old I can still call Gotti my puppy! Well Tuesday (Day 4, Turkey burger for lunch and breakfast for dinner day) morning, he didn't meet me at his food bowl as he normally does. Normally my feet hit the floor in the morning and he runs to his food bowl and waits for me to feed him. When I was all done getting ready he had finally at least eaten his food, but still I knew something was off so I kept an eye on him when I got home. Wednesday morning same thing happen, i put food in his bowl and he was not where to be found, well he was still in his doggie bed. When I left about an hour later, he still hadn't eaten his food. I had no choice but to go to work, we don't get doggie sick days, but called the vet and was able to get an appointment that afternoon. Well then everything just kept going wrong. Went to the vet and she even knew he wasn't acting like himself. He hasn't been there in awhile, but with all the medical problems that come with an English Bulldog, I used to feel like I spent more time at the vet then I did at home. She was concerned with how he was acting and did the normal check in stuff. Then decided she wanted to do blood work and a urinalysis. Once she received the blood work back she came and got me real quick. Here she is speaking gibberish to me with a print out that looks like another language, and telling me we have some major issues. My poor Gotti had almost no red blood cells, she wanted me to go to this Doggie ER place, as they would have better equipment to find out what happened and what is going on but they are a few thousand just to get in the door. So I had to ask what my next option was, we did x-rays so that she could try to see if she could find the problem. She thought maybe something with his spleen, but that is more common in older dogs. But not ruling anything out with this breed. After a few x-rays and the area around his spleen just continued to come out blurry, she thought the blur might be blood. She used a needle and confirmed her thought that he was internally bleeding. Since I couldn't go to the doggie ER, she gave me some meds, and said if he gets through the night we will do Emergency exploratory surgery first thing in the morning. Well I didn't sleep that night, I just laid on the floor and watched my poor sick puppy. I don't have kids, these are my "kids". Luckily we made it to Thursday morning and I dropped him off at the vet and went to work. I couldn't sit at the vet all day and go nuts, so I figured work is closer than my house is to the vet and it would help keep my mind occupied! Four LONG hours later the vet called. Somehow this puppy lacerated his spleen. I have racked my brain and cant figure out how, he hasn't gone anywhere there is nothing he could fall off of other than the futon he goes on, but its a futon it is maybe a foot off the floor, that would not have done this kind of damage. Any way, how he did it aside, she said it was a miracle that he is alive, and that I must have had some good Karma coming back to me for him to make it. Most cases she has seen like that , the dog passed the night that it happened. From seeing the days that he started not to act himself, the assumption is that this happened Sunday or Monday, so how he made it to a Thursday morning surgery is a miracle, and a blessing. From his spleen being lacerated, it ended up getting swollen and rupturing. They were able to show me photos, which I want to try and see if they will send me today. They removed it all and now he has no spleen. He does not need that to survive, however it does help fight infections. Now with a dog that is basically allergic to himself, this will be a problem. He is just a high maintenance puppy, but he is worth it! A bath every other day, and a lot of daily maintenance but very manageable. I couldn't pick him up to take him home until the evening, but I was allowed to visit him and lay with him in the afternoon, they figure it is comforting for him to have me there, and all he did was sleep whether I was there or not, but when he opened his eyes he knew I was with him. Here is a picture from my visit.

So, the Dr. made sure that I understood we are not in the clear yet. Although he made it through surgery and he is very lucky, we are not in the clear. When they remove the spleen, they have to tie off the other end. Doing that the "bad" blood that was there is now being sent back into circulation so the next 48 hours are critical. We just need to make sure that his body accepts the changes and keeps going. This dog is a true trooper so I hope we will be OK. He has some great medicine that makes him quite loopy so last night at home was interesting, but at least I knew he wasn't in pain. He was just sleeping, and yes I kept checking to make sure he was still breathing. :) This morning I dropped him back off at the vet so I could go to work. I could not get the day off, and Gotti could not be left alone. He loves going to the vet, maybe because he basically grew up there because of all his issues. He is a bulldog, so cherry eye was the main issue for a long time with many surgeries and still is an issue. But he was happily walking back into the vet today even after what happened yesterday. Although I had to physically do everything on my own, like carry him up and down 3 flights of stairs and try to open car doors, and the apartment door, etc. I can't believe the emotional support that was out there for me and Gotti from friends and family. I kept updated posts on facebook and the support was amazing. I never felt alone. Thank you to everyone for everything. And I am hoping to get back to cooking this evening. Maybe Ill even make it a Cooking with Kay-Kay, Gotti and Rocko(My chihuahua). Maybe in a few weeks, I will even make some dog treats. They are home made so I know what is going into them and the dogs love them! But I will get back on track with cooking and will keep everyone posted. Just wanted to explain where I went for two days, I didn't fall off track of updating daily, I just didn't cook or eat, so I never thought about posting, and every thought was on my puppy. Dog lovers I am sure understand! Hope to post more later with an official cooking Day 7 post. Thanks for listening to the update.

Day 4 - Turkey Burger & Breakfast for Dinner 08-09-11

So, Today was an interesting day, many things going on in my personal life. For lunch, I had an amazing turkey burger with tomato and shredded lettuce and some roasted red potatoes. SUPER YUM!! However, I did not cook it. We have a cafeteria at work and when I saw this was on the menu I couldn't stop thinking about it and knew I didn't have any turkey meat at home. So although I didn't cook it, here it is anyway. (Sorry I thought to take the picture after I had a few bites, lol)

So, when I got home I wasn't too hungry, since that was a big lunch. But I had already defrosted some bacon, even though I wasn't quite sure I was going to make with it yet. So I put the bacon in the pan and started to cook it up. I figured even if i needed some of it raw to make chicken bites or something I could fry half of the package at least. Then I decided it smelled soo yummy that I was going to make breakfast for dinner. I was thinking of doing bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel. But then decided I wanted waffles instead. So a simple breakfast dinner. Waffles, little butter, maple syrup, light trace of Cinnamon and sugar. Then some bacon and maple sausage. Forgive me for the presentation, I wasn't quite sure how to make this look better. I am still working on presentation, I had a great idea to add a slice of apple with the peel for some color and then remembered I didn't have any apples in the house. So don't they say it is the thought that counts. :) Hope so in this case. It's only Day 4 I get a few breaks right??

 Well time to get going and get ready for bed, work super early tomorrow, which stinks. But then I get out earlier in the afternoon which leaves more time to cook for dinner. So I am off to look around to what type of meat I would like to cook with tomorrow and get it defrosted. Have a great night out there if I have any readers, Sweet Dreams!!

P.S. If I ever get a reader feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate constructive criticism. Especially since I have no idea what I am doing!! Thank you. 

Day 3 - Grilled Chicken burrito 08-08-11

So, 3rd day, maybe I can keep this up. Well let me not get ahead of myself here, we shall see. Today I made a piece of grilled chicken, sliced it up topped it with provolone cheese, added some sliced baby carrots and a small amount of buttermilk ranch dressing and wrapped it up in a burrito. Served with a side of potato chips. I took a picture before I wrapped it so you could really see what it looked like. It might sound like an odd combination but it was ever so yummy. Nice and light and not bad on the calorie side either!! That is always a plus. But main point, it was good and filling!!

Day 2 - Leftovers 08-07-11

This can't be a good sign, Day 2 and instead of cooking I made leftovers. I was hoping I would have got further in the week before getting to that point. Long story short, went to Spiedie Fest all weekend (Had a BLAST) and today we left because of a storm and walked a mile or two in the absolute pouring rain. Needless to say, came home had to do laundry and wash all of the soaking wet clothes, and after doing three flights of stairs six times, leftovers sounded wonderful. None the less I feel like I can not shake this chill from being wet and then having the cold air in the car to keep the window from fogging up. Work tomorrow, and then home to cook. Not sure what is yet on the agenda for dinner, maybe a breakfast for dinner night, frittatas (SP?) or something. I haven't quite figured out where my imagination will take me. Have a great night! Sweet Dreams

Day One-Baked Ziti 08-06-11

Just a pre blog-blog. :) I have decided to challenge myself to really cook something good and different everyday. Of course once in awhile we want something more than once, but I want to step out of the comfort cooking and challenge myself. The best way to push me forward and continue to do this and not end up being lazy is to record it all in a blog. So tonight, baked ziti!! I have made baked ziti many different ways and tonight we are using chop meat and pepperoni for a little extra kick. Pictures and official day one post to follow!!

Part II - Baked Ziti came out delicious!! Pictures attached after we all took out some scoops, (Full disclosure, I admit I wanted to take a picture with it all plated up and looking perfect with some basil on the plate, but the kitchen smelled soo good when this was done, that I forgot to take the picture until after I finished eating. Maybe when I serve the left overs I will try to take a better picture to make it look more appealing)served with some nice mozzarella filled bread sticks!! YUM!! Seasoning was perfect, and I don't make a traditional baked ziti, it had some beef chop meat, but I also add in pepperoni, chopped up into small slices so that you don't get an entire chunk when  you are eating. But I cook that in my sauce so that it assists the sauce with some flavor, and also makes them softer and not so rough to chew.