Lexxy Fancypants

Ohhhhh noooooo I'm sick. :< It came on really really suddenly so it should leave just as quickly. Mostly it's sore throat and lethargy with a side of ew-my-ears-are-draining-into-my-throat, but hrrrrrrgh there is very little I hate more than a sore throat. I don't mind puking as much as a sore throat, because at least after you puke you feel better. Cramps and sore throats are just cruel. So anyway, unsweetened tea and Ricola and bed is my prescription for today. Which means TIME TO READ FIC. Please toss any recs my way! I will read anything TF and if you're thinking "no way does she mean anything, she definitely doesn't want to read that sickeningly fluffy mechpreg Jazz/Prowl thing I'm hiding away in my bookmarks" oh yes, yes I want to read that. I want to read that very much. That is basically exactly the not-guilty-at-all pleasure I am looking for when I am braindead with plague.

Anyway, despite my illness I managed to not only get up and go to school, but also think on my feet in lab (our attempts to separate Gram+ and Gram- strains were unsuccessful, so we had to improvise) AND I got in our soil samples to the Extension. And then I drove home (yes I consider that an accomplishment in this state) and stopped at the grocery store and got stuff to make chicken soup with the breasts I've been staring at blankly. And THEN I actually made the soup, including butchering the damn breasts that came on the bone. I did a reasonably good job. I am rather proud of myself. When everything is piping hot I'll half-heartedly shred the chicken, toss in some pasta, and let it cook to al-dente and then EAT THE FUCK OUT OF IT.

Also, on the 23rd (Saturday?) Lowe's is giving out free trees. I don't know what kinds or anything, I think you have to just show up and find out. But hey, now you know! Personally, I want to get an American Elm. Help a nearly-extinct species by just planting it in my yard? Heck yeah. I just wish I had room for a chestnut, too.

Okay my spine is starting to inform me that I have a fever so it's time for pajamas and tea.

To do list: ( Read more... )

P.S. the soup is amazing and kale is the best thing to ever happen to me. |D Not that any of you need a recipe for chicken noodle soup, but this is what I did: In a big stock pot, saute an onion (two if they're small, onion is delish), a small bunch of celery, and a few carrots (all sliced thin, on the diagonal for the long ones) until onion is transluscent and that pot smells better than celery and carrot have any right to smell. Toss on the frozen tupperware of chicken stock you had lying around for no good reason (2 cups). Tie up a big bundle of herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary) and plop it in. Also plop in some mushrooms, some sliced or diced bell pepper, and 2-4 chicken breasts (skin them first, and debone or put them in cheesecloth). Add water to cover. Low simmer until the chicken is fully cooked, stirring if you feel like it. Pull out the chicken and shred, then add back in. If it looks like it needs more liquid, add some water now. Toss in a generous handful of shell pasta in and cook for less than the package says to (about 7 of the 10 minutes mine wanted). Take a couple leaves of kale, wash off the creepy bug and remind yourself that organic is good for you, and shred off bite-sized pieces. Toss 'em all in, stir, remove from heat, and let sit for a minute or two. Then eat with a big piece of crusty buttered bread, remember that you forgot to add any salt or pepper, shrug and continue nomming. Makes about 11 cups of soup, which is almost more than I can store. D: I did store some of it in my belly, so that helped. And I'll need to add water whenever I heat it up again - the pasta absorbed a LOT while it cooled. I am very well-stocked now, my friends. XD

Guess who's the dumbass who forgot that iron is kinda important

yep it's me

( I am such a dumbass )

Anyway yeah, expect me to remain listless for a while, I guess. I hear iron takes a long time to do much of anything in the body, and I know it's hard to absorb (the Red Cross and I have had many discussions about my low iron) but it's not like I had to get hospitalized or anything. I am, however, going to go sleep for like 13 hours straight. I think I've been awake for a grand total of 8 hours today and I suspect tomorrow will be much the same. I'd suspect illness but my only symptom is the lethargy soooo yeah. Iron. Jeez. :\

Right so, I never really got the big deal about milk. Like, ever. When I was very young I was lactose intolerant, but grew out of it (which if you think about it is REALLY FUCKING WEIRD, milk is for babies wtf) but never really liked it. I liked cheese, though. SO ANYWAY milk was boring and vaguely flavorless (and then extremely painful and saddening)UNTIL NOW.

Raw milk. I know you are all giving me the weirdest fucking look right now and thinking YOU ARE A CRAZY HIPPIE WHO WILL DIE OF SALMONELLA but whatever, I can drink it and it is DELICIOUS. This milk, okay, even though it's the middle of winter it has this thick layer of cream on top and when it's all shook up it has a FLAVOR and it's like a whole different food compared to every other milk ever. No lie, when Dad and I each had a cup to try it, we both stood there staring at it in shock and then I looked at Dad and said, "Can I get a cow?" XD I have been considering driving practically into the next state just to get more, and then I went to their website and LO AND BEHOLD a store in town carries this farm's milk.

The hippie store.

no seriously they are even more hippie than I am, yes I know you thought that was pretty much impossible in this day and age but seriously they sell unsweetened goat yogurt and have a little stand where you can cut your own organic soap.

...I'm going there right the fuck now.


RELATEDLY what the fuck do I do with milk, I've forgotten D: I bet I can make creamy sauces again! And mac & cheese! Wait no I still react to store cheese, I'd need to make my own cheese and see if I react to that. HMMMMMMMM.

This vacation is awesome. You can tell by my vacation beard. It skipped stubble, zoomed past itchy, and went right for luxuriously soft. I'd share pictures but I think the cognitive dissonance of beard + breasts is just... too much. With that said, I've actually been feeling pretty secure in my skin these days. It's kinda weird but very welcome.

Nostalgia has lost a couple mice, inevitably, but she's got so many that I still wake up with half a dozen strewn across my floor. And then I pick them up and put them in the living room, and the next morning they're back. Oh, Nostalgia, you are so cute. On the plus side, I'm playing with her more! Which hopefully makes her more hungry. EAT MORE, GIRL, YOU ARE A TINY THING.

Have a recipe! This is Chicken Kapaman, my new beef stew since I can't, you know, eat beef. It is just the right mix of soupy and hearty, perfect with buttered crusty bread, and so damn good. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. Okay. Recipe, right.

1 lb of boneless chicken breast
1 lb of boneless chicken thigh
2-4 potatoes, cut into big chunks
2 carrots or a handful or two of the bitty ones
1 1/2 cups water or chicken broth
2 onions, chopped
1-2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
a whole friggin' bulb of garlic
a crock pot

Okay first, you want to roast that garlic. You know you do. Cut the top off, get some olive oil on there, and leave it in the oven at 350F for like an hour or so. You can bundle it in foil if you want. When it's done, it'll be turning brown and delicious and a little oozy. Your whole house will smell amazing. Eat a clove, you know you want to~

While the garlic is doing its thing, chop what all needs to be chopped. If you want to, give the chicken thighs a quick slice. I'm not big on the texture of thigh meat, but breaking it up works really well in this recipe. I like having the big fall-apart hunks of breast meat, though. You want to put down layers in the slow cooker: potato first, then carrot, then chicken, then mix everything else in a bowl and wait for the garlic to finish. The flavors will get all nice and mingled. When the garlic is done, just squeeze those gorgeous cloves right into the bowl, then dump the whole thing over the chicken. Set on low for 7 or 8 hours, or high for 4 hours and then low for 1 1/2. Then mix it up and devour it. This is a really forgiving recipe - you can have more potato, more chicken, more onion, whatever. It will still be delicious beyond imagining. So simple. So tasty.

If it seems like I am way too enthused about this dish, please understand - I LOVED beef stew. I have been trying to find a substitute ever since I became red meat intolerant, and I have failed miserably. This isn't beef stew, not in any way imaginable, but it fills the same need of something hearty and warm and good that can only be improved with buttered crusty bread. It's the sort of savory I had given up hoping for. It is basically a dream come true that I had nearly given up hoping for, you know? This dish is like magic to me.

So last night the power went out for a few hours - probably some dipstick hitting a pole. OH NOES THE GROUND IS DAMP. Anyway, this wasn't such a bad thing - instead of dicking around on the Internet, I lit some candles in the living room and played with Nostalgia. We have a box full of packing peanuts, you see. :3 Much fun was had diving headfirst into it and fishing out individual peanuts. And then once she settled down I read a book.

Nostalgia is pretty much full-grown now. Her face looks adult, and I can pet her head with my whole hand instead of a finger or two. There's been no change in her gait, but I think this month I will finally have saved enough for x-rays. Frankly I'm used to the way she walks now. She certainly doesn't know there's anything funny about it. We race madly around the house together, pausing at specific points to consult on a change of direction. Sometimes one of us leads, sometimes the other, but we both slide madly for the hairpin turn in the living room. XD Sometimes she tries to sideswipe my feet - cheater!

The divorce is going well - I should get the papers in the mail soon. This will probably be the most good-natured divorce ever. We are planning Facebook shenanigans. It will be hysterical. XD Yeah, I can't explain our relationship at all. But he did tell me to get any medical stuff done while I still have essentially free health care, and he's right - and I think maybe Tricare will cover allergy testing. At least their site says they do. Which means nothing, really, but I should at least make some kind of appointment with someone. A dietician? I kinda want to talk about all my food issues, so that would make sense. :\ Red meat intolerance is a strange thing for sure.;ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

Nostalgia says hi. XD

Dear body,

Please tell me what it is I'm eating that you don't want. I mean, I was okay before dinner. For dinner I had a sandwich. It was turkey bacon, fresh deli turkey, avocado, lettuce, tomato, sharp cheddar, maple, and white bread. What is upsetting you so much? Seriously, I want to know. Is it the turkey? You've been okay with poultry until now. Is it the white bread? I mean, if we have a gluten intolerance, that... would suck a lot, but I could manage it. Is it the fat? I know we have issues with fried foods, but this is kinda taking it a bit far, don't you think? I mean. I'm in pain here. In pain from eating a sandwich. I am willing to listen to your demands but come onnnnn at least give me a hint here.

Very little love,
L

P.S. You suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck I hate you stupid intestinal distress

While I was visiting my darling twin, we had so much fun cooking delicious things! Her butternut soup is now a staple food for me - there's some in my freezer right at this very moment, and I just finished a big, lovely bowl of it. So good. So I thought I'd share the recipes for some of what we made!

( Spacehussy's Squash Soup )

( L's Whatevertheheck Pasta )

Also, just to let you all know, Nostalgia is doing fabulously. She's started doing these acrobatic leaps to catch her toys when I toss them - she doesn't always land quite right, but she is having the time of her life. And tomorrow she will be one year old! Happy birthday, Nostalgia!