Day 21 – Let’s build a boat…

So it’s uneventful when you’re not spending money.  And there’s not much to talk about when you’re living the life of a recluse to avoid the temptation.  Which is all true, except we have been spending money.  But not on what you might think.  Prescriptions, doctor visits, more prescriptions…more doctor visits.  Not in that order.  But I don’t feel like fixing it.  You get the gist.  While we should have money sitting pretty – we don’t.  So I can sum it up like this; good thing it was 30-Days of Nothing, because it would have been anyway.  Sigh…makes me feel a bit defeated. 

Quint and I have been sick for a couple weeks.  He went to the doc first, and they found he had a pretty bad double ear infection.  But almost ten days of meds, and he’s not better – in fact, the left ear started draining this morning.  Double sigh…the life of a baby who had perforated ear drums.  Some things they just can’t treat in an orphanage with such limited resources.  I thank God they did what they could for him – but he has struggled with this since infancy.  I hate to see him hurting.  Today we switched him to a more powerful anti-biotic and some ear drops.  Meanwhile, mama is right behind him…ear infections and swelling so bad in my ear canal that it was as if someone was holding my head under water.  MISERY, I tell you.  MISERY.  So three meds later, including the dreaded steroid (I loathe the side affects…grrr) and I’m on the mend.  Ears are still iffie – but I can tell there’s been improvement. 

We’re anxious to get Quint some long-awaited surgery that he needs to make his life BETTER.  His tonsils and adenoids need to come out.  His tonsils are HUGE.  Meanwhile, he needs tubes in his ears.  Glad so many have had been through this, because we’ve received lots of support and great information.  Hoping for an October surgery and really praying to see some great results for him.  What a trooper he is – two bouts of severe croup this year alone, constant runny nose and drainage, back to back ear infections, and way too much pain for one little guy to have to deal with.  All with a smile {most of the time"}.  He’s amazing!

Ok, so let’s talk food for today…

Wednesday Menu – Day 21

Breakfast:  Cinnamon Rolls – Pillsbury.  But oh sooo “we were late to school” good…

Lunch:  Keira had a spiffy lunch.  Vegetable soup, raspberries, and cheese cubes.  She ate it all too! 

Either way, I want to eat her cheeks.  Don’t you?

Don’t feel bad for me – I had prosciutto on a fresh roll with Havarti cheese.  Not too shabby, eh?

Ok DETOUR – seriously…how wrongly addictive are these?  Seriously.  Tell it to my hips, cuz’ my mouth ain’t listening.  Bah.  I mean it.  There’s something in them.  I think crack.  The street kind.  The kind that’s all messed up and really bad, but it makes you do crazy things to have it.  Not that I’m speaking from any experience.  I’m just relating.  Or trying to.  Seriously though?  Someone send help.  S.O.S.  I might eat the whole bag before the kids get any.  Because I caught a certain little twosome of kids trying to sneak into that bag tonight and steal some of these little friends of mine…and it was not pretty.  I blame it on the crack.  They wanted them.  They were after them.  I was in a panic.  I found a new hiding place and distracted them with a bag of chocolate.  Or something.  You must think I’m terrible.  An addicted terrible person.

But guess what?  Jimmy cracked corn and…I don't care.  That is all.

{We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!}

Moving on…

Dinner: Let’s build a Pizza Boat, shall we?  I know, once again – I’m cooking.  Disregard that part.  I did clarify that I will cook under duress.  Doesn’t mean it has to taste awful (though sometimes it does…).  Anton had to work tonight, so this recipe comes to you courtesy my fabo-o sister-in-law, Lisa.  She’s the cat’s meow and has tons of awesome recipes up her sleeve.  Another chip off the ol’ cooking block that is my husband’s family. 

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Take a gander at these easy ingredients, all of which I had on hand.  Pepperoni, ground beef (you could use sausage), chopped onion, cheese,  loaf of French bread, marinara sauce (you could use Pizza sauce, but I’m emptying my pantry)  The ground beef was 1lb and pre-cooked by my lovely husband, and stored frozen in a Ziplock.  Bless him.  I just put it a pan with the onion for a quick warm-up, seasoned it, and prest-o-change-o….meat for my boat.

Mix all the ingredients together.  Be it known here, you can make any combo you like.  Peppers, mushrooms, ham, pineapple, whatever.  Again, just using what I had on hand.  Even though the recipe says to add the cheese later, I added some now.  It’s cheese, people.  It needed to join in.  It needed to be in the mix.  It was calling to me.  

BTW - I didn’t use the whole jar of sauce – you can use as much or as little as you like. 

Cut just the top off of the bread, leaving a “boat”. 

Scoop out the bread inside

Put the bread boat on a cookie sheet, on top of a large piece of foil (so you can easily wrap it after filling)

       

Now the recipe says you can cut up the bread you just scooped out, and add to your mix.

But I don’t think I would do that again, because I’m not a fan of “wet” bread or bread soaked in anything. 

Still, it does cut down on waste and is a good filler.

Fill your bread boat with the mixture and add cheese to the top

Place the bread top back on, wrap the whole thing with foil, and slide into the oven for about 35 minutes.

When the timer “dings” – open, gasp…drool…and ENJOY!

You're welcome. 

9 more days, but who’s counting?

(ME!  I AM!  RIGHT HERE!  OH, PICK ME!  I’M COUNTING!  CHECK ME OUT!)