Y'all. I was totally in the mood to do some Yahoo headline twistery today, but when I looked for snark fodder I found stuff like:
Earthquake in Peru
Truck Bombs in Iraq
Mine Collapses in Utah
and I very quickly became both discouraged and aware of my own mortality. I can't make fun of tragedy, I just don't have that hard a heart. Oh, I'm sure I could plumb the depths of the entertainment section, and there was one promising headline ("Stocks Jump on Discount Rate Cut" - to which I would have said "Rub salt into wound just for spite") but nothing near enough to get a whole post out of.
Then I looked at the pictures, thinking that I could do a photo-heavy post, but unless I wanted to post shots of 1) devastation; 2) grief; 3) that hideously fat Mexican man who's getting into the Guinness Book of World Records for being astronomically corpulent AND for losing the most weight in one year (440 POUNDS!); or, rather strikingly conversely, 4) those teenaged beauty pageant contestants who look like they're about 28 years old trotting around in their little bikinis and smiling through the pain of wearing high heels (originally mistyped hells) and a metric assload of makeup while their emaciated stomachs are growling for something, ANYTHING, to eat; then I was bereft of choices, really.
(feel free to correct the punctuation in that previous sentence. I'm not at all sure I got it right)
Yahoo has let me down, in a most spectacular fashion. Sigh.
HOWEVER! I shall not let that stop me from posting! Nevah! I must simply switch gears to natter on about something personal; a "something" that's got me all agog with amazement.
Thing 1 has been invited to go see a movie tonight.
BY A GIRL.
Shazzbott!
While we were at the grocery store yesterday evening, purchasing something out of which to fashion dinner (recipe below!), he was talking with her on his cell phone. He's asking her what she's thinking of going to see, and then he replies"oh, Hairspray? I heard that was supposed to be pretty good. Yeah, I'm OK with going to that. Let me call Drew and tell him. See ya," at which point a little something broke off my heart and went wandering up into my throat, sticking there and swelling up, causing my eyes to water a little at the miracle that is Thing 1 at almost 12 years old. He's working this growing up thing like a pro. He's handling it so damned well. Very cool, very matter-of-fact.
So, anywho, maternal waterworky tangent notwithstanding, this movie is not a 1-on1 thing, which I firmly believe is a very.good.thing.indeed. There are 4 kids going, and the girl is the only girl (way to rock the odds, little sister!). Y'all, this is significant for him AND for me, because, well,,,,,,,he got ASKED, which means kids LIKE him, which means he's socially OK, which means I can stop fretting about the semi-outcast status he'd held for a few of his early school years, which means that high school will probably be OK for him, which means THANK YOU GOD FOR HEARING MY PRAYERS!!!!
Or is that too much to pin on one movie outing?
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Dinner last night was chicken quesadillas, done like dis hyar:
1 cup chopped zucchini
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in bite size pieces
2/3 C flour
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP spice mix (whatever you've got on hand....I use some grill mix)
oil
1 cup 4-cheese blend shredded cheese
fat-free sour cream
6 whole wheat tortillas
-Saute the chopped zucchini until tender, set aside
-Mix the flour, cumin, and spice mix. Dredge the chicken pieces in the mix until will coated, and brown in oil. Drain.
-Place a tortilla in a hot greased skillet, layer in a few pieces of chicken, about 2 TBSP zucchini, a bit of cheese, and 2 dollops of sour cream on one half. Fold top over, cook for a minute, flip and cook the other side for a minute until browned. Repeat until all the makin's are used up. Hold the cooked ones in a 150F oven until a nice BIG plate of pseudo Mexi-goodness is heaped thereupon.
This recipe will easily make 6, except I kept eating the chicken right out of the bowl while I was cooking and so we only had 5. Oopsie! But hey - they were just like wee tender juicy chicken nuggets, and they were calling to me succulently, those tempting tan morsels of cluck. Mmm, cluck morsels.
Oh! You could also serve the chicken on the side if there are vegeteranians where you live. If you do, I'd recommend putting in some extra zuke just to give the quesadilla some heft.
My kids ate these down like there was never going to be another meal, even after they knew there was zucchini inside. THAT'S some good eatin' right there, especially when served with a side of some veggie (we had corn). So there you go - give it a shot and see how YOUR clan likes 'em, then tell them it's straight from the kitchen of Auntie Tiff.
Happy weekend y'all. See you Monday.
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