Licorice

Introducing the newest member of our family: LICORICE. Yes, he is a guinea pig. I know he's not like any guinea pig you've ever seen before. Have you ever known us not to be unique and different? So of course we have to get a unique and different pig. He's cute as can be, and since he's still a young pig, he does like to nibble on us a little. He eats tons of fruits and vegetables, even green peppers if you can believe that! He is a pooping machine, but not too messy, unless he decided to treat you as the bottom of his cage while you're holding him (yes, I'm speaking from experience). I'm sure we have more pictures somewhere, but this was all I could find. His eyes look a little bit crazy in photos, but really they are not nearly that bright.

It's my birthday!

Unfortunately I had to work today, but that's OK. The chicks in the pharmacy got me a cake. It was delicious! And then I came home to great presents and a big banner on the wall. Now we get to go out to dinner or something and I'll be officially 35 years old.

It's Time!

It's a work in progress to say the least, but we're starting on it. We got all the Christmas junk from storage today. 6 big tote bins, one giant tree box, the box with Lee's village, and the wrapping paper box... wow, way too much I think, yet every year I add at least a couple of new things. What you see there is only half the tree. The whole tree doesn't fit in my tiny apartment. We just put the top pole in the tree stand and viola... apartment-sized tree. As you can see from all the junk laying around, we are nowhere near finished, but it's a start. We'll finish the tree tomorrow and dig out all of my other Christmas stuff. When Lee gets home from work he'll put up the village. I'll post completed pictures when we're done

Tasty Oven-Fried Chicken and Potatoes

Bad picture, but delicious meal!

• 1 cup corn flakes, crushed to about 1/3 cup

• 1/3 cup Italian style bread crumbs

• 4 medium russet potatoes, unpeeled, each cut into g4 lengthwise wedges

• 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

• 3 to 3 1/2 lb. cut -up frying chicken, skin removed if desired

• Coarse ground black pepper, if desired

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan with foil (we used cookie sheet). Spray foil with non-stick spray. In shallow bowl or pie pan, combine crushed cereal and bread crumbs; mix well.
2. Place potatoes in large resealable food storage plastic bag. Add salad dressing. Seal bag; turn to coat. Place potatoes in center of pan; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
3. Add chicken to salad dressing in bag; turn to coat. Remove chicken from marinade; coat with crumb mixture. Arrange, skin side up, on short sides of pan. (Chicken can be close together.) Sprinkle chicken and potatoes with pepper.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until chicken is fork-tender and juices run clear, and potatoes are fork tender.
   

Courtesy of Pillsbury Easy Meals

I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and Kraft Fat Free Zesty Italian dressing. The breasts were really large so I cut them into tender-like pieces before the marinade or coating. I improvised a bit on the bread crumbs and potatoes. We only had regular bread crumbs so I doctored them up a little with garlic and onion powder, Italian Seasoning and "Onion Onion " from Tastefully Simple. I used red potatoes rather than Russets. Didn't seem to make a difference. It was absolutely delicious!

Tigger Makes His Bed

This little hamster is too funny. We bought him a package of soft bedding once and he loved it. When Marli cleaned his cage yesterday we were all out, so we improvised with cotton balls (do you sense a cotton ball theme?) He really liked those cotton balls. He shoved so many in his pouches that he could barely fit up the tube to his bedroom! He's a cozy and snuggled in his cotton filled bed now.
Sorry I couldn't make them go all in a row across. What a pain!

Surprising Skeleton

I have the strangest friends. See the things they send me!

I get to go shopping!

That sounds much more fun than it really is. The reason I get to go shopping? I SPLIT MY PANTS AT WORK TODAY! I bent down to put a bottle of shampoo on a shelf and I heard that awful, gut-wrenching, 200 decibel noise..... RRRRRIIIIIIPPPPPP! Granted, the pants were old (like 5-6 years old) but dammit, I was thrilled to wear them. I've lost 20 pounds so far since I joined Weight Watchers and that pair of pants finally fit again! Oh well, I guess I should look at the bright side. At least when I go shopping I can buy a smaller size than the last time I shopped.