Wrapping up Week #1

Thursday:
1. Worked from 8 am to 9 pm. It was "Meet your Teacher" night. I probably had around 20 parents total out of close to 190 students. Sad, I know but believe it or not that is one of the higher numbers I have had in a few years.

2. The culinary arts kids provided dinner for us- super sweet of them. :) Many of us exchanged stories during dinner, and this one from a freshman teacher had us all laughing so hard we were almost crying.

Scenario: Teacher could not take a 14 year old student's behavior anymore. Began to write the student up. Student's response:

"Write me up... that's cool. I've already been arrested. What more can you do to me... spank me?"

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner, as a colleague of mine would say. Bwahahahahahaha!!!  :)

Friday:
1. Cervesa
2. Mexican Food
3. Chocolate

In that order.... recovering from work... my brain actually hurts... is it Thanksgiving Break yet???!!!

Praise Jesus for the 3 day weekend!!!

181 days to go...

3rd Day of School

"Those look like comfortable shoes. I bet you could walk all day in shoes like that.... My feet hurt."

 

-Forrest Gump-

 

 

1. I think my feet were actually screaming today because I sat down on the floor to play with Goobz today after work and honest to goodness! He started to lick my toes and the bottom of my feet.

 

Do you have any idea how good that felt??!! Oh! My own personal foot massage!!! :) (And yes, all you cynics! I'm sure he smelled or tasted something on the bottom of my feet but I prefer to think he loves his mommy and wants to give her a foot massage after a long day. )

 

2. My kids did a decent job at the group warm up today. Encouraging to think I can possibly continue this into the school year.

 

3. I was asked again today where my accent is from... REALLY??!!

 

4. My husband is amazing!! He brought me home a running belt today so I can have water while I run and not have to hold my IPOD. YAY!!!

 

If you did not know, I am training for the Rock N Roller Half Marathon in November here in SA. I am up to comfortably running 8 miles at a time. Only 5 more to go!!! yay!!! I understand why people like to run. It is mindless and if you have the right playlist, OMG! You can go forever!

 

5. Yes, I also realize my feet probably hurt even more because I come home and run each night too. ;)

 

6. 183 days to go... 

2nd Day of School

The Nile River is in North America... duh?!

 

(Winner statement of the day)

 

 

1. First period conference rocks! I can leave at 4:15 and not worry about anything for the next day because I don't have kids until 9:50. Oh! I don't have to be at work until 8:15 if I don't want to!!

 

 

2. First period conference rocks! I can still watch my GMA. Yay for Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer!

 

 

3. My kids have no concept of Geography... AT ALL. A 5 minute map of label the river valleys, the oceans and some major mountain ranges took 20 minutes.. at least.

 

 

4. Africa became North America today. The Mississippi River was called the Nile because well duh! North America is really Africa...

 

 

Ay de mi!!!!!

 

 

5. My feet hurt so very badly today. Heels, boots, wedges... they all hurt.

 

 

6. My voice and throat hurt by the end of the day. Answering 200 people's questions all day long really takes it out of you.

 

 

7. 184 days to go..... 

1st Day of School Recap

1. Kicked a girl out of class- she was dressed in a leopard leotard like Fran Dresher from THE NANNY. She popped gum, had the big hair and answered every questions with a "Huh" "What" "So" complete with eye-rolls.

2. 2 of my students were delivered by the Behavior Administrator... never a good sign when you have to get escorted to class the first day with instructions from the Admin on how to handle the kid

3. Apparently I have an accent?? Most of my classes spent the last 5 minutes of class trying to tell me where I was from... My response of "I grew up in Oklahoma for 18 years" for not sufficient.

4. None of my kids care for College Football... I cried a little inside each period on this one

5. Thankfully, we are all in agreement that Miley Cyrus needs to be locked in a padded cell for the rest of her life.

6. 4 classes in a row from 12:30 to 4 with 34 kids per class is ROUGH, just sayin

7. 185 days to go.... Yes, I'm counting

P.S. Dylan was about to pop waiting to ask me how my day was... something along the lines of "we have entertainment at dinner again" with many exclamation points afterwards.  Sad state of affairs in The Carey house when our nightly entertainment comes at my expense... hehe!

 

Southwest Style Tortilla Soup

This meal is one of Dylan and I's favorites!! The above soup base/stock is the key for this meal. About 5 or 6 months ago, I happened upon this "Organic Pacific" brand in the soup aisle at HEB, and just fell in love! It is super healthy for you, which is very hard to come by with a soup base/soup stock. I use the whole carton to make our Southwest Style Tortilla Soup. (By the time I am finished with the soup, Dylan and I can get at least 2 nights worth of meals out of it.. sometimes 3!!)

Now, you can prepare the dish however you want. Sometimes I add chicken or beef as the main component. Today however, I added sweet potato. 1 medium to large sweet potato that I cut into cube sized pieces and then baked in the oven with a sprinkle of salt and pepper at 420 degrees for 25 minutes.

Never fear! You cannot taste the sweetness of the potato when you mix it in the soup!! It substitutes as the meat in this meal; a nice healthy, veggie alternative to meat!

I also add onion, black beans, carrots and spinach to the soup as well. All of that, including cooked potatoes, simmer on low heat for at least 20 to 30 minutes.

Once the soup is hot and steamy, I add a handful of Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning and Cumin. Dylan and I just love those Southwest flavors! Plus, we like our Mexican food to have a kick! The soup base has enough flavor by itself, so if you do not want to add extra spice, no worries!

Add whatever condiments on top that you desire! I added cooked jalapeno, Mexican cheddar cheese, pico and sour cream to ours. I warmed up tortillas in the skillet to sop up the soup also.

 

Hearty! Flavorful! Healthy! Makes multiple meals! Bon Appetite!!!!

Wild Rice and Grilled Chicken Salad

The other night I found myself wanting a nice grilled chicken salad, however, Dylan likes salad, but they never truly fill him up unless we are having another entrée with it. I had not planned on anything else, so I had to get creative!! I went looking through my cookbook and found a recipe from Southern Living magazine for a grilled chicken salad with wild rice. Huh! I have all of those things required in the recipe! And.. it worked! Dylan was skeptical at first, but ended up having seconds and declaring he would totally eat the dish again! Success!! :)

(FYI: If you go looking for this recipe in Southern Living, you will find it has a mayo and cream cheese kind of dressing that goes with it. Uh, not in my house!! Mayo has NO place in the Carey house whatsoever!! )

I started off by thawing 5 small chicken breasts and then cutting them into equal strips, lengthwise. (I always do a little more meat than necessary for the meal because I like to have extra for the next night's meal! This way I only cook meat once for hopefully 2 meals, sometimes 3!)

Marinade: 1 1/2 spoonfuls (small spoon) of fresh minced garlic, 1 Tbsp of olive oil and cracked ground pepper. I let chicken marinate in a bowl for about 20 minutes. Then I slapped about 4 or 5 pieces on a hot 400 degree George Foreman grill and let it sizzle! Once again, I cooked the chicken until they were golden brown on both sides with slight grill marks. I did this for all of my strips, placing them on a cutting board to rest when finished.

While the meat cooked, I chopped the rest of my Romaine/Iceberg lettuce mixture, which ended up being about the last 1/3 of the bag. I added 1 cup of chopped spinach leaves to the mix as well. Now, I just gave the greens a rough chop because I think salad is hard to eat when the pieces come out whole. I added 1 1/2 cups of chopped carrots. I buy 2 different kinds of carrots at HEB. Dylan and I love to eat the round ones in our lunches, but those are hard to cook with, so I also buy the carrots that come in long strips. I take those strips and rough chop them, so they are easier to eat in everything, which is what I did for this salad.  I also added 1/2 cup of diced white onion (could use whatever kind you have). And I added 1 cup of chopped pecans... YUMMO!! Gives you just enough of a sweet crunch in some of your bites.. ah! Delish!

By this point, my meat had rested long enough so I did not lose the juices when I cut the chicken into cubes, small enough to fit on your fork and still give you a bite to chew!! I mixed chicken and all veggies and greens together in bowl. Then, I added the secret to my success! Long grain wild rice. Now, I cheated here on the rice because I used Uncle Ben's box recipe. So bad, I know!!! But, I cannot do the 45 minute rice cooker!! It takes way too long, and I have to make recipes that can be done in an hour or less because of work. So, Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice box mix it is! (Just follow instructions on box for cooking)

Once rice was finished, I added the whole thing of rice into the salad... makes around 2 cups cooked. Mixed the whole thing together with salad tongs and added freshly chopped tomatoes on the top for garnish, flavor, color and healthiness. And you have this....

No cheese necessary. No dressing necessary. The smokey flavors from the grilled chicken combined with the earthiness of the wild rice and the slightly sweet and refreshing taste of tomatoes and pecans gives you all you need!!

Hearty! Flavorful! Healthy! Bon Appetite!!!!

1st Class Karma

About 3 weeks ago, Dylan and I, along with 7 other parent chaperones, took over 20 AP students to Europe for a 10 day trip to England and France with a nation-wide company called EF Tours or Education First Tours. Dylan and I had done a trip previously in 2011 with about 12 AP students to Italy and France, and we just had an absolute blast! So, we both naively assumed this next group/tour would be just as awesome.

Oh how wrong we were!!! Without going into all of the details because well... frankly... there are just too many and my blood begins to boil and my stomach begins to roll each time I start listing them all....Let's just say that anything and everything that could go wrong with 16-18 year olds.... did. I spent 9 days in a completely panicked state 24/7. I think I slept a total of maybe 3 hours every night. I was so stressed I got all "bunged up" as our British tour guide so politely called it, and could not go the entire time we were there. I could hardly eat any of the meals provided, and every time we all went to see something, I spent the majority of the time counting heads... basically, not enjoying Europe.

We finally all make it into the plane for a 9 1/2 hour ride back to Dallas. I sit down in my seat all the way in the very back of the plane in Coach with a massive sigh of relief that for the next 9 1/2 hours, I don't have to worry about anything. :) My semi-pleasant thoughts are interrupted though by the young 5 year old boy in the seat next to me who is screaming bloody murder and crying uncontrollably at the top of his lungs. I start looking around for his parents and then realize it is just he and I in the 2-seater area of the plane. I am his adult for the ride... God help me! I realize that if he cries for the majority of the flight, no amount of earphones is going to help me. I already have a headache, which is getting worse by the minute, and just about the time I'm about to go find Dylan to beg him to switch seats with me, a flight attendant comes to get me and says "we have a situation, and I need you to come with me."

WTH??? I watched everyone get on the plane!! What could possibly be wrong??!!! I grab my backpack (my only bag) and head up to the front, with the child still screaming, my head still pounding and now my stomach is rolling. I just want to be home!!! The flight attendant takes me all the way back out onto the walkway and presents me to this very sleek-looking business man who proceeds to ask me if he can change seats with me. At first I'm kind of taken aback by the situation, uh, excuse me? Change seats... sure, I guess. Huh?  Basically, his ex-wife told him at the last minute he had to take their son over to the States with him. His son... the 5 year old screaming child in the seat next to me... has been screaming since they brought him on the plane over 30 minutes ago, and apparently, the rest of the people in Coach are complaining. (I don't blame them!) The business-man dad needs to sit next to his son; therefore, he needs my seat. Do I mind taking his, he asks? I don't care... Coach is Coach... so I told him sure, whatever he needs. He acts like I am doing him a huge favor and then starts to tell me I'm in for a treat because he has a good seat. I'm smiling and thinking okay dude, whatever you say! The business man takes my ticket stub and heads to the back, and I turn to follow him when the flight attendant turns me around and says "No ma'am, you belong in First Class now."

SAY WHAT???!!!!! Are you for real??!! Shut up!!! Hell yah!!! That's what I'm talking about!!!

All of these thoughts are careening through my head at the words, FIRST CLASS. But on the outside I calmly say, "sounds good" and follow the attendant up to the seat RIGHT BEHIND THE COCKPIT!!! My mind says again: Eeeeee! I am seated in a chair at least 3 times the size of the ones in Coach with 3 times the size of leg room. The air smells like Febreeze up in First Class and it is quiet!!! There are only 16 people in the entire compartment. Each person has their own TV. Each person has their own table.. not tray, but table. Each person has their own overhead bin for luggage. Each row of 4 has their own flight attendant. I was trying so very hard to keep my mouth from dropping to the floor!! But I mean, First Class people! As I'm sitting there in awe, this sweet older gentleman comes over to tell me "He is Pierre and will be serving me for the entire flight." He is too cute! A little grandpa looking guy with a beautiful French accent!! He asks me what I have been doing over in France, and I tell him only that I have been chaperoning 20 plus teenagers all over England and France for the past 10 days. His eyes are huge at this point, and he says to me "But you are so little!" I laugh, because I get this all the time. Another flight attendant is with us now, listening to the story, and both of them agree that being bumped to First Class was my gift for putting up with them all week.

Dude!!! You. Have. No. Idea.

But I smile and say something like yah, what a deal!! :) They both then tell me "I am not to leave First Class until I get off the plane in Dallas, and I am not to worry about those kids back there for the entire flight." Don't have to tell me twice!! So I sat back, relaxed and had a grand time!!! I had a 3 course meal entirely of seafood and it was oh so yummy! I had a salad!! That sounds silly, but only 1 of our meals for 9 days had a salad with it, and I was craving greens so bad!!! I had a nice glass of white wine with a pineapple lime finish which paired oh so nicely with my seafood. I had a huge roll and did not feel guilty about it one bit. :) I put slippers on my feet to snuggle in. You can even change into PJs if you want (I didn't though). I received not only a blanket but a mini-comforter as well. I received multiple pillows. Pierre and I had a lovely chat about Normandy, the cemetery, WW II etc. THE BEST PART! THE CHAIR LAYS ALL THE WAY DOWN TO BECOME A BED!! FULL, FLAT 180 DEGREES!!! Pierre literally tucked me in, and I slept for 6 hours straight, only waking when Pierre informed me we were 50 minutes from Dallas and my chair had to come upright.

I walked off that plane feeling like a million bucks!!! I walked off that plane, knowing I would cherish that First Class experience always. In all honesty, it was a huge excess, and I cannot imagine people expecting that kind of treatment all the time. But, for the one and only time in my life, it was a treat!! 


P.S. What about Dylan? Did I feel bad he was sitting back in Coach- yes. Would I have given up my seat in First Class for him- if he was seriously ill or dying, yes. Did I run back and tell him before the plane took off- yes. What was his reaction- a huge smile, a big kiss and the words "What the heck are you doing back here then? Get back up there and enjoy it, you deserve it!"

Lastly, I walked off that plane fully believing in Karma:

 

"Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience that you need? Because this is the experience you are having at that moment."

What's for Dinner.......

Semi-Homemade, Healthy Chalupas

 



I took the recipe from Pioneer Woman, who I just adore! and modified it to fit our lifestyle. (She uses lots of cream, butter and other heavy food materials in almost everything she makes. I don't cook with those things, so I have to do some tweaking... )

First thing I did was cook the ground beef. I use the 93/7 cut of ground beef, preferably fresh from the butcher counter. I browned it in the skillet with a dash of minced garlic and at least half cup of diced onions. (Either white or red, depending upon which is cheaper at HEB that day) After the meat has a nice golden color and a small crust on top, I place it in Tupperware for the flavors to mesh and get yummy!

Second, I placed one can of black beans in a sauce pan with half of a taco seasoning mixture (no salt added mix) from our HEB with the major flavors of Cumin and Chipotle. The beans cook on low-medium for maybe 5 minutes....make sure you stir regularly!! You want them to look like refried beans. (You could use pinto beans or red beans if you want. We prefer black beans at my house because of their protein count.) Once the consistency is there, place off to the side. BTW, you can smell the beans and the seasoning as they cook! Yummy!!!

Third, the tortillas. Now, I buy flour tortillas at HEB because I do not have my own tortilla maker... sad day! If I had one in a bigger kitchen, I would totally do my own tortillas. But anywho, I buy them and rub the edges just lightly with olive oil so they get a nice golden brown. I placed them by themselves in the oven at 425 heat for about 3-5 minutes and then took them out. Basically, you want the edges to be golden brown with a slightly soft center. If the tortillas puff up, no biggie! Take them out, poke a hole in the middle with your knife and they will go right back down... hehe!

Fourth, you take the tortillas out and assemble!!

-Place 1/3 to 1/4 cup of bean mixture on base of tortilla and spread around. (bigger tortilla, more stuff on top!)

-Place 1/3 cup mixture of meat on top of beans

-Place 4 strips of jalapenos on meat (I keep the seeds. I had already grilled these in a skillet with a small teaspoon of olive oil)

-Small pinch of cheese (I use Mexican Cheese, but you can use whatever)

-Put back in oven until cheese melts

-Place handful of lettuce (mixture of roughly chopped Romaine and Iceberg lettuce)

-Place 2 to 3 spoons of Pico (I use HEB Pico Mix at the medium spicy setting)

-Place dollop of sour cream

-Another small pinch of cheese and back into oven until it melts

 

Now, you can do any mixture of toppings that you like! Corn, avocado, peppers etc. This is just what I had on hand, plus Dylan really likes jalapenos. You can always add more or less of something too, depending upon your food preferences or dietary needs. (EX: I don't use the sour cream nor do I put the first pinch of cheese on there)

 

Enjoy with chips and salsa and Bon Appetite!!!!

Gothic Cathedrals

Welcome to the quiet, quaint medieval town of Canterbury, England; home of the famous Canterbury Cathedral which was the seat of Roman Catholic Power in England until the Protestant Reformation during the 1500s-1600s.

The house is actually leaning to the right!!! The door is collapsing, but supposedly the owners have reinforced everything, and the townspeople still use the building on a regular basis. Yeah.... right?! This is also our awesome Tour Guide for the trip who was a saint for putting up with all of my hellions for 10 days. :)

Medieval meets modern...

Here is the memorial for the Archbishop Thomas Beckett who King Henry IV (I believe... don't quote me on that! All of the Roman numerals get soo confusing!) had killed because they disagreed on their political and spiritual views.

As we walked around the cloisters, we could hear the choir singing!

Now we visit the majestic figure of the Notre Dame Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France. It is one of 7 Notre Dame Gothic Cathedrals in France.

Everywhere we went the flowers were just huge and gorgeous!! How I wish the San Anton climate would allow for this!!

Rose and Lancet windows

Very old pilgrimage shrine to the Virgin Mary (her clothes are new though)

The altar looked like it belonged in Italy, not France!! All that white and green Italian marble...

Pretty sure Batman helped create the design for the organ... hehe!

Brittany and Normandy, France

Welcome to the coastal towns of Ponceut, Mont St. Michel and St. Malo!!!

Sweet bunch of kiddos!

This was our hotel for 2 nights: an old, restored Medieval Monastery!!! Little bitty rooms with little bitty staircases... The monks were skinny dudes!  

Honestly and truthfully, the most impressive thing I have ever seen, period!

Mont St. Michel- an old monastery which then became a fortress which then became a prison! Today, it is the 2nd major tourist attraction in France!!

There are over 600 steps to the top... if you were curious and yes! We walked them all....

Mont St. Michel sits on an island in the sea. The tides and currents are very strong here. When we arrived, the tide was out: you can see all of the salt marshes and mud flats. As we left around 3-4 hours later, the tide was back in and all the way up to the walkway and main gate of the place.

This is St. Malo, France; a tiny peninsula town on the coast of Brittany. They are famous for their privateers during the Age of Exploration. Most of the people who lived in St. Malo would have been called millionaires and billionaires by our monetary standards today. They value their own city more than either the Brittany region or France.

Once again, everything is tidal here. When we arrived, the tide was out. Many of our group went to down to the beach to explore and put their feet in the North Atlantic. By the time we left, the tide was back in.

A storm was rolling in, creating the beautiful colors in the sky and in the water. The town was a favorite with the students and adults. :)

Such yummy treats to choose from here: Salt water taffy, Macaroon and Meringue cookies, Gelato, real, freshly caught seafood!! Yum Yum!