My week in a pistacio shell

I don't really know how to organize my thoughts today- or ever perhaps.   Probably because I have half my brain candied and on a stick like cheap fair food, from the danged ole diabetes and the other half is beautifully preserved in Nutrasweet and on display in the What's left of Shan museum nestled in a thicket of dense trees somewhere in an undisclosed location. 

Don't worry, that didn't make a lick of sense to me either so let's just move on.   

Boy howdy did this week ever fly by in a hurry!  Oh yes it did.  I can't really remember everything that happened because, let's face it, that would almost be a week of recall and I believe I might have mentioned the condition my recaller is in.  

I just know it started with a whole bunch of kids and didn't seem to lighten up much after that.  And then there was that throat slashing movie Friday night!  Have you guys seen Sweeney Todd?  EEYIE!  I was really looking forward to watching Jonny Depp, Sasha Baron Cohen and one of my faves Alan Rickman full on singing their hearts out.  But when the blood started gushing with every downbeat, I was feeling ready for that music to end!  It REALLY was less than cheery, which is fine I guess, but I suppose I like my musicals a bit.... brighter.  I don't think I'm a fan of Mr. Sondheim.  And as long as I'm sounding so grouchy, I may even be tired of Helena Bohnam Carter always playing dead white and craaazy.  Can we see the lady with some normal skin tones and teeth for once?  

 Saturday morning I DID go with little Trisha to the Farmer's Market in Fayetteville which was a delight  even perhaps a deliciary of greenery if I dare say so!  The veggies weren't hugely plentiful yet but they did have plants galore and many entertaining sights to be seen and heard.

One of the things I loved about this market was all the little doggies walking around with vests on saying ADOPT ME.  I thought I'd include their pictures for my Mo-inlaw who is shopping for a nice medium sized pooch.  I think Lucy on the top is a great option for you Jane.  She's a good size and is fully house-trained.  She's a beaut coming in fixed and shot filled at the user friendly price of $60.  And she may be wearing that much in her apron!  Why am I always selling things on here?!  

After a morning of dog petting and baby cooing(Yes,they were popping out all over as well but strangely none were wearing ADOPT ME vests-harumph!), I came home and scraped paint off our shed to the tune of PERFECT spring weather outside. LOVE IT!

Today we went to church and then to a picnic with our Churchesians out at Lake Wedington where we lived it up like the Outdoorbergs we always knew we could be canoeing around and soaking up the sun all afternoon.  And instead of a picture, because I didn't want to hike over to the van and get my camera, I'll give you this easy yummy salad recipe I found online and have now taken to two separate food events because it's a warm weather refresher:

Butter lettuce Boomshakalaka(I don't know the real name)

Butter lettuce(duh)

1/4 cup olive oil 

juice from 1 lemon

Mix the olive oil and juice and a dash of salt and pepper and toss onto lettuce. 

Then top with the following:

2 diced avocados

1 container of feta cheese(6oz.?)

2 oranges peeled and chopped

1 small pkg pistacio nuts(probably 3/4 Cup)

It's fresh.  It's delicious. It's a casserole pan of healthy eats. Enjoy.

THEN....We rushed home and got Jamey's music gear all loaded up and went an hour away to a town where he was asked to play for an outdoor youth group gathering at our friends church at 6:00pm. 

 OY and OH MY that could have been exhausting...But it really wasn't.   Though I'm slightly coated in an entire days sweaty grunge,  I'm strangely awake and alert at midnight.  Wait a minute!  Midnight?!  I gotta get in the shower.  Here's a few more pics from our day.  This is Dave M. on the left who came to play with JameyClay.com on the right.  

And here are my tired boys lounging and listening after a long fun day of play.

 Thanks  Jenna and Jason for a great evening dear ones!  And g'night to the rest of you.  I'm kissing the palm of my filthy hand and waving myself away from the glowing screen now.   

Todays special: Spicy Pony Head with curried beet root foam

Every Sunday for the past several months I've been skipping off to choir practice. Sound effect: {mi mI MI!!!!! squawk- cough cough}. That wraps up somewhere in the five-thirty zone and then usually chatting or walking the town with my bff, Bleu, immediately follows.

All that to say...I'm never really home on Sunday nights. And neither are the groceries. At this point in the week my oh so carefully chosen groceries have mostly been turned into other meals, consumed in a horrific binge or shunned for being "so yesterday".

So being the resourceful and food network watching husband that he is, Jamey tends to seize these moments like he's just been challenged. He takes on challenger Dullf Oodscraps time and time again and always ends up on top!

Let's Meet Iron Chef Jamey:

Now let's see what he's made with last weeks leavings...

Wow folks, I've never seen a meatless musing quite as well plated as this one. It looks like he's toasted and seasoned some end-o-the bag bread, stacking it into some sort of log home that has been furnished with a grilled sweet potato. Fabulous! And is that what's left of the zucchini julienned and topped with a fully strung string cheese? "I think it is Shan." Who was that? Anyway, great use of the weeks neglected vegetables here Chef!

Now on to the next weeks challenge: Slightly different fridge and pantry, same lacking of interesting supplies. Let's see what he's done....

Yes!! He's beaten Dulf Oods once again with this colorful and dynamic bit of cookery! I see we have some grilled chicken fanned out here with a decorative spray of hickory barbecue sauce. Way to give a nod at the young Western judge in the room! And here's some sort of tomato sauce chutney atop a nice nest of plain white rice. Good one hiding that fiber free staple under a more complexly hued fare. Add to that a fresh veggie melange and I believe we've got a seventh well rounded dinner for the week! Nice work!

cue: applause (up and fade again)

And now, I will leave you with a link to a little fine dining skit that caught me off guard one day and gave me quite the belly laugh. Enjoy.

Spicy Pony Head

THE WINNER TAKES ALL...of my cash (Walk off results)

Well sports fans (read: Nutrition Nerds), I know you've been on pins and needles waiting the for the official data of my vitamin battle to emerge. Sadly, it didn't take a month to see a clear winner between what appeared to be fairly well matched competitors. They each had their own strengths. Both came in eye enticing bottles promising health, wealth and prosperity with every serving. And, though the Natures Plus-Ultra Source of Life Liquid seemed to have much higher quantities of each vitamin, mineral, and boasted of whole foods and herbs and such, Vibe claims to have a revolutionary way of delivering its nutrients by changing the molecule size for total absorption of the supplement. And it has some impressive antioxidant rating that is talked way up in the brochure about the product.

At this bit of analysis they both came out on the cat walk looking pretty fine in their stats. They made it down the runway and gave their first poses. "OK! looks like we've got REAL talent here people!" Then I got a good look at each of them outside of their tidy containers. Whoa! It was suddenly like looking at Glenda the good witch standing next to Elphaba the wicked witch of the West! The reigning champ sat looking like the condensed form of a huge bowl of delicious fruits, benignly amber in color and pleasant in aroma. While the challenger sat green and mucousy, trying to pull the medicine cup around itself to shield it from the light. It was like a bubbling swamp of raw elements and smelled like mashed up minerals and pennies. BA-LECK!

Then came time for the tasting. Yes, healthy things are green and yes, even unpleasant at times, so this was no time to be prejudice. I clothed the green witch with a swatch of orange mango juice and down the hatch she went. "Eew." I said and went on with my day. This continued for about 2-3 days if memory serves (which it clearly doesn't let's face it) and I DID have a noticeable amount of energy those days and felt simply charmed by the green goddess and her sludgy sauciness.

This charm however was exactly that. And charms are the devils work. On the fourth day(or third, I can't remember) suddenly my green vitamin drink rose up in the glass and gave me her most vicious of poses just as I was tipping her back and I nearly spat her right out on the floor with an "EEWWWW!!" It was getting grosser and more abhorrent with every sip like a changeling who could no longer hold her shape!

The next day I simply couldn't face her. And how I longed for my $60.00 beauty of months past. Yes, I couldn't help but reminisce those fond but expensive days in Munchkinland where I'd pour myself some delicious Vibe making it "tall" by adding a full glass of water to dilute and enjoy a healthy leggy beverage of nutritives. A true winner holding her title by a tastebud.

And the moral of this shallow tale...

If one cannot pay the price of vanity, but cannot in turn bear the shame of liquid ugliness, Then one must taketh thy health by fork and pill.   

 - The Shan

IT'S A WALKOFF!!!!

Since the ladies on American idol aren't holding my captive interest tonight I thought I'd let my vitamins scrap it out a little bit and have their own  Nutritional supplement competition.  

I've always been interested in holistic nutrition and try to keep up with the latest recommendations in preventative nutrients to keep this rapidly aging bod of mine afloat as long as possible. It also comes in handy when I start throwing around advice to my friends and fam like I'm a pimp for the corner health food store.  "You know what you need to do is go down to the such and so and get yourself some probiotics for that bowel shufflin' thing you've got going on."  Or, "Maybe it's the mycotoxins in all that corn your eating. What you need to do is hit up the corner such and so for some anti-fungals"... and so on.  Wow, I'm a little obnoxious when I condense all my bossiness down together like this.  Ha HO! I just keep learning.

In the actual food department I'm not as good with the follow through, but I'll admit it confuses me (and I'm also a little lazy in the kitcharama).  I do believe our produce is not quite the power source of nutrition it once was, considering our soil is depleted of its original veggie making goodness.  And then there's all the tampering with the meat, eggs and milk that makes you grow a beard and big boobs simultaneously if you consume all three in the same meal.  I HAVE ENOUGH HORMONE TROUBLE PEOPLE!  Whoops, sorry that may have been instigated  by the estrogen in the chicken and dumplings I had for dinner.

This is the part where I hear you say "I know.  Right?"  if you've taken to that type of talk.  I'm much less valley than that. I'm holding firm in my response of "Yepper pepper pie!" when I want to say "Yes, you are correct!" I think it's more street personally.

Back to the business at hand-comparing vitamins.  The first and reigning champion I had been running my mouth off about for the better part of last year is this dear little liquid supplement called Vibe.  

Vibe and I first met at the corner such and so and let me tell you it had me at the poster in the window!  I had to try this drink that was so chock full of antioxidants and promises.  I must admit I was taken aback by its price ($60.00 per monthly supply) but I decided to give it a go and I was AMAZED at the new energy and benefits I was receiving from this.  Of course after so many months of this wonderful thing with a not so wonderful price, I started taking it for granted and more and more sparingly to save a buck here and there.  Well, that led to a month on, a month off just to see what differences I'd notice in myself.  After this last month off, I really started noticing I'm reverting back to my old ways of crippling around, nap taking, fuzzy brain, numb limbs, depression, headaches that type of deal.  "Did she say she was 38 or 88?" 

Surrendering, yesterday I hobbled troll-like into the such and so to get some "happy juice" but they didn't have it.  Said it was getting too expensive.  This is where I gave a half hearty "Yepper pepper pie!" in agreement and the kind sir pointed me to a Natures Plus liquid product saying it was their version of Vibe.  And, even though it lacks the catchy name, it had me at $35.60. 

 

So IT'S ON!!  They've both come out on the catwalk with their fiercest poses ready to take wellness on!  We shall see who becomes  The Shans Next Top Supplement!