The Gang….

Being a teenager is tough….always comparing yourself to your friends and peers, trying to find out who you are in the world, trying to measure up and not being able to see how wonderful you really are….it’s all part of being a teenager and what makes that period in life really tough a lot of times. Even when you have a good looking bunch of kids like I think I have, they can pick apart their photos with a fine tooth comb…complaining about “turkey necks” and pimples, who is taller then who, and their teeth- when they get rich they’re going to get a Hollywood smile!

I listen and I laugh….I have to laugh, I want them too laugh, too realize how silly they are being….I yearn for the day when they see the beautiful people I see. It doesn’t count when I tell them how beautiful they are…I’m the Mom, supposedly I have to say these things to them….I don’t really have too but it just comes naturally to say it to them because I also know how beautiful they are on the inside also and I truly believe beauty starts on the inside and shines through and I don’t know what you all think but I’d say my gang is shining brightly!

Below are some of the photos I got of my gang today…the lighting was fading fast after dinner so we’ll have to try another day…but what do you think? Maybe if they hear it from you all that they are good looking they will believe it more- you aren’t their Mom or Dad so you don’t have to say anything positive about them if you don’t want too….(and no pressure from this very proud Mamma Bear to say anything either but if you feel like saying something….well…..thanks )

This kid is turning 13 tomorrow! He’s requested hamburgers and fries…he says he’s a simple guy…I love that about him….

As a Mamma, I’m proud…I can’t help it…look at them…they’re wonderful, goofy, funny, happy, healthy, loving- what is not to be proud of?? They are some of my best friends in the whole world. I wonder so many times how I got so lucky as to have this great gang in my life…I’m truly blessed…

For those who want to know, I used photoscape to spice up these photos and the film effect, agfa, on several of them. ¨

Until next time my friends…..

Old Bay Shrimp And Slaw Pasta

So I’m looking around a lot at different food blogs and food sites these days trying to find new and exciting foods to make for dinner. (Lunch and breakfast too) It’s a plus if I can find something healthy and something good and I think I’ve found it with the following recipe. You can see the original recipe here on Food Lover's Blog. I made some adjustments though because I didn’t have smoked paprika spice and I didn’t have celery in the house…I also didn’t have fresh parsely, so I exchanged these three ingredients and added some angel hair pasta in order to give the recipe more of a dinner feel rather then lunch. It really worked and the combination of crunchy veggies, garlic, pasta, shrimp, AND bacon made this an incredibly good meal which even my children enjoyed…however, typical Julia, she covered hers in ketchup! It’s disgusting how she eats ketchup on everything (including broccolli!!) but she loves it and that is what is important I guess?….I’m just trying to figure out how she tastes anything through the mounds of tomato ketchup!!

Here is how the rest of us ate our dinner:

Isn’t that gorgeous? I exchanged the celery for red sweet pepper(rød paprika-de søta type) sliced in strips and I exchanged fresh parsley for fresh cilantro (Koriander) and finally I didn’t have smoked paprika spice so I used Old Bay spice which I brought back from the states….for my Norwegian readers, you could probably use either straight paprika krydder or maybe grill krydder would work also..

This is how Julia ate hers:

No comment…..

Today we had a planning day at work and there was a speaker who talked to us about making our work environment better by giving us tips on avoiding conflict and how to deal with conflict once we’re involved in conflict, etc. It was really interesting and lots of interesting points were made. It would be a great if people took responsibility and utilized the tips we were given but I have my doubts…people think it’s difficult to be as honest as this man was suggesting we should be…

One example he gave us was to pretend we were the leader at work…and there was a person we worked with who smelled really bad….what do you say to that person or do you say anything?

We eventually came to the conclusion that the nicest thing was to be as direct as possible, not to beat around the bush but say it like it was…as nicely as possible and try to finish up the conversation with something pleasant. Sounds ideal doesn’t it? Do you think you could do that? According to this guy, most people are grateful for hearing the truth, no matter what it might be….would you be grateful for hearing the truth, no matter what?

Otherwise I’m back in the gym again. After being sick last week I only managed two workouts last week and so when I headed back to the gym yesterday it was both hard and good. I am trying to get back into the rythm of things and get my three gym workouts plus dog walks every day…I’ve had some nice comments about how I’m looking fitter and while I don’t see what everyone else sees, it’s nice and motivational to continue..

While I have my doubts that I’ll be able to run that half marathon (Birken) up in the mountains around Lillehammer in September, I’m not going to give up trying…there are still about 6 months left…and even though I’m only able to jog 5 minutes at a stretch and I’ve heard this run is about an hour…I’m still not giving up! I might have to drag my ass over that finish line after partly walking and partly running but I will finish what I’ve started…I entered that race to have a goal to work toward, which I think is important. Regardless of how I finish the race, I’ll be most proud of the effort I put in getting to the race and just finishing will be an accomplishment, regardless what placing I take…(last perhaps???)

How do you stay motivated to complete something you’ve started? Have a great Monday everyone!!

Until next time my friends….

The Meaning With Friends And Family

I recently read an article here in a major Norwegian newspaper about a guy in Sweden who had been dead for at least three years in his unlocked apartment! They assume this based on the fact that the food in his refridgerator was dated about three years back. The guy had an automatic paying system for his bills, so everything was paid on time and thus no suspicions were raised that way. Amazingly enough, this guy had relatives, whom he obviously didn’t have very much contact with, and they never bothered to check in on this family member…that blew me away.

Are we so busy in our own lives that we don’t notice when we haven’t heard or seen from a relative in over three years? I mean, I have many relatives I haven’t seen in years, but you usually hear something about them through other family members…wouldn’t you wonder if you heard nothing??

I’ve been thinking a lot about life and the people in my life lately. Several unexpected deaths over the last couple years have made me stop up and think. So many times we get so caught up in our own lives, we’re busy, we have jobs, kids to run around, responsibilities to take care of, and whether we want to or not we sometimes forget to take care of the very things that make our lives valuable….our friends and family. Our friends give diversity to our lives…

Our friends generally reflect our values, our likes, and remind us who we are or what kind of people we want to be…

Our friends are there for us when we need a shoulder to lean on….or cry on….

Our friends aren’t limited to humans….sometimes our pets can be the best friends we have…they know when we need someone to just be there….even if nothing is said…they are there and we aren’t alone….

Family can be some of our best friends also….they know us better then anyone and they see us in our best times and our worst times and they love us unconditionally….

Sometimes it’s our mothers we stand closest too…

Other times it’s our Dads who understand us best…

Sometimes the family members who fight the most are the ones who are the closest friends….they see themselves reflected in each other and sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it’s a bad thing…but the bond is strong and undeniable…

Having a best friend in your partner in life is a blessing…someone you can share everything with….you can cry with, get angry with, laugh with, and love with….

The person you want to grow old with and who will know you  better then anyone….

A best friend who stays with you through thick and thin, good times and bad, sickness and in health…..

Until the very end…..

Your friends and family never give up on you….no matter how busy you get, how angry you make them, how much you disagree, or how little you see them…..they keep coming back….

Because you matter….you give their lives value, you make them laugh, you care, you’re loyal, they can be themselves with you no matter what and they know you’ll always be there even when they don’t see you very often or when you disagree….true friends don’t run out on you…they last…

You can count your life blessed if upon your death bed you can count five true friends who weren’t just acquaintences, who didn’t leave when things got tough, who knew you- your good sides and bad sides and loved you all the same. Friends who told you it like it is, straight up and honest, all your life….friends who encouraged you to be the best you could be but loved you just the same when you couldn’t quite measure up all the time….friends you could be with without saying a word and feel they understood everything you were thinking….friends who loved the serious sides of you and laughed at the goofy sides of you…

Friends who had your back….and didn’t talk behind it….

Life is short….every day is a gift, treasure the friends and family in your life, and never take anything for granted…

Until next time my friends…..

Taquitos And Cornflake Cookies

I disappeared on y’all….sorry about that. Got sick the middle of the week and was out a couple days and then the rest of the week went as they usually do…in a blink…but here I am, it’s Saturday evening and the two youngest and I have just finished our dinner and relaxation is the key word for the rest of the evening…I love weekends. I wonder often who it was that decided weekends would only have two days and work weeks- five? Seems like a very unfair distribution of days if you ask me…I think three day weekends and four day work days sounds a bit more fair…don’t you?

For dinner tonight I tried a recipe I got off Pink Parsley Catering Blog, it’s called Creamy Chicken Taquitos…and while mine turned out great tasting, they got a little burnt, so I went back to the blog mentioned above to borrow her photo so you could see what they look like when they aren’t burnt like mine were and it says the blog is deleted??? Hmmm…thank goodness I nabbed the recipe before she deleted her blog. Hope it’s a glitch and she’ll be back, she had tons of interesting recipes. I’ll give you the link and you can keep trying to see if she comes back if you’re so inclined..you won’t be sorry you kept trying if she comes back.

So I got the majority of my ingredients for this meal at my favourite store,  Godt og Gront in Hamar today and the recipe I’ll give you below is my version of the original. Because we can’t find things like Pepperjack cheese in Norway I used Jalepeno cheese slices…I figured it’s kinda peppery- Jalepenos…so…it would probably do and of course they don’t have that cheese in blocks, only slices..so I just chopped it up in really tiny bits..

The extra mature cheddar cheese needed for this recipe is thankfully available in Norway (for ridiculous prices…but still…available) Ok, below is the recipe and this made 8 taquitos but next time I’d probably half the fill I put in them and try and stretch this to at least 12 taquitos…the taquitos I’ve eaten in the states weren’t filled as much as mine were tonight..mine looked kinda like taquitos in need of a diet…but ok ok, looks aside, the taste was out of this world…my wimpy Norwegian children thought it was slightly spicy, not as bad as my tomato soup I made the other day with all the peppers in it, but still….”too spicy”- they haven’t a clue what they are talking about so don’t listen to the wimpy kiddos…trust your instincts and trust me on this one…it’s yummy!!!

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

85 grams (3 ounces) cream cheese (like Philadelphia) and you can use the light versions- no problem

1/3 cup salsa (the original recipe calls for salsa verde which is a green salsa, but I used regular red salsa..in fact I got my salsa at the store today too, it’s imported from Mexico so you know it’s the real stuff baby….see photo below)

Juice of 1/2 lime (however the limes I got today were tiny so I used the whole lime)

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin (Google translates this to spisskummen in Norwegian)

A pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp onion powder (løkpulver)

3 cloves of garlic minced ( hvitløk finhakket)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (koriander)

3 TBSP chopped scallions/spring onions (vårløk)

2 Cups shredded cooked chicken meat

1/2 Cup extra sharp cheddar cheese- shredded

1/2 Cup pepperjack cheese shredded (or I used Jalepeno Ost here in Norway)

8-12 corn tortillas

Kosher salt (I used fine sea salt flakes) and fresh ground pepper (I actually didn’t add pepper)

Cooking spray (I forgot to buy this..so I used a brush and some raps seed oil)

In a large bowl combine all ingredients except chicken and cheese- add these last- mix well and you should have something that looks like this…

Take two microwave safe plates and put three corn tortillas between them (one plate will be upside down) and microwave for half a minute on high until tortillas are soft and bendable.

Spoon chicken mixture into the corn tortillas and roll up, putting the seam down on baking paper covered baking sheet. Lightly brush with raps seed oil or spray with cooking spray (lightly) and lightly salt the tops..continue with the next three corn tortillas in the microwave and so on and so on until all of the tortillas are used up.

Bake at 425F/200C for about 15-20 minutes…don’t forget them like I did or they might get slightly burnt at the edges like eh hem…someone elses did…eh hem….

If you don’t burn them, they should look something like this..

Serve with salsa, sour cream (rømme), and guacamole. I also served ours with some honey melon slices…which cooled the spice in these somewhat I thought..(but not my wimpy children…hehehehe…) As a side note: The fill that you use in these would also be great mixed with some pasta I think- a spicy mexican type pasta salad…if you didn’t want to do the corn tortillas…

Earlier in the week I had tried a recipe I found online when I searched cookies with cornflakes…we had some cornflakes cereal here and I know Americans can do amazing deserts with cereals…so I looked up some recipes and I found the following…apparently the cornflake cookie is also called the Chinese New Year Cookie and is eaten in China every New Year…hmmm…interesting..These cookies were good but not at all super sweet. I think they’d definitely be something Norwegians would like with their coffee..the cornflakes gives these a great crunch in an otherwise soft cookie..

200 grams butter (I used margarine)

150 grams sugar (sukker)

2 eggs

300 grams flour (mel)

60 grams cornflakes cereal

1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

30 grams cornflour/cornstarch (maizena)

Beat butter and sugar til it’s pale and creamy. Stir in lightly beaten eggs, add vanilla and fold in flour mixture (with cornstarch. Mixture must not be sticky when touched. Scoop about 1 tbsp of mixture and roll into a ball and then roll in crushed cornflakes cereal…lay on baking paper on a baking sheet and bake at 350F/180C for about 20-25 minutes (again watch them…they should be golden brown)

I didn’t just get food today in Hamar…I went to the local garden center and bought a little table and two chairs to put on my veranda so when the spring sun is shining against the walls of my house and it’s warm and lovely, I can sit there with a good cup of coffee or tea and enjoy the beautiful nature around me, maybe snap a photo or two of the woodpecker I hear these days…if I’m lucky…speaking of photos, I also got the matting for my photos I had enlarged..I had bought frames for them but realized I needed matting as well…so I got that today also…what do you think?

I’m pretty pleased with these…I have some other photos I think I’ll enlarge eventually and frame, fun to have my own artwork up on the walls rather then buying someone else’s…

Have a great Saturday night folks…

Until next time my friends…