More Sandra Lee than Ellie Kreeger...

I love chicken soup. 


Apparently my mom liked Maurice Sendak - this, "Eating Chicken Soup With Rice",  was a staple in our reading along with "In the Night Kitchen" and "Where The Wild Things Are."


I would eat it three nights a week for dinner all fall and winter.

I don't have time to be all fancy like The Whole Life Nutirition Kitchen on a Thursday night when hubby calls me at 2pm to tell me I need to pick up @Iambooboolala.

I don't care either because I have my short-cuts.

Mommy Lisa's Chicken Soup Shortcuts:

Keep on hand low sodium, pre-grilled chicken breasts, in whole - strips - pieces (I get Costco's CHEAP - also good for fast quesadillas, etc.)
Keep on hand low sodium chicken stock/broth, your preference really (Costco's Organic or Pacifico are my go-to's)
Keep on hand onions, or MY preference shallot (keep shallot in w/garlic in your keeper)
Keep on hand garlic - you can even be lazy and get it pre-processed for this recipe!
Keep on hand Freeze-Dried cilantro! 
Keep on hand egg noodles - I buy whichever are on sale here.

When you get home and have little time and need some chicken soup do this - feeds four with at least ONE leftover lunch.

Put 3 16 ounce containers of chicken stock into pot (six cups)
Cut 1/2 onion or 1 shallot into thin slices and put into the stock
Bring stock and shallot (or onion or both) to a boil
Do any veggie chopping while this is heating up - I usually add 2 cups veggies in total
When stock is boiling add egg noodles - my family LOVES noodly soup so I use about 1 pound you can adjust to your preference - you COULD and I have - use up partial boxes of regular noodles here.  Or use up leftover cooked rice.
Let all come back to a boil and add any raw veggie you like
Let come back to a boil and then add any frozen veggie you may have chosen
Let come back to a boil and add 1 to 1.5 cups of chicken diced to your preference & 1-2 tsp garlic
Allow to boil until egg noodles are done.
Spoon into bowl and top with cilantro - OR chili sauce...mmm.

It total it usually takes me about 20 minutes to make this soup.

Not fancy, not foodie, but good and satisfying when you don't have a lot of time.

Enjoy.

I don't like spiders...

Welcome back to Friday Videos!  This is a nice clip of The National and their song Terrible Love.

"It takes an ocean not to break." 

I love that line.

I wish I could write like that.

Enjoy.

A Giveaway for you!

So - I have been so stinking busy & lazy about blogging - but this is NOT an apology, nay it is a summary of my life for the past two weeks or so...

* Dear Snake gets the flu
* @Iambooboolala and I go to see "If you give a Moose a Cupcake" with my parents
* @Iambooboolala gets the flu & I foolishly allow T-bone to go snowmobiling with his buddy all that day!
* LOSE MY SAPPHIRE FROM MY ENGAGEMENT RING
* Work, work, work
* Ignore blog
* NEVER ENDING LAUNDRY PILES
* worry, worry, worry
* Get sick myself
* Get annoyed by EVERYTHING under the sun
* Ignore blog some more
* Hubby gets sick so I foolishly take @Iambooboolala to McD's on a FRIDAY NIGHT???
* Clean, put stuff away, more laundry
* Drive to the boonies for nephew's birthday
* Teach Sunday School and immediately drive out to the largest mall in America to take @Iambooboolala to yet ANOTHER birthday party, lunch with T-bone during, and foolishly go to BUILD A Bear on the DAY before Valentine's Day???
* Ignoring blog on FULL power now
* work, work, work

So you see I am up to my neck in foolishness!  ;)

But for you - a giveaway from BuildASign - do you see over there in the side column?  That is the cute sticker BuildASign allowed me to make for my car.  Have you seen those EVERYWHERE?  They are too $$$ for me - but not at BuildASign.

Here is the sticker on my car:

As you can see I am a BIG FAN of the window cling - there are more on my back side windows too.  Yes, I am THAT freak! 

Wow are Build A Signs bumperstickers and window clings affordable.  So if you needed/wanted to advertise something - you could VERY inexpensively with Build A Sign's help!

And they have cute stickers too!



And since you don't want one of MY FAMILY - they gave me ten cool cling stickers like this one:

How do you get one?  Be one of the first TEN commentors on this post - BE SURE your account is connected to your email so I can email you to get your address!!!  If its not you MUST include your email in your comment.

So you ask....

Why that one?

Well - here is the story of how my hubby and I met.  Just in case you missed it the other two times I posted about it.  Happy Trails!

Imagine June 1999 - it is HOT and HUMID in Minnesota and my brother, my buddy Kyle Ann and I decide we need some cold beers and sweaty singing. We head up to NordEast to hang at a place called Arrones -- not sure I would go there anymore, but at the time the bartender Mike* and the Karaoke Chick were tons of fun --

I was wearing (or it was stuck to me) a cute Target grey tank top with blue flowers on it and these army green cargo pants I got at Abercrombie & Fitch. One day I hope to fit back into those things...the pants, I mean.

We sit on one side of the bar, Mike* gives us a cold one, and we begin to pick out our songs. If I remember accurately I probably sang (forgive me):

"Livin' La Vida Loca"
"Heartache Tonight"
"I touch myself."

But, wait! There at the "mic" is a cute guy in polo and shorts - and he is SINGING "Pretty Woman" ....I wonder if he will do the... Oh yeah, he can growl like Roy Orbison, SWEET!
I lean into Kyle Ann and say,

L - There is my boyfriend.
KA - HE's too old.
L - Too old for you maybe. Remember I have a few years on ya babe.
Brother Pete- HEY, should I go get my "Chocolate Salty Balls" cd and sing that?

Polo shirt and shorts finishes singing and starts to work his way around the bar to where we are sitting and gets halted by "Trucker Girl" wanting him to play pool.

L- Bitch, get away from my boyfriend.
KA - You need another drink.

FINALLY about midnight Polo shirt sits at the barstool next to mine -being the smooth chick I am I lean over toward him and say -

"You're cute, what is your name?"

Yes folks that is how I met the madman I am married to...he will say he sang the song because HE saw me first, I buy that, but he will also say that he TALKED to me first and that is a
bold-faced lie.

Just ask Kyle Ann, she was there. Unless she had too many Long Islands that night. ;)

* God bless Mike wherever you are!!(he died a few years ago, we went to the funeral. THAT is how charming this bartender was.)

p.s. the line I used on my hubby worked EVERY TIME. Single? Use it tonight!
p.p.s. REMEMBER if you comment ensure I have your email if you want a bumper sticker!
p.p.s.s. This item was provided to me at no charge by the company in exchange for a fair and honest review. The ideas, opinions, and story told are my own words.  I was not paid nor compensated in any other way.

You know its gotten bad when...

You post a photo for Mama Kat's Weekly Writing Prompt...

4) Share a photo that captures your special Valentine(s)

This is an old photo from @BooBooLaLa's first trip to our vacation timeshare at Breezy Point.

I don't know how we look LESS tired when she was a baby and MORE tired now that she is five.  We must be OLD. 
I will be back with a review and giveaway - once it warms up and I get enough fluid back in me from having the flu...

Even Ugly Girls Would Punch You In The Weiner!

Gentlemen, step AWAY from the teddy.

Dear Boo Boo La La

http://www.mamakatslosinit.com/ for Writer's Workshop, m'kay?

 Hey There Boo Boo La La,

You are now 16 and a handful for your ancient parents. T-Bone is 60 and me, well I am now 54 ...older than I was when you were born sweetie.

Can you cut your old mom & dad a break and not crash a car until we are in the retirement home?  Or at least until you actually own you OWN car.  Okay?  Pretty please?

Dad thinks that I am going to be "easy" on you because you are my only biological child.  He thought I was harsh on J-Dogg and Sair, or I thought they should be punished more than they were sometimes. 

Let me tell you this one time and one time only.

NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

You know Grandpa Lowell?  Remember he was MY dad?  Yeah, well we did not get away with

A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

with him. 

Nada, Zilch, Zippo. 

Neither will you.

Boyfriend dump you?  Get to school.
Bad grades?  Your grounded.
Messy Room?  Not on my watch!
Brought home by the police?  HOLY HELL that better not happen!  Mama will NOT be as cool as Grandpa was when this happend with your Uncle.  (I think grounded until graduation or receipt of admission letter with full scholarship to Harvard, or similar, would be in order.)

In short, I am your MOTHER.  Not your friend. 

As such you will follow the rules, there are not many so don't freak out here, and do well in school.

THAT is your job! 

Got it?

However, as your mother, I also reserve the right to stick up for you with teachers & principal's, kiss you on the head, give you squeezy hugs, wipe your tears, help you with homework, tell you that your friends are wrong - you are cool, etc.

I got your back like that.

Hugs and Kisses,
MommyLisa

Envirosax 10% Off - La Boeheme & a peek at couture!

Today I am giving you access to a 10% off code at Envirosax on the La Boheme Series- This code sundance2011 can be put in discount code field on shopping cart page before proceeding to check out. Promotion is valid for three days only from this Wednesday - Friday, February 2-4, 2011 and on USA and Canadian Envirosax web sites only.

Why?  Well Envirosax is not giving me ANYTHING for this, just asking me to blog about the cool dress that was made from their La Boheme Series.  The code is ONLY good on purchases of the La Boeheme Series of Envirosax!

And furthermore, if you get the bags and USE them...my work is done here.  ;)

Envirosax, the original designer reusable bag, has selected Amit Ayalon, a recent design graduate to create a dress out of beautiful Envirosax designs and colors.

The dress, unveiled at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival Alive! Expo Green Pavilion creatively showcases the high quality and beauty of the unique prints of Envirosax while also helping aspiring fashion and costume designer Amit Ayalon showcase her talent in front of the Hollywood industry.

“I’ve always wanted to make a couture dress out of Envirosax bags because it’s a way to showcase the beauty of our designs in a creative and innovative way,” said CEO and founder Belinda David-Tooze. “It was very important to me to work with a recent graduate as design is a tough business to get your start. This way our dress also gives Amit the exposure and access to help turn her dream into a reality.”

Amit Ayalon, from Tel Aviv, Israel, is a recent graduate of the Australian Institute of Creative Design and won most outstanding student of the year award. She aspires to work with costumes in the movie industry while also continuing her couture design collection, Becoming Silhouettes by Amit Ayalon.

Made out of Envirosax original prints, the patterns selected range from floral prints to Japanese and Bohemian designs. The motif consists of a jacket, Victorian corset, back scroll piece, bustle and skirt.

“The warm brown, gold and red colors dominating the prints remind me of the Moulin Rouge fashion,” said Ayalon. “Other sources of inspiration came from movies such as Alice and Wonderland and Sherlock Holmes.”

Becoming Silhouettes by Amit Ayalon is her design label that released its first couture collection called The Neverland Collection. Inspired by fantasy movies such as Lord of the Rings and Avatar, The Neverland Collection gives the garments a dreamy feel showcasing a mixture of femininity and strength, the fairy and the warrior.

“My real passion is working for the movie industry while continuing my label collection as well as creating custom made garments,” said Ayalon. “Designing costumes give me the creative freedom to let my imagination lead the way.”

I hope you enjoy - and remember the code expires Friday, February 4th 2011!