Day 50...Barenaked Ladies

Today was a busy day. I cleaned and then got ready to go to the Ventura County Fair with my mom, Brian, kids, BIL, Steve, SIL, Teresa and MIL, Joyce.

To start the day, I had some coffee and then found myself cleaning the kitchen (it had to happen). I realized that I had some bananas that were going bad and I could either make some banana bread or freeze them. I made the banana bread. While that was cooking, I made 2 egg sandwiches with GF english muffins, butter and mild cheddar cheese. Mackenzie ate one of them.

Once the banana bread was out, I had to have some. It burned my mouth, but it was good. Oooey gooey good.  I drank lots of raspberry iced tea and then my mom arrived for our trip to Ventura.

When I walked through the Ventura County gates, I decided right there, right then, that I was going to go to hell with myself. I was going to eat like the little piggy that I know how to do.  To be honest, there were so many things to choose from, I didn't know what to eat. I saw deep fried pork chops on a stick, huge corn dogs, spiral potatoes with hotdogs in the middle, kettle corn and funnel cakes, oh and beer, lots and lots of beer. I started out with a margarita that came out of a tap, yeah a tap! I had to give that a try. It was a great start. Then, I moved on to 805 beer. During the course of the night, I had three 805 beers.

For dinner, I was struggling with so many decisions and so many choices, so I ended up getting something that I knew wouldn't disappoint...shredded beef nachos. Teresa and I got them out of this little hole in a wall Mexican kiosk. It was worth it. So great! It was perfect for what I was wanting. Really, so far, I wasn't too bad, beer and nachos in a location of so many naughty foods.

Barenaked Ladies on stage. What a great setting! 

We went to the stadium where the Barenaked Ladies were playing.  We had a great time listening to an amazing band playing their new and old music. I really like this band and know many of their songs. I even bought their new album while I was at the concert. iTunes is cool like that!

Barenaked Ladies ala Big Bang Theory

After the encore, we were walking out when I realized that I really wanted to get something to make my "faire" experience complete. I don't normally eat funnel cakes, but tonight I bought a funnel cake with bavarian cream on it. Yep! It was like a deconstructed eclair. It was so good and oh so worth it. I ate it all, minus a bite that I shared with Steve!

After three 805 beers, this pic is a little blurry.

Now, I am home and need to get some water in me before I get myself to bed. Today was a good day, but not such a great food day, but, a good day nonetheless.  I hope you had a great day too!

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 49...Lake Day

It was raining in the SCV today. What? Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a cold, rainy day. It was a warm, muggy rainy day. When I looked out the window this morning, it looked like it was a football sunday. I love football sundays. Wasn't there a preseason game today? OMG! I love football season! I can't wait!!!

This morning, I had a cup of coffee with my honey and he put some bacon in the iron skillet and went outside to do some chores. Of course, I wanted to get up and start making breakfast with that kick start. After the bacon was done, I took out the cooked bacon and started sautéing some red onions, mushrooms, jalapeño, crushed garlic and red bell peppers in the fat. Once they were rendered down, I mixed up some eggs and threw them in as well.

Then, I remembered that I had some GF english muffins in the freezer. I thawed them and then toasted them to serve with breakfast. I added butter to the english muffin, put the eggs on top and served the plate with sour cream (to cut the heat from the jalapeño, I was a bit heavy handed).

Veggie scrambled eggs with bacon and GF english muffins

David, Roxy, Jackie, Joey and my mom were going on Castaic Lake today, so we packed our stuff up (finally, it took us a while to get moving), and headed to the lake. What a nice day on the lake! It rained on occasion, was a bit windy at times, and the sun even broke through for a little bit, but it was the company that was even better. The kids hung out while the guys fished and the women sat under umbrellas and chatted.

Mackenzie and I got tired and made an umbrella fort.

Brian stopped at WalMart before he meet us at the lake and got us all some food for lunch. Mackenzie and I received their ranch cobb salads. Not as good as the kind they make at Ralph's, but it was good enough. The downfalls for me of the day were the coors light that I drank and the Nacho Doritos I ate. Yes, I did it! I own it! I was bad! Oh well. :) It was a heavenly day and I had to rely on my husband's shopping for sustenance. Tomorrow is a new day. But, we are going to the Ventura County Fair to see the Barenaked Ladies tomorrow night, so it might be another rough day. I will do my best to be good until we leave for concert. Wow, I went off on a tangent there, didn't I?

My honey and my brother hanging out with their beers!

Once we got home, I made myself 2 little sandwiches with GF bread, turkey, mild cheddar, olive oil, mustard and chia seeds. It was super yummy. I am loving these little sandwiches. Mikey wanted Ameci's for dinner and Brian wasn't home, so I ordered him a philly cheesesteak sandwich and mozzarella sticks. Not the best choices for him for dinner, but I am not even sure he ate lunch today. He was a bit off of his own fishing and probably didn't want the sandwich Brian bought for him. I ordered an Italian salad, but didn't eat it. I am not hungry, I am just really tired.

I must go to bed now, but will probably watch a couple more Arrested Development episodes. I finally made it to season 2. Yahoo!

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 48...Concerts In The Park

Sorry this is such a late post. I was with my family at the SCV concerts in the park. It was an Eagles cover band and it was great. I love me some Eagles songs. This band has special meaning for us. We saw their farewell concert too, at the Rose Bowl.

After an amazing night's sleep I woke up and did some chores. We decided to bring our bearded dragon, Keith, downstairs into our office. Now, he is in the same room as our guniea pigs, Ted & Piggy. Having Keith in my son's room was really making his room hot, so we are hoping this is a good solution, especially since he will need a bigger tank soon and the office will be able to accommodate the new size.

Our dog, Tommy, guarding or stalking, Keith, our bearded dragon.

After Keith found his new digs, I had some coffee and made myself a sandwich. Well, I made two since it was really small bread. One thing that makes me sad is this fabulous bread that I was bragging about is in fact NOT gluten-free. I was looking at the "ingredients you can read" slogan and decided to see if I was able to read them and the second ingredient was wheat. What? I thought the Rudi's brand was GF. I guess I was wrong, some of it is, but not all of it. I guess I should have read it better when I bought it. It was so good. I am sad now, but at least I didn't buy another package. I did buy other bread that is GF...it will be used now. It better be just as yummy or my sadness will continue.

I didn't have lunch, but for dinner I had a salad from Ralph's. One of their pre-made Cobb salads that you can buy in their deli section. Are you surprised I picked a cobb one? Bahahahaa! I love cobb salads, but you know that by now.

The rest of my consumption was 2 margaritas. We were at Concerts in the Park after all. It was nice to hang out with my mom, David, Roxy, and the kids, minus Mikey. He didn't join us. :(

It is late now, but I am a bit hungry. I am not sure what I will do, maybe make a sandwich with GF(!) bread or have a couple of tortilla chips. Last night after my post, I had some GF chocolate chip cookies. They were so very good. I highly recommend them. They are made by Udi's and found in the frozen section. So good with not a hint of it being GF, I promise!

That is it for today! I hope you all had a great day and were able to enjoy your family and friends as well.

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 47...The House Is Done!

Today was the final day of painting for my house. It looks so great and I highly recommend Mint Condition Painting (MintConditionPainting.com). They have painted the inside of our house on different occasions and just finished the outside. They quoted 5 days and it took 5 days! I am impressed with the quality as well.

The color of the shutters and door is Cherry Cola. :)

Since I am not drinking diet coke and/or my favorite, diet cherry coke, the name of the shutters and door is perfect. To be honest, I didn't know the name until they were all done and I was storing the extra paint cans. 

I woke up early this morning since I didn't sleep well last night. Since the painters were at the house, and they were painting the front door, I had to keep the dogs in my bedroom with me. We all took a little nap after my coffee was done. :) Isn't coffee supposed to keep you up? 

After I was able to, one by one, bring the dogs down and put them into the backyard/garage, I made myself a sandwich.  It was on this fantastic GF bread from Rudi's that I bought last time I was at the store. I used olive oil mayo, brown mustard, chia seeds, avocado, tomato, sliced turkey and sliced milk cheddar cheese. It was amazing. 

Why are there sponges in my picture? I didn't eat that, I promise. 

I met up with my mom and Roxy later in the day. I can't believe what a hot day it was today. I feel so awful for my painters. Luckily, I didn't have to have the dogs in the garage for very long (it is much cooler in there than the backyard).  Once I got home, I figured I would start making dinner so that I could be done and sit for the rest of the night by my tower fan. 

I chopped up some chicken and sautéed it in my iron skillet with a packet of italian seasoning, red onions and jalapeño peppers. While that was sautéing, I started the pot of water to boil it for GF pasta. I continued sautéing the chicken until all was cooked and tender. 

Looks good, huh? 

 Once the pasta was done, I threw it into the iron skillet and started mixing flavors until I got the taste I was trying to find. I added some butter, dijon mustard, provolone cheese and lastly I added some sour cream. Nothing was measured as I was just throwing it in and tasting.

It was a hearty meal. I loved it!

I told Mikey food was ready for him and he came down, opened the microwave and turned back around to go upstairs. I was sad. I thought he would like it, but like me, he was probably grouchy today too.  I have been a grouchy girl. The heat and I are not friends. 

Later, I went to the store and was able to chit chat with my friend, Kim! So great to see you, Kim! I always love our conversations. Yes, that was us, the two ladies talking in a little cubby we set aside for ourselves so we didn't get in anyone's way.  After I left our conversation, I went over to the GF section by the deli and got some GF chocolate chip cookies. On my way out, I noticed they had one of their non-GF handmade hawaiian pizzas ready to be cooked, so I grabbed it for my boys. That is Brian's favorite. You can't beat $7.99. 

Brian ate and liked my pasta and so did Mackenzie. She actually ate the portion that I set aside for Mikey too. If he wasn't gonna eat it, she was. It was tasty. I'm glad they liked it.

That's all for today. Oh yea, last night after I posted, I didn't have a brownie like I thought I would. Instead, I made myself a sandwich like I made today for lunch. It was good and didn't have me going back for more like the brownie would have done to me.

I hope you had a great day and were able to keep cool. This heat is brutal. Enjoy your weekend.

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 46...Beach Day!

Sorry I wasn't able to post last night, but here is a run down of both of my days.

Yesterday I didn't have any breakfast, but I was able to take the kids out for lunch at Eggs & Things in Valencia. I had their yummy southwestern salad with ranch dressing. It was very good and very filling. It was nice to have lunch with both of my kids. Not a normal feat with teenagers, at least in my house.

After lunch, Mikey and I went clothes shopping for him since he has lost so much weight. After that was done we headed over to my brother's house. My mom has come to visit for a week and is staying at his house while she's here. He lives in Stevenson Ranch, so it is great to be able to have us both visit with our mom when she is in town.

My brother and I drank some vodka and Arizona ice tea drinks. He makes a nice drink. He added some capri sun for the first round to cut the excess vodka. Oh well, capri sun wasn't the best choice for me, but that's OK, I was hanging out and on "vacation."

For dinner, we ordered Wood Ranch in Stevenson Ranch and ate it while we visited. We had baby back ribs, tri-tip, mashed potatoes, whipped sweet potatoes and cole slaw. It was so good and so filling. The one thing that I did do good was I didn't eat any of their garlic rolls. Those rolls are amazing, so refraining was an accomplishment for me.  That was all for yesterday.

Today was our beach day at Carpinteria State Beach with my mom, Mackenzie, sister-in-law, Roxy, and Niece, Jackie. It was so nice and cool (except for the sand, that was HOT!). Such a beautiful day and super crowded as you can probably guess. Before we got on the road, I stopped at Subway and got some iced tea and their excellent grilled chicken salad with bacon and ranch dressing. I have them throw all of their veggies into the salad, minus the jalapeño peppers. The banana peppers give it a great zing. One suggestion, ask them for all spinach instead of iceberg lettuce. I forgot today and it was a little soggy and not as good for me.

While at the beach I had some of my favorite pre-popped "movie" popcorn and called it a day until dinner. We decided that dinner was going to consist of Joe's Crab Shack since most of us had never been there. The adults had margaritas with a hard "red solo" cup that you could take home. So, of course, we had to each have 2 drinks to make it a small set.

Yummy margarita!

When it was time to order dinner, I decided to be a little bit good. I had a lobster cobb salad with avocado ranch dressing. It was good, but I think I could have made it better. Does that sound bad? I would have added more goodies to it. After all, it is with lobster, spruce it up!

Lobster Cobb Salad

Because I was feeling like being a little bad, I had some calamari. Not healthy at all and it wasn't just a little bad, pretty much, a lot bad, but it was good and adding the crunch to my salad was nice. There was a lot of fried food at the table, so having my own little bit of heaven made my dinner doable with my lack of strength when it comes to peer pressure, more like my own pressure I put on myself. It was good though, so at least it was worth it.

Fried Calamari

Now we are home and I am not sure that I am going to have anything else to eat today. Maybe I will have a little GF brownie (I'm surprised they are still around, but they are...yippee). Have you had any struggles with your decision making of food? Have you tried any new recipes? Please share.

I hope your day was excellent!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 45...Will Fill You In On Today, Tomorrow. No blog.

I'll catch up with tomorrow about today. My mom just got into town and I haven't gotten a chance to sit down to right it all. 

Day 44...Homemade Tortilla Chips

Today was a nice relaxing day. So relaxing that it made me even more tired. :) As you know, the house is being painted, however, I was able to sneak out since the dogs seem to be getting more and more used to the painters. I've also found that if I keep them gated in the kitchen/family room/garage, that they are less nervous about having the painters around. They see less of them moving around outside and are less protective, I think. Also, I have been able to work on some desensitizing techniques with the door bell. Every time the painters take a break they ring my door bell to let me know that I can let the dogs go in the backyard for a potty break. I haven't been going to the door when they ring it, because it is just a signal to me. I am hoping that my lack of response will help them to reduce their anxiety when the doorbell rings later. Wow, I really went off on a tangent there! Can you tell I am going to school to be a dog trainer? I still have a long way to go, but I am learning.

Now back to my relaxing day. I snuck out of the house and had lunch with Lisa and her friend, Faith. It was a pleasant day talking about our families. I loved it. We meet at Telly's in Castaic and everyone ate something different. I had their turkey cobb salad with ranch dressing and passion fruit iced tea. I was shocked that every one of the bites of salad were yummy and crunchy. After I left Telly's I went to Foster's Freeze. I got ice cream for the family and a small vanilla ice cream with triple berries on top. It was really good and bad for me, but not as bad as I could have been with this sweet tooth. Speaking of my sweet tooth, I did have 2 of Mackenzie's GF brownies last night while I watched The Bachelorette. #TeamJosh

After I got home and enjoyed my ice cream, I knew I had to start thinking about dinner. Since I've been addicted to tortilla chips and Mexican food lately, I decided to make some homemade tortilla chips. I cut the pack of corn tortilla chips into quarters and heated up some corn oil in my iron skillet. If you don't have an iron skillet, get one! It is great and really cooks your food evenly.

I made carne asada nachos with my homemade tortilla chips.

I truly think I am addicted to Mexican food. I could eat it and cook it every day. I love it. Everything about it. I was super tired today. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I threw up my vitamins? Note to self: Don't take vitamins on an empty stomach! Coffee is still an empty stomach. After my flash of nausea, I ate a little bit of cheddar cheese and a banana. The banana helped me so I could go about my day.

That's about all for now. Not a whole lot of food today, but it was a good day. I hope you all had a great day too with great people that brighten your life. You deserve it!

Until tomorrow,
Angela