Oh Larry

Michael works with this weird old guy, Larry.

Larry lives alone,

he looks and smells like he's smoked too much and chewed WAY too much,

and I think Larry is a little bit of a perv.

I think that Michael has an old soul, and seems to always get along with the older crowd . . . much, much older crowd.

So when Michael started working the job he's at now, Larry latched onto him immediately.

Recently he's been sending Michael home with movies,

movies that he shouldn't really be sending Michael home with.

I don't like them.

First of all because Michael feels obligated to watch them,

and second of all because they have all been bloody and violent,

and third of all, most important of all, because there are ALWAYS naked ladies in them,

and I HATE watching them for that reason there.

I can deal with the weird, stupid story lines,

or the ridiculous amounts of gore and heads being chopped off,

but not the nudity, nuh uh, don't like it.

So, I said to Michael, "I think you're friend Larry is kind of a pervert, and you're not allowed to bring movies home from him anymore."

and Michael says, "No he's not. Oh, by the way, we should invite Larry over for dinner some night."

HAHA, nuh uh....

it was a nice thought though.

Family Dollar

Hey all!

If you shop at Walmart, Smiths, Albertsons, any of those places for your toilet paper, cleaning supplies, general non-refridgerated foods, STOP IT!!

Michael and I started getting certain things at Family Dollar, and it's saved us SO much money!

We buy nice Charman Ultra toilet paper for two dollars when it's five at Walmart! Even their milk is cheaper and it tastes the exact same!

We'd rather have money in our pockets than be embarrassed about admitting to our Family Dollar love. It's smart and it's cheap (:

It's Cause I'm Brown . . . Huh?

I work at The Home Depot, as ya'll may know.

we're very . . . aware of each other's ethnicity.

when i say we, i mean the cashiers that all know each other pretty well.

we work with an asian,

a few mexicans,

me,

polynesian,

indian (as in middle eastern . . . not native american),

a german,

and a 'jew'... he's not really he just wants to fit in.

we think its funny to give each other a hard time, but things get real awkward when customers say things, because they're being serious and their comments are a little more over the top than ours.

my asian friend, asian joe, is constantly getting slammed by customers.

he's from california, born there, raised there, and only recently moved to utah about 4 or 5 years ago. he's dad is white and his mom is from china.

he's been asked, "is joe you're american name?"

people refer to him as, "you know, that little china man? he's the one that helped me."

there have been customers that pull their eyes back to mimic his 'asian' eyes.

it's ridiculous.

now i guess it's my turn...?

within two days i've had two comments about how brown people get accused for stealing, and i should know how that feels. of course, they were brown themselves... but i have a feeling this is only the beginning.

Fishy fishy on my hook...

we went on the boat ( by 'we' i mean michael, myself, twit one and two, and the parentals) labor day before i had work. michael was in desperate need for some fishing so he was very excited when my mom invited us to go. within the first, oh i'd say five minutes of getting all our poles out, we caught two fish. total we kept 3 of them, mom and dad took some and we took some.

i figured i'd better think up a way to cook the fish at that point.

michael does this thing where he doesn't take a lunch to work on purpose, or makes me feel bad cause he has to take ramen noodles (which i have to do every day i go to work), so then i end up making something and taking it to him. he did that yesterday.

so, i looked in my fridge to see what i could find, and here is what i came up with.

** i didn't measure anything out. i eyed it all, and just thought of how much he was going to want to eat. so ya'll just measure it to taste (:

Real Easy Fish Tacos

Your shopping list:

*Cabbage

*Salsa (we like pace)

*Sour Cream

*Soy Sauce

*Red Pepper Flakes

*Vegetable Oil

* Small Tortillas De Maiz Blanco (which means white corn tortillas)

*Fish (we used fresh rainbow trout, but we also like to eat Tilapia fish)

Here is what you do:

Mix soy sauce, pepper flakes, and vegetable oil in a skillet...all to taste! Go easy on the pepper flakes, a little goes a long ways! Heat liquids and place small pieces of fish in skillet. Fry until cooked all the way through.

Meanwhile, mix some salsa and sour cream together in a bowl, and tear up your cabbage into small chunks.

In a separate skillet heat 1/4 of a cup of vegetable oil. When hot, begin placing corn tortillas into the oil, one by one. Once the first side is crispy, flip tortilla over and shape into a taco, continue to fry both sides of your taco shaped tortilla.

Remove fish from heat when done. Smoother bottom of taco shells with salsa mixture, put fish inside next, and top with cabbage.

** we like to pat our tortillas dry with a paper towel, they are pretty greasy once you remove them from the skillet.

they were pretty tasty, hope ya'll enjoy!

Who Knew

the extent of my cooking in high school was...maybe a sandwich, if i wasn't feeling TOO lazy.

college wan't any better. I lived on cereal, ramen noodles, and canned chili. It wasn't because i didn't have any money to go grocery shopping (ok, sometimes i didn't), it was because i was just too dang lazy to make anything!

NOW though, i LOVE to cook. i love making things and hearing michael say that he loves it, and that he's 'impressed'. he always says that (:

i love that when he takes homemade lunches to work, the guys are always trying to steal bites.

i love the satisfaction i get when i myself taste it and I'M impressed too!

so, I'm going to start sharing our favorite recipes with all of you. some of them i've found, some i've just thrown together what we have in the fridge and kept my fingers crossed, and some i've found but changed them to my own liking. so here is my first one, michael and i really enjoyed this meal earlier this week.

** keep in mind there are only two of us, so these recipes are ONLY made for two unless otherwise specified.

Pepper Garlic Shrimp with Chinese Noodles

Lets start with the shrimp...

Your shopping list:

*Vegetable Oil - 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon

*Water- 1/2 cup

*Shredded Cabbage- 2 cups

*Minced Garlic- 2 Tablespoons

*Large, Peeled, Deveined Shrimp- 16 count

*Crushed Red Pepper Flakes- 1 Tablespoon (more or less depending on your taste)

*Sliced Onion/ White- 1/4 cup

*Soy Sauce- 2 Tablespoons

Here is what you do:

Heat your vegetable oil in a skillet, high heat. Add your cabbage and only 1 tablespoon of water. Stir-fry for about a minute until cabbage is soft. Remove cabbage from the skillet and place on a serving platter and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in same skillet, high heat. Put garlic and the shrimp in the skillet and stir until your garlic is lightly browned and the shrimp start to turn pink. Add the pepper flakes, onion slices, soy sauce, and remaining water to the skillet. Stir-fry your mixture for about a minute to two minutes and then pour mixture over cabbage.

I like to set my shrimp and cabbage in the oven while I'm working on my noodles to keep them warm.

Shopping List for Noodles:

*Package of Ramen Noodles Oriental- just one!

*Egg- just one!

*Vegetable Oil

*Carrot- half of a large one, peeled and cut into little slices

*Green Peas/Frozen ones work- 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons

*Red Bell Pepper- 2-3 Tablespoons sliced, depending on how much you like your red peppers

*Sesame Oil- 2 teaspoons

*Soy Sauce

Here is what you do:

Boil your ramen noodles until soft. DO NOT add flavor packet, set it aside, cause we're using it later! After noodles are soft, drain them and set them aside.

Heat enough vegetable oil in a small skillet (i like to use the same skillet as the shrimp to spread the flavor around) to thinly cover the bottom. Scramble the egg in a small bowl and then add to skillet. When egg is cooked completely, set it aside in your small bowl.

In same skillet, heat same amount of vegetable oil, medium heat. Add carrots, peas, and bell peppers to skillet and heat until all vegetables are soft, and cooked all the way through. When finished cooking vegetables, place in same bowl as your cooked egg.

In your same skillet combine 2 Tablespoons of sesame oil with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Fry your noodles in the oils for 3 to 5 minutes, make sure you turn them regularly so they don't burn! After 5 minutes, add soy sauce (to your taste), seasoning packed from ramen, and if you desire, more sesame oil. Mix noodles and sauces together until noodles are completely coated. Add your vegetables and egg and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

I like to serve my noodles and shrimp all on the same platter, the flavors together are divine (:

I never knew how much I was going to like cooking, but having someone who appreciates it makes it worth all the time and effort, especially when it turns out delicious! (:

happy cooking!