Crab & Asparagus Quiche

OMG!!!! It was a party in my mouth. So freaking good!!!!

Crab & Asparagus Quiche (serves 4)

Ingredients:

4 Ramekins (mine are 6 oz sized)
2 eggs
1/4 cup Bisquick
1 Cup Milk
4 oz cheddar & jack cheese
8 oz can of creamed corn (optional)
1/2 lb lump crab meat
2-3 spears of Cooked Asparagus cut into bite sized pieces
salt and pepper of Old Bay

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray Ramekin w/cooking spray.

3. Put crab, asparagus, corn into a bowl. Mix together and season to taste w/salt and pepper or old bay.

4. Place a generous helping of crab mixture into ramekins. Top with cheese.

5. Mix Eggs, Bisquick, Milk mixture together in small bowl. (mixture will be thin, be sure to get lumps out).

6. Pour Bisquick mixture over crab mixture.

7. Cook to a golden brown (about 45 minutes to an hour depending on size of pan).

Thanks momma for the mouth-watering recipe. It was DELICIOUS!!!!

Chicken Asparagus a la Vodka

Chicken Asparagus a la Vodka (serves 4)

Ingredients:

2-3 cups penne pasta
8-10 asparagus spears (broken into 1 1/2 inch pieces)
1lb chicken
1 jar Vodka Sauce
Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Cook Chicken, cut into bite sized pieces. Add Vodka Sauce to chicken and heat through.

2. Cook Pasta according to package directions. Add asparagus the last 4 minutes of cooking time. Drain.

3. Add Chicken Mixture to Pasta and Toss. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.

YUMMY!!! and I had a TON of leftovers.

Vacation??!!??!!

I'm ready for a vacation.

I know I got a week unplanned vacay with all the glorious snow that the DC/Maryland/VA Region saw, well that and being sick with pnuemonia....but I worked a full week this week, well minus President's Day and I need a vacation. God I sound like a baby.....week off. 4 day work week AND I need a vacation. Boo hoo me.

I have several things in the works, however only two concrete plans.

I'm going to Eagles Training Camp. That's right the NFC East Eagles. I'm a HUGE ridiculous fan. I am obsessed with DeSean Jackson....that boy can RUN. I love me some Westbrook....though after this past year I think he might quite possibly be done. I like McNabb....when he is on point. I'm going to meet DeSean...and sit there and stammer like a freaking idiot but damn if I wont get his autograph and a freaking picture. That is my "boyfriend" whether I can talk or not I love that man.

I booked a flight to FL to visit my momma for Mother's Day. Oh sunshine how do I heart they, let me count the ways sand sparkles, and dolphins jump. Seriously. I could live on a beach. I am going to visit my mother and spend a few glorious days in the Florida weather. I'll get to see my mom, eat momma's home cooking....seriously NOTHING better, and just RELAX without work looming overhead. 5 days in Florida....just what the doctor ordered.

Now where is the Cruise?? What is the plan for the BIG 30....that sucker is just over 6 months way!!!!????!!!!????

Lent

Everyone seems to be in the same predicament.....what to give up for Lent.

Well I have decided to not give anything up for Lent.

I will, instead, do something to improve my life. I work on the 3rd floor of my building and I am guilty of taking the elevator everyday. I will be taking the stairs for the next 40 days. I do hope that it carries over to longer than that.

I believe it will help to start improving my health and losing weight, as well as knocking off another in my 101 in 1001 days.

Small steps, big rewards.

Letting go, Letting in

I have walls. LOTS of really TALL walls.

Slowly they are beginning to crumble.

To understand why I have walls, you have to know the back story.

I dated a boy, man, demon....I swear. He was sugar and spice and everything nice on the outside but pure hate and dark on the inside. I loved till my heart shattered and nothing in return. 7 years of my life wasted on that kind of shattering to your core kinda love. He was a man that tore me down every time I built myself up.

He was a man that my dad once famously quoted.... "they never found Hoffa, they'll never find him." Seriously. NEVER date a man your daddy hates. NEVER date a man who honks on your first date instead of coming in to meet the parents. NEVER date a man that puts down your best friend, your family, and most of all YOU.

It took me 7 years to leave this self destructive relationship. 4 more years of healing and NOW the walls crumble. There is a man. A strong man, a wonderful man, a man that I never thought I could let my guard down for....but damn if he isn't a patient man. He has waited for me to come to terms of my heart and to see that as he always says that I am...."worth the wait."

To this man...you know who you are. Thank you.

Thank you for letting me figure my own head, heart and soul out. Thank you for being in the background cheering for me. Being there when I am at my absolute worse...no makeup and greasy hair. Thank you for being my friend and someone I have learned to trust and rely on. Thank you for "rescuing" me on MANY occasions. Thank you for always being you.

(to my MOM...cause I know you read this...no questions...I might revert on my ever growing strength...just know I may eventually marry and give you those grand babies).

Valentine?

It's V'day 2010.

No flowers. No chocolate. No sexy lingerie. No jewelry.

Well dammit. I bought my own chocolate and lingerie.

Who wants to be my cupid and bring me flowers and that Tiffany necklace I've been eyeing????

Oh well.....maybe next year cupid will have better aim with that arrow.

Lungs

4 hours out of the house and the lungs are PISSED!

Coughing, wheezing, trying to breathe.

I hear you.

I will go from Bed to Couch to Bed tomorrow. I swear!!!!!

Life on the outside

So for a week now I have been STUCK in my house.

I started getting sick LAST Friday. By Saturday, the day of Snow Storm One, I thought I was dying. I couldn't swallow, was running a 101 degree fever, cold then hot.....basically miserable.

Sunday...much the same.

Monday, lost voice....so sexy in a Froggy kinda way. I walked to our local Rite-Aid cause this gal needed DRUGS and my street apparently wasn't going to see a plow.

Tuesday, still sick spent 4 hrs digging out my vehicle so I could get more juice and water cause Snow Storm Two was getting ready to start.

Wednesday...seriously ready to die while another 19 inches of snow is falling.

Thursday....spent over an hour digging out my car AGAIN!

Friday....Finally managed to get to a board certified physician and guess what.....I have PNEUMONIA! Thankfully the doc loaded me up with steroids and antibiotics with instructions for bed rest.

Guess what....NO! I have been stuck inside for a week. I like myself, but a week of alone time...I'm starting to talk to myself. I need to see people.

I went shopping. Yup. Nearly $400 later and some time with my best friend....I am back on the couch. I'm regretting it just a tiny bit....cause well I feel like shit and can't breathe but I got to live outside of my house. Even for 4 hours....it was worth it.

Unless you live in a bubble

DC/Maryland/NOVA is experiencing a RECORD BREAKING winter. I'm talking over 84" inches of snow in the Baltimore area where I live.

I am from upstate NY and this is more snow than I have seen in more than 15 years. The last great snow I saw was 48" in 24 hrs. I wasn't even tall enough to shovel!!!!

Can we say cabin fever has set in?!?!??! Granted I have been sicker than hell the entire time and haven't really gotten out to enjoy it by making snow angels or a snowman. I walked the 1/2 mile to my local drug store on Monday in 2+ feet of snow just to get medication to fight this cold and to get OUT of my house!!

The snow stopped Saturday afternoon around 3.....my street didn't see a plow till Monday night at 9pm. More than 48 hrs later. I spent more than 4 hrs digging out my car on Tuesday morning to go to the grocery store to get more juice and water.....it was crazy how empty the shelves were.

Last night. MORE FREAKING SNOW!!!! I am sitting stuck in my house once again with blocked doors, a street full of snow, my car once again buried and I am DONE! Here me SNOW GODS! DONE!!!

snOMG, Snopocalypse, Snomageddon, SNOtorious B.I.G., Snoverkill.....call it what you want....I think most Marylander's, NOVA and DC Peeps would kill to see sun, sand, and 90 degree weather.

We got another 18" coupled with 30mph winds and over 50mph gusts....its like living in a freaking snow globe. The snow drifts are at least 6' high in some places. I'm just over 5'....need I say more. We have no where to put it. They are dumping snow into the harbor!

I hear Vancouver needs snow for the Olympics.....we'll sell it to you. Real cheap.

Snowmaggedon

I live in an area that typically doesn't see a whole lot of winter weather. Usually just cold and the occasional 1-2 inches of snow. Yeah NOT this year! In December 2009 we had approx. 20 inches of snow. This was my car in that snowstorm.


February 2010......

I CAN'T EVEN SEE MY CAR!!!!!

It is currently 2pm and it is STILL coming down. Don't get me wrong. I love the snow. I am from upstate NY and this is a normal winter....but come-on. I live in Maryland. THIS IS NOT! I can't open my front door let alone try and get outside and clean off my car. So for now I'll just take photos from my windows. Maybe one day I'll get out of my igloo and see the snow globe world.

Buttery Garlic Shrimp with Red Pepper

Buttery Garlic Shrimp w/Red Pepper (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs fresh or frozen medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 oz dried angel hair pasta
2 TBSP butter
2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 TSP bottled minced garlic
Salt
1/4 TSP crushed red pepper
2 cups fresh broccoli florets

Directions:

1. Thaw Shrimp, if frozen. Rinse shrimp; pat dry with paper towels.

2. Cook Pasta according to package directions. Add broccoli the last 4 minutes of cooking time. Drain; keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic; cook for 30 seconds. Add the shrimp; sprinkle with salt. Cook and stir for 2 to 4 minutes or until shrimp turn opaque. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper. Serve over hot cooked pasta.

(444 calories, 10g fat (4 sat fat), 274 mg chol, 438 mg sodium, 44g carbo, 1g fiber, 42g protein.)

To my mom

I LOVE MY MOM. She is my best friend, my other half. She is the strongest woman I know. I am lucky God saw fit for me to be her daughter. To learn from her, to grow from her and to be her other half.

To my mom.

You are my light, my heart, my being. You are my friend, my mother, my love. You are the strength, the tenacity and the hope. You are and FOREVER will be my my best friend and my mom.

Love.

Your Daughter