Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Yu-ummy!

Last Saturday we had my best friend over with her son. I got out this little kiddie pool that I found at my mom's when we were cleaning up her place, not sure why she had it - probably found it on an "incredible sale! ;-). Unfortunately the sides of the thing were really flimsy so I was unable to fill it up real deep.

While she was over we planned a feast!! We grilled all sorts of shish-ka-bobs!
  • Beef tenderloin (boy was it tender)
  • Chicken
  • Shrimp with pineapple
  • Veggies: squash, zucchini, onion, red and green peppers and mushrooms

We decided to try out a few new sauces to help bring out their flavor so I thought I would share...

For the Shrimp and Pineapple (from "Taste of Home's Easy Grilling Recipe Cards")
1/4 cup each soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces {we left these off on this kabob and added to the veggie kabob}
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained {Mr. M used a fresh pineapple and cut it into chunks}

In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, honey and garlic. Set aside 1/3 cup. On eight metal or soaked wooden skewers, thread the shrimp, green pepper and pineapple. Place in a shallow dish; pour remaining marinade over kabobs. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Cover and chill reserved marinade. Coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill. Drain and discard marinade from kabobs. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 3 minutes, turning once. Baste with reserved marinade. Grill 3-4 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink, turning and basting frequently. Yield: 4 servings.

For the Veggies (from "Taste of Home's Easy Grilling Recipe Cards")
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 medium yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 medium red onions, quartered
1 large sweet red pepper, cut into 2-inch slices
1 large sweet yellow pepper, cut into 2-inch slices
12 to 16 whole fresh mushrooms
12 cherry tomatoes

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the oil, vinegar, oregano, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Place the veggies in a shallow baking dish. Add marinade and toss to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Drain and discard marinade; arrange veggies on a vegetable grill rack. Grill, covered, over indirect heat for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Yield: 16-18 servings.

Then to top it all off we located the dipping sauce from Benihana to dip all of our wonderful grilled items into!!!

Benihana Mustard Dipping Sauce:
Makes about 2/3 cup
Prep time: 5 minutes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cut water
2 teaspoons Oriental mustard (can be found in the international or Asian food sections of most supermarkets)
{I could never find this one so I used dry mustard}
2 teaspoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, water, mustard, cream and garlic powder. Stir or whisk until well combined. Chill before serving.

We actually tried the mustard sauce twice. The first time we forgot to chill before we used it - highly recommend chilling first - makes the taste just pop! Also we thought there was a tad bit too much soy sauce so the second time I halved what it asked for and we really like that much better.

Bon Appetite!

~ Wolf Lover Girl

I think I've finally decided...

I participate every year with a special event that our company participates in and Captain the horseshoes team. Yesterday was our first practice and I really disliked feeling my tummy as I bent down to pick up the shoes.

So I decided to look into Jared's story from Subway. I figure if he can loose a few hundred pounds eating Subway sandwiches I can loose a few pounds doing the same. I did a little research last night on how he did it and some further research on the web. I'm still not done looking at what all I need to do but I've got a starting point.

Since Mr. M no longer works in the same company with me I'm on my own for lunch. Now he's on a special project for a couple of months so basically I won't see him and now I'm on my own for dinner too. I figured I would do as Jared did and have a Subway sandwich for lunch and then grab one on the way home for dinner. The only thing is I get to work early enough to grab a garage parking spot. Parking here is a b*tch and I don't want to leave for lunch and drive all over eternity trying to find one - and in the hot sun.

There is another sub place that actually delivers to our job - Jimmy Johns - and they are soooo yummy! Well I was looking at their website and ran across a really nifty nutritional page that allows you to select the sandwich you like. It automatically displays the ingrediats on the sandwich and displays all the numbers associated with it (calories etc). You can remove the items and the numbers change accordingly. You can also add items and see the numbers change accordingly. How cool! So today I had Jimmy Johns for lunch using this nifty new little tool.

Not sure yet how I'll keep track of everything, as I said I'm still researching what I need to do. Also I figured instead of sitting and watching tv I'll just walk the treadmill and watch my shows!

And again I stress to all of you who think I don't need to loose any weight - I'm not asking for a major transformation - just 15-20 pounds or so.

~ Wolf Lover Girl

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Grease Baby...

This is the cutest little video.

The new cast of Grease!

~ Wolf Lover Girl

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Out for a Week

We've been taking M&M to the dog park a lot lately. Let her get some exercise in and socialize with a few friends. Last night we took her and about 5 minutes after we got there she got into a small scuffle with another dog.


Of course my shy little girl did not start it. I couldn't even tell you what type of dog it was that "attacked" my dog. All I know is it was white and I wanted it off my dog. M&M did stand up for herself and fought back - I'm not sure if she did any damage to the other dog or not.


After the owner grabbed her dog M&M headed straight for the gate to leave the park. She didn't want anything else to do with it that night. I went and grabbed her to look her over make sure she was okay. She seemed okay. I comforted her and let her know that everything was good. The lady of the other dog was grabbing her dog to go and did stop by to make sure she was okay. I knew she felt bad and for the most part you can't really control how dogs react with each other.


M&M did stay in the park for a while and played. One of the guys that I see there often came and asked how she was doing. He said that her dog hadn't been playing nice for a while and that she should not have brought him in the first place... go figure.


As we were getting ready for bed later that night I noticed there was a little blood on her. She has a small puncture wound near her mouth! We got her to the vet this afternoon and they said she looks okay but we need to give her anitbiotics for the rest of the week and flush out the wound to make sure there's nothing in it. (that's the blue stuff you see in the pictures). Vet suggested staying away from the dog park for about a week just to make sure no dirt or anything gets in her wound.


~ Wolf Lover Girl

Monday, July 21, 2008

Happy 200!

Wow! I've hit 200 posts today!

To celebrate I thought I would answer a few questions that Z included on his blog. Here you go Z...

1. When showering, do you start the water and then get in, or get in then start the water? Must start it first and let it get warm – then get in!

2. Do you read the labels on your shampoo bottle? Sure, at the grocery store.

3. Do you moan in the shower like the people on the Herbal Essences commercial? Only when I first get in and it feels nice.

4. Have you ever showered with someone of the opposite sex? Yes.

5. Have you ever been forced to shower with one of your siblings? Not a shower but I did have baths with my sis, of course we were much younger!

6. Have you ever brushed your teeth in the shower? No, I don’t believe I have.

7. Have you ever dropped your soap on your foot? Yes – man that hurts!

8. How old do you look? I guess it depends if I put on makeup or not. ;-)

9. How old do you act? Depends on where I am and who I’m with.

10. What's the last song you sang? I don’t remember.

11. Have you recently become a member of anything? No.

12. What are your plans for the weekend? Working more on the yard.

13. Do you kiss with your eyes open or closed? Closed.

14. What’s the sexiest thing about Condoleeza Rice? Hmm… never thought of her as sexy. My preference would be someone like Halle Berry or Nicole Kidman – they’re sexy.

15. Does anything on your body itch right now? I have two freakin’ ant bites on foot.

16. Who's the sexiest famous woman alive? See #14.

17. Who's the sexiest famous man alive? Johnny Depp.

18. Does every family have a crazy uncle? I guess so but I only have 1 uncle and he’s not that bad.

19. Have you ever smuggled something into America? I haven’t.

20. Does playing the guitar make a girl/guy more attractive? Not something I look at.

21. Do you live in a city with a good sports team? Go Dallas Stars!!! Oh and some really like the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Cowgirls.

22. Have you ever finished off the popcorn and ate the junk from the bottom of the bag? Yes. Depends on what junk you’re talking about. If it’s all the extra butter then no. If it’s the just almost popped kernels – yes, I love these!

23. Have you ever had sex in a tent? No. Usually if I’ve been camping I’m tired when I get to “bed”.

24. What about in a boat? No.

25. Have you ever dated a Goth? Nope.

26. Would you rather receive amazing oral sex or have amazing sex? If I had to choose – amazing sex.

27. Can you fix your own car? Nope.

28. Would you want to kill George W Bush yourself if you were guaranteed to get away with it? Wow!! I hope you’re not surprised when the Secret Service shows up. Regardless of how I might feel about the Commander in Chief I don’t think I would ever want to kill him/her.

29. Should guys wear pink? Sure. I think there are some nice pinks that look good on guys. The very bright pink not so much!!!

~ Wolf Lover Girl

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Lookin' Good!

Not me - I wish!

Mr. M and I spent all day Saturday working on the backyard. We finally went out and finished putting some boards down around the fence line to hopefully keep M&M in. We also had to fix a few fence planks that she tore up in her 4th of July escapes. And finally took down all the other make shift items that were up against the fence. Now we don't look so trashy!

Now its time to really look into some trees and landscaping. We're thinking of a cottonwood and magnolia. We see Crepe Myrtles everywhere so they seem to do really well so maybe one of those as well. What I really want in the main spots to keep out viewers of other houses are a few cypresses. These will stay green all year round instead of loosing its leaves and such. We'll see.

I already enjoy sitting in our backyard just relaxing. but having a few trees and finally some flowers and stuff would be very nice!!

~ Wolf Lover Girl

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Finally!

Went to watch a movie yesterday after work (more on that in a minute) and as we're sitting there watching all the warnings and stuff they FINALLY have a new one that mentions NO TEXT MESSAGING DURING THE MOVIE!!!! I've been wondering for a long time when they were going to catch on to this. Of course I did have this idiot one seat over from me pull his out a couple of times. He had one more chance before I went off on him. But I was already pissed off at him for another reason. Why?

Well we went to watch the highly anticipated Batman. Mr. M and I usually always go on the Friday of openings for new movies but we also catch early movies on Friday because they're less crowded. We didn't plan accordingly for this movie. We had our friend, Z, join us and we couldn't find 3 seats together. So Mr. M and I sat together and Z sat at the end of our row. About 5 minutes before the movie started the chic who was sitting next to me got up and left. I KNEW she moved to another seat somewhere else (maybe I stunk?) but I didn't want to assume. So I asked the guy if she was with them - basically trying to figure out if she was coming back. If not I wanted to tell Z to move down by us. He said she was coming back. Liar!

But about the Batman!!! I've been wanting to watch it since I first saw it advertised. Way before the untimely death of Heath Ledger. I thought it was a very good movie. And yes, Heath was amazing! There were a few interesting surprises, but I won't spoil it for you! :-) So if you plan on watching it - get there early!

~ Wolf Lover Girl