What-chya Got Cookin' ?

I have taken my time off (AKA a trip to North Carolina) from cooking and I am back at it this week! It is something I love to do, but usually hate all the clean up. Luckily some days I have my dear hubby to help me clean and sometimes even cook with me or better yet... for me! 

So, this week thus far has been rather low key... 

Monday - Crock Pot Fried Rice & Beef n' Broccoli
Tuesday - Asparagus & Proscuttio Pasta
Wednesday - Leftovers (We were both working during dinner time).
Thursday - Cook-out at Rusty's (I made a YUMMY Pea Salad)

As for the rest of the week this is what I have on the menu...

Friday - Armadillo Eggs 
Saturday - Beef Stir Fry
Sunday - Soup and leftover mini pot pies (We made these  awhile ago and they have been living in our freezer perfectly!)
Monday - Butter & Garlic Shrimp

Then Tuesday we will be on the road and I haven't decided if I am going to try and make something or not for the road... maybe some chicken salad kept cold in a small cooler? Hmm... 

This month has been a challenge that we posed to ourselves (rather I imposed on us...) This was the challenge: 

A. Make a menu plan for a WHOLE month in the beginning (dinner only, because breakfast and lunch is usually a toss up)
B. Only go grocery shopping 1 time and try to spend as little as possible (Total was $150-ish)
C. Spend $5 at most a farmers market every week (About 1/2 of the weeks we didn't spend anything...)

So far we have done well with only one mistake. My husband ate my lunch meat while I was in North Carolina so, we agreed to take our $5 farmers market money that we didn't spend last week and go to the grocery store and get my lunch meat. I oopsed and bought some super cheap popcorn and spent $6.24 total. Luckily we spent $4 this week and wont go to the farmer's market next week. (ahhh... that feels better). 

I am impressed at how well we are doing and how easy it has become to not shop at the grocery store whenever it pops in my head that we need something. The real challenge will be to real myself in when we go to Chicago and I head to Trader Joes. I am thinking of imposing a $20 limit? $30? Opinions....

Franklin, NC

This extended weekend I was able to spend some time with my Nelson family in Franklin, NC. We were there to celebrate my Great-Aunt Joan's 80th birthday party! It was a great time and I loved seeing some family members that I do not get to see too often. I loved being able to talk to my cousin Rochelle about motherhood, talk to her husband Radek about the state of the United States and the ER, play with their wonderful twins Roxy & Ray. I also loved spending time with my Aunt Sue, Uncle Ron, and Mom along with many other relatives. 

The view from our cabin/house was amazing and it was great to get away and enjoy the cooler weather. 

I am glad to be back home in Georgia with my wonderful husband and two pup-dogs! Next week we will all be on the road to Chicago for Brian's Oral Boards and enjoy some more family time. 

I love the traveling life... I must be part gypsy! 

Forsyth Park

This weekend we were able to FINALLY go to Forsyth Park with Jen & Nick! We had a lot of fun and were able to enjoy some food and libations! 

 Delilah and Bella people watching

 All of us drinking out beers and getting ready for food!

 Proof Nick is the REAL dog whisperer!

Delilah loves Nick 

 Brian with his Girls at the fountain

Family Picture at Forsyth Park 

The Progression of Delilah and Bella's snuggling!

A week of Chefs!!

This week was amazing with meeting Robert Irvine, Bobby Deen, and Jamie Deen! It was amazing! Autographs from all three and lots of fun times! For the Deen brothers there was a cooking competition and guess what?! I WON! I WON! My Spicy Hawaiian Chicken Burgers with homemade Sweet Potato  fries and kickin' Ketchup WON! Also, Jamie Deen gave me a high five when he found out what I made and AND asked for my ketchup recipe! 
I gushed! 
I swooned! 

So,,, here are the pictures:

 Chef and his wife Gail Kim

 Hey there chef!

Up Close & Personal

Cooking!

Making Dressing!

Taste testing!

Scallops and succotash

 Me and my signed apron! :)

 Now the Deen Brothers: 

Talking to the military spouses 

Picture Time 

Cooking competition winner!  

My food after the judging! All gone! 

Insomnia...

So, tomorrow is the big cooking competition and I have to get up early to prep and cook my food. Why is it when I have something important/ exciting the next day I A. have a migraine and B. cannot sleep?

Hubby has a PT test in the morning and is sleeping like a baby! I guess a woman can't turn off her mind to sleep... Darn it!

P.S. Here is a pic of us at Forsyth yesterday. More pictures tomorrow of the Deen brothers!

Chef Robert Irvine... CHECK!

Yesterday was AMAZING!!! My wonderful husband accompanied me to Hilton Head, SC outlet mall to go an see Chef Robert Irvine in person, get his autograph, and watch his cooking demonstration! It was to say the least... AMAZING! :)

We were able to get an autographed apron from Chef Irvine, watch his cooking demonstration, and be exactly 6 inches from him while he talked about supporting our wounded warriors and children fighting cancer. He is an amazing man and we were able to also meet his amazing wife. All in all a good day. We rounded our the evening with a delicious dinner with friends at Carrabba's (where I forgot my gift card... FAIL!) and went home to treat our sun burns (oops) and relax! Such an amazing day! 

Now for photos:

 Chef Irvine & his wife Gail

 His delicious seared scallops and succotash

 Talking on the charities he works with (Wounded Warriors and Make A Wish)

Standing 6" from Brian.... AHHH

Also, check out my facebook page later today or tomorrow for more pictures and later this week (Tuesday) I will be meeting the Deen Brothers (Yes, Paula Deen's children) and will have more on that later! :) 


Now today we will be joining "Auntie" Jen, "Uncle" Nick, Bria, and Bosco for a fun dog day at Forsyth park... more pictures to come! :) 

Army Wives

Nothing like an Army Wives episode to make you fear deployment... Yuck!

Anyways... I get to see chef Robert Irvine tomorrow with hubby! Woo! Hoo!!

First week of work

How many people would have loved this today...

So maybe not a full week of work, but all I desired was a part time position. I haven't been too thrilled with the position thus far, but talking to my supervisors it seems as though it will get better. I have however taken some steps to look for a different job. When I was hired I was told I would be working for and helping patients and families while being in the ER. However my job had become more of... here is your room.. Bye... here is your room... Bye, etc. etc. So hopefully next week will be better. I was also told that I would have a schedule of some sort (for at least tomorrow) by today and of course that didn't happen either. They seem to want to have me work every weekend, but that will not be completely possible...most- yes. All- NO! 

In other news I was able to make a yummy dinner yesterday with the help of my sous-chef Brian. We had BBQ salmon, asparagus on the grill, "fried green tomatoes", and a baked sweet potato. YUM!

I also finished a crochet project... well... half way. This will be a pillow eventually. 

Today Brian and I were also able to take in a movie. We saw The Host, which was pretty good, but the book was WAY WAY better! While we were there we saw a really cool photo opportunity from Monster U. Can't wait till it comes out!

After the movie I took dear Brian to my new hospital and showed him around. We were able to see just about everything and I didn't get lost... too much! Even ran into one of my supervisors (or at least someone who interviewed me) and she just gushed about loving that I was on the team. It made me so proud and happy that hubby was there to hear it! Now on the lighter side... some fun jokes! 

 And one truth... 

Secrets and other silly things

So I have a not so secret secret. I am slightly (maybe not so slight at times) obsessed with Twilight! I don't know what it is, but ever since I finally gave in and read the books I have been in love.Lately my thoughts have been to create a Twilight room... maybe in the future a nursery... I mean truly the colors (red, black, and white) are best for baby development so it makes sense. 

Anyways... that's enough of my obsession. Today was my orientation to Memorial University Medical Center. One part I found very humorous. The patient safety person was talking and she warned the group that there will be a portion that will gross us out so to be prepared. As a wife of an ER doctor there isn't much that will gross me out so I was interested instantly. The part that was supposed to gross us out was this story about a child who had to have their chest cracked and their heart internally massaged. Really? That's the gross part? I think that is really interesting (and maybe sickeningly so... cool!) The girl next to me cringed, the gentleman on my other side had a sour face, and I... listened and waited for something gross to happen. Puss? Guts? The smell of decay? Something... anything... 

Oh well.. what can you do... 

You can't gross me out... 

I'm an Emergency Medicine doctor's wife!

Moving along

Today I woke up feeling like crap still... I went through my day and was able to go shopping for some of the final pieces I needed for my "uniform" for work. Side note... do you think I can get away with wearing scrub pants in black? Hmm... maybe. So it took me forever and a day, but I finally found some okay shoes. So, I came home and finally ate something and let the pups play outside. Then I was able to take a short nap with both pups around me. When I woke up I was dripping in sweat and I think my fever final broke and though I felt sleepy I got up and started working on my dirty house (darn pup taking all my time). As I moved and folded about 5 loads of laundry, put things away, and cleaned the kitchen I started feeling better. I started our newly dirty laundry, cooked a delicious dinner (Egg Foo Young, Pot Stickers, and Rice! YUM!), and finally sit and blog. 

Tomorrow is the big, long, boring, orientation day. I am looking forward to hopefully meeting other people I am working with, getting my schedule, getting my ID badge, and most of all... GET IT OVER WITH! A full day of hospital orientation will not be any fun. 

Well, now it is time to fold laundry and work on my crochet project (an american flag pillow). WOOT WOOT!!

Crap on a Cracker...

Ugh... I hate feeling sick. Hubby came home from work one night not feeling so well and low and behold the next day I felt like crap on a cracker! Today was a little bit worse... oh yippee skippee! The joys of being a doctor's wife is that you get whatever the patients (who really shouldn't be in the ER by the way) have.  Almost three years ago when Brian and I got married he told me that the first year will be rough, because I will be "building my immune system" to all the yuckies he will be bringing home. Well, the first year was the worst... I did have TB, but in my defense I had that before we got married and was just diagnosed in our first year of marriage. In short... he was wrong! I am still getting sick from whatever he brings home! Sucky!

So, this sicky feeling has somewhat put a dampener on working out, because I just don't want to and I don't have the energy! Today I did force myself to take the pups on a short walk around the neighborhood a couple of times, so that was good for them and me. I am hoping that I can get over this by Monday since i have orientation ALL DAY at the hospital. 

Thank goodness tonight is pizza night, because I don't think I could make anything else. Last night was curried tilapia and curried chick peas. YUMMERS! The night before was apple bourbon pork tenderloin with cheesy crunchy potatoes. Tomorrows menu selection is egg foo young and rice! YAY!

And now some funnies! 

Vet Day = Sleepy Day

Today was a rainy day and the puppies were SUPER energetic this morning. Not being able to run, jump, and wrestle outside left them wanting to wrestle in the house. Ugh.. I didn't want to have anything to do with it, but such is life. 

Thank goodness for the vet visit today. Today was Bella's first vet visit so, she received her microchip, rabies vaccine, Distemper #3, and Bordetella. Delilah was the lucky one and only needed a Bordetella. All in all these shots & nose spray has left me with two cuddly and sleepy puppies! THANK GOODNESS!! 

Here are the girls on the way home from the vet... not happy...

Here they are at home with me...

In other news... Yesterday Brian and I made citrus salmon with faux fried green tomatoes and Paula Deen's Vidalia Onion Relish! YUMMERS! Here is the photo of Brian's plate!

I also learned today that I will be wearing a uniform at work. I will be wearing a Red scrub jacket, need to wear a white shirt, black pants/skirt, and black or dark shoes. The good part- I get to wear comfy shoes to work such as gym shoes. The bad news- I don't own white shirts (bought 2 today at Target), I don't own black dress pants (Going to Kohls tomorrow), and I don't have plain black comfortable shoes (Kohls again). So I get to shop... ugh... here it goes! 

New Job

I have nearly completed all of my prerequisites for my new job. I still have about 8 modules to do on-line which I will complete after this blog and then orientation is on Monday! Yesterday was an on boarding session, which to me was a pre orientation/ welcoming and during this I also did my ID picture & finger printing. Today was my health/drug screening. I was really concerned about this part of the hiring process. The reason you may ask? The dreaded... TB screening. Since I was applying for a job at a hospital I anticipated that they would be more understanding, but I was still nervous. Find out more at my other blog: My TB Life. Part of today was also trying on the "space suit" that people wear in quarantine rooms. I think this was to see if I would A. not freak out and B. make sure everything fit properly. I was able to take the mask home and get a picture of me in the lovely TB mask! ;) 

I think it is funny that so many wives who have husbands in the medical field end up there as well. I think it is due to the fact that as our husbands go through this medical journey it becomes all consuming. Part of me wants to embrace it and another part wants to move away and be my own person. I think this new job is the perfect combination. I am working in an ED (Emergency Department), but I still get to help people and work with children (the hospital I am at is the only Children's hospital in Savannah)! 

In other news, my "Life Plan" is going pretty well, I can see areas where I am slacking, but I have big plans to fix that. Our farmer's market opened yesterday and I was thrilled to buy Yams, Green Tomatoes, and Grapefruit! YUM! I am thrilled to have fresh, locally grown, and cheap fruits and veggies again! YAY!

It also continues to be Military Kids month and I saw this on Facebook this morning and wanted to pass it along. Love to all of you! 

Laughs

So, now I might be over achieving, but I thought I would add some little funny doctor pictures I've found. Hubby's shift today seems EXTRA long (even though it isn't) so I needed to smile & wanted to share!

Let's Go APRIL!

April begins the month of the Military Child!

It is also Autism awareness month!

It is a BIG month! It is also the month before my husbands Oral boards and the first weekend in May he will travel to Chicago to become a board certified ER physician! The road of doctor-hood is long and always filled with bumps (or tests) along the way! 

April will also be a life changing month for me. I am really going to focus on getting myself on the right track! (This needed to happen long ago, but for some reason this month I feel inspired!) So... this is what is on the handy-dandy checklist I made... 

1. Wash Face (every day! I need to do this!)
2. Wear Glasses (EVERYDAY!)
3. Walk the dogs (I would ultimately like to walk the 3 mile trail everyday with both dogs, but Bella is still a pain when walking so we will try to do more and more every day!)
4. Read (At least a chapter every night!)
5. Write in my food/exercise diary (EVERYDAY!)
6. Blog (Everyday! Even something short & sweet)
7. Do a craft and a crochet project (one a week!!!)

That's my plan and I hope to stay on track! This month will also be the beginning of my new job (of course that is if I get through all the prep stuff!) 

WOO HOO!! GO APRIL!