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In my world, there is no greater cuisine than Mexican (except Chinese, but that’s for another day). It’s spicy, sizzling, and there’s cheese, too (and we all know, I love chee!!). I also love fajitas. Warm tortillas, grilled beef and chicken (and shrimp if you can!), nestled in with cheese and pico de gallo. It’s warm, it’s cool, it’s heaven on a plate. As it happens, my favorite Mexican place is about an hour away, so it’s nice to have an easy to do alternative at home. Best of all, it cooks quickly (even in the slow cooker), so you can fix it and amuse yourself some other way. Like thinking of the last time you went out for fajitas and had a bad experience with a pomegranate margarita. Here’s what you need:

• 1 pound stir fry beef (it’s even better if pre-sliced)
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 3/4- 1 cup water
• squirt of lime juice (as much as you like!)
• white vinegar (I used roughly a tablespoon)

Place the steak strips in slow cooker. Mix taco seasoning with water and pour over meat. Turn on low if you have all day, high if you have only a few hours (mine cooked in less than 2 on high). Add lime juice and vinegar to taste, cover, and go do something else for a bit. You will want to stir it once or twice to keep meat from sticking to the crock.

I’m serving mine with vegetarian refried beans, cheese and salsa on tortillas. But I’m sure the meat would be just as tasty served over Spanish rice (if you like it). And while these are obviously not identical to traditional fajitas (hence “faux”), they do a great job of satisfying any craving for the real thing you may have, without all the work. Or the long drive, in my case Enjoy!

I’m going to step outside the normal topics of this blog and talk about something wildly controversial: weight. On one hand, there are overweight people- some who are “fat and fabulous,” others who hate being overweight but can’t seem to control that, and others who are overweight by government standards, but look ok to most- all of whom may have been subject to rude commentary b/c of their respective sizes. On the other, there are thin people who sometimes hear comments like “why don’t you have a couple of cheeseburgers and gain a few?” Weight discrimination (to either side) is nothing new.

Recently, on another blog I read sometimes, the questions “is society to tolerant of overweight people? and when is plus sized overweight?” have been raised. I have to mention, I am a fatty. I have been since I was about 5. I am currently at my heaviest (a number that is no one’s damn business ), and at my lightest, I was about 30 over. I’m also tall, so it used to be pretty well spread. As a child/teenager, I was very active- I played softball, basketball, swam every chance I got, and played sports with my siblings and cousins. I have never been a junk food freak (except for Easter, and that only comes once a year), and we didn’t always have a lot of it in the house (although my parents love ice cream and m&m’s). I went through a poorly executed vegetarian phase that involved a lot of baked tofu and ketchup sandwiches. And, from the age of 13, I have been bulimic. So weight is an issue I am all too familiar with. Most specifically, the “over” end.

I want to know why anyone would think that being heavy is now accepted. Not in my little corner of the world. It seems every time I go out, someone makes a rude remark about my weight. And this seems to be ok with people. Why? I want to know, who does weight affect? If I ever bumped my booty into the back of your head walking past you in a restaurant, I apologize (although, I have to say, I usually try to make the um, front side closer. Sucks to be tall, b/c if I walk past and you look up, you could get a snout full of in-pants vag. oops.) I have had super-skinny friends, and their weight never bugged me. Why is it anyone’s business? Are my bingo wings so offensive? Why? You might as well be offended by red hair, crooked teeth, or lopsided boobs. And if you are, man, you have issues. There are much more worthwhile things to be offended by than whether a person has thighs that rub together or a super bony clavicle.

Now, if I were ever by some miracle of engineering to become super-bony, I might relish being told to “eat a damn twinkie, already.” (not that I would, b/c I have never liked cream filled pastry. I may be fat, but I’m damn picky). And honestly, in my mind, even though it is not right, hearing someone being told to eat sometimes conveys concern for that person; you look a little thin, you should put a little meat on them bones, have a snack! Telling an overweight person to “back away from the drive thru” conveys disgust; you have rolls thanks to your BK habit, and your fat is repulsive, so stop eating, already! I do not think it is right either way, b/c weight is so personal, and not every fat/too thin person can help what they are. Why must they all be lumped together? Not every fat person has diabetes or high cholesterol. Not every thin person is perfectly healthy. There are so many variables to consider.

So, if society is indeed becoming more tolerant, it’s news to me. Perhaps I need to find this strange new Mecca and move. And even if I lose all my excess, I’d still choose to live in a place where people are only judged based on character. We, as denizens of this little blue-green marble should be building each other up and helping each other out, not judging b/c of some stupid beauty ideal. And recall, fleshy and fat used to be in. The only constant in this world is change- hot today, not tomorrow. Fat or thin, we are all worthy of at least basic respect. In the end, a person’s appearance matters so little (well, after everything starts to sag, I suppose, which is unfortunate), so why not make the good things a person does a thing to talk about, and leave their too round or too flat butt out of the discussion?

This town is pretty sleepy, in a Mayberry way (not that that’s a bad thing). But in the last 2 weeks, I’ve had a small herd of cows moving through my yard, to and fro. It’s funny to watch the cats freak out in the windows when these behemoth bovines walk through. Fuzzed tails are always funny. I’m not at all afraid of cows, and if only the camera would appear to me, I’d make friends with them, and have an impromptu photo shoot in the yard. Which is kinda funny, b/c if my mom knew, she’d freak. Nevermind the fact I’m 27 years old; she thinks all cows are killer beasts whose only purpose is to be served on a bun or with A-1. They may be tasty but they are pretty cool. How many other animals do you know can touch their noses with their tongues?

So, the camera hunt of ‘08 has begun. And I’m hoping that when that stinking garden plot I keep threatening is finally dug, that they will be nice cows and leave.it.alone. Maybe I’ll tell them I was a vegetarian once, and I’ve always thought cows were noble and stoic, and chickens taste better, anyway. If not, then…well, summer’s coming, and I love a good bbq

I received this cutie cookbook (written by Jessica Seinfeld, comedian Jerry’s wife) for Christmas from Brian’s brother, Scott. The premise is “sneaking” various fruit and veggie purees into foods so your kids will get more of them in their diets (especially helpful if you have picky kids). I have no kids, but a picky Brian. I can’t say I’ve done much cooking since then, mostly tacos/enchiladas, that sort of stuff. I’ve been meaning to try out the recipes within the pages, and what better place to begin that macaroni? You’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t love those noodles in cheesy sauce. In my heart, it’s tied for first with mashed potatoes as the ultimate comfort food.

This particular macaroni recipe called for 1/2 cup cauliflower, broccoli, or butternut squash puree’. I have had a bag of cauliflower in the freezer for…a bit, so I figured now was as good a time as any to use some of it. I began by boiling about a cup of it in about a cup of lightly salted water, while boiling 1.5 cups elbow macaroni in lightly salted, lightly oiled water (for about 7 minutes). While you’re waiting for the boiling to commence, spray a large skillet with non-stick spray, heat it just a tad over medium, and brown a tablespoon each of olive oil and all purpose flour (about 3 minutes). When it is barely browned, add 1/2 cup skim milk, and cook, stirring often, until mixture thickens (I believe it went a little quicker than the book said; our stove is a little wonky on the controls). After that has thickened, add 1.5 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar, stir until melted, and add 4 oz. of reduced fat cream cheese. Keep stirring until all is well incorporated, and add salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, and paprika to taste. It’s a really thick mix! Hopefully by now, the pasta is perfectly al dente, and the cauliflower is boiled and smelling like butter (it helps to follow the advice of the book here- keep pre-made, frozen purees on hand. It’s a wee time saver, and worth it). If you haven’t yet, mash or process the cauliflower by hand or with a food processor or blender (I used a blender, kind of a pain, but ok if it’s all you have). Add the puree to the cheese mixture, drain the pasta if you have not by now, and add the sauce to the pasta. Serves four.

At first glance, I thought “At last! A healthy, super-creamy macaroni Brian and I can both enjoy!” It was a lovely shade of light yellow-orange, and looked generally perfect. I called him in for the taste test, and his first words were “too much cream cheese.” I am a big fan of the Philly, but I have to agree- there was something distinctly non-macaroni-ish about it. It wasn’t the cauliflower, and I followed the recipe to the letter (which is pretty abnormal here). Brian did wind up eating a sizable pile of it, as it wasn’t terrible, and I decided that next time- and there will definitely be a next time- I will slightly up the milk and use half the cream cheese. I had the leftovers for lunch today, with an added sprinkle of regular shredded cheddar, and it was so much better. The cream cheese taste was barely noticeable. But I don’t always want to wait overnight for my precious noodles n’ chee. The worst part was having no idea where the camera is; I served the macaroni with some Italian breadcrumb and Parmesan crusted chicken strips and a side salad. I had a nice looking plate going, but no evidence b/c there’s no telling where Brian left the camera…

You gotta love Louisiana. We have winter for about three minutes. Spring is usually pretty warm and nice (except the pollen, but eh), summer’s hot, humid and lasts forever, and fall is like chilly spring in a different outfit.

This year, spring has been way too moody for me. It started off nice enough, then became a rainy mess. This has thrown off my garden plans considerably (but, I have given more thought to planning, so not a total loss). Monday afternoon I decided that Tuesday would be the big day. Then the weatherman ruined it all: we were in for a light frost Tuesday overnight. What?!?! In the middle of April? So we had record low temps Tuesday night. Great. My slothiness combined with inclement weather is throwing off my plans.

In further news, I’ve decided to add a small food garden plot to the backyard. I hope to have a small harvest of corn, peas, six kinds of tomatoes (three of them cherry!), carrots, okra (for pickles), and I want to get a couple strawberry plants. I think there are others I have (not counting “takes-forever-to-grow” artichoke), but those are the main event

So hopefully tomorrow, I will go and start planting flower seed, and then still feel like digging up my plot (by hand!). We’ll see how it goes.

Did a little bit of shopping Saturday night. I enjoy shopping for seeds. You get a lot for a little, and I like the thrill of seeing seedlings poking through dirt. I’m easy that way And, since the outer section of the garden department was closed by the time we got there, I had to stick to the seed section. Which was just as well; I’m sure I would have gone over budget throwing blooming flowers into the buggy.

Last year, I picked a nice variety of taller flowers- Lupine, Snapdragon, Columbine, Foxglove and Zinnia. This year, I picked Dahlia and Aster (I really like round, dish-y type flowers). So the backs of the beds are covered. I don’t have many shorter varieties (last year’s are California Poppies, Johnny Jump Ups and Pansies- they all pooped out last spring, no blooming at all). This time, I got more Pansies and some English daisy and Phlox. The daisies can’t be planted until August (!) and take 180-300 days to bloom, but the Phlox are just right. And just between the tall and the short, I have “Fuzzy Face” sunflowers; they are crazy cute and will look great in one of my little green planters.

Today was spent clearing space and deciding where I want things to go. I started by clearing weeds away from my rose (which is about to go into its first bloom of the year! so excited!) and tilling with a small rake. The soil in our yard is still easily workable from the rains of the last week. And I have decided what’s going in that area. (I hope to post a picture in short order.) In the rose bed, I’ve decided that gladiolus will go in the back, a mix of dahlia and sunflowers in the middle, and California poppies in the front. I had considered lavender in the back, but the majority of what I’m putting in that spot is in the warm color family, so purple will not work in that spot.

Since last spring, I thought petunias would look nice along each side of the front walk. They mound a little, they spread a lot, and who doesn’t love them? Now, I’m thinking it’s been done; you go to any garden center, and look in random carts (not that I ever have…..), and you will find at least one petunia. So, I’ve decided to mix it up a bit. Since phlox is upright but not too tall, I think it will mix well with them. Plus, they aren’t too far from each other on the color wheel. I’m also considering a few pansies in the shadier spot along the walkway. It’s not original, but it’s what I like.

The current cost of this is:

• Seed- $6.22

• Garden rake- $1.97

Bringing the grand total to- $8.19. So $11.81 left! I really think I’m going to be under budget, and that makes me want to stay under budget even more. If only I could do the same thing with groceries…

This meal was born of my love for cheesy biscuits made from Pioneer baking mix (or Wagon Wheel, as it’s known in this house), and thick, creamy potato soup. I’ll eat it any time of the year, but it’s especially great in winter. So I’m a bit late posting, but now you know for next time

Also, I don’t always use exact measurements in cooking (yeah, it’s a little Rachael Ray, but not intentionally). So these are the best measurements from all the times I’ve made this. Except for the biscuits. You can’t just throw some stuff in a bowl all willy-nilly and expect awesomeness to result. Not with baking, at least.

Soup:

• 4-6 medium sized potatoes (I’ve used Russets and red skinned new potatoes with equally great results)
• water
• Cooked bacon or real bacon bits (I like the Hormel brand, in the glass jar)
• paprika, to taste
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• heavy whipping cream and skim milk
• shredded cheddar

Peel, wash, and chop the potatoes into small chunks. Rinse the chunks, and place in a 4-quart crock pot. Add enough water to pot to cover potatoes, and add spices. Turn cooker on high, and go do something else for about 5 hours. In the beginning of hour six, add bacon bits (half the jar should do), and about a cup of cream and enough skim milk to make it soupy- whatever soupy means to you. Cover and cook one hour more. For the last 20 minutes of that hour, it’s time to make the biscuits! Here goes:

Chee Biscuits:

• 2 cups Pioneer baking mix
• 2/3 cup milk, plus a splash of heavy cream (about a tablespoon should do)
• shredded cheddar- I just throw in two handfuls. I love cheese.
• half a jar of bacon bits. They have to be the real deal. Not those dehydrated bits. It won’t be the same.

Preheat oven to 400. Put baking mix in mixing bowl, add cheese and bacon bits, and mix it a bit with your hands. Don’t be afraid to get dirty. Add milk and stir just until mixed. If the mix still looks a little dry, add the cream (and if not, do it anyway. it makes a difference!) Spoon onto a baking sheet. Non stick spray is often helpful, so use it if you like. Place in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. When done, brush them with a bit of melted butter or margarine. You don’t need the butter, and if you don’t like it, it won’t make a difference. I just prefer mine butter-basted By this time, the soup is done, the biscuits are out and still piping hot, and you’re hungry. So dig in. I also love to sprinkle a bit of cheese on top of the soup, mostly if I decided not to add any to the soup in the crock. I know this meal sounds like an artery clogging fat fest, but no one told you to eat this way every night. Once in a while though, you can misbehave, and I won’t tell if you won’t. One last note- if you like spice, red pepper goes really well in this. I especially like red pepper flakes in the biscuits. But not too much, because I like my tongue not on fire. But a little bit of heat really complements the salty bacon and cheese. Either way, they’re just awesome biscuits, and super easy.

I love winter, I really do. It has two of my favorite holidays- Christmas and my birthday- the weather doesn’t really bug me (we don’t get a lot of snow in Louisiana), and there’s nothing better on a cold winter night than a bowl of potato soup and a cheesy biscuit (and I’ll be posting those recipes shortly!). But for the last few years, winter just doesn’t do it for me. I’ve started to miss leaving the windows open all day and seeing flowers in the yard. I blame the Burpee and Park Seed catalogs.

Last year, I went a little crazy in a couple of garden centers. I bought several packs of flower seed, some bulbs (I hope peonies last a while in unopened bags!), and a couple of pink ranunculus, tulips, and purple hyacinth (that my cat peed on while in the window…) This year, I’ve decided to challenge myself. Our yard doesn’t suck at all; we have various flowering shrubs and trees, all blooming at different times. What’s missing are smaller bursts of color. Basically, I really love all sorts of flowers, and I’d fill the entire yard with them if I could. But I have decided this year, instead of spending way more on flowers than I do on a lot of other things, I am going to challenge myself to work with the rest of what I have from last year, and try to spend no more than twenty dollars on new stuff. Part one of the challenge is deciding which areas need the most work. There are four areas I want to improve: the two flowerbeds, the front walk, and the mailbox.

The flowerbeds each have specific challenges. The front one has a spot that is flooded each time it rains. I need to find plants that will stand up to run off from the roof, and I’d like to find some way to combat that problem, without giving the local mosquitoes a place to breed. The side bed is where my rose is. It’s problem is it gets a little more sun that it should, and it looks kinda lonely there all by itself. It’s a yellow hybrid tea, and last year it bloomed at the same time a wild purple iris bloomed. I loved that combo, so I think some lavender will work with it. And I’d like to add both some wood mulch and a lower growing flower, to combat the weeds and give the lower part of the rose a little break from the high sun.

I planned to put petunias on each side of the front walk, but I wound up planting most of them in hanging baskets. They died after a month or so, but they looked good while they lasted. I saw in one of the many seed catalogs I get a grouping of red, white and blue petunias, and I liked it. Not only is it cute and patriotic, it goes well with the house’s exterior and the stargazer lilies I have planted at the end of the walk.

Lastly, there’s the mailbox. I still have a good amount of gladiolus’ left, and I like the idea of them mirroring the verticalness of the mailbox. I was also thinking of some medium height sunflowers and maybe some coleus for below. I loooove coleus It comes in so many colors. And even though I won’t be getting any anytime soon, I really like the black velvet elephant ears. So dramatic and striking. They just wouldn’t look right in my yard, I hate to say. But Diana, if you’re reading this, you should look into them!

So, I have a list to make, and I’ll post it once I’ve finalized. We’ll see if I stick to it!