Tulips, babies and stripper hair

Random title yes? Random times call for random titles so hold on, this post is gonna be all over the place.

So the past few days have been hellacious at work-just stressed out, too much work on my plate and I am off three days next week so I have to get a majority of stuff done this week. My work requires that I put hold dates on items so if I work an account, I have to set out a hold date of 10 days or less to work it again. I can’t really do that with being off next week so I am going to be bogged down with work this week and next until I leave and then come back for more fun. Speaking of work, you will notice I’m blogging during the day which rarely happens during the work week. I called in sick today due to a stomach ache. Which really isn’t a lie since my stomach is in knots due to stress from this job, so I don’t feel bad about calling in sick since this job is deteriorating my health.

I’ve done some random cooking in the past few days. On Monday night, I had no clue what to make so I did what I usually do-chop up some veggies and let them cook while trying to think of something to do with them that could turn into a meal.

Soon, I found a defrosted chicken breast, I cut that up and coated with fajita seasoning and cooked on the stovetop

I remembered I had refried black beans sitting in the fridge so this soon came together as a Mexican meal. I also had taco tortillas in the fridge but wasn’t feeling tacos (I don’t think I’ve ever said that before!) so I cut up the tortillas and baked them to make tortilla strips/chips

I mixed the beans with cheese and salsa and nuked for 2 minutes. They were so creamy and delicious and I used the tortilla strips to scoop it up with.

This was a quick and semi healthy meal and it felt like I was actually at a Mexican restaurant (sans margaritas and sombreros of course)

On Monday night, with only 20 minutes left of the show, I started to watch the Bachelor. I used to watch the Bachelor and Bachelorette but haven’t seen Jake was Bachelor and thought it’s been boring since then. The Emily chick that was picked is from Charlotte so I keep hearing about it 24/7 down here like it’s a big claim to fame to have someone from Charlotte on the Bachelor. Personally, I couldn’t stop staring at her stripper like hair

And that I watched After the Final Rose and she changed her hair so she looks like every other Junior League-esque woman in Charlotte, I like the platinum stripper hair better.  Part of my problem with this city is the lack of diversity, I feel like everyone looks the same from the girls with their pearls, J Crew and sunkist hair to the guys with their pastel colored clothes and John Edwards hair. Watching her and Brad was awfully awkward though, you could just tell he was way more into her than she him. Plus she doesn’t seem like the colder beer in the fridge. But then again, I was reading something online this morning saying how they are already done with. Why do I care about this? I have no clue.

I actually got out on Tuesday for an hour long lunch–that never happens anymore! One of my co-workers went to Mert’s, a soul food place Uptown a few blocks away from work. I haven’t been to Mert’s in ages but on a cold, dreary day when I am stressed soul food definitely does the trick! I had my heart set on the Fried shrimp Po Boy but then I saw our server bring a couple of dishes to the table next to us and I couldn’t stop starting. When I asked what it was-she said it was a BLT. Hold up, a BLT looked that sexy? I don’t think so! But then told me they serve their BLT on foccacia bread and that’s when I flip flopped over to the BLT side. Never would I order a BLT at a restaurant since I could make it at home but throw foccacia into the mix and that was the game changer. I got that and a side of mac and cheese

Now I’ve had some BLT’s in my day but that is the biggest one I’ve ever seen (twss) But let’s get real-I could have had a bowl of that mac and cheese and been happy. Dare I say it’s the best I’ve had in Charlotte?

Yes I dare, it was. And I’ve had a lot of mac and cheese in my day.

Mert’s is definitely a solid spot for a quick, soul food filling lunch!

On Tuesday afternoon, my neighbor texted me telling me that she was out of town but her boyfriend sent her flowers but she was going to be out of town the whole week. She told me I could go ahead and take them if I wanted since she wanted to enjoy them–how sweet is that? Since I like flowers but don’t ever receive them, I jumped on that and picked them up when I got home. 

Tulips-my favorite! Dying tulips but still tulips!

I kept them alive for a few hours but by nighttime, they were not in good shape. At least I got to enjoy them for a few hours though and they didn’t go completely to waste.

Dinner was very loosely based off of Rachel Ray’s recipe for  Korean Style Chicken or Pork Noodle Bowls.

Except I didn’t have any cabbage

or fresh ginger

or fresh garlic

So I improvided and used what I had (the spices themselves not the fresh stuff) and I used mushrooms and broccoli instead of cabbage. I was a bit unsure about the tomato paste to use in the sauce since I’ve never had an Asian dish that had a sauce that was tomato based but I decided to go with it since one of my goals is to try new cuisines.

Hmmm, I’m still conflicted about the meal -it was good but not as zesty as I thought it was going to be. It tasted like a glorified Italian dish instead of a Korean dish–even with the garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, soy sauce and agave. Edible, yes. Be making it again? No.

And it  definitely didn’t look like Ray Ray’s version

(source)

On the side, I  tried Annie Chung’s Mini Wontons-Chicken & Garlic flavored.

I’ve never experimented with wontons at home, even frozen ones so I was a bit skeptical about these little things.

I microwaved for two minutes and didn’t add any sauce to them and they were fantastic on their own! However, if you don’t like garlic definitely do not  try this since the garlic overpowered the chicken completely. I will be adding these to a soup next time since they are the perfect bite sized addition. I really could have had a plate of these for dinner and been happy. I can’t wait to try more Annie Chun’s products!!

And can I just say how much I love this little pup?

I must love him because I scheduled his appointment for his yearly shots today and asked for the estimate. $190!! And that’s without his heart worm medicine. Little dog has it good I tell you.

Has anyone seen how Dale Levitski from Top Chef has imposed a no kids rule at brunch at Sprout in Chicago? I am all for this. I cuss like a trucker and hate feeling bad about dropping the eff bomb when there are little ones around. And speaking of little ones-I feel like everyone I knew is pregnant or has had a kid within the past six months. It’s a weird feeling seeing people you know from childhood or girls whose hair you held back while they puked at a frat party having children. I can confidently say that I won’t be contributing to the population any time soon! Which reminds me, I need to find an outfit for the baby shower I’m going to this weekend…..

Would you go to a restaurant that had a no kids rule?

Any fun recipes you’ve tried this week? Inspire me please!