Dinner Attempt Number 2

So... DEN DEN DUUUUNNN~~... Sigh... My second attempt at cooking dinner for Hunnybuns didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted. My original menu was the following:

1) Brown rice pasta from Trader Joe's (Hunnybuns is allergic to regular pasta =\)
2) Honey mustard chicken breast broiled to perfection and topped off with mango salsa that I'll make from scratch
3) Broiled asparagus brushed with some olive oil.
4) Apple pie a la mode!

Sounds yummy, right? and somewhat healthy, besides the dessert?

I got home early to start cooking. I wanted to impress Hunnybuns and show him that I really CAN cook if I put my mind to it. (Yes, he cooks for me ALL THE TIME!) I put the chicken breasts that I had been marinating overnight into the oven, put the pasta in boiling water, and I chopped up the mangos and all the other ingredients for the mango salsa. So far so good, right? It's gonna be easy smooth sailing from here! what's the big deal anyway??!!

I go to the bedroom to get a rubberband for my hair and notice that the faucet was leaking. Drip, drip, drip. So I start to try to fix the faucet. 45 minutes pass by and I COMPLETELY forget about the chicken in the oven! I KID YOU NOT! I'm an idiot! How can it take me 45 minutes to fix a leak AND how can I forget such an important thing on such an important night?

UGH, needless to say, I overcooked the pasta, chicken came out like rubber, and on top of that, I had forgotten the asparagus. Here I go down in flames at my SECOND attempt at cooking dinner for Hunnybuns. At this point, I'm thinking, "Hunnybuns is gonna be thinking that I'm an idiot!!" So I tried to think of a way to save it, and this is what I came up with. When I was done, I thought, "hmm... looks kinda like dogfood.... or maybe chicken grits (whatever grits are)." I call it Haley chicken - aka honey mustard mango chicken pasta salad. I basically chopped everything up and swirled it around together in a bowl with whatever I found in my fridge and cupboard - olive oil, mayonnaise, cilantro, pesto salad dressing, and the one stick of celery that I had in my fridge. Oh yea, and a can of yellow corn. =\ It sure does NOT look pretty. Seriously, it looks like dogfood to me. I was thinking about writing, "I Love You" around the plate to lessen the potentially outburst of laughter from how this meal looked, but I couldn't find anything to write on the plate with - Darn it!





But I guess it was actually edible. Hunnybuns finished his plate. Probably because he was hungry or just wanted to make me feel better. :\ I thought it was OKAY tasting. Not something I would make again at the expense of so much effort... =\ Maybe I should just stick to spaghetti? Maybe I should stick to just 1 dish and try to perfect it before I move on to a different dish? I gotta figure this cooking thing out. Maybe I'm just not meant to cook? I'll just have Hunnybuns cook for me all the time. :) no?

But I guess it wasn't a complete failure. I did manage to make SOMETHING that Hunnybuns finished. Oh yea, and I managed to fix the faucet.

Dinner for Hunnybuns

I think I'm going to ATTEMPT to cook dinner for Hunnybuns tomorrow night again. Oh no, here we go again.... This time I'll take some pictures to display my non-existent cooking skills. =\

What's on the menu? Chicken and RICE, of course! But, I'm going to try something different. You see, Hunnybuns eats chicken and rice all the time since he and so many other foods don't get along. So I need to be careful, or I'll be paying for it in bed!

I want to make him something that isn't what he eats all the time, but at the same time, it can't be something that he's allergic to - which leaves CHICKEN & RICE. How many ways can I cook chicken & rice here?

This is what I came up with. I found brown rice pasta from Trader Joe's(Hunnybuns is allergic to pasta =\), honey mustard chicken breast broiled to perfection and topped off with mango salsa that I'll make from scratch (I hope he's not allergic to mangos - not sure...). And some broiled asparagus brushed with some olive oil. Good? Finish it off with.... apple pie a la mode! (apple pie will be pre-made from Trader Joe's frozen section :) but I'll pass it off as my own - shhh!!!) mu-ha-ha-ha-ha... O yea, red wine - Menois A Trois red blend.

I wonder how long it will take me to cook this meal. Or, how long it will take me to give up and just order take out from a restaurant and pass it off as my meal. HA!

We shall see!! :)

Cuckoo Cuckoo!

It's official! I am CRAZY. Why? Because I was so determined to ride my bike yesterday that I went biking in triple digit heat? Never try this at home, btw. I thought I was going to die. Hunnybuns thought I was crazy. uh-huh. But I woke up late, it was almost 10am, but I still wanted to get a ride in, so off I went.

Sure, when I started, it was about 75? Half way into my ride, I had already drank 4 bottles of water, finished my food, my arms were starting to shake, and my legs were tingling - classic sign of bonking and heat exhaustion? I stopped at every shade that I came across, and kept pouring water over my head which immediately evaporated from the heat. I felt my handlebars and they were VERY WARM. =\ I knew that temps were well into the 90s. It was 1:30pm by the time I finished. A ride that typically takes me 90-100 minutes. Yep....

So, why didn't I call Hunnybuns to come pick me up? UMM....Emm... because I was determined to prove him wrong! Yea, stupid, right?

I was crazy to go bike in triple digit heat. I admit it. I probably could have passed out if I wasn't careful.

Sigh... learned my lesson. I won't be doing THAT again...

Yes, I AM CRAZY.

Slow as....Molasses?

What's slower than molasses? is it a slug? What's slower than a slug? Whatever it is, it was me today.

Hunnybuns and I decided to go on a "Group" bike ride with some local riders. I figure that since I've gone to 2 spin classes and been running for 2 weeks 3x/week that I would be up for a group ride. Um... NOT?!?! I tell you from experience that 2 weeks of working out doesn't get you in shape. Yea, yea, any idiot could have told you that. Anyways, I was SO SLOW that it was embarrassing.

Hunnybuns showed no signs of weakness and seem to keep up with the guys no problem. But since he's the suffer-in-silence type and won't ever say ANYTHING to show any signs of weakness, I knew otherwise. Too much pride. Guys - typical, right? He had to have been suffering since he and I have both been working a lot without much time for exercise. He just HAD to have been suffering, but he never copped to it. Schumck!

Well, MY ride went very different. First, I was dropped within 1/2 mile of leaving with the group. That's right, 0.5 mile. That's like within the first 5 minutes. The group left me in the dust. The lead guy came back for me a few minutes later to make sure that I was still breathing (God bless him). And I'm proud to say that I was breathing. And pedaling. But very slowly. I felt so bad for the guy trying to keep me company to make sure that I was okay since I was the last rider in the group. He even pushed me for about an hour on the flats and the uphills. And I don't mean "push me to pedal harder for better workout" but literally push me by putting his hand on my back to make it easier for me to pedal. Sure, it was fun for him to push me, but this guy was about 20 years older than me. I was embarrassed. And this wasn't the most embarrassing part of the ride. There's more.

After about an hour (poor guy! I'm going to bake him some cupcakes), I finally said, "hey, I feel so bad that you've dropped from the rest of the group - you should go ahead and catch up (he's a phenomenal rider, btw). I'll take a short cut and you'll probably intercept me on the way back." and he said, "Halleluja!" No, j/k. He reluctantly said, "Ok, just make sure you take it easy." And off he went. I arrived at a hill that used to typically take me about 20 minutes to climb. I garfed down my energy gel with caffeine for the extra boost that I'd need for the hill climb and up I started to go. My speedometer read 3.5 mph. I can WALK faster than that! I almost fell over on my bike a few times because I was going so slow! On top of that, my heart rate was at 175 bpm and I was huffing and puffing like a mad dog. Every single rider on this hill was passing me. The most embarrassing part? Even a guy with 1 leg passed me! Kudos to him for riding with only 1 leg, but eh...um... I have 2 legs and I was going 1/2 the speed of the guy with 1 leg that was riding up this hill (he was wearing a prosthetic). Good thing there was no one else on the road who saw this guy pass me. =\ Either he is in phenomenal shape or I'm in horrible shape. Probably mix of both.

Sigh... so at the end, after 40 minutes of climbing up this neverending hill with 2 rest stops in between, I finally crested. I swear this hill was like 10 miles, but my computer read 2 miles. It was great to get encouragement from EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. that passed by me (I must have looked pretty beat up going up this hill.) But when I'm suffering in the heat, trying to climb up this hill, I need to concentrate to make sure that I don't fall over on my bike since I'm going so slow! A photographer who was waiting in the bushes to take pictures of some other riders even took pictures of me struggling up this hill. I must have looked really bad.

Slow as molasses? or slug? Is there anything slower? I probably could have just walked up the hill faster. I hope next week, I'll be able to drag myself up this hill at at least 4 mph.

Aloha Kauai

I miss being in Hawaii. I used to spend so much time there in the last few years. I love the heat, the tropical rain, the surf, the people, the relaxed pace, the tropical fruits, the nature, everything about the place. Oh, except for the mosquitos. And I usually cannot stand the heat, but the heat there is moist heat, and for some reason, I don't mind it so much. My hair and skin also like it too. :)

I spoke to Hunnybuns about taking a trip to Hawaii this winter. He has never been there! He's SO been deprived all his life! Every time I visit, I never want to come back. It's like someone dragging me by the hair back onto the plane to mainland. But, if I had stayed that last time, I would never have met my precious Hunnybuns, the love of my life. I wish we could go this weekend, but we're both too busy with work. =\ I'm hoping the stars will align and we'll be able to go by November. I miss the place so much. We'll go to Kauai. Kauai is my favorite island. It's romantic, it's quiet, and just the right mix of activities, quiet, and romance that suits us both. It's perfect. I know he'll love it there.

Beautiful, isn't it? Can't wait to get back there.

My Antonio Oh My...

So, I've just gotten hooked on this tv show called, My Antonio. It's stupid, I know! But it's SO FUNNY! Majority of the girls on the show seem to be in need of therapy, but Antonio is so hot that it makes for great entertainment! It's Antonio Sabato Jr. - he was the Calvin Klein model and Jagger on General Hospital? Hot Italian babe.... mmm.... =)

Anyways, Hunnybuns saw me watching it on the internet last night (because I don't have TV), and he rolled his eyes. Classic. He watched it with me for a few minutes, though (how sweet...) then he lost interest (he couldn't stand it actually...) and started making dinner. Yes, I need to still learn to cook. =\

We had a lovely lovely dinner though. Yes, it was chicken and rice again, but different wine. At this rate, I'll turn into chicken and rice before he does. I'm gonna have to start cooking or I'll be eating chicken and rice for the rest of my life!

http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?id=1620716

This video CRACKED ME up!

Mother Nature...PLEASE!

Oh Mother Nature, Please Oh Please Oh PLEASE! Will you bring some cool autumn breeze my way?

So... today was another scorcher. I stepped outside the office and it was sauna again. Sweat beads rolling down the side of my face as I was walking to my car. Great. I should enjoy the heat though, right? Sigh...

I got home and hunnybuns was waiting for me (yey! mmwah mmwah mmwah!). He had cooked his chicken and rice for us to have for dinner. =P and I was checking out some things on youtube and came across this video. I thought again, "Oh Mother Nature, why didn't you bless me with this gymnast's body too?"

I call her Slinky! She has such beautiful lines and so flexible. And moves like a slinky, no? I felt inadequate to say the least. =\ I need to exercise... and stretch... and do more yoga, and stop eating so much so that maybe I can fit into an outfit like that some day. Ok, that's it for today's complaining. I don't have anything else to complain about yet. =\

Friend Makin' Mondays!

Amber has a post called "Friend Makin' Mondays" and OOh~! I like new friends. =)

The question for this week is:

What are some of your favorite things about fall?

1) My Birthday in September. I like my birthday. No, I love my birthday. I can do whatever and eat whatever I want on my birthday. Why? Because I can? 25 forever (in my heart)!



2) The heat will die down to bring nice, tolerable temperatures in SoCal. Yes, it's sunny year-round in SoCal. BUT, this means that I can start sleeping in my car again over my lunch break! Yeah!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........

3) Halloween! I love dress-up!! Not sure what I'll be this year. Gotta come up with something creative this year... and something I WON'T get injured in since I'm Ms. Clumsy... =\

Happy Labor Day!

Here's something that I got from Mimi. I thought it was fun. USE ONLY ONE WORD answers! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It’s really hard to use only one-word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your hair? tangled
3. Your mother? Mom
4. Your father? Dad
5. Your favorite food? Rice
6. Your dream last night? sweet
7. Your favorite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? paradise
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? internet
11. Your fear? injury
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? self-employed (is that 1 word? it's hyphenated!)
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren’t? depressed
15. Muffins? yummy
16. Wish list item? hawaii
17. Where did you grow up? north
18. Last thing you did? eat
19. What are you wearing? pajamas
20. Your TV? none
21. Your pets? none
22. Friends? fun
23. Your life? happy
24. Your mood? hungry
25. Missing someone? yes
26. Vehicle? Toyota
27. Something you’re not wearing? underwear
28. Your favorite store? target
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? saturday
32. Your best friend? hunnhybuns
33. One place that I go to over and over? work
34. One person who emails me regularly? hunnybuns
35. Favorite place to eat? Home

I Think I'm Melting

And I don't mean that I'm melting from Hunnybun's sweet-talk. It's gazillion degrees outside! I don't remember SoCal being this hot for so many days in a row! The second I step outside, I feel like my entire body is going to melt into the ground and I start sweatin' bullets. Literally. Have you ever been in weather so hot that you don't even want to go outside? I even went to the beach to try to cool off, but NO, it's STILL HOT! Usually, I love hot weather. I love the heat. But enough already!

So, I haven't written for awhile and didn't know what to blog about so here goes some random thoughts.

And I went on a cleaning spree today. Here I was, slaving away at my apartment, trying to get all this accumulated dirt out of my place. Now, I'm freakishly paranoid about every little dirt that hits my hardwood floors. Sigh...(It's SO HOT right now! It was 7 o'clock and still 90 degrees!) how am I gonna handle having kids? I know, I'll have the kids, and Hunnybuns and do the cleaning? errr.....

It's a 5 day weekend for me because I took a couple days off to be FREE from work! I really don't like working for someone. Neither does Hunnybuns. He and I are trying to brew some million dollar ideas so that we wouldn't have to go work for someone else.

So Hunnybuns and I were talking about starting a shaved ice business. (It's SO HOT!) We'll have a mobile shaved ice truck that will travel from place to place, selling shaved ice. Is that a bad idea? It's so hot right now that I think it would be a great hit! But then again, what do we do when it gets cold? Serve hot dogs? =\ Or maybe I should just go out and buy one of those taco trucks and start driving around SoCal, selling shaved ice and hot dogs at little league games?

Have I mentioned that it's SO HOT right now? A/C will be on full blast tonight....