It's not that I wouldn't BBQ, but I don't know how. I've never got the charcoals going, or seasoned the meat for it so I'm not sure how it would work. Plus, I'd have to watch Boogie while I was cooking, and the thought of stoking the moldering coals with a child on my hip scared the heebee-jeebees out of me.
So last night, I was at a loss for what to make for dinner. I had been picking up meat and corn and potatoes and stock-piling the perfect BBQ meal, but I was missing the man to make it. So I got bold, damnit.
I decided to do a girly BBQ!
That may be really sexist, but I can say this, my oven BBQ tasted damn good, even P was surprised and said that I gave him a good idea next time he makes ribs or carnitas.
My little trick? I bolied the meat in seasoned water for like 20 minutes before I popped it in the oven. And I was literally working for maybe 20 minutes. Cut the ribs apart, put in the water, and boil. While I was boiling, I peeled the potatoes for the salad, cut them up and stuck them in water too. Then I shucked the corn, cut it up, wrapped them in foil with salt, pepper and a pat of butter. When the ribs finished boiling, I plopped them in a backing dish with a couple different BBQ sauces, and some extra spices, covered it, and stuck it in at 400.
After I put the meat in the oven, I took Boogie for a quick Safeway run for milk, eggs, and lettuce. When we got home I put the potatoes on to boil, turned the meat and left it in the the oven some more. When the potaotes were almost done, threw in some frozen veggies, the kind I like, and cooked a bit more, drained, then stirred in some mayo and salt. When the meat was almost done, I took the foil off for about 20 minutes to brown it. And when the meat was finally finger-licking finished, I threw the foiled corn in the oven.
Seriously, that was one of the easiest meals I've ever made in my life. And the meat was so tender you didn't even need a knife. I wish I had made more, so I could make a sandwich later, yummy! BBQ pulled pork with cheese. And I loved seeing P's face when I told him I BBQed or him, but when he took a bite, he was amazed.
Yay me!
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
June 3, 2008
February 17, 2008
Books for Brain Power
I've realized very recently that I love learning, but I have issues retaining the information. I always sort of knew that, considering I'd forget facts literally minutes after I finished taking a test in college, but when it comes to self-improvement, how in the hell do you keep track of all those things you want to do, and also be present in the moment, and on top of all that, take care of your business in the real world?
I mean, I can logically tick off the things I want to work on, but when I'm stressed or tired or hungry, how do I keep those goals in my mind while also dealing with the stress, and still have energy to do all those other things I need to handle, like work, cooking, cleaning, showering....? How do people constantly strive to be better than they were, and still maintain their sanity? My God, it feels like madness to just think about it!
My answer is, of course, to keep feeding my brain what I want to know, how I want to develop myself, so that I don't have to waste brain power on remembering, I can just go back into that zone for 20 minutes in a book before I go to sleep. Is that cheating?
I have been catching myself before mindlessly reacting recently. I've been trying to breathe instead of speak sometimes, and speak instead of ruminate. Maybe I just got wired backwards, and I need to somehow flip-flop those circuits to be normal? Hehehe, can I ever be normal? It's kind of fun to not react in a comfortable way, it's exciting to see a different way of living.
Instead of vomiting anger at my husband for not doing what we agreed he would do, like giving Taryn her bath last night, I give myself 2 minutes to calm down, (and give him a 2 minute chance to be the noble man I know he longs to be), then I do what needs to be done and appreciate the extra time I have with her.
On our way to gymnastics yesterday, P decided 5 minutes before we were leaving that he did in fact want to go. He was dressed and ready in about 3 minutes, then sat at the computer to check his email while I put on my shoes. As I was bringing Boogie to the car, he told me to wait so he could make some coffee. Instead of react to him lacking forethought, sitting at the computer wasting time when he could have been downstairs making his coffee, I told him I wasn't waiting and put her in the car.
He made it out of the house right before we pulled away, and was able to see Boogie having a blast for an hour.
It's taken me a long time to realize that my control issues are detrimental to my wellbeing. I have been trying for so long to control what is beyond my grasp, and I've gone crazy wondering why the world doesn't turn how I know it would most effectively. I'm reining all that in, and I'm really focusing on myself, the one person I can control in my life. It's taken my 6 years of marriage to realize that P is outside my range, and I officially give up trying to change him.
That doesn't mean I won't wish he'd do things differently, but I feel at peace knowing that it's up to God, not me, to make him more responsible.
I don't like New Age-y stuff. I'm not a fan of non-fiction. But if anyone has good book recommendations, fiction or story-like non-fiction, that I can learn from, please let me know. I'm all about feeding myself what's good and healthy and sane right now, so no more murder mysteries or horror stories, but after that I'm stuck as to where to turn.
I mean, I can logically tick off the things I want to work on, but when I'm stressed or tired or hungry, how do I keep those goals in my mind while also dealing with the stress, and still have energy to do all those other things I need to handle, like work, cooking, cleaning, showering....? How do people constantly strive to be better than they were, and still maintain their sanity? My God, it feels like madness to just think about it!
My answer is, of course, to keep feeding my brain what I want to know, how I want to develop myself, so that I don't have to waste brain power on remembering, I can just go back into that zone for 20 minutes in a book before I go to sleep. Is that cheating?
I have been catching myself before mindlessly reacting recently. I've been trying to breathe instead of speak sometimes, and speak instead of ruminate. Maybe I just got wired backwards, and I need to somehow flip-flop those circuits to be normal? Hehehe, can I ever be normal? It's kind of fun to not react in a comfortable way, it's exciting to see a different way of living.
Instead of vomiting anger at my husband for not doing what we agreed he would do, like giving Taryn her bath last night, I give myself 2 minutes to calm down, (and give him a 2 minute chance to be the noble man I know he longs to be), then I do what needs to be done and appreciate the extra time I have with her.
On our way to gymnastics yesterday, P decided 5 minutes before we were leaving that he did in fact want to go. He was dressed and ready in about 3 minutes, then sat at the computer to check his email while I put on my shoes. As I was bringing Boogie to the car, he told me to wait so he could make some coffee. Instead of react to him lacking forethought, sitting at the computer wasting time when he could have been downstairs making his coffee, I told him I wasn't waiting and put her in the car.
He made it out of the house right before we pulled away, and was able to see Boogie having a blast for an hour.
It's taken me a long time to realize that my control issues are detrimental to my wellbeing. I have been trying for so long to control what is beyond my grasp, and I've gone crazy wondering why the world doesn't turn how I know it would most effectively. I'm reining all that in, and I'm really focusing on myself, the one person I can control in my life. It's taken my 6 years of marriage to realize that P is outside my range, and I officially give up trying to change him.
That doesn't mean I won't wish he'd do things differently, but I feel at peace knowing that it's up to God, not me, to make him more responsible.
I don't like New Age-y stuff. I'm not a fan of non-fiction. But if anyone has good book recommendations, fiction or story-like non-fiction, that I can learn from, please let me know. I'm all about feeding myself what's good and healthy and sane right now, so no more murder mysteries or horror stories, but after that I'm stuck as to where to turn.
January 31, 2008
Bridges Out of Poverty
Yesterday, I went to the most amazing workshop I have attended in my life.
Not only was the presenter a down-to-earth, friendly, empathetic, knowledgeable and funny woman, the information she presented has answered so many questions that I have had in my life, and given me so much insight into my own situation that I am stunned. It’s like a light bulb has gone off in my head, and I am dying to learn more about myself and my clients.
There has been a disconnect between my husband and myself since we were married, and I honestly am in the wrong because I chalked up his “laziness” to being unmotivated. The reality that I have come to realize today is that I am operating in the frame of mind of the middle class, where hard work (see last post), achievement and material wealth are my guiding principals. I am working my ass off every day to give Boogie a better life than I had, and I am overwhelmed and frustrated with the prospect of doing that myself.
Pedro, however, has been operating on a basis of poverty, where his values are very different than mine. He is focused on entertainment as a mental stimulus that he is not receiving anywhere else, and rather than hard work, he counts on his relationships to bring him through hard times.
This is not so much an Aha! for me, because they are differences that I have observed and lamented in the past, but this workshop put it in a contextual framework that makes sense. She pulls together all these little pieces of information that I have gleaned from my life, and makes it a cohesive theory, while simultaneously providing insight in what we can do to improve our interactions with people who operate on a different level than we do.
I was also so grateful to have some validation to the pruning of my friendship tree (my lame phrase, not Dr. Payne’s) that I did after high school. She said that in order for us to operate on the next higher level, we sometimes have to leave behind those relationships that are no longer working for us. The people that I stopped interacting with were fine with being where they were, and maybe had lofty expectations of their lives, but were not making moves to induce any type of change. I always felt that there was a difference between me and them, and maybe that was part of it. I wasn’t satisfied with where I was, I wanted to do better, I had the motivation to make changes in my life, and I had to let them and my old ways go before I could do that.
And once again I was reminded how lucky I was to have such an amazing woman as a mother. I really don’t think that if she hadn’t instilled in me a sense that I could do better than what I was mostly exposed to, that if she hadn’t connected me with professional women as role models, if she hadn’t encouraged me to help other people, thereby helping myself in the process, I may never have made it as far as I have.
More later, I have to go home and see my angel, but this is definitely not the last you’ll hear of this..
Not only was the presenter a down-to-earth, friendly, empathetic, knowledgeable and funny woman, the information she presented has answered so many questions that I have had in my life, and given me so much insight into my own situation that I am stunned. It’s like a light bulb has gone off in my head, and I am dying to learn more about myself and my clients.
There has been a disconnect between my husband and myself since we were married, and I honestly am in the wrong because I chalked up his “laziness” to being unmotivated. The reality that I have come to realize today is that I am operating in the frame of mind of the middle class, where hard work (see last post), achievement and material wealth are my guiding principals. I am working my ass off every day to give Boogie a better life than I had, and I am overwhelmed and frustrated with the prospect of doing that myself.
Pedro, however, has been operating on a basis of poverty, where his values are very different than mine. He is focused on entertainment as a mental stimulus that he is not receiving anywhere else, and rather than hard work, he counts on his relationships to bring him through hard times.
This is not so much an Aha! for me, because they are differences that I have observed and lamented in the past, but this workshop put it in a contextual framework that makes sense. She pulls together all these little pieces of information that I have gleaned from my life, and makes it a cohesive theory, while simultaneously providing insight in what we can do to improve our interactions with people who operate on a different level than we do.
I was also so grateful to have some validation to the pruning of my friendship tree (my lame phrase, not Dr. Payne’s) that I did after high school. She said that in order for us to operate on the next higher level, we sometimes have to leave behind those relationships that are no longer working for us. The people that I stopped interacting with were fine with being where they were, and maybe had lofty expectations of their lives, but were not making moves to induce any type of change. I always felt that there was a difference between me and them, and maybe that was part of it. I wasn’t satisfied with where I was, I wanted to do better, I had the motivation to make changes in my life, and I had to let them and my old ways go before I could do that.
And once again I was reminded how lucky I was to have such an amazing woman as a mother. I really don’t think that if she hadn’t instilled in me a sense that I could do better than what I was mostly exposed to, that if she hadn’t connected me with professional women as role models, if she hadn’t encouraged me to help other people, thereby helping myself in the process, I may never have made it as far as I have.
More later, I have to go home and see my angel, but this is definitely not the last you’ll hear of this..
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