Away message.

Hi all! I'm so sorry I took a little break and didn't even have the courtesy of posting an away message. Ok so I was gone for more than just a little break. Ok ok, so it was longer than 2 weeks but what can I say I was on holiday! Ok, ok so I wasn't on holiday, instead I was at home sick w/ the plague. Alright I didn't have the plague but it sure felt like it. Incidentally any of you ladies who has a husband who understands what his role is to be when you are sick you should thank him now and tell him how much you appreciate that he knows what he's supposed. I love Mr. G. to death and he is a wonderful man, husband and father but boy oh boy when I'm sick I am left to fend for myself. I mean I get up and get my own medicine, water, food...well I do it all when I'm sick and feel as though I'm dying. You would not have been able to walk into my house that week because my poor Mr. G. God bless his soul does not know how to handle kids, sick wife and housework all at the same time. I think one day I'll leave him for several hours alone with the kids when there's food shopping, laundry and housework to be done as a sort of boot camp type thing and see where that leaves us. Don't misunderstand, my husband DOES housework, laundry, cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, the whole nine yards but he's inexperienced in doing all these things while trying to keep order with our two toddlers lil' Lady G. and lil' Lord G. I have been very blessed that my husband does know how to do more than other husbands but my poor man is not very keen on being left alone with the kiddos. Maybe he fears the worst but then in his defense with two toddlers the worst CAN happen and it sure has to me so I don't blame him. Anywho, I was left dying on my bed for days straight while Mr. G's attempts to help me were to take the kids away (out of the house) to let me rest while laundry piled up and dishes collected mold in the sink. Oh boy, I'm so glad to be feeling better and now that order has somewhat been restored I have some free time to blog again and catch up on some Crazy Facebook Status Tuesday (CFST). While bed ridden and hoping to be beaten in the head by a hammer rather than feel as sick as I did I was of course scrolling through my Facebook to find anything that would lift my spirits and as I reached for yet another tissue and more Tylenol Severe Cold which apparently means severe cold as in you have sniffles and a very bad headache not however, severe as in you feel as though every breath you take would be your last and you're starting to see strange leprechaun figures dancing around your room warning about the oil situation on our planet I stumbled upon a few Crazy Facebook Statuses and took mental note to include those in my next post. Now mental note was not a good idea when I was as sick as I was because I'm pretty sure that at some point in there I was unsure who that strange man standing above me was and why those children kept telling me they love me, I did however manage to hang on to the mental image of two of those statuses and I'll share them with you now. These both offered no explanation as to what they meant even when people posted comments demanding to know the meaning of such a post so it's all left up to your imagination. A. Drinking is Thinkin'!
Now I ask, wth is that supposed to mean? Even when you're drunk it wouldn't make sense.

B. How the hell am I supposed to upload a picture of a Manatee?
What?! I can't even say any more on this one.

Share with me your Crazy Facebook Statuses and we can all have a good laugh...hopefully we can cheer up someone who is very sickly and bedridden and thinking about all the chores that await her when she's finally well again, yay.

Note: Crazy Facebook Status Tuesday (CFST) will still remain on Tuesdays. I'll see ya again next Tuesday!

and remember,
don't let the day get you down, just Xtreme cheese!

Facebook.com or DearDiary.com??

Hello all! Like millions I'm a Facebook member and I'm here to ask...did someone mistake Facebook.com for DearDiary.com? It seems that people have a lot of aggression to get out of their system and decided to blurt it to the world of Facebook. Any one else see an issue with this? I'm appalled at what I read sometimes in disbelief that anyone actually wrote that and hit that little comment button knowing that all their "Friends" will read it. How people think it's ok to post their personal problems is beyond me. I actually read one day "If one more person calls me crazy I'm gonna show them crazy" as someones status. Hmmm....let me see CRAZY it's CRAZY just to post that as your status message CRAZY! What did this person actually wish to accomplish with this post? "Oh no, they said if you call them crazy they're going to show you crazy, we better not". I think quite the opposite happened, I think there is now a group on Facebook somewhere where everyone just calls this person crazy and they all have a big laugh. How about the ones who constantly have to let you know where they are and what they are doing and with whom. It seems to me that if you are taking the time to update your status just to let everyone know that you are out having fun and they're not that you are actually not having that much fun at all if you had the time to do all this. And I LOVE the ones who feel the urge to rub things in everyones face like "just bought my new Jimmy Choos for tonight's party, yay" or "At the Lexus dealer thinking of trading in my BMW...pics to come" and swear they don't sound like losers. Oh lordy and then there are the ones who don't quite know how to use Facebook yet and answer someone's e-mail in their status box and ends up looking something like this "Yeah, me and John had a great time at the resort. He's really opened up to me this weekend and we might be taking our relationship to the next level, I just wish his wife hadn't been calling him the entire weekend to double check the itinerary so she knew when to pick him up from his "business trip", ugh". Someone please tell this person what they have done! You know you've seen this kind of thing and haven't said anything to that person instead you've told your other mutual friends to check out their status, lol. Cruel, funny but cruel but a little more funny than cruel, lol. So my dear bloggers and bloggets I think Facebook provides me with enough material to hearby declare this the start of Crazy Facebook Status Tuesday! or CFST for short. Every Tuesday I will be sharing my Crazy Facebook Status experience and I invite you all to share yours! Please don't be shy and remember not to use actual names of people, please keep everyone's identity private. Tell me what you think.

Till next time,
and remember don't let the day get you down...just Xtreme cheese!

Easy tater tot casserole recipe.

Hello all! Ok, first things first...I will admit that I am not passionate about cooking in any way (weird isn't it)...no no, my husband is actually the one whose cuisine you want to try if ever having the chance. I cook to survive, there's no passion, no enjoyment, no creativity when I cook, I follow a recipe of the basic and if it happens to taste good after it's all done that's a plus. I'm more of a recipe follower. I look for recipes that sound great and (very important) easy enough for me not to screw it all up. I have been known to take a few liberties here and there adding or subtracting ingredients that I have no business fiddling with and disaster is almost always the result. Sooo, with that being said I will tell you that I subscribe to several recipe sites that can assist me in my daily cooking and came across this Tater Tot Casserole dish that sounded very interesting and decided to try it. Everything is very basic and almost fool proof, it was perfect! I'm always very excited presenting new recipes to my hubby since as I mentioned before he is quite gifted in the culinary arts, however, I'm the homemaker and need to have dinner ready for his arrival from work. He seemed to like the idea so I continued on my quest and went to the supermarket and made all my ingredient purchases. A little nervous as always while preparing my dinner because there still is that possiblity of failure and boy it is not pretty. The recipe called for Cream of Mushroom Soup which I quickly substituted with Cream of Chicken Soup...you see my issue...and at last minute preparation I decided to add another ingredient, yes, it doesn't stop folks and I certainly don't learn from my past mistakes. Even more nervous now as the casserole is bubbling away and I'm marking the time very carefully. The finish product...ok I should get the pot holders cause man that dish is hot! Alright everything comes out of the oven looking fab, I wonder who will taste it first...ok, I'll do it. Fantastic!! My best yet!! I surprised myself! This dish is so yummy yummy ummy (that's not a typo by the way that is indeed how I say it) I could barely believe it was created with my own hands! This dish came out great and it was so easy that I felt the need to share it for other cooking impaired wives and moms out there who dread that everyday task. The recipe is below with my amendments. Enjoy and tell me all what you thought if you make it!

Tater Tot Casserole
1lb. ground beef
8oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can of Evaporated milk
1 2lb. bag of Tater Tots
1 packet of Sazon Goya w/achote
1 generous amount of Adobo (I buy the Goya brand w/pepper but you can really use any kind)

Brown your ground beef first to make sure it is well cooked then season w/Adobo and Sazon Goya. Add 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup and half a can of Evaporated milk. Stir and let simmer for about 15 mins. Place ground beef mixture on the bottom of your casserole dish and neatly place tater tots over top of mixture (it will take about 2/3 of the bag, unless you want some more tater tot goodness that is). Place casserole dish into 350 preheated oven until tots are a golden brown. Sprinkle cheese over top of tots and let cheese melt in oven. Remove and Voila!! Serves 4 to 6.

Till next time,
and remember don't let the day get you down...just Xtreme Cheese!

Scotch-Brite Ultra Nail Saver Scrubber Sponge

Hey all! Just a few days ago I was walking down the aisle at my local Walgreens and saw this new sponge by 3M - the Scotch-Brite Ultra Nail Saver scrubber sponge. I hadn't seen this one before so I picked it up and realized it was everything I had been looking for in a sponge. The regular scrubber sponges that I had been using obviously did nothing to help my nails stay chic and I began to have issues with the sponge part of it. Don't get me wrong it's great to have the sponge and it comes in very handy many times but the fact that the sponge was so thick made it prone to quicker bacteria growth and I hate that. So about a week ago I had been thinking that they should make the sponge part of it a little skinnier to avoid that problem and what do you know here they've done just that and made it contured so your nails are saved! Brilliant! I took my new purchase home eager to try it. It works!! It's really a wonderful sponge and does what it's supposed to do. Only one complaint though, the middle sponge part which is less dense than that of a regular sponge has started to rip already, my guess is because of how you hold the sponge. However, I'm still going to buy another after this one and see if the problem still occurs or if it was just an isolated incident. All in all it's still a great sponge! Just thought I'd share.

Till next time,
And remember don't let the day get you down...just Xtreme Cheese!

Saving money at a fair w/toddlers.

Ok, so this is my very first blog post and I thought I'd share some tricks I've learned now being a mom of two toddlers. Let's face it we all like to save money and fairs are geared toward making you spend that hard earned cash so here are some things you can do to keep most of those precious dollars in your pocket. Toddlers aren't really a picky bunch so you can get away with this for a little while, I imagine it will get harder as the kids get older but we are all going through life learning as we go. I always say that you should never take your kids out without expecting to spend some money but it doesn't have to be a lot. Hubby and I always expect our kids to want something and cry and scream for it as well. This is always expected so we're never disappointed about the days events (it helps keep our sanity). One thing I've always done no matter where we go is always bring our own snacks and food (if possible). The diaper bag is already a staple of my wardrobe why not use it to it's full potential. Now I will warn you I am a true over packer, yes, I will over pack for just about any event (it helps keep my OCD in check)...hmmm...OCD, that's a topic for another time. Ok, so here are things I always pack for them aside from the essentials like change of clothes, diapers for the littlest and wipes...oh God bless the wipes! I always bring water and juice cups for both aside from milk for the littlest of course. A water bottle will cost you about $3.00 at most fairs so that's a nice bit that you'll save. Snacks, my children's favorite is Pirates Booty which is like cheese puffs but a bit healthier and they LOVE this stuff so I buy a regular sized bag (you can find it at Walgreens and some supermarkets) and bring the little baggies with us so I can distribute later and they don't have to stick their hands in the bag all the time and possibly spill all the precious booty! Fruit snacks are also a big hit. I also like to include some kind of cookies or crackers since my oldest is a bit of a cookie monster. Having these snacks on hand will lower the chances of them wanting some $4.00 slice of pizza...yes, the fair we went to on Sunday had $4.00 slices of pizza! That's just disturbing. Now here's the real money saver. I frequent dollar aisles and super duper sales for many purposes but one is the emergency toy lot. You can usually find some cool things on sale when you're not really looking for toys and remember they don't have to be anything grand because the chances of them loosing it at the fair are high. One thing I did was head out to my local Walmart after the 4th of July and ventured down the 4th of July aisle and low and behold all those glow sticks, bracelets and necklaces and just about any other toy that glows is on super duper sale! I got several of the above mentioned items for 25 cents or less each so I stocked up of course! Sunday when it was time for the fair I secretly packed some of these items in my handy dandy diaper bag and voila! When my kids were getting a little on edge and just on the verge of asking for a glow bracelet that costs $5 or another glowy thingy that cost $10 I whipped out my bracelets and glow sticks that cost me no more than $1.50 total and even had some to give to their new friends too. Needless to say everyone was more than happy and they all had a blast and Mommy and Daddy had a great time with no tantrums and that to us is priceless. We went home having watched a good show, listened to a good live band, tummies full and kids all tuckered out...perfect. So remember to keep a look out after the 4th of July for those sale items, you never know when you can use them. Glow in the dark toys can even be a life saver on a long car ride home at the end of the night...kids have a blast with them. Hope this post helps.

Till next time,
and remember, don't let the day get you down...just Xtreme Cheese!