Our New Place

Below are pictures of the apartment.  Minus only having one bedroom, I absolutely love our new place.  The light from the windows is spectacular. 

- Miss J

10 Reasons Why I Need to Start My New Job

Hello friends and family! Now that Moe and I are settled in Saint Louis, I thought this would be a good time to start my blog back up! 

With my new job not starting until July 11th, I am getting a taste of what it is like to be a house wife.  I must say, the role does not fit well with my personality.

Here are 10 reasons why I need to start my new job....

1) I get depressed each morning around 9 am when I finish running Skyler in the park and realize that I still have at least nine hours to kill before Moe will get home from work.  

2)  I am not a TV fan, however, I most definitely watched all three Twlight movies in one day. Now I feel like a waste of space.

3)  Online shopping is very dangerous.  With the click of one button, I have packages delivered daily.

4)  Moe made a rule no shopping until I got a job.  Since I got a job, I have been to three major malls in the area.  The rule is now no shopping period.

5) My afternoon consists of trying to break up dog fights when the Skyler and Lily get crazy over the ball.

6) I have vacuumed my apartment 9 times since we moved in.  We have only been here for 16 days.

7) Moe's beeper went off 8 times last night.  I was kind of excited about the sleep interruptions so that I would hopefully sleep in past 7:30 am.

8) Qdoba is located less than 50 yards from my front door.  I have to exhibit self control each time I emerge from the apartment.   

9) I spent two hours this week researching why dogs foam at the mouth. Research shows that this happens when dogs are very stressed or excited.  Obviously my dog does not have rabies so why I felt the need to research this is pure boredom.

10) I know all the maintenance, security, and office staff at my apartment complex by name.  I am pretty sure that they are equally as excited for me to start my job so I stop bothering them with random requests/questions.... Can you make me a spare set of keys for when I run?  What are you favorite restaurants in the area?  Can you spray the hornets nest that is starting to develop outside my window?


In conclusion, I am excited to start my new job on July 11th.

- Miss J

A Pshychological Addiction

I know I have confessed to my diet coke addiction to you all in the past.  However, I have never really thought of it as a "real" problem.  As a result, I haven't really made much effort to kick the habit to the curb.  However, my good friend (who also shares my love for diet coke) sent this article to me the other day at work.  After reading it, the only thoughts that consumed my mind were "Wow.  I have a problem." 

- Miss J

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/01/diet.soda.health/index.html?hpt=T2

Andersons Store - One Stop Shopping

Andersons Store is probably not where you'd think to look for your entertaining and household needs. However, I quickly learned that this is a great place to go for one stop shopping.  When Moe and I were remodeling our house four years ago, we had to buy all new blinds for our house.  Our old blinds were all royal blue and falling apart. I had to change my clothes in closets because otherwise our entire neighborhood would get a peep show.  We priced getting our blinds from Lowes, Home Depot, Budget Blinds, and various online places.  Someone told us to check out Andersons.  To our surprise, they were high quality and relatively inexpensive.  The ordering process was easy and the delivery and installation was quick.  We were 100% satisfied!

While we were there, we checked out the bakery and the deli and found an assortment of options.   I had always heard that my cousins and aunt used Andersons for when they entertained large parties, but I didn't realize how much variety the store offered.

For my mom's 60th birthday party, I decided to order chicken salad and ham salad from the deli at Andersons.  I ordered 1 lb of cranberry walnut chicken salad, 2 lbs of dill chicken salad, and 2 lbs of ham salad.  It was so easy to place the order ahead of time and they had it ready the day before the party.  I then went out and bought trays of Hawaiian rolls from Kroger's to make my sandwiches out of. One pound of salad made about 12 sandwiches.  Everyone was ranting and raving about how good they were.  I have to confess, I hardly had to do any work besides the assembly (which my sister was in charge of the day of the party).  I also ordered cream puffs and cannollis from the deli which were delightful.  They made a beautiful presentation on a three tier glass tower at my coffee station.  If you are hosting a large event and want to delegate some of the work out, I strongly recommend looking into ordering your food from Andersons.  It was inexpensive, quick, and easy. 

http://www.andersonsstore.com/

Tri-Color Pasta Salad

This pasta salad recipe has been around the block and back!  On my dad's side of the family, you can't host an event without this pasta salad making an appearance.  It is relatively easy and you can alter the recipe to include your favorite vegetables.  Additionally, any left overs keep really well.

1 lb box tri-color rotini pasta
green olives
carrots
broccoli
cauliflower
green onions
tomatoes
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1/2 cup sour cream
1 T mustard
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning


Chop up vegetables into bite sized pieces and set aside.  Mix mayo, Italian dressing, sour cream, mustard, and Italian seasoning in a mixing bowl.  Cook pasta according to packaging.  You want it to be al dente so that it won't fall apart when you mix the sauce in.  Once pasta is done, strain and run cold water over pasta through the strainer.  This will stop the pasta from continuing to cook.  Once pasta is 100% cooled, mix vegetables and sauce together in a large bowl. Reserve a bit of the sauce to toss with right before serving. Place in fridge for 1 hour to allow to set. Before serving mix in remaining sauce and serve immediately.  If you are out of sauce, mix in some extra sour cream to create some moisture in the pasta salad.

Notes:  This is a great recipe to make the night before.  Additionally, you can switch up the vegetables that you include.   I hate olives so peas and red bell peppers are good substitutions. 


Ratings:
Miss J, 10 out of 10
Moe, 8 out of 10
- Miss J

Cocktail Meatballs

A friend of mine at work gave me this recipe last weekend.  I generally don't like meatballs because they taste like a "round" version of meatloaf.  However, this recipe's sauce is sweeter than most and is followed by a nice kick from the chili powder. 

Cocktail Meatballs
Source:  Michelle P.
Serves: 60-70 meatballs depending on size

Meatballs:
3 lbs ground beef
1 1/2 cups Quaker old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup onion (finely chopped)
3 eggs

Sauce:
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp white distilled vinegar
1 tbsp worchester sauce

Mix meatball ingredients together in a mixing bowl.  Roll meatballs into small balls using your hands.  Heat a skillet on the stove and warm 1 tsp of olive oil.  Brown meatballs.  Mix the sauce and pour over meatballs.  Simmer until meatballs are fully cooked. 

Notes:   If I am in a crunch, I sometimes cheat and use frozen party or mini meatballs.  I mixed the sauce the night before and then put the frozen meatballs and sauce in a crock pot.  I let them heat up for several hours until hot and bubbly.   I then keep it on warm or low until I'm ready to serve. My friend told me to double the sauce as it is always better to have extra sauce when you are ready to serve.  I had a bit of extra sauce at the end, but I just threw it in the freezer for backup in the future.   

- Miss J

Wash U in St. Louis!

Years of Moe's hard work has finally paid off! Here we come Wash U! - Miss J