This is really just for me.

I've been cooking lately, and I need to write down the recipes. If this interests you, feel free to read. If not, click away to your heart's content.

Sloppy Lentils
(adapted from here)
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 new potatoes, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups veg. stock
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
6 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 cup whole lentils, rinsed
1/2 cup basmati rice, rinsed

1 large handful spinach, chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 small handful parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon paprika

Saute top list of ingredients in large stock pot. Add next list in order. Boil. Then reduce heat to low and stir in the rest of ingredients. Simmer covered for an hour, stirring occasionally. If it looks too dry while cooking, add more water, 1/2 cup at a time. Taste for salt and pepper when finished. Eat as a stew or on a hamburger bun for authenticity's sake. Add ketchup to individual servings for a real sloppy joe taste.

Makes a shit-ton, so freeze most of it. Better the next day. Also, this would be less lentil-y with red lentils, but leave out the tomato sauce and water if using those.

Chicken Salad
shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
crisp apple (any type), diced finely
celery, diced finely
onion, diced finely
parsley, diced finely

mayonnaise
apple cider vinegar
pinch of salt, dash of pepper
dash hot sauce

Amounts are relative to the amount of chicken you start with. Toss together top list of ingredients. In a container mix second ingredient list. Stir everything together with a fork until all ingredients are well incorporated. Taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper.

Serve on a salad of spinach leaves dressed with a vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, s&p, and a tiny bit of dijon mustard.

Unravel the paper flowers 'til the colors look neat.

So, I quit smoking. Two, maybe three weeks ago, I'm not really sure. Not good at the whole "concept of time" thing. I really wish I could say that it was difficult, because that would mean I have awesome willpower, but it really wasn't hard at all. I don't crave cigarettes, I don't think about it, I don't really even care. I remember once, long ago, I bought a box of nicotine patches to help me quit. Umm, it didn't work because they made me sick. Like nausea, the shakes, et cet. Turns out I didn't smoke enough to require the use of patches, gum, and the like. Kind of sad actually. Plus, those things are expensive, shit.

Anyway, I guess the question is, why did I quit? Why now? My dad gives me disappointed looks every time he sees a pack in my car. He tells me that I'm going to die of cancer like my Uncle Steve. (Yeah, he really says that.) But that wasn't enough. I can deal with disappointing my parents, I've been doing so since I was about seven. Here's the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back: a kitten. See my sister's cat was never spayed, so when she snuck out, she got knocked up. She had FIVE kittens. Poor thing, she was gigantic. Anyway, I said I would take one of the boys. Two were going to her roommate, one to her other roommate, and one to a friend. So one went to Nashville with the friend. It died. I was so mad for awhile, I thought maybe they didn't take care of her, or something. Then we took the rest of the kittens for their first check-up. They have feline leukemia. I cried for about two days. Basically, it's like AIDS. It will eventually become active and will destroy their immune systems until they die from a disease they get because their immune systems can't fight it. If this innocent kitten can be born with something that will kill him, why am I purposefully increasing my own chances of dying? Anyway, it sounds way stupid now, but that's what it was. I'm going to keep Rocky (named after Balboa, because he's a fighter) until the virus becomes active. They can test him periodically, and I'll watch him for symptoms. He is an amazing little guy, and just so I don't end this on a completely depressing note, here are some gratuitous kitten pictures:

And I promise my next post won't be so dreary.

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.

To talk about their feelings. Instead of having lots of boys fall in love with me, I have lots of boys who fall in platonic love with me. I can't tell you how many guys have spilled their guts to me, telling me about their relationships, and how their girlfriends are crazy, and then they want to be bff with me. Uh, hi, I don't give a shit. From my experience, yeah, girls are pretty psycho. But the only reason that's not said as often about boys is because they're better at hiding it. For some reason, I tend to draw out the crazy in people of both sexes. I guess I'm an equal opportunity conversationalist. I know I'm a really awesome person, and I'm intelligent and sensitive, and I know that no one gets you like I do, but please, sometimes a girl's just tryin' to get some. I realize that I display a lot of typically male traits: common sense, directness, umm, I'm better at science and math than other subjects. But this doesn't mean that I'm your guy friend.

The fact is that the vast majority of my friends are women. And, trust me, they take full advantage of my available ear, too. Anyway, I suppose I'm complaining because I haven't had this problem in awhile. And now that it's cropped up again, I don't really know how to handle it. I guess, since I'm such an understanding person, I feel that I should receive some sort of compensation. So boys, if you want a bff who will listen to your girlfriend woes, you better make sure to get me drunk first. What's the name on your tab?