Life in Rehab is BACK! Get ready for a slew of new projects for the new year! We just can't promise we know what we're doing!

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So deck out, do some early holiday gift shopping,
strut your stuff and make a statement!


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Friday, September 23, 2011

Soup's On!

This easy dinner does it all:
It provides tons of veggies to catch you up on your 5 servings,
it's easy,
it simmers and needs just a few last minute touches,
and it's vegetarian.
Savannah and Thom are both vegetarian, and although Samwow is a T-Rex style carnivore, even he likes soup night.
The secret is in the dippers.
 For the soup, you will need:
2 cans of vegetable broth
2 envelopes of vegetarian onion soup mix
1 tsp of Adobo seasoning
1 can of reduced salt corn
1 can of reduced salt peas
1 can of reduced salt green beans
1 28 ounce can of diced petite Italian tomatoes
5 carrots peeled and sliced bite size
3 ribs of sliced celery
1 large onion, minced
2 cloved of garlic, minced
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
4 basil leaves
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 nineteen ounce bag of frozen cheese tortellini

Pour the oil into a large soup or stock pot on medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and Adobo. Saute until the onion starts to brown, then add the stock. Stir in the onion soup mix. Now dump in all the canned veggies INCLUDING the juices. Add the carrots, celery, and the herbs, stir well, cover, and simmer on low for a couple of hours.
That's my favorite part. Let dinner cook itself.
 10 minutes before serving, crank the heat up to a gentle boil and add the tortellini.
 Now to make this even more appealing...
 Slice a loaf of French bread about 1" thick and place it on a cookie sheet. Spoon petite diced Italian tomatoes right from a can on top.
 Top with freshly grated Asiago cheese and place in the oven on 350 degrees until melted and crisp.
 Perfect for dipping in our soup. This can be done while the tortellini cooks.
 How about we end up with some really delicious apple crisp?
9 apples - cored and sliced
1 cup brown sugar
4 cups all-purpose and whole wheat flour mix
3 cups white sugar
4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
1 stick of butter, melted
Chopped walnuts if desired

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. In a large baking pan, mix sliced apples with brown sugar. In a large bowl, mix together flour, white sugar, cinnamon and salt. In a small bowl, beat together egg and melted butter. Stir into flour mixture. Spread evenly over apples. Sprinkle with the walnuts.



Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until topping is golden and crisp.
How simple is that for a scratch dessert?
This is great with ice cream of course.

And nothing says Fall quite like this menu.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Autumn, Naturally

 For Spring and Summer, we did a predictable beach theme throughout the house with sand and shells.
Not to say we didn't love it.
 But it was time to change the seasons.
 So we gathered all our beachy goodies...
 ...and the glass tree frogs...
...and enthusiastically prepared to change out the decor!
 Always save your vase filler.

 Wash the vessels.
 And now for the fun part. All you need for this is black river rock and white candles, all either on hand or picked up at the Dollar Tree.



 The twisted twigs add dramatic height, but they don't block the diner's view.

 We've decided Fall this year will have a starker, more natural feel, and this is just the beginning.


I think it's a good counterpoint to all the color in the house.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The Rehab Houdini Returns!

Yes, I know, I disappeared again, but I have a good excuse! 
As of Thursday night, this was my view:
If you can't quite tell from the bad cell phone pic, it's an IV bag loaded with a few selections for my dining enjoyment. I had a lovely seat in the ER of my favorite hospital as the health problems that have been plaguing me finally came to a head.
Sam steered me out the door forcibly, and he can do that; he's a big guy, and he's good with knots.
I spent the next 5 days being poked, prodded, cleaned out, transfused, inspected, rejected, and detected.
I found out what stuff that had been inside me looked like.
I didn't take photos of that, chill.
My dance partner through this carnival of secretions was a monitored IV unit I dubbed WALL-E who followed me to the bathroom and everywhere else. We were tethered tightly. I felt like I was playing jumprope at times trying to launch myself back into my Venus Flytrap of a hospital bed over tubing and electrical cords, bright magenta panties in the air despite my demure hospital gown.
If I had any modesty left, it's gone, baby.

At least I wasn't alone for any of this. Sam left my side only to shower and check on the house. He slept in a recliner. He jumped the minute I needed something. He unplugged and plugged WALL-E as needed. And all he kept saying is, "We'll get through this."
People, that's love.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

What the &;^%$#@ Are You Wearing Wednesday!?!? Masked Mexican Wrestler Edition

It was a strange day.
But tell me when it ISN'T a strange day around here.
 There was a muscular tattooed guy in my dining room.

 With baggy "I give up" pants.
 Beefy, no?
 Um, no.
 Take it off, boy. Remove the ink too.
 Down to the muscle suit.
 This is what happens when the film crew is over doing costume check.
He's gonna go do crunches now. I'm gonna do some six ounce wine curls.

So, whatcha wearing?
Life in Rehab

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Behind Your Back

I know. We really haven't done anything creative lately, have we?
While the Minions are doing my bidding today, I thought I'd show you what you haven't been subjected to.
Sometimes, you should be grateful for what you've missed.
 We made a Pikachu tutu. Aren't you sorry you missed that?
 We made this out of Fimo clay. No, I don't know what it is. My cool points have expired.
 We hot glued lizards to wig heads.
I'm totally kidding. Do NOT call PETA.
We shrink wrapped cats in plastic. Again, don't call PETA. Smidgen is just fine.
 When the ceiling started to fall, I forced the Minions to hold it up.
Man, can they whine.
 We taught the Feline Overlords to weed. Let me tell you, it's a time saver!
 I did an entire photo shoot on hair and beauty tips. Would you have cared?
 We made this, and someone somewhere is wearing it. I'm not lying.
 I've decided this is ambient lighting.
Buy $200 worth of IKEA furniture, have dinner, return the next day.
Yeah, like I'd return IKEA stuff.
Mostly, we just try to look cool and carry on. And we pledge to you that the dry spell is over.
We are back in business.