Chicken Fried Rice

• I had the leftover 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken and was wondering what to do with it... I decided on Chicken Fried Rice, only I've never made it before and had no idea how. After a quick Google, a glance at this recipe, and memories of my mom's version in mind I had it all figured out. I cooked some brown rice, chopped zuchinni & onion, shredded carrots, added some frozen baby peas, two big cloves of garlic, two tbsp of lite soy sauce, stirred in some eggs, tossed in the leftover chicken, fried it all up and voila! It was delicious. Cali even tried it without any prompting and said "Cali likes it! Yummmm" and ate about half a bowl. I was thrilled that she actually liked it after all the work I put into making it (by 'work' I mean, keeping her and D happily occupied while I chopped, stirred, answered phone calls, etc.) So I learned how to make fried rice which is exactly how it sounds, you take cooked rice and fry it up with a bunch of other stuff and it tastes delicious.
  

Chick-Fil-A

• Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sundays. I remembered after we drove there, saw the empty parking lot, and the big red letters on the sign "CLOSED SUNDAYS" that my Mother-In-Law had just told me that a couple weeks ago. That and Hobby Lobby, I went to HL about 5 times on a Sunday before I remembered that they are always closed on Sunday.
  

Petfinder

• Petfinder.com, the best online pet adoption search, even has Guinea Pigs! I would have never thought of that. The founder of Petfinder.com was on Ellen talking about it after her big Iggy ordeal and they said "... even Guinea Pigs". That's great news. I've kind of been thinking of a Guinea Pig pet for the kids (not anytime soon, but I was just thinking) and would definitely want to rescue one if that is a choice over buying from a pet store. So if you need a pet, even if its a Guinea Pig or a Rat or a Snake please check Petfinder.com first to see if there are any adorable animals in your local area that need to be adopted.
• While looking around petfinder, I also found a link to The Texas Rustlers Guinea Pig Rescue website, in case you are in the market specifically for a Guinea Pig. If you're in the market for any other specific animal or breed I highly suggest you Google it and you will very likely find a rescue group for your needs too.
  

Crock-Pot Paella

• You can make Chicken Paella in a Crock-Pot, and about a million other things too. I was checking out crock-pot.com for some new recipe ideas since it finally cooled down here and I'm in the mood for some warm, Fall comfort foods. Some other recipes I printed out were Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Feta, Spinach and Tomatoes, and Salsa Chicken. Yes I'm a big fan of chicken.
  
• Also I am learning that Baby D really, really hates to go to bed. Wonder where he got that from? If we're out in the evening he gets a five minute catnap on the way home and refuses to go to sleep til 2 hours later. Fun.

ETA: Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic was DELICIOUS. It made the house smell so good I couldn't wait to eat it and both babies gobbled it up too! Definitely making that one again.

Shut the Gate

• D has discovered the joys of the dog bowl. First it was the water, lots of fun to pull up (big dog, its up on a raised platform) and splash. Today there was actually food in the bowl (the dog usually eats at night so the bowl is empty all day, but he didn't eat last night) and as we were trying to head out the door he managed to sneak a piece into his mouth. Yummy! Time for me to make a habit of shutting the gate to the kitchen again...
  

Hilarious

• D in an elephant costume = HILARIOUS to Cali and her reaction had me rolling on the floor too. She couldn't stop laughing about the fact that "brother has a tail!"

Its Blog Action Day

• Yep, its Blog Action Day:

  On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

  I had no idea. My friend Vanessa clued me in, especially since the subject this year is the Environment and that's my forte!
  

So here's what I want you to do... RECYCLE!! Seriously people, its not that difficult. I really have a hard time throwing things away, and not because I'm emotionally attached but because I hate to think of it sitting in a landfill for hundreds, thousands, or billions of years. I don't know why but that has always bugged me. In college I did my Senior Thesis on Recycling and explored how to bring a feasible Recycling program to my hometown of Fairbanks, AK. Not easy considering the remote location, costs of transportation to Recycling facilities, etc. Unfortunately I did not find an easy solution, but I did find out a lot from my research and I got an "A" on the thesis. I also took a private tour of our local landfill, very eye-opening and a vivid image that remains with me every time I have to throw something out.

Here's something to think about the next time you throw something away.
Average time it take to decompose a...
■ banana -- 3 to 4 weeks
■ paper bag -- 1 month
■ cotton rag -- 5 months
■ wool sock -- 1 year
■ cigarette butt -- 2 to 5 years
■ leather boot -- 40 to 50 years
■ tin can -- 80 to 100 years
■ aluminum can -- 200 to 500 years
■ plastic 6-pack rings -- 450 years
■ plastic jug -- 1 million years
■ Styrofoam cup -- unknown? forever?
■ glass bottle -- unknown? forever?

So, the point is you should RECYCLE. Here's how I do it: I shop at the commissary where they happen to have huge recycling drop off bins for paper, cardboard, plastic and aluminum. When I shop I ask for paper bags and that is what I use for my collecting "bins" at home. I happen to have a large pantry so I keep my "bins" on the floor in there: one for paper, one for plastic, one for cardboard and I rarely drink soda but if I do I keep those cans too. When the bags get full I move them to the garage, when I go to do my grocery shopping I load up the back of my SUV and drop it all off in the recycling bins before I go in to shop. Its that simple. Really. I rinse out all my plastic bottles when they are empty and dump them in the plastic "bin". I gather up all my newspapers, junk mail, office papers, dump them in the paper "bin". All my cardboard boxes whether from mail packages or gifts or boxes of cereal, I unfold them, flatten them and stick them in the cardboard "bin". Unfortunately my location doesn't take glass, but I wash and save those too and use them for crafts or tool storage or find someone who needs them, people even buy/sell baby food jars on Ebay! After all this recycling I usually only have two bags of garbage per week. Its amazing how much "garbage" you can reduce by recycling the majority of your waste. My neighbors bins are always overflowing and it doesn't have to be that way.

Your assignment: wherever you live and whatever your situation, take some time this week to research your recycling options. Many cities have pick up service, you just have to call and request a bin (some cities charge a little extra for this service). Maybe you have the ability to recycle at work, do it! If your office recycles paper, save your home papers and bring them in to recycle too (ask your boss but I'm sure they won't mind). Maybe you will find a local recycling center that has drop off locations and some recycling places even pay you back. Please, for me, for the planet, for your children. Take the time to think about recycling and see how you can start recycling in your community, then spread the word to your friends & neighbors too!!