April Fools Day in 2014

Originally published April 2014 

in LaBelladiva.com

It was surprising with a trickster husband skulking around the house I didn’t get zonked with an April Fool’s prank.

This week in the kitchen . . . we enjoyed a very delicious cuban style roast pork accompanied by tasty black beans and white rice. The meal is a staple in the latin community, kind of like a burger and fries. It is a meal that lasts at least a couple of days and when you’ve have enough, the pork is resurrected into another meal.

This time around it turned out to be what we call The Captain’s Pork Stew, a very delicious thick soup that is loaded with pork and various vegetables in a light tomato sauce. Learning how to use leftovers to make different meals is a trick we are perfecting in an attempt to stretch our food dollars.

Check out Gina’s Italian Kitchen for some awesome recipe discoveries I’ve made this week!

My curiosity has been peaked by felt crafts that I have been running into around the internet. Seems to be a rather inexpensive and easy craft to get involved with. Cute stuff worth looking into.

It has been one of those weeks when certain music has been ringing in my ears and I couldn’t ignore it. The result is a music post on my blog Gina’s Music Memories . . . Linda Ronstadt, The Mad Love Album. It took me back to the days of the early 80’s and new wave music. Good times and great memories! Great music too . . . check it out if you haven’t heard it or it has been a long time.

Then there is my blog about life . . . Peace, Love, Happiness. Sometimes the most bizarre thoughts cross my mind and I just have to explore them in detail. Just stuff of life that happens or feelings or emotions we go through. Sometimes happy, sometimes not too happy. I’ve been trying to cut down my smoking in an attempt to quit smoking and my thoughts go to strange places. But don’t we all do that?

By the way . . . having a really tough time kicking the habit. April 2 was my quit date and I almost made it the whole day. The Captain quit cold turkey a while back, he’s on day 50 something of being nicotine free . . . extremely proud of him!

A couple of months ago, a very large tree limb crumbled part of our large storage shed that holds all my treasures. The Captain is finally feeling better after his surgery to tackle that problem. We are going to have all types of log furniture, I kid you not! Get ready for some of those DIY projects . . .

All is well for another week in Gina’s internet world . . . hope you all have an awesome weekend!

Peace, Love, Happiness and the Blahs

Originally posted April 2014 

in LaBelladiva.com

The big ugly monster . . . I hate him (yes, to me he is a male). His name is THE BLAHS!!

Seriously, I truly believe we all get them. For sure I wish I didn’t know this guy!

Anyway, depression, anxiety and restlessness have been an ongoing battle for me. When I write about my mental health problems, I do so not just to help me, but to help others who perhaps feel they are alone in their battle.

One of the tools a former psychotherapist introduced me to is journaling. I choose to do most of my journaling in the form of blog posts for my blog Peace, Love, Happiness.

The blog was born out of a need to write about the grief I was experiencing following the death of my spouse in addition to my depression related illnesses. It has evolved through the years, however, the theme remains the same and is universal . . . we all want Peace, Love and Happiness in our lives. The blog explores those three little words.

My mental health reference page goes along with the blog. Sometimes it is important to do research, find an organization, forum, find out more about prescription medications we have been prescribed or just understand what we are experiencing in greater detail. The internet has presented us with a wealth of information!

The blahs doesn’t mean you have a chronic mental illness. Sometimes coping with life will present us with a bad case of the blahs. Actually, in my opinion, you are not normal if you have never experienced the blahs.

Want to read some of my posts specifically about “the blahs?” . . . click here.

And yes, you guessed it, “the blahs” come to mind since I am being visited by the monster. The Captain and I have both been fighting the battle of a stomach virus that does not want to go away . . . at the same time, a toothache has decided to show it’s ugly head too. Blah, blah, blah!!!

Organized Kitchens

ORIGINALLY POSTED APRIL 2014

IN LABELLADIVA.COM

To some people, this kitchen looks terribly cluttered. To me, it is colorfully festive and beautiful.

Actually, this is what I was striving for when I first changed up my kitchen and pulled off the cabinet doors a while back. Colorful, festive kitchen glassware, especially vintage, is one of my big loves. I want to look at it every time I walk into the room. It brings me joy. Crazy . . . I know, to many of you, it sounds like I’m as crazy as a loon.

Well, as years have gone by and my new husband has added his touches to the kitchen, gone is the festivity and semi-functionality is what is left. He’s super tall and I’m super short, so something at his fingertips requires a step ladder for me. And not so appealing to my eyes.

As it stands, we have not solved our kitchen dilemma!

The photo comes from an article I found, 20 Organized Kitchens from Real Cooks. It looks like a promising article to assist us and I have decided to do more research looking for more articles like this one, which I will add to this post as I find them.

For those of us who love to cook and love our kitchen stuff, the way it is stored and organized is very important. When there are two passionate cooks in that kitchen, both opinions have got to count . . . not an easy task!

Dreams of Back in the Day

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED APRIL 2014 IN LABELLADIVA.COM

Dreams can take you back to a time and place in vivid detail, at least they do for me. Since I’ve had this virus or flu that has hung on for way too long, sleep has been something craved and enjoyed.

This afternoon’s nap took me to a dream back to my childhood days of the 60’s. When I woke up, it felt as if I had actually been there again, reliving the moment, visiting with those loved ones that are no longer with us. It is truly a gift.

Anyway, the dream was part real and part parody . . . dreams can be like that. It was set back in the day, but I was a child in present day. The time and place was a party, probably around the holidays, at my godmother and godfather’s house. They had grand parties and as a child I loved them!

The food and drinks were overflowing, the music was playing loud and there were the regulars who were on the “dance floor.” You know how people get when they have alcoholic beverages, a bit less inhibited. Well, I can remember sitting on the couch with my Nana having a good time laughing with raised eyebrows at those who were really getting into the watusi or whatever dance they were shaking their booty to. In real life, we did that all the time!

It is very annoying that I can’t remember all the stuff that I remember right after I woke up. Don’t you hate that about dreams?

The good thing is I remember the people in the dream. Especially my Nana. I miss her so much and dream of her often. Sometimes I think I “wish” myself into a dream with her in it. It must sound crazy to someone who does not dream like I do. My Nana does not visit my mom in her dreams no matter how much she craves a visit with her mom. I tell her about mine like it was a real visit, we have a good cry at the days she was with us and how much we miss her. Dreams can be bittersweet!

On the other hand, The Captain has dreams of the military that are disturbing and often keep him from having a good night’s sleep. On occasion, I’ll have those disturbing dreams where someone is chasing me and I wake up exhausted and will fight my sleep so I won’t go back there. Bad dreams are like that . . . I often go back to them and feel like I can’t get out of it!

Dreams also have a strong power of suggestion . . . after seeing all that food spread out on those tables, I woke up so hungry for all that good holiday food. Of course, there is none of that type of food in the kitchen and it is later at night and too late for a trip to the store. I should go back to sleep and try to go back to that dream so I can have some of that awesome food.

Let's Talk Chicken

Can you ever have enough chicken recipes?

We can’t!

The Captain and I love stocking up on chicken when it is on sale at the local meat market or grocery store.  Sometimes we will cook whole chickens, shred the meat and freeze enough for one casserole in separate bags.  What a time saver, not to mention you can save so much money doing this.

Do you get bored with the same ole recipes week after week?  

Expand your choices!

Click here for chicken recipes from my food blog, Gina’s Italian Kitchen.

Moving website

I have decided to move LaBelladiva.com to this blog.  In the coming days, selected blog posts from LaBelladiva.com will be moving to this blog.

Having a paid website is highly overrated!

Happy Holidays :)

New website to replace this blog

More changes . . .

I will no longer be posting to this blog . . . it is being replaced by LaBelladiva.com.  

It is set up with RSS if you would like to subscribe!