Because I need a new topic

I am so tired of illness.

There are many good things about being a parent. Illness is not one of them. It is awful seeing your child suffer and know that there is precious little you can do about it. That definitely sucks. I'll tell you what else sucks, and that is when you become a parent you forfeit the ability to be sick yourownself. Even if I decide to stay home to nurse my own illness, usually at the very least I have to get the kids up, dressed, and fed. On a good day I may be able to pass them off to a grandparent for school transportation. On a not so good day, I may have to provide that as well.

If we have back to back illness like we have recently, and I am required to stay home say 2.5 days with a sick child, I have automatically forfeited my ability to stay home to nurse my own illness. In all fairness this has as much to do with the type of work to do and my personal ethics as it does with being a parent.

So I have to power through two more days and then I can pass out for one before the work week starts up again.

You may all feel sorry for me now.

Thanks.

So let's talk about something else.....say FOOD.

I made a couple of kick ass meals over the last week.

The first was a new recipe for us. Chili Rubbed Steak Tacos. Yu-HUM! They were made up of skirt steak rubbed with a concoction of chili powder, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper, and grilled for a few minutes. Then you roll up the steak in a warm corn tortilla topped with lettuce, cheese, cilantro, and whatever else your heart desires. The recipe included an avacado salsa, but we are not so fond of the avacado around here, so we skipped that part. Tasty stuff.

The second meal was one that I make often, but I did one small thing differently this time and it made it SO much better. One of my favorite pasta dishes is angel hair pasta with aglio e olio.

I make it using whole wheat angel hair pasta. I have been on the whole wheat pasta train for many years now. I know a lot of people don't seem to care for the whole wheat pastas, but I love them. I think the flavor is better, and it is much more filling. Also the health benefits are good! This dish is very quick and easy! Boil your pasta. Then saute one tsp minced garlic in one half cup olive oil, until the garlic is golden brown. Then add 1 tbsp. chopped parsley, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (less if you don't want the spicy kick) and salt. Saute a little and then remove from heat. Drain the pasta and toss it in the pan with the olive oil sauce. The recipe I use calls for a pound of pasta. I halved the amount of pasta this time and it really made it much more flavorful. Add some paremesan and if you are feeling plucky, slice up some marinated chicken breast to add to the pasts. Even more yum!

Ahhh....feels good to talk about something else!