Trying to remember how I ever got through deployments.

Guys. I'm not really afraid of bugs. I'll squish any thing I see. But Friday as I was running out the door for work, I saw a big black blob out of the corner of my eye in the downstairs bathroom. Then I saw this:

I literally froze. My mouth was open. A little squeak came out. And I did not know what to do.

I don't know if you guys can tell but this spider is bigger than a half dollar. You can't just SQUISH something that big. I was already running a little late so I didn't have much time to think about what to do. My biggest concern was the spider crawling across the entire house and biting Jack while I was at work and poisoning him and Jack dying. Obviously, I was thinking rationally. So I decided needed to trap the spider in the bathroom somehow. I'm sure every one of you is thinking duh, throw a bowl over it. Well, that would be the rational thing to do. Like I said, I was totally thinking rationally. Not. Instead, I closed the door and rolled up the doormat and stuck it in space between the door and floor so the spider could not get out.

Then I called Matt and told him about it. He laughed at me, probably in disbelief at my stupidity. He reminded me spiders, even giant ones, can fit through little spaces. Then I worried about the spider escaping and killing our pup all day. Until I got this text:

Thank goodness for husbands. And non-deployable jobs.

Tidbits.

I'm trying really hard to blog regularly, including documenting our less than eventful Saturdays with Tidbits. We deemed this a "TCB" weekend which in the Callahan household means a weekend to Take Care of Business - aka - do a bunch of boring stupid crap that we've been putting off. Anyone else abbreviate everything and make up catch phrases for random stuff? Sometimes I feel like we have our own language.

 Anyway, our Saturday in iPhone pictures:

Started off my morning with a fried egg and turkey sausage... um, yum.

Out of focus hand holding.

Just cruising. 

My work shoe of choice stacked on the stairs - so pretty right? 

My favorite salad (spinach, chickpeas, grape tomatoes, olives, feta, no dressing). 

This month's random act of kindness for my love (see this post). 

FINALLY picked up supplies for my Hemnes hack (I know most of you follow for my DIYs, but do not fear, lots of projects are finally in progress)!! 

Jack enjoying a belly scratchin' from his daddy. 

Is there anything that brings such joy as checking things off a to do list? (I'm a compulsive list maker)

Zucchini gondolas.

Happy Sunday evening! Did the weekend fly by as fast for everyone else as it did for me? I don't even want to think about the fact that I have to be up in 10 hours for work. Ugh.

Anyway, I made a really delicious meal last night and I wanted to share it with you guys in case anyone is still planning meals for the week! They're just zucchini boats with Italian turkey sausage and veggie filling. I told a friend at work about them and she suggested calling them zucchini gondolas. We laughed for like 10 minutes about it. So that is now my title of choice.

What you need:
5 zucchini
1 lb Italian turkey sausage
8 oz mushrooms, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
green bell pepper, diced
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
mozzarella cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Slice each zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
3. Heat about 1 tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and pepper and saute until onions become transparent. Add garlic and saute another minute or two.
4. Add turkey sausage to skillet, making sure to break it up while cooking. Cook until sausage starts to brown.
5. Add crushed tomatoes and mushrooms. Stir. Add all the spices and salt and pepper to taste. Stir. Cook until the mixture has thickened up a little bit.
6. Spoon the mixture into the empty zucchini halves. Place the filled zucchinis in a baking dish filled with a little bit of water, about 1/2 an inch or so.
7. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
8. Sprinkle mozzarella on (as much as you prefer!) and bake for another 5 minutes or until the mozzarella is melted.

Feel free to add or adjust the recipe to your liking. Enjoy!!

Kale chips.

 

 These things have been floating all over the internet lately. I decided I finally needed to try them.

Oh my word, it is amazing that a bitter leafy green can taste so delicious. I literally can't stop eating them. Like potato chips.

Have you jumped on the kale chip bandwagon? If not, and you're trying to work some more leafy greens into your diet, try these. Just one bunch of kale, one tablespoon olive oil, and some sea salt. Or you could make your own variation! Bake at 300 for 20 minutes.