chilaquiles

you should eat these.



if you have never heard of chilaquiles, just know that it is a mexican dish, often served for breakfast [though you can top it with anything and eat it anytime]

Ingredients:
-1 dozen corn tortillas [preferably stale - so if they're fresh, throw them in the oven for a few minutes to dry them out], quartered or cut into a pizza pie, depending on the size of your tortillas
-corn oil
-salt [sea salt is best]
-2 cups salsa [there are homemade recipes you can use - either red chile sauce or salsa verde if you actually have the time. me, i just used El Pinto salsa! much easier for a sunday morning impromptu brunch]
-5-6 eggs, scrambled
-1 can of black beans
-cheese of some sort [i used cheddah, you may prefer to use a legit mexican cheese product ie. cotija cheese or queso fresco]
-sour cream [if you are unlike me and like it]
-cilantro
-chopped red onion
-avocado

ok. so. here's what you do.

-generously coat a large saute pan with the corn oil [about 1/8 inch] and heat on medium-high heat. when the oil's nice and hot, add your cut tortillas and fry until they are golden brown. remove your newly formed chips and place them on a paper towel-lined plate, so as to soak up all that oil. sprinkle a bit of salt on the tortillas.

-leave about 2 Tbsp of oil in the pan [or clean the pan out and start fresh..but this is all ending up in the same place, so may as well recycle] and add the salsa, letting it cook for several minutes. once your salsa is looking nice and cooked up, add your chips. gently turn over the tortilla pieces until they are fully coated in the salsa. let em cook for a few minutes more [chips will be a bit on the soggy side].

-remove from heat and add your scrambled eggs, your beans, and the rest of your garnishes.

this recipe is good for 3 hefty servings. MMMMM!!!

cash for clunkers? more like eff you.

To Whom It May Concern:

I have owned my 1992 Saab 900 for seven years now. I saw it for sale on the side of the road and knew instantly that it was to be my car. I loved it so much, the woman who sold it to me gave it to me for dirt cheap – she just wanted it to go to a good home. And that it did. My 239,000 mile car has taken me up and down the east coast, to and from college, to concerts, and on road trips. Most recently it has made its way from New York to California, where I currently reside.

Now, I love my car. Ever since I walked into the bank at 17 years old and took out my entire savings to purchase this vehicle, I’ve dreaded the day that I would have to part ways and move on. And as I’ve gotten a bit older, I am still no less attached to my car, but I have come to realize the practicality of my situation…

My car is 17 years old.
My car gets 15 miles to the gallon IF I’m lucky.
My car leaks 2 quarts of oil every other week.
My car only has one cooling fan left.
My car has never had working air conditioning.
My car’s brake pedal will stick if you do not pull up on the pedal with your foot before exiting the car.
My car’s battery will die if you have forgotten to pull said brake pedal up.
My car’s automatic antenna has not come up in years. And my tape deck has just recently stopped working.
My car will not pass California’s smog test.
My car’s exhaust system has dropped out onto the road while driving. Twice.

My car is NOT eligible for the Cash For Clunkers program.

Please, will somebody explain to me WHY this is the case? Can we look at the title of said program for a moment, here? If my car is not a CLUNKER, then please, pray tell, what is?
Ohh, you say a clunker is a 2004 Mazda-RX. I see.
[pause for you to re-read what I just wrote]

Now, putting aside the mere fact that I think that my year, make, and model of car is beyond eligible for this program of yours, can I tell you what is really making me tick? Do you want to know the one thing that is getting real deep down in there and just grinding my gears? It is this: the fact that one day, just about three weeks ago, my car WAS eligible. 18 mpg, baby. And then, as soon as I decided that with this financial help, I might finally be able to take a step towards helping myself [and let’s not forget my environment], somebody [coughEPAcough] decided that the original fuel economy ratings for the vehicles were not accurate. Uh, “the original fuel economy ratings were not accurate”…right, that’s what I said. Anyway, somebody decided that the numbers that have been up on the fuel economy website, that people have been using to determine their eligibility, were going to change.

Flash-forward to the day the program officially commenced: July 24, 2009. Combined Estimated New EPA MPG: 19 mpg

"EPA changed the way it calculated fuel economy ratings starting in Model Year 2008, and has estimated the revised ratings for Model Years 1985-2007. Therefore, as described above, eligibility is determined by the revised ratings rather than the original EPA sticker on the vehicle. Since the revised ratings reflect a lower fuel economy, vehicles that would not be eligible under their original EPA rating may qualify for trade-in." [pg. 33 of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Final Rule of their Requirements and Procedures for Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Program]

Uh, say that again? Vehicles that would not be eligible under their original EPA rating may qualify for trade-in? What about the cars that WERE eligible and now are NOT? Where is your defense for that??

This is absurd. I am absolutely fuming. I no longer understand what this program stands for. I knew a big chunk of this was to boost the economy, but I really really wanted to think that this program was created, at least in part, to help out the average American like myself who honest to goodness owns one heck of a clunker. Forget your silly “to the 4th decimal” revised ratings. And your 25-year age restriction. This program is NOT what it was supposed to be for a LOT of people. I came into 2009 with a whole lot of hope, and what some may even call respect for “you people.” Now, however, I see things as they are: not fair.

Sincerely,

Jessica Neilson

when a mouse eats a cookie

last night i was up in matt's room when i heard chris yelling at my cat to come downstairs. apparently she had "dropped it at the top of the stairs." i opened the door to see what "it" was, but before i could get there, a small mouse darted in through the crack in the door and scurried into the closet. the closet FILLED with stuff. the closet that acts as a depository when we try to clean the room in a hurry. awesome.

chris came bounding up the stairs with a flashlight, and we found the little critter under the shoe rack.



after setting eyes on this tiny creature shivering in fear, i decided i must have it as a pet. i quickly snapped back into it and realized that could not happen. i then tried my hand at capturing the little fellow, but as you can see,



he was so intent on NOT being caught, that my efforts proved fruitless [i have never seen a mouse hide like this].

so instead, i spent the next hour creating a trap for this tiny mouse so that he could not go far, and so that matt could help me when he got home. i spent until 2am creating barriers and traps made of towels, sheets, trader joes bags, magic hat boxes, and priority mail flat rate boxes. after an hour, i was sweating and about to fall asleep. i did not want the mouse leaving the closet, though, so i propped myself up on some sleeping bags and sheets [that i had cleared out of said closet] and kept watch. i felt like a prison guard. except not.

i tried real hard, but matt walked in the door sometime after 2 to find me sprawled out on the floor, flashlight still on, eyes closed. lucky for me, my immaculate barricade had worked, and mr. mouse had not gone far. matt and i spent a bit more time chasing him back and forth behind various pieces of furniture, until the mouse made a dash for it. he leaped over my fortress and started to run around the closet. i took this opportunity to run out myself and slam the door behind me, leaving matt, his snowboarding glove, and the mouse to fight it out.

i heard some rustling, some laughter, some "he's in my wallet!" and before i knew it, matt emerged, victorious, the tiny rodent quivering in the towel he was holding. we brought him on down the road and let him go under a street light, where he scurried away, hopefully safe and sound, to his little mouse family.

isabella

i like the name isabella.

i also like it when it comes as a pizza. with mozzarella, pears, onions, and gorgonzola.

la buca for lunch.

also, i tried truffle for the first time.

[who knew that specially trained female pigs are used to seek out truffles because the fungi give off the same scent as sexy boar saliva?]

thanks, magic.

i am starting week 3 of my gymming.
i have never enjoyed working out.
never.
but i can't get enough of this place. it's like a playground.
where else can you do your body good AND watch jeopardy???
i suppose in your living room..but i don't have that kind of self-control.

i joined 24 hour fitness because they were having a killer promotional deal at the end of july.
i just did it, and i started going, and i haven't really stopped to think about it all quite yet. and that's fine with me. i think it's actually starting to become a habit [what do they say? do something for 2 weeks and it becomes habitual?]. i find myself mid-day craving the gym, and this excites me!

i also like 24 hour fitness because they sponsor The Biggest Loser, and i have a secret [no, not secret] obsession with that show. i've been going to the gym in sherman oaks. one of the 'Magic Johnson signature clubs.' whatever the fuck that means. i think that just means there are huge ass pictures of him ALL over the place. anyway. sherman oaks can be kind of hoity toity, and this particular gym is located at the outdoor galleria [which has like, 3 retail stores and 356 restaurants], so i was a bit intimidated the first time i stepped through the doors. big-breasted women and immaculately toned men make up the majority of this club's population. but how wrong i was to assume i would be laughed at and looked down upon, in my $1 jetrag shorts and my 7 year old gray new balances. everyone has been beyond friendly and helpful and all around pleasant. someone is always holding the door, or saying 'thank you' when said door has been held for them. everyone keeps to themselves [except for the guy that asked me how much longer i'd be on one of the weight machines. screw you. wait your turn.], and there is rarely a wait for the cardio machines, as there are about 29482395 of them.

i'm feeling really great about doing this for myself. i would always say 'i don't have time' or 'i can't afford it.' but the truth is, i've been making time. and i found a couple of extra dollars. i just never had any motivation to get up and do it. and i still don't quite know what it was that got me off my butt [mm, it just may have been gwen stefani's abs...] but whatever it was, THANK YOU!

i love the gym.
and i especially love starting every work out with the song below.

mariahhhh.

and this one.

i'm really getting back to my mid to late 90s lady roots.

Mariah Carey - Always Be My Baby
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i'm real.

i forgot how much i loved this song.

04 - Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule - I'm Real
Uploaded by Miamoto_Namikaze. - Explore more music videos.