In A Pickle

Nope. This post isn't about any tough or awkward situation I've gotten myself into. Nope, I'm talking actual pickles here. 

I have always loved pickles. I mean, really. What's there not to love?  Tasty. Crunchy. Practically calorie-fee. And I'm not the only one here in Drosche Land with an affinity for the briney treat. Amy and Stella are both pickly addicts as well, especially Stella. It's a win-win. Until this past week that is. Until Amy read the back of a jar of pickles at the grocery store.  Turns out there's a lot of not-good-for-you ingredients on that list. A list that should really be relatively short. Cucumber and the ingredients for the brine. That's it. Well, turns out there are quite a few things, depending on brand of course, that are not exactly natural. So she turned to the all natural ones. But then the price on those is ridiculous. I mean we are just talking about pickles here. Not exactly a delicacy. 

So, in keeping with our new lifestyle of eating all natural, mostly organic, artificial and preservative ree, Amy took to Pinterest in search of a homemade pickle recipe. She found one for some made in the fridge, without having to be heated. This was right up our alley because we've tried pickles in the past and it was not a pleasant experience. Think soggy, chewy, bitter logs. Yep. That's what we got. So we decided to give this recipe a try. 

Super easy to make. Cucumbers, vinegar, garlic, sugar (but we used honey because we are trying to cut back on refined sugar), peppercorns, salt, and dill. See, not too many ingredients and, most importantly, they are all totally pronounceable. You're supposed to refigerate them overnight for best results. We were able to wait a few hours. Then we tried them. Then we finished the jar and I went back to the grocery store in search of more pickling cucumbers. They were that good. 

Stella and I ate a jar and a half. Just by ourselves. That's my girl!   So, our pickling adventure turned out to be a success. Amy even posted about it on Facebook and people went to town talking about it so Amy then posted the recipe. I did my job and posted a picture to Instagram!  #pickle 

So, one more thing to add to our list of homemade and healthy. And delicious of course. I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful wife who kills it in the kitchen and therefore helps us to eat healthy and deliciously. 

I'm starving for them now but it's late and the fridge is downstairs. Bummer. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow for a snack!  Maybe. 

All is well, pickling, in Drosche Land.

Shameless

So the title of this post has the Garth Brooks song stuck in my head. Not too bad. Until, that is, I realize that the song is ancient.  A quick check with Wikipedia confirms this as the release date was 1991. Seriously?  Yikes. Now I feel old but it's still a good song so I guess I'll just go with it. But this post has nothing to do with the aforementioned song, Garth, or age. Nope. I'm talking about our dogs here. 

Surely you've heard about the dog shaming trend on social media. If so, then you can guess where I'm heading. If not, it basically is using photos to share the naughty behavior of your pets, thus shaming them publicly. Hilarity ensues. You get the idea. If not, scroll down to check out the pictures. I'll wait. 

Ok. So you're back. Yes all 3 of our dogs are quite naughty. Rex used to be so timid and mild-mannered, but lately he's adopted a crazy streak that often results in some random object being torn to shreds and strewn about the house. Ugh. Mickey is a pretty good dog. His potty accidents are very few and far between, I hope, and he generally stays out of trouble; opting instead for cuddles and cuteness.  Minnie though, is a totally different story. She is naughty to the core. Sweet, but oh so naughty. I believe she's also the ringleader of the 3, either inspiring the boys with her naughtiness or egging them on to join her. Or both.  She truly is shameless. 

We actually have a nickname for her - The Ninja. It accurately sums up her naughtiness in a nutshell.  She gets into anything. She's silent and quite stealthy. Her favorite action is to get onto the countertops and eat whatever food she can find.  We got wise to her and began moving the bar stools away from the counter. She then one-upped us and trained herself to achieve a 4-foot vertical leap and can now jump directly onto the countertops at will. Nice. Out own little JJ Watt. She's conniving too. She knows when there is something out. She will wait for you to walk upstairs or out of the room and then strike!  Naughty through and through. But she's so darn cute it is hard to stay mad at her. Not hard to get mad mind you, but to stay mad. 

So I've taking to shaming them publicly via Instagram and Facebook. I like it. It's funny. Plus it makes cleaning up whatever mess or chaos they've gotten into more fun when I know I can get a good picture from it. It's the little things in life folks, I'm clearly very easily humored. 

Below are my latest shamings of the canine residents of Drosche Land. Cute?  Yes. Funny?  I hope so. Therapeutic as I clean up dog poop from both kennels yet again?  Yes, definitely. 

So, fun as it may be,I think it may also be working. I tell them that I am shaming them and posting it to Instagram and Facebook for the world to see. I think they understand that because since the most recent offenses we haven't had any other shananigans from the 3 of them. So maybe it's a win?  We shall see. Yes, it's doubtful I know, but at least I'll have some fun with it. After I wash my hands of course!

All is well, shameful, here in Drosche Land.

Super

So last night was the big game you know the one. 

Yeah, I'm not really a sports person. Shocker, I know. But Amy and the boys love sports, especially Amy and Braeden. So while the game was on I busied myself doing other things. Dishes, laundry, packing lunches, lesson planning, etc. I also proclaimed myself to be the official social media spokesperson for the family, checking Twitter and Facebook during the game to update and inform everyone of the goings on. You know, everyone has their gift. 

I'm really into the Super Bowl for the commercials and the food. Amy likes to say that I'm an advertiser's dream. Visual, short attention span, easily persuaded, want the newest/latest/greatest. Can't argue there. So they sweetly called me into the room whenever the commercial breaks came, ensuring that I wouldn't miss any of the good ones. 

Budweiser and Dove Men Care made me tear up, not going to lie. Lindsay Lohan was funny in a self-mocking way.  There were many other good ones but everyone seems to be focusing on the melancholy and sad ones, in particular the Nationwide spot. I actually missed this one somehow but have seen it since. Regardless of your feelings about the commercial itself, everyone is talking about Nationwide so it would seem as though it were a few million dollars well spent. 

Then there's the halftime show, another of my favorites. Katy Perry. Lenny Kravitz. Missy Elliot. It was good. The boys now want a giant animatronic lion to ride, and loved the fact that there were people inside the legs moving it. I myself would like a fun shark costume to dance around in, but who doesn't really?  I also want to jam to some old school Missy Elliot so I'll have to dig around in my CDs when I get the chance.  Yes CDs. From back in the day when all off our music wasn't stored in The Cloud. Crazy. I thought the halftime show was awesome and Katy Perry killed it. Well done. 

Last but not least, the food. We eat pretty healthy here in Drosche Land as you know and stick to all natural and/or organic for just about everything. But some occasions, such as last night, call for some good old fashioned junk food. Chips and dip. Pizza rolls (holla). Taquitos. Jalapeño poppers (Jackson has now become a fan and the spicy food lover in me is proud). Yum. It's nice to splurge every once in a while. All things in moderation right?  But now I'm hungry and it's far too late for a snack. 

Oh. And the Seahawks and Patriots played a football game. Apparently it was a good one. The Patriots won. There was a fight. Thus concludes my knowledge and interest in the game itself. 

Regardless of our differing opinions on sports, commercials, music, and food, the Super Bowl provided us with a fun even to gather together as a family and hang out. Isn't that part of the fun of the big day too?  Memories. Good time. How did you spend it?  Glued to the TV for the game?  The commercials?  Hovering around the snack table?  Whatever you did, I hope you had as much fun as we did here in Drosche Land.  Things settle down here sports wise for a while, thank goodness. That is of course, until I lose them all again in about a month to March Madness. Oh well, at least there will be good food again!

All is well, super in fact, in Drosche Land.