Who am I?

Who am I? 

My name is Teri and I am a 46-year old woman who loves her life, husband, and children. I am an enthusiastic reader, a lazy gardener, a homeschooling mom, a gluten-free and starch-free cook, and an animated storyteller (to anyone who will listen). I have also been diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis. What am I not? I am not a professional writer, or a college graduate, or a fancy chef. I view the world in a somewhat different way. And all these things are okay because they are the things that make me the "quirky" mom and wife my family loves.

Senior Portraits

SERVICE DOG

Just thought I'd post a picture of my service dog. Her name is Doodle. She has been my service dog for about a year now and is so much help. If you have read any of my other posts, you will know I have Ankylosing Spondylitis. Doodle is trained to pick up thing for me and help me get up off the ground, when needed.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

On the ceiling in my room are 11 plastic glow-in-the-dark stars in different sizes. They are in the shape of the big dipper. When my daughter Nan was around six, (2001)I was going through another though time as far as health goes. I had been diagnosed with a tumor in one of my bones in my right forearm. The doctor diagnosed it as probably being cancer. I was to under go multiple test including a full body bone scan (this would let us know if there were other tumors), a CAT scan, and an MRI. These would all take about a month. Then I would have the surgery in which they would drill into my bone and remove the tumor. Before the surgery, I was told they weren't sure exactly what was going to happen when they got in there. Worst case scenario was I would loose my arm from the elbow down. I spent quite a bit of time in bed while waiting for the surgery. I tried to work as much as I could (waitressing), but being on such high doses of Lortab made it hard to stay awake and hard to concentrate. On night while I was at work, Nan decided that if I was going to have to spend so much time in bed, she was going to give me something to look at. I spent a lot of time looking at that ceiling in the months that followed my surgery. They are still there 13 years later. They are just one of the things that make me happy. I have found it doesn't take much; bubbles in soda, my family, silly things my dogs do, being able to move in the morning. These all make me happy.

MEATZA PIZZA- GLUTEN-FREE, STARCH-FREE

 

 

I made up this recipe the other night while craving some pizza. Since I can't have regular pizza dough, I thought I'd try to make something similar. It was really yummy!

 

Crust:

1 lb pork sausage (country style)

1 to 2 lbs mozzarella cheese, grated

Topping:

1 large can tomato sauce

1 1/2 tbs oregano

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 lbs Colby-jack cheese

Assorted pizza toppings

 

Brown sausage in skillet, drain grease. Lay in bottom of glass baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Place in oven on broil until bubbly. Watch carefully. This happens very quickly. Pull out of oven and set aside until cool. This is what it should look like. After it cools it should be really crispy.

 

Then add oregano and garlic powder to the tomato sauce. Spread onto sausage crust, then add Colby-jack cheese and other toppings (olives, mushrooms, etc). Broil until top is done.  Bottom should stay crispy.

 



ITALIAN SALAMI BITES- GLUTEN-FREE, STARCH-FREE

This has got to be one of my favorite recipes. So simple, but so good. Last night, I took 14 of them to work with me for dinner. I ended up only getting 5 because I had to share with everyone working.

Italian dry salami (I buy the Gallo)
cream cheese
oregano
sea salt
sliced banana peppers

Lay out the salami on a plate. Smear a little cream cheese on it. Sprinkle with oregano and sea salt and top with banana peppers. Delicious!!

JUST PUT THE STUPID BOOK DOWN AND GO TO SLEEP!!

I am having one of those "approach with caution" days. I don't know, maybe it was the fact that I stayed up until 4 am reading a novel, thinking all the time, "just put the stupid book down". Then I finally get to the end of the book. What a huge let down!! I hate books like that. Now I'm sitting here, it's 4:10 pm. In an hour, I have to go to work (waitress). I have spent the last 2 hours trying to remember the password to get into this blog. Do you know how many passwords are floating around in my head. So I thought I would just reset the password. I couldn't remember the answers to the security questions. Tell me, if you can't remember a stupid password, how do they expect you to remember the last person you e-mailed from that blog, when the last time you logged onto the blog, including month, date, and year, and who your first childhood friend was. So I have spent the entire day accomplishing nothing. I could have slept the entire day and got as much done.