Tag Archives: pasta

EASY fettuccine alfredo that’ll make you forget about Pasta Roni

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Provided you have the ingredients, it’s no harder (or more time consuming) to make homemade pasta sauce than it is to whip up a box of Pasta Roni.  Seriously.  Forget you ever heard of boxed meals.

While cooking 12 ozs. fettuccine noodles according to package directions, melt 1/2 cup butter in 1/2 cup milk on the stove.  Then add 6 ozs. cream cheese until blended.  Next add 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese.  Add 2 tsp. chopped cilantro (or 2 cubes of the frozen kind I found at Trader Joe’s) and some black pepper to taste.  That’s it!

Optional: Throw some fresh or frozen broccoli florets, carrots, or the like in a steamer — or a chicken breast on a George Foreman grill — while you’re cooking to beef up this meal without much effort.

The hidden agenda behind well-child checks

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You likely have healthy, well-adjusted kids. But for the first several years of their lives you spend a great deal of time waiting in doctors’ offices for “well-child checks.” Particularly in rural areas, our over-booked MDs, PAs, and NPs keep us waiting in the cramped confines of an exam room. I once literally waited 90 minutes.

The medical world is often suspected of having alternative motives. And sometimes they do. When our second daughter was born, the nurse told us not to throw away any poopy diapers while we were in the hospital. They’d keep them “just in case.” The hidden agenda? An easy way to drug test if the child exhibits any symptoms.

So what’s the hidden agenda of the long waits at “well-child checks”? Is it a test of your patients? Your parenting skills? Is there a psychologist observing how your child responds to confined spaces? Or how you respond? There MUST be a 2-way mirror in there. Right?

Probably not. While the first year of my first-born’s life felt like a constant “test” of my parenting, I now think the real hidden agenda behind the wait is forced time ALONE with your child (assuming you put your phone away). I never saw the beauty in long waits for well-child checks until I became a mother of two. My first time around I brought loads of toys, snacks, and books. I now try to bring as little as possible and spend the wait re-connecting with one of my favorite girls (rather than distracting her).

Hidden agendas have a negative connotation, but they can also be really great. Like the Hidden Veggies Pasta Sauce on Sweethappylife.com.  Ariela claims, “You can add two cups of corn, peas, green beans and carrots to it without your toddler (or husband) being any the wiser.”  I hope she’s right!

5 questions with a Jew-ish Agnostic

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What’s your dream job (& real occupation if different)?

I work for Disqus, a tech startup in San Francisco (and it’s an awesome commenting system if you want to engage your blog/reader community! ask me about it!). My job currently involves everything from facilities management to creating our company culture to business operations to human resources…it’s a lot of work but I love it. I’m planning to grow my career into the human resources/company culture side of things (sometimes called People Operations), planning fun things for our team to do and making our office a super fun place to work – I think that’s pretty much my dream job! I’m extremely lucky to get to spend part of my day doing my dream job right now, and to be working somewhere that encourages me to grow in that direction :)

How would you define your faith/religion (& your faith of origin if different)?

I like to say I’m Jew-ish Agnostic. I was raised culturally Jewish, but my family is not very religious. I really enjoy celebrating my heritage, but I am not a religious or spiritual person. I feel closest to Something Bigger Than Myself in Yosemite National Park.

What is your favorite holiday memory?

I have some great holiday memories…putting marshmallows on sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving with my grandmother, learning to make latkes with my parents, and decorating the Christmas tree with my boyfriend’s parents. One year, I left my menorah at home (Christmas and Chanukkah overlapped that year) when visiting with his family at Christmas, and his uncle and father built me a little menorah made from a log. It was really special to be able to share my family’s traditions with them and to feel so included in theirs.

What is your default dinner?

Oh goodness, usually some form of pasta – I keep packages of ravioli in the freezer pretty much all the time. I also like to keep frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts in the freezer (individually wrapped ones for easy thawing), and I have been known to whip up a little Annie’s Mac and Cheese when I’m feeling lazy. And I will admit to sometimes eating the whole box. My “famous” dinner is called See What’s In The Kitchen, Throw It In A Dish, Cover It With Cheese and Bake It. It’s just what it sounds like (delicious). I hear it’s called Hot Dish in the midwest :)

How do you define the meaning of life? (AKA – Why did you get out of bed today?)

I say you just have to do the best you can with what you have. I try to keep a positive attitude and do things that make me happy, and remind myself that if you’re unhappy with the way things are going, it’s up to you to do something about it! You can’t change how others act; you can only change how you react to others.

Oh, and I don’t take myself too seriously. I grew up in theatre, and did a lot of improv, which teaches you that failure is totally ok. You just have to laugh and move on and hope everyone laughs along with you :)

Thank you Kim! Check out her blog at www.kimskitchensink.com, and follow her on Twitter @kimskitchensink!
Send me your answers to be featured next Monday! alison.holland (a) me.com