Cuban Sandwiches In The Midst Of Snowmageddon

I woke this morning with the knowledge that today would be a definite stay at home day. Snowmageddon had been forecasted for us already. I had planned all weekend long to make a recipe from my Cook's Country magazine (Dec/Jan 16). So once my husband left for work in the early afternoon I broke out the frying pan and got busy.

The entire recipe is extremely easy. Easier than I would have thought. Of course, I am finding the more I venture in to home cooking that a lot of dishes are a lot easier than I had thought them to be. Of course, since I am somewhat forced to be inbound I had to make some adjustments to the recipe.

It turns out the only struggle I had was getting a juice to thicken in to a syrup. The original recipe called for orange juice. I did not have any, but after a brief google search I read that really any juice will do. I'm not sure if this was fictional or if I was just cooking it wrong. I tried two different juices and neither of them really ever turned in to syrup. One of them I left on the stove for approximately 15 minutes and even turned it up to a high temperature.

The sauce ended up being a little more runny than I would have liked. Again, I'm not sure if it's because I was cooking the juice wrong or if I truly just needed actual orange juice for it. I didn't have any buns, so I enjoyed without any bread. The end result was very delicious.

I am including the recipe with my changes to it.

4 boneless pork cutlets
1 tablespoon peanut oil (changed from original recipe)
3/4 cup mango orange naked juice (also tried mango white grape juice)
1/2 cup dill pickle chips, patted dry and chopped
2 tblspn yellow mustard
4 thin slices of ham
shredded mozzarella cheese

1. I trimmed and patted the cutlets dry and added salt/pepper to them. Then, I heated oil in a skillet over medium high heat and cooked the cutlets on both sides until they were cooked all the way through. There was a nice golden brown color to them. (The original recipe said about two minutes on each side, but my cuts were a little thicker so I just adjusted until they were cooked all the way through) I placed on a plate and set in the microwave.

2. Then, I added my juice to the empty skillet and cooked over medium-high heat. This is where it was supposed to become syrupy after about 5 minutes, but it never did with either juice. Separately, in a bowl I stirred together the pickles and mustard. (The original recipe said to add salt and pepper to taste. I did not since I had already added both to the actual meat) I then stirred the juice together with the mustard relish.

3. Since I did not use buns I placed the pork down first. I added the shredded mozzarella cheese. Then placed a slice of ham on top. I had not preheated the ham, so I put the plate in the microwave for about 30 sec, then placed the mustard relish on top.

All in all this was not a difficult recipe and it had a pretty tasty end result as well. Hope the hubby likes it as much as I did.

Reflection Moment

It was one year ago to the day that I was released from my employment at Kohl's. The summer leading up to that moment was one of the worst periods of my life. I was depressed and lost. It seemed that no matter what I did I was constantly doing the wrong thing. So as all bad stories get worse, I made poor decisions. Poor decisions that led me to being walked out of the door. I'm sure ultimately the ending would have been the same, but it could have been me walking out of the door with my head held high instead of low in shame.

There are many thoughts that go through my head about this. The final nail in my coffin was a fabrication of the worst kind, but I opened up the door to the fabrication with my poor decisions. I loved working for Kohl's. The company has great values that I can easily support and uphold.

However, as in life there are always some bad apples mixed in with the good. It is this week that I want to set aside my self-worth that holds me accountable for my actions. I want to rant and shake my fist at the evil-doers that took advantage of a weak moment. I want to put all the blame on them. I want to hate them. I want to hold their heads in a dirty toilet bowl and give them a swirly.

But alas, I cannot! You see, I know that God used this moment in my life to humble me. He humbled me to bring me back to where I should have always been. I had chosen to veer away from Him. For once in my life I was not completely reliant upon Him. I had a husband, a home, a nice job, good money. I was very "comfortable". I allowed the comfort to sway me in to thinking I could do it my way and be happy. I was too! I was very happy. By societies definitions and standards, I had everything that should bring happiness. Yet I didn't. I had walked away from my one true love. Jesus!

I have always believed in God and lived a "good" life, but I know now that I was never truly sold out. I was a tree without any roots. I just let the wind blow me wherever it went. I had a temper. I was tactless in how I approached people with my thoughts and opinions. I was rude and arrogant, all while assuming I was the most humble creature God had ever created. I laugh even now as I type this because I realize that I am still all of those things. I know that God has done some work on me because I have grown slower to speak, I try to listen more than talk, I try to do that listening to gain a full understanding before my temper is allowed to reign. I'm not perfect by any means, but I can definitely see a difference in my life from last year to today. God has created a miracle in me.

So it is with a different heart that I can honestly say that I forgive not just those that did me wrong in the role of ending my employment, but myself as well. Mistakes happen. So here I write a list of things I've taken away from my lesson with God.

1. Forgive yourself. I write this one first because I think this is the hardest thing ever to do.
2. Forgive others that are involved. I freely admit that there have been times when I have thought that I cannot wait to see the retribution that comes for those that do me wrong. God has been whispering in my ear that sometimes wrong things happen just because, like myself, people make mistakes. So instead, I pray for those who have done wrong to me. (sometimes while picturing their head in the toilet... I know! But I am human after all)
3. Review the situation. What could you have done differently? Don't rely upon someone else to change the circumstances or prevent it from happening again. Only you can do that.
4. Happiness doesn't equal joy. I have less money and less comfort. Yet, my weight and blood pressure are both down compared to this time last year. I find myself laughing more. I'm not so easily offended. True joy is slowly working its way in to my life.
5. Be friendly to everyone! I have a hard time with this one. I can be very "judgy" at times. A result of my forever changing family dynamic growing up I'm sure. I've sincerely tried to look past the immediate faults that pop in to my head and be friendly to everyone. It's amazing how many friends I have now.
6. Talk to God. He has the best wisdom anyone could ever ask for. He just wants to talk to us.
7. Most importantly, be thankful. I am thankful for family, friends, a roof over my head, a boss that is a little too much like myself, all the crazy animals sharing the same roof as me. I am also thankful for all the disappointments life has brought me. They have made me stronger, tougher and a better person!

MOB Readings: The Art Of Racing In The Rain

I just finished reading The Art Of Racing In The Rain. It was an excellent (not to mention easy) read. I have not read a fictional book in some time, so this was a good break for me.

You will definitely enjoy reading this book if you love dogs. The premise of the book is family life from a dog's perspective. For clarification, I do not believe that dogs have souls or are actually able to think in this way. The author is able to take the things that dogs do and "humanize" those events and does so in a very believable manner.

The end of the book is completely predictable. It is impossible to not know how it is going to end when you read the first chapter, but the author keeps you completely entertained throughout the book.

If I had to complain at all about the book, it would be about all the racing references. I will admit by the end of the book they were growing on me. Of course, the title of the book would be completely useless if it didn't have the references.