I’m actually having a nice moment for once. Warm and fuzzy, even.

I’m sitting here at my very own computer, listening to 1940s Christmas
music (hate Christmas, love Christmas music) and sipping some delish
but super cheap instant cappuccino from a mug with a finch on the
side.

I never have these little moments, which is why this is such a big
deal for me. I feel… calm. Zen, if you will, and in the mood for
another cup of dessert coffee.

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights Bento and Food Blog. You can comment here or there.

Well, I’m busy making breakfast for The Boy again, which is ritually two eggs, two full slice pieces of buttered toast, two strips of bacon and coffee. He’s NEVER out to the table on time, so his food is always cold and then he complains about it (as if it’s my fault!?). Well, as it turns out it is my fault. Not because he’s late to breakfast – he needs to start moving faster – but because Laota and I have had an electric roaster for about two years and I never thought to use it buffet-style to keep his food warm.

We’re out of about everything so I’m substituting his second piece of toast, second egg and second slice of bacon with a full two tater’s worth of fried potato slices that I browned in Mr. Wok (I love you, Mr. Wok!) and set on foil in our cheap-o Proctor-Silex roasting pan on about 450 degrees (yes, really that high). Then I lay the raw bacon on top of the potatos and let it cook like that, without turning it down, for 10 minutes.

Next I remove the bacon and set it next to the potatos on the foil and spread the potatos out as much as I can. I put the lid back on, let it cook another 5 minutes then lower it to 200 degrees and make The Boy his scrambled egg in Mr. Wok.

I make the egg too runny (moreso than you’re supposed to – remember, it’ll cook the rest of the way in the roaster and you don’t want it to get rubbery!) and slide it into the roaster between the bacon and taters. I lid it and let it set, staying at 200.

Now I make The Boy his coffee too hot, knowing it’ll be drinkably cool by the time he gets ready (isn’t he spoiled?) and call him to the table. He’ll be at least fifteen or twenty minutes late, even if I get him up before I make breakfast, but no worries because the roaster keeps his food nice and warm without over-cooking it. When he gets to the table his nice, hot breakfast is ready and I get to live in a world without all his damn complaining, lol!

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights Bento and Food Blog. You can comment here or there.

I’ve finally been shopping. No no, don’t get your hopes up, I’ve been shopping for The Boy. I’m trying to keep him fed the best I can but it’s getting hard, he doesn’t understand that he can’t eat until he pukes while he’s here because we can’t afford it. The kid needs to find a job, he’s old enough. He need to start paying rent or at least groceries since he eats more than Laota and I combined.

But we did get his usual breakfast fare (bacon, eggs, bread and butter for toast) and we got a big, cheap bag of crappy chicken and some Jiffy mixes. That should keep us for awhile, since we have some potatos and some frozen peas.

I swear, though, if he keeps this pounds-per-meal crap up I’m gonna kill him. It dawns on me now that this blog is evidence, lol.

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights Bento and Food Blog. You can comment here or there.

Grrr argh! I wish I wasn’t dead broke (is that even the correct term?), and that we didn’t have The Boy to feed because the only rice we’ve been able to get ahold of that we can actually afford is this awful long grain, poorly milled white rice that can’t be used for sushi or onigiri – not just because it’s not great quality, or that it’s long grain, but because the blasted stuff doesn’t stick together. Plus it tried to kill my rice maker with a knife!

What I want is some of that Calrose in the white bag that I can’t afford, because I have to buy it online and I just don’t have the money for it. Yes, I know most people in this country can get Calrose at Wal-Mart but I’m not so lucky as to live near one of those at the moment and have to buy my bento supplies online.

I’m tired of Southern food, and that’s what The Boy loves. He will DIE without a huge breakfast, then he goes to the local Senior Center and mooches their coffee and cookies, then to his Grandma’s for a big lunch and then out to eat with friends. Finally he shambles home at dinner time and complains if we’re too broke for a big meal. It’s wrong to use murder, right?

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights. You can comment here or there.

Well, I forgot to post much about Laota’s birthday – partially because she wanted to ignore it. I don’t get her sometimes, but in this instance considering what we’ve had to go through and how big a letdown birthdays always are for us, I totally understand it.

We did have a cute cake, though, but the pictures are on my RAZR and the USB data cable’s decided I don’t get to retrieve them, how’s that for a load of crap?

*Edited for PPP: All an eagle would really like, is a teapot

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights. You can comment here or there.

It’s wrong to kill a child. I know this. In theory, I know this. But The Boy is driving me absolutely batty! I swear he hasn’t paid for one thing since he’s gotten here – two months, almost, and he’s eaten everything he can get his hands on, gotten both Laota and I sick and tried to swipe both of our laptops for experimenting on.

Is it too early to try and use murder? It is, right? Well thanks to him I don’t really have the money to spend on food for Hanamachi Lights. Like we have the same thing every day because he can’t get it through his head that he doesn’t need to eat and drink as much as he’s eating and drinking. In fact, he goes through $100-$150 worth of groceries every single week and runs up all the utilities, plus he hasn’t even looked for a job.

I’m at my wit’s end, I don’t know what to do!

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights. You can comment here or there.

Ack, so cool! Josh was nice enough to poke at me this morning and let me know about this offer, which is awesome by the way if you’re a tea drinker ( and I am, in a big way ) – Oregon Chai is giving away a free sample of their tea online, which is nice since I don’t live close enough to any sort of store to go get it with a coupon, lol.

To be honest I didn’t check out the terms and conditions yet, so I have no frigging clue if this offer is about to expire or not, but either way it’s worth signing up since right now it seems to be going strong!

Speaking of tea, I have to force myself to stop blogging because ( yes, I am nothing if not timely ) the tea I’m steeping will get bitter if I don’t get into the kitchen and do something about it, lol!

To get your FREE SAMPLE of Oregon Chai Tea, CLICK HERE and fil out their form completely. Make sure you always read privacy policies!

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights. You can comment here or there.

Okay, so they aren’t really teacakes, but who’s counting? The awful photos don’t do it justice (I can’t wait until I can afford a real camera!), but these are thin slices of Funfetti loaf garnished with nothing more than a bit of sour strawberry jelly and served with a delicious cup of apple cinnimon herbal milk tea.

We’re looking at a long stretch of no real food, but I’ll be taking photos of anything I can anyway because I’m having too much fun!

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights. You can comment here or there.

Wow, for an awful life mine sure goes by fast these days. The Boy’s been with us for close to a month (23 days-ish) and I’m about to kill him, but that can wait until after the tides turn lol.

I can’t believe I almost missed the changing of the guard! No way, dude, I’m so, soo sick and tired of almost missing my holidays because I have to live my life surrounded by squares. Eh. EH.

Equinox doesn’t do much here, have to wait for October for the real season change and I’m not looking forward to that because once it gets cold here it freezes almost immediately. Pew! Well, Merry Holiday all!

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights. You can comment here or there.

Well, my progress is haulted and is now resigned to regular blogging with no pictures because the USB cable that attatches my Razr to my PC was cheap and has since quit on me. Dag nabbit!

Well, this annoys me because I’d recently gotten some neat stuff from the Dollar General and took lovely pics of it, which I now can’t get off my damn phone. I’m gonna be going back to the even crappier phone, so please bare with me!

Originally published at Hanamachi Lights. You can comment here or there.