More bag talk, more bird talk, a science experiment, and a recipe!

Happy Friday!  

I have been up to my eyeballs in laundry (Dan brought home a ton of it with him and most of it required ironing.  Plus with both kids home there is more laundry in general!), vacuuming (Peter is allergic to our cats and when he lived here became sensitized ((or is it desensitized?)) to them. But when he comes to visit I have to  vacuum a lot to keep him from sneezing for hours on end because he's no longer used to them), and cooking (Kids are home so meals must be planned and cooked!).  

Please note - I am not complaining about being up to my eyeballs in laundry, cleaning, and cooking.  I AM THRILLED TO BE DOING ALL OF THIS!!!  I am sure there are many blog posts in my archives where I was complaining about doing all of these things.  Now I am thankful that I get to do them. 💜

In my last post, I mentioned the beloved blue bags.  Suz wanted a picture of them.  Here they are in action when we moved Peter into his dorm freshman year. 

 

That was all we needed to move Peter.  All his clothes were on hangers in those bags and all of his desk stuff, personal items, shoes, everything else. were crammed in there as well.  So handy! So convenient!  

I originally ordered two Ikea Frakta bags from Amazon to see if I thought they would work for moving.  The Frakta bag is the one you can see with the yellow zipper. After I got those two, I decided I definitely needed more for the move and when I went back on Amazon I found some non-Ikea bags that were cheaper and I like those equally as well.  The Ikea Frakta bags do have shoulder straps on the bottom if you wanted to put the bag on your back and carry it like a giant backpack.  I guess that might make it easier but I never used that function as I am not a pack mule and found that carrying them by the top handles worked just fine.

Peter opened the garage fridge yesterday and called for me to come out and look.  "What's this weird brown icy looking stuff?"

I had put a pack (still in the cardboard box) of mini Diet Pepsi's on the top shelf of the fridge.  Things have been known to freeze on that shelf but I assumed since the drinks were in the cardboard box they would be insulated.  I WAS WRONG!

One of the drinks had frozen, the ice expanded in the can so much so, that the top of the can shot off and WENT THROUGH THE CARDBOARD BOX!!!!!!

Y'ALL!!!!! Look at this...

The box was INTACT when I put it in the fridge.  Do you see the giant hole??  And do you see how the entire top of the Pepsi can looks like it was literally sliced off??  

I had been in the kitchen the day before and heard a loud noise/knock/pop sound.  I thought someone was at the door but no one was there so I just brushed it off as a random household noise.  I am now thinking that what I heard was the physics experiment happening in the fridge in the garage!

The kids have been keeping busy.  Peter went to the driving range to hit balls with one of his friends from high school yesterday. Sarah has spent a lot of time with Joe the last few days.  He got home from Ireland and heads out of town again this weekend for a graduation.  So they hung out a lot on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  She also started working at her pool.  She has been cleaning it and getting it ready to open next weekend. She sent this to to family group text...

Look under that bush!!!! EGGS!!!!

She was cleaning the lazy river (it does look filthy!) and noticed this pile of duck eggs underneath the bush.  She also said there was a mom and dad duck swimming in the big pool! 

We googled last night and duck eggs take 28 days before they hatch and she said these eggs definitely weren't there last weekend when they first started working on cleaning the pool.  And the pool opens next Friday so these won't be hatched by then.  She's working again this afternoon and her supervisor will be there so she's going to ask her what to do.  

I just googled it and found this on the US Department of Fish and Wildlife Service's website:

Mallards are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit. Active nests with eggs or chicks may not be touched or destroyed without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Inactive (empty) nests do not require a permit to destroy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does not issue permits to remove Mallards, eggs, nor nests that are occupying a pool or an enclosed yard.

Who knew???

It's been a minute since I've shared a recipe.  Peter loves Chipotle and when he's home, I always make homemade Chipotle bowls.  I make fresh guacamole, rice, seasoned black beans, lettuce, seasoned chicken, pico de gallo , and serve it all with sour cream and taco sauce.  

But this time I wanted to spiff it up even more and I made a homemade version of Chipotle's Honey Vinaigrette.  I didn't even know Chipotle had a dressing but I saw people talking about it online.  And I saw people mixing it with sour cream and adding that to their bowls.  I've done that and it is delicious.  I found a recipe online and IT WAS SO GOOD!  So, if you make homemade Chipotle bowls, you need to make this vinaigrette.  Heck - this stuff is so good that you should make it even if you don't make burrito bowls at home. It's great on salads and is good as a dip when mixed with sour cream. The chipotle peppers add such a nice smokey flavor and the honey keeps it from being too spicy!  DELICIOUS!!!

The recipe I used comes from Once Upon a Chef and can be found here.

All right.  I must get to work! Dan's sister is coming for a visit this weekend and the guest room needs some attention and it's my Uncle's birthday and he will be joining us for Sunday lunch and a cake must be made! It's not a birthday without a cake. :)

Have a great weekend!