I WUPPED RAINBOW BUTTERFLY'S ASS

Yes, yes I did and i only needed one try but I may have to do it again because apparently I was supposed to take a picture of the butterfly before I killed it and the pictures I took weren’t good enough. Stupid cute looking game. Then I stopped playing for the night because good TV was on and I had a lot of food to cook. Sometimes, when Tony and I are broke, we have pasta salad for lunch. It is easy to bring places, filling, not all that bad for you, looks fancy, and makes a bunch of food for not all that much money and keeps you fed all week. I spent last night making pasta salad. We also had a yummy pesto dish for dinner. Needless to say I was elbow deep in pasta. See I made two bags of pasta, one for the salad and one for the dinner (planning on leftovers of course) but didn’t really divide it equally when cooked so I ended up with a huge pot and a big bowl of pasta salad, not to mention the separate bowl I made in case Monica wants some tonight when she comes over for TV time. See she can’t eat anything and our bowl/pot have beans. Beans make her die. The other food we have in the house is soy. Soy also makes her die. I would give her leftover pesto dish but I think the pesto I bought has pine nuts in it which make her die, I also but beans in the dish because they were made and I love white beans in a pasta dish and, as you know, that makes her die. I like Monica and do not want her to die.

Since I can’t think of much to post, I am going to tell you how to make Natalie and Tony’s Poor People Pasta Salad. It’s really good. It also changes every single time it’s made because sometimes we have ingredients that we don’t have other times. As you will see, Natalie doesn’t generally use normal recipe stuff like measurements and the like. Only for Mushroom Pie MMMMM, maybe I’ll post how to make that sometime.

1. Cook or buy some small white beans. I prefer to cook them (Tony actually cooked them yesterday because he was home earlier than me, thanks Tony) While cooking them, add 6-8 cloves of garlic to the boiling water. Too much garlic you say? Relax. It gets mild and mushy (like when you roast it but without all the oil) When the beans are done, mash garlic into them for a fantastic taste. Use as many beans as you like.

2. Cook up however much pasta of whatever shape you want. I prefer spirals. You just want it to be some kind of hearty shape like a shell, or macaroni, or ziti so that it will hold juices well and not get mushy. On the mushy note, be sure to cook al dente or your salad will suck. When done cooking rinse pasta with cold water to halt the cooking process (again mushy is bad) coat with a tad bit of olive oil to prevent sticking (also bad) and put in fridge to cool for about an hour.

3. Start choppin’ veggies in bite sized bites and chop enough so that you salad is more veggie than pasta or at least half and half. Otherwise you get too much pasta and it’s much worse for you.

• This time I used
  Shredded carrot (sometimes I chop myself but it wasn’t that expensive to get shredded)
  Tomato
  Vidalia onion
  Broccoli
  Zucchini
  Black Olive
  Heart of palm
  Mushroom
  Red pepper
  I often use little cheese cubes or grate some cheese but I didn’t this time. I have used many types of cheese and don’t think it really matters what kind you use except that it should be relatively firm

4. Fold beans and veggies into pasta. Shake in some seasonings (like garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, etc.). I generally store the salad at this point and add dressing pre eating, it helps keep things firm)

5. When ready to eat, dress with fat free Italian dressing (in moderation). Sometimes, for a creamy change, I add a little bit of fat free yogurt in with the dressing to get a delightful creamy texture (a trick my mommy taught me). You will have easy lunches to take wherever for a while and people will say “Wow, that looks really good,” and they will be right.

In case anyone was wondering, the pesto dinner dish had onion and mushroom sautéed with some smashed boiled garlic (man I love that stuff). Then I added some tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and of course white beans and sautéed some more. Then I added in some pesto and the pasta and enjoyed.

Yesterday all the songs were guessed in one post. I am pretty happy about that. They weren’t super easy like last time either. Cool people just happened to be reading. Since I have a blank slate, I am going to put up some songs that I really like to sing with people. If the people I am thinking of read this, and many of them do, it will be another easy to guess post but it will be fun and full of love. I am going to add a few extra songs in here today because I am just so full of love and fun. (Apologies to bedtime songs from Mom that aren't included because I couldn't decide which one to include so I included none although Stay Awake, The Fox, and The Circle Game were strong contenders. Apologies to all the other songs Monica and I sing (particularly Tender) but I had to go with the one that has proper choreography)

The first five are songs that I sing with my sister and I want to give her a little shout out as it is her birthday so HIPPITY HAPPITY BUTHUFTATHUFTA SISTERHEAD. I think and hope that you are 24 today. If you aren’t then mom will yell at me cause you don’t read this cause you are too busy. I hope you read this one though since it’s all about love for you (and pasta).

1. Sister, you’ve been on my mind. Oh, sister, we’re too of a kind. Yes, sister, I’m keeping my eye on you. That song from the Color Purple that Shug sings. Identified by Julie

2. An only kid and only kid my father bought for two zuzim. Had Gadya, Traditional Passover song. identified by Mom

3. I kept the right ones out. And let the wrong ones in. Got an angel of mercy to see me through all my sins. Identified by none other than the birthday girl herself (cause i made her read it) and also by ShadowFalcon

4. I’m just average common too. I’m just like him the same as you. I’ve everybody’s brother and son I ain’t different than anyone. Ain’t no use in talking to me. Just the same as talking to you. (I like to sing this with some other people too not just Head but she introduced it to me and subsequently us. Everyone loves this song.) I Shall be Free #10., Bob Dylan. Eloquently identified by Brooke. I just wanted to add, He's a weird monkey, very funky.

5. I ain't puttin’ no boogie in nobody's butt. That's nasty, man. What you talkin’ about? Boogie in Your Butt, Eddie Murphy. Identified by Mom (and she should cause it is apparently her and Dad's song)

Now for songs that remind me of friends. Not that Head isn't a friend but she is a special kind of friend.

6. The goat chewed up, was a tin can. The goat shat out, was a ford sedan. I like an eyeball. I like a square cut. I like a funny car. I like a monster truck. Disseminated, Soul Coughing. Identified by Brooke. Inspired by Brooke and I sitting on the new dorm stairs like a couple of fools singing a goofy song and doing dances that can't really be called dances because we were sitting.

7. Oh I could hide ‘neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings. The six o’clock alarm would never ring. Daydream Believer, The Monkees. identified by Mom. Inspired by the lovely dances a la Monica and Natalie.

8. I don’t know what it is that you’ve done too me. But it’s caused me to act in such a crazy way. Weak, SWV. Identified by. Monica Inspired by nights on my On Demand kereoke that included such good people as Jamie, Monica, Cheryl, Tony, and Dave and Jamie and Brooke's B-day bash with a bunch of people.

9. ECUADOR!!!! (I actually don’t know what song this is or any lyrics other than this one but I think someone out there does. I was just thinking about it the other day and it had to be included. I think some people will smile) Ecuador, Sash. Identified by Brooke. Inspired by Jaclyn's hell car.

10. My defenses, become offences. Now I’m stumbling. I change my face up.