Desperate Housewives

We are closing week three of forced unemployment and my house and I are becoming more intimate then I would like.  One of the major drawbacks of not working is now I have all this extra time to do fun things but no cool money to implement.  No wine socials, no horseback riding, NO cleaning woman.  So Team Tuna, lets recap how Mrs. Tuna is amusing herself.

I’ve been amazing busy for someone who doesn’t have to visit a veal fattening cubicle every day.  Urban Planning classes have been sucking up a fair amount of time.  I have this one Zoning Law class that the instructor is much more interested in showing you that she’s in charge then in teaching you anything useful. There has been a minimum 5 to 10 page paper due every freaking week, not that she’s grading any of them.  This week’s with the appendix is about 35 pages. Snarky Bitch, focus a little more time on covering your roots.  Wait until I evaluate you on Ratemyprofessors.com.

What I have discovered is that I am now that annoying student who raises their hand and shouts out answers for extra credit points. I’ve become teacher’s pet, mostly this is due to the lack of adult conversation being home alone.  I’m so starved for attention I strike up friendly conversations with 12 year olds at the grocery store about neat study methods.

I’m missing the cleaning woman, Kathy the Wonderful who been vacuuming up dog hair for almost 20 years. I was a little saddened how quickly she found a replacement gig and how I had to figure out how the washing machine works on the delicate cycle. I even braved the inner workings of the carpet shampooer for our bedroom. Gotta pace myself before doing the living room, I don’t want to run out of things to do. The Big Tuna pointed out the house is definitely tidier but he’s still waiting for the French Maid outfit.  This week we’re making faux Chinese from Rachel Ray.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Salt and pepper

20 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained with 1/2 cup juice reserved

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon ketchup

2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

1 ¼ pound skinless chicken breasts cut into 2 inch pieces

1 tablespoon oil

1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces.

In small bowl combine pineapple juice, vinegar, soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of corn starch, ketchup and ginger.  In separate bowl coat chicken in the remaining cornstarch, salt and pepper.   In skillet, heat oil, add chicken and cook turning occasionally until browned. About 5 minutes and transfer chicken to plate.  Add pepper to skillet and cook about two minutes. Stir in chicken and pineapple chunks.  Add the pineapple juice mixture and heat over medium heat until sauce has thickened, a few minutes. Serve over hot white rice.

One of the perks I had at Giant Engineering Company was free gym membership, not that I was that familiar with the aerobic equipment but still. But since I have no reason to continue wearing control top pantyhose I need to do something to keep that mid roll of fat in check. Flipping through a magazine I came across a home workout, a few jumping jacking, free weights and crunches, I can do this. First day out I followed the pretty colored pictures and thought,  huh I must be in better shape than I thought, I’m barely breathing hard.  I dabbed my brow, had a shower, poured a cup of coffee and examined the text a wee bit more closely.  Apparently I was supposed to do 3 reps, yeah maybe tomorrow. For now, bring on the cupcakes.