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It's My Experiment, Ma!

~ by April Sopczak

It's My Experiment, Ma!

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Roasted Frozen Cauliflower (yes, it’s possible!)

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by aprilsopczak in Creative Cooking

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cauliflower recipe, frozen cauliflower, roasted frozen cauliflower

Poor cauliflower! It’s like the Rodney Dangerfield of the vegetable world, getting no respect for the yummy flavor that it has all on its own. Instead, moms everywhere are using cauliflower in the most stealthy ways by mashing it up in potatoes and squishing it up in mac and cheese. It’s a good idea. Cauliflower has a mild flavor that can be easily hidden and contains a large amount of vitamin C, vitamin K and folate. It has fiber, choline, vitamin B, and is low in calories and fat. Squishing cauliflower up in your kid’s food is like slipping them a vitamin on the down low. But did you know that cauliflower tastes really good all by itself too? I love it!

Last night, I looked into my freezer to see what vegetables I could add to my completely unplanned meal of chicken breasts and something. I found a bag of frozen cauliflower that I had bought for a soup recipe that never actually happened. Hmm. What to do? This last minute meal was coming together after taking the boys to the indoor pool, and I was tired. I just didn’t want do much, so I decided to roast the cauliflower. A quick google scan gave me many responses of DON’T DO IT! Don’t roast the frozen cauliflower! It has too much water in it and it won’t turn out right. Whatever. I bet I could make it work. And you know what? I did!

I preheated the oven to 450 and spread the cauliflower on a cookie sheet with sides. Then, I drizzled on some olive oil and sprinkled on garlic salt, pepper and chili powder. That’s it! Threw that sucker in the oven for about 25 minutes and watched the magic happen. The high heat made the excess water evaporate and the fact that it was still frozen kept the internal temp down enough for it to cook to just the right state of tender, but not mushy. The light sprinkling of seasoning highlighted the flavor of the cauliflower perfectly. Give it a shot sometime when you want a cheap, easy, flavor packed vegetable to eat with dinner. Is that tonight?

Roasted Frozen Cauliflower
Bag of frozen cauliflower florets
Olive oil
Chili powder
Black pepper
Garlic salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread cauliflower on a cookie sheet with sides. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with spices. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and tender.

I had no idea that my recipe would turn out so well, so I forgot to photograph it. In case you want to pin this recipe, here's a pic of the brand I buy at the Commissary instead!

I had no idea that my recipe would turn out so well, so I forgot to photograph it. In case you want to pin this recipe, here’s a pic of the brand of cauliflower I buy at the Commissary instead!

Image

Opinions are like…

25 Friday Oct 2013

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opinions are like

Opinions are like...

Posted by aprilsopczak | Filed under Uncategorized

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Dependa- what?!?!

17 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by aprilsopczak in Thoughts and Stuff

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

dependapotamus, mean girls, military life, military wife

Screen Shot 2013-10-17 at 10.28.29 AMDependapotomus. It really is a word. One that military wives like to throw around at each other to insult and bully. Yep, I said it – bully. “Oh, it’s just a joke. You have no sense of humor.” Actually, I’m hilarious. But, I will call it like I see it and it is bullying. You have probably never heard of this if you are not associated with the military, so I’ll let you in on a well known military spouse secret. Many military wives, a good deal of them actually, think they have it all figured out. They know exactly what a military wife should act like and who they should be, and they LOVE telling other women what they are doing wrong. This is not unlike women in general. Check out the “mommy wars” for a good example: you don’t care about your kids if you don’t stay at home, you are a worthless leech if you don’t get a job, you are a selfish witch if you don’t breast feed, you are nothing but a caged tool if you don’t bottle feed, you are a ridiculous, smelly hippie if you don’t use disposable diapers, you are a soulless, devil polluter if you don’t use cloth diapers. It goes on and on and on…

It’s no different with military wives. They are just as snippy, competitive and nasty as non-military wives, maybe even in the same percentages and proportions. Here’s the difference. When you move every few years, it becomes more difficult to make friends. Many people look within the military because it is easier to friend people who are going through exactly the same thing. Military friendships happen much more quickly than non-military out of pure necessity. Think about moving somewhere new, knowing no one, having no family or support system, having small children and a husband who leaves for months at a time. You’re gonna want some friends. Most military bases are in small towns without a lot of people. Most military bases ARE small towns without a lot of people. So, there you are, desperate for some friends in a small town. Now throw in the fact that the overwhelming majority of military members and spouses are young. (War is a young man’s game after all!) This is a recipe for drama, and good gosh almighty is there ever some drama!

There are cliques. Aren’t there always cliques no matter what you are involved in? And, just like civilian life, there are types. There are career women, there are women who stay at home, there are college students, and there are women who get retail jobs everywhere they go. There are women who love to rock the “military spouse” wear showing anyone and everyone they are a military wife. There are those that take it all in stride. There are those who obsess over rank. There are those who couldn’t care less. But, of all these types, the absolute worst, are the ones who think the way they live their life is the best and they absolutely MUST lecture every other type of wife on what they are doing wrong. And so comes the term, dependpotamus. See because in the civilian world, you are a wife. In the military, you are a dependent. It’s not supposed to be a negative thing. It’s supposed to be a classification that the military uses to determine things like the size of house a soldier needs when he moves, or how much per diem he is entitled to during a move. Military spouses, however, have determined to use it as a slur. Yeesh!

This brings me back to bullying. Bullying is a childish game where a person, or persons, try to exert their will on someone else by belittling, teasing, taunting, or physical aggression. “Hey, we’re just joking around here. Nobody’s getting physical!” Maybe not, but a lot of somebody’s are belittling, teasing and taunting to get other people to change their ways. What do you think those trash-tastic FB rant pages are all about? You know the ones (I won’t name them because I am not promoting them) where they go to other FB pages and screen grab other women’s posts and then trash talk the crap out of them? They draw pictures and call names and snark and call people out. Sounds a lot like middle school, really!

I happened on one, by misplaced click, where a woman went on a military wives support page at the beginning of the shutdown and expressed how worried she was about her husband not receiving a check. Sounds pretty legit, right? Apparently not to one of her fellow “supporters” on the page who screen grabbed the post, reposted it on a rant page, called the woman a “dependa” and said she should get a job herself instead of spending all of her husband’s money. Um, excuse me, what year is this? Her husband’s money? Like I said, bringing the mommy wars to a whole new level. In the civilian world, she would be a stay at home mom. In the military world, she’s a mixture of a dependent and a hippo. Wow! So much for support!

You know, to a point, I get it. It amazes me how young a lot of these women get married and how quickly they start having kids. I think it’s kinda crazy! But, you know what? Not my life. They are adults, maybe barely and I definitely advise my teen not to do it, but it’s still their decision to make. Not mine. I also giggle to myself when I see hooah hooah Army wives all covered in camo and bragging about being a military wife. But, I would have done that too if I got married to my Army man so young. Being young is about being larger than life. And who doesn’t change their FB status if they get engaged? Who doesn’t talk excitedly about their new husband and how awesome he is? Shoot! When I got engaged, I talked with my left hand for at least a week. I wanted everyone to see my ring! It may be more subtle, but it’s not much different. I don’t run around displaying my Army wife status, but I did put it up on this blog that I am an Army wife because I am proud of my husband and it lets you know a little bit about me. That’s kind of the point of the blog, I’m sharing. My subtlety about being a military wife probably comes from getting married in my early 30’s. You do things differently in your 20’s than in your 30’s than in your 40’s than in your…

It’s also funny, and somewhat irritating, to me how some wives wear their husband’s rank. However, this is not something unique to the military world. Over the course of twelve long weeks, one of my undergrad professors told our class at least 15 times that her husband was a doctor. We were all duly impressed. This is something you see everywhere and guys are guilty of it too. The funny thing is, the women making fun of the women doing it, don’t seem to realize that it happens everywhere else too. Maybe that’s because they haven’t lived any other life. Ironic, isn’t it?

I think it’s okay to giggle among friends about this kind of stuff, to blow off steam. That’s not what is happening here. Oh, those participating in these trash talking pages can claim that it is the same thing all they want to, but it’s not. Giggling with your bestie over something stupid that was said to you, or something ridiculous you saw posted, is completely different from screen grabbing someone’s post and publicly ridiculing them. “But we blacked out the names!” I’m sure that will totally keep them from knowing that you are posting about them on a page with thousands of members. Then, when they read the awful things that total strangers are saying about them, it will not make them feel bad at all because, hey, you blacked out their name! Good job! “Well, they shouldn’t have posted something so stupid in the first place!” Awesome, so now you’re the stupid police. Yes, it was ridiculously stupid for someone to ask for support on something labeled a “support page” and not expect to be ridiculed instead. What a buffoon!

I have my opinions about things. I have my opinions about people. They are not always nice. Sometimes, they are downright mean. That’s why I don’t tell the person. That’s why I don’t try to humiliate them. Does that make me better than these people? No. I probably shouldn’t think a lot of the mean stuff I do in the first place. But, while it’s hard to control my thoughts, it’s easier to control my mouth. I choose to use my words to help, as best I can. I choose not to use my words to purposely hurt. That doesn’t make me a better person, but it darn sure makes me a nicer one. Middle school, high school, military life, civilian world, workplace or church – it doesn’t matter. Mean girls suck. Be nice, people! That’s all I’m saying.

Mommy vs Daddy

12 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by aprilsopczak in Thoughts and Stuff

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mommy vs daddy, parenthood

My husband’s theory on fatherhood vs motherhood: If Mommy takes the kid out mismatched, hair a mess, or dirty, everyone judges and thinks she’s a terrible mom. If Daddy takes the kid out mismatched, hair a mess, or dirty, everyone thinks he’s a great guy for spending time with his kid!

My husband’s theory is correct.

An Educated Thought

07 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by aprilsopczak in Thoughts and Stuff

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college education, higher education

I do not understand how people can go to college and become full of themselves. Yes, I have learned a lot. However, if being in college all these years has taught me anything, it’s that there are a whole lot of people out there who know a whole lot more than me about a great many things, and that there will always be more that I can and should learn. I am proud of what I have learned and accomplished, but I am humbled by the people I have learned it from and the people I have studied alongside.

What’s that on the carpet?!

06 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by aprilsopczak in Around the House

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

carpet cleaning stain removal, how to get ink out of carpet, how to get milk out of carpet, how to get red wine out of carpet

It seems as though I passed on my experimental gene on to my children. They are always creating, taking things apart and inventing new things. This can get rather messy. The other day, my 15-year-old asked if he could take apart the old printer. “Sure!” I proudly replied, loving that he enjoys this stuff as much as I do. But he’s a little, shall we say, less neat and exacting with his projects and guess what ended up on the carpet? Yep. Printer ink. I called my mom in a panic asking her how to get it out. I really don’t want to have to pay for new carpet when we move out!

My mom gave me a great tip and it worked perfectly. This was not a surprise at all as my parents have owned a carpet cleaning business for over 30 years. Want to know the secret? Rubbing alcohol! Worked like a charm. Here are some of Mom’s other awesome tips so you can keep your deposit too!

Carpet Cleaning Tips

National Bullying Prevention Month

03 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by aprilsopczak in Neon Tiki Tribe

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National Bullying Prevention Month

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and The Neon Tiki Tribe is donating the proceeds from the sale of my book Bullies: Playground Push-Around to organizations dedicated to preventing bullying.

<div style=”margin-bottom:5px”> <strong> <a href=”https://www.slideshare.net/NeonTikiTribe/national-bullying-prevention-month&#8221; title=”National Bullying Prevention Month” target=”_blank”>National Bullying Prevention Month</a> </strong> from <strong><a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/NeonTikiTribe&#8221; target=”_blank”>Neon Tiki Tribe</a></strong> </div>

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