Monthly Archives: March 2021

TikTok Tomato Feta Pasta

So if you’ve been living under a rock during the past few months, you won’t be aware of this viral recipe. Basically it is exactly what it sounds like and it is delicious. I’m never sure of these trendy recipes but being an Italian pasta lover I had to try it at least once and let me tell you it will definitely be a repeat recipe! Let’s get to it!!!

Ingredients

– 8 ounces of feta (I used about 9)

– 2 containers of grapes tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes)

– Pasta of your choosing ( I used penne)

– garlic (as much as you want)

– fresh basil (as much as you want)

– olive oil

Cooking Instructions

– Preheat oven to 400° F.

– Measure out 8 ounces of feta.

– Place tomatoes in a Pyrex or some form of cookware for the oven and pour olive oil over them, making sure they are all lightly covered in oil.

– Place feta in the center of the tomatoes.

– Bake for 35-40 minutes.

– Chop garlic and fresh basil.

– Cook your favorite pasta.

– When the sauce is done baking, remove from the oven and add the garlic and fresh basil and stir. It could be watery but as it cools and is stirred it will thicken.

– Mix with pasta and enjoy!!! Don’t forget to add Parmesan cheese on top!

Late Night Blog Post

So, it’s 2am and I cannot sleep. It’s been awhile since I’ve had trouble sleeping but I kind of welcome it because mostly I go to bed at like 9 every day these days. Pandemic life am I right?

This week had been a busy week but it has gone by super quickly! I cannot believe that it’s April next week!!!! Soon it’s my birthday and then my boyfriend and I’s one year anniversary! I can’t believe how fast the year has gone. It’s been a great year! I can’t wait to be able to go out and about again! Also I just got a new cookbook in the mail today so I can’t wait to cook all kinds of things! It’s “True Comfort” by Kristin Cavallari. I never watched Laguna Beach but 2020 made me appreciate reality TV for needing it to turn off my mind. I watched Love is Blind and Tiger King. I need more shows but like I prefer stuff with more… substance. I am currently watching Ru Paul’s Drag Race and while it’s interesting, the queens are exceptionally bitchy and catty and it is really annoying. Like shut the fuck up already. I feel like if I started watching real housewives or something I would lose more brain cells and get annoyed at the bitchiness on there as well.

Anyways, glad there’s no drama in my life. If you know me, you know I’m a bluntly honest person. If you don’t like it don’t talk to me. I don’t really care if you don’t like me, it’s your loss. You gotta have that mentality or you’ll get walked over all the time. I learned that not long ago and I tell you I am much happier for it. It provides for a better more enjoyable life :).

This weekend it’s my mom’s birthday. She wanted a barbecue but it’s supposed to piss rain all weekend so that has been replaced with us ordering in! I can’t wait to see where she decides to order from! I hope she’s able to enjoy her birthday! It’s her second quarantined birthday and it’s going to rain so that really sucks but my sister and I will make sure she has a great day regardless. My birthday will also be in quarantine again this year. Last year I got drunk in my backyard with an outdoor socially distanced birthday and then on zoom haha. What a time ! Hopefully I could have a backyard chilling for my birthday again this year! It was like 30 degrees on my birthday last year! Great weather!

I know some people don’t like their birthday but I do. You are celebrating life! I believe in celebrating you and if I love you, you deserve to be celebrated ! Without you being born, you wouldn’t exist (obviously) and you wouldn’t be able to bring happiness into my life or the lives of others. So be happy you exist and celebrate yourself because you are friggen awesome!

I’d just like to say also, that I will be trying to post to the blog way more with recipes and product reviews. So far I’ve only been adding book reviews but seriously there are not enough hours in a day to write everything I want to write but it is coming. I’m not stressed about it or anything but since the site is still new, I feel like I haven’t added enough. I shouldn’t feel this way though because I’m using this site as a place of expression first and foremost and second to entertain you reading this! Sometimes the posts will be happy, sometimes they will be sad (shoutout anxiety, depression and panic attacks), sometimes informative and sometimes funny. You will get every form of expression around here ladies and gents ! With that I bid you a good morning and hopefully I will be able to sleep now haha.

B

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? – Book Review

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

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Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”
 
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!

 
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

So, I loved this book. It is the first comedy book I have ever read and I can’t wait to read the rest of Mindy’s novels. When reading this book, I felt like I was her friend sitting in a room just listening to her talk. If I were ever to write a book, I imagine that it would feel like that, as if I’m talking with a friend.

If you have ever seen “The Mindy Project” or “The Office,” you already know that Mindy is hilarious. She talks about her life and all of her experiences and constantly keeps you laughing. It was a great pick me up during this drab year of the pandemic and it made me wonder how come I had never read a comedy book before. I definitely 100% recommend you read this book for a laugh, you won’t be disappointed.

2020 – A Year In Review

Today, I logged into my Facebook page only to see my first post about Coronavirus from last year, so I thought that I would take some time to tell you about some of the thoughts and feelings I’ve had over the past year. There were good times, and there were bad times, but so far here I am on the other side… managing I guess you would say.

So three great things happened to me last year and I will talk a bit about each of them. The first, I chose to rekindle an old romance in late May. Now, almost 10 months later, I’m still not sure if this was a good idea or not. Haha just kidding. My boyfriend and I met 10 years ago at work, him the son of the delivery driver and the new clerk on the block, and me, a manager just working and minding my own business and then I saw it. His butt crack as he was sitting on the floor facing the shelves. It was love at first sight. For those of you never having worked in retail, facing is the art of bringing all the stock to the front of the shelf so that everything looks presentable. We then proceeded to be friendly for a few months and then, I don’t exactly how or when we started dating. There is a lot of history here, good and bad, not too sure if I do want to share that on here because some of it still haunts me today. I guess I shouldn’t say haunts, but I literally remember 98% of things that happen to me and how I felt, happy or sad, hurt or ecstatic. Needless to say, I have given him his last and final chance to prove to me that he is a changed man. Most of the time, people do not change. I never thought it was possible until I myself went through a massive change in 2016-2017 when I dealt with a situation that had me suffering from PTSD and hurled my depression and anxiety into overdrive, but luckily I got help. Who knows what would have happened if I did not. I’m not sure I would have survived. This too is a story for another time. Unless, you reading this already know the story. It’s good to write or talk about things from time to time because it makes you feel better so if you have something to say to someone, say it. You never know when it could be too late. I know you are probably sensing a lot of sadness in this post so far, but it was not my intention when talking about my boyfriend. I just basically wanted to say that people can change and grow up but ultimately you have to work at a relationship, you can’t just expect it to just work. There has to be compromise and effort and yes arguments, because without arguments everything is bottled up inside until one day without explanation (or a very stupid one) everything comes to an end. This isn’t how I want to live my life. Thankfully, throughout all the bullshit we have been through, we have managed to find some sort of balance during this weird, draining, exhausting year. We have had many laughs, drinks and adventures and hopefully much more of this will come in the future. It’s nice to be in the moment with someone and to connect with them and do fun things, especially throughout the last year. It only took a pandemic for us to make our fucked up relationship work, go figure. I think it’s because at the beginning we were mostly just video chatting and just reconnected again which was a nice experience. I can’t wait to see what else we will get up to. We already started an Instagram about food which is a fun time. We don’t post all the time on it but we have fun doing it. Aka it was his idea to create the page and since I’m so into photography I take the photos and arrange them and he holds his phone on top of the plate to get good lighting. It’s really quite comical. Feel free to follow along on Instagram @thehungrygirlandherboyfriend . We are funny people when we are together, so if you need entertainment, there ya go! Follow our page!

The second and probably the greatest thing to come out of 2020 for me was the birth of my niece. Finally we have another baby in the family. The last time a baby was born in our family was I believe 2005 when my cousin’s second child was born. Oh and she lives in Italy so we never really saw her that much. Although we haven’t seen her that much due to the pandemic, babies are a breath of fresh air during hard times like this pandemic. I’m not even sure how women who a) gave birth in 2020 or b) already had children in 2020 are still alive and kicking today. It must be Hella tough so kudos to all you mamas out there kicking ass and being perfect moms. I don’t care what you say ladies, you’re doing a fucking amazing job at being a mom so do not contradict me. Plus you can’t since this is a blog so ha. It is nice to get photos and updates on her from time to time. Puts a little extra light in my day. I can’t wait to properly play with her and watch her grow ❤ .

The last great thing that happened in 2020 is that I joined a book club. Apparently this is an old lady thing according to like everyone, but really it’s a great thing for people who love reading! I’ve always loved reading thanks to my mom and joining this book club has kept me going throughout the last year. It’s forced me to read things I wouldn’t have normally and I’ve enjoyed them. If you have any book recommendations, drop them in the comments I would love to explore and be introduced to as many books as possible. I’m just your average bibliophile. I have been contemplating getting an e-reader, but I’m not really sure how I feel about them yet. I did however just finish reading a book on my phone through Net Galley ( a website where you can request free copies of e-books or audiobooks) and it wasn’t too bad. I just get a headache if I stare at screens too long but this seemed to be okay so we will see! I do understand that this year hasn’t been great for a lot of people and I am not trying to make my life seem all happy and perfect, but you have to try and focus on the positive sometimes when the negative is very overwhelming and I hope that everyone that suffered last year finds peace and that this year will bring them better things.

While all of this happiness has been happening, obviously the stress and exhaustion of the pandemic has been weighing over everyone’s heads. I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss going out and doing things. I miss watching live bands at Irish Pubs. I miss being able to be outside after 8pm (I live in Quebec and we have an 8pm curfew). I miss hugging people. I hate how disrespectful people have become. I hate that people take us essential workers for granted. I feel bad for frontline workers, teachers, parents… seniors…kids… People are burning out, kids aren’t having proper childhoods.. the world is on hold. People are getting vaccinated now which is good so hopefully things will be back to normal soonish. Everyone thought that starting January 1st 2021 would be a new year but we still have had the same problems. I find some days are great and okay and others are just really fucking bad. Sometimes I just need to be alone, other I need affection. It’s rough because we are all in the same storm just not in the same boat. So many people have lost their jobs. It’s just awful. I hope the world gets back to normal soon. I miss people.

Slaughterhouse-Five – Book Review

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

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Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden. Billy Pilgrim’s odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear most.

So, I have a few friends that have ranted and raved about Kurt Vonnegut and how great of a writer he was. This was my first Vonnegut novel and I’m still unsure if I will read another one of his books or not. He is known for his satirical novels and great imagination. This book is an anti-war book mixed with science fiction.

Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, during his time as an American soldier and his life post war. He also travels through time and space. Vonnegut himself went through the war, so the part where Billy is a soldier is based on his own experiences, so at least that was interesting to read about. I have to say, that mostly I do not enjoy satire. I hated reading those types of books in school, but here I was reading this book.

I have to say I did enjoy the book, mainly the science fiction parts where he time travels off planet to Tralfamadore. The rest of the book is good too but it took me a little while to be able to follow and not have a headache from the way the writing jumps from place to place and time to time. Once I got used to it, I found it more enjoyable. Even talking about it now, I may, in the future read another Vonnegut. I cannot base everything on just one novel, and one experience. If you love satire and science fiction, maybe this will be a book for you!

Sunday Scoop

Well, it’s been a week I tell you. First of all, can I just say, it’s friggen March again! Last March, we were about to enter a two week lockdown that has now lasted a year. Go figure eh? Well this past week has felt a little 2020ish, mainly because it was A LOT.

On Monday, I got to work a little after a couple of my coworkers only to find out there was a massive leak and there was water everywhere! Between cleaning up, removing things off the shelves and covering almost everything in the affected area with plastic tarps, the morning was gone. The leak lasted until Tuesday morning when the roofers came and hopefully that will be the end of the leak, Wednesday we put everything back on the shelves and cleaned everything. Honestly I have never felt so old. My arms and legs were so sore from all the work we were doing and probably the floor didn’t help anything. In addition to this, I have been Hella dizzy these past few days. I’m pretty sure that it’s because during the week I didn’t drink enough water while I was running around like an idiot fixing things with my coworkers due to the roof. Today I am finally feeling much better after drinking a fuck ton of water yesterday and today.

Because I have been trying to lay low, I have been streaming a few things. I finally finished “The Crown.” This show is pretty good, it’s a bit weird because they change the actors as they age and it takes a bit of getting used to but other than that it’s a pretty interesting show. I have learned a lot about British history (by googling what they mention in the show to see what’s real and what’s not) and the actors are all really good. I definitely recommend it if you’re into the royals. Secondly, I started to watch Ru Paul’s Drag Race. After years of a few of my friends telling me to watch it, I finally started. Honestly I’m enjoying it however, the girls are extremely bitchy sometimes and I find it to be really annoying. I hate bitches and whether or not they are just putting on a show for the cameras, sometimes I can’t take it so I turn it off. I do love watching the final performances, some of these ladies are stunning and very talented so at least it’s not all bad.

I went to Indigo on Friday and finally after 33 years on this Earth, had the date of my dreams. My boyfriend set me a limit and told me to get books! It was the best! And, I’m such a thrifty shopper that I didn’t even hit my mark, so I have some books left to buy on another date! Woo! Definitely my boyfriend knows the way to my heart, books and food. It’s a day I will remember forever! Hopefully there will be many more to come hehehe. I am currently reading five books. FIVE. I’m not sure why I do this to myself, I keep saying this, but I just can’t stop myself. The books I am currently reading are:

  • Helter Skelter (about the Manson Murders)
  • 24/6 (About spending one day a week without screens)
  • The Nanny ( a thriller about a woman’s nanny that disappears and 30 years later she finds out the truth)
  • The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle ( This month’s book club pick, about the deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and how her killer is found )
  • Love is a Four Letter Word (A romance book about a girl in her 30s who has baggage in her past)

Check them out if you think they are interesting! If not, soon you will see some of the reviews on here and then decide for yourself if you think it would be your jam or not. One thing I have never tried is an audiobook. I do love podcasts, maybe they are kind of the same thing! One day I will try one! Until then, I will just be a crazy reading lady that blogs for your entertainment!

The Sound of Gravel – Book Review

The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir by Ruth Wariner

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The thirty-ninth of her father’s forty-two children, Ruth Wariner grew up in a polygamist family on a farm in rural Mexico. In The Sound of Gravel, she offers an unforgettable portrait of the violence that threatened her community, her family’s fierce sense of loyalty, and her own unshakeable belief in the possibility of a better life. An intimate, gripping tale of triumph and courage, The Sound of Gravel is a heart-stopping true story.

The book was the second book choice from my book club and honestly I did not know what to expect. Other memoirs I have read have not been the greatest, but being who I am, I will read any genre, whether or not I have enjoyed books in the genre. This book was excellent. It’s probably one of the most heart wrenching, page turning memoir I have ever read. I must warn you that there are some heavy topics in this book, I did have to put it down a few times and take a sort of break, and there were many times that I did cry while reading about Ruth Wariner’s life.

This novel is about Ruth and how she grew up in a polygamist family in Mexico. It is about the life and violence that she experienced. This was unlike anything I have ever read before but I’m glad I did. Although it was at times difficult to read, it was also difficult to put down. The book took me no time at all to read. It is a story of great strength and courage and I definitely recommend it, it’s 100% worth the read.