You know how when you eat something new and you immediately fall in lust?

That happened with these Stuffed Pork Apple Cheddar Grilled Sandwiches. Try saying that 3 times fast.

For week 2 in my partnership with The Motherhood and the National Pork Board, Patrick was tasked (by me) to make a new pork recipe with pork tenderloin chops.

Holy.

Delicious.

Again, my girls even ate it. Which, seriously, if my girls eat something that’s not pizza or a peanut butter & Nutella sandwich, the Earth must be off its axis.

Stuffed Pork, Apple, Cheddar Grilled Sandwiches

8 boneless pork loin chops, cut 1/4-inch thick and trimmed (10 to 12 ounces total)
4 tablespoons apricot preserves
2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
Nonstick cooking spray
8 slices country wheat bread, 1/2-inch thick
3 tablespoons margarine, softened
1 granny smith apple, cored and sliced 1/8-inch thick
4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, reduced-fat (made with 2% milk/fat free), thinly sliced

The full recipe is listed on the Pork Be Inspired website. Because he likes to grill, Patrick grilled the chops instead of pan-frying and grilled the whole sandwiches instead of panini-ing them.

Check the National Pork Board website for current Publix pork specials and other recipes to try out. This week, Pork Loin Chops are on sale for $4.99/pound. Like the Pork Be Inspired page on Facebook for updates on the new Love Me Tenderloin Giveaway. Follow @allaboutpork for additional information and specials. 

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: pork apple cheddar grilled sandwich, pork recipe, Sponsored

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This photo seems to have been taken after the Ziggy Stardust days, so there’s no excuse for this photo of David Bowie holding a cat.

Other than it being one of the most awesome Glamour Shots ever taken.

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cat, david bowie, picture

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It’s been a long time coming, this one about my panties.

I’ve been putting off finding a new favorite style of underwear for far too long. You can see it in the holes and the way the sides of my current undies roll down my hips.

*Faces covered to protect the innocent.

Those very comfy, very stretched out, very beige, very cotton “hipster” Granny panties on the left are approximately 6 years old. They are made by Barely There and are a size XL, which in the obscure world of lingerie, equates to an 8.

Those very new, very not stretched out, very beige, very someotherfabricthatisnotcotton “hipster” Granny panties on the right are approximately 2 days old. They are also made by Barely There and are a size XL, or the obscure lingerie size of 8.

Obviously, I needed the new pair of underwears I bought shown on the right. However, they are not the same style as the ones on the left. They may both be very boring beige and are both “hipsters” and they are made with similar fabrics, BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME.

This does not please me.

I, and I’m sure many other women around the world, would like to purchase the same panties to which I have grown accustomed as replacements.

Holy underwear is not cool. OK, except in the case of a draft, and then they’re breezy. But I want to replace my holy underwears with new, SAME panties as the ones like on the left above that I’ve grown to love.

I want the panties that don’t roll down my hips, don’t bunch up my ass crack, don’t show out of the top of my jeans when I bend over, and don’t cut off the circulation to my legs.

With this, I’m filing a formal complaint to the manufacturers of women’s underwear.

Attention All Ladies Undergarments Makers:

Because of the curvaceous nature of my body, shopping for new panties is an unpleasant task. I’m not sure you’re aware of this fact, as you seem to think I like changing how my underwears fit on my nethers.

Women don’t like change in relation to how our undies fit on our bottoms.

Once I’ve entered into this period in my life known as a certain age, I am comfortable in a style and a fabric and a fit and price. Unless my derrière drastically changes shape and size, I stick to what I know.

When you, the panties manufacturers of the world, decide to change up your styles and fabrics and fits of your ladies panties, I, a women of a certain age, am unhappy.

Please, Hanes, Bali, Victoria’s Secret, Barely There, Soma, Fruit of the Loom, etc, when you make a panty and it sells more than 10 pairs, I need you to make them FOR LIFE.

I don’t want to have to go Commando just because I can’t find the new Perfect Panty. It’s not pleasant. Trust me.

But, I’m sure you know that because you’re in the business of clothing the unpleasantries. 

Peace & love,
Angie

P.S. Let me know when you can make this happen. I have a drawer full of holy, breezy, stretched-out underwear that needs replacing. You’ll know I’m wearing the old, breezy, rolling-down panties when you watch me walk 10 steps, and I reach into my jeans to pull them back up around my hips.

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: granny panties, panties, picture, underwear

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Looking at my life, nothing.

I have nothing to be depressed about, yet there it is.

Angie, you suck.

Oh, yeah. That.

For the first time, I see it there. I recognize it lying to me. My inner monologue that tells me I suck.

The me who isn’t me that tells me I’m unloved. It tells me that my own friends don’t like me. It tells me that I’m not funny, that everything I say is wrong, that everything I work at being successful is a failure. It puts me in a very self-centered mindset to where I believe there is a conspiracy against me.

There was split second last night when I was alone in the living room, wallowing in self-pity because everything I do is wrong and everyone can see all of my faults, where I realized it wasn’t true.

It’s not true that everything I touch fails. It’s not true that people say negative things about me. It’s not true that if my life were a kickball game, I’d always be the last one chosen.

That’s the cloud of depression and anxiety.

If you suffer from depression and anxiety, you know the cloud. You know the haze in which your brain lives for the duration.

But you may not realize that the you who isn’t you, your inner monologue, is lying to you.

And then there’s the shame of the chemical imbalance.

How embarrassing is it to realize that your own mind is telling you that what you knew to be true is no longer? There is shame in admitting that there is an inner monologue going on that you can’t control.

“You can’t control your own thoughts?”

Not when you don’t realize it’s happening.

You can’t control the negativity, the worthlessness, the thoughts of inadequacy if you don’t realize it’s the depression cloud.

No amount of encouraging words from others or hearing “snap out of it” or “what do you have to be depressed about?” can help. Why? Because the depression LIES.

The depression LIES and tells you that those people trying (in their own way) to help you, that your own friends and family are lying to you. It lies and tells you that everyone else is better than you at everything. It lies and tells you that you’re not good enough.

But that’s not you.

And until that moment when you and I and everyone who suffers realizes that it’s the chemical imbalance causing your brain to lie to you, it cannot be overcome.

For the first time, I had that realization. I had an a-ha moment of clarity exactly at the point when it was telling me that one of my friends was out to get me and prove me wrong.

But it wasn’t true.

The cloud was making me think that it was true. This one particular feeling of inadequacy wasn’t the catalyst for this bout, but I knew it had been coming. I started to realize that I had thoughts of staying in bed all day, not working, and letting all of my hard work of getting to where I am go to waste.

The combination of money struggles to having my credit card number stolen to having trouble maintaining a work schedule to heart palpitations to learning of other’s divorces to hearing of tragedy. All of it became the combined catalyst.

For me, realizing the depression is there is the first step to working hard to overcome it from getting worse.

I have to step back, look around me, recognize what I know to be true, and open myself to positive thoughts and receiving the positivity from friends, family, and others as being the truth.

That plus not forgetting to take my happy-crazy meds, will pull me through this bout.

All of that and these two:

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 59 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: anxiety, depression, sucks

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My husband is lucky to have me as his wife.

There’s no more profound statement I can make other than saying “TV is Everything” and “Brownies Bring Happiness.”

Patrick is damn lucky to have me as his wife.

One of the many things he likes to say is that I have too many purses. “But you don’t NEEEED another purse.”

Friends, I do not have too many purses. We’ve been together since 1995, so going on the 17 years of togetherness bliss, I’m sure a man would think that the 20+ bags-used-as-purses I have in the closet would qualify to him as being “too many.”

I get a new purse about ever 6-12 months. We ladies use our purses on a daily basis. We carry them with us everywhere we go from Target to the movies to shopping to hanging on the door of a toilet stall.

Pro tip: Never put your purse under a black light.

We ladies need new purses for our health.

I am the best wife in the history of the damn world.

I don’t shop for purses at the fancy pants designer stores. Before kids, sure I coveted and even bought a Coach purse, but Patrick gave me my first one! Sure I had a Kate Spade diaper bag, but my sister bought it for me!

Since pushing my beauties out of my bagina, I can estimate that I’ve spent no more than $200 TOTAL on purses. That’s not on one purse, but on all the purses I’ve owned since birthing my children.

I told you, he’s lucky to have me.

While waiting out the carpets to dry after Rug Doctoring them, we went to the outlet malls to walk around and not shop.

The Vera Bradley Outlet store had a 20% OFF EVERYTHING sale.

I had to look.

Because.

And I found her.

Isn’t she pretty?

Ask me how much I paid for her.

ASK ME.

$29.

I paid $29 for a Vera Bradley purse that retails for $68.

Did I need a new purse?

This is the Lands’ End Canvas purse I’ve been using for 7 months for which I paid $13.

You tell me. Did I need a new purse, or do I just plain deserve to have something new and pretty?

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: lands' end, new purse, vera bradley

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“The other white meat.”

It could be my own personal motto, but the National Pork Board thought of it before I could. It’s a good thing I like eating the delicious meat of the pig, or we’d have a problem with our shared motto.

As part of a four-week-long sponsored partnership with Publix, The Motherhood, and the National Pork Board, I was invited to try out different cuts of pork with new recipes. Seeing as I’m not a girl who loves being in the kitchen, I recruited Patrick to make all of the recipes I’ll be sharing. The world is a better place for that.

This week’s cut is pork tenderloin, and with that cut of meat, we decided on trying a recipe that was suggested.

Pork Tenderloin Sliders With Three* Sauces Recipe

1 1lb pork tenderloin, trimmed
your choice of seasoning
2 T olive oil
12 mini rolls (We used King’s Hawaiian)
baby greens
sliced plum tomato

Cut tenderloin into 1/2 inch thick slices.
Sprinkle pork with seasoning.
Heat skillet with oil over medium-high heat.
Add pork to oil to brown, turning once, about 1-1/2 minute for each side.

Note: Pork should be heated to an internal temperature of 145ºF.

Yogurt-Lime Sauce Recipe

Mix together:

1/2 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon lime zest, grated
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped (We used dry)

Goat Cheese-Basil Sauce Recipe

Mix together:

4 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature (1/2 cup) (Pro-tip: don’t use crumbles)
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped (We used dry)
1 small clove garlic , minced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch black pepper

*This recipe calls for making three different sauces, but Patrick isn’t an avocado fan, and since he was making the whole deal, I wasn’t going to push him on making something he didn’t like. That’s called: Picking My Battles.

Take one King’s Hawaiian roll, careful not to shove it in your mouth because you know of its sweet, buttery goodness, schmear it with your choice of sauce, slap on a pork slab, top with tomato and greens.

Shove that homemade pork goodness in your mouth.

Pin It

Seriously, it’s crazy delicious. And seriously, it took Patrick all of about 20 minutes from start to finish to make the entire thing.

This week at Publix, pork tenderloin is on special for $4.99/pound. It’s my personal recommendation that you try these pork sliders because my kids even ate them. And if my kids eat something new and like it, the Earth shifts.

Check the National Pork Board website for current Publix pork specials and other recipes to try out. Like the Pork Be Inspired page on Facebook for updates on the new Love Me Tenderloin Giveaway. Follow @allaboutpork for additional information and specials. 

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: easy recipe, pork tenderloin, sauce recipe, sliders recipe, Sponsored

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I believe that positivity begets positivity and all that shit.

When things start to go wrong around me, I blame my lack of attention to positive thinking.

Which, I guess me blaming me for a negative attitude is kind of the opposite of the point.

While I was sleeping last night, I must have been extra hard on myself because after waking up 15 minutes late, forgetting to hit the “on” switch for my coffee, DirecTV being shut off for non-payment, and then finally my credit card number being stolen that ended in my whole account being drained, I now need the entire mother fucking chorus of The Sound of Music to bring me up to a pleasing disposition.

That whole Golden Rule thing works on yourself, too, yo.

And this is when I thank the Baby Jeebus, Oprah, and Zoloft for working their magic on my happy and keeping me from quitting today. If I’d quit on today, I wouldn’t have signed a new work client, seen the blue sky, been kissed by my wiener, and found these books that I ordered.

Also, thank Baby Jeebus and Oprah for Amazon Affiliate money ’cause mama ain’t got no money in the bank now thanks to some jackhole buying a train ticket in England with my debit card.

I’m a super non-artsy person. The only creative part of me involves thinking of excuses for not cleaning and coming up with topical Tweets during a live broadcast.

I’ve seen these books before and admired the person who can keep up with them, and today I made the commitment to actually use them for me. Rarely do I buy things for myself, unless it’s a bowl of nachos or a “Yay Cleavage” shirt, so I figured after the day I’ve had, I deserve Keri Smith’s Wreck This Box books for me.

To some, it may seem like a small feat to set a goal and keep up with it. But for me, the girl who has no idea what lives at the bottom of the laundry pile, sticking with a personal goal will be triumphant.

I’m setting the goal to open my Lady Flower creative mind.

It’s time to color outside the lines and teach myself that creativity is not about perfection. Not everyone is an artist, especially not me.

If I stick with it, I want you all to pat me on the back and tell me how pretty I’ve become since completing a goal.

If I don’t stick with it, just like me cleaning the shower, this never happened.

And if you’re super lucky, I’ll scan some of what I do in the books and show off my hard-earned Lady Flower creative mind openings.

artwork via Wicket Paper on etsy

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: creative mind, keri smith, wreck this book

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President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address
compared to
Republican response from Governor Mitch Daniels

Pin It

screen-capped from The Maddow Blog, Jan 24, 2012, 11:45pm EST

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: barack obama, maddow, mitch daniels, sotu, state of the union, transcript, word cloud

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Unfortunately, the spam comment here isn’t someone trying to pick a fight. However much I wish to be involved in the latest butthurt-for-pageviews, it’s not happening today.

The following time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I imply, I do know it was my choice to read, however I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you may repair should you werent too busy searching for attention.

I do whine and I am often too busy searching for attention.

Maybe this isn’t a spam comment after all.

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: butthurt, spam comment

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The only reason to have kids is to create clone humans to take your place when you kick off.

Any other reason to breed pales in comparison to nature’s need to reproduce your genes. Unconditional love, feelings of worthiness, premature ejaculation, and one-upping your sister all fall into a distant 2nd place for reasons to spawn.

Patrick and I are raising our girls for us to each have our own Mini Me, as you can see in this photo I took this past weekend at Star Tours.

We’re successfully raising goofball, Star Wars-loving, Disney World-going nerds who will do pretty much anything for a laugh to replace us when we die.

You’re welcome, universe.

© Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] for A Whole Lot of Nothing • Your Favorite Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: anna, claire, Disney World, hollywood studios, instagram, star tours, star wars, walker

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