Make note to self-do not buy the big package of thick chicken breasts anymore. Although you pounded the last two pieces, and must I say with great vigor, they were too thick and had that funny chicken taste-almost like an uncooked taste. Buy some regular olive oil as suggested by Giada DeL. and use the EVOO for salad dressing. Throw a hunk of butter in there too. OR buy the skinny cutlets, yeah that’s the ticket.
Here’s dinner last night with the hunky chicken. Martha’s Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine, Dec. ’07 issue Chicken with olives, rice, spinach and raisins. I didn’t have the golden raisins as suggested in the recipe. I think another kind of white wine would be tastier too:
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Let’s talk about the Oprah show that will air the second part later on today. It’s about Hoarders. I am one to a degree, but I keep most of my hoarded stuff in the basement and most of my boxes are see-through plastic ones-and there is a lot of those. It’s spilling over a little in the bedrooms and family room. Mostly books. But the lady on the show had 15 dumpsters full of stuff in her house! Every room and the basement was jam-packed with stuff from her daily shopping sprees. Now if you know me, I talk about my mom having a similar, but not as drastic problem with too much stuff in her house. Like the lady on the show, her younger grandkids haven’t been inside her house for months, maybe a year or more. I try to help her, but it just gets bad again. She is always sorting, but never tossing. Her favorite phrase now is ‘I need to buy more Rubbermaid containers’!! She buys the big monster ones in green or whatever and you can’t see what’s inside. She has them taking up room in two bedrooms that she can’t even get in. I said tonight, and this really applies to all of us who are holding on to stuff, that she is 77 and better get real. Everything will be tossed in the long run. And I know deep down she really wants to use watercolors or sketch or embroider and live a less stressful life. I see how she will sit here and do those things when she visits. I bet she has dozens of started embroidery kits. Stuff is a replacement for an empty nest. Shopping is definitely a problem too. She was so proud that she was staying out of the department stores, but now she goes to the Goodwill to shop! This is hard to deal with as Brian’s dad hasn’t really gotten rid of too many things of Bri’s mom’s and she’s been gone over 11 yrs now.
Collages & Creative Goodness 
hey, nice recipe there
It’s an interesting relation between hoarding and an empty home/nest/life. When my brother and I moved out, my mom went through a rather serious hoarding period that had us worried. But “luckily” her basement flooded and she lost a tremendous amount of the stuff that had accumulated over the years and it seemed to show her how out-of-control her shopping had become. She doesn’t do it anymore. Phew!
I’m the opposite. I can’t stand clutter. It makes me anxious and I feel suffocated. My DH is what I like to call a pack rat. He’s doesn’t hoard per se, but he has a lot of stuff, and tends to buy in multiples. We don’t have things piled up anywhere, but I’m always reminding him that we need to go through a few boxes and downsize. In that way, we are complete opposites.
I saw the Oprah episode you’re referring to. It was my understanding that the only way to truly help a hoarder is to get them some counseling. I’m sure at 77 your mom will be hard to persuade in that direction, though. {{ Hugs }}
I think you’re right about the empty nest/hoarding. I believe there’s also an addiction factor there too. My dmil was truly addicted to bargain shopping. We benefited from much of it, but it really got out of control the last couple of years of her life until she became ill and passed away. It was never as bad as this lady on Oprah, but left to herself, it probably would have.
I’ll tell you…QVC and HSN can turn a slight inclination to buy things into an addictive habit. I know lots of people who have UPS visit their house almost every day. I’m sure it’s a hard habit to break!