So if you read in my first Hell's (to the naw) Kitchen post I explained how and why I don't cook. If you didn't get to read it click the link. But basically I told myself that I was going to try and start cooking more this year. I would say that the first meal was a success and I got no complaints from my date. To be honest I definitely didn't expect to have cooked meal #2 & 3 in less than a month. My original goal with the starting to cook more was 1 meal per month. Considering how much I normally cook (never) I figured this would be a hell of a step up.
The opportunity for meal #2 presented itself out of the blue. The same lovely lady that braved my first meal found herself feeling ill a few weeks ago. Well I had the bright idea to take her some chicken noodle soup and orange juice. What better to make her feel better. Then I thought cool I saw Campbell's was on sale that week $1 for big cans (possibilities!! LoL). But then I thought about it. Wouldn't it be extra special if I made her this soup? Having never even thought to take on such a task, I immediately hit up my cooking mentor. She replied that she had a chicken noodle soup recipe for me and would help me out. Therefore, I committed myself to cooking this meal.
After hitting up the mentor throughout the day I unfortunately was getting no response. So when 5pm came I was blowing her phone up like a man smoking at a gas pump (Which I saw recently btw. I see the wildest stuff sometimes. LoL). Now I was on a time constraint and had to have this soup there by a certain time. So when I realized that I was going to have no help I was left with a couple of choices. 1.) Go with the Campbell's Soup option 2.) Cook this meal all by myself, 3.) Just abandon the whole idea and make up an excuse. Perhaps I got sick myself. LoL.
Well after much comptemplating I actually chose option 2. First, I found a recipe online that 'seemed' to be pretty easy. Then I rushed to the store for the ingredients and then rushed back to start cooking. I swear I cut up so many damn vegetables it was ridiculous. Lol. Although time was an issue, I was somehow able to cook the soup, and deliver it. She was very surprised and appreciative of the soup, crackers and orange juice. When she ate it she said that it was good and with that meal #2 was also a success. My mentor had run into some technical difficulties but was proud that I proceeded without her assistance. I am leaving out plenty of details and how nervous I was (which I never am) when trying to pull this one off. However, the results of meal #2 can be seen below.
(Menu: Homemade chicken noodle soup, crackers, and Orange Juice [not pictured])
Meal #3 came about just a couple of days ago. This time there was no special occasion, just another visit/date. The mentor helped me come up with a quick/easy meal that I could prepare after work in time for her arrival. Although I did get talked through this meal I will admit that it came a little more natural than the first 2. It seems as if I am definitely getting a little more comfortable after each meal. This meal turned out great. My date (my new default taste tester) really enjoyed this one and even asked for my recipe. My response was, I couldn't divulge this old family secret, but I can show you her how to make it. LoL.
I had more of the ingredients for this meal left over the next day. So just to show you how comfortable I'm actually getting with cooking, when I came home from work I cooked this same meal again for dinner just for myself. Also, I took what was left to work with me today for lunch. Now I won't count that as meal #4, but I will say that this meal is officially mastered and in my mental book of recipes. See the pictures below.
(Menu: Buffalo chicken wraps, chips & salsa, and Bahama Mamas to drink).
Now I can't promise 3 more meals within a months time; however, with the way things are going I could be up to 1 meal per week sooner than we expect. That's it for me. Happy Friday everyone and have a great weekend.
Many of you are off of work today in observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Unfortunately, I'm not as lucky as some of you. My job doesn't give me the option to have this day off, so I'm here still slaving. And yeah I'm kinda hating on y'all on the low. LoL. However, I do plan on calling in sick tomorrow.
Yes we all know that tomorrow is the day we've been waiting for since November 4th. Yes the inauguration of our nation's first black President Barack Obama will take place tomorrow. Some of you lucky individuals will have the opportunity to attend the historic event in person. I will not be in attendance, so for those of you that do attend, I look forward to hearing all about it. So you're probably wondering why am I calling off then?
Well the reason I plan on calling off is because I have a job interview tomorrow. Now I won't front things at my job are on very thin ice, and at times I feel like I weigh 500 pounds. For this and many other reasons I have been trying to find a new job. So, as ecstatic as I was when I got that call back after my phone interview to interview in person, I was still reluctant. The reason being that the only date they had available for this interview is tomorrow. Yep the same day as the inauguration. Just in case you're still wondering what's the big deal I'll break it down even further.
I'm the ONLY black person in my office now. Tomorrow is the inauguration for our first black President. Therefore, I feel like regardless of what excuse I use to call off, in their minds they'll be thinking "bullshit, this nigga is just calling off because of the inauguration." Well that is false I will actually miss the majority, if not all of the inauguration due to the scheduled time of the interview. But it's cool I got my DVR set to record. As much as I'd like to watch live, unless Barack is going to hook me up with a job I'm going to have to check out the DVR version of the inauguration. LoL.
But this whole calling off tomorrow got me to thinking about excuses and reasons used to call off from work. I don't call off too often, but the times I have I'm sure I've used some type of excuse that they just had to accept as truth. For instance, my brother and I took a road trip to St. Louis, Mo. back in November to watch the Chicago Bears play against the St. Louis Rams. After drinking during tailgating and during the game, we knew we weren't driving back home to Chicago. Which meant I would have to call off work on Monday morning. Well since I was quite intoxicated it was nothing for me to wake up early that morning and in my best sick voice call off. I mean technically I was sick right? Plus sick voice and hang over voice pretty much sound the same so no one could tell the difference.
Funny thing about that story is when I came back to work that Tuesday a co-worker of mines asks me "Did you go to the game Sunday?" I immediately said no. Then she goes "oh okay I just asked because I went and someone told me you may have been going." Dammit I forgot I told one person in advance I may be attending the game. Also, I remembered my brother saying he was on the Jumbo Tron and he was excited about it. So I'm thinking to myself I hope she didn't see me on the screen as well. Luckily, this is someone that I'm cool with so she wouldn't snitch on me. I hope. But I just found it funny.
Now as a general rule I try not to call off with excuses that involve any type of emergency for fear they may come true. For instance, I've never really used the whole "my son is sick or had an accident" excuse. Only because I would feel horrible if something were to happen to him or if he got sick after me saying so. However, I won't hesitate to claim I'm sick or something that has to do with me.
So to be honest I have no clue what excuse I will be using tomorrow when I call off. I may just freestyle it as the phone rings and come off the cuff. I'm good like that. LoL. But I tried to find some info online that would be informative but this is all I got. "The top three reasons healthy employees call out sick, something 35% of workers admit to are personal errands, appointments, catching up on sleep, and simply relaxing, according to hiring managers surveyed by CareerBuilder.com. They had some bizarre excuses used by some employees, but they were simply stupid excuses that would never fly or even be believed by the stupidest of managers. For instance "I was sprayed by a skunk, I was spit on by a venomous snake, or a hit man was looking for me."
Needless to say I won't be using any of those dumb excuses. However, I'm curious to know what excuses you guys would suggest for me to use? Also, what are your most outrageous and or frequently used excuses to call off from work? (That worked of course). Hopefully, the whole interview on inauguration day will have some significance and I'll land this job. Wish me luck y'all. Below is a funny clip about black people calling off from work by D.L. Hughley. Classic Material. The part I'm referring runs from about the 1:00 to 1:45 minute mark.
**** UPDATE **** For those of you that may be wondering what excuse did I come up with to call off today here it is. I left a voice mail saying this. "Hi _(Manager)_ I'm calling because I just dropped my son off at Pre-School and on my way to work they called me and said I had to come back and pick him back up because a bunch of kids were sick. My son was just sick last week so I don't want him to be exposed. My son's mom and grandparents are out of town so I'm the only one available to watch him. I will try to see if I can find a sitter and come in later I will let you know."
I called later. "I was unable to find anyone to watch my son so I will just be in tomorrow morning any questions or suggestions you can call me at #...."
The interview went very well. Hopefully, I'll have some good news come next week. But we'll see tomorrow the reaction I get for me having called off today.
So if you read in my first Hell's (to the naw) Kitchen post I explained how and why I don't cook. If you didn't get to read it click the link. But basically I told myself that I was going to try and start cooking more this year. I would say that the first meal was a success and I got no complaints from my date. To be honest I definitely didn't expect to have cooked meal #2 & 3 in less than a month. My original goal with the starting to cook more was 1 meal per month. Considering how much I normally cook (never) I figured this would be a hell of a step up. 
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