A Warm House

Thank you to everyone who came to our House Warming! JB and I had a great time cooking up a storm (as per usual, Grill Master JB made some excellent and tasty treats). I cooked my "I make this for special occasions only because it takes all freakin' day" Chicken Tortilla Soup, and a Green Chili and Cheese puff pastry. Ah, New Mexico, how I miss you...

Enter Acid Reflux Disease. There are three simple rules I am aware of to avoid angering the Monster Who Lives In My Stomach:

1) Don't eat spicy food.
2) Don't eat a lot of food at any one time.
3) Don't lay down for at least 3 hours after eating.

Last night I broke all of them. JB grilled us up some Pollo Asado (sp?) and I made us two side dishes liberally laced with Sadie's New Mexican Salsa* that was so tasty I had 2 helpings of everything except the chicken - and I would have had more of that if we hadn't run out of chicken to grill.

I woke up at 5:17 (after going to bed around 1:00 AM - did I mention that "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince" arrived about 15 minutes after our first House Warming Guest?). I am a fairly sound sleeper, so by the time I was awake there was already a 4-alarm fire going on in my stomach. I'm amazed I have an esophagus left, actually. I was in pain for 2 hours, exhausted pain, trying to sleep sitting up, resisting the temptation to OD on Pepcid AC, railing on myself for not having started another 14 day treatment of Prilosec before the House Warming (and the Sadie's New Mexican Salsa* I knew we'd be eating!), and generally hating life. Finally I gave up being "good", went into the kitchen and poured a packet of Splenda into a teaspoon and then filled up the spoon with Peppermint Extract. The Monster was instantly knocked out (along with most of my ability to taste/smell for a moment) and I went back to bed.

* Sadie's New Mexican Salsa... such a wonderful flavor. When I go back to New Mexico, even knowing my sleep will be interrupted by Acid Reflux, I can't resist consuming a stuffed sopapilla and papas fritas smothered in Sadie's Green Chili Sauce. Also, trivia, the first dinner date JB took me on (we're not counting Home Coming) was to Sadie's. Love.