An Update

If you've read this blog for any time at all, then you know that cooking is NOT my favorite thing to do. I have never hidden it. DH is really the cook in our house. He likes it. When he started traveling a few years back, the temptation was there to just order in or eat out more often.

Honestly, I know exactly why my Mother (who worked full time before the microwave could thaw stuff quickly) would often say, "Let's go get something to eat." It was easier. I suppose the fact that my brother and I were both rather picky eaters also made this easier on her.

Still, I've been working on cooking when DH is away. I have been scouring new recipes and looking to widen our eating horizons a bit. Recently we have eaten Asian BBQ Pork w/smoked gouda sandwiches, Citrus Soy Scallops with lo-mein and sugar snap peas, and Watercress Chicken Salad with a honey-mustard glaze. It's been fun seeing the boys' faces as they wonder "what are we making tonight?" And, all in all, they have been really good sports about it.

School started back yesterday for teachers. I LOVE this time of year. I have to say that it really annoys me when teachers say they "dread going back" and treat it like a drudgery. Other than the plethora of meetings, I really love everything about it.

Tonight, our bosses are taking us to the beach for a back to school party. It should be fun.

That's pretty much it for me...oh yeah, there IS a little "bunny update" that I need to give...but I think that's an entire blogpost. I'll save it for later. There you go, have I hooked you to keep checking back?

Happy Tuesday!

And Speaking of Laughter...

I love this magazine. Now, that alone might make you laugh. If you know me at all, then you know that I REALLY don't like to cook much. And I really don't cook much thanks to my DH who DOES like to cook.

So, you might think I bought it cause I thought it meant "hardly cooking" vs. "cooking healthy." The truth is, I got it because it was one of the choices on DS 3's fundraiser order that I thought was reasonable. And I also got it because every once in a while the cooking urge hits me and I like to have new recipes to try out.

This month's issue is full of great recipes that I plan to try as soon as DH heads off to Texas this month. I won't even explore why I wait until he's gone...I guess I just like a smaller audience.

As you might expect, the January issue has some articles on healthy living. One of the articles is called, "5 ways to boost your metabolism". I thought..."I NEED that article!" My metabolism is something I struggle with. Trust me, though, it boosted with #5, "Laugh it off." The article says:

When researchers from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, put people into a "metabolic chamber" (a small room that measures heat output in order to
calculate a person'a metabolic rate) and showed them funny videos, the subjects' metabolic rates rose by 10 to 40 calories. It's a small increase, but every calorie counts for those seeking weight loss, says lead researcher Maciej Buchowski, PhD.

I know that there are many research studies out there about the effects of laughter on a person's health. I just thought this was so timely since my "word for the year" is LAUGHTER!

Go ahead and do it...It's GOOD for YOU!!!

My Weekend Window

This is definitely a weekend that is "worth a window"--a glimpse into our world over the past couple of days. First, there was the Monkey Bread Debacle. Friday was rather quiet around our house.

DS 1 went out with his friends. DS 2 was going to the movies with his friend E. DSs 3, 4, and I went to the store to check out aquarium fish. (Hmmm...did I forget to tell everyone in the blogosphere that all of DS 4's fish died this week?) When we came home, those two were occupied and I was busy preparing my pictures for an all day scrapbooking event on Saturday.

Soon after the two younger boys and I got home, DS 2 and E came in the door and said, "Did you get my text?" I told him that I had not. He said the movie was sold out and they had been sitting down at the mall trying to think of something to do. They decided to come home and figure it out. Somehow, "We're bored" evolved into "Let's make Monkey Bread!" So off they went to the store to get the ingredients.

I figured they are two 18 (almost 19) year olds who can handle their cooking quest, and I know it's sexist, but E IS a girl, so I left them alone and continued my preparation. It wasn't long after the bread was in the oven that we started to smell something odd. I heard them open it up and suddenly, as if the flood gates opened up, there was SMOKE everywhere! It seems the recipe they used called for FOUR cans of biscuits....and they put ALL of them into the smallest pan (the white pan at the top of the picture). The smell was the butter, sugar, and cinnamon mixture flooding the bottom of my oven.

We opened windows. Turned on fans. And they removed the cooked layer and spread out the rest in a larger pan to continue cooking. This meant that the butter continued to cook and smoke on the bottom of the oven. And in the midst of all of this, they decided they really wanted us all to play a game of FARKEL. And that's exactly what we did while they tried to fix the bread. No matter what they tried, however, it simply wasn't going to cook....the effort to finish the project went on, though, until well after midnight. I had to go to bed because I was supposed to pick Sandy up at 7:30am.


And that is exactly what I did! With DH out of town, I had to chose to bribe the boys to care for, and be kind to (thus the bribe), their little brother all day. I figured if they older three split the day, they'd only be responsible for just over three hours each. DS 4 also received renumeration for his cooperation and hard work. So, with that out of the way, and cell phone close by, Sandy and I took off early Saturday. Here we are all set up and working away.



We went to a scrapbooking event with one thousand other women! It was a BLAST! Of course, the boys had a ball teasing us about it.
We cropped from 8:30AM until 8:00PM! Our day included door prizes, a chair massage, and being able to browse so many great ideas from other croppers. I took the second picture from one corner of the expo hall so everyone could see what it looks like when that many scrapbookers join together.

Once again, Sandy and I were reminded just how important it is to take time out to do this sort of thing. Whether it's scrapbooking, spending time just chatting with a friend, or any other thing that rejuvinates us, it's important.

The nice outcome of our day was that we both got so much accomplished! I finished half of my Alaska album and have the rest all ready to put together quicker. Sandy worked on one of her girl's childhood albums...

Of course, after cropping all day, we were exhausted. When I arrived home, the boys were all happy and the house was in one piece! I don't know what else a Mom could ask for. What a nice surprise, also, to come home and find out that Mary had almost finished my new blog!

Sunday was spent at church and simply resting up for the coming week. I hope your weekend was productive and fun as well!! Have a GREAT week!!

Thursday Thirteen #38

Thirteen Things SUSAN has (or will) cooked in the past two weeks.

You have to understand that I DON'T cook! When DH is away, it is SO tempting to order in for dinner. Especially when we're all moving in such different directions. I have vowed, though, to cook...and we have not eaten out once. We purchased a cookbook with all new recipes and here are some of them we've tried (or will be trying in the next few days):


1. Mexican Style Ravioli

2. Greek Tacos

3. Cowboy Chili (with BBQ pork and black beans)

4. Honey Biscuits (from scratch)

5. Southwest Pizza

6. Greek Salad

7. Pork and Yellow Rice

8. Pepperoni-Tortellini Supper

9. Overnight Chicken Enchilada Bake

10. Chicken with Red Pepper Sauce

11. Ham and Cheese Melts

12. Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast

13. Sauteed Spinach with Garlic Chicken


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


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Step into my corner of the world...via photos

I tried to do photos the other day and blogger wasn't cooperating. So, I decided to add a few here to share with family and friends. While life is busy around here, we DO stop and have fun once in a while....here's the proof:

There's MUSIC (see last week's post), FOOD, FAMILY and just plain old FUN!!

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More photos of DS 3's Day....

Now that blogger is cooperating, here is DS 3 waiting for his birthday lobster feast!! I think he had the bib on about 30 minutes before the lobster was to be finished!!














Here he is ready to dig in....
But wait, we forgot the birthday candles!!! Since we'll have cake next weekend, we improvised with DS 3's brainy idea.....Hey, when you like lobster as well as, or even better, than cake, it works!!!



Happy 12th Birthday, Son,

WE LOVE YOU!!

DS 3's Day in Photos

He started the day with Dunkin Donuts which he was kind enough to share with his brothers.

He also received a
dozen balloons...





HE received several gifts that were in "TWELVES" in some way shape or form. This included boxers, socks, pencils for school, a ruler, a CD with 12 songs, body wash with 12 oz. in it, a snack pack with 12 packs, 12 ping pong balls, etc.




Then, this evening, the lobster pot arrived. This picture shows our birthday boy, DS 3, with his live Maine lobster just before we started the pot.

Here's the head chef (dh) along with a couple of cheerleaders, DSs 2 and 4.

Then, the pot had to simmer. It had clams, mussels, potatoes, onions, and corn on the cob....we waited 50 minutes!!!

{Note: I have tried to continue the story in photos and blogger is not cooperating. I shall leave it here at the cooking stage and add more when I can.}

There's Nothing FISHY Here...It's Just Brotherly Love!

Yesterday, I charged DS 2 with watching his youngest brother for me while I went to work. He agreed to make it kind of a special and fun day for him.

In the morning I called to see what was up and DS 3 answered. He told me everyone was gone and he didn't know where they went.

Later, I called DS 2 on his cell phone and found out that he and DS 4 had gone to pick up his schedule at the high school. I can only imagine this 7 yr. old boy going onto the high school campus with his big brother. He must have been beside himself!!

DS 2 continued to tell me the plan for the day. He and DS 3 were going to take their little brother fishing out to the beach. They borrowed salt water poles. Then they were going to go hit a bucket of balls at the driving range.

In the middle of the day, they stopped at their Grandparents and had some peach and blueberry pie! Thank goodness for Grandma's Kitchen and all the yummy stuff that is created there!!

When I got home last night, I was surprised to find out that DS 2 and 4 were going BACK out to fish some more. They left just after 6:30 and didn't get home until almost 11:00! They caught two fish. One they had to throw back and the other, they brought home. It was a small red snapper.

Now, I HAD to go to bed because today is my first "official" day back at work...so I had to get up early. I went to sleep to the sound and smells (yuck) of fish cleaning and cooking so they could "taste" the "fruit" of all their labor.

I woke up at midnight and checked on them and all was cleaned and put away. I am sure that DS 4 went to bed with visions of fishing poles dancing in his head. I am so thankful that they spent this special time together...

I can almost hear them in 20 or so years: DS 4 will say, "M, do you remember when you took me fishing at the beach and we caught that fish? And, do you remember that we came right home and cleaned and cooked it?"

And I am sure they will both smile as they look back! Have a GREAT day!!

What's for Dinner???

Do you ever get in the "what's for dinner" rut? It's like you make the same things all the time. Now I know some of you that read my blog are "into" the whole cooking and meal-planning thing. I'd be lying if I didn't say that makes me a little jealous...Sometimes the best way to decide what's for dinner is to ask other people what their favorite dinners are....I thought I'd just throw the question out there with NO parameters, but then changed my mind. Here is the question:

What do you like to make for dinner?

It must be somewhat "easy"....somewhat "quick" (don't want to take all day)...mostly healthy...and most important....TASTY!!

Can't wait for YOU to answer...I'm going to try one of the menus that I get either today or tomorrow.

Blueberry Granitas

I had some requests to explain the blueberries, so here is the recipe:

2 cups of blueberries

1/2 cup of sugar (or the equivalent of splenda)

The juice of 1 lime

1/2 tsp. of grated lime rind

Puree all of that together.

Pour into an 11X17 pan

Add 3 cups of diet lemon/lime soda (Sprite)

Stir together.

Freeze for 8 hours

When you are ready to have some, thaw for five minutes. Cut into chunks and crush in the blender. You can garnish with a mint sprig (not something my teens needed).

Now, the blender didn't cooperate (as I shared in my TT yesterday). I put a bit more Sprite in (after I cleaned the blueberries off the walls and my glasses) and it worked great. Kind of like a fancy Slushie.

It was really very refreshing. Enjoy!!

Spice Gets In My Eyes

My boys are "into" Iron Chef contests. They have these contests regularly with the neighbors in my house. They pick food and then make it together. I think it's because they like our extensive spice cabinet. Tonight, they are having a contest. I think there are two pans involved as there are two "chefs" cooking. Whatever they are cooking is so spicy that my eyes are watering and I am not even in the kitchen!

With tears in my eyes, I tell myself: "At least they are in OUR kitchen...they are not out creating havoc anywhere (except maybe on my counters)....and they are having fun...." What more could I ask?

Current report from the kitchen: "That's GOOD!"

I'll just keep sitting here with watery eyes and remember that one day I'll look back and reminisce about the stuff they used to do in our kitchen! Then my eyes will water for a different reason!