calling for help

I am looking for an absolutely wonderful, we're talking to-die-for, brownie recipe. If you have one you love I'd love to try it. Leave a comment or email me if you have my info. Thanks!

random recipe

Some of you have seen this recipe before, but I wanted to post it anyway. I love this simple treat. It's easy and fun to make. And, of course, it's yummy as can be.

Kettle Corn

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 cup sugar

You just heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat until hot and then add the popcorn. (I added three popcorn kernels with the oil so when they popped I knew it was hot enough.) Sprinkle the sugar and a little bit of salt on top and cover. Then you just let the pot sit on the heat for three seconds and then shake the pot for three seconds, then repeat until the popping slows to once every two or three seconds. Then take it off the heat and pour it into a bowl and stir it to keep it from sticking together too much. Once it's cool you can eat it up!

Menus on Monday

I have been totally slacking, I know. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, my kids have been sick this past week and, sadly, it's not over yet. Luckily it's not too miserable, just contagious. That means I have to keep the older ones home from school and some how keep everyone happy and busy. Which brings me to reason number two: the computer. I have been hesitant to turn it on lately because of the strange magical powers it possesses. As soon as it is on, my kids' eyeballs are immediately turned away from whatever they are doing and glued to this screen. It doesn't much matter what is on the screen, just that it's on. This causes many difficulties, as you might imagine. These include fussiness, territorial behavior, no homework getting done, and me going crazy. And then, of course, I have to clean off the remnants of eyeball and IQ that are stuck to the screen. So, I have opted for keeping it turned off.

But I am back to start with a menu and maybe get something else posted this week, if we're lucky.

Monday: chicken nuggets and fruit salad

Tuesday: Karen's bbq pork sandwiches and Sunday carrots

Wednesday: eggs and cheese

Thursday: baked potatoes

Friday: pizza

Saturday: leftovers

Sunday: Italian chicken and rice

Menus on Monday

Sorry, I spaced last Friday. So, how about a fancy colored Monday menu? Does that make up for it?

Monday: pancakes and smoothie

Tuesday: chicken nuggets and fruit

Wednesday: zucchini soup and rolls

Thursday: tacos

Friday: pizza

Saturday: Macaroni and cheese

Sunday: spaghetti and breadsticks and green beans

Thrifty Thursdays

This morning my kids ate donuts for breakfast. Totally sugary and void of any nutritional value, right? But they are cheap. They are the cheapest breakfast-away-from-home option I know of. So, that's kind of thrifty. Maybe cheap really is the best word for it: you get little nutritional value for your buck. It's a good thing I don't let them have them very often.

Today's real tip is something I really should do more often. When you have left-overs, don't offer anything else for dinner until they're gone. When I avoid the left-overs at my house I end up throwing them away, which means I spend money on a new meal and waste the extra money on that big dinner I thought might make good left-overs. So, make the most of your time and money and eat your left-overs until they're gone. A pretty good rule for homemade left-overs is to eat them within a week. Most stuff from a restaurant needs to be eaten in about 2 days. Depending on what you've got sitting in your fridge, this is sometimes a good diet tip too. :)

Words for Wednesday

Today's word is fiber. Fun, huh? Well, actually it doesn't really bring to mind anything fun at all. But, it's important and easier to find and fit into a simple diet than one might think.

"For good health, the National Cancer Institute and American Diabetes Association recommend routine consumption of high fiber foods. They suggest daily dietary fiber intake of 20 – 35 g per day. The USDA 2005 dietary guidelines recommend 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables, and a minimum of 1.5 whole grain food servings (for babies of 2 -3 years old) per day. The number of all fiber food servings increases with age. For a person of 9 years and older, the recommended whole grain serving is 3 – 6 per day.

The following are examples of one dietary fiber servings.

Example 1: One fruit and vegetables fiber servings:

• a small glass of 100% fruit or vegetable juice (3/4 cup or 6 oz)
• a medium-size piece of fruit (an orange, small banana, medium-size apple)
• 1 cup of raw salad greens
• ½ cup of cooked vegetables
• 1/2 cup of cut-up fruit or vegetables
• 1/4 cup of dried fruit
• 1/2 cup of dried beans or peas

Example 2: Whole grain fiber servings :

• 1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta, or cooked cereal
• 1 ounce dry pasta, rice or other dry grain
• 1 slice bread
• 1 small muffin (weighing one ounce)
• 1 cup ready-to-eat cereal flake"

You can read more here if you're interested.

treats on Tuesday

I made these brownies for Sunday dessert this week. They are not my favorite brownie, but they are chocolate so they're worth making. And sometimes I would just rather have these than the gooey chewy kind. Sunday was one of those days. I like to cut them really small and eat 12 bite-sized pieces instead of 2 or 3 big ones.

Brownies

beat together:

2 sticks butter or margarine, melted

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

add to:

1 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cups cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when done.