Friday the 13th

At church they had Operation Rice Bowl calendars they were giving out ORB is a project run by Catholic Relief Services where people donate money and it is used to provide food and support food services in areas where people are hungry.

What I like about this calendar is that it focuses on a different country each week and there is a recipe representing the country you can make each week and it's either meatless or made w/fish as people in poorer countries don't eat meat very often.

The website is

Last week the focus was on the Philippines and the recipe was Hinurnong Isda. I was all set to make it,as directed I just needed to get ginger and scallions, but then the day got a bit away from me and before I had time to go to the store I had to go volunteer at the Spaghetti dinner. So I made it when I got home because:
1. tom was going to get fast food since he was unable to find anything to eat in our house. You'd think the pantry and fridge and freezer were empty--so I wanted to stop him from going to get Arbys at 8pm.
2. the tilapia was already defrosted. So I made the recipe but had to makes some changes so it wasn't really what it was supposed to be. And I served it w/mashed potatoes.


Hinurnong Isda

1 lb white fish--I used tilapia (sp?)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1 large tomato, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 scallions, chopped--didn't have any so I skipped
2 cloves garlic, minced I used 2 tsp of garlic garlic
1 tsp ginger--I didnt have any so I skipped this
1 tsp pepper--I used the new Tastefully Simple Green Tea and Peppercorn seasoning
2 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 375. Add lemon juice to fish, sprinkle with salt and let stand about 20 min. Combine tomato, yellow onion, scallions, garlic, ginger and pepper in pan and saute for 5 min. Set aside. Brush fish with melted butter, place in a baking pan and bake for 10 min. Add sauteed vegetables and bake for 5 more minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Serve w/hot rice.

Recipe from Food network magazine

I saved up my coke reward points and got a free subscription to the new Food Network Magazine--my first copy arrived on Friday and yesterday I noticed that I had all the ingredients on hand to make one of the recipes, so I gave it a go and it was very good. I lightened up the recipe as much as possible as the original recipe was def. not very healthy eating friendly. If you want to see the recipe from the website visit:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/croque-monsieur-mac-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

But here is what I did

Croque Monsieur Mac and Cheese
1/2 pound whole wheat rotini
2 cups skim milk
1 cup coarsely grated gruyere cheese
1 1/2 cups finely grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup egg substitute
3 slices 40 calorie Healthy Life w/flaxseed bread
1 med onoin diced
1 tsp Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
3 tbsp all-purpose flouer
Pinch of Tastefully Simple Fiesta Party Mix
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher Salt
Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
6 oz diced Canadian Bacon

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Boil water and make the rotini cooking until it is al dente about 8 min. Drain pasta and put in a bowl then pour 1/4 cup of milk over it.

2. While the pasta is cooking combine both cheese in a bowl. In another bowl beat 3/4 cup of milk and the eggs, then fold in the bread and 1/2 of the cheese mix.

3. Spray cooking spray in a saucepan, heat on high and add the onion and cook until just brown. Sprinkling in the flour, Fiesta Party Dip, nutmeg, 1 tsp Koser Salt and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Slowly add 3/4 cup water and the remaining 1 cup of milk, and the Garlic Garlic then bring to a boil , stirring until thickened (which to me took a while and I wasn't sure how thickened it should be ?) When it seems thickened remove it from the heat and whisk it a bit to cool slightly then whisk in the remaining cheese, add all the pasta and toss.

4. Spray Pam in a shallow casserole dish. Add 1/2 of the pasta, top w/1/2 of the ham, and cover w/the other 1/2 of the pasta then top w/the other 1/2 of the ham, then cover with the bread mixture. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 20 min. Let rest for 5 min b/4 serving. I wanted a little more flavor so before serving I sprinkled a bit of Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt on my portion

You can also skip the ham for a meatless dish.

Aw Cmon!

I decided for dinner today to make enchiladas. Cheese enchiladas. Here was my plan.
Ingredients:
whole wheat tortillas
a can of enchilada sauce
The New TS Spicy Bean Dip
fat free refried beans
Trader joe's roasted corn
and some sauteed onions.
And 2 oz of low fat cream cheese mixed with the new TS chili chipotle or is it Chipotle Chili mix

You just make the Spicy Bean Dip as directed (ie add water) put that aside. Saute the onions in a pan, and then you mix the spicy bean dip, sauteed onions, TJ's roasted corn and the refried beans together. Take that mixture put it in the tortillas, put a couple spoonfuls of the Chipotle Chili Mix on top and a couple of tablespoons of the enchilada sauce, then roll up the enchiladas and pour enchilada sauce over the everything in the pan and then I was going to put a little grated cheddar cheese on top and bake the enchiladas in the oven for like 20-30 min.


I went to Jewel this AM specifically to get the 2 ingredients for this that I didn't have on hand, specifically the whole wheat tortillas and the enchilada sauce. It took me forever to find the whole wheat low carb tortillas because Jewel is being remodeled and they moved the tortillas away from the bread aisle and also they aren't in the new latino section, they were over by the frozen foods.

So I found the tortillas and the enchilada sauce and got milk and a bunch of barilla pasta because all barilla pasta is on sale for 79 cents. Paid for everything, got home, put my groceries away and there was no enchilada sauce. Sauce was in my cart, I paid for it, but some where between the checkout and my kitchen counter, it disappeared.

Therefore, since it was cold and crummy out, I said the heck with the enchiladas today.

Looking for Salad Recipes

I suppose the reason I can't easily find recipes for salads, entree salads w/lots of greens is that I guess you don't really need a recipe to figure out how to put together a tossed salad w/some other stuff on top.

So this is what I am going to try today for an entree salad, of course with the pouring rain outside--which I hope doesn't wind up in our basement--I should really be making a big pot of Creamy Wild Rice Soup(Tastefully Simple)

I am taking skirt steak adding a little bit of the new Everything Grilling Seasoning (TS) and cook that a bit and slice it thin. Then put that aside and take a ton of mixed greens lettuces (with lots of arugula) put that on a plate, add some diced red onions, grape tomatoes sliced in 1/2 and then put some of the steak on top along with a small amount of the Sea Salt & Pepper Texas Toast Croutons I found on sale at Jewel today and for dressing I am trying the Baby Blue Cheese Dip Mix (TS) mixed w/low fat sour cream (Cabots of Vermont) and low fat mayo then thinned with Milk to make salad dressing, and that's dinner!

goofed it up already!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent and I was very gung ho this morning about observing lent today. What you are supposed to do on Ash Wednesday is
1. don't eat meat (seafood is ok)
2. eat only one complete meal and two smaller ones during the day, with no food in between.

So this morning after I looked up how exactly the fasting thing on Ash Wed. works, I though hmm what could I have to eat that would be a smaller meal??? So I had Lipton Cup-A-Soup--chicken noodle and thought I am all good.

Then at lunchtime I went into the pantry and when I saw the Cup-a-soup box I realized.

Chicken Noodle Soup. Chicken. I have blown the whole Lent thing already.

Barnacles!

Anywho, so I decided well, let's forge ahead. Sooooooo I made a fantastic Grill Cheese Sandwich for lunch.

I took 2 reg pieces of wheat bread
4 slices of a med. tomato
and a pile of grated gruyere and emmental cheese
and grilled in it the iron skillet.

For dinner I am broiling Dover Sole Fillets from Trader Joe's that I am seasoning w/our new Green Tea & Peppercorn seasoning. For the sides: steamed cauliflower and broccoli and boiled red potatoes seasoned w/a little butter and our Spinach & Herb Mix.

Benefits of working for myself

Well cleaning up after first Patrick and then Anna seems to have landed me a trip down Virus Lane.

Just like you, I do not like being sick. So today I am trying really hard to look at the brightside of being sick.

Number 1. I'll lose weight. That's always a bonus!
Number 2. It's an excuse to not put laundry away.
Number 3. I don't have to call off work because I work at home and I have no boss.
Number 4. I sell food, so I don't have to worry about any work crisis occuring while I am taking a nap--there isn't ever really a 'Beer Bread Emergency'
Number 5. It's cold outside, better to be sick today than in June.

Well that is all I've got. I think now I'll take a nap and later hmm..oh yea, Im always forgetting about the Chai Tea. since I sell Oh My! Chai and chai tea has ginger in it, and ginger is good for calming stomach icky-ness ...I probably should have skipped the coffee this AM and had Chai. I'll have a cup of that after the boys get home and want me to help them w/their homework.

Oh I have a Number 6.
Number 6. The kids were only sick for a couple days, so hopefully I'll be better ASAP and
Number 7. I don't have to leave the house to do a party until Sat.

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you had a fun day.

Over here we had plans for 'family fun day' where our big event was going to be eating a late lunch at the new Red Robin that is in Orland Park. You see the kids have seen ads for Red Robin restaurants on cable for the past 2 years, but there hasn't been one anywhere near us..until a few months ago. So the kids have been looking forward to family fun day for a while now.

Alas, it was not be. Last night Patrick woke up around midnight an threw up all over himself, his bed, the floor in his room, the floor in the kitchen, and in the bathroom..then he crawled in bed with us and fell asleep. Which Tom competely slept thru and I got to throw in a couple loads of laundry,clean up and mop up.

Poor Patrick has spent all day laying around on the couch feverish and barely even drinking some 7up. He is so sick I don't think he realizes that he is sick on a 3 day weekend! Oh that is just the worst for a kid! He's been working hard and studying for the big ISAT tests and now he has a 3 day weekend break and he is sick as can be!

:-(

My hope right now is that the sickness will pass quickly and that it will stop w/Patrick...leaving Bryce and Anna and ESP. Tom illness free--cause we all know who the big baby when he is sick is...

The biggest Loser

I like to watch TV on tuesday--the Biggest Loser is on (and then the Real Housewives of the OC)

Each week I laugh at the product endorsement. Why don't they just say, we love our sponsor and so and so instead of making it like a little lesson for the contestants.

I usually laugh so hard at this portion of the show that I almost spit out my delicious Oh! My Chai tea, a blend of cinnamon, cardamon, vanilla, and ginger that retails for $9.99. (wink, wink)

And then when they show the last chance work out, I say to myself. This part is all the motivation I need, I sure don't want to end up on the ranch puking out my guts and carrying Jillian on my back while she is screaming at me.

As much as I don't care for Jillian, I have added her Wii game to my amazon wish list. Nod. call me crazy because I already find the little Wii Fit guy very annoying. And now much to my chagrin I can't find an image of the wii fit balance board cartoon guy to post. :-(
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I didn't feel much like cooking so I just baked some chicken breast sprinkled with Seasoned Salt and made green beans and french fries. Tomorrow I am going to be more motivated and will make a nice big pot of stew. My secret stew ingredient is the Merlot Sauce, I use about 1/4 cup of that and it really enhances the richness of the stew w/o adding fat.

Only a few more days until I am going to our Tastefully Simple on Tour for the training, and most importantly the unveiling of the Spring/Summer line. I can't wait, when the Spring/Summer line starts then I can start believing that it really will be springtime again!

Merlot Stew by Me.

Merlot Beef Stew

Ingredients
1.25 lbs. cubed stew meat
1/4 cup flour
a cup or 2 of sliced carrots
5 big potatoes chopped up-I leave the skins on
1.5 cups sliced onions
1 chopped medium onion

3 stalks of celery sliced

1/4 cup-1/3 cup Merlot Sauce
1Tbsp. Garlic Garlic™
4 cups beefbroth (more if needed.)

Seasoned salt to taste.
Directions
Coat beef with flour. sauté beef in a big sauce pan that you've sprayed w/cooking spray until browned. Then take out the beef and saute the onions & celery and then the mushrooms for a few minutes Then put all the ingredients (less the seasoned salt) in a large stock pot and cook it on medium heat until the ingredients are nice and tender and the flavors have blended and the sauce has thickened to the stew consistency of your liking. Serve w/Boutiful Beer Bread if you'd like.

improvising

I was looking thru our Comforting Classics cookbook and saw a recipe for Bayou Bourbon Pork Chops which looked really good, you just take pork chops and put the Bayou Bourbon on it and then you cover the pork chops w/crushed pecans and you bake them and ta-da you have encrusted pork chops. I don't know about you, but that sounded yummy to me and I was ready to make that, garlic mashed and green beans for dinner.

The thing was..we had no pork chops and only Planters (less than 50% peanuts!) mixed nuts. So there was that. But then I remembered, we had a pork roast in the freezer. I defrosted that in the microwave and then stuck it in the fridge to make Bayou Bourbon pork roast. Then I forgot about the pork roast and found $20 to splurge on pizza.

Right when we were ordering the pizza I remembered the pork in the refrigerator, and I thought, barnacles! I better cook that roast.

So here is what I did:
1. take a defrosted pork roast
2. pour a 1/3 of a cup of Bayou Bourbon Glaze all over it.
3. pour out the canister of mixed nuts.
4. pick out all the pecans (of which there aren't many at all) then take some cashews. Smash the pecans and cashews on a paper plate w/the bottom of a cup until they are all ground up.
5. encruste the roast by rolling it in the nut mixture.
6. put the cooking probe in it and bake at 425 for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 and cook that until the probe says 160 then take it out, let it sit--
and by then Top Chef was on and it was after 9, so Tom put it in a tupperware container and it went into the fridge.

Today I had a slice of it, yummy! I think the cashews worked really well.

And then Today I made Cranberry Orange bread to celebrate Blago being removed from office!

Ode to Chocolate.

I really should have followed through on that childhood dream to be a reporter. Not that the print media is doing well, but the AP seems to be plugging along and it appears that you only need to do 2 things to create an AP story.

1. Fear Monger
2. State the Obvious!
ie; Consumer Confidence is down in January. Really? What a Surprise.

And they have a story I could have written, it says candy sales (esp. chocolate) are not down. Well hello, when do you need chocolate more than when there is a recession and you've just heard your husband, wife, mother, brother, sister, cousin, etc, etc are laid off.

I mean I think well all know the basics of what humans need to survive:
chocolate, food, chocolate, shelter, chocolate, and clothing. Chocolate is like The building block of the food pyramid.

Right now I feel a little bad for Reese's because I am avoiding it and that really must be impacting there bottom line. My favorite type of Reese's peanut butter cups are the minis. I eat the bottom then I eat the top. Just like me, each of the children also LOVE the Reese's. However currently I am avoiding Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in all it forms as
A. I cannot see Reese's w/o eating them, I cannot eat just one, must have 3 when I eat them.
B. I can't figure out if any peanut butter products are safe from the Salmonella recall so I am steering clear of all peanut butter containing products.

At Christmas time, Patrick asked Santa for Andes Mints. Turns out Andes Mints are his favorite candies. This struck me as funny as I for some reason consider Andes Mints 'old people chocolate'.

Since I am losing weight for the big cruise in April, I have switched over to daily doses of Hershey's Kisses. They are small, there are many varieties and they fit nicely into the big cup I have hidden in the cupboard. Another bonus is that only one of the three kiddos (Anna) like the caramel filled kisses which are my favs. So I don't have to share. It's hard to share chocolate!