Mundanacity

When Social Networking is Your Cookbook

2012-01-20T17:27:00.001-05:00

I stumbled upon this recipe for baked egg boats last week. A few days later I went shopping and what's on sale but most of the ingredients: pancetta (already diced, too!), cheese, and baguettes. (You can find me on StumbleUpon as CannedAm.)

Recipes aren't always perfect upon reading, however. While gruyere would be lovely in this recipe, at several dollars for a few ounces, I'm not buying it. Cheddar is also lovely and did you know that light (lower fat), aged cheddar has more calcium in it than any other food source per serving? Hard aged cheeses also lose most of the lactose. With a lactose-intolerant vegetarian among my brood, aged light cheddar is a staple. I also have no desire to use heavy cream, let alone purchase a container just for a lunchtime recipe, so I used regular 1% milk instead.

I think the Dempster's demi baguettes are longer than the ones Teri at Spoon Fork Bacon used. The plain white variety is less porous than the sourdough she used, and I think both those factors necessitated an increased cook time.

I made three baguettes using the onions, pancetta, and cheddar with eggs and milk mix and one baguette using spinach instead of pancetta.

I may have been a little heavy-handed with the spinach. I used about 1/2 cup of raw spinach, chopped and should have used less for only one baguette. I would love to show you what it looked like once cut, but she took it and ran away with it right after I snapped this picture!

I've always hand-written my recipes in a way that is helpful for my ADD brain to follow and not lose track of where I am and what I am doing. The standard recipe format requires one to look back and forth from ingredients to instructions and for an ADHD person, a single distraction in that process can spell recipe disaster. While my hand-written method is rather messy and hard for anyone but me to decipher, one day I stumbled upon Cooking for Engineers and there I saw tables that were just like my own scribbles, but so much neater! It hadn't occurred to me to use tables, so I had never digitized my hand-written recipes. I am doing so now!

A more visual person than I would probably want to colour code a table like this.

If that's too hard to understand, here it is the old-fashioned way:

Ingredients:

4 demi baguettes
5 eggs
1/3 cup milk
4 ounces/115 grams pancetta, finely chopped and fried until crisp*
3 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut a deep “V” through the tops of each baguette until about a 1/2 inch to the bottom. Partially unstuff the baguettes. Set aside.
Place the eggs and milk into a mixing bowl and lightly beat together. Whisk in the remaining ingredients 4. Divide and pour the mixture into each baguette boat and place onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown, puffed and set in the center. Season with salt and pepper.
Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, cut and serve.

*Substitute an 1/4 cup of fresh chopped spinach for pancetta for each baguette.

And yes, they were very well-received. Delicious!

Tips for Coping with the New Garbage Limits in the Niagara Region

2011-01-06T15:05:00.000-05:00

Those of us in the Niagara region will soon experience changes in our waste management. Specifically our previous 2-bag/container trash limit will be reduced to one. However, blue and grey bins will be collected weekly instead of rotating biweekly collections of one bin. This is good news in my opinion! However some are complaining about the changes.

When we moved to the region six years ago, full-on recycling was a huge adjustment as we'd moved from an area that had no recycling at all. Everything went in the trash. It took a few months for everyone to get accustomed to the change. But we did. As everyone else will with these changes.

Green Bin Usage is the Issue
I heard one radio news report stating that region-wide green bin use was only at 30%. Just by looking down the road on collection day I would say this is accurate. Failing to use the green bin for organics waste dramatically increases a household's weekly trash. According to the US Composting council, 74% of landfill waste is organic. This isn't just a problem with the quantities we're sending to landfills, but the composition of what we send to landfills. Organics in nature will break down releasing carbon dioxide, however that carbon dioxide that results from a natural breakdown (such as backyard composting or forest floor decomposition) is part of nature's short-term carbon cycle. Plant photosynthesis will clear out this carbon dioxide. However, in a landfill, decomposing organics release carbon as methane, which has a far greater impact on global warming than carbon dioxide. One of the BEST things we can do personally to reduce our impact on the earth that sustains us is to compost our organics waste. We can't compost meat-based waste in our backyards, but if our municipalities will do so, by all means we should send them all we can and eliminate all the organics we possibly can from our landfills.

But the Green Bin Stinks!

Yes, it does. Just as much as a garbage bag/can that contains animal fats like chicken skin, etc. There are lots of ways to reduce this stink, and to reduce all the other unpalatable aspects of organics recycling. Here's what we do:

Backyard composting. If you garden, start backyard composting. Only place vegetable and fruit scraps (never any meat scraps or eggs or fats) in your backyard compost bin. Add a great deal of brown matter -- newspaper, leaves, straw, etc., to create a healthy mix and stir it up. Removing fruit and vegetable scraps from your home daily will prevent fruit flies from flocking to your kitchen for those scraps. In the Niagara Region you can purchase a backyard composter from the region for up to 80% LESS than you can buy one in a store.
Freeze your organics. Keep a small, kitchen-sized compostable liner or a brown paper lunch sack in your refrigerator freezer for all the animal wastes. Grease from cooking, bones, skin, leftover meat -- all of those things that stink to no end when rotting in a garbage can or the green bin can go into the freezer where they are not going to stink. On trash day, toss the bags in the green bin and take it to the curb. This eliminates maggots in the warmer months, along with the stench of rot - eliminating varmint attraction as well. Add newspaper to the bottom of your green bin to absorb the moisture that results from the frozen waste thawing. Our household of five rarely has more than one bag of this waste each week. Often we need two weeks to fill it, but we do compost our own vegetable and fruit scraps.
Rinse your green bin out every week during the non-frozen months.

What goes in the organics bin?

It's not just for food waste! Cat litter can be composted in the Niagara Region. Since I foster cats and kittens, this is a boon for us! Without composting of cat litter, we often exceeded our trash limits. Ever since the region started composting cat litter I've never exceeded our limits.

Napkins, paper towels, tissues (that haven't been used to blow one's nose or the like) can all go into the compost bin. My in-laws reduce kitchen bin odors and leakage mess by keeping a countertop bin in which they place ONLY paper towels and paper napkins. When that bin is full, they fill their under-counter bin with the paper wastes before adding food scraps. Those papers absorb the moisture from their kitchen waste. They don't backyard compost and I've noticed they never have a problem with fruit flies from their under-counter organics bin.

Cooking grease -- fats skimmed off broths and the like can be let to congeal in a container (like an empty tin can, then scraped into the compost bag.

Recycling is so messy. I'd rather just pay the fee

You'd rather throw your money away, eh? If that's truly your position, there's no reasoning with you. On the other hand, if you are simply adjusting to multiple bins, there are ways to deal with the mess of multiple recycling bins, waste cans, and organics bins.

Weekly pickup of both gray and blue bins is going to make a big difference in the messy factor. What we've done in our home to manage this mess is still applicable.

Have a central recycling location. If keeping all the recycling in a garage or outdoors is not an option for you, keep your large recycling bins at a central location indoors. Our basement works for this. In the bathrooms and kitchen we have small rubbermaid bins for recycling under our sinks. In our powder room, a small plastic sorting bin works to contain the small amount of recycling for that room (soap boxes, TP rolls, plastic wrappers). These small bins are taken to the large bins in the basement when full and sorted there. This is our youngest children's task. We use a single plastic shopping bag hung on a hook to place all the plastic bread and milk bags that accumulate. When it's full, it's tied and placed in the gray bin.

Remember to rinse all your recyclable containers. Empty cans, jars, and milk bags will create a stink and attract bugs or other pests. Keeping a small sorting bin under the kitchen sink makes this easy.

On another hook, we keep a narrow newspaper bag sleeve to collect batteries. When full enough, I drop it at any of the orange bins local to me (for me that's in a local pharmacy. For others this may be a roadside orange bin or Staples store location, among other places.) I used to hold onto these for up to a year waiting for the annual household hazardous waste recycling days, but orange bin distribution has eliminated the need for that wait. Using rechargeable batteries has also dramatically reduced our battery consumption as well.

Grass Clippings
Another change to note is that grass will no longer be collected with the green bin.

Grass is easily composted in your yard. If you don't have a mulching mower, reducing the days between mowings and raking out any accumulation will facilitate breakdown right on your lawn.

You can use grass clippings as mulch, too. Yes, you'll get some weed seeds in there but weeds can easily be pulled when they're young.

You can also put your grass clippings in your backyard composter.

Watching You Watch the Rain

2010-08-03T13:23:00.000-04:00

Watching you watch the rain:
Your lined and sagging home
of eyes that take in all
Tranquil before the gentle
Sometimes angry pattering.
I hid so you could not see
me watching you watch the rain.
The scene always held one holiness:
Your solitude among the million chattering drops.
I wanted to think what you thought,
Feel the peace I saw in you --
Watching you watch the rain
Is a thousand images
of one picture in my head
As I sit, elbows on knees,
My child nearby watching me
Recalling
Watching you watch the rain.

-RMH

I have often wished I had the artistic ability to paint as this image is so clear in my mind. It's been nearly six years and I still miss him. I am grateful I had his love and guidance for 35 years of my life.

Jack E. Loar August 3, 1929 - October 2, 2004

Camp foods need not be crap foods

2010-07-31T23:07:00.001-04:00

We've recently returned from a camping trip and for once I don't need to detox from all the high-preservative foods we normally eat on a camping trip. Spoilage was always a concern in the past, so we'd pack hotdogs and heavily preserved sausages of various sorts along with peanut butter and eggs. We would come home and live on fresh salads for a week to clear all the heavy preservative-laden foods from our systems.

This time, we did things differently and now I can't imagine why we had never planned things out this way in the past. I suppose we simply did what we'd always done and what our parents had always done. Here are some delicious camp-friendly recipes that will be staples of our summer camping trips from now on:

Bean Burgers
1 can beans, any type (we used pintos) drained and rinsed
1 cup bread crumbs (seasoned simplifies things and adds flavour)
1 egg
1 small onion diced fine
1 carrot peeled and shredded
2 Tbsp olive oil

Mash the beans in a bowl and mix with all other ingredients. Refrigerate for one hour before forming patties. I formed 4 nice-sized patties from this mix. For camping, I sprayed foil and wrapped each burger in the foil. We cooked the bean burgers in the foil over the fire. When well-frozen, it took about 30 minutes over medium heat to cook to the desired outer crispiness. When thawed, about 15 minutes.

Fire Roasted Corn on the Cob
Having farm stands nearby our campground, we were able to pick up fresh corn on the cob to serve that night. The kids absolutely loved the fire-roasted corn and did not add butter or salt! Fire roasting doesn't boil out the flavour of the corn, it enhances it and you get that delicious smokey flavour from the fire!

Do not shuck the corn, but do remove the cornsilks, leaving the husks intact. Soak each cob in water for about 10 minutes. Thoroughly waterlog it. If some of the husk is missing or torn or doesn't cover the cob completely, use a bit of foil to wrap around the circumference of the cob. Roast over medium heat for about 20-30 minutes. The husks will be blackened on the outside, but the corn will be juicy and perfect inside. Some of the corn may darken, but it won't be much and it still tastes so good!

Campfire Banana Splits
This was a hit for everyone but one of my children. He did not like his bananas cooked.

Bananas
Chocolate chips (or a chocolate bar)
mini marshmallows
(Optional: shredded coconut, nuts)

Peel a single strip down the center of the banana. Make a slice down the center of the banana. We found it easiest to scoop a bit of banana out of the center, instead of trying to shove all the filling into a narrow knife-slit. Fill the hollow with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Pull the peel back up and wrap the entire banana in foil. Place over fire for about 10 minutes. Open the foil and the banana and eat with a spoon. This was a lovely treat!

Foil-pack vegetables

You can do these so many different ways. In one pack we did:
quartered new potatoes
diced onions
diced peppers
Seasoned with butter (buttered the foil) salt, pepper, and diced garlic cloves

Cooked over medium heat about 30 minutes.

sliced summer squash and zucchini
Diced peppers
Diced onions
thinly sliced new potatoes
buttered the foil, seasoned with salt, pepper, and diced garlic cloves

We deep-froze chicken breasts to take with us. Once they thaw: cook them!

Hobo Pizzas
You need pie irons for these, along with:

Bread
canned pizza sauce
shredded cheese
pizza toppings (pepperoni, diced vegetables)

Butter the bread and place the buttered side against the pie iron. Spread the bread with pizza sauce and add toppings. Top with another buttered bread (butter side against the pie iron). Lock the pie iron and cook it right in the coals of the fire. Takes about 10 minutes.

You could make a ranch-chicken pizza:
Bread
Ranch dressing
canned chicken
shredded cheddar
onion diced
tomato diced
Optional: cooked bacon or ham

Compile as you would the other pizza & cook the same.

Heartland Forest, Niagara Falls, Ontario

2010-05-05T11:32:00.005-04:00

Less than two years ago we visited the fairly new Heartland Forest in Niagara Falls. Compare the pictures from that blog posting to this one as the changes are incredible!

*For a larger, more detailed view of any of the pictures, simply double click on the picture.

When we first visited, we were greeted at the forest entry by this partial carving:

Big Ted is now complete, with a cute message next to him:

More carvings can be found throughout the more than two miles of Carolinian Forest trails:

A pond just inside the forest entry has an accessible lookout from which one can observe pond life:

So many photo ops, too:

and opportunities for a peaceful rest surrounded by beauty:

During this visit, the accessible cabin was open for learning opportunities and activities for FrogFest Niagara. The boys made FrogFest badges while I took pictures outside the cabin:

We were thrilled by the fauna throughout the forest. Obviously many people have been very busy naturalizing some native species, such as Ontario's flower, the white Trillium:

We also saw a magnificent magenta trillium (it's actually red trillium, trillium erectum, the only red-petaled trillium native to Ontario):

And an excellent example of poison ivy vine:

(don't worry, it is labeled and slightly off the trail so you won't be stumbling into it)

wild geranium was in bloom and quite abundant:

At this time of year, the numerous vernal pools throughout this forest are still full and quite active:

There are just so many treasures along the trails. The kids enjoyed sitting inside this teepee:

There were also many new-to-us additions before the trail begins. Much to the boys' delight, an incredible playground contains structures to delight the very small as well as the much larger child. Like this enormous merry-go-round:

and this incredible swing:

and of course a huge frog swing to share:

Near the forest entrance is a pond surrounded by a boardwalk. Bird feeders are found in many places. Perhaps it's just my imagination, but I think the red-winged black birds' colour is particularly vibrant this year:

What a wonderful, amazing place! If you're local to the area, or just visiting, check it out. There are many activities planned throughout the year, but they aren't needed to enjoy this natural treasure. This is a great place to go with your family. Go, enjoy, be awed!

*The photograph in the blog header was taken within the Heartland Forest.

When You Have Eleventy-seven Hardboiled Eggs and Don't Know What To Do With Them

2010-04-07T10:51:00.000-04:00

Deviled Eggs
My kids love these for an afterschool snack. They like to take them to school, too, but I haven't found a way to do this without mess. Quick, easy, and yummy. Here's how I do it:

Carefully slice the eggs in half lenthwise.
Put the yolk into a small mixing bowl or food processor.
Add 1 T Miracle Whip and 2 tsps mustard for 6 egg yolks.
Add 1 tsp pickle relish.
If doing this by hand, mash well with a fork. If using a food processor, pulse until blended and creamy.
Fill each egg half's hollow with the mixture.
Sprinkle with paprika. (The more adventurous might like cayenne. Young kids who didn't get weaned on Tabasco sauce will not.)

Egg Salad
Use for sandwiches within three days.

Dice your eggs, yolk and all.
Add diced celery (I use one rib for 5-6 eggs)
Add diced onion (I don't like onion much, so I add about 1/8 cup)
Add pickle relish (a tablespoon)
Add mustard (2 teaspoons)
Add Miracle Whip (1 Tablespoon to start, may need 2)
Mix. Voila. Egg salad.

Quick Pickled Eggs
You can quickly pickle eggs by using the liquid from canned/jarred beets. Just cover the eggs with the beet juice from canned beets, then let them sit in the fridge overnight or several hours. There you go, quickly pickled eggs.

A couple other options:

Dice the white and use as a salad topping.
My daughter, who is vegetarian, adds hard boiled eggs to vegetable soups.
You can freeze hard boiled eggs to use another day. Simply thaw them in the refrigerator and then use them.

Can we talk about food for a minute?

2010-03-26T21:20:00.001-04:00

That British Woman strikes again! She posted this video on her blog and got me going.

Notice the table of food in the segment on the Edwards' family's eating habits at 7:50. Jaime says this is "normal" eating for many a family. I have never in my life known any family that ate that way. The Edwards don't cook anything, they deep fry everything and nothing they have is edible straight out of the fridge besides milk. That's not normal. That's extreme. I have never deep fried anything. My ex husband used to deep-fry french fries regularly. He cut them from potatoes, though, not by opening a freezer bag. The deep fryer went with him when he moved out, by the way.

Again, look at the food on Edwards' table. Pizza, fries, sausages, corn dogs (deep fried), pancakes, hotdogs, Little Debbie treats. Calorie-dense, fat-dense, and nutrition-poor is every single food on that table. Every food is highly processed. Anything that has been processed is easy to digest meaning it is easily turned directly into fat.

Stop for a second and think about the greatest source of processed food North Americans eat. Wheat.

This is what wheat berries look like:

I remember when I was in Junior High School and the teacher was talking about nutrition in the 1800's and how people would eat boiled wheat berries. I said, "we do that." He told me we did not. "No one eats wheat berries," he said. I said, "we do." He insisted I was telling stories. My mother regularly served us wheat berries for hot cereal in the morning and even for an after-school snack. They're quite good, actually. Rather nutty in flavour, somewhat crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I like them plain now, but I usually had them with some milk when I was a child.

This is a diagram of a whole kernel of wheat:

The white endosperm on the inside is what is left after processing for the commercial food and flour market. The outer bran and nutrient-rich germ have been removed. Even after the endosperm is all that remains, it is processed some more by bleaching and grinding to a fine powder. They use chlorine and peroxide to bleach the endosperm. Would you pour bleach over your food before eating it?

What is removed from the wheat berry to make processed white flour is 40% of the kernel. The most nutrient-dense parts of the wheat kernel are removed: the b-vitamins, most of the fibre -- in all more than half the original nutrients are removed. Which is why white flour has to be enriched. But they don't put back what was taken out. There is no replacement fibre and the vitamins added are pale in comparison to what was removed! To learn more about the health benefits and nutrients in whole wheat, check out this article at WHFoods.

This one simple food is indicative of why processed foods are bad for us. The foods are stripped of their inherent nutrients and often have other things like sugar, fat, sodium and lesser vitamins added.

I caught a little bit of Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution show on tv last week. Jaime's emotional histrionics in response to an article that had him calling the West Virginians he was to be helping "stupid" and "lost causes" was too much for me. His bout of crying was contrived and quite pathetic. Grow a set, man!

While I agree with what he's doing and the fact that the American schools' nutritional programs are idiotic at best (ketchup is a vegetable, dontcha know) I think he's missing a huge point. I think everyone is missing a huge point.

It's not just the food that's killing us. It's the lack of movement. Kids sit in a classroom six hours a day and are lucky to get 30 minutes of physical activity on some days. They go home to play video games and watch tv. And what are they doing while playing video games and watching tv? Snacking. Sedentary lifestyles are as much to blame as poor eating habits for the current obesity epidemic. If activity levels are not addressed, no progress will be made against obesity.

The New York Times recently published an article highlighting the dangers of too much sitting:

"when you spend long periods sitting, your body actually does things that are bad for you.
As an example, consider lipoprotein lipase. This is a molecule that plays a central role in how the body processes fats; it’s produced by many tissues, including muscles. Low levels of lipoprotein lipase are associated with a variety of health problems, including heart disease. Studies in rats show that leg muscles only produce this molecule when they are actively being flexed (for example, when the animal is standing up and ambling about). The implication is that when you sit, a crucial part of your metabolism slows down.

"Nor is lipoprotein lipase the only molecule affected by muscular inactivity. Actively contracting muscles produce a whole suite of substances that have a beneficial effect on how the body uses and stores sugars and fats."

What are kids being taught in American schools about nutrition? I remember being taught the four basic food groups of dairy, meat, vegetables and fruit when I was in school. Now there are pyramids which, frankly, written by the government are not to be trusted. I think most people would gain weight following the food guide's recommendations. I believe an independent guide is more reliable. Harvard came up with one based on up-to-date reliable scientific information and without major business' interests in mind. Check it out.

I know American schools are idiotic when it comes to nutrition. My daughter is lactose intolerant and was identified as such in early childhood. She had to show a doctor's note every single day in order to forgo the milk at school.

In our Ontario school system kids are being taught at an early age to discern between "healthy" foods and "not healthy" foods. Schools encourage parents to send nutritious lunches and snacks and limit or eliminate high sugar, high fat snacks from their children's lunchboxes. My five year old will point out healthy foods and "not healthy" or "sometimes" foods -- sometimes foods are foods that should only be eaten occasionally, not frequently. That's pretty much how we do it here. 90% of what my kids eat is prepared by me, full of nutrition and goodness. Quite a lot of what they eat is raw -- fresh fruits and vegetables. While the US aims for 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, the Canadian government encourages up to 10. I think Canada's on to something.

Do you serve your kids fresh fruits and vegetables at meals? Try it if you haven't done it. It doesn't need to be a fancy tray of unusual fruits and vegetables. I put out a platter of apple and orange slices with dinner the other night and guess what? They all disappeared! It's not much work at all.

Oh, and this malarkey that unhealthy food, fast food, highly processed foods are cheaper than healthful foods is NONSENSE! Absolute and utter nonsense. Take that burger meal from McDonald's or Burger King. For a buck or two you can get a 2 oz burger on a bun with a bit of ketchup and mustard and pickle slices. Well for 2 bucks in the states and 3 bucks in Canada, you can buy a pound of extra lean fresh ground beef and for another 2 bucks 8 whole wheat buns. You can make five 3-ounce burgers and serve 5 people for less than four or five dollars. You can add fresh onion, tomato and lettuce for another buck. Come on people, it's not rocket science and it's not going to put you in the poor house! And by the way, when you make your own burgers, you don't have added transfats (which will kill you and should be eliminated from the food supply entirely) or any of the chemical preservatives that will keep a Happy Meal from decomposing for years.

Culture Shocks for an American in Canada

2010-02-22T10:14:00.000-05:00

I suppose it was foolish of me to think I would not experience culture shock when I moved four hours away from Ohio to Ontario, Canada. Foolish or not, I was wrong.

Language Differences
My husband, who is Canadian by birth and lived most of his life in Canada, has no accent or strange speech habits. I've heard the "eh" jokes in reference to Canadian lingo most of my life and didn't get it when I became a resident. I've almost never heard "eh" in conversation. I have heard it, but not much. There are other things though.

Some pronunciations are different. For instance when I pronounce "been" it sounds like bin. But Canadian newscasters and educators say it like I say "bean." It makes my ears tickle.

Like Bostonians, the accepted proper Canadian pronunciation of pasta is "pass-tah". With an emphasis on the the first syllable. Again: ear tickles.

The article "a", as in I ate a single grape is pronounced the same as the a in apple. My youngest children learned to read in Canada and each would correct me when I'd correct them over their pronunciation of the article "a". It seems odd to me to say "a" like apple and not like ape. I don't hear this in everyday conversation, though.

The letter z has a name and it is not Zee. It is Zed. If you say Zee you are outing yourself as an American. (Though I cannot help but see an elderly, white-haired wizard anytime "Zed" is mentioned. "Bags!" Now if you get that reference, you're a nerd like me ;) )

The other ear tickler is the word drama. It's pronounced DRAM - uh here with emphasis on the first syllable and the first "a" is clearly an apple "a", unlike what I'm used to hearing which is more of a soft "o" sound or shortened "aw" sound.

Again! Oh man, this is like a gain. I'm used to uhgen with a hard g. Nope. They really emphasize that long hard A sound in the second syllable.

Sorry...actually I think Canadians probably pronounce things more like they should be pronounced based on the sounds of English letters, but still, I'm accustomed to different pronunciations so "sorry" to me sounds very much like sari but in Canada it's like sore- ee.

I'm sure there is more but I'll stop there and move on to something else.

Canadian Cigarettes
To an American these are weird. The Canadian government has gone to great lengths to curb smoking and prevent prospective new smokers from ever wanting to pick up the habit. In Canada the standard pack size contains 30 cigarettes (they do sell 20 packs, but people only buy those when they're short on cash.) Canadian cigarettes are very expensive. $10 a pack for decent ones. $7 a pack for economy ones. If you're adventurous you'll buy what's called "reserves" but I'll discuss that later.

Many years ago the Canadian government required cigarette manufacturers to cover HALF the cigarette package with graphic health warnings. Those warnings are:

These are on every pack of Canadian cigarettes. On one side they're in English, on the other side they're in French. Same pictures. My favourite is the impotency one. I'm a girl and impotency doesn't scare me so much. I hate the bloody brain, rotting teeth, and diseased lungs ones though.

Canadian cigarette packs also list all their toxic emissions and the percentage of each chemical: Tar, Nicotine, Carbon Monoxide, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen Cyanide and Benzene.

Those who wish to avoid the $10/pack fee for cigarettes, and those with Native status, will buy their cigarettes on a Native Reserve for about $15/carton. They come in giant ziploc bags which contain 200 cigarettes (pictured on the bottom two shelves):

There has been a large anti-reserve cigarettes campaign, however, with warnings about the dangers of these "unregulated" cigarettes. (They are unregulated because they're made in factories on Native Reservations, which are sovereign from the Canadian Government so unregulated by the Canadian Government.) According to billboards and print ads that have been appearing all over Canada these "Cheap Smokes" "contain insect eggs, mold and human feces." I suspect the Canadian Government is somewhat annoyed that it's not collecting its $7 taxes per pack that it does on other cigarettes sold here. (I have to admit I do wonder how exactly human feces can be in cigarettes....? Then I try not to think about it any more!)

And by the way, nobody smokes "cigarettes" in Canada -- they're called "smokes" here.

Highways and Byways
In the states I was accustomed to routing many drives many different ways. Going between two main cities, I could choose a few different routes based on traffic or construction or scenery if I wanted. That's not very likely here.

Canada's got a couple highways. I do mean a couple. There seems to be one going north to south in Ontario and another going east to west across the entire country. There are no more. That's it. Want to find a quicker route from Niagara to Toronto? Want to avoid the holiday weekend traffic? Want to avoid the construction? HA! Unless you're swimming or flying, there is ONE WAY to drive it and one way only.

And for those who weren't aware, Ontario is the center of the universe. Just so ya know. Other Canadians are a bit miffed that darned near everything in Canada is in Ontario, but it seems to have worked out that way. Sorry. I didn't do it. I just enjoy the benefits of it. (40% of Canada's population resides in Ontario. In a way this center-of-the-universe thing makes sense once you know that.)

Hopefully no one thinks I am poking fun at Canada. I love it here. I love the land, the scenery, the people, the sense of community in every community I've lived. There's more, but I'll save it for another day.

Bzzing about Danactive

2010-02-18T12:14:00.001-05:00

No, that's not a typo. Bzzing is what a Bzzagent does. BzzAgent is a word-of-mouth marketing company. Bzzagents are people who receive products or offers to try products and then review and bzz about those products. Bzzagents can earn rewards for their bzzing, but we are not paid to say nice things about products. In fact, we're expected to be honest.

If there is a fault I have (okay, one among many) it is brutal honesty. When I bzz about anything, whether I was introduced to it by BzzAgent or stumbled across it all on my lonesome, that bzz is my honest experience.

About a month ago I received the DanActive bzz kit which included several DanActive coupons, one for a free 4-pack, and a stack of cards containing contest pins for a current DanActive contest.

Danone (Dannon in the states) tells us that DanActive promotes a healthy immune system with its proprietary probiotic culture L. Casei Defensis(TM). Actually, I phrased that rather mildly. Danone tells us that DanActive "strengthens our bodies' natural defenses to harmful bacteria from our environment."

I've seen the commercials for ages. What did they make me think? Snake oil! They're selling some snake oil on the heels of a snake infestation!

Danone assumes that people don't know about healthy gut bacteria. Yes, our guts -- meaning our entire digestive tracts from top (mouth) to bottom (bottom ha!) -- contain a wealth of bacteria. Good bacteria and bad bacteria. It's best to have more good than bad. That's just common sense. Things can throw this balance off -- long term, high-dosage antibiotics for instance will often result in a yeast infection. Yeast is a bad bacteria that lives in our guts. Another good bacteria (L. acidophilus) fights yeast bacteria overgrowth. Antibiotics kill good bacteria so yeast gets to grow uninhibited and you end up with a yeast infection. (It's not the only way to get a yeast infection. I'm trying to be brief here.)

Danone didn't go out and create a brand new bacteria. L. casei has been around a long time. L. casei Defensis is simply Danone's special blend. I really don't understand how Danone's L. casei can be any more special than the L. casei I could easily replicate in my kitchen, but I'm not a biologist or chemist or whatever kind of scientist it takes to create "special" bacteria.

L. casei is a good bacteria. It does support healthy immune functioning and healthy digestive tract flora.It lives in our mouths, stomachs, intestines. A baby's saliva will contain L. Casei.

My verdict: This was incredibly sweet. It was palatable, but ridiculously sweet. My mouth is not accustomed to this kind of sweetness. I avoid products containing added sugar like the plague that sugar has become to Western society. Find your live, active bacterial cultures in natural yogurt that contains no added sugars.

Because of the extremely high sugar content of Danactive, it will never be a feature in my diet. 69% of the calories in Danactive are from sugar. (There are 14 grams sugar in a bottle of vanilla Danactive. There are 63 calories in 14 grams sugar. Danactive Vanilla contains 80 calories total. 13.5 of those calories are from fat. This is all packed into 3.3 OUNCES (93 grams) of yogurt beverage.) That's ridiculous. Would you pour 4 teaspoons sugar into 3 ounces of any beverage? I wouldn't.

And while Danone's "immunity" hype is actually true, you can get L. Casei from many other sources including cheddar cheese!

Conversations with a Five Year Old

2010-02-11T11:04:00.000-05:00

My five-year-old son is still learning the rhythm of conversation. Each night during dinner our family discusses our day, events, news, and all sorts of things. Often my five-year-old, Ky, will interrupt another person's speaking, but most often he simply bursts out with something seemingly from nowhere. These moments leave me wondering about the mechanics of his thought process and chuckling at some of the results.

The other night, during a conversational lull, Ky burst out with "Kung Hay Fat Choy!" I knew what it meant, but I like to know what my children's grasp is of their lessons so I asked, "What's that?"

Ky tells me "It's 'Happy New Year' in Chinese!" He goes on to tell me that it's still 2009 in China and the Chinese haven't yet had 2010. Red is a lucky colour in China and did you know that Canadian dragons are mean, fire breathing, destructive dragons but Chinese dragons are good dragons who bring good luck and help it to rain.

I am always amazed at the wealth of information he is able to absorb in a day. Later that evening, he read his daily message to me. (Each day the teacher sends home a one-page message in the form of a letter. This is the kindergartners' daily reading assignment. I think it's one of the most brilliant ideas a teacher could have for learning readers.) After the date information, the letter begins "Dear Monkeys and Ram". I stopped my son at this point as usually the letter begins with "Dear Boys and Girls" or "Dear Good Friends" or some variation of those two. I asked Ky, "What is up with your teacher calling you monkeys and ram instead of boys and girls?"

He matter-of-factly explains "We are Monkeys and a Ram!"

"What is a monkey?" I ask.

"A monkey is an animal with a tail who likes to eat bananas." He replies adding an eye roll for emphasis.

"Oh. So you are an animal with a tail who likes to eat bananas."

"NO moooooooooom. I'm not a mon-KEY, I am a HUMAN. A monkey is an ANIMAL. I am a HUMAN."

"A human is an animal, too, honey. You just told me you were a monkey and now you're telling me you're not a monkey. I'm confused."

He sighs a long, exaggerated sigh and explains, "Boys and girls born IN THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY are called monkeys, but they are not animal monkeys, they are just CALLED monkeys."

"OHHHHHH. I get it now. So you are a boy who was born in the year of the monkey and that is why your teacher called you a Monkey."

He smiled as wide as the monkey's banana and confirmed, "YES!"

After he finished reading his daily message, I informed him that I was a Rooster. He giggled and told me, "No you're not. You're mom" in that don't-be-silly tone of voice that children do so well.

Meanwhile, my husband was across the room pulling faces. Ky laughs at him and his daddy tells him to guess what he is. Ky first guesses Rabbit but is wrong and immediately figures out that daddy is mimicking a rat. Yet another thing to make me wonder how on earth his mind works as I don't think I would have guessed it correctly if I hadn't already known my husband's Chinese zodiac.

At bedtime Ky tells me that Monkeys are smart. Of course they are. Mine sure is.

Update on the baby kits and our other foster cats

2010-02-08T12:29:00.002-05:00

Simon and Stephen graduated from bottles to soft food several weeks ago and from soft food to hard within a few days of that. Small kittens cannot chew standard kitten kibbles so they started out on this stuff:

Which is the cutest, tiniest kibble I've ever seen:

Normal cat food is on the right, and the babycat(TM) kibble is on the left.

Now that you think I'm completely daft for getting all silly over kitten kibble, I'll show you adorable pictures to make you forget how daft I may or may not be.

This is Simon at about 7 weeks. Simon is a little love. He likes to climb up on me, nuzzle my chin, sleep under my chin or just nuzzle on me while getting his noggin scratched. I have never come across so affectionate a kitten as Simon.

Simon likes to hug, too:

Simon will make someone a very good companion.

Steven is also an affectionate one, as evidenced by his nap with my son.

Both Simon and Steven are happy, playful kittens full of love and exuberance. They have no health concerns or negative behaviours and will be wonderful additions to any home.

I am so going to miss them!

They burrowed into this blanket themselves and had a nap!

As for my other foster cats....

Allow me to introduce 11-07 ("eleven-oh-seven").

Odd name, you think? Can you see why?

Yes, she has very clear 1107 markings on both her sides! 11-07 is a bit skittish, but I think she will relax in a quiet home. She is used to children as she's been with us since infancy. While she does spend time with my 10 year old, she could not be bothered with my five year old. Younger kids tend to be unpredictably loud at times and she does not enjoy loud noises.

This is Blondie. We named her Blondie for her blonde-coloured eyes, pale colouring and the fact that she seems a bit dense at times. (In this photo she is stalking and swatting the black shoes. You can make of that what you will.) I think she's actually just very skittish and her nervousness pre-empts her intelligence. She's a funny one, that's for sure. Blondie is still not fully socialized, despite the fact that I've been working with her for a very long time and she came to me as a kitten. Blondie will be staying with me a bit longer as I give socializing her one more go before she goes to another home for more intensive socializing.

This is Princess. She is completely black -- not a spot of white on her anywhere! Princess came to me as a one year old extremely skittish cat. She hid for the first week in the rafters of our basement. I decided to cage her when I realized that she would live in those rafters until eternity if I didn't force her hand. While caged I would daily remove her, hold her, stroke her, scratch her head and talk to her. At night she would cry and cry to be let out of the cage. Finally I gave in and let her out of the cage, but barred her access to the basement. It took seven long months of coaxing before Princess ever let me touch her after uncaging her. She simply came to me one day, lay down at me feet and meowed at me. She wanted scratched! Now she comes to us all the time for back scratching. She does not like to be held, but will sit next to you (never on! she's not that kind of cat!) on a sofa and allow you to pet and scratch her. She's a very well behaved, but quite skittish cat. She needs a quiet home and will most likely have a period of adjustment when she gets to that home. She will hide and come out only when she is comfortable. Coaxing will not work with this girl. If you are a local reader, I would like you to consider whether you or someone you may know would be interested in adopting Princess. She will make a wonderful pet. After all the work we've done with her to socialize her to humans, children, and other cats, I would hate to see her sit in an adoption center's cages before being adopted. I think that would cause her to regress. I know she will have an adjustment period regardless, but I think it would be FAR FAR less traumatic for her to transition directly into her forever home. If you or someone you know is interested and serious about adopting Princess, please contact me via the comments section. I would be happy to facilitate her transition to a forever home.

Simon, Steven, and 11-07 will be available for adoption this weekend, February 13th at the PetSmart on Vansickle Ave. in St. Catharines.

Screen-Free Tuesdays Spawns My First Small Giveaway

2010-01-27T11:42:00.000-05:00

It's a new tradition in our house. (Can you call it a tradition after one time?)

It's so easy to get into an electronic rut in the wintertime. The kids fell into habit with the Wii, PCs, PS2 and TV. Tired of the daily battle over who's watching/playing what, I exercised my dictatorial powers and decreed Tuesdays to be Screen Free. Nothing with a screen is to be used on Tuesday. This covers gameboys, PCs, tvs and all game systems.

Now, what to do?

Ah, there's the rub.

Well, I happened to be recovering from a virus so I spent the day dabbling at my housework and resting (right after I remembered it was screen-free and pulled myself away from the PC.) I think I might have gotten more done than on days when I'm perfectly fine but "taking breaks" on the internet! When the kids got home, my youngest and I tried our hands at the new Battleship game.

It's really a little advanced for him, but he wanted to try. After an hour he decided it just wasn't for him. While I made dinner the boys played with action figures and cars. After dinner everyone played a few rounds of Triominoes before doing homework, having baths and heading to bed.

You should know I've been on a kids' games losing streak for ages now. I have never once won a round of Monopoly Junior against my five year old. No, I do not stack the odds in his favour.

I have lost every game of Mousetrap against these guys (you really cannot cheat to lose in that, either!)

And in recent months, I haven't been able to beat my husband at a game of cards either! (Though I did break that streak in December.) Wouldn't you know that the first round of Triominoes was won by my five year old? Of course it was! He had no idea what he was doing, but he sure won! I did, however, win the second round. Luckily we weren't keeping score because the numbers might not have been in my favour.

The final verdict on screen-free Tuesday: it was enjoyed by all. The kids were already making plans for next Tuesday.

Now for that giveaway. Up for grabs to those who follow and comment on this post is one coupon good for $10 off a Hasbro, Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley and/or Cranium board game. The coupon is only good in Canada so this is a giveaway just for Canadians!

Winner will be selected and coupon mailed on Monday, February 1st, 2010. That will give the winner two months to use the coupon!

Use for stale (rancid) brown rice found!

2010-01-12T19:51:00.003-05:00

Any whole grain will go rancid, meaning the oils in the grain get strong and off-smelling. It will give the grain itself a nasty flavour. I don't think it's bad for you and won't make you sick, but it does not taste good. It tastes awful actually.

In the interests of frugality, I knew there had to be a use for rancid rice whether it was an art project or small animal food.

You can make a heating pad using rice grains. Take an old, but not holey (unless you sew the holes shut), clean sock and fill it with rice grains. Either sew or tie the open end shut. Heat the rice filled sock in the microwave for 90 seconds. There, you have a heating pad to apply to muscle aches or to use as a kitten warmer as I currently am.

You can freeze the same rice sock to use for first aid applications. Reuse it indefinitely.

Here is an article on how to make a rice sock: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/article/make-a-rice-sock-086423/

Here is a very comprehensive article on the benefits of brown rice: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=128

I thought my days of mixing formula were over...

2010-01-07T13:41:00.002-05:00

but here I am taking care of two babies. And it's hard to bottle feed two at once. It's hard to clean two bums simultaneously. It's hard to keep one from scratching the other's eyes out when they sleep next to each other.

My husband brought home two babies on New Year's Eve. Two baby kittens, that is!

They are roughly four weeks old, going on five. My husband works for a company that manufactures wind towers. These kittens were in an area where large steel plates (think tonnes) are stored. Just as he was about to move some of this plate, a coworker heard a sound. It was the sound of two tiny kittens mewling. Since it was a holiday weekend, everything was going to be closed up tight and the mother, if she hadn't intentionally abandoned them, would have no way to get back to them. The temperature was well below 0C and nights substantially below. My husband couldn't leave them to freeze.

They were hungry and cold after a day in a box of rags in subzero temperatures. We syringe fed them watered down wet cat food as they likely never had solid food before and they are quite wobbly still. As soon as I could get to a pet supply store we purchased a nurser and formula. Isn't this bottle just the cutest thing?

Cute, yes, but not quite so cute as Steven and Simon:

They're standing on top of the barrier I made to turn my living room into a kitten playpen. It's not safe for them to wander around the house. I do cage the kittens during naps and at night, they are out of the cage during feedings and after for play time. Obviously, the barricade isn't working so well. It only took two days for them to overcome it! As long as I'm in the living room, they will stay there. I have become mom so far as these two guys are concerned. They'll follow along as I walk, climb my pants' legs when I sit, and crawl up on my shoulder to sleep after they've finished their bottle:

(Try to ignore the folded clothes behind me on the couch. It's amazing how much time these guys actually require in caring for them. I truly feel like I have a baby or two in the house. Though I don't mean to diminish the work of human childcare at all. I'm only comparing the two. )

I (we) have fostered cats and kittens for the past five years for the Animal Assistance Society of Niagara. We socialize them and get them ready for adoption into forever homes. There are three fosters with us now in addition to Simon and Steven. The baby brothers will also be available for adoption once they've been neutered.

I'll tell you more about the other fosters in another post.

I suppose you might be wondering about their names. My husband works in Stevensville. The kittens were found next to steel plate from Seimon's Steel. I couldn't call a kitty "Seimon" (which sounds just like "semen") so Simon it is! How do I tell them apart? Well, Simon has a redder face than Steven. It just so happens that my husband has an Uncle Simon, who when he grows one, sports a red mustache! I need all the help I can get when it comes to memory assists.

Turkey Leftovers?

2009-12-29T07:00:00.003-05:00

Turkey leftovers are good for about 4 days in the refrigerator. After that, they need to go. Anytime I have more than I think can be used in that time-frame, I dice it and freeze in 2 cup portions for using in recipes like the ones in this blog post.

There are so many things you can do with turkey leftovers. Aside from the standard cold turkey sandwiches, which I love, you might like to try a casserole.

Take a look at my Chicken Vegetable Cobbler. Use leftover turkey instead. There are a few variations on this, and they're all quite easy. You need meat, thickened sauce, frozen mixed vegetables, and a topper. Cook 30 or so minutes at 350F. (Some might take longer than 30 minutes. Choose from any of the following:

I use a 2 quart casserole and the quantities listed:

Meat:
1 cup to 2 cups cut up, just depends on what I have

chicken
turkey
beef

Thickened sauce:
1 1/2 cups to 2 cups

leftover gravy
canned soup (cream of mushroom, cream of celery, cream of chicken)
canned gravy (turns out to be lighter and lower in sodium than canned cream soups!)
thickened broth (broth + cornstarch mixed thoroughly.)

Topper:
1 recipe/1 can/1 mix or about 1 1/2 cups

refrigerated canned biscuit dough or croissant dough (these are the highest-in-fat choices)
Boxed mix of stuffing (here's a ~~lazy~~ resourceful tip: mix the stuffing + water (omit margarine) in the package that the stuffing comes in. Fork it on top of the casserole right out of the bag, toss the bag. No washing up.)
Leftover or instant mashed potatoes
Leftover mashed sweet potatoes
Homemade drop or rolled biscuits (recipe for this is in my Chicken Vegetable Cobbler post)
boxed corn muffin mix (follow instructions on mix and drop by spoonful on top of casserole)

Frozen mixed vegetables:
1 1/2 cups

Standard or,
peas and carrots
broccoli blends are too strong for this casserole
You can use canned, but I find them too soft, salty, and sweet.

This casserole comes together in just a few minutes, bakes in 30-45 and really hits the spot on a cold day. Leftovers are great for lunch!

Ch-ch-changes

2009-12-28T12:26:00.000-05:00

I've finally gotten around to rearranging this blog. It's something I've wanted to do for over a year and well, there, I've done it. I can cross it off my list.

The photo in the header is from Dufferin Islands in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We spent a few afternoons hiking and picnicking there with the kids this summer. Dufferin Islands are just down the road from the Falls. It's a nice escape from the busyness of the tourists in Niagara Falls. Also, it's free to park there, so if you don't mind the mile walk to the falls from there, you can save your $20-some and park at the islands.

I have a few more changes to make, but in the meantime, please let me know if anything's not working.

Good, Bad, and Wickedly Ugly Christmas Trees 2009

2009-12-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

More samplings from the Worldwide Christmas Tree Contest 2009.

If you're naughty en espana, glow-eyed cat will leave lumps of something-that-looks-like-coal-but-isn't under your tree:

The tree is not bad. All of the rest of it adds up to years and years of therapy
for some unfortunate child/children...

Is this even done yet? Nonetheless, a little too artsy-fartsy for me.

This tree is pretty unremarkable, but the picture kind of freaks me out. You're busted, Santa!
I knew you existed!

"Mommy, why is Santa's head coming out of the tree?"
Kind of looks like the tree shat a village, too...

I've got Eric Clapton in my head. It's all white, it's all white, it's all white. . .
Damn! That's bright! Sun hats and pom poms? Only yellow lights? Like piddle on snow...

Random feathers and a teeny sunflower on top. What the hell?

I'm sure someone likes this.
I don't.

Frig! More feathers. Again: what the hell??? Oh and look, it's a half-and-half tree:

I'm not sure what you had to go through to create this, but yep, I like it. PS: nice pile of rocks, there. I see you're also raising boy children. One day I'll share all the rock piles I find in my house, too.

O. My. Gawd.

Imagine how pretty this would be with multi-coloured blinking lights at night:

Let's stop for a minute and think about the implications of placing baby Jesus, the three wise men, Mary, and Joseph in the middle of Santa Land. And do you really need to hang Santa all over the place? I'm not sure if you're trying to say "Die Santa, Die!" or "Jesus Clause is the reason for the season." I'm so confused!

oooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaah:

How obsessive-compulsive do you have to be to have a giant spill-mat under
a pristine non-shedding tree like this one:
I could like this one. I really could. If only those two green balloons at the bottom didn't look like terribly asymmetrical boobies:

Where to start with this one? We've got the frou-frou explosive topping, the fungus-coloured decorations and is that skinny little tree in the background actually bowing to this eyesore? And that too-small tree skirt makes your tree's ass look fat:

How can you not like this? Though, this might be cheating...

Yellow tree. Pez dispensers. Metalic green bows. I think I'm gonna hurl...

I like recycling. I particularly like that this family took all those useless AOL discs and made lovely family photo ornaments out of them:

I suspect this is a festivus pole disguised as a Christmas tree:

The most frilly, frou-frou, overdecorated, glitzy trees are from central American entrants. This Argentinian walks to the beat of his own drummer:

awwwww:

Just when we were firm in our belief that only American rednecks crafted beer can/bottle Christmas trees, this Brit comes along to prove us wrong.
It seems to be suspended mid air. How'd he do that?

Leave it to a German to design a thoroughly unique, completely practical not-a-tree. After Christmas, burn the tree! I bet it smells fabulous! Love it!

Hannakuh not-a-tree in the Christmas Tree contest. You rebel, you:

Someone got a pom-pom maker for Christmas last year. And, is the valance tied to the top of the tree? Hey, nice plastic on the couch! I have kids. I understand.

I would not have thought this was a Christmas tree, but it's entrant #445 in the World Wide Christmas tree contest. What are these?

Same comment as above, but entrant #427:

Kitty: "Go ahead. Get a picture of it now before I sink my claws into it. Mwhaahahahaha"

hmmmmmm...

Mixing up your bible stories, folks:

I could be fair and show you a picture of our Christmas tree. But I won't. You see, I foster cats and kittens. We currently have 5 in residence. A week ago, it was six. The bottom 2 feet of my tree no longer have ornaments. The lights are restrung daily. We did not hang garland this year. Some day, I'll have a Christmas tree without kittens, and then I'll share the tree with you. The first night the tree was up, the next morning we woke to find the youngest kitten in the upper most branches sound asleep. She still thinks it's her tree.

Want to have a laugh about cats and trees? Go read this: A Cat's Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Now that you've finished your Christmas baking

2009-12-22T23:05:00.005-05:00

I'm going to show you something that will send you out to the store for the supplies to make just one more batch of cookies.

These are fun, lovely and, most importantly, yummerrific!

I'm talking about stained glass window cookies.

(The "windows" are less opaque than they appear in my pictures. Holding them up to light is cool, too!)

I've read the instructions in my cookbook year after year, but have never taken that extra step to make them because I always forget to purchase the hard candies that make the stained glass centers in these cookies.

I love the flavour of these. The dough is just your basic sugar cookie cut-out dough, which I've always thought was bland. The candies give the flavour a nice little kick.

I used Lifesavers and I crushed them and mixed the colours in each "window." Next year, I'll do solid colours and skip crushing them. I hear Jolly Rancher candies work just as well as Lifesavers.

I purchased a mini star cutter and used my son's duckie playdough cutter or cut out shapes from each cookie with a knife. A small cutter is the easiest method.

Basic Sugar Cookie Cutouts recipe

1/2 c butter, softened
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 c all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375F.

First beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer (I use my dough hooks and my cheap little hand mixer on medium, using turbo when the mixer starts to struggle and I can do the whole batch with it.) Stir in any remaining flour. (Use your hands. Seriously. Just make sure they and your nails are clean.) Divide the dough in half, cover and chill it for 30 minutes or until it's easy to handle.

Next, on a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/8" thick. Cut out dough into desired shapes. Then cut smaller shapes out of the cookie centers. Finely crush 3 ounces hard candy if mixing colours. If you're not going to mix colours, don't bother crushing them. Fill each center with some of the candy right to the top edges of the cookies. You can top cookies with coloured sugars if you would like. Bake on a foil lined cookie sheet 7-8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned.* Allow to cool on the foil completely before removing with a spatula. You don't need to spray the foil, but you may. Store tightly covered.

*For non stained glass sugar cookies, place cutouts on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for the same time/temp. Remove from oven and move cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Decorate as you like.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cranberry cookies

2009-12-16T13:10:00.005-05:00

I suppose I could call them PORC cookies. Would you like a porc cookie? I didn't think so.

I've been on a quest for the perfect pumpkin cookie for years. My mother made a spiced pumpkin cookie that I just loved. She'd slather penuche frosting on top and my mouth would be transported to pumpkin heaven. Oh my. Mom lost her recipe ages ago, thus my search.

This recipe is the closest thing to my idea of the perfect pumpkin cookie I've found so far. And it's full of nutritious goodness, too! They're also low in fat and this recipe is vegan! I originally found this recipe here. I've modified it some.

The kids love these cookies. They'll do extra chores to get some more!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cranberry Cookies

In a medium sized bowl, mix together:

2 c flour
1 1/3 c rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg

In a large bowl, mix together:

1 2/3 c sugar (I use a blend of splenda and sugar)
2/3 c canola oil
2 T molasses
1 c canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla

Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl in 3 batches, folding to combine. (I use the dough hooks on a mixer. Works a treat!)

Add 1 1/2 cups raisins and dried cranberries. Mix.

Drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet.

Bake 10 minutes at 350. Cool on wire rack.

The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Since my kids attend nut-free schools (luckily the restriction doesn't apply to the kids) I do not use any nuts. Next time I make them, I'm going to add ground flaxseed in place of the nuts.

Not-a-Christmas-Tree Trees

2009-12-07T12:51:00.009-05:00

I've come across so many of these I had to create a post just for them. Some are good, some are ugly, some are fabulous.

I think when my fake tree eventually dies and goes to a donation center in the sky I'll go the not-a-tree route. Lots of ideas out there:

recycling: good. This not-a-tree: not so much
p.s. You'd be a lot fatter than that chick if you ate all that cereal.

The folks at BLDG 15 made this crochet Christmas tree a couple years ago:

Lego: I heart you

Not enough kitchen storage? Here ya go:
So
long as you don't mind the fruit flies once these bananas ripen and rot...

I kind of like it, but it doesn't feel Christmassy:
What would be ultra cool is if this were a photo-tree and you could insert photos from your own Christmases over time. That would be awesome!

The ladder (I love this!):

This won an award. Apparently there were no other entrants:

minimalist:

meh:

If you have about 300 old SCSI drives laying around, you can make this one:
though it does look kind of scuzzy to me.

I don't know...if you were going to buy a tree, anyway, you don't get green points for this:

This I don't mind so much, except that there is clearly a decorating skills deficiency at play here:

I love this and I think I'll make one! Baby food jar tree:
(Clicking on the picture will take you to the source where there are instructions to make your own.)

Another one to make:

I like this cardboard tree:

by far, my favourite:

pssst: I can see your pencil outline.

Weird and Wacky Christmas Trees

2009-12-07T09:48:00.006-05:00

Hey, if you put it out there, I will point and laugh at it.

Again from the Worldwide Christmas Tree Contest

Here we have the I'm-not-even-trying not-a-tree:

RUN! It's taking over the house!
Augh! My eyes!
What.....the.....he......
Maybe she didn't see us and we can just sneak away...
I don't think there's a tree under there. It's just a conical pile of gay:
Kind of undecided on this one. You've got your reduced environmental impact on the one hand, and then you've got crap for decorating skills in the other...
No. Seriously?
Santa was hanged by the tree with a ... hey! wait a minute, that's not the way the story goes!

Nothing says Christmas like silver butterflies and purple trilobites.
hmmmmmm...
AUGHHHHHHHH!

points for recycling ... but they lady elf is freaking me out
It's an elfen peacock tree!

And from other places on the web...

Way to make your mothers proud, boys...

The guys who emptied those kegs probably had something to do with this:

Someone's blond dreadlocks recycled:

For all the winos out there:

More to come, soon...

Deli-Apple-icious

2009-11-17T21:25:00.005-05:00

Too much?

Ah well. You might change your mind if you try this recipe.

Can you guess what this is? Note that colour. Oh, it's so pink and pretty, isn't it?

You scrolled down to see what it is, didn't you?

That's okay. I would have, too.

I'm telling you about beautiful, delicious Ida Red Apple Sauce. Yes, it needs to be Ida Red. Sure, you can use other apples. It just won't be deli-apple-icious. Ida Reds have a semi-firm flesh, gorgeous red skin, high juice content, and a sweet-tartness that is perfect to create a blushing sauce for your dinner table.

Here's what you need:

Ida Red Applesauce
Ripe Ida Red apples, washed, as many as you want (I used 9 large to medium-large apples to serve 5)
1/4 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of sugar (optional)
Pot to cook them in
a food mill

Oh, and by the way -- this is so easy! Very little work involved.

Using a handy-dandy apple slicer-corer, slice your apples directly into the cooking pot. Do NOT skin the apples. (If you don't have an apple slicer-corer, use a knife, slice apples and discard seeds and core.)

Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. (You don't need much as these apples are full of juice and the pot will fill with it while they cook.)
Sprinkle apples with about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon (reserve the rest to add if needed after the sauce is done.)
Set heat to medium high, put lid on pan and bring to a boil.
Turn down heat to medium low and let cook about 30 minutes.
Stir, moving topmost apples to bottom of pan. If some apples are still firm, replace lid and allow to cook another 15 minutes.
Once all apples are cooked, place them into a foodmill and grind directly into serving bowl. Be careful, with this step as they're hot.

Grind the sauce in the mill. See my mill? It's about 50 years old. It is a beautiful mill, but it has worked pretty hard over the years for my mother and now for us. I needed to use a wooden spoon to occasionally push the apples through the sieved bottom of the mill. In the end we had all the peels and a small amount of pulp remaining in the mill. It will compost nicely.

Now is the time to taste your sauce. If it's a little too tart, stir in a bit of sugar to taste. Brown, white, or Splenda -- whatever suits your fancy. Add a bit more cinnamon if you need it. Stir and serve!

Take a look at the finished product:

When the kids sat down to dinner tonight they exclaimed "It's PINK! COOL!" And they all wanted seconds. They got them, and there's enough leftover for tomorrow.

And by the way, if you don't have a food mill, you can peel your apples and make the sauce. It just won't be pink and you'll be lacking the added nutrients from the peels. You'll need to mash your apples in the pan (simply stirring with a wooden spoon will work for a slightly chunky sauce.) None of the other steps will change.

This makes a lovely side-dish for Thanksgiving dinner. You can reheat in the microwave before serving.

If you try it, let me know.

The Insanity Has to Stop

2009-11-12T12:41:00.004-05:00

NPR has reported that Major Nidal Hasan's mental health was questioned by his nearly two years ago by his supervising Psychiatrists. Daniel Zwerdling reports that Hasan's supervisors referred to him as "schizoid" and questioned whether Hasan was mentally fit for service.

"One official involved in the conversations had reportedly told colleagues that he worried that if Hasan deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, he might leak secret military information to Islamic extremists. Another official reportedly wondered aloud to colleagues whether Hasan might be capable of committing fratricide, like the Muslim U.S. Army sergeant who, in 2003, killed two fellow soldiers and injured 14 others by setting off grenades at a base in Kuwait."

You might not be familiar with the term "schizoid" but I am. It's not a word that mental health professionals toss around lightly. Schizoid is considered milder than schizophrenia, but harder to treat. It is a personality disorder in which the afflicted person is completely disconnected from his emotions and unable to develop meaningful interpersonal relationships. According to this article "the person with schizoid personality disorder may be able to hold a job and meet the expectations of an employer if the responsibilities do not require more than minimal interpersonal involvement." I think the job description for military psychiatrist in wartime might involve more than minimal interpersonal involvement.

However, Zwerdling reports, circumstances were such that the officials who raised the concerns (and continued monthly discussions about those concerns) did not find it feasible to issue any giant red flags about Hasan. They did not because:

there would be too much paperwork and bureaucracy
they would appear politically incorrect and unsympathetic to Hasan's extremist Islamic views
they didn't know that Homeland Security was tracking his emails with other extremists, and the icing on the cake:
Hasan was leaving for Fort Hood, anyway, and could be their problem.

Which begs the question: did officials at Walter Reed who were concerned about Hasan's fitness to serve alert officials at Fort Hood to his apparent mental instability? Did they? I want to know.

I don't know about you, but the four reasons above are NOT GOOD ENOUGH for failing to flag a person who would be in a position of power, authority, and care taking with our soldiers at home and abroad.

Why would it be okay for a person with extremist views, views that specifically condemn American ideals and the war on terror, to serve in any capacity with our armed forces?

I'm certainly not saying that Muslims cannot serve in the military. To the contrary. I think Muslims can absolutely serve in the American military. I think Muslims can be a great asset to the American military. This man espoused radical Islamic views which are actually contradictory to the Muslim faith.

This is not okay, people. This man was unstable enough to become the focus of monthly conversations between the officials, including the Psychiatrists who supervised him, at one of the hospitals where he trained.

But. They. Did.

NOTHING.

They did not insist he have a full psychiatric evaluation.

They did not place him on probation.

They did not require he have any intervention whatsoever.

They did, however, pass the buck:

"Hasan was about to leave Walter Reed and USUHS for good and transfer to Fort Hood, in Texas. Fort Hood has more psychiatrists and other mental specialists than some other Army bases, so officials figured there would be plenty of co-workers who would support Hasan — and monitor him." (Zwerdling)

I am outraged that the Psychiatrists who supervised Hasan didn't have the balls necessary to red flag his nutty ass.

What's it take?

Seriously, what does it take?

Halloweenies

2009-10-25T01:00:00.009-04:00

Or Mummy Dogs

These are fun and easy fare for the kids this time of year. (I make them anytime of year that the mood strikes me.)

You will need:
1 tube of refrigerated crescent rolls (or one recipe baking soda biscuits, which follows)
1 package hot dogs
baking sheet

Preheat the oven to 375.
1) Open and unroll the crescent rolls (if using baking soda biscuits, roll quite thin - about 1/4").
2) Working on wax paper, cut crescent dough into narrow strips.
3) Wrap crescent dough strips mummy style around each hot dogs, leaving a "face" exposed.
4) You can cut X's for eyes before baking, if you like.
5) bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. Once the dough is golden, the dogs are done.

Baking soda biscuits:

3/4 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 T shortening
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Sift flour baking powder and salt together.
Using pastry knife or two butter knives, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in milk.
Turn out on floured surface. For use with mummy dogs, roll out 1/4" thick. Cut with floured knife. (There will be excess dough. Make biscuits that can bake alongside mummy dogs by cutting and shaping at 1/2" thick.)

To make this a complete meal, serve it with Green Goodness Smoothie.

Just Where Does the Time Go, Anyway?

2009-08-19T07:33:00.003-04:00

I could have sworn I'd just made my last post a week or so ago. It's been a month!

This summer has been crazy busy, once summer started, that is. For us in Ontario it rolled in around late July to kick our rears most thoroughly.

Between hitting the beach as frequently as possible, birthdays, picnics, barbecues and local festivals; there isn't much time left for much else.

I'll tell you one that that's definitely put me into a strange time warp: quitting smoking. I've been smoke-free since July 1. Prior to that, I spent six weeks weening myself off cigarettes and replacing cigarettes with Nicorette. Yes, I'm still chewing Nicorette and yes, my body apparently still needs it. But I'm without all the other chemicals in the cigarettes and also not burning my lungs anymore! Do I feel better? In some ways, yes. Oddly, I've been achy since I quit smoking. I wonder if my body is just clearing out all those toxins. I don't know. Or perhaps I've overdone it abit at the beach, on the bike, etc., trying to pack all the summer activities I could into the few really nice days we were having. I've been, off and on, very distractible since I quit completely. I don't often know the time and I have to really work at concentrating sometimes. That seems to be lessening now.

So there's where some of the summer time goes, anyway.

Kitchen Tools I Wouldn't Cook Without

2009-07-20T16:48:00.028-04:00

Mandolin

The mandolin is invaluable when slicing root vegetables. There are generally additional blades for cutting julienne strips and wider strips as well. Whether putting up carrots or making scalloped potatoes, french fries or crudités; this tool reduces the toil and the time needed to cut any of these harder vegetables by any other means.

Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer

This peeler/corer/slicer is my favourite. I do own others, and they have their uses, but this is the one I use when I have a couple bushels of crisp apples in the fall. If we're canning apple slices or freezing them, we can whip through them in no time with this handy tool. It takes less than a minute to peel core and slice an apple with this tool.

When working with mealy-type apples (which will turn to mush in the above-pictured tool), I use this type of peeler:
Combined with this slicer:

This slicer is used almost daily during the school year to slice apples for the kids' lunches.

Mini Food Processor

Black & Decker MFP200T MiniPro Plus Food Processor

I've used this thing so much over the past 7 or 8 years, I'm surprised it hasn't died yet. I make our chicken and egg salads. We crush our dried chili peppers in it. I chop nuts in it. I slice carrots and celery in it (it's the fastest way to do so!) I shred zucchini and other vegetables or cheese in it. You want an egg salad that's a spreadable consistency? Use the food processor. Yes, it only holds two cups, but that's enough even for my family of five. You would be surprised how much one of these mini's can do. It's easy to clean, and small enough to not be a burden in the kitchen. Love it!

Plastic Lettuce Knife

We eat a lot of salad. We take great pride in our salads. My daughter has turned salad assembly into an art form. She'll call me on it, too when I've just chopped a bunch of vegetables and thrown them in a salad bowl. "Fail on the presentation, mom."

A plastic lettuce knife won't cause your lettuce to brown and wilt like metal knives will. I know many people prefer to tear their lettuce. I'd rather cut it. I get the pieces to the size I want and I can cut many more pieces at one time than I can tear. Using a knife also reduces risk of transferring bacteria to food from your hands.

The best thing about a plastic lettuce knife is it will not cut you. Or your kindergartner. With a plastic knife like this, younger kids can get started in the kitchen a lot earlier than they would with only metal knives to use.

Electric Griddle

If your stove doesn't include a griddle, it pays to own an electric one. Pancake breakfasts, grilled cheese dinners, quesadillas, Reuben Sandwiches ... all so much easier on a large electric griddle. In my largest skillet I could cook two pancakes or two grilled cheese sandwiches or one quesadilla. With the griddle, I make the whole family's at one time. Anything that saves me time cooking for a family is worth the expense in my book!

Crock Pot / Slow Cooker

Hamilton Beach 33967 Set 'n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker

When I was a single, working mom I fell in love with my crock pot. No more fast food because we were starving on the way home from work/school and nothing in the house would be ready in a timely manner. I'd start a chicken, pork chops, roasts, soups, or chili in the morning when we left for school and work and come home to a slow-cooked, hearty, nutritious meal. It saved my sanity and my kids' health!

It is imperative that you purchase a crock pot with a removable crock. These things are impossible to clean properly without the ability to remove the crock.

What are your favourite kitchen gadgets?

The End of Childhood

2009-07-11T09:09:00.008-04:00

Where do you draw that line between childhood and adolescence? When does a child creep quietly from the magical land of wonder into the skeptical territory of the tweeners? I used to think that for most kids, 6th grade marked the advent of adolescence. Now with girls starting puberty at 9 and 10, it's harder to put an age to it.

Kids seem to know so much more than they should by age 10 these days, too. They can see more violence on tv and in video games than I hope they would ever see in their lives. Of course, though, I'm one of those mean moms who won't let her kids watch or play that kind of stuff.

The other day my sweet, beautiful 9-year-old boy broke my heart. He gave me that sly smile, the one that says "I'm smart. I'm very smart. And I know it." He told me that he went to Google, typed in "Santa" and clicked on "define" and learned that 'Santa is a mythical creature.' He said "mom, that means Santa is made-up. And now I know the parents really buy the presents." Ah, but see, Santa only brings presents to those who believe. (Santa only delivers one present to each believer in my house. I know he delivers 10-20 to other kids, but that's just because he feels so very sorry for them since their parents don't get them any presents at all!)

Now let's stop and think about this for a second, folks. Some other kid didn't tell him. He didn't find out because a nasty teacher thought it was time (happened to my oldest). He didn't learn it from an older sibling. He didn't just ask me directly. He GOOGLED Santa! And he found the answer he sought.

And now, my sweet, adorable, magic-filled child has crept into adolescence and suspicion over childhood myths is only the beginning . . .

My apologies (again)

2009-07-11T09:07:00.001-04:00

Too much going on and an inability to use my personal computer have prevented me from completing those recipe posts. I'll get them done. In the meantime, I've got a bunch of other things to share with you, so bear with me. The other things are far more interesting than recipes anyway.

Leftover Chicken Recipe 3: Chicken Stir-fries

2009-06-14T18:53:00.003-04:00

Here are 3 formal chicken stir-fry recipes. Honestly, once you've gotten used to stir frying, you can pretty much wing it.

Sweet and Sour
Cashew Chicken
Teriyaki Chicken stir fry

Stir Fries are a favourite because they’re fast and include lots of vegetables. They’re low in fat and offer a complete meal with little effort. When it comes to stir-fries (and many leftover-chicken recipes) you don’t need to be exact in the measurement of the chicken. If you only have one cup leftover chicken, either reduce the recipe to serve fewer people, or increase the vegetables. These all serve 6-8 people. (Note that you can also make these stir fries with raw chicken. Simply cut the chicken into strips (it’s much easier to cut partially frozen chicken than completely thawed) and cook in a small amount of oil or cooking spray in the same wok or skillet that you will cook the stir fry in. Remove the chicken before stir-frying the vegetables and then add it to the mixture when you add the sauce. Also note that you can always add dried chili peppers to stir-fries for added heat. If you (and everyone you’re serving) like it hot, add two or three.

Sweet and Sour Stir-Fried Chicken

1 can pineapple chunks in juice, drained, with 1/3 cup juice reserved
1 T cornstarch
3T white vinegar
1 T honey
Cooking spray
2 cups cooked, leftover chicken cut or torn into bite-sized pieces
1 medium green bell pepper cut into strips
1 medium onion sliced
2 medium carrots, coarsely shredded
1 cup broccoli and cauliflower florets
Hot, cooked rice

Mix 1/3 c pineapple juice, cornstarch, vinegar, and honey. Heat wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Add bell pepper, broccoli and cauliflower florets and onion, stir fry 1 minute. Add cornstarch mixture and carrots to wok. Cook and stir about 1 minute until sauce thickens. Stir in pineapple chunks and chicken, cook until hot. Serve over hot, cooked rice.

Cashew Chicken

1/3 c chicken broth
1 T cornstarch
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp red pepper sauce
Cooking spray
2 cups cooked chicken cut or torn into bite-sized pieces
1 large green bell pepper cut into ¾ inch pieces
1 medium onion, sliced
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
2/3 c dry-roasted cashews
2 green onions, sliced
2 cups cauliflower and broccoli florets
Optional – 1 dried hot chili pepper (adds heat)
Hot cooked rice

Mix broth, cornstarch, soy sauce, ginger, and pepper sauce.
Heat wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat. Spray with cooking spray to coat. Add vegetables (except green onions) to wok or skillet, stir-fry 2 minutes or until all vegetables are crisp-tender. Add cornstarch mixture to wok Cook and stir about 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Stir in chicken and cashews. Cook and stir until chicken is heated through. Garnish with green onions. Serve over hot rice.

Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry

1 Jar Teriyaki stir fry sauce
Cooking spray
2 cups cooked chicken cut or torn into bite-sized pieces
1 large green bell pepper cut into ¾ inch pieces
1 medium onion, sliced
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
2 green onions, sliced
2 cups cauliflower and broccoli florets
Optional – 1 dried hot chili pepper (adds heat)
Hot, cooked rice

Heat wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat. Spray with cooking spray to coat. Add vegetables (except green onions), stir-fry 2 minutes or until all vegetables are crisp-tender. Add teriyaki stir-fry sauce. Cook and stir about 1 minute. Stir in chicken. Cook and stir until chicken is heated through. Garnish with green onions. Serve over hot, cooked rice.

Chicken à la King

2009-06-12T15:56:00.000-04:00

Leftover Chicken Recipe 2: Chicken à la King

6 servings

½ cup margarine or butter
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
3 ounces canned mushroom slices or pieces with liquid reserved (or 1 cup sliced)
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 ½ cup milk (with mushroom liquid total amount is 1 ½ cup)
1 ¼ c chicken broth
2 cups cut up cooked chicken
3 cups hot cooked rice, OR 12 toasted bread triangles, OR 4 cups hot cooked noodles (preferably egg noodles)

Melt margarine in large saucepan (at least 3 quart) over medium-high heat. Cook peppers and onions until pepper is crisp but tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once bubbling, remove from heat. Stir in milk plus mushroom liquid and broth. Return to heat and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken. Cook until chicken is hot. Serve over rice or bread triangles or noodles.

Quesadillas from leftover chicken

2009-06-11T19:51:00.000-04:00

Chicken Quesadillas

Ingredients:
Tortillas (10” or 8” – 2 per adult, 6” or 8” – 1 to 2 per child)
Leftover, shredded chicken
Shredded cheese
Salsa
Sour cream (or plain yogurt)

Spray a nonstick frying pan or griddle with cooking spray. Place a tortilla on a plate large enough to hold it. Layer some chicken (about 1-2 ounces) and spread about 2-3 heaping tablespoons of salsa (strained by dipping it out with a fork so it’s not too wet) over the chicken, sprinkle shredded cheese over the salsa. Top with another tortilla. (If using 10” tortillas, use only one tortilla and place filling over one half of that tortilla, then fold the tortilla into a half-circle.) Carefully place tortilla on hot pan or griddle. (Cooking spray or margarine will help the tortillas get crispy on the outside.) Allow to cook until underside becomes lightly browned and crisped. Flip and cook on other side until also lightly browned and crisped. Place cooked tortilla on plate large enough to hold it. Use pizza cutter to cut into triangles. Top center of tortilla with additional salsa and sour cream or plain yogurt if desired. One whole, large quesadilla is a serving for an adult, a small tortilla to one-half a small tortilla is a serving for a child. Cook time is about 5 minutes per quesadilla.

For the finicky kids who won't eat even the mildest salsa -- don't use any. Use chopped tomatoes or simply make the quesadillas with just chicken and cheese.

Serve with a green salad and there's a whole meal.

Tip: I find it quickest to cook these all at one time on our large griddle. Dinner's done in less than 10 minutes!

10 Entrees to Make With Leftover Chicken

2009-06-10T19:45:00.004-04:00

Leftovers are probably the source of greatest savings in this house. The monetary kind and the sanity kind of savings. Eliminating waste by using leftovers differently appeals to the finicky palates in the house and also lightens the cooking responsibilities for me.

Here are 10 different entrees you can make with chicken leftovers. The recipes will follow on subsequent days.

Quesadillas
Chicken ala king
Stir fries – chicken & vegetable, sweet & sour chicken, etc
Soup – chicken noodle, etc.
Fajitas
Chicken with rice
Casseroles
Chicken Salad (several variations)
Chicken sandwiches, wraps, or pitas
Barbecued, shredded chicken on a bun

And our suggestion for dinner today...a steaming pile of ...

2009-06-01T15:05:00.007-04:00

Seriously. What the hell does that look like to you? This is the recommended recipe I received in my mailbox today from Allrecipes.com . I have scooped giant piles that look just like that from my cat box (minus the sour cream and parsley on top...or is that cilantro...I bet it's cilantro.) Honestly. And after scooping such steaming piles from the cat box, I call the vet and say, "OMG you should see what came out of my cat! Is something seriously wrong with him, or what?" (Vet had me change fatty's diet and reduce his intake because what's pictured above is what comes out of overfed kitties.)

This recipe was for an enchilada casserole. I tell ya, I've made enchilada casseroles and they don't look like steaming piles of bloody pooh on our plates.

This is what my enchilada filling looks like:

And the sauce...well the sauce doesn't look like so much heart-attack inducing slop as whatever is in that top photo (I'm thinking transfats....you?)

I'm betting you want a recipe now, don't you? Seeing as how I didn't write down anything, I'll TRY to get this right.

Rachel's Chicken Enchiladas (honestly, I ripped apart about 20 different recipes to pick and choose what I wanted in them.)

This made 2 9x13 dishes, by the way, but I was serving 8 that night & had nothing left over.

Filling

2 T olive or canola oil
meat of 2 whole chicken breasts chopped into bite sized pieces
1 can Red Kidney Beans (or 1.5 cups cooked red kidney beans)
2 small or 1 large bell pepper -- colours of your choice (I like it more colourful as you can see)
1 small onion
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch cilantro
Small can chopped tomatoes
2 cups shredded co-jack cheese (marbled cheese in Canada)
medium sized tortillas

Sauce

Large can tomato sauce
small jar enchilada sauce
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t oregano
1 t Ground red pepper (we grind our own dried chili peppers for this...I'm sure cayenne or chili would work)
1/2 cup red cooking wine
1 T corn starch

Cook all sauce ingredients on low heat for 30-45 minutes. Sauce should be smooth and spicy. (I actually added red pepper to the "grown ups" pan -- the younger ones wouldn't be able to handle it.)

1. In large frying pan, pour oil and add chicken, onion, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked through.
2. Add beans and peppers, can of chopped tomatoes, and as much of the cilantro (chopped) as you'd like. (We saved some for on top of the enchiladas and for our homemade salsa. The bunches are rather generous here.) Cook over low heat for as long as you like. I wanted the flavours to blend, so I left it on low heat until the sauce was the consistency I wanted it (thick).
3. Using a 9X13" baking dish, add some sauce to the bottom of the dish. Take one tortilla, dip it in sauce then fill the center of it with about 1T of cheese and 3T of filling. Fold the tortillas like you would a burrito. Place seam-side down in casserole dish. Do this for as many tortillas as you can fill with filling. Don't overstuff them and have filling oozing out all over.
4. Pour enchilada sauce over all the tortillas. Use all the sauce.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes. You don't want the tortillas to become mushy. For the last 5 minutes of baking, remove foil and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Serve with sour cream, if desired.

These were really very good, but a fair amount of work so they're an every-now-and-then recipe. I'll be honest and tell you that I'm pretty liberal with the spices and I'll add more when I feel I'm not getting the right blend. Use your own discretion.

Now I really wish I'd taken a picture of the enchildas after they came out of the oven, but I was so ready to dive into the suckers that they were gone before I snapped a picture. I can tell you this much: they looked NOTHING like that picture of slop at the very top of this post.

Enjoy!

How to Fill a Saturday

2009-04-30T13:17:00.013-04:00

(with more free things to do in the Niagara Region)

As always, you can click on individual pictures to view them in more detail.

Start out with a visit to the United Empire Loyalists Park (a playground) with all four kids. (Intimidating name for a playground. I really don't want to know what it means.)

Here, they could pretend to be Spiderman...

or ride a tongue from 10 feet high down to ground level.

Yes, some playground equipment designer has a seriously twisted sense of humour. One, which was not lost on my youngest son. Who, when disembarking from said tongue slide declared “Mommy! It licked my bum all the way down!" Oh, lord.

Next, a short walk over to the Stevensville Conservation Area where we hiked along Black Creek. This I think could be more appropriately named Strong-Coffee-With-a-Touch-of-Milk Creek. But I don't think they'll change it.

Black Creek runs alongside Mud Pond for a while. Okay, it's not really named Mud Pond.
We saw a few mallards in the pond. A few hawks in the sky.

The kids found the most adorable baby turtle between the creek and the pond.

Don't worry. We put him back where he'd be safe and hopefully able to live out a long and happy life.

Next, we headed down the road where an associate of my husband's has built himself a castle - complete with a moat. The building is still in progress but the moat is complete. Why the moat, you ask? The town of Stevensville wouldn't allow the owner to land his small plane on his land surrounding the ‘castle’, though they did note that he could land it on water. Hence the moat. Yes, he had floaters installed on his small plane and that's where he lands it.

On down the road and we get to Windmill Point Beach. Alas, no windmill. (We've been searching Windmill Point for the windmill and haven't found one yet.) The beach is a gem on its own. It’s small, quiet, and rather private. So much so, I’m almost reluctant to blog about it. Much of it is rocky -- great slabs of rock with spaces between where water has gotten in and been warmed. The beach was covered in small shells and the boys filled their sand pails with them. The older kids jumped from rock to rock in the surf, letting the cold water break against their feet and legs. Everyone had a blast. The younger two explored and found treasures. We all got our toes wet. The water's not quite 40 degrees yet, but where it was shallow and still it was warm from the sun….which on this day in April had us at 65F. If the wind weren’t so strong over the lake, I’m sure it would have been in the lower 70’s.

Happily, I was wearing my Propet water shoes, which my son got me for Christmas last year. Those rocks didn't hurt my feet! These are the MOST comfortable water shoes I've ever had. They're like second skin. I don't think they'll work for both hiking and water, as they seem to be made of a material that would break down from heavy wear. They're wonderful for the beach, though. My feet get sore too easily and I certainly couldn't walk on rocks bare footed. If you need water shoes, I highly recommend these. They feel like a cloud, lots of spring and though necessarily tight, not binding at all.

Each of these places is less than 10 minutes from our home. There are several more beaches for us to explore in this area yet. I think we'll be able to fill every Saturday without repeating an outing this year. Don't worry. I'll share!

Our day wasn’t finished yet. We headed home for a barbecue. With that, the day was done.

That, folks, is how you fill a Saturday.

Border Patrol MADNESS

2009-04-17T13:32:00.004-04:00

Warning: this post contains adult language. If you can't handle that, don't read it.

Many things over the past several years have given rise to a desire in me never to return to my country of birth, to renounce my citizenship and never look back. Shrubby's and Dick(head) Cheney's abolition of basic human rights was a good start. The continuing erosion of the those rights further convinced me that that particular world isn't one I want to live in. A world in which children are detained for years and journalists are tortured thanks to the colour of their skin and the circumstances of their birth is a world to which I never want to be a silent partner. A country which makes it legal to detain others without access to legal counsel or contact from ANY OTHER LIVING SOUL for an indefinite time...again something of which I want no part.
These egregious human rights violations trickle down in other small ways. In short order, America became the bully of the world -- beating up the world's little people for democratic change.

This weekend I went back to Ohio with my family for a visit. I have been back and forth so many times in the past five years I managed to forget a document which I needed for my daughter to enter Canada. Major head slap here. Yes. Very very stupid of me. I thought I had that document. I did not. Because I did not have it, Canada would not let my daughter and I into the country. They gave me a slip of paper for each my daughter and myself showing that SHE AND I were barred entry and we were sent to the American border to return to America. Our plan was to go sit in a coffee shop in Buffalo for an hour to an hour and a half while my husband returned to our home in Crystal Beach, got the document and fetched us.

Simple, right?

FUCK NO.

When we entered the border checkpoint at 1:15 a.m., the guard barks: "CITIZENSHIP?!" My husband responds, "I'm Canadian; they're all American." And he's trying to hand the guard all our identifications. As he does, his own driver's license and birth certificate fall to the floor. He reaches for them and the guard freaks out. "WHAT ARE YOU REACHING FOR?!" ... 'my identification fell, sorry." "GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR IDENTIFICATIONS AT ONCE!" Well, what the fuck was he trying to do? Roy tries to tell the guard that he needs to return my daughter and I to the states because I forgot a document that she needs for entry to Canada and the guard didn't hear a word. Just started badgering us. Firing one question after another without pause for responses: "WHAT ARE YOU SO NERVOUS ABOUT? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING? WHY ARE YOU LYING?"

WHAT
THE
FUCK???????

It's after one in the morning. We'd spent about 45 minutes on the other side having things explained to us in the most congenial manner. Perhaps the immigration and customs officers on the Canadian side were so pleasant because they knew we were in for a nightmare experience.
My husband tells the guard, "I'm frustrated and tired. I'm not hiding anything." I lean forward and say, "Look, we forgot a document we need and he......" The guard bellows at me: "DON'T TALK TO ME. ONLY THE DRIVER TALKS TO ME!" Well bull fucking shit. There was no fucking sign demanding absolute silence from all passengers. Kiss my ever loving fat white AMERICAN ass...you arrogant bullying son of a whore.

At this point, the armed bully leans into the back seat and barks at my nine year old, who is tired as hell and leaning against the door half conscious: "LOOK AT ME. I CAN'T SEE YOUR FACE!!!" My son was scared shitless. YOU BASTARDS. How DARE you scream at a child and frighten him in the middle of the fucking night just because you're on some kind of insane power trip. Take a fucking vacation you fucking moron.

Now three more armed guards come to the car. One is making fun of the border guard who "caught" this "carload" (carload of what I want to know. Carload of American fucking citizens you jack fucking asses.) They demand Roy's keys and go into the hatchback of our family fucking mobile --- a god damned station wagon containing easter baskets and dirty underoos from our 3 days in Ohio. They notice a bottle of ketchup on top of a bag containing an Easter basket (American ketchup is different from Canadian. I don't like Canadian ketchup. Now, I don't care if I ever have ketchup again for the rest of my ever loving life) and sarcastically says, "Wow look at all this food. That's a lot of food. What else do you have in here?" Oh for fuck's fucking sake. Let's see...we got legos and playdough, plastic easter eggs and jelly beans, the aforementioned underoos, some slippers and some child size 12 galoshes. Better dig through our suitcases, we're obviously terrorists or drug runners.

Fucking assholes.

Perhaps the vanilla wafers are a hot item. Maybe we shouldn't have some tear-free shampoo on board. Who knows, maybe that's the latest bomb making ingredient. Perhaps we had enough sugar on board to knock out a horse or a few unsuspecting border agents.

Fuckers.

They remove my husband from the car and escort all 160 pounds of his arrow straight ass into customs with three armed guards. JEBUS FUCKING CRIPES. So while my four year old son, nine year old son, and 15 year old daughter watch their daddy being escorted away by armed guards the nasty assed guard who "caught" our car throws a boot between the front and rear wheels of the driver's side so that the car can't go anywhere. Ummmm.....you have our keys, asshole, you removed the driver --- WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE GONNA GO???? Oh, I know. I'm gonna haul my oversized ass into the driver's seat, hot wire the car and speed off with my kids inside. WHAT THE FUCK is wrong with you?

Let's stop for a minute. My daughter and I were barred entry to Canada. My daughter and I. Not my husband. Not my sons. My husband had nothing to do with this. But because MY DAUGHTER AND I were barred entry to Canada, the American border guards decided to jump on the one non-American in the vehicle and interrogate him for the next two hours.
Stop and think about this folks. Canada is America's largest trading partner. Canada is America's friendliest and most cooperative neighbour. I can imagine the conversation the border guards were having with each other:

"Well, the woman and her daughter were barred entry to Canada. Look at the man. He's not American. He's got a beard. I bet he's Muslim, you think he's Muslim? Let's throw him in a box and see if we can't lock him up indefinitely for being a terrorist."

You power mongering, fear mongering mongrel sons of mongrel bitches.

The border bully barks at me to get out and drive the car to the customs parking lot. As I come around the driver's side I comment: 'this is all over a document which we do possess but do not have with us. Why are you doing this to us?" He barks to us: "We don't know what this is about!!!!" FUCKER. Yeh, we were barred entry to Canada because we had drugs and bomb making materials, guns and grenades and plans for several buildings and structures. Fuckers. They would have arrested us if that were the case. He barks at me to turn on the flashers and drive over to a guard who's standing in the parking lot of US customs. Well, guess what, I don't know where the flashers are. "TURN THE FLASHERS ON!" I'm sorry I can't find them. Why are we fucking nervous? I don't know. I'm forty fucking years old. My husband is a quiet man. I'm not accustomed to being yelled at and badgered by gun toting bullies. Maybe that's why I'm nervous. Maybe I'm upset that my kids have been subjected to this kind of trauma. Maybe just maybe this is a bunch of fucking bullshit and I'm just plain choking on it. I told him, "I'm sorry I can't find the flashers on here." He bellows at me to "JUST DRIVE OVER TO HIM, HE SEES YOU!!" Well, fuck you very much, I'll fucking do that your fucking fuckliness.

So I drive over and park. We enter a building that has one side of the room dedicated to hard plastic and metal chairs divided by a glass 3/4 wall. On the other side of the glass is a counter behind which border guards sit at terminals. My husband is speaking to one of the border guards at the counter and we all walk to him. The guard tells us to go sit on the hard chairs. On the tv is a news talk show discussing the Casey Anthony case. Just what my kids need -- to see and hear about this asshole idiot in Florida who killed her beautiful toddler. Think I'm asking them to change it to teletoons? Fuck no.

It's nearly 2:00 in the morning and we're all about to fall over. Why did we return so late, you ask? Well, we wanted to avoid a big wait at the border with returning travelers and we visited as long as we could with family. My family had a HUGE get together at my neice's house and nearly everyone was there. It was wonderful. We haven't had a huge gathering since my father died in 2004 and it did my soul good to be around everyone again (see my I miss Thanksgiving post.) Anyway, I didn't leave until we'd visited with the last person to arrive for about an hour. Then we gathered up our things and headed out on the highway at about 8 pm. The kids slept a good bit, but you know -- they're accustomed to a full 10 - 12 hours of sleep a night, all consecutively. They had a 3-4 hour nap, but here they are witnessing hell in motion at 2 am and my four year old is asking "when are we going home? I just want to go home" and I just want to cry at the helplessness of it all. The stupidity of it. The idiocy. The pointlessness of the attitude and badgering from the border agent.

So we sit. My daughter is fretting. She says this is all her fault. It absolutely is not. I'm the dumbass who forgot to make sure that that document was with our papers. It was not. That's MY fault and nobody else's. Poor kid. My nine year old is nervous as hell and my four year old just wants his warm bed in Crystal Beach.

Suddenly my daughter begins to cry. I try to comfort her and tell her it'll be okay. She asks me, "why is daddy locked up in that room?"

WHAT????

I look around and see that the back of the room contains a glass-walled lock down room. Signs are posted on it stating we are not to speak to detainees, they are not to use cell phones, etc. O MY FUCKING GAWD. WHAT THE HELL? I motion a question to my husband as if to ask 'what are you in there for?' and he doesn't respond at all. My husband, like most Canadians, has an inflated sense of respect for authority (over inflated if you ask me). If the sign says he's not allowed to communicate with those on the outside of the cell, he won't even blink at us. He makes no movements at all. I can tell HE IS PISSED. Oh is he pissed.

FUCKERS.

Let me tell you about my husband. He's the straightest arrow you'd ever meet. He's never been in any kind of trouble....even as a teenager. He's always chosen to avoid trouble. That's his nature. He's an honourable man with a well devoloped sense of right and wrong. He has never smoked pot or tried any illicit drugs. Not even pot. He's reluctant to take tylenol for crying out loud. He doesn't even lie. I'm not sure that he can. He swears so little that the guys at work have made a game of getting him to drop an F-bomb. One of his coworkers calls him the Royscout. And yes, my husband was a boy scout...all the way through till he was in his mid-20's and finished with the Rovers. In short, he's a good, honest, law-abiding family man.

And I'm mad as hell that they would lock him up and treat him like a criminal. Apparently the policy for the border patrol is that everyone's a scumbag out to hurt America until we prove otherwise.

So I approach the counter and ask to speak to a supervisor. I want to know why my husband is being detained. I want to know how in good conscience they can treat their OWN people this way. I want to know how any one of them would react if their children were badgered and verbally assaulted the way my sweet little boy was. And of course, those are the questions I ask. The bully who supervises the other bullies tells me " we haven't mistreated any Americans." Are you shitting me? I told him that barking at children and badgering us, making demands and accusations is absolutely mistreatment of Americans and the most innocent ones, at that. I asked him if they were barred from the employment of their own common sense in their line of work. We're a family ... children and mom and dad ... we're driving a 12-year-old station wagon chock full of Easter basket goodies, colouring books, and toys that can occupy small children... sometimes it is exactly what it looks like. He tells me, "Ma'am, I don't know what a terrorist or drug runner looks like." Oh really. I would think you'd have a much better idea than I. I'm willing to bet they don't drive station wagons with small children in tow who's eyes are wide with the trauma they're experiencing for the first (let's hope only) time in their young and well-protected lives. He tells me he doesn't know if my husband has been living illegally in the states. I laughed at him and told him, "he's a man who works 50 hours a week in Stevensville, Ontario. He doesn't have enough time left over to SLEEP in the states let alone live there." For crying out loud. Border bully supervisor tells me he doesn't know what illegal activities my husband's been involved in in the states. I laughed at him again. Not even jaywalking. Border bully supervisor tells me that they conduct themselves in a professional manner. Guess what? Rudeness, arrogance, berrating children --- not professional. I told him that this is ridiculous. I forgot one document which my daughter needs to cross into Canada or we wouldn't even be here. He tells me he doesn't know that. The two slips of paper handed to him by us clearly note that it was my daughter and I who were barred entry to Canada, not the boys, not my husband. Well, he tells me, 'your husband will continue to be detained until we know that he's not doing anything illegal in the United States.' Holy fuck. So I ask, what will you have my daughter and I do, walk to the nearest hotel in Buffalo while you get your heads out of your asses (okay, I didn't say the last half of it). He tells me, "We're not cruel, ma'am." Seriously? This is feeling pretty fucking cruel and unnecessary to me let alone to my three AMERICAN children who don't deserve this treatment from anyone anywhere! Professional manner my ass. I told him the document Canada customs & immigration handed to us showed that my daughter and I were barred entry for lack of proper travel documents (no, our passports are not enough). He tells me, "We don't talk to the Canadian officers." I tell him it would do him some good. They could take some lessons in professional behaviour from people who manage NOT to berrate and belittle and badger the people they won't even allow into their country.

They want to know why I use my sons' American citizenship when crossing the borders (as they're also Canadian citizens). Why, indeed. Hell, if I hadn't, they'd have been put in lock down with my husband. Imagine the horrors then.

Fuckers.

So we wait. Until 3:15 a.m. While a guard interrogates my husband. Tells my husband he's going to lock him up because he knows damned well he's been in the United States more recently than 2007. Ummmm, no he hasn't. Guard tells Roy he's going to jail because the guard knows he's hiding something. This goes on and in despite the fact that they can find no police history for him in their massive databases, no history of any kind except the occasional visit to the US over the past ten years.....every single one of them laid out on their tidy little monitors.

Maniacal power mongering assholes.

I don't ever want to go back. These are the people who are the greeters on the doorsteps of our country. These are the people who welcome visitors to our country: "Hello. Welcome to the rudest country on earth. Get the fuck out."

When finally my head hit a pillow after 4 in the morning and I slipped immediately into unconsciousness I had nightmares about my husband being detained, my children being screamed at and run over (yeh, I don't know where that came from either) by border guards.
I don't ever want to go back.

Eventually I'll start to miss my family again.

I can tell you this much: I WILL NEVER EVER AS LONG AS I LIVE FORGET A DOCUMENT.
NEVER.

Never again.

Fuck the low prices. Fuck the massive selection. Fuck the cheap gas. Fuck the quantity of health care (note I didn't say "quality"). I'll stand in line to pay more for fewer items and I'll stand in line and wait 2 years for necessary surgery because I don't ever want to deal with those sorry bastards again.

Eventually the PTSD they've triggered in me will settle down and I'll want to return to visit my family. I think I'll probably need to be medicated to make that crossing again. My daughter probably will, too.

I think I'll have my daughter's permission to live in Canada tattooed to my ass so I always have it at the ready. Though it's the American border guards I'd most gladly present this form of documentation to.

How much you wanna bet this little ole post of mine lands my ass on a watch list? Yep, that's the pleasure of living in a police state. I want no part of it.

Movin' to the Beach

2009-01-25T21:19:00.007-05:00

Soon to be our new home town. (Love the boat full of snow by the sign, don't you?)

We're moving. Thought I'd post a couple pictures of our recent packing escapades.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it's far simpler to NOT ask the resident teenager to lend a hand with anything at all than it is to actually extract a bit of work from said teenager?

This is Marissa helping to pack:
It took two of us to pull her butt out of the box. Seriously...it was her butt that was the problem. It's a big ol' butt and gravity was working against us. Once we got her out of the box, she disappeared. That's okay, I have a revenge in mind (keep reading).

You see, we really have our work cut out for us. This is just one stack of boxes yet to fill:

After hours of moving heavy furniture, carrying, lifting, dragging, packing everything he could, hubby took a break for a few. Soxxy immediately decided to crush his arm and pin him to the couch. Roy called me to see what was causing the tingling sensation in his arm. Really. He deserves the moniker Fatty McFatCat:

Had some things to do regarding the house and we popped down to Crystal Beach for a quick visit while we were there. Here's how Lake Erie looks today:
Sure, it looks cold in this picture, but it really doesn't come close to describing how cold it really was. We were out of the car all of five minutes before we just could not take it any longer! I'd say there's a 20 degree drop in temp right on the water, and there was a -18c windchill off the water. Just chilled us to the bone in short order and the bitingly cold wind took our breath away!

How windy was it, you ask?

Does that answer your question?

Now, the thing with having very textured hair is that hair really holds whatever style you put to it and very well. Let's see what this blow job did for Miss Marissa once she got out of the wind....

HOLY!

I probably won't post again till we're all settled into our new digs ... so check back in about a month. Right now, I need to go change my daughter's facebook profile picture.... (yes, I am that evil.)

I am Loving My Rice Cooker!

2009-01-12T16:21:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law got me this rice cooker for Christmas and as a self-proclaimed lazy cook, I LOVE IT! The steamer basket that fits into it lets me fix a whole meal in this thing with little prep, no standing and watching, no stirring, no sticking, no burning!

Tonight's menu is Spanish Rice with steamed chicken breasts.

I diced some green and red peppers, sautéd them in the rice cooker with a bit of unsaturated margarine while I rinsed my brown rice (1.5 c dry) and measured the vegetable juice and beef broth (combined 3 cups). Then I seasoned my skinless boneless chicken breast halves (3) with my own Mexican seasoning mix. I lay several strips of green and red peppers on the steamer basket, and placed the seasoned chicken breasts on top. I stirred the sautéing peppers-- still slightly crispy, but the juices had been released to flavour the rice . I added dehydrated onion flakes (I cheat sometimes.) I added the rinsed brown rice and the vegetable juice-beef broth mixture. Then I placed the steamer basket with the chicken breasts and pepper strips on top. Pushed down the cook button and walked away. Twenty minutes later, the breasts were done, but the rice needed to cook longer. (I with there were a longer cook time option for us brown rice users!) Removed the steamer basket, placed the lid on the rice and pressed the cook button back down (after a quick stir. Old habits die hard!)

Dinner prep was less than 5 minutes. That works for me!

As for my Mexican seasoning mix, I mix a large batch of this at a time and use for seasoning taco meat, refried beans for burritos, or as above, chicken breasts.

Mexican Seasoning Mix

1/3 cup minced dried onion
1/4 cup dried Parsley
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (our own organic, homegrown)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (again, our organic homegrown)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I'm not THAT good yet ;) )

That's enough for one recipe of taco meat, however you'll want to add a thickener such as cornstarch.

One Giant Suck

2009-01-10T22:14:00.001-05:00

Oh, that's a Canadian term, by the way. I think the American equivalent would be "Big Pathetic Baby." I was taken aback when first I heard it. Now I use it all the time.

This, gentle readers, is the perfect example of a GIANT SUCK:

Soxxy strikes this pose whenever he smells meat being carved, served, cut up, cooked, dined upon, etc. Tonight it was beef. If it were chicken, Soxxy would have rolled completely onto his back, splayed his legs and given us the biggest mooniest eyes one could ever see. Fish will have him pawing the table. The table TOP! He really is big.

Soxxy is our 20-pound cat. He wasn't always 20 pounds. When I went back to the states for a 3-week visit in '07, he gained a LOT of weight. A LOT. Hubby works 12-hour shifts and he'd fill Soxxy's bowl in the morning, then fill it again in the evening. Soxxy had a very big bowl. Soxxy cleaned his bowl every time it was filled. Soxxy didn't go outside and play much during those 13 hours hubby was away. Soxxy lazed about most days. For three whole weeks. I've had him on a diet since and he's gone from 24 pounds to 18 pounds and then he bounces around a bit in between. When I have foster cats, it's hard to keep Soxxy underfed as he cleans their bowls. When Soxxy leaves the house he visits all the homes of people who have soft spots for strays and he eats the food they leave on their porches for the strays. (I tell them not to feed Soxxy, but they love him so they do. Food is not love!) Soxxy checks the neighbour's cats' bowls every day, a few times a day, just in case those cats might have forgotten something. Soxxy catches birds. He doesn't just play with them. He eats them. Soxxy sits at my 9-year-old's feet in the morning hoping he'll get to lick the last drops of milk from said 9-year-old's cereal bowl. (Of course he gets to. My 9-year-old's a softie!) Soxxy lays in the pose pictured above in the hopes of getting a treat. Soxxy doesn't get treats anymore. Poor Soxxy. Or as I have come to call him, Fatty McFatCat. Hubby calls him Fat Lazy Oaf. My 9 year old is concerned that we might be hurting Soxxy's feelings. My 9-year-old calls him Soxxy. And he sits with him and talks to him in the gentlest of voices, telling Mr. McFatCat that we don't really think he's fat. (Yes we do.) That he's not really fat at all, he's just a big cat. (He's a big, fat cat.)

Now you learned something new and you don't have to be flabbergasted when you hear someone or something called a 'suck' in Canada.

No Shopping for Three Months

2009-01-06T16:21:00.000-05:00

When a fellow frugalite mentioned doing this last fall at frugal shopper's forums, I jumped right on the bandwagon. The 3-months shopping embargo was inspired by this story of a group of women who banned shopping for an entire year. Another blogger has established a 2-month shopping embargo and that has spawned a facebook event group, which I joined, of course!

What it entails
No unnecessary new purchases will be made by anyone in my household for the next 3 months. So we're still buying groceries (using lists and menus) and necessities. That's it. No scooping up the 85% off Christmas clearance stuff. No grabbing this that or the other just because it's there and a good deal. Just what we need. Nothing else that's new. We can, however, purchase used. Which, when you have growing children, clothing purchases are often necessary as they sprout overnight! There is a wonderful consignment shop down the road from me from which I purchase the majority of my boys' clothes. (I also sell a lot to the store, myself!)

My goal: just to not spend outside of necessities. It's not that my spending is out of control, it's that I just want to scale back. I'm trying to clear my home of the excesses as it is. How many times have a bought an item because it was a bargain only to find it unused months later? Too many.

I'll report my progress here and the results of my own 3-month-long shopping embargo.

Anyone else doing this?

Six Random Things About Me

2008-12-28T00:19:00.000-05:00

That British Woman strikes again! You can thank Gil for these six random things about me:

1) I have had 550 stitches in my face and head at one time and over a thousand after the facial reconstructive surgery that restored my face as close to its natural state as possible. Thanks to a brilliant plastic surgeon, I am not a monster.

2) I can still spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious thanks to a 2nd grade contest for which I won a kite and a box of sweet-hearts.

3) I once did a face-plant in a diving competition held at a lake in Texas and was so embarrassed by my frog-legged face flop that I swam as deep as I could and completely freaked out the rest of the divers, judges, and announcers all of whom were lined up on the edge of the dock anxiously awaiting my resurfacing. (What can I say...I was 16 and mortified. There was a guy I liked in the audience!)

4) I'm a night owl, but manage a regular schedule because I must. Whenever the mood strikes me, I will be wide awake at 2a.m though. I have been known to go to bed with the kiddies and get up at 4am, too. Once you have children the best hours of the day are the wee hours of the morning when you've had a full night's rest and the kids are still sleeping . . .

5) I tend to read a couple books at once. I've been doing this since University and no, I don't confuse the plot lines or characters at all.

6) I'm a natural messy on the outside with an anal-retentive organizer on the inside. You might see piles on every surface in my home, but my cupboards and closets are quite organized. *shrug* (Some people cram their mess into closets, I choose not to hide mine & keep my closets tidy!)

Now -- YOU are tagged! It's your turn!

Christmas Trees: The Good, The Bad, The Far Out and the Wickedly Ugly

2008-12-20T20:52:00.000-05:00

I personally like eclectic, personal trees. Take ours, for example -- ornaments from the kids for the past 17 years, some lights, some garland, a topper and that's our tree. The folks who entered the World Wide Christmas Tree Contest lean towards themes and...well...take a look for yourselves...

In the My Kids Are Going to Need Decades of Therapy Anyway category, we have: I have no idea what all is going on in this scene (these scenes?)

What happens when a poinsettia vomits in your living room? And what is with the crown of fake golden prairie grass sprouting out of the top of the tree?

Poinsettias and bows and what the hell, let's just put out every single Christmas decoration we own and place them on this one side of the room.

And if you really want your kids to have nightmares, just impale Santa to the middle of the tree with a weird fake floral arrangement.

WTF????

Again -- WTF???

And now for something completely different (I like different, unless I make sarcastic remarks in the captions):

I don't know either, but I like it!

Kinda cool.

I like it. I do!

Good use of wall space. Only problem I can see with it is storage when not in use.

I think there's a white tree underneath.

Finally! It's a tree and a place to put all those blasted Christmas Knick-Knacks that build up over the years!

My daughter would LOVE this!

I think I really like non-tree trees.

And in the category of You Just Had to Screw it up, Didn't You? These trees would have been fine if they had just stopped before . . .
...the damned ramp. What the hell is that, anyway?

...the extraordinarily wide purple ribbon.

...putting all that crap all around this perfect little tree. What's with the beer, anyway? Nothing says Christmas like a beer under the tree...

...adding the carousel horse to the stripper's pole. Come on, I'm all for turning the stripper pole that's installed in the living room into a festive Christmas "tree", but the horse just doesn't do it for me.

...ramming the tree upside down into it's base. Is that a wall-eye coming out of the "top" of the tree?

...shoving the silver coloured twigs into the top of the tree. What's with that?

Some classic trees I really like, despite the lack of personalization:

I just wanna hug it!

I love this upside-down tree. Having cats and kittens in our home most every holiday, this idea really appeals to me!

And a couple more on the Wrecktacular Side of things:
This is like the twig tree that I liked, except this one's on acid.

A dentist's Christmas nightmare.

Maybe it's the only way to cover up the crap-mountain in the living room.

Not only is it anorexic, but it's red and black!

I'm not sure there's even a tree under there!

Nothing says "redneck" like a bubble jug Christmas tree.

Christmas Getting to Know You

2008-12-14T15:19:00.000-05:00

Because I'm just *that* bored . . . (and I haven't posted in awhile)

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Brown paper wrapping that's compostable, re-usable gift bags & santa sacks.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial....for some reason the annual tree slaughter bothers me. Though real is more environmentally friendly. Before I switch to real (if ever I do) I'll figure out a way to recycle this puppy.

3. When do you put up the tree? Hubby puts the tree up. If it were left up to me, it'd probably get put up sometime around New Year's. Yes, I procrastinate tedious jobs like no one else. Yes, I find putting up a tree tedious.

4. When do you take the tree down? Hubby generally takes it down right after the New Year. Especially if cats or kittens are in the house.

5. Do you like eggnog? I don't mind it once a year...but I'd rather have my own homemade much lighter version.

6. Favourite gift received as a child? I never received a Christmas gift as a child. Though as far as gifts..probably the diamond necklace & ring my father gave to me. I'd still like to know who stole those, though I still think I know.

7. Hardest person to buy for? This year, my daugher.

8. Easiest person to buy for? The littlest kids....

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, but I neither believe it's a depiction of a historical event, nor do I place any religious significance on the scene. Ours is a beautiful hand-carved 30-some piece scene that my husband's uncle made just for us. For that simple reason it will always be featured in our home during the holidays.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards. Email this year. Canada post is scam. If I can't cross the border to mail them, they'll get emailed.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I guess lavendar lotions as that's how I learned I'm allergic to lavendar.

12. Favourite Christmas Movie? Can't say that I have one.

13. When do you start shopping? January, February...whenever I start seeing deals to sock away for the next holiday.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I haven't regifted one, but I know a few have been freecycled.

15. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies...fudge. If I can talk him into making them, DH's Nanaimo Bars.

16. Lights on the tree? I haven't the foggiest.

17. Favourite Christmas song? Cartman's O Holy Night.

18, Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. This is immediate family time.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, donder, blitzen, Cartman, Kyle, Oh wow I think my allergy/sinus pills just kicked in. . .

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I really really don't like angels. It's a star or a spire.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One for the kiddies on Christmas eve all the rest are opened THROUGHOUT the day on Christmas.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Just about all of it except for the family togetherness with the kids & hubby. The shopping, the presents, the decorating, the messes, the cooking and cleaning, the marketing, the CHRISTians, the anti-Christians, shoppers, shopping, marketing, stores, traffic, stores, insane drivers, stores, dumbass gifts showing up in every damn store and on every damned streetcorner....it's all annoying.

23. Favourite ornament theme or color? Blue & silver theme.

24. Favourite for Christmas dinner? Really don't do much for Christmas dinner. Busy eating chocolate letters & playing with the kids (new toys lol!)

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I'd really like a kitchen aid mixer or a digital camera to replace the broken one....but that's not gonna happen. It's moisturizer, socks & mugs for me.

I Miss Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T01:12:00.000-05:00

Oh, it's true. There is a Thanksgiving in Canada. It's really just another holiday Monday. Here, people are having yard sales and washing their cars, mowing their grass, attending craft festivals (apparently a Thanksgiving tradition in these parts) or even catching up the laundry on Thanksgiving. That depresses me. If there's a meal, it's just another meal. No big deal. Families don't come together. It would be too much trouble for just another Monday holiday. And Canadians are utterly baffled by the huge deal that Thanksgiving is in the states.

It's true --- in America, Thanksgiving is a Very Big Deal. It's THE big family holiday in the states. Families go to great lengths to be together. I wonder some if the holiday's popularity is a result of its placement at the end of a week as opposed to the beginning of a week as Canada's is.

If there is one thing I get homesick for it is Thanksgiving . I want so many people crammed into a house that you're bound to step on toes, bump into people, spill gravy on your neighbors and shout to be heard. I want twelve people in a kitchen trying to use 4 burners on a stove to heat 14 things. I want so many children underfoot that you don't even notice when they've stolen a plate full of cookies and devoured them long before the turkey(s) get carved. I want at least three disputes before anyone has left for their own homes. I want at least 4 people snoring in the living room after the meal is done waking suddenly when the football game is turned off to say "HEY!! We're watching that! What are you doing?" In my world, if there are fewer than 30 people or 15 desserts, it's really not Thanksgiving.

In my own rather large family we would all get together at one house. Everyone would chip in with the meal -- helping to prepare the meal or bringing prepared dishes. We had the standards: turkey, dressing/stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy (usually mom made this -- I still can't make it!), a couple different cranberry sauces, succotash, cottage cheese and pineapples suspended in extra-jiggly green Jello, several pumpkin pies and usually a cheesecake or two, along with whatever new recipes someone wanted to try out. One year I was responsible for bringing the succotash (which is baby green lima beans and corn in a milk and butter sauce). I had never purchased this. I had never prepared it. Much to several people's horror, I showed up with mature (white, large, dry) lima beans and frozen corn and nearly ruined the meal!

Many years ago, my father started the tradition of sending around a stenographers notebook to have everyone write down what they were thankful for. There were just too many people to simply announce our gratitude at the table. Gaining full attention from this crowd would have been as easy as keeping my oldest brother out of the turkey later that night! The item most frequently expressed on those pages was family. While my family -- like every family -- has its quirks, I surely am thankful for them. I deeply miss this ritual of excess. Along with the overabundance of gastronomical delights, our homes were filled to bursting with merriment, fellowship, laughter, noise, and especially love. How could I not miss it and all of us together?

We haven't gotten together for Thanksgiving since 2003. It was my father's last Thanksgiving. I don't know whether he was the glue that held this family's traditions together or if the pain of his loss is still so acutely felt that a family gathering would renew that soul-scaring grief. It's true, we are scattered about the world a bit, but I think we could do it. I'm in Canada, my brother's in Colorado, two sisters in Pennsylvania, Mom and oldest brother are in southern Ohio, nephews in various states. I still think we could manage, though we probably need to start planning now.

Tough Times All Over

2008-11-24T07:27:00.000-05:00

You know we're in an economic crisis. You know people are getting laid off in droves. You know the prices of everything have gone up. It's no wonder food banks are reporting that they're running out of food. Usually at this time of year, giving goes way up as people feel the need to give during the holidays. It seems everyone's feeling the pinch as more people are in need and fewer people are giving.

So, while I pinch pennies and stretch my grocery dollar as far as it can possibly be stretched, I'm making it a point to donate to the food banks every time I shop for groceries. If everyone just put one or two items in the donation bins at the stores, can you imagine how far it would go?

Oh, the things we could do . . .

Veterans Day / Remembrance Day

2008-11-11T03:00:00.000-05:00

Today we take a moment to remember those who've either given the ultimate sacrifice for peace or have served beside those who did.

I have a long list of family members who have done so.

My grandfathers on either side served in World War I. Though my maternal grandfather was too old to serve overseas, he took his position in the home guard very seriously.

My father served in World War II in Italy. He was but a boy. Luckily, he survived. As did his brother, who was among the men of the US Army at The Battle of the Bulge. Another Uncle was at Iwo Jima. Uncle Bob (the last one mentioned) left his youth, his health and his vigor on Iwo Jima. He was so severely shell-shocked after that battle that when he was released from the Veteran's hospital in Hawaii after his recovery, the police arrested him for drunk. He wasn't drunk. He was terribly injured, hadn't managed balance yet and would forever remain a bent man. He passed away only last year.
My mother served in the Air Force during the Korean War.

One of my sisters is a veteran of the Army Reserves.

My brother served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and is thankfully safe on American soil at long last.

Two of my nephews have served. One in the Marines during the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom. He's now in the Army!

We lost a cousin in Vietnam, a man I'll never know.

And to all those who have served and sacrificed, thank you.

The People Have Spoken

2008-11-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you, America!

Now, let's just get to work.

I Can Hardly Wait 'Til This Time Tomorrow

2008-11-03T23:56:00.001-05:00

When the votes are counted and we finally know!

I was surprised to learn today that one of my brothers will vote for McCain. Actually, all of my brothers will probably vote for McCain. The two oldest ones because they're racist. Simple fact, folks -- they are. My little bro, though...I always thought him a thinking man. I viewed him as the type to find information on his own and sort it out for himself. But, he's going the way of the military man. I hope it's just a military thing and none of the lies he's heard from McCain's campaign.

None of them of course have talked to me during the campaign or about the campaign. Perhaps it's that my politics are too well known.

Politics aren't a reason to divide a family, though, and they don't.

I do, however, get incensed when people (my mother) say things like "I tell you one thing. I won't vote for that damned Muslim!" WHAT? How loud must we shout it from the rooftops? When you're dealing with that kind of small mindedness, there is no evidence or argument you can present to educate a person.

Most, if not all, of my sisters will vote for Obama. Isn't that interesting? Men against him, women for. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have 4 sisters and only 3 brothers. (YAY!) Our five votes beat your four. Neener neener neener.

Oh, and mom, if it's really that you just can't vote for "that damned Muslim" and don't feel so good about the other guy either, go ahead and vote for Nader. :D

My eldest sister and I were talking the other day about what an Obama presidency would mean. We were discussing how it always takes a Democrat to fix the budget shortcomings and damages that the Republicans do when in office. It happened after Reagan, when Clinton went in and paid off our spiraling out of control national debt and deficits. It's going to happen again now with Obama. And we discussed just what it means to be African American in America and have an African American president. Do you think things will be so different from how they are now? Sadly, I don't. I do think that it will be the first step of many in ending the thoroughly entrenched anti-colour racism in America, but it will not eradicate it in the next four years. It won't end the 'good ole boys clubs' that are the CEOs of nearly every company in the US and the trickle down advantages that power lends to people of a paler persuasion.

Go ahead and say it. That's right. I'm so white I glow in the dark. It's true. I have two biracial children and was married to an African American man. I saw it when he was laid off from his job for lack of work when he took out 40 -- that's right -- FORTY resumes to companies that were hiring for jobs that he was perfectly qualified for to be turned away. He'd say he didn't want to apply for work in such and such town that they were too racist. I wouldn't let that stop me. No. I couldn't believe my country was still so backward. This was the 1990's. It's not true, I said. You go. You apply. You watch what happens. And we did. After two months with no income, he had no choice but to apply for and accept the one position where he was given an offer. What was it for? A cleaner. Sure. It's perfectly acceptable to hire a person of colour for a service position. (The other positions were labor jobs all things for which he had experience, nothing that would change the world.) Then I'd hear it, too. Because of my own race, ignorant people assume I am as ignorant as they are. They would tell me things like, "oh, you don't want to live in that neighborhood ..... " and they'd look around to see who was within earshot and tell me, in a conspiratorial whisper: "there are a lot of blacks there." Wow. I always enjoyed the looks on their faces when I would whisper back in the same conspiratorial tone: "Really? That's awful! I'm married to one of them, too!"

People like that make me ashamed of my own heritage.

I think in ten years, women, blacks, and all other people of colour in the states will still have to work 10 times as hard, achieve 10 times as much, go through 10 times the rigorous proving trials to be judged half as good as their white counterparts. Why is that? You've got the Southern diehards who still cling to the racial hierarchy of slavery times. You've got the wealthy white elitists who still view anyone not of their class as lesser people. You've got the media. I think it is the biggest culprit. You can watch any newscast anywhere in the United States at any time and simply see how much video time is dedicated to showing black criminals and how little video time is dedicated to the white ones. The white criminals reported in the news are clearly "alleged," minimal images are flashed for their stories, and very little airtime is given to those stories. Instead, the focus goes on black crimes/criminals. The message is clear: fear the blacks.

Those of you who only visit the states occasionally, pay attention to the newscasts and you'll see how the media supports the racism in America. I find Canadian news refreshing. Everyone gets equal billing if they're committing crimes and actually crime reporting isn't given the devoted attention it here that it is in the states. There is more positive news reporting here, more current events, more of a world view given to even the local news than anything you could ever watch in the states. Also, all the news reporters don't come from the same package. I love that! Though it's still old white men who have the top anchor spots, you see women of every shape and colour in top spots as well. I love that there are technically overweight newswomen. I don't think that's even possible in the states, though I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

I know I've gone down the garden path tonight. The brain is engaged and just rambling along till we get those numbers in about 23 hours. I'll go ahead and try to sleep now.

If you're American, GET OUT AND VOTE tomorrow! Just do it.

If Obama Ran his Campaign like McCain

2008-10-31T00:45:00.000-04:00

We would be hearing things like:

Prepared to lead when he can't even take care of his Senatorial commitments?

McCain holds the record as the most absent senate member having missed 64% of his votes. At one point he missed five straight weeks! I can understand his absence during the campaign, but even prior to it he was among the most absent Senators. Ah well, he doesn't need to work! His wife is loaded! Why bother to show up?

McCain supports torture

in 2006, McCain voted AGAINST an amendment before the Senate that would establish one interrogation standard across all government, military and CIA, and would ban waterboarding.

McCain supports teen pregnancy

By repeatedly voting against amendments that would expand sex education and contraceptive education for teenagers with the intention to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Strongly opposes public funding for birth control
Strongly supporting abstinence-only sex education for teens (because it works so well!)

McCain says he believes in the sanctity of life ... except when he wants to see people killed

Strongly supports the death penalty
Supports broadening the use of the death penalty

McCain: more of the same -- yet another underachiever floating through life on the benefits of nepotism

Like the current administration lead, McCain graduated at the bottom of his class. 394 out of 399.

McCain: more of the same -- uses his family's pull (or his wife's money) to get what he wants

Despite his extremely low standings at the Naval Academy, he was pushed ahead of more qualified candidates and trained as a Navy pilot where he promptly destroyed five navy planes

McCain: an honorable man who leaves his crippled wife for a newer, younger, richer one?

While McCain was a POW in Vietnam, his first wife, Carol, was horribly injured in a car accident. When McCain returned his former swimsuit model wife did not look anything like the woman he'd last seen. He stayed with her another six years using his pull as a Navy Pilot to fly off to carouse and have extra-marital affairs. Then he divorced the now misshapen and broken Carol and married Cindy one month after the divorce. Cindy is the heir to an Arizona brewing fortune and young enough to be John's daughter at eighteen years his junior. (I'm trying to see the honor in this. Trying. Squinting real hard. Coming up with bupkus.)

Ahh, but thankfully, that's not the kind of campaign Obama's run.

Barack Obama's Message to America

2008-10-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

While I cannot get the channel that played this tonight (it's American and doesn't come in for me), I did watch the video on Youtube.

Here is a run-down of his policies (editorializing is my own, everything else is directly quoted):

He begins by mentioning the current economic crisis that is a result of the past 8 years' failed economic policies. Immediately he promises to restore the wealth of US economy and its middle class.

Obama's rescue plan for middle class:

cut taxes for families making LESS than $200k
tax credit for hiring new employees in the US
eliminate tax breaks for companies shipping jobs overseas
freeze foreclosures for 90 days
low-cost loans for small businesses

What laws he has in mind, I do not know, but he feels that companies should be held legally accountable for promises made to their employees. If a company spends its employees' retirement funds and then files bankruptcy, leaving those workers without their retirement -- that company should have to pay! (YES!)

Health care reform

improve information technology to improve the healthcare that is provided
required coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions (most insurance companies will exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions with some outrageous exception like the second Tuesday of the third week of the 15th month of the year.)
lower health care costs for families by $2,500/year (my own insurance cost just about that much out of my own pay, my employer chipped in the other half. However, many employers do not offer health care coverage so those employees have to pay the FULL amount. I have been unable to find a policy that would cost me as an independent buyer what my employer-sponsored plan cost both my employer and myself.)

Obama's Plan for Energy Independence

will invest $15billion/year in energy efficiency & renewables --- wind, solar, and bio-fuels --- this will create 5 million clean energy jobs over the next 10 years
help auto companies retool for fuel efficient cars
tax credit to help people afford fuel efficient cars
tap the US' natural gas reserves to further reduce dependence on foreign oil (yet mcCain says all we need to do is dig more oil wells)
expand domestic oil production
call on all Americans to conserve in a new era of responsibility
invest in clean coal technology

Federal Spending

Plans to cut government spending beyond expenditures
Promises to go through the federal budget, line-by-line, eliminating programs that do not work & make the ones we do need work better & cost less

Obama's Plan for Education Reform
Opening his plan with the statement that we have a moral obligation to provide EVERY CHILD a world-class education, he lists these plans:

Invest in early childhood education
Recruit new teachers and pay them higher salaries (new teacher salaries are at or below the national poverty level)
Demand higher standards & more accountability
Tax credit to cover tuition @ public colleges/universities in exchange for serving their communities or their country

Obama's plans to Defend our Liberty

Change policy in Iraq (currently spending $10b /month in Iraq) yet Iraq has a $79b surplus
Rebuild the military
Renew tough direct diplomacy to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons
Curb Russian aggression
Refocus efforts on finishing the fight against Al Qaeda & the Taliban in Afghanistan

If you'd like to watch the video yourself, here it is:

I am simply so impressed by Barack Obama. He is insightful, incredibly intelligent, unafraid to think and act "outside of the box." He is decisive and optimistic. He's honest. He plainly states again and again that we are not going to get out of this economic crisis overnight. Warren Buffett approves Obama's economic plan. I think that he is the hope for tomorrow.

Dispelling more Barack Obama Lies, Innuendo, Conjecture, Rumour and Distortions

2008-10-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

Lie #1: Obama wants to kill babies. John McCain made that statement in the final presidential debate. McCain knew the statement was an extreme perversion of the truth. McCain knew he was doing more than distorting facts. McCain knew the facts behind Obama's vote in Illinois against a bill requiring doctors to make life-saving efforts for an infant that was the subject of a late-term abortion. There are two reasons Obama (along with nearly all the others voting on that particular bill) voted against it: 1) there is already a law on the books regarding this instance, not to mention doctor's Hippocratic oaths demand that they do exactly that regardless what the laws say and 2) the bill, as it were written, made no provisions regarding saving a mother's life and essentially outlawed late term abortion in any case whatsoever, including a case where it would save the mother's life. For detailed information on Barack Obama's stance on abortion read these excerpts from his own speeches and interviews.

Lie #2: Obama wants to subjugate all women in the style of radical Islam. Obama is not Muslim. This lie is just another spin on the proposition that Obama is Muslim. First, there's nothing wrong with being Muslim. Second, Obama is not a Muslim. There is no evidence whatsoever to support that claim. There is a wealth of evidence to support Obama's Christianity. If Obama wanted to subjugate women, why on earth would he fight so tenaciously to preserve her right to choose?

Lie #3: A vote for Obama means death to Israel. This is from Joe the Plumber. Apparently, Joe the Plumber is nervous about having higher taxes should he hit the magical $250,000 income bracket. So he's been making campaign stops with John McCain and talking to the people. This is one of his assertions. Joe the Plumber is now an expert on international affairs. Everything Obama has asserted regarding Israel and Iran sum up to he knows exactly what the score is. He knows fully well that Iran is Israel's biggest threat. He has stated repeatedly that the Iran's threat to Israel is very real and his goal is to END THAT THREAT. No splitting hairs on that one. The source for the lie: John McCain himself. He distorted several speeches given by Barack Obama by cutting out copious amounts of text so that the end result didn't even come close to resembling Obama's original statements. Do we want someone so utterly deceptive and duplicitous in office as John McCain has proved he is again and again with his dirty campaign tactics? I sure as hell don't. We've had enough of the lies and cheating with W.
Check it out for yourself at factcheck.org.

Polls aren't looking too good for McCain

2008-10-28T16:18:00.000-04:00

There are about a million polls out there. I don't consider them an accurate predictor of the election, but I'm enjoying the diversion a bit.

Here are a few:

Electoral Projections Done Right by Five Thirty Eight

The notoriously ultra conservative Fox has lots of anti-Obama rhetoric, but even their polls show Obama's favour.

USA Election Polls are reporting some momentum for McCain, but not enough to pull off a win.

Even Florida has pegged Obama in the lead.

Real Clear Politics shows 10 nationally recognized polls, all of them showing Obama in the lead.

And, if the world could vote in the 2008 US Presidential election, this poll shows the results.

By all means, people, this does NOT indicate Obama's got the Presidency all but tied up. YOU STILL MUST GO VOTE. Don't forget. If you need to file for an absentee ballot you have until the day AFTER the election to get your papers in to your local election office.

So good, you have to go see it for yourself

2008-10-27T14:28:00.000-04:00

This links to a photoblog of Barack Obama. Just gives me chills. Incredible pictures.

Chicken Waldorf Salad

2008-10-20T01:53:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favourite dishes. My family loves apples. Our staple meat is chicken breast. We probably have 100 different ways of preparing them, but tend to vacillate between 10 standards.

I had some leftover chicken breast (intentional leftovers so that I could have a quick & easy meal another night though I should admit, the first one was quick and easy too!)

I had some celery in the garden begging to be plucked.

I have a bushel of organic apples which make me drool just thinking about them. OH they're so good.

I use one apple per person for this recipe. Tonight we served four. Here's my quickie recipe:

4 Red Delicious Apples diced (a firm apple is best. I also like a mix of red delicious & granny smith)
4 ribs celery diced
leftover chicken breast
1/4 cup salad dressing (not mayonnaise unless that's your preference. We don't like the stuff. Besides it has WAY more fat in it than salad dressing like Miracle Whip. Miracle Whip Lite is gluten free!)
Paprika
Sea salt

Wash the apples & celery. Core the apples, slice and dice them--don't peel them. Dice the celery. Sweet apples tend to oxidize quickly (turn brown) so I squeeze or sprinkle lemon juice on them as I place them in the bowl (don't overdo it -- it doesn't take much). I toss frequently so all the apples get some lemon juice on them. Dice the chicken breast. Stir in the salad dressing. You may need more salad dressing depending on the size of your apples and the quantity of chicken in your mix. Don't overdo it, though...you don't want the salad dressing to dominate, just to accent and hold everything together. Top with sea salt and paprika to taste. Stir well. Serve cold.

Other additions: you can add grapes, sliced in half. I add walnuts when I don't have much meat to add.

Serving suggestions: have this as a sandwich filler stuffed into pitas, or open-faced on focaccia bread. Have this on a bed of lettuce. Have this all by itself!

The kids ate it all gone! Not a bit was left. The boys both had seconds!

Want another apple recipe? Check out my Apple Puff Pancake recipe.

I'll get back to posting more regularly now. I hadn't been feeling well for a while but things are looking up.

What's Wrong With Men?

2008-10-06T00:48:00.000-04:00

I have to wonder this now and again. Despite the fact that I'm married to the greatest guy on earth, he still sometimes makes me wonder....what the hell?*

Tonight we're tag-teaming dinner prep. We're having apple puff pancake and breakfast sausages. Hubby's making the apple puff pancake. It's a Betty Crocker recipe. Of course, the Betty Crocker cookbook is MIA. Hubby goes to the computer and goes to the Betty Crocker site. It's no longer there. I tell him, "I blogged it. Just go to my blog & pull it up." He's got a bookmark toolbar link to my blog. All he needs to do is click it. Does he? No. He has to enter another recipe site and search for it. Now...there are lots of recipes out there for the apple puff pancake. Some of them require so many eggs they taste more like souffles than pancakes. So I roll over to his desk, steal his mouse from his control and click on my blog's link. Pull up the recipe and there it is. He gives me a look. You know....a look like, I woulda got there eventually, you just didn't give me a chance.

So tell me, why is it that when it comes to directions men always have to drive the longest route, pass 14 gas stations without stopping for assistance until finally and at long last he must stop because the car's damned near out of gas so that the wife can go inside and say "how the hell do we get to....?" Why?

:)

The pancake was good. Even if the journey was a bit odd.

*I'm sure I never illicit this response in him. hahahahahaha

Dispelling the Barack Obama Myths, Lies, Rumors & Innuendo

2008-09-29T08:58:00.000-04:00

The willingness of the American people to believe anything whispered in their ears has always surprised me. It shouldn't. I've been American all my life (we'll not discuss how long that's been.) The American people love a conspiracy. They love to believe they're in on some secret or have some hidden knowledge to which not many people have access. They do not love to check facts, do research, or find their own answers. I do.

I think that a large handful of Americans most fear Barack Obama because he is a man of colour and because he has Muslim sounding names like Barack, Hussein, and Obama. So....let's just get down to the facts:

RUMOUR: Barack Obama is a Muslim who will not recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
FACT: Barack Obama has never been a Muslim of any sort, radical or otherwise. His biological father was born Muslim but was not a practicing Muslim. His father was atheist or agnostic by the time Barack was born. Barack's early education in Indonesia was in Catholic school and secular public school. The public school was predominantly Muslim because that is the religion of the majority of the population. His religion lessons at this public school were Christian. Obama has been a member of the United Church of Christ since the 1980s, long before he ever entered the world of politics. The statement that he will not recite the Pledge of Allegiance is simply a lie.

Who started these rumours? Insight Magazine, a conservative leaning political magazine formerly owned by Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. Moon has said that he is the second coming of Christ and that he "appears in the world as the substantial body of God Himself." Moon has always had conservative Republican leanings and ensures that his major media outlets promote those leanings. He also owned the Washington Times. He is also known for his belief that the Holocaust was retribution against the Jews for failing to support Jesus Christ when he was alive. Fox News is the other source of this rumour. Fox News has long been known as a conservative right wing supporting news source, which leaves neutrality in the dust to further its political views. Who debunked these rumours? CNN.

RUMOUR: Barack Obama is the Antichrist.
FACT: Wow. Leave it to the American religious Reich to come up with this one. This one really illustrates how fundamentalist Christians in America use fear and people's ignorance to ally those people to their churches. More allies, more donations, right? Apparently there are viral emails out there stating that Barack Obama meets Revelations' description of the anti-Christ. The book of Revelations contain no descriptions of an anti-Christ. There are lots of very odd beastly monsters described, though I really think it's a stretch to say that Barack Obama resembles a seven-headed, ten-horned sea creature. (Again, wow.) Within the same viral email, the claim is made that Revelations reveals that the Antichrist will be a 40-something Muslim. Interesting, this claim. Especially since the Muslim religion didn't even come into existence until a few hundred years AFTER the book of Revelations was written. And were it true, Barack Obama isn't and never has been a Muslim.

RUMOUR: Barack Obama was sworn in on the Quran.
FACT: This is simply another lie. There is a Minnesota congressman, Keith Ellison, who was sworn in on the Quaran. Barack Obama was sworn into office on his own family bible.

Soon as I hear a few more of these rumours being used as reasons not to vote for Obama, I'll post them and their counters.

Sadly, I really think the root to the average American believing these rumours is based in white Americans' longstanding fear and suspicion of black men. The thought alone depresses me. So many Americans would forgo the hope that this young man can bring to the nation and instead embrace the continued economic degradation dumped upon us by Republican after Republican...just because that hope is not pale.

Sad.

Wearing my Politics on My Sleeve

2008-09-23T23:37:00.000-04:00

Lunch-meat Free Lunch Ideas

2008-09-09T16:56:00.000-04:00

With the recent Listeria outbreak here in cold luncheon meats, we're all trying to come up with lunch meat free lunch ideas. Even though all the offending products have been removed from store shelves, my confidence has certainly been shaken and I do not want to use lunch meats anytime soon. I think it will be a long, long while before I purchase any again (even though our usual brand isn't manufactured by the company that made the contaminated meat.)

I pack my kids' and husband's lunches every day. Lunchmeat always made things easy, but I never depended solely on them. Now I simply won't use them.

Lunch Entrées :

Egg salad sandwiches
Tuna Salad sandwiches (For either of these I use a food processor to make them and it makes it so quick and easy. They're also of a more spreadable consistency which makes them last longer and makes them easier to use.)
Cream cheese (and jam if wanted) sandwiches, my son prefers plain cream cheese.
Bagels with cream cheese
Homemade ham cut in cubes along with some cubed cheese
Salad
Leftover chicken or turkey sandwiches
Pita pockets filled with salad fixings and topped with leftover meat (chicken, turkey, ham). I pack salad dressing in a small container and they can add it at lunch time.
Tatziki spread on whole grain bread with cucumbers and sliced tomatoes. My daughter adds the sliced tomatoes at lunchtime. I pack them in a bowl separate from the sandwich.
Cereal and milk (though they don't get this for breakfast if they have it for lunch.)
Pasta salad with everything in it (meat, veggies, cheese, the works)
Hard-boiled eggs

Snacks (I always pack two of the following):

Single-serve yogurts
Single-serve puddings
Jello (sometimes with fruit)
crackers of any kind
carrot sticks (or celery sticks, cucumber slices, etc) with ranch dressing in a small container
baby carrots
fruit
string cheese cheese
the occasional cookies (maybe once a month)
pretzels
the occasional single size bag of chips (less than once a month)
pasta salad that's just pasta and dressing

What alternatives have you come up with for lunchmeat free lunches?

Garden Fresh Red Salsa

2008-09-01T10:00:00.000-04:00

Another 'what to do with my harvest' post... (this is only some of the harvest. We had two more large metal bowls full of peppers and Roma tomatoes that I didn't get a picture of)

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh tomatoes diced
1/4 cup onion chopped coarsely
1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried Oregano or 3/4 teaspoon fresh diced Oregano
1 tablespoon Jalepeno Pepper chopped coarsely (use a sweet pepper if you don't like hot & spicy foods)
3/4 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped or 1 teaspoon dried cilantro (might be called coriander leaves in your locale)

Chop the tomatoes and Onion, blend them well
Add all the other ingredients, blending well. Let stand for 1 hour before serving so that the flavours can combine. Can be served at room temperature or chilled. This recipe makes about 2 1/4 cups.
BE CAREFUL when chopping your hot peppers! Wear gloves if your skin is sensitive to the oils in hot peppers and pay attention that there are no littles around waiting to snatch pepper pieces!

Yes, my little one did, the poor guy! He thought they were sweet peppers and grabbed & gobbled one before we could stop him. Milk -- lots of milk. Then he had some cheese. That seemed to do the trick. For grownups -- beer works very well to dissolve that pepper oil that burns so much!

So that's the straight recipe. We used 2 Cherry Bomb Peppers, 5 mini bell peppers (sweet, not hot), 1 habanero, 4 jalepenos, 4 hungarian wax (banana) peppers, 2 medium-small-sized onions, and 8 roma tomatoes as well as a handful of incredibly sweet and delicious cherry tomatoes. We have hot peppers and we're not afraid to use them! Here's our finished salsa (two quarts):

And here's what we did with it for dinner:

Grilled chicken breast, cubed, shredded cheddar cheese, LOTS of salsa and plain yogurt for me, sour cream for the rest of them! It was very good. Not very hot. We left no seeds in from the peppers.

Cutting Your Family's Grocery Bill - Part 5

2008-08-29T13:54:00.000-04:00

Yes, there are a few more things you can do.

Take advantage of rewards programs
I believe judicious application of rewards programs is the best course. With a bit of thought, you can decide if the rewards program is worth it or not. Usually incentives are introduced regularly to help you earn more rewards, however that usually means you must make certain purchases. Do not purchase items you will not use before they expire. Do not purchase items that are priced higher than elsewhere (unless the reward earned would justify the added expense). Do not purchase items you do not use. Some stores have built-in rewards that include sale prices and earned bonuses for nothing more than showing the card when you check out. I strongly advise that you apply all other principles before delving into rewards programs.

Purchase large quantities of low-priced items you regularly use
When the meats your family uses most frequently go on sale, purchase up to a 3-month supply. You will need storage for these and deep freezers are a good investment. Our family eats mostly chicken breast for meat however the price in Canada is steep. On a regular basis, chicken breast starts at $6.00 a pound. When it's available for $1.99 a pound, I purchase several month's worth and store them in my deep freezer.

Any other grocery staples that you regularly use can be purchased in large quantities to take advantage of sales. Milk can be frozen. Dry goods generally do not present a problem stored properly.

Check the unit price
If you're accustomed to buying convenience foods or convenience sizes, you'll find greater savings in purchasing family-sized items in their stead. Check the shelf tags as these will show how much you're paying per ounce, pound, or 100-grams. Quite often you're paying 100% more for a single-serve than you will for a family sized item. You can store extras in the fridge or freezer if it's more than you can use at once.

Purchase reduced items and freeze or use immediately
Fruit, vegetables, breads, and even meats are reduced for clearance near their best-by date. These dates often give some lee-way for home use and are still good even by their sell-by date. If you cannot immediately use the produce, clean, chop and freeze it. Breads and meats can go directly into the freezer.

Coupons
If coupons are available for your regularly purchased items, use them! Try to combine the coupon with a sale for greater savings. Consider whether the coupon for the name-brand product will offer greater savings than the store-brand product available. I haven't found many store-brands that I didn't like and often they are a much better value than the name brand is even with a coupon. For coupons to really work for you, you need to be judicious in their use. Do not purchase items you normally wouldn't simply because you have a coupon. That is not a savings for you. Full-value coupons or free offer coupons afford you the opportunity to try out a new product without having to purchase it. When it comes to items you would not normally purchase, only use a full-value coupon.

Purchase a deep freezer
In order to stock up on sale items, you need to have the storage. Deep freezers are a very economical way to stretch your grocery dollar. They are often available in the classifieds, on kijiji or craigslist, and I've often seen them on freecycle.

In my final posting on this topic, I'll review all the tips I've posted.

Heartland Forest, Niagara Falls, Ontario

2008-08-26T01:00:00.000-04:00

This is the entry to the two-and-a-half mile trail system of the Heartland Forest. There is signage along the way that will educate and inform you about the various flora and fauna of this incredible Carolinian Forest.

Before you even enter the Forest, you'll see two large and lovely butterfly gardens. I saw a giant swallowtail butterfly, which I was unable to photograph. I saw others, too, but I couldn't tell you what they were other than pretty.

Some of that incredible Carolinian Forest.

This is the sign at the parking area. All of the Heartland Forest is wheelchair accessible.

The cabin.

She's trying to see the bear in there. I can see it. Many projects are in progress at the Heartland Forest.

A patch of jewel Weed. The flowers of these are orange and reddish.
Remember what I said about Jewel Weed in an earlier post?

It often grows near Poison Ivy and here is the Poison Ivy. Poison Ivy doesn't have a set of rules for easy identification. Sometimes its leaves are smooth-edged, and sometimes they're toothed. Just remember that old adage from your childhood camping days and honour it:
"Leaves of three, leave them be!"

Hiking is always an adventure. There is always a series of discoveries to be made.
Today, my daughter found this wonderful Hawk feather. How cool is that?

RJ found one of those threatened Fowler's Toads. I'm really glad I heard its mating call found at that link before hearing it in person. That would totally freak me out!
See the light line going down the center of its back and the dark spots on either side? Those, along with the elongate parotid glands which contact its prominent cranial crests are identifying features of Fowler's Toads. (The glands look like raised bumps behind the second set of black spots just behind the toad's head.)

I discovered a Mayapple with fruit:
I have rarely seen a Mayapple fruit. They are edible, however the skins and seeds are poisonous. The Mayapple is currently under investigation as a possible cancer fighter.

Roy discovered an adult Fowler's Toad:
Can you see it against the log? You may need to click on the picture to view it in more detail.

Here it is:

A little bit of the more-than two miles of trails in the Heartland Forest. Remember, it is all wheelchair accessible.

We didn't get to see the whole Hearland Forest as I did not realize that it was part of a protected wetland. The mosquitos were HORRIBLE! We were unprepared for the nasty buggies and we were all being eaten alive. So we ran out of the forest and spent some time exploring the butterfly gardens and ongoing construction outside of the Forest entry.

They do have a learning fish & frog pond in progress. Some people were already exploring its inhabitants with nets, but after the bug attack in the forest we did not want to be near a water source!

You can learn a lot more about the Heartland Forest at its website. There are also easy to follow directions. It's only a couple miles from downtown Niagara Falls. The Heartland Forest was rescued from designation for industrial development.

Upon entry to the unpave, gravel road that goes to the Heartland Forest, you can see all the destruction of habitat on the opposite side of the street. It was heartbreaking and very poignant to view after having visited the forest itself.

Judging from the regularly-spaced fireplugs along the entry road, it seems that Industrial Park will probably be complete in the next couple of years. Say goodbye to all that habitat (except for the protected Heartland Forest).

If you plan on visiting during warm weather, be prepared for the mosquitoes so you can enjoy the whole experience without having to run screaming from the bloodsuckers!

Nickel Beach, Port Colborne, Ontario

2008-08-24T19:52:00.001-04:00

Before heading out to beaches, pick more than one in an area to visit just in case one is over crowded or yucky in other ways. Check water safety here: http://geosmartniagara.ca/beachmonitor/ and even though they list Lake Ontario beaches, be aware that Lake Ontario smells very very bad in the summer. We won't swim in it. Smells like rotting fish and algae. They test the water for e. coli, but who knows what else is in it when it lets off that kind of funk!

We went to Lake Erie:
Arrival at Nickel Beach

You've got to park outside the beach and park area unless you wish to pay $13 on weekdays or $18 on weekends for the pleasure of parking on the beach. If you're pulling a boat, beach parking is free. If you park outside the park when you first arrive and wait til after 4 pm, you'll only have to pay $5 to drive onto the beach. It's not a bad idea to do it this way if you plan to swim for 8 hours or so like we did.

Are you wondering about that sign next to the boys up there?

I'm not sure if having "PROTECTING THIS THREATEN SPECIES" in quotation marks means the members of the above-captioned Ministry march out on this beach and stomp on toads or what. The use of quotation marks for emphasis makes me crazy. By the way, what is a threaten species? You can learn more about Fowler's Toad here . (Sheez, you would think they'd get the name right...how about we all chip in so they can hire a proofreader?)

The beach looks lovely. The sand is soft and warm under our feet.

Immediately after picking out our spot, RJ set up this scene. Did he play with it? No. That was it. Just the scene.

We figured out that sitting right where the waves are crashing is FUN! By the way, the water is pristinely clear and quite shallow. No undertow this day. When the depth is to your waist, you can still see the bottom! It was quite nice and clean. The beach also has a canteen and washrooms.

Sissy (my daughter's nickname) sorts seashells by the seashore.
She learned later that there were far more of the spiral-type shells she was sorting for in the dry sand on the beach than in the wet sand of the shoreline. All the white stuff on the ground in front of her is crushed shells. Not fun to walk on. Go around those.

We'd taken along a charcoal grill and barbecued on the beach. We packed fruits and veggies and PBJs because we had both lunch and dinner while we were out. Sadly, the beach closed at 8:00PM, otherwise we would have stayed later and roasted some marshmallows (or as my younger kids call them "hushmellows." I find the term appropriate.)

As the day winds down, the boats leave and the Eastern sky reflects the colours of the sunset.

And what a sunset it was, too!

By the way, Nickel Beach was our second choice. First we arrived at Humberstone Beach (about 15 minutes away from Nickel.) As we neared the beach, a nasty, dank, rotting funk hit our noses. At the beach, we saw what it was:
It is slimy, streaked in red and yellow, and very malodourous. There was no way we were stepping in that funk! It looks like the shoreline is bleeding into the sand. Who knows what kinds of bacteria cause that colouring.

Mind, it looked very promising going in:

Across the street is Humberstone Centennial Park:
It is a 46-acre park with volleyball nets, baseballs diamonds, playgrounds, picnic tables and much more. On another day, we'll stay and visit. On this one, we jumped in the car and headed to Nickel Beach where we were not disappointed!

Morning Star Mills, St. Catharines, Ontario

2008-08-17T18:48:00.000-04:00

Want to get away from the tourist driven areas of Niagara Falls but want to enjoy the beauty of nature and waterfalls along with a slice of history? Go to Morningstar Mills where you can not only step back in time to see a working flour mill, blacksmith, and a home from the period, but you can also hike along the escarpment and even down into a gorge to view the lovely DeCew Falls or swim in the pools along the stream. What a great day out with the family!

As always, click on any picture to see more detail. Then use your browsers "Back" button to return to this page.

It's a real, working grist mill from the 1800's -- you can even take your corn or wheat to them to be stone ground:

This is the home of the original owners:

If you visit when the mill and home are open to tourists (free) you'll see period furniture in the home and all the workings of the mill. Also there's a blacksmith shop and a real blacksmith inside! We were so fascinated by everything we saw today that we didn't snap any photos inside! Oh well, you'll have to go and discover them all for yourself.

Once you're done with the mill, smithie, and house, continue walking past the mill along the escarpment. There is a gentle path all along the escarpment for those who would like to take in the natural beauty without risking a fall or heart attack.

I'm not falling behind! I'm taking pictures!

When hiking, one should always remember to wear their hiking shoes. Like these:

(They are cute!)

A view from the top of escarpment looking down into the gorge (see the stream?):

For those who are more adventurous and don't have visions of rescue teams attempting to haul them up 200 feet of gorge, you can head down the quick way:

He's nine and he's going down:
(Yes, she removed those shoes before climbing down this thing. No, I did not brave it.)

And what will they find at the bottom?

The lower falls:

A really cool swimming hole where the water is calmed:

And there's a rope swing too:

Yes, I think he's part monkey, too.

The older kids explored farther upstream:

Me, well, I took pictures of all the really cool stuff everywhere:

The top of DeCew Falls:

Some critter's home:

Funky fungus that looks like coral:
A patch of jewel weed:
Jewel weed is often found growing near poison ivy. The leaves and stems are a natural cure for poison ivy rash. Good to know!

The jewel weed flowers are lovely:

Another funky fungus shaped like a vessel of some sort:
Ky discovers a fallen bird's nest:

Purple frilly flowers:

Funky caterpillar:

Top of Decew Falls and the lower falls in the distance:

Tiny, pink, perfect flowers:
Hubby takes artistic shots (many of the photos are his):

And it's always pleasant to find a berry patch full of ripe black berries (my favourite!)

My daughter and I picking berries for everyone:

This is one of our favourite places in the Niagara Region. It's always free. No cost for parking, either! (What is it -- a second mortgage now to park by THE Niagara Falls?) The mill does not operate all the time, but follow the link at the top of this post for more information. The next weekend the mill will be operating is October 11 and 12 this year. We love hiking the trail and swimming in the swimming hole. It's a great day out!

Enjoy!

Garden Bounty: Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers with Fresh Angel Hair Pasta

2008-08-11T22:45:00.000-04:00

Today's harvest is tonight's dinner. (Don't worry, I'll finish that series on saving money on groceries.)

My eldest sister passed this recipe on to me. Well, actually it was instructions more than a recipe. The instructions were: stuff a bunch of banana peppers with italian sausage, cover with a tomato sauce, bake til they're done & add some cheese to the top. That's what I did, honest...but I'll try to define it a bit better.

Ingredients

banana peppers -- enough for your meal (I used 2 per person, plus a cherry bomb 'cause I wanted to see how it tasted cooked)
Spaghetti sauce -- I used two jars, but that's because I know this will make two meals for us.
Italian Sausage, hot or whatever you prefer. I used 4 links hot Italian pork sausage and 2 (much larger) links Italian turkey sausage. The turkey sausage was twice as large as the pork but contained only 5 grams fat/0 saturated. The pork sausage was much smaller and contained 15 grams fat/5 saturated. (I'm gonna wean my hubby off the fat one way or another.)
1/4 cup grated cheese. I'm sure fresh Parmesan or Romano would be better....even Mozarella, but I used colby-jack because it's what I have. It was fine.

First, cut & clean your banana peppers. Wash away those seeds and if you've ever had a skin reaction to hot pepper oils, wear gloves while doing this. My skin isn't bothered so much as my hands are like leather at this point in the gardening season. But I scratched my face with my fingernail and left a nice red welt that needed to be cleansed with an alcohol swab . (Alcohol will break down the enzymes that cause that burning sensation.) Even if it doesn't bother your hands, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after handling it because it can irritate other body parts that you might touch...and some of those body parts might not like alcohol poured over them if you catch my drift.

Next, stuff the peppers. You can leave the peppers whole if they're large and shove the sausage down in them, but this was MUCH easier. I just squeezed the stuffing out of the sausage skins (dear hubby refused to photograph that) right onto the peppers and flattened it down with a knife as needed.

Pour a whole jar of sauce over the stuffed peppers.

Pop into a 325 oven for 40 minutes. (I think you can do 350 for 30 minutes, though.) During the last 5 minutes of cooking time, sprinkle the cheese over the top.

While that's baking, cook your pasta. (I found this store-bought fresh pasta MUCH lighter than dry pasta. I really liked that.)

I also sliced the cukes and cleaned the 'maters.

Here's how the peppers and sauce look when done:

And here's some mighty fine eating:

It was good. It was very good. I prefer the turkey sausage. Never liked the fattiness of pork sausages. Everyone approved. Everyone had seconds. There are still three servings for leftovers.

Okay, the littles didn't eat the hot stuffed peppers (they weren't hot) but they had pasta with sauce and turkey Italian sausage along with almost ALL the cukes and 'maters.

This guy ate most of the cucumber slices:

Cutting Your Family's Grocery Bill Part 4

2008-08-11T12:00:00.000-04:00

Reduce!

That's right, I said it. Reduce. Well, that's what we're talking about already, isn't it? Yes indeed. We've done our inventories, we've done our menus, we've done our fliers and lists and shopping. If your bill is still too high, let's look at reducing it even further.

We're going to reduce a lot of things which will reduce your expenditure on groceries.

Reduce waste! Use your leftovers. If you've just started doing menus, you've probably found yourself preparing more food than you usually do. This means more leftovers. Use them! Incorporate a leftovers day into your menu. Cooked beef lasts 4 days in the fridge before you need to throw it out. Cooked poultry or fish, 3 days. Cooked ham, 5 days. Hard boiled eggs, 1 week. Cooked sausage, 1 week. Use your leftovers for lunches. Add main dish meats to salads. Reduce future dinner entrees and use your leftover meats. Make casseroles. Freeze whole portions for quick heat & eat dinners in the future. I've started using leftover vegetables in "freezer soup." I keep a bowl in my freezer and fill it with the small amounts of leftover vegetables from our dinners. When the bowl is full, I thaw out some home made stock, add the vegetables from the freezer bowl and cook. Voila! Easy soup, and very cheap!
Reduce dependency on convenience items. Learn to make your own. Make your own mixes. Make your own stuffing. Make your own mac & cheese. Start with one dish that you fix frequently using convenience packages, find a recipe and try it out. I think you'll find that flavours are a bit more subtle, preservatives are eliminated, salt is dramatically reduced, nutrition is increased and, best of all, it usually takes NO MORE TIME than the convenience stuff. Take a look at my easy bread dressing recipe. This takes 15 minutes. That's how long the boxed stuff takes. This is SO MUCH BETTER! There are numerous free recipe sources online. Take a look at www.recipeczar.com or recipesource.com and see what's available. Recipe sites that have ratings are especially valuable when you're trying out a new recipe. Choose ones with the highest ratings. You can even search by ingredients to find a recipe for an odd assortment of items you'd like to use.
Reduce spoilage. Use fresh tender fruit and vegetables early in your shopping cycle and keep the longer-storing fruits and vegetables for later in the shopping cycle. So eat grapes before apples. Use lettuce and cucumbers before celery and carrots. Learn the storage time for items. Here is an excellent reference for storing fresh, cooked, and frozen foods in your home.
Further reduce spoilage waste by freezing fresh fruit and vegetables before they rot. If your celery is getting wilty, chop it up and freeze it to use in stir-fries, soups, and casseroles. It works just fine! I've been doing it for years. Apples gone mealy? Peel and slice them and put them in freezer bags in the freezer along with some cinnamon for quick home made applesauce one day. Dice peppers and onions and lay them out on cookie sheets. Once frozen, place the pieces into baggies to add to omelets, soups, casseroles, recipes. If you freeze them on cookie sheets they'll freeze individually instead of in clumps so that you can remove as many as you need at a time and not have to use the whole bag at once. I freeze whole tomatoes and add them to my chili. Once they begin to cook the skins come right off.

Once you get started using leftovers and produce that might otherwise be waste, you'll be amazed at how much your food bill is reduced. I think it's safe to say that 25% of my groceries ended up as waste due to spoilage or mismanagement of leftovers. Once I started managing them, my bills were reduced a great deal. Salvaging celery by freezing it has saved many extra purchases of celery over the years. Doing this also speeds up meal preparation. If I'm making chicken noodle soup and I already have sliced celery and carrots in the freezer, my meal prep has just been eliminated.

I have two more posts upcoming in this topic.

Cutting Your Family's Grocery Bill Part 3

2008-08-10T12:00:00.000-04:00

Grocery Shopping

Now we're getting down to the good stuff, hmmmm? Before you go to the store, you've got to do a few things at home. If you haven't already done your inventory, you need to go ahead and take care of that. (Remember to note it on your inventory when you use items. I keep them posted in my pantry cupboard, top of my deep freeze, basement fridge and main refrigerator.) Inventory sheets in hand, let's head off somewhere quiet and work on that grocery list.

Gather up your store fliers. Around here they show up on Friday, maybe. Sometimes they mosey into my driveway on Saturday evening, along with Friday's paper. It might be Sunday or Friday or Monday in your neighborhood. Here I do my lists on Friday. Or I do them on Saturday. I might just not get around to it until Sunday. Whatever day works for you, peruse your store fliers and make a note of the big ticket items that you will need (like meats) that are on sale.

You know what your family needs on a regular basis. You know just how much they use of those items, too. Go ahead and list those regular purchase items. You'll have your milk, cereal, bread, peanut butter (it's a staple in my house), baby food, formula, etc.

Using your inventory and your menu, flesh out a menu for the coming week(s). How long your menu is depends on your shopping cycle. If you shop every two weeks, do a two-week menu. Remember, your menu does not have to be written in stone. You simply need enough meals to cover your entire grocery cycle.

Until you get accustomed to purchasing enough in one shopping cycle to sustain your family through the entire shopping cycle without additional trips to the store, continue writing out the breakfast & lunch menus. This will probably just include a whole lot of ditto marks -- or if you do it on the computer like me -- a lot of copying and pasting.

Why are we avoiding additional trips to the store? Because they are expensive. Because if you're a gatherer like me, the $5 you plan to spend on milk will quickly become $30 for milk and spaghetti sauce and marked down pasta and a candy bar because you deserve it just because you had to go to the store again and a bag of cookies for the kids lunches because you feel guilty over the candy bar you will not be sharing with the kids, etc. Every trip to the store is just more money out of your pocket. (My tip for inbetween shopping trips that absolutely cannot be avoided: go with exactly enough cash to cover your intended purchase and leave the debit cards, credit cards, and check books at home.)

So we've got menus, inventory, fliers and the beginnings of our shopping list. Where are we shopping?

Everywhere I've lived has a no-frills type of store --- it's a bag-your-own, discount-price type of store. If you haven't been shopping at your own local no-frills type grocery stores, now is the time to try them out. I am very pleased with my overall savings and the quality of the food at our own local no-frills type store. My store happens to be called No Frills, but in your neighborhood it might be Aldi (gosh I miss Aldi) or Save-a-Lot, or Food Basics. Whatever it is, you need to be shopping there. Bring your own bags!

Now then, complete your shopping list based on the big ticket items that are available on sale to fill in the holes in your menu.

You are not going to go to multiple stores for your groceries. Chasing sales just costs you more in gas, in added unplanned purchases, and in peace of mind. If your big ticket items are on sale at one store and you're doing the bulk of your shopping at a different, discount store --- go to the discount store first. Why? Because they may have carry-over sale items from previous sales that are no longer advertised. They may have unadvertised items that are a better deal than those at the full-service grocers. You may be able to eliminate that other stop.

Here's how to get in that store, get what you need, and get out without spending more money than necessary.

You must go with list in hand.
Go alone, or at least without the kids (I know this isn't always possible)
Do not be hungry when you go
Stick to the list
Get out of the store in 30 minutes or less (I can do it- shopping for five for two weeks!)
Choose store brands over name brands
Choose local, in-season produce whenever it's available

The big thing is getting out of the store as fast as you can. Sounds daunting. While you're getting used to this method of shopping you might not make it under 30 minutes. Just stick to your list. That's the point. I manage this and I'm not running through the aisles, knocking down the elderly. I just stick to my list, maintain my focus, and leave that store the minute I've checked off my final item and gotten through the checkout. I do not stop and ponder sales. I do not stop and wonder whether I've forgotten to put something on my list. I just stick to the list and get the heck out of there.

As for store brands vs. name brands --- come on, you're not really believing all that hype are you? Do you really think that the name brand is coming from a different factory than the store brand? tsk tsk tsk. All you have to do is try. If you're that averse to using store brand items, try them. Try one brand and if it doesn't meet your standards, try the next store brand. There are usually a few non-name brand choices. Try them all.

What about the kids? Can't leave them behind? Can't leave them with a grandparent or sitter for your 45 minute absence? That's okay, I understand. Your kids must not be hungry if they're going with you. Give them a snack before you head out the door. If the kids have a tendency to demand, beg, plead, etc., offer them up something that is free as a reward for good behaviour in the store. Take them to the park after you've put the groceries away. Play their favourite game with them. Whatever -- let it be free, and let it be a reward for their good behaviour in the store. If one child is well-behaved and another is not, make sure that child gets his reward. The other kids will see this and will want it to. Remember, you're going to be speed shopping so remind the kids that you MUST hurry. The speed factor alone may be enough to get you all through the store without a toddler meltdown over marshmallows or a first grader's begging for play dough. Stick to the list and get through the store as fast as you can.

Oh, did I forget to mention coupons?

Nope, I didn't. If you're already using coupons, then good for you. I hope you've found a method that works for you. If you're not using coupons, don't worry about it. You're not missing much. You need to focus on the bottom line right now and coupons will not necessarily get you to a lower bottom line. I will talk about coupons in a future post.

Now, if after all this, your grocery bill is still too high, we'll look at other ways I've cut mine down further in my next post.

Cutting Your Family's Grocery Bill Part 2

2008-08-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

Menu and Meal Planning
Now that you have everything inventoried, you're going to sit down and figure out what to do with it. Grab some paper and a pen, and maybe have your most often used cook book at your side as well.

Most families tend to eat the same 10 meals over and over again. This makes meal planning very easy. That's right, I said meal planning. Yes, those of you who know me well know that I have a tendency to buck any rigid systems....and that's why I have a very light and easy way of meal planning.

First: list your family's regular meals. By all means, include lunches and breakfasts as this will only help you with cutting that grocery bill and eliminating unnecessary spending.

In our home we regularly have the following for dinner (you might call it supper): pasta, several casseroles, salads of every kind, chili, chicken breasts, pork chops, roasts, tacos, burgers, hot dogs, pizza. There are ten items there. But if you look closely, you can easily see how those ten items could be 20-30 different things depending upon how you prepare them. Lunches consist of sandwiches or salads or soup, fruit and/or veggies. Breakfasts are generally cereal, oats, pancakes, french toast, bagels, english muffins, eggs, and the occasional (read rare) home fries, mush (you might call it polenta), sausages, or bacon.

Now look at your inventory and see how many meals you can make from what you already have at home. Fill in a rough menu plan.

I used to plan each week carefully including breakfasts and lunches and follow the daily menu. But because my body, mind, and spirit have a deep and abiding aversion to strict structure, I bucked that system and simply plan meals. I don't have to have them on any set day unless they are meals that are dependant on left-overs from another meal, and that gives me the freedom to be somewhat spontaneous in my meal choices. For instance I have burgers, steak, chicken, taco salad, chicken quesedillas on the menu for next week. I won't have red meats two days in a row so I know we'll be having some variation of hamburgers, then chicken, hotdogs, then chicken, taco salad, then chicken....etc. How I prepare them will be decided, but when I do it is up to the wind. It's my organized-but-not-too-strict menu planning system. It works for us.

I always make sure that our dinner meals contain a protein source, two vegetables or fruits, and maybe a grain. A grain is never mandatory in our dinners as the kids eat cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch (or half sandwiches for snacks), and get quite their daily fill of grains. Desserts are only a bonus, never a given. They also happen to be fairly rare.