Anyone watch the Food Network? Giada de Laurentiis cracks me up.
This made me laugh—a LOT
October 2, 2008 at 2:46 pm (humor, Uncategorized)
Tags: enthusiasm, Food, giada
Tip: Did you know?
July 27, 2008 at 12:15 pm (Tips)
Tags: Food, food trivia, interesting dinner conversation with kids, interesting food facts, kids and food
(Also known as: Too much time on my hands)…Enjoy and pass on to your kids at dinner time…
Peanut butter was invented by St. Louis physician Ambrose Straub, who, concerned about the nutrition of his elderly, toothless patients, concocted a health-food product that was high in protein and easily digestible.
Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.
The original filling in Twinkies was banana. It was replaced by vanilla-flavored cream during World War II, when the United States experienced a banana shortage.
Honey is believed to be the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found to still be edible.
Popcorn has been a food product for over 6,000 years.
A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continually from the bottom of the glass to the top.
The flavor we think of as bubblegum is a combination of wintergreen, vanilla and cassia, a form of cinnamon.
Cheese closes the stomach and should always be served at the end of a meal.
Pineapples are classified as berries.
Chopsticks are called “o-hashi” in Japan and “kwai-tse” in China.
When potatoes were first introduced to Europe, people were skeptical and only ate the leaves, which made them sick. They would then throw away the rest, including the actual spud.
A hard-boiled egg will spin. An uncooked or soft-boiled egg will not.
Cheese is the oldest of all man-made foods.
Cold Turkey
July 14, 2008 at 7:45 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Food, gerd, pnd, post nasal drip, silent gerd, vietnam adoption
I’ve had trouble with post nasal drip for a few years now. I cough and cough and cough. Night and day. I actually had (horrible horrible) surgery to correct it a couple of years ago, to no avail. I’ve tried nasal sprays and antihistamines. Nothing seems to work. I cough routinely and always clear my throat. I’ve decided that I have silent GERD (reflux). I’ve taken meds before for that, but have recently focused on taking sinus meds instead. Clearly, a change needs to take place, since that is just not working.
For the next two weeks I’m going to have to avoid so many of the best things in life, including:
- coffee
- tea
- chocolate
- wine
- liquor
- tomatoes
If it works, and I hope it does, I suppose it will be worth it. But sheesh. Why must I have to choose between my sanity and the wonderful things I’ve just listed? Maybe I won’t have to. Maybe I can splurge now and again and just take Prilosec and Pepsid as part of my routine. Maybe that will work. I’d love to be rid of this cough, but at what expense? I mean, coffee is part of my life. And frankly, so is wine and liquor. Red wine is the worst for reflux, but it also happens to be my favorite. And chocolate? And tomatoes? Come on. Fine. I’ll give it a try. I’ll go cold turkey and see what happens. Maybe I won’t miss my coffee in the morning as much as I think I will. Maybe I won’t miss my evening wine. And maybe I’ll lose a pound or two. Always look for that silver lining 🙂
Shopping with kiddos…
July 5, 2008 at 9:40 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Food, food shopping, grocery stores, Kids, memes
Little Boy G and I went grocery shopping today. He was running around the bakery section like a crazy man. I warned him that he was going to get hurt. Did he listen? Nah. Finally, near the cookie section he came to me, hand on head, squinting at the pain. What happened? I asked. I dunno, he said. Something hit me in the head. I moved his hand and saw that something, indeed, hit him in the head. It was starting to get red. I said, Okay, let’s go over to the cheese section right here and get some cold cheese that we can put on it. I found a bag of shredded Romano and told him to hold it on his head. He was in the cart by then and I went to reach for a loaf of French bread when he pulled the cheese off his head. I said, G, you should hold it on so it doesn’t swell. He grimaced and said, I kid you not, But it’s so undignified.
I looked over to where he was looking and spotted two attractive young girls. I had to laugh. Who wouldn’t? I mean, he’s four years old. Nothing he could do would be undignified. He gets these things from Thomas Tank Engine, you see. For instance, he tells me on occasion not to be cross. You know, angry. And sometimes he announces that he’s very disappointed in me. I don’t talk like that, but Thomas does. I guess it could be worse. In fact, it’s kind of entertaining.
Once, we were in the produce section and he saw a young Muslim woman in full garb. With a big smile he said, look mama! and nodded over to the young woman. I was about to tell him that the young lady was from the Islamic culture and that they wear robes and head scarves, but he cut me off and said in a high pitched voice, “Not without my daughter!” (See the movie with Sally Field with that title if you don’t get it.) I laughed all the way home.
The kid cracks me up. Anyway, I’ve been tagged by one of my favorite bloggers (she has seven kids. SEVEN) at:http://kweenmama.wordpress.com The rules: Write a six word memoir, post it to your blog with a visual illustration (if you would like), link to the person who tagged you. Tag 5 more blogs with links. Leave a comment in the tagged links with an invitation to play.
Here are mine:
Papa: Everything works out for the Scratchman.
FoodyMom: Try it before you hate it.
LBG: Where is my Mac & Cheese?
That’s all I have. Have a great weekend!
Please Contact your Congressman
June 24, 2008 at 12:26 pm (Adoption, Uncategorized)
Tags: congressman, congressmen, Food, help orphans, make a difference, secretary rice, senator, Vietnam, vietnam adoption
June 23, 2008
(From: http://www.jcics.org/Vietnam.htm)
The Joint Council is pleased to announce that the letter from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption to Secretary Rice regarding intercountry adoption and child protection in Vietnam has received over 130 Congressional signatures. (There are 435 representatives in the U.S. Congress.)
Given the visit to the United States by the Prime Minister of Vietnam over the next few days, it would greatly benefit our collective effort if additional calls to Members of Congress were made immediately. Go to the following URL to locate your Congressman:
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
While many families and adoption service providers are not directly involved with Vietnam, we urge all families and service providers to participate in A Child’s Right Campaign by calling your Congressional Senators and Representatives today!
Please take a moment now and contact your Congressional Senators and Representatives and ask if they have signed the Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCA) letter to Secretary Rice. If they have, please thank them for their support. If not, please ask that the Senator or Representative add their support and signature to this important letter.
Thank you!!
Meat and Fish* and Tater (Tot) Pie
June 3, 2008 at 10:35 am (Recipes, Uncategorized)
Tags: eat tater tots, Food, Kids, kids food
This recipe is an interesting use of Tater Tots I found in a book called, This is Delicious–What is it?, by Robert Meyers-Lussier. His recipe was more involved and time consuming than I like, so I modified it to a great extent to appeal to both my son and to me.
When I was first making it, it was in the oven and Little Boy G said, “I don’t want it!” I told him that if he didn’t like it, I would make him something else (since it was, after all, an experiement). He protested, but I insisted that he at least try it before he hated it. He reluctantly agreed.
Kid Approved. When I placed it in front of him, he inspected it thoroughly, and finally tested it by taking one small bite. (I, of course, pretended not to notice). Wonder of wonders, he nodded his head in approval, saying, “It’s good, mama!” I gave myself a high five when he wasn’t looking…and then, the coup de grace: He uttered the rarely heard phrase, “May I have some more, please?”
Good as a left over.I gave this dish to my son the next day, for lunch. He wasn’t at all happy about it and cried all the whole way to school. Go figure. I hoped against hope that he would ultimately like it. When I asked him if he did, he said, yes, and that he “ate it all gone.” So, there you have it. Another small victory for mama.
But…it is better the first time around, so you should give it a try. While it might not work as a left over for your little ones, you never know. And that suspense is what makes parenting so fun and worthwhile, huh??
- 1 lb ground hamburger
- 1 can Cheese Soup
- Spices of your choice (I use oregano, salt, pepper, minced onion, garlic salt)
- Frozen Tater Tots (I prefer the Crowns, because they’re smaller, and therefore crunchier)
- *Gold Fish crackers
Pre-Heat oven to 425F
Brown meat until thoroughly cooked.
Drain the fat.
Add the can of cheese soup. Mix thoroughly.
Add the spices. Taste. Add more if necessary.
Get your glass container and line the bottom with one layer of Tater
Tots.
Cover the Tots with the beef mixture.
Add another layer of Tots on top of the mixture. Bake in oven for about
20-30 minutes until the Tots are nice and browned.
Serve with Gold Fish crackers (this addition was my son’s idea, as was the name of the dish). You can also add a veggie if you like–my son doesn’t like his veggies and main courses mixed yet, so I leave those, for now, on the side. Enjoy!
Tip: Banana Dilemma
May 23, 2008 at 11:31 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: bad bananas, don't waste food, Food, kids food
Whenever I buy bananas, the first thing they do, right after I eat the first one, is go bad on me. They turn brown within five minutes of getting home, and then black soon after that. If this happens to you too, don’t throw them away! Well, if they’re black you might want to. However, if they’re just kind of, eh, then go ahead and peel them, put them in a zip lock, sprinkle with lemon juice, and freeze them! You can use them for banana bread or banana muffins later. Waste not, want not, after all.
Tip: You DO have Power…
May 19, 2008 at 8:53 pm (Tips, Uncategorized)
Tags: Food, Kids, my kid only eats one thing, tips getting your kid to eat
Does your child only want one thing to eat and one thing only? While you might think that’s a bad thing, you can actually take a lot of control over the situation when that happens.
Here’s what you do. For dinner one night, make your child something to eat other than what he normally has. Have the favorite prepared, too, but keep that aside for the moment.
Sit down at the table and present your child with the new dish. He will protest, to be sure. Tell your child to take one bite, and then, and only then, can he have his favorite.
The child will fuss and refuse and cross his/her arms, but eventually, he will give in. After all, it’s only one bite–a No Thank You Bite–if you will. If the child doesn’t give in, try placing the favorite dish on the table with you, and convince the child that one bite isn’t going to harm him. He will very likely give in, when he sees his old standby waiting for him.
Do this for several nights in a row. Eventually, your child will not mind trying new things. Insist that he take a No Thank You Bite from everything that you offer him.
Give it a try. You won’t regret it and neither will your child. Good Luck!
A Table for 4 