EAT ME CRUNCHY

Here's a shout out to my sister Sara for finding the perfect gift for me, which was not easy to find. She said she'd been looking for something like this for 2 or 3 years, since the 'incident.' I was visiting her family in Ohio once and we'd all just sat down at the breakfast table. I think I had just poured milk over my cereal when someone said, 'Did somebody say the prayer?' I think I said something very polite and gracious, like, 'Are you kidding me? I just poured milk on my cereal and now it's going to get totally soggy!' Sara laughed and laughed [for years, apparently!] at my response to the thought of soggyfying my cereal. Okay, I know I'm not normal. I get hung-up on some of the most random things. A little OCD, maybe? Just a few tendencies! I actually prefer to pour just a little cereal into my bowl at a time, so it's still crunchy when I eat it. Then I'll add a little bit more, until it eventually equals about 1 bowl's worth. And sometimes, I don't even bother with a bowl. If it's large frosted shredded wheat, I'll just dip them into a glass of milk, like you would an Oreo...one at a time. So, Sara found the greatest thing ever invented for people who like crunchy cereal - the Eat Me Crunchy bowl! It has a little shelf that keeps most of the cereal sitting ABOVE the milk until you're ready to dunk it! How cool is that?! Cool enough to be patented! And so it's only available in the UK. Good find! If you are wierd like me, you can find them here: http://www.eatmecrunchy.com/. I used it for the first time today and love it. I'm glad I have a pair, so one can be in the dishwasher at all times! Thanks Sara! For more on the eatmecrunchy invention, see below nobel prize nomination, taken from www.eatmecrunchy.blogspot.com. Eatmecrunchy nominated for nobel prize... Mac website Macworld have reviewed eatmecrunchy... here's what they said... "There are a lot of tragedies in the world: underfunded education, rising energy costs, and the preponderance of reality television. But among the worst problems confronted by every man, woman, and child is the all-too serious issue of cereal that gets soggy in milk. Yes, even after the development of the so-called Crispix Matrix Technology, sogginess is still a very real predicament for cereal-lovers everywhere. And so, my nomination for the Nobel Prize in Physics—never mind those spintronics guys—the inventors of the eatmecrunchy bowl. The clever engineering secret behind the bowl involves a revolutionary shelf that covers roughly 70 percent of the bowl’s base. Pour your cereal of choice—I'm a Cheerios traditionalist—and milk into the bowl. The milk filters down into the bottom compartment, keeping the two separated and letting you decide your own rate of cereal-milk mixture. That’s right: the eatmecrunchy bowl puts control of breakfast back into your hands." Read there review here...

Meringue Santa Hats

SANTA HATS

12/24 UPDATE: Here are mine in the oven. Pretty easy, but ultimately a lot effort (I didn't like waiting the 2.5 hours for them to bake and sit. But, they were a hit with the kids we delivered them to today.

I spotted this easy treat while sitting at the allergist's office the other day. It is in this month's issue of Family Fun Magazine. I just might try these this weekend.







These crispy confections are brimming with kid appeal, and they're easy to make by the trayful for holiday parties.




2 egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
Red colored sugar




Step 1 Heat the oven to 200° F. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Beating all the while, add the cream of tartar and vanilla extract, then slowly add the 1/2 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until the peaks stiffen.






Step 2 Spoon the meringue into a quart-size plastic bag. Snip off a corner and pipe 2 dozen 1 1/2-inch-tall Santa hat triangles onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (you should have about 1/4 of the meringue left).







Step 3 Sprinkle the triangles with the red sugar, then use the remaining meringue to give each one a pom-pom and trim. Bake the hats until they're hard but not browned, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the hats in it for an hour to crisp before removing.

Why Don't I Cook??

My husband has never been one to give me a hard time for not cooking dinner on a regular basis. However, we do have a running joke that the only thing I cook is popcorn.

I often ask myself why I don't cook dinner every night. I want to eat healthy. I am plenty proficient at following a recipe and delivering a yummy meal. Most often, the reason is because I didn't plan ahead and don't have the right ingredients on hand.

A week ago Saturday, I made a concerted effort to create a menu of 5 meals we would enjoy eating this week. These consisted of Chicken Fajita Soup, Veggie Lasagna, Black Bean Soup and roasted veggies, Taco Salad and Chicken Pot Pie from scratch. I even cooked up several pounds of chicken on Sunday, since three of these meals require pre-cooked, diced chicken. I was ready to go!

I can't remember exactly what was happening each night of last week, but I think we finally got around to making veggie lasagna on Thursday. It was a hit. Friday night we camped, Saturday night we ate out at Maria's, Sunday I think I was comatose with my cold and may have had a peanut butter banana sandwich.

TODAY I worked from home, due to my unfortunate and contagious cold. I always have 2 hours of conference calls on Monday, so I decided to multi-task! I hit the mute button on my phone and chopped up some vegetables to roast. I sauteed onion, garlic and pulled together the black bean soup I'd been planning. Hubby was sleeping during this time, as I'd banned television during my conference calls. The soup was on when dear hubby awoke from his slumber, to say, "You know, I had that slice of pizza for lunch and I think I'm good."

Now, he doesn't do this on purpose. It's not that he doesn't like what I cook. But, I asked him, "How is it that on the rare occasion I take the time and effort to cook dinner, you're not interested??" I explained that I realize he doesn't intend to do this, but at some level it affects me and I am even less motivated to make the effort the next time. He explained that he'd been very careful in the last week about what he'd eaten (notwhithstanding the pizza I talked him into picking up for lunch today), and had lost 10 lbs. (BTW, how do men lose 10 lbs a week?) I assured him that the black bean soup I'd just made was ALL vegetables with a tiny bit of chicken--totally healthy. And what could be more healthy than roasted veggies? He said that maybe he'd have some soup when he gets back from getting his hair cut.

As I was typing the last paragraph of this post, he returned home and piled some roasted vegetables on a plate. But, my question still stands. Why, oh, why is he never in the mood to eat when I'm in the mood to cook? Any ideas from my fellow homemakers?

Mint Lemonade - it's NEWs to me

Okay, so the Lemonade Crystal light with mint tea has quickly become my beverage of choice.
Rather than mixing the crystal light with 8 cups water, mix with 6 cups water and 2 cups brewed mint herbal tea, then chill. Yum Yum! I have gone through 6 batches in a week.
This may or may not have something to do with me losing 5 lbs in the last week. :)

How have I lived 30-something years and never tried mint lemonade until this week? Last Tuesday I asked a waitress at Mistral in Redwood City if they had lemonade. Her response was, 'We have raspberry lemonade and a mint lemonade--it's pretty good.' I was suddenly intrigued. I had to try the mint lemonade. YUMMMMM! I had two.

I've been thinking about that mint lemonade all week and how to re-create it. I actually bought fresh mint and a bottle of fresh lemonade at the grocery store last night. I put a sprig of mint in a glass of lemonade and tried to bruise it up by stirring it. Not quite the level of mintiness I was looking for, so I started to experiment.

Then I googled mint lemonade and found several different recipes. It sounds like the best method is probably to boil a handful of fresh mint in a small amount of water (1/2 cup), let this cool, then use as part of the water when making lemonade from concentrate or from scratch. I haven't tried this yet, because I already have a whole bottle of lemonade with mint that I combined in a blender in my fridge (and another pitcher of the one described below).

AND for those that are into sugar-free like I usually am, I tried this today. Brew 2 cups of mint tea and let cool. Combine the 2 cups of mint tea, 6 cups of water and a packet of Crystal Light Lemonade, and voila! Not exactly the same, but still pretty tasty and sugar-free.

Working Kitchen

I'm so excited that our kitchen is finally all cleaned up and functioning again.

The last task is to find outlet screws that are long enough to re-connect my face plates.

My new project

If you know me, you know that once I finish a project, I must come up with a new one. So, as soon as I'd passed my real estate test, I started fixating on my next project: a new kitchen counter top. After a few weeks of thinking, I've decided to do ceramic tile. Because I can install it myself, it will be cheaper than replacing the laminate (my original idea). We just need to get rid of the 'harvest gold' color in order for our kitchen to be considered 'updated' in an appraisal.

So, this post counts as the "BEFORE" pictures of this project. Last night I purchased all of the supplies I'll need, including my very own tile saw! This is the most exciting part to me. I love new tools and not renting a saw means I can do a little tiling several evenings during the week, rather than having to cram the entire project into one weekend so I can get the saw returned. Granted, it's only a 7" saw, but this project involves 4" tiles, so it will be perfect! My biggest challenge will be cutting off the laminate backsplash so I won't have a ledge when I tile the backsplash. I think I have the perfect saw for that, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully, I'll be posting on my progess in the next several days.

Okay, when I started typing this entry last night, I really thought it would just be "before" pictures. But, I got a little excited tonight after I got back from Lowes and I discovered that I could easily remove the backsplashes with a hammer and chisel, rather than a saw, which scared me to death when it jumped back at me! So, I ripped them out! Here are my "progress" photos for today. Check out the groovy wallpaper! I'm planning to jump in with the tile tomorrow night. :)