Chocolate Emergency

We have a delightful neighbor who doesn't like chocolate. I remember the first time he told us. I had to ask him to repeat it. Yep, doesn't like it. Doesn't get the obsession. Doesn't eat it.

I must have blacked out. D said that my mouth dropped open, my eyes blankly stared, and I was unresponsive. I just. Didn't. Get it.

I come from a long line of chocoholics. I remember my mom snitching chocolate chips from the pantry when nothing else was available. I've been known to drive many miles out of my way just to hit a small bakery that makes an exquisite chocolate cookie. My grandma has an odd allergic reaction when she eats it. She sneezes like one of the Seven Dwarfs, but that doesn't stop her. She indulges just like the rest of us.

When we lived out of state I had a fellow Minnesotan drive a chocolate pie from a local bakery across 4 state lines just to bring me my fix.

Yep, I have no shame.

Now, chocolate on Weight Watchers is a challenge. This is an old favorite. My mom used to make it when I was a kid, but it wasn't my favorite. She studded it with walnuts (her favorite and one I hadn't grown into yet), so that was enough to keep me from eating it. This version is sans nuts and I think could be lightened up even more. Obviously, I now love it.

I call it my Chocolate Emergency cake. It whips together quickly and with ingredients I always have on hand. And I know that if I don't have the daily Points to cover it that I can take a fast and furious walk while it's baking and come out even. (I know, this sounds extremely desperate, but if you're chocolate obsessed like me, you totally get this.)


Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
Rich and delicious, this recipe doesn't seem like it could fit into a healthy lifestyle, but it does! Serves 9 at 5 WW Points per serving.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together:
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 TB cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup white sugar

Mix in:
1/2 cup skim milk
2 TB melted butter (NOT margarine)
1 tsp vanilla

Place in a greased 9x9 inch pan.

Mix:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup very hot water

Pour over batter in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

The Pie Plant... The Sequel

Rhubarb mania is alive and well at our house.

The last muffins I made were a hit, except that Young One thought they had celery in them and he got a little weirded out by that.

Apparently, he doesn't remember last Spring's rhubarb season!

I set out to make something that he would like and I succeeded! Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce is great on ice cream, but stands alone like apple sauce too. Young One is a huge strawberry apple sauce lover and this recipe is very similar. It's a great treat for those of us on Weight Watchers, but it doesn't taste like diet food.

Rosie Rhubarb Sauce

Tart and sweet, this sauce makes for a great dessert. Top fat free frozen vanilla yogurt with it and you have dessert nirvana. Delicious served warm or cool. You may enjoy it with a little granola crumbled on top. 1/3 of a cup equals 1 WW Point.

3 cup(s) rhubarb, thinly sliced
2 lb bag of frozen strawberries (sub fresh if in season)
3/4 cup(s) powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine rhubarb, strawberries and sugar in a medium-size, nonreactive sauce pan; toss until sugar melts.

Cover pan and set over medium to medium-high heat until mixture begins to boil, about 5 to 10 minutes. Uncover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer until fruit breaks down into a sauce, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

A New Toy

Young One got a new handheld hypnotizer game system. He's been saving for a while. He got the new Nintendo DSi, which he has carried everywhere since it was purchased. It takes pictures, which you can morph. It has two cameras, so you can morph yourself with your friends. It will record sounds and you can add effects to them. Basically, it's an eleven year old boy's dream. Imagine just the amount of time he can make various bodily function noises and then manipulate them.

Friends have been over and there's been nothing but hysterical laughter. Chocolate milk coming out your nose kind of laughter.

This is a great picture Young One took of a dear friend. It's very scrambled and kind of looks like what most adults feel like on tax day.

In honor of tax day, a grilling recipe. Just in case you feel like a little more rakin' over the coals.

Candied Pork Chops

These are sweet, so if that's not your thing, cut down the sugar. Red pepper flakes would be a nice touch.

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup apple juice
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
6 boneless pork chops

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat.

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, apple juice, oil, soy sauce, ginger, salt , and pepper. Bring to boil. Combine water and cornstarch in small bowl, and whisk into brown sugar mixture. Stir until thick.

Brush grate lightly with oil before placing pork chops on the grill. Cook over hot coals for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Brush with sauce just before removing chops from grill. Serve with remaining sauce.

How do Boneless Chickens Fly?

I once spent almost an hour trying to explain to a group of women how to make chicken broth. They were absolutely clueless as to why you would want to do something like that when you could buy perfectly good chicken broth in the soup aisle at the grocery store.

When I slowed down and for the third time explained that you could use the leftover chicken, bones and all, from a whole roasted chicken to make broth, a woman bravely raised her hand.

"Yes," I asked, sure that this would be the last time I drove 40 miles to speak to a mother's group in the evening when I could be home with my family.

"Um. You mean, people actually buy that chicken with the bones?"

"It's not another species," I quipped. I kind of, but not really, regretted snapping a bit.

I admit that I was slightly older than these women, but have we processed our food so far that people really don't know what it looks like in it's true, raw form? Yes, chickens do have bones. And hamburger isn't what you hope it might be.

I was actually in a room filled with people that didn't know that they could do anything, but purchase their poultry in an economy size bag of individually quick frozen chicken breasts.

I fear for what this is doing to people. I mean, honestly, boneless anything is so expensive. Have we gotten so far away from the way that food comes that we no longer can go back to that when times are tough?

It takes less than 30 seconds to take a chicken breast off the bone. You can toss the skin and make soup or broth from the bones. You'll pay much less than the boneless skinless version and end up with much more for your money. It really is worth the time.

Or cook and roast with the skin and bone on. You don't eat either the skin or the bone (or at least, you shouldn't) and, according to the food scientist that used to do the nutritional information for my business, the nutritional information stays the same whether you cook it with or without skin and bone. Plus, the skin and the bone make chicken much more moist and flavorful.

Now go out and buy some chicken. With bones. Make me proud.


One Whole Chicken, Three Delicious Meals

You can feed a family of 4, three meals, from one large roasting hen. I usually pay around fifty cents a pound for whole chickens. I'd love to always be able to afford free range, organic birds, but that's not always a possibility for my family. When I can get them this cheap, I often buy four or five of them for the freezer.



Roast Sticky Chicken



Chicken Fried Rice

chopped leftover chicken-- you don't need much. Discard any chicken skin and reserve carcass.

chopped green onions

2 cups of raw white rice, cooked and cooled

3 eggs

soy sauce

canned or fresh mushrooms, optional

fresh bean sprouts, optional

Chop the chicken, mushrooms (optional), and green onions ahead of time. Whisk eggs until well scrambled. In a large nonstick pan sprayed with cooking spray, saute chicken, mushrooms (optional) and green onions together until chicken is heated through and green onions and mushrooms are cooked to tender. Remove from pan and set aside. Scramble eggs until well cooked, add chicken and green onions back to the pan. Add rice and stir fry until heated through. You may add a little more cooking spray at this time to help the rice separate. (not too much, though!) Season with soy sauce to taste. Add fresh bean sprouts, if desired.


Italian Chicken Soup

1 chicken carcass
1 onion
3 stalks celery
garlic
2 bay leaves
carrots
1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated small cheese tortellini
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, diced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Throw chicken in a large pot and cover with water. Add chopped: carrot, onion, celery and bay leaves and garlic to taste. Simmer for one hour. Strain out vegetables and return to soup or discard. I always use a fat separator pitcher to strain the fat out. Well worth the investment. (I think they're officially called a gravy strainer). Add tortellini, tomatoes, zucchini, and basil and simmer until zucchini and tortellini are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in fresh parsley right before serving, if desired.

One More Blizzard and I'll Go Postal

Snow in April is not unheard of in Minnesota. We're hearty folk, proud of our ability to withstand freezing temps. It keeps the Riff Raff out. Don't believe me? Check out our murder rate. It's too damn cold to get that mad.

About this time of year though, snow will even piss us off. Two Saturdays ago, we got two inches. It melted immediately, of course. Right after the melt, I discovered these tulips peeking through the mulch. This is a sure sign that we've survived another winter.

Thank God.

Temporary garden centers are sprouting up. Snow shovels are in the clearance section of stores. And you couldn't find a matching pair of gloves for a 12 year old if you wanted to.

We made it through again.

I dusted off the grill (although I do wear my boots to get to it most winters!). This marinade is simple and delicious. We put it on steak, but I bet it would be great on pork, chicken, or salmon too. If the deer eat my tulips, I'll let you know if it's good on venison.

Simple Sesame Grilling Marinade

3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 1/2 TB sesame oil

Place all in a zip bag, smoosh to combine. Add meat. Grill until desired doneness.

Kitchen Tip: If you have a tried and true marinade that you like, make 3 or 4 of them at a time. Freeze the marinade without meat and add it when you purchase. You can also freeze the meat and the marinade together.

Breakfast Pasta?

This is a quick recipe that I go to when I've forgotten to defrost dinner! I usually have most of the ingredients on hand. In a pinch, use dried parsley.

Guiltless Spaghetti Carbonara
Bacon and eggs pasta! The original recipe calls for pancetta, a very high calorie food. I've subbed Canadian bacon. You could cut the oil down tremendously (maybe to 2 tsp or less) and also use egg substitute to lighten up even more. The recipe, below, stands as tested. Serves 6 at 7 WW Points per serving.

6 oz cooked Canadian-style bacon
2 tbsp olive oil
3 item(s) egg
1/4 cup(s) parsley
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
6 serving(s) Ronzoni spaghetti
1/2 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese

Boil water in a large pot. Add spaghetti and cook as directed to al dente. Chop bacon into 1/4 inch dice. Cook bacon in oil in large pan until browned and slightly crispy. Remove from heat. Whisk eggs, parsley, salt, and red pepper flakes until well combined. Reserve 1 cup of the spaghetti cooking water. Drain spaghetti. Add hot pasta to bacon in pan. Toss to combine. Add half of the cooking water, then all of the egg mixture and stir quickly. The pasta will appear creamy and delectable (!!!). Add Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Enjoy!

Sad Mom

I just have a minute because I have a ton of things to accomplish today.

I'm so lonesome for Young One though. I always get like this after school vacations, breaks, and especially at back to school time in the fall. We're just good friends and we enjoy each other's company.

We had such a nice, relaxing break, it's very hard to get back into the routine again. I took a ton of pictures and just yesterday realized that the memory card in the camera was out of room. So, I just have a few. Oh well! The memories, and not the pictures, are what count, right? (Please assure me that I'm not a complete idiot and that everyone does this at some point!)

Salmon is Young One's favorite meal. I came up with this marinade last week when salmon was on sale.

Sesame Citrus Salmon

1/4 cup soy sauce

zest of one orange

juice from one orange

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp sesame oil

lots of fresh, minced garlic (I used 1 TB at least)

2 tsp fresh, grated ginger

1 whole, salmon fillet

Mix marinade ingredients. Pour over fish in a zip bag or in pan. Cover or close zip bag. Refrigerate at least an hour, it's better if it has longer. Bake, broil, or grill until salmon is opaque, flakes easily with a fork, and has an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peas Pass the Pierogies

Bacon.

It's a word that strikes fear in the hearts of most people trying to eat a healthily. There's nothing healthy about bacon. Let's admit it, it's fried fat, plain and simple. There are people that hate it. And there are people who bow down to it. Take Bacon Freak. You gotta love their tagline: Bacon is meat candy. Now, I'm not THAT bad. But, at least now you all know where to go to get your lard on.

I've subscribed to Cooking Light for years. Great magazine. Great philosophy about eating only delicious, healthy recipes made from the finest of ingredients. And these fine ingredients include real butter and bacon! Their food is very Weight Watchers friendly, but adds that fresh twist that I haven't found elsewhere. A lot of their recipes are a jumping off point for me. I find that I can lighten them up even more or that I want to put my own spin on a flavor combination.

This recipe was inspired by one of theirs.

If you're not familiar with pierogies, you've just got to try them. Little pasta pockets filled with seasoned mashed potatoes. My sister-in-law's little Grandma Helen shared some of her genuine, homemade by a Polish grandmother, ones that were out of this world. I took a cooking class from another Polish grandmother who showed us the unbelievable amount of work that goes into making them. I'm not that ambitious. No, that's not true. I just haven't found the time in my life to make them, yet.

Caramelized Onion and Bacon Pierogies

I love this recipe because it's easy, it's quick to the table, and it's delicious. Rich and sinful tasting, it combines pierogies, caramelized onions, bacon, and peas. Simple and delightful. 7 WW Points per serving.

One box of frozen pierogies
8 slices bacon
2 large onions, sliced
1 tsp raw sugar
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste
reduced fat sour cream

Place pierogies in a microwave safe casserole, cover with hot water, and cook on high for 6 minutes. Let stand in microwave, while you do the rest. Cook bacon, drain all but a few tablespoons of the bacon drippings. Add onions, thyme, and sugar and saute until onions are caramelized. Add peas and cook for one minute. Add pierogies, tossing to combine all ingredients. Serve 3 pierogies with 1 TB of low or no fat sour cream.

Storm of the Century

I'm posting this waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay after the storm. Forgot to hit publish. Enjoy!

You know how on the news the old saying, if it bleeds, it leads?

Well, we have another one here in Minnesota. If it's white, then fright.

We've been hearing that Armageddon is about to hit. The storm of the century. A blizzard of record breaking proportions.

People hit the grocery stores hard right before a storm. It's our own economic stimulus package--predict a storm, Minnesotans will buy a lot of toilet paper and milk. Because storms will scare the, well, you know out of people. And we like to eat a lot of cereal here in the land of General Mills.

Before the storm, there's an electric feeling in the air, I don't know how to explain it. The birds are all fluttering around, emptying my bird feeders, and puffed up like they know something we don't. Young One is glued to the news channel instead of Spongebob, reading every school delay and closure, pleading with the snow gods that his suburban school will close. We live so close to school that we could walk to it, in snowdrifts three feet high, up hill both ways, if we had to. It never closes. This, of course, will be a source of great pride when he's in his thirties.

Secretly, we all love the storms. At least I do, once all my loved ones are all home safely. Life slows down a bit. It's kind of like getting a surprise day off from work. I usually light a fire in the fireplace, we snuggle in and wait it out. It's really quite beautiful. The snow blankets all the ugly, brown, slushy snow. Everything looks clean and sparkly.

It usually has to be fairly warm to snow. Remember, in Minnesota, warmth is relative! I'm talking, a heatwave in the 30s. Yesterday, it was in the 40s and I could see the grass in my yard. This is typical of this time of year. It melts, it snows, it melts, it snows. It's perfect for snowmen and snow fort making, but can rattle the nerves a bit. Just when you think you can't take it anymore, Spring arrives. (And then it might snow again, just to taunt you.)

Such is life in Minnesota. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Give the hot chocolate a try too. It's a little late in the season to post such a large quantity recipe. Cut it down at will!

Decadent and Delicious Hot Sippin' Cocoa

There's nothing like hot chocolate on a wintry day. It's also a great, healthy treat if you need a chocolate fix. I find it a filling, rich, and decadent treat that's very low in calories. This is an old family recipe, tweaked to make it more Weight Watchers friendly. Makes a large batch. Store in a sealed container or zip bag. Makes 90 servings at 1 WW Point per serving.

1 3/4 cup(s) nondairy powdered creamer
10 cup(s) non-fat instant dry powdered milk
1 3/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
4 3/4 cup(s) powdered sugar

Mix well and store in an airtight container. Add 1/3 cup to 6 ounces of hot water.

Before

During:

After:

Shakin' My Maracas

Taco night. It's a night that strikes fear in my heart. See, I'm not a neat eater. And tacos, by their very definition, are not neat food.

I come from a long line of shirt stainers. My Grandma gets so into her work when she makes anything with flour that I tease her about her "flour pot(belly)". My mom and I laugh when we end up with blueberry pie on our white shirts. The first one to stain our clothing gets a high five. I've walked around more fairs and festivals with ketchup stains than I'd like to remember.

It's not so bad when you're kid is little. Mothers just look at each other, then look at our mutual stains, and then sigh and give a little salute to our mutual membership in the I-Can't-Stay-Clean-For-Anything Sorority. When Young One was little I wore my days, literally. Sometimes, I really miss those little yogurt hand prints that ended up on my back when he fell asleep eating in his high chair. I can still feel his little monkey arms clinging to me. Man, I miss being able to pick him up. My baby. My baby's growing up...

(Cue Barbara Streisands The Way We Were, sniff, reaching for Kleenex.)

Snap out of it.

I don't miss those little old ladies who, in their eyes, were helpfully telling me, "Honey, you got something on your back." Did they forget the good old days of their kid's sticky hugs? No, that's not it, they wouldn't dream of going out wearing their husbands old jeans and a maternity shirt covered in goo when their kid was ten months old. Back then, motherhood came with starched aprons, greeting your husband with a freshly powdered nose, and Valium every six hours.

I'm rambling again, sorry.

I'll call tonight a successful eating night. I gave up after one explosive bite that nearly scattered taco shrapnel all over my shirt. Thankfully, I was using the lean over your plate and pray method of eating. This is sometimes highly successful. The great thing about tacos is in a few rapid snaps of your fork, you can have an instant taco salad.

My food find, this week is featured in the recipe. Garden of Eatin' Blue Corn Taco Shells. I bought the dinner kit at our health food store, but I'm sure it's available everywhere. These shells were fantastic. And come in at just 3 WW Points for two.

Bet's Tacos

Another recipe that's so dang easy, I just can't put it in recipe format. You know how to make tacos, right? Either buy the dinner kit and read the box or go all the way and make your own seasoning, ground the corn for your tortillas, butcher a wild boar etc. If you do all that, you don't need me.

My signature (signature was a word we used often in the food biz) taco filling? I add a can of drained black or pinto beans to the browned ground meat. Black are our favorites. This not only stretches the meat and makes them much more WW friendly, but they taste delicious. It's also a great cheapskate tactic.

I use the leftovers for taco salad topper or wrap up in soft tortillas and bake in the oven in enchilada sauce. Not really, I've never done the enchilada thing, I'm just thinking out loud here, but I'm pretty sure that would be good. It would be good on baked potatoes too. Again, never tried it, but I'm good with flavor combinations. (brag, brag, brag)

In the picture above I used ground venison (cause we like to get all Ted Nugent on animals--I'm kidding. More about our venison here.) You can use ground turkey breast, lean ground beef, or that veggie substitute stuff.

Wear a bib if you dare to eat with your fingers. Points value depends on your meat and the type of shells and beans you add.

The Five

Here's what my five senses have been up to:

Sight

When Will There Be Good News?: A Novel by Kate Atkinson

I realized half way through this book that the reason I was having trouble following parts of it was because this isn't the first time Ms. Atkinson has written about some of these characters. Duh. Oh well, it was a great read nonetheless.

This book centers around several characters and how their lives intertwine. Joanna Mason is the only survivor of a brutal attack that leaves her mother and siblings dead. Thirty years later, Joanna is now married and is known now as Dr. Hunter. Reggie is Dr. Hunter's nanny. She's the only one that seems concerned when Dr. Hunter disappears. Jackson Brodie (the character that Atkinson has featured in two other novels), is almost killed in a train crash. Reggie saves him and in the process it's discovered that he now has the identification of the person who attacked Joanna's family thirty years before and who was just released. Brodie helps Reggie search for Dr. Hunter while at the same time, his former love, Louise Monroe begins to investigate as well. Amazingly, all these story lines intertwine and you're able to keep them straight thanks to the brilliant writing of the author. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, Atkinson surprises you.

Great read. I will definitely read more of her work, hopefully in the order with which they were written.

Sound

I Tunes Originals--Alanis Morissette

Alanis, oh how I love your angry lyrics. These tracks are interspersed with interview tracks explaining the songs and how they were written. Great insight into this artist. And the new recordings are fantastic. If you love Jagged Little Pill, you must get this one too.

Scent

Dr. Bronners Peppermint Castille Soap I love these products. I can't remember how long I've been using them. Either it's been a long time or I'm getting old. Or both. Dr. Bronners products are fantastic. Being a cheapskate, I love that a little goes a long way. I use a tablespoon plus water to fill foaming hand soap dispensers. I use a tiny dab to wash my hair or put on a body puff for my shower. The scents are natural and delightful. Peppermint is my favorite and I use it in the shower as much as I can. It really wakes me up! A 32 ounce bottle lasts forever at my house. Visiting their website, I see that their gallon jugs are a few cents cheaper per ounce than what I've been purchasing. I'll have to try that next.

I do like their bar soaps too. All in all, you can't go wrong with their products. There are so many uses.

Taste

Leftover Sausage and Peppers.

Really, this is another of my recipes that is not a recipe. Chop stoplight peppers (red, green, and/or yellow. I suppose you could use an orange one if you want, but then what would I call them? Hazard light peppers?) Chop a big onion. No precision needed here, the more rustically you chop them, the better (and the easier). Heat a big pan over medium high heat, spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add veggies. Add Italian turkey sausage, hot or mild. And saute until veggies are tender and sausage is cooked through. 4 WW Points per serving. Put on light wheat buns if you wish, but be sure to add the Point value of the bun.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the final product, but we were too hungry and Young One refused to wait until I got all snappish with the camera.

Slowing Down When You Want to Just Get it Done

I can't even tell you how much this blogger's post meant to me. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all I needed to do. I had also just had a conversation with someone who made me feel like my work at home couldn't possibly be as rewarding as working outside the home. Funny that she seemed to forget that I used to be a Mompreneur, working 24/7 for my business. I've been on both sides of the Mommy Wars (working vs. working at home). Neither side is easier or harder (so stop fighting ladies).

Down to Earth is a blog that I just adore. It's author and her husband live in Australia and live a mindful, simple life. Her post The Secret Life of a Happy Homemaker was so wonderful. She talks about slowing down and being more present in your work.

I did just that yesterday and it made my day so much happier and productive. I couldn't believe it. Just focusing on the present and not worrying or thinking about all the things that I have to get done was wonderful. I think I worked better and I know I worked happier. I also took a lot more pleasure in the reward of seeing a job well done.

I've talked a lot about the relentlessness of the work of homemaking. When it gets down to it, I'm making a home: the place that my little family feels the happiest and most content. What better job could there be? I'm going to pay less attention to the relentlessness and more to the happy making.

Please check out Down to Earth. I think you'll really enjoy exploring her world. I am eternally grateful to her for giving me a new look at my life.

In her honor, I offer a recipe featuring a fruit that not only is she able to grow in her climate, BUT she took 2 years doing so!

Broiled Pineapple
One of my favorite fruits, pineapple tastes fantastic broiled or grilled. It caramelizes it's natural sugars and is delicious served right out of the oven. Serves 6 at 1 WW Point per serving. If you're like me and enjoy eating fresh pineapple often, you must invest in a Pineapple Corer and Slicer. You can have a pineapple ready to serve in just a few seconds!

1 large pineapple
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Lime wedges

Peel pineapple. With a sharp knife, cut it crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Brush the slices lightly with 1 teaspoon oil and place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Broil until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Turn slices over, brush with remaining teaspoon oil and broil for 5 to 7 minutes longer. Immediately sprinkle pineapple with brown sugar. Cut into chunks and serve with lime wedges.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 68 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 14 g carbohydrate; 0 g protein; 1 g fiber; 1 mg sodium.; 90 mg potassium

Pleather Should be Outlawed

First of all, unless your Rhianna or Madonna or going on Jerry Springer's show, you should never, NEVER wear leather pants. Leather pants take a level of confidence (and small thighs) that most people do not have.

Today, I followed a lady through the grocery store, listening to the crackles and screeches of her obviously not leather, really tight pants. Her outfit was complimented by a muffin top the size of Manhattan and a knit winter hat with a large multicolored pom-pom. A daring ensemble, yes, I will give her kudos for that. I like people that march to their own drummer, but this poor soul was sadly out of step.

I'm no fashion model. I wear thrift store clothes, which means sometimes I'm really put together, but other times, it's Levis and a long sleeved t-shirt (the suburban mom uniform). I feel guilty for judging this woman. Perhaps she is soon to appear on What Not to Wear. I hope so. Maybe I was on one of Jon Quiniones hidden camera, what would you do, would you step in and help the baby trapped in the car kind of stories. Would you inform this woman that she's making a fool of herself in too tight pleather pants?

Apparently, in this case, I wouldn't step in.

At some point, when you're overweight, you have to decide whether to venture into the big gals section of the store. This woman was obviously in need of taking this trip. Here's the deal girls. No one can see the size on the tag of your clothing unless they know you really well or are somewhere they shouldn't be (or their doing your laundry, and in that case, I say, look all you want). If you need to rip the tag out to feel better, go for it, but BUY THE RIGHT SIZE. Honestly, ladies, you will look thinner in the right size than you will in the size you want to be, but should not be stuffing yourself into.

In her honor, I made some fruit leather, the only leather you should have in your house that isn't furniture or shoes. Fruit leather is a great way to use up ripe fruit. This time around, I made Apple Mango. Pear, berry, and just plain apple are other favorites at our house. You can buy individually packaged fruit leather in the health food section of your store (NOT FRUIT ROLL UPS. THOSE ARE NOT FRUIT. THEY'RE CANDY OR GREAT FOR FIXING LEAKY PIPES). Purchased fruit leather runs about seventy cents for a one by four inch piece. Why not make it yourself?

It's not Pleather it's Fruit Leather

Chewy, sweet, and packed with good for you stuff like vitamins and minerals and all that junk. Points depends on what fruit you use.

I'm not even going to put this into recipe format. It's really so easy. Take some fruit, peel it or don't. Take out pits and seeds and cores and all that stuff that you don't eat. Roughly chop and place in a pan. Cook with a little water until soft. Puree in a food processor. Most of the time I just stick my hand mixer in and blend it up, leaving it a bit chunky. I guess you can make it without cooking the fruit, but I always cook it. Then put it on low heat in your oven or in your food dehydrator (I use a dehydrator that we got for our wedding that we surprisingly use quite often.) until dry, but still flexible. Cut in pieces and wrap individually if you must, or just cut it and put in a zip bag.

You're so Deer to Me

My husband is a deer hunter and now, Young One has joined him. I look forward to hunting season every year, mostly because it gives me a weekend or two completely on my own, which is delightful.

This is the first year that we've really enjoyed eating the venison. Most years, I would store it for a year, cook a bunch of it to send with them on their hunting trip and then throw the rest of last year's away to make room for this year's. Terribly wasteful, I know. I'm very ashamed of that, especially knowing that people go hungry. I grew up eating a lot of venison and I didn't like it. The deer that we ate as kids was not good--it tasted like the woods, acorns and branches. It was wild and you definitely knew that you were eating something that was not beef. The area where my dad hunted was wilder. Our current hunting cabin is on many acres of woods, but it's surrounded by corn fields. The deer are smart. They eat corn. When they eat corn, they taste really good.

Now, please don't get all PETA on me. I have canine teeth for a reason and I love meat. Can't help it. I also strongly believe in population control. If you've ever seen deer starve to death in areas of overpopulation, then you would support the practice of hunting.

Stepping off my soap box now.

Venison is very lean. It's a very healthy meat and very Weight Watchers friendly. So, we've been using it and enjoying it this year. The tenderloin, a delicacy served at very expensive restaurants is highly sought after. We saved it for a night when Young One was at a sleep over. It's very small, usually comes in two pieces, and serves two. I made this recipe and it was divine. You could sub beef or pork or other wild game. Turkey tenderloins would be divine.

(As I'm writing this, I have visions of people thinking that I'm like Sarah Palin, with my gun totin' man. Eating wild game is probably the ONLY thing that Palin and I have in common and I don't think I do it nearly as much as she does.)

Bacon Wrapped Brown Sugar Venison Tenderloin

Absolutely delicious! I'm having trouble figuring out the Points on this one because you discard most of the marinade, I would say, weigh your meat, and figure based on the type of meat, add the amount of bacon you had, and add a Point for the marinade that the meat soaked up. That's very ball park, but it's the best I can do!

2 lbs venison tenderloins (a single deer loin or Moose or Elk or Pork or Beef)
a few slices of bacon (Plain, thin-sliced Bacon is best)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup soy sauce (Regular NOT low-sodium. You'll want the saltiness)

Mix brown Sugar and Soy sauce together in a zip bag. Add loin, check zip bag seal (a very important step!), and shake gently to combine.
Let meat marinate in mixture at least 3 hours or overnight in fridge. Remove loin from bag, and place on a slotted bake sheet with a drip pan or aluminum foil below to catch dripping. Discard marinade.
I bunched the two tenderloins together. I wouldn't bunch together more than two. Wrap a piece of bacon around the very end of the tenderloins, securing the bacon strip with a toothpick.
Repeat this process until the entire loin is wrapped. The Place on center rack in oven and bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes. This should cook the meat to about Medium.

La La La La Lateness

I'm an On Timer. I can't help it. I come from a long line of people who are required to be early for events. I mean, as in, arrive 15 minutes early and sit in your car until you can go in, kind of people. I detest being late. I was taught it's rude and it isn't nice to people to waste their time with your lateness.

I married a Later. He's a fly by the seat of your pants, scrambling around looking for keys, don't get in the shower until it's five minutes before you have to go, kind of guy.

Needless to say, we don't mesh well sometimes. Because I have to go with him to places (it's required when you're married, or so I've heard), by default, I'm late too. And I hate it.

It's the only thing in our marriage that drives me crazy and I'm helpless to change it. Well, it's not the only thing in our marriage that drives me crazy, but I'm really not going to go into all THAT here! (And I really don't complain about him to people, so this is a rare mood you've caught me in.)

Living with someone is hard. Meshing your styles is even harder. You see, when I'm late, it completely throws me off. I feel rushed and harried and frantic and I get anxious. Young One gets like this too, so he must be an On Timer.

Want a good example? (Even if you say no, I'm going to give it to you.) A couple of years back we flew to Wyoming to visit Yellowstone National Park. Overall it was a great trip. I remember hiking the trails, watching Old Faithful, and boarding the airplane without my husband. You see, he needed a caffeine fix and so, just minutes before boarding, he walked a few miles from our gate (you know how airports are) to get a mocha. The lovely airport people started calling the boarding procedure and no husband. Our row was called. No husband. Young One was crying, I was frantically calling D's cell phone. Nothing. At last call, I grabbed Young One and we got on the plane. I figured we'd leave anyway, too bad for him. Just before we got to the gate door, he arrived, coffee in hand and a sheepish grin on his face. It took me most of the first hour of the flight to get back to I'm on vacation relaxation phase.

That sort of thing doesn't bother him. "I made it, didn't I?" he said. Yep you did, but you gave me a heart attack and your son was in tears. Doesn't bother him.

We used to have a family like that in my hometown church. For you to completely understand the story, you have to understand that Lutherans don't sit in the front rows of the sanctuary. It's not in us to be out there like that. Ten minutes into our Sunday service, without fail, our notorious family would make their entrance. I lost count how many children they had, but let's just say it was around a dozen, all with Biblical names. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, I don't think they had an Acts, but there was Elizabeth and Mary for sure, Leviticus and Genesis may have surfaced after I left town. There they were, all in their Sunday best, but somehow smelling like the barn that they had just finished their chores in. We were a farming community, this was commonplace. They marched in, interrupting whatever was taking place at that time, and headed for the only empty seats in the house, the front rows. As time went on, those rows were just theirs by default. Even if, by some miracle, they were on time, they still sat there.

Their lateness, although just fine in the eyes of God, didn't sit well in the eyes of the congregation. Looking back on it, it didn't bother me as much as the old ladies who worked in the kitchen and clucked their tongues at anything that they could. They weren't hurting anybody, but their lateness, well, it was an imposition. It interrupted our pastor, it interrupted our settling in to worship. As time went on, though, it was just expected, so the interruption was less jarring.

Maybe that's where I am now. The lateness has become such a part of D's character that I'm not surprised or as reactionary towards it. It still grates on me, but I've found ways around it. Like setting the clocks ahead. That works well unless he checks his computer or iPhone. I've taken to just walking out of the house and sitting in the car. That works fine, but usually results in him running back and forth from the house to the car because he's forgotten everything that he's supposed to bring along (Watch, keys, wallet, phone? All scattered throughout the house, another thing that drives me crazy. Set it down in one place always and you'll save yourself a heck of a lot of time and panic. Duh.)

I'm not perfect, I know. My On Timeness is annoying in it's own right, I'm very sure. So, what are you, an On Timer or a Later?



Late for Dinner Meatloaf
Meatloaf is very forgiving, even if you're not. It will hold in the oven until everyone is at the table. Serve with baked potatoes and sweet baby peas. The baking potatoes and meatloaf smell fantastic, be prepared for lots of, "Is dinner ready yet?" Serves 8 at 6 WW Points per serving.

1 tbsp Heinz Spicy Brown Mustard
3 tbsp Del Monte Ketchup
1/2 cup(s) Kraft Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
3/4 cup(s) part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup(s) onion(s)
1/2 cup(s) dried bread crumbs
1 1/2 pound(s) cooked extra lean ground beef, 17% fat
1 tsp dried oregano
1 item(s) egg
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350. Mix first two ingredients and set aside. Mix all remaining ingredients. Press into a loaf pan and glaze with ketchup and mustard mixture. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until it reaches a temperature of 170 degrees in the center.

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles! Fun to say and fun to eat.

I knew when I found the blog Snickerdoodles, that I had met a kindred spirit. You simply must visit. She's a talented writer, wonderful mom, and amazing artist.

I just won a give away on her blog and I'm thrilled. So thrilled, that I just had to bake some cookies in her honor. (We Weight Watchers gals are great at rationalizations.)

Here's my favorite Snickerdoodles recipe. Have these fresh out of the oven when your kids get home and you'll get some big smiles!



Snickerdoodles
Cinnamon and sugar dusted, chewy vanilla cookies. They won't last long. 2 WW Points per cookie.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Ginger, Marianne, or Gilligan?

Out for coffee with friends the other day, I ran smack dab into a generation gap. We went to an upscale Scandinavian bakery in our area. It's a great place to get a pitcher size mug of your favorite Joe and to practice resisting temptation. The bakery is amazing.

I was the first to arrive, so a snagged a table and got in line. I struck up a conversation with the women in line with me, I knew one of them from Young One's preschool. We were discussing the tempting line of heart shaped cookies in the case, each flavored lemon, strawberry, or ginger. My acquaintance mentioned how much she loved ginger. As we approached the front of the line, I quipped that I always wanted to be Ginger, but I was usually Gilligan most days. We all laughed.

The young girl working the espresso machine with the odd piercing on her upper cheek (ouch) wanted in on the fun. We told her we felt her cookies should be named after the Island's occupants. "You mean Lost," she asked. "No, Gilligan's," I informed her. Blank stare. Blink. "Is that near Fiji?"

Ugh. I think that officially means I've crossed that invisible line between the generations. Not only am I unable to understand the intricacies of video games and iPods when Young One waxes on about them, but I'm now unable to communicate with the 20 somethings.

This recipe is from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. I adore her. Never trust a skinny cook, I've always said. Ina makes absolutely delicious food with a focus on simplicity and fine ingredients. Her recipes aren't all Weight Watchers friendly, but this one is. You must have at least two of her cookbooks, really worth the investment. Or if you're strapped, hit the library.


Honey, I Love Ya, Chicken
aka I Always Wanted to be Ginger Chicken
or I'm more like Gilligan Chicken
You can make this with boneless skinless pieces or a whole cut up chicken. Points will vary depending on what pieces you use. I like to use skinless chicken thighs. They're cheap and they come in at about 3.5 WW Points per thigh. Serve with Jasmine rice, mixed salad tossed with sesame ginger dressing, and steamed Asian veggies.

8 pieces of chicken
1/2 cup honey
2 TB minced garlic
2 heaping TB minced fresh ginger--I used minced ginger in a jar found in the Asian foods section (don't use Marianne or Gilligan)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup green onions, chopped (optional)
sesame seeds (optional--will increase Point value)

Mix honey, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Pour over skinless chicken pieces. Allow to marinate in refrigerator at least eight hours. Turn several times while marinating. Bake at 350, covered for 30 minutes, uncovered for 30 minutes. Watch closely, basting several times while cooking. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds (you can add the green onions to the marinade if you wish).

I Heart You

We aren't big Valentine's Day celebrators. I've always seen it as a great marketing opportunity for companies. Flower companies, greeting card companies, and just about everyone else make you feel guilty if you're not spending a ton this time of year.

We all know, the greatest things in life are free, so to me, spending a lot on the greatest thing of life--LOVE--seems silly to me.

We'll hold each other close on Saturday. There might be a card, homemade or not. There may be flowers. There may be heart shaped pancakes in the morning, but most likely they'll look like misshapen blobs. I'll make a special dinner and maybe we'll crack open a bottle of bubbly that some friends of ours made and shared with us.

It certainly won't be a material holiday. In fact, I wouldn't go near a restaurant or anything deemed "romantic". We'll celebrate with our son. Maybe hit the movies. We'll just be together, that's all I could wish for.

My mom and her cousins hit White Castle every year. I think it's hysterical. It's become so popular that reservations are now required. They put white tablecloths on the tables and I believe there is candlelight and the workers dress up. What started as a joke celebration has turned out to be something bigger and more and more people go every year. Sliders all around and maybe a little heartburn later in keeping with the holiday's theme.

The most important thing to remember is that you can't put a price on love. With a little thought, you can make the day special without spending much if anything.

This is a dessert that my mom made throughout my childhood. There's very little fat and so is a very Weight Watchers friendly dessert. Put it in the oven right before you're ready to have dinner and it will be ready at dessert time. I think it would be the perfect ending to a homemade romantic or love filled family dinner.

Moms Hot Fudge Sundae Cake

Rich chocolate pudding on the bottom, decadent fudge cake on the top. You can make this in the crock pot too. Serves 12 at 3 Weight Watchers Points per serving.

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In ungreased 9 inch square pan, stir together flour, white sugar, cocoa, the baking powder, and salt. Mix in milk, oil, and vanilla with a fork until smooth.
Spread batter evenly in pan (batter will be thick). Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Pour boiling water over batter.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes, then spoon into dessert dishes or cut into squares. Invert each square onto dessert plate and spoon sauce over each serving. Top with ice cream or whipped topping, if desired.

Want to control your portions and really make a wowie zowie kapowie impression on your loves? Well, bake these cakes in ramekins or coffee mugs. Each cup will get two tablespoons of batter, 1 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa mixture and two tablespoons of boiling water. Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are cracked. Cool slightly, top with mini marshmallows and broil until marshmallows are browned like you toasted over them the most perfect campfire (without turning them into horse crap, like we always did as kids, allowing them to burn to a crisp). Marshmallows are not included in the Point count.

Remember that List I'm Supposed to Be On?Well, I'm Not On It.

I was bored today. I did all the usual morning routine. I worked out. I put away several loads of laundry. I pulled recyclables out of the trash and growled at my little family (even thought they weren't home) as I was doing so. I spent an hour or two clipping coupons and menu planning around the grocery ad sales. I cleaned two bathrooms and dusted our bedroom. I made Zero Points Soup and put it in the crock pot. My version is similar to this, although, it's more like Clean Out the Cupboards, Refrigerator, and Freezer Soup. I fought with the printer. I scrubbed two mystery stains out of the carpet. I sorted through a ton of junk mail. I filled out a ton of forms for school. I made sure Middle School registration was signed, sealed, delivered. Every bit of it was yawn city.

I wanted to write, to do a few sewing projects (I'm a sloppy sewer, but I have a great idea for a re-tilized object that I'm just dying to try), and I wanted to sit and chat on the phone with a friend. Every time I felt like I would get close to getting things done so that I could do something for me, I'd see something else to do.

I'm supposed to be putting myself back on the list, but it's not working very well. I'll try to do better tomorrow. I think I have such a hard time, especially with writing, when I look around and see unfinished stuff. I know my house will never be completely done. Lord knows, it will never be completely picked up or clean. Maybe I need to leave to write. I don't know.

Why do I feel guilty taking time out of my "work" day to work on something for me? When I owned my business I felt guilty every minute that I didn't work on the business. Are you sensing a pattern here?

My work day as a stay at home mom often goes on longer than my husbands, but it's much more flexible than his. And I'm thankful every day that I'm back here at home where I'm meant to be. But, the boredom. It can be relentless some days. I think I cleaned the kitchen four times today. Make a mess, clean up a mess. Make a mess, clean up a mess, throw in a load of laundry. None of it is rocket science. I honestly do get a great deal out of being at home. I do. This is just a challenge that I'd forgotten about when I was barely keeping my head above water working more than full time.

Ugh.

So, this is the one thing I did for me today. I was craving apple pie today. Not just any apple pie. My mom's. With her homemade crust and delicious filling that only a woman who owned 300 apple trees could perfect. Knowing just how many WW Points that would be, I decided I needed something similar. Baked apples it is.

They don't photograph real well, but man were they delicious.

Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce

Growing up with 300 apple trees meant we ate a lot of apples. Mom, however, didn't make a lot of baked apples. She didn't like them. Dad and I did! This recipe filled a craving for apple pie and it's definitely a keeper. Serves 4 at 2 Weight Watchers Points per Serving.

4 medium apple(s), cored
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz fat-free instant vanilla pudding mix, about 2 Tbsp
3/4 cup fat-free skim milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Wash and core apples. Place apples in a 9 X 9-inch baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, ginger and sugar. Place 1 tablespoon of cinnamon mixture in cored-out center of each apple; sprinkle remaining cinnamon mixture over apples. Combine water and lemon juice in a cup; pour liquid around apples.
Bake until apples are soft when pierced with a knife, about 15 to 20 minutes; remove from oven and let cool.
Pour pudding mix into a medium bowl; whisk in milk to make a fairly thin sauce. Place one apple on a plate and drizzle with sauce. Yields 1 apple and about 1/4 cup of sauce per serving.

Snowball's Big Adventure

(Disclaimer: The above hamster is not ours. It's a stunt double. Snowball's privacy is very important to her and so, she would not be photographed. Actually, she's tunneled into her little den and is soundly sleeping. I would imagine she may remain that way for some time. She's been through a lot.)


Young One has a rodent pet hamster in his room. Well, we thought she was in his room. Five days ago, D and Young One cleaned out her cage and left the back door open. You can see where this is going, can't you?

I don't pay much attention to her. It took a Valium (I'm kidding) and Lamaze breathing for me to even be able to hold her. D is still terrified of her, although he won't admit it. We both grew up in the country, so the only little furry critters we knew of in our houses were caught in traps. I find it hysterical that D won't hold her. He gets all tense and clenches his teeth and says repeatedly, words firing rapidly, "I'm good. I'm good. No, really, I'm good. She's cute. I'm good."

This morning D was stumbling to the basement in search of something when he caught a white streak out of the corner of his eye. I'm sure he gasped, perhaps shrieked. I'm picturing a housewife on a chair in a Tom and Jerry cartoon reaction. I heard the story a half an hour after it happened, so he'd had plenty of time to calm down and act all manly about it. Of course he wouldn't pick her up, so he had to get Young One. But, first he had to take a closer look to make sure that we didn't have a new species of infestation. Nope, short tail, calmly approaching the human in search of a treat, it was Snowball.

Young One swooped in to the rescue getting her back, safely to her cage.

We wondered why she wasn't eating much this week!

I can only wonder what she did for the last five, FIVE, days. This was a big adventure for her, down two stories, foraging for food (oh man, please tell me she ate dog food out of the dish). She's nocturnal, so this all took place under the cover of night. Maybe she partied, dancing and enjoying her freedom. I can picture a little tiny disco ball spinning while she assumes the Saturday Night Fever pose. I hope she's a he (we're really not sure of her sex having not looked very closely at her girl or boy parts--something I really don't want to add to my list of life experiences). We have had little grey mice in the house, so if in a few weeks (months?) we have a litter of little grey and white Hammouses I'll either have to figure out how to sell this new species to the designer dog girls with their giant handbags or we'll be making a little trip to the humane society.


Snowballs
These cookies come in at one point each, but you won't be able to tell. They're very rich and packed with fruit, something that our Snowball really loves. In fact, aside from the All-Bran and the sugar, she would love these!

4 cups All-Bran
1 cup pitted dried plums
1-2/3 cups raisins
1-1/2 cups dried apricots
2 cups chopped pecans
Confectioners' sugar

Place cereal and prunes in a food processor or blender; cover and process until cereal is crumbled. Add raisins, apricots and pecans; process until finely chopped. Shape in 1-in. balls; roll in confectioners' sugar. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Roll in sugar before serving. Yield: about 5-1/2 dozen.

One serving:
One piece
Calories:
59
Fat:
3 g
Saturated Fat:
0 g
Cholesterol:
0 mg
Sodium:
10 mg
Carbohydrate:
10 g
Fiber:
2 g
Protein:
1 g