Category: Food and dining

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An Early Morning Start by Accident

I thought I would sleep in a little bit this morning, but my body thought otherwise. I still got up bright and early like it was a week day. And not just any ordinary weekday, one of the weekdays where I have to get up even earlier to work out with my husband. That’s right I got up at 5:30 am this morning.

I thought I could at least sleep until maybe 8:00 but nope. I suppose my internal clock is off by a day. Since I’m up early anyway I thought I would get some blogging done and maybe do a little research for Jill about her wedding.

I also thought I could make the family a nice hearty homemade breakfast. I think I’ll make some kind of starch, I can’t decide if I want to make pancakes, waffles, muffins, or coffee cake. In addition to the sweet starch I will add in some eggs of course. The kids love to eat cheesy scrambled eggs. I don’t want to over load everyone with more fat and calories than they need so I’ll try to round everything out with some fresh fruit, a glass of milk or orange juice, and some coffee for my husband and I.  Now to get to it!

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Mac & Cheese Makeover

Mac Cheese by jspatchwork
Reproduced under Creative Commons 3.0

Mac & Cheese is a favorite comfort food of many.  I love to eat eat plain with just macaroni and cheese, but I also love to give it a little makeover and change things up a bit.  Just a few additions and you’ll have a new dish to sink your teeth into.

Here are a couple of ways to give your mac & cheese a makeover:

  1. Add some chicken.  You can slice it, dice it, grill, or bake it.  I like to mix in chunks of grilled chicken or serve it in slices along the top of the dish.
  2. Add some broccoli.  I usually steam the broccoli until it is just tender and toss it in with the mac & cheese at the last minute.  I’ve even been known to blanch the broccoli in the same water the macaroni is cooking is in.  I just scoop it out after a minute or soo and let the macaroni continue to cook.  It saves time and an extra pan, and adds a little flavor to the pasta water.
  3. Add some tuna.  I think about 5oz. per cup of mac & cheese is a nice ratio.  It gives a nice protein portion and really fills you up nicely.  It kind of reminds me of a tuna melt sandwich and I love it.
  4. You can really go wild and add some lobster.  It’s nice to go fancy sometimes and add a tasty treat like this.  Trust me, you’ll love it.
  5. Add some pureed winter squash.  You won’t even know it’s there and you’ll be getting loads of added nutrition.  My kids and husband don’t know that I regularly sneak in butternut squash to our mac & cheese.  It’s the perfect color and is nice and creamy.  To make it easy on you try adding a few containers of baby food squash, it’s the same thing and all of the work is done for you.

I hope you’ll try out some of these ways to make over your mac & cheese.  What’s your favorite way to eat macaroni?

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Street Musician Plays The Tuba

I saw one of the most inserting things today on my lunch break. I went out to lunch and enjoyed it outside on the patio. While I ate my lunch a man walked up near the patio, sat down and opened up a case. He pulled out a beautiful tuba and started playing some of the most peaceful music I have ever heard.

It was so interesting to see a street musician playing a tuba. It’s really not the instrument I would ever guess to see some one carry around to just start playing in a random location.  However, that made the experience all the more special because it was so unexpected.

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A Surprise Lunch With My Husband

This afternoon my husband did the sweetest thing. He showed up at my work completely unannounced and took me out to lunch. I wasn’t expecting it at all. He had flowers and everything.  I asked him what the special occasion was and he said it was just because he loved me. Of course my heart almost melted and I couldn’t have been happier.

We went out to one of our favorite little Italian restaurants. It’s not a popular chain just a mom and pop run family restaurant.  They have the best chicken Parmesan and meatballs in the world. I always have to get one of the two each and every time I go there. Today, I had a Cesar salad, chicken Parmesan, and I even saved room for dessert. We had cannolis with most delicious cream and black coffee to wash it all down.

It really was a great surprise to have him just show up and take me out to lunch. I’m going to have to think of something really special to do for him as a thank you and just because I love him too!

What are some of the special things that your significant other has done for you?

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What to do with Thanksgiving Leftovers

Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Sandwich
image credit: kthread

I recently did a post about ways to make over mac & cheese to turn it into something new and delicious by adding a few ingredients.  I found another gal that posted how she is going to turn her Thanksgiving leftovers into something new.  She is going to make Shepard’s Pie and some very yummy looking Buffalo Turkey Taquitos.  I can’t wait to try some of those recipes out myself.  I think my husband will really love the spicy buffalo turkey taquitos.  He loves all things hot and spicy so they really should be a big hit in our house.

I love Thanksgiving but, I don’t like to eat the same thing over and over and over after a big holiday meal. That is exactly what happens every year if I don’t put in some effort and get creative.  I hate to see all of the extra food go to waste after we all get sick and tired of eating the same meal over and over. Hopefully these new ideas will inspire me to try something new every year instead of having the standard turkey sandwich.

What do you do with your Thanksgiving leftovers?  I’d love to hear how you turn boring leftovers into something delicious so that none of your food goes to waste.

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Halloween Candy Buy Back

Are you worried about your kids eating too much Halloween Candy in the upcoming weeks?  Well, Operation Gratitude has an amazing program where you can bring your Halloween candy to registered dentists offices and they will buy it back from you for $1 a pound.  They then send all of the candy to our military troops in holiday care packages. This year they are working towards sending 60,000 care packages and they literally need tons of candy to fill all of the packages.

This would be an amazing opportunity for you and your children to support our troops, and prevent them from getting crazy sugar highs and or lots of cavities.  They’ll even get a few bucks in the process and can maybe use that money to purchase something that will last instead of the consumable candy that will most likely be gone in a few days.

**DENTISTS CAN SEND ALL CANDY TO:

OPERATION GRATITUDE/ CA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD 
17330 VICTORY BLVD.
VAN NUYS, CA 91406
ATTN: RICH HERNANDEZ / 262-674-7281
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5 Quick and Easy Meals for a Family

On days when I’m exhausted after a long day at work or a day of fun for the family I loo for quick and easy meals to feed my family.  I have a few go to meals that don’t really take any time at all that the kids love and so do I.

1. Pasta – all your have to do is boil water and toss in some pasta.  It’s done in about 20 minutes or so when you include waiting for the water to boil.  It is pretty effortless because you can walk away and do other things like change your clothes, vacuum  unload the dishwasher, or put away the laundry.

2. Couscous, garbanzo beans and a veggie – couscous literally takes 5 minutes to cook.  I start the water for the couscous, open a can of garbanzo beans and toss them in a pan with a few spices and let them heat up.  I add a steamed veggie that I can put in the microwave to cook at the same time. Everything is done and on the table in under 10 minutes.

3. Stir Fry – thinly slicked meats and veggies cook really fast and are delicious with your favorite stir fry sauce.  I like to serve it with minute rice on nights like these when I’m tired.

4. Soup and Sandwiches – a favorite of my family is grilled cheese and tomato soup.

5. Quesadillas – I always have lots of shredded cheese on hand. My kids also love to eat anything in a tortilla so I always buy them in bulk.  I can turn out a few quesadillas in minutes if I toss them under the broiler and then slice them up like pizzas.

 

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Five Foods I’d Hate To Live Without

I was having a conversation with a friend and we were discussing what our favorite foods are.  Then we talked about which foods we couldn’t live without. We had some differences but this is what I came up with.

1. Chocolate: I don’t think I’d want to live without chocolate of course; it’s my ultimate favorite food.  It makes me happy and is just so darn delicious.  It would have to be dark chocolate too; none of that icky milk chocolate nonsense.

2. Chips and Salsa: I know that really sounds like two foods but I always think of it as one item.  I can’t ever seem to get enough.  When ever I go to a Mexican restaurant they have to bring a few extra bowls of the chips and salsa because we always devour them.

3. Avocado: Another favorite of mine that is just oh so divine.  I love them plain, in guacamole, on food, in food. You name I love  the creamy goodness that is the Hass avocado.

4. Coffee: Not for the caffeine, but for the flavor.  I just love a great cup of coffee. Decaff is absolutely fine as long as the flavor is bold, rich, and smooth I’ll be a happy camper.

5. Bread: Who doesn’t love bread?  There is soo much you can do with bread.  Make sandwiches, toast, puddings, stuffing, and soo much more.  I’ve only ever come across one bread I don’t like and that’s Rye.  For some reason the anise in is grosses me out.

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Do You Need Coffee to Wake Up in the Morning?

Regular or decaf? That is the question. Are you one of those people that absolutely must have a cup of coffee in the morning in order to wake up? I used to be. I’m not anymore. I make sure to get a good 8 solid hours of sleep every night. Then when I get up in the morning instead of relying on coffee to wake me up I like to take a shower.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy a cup of joe in the morning, it just doesn’t have to be caffeinated. As long as it tastes good I’m absolutely fine with decaf. I invest in quality coffee and haven’t had a problem with poor flavor in my decaf coffee at all.

I know I don’t need coffee to wake up in the morning. If you are one of those people that do need coffee in the morning, what would your day be like without your coffee? I’d love to hear from you.

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Food to Toss on the Grill

It’s summer and our grills are out and ready to be used. I like to toss all kinds of food on the grill, not just your average meat like hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks. I’ve been known to make entire meals on the grill. There is nothing wrong with using a pan on the grill in order to make a side dish to accompany your meal.

Grilled fruit is absolutely divine. I like to eat it along side a big giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. Pineapple is one of my favorites. Peaches and nectarines grill up pretty great as well.

What kind of food do you like to cook on your grill? I’d love to hear any tips and tricks you might have.