Recipe of the day

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb ground beef

1 chopped large onion

1 clove crushed garlic

1 - 6 oz can tomato paste

2 - 16 oz cans tomato sauce

2 - 16 oz cans chopped tomatoes (I use Del Monte's Flavored chopped tomatos)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons dried oregano

sugar to taste (between a tsp and a tbsp... you want it to cut the acidity but not to be too sweet)

On high setting, fry ground beef and onion in oil, until ground beef is brown. Drain fat.Set burner on low and add rest of ingredients in order given, stirring each in as you go.Cover and simmer for at least an hour (the longer you simmer the better it is!).

This is best served the next day and it freezes well.
Notes: Feel free to add a large can of mushrooms and extra garlic.If you like a thicker sauce, drain the chopped tomatoes and simmer sauce with the lid half off of the pot to let the steam escape.

Cheryl's Cheese Bread

1 cup mayo

1 cup shredded cheese

1/2 cup green onions

1 loaf french bread

In large bowl, mix 1st 3 ingredients.Slice loaf in half lengthwise.Spread mixture on both halves. Broil until brown and toasted

Just DO it!

So I'm gonna get preachy here for a moment. After a few interesting days recently with someone who is leading a pretty miserable existance, I feel the need to climb on my soapbox.

I have a people person job, no doubt about it. I have multiple opportunities every day to affect someone's life, (in a good or bad way, but mostly good LOL) so I'm lucky in a way. I get to make a difference and see the reward of that action. You the average Joe may not have it so easy to make a difference in someone's life. I'm not talking about family, I'm talking about strangers. There are sooo many "needy" people out there and I'm not talking about needy in the monitary sense. I'm talking needy in spirit. When you're hating on life as we all do at times, isn't it nice when someone does something unexpected for you? Someone recently gave me .40 when I was short at the coffee shop, that was very unexpected and very appreciated as it literally was my last 2 bucks. Some blessed soul at Costco took pity on me and let me go ahead of them when I only had milk and then the guy in front of the guy that let me go ahead, let me go ahead of him too! Bless those two, I'd have been in line for 20 minutes at least. These are the kind of things I'm talking about. If your miserable if life, do something nice for someone and it WILL make you feel better. Volunteer somewhere. It doesn't cost you anything. Go to a nursing home with your favorite book and read to a resident there. Think of what kind of difference you'd make in that person's life. Volunteer for meals on wheels. Make and package dinners for low income seniors. You don't have to drive them but you'd be an asset to the organization just helping with the preparing of the meals. There are sooo many things you can do for your fellow human beings. Maybe if we did more of these things we'd all be happier in life. I'm tired of the bemoaning of society as a whole. Get off your ass and do something to CHANGE it! Don't wait for the next person to do it. Get your kids involved too, show them that we do things for others because it's the right thing to do. I gotta tell ya, more and more colleges and universities are actually requiring prospective students to do volunteer work. If you start your kids doing it now, it won't be a burden to do it then, when they may need to.

I know people are busy, I KNOW busy but there isn't any reason you can't find a couple of hours in your week or month to do something. Do you need suggestions? Email me and I'll give you suggestions. You don't need to commit to every week or anything. How about once a month? Every other month. Do something. Make it a priority to do something today, tomorrow or this week. DO IT! I promise you'll get more back from it than you know. You'll make a difference in someones life and remember, what goes around comes around.

Recipe of the day

Grilled Asian Burgers with Onion and Pineapple

Servings: 4
Grilled pineapple adds a wonderful sweet balance to these slightly salty burgers.

Ingredients

1 pound uncooked ground beef

1/4 cup scallion(s), sliced

3 Tbsp teriyaki sauce

1 Tbsp ginger root, freshly grated

2 tsp minced garlic

4 slice pineapple, four 1/2-inch-thick rings

1/2 medium Vidalia onion(s), or other sweet onion, cut into four 1/4-inch-thick rounds

4 sprays cooking spray

1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped


Preheat grill or grill pan to medium-high.

In a medium bowl, combine beef, scallions, teriyaki sauce, ginger and garlic until thoroughly mixed; form into four 3/4-inch-thick patties.
Lightly coat burgers, pineapple and onion with cooking spray; place on grill. (Make sure to spray them away from heat.)

Grill pineapple, turning once until lightly charred, about 4 minutes; remove from grill. Grill burgers and onions, turning once, until burgers are desired degree of doneness and onions are lightly charred and tender, about 7 to 9 minutes.

To serve, place 1 burger on each of 4 plates. Top each with 1 slice of onion (separated into rings) and 1 slice of pineapple; sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of cilantro. Yields 1 burger per serving.

Chips Ahoy Dessert

1/2 cup f/f milk
18 reduced fat Chips Ahoy Cookies
2 cups f/f milk
1 8 oz. f/f Cool Whip
1 sm. box choc. inst. pudding mix

Pour 1/2 c. of the milk in a shallow bowl. Dip a cookie in the milk very briefly and line an 8 x 8 dish with them. Take 1/2 the Cool Whip and spread over cookies. Mix the choc. pudding with 2 c. milk. Layer over top of C. W. Dip next 9 cookies in the milk and lay on top of pudding. Top with remaining C.W. Refrig 2 hours (best - 8 hrs)

9 servings 3 pts each

Recipe of the day

Here's a easy dinner that is yummy and low in fat! Who doesn't love the crockpot?

Crock Pot Brunswick Stew

2 large onions, chopped
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cans (15 oz each) creamed corn
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 bottle (12 oz) chili sauce (not cocktail sauce)
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
¼ c. Worcestershire sauce
2-4 T. RF margarine, cut up
2 T. cider vinegar
2 t. dry mustard
½ t. salt
½ t. pepper
½ hot sauce

Place onion in crock pot. Place chicken over onion.

Add remaining ingredients.

Cook on high 4 hours or low 5-6, till chicken is tender.

Remove chicken, shred, and return to stew.

Makes 3-1/2 quarts.

For dessert, a yummy peach cobbler. Remember, if it has fruit in it, it's healthy no matter how much butter is in the recipe!

Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler
2 cups fresh peaches, sliced
1 stick butter
1 tsp baking powder
1-3/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
Combine peaches and 3/4 cup sugar. Let stand 20 minutes. Melt butter in 1-1/2 qt baking dish in oven. Sift flour and 1 cup sugar and baking powder. Add milk and stir briskly. Lumps will remain. Pour into baking dish of melted butter. Top with peaches. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

This Rocks! / 'Tis Crap!

This ROCKS!

Hillshire Farms entree salad in Turkey/Cranberry. I love this salad! It comes with all the fixins for a meal. All you have to do is add the lettuce. I highly suggest using fresh baby spinach. The F/F Raspberry dressing that's included is the BOMB!! This makes a GREAT lunch, very quick and easy to throw together.

Aunt Mids Creamy Slaw dressing: Holy mother of pearl, I've died and gone to heaven. I stumbled on this hidden gem while at Hiller's picking up a few things. There was someone there sampling the new line of dressings and I initially declined a sample thinking that why waste the fat when I could waste it on something chocolate but then I heard her tell someone that it was low fat. I asked how low fat and she said 1 gram. Wha? 1 gram??? She had a salad that she was sampling with the dressing and Oh Ma Gawd...Oh Ma Gawd...it's fabulous. It's beyond fabulous, it's amazing. Don't mistake that the dressing is only to be used on coleslaw, no no no. I used it on a salad with baby spinach, dried cranberries, toasted almonds and a smidge of feta cheese. Oh yes, I'm in love. This relationship will last for a looooooong time. Run....RUN to get this stuff before I buy it all up.

Proactive Advanced Blemish Treatment: Oh my, this stuff is AWESOME! It comes in a small tube (.33oz) but you only need a smidge of this to get rid of your zit like overnight. Yes you heard me, overnight and that's no lie. It's worth every penny.

'Tis Crap!

Target pharmacy actually charges you to add flavoring to a child's medicine. What BS is that?! Every other pharmacy I've ever been to does it as a courtesy to their customers but not Target, so siree. Expect to add an additional $3.00 to your bill for their flavorings. You bet I fired off a hate email to their corporate office. I told them that I had a very big mouth and wasn't afraid to use it so they'd better re-think that charge the customer for flavoring policy.

Jergins Natural Glow daily moisturizer: You started out as a "This Rocks!" but you quickly dropped to "Tis Crap!" because you're streaky no matter how careful I am at putting you on. You get freshly shaved limbs and you still streak like a mo-fo. What's up with that? The ONLY reason I'll still use you is because I refuse to pay $6 for something and only use it a handful of times. Hear this, when you're gone, you're GONE!

No Pudge Brownie Mix: Wow...I had wayyy high expectations for this product. I've heard from so many people just how good it was. I tried it. Ummmmm....tis crap. Really yucky. First, it stuck soooo bad in the pan even after cooling off over night and even though I sprayed the pan before baking. Second, it was so dense, I used it to plug holes in my foundation. The brownies are so bad even OWEN won't eat them! That's bad...srsly...that kid eats anything sweet.

Can someone explain this to me?

What is the purpose of Pampers Feel and Learn "diaper"? (they call them learning pants, but let's call a spade a spade, it's a diaper) Pampers says "Feel wet liner lets you feel wet immediately like real underwear!" Here's a news flash: IF YOU FEEL WET, IT'S TOO LATE TO GET TO THE POTTY. Seriously, if your "training" the kid to potty train, letting him/her feel wet, THEN getting to the potty is waaaaaay too late. Oh and one of the other diaper companies came out with a training pant *cough-diaper* that allows the kid to feel a "cool sensation" on their privates in order to get them to the potty. Niiice. My kid is already obsesses with his privates so I could see him dumping cups of water in his training pant in order to feel the cooling sensation.

Oh and here's a big STFU shout out to The One Uppers who want to tell you repeatedly how their kid was potty trained at birth or whatever the frick. I don't give a shit when your kid was p/t, I'm only concerned with the hell that I'm in now.

bwhahahaha! Ya right!

Look at this menu for one of the Walt Disney World restaurants KIDS menu:

Kid's Picks


Appetizers:
Celery and Carrot Sticks
Smoked Fish Chowder
Lobster Soup

Entrees:
Grilled Mahi Mahi
Grilled Chicken Breast
Macaroni and Cheese

are you kidding me? Smoked Fish Chowder, Lobster soup, Grilled Mahi Mahi....for my kids???? Bwhahahahahahahahaha!

It's nice to see Mickey Mouse has a sense of humor.

Boobs Rock!!

If you don't believe me, come on out on June 16th and see for yourself! Support breast cancer research with this rockin' benefit for the Angels of Hope walking team.

Just too damn funny not to post

Have you seen this?

OMG...could this chick get any richer??? LOL!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aLHAFvn.x8hQ&refer=us&sa_campaign=search_engine/feedcast/google/Bloomberg_US/harry_potter_theme_park

I have to admit, it'd be the absolute BOMB!

Disney who?