free rice

Want to improve your vocabulary? Play Free Rice and feed a hungry person at the same time. From the website:

FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program. Our partner is the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

FreeRice has two goals:

1.Provide education to everyone for free.
2.Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

For every word you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice. This game is addicting! At least to me it is. And if you are already a smarty pants know it all, they also have math, science, geography, art history, other languages and more. You can also put a button on your blog for easy access and to get others in on the fun.

food updates

I haven't been making any original recipes or anything lately. I've been eating boring ole healthy foods and snacks. I did eat more junk than I would've liked to during the holidays, and have made some big fitness and health goals that I am working on. I am also busy preparing for a local healthy cooking class I'll be teaching at the end of this month. I will be doing a demo on hummus and ways to use it, and talking about feeding our children healthy snacks and lunches, the resources I use such as websites, blogs, cookbooks, etc. to find inspiration for ideas and showing bento products and how to arrange them. It should be fun.

I'm going to start doing Menu Plan Monday again. I have noticed that t helps us with our healthy eating habits, and our grocery budget when I plan ahead and you can find lots of ideas through the links of others doing it.

I did get Pioneer Woman's cookbook for Christmas, which is one of the things I wanted. Here are the recipes I've tried:

Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes. OMG these are good! They melt in your mouth and are just delightful. LOVE these. This recipe has now replaced my Fly Off the Plate pancakes, which are also very good and also use sour cream, but these pancakes are much more simple. It uses 1 cup of sour cream and just 7 Tablespoons of flour. You should definitely give these a try. You can find pictures and the recipe here at the Noshery.

Beans and Cornbread (page 101): This recipe is also on her website. This was good. One of those filling, comfort foods.

Tomato Basil Pizza (page 112): This is one of our favorites! This is also on her website.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes (146): Good golly these were good! And you wanna know why? Because there was almost 2 sticks of butter, and a package of cream cheese. Wow. And then we paired it up with her meatloaf (150). FANTASTIC!! You cover it with bacon. Out. of. control. Next time I make it however, I think I will precook the bacon and then make it in muffin tins and sprinkle the bacon on top of each cup and then cover it with the sauce. Yeah, these two recipes are hard on the ticker for sure!

That's all for now. That's a cookbook to pull out occasionally.

my favorite breakfast

I grew up in a little town called Somis in Southern California. This is a little agricultural community north of Los Angeles and South of Santa Barbara in Ventura County. The perfect location. It was filled with lemon, lime, grapefruit, avocado, and orange trees. There were also many strawberry fields and other produce surrounding this little place. I haven't lived here in years or even visited, but everyone says it has changed so much and what used to be acres of citrus trees is now developed.

We lived way out far from any neighbors on 42 acres of the above mentioned trees. In the mornings my mother would sometimes send one of us kids outside to pick a few grapefruits and avocados. We would often have grapefruit and avocado on toast for breakfast. Some days we picked oranges and made orange juice. This was just everyday normal to me. Now that I don't have that, I realize how much I took that for granted. These are the very items I purchase at the grocery stores and farmer markets.

This is just a food memory post I guess. I miss Somis. I miss California. I miss fresh produce picked directly off the tree.

I don't have the energy to research this, but grapefruit supposedly:

• boosts your metabolism and aids in weight loss
• cures migraines ( i tried it once and it worked, but it could be the "placebo effect")
• lowers cholesterol
• prevents kidney stones
• protects against certain types of cancers

It also just so happens to be my favorite scent. I love grapefruit scented lotions, soaps, lip glosses, perfumes, candles, etc. The Body Shop has some nice grapefruit items. This is my favorite perfume. It doesn't have grapefruit essences in it, but it smells citrusy and grapefruity to me anyway. I've been wearing this since I was 16 or 17. I LOVE it.

What's your typical daily breakfast?

edamame is soy crazy

My kids love eating edamame. And I had always heard that it is super good and nutritious for you. But then recently I heard that unfermented soy has high levels of estrogen which is really bad for you if you are a boy (rumor is that it will make a boy gay), an infant, or if you want to get pregnant. I know you can't believe everything that you read on the internet, but all the research I've done is that soy is either the best choice you can make nutritionally, or essentially soy is the devil. I know that ut is used a lot in Japan, Korea, and China, but apparently they use the "safe" kind. Basically, I don't know what to think about it now. We don't do soy milk or other soy products except for this, so I don't feel too worried, but I am curious what the truth is. Soy is all the rage, that's for sure. Not just soy milk either. If you buy any processed foods, you will notice the majority of the time that it will say in bold print something like; May Contain wheat, soy, and egg . Common sense tells me that it's best to just eat from scratch, or from what you grow. Or as Jillian from the biggest loser puts it, "If it doesn't come from the ground, or doesn't have a mother, then don't put it in your mouth" (or something like that-this is from the top of my head). But soy beans are from the ground. Maybe they're not meant to be eaten in this way, but prepared a certain way first.

guy food

Here is an example of something my husband makes when he is hungry. This is why he doesn't do any of the cooking for our family. He calls it the "Delgado Slim". If you know your Spanish, the direct translation of this would be the "Slim Slim". The following pictures and instructions are from his own mouth.

Here's what you need:

One hot dog (I used a ball park frank because they're endorsed by his airness himself Michael Jordan and yes, you will jump higher if you eat this hot dog).

One tortilla

Some cheese (I used medium Cheddar).

Ketchup.

First, select your dog and place it on a microwave safe plate. Microwave that frank for 30 seconds.

While you're microwaving the dog, shred some cheese.

When your dog comes out of the microwave it may look a little deformed, like when Bruce Banner turns into the Incredible Hulk. Don't worry it just makes it more manly and full of flavor that way.

Now take the dog and place it on the tortilla towards one side. Cover it with the shredded cheese and microwave the whole thing for 30 more seconds.

This may look weird but trust me, it's awesome.

Remove it form the microwave and add a line of ketchup parallel to the dog, roll that sucker up, and enjoy!

Now there is one known variation to the Delgado Slim. If you use Bar S brand Turkey Dog, it becomes a Gordo Fatty Monstro. I lived off of the Delgado Slim for 3 months in the bad part of El Paso Texas. I love this food!

Would you eat this? Does this look/sound good to you? Maybe I'll post some of his other atrocities every now and then. I think it's hilarious.

behind the name

image taken from cakewrecks

I love cake wrecks. If you haven't browsed through this website, you really should.

I've been planning HF's graduation party and I remembered seeing this cake a few weeks ago. Hilarious. I think it was a groom's cake, but wouldn't this be an awesome graduation cake? I'll probably just stick to the original idea. The badge-shaped cake.

I know that cops are given a hard time about liking donuts, but really, who doesn't like donuts? I just so happen to love them. Especially when I'm pregnant. Unfortunately, I crave donuts like no other. HF loves donuts too. In fact, one night while the kids were sleeping, we got one of each kind of donut sold at Krispy Kreme. We cut each one in half and held our own taste test. Pretty pathetic, but we had fun even though we felt like throwing up after a few and our mouths felt numb, and I got dizzy from the sugar rush. Anyway, I love making and eating donuts. Mom and Pop donut shops are the best.

So that's sort of why my food blog says, "feeding and nurturing my family one meal at a time and trying to lay off the donuts". I really am trying to lay off the donuts, but it's hard because they taste so good!

take 5

Hershey's TAKE 5 is my favorite candybar right now. It's got everything. Pretzels, caramel, peanuts, peanut butter, and milk chocolate. YUM. Sweet and salty, nothing overpowering any of the other ingredients.

Candy Blog gave it a 5 out of 10 rating. She said it was one of her favorite candy bars at first, but she thought that they quickly stale and that they would be much better and get a much higher rating if it were made out of real chocolate once again instead of Hershey's new mockolate.

I still enjoy it, but then again I don't taste candy for a living and haven't a distinguished or refined taste for fancy cacoa, or whatever all those new chocolate products are.

eat your vegetables

I'm usually willing to try something different. I had brussel sprouts for the first time. YUCK. I tried to like them. I ate a bunch. But YUCK. But of course being the good mother I am, I said, "MMmmmm" with every bite. Just for my kids. I don't think it worked anyway. They look like little cabbages, but they taste like pungent, nutty, rottenness. Maybe they would taste good if they were prepared in another way. What is it with my family and their Belgian cooking?! I feel healthy as a horse since being here though.

a few of baby #3's favorite things

This pregnancy has been pretty bad as far as cravings go. Here are a few of Cletus the Fetus's favorite things:

homemade smoothies, trail mix, Goodwood BBQ restaurant, Simply Lemonade (it's worth it even if I get acid reflux), nectarines, dairy products, Kneaders Bakery & Cafe, grapes, bagels and cream cheese, watermelon (any fruit for that matter), haagen dazs ice cream (especially chocolate and peanut butter even though it gives me heartburn), honey roasted cashews, gyros (any greek, mediterranean, or Indian food actually), Breyers ice cream, chocolate covered cinnamon bears (heartburn city), pf chang's lettuce wraps, raspberry and cream cheese-filled croissants (any fine pastry will do actually), Cheetos Natural White Cheddar Cheese Puffs, and See's Candies.

toast

I've been reading this Betty Crocker cookbook from 1957. I've noticed in these old cookbooks that people used to make some strange things. In the breakfast section, it has something called Toast Toppers. Have you ever tried any of these?

Orange Sugar: Blend 1 tablespoon soft butter and 3 tablespoons sifted confectioners' sugar. Stir in 1 teaspoon grated orange rind and 1 teaspoon orange juice. Spread on unbuttered toast.

Raisin Peanut Butter: Mix 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter, 2 tablespoons chopped seedless raisins, 2 tablespoons orange juice. Spread on hot toast.

Cranberry: Spread hot toast with cranberry jelly. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Cinnamon mix: Combine 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle on hot buttered toast.

Caramel Coconut: Blend 1 tablespoon soft butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flaked coconut. Spread on unbuttered toast and toast under broiler until it bubbles.

Toppers that I've had on toast:

Cinnamon Mix

Peanut Butter

avocado mashed with salt and pepper

eggs

jam

Probably the avocado one is the most "unusual" I've had. What do you people put on your toast?

you are what you eat

My friend Stephanie sent me this email. I think it's pretty cool.

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.


Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .. It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemica l cons tituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Grapefruits, Oranges , and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes