Healthy eating. . .

I have been trying to eat better and fix healthier meals for the family. I have recently purchased a juicer. I love fresh veggies. I think because Mark does not eat a lot of veggies I have gotten away from eating them so much. Not a good thing at all. This has been going on since we started dating. So over the last seventeen years my good healthy diet that I had in college and before we met has gone to the dogs. Now I was not on a super healthy diet or anything but I ate a lot better then than I do now. I would like to get back to my better diet, hence the juicer.

My mom always used to make this vegetable spread with carrots, cucumbers, onion and cream cheese. It was one of my favorites even as a child. I used to carry it to school in my lunch in kindergarten. Now that I have my juicer, I juice my carrots and cucumbers together and drink their juice then I make my vegetable spread with their pulp. The juice is really good and of course I love my veggie spread. Jack tried my carrot juice and he did not like it very much. Mark was not to keen on the idea either until I fixed him a fresh glass of grape juice. He really liked it. I got my grapes at the Farmers' Market and they were seedless. It did not take many grapes to get a 6 oz glass of fresh juice. You know you hear all about the great effects of wine on your health I think this way it is even better. A small amount of alcohol can slow your metabolism down by as much as 50%. I read that in one of my magazines. So by juicing you are getting the best of both worlds. Yeah!!

Since I have been changing every ones diet my kids don't know what to think. Thomas asked the other day if we were going to have any meat for dinner. I laughed because I had not planned on any meat. I told him it was meatless Tuesday. He replied, "but we did not have any meat on Monday." I told him that was because it was meatless Monday. No, I am not trying to make my kids vegetarians but I am trying to get them to eat a variety of things. Last night we did have grilled chicken. Mark is a master on the grill. The other nights we had fresh zucchini over pasta (Italian) and on Tuesday we had zucchini with snow pea pods (Japanese) along with bow tie pasta (from the Barefoot Contessa).

We have ballgames and ball practice these next few days so the healthy eating may be a little less than healthy. See you at the ball field.

Physical . . .

Ok, I went for my physical on Monday. Not the Gyn one but the regular blood, blood pressure, ect. . . The PA told me I was ok. I even had an EKG and it was normal. Now I have to schedule that ever popular mammogram. Or, as I like to call it the booby smasher. Sorry, that was childish wasn't it. We all have to have them done and with May approaching I guess it is as good a time as any. May is Pampered Chefs' Help Whip Cancer Month. We donate money to the American Cancer Society (ACS) every May for a special set of products that are pink. A $1 from each one goes back to the ACS for help with education materials.

More than 180,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Breast Cancer is considered a womans disease but nearly 1,000 men receive a diagnosis of breast cancer annually. I encourage all of you ladies to get your mammograms and your annual physicals even the Gyn ones. Early detection is the key. I feel very strongly about all this because I have several family members affected by breast cancer. If anyone needs help with paying for their mammograms their is help for that too. www.breastcancerrelief.org this group offers assistance to women in need.

We have a winner. . .

I have been trying new recipes out on my family the last several weeks and I think I found a keeper this time. I am trying to get my kids to eat something other than chicken nuggets (Jack) and cereal (Thomas). The poor little things have been made to eat zucchini, pasta, and regular old spaghetti. I was watching the foodnetwork the other night and the Barefoot Contessa was on. She usually is making something hard but this time it looked pretty simple. I am all about simple in the kitchen. She was making pesto pasta and something else I don't remember. I thought the pesto pasta looked really good. So yesterday I went to the Farmers' Market to get some fresh produce and some other goodies.

We played in the yard yesterday until 7pm. It was such a beautiful day I hated to be indoors. I ran in and began dinner. Here is what we had:

Bow tie pasta cooked per box
Knorr pesto sauce prepared by package

throw them together and top with fresh Parmesan cheese and there ya go.

The Barefoot Contessas' recipe was a little more complicated than that so I just adjusted it so it would be simple.

This makes a huge bowl of pasta. That was our dinner. The kids loved it. Yeah, I know I was shocked too. Thomas even talked about how much he liked the little bow ties. It was a big hit at my house. This can be eaten cold or hot. We ate ours warm. On the TV they were doing theirs cold with some veggies on top. I really thought I was pushing my luck with the pesto so I did not add the veggies. I will try that one next time.

If you like the foodnetwork you can go to their website: www.foodnetwork.com and find any of the recipes the hosts are doing on TV or find out what they will be doing later in the week.

Until we eat again. . .

Beth this one is for you. . .

I read your "Monster Spray" blog and had to laugh. I can beat that one. When Jack was younger, ok he is only 9 now this was when he was about 3. He got scared one night and did not want to go to bed. Now, this is when our bedroom is right across the hall from his. He still did not want to go to bed.

Most days I can't remember my own name. But for some reason this particular night I was thinking on my feet, pretty quick I might add. I told Jack that monsters did not like loud noises and parents. I told him I knew of a dance that would get rid of the monsters. As parents it is important to be quick on our feet and sometimes do silly things in the name of a good nights rest.

This particular night I was in desperate need of a good nights sleep. I told him I knew of a chant to get rid of monsters. He said, "Oh Mommy please get rid of the monsters." So I began to hop on one foot around in a circle and yell at the top of my lungs, "All you monsters get out of my house NOW!!!!!" I twirled around and continued the chant. I clapped my hands really loud too for emphasis. Jack looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Wow, mommy that was good."

We had a good nights sleep from that point on. So Ladies and gentlemen sometimes in the name of sleep we have to be silly for our kids. If that means our house smells like a country garden or if we have to dance and chant a little it is ok. Your kids will use the same tactics when they have kids too.

Happy Easter!

We went to several different Easter programs this year at Church. We went to our Churches' Good Friday Service and it was very moving. We had different people in the Church that read scripture of what happened on that Friday. There were twelve candles lit on our main table at the front of the Church and as the folks read the snuffed out the candles. This symbolized the twelve disciples turning their backs on Jesus. We had one big candle and it symbolized Jesus. After all of the readings and all of the candles except the big one were extinguished they blew out the big one and the sanctuary was dark. This was very sad. It showed in a simplistic way how the disciples must have felt after they had turned their back on Jesus.

On Saturday one of my neighbors Churches did their Easter program and I went to that one too. They acted out the last days of Jesus. It was very touching. I cried through most of it. You do not realize what Jesus went through for us until you see it acted out in front of you. It went from the garden where Jesus was arrested, to Pilate having him flogged, and then crucified. I have read the story many times but to actually see what they did and how they did it. It really touches my heart that he loved us so much that he suffered so much for us. It is really something to see this acted out.

This was on my heart this morning.

Easter Eggs

Ok, so I am late doing my eggs. I boiled them yesterday and we dyed them today. I did 13 eggs and Jack asked, "Mommy why did you do so many?" I told him usually they crack in the boiling and I only get half of what I boil. Well, this time I did it a little different. I put the eggs in cold water and put them on the burner on low. I let them gently warm on low then I gradually increased the heat this way they do not crack. I am usually rushing around and I hurry my eggs to boil and they crack and usually make ugly deviled eggs.

Today we dyed all 13 eggs. None of them cracked. Yeah!!! The kids each got six to dye and Mark got one. He is such a big kid. When we were getting the dye ready he reminded me of the times before we had kids and we still dyed eggs. Yes, we dyed eggs before we had kids. We are still just kids at heart.

Happy dyeing to you all. Happy Easter

The News. . .

Ok, I just saw on the news that the NC Department of revenue is holding tax refund checks because they want to make sure the budget balances before they send them out. I am all for a balanced budget because I don't think they have ever had one. My question is: Would they wait 3-6 months while I balanced my personal budget before I paid them what I owed? I don't think so. I think they would probably send the law after me. Yet I have to wait to get what is rightfully mine to begin with. Yes, I am on my political high horse this morning. This business about waiting to balance the budget is a lot of you know what.

If you or I ran a business the way the government is run today they would all go under. Maybe that is the problem with the car industry. Maybe they have been running it the way the folks in Washington and the folks in Raleigh are running things. Hummm???? Kinda makes you think.

I am not pointing blame on anyone. We did not get this way overnight and it is not going to change that quick either. We did not get this way in 8years either. This has been a long line of miss management. I don't think throwing good money after bad is the answer either. I am referring to the bail out. When the company that was bailed out spent a whopping amount of money to "treat" it's CEOs', the ones that got them into the mess to begin with, to a spa retreat. Now how stupid is that?

I ask you, If you got money from your grandma to bail you out of a bind would you go and treat yourself to a beach trip? I hope not or grandma would probably come and get you.

Sorry for the rant but I had to get this off my chest.