Common Sense *optional*

I was just looking up some recipes on the internet and found the following:

BREAKFAST BURRITO RECIPE

1 medium zuchinni, sliced
1/4 lb (or so) mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 4 ounce carton liquid fake eggs
1/2 cup non fat cottage cheese
tortillas (optional)

That one will go right next to my Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich -bread optional- recipe.

Come on people – break out the common sense every once in a while!

I cannot comment on it any further – it pains me…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had a TOTAL epiphany about something this week and now I can’t remember what it was…? Dang it – there I was, hovering on the cusp of brilliance and I’ve gone and forgotten the whole thing. One more reason why I should be writing everything down as it happens. I should just use a voice recorder when I need to remember a funny story/stroke of brilliance etc…*oddly enough, all of my embarrassing moments are PERMANENTLY seared into my brain* I just feel like a giant ding-dong when I’m recording my life on a voice recorder "Star date 03 dot 13 dot 08: My kids are whacked but in my brilliance, I have invented a device that will propel me into immeasurable fame and wealth…"

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, my husband has a trustee board meeting to attend tonight so he will race home to be here for an hour and then head back to the church for a few hours. Which is okay – at least we live close enough to church now that he has a little time to come home before the meeting. But here is the dilemma:

Option #1: Remain home alone with 4 children and put them to bed promptly at 8pm

Option #2: Attend homeschool meeting taking place at the church at the same time as Hubby’s meeting and put my kids in the FREE childcare while I relax and hang out with other homeschool moms.

In theory, option #2 sounds more appealing -except- it requires hauling four children out of the house and into the rain and then not getting home from the church until at least 9:30pm – probably later – thus getting them to bed two hours later. I’m not a giant bedtime stickler, I just figure why not have peace and quiet 2 hours earlier if at all possible?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I tried a really good recipe for breakfast today: Baked Oatmeal. I had never heard of it before, well – probably because up until the past year, oatmeal was never a HUGE part of my life. But, I’ve been trying to incorporate some variety to my children’s daily routine of either cold cereal or bagels. Here is the recipe, it turned out great:

Baked Oatmeal

1 C. applesauce
1 ½ C. sugar (can reduce) – I used brown sugar
1 C. egg substitute
6 C. oats
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 C. nonfat milk
Combine all ingredients in order listed. Pour into greased 9×13-inch pan. Bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned. Can refrigerate overnight before baking. Serve topped with butter, brown sugar, and milk.

 Yields: Approximately 12 servings

 I cut mine into 24 servings which made just about the right sized "kid" servings. It was really good with just the tiniest amount of butter on top (less than 1 teaspoon) and a sprinkle of brown sugar. I didn’t put the milk on top of it, but I did put blueberries on top and THAT was so good! I would have mixed blueberries in it, but I knew all 4 kids would have a royal freak attack if it contain "hot fruit". You could mix in raisins, or blueberries, or cranberries or just about any other kind of fruit you like. Oh yeah – I mixed almonds into the recipe before I cooked it.

I figured out the calories – not including whatever you put on top of it are: 114 calories per slice if you cut it into 24 pieces / or 228 calories if you cut it into 12 pieces with less than 1 gram of fat per serving.

[The original recipe called for oil and eggs, but I changed it to be lower/no fat.]
I got the recipe from:  moneysavingmom.com  which just happens to be my NEW favorite website!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The surprise 40th birthday party last weekend was great!! The birthday girl was COMPLETELY shocked! She thought she was going out to dinner with a friend "K". "K" had picked her up and said she had to make a pit-stop to drop off a meal (to a family that had 2 family members who had surgery that week -the surgery part was actually true, so she totally believed it!) There were about 35-40 people waiting for her when she came to the door! Here are some pics…

This is a shot of some of the decorations:

Here is one of me with the birthday girl:

Instead of candles, I got sparklers in the shape of a "4" and a "0". It was very festive!! Although, I would recommend lighting BOTH candles at the same time because they take forever to light and the "4" was half done by the time I got the "0" lit:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hmn, I just realized I never posted pics of Captain Hazard’s dragon cake. Okay, well – that’ll have to be another entry…