Wednesday, February 28, 2007

HG's Must Haves For Your Kitchen....

1.Pam Cooking Spray:
They say: A spritz of this stuff can save you crazy amounts of calories and fat grams when whipping up your favorite dish. Ooooh, and they have "fun" flavors too.
I say: I do agree, this is a "must have".
2. Steamer.
They say:
Steaming foods ROCKS. First off, it helps to retain the vitamins and other good-for-you stuff found in natural foods. Secondly, it's super-easy to do. And, best of all, it's a great low-cal and low-fat cooking method, since you don't need to add any oil, sauce, or butter to get going.
I say:
Steaming may "ROCK", but who says you don't add any oil, sauce or butter??? What about the cheese??

3. Blender
They say: Smoothies and shakes from the local coffee shop or burger joint can contain absurd amounts of fat, calories, and sugars. But it only takes a few minutes, some key ingredients, and a blender to whip up your very own guilt-free versions! We also use our blender to grind up those Fiber One breadcrumbs (the KEY ingredient in our Lord of the Onion Rings recipe). Blenders are a girl's best friend!
I say:
Screw the Fiber One breadcrumbs! Margarita anyone?? Blender, a girls best friend? I say that would be the local Caribou.
4. Food Processor
They say:
Food processors make prepping veggies a breeze. You can also make soups, sauces and awesome chopped salads with these super-handy appliances. Life without a food processor is like, well, life without a thing that chops, hacks, dices and liquefies really well.
I say:
More crap in the cupboard?? How about salad and or soup from a bag, already chopped, hacked and liquefied.
5. Spices & Extracts
They say:
Keeping a stocked spice rack will help you add zazzle to your cooking while barely affecting calorie and fat counts.
I say:
I will agree with this one. Although don't ask me to use the food processor that I wont' be getting to make my own spices.
6. Non Stick Frying Pan
They say:
Investing in a good nonstick pan is a MUST. You can basically cook up anything (seafood, pancakes, veggie burgers, and more) without the use of any oil or butter. Another bonus? These pans are easy to clean, so no more using that as your excuse to order in!
I say:
Well duh!!
7. Measuring cups and spoons.
They say:
It's WAY too easy to overdo your portion sizes when you're eyeballing it. Measuring out ingredients will do more than get your baked goods to taste right; it'll keep you from accidentally causing increases in the fat and calories and not even knowing it. Even when you're not re-creating your favorite recipes, measuring utensils are super-handy. Sure you buy low-calorie cereal, but when was the last time you checked how much of the stuff you're filling your bowl with? Yikes! Break these out to keep yourself in check.
I say:
Again, duh to the measuring contents of a recipe. To the measuring of the food I eat......well, maybe I would be less worried about stuffing myself into a swim suit this summer if I measured out my portions. If I use the 1/2 cup, how many scoops can I have???
Deb's Must Haves For Your Kitchen:
A Microwave
Kraft Mac & Cheese
Butter, noodles, and parm cheese
Hamburger
A Microwave
Wine
Paper Plates
A personal chef!




Max


This is our family pet Max. He wanted to take a moment to say hello. His hobbies include: getting constent attention, licking, eating, sleeping, getting some more attention from whoever is there to give it, loving, and then licking somemore.
He is a very good dog. I love him, and would love for him to get a buddy. That will never happen, and I've come to terms with that.
Max would like me to tell you all to please come over and see him. He loves you, and would love to get some attention from you. Whoever you are. It doesn't matter.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Happy Birthday Madison!!

Today my baby turns 10. Wow, 10 years that have flown by so fast. I brought her Subway at school today. And DQ treats for her class.

I walked in, and she says "look its my awesome mom"! "She is the coolest"! "I bet you all wish you had a mom as cool as mine"! And then, we sat down to eat, and kids started fighting over who got to sit by me. Okay, so it didn't go exactly like that, but at the age of 10 she does still hug me in front of her friends. She doesn't get embarrassed when I come to school, and I'm pretty sure that she does think that T man and I are pretty cool. Can you blame her??

I always hugged my mom and dad in front of my friends. I never went through that "my parents are so embarrassing" phase. I also told them I loved them everyday...sometimes more than once a day. If you get the chance, hug your mom or dad today, or call them and tell them you love them. Just because. Just because someday you may not have that opportunity.

For Grammy Jan and Papa....a big thank you from Mad Dog. She will be calling. We are just waiting so they can both call.

For those of you who don't know, (not sure who that would be, but just in case) We celebrate two birthdays, two days apart. That means two 10 year olds in two days. Its almost to much to take, when you want them to be 3 again. I can't imagine what it will feel like when we have two 16 year olds in two days. Oh my!

Friday, February 23, 2007

Happy Friday!

Good Morning, and happy Friday.

So, they are talking about a monster storm hitting us this weekend. At times they make it sound like feet of snow, and rain and blizzards, and getting stuck in your home. My personal opinion? We will end up with somewhere around 4 inches (WOW!!) and be stuck driving with a bunch of idiots. They are everywhere. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm ready for winter to be over...I want sun and 80's just as much as the next person. The fact is; its only the end of February and no matter how you look at it, we have plenty of winter to go. Having said that...I'm ready for feet of snow!!! It would be nice if it could hold off for all the travels this weekend. I never said the snow had good timing.

So, I went to my very first Meat Raffle last night!!! I bought some tickets, and then some more....and never won a thing. It was an enjoyable evening though. I do struggle with the way this place does things....we entered the establishment at around 6:45 or so, to find two men standing in the doorway checking IDs, and charging $6 cover. For what? For the band that is going to start playing in about 2 1/2 hours! So anybody who stopped in for the meat raffle or even to eat dinner had to pay $6 to get in the door...even if they wanted nothing to do with the band that was going to be playing hours later. I have to say I'm not much of a fan of this place. I did find out much later that if you leave before the band starts you will get your $6 back, but I still find that to be a pain.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Wow, how fun is this. I had 3 comments!!! 3! Thanks to my dear friends and to my wonderful sis. Evidentally my "wake up" method isn't very popular. I may have to try the pizza and harps. Maybe the little miss would appreciate that a bit more. Thanks for the advice!! :)

So, its the day after Valentines Day. And guess what everyone.......are you ready for this. I'M NOT ENGAGED. Whew...now hopefully most of you will read this before the phone calls start coming in. Soon, I'm just going to start directing them to Troy....maybe some type of call forwarding method to his cell phone. Any other ideas?? Don't get me wrong, I knew that I wouldn't be...but some of you just don't listen.

We had a wonderful evening full of Colorado Bulldogs (mmm, calorie fest), a visit from a beautiful baby girl who actually seemed to enjoy our house for the first time!! I think our cooties may be dissipating. Oh and babies parents came too. (Love you guys ;) Then the two of us had a wonderful meal. A coworker of Troy's, who someday would like to open a restaurant, prepared meals for all the guys at the job site and their wives (significant others). It was a super fab Mexican dish of some sort, accompanied by home made salsa, and all the fixins. Hats off to Phil!

I hope you all had a wonderful evening. Till later.....

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Why not??

Okay, so I read a few blogs every now and again, and I enjoy it. But, what do I have to write about?? That's what I'm still asking myself even now as I'm writing this.

My very first blog post. What a great day to start a blog. Valentines Day!! I love Valentines Day....yep I think its silly that some think this is the one day a year to be romantic and buy flowers and all that, yada yada. But....its so fun for the kids!! I woke my daughter up this morning by flipping on the light (as I always do... mean I know) and she pulled the covers over her face with a crabby look (as she always does) and then I said Happy Valentines Day!!! This made her sit up in bed, smile and give me a big hug. She had a Valentine shirt to wear, she was having a party at school, and was getting to go roller skating. What a day! I remember getting to celebrate at school. Bringing home all those Valentines that you look through over and over again, and not to mention all that candy you get to eat. Those were the days. Monday I mailed out a gift for Breanna. She received it yesterday, and called Troy last night and thanked him a few times. I still think its fun to get packages in the mail. It was really fun as a child.