Dear Missnexus.com Readers, When people get sick, they have to go to the doctor to get an antibiotic prescription. But that rule doesn’t hold true for animals raised for meat. Alarmingly, up to 70% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used on industrial farms in healthy food animals. Consumption of these antibiotic filled [...]

Give copy to each guest that enters your home. 10 RULES FOR THANKSGIVING 1. Don’t get in line asking questions about the food. “Who made the potato salad? Is it egg in there? Are the greens fresh? Is the meat in the greens turkey or pork? Who made the macaroni and cheese? What kind of [...]

Happy Independence Day United States of America.  This morning started off very gloomy with lots of rain and cloudy skies.  This fortunately allowed the entire family to sleep in late.  The twins woke up before me… I know because I heard them, but JT and I were able to sleep until 9:15 a.m. and I [...]

http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/?p=672 Technorati Tags: dessert, family, food, ice cream, sundae, Wordless Wednesday

I really really really hate wasting food. Food costs way too much to waste. Unfortunately when you cook big meals, you are very likely to have a lot of leftovers. And if you have a lot of leftovers you have a greater chance of wasting food. In my house we can eat the same meal for three days max. Some of my closest friends do not even eat leftovers for more than one day. Now that is sad… but I cannot change them.

After three days, JT and I start looking at each other funny… the well, what are we going to eat look. Then the leftovers just get shoved to the back of the fridge. As I mentioned in a previous post, thankfully we did not have many leftovers for this Thanksgiving. I would say that only about 25% of the turkey was left. I asked JT if he could slice up the remaining portion of the turkey so I could make turkey salad tonight. I asked him to do it, because if it was left up to me, I would still be cutting it now… hours later. I am slow at that kind of thing in the kitchen.

I searched for a turkey salad recipe online, but nothing make me lick my lips and say oooh gotta get that. So I got creative in the kitchen. I diced the turkey and mixed the following ingredients: green onions, garlic powder, original Mrs. Dash, mayonnaise, sour cream, a little Worcester sauce and a dash of relish. I toasted two slices of some delicious Sara Lee bread and melted a slice of American cheese on the turkey salad. JT enjoyed the sandwich. I made a small batch just in case he would not like it. Now after I get some more green onions and sour cream, I can make a bigger batch tomorrow.

I am not sure if William and Keisha will like the turkey salad, but I know that JT and I will finish that off without any problem. I feel good about not wasting any food.

I remember when I was younger, getting creative with holiday leftovers such as turkey and dressing sandwiches topped with cranberry sauce.

How do you deal with your holiday leftovers?

Thanksgiving dinner was truly success at our home yesterday. First of all, it must have been at least six years since I have celebrated Thanksgiving with my father… so that was great to have him just in my presence for such an important holiday. I am thankful for that.

Having my divorced parents in the same room was another story. But I have to admit that the event in itself was not as bad as I thought it would be. Well it was not that bad for me. There may have been a lot of tension from my mom, but I am not certain. I told my dad last night, that I hope that one day they can not only sit in a room together, but *gulp* have a conversation. What a concept…

I do not want my children to grow up thinking that their grandparents hate each other. Family is important. The twins only have one surviving great-grandmother, two grandmothers and one grandfather left. I want William and Keisha to be close to all of them. Not just one side or one grand parent because of an estranged relationship and secretive past. My children deserve better than that. I will pray for my mother and father. Not to get back together (I can accept that their relationship has long been over), but rather to forgive one another and be amicable, because that is the right thing to do.

Week 242

Say … and I think … ?

Singles :: Kraft cheese singles are delicious. I really do not care for the off brand cheese. Kraft is smooth while some of the off brands taste like crap.

Blaze :: Campfires, roasted marshmallows… smores, hayrides. I have never been on a hayride. Maybe I can go with JT and the twins one day.

Sandwich :: My favorite sandwich is a Subway roast beef and turkey on wheat bread with lots and lots of mayo, little mustard, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, black pepper, lettuce and American cheese.

Outside :: I am really not an outdoor chick, but I can appreciate a beautiful autumn day. Taking the children to a park and rolling down a hill into a pile of colorful leaves. Peaceful.

Gooey :: Gooey butter cakes are an extreme weakness for me. I drool on myself every time I see them in Walmart or Sams Club. I really could use one right about now. I have been a good girl though… I have not bought any in several months. My primary care physician would be proud.

Industry :: I heard on the news the other day, that the interest rates were coming down. I hope that this has a positive effect on the purchase of homes for individuals and families.

Exclusive :: Unique and genuine is what first came to mind.

What kind of birthday cake do I have for my birthday?

My all time favorite cake for my birthday is yellow cake with a thin layer of chocolate icing. I am a fairly simple chick that likes a simple cake. I have never been a fan of the really sugary icing. Sams Club makes excellent whipped icing for their cakes. Over the years I have come to love white cake with strawberry filling and whipped vanilla icing. I hope that someone makes or buys a white cake for my 30th birthday next January.

What kind of birthday cake do you like?

http://questionoftheday.wordpress.com/2007/04/07/birthday-cake-2/

Mondays are so bleh. Draining and tedious but nothing like the emotionally destructive four day weekend so I really shouldn’t be complaining. I slept better than I thought I would thanks to the shower. We didn’t do much talking throughout the day and I guess that is to be expected, but it is still hard to accept. I feel like my honesty has brought us nothing but pain as of late. I hope that in the end that I am wrong. The distance between us is never easy. Never.

We went to Aldi’s after work to pick up some items for home and for a potluck at work next Tuesday. I will be making green bean casserole; the list consisted of nine cans of green beans, three cans of cream of chicken, one can of cream of mushrooms and french onions. The twins were tired of being couped up in the car seats, so JT found it best that we all go inside together instead of him staying in the Jeep with them. With William rolling in around twenty eight pounds, Dad made sure to put him in the cart and Keisha walked along my side while holding my hands. Just as I thought she was extremely curious and nosy (golly gee, who does she get that from? *puzzled*) while walking down the aisle. We didn’t even make it through the entire first aisle before I decided to scoop her up in my arms. Nearly moments after that I plopped her down in the cart behind her brother. She was pretty much cool with that decision because she got to play with all of the items that I threw in the basket with her. I spent about $58 for the family groceries and I stayed within my budget for work at $9.88 (I had $10 for the cause).

The twins ate pot roast and fruit cocktail for dinner, William had lima beans with that and Keisha had sweet potatoes. They had two different vegetables because there was just a wee bit left of each blended vegetable, but not quite enough for both of them to have the same kind. For the second night in a row, they really enjoyed the pot roast and this was quite pleasing considering how picky William began to be with his food about four weeks ago. Since I bought a food chopper at Wal-Mart William and Keisha have ate just about everything that I have placed in front of them… as long as it was blended. Do children go through this thing where they don’t want to eat solids? I don’t know what that is all about. What I do know is that we haven’t bought any baby food in over four weeks and we have saved plenty of dollars of that.

The twins turn fourteen months old today. Another milestone in their young life. Happy fourteen months old sugar babies. I really need to start researching what kind of potty trainers we want for them. And note to self… scan their school pictures and turn in the order form. Over the course of the past four weeks the biggest accomplishment has been mastering walking. I’m so very proud of them. We are still working on the sippy cup… the twins seem like they will go straight to a cup over the sippy cup. Even though they spill most of the liquid on them, William and Keisha tend to drink better out of their baby cups over the sippy cups. The baby cups are oh so cute because they turn colors when cold liquid is in it. I’m not sure if the twins or I find it more fascinating. …And many more my little younglings.

As much as I get tired of hearing the words, it really is hard to believe that a year has gone by. A woman that I see every so often asked how the twins were doing, said the infamous words and then complimented me when she said that I look so young and skinny. In all of the twenty seven years of my life, I never thought I would actually enjoy someone saying that I look skinny. I spent nearly the first twenty years of my life hating every bit of those words and responding with, “No I’m not skinny!! I got meat on these bones,” when in fact I was skinny and the scale didn’t lie when it read a buck oh five. Years later, after dropping two angels and sixty pounds the words, “You look skinny” play beautiful melodies in my ears. I must be crazy for real.

Lastly, I was sorry to hear about the passing of WWE Superstar Eddie Guerrero. I am a huge wrestling fan, so the news hit hard at home. My condolences to his family and friends.

I hope tomorrow brings a brighter day.

Saturday, JT almost forgot that he had a chili cook off to participate in at work. Early that morning he rushed over to Schnucks and Shop N Save to get the ingredients he needed… ground beef, green onions, kidney beans, green peppers, chilli peppers and the secret ingredient… habanero peppers. Yes, habenero peppers are known as one of the four hottest peppers in the world and some identify them as the hottest. As soon as he lifted the top of the jar, my nose was on fire. I ran out of the kitchen and quickly went back to bed, hiding under the covers.

The chili preparation time took JT about an hour and a half total. JT set aside a special batch of chili for me and his mom because we refuse to eat chili with beans. Yuck yuck yuck, you cannot make me eat chili with beans!! And do not try to tell me it is not chili if it does not have beans. I have had enough debates about this to last me a lifetime. Anyway, I did not want to sample a taste of the sauce alone, because frankly I was scared lol… after my special batch was complete, JT came over to me with a little of it in a spoon. He blew it off for me to cool it off, I reluctantly leaned over, placed my mouth over the spoon and slowly sipped the chili. Temperature wise, the chili was still hot so that is what hit me first… then the peppers kicked in… and they literally kicked in. My chest felt like it was on fire and I started to scream. I honestly have never had a food that was that spicy hot… goodness gracious. JT was guaranteed for victory.