Archive for the 'Food and Drink' Category

April 10, 2009 @ 5:32 am | Filed under: Food and Drink, The Solid Rock

If you have young children and are looking for a fresh way to, both, celebrate Easter and teach the significance of the resurrection, then you have to read this! I wish I would have come across something like this when the boys were young. Joanne has such great ideas, and this is definitely one of them! If you try it, please leave a comment here and let me know how it goes - I’d love a pic too!

Easter Story Cookies

1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 eggs whites (room temperature)
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
a Bible

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Place pecans in a baggie and let your children beat them with a wooden spoon to break them into small pieces.
Explain that after Jesus was arrested, Roman soldiers beat him. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into a mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to the vinegar.
Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave his life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it, then brush the rest into the bowl.
Salt represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients aren’t very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar.
The sweetest part of the Easter story is that Jesus died because he loves us. He wants to us to know him and belong to him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high until mixture turns white and stiff peaks form.
The color white represents the purity of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto a lined baking sheet.
Each mound represents the rock tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the baking sheet into the oven, close the door, and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.
Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

Go to bed.
Explain that they may feel sad to leave cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were sad when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20-22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow!
On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read John 20:1-8.

Don’t forget to let me know if you give this a try!!! Enjoy!

February 28, 2009 @ 9:58 pm | Filed under: Family, Food and Drink

Something happened to me in the last couple of semesters. I think it has something to do with procrastination and the whole math-is-driving-me-up-the-proverbial-wall thing.

I’ve become a cook.

A real, love-to-be-in-the-kitchen-cooking-up-my-next-big-creation type of cook. Here is what I created tonight - a great, stay-at-home Saturday night meal. In collaboration with Mike’s doctor, I am trying to take care of his heart, so this meal - like most that we make these days - is health conscious and heart healthy.

But best of all - I got in the middle of my kitchen and had a blast and put all thoughts of polynomial functions on the back burner of my mind!

Tags: burgers, recipes

February 13, 2009 @ 9:33 am | Filed under: Food and Drink, The Fit Life

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 leeks, bottom 4 inches only, washed well and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 3 sheets frozen phyllo dough thawed (we used rolled-out Crescent dough)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 4 individual-sized baking dishes with cooking spray.

Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few turns of pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, turning once. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add 2 more teaspoons of the oil, the leeks, and the celery to the pan and cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, green beans, garlic, and remaining salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add the milk to the pan. Stir the flour into the chicken broth until dissolved and add to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the reserved chicken, peas, parsley, and thyme. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dishes.

Put the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil into a small bowl. Unroll the phyllo dough and cut it into quarters. Place a quarter sheet on top of each baking dish and brush with olive oil. Repeat with remaining 3 baking dishes. Tuck the edges of the phyllo into the dish rim. Top each pie with Parmesan.

Place on a baking sheet and bake until the filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

SO good!

Tags: foodies

December 27, 2006 @ 1:48 pm | Filed under: Food and Drink

Here I sit - at the computer -  with a mind [that I thought was ready] to work on my Wintermester school project and a heart just aching to get started on that "Who Am I, Really?" speech [if you buy THAT, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn...]that I present at 1:00 this next Tuesday.

Instead, what am I doing?  I’m thinking about that last piece of pumpkin pie that I ate for breakfast this morning and I’m wondering just how difficult it’s going to be to get back to my little-or-no-real-sugar way of life. Probably not so easy, I’m just saying…

So when I came across these holiday eating tips, I was amused. Wouldn’t it be a crazy kind of wonderful to be able to enjoy guilt-free indulgence in chocolate cake like Madie and Kenzie in this photo?

Oh, to remember the simple joys in life…

Enjoy!

HOLIDAY

EATING TIPS TO LIVE BY

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet has no Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they’re probably serving chocolate peanut-butter balls.

2.  Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly, it’s rare. You can only find it for, like, three weeks out of the entire year! So drink up while you can. Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every 6 oz cup…

3.  As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they’re made with skim milk or whole. If they’re made with skim, then pass. Why bother? That’s like buying a fancy sports car with an automatic transmission.

4.  Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to eat less once there. The whole point of going to a holiday party is to eat other people’s food for free. Lots of it! Hello?

5.  Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year’s. Wait until January when you have nothing better to do. This is the time for long naps, which you’ll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10 pound plate of food.

6.  If you come across something really good at the buffet table, like a wonderfully frosted cookie, position yourself close to that platter and don’t budge. They’re like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you’ll never see them again!

7.  Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it’s loaded with obligatory holiday calories, but avoid it at all costs. I mean, I have SOME standards!

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, "Woohoo! What a ride!"

September 19, 2006 @ 3:11 pm | Filed under: Food and Drink

Tonight is the big night.

As of today the 30-day challenge is over and I am finally free to once again savor the one-of-a-kind taste of a…Diet Coke! It began in fun, just a simple conversation, really, between me and Mike.

"You don’t think I can go thirty days without Diet Coke?" I remember pausing because, really…I didn’t think I could either!

Still, I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge. Maybe this was just the push I needed to get my DC cravings under subjection anyway. Kind of a "kill-two-birds-with-one-stone" type of approach.

It wasn’t until about a week later, when the withdrawals were at their worst and the cravings were at their peak, that I began to wish I’d have termed this experiment a ‘fast’ instead of a mere ‘challenge’.

You laugh, I’m sure, but getting this body under the kind of submission it needed to give up Diet Coke was no small feat. Certainly not something that I recommend for the faint of heart or for the ones in search of instant gratification.

The satisfaction of a challenge attempted and achieved has only come in the past few days. As THE END has approached I’ve finally allowed myself to contemplate the fact that a nice large icy Sonic Diet Coke was looming in my future.

And now, in a mere few hours, I’ll be meeting a few of my friends at Sonic and, for the first time in a month, I’ll place that order.

"How do you feel about it?" Mike asked me just last night as we prepared for bed. "Are you ready to have one?"

I truly had to stop and think about it.

See, the cravings are gone. No longer do I reach for the ghost-cup on my desk and the memory of the actual taste of Diet Coke itself is quickly fading. I know, I know…I didn’t believe it could happen either.

Now, say I were an alcoholic and just coming out of rehab. Would I be meeting a group of friends at a local pub, celebrating winning the battle over booze by…<gulp> drinking the stuff?

I think not.

But here’s the thing. Diet Coke is a vice of mine and everyone has vices. I know a lot of people who aren’t willing to own up to theirs and, instead, try to justify why they do or don’t do, say, or participate in lots of different areas.

So I will meet my friends and we will celebrate. These gals (and many more of you who’ve either commented or emailed me concerning this challenge) have supported me with encouragement, notes, and emails.

The unexpected bonus from this challenge is that it’s enabled several friendships to flourish in the process. Although there were difficult moments in the beginning, I have to say that the past thirty days have been fun.

I’ve tested myself and found that I can meet a challenge head-on and win.

I’ve learned that attempting anything with the cheers of your friends in the background is bearable.

I’ve faced temptation (scrapbook night when I was surrounded by DC-drinking buddies, our weekend with friends when Frank found it delightfully funny to wave a cold can of DC in front of me, and numerous trips past the Sonic) and walked away.

So, yes, tonight at eight-ish I will gather with a few close friends and family and I will have that first, long draw of an icy (because there’s nothing on this planet like the crushed ice at Sonic!) Diet Coke and I will once again…feel the burn…

I hope I still like it…