A special request...

This recipe was requested by a friend of mine. The book that it comes from is Rachel Ray's Look & Cook.

This is a great dinner idea...and its easy!!

I found this menu idea in a pamphlet from Sam's Club. When I made it I used what I had on hand so I will copy the recipe and in parenthesis I will put what I used.

South-of-the-border chicken and pasta skillet

Prep 30min.
Makes 4 servings

What you need
2 cups medium-size pasta, uncooked (I used 16 oz penne pasta)
2 Tyson* boneless chicken breast halves, about 1 lb (I used 2+lb of boneless pork chops)
(I added some minced onion)
16 oz salsa, about 2 cups
10 oz frozen corn, unthawed, about 2 cups 4 oz PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, (I used what I had left, it was a little more than 4 oz)
1/4 tsp cumin
1 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided (I used the Publix brand of block Velveeta cheese, until it seemed creamy)

Make it

Cook pasta as directed on package.

Meanwhile cook and stir chicken ( I used pork) in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 6min or until done. ( I took the pork chops off before they were done and cut them up into small bite-size pieces and set aside. Then I added minced onion to the pan and sauteed. Then I returned the pork to the pan). Add salsa, corn, cream cheese and cumin; simmer on medium-low heat 6 min or until corn is heated through and cream cheese is melted, stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta; add to skillet with half the shredded cheese. (my frying pan isn't that big so I put the meat and sauce in the big pot and I used the block Velveeta-like cheese). Simmer 3 min or until heated through. Top with remaining shredded cheese; cover. Remove from heat; let stand 5 min or until cheese is melted. (I didn't use additional cheese).

Then I let my kids try it and tell me they didn't like it. My kids are anti-anything with too much flavor...at least the first time they eat it...or until they get really, really hungry. Personally I think it was delicious. I had two bowls full. You try it. Tell me what you think.

Ham and Potato Bake

2 pound frozen hashbrowns (or dice 2lb of potatoes)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
2 cups shredded cheese
1 pound diced ham

Directions:

1) mix all ingredients
2) press into 9x13 inch pan
3) bake 350 degrees for 1&1/2 hours

How to get rid of ants

I had ants on my counters. No matter how hard I tried there were ants every day. I put down chemicals, ant baits and all kinds of things. Nothing worked. Until....this appeared...

Now there's not a single ant on my counter. This spider is my friend.

chicken pasta

This recipe takes a little more time, but you can make it ahead of time and the kids can reheat it in the microwave.

ingredients:
olive oil, 3 Tbsp
1 sliced cup of mushrooms
1/4 of a green pepper
1/4 of a red pepper
boneless, skinless chicken breast, 2 halves
1 lb spaghetti noodles

4 small tomatoes, about 2 cups chopped

dash of crushed red pepper

dash of onion and herb seasoning
dash of black pepper
1 cup of spaghetti sauce

Directions:
1)set water to boil for noodles
2) slice mushrooms and saute in 1 Tbsp olive oil in frying pan. Then remove from pan and set on dish for later
3) dice 1/4 of a green pepper and 1/4 of a red pepper.
4) saute peppers in 1 Tbsp  olive oil, stirring
5) cut tomatoes into small chunks and add to pan, stirring
6) cut chicken into bite size pieces, add to pan with peppers and tomato, stirring. Add crushed red pepper and onion and herb seasoning and black pepper, to taste. Reduce heat and continue cooking.
7) drain noodles and add a Tbsp of olive oil to noodles, mix.
8) add chicken mixture and 1 cup of spaghetti sauce to noodles and stir.

9) best served hot, but can be put away for a later meal.

For the young 'uns

This recipe is so easy kids new to cooking can make this. (in fact, this recipe was requested by my own kids)

Makes: 1 serving
Time: less than 5 min

What you will need:
1 microwave
1 sheet of paper towel
1 fork
1 microwavable bowl
1 hot pad
2 egg
1 wheat bagel
1 slice of cheese

Directions:

1) in the microwable bowl crack open the two eggs, no shells in bowl, please. Throw egg shells in trash can.
2) with fork beat the eggs, now rinse the fork for use again
3) cover bowl of eggs with paper towel
4) microwave the bowl of eggs for two min.
5) using the hot pad remove the bowl. CONTENTS WILL BE HOT!
6) remove paper towel and lay out on counter sitting the bagel on it.
7) with the fork loosen eggs from the side of the bowl. Move eggs onto bagel using fork or sliding the egg out of bowl.
8) unwrap cheese slice and lay ontop the egg, top with other half of bagel. Throw cheese wrapper in garbage can.
9) carefully pick up sandwich on the paper towel and sit in microwave. Microwave sandwich for 30 seconds, or until cheese is melted.
10) wash bowl and fork and dry and put away where you got them.

When its this hot...

...the best place to be...is in the water.

Pizza Bagels

Makes 10 halves, or 5 servings
Ready in under half hour, including prep time

1 pkg of 5 Wheat bagels
1 cup Spagetti sauce
2 cup Shredded cheese
1/2 pkg Pepperoni slices
1 cup Bacon bits
4 slices Mozzarella cheese, sliced
1/2 can Canned Mushrooms, sliced
3 slices Sliced ham

Directions
1- preheat oven to medium-high heat
2- seperate bagel halves and place on baking stone
3- put bagels in oven and toast until slightly brown
4- remove bagels and spoon spaghetti sauce over bagels.
5- sprinkle shredded cheese over the sauced bagels
6- place bacon bits, ham pieces, and pepperoni slices on bagel halves.
7- top with sliced mozzarella and bake until hot and cheese is melted. This should only take a couple minutes.

Chicken and Broccoli Penne

Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Serves: 4-6

1pkg (13.25oz) Mueller's 100% Whole Grain Penne
2 Tbsp salt
1 lb broccoli florets, coarsely chopped
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves of chopped garlic or 5 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
salt & crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:
1) In large pot, bring 6 quarts of water to a boil. Add 2 Tbsp salt to water.
2) Add pasta and broccoli and cook for 9 to 11 minutes. Before draining retain 2 cups of the pasta cooking water.
3) Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add chicken, garlic, salt and red pepper flakes. Saute until chicken is browned. Remove from heat.
4) In a large bowl, mix together drained pasta and broccoli, pasta cooking water, the browned chicken, and Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Tuna Buns Recipe

This is a plan ahead menu option
Makes 8

2 small (6 oz) cans tuna fish in water
1/4 lb processed cheese, diced
3 hard boiled eggs, diced
1 Tbsp chopped green pepper
2 Tbsp chopped onion
2 Tbsp pickle relish
2 Tbsp chopped stuffed olive, optional
1/2 cup thousand island salad dressing
1 pkg (8 count) potato hamburger buns
Aluminum foil

DIRECTIONS
1- hard boil eggs, cool, then dice
2- sautee onions and green peppers
3- mix all ingredients in a bowl
4- put mix on hamburger buns
5- wrap in aluminum foil
6- bake in moderate over for 15 minutes
Best served after chilled in refrigerator.

Eat whatever? Not happening!!

Progress has been slow. Sometimes frustratingly slow. I'm still losing weight, eating right most of the time, and exercising all the time. Over the course of the last three months I have only spent $50 in gas. How you ask? I bicycle just about EVERYWHERE!

I have lost 38 pounds as of now. Ideally I only have another 20 pounds left to lose!

There's no secret, but believe me its tough saying no to foods I really like. So instead I'll just take a much smaller portion with a bottle if water.

SOMETIMES HUNGER IS REALLY YOUR BODY SAYING YOU ARE DEHYDRATED!!

I'm at the 30lb lost mark.

I can't believe it! Its so exciting! I lost all of what I put on this past year and now I'm losing even more!

For the last eight weeks of school a group of us got together every Wednesday and weighed in and talked about what stuff was good and what stuff was bad, what's working, what isn't, etc. Our Wellness Center at work had been striving to get everyone on the road to good health for a while now. In that group I had lost the most, but I had started my diet before they started their meetings.

Even though I have lost 30lbs I still have another 30 to go to get to my first goal and 15-20 after that to get to where I really want to be.

My other goal is to get my daughter on the losing team.

Look both ways before proceeding

Before letting your vehicle roll over the sidewalk look again to be sure there isn't a pedestrian or bicyclist coming from your right. Too many times I see drivers coming out of gas stations or parking lots or even side streets and they look to the left for oncoming cars but never look to the right at where they are headed and many times nearly hit bicyclists or pedestrians, including myself.

My son was riding his bike to school yesterday and was hit by a car doing exactly that: not paying attention!. Fortunately my son did not have broken bones or major injuries. He has only suffered abrasions and bruises but all of it could have been avoided had the driver been paying attention and turned his head before letting the vehicle roll.

As I had said before welcome to West Palm Beach, the world of IDIOT drivers!
This saddens me so much.

I have included a site for Florida bicycle laws:
http://www.floridabicycle.org/rules/bikelaw.html 

Progress is slow but it's going good.

It took several weeks for my new diet to catch on. I've been tracking what I eat faithfully so I'm starting to figure out what foods I should avoid what foods I need a whole lot less of and foods that I need a lot more of. It's work, but it's work that is having a positive outcome.
I'm also biking to work and back home. That means 5 days out of the week I'm biking a total of 14 miles in the day. I'm working on speeding up, but in the evenings it's kind of hard since I'm upwind and it slows me down.
The combination of diet and exercise has led me to lose,  as of now, 12 pounds. My goal is to lose another 50+ pounds. I want to lose it slow enough that it will STAY OFF.

How to Install and Program Bell Wireless Cyclocomputer with Calorie Counter

As you can see by the pictures I scanned the instruction book. I looked online at http://www.bellbikestuff.com/pdfs/111741WirelessManual.pdf but that manual is for a different cyclocomputer and not very informative. I'm not sure if scanning these pages is a violation of some copyright law or not but I needed a way to remember all the details and not lose the little book.

Driving in WPB: Welcome to the world of idiots

It was early this morning, still dark out,  and I was heading to work. I turned left just after a taxi made his right. The taxi stayed in the right lane, and I went into the left lane. Expecting that maybe the taxi driver would be darting around the gas truck/semi stopped in the right lane with it's four way emergency flashers on I paused, but the taxi driver moved into his lane more. So I accelerated to pass. At that precise moment the gas truck, with it's four ways on, made a u-turn from the far right lane,  cutting me off. I slammed on the brakes but the only way to avoid hitting him, because he had completely blocked the whole road,  was to sharply turn left, making the quickest u-y I've ever made. Now I drive a snub nose van so when I say I came close to being hit I mean I came real close.

God had to have had a whole army of angels surrounding me to have kept me safe. I feel so lucky. I say that calmly now but after making that u-turn I pulled over to get composure of myself. I was real shaken up. You would have been, too,  if it had been you.

There are so many idiots on the road. I wonder if they find their license in a box of Cracker Jacks... Now let the young people try to figure out what I mean because Cracker Jacks only puts temporary tattoos or joke cards about the size of a half dollar in the boxes... Oh, great, I did it again. Nobody uses half dollars any more.

My new leaf keeps blowing in the wind

I am turning over that new leaf, but I keep having to turn it over again and again. My diet is not going so well yet, but at least I got this app on my phone called myfitnesspal.com. Hopefully it will help me keep on track, too.

Today I will turn a leaf

Today I turn another year older. And yesterday I weighed myself. Grr, not good. The day before that I went to put on some Jean shorts I haven't worn in about two weeks and couldn't fit them. Very frustrating to find other things I can't fit, too.

So today I'm turning a leaf. I might have to turn a whole lot of leaves to change my ways, especially since I've put on the 25 pounds in the same amount of months as it took last year to take it off. I'm going to need motivation and support.

Step one: get moving.
( I accomplished that today, walked so much that I rubbed a giant hole in the area where my thighs rub in my sweat pants, Grr)

Step two: eat healthier
(failed that so far today, I'll try again tomorrow)

Step three: drink more water, less soda
(um...ok. Maybe I'll get this one done, especially since the soda is giving me indigestion)

Oh, and I better add this step, step four: walking, good; walking to Dunkin Donuts, bad

If you think of any important advice pertinent too this subject please let me know.