Cold and Flu

Having to combat the common cold and the flu this year more than usual? OR does this season always seem to hit your house harder than others? Check out this article I just came across...it has some interesting information on some habits we don't normally associate with cold and flu season!

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/healthcare/photos/surprising-signs-weak-immune-system#0

My Dad and his cancer fight

My Dad (Greg Stringham) is battling cancer and is in need payers prayers and support.  I'm hoping the news reaches as many people as possible.  It sure has in his home town.  He's made the paper!  You can check out the link here and see a great picture of him too:

http://www.torringtontelegram.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=11689&page=34

People are noticing the frustrations of having a life threatening condition and no means to treat it near your home or with out financial help. Dad is hoping to gain finding to begin a foundation to support not just his own needs, but those of others, because he can't possibly be alone in this very expensive fight for his life.

While we wait to see if a foundation can be started, Dad is still fighting his own fight.  His closest friends and family have signed his guest book on his Caring Bridge site to encourage him.   If you haven't, please do and if you can, donate or "make a tribute" to help his $4000.00 per month fees.  They accept any amount and it is-to my knowledge-tax deductible.  Here's his page and you can get updates on his progress and can send encouragement at anytime!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/gregorystringham

Thanks!

~Carrie

Household tip for the day:

Keep your headlights clear with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on 
your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent 
that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights - lasts 6 weeks.

Tips for Weight Maintenance

Do Not Skip Breakfast

Skipping meals to eliminate calories? It seems like a simple concept; however, the repercussions of skipping a meal far out weigh the advantages of eliminating those calories. Skipping breakfast leads to intense hunger, making it difficult to make wise food choices. The result? Bad habits develop, such as eating convenient high-calorie snacks and meals.

Eating breakfast jump starts your metabolism; so, you start burning calories earlier in the day. If you skip breakfast (or any meal), you are denying your body the calories it needs to function properly. The body is thrown into a "survival mode," which slows the metabolism, resulting in the storage of remaining energy as fat. Research also shows that skipping breakfast lowers mental performance in both youth and adults.

Eat Throughout The Day

Eating 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day, rather than 3 large meals, will prevent your metabolism from shutting down. The longer you go between meals the more your metabolism will slow down in order to conserve energy.

Drink Water

Water is the body's most important nutrient. If the body is lacking in water, the metabolic rate will be slowed. The liver will begin to retain water rather than burn fat.

Replace Fat With Muscle

Muscle burns more calories than fat. We are able to maintain our weight more easily if we replace fat with muscle. Exercise using light weights to tone and firm muscle.

Aerobic Exercise

Whether you walk, skip, jog, or dance, aerobic exercise burns calories. Although cleaning your house and walking the aisles of the grocery store counts, sustained activity that raises your heart rate will burn the most calories.

Progressive Exercise

An exercise program must be progressive in order to be productive. Providing a challenge for your body is what forces your body to make changes and improvements. For example, if you use a treadmill for 30 minutes/3 days a week, it is beneficial to challenge your body by increasing the time, resistance, and/or frequency that you use the treadmill.

Age And Metabolism

It is a fact: As we age our metabolic rate slows down, and our muscle transforms into fat more readily than when we were younger. To manage your weight as you age, you must either adjust your calorie intake or increase your physical activity level to burn more calories. Physical activity will also keep muscles toned and will slow the process of muscle turning to "flab."

Match Eating To Activity Level

The amount of calories you consume on any given day should coincide with how active you are on that same day. Lower your intake of calories if you lead a sedentary lifestyle. Before you try to burn off existing fat, you must first stop storing new fat.

Information from:

http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--1350/metabolism-and-weight-management.asp

Tip of the day: Keeping Rice Grains Separate

Rice grains will stay separate and white if you add a teaspoon of lemon to the water for each quart made.

JAILHOUSE POTATO-CINNAMON ROLLS

 I found this on The Recipe Link and have to try it:

"Years ago, a close relative sent me a newspaper recipe clipping for potato dinner rolls that were popular with the inmates at Jefferson County Jail. I transformed the recipe into these potato-cinnamon rolls and named them accordingly."

FOR THE DOUGH:
2 medium russet potatoes
1 ounce active dry yeast (4 packets)*
3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons salt
9 cups unbleached flour

FOR THE FILLING:
4 cups pecans
4 cups firmly packed golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE ICING:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

TO PREPARE THE DOUGH:
Fill a large saucepan three-quarters full with water and set on high heat to boil. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Add the potatoes to the water and bring to a second boil. Decrease the heat to medium until the potatoes are simmering. Cook the potatoes until tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the potatoes, reserving 3 cups of the cooking water. Set the potato water aside to cool, until it registers 110 to 115 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

In a large bowl, mash the potatoes - you will have 1 1/2 to 2 cups worth - by hand or using a mixer on medium speed.

In a medium bowl, mix the reserved cooled potato water, yeast, and the 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir until the yeast has dissolved. Let the mixture rest until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the potatoes, 1 cup sugar, melted butter, eggs, salt, and yeast–potato water. Add the flour in 3-cup increments and stir with a spoon until the flour is incorporated. Place the dough in a large greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Leaving the dough in the bowl, punch it down until it deflates (1 or 2 punches with your fist will do). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

At this point the dough can be refrigerated until the next day.

TO MAKE THE FILLING:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Arrange the pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast them in the oven for 7 to 9 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. Coarsely chop the pecans.

Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

TO SHAPE AND BAKE THE ROLLS:
Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it in half. On a clean, floured surface, roll each half into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Spread each rectangle with half of the melted butter. Cover each buttered rectangle with half of the brown sugar mixture. Sprinkle the dough with an even layer of pecans.

Generously grease two (9 by 13-inch) disposable pans with butter.

Carefully roll up each rectangle, starting on 1 long side of the dough. Using a very sharp serrated knife, cut each roll crosswise in 2-inch slices. Place the slices, cut side down, in the pans, spacing the rolls about 1 inch apart so they have room to expand. Make sure the end flap of each roll is set snugly against a side of the pan, so it does not unravel while rising. Put 8 rolls in each pan.

(At this point the rolls can be tightly covered in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil and frozen up to 3 weeks. Defrost the rolls in the refrigerator overnight or for 1 hour at room temperature and continue following the directions from this point.)

Set the rolls in a warm, draft-free place and let them rise until they get puffy, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, or until light brown.

TO MAKE THE ICING:
Combine the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Spread the icing on top of the rolls while they are still warm.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

RATHER SWEET VARIATION:

FOR ORANGE-POTATO ROLLS:
Prepare the dough as directed. For the filling, substitute 4 cups granulated sugar for the brown sugar, omit the cinnamon, and stir in 2 tablespoons grated orange zest. For the icing, substitute 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice for the milk, and substitute 1 tablespoon grated orange zest for the vanilla.

*TIP: Is it dead or alive? Mixing the yeast with water and sugar and waiting a few minutes to see if it will foam tells you whether the yeast is viable. If it doesn't foam, the yeast is dead and your rolls won't rise. Throw the mixture away and start again with a new batch of yeast. By "proofing," or testing, the yeast's viability, you avoid wasting a whole batch of dough and a whole lot of time.

Makes 24 large rolls
Source: The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe by Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman

Quick-peel a Potato

Tip of the day: The power of the potato

Ever put too much salt in a soup?  Slice a raw potato and toss it in.  It absorbs a lot of the salt and you can easily remove it later.

If your hands get stained by carrots or tomatoes or greens, rub them with a raw, cut potato to get the stain off!

Water from boiled potatoes helps clean silver.

To easily peel a potato, boil the whole thing and let it sit in cold water for 5 seconds.  Wring it with your hands and it should come right off!
I'll post a tutorial next and i think your mind will be blown... besides, I love the background music!  :)

Pear Mice

Vanilla Snowmen

It is something to do with the kids when they want to be out building a snowman and it is too cold or they are sick or, like here in Utah, when the inversion makes the air quality awful.

Basically, you use vanilla ice cream for snow and  add goodies to make the face and body.

I started with a light dusting of coconut for "snow" covered ground:

Next, I made a plate of leftover Christmas candy:

Then I scooped 2-3 balls of vanilla ice cream and let them build:

Tip for the day: how to avoid spoiled veggies in the fridge

Line the bottom of your vegetable drawer in your fridge with paper towels to help absorb some of that nasty moisture that makes your produce rot faster.  Then if you do leave it in there until it is unrecognizable, just lift the paper towel out and wipe the little bit that's left out.

Fancy Grilled Cheese

Trying to diet is killing me.  I justified indulging in some buttery carbs by watching my portions and adding in a healthy sized meat and veggie serving... don't you judge me. ;)

2 slices 98 calorie bread
Butter --I still won't go margarine
Cheddar
Sliced Avacado, tomato, and lettuce
provalone

Arrange so you have one kind of cheese on each slice of lightly buttered bread and the meat and veggies in between.  Cook on medium heat in a skillet until both sides are golden brown.

I had something similar at Cubby's.  They have cranberries on theirs. SO GOOD.

Turkey Parmesan Muffins

I saw something similar a while back online, but I couldn't find it, so I improvised. It was really good!

Grease medium sized muffin tin
Preheat oven to 350

In a mixing bowl combine 1.5 lbs ground Turkey, 1 egg, 1 egg white, 3T Italian seasoning, 2 tsp crushed Garlic, 1/2 C bread crumbs, 1/2 C Parmesan cheese (grated) --don't over mix.

scoop into muffin tin 3/4 full in each section.  Top with a layer of spaghetti sauce and Mozzarella.

Bake for 20 min.

makes 8 medium sized muffins

Turkey Avocado BLT

There is some sort of sacred union in this sandwich.  If you don't want to cook the bacon, you can pay a little extra for the precooked and nuke it.

2 slices of bread
1 slice provolone cheese
sliced avocado to make a layer
Lean deli turkey
2 slices of crispy bacon
Lettuce
sliced tomato
your choice of Mayo, Miracle Whip OR ranch dressing
mustard

Layer, toast if desired and eat!

Leftover Pot Roast Fajitas

Pot roast is on my top five comfort foods.  It makes me think of home.  We do a large roast, and then use leftovers for stew, sandwiches and soups.  Yet, things can get tired after a while.  I decided to stir things up yesterday (literally as you can see) and make our leftovers more exciting.

Not everyone serves a family of eight, so I calculated the ingredients for 2 fajitas per person.  Just multiply by the number of people served.

*1 T Olive Oil
*1 cup (per person) of leftover pot roast pulled apart or cut up
*taco/fajita seasonings to taste
*1/4 bell pepper (per person) cut up
*3 cherry tomatoes
*1 T minced onion
*Favorite shredded cheese to taste
*2 tortillas (I used wheat, but any kind will do.)

 I hate dry fajitas.  If you need more oil or a bit of water while heating the meat up, go for it.
Combine all ingredients and heat. I add the peppers and tomatoes last to avoid mushy veggies.

Place on tortillas in a line, add any extra cheese you'd like and roll.

MMMMMMM.....!