A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

My Most Hated Cake EVER: Now on Cake Wrecks--Wooohooo!

 

OMG, Thank you!  I have been validated. This horrible cake, the most hated cake I ever made, is now featured on the popular web site:  Cake Wrecks as a horrible "staircase" cake.  The writer on that web site says she's never understood the popularity of staircase cakes, and let me tell you, neither have I.  I invested in those dumbass staircases for this one cake and never used them again. I'm pretty sure I threw them away after this. The cake itself, sans staircases and cowboy shit, was very pretty but I vote it "Ick" too. The bride was not very nice either. I picked up the gig as a favor to another cake decorator and the bride was cheap and rude even after I cut her a huge deal. I also had to drive 50 miles away to BFE to deliver the thing in a crappy little church basement that reeked of mustiness and had 60's paneling. Yeehaw!  Round 'em up cowboy. Wonder if that marriage lasted longer than the bride's first one? For the full tale on this cake, click here:  Most Hated Wedding Cake

 

Knitting for the NICU: 417 Magazine Article

417 Magazine has a nice column in the February issue about our knitting efforts on behalf of the NICU AND a photo of one of their staffer's baby, Stella, in my bumblebee hat. She's sooooooooo cute!

http://www.417mag.com/417-Magazine/February-2011/Tiny-Knitting/

 

Warm Winter Soup: Navy Bean and Ham

 

I've been trying to keep homemade soups in the fridge this winter for something nutritious to snack on or grab for work lunches and bean soups are my favorite.  Even though I happily eat them all year round, they embody winter cooking for me. I love how meaty and hearty they are, while knowing that they're absolutely good for me on every level from the fiber to the vitamins to the protein.  One of the ways I've changed my cooking style of bean soups, though, is to pump up the vegetable volume. I used to use veggies as seasoning and now I usually have as many onions, peppers, carrots mixed in as beans.  I love the way they fill out the taste and cook down along with the bean starch for that porridge consistency, sort of thick bowls of warmth on a gray day.

Eating for Anemia: Crockpot War Eagle Mill 7-Grain Hot Cereal & Berries

 

After a recent lab test, I was informed that I am slightly anemic.  While I will be taking iron and B vitamin supplments, I can also help restore my body's levels through practicing good nutrition.  This is great motivation to follow through on one of my goals this year (and always) of eating more natural foods and less processed junk.

When we hear the term "anemia" most people automatically think iron supplements, and while those often are the treatment, there are actually two kinds of anemia: iron deficiency and red blood cell deficiency.

To continue reading...click below...

Health & Wellness Done Right: Crapeteria to Healtheateria

I admit, and have often lamented on these pages, that our hospital's cafeteria didn't offer more healthy choices and higher quality food. Everybody I know bitches about  observes the same thing.  You would think a place where they put the patients on health-restricted diets would have plenty of healthy choices available to the employees and visitors but many hospitals offer the same transfat-laden, grease-heavy, processed food items that you can get at any fast food or diner type outlet.  If we're not going to be leaders in healthy eating, we should at least have healthy choices available to those who want them.

Well....

We got a memo today that hopefully proves that those with the power are paying attention to the employee surveys...

As of yesterday, I'm proud to say that my hospital cafeteria is now using only 90/10 lean ground beef, is doing away with hot dogs, doughnuts, pastries, and all but a few fried items (french fries), and will offer at least two entrees a day of higher quality, low processed, healthy meals.  They've also added a new cooler that has tons of house-made grab-n-go items like fruit and cheese plates with cottage cheese or yogurt (I get this all the time! Yum!),  and be-still-my-heart greek yogurt (and in my favorite: plain!  No added sugar!!!), grilled chicken wraps on whole grained tortillas, fruit parfaits, veggie/dip snack plates, etc.

I'M LOVING THIS!!!!!  Thank you!  This is the kind of food I eat at home, want to eat at work, and am proud to be a part of leading the way in healthy wholesome dine-out food. 

Food Goals 2011

Rather than listing out a bunch of goals this year, I think I just want to put out there in print so I can remind myself later that my goals are much the same as everyone else's.  More and more I want to continue to find time exercise and to create and cook delicious, filling recipes that taste good and are good for the body.  While I have dabbled in "diets" such as Meditteranean, Nordic, and Eat-Clean, and adhere to many of the principles, I don't consider myself to be "on" any one of them in particular. My husband has heart disease and I am overweight. To cook for those conditions, I've learned that in the most simple terms I need to rely on fresh, wholesome ingredients and to stay away from processed foods that contain a lot of chemicals, or any kind of fad or "diet-endorsed" foods.  To hell with Slim-Fast this and Weight Watchers that and Nutri-System this and Adkins that, edible substances that come wrapped in plastic inside cardboard boxes.  My food life is about real food, real recipes, because we're real people, not rats in a cage who didn't die when they were fed the eight syllable chemicals that give Twinkies the shelf life of Methuselah.

So all I really have to say about food goals this year is:  Who's with me?!

 

Happy New Year: 2011

 

Happy New Year with tons of blessings to all!

We chose to ring in the new year with old comfortable friends and food, not that we're calling our friends old...well, sort of.  Jennifer and Corbin, and Lynn and James hung out with Gene and I for the evening where we dove into smoke trout dip/crackers,  Baked Spaghetti (which is like lasagna with different pasta), garlic bread, a big romaine salad, and drank pomegranate dacquiris.

Yummy food, wonderful friends, and heated games of Box Office and 80's Trivial Pursuit up to and past the year-changing hour     --Love you guys!