THIRSTY THURSDAY

Good morning guys and dolls! How are you doing this bright and sunny day? I am good really. Got the band thing rockin' and my little dude here visiting with me, so everything is cool as a watermelon! LOL! Speaking of watermelons, to answer your question... the orange watermelon has been said to grow in the following regions:

Miami, Florida
Augusta, Georgia
Alexandria, Indiana
Wells, Maine
Austin, Texas
Mckinney, Texas
Riverton, Utah
Troy, Virginia
Kennewick, Washington

I have seen this breed of watermelon down here... I want to say at Farmer's Markets and a couple of grocery stores, so just watch for them. I have heard the larger they are, the sweeter they are too.

Ok as a mom, I saw an article and wanted to bring it to the attention of all the other mom's out there. Its about our kids and what we may feed them when we go out. After reading this article, it's quite disturbing actually to me that while the government is trying to make the meals at school better for the problem of our "obese kids", they have absolutely NO regulations about what they eat at restaurants... read this.

The Worst Kids' Meals in America
By David Zinczenko

My friend Karen came to me a couple of weeks ago worried about her two kids. She's a single mom who works long hours and usually feels too tired to cook when she gets home at night. So she and the kids end up eating fast-food dinners from whatever restaurant they happen to pass on the way home from soccer practice. Now, Karen's no dope—she knows that a fast food diet is often a fast way to poor health. She also loves her kids, and wants them to stay fit and active. So she came to me, pleading: "What can I do to make sure they're eating well, even when I can't cook for them myself?"

Karen's right to be concerned. Childhood obesity rates in America have tripled since 1980: today, 20 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 19 are obese. What's more, a disturbing 70 percent of overweight adolescents end up that way as adults. And since obesity increases your odds of heart attack, stroke, and early death, consider the impact of an entire generation of overweight children on our country's health care system—and our families.

It's a chilling thought. But here's the thing: I told Karen that restaurant food every now and then is perfectly fine. She just needs the nutrition information and recommendations that Eat This, Not That! provides on all of America's popular fast-food and sit-down restaurants. This way she can choose the smart options--and stay away from the worst restaurant kids meals--while eating her favorites foods and losing weight. Below are five of the unhealthiest kids' meals in America--and the healthier (and equally tasty) alternatives that they should choose instead. And remember: Teaching your kids healthy eating habits is only half the equation--passing on healthy fitness habits is just as important. (So this list of The World's Fastest and Easiest Exercise Tips will help keep them, and you, fit and lean for life!)

#5: A BIG 'NOT THAT!' at OLIVE GARDEN!
Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo meal
800 calories
48 g fat (30 g saturated)
810 mg sodium
SATURATED FAT EQUIVALENT: 1.5 full jars of Nutella!

I don’t know who this guy Alfredo is, but I’d like to give him a piece of my mind. This sauce is made with oil, butter, cream, and cheese. It’s always going to be rich, but the saturated fat here is just out of control. The American Heart Association recommends that we don't consume more than 7 percent of our total calories from saturated fat, but this sauce has four times that. It’s true that most kids don’t have to worry about heart attacks, but they do have to worry about obesity. About a third of the calories on this plate are from saturated fat. Another third come from carbohydrates. That leaves very little room for anything even remotely nutritionally redeeming.

Eat This Instead!
Cheese Ravioli
300 calories
8 g fat (4 g saturated)
440 mg sodium

This meal still provides the rich flavor of cheese, but it serves it in a reasonable portion size. The secret here, and you should always look for this when you’re eating Italian, is that it’s served in a low-fat, highly nutritious tomato-based sauce. Try to steer your child away from anything made in a white sauce.
Bonus tip: Something else to keep in mind: One way to cut hundreds of calories from your kids' diets is to watch the sugary drinks. Start with the beverages on this list of The Absolutely Worst Drinks in America. (Some of them have more than a day's worth of calories, fat and sugar!)

#4: A BIG 'NOT THAT!' at APPLEBEES!
Applebee’s Grilled Cheese with French fries
1,020 calories
54 g fat (17 g saturated)
2,170 mg sodium

CALORIE EQUIVALENT: 400 Cheddar Goldfish Crackers (that’s 1.3 full bags!)
Here’s the crazy part: You can make a grilled cheese sandwich in your own house—using real cheese and toasting it with real butter—and still manage to slide in at about 300 calories. This one has 620 calories, and the fries account for another 400.

Eat This Instead!
Hot Dog with Applesauce
300 calories
13 g fat (4 g saturated)
860 mg sodium

A hot dog is no nutritional ideal, but as long as it’s not a big stadium brat, it does have the advantage of being relatively low in calories. And kids love them. Swap out the fries for something truly nutritious, like vegetables or applesauce.
Bonus tip: Want to know how many calories you should be eating in a given day? Multiply your ideal body weight by 11. For more of the latest nutrition and health secrets to help you live better right away, follow me here on Twitter.

#3: A BIG 'NOT THAT!' at OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE!
Outback Steakhouse Kookaburra Chicken Fingers meal with Aussie Fries
1,030 calories
60 g fat (21 g saturated)
2,052 mg sodium
FAT EQUIVALENT: 12 Frosted Chocolate Fudge Pop-Tarts!

Beige food? Never a good choice. If this is what they’re eating down under, we’re better off staying up here. And here’s something else we don’t talk about enough with kids’ foods: sodium. This meal has almost as much as your child should eat in an entire day. That’s dangerous for two reasons: 1) It puts a strain on a child’s cardiovascular system; and 2) It reinforces a taste preference for sodium-loaded foods, so they’ll have a hard time ever breaking free from the salt shaker.
Bonus tip: For more examples of sodium-stuffed foods to avoid, check out this truly horrifying list of the 30 Saltiest Foods in America!

Eat This Instead!
Joey Sirloin with Fresh Seasonal Veggies
435 calories
28.5 g fat (15 g saturated)
631 mg sodium

If we can get kids eating real food earlier in life, they’ll be primed for staying fit and healthy well into old age. Despite what some people might think about eating red meat, sirloin steak is immensely nutritious. It’s lean, loaded with protein, and rich in vitamins and minerals.

#2: A BIG 'NOT THAT!' at DENNY'S!
Denny’s Slap Shot Sliders (2) meal with Finish Line Fries
1,070 calories
53 g fat (16 g saturated, 2 g trans)
1,180 mg sodium
CALORIE EQUIVALENT: 505 Jujubes (that’s just over 2 full boxes!)

This meal is an assault to children’s health and the world of sports. It uses sports terminology to sell food that turns kids into little sumo wrestlers. Again, there’s more than 1,000 calories in this meal. A 10-year-old kid should be eating only about 1,600 to 1,800 calories over the course of an entire day.

Eat This Instead!
Spaghetti, Set, Go! with Apple Dunkers and Caramel Dip
390 calories
7 g fat (2 g saturated)
325 mg sodium

Again, you’ve got the red marinara sauce, which is very good. You’ve also got slices of apple with caramel dip. This is something we’re seeing on more and more restaurant menus. Kids like it because it has the same finger-food appeal as french fries, and parents like it because it won’t make their kids look like lumpy sacks of potatoes.

Bonus tip: Here's another sneaky source of kid calories: Wayward snacking. Is your child snacking smart? See the good—and bad—chips and dips choices on our list of the Best and Worst Chips and Dips.

#1: THE BIGGEST 'NOT THAT!' at FRIENDLY'S!
Friendly’s Mac & Cheese Quesadilla meal with Friendly Frank, Shirley Temple and Friend-z Peanut Butter Cup
2,270 calories
109 g fat (45 g saturated)
3,320 sodium
CALORIE EQUIVALENT: 45 Glazed Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts!

Friendly? Ha! This restaurant deserves the Phoniest Name of the Decade Award. This meal has an entire day’s worth of calories for a full-grown adult. Plus it has more saturated fat or sodium than you should ever see at one table. Part of the problem here is the pile-on policy: The entrée plus the side plus the drink plus the dessert. All of that comes with the meal. And dessert? Since when did dessert stop being extra? This is just dangerous food that gets a boost from a bad policy.

Eat This Instead!
Grilled Cheese With Mandarin Oranges, 1% Milk, and a Double Shot Cone
800 calories
34 g fat (19 g saturated)
1,150 mg sodium

Now, here’s what’s crazy: The same sandwich that had more than 600 calories at Applebee’s—the grilled cheese—has only 290 calories at Friendly’s. That’s good, but it still comes with that obligatory dessert, which keeps this meal in the caloric danger zone. At 270 calories, The Double Shot Cone is the best you can do, but if you tell your server to scrap dessert altogether, your child suddenly has a reasonable 530-calorie entree.



Now, let's talk Christmas! WHAT? It's too early you say? Never! I am always thinking about my favorite holiday and how to make it better each year! I have tons of people I give gifts for and so it requires alot of planning and preparation. So I start early. Plus I like being one of those people who are relaxed and enjoying the holidays while watching others scramble around in a feverish frenzy at the last minute. Trust me, been there too and I don't particularly care for it! Now yesterday I forgot to get my dimensions for a gift that I know is going to take more than 1 day... it might take as much as a whole week for this one. Its something I am creating an original design for and must get the dimensions and fasteners, bibbles and bobbles, etc, etc, etc. JUST RIGHT! I must sketch out a template/pattern, deside on proper materials, write down step by step instructions for sewing assembly, you name it. This truly is going to be an original homemade gift LMAO. We're starting from scratch! And the funny thing is, I bet the recipient won't even understand what it is for until I demonstrate it or tell them! How much more unique does that make it!? My kind of gift! WOOHOO! This will be fun. So this gift IS part of the challenge, but NOT a one day, so I plan on working on 2 gifts at once over a couple of days... ambitious huh? I think so LMAO! So what kind of gifts have you been making?

Now since we got bit with the craft bug, today I will be working on a couple of purses. But not just any purses... they will be gifts. Also if I have time, I will be making a couple of baby items... like toys and changing pads and such. And for you, I am going to bring you another fabulous craft idea! Its baby in nature but would make an excellent gift for a new mom! Have you ever seen those round pillows called "Boppy" pillows? They were originally made for breastfeeding mothers to use to lay their arms on and prop up their child while feeding. However, they also make great aids in helping baby sit up, eat, etc. I use one for the little man whenever he comes to see me. I put it around him and he sits up to eat. Hey it works if you don't have a high chair LOL! So anyway... after seeing this for the first time, I wanted to make one for myself to keep here for him. I found a site online with a mother who felt the same way so she wrote the instructions and shared them. And if it works, maybe I will make a few extra as gifts, to sell, etc. LOL! So here it is ladies and germs... make sure to visit the site for great pics and instructions.



Craft Idea of the Day: The Baby Boppy Pillow

Materials:

1. 1 yard of 45” or 60” fabric for pillow cover. Bright cotton prints or soft baby fabrics work great. You can also use flannel (most have 41” width, but you will be fine using my pattern), but be aware that flannels peel very fast –those little fuzzy beads will form very soon and drive you nuts.
2. 1 yard of 45” or 60” fabric for the actual pillow. Use thicker cotton fabrics, or if you want to save even more money, an old flat sheet will work just fine.
3. 1 lb (apprx.)of 100% polyester fiberfill – you might use a little less.
4. 18” invisible zipper for pillow cover. However, you can use Velcro if messing with zippers is not what you want to do, or simply hand-stitch the closing.

Ok, so today for the WACKY WATERMELON WEEK I want to talk about drinks. Now we all normally consume more beverages during the summer months, and research supports this. The reasoning is that it is natures way of both keeping the body hydrated and our core tempurature at safe levels. I foe one always have a drink of some kind with me... I can't ever get enough to drink. Same with my DS. I send big coolers of gatorade with the DD to band practice too. Diabetics also tend to get an "incurable thirst" as well. SO see, drinks are a big part of everyday life. And sense we rely so much on hydration, why not make it something that is both delicious AND good for us (minus the alcohol and such of course)? So today on this thirsty Thursday, I bring you some tasty treats to please your palate. Drink & Enjoy!



Nobody's Strawberry Watermelon Shakedown

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
1 1/2 cups frozen diced watermelon
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons orange or lemon juice
1 tablespoon white sugar or Splenda (optional)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Blend the strawberries, watermelon, cream, yogurt, orange juice, sugar, and vanilla in a blender until smooth.



Watermelon and Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients

8 cups cubed seeded watermelon
1 cup fresh strawberries, halved
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup white sugar
2 cups water

Directions

Combine the watermelon, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and water in a blender.

Blend until smooth.



Watermelon Vodka Slush

4 cups watermelon flesh, seeds removed
2 fluid ounces simple syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup vodka
2 fluid ounces melon liqueur
4 twists lemon zest, garnish

Directions

In a food processor, puree the watermelon flesh. Pour the pureed watermelon into empty ice cube trays and freeze for at least 4 hours. Also, freeze 4 martini glasses.

In a blender combine the frozen watermelon cubes, simple syrup, lemon juice, vodka, and melon liqueur; blend until smooth. Pour into 4 frozen martini glasses and garnish each with a lemon twist.

Well that's everything for today. Its time for my llittle buddy and me to get down to some serious eating, play, cartoon watching, and crafting! LOL! I hope that you have an awesome day and be safe in wherever life leads you today and everyday. I will see you again tomorrow in my little cyber-haven I like to call The Frugal Mom's Blog! Until tomorrow... HUGS!