SOAPBOX

(EDITED 11:19am- I have deleted most of this blog because apparently I upset some people with what I posted, so I apologize if anyone else was upset with me. I will not vent or speak my mind so bluntly anymore in this forum.)

Good morning everyone. How’s things in your neck of the woods? I’m still kind of shaking out the cobwebs right now. It was a pretty rough night for me. Hopefully as the day progresses, I’ll feel a little better.

You know how when you don't feel good, things irritate you more than normal? Well I go outside to get one of the baby cats out of my planters and guess what I saw? Something OR SOMEONE has picked every single strawberry I had growing off my plants!!!!! I had like 6 or so growing and turning red, etc. and they are ALL GONE! The stems look like they have been picked off, instead of broken like an animal would do… I swear some people have no respect! Guess I need to be the "good little tenant" and bring it up to my landlord (like he'll do anything about it... he won't put up a fence or anything else. Guess I should just bring them inside every night!)



Ok, so yesterday mom told me about the Jamie Oliver show with the school foods and the little 1st graders who could not recognize their vegetables, etc. So last night I HAD to look it up. The show is called Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and let me tell you… I am setting the DVR to catch the next episode! I couldn’t find the whole episode online to watch but what it is about is a famous British Chef goes to what the government named the “unhealthiest town in America” which is Huntington, WV. He tries to help these people, whose population is 50% obese, change the way they are eating so they don’t die! His first mission is the elementary schools. OMG while my mom was talking to me about it I was teary eyed (like I am right now), but when I watched the clips I could find last night I was like OMG and started crying a bit. There is a part you see with a construction industrial sized dumpster full of FAT, lard, grease, etc. that they use to cook the kids food in at the Elementary School in one year!!! It was SOOOO gross!



Then he visits the home of a family with a mom, dad, teen, and toddler... all obese. He takes all of the food out of her house and dumps it on the table (pictured). Then he offers to take them to a doctor and also buys them all new food for their house in hopes to get them eating healthier. He goes back in like a week and that lazy mom made a million excuses why over half the food was still there! Jamie Oliver began to cry. He tried telling that woman how she is killing her family... HER KIDS! And she didn't seem to care! WHAT IS WRONG WITH PARENTS TODAY! OMG!!!! Well I commend this guy for what he is doing and for trying to help! Check out the show… especially if you have kids! And the bad part is, its not just schools and kids… its everywhere! Why just this morning Yahoo featured an article about the Unhealthiest foods at the mall! How many of you have teens who like hanging out or going shopping there? Yep it’s getting them at school AND their favorite hangout! Check out the Mall article… You might be surprised! I was… cause I am even guilty of buying a couple of things off this list!

Now if you have learned about me, I am all about getting and making the most with little money. I was driving around the other day and saw a bunch of garage sale signs. Ya know spring is here and everyone is cleaning out their old “junk” LOL! I love to go to garage sales really. Its true- one person’s trash is another person’s treasure! Well sometimes at estate sales, you can find neat older furniture and that has inspired today’s craft! Its at minimum a weekend project, but I would LOVE to find an old armoire so that I could do this… even do one in my bedroom or something! So if you have one or happen upon one, here’s an idea to give it a fresh new look AND use!



Craft Idea of the Day: Kitchen Storage Armoire

When you run out of room in the kitchen cabinetry, try this idea for a tablesetting station. Deep shelves and neatly labeled drawers keep tableware and linens in place and close at hand. You could also adapt this to be a extra pantry!

Using a precut alphabet stencil, trace the words for the drawers onto paper, then cut the words from stencil plastic. (The plastic makes the stencil sturdier and easier to paint.) Center the word stencil on the drawer and use a stencil brush to paint. Choose words that identify what you will store in the drawers for easy organization.



For extra pretty touches, stencil flower-and-scroll patterns onto the corners of the door panels. Then glue strips of eyelet trim to the shelf edges for added feminine flair. Decorate the shelves with your favorite teapots, pitchers, and plate stacks. Use large and small bowls to corral cloth napkins and silverware.

Now today for dinner, I’m not sure what I am gonna make, so I’ve decided to share with you a deliciously sweet treat. Key Lime is a favorite in this house, as is cheesecake. So why not combine the 2? It’s low calorie and diabetic friendly as well.



Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

6 squares low-fat honey graham crackers, finely crushed (1/2 cup)
2 Tbsp. margarine, melted
1 tsp. sugar
1 4-serving-size pkg. sugar-free low-calorie lime-flavored gelatin
3/4 cup boiling water
1 16-oz. container fat-free cottage cheese (1-3/4 cups)
1 8-oz. pkg. fat-free cream cheese, softened
4 TBS of confectioners sugar
1 8-oz. container frozen fat-free whipped dessert topping, thawed
Key Limes or limes, cut in wedges (optional)

Directions

In small bowl combine graham crackers, margarine, and sugars. Press crumb mixture in the bottom of a 2-quart square baking dish. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

In large bowl combine gelatin and water. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Set aside.

In blender or food processor combine cottage cheese and cream cheese. Cover and blend or process until smooth, stopping several times to scrape down sides. Whisk 1/2 cup of the cottage cheese mixture into the gelatin mixture. Whisk in remaining cottage cheese mixture until smooth. Fold in whipped dessert topping.

Spoon filling over chilled crumb mixture.

Cover and refrigerate 8 to 24 hours or until filling is firm. To serve, cut in squares. Top with lime wedges. Makes 9 servings

Well folks, that’s all the time we have today. I’ve got tons of things I have to do today around the house and everywhere else even though I don't want to do anything today! The guys are going back out to my parents house to work on the floors again. Until tomorrow… HUGS!

EGG-CELLENT ADVENTURES

Well an early morning hello to my friends out there on the information super highway! I’ve been up since 2am and I can tell ya… I am one tired pup! I would like to lay back down until I have to pick up the boys this afternoon but I have to go back to the doctor this morning for fasting lab work. It feels so weird without my mini-me… but she’s gonna have a great time and I told her to take lots of pictures for me! So we won’t tell her that I cried myself back to sleep when I got home (for at least an hour) and I frantically watched the Southwest Airlines “Check Flight Status” website all morning! LOL…



I thought this was supposed to get easier and I would WANT them to go away, but it’s not working out like that… someone fibbed to me! LOL. And to make matters worse, when I dropped her off, she wanted me to walk her in, where I got a group hug from like 10 other kids… all calling me mom of course… and all looking to me for those “comforting words” ya know? So I told them I loved them all, to have fun, be safe, stay together, take lots of pictures for me, and I would see them when they got back Monday. I hugged them all and the first AND last one… the most important one… was DD15. I hugged her tight and told her I loved her and would see her soon. I quickly ran out to the car where I proceeded to start balling. So I got that 30 minute power nap before I was up and running again! But not having to get her ready for school triggered another crying session and I haven’t stopped yet. Hopefully it will stop soon.



Ok, let’s get distracted (me basically)… I have had a couple of people ask me about the doctor, so I will just tell you it did not go well. I am now on high blood pressure meds, a new water pill, and they will discuss different diabetes medications and other problems once they get the lab results back. I have to go back for a follow up in 2 weeks. I have gained an excessive amount of weight since July so of course, they harped on that too! I’m not sure what these doctors expect when you have an injury and/or disease that incapacitates you for 9 months… HELLO MD’s… YOU’RE GONNA GAIN WEIGHT YOU MORONS! Ugh, that’s why I hate going to the doctors. They are trained to point out your flaws! And I don’t like acknowledging I have any (even though I KNOW I do) LOL! She said the migraine the past few days is due to the blood pressure. My sugars were also very high, so I have to keep a log of my BP and my sugars for the next 2 weeks until I go back. Fun FUN! NOT!

I ran out to Mom & Dad’s yesterday to borrow a bigger suitcase for the DD and while I was there I grabbed more scrap wood from the garage. I am also gonna be calling Home Depot and Lowe’s today to see if they have any scraps. They are even doing some minor construction on a house behind ours, so I am gonna go over there too and check for scraps! Care to guess what I am gonna do with them? Yep… MORE planters! LOL you can call me crazy if you want, but the project was fun for me and they turn out so cute and really, right now, I need SOMETHING to keep me busy/distracted so why not!?

Alright its time for some more Easter crafts. Today I want to talk about eggs. What would Easter be without the traditional Easter Egg!?

Craft Ideas of the Day: Easter Eggs



Speckled Easter Eggs
by Jane Lake

This method of decorating Easter eggs is very messy - but lots of fun! Just to be sure to wear an apron and spread lots of newspaper around your work surface to catch the flying paint.

Supplies:

hard boiled eggs
egg dye
tempra, watercolor or craft paint or food coloring
old toothbrush

Instructions:

1. If you want to begin with colored eggs, then dye the eggs using commercial egg dye or natural egg dye.

2. Spread newspaper over your work surface. It's also a good idea to protect the front of your clothes with an apron or smock.

3. Dip the toothbrush in a small amount of paint or dye in a contrasting color.

4. Run your finger or thumb over the top of the toothbrush bristles to splatter the eggs with small drops of color.

Variations: You can wash the toothbrush and use a second or third color to make speckled eggs with lots of different colors.



Tie Dyed Easter Eggs

Supplies:

eggs, hard-boiled, boiled in a saucepan of water with 1 tbsp of vinegar added or blown eggs
food coloring in assorted colors
paper towels
plastic wrap
old shirt or apron

Instructions:

This is such an easy way to make tie dyed Easter eggs - and very pretty too.

Boil your eggs or blow the eggs out if you wish to keep them permanently.

To blow out an egg: Poke a small hole in each end of the egg. Use a long needle or skewer to break the yoke. Hold the egg over a bowl and blow hard through one hole until the egg has emptied out of the shell. Rinse with water, let dry, and decorate.

To Tie Die Eggs: Take a paper towel and dampen the towel with water and vinegar, making sure it is just damp.

Place a piece of plastic wrap under the paper towel.

Drip small drops of food coloring onto the paper towel. Allow colors to drop next to each other so they bleed slightly together. Make sure there is enough area with food color to cover egg.

Wrap an egg in the paper towel and the plastic wrap. The longer you keep the egg in the brighter the egg will get.

Repeat until all your eggs are tie dyed. Every one will be different, but all of them will be pretty!



Naturally With Dyes From Your Kitchen
by Debra Lynn Dadd

The most beautiful dyes for Easter eggs come from foodstuff you probably already have in your kitchen.

I have been delighted with the results of the colors I have tried and my friends have been thrilled to receive them as springtime gifts. The colors are very unusual -- gentle, earthy, soft, and very vibrant, without being harsh like the artificial dyes -- and when I tell people the colors come from plant dyes, they always want to know the origin of each color.

To color these eggs, you boil the eggs with the dyestuff, rather than boiling the eggs separately and then dying them.

General directions:

Put raw, white-shelled, organically-raised eggs in a single layer in a pan. Cover with cold water. Add a little more than a teaspoon of white vinegar. Add the natural dyestuff for the color you want your eggs to be. (The more eggs you are dying at a time, the more dye you will need to use, and the more dye you use, the darker the color will be.)

Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Quickly check the eggs for color by removing them from the dye liquid with a slotted spoon.

If the color is as desired, pour off the hot dye liquid and rinse the eggs immediately in cold water to stop the eggs from cooking. Continue to change the water until it stays cool in the pot because the eggs are no longer releasing heat. Drain and allow eggs to cool in the refrigerator.

If you wish a deeper color, strain the hot dye liquid into a container, then rinse the eggs immediately in cold water to stop them from cooking. Continue to change the water until it stays cool in the pot because the eggs are no longer releasing heat. Drain the last of the cold water, then cover the eggs with the strained dye liquid. Add more water if necessary so that the eggs are completely covered. Put into the refrigerator immediately and keep eggs in the refrigerator until the desired shade is achieved. Overnight is good. Longer than about twelve hours some of the colors just get muddier instead of deeper, and the lighter shades are more vibrant.

Try these foods to dye your eggs:

Red - Pink -- lots of red onion skins, cranberry juice, or frozen raspberries.

Orange -- Yellow onion skins

Brown -- Red beet skins or grape juice (produces a beautiful sparkling tan), coffee.

Yellow -- Saffron, tumeric or cumin, orange or lemon peels, or celery seed.

Green -- spinach, or carrot tops and peels from Yellow Delicious apples for a yellow-green.

Blue -- Red cabbage leaves make the most incredible robin's-egg blue.

Deep Purple -- Red wine makes a beautiful burgundy color

Tips for successful results:
Use filtered or distilled water. Chlorine and other chemicals will work against the dye, making it less intense. Buy distilled water or use your own filtered water.

For deeper colors, use more dyestuff or let the eggs soak longer. For even coverage, cook eggs in a pot large enough to hold enough water and dyestuff to completely cover the eggs, even after some of the liquid has evaporated during the 15 minute of boiling.

Again, for even coverage, if you continue to soak the eggs in the refrigerator after cooking, make sure the eggs are completely covered with the dye liquid. Blot the eggs dry or allow them to air dry, as for some colors the dye will rub off while still wet. On the other hand, if you wish to make a white pattern on the egg, you can rub off some of the dye for some colors immediately after cooking.

Make sure eggs of different colors are completely dry before piling them up in a bowl together, as wet dye from one egg can transfer to another.

About the Author: Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a consumer advocate for products and lifestyle choices that are better for health and the environment since 1982. Visit her website at http://www.dld123.com for 100s of links to 1000s of nontoxic, natural and earthwise products, and to sign up for her free email newsletters.



Easter Egg Wreath

For thousands of years, the egg has been a symbol of new life — and spring — for people the world over. Craft the time-honored symbol into a wreath for your door, and you've got the perfect way to welcome spring into your home.
Materials
14 plastic pull-apart eggs
Puffy paint
Egg cartons
2 large heavy-duty paper plates
Scissors
Glue
Green craft foam
Twist ties
Instructions

First, decorate 14 plastic pull-apart eggs with puffy paint and let them dry. (Overturned egg cartons make great workstations and drying racks; just set each egg half over a carton cup bottom.)

Cut the rims from the paper plates and glue them together. Glue green craft foam leaves around the ring, leaving 1 1/2 inches between them.

To attach the eggs, tightly wrap twist ties (one for each egg) between the leaves around the paper plate ring, then simply close the egg halves together over the ties.

You can also decorate eggs by dying them the color you want and allowing them to dry. Then with craft glue, cover the egg in crystal beads (used in jewelry making). You will have a precious jeweled egg. Or perhaps you can decoupage some cute clippings from magazines, etc. The possibilities are endless. The point is to make them unique!

Ok, time to eat. Well tonight I think I will be making Chili Rellenos for the guys. You and I, however, will feast our eyes (and if you are ambitious, our palates) on this yummy dessert!



Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 (9 ounce) package brownie mix
1 egg
1 tablespoon cold water
1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup chocolate fudge topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.

In a small bowl, mix together brownie mix, 1 egg and water. Spread into the greased pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Melt the caramels with the evaporated milk over low heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir often, and heat until mixture has a smooth consistency. Reserve 1/3 cup of this caramel mixture, and pour the remainder over the warm, baked brownie crust.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour cream cheese mixture over caramel mixture.

Bake cheesecake for 50 minutes. Chill in pan. When cake is thoroughly chilled, loosen by running a knife around the edge, and then remove the rim of the pan. Heat reserved caramel mixture, and spoon over cheesecake. Drizzle with the chocolate topping.

Ok peeps (oh those sound good right now LOL!) its time for me to get off of here and head down to the doctors so the vampires can attack me. Hopefully that won’t take too long, that way I can come back and catch a nap! Make sure you always tell the ones you care about how you feel so they always know! It will make them feel important and brighten their day! I will see you all tomorrow. Peace, Love, and LOTS of HUGS!