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Archives for September 2011

Leo & I made a Chocolate Peanut butter pie!

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Leo is such a good little helper.  I setup the food processor and told him to put in half the graham crackers in to the processor, then some sugar and cocoa and to pulse till fine.  He did all that, then I had him get the stick of butter that was missing about 2 tbsp’s already and to cut it in half to melt in microwave.  In the mean time I’m heating milk, vanilla & peanut butter on stove.  I put corn starch, sugar and egg yolks (i disgusted him separating them he couldnt understand why I would use my hands to do it lol) i whipped it up and then tempered the hot milk peanut butter mixture.

Leo was making pie crust now, I removed all sharp pieces from food processor and he put it in bowl and mixed butter and mixed well, he needed a little more butter so he grabbed other half what’s left.   So far we have the pie almost together, I ran out of corn starch.

To Be Continued……………….. later

Savory Taco Chicken Pizza with Guacamole and Chipotle Salsa

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Savory Taco Chicken Pizza with Guacamole and Chipotle Salsa

 

Ingredients

Makes 6-8 servings

2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 cup taco blend

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 lb store-bought whole wheat pizza dough

1 cup low-fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup 1% or low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup zesty guacamole

1 cup chipotle salsa

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

 

Directions

Using a meat mallet or the bottom of a small, heavy skillet, gently pound the chicken breasts until thin. Rub the meat with about 3 tbsp of the taco blend and then lay the pieces in a large glass or ceramic dish and pour the olive oil over them. Turn to coat, cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

 

Prepare a moderately hot fire in a charcoal or gas grill and oil the grill grates. When the grill is hot, lift the chicken from the marinade, letting any excess drip off.  Grill the chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the grill and let the chicken cool. When cool enough to handle, cut into bite-size cubes.

 

Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, cut the pizza dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll the pizza dough into thin circles. Rub the dough circles on both sides with the olive oil, and dust lightly with the remaining 1 tbsp of taco blend. Carefully transfer the dough circles to the grill and cook until crispy and lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side.

 

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together the cheeses. While the dough is still on the grill, top the dough circles with equal amounts of cheese and then with equal amounts of chicken. Grill over a cool part of the grill, covered, until the cheese melts and is bubbling, 3 to 4 minutes.

 

Top the pizza with the guacamole, salsa, sour cream and cilantro.

Dr. Oz Uncovers the Hidden Danger Lurking in Apple Juice

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In the latest episode of “Things to Fear in Your Food,” we’re looking at “Arsenic in Your Apple Juice.” Yes, arsenic, the toxic metalloid associated with cancer, organ failure, and death, may be lurking in your sweet, innocent apple juice. It’s just like in the movie Arsenic and Old Lace where the two elderly spinsters kill off lonely old bachelors with elderberry wine spiked with the poison — only not nearly as entertaining.

Dr. Oz and his team recently tested five popular brands ofapple juice and found elevated levels of arsenic. Mind you, “elevated” is not a trivial amount. It means levels higher than what’s allowed in drinking water. It means levels you might not want to be consuming daily, or even weekly, because arsenic likes to build up in your system. It’s not a visitor; it’s a permanent house guest who never leaves but just keeps getting bigger and more obnoxious.

Out of 36 samples (they tested the same brands multiple times just to be thorough), 10 exceeded the limits for drinking water set by the EPA, and some even measured above “levels of concern.” Those levels are based on people consuming just 4 ounces a day. Who stops at just 4 ounces? Not even most children.

“As a doctor and a parent, it’s concerning to me that there could be toxins such as arsenic in juice we are giving to our kids,” said Dr. Oz. “While we do not know of any cases of poisonings, we do know that arsenic is a substance that shouldn’t be in food and could be associated with various public health problems such as cancer.”

He thinks we should have standards for allowable levels of arsenic for juice just like we do for water. Oh, ya think, Dr. Oz? And what the hell is arsenic doing in apple juice in the first place?!

Maybe we should blame China. Oh, you didn’t know we import apple juice from China? Well, we do. You will recall the fun we had with melamine-tainted food a while back. Good times. The U.S. has banned the use of arsenic in pesticides, but we have no control over what comes in from other countries. Even if we weren’t importing apple juice, arsenic can sneak into apples from contaminated soil and water here at home.

Some might say, “Eh, I drink apple juice all the time and I’m not dead yet.” But I’m getting a little tired of hearing about friends and family members getting cancer after living otherwise healthy lives. I’m trying to minimize my exposure to toxins, so I would like to know which foods out there may have “elevated” levels of arsenic in them.

At this point you’re probably wondering which brands of apple juice you should be avoiding. So am I. But we will have to wait for Dr. Oz to do the big reveal on the show, which happens Wednesday. Apparently he names names! Can’t wait.

So yeah, enjoy your orange juice — unless there’s something wicked hiding in that, too.

Are you steering clear of apple juice now?


Leo did some building today

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He started to build a play set, they are his favorite to build.  He loves his lego’s and he watches videos on how to make things on youtube.  He never ceases to amaze me.  He still has some building to do but it was bed time so I told him the sun will come out tomorrow lmao he wasnt so happy about that, but he went to bed, as I’m bout to do myself now.

 

Cheesy Grilled Chicken & Potato Soup (w/ extras)

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So I got this can of stuff I wont tell who sent it to me.   So I took some Boneless, Skinless Thighs and I heated a pan and put some EVOO and seasoned the chicken.  I placed them top side down, I could tell which side was the out side and which was inside.  I grilled it in a pan and it smelled ohhh sooo good!!  While these were cooking hubby and I cut onion and potatoes, and after the meat was cooked enough I removed from pan and placed on a cooling rack.  I added 2 tablespoons of butter to pan and kinda deglazed it with butter, added 1 heaping tablespoon of flour and let it simmer stirring constantly.  I added milk and stirred more till fully mixed, it cooked until it was incorporated totally.   I was out of chicken broth so I had to use some cream of chicken soup and  half of chicken bullion cube and let simmer more.  I then sliced chicken and added it and onion and potatoes to the broth as well as some parmasan cheese.  it tastes lovely mmmmm I’m gonna add some carrots and fresh chopped spinach as well to cook in it at the end.  I will add pictures after its all done!

 

Ok change that because I just added some extra’s that I didnt plan on adding but I figured before the fresh mushrooms go bad I’ll use them to, I used mandolin to slice them super thin and i heated up some butter and EVOO and put some green and red peppers and onions plus some mushrooms and broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and whatever else is in that bag of broccoli andy i cooked it all in butter for a few minutes and then I added it to soup and julianned the spinach and added that plus a half of a bag of pizza cheese orange and white mix, and more parmasan and its cooking a little more and its done!

 

ohh and it tastes sooo good!!

Day two of reading

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Day two of reading

Leo was very, very against reading today, I ended up feeling very frustrated myself. He was full of attitude and just dead set against it. I let him go play since he is obviously not even trying right now. We will try again tomorrow, I have high hopes, or maybe I’ll just give him a lil break for this week and just do math. I dont know we’ll see :)

I love this kid!!

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Cakes & Cupcakes and other goodies I have made!

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Cakes & Cupcakes and other goodies I have made through out the last couple years.

We went to my moms house tonight.

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We went and spent a couple hours at my moms house.  Leo enjoyed himself and was pretty good lol :)~ He likes to some times give me hard time at grannys house.  He’s fast asleep now

Gonna try something with this cheese meal starter stuff, not sure what yet.  I read the ingredients and it has chicken broth in it, so maybe a chicken dish of some sort.

its 3:33am lol so I will end this and say Good Night…..