Tuesday, March 30, 2010

One Dollar--Plus An Explanation


Spring break was last week and it was my excuse for not posting the whole week. Yesterday? I, uh, well, blame it on Directv. Their Starz movie channels are free right now and I think I've watched more movies the past 3 days than I have all year.

But look what happened since I've been away from the internet--my son lost his first tooth! He didn't start cutting teeth until after he turned one year old. And at 8 years old he's a late bloomer in losing them, too. But it's given him plenty of time to question what on earth the tooth fairy is going to do with all his teeth. So underneath his pillow he left his tooth, a pencil, and a note:

And thankfully the tooth fairy had an answer--magic fairy dust!

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Snickers Cake

My oldest son's birthday is just a few days before mine is and I end up making so many cupcakes for his special day that I never get my own treat. But not this year! This year I got my own cake and it was delicious. A chocolate cake covered with caramel, whipped topping and crushed Snickers bars.

Before I moved back to my hometown, I was running around in circles with a newborn and a 2 year old counting down every 2 weeks when my parents would come to visit. They would stay the whole weekend doting on their grandchildren, changing diapers and making meals for me. I found this recipe somewhere and since I wasn't busy doing laundry and washing out bottles, I actually had time to try it out. It was a hit and I've been making it ever since.

Snickers Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix
ingredients needed for mix (eggs, oil and water)
16 oz whipped topping
12.25 oz jar caramel sauce
2 Snickers bars, frozen

Bake cake according to directions on box. When done, remove from oven, poke holes in the cakes with the handle of a wooden spoon and pour caramel sauce over both of the cakes. When cakes have cooled, invert onto a cake plate adding a layer of whipped topping in the middle. Continue to cover the cakes with whipped topping and add crushed Snickers bars on top. In my opinion, this cake is so much better the second day when the caramel has really had time to saturate the chocolate cake.



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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Maybe Next Year?

I can't remember if I took this picture of Lexie stretching after her regular 23 hour nap or before. She gives me a run for my money in the "lazy dog" department. Just the thought of a 1150 mile dog sled race makes us both tired. We're sitting out this years Iditarod. Again.

The "Last Great Race on Earth" is scheduled to end sometime this afternoon in Nome, Alaska. It's no surprise that Lance Mackey is currently in the lead. Of course I was rooting for the all-Siberian teams again this year:

1) Karen Ramstead--my personal favorite. She scratched in McGrath but I hope she'll be back in 2011.
2) Blake Freking--currently 41st and on track to setting a new record for a purebred team.
3) Hank Debruin--a rookie currently in last place (57th), the Red Lantern Award position.

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Thursday, March 11, 2010

Chicken Souvlaki


Every year the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Little Rock hosts the Greek Food Festival. And every year my sister and I would count down the days in May for the festival to begin. We would get our fill of gyros, spanakopita and Greek salads, browse the arts and crafts booths, watch a little dancing and then get several baklava and sourotas to go. Good times. Good, delicious times.

I recently found a great recipe for Skillet Chicken Souvlaki in Cooking Light magazine that's tiding me over until the festival begins.

Skillet Chicken Souvlaki (original recipe from Cooking Light)

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium sliced onion
1 thinly sliced green bell pepper
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup grated cucumber
1/2 cup 2% Greek-style yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 (6-inch) whole-wheat soft pitas, cut in half
1 tomato, chopped

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Add chicken to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until done. Remove from pan.

2. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes. Add chicken, garlic, and oregano; cook 30 seconds.

3. Combine cucumber, yogurt, parsley, lemon juice and salt. Serve chicken mixture with yogurt sauce, warmed pita, and chopped tomato.

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Thirty-something or other

Look, it's me in front of the camera! This was taken last June and yet it's the most recent picture I have of myself. It was taken when I was 36. And today I'm not 36. I'm a year older than 36. Thirty-six plus one. The number that comes after 36. You know the one I'm talking about. I'm just not ready to say it out loud yet.

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Who Do You Like To Follow?

There was a time when I had no interest in Twitter but now it's the first thing I check in with when I sit down at the computer. I love the 'list' function that allows me to keep all my celebrity twits in one place.

DeLana Harvick is a favorite to follow. She's the wife of Kevin Harvick (NASCAR driver) and tweets all the time during races and off the track. I understand that she's not for everybody but you know who is? Stephen Colbert. You're probably already following him--1,447,865 of us are--but if you are not, here's why you should:

stared into my freezer for an hour this morning. I miss the olympics.
11:22 AM Mar 4th via web


and

america is fed up with washington. and that's saying something. it takes a lot to get us full
10:57 AM Mar 5th via web


See? Hilarious. And I need more of that so if you're following a prolific Twitter celebrity please let me know!

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