Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Monday, January 23, 2017

OCTOPUS ON THE ROCKS- A DELICACY I SERVE ALL THE TIME---Told in Nana Diana STORY FORM

This, my friends, is
FOOD FOR THOUGHT!
What we are going to talk about today is 
The Feeding Frenzy For Little Ones
otherwise known in some circles 
(those without children) 
as Lunchtime.


Join me at the table as we get set up. 
Places please! 
Are your hands washed? 
Three little girlie
heads nod up and down. 
Okay- Sit! 
No SweetCheeks! 
That is NOT your chair. 
Your chair is the one 
with the plastic wrap over the seat- 
Good, good...
Player number three has assumed the position
 I think that's what it's called-
I don't watch a lot of football-okay-
I go to the football PARTIES-
I pretend that I am watching football...
but basically, 
I am making jokes 
at everyone else's expense- 
 So, Player #3 has taken her place. 
Ria wants to sit on the bench 
with the pillows.
That is her favorite spot. 
pinterest
However, there is a small glitch in this plan. 

SweetCheeks is sitting NEXT to the bench. 
That means that she can, 
at any given moment, 
touch the food on Ria's plate~ 
That makes Ria scowl and howl. 
This will NOT work.
 Shift SweetCheeks. 
She does NOT want to move
 because she can't SEE. 
See? See what? 
It's got nothing to do with 
the view out the window-
it has everything to do with 
"seeing" Ria's plate. 
Too bad, so sad-
You're moving because....
the bench is built in and can't be moved. 
Okay-two down...One to go...
Lulu can sit anywhere because 
she will mind her p's and q's. 
Well, most of the time-
we might discuss this later.
Lulu sits in a chair.


Now, we throw 
ANOTHER player into the queue. 
It is MyHero! 
He has heard the word FOOD- Lunch? 
Where is HE supposed to sit? 
Lulu is in his "regular" place-
whatever that means...
since when did God stamp 
YOUR NAME on THAT chair
I ask ever so nicely(not)....
MyHero takes the only seat left.
It is next to SweetCheeks. 

YAYY-She says...Papa is sitten wif me. 

"I don't want to sit by her", he whines-
"She touches me with her greasy hands." 

"Dey NOT greeeezy,Papa! she exclaims-
 rubbing her hands on his shirt to show him. 

Players #1 & #2 are giggling
as MyHero inspects his shirt sleeve.
Sadly, he cannot find any grease.

What are we having you ask?
Here it comes, folks! 
My super-secret special meal 
that EVERY kid will devour 
with joy in their hearts. 
What is it you want to know.....Ready? 
OCTOPUS ON THE ROCKS! 



Stop gagging...
you will love this, I promise. 
Here is how you fix it. 
Take one hot dog. 
Split it in half leaving about 1-1/2" unslit.
 Cut the slitted sides into "legs"
Yes...yes...now you are getting the idea. 
Cut each side about 3 times. 
This will give you a 6 legged octopus 
(which no one will comment on
 until they get to Kindergarten 
and know it has 8 tentacles). 
Stand him (or her) upright on a paper plate.
Spread the legs out and put in the microwave.
 Zap it for 1 minute. 
The legs will curl up a bit-perfect. 
Put two dots of ketchup on for eyes 
and 1 big one for a mouth. 
Great~ Good Job! 
Now, the rocks 
(which you have made beforehand and have waiting on the stove) 
That happens to be macaroni & cheese. 
The trick is it MUST BE the shell kind 
Octopuses /Octopi?-
 DO NOT LIKE
to sit on any old macaroni.
You need SHELL shaped macaroni. 
I like the Velveeta brand cuz it's easy. 

(yeah...yeah...I know...y'all make yours from scratch-it sucks to be you). 

So, make a nice little mound of shells 
on the plate. 
Plop Mr.Octopus in the center...
Make a  big smile-y mouth 
the first time 
you serve this
so you don't
 scare the Bejesus out of the kid. 
Then, ah yes...
what is the vegetable 
to go with this delectable dish 
you want to know? 

It is SEAWEED. 
That's right! SEAWEED-
also known as Spinach. 

Your kid doesn't eat spinach? 
You will be surprised and amazed. 
You will be overcome with joy-
you will almost faint-
You will send me letters 
of praise and blessings~
Yes! They do eat spinach
 IF they think it is seaweed!
 (barring that-try green beans 
but it doesn't look nearly as cute 
as you can  plainly see).

So, there you have it folks. 
A gourmet feast for any child. 
And, if you are very good, and don't whine, 
one day soon I will tell you how to make 
Nana's Bananas.

This is longer than my regular posts
and a story from when 
SweetCheeks was little.
I might throw one of these in
now and then---
just for fun.
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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

EASIEST, BEST CARAMEL CORN EVER!!! MICROWAVE & No Calories!

Who doesn't love
CARAMEL CORN?
Especially in the dead of winter
when it is cold and we look for a
BIT OF COMFORT----
This takes less than 10 minutes
once you have the corn popped!
This family loves it!
Here is the easiest ever recipe:

Pop 3/4 cup popcorn-
(or measure out 10-14 cups popped corn)
Place in extra large microwave safe bowl.
In large Pyrex mixing bowl 
(I use one with pouring spout)
(recipe follows at bottom of post)
Stir together:  Brown sugar, corn syrup, butter.
It will start to melt down after first minute
in the microwave.
Microwave for 4 minutes-stirring after each minute.
It will get bubbly like this:
After 4th minute.
Stir these in:
Pour over popped corn.
Add as many nuts as you like.
We like cashews.
Coat everything by stirring
Stir.  Microwave.Stir again and repeat process.
Cool on cookie sheet then break apart.
Eat.

Ummmm... I promise NOT TO TELL if you
accidentally leave some caramel in the bowl
and HAVE to scrape it out and EAT IT so it
doesn't  go to waste.
Yeah- I am a good friend like that!

Here's the recipe:
Caramel Corn:
Place in large microwave safe bowl:
10-14 cups popped corn 
(I use 2 large bags Orville Redenbacher)
In separate microwave safe LARGE measuring cup:
Mix together:
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light Karo syrup
1/2 cup butter
Microwave above for 4 minutes-stirring after every minute.
Then stir in:
1/2 teaspoon salt (more if you like sweet & salty)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda.
Pour above mixture over popcorn and nuts.
Stir well.
Microwave on high 1 minute.
Stir well.
Microwave on high 1 more minute.
Stir well.
Microwave on high 30 seconds.
Stir well.
Microwave on high 30 more seconds.
Stir well.  (That's a total of 3 minutes)
Dump onto greased cookie sheet and let cool completely.
Break apart and store -if there's any left!

Some of you know that somehow,
someway I did something to my back.
It was NOT lifting a fork to my mouth
either-thanks for asking.
Anyway, I am not working at the VA today.
Just felt I couldn't do an adequate job
and that someone else could do it better.
This, too, shall pass.
Just a little bump in the road--
or crick in the back.
I have to get back on track with 
MY PROGRAM!

Hope YOU have a great Tuesday.
I will be watching mindless TV 
today, or reading, or computing,
just not doing anything worthwhile...


Oh- Yeah-Just so you know--
I mighta lied about the 
NO CALORIE THING.
(the devil made me do it)

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Friday, November 6, 2015

FINISH IT UP FRIDAY---FIVE FOTOS FOR FUN~and a couple of OLD SECRETS

I can hardly believe it
but I am getting my photo files
all cleaned up doing this
Finish it up Friday thing.

When I search for photos to use here
I am deleting some and moving others 
into their proper storage folders.

Whoo Hooo.

SO!
What is up this week?
MY LITTLE STAR---RIA
is off to a dance competition in 
Chicago.
She always takes a prize.
She is the most graceful little girl 
I have ever seen.
Even when not dancing
she moves like a dancer.
Isn't she a beauty...
with a little SASS thrown in for fun.
Makes me want to cut hearts out of leaves
when I look at her.
Don't you love this idea!?!
I HEART this little guy, too.
This old dollhouse sits under a covered "porch"
on the front part of our garage.
CJK- is fascinated by it and always checks it
to see if "fairies" are inside.
He KNOWS they are there.
On my side porch off the dining room
I have a glass topped table & chair set
 I bought from my
neighbor years ago.
I pull the cushions off it for winter
and it starts looking bare.

But-who says that a 
FRUIT CENTERPIECE 
won't work outside?
AND if you use fake faux fruit
you won't get "critters" eating them.
I send them  next door to eat the 
neighbor's pumpkins.  
I am a good neighbor that way.
Speaking of FRUIT---
Have you seen this little "trick"
on the internet somewhere?
Is that cute or what?
Cutie-pie clementines
with a piece of celery for the stalk.

source unknown

Well, there's my FIVE photos--
of course #1 counted as THREE pictures, 
I suppose.
I never was very good at 
FOLLOWING THE RULES
and I have the deportment remarks on my
old report cards to prove it.
I blame my father for that...
hey---gotta blame somebody.
He was a smart-aleck, too.

This is a TRUE STORY!
When I missed school I 
ALWAYS wrote my own excuses to turn in 
to the teacher in charge of truancy.

ONE DAY
I asked my MOM to write my excuse for me
because I was in a hurry.
When I turned it in they called HER 
to see if I had 
FORGED MY EXCUSE.

SHE was MAD at ME
for that!
Seriously?!?!???

Maybe if you are 
REALLY GOOD I will tell you about
the time I tipped over backwards in
Accounting class and my
full skirt and can-can
went up over my head.
I blame Charlie Watson for that!
He put his feet against the legs of my chair
when I went to push my chair back 
to stand up.
Pfffffttttt...
Mrs. Harkness never liked me anyway.
She liked me even less after 
THAT INCIDENT.


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Tuesday, November 3, 2015

I DID THE WHOLE30 Food Plan for 30 DAYS & A HEALTHY APPLE "DESSERT"

On October 1st,
MyHero and I embarked on a new food plan.
Whole30!
You can read all about it by clicking the link HERE.

You CAN eat things like THIS!

I lost 14 pounds in 30 days!
THAT is the BONUS!
My Hero lost 8 pounds
BUT.
he had already been "dieting" 
before starting this program.

To me-this was a no-brainer.
It has been touted as reducing inflammation
and being a healthy way of eating.

I have GAINED much more than I lost!

I have inflammatory arthritis and 
I ALWAYS ache-
some days are worse than others.
After following this food plan
I have almost NO ACHES!
I would not have believed that was possible,
but it has been/is!

I also lost ALL CRAVINGS for 
SUGAR, FLOUR & DAIRY.
That, too, is unbelievable to me.

This is not for everyone 
and I am not one of  those people
that say-
THIS is what you SHOULD do.
You are a smart person 
and can make up your own mind.

Personally---We have decided to stay on the 
WHOLE30  another 30 days!

One of the "treats" that got me through
is this one:
I have one of those apple slicers/corers.
I slice & core the apple,
drop it in a small custard dish,
drop a few pecans in the center,
top with a teaspoon of clarified butter,
sprinkle cinnamon (or apple pie spice) on it
and then microwave it for about one minute.
It is WONDERFUL! 

This one has a sprinkle of Truvia (Stevia) on it, too.
Let me just say--
If I can do this---anyone can!
Trust me!

What SAVED me is the fact that I could have all the
BLACK COFFEE
 I wanted....and that is how I drink it!
Have a great day-
I'll be over serving the ol' boys at the VA!
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