Oranges and Chocolate

So occasionally my husband will make a cake. Its wonderful- he always makes sure to beat the egg whites separately and then fold them in, so the cakes are always very light. Today he made a white cake, or as our daughter says- a plain old cake.... anyway my husband doesn't make frosting, thats when I come in. Lately I have been on an orange marmalade kick, I eat it on cornbread, add it to pancake batter, and its my jelly in PB and J's.

So for the frosting I wanted to make sure the marmalade was used, but I also thought some chocolate would tie in nicely.

So I created a Chocolate Orange Frosting. I mixed 1/4 C semi sweet chocolate chips (melted) with 1/4 C cream cheese frosting (from a can) and then added in 1/4 C orange marmalade. Then I beat in 2 C of cool whip for about 3 minutes.

Once the cake cooled I topped it with the frosting and it is in the refrigerator chilling. Needless to say the frosting was taste tested and between me, my husband, and the kids- the spoon, scraper, and bowl were devoid of leftover frosting. We are having spinach ricotta stuffed shells for dinner, which is one of my favorite meals, but I can't wait for dessert....

Valentines dinner at home

Leftovers!

To escape the Valentines madness of waiting in line for a table and wondering when your food will arrive and there being too many minutes passing before your drinks are refilled... we cooked at home. We planned on picking up some mussels at 7pm and having dinner on the table by 8. But at the market we were a bit too late, no more mussels. Fortunately there were 2 jumbo lobster tails sitting there beckoning us to buy them. A bit of a splurge, but a nice dinner out would have been roughly the same price.
Back at home I got the lobster tails steamed (for about 20 minutes), boiled the linguine, heated up the fra diavolo sauce, and warmed the loaf of whole grain bread. Once the lobster was done I removed the meat and cut it into small pieces and mixed it into the fra diavolo sauce. I tossed that with the linguine- and tada, lobster fra diavolo! Served with fresh bread and topped with parmasean cheese it was a very delicious dinner that even the kids enjoyed.
Yummy and Simple!

For dessert I had prepared a raspberry bavarian cream* earlier in the day and I spooned that into mugs and topped it off with a few fresh raspberries and some chocholate hazelnut pirouette cookies. Yum! All together a wonderful Valentines dinner the whole family enjoyed!

* "Bavarian Cream." 12 oz raspberry yogurt and 1 pkg vanilla pudding mix- dry. Blend together until consistent. Blend in 1 can of whipping cream. Blend for 3 minutes. Fold in 1 C fresh raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Sham-Wow, clean up tool or kids toy??

So my husband ordered Sham-Wow after being totally impressed by the commercials. Of course since it has arrived we have not needed to use it, but it is getting used anyway. My daughter and her friends seem to think Sham-Wow is the best thing- next to Polly Pocket and Tini Puppini.....

Hours in the bathroom pass, with giggles and shouts of excitement emitted into the hallway as different items are splashed and then Shamwowed dry.... unfortunately I will have to clean the bathroom mirror, even Sham Wow cannot remove streaks from everything!

When the Sham Wow package arrived in the mail I never dreamed it would contain the magic of holding little girls attention for hours, but what do I know? I sure wish I could have known this before Christmas, if only the toys I purchased for my daughter could be as entertaining as a glorified paper towel..... Now I wonder if my daughter will talk up her next sleepover by saying, "...and then after pizza and brownies, we can play with the Sham- Wow!!!" (Can you imagine the commercials if the Sham Wow guy is replaced by giggling nine year old girls displaying the entertainment possibilities this product holds for them? Maybe Sham Wow will soon be pink colored and next to Barbie at Toys R Us.....)

So if your kids are looking for something to entertain them maybe its time you ordered Sham Wow. When they get bored with that I guess the Pet Vac looks like it could be fun....

Movies I Love

Here is a list of awesome movies (IMHO)

1) Idiocracy- This movie does not get the attention it truly deserves. Smart movie with an important message hidden in a bunch of ridiculous comedy. Don't think about it too much though, or you will be depressed about the future for our species.

2) Soylent Green- Overpopulation in the future brings an interesting (and gross) solution to the food shortage....

3) Lost in Translation- I cannot explain what strange power this movie has over me, but I love it.... and the soundtrack too.

4) Shawn of the Dead- Comedy and zombies... cannot get any better than this.

5) Little Miss Sunshine- Cute movie, with a great message and lots of laughs in between.

Growing Up and thinking Bigger

So I admit lately I have been kind of busy with classes and in my spare time I relax with the family. I am not a real BIG "activist," for any issues. But I have been trying to do my part in smaller ways, that will eventually have bigger effects, especially because the kids and I discuss these things, so that they hopefully will follow my lead.....

Grocerys:
-We have gotten the reusable shopping bags that all stores now have available for super low prices. Also most stores will deduct an amount off our your total bill for each bag you bring when you shop, so the bags actually pay for themselves.

- We purchase much more fresh produce than ever before, and as always we stick with organic milk, its good to show demand for these hormone-pesticide-antibiotic-free items!

- Being a pescatarian means that mammal and bird meat rarely makes it into our shopping cart, the only "meat" is of course seafood, and sometimes "organic" chicken for the kids and my hubby- if I will not be around when they eat it!

Clothes/"stuff":
- We love going to used clothing stores. Its much better for the environment that buying mass produced new clothes- and cheaper too. The funny thing is some of the clothes at 'used' clothing stores are NEW. Showing less demand for brand new items is very good for the environment. Our crazy mass consumerism is detrimental to the planet! See this site for more info: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

- Playing the "do I need it," game. When we see an item that we really want we have to ask if the item will still be valuable to us in a year or more. This curbs alot of impulse buys- especailly for the kids.

-"Buy Nothing Day," the day after Thanksgiving has become a crazy American ritual of impulse sale buys! We are not joining in this mass consumerism frenzy again this year. Most items purchased on this day end up in the trash or in a storage bin anyway! (Also who wants to get stuck in a shopping rampage anyway?) Here is the website for more info- http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

-Beauty Products: This is a huge industry that thrives on making American women feel bad about themselves, and somehow it actually works! I only use powder "make-up" products now, and I have given up hair color for over a year. I want my daughter to know that real beauty doesn't come from a bottle/jar. Even though the media tells her otherwise....

I admit alot of these things are very small steps, but if my kids grow up watching me do these things than I can hope that in the BIG picture we may make a difference.

Puzzled???

So I decided to do a 750 piece puzzle of a house with a garden. So now I spend alot of time looking like this (well one headed) hunched over the table.... sometimes the kids or John will lend a hand, but most times not, lol.
John got me a puzzle mat though, so I can roll up my puzzle progress each day without Sir Chesterfield demolishing it. Soon I should finish my puzzle- my goal is by Sunday.
I have also been spending much time playing Go Go Googles on Webkinz. The trophy eludes me every time.... Soon the weather will cool off and I can spend more time outside doing things. Now after a 1/2 hour of gardening I run for the a/c!

Hmmm, I don't update this much...

Webkinz taking over.......

Our Dogs!
Our Cats!
Our BIG Cats!


I don't update this much anymore because in my spare time I am on Webkinz World or WebkinzInsider. The kids spread the Webkinz fever to me and now I have 10 of my own, and I actually have a Webkinz stash for emergencies*. Furthermore, I have now even ordered some hard to find Webkinz on Ebay! The kids do still have more kinz then I do, but I am catching up!

These pictures are only some of our Webbies.... we actually (all together) have over 50 now!

*I hurry and get any newly retired ones before they run out!