January, 2012

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Posted by: Gypsie13 | on January 21, 2012

Double Lemon Delights

Today is baking day. I’m making bread, we’ve made two batches of cookies. One of which i will share with you. This week’s recipe is a couple days late, but better late than never right? so Onward!

Ingredients:

2 1/4c. all purpose flower

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1c. butter softened

3/4c. granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp grated lemon peel (zest) divided (1/2)

1 tsp vanilla

additional sugar (approx 1/4 c.)

4-5 tsp lemon juice (you will get this from your lemons you zest)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F

2. combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl; set aside. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl of electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, 1 tbsp of lemon peel and vanilla until well blended. Beat in flour on low speed until blended.

3. drop dough by level 1/4c full onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Flatten dough until 3 inches in diameter with bottom of glass coated in (additional) sugar

4. Bake 12 – 14 mins or until golden brown. cool; on cookie sheets 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks cool completely. *time to cook will vary. i had to do 10 – 11min for my cookie sheets /oven*

5.Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and remaining 1 tbsp lemon peel in a small bowl’ drizzle mixture over cookies. let stand until icing is set.

Makes about 1 dozen (4 inch) cookies

The cookies in the picture are much smaller than the jumbo cookies the recipe calls for. making smaller cookies we got 3 dozen out of this recipe.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Posted in baking, cookies, cooking, desserts, family, kids, recipes, Yum | No Comments »

Posted by: Gypsie13 | on January 20, 2012

My $0.02 on the foods we eat

Some how, I keep ending up in food debates, or rather vain attempts at trying to help educate others on what goes into their bodies. I constantly see someone else i ‘know’ being surprised and disgusted over something they’ve just learned, but that I’ve know for ages. For instance “mechanically Separated chicken”

yes, this nastiness is mechanically separated chicken

Do you know what this goo is made into? Fast food chicken patties and nuggets, hot dogs and deli meats. yep all that and more. Read labels folks. This stuff is horrid. Full of chemicals and scraps of meat you really wouldn’t even want to feed Fido. Over the past several years, I’ve cut out as many processed foods as possible – no more trips to McDonald’s or burger king if i can help it. if so, the kids eat burgers – the lesser of 2 evils.

Foods like this have been linked to so many health issues. Most commonly is ADD/ADHD, obesity, and diabetes. Highly processed foods are loaded with dyes and chemicals it’s no wonder so many bodies are affected and are always ill!

Another issue i have is HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup). There is NO nutritional value. it’s a marketing scam bottom line. Anything for the big companies to make an extra buck. It plays a MAJOR role in affecting kids with ADD/ADHD and Gives people with diabetes and other major health concerns fewer and fewer choices for food products each year.

We as consumers need to fight back. We need to shop locally – help our local farmers and growers and ourselves as well in doing so. Take the time to Read labels and buy organic when possible. Buy fruits & vegetables only when in season (preferably at a farmer’s market) – 2 reasons for this. The flavor is most true then and you’re also supporting your local farms.

Another issue – Soy. Buy it organic ONLY . GMO foods are not just bad for you, but for your environment. Don’t be fooled by the “natural” label. this means absolutely HORSESHIT! I’ll be honest. I’ve only recently been active on this front. Better late than never.

So, please, become proactive about your health and your family’s health. Don’t let big companies and the government tell you what’s ok and not ok to eat. After all – they’re constantly changing everything, so you of all people should know to not take everything you hear to heart.

Eat a well balanced diet. try to get every color into your meals the real way not artificial way.. Eating skittles doesn’t count. *wink*

One more tip. For a VERY long time I was a mentor for E-diets weight loss community. I always was asked – “How much water do I really need?” your answer my friends is this.

Take your weight, divide it by 2. The answer is your total DAILY water intake your body needs to just stay HYDRATED. For every hour you work out you need to add another 8oz of water. I know this sounds like A LOT but truly, if your body was properly hydrated, it wouldn’t confuse thirst for hunger. Here’s an example of what your equation should look like. 150lbs/2 = 75oz of water. now if you’re said 150lb person and you do 2 hrs of exercise a day, you need to add another 16oz of water. Now, if you’re like me, you can’t just drink straight water. I will add some lemon juice to my water to make it go down easier. Also, be a bit eco-friendly with your water consumption. re-use bottles or buy a reusable bottle. if you must ‘buy’ water, recycle your bottles. If you have to have filtered water, invest in a Brita or PuR filtration system. less waste.

Ok, I’m stepping down from my ‘soap box’ now. have a good one!

Posted in ADHD, chicken nuggets, children, diet, family, farmer's market, food, GMO, health, HFCS, high fructose corn syrup, mcdonald's, mechanically separated chicken, organic, rant, recycle, soap box, water | No Comments »

Posted by: Gypsie13 | on January 11, 2012

oops..

It’s way past time for a post. I was all geared up and ready to post I’m guessing near a month ago, but whatever had gotten me all fired up, i was able to let go, and has now been forgotten. Must have been side effects of mercury retrograde. C’est La vie! (hey 7th grade french comes in handy sometimes lol)

So, over the past month, there’s been one birthday, celebration of Yule & Christmas (mostly in memory of my grandma that passed 10 years ago) Christmas consisted of mini omelets and mimosa’s for breakfast, and snacking of deviled eggs, while dinner was ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and a few other items. I’ll be the first to thank this wonderful town we moved to. If it weren’t for the generous caring people there wouldn’t have been anything to celebrate with. - no food, and definitely no gifts. Gifts are just a wonderful bonus, to me. I’ve also done my best to instill this into my kids as well. You don’t need presents for yule or christmas to be happy or to have a good time. it’s about family and sharing your time together. My BIGGEST gift i got? All FOUR yes, i’ve got 4 minions remember?, were home with me this year. over the last 7 years my girls were gone and spending the winter holiday with their fathers.
Anyway, things haven’t gotten any better for us financially. I always feel like one breath away from losing it all.. I’m trying really hard to just go day by day.. doing this now, has caused my eczema to start flaring up again – in really inconvenient places. again C’est La Vie

Ok, so what else has happened – hmmm.. my parents finally came up the weekend of new years, brought some gifts for the kids, and took us to dinner. The place we went too, OMG! i’ve GOT to go back and have dinner there again. The 66 Restaurant in Blue Hill is FANTASTIC! Then for NYE – we went out, a bit late for the “Last Night” festivities. there wasn’t much there, and because we went late, the younger ones were a bit crabby. They all managed to stay up at least until midnight, and we all toasted each other – kids had some sparkling cider, while the huz and i had some barefoot moscato ‘champagne’.

There has been a couple decent snow storms, got some great pics of the kids playing in the snow as well. We’re also in for some more snow starting tomorrow.