Why do I fill out these quizzes???

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen counter
2. Where is your significant other? in the shower, getting ready for work
3. Your hair color? scary, i'm sure, haven't seen it in years!
4. Your mother? gone, now, i'm old, remember?
5. Your father? same
6. Your favorite thing? other than the obvious of family and friends, of course, it's my M&M's
7. Your dream last night? i was moving and had like a hundred trash bags full of stuff. dunno where i was going...
8. Your dream/goal? to lose 20 lbs. and clean out my closet.... uh-huh, sure thing....
9. The room you're in? sunroom
10. Your hobby? duh, computers, specifically anything to do with computer graphics
11. Your fear? not fearful so much at this age
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? alive
13. Where were you last night? right here, working on those christmas recipes
14. What you're not? young
15. One of your wish list items? petite grandbebes
16. Where you grew up? in the country, southern illinois
17. The last thing you did? made coffee with that hot water, so good...
18. What you are wearing? yoga pants and a tee shirt
19. Your TV? FOX news, it's always on FOX news
20. Your pet? oh funny, like you don't know about the fur kids, margaret moolatte and molasses maybelline
21. Your computer? which one? we've got 5 going in different rooms of the house... maintenance nightmare, too...
22. Your mood? peaceful
23. Missing someone? not really
24. Favorite restaurant? Deerhead pizza sounds really good...
25. Something you're not wearing? long sleeves and i'm cold
26. Favorite store? marshall's and t.j. maxx
27. Your summer? hot, dry, lots of rides on the golf cart with trisher and the pooches
28. Love someone? lots of people
29. Your favorite color? yellow
30. Last time you laughed? this morning when maggie's scrungie fell out, oh she had bed head so bad!
31. Last time you cried? when hubby told me a friend of ours mother died last week, it's hard to lose anyone, especially your mother...

This quiz is all Stephani's fault, I read it on her blog this morning... I read these and feel compelled to fill one out for myself. Probably has something to do with those dying brain cells...

A new favorite thing today from Oprah

Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device

 

No, I don’t watch Oprah anymore, but I did today because I wanted to see what her favorite thing was.  It’s pretty spiffy, ladies, expensive, though.  It’s from Amazon, and it’s called The Kindle.

You can put up to 4,000 books in this thing, you can download all the bestsellers for $9.99 each,  you can ask it questions, a real person will answer you  and you can even download newspapers and magazines– you can look  up words with it – it’s pretty awesome.  BUT, the price is pretty awesome, too – I’ll pass on this one, it’s a super idea, but it’s pricey and then you still have to buy the books.  Maybe the library will integrate with this later and the price will come down.

But it is a good thing because you don’t have all the books to carry around, it’s wireless, too, you don’t have to download it from the computer… 

Click here for  the official site.  AND, if you order it in the next ten days, go to oprah.com, and there will be a discount code that you enter at checkout and you can save $50.00.

---

Price:
$359.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Shipping

Here I go, bugging you again…

I started working on the Christmas Recipes. I need input, ladies, we have some great ones, but we're all greedy, we want more - yeah, I see you smiling - so dig out your faves, take a minute, send them to me. Don't worry about the typos, or the format, etc. I'll clean them all up before I publish them. Pinkie swear, I will...

Jean sent me this picture, just had to share....

Hey, it IS better coffee...

Okay, I made my morning coffee, using hot water instead of cold like Baby Boy told me, he was right as usual, much better coffee, more robust, fuller flavor. If you already know to brew coffee with hot water instead of cold, why didn't you tell me???

I just read this, think about it...

The media cannot get enough of the "Saturday Night Live" impersonations of Palin as a bubblehead. News shows pick up the Tina Fey clips and run them and run them to the merriment of all.

Can one imagine "Saturday Night Live" doing weekly send-ups of Michelle Obama and her "I've never been proud" of my country, this "just downright mean" America, using a black comedienne to mimic and mock her voice and accent?

"Saturday Night Live" would be facing hate-crime charges.

Is there a media double standard? You betcha.

Thanks for the laugh, Carlene, jokes today seem to be all about boobs...

Roasting your own coffee beans....

My online friend, Seana, mentioned the other day that I should try roasting my own coffee beans, so I've been checking it out online. Apparently it's pretty simple, you buy green coffee beans, which by the way, stay fresh for a year, and you roast the beans in an air popcorn popper, it's simple and just takes a few minutes. There are a lot of online sources for green coffee beans, all inexpensive, too...

Apparently the beans smoke as they roast, so you need to do this in the garage or out on the patio, but it's something I might want to try. Here's the CLICK for an article about how to do this...

I keep reading that roasted beans lose a lot of their flavor after 15 days, so if you're like me, we never really have fresh coffee, because who knows how long those beans have been in the store before we buy them. And if you're buying already ground coffee, that's even worse!

And, I was talking to Lindsay this morning, Ryan has been researching brewing full bodied coffee at home, and he's been brewing her coffee starting with hot water instead of cold. The reason for this is if you start with cold water, the temperature never gets hot enough while brewing to develop the flavor fully. They use the Cuisinart Grind'n Brew, Linds says it really is better this way. This goes against everything I was ever taught, which was to start with cold water, but hey, I'll give it a try... Ry always researches the science behind the cooking process, so I'm sure he's on to something.

Just a few coffee ideas for you to ponder this cool fall morning...

Maxine, God love her... I so I identify with this woman, sad, huh?

Speed of eating, key to obesity....

Last week I discovered that keeping your mind active on the computer is like discovering the fountain of youth, well youthful brain anyway, now comes word from a Japanese researcher that wolfing down meals may be enough to double a person's risk of being overweight... so now I know how to cure obesity. Holy Schmoly, I never realized I was so smart!!!

So that's my problem with weight, because we all know that I totally inhale my food. I eat way too fast and devour all that healthy food like a rabid dog... That's why I'm not a skinnny minnie! It's because I eat too fast! I just knew there had to be a reason!!! Of course the researcher is Japanese, and Japanese people are always thin, so I'm thinking that key may not be in wolfing down the food, I think the answer lies in chopsticks.

Have you ever used chopsticks? I think that's the real key to obesity. You can't eat fast with chopsticks, that's probably how that Japanese guy came to that conclusion in the first place. Those chopsticks give the brain the signal that the stomach is swelling and it's time to quit eating because it takes so long to use them...

Well, now that I've solved that problem, maybe I can do something about that election? Is it too late for me to throw my hat into the ring????

Here's the CLICK to the article if you want to read it...

here i sit…..

typing with one hand, hunting and pecking because i have two little dogs that want to snuggle.  mollie is on my lap, i’m holding mags against my chest with my other hand, they are both sound asleep.  so why dont i just put them down, you would think i would,  but oh no, i’m a sucker, remember.  oh, they are just rotten…

Living a Healthy Lifestyle…

I eat natural food as close to the earth as I can, lots of whole grains, lean meat, olive oil, low fat dairy and veggies, and I try, for the most part to stay away from white flour and sugar.  Of course I get off track, after all a girl has to have chocolate sometimes, and what would life be if you didn’t occasionally have dessert, but I seem, in the last few years, to easily go back to eating the good for you stuff, and actually enjoy it.  I  I actually prefer whole wheat bread, brown rice and whole wheat pastas now.  I love plain yogurt, and never buy flavored ones anymore, and I’ve recently discovered Greek Yogurt and it’s amazing flavor.  I try to stay away from processed foods, I’m not always successful, but for the most part I do pretty well.  I think I actually live an 80/20 lifestyle with eating, and that’s pretty good.  So why can’t I lose weight eating this way???  Because I eat too much healthy food and don’t exercise enough. Grrrrrrr, that’s why…

I faithfully take my Centrum Silver with Lutine, as Mother had macular degeneration in her later years and the optometrists told her it could have been prevented if she would have just taken vitamins with Lutene.  I take calcium daily, something I used to struggle with in the past but in the last year I have really gotten my act together and take it regularly… And now to the whole purpose of this post…

I talked a couple of months ago about how Ryan told me to start taking mega vitamin B12 complex tablets daily.  He said it would take a couple of weeks for me to notice a difference, but it should help with my  fatigue as I would get the same effects as if I went to my doctor for Vitamin B12 shots.

I have never before taken any vitamins and been able to tell a difference in the way I felt, until I started the Mega Vitamin B’s.  It’s amazing how much more energy I have.  I don’t have that overwhelming fatigued that has plagued me for years.  We visited Ryan and Lindsay last week, and usually, after visiting with the kids for a few days, and being on the go and traveling, when I get home I am exhausted for a couple of days.  Not so this trip, I was tired the day we got home, but the next day I was back to normal.  It’s just amazing how much better I feel.

I told Veronica about them, she and Rich started taking them, and they, too, can tell a noticable difference in their energy level.  If you haven’t tried, these, buy yourself a bottle, I believe they have them in time release, which I don’t use, but I’m going to look for them the next time I’m at the drugstore.

I have lima bean soup in the pressure cooker this morning, lima beans, a bit of diced turkey smoked sausage, carrots, onions, garlic, thyme, and I’m going to make this great cornbread that’s made with stone ground cornmeal and yogurt, no fats or oils… and that’s our lunch.

Eating healthy, it’s a good thing….

Christmas is coming….

Now that I have your attention…

I’m going to start recreating the pages for my Jan and Friends Christmas Recipes next week. 

I have many new readers to The Daily Dish, and would love to add some of your favorite Christmas goodies to our pages.

Audience participation makes this site better for everyone.  I have many great recipes to post for all of you, but please, new readers, or old friends who have something new to share, please do so, and I’ll add them to my selections as I build my pages.

~ jan

Check out Faith Hill…

Geezy Pete, look at Faith Hill’s tummy.  This is after three kids!  I don’t care how much air brushing they did, she still looks awesome.

I read this at People online  this morning.  And how did she get this body?  She does four miles on the eliptical every day, light weight lifting, crunches and push-ups.  Then she added Pilates classes three times a week.

She goes on to say that she sleeps better, NO WONDER, she’s probably exhausted!!!!!!!

But more power to her, the woman is 41 years old!!!

It was time for a fall index page…

I spent the day watching tivoed Martha Stewart and Bonnie Hunt and  building a new munchiebusiness.com page.   It’s pretty cluttered, as all my pages seem to be but I like the whimsical look of it…

Here’s the quick CLICK to access the real page…

Why I cook...

I cook because wholesome, flavorful food that you make at home tastes like nothing you eat in a restaurant. I cook because it not only fills your body, it nurtures your soul as well...

This morning I put a pork roast in the crock pot. I added fat cloves of garlic, onions and fresh cracked pepper, and let it cook all day. I once again roasted chunks of potatoes, onions and carrots sliced on the diagonal, infused with olive oil, seasoned with coarse kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper in mother's black iron skillet in the oven until the vegetables were golden brown and the onions carmelized.

I simmered flat italian green beans with ham and onions on the stove, and I made Martha Stewart's applesauce. Golden Delicious apples cut into wedges, the juice of a lemon, a healthy dash of ground ginger, fresh grated nutmeg, a cinnamon stick, and golden honey, all simmered until the apples were tender, then smashed with a potato masher to the consistency of chunky applesauce.

And this is why I cook. Because this simple homestyle food is so good. And because we deserve to eat well.

It's a good thing...

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

I was over at Baking with Dynamite’s blogsite, and she had posted a recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies that had gotten rave reviews.

Well, I had to snag it and post it for all of you.  It’s over on Jan Can Cook, along with her Peanut Butter Banana Bread.

Here’s the QUICK CLICK – these sound wonderful.  Pumpkin cheesecake and brownie together, what’s not to love…

And speaking of great recipes, Seana emailed me to tell me she made The Apple Dumplings with Mountain Dew that I posted a few days ago.  They were a huge hit. Her hubby gave them a thumbs up, she said they were so good they were restaurant quality!