Taylor vs. Broccoli

So here's the deal.

I really do love vegetables (except for Brussels sprouts, but those are an abomination & should be destroyed, yuck!). I have good and tasty recipes for corn (technically a starch, I know), green beans, asparagus (eat the asparagus I make & you'll be a convert. Trust me), carrots, etc.

......
But.


I have a kitchen foe.

Broccoli.

Oh, I have tried to tame this menace. I have tried. I have hunted through cooking books, scoured the internet.... but nothing.

It's not that it's nasty, that's not it, oh faithful InterPeeps. If that were the problem, then I could walk away with my head held high... knowing that I had tried to slay this beast.

But, alas.

The problem is that it's simply... blah. ho-hum. It's not good. It's not bad. Oh, I know that I could slather it with melted Velveta and be done with it... but.... somehow.... that seems like cheating. I yearn to put forth a broccoli dish that will delight the senses as it pleases the palette! I need to conqueror this culinary foe, my Peoples! The line must be drawn Here! Viva, la Broccoli!-......

Errrr.....

Sorry about that.
I'm better now.

What I meant to say is. If anyone has any tasty broccoli dish recipes they'd love to share, that would be great!

Pay No Attention to the Woman on the Right

...... the young Lad wasn't. He was having way too much fun creating what I have no doubt will be a lifelong love of all things automotive.

Though the pictures do not capture his glee, trust me- it was there. He lunged to get out of his stroller when he saw the rides & then had a ball when I ponied up the coin to allow him to roll.

I told him not to get too attached- he's way to young to even think about driving. But he doesn't seem to be listening. Ever since this fateful day, he gets far to excited when we get too close to my car.

........... I think he thinks I'm going to let him take it for a spin.

Jacob & Bob & Larry

Someone received a couple of new friends.

Jacob loves his VeggiesTales. Or as his Poppy says, "Those Vegetable Guys." He saw Bob and Larry from across the store and RAN to their side. Much hugging commenced. And yes, a mother and grandmother folded like a house of cards in a wind storm.

Organic Thinking

I recently had the coolest opportunity. I got to talk about organics with a good friend of mine.

People, I got giddy. Giddy, I tell you!

I love organic food. I do. I cannot tell a lie. If I could, I would buy exclusively organic. My son ate (and still does) organic baby food. He drinks organic milk. (Yes, he was a formula baby. Don't judge me. No the formula wasn't organic. ::sigh::) I have another friend who rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, good grief. Another one", when she learned of my organic bent. I love her dearly anyway. :-) (Especially since, I look at her & see myself in 10 or 11 years!)

Why do I like organics?

For one thing, for as long as I can remember my mother has purchased organic milk. Seriously, people. If you haven't read on this one subject.... do it. Rapidly. (I've even provided a linky for your reading pleasure. Consider it a jumping off place.)

And hey, after you read about milk, read about the benefits of organic meat- particularly beef.

Then, I wrote a paper on childhood obesity for college. And yes, it changed my life. Or, at least the way I think about the food that goes into my body & where it comes from. The foods that some people eat are literally killing them. And that's crazy. Especially since food should nourish us and give us life.

We are so stinkin' fortunate because organics have become a mainstream product. You don't have to go out of your way. Even Wal-Mart is carrying organic foods.

If $$ is a concern (and for most people it is, me included), but you still want to eat organically, then might I make a recommendation?.... Really, it's a piece of advice that was given to me. Switch your milk, your meat and the Dirty Dozen fruits & veggies. It's a great place to start. And if you never go any further, you're still miles ahead of the game.

All this to say- our bodies are, at their most basic levels, machines. And they can either work at optimum level or they can crap out. It's something to think about the next time we think about dinner..... or the next time we feed our kids. Treats are great. I am all for a donut run on Sunday mornings on the way to church (complete with a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper, thank you very much).

Just Sayin.

*If you're interested in organics, but don't know where to start, may I make a suggestion. Head on over to Sara Snow's website. And then, go get her book, Sara Snow's Fresh Living.

Spring Snow

There's nothing like ringing in the arrival of Spring with snow. In Texas.
:-)

I Love.....

*Diet Dr. Pepper
*my son
*chips and salsa
*coffee in the morning
*my pretty, pretty pink laptop
*BSG on dvd
*Stargate (SG1 & Atlantis) on dvd
*the rest of my fav shows on dvd
*iTunes
*my iPOD
*Chuy’s Mexican food
*cooking in the afternoon
*spending an afternoon curled up, reading
*Robert Duvall
*Fleetwood Mac
*an incredible family who amaze and astound me
*being born in Texas
*naming my son after my beloved grandfather
*collecting autographs
*Mary McDonnell
*pink
*flying monkeys
*Dallas Summer Musicals
*Neutrogena skincare products
*homemade barbecue baked beans
*sushi
*good Italian food
*my grandmother’s sugar cookie dough
*iced tea
*Star Trek… Star Wars
*black and white movies
*Giant
*Band of Brothers
*Lonesome Dove
*the month of July
*laughing so hard I squeak
*vacations in Texas
*the month of December
*my church
*my friends
*play dates

*Cafe Brazil veggie sammy

*rainy days



What do you love?

I Know

I said I was back the other day... apparently, I lied. Epic fail.

::le sigh::

Anyway.

What are you watching on tv? Cause, if you're looking for a new show, I've got one for you!

Parenthood (yes, like the movie. an actually well-done take off of the movie.) on nbc.

Love it. We are 2 episodes in, so there's plenty of time to join in and catch up. And you should, by the way. I would wager that nbc.com has the eppys on-line. I don't know that for sure, but it's a very good bet. Set your tivos, dvrs to TAPE people!

And speaking of nbc, may I just state for the record how much I have enjoyed watching the Tonight Show again? I love Jay. Judge me if you must. I have never been a fan of Coco. I'm a Leno girl. There, I said it. I feel cleansed.

Let's see, what else on tv??? Ah! If you're not watching Caprica, what the frak is wrong with you? Seriously. Very good.

If you're an Army Wives fan, that starts back on Lifetime (television for women) on April 11th. Really looking forward to that.

I don't have an abundance of time to sit and watch tv, so I am unbelievably thrilled to pieces to find some happyland inducing stuff right now. It's been a reality show induced wasteland here of late- jeeps! .....

And speaking of creepy reality land! I would like to formally lodge a protest against American Idol and that little girl who butchered, BUTCHERED I SAY, one of my all-time favorite songs the other night. I had the misfortune of catching some little girl doing on interpretive style twist on 'Rhiannon' when my dad was flipping channels. Scarred me for life people.

And then, I get on facebook and other blogs and see other people complimenting this travesty! What?!

::shudder::

"The horror. The horror."

I have had to exorcise this demon from my memory by listening to Stevie Nicks many, MANY times in the days since... which I grant you isn't a horrible thing for me, but honestly- I may never be the same.

I'm back

Did ya miss me?

I had big posting plans, but alas a plague once again descended upon my household. (cue the magic movie music) This time, once again, it struck down poor little Jacob. Eesh. February was a devil on the poor little boy. He was sick off and on for 3 and a half weeks.

Picture it: this past Thursday, all it calm. All it bright. It's 3am. Everyone is sleeping peacefully in my house. Then, out of no where! A shriek is heard in the night! I vault over the baby gate that keeps the dog out of my room and rush into Jacob's room. (how very dramatic, huh? cause you know it was much less coordinated than that.) The lad is running a rather high temperature. Meep. A little later- his digestive system kicks it into reverse.

(Here's a fun little piece of trivia for you- it seems my son is one of those little kiddos that pukes when his fever spikes. Yea!)

The boy was taken to the doctor & oh, joy- his viral ear infection morphed into a bacterial one! YEA! On the anti-biotics he went. And, my, my, my the young lad started to feel better so darn quickly. A week out, I am happy to report that the boy is sooooo much better!

So, hopefully I'll be back tomorrow- hopefully I'll remember the several things I was thinking about posting (!) and hopefully I'll have aced that stupid science pretest. GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!