Epicurean Style

Somewhere over the rainbow

Don't these pictures make you want to have a party?  Maybe everything right now makes me want to have a party just because it is the weekend!!  Happy Friday!!  

(Images found here-- she has the best party ideas!)

Date Night

Pick a TV show, get a season's worth on DVD and make a running date to watch it together.  

Marc and I have done this with a few shows, LOST, 24, and Chuck (our latest obsession).  When we did this with 24 years ago we got so addicted to the show that we would close the blinds in the middle of the afternoon, pop some popcorn and ignore the rest of the world for a few hours.  We would say we would just watch one...but it always turned into...just one more!  It was hilarious!  And quite ridiculous, but we have so many fun memories of doing this.  We talk about it quite often and have fun remembering what dorks we were.  

If you are looking for a show to start on I definitely recommend LOST if you haven't seen it.  It is the craziest show, which so many twists and turns, that it can't be described, but you will be addicted quick.

So stay in this weekend, curl up on the couch and enjoy a good Marathon TV session.    

Grilled Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I tried this recipe from the April/May '10 Taste of Home magazine, and let me tell you... it was deeeelish! Not only did I love it, but my husband who typically hates the thought of any kind of burger not made from beef even gave it a 2 thumbs up and requested it again sometime in the near future!  It's a healthy meal that everyone will love and just in time for grilling season.  Here's the recipe: 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons onion soup mix
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 1-1/4 pounds lean ground turkey
• 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 5 whole wheat hamburger buns, split

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Crumble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into 10 thin patties. Spoon red pepper and cheese onto center of five patties; top with remaining patties and press edges firmly to seal.
• Grill burgers, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165° and juices run clear. Serve on buns. Yield: 5 servings.

**Side note: this made 4 burgers for me, not 5 (so I shaped into 8 thin patties, not 10).

Quick Tip #48

Strawberry Tip: Wash freshly picked strawberries, then take a wide plastic straw and insert it at the bottom of a strawberry, pushing the stem out. 

 

 

Got (chocolate) milk?... the cure for sore muscles

This past weekend I ran..... and ran and ran.  And got very sore!  I ran the Ragnar Relay in Southern California and some of those hills were killers and made my muscles beyond sore.  I had heard that chocolate milk was good for sore muscles, so I stocked up on that and let me tell ya... it worked like a charm!!

I was interested in the reasoning behind it, so I googled it.  Here's what I found (from this article): 

• Milk may be just as effective as some commercial sports drinks in helping with recovery of sore muscles and rehydrating your body.
• Chocolate milk has the advantage of additional nutrients that are obviously absent in most sports drinks.
• When consumed after exercise, it can help refuel tired muscles because of its mix of high-quality protein and carbohydrates.  
• The chocolate milk also contains fluids for rehydration and minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium that people need to replace after strenuous activity.

Seriously, I found TONS of different articles on the benefits of chocolate milk and it's aid in recovering fatigued/sore muscles.  So, go ahead and start of the week with a hard core workout and grab some low-fat chocolate milk for the recovery... guilt free!  That definitely motivates me a little more! :)

(Images via google)

Just had to share

...I love this video and song.  

I Am A Girl - The Girls With Glasses Theme Song from The Girls With Glasses on Vimeo.

Science Kits

While looking for Tub Toys I also came across these great science kits!  They look awesome.  I am thinking Jackson would love these.  Or maybe I am just talking about myself!  ha.  They really look like they would be a lot of fun and maybe even delicious if I got the Ice Cream Kit.  I might just have to try them out.  This site seems to carry some great educational toys.  

  

Tub Toys

Bath time toys have become a bit of a bore and today I was scouring the internet looking for something new and different and found this...Bath Tub Toy.  Are you kidding me?  Jackson would never come out of the bath if he had this toy.  Okay, maybe he would since it says it works on land and in water, but it would definitely would spice up bath time!

Recipe: Monkey Bread

I hadn't tried this until last week, but we loved it.  It was so simple and easy to do that I thought I would share.  I used Frozen Roll dough to especially speed up this recipe. {this is a picture of mine BEFORE it was cooked...it looked a little better after, but I forgot to take one after} 

  

Monkey Bread

2 pkg. frozen roll dough (let dough thaw and rise following pkg directions)

Carmel:

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Assembly:

3/4 cup chopped pecans

2 cups sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted

For carmel, in a saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and whipping cream to a boil.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes.  Pour half into a greased bundt pan and sprinkle with half of the pecans.   Layer about 20 of your dough balls.  Cover with most of the carmel mixture left and sprinkle with pecans.  Layer another 20 dough balls.  Pour the remaining carmel mixture over top of the dough and sprinkle with pecans.  

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown (while baking cover loosely with foil...if it browns too quickly).  Cool for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve warm.

 

Old things, new uses!

I don't know about you but I am soooo happy that spring has sprung!!!  The blooming flowers, running people, chirping birds... it's all so rejuvenating.  Also quite refreshing is a little spring cleaning and organizing.  I was searching for some organization ideas and found an awesome article from Real Simple Magazine that gives great ideas for finding new uses of old things.  Here are some of my favs:

Not only do you get ice only, but it kind of makes a cute table decoration:

Clean an old Ketchup bottle and fill it with pancake batter to make perfect pancakes:

Better than paint tape, using foil will guarantee no paint on the doorknobs (or light switches, or other fixtures):

An old toilet paper roll to keep your chords from tangling:

Turn an old 6-pack (of cream soda or root beer, of course) into an easy grab-n-go BBQ (doesn't this make you excited for summer picnics?!):

Okay, this is a serious problem under my kitchen sink: too many grocery bags!  Well, as soon as my current box of tissues is gone, it won't be a problem anymore:

Don't we all have those items that just won't stay on a hanger?  Rubber bands fix that.  Who woulda thought? (For the record, the picture is not from my closet :)

Seriously, how do people think of these things?!?  Anyway, happy spring cleaning and organizing to all!