I got home from California to find hairballs on the carpet, but I found ZERO food in the house.  You know how you try to let your perishables all run out before you leave for on vacation?  That's what I did, which makes sense, but I haven't had anything to eat for dinner all week except random crackers, string cheese and scrambled eggs.  Sad, huh?

So tonight on the way home from work I stopped at Sam's Club for a few things.  Did you know that you can get some great deals on produce there?  The first time I seriously browsed their produce department I was shocked.  I guess I expected to find tired old stuff that was past it's prime, but I've never seen that to be the case.  I do find great deals and good quality.

Here's what I got tonight for under $35.

• Baby spinach – beautiful tiny leaves, triple washed (1 lb)
• Shredded romaine – triple washed (2 lbs)
• Whole button mushrooms (1-1/2 lbs)
• Cherub grape tomatoes (2 lbs)
• Avocados – a perfectly ripe bag of 5
• Frozen sliced strawberries for smoothies (5 lbs)
• Frozen tiny broccoli florets, not the hard yukky stems (4 lbs)

That's a heck of a lot of food that will make me salads, sides and smoothies for at least a week. If I'd picked that all up at a regular grocery store, I would have expected to pay more than double that price.  The strawberries alone would have cost me more than half of that total amount.  Target has a 12 ounce bag of berries on sale for $3, so 5 pounds at that rate would be $20.  I got 5 pounds for $8.76!  Sam's also had some gorgeous phaleonopsis orchids, geraniums and ferns today – all at fabulous prices!

The next time you're at Sam's Club picking up a prescription or waiting for your new tires to be put on, wander through the produce department.  You might be pleasantly surprised to save some money on your family's food bill! Oh, and you get 30% off on all the magazines they carry, and you KNOW how LilSis and I love magazines!   If you've saved some dough on your food, you can justify a magazine or two!

~BigSis

Posted under Food

TomTom got mad at me this morning because I didn't let him out in the garage like SirHoney does almost every morning. The little devil bit the crap out of me! When I picked him up to throw him in the laundry room for a “time out”, he dug his back claws into my hand and my wrist.  I was bleeding! Who needs that at 5:30 in the morning?

This is my way of getting back at him! Serves him right to be humiliated! He almost looks too cute in the bandanna. I need to get some devil horns to put on him!

Bandanna Man!

I can't wait to get my Christmas boxes out! You'll be seeing TomTom in his reindeer antlers! HAHA!

BigSis, I hear you might have some new Cats in Hats to share?

~LilSis

Posted under Animals

LilSis is right; neither us watch too much TV.  The few things I do watch are things I really love.  Lost, for example!   And So You Think You Can Dance!  The season starts tonight on Fox!  This show is so awesome.  They audition dancers of all genres, much like American Idol does with singers.  You see incredible dancers of all types compete against each other:  hip hop, lyrical, crumping, ballroom, contemporary, broadway, you name it.  Throw in some of the most fabulous choreographers in the business and the result is unbelievable dancing that you just have to see.  Imagine a break dancer and a Latin dancer competing in a modern dance or country two-step round, for example.  It's amazing, inspiring and dramatic.

I came to the SYTYCD party late, but now I'm a fervent viewer.  Need a reason to check out the new season?  How about two?  These are some of my favorite performances from last year.

Twitch and Katee – performing what may be my favorite dance of the year!

Chelsea and Mark (recognize her from this season's Dancing With the Stars?  Guess where she got her big break!)

~BigSis

Posted under This & That

November 4, 2008. After a long, grueling presidential race, this historic election day is finally here! I'm sure it's going to be an intense couple of days while we wait to hear who will be our next President of the United States of America.

BigSis and I have agreed that we won't be discussing our political views on this blog.  There are plenty of other sites where you can discuss and/or debate those issues.  We've just decided that we don't want to do it here.

Instead, let's talk about food!  While we are sitting around glued to CNN watching the results come in, I thought it might be fun to lighten the mood a little and try some new burger recipes. I have to admit that I haven't yet had time to make these burgers, but I know that they'll be great since they're exclusive online recipes from Food Network Magazine.

In one corner, we have the John McCain Chicken Queso Burger.

John McCain Chicken Queso Burger

This John McCain Chicken Queso Burger is right up my alley!  It's got a little chili pepper, olive oil and the zest and juice of a lemon, lime and an orange in the marinade for the chicken.  You top the chicken breast with salsa and a slice of pepper jack cheese, and add a few slices of avocado. Yummy!

In the other corner, we have the Barack Obama Pizza Burger.

Barack Obama Pizza Burger

The Barack Obama Pizza Burger is also made with some of my favorite ingredients.  The angus beef burgers are grilled, then topped with some marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and chopped basil. The garlic butter, made from an entire head of roasted garlic, butter, parsley, and vinegar is spread on the rolls and toasted on the grill.

Both of these sound fantastic!!  Unfortunately, we can't say that about both of our candidates.  (Oops, that's probably more than I should have said.)

We all know that the voting taking place today is very serious, but we can still try to have a little fun!  If you happen to try either of these recipes, leave me a comment and let me know how you liked it!

~LilSis

Posted under Food

Those who know me, know that I don't ever shut up about sunscreen. And, I talk a lot about skin cancer. But, I do have a good reason. We found out four years ago that SirHoney had melanoma.

He went in to have an area on his temple looked at so I asked him to have the Dr. look at a new spot on his neck. They did biopsy it but the doctor didn't seem to be too concerned.

We received the phone call from the dermatologists' office on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which also happened to be the day of Meems' wedding. SirHoney didn't answer the phone. I think he knew that it was bad news if the office was calling on a holiday. He went in for surgery immediately after we got back in town.

It was the scariest thing that has happened to us in 18 years of marriage.  After chest x-rays, a PET scan, and a visit to the oncologist, we were told that it had not spread to any other part of his body. Now, he just sees his dermatologist once every six months for a full body check up.

He's also had six or seven surgeries to remove basal cell skin cancer. Basal cell can be VERY invasive and can leave some pretty intense scars, but it doesn't metastasize to other organs.

Melanoma does metastasize and if not caught early, it is extremely hard to treat and can be fatal.

Studies show that most common signs of melanoma are in the ABCDE rule. And the ABCDE rule is as follows:

• Asymmetrical – this refers to the shape; if one half of the mole does not match the other half in size, shape, color, or thickness;
• Borders – it may be ragged or otherwise irregular; the edges are scalloped, blurred, or poorly defined;
• Color – it may be uneven, with shades of black and brown; the color of the mole is not the same throughout or it has shades of tan, brown, black, red, white, or blue;
• Diameter – it may change in size; melanomas are usually greater than 6mm in diameter, but they can be smaller; if the diameter of a mole is larger than the eraser of a pencil
• Elevation – a portion of the mole appears elevated, or raised from the skin.

These few rules can be very helpful in determining the difference between just a regular freckle or mole and a possible melanoma.

A few weeks ago when we went to the desert for a Father/Son golf tournament, my friend and I hung out by the pool while the guys golfed. I noticed a mole on my friend's back that I thought looked a little suspicious so I asked her if she had ever had it looked at. She said no. She didn't seem very concerned and I didn't want to be overly pushy but I did tell her that it looked very similar to the one SirHoney had on his neck and asked her to please get it checked. She went the dermatologist the following week and they did biopsy it. She since found out that it was melanoma. Luckily, it was in a very early stage and she will be fine.

SirHoney has a family history of melanoma but we didn't know it. If your mother, father, siblings, or children (first-degree relatives) have had a melanoma, you are part of a melanoma-prone family. Each person with a first-degree relative diagnosed with melanoma has a 50 percent greater chance of developing the disease than members of the general public who do not have a family history of the disease.

My friend didn't have anyone in her family that has had the disease.  I know it's very controversial, but her doctor did tell her that she probably got the skin cancer from years of using the tanning beds. She was told to stop going to the tanning salon and to start using a good sunscreen.

I'm bringing this up because now that it's Summer, more people will be out in the sun that aren't normally exposed.  We're in the sun just about every day for some period of time. When we lived in Texas, I would use sunscreen if out by the pool for the day but now that we live in California, we use sunscreen every single day! Every. Single. Day.

SirHoney still hates the fact that he has to cover himself in sunscreen, especially when golfing. We have done a lot of experimenting with different sunscreens to find one that doesn't run and get into his eyes when he sweats. We've found the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch with 70 SPF to be the very best.

It goes on easily and doesn't leave any unwanted residue. Even though this one doesn't state that it is specifically ‘sweatproof', it doesn't run and sting his eyes. I've started using this one myself.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch 70 SPF

Now that we know SirHoney's family is melanoma-prone, I'm very adamant about making sure that HayHay uses sunscreen every day. And I'm always on the lookout for a good long lasting sunscreen for him to use when he surfs.  Right now, on his face, he's using the  Neutrogena Sport Face. It also doesn't leave a residue and seems to stay on longer than some of the others.

Neutrogena Sport Face 70 SPF

I don't have the same skin type as the guys so I don't always use a 70 SPF. I'll use the 70 SPF on my face, but my absolute favorite is the Neutrogena Cooling Mist SPF 45 . This spray is not only refreshing, but it stays on for several hours, even at the beach. I always have a can of this with me.

Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Body Mist 45 SPF

Can you tell we like Neutrogena?  I don't care for the smell of Coppertone for some reason, but HayHay does like this Coppertone Sport Continuous Spray. So, since he likes it, I still buy this one for him. He sprays this one all over his body before surfing and it does seem to work well.

Coppertone Sport Continuous Spray 50 SPF

There's one more spray that I really like because I LOVE the smell of Hawaiian Tropic. It reminds me of being out by the pool with friends as a teenager. Of course, we used the original brown label oil, but I was so happy when I found this Hawaiian Tropic Dry Tanning Oil Spray.

Since this is only a 12 SPF, I only use it on my legs and do reapply more often than I would if it were a higher SPF. I just can't resist the scent. I can close my eyes and pretend that I'm in Hawaii!

Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Dry Oil 12 SPF

We've tested a lot of sunscreens over the past several years and have found these to work the best.

Lastly, please find out if you have a family history of melanoma. Use sunscreen and visit your dermatologist every year. It could save your life.

~LilSis

Posted under Beauty and Skin Care, Health

I'm so excited every time I open my mailbox to find my new issue of  whole living body+soul, I'm always pleasantly surprised to find so many articles that actually interest me. I am never disappointed! This Martha Stewart Publication is my favorite magazine right now.

I found this recipe for Shiitake Fried Rice in the October, 2008 issue of whole living body+soul and I knew right away that I wanted to try it.  This is also a vegetarian dish so I know that BigSis will enjoy it. I've always loved shiitakes, but never knew of their amazing health benefits. I never knew that they were packed full of antioxidants, potassium, zinc, and lentinan, that stimulates the immune system.  An excellent addition to your meal if you're starting to feel run down or trying to stave off a cold.

So, here we go with the recipe. I have to admit that I made this recipe while my family was lurking over me so I did not get as many photos as I would have liked.  HayHay was more interested in getting the rice in his belly than in watching me take photographs. To start with, here are the ingredients.

Pretty basic ingredients

I cooked the rice first, sliced the mushrooms, and cooked the edamame. I started with the edamame in the pods just because I think they turn out better if you cook them in the pods and then shell them. The bag of edamame in pods makes exactly one cup of shelled edamame!

Perfectly cooked brown rice.

Cleaned and sliced shitakes.

Cooked and shelled edamame

It was so easy from this stage.  I missed getting a photo of the shiitakes sauteing in the oil, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes.  I never measure exactly; (which is why I can't bake) so I ended up adding two teaspoons of butter to the mushrooms because they seemed a little dry. I probably did not start with enough oil when starting out with the garlic and ginger. Oh, and I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil.

From this point, I added the rice, the edamame, the cooked and sliced egg, the lime juice and soy sauce.  I did leave out the scallions, (because I don't like them and I'm the cook); and I was going to use chives, but I forgot to go cut some from my herb pot. I just tossed everything gently and it was done!

Finished Shitake Fried Rice

I don't cook with a lot of ginger, but the combination of ginger, garlic, lime, and red pepper flakes in this rice turned out just amazing!

Now, for myself or for BigSis, this would be a complete meal. But, no! Not for the meat-eating men that live in our house!  Since I learned that a long time ago, I had already planned to make pork tenderloin to go along with the Shiitake Fried Rice.  They went really  well together!  All I do with my pork tenderloin is cover it in a paste of olive oil, garlic, and a lot of fresh ground pepper. I grill on high for five minutes on each side, then turn to medium and another five minutes on each side. Cover and let rest. Turns out perfect every time!

Grilled pork tenderloin

Here's the final plate, missing the side salad and some fresh Kalamata Olive Bread from Trader Joe's. Did you think we could have a meal without bread? Silly!

Shitake Fried Rice and Grilled Pork Tenderloin

I was really happy with the way this Sunday Supper turned out.  I hope you give it a try!

~LilSis

Posted under Food

I'm writing this post this afternoon while HayHay & I are on the plane returning home from our long weekend in Chicago. SirHoney is staying an extra few days to visit. This photo was actually taken on our way to Chicago on Thursday night. I just love being above the clouds on a beautiful night. It's such a surreal feeling to me.

Above the Clouds!

On every trip to Chicago, we are always “on the go” and don't have too much downtime. We stay at SirHoneys' parents house, but the kids are scattered all over the “burbs” so we do alot of driving. Here are the highlights of the weekend.

SirHoney, SirHoneys' brother, R, BigGuy, and HayHay left for Indiana on Friday morning for a Notre Game football game and “boys weekend”. They attended the Pep Rally on Friday and had the opportunity to take a tour of the stadium and “tailgate” prior to the game. They all had a great time and BigGuy and HayHay could only describe it as a “ridiculously” fun time. Go Irish!

Notre Dame HayHay

While they were having their “boys weekend”; I had some time with the girls and our new grandbaby, LittleOne. He just turned two weeks old today. There's not much I can say other than he is absolutely beautiful and such a little sweetheart. He's a calm, really good baby.

We spent Friday afternoon visiting at Meems. Friday night, Meem had her first evening out since having the baby and TallGuy had his first evening alone with LittleOne. Bo, Meem & I went out to a local Italian restaurant and had a great dinner.

Saturday afternoon, myself, Bo, Meem,and LittleOne met MrsBigGuy, LittleGuy#1, and LittleGuy#2 at Bengston's Pumpkin Farm. The boys were so excited! I want to know how many people have ever watched a Pig Race? Maybe it's a Midwest thing, because honestly, I didn't know such a thing existed. (Not even at the Texas State Fair) Here's proof!

Pig #1

The boys got such a kick out of it! LittleGuy#2 was chosen from the crowd to be a “Pig Rooter” and was told to cheer for #1. Well, #1 lost and LittleGuy#2 was not happy!

LittleGuy#2 cheering for Pig#1

LittleGuy#1 is unbelievably strong for a six year old. He walked over to this pumpkin, grabbed it, says “I wonder how much this pumpkin weighs” and throws it up on the scale. It weighed 19 pounds!

LittleGuy#1 weighing pumpkin

We all had a great time! It was LittleOnes' first outing and he was terrific. All the boys were being so good, so we went out for Mexican food and went back to Bo's after dinner. Meem and LittleOne stayed with us since TallGuy was at a bachelor party. No doubt he and his friends will be taking a look at the escort münchen directory and getting up to all sorts of trouble! LittleOne managed to get a bellyache and Meem and I were up with him all night. Even though he didn't feel well, he's such a sweet little doll.

Sunday afternoon, we all met at SirHoneys' sisters' house for a cookout. We got to visit for a few hours, then Bo, HayHay, TallGuy and Meem went to the Statesville Haunted Prison. Apparently, it was very scary! I'm glad that I decided not to go. HayHay said that I wouldn't have enjoyed it. He said I would have gotten claustrophobic and would have had a panic attack. He's probably right!

I don't like scary stuff at all and definitely don't like violent stuff so I won't put up any of those photos. Here's a photo of the checkered room that is supposed to be quite the optical illusion.

Crazy Checkered Room

This morning, we drove to Meems to visit her and LittleOne one last time. BigGuy had picked up LittleGuy#2 from kindergarten and had picked up HayHay from Bo's so they were at Meems when we arrived. LittleGuy#2 actually rode with SirHoney to drop off HayHay and myself at the airport. He was thrilled that he got to spend time with Papa alone. LittleGuy#1 was still in school.

I had been kidding LittleGuy#2 all weekend telling him that I was bringing him with us back to California. He was so funny on the way to the airport, he said “I love airports. I'm going to order some cookies when I get on the plane.” I guess he really did think that I was taking him to California with me.

Unfortunately, BigT couldn't join us on this trip because he couldn't ask for two days off work so he stayed home and took care of TomTom and SarahGirl. I wonder what they did while we were gone?

If only TomTom could talk!

So, that leads me to where I am now; on the plane returning home. I'm always happy to leave for a long weekend, but I'm also very happy to return home to sleep in my own bed.

~LilSis

Posted under Family

We have exciting news today!  We just added Comment Luv to our site, and Grace from “A Southern Grace” got served up with the first dish of Luv yesterday!

If you're not familiar with CommentLuv, here's how it works.  When you leave us a comment, you'll see a logo for CommentLuv with a checked box next to it.  If you have a blog, CommentLuv will run out and grab the title of the last post you published, and will link to it below your comment.  Cool, eh?  Using Grace's comment on our Food Face Plate post, here's what her Luv looked like immediately following her comment:

grace´s last blog post ..fingers, strips, tenders, what-have-you

Why would we do this, you ask?  Because we SO appreciate your comments, and want to show our appreciation in a tangible way that will mean something…links back to your posts!

So, let us know if you like the new feature.  We hope it'll show our commenters how much you mean to us!

~BigSis

Posted under This & That

flickr photo by paulotavio

Well, LilSis, the horse races sound like a lot of fun.  Unless of course, you're here in Texas where it's AFRICA HOT!  We have horse races here too, but there's no ding dang way I'm going to the track when it's 104 degrees like it has been this week.  Sure, you can watch the horses from the air-conditioned indoor area, but where's the fun in that?  I like to be down on the rail where you can feel the dirt flying and hear the horses breathing.

Surely, surely, there is no-sweat summer fun to be had in Texas (and other sizzling places) that won't involve a call to the paramedics and a trip to the hospital for heat stroke!  Surely!  You can only sit in the house playing Wii and watching the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” for so long.

Here's what I came up with.  If you have other ideas, please share them!  We're desperate out here, folks!

• Check out one of the blockbuster summer movies.

• Hang out at the pool IN the water, not just near it.

• Spend the day at a water park.  Don't forget the sunscreen!

• Go to the mall and shop the summer sales.  Don't go in any store that has winter clothes displayed already!

• Investigate your local museums – besides art, you may have a science and history museum or something else interesting that you never think of visiting.

• Whip out the Slip N Slide.

• Play in the sprinkler – do kids even do that any more?

• Make homemade ice cream.  We used to love homemade banana and homemade coke ice cream.  And vanilla, of course, with chocolate syrup.

• If your car has working a/c, drive to Starbuck's and get a frappucino.

• Go to a restaurant where you aren't sad to not be dining al fresco.  Have a cold beer or an iced tea with a cool salad, and some sherbet.

• Visit the library…you remember the library, right?  That's what we had before Barnes & Noble and Amazon hit the scene.

• Shop at the farmer's market for all of the season's bounty…but go early, early, early before it gets hot, hot, hot!

• Make a big bowl of guacamole and eat it with the crispiest chips you can find and the iciest margarita you can blend up.

• Watch movies with lots of snow.  How about “Snow Dogs”?

• Get a frosty fruit smoothie for breakfast from your local smoothie shop.  What the heck; have one for lunch!

That's it for me.  If you've got a cool idea, let me know.  We're melting out here!

~BigSis

Posted under This & That

Posted under