I can barely type.

It burns.

And it stings.

And I’m a pansy.

It all happened because school started. It was a typical first day of school in trying to get the boys around…trying to shake off the lazy, summer fog. The act of getting up before the sun is completely out doesn’t compute in their grainy little heads. With a lot of poking and prodding, we got them dressed, fed, and backpacks ready to go. With just enough time to get some First Day of School pictures.

I always do single shots of them, then a few of all four of us. The boys’ pictures turned out great. I found myself stunned that I was a mother of a 4th and 1st grader. Wasn’t I just a single, 25-year-old yesterday?

Still trying to rush through the pictures, we took a family photo. I checked it real quick before letting anyone move.…and there it was. My previous moment of being stunned by my boys jumped to panic at what I saw.  Must be the light. HAS to be the light. I told everyone that it didn’t take right so we rearranged everyone and tried it again.

It was still there. It wasn’t the camera. It was me! Or rather it was my arms (aka: sausage rolls).

I have always had to watch my thighs and butt…because this girl’s got ‘back’. Know what I mean??

But my arms have always been defined. I have really broad shoulders and I usually have to watch out that I don’t look like some wrestling chic from WWE. But somehow, this summer, my arms went from pipes to pork!

I was definitely not a 25-year-old hottie. I’m a 37-year-old plump mommy. Oiy!

But that is going to change.  Well…at least the plump part.  I’m ok with 37, but I’m not ok with plumpy. Yesterday I started my new regiment at the Y. I work a block away from it so it’s easy to get an hour in before picking up the kids. Now, since it was first day back to the grind, I didn’t come anywhere NEAR the 1 hour work out schedule. It was more like 20 minutes, but I worked hard on everything and it felt great! Today is a different story. My arms…my shoulders…my back. They hate me.

Lactic acid…I will crush you!!

Last Thursday Gremlin wokes us up at 2:30 a.m. hurlin’ and poopin’ all kinds of nasty stuff. I started at 4.  I just prayed that it was a 24-hour deal and dug in.  Gremlin was done in 24 hours.  I was not.  Three days later I could hold down Sprite and crackers, but the headaches and stomach pain was like no other.  We then passed it on to Oldman and J.  Oldman had it for like 2 hours (creep!). And J was a 2-dayer.  I’m tellin’ ya’ll.…I was begging for Jesus to come and take my soul to Heaven.  I’m just now feeling better (a week later) but struggle with weakness.

Thank God that’s over. On to funner things.…

I changed my template again.  The guys that created my last one never got back with me on my blacked out comments, etc.  (I see why people just create their own templates!)  However, I found Template Lite Themes and LOVE this template of theirs.  I can change the header and footer images to whatever I want.  Easy-peasy.  I like the layout too. 

Now that I’m back to the land of the living, I’m off to catch up on my blog reading!  Before I go…

I hope you all have a wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving weekend.  I hope you find something or many things to be thankful for.  For me, I’m thankful for the ability to eat (!), getting to spend Thanksgiving with my family again, and for my content and peaceful heart (early Christmas gift from God).  God bless ya’ll and I’ll check in again after the holidays.

Last year I participated in Overwhelmed with Joy’s recipe exchange and it was great!  I’m ALWAYS looking for new recipes (who isn’t?!) and I found some great ones last year.  I get bored with the same ol’ — same ol’ when it comes to holiday cooking.  I found some twists to the traditional and I found some out-right, completely different kinds of holiday cooking ideas.

If you get a chance, stop over there and check out some recipes and add your own if you have a mind to.

Pumpkin Roll w/ cream cheese (!) filling
*My boys love making this with me…very fun

3 eggs
2/3 c. pumpkin filling (little less than 1/2 can)
1 c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/4 t. nutmeg
3/4 c. flour

Mix all ingredients.  Lay wax paper on a 15x10 jelly roll pan.  Grease & flour wax paper; pour batter into pan.  Bake 375*, 15–20 minutes.

Filling

2 T. butter
8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 t. vanilla
1 c. powdered sugar

Lay a clean dish towl on a flat surface, sprinkled with 1/3 c. powdered sugar.  Put baked cake upside down on towel; peel off wax paper.  Roll cake up in towel and let cool (Don’t let it cool too much or it will crack).  Unroll cake, spread filling inside.  Roll back up (no towel) and fridge it. To freeze — wrap in waxed paper then in foil

Enjoy!

Yesterday morning I was in no mood to talk about food…still too queasy. But then once the comments started flowing about the Choco-fest I actually started drooling! I’m such a sell out.

I knew I had to join the fun.…so I’m posting a quick choco fix and then a seriously delish choco fix.

I NEED CHOCOLATE NOW moment:

Cappuccino Cooler
1 1/2 c. cold coffee
1 1/2 c. chocolate ice cream
1 /4 c. Hershey’s syrup
Whipped cream

In blender, place all ingredients except whipped cream. Cover; blend until smooth. Serve immediately over crushed ice. Garnish with whipped cream Variation: Substitute vanilla ice cream for chocolate; increase syrup to 1/3 c.

I NEED SOMETHING TO LAST ME FOR DAYS (or last through the night):

Marbled Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
1 c. semi-sweet choco morsels
1 pkg yellow cake mix
4 eggs
3/4 c. sour cream
1/2 c. veg. oil
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. sugar
Confect. sugar

In a med. microwave-safe bowl, nuke chips on high for 1 min; stir. Nuke at additional 10–20 sec intervals until chips are smooth. Combine cake mix, eggs, sr. cream, oil, water and sugar in a lg. mixing bowl. Beat on low speed for 2 mins. Stir 2 c. of batter into melted chips. Alternately spoon batter into a greased, 10-inch fluted tube pan, beginning and ending with yellow batter. Bank at 375 for 35–40 mins. Cool in pan for 20 mins. Invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioner sugar.

Yum…

Megan has listed 10 of her favorites and yet there will be even more! Go check it out!

Oh, wait.

Maybe not, but it’s pretty dang close.

It involves food.

Megan, aka Fried Okra, just posted 10 of her and her families favorite summer time meals and they look incredible! You need to go grab some recipe cards, head over to her blog and start copying it down.

BEFORE YOU GO…

She’s doing the Mr. Linky thing so that we can get even more recipes (I think I might love Megan. I love fried okra so that just goes hand-n-hand.)

I’m going to share an entire meal from drink to dessert.

I’m feeling very Sandra Lee-ish.

Here we go! (You will notice a theme of cheese here…I figured we all need to replenish the fat lost in summer time sweating.)

SUNNY SPRING LEMONADE

6 c. white grape juice, chilled
1 (12oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed/undiluted
5 1/2 c. club soda, chilled

Stir together all ingredients in a 1-gallon pitcher or punch bowl. Serve over ice. Yields 3 quarts

BRAISED BRISKET

1 (5–6 lbs) beef brisket
2 envelopes dry onion soup mix
Aluminum foil

Sprinkle 1 pkg of soup mix on the foil. Place the brisket on top of the mix. Sprinkle 2nd pkg. on top of the brisket and cover with foil, sealing all edges tightly so that the juices remain inside the foil. Place in uncovered roasting pan for 5–6 hours in 325 oven. When done, carefully open the foil and empty the juices into a pan to prepare gravy (however you prefer to make your gravy). This is big enough for 2 meals of 8 servings each (Use the meat again the next day for French Dip sandwiches!)

STUFFED MUSHROOMS

12–15 lg. mushrooms; stems gently scooped out to make cups
1 (4oz) can chopped chilies
3/4 c. sour cream
1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 c. grated moz. cheese
2 T. minced onion
Dash of pepper and hot sauce

Mix all ingredients. Spoon into caps; placing on baking sheet. Broil until cheese is bubbly.

NEW GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE (no funky Thanksgiving recipe edition here!)

2 lbs fresh green beans
1 lg. onion (cut in wedges)
1 sm. sweet red pepper
6 oz fresh mushrooms
3 oz. goat cheese
3 oz. soften cream cheese

Cook gr. beans in boiling water (just enough to cover) for about 3 mins. In a casserole dish, combine gr. beans, mushrooms and sliced red peppers. Toss with olive oil and soy sauce or balsamic vinegar to coat. Roast at 375 for 15 minutes. Saute onion wedges in EVOO and br. sugar (about 2 T.) just till tender. Toss cooked onions with dry bread crumbs to coat. Blend cream cheese and goat cheese. Toss with veggies and place in baking dish. Top with onions. Bake at 400 for 5–8 minutes — just till heated through.

PHONE CLUB CAKE (Super moist, light summer cake)

Put in mixing bowl:
1 yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 sm. can mandarin oranges (do not drain)

Beat all together at once. Bake in 2 round cake pans @ 350 for 45 mins or in a 9x13 pan for 35 mins.

Frosting:
1 (8oz) Cool Whip
1 (16oz) can crushed pineapple w/ juice
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding

Beat all together and ice cake. Keep refrigerated.

ENJOY!!!!