Friday, July 23, 2010

Mosque at Ground Zero?!?

Who's brilliant idea was it to build a mosque at Ground Zero? The opening date? 9/11/2011.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

KKK Buys land next to MLK Center in Atlanta!

Here's a great post by my favorite Boyz at HillBuzz.

How would the NAACP react or Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson? It's the same analagy as the Victory Mosque that Muslims want to build next to Ground Zero.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

What's For Dinner?

Last night I cooked dinner totally in the microwave. I did Baked Chicken Supreme, Della Gourmet Rice and Broccoli cuts. I used my Deep Covered Baker from Pampered Chef for the chicken and my Heat ‘N Serve container from Tupperware for my rice. My rice cooker that came with my hubby when we got married 21 years ago gave up the ghost. I’ve got to decide if I want another like it or a microwave one. I usually cook with brown rice, ~which takes 45 minutes and I don’t want to tie up my microwave for that long~ so I’m thinking another electric one. It is so hot here in Memphis that I don’t use my oven during the summer. A couple of months ago, I had a Pampered Chef cooking show so I could get the Deep Covered Baker. My main reason for wanting it was to cook Pork Tenderloin in the microwave. I’d seen a recipe for cooking chicken in the microwave in the Deep Covered Baker, so I thought I’d try one of my own in it. It was awesome. My husband didn’t know that I cooked it in the microwave. It even passed his taste test. ~That’s saying a lot!~

I’m a kitchen gadget junkie. I once had a friend call me the Bob Vila of kitchenware. I love Tupperware and Pampered Chef and the Williams-Sonoma outlet here in Memphis. If you don’t have a friend who is a consultant, go to their websites and find one. Pampered Chef’s stoneware collection is the best and since I’ve found that I can use it in the microwave, I may never use my oven again. Just kidding! Anyway, tonight I’m going to try chicken with a southwest flair. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Baked Chicken Supreme

1/2 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
6 boneless chicken breast halves, cut in half and skinned
1/4 cup milk
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 T crushed garlic
squirt of lemon juice
paprika

Combine wheat germ, parmesan cheese, salt & pepper. Dip each chicken breast in milk and then wheat germ mixture. Arrange in a 8 X 12 baking dish. Combine melted butter, garlic and lemon juice; pour over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover with foil; bake @ 350 deg for 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

I like to serve it with brown rice. You can't beat the butter drippings over rice.

Microwave Version:
Arrange chicken in Deep Covered Baker from Pampered Chef's stoneware collection. To get all the chicken in, layer. Pour melted butter mixture over all. Cover; cook on High in microwave for 12 minutes. Let set for at least 5 minutes before serving.


Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Beach Time!

Our family just returned from a week at Orange Beach, AL. In spite of not being able to go into the Gulf waters because of the dispersants that they’ve used, we had an awesome time. We normally go in late August or September because I’m not a big crowd person, but because of the oil spill we went earlier this year.

The condo that we stay in is my husband’s sisters and her husband’s. It’s a two bedroom and we weren’t sure where we were going to put our youngest daughter because she’s out of her pack and play now. To the delight of our daughters, there was a bunk bed added to their bedroom. It also had a trundle bed which our youngest immediately claimed as her own.

There were people on the beach and even in the water. The double red flags were flying which means no swimming. The immediate risk of being in the water is a red skin rash. Unfortunately, we don’t know what the long term risks will be. It is not a risk I was willing to subject my kids to. We could forgo the waves this year. What we did have was the pool and our girls took full advantage of it. In the storage closet was the usual array of floats, boogie boards, buckets, nets and shovels. My girls had a blast. Also, most of the time they were the only ones in the pool.

We drove down on Saturday and they were getting ready for the Jimmy Buffet concert that weekend. We didn’t go, although the restaurant that we ate at Sunday night had it on the TV. It was a great event for the businesses there.

We ate out at The Shrimp Basket on Sunday night. They have all you can eat shrimp on Sundays and Wednesdays for $9.99. Very good. We also ate out at Gulf Shores Steamer. It was excellent also. I had the stuffed fish. The customer service was great too. My hubby ordered a steak and it was not the best cut. ~The steaks we had brought with us from Costco were much better~ When our server asked how everything was; my hubby told him that he wasn’t pleased with the steak. The manager then returned with an offer to give him something else. My hubby reordered the chicken. It was excellent. We will be going back there because of their service ~and the food was great too~. I also made alfredo with fresh shrimp from Blalock's seafood market.

One of our favorite things to do is to walk thru the boats at the marina. There wasn’t as much activity in the marina, but it’s always fun to do.

We had beautiful weather, much better than in Memphis. It was in the low 90’s with a great breeze all but one day. It rained one or two nights, but was lovely during the day. They were busy cleaning up the beach with vehicles transporting people and equipment going by all day. There was an average of 6-8 boats out on the water doing clean-up just off the beach also. Driving over Perdido Pass Bridge was surreal as they’ve closed off the Pass with oil booms in an effort to keep the oil out of Perdido Bay.

Originally, we looked into going to Waterville USA which is the water park there, but at $30 bucks a pop even for the kids, it was just too expensive. We did however go the The Track and drove the go carts and bumper boats. Our youngest rode on their kiddie train and airplanes. We went there Saturday morning when they had tickets buy one get one free. Our oldest daughters weren’t quite tall enough to drive the big tracks, but they rode with my hubby and me for free. They did get to drive on the rookie track though. They have the Wild Woody track which is a wooden track that is three stories high. As my daughter who rode with me said, it was like a roller coaster. It was great fun. After riding go carts, while the rest of the family had Hardees and Burger King for lunch ~the ads for the new hand breaded chicken tenders worked on my hubby, while my girls like the crown nuggets from Burger King~ I stopped by the Original Oyster House and picked up some of their Gumbo. It was delicious.

We also checked out Lake Shelby. In all of our years coming to the AL beach, we never knew about Lake Shelby. It has a beach for swimming and cabins for rent. Very cool.

All in all, it was a great family time. I would highly recommend a trip there; even with the oil spill. The businesses need it and it’s a great place for a family. Just enjoy your pool and listening to the waves off your balcony. Hopefully, next year we’ll be able to tackle the waves.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Donkeys vs Elephants on Spending

Here's an article that shows the difference between spending under President Bush and spending under the Obama administration. Hey, Big Spenders Also noteworthy is the graph showing the truth of what happened to the deficit when either Democrats or Republicans controlled Congress. When things get tight in your family budget either thru unexpected expenses or loss of income, what do you do? Do you keep spending money or tighten your belts and eliminate some spending. We need to do the same as a country!