Winter, Winter, GO AWAY

To whom it may concern,
Whoever ticked off Mother Nature, could you please go and apologize so we can begin spring? That would be greatly appreciated :) We are supposed to get 4-7" of snow tonight and I don't think I can take anymore winter. It's just too depressing and cold.

Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Sara

BPA Chemical - Plastic Warning

My Grandma Billings always talked about how plastic is bad. She said that one day you will hear reports come out how it's not good for you. Well, I've heard speculation about this and that. I watched the news tonight (which I shouldn't do, because it always freaks me out) and it was said that some plastic baby bottles (most name brand ones), water cooler bottles, and canned food contain a chemical called BPA that is linked to infertility, hyperactive, and cancer amoung other things. Here is an article of "safer" plastics and how to tell if they are better than some others. Here's the thing about plastic, you shouldn't let it get hot. No heating it up in the microwave, don't put hot left overs in it, don't wash with hot water or put through the dishwasher, because it leaks this chemical 20-40 times more than what is normally leaked.

click here.

Here are some of the videos I have seen after doing some research.
Here's the short of what this paper is talking about.


Here's a lengthy video about how they have known about this chemical for years, but have not let it known to the public. I also liked how the Dr. on the interview says that when he occasionally uses a bottle to feed his infant, he uses a chemical free bottle.

Dessert: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chunk Cookies

After the flop of dinner I made these! I have made these before and are one of Steve's favorite cookies. Here's the recipe.

Prep Time:15 min
Total Time:28 min

Makes:About 2-1/2 doz. or 30 servings, one cookie each

1 cup flour
1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. CALUMET Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 package of Semi-sweet chunk chocolates

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Mix flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat butter, sugars and peanut butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until well blended after each addition. Stir in chocolate.

DROP heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE 10 to 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool 1 min.; remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely.

New Recipe: Salmon

I tried this recipe tonight and it was a big fat flop! I'm not a huge salmon fan to begin with. However I thought I would try cooking this to be a little bit more healthy. Plus, I'm sick of everyting that I already know how to make, so I'm broading my cooking skills. This was not one that I will be adding. However, if you are a big fish fan, you might like it. It was super easy too. Here's what I did.

1/4 cup KRAFT Mayo Real Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 salmon fillets (1 lb.), skin removed
2 tsp. lemon juice
10 RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup crumbs)

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix mayo, cheese and pepper until well blended; set aside.

PLACE salmon on foil-lined shallow baking pan. Drizzle evenly with lemon juice. Top with cheese mixture; spread to evenly cover salmon. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

BAKE 12 to 15 min. or until salmon flakes easily with fork.

Steak Fajitas

I'm going to start posting more recipes that I have tried. Good and bad!

I tried making steak fajitas tonight for the first time, they have always intimidated me. I'm weird, I know, I just can't help it. So here is what I did (I took the easy way out), however, I didn't follow the directions on the package.

1.5lb Steak

1 Package Fajitas mix

2 Green Peppers

1 Red Pepper

1 Medium Onion

2 T Oil

I heated the 2T vegetable oil in a pan. While that was heating I thinly sliced the steak, cutting all the fat off. Browned the steak, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Drain. Add 1/2 cup water and package of fajita mix. Mix well, over medium heat (basically so this gets to a boil). Once mixed well, add in all your veggies. Cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes on a low/low-med heat, stirring occasionally.

It was a little runny after the 20 minutes, so I cooked another 5 minutes uncovered and that helped a lot. Serve on flour tortilla with sour cream, cheese, salsa and/or guacamole. They turned out great!