Fat Frog Diary

Colcannon By: Marc Boyer   "This is a recipe from County Mayo. It is traditional Halloween fare but good anytime! Kale can be substituted for cabbage."  Serves 5 Ingredients 1 pound cabbage 1 pound potatoes 2 leeks 1 cup milk salt and pepper to taste 1 pinch ground mace 1/2 cup butter Directions In a large saucepan, boil cabbage until tender; remove and chop or blend well. Set aside and keep warm. Boil potatoes until tender. Remove from heat and drain. Chop leeks, green parts as well as white, and simmer them in just enough milk to cover, until they are soft. Season and mash potatoes well. Stir in cooked leeks and milk. Blend in the kale or cabbage and heat until the whole is a pale green fluff. Make a well in the center and pour in the melted butter. Mix well. Nutritional Information Amount Per Serving   Calories: 302 | Total Fat: 19.7g | Cholesterol: 53mg Powered by ESHA Nutrient Database Nutritional Information Colcannon Se...

Slow-Cooked Corned Beef and Cabbage   3 1/2 cups Swanson® Beef Broth or Swanson® Beef Stock 1/4 cup cider vinegar 2 medium onions, cut into quarters 5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters (about 5 cups) 5 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups) 1 corned beef or beef brisket (about 3 pounds) 1 head green cabbage, trimmed and cut into 6 wedges (about 2 pounds) Bouquet Garni Stir the broth and vinegar into a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the onions, potatoes, carrots, beef and cabbage. Submerge the Bouquet Garni in the broth mixture. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours or until the beef is fork-tender. Remove the Bouquet Garni. RECIPE TIPS Bouquet Garni: Lay a 4-inch square of cheesecloth flat on the counter. Place 4 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon pickling spice and 2 bay leaves in the center of the cloth. Bring the corners of the cheesecloth together and tie with kitchen string into a bundle. Time-Saving : Or you may cook the ...

Cynnara does it again! Let's give her a hand! ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Cynnara T <cynnara@gmail.com> Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 9:49:24 PM   I get Taste of Home each month. (It's my treat to myself!) So, there was this recipe a couple of months back-- and it's on the website. :D http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Low-Fat-Chocolate-Muffins Low-Fat Chocolate Muffins Recipe * 12 Servings * Prep: 10 min. Bake: 15 min. + cooling Ingredients * 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour * 3/4 cup sugar * 1/4 cup baking cocoa * 2 teaspoons baking powder * 1 teaspoon baking soda * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 2/3 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt * 2/3 cup fat-free milk * 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract * Confectioners' sugar, optional Directions * In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Stir in the yogurt, milk and vanilla just until moistened. Coat muffin cups with cooking spray; fill two-thirds full. * Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the cente...

Cynnara sure knows how to make a diet recipe sound delectable, doesn't she? ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Cynnara T <cynnara@gmail.com> To: ChangelingPress@yahoogroups.com Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 9:48:38 PM Subject: [ChangelingPress] Recipe: Low Fat Death by Chocolate   Death By Chocolate This low-fat dessert is made by layering prepared fat-free instant chocolate pudding, slices of fat-free chocolate pound cake, and fat-free whipped dessert topping in a large bowl, then sprinkling with chocolate chips. Ingredients: * 2 Pkgs fat-free instant chocolate pudding * 1 fat-free chocolate pound cake * 1 container fat-free Cool Whip, thawed * Sprinkle of chocolate chips Directions: Prepare pudding according to instructions. Cut cake into 12 slices. In a trifle or clear glass bowl, layer cake slices, pudding, and Cool Whip; repeat 3 times. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Chill.

Get Rich Slowly: Fight Rising Prices by Building Your Own Food Bank Fight Rising Prices by Building Your Own Food Bank Posted: 02 Feb 2011 03:00 AM PST This post is from new GRS staff writer Donna Freedman. Donna writes the Living With Less personal finance column for MSN Money, and writes about frugality and intentional living at Surviving And Thriving . According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food prices are expected to rise as much as 5.5% in 2011. Those prices aren't likely to go back down. So why not invest in food futures, i.e. , your own pantry? Put it this way: If you have an emergency fund in the bank, why not have food in the bank? Liz Pulliam Weston calls a full cupboard " the emergency fund you can eat ." Having plenty of staples on hand makes sense for several reasons: You're locked in at the price you paid, which ideally will be the sale price (more on that later). There's always something to fix for supp...

Why a Food Journal? by Leanne Ely, C.N.C Keeping a food journal is a great way to track your nutrition, your water intake, your moods, sleep patterns, and your exercise. All of these things are interrelated to your physical and mental health. By tracking these things you can figure out why you eat what you eat and why you feel how you feel. It's a great way to find food sensitivities, emotional eating triggers, and quality of sleep. For example, you may learn that drinking caffeine after 3:00 keeps you up all night or you might learn that tortillas give you heart burn. As you are able to monitor and evaluate how different foods make you feel you are able to make better choices and improve your quality of life. A food journal is also a great way to keep you on a healthy eating plan. Being accountable to yourself is a powerful thing. If you know that you have to write down everything you eat you may find yourself thinking twice about having that piece of pie after dinner time. I know...

Okay, here's the official report of why I ended up incommunicado and incarcerated in a hospital all weekend, starting January 28, 2011. (Warning-- foul language and aspersions cast upon the wisdom of several professions.) After Randy's death, I'd been feeling very down and considered myself very unlucky. I think most folks can understand my feelings. However, I began to realize the depression was interfering with my work and daily life. So, I made an appointment with my primary care physician's office to reinstate the prescription I'd had previously for Wellbutrin. It had worked well before, so I was confident that would be all I needed to even out the peaks and valleys of my mood swings. My appointment was for late Friday morning. Dante and I went with the idea of having a bit of lunch and taking care of a few errands while we were out. As usual with my PCP, I had to see her PA (physician's assistant). No big deal. I had a short list of problems to...

Lena Amanda Austin thought you would be interested in this link to "Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries" on the Cooking Channel: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/lisa-lillien/bake-tastic-butternut-squash-fries-recipe/index.html Comments from Lena Amanda Austin: I think this is just what you've been looking for to replace those nasty french fries. I don't have a crinkle-cutter, but it's not necessary.

Spicy Cheese Soup Serves 4, doubles easily 1 lb Velveeta, cubed 1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained 1 can (8 oz) whole kernel corn 1 can 15 oz kidney beans 1 can (4 oz) minced jalapeno 1 14oz diced tomatoes with chiles 1 14oz stewed tomatoes 1 envelope taco seasoning mix Throw them all in the slow cooker on Low for no more than 6 hours. After that, reduce to Warm. Serve with corn chips if desired. (Yeah, it's that easy.) Lena Austin http://www.LenaAustin.com http://depravedduchess.blogspot.com

Dinner Diva This is a great article to share with your friends & family How Safe Is Your Kitchen? By Leanne Ely, C.N.C. Dirty dining reports are becoming quite popular with local news stations all around the country and are grossing out America at the same time. I'm sure you've seen it before; local reporters go into the kitchens of restaurants to see what health code violations they can find. I'll spare you the gory details, but it's usually one more reason I prefer to cook my meals at home. But let me ask you-- how would your kitchen stand up to one of these inspections? I like to keep my sink shiny (thanks to FlyLady ) and my pantry neat (thank you Rubbermaid ) but as you may have seen in my pantry makeover blog just about a year ago, I found an old sprouting potato hiding in the dark recesses of my pantry. It happens! So how safe is your kitchen? When is the last time you gave your fridge and freezer a good disinfecting? How old is the shelf liner in yo...

I love, love, love my Rubba Scrubba from FlyLady.net. This has to be one of the all-time great things about being a Flybaby. (Don't you dare call me a maggot!) FlyLady just posted this list of all they can do. I've cleaned dishes, removed pet hair from furniture and crevices, and dusted my lampshades using mine. Rubba Scrubbas to the Rescue! Cleaning window screens Cleaning vegetables Cleaning dishes Cleaning mud/etc. off the bottom of shoes Sweeping up broken glass Sweeping up dust around baseboards Brushing off carpeted stairs Cleaning fan and hairdryer vents Cleaning grill vents Scrubbing out yucky garbage cans Picking up pet hair Rubbing/combing your pet Massager Sweeping dirt out of tent Brushing snow off of clothing Brushing up lint (especially velvet lint) Cleaning Dryer Lint screen Cleaning lamp shades Cleaning blinds Cleaning window sills Cleaning the divots and grooves in tile and linoleum Cleaning dust off of ball caps...

Okay, I confess. You haven't seen much of me lately because I've been naughty. I fell off the wagon and piled on ten pounds. Could I blame stress? Yeah, but the point is that no one put a gun to my head and made me eat more carbs. I did it. I think the point is to forgive myself and get back on the bandwagon. There will be days like today (Thanksgiving) where I'll indulge. However, I can say no to certain things like mashed potatoes and dressing and say yes to things like more turkey. I had just a sliver of pumpkin pie instead of pigging out. For me, total denial means I get resentful and eventually defiant. Giving in to a little and having what I want in reasonable portions means I avoid a self-hating binge in secret later. So, now I have to come up with strategies to increase my calorie burn when I can't control what I eat. That means increasing my exercise. That's as easy as getting out of the chair. I can take a walk or dance to my MP3 player. I can do a lot of ...

1/2 lb fully cooked bratwurst (about 3), cut into 3/4-inch pieces 1 1/3 cups drained sauerkraut (from 14-oz can) 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (4 oz) 3/4 cup Original Bisquick® mix 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup regular or nonalcoholic beer 2 eggs Print these coupons... About Concordance™ Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Sprinkle bratwurst, sauerkraut and cheese in pie plate. In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Success Pie plates vary in size from manufacturer to manufacturer. Using too small a pie plate will cause the pie to run over while baking. Pie plate sizes are usually marked on the backs of the plates; if not marked, measure from inside rim to inside rim. Serve With Make a quick salad of sliced beets and red onion rings on a bed of greens drizzled with vinaigrette dressing. Serv...

Just before my best office desktop computer blew chunks, I downloaded and printed out a PDF file from Quilting Arts Magazine on how to learn machine quilting for the ordinary sewing machine. (Whew! Sighing with relief that I have a hard copy.) Thanks to a clue from the president of my quilting guild, the very lucky and kind Diane Kelly, I found “universal” darning foot on Nancy’s Notions. It arrived just after I came back from retreat. I’ve been patiently finishing current projects and waiting until I could spend a bit of time following the step-by-step instructions on machine quilting. Today was that day. I had some 6” blocks from my Halloween project left, some 6” squares of muslin, and some 6” squares of batting. I made a sandwich for a test, hooked up the darning foot, dropped the feed dogs, and decided that I would just play first to get a feel for how easy it was to move the sandwich. Oh, my goodness!! I had such fun I didn’t want it to end. So what if it was a silly ...

Unleashed in Quilt Land (What I do instead of stress eating) Quilting is what I do instead of stress eating. My daughters read this blog, so it's a way to share what I'm learning with them. 1. Fons and Porter #1605 Bluebonnet Baby Quilt a. Use the window technique when preparing the Heat-n-Bond so there’s only a thin line of adhesive around the edge. Do this before fusing to the fabric. b. Cut the stems on the bias so they curve easily, 1” wide. C. Fold the stem in half lengthwise and iron to create the first crease. Mark with pen or chalk if necessary to make the crease easier to see. D. Fold ½ the stem again, to hide the raw edge. Overcompensate a little to make sure no raw edge is showing. Iron again. Finger press open. E. Stitch down the center crease created earlier. F. Roll it over, add leaves, and press it all down. Blanket stitch down. G. Make and use a placement guide to ensure accuracy of placement. You may also note thread colors, machine settings,...