Take some notes Jesse and Tiger

Well, I hear that Jesse James has decided if sex addiction therapy could possibly salvage Tiger’s marriage and reputation, he might as well give it a shot. I guess they think that a doctor’s “diagnosis” should excuse their bad behavior. I can’t decide who the bigger cad is, but I am definitely leaning towards the Cheetah or quite possibly Johnny Edwards. I was starting to believe that all famous men are incapable of any kind of fidelity, and then my heart was warmed by a report about Jeff Bridges. He recently won several awards including an Academy Award for his role in Crazy Heart. He attended all ceremonies with his wife of 33 years and apparently they seemed very, very affectionate. In fact, Piers Morgan of Britain’s Got Talent fame was recapping events of the Oscars, and said of Bridges, “It is amazing to see a Hollywood husband keeping his hands like that on his own wife.” So Tiger and Jesse, if you want your marriage to last, just keep your hands from wandering.

Guilt-free French Fries for the Food Revolution

If you happened to watch any of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution show last Friday, you were probably alarmed by many things you saw. The disgusting presentation on how chicken nuggets are made and the fact that the elementary school classroom he visited was still willing to eat nuggets anyway, or the fact that these children didn’t even know what a potato was but could immediately identify French fries was troubling.


After watching the Oprah episode on Food Inc., I was interested in reading a book she highlighted on her show. Food Rules by Michael Pollan gives some pretty basic eating guidelines, but after watching Food Revolution, I realized that many people don’t have a basic understanding of the importance of eating real food.

There are 64 Food Rules listed. These are some of my favorites:

#13 Eat only foods that will eventually rot. Does a Twinkie ever rot?
#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
#20 It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
#21 It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language. (Think Big Mac.)
#57 Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.

And in honor of rule #39 - Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself, I thought I would blog my favorite home-made fry recipe.


Oven Baked French Fries

3 large russet potatoes and one medium sized yam, scrubbed, unpeeled & cut into ¼ inch strips.
4 cups cold water
2 Tbls apple cider vinegar
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp paprika
2 Tbls canola oil

As potatoes are sliced, immediately drop them into a large bowl containing the water, vinegar, and ½ tsp salt. Let soak for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Drain potatoes very well. Lay potatoes on dish cloth and place another on top. In a clean, dry bowl toss potatoes with remaining salt, chili powder, and paprika, and then stir in oil. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, turn and bake 5 minutes more.

Now if only I could find great tasting guilt-free fry sauce!

There is hope for my stupidity!

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years." - Mark Twain

These brownies actually get better with age.

Last week I was craving something chocolate. To be honest, I am almost always craving chocolate. Keeping with my desire to keep things whole grain, I decided to try a new whole grain recipe from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Cookbook. This recipe suggested letting the brownies sit over night before cutting. I don’t know about your house but most brownies don’t even make it to the next day at my house. Craving chocolate as I was, I didn’t wait. I thought they were okay, but wasn’t sure I would even make them again. My family wasn’t big on them either. The next day I, of course, was craving chocolate and cut myself a brownie. The chocolate flavor was rich, and I really liked the brownies, by day three I was sold. The best thing about these brownies is that my family passed on them because the flavor wasn’t real sweet and rich the first day, and there was plenty left to satisfy my need for chocolate.

Double Fudge Whole Grain Brownies

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
¾ cup cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbls vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups hard white wheat flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add sugar and stir to combine. Heat briefly until mixture it hot and starting to bubble. Stir in cocoa, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Cool mixture until it feels like hot bath water. Whisk in eggs, stirring until smooth, then add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into prepared pan. Bake about 30 minutes, until a cake tester poked into the center reveals wet crumbs but not raw batter.

Still standing

Among the many reports coming out of Haiti during the past 3 weeks, one of my favorite stories is about a bronze statue – the unknown escaped slave. As I have watched the news and listened to reports of the destruction, I was reminded this week of the facts concerning Haiti that I am sure I learned during world history class over 25 years ago. So the mini history lesson is this. Haiti is a former French colony and was the hub of the slave trade, and it is the only country on earth to have gained independence by a slave rebellion. This bronze statue in Port-au-Prince is a symbol of the freedom gained through that revolt. Amazingly, amidst all of the rubble and devastation this statue that symbolizes Haiti’s spirit is still standing.

Finally cookies!

My son had been asking me for weeks to make some white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies. I really didn’t feel like baking or eating baked goods after the holidays, so I kept making up excuses. Finally, the guilt got to me, and I baked. I got creative and tried something new. I found a recipe on-line and made whole grain adjustments. My son loved them and ate almost a dozen the first night. My husband thought they were a little too sweet but seemed to eat his fair share anyway.

White Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups hard white wheat flour
½ cup spelt flour
1 cup barley flour
1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips
1 ½ cups chopped macadamia nuts

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Blend in flours, soda and salt. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

A dumb blonde joke?

“Well, my main message is that beauty is really from within.” Heidi Montag on Nightline

Until this week, I had never heard of Heidi Montag. I saw her interviewed on Nightline, she was talked about on The Bonnie Hunt Show, and I saw her on the cover of various magazines at the grocery store. I believe that she is famous for being famous. At the age of 23, she had ten plastic surgery procedures during a $30,000 ten hour almost-lost-her-life operation. I liked her cute and wholesome girl-next-door looks. Now she just looks fake and plastic. There is a reason they call it plastic surgery. But she wants all the young girls that look up to her as a role model to know that beauty really comes from within. Well so does happiness, self-worth, and personal contentment. She seems to not understand any of that. How sad!