Simply Mel(Formerly Mama Monoblogs)

Stop The Presses!

Be warned. This is another one of my random posts.

Be ready to be amazed. Shocked even! I have found a vegetable recipe that, get this, Mike actually likes. No, it's not April 1st and no I'm not making that up.'Tis true! My friend Sondre from Thirty Minutes Of Wonderful gave me this super easy recipe for Salt and Vinegar Asparagus. It's delicious.

Here's the recipe:

Salt and Vinegar Asparagus

Mix together in a baking dish : Bunch of Asparagus spears,  drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, dash of kosher salt, a small drizzle of vinegar.

Roast at 425 for 20 mins. They should b e crispy and golden when done.

Easy peasy!

Now for a prayer request:

Pat, the music leader of our church, lost her 7 year old nephew on Saturday to a tragic accident. Him, his 11 year old brother and friend were walking back home for the store on the side of the roade when JJ,the 7 yo was hit by a car. He died by the time the ambulance got him to the hospital. They still don't know why/ how he was hit by this car. The driver wasn't drunk. The driver stopped immediately. He, of course, will never be the same. Please pray for Pat and her family as they deal with this horrific loss. The funeral service is tomorrow. Also pray for Jason, the 11 yo old brother. He is suffering terrible guilt for feeling like he should have protected his brother. He told his mom all he say was his brother flying in the air. That's how quickly it happened. Pat was at church on Sunday but unable to play or lead the music. She had chosen all of the songs the Wednesday before the Saturday that the accident happened. One of the songs was "In Christ Alone". That song already really gets to me but when we started to sing it on Sunday it seemed so  perfect for the sad situation that I started to BAWL while playing it. I could barely see the music in front of me! There was a lot of crying on Sunday from everyone so I wasn't alone! Anyway, please keep this family in your prayers. I will be doing the music this coming Sunday too so Pat won't have to worry about it this week.

Now, on a lighter note, I've decided to post something fun I've seen a few people do on their blogs. I'm calling it " Funny/Weird Google Hits". Through  my sitemeter I've been able to see what key words on Google  have landed people on my blog. Some of them are pretty funny!

Here are a few recent ones:

"granny panties!"

Yes!! Someone was actually searching granny panties on Google! And sadly they were sent to my blog. Probably because I used that word in this embarassing post.

"Should Christian moms got to play dates"

SAD that this person has to ask!! What kinds of things have they been taught?

" neena nana nono"

What? Nanny nanny booboo? Eaney Meaney Miney Mo?

"mel the keeper pushed with everything she had"

I certainly did. And darn proud of it.

"my lower back aches awwww"

Awww,indeed! Try a chiropractor

"seet deems"

Sweet dreams in baby language??

And one of my favorites..

"preschool activities for tired moms"

When you find some by all means send them my way!!

And several searches for MckMama have landed people on my blog:

"against MckMama"

"dislike MckMama"

"blogger MckMama hate"

"MckMama fat wants money"

"MckMama affair husband"

There has been some drama/disgruntled-ness  going on with some readers of her blog and there are actually ANTI-MckMama blogs and forums now. Sad. I don't know if the people  searching with these words were looking for the sites just to read them or they wanted some fodder for MckMama bashing.

Those of you with blogs should definitely check your Google referrals to your blog ! It's fun. And please do share!

Quinoa, Three Way Tie And A "Recipe"

*UPDATE ON THE WINNER* It's Kelley! Congrats Kelley! You were my first respondent so you win the set of 5 cards. They really are beautiful. I hope you enjoy them. You'll be receiving them in the mail shortly (o:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Everybody guessed 3 out of the 4 ingredients correctly but nobody guessed what  the "off-white"  stuff was or what Mike left out, correctly. First off, THANK YOU to everyone who guessed. You all had some good guesses. I appreciate your participation.

1) The ingredients in my dish were Quinoa(keen-wah), corn, raisins and almonds

2) Mike chose to not have corn or raisins mixed into his Quinoa

Quinoa is actually in the grain family. It is high in fiber and protein and has a light, fluffy consistency. It has a very mild, nutty, pleasant taste. It cooks like rice. From what I've read, it's very good for you. Mike and I have found that we really love the flavor. You can mix in all sorts of things in it,hence the dish from this contest.

The recipe for Melissa's Quinoa Concoction

1 Cup Quinoa cooked according to package directions.(You can find it in the Health/Organic/Natural section of most supermarkets and healthfood stores.)

Throw in some chopped almonds, raisins, corn and salt

Enjoy! Wasn't that easy??

 

Now to the hard part- I don't know who actually won since several of you guessed close to the right answer but no one got the correct answer all the way through. Kristi,Sondreand Kelley all had great guesses. Mom, you had good guesses too but forgot to answer the second part of the contest! So, unfortunately you can't be one of the winners. So, here's what we're going to do. The FIRST one of my final contestants to reply to this post will be the one to win the prize. What's the prize, you ask?

A set of 5 of these beautiful, handmade-by-a-friend, Christmas cards. I personally love them and have a bunch more made by her. They are blank inside and just in time for the holidays. I love stationary and paper products so this kind of thing excites me. I hope you like it!

 

Kristi, Sondre and Kelley, give me a shout out!

 

Healthy Recipes For The Picky and Finicky- Bran Muffins

Time for another favorite recipe for the picky and finicky! These Bran Muffins happen to be what Mike eats every morning on his way to work. He eats them in the car, with a spoon, in a cup with milk poured over them. Sounds pretty gross to me but you and I  don't have to eat them like that. I like to eat them warm with butter. This is the only healthy muffin Mike will eat. This is a recipe I got from his mom who got it from the back of an All-Bran cereal box. I tweaked them a little by using half white flour and half whole wheat. I also add some flax seeds for an healthy boost. I'm also looking for a different type of "bran buds" type cereal that does not have HFCS, which All-Bran does unfortunately.

Whole Wheat Bran Muffins

3/4 cup white flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

1/2 Cup of sugar

11/4 cup All Bran cereal

1 1/4 Cup of milk

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil.(I have actually been using canola or grapeseed oil and they both work fine)

1-2Tbsp. milled flax seeds.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1) In a small bowl add All -Bran and milk. Let set and soften while mixing other ingredients.

2) Mix flour, baking powder and sugar in a larger, seperate bowl.

3) Add egg and oil to All-Bran and milk.

4) Add All-Bran mixture to flour mixture and stir well but don't overmix.

Pour into muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes or less. Makes about 12 medium sized muffins.

Healthy Recipes For The Picky and Finicky- Penne, Chicken and Broccoli

I am going to start a new series of blogs titled " Healthy Recipes for the Picky and Finicky" . I will post recipes that I  have/already use or find that work well for my family of "picky and finicky" eaters. If you would like to find a recipe that was posted a while back  just click on the "picky and finicky recipe favorites" tag and it should take you to all the recipes with that label. If you would like to share one with me feel free to e-mail me the recipe and I will post it and give you the credit for it. The only criteria is that it has to be healthy, and have mostly natural ingredients in it. I say "mostly" because as you will see as this blog goes on and if you read this post, I'm not a 100% organic and natural cook. I'm just doing the best I can with what is available to me at this point in our life. Now, as many of you with children know, "healthy eating" and "toddlers"(or even older children for that matter) is usually an oxymoron. Children usually don't like or want to eat anything with a lot of bright colors in it, unless they are  eating M&M's . I am working on helping my children not only tolerate or "take just one bite" but truly love healthy, natural foods. And trust me, young children are watching everything you eat. You may get away with thinking they won't notice that you opted out of the green beans but are forcing them to take "two bites" before they leave table.(Are you listening my dear hubby??) For whatever reason, it seems like once my children hit one year they are suddenly allergic to anything that's good for them. Maddy used to eat anything I put in front of her and devoured peas and ice cream alike. Now, the veggies get tossed on the floor before they barely hit her highchair tray. Katelyn can spot a vegetable in her food no matter how small and then works hard at picking it out. She even tries to pick the larger "grains" out of the 12 Grain Bread I've been buying. So, getting both of them to enjoy, like, tolerate good-for-you food is an ongoing battle. To top it off, I've got a husband who has the eating habits of a spoiled toddler. So, we are " food training" him as well. He will force down broccoli, corn on the cob and whole green beans and that is it when it comes to vegetables. He doesn't eat fruit and will hardly touch any kind of dish that has several ingredients in one, a la casserole style. He doesn't like beans,lentils or rice and no sauces of any kind unless it's pasta sauce. So, as you can see, I have my work cut out for me. If you have finicky eaters in your home join the club. I'll do my best to pass on some tasty, healthy recipes that work for the whole family. I'll let you know how my family likes it. Oh,and I will be posting recipes that Mike may not have liked at times.  Not everyone is as picky as he is. LOL

Here is my very first recipe in this series. This is a "to taste" type of recipe since I don't have any real measurements for it. This is my own variation on a couple of this type of dish that I've had and loved. My family, especially Mike, loves this dish.

                                                   Penne, Chicken and Broccoli.

Box of Penne, Rigatoni or any kind of pasta you like.( I like whole wheat penne).

Bunch of fresh Broccoli( frozen works too,but fresh just tastes better)

Italian Dressing

One pound or so of chicken breasts (depends on how much chicken you want in this dish)

Parsley,  roughly chopped, to taste

Olive Oil to taste

Salt to taste

Butter to taste

Parmesan Cheese to taste(freshly grated is delicious!!)

Optional- minced, sauted garlic or garlic salt

1. Marinate chicken breasts in Italian Dressing for at least an hour, more is better.

2.Saute, or grill the chicken breasts until done.

3. While chicken is grilling/sauteing, boil the amount of pasta that would be good for your family. I usually do almost a whole box and we eat the rest of the dish the next day as leftovers.

3. Chop the broccoli into spears and steam until soft but not soggy. They still need to have light crunch to them.

4. When chicken is done cooking, cut it into cubes.

5. Combine pasta, chicken and broccoli in a large pot. Add Olive Oil to taste and about a Tbsp. of butter. Mix well until all ingredients are well coated but not drowning in Olive Oil.

6. Add parsley and garlic or garlic salt(if desired). Stir until well mixed..

7. Add grated Parmesan cheese to taste and leave some left over in a bowl so individuals can add it as they like.

8. Add salt to taste, if so desired.

*The picture above is not of this dish. It was the best one I could find-LOL. I will hopefully be posting some of my own pictures of the recipes I make.*