Empty Nest the good and the Bad

We finally have an empty next, after 30 some years, we have had half an empty next for about the last 10, when my youngest went to college my oldest moved in with his fiance, when my youngest moved back home with his girlfriend, my son and now wife moved out, there was about a month overlap (a big house becomes really small when there are 3 couples in it!!!)

So now it is empty, aaauuugghh, the good news, our water bills are lower, the bad news….I have to walk my own dogs! The kids (aka adults) were very active, so they would walk the dogs, now I have to do it! The good news, I can wash my clothes anytime I want, the bad news is…I have to entertain walk my own dogs, the doodle is soooo needy and they are awful to walk, the pug barks for no reason and the doodle constantly stops and poops!

The good news I can walk around in underwear……ok, let me explain, I walk around in my husbands underwear like shorts, those things are silky smooth and super light….the bad news…I am going to have to apologize to my oldest for constantly yelling at him to “put some pants on!” cause he was always walking around in his underwear, but now I know why 🙂

The good news, well that is about it, not much else has changed, the bad new, we have to bring in our own shopping bags, no kids to come help us.

I am glad everyone is out and living on their own and going their own way, but we do miss them, and who knows in this crazy would they may be back, that will be a whole ‘nother story since the oldest has a baby and a pug and the youngest now has a puppy that is gonna be a biggg dog. And at some time my mom will most likely live with us, with her dog, so I am gonna enjoy it now while I can!

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

So, the whole reason for Cauliflower mashed potatoes is they are supposed to be healthier for you, but if you are adding, butter, milk, sour cream ect….aren’t you defeating the whole purpose???

Here are my mashed calitaters…..

1 head of cauliflower – steamed

2 potatoes – baked, nuked, or bbq’d

1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt

garlic – either fresh (best) or powdered

Mash the califlower and potatoes – leave ON the skins (that is all the good vitamins and minerals are!!!)

When mashed well add yogurt and garlic

Then WAHLAH – Garlic Cali-Mash potatoes

Sorry for the long absence…

Life got in the way, my older mother (70’s) , my premmie grandsom, who is doing good and 16 months, and misc health issues along the way, and of course covid didn’t help matters.

My hope is everyone stopping by is doing well, and so are their families, if not my sincerest condolenses for any losses you might have experienced.

I am back, I hope to blog fairly regularly, but hey, if I don’t have anything to say/blog, I just wait until I do.

Kitchen Mashup Pancakes ww1pt @

So I had some mandarins that were going to go bad, so I added them to a fruit bowl I bought from the store. I realized that I still wasn’t going to be able to eat it all before it went bad so I put all the fruit in a pan (mandarin, pineapple, cantalope, honeydew, grapes) and then I added a banana that was going to go bad and some pineapple jam I had frozen a while back plus some vanilla and cinnamon.

Then I thought, oookkkkkay, what am I going to do with this?? Then I thought….wait a minute….I blended the fruit up, I then added 4 eggs, and 1/2 Kodiak Pancake Mix and 1/8 cup of walnuts to the bowl, and I made 9 pancakes.

This is a take on the regular 2 egg & 1 banana WW pancake, which is good, but not always very fluffy. I always do two batches to get 9 pancakes, then I have 3 pancakes as a serving.

So a serving of these was 3pts, but wait….it gets better or worse depending on how you look at it …..these darn things are good as a snack, no topping needed….alas….I ate 2 while I was cooking them I had to make sure they were good!

Healthified Moist Corn Muffins WW 2pts @

Cornbread Muffins – from once upon a chef – Healthified by Me!

These tender cornbread muffins are the perfect side to any Southern or Southwestern dish. You can whip up the batter in no time!Servings: 12 muffinsTotal Time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar =Sub Just 1 sprinkle of sugar maybe 1/8 of a teaspoon
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey = Sub Just 1 Tablespoon of honey
• ADD 1 can of corn nibblets = keep the water
• 3/4 cup milk (preferably whole but low-fat works too) = Sub used the corn water the Corn and 1/4 NF Milk
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled = Sub 1 cup applesauce (homemade preferred no sugar)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray. (I prefer to use non-stick cooking spray so the muffins get nice and crisp on the edges.)
2. In a medium bowl, break up the eggs with a whisk. Whisk in the honey, and then the milk/corn juice. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk mixture and applesauce to the dry ingredients. Whisk until just blended. Add cord. Do not overmix; it’s okay if there are a few lumps. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are set and golden. (Note that the muffins will not dome.) Cool the muffins for a few minutes in the pan, then serve warm.
4. Note: If you’d prefer to make this as cornbread rather than muffins, spray an 8-inch square pan with non-stick cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Healthified Carrot Cake Muffins WW 2pts

Cause you know that is just what I do,

(original reciepe from Creme De La Crumb)

INGREDIENTS

Original My Version

• ▢1 1/2 cups flour = 1 1/4 cups of my wheat/flax/almound flour mix, put used whole wheat to come up with WW pts)
• ▢1 cup sugar NOPE = 1 teaspoon
• ▢1/2 teaspoon cinnamon = same
• ▢1/2 teaspoon baking soda = Same
• ▢1/2 teaspoon baking powder = Same
• ▢1/2 teaspoon salt = Same
• ▢1/2 cup vegetable oil NOPE = 1/2 cup homemade applesauce (you can use no sugar added from store)
• ▢1/3 cup brown sugar Nope = 1 Tablespoon
• ▢2 large eggs at room temperature = same
• ▢2 teaspoons vanilla extract = same
• ▢2 cups finely grated carrots not pre-shredded carrots, they should be freshly grated NOPE = here is the secret to this muffin, shred the carrots, then PRECOOK them in water, vanilla & cinammon until soft

You can also add walnuts, raisens ect, but it will effect the WW pts

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and life a muffin tin with paper or silicone cupcake liners (or grease well with cooking spray).
• In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and brown sugar
• In a large bowl combine eggs, and vanilla and mix well. Stir in grated carrots.
• Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until completely incorporated.
• Fill muffin liners 2/3 full.
• Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center ofthe muffins comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to continue cooling.
• Serve fresh or store in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days, or in the fridge up to 2 weeks. Optional: reheat them in the microwave for about 15 seconds and spread a little butter on top for the ultimate breakfast treat.

Tea Tricks

I drink a LOT of tea, I switched from diet coke to tea as it is better for me. (ha I rhymed!)

However, I find sometimes it has a “bitter” after taste, so I put a cinnamon stick in the pot as I brew it, it tends to take out that aftertaste without adding any real flavor.

Another thing I do is I open a can of pineapple chuncks and pour in a container with the juice, I then add tea and let it steep.

Then when I pour my tea I use half pineapple tea and half regular tea, sweetens it naturally.

Quick fruit cobbler/crumble

So I had some necterines that where “meh”, so I cut them up and cooked them with vanilla and cinnamon. Then I decided a “pie” sounded good, but that is a lot of work. Then I looked up the cobble/crumble and still a lot of work.

But wait, HA, got a granola bar out of the cupboard, crumbled it up, added 75% to the fruit and mixed up, then layered the last 25% on plate and put the fruit mixture on top.

Dollap with some whipcream and there you go, a easy peasy fruit granola crunch crumpie!

Imperfect food for an imperfect world

As you all know I am very into reducing my food waste. Hardly ever throw away food, it can be frozen to be used later, of I use my kitchen mashups to get more out of it.

I have been using Imperfect food http://imprfct.us/v/deborah_2344 and it has been awesome. I can sometimes find items online that I am unable to get in the store.

There whole idea, is get the stuff that is good but not “pretty” enough for the market to those who want it. The farmers get paid instead of throwing it away, and since they get a deal on the price, WE get a deal on the price and no waste.

Check it out. If you use the link we both get $10 credit.

Share the news!

Wow, tea trick, works

So I drink tea, LOTS of tea, instead of diet coke, as it sucks the calcium out of your body and you pee it out. Found this out when I went in for a bone density test, stopped drinking diet coke, next time I went in, my bone density was up. Woo hoo.

However, as much as I like tea, and I mix it up with other flavored teas, with ice tea as the base usually, there is always a kind of “burnt or bitter” taste.

Found out putting a piece of cinnamon stick in the water while steeping almost completely elimates it and hardly noticable in flavor.

Boom chackalka boom!