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Not So Wordless Wednesday: Clowning Around And Giving Thanks

November 25, 2009 TechyDad B, Family, Health, JSL, Life, Marriage, NHL, Photos, Wordless Wednesday

Yes, I know that Wordless Wednesday posts are supposed to be, well, wordless, but I felt that this one needed some words. After all, this is not only my "Wordless Wednesday" post, but also my "What I’m Thankful For" post. Therefore, in no particular order:

My Wife

I’m thankful every day that B has been in my life. She’s such a wonderful and caring person and I love everything about her. She’ll deny it left and right, but she’s also incredibly sexy. (Yes, you are B!) I’m even more attracted to her today than I was the first moment I laid eyes on her. (And trust me, I thought she was very attractive then also!) I don’t know what I’d do without her in my life. So thank you, B for being such a great wife and friend to me and such a great mother to our boys. Speaking of our boys….

My Boys

I couldn’t have asked for two better kids. Ok, there are times when they’re getting into trouble when I might think I could have , but still they are good kids. NHL rarely gets into trouble at school and loves learning. He enjoys spending time with me, B or just playing with JSL. JSL loves helping people out. He’ll actually get upset and shout "I help Dada!" if I don’t need his help. He adores his older brother and loves spending time with him. The little copycat looks to his brother constantly for cues on how to act and what to say. (This does lead to us telling NHL to stop doing something and then immediately having to tell JSL to stop also…. cute though it may be!) I’m so glad that they love each other and us so much. Every day when I go to work, I wish that I could spend more time with them and every day when I’m packing up to leave, I look forward to seeing them soon.

My Mother

First off, I’m also thankful for my father, sister and other friends and relatives, but this year I’m particularly thankful for my mother. Last week, she had a little accident. And by little, I mean she almost died. She was in her attic cleaning things up and fell.

Now, their attic isn’t exactly safe. You get to it via a fold down ladder in the garage. That staircase is about as old as I am (i.e. over 30 years old). Once you get into the attic, you can’t just walk around. The floor of the attic is thin enough that it can’t stand the weight of a person. You need to balance on support beams which run all along the attic. Years back, my father actually fell through the attic floor and got wedged in the hole he made. His legs were dangling down in the garage, a sight which was scary then but funny in hindsight.

Anyway, my mother was up there cleaning near the ladder. The details are a bit sketchy, but best I can make out, her foot somehow went through the thin flooring and she lost her balance. She fell headfirst towards the ladder. She hit her head on the ladder and skidded across the concrete garage floor. Luckily, she wasn’t home alone. A family friend was with her and called 911.

It could have been a lot worse. She fell a total distance of about 9 feet (maybe more) onto a concrete floor. She could easily have been dead. Plus, she hit the ladder with her head so she could have snapped her neck and been paralyzed for the rest of her life. In the end, she had a concussion (blacked out as she was headed for the ladder and came to on the ground), a couple of broken fingers, a torn up ear and scratches all over her face. She’s very, *VERY* lucky!

She’s recovering slowly, but surely. She’s still dizzy at times and needs to take it easy for awhile. However, the doctors’ don’t think that any permanent damage was done. I’m very thankful that my mother is alive and (relatively) well.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Cooking With TechyDad: Sneaky Macaroni and Cheese Muffins

November 13, 2009 TechyDad Cooking, Food, Health, Photos, Recipe, Sneaky

JSL loves macaroni and cheese. If we let him, he’d eat “Mac Cheeze” for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course, if we let him live off of boxed macaroni and cheese, he wouldn’t be getting vital nutrients. He’s going to keep wanting macaroni and cheese, so we’ve got to somehow find a way to make it healthier. Mixing in chunks of broccoli doesn’t work. He finds those and freaks out. So what do we do? Luckily, Missy Lapine, also known as The Sneaky Chef, has an answer.

This is a very simple recipe. It only has four ingredients: Eggs, Orange Puree, Shredded Cheddar Cheese, and Macaroni.

First cook the macaroni. After all, you don’t want Crunchy Macaroni and Cheese. While that’s going on, crack 4 eggs and mix them into 1 cup of puree.

Now, mix in 1 cup of the macaroni and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. (NOTE: Just before this point, we decided to make a double batch. Thus the sudden increase in the egg/puree level and the massive amount of muffins later on.)

Take this mixture and portion it out into muffin cups. Top with some more cheddar cheese if you like. (We did ours without and they came out just fine.)

Bake for 20-22 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

When they come out, eat.

NHL liked these. JSL was tired at the time and so cranky in general. I think the muffin shape threw him. He’s used to macaroni and cheese being slopped out onto a plate. Having it in a hand held shape was just too confusing. B and I loved these and ate…. well, we probably ate more than we should have. This recipe will *definitely* be made again and again.

As a bonus, the macaroni and cheese muffins can be frozen for long term storage. Honestly, though, I don’t think they’ll really last too long. They’re too delicious. In addition, I can personally attest to the fact that they taste good cold. *cough*late night snack*cough* The full recipe to this is available on Missy’s website.

Cooking With TechyDad: Mexican Muffins

November 12, 2009 TechyDad Cooking, Food, Photos, Recipe

Continuing on with Sneaky Weeky, we’ll be making Mexican Muffins today. First, we’ll get our ingredients together.

That’s eggs, egg white (well, eggbeaters since I didn’t have egg whites), cheddar cheese, salsa, tortillas, and the white puree. First we’ll crack open the eggs and mix in the ~~egg whites~~ egg beaters and puree.

Next, we’ll mix in a cup of cheese and a cup of salsa.

Now that the filling is done, let’s get the tortillas ready. First spray them with cooking spray on both sides.

Next, push them into a muffin tin. (Be careful not to rip them!)

Pour in some of the egg mixture and top with cheese.

Now bake it at 350 for 20 – 22 minutes. Take it out and enjoy!

When NHL and JSL bit into these, they didn’t realize that there was any cauliflower or zucchini (the white puree) involved. For all they knew, this was just eggs and cheese in a tortilla shell. However, success quickly evaporated when NHL spotted some peppers from the salsa. He quickly rejected the whole thing and JSL, copying his brother, rejected it as well. I made it again another day, this time leaving off the salsa, and had a little better luck. B and I liked both the salsa and salsa-less versions.

Cooking With TechyDad: Sneaky BonBons

November 10, 2009 TechyDad Cooking, Food, Peanut Butter, Photos, Sneaky

Yesterday, I introduced Sneaky Weeky and showed you how to make two purees. Today, we’re going to put one of them to good use. First, let’s gather our ingredients.

That’s peanut butter, the orange puree, rolled oats (not instant), wheat germ, chocolate chips and sprinkles. Quite an ecclectic mix there, isn’t it. First, let’s put the puree and peanut butter into a bowl and mix them together.

Next, we’ll add in the wheat germ, rolled oats and chocolate chips and mix it all together.

Next, put some sprinkles on a plate. Scoop up teaspoon sized portions, roll them into balls and roll them in the sprinkles. You could also dust them with powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar instead of using sprinkles. After rolling, wrap them in plastic wrap and stick them in the freezer.

Now snacking is as simple as taking them out and letting them thaw. You could pack a couple of these for a child’s lunch and they should be fine by snacktime. The kids will think they’re delicious because of the chocolate chips and sprinkles. They won’t realize that they’re getting fiber from the wheat germ or vitamins from the orange puree. In fact, they won’t even know that the wheat germ or puree are there.

Cooking With TechyDad: Sneaky Weeky Preparations

November 9, 2009 TechyDad Cooking, Food, Parenting, Photos

Shhhh….. Be vewy vewy quiet! I’m bein’ sneaky. huh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh

Thank you, Elmer. I hereby declare this week Sneaky Weeky at TechyDad.com. I’m going to use this week to celebrate The Sneaky Chef in both book review form and in three segments of Cooking With TechyDad (the first of which starts in a few moments). So please join with me as I slink into the kitchen to cook a few sneaky meals.

*sneaks into the kitchen*

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