Taco Tip and New Recipe

Danny and I love tacos. He really likes the soft corn shells and so do I. In the past I have always fried the shells one by one in a little oil just until they are warm and cooked slightly. It's very messy and takes forever. So... the other day I read about doing the shells in the microwave and decided to give it a try.

All you do is brush each side of the shell with a little olive oil, put 4 - 6 on a plate (spread out) and pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until they are good and hot. It was so much easier and tasted great. The fried ones may taste a little better, but not enough for me to go through that mess again. Danny even put his stamp of approval on them. One other tip is don't buy the extra thin corn tortillas. They fall apart easier when you are making your taco.


Last night I tried a new dessert recipe I found on myrecipes.com and it was sinfully delicious and very easy. Here's the recipe:

Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

3/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk, divided

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled

1/4 cup fat-free milk

1 (18.25 oz.) package devil's food cake mix

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow creme (about 1 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup peanut butter morsels

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine 1/4 cup condensed milk, butter, and next 3 ingredients (butter, cake mix & egg white) in a bowl (batter will be very stiff). Coat bottom of a 13 X 9 inch baking pan with the spray. Press two-thirds of the batter into prepared pan using floured hands; pat evenly (layer will be thin).

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup condensed milk and marshmallow creme in a bowl: stir in morsels. Spread this mixture evenly over brownie layer. Carefully drop remaining batter by spoonfuls over marshmallow mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 more minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Yield: 2 dozen

WW points: 4

Enjoy!!!

Spring Break Trip

I had such a good Spring Break this year. I was fortunate enough to get to fly to Virginia to see my oldest son, his wife and young daughter (Jared, Megan, and Eleanor). We had a great time despite windy and pretty cool weather. Spring had barely begun to show it's face there with a few daffodils blooming and many buds appearing on other flowers and trees. It is some of the prettiest country I've ever been to. I especially love the old rock houses and the rolling hills.


It was so much fun to see Eleanor and what all she is up to now at eighteen months. I enjoyed every minute with her. She is so entertaining: reading, singing, dancing, and playing. There is never a dull moment when she awake. We took her to a children's museum, the library, an Easter Egg hunt and to their neighborhood park. We had some other outside things planned, but the weather didn't cooperate. I didn't care, I just wanted to spend time with her.


I also really enjoyed spending time with Jared and Megan. We went Geocaching one morning and found two caches. They introduced me to the sport one year ago, and I have really enjoyed it. This trip we went to one of their beautiful scenic parks which had good walking paths. They put Eleanor in a backpack and off we went. Jared taught me more about the GPS as we hunted. When we were finished I accompanied them on their weekly trip to Cosco. :) Megan even treated me to a nightly frozen margarita. Yum......


It was so hard to leave, but Danny and I are both going back in June so that helped a lot. This will be Danny's first trip there and he is really looking forward to it. Here are a few pictures I took while I was there. I found out it is really tough to get pictures of an active toddler, and I told Megan I now appreciate her photography even more.

My thanks to my kids for having me.....I love you!!

One of My Experiments

I love cooking experiments!! Sometimes they are edible and sometimes not, but that doesn't stop me. Today I altered a recipe I had for a low fat cake. That recipe is only a cake mix and a diet cola mixed together then baked, no eggs or oil. It is pretty good, although the texture is a little different.

Danny loves pineapple upside down cake, so I had a brain storm and decided to try to create a low fat version with that recipe. He really doesn't care about the low fat stuff, but I still have the dreaded 5 - 8 pounds to take off to reach my Weight Watchers goal.

Well, the following recipe is the results. Danny has given it his seal of approval, which is not very easy to get. He can be brutally honest sometimes. I liked it too. It's tasty and easy.



Pineapple Upside Down Slim Cake


1 cake mix, yellow or white

1 (12 oz.) Diet Sprite or 7-Up

1 large can Pineapple, slices or crushed - drained

½ cup brown sugar, packed

2 Tbs. low fat margarine, melted


Heat oven to 350°. Spray 9 X 13 rectangular pan.
Arrange pineapple on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Drizzle margarine over the top. Mix slightly. Mix cake mix and Sprite with a whisk until blended. Pour over pineapple mixture.
Bake 45 minutes or until browned around edges and toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool 10 - 15 minutes, then invert on a platter. Cake will be a bit gooey, but very delicious especially warm with a bit of Cool Whip Free.

Servings: 12
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Spring Has Sprung!

I just love early spring time. The birds are singing and making nests, and the flowers are beginning to open and show all their colors. We usually start working outside cleaning up the yard and doing some little (or big) projects around the house.

Danny decided we needed to put siding on our shed, and a metal roof on the shed and house this year. He got estimates and found the one he thought was the best. There was a big difference in estimates. So, I'm sure glad we got several. The project is about half finished and is looking pretty good. The shed looks great. It has been in need of attention for quite some time. The guys working on it are not in any big hurry to finish, so I hope Danny's "good deal" doesn't come back and bite us. But, you take that chance with anyone you hire these days. It is looking nice and I'm glad we decided to get it done. We are hoping to sell the house in 6 - 8 years when I retire, so this will hopefull help the value.

Here are some pictures I took this morning.

The shed has most of the siding on it and two new doors. The roof hasn't been started yet.

You can see the house has half a new roof. The stripes are the wooden slats they nail the metal to. This roof is suppose to save us about 30% on our house insurance. :)

Daffodils in my yard and my neighbors next door. They have been up for a week or two.