Here’s a quick and easy breakfast idea for Valentine’s Day that’s healthy too!  I saw a picture of this recipe in a magazine many years ago (I can’t remember which one).  My Rooster and I were both working full-time and this caught my eye as a nice way to surprise him with a cute Valentine’s breakfast that fit into our early morning schedule.  I’ve made it every year since and it’s a hit with our kids who also love oatmeal and yogurt.  I use old-fashioned oats, but instant will work too.  The same goes for the yogurt – pick your sweethearts favorite; and the oil – use what you have on hand.  You may need to adjust the amount of oatmeal and yogurt depending on the size dish and cookie cutter that you use.  Read the rest of this post...

Kindness, courage, and respect. Yes, Ma’am.  Yes, Sir.  Karate.  My boy recently started karate lessons and his first test – for the coveted white belt – was a smashing success.  So of course it this week’s Healthy Highlight!  For those of you that have tried to find the right activity to help bring confidence to your child, you’ll appreciate my enthusiasm.  We found it!  Karate is the answer to our son’s bashful tendencies.  Read the rest of this post...

I recently read a statistic in a magazine (can’t remember which one) that alarmed me. According to the magazine Americans spend 90% of their food budget on processed or prepared food. Yikes! In a society where we are constantly being told processed food is bad for us, why would we buy so much of it? The reasons are, or course, that it’s cheap and easy. In our house, much more than 10% of our grocery money is spent on produce and baking supplies, but we are certainly guilty of buying processed foods: dry pasta, sauce, veggie burgers and bread are a few things I don’t often make myself. My husband and I decided we could do better, so we undertook a project: we decided to make our own bread for a couple of weeks.  Read the rest of this post...

Last year our projection screen television died.  It was quite exciting.  What sounded like static during a TiVo show quickly escalated into electrical zapping and smoke coming from inside the big box.  After many phone calls, we learned that our model was not worth repairing and we had to get rid of an enormous and heavy TV.  We decided to take as much out of the inside of the TV as we could to make it lighter and easier to move.  As soon as we took out the inner components, my Rooster and I both had the same idea – with minimal effort we could turn this empty frame into a beautiful puppet theater!  Read the rest of this post...