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As Granpa used to say "See ya round like a donut!", SoCal Marisa

And We Have Achieved Normalcy! | SoCal Marisa http://socalmarisa.com/2011/09/27/and-we-have-achieved-normalcy/

As Granpa used to say "See ya round like a donut!", SoCal Marisa

Patriot Day

Read my blog on Patriot Day

As Granpa used to say "See ya round like a donut!", SoCal Marisa

New Blog Page

Just a reminder I am moving to a new personal blog page. I have made a post today so please go to http://socalmarisa.com to see the latest in our world.

Hopefully soon we will have everything transitioning a lot smoother.

As Granpa used to say "See ya round like a donut!", SoCal Marisa

Meatloaf & Meatball Recipe

Currently, my newest task is to change up my recipes to be dairy free. After the boy was taken off dairy I realized I am seriously going to need to change my recipes. Apparently I use a lot of dairy in my cooking.

This recipe will make 3-2+ pound loafs. I usually freeze the other two for later baking. This can also be used for meatballs.

6 pounds Ground Beef (1 warehouse store tray)
2 Cups Chicken Stock
4 Eggs
1 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1/2 Onion, Grated
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl whisk egg with chicken stock. Stir into egg mixture Onion, Garlic, Basil, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, and Bread Crumbs. When mixture is nice and soupy add Ground Beef and blend. I find it easier to use my hands for this. When well blended divide into thirds and place each third into a loaf pan. Cover with your favorite BBQ Sauce. Bake uncovered at 350 for about an hour to hour and 15 minutes. Check internal temperature when center reaches 170 degrees meatloaf is ready. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve. If there are any leftovers drain off juices before storing or the meat will get soggy.

For Freezing I vacu-seal in individual 2 pound blocks and defrost later then place into loaf pan and cover with bbq sauce before baking.

For Meatballs. Round meat into individual meatballs at your desired size and set aside. Heat Olive Oil in pan filing about 1/4 of the way up side of pan with Olive Oil. I use a Cast Iron pan for my frying for better heat conducting. Fry meatball in Olive Oil over medium heat. Using tongs, turn ever 2-3 minutes to brown on each side.  When cooked through remove to a large bowl covered with foil and let rest while cooking the remainder. Or plop into your favorite sauce. Or make meatball sandwiches. Either way....Enjoy!

As Granpa used to say "See ya round like a donut!", SoCal Marisa

This Weeks New Challenge

Sometimes life throws us curve balls. Our most recent curve ball is the recommendation from the boys pediatrician to cut dairy from his diet. all dairy; as in cheese, and milk, and ice cream, and cheese, and milk, and milk like products. Did I mention Cheese and Milk? This is going to be fun. She also suggested going organic. Well that's going to be cheap and easy right? I mean all those chemicals cost money so if we don't buy food with chemicals in it then we are saving, right? Thought so.

Well I'm not going to let this get under my skin. No, not me! I'm going to take this challenge head on. OK. So you want him off dairy. Fine. He's off dairy. I have to say I thought it was going to be a challenge. So far so good. He's been off dairy for 3 days now and there has been a positive change in his personality. He's slowed down a bit. Hmmmm. No more hyper boy?! I think I could really get into this!

Now to tackle the whole organic thing. hmmm. Well that shouldn't be too bad. Eat more fruits and veggies right? So the whole family may benefit from this. Finding yummy organic stuff is going to be the fun part. We are foodies and I think this is where the real challenge is going to happen. But I know how to cook and bake. So that just means I stop being lazy in my preparing of food and actually cook. Oh and bake too. I'll have more control over my kitchen. Right?

Cut back on sugar and absolutely no artificial sweeteners. Hmmmm. This is where I'm going to have to get creative. But like I said. I can do this. I just need to re-vamp some of my recipes. Or just not let him eat them. heh-heh-heh. Oh wait, that's not the best thing for the family is it?

We decided on baby steps. We started with the dairy. That's an easy fix and in our family dairy is the most consumed item(s). The boy is now drinking Almond Milk and he seems to be enjoying it. The cheese is going to be our downfall I'm absolutely certain of this. For now he doesn't miss it, but he will. I have to find a good alternative before he does miss his cheese. The others, well to be honest we just cannot afford to throw all of our food stuffs away and restock. Granted some of the stuff can go like the mac n cheese blue box and those ramen noodles that include a salt lick in each package. But for the most part we are going to have to be very careful in our label reading and buy better food items.

Today was our first go at re-vamping a family favorite recipe.....meatloaf. To be fair I use the same recipe for my meatballs so I needed to make sure I could do this. After some careful thought I replaced my cream with chicken stock and it wasn't stellar like my previous recipe but it was pretty darn good. The most important thing is the kids ate all of their meatloaf and I'm sure the hubby will when he gets to his dinner. All-in-all I'm pretty happy with that correction. Now let's just hope the rest are a success as well! My next re-vamp, brownies! Wish me luck!

As Granpa used to say "See ya round like a donut!", SoCal Marisa

What's a Mom to do?

Day 43 of Summer Vacation

It's 6:30 in the am. The sun has barely risen and you're awakened by your 10 year old daughter standing next to your bed, white lipped, and looking green, saying she is going to throw up. Good morning mommy.

As you're holding back her hair listening to her not so quietly cast her accounts, you hear the telltale screech you have trained yourself to listen for which indicates your 6 year old son is now having a seizure. Great. In a flash you have your daughters hair tied back in a ponytail and you run into the boys room to help him through the seizure.

less than 5 minutes later he's cleaned up and soundly sleeping once again. Now back to focusing on the girl. Getting her stomach under control took a lot longer than dealing with the boys seizure. In either case they both sleep the morning away.

I have to say this is not my standard morning. Usually my heart doesn't pump this fast unless I'm on the hamster wheel burning the calories, but this was my morning. Not the best one for the books, but we all survived. The rest of our day was a relatively quiet one. Messages to his Pediatric Neurologist and recuperating from the excitement of the early am. Tonight it will be early baths and bedtimes. Just last night I "cracked the spine" of Jane Eyre, and that's funny considering I'm reading it from my Kindle. Maybe tonight I can finish chapter one. I am determined to read at least one classic for every 4 fun books. Just one. That's not too much to ask for right? It's the simple things that keep me strong.

To think two years ago I was a complete mess every time Hayden had a seizure. Now I can multi-task in the middle of one? My how I've grown. [she rolls her eyes] I need a cape, haha! His doctor says he will outgrow these seizure....um, when? I know, I know, it's not in my hands or the doctors hands. God's in control. I am thankful his neurologist believes he will outgrow them. When I'm feeling negative I need to go to the reserves and rely on my Faith. In writing this I realize I really need to get on my knees tonight and get some perspective and re-center. Alright, that's it for my venting. Time to get back to work and start dinner. We're having stir-fry tonight. Yum. If these kids are going to bed early tonight then I need to get their bellies full! Here's to praying tomorrow is 10,000 times better than this morning and seizure free!

As Granpa used to say "See ya round like a donut!", SoCal Marisa