SurprisingWoman's Profile

Display Name: SurprisingWoman
Member Since: 4/5/10

Latest Comments...

I like to grate my own cheese. It tastes better. I like to peel and cut my own carrots. It tastes better. I wash and cut my own celery. It tastes better. I chop my own romaine. It tastes better and lasts longer.

I think it's great that they initially made "baby carrots" from the gnarly bit that would have been wasted. Smart thinking on the farmers part but I am sad that convenience means so many people are eating less tasty food and there is more packaging going into the land fill.


Where Do Baby Carrots Come From? Behind the Scenes at a Baby Carrot Harvest Grower Tour
11/15/12 1:12 PM

I am a beekeeper and love all things bee and honey.

I don't even like these. Maybe without the screw top showing like someone else said?

I think practicing gold leaf is a good idea but not this. Sorry and it looks like the bears were purchased new? So someone went out and bought new plastic to make more cheap plastic stuff? Really?


DIY Idea: Honey Bear Vase A Beautiful Mess
11/6/12 12:36 PM

I think this is awesome and I am putting this on my gkids rotation. I think holidays revolve around "sugar comas" all too often. This is great and will help keep them focused while they eat dinner so they aren't just wondering if the other kids have already started trick or treating. I wonder what else I can make with veggies. Hmmmm....

@MGoodSilver, I give out chocolate bars for Halloween, check my kids candy over before they can have any of it, limit the number of pieces they can eat before bed, freeze some of it so they can enjoy it in the months to come and even throw some of it away. I can't imagine thinking Halloween is about encouraging a sugar coma any more than I think New Year's Eve is about getting drunk.


Fresh Halloween Treat: A Colorful Vegetable Skeleton
9/25/12 3:35 PM

I think it's great he's found a way to do this successfully. That being said, I would have a problem doing the same with water from the Great Salt Lake which is half an hour a way. There are so many chemicals and mercury and things, how would I know what I was selling my clients? And how would I get out all the midge flies and brine shrimp? Ick. I will just keep using my purchased products so I can lie to myself about what I am eating. :)


Hand-Harvesting Salt from the Sea with Ben Jacobsen of Jacobsen Salt in Portland Maker Tour
7/5/12 2:00 PM

Our air quality isn't very good today due to wild fires that have been burning up the west. I sit outside every evening and listen to the birds but I won't be doing that today. Without AC to screen out particulates I would be using my nebulizer.


On, Off or In Between? Air Conditioning
7/2/12 1:43 PM

If you only have dried herbs here is a nice mix of mock "Hidden Valley" that can also be used as a marinade or rub: http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/hidden-valley-ranch-seasoning


Tip for Better Salads: Make Big Jars of Homemade Dressing
5/15/12 9:43 PM

www.freecycle.org

Also a way to find a new home for unwanted items and you might not even have to leave the house to regift it. They will come to you!


20 Things to Do with That Vase After the Flowers are Gone
4/3/12 12:42 AM

I make something very much like this and we call it, "Stinky Chicken" due to the smell of the cheese when it heats. It is my 10 year old granddaughter's favorite meal and what she requests for her birthday. She has moved several states away recently so I sent her the recipe and she can make herself now. We do love mushrooms so we always use a lot of mushrooms to the pan as well.

I prefer boneless skinless chicken thighs browned in a skillet with a bit of pepper and garlic. I put them in the baking dish. Put diced onion and sliced mushrooms into the pan with a bit of olive oil or butter. Saute until tender, browning isn't necessary. Pour on top of the chicken. I deglaze the pan with white wine, my granddaughter adds a can of french onion soup concentrate to the pan of chicken. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the chicken is about 10 degrees from done, but thighs are forgiving so 30 minutes is fine. Pull the foil, add shredded cheese and put under broiler on low. Pull the dish when the cheese is melted with a bit of browning on the cheese. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes and serve with rice, a crisp salad and a green vegetable. Even a 10 year old can do it. :)


Dinner Recipe: Braised French Onion Chicken with Gruyère
1/28/12 1:01 AM

Add pumpkin puree to soups, and tomato sauces. It's amazing how the various seasonings and flavors mask the slightly sweet pumpkin taste. The pumpkin adds so much and will also help make it a bit thicker. It's lovely and one of my new favorite ways to put veggies in everything.


10 Easy Ways to Eat More Vegetables Every Day
Reader Intelligence Report

1/28/12 12:51 AM

I love cork and I love wine which means I often have wine corks and I have such a hard time throwing them away so I have been saving them for years. I finally found a place that will recycle them. I pay the postage to get them there and it makes me feel much, much better: http://www.yemmhart.com/news+/winecorkrecycling.htm I am not associated with this company and they have no idea who I am. I just think it ties in really nicely with your article.


Why Cork is So Incredibly Green
7/19/11 1:05 PM

It is corn gluten meal, not corn meal. Completely different things.

You people are going to have people all over sprinkling their lawns with muffin mix!


Cornmeal: The All Natural Weed Blocker
DIY Life

4/21/11 4:48 PM

Sugar Free Carrot Pumpkin Spice Cake

1.5 cups sugar substitute
2 cups whole wheat flour (King Arthur is good)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice (or to taste, I like heavy spices in this)
4 eggs
2 Tbsp (glugs) of veg oil
1 cup plain yogurt
6 shredded carrots (approx 3'ish cups)
1 small can pumpkin puree

MIx all dry ingredients together, make a well (hole) in the middle. Crack in the eggs, add oil, yogurt, and pumpkin. Stir to moisten most of the flour, add grated carrots. Mix well.

Add to sheet cake pan that has been sprayed with Baker's Joy (or greased and floured). You will need to spread the cake mix with a spatula. It will be thick.

Bake at 325 until it passes the toothpick test.

Sugar Free Frosting

* 1 large box vanilla sugar-free instant pudding mix
* 1 to 1.5 cups milk
* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
* 1 (8 ounce) container lite frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix and milk. Mix well and let stand until thickened.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pudding and mix well. Finally, fold in whipped topping.
3. Frost cake when completely cool.

keep cake in the fridge


Ideas for a Sugar-Free Cake and Frosting? Good Questions | Apartment Therapy Re-Nest
4/5/10 1:42 PM