The Secret In the Sauce

This recipe has to be an all-time, kid-winning favorite. This was the one meal my brother and I looked forward to the most; it probably had the most requests and disappeared the fastest from the table. I hadn't had sausage rolls in probably twenty years until a couple of months ago when I dug up the recipe from my mother and it was an instant success with my kids (and from the standpoint of ease in the kitchen for the chef, a hit for me as well). There are two ways to make these and these days I opt for the healthy version because at most it takes only ten more minutes of my time. The way my mom used to do it was buy Rhodes frozen French dough loafs in the freezer section at the grocery store. To my chagrin, Rhodes hasn't jumped on the happy bandwagon and dumped the high fructose corn syrup in their recipe quite yet. I just can't bring myself to buy them with an obesogen being the third ingredient on the list. Bah. So, I attempted these making my own bread dough and the...

It's four o'clock. My toddler has been happy and playing nicely all day. At 3:45pm MST, that all goes to hell. The door opens and Preston walks in - immediately the energy shifts and cue the circus music. It wasn't bad energy; Preston was quite happy actually. Those two boys just feed off of each other, one things leads to the next and then there is screaming and crying and mass hysteria. My head starts to throb and I start to panic realizing that it is only Monday. My husband had the day off and we spent the morning running some errands. At about 3:43pm he comes into the office and says that he is going to go for a bike ride; when he gets back he'll clean the windows and do some other stuff. I was good with the bike ride but as he started talking about his other chores and the screaming started two minutes later I held up my hands - "Really? You're going to wash the windows at 5:30 tonight?" His response in a very cheery tone: "Or you can do it some ...

I have parent teacher conferences next week at which point I will really get to find out how Preston is faring. Does anyone else get anxious for these brief fifteen minute meetings? Just me? Bah. I received (or rather found it in the depth's of Preston's backpack, crumpled and ripped) a preliminary 'report card' that has been newly refurbished using some number system. And they base the numbers off of how well the student is understanding the concept - not necessarily grades on their work. May I say that I'm not quite sure what I think about this? Do they make the number based from test scores? Do they grade the work that is turned in and base scores from this? Is it more standardized testing through Common Core? Regardless, let me say this - I was Honors and AP English throughout school. I bombed the AP test at the end of the year; I didn't get any college credit for taking the class and I had to take a placement test my freshmen year of college. I was put in a...

I remember the days when my mom would drive me down the canyon to ballet class. For quite some time I really didn't like it. She made me stick with dance until a few years went by and I finally said I was done. Ironically, several months later, I realized how much I absolutely loved dance class and how much I was missing it. Wonderfully enough, she started taking me again and from that moment on I've had a passion for dance. On occasion she would stay and watch - which I'm sure she loved. I couldn't stand it! I wanted her out running errands - I guess I've never been one for focused attention. Preston however, who just started taking karate a month ago, loves it when I stay to watch. I try to stay for at least one class a week when either my husband or step-son can watch the toddler at home; I've tried to watch class with the toddler but even just saying that aloud is a joke; he just wants to be on the mat kicking and yelling like the big kids and it just does...

Has anyone noticed how life is currently being lived through captions? When I see my neighbor my mind automatically recalls the last image she posted on facebook of her and her hubby at the biggest football game of the season and how tragic the loss was. When I see my friend I instinctively recall her picture-perfect trip to Maui complete with snorkeling, giant ice-cream sundaes, zip lines, helicopter rides and the most amazing sunset you've ever seen. And of course there are pictures of what Sally had for dinner last night, Joan's amazing bedroom re-model, the antics of that crazy little elf on the shelf, and little Lizzy's second birthday party complete with princesses, ponies and the cutest damn table decorating job you've ever seen. Oh, let's not forget the professional portraits of those personalized mini-cupcakes for each of the guests and a puppy in the party favor bag. No wonder we are all on Xanax and anti-anxiety meds for trying to out-do the last amazin...

If you are in the market to lose weight (or maybe you just over did it on a vacation and need to get back into your groove) one of the golden rules is to cut-out carbs after four o'clock in the afternoon. This is near impossible when you are feeding a family of ravenous males. With that being said, it turned out to be pasta night on Tuesday and my husband had actually made an enticing spaghetti sauce that I really wanted to partake of but inwardly groaned about those naughty starchy noodles that would have to go benath. I considered just spooning the sauce out of a bowl but didn't want to deal with the eyeballs that would be looking in my direction disapprovingly at the onset of the meal. So I quickly decided on a green bean substitute for the noodles and it was delicious! Veggies make for a great pasta replacement - just watch out for some veggies that are notorious for their starch (white potatoes and carrots for starters). Employ and enjoy!

Sigh. The kids are back in school. With school back in session, cold season is quick to follow. Yay! Did you ever see Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman? It creates a lovely image of someone coughing in a movie theatre and everyone inhaling those tiny little bacterial microbes and before you know the entire population is dwindling; I'm pretty sure that's what it looks like in the typical classroom. Although, kids do get super creative at actually inviting germs into their systems by licking and sucking on their hands after touching a door knob or even deciding to chew on some unknown object on the school playground - it's totally awesome to consider. Alas, it happens and then they come home from school candy-coated in all sorts of diseases and roll on the floor, use the dog for a Kleenex and sufficiently man-handle the most used surfaces in your house. But of course, we ourselves don't fall blameless in this - I watched a fellow sneeze into his hands and then pump his gas. D...