The Quest For The Perfect Cheez-It

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Coco

This is what happens when my son asks me to get him “cheddar” Cheez-It® crackers.

After I got over the initial shock of how many varieties of Cheez-It® crackers there are, I scanned the shelves five times to confirm that none were called “cheddar.” I grabbed the “White Cheddar” variety knowing that they were not what my son wanted (we’d had them before, so he would have asked for them by name if that’s what he wanted) but at least that way I could tell him that I got the only box that said “cheddar.” I also got him the regular variety (the plain old Cheez-It® crackers on the left), again knowing that it probably wasn’t right but confident that they would be eaten anyway.

When I got home and he confirmed that he had something else in mind, we went to the Cheez-It website to see what it could possibly be called. Out of the ten varieties listed on the website, my guess was “Colby” but he wasn’t sure. When I went to the grocery store, I noticed the smoked cheddar/Monterey Jack “Duoz” and got those as well. I was doubtful, because I think he would have remembered (and possibly not liked) the “smoked” flavor.

After I got home we had a taste test, and the winner was …. Colby!

Are you more astounded at the fact that there are ten varieties of Cheez-It® crackers, or that I bought four of them?

(Steena, want to come over for some carbo-loading?)

Posted in Food | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Invisible Words Wednesday

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Coco

This was the top piece of paper on the notepad on the desk of a hotel I stayed at recently. For some reason, I noticed that I could make out the words that had been written on the page above it–a page I hope has made its way to a special place for safekeeping.

I love you
mom!  I love
my family +
you are
the best mom
in the world!
Love,
Xxxxx

Posted in Life | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Simple Stuffed Peppers

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Coco

My husband really likes stuffed peppers, and while my son won’t eat much of the pepper shell (he boycotts most vegetables), he does like the filling (and I manage to sneak in some veggies there). I adapted this recipe from Cooking Light and it has become a family favorite. 

Ingredients
1-2 cups cooked rice, cooled 
4 medium bell peppers (green, yellow and/or red)
3/4 pound lean ground beef (or ground turkey or ground chicken)
1 cup chopped onion
1/8 tsp allspice
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups pasta sauce, divided
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated Parmesan cheese

  • Cook rice and cool.
  • Preheat oven to 450º
  • Slice tops off peppers, dice edible portions, and set aside
  • Remove seeds and cores from peppers (discard those!), place peppers cut side down in a microwavable dish, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2-3 minutes (until crisp-tender)
  • Dice onion
  • Brown diced onion, diced peppers and ground beef, then drain
  • Add the spices and 3/4 cup to 1 cup pasta sauce and heat through
  • Stir in cheese until uniformly mixed
  • Stir in rice until uniformly mixed
  • Place peppers cut side up in an oven-proof baking dish and fill with rice mixture
  • Spoon pasta sauce over top of each pepper, covering the filling completely
  • Cover with foil and bake for 20 min
  • Remove foil and bake for 5 more min

I always have enough extra filling left for another dish.


I still haven’t figured out the perfect rice-to-meat ratio–I usually end up feeling like there is too much rice–but my guys don’t mind.

Do you have a favorite stuffed peppers recipe?

Posted in Food | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Half Calf

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Coco

Last week my left calf started hurting big time. By Wednesday, it was very tender, making me limp, and noticeable even when I was in bed. By Thursday, it was aching even when I was sitting down.  Because of my history, I made a doctor’s appointment for Thursday afternoon. Because of my history, the doctor ordered an ultrasound to rule out a DVT (blood clot).

I was relieved when the ultrasound didn’t show anything unusual, but puzzled about my calf. It hurt near the top of my calf, not in the middle where I would expect a calf strain. While it bothered me when I walked, it hadn’t bothered me when I ran on Wednesday. I couldn’t remember doing anything to injure it. The doctor prescribed rest (with gentle stretching and light activity), ice and alternating Tylenol/Motrin.

Friday morning I started my day with my favorite yoga routine–the “Twists” program on my Rodney Yee A.M. Yoga For Your Week DVD. I took Tylenol and Motrin but never got around to icing it. While I was working at my kitchen counter Friday evening, I crossed my legs and–ouch!–found that tender spot. I remembered working at home most of Monday (Memorial Day), sitting at my kitchen counter, crossing my legs. Was that the source of my problem? I made a point to keep my legs un-crossed and stood and stretched frequently.

I alerted my friend that I wouldn’t be able to meet her for a run on Saturday, and just took my dog for a walk instead. When I took my dog out again in the afternoon, I noticed that my calf did not hurt at all.  By that point I was pretty sure that the whole episode stemmed from my over-zealous leg crossing. I sent a text message to my friend indicating that I might be able to run on Sunday morning, and she immediately tried to convince me that I was fine.  The weather in the D.C. area was amazing this weekend–with temps in the upper 50s and low humidity at our usual o’dark-thirty running time.

We met up for a run at her house (her neighborhood has gentler hills than mine) and went for 6 miles instead of our usual 7 or 8. My calf felt fine, and I felt good as we averaged a 9:15 min/mile pace.

So, I guess I will cancel my follow-up doctor’s appointment, but I’m not sure I’ll tell the doctor my theory of what I really did to my calf.

On a similar note, ever since my chiropractor fired me and I made a doctor’s appointment about my ITB/piriformis issue, that hasn’t really bothered me either! My ITB feels a smidge tight when I run, but it hasn’t been bothering me any other time.  I still am going to keep at least my first few physical therapy appointments because I know I have some muscle imbalances, but hopefully I will be explaining what “usually” bothers me instead of pointing to current pain points.

Have you ever had a mystery injury?

Did you ever figure out what it was?

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Praying Outside The Box

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Coco

When I walked into church on Sunday, I wondered if it was set up for a special day school event. I first noticed butcher paper on the walls of the narthex with baskets of markers near by. Then, in the back of the sanctuary I saw a table with clipboards, drawing paper and crayons, and another table with large balls of Play-Doh. As it turns out, our priest had set up a variety of “prayer stations” with different “activities” to encourage us to take different approaches to prayer.

During our service, instead of listening to a sermon we were given time to explore the activities. I ended up visiting four of the prayer stations:

Cloth Braids (for relationships):
Select three strips of cloth–one for yourself, one for the other person in the relationship, and one for God. (Silly me! I was going to pick one for me and one for each of my children, leaving God out of the picture until I learned the directions.) It was a very powerful experience to pray with the image of God literally weaving the two of us together.

Worry Stones:
Select a stone and pray over it with whatever is weighing down your heart. Place the stone in the baptismal font as a reminder of the promise in Matthew 11:28:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will refresh you.”

Scrabble Words:
Use Scrabble tiles to build on a crossword that describes your relationship with God.

Prayer Candles:
Light a candle as you pray for those in need of healing, to lift them up into God’s care.

(My priest explains the others on her blog)

Have you ever prayerfully walked a labyrinth?

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments