Top Ten Reasons Why Breakfast is Awesome

10. For the obvious reason... It's bloody good for you, so just eat it! (Well, except for maybe that waffle... it's probably not so good for you... although blueberries ARE a super fruit...)

9. I have never met a breakfast food that I didn't like. I could eat cereal for every meal, and am an egg fanatic.

8. Breakfast is the ultimate comfort food. It's impossible to be sad when you're eating it.

7. Have you ever dipped your bacon in maple syrup? It's better than crack.

6. It's the cheapest meal of the day. Unless you're eating steak and eggs. You can buy a whole box of pancake mix for a $1.

5. No one lets you eat cake for breakfast, but no one has a problem with syrup saturated flap jacks and strudel. I bet if cake and syrup went head to head on a sugar count, the syrup would win.

4. Eggs are the most versatile food on the planet. You can put anything in them and call it gourmet. (Eggs aren't just for breakfast anymore, but we don't need to tell anyone).

3. Try buttering your pancake and then sprinkling brown sugar on top. The brown sugar gets saturated and makes this lovely thick gooey mess that makes your teeth hurt when you eat it. Sometimes I put peaches on and then the sugar so that I can feel like I'm eating something healthy instead of flour, butter, and sugar.

2. There are 24 hour all you can eat breakfast places... but no 24 hour all you can eat dinner places. Ever try to get a plate of spaghetti at 3am? No? I bet you have no trouble finding an omelet. I recommend greasy spoon diners. Mm mm greasy.

1. A yummy breakfast ensures you start the day with a smile on your face. If it goes downhill from there, it's your own fault!

Apple Chiffon Cake

I was going to make blueberry cobbler today, but discovered I only had 4 cups of blueberries, not 6. I did however, have 2 delicious looking apples and made this:

It looked better before we ate half of it.

Apple Chiffon Cake

Cake

1/3 cup light vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger ( I was out so I substitued pumkin pie spice)

1 cup finely chopped apples

Topping

2 tablespoons sugar ( i used brown sugar)

2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350F

For cake - combine oil and sugar in large bowl. beat at medium speed until mixed. Add eggs; beat well.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and ginger in small bowl. Add to oil mixture. Beat just until blended. Stir in apples. Spread in ungreased 9 inch square pan.

For Topping - combine sugar, nuts, and cinnamon in small bowl. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 min until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temp.

Definitely A Kitchen Aid

When hubby asked what I wanted for Christmas this year, I promptly answered - with no hesitation - A Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Hubby: Really?

Me: Yes. Really.

Hubby: Is this some sort of trick?

Me: No... why would it be a trick?

Hubby: You mean, when you open it and it's not a puppy or a video game you're not going to be disappointed?

Me: Absolutely not! Do you have any idea how much easier this is going to make my life?

Hubby: Ya. Right. 10 bucks says you use it once and then it sits there collecting dust for the next 25 years.

Me: Doubtful.

I don't think my case was very convincing, however, as weeks went by and hubby noticed me leaving out fliers displaying my coveted mixer, I believe he finally considered buying me one. And low and behold, on xmas morning, I opened a tiny box that looked like this ----->

I thought at first that it was a cruel joke (hubby's intention), but quickly came to the realization that he was simply too lazy to wrap the huge heavy box and so cut out the picture from the flier and wrapped it in one of my crafting boxes, (the contents of which he dumped out on the shelf). I am proud of him for excersizing his creativity to such an extent. It always amazes me when he does so... that and the enourmous amount of effort he will expend by picking up a sock with his toes to avoid having to bend over. It really is incredible. But I digress.

Here is my treasure ---->

Isn't it lovely? So far I've made mashed potatoes, 2 loaves of banana bread, biscuits, chocolate cake with butter cream frosting. YUM. It makes everything much easier and faster. If you don't own one, you should.

Top 10 Things to do with Nine Dollars and Thirty-Two Cents

After paying the bills, the never ending cycle of credit card debt, and paying for gas, this is my total disposable income for the week.

Top 10 Things To Do With $9.32

10. Invest in an RRSP. My retirement calculator says if I invest today, in 40 years I will have $93.78. I can retire for a whole day!

9. Buy a new pair of socks. Everyone loves socks.

8. Give in to temptation and try out the new cake and shake milkshake from Tim Hortons (stone cold creamery.. now you can buy coffee AND ice cream at Timmies... isn't Canada lovely?). It's reported to be the highest calorie milkshake ever (1680 calories and 88 grams of fat... which works out to be 135% of the daily recommended value. But who needs statistics anyway? Certainly not my butt or upper thighs.... which is where the ice cream will end up).

7. Put it on the credit card and save $.08 in interest this month. Then I will have $9.40 cents of disposable income next week!

6. Buy a lottery ticket and hope I win enough to complete the magical list of things I'd do if I was a millionaire found here.

5. Borrow $0.68 cents from hubby and buy a new Wii game from Wii Share.

4. Buy the new lipstick that I've been eyeing for months and will probably never wear.

3. Send it to United Way. They can put it with the rest of their money and maybe buy a pencil or some staples.

2. Put it away for that trip to Australia that will probably never happen.

1. Change it in to pennies so that it looks like I have lots of money, throw it up in the air and dance around shouting, "I'm rich, I'm rich". Which is the cheapest form of entertainment I can think of.

My new found love for Italian Meat.

Did I ever mention that hubby is of Italian decent? This has opened me to all kinds of new experiences... Italian food and cooking... people with outdoor foyers on their houses (kind of hard to explain really... it's like a sitting room, right outside your front door... kind of useless actually), and women with facial hair. Ok, that last part isn't true, but I've heard stories.

Today we're going to talk about the meat. I was never a fan. I mean... meat that is stuffed in an intestine and hung in a dark cellar for months at a time? Sounds scary.

Hubby's parents always have this plate of meat that's freshly sliced and available for snacking. It has a variety of salami's and pepperoni. At first I shied away from the mystery meat. I had never eaten it as a child... most of our diet revolved around living in good old farm country where folk eat meat and potatoes and not much else.

However, one day while watching hubby's obvious enjoyment, I decided to be brave and try some Salami. It was the hottest thing I had ever eaten. WOW was it hot... but not right away. Before the tears there was a lovely smokey taste that was heaven in my mouth. After that it was hard to stop eating it.

I have since learned that each different Salami comes from a different area of Italy, like red wine in France. They're all lovely really, although I would have to say my favourite is Genoa. YUM.

So interested was I in this new love of mine, that I decided to get some information on what exactly was in it to make it soooo delicious. This may, or may not have been a mistake depending on your point of view...

Salami may be made out of one or more of the following meats...

• pork
• venison
• beef
• poultry
• HORSE

Horse? Really? Do people eat horse meat?

It is at this point in my research where I recognized, yet again, how woefully ignorant I am about cultures outside the world of North America (or inside it for that matter).

The main ingredients that go with the meat are

• Salt
• Spices
• Minced Fat (MINCED FAT? How appetizing does THAT sound?)
• Wine (It IS Italy after all)
• vinegar
• other various herbs depending on the region.

The word Salami actually means "salted meat". Easy enough. That's why it tastes so good... and why it causes high blood pressure. My general rule of thumb is: If it tastes good, it's usually bad for you.

In short... this sketchy, mystery meat is quite delicious but should not become a lifestyle if you value your figure... it runs around 90 calories per slice (and thin slices at that) and most of those are from fat. Yummy, but deadly.

Edit: I just realized that my title kinda sounds like the description on a porn video... but in the interests of entertainment, I decided not to change it.

Yogurt does not go with everything.

Somebody put watermelon in my yogurt. And cantaloupe, AND hondeydew melon. I was grocery shopping in a hurry last week and picked up the first package of individual yougurts I saw and hurried to the checkout. As you may have guessed by now, I do most things in a hurry... well, more of a panicked dash really, as I am generally late for everything. Right. Back to the yogurt. I zoomed home with my groceries, threw them in the fridge, and promply forgot about them - as by that time there were several other emergencies that needed my attention.

The next day I brought the yogurt to work. Without looking at the container I opened it and ate some. BLECK. Somebody put watermelon in my yogurt. Why would they do that? More importantly, why would I BUY it? I am really going downhill with my shopping track record. Sigh. I probably would have paid more attention if I knew people were manufacturing that crap. Yoplait, if you're reading this, are you out of your MIND? Why would you take perfectly good yogurt and make it taste like THAT? I've been trading with the accounting lady at work for her normal kinds. You know, blueberry, strawberry, that sort of thing.

I should manage that I pulled out the next kind this morning and it has Coconut in it... BLECK! Someone put coconut in my yogurt...