Mel's Box of Chocolates

Tales from the Scales is having a low fat recipe swap this week and I just have to share one of my favorites. I am a huge Rachel Ray fan and have many of her cookbooks and while some recipes are NOT WW friendly a few are. This is one of my fave... Dan's Favorite Shrimp and Scallop Creole 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp hot pepper sauce black pepper, to taste 1 bay leaf 2 tsp dried thyme 2 stalks of celery, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 med onion, chopped 4 scallion, thinly sliced 1 green pepper, diced 12 lg shrimp, cooked 12-16 lg sea scallops 15 oz canned crushed tomatoes 28 oz canned diced tomatoes 14 oz fat free chicken broth 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1/2 link of smoked andouille pork sausage, diced 2 c water 1 c brown rice Boil water, then add rice. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes. While rice is cooking, heat deep pot over med-high heat. Add sausage and brown for 3-5 minutes. Add celery, onion, and bell pepper. Cook vegetables down ...

Over at Crazy Hip Blog Mama's they are giving away tarts...no not the kind you eat, but the kind you smell. You know, the tarts that are round and flat and you put them on top of little tea light burners...ah I see the light bulb coming on now! Well they are having a giveaway of a tart burner, tarts in the scent of your choice, and some tea lights all from Missy's Tempting Tarts . All you have to do to win is share a post of your favorite scent soooooo .... I love the smell of sunscreen on my kids! After a day at the beach we usually come home and jump in the pool to remove the sand and "take our bath." When they are finished they still have the faint scent of sunscreen and I love to cuddle with them, sniffing often. There is just something about the scent that screams SUMMER and BEACH! My other favorite would have to be the smell of a campfire. As a child, my family went camping often and I have many fond memories of sitting around a fire cooking breakfast or dinn...

I know, I know it is supposed to be TGIF, but today was our last day of the school week since we have a four day Labor Day weekend...so for this week it is truly TGIT ! I am thoroughly exhausted and ready for a break. Crazy, I know, since I have only been back to work for less than two weeks, but once you hear about this week maybe you can start playing that "world's smallest violin" for me or offering "some cheese to go with my whine". To begin with, we have been having nothing but trouble with Dylan's bussing this year and I swear I have talked to the school every single day trying to get things straight. Finally after many discussions it came down to me having to leave my house by 6 am to get him to daycare in time for the bus to pick him up or he wouldn't have a ride. If by chance we actually do make the bus, Dylan must then sit on the bus for an hour and 15 minutes before getting to school. Uh, I don't think so! Yesterday I finally solved the p...

Sniffle, sniffle, sneeze, sneeze, cough, cough... yep it's good to be back!

Finally my scale is doing this! Not that I blame my scale for not going down before...I know full well that it was all my fault. Just like I know it is totally me that has gotten these results this week. I went back to counting all my points and tracking them online and saw a pound and a half loss. It felt great this past week packing my lunch and keeping track of what I was eating. Almost every day I stayed within my points, which means I used every one, but I didn't go over so that was good. The treadmill is no longer our closet either as I hung the clothes that were over the railing and used it instead to walk three times this week earning a few activities points as well. Since I knew I had used at least some weekly allowance points last Saturday at my brother's wedding I was careful not to use any of them throughout the week so I wouldn't be over. With that being said there are some areas that I must work on this week. I only met my 5 vegetable/fruits one day and the re...

My mother-in-law, Sally's, birthday was this past Saturday and we had quite a celebration. She, my father-in-law, his sister, Dave, the kids, and I all went out for a crab feast at Hooper's in Ocean City . Hooper's is known for their crab feast that includes all you can eat crabs, steamed clams, steamed shrimp, bbq ribs, chicken, corn, and my personal favorite...sweet hush puppies! Here's a pix of gramma with Dyl and Zoe being greeted by the pirate at the front door. And another of gramma and Zoe in her most favorite spot! After dinner we headed back to our house for the cake because no birthday is complete without one, even if you are stuffed with crabs! Sally had requested a chocolate, chocolate cake and of course I just had to oblige, me being the nice daughter-in-law that I am (the fact that you even find the word chocolate in my blog title had nothing to do with it!). Zoe and Dyl helped make a devil's food chocolate cake that we iced with a chocolate ch...