Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Three Cheers For Voting Rights!

You probably haven't always been allowed to vote. 
Check out the following Voting Fun Facts to see when the US extended you that right (a.k.a. stopped denying you the right to vote):
 

1868 - 14th Amendment lets anyone born on US soil or naturalized to US become "citizen" and be allowed a vote
1870 - 15th Amendment lets people of all races, colors, or previous "conditions of servitude" vote
1920 - 19th Amendment lets women vote
1961 - 23rd Amendment lets people living in Washington D.C. vote for president

1964 - 24th Amendment lets people vote without paying a poll tax (a.k.a. stops denying people who can't afford it)
1971 - 26th Amendment lets anyone 18 or older vote

And don't forget the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which outlawed any voting practices that discriminated against groups of voters (i.e. literacy tests and poll taxes)!


So get out and exercise your hard-earned right to vote!  And if that isn't enough reason, LAist has a couple of additional incentives.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Mimi's Cornbread

Some days I feel a little homesick for my mom's cooking.  This is one of my all time favorites . . . Mimi's Cornbread.  My mom's mom, Mimi, was a little firecracker of a woman who knew her way around southern cooking.  If it could be put in a pot and boiled to death with a ham hock, then Mimi knew how to cook it.  If it required real culinary skill, she usually left it up to someone else.  My mom, Nana, learned all of the ins and outs of real skill in a kitchen and kept the Southern flavor alive.  Here's Nana's take on Mimi's cornbread:

Mimi's "Indian" Cornbread
Heat oven to 450°
  • 1½ Cup Yellow Cornmeal
  • ½ Cup Flour
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • ⅛ Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1½ Teaspoons Salt
  • 1 Tablespoon Sugar
Mix dry ingredients together.  Then add:
  • 1 Cup Buttermilk
  • 2 Beaten Eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons Oil
Beat together with a fork until spongy.  Heavily grease a skillet or heavy pan.
Whip into batter:
  • 1 8-oz. Can Creamed Corn
  • 1 Cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
  • 2 Teaspoons Dehydrated Onion (or ¼ Cup Grated Fresh Onion)
  • Add up to ¼ Cup Buttermilk (making sure the consistency stays moist but not runny)
Stir together thoroughly
Bake at 450° for 25 minutes.

This is not a sweet cornbread but a delicious savory treat best paired with chili or a hearty winter soup.  When I'm feeling a little blue, I make a little of both (though mine never turns out as well as Nana's.)


If you love it, pass it along and let me know!  Nana would love to hear that her gift just keeps on giving. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Got Milk?

soft skin quick tip - courtesy of Sagestone Spa & Salon (via FaceBook)

Soak your skin to softness: On your next trip to the supermarket pick up a box of powdered whole milk, add to your bath water until it turns milky-white and soak like Cleopatra.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Desk Fit Tips

One of the greatest part of my job is that I get to work while watching sporting events.  Right now my life is all about Training Camp and the Olympics.  Having worked for FIFAWorldCup.com back in the day, I am fairly obsessed with international sporting competitions.  It seems to highlight our commonalities instead of our differences.  It also highlights for me that I am seriously out of shape.  I've been thinking a lot about bringing in a stability ball to use instead of a chair but am worried that it might do some damage ergonomically.  So what's a girl to do?  Well, according to sharecare (and the good people from the National Academy of Sports Medicine), there is a lot of very unique things I can do at my desk!  More importantly, most of these are suggestions I can do without raising coworkers' eyebrows:

Seated Exercises
Abdominal Draw-In:
Sit up tall with your back off your chair. Suck your belly-button in towards your spine about 1" and hold for 3-5 seconds. Repeat for 20 reps. This exercise targets your lower abs.

Seated Marching:
Sit up tall in on the edge of your chair and lift up each foot from the floor as if you are marching in place.

Seated Isometric Bicep Curls:
Sit in your chair and place your forearms under your deck with elbows bent 90 degrees. Try and perform a bicep curl against the resistance of you desk. You arms won't move but pushing against a solid object will get your muscles to work in what is termed an isometric contraction. Hold for 5-10 seconds and repeat 15 times.

Standing Exercises
Chair Squats:
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart in front of your chair as if you are going to sit down in it. Bend you knees as and begin to sit down as if sitting into the chair. Right before you touch the seat, 1 - 2 inches above, stop and stand back up. Perform 15 reps.

Balance and Shift:
A great exercise to do when talking on the phone at your desk. Stand on one leg for 5 seconds and then shift all your weight to the other leg and balance for 5 seconds.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Breakfast on the Go

I have a problem and its name is Pinterest.  I find the more I Pin, the more I want to Pin which leaves me little time to actually make the stuff I've been Pinning.  But I digress.

Last week an old friend pinned this great blog posting about make-and-freeze breakfast sandwiches and it reminded me that:
  1. I skipped breakfast and was hungry
  2. Breakfast is important
  3. I continue to be very interested in make-and-freeze meals
I resolved to start with some breakfast recipes and am happy to report success.  



My first attempt was to mimic Trader Joe's frozen steel cut oatmeal.  My good friend, Steph, has an amazing recipe for steel cut oats (aka Irish Oatmeal) where the oats come out the perfect texture . . . creamy with a little whole grain bite.  Here's my take on her recipe which makes a generous serving:

1/4 C Steel Cut Oats
2 C Water (you can sub in milk or buttermilk for some of the liquid for a different taste/texture)
Dash Salt

Heat saucepan over medium high heat.  Throw in oats.  Toast them, stirring constantly/frequently, until they become fragrant.  Meanwhile bring your water to a boil (don't get me started on how much I love my electric kettle for this task).  Once your oats smell like little toasty bits of heaven and before they turn into brown bits of petrified grain smelling more like burned popcorn than one would like, pour in your boiling water.  Word to the wise, pour in a slow, steady stream while stirring because your oats are desperate to turn your stove top literally into a hot mess. Stir. Stir. Stir.  Bring everything to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for 30 minutes or until the grains popping up in the simmer start looking like those drunk bees, slow and sloppy.  Serve and enjoy.  OR FREEZE.

Yes, I said freeze.  I found another great fix-and-freeze blog posting.  Simply Alicia also admired the expensive Trader Joe's Oatmeal and came up with a way to save.  I used my recipe and her freezing tips.  Despite the fact that getting the plastic wrap to work (and not get stuck in my oatmeal) was, let us say, a challenge, I'm going to try this again.  Next time I will likely try waxed paper.  Each muffin tin held about 1/4C prepared oatmeal so this morning I put a couple disks in my tupperware along with a handful of dried fruit and microwaved it.  I started with one minute, stirred and added some water, then nuked it in one minute increments until perfect.  And it WAS perfect.  All in all, a good experiment.

Later this week I will recap pancakes and let you know if they are worth the freeze.