Healthy Sangria....Yummy!!!!

Ingredients: 
1/4 C sugar
3 C cranberry juice
1 C orange juice
1 C blueberries
1 1/2 C strawberries (whole or half)
1 orange (sliced into 1/4-inch wheels)
2 cups coffee
1 C soda water

Directions:
Combine sugar, juices and fruit in a pitcher. Stir to dissolve sugar. Let chill for several hours. Before serving, add Level 2 cold brewed coffee* and stir to combine. To serve, evenly divide fruit into tall glasses. Fill with sangria. Finish each glass with a splash of soda water.

Before slicing orange, remove the zest. Combine the zest with equal amount sugar. Dip moistened rims of tall glasses into this orange-sugar mixture for added glamour and flavor!

Makes 12 servings 

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/healthy-sangria-recipe

Easy to Make Pet Crafts!!!

Pet Crafts to Make

Fun with PhotographsIf you love crafts as much as you love your pets, you can combine your two passions and create some truly memorable craft items for your family members and friends. Some of the crafts you create will be practical items you can use every day, while others will be wonderful decorative items you can admire for years to come. Still others can make wonderful gifts when the holidays roll around.

1. • If you are the typical pet parent you have lots of photos of your four-legged friends. You can use those great photographs to create some practical items for around the house. All you need to create these useful pet crafts are your favorite photographs and some laminating paper. Make attractive coasters by placing your favorite pet photos on top of heavy-duty cardboard and using the laminating sheets to seal them. If you want to be even more creative, follow the same theme with your pet's food dish - creating a craft that is just as useful as it is beautiful to look at.

   Create a Gift Basket for Your Four-Legged Friends

   • Everyone loves to get gift baskets when the holidays roll around - including your favorite cats, dogs and other special critters. You can create attractive gift baskets for your pets - and for the pet lovers in your life. Simply start with an appropriately sized basket, then fill it with treats, food packets, toys and other special items. You can also create gift baskets for your family members and friends by including pet toys and food treats, along with gift cards for the recipient's favorite pet store.

   Create Your Own Picture Frame

   • Create a unique picture frame by taking some large dog biscuits and gluing them together in a square shape. Glue the dog biscuits to each other and then glue on a sturdy cardboard backing. Finish your picture frame by gluing a magnet onto the back of the picture frame, sliding in your favorite pet photograph and displaying your creation on the refrigerator. This craft is a perfect choice for kids who want to get in on the fun of craft night.

Read more: Pet Crafts to Make | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5650603_pet-crafts-make.html#ixzz1kztB3HYR

Mac and Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf covered with bacon!!!!

This is whats for dinner tonight, let me tell you its too
yummy!! So I thought I would share it with you, I got this online and it was great!!  You really outta try...this is giving me ideas of stuffing meatloaf with other things...like broc and cheese?? maybe i can try swiss cheese and mushrooms....I will try a little a meatloaf of my own <S>








 What You Will Need:

Standard Loaf Pan or *2pc Draining Loaf set (recommended)

1 pkg Bacon

2.25 lb Ground Beef

~ 1-1.5 cups Cooked Macaroni & Cheese

~1/4 cup Shredded Cheese  [optional] (I used Sharp Cheddar)

2 lg Eggs

~1/4 cup Barbeque Sauce

1- Rx for Lipitor or similar cholesterol medication (optional) ;)

What to Do:

Pre-Heat oven to 375F

In a large mixing bowl combine Eggs and Ground Beef until well blended.

(this would be an ideal time to add additional optional seasonings like onion powder, garlic powder, or black pepper- I did not season my loaf)

Line the bottom of a standard size loaf pan with Bacon strips (width-wise)

Pack in about 2/3 of the Ground Beef/Egg mixture on top of the bacon, and start forming a rectangular “bowl” in the center of the loaf.

Fill this rectangular space with the cooked Mac N Cheese, and sprinkle the Shredded Cheese on top of the Macaroni.

Use the remaining Ground Beef/Egg mixture to cover the top

(like placing a lid on a mac n cheese-filled beef box)

Firm down the edges to create a seal between the beef on top and the beef that lines the pan.

Place addition strips of Bacon on top (length-wise).

You should have some ends from the bottom bacon visible.  Fold these ends inward and firm to the top of the loaf.

All of the loaf should now be wrapped in Bacon, except for the two ends. (*though additional bacon could be used length wise on the bottom at each end to create a complete bacon coating)

Place in the 375F oven and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes.

Remove loaf, brush the top with Barbeque Sauce, and continue cooking uncovered for an additional40-50 minutes.

Allow loaf to rest for about 10-15 minutes or so before cutting into slices with a sharp knife.

Serves 4-6 adults.

Serving suggestion: Buttery whipped Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans.

*If using a non-draining loaf pan, be sure to utilize a cookie sheet or other method of catching any potential drips of bacon grease that might otherwise create a smoke or fire hazard.       by Coffee Break with Kevin N. 

Kid Craft!! Foil and Paper Crowns!!!!

Foil-and-Paper Crowns

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Martha Stewart Kids, Special Issue 2004

A brand-new set of 365 days deserves a royal start -- so don sparkly crowns for the countdown. Kids can make them using aluminum foil, tissue paper, and stickers.

Crowns How-To
1. Tear off aluminum foil 20 inches long. Fold in half twice, long sides together, or cuff; lay cuff with opening toward top.

Fold 20-inch-wide tissue paper in half lengthwise twice; lay inside V of the cuff, folded edge up, so bottom edge is just below center of cuff.

2. Fold foil strip in half again, folding up from the bottom (this will hold the tissue in place).

3. Cut flat-topped points in tissue paper, leaving attached at the fold, and decorate with stickers.

4. Overlap ends to proper size, and slip one end of foil inside the other. Tape or glue together.

How to Take Care of Yourself as a Single Parent

If you have children, you're blessed; if you're a single parent, you're blessed and busy. Raising children is a joy; being a single parent is challenging. Taking care of yourself, running a household, earning the money, paying the rent, cleaning the house, running the errands, washing the clothes, cooking the meals, squeezing in a social life, attending school functions, doing homework, remembering to get the oil change, paying the dentist bill is hard. Balancing the checkbook is impossible. It's difficult and you're doing it. You're exhausted. You want to take care of yourself, but where do you begin?

Instructions.....

1. • 1
     Give Yourself a Mini Break. Put aside the "To Do" list for a day. Nothing terrible will happen if you say, "not today" to your list. If you're a single parent, you're exhausted and can benefit from a break, but figuring out how to take one isn't as easy as it sounds. Perhaps you might start by eliminating one tiny item from your "To Do" List. Ask yourself, "Do I really have to clean the bathrooms tonight? Can I skip scrubbing the floor? Isn't it okay to let the kids skip a bath tonight?" A mini break from the hectic routine is a good start in taking good care of yourself.
   • 2
     Ask for Help. This is often tough for women to do, but there are times when it's healthy for us to allow others to pitch in and care for us. Our lives are so much about serving others, being busy, useful, caring and nurturing, that we forget to balance our own lives. When we are tired, sad, overwhelmed or sick it's OK for us to allow others to help out. It's OK to reach out and ask for what we need. I know it's scary, but letting others help out, gives them a chance to give too.
   • 3
     Say "No." You have the right to say "no" without feeling guilty. Single mothers are so accustomed to saying "yes" that we're afraid of what others will think if we don't do what they ask. It takes a lot of courage to stand up and set limits. Even though you might be afraid of disappointing others, if we don't stand up for ourselves we end up feeling resentful and that is not healthy for ourselves or our children.
   • 4
     Replenish Yourself Too. Single moms give and give and give. We put our children first and this is natural, but it is not healthy to give until we feel drained, deprived and worn out. Overgiving is often laced with resentment and anger. It's being a martyr and sends the unspoken message of: "after all I do for you." This is not healthy for families. For us to give freely we need to fill ourselves up first. Then love is overflowing onto our children. Our energy comes from taking care of ourselves. Ask yourself: "What replenishes me so that I have energy?" "What small step can I take to refuel myself?"
   • 5
     Eliminate Should, Have to and Can't. When we talk to ourselves in the privacy of our own minds, we are often mean and negative. We carry around a harsh inner voice that discourages and scolds us. Such messages add to our sense of aloneness and stress. If we can erase the words should, have to and can't, we empower ourself by giving ourselves more choices. We don't have to, but we may choose to. We have the power to decide for ourselves.

Read more: How to Take Care of Yourself as a Single Parent | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2197748_care-yourself-as-single-parent.html#ixzz1kJBgvjrP