Sweet 'n Sour Coleslaw

Ingredients:
3 lbs of cabbage (purple + Green or either or)
1 cup of minced onion
1 cup of minced red + green pepper
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of vinegar
1 tablespoon of salt
2 tablespoons of celery seed


Cooking Instructions:
Mix together shredded cabbage, minced onion, peppers and 2 cups of sugar.
Let sit for 15 minutes.

Bring to boil in pot, veggie oil, vinegar, salt, celery seed. After it starts to boil, take off stove and pour over cabbage mixture.


Additional Comments:
Best to make this a day or two in advance, so juices have time to penetrate.

Submitted to The Mommies Network recipe database by "lisahrlady"

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
4 boneless porkchops 3/4" thick
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can milk
1 pkg (1 oz) ranch salad dressing mix
paprika

Cooking Instructions:

Heat oil in skillet. Add chops and cook until browned. Add soup, milk, 1/2 dressing mix. Heat to a boil then cover and simmer for half an hour over low heat.
Before serving sprinkle with paprika

Serving Suggestions:
Serve with a veggie blend and applesauce.

Additional Comments:
You can make a ranch-style rice to go with it by putting the rest of the dressing mix in the rice water.

Submitted to The Mommies Network recipe database by "Carole"

Butterscotch Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
One 12-oz package (2 cups) butterscotch flavored morsels, divided
3/4 cup butter, softened, divided
Two 8-oz cans sliced pineapple, drained, reserving 3/4 cup juice
8 maraschino cherries
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Cooking Instructions:
Mix dry ingredients, set aside. In 10-inch cast iron skillet over low heat, combine 1 cup butterscotch morsels and 1/4 cup butter. Stir until morsels are melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Arrange pineapple and maraschino cherries in skillet. In large bowl, combine sugar, remaining 1/2 cup butter and eggs and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the flour mixture alternately with the reservered pineapple juice. Stir in remaining morsels. Pour over pineapple. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Immediately invert onto serving plate.

Submitted to The Mommies Network recipe database by a member

If you think yoga is for the thirty-plus set alone, it may come as a surprise that children as young as preschoolers actually enjoy striking a pose. While they do not attempt headstands, there are a number of simple moves that the young enthusiasts can perform. The exercises themselves last between thirty seconds to one minute, but children stay in a pose as per their capacity, which builds gradually with practice.

Many of the yoga positions resemble animal movements and elements in nature, which is why kids easily take to stretching their bodies like a cat or balancing like a flamingo. The poses spark the little ones’ imagination and promote awareness of their bodies’ abilities.

Instructors too afford children freedom to explore, and incorporate creative techniques and age-appropriate props to playfully lead them through the active and relaxation poses. So unlike in a class for adults your tots can flap their imaginary wings, make barking sounds in the dog pose or be still as the mountain for as long as they wish. In the process they develop strong, flexible bodies, better motor skills, and learn to calm down and focus.

Yoga also presents ways to overcome fear, anger and frustration. It has been found to aid hyperactive kids in channeling their impulses, and therapeutic in children with special needs. Thus this exercise system that dates back more than 5000 years fosters the overall development of children and unlocks their potential through the formative years. Yoga programs for kids offered across the country are providing that early start. From being a trendy discipline, yoga is gaining acceptance among parents too. In fact, some of the classes are open to parents so you have a wonderful activity to share with your child.

This is just the beginning. As your kids grow so do the ways in which the physical skills and meditation techniques derived from yoga can make a difference. An after school yoga session serves as excellent exercise without the pressure of competitive student sports. The holding of postures and synchronizing of breadth and movement enhance fitness. Hatha yoga which is the more widely practiced form in the West has several styles so there is flexibility in choosing a workout suited to the individual’s physical capability and personality type. For instance ashtanga yoga with it’s challenging sequence of poses performed at a faster pace is akin to athletic training while viniyoga is less demanding physically and focuses on precise coordination of breath with the movement of the spine.

Regular practice builds strength, energy and muscle tone, boosts bodies vital systems, and improves concentration and coordination. These benefits help your child be a better sportsman as well as a better student. Beyond that, the essence of yoga is to bring the mind and body together to attain inner peace so it promotes self-appreciation, serenity and a sense of balance. Hence your preteen or teen acquires the inner resources to cope with the stresses of adolescence, keeping disorders and addictions at bay.

Even if you may not know much about yoga it is not difficult to bring home it’s many positive effects to your family. Towards this end you can attend a yoga class taught by a qualified instructor or self-study using books and videos. Resources such as The Yoga Site (http://www.yogasite.com) and Yoga Journal (http://www.yogajournal.com) educate on the philosophy and practice of yoga, guide you on how to perform various poses as well as assist in locating a teacher in your area.

When practicing the postures with your four year old or your twelve year old at home a little bit of improvisation and spontaneity keeps the workout interesting and it becomes an activity that they look forward to doing with you. As you interact at their level, you will find discovering yoga with your child to be a rewarding experience in more ways than one.

Originally posted by: CharlotteMommies

I can think of no better way to remove myself from the weighty responsibilities of domestic chores than by reading. But not just any book. As I mature in years, my taste for literature has become more particular; I’m as finicky as my four-year-old who snorts, sniffs, and closely inspects everything he eats before consumption. These are the hectic days of my life when time is the great scarcity of my existence. So, when I delve into a story, I want all the elements of the craft of fiction to leap off the page, the least of which include an intriguing plot, a transcendental setting, wittydialogue, smooth exposition, gorgeous language and true enlightenment.

Am I asking for too much? Maybe. But it occurred to me recently I am entrusting my essence and my mind to a storyteller for hours, days, years even (Beloved still rests on my nightstand), to say nothing of the precious commodity of money, so all I ask in exchange for my investment is the aforementioned qualities and a descent serving of wit and good humor.

A mother of three active boys whose activities dominate most of my waking hours, I rarely get the opportunity to feed my starving mind books high in sustenance; and when I do, it’s hard to digest over the pandemonium of roaming toddlers and an eight-year old, who from time to time seeks solace and exile in adult companionship. When such moments occur, I put my book aside and ask him to read to me. And so begins the tale of Charlotte’s Web which sends me soaring back in time to my third grade year, to those mellow, worry-free days of my youth when I escaped to my room and indulged in pages of imaginative literature.

This satisfies me for a spell, then my hunger returns for meaty, high caloric prose. But when can I partake? Perhaps, this is the reason I have almost limited my reading list to authors who have obtained immortality through their works. Those slow but sure-footed writers I can see with my mind’s eye, holding a stylus in hand, pumping out their muse with gusto, pouring out their heart and soul for generations to come. Writers and poets not subject to today’s conditions of publication: book length, political ramifications, editorial tweaking for marketing purposes, and stringent deadlines. Those first-time authors who had nothing to lose when they wrote Jubilee, Invisible Man and To Kill a Mockingbird. And let us not forget the poets: Phyllis Wheatley, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Langston Hughes...ahh, the brilliant minds of their day.

I guess for me it’s real simple. I want to be entertained and enlightened, as I should be, at least for a little while, before the chorus of three little boys sing, “Mommy, is our dinner ready yet?”

Later, after an exhaustive dinner, a Kool-aid spill or two, a plate of spaghetti tumbles to the floor and a series of frenzied bubble baths, when the house is as quiet as an anthill and I’ve punched my ‘mommy’ time clock for the night, I crawl in bed, and the song of my central nervous system is a low hum, droning, “Does anyone have a good book?”

But not just any book.

Author: Juanita G. McDowell

Originally posted on: CharlotteMommies

Crab Filled Wontons

Ingredients:
6 ozs crabmeat, minced
6 ozs softened cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder   
40 wonton skins
1 slightly beaten egg
Vegetable oil

Cooking Instructions:
1. Place a heaping teaspoonful of crabmeat mixture in the center of one wonton skin. Cover remaining skins with damp towel to keep them pliable.

2. Top with another wonton skin and press edges to seal. Brush dab of egg on center of both sides of puff.

3. Use fingers to pleat each edge, pressing to seal. Repeat with remaining wonton skins. Cover puffs with damp towel or plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

4. Heat 1 1/2 inches of vegetable oil in wok to 350 degrees F. Fry 4 or 5 puffs at a time until golden brown, turning 2 or 3 times, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towel.

Submitted by a member to The Mommies Network recipe database.

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Healthy Morning Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
4 medium carrots, shredded
1 medium ripe banana, mashed


Cooking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and salt until there are no more lumps. Stir in oats and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots and banana and stir until blended.

Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 23-25 minutes.


Serving Suggestions:
Serve warm or at room temperature. To store, keep in an airtight container, up to 3 days.


Submitted to The Mommies Network recipe database by "Betsy"