Dumped on

We got DUMPED ON today. Serious snow. Since I have my lame injury I had to stand back and watch over a foot of snow pile up on our driveway. And it was HEAVY. I finally couldn't take it anymore and I tried to shovel some but it wasn't worth it since it almost reduced me to tears. But I think it's over now. That was almost 12 hours of continuous snow. I think the the temeratures are going to be moderate again. Should be gorgeous this weekend.

I got tickets for a performance at Weber State this weekend so the family's going to that on Saturday. Our first performance was Peter Pan last month. I've always thought Peter Pan was extremely lame but I figured they'd have Peter flying around on wires so the kids would like it. It didn't disappoint. Of course Nephi and I rolled our eyes the whole time. You know Wendy's little brother? He was played by a college age girl. It was creepy. The whole time we just kept thinking about "Pat" from Saturday Night Live. Very androgenous. All in all though, the shows at the college are proving to be an affordable outing that feel like a big deal. It's fun to live by Weber. Brigham went to a college basketball game on a field trip a while back.

Nephi got an MRI on his back today. He's had back issues for years and it's become relentless so he's going to start doing something about it. Hopefully something covered by insurance.

Here's some good recipes that were on KSL yesterday. They're from the kitchen of their "Health guru". I pasted it directly from the website so don't think the comments are mine, they're not. :)

2. Cheesy Rice
1 box Four Cheese Rice-a-roni
1 lb. 93% lean ground beef

Prepare the rice as directed on the box. Then brown the ground beef and toss it in, let simmer 5 more minutes.
Why I love this recipe: (if you can call it that!) Boxed meals are not something I recommend using everyday, but once in a while, we all need an old-reliable, quick-and-easy meal that we can fall back on on super busy nights -- this 400-calorie meal is far better for our health than a 1,500-calorie, more-than-a-day's-supply-of-sodium meal from a restaurant or fast-food outlet.
If you balance boxed foods with with low-sodium, high-fiber side dishes -- like steamed broccoli and a bowl of sliced strawberries -- then you've actually got a decent meal on the table... in minutes!

3. Sugar-free Maple Syrup
2 cups Splenda (or you can do "low-sugar syrup" with 1 cup Splenda and 1 cup real sugar)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp. mapeline flavoring

Boil the water, then add Splenda/sugar and mapeline. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

Why I love this: Because my kids love waffles, pancakes and french toast; and using a sugar-free (or half-the-sugar) homemade syrup keeps these meals in the healthy zone. Kids already eat too much sugar and don't need to top hot breakfast foods with spoonful after spoonful of yet, more sugar! Splenda is safe; but as with everything, should be consumed in moderation. I only use Splenda in one thing: syrup! And it saves my kids from excess sugar every single week.
It's worth it! Check out the calories & sugar per 1-oz serving*:
Regular maple syrup: 80 calories, 5 tsp. sugar Homemade "low sugar": 45 calories, 2.5 tsp sugar Homemade "sugar free": 0 calories, 0 sugar
(*usually enough to cover one pancake; we should aim to consume less than 10 tsp of added sugar each day)

Almond-Craisin Spinach Salad
Toss the following: 2 - 3 cups spinach
1/8 cup sliced almonds
1/8 cup craisins
1/2 cup matchstick carrots
2 Tbsp. light raspberry vinaigrette

Why I Love This: It's made with 4 super-food ingredients (spinach, almonds, carrots, and olive oil dressing) and you can literally throw it together in less than 5 minutes! The nutty and sweet flavors are complimentary and make for a delicious healthy snack -- or meal. With just 220 calories, this salad is one I use when I need to counterbalance a high-calorie meal. It's the perfect way to save up for a soup-to-nuts dinner or to make up for an oversized, "shouldn't have" lunch.