This is my favorite time of year because it's the time all sorts of goodies start to "inconspicuously" emerge in and around the aisles of the supermarket. I'm talking about new stuff like Kraft's vanilla, caramel marshmallows (which are fab with hot chocolate) and chocolate covered Ritz crackers and Oreos. Alongside of the newbies are the traditional goodies that never grow old like pumpkin pie and gingerbread. There is little around the holiday season that I don't like or at least won't try -- even fruitcake. One has to be careful or else she too will emerge, or should I say morph, into the seasonal blob that she will inevitably become by February of the new year.
Anyway, below are a couple of "healthier" items that you might wanna give a try. The gingerbread cake is good plain or with a drizzle of icing. For this cake you can also simply sprinkle some powdered sugar on top or slap on a layer of cream cheese flavored or lemon flavored icing that comes in the little tubs at the super (also, make your own!). The oatmeal cookies are kinda hearty and not very sweet. I left the dough in the fridge overnight to make it a bit firmer. The next day I mixed up a bit of cinnamon and sugar and rolled the dough balls into it before placing them on the cookie sheet. I found this made them a bit sweeter. You could probably drizzle a bit of icing on them while they're still warm. Let's face it, what's the point of a cookie if it tastes healthy? That's no fun. However, you can avoid too much butter, vegetable oil, or sugar in some instances.
So here they are:
Oatmeal Cookies (Oven Temp: 375 degrees, 10 min)
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 C sugar (you could probably add 1 C for a sweeter cookie)
1/4 C skim milk or regular low-fat milk
2 egg whites (I just used 2 eggs)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C rolled oats
1/2 C raisins (optional)
1/2 C chocolate chips (optional)
As usual, mix up all the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ones in a another bowl. Combine the two.
Low-Fat Gingerbread Cake (Bake at 350 degrees between 30 min - 1 hour)
1 1/4 C flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C low-fat or skim milk
1/4 C canola oil
1/2 C molasses
1 egg
Again, mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another. Blend the two. Originally, the recipe called for 25 minutes of baking, but in a glass pan my took nearly an hour. After 30 minutes, you may want to begin periodically checking the cake depending upon your oven type and the pan you're using.
Enjoy!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Obama Wins Nobel Prize...
Some folks are wondering, why? Some of these people plucked from the masses of the all-knowing are 82-year old English professors who've probably never lived a day of their lives in the real world. What's an 82-year old professor of English hope for other than to "hear a (hermetic) fly buzz when she dies..."?
I suppose that over-weight blow-hard who makes the enlightening videos about McDonald's should have received it? Or what about Rush Limbaugh, who with his sagging chops, blasts everything in his path with stale air and redneck demeanor? He's a good one for a noteworthy critique. While we're on that subject, maybe his big binky FOX News should have received it for their toothless insight and neverending pukey stream of "journalism" about people and the world? And of course, there are a slew of other potential candidates for such a noteworthy prize like David Letterman and his secret bedroom or what's-her-trout face from Alaska.
I'd venture to say that an alien could land on the white house, step out of his spaceship with a bible strapped to his waist and an American flag for a loincloth, and we'd give him a nobel peace prize -- never asking why.
I hate excuses like, "It's because he's black". "It's political". So, if a white guy gets it, what reason do we use for him, if any? Well, a white guy is likely a man who risked his life in the war, lost his marbles and is here wearing the armor of God to tell us about it. He's a good 'ol rogue proud to sit down with the meat and potatoes of this great country with a six-pac, handshake, and cowboy punch. He understands what God means to this land of the freedom shield and opportunity sword.
What irks me about the kinds of depthless reactions pinched from the public is that they rarely exemplify the real reasons. Barack Obama is a rare kind of individual -- I'm not talking about skin color or the fact that he's the first black American president. I'm talking about the fact that it shouldn't be news that his unique quality springs out of the practice of doing things like they aren't usually done. One can hardly say this is strictly a political agenda. I feel like he is proving to be the kind of person who makes a honest and serious effort to reach across dividing lines (that includes within political parties) and he's hardly wavered from that practice since before he took office. Wouldn't you agree? He didn't just ride the coattails of a slogan -- he is and does what he says he is.
Do most of us really know what the president is doing, ever? Some of us failed to smell the crap around here when it counted. We get to sit on our judgmental haunches as Obama tries to wipe away the tears and change all the filthy diapers from the Bush era, while at the same time work to settle dust around the world. While we sit, we should be asking ourselves what sort of person wins a Nobel Prize? How many average Americans even know what a Nobel Prize is? How many of us are reading books of note in the evenings? Do any of us read? Do we make the effort to discern what is news by weeding through the propaganda and sensationalism that is constantly being slapped across our faces and called news?
What are the real day to day events here and around the world? I know, we don't have time. But we don't hesitate to waste time with our complaining. It's a good thing that time isn't everyone's excuse. Many of us are content to go about life the lazy way: We don't do anything except complain about everything that is affecting us, on a personal level, without any thought to any person within out peripheral vision let alone issues, persons of other races, and countries. We complain when someone else gets something we don't have, even when we don't know what it is much less even want it for ourselves.
It seems that the only thing Americans can do these days is begrudge others of what they've earned and harp about what they deserve even after all this time, we've been all about giving ourselves things we've never earned. The question we should be asking ourselves is, what are we doing for anyone on a day to day basis? Just think of the positive change in everyone's lives if we were looking out for each other! It would make us more sensitive to what it is that people like Obama are trying to do. Whew! I'm preaching to the choir here, and I've stepped over the cliff I'm afraid.
I think if we can sincerely discuss and answer the kinds of questions surrounding such a thing as a Nobel Peace Prize, then it would seem acceptable to point our fingers and scratch our heads when someone of note gets honored for their ongoing attempts for making peace. After all, when dealing with the human race, peace-making isn't an easy job.
I suppose that over-weight blow-hard who makes the enlightening videos about McDonald's should have received it? Or what about Rush Limbaugh, who with his sagging chops, blasts everything in his path with stale air and redneck demeanor? He's a good one for a noteworthy critique. While we're on that subject, maybe his big binky FOX News should have received it for their toothless insight and neverending pukey stream of "journalism" about people and the world? And of course, there are a slew of other potential candidates for such a noteworthy prize like David Letterman and his secret bedroom or what's-her-trout face from Alaska.
I'd venture to say that an alien could land on the white house, step out of his spaceship with a bible strapped to his waist and an American flag for a loincloth, and we'd give him a nobel peace prize -- never asking why.
I hate excuses like, "It's because he's black". "It's political". So, if a white guy gets it, what reason do we use for him, if any? Well, a white guy is likely a man who risked his life in the war, lost his marbles and is here wearing the armor of God to tell us about it. He's a good 'ol rogue proud to sit down with the meat and potatoes of this great country with a six-pac, handshake, and cowboy punch. He understands what God means to this land of the freedom shield and opportunity sword.
What irks me about the kinds of depthless reactions pinched from the public is that they rarely exemplify the real reasons. Barack Obama is a rare kind of individual -- I'm not talking about skin color or the fact that he's the first black American president. I'm talking about the fact that it shouldn't be news that his unique quality springs out of the practice of doing things like they aren't usually done. One can hardly say this is strictly a political agenda. I feel like he is proving to be the kind of person who makes a honest and serious effort to reach across dividing lines (that includes within political parties) and he's hardly wavered from that practice since before he took office. Wouldn't you agree? He didn't just ride the coattails of a slogan -- he is and does what he says he is.
Do most of us really know what the president is doing, ever? Some of us failed to smell the crap around here when it counted. We get to sit on our judgmental haunches as Obama tries to wipe away the tears and change all the filthy diapers from the Bush era, while at the same time work to settle dust around the world. While we sit, we should be asking ourselves what sort of person wins a Nobel Prize? How many average Americans even know what a Nobel Prize is? How many of us are reading books of note in the evenings? Do any of us read? Do we make the effort to discern what is news by weeding through the propaganda and sensationalism that is constantly being slapped across our faces and called news?
What are the real day to day events here and around the world? I know, we don't have time. But we don't hesitate to waste time with our complaining. It's a good thing that time isn't everyone's excuse. Many of us are content to go about life the lazy way: We don't do anything except complain about everything that is affecting us, on a personal level, without any thought to any person within out peripheral vision let alone issues, persons of other races, and countries. We complain when someone else gets something we don't have, even when we don't know what it is much less even want it for ourselves.
It seems that the only thing Americans can do these days is begrudge others of what they've earned and harp about what they deserve even after all this time, we've been all about giving ourselves things we've never earned. The question we should be asking ourselves is, what are we doing for anyone on a day to day basis? Just think of the positive change in everyone's lives if we were looking out for each other! It would make us more sensitive to what it is that people like Obama are trying to do. Whew! I'm preaching to the choir here, and I've stepped over the cliff I'm afraid.
I think if we can sincerely discuss and answer the kinds of questions surrounding such a thing as a Nobel Peace Prize, then it would seem acceptable to point our fingers and scratch our heads when someone of note gets honored for their ongoing attempts for making peace. After all, when dealing with the human race, peace-making isn't an easy job.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
We Rats Maintain the Race...
I can't understand what all the shock and tantrum is about. Chicago was doomed from the beginning from getting the 2016 Olympic bid. While the U.S. has its fair share of the "whale" population, it is no longer what we should all think of as the "big kahuna".
Lend an ear all ye self-important, overweight, spoiled, redneck people-- there are other countires on the world map. We act as though it's owed to us. We're struggling economically, we need the boost-- so of course, we shall host the Olympics! We deserve to. What we've failed to realize is that our consumptive blubber has a lot to do with the reason why we're beached and a lot of the reason everyone else around the globe has broken sails and sunken ships. If it takes something as smarmy and assanine as an Olympic committee to slap our greedy hands, then so be it.
Is Chicago an ideal spot for such an event? As someone who actually lives here I'd have to say no. True, we have a lot of sports arenas. We have a long and lean, elegant lakefront. Our park district is pretty first-rate. We have lots of museums and great places to eat. We run relatively efficiently (on the level of public transportation) but many would say (since the gas price hike) we are at the brim for passenger efficiency. Taking in the world by hosting the Olympics would pose a shaky endeavor for us, if you ask me. I can't imagine the security problems and congestion the Olympics would create here in the years leading up to it, much less the 3-week event iteself. One Cubs game alone already creates public transport havoc. Many of us could find ourselves trapped at home for the summer so that the athletes and Olympic elite could use the trains and buses. That doesn't include ALL of the other people who would be gathering here from all over the U.S. and around the world every day to watch the events.
I think what really bugs me about the whole thing is the arrogance of people like Oprah Winfrey. Who does she think she is anyway playing Olympic ambassador? Oprah is bragging about a city that many Chicagoans can appreciate and be proud of, but most don't recognize on an average day. She is going from her limo to her studio and back to her limo and home to a posh, lakefront condo.
Has Oprah ever been to Montrose beach on a Saturday in the summer? It's littered with plastic and every piece of garbage you can imagine. And it's not because the Park District doesn't do its job. Simply put, we have amenities to be thankful for but not everyone living here respects the environment or the amenities that Chicago provides. It's a lot of time and effort for the Park District to keep up. How many times has Oprah been on the redline? The ever-so-sweet smell of urine garnishes many of their entryways. How many of the hundreds of streets has Oprah been on lately littered with not one or two potholes, but about twenty or more? (It's so bad that residents have been filling them on their own because the city can't keep up.)
I'm not saying that Oprah doesn't have anything relevant to say about the best the city has to offer. However, living here almost 25 years doesn't make Oprah the face of the average day in Chicago-- especially when her average day isn't the kind of day most Chicagoans live.
So, newsflash (you probably haven't heard): The city of Chicago has problems that supercedes any of its amenities or even its potholes. Violence has reached a scary peak. Innocent children are its biggest victim. Innocent children are the current trend in lethal gunshots every day. Our current financial and social problems can't be tucked under the blankey of what an Olympic celebration will bring. Problems don't disappear in five years-- It would take that long, at least, to plan and prepare for such an event. The real issues that the city have been recently struggling to face haven't been getting addressed because of the Olympics. These problems would barely get addressed let alone tackled, if we had been chosen to host the Olympics.
And while Michelle Obama's speach was touching-- it was mostly, touching. It had more to do with her and very little to do with Chicago, it seems. I fear we are not living in a reality. The Olympics, from my own standpoint, seem so minute right now in the broader picture of world or host or humanity. I'm disappointed because we are a very liberal city. Once again, I feel we are catering to the whim of that which speaks greed, money, self-importance. How often still in our current economic crisis do we consider first the material reward? I've heard very little about teams or athletes or just people in general. What I've heard about mostly is the pampered Olympic committee, the rich who support them and the greedy, cities scrambling to present their cases and the kind of monetary reward this hosting city will reap from this event.
On the flip side, I respect the hard work and training that many athletes put forth-- whether it be short-term or a lifetime. However, over the span of former Olympic games a lot of those athletes are spoiled, little twits who are not above throwing tantrums when they don't win. It doesn't seem appropriate for a struggling city like Chicago (or any city right now) to cash in millions of dollars to host (for just a few weeks) what looks (on the face of it) to be a narcissistic obsessive compulsive behavior to win. Should we cancel something as important as the Olympics? God forbid! I think things are a bit too realistic here in Chicago to host a rather, pretentious affair, if you will.
I can't speak for most Chicagoans but I'm breathing easier now that I know we are free of this menagerie. Honestly, we're just not in the mood for it-- not now, not five years from now. I like Chicago without the Olympic hype. It's not like we need to be put on the map! We're the 3rd largest city in the U.S. Some cities like Chicago have a lot to offer outsiders on a better than average scale, but we have our limits and we can't offer everything, Mr. Daley. Haven't you got us in enough debt already with Millimeum Park?
Unlike Daley's vision, Chicago is not a resort. We're not really a tourist's buffet either. We're not here to make a legacy for a stammering buffoon mayor or some overweight, "humanitarian" talk show host-- I don't care how many orphans she's purchased. Right now, like a lot of Americans, we're just trying to get by in the gritty reality that many of us juggle and dodge every day but have grown to appreciate and love, on its own.
Lend an ear all ye self-important, overweight, spoiled, redneck people-- there are other countires on the world map. We act as though it's owed to us. We're struggling economically, we need the boost-- so of course, we shall host the Olympics! We deserve to. What we've failed to realize is that our consumptive blubber has a lot to do with the reason why we're beached and a lot of the reason everyone else around the globe has broken sails and sunken ships. If it takes something as smarmy and assanine as an Olympic committee to slap our greedy hands, then so be it.
Is Chicago an ideal spot for such an event? As someone who actually lives here I'd have to say no. True, we have a lot of sports arenas. We have a long and lean, elegant lakefront. Our park district is pretty first-rate. We have lots of museums and great places to eat. We run relatively efficiently (on the level of public transportation) but many would say (since the gas price hike) we are at the brim for passenger efficiency. Taking in the world by hosting the Olympics would pose a shaky endeavor for us, if you ask me. I can't imagine the security problems and congestion the Olympics would create here in the years leading up to it, much less the 3-week event iteself. One Cubs game alone already creates public transport havoc. Many of us could find ourselves trapped at home for the summer so that the athletes and Olympic elite could use the trains and buses. That doesn't include ALL of the other people who would be gathering here from all over the U.S. and around the world every day to watch the events.
I think what really bugs me about the whole thing is the arrogance of people like Oprah Winfrey. Who does she think she is anyway playing Olympic ambassador? Oprah is bragging about a city that many Chicagoans can appreciate and be proud of, but most don't recognize on an average day. She is going from her limo to her studio and back to her limo and home to a posh, lakefront condo.
Has Oprah ever been to Montrose beach on a Saturday in the summer? It's littered with plastic and every piece of garbage you can imagine. And it's not because the Park District doesn't do its job. Simply put, we have amenities to be thankful for but not everyone living here respects the environment or the amenities that Chicago provides. It's a lot of time and effort for the Park District to keep up. How many times has Oprah been on the redline? The ever-so-sweet smell of urine garnishes many of their entryways. How many of the hundreds of streets has Oprah been on lately littered with not one or two potholes, but about twenty or more? (It's so bad that residents have been filling them on their own because the city can't keep up.)
I'm not saying that Oprah doesn't have anything relevant to say about the best the city has to offer. However, living here almost 25 years doesn't make Oprah the face of the average day in Chicago-- especially when her average day isn't the kind of day most Chicagoans live.
So, newsflash (you probably haven't heard): The city of Chicago has problems that supercedes any of its amenities or even its potholes. Violence has reached a scary peak. Innocent children are its biggest victim. Innocent children are the current trend in lethal gunshots every day. Our current financial and social problems can't be tucked under the blankey of what an Olympic celebration will bring. Problems don't disappear in five years-- It would take that long, at least, to plan and prepare for such an event. The real issues that the city have been recently struggling to face haven't been getting addressed because of the Olympics. These problems would barely get addressed let alone tackled, if we had been chosen to host the Olympics.
And while Michelle Obama's speach was touching-- it was mostly, touching. It had more to do with her and very little to do with Chicago, it seems. I fear we are not living in a reality. The Olympics, from my own standpoint, seem so minute right now in the broader picture of world or host or humanity. I'm disappointed because we are a very liberal city. Once again, I feel we are catering to the whim of that which speaks greed, money, self-importance. How often still in our current economic crisis do we consider first the material reward? I've heard very little about teams or athletes or just people in general. What I've heard about mostly is the pampered Olympic committee, the rich who support them and the greedy, cities scrambling to present their cases and the kind of monetary reward this hosting city will reap from this event.
On the flip side, I respect the hard work and training that many athletes put forth-- whether it be short-term or a lifetime. However, over the span of former Olympic games a lot of those athletes are spoiled, little twits who are not above throwing tantrums when they don't win. It doesn't seem appropriate for a struggling city like Chicago (or any city right now) to cash in millions of dollars to host (for just a few weeks) what looks (on the face of it) to be a narcissistic obsessive compulsive behavior to win. Should we cancel something as important as the Olympics? God forbid! I think things are a bit too realistic here in Chicago to host a rather, pretentious affair, if you will.
I can't speak for most Chicagoans but I'm breathing easier now that I know we are free of this menagerie. Honestly, we're just not in the mood for it-- not now, not five years from now. I like Chicago without the Olympic hype. It's not like we need to be put on the map! We're the 3rd largest city in the U.S. Some cities like Chicago have a lot to offer outsiders on a better than average scale, but we have our limits and we can't offer everything, Mr. Daley. Haven't you got us in enough debt already with Millimeum Park?
Unlike Daley's vision, Chicago is not a resort. We're not really a tourist's buffet either. We're not here to make a legacy for a stammering buffoon mayor or some overweight, "humanitarian" talk show host-- I don't care how many orphans she's purchased. Right now, like a lot of Americans, we're just trying to get by in the gritty reality that many of us juggle and dodge every day but have grown to appreciate and love, on its own.
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