You know... any time you brag...

So I brag about my daughter if given the slightest provocation. Shocking news, I know.

Yesterday my boss' boss asked me how Angie was doing and I happily told him that she can count forward and backward from 1-20 in English and had taught herself to count from 1 - 10 in Spanish. (I've actually since found that she can count higher than that in Spanish, actually). (See? There I go again...).

Angie counts all the time and, as I told him, realizes that one, two, three... mean the same thing as uno, dos, tres... because she was counting the eyelets on my shoes Sunday night in Spanish.

She's so smart!

Well it never fails, as soon as I brag about her she does something that leaves me wondering. LOL

Monday night as I was making dinner I look over to see Angie dunk her face/head in the dog's water bowl. Then she looks up, face and hair dripping with water, as if she's confused about why she's now all wet. It was hilarious.

So, maybe she won't start college at five. Maybe when she's six!

It looks so bad... but it tastes so good!

Let's face it, sometimes the best tasting food - if examined - is pretty gross. Take greasy tacos for example - heaven! But they're often pretty gross looking and let's not even talk about how bad they are for you. But to eat... sooooooo yummy!

So this morning I made corned beef hash for Father's Day breakfast. As I emptied the can of hash into a frying pan Ginger, the Lab, looks at me as if to say "Mom, I appreiciate the effort, but

you can feed me my dog food straight out of the can."

Let's face it, it does look like dog food. It pretty much smells like it too, but it's our guilty pleasure breakfast food. We don't have it often, but sometimes it really hits the spot. Again, let's not discuss calories or fat content, shall we?

I used to think that I liked to be somewhat informed on the world around me, but you know, I really don't. Take McDonald's for example. They now have nutritional information on the side of a Big Mac box and on the side of fries! If I wanted to eat healthy, I wouldn't be at McDonald's!! Do I really want/need/care to know this stuff? NO!

So I shall enjoy my guity pleasure food, say "yeah yeah yeah" to the voice in my head that suggests that it's not good for me and will only go to my hips, purposely ignore the nutritional information on items that should never advertise that information and eat salads every day for lunch to make up for it. Informed? Nah, I like living in my little box. Besides, my husband makes great salads :)

My Famous Broccolli Salad!

Everyone always asks for this recipe after they try it.

1 bunch of broccoli, chopped - I sometimes use one of those bags of shredded broccoli

1 med. red onion, chopped

1 cup grated cheese (I usually leave this out, actually) - optional

8 strips of bacon (or a half pound! LOL) crisp and crumbled

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Mix broccoli, onion and cheese

add dressing, chill

add bacon

I know... it doesn't sound all that great, but it really is!!

Meatball Spinach Soup (aka Undead Soup)

This soup is sooooo good! We got the recipe off of the back of a box of Saltine Crackers.

1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced, divided
2tsp. dried oregano leaves, divided
20 Saltene crackers, finely crushed (we sometimes substitute bread crumbs)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cans (14 oz each) reduced sodium beef broth (or the full leaded stuff - whichever you prefer)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

Combine meat, 1/4 cup of the onion, 1/3 of the garlic, 1/2 tsp of the oregano in large bowl. Add cracker crumbs and egg; mix well. Shape into 1-inch balls; set aside.

Cook and stir remaining 3/4 cup of onion and remaining garlic in hot oil in Dutch oven or large saucepan on medium-high heat 3 to 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add broth, tomatoes with their liquid, spinach and the remaining oregano; bring to boil. Add meatballs. Reduce heat to low; cover. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

Serve with additional Saltene crackers.

Don't try to double the recipe, it doesn't work well. It's really yummy! Try it! :)