Warm Fuzzies

Here is what I gave people for Valentines day. I believe that we should show someone love everyday, after all St. Valentine was stoned trying to keep love and marriage alive.

Here is the little tale....!

Warm Fuzzie Story

Once upon a time there was a village.  The village was full kindness, love, compassion, and justice. All who lived there felt safe and loved.

Every person in the village was given a special bag when they were born. Inside this bag were hundreds of soft, cuddly, little puff balls called, Warm Fuzzies. The villagers gave each other Warm Fuzzies anytime they wanted to let someone know they were loved, and when a Warm Fuzzie was given the person receiving it felt warm and fuzzy inside their heart. 

One day, an evil Witch came to town. She saw everyone giving out Warm Fuzzies and she didn't like it. She noticed one villager happily giving out Warm Fuzzie after Warm Fuzzie and she said, "Why do you keep giving away your Warm Fuzzies? You will surely run out! Are you not afraid? What will you do when all of your Warm Fuzzies are gone? You should save some for yourself! Lock them away safely." The young village was confused and said, "What shall I give away to show people how I feel?" "Here," she smiled, "take this bag of Cold Pricklies and give them to the people in your village. They will work just fine." The villager took the bag of Cold Pricklies. He had never seen a Cold Prickly before, but they sure looked shiny. Kind of sharp and hard to hold, but shiny nonetheless.

The next day he ran into a friend, he handed him one of the Cold Pricklies from his new bag. The Cold Prickly made his friend feel cold and prickly inside. The friend was mad and his heart was full of anger. He went to the Witch to get his own bag of Cold Pricklies. After all, he did not want to be the only one without Cold Pricklies. The news of the Cold Pricklies spread throughout the village, and all the villagers asked the Witch for their own bag of Cold Pricklies. They were afraid to be without them.

At the same time, these Cold Pricklies were hard to keep. They were not soft like the Warm Fuzzies. They were not warm. In fact, once you had a cold prickly, you wanted to give it away to someone else as fast as possible. That's just what the villagers began to do.

The Witch was happy. Her plan was working perfectly. Now the village was full of fear, hate, and panic. Everyone started avoiding each other so they wouldn't be given a Cold Prickly. They locked themselves in their homes afraid of seeing their friends and family. The hid any small supply of Warm Fuzzies and didn't give them out to anyone anymore. If they did give out a Warm Fuzzy they made the person EARN it by saying something clever or performing a good trick or task.

The villager was dark. The people were alone and no one was happy anymore.

One day a Prince, a Prince like no other, arrived in the village. Almost immediately someone handed him a Cold Prickly. The Prince, recognizing the Cold Prickly, refused to take it. He looked deep into the eyes of the frightened villager and handed him a Warm Fuzzy from his own bag instead. The villager was surprised, and a little ashamed.

The Prince put his arm around the villager and called all to the middle of town. He addressed the crowd and asked, "Why do you give each other Cold Pricklies? Where are your Warm Fuzzies? Why not give them to one another?" One villager said, "We are afraid we will run out of Warm Fuzzies if we simply hand them out to one another. They are so precious we do not want our bags to be empty." The Prince sighed and said, "Oh, no. It is not like that at all. You cannot run out. Don't you see every time you give away a Warm Fuzzy a new one is
created." With that the Prince began to toss his Warm Fuzzies over all the villagers. Soon all were covered with them. They felt warm and fuzzy in their hearts. So did the Prince and the Warm Fuzzies continued to grow.

Then he asked everyone gather their Warm Fuzzies from their homes. He asked them to hand a Warm Fuzzie to a neighbor. They did, and as they did they noticed their the Warm Fuzzies continued to grow. Just like the Prince, they
never ran out of Warm Fuzzies. There were indeed enough Warm Fuzzies for everyone.

Angry, the Witch tried to stop the villagers and the Prince. But the villagers didn't want to listen anymore. They threw all their bags of Cold Pricklies into a wagon, placed the Witch inside of it, and pushed her out of town. All cheered.

The smallest Villager tugged on the sleeve of the Prince. "Yes?" asked the Prince as he bent down to hear the small child. "The more we give away, the more we have." whispered the small voice. "You are right, child. You are right," smiled the Prince, and hugged the little one.

 Here is a warm fuzzy for you! You can spread them by smiling at others! The smile is the gift that keeps giving! Giving someone a compliment, or even calling someone just to tell them you were thinking of them. I think there is so much anticipation on Valentines day and some people look at it as "proving" you love someone. Small gestures is all someone needs to brighten their day! :o) Smile!

Most scholars believe that the St. Valentine of the holiday was a priest who attracted the disfavor of Roman emperor Claudius II around 270. At this stage, the factual ends and the mythic begins. According to one legend, Claudius II had prohibited marriage for young men, claiming that bachelors made better soldiers. Valentine continued to secretly perform marriage ceremonies but was eventually apprehended by the Romans and put to death. Another legend has it that Valentine, imprisoned by Claudius, fell in love with the daughter of his jailer. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter signed "from your Valentine." 

Interesting huh???

-sunshine

Morning Coffee

God's Goodness Everyday
I always start my day with devotions...either it be right after my alarm goes off and I am laying in bed, or after my morning workout while I am stretching. I love to start my day off with GOD and COFFEE! After my workout this morning, this devotion really struck me. It is about being at the right place at the right time, and how we may think it is a coincidence, but God had a hand in it!
When those types of situations happen thank God for his favor in life. Never take for granted all the favors that he offers us, be grateful.


"You have granted me life and favor, and Your care has preserved my spirit"
Job 10:12

couple of Recipes!

It has been really busy since coming back to Houston after Christmas. I haven't had much time to cook, but when I do cook, I try and cook in bulk and freeze half of it for later. It is nice to have the meal the night I make it, and also a month later, let it thaw, reheat and ahhhhhh awesome again! So here is a couple of recipes that I want to share with you!

I got some of these recipes from Biggest Loser 6 Weeks to a Better You, and put my own spin on them!

 Cheesy Stuffed Chicken and Mock Mashed Potatoes made with Cauliflower! Mouth watering awesomeness!!!

 I cannot stop eating this...... extra miles tomorrow!!!! so worth it and soooooo good
Fluffernutter Caramel Popcorn

 Try new things...REFUSE to eat bland oatmeal!!! :o)
Fruity Oatmeal Recipe

Ohhhh this is soooo good! and it makes enough for 8 1-cup servings! So I was able to freeze most of it for school lunches or suppers after a long day of work!!!

Tortilla Free Burrito Recipe

Fruity Oatmeal

I LOVE my oatmeal for breakfast and I am always looking for more and different ways to prepare it! You can be so creative with oatmeal, and personally, it is the ONLY food that will hold me until lunch. Since I have it every morning I need to make sure I do not get tired of it....here is one of my oatmeal recipes!

I love fruit in my oatmeal, here I chopped up an apple and a pear together....I used 1/2 the mixture, and the other 1/2 I will use tomorrow morning!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup water
1/2 apple
1/2 pear
1/2 cup mixed berries (black berries, raspberries, and blueberries)
1 Tablespoon Splenda- if you need some more sweetness
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon




Prepare oatmeal as directed
chop the apple and pear
Place all on top of your oatmeal!!! 


:o)


ENJOY!

Fluffernutter Caramel Popcorn

THIS IS AMAZING!!!
I love popcorn. Salty  popcorn! But I have this other problem, I really love caramel corn. 
This popcorn is so addicting, you can't just eat one bite. But, you can package it up in cute little popcorn containers that you can find in the dollar section at Target...and you can give them as gifts to friends, family, teachers, co-workers....or in my case...for road trips!!! Going to Austin this weekend, and this will be grand to share with the other ladies over much needed catch up time and stories! :o)

Ingredients

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 bags of popped corn, REMOVE SEEDS (5 qt popped)

16 oz. package chocolate coating, melted

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 cups mini marshmallows

2 cups Mini Reese's Peanut Butter cups, chopped

Instructions

Pan melt butter, stir in sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Gradually pour over popped corn. Mix well. I used a disposable lasagna foil pan. Bake at 250 degrees for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Break apart and place in large bowl.

Melt the chocolate coating completely (according to package directions). Mix in peanut butter until combined and pour over cooled caramel corn. Allow to cool about ten minutes. Add in marshmallows and chopped candy. Pour onto wax paper to harden. Store in airtight Ziploc or tupperware containers.

Tortilla-Free Burrito

I love Mexican food! and if you tell me its healthy...I am there!!! Have I told you how much I LOVE my Biggest Loser Cookbook?!?! This recipe is a definitely do again! and can you believe that every serving is only 140 calories?!!
Heres the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs Lean ground Turkey (Jenni-o)

1 Medium yellow onion

1 cup diced green pepper

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder

1 Teaspoon Cumin

1 Teaspoon ground mustard

1 Teaspoon oregano

Red Chili flakes

1 15 ounce can black or kidney beans

1 can diced tomatoes (Rotel with Chilis)

Cook turkey with onion, and bell pepper and simmer for 5 minutes

Add chili powder, cumin, mustard, oregano, and chili flakes. Stir well. Add the beans and tomatoes. Garnich with cilantro

I served my "tortilla-free burrito" with salsa, over a bed of spinach....I still can't believe that this meal is so filling and under 200 calories...this means I can have my Skinny Cow fudgesicle with NO guilt! :o)

Biggest Loser Style Meal! Cheesy Chicken and Mock Mashed Potatoes

I love love love my Biggest Loser Cookbook! I have used it soooo often and there are so many post-its of recipes I LOVE, recipes I want to try again, and recipes I want to change. The 2 I tried were Cheesy stuffed Chicken Breast and Mock Mashed Potatoes made with Cauliflower. Here are both recipes!!! and they are definitely recipes I will make again.
(Notice I put Hot Sauce on my mock mashed potatoes!!) Love my food spicy!

Cheesy Stuffed Chicken Breast

Ingredients:

1/4 cup low fat Monterrey Jack Cheese

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 (4 ounce) boneless chicken

3 Tablespoons whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

In a small bowl combine with cheese, tomatoes, chili flakes, cilantro, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt.

With your chicken, cut a horizontal pocket in the side of the breast making the pocket as large as you can without cutting through the other side. Spoon 1/4 of the cheese/tomato mixture into each pocket and close pocket with a toothpick.

In a shallow dish, combine the flour, pepper, and remaining salt. Dredge the stuffed chicken into the flour mixture, coating on all sides.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the chick and cook just until tender, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the toothpicks and garnish with cilantro. 

Calories 200

Protein 27 grams

Carbohydrates 7 grams

fat 7 grams

Mocked Mashed Potatoes (cauliflower)

Ingredients

• 1 medium head cauliflower
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon straight chicken base or bullion (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon salt)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dry chives, for garnish
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat.

Clean and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until well done. Drain well; do not let cool and pat cooked cauliflower very dry between several layers of paper towels.

In a bowl with an immersion blender, or in a food processor, puree the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic, chicken base, and pepper until almost smooth.

Garnish with chives, and serve hot with pats of butter.

Hint: Try roasting the garlic and adding a little fresh rosemary for a whole new taste.

McTeacher Night!

Thursday night the Killough teachers took over McDonalds!! I was in charge of making french fries!!! We had an AWESOME turnout- raised a lot of money... and we had a lot of fun!

Here are a couple of pictures from tonight! :o)

Getting creative with teaching!

When it rains it pours...this just goes to prove how well Houston is built for water...

Its hard to believe that Texas was in a drought this summer. On the drive down with Mackenzie this August, we saw wild fires on the side of the interstate. Right as we were about to call the police there were ambulances coming to put it out. So its hard to believe that it has been raining for a week now. I love the sound of the rain! When my skydiving plans were canceled on Saturday because of the rain, it was nice to journal and sip coffee and just listen to it fall.

 Here is a little update from room 315....Teaching Title 1 math, means that we have our students for 2 hours and we need to get creative with our teaching! Here is an example of our gallery walk. They were learning about transformations; reflections, translations, and dilation's. So I gave the students post-its and they had to post what they thought the transformation was. They enjoyed it! and I tried to find real-world examples.

 in case you need an 8th grade math refresher....this is a reflection! :o)

 Here is our activity on dilations...drawing on balloons!

 Teaching about parallelograms....here they were cutting parallelograms to make them into rectangles. This was to prove that they would use the same formula for both shapes.

 VOLUME!!!

 creative way to do problems....do you think they would realize that these would be the same problems on a worksheet?!?! so quick teachers note....cutting up a worksheet and making it into a "points" game or hanging them on streamers....the students are more apt to complete the work....why?!? not sure....

Scavenger hunts with area and perimeter.... it takes a lot of prep work to do all these activities but the students have a lot more fun learning when it is in a creative way

 More volume...and eventually total surface area....we got a collection of cereal and cracker boxes and had the students measure and record their data.

 Guessing game.....how many cubes?!!? We had 2 students who guessed right on the spot!