What to do about blogging! We are dwindling in numbers and friends are quitting or feeling disheartened by the lack of visitors. Facebook and Twitter are definitely taking their toll on blogging but I’m not ready to throw in the towel just quite yet. I’m still in contact with many friends through Facebook but the friendships just don’t feel the same or as strong as they have in the past with blogging. Face it, a short status update or a tweet can never compete with the depth of knowledge we gained of one another through personal blog posts. I’ve been threatening to go over to Blogger because WordPress is just too hard to keep current with as they are always updating it. So you can imagine my delight when I found that darylynn.blogspot.com was available! So see, there are some good things about having a different name so maybe we should stop making fun of the Apples, Blankets and Jermajesty’s. Below is the link to the new Blogger Blog. I will keep this WordPress blog up until at least the end of the month. Let me know if you can find your way to the new blog okay. You will need a google account to sign in. I think I might enjoy learning how to customize the blogger blog. There’s a little more detailed explanation about the reasons for the change at the new blogger blog- link below.
New Blogger Blog HERE!

Jeff’s been a good sport about “Meatless Monday” so I think on Valentine’s Day a good steak is in order. He liked our Spaghetti Squash Italian Style that we had last night. Here’s a photo and I’ll give you a few instructions on how I made it.

The main thing to know is how to cook the spaghetti squash. I read several different methods and settled on this way because my squash was a big 4 pounder. I pricked it with a fork a few times, put it in a corning ware dish with 1/4 cup of water, covered it with plastic wrap and then microwaved it for 15 minutes. Then I took it out, sliced it in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds and stringy stuff (like in a pumpkin) and then placed the half face down in the corning ware dish again, covered it and microwaved it for another 10 minutes. (I put the other half in the freezer to use in another meal.) Then I took a fork and scraped out the pulp and it forms strands just like spaghetti. I had already made the sauce. I bought a jar of Prego Veggie Smart Italian Sauce and added onions, garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper and zuchinni that I had sauteed in olive oil. I spooned the sauce over the spaghetti squash and sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese.
Don’t forget- Survivor starts Wednesday night! Happy Valentine’s Day!

We were so worried about Cooper this weekend. He was lethargic, not interested in food, running a mild fever and drooling excessively. We are hoping it was just a bad reaction to the rabies shot he had the previous Tuesday afternoon. I googled his symptoms and rabies shots, of course, and read that a reaction can happen as late as 3 days after the shot. He seemed better on Sunday. He had an exam and bloodwork on Tuesday and everything was perfectly normal so that helped us not worry too much over the weekend. He also had a titer test because we don’t want to over-vaccinate him since we’ve had problems with lymphosarcoma with Dylan and Kali. You can read about a titer test in the link I attached. It’s pricier than just getting the vaccination but Cooper’s test showed he still had immunity to Distemper, Parvo, etc… so he didn’t need to have those vaccinations.

We continued our attempt to see all the Oscar nominated films by seeing Tree of Life on DVD- we did NOT get that movie at all- and seeing Hugo in 3-D at our Muvico Theaters. I’m not a big fan of 3-D movies but this was really well done. We still need to see The Help and I’ve taken everything off my Netflix queue except that movie so we’ll see if we get it this week!

Tonight is Meatless Monday and I’m all ready with my ingredients to fix Italian Style Spaghetti Squash. Here’s a photo of spaghetti squash in case you’ve never seen one. The squash replaces the pasta in the recipe. I’ll post a recipe and photos later this week.

I didn’t write about out last “Meatless Monday.” We had Chile Relleno Bake. Here’s the recipe I followed:

Chile Relleno Bake

Ingredients:
1 cup evaporated non-fat milk
4 egg whites (I used 1 cup of egg substitute)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3 4 oz. cans whole green chiles
1/2 lb low-fat jack cheese, grated
1/2 lb low-fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz. can tomato sauce (I used Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles- spicy, like salsa)
Optional- sprinkle with cilanto

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Spray a 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.
Beat evaporated milk, egg whites and flour together until smooth.
Split open chiles,and rinse to remove seeds; drain on a paper towel.
Mix cheeses together and reserve 1/2 c. for the topping.
Alternate layers of chiles, cheese and egg mixture in casserole dish.
Pour tomato sauce over top layer and sprinkle with reserved cheeses.
Bake 1 hour or until set in center (inserted knife comes out clean.)

Here’s what it looks like. It would also be a great dish for brunch.

For next Monday, I’m planning on trying Spaghetti Squash. I know Denise has used this before as a substitute for pasta. All of these recipes are South Beach Diet friendly. I found several recipes but I think the one I’ll try is Italian Style Spaghetti Squash from the South Beach Diet Cookbook. Will let you know next week how we liked it and share the recipe if it’s good.

Several friends asked about the video of the four dogs and what was behind the door that Cooper was trying to get in. (See yesterday’s post.) If you look right at the beginning, you’ll see Jeff walking into the kitchen and shutting the door behind him. Cooper was trying to escape the mayhem and get into the kitchen with Jeff. Denise was also wondering if the living room is downstairs and what’s upstairs and have I ever shown the upstairs. I’ll look through old photos and post a few here to explain our floorplan. When you walk into the front door, you are in the entryway and to the left is the hallway that leads to the kitchen that you see in the video. Straight ahead is the living room and dining room. To the right is a stairway leading downstairs and also upstairs. Our house is a trilevel so if you go downstairs, there’s a large familyroom that leads out to the lower yard and there’s also a bedroom and bathroom. It’s what realtors would call a perfect mother-in-law suite. From the entryway, if you go upstairs, you will find the master bedroom and two more bedrooms. Justin and Jessica each had a bedroom upstairs. Jessica’s old bedroom is now the cat/computer room and Justin’s bedroom is where Ryan and Jacob play when they’re here. Ryan sleeps in this room and Jacob sleeps in the downstairs bedroom. Leading out of the kitchen is sliding doors to the upper level of the backyard. So here’s a few photos to explain. When you walk into the frontdoor, here’s the living room.

Here’s a glimpse of the kitchen area. This is the last room in the house that needs a remodel. This was last done over 10 years ago,

Adjacent to the kitchen is this breakfast area. When we remodel the kitchen this area will become part of one larger kitchen. I love our Milgard doors- we have the same in the familyroom but that outdated chandeleir needs to go. Jeff can’t understand why I feel that way.

This might help explain the two stairways. This is taken from the familyroom. At the top of the landing is the entryway/living room, etc… and the stairway going up leads to the 3 upstairs bedrooms.

Here’s a photo showing the balcony from the master bedroom.

This is one of the upstairs bathrooms.

This shows how the back yard is split level. Taken from the upper yard looking down to the lower yard.

Guest bedroom downstairs.

Downstairs Bath

One of these days, I’ll do a walkthrough with a video. Maybe when I get that new kitchen!

and day and night and day! Our weekend in a nutshell.

It was also Superbowl Sunday so we had guacamole and everyone made their own pizzas. Justin and Sarah had a fun time in Santa Barbara and lucked out with great summery weather.

Just a quick post. See my last post for our weekend plans. We’ll be dogsitting for Sierra and Buddy so we wil have four dogs in the house. I’ll definitely have to make a video to share on Monday. In the meantime, I have to share this YouTube link of an Ipad app for cats! Too funny! It’s HERE. Don’t think there’s not an app for dogs. Check out THIS video.

Today is Justin’s girlfriend’s 30th birthday! Happy Birthday Sarah! They celebrated a little last weekend with a trip to Disneyland and a get-together with friends at Fred’s Cantina in Huntington Beach and also a dinner at Sarah’s family’s home. This photo of Justin and Sarah was taken at Fred’s. It has a photo technique from Justin’s iPhone so that’s why the colors are a bit off. You can still see what a cute couple they make!

They are planning a little getaway this weekend up to Santa Barbara. The weather should be great- in the upper 70’s or lower 80’s. The plan is to come here Friday after work with their dogs- Justin’s dog Sierra and Sarah’s yellow lab, Buddy. We will dog sit them… four dogs in the house! We’ll have dinner (oh boy, more vegetarian meals) and they’ll leave for Santa Barbara in the morning. It’s only about an hour’s drive from here. This will be a little travel test run for them before their big trip in March to London and Turkey. Justin has been reading all the travel literature Sarah has given him and he’s really excited to see the area of Turkey along the Aegean Sea where Troy was. He’s always been a big lover of Greek Mythology and is excited to see the ruins. They’ll return Sunday which is Superbowl Sunday and we have plans to go to a benefit Fireman’s Chili Cookoff and Classic Car Show at a restaurant in Westlake Village. There will be big screens airing the game.

Remember that Jefferson Airplane song, White Rabbit? It goes….”Remember what the dormouse said; “Feed Your Head, Feed Your Head!” I was watching Dr. Oz and he had a segment on Memory Foods. It caught my attention because I was just complaining to Jeff about things he forgets to do. Yesterday morning I was about to get in the shower and he was leaving for the dog park. I told him to make sure he locked all the doors before he left because I still have that Psycho fear of being in the shower and having someone walk in on me. Sure enough after my shower I went downstairs to find the sliding glass door from the kitchen to the backyard unlocked. He leaves doors unlocked all the time so I have to go around and check them all. I told him I was going to take notes on memory foods and feed his head! The first three are very easy to add to your diet. One: Beets- they lower blood pressure which increases blood flow to the brain. Two: Cashews- they have thiamine which helps memory. You can also use cashew butter. (Wonder if that works on DVD’s?) Three: Avocado- has vitamins E, K and folate all of which reduce hardening of the arteries which also helps with good blood flow to the brain. The Fourth one is a supplement that I assume you can find at a health food store: Bacopa Extract- 150 mg daily.

More on Meatless Monday: We had veggie burgers. There’s two different types of veggie burgers… ones that try to pretend they’re meat and ones that are proud to be veggie burgers. I prefer the latter. The ones we like to buy are original Gardenburgers. I googled “best veggie burgers” and found a list of 5 that I might try. The comments after each are not mine. Let me know if you have any favorites. Here they are:

1. Boca Burgers Roasted Onion Flavor
Who doesn’t love the smell of mushrooms and onions on the grill? Boca brand Roasted Onion veggie burgers are a hearty and flavorful veggie burger that definitely stands out above the rest and comes in a regular and organic version.

2. Amy’s Organic Texas Burger
Amy’s brand of organic vegetarian products makes several types of veggie burgers, but my favorite is the Texas Burger. Its got a hint of real barbeque flavor, a great texture and its certified Kosher as well.

3. Gardenburger Veggie Medley
This isn’t the veggie burger to try if you’re looking for a genuinely meaty taste and textures. Made from vegetables rather than a chewy meat substitute, Gardenburger’s Veggie Medley burger is a lighter and high-fiber veggie burger. If you generally don’t like mock meat products, this is the veggie burger for you.

4. Boca Bugers Original Vegan Burger
Boca’s Original Vegan Burger has a very meaty, chewy texture and is lower in fat than most other veggie burgers with just a half a gram of fat per patty. Because it has such a meat-like taste, I find that it can be a bit bland. Try sprucing it up with a bit of garlic salt and a dash of pepper or barbeque sauce before cooking.

5. Honorary Mention: Gardenburger Chik’n Grill
It’s not exactly a veggie burger, so it doesn’ really qualify, but Gardenburger’s Chik’n Grill patties a chicken substitue that can be grilled or cooked and prepared just like a veggie burger and they taste so great I just had to include them! They’ve got a very chicken-like and smoky flavor that’s great on a bun or crumbled into pastas or stirfries.

Here’s a no-brainer for “Meatless Monday”- a vegetarian pizza! We just took a frozen thin crust pizza and, as my mom used to say, “doctored it up” with sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. The pizza is a Bellatoria Margherita pizza (comes from Costco in a 3-pack) with mozzarella and asiago cheeses, roma tomatoes, creamy garlic alfredo sauce and basil.

I was out of goat cheese or I would’ve added that and fresh basil would be great, too.

Over the weekend we saw two more movies that are nominated for Best Picture Oscars. We watched Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris on DVD and we went to the theater to see The Artist. We enjoyed both of the movies. Owen Wilson channels Woody Allen in Midnight in Paris and Jean Dujardin is totally charming in The Artist. We saw The Artist at our little local neighborhood theater that shows a lot of independent and artsy films. It was perfect because the movie is silent and in black and white. Can you believe there have been reports of people asking for their money back because there was no sound? Come on people, do a little research! Hoping to get The Help and Moneyball from Netflix soon. They’ve been at the top of my queue but still haven’t received them. We still have until February 26th- date of the Academy Awards- to catch all the nominated movies and performances.

Last night was the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Awards. This is another show I enjoy because it’s for actors only of both movies and TV and is well-attended by the stars. You can see the red carpet gowns HERE.