Natural History Museum

For March's adventure, we went to the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah. They have a fantastic exhibit right now called "Toadally Frogs". We got to see live frogs of all kinds (Hayden's favorite part) among history, stories and fun facts about frogs. Their regular exhibits include a mineral exhibit (Miranda's favorite), a dinosaur exhibit (Joey's favorite) and a bugs exhibit (Charissa's favorite) complete with live spiders, scorpions, and centipedes. One thing we loved was the bug brigade brought out some of the bugs for us to see. Joey's favorite animal is a tarantula and they got really close to one that was being held by the bug brigade. We saw some amazing frogs and discovered that most frogs don't sound like you would expect a frog to sound. We heard some that sounded like a door opening and closing, a clicker, and a squeaky shoe. Miranda gave us a demonstration on the types of minerals and how they are made. You would have thought she was being payed by the museum to give tours. It was great. We all had a great time and now we have talked our cub scouts into going for there next pack meeting. They will have fun too. If you would like to see pictures of the adventure, just go to the following link.
http://gallery.me.com/jennamoulton#100047

Corned Beef and Cabbage

3 pounds corned beef brisket with spice packet
10 small red potatoes
5 carrots, peeled and julienned
1 large head cabbage, cut into small wedges

1.Place corned beef in large pot or Dutch oven and cover with water. Add the spice packet that came with the corned beef. Cover pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer approximately 50 minutes per pound or until tender.
2.Add whole potatoes and carrots, and cook until the vegetables are almost tender. Add cabbage and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove meat and let rest 15 minutes.
3.Place vegetables in a bowl and cover. Add as much broth (cooking liquid reserved in the Dutch oven or large pot) as you want. Slice meat across the grain.

Easy Key Lime Pie

5 egg yolks, beaten
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.Combine the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice. Mix well. Pour into unbaked graham cracker shell.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Top with whipped topping and garnish with lime slices if desired.

Cook's Tip: You can adjust the recipe to only 4 egg yolks, 2 cans sweetened condensed milk, and 1 cup key lime juice.

Hint**If you can not find any key lime juice then just use equal parts lemon and lime juice (best if fresh)

Round Steak (or Chicken) Parmigiana

2 pounds round steak (tenderized) or 4 chicken breasts
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons water
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
6 tablespoons shortening
1 can spaghetti sauce (medium)
1/2 pound Mozzarella cheese

Cut fat and bone off meat. Cut into nice serving-size pieces. Beat eggs and water. Dip meat in egg mixture, then in bread crumbs. Brown in shortening. Arrange meat in long baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over meat, covering well. Bake at 325〫for 1 1/2 hours, covered. Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over top of meat and cheese; bake, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes more. This dish reheats nicely. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Cooks Tip: I like to serve this over spaghetti noodles.

Chocolate-Banana Phyllo Bundles

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels, grated
3/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds, coarsely chopped
5 small bananas, sliced
1/2 (16-ounce) package thawed, frozen phyllo (or filo) dough (20 sheets)
Nonstick cooking spray
Thawed, frozen whipped topping, additional hot fudge ice cream topping and powdered sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grate chocolate morsels. Combine chocolate and ice cream topping in bowl. Coarsely chop almonds; set aside. Slice bananas.
2. For each phyllo bundle, place one sheet of phyllo on large work surface and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place second sheet of phyllo over first, pressing sheets together to seal. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the chocolate mixture evenly over one narrow edge of phyllo. Arrange banana slices (about half of one banana) evenly over chocolate mixture. Fold bottom edge of phyllo in toward center. Gently roll up phyllo from bottom to top. Repeat with remaining phyllo dough, chocolate mixture and banana slices.
3. Place phyllo bundles, seam side down, onto cooking sheet; lightly spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with almonds. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown. Remove from oven; serve warm. If desired, serve with a dollop of whipped topping; drizzle with additional ice cream topping and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Yield: 10 bundles
Cook's Tip: keep phyllo sheets covered with plastic wrap while working on a recipe. Otherwise, phyllo may dry out and crack, becoming unusable.
From: The Pampered Chef Season's Best Recipe Collection Spring/Summer 2006 p 32

No imagination lacking

Yesterday as I was walking my children to school, my six year old struck up an interesting conversation. She told me in a very matter of fact way that she felt she didn't have an imagination. This is particularly funny because of all my children, Chissa has one of the largest and most active imaginations. When I disagreed with her she asked exactly what was an imagination. I explained that it was when you see things differently than they really are. We then discussed at length situations in which she has used her imagination. After about five minutes of silence, she said "I love having a dog. I wonder what it is like to be a dog." Then she went on a diatribe about how if she were born a dog and didn't like being a dog, she would have to learn to be happy with who she was and not wish to be a cat or a bird or a human. She expressed how important it is to be happy with who you are and not wish to be something else. I chuckled a little that this was my child who didn't think she had an imagination and yet here she was, an emotionally challenged dog who is having to come to terms with who she is. From the mind of a six year old.