Recipe websites

This will be a short post. I just thought I'd post up some of the websites I go to for recipes nowadays. I've tried recipes from all of them except the Betty Crocker one, but then I grew up using Betty Crocker cookbooks, so I don't think that counts. And the LandoLakes one is pretty fattening - go figure, it's a butter website!

• http://www.landolakes.com/mealIdeas/RecipeFinder.cfm (Really rich, stomach-growling foods)
• http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2005/11/beyond-easy-beer-bread.html (This gal makes beer bread easy. Just do NOT use sea salt - your bread won't rise and will have a mushy center.)
• http://www.bettycrocker.com/ (The tortilla soup recipe looks like the same one I based my famous chicken tortilla soup off of, so this website has my approval thus far. But beware, a lot of the recipes look pretty fattening!)
• http://www.foodnetwork.com (I like the fact that you can sift through so many styles for the same recipe here. This is where I got the key lime pie recipe. You like Alton Brown - you can find his recipes here. You detest Emeril, you'll see who each recipe is attributed to and can easily avoid those submitted by chefs you dislike.)
• http://www.kraftfoods.com (Pretty good mix of healthy and indulgent recipes. And they have a helpful program where you can type in three things from your pantry or fridge, and they'll give you a list of recipes that you can use them in, quick ideas when you don't have anything planned and you just want to use what you have on hand. But, warning, I haven't used any of these recipes yet. I'm trying out the one-pan beef stroganoff later this week.)

Most of these have a recipe box that you can electronically save your recipes to, so you can retrieve them later. And you can sign up for recipe newsletters, through which you might get inspired with an emailed or linked recipe. Let me know if you have any favorite recipe websites. I'm always looking for good new ones.

And off subject, another interesting website: http://www.getridofthings.com/index.html. I'm not saying to trust their methods wholecloth, but I'm trying out their antkilling methods with the borax cottonballs. Not for certain if it works, but it seems like it might be, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. Most importantly, it doesn't seem to be as harmful and fumigatory as some commercial antkillers.

Sick again

Well, it was my turn to be sick this past week. I started feeling headachey and unwell Sunday afternoon; by Sunday night I had a fever of 103.3 F that didn't want to go down. Matt was up all night with me and had to miss work the next day so he could take me to the doctor's office. I came clear on the throat swab test for strep throat, and my white blood cell count was normal, but I was still so sick I had to lay down in the exam room. Mom very reluctantly brought Kara over to help out so Matt wouldn't have to miss any more work. Thankfully, I was feeling better by Tuesday morning, just weak, horribly body achey, with a sore throat. Kara helped out a lot. It was really nice having her here to play with Natalee and help around the apartment. I know Natalee enjoyed having her here to splash water on, waggle her tongue at, and giggle with. When Kara ran up to the store for me Wednesday, Natalee went looking for her all over the apartment, looking in all the rooms while holding a hand to her tummy as if to protect her heart.

Kara and I got to spend some quality sister time together. I haven't done that with just Kara in a long time. She's grown up on me - it's sad that I don't have that sweet baby sister who said "'Doodle-doo!" to the rooster, but it's amazing and a lot of fun too. I showed her how I make my Matt-approved pork chops (Matt's a picky eater), we wandered around Walmart and Palais Royal some. And we played Lego Star Wars all together Wednesday night, which was really funny. And then Natalee and I drove Kara back to Conroe to meet Mom. Hopefully we'll get to see her again soon. With her working a full time job and a long-term boyfriend, we don't see much of each other nowadays.

Jennifer will be coming to visit this next week. I'm looking forward to it. And I'm feeling a lot better now, with just a little bit of a sore throat. Natalee should finish her antibiotics today. As long as Matt doesn't get sick in the meantime, we should all be well and ready for whatever when Jenn gets here, so at least one of my sisters won't have to play nursemaid during their visit.

Natalee's latest discovery has been her belly button. She walks around with her finger poked into it and will point towards yours, saying "Wazat?" even when your shirt's down. She points to everything and asks "Wazat?" It's a lot worse when she doesn't point and asks. Then we have to name everything within sight and hearing. And right now she's sitting on a bottle of nail polish, wiggling her butt, and saying "weeee, weeee, weeee." She's a stinker, but she's fun, and she's mine. :)

Strep Throat

Natalee has strep throat. Urgh. She started acting clingy and quiet Wednesday night, which tipped Matt off that something was wrong. She had a 102+ fever that lasted through to the next morning. So I cancelled a follow-up checkup with my doctor and got Natalee in to the pediatrician's yesterday. She's been acting fine for the most part, just cranky, but her throat swab came back positive for strep. Poor baby. She's on antibiotics now, and her fever's been gone for the most part, but she's still got a sore throat. The only way I know something is wrong is that she's so fussy, and she can't say what's bothering her. It's just a matter of dosing her with amoxicillin and painkillers when she gets really fussy and keeping her home and away from other kids. The keeping her home part stinks right now because this weekend our town is throwing a big carnival to celebrate it's 100th anniversary...and the carnival is just halfway down the street from us. She would have got a kick out of going to that. Oh well.