Sure, you shake your head when you hear about some local eatery failing a health inspection. But could YOUR kitchen cut the mustard when it comes to the same kind of test? A new study indicates that one in seven home kitchens would flunk the kind of health inspection restaurants usually get. Want to find out if your home is cleaner than that of your typical ``greasy spoon?'' Take the test, which is posted on the website of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Food safety quiz:

It happens to everyone at some point....you get a gift you're not completely crazy about.  If you've been taught good manners you don't say anything to the gift giver, of course (I do know some who have, if you can imagine!)  Savvy gift givers will include a gift receipt so you can take it back and they don't have to know about it!
Another way to alleviate the whole gift exchange thing is to just give gift cards.  That solves it, right?  Well, yes....unless you get a gift card for a store where you don't want to shop.  Now, there is a solution!  If you ever receive a gift certificate for a store you don't like to shop at, you can exchange it at the web site www.certificateswap.com ....although if you have a gift certificate for a store that you really don't want to shop at, I'm not sure there are going to be people lined up to swap with you to give you their gift certificate for a really good store???
It's worth a shot anyway!    Happy shopping -- or swapping, whatever the case may be!

In one corner of your mind, there's the satisfaction of that trim, hard body you've built (or, let's be serious...that you're dreaming of!). In the other, there's the hamburger -- juicy, tasty, covered with a blanket of melted Cheddar. Or maybe your struggle is against nachos. Or crispy fish and chips. Or pizza. (Hard to believe there ever was a time when mankind could be seduced by an apple, isn't it?)

With a few easy tweaks, just about any food can be transformed into good stuff that satisfies your nutritional needs, your tastebuds, and even your nostalgic cravings.  So says the following article from MSN.ca, anyway.....let's call it Junk Food 'Light'


#1 - The Hamburger

What's so bad?: Ground beef is shot through with fat, and that white-bread bun offers little but rapidly digested simple sugars.

Make it better: Start with extra-lean ground beef -- if you don't overcook it, it'll taste great. Chop up some onions and thawed frozen spinach and mix them into the beef. The vegetables add vitamins and replace some of the moisture lost when you switched to leaner ground beef. Better yet, build those burgers with grass-fed beef or lean ground buffalo, at roughly 4 grams (g) of fat per 4 ounces. Researchers at Purdue University found that wild game and grass-fed meats have higher levels of good-for-the-brain and good-for-the-heart omega-3 fatty acids. Top it all off with a whole-wheat bun for some fibre.

You lose: 6 g saturated fat
You gain: Allicin, 47 micrograms (mcg) beta-carotene, 5 g fibre


#2 - Breakfast Sausage and Egg Biscuit

What's so bad?: The sausage patty is fatty (about 10 g per puck), and the biscuit is nearly devoid of nutrition yet contains 8 g fat.

Make it better: Do this yourself -- it takes 3 minutes, about the time you'd sit in the drive-thru lane. Beat an egg in a small bowl and nuke it for 1 to 2 minutes. Top it with warmed-up Canadian bacon (aka peameal bacon) -- a great precooked source of lean protein with only 2 g fat -- and slide it into a whole-wheat English muffin. And have it with a glass of grapefruit juice (good luck finding that at McDonald's) instead of OJ. Drinking grapefruit juice before a meal helps decrease insulin levels and promote weight loss, according to research from the Scripps Clinic in San Diego.

You lose: 4 g saturated fat
You gain: 6 g protein, 4 g fibre, 94 milligrams (mg) vitamin C


#3 - The Grilled Cheese Sandwich

 What's so bad?: The 18 g saturated fat you take in from the butter and slabs of oily cheese. And the white bread is pointless.

Make it better: Use whole-wheat bread with part-skim mozzarella in between. Crisp it in a skillet moistened with a little olive oil. Losing the finger-licking buttery bliss is worth it. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that an olive oil-rich diet can drop your chances of dying of cancer or heart disease by 23 percent. To protect your prostate, add a couple of lycopene-packed tomato slices. Likely to work late? Throw in a slice or two of lean ham. That will jack up the protein count, keeping your appetite in check.

You lose: 10 g saturated fat
You gain: 11 g protein, 5 g fibre, 1,000 mcg lycopene


#4 - Pizza

What's so bad?: Oil-pooling pepperoni, to start. Then a huge calorie count that comes mainly from simple carbs and saturated fat.

Make it better: Opt for a thin crust (fewer refined-flour carbs), use half the cheese, and replace the pepperoni or sausage with chicken breast, a lean protein that has just 1 g fat per ounce. A little barbecue sauce is okay. Great, in fact. The chicken gives you more muscle-building protein and a ratio of protein to fat that better satisfies the appetite. Add some sliced onions and peppers to rack up a little fibre and some immune-boosting allicin.

You lose: 10 g saturated fat
You gain: Allicin, fibre, twice the protein


#5 - Nachos

What's so bad?: Just 13 ordinary corn chips contains 120 calories and 6 g fat, and you haven't yet ladled on the electric-orange cheese product, the greasy spiced hamburger mixture, or the sour cream. Do that and you're hoisting 26 g saturated fat into your mouth. Add thirst-inducing pickled jalapeño-pepper slices and you're getting a day's worth of sodium in this 1,129-calorie pile.

Make it better: Start with baked corn chips (less fat), add cooked pinto beans for fibre, and use reduced-fat sharp Cheddar and lean ground round. Top with cancer-fighting diced tomatoes (for lycopene) and diced fresh jalapeño pepper -- it has no added salt but still delivers plenty of kick. The whole concoction is leaner, tastier, and way better for you. Go ahead, have some more.

You lose: 677 calories, 22 g saturated fat, 2,500 mg sodium
You gain: 14 g fibre, 2,300 mcg lycopene


#7 - Fish and Chips

What's so bad?: There's fat everywhere -- the breaded and fried fish, the greasy potatoes, and the creamy coleslaw.

Make it better: You love the crunchy crispiness, right? Try pan-seared salmon -- it'll crisp up real nice -- for a healthy dose of cholesterol-lowering omega-3 fats and a potential brain boost. A new UCLA study on mice suggests that DHA, one of the fats found in high levels in fish like salmon, helps repair memory damage caused by Alzheimer's disease. Roasted potato wedges sprayed with a little olive oil are infinitely better than fat-soaked fried "chips." Grab a bag of finely chopped coleslaw makings at the grocery store and use either low-fat mayonnaise or, better yet, a tangy vinegar-and-oil dressing.

You lose: 8 g saturated fat
You gain: 4 g omega-3 fats

 Mmm-mmmm......Bon appetit! 

All year your kids dream about summer holidays. They reminisce how perfectly idyllic it will be with no school, no homework, no piano lessons. How amazing it will be to hang around with friends all day, to stay up late, to wake up whenever.
But then, inevitably, the "boredom" word gets dropped. And you, dear parent, must deal with it. 

Obviously, your kids need the circus to come to town or an alien spacecraft to land in your yard. They're looking for something -anything - to happen. They need diversion, a project, a mission. Your kids need to dig their teeth into something cool, different and just a little crazy. A family day trip or little backyard science experimentation might make all the difference between borrrring and totally awesome!

While I have never advocated the position that parents must entertain their children every day, all summer long (I remember we used to have to use our imaginations, all by ourselves!), it is cool when they think you're cool for offering up something fun and different.

Try some of these boredom-busters ('borrowed' with thanks from SimplyHomemade.ca) :

•A backyard camp-out. Pitch a tent in the yard and spend a night under the stars. For kids who have never slept outside before, this can be a good way to ease into camping without ever leaving home. Cook hot dogs over a small fire (if permitted in your area) or cook dinner on the barbecue. Don't forget the marshmallows and the spooky stories before bed. Parental supervision is definitely required.

•Be a day-tripper. It's amazing how many of us have never been to tourist sites right around where we live. Choose a place to visit - it could be Niagara Falls, the Vancouver Aquarium or Old Montreal. Get in the car and spend the day exploring like a tourist. Walk around, eat out, buy a souvenir, and get home in time for bed. Feels like a real vacation!

•Make a time capsule. Fill a sturdy, waterproof container (a large coffee can with a lid works) with items of special significance in some way or other. Could be a copy of a local newspaper, a family photo, a seashell from the beach or a movie ticket stub. Whatever. Tightly seal the can using duct tape or other waterproof tape to keep moisture out and bury it in the back yard or hide it in the deepest recesses of a closet. Don't forget where you put it. Do not open it until next summer. No peeking, no cheating.

•Set up a photo booth. All you need is a digital camera and a bunch of crazy hats, glasses, tiaras and other costume silliness. Hang a white sheet as a backdrop for the photos and let your kids take oodles of portraits - of themselves, friends and family - wearing all sorts of weird and wonderful things. A tripod is helpful, but not necessary. Have the photos printed and put them up for all to see. Who knew you looked so fetching in a purple boa?

•Transform your kitchen into a culinary camp. Kids will be thrilled when they're some time in the kitchen. Ice cream pies and cakes are easy and delicious. No-bake treats are another kid-pleasing, don't-heat-up-the-kitchen idea. With your help, kids can also blend up smoothies, shake up salad dressings and knead pizza dough for the barbecue.

And if none of these seem to do the trick, remind them there are always lots of chores they could be doing instead! 

Do you write like your mom?  I do...kind of.  I always find that our parents have better penmanship than we do.  Why is that?

But if you were a novelist, who would you write like?  Could your writing be mistaken for that of Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro or perhaps Oscar Wilde?
Check out this web site to see which famous author you most closely emulate:  I Write Like...

Apparently, some of my blog writing could be mistaken for Arthur C. Clarke -- great for me, but perhaps a bit of a shot to the ego for him!  LOL (I'd be willing to bet Arthur never wrote LOL...)

Happy writing!

How much fun would this be?  You're a famous singer and for fun you dress up like a slightly mousey business woman, out for a night with your 'convention' buddies at the local karaoke bar.  Of course, you eventually get forced by your friends to sing a song (which just happens to be something you yourself made famous) and, as the saying goes, the crowd goes wild!

Some of the best parts of this video are the little interviews with some of the other bar patrons.  And I think it's safe to say that Jewel shone brightly through her alter ego, Karen.  A great time was had by all!

Watch the Diamond In the Rough from FunnyOrDie.com

They are some of the people you hear about every day in celebrity news, both legit and tabloid versions.  They have celebrity status of some kind, talent, power or influence and  -- often -- a lot of business savvy!  They are the Forbes Celebrity 100.....

And yes, they're richer than we are.    But remember, money can't buy happiness. (It can, however, buy a really nice yacht in which to pull up alongside it!)

Enjoy your own riches, whatever they may be! 

I wish I could say I wrote this article....but alas, I barely have time to read an article these days!  But it has some invaluable advice for the younger set -- and the rest of us could probably benefit from some of these, even at this late date.

Enjoy! 

What I wish I knew....

Dads do soooooo much, and rarely with complaint.  So be sure to think about that this Father's Day (and every other day, too!)  They are perhaps the unsung hero of a child's life....and usually their child's biggest fan, even if some of them do it more quietly than others.  So in honour of Dads everywhere, I give you "How to do Father's Day...."
(I found this on SimplyHomemade.ca and thought the kids could definitely use it)

Happy Father's Day!!!


How to do Father's Day - A Step by Step Guide for Kids

1.  Do. Not. Wake. Dad. Up. Unless the house is on fire or there's a live tarantula in the bathtub - he must be allowed to sleep as late as he wants. No whispering noisily outside the bedroom door either.

2.  Breakfast. And we're talking breakfast here - not brunch (which has a definite Mother's Day vibe). Must include any (or all) of the following items: eggs, bacon, sausages, home-fried potatoes, pancakes, bagels, muffins, orange juice and excellent coffee. Get Mom to help with this.

3.  Gifts. This is one of those times when it really is the thought that counts. Dad will appreciate a macaroni-covered pencil holder just as much as an expensive new tie. More, actually. Of course, if you're in a position to buy him a brand new sports car, go right ahead. He'll like that too.

4.  The Day. For one day a year, Dad must be allowed to do whatever he wants - whether it's sitting in front of the television and watching old sports videos or spending the whole day on his riding mower - it's ok. Don't bother him except to occasionally offer him food or beverages. Preferably both.

5.  A Nap. Being the busy guy that he usually is, Dad may not actually think of taking an afternoon nap. We guarantee, however, that it won't take much to persuade him that this is a good idea. A hammock in the shade or the living room couch are both excellent places for a Father's Day nap. Suggest this.

6.  Dinner. Unless you are a vegetarian family (in which case, please read no further) there is only one option: meat. Oh, and potatoes too. But meat, mainly. If you feel that you must serve a vegetable of some sort, pickles would be the way to go. A nice steak - grilled to perfection - is what he really wants. Trust us.

7.  Dessert. Pie or cake. Or both. Homemade, if you're so inclined, or store-bought. Serve some ice cream on the side and you've hit a home run. Nothing else is required.

8.  The Evening. Let Dad tuck you into bed. Ask him to tell you that story about his dog and the mailman. Again. Even if you've heard it a million times. And then, just before you go to sleep, make sure you wish him a Happy Father's Day. And don't forget the hug.

So you're having a good hair day (hey - it happens sometimes!)  My suggestion would be to take a couple of really cool shots of your beautiful 'do and upload them to the link below.  You can be a Dove hair star!  I did it, but in my inimitable, technologically-challenged fashion, I didn't save the link to share it with you.....but I will give you a tip.  Upload several pics.  I chose about 5 or 6, but I think you could use more than that.  You can even link it to Facebook which will randomly pick some shots for you!  The lazy among us (aka Julie B.) will love it!!

Let's see if I can do it again.  The trick will be figuring out how to get it on here so you can see it....wish me luck (or at least a computer geek to help me! LOL)



Star in your own Dove commercial!