Eczema Experiment

Start of a new, crazy guinea pig experiment on myself... I'm wondering if there's a correlation between diet and my seasonal eczema which appeared to be held in check, if not cured, by the liberal use of knee socks last year. As a result, I've resolved to go bare (non-sock-clad) legged this year and see what happens. Unfortunately, up until the past few days, the weather has been too mild and uncooperative (development of the condition usually coincides with the arrival of cold, dry air). Now! It has finally gone cold and dry for a spell, so we shall see what happens. : ) *crosses fingers *

Pittsburgh Steak Salad

SO I needed something QUICK and easy and really good last night for dinner. Here you go:


Pittsburgh Steak Salad

• 3 thin cut NY Strip Steaks


• Ore-Ida Crinkle Cut Fries


• Cherry Tomatoes


• 1 small onion (sliced)


• 2 medium/small carrots shredded


• 1 Pkg Baby Spinach


• 1 pkg mixed spring greens or Spinach/Red Lettuce Combo


• shredded Provolone Cheese


• Minced Garlic ~3 or 4 cloves


• Garlic Powder


• Onion Salt


• Northwoods Seasoning


• Chili Power


• Sauteing oil of choice (coconut or olive or butter) (~ 1 Tbs)


• Ranch Dressing

Serves: 4

I threw half the bag of Fries in a baking pan, and sprinkled liberally with Onion Powder, Garlic Powder and Chili Powder & set it to bake according to directions. Next, I sliced the steaks into thin strips and tossed the pieces in Northwoods Seasoning, Garlic powder and Onion Salt. Meanwhile, I had the minced garlic sauteeing in the oil. Then I tossed the steak bits into the sauteing garlic & oil and browned all sides, careful not to overcook. The salad was assembled by mixing the spinach and mixed greens on 4 plates, adding onions, shredded carrot, and cherry tomatoes. Lastly, top with steak bits, fries, and shredded cheese. Add Ranch dressing to taste. You can probably just prepare the fries and steak without all the extra spices, but what fun would that be? Total time was probably about 30 mins. Enjoy!

Going Gaga

Dang! You know, I don't know if I like her music, and I don't care if someone loves her music or hates her music, or thinks she's crazy, or what.... but one has to admit that Lady Gaga has spunk and guts. I'm betting, if you met her, that she's an incredibly intelligent woman who knows how to "work the system" and has a flawless marketing campaign. I hadn't really paid much attention until recently when I read an article about her beginnings and then just today when I saw this MSNBC SlideShow "Fashion gone Gaga". Regardless of how you feel about her or her music, you really just have to respect how well she knows the system and the effort she puts in for a full production at every moment. Wow! Hope she doesn't burn out. I probably would.

Lemons = Lemonade

Maybe I'm just rationalizing and sugar coating things to make myself feel better, but we've just recently had a life reorganization and one instantaneous impact is that it's forcing me to fulfill my Samhain resolution of "drastically reducing my soda intake". That being that I've gone straight to no soda at ALL. Cool. Not as hard as I had imagined. I've also gone back to drinking tea as a healthful flavored alternative to water. My head is less fuzzy & I'm concentrating better, so.... : ) Yeah, it's all good.