Mark 10:27

And Jesus looking upon them saith,

With men it is impossible, but not with God;

for with God all things are possible.

Something that I'm trying to remember on a daily basis.

Eating breakfast...does it help

I have been trying to eat better and been pretty good at it. With the exception of eating breakfast. I am not a breakfast eater. It is supposed to get your metabolism going and give you energy to get a running start to the day, right? going and give you energy to get a running start to the day, right?

Well, I ate breakfast this morning and I am doing everything that I can to stay awake. There is no extra energy zigging around in me. There is no burst of energy. There is no optimum alertness.

I think that it is a bit sham!
your truly snoozy...zzzzzzz

Recipe...Creamy Leek - Potato soup

I have had several people ask for the recipe for my soup. Here it is:

Ingredients:

4 medium leeks, white and light-green parts halved lengthwise, washed, and sliced thin (4 c.), dark-green parts halved, washed, and cut in 2" pieces
2 c. low sodium chicken broth
2 c. water
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped medium (1 c.)
table salt
1 small russet potato, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut in 1/4" thick slices
1 bay leaf
1 4" sprig of Thyme
1 large slice high quality sandwich bread, lightly toasted and torn into 1/2" pieces ground black pepper
Instructions:

1. bring dark-green leek pieces, broth, and water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; set aside. Discard solids in strainer and rinse out saucepan.

2. melt butter in now empty saucepan over medium-low heat. When butter foams, stir in sliced leeks, onion, and 1 tsp. salt. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.

3. increase heat to high, stir in reserved broth, potato, bay leaf, and herb sprig and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are tender (but not to soft), about 10 minutes. Add toasted bread and simmer until bread is completely saturated and starts to break down, about 5 minutes.

4. remove and discard bay leaf and herb sprig. Transfer half of soup to blender and process until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Return soup to saucepan and bring to simmer, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Optional: adding crisp bacon bits to the soup after processing is really good.

Creamy Leek - Potato soup

I am trying to find new items to put in our dinner rotation. We seem to be stagnent and keep having the same few dishes. So I have gotten out my recipe book and picking through them for the healthy, tasty and easy to prepare recipes.

I've love looking through my recipes that people have given me over the years. There are some really good dishes for dinner in amongst all the pages & pages of my recipe book.

Tonight I made a new dish from one of my favorite cooking magazines, Cook's Illustrated. I made Creamy Leek - Potato soup. Very low cal, one pot used, few ingredients and you don't have to stand there tending to it, all things which I really like in a recipe.

My kids even liked it! Yeah I have another new dish for the rotation. It doesn't hurt that I get the leftovers for lunch the next day.

FINALLY...OUR KIDS MATTER! Lawmakers reach agreements on key education bills

Lawmakers reach agreements on key education bills Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Mike.

oly src="http://www.educationvoters.org/~/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/students-oly.jpg" width=300 height=207>Parents, educators and students have a lot to celebrate this morning. On the final day of the 2010 legislative session, lawmakers reached agreements on key education bills.

Thank you to legislators and especially parents and education advocates who worked so hard on behalf of kids this legislative session.
Basic education funding bill

Lawmakers took the next step in implementing last year’s historic education reform bill (House Bill 2261) by approving the Quality Education Council’s recommendations in House Bill 2776. The legislation:
•Establishes a new and more transparent school funding formula;
•Lowers class sizes in kindergarten through third grade and increases funding to cover maintenance and operations costs; and
•Revises how the state pays for pupil transportation costs.

Thank you to Rep. Pat Sullivan, Rep. Marcie Maxwell and Rep. Skip Priest for your hard work to begin fully funding basic education.

Race to the Top reforms Washington is in a better position to win a $250 million federal Race to the Top grant thanks to the passage of Senate Bill 6696. The bill will also improve Washington’s public schools by:
•Adopting the State Board of Education’s guidelines on turning around consistently low-performing schools;
•Revising teacher evaluations and creating new principal evaluation criteria; and
•Expanding teacher preparation and recruitment pathways.

Thank you to Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, Sen. Eric Oemig and Sen. Curtis King for your work on this bill.

Early childhood education
Our state’s youngest learners received tremendous support from Olympia in House Bill 2731 and Senate Bill 6759. The bills reaffirm the state’s commitment to ensuring kids start kindergarten ready to succeed. The bills:
•Expand pre-school programs for three- and four-year olds across the state;
•Protect funding for early learning by making it a new state entitlement program; and
•Consider the establishment of a program of early learning in basic education.

Thank you to Rep. Roger Goodman, Sen. Claudia Kauffman and Rep. Ruth Kagi for being champions for kids.