Five Brown Kids

5 oz rotini or other pasta 4 oz snow peas 1/2 cup sliced carrots 1/4 cup rice vinegar 3 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp oil 3 oz package oriental ramen noodles 3/4 lb thinly sliced pork 2 slices red onion 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted 1. Add peas and carrots to last two minutes of boiling pasta 2. Combine vinegar, sugar, oil and ramen seasoning packet and whisk. 3. Cook pork in a frying pan and then slice. 4. Combine rotini , vegetables , pork and onion. Pour dressing over. 5. Just before serving break ramen noodles into pieces. Add ramen and sesame seeds to salad. Toss and serve. Delicious!

There is nothing I can do about the sad looking piece of chicken but the sauce on rice is fantastic.  Thanks Carleen! 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup mustard 1/4 butter 1 tsp curry 1 tsp salt 4-6 chicken breasts/tenders Combine in a saucepan: honey, mustard, butter, curry and salt. Pour half of the sauce over chicken breasts in a baking dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Use remaining sauce over rice. I tried two new recipes this week and they aren't likely to get made again. But this honey curry is great.  Everyone likes it!

You'll notice the thermostat smack in the middle. That necessitated a display of smaller pictures instead of one big one. I think it fits in great.

For service we picked up garbage along our greenway, then later in the evening attended a gospel concert to hear the Martin Luther King All Children's Choir sing. They rock. The iphone has no zoom but at least you can enjoy the music.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?    Martin Luther King Jr.  Words are never enough, but my little Brown family thanks all of those who climbed the mountain and paved our path. Last year.

This recipe is from Tyrone's Mom and it is fabulous. She is an expert at making it so there is probably no chance that yours will look as good as hers - but it should taste great! 1 Box Vanilla Wafers 4 or 5 bananas 1 large & 1 small box Jell-o Instant Banana Pudding 1 small sour cream 2 (8 oz) cool whip 3 cups milk Pour milk into large bowl, add pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk until well blended. Fold one cool whip (8 oz) and sour cream into pudding mixture. Arrange wafers on bottom of serving bowl. Cover with a layer of banana slices and pudding. Repeat layers - wafers, pudding, bananas. Top with one cool whip (8 oz) and a few crumbled cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

If I'd known I was going to be dealing with stuff like this for the next 20 years I would have majored in chemistry and minored in textiles. But thank goodness I didn't. Those three years of real work (for pay!) at Novell were heavenly! (I should have labeled these specimens - this one is "crazy tackle football in the backyardous") .   This one is "soaker in the streamous" and its accompanying shoes sat on the front porch until Tryone could clean them. I don't plunge toilets or clean dirty shoes.

This book tells the true story of a poor kid in Malawi who survives a famine, and then when there is no money to continue his schooling, reads old textbooks to try and keep up. He finds one with some diagrams of a windmill, and fashions his own out of junk parts to power a lightbulb in his thatched roof hut. A journalist catches wind of it, someone posts it on a technology blog and the rest as they say is history. He flies on a plane! to a conference, to see some sights in America and ends up in one of the best schools in Africa. His family is blessed too but you'll just have to read to find out. It's not as good as a real humanitarian trip but it will definatly get your kids thinking. I think it would be best understood by kids 11 and up but my 8 and 6 year old couldn't get enough. I read ahead, so knew to skip the few pages discussing AIDS, and to skim over a few heavier parts. Don't miss it.

This isn't your typical chicken casserole! 3 cups shredded or diced chicken (leftover, rotisserie, boiled chicken breasts, whatever) 1 large head of broccoli chopped and steamed Sauce: 1 can cream of chicken 1 cup cottage cheese 2 big tbsp mayonnaise 1 tbsp curry In a large casserole dish layer half the sauce, all the chicken, all the broccoli and cover with remaining sauce. Cook at 350 for 30 mins . We always eat this with cous - cous .

Just a photo of us in the back yard of Uncle Paul's house in upstate New York (1984). Dad comes from a wonderful, smart and resourceful family. And it showed...

We are heading back to school! Tyrone will be completing his Masters Degree in Nurse Anesthesia. We start in August. And I say we because while Tyrone will be taking courses and working at clinical I will be managing all the child care, house care and budgeting. Wish us luck!

We joined the Fosters for a little celebration. Dined on collard greens and black eyes peas to bring us good luck, and tossed little poppers out the front door so the kids could have "fireworks". It was a great evening. At one point the adults were sitting in the dining room watching all six kids run laps when we noticed a pileup happening...even Scotia jumped on! No one got hurt! The Fosters large house handles the commotion of six happy kids much better than ours. Stay posted for some happy new year news from the Browns!

This is a supper Tyrone and the kids love. And it's super fast - perfect for when you have to throw something together in a hurry. For us it's five layers, and it would just be three if "they" had their way. 1 can refried beans queso or sour cream 1 lb hamburger, browned 1 package taco seasoning sliced lettuce and tomato First I brown the hamburger and mix with taco seasoning. I spread the beans on the bottom of a square pryex dish and warm them. Then add a layer of queso and warm some more. Then I add the hamburger on top and cover with lettuce and tomato. If I don't have queso I use sour cream in the middle (no warming) and then sprinkle some cheese on top of the hamburger. Serve with a big bowl of tortilla chips. If you're the mom - you can crunch up some chips in a bowl, spoon on a bit of the layer dish and then top with lots of lettuce, tomatoe and taco sauce. It's makes a great taco salad.