My friend Jen is a culinary genius. This is her Taco Cracker Spread recipe:
It is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
Ingredients:
1lb Ground Beef (or turkey is yummy too!)
1 Sachet of Taco Seasoning
1 Can Fat Free Refried Beans
8oz Light Sour Cream
5 1/2 oz Light Cream Cheese
Taco Sauce
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Chilli Powder to garnish
1st Layer:Brown 1 pound ground beef (and hot pepper if want)
Drain, add taco seasoning (NO WATER)
Add can refried beans
Mix together and cool in 11X9 inch pan
2nd Layer:8 oz. sour cream and 5 1/2 oz cream cheese, mixed
3rd Layer:Taco Sauce
4th Layer:Shredded cheddar cheese
Chili powder on top
Serve with Ritz crackers
(You can add Onion and Jalepenos to the Refried Beans for an extra kick)
This is one of the best appetizers I have EVER had!!
So yummy!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Jefferson Parish Efforts
It seems that the State of Louisiana has one of the highest rates of high school drop-outs among it’s pupils. The majority of these ‘drop-outs’ occur when students fail their freshman year. The reasons given for these students dropping out ranges from the general problems teenagers face and also school issue can be a factor too. If these problems can be solved before the freshman year finishes, students are much more likely to finish high school.
Jefferson Parish has been conducting a scheme to try and keep high school students in class for the last two years. Students who fail classes are given the opportunity to make up the credits on computer based classes after school or during study hall. It seems that the school district is succeeding in keeping their students.
All students don’t learn in the same way. Many cannot do well in ‘lecture’ settings where they must take notes as a teacher speaks. These students are being given other opportunities to succeed in their school careers by taking a different kind of class. The ‘computer labs’ are overseen by a teacher and at the end of the course, the students take a nationally devised test.
These may also bring to educators attentions the fact that not all students are meant to go to college. We should be encouraging our students to achieve academic excellence, but this does not necessarily have to take place in a university. Many local vocational colleges are popping up which provide courses in plumbing, construction trades, cosmetology, massage therapy and many health care positions. Students can learn a ‘trade’ and be employable as soon as they graduate.
Teaching our children that working for the things we need or want not only builds character but gives us a sense of achievement. These courses can produce positive, productive members of society who contribute to the community rather than become a nuisance.
Jefferson Parish has been conducting a scheme to try and keep high school students in class for the last two years. Students who fail classes are given the opportunity to make up the credits on computer based classes after school or during study hall. It seems that the school district is succeeding in keeping their students.
All students don’t learn in the same way. Many cannot do well in ‘lecture’ settings where they must take notes as a teacher speaks. These students are being given other opportunities to succeed in their school careers by taking a different kind of class. The ‘computer labs’ are overseen by a teacher and at the end of the course, the students take a nationally devised test.
These may also bring to educators attentions the fact that not all students are meant to go to college. We should be encouraging our students to achieve academic excellence, but this does not necessarily have to take place in a university. Many local vocational colleges are popping up which provide courses in plumbing, construction trades, cosmetology, massage therapy and many health care positions. Students can learn a ‘trade’ and be employable as soon as they graduate.
Teaching our children that working for the things we need or want not only builds character but gives us a sense of achievement. These courses can produce positive, productive members of society who contribute to the community rather than become a nuisance.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
French Quarter Murder
There are so many out there who feel that New Orleans is a lost cause. If you read the comments at the end of each news item, many, many of the writers suggest you move out of the city. It is so sad.
Over the last few days though, I have come to the conclusion that New Orleans really is not a lost cause. The reason I know this is because the murder of Wendy Byrne in the French Quarter has caused such an outcry. You cannot look anywhere on New Orleans websites and not see it displayed prominently. People are upset. People are shocked and people are angry.
These are not reactions of people who feel there is nothing left in New Orleans. If this were the case, there would be no reaction. People wouldn't say anything. They would carry on with their lives and not be shocked by it. But they are. There is still life in New Orleans. The reaction to Wendy Byrne's murder proves this.
Over the last few days though, I have come to the conclusion that New Orleans really is not a lost cause. The reason I know this is because the murder of Wendy Byrne in the French Quarter has caused such an outcry. You cannot look anywhere on New Orleans websites and not see it displayed prominently. People are upset. People are shocked and people are angry.
These are not reactions of people who feel there is nothing left in New Orleans. If this were the case, there would be no reaction. People wouldn't say anything. They would carry on with their lives and not be shocked by it. But they are. There is still life in New Orleans. The reaction to Wendy Byrne's murder proves this.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Katrina and the Future of New Orleans
Last week I took a tour of http://www.whitehouse.gov/. I have been on the site before, researching former First Ladies and Presidents. There were a few tours of the various offices in the white house made by the then President George W. Bush and some pictures of the Laura Bush showing off the White House some Christmas a million years ago. I had seen these features a couple of years ago and was surprised they were still up.
Today I visited www.whitehouse.gov and things have certainly changed. President Obama has updated the site and has taken the time to write down exactly how he feels on each issue and how he will reform them.
The President, under ’Additional Issues’, conveys exactly how he feels about former President Bush’s failures concerning Katrina and how it was handled. Below is the text written on the website:
Katrina
President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.
President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration's "unconscionable ineptitude" in responding to Hurricane Katrina, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims. Obama visited thousands of Hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center and later took three more trips to the region. He worked with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce legislation to address the immediate income, employment, business, and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities.
President Barack Obama will partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever.
The President categorically says that he ‘will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast’.
During Hurricane Katrina, my husband and I were in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. We lost power almost immediately and with it air conditioning and water. Our cell phones didn’t work and we were basically miserable with the August heat. Like many of our neighbors we had underestimated the hurricane. I had already been through at least one ‘hurricane’ in Hattiesburg and it was a lot of fuss about nothing. This made me complacent. I will never again be complacent about a hurricane.
We stayed one night after the hurricane and due to over-heating and lack of water we decided to try and make it to Missouri where my husbands family live.
Making this decision was a gamble. We had ¾ of a tank of gas and there was none in the state of Mississippi to replenish us when we ran out. We were just hoping that when we got into to northern Louisiana they would have electricity and therefore gas. Luckily we found gas stations in Tallulah, Louisiana.
When we arrived at my In-laws, we both took showers and slept for about 12 hours. When we awoke we decided to go and watch the news. Looking back on it, it seemed so unfair that up in Missouri we were able to watch on T.V. exactly what was happening in Louisiana and Mississippi and they were completely unaware. We were saved from two weeks of no power or water or food. They were not so lucky.
We watched as people sat on roofs next to bed sheets with the words, ‘Help Us!! The Water is Rising’. We watched them look up at the helicopters and wonder why they were not being helped? It looked like they were in Africa, or India or somewhere in the developing world. It did not look like America.
President Bush claimed in an interview last week with CNN that he was proud of the way the Coast Guard and Law Enforcement had reacted after Katrina. He said they were out immediately rescuing people off roofs. He is right, they were. That had little or nothing to do with him though.
I saw pictures of old people slumped against walls or floating in river water. For them the Coast Guard was too late. And to me, even one death meant the response was not fast enough.
People say, “Why didn’t they evacuate when they could have, there were buses all over the city to take them to Houston, or the Superdome?”
Would you leave everything in the world that you had? Not knowing if it would be stolen while you were gone? It’s not an excuse but it’s my way of understanding. There are people all over America who would NEVER leave their homes, no matter the emergency.
Now we need to focus on rebuilding. There is a man in my neighborhood who rides around with a bumper sticker saying “Rebuild New Orleans, not Iraq”. It seems crazy. We are spending millions of dollars in Iraq every week when we could be spending that money to help pull the poorest residents in the ninth ward out of poverty. These are Americans right? The constitution is here to protect us. But what weapon do we have to protect us from a President with a warped sense of right and wrong?
I find it hard to sleep at night knowing there are children in New Orleans who aren’t getting the food they need or the basic educational skills they require because the funding is only slowly trickling in.
President Obama is right. We all need to help. We all have a responsibility to help rebuild New Orleans and our economy. Think of something you can do. Don’t delay, think right now. Something. Anything.
Help them.
Scott's Lasagna Recipe Cajun Style
This is a recipe originally from The River Road Recipe Book, out of Baton Rouge. The book was first published by the Junior League of Baton Rouge in September of 1959. Many of the recipes call for ingredients I had never heard of but my mother in law, having been a Louisiana resident for about 20 years, enlightened me.
So far I have made four recipes from River Road and they have all turned out really well. I have, however, modified all the recipes. This has been for a few reasons. Some recipes, I felt, needed more vegetables, more cayenne pepper, less salt, less shortening (lard)-you get the idea. I’m trying to make food as authentically Louisianan as possible without all the fat that generally goes with them.
Here is the ingredient list and prep. for Scott’s Lasagna: (I named is after my husband who loves it!!)
Tomato sauce:
1lb Ground Beef
1 Clove of Garlic
1 t-spoon fresh Parsley
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 ½ t-spoons of Salt (I use the salt free alternative but any salt will do!!)
3 small Tomatoes chopped
2 6oz cans of Tomato Paste
1 medium Red Onion
1 green Bell Pepper
1 ½ T-spoon Cayenne Pepper (less or more depending on how spicy you want it)
1 Jalapeno (optional)
Cheese mixture:
1 6oz carton of Ricotta Cheese
1 6oz carton Cottage Cheese (large curd)
2 beaten Eggs
½ T-spoon of Salt
½ T-spoon of pepper
2 Tablespoons fresh Parsley chopped
Topping between layers:
1lb Skim Mozzarella Cheese (cut into thin slices)
1 tub Parmesan Cheese
1 10 oz package lasagna pasta that does not require pre-boiling
Brown meat in skillet. Drain then place in French Oven or crock pot. Add all tomato sauce ingredients.
Simmer uncovered for 2 hours or until sauce is thick.
**(If you have purchased lasagna pasta that has to be cooked before baking, do so per package instructions.(Once pasta is cooked run under cold tap to cool)**
Combine ingredients for cheese mixture.
Place thin layer of tomato sauce at bottom of 13”x9”x2” pan. On top cover with pasta. Place layer of cheese mixture. Place layer of Mozzarella cheese on top. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top of that. Repeat layers.
Cover with baking foil.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove baking foil and continue baking for 10 mins unil top is brown (how brown you want the top to be is of personal taste, so if you want it crispier take the foil off sooner and for less crispy, leave the foil on longer)
Serves 6-8
Yum.
So far I have made four recipes from River Road and they have all turned out really well. I have, however, modified all the recipes. This has been for a few reasons. Some recipes, I felt, needed more vegetables, more cayenne pepper, less salt, less shortening (lard)-you get the idea. I’m trying to make food as authentically Louisianan as possible without all the fat that generally goes with them.
Here is the ingredient list and prep. for Scott’s Lasagna: (I named is after my husband who loves it!!)
Tomato sauce:
1lb Ground Beef
1 Clove of Garlic
1 t-spoon fresh Parsley
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 ½ t-spoons of Salt (I use the salt free alternative but any salt will do!!)
3 small Tomatoes chopped
2 6oz cans of Tomato Paste
1 medium Red Onion
1 green Bell Pepper
1 ½ T-spoon Cayenne Pepper (less or more depending on how spicy you want it)
1 Jalapeno (optional)
Cheese mixture:
1 6oz carton of Ricotta Cheese
1 6oz carton Cottage Cheese (large curd)
2 beaten Eggs
½ T-spoon of Salt
½ T-spoon of pepper
2 Tablespoons fresh Parsley chopped
Topping between layers:
1lb Skim Mozzarella Cheese (cut into thin slices)
1 tub Parmesan Cheese
1 10 oz package lasagna pasta that does not require pre-boiling
Brown meat in skillet. Drain then place in French Oven or crock pot. Add all tomato sauce ingredients.
Simmer uncovered for 2 hours or until sauce is thick.
**(If you have purchased lasagna pasta that has to be cooked before baking, do so per package instructions.(Once pasta is cooked run under cold tap to cool)**
Combine ingredients for cheese mixture.
Place thin layer of tomato sauce at bottom of 13”x9”x2” pan. On top cover with pasta. Place layer of cheese mixture. Place layer of Mozzarella cheese on top. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top of that. Repeat layers.
Cover with baking foil.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove baking foil and continue baking for 10 mins unil top is brown (how brown you want the top to be is of personal taste, so if you want it crispier take the foil off sooner and for less crispy, leave the foil on longer)
Serves 6-8
Yum.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Two boys arrested for French Quarter murder.
Further from my post this morning, it seems the two boys who committed the senseless murder in the French Quarter on Saturday night have turned themselves in to the New Orleans Police Department. It is said that their own mothers recognized their mug shots but does not say if they turned their sons in, or if the teens turned themselves in. It is odd that my thoughts of the crime centered on what their mothers must think of the situation, and then to be so prominently mentioned in their arrest. Maybe there is hope for New Orleans after all. There must have been mistakes made in their childhoods but it seems that their mothers are indeed able to co-operate with the laws of the land.
Perhaps education is the answer after all. Maybe parents aren't able to 'control' or 'guide' their children, even if they try.
I think we need to figure out a way to educate children early on with not just Maths and English but with life lessons, and ways to feel like they have achieved something.
Whatever happens, something needs to be done and quickly as New Orleans is descending into a city no one will want to live in, or indeed visit with their tourist dollars.
Perhaps education is the answer after all. Maybe parents aren't able to 'control' or 'guide' their children, even if they try.
I think we need to figure out a way to educate children early on with not just Maths and English but with life lessons, and ways to feel like they have achieved something.
Whatever happens, something needs to be done and quickly as New Orleans is descending into a city no one will want to live in, or indeed visit with their tourist dollars.
Crime in New Orleans
What can be done about crime in New Orleans right now? Everything I read in the Times Picayune makes me feel like things are getting out of control.
There was an armed robbery in the French Quarter this weekend. A local woman was walking to a car and was accosted by two youths who demanded money. Within seconds the woman had been shot in the torso. She was taken to University Hospital but she died there, police said.
I have no idea how New Orleans is supposed to approach this problem, let alone solve it. How can one react to this kind of thing. Shock? Anger? All these reactions are natural but isn't it time was had a better reaction? Some way of curtailing this terrible road that New Orleans is on?
Why is New Orleans such a dangerous place? Why are there so many people who feel like they can live their lives stealing from others, weilding guns and shooting innocent people? Why has that become so normal and accepted? I wonder, please tell me.
What do the criminals mothers feel? Are they uncaring, uneducated, scum? Do they care if their sons spend their lives in crime? Did they receive the example from family members? Is this a problem generations old?
What is the solution? How can this be solved? Is education the answer? I asked my husband why he thinks people steal, sell drugs and behave in many criminal ways? He said quite simply, "Because it is quick." Not easy, but quick. Lets not confuse those two words. Does it really come down to speed? If I rob this woman in the Quarter, I may walk away $20 richer. It will take, from start to finish, probably 20 seconds to complete the whole operation. $20 for 20 seconds work. Of course, the spoils couold be even higher, depending on how thick her wallet is.
I wonder if these men have ever been involved in any activity in their entire lives where they have acheived something and it did not cost anything? Helping an elderly lady with her shopping? Studying for a test and getting an A? Painting a garage door and admiring it afterward? I wonder if their problems really stem from never acheiving anything and never feeling that wonderful feeling of acheivement.
Barack Obama said in his inaugural speech that parents should take the time to nuture their children. Does this have to be asked of parents? To take the time to nurture their own children? To read with them, to bake cookies together, to attend a sports game together, in short to do something positive together. Are our children even deprived of these small, insignificant activites with parents, that really are character forming and remembered always? And ultimately very significant.
Maybe all is lost? How can we teach parents to love and give time to their children? Does that come from education?
I am almost at a loss of how human nature has become so dire. How do we change things?
There was an armed robbery in the French Quarter this weekend. A local woman was walking to a car and was accosted by two youths who demanded money. Within seconds the woman had been shot in the torso. She was taken to University Hospital but she died there, police said.
I have no idea how New Orleans is supposed to approach this problem, let alone solve it. How can one react to this kind of thing. Shock? Anger? All these reactions are natural but isn't it time was had a better reaction? Some way of curtailing this terrible road that New Orleans is on?
Why is New Orleans such a dangerous place? Why are there so many people who feel like they can live their lives stealing from others, weilding guns and shooting innocent people? Why has that become so normal and accepted? I wonder, please tell me.
What do the criminals mothers feel? Are they uncaring, uneducated, scum? Do they care if their sons spend their lives in crime? Did they receive the example from family members? Is this a problem generations old?
What is the solution? How can this be solved? Is education the answer? I asked my husband why he thinks people steal, sell drugs and behave in many criminal ways? He said quite simply, "Because it is quick." Not easy, but quick. Lets not confuse those two words. Does it really come down to speed? If I rob this woman in the Quarter, I may walk away $20 richer. It will take, from start to finish, probably 20 seconds to complete the whole operation. $20 for 20 seconds work. Of course, the spoils couold be even higher, depending on how thick her wallet is.
I wonder if these men have ever been involved in any activity in their entire lives where they have acheived something and it did not cost anything? Helping an elderly lady with her shopping? Studying for a test and getting an A? Painting a garage door and admiring it afterward? I wonder if their problems really stem from never acheiving anything and never feeling that wonderful feeling of acheivement.
Barack Obama said in his inaugural speech that parents should take the time to nuture their children. Does this have to be asked of parents? To take the time to nurture their own children? To read with them, to bake cookies together, to attend a sports game together, in short to do something positive together. Are our children even deprived of these small, insignificant activites with parents, that really are character forming and remembered always? And ultimately very significant.
Maybe all is lost? How can we teach parents to love and give time to their children? Does that come from education?
I am almost at a loss of how human nature has become so dire. How do we change things?
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