in wisconsin~

It's winter in Wisconsin
And the gentle breezes blow,
70 miles per hour at 52º below.
Oh, how I love Wisconsin
when the snow's up to your butt,
you take a breath of winter air -
your nose; it freezes shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful,
I guess I'll hang around.
I could never leave Wisconsin,
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!

I know you heard that poem before ... and now you just read it again.  How cool is that!!!

 

It's still snowing.  Great big, beautiful snowflakes ~  and all my snirt (snow and dirt) is now replaced with great big, beautiful snowflakes ... with the exception of one little patch on the snow bank in my yard.

It's not that cold out ... we had 20 F. degrees this morning ... but it is windy.  Still with the windchill ~ I still think we're hovering around 0 .  It's when it dips below zero that makes me cold.

I grabbed the camera this morning and got a few shots of Slim shoveling ~ he didn't think it was funny ... in fact, he told me if I didn't get dressed and come out there to help him the shovel might end up some place unpleasant ... lol ... now whatever did he mean by that!?!

the butt side of a shoveler

the side view of a shoveler

the back side of a shoveler

hand view of a shoveler

knee deep view of the shoveler

 and it's still snowing ... I did go out and help ... I cleaned off the truck for him

~~

What else is going on around here ....

Last weekend Dear Hubby and son were able to get out and do a little fishing together ... which I'm glad they were able to do. They don't get to do much "bonding" these days.   Now with all this snow again ... I don't know if they'll be able to go again or not.  They did catch a nice bucket full of crappies.

~~~~

I've been baking again ... now that I have a working oven ... but things are changing around here.  I'm not baking like I used to.  I am TRYING to healthify everything ... cutting back on the fats and sugars and carbs.  

I had such a chocolate craving yesterday ... and found this recipe on cooksrecipes dot com for Cocoa Muffins.  I know, more muffins, what's up with that ... another foodie craving I've been going through.  Of course, I had to tweek it and make it my way.  I'm posting the original recipe that I had; but when I made it I used half the amount of white flour and used some wheat flour and replaced the sugar with Splenda.  I also used sea salt instead of the regular salt, applesauce in place of the yogurt and buttermilk in place of the regular milk, and I omitted the powdered sugar sprinkling at the end ... so really ... my recipe isn't anything like the one I'm posting.  Haha .. what can I say!  They're not too bad tasting though, if I say so myself.

Cocoa Lowfat Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup vanilla lowfat yogurt

2/3 cup lowfat or nonfat milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Powdered sugar (optional)

 1. Heat oven to 400F or 205C degrees.  Line muffin cups with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl,stir together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, milk and vanilla; add to dry ingredients and mix in just until combined.  Do not over mix.

4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter.

5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool slightly in pan on wire rack.  Remove from pans.

6. Sprinkle powdered sugar over tops of muffins, if desired.  Serve warm.  Store, covered, at room temperature or fereeze in airtight container for longer storage.

Makes 12 muffins.

~~~

I also came up with another recipe of my own ... 

EGG BREAD (makes 1 loaf)

3/4 cup of warm water

2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar or Splenda(sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 large egg yolks slightly beaten

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Add the Splenda, salt,egg yolks and olive oil.  Stir in the flour.  Knead to a soft dough.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.

Punch the dough down and shape into a loaf.  Put in pan and let rise again until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel