Monthly Archive

If you’ve been a reader of my email newsletter, Bright-Kids, for any length of time, you’re aware that Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller from Effective Parenting are frequent contributors to Bright-Kids.

And if you live in the Seattle/Tacoma area of Washington state, you might be interested in attending a free Effective Parenting video seminar at my church in Auburn, WA during the summer.
 
For complete details, go to:
http://snurl.com/parentingseminar

Using drama, stories, humor, and scripture, Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller share practical ways to address some of the most common problems in family life. Filmed before a live audience of parents and children, these practical sessions will challenge you in creative and insightful ways and show you how honor can transform your family.
 
Honor is more than just behavior change. Honor comes from the heart. It affects the way people think, the way they act, and the way they treat others around them. Honor motivates parents to treat children differently. It gives children more constructive ways to interact with their parents. It helps siblings develop tolerance and patience. Honor builds incredibly strong bonds that, in turn, benefit all members of the family.

“Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes … in You and Your Kids” offers a hands-on approach with specific ideas and strategies to change the way your family relates. As you implement these ideas, you will see amazing results and your family will grow closer together.

Hope you can make it if you live in the area.

And if you don’t live close enough to attend, you can get much of the same great information in the book of the same name.  Just click on the book’s cover image (above) in this post to order.

Summer’s almost here and if you’re anything like me, you’ve already made that annual trip to the store to refill the propane tank on your backyard grill.

One thing I often hear from guests is that my barbequed burgers actually taste good … rather than just being hard and dry as hockey pucks like so many of those traditional family reunion barbequed hamburgers we’ve all endured from time to time.

In honor of the hallowed summertime tradition of outdoor cooking, here are some of my favorite tips for finding your way to Hamburger Heaven in your own backyard.

1.) Don’t build your burger from low fat meat.  Get a package of ground beef with an 80/20 or even a 70/30 ratio of meat to fat.  The fat keeps it moist and flavorful and drains off during the cooking process so the calorie count ultimately isn’t much higher than the lower fat varieties … but the flavor is so much better.  Be aware, though, that the higher the fat content in your meat, the more the patty will shrink while cooking.  So plan accordingly.

2.) For additional flavor, try mixing ground beef with other ground meats like pork, sausage or lamb.  A good ratio is two parts beef to one part other meat.  Also, if you use ground turkey to save money, keep in mind that turkey is probably one of the least stable burger materials you can find, so mix it 50/50 with ground beef to keep those burgers in one piece on the grill.

3.) When forming burgers, mix the ingredients together gently, handle your burger patties as little as possible, and don’t fully compress the meat … remember, you’re not making meatloaf or meatballs.  If you form the raw beef into patties with wet hands, the grease won’t stick to your skin nearly as much.

4.) If you like adding extra things to your ground beef before making patties, make sure to keep the pieces small.  Large chunks of onion or garlic make the patty unstable and more apt to fall apart while cooking.  Be sure to finely chop or grate all added veggies.

5.) Some particularly tasty additions to the burger mix are: freshly ground pepper, minced garlic, finely chopped onion, Worcestershire sauce, grated carrot, crushed vinegar & salt potato chips, or soy sauce.  I’ve discovered that burger purists tend to insist on top-of-the-line ground beef (Sirloin) with nothing added but salt and pepper (after grilling).  Honestly, I love a good, pure burger … but sometimes it’s fun to add the extras for variety. Also, if you add steak sauce or applesauce to your burger patties, try mixing in some dry bread crumbs, quick-cooking oats, or beaten eggs to help stabilize the burgers.

6.) Cook over a medium flame rather than a high one.  You want to cook the patties just slow enough to cook all the way through.  You don’t want them charred on the outside and a raw mess on the inside.

7.) Don’t press down on the cooking burger patties with your spatula or flip the burger using tongs that squeeze the burger.  You’ll just be squeezing out all the delicious juiciness and leaving behind a much dryer and tougher finished product.  Make an indentation with your thumb in the center of each burger before cooking to help keep them flat without squishing them under the spatula.

8.) Never — I repeat, “Never!” — poke your cooking burger patties with a fork or other pointy object.  It’s a guaranteed trip to Hockey Puck Hamburger Land when all those delicious juices pour out through that hole.

9.) The less you move the burgers around on the grill, the better looking the grill marks.  Ideally, you only want to turn the burger once, but be sure to focus on safety and full cooking more than making the prettiest burgers on the block.  You’ll hear mixed messages from burger aficionados about what temperature to cook the burgers and how often to flip them, but I tend to not worry about the perfect grill marks and have found that frequent flipping tends to keep the juices in the burger a bit better.

10.) Let the burgers rest for a minute or two before serving to give a chance for the juices to settle.  Serving too soon may cause the burgers to dry out.  Rather than melting cheese onto the burgers during the grilling process, I like to set the cheese slices on top of the finished burgers while they’re “resting.”  The cheese melts without dripping off the burger onto the grill.  When the cheese is done melting, the burgers are done resting and ready to serve.

Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

As the years go by, it seems to become more and common for parents to be expected to give gifts to their children’s teachers at school. There’s a fine line between showing appreciation and going broke. Finding just the right gift — at just the right price — can be challenging at best. And besides, how many apple-decorated key chains or coffee mugs can one teacher use?

• Shoe-box sized plastic storage box full of school and classroom supplies that you can stock up on throughout the year at sales, clearance stores, etc.
• Bag of popcorn and a flavored salt sampler.
• Gift certificate for a video rental.
• Homemade fudge in take-out meal containers (or Biscotti or gingerbread men).
• Pencils printed with their names on them.
• Painted glass ball ornaments.
• Flavored coffee or tea mixes.
• Coffee and cup decorated by your child.
• A candle and candleholder.
• Anything for the classroom: games, writing equipment, books, rulers, things to decorate or theme objects.
• Handmade items from the students (potholder, pencil holder, etc).
• Movie theater passes.
• Small basket of lotions or soaps.
• Letter or card from the student (and/or parent) telling what they enjoyed about the year or the teacher’s input into the child’s life.
• Small plant potted in a thrift store coffee mug or tea cup.
• Child-made apple-shaped something or other (although over the years many teachers end up with more apple decorations than they have room for in their house).
• Baked goods (bread, cookies, candies, quick breads, etc.) but be sure to check on your school district’s policy about teachers accepting home-baked gift items.
• Chocolate dipped pretzels.
• Chocolate anything.
• Seasonal ornament.