Reviews- Take Em or Leave Em

So- here's the skinny on the "stuff" I have seen, eaten, etcetera lately. 1.) Kung Fu Panda- Really cute. The girls loved it. However, didn't quite live up to the hype I had heard from other moms about it. Still- well worth seeing and pretty funny to boot. 2.) The pumpkin/chocolate concoctions from the Hungry Girl cookbook- First, let me correct myself. I called them brownies in my other post and they were actually muffins. (I told Annelise they were cupcakes to make them more enticing.) Anywho- they could not have been easier to make, seriously, just a can of pumpkin and a box of a certain type of brownie mix- that's it. I thought they were pretty good for low-cal. Brian and Emmaline did not like the texture, but did like the taste. (They are really thick and heavy.) Annelise, thinking they were chocolate cupcakes, ate it up and loved it. I had one for breakfast this morning and it held me until lunch. I have also made a yogurt parfait for breakfast from that book and for lunch I made something that consisted of rolling up a light hotdog into a light tortilla with fat-free cheese and baking it. All of that was really quite good. I am really pleased with the recipes I have tried from there so far. I am making a light taco turkey meatloaf tommorrow night also from that book (don't tell Brian, he doesn't know that yet....) That will be the true test. I've tried all new recipes for supper this week so far. They have both been from Southern Living- but I did try to stay away from fried stuff. Monday night I made an awesome linguine with tomato cream sauce and I sauteed some fresh Beaufort shrimp from Publix to go in it. It was really yummy. Even Annelise and Emmaline liked it. Then tonight I made a dish with all kinds of sauteed veggies and hamburger meat and then served it over rice. I made a new recipe for ambrosia to go with that. It was so simple and also light. Annelise and Emmaline also loved all of that. So, we will see how the turkey taco loaf goes tommorrrow! (I know it sounds gross, but the ingredients actually make it look like it might be good.) Brian is going to automatically hate it if I tell im what it is beforehand! The girls and I had a good time at a friend's house swimming today. They went to bed on time tonight- exhausted. I am sharing that feeling right now, so I am going to follow suit. Tommorrow is errand day- trying to get all the loose ends tied up before I start packing. I need to get a baseball hat (preferably white) and a smaller beach bag to take to the pool on the cruise. And I am sure I will find some things I don't need, but will have to get anyway. (At least I try to shop the clearance racks!) Off to bed- long day ahead!