This is a fun and EASY recipe. I made it today with my five-year-old. It makes about six servings. I like to experiment with seasonings and when I tried it with a dash of cumin, it went over great at an office party.

6 bacon slices
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup catsup
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
One 16-ounce can of pork & beans
One 16-ounce can of drained kidney beans
One 16-ounce can of lima beans or butter beans, drained

Preheat oven to 350º.

Cook bacon until crisp. Reserve drippings. Add onions to skillet with drippings and cook about seven minutes or until soft. Transfer onion with drippings to a large bowl and add next five ingredients. Mix in beans.

Bake in 9 x 13 dish until it starts to bubble, 30 to 35 minutes.

I am a regular at various online coupon sites. I like to shop online and I do my absolute best to use a coupon code when doing so. I can generally get free shipping or a dollar amount off my order. It almost always makes for a better deal than I can get in the local retail stores.

Now, if you have your own website or mailing list you can sign-up for the DealKing affiliate program and make money every time a website visitor you send to DealKing signs up at their site. Since signing up at DealKing is free, there is no risk for anyone involved.

This is an old Betty Crocker recipe my mom used to make a lot during the 70s and 80s for a quick treat at breakfast. I have not had it in years and pulled out the recipe recently to make for my daughter when she gets back from her summer visit with her dad.

1/3 cup shortening or butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup milk

Combine all ingredients. I like to use a mixer and cream, sugar, butter, and egg, but you can do this step by hand. Bake in greased muffin tins at 350û for 25 minutes.

While still hot, remove from muffin tins and roll tops in melted butter and then a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

Another variation is to delete the nutmeg from the muffin recipe and roll the tops in a mixture of:

grated rind of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1/3 cup sugar

Stem cell research is one of the THE most controversial topics to have come on our modern horizon in years. Many theories hold firm that the use of stem cells might advance medical science to the point where diseases are eliminated and lives are lengthened. I believe that.

However, I also agree with those who are concerned with where the stem cells are coming from for this research. Cord blood is one thing, but the creation of embryos only for their cells seems barbaric. Now, my sister banked her son’s cord blood and when my daughter was born, we had the kit already to do the same, but the very week before my daughter’s birth the company we had picked had a major disaster at their storage facility. So, we donated the cord blood.

In light of all this, I find it more than interesting that a company right out of Florida, and in fact just a couple of miles from my home, is touting the use of women’s menstrual blood for the collection of stem cells. The process offered by the C’elle technology is essentially like banking cord blood. A woman collects the blood from her menstrual cycles and the cells are cryo-preserved. The use of such cells is still in its potentiality, but the stem cells collected via menstrual blood could have all the same uses in the future as any other stem cells being researched – therapies for diabetes, stroke and heart disease, neurological disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis and spinal cord injuries.

While some might find stem cell research controversial no matter what the angle, I personally think that particular method of harvesting represents a great moral advance. You can see the C’elle press relase on the CNNMoney website, or just read where I have included it below:

Press Release:

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women’s Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST

OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind — especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body — in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

“C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way,” said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. “We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings.”

For more information about C’elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit www.celle.com.

I saw the movie Hancock tonight. I saw it three times tonight, in fact, but that is another story. What I wanted to talk about is the concept that two people who are essentially two halves of a whole are better off when they are not together.

I suppose it makes me think of my own ill-fated marriage and how confused I was for so long that someone who I had so much in common with, who seemed to fall into to step with me on so many issues, would just up and leave one day. And, as hard as it has been to parent alone, that my life is actually less turbulent and more full of daily joy now that I do not have this person, who seemed so suited for me, in my life anymore.

When you take those first steps away from that person, the pain pours from your every cell. You feel ripped in two. However, once you step back and look at the regained strength you have while on your own, the big picture looks so clear.

Of course, Hancock was about so much more than that, but it’s the message that hit me hardest.

…and by “song”, I mean cheap (but, cheap in the GOOD way)!

I generally wear contact lenses, but I have two pairs of backup glasses at home as well. One of them is pretty old, because I LOVE the frames and for years now I have been unable to find frames I really love at a price I can afford. I just happened to be on the most amazing vision insurance plan back when I was first married and got a pair of Laura Ashley frames, complete with the lenses and all the extras, for a song.

No such luck since then.

However, if you look on ZenniOptical.com, they sell prescription glasses for quite a low price. The reason they can do that is they only sell their own frames that they manufacture, so there is no middleman.

You can get all the upgrades you can get anywhere else: single vision lenses, sunsensor (potochromic) lenses, tinted sunglasses, bifocal lenses, progressive lenses, and more. Things like anti-scratch coating and UV protection are even free add-ons. In fact, you can get single-lens glasses for as low as $8 – complete. That’s practically a steal. They don’t get you with the shipping, either. That’s $4.95 no matter how large your order.

If you have a kid who wears glasses, I am positive you will appreciate the $8 deal. Kids tend to lose glasses more often than we would like.

Anyway, I hope you can use this deal. I enjoyed passing it along to you, my readers.

Or, it’s all up to the dogs.

I saw an interesting headline today.

Poll: Pet Owners Prefer McCain Over Obama

My first thought was, “Heck, most Democrats actually prefer McCain over Obama, so what’s the big surprise?”

The presidential pets are generally a big deal. They get news coverage and photo ops and actually have a lot of do with the overall likability of a U.S. President.

By the way, did you know that George Washington’s foxhound was named Drunkard? I have a new appreciation for the humor of our first President. On a tangent – Washington grew up on a Virginia plantation on the Rappahannock River called Ferry Farm, which was actually owned at the time by one of my direct ancestors. It was later sold to Washington’s father.

Anyway, back to the dogs.

It seems Barack Obama is not a pet owner. Pet owners in American have noted that fact. A joint AP-Yahoo News poll shows pet owners like McCain over Obama 42 percent to 37 percent, with dog owners quite solidly in favor of McCain.

Comments associated with the poll said a lot about how people view those who own pets. They said that a pet owner is a more “caring, giving, trustworthy” person and shows that they are “ responsible”.

Unlike Obama, McCain owns pets – a LOT of pets an English Springer spaniel called Sam, a mutt named Coco, turtles Cuff and Link, Oreo the cat, a ferret, three parakeets and many saltwater fish.

Even though the poll showed that people who are NOT pet owners like Obama over McCain 48 percent to 34 percent, you have to backtrack and note that approximately 63 percent of American homes include a pet.

Sounds to me like Obama better take his daughter’s puppy shopping sooner than later.

In general, I’m not a girl who loves cars. I like my cars functional and affordable. I drove a Volvo in high school and college and then have had a series of decidedly unsexy cars and vans. It’s not bothered me in the least.

However, there are two types of cars that do turn my head – old Jaguars and Ford Mustangs. Since I am a frugal girl, I have to admit I would probably never buy a Jag, but a Mustang is a distinct possibility. When the anniversary edition came out several years back, I begged my then husband to get one. He ended up buying a Dodge Charger and I sulked.

There is a cool Mustang dedicated website that has frequent posts about the 2010 Mustang model and spy shots people have taken on the streets of Detroit. It looks like an exciting makeover!

I’ve backed way off of watching most reality shows anymore, but my daughter and I love So You Think You Can Dance. The routines are generally exciting and beautiful and the dancers are inspiring. I enjoy the comments and input from the judges much more than on shows like American Idol, where the judges tend to be amazingly negative. Plus, Cat Deeley is just so completely charming.

My favorite dancer on the show has been 18-year-old Kourtni Lind, since the beginning. I love to see tall women move with the grace she has. I look at her and can barely believe she is so young! Her spirit seems older, wiser than other kids her age. Seeing her voted into the bottom three and ultimately removed from the show tonight felt disappointing. Every year, the tall dancers systematically get removed early one. It makes me wonder of height in the world of dance.