*Today I am participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop by answering the prompt:  1.) Create your own comic strip.

THE MANY FACES OF SHARKBOY!

Why?  No reason.  No reason at all.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Last night I made a tasty, healthy meal in 20 minutes: Couscous, Herbed Roasted Asparagus and Mango Teriyaki Fish with Cucumber and Fresh Herb Salsa.  Okay, I’m not including marinading the fish or pre-heating the oven, but actually making and cooking the meal only took 20 minutes, I swear.

Take some fish, whatever kind you like, and marinade it for an hour or two.  You can use your favorite marinade; I used this Mango Teriyaki flavor that I got from the seafood aisle at Whole Foods.

Assuming that your oven is pre-heated to 350, put the fish in the oven.

Next, coat the asparagus with olive oil and put in on a cookie sheet.   A little goes a long way and actually I used olive oil spray.   Sprinkle some herbs on there–whatever you’ve got, fresh or dried.  I used thyme, basil and rosemary.   Add a little salt as well.  Put the asparagus in the oven with the fish.

Cook the couscous according to the package directions.  I always keep couscous in the house because it is so easy and fast to make; tonight I had curry flavor on hand.  If you feel like it, throw in some golden raisins and peas or carrots.

Once the couscous is off the fire, start making the Cucumber and Fresh Herb Salsa.  It’s this salsa that makes an ordinary meal something special.  Combine the following ingredients in a bowl:

1 seedless cucumber (or seed it yourself) diced into small cubes

2 teaspoons each chopped cilantro, parsley, dill and chives

1 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)

the juice of 1 lime

By now it’s been about 20 minutes and the fish and asparagus should be done.  Upon servings, top each piece of fish with the salsa.

And there it is: a healthy, tasty quick meal.   No excuses, no regrets (except for stinky asparagus pee).  That was faster than a drive-thru burger joint!

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Towards the end the school year, my son’s high school classes shift from the normal biology and math requirements to more interesting electives like The Sociological History of Hair.

I saw this book on the table tonight and thought, “huh; how about that?”

I’m hoping that the classroom discussion spills over into our dinnertime table talk.  Especially since my son’s hair resembles the cover of the book in dreadlocks and it’s certain that 99.9% of the class does not.

If they had classes like this when I was in high school, I might have paid attention.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

My family and I love to eat.  In the spirit of the Food Network show by the same name, we’re going to share the best thing we ever ate and hope that you will tell us your favorites too.

We had seen the mural at Buddy’s gas station.

Intriguing.  ”King of Pops“…what could that mean?

Popsicles?

Here at the gas station?

Almost.

Last month the King of Pops cart arrived on the corner of North and Highland Avenues, just in time for Atlanta’s infamous Spring heatwave.

Steven Carse is King of Pops.

I had read the tweets and heard the tasty news from friends, but could never seem to be near that corner when he was in operation.   Finally the other day, on my husband’s birthday, my family drove by the corner just after Steven had arrived.   Perfect!  After much discussion we decided to try four different flavors: Grapefruit Mint, Blackberry Lemonade, Watermelon Orange and Strawberry Lemongrass.  Muscadine and Chocolate Sea Salt were also available flavors that day.

Except for Yoforia, my family feels that Atlanta is deficit in good frozen treats, so we were excited for the possibility of a new place to fill our cold cravings. We drove down the street to Poncey-Highland Park to eat our popsicles, making sure to taste them all.

The whole family was in agreement that these were the best popsicles that we ever ate.

The flavors of each popsicle were distinct and pure.  I tasted both the blackberry and the lemonade in my popsicle.   My husband’s popsicle, Grapefruit Mint, was a great combination; the grapefruit was tart and the mint was refreshing.  There were whole mint leaves in there!

(photo by James Andrews)

The popsicles are handcrafted with natural ingredients and the dedication to quality is evident in the taste.   I’m not sure how many different flavors he makes, but I saw a tweet about Pineapple Ginger and Strawberry Lavender.  *Drool.*

The neighborhood ice cream truck doesn’t stand a chance.

Steven uses Twitter to update his inventory, which is helpful because there is nothing worse than getting your mouth fixed on something and then arriving to find that it is all gone (this used to happen to us with CamiCakes, but now we call ahead).    On nice days the cart is out in the late afternoon through early evening.   The popsicles can also be found at Irwin Street Market and Souper Jenny.

Yup, I’m certain that King of Pops is going to be our summer obsession.

*Check out my son’s review of King of Pops on Atlanta INTown’s What’s Good.

*Update: since our first visit to King of Pops we’ve also had Cantaloupe Basil (mm…savory), Pineapple Ginger (refreshing!), Chocolate Sea Salt (creamy), Banana Pudding (tastes just like the dessert), Tropical Surprise (mango, papaya, orange juice), Banana Cinnamon (almost as good as Banana Pudding), Strawberry Pineapple (fresh strawberries), Peaches & Cream, Mexican Chocolate (spicy & creamy), Pineapple Habenero (ai yai yai!)  and White Chocolate With Raspberry On Top (no words necessary):

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Last week I was invited by The Blogrollers Christie and Lorraine to attend an event at Atlanta Ronald McDonald House.  It was a busy week for me and although I had put the event on my calendar and was looking forward to going, I had forgotten the details.

I wasn’t until I got there and cleared my mind from my hectic day, that I remembered that this event was part of National Moms Nite Out, the brainchild of Maria Bailey of Mom Talk Radio.  And that I had read about Christie and Lorraine’s previous visit to this Ronald McDonald House on their blog.  Okay, I was focused now and present in both mind and body and ready to learn more about the beautiful facility that I was in.   And what I learned was pretty incredible.

• The original Atlanta house was the 4th national Ronald McDonald house.  Now there are 300 houses nation-wide.
• This Ronald McDonald House has only been open for two years.  The original house opened in 1979.
• The current house cost $15.7 million dollars and the money was raised through McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.
• The house is LEED-certified.
• There are 40 guest rooms, each with their own bathrooms.  In the old house three or four families often shared one bathroom and families were often turned away for lack of space.
• There are 10 special suites in the Transplant Wing.  These rooms are self-contained with their own bathrooms, kitchen and living room.  The families in these rooms are given direct access from the parking lot to the Transplant Wing to guard against possible infection.
• To stay at Ronald McDonald House cost families only $20 per night, but no one is ever turned away for lack of ability to pay.
• Dinner is provided every night for the families as a service; it is donated by community volunteers.

As you can see from my Whrrl photos, the house is absolutely amazing.  It’s beautiful, spotless and serene–a haven for families during an extremely trying time.  I could see why Christie and Lorraine were so touched by their visit that they vowed to come back and do something for the mothers staying at the house; Moms Nite Out presented the perfect opportunity.  After a tasty dinner and a lovely serenade by Regina Belle, the resident mothers and invited bloggers received spa treatments by Sandra and Chante of Be.Beautifully.Well. Candles, soft music and relaxing smells turned a conference room into a relaxing retreat while the ladies worked their magic with reflexology and massage.

There was a little girl in the “spa” with me while her mother was getting a treatment.  She was about 5 years old and like all kids her age, busy and talkative.  I was with her again in the elevator as I was leaving for my car, newly massaged feet in flip-flops, cupcake in hand, feeling good.  The mother said to the girl that it was time to go take a bath and get to bed….

yes, I remember thinking, it’s way past her bedtime….

because she had heart surgery in the morning.

Oh.

I mean, I knew where I was, but in the feel-goodness of it all, I “forgot” that the little girl was in the house for a reason.

High heels in one hand and cupcake in the other, I bid them both goodnight and God Bless.  As I climbed into my car and slowly drove home, I was keenly aware of the amazing place that I had just left.

© 2010 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.