All Articles by Barbara Bleiweis

Scholastic season has begun and my initial slate of game assignments featured my first Varsity game December 9th.   Yay! When I received the notification of the assignment, I was so excited, I could not sleep! I immediately began preparing for the event by reviewing my goals with my mentor. I  decided to prepare for the match up by using the first 6 game assignments to practice. Areas of focus:  working with coaches, acknowledging their objections, court awareness of fouls and score; identifying problem players, and communicating with my partner(s) to ensure call consistency.

This chili won the award for "Best Tasting" at its inaugural submission in an annual chili cook off last Fall.  The competition was a fundraiser and took place during pre-game tail gating on college game day. Key to its awesome flavor is the right blend of spices. Key to its success at the contest?  TEAMWORK!  My son, the chili master, created the recipe and along with his fraternity brothers, orchestrated the shopping, prepping, cooking and transportation for 4 gallons of this beefy delight to the competition site. I call it "Game Changer" chili because it sets a new benchmark for the tastiest chili I have ever had! I hope you will feel the same.

Ingredients

3 lbs. ground beef ( 80/20)

One of the joys of being a team mom and loving to cook is the opportunity to host and plan the team party. I was fortunate enough to have a home large enough to host a small crowd so I would take ownership of planning the event, the menu and the start time. One of my favorite dishes to prepare is Hawaiian Pulled-Pig, aka Kahlua Pig.  It takes about 4 hours to cook, but is guaranteed to bring smiles, satisy big appetites, and make your kids happy to eat leftovers the next day-- presuming any of it is left!

As a team parent, I had the honor of being at least twice on the snack rotation for my son's Little League team.  What started as a routine obligation, morphed quickly into a fun "competition" amongst parents over who could make the most asked-for team snack.  I made egg rolls for the team snack, team parties, coaches' gifts, school international projects...... the list goes on.   With so much attention given to healthy snacks, I decided that "healthy" is in the eyes of the beholder. Instead, I opt for FUN and introduce to you, my famous, "Mrs. B's Egg Rolls".