tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41767630919833193032024-03-13T19:42:33.946-04:00Create, Cook, Consume Becker StyleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-32878737166495384952012-05-21T21:08:00.000-04:002012-05-21T21:08:05.359-04:00Fellowship,QuakkenAsh and Fried Pickles..<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b> Okay- so this Saturday Brian and I ended up on a Mushroom hunt with another couple. We work with the Wife half of the couple, via Facebook, I saw her pics of these beautiful, but mysteriously named mushrooms.. QuakkenAsh. I commented on the picture that I would love to look for the mushrooms or at least learn to and we should have a picnic while we were at it too! Well, according to her Hubby, I had her at Picnic! We had a beautiful afternoon conversing and looking for the QuakkenAshes (yea- I made up the plural spelling) We had an incredible picnic, conversation and just a plain olde great time! </b></div>
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<b> We got home yesterday around dinner time, still full from the Greek salad, Greek Chicken sandwiches and delish mint brewed iced sweet tea and brownies, that Brian and I decided to just deep fry those QuakkenAsh up in a batter... hence my search for an awesome batter. After some searching and picking and choosing I came up with the following... I will post the recipe - with pics- but at the end of the post- I will put the actual recipe so you can copy and paste if you want. This batter works incredibly well with Pickles too- which - we did after we realized we had more batter than mushrooms and not one to waste food- we wrapped some pickle spears in paper towels to dry them and batter fried them.. I have no pics of those as I was too busy eating.</b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So the first thing we did was wash the mushrooms and cut the part off that was attached to the trees that you find them on...</b>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bAGrVAVWB3Q/T7rfs71V2AI/AAAAAAAAAQk/3GFQ_egeiRY/s1600/QuakkenAsh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bAGrVAVWB3Q/T7rfs71V2AI/AAAAAAAAAQk/3GFQ_egeiRY/s320/QuakkenAsh.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: small;">Okay- so after alot of searching - apparently QuakkenAsh are actually Oyster Mushrooms- but during our search we decided that the name QuakkenAsh was a much cooler name since we also came up with a reason for why they were called QuakkenAsh- Quakers obviously were the first to find them on Ash Trees!</span></b></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b>The next step was to heat the oil- I used my cast iron dutch oven. The recipe called for 3 inches of oil, I used about 1 and a half inch of smartoil- and not to be out done by smart oil, I added 3 Tablespoons of Bacon grease and 2 Tablespoons of lard... no self respecting deepfryin person uses straight "Smart Oil" I mean seriously you are deep frying!</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie-mweWDCAM/T7rftxEie3I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/IBU2EnrE17E/s1600/oil+heating+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie-mweWDCAM/T7rftxEie3I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/IBU2EnrE17E/s200/oil+heating+up.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>I just got this dutch oven so I figured this would help season it, it is an old Wagner cast iron, don't bother buying new cast iron if you can help it they are not made as well.</b></i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b>While I was heating up the oil, bacon and lard goodness.. Brian was making the batter. Here is an action shot of him pouring the liquid and mixing at the same time into the flour mixture.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d4T83j9N9yg/T7rfuexHeVI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/P4Zk2da8ctI/s1600/pouring+the+beer+in+the+flour+mix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d4T83j9N9yg/T7rfuexHeVI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/P4Zk2da8ctI/s320/pouring+the+beer+in+the+flour+mix.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Then once it was all mixed up well, we started adding the mushrooms to the batter using a slotted spoon to let some of the batter drip off, we added it to the oil.</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S4qRCTGwBXY/T7rfrKkJr5I/AAAAAAAAAQc/sK-_RkjAFvo/s1600/Mushrooms+in+the+batter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S4qRCTGwBXY/T7rfrKkJr5I/AAAAAAAAAQc/sK-_RkjAFvo/s320/Mushrooms+in+the+batter.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>You kinda gotta swish them around to get the batter all over , then seemingly to defeat the purpose, we tapped the slotted spoon on the side of the bowl</b></i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-15M-1vyl_xw/T7rftZc2rCI/AAAAAAAAAQs/RyQ8zw3ueaY/s1600/mushrooms+frying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-15M-1vyl_xw/T7rftZc2rCI/AAAAAAAAAQs/RyQ8zw3ueaY/s320/mushrooms+frying.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>We added more than 2 at a time, this is just when the pic was snapped, we added about 7-10 at a time and used the same slotted spoon to flip them after they were a nice brown color on the one side.</b></i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b>And here is my handsome hubby, using a pan lid as a shield, considerin this was the first time I ever deep fried something in a open kettle, I had the heat up to high. He yelled get me something! This was the first thing I grabbed, he is kinda like 'captian America deep fryer'</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uQHDi6B-ydk/T7rj3c9F24I/AAAAAAAAARI/oL2Jl3haX18/s1600/Brian+and+his+sheild+frying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uQHDi6B-ydk/T7rj3c9F24I/AAAAAAAAARI/oL2Jl3haX18/s320/Brian+and+his+sheild+frying.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>I think Captain America needs a larger shield next time!</b></i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b>Here is the beautiful pic of the QuakkenAsh (Oyster) Mushrooms all nice and deep fried:</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FUpblL6R-jY/T7rfplLWgSI/AAAAAAAAAQU/NUlSaUyXu2I/s1600/Mushrooms+already+Fried.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FUpblL6R-jY/T7rfplLWgSI/AAAAAAAAAQU/NUlSaUyXu2I/s320/Mushrooms+already+Fried.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>I suggest using this recipe because it the first thought that came to my mind as I was eating my plate of Deep Fried Mushrooms and Pickles was, I am eating a way better meal than I would ever get in a restaurant right now.. Brian or maybe it was me I can not remember now stated, "Now this here, is good eatin'"</b></div>
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<b>Here is the recipe:</b></div>
<ul style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<li class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<b><span class="ingredient"><span class="amount"><span class="value">2 </span> <span class="type">cups</span></span> <span class="name">beer - we used a can of Yuenling Lager Light- it is what we had on hand</span>
</span></b>
</li>
<li class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<b><span class="ingredient"><span class="amount"><span class="value">2 </span> <span class="type">cups</span></span>
<span class="name">
sifted
flour
</span>
</span></b>
</li>
<li class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<b><span class="ingredient"><span class="amount"><span class="value">2 </span> <span class="type">teaspoons</span></span>
<span class="name">
garlic powder
</span>
</span></b>
</li>
<li class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<b><span class="ingredient"><span class="amount"><span class="value">2 </span> <span class="type">teaspoons</span></span>
<span class="name">
salt
</span>
</span></b>
</li>
<li class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<b><span class="ingredient"><span class="amount"><span class="value">1 </span> <span class="type">teaspoon</span></span>
<span class="name">
pepper
</span>
</span></b>
</li>
<li class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients"><b>
<span class="ingredient"><span class="amount"><span class="value">1 </span> <span class="type">teaspoon</span></span>
<span class="name">
parsley flakes </span>
</span></b>
</li>
<li class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<b><span class="ingredient"><span class="amount"><span class="value"></span><span class="type"></span></span><span class="name"></span>
</span>About 1 to 1/2 cup of oil, 3-4 tablespoons of bacon grease,2-3 tablespoons of lard</b>
<b><br /></b></li>
<li class="ingredient" itemprop="ingredients">
<b><span class="ingredient"><span class="amount"><span class="value">1 -2 </span> <span class="type">lb</span></span>
<span class="name">
whole
fresh large mushroom, washed and dried or any other veggie- heck try oreos or pickles- I can bet we woulda tried oreos- if I purchased those kinda things!</span>
</span></b>
</li>
</ul>
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<h2>
<b>Directions:</b></h2>
<b><span class="instructions" itemprop="recipeInstructions">
<ol>
<li> <div class="txt">
Pour about 3 inches (more if needed to cover the mushrooms) of oil into a large pot.</div>
</li>
<li> <div class="txt">
Heat until it reaches about 350 degrees</div>
</li>
<li> <div class="txt">
Meanwhile Mix beer, flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper and parsley flakes in a large bowl.</div>
</li>
<li> <div class="txt">
Mix until smooth and well blended without any lumps.</div>
</li>
<li> <div class="txt">
Dip mushrooms into batter and coat well.</div>
</li>
<li> <div class="txt">
Fry mushrooms in batches in oil until crispy and brown.</div>
</li>
<li> <div class="txt">
Time will vary depending on temperature of oil and the amount of mushrooms being fried.</div>
</li>
<li> <div class="txt">
I usually do about 10 mushrooms at a time and it takes about 8 minutes.</div>
</li>
<li> <div class="txt">
When done, remove mushrooms to a plate or bowl lined with paper towels to drain off excess oil.</div>
</li>
</ol>
</span></b></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-49877262233523974642012-05-18T13:55:00.003-04:002012-05-18T13:56:36.146-04:00Whoa- What do you mean it is May?!?!?!!<br />
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<b> Okay- I know it has been a while since I posted anything, I
am a slacker a lazy blogger! Actually I am like every other Wife and Mother- who
works- I am so busy – I have a Husband who helps, but it is still a lot to do
right? </b></div>
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<b> So what do a lot of people – Mom’s who have so much to do, make Lameo
New Year’s Resolutions…? Well, this year I made a super dupper non-Lameo New
Year’s resolution, and here it is May and I am steadily working my way thru it
and getting it accomplished! </b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I Resolved to learn new skills- not lose weight,
stop eating crap or quit something… Learn new skills.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span> </b></div>
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<b>Here are a few of the skills I want to learn on my list:</b></div>
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<b>Make my own Cheese…at least 3 different kinds… Ricotta, cream
cheese and Mozzarella</b></div>
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<b>Make my own Laundry Soap</b></div>
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<b>Make my own Fabric softener</b></div>
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<b>Learn to use my Pressure Canner</b></div>
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<b>Learn to Knit</b></div>
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<b>Learn to use my sewing machine ( I got one second hand in
awesome condition)</b></div>
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<b>Learn to butcher Chickens</b></div>
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<b>Learn to use my Clothes line ALL THE TIME</b></div>
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<b>So far I have learned to crochet- so I am changing the
knitting to crocheting! Knitting was stressing me out and I don’t need any
stress. </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h1QlX13a8IU/T7aMJqKPYAI/AAAAAAAAAP8/ymPcSS_mYPg/s1600/Headband.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h1QlX13a8IU/T7aMJqKPYAI/AAAAAAAAAP8/ymPcSS_mYPg/s1600/Headband.jpg" /></a></b></div>
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<b>I have the instructions to make the Laundry Soap and Fabric
Softener, I got A LOT of it on Freecycle last year and I still have a few
bottles left, once it is gone, I will be making it.</b></div>
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<b>I am going to try the Pressure Canner soon so that I will be
able to can Chicken broth and shredded meat from the Chickens that Brian and
Butchered 3 weeks ago- which I might add was more fun that I want to admit!</b></div>
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<b><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-27MWHweRtmY/T7aMVajMRKI/AAAAAAAAAQE/XtwOTSMT19k/s1600/Chickens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-27MWHweRtmY/T7aMVajMRKI/AAAAAAAAAQE/XtwOTSMT19k/s320/Chickens.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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<b>I have to get my sewing machine to the local sewing shop for
a tune up, and I have people well, a few buddies lined up to help me out with
it. I have been hoarding patterns getting them at yard sales and thrift stores
for 25 cents a pop.</b></div>
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<b>I haven’t used the dryer except once since I the second week
in March- I consider that a complete win, of course when we have 4 or 5 days of
rain in a row since it got warm, we are hard pressed to not use it…</b></div>
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<b> So – it is May, how are your New Year’s Resolution’s going?</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-48600221092506205802012-01-15T00:30:00.000-05:002012-01-15T00:30:06.637-05:00Old Recipes from and for Tight Times and Farming Women<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-size: large;">I may have mentioned before about getting a massive amount of hand written and cut out recipes from my besties (Grace) Mom who is in her 80's- I love love love looking at them and copying them they are so easy to use and have ingredients we all use- they are such a treasure too- since I think of her mom as a grama to me- "Grammy Louise" <br />
Does anyone else have</span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: large;"> hand written old simple recipes that would be good in a survival situation- making ingredients from scratch with the items in season- that is what I am thinking survival is all about these days- not buying exotic foods- but what is in season and what we grow- ....or have in the cupboard- here is one I am going to try:</span></span></span></h6><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> <span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Stone Jar Molasses Cookies:</span></b></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> 1 C Molasses</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> 1.2 C shortening</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> 1 tsp soda</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> 2 1/4 cups flour</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> 1 3/4 tsp baking powder</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> 1 tsp salt</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> 1 1/2 tsp ginger</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> Heat Molasses to boiling point, remove from heat. Stir in shortening and soda. Measure flour by sifting. Blend remaining ingredients by stiring. Chill Dough.Heat oven to 350. Roll dough thin- cut into shapes. bake on lightly greased baking sheets for 5-7 min and do not over bake! makes 6 doz. 21/2 inch cookies</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> Easy Creamy Icing:</span></span><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show"> Blend 1 c sifted confectioners sugar,1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of desired flavoring- vanilla lemon ect.and liquid to make it easy to spread about 1 TBSP of water or cream. Spread on cooled cookies with spatula or pastry brush...</span></span></b></span></div><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"></span></span></div><h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />
Any good homesteader would have these ingredients on hand! and if you fall on hard times $$ wise- cookies make hubbies and kids happy!</span></span></span></h6>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-51400015819210454252011-12-31T00:56:00.000-05:002011-12-31T00:56:28.348-05:00Use it up, Wear it out, Make do or do with out <b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I find myself despite always having trying to rebel against it- wanting to be more green. I don't know if it is cause I am moving toward a more simple life style or I am obsessed with the Amish way of life or i just plain old got some crazy pretty reuseable grocery bags for Christmas this year?</span></b><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> I have an amazing amount of reuseable bags to begin with- but since I started part time at a grocery store ontop of my regular day job, I know how much easier these are to pack for the cashiers- I love when people come thru my line with the sturdy bags- the cat hair lined ones- not so much- but I am customer service oriented so I suffer thru that with a smile! </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> I think that my New Year's resolution is to not waste- like Connor told me- "<i> waste not want not</i>" he learned it in school- he was so proud to tell me that- and I am starting small with the reuseable bags, I reuse my plastic ones- believe me.. for numerous things- but it seems I have a glut of them right now.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> I want a simpler life, we have had almost a week off from work and Brian and I have cooked, ground 20 lb of venison, food savered meat, made our own deer bologna( a separate post soon to come) and pretty much i have started cleaning out cupboards.... any way this is a short post about becoming more simple and more nondependant on the outside world I suppose.. so here are 2 pics of my new reuseable bags which I adore!</b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K22WJLzYCto/Tv6h44jXd5I/AAAAAAAAAPE/S1GbHpCorP8/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K22WJLzYCto/Tv6h44jXd5I/AAAAAAAAAPE/S1GbHpCorP8/s320/026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This is an adorable 10x8 bag my Mom got me for Christmas perfect for one or two things or a fast short trip and even though I love the simple life- I love the pics from Breakfast at Tiffanys!</span></b></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9N91h8Ze0rc/Tv6iXHXHFXI/AAAAAAAAAPM/IcDzZkFVm7w/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9N91h8Ze0rc/Tv6iXHXHFXI/AAAAAAAAAPM/IcDzZkFVm7w/s320/027.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>I love love love this bag, it was from my boss at work - Susan, I have used it quite a bit since she gave them to us all at work....</b></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What little ways did you all decide to become "green" or simple- you know I have also decided thru making this post - I do not like the word "Green" LOL- I like <i>Simple</i> or <i>Homesteading/Homesteader</i>,<i> Frugal</i> or <i>Acting Amish</i> .....</span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-18545486445073380272011-12-28T21:13:00.000-05:002011-12-28T21:13:04.493-05:00Smoked Chicken Leg Quarters~mmmmmmmmm <b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> So Brian got a Brinkman Smoker, the gas one, for Christmas... well we have been smoking everything we can get our hands on! I got Chicken Leg Quarters for 99 cents a lb... which is really cheap. Normally I won't pay more than that for chicken, since we buy our beef from a farmer for way cheaper than a grocery store, I try to get our other meat when it is marked down at the store then freeze it.</b><br />
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>So far we have smoked ribs- literally awesome- we had to tell Max to come up for air during dinner, My mom bought salmon for Christmas and we smoked it ( my Step Daughter and her Boyfriend loved it so much they bought one for us to smoke for them to take home to D.C) I will take pics this time around to do a post on it. </b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b> And we have been doing the Chicken Leg Quarters.... which this post is all about!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>Here is the recipe:</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>4 Chicken Leg Quarters</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>Marinade in 1 cup Olive Oil-2 TBSP Bells poultry seasoning, pepper,and salt</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>1 TBSP of Garlic Powder</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>You want to put the marinade mix in a large ziplock that will hold the chicken then add the chicken and marinade for at least 4 hours.</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b> Brian bought some sprayers and added olive oil and vinegar to it - and sprayed the chicken every hour with it to keep it moist.</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>He used Apple wood and in the liquid pan put water and 1 Lager beer....</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b> the target tem we had was 250 degrees and the target inside meat temp was 180 degrees.</b></i></div><br />
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<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Feel free to ask me questions and I can ask Brian the answers- since this is my first post on smoker recipes!</b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>on that note - here are the pictures:</b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYrGb5gs7eE/TvvB4vqgGHI/AAAAAAAAANI/BabC-6tHGnM/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYrGb5gs7eE/TvvB4vqgGHI/AAAAAAAAANI/BabC-6tHGnM/s320/002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spraying with the olive oil and vinegar mix to keep the chickens moist</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OwrVyTRMIdM/TvvCW31tYDI/AAAAAAAAANQ/VuO56noDl_k/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OwrVyTRMIdM/TvvCW31tYDI/AAAAAAAAANQ/VuO56noDl_k/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_v8oZGG8XkM/TvvC22kFnfI/AAAAAAAAANY/biD6pPsqty8/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_v8oZGG8XkM/TvvC22kFnfI/AAAAAAAAANY/biD6pPsqty8/s320/004.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Adorable Hubby Brian </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wQEzdBSTrVY/TvvDWDnPphI/AAAAAAAAANg/l1g4lbK-zH8/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wQEzdBSTrVY/TvvDWDnPphI/AAAAAAAAANg/l1g4lbK-zH8/s320/013.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wood Chips soaking in water</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ftEL-dyq3q8/TvvD00j73LI/AAAAAAAAANo/eseq5scc-Cg/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ftEL-dyq3q8/TvvD00j73LI/AAAAAAAAANo/eseq5scc-Cg/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spraying again</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7n-5YuT0CDo/TvvERKJJVGI/AAAAAAAAANw/_WNAXXFzEuk/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7n-5YuT0CDo/TvvERKJJVGI/AAAAAAAAANw/_WNAXXFzEuk/s320/015.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ErlgFOQ7DDw/TvvEv0ggs8I/AAAAAAAAAN4/JETw0WH9G68/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ErlgFOQ7DDw/TvvEv0ggs8I/AAAAAAAAAN4/JETw0WH9G68/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lo---axsKB8/TvvFOaiqwYI/AAAAAAAAAOA/hMIgN7GsFmE/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lo---axsKB8/TvvFOaiqwYI/AAAAAAAAAOA/hMIgN7GsFmE/s320/018.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish I had smell-o-vision</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K2X-bBx5jo4/TvvFswmcVUI/AAAAAAAAAOI/CgIrXD7jx-A/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K2X-bBx5jo4/TvvFswmcVUI/AAAAAAAAAOI/CgIrXD7jx-A/s320/019.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Happy flashlight holder Max</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m0tQzTI1Rcg/TvvGKM2UAUI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/HDKBY_x3kJA/s1600/028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m0tQzTI1Rcg/TvvGKM2UAUI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/HDKBY_x3kJA/s320/028.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wBiqxfbGw-s/TvvGoQVYslI/AAAAAAAAAOY/ELFuBsoZiO4/s1600/029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wBiqxfbGw-s/TvvGoQVYslI/AAAAAAAAAOY/ELFuBsoZiO4/s320/029.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost done! See the liquid bubbling?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rLBZABHGLNM/TvvHHBMvYfI/AAAAAAAAAOg/eHKGfCSqHt0/s1600/030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rLBZABHGLNM/TvvHHBMvYfI/AAAAAAAAAOg/eHKGfCSqHt0/s320/030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can't see the temp but it is right!</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mRv2slTEfs4/TvvHlivsIkI/AAAAAAAAAOo/mv0ga2-Uxhg/s1600/031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mRv2slTEfs4/TvvHlivsIkI/AAAAAAAAAOo/mv0ga2-Uxhg/s320/031.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ILHdQMmZuY/TvvIDXGxDgI/AAAAAAAAAOw/af785nZDPVg/s1600/032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ILHdQMmZuY/TvvIDXGxDgI/AAAAAAAAAOw/af785nZDPVg/s320/032.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plated up and totally gorgeous!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-75283564070508768812011-12-22T23:43:00.000-05:002011-12-22T23:43:00.138-05:00Venison Jalepeno Poppers! <i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> It has been way too long since I posted~ a whole summer and fall too long. We have been so busy gardening, canning then school started for the kids and I got a part-time job on top of my regular day job.... but I am gonna make it my New Year resolution to post more! Plus all my pictures normally came from my old phone, which died on my and I have been using my son's hahahah- which I think is even older since he got an upgrade, sooooo I started using Brian's camera- hopefully the picture quality is better now for the blog.</span></i><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i> So- I frequent Homesteading websites alot- and since we got some venison this year from wonderfully generous friends, I have been looking up neat, cool, frugal fun recipes- and someone suggested making Jalapeno Poppers (our friend gave us their favorite venison potpie recipe- which when I make I will post it as well). This is right up the boys and my alley... I couldn't wait to try them:</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i> First the recipe- then the pics taken by my lovely assistant Brian (I told him he was my new Blogger Photographer)</i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I only made a few since it was a new recipe and I wanted to make sure if it worked out I would have enough ingredients left on hand for appetizers on Christmas Day:)</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Plus this is a pretty frugal recipe- I got the bacon for 99 cents- the Jalapenos were 80 cents for 15 of them the cheese was on sale for 2.50 (sad that I think 2.50 is a good sale price I remember when it was like 1.25 on sale- cheese making is next on my list of things to learn to do) the venison was gifted- </span></i><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Venison Poppers:</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>5 Jalapenos~ Cut in half lengthwise and seeded</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>5 slices of bacon~ Cut in half</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>10 quarter inch wedges of sharp cheddar cheese</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>10 quarter inch slices of venison</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>In each half of jalepeno put a slice of venison, then cheese, then wrap in a half of a slice of bacon secure with a toothpick.. bake at 350 degrees for approx 20 min, then broil until bacon is crisp. Keep an eye on them when you broil them, they will burn!</b></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Enjoy- They lasted all of about 4 minutes in my house- and that was with Brian and Max eating them hot out of the oven!</i></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqHtzL8Mxzg/TvP9n1nB2LI/AAAAAAAAALc/3vG2hUA9now/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqHtzL8Mxzg/TvP9n1nB2LI/AAAAAAAAALc/3vG2hUA9now/s320/005.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pretty Peppers all washed and ready to go!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DJwhcMK8KQk/TvP-If4oJxI/AAAAAAAAALk/ePBj9ToTGJs/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DJwhcMK8KQk/TvP-If4oJxI/AAAAAAAAALk/ePBj9ToTGJs/s320/006.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bacon from the freezer- of course cause I buy it on sale for about 99 cents a package and then freeze it</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nJYEtYc3vP0/TvP-vCu6j3I/AAAAAAAAALs/umChz9TSemY/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nJYEtYc3vP0/TvP-vCu6j3I/AAAAAAAAALs/umChz9TSemY/s320/007.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The venison butterfly steaks pack, that we foodsavered and then froze</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l4ifOInykLA/TvP_LHhtfCI/AAAAAAAAAL0/U_x9Dg1ma7o/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l4ifOInykLA/TvP_LHhtfCI/AAAAAAAAAL0/U_x9Dg1ma7o/s320/008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extra Sharp cheese mmmmm my favorite! Cheese should be SHARP unless it is Brie of course</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y64A0J8kYWk/TvP_qRFJdZI/AAAAAAAAAL8/7CaN1eEowVw/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y64A0J8kYWk/TvP_qRFJdZI/AAAAAAAAAL8/7CaN1eEowVw/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting and seeding the peppers- see- I am wearing a glove- I managed to slice my index finger this morning using a new razor, no way I wasn't wearing a glove.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W1vYUpOLbNo/TvQAIgEHz0I/AAAAAAAAAME/WH_SUFjyDnw/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W1vYUpOLbNo/TvQAIgEHz0I/AAAAAAAAAME/WH_SUFjyDnw/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting the venison to fit into the peppers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4LY_D_my1XA/TvQAmwHddsI/AAAAAAAAAMM/YABlZAv5cdI/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4LY_D_my1XA/TvQAmwHddsI/AAAAAAAAAMM/YABlZAv5cdI/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love this picture- I think it is so pretty the venison is soooo red and lean</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tRA-J3TFb_A/TvQBFT76HvI/AAAAAAAAAMU/-wy0pl4uQJE/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tRA-J3TFb_A/TvQBFT76HvI/AAAAAAAAAMU/-wy0pl4uQJE/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brian does a pretty good job of picture taking mid-point dontcha think? this is the cheese on half the peppers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GGOqbOEbJeo/TvQBj01m1_I/AAAAAAAAAMc/O_v1DBJ-Y00/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GGOqbOEbJeo/TvQBj01m1_I/AAAAAAAAAMc/O_v1DBJ-Y00/s320/021.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrapping the peppers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yd1_SAfd3XI/TvQCATvuysI/AAAAAAAAAMk/9EviWggnvZ0/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yd1_SAfd3XI/TvQCATvuysI/AAAAAAAAAMk/9EviWggnvZ0/s320/022.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All snuggled ready for the oven!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IraIJnJc6cw/TvQCeo2v8GI/AAAAAAAAAMs/LNLZjd7Eatk/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IraIJnJc6cw/TvQCeo2v8GI/AAAAAAAAAMs/LNLZjd7Eatk/s320/025.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How awesome do they look? mmmm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sZ2xNYNgHds/TvQC9dt0vjI/AAAAAAAAAM0/82Nvz3Tw34I/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sZ2xNYNgHds/TvQC9dt0vjI/AAAAAAAAAM0/82Nvz3Tw34I/s320/026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 minutes later on the plate</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--LfcU3ctxUg/TvQDZOi7AkI/AAAAAAAAAM8/__f1W_iL8GA/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--LfcU3ctxUg/TvQDZOi7AkI/AAAAAAAAAM8/__f1W_iL8GA/s320/027.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four minutes later after I called Brian and Max to try them!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-89945130959706330962011-07-19T12:35:00.000-04:002011-07-19T12:35:04.415-04:00Homemade Frugal Croutons or "Fancy Scmancy Yippie Lookin Salad Toppins"<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> I like to make things out of stuff that no one else might want, I like to re-purpose things, including food.. hence my love of day old bread. I like to make crackers and croutons, the kids love to eat them and so does Brian. Making croutons is so easy, I can not believe there is even a market for packaged ones! They look fancy, they are great on top of tomato soup, to snack on, to put on *gasp* a salad! I should give a definition of Yippie- since it is in the title- I made the little word up ( and yes I am taking credit for the word, so don't try it!) It is a mash of two words~ Yuppie and Hippie... you know those people who love their earthy crunchiness, tyedye, gardening and dirt, BUT- also love their money- their fancy things.... I know not really a technical definition- but think hard- we all know a Yippie!!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> Anyway- on to the croutons- now that I have probably offended someone!</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Here is the recipe:</b></span></i></div><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><b>One loaf of day old bread- usually italian works best.</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><b>Olive oil, amount depends on size of loaf usually I add about 2 tablespoons- or other oil- I used Smart Oil- since I had it in the house from coupons!</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><b>Your favorite seasonings to taste- I used Onion Salt and Italian seasonings.</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Cut the bread into bite sizes that you prefer, place bread in a large bowl or stock pot.. add oil and seasonings mix by hand-- it is just easier. Bake at 250 for about an hour- or until bread is dry and crisp.. checking on it about every 15 min to make sure it isn't burning, you can turn it in the pan- I use a large cookie sheet.</b></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Allow to cool and store in a ziplock bag. If you make more than you think you will use in a week - you can freeze them! Freeze them in a ziplock freezer bag, it works great.</b></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qgKYfQvq89Q/TiWSlPh3vbI/AAAAAAAAAJM/cdTPS0A-pbo/s1600/Photo1167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qgKYfQvq89Q/TiWSlPh3vbI/AAAAAAAAAJM/cdTPS0A-pbo/s320/Photo1167.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The package of Italian Bread- DAY OLD:) Plus, the evidence of the 50% off tag on the day old bread!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N0k2veQ_JVE/TiWSlcblsoI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/CrZFvxPRRYA/s1600/Photo1168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N0k2veQ_JVE/TiWSlcblsoI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/CrZFvxPRRYA/s320/Photo1168.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting away on the board!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8BjcbXTNcCE/TiWSlkkXY3I/AAAAAAAAAJU/hZF5BRWdtU8/s1600/Photo1169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8BjcbXTNcCE/TiWSlkkXY3I/AAAAAAAAAJU/hZF5BRWdtU8/s320/Photo1169.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I cut these ones a little bigger than I normally do- I wanted to give it a shot see how they turned out- plus I was tired.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G47ttaEzuYA/TiWSlhqtW6I/AAAAAAAAAJY/5RcKeIsbTmU/s1600/Photo1170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G47ttaEzuYA/TiWSlhqtW6I/AAAAAAAAAJY/5RcKeIsbTmU/s320/Photo1170.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large stockpot, I tried a large bowl, as I usually do, but they just didn't fit well this time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7CYFCJOg5W8/TiWSl_sBLuI/AAAAAAAAAJc/X72OlNADKNM/s1600/Photo1171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7CYFCJOg5W8/TiWSl_sBLuI/AAAAAAAAAJc/X72OlNADKNM/s320/Photo1171.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The seasonings I used- Onion Salt and Italian</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9quV24SP0XE/TiWSmYrcmnI/AAAAAAAAAJg/KSdbd1evYn8/s1600/Photo1172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9quV24SP0XE/TiWSmYrcmnI/AAAAAAAAAJg/KSdbd1evYn8/s320/Photo1172.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oil</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uw2sTAJfZLs/TiWSmWDIHLI/AAAAAAAAAJk/4PtN-tZJ8wA/s1600/Photo1173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uw2sTAJfZLs/TiWSmWDIHLI/AAAAAAAAAJk/4PtN-tZJ8wA/s320/Photo1173.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmmm mixing by hand- clean hands mind you!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rAQ5CqkyQ_g/TiWSmpqhXvI/AAAAAAAAAJo/3jNNoNYT258/s1600/Photo1174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rAQ5CqkyQ_g/TiWSmpqhXvI/AAAAAAAAAJo/3jNNoNYT258/s320/Photo1174.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One the sheet ready to bake! and then enjoy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-5039254127004886202011-07-05T20:52:00.000-04:002011-07-05T20:52:00.813-04:00The Master Gardner's Garden~ a month later<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> So- I finally am getting around to posting the current pictures of Brian's Garden- aka- The Master Gardener's Garden-</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> It really is coming along nicely here up north- I hear about other people already harvesting things and I get jealous- but then I just need to remember we are in Central Pa, where the garden doesn't go in until after Memorial Day.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> We - well Brian almost lost a tomato plant- it became a new nickname for him " <i>the tomato whisper</i>" when the plant actually came back to life.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://beckerstyle.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-master-gardener.html">Here is what the garden looked like at first</a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>And here is what it looks like now:</b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D9Y_532RtQI/ThOv3uNNs9I/AAAAAAAAAIw/U1uNay4hcpM/s1600/Photo1135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D9Y_532RtQI/ThOv3uNNs9I/AAAAAAAAAIw/U1uNay4hcpM/s320/Photo1135.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the lovely tomato plants, to the left are the beefsteak big sandwich kind and the other 2 rows are the Italian canners and sauce/salsa ones</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uJf8kDTXBZs/ThOv6Ese3qI/AAAAAAAAAI0/HrhIHtnx8Xg/s1600/Photo1136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uJf8kDTXBZs/ThOv6Ese3qI/AAAAAAAAAI0/HrhIHtnx8Xg/s320/Photo1136.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next to the tomatoes, are all the peppers- we did lose 3 habanaro peppers - but we have so many other hot varieties I figured it was fine.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-Oi9J04ADw/ThOv8mysrVI/AAAAAAAAAI4/eSqzO1eWs9s/s1600/Photo1137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-Oi9J04ADw/ThOv8mysrVI/AAAAAAAAAI4/eSqzO1eWs9s/s320/Photo1137.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the top of the picture are the cucumbers for pickles and then my zucchini plants.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wVYcjfzbba0/ThOv-rIl0LI/AAAAAAAAAI8/MZT-FQuwlIY/s1600/Photo1138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wVYcjfzbba0/ThOv-rIl0LI/AAAAAAAAAI8/MZT-FQuwlIY/s320/Photo1138.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty Zucchini blossoms!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fjqrTWJstO0/ThOwBU4q7MI/AAAAAAAAAJA/lVjRF9gX7aU/s1600/Photo1139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fjqrTWJstO0/ThOwBU4q7MI/AAAAAAAAAJA/lVjRF9gX7aU/s320/Photo1139.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A different view from the top of the yard</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OxXQn6UwJ0k/ThOwDToNKEI/AAAAAAAAAJE/qhCJOE17DGQ/s1600/Photo1140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OxXQn6UwJ0k/ThOwDToNKEI/AAAAAAAAAJE/qhCJOE17DGQ/s320/Photo1140.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A banana pepper hiding, but growing!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8j30vB_U-CA/ThOwFQPl2bI/AAAAAAAAAJI/zVqRIelQq4g/s1600/Photo1141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8j30vB_U-CA/ThOwFQPl2bI/AAAAAAAAAJI/zVqRIelQq4g/s320/Photo1141.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brian's self proclaimed "Salad Bar" of lettuce, radishes, onions and some garlic.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So how is everyone else's gardens growing?!</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-34375300321824607972011-07-02T15:51:00.000-04:002011-07-02T15:51:57.003-04:00Jalapenos!!!! Not on a Steeeeick... Pickled!<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> This week in my many travels to the local Weis Market, I noticed that Jalapenos were on sale for 99 cents a pound, to me this is a good deal. We have plenty of hotter varieties of peppers in the garden, but we would never produce enough to can actual numerous pints of pickled jalapenos... and the older boys and myself- are really beginning to love love love them - on everything! </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> At 2.99 to 3.49 a jar at the store, I knew I could make them cheaper. Brian was all for it- since he is a true man and canner- he actually woke up this morning and said " I can not wait to can those jalapenos, I actually dreamt about it".</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> I purchased just over 12 lbs of jalapenos- you should have seen the look on the cashier's face....</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>We ended up using about 10 lbs of those and I am saving the other 2 lbs to make poppers for Brian's Aunt Mo's Fourth of July party Monday. </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I am going to put the recipe first - incase someone doesn't to scroll thru all my pics- I was pic happy thru this procedure! </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Pickled Jalapenos:</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Jalapeno Peppers (10 lbs)</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Canning salt 7TBSPs</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Vinegar (white) 14 cups- maybe a little more</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Rubber Gloves- trust me -<u><i> DO NOT DO THIS WITH OUT RUBBER GLOVES!!!</i></u></b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Wash and slice Jalapenos, pack into sterile jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Bring vinegar and salt to a boil... Pour Hot liquid over jalapenos and leave the 1/4 head space there!</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>most people say wait at least 5 weeks to eat them, I don't know if I can keep the boys away that long!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Now I can start the pic show! </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>I have to disclose that Brian is a hard worker- he totally does half the work when we can together!</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O5BMMFjcZo4/Tg9ymMEsQGI/AAAAAAAAAIE/iGdTmnuBm6s/s1600/Photo1123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O5BMMFjcZo4/Tg9ymMEsQGI/AAAAAAAAAIE/iGdTmnuBm6s/s320/Photo1123.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Here are the peppers - well some of the 10 lbs, after being washed!</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Brian slicing and dicing the peppers! With rubber gloves mind you!</b></span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The little buggers could get slippery wearing the gloves and being freshly washed- this one ended up on the rug! </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XvifOS0ybG8/Tg9yu5_6_OI/AAAAAAAAAIg/9LXWPkIolwM/s1600/Photo1130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XvifOS0ybG8/Tg9yu5_6_OI/AAAAAAAAAIg/9LXWPkIolwM/s320/Photo1130.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>My handsome helpful hubby cuttin away!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Aren't they pretty all cut- I wanted so bad to eat one raw- but I bailed!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i27q0jNtvcA/Tg9yp1xQPAI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/8cBtnRfqtZo/s1600/Photo1126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i27q0jNtvcA/Tg9yp1xQPAI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/8cBtnRfqtZo/s320/Photo1126.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">packed in the jars awaiting the vinegar and salt mix that is boiling... I used a funnel to fill the jars- tapping them as i added handfuls to fit more in the jars.</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uHIAm0SUyfo/Tg9yr-Y_3RI/AAAAAAAAAIY/eofXUGHLfFo/s1600/Photo1128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uHIAm0SUyfo/Tg9yr-Y_3RI/AAAAAAAAAIY/eofXUGHLfFo/s320/Photo1128.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Vinegar is almost boiling!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ul4UjhufpN0/Tg9yvkWU-sI/AAAAAAAAAIk/zM0-J4KgFW8/s1600/Photo1132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ul4UjhufpN0/Tg9yvkWU-sI/AAAAAAAAAIk/zM0-J4KgFW8/s320/Photo1132.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">A nice ring in the jar after filling with the vinegar mix</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NBpBYyx5nbM/Tg9yq_y1o-I/AAAAAAAAAIU/KFndjy2brGc/s1600/Photo1127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NBpBYyx5nbM/Tg9yq_y1o-I/AAAAAAAAAIU/KFndjy2brGc/s320/Photo1127.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Yes I lifted the canner lid- just for the action shot of the jars in the boiling water bath</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-byjQd8ndPLk/Tg9yyvpbdJI/AAAAAAAAAIs/joZ1aSh-ybM/s1600/Photo1134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-byjQd8ndPLk/Tg9yyvpbdJI/AAAAAAAAAIs/joZ1aSh-ybM/s320/Photo1134.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>21 pints- Yehawwww- and one Quart! I love this picture!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The only thing better than this picture is the Ping noise I hear every few minutes of the jars sealing... Oh and the fact that Brian helped me make sure the kitchen was clean too when we finished.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-34727877859158198522011-06-28T16:23:00.000-04:002011-06-28T16:23:10.145-04:00Shrimp on the barbie and grocery shopping with Pap!<div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I went to the grocery store today, with my Father-in-Law... Pap.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Honestly I can not think of a more fun activity, since he reminds me so much of my Poppop. Pap doesn't drive anymore and when I took Max over to cut his grass today, he came out of the house and said, "Brian said you are headed to the grocery store?" I told him yes. He asked to go... well of course!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> My mother in law is not feeling well, so Pap was riding along with me to do the weeks shopping. I was going for Shrimp, and steaks to do on the grill... I know - an indulgence, but it was cheaper than going out to eat, and there are enough left overs for steak salad tomorrow!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> ... any way... a funny thing happened after I dropped Pap off.. Brian's whole family calls me Amanda. My Poppop always called me Mandy~ always. It makes me feel like a little kid- in a good way mind you.... anyway as I was getting ready to leave, Pap said " you want a diet pepsi for the ride home?" ( we literally live 4 miles away .. that is how much I adore this man, worried I will get thirsty in 4 miles) I told him no- I was good and he said, " Okay thanks, see you in a bit Mandy"... I got in the car and immediately teared up driving down the road. It was like having my Poppop here .. I adore my Father in Law, he is sweet, kind and caring and very fatherly.... but for a brief moment, I wished harder than I ever have since 7th grade that my Poppop had not had a stroke and was still alive, cause he would have loved Brian and Pap:)....</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"> Here is a pic of my Poppop</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zK_ZSiIVJrM/Tgo3v1vo_DI/AAAAAAAAAIA/BDF0QWvCOog/s1600/Poppop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zK_ZSiIVJrM/Tgo3v1vo_DI/AAAAAAAAAIA/BDF0QWvCOog/s320/Poppop.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">I don't have much of a good segway into my Shrimp recipe experiment .... </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Soooo- on to the Shrimp.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">I had no fresh cilantro- so I use my dried from my most favorite store in the world- Peight's in Belleville,Pa. I also used one of my newfound favorite spices- Goya Adobo </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SKTmy51VJYU/TewsY0VFsQI/AAAAAAAAAHg/t6TkcNYYv8c/s1600/Photo1050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SKTmy51VJYU/TewsY0VFsQI/AAAAAAAAAHg/t6TkcNYYv8c/s320/Photo1050.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Juice from 2 limes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFGnGouIO1M/TewsaL3Ds2I/AAAAAAAAAHk/HDIuvZifn7k/s1600/Photo1051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFGnGouIO1M/TewsaL3Ds2I/AAAAAAAAAHk/HDIuvZifn7k/s320/Photo1051.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">A little olive oil</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LQ1tEFnEKhE/TewsbMqy7OI/AAAAAAAAAHo/kp9iOGl0mjo/s1600/Photo1052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LQ1tEFnEKhE/TewsbMqy7OI/AAAAAAAAAHo/kp9iOGl0mjo/s320/Photo1052.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Four garlic cloves</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnFSP_U9FGI/Tewsb1bS7bI/AAAAAAAAAHs/g7LMx6QDV5E/s1600/Photo1053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnFSP_U9FGI/Tewsb1bS7bI/AAAAAAAAAHs/g7LMx6QDV5E/s320/Photo1053.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">anddddd- some lemon juice</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PqAIHC4rgMQ/Tewsc10Ql_I/AAAAAAAAAHw/KohHHfSOSYE/s1600/Photo1054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PqAIHC4rgMQ/Tewsc10Ql_I/AAAAAAAAAHw/KohHHfSOSYE/s320/Photo1054.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Mixed it all up pretty looking huh?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-amSif5rFECg/TewseHvG5iI/AAAAAAAAAH0/NoXToYRAz7w/s1600/Photo1055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-amSif5rFECg/TewseHvG5iI/AAAAAAAAAH0/NoXToYRAz7w/s320/Photo1055.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Threw it in a ziplock and let it marinade for about an hour</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ELtSa1o3v7w/TewsfBKQKNI/AAAAAAAAAH4/wweN4j4rEbA/s1600/Photo1056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ELtSa1o3v7w/TewsfBKQKNI/AAAAAAAAAH4/wweN4j4rEbA/s320/Photo1056.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Then on to the skewers it went...Brian grilled it and all in all - it was rather tasty!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">We made the steaks and had a grand dinner I must say...</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> Isn't it pretty- all empty? I wanted to take the picture because every July and August we say, " Why didn't we take a before picture?" Well now I have one!.</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> We also have a shed in the yard, that was pretty much surrounded by some old mint plants and weeds, we never did much with it, this year, Brian was determined to use the space to grow things, plus I said I wanted beans and zucchini and he told me I was killin him cause I also want garlic, asparagus, onions and potatoes....So now we have this adorable little area for well- I am not sure what yet- he still has to do his little OCD thing of writing all the plants down and plotting them out!</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> I am so excited for this area- I wasn't home when he first started otherwise I would have a incredibly messy before pic.. but for all intent and purpose- this is the before picture, and the after will hopefully be full of plants and edibles!!!!</b></div><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> I can not wait to start posting about the veggies when they start coming in, to show off all of Brian's hard work!.... then to post the canning! Yea!!!!!</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-32416462725008623612011-05-27T09:56:00.000-04:002011-05-27T09:56:11.400-04:00Whoooooaaa I need a easy lunch to pack!<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> So- It is 7:30 am and I have no idea what to make for lunch- let alone what I am wearing for work... yes I am that <a href="http://beckerstyle.blogspot.com/2011/01/clean-kitchen-chicken-soup-and-becker.html">disorganized</a>, it happens people, no reason to judge.... you've been there and you know it. This post is gonna help us all.. by admitting we are disorganized and just plain grateful that the kids teeth are brushed before we get them out the door.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>See- All he needs is sneakers and a backpack.. the battle is almost over! </b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> I pack lunch for Brian and I - at least 4 times a week, I say 4, but most weeks it is everyday. This can get annoying, since we work in the same building, I will carry our lunch in a larger soft cooler bag with ice packs in it, so I do not use the employee fridge (<i>don't ask..trust me it isn't worth the answer</i>). Now- most days- I pack our left overs from the night before, sometimes there are no left overs and I am left standing in the morning trying to figure out how to produce a lunch that Brian will eat from the limited contents of our fridge. Not that he is picky- but he certainly would not call a hunk of bread and some cheese lunch like I would. He wants a sandwich, soup or something of substance to eat, and I can't blame him.. </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> This morning I was at a loss cause even though we had left over <a href="http://beckerstyle.blogspot.com/2011/05/mandoori-chicken-experiment.html">Mandoori Chicken</a>, Brian and Max ate it for dinner last night. I almost cracked and figured- hey.. it is Friday we should eat at Sheetz or Burger King. Then it dawned on me.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>I had a lunch - easy peasy... PB&Jelly...</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I could consider it homemade right? I was using the Strawberry lemonade jelly I made last summer. That counts! I only needed to add a coupla more things to the lunch bucket.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b> And a Diet Pepsi for me....which would be gone by 10 am anyway</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Lunch was saved- and so was about 10 bucks when you figure running out for fast food costs.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Other quick options for lunch?</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>~I have made a salad out of the pre-made bagged coleslaw, frozen tilapia from <a href="http://www.gortons.com/product_detail.php?cid=21&pid=38">Gordon's</a>,1/2 a lime, salsa and a cuke... quite good. All I did was microwave the fish planks according to directions and flake it over like 2 handfuls of the slaw then squeeze the lime over it, add the salsa and cuke.. like a beachy lunch! Crumble some tortilla chips over it and Voila!</i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>~Left overs- you can never go wrong with left overs, when I cook dinner- what ever is extra I will literally pack in the containers to take to work the next day just to make it easier on me.</i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>~Tuna fish sandwiches- mmmmmm</i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>~Boca Burgers or any other meatless burger- they microwave really well.</i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>~Hardboiled eggs- for egg salad</i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>~Ham salad from left over ham- put ham and mayo and a little sweet relish in the food processor- even Max like this for lunch on the weekends.</i></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>~Chicken salad from left over grilled chicken.</i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What are your favorite go to quick lunches?</span></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-20514315106902401922011-05-25T20:26:00.000-04:002011-05-25T20:26:21.566-04:00Mandoori Chicken.. an experiment<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Y</span></b><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">es- you read that right- Mandoori Chicken- not Tandoori Chicken. I was trying to come up with something for dinner that we have never had before, I was reminded in the Weis Market about Tandoori Chicken, that my cousin Irene had made at our family camp last year on her night to make dinner. My boys loved it. Well- in the international area of the grocery store, there was the pack of seasonings to make it, I allllmooosttt bought it.. but it was like 4 dollars and being the frugal frannie I am, I decided to read the ingredients, then thought.. Duh~ google it!</b><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> Which I did, once I got home, I started the prep last night since this needs to marinate... now- why you ask I call it Mandoori Chicken? Well- I have adjusted the seasoning levels and the ingredients a bit... so I am claiming it!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I will post the link for the original recipe at the end of the post for those of you who want to actually follow directions- but I gotta tell you- my boys ate this up!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>In a large bowl I combined 1 Cup of Sour Cream, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 3 TBSP of lime juice,2 TBSP dried minced garlic, 1 TSP ground ginger root, 1 TBSP ground cumin, 1/2 TSP cayenne pepper, 1 TSP dried cilantro, 1/2 TSP ground cloves.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Here is a close up of all the wonderful smelling spices</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I then put 4 ice glazed frozen chicken breasts in a ziplock bag and added the sour cream mixture to it</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I placed it in the fridge overnight, then in the morning before I left for work, I flipped it so that the other side would be able to marinate in the amazing mix- which I was half tempted to dip pretzels in last night!</b><br />
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</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>When I got home from work, I started some rice to serve the chicken over, took the chicken outta the bag and sliced it into long strips and placed it in my beautiful new All-Clad grill pan, which - I got at a Yard Sale for 5 Buckaroos!!!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L9TSYU8pKUY/Td2PAXTUF7I/AAAAAAAAAGk/doVBfOU5Crs/s1600/Photo986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L9TSYU8pKUY/Td2PAXTUF7I/AAAAAAAAAGk/doVBfOU5Crs/s320/Photo986.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Okay Okay- here is the chicken- I had to show off my new 5 dollar pan though!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I let them cook until they were no longer pink and the juices were clear....I had to add about a cup of water to the pan so that they would make more marinade, and not simmer all the juices away. Then I added rice to the bowls, cut the chicken into bite size pieces and plated it up!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8LplTiAv-xQ/Td2QYtul3TI/AAAAAAAAAGs/2idLWhPC7MI/s1600/Photo984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8LplTiAv-xQ/Td2QYtul3TI/AAAAAAAAAGs/2idLWhPC7MI/s320/Photo984.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>So- this meal was pretty easy- and the prep was easy considering I did it at 9:30 last night. I made corn and green beans to go with it and all the boys ate it- to me... that is a success!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Here is an easier to copy version of the recipe:</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> Mandoori Chicken</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b>In a large bowl combine</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> 1 Cup of Sour Cream</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> 1/4 cup lemon juice</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> 3 TBSP of lime juice</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b>2 TBSP dried minced garlic</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b>1 TSP ground ginger root</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> 1 TBSP ground cumin</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> 1/2 TSP cayenne pepper</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> 1 TSP dried cilantro</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b> 1/2 TSP ground cloves</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b>Place 4 large chicken breast in a ziplock bag and add sour cream mixture. Allow to marinate at least over night if not 24 hours.</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Cook until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.. serve over rice.</span></i> </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <b><br />
For those wondering why I am calling this Mandoori Chicken instead of Tandoori Chicken- My family and school friends call me Mandy... :)</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Here is a pic of Irene and some other family members from about mmmm 2 yrs ago?</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JC6UNQ6ftCo/Td2dhdgshSI/AAAAAAAAAGw/l6lRFYwEnv0/s1600/5936_1172379704031_1064166812_527617_3335826_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JC6UNQ6ftCo/Td2dhdgshSI/AAAAAAAAAGw/l6lRFYwEnv0/s320/5936_1172379704031_1064166812_527617_3335826_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"> <i><b>Left to Right~</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>Front~</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>Irene~ Ira~ Me~ Patty (Kneeling)~ Brian~ Maddy</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>Back~</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><i>Satchel~ Josh~ Joey~</i></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <b><br />
</b></div><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> And here is a link to the original recipe I totally butchered... but in a good way:</b><br />
<a href="http://homecooking.about.com/od/chickenrecipes/r/blchicken2.htm">Original Tandoori Chicken Recipe</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-2722522682818790792011-05-11T10:32:00.002-04:002011-05-13T16:21:52.500-04:00Got Morels? I did!!!! and I shared them!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iIuBrR7TzZ4/TcqlhJ-Rx8I/AAAAAAAAAGM/Lk_cOAcV5JA/s1600/Photo927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iIuBrR7TzZ4/TcqlhJ-Rx8I/AAAAAAAAAGM/Lk_cOAcV5JA/s320/Photo927.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Sooooo- it is apparently Morel season here in Central Pa. I know my Uncle has looked for them for years, I never bothered much attention, but now that I am older- I was curious.. the pictures were flying on facebook of all their basketfuls of mushrooms. I wanted to try them, noone was offering them so I figured, oh well such is life...but- then a Friend sent me a message with an invitation to their farmland to Morel hunt! Brian and I were ecstatic! We were going to get to some of the coveted mushrooms! That for some reason people act like the Davinci Code or the Holy Grail might be at stake if you share or take people with you... mmm yea- I am not like that, which is the main reason I think we got an offer to go to someone's hunting ground in the first place. I was just excited to go hunting and I actually gave a few baggies of them away, seeing those people's eyes light up was well worth it!</b><br />
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</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WCPhZ7Hs4Zs/TcqgsML1UII/AAAAAAAAAFw/mxaNSUlX6Ho/s1600/Photo928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WCPhZ7Hs4Zs/TcqgsML1UII/AAAAAAAAAFw/mxaNSUlX6Ho/s320/Photo928.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>And get them we did! </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><br />
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</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>They were huge. And please ignore the fact that for some reason my hand looks like a chubby 9 yr olds, I am tempted to take another picture of my hand now...</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> So now we had them- what to do with them? other than eat them? and how to eat them? i had no idea.. I started scouring the web looking for ideas. The best idea came from one of Brian's coworkers.. slice in half and saute in butter.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> We did and made Mushroom Swiss burgers. Max loved them, so did Pap (my Father-in-Law), my Mother-in-Law didn't try them she "didn't like the looks of them" . Cara and Max both decided they had an almost sweet maple flavor to them. They did taste wonderful on the cheese burgers!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
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</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> I had read about dehydrating, freezing raw, freezing cooked all of the ways to preserve our harvest. I went with air dehydrating. Most of the sites recommended the air drying and finishing off in a 200 degree oven after a few day of drying to make sure all the moisture was gone. I read a few sites that did not suggest using one of those store brand, or "Ronco" food dehydrators, as they could burn the mushrooms- I was not about to take a risk burning these babies!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> So - here is what I did....filled the sink with cold water with a tablespoon or two of salt and washed the mushrooms- we let them soak for about 2 or 3 hours, before we took them out and placed them on kitchen towels and let them dry a little. I knew it was late so I stored them in those Rubbermaid Fresh produce containers until I had time to slice them in half and lay them out to air dry. This was before I read that slicing them before you wash them helps make sure you have no hitchhikers in them (bugs) and helps make the cleaning of them easier.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>I cleared the kitchen table (<a href="http://beckerstyle.blogspot.com/2011/01/clean-kitchen-chicken-soup-and-becker.html">big deal for our household if you have read my previous posts</a>), put clean towels down, then paper towels on top.. and put the mushrooms on them.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8L9t5sWBWIE/TcqkXEq1x1I/AAAAAAAAAGA/2Za1vW-3qLs/s1600/Photo935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8L9t5sWBWIE/TcqkXEq1x1I/AAAAAAAAAGA/2Za1vW-3qLs/s320/Photo935.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>I put the ceiling fan on to kind of speed up the drying... in the morning I replaced the paper towels and the towel under it.. since they were pretty damp, from soaking up all the liquid.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K0DwkoCwvzY/TcqkxQrg4qI/AAAAAAAAAGE/hzMjlLHZ6Qk/s1600/Photo937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K0DwkoCwvzY/TcqkxQrg4qI/AAAAAAAAAGE/hzMjlLHZ6Qk/s320/Photo937.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>This is how they looked after about 2 days. Yes it is a long process.. after most of the mushrooms seemed leathery- I put them on cookie sheets and put the oven on 200, put them in the oven for about an hour, and left the oven door slightly open to circulate air. They came our perfectly dry! </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>I now have a quart of dried Morels!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcq57b8S8bQ/TcrHx2xYstI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/gRwc8ppmZ3k/s1600/Photo947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcq57b8S8bQ/TcrHx2xYstI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/gRwc8ppmZ3k/s320/Photo947.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Hopefully this winter I will be posting on using my little gems!</b></div><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-42606478361204137332011-05-07T11:56:00.000-04:002011-05-07T11:56:26.078-04:00Mother's Day Lilac Jelly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rqY6GuAiZeE/TcVhQh1YKKI/AAAAAAAAAFY/7KfPCzKjADg/s1600/lilacbush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rqY6GuAiZeE/TcVhQh1YKKI/AAAAAAAAAFY/7KfPCzKjADg/s320/lilacbush.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> So- I have Lilac Bushes in the yard, quite possibly my favorite flowers in the world, other than Hydrangeas and Hyacinths. I actually told Brian when I was pregnant with Connor- that if I was having a girl I wanted to name her Hyacinth. He promptly replied we will not name any child a Flower, Root or Herb. I figured I would sneak it in as a middle name if I had to. But - we had Connor- probably a good thing- since I can not spell Hyacinth without googling it or using spellcheck!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> Any way- for Mother's day I wanted to make a simple yet pretty jelly - and I had been thinking of Wild Violet Jelly- but we don't have any Wild Violets, we have Lilacs... so Lilacs it is .....</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YN4RDQPsUk0/TcVjIlQnVHI/AAAAAAAAAFc/naIv98manN0/s1600/flowerbush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YN4RDQPsUk0/TcVjIlQnVHI/AAAAAAAAAFc/naIv98manN0/s320/flowerbush.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> The First thing I did was pick a big bag of the Flowers, I knew I was going to have to separate them once they were picked so I just sloppily grabbed them using scissors and filled a grocery bag full of them hoping that would be at least 4 cups of blossoms.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8x8YiJnQwvs/TcVjjJvGoMI/AAAAAAAAAFg/5LEdMMmVrmI/s1600/petals+in+bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8x8YiJnQwvs/TcVjjJvGoMI/AAAAAAAAAFg/5LEdMMmVrmI/s320/petals+in+bag.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> This amount turned out to be PLENTY! I spent about 30 min picking the flowers and placing them in my batter bowl to measure out 8 cups... since I can not follow directions that well, the recipe called for 2 cups of blossoms to 2 cups of water ... I doubled the recipe- so I would need four cups of blossoms.. I figured 8 cups would be even better!</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> The idea was to make a tea infusion with the blossoms, using the equal amount cups of blossoms to boiling water and allow to steep 24 hours or at the least over night.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rgF-W0ypWpY/TcVlVBVtDfI/AAAAAAAAAFk/0eRpMEt3V0U/s1600/flowers+in+the+pot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rgF-W0ypWpY/TcVlVBVtDfI/AAAAAAAAAFk/0eRpMEt3V0U/s320/flowers+in+the+pot.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Here are the pretty pretty blossoms in the pot</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b> </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rW-VPWqjB4k/TcVlWmMO9OI/AAAAAAAAAFo/E-24wQjiIL4/s1600/jelly+steeping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rW-VPWqjB4k/TcVlWmMO9OI/AAAAAAAAAFo/E-24wQjiIL4/s320/jelly+steeping.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Here they are with the boiling water poured over them.....</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> Once they had steeped overnight, I strained the tea infusion thru a cheese cloth and added 4 cups of the liquid to my large stockpot plus 2 packets of pectin and 1/2 cup of lemon juice and brought it all to a boil. Once it is boiling you add the sugar all at once, stirring the pot and bringing it back up to a boil for at least a minute. Obviously you want to be sterilizing your jars by now and have them ready to fill.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> When I took the jelly mix off the heat, I added- well Brian added food coloring- cause yes- I wanted the Lilac Jelly to be a purplish color- and it was more of a brownish color- and I am that superficial, I had read thru various sources that the Jelly would be a brownish color. So I was already looking for the formula ratio of how to make purple on the back of the food coloring box.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Fill your jars and process for 10 minutes in a Hot Water Bath (HWB).</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>Here is the recipe not doubled for those who want less that 9 half pints and 2 whole pints of the jelly....</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>Lilac Jelly</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>2 cups of Lilac Blossoms</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>2 cups of boiling water</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>1/4 cup lemon juice</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>1 box powdered pectin</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>4 cups sugar</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b><br />
</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>Pour boiling water over lilac blossoms and allow to steep 24 hours or over night.</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>Strain infusion thru cheesecloth.</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b>In a large stockpot add 2 cups infusion, Lemon Juice, Powdered Pectin and bring to a boil stirring occasionally.</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><i><b> After it boils add Sugar all at once, bring back to a boil, stirring occasionally... allow to boil for at least one minute.</b></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Pour into clean, sterile jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 min. allow to cool and sit untouched for 12- 14 hours while jars seal and jelly sets.....makes approx. 5 half pint jars...</b></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FtfEmN2qd8Q/TcVp9a9wOoI/AAAAAAAAAFs/_cZuN4qwq84/s1600/JellyDone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FtfEmN2qd8Q/TcVp9a9wOoI/AAAAAAAAAFs/_cZuN4qwq84/s320/JellyDone.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-81428997440064876002011-05-06T16:30:00.000-04:002011-05-06T16:30:51.382-04:00Creativity, Cardboard and Connor <span style="font-size: small;"><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The other day Connor asked if we had a pizza box in the house, </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I said " <i>No, why</i>?" He answered, "<i> Well on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Total-Drama-Island-Complete-Season/dp/B001NPDOA4?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Total Drama World Tour</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001NPDOA4" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, they made a laptop out of a pizza box.</i>" I felt so bad I was tempted to pull into the cheapo pizza joint and buy a 5$ pizza just to get the box, I mean a 5$ laptop is surely worth it right? Then my little guy said," <i>Wait we have boxes in the basement, I can use one of those!</i>"</b></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> Once we got home, I went downstairs ( this was a total busy night as Brian and I had scored like 3-4 lbs of Morels- another post- as I have lots-o-cool pics of them cooking and now in the process of dehydrating), found an approved box by Connor and started to cut away the parts he deemed unnecessary</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The best part of the exchange between us was when he stated that he did NOT want a laptop like mine, he wanted one like Daddy's an "<i>Apple or Pear whatever that fruit was on the back</i>." Despite his obvious smackdown on my laptop, I was a good mom and helped him. Here is a semi-ok pic of his " Screen Saver" it is Mario World...</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_yI48CWTtTc/TcRYl0Djw9I/AAAAAAAAAE8/d02pxZ1MEFY/s1600/Photo938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_yI48CWTtTc/TcRYl0Djw9I/AAAAAAAAAE8/d02pxZ1MEFY/s320/Photo938.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> When I posted pics on my Facebook page- I was encouraged to find I wasn't the only mom who has a kid who does this, that being creative is more important than being wealthy enough to provide a 7 yr old with a laptop. Many of my other MommyFriends posted that their kids usually had more cardboard technology than they had read technology. Whew- so I wasn't being a "Third world loser mom' after all. He now faithfully checks his email, so far no scammers from India wanting him to open a bank account have tricked him- He usually only gets email from his buddy Mason. Oh and he checks his Netflix account and You tube videos alot...</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GOMk2l4dWlA/TcRZEE2dB9I/AAAAAAAAAFA/Uw5ZOIgj6dQ/s1600/225280_1931763608154_1064166812_2260006_7079845_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GOMk2l4dWlA/TcRZEE2dB9I/AAAAAAAAAFA/Uw5ZOIgj6dQ/s320/225280_1931763608154_1064166812_2260006_7079845_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZJBDIwb9doc/TcRZE1qWnfI/AAAAAAAAAFE/s3mL2zB2ZIk/s1600/225589_1931763808159_1064166812_2260007_2249243_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZJBDIwb9doc/TcRZE1qWnfI/AAAAAAAAAFE/s3mL2zB2ZIk/s320/225589_1931763808159_1064166812_2260007_2249243_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Brian and I whole heartily believe that making the kids work for their most wanted prized possessions makes them appreciate them even more. Max unfortunately was the first to learn if he wanted that 100 dollar GameCube, he was going to have to earn half of the money to buy it, same went for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Hardware-Bundle-Black-Nintendo/dp/B0045F8QDE?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Wii </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0045F8QDE" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />and the PS3... the sad part was that by the time he wanted the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-3-160-GB/dp/B003VUO6H4?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">PS3</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003VUO6H4" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> - Brian and I both knew the time would come that Max would appear out of his room with the 150 bucks and throw it down and announce," <i>Here is my half I would like the PS3 now</i>" ... don't get me wrong, Max doesn't ask for much of anything EVER.... the game systems seem to emerge near his birthday- and we try to get it- as long as he works for some of it. Which he does- anytime he makes anykind of money doing chores or stuff for Pap- the money goes into a hiding place that noone one knows about and then emerges when he needs to use it, it is kinda funny, last year for his birthday,my Brother bought him an actual safe. The theory so far seems to work, the kids are all very careful with their electronics...because there was some "earning it"</b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-57875213155449123362011-03-31T16:49:00.000-04:002011-03-31T16:49:35.986-04:00Yea I know, it's been a while, so here is a short story<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am going to post a short little story I posted on my Facebook as a note, I am challenging myself to blog more often. Actually I signed up for this 30 day challenge so that I would feel accountable. This should prove interesting, and I promise I will post pics, but right now you are getting a Christmas tree story worthy of Ralphie stickin his tongue on a flagpole!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am hoping not being a perfectionist about posting will help me to not feel as though I have to post these long drawn out ideas.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> </b></div><br />
<b><i>We were children of divorce, latch key kids and poor. We were the only ones to live in a apartment in a town of less than 2000. We were city kids transported into a town that had only a beer distributor, gas station and a post office. We were the only kids that didn’t have a parental unit at home when there was an in-service or snow day or during summer.</i></b><br />
<b><i>These are my brother’s and my stories, of a time when you could grow up without being afraid.</i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> <i><b>The Christmas Tree</b></i></div><br />
The town we lived in was a old coal mining area, meaning there were lots of areas that were just chock full of fir trees planted by the companies that mined those areas, that during the months of November and December were fair game as Christmas Trees. My brother, Ira and I were usually sent out by my mother to go pick one out and saw it down, we had done this for years, I don’t remember ever buying a tree. One particular year my best friend Jenny came along (as it was rare we were ever apart). Ira had the saw and I had the rope. We looked for hours and it seemed days to us (we were 14) before I shouted “There it is Ira!”. He looked and looked and finally said “Where?”.<br />
“The top, right there can you get the top of that tree?”<br />
“ You go up the tree and I will hand you the saw Mandy”<br />
“Fine”, and up the tree I went excited with the idea of finally finding a tree.<br />
Ira handed me the saw and saw as I might, it wasn’t coming down.<br />
At this point all three of us were irritated, and I don’t know who said it but I think it was my brother “ I am going to get my shot gun”.<br />
“What?”<br />
“We are never going to get to saw thru that thing the whole way and I am not climbing that tree.” “ I can use the gun and shoot the sucker down.”<br />
Being the 14 year olds we were, Jenny and I just stood there and said “Fine, we will wait here.”<br />
Back comes Ira trapsing up the strippins hill with his gun telling me to point to the area I want the tree cut off at, which I point to of course because now I am cold.<br />
I still remember seeing my brother take aim at that tree and thinking this is crazy who does this? At the same time Jenny has decided to pull me further away from the tree and chant while giggling “Shoot down the tree ya, shoot down the tree ya.”<br />
One shot was all it took, the tree came down and we were on our way home.<br />
When mom asked why the tree trunk was so mangled I looked at Ira, Ira looked at me and Jenny said “ we shot it.”<br />
I know that was one of the few times my mother probably thought to herself that moving us to the boonies wasn’t any safer than living 25 minutes from New York City.<br />
<br />
Here is a pic of me and Ira when we were little- can you tell I was in charge?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DcHHQtsxuA8/TZTojA1IvbI/AAAAAAAAAE4/QO2qKT74LyQ/s1600/me+and+ira.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DcHHQtsxuA8/TZTojA1IvbI/AAAAAAAAAE4/QO2qKT74LyQ/s320/me+and+ira.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-57744207913429832192011-01-29T22:22:00.000-05:002011-01-29T22:22:05.661-05:00Winter Jam, Dust and Potato Soup<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> So Friday Brian had the pellet Stove guys come out to take alook at it, we still aren't sure if the problem is fixed or not... it has been doing this low roar thing that sounds like a CATA bus passing the house, for all you local folk. There was a 2 hour delay, so I was home, trying to work when the guy showed up and Brian was here as well. All the sudden, Brian says " Can you get some blankets" or something to that effect I can not remember ~ my panic set in at that point, cause I knew what that meant, the electrical crap downstairs in the family room needed covered due to the massive amount of dust,soot and basically all the stuff that should have gone up the pipe or somewhere other than my family room. Needless to say, I was not dealing with it and neither was Brian at that moment. We covered the T.V and the Computer Monitor and CPU. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> My plan for Friday night was to clean the basement, yea right NOT- my phone started beeping with texts about going to the Winter Jam, which I knew the kids would love it- and I wanted to see <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-He-Loves/dp/B002NSOHD8?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">David Crowder</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002NSOHD8" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />. Brian got home first, bless his heart and made dinner..Chicken tenders and onion rings- all frozen- but heck that is why I keep that stuff in the house!!! I got thru the door and said - forget the basement, let's go to Winter Jam! So off to Winter Jam we went. Max had a blast, sayin we missed the best part- the<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Born-Again-Newsboys/dp/B003BEE0SU?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"> News Boys</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003BEE0SU" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, getting a ride home from Pastor Howard. Brian and I left early with Connor, being his ears are over sensitive due to his low vision.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> So - that brings me to Saturday morning, armed with my<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Meyers-Clean-Day-Lavender/dp/B000E77HFK?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"> Mrs. Meyers</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000E77HFK" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, paper towels and my head in a "DooRag", Brian and I proceeded to clean the family room from 9:30 to 2:30 pm... that room is so clean- I don't even know who lives in this house. I swear by the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Meyers-Clean-Day-Lavender/dp/B000E77HFK?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Mrs. Meyers</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000E77HFK" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />- it may seem like alot to put out in the beginning for the price- but it smells incredible and lasts forever and cleans like a dream.. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I am so grateful I have a husband who is willing to help me clean up, I would have puttered out after half the room, he literally washed the walls, dusted his heart out and joked with me the whole time, it was actually almost fun. The kids left us alone considering they might have to help, kinda like a cleaning date!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Tonight we had Loaded Potato Soup.. a recipe I sorta made up.. I have always used real actual potatoes, well I had a coupon for Oreda, and got the shredded hasbrowns, I saw a recipe that used them in a potato soup.. so of course I thought~ I can improvise this!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Here is the recipe~</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Loaded Potato Soup</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 stick butter</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1/4 cup flour</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3 small onions chopped</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 quarts of milk (i am frugal I used my powdered milk, I was cooking and that is my rule.. when you cook use powdered)</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 bag of shredded hasbrowns</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">seasonings to taste~ celery seed, pepper, salt, oregano</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 scallions chopped</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUTXgq5KcUI/AAAAAAAAAEo/xSaf6oThC80/s1600/Photo810.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUTXgq5KcUI/AAAAAAAAAEo/xSaf6oThC80/s320/Photo810.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Toppings:</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Chopped Scallions</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sour Cream</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bacon</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Shredded Cheese</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUTXoVfLN8I/AAAAAAAAAEw/cVGaAQSJ4uQ/s1600/Photo811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUTXoVfLN8I/AAAAAAAAAEw/cVGaAQSJ4uQ/s320/Photo811.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Directions~</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">make roux of butter and flour in large stockpot, melt butter- add flour cook on med hot~ stirring constantly~ add chopped onions. Once onions are tender add milk, potatoes, seasonings, cheese and scallions. Stir often keep on med heat- even low heat.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I used an immersion blended right in the stock pot to smooth everything out- it isn't necessary. </div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Serve with toppings!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUTXk5rNCJI/AAAAAAAAAEs/xjT_Eh4bXNg/s1600/Photo812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUTXk5rNCJI/AAAAAAAAAEs/xjT_Eh4bXNg/s320/Photo812.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This was my bowl- I added </span>alot<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> of the toppings- cause I love toppings, </span>obviously<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> this is all by taste preference!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUTXk5rNCJI/AAAAAAAAAEs/xjT_Eh4bXNg/s1600/Photo812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-5073593295220565692011-01-27T10:26:00.000-05:002011-01-27T10:26:15.379-05:00Banana Bread and Oatmeal Cookies mmmmmm <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> So I said the other day that I was making Banana Bread, and I would post. I use my Fannie Farmer Cookbook that I adore, the ingredients are always in the house and I never seem to have problem allowing my Bananas go passed the actual eating raw stage.. then the house starts to smell like my Great Grandmother's house in New Jersey~ over-ripe banana smell. "Grama Marty" my father's grandmother... I hate that smell of over-ripe bananas. I never thought Grama Marty was particularly nice to begin with, so I try to use up my bananas that are over ripe before the house is invaded by the offending smell...</span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>The recipe~ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Original-1896-Boston-Cooking-School-Cookbook/dp/0146001052?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Fannie Farmer</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0146001052" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> Banana Bread</b></i></div><ul class="instructions" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><li class="">3 ripe <a class="ingredient" href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/14816/fanny-farmers-banana-nut-bread.html#">bananas</a> </li>
<li class="">2 <a class="ingredient" href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/14816/fanny-farmers-banana-nut-bread.html#">eggs</a> </li>
<li class="">2 cups <a class="ingredient" href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/14816/fanny-farmers-banana-nut-bread.html#">flour</a> </li>
<li class="">3/4 cup <a class="ingredient" href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/14816/fanny-farmers-banana-nut-bread.html#">sugar</a> <a class="to_shopping_list to_list " href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/14816/fanny-farmers-banana-nut-bread.html#" rel="3/4 cup sugar (regular, or turbinado works fine, too)" title="Add to shopping list"></a> </li>
<li class="">1 teaspoon <a class="ingredient" href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/14816/fanny-farmers-banana-nut-bread.html#">salt</a><a class="to_shopping_list to_list " href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/14816/fanny-farmers-banana-nut-bread.html#" rel="1 teaspoon salt" title="Add to shopping list"></a> </li>
<li class="">1 teaspoon <a class="ingredient" href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/14816/fanny-farmers-banana-nut-bread.html#">baking soda</a> </li>
<li class="">1/2 cup nut meats, coarsely chopped ( I never add these~ it doesn't mean you can't)</li>
<li>I always add a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of cinnamon. </li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGAlycRY4I/AAAAAAAAAEI/kzKuXNCaV6k/s1600/Photo800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGAlycRY4I/AAAAAAAAAEI/kzKuXNCaV6k/s320/Photo800.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span> </span>Mix in a bowl 3 ripe bananas, well mashed, vanilla and 2 eggs, beaten until light. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGApDXI3lI/AAAAAAAAAEM/UyS8u9BX8aM/s1600/Photo801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGApDXI3lI/AAAAAAAAAEM/UyS8u9BX8aM/s320/Photo801.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span> </span>Sift together 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon baking soda. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span> </span>Add to the first mixture. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span> </span>Add 1/2 cup nut meats, chopped. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span> </span>Stir well. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span> </span>Put in a buttered loaf pan 9 by 5 inches. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGArhQp2RI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/hh85YTeoFTs/s1600/Photo802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGArhQp2RI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/hh85YTeoFTs/s320/Photo802.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> While it was cooking, Max and Connor were down stairs in the family room doing homework and watching tv- you can guess which one was doing what... they both came up stairs at least 3 times during that long hour to ask "What is that smell?"</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">and "When is that gonna be done?" Connor had 2 huge pieces and Max one.. both warm with butter mmmmm. I Love<b> LOVE</b> that I can make something so simple and have both the boys be so happy with it! </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I <i><b>DID</b></i> not want to bake over the Christmas Break~ Brian was the baker this Christmas, I was more content with making sure he had all the ingredients and being his wingman- AKA dish washer for his baking. Now- I feel more in the mood to bake.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Last night I made Oatmeal Toffee Cookies at 7:30, which for me is late, but I realized I had two huge old school Tupperware containers of quick oats that need to be used up soon... so I see a google search for Oat recipes coming soon!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I got the recipe from the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Home-Suppers-Potluck-Favorites/dp/0898216397?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Taste Of Home</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0898216397" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> Website, their community bulletin boards are a wealth of older women posting tried and true old recipes, handed down for ages! I would print and print the recipes out, trying them, as I made them.. I would star the good ones and then attach them to index cards, to store in my Oh I love so much Longaberger recipe basket! </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGAvD_gEEI/AAAAAAAAAEU/gDtVGLtpTTw/s1600/Photo806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGAvD_gEEI/AAAAAAAAAEU/gDtVGLtpTTw/s320/Photo806.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is the recipe since the picture really isn't that clear~</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b>Oatmeal Toffee Cookies</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 C Butter ( I never use margarine for cookies)</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 eggs</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 cups brown sugar</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 tsp vanilla</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 1/4 cups of flour</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 tsp cinnamon</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1/2 tsp salt</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3 cups oats </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 and 3/4 cups of toffee bits- I normally just use the whole bag of Heath Toffee Bits/Brickle</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 cup coconut - optional- I didn't have it so my option was to not use it!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGAx3B8jlI/AAAAAAAAAEY/4FP95GSchSc/s1600/Photo804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGAx3B8jlI/AAAAAAAAAEY/4FP95GSchSc/s320/Photo804.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Beat butter,eggs, sugar and vanilla until well blended. Add flour, basking soda, salt and cinnamon, beat until blended. Stir in Oats, Toffee and Coconut with spoon- I do no do this- I add them all to the mixer.. one cup at a time until it is blended in.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Drop lightly onto lightly greased cookie sheets and bake 8-10 min at 375.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">I used my Pampered Chef medium sized scoop cause I wanted larger cookies. And I used the Spray Olive Oil lightly on the pan.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGA2FDnPOI/AAAAAAAAAEc/FT5HRK7fkM4/s1600/Photo805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGA2FDnPOI/AAAAAAAAAEc/FT5HRK7fkM4/s320/Photo805.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">They flatten out nicely too</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGA4S7IZ1I/AAAAAAAAAEg/Q8yutEFHBPs/s1600/Photo808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGA4S7IZ1I/AAAAAAAAAEg/Q8yutEFHBPs/s320/Photo808.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">I left them on the pan to cool for about 2 min and then transferred them to a cooling rack.. I love my cooling racks. I bought them when I was pregnant with Max, now every time I use them I am reminded of how far my life has come and how much I love being a Mom and Wife.. ahhhh so little of a thing those baking racks, but I will never get rid of them!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGA6vI6-gI/AAAAAAAAAEk/jzpjs4l8pkE/s1600/Photo809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TUGA6vI6-gI/AAAAAAAAAEk/jzpjs4l8pkE/s320/Photo809.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So- try the recipes, let me know what you think or even shoot me off your fave Oatmeal Cookie /Banana Bread recipe.. I love Heirloom recipes and "This is my Great Grandmother's recipe" It is exactly what I am trying to provide for my kids so that they have those special treat recipes that need to be handed down:)</span></i><br />
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<i>*on a side note- I have figured out how to create a post and set it to post anytime during the day - which I am loving cause I can set it to post at a time during the day instead of doing them at night then posting them at night.. when not too many people are on line:) Yea me!!! a Technical<b> WIN</b></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-29215284745939058392011-01-25T19:41:00.000-05:002011-01-25T19:41:31.795-05:002.99 for a pack of Jello cups? I think not.... <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Today we had to take Connor to the dentist, he needed a cavity filled and a tooth pulled...I was worried he would not be able to eat anything this evening, being as I have had a tooth or two (okay like 8) pulled. The little guy loves jello- but only in little cups. All the boys seem to turn up their noses to jello in a glass baking dish like my mom used to do. I went to the store last night totally willing to purchase the jello cups for my soon to be brave little man, until I saw they were 2.99... are they nuts? I can get a box of jello for 69 cents!!!! But the cup- I know he won't like it in a dish.</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Feast your eyes on this Frugal Solution and sigh in "why didn't I think of this earlier" and if you had thought of it earlier- or before this post- don't tell me cause I will be mad that you didn't tell me! I feel as though I have been shorting my kids of Jello for the last 14 yrs!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TT9pnO278GI/AAAAAAAAAEA/Ow9VOVuXHOQ/s1600/Photo799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TT9pnO278GI/AAAAAAAAAEA/Ow9VOVuXHOQ/s320/Photo799.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Brian likes the "YoCrunch parfait" yogurt, so when I have a coupon, I get it. I started keeping the containers in the thought that I would be able to use them for something, well I found my something! I had 3 of them and 2 of the mini gladware containers, I took this picture after Connor had already eaten 2 of them. 20 minutes later, Max ate one, Connor had another one and Brian ate the last one. I have Melon Jello in 5 of the mini gladware containers now...soooooo bring on the boxed jello baby- I am in business!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"> Tonight was HamPot Pie</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TT9qiNN0inI/AAAAAAAAAEE/1mH2Zajy4ZA/s1600/Photo798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TT9qiNN0inI/AAAAAAAAAEE/1mH2Zajy4ZA/s320/Photo798.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I had made a huge batch of this over Christmas time and froze it- I have never ever had enough to freeze of this so I had no idea how it would taste after being frozen... but it was just as good as the day I made it- okay, close but not perfect cause you don't have the huge pot on the stove simmering!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is the recipe, that mind you is a <i><b>NOTRecipe</b></i>, meaning I add, subtract and use alot of what I have on hand, adjust to your families likes and dislikes with the ingredents:</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">The Soup~ </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Cook a ham bone in water to make a broth, I use Peight's chicken stock base to add flavor as well- I have tried ham stock base- but none of the boys liked the taste.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">add seasonings like celery seed, pepper,tarragon, parsley what ever you like. I add different stuff each time! I ALWAYS add about a cup of Peights Dried Soup Greens... </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Pull meat from ham bone add back to stock, bring to slow boil/simmer Make sure you have a decent amount of broth- I make this in a huge stockpot and I bet I have it only 6 inches from the top. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Now - make the PotPie~</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> 3 eggs slightly beaten</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1/2 cup milk</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 tsp salt</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1/2 tsp baking powder</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">enough flour to make a stiff dough</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into strips, I use a pizza cutter.. be generous with the flour on your rolling surface and on the dough as you roll it out- this thickens your soup . Make sure your stock is close to boiling - if not already boiling, adding about 12 pieces of dough to the pot, giving a quick stir so they don't stick and repeat until all the noodles have been added. You wanna give the noodles a little time to cook, like once the soup returns to a hard simmer, add more noodles...</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">these noodles puff up a good bit, so make sure you are using a large pot!</div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I have Banana Bread in the oven right now.... I will post it soon!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-39590615498942459402011-01-23T07:53:00.000-05:002011-01-23T07:53:14.111-05:00A complete HodgePodge~ Entryway,Meatballs and Lazy <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> So tonight is supposed to be spaghetti and meatballs. I have the meatballs made from when I had a insane moment before Penn State's Christmas break was over, I made like 50 of them. I think that I will actually make it, since I am feeling like I am ignoring the rest of the house. The laundry, the kitchen table, the floor oh and lets not forget the lovely bathroom .... I get on kicks, where cleaning and laundry come easy, other weeks? It is a total struggle to keep up, I want to sit after work, I do not want to participate in the mundane task of washing clothes. I need to rearrange a room every time I clean it- it tricks me into feeling like I am doing something creative, and you can't rearrange a room without cleaning it. But this week? I do not feel as though any of that is creative this week, and I want to run screaming from the vacuum .. or lay on the couch just pretending that the kids don't need clean socks...</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I was reading on a Frugal website about a 20 dollar grocery list( listing the meal and maybe even the recipe).. and what would yours be, assuming you have a well stocked pantry how would you feed your family for a week on 20 bucks? The responses were really eye opening to how our area, really isn't that hard on us compared to some places like California or an area that doesn't accept coupons. Alot of the people were literally eating ground hamburger meals for 4 out of the 5 days...My boys would freak out on me if I attempted that- I on the other hand adore Hamburger Helper and don't even get me started on Tuna Helper- mmmmm Tuna noodle casserole *swoon*. But my boys?? They will not touch a casserole, it is a mortal sin for me to attempt to make a casserole, so what's a Mom to do? I make stews and soups.. they are like liquid casseroles- and they eat them up! Plus, they are frugal. You can use just about anything in a soup or stew. Beans, veggies, chicken, sausage, hamburger, it is all fair game..if you have ample seasonings- you will make a killer dinner.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> My boys favorite soup/stew is my Ham PotPie recipe.. they adore it- Max tries to ask for it for his Birthday Meal- mmm his Birthday is in June and there is no way I am boiling a huge stockpot full of soup on the stove...</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I have my Menu plan- since my pantry is so well stocked, I really only needed Bread and Milk this month for all the meals I had picked out. I still went to the store- I used coupons, to replenish some of my stockpile, look for good deals on meat, ect. I have said it before, I will say it again- there is nothing wrong with buying something with a date of use by that says tomorrow- put it in the freezer! Every time I hit the Weis Market, I check the part of the meat dept. where they put all that stuff. It makes no sense not to put it in the freezer, as long as you are following the guide lines of freezing meat, you are in the clear!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I cleaned this weekend- I had too there was no way around it.. the entry way~ I like to say entry way, like I have one.. the entrance into the kitchen is what I should really say, was a mess.. salt, dirt, boots to the point of me wanting to move rather than clean it. I think I came up with a semi soultion until winter is over- I can throw the rug into the washer and use bleach, to get any stains out. Plus there is a place for the shoes and a rug to soak up the snow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTwhzXBW14I/AAAAAAAAAD0/Jiga_Ntnbw8/s1600/Photo793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTwhzXBW14I/AAAAAAAAAD0/Jiga_Ntnbw8/s320/Photo793.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I also cleaned the boys shower~ I make no bones about it- I keep that spray stuff next to the tub for them to spray everyday, but that only keeps half the soapscrum away.. I use a brillo pad, I don't mess around, as far as I am concerned a brillo pad can clean anything, and it is like survival of the fittest, if it doesn't make it thru a brillo pad cleaning- it isn't worth keeping- not like I can get rid of the shower... but at least I can pull the curtian if something goes wrong!!!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I am hoping this coming week Brian and I can start on the Pantry Project! He keeps saying it won't take that long, and I suppose I trust that- but now I wanna do it... and get it done. To me- making a pantry is way more creative and satisfying than cleaning the Kitchen Table off. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Today is a pork roast and homemade sauerkraut in the crockpot.. I made Meatloaf and Mashed potatoes last night for dinner and pretty much doubled the potatoes so that we would have them tonight. The roast is huge and compliments of my friend Penny who got a pig butchered this summer, and insisted she wouldn't use all the roasts she got. I wasn't about to turn it down. We make sauerkraut every fall with my in-laws, my Father in Law.. aka Pap said about 5 yrs ago "Someone needs to learn to make this so they can learn the tradition" of course ~ Brian and I wanted to learn! We even have the kids help/watch each year. Connor usually adds the salt to the enormous crock and Max has helped stomp it down with the wooden stomper..let me tell you - there is nothing better than homemade sauerkraut.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTwjB9yP2JI/AAAAAAAAAD4/r6lQehK80iA/s1600/Photo794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTwjB9yP2JI/AAAAAAAAAD4/r6lQehK80iA/s320/Photo794.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-90094349250664699532011-01-19T16:56:00.000-05:002011-01-19T16:56:10.455-05:00Robocalls, a Pantry Project and Roasted Cauliflower<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Okay- so 2 days in a row now we have had a 2 hour delay.. I am literally up earlier when there is a 2 hour delay than when it is a normal school day, the auto call happens around 5:30 am. I am not complaining .. We have Dish Network which means- no channel 4, for all you local people who realize that this is the best way to find out if there is no school or a delay. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Now I hear that there is to be snow Thursday night into Friday.. ughhhh how did we go from no snow to now there is all this ugly January snow all around us messing with our schedules!?</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Alright- enough complaining!... Dinner last night consisted of pretty much 2 new recipes.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I don't know about you people- but I am horrible about making sure I use and make use of all my veggies I buy in the winter. It irritates me to no end to have to throw food out, to help me with not doing this I bought <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-7J93-Produce-8-Piece-Containers/dp/B0012DS4GG?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Rubbermaid's produce saver</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0012DS4GG" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> containers this summer when I found coupons. Okay - I have the containers- now... let try to use them, DUH...I washed my lettuce( I buy the romaine- cheaper by the lb and lasts way longer than the bagged), carrots( I buy the regular carrots and chop them it is cheaper than the baby carrots and they don't get slimey), cauliflower, celery, cilantro and scallions. I cut everything up and tried to fit it all in the containers... wow- did that feel good! I know I am nuts- but this way, I can find my veggies and they are clean and ready to cook with, and they will not be wasted. Not to mention- today's lunch of salad for Brian and I was sooo easy to throw together in a container!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Alright- there is my ADD kicking in- or as Max says " Mom you have ' oh look a chicken disorder'" I was getting ready to tell you I made 2 new recipes.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I used the newly cut up cauliflower( Brian's fav veggie which I never buy cause it is so expensive, but it was on sale for 2 bucks) to make Roasted Cauliflower.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><i><b>Roasted Cauliflower</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Cut up cauliflower</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Olive Oil</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Salt/Pepper</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Parm Cheese</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">In a bowl or resealable baggie put the cauliflower, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix it all up so it gets all over the veggie. The amounts- you can adjust to your liking. I used 3 cups chopped cauliflower, 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and about 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil. Bake at 450 for 25 min. Pull out of the oven, and put shredded Parm over the cauliflower and broil for 2 min.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Verdicts? Me, Brian and Max really liked. Connor faught his way thru it, not liking it at all - but then again the only veggie he will eat is cooked carrots. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I also made Ground Chicken burgers... which they all ate up and loved, Brian said it had a weird taste.. a good weird taste though lol.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I bought the Chicken burgers from Weis cause they were on sale for 99 cents for 4 of them.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I also made chicken flavored noodles - the boxed kind I keep on hand that I buy with coupons- the Knorr kind- which the kids love.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTchDrJqT5I/AAAAAAAAADk/QiqRtl-9SWw/s1600/Photo788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTchDrJqT5I/AAAAAAAAADk/QiqRtl-9SWw/s320/Photo788.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Now I know what you are all thinking-" <i>Wait- didn't this woman post a menu plan? That isn't what was on the menu plan!!</i>" I make my menu plan with great intentions of following it- sometimes I don't but the best thing about having a menu plan, is that you have something to fall back on, for nights that you do not feel like improvising, or nights you think eating out would be easier. You have a meal.. right infront of you planned out- that you have all the ingredients for.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A Project!!</b></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Anyone who knows Brian and me, knows we need projects- especially around the house. When I posted about the leak in the closet in the family room in our basement, I had looked at it- and thought- this could be a pantry. Brian mentioned cleaning it out and painting it. I have always wanted a pantry, I love to look at all the neat organized pretty pictures all over the kitchen blogs of walk in pantry's. I talked to Brian, he was all for it... I am going to post before, during and after pics for everyone to travel the journey of a Frugal Pantry Creation! We already discussed that we are not purchasing anything - this won't be nearly as hard for Brian as it will for me- but I need to just look around, I have plenty of organizational holders, baskets and what not for the floor and shelves that Brian is going to install... I am keeping my fingers crossed!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTchHa6ZP6I/AAAAAAAAADo/LpY2LFeqEXA/s1600/Photo791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTchHa6ZP6I/AAAAAAAAADo/LpY2LFeqEXA/s320/Photo791.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTchJUGUymI/AAAAAAAAADs/WnXJUBDI3Sw/s1600/Photo790.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTchJUGUymI/AAAAAAAAADs/WnXJUBDI3Sw/s320/Photo790.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTchLka4hjI/AAAAAAAAADw/y_Mr1Gs3tV4/s1600/Photo789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTchLka4hjI/AAAAAAAAADw/y_Mr1Gs3tV4/s320/Photo789.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Hopefully in the next few weeks, nothing major needs repaired in the house and we can get this pantry project started!!!<br />
- Although that sure is a heck of a lot of wires to cover and not to mention the yukky lookin walls and the ceiling needs hidden or something I suppose Brian will know what to do hahahah!<br />
We plan on adding lots more shelves to hold all the canned goods we do, as well as the ones I get from the store. I am also hoping I can store some of the less used but still needed mini appliances I keep in the cupboards, like the mini dip crockpots and vintage cakesaver tins...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-75104155185671519862011-01-17T19:30:00.011-05:002011-01-17T19:51:41.842-05:00A Clean kitchen, Chicken Soup and Becker Style<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I have been trying to organize and clean out my cupboards, I saw an interesting tip/statement to make sure you save money <i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>"A clean kitchen saves money"</b></i>. Sounds simple enough, makes sense right? Who wants to cook or prepare a dinner in a kitchen that has stuff all over the counter, dishes in the sink, stickiness on the island? I admit- it is easy for me to keep up with the dishes, Brian helps- when 2 people are doing dishes, it is alot easier to stay on top of them. The cupboards? Easy to keep up with- I find it soothing to clean out and declutter my kitchen cupboards, I know weird right?</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> My kitchen table on the other hand- a true disaster area... try as I might- it stays cluttered, I love my kitchen table, a huge long farmhouse looking table with black chairs, it is one of my favorite things in the house- but as far as keeping it uncluttered? Well~ it would be easier to pass up a plate of nachos for me, the left side is filled with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Star-Wars-Snow-Trooper/dp/B002RL7W9W?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">legos</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002RL7W9W" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, books, unwanted things from the newly organized drawer or cupboard, magazines, this weeks Sunday papers, empty canning jars, you name it- anything that is to go downstairs to the basement or family room. Each trip I make downstairs, I try to take something with me. Usually I forget, I come back up the steps and look at the pile and think-"<i> Wow- I should have taken something down with me</i>". I am not perfect- I am sure of that- but I am thinking this is going to have to be a hardcore resolution to not allow anything on the kitchen table except the 2 vintage Amber Glass colored Princess House Fairy lights I have on it as a decoration. There is no other way around it! I will post a pic- so everyone can <i>ewwe</i> and <i>ughhh</i> at the table - knowing full well you all have a place like this in the house. It is okay- I understand, we all need to look at a cluttered area and think "<i>I could clean that up in a minute</i>" it is motivation!</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTTFfEj0ILI/AAAAAAAAADY/k__WkXJ9kmg/s1600/Photo786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTTFfEj0ILI/AAAAAAAAADY/k__WkXJ9kmg/s320/Photo786.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTTFiXmONGI/AAAAAAAAADc/kAqRnHefs5A/s1600/Photo785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTTFiXmONGI/AAAAAAAAADc/kAqRnHefs5A/s320/Photo785.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I will obviously be adding the pics once the table is cleaned off- so I am not a total loser!</div><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">So- the Menu plan says tonight is Chicken Corn Soup- and believe it or not- that is what is in the crockpot, along with my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Slow-Cooker-Liners-4-Count/dp/B002U0KKK8?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Reynold's SlowCooker liner</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002U0KKK8" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />! Except- I used turkey meat I had in the freezer- shhhh- I see no reason to give this info to the boys.....</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Here is the recipe:</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Chicken (Turkey shhhhhh) Corn soup </b></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">3 Cups diced cooked Turkey meat</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">2 Quart jars of Chicken stock</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 Teaspoon of salt</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 Teaspoon of cracked black pepper</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">1/2 cup of dehydrated soup greens ( from Peights in Belleville- another entire post on how to shop frugally!)</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">3 Cups frozen Corn- this is from when we did corn in the summer, I had in the freezer.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">put it all in the crockpot on low- I normally taste test the soup I make before feeding it to my boys- since all my soup recipes are a work in progress- to make sure the seasonings are right.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTTF1Wwqd6I/AAAAAAAAADg/LFNy6TY4btQ/s1600/Photo787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTTF1Wwqd6I/AAAAAAAAADg/LFNy6TY4btQ/s320/Photo787.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Don't forget to *<i>like</i>*<a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/pages/Becker-Style/128036483930390"> <b>Becker Style</b></a> on Facebook- I am running a contest and when I hit (as of today I had 36 fans) 50 fans I am going to randomly choose a fan as a winner to get a week meal plan of budget friendly dishes along with a box of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Slow-Cooker-Liners-4-Count/dp/B002U0KKK8?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Reynold's SlowCooker</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002U0KKK8" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> liners- thanks to Margaret's suggestion:) I am working on Reynold's to hand over the free box- but- in the chance that they think I am insane- I will just buy a box for the winner considering I love them that much! You can Like it from right here on the Blog to the left, so make sure to share the Becker Style page with your friends! and follow my Blog- More than likely I will do the same sort of contest here on the blog once I hit 50 followers!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-75927495784044857362011-01-15T17:56:00.000-05:002011-01-15T17:56:45.595-05:00Repurposing and RedecoratingSo I have this old wooden Ironing Board that I love - I got from my Mother. It was in the first house my grandparents house in Morrisdale when they moved in in the 70's, it wasn't theirs, it was in the house so it has to be from at least the 50's, it still has the adorable paper ad attached to the top of the loving housewife ironing.... I iron, I don't like it as much as the woman in the picture- nor do I wear such nice clothes while ironing- I am usually in a robe screaming at the rest of the household to finish brushing their teeth, find shoes, belts and brush hair OTHERWISE WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL!!!!!!!<br />
Regardless, I love that ironing board and what that ad looks like, I have often said I was going to give it to my friend Jenny for her mother to paint, which she does for a living~ I can't part with it, I want to be that happy ironing, I never will be, but here is how I found a way to utilize the Ironing Board .....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTIec9h2X4I/AAAAAAAAADM/vd-lJeFfYl8/s1600/Photo779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTIec9h2X4I/AAAAAAAAADM/vd-lJeFfYl8/s320/Photo779.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I love sofa tables, I have always thought they looked so ritzy though- I am sooo NOT ritzy, I am country and rustic, dare I say shabby? The Ironing Board works perfectly as a rustic country sofa table....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTIeSzCnQ0I/AAAAAAAAADA/C2U8lp6iQ1o/s1600/Photo776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTIeSzCnQ0I/AAAAAAAAADA/C2U8lp6iQ1o/s320/Photo776.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Brian hates the ironing board-basically cause it just floats around and I never know what to do with it. He also hates how everytime he is out of the house for longer than 2 hours, I rearrange the house or at least a corner of it, well I think that it keeps me from purchasing new stuff all the time- I move things around, I use different items for things that may not be used for their intended purpose. It is very frugal... think about it- all the decorating shows do it- they use what a person has already. In the closets, garage, attic. There is no reason to purchase tons of things to make the house look new and fresh. Look around in the things you have stashed.<br />
When our bathroom upstairs needed redone- and beleive me it wasn't just for pretty reasons- the toliet wouldn't flush- I live with 3 boys- this is not an option... we knew we wanted to do it on the cheap but make it nice enough to be something we could live with for a looooonnnggg time.<br />
Both Brian and I were impressed with the dresser looking vanities. Well- those run about 900 buckaroos- not actually in the budget! We had a antique dresser that we got at a yardsale for about 40 bucks ( they wanted 60.00~ but of course I offered less) Which Brian turned into a sink for about 200.00 it would have been less- but the actual faucet was so pricey. I was using the large crock looking thing as a trash can- but I couldn't keep the boys from slamming the lid, and I didn't want it broken- it's home is now on the Hearth next to the fireplace. I got it at the Goodwill for like 30 bucks- which when I saw how much they normally cost ( it has a a spout to use as a drink dispenser, i just had it turned around) I think I got a pretty good deal.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTIhVrCKz5I/AAAAAAAAADQ/PsylX-cIqPo/s1600/7130_1204170635111_1553986741_536291_2574895_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTIhVrCKz5I/AAAAAAAAADQ/PsylX-cIqPo/s320/7130_1204170635111_1553986741_536291_2574895_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The summer before our bathroom needed fixed and redone, our dishwasher stopped working- actually it started leaking, I so rarely used it- cause I figured it wasted electricity, when I finnally did use it- the gaskets or something had dry rotted, our neighbor looked at it and said- "Unless you love this and want to spend about 200 dollars getting it fixed, I would get rid of it and get a new one"<br />
I looked at Brian and said- rip it out, I don't want it- I can use more cupboard space..this is what he came up with- it cost all of like 25.00<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTIiTBzG11I/AAAAAAAAADU/lN0aNC3JjJs/s1600/12142_1263724307589_1064166812_817659_5874641_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTIiTBzG11I/AAAAAAAAADU/lN0aNC3JjJs/s320/12142_1263724307589_1064166812_817659_5874641_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The baskets I got at the Memorial Day celebration here in Boalsburg- a wonderful nice lady makes them - she is also at People's Choice festival. They are also dirt cheat the large one on top was like 22.00 and it has leather handles, I keep my bread in it. the small one- onions, the tall one- potatoes... and finally a home for my mixer.<br />
I really didn't do much cooking today- I made cold cut sandwiches for lunch and chicken tenders for dinner- I was going to get the heck outta the house cause of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fremont-Die-90513-Pittsburgh-Steelers/dp/B0009XEFDQ?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Steeler</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0009XEFDQ" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> Game and Brian is a lunatic during it, but my plans fell thru. Thankfully, we have a family room in the basement- otherwise I am sure the neighbors would be calling the police about now......Lord help me and the kids!<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=creacookcons-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000WQA2K0&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176763091983319303.post-17106705191208738032011-01-14T18:00:00.055-05:002011-01-14T18:02:57.811-05:00I needed that<div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Did you ever have one of those days? The kind where at 5:30 all I wanted to do was put my head on the couch and close my eyes. That was yesterday, so I did… I had dishes in the sink, dinner to cook and I did not care. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Then the dog went nuts, I thought ‘really? Barking at Brian coming in the door?’ Only it wasn’t Brian, it was a good friend of mine~ with a 12 yes TWELVE foot poster of Jason Stackhouse…from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Blood-Complete-Second-Season/dp/B00280LZAE?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">True Blood</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00280LZAE" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />! I was blown away- I had wanted it from the Gap- they told me no- not thinking me telling them my version of ‘Recycling’ the poster would be hanging it in my bathroom. My friend made no promises, just that she’d attempt to contact someone she knew from the Gap company and now- here she was with my lovely poster….. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Dinner still wasn’t getting cooked, dishes were still in the sink, 2 loads of laundry were still hanging in the basement and I was on the floor cutting out Jason Stackhouse’s profile to fit on a wall in my downstairs bathroom</i>- and I was happy lol-<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCO4Cg0QnI/AAAAAAAAACo/eAdmLsUrxCg/s1600/Photo772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCO4Cg0QnI/AAAAAAAAACo/eAdmLsUrxCg/s320/Photo772.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I am a 15 yr old at heart, I have crushes that only 8<sup>th</sup> graders should have, Brian puts up with it.. Probably cause I put up with him watching that insanely ridiculous Victoria Secret Fashion Show each Christmas- like that is really a fashion show?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> When Brian got home, he looked stunned like, where is Dinner and what in the heck are you doing?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I answered; the boys want boxed Mac and Cheese- do you? If not- I can make you a Peanut Butter Sandwich- he threatened to take pictures of him making the sandwich to post on my blog LOL… I explained to him that there isn’t one wife, mother or woman that hasn’t cracked and made boxed mac and cheese and made peanut butter sandwiches and to stop whining, no one was going to listen….</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">He made his sandwich and was soon off to a meeting at the church, I considered laying back down on the couch, and thought better of it- called my lifelong best friend Jenny and commiserated with her about cooking, money and not getting enough sleep, before I knew it- I had washed the dishes, taken down and folded the 2 loads of laundry and felt 110% better about the evening!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Then to make the evening even better- I got a compliment on my blog, even though I had shirked every responsibility I had promised on my blog, it still made me feel good to know someone- one of Brian’s cousins thought we were a perfect couple together- mishaps and all… validation is nice- no matter who you are.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">Anyway- I am making Panko breaded Tilapia tonight- I have to – I have it defrosting in the fridge and I know I cannot let that sit or go to waste!!!! I originally got the recipe – believe it or not from a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Food-1-year-auto-renewal/dp/B002PXW1T8?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Martha Stewart magazine</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002PXW1T8" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />..</div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Panko-Crusted Fish Sticks with Herb Dipping Sauce</span></h1><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Ingredients</span></b></div><ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">1 large egg, lightly beaten</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">coarse salt and ground pepper</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">2 cups panko</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning (didn’t use- don’t have)</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">2 tablespoons olive oil</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into wide strips (see note, above)~ I use the individually wrapped frozen ones from Sam’s Club- they work just Finnnneeee</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">1/2 cup light mayonnaise</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">1 tablespoon Dijon mustard</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">2 teaspoons prepared white horseradish ( Didn’t use)</span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Directions</span></b></div><ol start="1" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Preheat oven to 475, with racks in top and bottom third. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil; set aside. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Place egg in a wide shallow bowl; season with salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine panko, Old Bay, and oil. Dip tilapia into egg, shaking off excess, then into panko mixture, pressing to adhere. Place on prepared baking sheets. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Bake until lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, parsley, mustard, lemon juice, and horseradish; season with salt and pepper. Serve fish sticks with sauce and lemon wedges on the side. </span></li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;">I used this recipe loosely- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Martha-Stewart-Living-Cookbook-Original/dp/0307393828?ie=UTF8&tag=creacookcons-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Martha’s</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=creacookcons-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0307393828" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> recipes are good- just so stinkin involved… defrost the fish cover in bread crumbs and use extra seasonings you like- mix up some flavored mayo with mustard for dipping sauce and Bam- you have homemade fish sticks – seriously… no need for the “ place you oven racks here there and everywhere and garnish? <b>Really? I am gonna garnish ?</b><br />
I also made a different dipping sauce for me and Brian- I mixed 2 Tablespoons of Mayo, 1 Teaspoon of Cumin, 1 Teaspoon of Lime juice and a whole handful of Diced Cilantro- I almost ate the stuff by itself!!!<b><br />
</b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Here is a picture of our finished Dinner- I made Broccoli and these new McCain Simply Potatoes that I got a freebie coupon for - that Max and Connor loved!<b> </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTDSwwpSXhI/AAAAAAAAAC8/JBFJqcHe7_o/s1600/Photo775.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTDSwwpSXhI/AAAAAAAAAC8/JBFJqcHe7_o/s320/Photo775.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I said I would try to post more on my money saving efforts... </span></b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* I use coupons... </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Where do I get my coupons?</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Coupons.com</i></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>The Philly Sunday Paper </i></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>The Pittsburgh Sunday Paper</i></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Smart Source</i></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Sometimes just by going to the product website there will be coupons</i></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*I write to companies- if I love their product- I use the contact us button and let them know! If I feel like their product failed me some how- I let them know- more than likely - you will get a coupon!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* I regularly check the reduced meat area at my local grocery store- You know what- a pound of Jimmie Dean bacon for a buck that I am gonna put in the freezer tonight- 2 days before the sell by date is a beautiful thing.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* We buy a 1/4 of Beef we have done this for about 3 yrs now- we have meat all year, I know where it comes from, I never have to worry about a recall and we order it during Tax return time!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* We can foods- 2 yrs ago- it was mostly for Christmas gifts- now- this year we wisened up- and made just Jellies to give away- but made a boat load of Spaghetti sauce and Salsa and peaches from our Garden - minus the peaches they came from Jersey thanks to my cousins Maddy and Michelle.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Reference above- grow a garden!!! </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Turn out the lights- use the incandescent ones!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Unplug things that suck Vampire Power- the Microwave, the coffee pot, anything that has a blinking light when not in use is suckin power</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Join freecycle- you can declutter easier and get stuff via it - keeps stuff outta the land fill too!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Use craigslist- with caution obviously- I used to use Ebay- but you know what, I have about enough energy to run to the post office every other night like I have enough energy to get a second job- craigslist is local and free too!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Have one or 2 meatless meals a week.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Use the crock-pot!!! The oven is the biggest electric hog you have in the house! </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pics of my Coupon Holder:)</span></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCcr9ucuqI/AAAAAAAAACs/Iy6A1rA_G4Y/s1600/Photo768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCcr9ucuqI/AAAAAAAAACs/Iy6A1rA_G4Y/s320/Photo768.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCctmCIzbI/AAAAAAAAACw/d3qJ8T47db4/s1600/Photo769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCctmCIzbI/AAAAAAAAACw/d3qJ8T47db4/s320/Photo769.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> These are envelopes that I cut the lip off of, added avery labels according to what is in the Envelope and it is organized by what makes sense to me - </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCcvZ2GaKI/AAAAAAAAAC0/XZ-Oo-IbdhA/s1600/Photo770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCcvZ2GaKI/AAAAAAAAAC0/XZ-Oo-IbdhA/s320/Photo770.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> If the order doesn't make sense to you- you are not going to use it-I suggest placing them in isle order of your most frequented grocery store!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCcxGMl34I/AAAAAAAAAC4/BvYNEmXpnGQ/s1600/Photo771.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EaLl7afGWZ4/TTCcxGMl34I/AAAAAAAAAC4/BvYNEmXpnGQ/s320/Photo771.jpg" width="320" />- </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Then I used a pretty pretty Longaberger Basket- this is the Address Basket- to keep them all in- it fits in the from of the cart, right next to my purse- just because I am using coupons doesn't mean I can't have a stylish cute holder right?~ Brian is never to happy though when I forget it in the car and tell him to go get it for me, on the off chance he is in the store with me! he always says " The whole thing? Can't I just grab one envelope?"</span></div><b><br />
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<b>I will think of more- what are some of your ways to save?</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2