I Hear Them All

First Day of School

2011-08-22T10:31:00.001-05:00

The first day of Pre-K3 has finally arrived! Elizabeth did great and didn’t cry when I was there or when I left. She may have cried after…but she was much more interested in playing with puzzles!

(Oops, please excuse the mess in the kitchen!)

With her backpack on!

Putting her backpack away in her locker. She’s got a top locker, but can still reach it easily. She didn’t want help putting it in there, either! She wanted to do it all!!

I pick her up at 11:50, so I’m anxious to hear how her first day went!

Projects & Progress

2011-08-09T22:13:00.004-05:00

Since it’s been so darn hot outside, we’ve been trying to get some things finished up in the house.

Taking out more linoleum in the kitchen…

My little pirate! She loves that sword from Zachary’s party so much! We’ve all had our turn at being the pirate and chasing the others around the house with it.

I also took out the carpet in the “formal” living room. Before…

And after. Elizabeth loves having a big empty room to run around in. She’s also taken this opportunity to get out her train set and put it all together. It works much better on the hard floor. We had it set up on the carpet before and things didn’t always want to fit very well.

She also took the opportunity to just run. And run and run and run…in circles. Lots of them. I can’t believe she didn’t fall down in dizziness. She really loves this open room!

The people we bought the house from had a wood burning stove in the living room. We have long since taken that out, but the pipes were still hooked up in the attic. We were able to take those pipes out and close the hole in the ceiling.

Travis also finished taking out all of the electrical out of the wall that divides our two living spaces. We are now ready to call the guy to come out and remove the wall, set the posts, and install the beams in the attic!

The bad thing is that it’s so, so hot! My dear husband has come down from the attic soaked from head to toe. You can really only work in there until about 11 a.m. After that, it’s best just to wait until the evening, it’s so miserable up there!

I have made some progress in the kitchen. This area is the last of the linoleum and I’ll be so happy when it’s gone. My arms will be happy, too. My sore arms are also the reason why I’ve been “pacing” myself on this last small area. I figure if I do a small area every few days, I’ll knock this out without killing myself in the process.

Besides, there are appliances to move and I’m not looking forward to doing that. I’m not ready to see what lives behind my stove. Yuck.

The lot next to ours has finally sold, so Travis had no way to get trailers in and out of our driveway. (It was much too small and narrow.)

Last week, Travis bought more pipe to add on to our existing driveway and Monday, the county came out and put them in. Yay! This really is so much better than what it was. We still have to get more gravel to widen our drive, but this already looks good!

Elizabeth & I were able to buy her some new clothes and shoes for school today, so she’s all set! Hmm, just thought about it, but she can only wear “street” clothes for a couple of years before she has to wear a uniform to school. I’m looking forward to that! Sure will make school clothes shopping easier!

Lately

2011-07-28T16:47:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am well aware that I’ve been slacking off. Hey! It’s hot and I've been busy!

We only have bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and okra left in the garden. Everything else has withered in the heat. I still receive a few orders for these things, so that’s good.

Before the tomatoes decided they’d had enough, we did a taste test of a few of the varieties we had planted. Next year we’ll have a little better idea of what to plant for taste.

At the end of June, Elizabeth took swimming lessons!

She hated them for the most part and cried every day. (The class was 10 days long.)

Toward the end of the second week, she’d only pout and cry for about half of the class…then she was happy. She may not have liked it very well, but she does know how to swim!

In July, we took a trip to the Waco Zoo with my cousin, Karen, and her boys, Alex and Zach.

The zoo had a couple of different play grounds. It was pretty hot, but the zoo had nice shade for the most part and we weren’t miserable.

We also made a trip to the beach on Matagorda Island! This was Elizabeth’s first time to the Gulf. She saw the Atlantic as a 5 month-old, so this was her first “real” time!

She was a little scared to get in the water or play in the sand, but as soon as we got in the water, she did, too! We had a fun afternoon with Uncle James and Melanie.

I’ve also started a new project in the house…tearing out old carpet! This was before…right when we bought the house.

And this is after I got it all cleaned up. Under the carpet was the original tile. That all had to be scraped up, the adhesive had to be soaked in wet towels to soften and then that had to be scraped up. Then I scrubbed the floor with a brush to get as much of the old adhesive off as I could.

Not a fun job! Now I’m working in the kitchen peeling the linoleum up. The original tile was in there, too…same stinkin’ process as above!

The only upside to all of this scrubbing is that my arms are nice and toned! Hehe.

Well, I say the only upside. There were two…Elizabeth wanted to mop the floor for me! She moped as long as I was taking pictures…once I stopped, she said, “Take pictures, Momma!”

When I wouldn’t take anymore she then told me, “Ok, you do it!” and handed me the mop! What a DIVA!

Throw in a couple of family reunions, work, a few days Elizabeth spent with Nana and Grandpa, and a whole bunch of watering the grass and that about sums up our last couple of months!

Keeping my fingers crossed that TS Don bring us some rain!

The Garden Fly at Farmers Market

2011-05-26T23:48:00.001-05:00

We were back for another day of Market today. It was a pretty warm day with a slight breeze. The slight breeze was good, too much wind and I’m always afraid my umbrella would fly away!

We had two tables again today, yes, I know…movin’ on up in the world! They weren’t both full, but I like how I can spread everything out a little.

We had a ton of cherry and salad tomatoes today. And I didn’t come home with a single basket!

Actually, all I did come home with was 1 onion, 2 bell peppers, 1 calabaza, and a hand full of slicing tomatoes!

Oh, and Elizabeth. I brought her home, too! She was a very good girl today and we had a good time at Market. On the way home she asked if we were on our way to Market again. Nope, not today, but we will be going back Saturday for the 3rd time this week!

Elizabeth bagged up a pint of tomatoes, walked around to the front of the table, asked me to weigh them, took the bag back, and walked back around the table to her chair. She then opened the bag and proceeded to eat her “purchase”! I told Travis that that was the only pint we didn’t sell, but I can’t complain when my little girl eats cherry tomatoes as a snack! I might have helped myself to a few, too!

Other than being hot, we had a great day at Market and we’re hoping for an even better day Saturday!

Perfect Roast Chicken

2011-05-25T12:53:00.001-05:00

There’s a new recipe up on The Garden Fly! Ina Garten’s Perfect Roast Chicken.

The Garden Fly was at Farmers Market yesterday. We had a decent day and took loads of cherry tomatoes!

Elizabeth helped me sort all of the cherry tomatoes into boxes. She really liked just eating them better!

Our booth at Market yesterday. This was the first time I’ve brought two tables, we had so much produce!

I might be crazy, but we’re going to Market again tomorrow! This doesn’t give me much of a break…I have lots of picking to do today to get ready!

The Garden Fly at Farmers Market

2011-05-19T22:42:00.001-05:00

The Garden Fly has been to Market a few times this year. These pictures were taken last Saturday, but we were also at Market today.

Travis, manning the table while I take a few shots.

Last Saturday, Market had 10 vendors! We had a great turnout and a gorgeous day!

I drive by Market some days when I’m not selling and it really is a sight-all of the canopies in the parking lot!

We had a pretty decent day at Market today. It was a little cool, overcast, and sprinkled on and off throughout the morning. The traffic could have been better, but given the weather, it was okay.

This was Day 2 of having packaged herbs. People are impressed that I have fresh herbs, which is good! Now, if only people would buy them! I did sell a few packages and I think as people get used to me having them, they’ll start to buy.

I’m also thinking I need to get some recipe cards to go with the herbs so people have something they can try. That may really get people interested and excited.

Anyone have some good (fairly easy) recipes that use fresh herbs? I’m happy to try them out for Market!

This Guy

2011-05-17T23:27:00.001-05:00

Today is Matt’s 23rd birthday (well, for a few more minutes…). Getting old, Brother!

I wish I could put into words how much I love my “little” brother. He’s an awesome uncle to Elizabeth. She’s loves talking about Uncle Matt. When he’s around, she wants all of his attention.

He’s also turned out to be one of my best friends. I know I can call anytime and he’s willing to talk for a few minutes. He’s my personal assistant when it comes to helping me with “guy” stuff-especially gifts for Travis!

I know it won’t happen much anymore since Cheyenne moved, but I loved his pit stops at our house when he was on his way to see her or on his way back home. I like that when he’s here and Elizabeth is taking a nap, he’s happy to be taking a nap, too! (Ahem, maybe I nap, too…)

I don’t really think about it much, but I’ve realized over the few minutes I’m writing this, that I’m so thankful to have such a great brother. I’m really blessed. Life would be much different and not nearly as fun without him.

Happy Birthday, Brother! I love you, Matt!

A Few Things…

2011-05-13T11:36:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I’ve been a teensy bit busy! I’ll try to do a better job of keeping up around here, even if they are just short posts and a few pictures.

The gardens are huge and have really been producing now for 4 weeks. In this time, I’ve canned green beans, pickled (yes, dill pickles!), and made 26 pints of peach jam. I’ve also got a sink of green beans washed and will can those in a bit.

This is part of the garden at O Road. We didn’t have enough space at our house, so we’re gardening at my in-laws, too!

Here, we’ve got red potatoes, black-eyed peas, cream peas, purple hull peas, 5 varieties of squash & zucchini, okra, sweet corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, cushaw/calabaza, dill & basil.

At our house, we have tomatoes (about 20 varieties), peppers (about 10 varieties), green beans (2 varieties), more squash, more zucchini, cucumbers, and English peas. We also had onions, but they’re out of the ground now. I’m sure I took pictures of our garden at P Road, but can’t find them now…

I’ve never taken pictures of Elizabeth on the potty. Never. I’m sure when she’s older she would have preferred that I kept it that way, but this was just too good not to document!

She’s reading Travis’ Biodiesel magazine! Reading all about fuels of the future!

“Leave me alone, Momma, I’m reading.”

Last Sunday, we drove down to Padre Island to meet and visit with Cheyenne’s family. Her uncle’s house is on a canal and has a swimming pool. Elizabeth was in heaven!

She looked so cute and couldn’t get enough of the water! We had many sets of eyes on her, don’t worry!

We had a nice time meeting everyone. And congratulations to Cheyenne who is one weekend away from being completely finished with school! Yay!

I’ve also been trying to keep up with my flower beds. I planted hydrangeas last year and the work to keep them alive has paid off! I have one pink hydrangea blooming this year and it is completely gorgeous!

I also have two blue hydrangeas, but the cold weather in February really set them back. I’m just glad they budded out and are alive! They’ll be ready to give us a show next year!

The biggest project I’ve been working on since January is the launch of my new business, The Garden Fly. Visit the site, tell me what you think!

I grow the vegetables, take orders, and deliver to homes and businesses. If I still have produce to sell once I’ve filled my orders, I take the rest to Farmers Market to sell there. I’ve been to Market twice since it opened and have nearly sold out of what I’ve taken.

So far, the garden season has gotten off to a good start. Now to keep advertising and getting the word out!

I also post recipes on The Garden Fly. Two have already been posted on this blog, but I just put a new one up today: Spiced Calabaza! Different, but good!

We received 1.3” of rain today! Thank goodness! We’ve been able to keep the gardens watered, but our yard was really needing it!

Now, I’m off to can more green beans!

Three

2011-04-19T15:15:00.001-05:00

Our little girl is three today! I can’t believe that these years have gone so quickly! Travis had to leave to go out of town this afternoon, but we had a fun birthday morning!

Before I get to pictures of this morning, here is a look back!

Our family, the day Elizabeth was born.

One year old! Daddy had to buy her the HUGE ball!

Two…with an attitude!

Three! Being silly after French toast with chocolate chips on top for breakfast.

Just after some fake pouting…

She helped me make her birthday dirt cake and by the end, was covered in Oreo dust. So…the clothes had to come off to get cleaned up!

Opening gifts outside…it was a fairly nice, breezy morning.

“I’m Three!”

We gave her a glove, balls…

…a tee…

…and a bat! Everything you need for back yard t-ball!

Daddy helping hold the bat.

SWING, batter, batter!

Blowing out the candles!

Happy Birthday, Big Girl!! Daddy & I love you!

Sautéed Asparagus & Mushrooms

2011-03-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

For the first time, we have our own fresh asparagus growing in the garden! We dug asparagus crowns from another local vegetable grower last year and planted them at our house.

One way I really like to cook asparagus is to simply sauté in a little butter.

You’ll need asparagus, mushrooms, parsley, and butter. You can play around with the ingredients and add whatever you’d like.

Slice the mushrooms.

To prepare your asparagus, first you’ll need to cut the fibrous end off.

The white end and the purplish stem at the bottom are both too tough to eat.

Cut right above the purple area. The knife should slice relatively easily through the stem. Try cutting through the more fibrous part and you’ll feel the difference.

Some people like the snap the ends off. Either way is fine, just get rid of the tough stuff!

Slice the spears into 1” to 1.5” sections.

In a frying pan, melt a little butter. I used less than two tablespoons.

Throw in your vegetables and sauté on medium, medium-high heat. The heat depends on your stove!

The vegetables will not take very long to cook.

You want this nice brown color on the mushrooms and asparagus spears. That’s the flavor!

When the vegetables are almost ready to come off of the heat, add your herbs and seasoning. All I added was dried parsley from my garden. For us, this dish didn’t even need salt or pepper, but add it if you’d like!

Serve the asparagus and mushrooms next to a baked potato and a big steak! Just a suggestion, this side is really good with anything!

Around the Garden

2011-03-18T15:56:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures from around The Estate.

Elizabeth, pre hair cut, helping Momma plant green beans.

Peach tree blooms.

Paperwhite booms.

Elizabeth, post hair cut, helping Momma plant green beans…again!

Her sweet little hands holding bean seed!

Our gardens are planted and the little plants are growing! Do you have plans for a garden this year?

DIVA 5K Run

2011-03-07T09:34:00.001-06:00

Saturday, we had our 5K run and the results were posted today!

There were 702 women running (it was a women-only race)
My time was 32:56 (minutes!)
I came in 139th out of 702
I came in 33rd out of 120 in my age group (25-29)
I was 11:53 minutes behind the leader

It was super windy, but I still had a decent run time. I had a great time with the girls! Hope we can do it again!

Before the race: Leslie (Lisa’s friend), Karen, Me, Lisa

After the race. We went out to eat at Cheddar’s and then took a picture outside. We were all handed a tiara, a feather boa and a rose as we entered the stadium.

I had a great time and am looking forward to our next one!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

2011-03-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

This chicken pot pie recipe was given to me at one of my wedding showers. I never made it until this year and I didn’t know what I was missing! For me, this is about as close to a one-dish-wonder of a meal as you can get!

You’ll need a can of Veg-all (original); Cream of Potato Soup; Cream of Chicken Soup; Pepper; Milk; an egg; about 2 cups of cooked chicken; and 2 pie crusts. I usually make my own pie crusts, but this night, I was in a hurry and had picked up the refrigerated kind. Either one will work!

Put the Veg-all in a bowl. This stuff is great! It has carrots, peas, corn, celery, potatoes, and probably a couple of other things in it…You know you’re getting vegetables!!

Add a can of cream of potato soup.

And a can of cream of chicken soup. Cream of mushroom would work here, too, but I prefer the chicken.

Add 1/2 cup of milk…

A teaspoon of pepper…

The 2 cups of cooked chicken…

A note about the chicken: You can use whatever kind you like. I’ve roasted a whole chicken in the oven and saved the breasts for this and I’ve used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and seasoned them with Tony’s and roasted those in the oven. You could also boil your chicken or, if you’re really in a hurry, use canned chicken. I will say that roasted chicken, either whole or breasts, seasoned add a ton of flavor to this meal.

And stir to combine!

Unroll one of the crusts and place into the bottom of a 9” pie plate.

Add the chicken/Veg-All mixture.

And seal with the other crust.

Cut slits for vents and brush with a beaten egg. (This step is optional.)

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly.

Serve and enjoy! This is a hearty meal that you won’t mind eating the left-overs!

If there are any, that is…

Here’s the recipe:

1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Potato Soup
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can (16 oz) Veg-all, drained
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2-9” pie crusts, fresh or frozen (if frozen, thaw)
1 egg, slightly beaten (Optional)

Combine the cream of potato soup, cream of chicken soup, Veg-all, chicken, milk & pepper. Spoon into prepared pie crusts. Cover with the top crust, crimp edges to seal. Slit top and brush with egg, if desired.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Wine Making

2011-03-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

We’ve attempted to make wine nearly every year and so far, we haven’t had much luck with the finished product. Well, we’ve decided to try grapefruit wine again and here are a few pictures from what we’ve done so far.

Elizabeth, helping chop the raisins in the food processor. She likes to “Pushy Button!!”

I did convince her to stop slaving away for a second and give me a big smile!

Travis, measuring and stirring.

I also got him to look at the camera…

A few days later, it was time to siphon the wine must out of the buckets and into the jar. Elizabeth was helping Daddy so I could snap a few pictures of my wine snobs!

Hmm…without her, I might actually have had to help! Maybe since she’s so “sweet” the wine will be good this year!

My First 5K

2011-02-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

I’m running my first ever 5K (3.1 miles) this Saturday! My cousin, Lisa, has been running half marathons now for a few years and really enjoys them. Her sisters, Joanne & Karen, are running a half marathon in Dallas with her at the end of March. There’s no way I’d be ready for that!

Lisa & Karen talked about running this 5K and asked if I would like to sign up and run, too. Sure! I had been running just for exercise, but actually having a goal to work toward has really been motivating.

I’ve been running 3.2 miles at least three times a week for the last few weeks. I’ve been using a popular walk/run method where I run for 3 minutes and walk for 1 minute. I’m pretty sure this method is the reason I’m not completely burned out!

I have two more 3+ mile runs to get under my belt this week and then I’ll be ready for my first “race”! My goal is to run it in under 30 minutes…I have about 2 minutes to shave off my time this week, but I think I can do it!

Looking forward to the run!!

Yard Work

2011-02-25T22:01:00.001-06:00

Spring is here and we have a long to do list to get the garden ready!

Most of my tomatoes are still in the greenhouse, but we have three little “patio” tomatoes at home. Travis laughed and asked why we needed tomatoes at the house when we’ll have close to 200 of them in the garden! Well, I figured that these would be fun for Elizabeth to “help” take care of. And then she can pick them, too!

I have increased my herb population based on what I’ve seen do well here. Thyme has been one of those things that hasn’t done great in the flower bed, but I’m hoping that it’ll do much better in a container.

I’ve cleaned out the herb bed and planted new transplants that I grew from seed.

Chives/green onion.

Cilantro.

Curly leaf parsley.

I’ve cut back part of the mint bush and cleaned out the day lilies.

I even found some new little lily babies!

Oregano.

And rose cuttings Stephen collected for me!

My paper whites are really looking good and they don’t show signs of slowing, yet!

Travis cleaned out my washing machine drain and dug a better ditch!

He actually did a ton of dirt moving last weekend while Elizabeth & I were out of town. There was a big pile of dirt to the right of Elizabeth, but now it’s along one of our fences, guiding the neighbors’ runoff water away from the garden.

We also dug up loads and loads and loads of bricks…most had been covered with grass. Travis filled in the holes with soil an we planted St. Augustinegrass from the washer drain ditch into the newly fixed holes. It looks much better!

There’s a lot of stuff going on around here and this was just a small glimpse into all of the projects we’ve been working on!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2011-02-14T08:53:00.001-06:00

Nothing says “I Love You” around here like chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels! (Or really, chocolate covered anything!)

I hope you and the special people in your life have a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

Elizabeth was kind enough to pose with a chocolate covered pretzel…right before she ate it and nearly all of the other ones I made!

This photo really has nothing to do with Valentine’s day. We started a batch of grapefruit wine last night and she was helping me chop up raisins to go into the mix. She just smiled and posed so nicely, I figured you’d like it, too!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-01-17T09:52:00.001-06:00

After days of cloudy skies and rain, we finally have sunshine again! The sun has motivated me to get my cleaning finished inside of the house so that I can spend at least some time outside.

Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

Steak, grilled; Baked potatoes; Corn; Salad
Stir-fry, beef; Rice
Chicken breasts (cooked how??); Pasta; Frozen Green Beans
Beef Soup
Roast; Mashed potatoes; Gravy; Carrots; Salad

We have wedding commitments for both Friday night and Saturday afternoon/evening. So, while this week will be a busy one, at least two meals are taken care of!

I hope y’all have a great week!

Ribs, in the Crock Pot

2011-01-14T09:21:00.001-06:00

These ribs have been in my recipe box for some time now. They’re one of my favorite busy-night meals, too. My aunt, Monica, made these ribs for one Sunday get-together and I’ve loved them ever since. She even makes her own barbeque sauce, but I haven’t perfected that…yet!

You’ll need ribs, your seasoning of choice, vegetable oil, and a little water. I recommend using baby back or short ribs. Spare ribs are good for barbequeing, but they’re really too fatty for the crock pot. The seasoning I used is just a Rib & Brisket Rub from a local packing house.

Unwrap the ribs and place on a large pan to catch the mess.

Pour on a little vegetable oil.

Shake on some seasoning.

And rub it all in.

Flip it over.

And repeat.

Cut into sections of two to three ribs.

I ended up with six sections. Which is enough for our family, but if you have big eaters, you may want to use two slabs of ribs.

Throw them in the pot and add about a half inch of water in to help them get started.

Find yourself a pretty little helper to push the buttons.

Cook the ribs on high for six hours or on low for eight. Ten hours is just too long and the meat will completely fall off of the bone.

This is after three hours of cooking.

And this is after six hours.

Serve them up with your favorite sides and enjoy!

This is a great quick, easy meal for a busy night! Try it soon!

Front Entry Remodel

2011-01-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Back in November, Travis & I ordered a new front door for our house. Here are a few pictures from the remodel.

This is what the front entry looked like on the day we bought our house. We quickly removed the wrought iron which opened the entry up right away. We knew it would be awhile before we could get to replacing the front door, but we could live with this for now.

Inside was a built-in planter box. This was the first thing we demolished in the house.

What we didn’t know, was that the slab was counter sunk in this area to accommodate the terrazzo tile and the planter box. As I was chipping the tile out, the “concrete” under the tile sounded very hollow. After a few more swings of the hammer, Travis & I discovered that the concrete was not part of the slab of the house and all of it had to be removed.

That left us with a huge hole in the slab roughly 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 3 inches deep. It all had to be filled in and level with the existing slab.

Before we could pour new concrete, we had to remove the old front door and side light. Of course, it’s December and cold, so we put plywood up and screwed it to the house to keep out most of the cold. This also gave us room to work.

The footing the old front door was on was also not connected to the existing slab and Travis could move it with his hand, so we also tore that out.

We started pouring concrete around 10 p.m. Travis’ dad came over to help, thankfully, because we could not have gotten it done without him! Here, dad is wetting the existing, sunken slab with water to help the new concrete adhere to the old. He also painted full strength cement on the vertical sides to help the new concrete bond to the old.

Travis poured the first two wheelbarrows full, then he took over the troweling, while his dad & I mixed concrete. It took just under 20 bags of concrete to fill this hole.

After the concrete had set, it had to be covered for five days to cure. We could walk on it the next day, so we left it as covered as possible and got to work installing the new door and side light.

Even Elizabeth helped!

Travis also moved the old switches around the corner so that the interior entry, exterior entry, and exterior flood lights were all together on the same wall.

So…This is before…

And this is after! We removed all of the plywood from the entry (except for the ceiling) and replaced it with new, grooved cedar. We also put in cedar to trim the door. Travis took down the light fixture, cleaned the glass and painted the frame black. We replaced the doorbell and put a new cover on the outlet. After a couple of coats of “Caribbean Walk” paint, the exterior entry is complete!

This is how the front door looks from inside of the house. We have not trimmed it yet, because we are trying to decide what type of trim to go with in this part of the house and we have three exterior doors that we would like trimmed the same.

Also, this door and side light are stainable textured fiberglass. It has a wood grain texture. This is not the final color of the door. We needed to get the exterior painted before we picked out a stain color. We’re thinking something brown with no red in it. I may wait until spring to take the door off and stain it so I’ll have nicer weather. It’s just too cold now to live without a front door for a week!

Rocking Chair

2011-01-12T13:26:00.001-06:00

About a year ago, Travis bought me a rocking chair. I’d had been asking for one for a long time and knew that I wanted one from a “naked” furniture shop. I never took a picture of just the rocking chair by itself, but you can see what it looked like in the picture.

The store we bought it from will stain the chair for you for an additional fee, but since we no longer lived in that town, we just bought the cans of stain and urethane, all the while saying that I could just stain it myself.

Fast forward 12 months and I have finally stained my rocking chair. I am so pleased with how it turned out.

Two coats of stain and three coats of urethane later, it’s finally ready to be “really” used! I actually liked the way it turned out so much that I’ve started sanding down an old chair that my mom gave Elizabeth. It was stained before, but it has now faded and the protective clear coat has been peeling for some time.

I’ll have to take pictures of the next project now that I have a small handle on what I’m doing! More than anything, I’m just happy to have one more project checked off of my list!

Walking

2011-01-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

I’m walking for exercise, to feel better, and to shed a few pounds. Not to mention that I would love to “win” at least once when my Dad & I weigh in.

While we were visiting my parents over Thanksgiving, The Biggest Loser: Where are they now? was on. Yeah, yeah, nothing else was on! Dad had a great idea that we all (Mom, Dad, Travis & I ) weigh in that night and then again on January 1st. Who ever lost the most weight “wins”. Wins what? Nothing but bragging rights! Well, Dad won. And he’s using his bragging rights…liberally.

I’ve spent the last week working up my enthusiasm for exercise. We agreed the next weigh in would be the last weekend in January when we go there to see Kate and for Dad’s birthday. I have to win! Have to!

So, I got on the treadmill. The one that’s been staring at me for the last month. I just need to make the time to keep it up!

I’m just not sure how to make the most of my time walking. Do I walk/run/walk? What should I do? Help! I need suggestions on a good exercise program. How should I get started?

Dad’s weight loss ego is out of control, please help me tame it!

Sister Kate

2011-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

Today is my sister’s 25th birthday! I was scouring my computer for a recent picture, but had no luck.

This picture was taken back in 2006 at one of my wedding showers…Kate, when you come home, we have to take a new picture!

Kate is a wonderful, strong, independent woman. I admire her ambition and ability to live somewhere completely different from where we were raised. She is an awesome long-distance aunt who loves to Skype with Elizabeth. She’s always good for a rant or lending an ear. Talking to her is one of my favorite things to do, especially since we don’t see each other often enough!

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love you, Kate. And I’m happy that I’m the one who gets to be your sister.

(Let your quarter-life crisis commence!)

Menu Plan Monday

2011-01-09T22:16:00.001-06:00

We’re in for a chilly week, but we still need to have good food! Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

Steak Sandwiches; Salad
Chicken Noodle Soup
Crockpot Ribs; Rice; Squash Casserole
Hamburgers; Fries
Steak, grilled; Baked potatoes; Green beans

I’m also going to make a Plum Cobbler early in the week, yum!

I hope you all stay warm and have a good week!

Christmas: A Little Late

2011-01-07T22:59:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year! December was a very busy month for us both with work and with Christmas. I’m sorry for not posting more often, but I’m working on changing that!

Travis & I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary yesterday. Four years! My very nice mother-in-law entertained Elizabeth for the late afternoon/evening so we could go out to eat. We tried out a relatively new Mexican restaurant in town; we were not disappointed!

One last note before I get on to all of the pictures. I have changed the comment settings. Now you can comment on a post even if you do not have a Google ID. I encourage you to comment; I love getting the feedback and it is always easier to keep blogging when I know people are reading! If you decide to post using “anonymous”, please consider signing it with your first name so I know who you are!

Ok, now on to the pictures!

Elizabeth in her new Winnie the Pooh pajamas. This little tree was our only tree this year. There’s just not much room for a big tree with all of the remodeling going on.

The ornaments on the tree are part of her new Advent calendar. Each day has a little book about Jesus’ birth. It is also an ornament, so every night, before bed, we would read a book and she would hang the ornament on the tree.

Elizabeth & Aunt Margaret

Elizabeth received a new baby and stroller from Aunt Barbara! I made Baby a little pallet out of blankets on the floor in Elizabeth’s bedroom. Now every time Elizabeth goes to take a nap or at nighttime, Baby has to be in her “bed”, too! Very cute!

These are a few pictures from Christmas at our house after church Christmas morning.

Elizabeth received her traditional “3rd Christmas” ornament (from Hallmark).

Opening what Santa brought.

A new train set! She loves it! And loves changing the track layout…often.

Playing dominoes with Uncle Stephen.

Grandma & Grandpa gave Elizabeth accessories for their play set, so now she can swing and glide when she visits! Very fun!

This picture isn’t really part of Christmas, but she put her boots on (the wrong feet) with her jammies and thought she was hot stuff!

Christmas at Nana & Grandpa’s. Uncle Matt & Cheyenne gave Elizabeth a sleeping bag! She thinks it’s pretty cool!

Cheyenne & Matt…holding up “the kill”!

Travis, happy with his new crescent wrenches.

While we were “up north”, Dad needed to move cattle, so we gladly helped out. It was a little chilly, so Elizabeth had to bundle up!

Momma & Elizabeth ready to “rock ‘n roll”! That’s one of her favorite new sayings. She runs around saying “Elibeth ready rock ‘n roll!”

Two cuties!

Uncle Matt saying goodbye before we head back South!

Sadly, Kate (oh, and Nick!) didn’t make it home for Christmas in December this year. A huge blizzard dumped over 30 inches of snow where she lives and her airline cancelled her flight. They have rescheduled their trip for later this month…just in time for Daddy’s birthday! So, I’ll have more “Christmas” pictures to come.

We miss you Kate, hurry home! And I hope this satisfies your temper tantrum!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-12-13T17:14:00.001-06:00

We’ll all be at home this week and we have our first Christmas of the year on Saturday. I really can’t believe it’s already Christmas!

Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

Murphy’s Hot Hamburger; Potato spears; Greens
Mexican casserole; Salad
Hamburger patties in mushroom gravy; Brown rice; Greens
Drip beef sandwiches; fried okra

I feel like I’ve been in a culinary rut, so I’ve decided to use recipes I received as wedding shower gifts. I’ll use one new recipe every week until I’ve used them all. There are really only five or so that I haven’t tried yet, but this will be a good push to try something new!

The new recipes this week are the Mexican casserole (shower) and Drip beef sandwiches (who else, The Pioneer Woman!). I’m really looking forward to those sandwiches!

Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-12-06T15:45:00.001-06:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve written out a full week’s worth of meals. While we’ve been getting by with my lack of planning, I feel much better now that my week is a little more planned out!

Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

Sirloin Steak, grilled; Sweet Potato Spears; Greens from the garden (if there are any…)
Hawaiian Baked Chicken (a recipe from my Taste of Home cookbook); Rice; Frozen green beans
Loco Moco; Rice; Egg; Fried Okra
Chicken Fried Steak; Mashed Potatoes; Gravy; Corn; Salad
Murphy’s Hot Hamburger; Potato spears; Some green vegetable to be determined later.

I know I need to post more often, but we have been crazy busy with work and trying to finish up some remodel projects. So, I’ll make no promises for now!!

Have a great week!

Family Pictures

2010-11-18T18:46:00.001-06:00

We have so few family pictures, that a couple of weekends ago, when we were getting together at Aunt Barbara’s, I rounded up my hoodlums and took some pictures.

None of these made the cut, but there are a couple I’m holding close to the vest that are in contention for the Christmas card. Didn’t want to spoil it!!

This one is cute with Elizabeth leaning on Travis, but the exposure of the sky was just too bright and I’m not good enough in Photoshop to fix it!

Aunt Barbara also wanted a picture with Elizabeth, but she didn’t cooperate quite so well! Most of them are just cute and funny to look at. We’re going to try again this weekend when we get together for Thanksgiving.

They were fed up with pictures and Elizabeth wanted that candy that she was promised if she sat still!

Oh, the joys of photographing a child who would rather play!!

Vodka Lemonade with Basil Syrup

2010-10-18T21:47:00.001-05:00

Putting basil in a vodka lemonade made me a little wary, but after reading the recipe, I decided to give it the ‘ole college try! I’m so glad I did! I went light on the basil…and the flavor was plenty strong for me!

Let’s get started with the basil syrup.

You’ll need:

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
2-3 sprigs basil

Pour the sugar and water into a pot.

Throw in a couple of sprigs of basil, turn on the heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Simmer for a few minutes to really infuse the basil flavor.

Cool slightly and then stash in the fridge until completely cool.

Meanwhile, start squeezing some lemons! I didn’t have quite enough lemon juice, so I added water to get 1 1/2 cups. To boost the lemon flavor, I zested one of the lemons and added the zest the the juice to sit for awhile.

Now for the good stuff! You’ll need the basil syrup, 2 cups vodka, 1 1/2 cups lemon juice, a couple more sprigs of fresh basil.

Use a strainer when you pour the liquids into the pitcher. I don’t like to have “pulp” in my drinks!

Pour in the basil sugar syrup.

And the lemon juice.

Measure out 2 cups of vodka…

And add vodka to your shopping list!

Ooo, looking tasty!

Add the vodka.

Stir in the sprigs of basil.

And serve over ice, garnished with another small sprig of basil. This may seem like a lot of basil, but it’s really not. It’s a pretty mild flavor.

Make this drink while it’s still warm outside…and before your basil freezes!

Egg Salad with Bacon & Basil

2010-10-15T11:46:00.001-05:00

One of our favorite light lunches is egg salad with bacon and basil. Yummy! I saw this recipe last summer in Better Homes & Gardens magazine and decided to try it out.

You’ll need eggs, bacon, basil, bread (any will do, I had Kaiser rolls on hand, but we’ve used regular ole sandwich bread, too), and your favorite fixings for egg salad. I use salt, pepper, dill relish, mayo or miracle whip, and mustard.

You can adjust the amounts of everything to make as much salad as you’d like.

Hard boil the eggs. I’m good at the boiling, the peeling…not so much! Luckily they’re not being deviled!

Fry up some bacon! Fry it however you like, but I cut mine into about 1” pieces. I’m not very good at frying an entire slice of bacon at once, so this works for me. I have perfect bacon nearly every time.

Mmm…smells good!

When the bacon has cooked, take it out and let it drain on a paper towel.

Peel the eggs and chop them up. I like to use a fork for this and it works really well.

Add whatever you like to make your egg salad yummy.

Slice your rolls and toast them. (We tried one roll not toasted, but it “squishes” too much and all of the salad falls out. You really need the bread hold up.

After your rolls have toasted, load them up with egg salad.

And a healthy portion of bacon.

Last, add some fresh basil. I like the basil to completely cover my egg salad and bacon.

Travis likes to go light on the basil.

Serve it up! This is great with some salty chips!

Every time we eat this sandwich, we both say how good it is and that it just “hits the spot”. A nice light lunch for when you don’t want to be too miserable after you eat!

Cupcake Apron

2010-09-22T15:28:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Elizabeth to help move your Wednesday along!

Elizabeth, Alex & Zach playing before bedtime. They all had a blast playing and swimming together! Lucky me, they all had pretty smiles for this quick picture!

Elizabeth loves wearing her cupcake apron from Aunt Kate! We haven’t done much actual cooking in it though…it’s still so nice and clean!

Ah, yes…if only “playing” house and ironing were as much fun as she makes it look! We can’t do our housework without our apron on! I’m not sure what she’s doing with the comb on the blanket, I think it was just nearby at her vanity.

It hasn’t rained here now for 2 days, woo hoo! Maybe things will dry up a bit so we can mow our jungle! Hope y’all have a great rest of the week!

Spanish Rice

2010-09-21T14:42:00.001-05:00

Spanish rice is one of my go-to side dishes when we’re having Mexican food. The stuff in the pouch is great for when you don’t have a lot of time to prepare a meal, but when I do have time (and especially when I’ve done my menu plan!) this is the Spanish rice I turn to. Lots of great flavor and plenty of leftovers!

You’ll need: white rice, canola oil (veg will do, too), yellow onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato puree, salt, chicken broth, frozen peas.

Add the oil to a large skillet. I use my 12” skillet for a whole batch. Turn the heat to medium high and then add the rice. Stir to coat all of the rice in the oil.

Sauté the rice until it turns a golden brown color. This will take 10-15 minutes.

Keep sautéing until the rice is nice and brown. I went the entire 15 minutes. Stir frequently! In the last 5 minutes, I stir constantly. Just keep the rice moving some so it doesn’t burn the grains on the bottom.

Chop the onion and bell pepper into large 1” pieces. Add them to the rice and sauté for another 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are nice and tender.

Add the minced garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Then add the salt, chicken broth and tomato puree.

Stir until combined and bring to a boil.

Boil, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

After 2 minutes, put the lid on and turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, turn off the heat, add the frozen peas, stir them in and put the lid on for an additional 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove the lid, give the rice another quick stir and serve!

Gorgeous!

Serve next to your favorite Mexican dish…we were having tacos that night. This rice would be really good if you were making “Freebirds” Burritos, too! Hmm…now I have a craving!

Oh, well! Here’s the full recipe!

Spanish Rice

2 cups long grain white rice
1/4 cup canola oil
1 yellow onion, chopped into 1” pieces
1 bell pepper, any color, chopped into 1” pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced (or 3 heaping teaspoons of garlic powder")
3/4 cup tomato puree
2 teaspoons salt
2 3/4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup frozen peas

Add the oil to a 12” skillet and put the heat on medium high. Add the rice and sauté until golden brown, between 10-15 minutes. Add the onion and bell pepper and continue sautéing for another 5-10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

Add the minced garlic and sauté for 2-3 more minutes. Add the tomato puree, chicken broth, and salt, turn the heat up and bring to a full boil, stirring constantly. Continue to boil for 2 minutes, still stirring!

Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat, add the frozen peas, stir them into the rice, cover again for an additional 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, give the rice another quick stir and serve!

*This recipe makes a ton of rice! I usually cut the recipe in half when I’m making it for us. Seriously, this recipe makes about 9 cups of “finished” rice!

Enjoy!

Elizabeth Fix

2010-09-14T22:02:00.001-05:00

We have been very busy. I realize I say that a lot. But we have! Just this afternoon, we got back home from working in The Valley. Elizabeth has become quite the traveler! Not always a happy one…but I guess that’s why Aunt Kate let her have her portable DVD player.

Here are a few pictures of Elizabeth “working” at our Chinese Tallow site.

See the dirt face? She’s hard at work!

Elizabeth next to the trees. They’re huge!

Checking things out.

Climbing up…

Really, Momma? So many pictures??

She’s got her arms up in the air saying, “Big Girl!”

I keep my baseball cap on my chair at the dining table and Elizabeth likes to put it on…

…and take it off!

Silly!

Off…

…On!

This went on for quite a while while I snapped pictures. She was just having a good time giggling!

Just thought y’all could use some pictures to get your Elizabeth Fix!

Have a great week!

Yard Work

2010-09-09T12:56:00.001-05:00

We have just finished up redoing all of the flower beds around the house. It took us awhile, but it was all so worth the time!

I have a hard time remembering what our house actually looked like when we first bought it because things are so different now. We have spent many hours taking out bushes, trees, rocks (yes rocks…all kinds…small boulders, gravel, lava rocks…all partially hidden by layers of dirt, grass, plants, etc.), and so many concrete border pieces as seen around the bushes in the picture below. We’ve also sprigged grass where it needed it, hauled in countless loads of soil and compost, and installed new edging.

And then there are the plants. We went back and forth many times over what should, would, and could be planted in these beds around the house. We built up a small nursery of plants and watched for plant sales. We did our homework and sketched our design.

Although flower beds are never really “finished”, we have completed the first hurdle: getting the beds installed and planted.

We are so happy with the result!

This photo was taken before the house was “ours”.

This is after we did some major trimming last fall/winter. We had already removed some of the shrubs and had planted some things into one of the flower beds. We’ve even changed up what is in that bed since this photo was taken.

This photo starts the “after” shots! I know it doesn’t look like much now, but that’s because all of the plants are small and haven’t reached full size.

Purple fountain grass, Lantana, and Dianthus are what’s in this bed. The Lantana will grow much larger next year and we won’t have to plant as many annuals.

Purple fountain grass, Plumbago, Hibiscus President & Sunny Wind, Wandering Jew, Society Garlic, a few Dianthus transplants from the other flower bed, and Split-Leaf Philodendrons.

I know it looks a little sparse now, but the plants will grow to fill the space and I will probably not plant any annuals in this bed next year.

The side flower bed has Pink and Blue Hydrangeas and Variegated Flax (moved from the first front flower bed). We’re still on the lookout for the perfect plant to go in the space between the windows and have a few ideas.

This hibiscus ‘Sunny Wind’ was planted in the bed a couple of weeks after we finished the flower bed. We had been watching for a yellow hibiscus with a red throat and I finally found one at HEB. It is really the perfect compliment to the reds, blues, and purples that are in that bed.

Since it has gotten established, it has been a constant bloomer! The flowers are 4-6” and are just gorgeous. We’ve been getting one flower a day from this beauty for the last week!

I had to throw in a picture of the red hibiscus ‘President’. The blooms are a little smaller than the yellow, but we’ve also been getting constant blooms off of these two plants.

I am constantly amazed how much enjoyment we get out of the hard work we have been doing to revamp this old tired place. Seeing the results of another project finished makes me want to jump right into another one!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-09-06T16:45:00.001-05:00

This week has gotten off to a rainy start! The rain will keep us down in cooler temperatures for a couple of days and I’ve been craving some cooler-weather meals. Bring on the chili!

Here’s what’s on our menu this week:

Stir-fry; Rice
Chili (from the Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook)
Pizza
Roasted Chicken; Broccoli; Brown rice
Rib-eye steaks; Green beans; Sweet potato spears; Salad
Roast; Gravy; Mashed potatoes; Carrots; Broccoli

I hope you have a great week!

What She’s Been Up To

2010-08-26T16:34:00.001-05:00

Elizabeth has been a very busy girl the last couple of weeks! Here’s what she’s been up to:

House building with the couch cushions…

Which we have now put a stop to! I started thinking about how all of this wear and tear will make our couches age a little too fast!

Who likes mushy cushions? Not me!

Travis’ grandpa had a little stint in the hospital here, so Elizabeth & I spent a lot of time up there the last couple of weeks. All of grandpa’s nurses and therapists were really nice, but the really, really nice one was the one who brought Elizabeth some I-C-E C-R-E-A-M! (That’s how she spelled it out to me, just in case I would say no!)

We’ve also been finishing up some flower beds, so Elizabeth was watching the water…and playing in the mud…

Travis built Elizabeth her own play set with things he found in his shop (slide included!)…

So far, all it has cost us is one box of screws and one splinter! Elizabeth was thrilled when we got back this weekend and she got to play on her “surprise”!

And reading. Lots and lots of reading! We’ve gotten into the (good) habit of spending some time with Elizabeth, both of us, uninterrupted. We say our bedtime prayers, play with stuffed animals, and read a bedtime story. Either Travis and I will read her story and then she takes the book and “reads” it back to us. It’s really super cute and her speaking has come a long way from just a few short months ago!

So that’s what our big girl has been up to!

Minted Lemonade

2010-08-25T23:08:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite things to drink this summer has been lemonade. I have never been a big fan of the stuff, but after reading some other blog posts and recipes, I decided to give it another try.

I’m really glad I did! This lemonade is not only refreshing, but the mint adds a little something extra! I did go by a recipe the first time I made this lemonade, but have since adjusted to our liking. I’m posting the recipe that I now use.

You’ll need:

1 cup lemon juice (It took 6 lemons to get me there!)
3 lemon half hulls
1/2 cup mint, lightly packed
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup ice cubes (I like to use the mini cubes, but anything is fine!)
Water
Pitcher…At least 2 quart!

Start squeezing lemons, baby! Juice lemons until you get one cup of fresh, yummy juice.

I don’t bother removing the pulp at this step, because there’s mint added in later.

To the pitcher, add the 3 lemon half hulls, the mint, sugar, and ice cubes.

Using a wooden spoon, bruise the mint and lemon hulls and stir everything around.

Have your cup of lemon juice handy…

And pour it in!

Stir the concoction around until the sugar dissolves. The sugar does pretty well dissolve, if yours doesn’t, don’t worry, it will once the rest of the water is added.

Here I added about a quart and a half of water and stirred again. Then taste. If the lemonade is too strong, add some more water.

I ended up adding more water because it was a bit too strong for us. Besides, if it’s too strong, Elizabeth ends up scrunching her face up after every sip!

Travis would like this with even a little more sugar. Me? Not so much, so I compromised with the 3/4 cup. If you’re into a really sweet lemonade, by all means, add more sugar!

I neglected to take a picture of the lemonade in a pretty glass! One thing I do is pour the lemonade through a sieve to keep the pulp and mint out of the glass…it’s prettier that way! (And you don’t have to worry about choking on the mint leaves!)

Before I put my lemonade in the fridge for “good” for the day, I like to sieve all of the liquid into another pitcher and discard the solids. If you do leave the mint in for too long, the lemonade gets really, really minty. Too much mint is not necessarily a good thing!

If you’re looking for a good drink on a scorching hot day – and you know we have plenty of them left! – turn to this simple lemonade recipe! Simply delicious!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-08-16T17:29:00.001-05:00

After being gone for the majority of the last two weeks, Travis is back home! So, back to menu planning, it is! We’ll be working on cleaning out the remainder of the beef in our freezer since we’re making a trip to see my family this weekend.

Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

T-bone steak, grilled; rice; asparagus
Chicken fried steak; gravy; mashed potatoes; peas
Roast; leftover mashed potatoes; carrots
Rib-eye steak; baked potatoes; salad

I made some really yummy lemonade this weekend, took pictures, and am hoping to the post up soon! We’ve also been working our tails off in our flower beds and have finished the work in there…other than looking for two more “specialty” plants. More on that this week, too!

Have a great week…it’s already gotten up to 103 today, so stay cool!

Steak Sandwiches

2010-08-09T18:42:00.001-05:00

I know the title leaves a lot of room for interpretation, but for these, I’m using round steak. I saw this recipe in The Pioneer Woman’s cookbook and she calls these “Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich”. Since I’m not married to that guy, calling them that seems kind of weird.

Anyway, Travis and I really enjoy these sandwiches and they are very easy to make!

The original ingredients from the cookbook:

Round steak, cut into strips 1” wide
Onion
Butter
Seasoned Salt
Pepper (The recipe actually calls for Lemon Pepper, but I forget to buy it, and I don’t use it for anything else. So, for me, plain ‘ole pepper works!)
Worcestershire Sauce
Tobasco Sauce
Rolls; I like to use submarine rolls

Optional ingredients I used the last time I made these:

Mushrooms
Red Wine

I had a Shiraz in my cabinet, so that’s what I used, but any good red wine will do.

It would be irresponsible of me not to taste it before I poured it all over my steak!

Season the steak with the seasoned salt and pepper.

Turn to coat.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a skillet.

Add the onions and mushrooms (I’ll use more mushrooms next time…this is all I had in the fridge).

Break them up and toss to get them all coated in the butter.

Keep cooking…they’re getting some nice color on them!

Perfect! Remove from the pan to a bowl and keep them close for later.

Melt some more butter in the bottom of the skillet. You’ll want your skillet screamin’ hot for this.

Place enough of the steak in the skillet for a single layer.

After a minute flip and brown the other side. This won’t take long, so don’t leave! Repeat until all of the steak is cooked. I can usually fit mine into two batches.

Once all of the steak is cooked, put it all back in the pan…steak, onions, and mushrooms!

Pour in some Worcestershire Sauce. I like this stuff, so I tend to use quite a bit…maybe even up to 1/4 cup…Travis says I use the stuff like it’s water, so use less if you desire.

A couple of drops of Tabasco. I don’t use much, I like the subtle heat. I’m not a big fan of crying from heat while I eat.

Then pour in some wine. I’ve made these sandwiches half a dozen times already and this was the first time I’ve used wine. Honestly, I could take it or leave it…maybe I should have used more? but I didn’t notice a real boost by the addition.

Stir, being sure to scrape all of the good stuff off of the bottom of the skillet.

Let this mixture simmer for 5 minutes or so. The sauce needs to reduce some.

While the meat is simmering away, cut your rolls into half and butter.

Then toast them on a skillet until they’re nice and, well, toasty!

Place the roll down on the plate first…

And then pile on the good stuff! This is so good served with almost anything! I actually tend not to make a starch since we have the rolls, but any vegetable goes!

Oh, I was just thinking that some bell pepper would be good in this, too, for a change. Just throw those in with the onions. I also keep forgetting to buy some cheese for this, but cheese would be good melted on this sandwich, too!

For us, this typically makes four sandwiches. Perfect for two meals for us. I hope you give them a try, they are really, really good!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-08-09T18:14:00.001-05:00

Travis will be away working for the first part of the week, so Elizabeth and I will be winging it as far as meals are concerned. I did make a roast this morning, so there are leftovers of that. I’m also craving chicken salad, so I see sandwiches in our future. Tonight, I think we’ll be eating some good ‘ole peanut butter and jelly! We haven’t had PB&J sandwiches in a couple of weeks and we have some crunchy Cheetos that are begging to be eaten!

For the end of the week, when Travis is back at home, I think we’ll have steak, fried okra, and sweet potato spears. I have a whole chicken I need to use, so I’m thinking of roasting it this weekend.

A pretty lax week in the realm of menu planning, but that’ll have to do for this week!

I hope you all have a great week!

Elizabeth

2010-08-06T12:02:00.001-05:00

Since I have neglected to post this week, I’ll put up a few pictures of Elizabeth to make it up to you!

Helping Momma cook!

Reaching for the pecans…again!

Climbing on the monkey bars…no help!

Swing! This about gave me a heart attack the first time I saw her do this!!

Wing, again, pwease, Momma!

Curled up on the floor like a cocoon! She was still sleepy this morning!

We hope you all had a good week…we did! Have a great weekend and I’ll work on some post for next week-promise!

Freezing Okra

2010-07-29T07:30:00.000-05:00

It’s no secret that I love okra. I miss being able to cook with okra during the winter months. I don’t necessarily need okra for every week of the winter, but once or twice a month is nice!

The easiest way for me to store okra is to freeze it. I tried canning okra last year and it was a disaster! Freezing is a little messy, but a lot less frustrating!

First things first. Wash that okra!

You want to cut the stem end off. Don’t cut too far into the pod. You don’t want to see the seeds. That keeps the water out of the pod during boiling and cooling.

You also want to cut the very tip of the blossom end off, too. Not much, just the very tip!

This is what you don’t want to see – the inside of the pod. I wouldn’t throw this out or anything. I still processed it. It may have held a little more water than the others, but not noticeable.

While your cutting, you want to split the okra into two piles, under 4” long and over 4” long. They have different boil times.

Put a pot of water on and bring it to a full rolling boil. Dump some okra in and start the timer. For pods that are over 4”, boil for 5 minutes; for pods that are under 4”, boil for 3 minutes.

After boiling, submerge the okra immediately into an ice bath to stop the boiling.

Drain the okra from the ice bath and then lay out on a towel. Repeat until all of the okra is boiled. I like to take another towel and dry the okra a little better before I start the next step.

I like to have my okra already sliced when I pack it in bags to put in the freezer. The processing book I use says to cut into 1” pieces, but I just slice the okra to the size I like to use…just no larger than 1”.

After all of the okra is sliced, pack into quart freezer bags, remove all of the air, gently “squish” the bags flat for easier storage and stick in the freezer!

I forgot to get a picture of the finished, packed okra, but I ended up putting up eight quarts of okra. Not too shabby!

If you have okra in your garden and find yourself wishing you had some in the winter, I encourage you to at least try freezing it. I don’t believe that you’ll be disappointed!

Rainbow

2010-07-28T22:40:00.001-05:00

We’ve been cloudy and overcast for the last few days. Monday afternoon, we got a nice treat – a rainbow!

We didn’t get any rain here at the house until today, but there was plenty of rain around the area and the cooler breeze in the afternoons has been nice! Now that our rain chances have ended for the forecast-able future, I’m sure that the heat and humidity will be back with vengeance!

Apple Tart

2010-07-28T13:34:00.000-05:00

Whoops, I promised this post two days ago! Sorry to keep you waiting!

I guess you could say that I was on an Ina Garden kick. I have been wanting to make her French Apple Tart for quite awhile, so when some fresh, local apples became available, I jumped on the chance to finally try my hand at this recipe!

Turns out, I’m not quite as fancy or as French as Ina Garten, so this is my, um, Rustic Apple Tart!

You’ll need flour, salt, sugar, butter; ice water, and a little more flour to work the dough.

Cut the butter into cubes.

Add the flour, salt, and sugar to a food processor. Pulse to combine and then add in the diced butter.

Pulse the diced butter with the flour mixture until pea sized chunks have formed. This did not turn out so well for me. If I try this again, I think I’d skip the food processor and just use some elbow grease with my pastry cutter.

While the food processor is on, add the 1/2 cup of ice water. This didn’t turn out so well for me either, most likely because the butter didn’t do exactly what it was supposed to do. I ended up with a sloppy, butter chunky dough that I added a little more flour to to get a decent consistency and then plowed on…

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a ball. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

While your dough is chilling, core, peel, and slice your apples. The recipe says to not core, but instead use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds and then, when you slice, you’ll have nice pretty pieces. Hopefully, you caught where I said Rustic instead of French. I cored and sliced…nothing fancy!

To keep my apples from browning, I put them into a bowl and covered them with water until I needed them.

Once you’re finished with the apples and an hour has passed, unwrap the dough and put it onto a well-floured surface. Roll out the dough and cut into a 10x14” rectangle. Hmmm…I’m not so great at following these directions! I did cut my dough into a rectangle – not the right size – but then I used all of the extra dough to make an additional tart. See below.

Place the dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread the apples onto the dough. Here, Ina Garten would make a beautiful display by lining up all of the apples in perfect rows running diagonally on the dough. Me, not so much. Rustic, people!!

Sprinkle the apples with more sugar…

And dot with another half stick of butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown.

Juices will run out from the apples, and smell a little, but that’s no big deal, the tart will be just fine. Do, however, make sure that you’ve sufficiently lined your baking sheet. Some of the juice ran out past the paper and I very nearly did not get it all scraped off of my baking sheet!

The recipe calls for a glaze made out of Apricot jelly or jam and rum. I had neither. Instead, I used a jar of my Plum Jam and thinned it with a little water. Heat it up in the microwave for just a few seconds, stir, and you’re ready to glaze!

Brush the fruit glaze over the apples.

And then slice your tart.

Mmm…dig in! This tart was very delicious. Travis thought it was a nice change and the plum did very well in complementing the apples. The apples dry out some in the oven, so they really taste more like, well, dried or dehydrated apples. This was interesting because all of the sugars concentrate so nicely.

If you decide to make this, you should serve it shortly after taking it out of the oven while the dough is still crisp and try not to have leftovers. The dough tends to get very soggy and doesn’t keep for very long. You may be able to warm it up in the toaster oven to re-crisp the dough,, if you do end up having some the next day.

Enjoy something a little different!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s the recipe, unchanged, straight out of Ina Garten’s Back to Basics cookbook:

For the pastry

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted buttter, diced
1/2 cup ice water

For the apples

4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold, unsalted butter, small-diced
1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam
2 tablespoons Calvados, rum, or water

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10-12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Roll the dough slightly larger than 10x14 inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baller. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. ([Ina] tens not to use the apple ends in order to make the arrangement beautiful.) Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup sugar and dot the the butter.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don’t worry! the apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart’s done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn’t stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-07-26T12:24:00.001-05:00

I didn’t cook much last week due to a fridge full of leftovers and the rare take-out night. I didn’t even get to the two meals that I had planned, so they’re on the menu for this week. There’s a lot here and a couple of things are for lunch!

Loco Moco; Gravy; Rice
T-bone steak, grilled; Wild Rice; Cream Peas
Shepherd's Pie
Steak Sandwich on Submarine Rolls; Boiled Carrots; Salad
Stir-fry; Rice
Pioneer Woman’s Comfort Meatballs; Frozen Green Beans; Sweet Rice
Sirloin Steak; Baked Potatoes; Corn; Salad
Parmesan Chicken; Pasta; Broccoli

I think that’ll do it for this week! I’m working on an Apple Tart post, so I hope to have that up later today.

I hope you all have a great week!

Sweet Potato Spears

2010-07-21T07:30:00.000-05:00

Sweet potato spears just might be the easiest side dish ever! I was never big on sweet potatoes at all until about 3 years ago. I’m not sure what changed, maybe Travis helped to broaden my taste buds’ palate.

A great thing about this side dish is that you can make as many or as few spears as you need in roughly the same amount of time.

You’ll need sweet potatoes and Italian dressing. You can leave the peel on if you’d like, but I like to peel the potatoes.

Cut the potatoes in half, cut the halves in half, cut those halves in half, and then those in half again. Whew! You just want spears that are all roughly the same size so they cook at the same speed.

Throw the potatoes in a dish and pour on the Italian dressing. I like to do this ahead of time so the dressing has time to “stick” and I have a chance to turn them a few times.

Toss to get all of the spears coated in the dressing.

Turn the oven on to 400 degrees, line a baking sheet with tin foil, and spray the foil with cooking spray.

Spread the dressing-coated spears in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Pop in the hot oven for 25-30 minutes. I like to deter sticking by shaking the pan or flipping the spears every 10 minutes or so.

Bake until the spears are fork tender. They will also turn a pretty brown color when the sugars in the potatoes start to caramelize. That’s the good stuff!

Please excuse the horrible picture, but you get the idea…serve ‘em up and eat ‘em! If you’d like, you can even mix in some russet potatoes, but I really like the sweet potatoes alone.

Give them a try, you’ll love such a simple, fast side dish to have in your menu rotation!

P.S. Leftover spears? Try them the next day with a little A1 sauce. You’ll be surprised at how good this odd combination tastes!

Hang on, I’m being corrected by my all knowing husband…Ok, dear, I’ll convey the message.

Well, if you’re like Travis, you won’t be surprised. You’ll just say that A1 is good on just about anything, so why wouldn’t it be good on sweet potatoes?

Whether or not you have any leftover, you’ll love them the first day!

End of post, I promise.

Pan Fried Okra

2010-07-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

We love fried okra. I don’t love taking the time to deep fry okra for a week day meal, though. Here’s a quick way to get fried okra any day of the week!

Wash the okra.

Trim both ends of the okra off.

And cut into pieces.

You’ll need salt, pepper, and corn meal.

Sprinkle the okra with salt…

And stir to coat. I like to cut and salt my okra 30 minutes or so before I need to cook. This allows the natural okra “slime” to come out and the corn meal will adhere to the okra better. If you’re short on time, just sprinkle the okra with a little water before you coat with the cornmeal.

Add some pepper…

And enough cornmeal just to coat. I like to add a little, mix, add a little more, mix, and so on until the corn meal won’t hold anymore. That way there’s not a ton wasted on the bottom of the bowl.

This looks good to me!

Add some vegetable oil to the skillet. I cut a lot of okra, so I put just enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet. You just have to watch and add more if necessary. The corn meal will soak up some of the oil, so just keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

Fry, baby, fry! And stir! I like to shake the pan quite a bit to move the okra around without breaking it up too much.

Taste often! When the okra is tender and has a little color, it’s ready to come off of the heat.

Serve it up! It’s a nice quick way to have fried okra without all of the fuss of deep frying. I like to save that for the weekend! Haha.

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

2010-07-19T16:24:00.001-05:00

Last week we made Ina Garten’s Tuscan Lemon Chicken. Next time, I would actually cook it on the barbeque pit instead of the grill, but it tasted good all the same!

You’ll need a flattened chicken, olive oil, grated lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, garlic, fresh rosemary, and pepper.

Salt the chicken.

Combine the olive oil,

Lemon zest, lemon juice,

Fresh minced rosemary,

Minced garlic,

And pepper.

Whisk to combine.

Pour over the flattened chicken.

Turn to coat, cover, and marinate for at least four hours or overnight. Thanks to my menu plan, I was thinking far enough ahead to marinate the chicken the day before I wanted to cook it, so I let it marinate overnight. You do want to turn it once or twice while it’s marinating to make sure all the good stuff completely coats the chicken.

The next day…

Get out the grill and your Grill Master! Ah, he looks like a natural!

Place the chicken skin-side up on a medium heat grill.

The recipe says to weight the chicken down while it’s cooking, but we decided not to.

The recipe says that after 12-15 minutes, flip, so we did. But, we shouldn’t have. We had to cook the chicken a lot longer than the recipe says to because Ina was using a barbeque pit, not a grill. We learned that cook times will be drastically different with some foods, chicken being one of them.

Next time, we’ll try this on the pit and I think we’ll get very different results.

Cut another lemon or two and place cut side down on the grill or pit for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

After your chicken has cooked (finally…) take it off of the heat and let it rest for a few minutes before you dig in.

The end result was great flavored chicken even though the cooking really didn’t go as planned. Squeeze a little extra lemon juice on it if you so desire. I did!

Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here’s the recipe, unchanged from Ina Garten’s back to basics cookbook:

1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, flattened
Kosher salt
1/3 cup good olive oil
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, halved

Sprinkle the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt on each side.

Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a ceramic or glass dish just large enough to hold the flattened chicken. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning once or twice.

When ready to grill, prepare a hot charcoal fire on one side of a grill (or turn a gas grill on low heat). Spread 1/4 of the coals across the other side of the grill. Place the chicken on the cooler side skin up, and weight it down with the dish you used for marinating. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the underside is golden brown. Turn the chicken skin side down, weight again with the dish, and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes, until the skin is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Place the lemon halves on the cool side of the grill, cut side down, for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove the chicken to a plate or cutting board. cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Cut the chicken into quarters, sprinkle with salt, and serve with the grilled lemon halves.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-07-19T14:02:00.001-05:00

I did a lot of cooking last week since my mom was visiting, so most of the week will be spent eating leftovers. Here’s what we’re having to break up the week:

Loco Moco; Green Beans
Stir-fry (sirloin steak; okra; green beans; onions; bell pepper; squash); Rice

I’m working on a few food posts. I hope to get one up later this afternoon.

Have a great week!

A Visit

2010-07-16T22:36:00.001-05:00

Nana came for a couple of days to visit us (well, mostly visit and play with Elizabeth, but that might go without saying!) We had a good time while she was here.

We painted pictures…

And visited the Children’s Discovery Museum downtown…

Where she petted a “moo cow”!

We even made “cookies” with play dough and cookie cutters!

Yay! We had a nice visit and had lots of fun!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-07-12T15:41:00.001-05:00

I’ve been trying to dig up some dishes that we haven’t had recently for one reason or another. Here’s a look at what we’re having this week.

Taco Salad
Hamburgers; French fries
Chicken Fried Steak; Mashed Potatoes; Corn
Tuscan Lemon Chicken; Sweet Potato Spears; Pan Fried Okra
Pork chops, baked perhaps?; Macaroni & Cheese; Green Beans

Hopefully that will be enough to get us through the week with some leftovers!

Have a great week!

Drying Herbs

2010-07-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

I love my herb garden for many reasons, but the best thing about having herbs right outside of your back door is the constant supply! I rarely have to worry about not having an herb for a recipe, which is nice when you want to make something, but don’t want to run to the grocery store first.

I am not looking forward to winter when production in my herb bed will dwindle. That’s why I’m stocking up on fresh herbs now while they’re still growing well.

Drying your own herbs is the next best thing to having them fresh, so I’ve been trying to stock up!

I had rosemary, flat leaf parsley, curly leaf parsley, and thyme that I wanted to dry. First, wash the herbs and towel off any visible water.

Then, tie twine into a loop on one end and tie the other end around the stems of the herbs. You want to make sure this is tight. I actually had to retie my parsley because as the stems dry down they shrink.

Also, you want to tie the herbs into smaller bunches rather than larger. You want air to be able to circulate and dry out the bunch evenly. If you have a huge bunch and there’s too much moisture in the center, it will start to mold and you’ll have to throw it out.

Hang in a well ventilated place. I hung these from some upper cabinets in my kitchen, but garages will work, too.

If you are worried about the smell of herbs while they’re drying, don’t! The only time you’ll smell the herbs as they dry is when you touch them. Rosemary is really the worst about this, too. The parsley and thyme don’t have such a pungent smell.

After two short weeks, my herbs were dry. One thing I was most surprised about was the fact that they retain their color so well.

To pull the leaves off of the parsley, I found it was easiest to grab the leaves toward the base of the stem and pull. It’s ok if you get some of the smaller stems, but you want to avoid a lot of the larger ones.

I didn’t get pictures, but the easiest way to get the leaves off of the thyme and rosemary is to grab the tip of the stem and pull the leaves off moving from the tip to the base of the stem.

I then put my parsley into my small food processor and gave it a few pulses to break up the leaves to make “flakes”. I processed both types of parsley this way, but left the rosemary and thyme as whole leaves.

I’ve been looking for spice jars for a couple of weeks and found some super cute ones online, but they were much more expensive than these that I found in town. Not really “cute” but very practical and comes with a shaker top. I end up not using the shaker top most of the time and just pop them off. I was glad to have the option when I bought the jars, though.

I plan on making cuter labels for the jars, but this will work for now!

Turns out that I should have dried a lot more thyme than I did because those leaves really dry down! Luckily, I have more in my herb garden!

Playing in the Rain

2010-07-09T14:38:00.001-05:00

Hurricane Alex dumped a few inches of rain on us last week and TD2 dumped four more inches on us this week, so we are saturated!

In a break from the showers, we decided to get out of the house. Elizabeth put her rain boots on had a blast!

I told her to “freeze” so I could get a good non-blurry picture of her, so that’s what she’s doing with her hands.

She did not want to go back inside, even when it started sprinkling again. It was nice to be able to go outside for a few minutes since we had been cooped up in the house for a long time because of the rain.

Now that the rain is clearing off for a few days, we’ll be fighting the mosquitoes!

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

2010-07-06T17:02:00.001-05:00

We spent Independence Day at home doing some work around the house and relaxing a little, too. To make the day a little more special, we decided to make a batch of Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream.

This recipe is just too easy not to do! There’s no custard required, so it’s just mix and churn.

You’ll need:

1 quart Half & Half
1 quart Whipping Cream
3 cups Sugar
1 cup Baking Cocoa
2 tsp Vanilla

See, even the ingredient list is short!

You’ll also need some Ice Cream/Rock Salt for later.

Add the Half & Half, sugar, vanilla, and baking cocoa to a blender and mix until smooth.

Pour the blender mixture into a bowl and add the whipping cream. Stir in the whipping cream until well incorporated. You don’t want to add any air here.

Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker.

Every last drop of goodness… It was really hard for me not to just pour this into a glass and drink it on the spot!

Add the paddle, put on the lid, and put into the larger bin.

Layer ice and rock salt around the canister. Put the motor on. Turn it on and get to churning!

And watch…

The ice cream will stop churning once it gets too thick for the motor to turn the mixture, so stop and check the consistency.

We were happy with this, so take out the paddle (we forgot to do that!), put the lid back on, pack with fresh ice and salt, and cover to keep it cold and help it freeze until you’re ready to eat it!

Travis has it all nicely packed with ice.

When we were ready to eat, the ice cream was still a little soft in the middle, but that didn’t bother us!

Scoop it into bowls…

And dig in!

Elizabeth didn’t mind a little soft ice cream!

Yummy!

I put it in the freezer and Travis and I ate it again the next night. It is such a good consistency. Nice and creamy, rich and delicious! Not hard as a rock like some homemade ice creams can be. If you ever have the hankering for some good homemade ice cream, try this one! You won’t be sorry!

Two Years

2010-07-05T19:23:00.001-05:00

Uncle Rich,

It’s been two short years since you’ve been gone. The time has flown and time has begun to heal the wounds losing you has left. I still think of you often, praying that you’re still flying, keeping watch over us all.

Elizabeth keeps the blanket you gave her on her bed. I’m glad she had a chance to meet you. At the same time, I’m sad she’ll never know you.

Kate has been doing a fantastic job of handling your affairs. You left her a big job to do and she’s doing great.

Matt wears your Aggie Ring. They inscribed his name just under yours.

We all have our little ways of keeping your memory alive. And, even though we all have to get on with our lives, know that we will never forget you and we will never stop loving you.

With all my love,
Sara

Menu Plan Monday

2010-06-28T16:07:00.001-05:00

I’ll be busy getting ready for a big garage sale this week, but we still have to eat! Here’s what’s on the menu:

Meatloaf; Pan fried okra
Fajitas; Spanish Rice
Chicken in foil with Pasta (a rollover from last week)
Pork (not sure how I’m going to cook it…); Brown rice; Cream peas

I’m hoping for a little more inspiration to come up with at least one more meal, but since we won’t be home Friday night or Saturday for lunch, we’ll just have to see how it goes!

Have a great week!

Cooling Off

2010-06-25T07:30:00.000-05:00

Tuesday evening, Travis and I were outside planting flowers in the front bed. To keep Elizabeth cool and from picking off all of the flowers, we set up her little pool in the front yard where we were working.

She decided that this was the perfect opportunity to sit in the pool and enjoy a half-ripe tomato. She ate it like an apple, eating around the core that was still a little tough for her. Too bad that was our one nice looking tomato! I had meant for it to make it inside the house whole so it could ripen fully. Elizabeth had other plans!

Oh, well. At least it got eaten!

Poppy Seed Rolls

2010-06-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

We love poppy seed rolls, so for Travis’ birthday, I made rolls instead of a cake. After searching high and low for a great dough recipe, I think I found “The One”!

Granny and Papa gave Kate a dough recipe that they had been using and she gave it to me to try. It is a fantastic dough! I’ve tried many recipes and this one just works so well for me. It is neither too wet or too dry and does not make an unmanageable amount of dough. When I say unmanageable, I mean I’ve tried recipes that make six dozen kolaches. Way too many for us!

This recipe makes two nice size rolls and the dough stays nice and moist for a few days after baking. Making rolls or kolaches does take a time commitment, but it is well worth the work! You know, I just realized that a lot of what I do takes a “time commitment”…from now on, I think “time commitment” is just understood unless otherwise noted!

The full recipes for the dough and the filling are at the bottom of the post. Let’s get started!

You’ll need yeast, warm water, milk, butter, sugar, salt, egg yolks, and flour.

Mix the yeast into the warm water and set aside to activate. Heat the milk until it is just boiling. Cut the butter into smaller pieces for easy melting.

Once the milk has just begun to boil, take it off of the heat, add the butter, and stir until the butter is all dissolved. Then add the sugar and salt and stir until that is all dissolved. Let the mixture cool.

Place the egg yolks into a bowl (at least an 8 cup bowl) and slightly beat. Add the milk/butter/sugar mixture a little at a time to the eggs, beating constantly. (The beating constantly is not such a big deal if your milk has cooled to near room temperature, but it is still good to take the time to do it anyway.) Add the water/yeast to the egg/milk mixture and stir to combine.

Add half of the flour into the dough and stir until well combined. This takes a little time and some elbow grease. When the first half is completely incorporated, add the remaining flour and mix again.

Oil or grease a bowl, place the dough in and turn so the dough is completely greased. This will keep the dough from sticking so much to the bowl while rising and when you need to turn it out.

Place into a warm place until it has doubled in size. Roughly one hour. My house does not have a good “warm place” so I preheat my oven to 200F and then turn it off. I place a shallow pan of boiling water in the oven on the lower rack and put my bowl of dough in on the top rack. It does a very nice job of proofing. Just remember to take out the water before you bake!

While your dough is rising, it’s time to make the filling! You’ll need ground Poppy Seed, milk, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla.

Travis does a good job of grinding Poppy Seed for me. He’s much better at watching the consistency of the grind than I am. The seeds should be just cracked to release their flavor and oils, they don’t have to be completely ground into a paste.

Boil your milk and add the Poppy Seed, sugar, and cornstarch. I have found that the cornstarch dissolves and “acts” much better when it is mixed in with the sugar. So do that!

Cook until the filling is thick.

Cool down to room temperature…or very close to it! I use an ice bath to cool down my filling when I don’t have time to wait on it to cool down naturally.

Once the filling has cooled, add the vanilla, stir, and use!

Meanwhile, back in your warm place, dough is rising. One reason I like to use a large measuring bowl is so you can clearly see when you have reached double. My dough was just at 4 1/2 cups before rising which means it needs to be around 9 cups before I can call it doubled. This is just right!

Turn your dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times until the dough is a little more elastic and then cut into half for two rolls.

Take one half of the dough and roll out into a rectangular-ish shape. Brush the dough with melted butter.

Add filling to the buttered dough and spread evenly. Please, make sure that you get dough all the way to the edge of the roll. No one likes to get the end with no filling!

Now you are ready to roll! Roll the dough over the filling and place seam side down on the baking sheet. Either grease the baking sheet first or line it with parchment paper. Butter the top of the roll.

Repeat with the other half of the dough. The best part about making two rolls at the same time is that they don’t have to have the same filling! You could make it cream cheese, apple, apricot…the choices are endless!

Bake in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. I like to turn the pan half way through the bake time so they brown evenly. Travis was sweet enough to put these in the oven for me because I had a meeting and I didn’t tell him to turn the pan. They turned out just fine anyway.

Once they have finished baking, let them cool down some and then serve! They’re gorgeous and good! I put some serving suggestions down at the end of the recipe for those who need a little topping!

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s the full recipe for the dough:

1 package of yeast
1/4 cup of warm water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (cut into small cubes)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks beaten
4 1/4 cup flour

Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water (~90F)
Heat the milk until just boiling
Add butter to the milk and stir until melted
Add the sugar and salt and stir until dissolved
Let the milk mixture cool and pour onto the beaten egg yolks a little at a time (this is to temper them so that they don’t cook)
Add the water/yeast mixture to the egg/milk mixture
Add half of the flour and stir in until well incorporated. Then add the other half and mix again.
Place dough in a greased bowl, butter the top of the dough and cover with a towel. Set in a warm place (~100-120F) until dough has doubled in size.
Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times so it’s not sticky and then cut in half.
Take one half and roll out into a rectangle-ish shape.
Butter the rolled out dough.
Spread the filling all over the dough.
Roll.
Place on a rimmed baking sheet either sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with parchment paper.
Butter the top of the rolls
Repeat steps 10-14 with the other half of the dough.
Let the rolls rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or so.
Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. I like to turn the baking sheet half way through so they brown evenly.
To Serve:
1. Make a simple powdered sugar/milk icing and drizzle over the top;
2. Butter again (lightly!) and sprinkle white sugar on the top;
3. A little dollop of sweetened whipped cream;
4. Serve plain!
Enjoy…finally!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s the recipe for the Poppy Seed Filling:

2 cups ground Poppy Seed
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup boiling milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. Vanilla

Bring the milk to a boil
Add the Poppy Seed, sugar and cornstarch.
1. I have found that you have a much smoother filling if you mix the cornstarch and sugar together. My cornstarch, when added alone, tends to make hard lumps and does not do it’s thickening job.
Cook until thick.
Let cool to close to room temp. Room temp is best if you can wait.
Stir in the vanilla.
Use!

Plum Jam

2010-06-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

This year, our tree made so many plums that we made a ton of jam. Other than pitting all of the plums (this was before I bought my plum pitter), making jam is quite simple.

When plums are ripe and ready, they tend to have a dull finish to their skin. And these had just come out of the fridge, so that’s why they look a little white; they’re just warming up.

Weigh out three pounds of plums; pit; and coarsely chop in a food processor.

To the chopped plums, add 1/2 cup of water. Bring this mixture to a boil and then turn down and simmer for 5 minutes.

After the plums have simmered, measure out 4 1/2 cups of the cooked plums.

Add the 4 1/2 cups of plums to 7 1/2 cups of sugar.

Bring to a full rolling boil on high heat; stirring constantly.

Once the sugar and plums are at a full rolling boil, add one pouch of Certo fruit pectin, return to a full boil rolling boil and boil for one minute, stirring constantly.

After one minute, remove from the heat and pour into prepared jars. Fill 1/8” from the top.

Prepare your lids and rings and then seal your jars.

Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, remove the jars and place on a towel to cool overnight. Once the jars have cooled, check each lid to make sure that it has sealed. So far this year, all of my lids for jam have! (Knock on wood!)

Store in a cool, dark place and enjoy!

We’re on our first jar of Plum Jam and it is delicious!

Freezing Squash

2010-06-22T14:40:00.000-05:00

There are times during the season where squash seems to produce like crazy in the garden. It’s these times where you just can’t eat enough squash to keep up with the plants and you’re not ready to throw it all out that you look to for the best way to store it for later.

For me, the best way to store squash is to freeze it. Travis loves squash casserole during the cooler months, and frozen squash is perfect for that.

I like to freeze yellow squash and zucchini together in the same bag. That way I’m not worried about keeping everything separate once the processing gets under way.

Wash the squash. I like to use a brush just to loosen up the dirt.

Then chop off the stem and blossom ends. The skin can get a little tough, so I like to take a peeler and “stripe” the squash so there’s not so much peel.

Slice into thick slices. My slices averaged 3/4”.

Blanch in boiling water for three minutes.

Drain and place into an ice bath to stop the cooking. I like to stir them around to make sure they all cool quickly.

After they’re cool, drain them from the ice water and place onto a towel to drain.

I like to dry them off a little more with another towel before I bag them.

Label your bags…

And fill…

Remove all of the air and seal. Then (for lack of a better word) squish the squash flat in the bag.

When they’re flat, they freeze faster and store in the freezer neater.

Freezing squash is a great way to use up some of your garden’s bounty and still have home-grown food in the freezer for winter!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-06-21T17:00:00.001-05:00

We weren’t home much last week, but we will be this week! So, even though I’m in a little bit of a culinary rut, here’s what we’re having this week:

Saucy Pork Chops; leftover brown rice; leftover cream peas; frozen dinner rolls
Rib-eye steak; Baked potatoes; Pan fried Okra
Hot Dogs; chips; fruit
Chicken in a foil package (I’m thinking of using the Shrimp and Pasta Dinner recipe and just substituting chicken. I bet it will turn out just as delicious!); Fresh tomatoes
Roast; Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Carrots (Sunday evening)

There, that should get us through the week nicely!

I hope you all have a great week!

Freezing Peas

2010-06-19T23:06:00.000-05:00

Mmm, peas! Not only are these little gems delicious, but they’re super easy to store for the winter, too!

Last week, I worked on putting up black-eyed peas and purple hull peas. They are very similar in size and shape. Like the name implies, one has a black “eye” and the other a purple “eye” as well as a purple colored hull.

These were all black-eyes. Their pods will turn a pale green/yellow when they’re ready to pick. You can see that I picked a few a little on the green side and some were missed and they’re a little on the dry side. They all freeze beautifully, though!

The peas in their pod!

Now for the freezing part! After you shell the peas, give them a good wash to get them nice and clean.

Drop into a pot of boiling water and boil for two minutes.

Drain the peas from the boiling water and pour into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

I like to give them a good stir to make sure they’re all cooling off.

Drain the peas again and scoop into quart bags.

I put about four cups of peas into each bag. Then, squeeze out as much of the air as you can and seal. Flatten out the bag and lay flat in the freezer. Once they’re frozen, you can easily stack them in your freezer!

We love peas at our house! Cream peas in the summer and boiled peas with corn bread in the winter! Yum, yum.

Give peas a try in your garden. When it comes to garden plants, they’re at the top of my favorites list. Mostly because they’re easy to pick!

Brand New Toy…For Momma

2010-06-17T21:49:00.001-05:00

That’s right! After more than a month of waiting, my new computer has arrived! My old computer has been in a downward spiral for some time and doing anything – especially dealing with picture files – has been a nightmare. So, after I have a couple of days to figure this thing out, I hope to be back to posting more regularly.

For now, I hope everyone has a wonderful Father’s Day weekend! Take time to enjoy time with the Daddies in your life!

Freezing Plums

2010-05-28T15:34:00.003-05:00

We have a plum tree that has given us more plums than I have ever seen. Ever. I have actually never eaten a plum until this year, off of our tree. They're really good and sweet!

In addition to canning plums (which I'll post about later), I've been freezing them. It's much less time consuming than canning and frozen plums are great for cobblers and pies.

We never thinned the fruit off of our plum tree, so some of the plums are pretty small. Others are larger, about the size of a ping pong ball. Our plums will never grow as big as you see in the store because this is a variety that is adapted to our area.

Now, on to the freezing.

Rinse the plums. These were straight out of the bucket and haven't been rinsed, yet.

Before I ordered a cherry pitter, I was cutting the pits out. Chopping the plum to bits isn't bad for jelly, but for canning and freezing I wanted them to be whole...just without that pesky pit. So, I ordered a cherry pitter and had it shipped overnight. The plums couldn't wait and neither could I!

I didn't know they made these things until I searched for a better way to pit my plums. It works nicely!

Place the plum in the slot. Some of my plums are too big for this handy dandy contraption, so I just gently squeeze them in! Sometimes the skin breaks a little, but it's no big deal.

Squeeze.

And out pops the pit!

You can't even tell! The plum stays nice and intact, perfect for freezing.

The ratio of plums to sugar I use is 1 part sugar to 5 parts plums. So, I pitted 5 cups of plums and then added 1 cup of sugar. Stir and let the juices of the plums dissolve the sugar. This should take about 10 minutes.

These plums have been sitting and the sugar has dissolved. I give them a stir every once in a while to help the sugar, but they really don't require much attention. This batch is ready to bag.

To help me out, I used a plastic cup. I folded the edges of the bag over the cup to cut down on the mess. It's also a good idea to label your bags before you do this. Marking them after they are full is a little harder.

Don't forget to pour all of the juice/syrup out of the bowl into the bag. That's the really good stuff! Now, just push as much of the air out as you can and stick in the freezer!

To help them freeze flat, I layered my full bags in a 9" x 13" casserole dish and put the whole dish into the freezer overnight. Once the bags are completely frozen, I take them out of the dish and stack them up!

Easy!

If you decide that you don't want to freeze your plums with sugar, you can also just pack them in quart bags "dry". I also did about four quarts of those. That way, I can just thaw them out and add the amount of sugar the recipe I'm using requires. I also froze my "dry" plums in 4 cup portions instead of 5 cups. Many of the recipes I've seen use 4 cups of plums.

Just tryin' to make my life easier!

Cool Girl

2010-05-26T15:47:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Matt's graduation weekend, we visited the office in College Station. Dr. B gave Elizabeth some Cool Girl Sunglasses, which she wore like a pro!

She had been wearing them constantly and then got a little too rough with them one day and they broke. Now I'm on the lookout for some more of these horrible looking glasses that only a sweet little girl could pull off wearing!

Ok, that's all I have time for right now. I hope this adorable picture will hold you over until I have more time to write!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-05-25T07:48:00.002-05:00

Here's what's on our menu for this week:

Enchilada Casserole; Green beans (already made and eaten last night...)
T-bone steak; Squash; Boiled potatoes
Loco Moco; Green beans
Chicken in the crockpot; Brown rice; Squash
Salisbury Steak; Egg noodles; Green beans

Yes, there are lots of squash and green beans on our meal plan and it will probably stay that way for awhile! The garden is now in full swing and we have tons of vegetables to pick.

I've had a little trouble keeping up with posting due to all of the canning, freezing, and gardening going on, but I hope to have some stuff up soon.

I hope you all have a great week!

They Let Me be on TV

2010-05-17T13:46:00.006-05:00

And I'm sure that they have learned their lesson! I was so nervous the day of the taping. Completely and utterly nervous.

Travis and I taped the segment on good ole VHS, so it may never see this blog, but my father in law was nice enough to send me his photos of the TV with me on. You really wouldn't want to see it anyway. Turns out, when I'm really, really nervous, I have an "um" complex. I'm pretty sure I said "um" about 15,000 times in five minutes. Yes, it was that bad.

The television set broke shortly after.

I'll probably have to buy them a new one.

(Kidding! As far as I know the set still works...)

See...Me, Nervous!

With, apparently, too much makeup on for those awful bright lights. I really didn't put much on, but that camera must accentuate your colors, because where I am darker, I'm dark; where the sun rarely sees (my chest), I could reflect sunlight.

Travis thought I should add the picture with my title. I blacked out my last name so you can't find me. Mooaha-ha-ha!

Wait, what?

You all know who I am anyway?

Oh, let's keep going then.

This is probably the part where I said that last year during the drought, even though we irrigated our gardens, that we just needed some rain. I was thinking rain. Instead I said God's Water. Yes, instead of RAIN, which I was thinking, God's Water came out of my mouth.

HE must have gotten a kick out of it, because we just received over 5" of God's Water this weekend.

And here...here's where I was talking about the WIC program. People qualifying for WIC also receive vouchers that are valid only at Farmers Markets. There are certain things that they cannot buy with the vouchers, such as anything processed - baked goods, honey, etc.

Then I said, "They can bring their own money to buy other products sold at the Market." Or something very close. Yes, please stop using the money we hand to you through government programs and bring your own darn money.

Could. Not. Believe.

I actually said that? May I eat my words, now? Pretty please?

Good gracious, I'm sure anyone associated with WIC just loves me right now.

Yup, right in the middle of answering a question, I lost my train of though and had to mouth to her that I had no clue where I was going with that. Luckily, they cut part of that out of the final show.

Man, I am smooth. Give me a contract, pronto!

I'm pretty sure this was the longest five minutes of my life.

Thank goodness it is over!

If you-know-where freezes over and they ever ask me back, maybe I'll try to be a little less nervous. It can't go much worse!

Maybe I'll even leave out a few "um's"!

Community Crossroads

2010-05-11T11:52:00.002-05:00

I'm going to be on television.

Say, what? Excuse me, did I hear you correctly? Me? Are you sure?

Yes, I have received a request/invitation from our local news station, specifically Jennifer Gayle, to be on the weekend program called Community Crossroads.

Nervous, anyone?

I spoke with Jennifer this morning and she sounds very nice. She's my favorite news anchor. I'd watch her all of the time, except she's on at Sunrise. My clock very rarely needs those early, early A.M. hours. And, luckily, the taping is at Noon tomorrow, so I won't need to see sunrise tomorrow, either!

I'll let you know how it goes. I have to go pick out something to wear that doesn't blend in with my skin.

Oh, help.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-05-10T15:12:00.002-05:00

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Hamburger patties in a mushroom gravy; Sauteed asparagus; White rice
Sirloin steak, grilled; Sweet potatoes, mashed with marshmallows; Fresh green beans
Taco Salad; Pinto Beans
Stir-fry; White Rice

My brother, Matt, graduates from Texas A&M on Friday, so we'll be leaving for the weekend! Yay, Matt!

I'm also going to try to post some about all of the things we've been doing and what's been going on. Well, besides the fact that Elizabeth fights a nap now every day!

For now, have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-05-03T16:13:00.002-05:00

Here's what we're having this week:

Spaghetti, Cheddar cheese slices; garlic toast
Szriskes; Brown rice; Squash; Rolls
Salisbury Steak; Egg Noodles; Green Beans
Sheppard's Pie
Ribs in the crock pot; White Rice; some vegetable from the garden!

I hope y'all have a great week! It's promising to be a hot one down here!

Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

2010-04-29T13:35:00.000-05:00

These chicken nuggets are not your usual out-of-the-freezer-bag suspects. They are delicious and go with so many side dishes. This recipe came out of the Reader's Digest The Taste of Home Cookbook. I've gotten so many good ideas out of this book! It was a great wedding gift!

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup butter, melted
2-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

Mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and all of the spices in a shallow dish.

Cube the chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces.

Dip the chicken pieces into the melted butter...

And then dredge them in the bread/cheese/spice mixture.

I line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easier clean up and then I also spray it with non-stick spray. Just to be on the safe side!

Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the juices run clear. (This is always closer to the 15 mark for me!)

When you take them out, they will be golden brown and absolutely delicious!

A side note: I end up always using every bit of "batter", so I usually throw a little extra bread crumbs in, but make it a few times and you'll soon see what works best for you!

This is a great treat for Elizabeth since they're nuggets, but Travis and I don't mind eating them at all!

I'm toying with the idea of cutting a whole breast in half to make two thin pieces, then use this batter to bake the breast "whole". Then, using a little marinara sauce and fresh basil-and maybe even a slice of mozzarella cheese-put the Parmesan chicken on two slices of bread and make a panini out of it. Ooo, served with shoestring fries would be amazing!

Oh, now I'm hungry...again. I'll keep the panini thing in mind for a future post!

Szriskes

2010-04-28T16:45:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a new pork recipe. Lately, I've been turning to The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen. There are so many good recipe finds there. As I was searching "pork", Szriskes came up. Szriskes are the Czech version of Wiener Schnitzel. Basically, this is a breaded and fried pork chop.

Let's get started!

You'll need pork (I used boneless chops), eggs with a little beer or apple juice added, flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and bread crumbs seasoned how you like them. I used dried parsley, thyme, and basil. A side note: three eggs was way too much. I would start out with just two and add another if you absolutely need it.

Add a little oil to your skillet and turn on to medium-high heat.

Dip the chops into the flour...

Then the egg...

And finally, the bread crumbs.

Fry 'em up until the meat is cooked through!

Golden brown and delicious!

I decided to take this a step further and make gravy! Read on.

I added a bunch of thin-sliced onions to the pan and cooked them until they were nice and tender.

I then added some flour to soak up all of the grease and then added three cups of beef broth. Stirring constantly until you have a nice smooth gravy. Well, except for there will be onions in there!

Yummy!

I served the pork on top of a scoop of brown rice with the gravy smothering both. We also had cheesy broccoli from the garden.

This was really delicious! We will definitely be having Szriskes again!

Menu Plan...Monday?

2010-04-27T17:07:00.003-05:00

We've been munching on left overs from Elizabeth's party for the last couple of days, so I haven't had to think about planning meals. Travis will also be gone for one night this week, so we'll see how this week's meals actually pan out!

Tonight, we're having sirloin steak, sweet potato fries, and canned green beans.

The rest of the week: Sandwiches, Nachos, Chicken in the crockpot.

Enjoy the last week in April! I can't believe it's nearly May!

The Big 2!

2010-04-27T13:18:00.004-05:00

Sunday, we had a small get together for Elizabeth's 2nd birthday. She didn't mind being the center of attention!

She did this little trick all on her own! Hmm...up on the wagon, I can see better!

I made her a caterpillar cake made out of big and mini cupcakes.

Elizabeth saying thanks to birthday wishes over the phone!

Blowing out the candles.

A rare family photo!

Opening gifts! I was surprised at how quickly she tired of opening gifts. I guess she just wanted to play!

Eating cupcakes like a big girl!

Playing outside with Great Aunt Barbara and Grandpa John. Barbara gave Elizabeth sidewalk chalk for her birthday. She loves it!

She also loved being traced!

Gotta close those eyes!

Again, again! We have five little bodies traced on our driveway. She would lay down on the ground, get traced, get up, move over, and lay back down! Too silly!

We had a very fun day with our little group of people! Elizabeth had a great time and was a super good girl, even with no nap! Thanks to all who came and made it a wonderful day!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-04-19T17:28:00.002-05:00

In my last-ditch effort to clean out my fridge for a new flush of beef, we're only having one non-beef meal this week.

Chicken spaghetti; green beans
Chicken Fried Hamburger Patties; mashed potatoes; gravy; spinach
Sirloin steak-grilled; sweet potato spears; cheesy green beans
Chicken Fried Steak; gravy; brown rice; spinach
Roast and the fixin's (if we run out of left overs)
Sunday: Hamburgers; onion strings; CAKE!

That's what we're having! I hope y'all have a good week!

Loco Moco

2010-04-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

While Travis and I were driving around Hawaii, we stopped to eat supper at the Southern Most Bar in the United States. On the menu was Loco Moco. The description said that it is a native Hawaii dish. Travis had been craving something "native", so that's what he ordered. I wish I would have ordered it, too, because it was sure tasty!

You'll need ground meat, seasoned salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce; beef broth, flour, eggs, onion, garlic, and rice.

Cook the rice per directions on the package. I use a simple 2:1 ratio. 2 cups of water (or sometimes chicken broth if I need more flavor) to 1 cup of rice.

While the rice is cooking away, season the ground meat with seasoned salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Chop the onions and mince the garlic and add those to the meat, too.

Mix the meat and plop balls of meat down into a hot skillet. The small patty in the center of the pan is for Elizabeth!

Flatten the balls into patties and cook until done.

When the patties have finished cooking, remove them from the pan and keep them warm. Do not drain the grease.

Add flour to the grease until the flour has soaked most of the grease up and stir with a whisk for a few seconds to let the flour cook. Then add the beef broth, stirring constantly until all of the flour has dissolved and you have a smooth gravy.

Let the gravy cook until thick!

While the gravy is cooking, grab a skillet and fry those eggs! I put a couple of scant tablespoons of butter in the skillet.

Add the eggs once the butter has melted.

Fry the eggs to your likeness. We like ours easy over so there's plenty of runny yolk! Remove from the pan and keep them warm.

When everything is finished cooking, you are ready to assemble!

Place a scoop of rice down onto a plate.

Add a meat patty on top of that...

A fried egg on top of that!

And gravy to smother everything! Yum, yum!

I'm not so sure why I've been on such a gravy kick for the last few days, but I'm not too concerned about it, either! Well, not yet, anyway...!

Maybe Loco Moco wasn't exactly what you expected for a "native" Hawaiian dish, but it really was everywhere! Give it a try, it is tasty!

Campfire Packs

2010-04-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

My mom made these "campfire packs" a few times while we were growing up and it's now regularly on our menu. As the name implies, you could make these while camping and put them on your campfire to cook. Me? I'm not really the camping type, so I stick mine in the oven!

As Rachel Ray would say, pay attention more to the method than the actual recipe. Everyone likes to season to their own taste, so tweak away!

You'll need ground meat, seasoned salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, onion, garlic, parsley, carrots, and potatoes.

Mince the garlic.

And add it to the ground meat along with the salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

In my herb garden, I have some nice parsley growing. I have both the flat leaf and curly leaf type, so I just snipped a little of both for this dish.

I never knew a good way to chop herbs until I watched Food Network. (Oh, how I miss you sometimes, Cable!) Gather your herbs and roll them together as if it were one item you wanted to chop.

Then start chopping. It's much easier to do this when your herbs are rolled together and have a little "density" to them.

I added half of the chopped parsley to my meat, and reserved the other half for later.

Peel (or not, if you're not the peeling type) and wash your carrots, then chop them into rounds.

Peel and wash your potatoes. If I had red potatoes with a nice, thin skin, I wouldn't bother peeling. However, all I have on hand were the thick-skinned russet potatoes, so I peeled.

Cut the potato in half.

And then slice the halves in half.

And then slice into quarter rounds.

Mmm...onion.

Slice the onion. I sometimes get in a hurry and slice the onion too thickly. The thinner the slice, the softer your onions will turn out. I like a soft onion, so this slice turned out to be too thick for me. Thinner next time!

One pound of ground meat makes four nice sized patties, so lay out four pieces of tin foil. They have to hold a lot of ingredients, so I always like to error on the side of "too big" when I cut my foil.

Mix the meat.

And plop a ball onto a piece of foil.

Flatten it out.

Place about 1/4th of your potatoes on top of the meat patty.

And about 1/4th of the carrots on top of that.

Add a couple of slices of onion.

And season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

Top with a little of the reserved chopped parsley.

The one thing that I like to add, but forgot, is a little bit of butter. It really doesn't need it, I just like to add some!

All finished! Now all that's left is the rolling.

Bring the long sides up and fold over.

Roll down to the food and flatten the seam.

Then roll the ends up.

It makes a nice little foil pouch! You want to keep all of the juices in, so roll tightly. If you're worried about small holes in the foil, you can always double wrap!

For extra insurance, I put all of my pouches onto a rimmed baking sheet.

Slide into a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, roughly. If you're in a hurry, crank the oven up a little and check them at 30 minutes.

They're ready when the vegetables are soft and the meat is no longer pink.

You could technically eat these out of the foil pouch, but I'm not a fan of eating off of foil. I like to slide the meal out onto a plate instead. Delicious and easy! I'm pretty sure this is one of my "comfort food" meals!

Try it soon!