Snow in Central Michigan

We got the first big snow of the season in the state this week (well that I was here for) and of course I'm here and not in IL. Thank goodness I am on vacation, but I am missing my show. Oh well, baby and I will be safer this way. I'll try and post some pictures. Bertha is decorating the house with Christmas trimmings. She has been working all week on this so she can get ready for baking. I wish I could help, but I may be in her way and she knows what she has to do.

IT'S A BOY!

It's a boy! Don't know if I mentioned it yet, but I don't believe I did. We are having a boy in late March/Early April! Very cool! Can't wait to see him!

Summer in the sickness

So yea, I'm not feeling well. I know what it is, but I can't say at this time. Nothing sounds good to me and I'm feeling like crap. I feel worse that I had to leave work because of it. I left one day early and took some sick time, but only 2 hours. I thought I was going to be sick and I almost did when I got home.

I'm so darned HOT too. I am pretty comfy on this couch though, but I should get up and do something or go for a short walk. Bleh.

I don't know what I am going to cook for dinner tonight. It may be a rough night here at home. I'll have to see if I can scrounge something up for Marcus to reheat for himself.

Sick Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5

I hate being sick, I don't mind taking sick days once in a while, but when I'm really needing to be off, it would be nice to take it. Hopefully I will be feeling better soon!

Sick Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5

I hate being sick, I don't mind taking sick days once in a while, but when I'm really needing to be off, it would be nice to take it. Hopefully I will be feeling better soon!


From 6-8-09 (I may have been pregnant at this point, not really sure...

Obama and ME!

So, we were at The Sears Tower (it will always be The Sears Tower to me) and we found this cool Obama stand in the gift shop so I HAD! to get my photo taken with my 'Main Man'! Yes, this will be a year to remember!

Energizer Bunny

I just keep going and going and going and going......zzzzzzz

Could it be??? Pho????

Well, I tried my brother's recipe and I'm going to try some Beef Sirloin Pho.

I had yellow onions, green onions, carrots, beef sirloin, beef stock, garlic, rice noodles, bean sprouts, and fresh basil and fresh ground black peppercorn.

I would have added some celery but I forgot that.

No Pho No "Fresh" Produce

So I tried to go to a Vietnamese Restaurant here called Pho Na and well, it was a wash. I walked in and there was a sign there that said "Credit Cards only if order is more than $15". I thought it was a bunch of bunk, so I took a menu and left. I will only go back when I have some cash because that is like 3 bowls of takeout soup. The guy said there is an ATM next door, but so was my bank, but not where I had cash to take out.

I decided to go to Jewel and get some stuff to make some Pho from my brother's recipe, but I didn't remember everything, but I remembered enough to make something.

I then went to grab some green leaf or some romaine...not in a bag....could not find any! Not really happy, I looked and there were hardly ANY vegetables (leafy stuff) that were not bagged. I was not happy. Mental note, not going to Jewel for produce. Expensive and plasticy.

Then I went to get some meat for dinner.....all in vacuum containers, not shrink wrapped. Probably shipped in from somwhere else.

Why did I label this saving money? This is just a lesson I learned. Go to the farmers market and buy produce and meat without all of the vacuum stuff....it's older and processed more and costs more.....bleh.

I ended up not getting the ground beef, but instead I think I'm going to make something I have in the freezer.

Peace to all!

Made From Scratch - Jenna Woginrich

I'm currently reading Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. It's a very brilliant book I'm reading about homesteading and farm life. It's very exciting to read. I joined her blog to see what she is up to while we wait. Fun stuff! I'm currently looking for an old cheese grater (and some good old junque shops if anyone knows of any).

Biking

Went Biking today, for an hour outside. It was nice so I was a very happy girl. I would post a photo of my bike, but I don't have one yet. : (

Yan Can Cook and so can you!

Per the suggestion of my Chef Bro Ryan Greer Extraordinaire, I purchased "The Joy of Wokking" (thanks to Half Price Books in Bloomingdale, IL!) and made my first "Official" Asian recipe beyond CowPot (see Jangler Art).

I made some Mongolian Beef. Chef Martin Yan does warn you when you deep fry rice noodles to do a little at a time and step back. I'm glad I did. They didn't do much at first, but once I turned up the heat a bit on the oil, they went crazy!

The Mongolian Beef recipe was really easy. I love my wok and I'm glad I have a back up! I was even more pleased when Marcus liked it too.

I don't have the book right on me, but I thought I would add this!

The Perfect Freezer BY Carolyn Kylstra

The Perfect Freezer

Stock your ice box with the healthiest foods in the supermarket

By: Carolyn Kylstra

• Shrimp
• Kashi Southwest Style Chicken Frozen Dinner
• Wild Blueberries
• Nature's Path Hemp Plus Waffles
• Birds Eye Frozen Baby Sweet Peas
• Bison (Buffalo)
• Edamame
• Edy's Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

Frozen food has a bad reputation—it conjures mental images of over-indulging on high-calorie frozen treats, or scarfing down a nutrition-void frozen dinner alone in front of the boob tube. But stock your freezer well, and you’ll be prepared to make any meal healthy and delicious. Eat This, Not That! consulted with nutritionists and scoured the aisles of the supermarket to help you learn exactly which frozen foods you should consider staples, and which ones you should do without. Check out this list of 9 freezer must-haves.

NEW

Lah LAH!

Yea, it's the end of Wednesday! Oh happy day, though my DH is sick with a bad cold :(

One Favorite Meal - Hot and Spicy Penne!

My favorite meal is simply Pasta with Meat Sauce

I decided since the economy is crappy I would try to find good ingredients that were better for me. This is going to have to take some dedication on my part, but I'm going to try.

Anyway, since I'm trying to get my Dear Husband to eat better and he has a picky palate I am going to be creative.

With this recipe I have:
Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
Ground Chuck
Hot (Spicy) Italian Sausage from the meat counter at a local grocery store (not a national chain)
Mushrooms - fresh
Fresh chopped onions
Fresh chopped green peppers
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Olive Oil - trying some new brands..
Parmesean Cheese (I'm looking for an old grater or mini grater)
Dried Red Pepper Flakes

This by far is my favorite pasta meal to make.

I serve with a salad and I may have a little Michigan Vino on the side : )

Bueno!

Here comes the sun and I say it's alright!

How wonderful it is to be outside on my bicycle then out grilling.

Goodwill Industries

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/12288499

ABC Good Morning America shot this spot at Goodwill of Carol Stream, IL near our house. I think I've been to this one. Gotta love the deals!

Happy Saving!

Goodwill Industries

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/12288499

ABC Good Morning America shot this spot at Goodwill of Carol Stream, IL near our house. I think I've been to this one. Gotta love the deals!

Happy Saving!

Spring is coming - I just know it!

Well, ok, I looked out my window and I see sun. It's pretty actually and my plants are LOVING IT! I think I am going to go out for a drive and get some errands done I need to do. I'll probably drive out to Geneva, IL and check out some stores and I have a few things to take back.

Happy Tuesday.

Oh The Humanity!

Why is it that whenever I watch an episode of Paula Deen I crave Fried Chicken? Why is that? Damn Paula Deen! I love her really!

Credit to Paula Deen/Food Network...

http://recipes.pauladeen.com/index.php/recipes/view/southern_fried_chicken/

"I think my breetches are goin' ta bust!"

I loved Mr. Rogers as a kid.....

15 Reasons Mr. Rogers Was The Best Neighbor Ever
by Mangesh Hattikudur - November 7, 2008 - 1:08 AM

From Mental Floss Blog (Magazine)

http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20005.html

1. Even Koko the Gorilla loved him
Most people have heard of Koko, the Stanford-educated gorilla who could speak about 1000 words in American Sign Language, and understand about 2000 in English. What most people don’t know, however, is that Koko was an avid Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fan. As Esquire reported, when Fred Rogers took a trip out to meet Koko for his show, not only did she immediately wrap her arms around him and embrace him, she did what she’d always seen him do onscreen: she proceeded to take his shoes off!

2. He Made Thieves Think Twice
According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”

3. He Watched His Figure to the Pound!
In covering Rogers’ daily routine (waking up at 5; praying for a few hours for all of his friends and family; studying; writing, making calls and reaching out to every fan who took the time to write him; going for a morning swim; getting on a scale; then really starting his day), writer Tom Junod explained that Mr. Rogers weighed in at exactly 143 pounds every day for the last 30 years of his life. He didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, didn’t eat the flesh of any animals, and was extremely disciplined in his daily routine. And while I’m not sure if any of that was because he’d mostly grown up a chubby, single child, Junod points out that Rogers found beauty in the number 143. According to the piece, Rogers came “to see that number as a gift… because, as he says, “the number 143 means ‘I love you.’ It takes one letter to say ‘I’ and four letters to say ‘love’ and three letters to say ‘you.’ One hundred and forty-three.”

4. He Saved Both Public Television and the VCR
Strange but true. When the government wanted to cut Public Television funds in 1969, the relatively unknown Mister Rogers went to Washington. Almost straight out of a Capra film, his 5-6 minute testimony on how TV had the potential to give kids hope and create more productive citizens was so simple but passionate that even the most gruff politicians were charmed. While the budget should have been cut, the funding instead jumped from $9 to $22 million. Rogers also spoke to Congress, and swayed senators into voting to allow VCR’s to record television shows from the home. It was a cantankerous debate at the time, but his argument was that recording a program like his allowed working parents to sit down with their children and watch shows as a family.

Our Barn!

Very exciting! This is our farm with our barn....looking due East. We can not wait! Someday.....but not for a long time....3-4 years or so....

Day 3!

Yea, worked out again Day 3....I'm trying to do something at least every day! Goal is to lose 10% of my body weight by mid March (I think I figured that correctly)....something like that.....I love the elliptical machine!

True Blue Corn Enchilada Casserole

Marcus's mom brought home from Mexico some homemade blue corn tortillas. They were good, but by time we got them they were a little dry. So I took them and made the following recipe.

This is a good alternative for just regular enchiladas because well, I'm lazy and sometimes I don't have time to roll everything up.

1 package corn tortillas (blue if you can find them)
1 9 oz pkg blue corn tortilla chips - crush
2 12 oz cans of favorite Enchilada sauce
2 cup package of shredded cheese
1 bunch of green onions (or some dried chives)
1 lb. ground beef/turkey
1 medium onion
1 green pepper
sour cream and black olives - optional

Take your onion and dice and saute' in about 1 tbsp olive oil in skillet until transluscent. Then brown your ground beef/turkey. I don't drain if I use a lean beef so I can use it to season the sauce. Once the meat is cooked, take one can of enchilada sauce and add to the meat. Stir, then let simmer on low about 5 minutes.

While your meat is cooking, take your corn tortillas and cut in half. Make on layer of the tortillas down in a sprayed 9X11 baking pan, you will probably need 2 1/2 - 3. Then take your meat sauce and take about 1/2 of it and ladle it over the tortillas. Next, take 2/3 cup of shredded cheese and drizzle over the top. Then take about 1 cup of the crushed chips and sprinkle over the top.

Add one more layer of tortillas, a layer of meat sauce and 2/3 cup of cheese and then some more crushed chips.

Add remaining tortillas and then the rest of the cheese. On top of that sprinkle some chopped green onions or chives.

Bake in oven at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, or until cheese on top has melted.

Remove from oven, let set for about 5 minutes then cut into squares. Makes a great leftover with fresh chips added.

Variations/Notes:
Shred your own cheese, it's cheaper
Aldi's has cheap blue corn chips
You can use 2 packets of enchilada mix you add to tomato sauce-it may be cheaper.
Sometimes I will just tear up the corn tortillas and add them.

Enjoy!

I'm exhausted

Ok, so I'm trying very hard for my DH to be on top of things. So far, so good. It's day 2. I went to work (managed to make coffee), worked out for about 2 hours (had to do some major cardio/fat burning and some weights), came home and made dinner (did one load of laundry), unloaded the dishwasher, put away clean dishes, and went and cleaned the church preschool....It's 8:30 and I'm beat!

At least I worked out.

"What are we going to do about that leftover ham?" Soup

So I had some leftover ham from Christmas that I froze, and I had bought some dried split peas from Michigan (gotta support those Michigan Farmers/Growers!).

Mom Smucker and Aunt Carolyn Vanice suggested while I was visiting to make some split pea soup. I did not have a recipe at the time....but I did notice a basic recipe on the back of the bag of peas. I had pretty much all of the ingredients on hand so here is the recipe that I made courtesy of Carolson-Arbogast Farms, in Howard City, MI .

Easy Split Pea Soup
2 lb. Dried Split Peas
1 Meaty ham bone or
2 cups diced ham
10 cups water
1-1/2 cups onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, shredded or diced
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste

WASH AND DRAIN PEAS. In a large stockpot, combine peas, ham, water, onions, celery, carrots and seasonings to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour or until vegetables are very tender. Stir soup occasionally to prevent peas from sticking. Add more water if needed for desired consistency that you enjoy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves sixteen 1 cup servings. Extra freezes well.

Variations: Add sweet potatoes, diced. Replace ham with cooked sausage, smoked meat or poultry, or vegetable stock as cooking liquid. Other herb or spice suggestions that you might wish to try are oregano, dill, mint or bay leaf.

*Julee's note* I did try this and this definitely needs a little bit of onion powder or something else added to taste. I used a little more pepper after I finished cooking. It's very thick too.

Very tasty and I prefer my pea soup (or any soup with beans) with ham to have ham chunks that are bite sized. I will find another recipe that my mother-in-law and aunt suggested I try from a Mennonite Cookbook. I just picked it up and I will be trying it soon. It's a spicy version that will be sure to please I was told!

Love, Jules

Hard to type with a bandaid....mental note, no knives in the dishwasher pointy side up! OUCH!

Hi Hi, again.