Sunday, October 5th, 2008

Posted on Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 04:42

Good morning Friends. I hope all are well. It's been busy in the ER the last couple nights so haven't had time to come check in.

Finially had 2 days of cold but sunny weather. It was so nice to see the sun shining again after a bit over a week with little to none. It's suppose to rain again today. We need rain so I'm not complaining. There has been heavy frost in the morning as it's been in the low 30's. The leaves have quickly turned and are now falling just as quickly. It won't be long.....

I'm hoping to make it to church this morning as our Pastor is getting his head shaved by the Youth Group during Pot Luck. See, every summer for the last 20 odd years he has taken interested members of the High School Youth have taken a 250 mile bike trip and for the last..... oh..... say 10-15 years have done it to raise money for World Hunger. The last few years we've had a very small group but they still raise quite a bit. Last year they managed to raise $5,000. Along the way of their trip they met a very nice couple who were very impressed that these young people and 4 adults would give up a week of their summer vacation to do this. They were so impressed that they offered to match whatever was raised by our riders. Well, they matched the full $5,000!!! Pastor, being confident, announced at the planning meeting of this years ride that if the group could match the total $10,000 from last year they could shave his head. Well, a couple weeks ago that same couple called and asked how the kids did. Pastor told them and amazingly enough this couple matched this year's total bringing the end total to $10,300!!! Imagine Pastor's suprise LOL. (His wife is real impressed - not!)

After church I'll go home and go to bed for the day as I work tonite. Tomorrow I'm meeting with Jill at church to go over a cleaning schedule. I'm looking forward to the meeting for two reasons. First, the most obvious, is that I'll have a nice organized schedule for cleaning and open communication with Pastor and the Counsel.  Second, I really like Jill. She's a great person to be around, I just feel better talking with her. She's so supportive of everything.

Tuesday I'm going to my folks to make a huge pot of veggie soup and can it right away.  I don't have a stove, just a small 2 burner electric table top so for heavy duty things I go either to the church or the folks. I'm hoping to get around a dozen pints and 4 quarts. That'll last a while. I've still 6 quarts and 6 pints of chicken / turkey soup, 1 quart of chili and 2 quarts and 2 pints of stew. Guess the next batch better be chili. My mother doesn't like my chili because it has a bit of a kick to it and I put in black beans. She prefers to just dump in plain Bush's baked beans, tomato juice, lots of onions and a pinch of chili seasoning - oh, and lots of kidney beans. Then she adds a bunch of elbow noodles. Me, I like to use the spicy baked beans, 1 large can of the maple flavor or a quart of my homemade, a pkg of organic chili seasoning, lots of onions, a large can diced tomatoes, fresh tomato juice and a quart or two of black beans - pinto's too if I have enough room. MMMMMMMM good stuff.

Well, I'd better go and take care of morning chores. Have a wonderful day friends. See you soon!

Michele   

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Posted on Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 03:55

Good October 1st Morning Everyone. Boy, where has the time flown? We had another wet, cool day yesterday but when I got up yesterday afternoon the sun did make small attempts at peeking out. Taffy made short work of her outdoor time and was in a "I'll hog the bed while you scratch my belly" mood. Darla Kitty was even in a cuddle mood and she's not one for that. I was going to make soup for dinner but instead tossed some spuds, ham, milk, butter, a bit of shredded cheddar and seasoned with garlic all in the crock pot. When I got up I had a nice steaming bowl of spuds and ham - ok, it was suppose to be scalloped spuds and ham but I put too much milk in and ended up with a delicious soupy mixture LOL.

I got a phone call from a good friend from church. She said someone asked her if I could vacuum and dust the Nursery at Church. We got to talking and neither of us think that folks realize the volume of activities and people that come and go thru the week. I don't think there is a day or evening that something is going on. Makes it hard to keep up sometimes. Anyway, I told her my idea about keeping a planner with weekly calanders and posting my full time job hours along with what plans I have for cleaning church that week. We're meeting Monday afternoon and doing a walk thru of the church and making a "plan" and then planning the schedule. This way I can communicate with Pastor and Jill and anyone else who "needs to know" the how, when and why's to the cleaning schedule. Also, they in turn can write in activities and events not posted on the church calander that is sent with the News Letter. It's worth a try. I'm really excited to see how this all pans out. I really think it's a grand idea and Jill is such an organized person that she'll have a lot of great ideas.

Let's see, a couple more boxes were unpacked as well. Slowly but surely things are getting put away and organized. There is still a lot to go to the storage unit - things that are seasonal or can't be used at this time (such as oven size pots/pans). Using the toaster oven, grill, small electric burner and crock pot for cooking and baking is working so far. When I need to do large scale baking I can either go to my folks and use one of their ovens or use the church ovens (there's two there as well  )  It'll be so nice when it's all done and one can come in and relax instead of looking at boxes and messes.

Laundry was tackled as well. It's amazing how quick it can be done when there's only one person to clean for - although, on the other side of the coin, it's amazing how much laundry one person can create!! LOL!!  I don't have the clothes line put up outside - the weather hasn't been good for hanging clothes outside anyway - but I do have some rope and hooks so will put up a set of lines in the basement. That should help keep costs down. Making my own laundry soap is a huge plus too. I have to sheepishly admit that the last batch I made I added a bit too much water and it turned out quite thin but it still works just as good so this batch will go even further as I had more of it. Hmmmmmmm.

Well, I'd better go get my morning chores done. I'm off tonite so will have to plan to come back on Thursday evening if there's time. (I work my dreaded 3pm-11pm shift). God Bless and have a great day everyone!

Michele

Recovering from the Weekend!

Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 04:34

I've posted a recipe called Autum Chicken. It's one of my favorite ways to fix chicken. Quite yummy.

Well, the move is over with the exception of a couple things that I'll get this morning after work. Garage stuff like the mower, shovel, and potting soil. I cleaned yesterday. Uff da, now I remember why I don't like carpet! My folks helped Saturday - we got the remaining stuff out and it only took about a hour to load it. We were done by 5:30pm. Boy was I tired! Not sleepy tired but bone tired. I rented a couple movies and made a big bowl of air popped popcorn and Taffy and I just vegged the rest of the evening.

I was at the grocery store yesterday and apples are .69/lb for some varieties. The braeburns were .89/lb. I picked up some for fresh eating and to bake a couple. Thursday I'll go get some for drying. I love drying a variety and mixing them in a container. Mmmmmm.

I'm thinking soup for dinner tonite. It's a chilly time of year and with all the rain and damp cold weather we've been having, a nice steaming bowl of soup sounds wonderful. I'll make some Barley Chili. Here's the recipe - It's very good and you can adjust seasonings to what you like. It cans well too.

Barley Chili	From Cooking for 2
"A friend gave me this recipe using wheat, which I replaced with barley," notes Marv Salter of West Hills, California. The barley makes this dish a hearty meal for a chilly day.
INGREDIENTS 1/2 pound lean ground beef 1 small onion, chopped 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 4 cups water 1/3 cup medium pearl barley 1/2 cup tomato sauce 1-1/2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules 1 teaspoon chili powder 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano	SERVINGS 3 CATEGORY Lower Fat METHOD Stovetop - One-Dish PREP 20 min. COOK 60 min. TOTAL 80 min.
DIRECTIONS In a large saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in flour. Add the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour or until barley is tender. Yield: 3 cups.
NUTRITIONAL INFO Nutrition Facts: 1 cup (prepared with reduced-sodium bouillon) equals 239 calories, 6 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 37 mg cholesterol, 599 mg sodium, 27 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 19 g protein.

Well, I hope everyone has a great day. I need to go take care of a couple chores before the day shift comes in. Thanks for visiting!!

Michele

Autumn Chicken

Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 04:31

Autumn Chicken	From Cooking for 2
INGREDIENTS 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each) 1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce 1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic	SERVINGS 2 CATEGORY Low Fat METHOD Baked PREP 10 min. COOK 25 min. TOTAL 35 min.
DIRECTIONS In a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, brown chicken on both sides. Place in a 1-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine the remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. Yield: 2 servings.
NUTRITIONAL INFO Nutritional Analysis: 1 chicken breast half with 1/3 cup sauce equals 257 calories, 3 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 63 mg cholesterol, 375 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 24 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 2 fruit.

Ready for the weekend!

Posted on Friday, September 26, 2008 at 02:17

    Good Morning everyone. Well, it's TGIF and I'm off this weekend!! Yipee!!! I'm planning to go over to the house here and get a large load of stuff, bring it back, take a nap then move the remaing things this afternoon. I had planned to do the load this morning and finialize the move tomorrow but it's suppose to be wet and stormy and I'd rather not have to go thru the hassle of tarping everything down and moving in the rain. This way everything will be moved and tomorrow I'll do a final cleaning so I can mail the landlord the key by the first. It'll be good to only worry about one house. Sunday will be a good day of rest for me LOL. Church then a whole lot of nothing (if I can stand looking at boxes all day). At most I'll make a loaf of bread.

It's suppose to get close to 80 degrees today then we'll get hit with the cooler fall temps again. It's so nice to be prepared for winter - ok, I need to finialize a couple things but I'm much further along than last year.

Ohhhh, I can't wait for the apples to begin coming in. I love fresh crunchy, tangy apples. I always have at least 2 gallons of dried apples handy. The best snack around plus they are good in muffins, hot cerial, breads, cakes, pie, trail mix, and just eating by the handful. I dry several kinds and just mix them in the storage containers. I also need to make some apple butter, I'm low on apple juice, and apple sauce. Mmmmmmm, I can smell it all now!!!

Well, I'd better go move around as I'm tired tonite. I hope and pray everyone has a wonderful safe and healthy weekend. Sending lots of love and Fuzzies out to all.

Michele

Preparing for winter.......

Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 03:27

Good Morning all. I had posted Monday morning and had thought it went thru but something happened and it's not here.

I've been making my list to prepare for those winter months that are coming. I don't think it's ever too early to get ready for that. As I've been moving I've been taking inventory what I have and where I'm keeping it since a lot of things are going into storage since I don't know how long I'll be back in this house. I think I'm pretty set but am always on the look out for improvements.

I've 2 pair warm water proof boots in good repair. One pair I keep in my truck. Speaking of, I've a survival kit for my truck - 25 miles may not seem like far but in bad winter weather it feels like 100. I keep 2 wool blankets, some type of easy to eat food (I'm diabetic and have to be prepared for that too), whenever I go to work I put a fresh jug of water in the truck so it's not frozen, a heavy metal can with shredded paper and broken up sticks in it, a small battery radio with extra batteries, flashlight, and an extra cell phone charger to plug into the lighter. Oh, also dry warm wool socks and an extra sweat suit.

For home I'm getting ready to put plastic on the windows (they are old and drafty) and have some rope caulk to seal gaps. I've put some insulated outlet covers on, a clean furnace filter, and have back up heaters in case of outages. Right now I don't have a stove so am cooking with electric griddle, 2 table top electric burners, a toaster oven and crock pot. I'm ok with it but in case of outage I'll really miss my gas stove as I was able to use it during outages. Hmmmmm, I've stocked up on propane for my camp stove, have plenty of dried wood for the grill so I can cook if the power is out. (lots of wooden matches too) I've a wonderful cast iron dutch oven so I can make bread, rolls, biscuits, ect if I need to all on the grill. Pretty cool.

Extra blankets are all repaired, clean and ready to use in a moment's notice. The flannel sheets (I know, a novelty but oh so cozy) are also out. Warm slippers to keep my tootsies toasty, and nice warm heavier socks are ready to slip on. The flannel shirts and sweat shirts and pants are out and freshened up as well. My jackets are patched and gloves matched. Hats are found and make sure no holes are in them.

I've stocked up on my favorite teas as well as have some ginger tea and mint tea for those days/evenings that my body isn't feeling good. Soup fixings are ready and my shelves are lined with a few jars of home canned soup, stew and chilli for my "lazy nights". I still need to mix a batch of hot cocoa mix. I may add dried mint leaves to it this year for a new flavor. I could also use some vanilla flavor creamer too. Hmmmmm....... decisions, decisions. As far as other food staples go, I'm about as ready as I can be. I've close to 8 months worth of flowers, sweeteners, canned/dried veggies and fruits, meats, baking essentials, yeast, grains, beans, ect..... I've plenty of baking soda and vinegar for cleaning and laundry as well as fixings to make up a good 6 batches of laundry soap. Bathroom essentials (TP, hygeine, dental, ect...) are to par as well as pet food (although not 8 months worth LOL) I've some meat in the freezer but it's very small so not much on hand. I've some in my parents freezer tho.

The shovels are in good repair, gas is mixed and ready, snow blower is in working order, I've some pet friendly salt left from last year and was able to get a couple containers on clearance this past spring. 

I splurged and picked up some books at the Good Will and a couple garage sales and put them in a plastic container so I didn't read them until this winter. I love to curl up with a good book and a nice steaming cup of tea or cocoa on a cold winter day/evening. Since I've been soo busy moving I also have saved the couple magazines I subscribe to for such times as well. I've some crafting projects as well as cards, puzzles and some puzzle books to keep me occupied. As a last resort, plenty of movies.

This will be my first year without a stove - went without an oven for about 4 months a couple winters ago but still was able to use the stove. Other than that, it's pretty much like other years and I've done just fine so we'll cross our fingers, pray, and make it work - enjoying every moment of it.

Love and Fuzzies - have a wonderful day all!

Michele

BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER

Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 02:20

Good Morning everyone. I hope and pray all are well. We've been having beautiful fall weather here. Cooler at night but still in the low to mid 70's during the day. Leaves have started their glorious color schemes. Peak around here should be in the next couple weeks. The smells of fall are begining to go strong as well. The scents of leaves as they pile up on the lawns, crisp air, wood stoves reved up, veggies prepped for canning, and soon, apple butter, dried apples and pumpkin will add to the aroma.

I'm almost all moved back. It's been a haul but almost over. I can't believe it was only 4 1/2 mos ago I moved here and now I'm going back. There are pros and cons to the whole mess so will choose to look at the pros. I'm near my church, near family, can live rent/mortgage free until they take responsibility for the house (which could take 6mos to 4 years)  so can build up my savings from a couple dollars back up to where it'll do some good in emergency.

Bad news is my daughter continues on the road to distruction. She was living at my folks since last January but has recently broken every cardinal rule of my parents and brought drugs into their home.  Smoking, drinking, bringing guys over for sleepovers (not boyfriends, complete strangers!!!) drugs, not helping my folks with anything. She moved out last Monday when my Mother told her she needed to find someplace else to live. She's living with the person she babysits for - this girl is 23, has 3 kids all different fathers and is a bad influence. There's really nothing I can do but pray. Long story but after taking her physical and emotional abuse for so many years, her stealing from me, and much of the same she moved out about a week before Christmas last year - right after she got off probation and for the first time in years I've felt a sense of peace and safety in my own home. A long hard road, we've tried with her, my Pastor and the Youth Leader of my Church gave it their all and then some, all of us bending over backwards to make a difference and she still hasn't gotten it. Ages 18-23 were my personal "young, dumb and stupid" years and to be honest it took me hitting rock bottom and falling flat on my face before I "woke up" and made a difference in my life. I'm thinking she'll need to do the same. As I said, about all I can do now is pray.

Well, I'd better go do work chores. Hopefully things will slow down in my life once the move is over. I've really condensed what I have. A lot went into storage for later use. Things such as oven size pots and pans - I've no oven/stove in my house so will use a single electric burner, grill and toaster oven for cooking. It'll be fine and since it's just me will hopefully save me some money.

Have a blessed Sunday. Love, prayers and warm Fuzzies!

Michele

Fall is here again!

Posted on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 04:36

Good morning everyone. Well, I think fall is officially here. Weather has been pleasantly cool and cloudy with scattered rain. Bits of sun peeked out yesterday which was a nice change. Gosh, I LOVE the fall!! Suppose to continue on this pattern I think most of this coming week.

Put the first coat of clear poly on the livingroom floor yesterday. Will work more tomorrow. I'm starting 2 weeks vacation then and will pretty much get the move done in that time.

Hit the farmer's market yesterday. Got a lot of produce, some eggs, milk and bison meat. I don't splurge too often on bison but have a hankering for it.

well, hate to cut this short but need to get some chores done. Have a great Sunday everyone!

Michele

Moving Again!!

Posted on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 06:33

Good morning good friends. I'm sorry about being MIA so much as of late. So much is happening. The biggest news is that I'll be moving back to the old house. I went to court to finialize the bankruptcy in early August and have just found out that the bank could take between 6 months to over a year to finialize everything on that end. Until then I'm responsible for the upkeep, utilities, insurance and the mowing and snowblowing. Well, after much prayer and figuring finances out on paper, I was lead to see the best option would to be return to the home until the bank relieves me of my responsibilities. Even with the drive I'll still come out about $350 ahead each month as I won't have the house payment nor taxes to budget in. While I'm not looking forward to the drive (esp in the winter) the extra savings will be nice. I'm planning to pay myself what I'm now paying in rent to be put in the savings account. Hopefully I'll soon have enough to "treat" myself to a new bed - the first in 19 years!! The one I'm sleeping on was bought right after my daughter was born so it's in despirate need of replacing. Anyhow, at least I'm moving into a clean house!!

I've also been busy with preserving the harvest - well, harvest I get at the Farmer's market LOL.  I've been dehydrating everything this year and since I"m moving again am greatful. The only thing I'll be canning is applesauce and apple butter - oh, and some pumpkin butter (YUMMY).  Everything else is drying nicely and will be a nice treat this winter. Now if I"m blessed with a gift of venison come hunting season, I certainly won't object to canning up that!!

I can't believe the change in weather. Seems like just last week I was rejoycing in the warmer weather and now I"m rejoycing in the cooler temps. It's been in the mid 70's as of late and quite chilly at night in the low 40's. This week will be even colder and a bit wet.

School started in our area yesterday. Can't believe it's that time already. It's a nice change not to have the back to school worries and all that shopping to do.  I have been helping my SIL's by picking up the paper, pens, and other non "special" items that the kids need.  I was pleasantly suprised to see that prices on those items didnt' go up.

Well, best get morning work chores done. I'm off tonight and tomorrow night and plan to work on the other house. I've decided to repoly the floors as they despirately need it anyway and touch up the paint which also needs doing. I want to get it all done before I move back in the next 2 weeks.

Have a great day everyone!!

Michele

It's been too long!

Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 18:59

Evening everyone. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I can't believe how time flys. I've been busy working and moving and it's been busy at work so not much down time to come post.

I rented a dumpster for the other house on Monday. Yesterday I spent 4 1/2 hours putting stuff in it. I finished cleaning out the living room of old rotten furniture that I refused to move due to it's condition. Then I went upstairs to my daughter's old room. I've asked her time and time again if she'd be so kind to come help since it's her mess but she will have nothing to do with it. It's smelly and disgusting. I got almost half shoveled out. I found a bunch of dishes I had lost as well as a few of my old things I thought I lost.  Uff da, what a mess!!

Let's see, aside from work..... I've been busy dehydrating. Started with strawberries - oh so yummy!!! I managed to end up with a gallon jar filled before they quit producing. Now the trick will be to stay out of them until at least fall. The grocery had sliced baby portabella's (my favorite) on sale so I dried a bunch of them - almost a gallon jar's worth. If they go on sale again I'll get a couple more and top off the gallon. I'm hoping to obtain some other fresh veggies next week. I'm looking for peppers, corn and zucchini to dehydrate. My shelves can't hold any more canned foods so I've decided to dehydrate the fruits and veggies this year as they take up less space. I miss having the room of a basement for sure but am making do with what little room I have. I couldn't fit all my shelving units in the small room I have to use for storage so am unable to can up any more to top off my stock. I have a list of what I eat and what will last for a year and try to make that par. Well, last year I was still planning for two but now it's just me as my daughter moved out. There was quite a bit left then as it was just me eating from my stores since mid-December but I'm still below par for what I figured for myself and to get thru till next summer.  Whew, I sure hope that makes sense LOL.  Also on my list is of course a nice variety of apples, peaches and nectarines, pears, onions - I do a variety of sweet, red and yellow.  As things come in season I'll dry them. Apricots unfortunately never go on sale or have a seasonal price here but fortunately I have a half gallon already dried. Someone gave me a bunch last year and I only ate up about a half gallon of what I dried. My Uncle runs a cranberry marsh so I'll get a bunch of them as well. So good in cookies - esp oatmeal. Blueberries are in season here so I'll also have to make time to pick some of those as well. I'll freeze the majority of those but do dehydrate some for adding to cookies.

Well, gotta go for now. Hopefully I'll be able to come back sometime this weekend as I work night shift all weekend. See you soon!!

Michele

Sunday, June 30, 2008 - My return from vacation

Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 02:28

I'm Back!!!! Ok, I was back last night (Friday) but was busy catching up on work stuff the night just flew by - just like my vacation LOL. Whew. I enjoyed the energy expo very much. I got some great deals on discount books from the magazine I enjoy and I got to meet the editor and his daughter which was a treat. I obtained lots of info for alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, water, ect. Also there were several home made / natural soaps and lotions, info on green cleaning products, sustainable flooring, natural plasters, ect. The food was awsome!!! Organic veggie wraps, cheese curds, burgers, bratts, indian food (which was great), organic fruits/veggies, organic coffee's, smoothies, ect...... An amish family sold these wonderful cookies at 6/$1, a couple other builders and farmers with organic/natural info in that area, They had windmills up and all energy used for the buildings and exhibits was provided from them. They also had water spouts available for drinking and filling water bottles (for free) that folks purchased or brought in from home. It was an amazing experience that I intend to enjoy again next year.

Let's see, the weather here was muggy all week. It's been storming off and on but nothing too severe. Strawberries aren't ready quite yet - this coming week should be the time. The weather hasn't been cooperating and the cool May we had pushed things back a bit. Weird as we're usually picking mid-June. Can't wait to get a bunch in the dehydrators!! Yummy. I'm also planning on making some sauce an putting it in half pint jars to use over ice cream and biscuits as well as over angle food cake. I'm set with jam for a while so won't worry about that. I'll juice a flat, can the juice (unsweetened) and the mush to use for jam/jelly when I need it. The juice is also good in smoothies and other goodies.

I did get a bunch of stuff moved and organized. I've about 4 full days work in the other house left. Uff da!!! Court date is on the 28th of July so I do have a little time yet. I did take a couple days for R&R and went at a slower pace,meditated and read a book, Taffy enjoyed our daily walks, esp those 0630 ones. That was the coolest part of the day. Sigh..... It went so fast and now it doesn't seem like I had one at all LOL. Oh well. This will be a short week as well since the 4th is my holiday off. I'll be off Thurs thru Sunday since it's my weekend off too.

Well, better go catch up on things. Hope all are well.

Michele

Flooding and how it's effecting my family....June 14, 2008

Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 04:37

Good morning everyone. I'm feeling for those in the flooded areas. My father is in Iowa unable to get home because of the flooding there and my brother is in Southern WI unable to get his load out because of the same. They are not sure if they will make it home for Father's Day although they are at least trying to get closer so they can at least spend the day together. They have both driven hundreds of miles out of the way in attempt so make it and I think last word was they were 50 miles apart - each in a different state tho.

I can't help but feel how this latest slam by Mother Nature will effect more than just Father's Day. Here in Wisconsin, most freight trains are inopperable due to dammaged or flooded tracks. Truckers are stranded with loads of meat, produce, ect and no where to go with it. Most areas flooded are farming land - corn to be exact.  How will this latest "slam" effect our economy??? So many people lost or are loosing homes, buisnesses, jobs, crops, ect.... Not just here in Wisconsin but all over the mid west. Will this hike food prices up even more? Will more need to lean on the government for aide? Will gas prices take a hit because of it? So many questions yet we must remember, God will provide. Let today's troubles be enough for one day.  Lean on God. I pray all of us will have the instinct to "tweak" our emergency supplies to include more grains and corn based products. I also pray that we remain calm and keep our wits and do trust that the Lord will provide and help us to find a way.

I'm planning my vacation that begins Thursday. I'm lookiing forward to going to the Renewable Energy Expo in Custer, WI. There are so many booths with so much learning potential. I've always wanted to go but my daughter was never interested and would have made the experience a chore. I'll spend Friday there. I'm taking Taffy camping for a couple days, strawberries will be ready after that so will make a couple pickings of around 4 flats to dry and can as sauce. I've plenty of jam so may not make any this year. I'm going to juice a bunch to can the juice and make jelly if I start to run short before next year. I'll also take a couple days and finish clearing out the old house. Whew, some vacation LOL. All is good. I'm looking forward to all but the clearing out of the old house. I still have mixed feelings about the whole thing but what do ya do???

I pray each of you has a beautiful and safe day. Praying for all in flood lands.

Michele

What a weekend!

Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 05:06

Sorry to crop this a bit short but we are a tad busy here in the ER.

Desert for the weekend

Posted on Friday, June 6, 2008 at 03:11

This is hands-down the best best best pumpkin recipe on the planet! It is just one of those serendipitous "accidents" that resulted from trying to modify a recipe from Southern Living magazine that called for boxed cake mix. It didn't work out as I expected, but turned out even better!

I highly recommend it as an alternative to pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Instead of crust, the standard pumpkin pie filling contains morsels of sweet spiced pecans throughout. Mmmmmmmm! The only problem with this recipe is that it is really hard to stop eating it. I brought the test recipe to a pot luck dinner and a friend took one bite and said, "Forget the rest! I'm just having a big plate of this for dinner!" This is what we're having with our Thanksgiving dinner this year.

makes 1 13" x 9" baking dish or could me made in individual ramekins

for the topping:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup evaporated cane juice
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup unbleached flour

for the custard:
1 15-ounce can of pumpkin
1 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter, then add the evaporated cane juice and heat until the sweetener is dissolved. Mix in the pecans, then add the flour 1/4 cup at a time, and mix until blended. Allow to cool while you make the custard.
3. Whisk together the custard ingredients until well blended, then pour into a buttered 13" x 9" baking dish or individual ramekins.
4. Spoon the topping over the custard. The topping will be runny and fall down in the custard--it won't sit on top--so place each spoonful in a different spot.
5. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature with Whipped Cream, and sprinkle with fhreshly ground nutmeg.

What's for dinner....

Posted on Friday, June 6, 2008 at 02:18

Back To Recipe

Nutrition Facts

• One serving:
• Calories: 392
• Fat: 12 g
• Saturated Fat: 5 g
• Cholesterol: 86 mg
• Sodium: 798 mg
• Carbohydrate: 39 g
• Fiber: 5 g
• Protein: 28 g
• Diabetic Exch: 3 lean meat, 3 vegetable, 1-1/2 starch, 1/2 fat.

Italian Turkey and Noodles

 

From Light & Tasty

 

A jar of meatless spaghetti sauce makes this easy dish a perfect supper during the week...just add a green salad and dinner is set. Best of all, my whole family loves it. —Cindi Roshia of Racine, Wisconsin

SERVINGS	6
CATEGORY	Lower Fat
METHOD	Baked
PREP	35 min.
COOK	30 min.
TOTAL	65 min.

INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/4 pounds lean ground turkey
  
• 1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
  
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
  
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
  
• 1 jar (26 ounces) meatless spaghetti sauce (I used a pint of what I had canned myself)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
  
• 3 cups cooked yolk-free wide noodles
  
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
  
  

DIRECTIONS

In a large nonstick skillet, cook the turkey, mushrooms, onion and green pepper until turkey is no longer pink. Add spaghetti sauce and onion salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
    Place cooked noodles in the bottom of a 2-1/2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour meat mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 6 servings.

Printed from tasteofhome.com Jun 6, 2008

Copyright Reiman Media Group, Inc © 2008

TGIF - All set for a three day weekend!!

Posted on Friday, June 6, 2008 at 02:07

Good morning all. Boy, it was 65 today but very humid. Had a little rain off and on all day then a downpour around 9pm.  Needless to say the lawn didn't get mowed LOL. Am hoping to work in the garden at the folks while I'm in town Saturday. I'll also have to finish up cleaning church. Sunday will be my day of rest and catch up on reading my magazines and a couple chapters in a book I started way back when LOL. Maybe I'll treat myself to renting a DVD too. Hmmmmm. The first clear day I'll have to do laundry so I can hang it out to dry. They are forecasting rain off and on thru next Thursday so it'll be a 50/50 shot.

I made mac n cheese and tossed some frozen veggies and diced chicken in the last couple minutes of cooking the noodles. In the sauce I stirred in some Mrs. Dash Garlic for kick. It was pretty good. I'll bake the leftovers for dinner today in a small crock. That'll taste good. I like the "crust" that forms. I've also some watermellon I need to eat up. Mmmm, sounds like a good dinner to me.

In a couple weeks the strawberry farm will be open. I can't wait!! I'm getting low on what I canned up last year (I ground some up and heated them up with some fresh apple juice and made an awsome sauce) and the dehydrated ones are almost gone. I'll have to dehydrate a couple flats this year along with a few extra half pints of sauce. I found the sauce was better than slices. I used it for short cake, over my ice cream, pancakes and waffles, just open a jar and have it for desert like that, it's really good over SF Vanilla or SF cheesecake pudding, over angle food cake, even over hot cerial. I'm still pretty good on jam so I'm thinking I'll run some thru the juicer, can up the juice and either freeze or can the mush for making jam later when the weather cools. The juice is awsome mixed with seltzer water or in a smoothie.

Well, better go do some chores. Coffee later - Love and Fuzzies to all!!

Pineapple Carrot Bars

Posted on Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 06:11

Here's a recipe I made the other day. Turned out tasty! If you're looking for good whole grain recipes, try going to Bob's Red Mill website. They have a lot of different types of recipes - even gluten free.

http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipe/

Pineapple-Carrot Bars
	Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray with nonstick vegetable spray a 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan, set aside. Combine the first 4 ingredients (honey through egg) in a medium bowl; stir well and set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon; add dry ingredients to honey mixture, stirring well. Add carrots, raisins, skim milk and pineapple; stir well. Spread mixture into prepared baking pan and bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let cool and cut into bars. Store loosely covered in refrigerator. Makes 2 dozen bars. Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine, Sept/Oct 1988. NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION Servings Size: 1 Bar Calories 70, Calories from Fat 15, Total Fat 1.5g, Saturated Fat 0g, Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 90mg, Total Carbohydrate 13g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 6g and Protein 1g. Ingredients: 1/3 cup Honey  2 Tb Vegetable Oil  1 tsp Vanilla  1 Egg  1 cup Whole Wheat Flour  1 tsp Baking Powder  1 tsp Baking Soda  1 tsp ground Cinnamon, Saigon (Premium)  1 cup Finely Shredded Carrots  1/2 cup Raisins (Unsulfured)  3 Tb Nonfat Milk  1 - 8oz can Unsweetened Crushed Pineapple, drained  1 tsp Powdered Sugar, sifted

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Posted on Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 03:59

Good morning everyone!! Hope all are well and those recouperating are mending quickly and without problems. You've all been in prayer.

Monday I did laundry - the sun went and hid in the afternoon but I hung the cloths out anyway. A couple of my lighter scrubs dried ok but the rest I left out overnight. It was overcast and gloomy looking yesterday but the clothes were dry by 10am. Mmmmmm, fresh sheets hung outside - nothing like it is there??

Yesterday late afternoon I planted flowers in the flower beds in the front - much smaller than I'm use to and of course I have too many plants LOL. Guess I'll fill a couple of planters I brought over for the back yard. I was going to use them for tomatoe plants but I haven't gotten them yet. Taffy "helped" plant LOL. She was whining so bad to come out but there isn't anyplace to hook a lead to in the front - besides, the front yard is only maybe 5 feet. Anyway, I put her on her leash and looped it around my wrist. She got pretty excited and thought she was special to be out front with me LOL. That is until she got wind of something and tried to go down the street. I was putting in a plant and bam, back flys my arm and the plant along with it LOL. I ended up taking a break and walking around the block with her then she settled in and took a nap while I finished planting LOL.

I've a doctor's apt this morning - a 3 month diabetes check - nothing serious. I've a couple things I want to discuss with him - my allergies which are the worst they've ever been. Pollen is floating in the air like a snowstorm this year!! Uff da. I've tried everything from Allegera to Zyrtec. Then there's my feet - oh are they hurting. They burn, tingle and just plain hurt. That neurontin isn't doing much anymore. I'm hoping he won't discuss my weight. Hard as I try, I've gained a few since I've seen him last - you'd think with moving and all...... Sigh......

Anyway, have a great day friends. I'll see you tonite.

Michele

Sunday, June 1, 2008 - My daily Bible Study

Posted on Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 03:45

Good morning everyone. Well, the moving is almost done - finially!! LOL. Taffy is settled and I'm getting there. We've been out walking and found a beautiful park with miles of wooded trails for walking and an area for Taffy to swim. She loves it there.

Here's the book I've been using for my daily bible study: I'm enjoying it very much. It's a Monday thru Fri look at 52 different women in the Bible - one for each week in the year. Each day is a different look and different things to ponder. The first week was Eve, last week was Sarah, and this week I'll be looking at Hagar. I've become so much closer with God and more comfortable with the women God used as instruments. Even an unexpected woman such as Hagar. I find myself relating with these women and learning better ways to be an instrument in God's teachings. Life is good. I highly recommend this for anyone one looking for a good devotional book.

Almost done Moving!!

Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 05:03

Good morning all. I've been so busy moving and we've been busy at work so I haven't had much opportunity to stop in.  The last of the heavy stuff was moved yesterday. My brother and nephew helped with the washer, dryer, table, chairs, 2 cabinets and 4 wooden storage shelves. Whew - I'd have liked to have loaded up my truck with the boxed canned goods but it looked to storm again and we didn't want to chance everything getting wet. Besides, I think my brother was tired LOL.  I'm slowly getting things put away and organized although it should go much better now that the other night person is back to work and I don't have to work 5 and 6 days a week.  There's just a couple things left at the other house to bring over and then the remaining can go to the storage unit. Yipee - I can't wait for this move to be done so I can move on. I'm having a hard time with everything still mainly because I'm still between the two houses and can compare what I moved from to what I moved to. Not a good thing. Also, gas hit $4.19 in that town and still remains at $3.99 here. Uff da!!! We couldn't hook up the dryer tho as someone (being my brother) forgot to bring the wrench and then went home with the vent hose and gas hose in the back of his truck LOL.

I had a nice birthday Sunday. I spent the day packing and cleaning the bacement then at 4:30 my mother made dinner for the family. We all gathered for ham, chicken, grilled spuds, baked beans, and for desert she made an angle food cake with strawberries and cream to put over it. Mmmmmm. I got to spend time with my nieces and nephew as well. The little ones are growing so much and the bigger three are acting so grown up. Sigh.....

I am enjoying my devotions very much. It's giving me much needed meditation/quiet time. I'm slowly but surely coming at peace once again and strengthening my relationship with God. We had the best service on Sunday!! I so needed to hear what was said. The gospel spoke about trusting in God to provide everything we need to survive and to "let today's troubles be enough for one day". How true, how true. Our pastor spoke about wealth and how it's not how much you have it's what you do with it - how you use God's gifts for good not evil, selfish things. How we shouldn't sweat it because we may not have that $50 t-shirt or $400 CD player. It's God who always has and always will provide for our needs - makes sure we have food to eat - even if not prime rib or some other fancy cut (I prefer the "cheaper cuts" anyway LOL). He clothes us - as long as we are clean and the clothes are patched who cares?? I'm not into all that fancy stuff anyway. Hey, if someone gives me a bag of cloths for free, who am I to turn it down?? Even if they are stained shirts and such, I'm always looking for shirts to do dirty work in that will ultimately make them even more stained. Just think of the fabric squares or strips for either quilts or rag rugs.  So, I'm feeling much better about things than I was.

Taffy and I have been exploring our new town and have found a couple beautiful parks with boat landings that Taffy is loving. If I go at the right time of morning before people start trickling in then I can let Taffy loose and she can run and sniff to her heart's content without the need for a leash. Then she can go swim as well. She loves it.

I found out this past weekend that my daughter has been chosen as Student of the Month. It's a big deal as a teacher has to nominate the student and then it has to be voted on by other teachers. I'm so proud I could bust a button on my scrubs LOL. Anyway, the awards ceremony is Thursday morning. I'll have to get up early and drive the 25 miles to town to be there but it'll be worth it. Fortunately I'm off tonite and Wednesday night so it won't be too bad.

Well, wishing everyone a great day. I hope the weather is cooperating with the gardens. The garden at my folks is coming slowly and I've semi-planned container gardening here. It won't be much but still better than nothing. There is a farmer's market here on Thursdays so will have to check it out.

Well sending Love and Fuzzies to all!!

Michele