Search This Blog

Friday, July 27, 2012

BLT SALAD

It's family reunion time- we are excited to get together with my Mom's side of the family once again for family, food and fun- We were all asked to bring a recipe that is one of our family favorites and then the recipe of the dish we are sharing. I am going to take a BLT salad mostly because I need to use up some of the goodies that our garden is mass producing :)

Ingredients
*lettuce-from the garden
*tomatoes-from the garden
*shredded cheese
*baccon
*cesar dressing
*crutons
(you can put in onions from the garden too if you would like but I don't so :) I won't)

Directions
****don't mix ingredients together until you're ready to serve, you don't want things to get soggy****
-wash lettuce and tomatoes
-dry/spin the lettuce so its not soaked
-cut the tomatoes
-make sure the bacon is cooked all the way(we like the kind that you can microwave in 45 seconds and not stink the whole house up)
-Put all ingredients together, toss and serve

this is a very easy salad and extremely tasty :)

salad on!

Monday, July 23, 2012

MEXICAN CHICKEN AND RICE

I saw this recipe on PINTREST and changed it to what we had at home :)

Ingredients
*2-3 chicken breasts (depending on how many your feeding and what size they are)
*easy cook rice
*1 taco seasoning packet
*1 can of tomatoes and green chillies
*shredded cheese- what ever kind you like
*sour cream
*onion is optional- I didn't use one but Lee would have liked it

Directions
-cook up the chicken and cut it into small pieces
-cook rice according to box directions
-mix the taco seasoning packet according to directions on package
-mix all ingredients
  chicken, rice, can of tomatoes and chillies, taco packet and shredded cheese
-heat all ingredients until cheese is melted
-serve in a bowl or in a tortilla if you need more filler for hungry boys like I did

Lee loves sour cream on taco stuff or anything remotely spicy so that was good for him to have

This was super easy and delish!!!!! plus its been great for left overs! - you can put this on a lettuce salad too for taco salad, or even on chips for nachos

served with corn and milk

rice on!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

WON-TON STRAWBERRY BOAT

Here is another way I used the won-tons today-

Ingredients
*won-ton wrappers like in the previous recipe
*strawberries
*sugar and lemon
*cool whip

Directions
-bake won-ton wrappers in the cupcake tin at 350 degrees for 8 minutes

-cut up strawberries put in a teaspoon of white sugar, and a squeeze of lemon juice

-scoop into the wonton cups

-put cool whip on top

we discovered that these won-ton cups are best used just to serve out of. Lee did eat his like he was eating a cupcake but it was messy- he said it was good though.

strawberry on!

WON-TON TACOS

here goes a total experiment on food that the worker boys get to test for me :) -
remember to adjust the amount of everything to the amount of people you are feeding- I will be feeding 3 with this


Ingredients
*won-ton wrappers- in the middle of the veggie department in Fareway- kind of a strange place
*1lb of hamburger or chicken breast
*1 packet of taco seasoning
*lettuce
*onion
*tomato
*salsa
*shredded cheese

Directions
-to form the wonton wrappers
  -you can either fry them in a little oil in a pan, or turn a cupcake pan upside down and bake the wrappers like hard shell tacos, you could also stuff the cupcake pan right side up and have the tacos be deep pockets, or stuff the meat and cheese in the raw wrapper and then bake them with meat and cheese inside all rolled up


- if you choose to fry or bake them empty before you stuff then do those steps and then stuff with cooked and seasoned meat and other sides as you wish

-if you choose to stuff then bake it may be harder to add other toppings but it wouldn't be impossible.

- I chose to  put the cupcake pan upside down and pre-bake the "taco shell" at 350 for 8 minutes -open so the guys can stuff them how they please :)

taco on!

RUSTY LOVE

Here are some of my lovelies that have made their way into our home via auctions and my love for old rusty things :)
 Above is a chick feeder- could be used for an indoor herb garden, spools of thread, ribbons- its lovely
 i have no idea what to use these for but they were in a dollar box
 i was thinking of making these into a rug runner for the back hallway but decided to try and sell them
 iron pulleys, was going to use these for lighting in the kitchen but Lee said no- i now agree- trying to sell them .. super neat either way!

 mail rack- going to use it in my craft room to hold and organize things; what things?- ANY THING
 these are amazing 1920's license plates- i wish so badly to know the stories behind them- how neat would it be to see the car it was on or the adventures the person driving took. so cool, we will be framing these and putting them in Lee's man basement.

my hay hooks- these will get the tips rounded off and spray painted and used as coat hooks in the entry way :) so excited!
Rusty junk has so many options for reuse and imaging the stories behind them is my absolute favorite part!

rust on!

Monday, July 16, 2012

GREEN THUMB IS GROWING

Holy cow- our garden has taken off!!! we have now picked lettuce 4 times and gotten HUGE bowls full each time and we only picked small sections each time.

Green beans have been picked 4 times also and each time we have gotten a huge bowl full also.

The carrots are doing great- not ready to eat yet but getting close.

Onions are slooooooow, but that is to be expected because we planted seeds not sets.

The cabbage is a loss, we had bugs get to it- which stinks, but we also only planted it because we were curious.

Tomatoes are huge but only have had 3 cherry tomatoes turn red so far- so I'm guessing when they do start turning it will all be at once-woofda

cucumbers and butternut squash are growing like crazy but still have a ways to go- I think i need to water more tonight for sure!

Our volunteer broccoli was picked today, and it is amazing- who would have thought :)

here are some pictures of todays pick-remember it is only a fraction of what we have ready to be picked, looks like I'll have to spend a day freezing beans again :)


grow on!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

GARDEN FRESH GREEN BEANS

Nothing is better than eating fresh out of the garden! here is how i prepared my green beans tonight

Ingredients
*green beans-stemed
*butter
*sea salt
*pepper

Directions
-snap the ends off the beans
-rinse off dirt
-boil water
-toss the beans in
-check for tenderness every once in a while
-once done strain and rinse again with cold water
-place the beans in a tupperware that will hold them all(i do this so that when we are done eating them they are ready to store, don't need to use too many containers that means dishes for me. no thanks! )
-put a scoop of butter in the beans, salt and pepper to taste
-put lid on beans tight and shake up. this will melt the butter and mix everything up :)

ENJOY!!!!!!
we ate this with water and wonder roast


bean on!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

GET FIT

Sorry I haven't posted much lately, we have been kicking butt on the house addition/renovation-Here is one of my work outs I like to do either daily or every other day- I do modify it so I'm not doing the same thing every day. Lee recently got me a new bike so I'M IN LOVE with it!


There is an amazing bike trail into the nearest town to us which is 41/2-5 miles each way

I start by stretching and making sure my IPOD has enough battery to push me through :)

at every bench or road crossing I like to stop and do some sort of plyo. There are about 8 stops that I encounter each way.

Stop 1
25 calf raises with both legs
25 left leg
25 right leg
stretch

stop 2
15 triceps dips on the bench
10 pushups on the bench

stop 3
15 leg swings-do each leg ( stand on one leg and swing the other out its side)
get a drink

stop 4
25 crunches
25 mountain climbers

stop 5
25 RDLs-(legs a little closer than shoulder width apart, keep back stiff, knees slightly bent, and bend at the waist until you touch your toes stand back up)

stop 6
stretch and get a drink

stop 7
10 pushups
25 crunches

stop 8
25 calf raises
25 leg swings (25 per leg)

on the way back from town maybe stop at only the benches or mile markers or split it up and do every other both ways so you aren't stopping as often.

remember to keep hydrated and only go as much as your body says to-

bike on!

Friday, July 6, 2012

COOLWHIP PIE

This recipe was from 4th of July lunch- I love this because it is light and cool and extremely easy!
tips-use the same jello and yogurt flavor, use regular not light cool whip, and let cool whip thaw before making

You can experiment with different flavors if you would like or food color them for fun events- we made them for easter one year and made them blue and pink like easter eggs- great for summer treats!


Ingredients
*1 graham cracker pie crust
*1box of jello (I prefer sugar free) peach
*1 regular container of fat free or low fat yogurt(the size you would pack in a lunch) peach
*1 container of cool whip- not the jumbo tub

Directions
-mix jello (do not make the jello- leave it as the powder, it will have more flavor and less gelatinous in texture- I'm a texture person so that bugs me), yogurt and cool whip into a big bowl
-stir until fluffy and incorporated
-pour into your graham cracker crust
-keep in fridge until ready to serve

pie on!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

FOURTH, FAMILY, FUN & FOOD

I start my 4th of July blog with a GIGANTIC THANK YOU to those who serve in our military so that we can celebrate another happy 4th!

Today we had both sets of parents over for a late lunch/construciton/bike ride party :)

Mom and dad came up around 10:00. Mom and I went for a bike ride while dad hung out here with Lee and his dad.

for a late lunch we had
(see the next few posts for the recipes of the dishes listed in this post)

Meat:
Seasoned Sirloin Patties from our local meat locker- DELISH!!!
Smoked Brats


Fixings:
Flat Buns
Regular Buns
Brat Buns
Lettuce From the Garden
Onions
Cheese; Gouda, Mozzarella, Colby Jack
Mustard
Ketchup


Sides:
Pasta Salad from my mommma
Watermelon
Deviled Eggs
Best Roasted Red Potatoes (recipe from my earlier posts)
Chips
Carrots


Desserts:
Cheese Cake Stuffed Strawberries (see older blog post for recipe)
coolwhip pie(will post a recipe later)
Lees moms bars- I have no idea what they were - sorry


Some fun things I used today

An apron to decorate the front of the oven that my grandma used when she was a school lunch lady


tea towels to cover up the stove to so we could use it as a serving surface and not scratch it

white plates with dry erase markers so people knew what was in front of them (yes I tried it on the bottom of them before I wrote all over the top :)  )

the silver ware holder was one of the flower holders from our wedding

I had to use a table cloth on our AMAZING table and bench that Lee and his Dad made(we ordered and stained the chairs) so that nothing scratched it (I will post pictures of the table in full later)

we took a cooler of drinks and kettle corn and twizzlers to the fire works at our local golf course where we met the rest of Lees family that we watch these with every year.


OVER ALL WE HAD AN AMAZING DAY WITH FAMILY, FUN & YUMMY FOOD

celebrate on!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

BEST ROASTED RED POTATOES

I have been trying to find a way to roast red potatoes with out having to either scrape them off of a pan from the oven, or peel tin foil off each one-well here is what I have come up with and I must say it is amazing!

Ingredients
*red potatoes (I used 6 med-small for 2 people- there were left overs)
*extra light in taste olive oil
*1 lemon
*1 clove of garlic
*seasonings- see picture for details (you can also use which ever ones you like)



*parchment baking sacks-found near the baggies at Fareway

Directions
-Preheat oven to what ever you want- i cooked at 380 degrees for 30 minutes ish
-two separate bows- or one if you are using the same seasonings- we used different seasonings so we used two bowls
-scrub and wash all potatoes
-dry the potatoes
-cut potatoes into small pieces- try to make them the same size so they cook evenly
-place half of the potatoes into each bowl

-coat all potatoes with olive oil- it's ok if there is extra you don't have to put it all into the bag
-sprinkle your seasonings onto the potatoes- here is what we used

-mine-
     -pepper, lemon pepper mccormick seasoning, greek seasoning, rosemary
-lees-
     -pepper, 1/2 ranch packet, 1/2 clove of garlic, greek seasoning, rosemary, pepper and garlic mccormick seasoning

-mix each bowl by hand
-scoop each bowl into a separate bag


-I put a sliced up lemon on mine to enhance the lemon flavor- YUMMMMMMM!
- roll up the opening of each bag 2 times(directions off the box)

-bake on a lower rack, shake up half way through, open and poke with a fork to see how done they are and adjust your cooking time to their tenderness
-cut bag open(be careful of the steam) and pour out onto a plate, there will be far fewer stuck on the parchment than on tinfoil or a regular pan- LOVE THIS!!!!




when ours were done they smelled and looked amazing!


we didn't make anything else to serve with it; it's been too hot to eat very much. I did have a few slices of turkey though- Lee said next time we will have chicken or steak- and I forgot to put onions in his- woopsies :-/

tater on!

Friday, June 29, 2012

GARDEN UPDATE

End of June 2012 Garden Update

here are pictures of the garden so far


 green beans
 carrots
 lettuce
 onions
 cabbage
 our surprise broccoli- didn't plant this but we have it 

tomatoes, cucumbers and butternut squash

garden on!

Monday, June 25, 2012

PB&F

Peanut Butter & Fritos- Yep you read it right- holy wow this is an addicting recipe so make only when you plan to take it somewhere so you can't eat it all yourself :)

Ingredients
*1 bag of fritos
*1C creamy peanut butter
*1 C Karo syrup (I use lite)
*1C white sugar (I use 1/3 C-works just the same)

Directions
-get a large cookie sheet or pan with a lid
-lay wax paper in the pan
-lay fritos out on the wax paper/pan and spread evenly
-In a pot mix the pb, syrup and sugar until all melted and smooth(be sure to stir the whole time so it doesn't cook too much)
- as soon as it is melted together and smooth pour over the fritos
-let cool

scarf down :)

PB&F on!

Friday, June 22, 2012

ODIE BEAR

The story of Otis/Odie-

what a giant bear this dog has become!


He made it into our engagement pictures of course in his beloved pool- May 2011not a year old yet

We got Otis late December of 2010 from a family off of craigslist, yes he stole our hearts the first time Lee found him on there.
here he is when we picked him out. only 4 weeks old maybe, such a cuddle bug- his mom(yellow lab- had 10 babies- holy mamma-all survived and were adorable

Otis is a St.Bernard and Yellow Lab mix- and he's hilarious because he's black and white and a lap dog

Otis has a history of no knowing how large he is and that he actually has 4 paws that work - well they don't work together but they work. He is getting better with his coordination, but we love his ignorance of his size- makes him funny and even more lovable!

He quickly had us suckered into his quirks and we couldn't say no when he wanted to come in the house, especially in the winter. So we had plenty of fun playing tug of war and stealing my potatoes and boxes to drag around the house-
 Uh Oh- he likes dew like Lee
 Handsome boy
he is still obsessed with towels
Some where along the line Otis became obsessed with towels, gloves and brooms- WHO KNOWS why but its funny and if it keeps him busy then fine destroy 5 brooms(yep he has demolished 5 shop brooms, handles and all)
This was his favorite broom- he would growl at it and shake it dead

Otis grew so fast that we had to give him vitamins because his hair was falling out- whoops not enough in the food we were giving him- silly boy vitamins are expensive slow down :)- don't worry his hair came back and it is different than the rest which is funny- he reached 80 lbs before he was 1 and at 1 1/2 he is at least 110- its been a few months since the last vet visit-hello large lap doggie

As if I don't sound like the crazy dog lady yet don't worry I'll claim it by the end of this post :) 

Here he is sitting up and angry at his reflection- too cute! 
 The day we brought him home- so funny already
 Tired from the drive- had to nap- He still lays his paw like that when he's sniffing out the ground squirrels at home

The car ride home

Otis made it into our engagement pictures! the bottom picture i have his ball and well he LOVES HIS BALL- it squeaks and he will squeak it all day if you will play with him- LOVES IT! 

These are more recent pictures- May 2012,top one he is "sneaking"-when he crawls on his belly to you - with his ball, and the bottom one is him sitting waiting nicely for Lee to throw the ball
 Being nosey about the hole in the ground
 The wagon was kind of sketchy, but he needed to be with daddy- yes he knows the word daddy and hunts Lee down when I say it- and he will continue to circle the house, truck and yard until he finds him

 THIS DOG IS HILARIOUS- he LOVES drinking water from the well or hose, not the water dish we provide - we will say- are you thirsty and he will walk over and wait for us to turn it on, or do you need a drink?- I hope he stays smart and we can leave him out at some point when he's older.
He was mad about all the construction at the house the other day and barked ALL day I was told :) whoops, he just wants to see everything- Plus all those sketchy guys there- He definitely isn't a fan of new people and vehicles and will always let us know even if its just a bird that entered the yard-

Often he knocks us over because he's so excited so I'm not too concerned about him being able to take care of someone if they came in the yard and we didn't want them to be there- Loud bark and probably a big bite :) we haven't had to find out yet nor do we want to.
ok nutso dog lady title claimed :) he's a funny boy and has more character than we thought possible


dog on!