Tamale Casserole

I've been trying out crockpot cooking. Paul is on a different shift for a few months and leaves before I am home to fix dinner, I've never been too impressed with crockpot cooking, but I've found a few good ones lately. Here's one we liked, I got the recipe off another person's blog (sorry don't remember who) but I changed a few of the ingredients to match things we like. Next time I make it I'll be using shredded beef instead of ground beef. Here's my version:

Tamale Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 (15.25 ounce) can hominy, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 jalapeno pepper diced (I used the sliced ones from the jar)
1 (1.25 ounce) package chili seasoning mix
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. In a crockpot, combine the egg, milk and cornmeal until smooth. Add hominy, tomatoes, jalapenos, chili seasoning, seasoned salt and beef. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Death

Even though I work in hospice I don't really get to spend much time with the patients or to really get to know them. This week I've had the honor to sit with a family while their loved ones' journey in life draws to an end. I've held the dying person's hand, I've held the spouse while they cried, I've listened to wonderful stories about their life...the nurses say it's an honor to do this job and they are right, it's also very very spiritual. The hardest part for me that it forces you to face your own mortality. Sitting next to the person today, I just kept thinking what will be like for Paul and I, who will go first, will we be ill or will it be sudden, will we have lots of kids and grandkids around us, will we be strong enough to sit there and hold the other person's hand, but in the end none of us know, we will all go eventually, we will have no say in how it happens or when, it's all on God's timetable. So let us create lots of memories and enjoy the journey.

Vacation Day

Since I am on break from school I decided to take a few days off, so yesterday we had a vacation day. Got up early and left the house around 8AM. I took Paul down to Southern Ohio and showed him all the places of my childhood. Here is the start of the hills of Southern Ohio (we're right outside Lancaster), in the distance you can see the early morning fog. The fog in the autumn is one of my favorite parts Southern Ohio.

The 4lanes narrow down to 2 outside of Nelsonville.
Almost to Athens! We stopped and visited my old workplace and got me caught up on all the town gossip. If you've never lived in a small town, you're missing an experience and half. Everyone knows everything about everyone. I hadn't realized how much I missed the town gossip.


My sweety looking sexy in those sunglasses :)

This is Perks, the coffee shop I worked at through college. I spent many hours working and studying there.

The gateway to the campus of Ohio University, our alma mater. Ironically Paul went to OU also and was there for about two of the years I was there. Just took us many years later to meet :)

We had lunch with my wonderful friends. I really miss them.

The football stadium, which is actually where I had the majority of my major classes (there are a few classrooms inside).

I love the old barn that are everywhere down there.

Cow crossing warning sign. I loved this sign! Paul exclaimed "there are cows in the middle of the road?!?" I just laughed, cause there is! The camera was too slow and I missed the caution sign of the guy on a tractor.

Vacation Day Continued

We stopped at the cemetary where my mom and dads parents are, this is the first road off the highway, its a gravel road which Paul swore was only big enough for 1 car, a few miles up a twisting turning hill we turned onto a smaller gravel road which only have a one lane for cars, it even has grass growing in between the tire tracks.

This is the view of the cemetary from the gate.

Paul debating about using the outhouse


A tombtone at the cemetary.

More cows and country life.

This is the tiny dairyette I worked at through highschool. We stopped and got ice cream cones.

This is the CoolSpot, it's a gas station, convenience store, restuarant in Coolville (the town I grew up in) For some reason everyone around there thinks it's the coolest place ever, I fail to see the wonders of it, but they do have a cute setup.

The other side of the gas canopy.

Me outside the store with the chainsaw carved bear.
From Coolville we went up to Parkersburg, WV to see my brother at work.

View of the Ohio River from the bridge.

My favorite part, spending time with my brother. I love this picture! I still can't believe he's so much taller than me.

It was a long day, we finally got home about 9:30pm, but it was a fun vacation day.

Thoughts for the new week

12Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-18
******************
1Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
7Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
8Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. 11He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

1 Peter 3:1-12

Sweets for your sweet

Here's a quick and easy caramel rolls recipe to surprise your sweety in the morning.

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
36 pecan halves
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 450ºF. Place 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons butter and 3 pecan halves in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups; place in oven until melted.

2. Stir Bisquick and cold water until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Gently smooth dough into ball on surface sprinkled with Bisquick. Knead 5 times. Roll dough into rectangle, 15x9 inches. Spread rectangle with 2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar and the cinnamon. Roll up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side; pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Cut into twelve 1 1/4-inch slices. Place slices in muffin cups.

3. Bake about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately turn pan upside down onto heatproof serving plate. Leave pan over rolls a minute.

source: http://www.bettycrocker.com/

Love a Bargain

Ohhh baby, I love getting a bargain. I've been pretty thrifty for years. In college I wouldn't buy anything that was over $2, luckily I'm not that bad anymore, but I do try to save where I can which means stocking up on items when they are on sale. Friday, one grocery store was having an awesome sale on pork, I got us a variety pack which had a huge pork roast, 6 pork chops and 4 pork ribs all for $8. Today, I found King size sheets (the nice old fashioned lace trimmed ones) marked down from $55 to $21. I also picked up some dry sauce packets for .25 each, normally these are around $1 a piece. Since they were such a good price I stocked up.

Whooooo Hoooooooo!!

Got my grades today!!
Intro to Anatomy & Physiology - A
Intro to Chemistry - B

Not too shabby, huh?

School and Food Storage

Gosh, I didn't realize it had been almost two months since the last post. School has been keeping me busy, way to busy. Someone asked what I was planning for Labor Day, my answer was "study" UGHH This is the last week, have the Chemistry test on Tuesday and Biology on Wednesday. It looks like I'll end up with a B in Chemistry, I have to get a solid A on this last test to bump it up to an A in the class and I'm not counting on that happening. Biology is a solid A right now, so we'll see how the last test and final turn out. I have two weeks off of school after the tests, I plan on starting Christmas presents and am hoping to get alot of them done before classes start again. Next quarter I'm taking Anatomy and Microbiology, it's a total of 10 credit hours and two labs on Saturdays, I am going to be suffering.

Been doing a little bit of work with the container garden, no where near what I had hoped, but we do have a nice little supply of herbs for the next year. And Paul's mom brought over a ton of tomatoes and zucchini so we'll have fresh tomato sauce for the winter and I dried the zucchini to put in casseroles and soup during the winter. Since my canner is still at dads I had to either freeze the veggies or dehydrate them. Also in the picture is homemade chicken broth. I highly recommend making your own chicken broth, it's easy, tastes so much better and saves money. I buy a whole chicken, usually around $3, boil it with water, onions, and herbs until the chicken is cooked. Then you take the chicken off the bones (very easy) and divide it up into containers for meals, we usually get 3-4 containers of meat. What's left is yummy chicken broth, strain the broth to remove the herbs. I store mine in glass jars which go into the freezer, there is usually 2 big jars worth of chicken broth. You can make homemade chicken soup with this or cook rice and noodles in the broth to give the food a richer flavor. So for a $3 chicken you can make 4 maybe even 5 meals. Oh if you keep the broth in the fridge you do need to use it fairly quickly, it doesn't keep forever in the fridge, that's why I keep ours in the freezer.

The other things we've been working on is our food storage/emergency prepardness kit. Most people don't like to do this, talk about this or even think about it, but emergencies happen and saying well I live in the city I'll be fine is silly. Remember the blackouts a few summers ago in New York, the winter storms that knock out travel and electricity, that can happen no matter where you live. We have a pretty good supply of food put away, with what's in the cabinets and stored upstairs we would be fine for 3-4 weeks, granted we'd eat alot of soup, but we wouldn't starve. Don't forget if you don't have a gas stove you'll need to plan a backup source for cooking. The big thing now I've been working on is water storage. You have to have water, to flush the toilet, to fix food, to give the animals. We need to purchase some big 5 gallon water containers for us for meals and drinking water, but until we do that, I've been washing out (dishwasher to make sure it's clean) juice containers, filling them up with water and putting the cap back on. Water will keep this way for 6 months, so be sure to put a date on the container. It's an easy way to start storing water. Granted you might not want to use it for eating and drinking, but it will be good for washing out clothes, washing yourself and flushing the toilet. Ok enough of my lecture on prepardness.

I'll leave you with a picture of my cutie :) As you can tell on the carpet, he's going through his end of summer shedding. Poor Paul is not enjoying it either. This is a picture of him with his new ball, it's so cute whenever he get a new ball he has to take it with him everywhere, even bed. He's hiding under the table to enjoy the ball.

The quilt is finished! At one point I wasn't sure I could get it done but here it is. It's a sampler quilt of 3 different blocks, the theory being that now we have the skills to do many different styles of quilts.

Churn Dash block - this one was the worst to do, I had a terrible time with the triangles.

Split Rail Fence block, this block can be used to make a basket weave quilt.

Log Cabin block - this one was my favorite and the easiest.

Flowers from Paul for our 1 year.

Things have been busy here. Started school last week which is seriously interrupting my free time :) I am taking Intro to Anatomy and Physiology and Intro to Chemistry. Got an A on my first Chemistry test this week. The Anatomy class is rough, the class is online and the professor doesn't present the information in an organized way. My quilt class finishes up next week and I've been fighting with the last block for days now. It's called a churn dash block and has triangles. I just finished up the one block and 3 more to go. After I finish those, I just have to put it all together. Nothing else interesting going on, just trying to keep my head above water right now.

My Beloved

It's been a year since we meet, a year I never expected, the falling in love, the loving every minute I have with you, the always wanting more. Never in my life has anyone meant what you do to me. It's wonderful to me that laying on the couch together watching reruns is the absolutely best thing ever. Before I met you I had given up on finding anyone, I was ready to accept spinsterhood, I was tired of failed attempts, psychos and playing the dating game. Thank goodness Lori talked me into trying one more time. I was so skeptical when we first met, just waiting for you to turn into a creep but you weren't, you were and are the real thing. I surely don't deserve even half of what you give me. I can't really express well what finding you and having you love me means to me. But the lyrics to this song express more than I ever could...

God Blessed the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts

I set out on a narrow way, many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

[ Chorus: ]

Every long lost dream
Lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart
They were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way
Into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you.

I think about the years I spent
just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost
and give it back to you
but you just smile and take my hand
You been there, you understand
It's all part of a grander plan
that is coming true.

[ Chorus ]

Now I'm just rolling home
into my lovers arms
this much i know is true
that God blessed the broken road
that led me straight to you

So my beloved I will always be rolling home into your arms.

Menu

Menu for the next two weeks

Pork Chops and Creamed Potatoes
Creamed Chicken in Rice with Carrots
Chinese Chicken Stir Fry
Hot Dogs and Fries
Filet Mignon with sometype of potatoes or rice
Strip Steak with Fried Potatoes
Lasagna with garlic bread
Turkey Burgers, Fries and Corn on the Cob
Meatloaf, scalloped Potatoes and broccoli
Zucchini Quiche
Grilled Cheese and Soup

I feel better having a menu planned out for the next two weeks, I'm trying to see if it helps out at the grocery store too. It's nice to be able to leave for work in the morning and have an idea of what's going to be for dinner, all we have to do is pick something off the list and pull it out of the freezer.

I feel like I spend way to much money at the store, but prices have gone up lately and meat is outrageous. I'm cooking as much as I can from scratch, but I could probably do alot better. To help save money this week, I bought a whole chicken, .97 pound versus the 4.98 a pound for chicken breasts. I'm cooking it right now with some fresh herbs from my garden. When it's finished we'll have enough meat for several meals and some lovely chicken broth. I like to cook rice in chicken broth it always tastes much better, or I might even make some homemade chicken rice soup.

Off to finish my cleaning and work on my quilt.

Our goals as women

From Proverbs 31:10-31

A Wife of Noble Character
10 [b]Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.
11 Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
13 She finds wool and flax and busily spins it.
14 She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.
16 She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.
18 She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night.
19 Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.
20 She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.
21 She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm[c] clothes.
22 She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
23 Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders.
24 She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
26 When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. 27 She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.
28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:
29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
31 Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

Titus 2:3-5
3 Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers.[a] Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes,[b] to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.

Dinner Tonight

Tried something I've never made before, Stuffed Peppers. They turned out pretty good and it's alot easier than I thought it was. Here's the recipe below - of course I changed it a little bit but you can make it to suit your style. Paul had to go into work early so I brought them to him for dinner, it was fun, kind of like a picnic. I just feel it's a woman's duty to provide a good homecooked meal for the family. Even though alot of nights I'm tired and it would just be easier to do takeout a homecooked meal always tastes better and really doesn't very long to fix.

Peppers Stuffed with Spanish Rice

4 large green peppers
8 oz ground turkey breast or ground beef
½ c chopped onions
1 c cooked rice
1 c recipe style stewed tomatoes (with juices)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ c finely shredded cheddar cheese

Bring water in a large saucepan to a boil. Meanwhile, cut the peppers lengthwise in half. Remove and discard the stems, seeds, and membranes.

Carefully, place the peppers in the boiling water for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peppers and invert them onto paper towels to drain well.

Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly spray an unheated large skillet with non stick spray. Add the turkey and onions. Cook over medium heat until the turkey is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the rice, tomatoes (with juices) tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, basil, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Place the pepper halves in an 8 X 8 X 2 baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture into the pepper shells. Sprinkle the cheese on top. (I spooned some extra tomato sauce on top to keep them moist) Bake about 10 minutes or until heated through.

Recaps

A few recaps from the past few weeks.

Container garden is going crazy. We have a ton of basil, dill and tarragon. I've got to look up ways to keep it. I know we'll be making a ton of pesto here soon. There are about 20 roma tomatoes on the one plant; the other cherry tomato plant doesn't have any tomatoes yet but alot of blooms. The pepper plant is growing by leaps and bounds, the one little pepper must grow about 1/2 inch to an inch a day. I have pictures but for some reason the camera isn't uploading them to the computer.

Went to my first quilting class, learned about color and value when making quilts. Next week start the class on maching piecing for a quilt. At the end of the class I will have completed a small quilt with 3 different styles of blocks. I can't wait to buy the fabric next week. I did conqueor the sewing machine this week. The first few times I've tried to use it I couldn't get the darn thing to thread correctly, but I had success this week, I'm going to stay optimistic and say I"ve conqueored the beast. Yesterday I finished a present for a friend, I do have pics of the but they will have to wait until the present is given.

Classes start at school in a few weeks, I am taking intro to chemistry (yikes!) and intro to anatomy and physiology. The plan is to take all the prereqs necessary to apply to OSU and Mount Carmel. We'll see what happens, right now I'm not holding my breath, though I would love to get accepted into the masters program at OSU.

And the fur children, the lovely for some reason I love fur children. Last week my wonderful dumb but sweet dog decided to pee on paul's big screen tv - directly onto the circuit board. Not fun. It ruined the TV. Somehow how Paul didn't get irate and demand the dog leave, which I was totally expecting. That night I bought Paul a new TV, it's one of those cool digital HD tvs. But now of course my credit card is maxed out. Oh well what's the point of being an american if you're not in debt, right?

Oh yeah, Paul got me the cutest little Ipod, it's black and very cool looking :)

Pictures to come soon, just gotta figure out what's wrong with the uploading.

Dinner Tonight

Fixed a yummy dinner tonight. We had Baked Pork Chops with a Parmesan-Thyme Crust, Cooked Spinach and Brown Rice. Here's the recipe for the pork chops (I used thyme since we didn't have any sage).

Baked Pork Chops with Parmesan-Sage Crust
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs from french bread
1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
1 tablespoon dried sage rubbed
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 large eggs
1/4 cup flour
4 pork chops bone in
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
lemon wedges optional
orange wedges optional

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, sage and lemon zest in pie dish. Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend. Place flour on plate; season generously with salt and pepper. Coat pork chops on both sides with flour; shake off excess. Dip chops into eggs and then coat on both sides with breadcrumb mixture.

Melt butter with olive oil in oven proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.Transfer skillet to oven and bake until pork chops are crisp on the outside and meat thermometer inserted into pork registers 150 degrees F, about 20 minutes.Transfer pork chops to plates and garnish with lemon and orange wedges, if desired.

Serves 4.

Ok I've had enough with this people die and don't come back bit. I want my mom. Oh my gosh, I am so sick of her being gone. It really did get easier to deal with her being gone, but somedays like today still really suck. Moms can make everything better and I just need a mom hug to me make everything better. I need my mom to talk to, to cry on and just to be with. UGHHHHHHHH!

Small Garden

Just a small garden this year since I don't have a yard at the new place.

Baby basil and dill sprouting

The front porch.