My Day

Ya know, I do not have to go to work on Monday's but I am beginning to believe that maybe I should. On my days off I work harder at home cleaning house or re-organizing than I do at work!

Monday started off as any other day. Making my bed, fixing breakfast, emptying the trash cans, on and on. I had started on one of my closets on Saturday (and no there will be no pictures)! I was cleaning it out,and good! You know, instead of wanting to keep everything single thing, I threw stuff away right and left!! I then decided to clean out all my canned goods and move everything around and re-organize all my pantry items.

I always seem to start out small when I clean and end up big. In other words, biting off more than I can chew meaning, I didn't get to finish on Saturday so I had to finish on Monday. I had planned on tackling another closet but did not get time.

I also managed to do some cooking in between all the organizing and throwing away. I made my husband some cherry jello with fruit in it. Yuck!




Then I barbecued some chicken wings to eat as a snack later on that night while watching Little People, Big World. Dipped them in Ranch dressing. Now that's a yum!



And last but not least, I made Kelli a Chocolate Cake with, what else but, chocolate icing! Yum, Yum!!



I then fixed a new recipe for supper that I will be sharing soon.

Anyways, I think it all hit me last night! I was ready to go to sleep at 6:00. I was so tired and draggy. But, I had to stay up until 9:00 so I could watch the Dugger's. I barely made it. (Giggle)

Hope you all have a great day!

Free For The Asking

I have lots of old Taste of Home Magazines to give away. Would anyone like to have these? If so, just leave me a comment and I will be glad to put these in your home!

Pecan Pie

I haven't made one of these pies in a long time. We love Pecan Pie especially my husband. He can take care of one of these in a day, almost one sitting! This recipe is my late grandmother's recipe. I think maybe she got the recipe off of the Karo syrup bottle but none the less, this is the recipe that she always used.

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. Karo light or dark corn syrup
1 c. sugar
2 T. butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. pecans
1-9 in. unbaked pie shell

In a large bowl,, stir eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla until well blended. Stir in pecans. Mix well. Pour into a pie shell. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes or until a knive inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool. Yield: 8 servings

Recipe Review

I fixed the Garlicky Smashed Potatoes Tuesday night. I just do not care for red potatoes. They just had a musty taste to me. I think if I had of just used my regular Idaho potatoes I would have liked them better. My dh and dd liked them real well and did not think that they tasted musty. They were very easy and quick to make,which makes them worth fixing again. If anyone else tries this recipe, let me know what you think.

Weekly Menu

Ooops! I forgot to post my menu for the week yesterday. I know, you all have been just biting at the bit to find out what I am going to cook! I am just so funny!

Sunday - I fixed baked ham, mashed potatoes, cole slaw and green beans.

Monday - I baked chicken breast strips, french fries, cole slaw and homemade biscuits.

Tuesday - I am having leftovers from Sunday.

Wednesday - Pigs in a blanket, mashed potatoes, creamed corn.

Thursday - Leftovers from Monday.

Friday - Frozen pizza, salad and BBQ Chicken Wings

Garlicky Smashed Potatoes

This recipe came from "Cheap Cooking" also. It consists of two of my favorite things potatoes and garlic. I hope to try this recipe one day this week. I will let you know how we like it.

8 medium (about 2 1/2 lbs.) red potatoes
2 T. butter
1/4 c. milk
1 clove fresh garlic, minced, or 1 tsp. bottled minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour 4 1/2 c. water into a 3-qt. or larger saucepan. Cover the pan, place it over high heat, and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt. Cut out any bruises or large eyes, then cut the potatoes into 2-in pieces (quarters or eighths, depending on their size.)

When the water is boiling, add the potatoes carefully to avoid any spash-ups. Bring the water back to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-high to maintain a steady boil (but not so hot as to boil over). Cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and drain the potatoes in a colander. Set aside to drain.

Return the potatoes to the saucepan and add the butter, milk, and garlic. Using a potato masher, smash the potatoes until they reach the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, stir well, making sure the butter and garlic are well distributed, and serve at once.

Crash Hot Potatoes

Go visit Ree for a tutorial of this recipe.

I fixed this recipe several weeks ago and we really liked it. It was something different, but then it is a potato. I just love potatoes!!

New potatoes (or other small round potatoes)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Rosemary or chives

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down on each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potateos with kosher salt, round pepper, and rosemary and/or chives. Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Barbecued Beef on a Bun

This is another recipe from "Cheap Cooking". Although this recipe called for beef I used pork since that was what was on sale last week and we all enjoyed it. I cooked my pork in a crockpot Saturday night for 10 hours. The next morning when it was finished cooking, I removed the pork, shredded it and placed it in a pot. I rewarmed the shredded pork when I got back from church with the barbecue sauce. I served baked potato wedges and cole slaw with it.

4 servings

4 hamburger buns
2 c. shredded cooked beef roast
1 c. barbecue sauce

Split the buns and lightly toast them in a toaster oven. Set aside. Place the beef and the barbecue sauce in a small saucepan and place it over medium heat. Stir well and cook until the beef is heated through, 3 to 4 minutes. Spoon the barbecue beef on the buns. Serve immediately.

A Chicken In Every Pot

I got this recipe from Cheap Cooking Cookbook. Some friends of mine gave me this cookbook and I have gotten so many good recipes from it. The recipe calls for celery but I did not put any in. One because I didn't have any and second, I like raw celery but I do not care for it cooked.






Sorry, but I forgot to take a picture once it was finished. We really liked this recipe. It was quick and very easy.

3 medium size carrots
2 medium size ribs of celery
2 large onions
4 medium size potatoes
2 tsp. seasoning salt
1/2 c. water or chicken broth
1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 lbs.) defrosted and cut up

Peel the carrots and cut them into 1-in pieces. Place the carrots in the bottom of crock pot. Cut the celery into 1 inch pieces and add them to the cooker. Peel the onions and potatoes, quarter them, and add them to the pot. Sprinkel 1 tsp. of the seasoning salt evenly over the vegetables. Add chicken pieces to the crock pot. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tsp. of seasoning salt evenly over the chicken. Pour 1/2 c. water into the pot alonside the chicken (taking care not to pour it over the chicken) and cover the pot.

Cook in crock pot for 10 hours or until chicken registers 180 on an instant-read thermometer in the thigh portion.

Getting Back on Track

After going with the teenagers from church to a Youth Conference in Owensboro, Kentucky this past weekend, it took me most of Monday to get my feet back on the ground. I got up at 5:30 last Friday morning and didn't get back in the motel room until 2:00 AM Saturday morning and not into bed until 3:00 and then back up at 6:00. That is so not me!

I think I may be going with the teens to Perfect Slopes this coming Monday. I just go and chaperon. I know better than to go snow tubing! Every time I do anything that requires my feet to leave the ground ends up with me having an injury. Not going there although one of the teenage girls insists that I am going to snow tubing with her. I then explained to her that the last time I went sleigh riding, after going air borne on a plastic sled, I landed with the sled, on a rock, on my tail bone. Had to go to the emergency room because I thought I broke it! I will never forget that injury. Do you know how embarassing it is for a grown woman to not only have her tail bone xrayed but to have to tell how it happened!

I have still got to ask more questions before I go like, do I have to get on the ski lift? Feet would have to leave the ground for that one!! If I have to ride a ski lift then that would also mean that I would be up high. You know, more than a foot off of the ground. Afraid, extremely afraid of heights here!!



This is a cookie jar that my mom gave me literally years ago! I had this in my hope chest before I was even married. She bought it at a local 5 & 10 store that is still open in our town after she was first married. The cookie jar is over 40 years old. I managed to find time to fill it with brownies. I used a mix from Save-A-Lot but I do not care for how it baked up.

Menu Monday

For more great menus, please visit Sandra.

My menu is quickies this week. My husband was told that he would be working 2nd shift this week, so I had planned stuff that I knew he could take to work with him and warm up since I knew we would not be seeing each other at home. His work hours did not change so I guess I just have an easy week. Yipee for me!

Sunday - I fixed BBQ Pork on buns, cole slaw, potatoe wedges
Monday - Chili, crackers
Tuesday - Chicken in a pot, corn, beans, biscuits, cole slaw
Wednesday - Hamburgers, french fries
Thursday - Sloppy Joes, Cole slaw, potato wedges
Friday - Whatever I can find

100 Things About Me

I always enjoy reading these on other blogs so I thought I would do this on my own.

1. I was saved at the age of 13.
2. I am an Independent Baptist and KJV Bible only!
3. I love going to church.
4. I am employed as church secretary.
5. I am the oldest of one brother and one sister.
6. I love pencils and paper. (Weird I know.)
7. I am addicted to my computer and email.
8. I make a menu every week and make my grocery list from my menu and have done
this for years.
9. I love cats but cannot have them due to allergies.
10. I love to cook and make things to give to others.
11. Letting go of my kids has been harder than I thought it would be.
12. I am a list person.
13. I love to organize anything.
14. I like to read the Bible and books.
15. I like popcorn as an evening snack.
16. I do not like having my picture taken because I always look fat.
17. I like my house clean but I hate to do it.
18. I am not an outdoors person.
19. My favorite TV shows are The Duggars, Big World, Andy Griffith,
Masterminds, Swamp People, Ax Men and 48 Hours.
20. I would love to travel out West.
21. I cut my dryer sheets in half to make them last twice as long. They still do the
job so why not?
22. I have to have my bed made everyday. I can't stand to sleep in an unmade bed.
23. My timer is my best friend.
24. I love cooking and having family and friends over to my house.
25. I like to send cards to people.
26. I cook breakfast every morning. Usually bacon or sausage, eggs and toast. Sunday
mornings I fix gravy and biscuits with this for my husband.
27. I husband and I have an empty nest now.
28. I like Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. (Stems from my childhood.)
29. I very frequently move the furniture around in my rooms. I purchased a set of "Sliders" several years ago. They are the trick! You could move a mountain!
30. I LOVE salt.
31. When I hear or see an ambulance, I always say a prayer for whom ever is inside or
will be inside.
32. I am a morning person.
33. If I drive longer than 45 minutes I get way to sleepy.
34. I hate to drive. I do not mind riding though.
35. I would love to move from where I live now.
36. I wish I could cook as good as my mom does.
37. I really enjoy stringing, breaking and canning beans.
38. I am afraid of dentist!
39. I can get lost in a book or a bookstore.
40. I have read my Bible through for the last two years. I have started on my third
the first of January of this year.
41. I hate being late.
42. I do not like coffee but I love to smell of it.
43. I was having trouble coming up with things when I first started, but, now I can't
quit. Help!!
44. I like to talk.
45. I hate for my feet to get wet when it rains.
46. I dislike politics.
47. I get carsick if I do not ride up front.
48. I love the zoo.
49. My favorite animal there is the elephant.
50. I would like to pet every animal there. Yes, even the snake. Ok, maybe not the
spiders.
51. My hair is thick and grows fast.
52. I am a pack rat. I am working on not being though.
53. I love deep fried foods.
54. I love to look at the sky. (My daughter always rolls her eyes at me when I make
a comment on how beautiful the sky is.)
55. My favorite color is lime green.
56. I like things with frogs on them.
57. I love mild salsa.
58. I do not like hot and spicy foods.
59. I cannot decorate worth a lick.
60. I love cheese fries.
61. Hate is such a strong word, but, I hate westerns! lol Not good when your husband
loves them as much as I hate them.
62. My favorite season is spring.
63. My favorite meat is chicken.
64. My favorite vegetable is potatoes and tomatoes.
65. My favorite fruit is watermelon.
66. My favorite snack is anything. lol I like ice cream, fruit and as I said before,
popcorn.
67. I also love pickles.
68. My favorite drink is Diet Rite caffeine free Tangerine pop or grape flavored
water.
69. I always wear a watch.
70. I have always wanted to learn how to decorate cakes.
71. My biggest fear in life has always been that one of my kids would be die before
me.
72. I am not always able to, but, I try to do something good for someone at least
once a week.
73. I strive to be a better person today than I was yesterday.
74. I love to hang clothes on the line.
75. Both my parents are still living.
76. I met my husband at a Tasty Freeze in my small town when I was 17.
77. My husband and I went to the same small school and never knew each other. We
do not even remember seeing each other!
78. My husband and I met in October of 1982, engaged by December 25, married the
next April 22nd!
79. I am terrified of mice.
80. I love hearing wind chimes. I have two on my front porch.
81. I have always lived in the country.
82. I do at least a load of laundry everyday. I cannot stand for laundry to be in
the basket.
83. I love cookbooks. Last count was 189. I have since been trying to go through
these and give some away.
84. I love trying new recipes.
85. My favorite thing to wear is a shirt, loose skirt and sandals. Oh how I miss my
sandals.
86. I like to sit toward the front at church. My husband is the opposite.
87. Ok, I am struggling getting to 100 here.
88. I like to mow the yard as long as I have a riding lawn mower with breaks!
This is a story for another time.
89. I am a kitchen gadget addict.
90. I love my dishwasher.
91. I always fold and put my laundry away as soon as it comes out of the dryer.
92. I have always had a great interest in the Amish life style.
93. I really wish I could learn to make candy with a candy thermometer.
94. I do not like taking the time to get my hair cut.
95. I never have enough time in my day.
96. I love plastic containers.
97. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the elderly.
98. I always seem to have a closet that needs cleaned out.
99. My husband and I save our change and put the money toward a treat for us.
100. I can't believe I finally made it!!

No Post

I will not be posting again until Monday. I will be out of town. Everyone have a great and a safe weekend. See ya on Monday!

Slow Cooking Thursday

For more great recipes, visit Sandra. There are loads of great recipes and blogs to view.

I found this recipe in "Fix-It and Forget It" cookbook. We liked this but none of us were crazy about it.

When and if I make it again, I will add more sugar the next time. The apples were a little tart still. I only used 4 apples and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg. I also had to use my hand to get the final sugar mixed in with the butter and peanut butter. My fork just wasn't doing the trick so I gave up and used my hands and it blended together quicker. I only cooked mine for the 5 hours. Any longer and my apples would have been cooked to much. But, hey, it was a quick, tasty, and warm dessert for a cold winter day!

APPLE PEANUT CRUMBLE

4-5 cooking apples, peeled and sliced
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. quick-cooking dry oats
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 c. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
Ice cream

Place apple slices in slow cooker. Combine brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon and nutgmet. Cut in butter and peanut butter. Sprinkle over apples. Cover cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Serve warm or cold with ice cream.

Extra Easy Chocolate Pie

This is not only easy but good!

1-7 oz. milk chocolate bar with almonds
2 T. water
1-8 oz. cool whip, thawed
1-6 oz. graham cracker pie crust

Combine the chocolate bar and water in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at medium (50%) power for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes; stir until smooth. Fold in cool whip; pour into crust. Cover and chill at least 8 hours before serving.

Angel Lush Cake

My DIL made this for us before her and my son married and I fell in love with it. It is not only quick and simple but it is not a real rich cake. I hope you enjoy. I have even made it using fat free cool whip and sugar free vanilla pudding and pineapple and it was still good.

Angel Lush Cake

1 angel food cake
1-20 oz. can crushed pineapple
1 c. cool whip
1 box vanilla pudding

Mix vanilla pudding mix and pineapple until well blended. Fold in cool whip. Cut cake into 3 layers. Put mixture between each layer, on top of cake and down the sides. Decorate the top with orange or strawberry slices.

Menu Monday

Below is my menu for the week.

Sunday - Baked Ziti, Garlic Toast

Monday - Soup beans, fried potatoes, cornbread and spam

Tuesday - Green beans, potatoes, cornbread

Wednesday - Chicken legs, cole slaw, bread, baked potato wedges

Thursday - Pork chops, baked potatoes, slaw, bread

Friday - Leaving today for a Mid-Winter Youth Conference out of town so Kelli and Eugene have to fend for themselves.

Ice Storm

I hope this post finds everyone well and with electric. Our electric went out at 10:00 AM on Tuesday and came back on around 8:30 that night. I think the only reason ours was fixed so quickly was because the lines were hanging in the road.

Some who live a couple of miles down the road still do not have electric. They have electric with a different electric company than mine, but they usually do not lose their electric like we do and their electric company are usually very quick to get theirs back on, but for some reason they haven't this time.

Kelli kept saying, "I am going to die if this electric does not come back on!." She doesn't remember the last ice storm we had when we had no electric for 14 days! I don't think the TV was important to her at that time as it is now, although I will have to admit I was getting worried. The Duggar's new show was going to be on TLC at 9:00 and I had been so looking forward to it, but thankfully the electric came back on in time for me to watch the show.

I don't know if you can see the line in this picture or not, but ice is hanging from it as was all the other lines around our home.



This is a small tree in our front yard that was froze! Bless it's heart!



This was one of the first trees we planted on our property right after we bought it so it is sentimental to us. As we were leaving to get some kerosene to heat with, I asked my husband if he thought the top would straighten back up after the ice had melted and he said he thought it would. Well, it didn't make it that far. When we got back this is what we found.



The top had broken out and branches was lying on the ground. We are so sad especially since my husband says he will have to cut the tree down now. Boo! Hoo!

I took the above picture yesterday. It was 63 degrees at my house yesterday. Oh if I could have just bottled some of that up and saved it for today since it is only 30 degrees right now!

I woke up this morning to snow on the ground, again. Oh, I am so ready for spring to get here!