I am so glad it's Friday, and that I don't have anything solid planned for the weekend. I'm just planning to lay around and not do a lot. May go piddle around town a little tomorrow, but who knows. I'm tired and I need to rest.
I have an ultrasound scheduled for Monday - need to get the lady bits checked out, as I've been having some of those fun, period-related issues the last few months (more than I've shared publicly in a while). I imagine it's probably nothing, or something related to either the fact that I'm getting older and about to hit menopause soon, or maybe it's something to do with the adenomyosis. I will post more info once I know what's going on - y'all know I don't mind sharing the gory details, if it will help just one person that may be having similar issues.
Our garden is officially kaput. I picked the last of the butterbeans last weekend, and I discovered that my potato tower was a complete and utter FAILURE. I was so looking forward to having a shitload of fresh potatoes, and unfortunately my potato tower turned into a giant ant farm. I mean seriously, when we pulled the tower down and pulled away the wire caging, the entire mass of dirt was nothing but a swarming pile of ants. Not a single piece of potato was anywhere to be seen. I need to check my sweet potato buckets and see if those turned out okay. I'll be pissed if those are ant farms too, but I haven't seen any ants around them, so hopefully we'll have some yummy sweet potatoes soon.
The pepper plants have been quite productive, so that's been nice. We always manage to grow a bunch of peppers, more than we can eat, and end up pickling a lot of them. We probably have 2-3 cases of pickled peppers and pepper sauce.
I can't wait until next year's garden - we are going to double the size of the garden, and plant a few more things!
Friday, August 28, 2015
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Weekends - are NEVER Long Enough!!!
Nope, they never last long enough! I fixed the fagioli soup on Friday night (I fixed frozen country fried steaks Thursday because we didn't have a couple of the necessary ingredients for the soup). I thought it was really good. Also, the country fried steak was awesome - I'd been craving that on and off for a while, and I think I've satisfied the craving for now.
Last night I fixed the fried rice and egg rolls I'd fixed a couple of weeks ago, and tonight, I fixed Chicken Cacciatore. I don't have a link to the recipe, but here it is to the best of my recollection (well, it's how I fixed it not exactly like the recipe is listed but I didn't have bay leaves):
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 Tbsp diced garlic
oregano
basil
Italian seasoning
Place the chicken in the crock pot, and place the onions and peppers over the top. Mix the other ingredients together in a separate bowl, then pour over the stuff in the crockpot. Turn the crockpot on - low for 8 hours, or high for 6 hours.
Cook pasta separately, and serve chicken and sauce over the pasta. I used rotini noodles. Clydie and Steven liked it! (and so did I!). (Brian is out and missed dinner, but I fixed him a plate for when he gets home)
This is what I'm cooking tomorrow for dinner Crock Pot Easy Swiss Steak, along with some rice and another veggie (to be determined later).
But enough about food - I've got puppy antics for ya! I posted on Facebook earlier about terrorizing Gabriel with the compressed air can (he was scared by that over a year ago, and now the mere sight of the can will scare him) - he was in the bathroom and heard me using it in the bedroom and ran out, trembling like crazy. After he settles down, he decides to wedge himself in between the loveseat and the piano. He's resting comfortably, when all of a sudden a small plane flies low over the house, making this really loud buzzing sound. Gabriel shot out of his hiding spot like a bullet, causing Dominion to jump up and look around like "what the hell?". Gabriel was pitiful, looking around, obviously traumatized yet again by another sound. Yet this is the dog that will try to duel with the weed eater on the regular. Oddball!
I'm cleaning out my closet, as far as stuff that was floating around in the bottom, and not in a box. I also packed away some of my clothing, and even pulled a few pieces to get rid of. Boy is our bedroom a holy mess right now! There is so much stuff on the bed that there's not even room to sit on it anywhere. I've also gone through some boxes of papers that were in there, getting rid of some outdated paperwork, and separating things for further review or filing. So exciting, I know. And, I'm doing laundry all day!
So folks, I hope you all managed to have more fun and excitement than I've had all weekend!
Last night I fixed the fried rice and egg rolls I'd fixed a couple of weeks ago, and tonight, I fixed Chicken Cacciatore. I don't have a link to the recipe, but here it is to the best of my recollection (well, it's how I fixed it not exactly like the recipe is listed but I didn't have bay leaves):
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 Tbsp diced garlic
oregano
basil
Italian seasoning
Place the chicken in the crock pot, and place the onions and peppers over the top. Mix the other ingredients together in a separate bowl, then pour over the stuff in the crockpot. Turn the crockpot on - low for 8 hours, or high for 6 hours.
Cook pasta separately, and serve chicken and sauce over the pasta. I used rotini noodles. Clydie and Steven liked it! (and so did I!). (Brian is out and missed dinner, but I fixed him a plate for when he gets home)
This is what I'm cooking tomorrow for dinner Crock Pot Easy Swiss Steak, along with some rice and another veggie (to be determined later).
But enough about food - I've got puppy antics for ya! I posted on Facebook earlier about terrorizing Gabriel with the compressed air can (he was scared by that over a year ago, and now the mere sight of the can will scare him) - he was in the bathroom and heard me using it in the bedroom and ran out, trembling like crazy. After he settles down, he decides to wedge himself in between the loveseat and the piano. He's resting comfortably, when all of a sudden a small plane flies low over the house, making this really loud buzzing sound. Gabriel shot out of his hiding spot like a bullet, causing Dominion to jump up and look around like "what the hell?". Gabriel was pitiful, looking around, obviously traumatized yet again by another sound. Yet this is the dog that will try to duel with the weed eater on the regular. Oddball!
I'm cleaning out my closet, as far as stuff that was floating around in the bottom, and not in a box. I also packed away some of my clothing, and even pulled a few pieces to get rid of. Boy is our bedroom a holy mess right now! There is so much stuff on the bed that there's not even room to sit on it anywhere. I've also gone through some boxes of papers that were in there, getting rid of some outdated paperwork, and separating things for further review or filing. So exciting, I know. And, I'm doing laundry all day!
So folks, I hope you all managed to have more fun and excitement than I've had all weekend!
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Cooking Again!
Yes, I've been cooking again. Clydie had her surgery Monday, and I've taken over the cooking while she recuperates and heals. More on the cooking in a minute, here's the info about Clydie:
Three years ago, Clydie had an AAA repair (abdominal aorta aneurysm). The surgeon inserted a stint into the artery, and we thought she was all better and had been released by the surgeon after the required number of follow ups. Purely by accident, her oncologist found a leak around the stent (she'd had her 4 year scan and normally the scan doesn't go low enough to see the aneurysm and for some reason this year, it did - blessings!), and immediately referred her to a vascular surgeon and scheduled a follow-up scan with contrast. Sure enough, the aneurysm had grown, and she had to have surgery to fix the leak.
She has done amazingly well, and in the words of the new surgeon her outcome was "best case scenario" and she wished that all her patients had such great outcomes. Clydie spent the night in the hospital, and was discharged yesterday. I told her this past weekend that I wanted her to take a break from cooking, that either Brian or I would handle the cooking for at least a couple of weeks until she felt up to getting back in the kitchen. And boy, does she HATE not being able to get in the kitchen and cook, or at least assist in cooking.
Last night, we had Italian Chicken with Tomatoes. I've fixed this before and it's been pretty well liked for the most part. Steven didn't particularly enjoy it for some reason, but ate it anyway. I didn't brown the chicken before putting it in the crockpot, and fixed it slightly different than the recipe calls for - chicken in the bottom, poured some olive oil over the chicken, mixed the vinegar and random herbs and garlic together, and spooned this mixture over each chicken breast. Then I poured the tomatoes over the chicken, and on the cooker went on low for 10 hours. I fixed angel hair pasta and warmed some seasons French bread, and we had salad, as well. Yummy!
Tonight, I tried something different - Grilled Beef Chimichangas. But I didn't cook them on the grill - I used my electric skillet. I browned the beef in it, added the peppers, garlic and onions (no hot peppers, as Clydie can't tolerate the stuff too hot) to the beef, then poured it out in the strainer, rinsing the fat off. Mixed in the taco seasoning, added some extra cumin and some cayenne pepper powder, and homemade salsa. We didn't have any cilantro, so it was just sour cream mixed with the garlic that was smeared over each tortilla. I made homemade Spanish rice - cooked the rice in my rice cooker and added a can of Ro-tel tomatoes to it. When I built the chimichangas, I used the sour cream/garlic mix, shredded cheese, rice, black beans, and meat. Folded those suckers up, toothpicked them together, and grilled them in my freshly cleaned out electric skillet. Man were these things good! I fixed an extra one for my lunch tomorrow, and Brian ate it, so I hate to make and cook another one to pack for lunch.
I think I'm making Crock Pot Fagioli Soup for dinner tomorrow night. The only thing I don't have for it is the celery, and I think it will be just fine without it. I'll have to do some prep work tonight and probably go ahead and sauté the veggies so I can just put it in the crock pot in the morning. Of course I'll have to cook it on low since it will simmer all day.
I'll keep sharing the new recipes we try and let you all know how they turn out - I know I've enjoyed the ones I've found so far, and am looking forward to making some of the others that I've stumbled across (chicken cacciatore anyone? that'll be what's for dinner on Friday night)
Three years ago, Clydie had an AAA repair (abdominal aorta aneurysm). The surgeon inserted a stint into the artery, and we thought she was all better and had been released by the surgeon after the required number of follow ups. Purely by accident, her oncologist found a leak around the stent (she'd had her 4 year scan and normally the scan doesn't go low enough to see the aneurysm and for some reason this year, it did - blessings!), and immediately referred her to a vascular surgeon and scheduled a follow-up scan with contrast. Sure enough, the aneurysm had grown, and she had to have surgery to fix the leak.
She has done amazingly well, and in the words of the new surgeon her outcome was "best case scenario" and she wished that all her patients had such great outcomes. Clydie spent the night in the hospital, and was discharged yesterday. I told her this past weekend that I wanted her to take a break from cooking, that either Brian or I would handle the cooking for at least a couple of weeks until she felt up to getting back in the kitchen. And boy, does she HATE not being able to get in the kitchen and cook, or at least assist in cooking.
Last night, we had Italian Chicken with Tomatoes. I've fixed this before and it's been pretty well liked for the most part. Steven didn't particularly enjoy it for some reason, but ate it anyway. I didn't brown the chicken before putting it in the crockpot, and fixed it slightly different than the recipe calls for - chicken in the bottom, poured some olive oil over the chicken, mixed the vinegar and random herbs and garlic together, and spooned this mixture over each chicken breast. Then I poured the tomatoes over the chicken, and on the cooker went on low for 10 hours. I fixed angel hair pasta and warmed some seasons French bread, and we had salad, as well. Yummy!
Tonight, I tried something different - Grilled Beef Chimichangas. But I didn't cook them on the grill - I used my electric skillet. I browned the beef in it, added the peppers, garlic and onions (no hot peppers, as Clydie can't tolerate the stuff too hot) to the beef, then poured it out in the strainer, rinsing the fat off. Mixed in the taco seasoning, added some extra cumin and some cayenne pepper powder, and homemade salsa. We didn't have any cilantro, so it was just sour cream mixed with the garlic that was smeared over each tortilla. I made homemade Spanish rice - cooked the rice in my rice cooker and added a can of Ro-tel tomatoes to it. When I built the chimichangas, I used the sour cream/garlic mix, shredded cheese, rice, black beans, and meat. Folded those suckers up, toothpicked them together, and grilled them in my freshly cleaned out electric skillet. Man were these things good! I fixed an extra one for my lunch tomorrow, and Brian ate it, so I hate to make and cook another one to pack for lunch.
I think I'm making Crock Pot Fagioli Soup for dinner tomorrow night. The only thing I don't have for it is the celery, and I think it will be just fine without it. I'll have to do some prep work tonight and probably go ahead and sauté the veggies so I can just put it in the crock pot in the morning. Of course I'll have to cook it on low since it will simmer all day.
I'll keep sharing the new recipes we try and let you all know how they turn out - I know I've enjoyed the ones I've found so far, and am looking forward to making some of the others that I've stumbled across (chicken cacciatore anyone? that'll be what's for dinner on Friday night)
Saturday, August 1, 2015
It's my birthday!
Party Time!
Not really - I don't party much any more, I'm getting too old for that shit! LOL The last time I partied hard on my birthday was 5 years ago and I paid quite dearly for it. For 3 (yes THREE) days! I won't be doing that again. Maybe a drink tonight after dinner, maybe not, just depends on how I feel.
I've had a busy day today so far - Clydie and I went out and picked the pink eye peas and a few more cucumbers, shelled the peas and put them in the freezer (3 bags), canned some pickles with the multitude of cucumbers that we have, and now she's canning some tabasco & cayenne peppers for pepper sauce.
While we were picking the peas, I noticed Dominion was pulling at something on the fence - he was pulling himself a 2-3" cucumber off the vine! He got it, ran up to the patio and ate it! Then he came and got a second one! Looks like next year we will have the plant the cucumbers where he can't get to them, otherwise he may eat them all. And his love of cucumbers is probably all my fault. When I had the first cucumber of the summer, I had sliced them and put them in vinegar with a touch of salt. He was begging at the table, so to be funny I handed him one. He promptly spit it out, but a moment later he picked it up off the floor and ate it. He also had a bite of dill pickle yesterday as well. Oh and he apparently now likes salt & vinegar chips, too. Weird ass dog.
Poor little Gabriel was totally humiliated yesterday - seems one of his butt glands abscessed so it was off to the vet we went. They shaved his behind and he just looked so embarrassed! He was so glad when they were finished working on him - he very quickly turned around and sat down so they couldn't mess with his butt anymore.
Oh and I almost forgot - Steven got his actual drivers license yesterday! I am so happy for him. And now I have a chauffer. LOL
Not really - I don't party much any more, I'm getting too old for that shit! LOL The last time I partied hard on my birthday was 5 years ago and I paid quite dearly for it. For 3 (yes THREE) days! I won't be doing that again. Maybe a drink tonight after dinner, maybe not, just depends on how I feel.
I've had a busy day today so far - Clydie and I went out and picked the pink eye peas and a few more cucumbers, shelled the peas and put them in the freezer (3 bags), canned some pickles with the multitude of cucumbers that we have, and now she's canning some tabasco & cayenne peppers for pepper sauce.
While we were picking the peas, I noticed Dominion was pulling at something on the fence - he was pulling himself a 2-3" cucumber off the vine! He got it, ran up to the patio and ate it! Then he came and got a second one! Looks like next year we will have the plant the cucumbers where he can't get to them, otherwise he may eat them all. And his love of cucumbers is probably all my fault. When I had the first cucumber of the summer, I had sliced them and put them in vinegar with a touch of salt. He was begging at the table, so to be funny I handed him one. He promptly spit it out, but a moment later he picked it up off the floor and ate it. He also had a bite of dill pickle yesterday as well. Oh and he apparently now likes salt & vinegar chips, too. Weird ass dog.
Poor little Gabriel was totally humiliated yesterday - seems one of his butt glands abscessed so it was off to the vet we went. They shaved his behind and he just looked so embarrassed! He was so glad when they were finished working on him - he very quickly turned around and sat down so they couldn't mess with his butt anymore.
Oh and I almost forgot - Steven got his actual drivers license yesterday! I am so happy for him. And now I have a chauffer. LOL
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