Friday, February 26, 2010
Chickens!
I ordered our first batch of little chicks today. Golden Comets. Cant wait to see their little fuzzy butts.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Potato Leek Soup Recipe
1 stick butter or margerine
1 lg onion, chopped
1 pkg. leeks, chopped (white part only)
4 sticks celery, chopped
2 tsp. fresh or dried parsley
8 potatoes, chopped into cubes
3 cups water or broth
1 quart milk, heated
salt and pepper to taste
1 green onion, chopped
Cheddar cheese, grated (optional)
Melt butter in dutch oven or large saucepan. Add onion, leeks, celery and parsley; cook til onions are transparent. Add potatoes and water and cook until potatoes are done, about 15 minutes. Mash potatoes with potato masher and add milk, seasonings and thinly cut green onion top. Check for seasoning and add more salt if desired. If too thick, add more milk. Garnish with Cheddar cheese, if desired.
I got this recipe out of Locust Grove Baptist Church Our Daily Bread Heritage Recipe Collection. They are still selling this cookbook at Two Friends Gift Shop and Ole Hickory BBQ in New Market, AL for $20.
I usually just make 1/2 a recipe. It makes enough for hubby and I to have leftovers the next day. I made the following changes to the recipe, I use whole milk, butter and dont use the cheese or green onion. I also start using the potato masher before the potatoes are actually completely done cooking as there is not a lot of water in the pot. I did measure the potatoes I used for half a recipe and it was approximately 3 cups of potatoes. I usually buy the leeks ahead of time and chop them up with an onion and freeze them in a bag. Then all I have to do is just chop the celery and potatoes. Remember the finer the chopped veggies the less cooking time! You also want to stir this as it will burn and there is nothing like brown potato soup yuk!
Let me know if you like this recipe!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
1 lg onion, chopped
1 pkg. leeks, chopped (white part only)
4 sticks celery, chopped
2 tsp. fresh or dried parsley
8 potatoes, chopped into cubes
3 cups water or broth
1 quart milk, heated
salt and pepper to taste
1 green onion, chopped
Cheddar cheese, grated (optional)
Melt butter in dutch oven or large saucepan. Add onion, leeks, celery and parsley; cook til onions are transparent. Add potatoes and water and cook until potatoes are done, about 15 minutes. Mash potatoes with potato masher and add milk, seasonings and thinly cut green onion top. Check for seasoning and add more salt if desired. If too thick, add more milk. Garnish with Cheddar cheese, if desired.
I got this recipe out of Locust Grove Baptist Church Our Daily Bread Heritage Recipe Collection. They are still selling this cookbook at Two Friends Gift Shop and Ole Hickory BBQ in New Market, AL for $20.
I usually just make 1/2 a recipe. It makes enough for hubby and I to have leftovers the next day. I made the following changes to the recipe, I use whole milk, butter and dont use the cheese or green onion. I also start using the potato masher before the potatoes are actually completely done cooking as there is not a lot of water in the pot. I did measure the potatoes I used for half a recipe and it was approximately 3 cups of potatoes. I usually buy the leeks ahead of time and chop them up with an onion and freeze them in a bag. Then all I have to do is just chop the celery and potatoes. Remember the finer the chopped veggies the less cooking time! You also want to stir this as it will burn and there is nothing like brown potato soup yuk!
Let me know if you like this recipe!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
My cat is driving me crazy...
She keeps on looking up at me and crying and then she'll jump up on my lap to get petted and then a few moments later will get down again. Then she starts the process all over again...grrrr. I cant type with a cat on my lap although I am trying to show her the love really. I think she might have spring fever. I told her to join the club. Didnt faze her any.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Chicken and biscuits the easy way
I made us some chicken and biscuits the other night and thought I would share my recipe for them. I used part of a rotisserie chicken, just took the meat off and put it aside. Then I heated up some mixed frozen veggies in the microwave (following the directions on the package) I used Green Giant steamed veggies, combined them with the chicken meat and added some chopped up red peppers and onions in a baking dish. I then made up two batches of dried mushroom soup that I get from Watkins, cooked that for a while until it started getting thick and poured it over the veggie/chicken bits. Then I put some frozen biscuits on top and popped it in the oven 350 degrees for 55 minutes.
It really tasted good. You can always substitute any cream soup for the Watkins soup. I just dont seem to tolerate MSG and most of the canned soup is loaded with it. I havent had a problem with the dried soup.
This was a very easy casserole to do. Give it a try and let me know how you liked it.
I'll be making chicken soup with the carcass this weekend as I froze it. Dont you love the convenience of rotisserie chickens?
I'll be posting a recipe for leek potato soup next so stay tuned!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
It really tasted good. You can always substitute any cream soup for the Watkins soup. I just dont seem to tolerate MSG and most of the canned soup is loaded with it. I havent had a problem with the dried soup.
This was a very easy casserole to do. Give it a try and let me know how you liked it.
I'll be making chicken soup with the carcass this weekend as I froze it. Dont you love the convenience of rotisserie chickens?
I'll be posting a recipe for leek potato soup next so stay tuned!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Alabama and snow
Something's just not right...woke up to snow on the ground this morning and we might get some this evening too. Although it has melted by now. Going out this evening with Hubby for supper. We are going to the Indian restaurant, I cant wait!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Not much new happening here
Different day same stuff. I did order a new dresser for myself from West Elm. It is out of their closet collection. Why are dressers so expensive? I bought two three drawer units and then attached them together. Hubby and I now have matching dressers cause I bought him one last year and really liked it. It of course was a kit and I really like to put things like that together. I didnt have any trouble putting either of them together and hubby helped with his and helped me lift the one unit on top of the other for mine. They were made in Denmark and very heavy duty and well made. If you havent checked out their website, please do so. They have sales and sometimes free shipping. I signed up for their emails and got free shipping on the units. Next...we need that matching headboard. Already got the matching bed frame. I am repurposing my old dresser for storing linens and little kitchen appliances out in the dining room. Last night I moved the dining table around so I could put the dresser in the corner. I come from a long line of women who move their own furniture, paint walls, do plumbing, etc, etc, etc. Like Gramma would say, I's a little tussy!
Hubby is making his waffles as we speak. First two did all right but he just came in and told me that they really stick if they burn...burn?! I now have olive oil all over my stove along with burned waffle mix. Gotta love him though :)
Last week I made chicken noodle soup. We had gotten a chicken from the deli. We eat it while it's hot and then it gets stripped of all the meat which I put in the freezer for casseroles, etc. I used to throw out the carcasse but thought why not make chicken soup out of it. So I boiled the carcasse after removing the meat in some water with some cut up carrots, onion and celery. Boiled it for an hour or two and then removed some of the broth and froze that and then added more water and boiled it for another couple of hours. When I went to remove the carcasse it was just falling apart and all that yummy goodness was in the broth. You would be amazed at the meat that is still on the bones that you didnt get off the first time. I didnt have to add any meat to the soup and it was kind of like a free meal. I just added some parsley, salt and pepper and some noodles and we had it for supper. So I figure I got at least 3-4 meals out of that one deli chicken. Not bad not bad at all.
Yesterday I received my new office chair and put it together. Can you tell I love to put things together? I'm going to keep my old chair for my sewing chair. I made a hat for myself. Thought I would need one for the rest of this winter and next winter when we have our chickens. I also made myself a cowl which I wore last Saturday when I went with my friend Jennifer down to Cullman. She needed company while she delivered one of her puppies to her new family. They not only took the little female but took one of her brothers as well. We actually had 5 dogs in the car going down and three coming back. They are sooo cute when they are small.
Well will close for now. Hope everyone has a very Happy Valentine's Day. And if you have off on Monday, be safe. Remember to lift with your legs not your back ;)
Talk to ya later,
Denise
Hubby is making his waffles as we speak. First two did all right but he just came in and told me that they really stick if they burn...burn?! I now have olive oil all over my stove along with burned waffle mix. Gotta love him though :)
Last week I made chicken noodle soup. We had gotten a chicken from the deli. We eat it while it's hot and then it gets stripped of all the meat which I put in the freezer for casseroles, etc. I used to throw out the carcasse but thought why not make chicken soup out of it. So I boiled the carcasse after removing the meat in some water with some cut up carrots, onion and celery. Boiled it for an hour or two and then removed some of the broth and froze that and then added more water and boiled it for another couple of hours. When I went to remove the carcasse it was just falling apart and all that yummy goodness was in the broth. You would be amazed at the meat that is still on the bones that you didnt get off the first time. I didnt have to add any meat to the soup and it was kind of like a free meal. I just added some parsley, salt and pepper and some noodles and we had it for supper. So I figure I got at least 3-4 meals out of that one deli chicken. Not bad not bad at all.
Yesterday I received my new office chair and put it together. Can you tell I love to put things together? I'm going to keep my old chair for my sewing chair. I made a hat for myself. Thought I would need one for the rest of this winter and next winter when we have our chickens. I also made myself a cowl which I wore last Saturday when I went with my friend Jennifer down to Cullman. She needed company while she delivered one of her puppies to her new family. They not only took the little female but took one of her brothers as well. We actually had 5 dogs in the car going down and three coming back. They are sooo cute when they are small.
Well will close for now. Hope everyone has a very Happy Valentine's Day. And if you have off on Monday, be safe. Remember to lift with your legs not your back ;)
Talk to ya later,
Denise
Friday, February 5, 2010
DH got his waffle iron
The one I got him was made in China not USA and wasnt preseasoned. It was covered in a thin layer of paraffin wax. So....DH decided after reading the directions (which said that you could either scrub this layer off OR heat it up in the oven and melt it off) to melt it off...Our smoke detector is really loud, you know what I mean, and the stench of melting (actually cooking) paraffin and the smoke coming from our oven was not the best thing in the world to smell before going to bed. Who could sleep after all that excitment anyway? lol.
The next morning DH got up and decided to make waffles. Of course he waited until lunch time. It takes a while to think about these things you know. So he went out and I was working not paying much attention (kind of hard with earphones on) but it started getting smoky in the room where the computer is and then I heard him kind of well let's face it swearing up a blue streak. Seems the first waffle kind of stuck and he had to dig out the parts that didnt come out of the iron. I ignored his swearing and kept on typing cause that's just the kind of wife I am and someone has to pay for the batteries for the smoke detector...
I gave him a good amount of time to get finished I'd say about an hour and then decided to go out into the kitchen to see what kind of waffles he actually had made. He had cleaned up everything (his mom taught him well) and so I looked in the fridge and saw a small plate covered...hmmm. I went to ask him how it went and he said that the first one had stuck (I figured this one out ;) and the other two came out OK but it was going to take him a while to get used to it. TWO?!!? Yes that's right all that swearing and making the batter and he only made a total of two waffles (the first one was in pieces) Seems he didnt make enough batter...
Oh life just keep getting better doesnt it lol.
Talk to ya later!
The next morning DH got up and decided to make waffles. Of course he waited until lunch time. It takes a while to think about these things you know. So he went out and I was working not paying much attention (kind of hard with earphones on) but it started getting smoky in the room where the computer is and then I heard him kind of well let's face it swearing up a blue streak. Seems the first waffle kind of stuck and he had to dig out the parts that didnt come out of the iron. I ignored his swearing and kept on typing cause that's just the kind of wife I am and someone has to pay for the batteries for the smoke detector...
I gave him a good amount of time to get finished I'd say about an hour and then decided to go out into the kitchen to see what kind of waffles he actually had made. He had cleaned up everything (his mom taught him well) and so I looked in the fridge and saw a small plate covered...hmmm. I went to ask him how it went and he said that the first one had stuck (I figured this one out ;) and the other two came out OK but it was going to take him a while to get used to it. TWO?!!? Yes that's right all that swearing and making the batter and he only made a total of two waffles (the first one was in pieces) Seems he didnt make enough batter...
Oh life just keep getting better doesnt it lol.
Talk to ya later!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Mention of my blog!
I was mentioned on Darling Petunia's blog yesterday! Check it out! It kinda dates me dont it? :)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
I changed the picture at the top
Isnt that monarch beautiful? It reminds me of spring...cant wait til it gets here!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Same stuff different day
Well sorta. We got up early. DH had off and wanted Mickey D's. Yuck. I didnt eat any. I got donuts at Publix. Am I bad or what? Ohhhh they are sooooo goood. But DH got sick afterwards and said this was the absolutely last time he was going to Mickey D's to eat. We try not to eat a lot of bad stuff here at the house and his system is just not set up to take all that grease. I dont fry things too often. It makes such a mess in the kitchen. I have decided to give up all baked goods unless I make them here at the house...hope this works :) I got some groceries at Publix while I was there. He sat in the truck and ate his breakfast. He likes to watch the people and doesnt want to go into the store as he works in a grocery store.
We then went and got milk from our local milk woman. She would like that I said that I'm sure. She is getting a new cow to milk as she had one die over Christmas. Poor thing had a twisted gut. We got our milk and some honey. We've decided to give up processed sugar and try living with honey as our only sweetner.
Then we came home and he went on a bike ride and I sat down and started to type. I didnt work yesterday as we had bad storms come through and a tornado even touched down in Huntsville. I'm afraid I'll lose my computer if it gets zapped so usually dont work during bad storms. No sense in tempting fate.
We need to get a new toaster oven. The one we have now (Oster) is smoking when it gets up to a high temp and setting the fire alarm off. Scares the bejebers out of me and the cats when it goes off. It's worse than the weather radio honestly ;) I have cleaned it and it still smokes so I think it has had it. We still are using it for toast. It doesnt seem to smoke when you do toast. It's a good size cause we can do pizza and not heat up the big oven. Which isnt bad in the winter but in the summer it really sucks! And of course if one thing goes bad then something else goes as well. I think the rice cooker is going too. No shame in either of them cause we used the heck out of them. DH set the timer on the rice cooker and it went off about a couple of minutes later not the 45 minutes he had programmed. It did that to me before but I just thought I hadnt set it right.
I got DH an early birthday gift. He wanted a waffle maker. Not an ordinary one either. He wanted a cast iron one. I had to look around. I even looked on Ebay. I found a brand new one on Lehman's. They have a lot of old fashioned stuff on there. If you have a chance check them out. http://www.lehmans.com/ Hope the link works!
I ordered some things from Nancy Zieman's site too. They were running a special. If you bought something you got a surprise embroidery sewing thread collection. Wow. They are beautiful colors. Cant wait to try them on my new (old) embroidery machine I got off of Ebay. I bought a skirt kit. The cloth colors are lovely. Now to find the time to sew. I am getting near to finishing the two sweaters I have been working on. Then on to finishing a pair of socks I started for DH and then there are about a dozen other things I started and havent finished including sewing, counted cross stitch, knitting, crocheting and rug making. I really want to finish up some of my projects before I start anything new. It's my goal for this year.
Hope you have a goal that's reachable!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
We then went and got milk from our local milk woman. She would like that I said that I'm sure. She is getting a new cow to milk as she had one die over Christmas. Poor thing had a twisted gut. We got our milk and some honey. We've decided to give up processed sugar and try living with honey as our only sweetner.
Then we came home and he went on a bike ride and I sat down and started to type. I didnt work yesterday as we had bad storms come through and a tornado even touched down in Huntsville. I'm afraid I'll lose my computer if it gets zapped so usually dont work during bad storms. No sense in tempting fate.
We need to get a new toaster oven. The one we have now (Oster) is smoking when it gets up to a high temp and setting the fire alarm off. Scares the bejebers out of me and the cats when it goes off. It's worse than the weather radio honestly ;) I have cleaned it and it still smokes so I think it has had it. We still are using it for toast. It doesnt seem to smoke when you do toast. It's a good size cause we can do pizza and not heat up the big oven. Which isnt bad in the winter but in the summer it really sucks! And of course if one thing goes bad then something else goes as well. I think the rice cooker is going too. No shame in either of them cause we used the heck out of them. DH set the timer on the rice cooker and it went off about a couple of minutes later not the 45 minutes he had programmed. It did that to me before but I just thought I hadnt set it right.
I got DH an early birthday gift. He wanted a waffle maker. Not an ordinary one either. He wanted a cast iron one. I had to look around. I even looked on Ebay. I found a brand new one on Lehman's. They have a lot of old fashioned stuff on there. If you have a chance check them out. http://www.lehmans.com/ Hope the link works!
I ordered some things from Nancy Zieman's site too. They were running a special. If you bought something you got a surprise embroidery sewing thread collection. Wow. They are beautiful colors. Cant wait to try them on my new (old) embroidery machine I got off of Ebay. I bought a skirt kit. The cloth colors are lovely. Now to find the time to sew. I am getting near to finishing the two sweaters I have been working on. Then on to finishing a pair of socks I started for DH and then there are about a dozen other things I started and havent finished including sewing, counted cross stitch, knitting, crocheting and rug making. I really want to finish up some of my projects before I start anything new. It's my goal for this year.
Hope you have a goal that's reachable!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Soup that has MSG
Cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken, clam chowder, etc, etc. All the canned soup in my pantry had MSG in it. At this rate I will need to go to the grocery store for something to eat! But seriously, I make most of my soup but darn it what will I make casseroles with?
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Updating my food intake
I have been reading a book that I would like to recommend to EVERYONE to read. It is so interesting and scared the crap out of me. The name of the book is Sweet Deception by Dr. Joseph Mercola and Dr. Kendra Degen Pearsall. It's all about the artificial sweeteners and FDA. You must read this book. I havent even gotten through the whole thing and it scared me so much I pulled out all of my stuff in my pantry and started checking labels. I had been cutting out high frutose corn syrup but most of what I pulled from my pantry was stuff with MSG in it. I had just been eating some chips and cheese and when I checked the label of the cheese yep it had MSG in it. I just ate the cheese for two days and my ankles were swelling up. This has happened before but I just blamed it on the fact that I'm so fat. In the trash it went and I have sworn off my Tostito cheese.
I also dont eat anything with Splenda. If you read the book, you will see why.
If you are interested in finding out more about MSG, please check out the website truth about MSG. It has so much info on there.
It amazes me that the population believes everything that these companies say when they are just trying to MAKE MONEY and dont really care about you or your family. It's all about the bottom line, folks.
My hubby and I are going to start using less and less processed foods and more and more of our own veggies and homemade things.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
I also dont eat anything with Splenda. If you read the book, you will see why.
If you are interested in finding out more about MSG, please check out the website truth about MSG. It has so much info on there.
It amazes me that the population believes everything that these companies say when they are just trying to MAKE MONEY and dont really care about you or your family. It's all about the bottom line, folks.
My hubby and I are going to start using less and less processed foods and more and more of our own veggies and homemade things.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Rainy Sunday
Kind of blah out. I didnt sleep very much last night so took a nap and feel better now. I am trying to get rid of most of the cookbooks I have by going through them and writing down the recipes I like on index cards cause I really have too many books. Did I mention that I took over 10 bags of books to the library over the summer. 10 bags. Really. And not the small plastic bags either. They were the fabric reusable grocery bags from Kroger and Publix and they were stuffed to the top. I also went through my Christmas decorations and got rid of half of that stuff too. Now to go through my craft items and see what to keep and what to give away. After we lost everything in a flood, I kind of went wacky buying stuff and now just have too much stuff!
Anyway today I am typing or at least trying to get some of the dictation done. I really just want to curl up with my knitting and a hot cup of tea but the cats need food...and so do we too lol.
On the knitting front, I have just the fronts to finish on my kimono cardigan, it's going slow because I dont think I will have enough yarn to finish it. Keep your fingers crossed that I do cause I really like the yarn. And I am on the back of the little lace vest (that might become a sweater if it doesnt watch out cause you know sleeves just attach themselves to anything and everything ;)
That's it for today.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Anyway today I am typing or at least trying to get some of the dictation done. I really just want to curl up with my knitting and a hot cup of tea but the cats need food...and so do we too lol.
On the knitting front, I have just the fronts to finish on my kimono cardigan, it's going slow because I dont think I will have enough yarn to finish it. Keep your fingers crossed that I do cause I really like the yarn. And I am on the back of the little lace vest (that might become a sweater if it doesnt watch out cause you know sleeves just attach themselves to anything and everything ;)
That's it for today.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Thursday, January 14, 2010
You need to check this blog out!
If you have never read sheepish annie's blog you are in for a treat! It is great. She is so funny. The most recent post talked about having babies, menopause and knitting.
Her blog is http://www.sheepishannie.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Her blog is http://www.sheepishannie.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Monday, January 11, 2010
More Ava Marie Grotto pics
This is a cavern that is all manmade.
This is Callie. She was our tour guide...lol.
Jesus' tomb
This is to honor the lives lost in the world wars, korean war, vietnam, etc.There are crosses for each man that lost their lives.
Chipmunk crossing!
Thus ends your tour of the Ava Maria Grotto. There were a lot more buildings that I didnt take pics of. If you get down this way go see this amazing place!
Canning
Yep I'm canning sauerkraut again. This time with caraway seeds in it. It turned out pretty good.
Am posting pics.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Am posting pics.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Friday, January 8, 2010
Work was closed today
because of icy conditions and the severe wind chill didnt help either. Probably I wont make my line count but oh well. We got a total of about an inch on the ground. DH did make it home yesterday but it did take him a while. Since the cats needed food and DH was off today, we went to the grocery store which was open and then went to pick up milk but she was not open so no milk. Will have to call her tomorrow and see if she actually got milk to sell. Since the roads were so bad on Thursday I figured that she might not have made it to the farm where her cows were to milk them. We so hope that she does not go out of business. Dont think we can drink store bought. It was 11 degrees when I got up this morning and actually got up to a high of 19 woo hoo! This is the first time that they actually closed down work. They dont close down unless the arsenal is closed and the arsenal actually closed down. So we just kind of loafed around today and DH goes to work tomorrow. I have a few patient's dictations to do but not many so decided to take the day off and do them tomorrow when he is not here. Nice to spend some uninterupted time together. Will download those snow pics I took later, now off to get supper!
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Thursday, January 7, 2010
snowing
It is snowing right now and actually we are getting accumulation. DH went to work. I'm working here at home. Life is good.
Results from a recent Blogthings inkblot test I took this morning:
You are Energetic and Bright
You view people with optimism. You have many meaningful relationships in your life.
You had more conflict with your father than your mother. Your relationship with him was difficult and possibly unhealthy.
You deal with stress in a fairly normal way. Stress presents a struggle for you, but you're usually able to neutralize your emotions.
You are a natural multitasker. You enjoy being busy, even if the amount of things you need to do is overwhelming.
Good to know huh? I will be taking some pics of the snow today and working. Maybe I will actually get some sewing or knitting done too.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Results from a recent Blogthings inkblot test I took this morning:
You are Energetic and Bright
You view people with optimism. You have many meaningful relationships in your life.
You had more conflict with your father than your mother. Your relationship with him was difficult and possibly unhealthy.
You deal with stress in a fairly normal way. Stress presents a struggle for you, but you're usually able to neutralize your emotions.
You are a natural multitasker. You enjoy being busy, even if the amount of things you need to do is overwhelming.
Good to know huh? I will be taking some pics of the snow today and working. Maybe I will actually get some sewing or knitting done too.
Talk to ya later!
Denise
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Waiting for the snow here!
Some more pics: These are of the Ava Maria Grotto in Cullman, Al. A monk did all of these buildings by hand. They are made out of found materials. Most of them are of buildings in other countries. This monk used pictures and information in books to recreate them.
The above is the Temple of the Fairies. Very cool.
I have more and will post later.
Talk to ya later,
Denise
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