Author: QuiltLady

CANDIED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

CANDIED BUTTERNUT SQUASH
2 medium acorn squash
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened

  • Cut squash lengthwise into quarters.
  • Remove and discard seeds.
  • Cut each quarter into 1/2 inch slices
  • Arrange squash on shallow baking pan lined with foil.
  • Cover pan with foil and bake 35-40 minutes until tender.
  • Combine brown sugar and butter.
  • Spread over squash pieces.
  • Return pan to oven and bake another 15-20 minutes, basting occasionally.

PORK GREEN CHILI ala CROCK POT

PORK GREEN CHILI ala CROCK POT
1 tablespoon avocado oil
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
2 pound pork loin, cut into large chunks
3-4 LARGE garlic cloves, minced
1 large yellow onion, diced
8 ounces taco sauce
8 ounce chopped green chilies
1 can ROTEL original fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles
2 teaspoons cumin
1 bunch green onions, chopped or sliced thin (reserve some for garnish)
1 can Bush’s black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can S&W Cattle beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup FRESH chopped Cilantro + a few sprigs for garnish
sour cream, for garnish
shredded cheese, for garnish
GRANDMA Ware’s skillet corn bread

  • Heat oil in skillet.
  • Generously season pork roast with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Add pork pieces to skillet and sear on all sides.
  • Transfer pork pieces to slow cooker.
  • Add onions to skillet and saute’ until softened.
  • Add garlic, green chiles, taco sauce, cumin, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, ROTEL tomatoes and most of the green onions to the skillet, blending well and cooking until fragrant. Add to slow cooker and stir well with pork pieces.
  • Cook on HIGH 90 minutes.
  • Lower to LOW and cook 6 hours more until pork is tender.
  • Add beans and cook another 30 minutes.
    Serve with a dollop of sour cream, fresh chopped cilantro, chopped green onions and shredded cheese PLUS your favorite corn bread!

PARMESAN POTATO BAKE

PARMESAN POTATO BAKE
6 LARGE red potatoes
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoons FINELY minced Italian parsley
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoons avocado oil
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

  • Preheat oven to 450°.
  • Slice potatoes with a mandolin on a medium thin blade.
  • Toss potatoes with melted butter, grated Parmesan, parsley and FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper until well coated.
  • In a 10 inch cast iron skillet heat avocado oil and make sure the entire skillet is coated with the oil.
  • Layer potatoes and shredded Parmesan cheese 3 times.
  • Transfer pan to oven for 30 minutes.
  • Turn off oven and cover with foil, leaving pan in oven for another 30 minutes.
  • When ready to serve, invert onto serving plate and cut into wedges.

CARAMELIZED CABBAGE

CARAMELIZED CABBAGE
1 small head green cabbage
1/4 cup butter
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
8 ounces plain Greek yogurt
4 + 1 tablespoons Italian tomato paste
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Whisk together the yogurt, 4 tablespoons tomato paste, red pepper flakes and garlic. Set aside.
  • Cut cabbage in half through the core. Cut each half into 4 quarters.
  • Melt butter in cast iron pan.
  • Place cabbage quarters in hot butter and season with FRESH ground salt and pepper.
  • Sear well on each cut side.
  • Whisk together 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and 1/2 cup water.
  • Add tomato water mixture to pan.
  • Place pan in oven and bake 30 minutes.
  • Remove pan and spread a layer of tomato mixture over cabbage pieces.
  • Return pan to oven for 10-15 minutes more until cabbage is tender.

NaBloPoMo Prompt CATCH UP for days 1-4

I got a bit of a late start so am jumping in here doing 4 days at once.  These prompts are from PINARTWORK.  I have several things that I will be posting over the next several days so will probably do the prompts several days at a time.

Day 1: If I didn’t feel shame or fear, what would I do now?

This is a difficult prompt for me. I tend to be a sensitive and empathetic type with a conscientious so can’t even imagine any scenario where shame and fear didn’t exist so cannot even fathom an answer to this question.

Day 2: If this was my last day, would I be satisfied with my life?

I would be satisfied that I’ve always tried my best, but as I think most would agree at my age there are always still many things I’d like to accomplish in this life.  Having dreams and goals is what keeps me moving forward.

Day 3: How would I like people to remember me when I am no longer here?

I would LOVE to know that I was remembered for being someone who inspired others to do there best and be better people than they were before they met me. My niece Amber sends me the sweetest messages, usually when I need to hear them the most, that remind me that I was there for her when she needed it.  My connection with her is beyond special and VERY precious to me.

Day 4: What if everything is as it should be? How would that make me feel?

At any given moment I choose to believe that everything happens for a reason AND is as it should be.  These thoughts of course assume that I’ve made the right decisions on any given day and listened to my instincts.

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

From this Side of the Pond

  • How do you define peace?

I define peace by the absence of conflict, drama and or too much to do 😀

  • November 3rd is Election Day in the US of A, but did you know it’s also National Sandwich Day? Let’s vote, shall we? egg salad or tuna salad? chicken salad or grilled chicken on a bun? peanut butter and jelly or a bagel with cream cheese? turkey and swiss or ham and cheddar? grilled cheese or pimento cheese? roast beef-corned beef-or make mine veggie?

This is a wide open category that depends on the day, where I’m eating and my mood as well as appetite level. From those choices though I pick tuna salad, grilled chicken on a bun, PB&J, grilled cheese and veggie 😀

  • When did you last say (or feel) ‘no rest for the weary’?

4 years ago while working on the rehab of my grandparent’s place, the House From Hell.  The same place that created a HUGE rift with my uncle after he swindled us out of about 75,000 dollars, my health, 3 years of our time and quite a bit of faith in family.

  • This time last year, where were you?

Same day, same time, Same bat channel!

  • SHARE YOUR FAVORITE SONG, VERSE OR QUOTE FEATURING THE WORD PEACE – This is not necessarily a favorite, but most recently heard.

P E A C E

(Taylor Swift from Hillsong Young and Free Folk Lore Album)
You will stay true
Even when the lies come
Your word remains truth
Even when my thoughts don’t line up
I will stand tall
On each promise You made
Let the rest fade away
There’s a peace far beyond all understanding
May it ever set my heart at ease
Dare anxiety come, I’ll remember that peace is a promise You keep
Peace is a promise You keep
You will stay true
Even in the chaos
Your word remains truth
Even when my mind wreaks havoc
I will be still
For I’ve known all along
My Jehovah Shalom
There’s a peace far beyond all understanding
May it ever set my heart at ease
What anxiety fails to remember is peace is a promise You keep
Peace is a promise You keep
You are peace to a restless soul
Peace when my thoughts wage war
Peace to the anxious heart
That’s who You are,…
I’ve found peace far beyond all understanding
Let it flow when my mind’s under siege
All anxiety bows in the presence of Jesus the Keeper of Peace
And peace is a promise He keeps

TUESDAY 4 ~ SCHOOL DAYS & PERSONALITY

 Welcome to Tuesday 4 which we keep up in memory of Toni Taddeo.

School days help to shape our future personality. 
  • Share a story of your school days that you think may have helped shape who you are today. ALL of grade school helped shape who I am today.  I had an incredible small class (I’m still friends with a few kids from then) setting with the same kids in my class for the first 6 years in a rural suburb at a time when teachers were truly respected and believed their success was based on their students abilities to succeed themselves.  Rules were followed, discipline was expected and rewards were abundant for success.
  • Did you have a favorite teacher and what made them special to you? I had several favorites!  Miss Suleski and Mrs. Ault were two of my favorites though.  I can still remember all their names, even the princpals. 😀
  • Did you enjoy the rituals of school… new clothing, pencils, notebooks, etc.? Absolutely!  Still today ALL office supplies call my name during back to school time.  And getting new shoes and clothes in the fall were a special memory.
  • Did you walk to school or ride the bus? Mainly walked, but there was no school yet in our neighborhood when I started school so we were bused to kindergarten and then in first grade our new grade school opened and we walked from then on.  Jr. High and High School were located a couple miles away and we walked mostly, but the bus was available and I used it during inclement weather time.

 

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 45 of 2020

GOOD MORNING I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL week and a good Halloween despite the surreal nature of it during a pandemic.  We toyed with the idea of going “dark”, but in the end treated Halloween with care, wearing masks to open the door and serving full size candy and cookies to the 17 trick or treaters we saw. One friend had the Halloween Bat hide special little candy bags in her house and the search was conducted in the dark using flashlights.  Another rented a bounce house for her kids and had candy hunt too. Our next BIG challenge as a society will be Thanksgiving.

Personally, I can’t wait for Tuesday to be over and pray we can return to some semblance of normal with a renewed faith in our fellow humans and a respect for each other that not everyone has had during this horrific campaign.  Here’s a couple funnies to help lighten the mood.

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE, WHAT I’M WEARING & HOW I’M FEELING THIS MORNING We have a few more “nice” afternoons on the horizon and then it appears FALL/WINTER will be setting in by the end of the week with wet, rainy and even icy weather will be setting in with 15-20 degree lower temperatures.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE Hot water and Peach, Pear and Apple baby food.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS
  • WORK ON THE HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS GIFTS
  • PAPERWORK & PHONE CALLS
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING
WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX – We began REPRISAL and are a few episodes in – quite different and a bit dark, but then I learned it was canceled after season 1 so will probably not continue.  We need a series that will be around for awhile.  I like to see the endings. 😀 Any suggestions? We also saw Adam Sandler’s Hubie Halloween for a comedy on Saturday night and then HOLIDATE.  I did begin Call the Midwife on my own as hubby has no interest in that one.
  • HULU – We began Treadstone and are a few episodes in – about CIA sleeper agents, but then I learned it too was canceled after season 1 so will probably not continue.  We need a series that will be around for awhile.  I like to see the endings. 😀 Any suggestions? We’re also re-watching REBA as a late night comedy.
  • PRIME – We’re waiting on season 4 for both The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and ABESENTIA
  • CABLE – A few of my regular shows (Amazing Race, Ameican NINJA Warriors, Dancing with the Stars, This is Us, FEAR the Walking Dead,  Baking competitions – Holiday wars, Holiday Baking Championship…) have started and several more (Chicago Fire, Med and Police, L&O SVU, Blue Bloods, Bull, NCIS…) n the next few weeks so there is that 😀 I’m not happy about DWTS firing Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews to be politically correct, but I do enjoy the dancing. And MORE importantly I’m taping ALL the new Hallmark and LifeTime Christmas movies 😀

I’M READING

  • I’m almost done with Marie Force’s Fatal Fraud and about to begin A Home for Unloved Orphans by Rachel Wesson, an author I’ve never read, but had glowing reviews of her books so I have high hopes in liking the book.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

INSPIRATIONAL

LIFE TIP – Seems like a good time to reiterate this!

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
UPDATED CHICKEN CONTINENTAL
C.O.R.N.  clean out refrigerator night
VINEGAR CHICKEN & SALAD
C.O.R.N.  clean out refrigerator night
TERIYAKI SALMON & SALAD
HAWAIIAN PORK RIBS & COLESLAW
C.O.R.N.  clean out refrigerator night
DESSERT
PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES or PUMPKIN DUMP CAKE

SUCCESSFUL RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

FEATURED PARTY LINKS FOR THIS WEEK

RECIPES TO LOOK FOR THIS NEXT WEEK OR SO

  • CARAMELIZED CABBAGE
  • GREEN CHILE PORK CHILI
  • PARMESAN POTATO BAKE

NaBloPoMo ~ National blog posting month

My friend Martha posted today over at Seaside Simplicity about NaBloPoMo (National blog posting month). I too had forgotten all about it, but used to participate regularly back in the good old days of blogging.

All you have to do is post every single day for the month of November. I’ll also give it a try – no promises with the way things have been going in life, but I’ll give it a shot. I hadn’t posted today, but this may be the kick in the butt I needed and wanted to spread the word too.

NaBloPoMo no longer exists in an official form and nobody is really “in charge”, but many times individual bloggers sometimes host their own mini-NaBloPoMos. You can find these bloggers doing a search online for NaBloPloMo and the current month and year if you need to find writing prompts or ideas. For me the idea is just post something, anything (recipe, meme…) at all EVERY day!

I did find this prompts that I’m going to try and follow (though some will be out of order and combined in order to catch up) over at PINARTWORK.  They fall into the Thanksgiving type questions of gratitude and WHY AM I Here type of a category.

Day 1: If I didn’t feel shame or fear, what would I do now?
Day 2: If this was my last day, would I be satisfied with my life?
Day 3: How would I like people to remember me when I am no longer here?
Day 4: What if everything is as it should be? How would that make me feel?
Day 5: What kinds of situations do I avoid?
Day 6: What is my worst fear?
Day 7: How would I want to be encouraged right now?
Day 8: Why am I doing the things I am doing right now?
Day 9: What gives me great joy?
Day 10: What are my most important values?
Day 11: What is my biggest dream?
Day 12: What am I thankful for today?
Day 13: What or who am I beneath all my roles?
Day 14: What kinds of feelings am I feeling right now?
Day 15: What is the worst that could happen if I let go of things that no longer serve me?
Day 16: What have been the most defining moments that have helped shape my life?
Day 17: What does ‘being’ mean to me?
Day 18: What fascinates me so much that the thought of it won’t leave me alone?
Day 19: What are my best qualities?
Day 20: Where am I going and why?
Day 21: What does happiness mean to me?
Day 22: What is my life like when it is in balance?
Day 23: How or in what way do I experience myself when I’m alone?
Day 24: What kind of advice on life would I give my younger self?
Day 25: What kinds of routines/habits limit my experience of everyday life?
Day 26: What is my instinct telling me to do?
Day 27: What is my gift to the world?
Day 28: Am I focusing more on what my life looks like than on what it feels like?
Day 29: What kinds of recurring situations or people do I attract?
Day 30: Is there something in my life that makes me forget time while I’m doing it?

Anyone else want to join in the fun?  If you want to join in, but missed posting today just jump in tomorrow and do an extra post somewhere along the way. This is always a fun challenge. I hope you do it with us!  🙂

TACO BOWLS

I LOVE this recipe because there is an actual saladness to it and no tortillas are needed. It is as refreshing as it is filling and hearty.

TACO BOWLS serves 4
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons avocado oil
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounce can diced green chiles, drained but reserved
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup mini pepper rings
4 LARGE radishes, sliced thin
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
6 cups shredded cabbages and carrots
1-2 LARGE avocados, sliced
1 LARGE lemon, juiced
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
FRESH chopped cilantro, to taste
1 cup sour cream
1-1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
salsa (optional)

  • Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat.
  • Add garlic and pepper rings, cooking and stirring 5-7 minutes until it begins to brown.
  • Add beef, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, green chiles and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until beef is cooked through.
  • Whisk together the lemon juice and reserved green chile liquid.
  • Arrange FRESH ingredients in bowls.
  • Drizzle with lemon juice mixture.
  • Sprinkle generously with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Divide the shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream to each bowl.
  • Add a large scoop of the meat to each bowl, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.

IT’S SCAVENGER HUNT TIME

I haven’t played in many years and am running a bit late this month, but always enjoyed it so am playing along again. You too can join in over at Hootin Annie’s:

1 – A sign [sign of anything, any material] This is one of my all time favorite parks AND favorite signs.  There is nothing between you and nature except your wits and your common sense.

2 – Think “Outside the Box” on this…something seasonal. It’s not pie 😀


3 – A yellow leaf

4 – Anything of miniature [trinket, jewelry, knick-knack…anything]

5 – Pumpkin or gourd – my version 😀 since I don’t have any live ones this year and will not be anywhere that I can see any live ones before this hunt is over.

6 – Something that is dated* [document, newspaper, screenshot, etc. *show date!]

7 – Anything that is lighted [bulb, headlight, lantern, etc.]

8 – Decorated door [entryway…doesn’t have to be of the season]

9 – A printed author’s name [book cover, magazine article, TV credit, etc.]

10- Mystery item. ANYTHING…macro, close-up that will be ‘unknown’ to us all. We guess what it is!!

SPINACH ARTICHOKE CHICKEN

This is one of those recipes that I cut out, but have NO idea from where 😀  It was really good and I made very few changes to the original recipe.

I did make it with a caramelized Cabbage that I think next time I will place under the chicken before baking to make it a one-pan dish and add extra flavor to the cabbage.

SPINACH ARTICHOKE CHICKEN
4-6 6 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper

15 ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained WELL and chopped
10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup mayonnaise (NOT low-fat)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  • Preheat oven to 375°.
  • Line baking dish with foil or spray with non-stick spray.
  • Generously season chicken breasts with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Arrange chicken in bottom of baking dish.
  • Stir together the remaining ingredients and spread over chicken pieces,
  • Bake 40-45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

NOTE:  I start draining the artichoke hearts about an hour before I begin cooking.