Category: MISC

TEX MEX MEATBALL SOUP

It’s cold here and snowing like a banshee so I whipped up some warm (heat and spice) soup to have with some fresh baked beer bread!

TEX MEX MEATBALL SOUP
MEATBALLS
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 Jumbo Egg
1 cup cooked rice
1 tablespoon bread crumbs
SOUP
2 pounds Roma tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small sprigs of cilantro, minced fine
1/2 small Vidalia onion, diced
1 tablespoon safflower oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups chicken stock
1 avocado
white cheese or sour cream for garnish

MEATBALLS

  • In a small food processor grind together the garlic, cumin, salt, pepper and onion until well blended.
  • In a large mixing bowl combine the beef, pork, egg, breadcrumbs, rice and seasoning mixture until well blended.
  • Roll into 1 – 1 1/2 inch balls and set aside.

SOUP

  • In a sauce pan heat the oil ad add the onions and garlic. Saute’ until fragrant.
  • Add the tomatoes, cooking for 5 minutes until soft and tender.
  • With a slotted spoon remove the tomatoes to a blender and puree with chicken stock.
  • Return the tomato and chicken stock to the sauce pan and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce to a slow simmer and add the meatballs, cooking for 30 minutes until meatballs are cooked through.
  • To serve, place a few meatballs in each bowl and cover with ladles of soup.
  • Garnish with a sprinkle of white cheese or sour cream.

ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’ ROLLIN’, 2011 JUST KEEP ON ROLLIN’ – YAY 2012 IS HERE.

Is everybody as happy to see 2011 go as I am?  I have high hopes and super positive attitudes towards what 2012 has in store for each of us.
I’m not a resolutions girls, but I am a list girl. So I’m making my lists of all the good things I want to come my way and then I’m going to see what I can do to make each of those things come true.  These days it’s so easy to just say wait and see, but my goal this year is to proactively set my life in motion! And I’m ridding myself of all the baggage that makes indecision so easy to live with.

Over at THE Motivation Station, Martha has challenged us to:

For the month of January – The 100 things challenge!

“Unlike the original 100 Things Challenge to get rid of everything we own other than 100 things we will start much smaller – how about a challenge to get rid of 100 things in the month of January?

It doesn’t matter if you donate, sell, giveaway, throw in the garbage, or recycling – the goal is just to get 100 things out of your home no matter how big or small.”

Martha has started another blog also, Minimalist in the Making and would love to have you join her in the endeavor.  She’s looking for some guest posters too so go check it out.
She and I have agreed that minimalism can be defined as the least number of things to make your life livable.  You don’t have to go crazy to accomplish this.

So far for her challenge that began today to get rid of 100 things (which sounds like a lot) I’ve gotten rid of 37 easily.  Sitting here right now today in the donate to St. Vinnys pile is a plug in ice chest (that we hate), a DVD player, and 2 sweat shirts.  There are 6 magazines and 22 books I’m taking to the VA on Wednesday and 5 DVDs. So 37 down, 63 to go.

ANOTHER EMAIL STORY WORTH SHARING

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
~ William Jennings Bryan

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. ‘Really?’ she heard whispered. ‘I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!’ and, ‘I didn’t know others liked me so much,’ were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in VietNam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before.. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. ‘Were you Mark’s math teacher?’ he asked. She nodded: ‘yes.’ Then he said: ‘Mark talked about you a lot.’
After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark! ‘s mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
‘We want to show you something,’ his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket ‘They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.’
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him.
‘Thank you so much for doing that,’ Mark’s mother said. ‘As you can see, Mark treasured it.’
All of Mark’s former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, ‘I still have my list. It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home..’
Chuck’s wife said, ‘Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album!
‘I have mine too,’ Marilyn said. ‘It’s in my diary’
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. ‘I carry this with me at all times,’ Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: ‘I think we all saved our lists’
That’s when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

♥♥final blog signature. ♥♥

Baked Pears with Butterscotch Sauce–Save Room for Dessert

Baked Pears with Butterscotch Sauce
4 ripe but firm pears
1/2 lemon
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. Scotch whisky (optional)
  • Heat the oven to 375°F.
  • Cut pears in half lengthwise and, using a melon baller or spoon, scoop out the cores.
  • Rub them all over with the lemon half to prevent browning.
  • In a large (10-inch), heavy-based, ovenproof skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the sugar and brown sugar and stir to dissolve.
  • Arrange the pears in the pan, cut side down, in a single layer.
  • Bake the pears uncovered, basting occasionally with the liquid in the pan, until they begin to soften and color slightly. Depending on the pears’ ripeness, baking time can range from 20 minutes to 1 hour (mine only took about 25 minutes).
  • Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  • Transfer the pan to a burner and boil the mixture left behind over medium-high heat until it reaches a rich, golden-brown color and smells like caramel, 2 to 5 minutes. Slowly whisk the cream into the caramel until smooth. Add the vanilla, salt, and Scotch, if using. Serve the sauce over the warm pears.

COLD WEATHER FOOD

Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie

 DATE BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER
Monday 1/2 CEREAL SANDWICHES TEX MEX MEATBALL SOUP
Tuesday 1/3 TOAST LEFTOVERS SWEET CORN SOUP
Wednesday 1/4 YOGURT SOUP TUNA MELTS & TOMATO BISQUE
Thursday 1/5 FRUIT CHEESE & FRUIT FRIED EGG SANDWICHES
Friday 1/6 OATMEAL SANDWICHES TUNA CAKES with FRENCH REMOULADE SAUCE
Saturday 1/7 BACON & EGGS LEFTOVERS CHILI & CORNBREAD
Sunday 1/8 PANCAKES & BACON C.OR.N. CRAB CAKES with FRENCH REMOULADE SAUCE

TAILGATING TIME 2.0

IT’S OFFICIAL – FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE!
We have decided to make a change this year in the way Tailgating Time will work. Instead of a new linky for each week we will be using the same linky to keep all the great recipes in one place. This will provide easy access to the recipes and create one big awesome recipe index collection. There is no limit to how many you add – of course we hope you will add a new recipe each and every week! Tailgating Time will generally be posted each week on Sundays at noon.

It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or not, great party food is always a good thing. Bring over your grilled goods, chips and dips, appetizers, chili and chowders, cocktails, or any recipes that would be great for the football party buffet!

If any of you would like to host along with us you can click –> get the InLinkz code to add the linky to your blog too. You can post it once in awhile or every week during football season, that’s up to you. The only thing we ask is that you leave a comment here to let us know you are co-hosting, and that you visit and comment on as many of the participants as you can. 
 
 We can’t wait to see what you will bring to the party. Let the games begin. Whoo-hoo!

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEW YEAR…

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEW YEAR…
I see good things looking ahead, but based on the year I’ve had, there is no other choice, but to think positive! 
I see happier times. 
I see more family times. 
I see more productive times. 
I see more volunteer times.  
I see more creative times.  
I see more down time.
I see more day to day, less hectic times…

TAILGATING TIME

We have decided to make a change this year in the way Tailgating Time will work. Instead of a new linky for each week we will be using the same linky to keep all the great recipes in one place. This will provide easy access to the recipes and create one big awesome recipe index collection. There is no limit to how many you add – of course we hope you will add a new recipe each and every week! Tailgating Time will generally be posted each week on Sundays at noon.


It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or not, great party food is always a good thing. Bring over your grilled goods, chips and dips, appetizers, chili and chowders, cocktails, or any recipes that would be great for the football party buffet!


If any of you would like to host along with us you can click –> get the InLinkz code to add the linky to your blog too. You can post it once in awhile or every week during football season, that’s up to you. The only thing we ask is that you leave a comment here to let us know you are co-hosting, and that you visit and comment on as many of the participants as you can.
We can’t wait to see what you will bring to the party. Let the games begin. Whoo-hoo!