Category: MISC

As my dreams turn to spring… FALSE START

The last several days have been fairly nice here with the temperatures in the high 30’s and even a bit in the 40’s and the sun shining big and bright. The snow has been melting well and the grass peeking through. I have been dreaming of these flowers starting to bud and bloom.



And then I wake to this! It just isn’t fair LOL

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The Calm before the Storm

I was able to capture these yesterday while it was spring like. Just look at all that grass peeking through.

It’s hard to believe that the next three pictures are of the same farm. I just love barns!

Look close at the next picture and you will see there is a ghost hanging in the loft window. A Halloween leftover?

This last one is my favorite with all the stone and warped barn wood. I love how the doors were hanging askew too.

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The Calm Before the Storm

This last one is my favorite with all the stone and warped barn wood. I love how the doors were hanging askew too.
 
I was able to capture these yesterday while it was spring like. Just look at all that grass peeking through.

It’s hard to believe that the next three pictures are of the same farm. I just love barns!

Look close at picture above and you will see there is a ghost hanging in the loft window. A Halloween leftover?

A funny thing happened on the way to the Lemon Custard Cup ~ Tuesdays With Dorie

This week Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles chose the recipe for Lemon Cup Custard on page 387.


We love lemon here so I was pretty excited about this recipe. Instead of making individual custard cups I made it as a full pie and it was going to have a whipped cream top (hubby’s request). We both tasted it before it went into the oven and thought there wasn’t enough lemon flavor for us and it was just too sweet. We like a really tart lemon. But, we were anxiously waiting to see if the baking would enhance the lemon flavor. Fortunately I took a picture as soon as it came out of the oven. I turned my back for 2 seconds while it was cooling and Gunner, our black lab decided the custard shouldn’t wait to cool, but be eaten immediately. About the time I heard SPLAT it was too late, the custard was face down on the kitchen floor and shortly thereafter the dog was in the snow, his puppy dog eyes and wistful so sorry looks didn’t work on me (only long enough for me to clean up the mess and cool off). I did throw together a lemon Bundt cake with a lemon butter cream frosting to replace it. I guess we’ll never know if more lemon flavor comes out as it bakes.

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Menu Plan Monday


Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie
DATE BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER
Monday

3/9

 CEREAL SANDWICHES Recipe Experiment Night
Tuesday 3/10

 TOAST LEFTOVERS Creamy Tomato Soup
Wednesday 3/11 YOGURT SOUP Sreisaat’s Indian Style Meat Patties over at We Ate This
Thursday 3/12 FRUIT CHEESE & FRUIT Polynesian Chicken Pasta Salad
Friday 3/13

 OATMEAL Tuna Melts TOO

Chicken in Italian Cream
Saturday 3/14 Toasted French Toast Deviled Eggs and celery
 Linguine & Chicken
Sunday 3/15
 Cinnamon Raisin Maple Oatmeal Chicken Salad Crockpot Lasagna

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Farmer’s Breakfast Skillet


FARMER’S BREAKFAST serves 4-6

This is another one of those recipes that has floated around for so long that I have no idea what I tore it out of. The paper has yellowed, the edges look like they have been gnawed on, but the flavor is the same!

1/4 cup butter
2 cups small cubed uncooked potatoes
1 large bunch green onion, sliced thin
1 cup cubed ham
6 eggs
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack/Mild Cheddar combo

  • Melt butter in cast iron pan.
  • Add potatoes and onions. Sprinkle with celery salt.
  • Cover and cook over a medium high heat, stirring occasionally until evenly brown and golden, about 20 minutes.
  • Add the ham and cook another 5 minutes.
  • Reduce the heat to low.*
  • Whisk together the eggs, salt, pepper and cream until well blended.
  • Pour egg mixture over ham and potatoes, cover and cook until eggs are almost set, about 10 minutes.
  • Occasionally run a knife of spatula around the edge to allow eggs to run down and not burn.
  • Sprinkle with cheese and cover again until cheese melts.
  • Cut into wedges and serve with toasted Oat Sunflower Bread.
*Using an electric stove, I switch burners and start with a cooler burner at this point since cast iron does not cool down as quickly. I like the cast iron though for the nice crisp edge to the potatoes.

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If you like to play along, please add a link to this post on your post and sign Mr. Linky. Be sure to include your recipe in parenthesis following your name. Thanks and have fun.

Cleaning the Fridge Soup

I love this soup! I make it whenever I clean the refrigerator. I start with all the vegetables that are on then wilting side. You’ll notice the tomatoes are a bit wrinkly and the lettuce is limp. I clean all the outsides and trim the edges and then put them all in the pressure cooker with 3 cups of homemade chicken broth. When the rocker starts, I let it go for 10 minutes and then let it cool naturally. I’ll use whatever I have, fruit included, last time there was also a banana, apple and kiwi in the mix.

After it cools I open it and drain the broth out through a colander Then I mash all of the vegetables and and let them drain through the colander for a few minutes also.

I add 1 tablespoon of sea salt and 1 teaspoon of white pepper to the broth and a 2 1/2 pound chuck roast to the broth. I start the pressure cooker again and when it starts rocking let it rock for 20-25 minutes this time. I let it cool down naturally again.

I mix the vegetables back in and add 2 cups dry pasta and let it simmer for an hour.

You haven’t wasted anything because it’s wilted and you have a super tasty soup. It makes 8 servings.

Head over and say hi to Katie @ A Listmaker’s Life for more great soup recipes!

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Chicken Flautas

I used to have a favorite lunch haunt called simply ‘Nachos’. It started as a hole in the wall, literally!, with ‘mama’ making her own tortillas and sauces. Mama couldn’t speak a word of English, but her traditional Mexican fare spoke volumes for her. She prepared the best Mexican food! At work we used to all pool together, call in a big order, send someone to pick it up and then truly pig out when the food arrived back at work! Their Nachos were truly awe inspiring ~ crisp and gooey all at the same time.
One of my very favorite meals that she made was her Chicken Flautas! Now that we’re here in the North Woods, where honestly they wouldn’t know Mexican food if it bit them on the butt, I crave those Chicken Flautas and have been working to replicate them. I tried boiling chickens with various seasoning combinations, none of which were correct and then finally settled on this recipe. It’s actually easier and tastes perfect too.

1 lemon herb rotisserie chicken (lemon & herb works best)
1 cup finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Juice of 1 lime
sea salt
1 bunch green onions, finely minced
1 package tortillas
sour cream
Fresh Guacamole
Garden Tomato Salsa
1 cup or so Safflower oil for frying

  • Remove chicken pieces from the bone and finely shred the meat.
  • Toss the chicken pieces with the green onions, lime juice and salt.
  • Warm tortillas so they are soft and pliable.
  • Distribute the chicken and cheese mixture evenly amongst the tortillas.
  • Sprinkle onions over top.
  • Sprinkle with sea salt and lime juice.
  • Roll each tortilla up jelly roll style.
  • This works best with deep frying, but I found a cast iron pan works well as long as the oil goes at least half way up the side.
  • Fry each Flauta until golden. (Don’t crowd them in the pan)
  • Drain on a paper towel.
  • Serve with sour cream, Fresh Guacamole & Garden Tomato Salsa for dipping.
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Winning the Lottery

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day they take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would participate and take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

TODAY’S QUESTION: You’ve just won a 200 million dollar lottery, what are the next 5 things you’ll do?

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Showing Off Your Favorites

I found this over at Screaming Mimi and talk about getting in under the wire ~ whew I’m just going to make it. I could really use that Target card, but couldn’t we all.

Auds over at Barking Mad is giving away a $250.00 Target gift card. All that is required is tooting your own horn! Seriously, to enter to win this gift card Auds wants to see our 5 favorite posts from our own blogs.

Without further ado or adieu (computer search says both are correct) here are 5 of my favorite posts.

Check out my personal faves & then hop over & see who else is playing!

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Taco Meat Seasoning

You can quit buying those expensive seasoning packs full of preservatives and make your own taco seasoning fresh.

TACO MEAT SEASONING
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon minced dried onions
1 tablespoon beef bouillon granules
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar

  • Combine all together and grind fine in a mortar and pestle.
  • Brown hamburger.
  • Drain off grease.
  • Add seasoning mix and 3/4 cup water to the browned meat.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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