I don't dine with flies. The sooner the flies learn this, the happier we will all be.
Story number one
I don't dine with flies. For eight weeks, I had fresh fruit and vegetables on my kitchen counter, in my frig, dried up on plates left in the sink, everywhere for eight weeks. I only saw maybe one or two fruit flies.
Now that all the fruits and veggies are gone, there appears to be an army of fruit flies determined to take over my kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, every room. I don't dine with flies! My homemade vinegar traps and a friend's aimless swings of a fly swatter at the ceiling, along with shouting and crying are fighting a hard battle and slowly winning the war. One million fruit flies have dwindled to about 20 give or take a few. I don't dine with flies! So go ahead, taste the vinegar; take a nice long swim!
Story number two
I don't dine with flies! While I enjoyed a ham sandwich, goldfish crackers, and kosher dill pickle on a camping trip, several overgrown, striped, blood sucking flies dined on me! Their bites stung and caused me to shout curse words, stomp, scowl, and retreat to the safety of the hot truck cab where I barely missed bumping into a momma raccoon that was climbing onto our picnic table to steal our bread. I don't dine with flies or raccoons!
Until next time..
XOXOXOXO
This is the real life story of a girl who became a wife and mother and who is trying to seize everyday living under God's grace and by embracing this verse... "fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Zuppa Toscana Morehead Style*
Zuppa Toscana Morehead Style
2 Turkey sausage link styles
8 slices Turkey bacon
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced
2 tbls olive oil
4 medium potatoes, cut into cubes
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 cups of water
1 bunch of kale, removed from stems and torn into pieces
1 cup of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
In a dutch oven, place potatoes, garlic, and onions. Cover with water. Let boil until potatoes are tender but not falling apart. While boiling, saute sausage and jalapeno pepper slices in 1 tbls of olive oil until brown. Move to a bowl. In same skillet, fry bacon until crisp in 1 tbls of olive oil. Crumble bacon into pieces. Add sausage, peppers, and bacon to dutch oven. Let simmer 10 minutes. Add cream and kale, heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Until next time...
XOXOXOX
2 Turkey sausage link styles
8 slices Turkey bacon
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced
2 tbls olive oil
4 medium potatoes, cut into cubes
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 cups of water
1 bunch of kale, removed from stems and torn into pieces
1 cup of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
In a dutch oven, place potatoes, garlic, and onions. Cover with water. Let boil until potatoes are tender but not falling apart. While boiling, saute sausage and jalapeno pepper slices in 1 tbls of olive oil until brown. Move to a bowl. In same skillet, fry bacon until crisp in 1 tbls of olive oil. Crumble bacon into pieces. Add sausage, peppers, and bacon to dutch oven. Let simmer 10 minutes. Add cream and kale, heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Until next time...
XOXOXOX
Monday, June 6, 2011
Staycation Oasis
Wes and I have had a very busy and fun summer so far. Let's see if I can give a quick run down.
1. Gulf Shores, AL-Lots of love to the Gillenwater's for the invite.
2. Ship Island
3. Kosciusko
4. New Pirates movie-a little disappointing
5. Reba McIntyre concert-AWESOME!
6. Canoeing
7. Wedding in Slidell, LA-Yay! for the Little's
8. A lot of laying by the pool-see pictures below
9. Started C25K-I am going toDIE make it for sure
10. Bridesmaids- some very funny parts
11. More Ship Island
12. Flounder gigging and lots of fishing
13. Swimming with the Pitts kids-I heart these little guys
14. And everything in-between
It only getscrazier more insane amazing from here. June is going to be a busy month, but I am loving every minute of it. We even have a primitive tent camping trip planned for Wes' birthday. I will not survive. :/
Here are some pictures of our backyard... our staycation oasis.
Until next time...
XOXOXOXO
1. Gulf Shores, AL-Lots of love to the Gillenwater's for the invite.
2. Ship Island
3. Kosciusko
4. New Pirates movie-a little disappointing
5. Reba McIntyre concert-AWESOME!
6. Canoeing
7. Wedding in Slidell, LA-Yay! for the Little's
8. A lot of laying by the pool-see pictures below
9. Started C25K-I am going to
10. Bridesmaids- some very funny parts
11. More Ship Island
12. Flounder gigging and lots of fishing
13. Swimming with the Pitts kids-I heart these little guys
14. And everything in-between
It only gets
Here are some pictures of our backyard... our staycation oasis.
XOXOXOXO
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Passion.Oprah.Service
I sit in my living room watching the season finale of The Oprah Show. Teary eyed. Truly feeling that I am saying goodbye to great friend. I can't remember a day in my life when I didn't know Oprah. There is no doubt that I grew up with her on my TV. In 25 years, mostly the last 10 or so, I have shared her stories, her laughs, her tears, and been inspired by her acts of service no matter how outrageous. She taught me that giving back is really the only thing that matters in life.
She shared her favorite things, many of those became my favorite things. She shared her books, one of which became my favorite book of all time, The Pillars of the Earth by Follet. She shared her home, her partner, her friends, her pets, her adventures, and her passions. She introduced me to medical breakthroughs, to eating healthier, to living my best life. She encouraged me to think about my life, my body, my health and to take charge of these things. It is because of her that I have an "I want" list. A list that at a very important time proved beneficial to my marriage.
Because she is an easy target, I have spent many minutes and hours defending her motives, her beliefs, and her actions. Anyone who knows me, knows I stand up for the people I care about and the things I believe in. Like all of us, Oprah is not perfect, but I believe she has done more to help than she has to hurt. One of my dreams was to be an audience member on the Oprah Show (fingers crossed for the my favorite things episode), that will never happen, now....unless.. there is a reunion show. One can only hope right!
In her finale show, she talked about how she has lived her passion and she wishes the same for all of us. It was during this discussion, that in Oprah fashion, I had an AHA moment. Recently, I have been toying with the idea of maybe becoming a classroom teacher. Asking myself questions like can I make a bigger difference with just 25 kids versus 500 plus. Today, I realize that I am in a situation where I can make the biggest difference. I get to know every child in my school. I get to see them once a week. I know each one on a different level, some much better than others, of course. For most of them, I get to grow and learn with them for 6 years. For some of them, I may be the only constant in their life for that long of a period. I get to teach them in a different way than their classroom teachers. I get to introduce them to new worlds and new ways of thinking through books and research. I am tired at the end of the day. I am beat down and defeated at times. At the same time, I am giving back and hoping that from this platform, I am making a difference.
Thank you, Oprah, for sharing 25 years of your life so that mine may be better.
Until next time...
XOXOXOXO
She shared her favorite things, many of those became my favorite things. She shared her books, one of which became my favorite book of all time, The Pillars of the Earth by Follet. She shared her home, her partner, her friends, her pets, her adventures, and her passions. She introduced me to medical breakthroughs, to eating healthier, to living my best life. She encouraged me to think about my life, my body, my health and to take charge of these things. It is because of her that I have an "I want" list. A list that at a very important time proved beneficial to my marriage.
Because she is an easy target, I have spent many minutes and hours defending her motives, her beliefs, and her actions. Anyone who knows me, knows I stand up for the people I care about and the things I believe in. Like all of us, Oprah is not perfect, but I believe she has done more to help than she has to hurt. One of my dreams was to be an audience member on the Oprah Show (fingers crossed for the my favorite things episode), that will never happen, now....unless.. there is a reunion show. One can only hope right!
In her finale show, she talked about how she has lived her passion and she wishes the same for all of us. It was during this discussion, that in Oprah fashion, I had an AHA moment. Recently, I have been toying with the idea of maybe becoming a classroom teacher. Asking myself questions like can I make a bigger difference with just 25 kids versus 500 plus. Today, I realize that I am in a situation where I can make the biggest difference. I get to know every child in my school. I get to see them once a week. I know each one on a different level, some much better than others, of course. For most of them, I get to grow and learn with them for 6 years. For some of them, I may be the only constant in their life for that long of a period. I get to teach them in a different way than their classroom teachers. I get to introduce them to new worlds and new ways of thinking through books and research. I am tired at the end of the day. I am beat down and defeated at times. At the same time, I am giving back and hoping that from this platform, I am making a difference.
Thank you, Oprah, for sharing 25 years of your life so that mine may be better.
Until next time...
XOXOXOXO
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Not ya mama's collard greens
One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post was that we also received collard greens from CSA. I don't like collard greens and neither does Wes, but we couldn't let good food go to waste. After reading several recipes, I put this together.
1 tbls olive oil
5-6 pieces turkey bacon
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1lb collard greens
1 can chicken broth
2 tbls honey
1tbls red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in skillet. Fry bacon in oil. Remove bacon from skillet and break into pieces. Add bacon and onion to skillet. Cook until onions are clear, about 5 mins. Add garlic, cook until fragrant. Add greens. Fry until they start to wilt. Add chicken broth, honey, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Turn heat to low, cover, and cook until tender and dark green about 30 minutes.
*Thanks to Allrecipes for the ideas.
Serve with roast and potatoes.
Until next time....
XOXOXOXOXO
1 tbls olive oil
5-6 pieces turkey bacon
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1lb collard greens
1 can chicken broth
2 tbls honey
1tbls red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in skillet. Fry bacon in oil. Remove bacon from skillet and break into pieces. Add bacon and onion to skillet. Cook until onions are clear, about 5 mins. Add garlic, cook until fragrant. Add greens. Fry until they start to wilt. Add chicken broth, honey, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Turn heat to low, cover, and cook until tender and dark green about 30 minutes.
*Thanks to Allrecipes for the ideas.
Serve with roast and potatoes.
Until next time....
XOXOXOXOXO
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
CSA?
Thanks to Jenny at Southern Savers, I learned about a program called CSA (community supported agriculture).
CSA supports local farmers by allowing customers (ME!) to purchase a share of their farm and in return they deliver fresh fruits and vegetables from their gardens. The agreements and prices vary by farm. I was so ecstatic to learn that there was a farm participating in CSA near me. They deliver to Ocean Spring on Wednesday.
With the money and stockpile that we saved couponing, Wes and I were able to use part of our grocery budget this month to buy into a farm for 8 weeks. The deliveries started, today!! We received about 8lbs of cabbage, kale, broccoli, and onions. You just get whatever is ready in the garden each week.
I am so excited about this because 1: we don't have grow every vegetable in our own garden so we can keep it small, and 2: it is going to force us to be creative, try new things, and eat healthier.
Each week, I know I will be trying out new recipes. I think it will be a good idea to place those here for whomever would like to try them and to keep a record of what we liked and didn't like.
Tonight's recipe....
The sausage and cabbage skillet.
1pound Kielbasa sausage
2Tbls butter
1/2 onion
1/2 head cabbage
1 can tomato sauce
1 Tbls sugar
1 tsp paprika
4 potatoes cubed
salt and pepper to taste
Brown sausage in butter in a large skillet or dutch oven. Remove sausage from pan. Saute cabbage and onion in same skillet until onions are tender. Stir together tomato sauce, sugar, and paprika. Pour over cabbage and onion. Stir and simmer 5 minutes. Add potatoes, increase to medium heat. Return sausage to pan and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.Serve with bread.
*Compliments of Taste of Home 2006 cookbook.
Until next time...
XOXOXOXO
CSA supports local farmers by allowing customers (ME!) to purchase a share of their farm and in return they deliver fresh fruits and vegetables from their gardens. The agreements and prices vary by farm. I was so ecstatic to learn that there was a farm participating in CSA near me. They deliver to Ocean Spring on Wednesday.
With the money and stockpile that we saved couponing, Wes and I were able to use part of our grocery budget this month to buy into a farm for 8 weeks. The deliveries started, today!! We received about 8lbs of cabbage, kale, broccoli, and onions. You just get whatever is ready in the garden each week.
I am so excited about this because 1: we don't have grow every vegetable in our own garden so we can keep it small, and 2: it is going to force us to be creative, try new things, and eat healthier.
Each week, I know I will be trying out new recipes. I think it will be a good idea to place those here for whomever would like to try them and to keep a record of what we liked and didn't like.
Tonight's recipe....
The sausage and cabbage skillet.
1pound Kielbasa sausage
2Tbls butter
1/2 onion
1/2 head cabbage
1 can tomato sauce
1 Tbls sugar
1 tsp paprika
4 potatoes cubed
salt and pepper to taste
Brown sausage in butter in a large skillet or dutch oven. Remove sausage from pan. Saute cabbage and onion in same skillet until onions are tender. Stir together tomato sauce, sugar, and paprika. Pour over cabbage and onion. Stir and simmer 5 minutes. Add potatoes, increase to medium heat. Return sausage to pan and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.Serve with bread.
*Compliments of Taste of Home 2006 cookbook.
Until next time...
XOXOXOXO
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Read Roger: Southern Misschief
Read this great blog post by Roger Sutton concerning his trip to Southern Miss for the Children's Book Festival.
Read Roger: Southern Misschief
Read Roger: Southern Misschief
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