Flu Relief

So everybody has the flu. That's really stinky. I hate that.

Not so much because I want everybody to be happy and healthy, but because I wanna do stuff and have nobody to do anything with.

So, I'm going to tell you what I just read last night. You can mix 2 oz of oil of oregano in 12 oz of water and gargle with it if you have a sore throat. Do that and swallow it once or twice a day. If you do that within 48 hours whatever ails will be ridden from your body leaving you good as new. Magic, you say? While it does offer magical results, its all scientific. Let me share.

Oil of Oregano is powerfully antimicrobial. It has been shown to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and yeast. And that's not all!

It works against food poisoning and digestive distress.

Its a powerful immune booster to protect against toxins. Its a natural antihistamine. And it inhibits the growth of cancer cells!

If you want to take oil of oregano as a daily supplement or at the first signs of illness, here's what you can do:

1. You can buy capsules and take them as directed on packaging.
2. You can dilute a drop of Oil of Oregano in a drop of Olive Oil and place under the tongue for a few seconds and then wash down with water.
3. You can gargle with it as stated above.
4. You can inhale a vapor of it for sinus infections. Boil 1/2 cup of water in 2-3 drops of the oil and inhale the steam.
5. You can put it directly on your skin for external infections. It'll probably sting a little. But the stinging should go away after a few minutes.

So, there ya go. Fight the Flu!!!


I wanna do stuff...and I need a sidekick.

Meatloaf

Look at all that meat! Well, you probably can't tell what it is in that basket. The picture just looks like I've been stocking up on boxes and boxes of pork products. I assure you that I have not. That would just be weird. I bought that pork from a man selling meat door to door. Then, I gave meat as Christmas presents last year. Men like meat. See?? Not weird. I didn't give any to the ladies. That would have been weird. Ladies like chocolate. But, I didn't give any ladies chocolate either. I knitted things and you can't wear a chocolate scarf....How fun would a chocolate scarf be? Like those candy necklaces when you were a kid. You could stay warm and nibble on chocolate all day. Someone should totally invent that! I would wear it. Definitely. But, I digress. 

Yesterday, Robbie and I were hauling some hay out to the horses. On the way in, I went out to the freezer to grab some ground beef for chili. It was perfect chili weather here in north Texas, cold and rainy. The freezer door was stuck. That's weird. Its a small upright freezer. I yanked on it and when it finally opened I noticed that the ground beef on the door was thawed. OH NO!!! Then, I started grabbing the meat further in and its thawed too. And there's a big, giant glacier at the top of the freezer. The stupid glacier got so big it pushed open my door. It has a mind of its own. Meanwhile, much like what they had to contend with on the Titanic and their big, stupid glacier, I have to contend with all this meat. 

Okay, okay. I know that my problem is not nearly as big as the problems on the Titanic. I get it. But, it FEELS that big at the moment and that's GOT  to count for something, right?

What you don't see in the picture is about 8 pounds of thawed, grass fed ground beef, 2 pounds of free range chicken breast, 1 whole free range chicken, 2 Amy's Kitchen cheese pizzas, 3 Eating Right frozen dinners (which were thrown away. I don't even know how long they've been in there.) 2 Pork roasts, 2 pork loins, 1 package of grass fed filet mignon, and 4 packages of nitrate/nitrite free bacon, in addition to all the pork you see at the top. Stuck inside the glacier is a free range turkey breast, more chicken, and a few more cheese pizzas. I'm attempting to defrost said glacier in an attempt to free the trapped meat at this moment.

Also, as an aside, what you don't see is that my floors are really a gorgeous, golden, hand hewn, expertly polished, wide plank wood. You just can't see that because its hidden in ugly linoleum. Its really there. Just in my imagination. But, now its in your imagination too, and that's like having the real thing, right? Or is that weird too?

So, at first Robbie couldn't be more excited. He's watching football and looking at the prospect for a meat filled feast. I thought so too at first. Then I calmed down and realized that a lot of that meat was not quite thawed so I cleaned out the freezer in the house and stored it there. Then, I cooked some of the pork for dinner. (It wasn't very good. Don't buy meat from door to door salesmen.) I boiled a package of chicken for a soup later this week, I gave a few questionable packages to the dogs and cats. They were so happy, they acted like it was their last meal on the Titanic. But, I still have 6 pounds of ground beef, the filet mignons, and a small pork loin that needs to be cooked. I'm on the lookout for a pressure canner to can some of the beef.  Meanwhile, I can spread that much meat out over the week, cook it and freeze it for later.

Tonight we'll be having meatloaf. This is my favorite meatloaf recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 can (6 oz)  tomato paste
• ½ c dry red wine
• ½ c water
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ tsp dried basil leaves
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 c oatmeal
• 1 egg 
• ½ c shredded zucchini

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Combine the tomato paste, wine, water, garlic, basil, oregano, and salt in a small saucepan.
• Bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Set aside.
• Combine the beef, oatmeal, egg , zucchini, and ½ cup of the tomato mixture in a large bowl. Mix well.
• Shape into 4 small loaves and bake for about 20 minutes.
• Discard any drippings. Pour  the remaining tomato mixture over the top of the loaf.
• Bake for 15 minutes longer. Remove to a serving platter.
• If you don't want to use wine, you can substitute the wine and water for 1 cup of beef broth

I will probably double or even triple it up and freeze it for later. Then, I'll be making the chili, some chicken soup, and...... Oh gosh, I'm already getting tired thinking of it. I'll for sure have to grill up those steaks or else I'll be in trouble and get thrown overboard! Wish me luck because much like the frozen ocean water from the Titanic, its snowing here in north Texas and I won't last long. 

Okay, okay, I know its not really like the Titanic but in my imagination it kinda is, so that makes it kinda real, right? Is that weird?

This post is linked to Barn Hop, Real Food 101, Monday Mania, and Fat Tuesday

Warming Socks

I've decided. I'm not a winter girl.

Okay, I like it to be all snowy, cold, and dark for the holidays. I hate going out Christmas shopping in sunny, 70ish degree weather.Its hard to get into the holiday spirit. I don't know what you southern hemisphere people do at Christmas. BUT, other than that, cold is good for nothing. Well, I've heard its good for getting rid of bugs, but I'm becoming a little skeptical of that.

Last spring we had April  June bugs...in spring, not June....spring!! They were horrible, too. We had some weird, freaky little ants that apparently came from South America and are working their way north. And then we had the greatest fly invasion ever in the history of man. All this after the coldest winter we've had in decades and a record breaking heat wave this summer. So, the next time an old man says to me "Well, at least it'll kill all the bugs!" because he sees me wearing my ski pants around town when the temperature dips to unbearable levels, I'm going to kill him in a horrible knitting accident!

If you're an english teacher, I apologize. That may have been a run on sentence. I'm just going to say I'm sorry and excuse me instead of researching to see if I need to fix it. I need to tell you about this warming sock and then go hunt down my ski pants.

That little beauty in the picture above is going to be your very best friend in the whole wide world if you're a summer girl stuck in winter like me! If you get cold easily this is wonderful and super easy to make. I just grabbed an old sock. A long one is best. Then I filled it up 3/4 way full of rice. Use the white rice. You probably have some lying around and now that you're a real foodie, you aren't going to eat it anyway. And its cheap! Then, just because I love it so much and I have it lying around too, I added a little lavender. Then ,I just tied the end of the sock in a knot and bada boom, bada bing, all done.

Put it in the microwave for a minute or two and you have a homemade, moist heating pad. You should be using moist heat for muscular aches and pains anyway. Dry heat actually makes it worse.

You could also take it a step further and use some pretty or fleecy fabric and give them as gifts! I would totally love one as a gift. In fact, Melanie gave me a really nice one last year that was about 2 feet long with handles on it so you could hang on to it and warm up your back. I had to get rid of it though because my puppy pee'd on it. I washed it but.........its hard to relax thinking your warming yourself with puppy pee.

Hence the sock.

Alright, that's it for today. I have to go dig out my ski pants. Its only supposed to get into the 60's today. Brrrrrrrrr......

This post is linked to Tip Me Tuesday, Handmade Tuesday, Terrific Under $10, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

Its Like Buttah!!

Oh CRAP!!

I'm looking in the refrigerator and see that I only have about 1/4 cup of butter left and I still need to make a pie crust AND have some for buttering rolls! We can't have Thanksgiving with no pie and we for sure can't have Thanksgiving with unbuttered rolls, even though they are the crappy, stupid Brown n Serve!

I know, I know....Brown n Serve! pfffft!

Robbie specifically asked for those. I said "Seriously? Cuz I could make some really good ones homemade, some really good yeast rolls."
Nope. Brown N Serve. Fine. At least it'll save me some time. Okay.

Jake specifically asked for "Thanksgiving mac & cheese" which in reality is my mother in law's recipe. This is the recipe: She whips open a box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese every Thanksgiving for the kids that may or may not want her store bought potatoes and dressing to go along with her opened cans of corn and green beans.
Again I said "Seriously? Cuz I could make some homemade that'll be really awesome."
Nope. Velveeta. Okay, at least it'll save me some more time.

And then, I'm back in the fridge wondering what to do about the butter situation. We live 20 minutes outside of town and I'm not about to stop cooking to make a trip in and I know that nobody else will either. Hmmmmm....I wonder if I can make that quarter cup be enough for both? All I need to do is divide it smartly. I was a science major in college. I should be able to figure this out. Also, just FYI, I was secretary of the math club in high school. That's not really pertinent to this story or anything else in life really. But, I just like to throw that out there every now and then, when the opportunity presents itself. Otherwise, being secretary of the math club has no real benefits.

But, back to the butter. I tried different divisions. Maybe if I cut it THIS way? Nope. How about THAT way? Nope. No matter what I do or how I divide it, I STILL only have 1/4 cup of butter and it STILL isn't enough. *sigh* Thanksgiving is ruined.........But, wait!!!!!

I've heard of people making their own butter. And they weren't even amish!

I was in an antique store last spring with a friend and saw these cute, little, wooden butter churns. I said "oooooh, I need to get one and try making butter!" My friend said "......yeah, OR you could just use your blender. Its way faster."

In light of my current butter crisis, I pulled out some cream. Coffee be damned, we're in crisis mode here! I poured it into a bowl and used my whisk attachment on my mixer. All I did was whisk up the cream * take a little taste...don't judge...I dare you NOT to taste some freshly whipped cream! You can't, can you?* until it turns really crumbly and yellow. Then, I whisked it a little more until it turned into a solid lump.

You have to pour out the buttermilk.

PSA -  Please don't throw it away. Pour it into a clean jar for use in a recipe. Its not as acidic as the buttermilk you get at the store, so don't use it in place of buttermilk. Use it in place of regular milk.

After you pour out the buttermilk, dunk your lump of butter into an ice cold water bath. Then, massage the butter to try and get out some more of the buttermilk. If you skip this step, your butter will be rancid in a couple of days.

The whole thing only took about ten minutes! It was a miracle I tell you. A Thanksgiving miracle. I turned cream into butter. Not quite as impressive as Jesus turning water into wine, but hey! I'll take it.

So, what happened next? Well. Then angels started singing, Robbie said "Are you almost done with that? I'm trying to hear the game." and I yelled "Yeeee-Haww! I just made my own butter!!!!" and he said "Were they out at the store??"

He just doesn't get me. But, he DOES love a good, buttery Brown n Serve roll.

Brown n Serve! pffffffftttt!


And THAT is the story of how I saved Thanksgiving!

I must say....I'm feeling very super-heroish. Go try it and we can be super heroes together.

This post is linked to Fight Back Friday, Farmgirl Friday, Homestead Revival's Barn Hop, and Monday Mania Although, they'll probably kick me out because my husband made me heat up those stupid rolls!!

Homemade Yogurt

Bam!!! That JUST happened!!

Did you see the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby? If you did then you know what I'm saying. If you didn't well, then never mind. Its not really relevant. A funny movie for sure, but not relevant to this particular post.
I do find myself thanking the baby Jesus a lot after seeing that movie. Again, sorry for the reference if you haven't seen it. So just go see it already. In fact....don't go see it. Its not at the movies anymore. Go rent it or better still, download it from Netflix and watch it right now. Then, come back and read this post about yogurt.

Okay. So you're back! Funny movie, huh?

I made my own yogurt!!!

It worked!!!

Okay, so here's how I did it so you can make your own yogurt too. I bought some raw milk from a local dairy. Let me send a shout out to ma homies at the Dry Valley Dairy in Forestburg, TX. Their milk is from Jersey cows so its full of grass fed, fatty goodness. And they're great people too. And the milk is only $4/gallon. Can you believe it?? There is another dairy in town too. They're closer to me and also great people but their cows are Holstein and not quite as fatty and its $6/gallon. Its called the Neu Dairy. I like me some fatty milk, yo.

 Sorry, Robbie and I have been watching Breaking Bad on Netflix and I find myself talking like a Madskills Drug Dealer. I can't help it. A drug dealer that likes raw dairy...without drugs in it...whatever.

Anyway, I also have some yogurt starter that I got from our local co-op. Its called Yogourmet. I also have a kefir starter. In each box there are 6 packets of probiotics ready to be made into yogurt. When I ordered it, I said "I want one of each yogurt and kefir starter" thinking I was going to get a box of each. But, no....I got a CASE of each!

So, if you want some, leave a comment with your email. I will email you to get your mailing address and send it to you for FREE!!! Then, you can make your own yogurt or kefir if you'd rather. I'll tell you that kefir making is much easier. I'll share later in another post.

Okay, so here's how it works. I took a quart of milk and heated it up to about 150 degrees F over a medium, low heat stirring occasionally. Then, I filled my sink about halfway with ice water and carefully lowered the pan into the sink to cool it off. Once it reaches about 78 degrees F, remove about 1 cup. Mix in the yogurt starter (you can also use yogurt you have on hand as a starter. I wouldn't use any yogurt thats full of sugar and junk. Kind of defeats the purpose I think.) Mix it in really well and add it back into the pot.
Then, pour your yogurt into clean jars.

This is the cool part. I got this idea from laurelofleaves. She's right. Its almost so easy its scary.
I filled up a hot water bottle, put it on the bottom of a regular, old Igloo cooler (any insulated cooler will do.) placed my yogurt on top of it. I wrapped a couple of big towels around them to keep them from tipping off  the water bottle. I placed an old pillow on top of them, tucked them all in, shut the cooler and went about the rest of my day. You can let it stay there as long as you want. I started mine at about noon yesterday and pulled it out this morning at about 8:00. I put two of them back in, because they seemed a little too liquidy.

I put this little jar of awesomeness in the fridge to stop the process. You have to do that. But, before I did, I took a teeny, tiny, little taste of it. Guess what it tastes like.

Go on, guess!

It tastes like YOGURT!!! Yay!!!

Go try it. Its fun!

This post is linked to Barn Hop and Monday Mania

Best Ever Cheeseburger Soup

Okay, I have the absolute best soup recipe EVER!!!  That includes my chicken tortilla soup, which my family just loves. There are loads of chicken tortilla soup recipes so I'm not posting that one.

THIS, though.....THIS is amazing!

I could hurt myself eating it. I crave it. I gots to have it.

So... my darlings, here it is.

2T butter
1# ground beef
1C diced onion
1C diced tomatoes (I used fresh)
1C diced carrots (I used pureed bc I have to sneak it into my family's food. They are babies. Baby men)
3 cloves minced garlic
1T basil
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot. Brown the beef and sautee the veggies and spices.
Add

3C chicken broth
2C cubed potatoes

Bring to a boil. Let simmer until potatoes are just done.

Add 1 1/2C milk

simmer and add

2C cheese (I used 1C velveeta and 1C cheddar)
1/2C sour cream
1/4C ketchup
2T mustard

Then, enjoy this warm, steaming pot of autumnal love!

Okay you may be sitting there thinking 'That sounds really good, buuuuuut......what's with the freaky, bloody gnome????'
Well, I took a picture of the soup and tried to upload it. But, I deleted it before it was actually finished loading. I'm no photographer. I tried, I really did. Im the person that always snaps the picture just a fraction of a second too late. Always.

So, I don't have a picture of the soup.

Because we ate it.

Its gone.

I told you it was delicious.

So, since its Halloween and I don't have a soup picture, you get to see the bloody gnome that makes me laugh and laugh. Mwaahahhaahhaa!!!

(that was my scary Halloween laugh)

If you want to know more about the bloody gnome and his misadventures at my workplace, read this My honey and I work together...with zombies....

This post is linked to Monday Mania and Barn Hop  and Sunday Night Soup Night check em out!!

Homemade Egg Rolls = Better Than Restaurant

All day yesterday, I felt like I wasn't getting anything done.

Here's what I did:

3 loads of laundry
fed and watered all the animals
washed 2 loads of dishes
made 4 acai bead bracelets (They're beautiful! I'll share later this week)
blogged about preparing Emergency Meals, Preparedness
knitted a few rows of a cashmere scarf I'm making for a Christmas present
prepared meals
made chicken stock in the crock pot with a leftover chicken
made a pumpkin pie with homemade crust
used the extra crust to make homemade apricot toaster pastries (There are none left!!)
whipped up some whipped cream with fresh, organic cream to go on said pie
bought and hooked up a new Blue-Ray, DVD player
AND I made those little beauties in the picture above!!

That seems like a lot! I was feeling bothered yesterday wondering how I could have done all that and still be feeling like I needed to do more. I think I figured it out. It could be one of two things.
1 -  There is still so much more that NEEDS to be done and maybe I should be doing those things instead of pinning on pinterest, blogging, and checking my facebook updates. To be fair, though, since fb changed I don't get on there as much as I used to. And even more so, since pinterest!! Pinterest is waaaaay more fun than facebook and its actually useful! The eggroll recipe I'm about to share came from there.

or

2 - I work so hard at my job (We work 6 days a week in the spring and summer balls to the wall. In the fall and winter it slows down and we are closed now on Sundays and Mondays. This is the first Monday that I haven't had to go in to work to do something.) maybe I have a hard time turning that off! I'm not sure. I'm hoping its this. Because if it is, then that will eventually go away. Probably right about the time when spring hits!! The whole not having everything done gives me a little anxiety.

Okay enough of that. I teased you with the intriguing headline (because honestly...who DOESN'T love a good eggroll? Especially if you can make them yourself without all the preservatives that comes from the restaurants.) then held you hostage and made you listen read my little anxiety disordered filled day. Sometimes a girl just needs a hug..even if you have to force someone to give it to you! :)

I found this recipe on pinterest and I just have to say WOW! I am not exxagerating when I say that they really are better than restaurant egg rolls. Here is the link to the original recipe. I tweaked it just a little to make it a little healthier. I didn't tweak it much, though, as its pretty perfect just like it is.

Ingredients:

1# ground pork
4C finely shredded cabbage
2C matchstick carrots
8oz pkg bean sprouts
6 chopped green onions
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2T freshly chopped cilantro
1t freshly grated ginger
1T oyster sauce
1T hoisin sauce
1 pkg egg roll wrappers

Fat for frying them

I used ghee because thats what I had. I would definitely plan ahead and use lard next time, though. A good lard, not the junk from the grocery store. I'm on the lookout for duck fat and pastured pork lard. When I find it, I'll let you know. I'm told that Central Market has duck fat. The nearest one to me is about 60 miles so I haven't checked it out yet.

Take about 2T of the fat and swirl it around in a big pot, add the pork and brown it. Then add your vegetables, Cook about 10 minutes until softened. Add the spices and cook another 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat to cool a little.

Heat up your fat.

Lay out your wrappers with one corner facing you like a diamond. Put about 2 spoonfuls of filling close to your end of the diamond. Roll your corner over the filling. Then, roll the 2 outside corners in and roll so you're only left with the last corner at the top (like an envelope flap) brush water over the flap so it will seal. Finish rolling. Then use your brush (or your finger) to wet the seams to seal the whole thing.

Place your egg rolls in the hot oil and fry about 3 minutes until they're a nice golden color.
Drain on paper towels.

Here's the last and most important piece of this recipe......

BE CAREFUL!! They're hot! and delicious! and addicitive! and your family won't be able to stop hugging you.

So, there's my little eggrolly hug for you!


This post is linked to Homestead Revivals Barn Hop  and The Healthy Home Economist Monday Mania and Fight Back Friday

Preparedness

My motto is: Its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I've been thinking about preparedness lately. What prompted that was a friend of mine, who seriously keeps up on all things political, told me a while back that food prices were going to rise drastically. Gas and corn prices are going up and those two things are interconnected with everything we eat. Well, I started noticing it coming true!! I'm sure you have too. So, I bought a small freezer and started gradually filling it up. My thoughts on this were solely to save money on groceries in the event of a depression or food lines like they had in Russia during the cold war. (That may sound crazy and paranoid, but it COULD happen....because at one time in history it DID happen.  Refer back to the first sentence in this post.)

Last night, I was reading another blog, Homestead Revival and she issued a challenge that really made me think and take my preparedness a step further. The challenge is basically to have a 3 day "stash" of ready to prepare meals in case of emergency. It really has nothing to do with anything political but more in the event of a natural or even a man made disaster. Its not unreasonable to think that a tornado (where I live), a hurricane, an earthquake, blizzard, or flood could knock out the power and water for a few days (or more!).  The reason for having 3 days of food set aside from the rest of the pantry is because its been shown that when a disaster occurs it takes about 3 days to overcome the emotional shock of it all. In those 3 days, a family still needs to eat and drink. So, the meals should be in their own containers, labeled, easy to find, and not touched until ready for use. They should be shelf stable and last at least 6 months. In fact, just to insure the food stays fresh, you should eat the food every 6 months and immediately re-stock. You wouldn't want to find out in the middle of a crisis that your food expired 2 years ago!!

In Amy's original post, the link I just shared with you, she challenges everyone to post just one meal they would put in their box.  You really should go check it out. Its really interesting to read the other entries. They are full of great ideas!

So, here are my ideas. 

First of all, in the event that I had no electricity, I would feel the need to quickly use up things from the freezer and the fridge. Also, I have chickens and a garden. So, depending on the time of the year, I would have eggs, veggies, and herbs available, maybe fruit too. We have some fruit and pecan trees on our place. I also use a propane stove so I can't imagine not having that available to use just because we may not have power or water.

All that being said, just to be fair and in the spirit of the exercise, I will assume none of those would be available. Not only that, if in fact, I was "shell shocked", I may need the comfort and simplicity of a meal at my fingertips that required no thought.  Assuming for whatever reason, my propane was unavailable or just being conserved I would build a fire outside. We have an abundance of wood that needs to be burned anyway. And it would probably add a fun, campy element that might help alleviate the stress.

So, here goes:

Breakfast is easy. I would have in my boxes instant oatmeal, cereal, almond milk, Nature's Path toaster pastries, canned or dried fruit, bottled water, tea bags and instant coffee. I would also add some shelf stable bacon for protein (Im not sure of the brand, but I get it from our health food co-op and its pretty good!) The protein is important. Otherwise, the rest of it is all carby ensuring sugar crashes and crankiness later. Crankiness is not conducive to survival!! :)

Lunch and Dinner are interchangeable. I'll have to think a little more on these. But, I know for a fact that one meal would be bean burritos. I got that idea from reading another post. And my family LOVES burritos. In that box, I would have a can of refried beans, flour tortillas, a can of enchilada sauce, canned cheese, a bag of tortilla chips and salsa.
Another meal will be a dutch oven chicken noodle soup. My husband has been bucking for a dutch oven for years anyway ever since he watched the movie Lonesome Dove the FIRST time. He wanted to be like Robert Duvall and cook biscuits in the ground and be surrounded by pot belly pigs. Number 1, I told him "Honey, maybe you should start off by learning to cook bisuits in the oven!!!" Number 2, he wanted these pigs to live with us in the house!! (His culinary experience currently consists of velveeta/rotel dip in the microwave and "cooking" pop tarts in the toaster.) He pushed hard for the pigs in the house. I told him he was welcome to have whatever animal his heart desires but none of them will be allowed to live in the house. He continued on to tell me that pot belly pigs are delicate and NEED to be in the house. All this until one day at the feed store buying horse feed, he saw a pen of baby pigs. He made a bee line over to the feed store worker and said "I see here that you have pot belly pigs. Now, they need to live in the house don't they?" as he glanced over at me smugly. The man replied "NO man! They're PIGS!" as I walked away snickering. After that, there was no more talk of biscuits and pigs. Now he just wants me to let him call me Lori Darling. I won't do that either........

Back to the soup. I found a good recipe for Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup here The Survival Mom.  It was kind of hard to find dutch oven recipes using only canned or dried foods. She has it all figured out already.

And one other thing I KNOW I will have in a box for a dessert is s'mores. We'll have the fire going and a stressful situation calls for a little fun and comfort food. S'mores are easy keepers, just a box of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars.

Have you given thought to "disaster meal kits"? What would yours be?

Apple Crisp

Apple crisp, a photo by mistypearson@rocketmail.com on Flickr.

Okay so Operation Get Buff has taken a horrible, horrible, ugly turn into a dark abyss of misery and despair. I think my new name shall be Fatty McFatterson!!

Okay, so maybe that was a little dramatic. But, doesn't a girl get to be a little overly dramatic on fat days? I think if I were president, I would create a national holiday and it shall be called "Fat Day". Everyone gets to take a day off from work, wear sweatpants all day, and eat cookies! or donuts! Yes. Donuts!

But since I'm not president, and there is no Fat Day, Operation Get Buff is back on. In my attempt to get back on track, last night I made this apple crisp. Yesterday, in north Texas we had the best fall day ever!!! It was dark, cool, and rainy. Yeeee-Haw!! You have no idea how great that is. We just went through the hottest, driest, summer ever in history! It was so hot, I baked cookies on the dash of my truck while I was at work. If you want to read that story, its right here. Dash Cookies.
That cool, fallish weather just begs for something warm from the oven. I made potato soup for dinner. It wasn't super great, so I won't share. I didn't have enough potatoes. I was just using what I had on hand.  The recipe called for bacon, too. I only had 2 pieces of bacon and they were leftover from breakfast. I had to snatch them from Robbie's hand just as he was about to put one in his mouth and yell "NO!" like he's a bad dog that stole food from the table! He yelled, "Hey!!! I wanted bacon!"

Anyway, this post isn't about bacon....or potato soup....or my husband's addiction to food....Soooo...I don't know why I told you all that, except it was funny!!!

Okay, back to the apple crisp. Its not your normal apple crisp, its lighter and more apple-y.
Here's how I made it:

And because I'm all into the health and whatnot, I'm gonna tell you about the organicsness of it all!

2 organic honeycrisp apples, peeled and sliced
1 C oatmeal (of course, organic too!)
1/3 C organic butter
1 packet Stevia
1/4 t apple pie spice

In a bowl, melt the butter. Add the oatmeal, stevia, and spice. Stir to coat the oatmeal.
Place the apple slices in an oven safe dish and then spoon the oatmeal mixture over the top. Bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes until the oatmeal is a little crispy.

That's it!!! Super simple. And if I'd thought it about it a little more in advance, I would have whipped up some cream to go on top. But, I thought it was really good!!! In fact, I had two bowls of it.

I know!! seconds aren't really conducive to my Operation Get Buff, but.........I didn't eat 20 cookies so I call it SCORE!!!! :)

Robbie wanted me to tell you that he didn't like it (in fact, I almost ate his too...but I do have at least a little self control).....In fact, when I handed it to him, he said "What's this stuff on top?"
I said "Oatmeal"
He said "I KNEW you were trying to trick me into eating something healthy!! Oatmeal isn't a dessert!"

That's okay. Don't listen to him! He's embraced his fatness.

Next time, I'll have to tell him the oatmeal are "buttery flavor crystals"!

He'll LOVE it!!!! And for the rest of you....Enjoy the buttery flavor crystal apples!

This recipe is submitted into Monday Mania. A real food, recipe carnival. If you want to read more recipes to help you join me in Operation Get Buff, or if you just don't want to be called Fatty McFatterson, then check it out HERE.

Perfect Chocolate Cake

Yesterday, I went to the Pearson family reunion. It was great! I always find family reunions to be interesting. I wish MY family had more reunions. I asked my parents one time why we didn't have them and my dad said "Because nobody in our family can stand each other!!!" He was joking of course. But, still...Family reunions are so much fun. I find all the family history really cool!

Melanie's mom suggested that we all jump in an RV and travel around just crashing family reunions. You know you'd eat really well! And if anyone asks, you just say "I'm with Uncle George's side of the family" Everyone has an Uncle George. Although, in my neck of the woods, maybe an Uncle JC or Cooter, or Bubba, or Joe Dan, or some other 3 named person! :) Either way. I think its the best idea I've ever heard!

Last week I asked Robbie's step-mom if I should bring anything because I knew BBQ was being catered. She said "Some of the ladies bring a dessert. Its up to you." I told Robbie that I didn't know what that means. He looked at me like I'm retarded and said "What do you mean, you don't know what it means? It means 'You're a lady....bring a dessert!'

That's not what it means but I did anyway. I'm glad I did too. There weren't that many desserts, even though there were lots of ladies.
I found this Black Magic Cake on Pinterest and Melanie said she made it and it was easy and delicious. She said it was decadently rich and sweet. So, I made it but decided to make a cream cheese frosting to put on it and it was PERFECT!!!! It went fast too!!! Which is what a lady looks for in a dessert that she brings to a big family function! :)

Here is the recipe:

Cake:
1 3/4C flour
2C sugar
3/4C cocoa
2t baking soda
1t baking powder
1t salt
2 eggs
1C strong coffee, cooled
1C buttermilk
1/2C veg oil
1t real vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan. (I grease the pan and then mix some flour, sugar, and cocoa to flour the pan. I don't like a "floury" cake.)

In a large bowl (I use the same bowl that made the "pan flour", just make sure to dump it all in the pan) combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.

Beat at med speed for 2 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan. It will be thin.

Bake for 30-40min.
If you're using a glass pan, reduce heat to 325 and bake 35-45min.

If you want the link to the cake with the chocolate frosting you can see it Here. Its from a cooking blog called Justapinch.  The picture at the top of this post is from that blog. I didn't think to snap a pic of mine and like I said....It went FAST! I thought about making it again soon just to get the pic but I have soooooo many other things from my Pinterest account that I wanna make and my figure can't handle all that baking at once!! So, you're stuck with this picture. Just imagine how beautiful it is with a cream cheese frosting! :)


 Here is the recipe for the cream cheese frosting:

16 oz cream cheese at room temp
2 sticks butter, softened
3C powdered sugar
3T cream
2t vanilla

In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the sugar and whip to combine. Add the cream and vanilla. Whip about 2 minutes until the frosting is smooth and soft peaks begin to form.

Frost the cooled cake.

Set it down in front of your awed crowd of eaters and stand back. Seriously. Get your hands out of the way quickly before someone jabs a fork into them. Because I'm telling you......It goes FAST!!!! which is what you're really looking for in a cake recipe. :)

An Average Day Of Spouses Together In The Workplace

Do you ever sit around the house or work or wheretheheckever and think how romantic it would be if you and your darling husband had a little business and could build a fortune, an empire, a life, really?

I know deep down, every now and then, you think....'How great would THAT be?'

Or do you wonder if you two lovebirds can pull it off?

Well, I'm going to tell you how great it is. I'm going to give you a glimpse into my day and you can judge for yourself.

Oh, I forgot to tell you this little tidbit. It's crucial to my story, in fact. Without it.....it just sounds like the odd musings of a crazy woman who may or may not have enjoyed a "special brownie". (I didn't by the way...GAH!!!)

Oh yeah! The tidbit....My husband and I own Pearson Pools, your one stop pool shop together. Biz is a teensy bit slow right now being that its now Sept. So, I'm at the store more than usual.

So, here's the glimpse. This....from today.....


Robbie: *making phone calls, working on getting the right parts for the pool builder.*

Me: *on my laptop checking facebook. I already made coffee so I take a well deserved break....Dangit!!! Facebook changed again. Freaking facebook! I have no idea what I'm doing. Okay, work needs to be done anyway.... I think I need some tea*

Robbie: *looking at my computer to see what I'm doing. He tells me we need to log some stuff into the computer for billing.*

Me: Okay! I'll do it in a little bit. (I hate when my son says this by the way. Where did he get THAT from? His dad. Yeah, must be his dad.) Because I'm busy right now doing some very important work and stop looking at my computer! I hate when you monitor me. *continue pinning some freaking awesome stuff on Pinterest*

We get three deliveries all in a row. Because I have to do EVERYTHING, I go and open the back door so they can get in. I continue pinning. Oh yeah! I forgot I had tea!! :)

Robbie: *talking to the drivers, signing invoices, writing checks ( by the way...I didn't get a check...Hey! what am I working for anyways???) making out a deposit for me to take to the bank.*

Me: *I see it.......Oh My Gosh!!! That is the funniest thing I think I've ever seen!!!!! It is a zombie garden gnome covered in blood and one of its little eyeballs is hanging out of its socket! I know...right?? I start snickering.*

Robbie: * In a Charlie Brown grown up voice* Wonh Wonh Wonh, filter...

Me: thinking ' Be cool! He's fixing to get pissed. Don't laugh, Don't laugh...I know, I'll turn around and pretend that I have to go to the bathroom.' So, I do. I turn around to head to the bathroom...I'm halfway there. I'm gonna make it!!! Then...

Robbie: Hey! Did you hear me? Wonh Wonh Wonh filter...

Me: Yes....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  I lost it, Man down, Man down!

Robbie: What the hell??? What are you laughing at?

Me: A bloody gnome! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! *in the bathroom...because I'm still trying to pull that off, laughing so hard, tears have sprung. OMG, that's funny!*

Robbie: Wonh Wonh Wonh *I really have no idea what he's saying. It has something to with me not working or wasting time or some such nonsense.*

Me: *I try hard to play it straight. Okay....I'm focused. No really! I'm trying hard!!!* Okay, I'm listening. What is it? *then......Oh NO! I turn my head and there, staring at me with his one good eye is the bloody gnome! I can't help it! Its right THERE just enticing me to look at him. Again...more giggles. I can't stop.*

Robbie: Oh My God!!! *So he stomps off. Well as much as a man with a cane and a scooter can stomp.*

The scooter is fun too by the way. But, I digress.

Robbie: Okay, I'm going to the bathroom while you do some work. His isn't an act. He really had to go in case you were wondering.

Me: Okay. *so I enter a new customer into the billing program. And........I'm sure I did something else productive. I know I must've. It FELT like I did.....hmmmm....don't worry. I know that I must have worked my ass off. Then, Oh not again! I happen to look over at my laptop........Again...Uncontrollable laughter. Tears streaming down my face. I decide that I've got to shut down my laptop before Robbie gets back or I'm gonna be in real trouble. I'm still trying to pull myself together and Ken the mailman walks in. He asks "What's funny?"

and I'm all "Nothing.....A bloody gnome! BWAHAHAHAHA!" and he's all "WHAAAAAAT?"
and I'm all "Its nothing really. I don't know why it's funny. BWAHAHAHAHA" He wants to see it, but my computer is all shut down and then Robbie scoots up (on. his. scooter. GAH!) and he's all "Its not funny."

Me: Yes, it is. You didn't look at it.

Ken: Its probably irritating when someone else doesn't think its funny too, huh?

Me: No! Its funnier.

Then, they start talking about baseball. The Rangers are up by four in case you were wondering.

At some point in there, I jump in Robbie's lap and we zip around one time on the scooter.

Okay. I have to get some work done. I leave and clean a couple pools. I won't bore you with the details. I pick up lunch for Robbie, Jake, and me. We have Taco Casa. I only eat frijoles because I've given up sugar. Its going well in case you wondered about that.

I've lost 4 pounds!!!!

Melanie calls the store a million and thirty times because Robbie didn't answer right away. He's all frazzled so I leave to clean more pools.

While I'm driving, I make some phone calls to some peeps about Monavie business. That's going well too in case you were wondering.

And I call Melanie to tell her about the bloody gnome. (even now, it makes me giggle!)

I text her the link with a message to open it. She texts back "Hahahaha"

I clean some pools and on my way back I call Melanie and someone else answers "Melanie's phone." and I'm all "Is Melanie there??" and the unknown answerer says "Shes busy. Are you almost here?"
And I'm like..."What the hell? I don't know where you are....Where are you?" And the unknown answerer says "HERE!!! Are you almost HERE???"

Me:........Is this Robbie?????
Then Melanie says "Hey."

Me: Are you at the store????? Was that Robbie???? OMG! I thought that was Zane! (her son)

Have I mentioned that we've been married for 21 years?

So, I hang up, call Robbie and tell him about the mix up lest he thinks me rude. or nuts. but he probably already thinks I'm nuts.

When I get there, Melanie's in Robbie's scooter working a crossword puzzle while Robbie is playing computer backgammon.

Then, we lock up the store and head home to live happily ever after where I fight with the dvd player all night. However, the dvd player doesn't care if I look at gnomes all day.

Here's a picture of the funniest gnome on the planet. He's quite mischievous. He is a gnome after all.....and a zombie gnome at that. I dont' think there's such a thing as a respectable zombie gnome. Although I'm sure his mother just thinks he's cute. You be the judge....

Whew! What a day!!! I feel like I accomplished quite a bit. It was very PRO-ductive! I did a little pool business, a little Monavie business, a little keeping up with ma homies on facebook, a little blogging, and a little pinning. A full (no, I didn't say a  FOOL) day! And  my honey and I are still alive and well.

That pretty much sums up an average day at Pearson Pools your one stop pool shop. Although, I left out the part where Robbie inserts the word "boobies" every chance he can squeeze it in.

The word, not the....Well, you get it.

disclaimer: No zombies, gnomes, or boobies were hurt in the making of this blog. The zombie gnome is for sale if you'd like to purchase him to welcome folks into your garden or just to have around the table at dinnertime for a low, low price of $49 at this site bloody gnomes R Us

Dash Cookies

Dash Cookies, a photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/50173102@N04/ on Flickr.

Okay, so it's hot here in Texas! I mean REALLY hot!

"Well, you are in Texas!" you say. Yeah, yeah, I know. But, its hotter than normal here. Dry too.
 People say they like dancing in the rain. I always think 'Really????? Why???? That's not fun! Its not romantic either. Its usually young girls who say that. Young girls are dumb. I'm not saying that because I'm old and jealous. Okay, maybe a little but dancing in the rain is just cold and wet. And when you're finished doing that you're hair looks all frizzy. Your makeup is runny, and your clothes are all sticking to you showing all the fat your clothes are supposed to be hiding. Okay, maybe that all only happens to old, jealous ladies and the dumb, young girls look perfectly fine in the rain.
That being said..I think I would LOVE to dance in the rain right now!!! I don't care that it would make me look like crap! I would just be thrilled to have some rain!

I met a lady one time that moved here from Chicago or some other yankee city in May. She said to me "I don't know why you people complain about the heat down here all the time. Its BEAUTIFUL!!!" Okay, so number 1 down here we say ya'll. just fyi. I replied back to her "Welllllll, its beautiful, for sure, right now. But, it really does get hot in August." She just gushed on and on about the beautiful weather and didn't believe it could be anything other than perfect, sunny, May weather.
Then I saw her again in August.........you can rest assured she was singing a whole new tune!!

But, I'm not here to complain about our Texas heat. I'm here to tell you how you can use it to your advantage.

What's that, ladies? Your kids want cookies? You tell them no because it will ruin their teeth and make you fat. But, really, be honest. Who cares about that anyway. You just don't want to go into the kitchen and heat up the house. Its okay, you can be honest, we're all friends here.

Now, I have a fantastic solution!!!! Bake cookies on your dash! In fact, have the kids do it! Maybe you could turn it into some kind of learning thing. I don't know how yet but its fun and easy and actually makes you look forward to a really hot day!

Just take a cookie sheet and some cookie dough. I used the Immaculate Baking chocolate chunk dough, but you could make your own if youre so inclined. Place it on the dash of your vehicle in a sunny location, wrap foil up around the sides and back thereby creating your very own solar oven. Leave them there all day and that evening voila!!!! You have dessert for your family.

The day that I did this little experiment, my husband and I were having dinner with a dear family member.


I brought cookies!

Crappy Crafters

Okay, its Crappy Crafter time!!!

It's Crappy Crafter time!!!!

We started a club about a year and a half ago. We had 2 meetings. Count em 2!!! The first one involved wine and Sue stating that she knew how to make hen aprons. Not cute little aprons with hens on them mind you, but aprons for actual hens to wear...........

She's our president. 

Hey! Don't judge! I told you wine was involved.

mmmmmmmm.......wine........

Anyway. Back my original thought. See the picture above? Isn't it hilarious??? That's where our name idea originally came from.
We laughed and laughed about that for hours. That was another time when more wine was involved. The Crappy Crafters like our wine!

Anyway. Back to my original thought. The Crappy Crafters are coming back to town! Yay!! And we have more wine   fun than ever planned. Our first venture back into the fun is a plant exchange. We're thinking the first SOMETHING of every month will be our meeting day, possibly Friday evenings. Friday evenings seem to be  good times to share bottles of wine!! Yeah, yeah, and do crafts...whatever......

So, if you want to join the wine   fun, ahem, then be thinking about the plant exchange! Look around your yard and pull up whatever weed you think somebody else will want, pot it up and bring it with you! Its gonna be fun!

Crappy Crafting!!!!

EFAs and Skin Moisture

Wow!! 2 entries in one day!!!! Can you believe it?

I'm here at our store, Pearson Pools, your one stop pool shop! *I know, I know...I'll stop.* I'm here after cleaning pools all day because today is opening day of baseball and Robbie the guy who is regularly in this seat has gone home early to watch the Rangers beat the Red Sox. As an aside, I don't really know if the Rangers are beating the Red Sox nor do I honestly care. Don't get me wrong, I want the Rangers to win, but not so much that I feel a need to go HOME to watch them!!!

We have a little tv here and we've offered to mount it and hook it up to cable but he thinks its too much money....Really? Do you know how much money cable costs? No? Then how do you know???

.....what? the fish? Oh....riiiiightttttt... again, I digress. See? I need you to keep me in check otherwise my fishy blog entry turns into a baseball entry. Or was it an entry about the cost of cable? I can't keep up.
So, back to the fish!

I follow Suzanne Sommers blog. She's really smart about nutritional stuff! Who knew, right? I used to think 'She's an actress! What does she know about nutrition??' I thought the same thing about Marilu Henner. As it turns out, they know quite a lot. I was waiting for my son at Boy Scouts one night in the church library. I picked up one of Suzanne's books and was really blown away. So, I'm going to share something she was talking about in her blog. Its about moisturizers.

Apparently, she has a skin care line. Some women were complaining that their aging skin wasn't holding moisture. As it turns out, they were deficient in their omega 3s!!

The point is, if you consume enough of those essential fats your skin will glow. I will tell you that we've noticed that drinking Monavie. Its perfectly balanced omegas 3, 6, and 9. You can also get your omega 3s from fish and fish oil. I recommend the fish as the oil goes rancid really quickly.

Because its your lucky day, I'm going to tell you my favorite way to prepare fish. Its tilapia. I don't know how you feel about tilapia being from China and all. Oh sure, I bet you could find some around here but EVERYTHING comes from China anymore. I kid you not, that I even sprung for a case of expensive, health food store tilapia to get away from those pesky Chinese and would you believe that those came from China as well. So, I'll let you be the judge on that. I just love it! Its very mild and light on the calories.

Here's what ya need:

tilapia fillets
salt
pepper
garlic powder
chile pepper powder seasoning (I use Rudy's Rub, but Emerils is good too)
lemon
olive oil

Turn on the broiler. I cover my broiler  pan with foil so the clean up is a super breeze! place the fillets on the pan and brush each one with olive oil. Sprinkle spices on each fillet to taste and then squeeze lemon all over them. Turn the fillets over and do the same thing to that side. If you don't like spicy leave out the chile powder seasoning. Its super delicious without it too! Put that in the broiler for about 3-4 minutes (till they're not pink) flip them over and cook another 3-4 minutes until they flake with a fork. Boooyah!!All done! How easy is that????

Now, you have a delicious meal for your family that's low in calories and youthful skin all the same time! Now that's some multitasking!

This post is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Fridays. To check out even more healthy suggestions shoot on over there at this website http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-april-1st/ 

Lovin The Lavender!

For this edition of Thursday is Herbs Day, I chose lavender.

Here in North Texas, today, its cold with a slight freezing drizzle. Its a perfect day for cuddling up on the couch with a warm, toasty drink, a blanket, and a good book! I'm not, of course DOING that, but one could. I'm just sayin......

With thoughts of cuddling, my mind drifted to thoughts of relaxation. And for that, lavender is my favorite! Not only that, but it is an absolutely beautiful plant. It makes me think of Old World France or something similarly simple. Not that I've ever actually BEEN to France or that my ultra conservative husband would let me go there, but in my imagination there is lots of lavender....and cream....and butter........Whose up for a quick trip to France???? I'll drive.

Wait.

We'll have to fly.

Oh Well. In the meantime, lets all take a big whiff of lavender, relax and not worry about what they are eating in France.

We have a few pool customers that grow lavender. Its wonderful and beautiful. I have to tell you this, though, one of our customers has this 100 acre ranch. She and her husband owned it. I LOVED it!! It has these original log cabins on the property behind their house. One cabin is used as a barn for the chickens and guineas. The other one was being used as a guest house. In front of the guesthouse cabin, the lady planted beds of lavender in front of it trimmed with red rocks found on the property. It was truly lovely. I used to love walking by it on my to the pool and just run my hands over the top it. The oils from the flowers would adhere to my skin and my hands would smell good for hours. Her husband passed away and she decided that it was all just too much for her to handle by herself. So she sold it to a young German couple who wanted an authentic horse ranch. So, they completely remodeled EVERYTHING!! They changed the siding on the quaint farm house into a cedar and austin stone with a red tin roof. Then, get this.....They tore down the guesthouse cabin and rebuilt a NEW cedar and austin stone guesthouse!! Then....they ripped up all the lavender (I don't know what they did with it. They probably threw it away!) so they could pour a big cement patio in that spot.

Now. It all looks very nice. It looks like the multi-million dollar ranch that it is. HOWEVER, it is now bereft of all its previous charm. Its very sad. But, *sigh* Oh Well. Such is life. We dream of a simple Old World European existence and they dream of big Texas horse ranches!

disclaimer alert!!!!!

I am a Texan! I have horses! I love America! I love big Texas horse ranches! I love boots and cowboy hats! Not stupid Bud and Sissy cowboy clothes but real Texan cowboys! How did my post about lavender turn into a cowboy lovefest???? I love the Dallas Cowboys too! Oh, yeah! and the Texas Rangers!!!

Oh yeah! I remember. I didn't want you to think that I want us to be like the Europeans. Or like when we were kids, 'you're a peein'! HaHa!

Okay, enough of that tomfoolery!!! Back to the lavender! Geesh! I wish ya'll would stop trying to distract me all the time!

Lavender is a wonderful herb that is native to the sunny, mountainous regions of the Mediterranean. So, if you decide to plant some, you'll want it to have really good drainage. Or as my friend Melanie likes to say "It likes dry feet!" meaning that the roots cant be standing in water. I have some planted at my place and my soil is really sandy. The lavender does REALLY well there.

Lavender is used primarily as an oil that is used in soaps, lotions, shampoos etc. It is proven to induce a slight calm, thereby improving sleep, improving mood, reducing anxiety, better concentration, and helping create an overall better sense of well being. It is also found to be anti-viral and can be used in creams to treat minor skin ailments. In one study, those with alopecia ariata (an auto-immune disorder causing hair to fall out) that used a lavender mixture massaged into the scalp had a 70% improvement in hair regrowth over those that didn't use the oil.

Lavender is also edible. My friend Sue uses it frequently to make jellies,  cheesecakes, and even ice cream. Believe me when I  tell you that they are delicious!!

One of my favorite things to do with lavender is use it by the bed to create a nice subtle aroma as I fall asleep. One year, for Christmas, I made eye pillows for my yoga students. It was very easy and I'm going to tell you how I did it.

First, find a fabric that you like. I found a strong, satiny fabric.

Cut the fabric into 2 12" x 6" rectangles. (you can adjust the size to make it bigger or smaller to your preference)

Sew around 3 sides of the rectangle leaving a "short end" open.

Fill the eye pillow 1/2 full with rice. ( you can use just cheap white rice. The rice is good because you can heat it in the microwave and use it as a moist heating pad. It feels wonderful! The rice also gives weight to the eye pillow very inexpensively. You don't need to use a lot of lavender to reap the benefits!)

Then add lavender to the pillow to make it 3/4 filled up.

Hand sew the short end closed.

And voila! all done! Its super easy. It makes a great gift for yourself or anyone else on your list!

If you want to go to a real Texan lavender farm and enjoy some lavender lemonade, or just some peaceful porch sittin' you can go to Lavender Ridge Farms right down the road a ways from my house and pick your very own lavender. They have strawberries in the spring and flowers too!!!!

Here's a link to their farm http://www.lavenderridgefarms.com/

But, I wouldn't do that today! Its really cold out! You should for sure grab a blanket, a book, and warm toasty drink and just cuddle on the couch!!!

Herb Wreath

This is an herb wreath. I did not make this herb wreath, but you can go to this website and purchase it, http://www.organicbouquet.com/p_75/three_herb_wreath.html. However, they are currently sold out of this particular wreath. So I'm going to tell you how to make one of your own.

Why an herb wreath, you ask? Why not?!?!? I reply back at ya! They smell terrific too, by the way!

I did not make one this year because I've been entirely too busy creating an empire. :)
In fact, its December 23 and I JUST decorated the Christmas tree last night. I usually have this done by at least the first weekend in December! But, when an empire needs building, you gotta build. So, I decorated the tree in about 20 minutes.

I used candy!! This is brilliant and you should try this one year. The real beauty part is that when its time to take down all the decorations, there is no need to bring out your boxes and wrap ornaments to be put away. That can take hours or in some of the homes I've been in, days or even weeks!!! All I gotta do is turn my family loose and Ka-BAM!!!!! tree done!!!! :)

Back to the wreath though. All you need is a grapevine wreath, some 24 gauge wire, wire cutters, some pretty ribbon for hanging, and some herbs.

I have to warn you though that the herbs are not cheap. So I made a small wreath to hang in my kitchen. But, I will tell you that I think you could do this year round and the smell is sooooo wonderful. If you have a garden and access to fresh herbs (or tons of money, time, and patience!) you could make a bigger one.

The pictures I've seen of herb wreaths keep each herb together. I do like the one in the picture at the top of this post especially with the peppers in between. But, when I made mine, I used a variety together, like a floral arrangement with only greenery. I used lots of sage and rosemary and added in others like oregano or whatever looks pretty. Cilantro and parsley won't hold up well for very long, though fyi.

Take bundles of herbs and tuck them in to the spaces in the grapevine. Use the wire to attach the herbs to the grapevine, trying to keep the wire hidden and the layer more bundles of herbs all around the wreath. You'll want to layer the leafy parts of the herbs over the stemmy, wired parts of the herbs. Keep moving around the wreath in this fashion until the entire wreath is covered. Then loop the ribbon through the back of the grapevine and tie into a bow on top. And voila!!!! herb wreath complete!

This will continue to smell good for weeks. It will start to wilt though. Once the herbs no longer look good, you can just remove them from the wreath and do it again!

Menu

IMAG0531
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/50173102@N04/

A lot of people think they have no time to eat healthy so they wait until dinnertime and think "Oh crap! what's for dinner? Honey, what sounds good to you?" to which Honey says "I don't know what sounds good to you?" then you say, " I don't care, you pick something." Then Honey says "I don't care either. You know what I like so either just pick something up or make something." Then, because its late and its much easier, you just pick something up on the way home. This conversation comes very easy because its the exact same conversation I've had many, many, many, MANY times!!!!

Except sometimes, I don't say Honey........ :)

Anywhooooo, so what I do is this. I make a menu for the month. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to pull out my planner and list some things my family likes to eat. You'll notice that 4 days are crossed out. That's because its Thanksgiving weekend. I'll either be cooking or not that day and the rest of the weekend I'll be off riding horses with my parents in the Kiamichi mountains of Oklahoma. Woooo Hooooo!!!

This is my actual day planner and my actual menu for the month that I just wrote up. If I don't do this, then I end up having the aforementioned conversation, with or without the use of the word, Honey. You'll notice that a few of the entries have "leftovers" where a dinner option should be. Thats because I know my family by now and I know that they will not eat all of what I prepare and I don't want to waste the leftovers and create extra work for myself by preparing something else when there is still perfectly good food in the fridge.

What you don't see is that I made these plans with my schedule in mind. I know that on Tuesday and Thursday evenings I come home late from teaching yoga. Honey gets a little pissy (can I say pissy? Is the word pissy allowed in the blogging world? Is it like tv where you can't say certain words? I don't think so. And honestly, there really isn't a better word I could use. He really does just get pissy.) when dinner is too late. It's not his fault really. He gets indigestion and heartburn when he eats too late and then goes to bed. Sooo, being the good wife that I am, I prepare meals in the slow cooker on those nights. Monday nights I have Tae Kwon Do, so the same goes for Monday nights. I don't have anything written for Saturdays because its junk food night at our house on Saturday nights.

OH BOY!!!! You have to know about Saturday nights!!! Junk food night is the bribe I use to get my family to eat relatively healthy the rest of the week. It really works but I'm almost sorry that I introduced it. Now, I'm completely shackled to junk food night! Here's another conversation at my house.

"Honey, I'm going out with some friends on Saturday night." To which Honey says, "But.......It's junk food night....You can't go, cause I'll miss junk food night. You know I don't want to miss junk food night." *sigh* Again, sometimes without use of the word Honey.... :)

Also, I don't list breakfast or lunch. Those meals are super easy to "wing it". We usually have cereal, eggs, oatmeal, organic toaster pastries or something for breakfast during the week and a big Sunday breakfast that doesn't need planning. And for lunch we usually just have soup, sandwiches, salads or something. Whatever the mood strikes.

So, now that I have my menu. I will go make a grocery list for the week. Go buy said groceries and I'm all set! Now, I already know what's for dinner and it takes a big load off each evening trying to figure out what I'm gonna feed my family when I'm tired from a very full day of conversations with Honey! Again, sometimes without the use of the word Honey!!! :)

Cuppa Joe

It's Sunday morning. As a funny little side note, I typed Sinday. Hmmmm....wonder if that says something about me? Nah!!

My husband, Robbie, and I along with our teenage son own and operate a swimming pool business. We have a retail store and we also do service work. Its just us and a very, very, very dear friend Melanie working the business. You probably know Melanie. She knows everybdy. I'll have to tell you her story soon. She lost 150# following the Perricone diet. She's kept it off for years too!!

Goodness, I'm easily distracted! I told you all THAT so I could tell you we only have Sundays off. Soooo, I relly relish the quiet Sunday morning with hot cup of tea sitting on our porch. It overlooks our pasture with our horses and trees and a couple of ponds (fyi, we call them tanks, as in stock tanks). Its very peaceful. I'm having tea right now sitting in my favorite chaise by my window listening to the birds while my guys are still asleep.

I used to not like tea. At all. Of any kind. Which is weird being Southern and all. You know we like our sweet tea down here. I always WANTED to like tea. I would buy box after box and keep trying and hating it. I had read that tea is very good for you. PLUS, people on tv who drink tea seem so much more "with it" and peaceful than coffee drinkers. That appealed to my yoga sensibilities.

Meanwhile, I thoroughly enjoy a cup of coffee with cream. One day, on a January morning, I was drinking my coffee flipping through a Yoga Journal magazine and found an article about giving up coffee as a New Year's resolution. There were product reviews and I will tell you that I tried them and they're GOOD! So, I'm going to share with you.

Yerba Mate Royale tea is my favorite tea ever!! Its higher in anti-oxidants than green tea. It can steep for hours and not become bitter. It is sweetened with the stevia leaf right in the bags. It has less caffeine than coffee, cokes, and black tea but more than the amount in green tea.

Cafix is a very good instant coffee substitute. Its naturally caffeine free. It tastes a lot like real coffee but its made from barley, chicory, figs, and beet root. So, I don't know where the coffee flavor comes from but its good. I like to make lattes with it. Take a spoonful of Cafix, a teaspoon of cocoa, a packet or two of stevia, and a splash of cream. Delicious!

Teeccino is good too. Its not instant. You have to brew it. Be sure you read the label on brewing!! You use way less than coffee. My friend brewed it like her regular coffee and it overflowed all over her kitchen. We like to mix it with half caffeine coffee so we get the coffee smell. I've given cups of my "herbal" coffee to some hard core coffee drinkers and they all loved it.

I don't honestly know if coffee is bad or good for us. I've read varying opinions on it. I do know there is a difference in farming in the beans with chemicals and such. So, you decide. I just want to give you a healthy, tasty alternative.

Radical Homemaking

Homemakers in America are under seige! They have been for about the last 40 years. A long time ago, men left the cave and hunted and brought home the bacon while the women gathered berries, tended the fire, and kept the children safe at home. Fast forward thousands of years. Moms are leaving the home to work full time jobs, leaving the children to be raised by strangers then coming home to make dinners, check homework, give baths, and put children to bed. And as a great reward, get up the next morning and repeat the entire process!

How has this improved our society? (insert waiting music here)


Could you think of anything that's improved since the feminist movement? I can't. It occurs to me that for the most part women don't know how to be homemakers. In addition, we're made to feel as if we're not contributing our part to society. I will tell you that I've been married for 20 years. I homeschool, I spent the majority of those years at home. Until just recently, I too struggled with feelings of "being lazy" because I didn't work outside the home. I recently had an epiphany. Its because we're TAUGHT to feel that way! We're being brainwashed by the public school system, tv, & government. I own a business with my husband where I work at least 40 hours a week. So this isn't just a homemaker ranting about being unappreciated.

This is about people who have lost the basic skills that truly make home where the heart is. Now THAT'S utopia!! The liberals got it all wrong. They want to transform our country into a forced utopian society where everyone goes out, works, contributes, and gets equal pay.

Home is where you're supposed to be able to renew and restore the spirit. How can that be if no one is there to welcome you home? How can your soul be nourished if you don't have good, warm food in your belly? A good friend of mine recently told her future daughter-in-law that the mom is not the head of the family. The mom is the HEART of the family! How can mom do that if she's in need of restitution herself? I'll tell you. She can't!

There are women out there at home raising their children, growing food in gardens, sewing buttons, and putting home cooked meals on the family table, and loving their husbands even when they are occassionally unlovable. Applause, Applause!! Good job! There are also women who desperately want that but truly don't know how to get it. Ask someone who is doing it! Dont ask anyone else. They are right there with you and they will tell you that you should leave your husband because you're too good for him. You're not. Unless he's violent, then of course, you ARE too good for him, so get out! Now! Otherwise, we all have faults. Then, there are a few women, some in powerful positions, who sneer at those of us who place God, and family over wealth, status symbols, and prestigious jobs.

I applaud the radical homemakers!