Try this tasty side dish or vegetarian dish

Cook some rice according to directions, but use broth for the water. I used a brown rice blend which I buy in bulk but I think Lundberg Farms sells it...it's a blend of various brown/black/etc. rices and is really good. Then add a can of great northern or cannelli beans that has been rinsed and drained, 1/4 ish cup of pesto (buy it ready made or make your own), and a can of green beans, drained (I used french cut green beans). Top with some parmesan or romano cheese. My hubby even liked it, which was good considering my last experiment (stuffed round zucchini) didn't work as well.

Lightening up southern food

Being a northerner through and through I am not that into southern cooking but am going to try some of these...

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070711/FEATURES02/707110374/1077

We tried this one tonight and the hubs liked it as well as the kiddo...

Wednesday, 07/11/07
CRUNCHY BAKED CHICKEN
¼ cup plain yogurt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
¼ teaspoon Creole seasoning
4 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup corn flakes, crushed
1. Combine yogurt, parsley and seasoning in a small bowl. Brush the chicken with the yogurt mixture and dredge each piece in the cereal. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan.
2. Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
Nutrition information: 304 calories, 2g fat, 103 mg cholesterol, 550 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrates
— FROM MISS DAISY'S HEALTHY SOUTHERN COOKING BY DAISY KING (CUMBERLAND HOUSE, $18.95)

and there is so much squash available at market maybe this one too...

Wednesday, 07/11/07
MISS DAISY'S SQUASH CASSEROLE
1½ pounds yellow squash, sliced
½ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon reduced-calorie margarine
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ cup skim milk
1/3 cup shredded, reduced-fat mild Cheddar cheese
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/3 cup toasted whole wheat breadcrumbs
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 1½ quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large pot, cook the squash and onion in a small amount of boiling water until tender, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain.
2. In a heavy saucepan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add the milk, stirring until the mixture is thickened. Remove the pan from heat. Add the cheese, salt and pepper, stirring until the cheese melts. Quickly add the green pepper and squash to the cheese mixture. Spoon the squash mixture into the prepared dish. Top with the breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Nutrition information: 81 calories, 81g fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 191 mg sodium, 12 g carbohydrates
— FROM MISS DAISY'S HEALTHY SOUTHERN COOKING
BY DAISY KING (CUMBERLAND HOUSE, $18.95)

More craftiness as usual...

I took hub's twill shorts that were destined for the trash bin because of holes in certain unwearable places and made one of those crazy bags out of them. He was impressed but probably it was only because I doubt he realizes others have made these for a while. ;-) I took some fat quarter fabric and made a loud striped lining for the thing, and used a little pocket from the legs that I had to cut off for a key pocket on the interior of the bag. Rather than add handles like these bags usually get, I took the fabric from the legs and made a long drawstring for the bag. You could either pull the drawstring or pull it in a couple of places and make a shorter pair of handles of sorts. It still needs a little something, though, and I will add that something-or-another before taking a photo. ;- ) It was a little bulky sometimes for my twenty-five year old machine, but hey, it was fun anyway.

waxing philosophical yet again...

A couple somewhat helpful things happened in our lives...I am truly grateful. Not huge in the scheme of things, but whatever happens even on the periphery is great.

Friends are having such a tough time around us as well. One of our friends needs surgery but has no insurance, and their spouse appears to have a recurrent tumor...I'm assuming malignant because the first one was. Here's a time where I wish I'd win the Powerball...not that I play...the lottery is a tax on poor people and anyone else who doesn't understand statistics. At least I can make her an apron...now there's an idea. It's so lame compared to what they need, though.

We have other friends who are making a huge sacrifice for some people who don't really seem to appreciate it. That's all I'm going to say for the sake of their privacy. I see it eating my friends alive, and I know that they are trying their best to serve God in the midst of it. It isn't readily apparent to me if the situation is going very well, but it doesn't seem to be. Other than point them to as many community and government resources as possible, there isn't a lot we can do as we are maxed out helping the kiddo and the others in our families.

This is probably a really good situation to be in, as we rarely lose sight of the fact that God has to show up for anything substantive to be done. There is little or no confusion about this. We known darned well we're at the end of our ropes, and there is strength in knowing that. Yeah, I still am way overdoing it, but I know I can't fix pretty much any of the tough situations we're in...we have to do what we can (which is virtually nothing in the grand scheme of things, it seems) and let God do the rest (which really at the end of the day is everything).
Anyway, just a couple examples of people we love, but can't really help.

We had a very good market yesterday. Changed the layout a little and it worked like a charm. Hubs and I were pretty busy taking money from people most of the morning. Very grateful for the sales! Did wear me out though..the adrenaline of selling a good amount of stuff kept us both going and after that I was quite tired. I'm still feeling punky and have been for a while. Perhaps it's just that "extreme caregiving" has tired me out. Now's the time to nurture myself. Period. Rest and healthful stuff...that's my plan.

Why the heck do I make these things...

If you had told me a few years ago that my world would be reduced to loving God and my hubby, driving someone else's kid around in circles--steadily depleting my bank accounts for that privilege, and working on my microbusiness including making crazy aprons, I would have thought you were crazy, but yet here I am. My life was way different before all this kiddo stuff happened...*L*.

Why do I make stuff? Well, in my case, I have a steady outlet to sell it as I do farmer's markets and shows and do some wholesale as well as an antique mall space. But at the present time I do believe there is more to it, and perhaps it will help you as well so here goes.

Seems like I am making stuff right now to have some order and sense in my life. So many outside forces are pushing really hard on hubs and I, and so much of it is in seemingly utter disarray without much we can realistically do about it. (Although I know God is working somehow and maybe I can't really see what is happening...doesn't feel like anything good is happening, but hey, I am pretty limited in my perspective.) So perhaps creating stuff gives some semblance of control or completion in the midst of what seems to be mostly other people's chaos we have to live with..

So now that I've pontificated...the apron for today. I have a weakness for denim remnants, even the ugly ones. And this one was ugly when I got it. Deep blue, very stiff, no real character. Denim is so darned useful but why in the heck did this one make it home? Insanity, perhaps.

Well, I threw it in the washer and randomly splashed bleach on it, then washed in hot water. Then did that over a couple of times. Ended up with this (I think) groovy looking denim. Made some bias tape to jazz it up. Learned yet again (relearned) that really firm denim doesn't gather...so just randomly hand pleated it, very loosely. The final effect looks pretty decent, I think...

Star Spangled Apron

Ruffly ruffly goodness.

Baby afghan of sorts...

Making baby afghans always seemed a little nonsensical to me. After all, the kid is little for only a small time, and then what? Store the afghan in a closet somewhere? I dunno. I'm not diametrically opposed to making them, but the logic isn't there for me somethow.

So here is my take on a baby afghan circa July 07. This little girl will be coming into a family with four, count 'em, FOUR big brothers. I figure that quite soon she will be a toddler, and might want her own bright, cheery, blankie to drag around. So here is the bright thingie I whipped up.

Somehow I think the "afghan to use up your leftover yarn" is a figment of one's imagination. Inevitably I run out of something or another, and have to go out and buy more yarn. Don't be alarmed, you dyelot people--I check dyelots too, but we're just talking Super Saver here. If I'm thinking this little girl is going to drag this thing around, it is for darn sure going to be virtually indestructible and machine washable.

I like modular afghans, because I sit and wait a lot. Wait in a car for a kid to show up, sit in waiting rooms, etc. Working on a hot afghan in the summer when you have to drag the whole thing with you gets wild as you near the end. But of course weaving in the ends is a major hemorrhoid. Maybe I'll split the difference and do a mile a minute next time. ;-)

Mandy Wandy again, she only shows up every time I try to take a picture of stuff, I swear. ;-)

The core circles are from a pattern book called "Vanna White's Favorite Crochet Gifts". I know, I know, Vanna White, but gimme a break--even if there are photos of her on nearly every other page *egads*, there are nice patterns in the book. The circles are from an afghan pattern called "Amish Tribute" or something like that. I have already made a complete afghan in that pattern so this time I just connected circles without making them into squares and did a border. Give the book at least a looksee, don't dismiss it just because Vanna's in it. I know, I know, that's highly questionable, but the patterns ARE good.

Welcome respite...

Took kiddo to lunch after class to celebrate the A. The rage and anger was gone for a little while and they could carry on a good conversation...busily talking about the creative things they are starting again. Kiddo's a creative writer with a significant vocabulary, who can whip up poetry way beyond their years in the matter of minutes. You can tell it must have been rolling around in their tortured soul for quite a while because it comes out so quickly and often so fully formed. Kiddo's also a talented photographer (at least on the small scale they're able to do so, with no digital camera), and a decent visual artist. Kiddo's so low and so rage filled, with brief periods of sunlight/conversation/rational speech peeking through. The rages are so frequent and so hard to live through. Kiddo needs help and I so wish I could give what is needed. You have no idea how much I wish I could do it...I would rather have whatever is such a psychiatric nightmare so kiddo didn't have to.

Cool stuff quoted by Jim Elliot somewhere or another

http://grace-ed.org/blog/archives/102

http://www.crossroad.to/Victory/poems/amy_carmichael/no-scar.htm

Gut Punch #3

I will survive!!!!

arrgh

Feeling lousy, lousy, lousy. Hopefully will feel better soon.