Easy peasy pumpkin muffins...

One white or yellow cake mix
One can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, just straight pumpkin).

I used the splenda reduced sugar cake mix and it worked fine.
I also added powdered ginger, freshly ground cinnamon, a dash of powdered cloves and allspice.
I added three T flaxseed meal for nutritional value and fiber, but obviously you don't have to.
Also, i would think that chopped nuts would be really nice, as would dried cranberries, cherries, raisins, or other similar ideas.

Mix together...batter will be quite thick.
Makes 18 muffins.

Bake at 350 for 15ish minutes.

Can't get much easier than that... *L*

This is also an extremely cheap recipe. If you bought the items from Aldi I think you would be hard pressed to spend more than around ten cents per muffin...or thereabouts. Cool!

We're thinking...

...that kiddo broke their hand. They punched a bowling ball (like usual) at the bowling alley, it's not normal but it's normal for them, ya know? It's par for the course to act up at the bowling alley if things aren't going well. Pounding the table, bowling balls, ball return, it's all stuff we're used to seeing. However, the kiddo seems to be in quite a bit of discomfort and then would only bowl a couple games during the "bowl for three hours for really cheap" special at the alley, complaining of pain.

Hope kiddo's mom gets it xrayed. Sure wish I could do something about it. Their neck is in a lot of pain too, hope eating pain pills is not the extent of the "treatment" for that...so far that's all there is on that one. Arrgh. Kiddo got hurt the other day, can't really go into it here, but kiddo did not have anything to do with it happening to our knowledge. Lots of stress...so what else is new? :-)

Anyone else need this post?

If you know me you'll know why I have linked to this post... ;-)

You'll even know why I linked to this one too... ;-P

Sushi Tutorial

"A Fridge Full of Food" (see link on side) posted a nifty sushi tutorial. I think I'll try this one more time...Thanks to this...

Tonight's potluck

...was moved to last night. Actually, our small group cooked and served the evening meal for a homeless shelter for families last night. We did a taco bar...we really try to stay away from spaghetti and lasagna because we know they get served those meals ad nauseaum.

I brought the rice and beans. I got some nice comments on the spanish rice. This is a variation of a recipe from simply recipes that is more kid friendly. I mean, what kid is willing to get chopped up onions and tomato pieces in their rice? Unfortunately, not that many, so here's my variation. Very inexpensive and tasty. The recipe doubles easily but if you need to feed a large crowd cook several double batches because a double batch is about all that will fit in a conventional cook's large pot at home. Now if you have a huge pot, all bets are off!

Spanish Rice

a few glugs of olive oil
2 cups of white rice
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Three Cups chicken stock (I used that nice concentrated stock paste, but bouillon or canned broth would probably be just ducky, watch the salt content, though...)
A scant cup of canned crushed tomatoes
A little oregano
Salt if needed/desired

In a large skillet brown the rice in olive oil on medium or high heat. Add the onion and garlic powders. Cook a little while to make sure the rice gets nice and toasted. This is important for the flavor.

In a sauce pan bring the stock to a simmer and add the tomatoes, oregano, and salt if needed. Add the rice to the broth. Bring to a simmer and then cover, lower the heat, and cook 15-25 minutes (based on the length of time your rice package says to cook the rice). Then turn off the heat and let the rice sit, covered, for 5-10 min.

Easy peasy!

Brush with fashion greatness

After my dentist appt (yay! no work needed beyond my cleaning!!!--that's a good one for me), I went to an uppity fabric store I hadn't yet visited. Fortunately there wasn't anything I absolutely had to have at that point, because it was up to $29.98 a yard for some stuff, and more for others. They had nifty patterns though.

I saw the great Manuel checking out...with a handler or assistant. That was kinda cool. Here's more about him...

But hey, par for the course in Nashvegas. I've worked with, sat by, shopped alongside, went to cross country meets week after week, with stars or folks who ended up being superstars, or their wives or exwives. Heck, even a very famous NASCAR driver.

And here in the Music City, we leave 'em alone. It's an unwritten rule. And I like it that way. They're off the road, they're at home relaxing or seeing their family, and that's how it oughta be.

I hear Nicole Kidman, known around here as "that Australian lady married to Keith Urban" (ha!) likes shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond in Cool Springs, and hanging out at Bread and Company in Green Hills. Apparently Keith and Nicole decided their main base oughta be here and just bought a bunch of land or a farm or something.

I just hope people continue to leave them the heck alone. You KNOW I will...

Hmmmm

All I can say is, it doesn't seem to get any easier, a big situation has happened we're dealing with. That's all I can say now. We had nothing to do with it, but we are dealing with it. That is a familiar situation. Not to sound corny, but I just keep asking God to take care of it and to help me have lots of joy anyway...:-)

Market

Guess I never posted about market. I try to cobble as many sales together as I can, but it is difficult with hardly anyone there. Three vendors just GAVE me stuff this week...that's a record. They hadn't been able to sell it. Of course I gifted them with some cucumber soap in return...

So many vendors have little to sell because of the drought. And it's too hot to sell scarves...and it's October! If there isn't a cold snap soon I won't sell them at all, crap...

Jekyll and Hyde, as "normal" (but it's not normal!)...

Yesterday morning I picked kiddo up at their abode to take them to school. Kiddo was pleasant, conversant, witty, nice to be around. Asking them a question invoked a response, rather than an outburst of loud and angry "I don't knows" or simmering rage. In this situation, kiddo makes me think "yeah, this kid really needs to be in a better school, and they could handle it."

But I know better.

After school the more predictable rages came again. This is "normal" for kiddo, but it's not normal in real life. A gentle question will get a "I don't know" in rage or a completely frustrated kid. I expect teenage angst, but this ain't it.

As I dropped kiddo off, they opened a zippered cooler to put a couple wrappers in it so they wouldn't be on the floor of the car (I didn't ask kiddo to to this, they just did.) The zipper didn't open easily so kiddo angrily attempted to basically rip the zipper open, trembling and raging. Somehow kiddo managed to knock a number of other things on the floor too, including my cell phone.

Told you, I know better. The second example is pretty much standard for this poor kid. Please, Lord, help kiddo get the help they need. They deserve it, and with health insurance it is easy to get now (kiddo's copayments are between $3 and $5, not exactly overwhelming...hell, I'LL pay 'em!) Sorry for the outburst. Lord, please deal with my unbelief, I still believe.

Tonight's potluck

In the refrigerator, there was leftover chicken, a couple turkey drumsticks, some celery, carrots, and some onion.

Sounds like a noodle soup waiting to happen.

So I put it in a large pot, added some water, some of that lovely chicken base (essentially evaporated / concentrated chicken stock), quartered an onion, cut up a few carrots, grabbed all the celery leaves and a couple of ribs and cut them up, and added bay leaves, parsley, italian seasoning, freshly ground pepper, and some of that light salt (hey, gotta control the salt around here). The turkey drumsticks and leftover chicken pieces are also simmering merrily.

Around lunch time or so (maybe earlier) I will cool it and take out any good pieces of meat, and put the broth in a large container and put it in the fridge. I'll come back after the school run and skim off the fat, and add some cut up carrots and celery, and diced onion, and I think a little lemon juice (which seems to be prevalent in most chicken soup recipes I've run across). Then, of course, the noodles.

Whether I like it or not I need to make a whole bunch of spanish rice too. When I asked my next door neighbor vendor at the market for some organic tomatoes and handed him some money, he brought me a huge box of tomatoes. Way more than I paid for. We're doing taco night at the homeless shelter next week, so I volunteered for the rice and beans.

To go with the spanish rice maybe I'll make some borracho beans. I have some lovely borracho bean seasoning direct from Texas, and I think I'll just take some canned beans, rinse them well, and add some of that seasoning and maybe a little beef broth. I have a nifty looking three bean organic bean blend that would look nice, along with some black beans smooshed up a bit. Cheese of course will make it more interesting to folks...so maybe I'll do that.

I have some lovely poblano peppers from another organic grower at the market and I can see them living quite happily in the rice, and in that chile relleno casserole I make (just click "recipes" and you'll see the post with that delicious and cheap recipe).

What would you do with ten grand???

Yesterday at church our pastor asked "what would you do if someone gave you $10,000?" He asked lots of kids to mention what they'd do with such a gift. You heard the video games, etc., kind of answers, but also a couple funny ones...

(14 year old kid) "I'd increase our food budget". (both he and his brother look well fed) ;-)

(13ish year old kid with nine, count 'em, NINE siblings) "I'd get my own apartment."

Me, I'd buy a fridge, fix my roof, and keep on helpin' kiddo. Oh, and I would like a vacation for Christmas, Mr. Santa... :-)

What would you do?

Save the celebrity children

Click here! :-)