Stuff I do...

Here's some slideshows that explain stuff I do and stuff I make...

Easy Peasy Cookies

One box cake mix (pick your fave flavor)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened (i.e., one stick)

1 egg

Mix everything together till nicely blended.

Split dough in half, wrap in saran wrap and chill in fridge...an hour is good.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, flour or powdered sugar an area to roll the dough out, or get a couple sheets of wax paper or parchment paper and roll the dough out between them for less to clean up.

Roll it to 1/4 in thick and then cut out into shapes, decorate them with sprinkles if you want at this point, and then bake on a cookie sheet for 7 to 9 minutes depending on your oven.

You can ice them after cooling and put decorations on afterwards if you prefer.

Feelin' nasty

Hopin' I feel better soon.

Bugs

I have read this verse many times...

"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm
my great army that I sent among you
Joel 2:25 (NIV)

and I read it with great hope, hope for restoration after so many stresses especially of the past two years.

But I didn't really focus much on this other verse in the chapter before this...

What the locust swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left
other locusts have eaten.

Joel 1:4 (New International Version)

Yeah buddy, as they say in the South, that is where we are at!

That doesn't sound like a great spiritual tidbit to chew on but it makes me realize that yes, God does understand the massive stress and seeming abandonment we have felt, and is promising to restore us. I'll take that...and grab ahold of it with a fierce grip.

"Wash Me" taken to a whole new level

Take a filthy dirty car window. Usually you'd scrawl a request for water and soap. This guy has a whole different, much more creative, idea...

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...:-)