Happy new year every one . May your new year be fulled with Blessing, Happiness, and Love.

My second best Kitchen friend

 My BFF Heidi  gave me this Vacuum Sealer for Christmas. It is fastly becoming my second best kitchen friend. Sorry nothing bets my Kitchen-Aid, But it's right up there. I love it. Its so compact I can leave it on the counter.  A bag holder fit on to the side. No more looking all over the kitchen for them. The cord is out in the picture. But it can hide in the back of the machine. I so love it. I even made extra for dinner last night and vacuumed it for my husbands lunches. I plan on making meals and vacuuming them for future meal when times are busy. Ok, maybe I am getting carried away. But it,s so cool. No more having to get the big one out of the storage area in the garage.

It does a great job. ( I had to get this out of the freezer to show you.) You put your food in ,then zip the top shut. Put the hand held handle on the circle. Turn it on and it does it's thing.  It shuts it self off when the air is gone. Fool proof  for people like me. You can get them on the internet at www. vaccumsaver.com  I think Heidi is tired of me telling her how much I love this gift.But again it;s so cool!

I found these Ziploc bags at K-Mart. They work great with the Vacuum Sealer. They come in quart and gallon size. Now I won't have to order off the web when I run out.I am so happy! Isn't it amazing what makes me happy. Not money, just bags.  Something is wrong with me

Whats this

Whats this ! Grandma is upstairs ,time to check this out.It's white and soft.

This taste good. I wonder what Grandma was cooking. Where did she put it?

This looks good . Can I get the stuff off the sides.

What! You were done with it anyway!

Ok , that didn't work. Act  innocent.

Post problems

Had to change my background and delete some of my post to try to fix my blog. It was only showing two post at a time. Hopefully it fixed the problem. I will be adding two more post to check it out.

Up date on Sabrina.

 I was going to write a post on my trip to Solvang. But I got so may wonderful comments on Sabrina and her health that I decided to up date everyone. Some times after having a seizure  Sabrina loses her memory. That was the case this time. It lasted about a day and a half. She didn't answer to her name. She acted as if she didn't know who we were. She is kinda  back to normal  now. Don't worry this one is not bad. It's sweet and cute. While in the possession of her old owner, he breed her while she was still  a young puppy and constantly bred her. Since we have gotten her we have not breed her. The first time she came in heat we keep an eye on her. Every thing went well. About the time the puppies would be born, she stole my daughter's stuffed cat. She would clean it ,carry it every where, and put it to her belly like she was feeding it.If you came near her ,she would put her paw on the cat to protect it. The only problem was she use to attack our other dog Tanna ( if she got near her and her baby.) Tanna has learned not to get to close.  And Sabrina now trust us and Tanna a lot more. No more attacks and we can pick up her baby.She follows us and waits for use to give it back. After about three weeks she will hide her baby till next time then bring it out. My daughter finally found her cat and hide it from Sabrina ( A dear friend gave her the cat) So we bought a few new stuffed animals for Sabrina. She picked the stuffed bear.  She has had the bear for two years now. She is still cleaning and trying to feed it. I guess we should give it a name. If you have any ideas for a name let us know. Thank you everyone for your prays and kind comments.

Sabrina,s bad night.

This is are dog Sabrina, Before I talk about her bad night, I need to give you a little back ground on her.  A man was selling her in front of Albertson. I thought She was pretty,but I already had a dog and two cats.So I had no plans to buy her. Especially for 2 hundred dollars! As we walk into Albertson I saw the boy holding her leash hit the dog in the face. When we came out she was cowering from people.  The boy then kicked her in the side.Not real hard ,but still it made me mad. I couldn't leave the dog there and walk away. So we told him we would buy the dog as long as it didn't attack our cats. He brought the dog to our house. She ran right into our house. She didn't bother our cats and Tana our dog started playing with her. So we bought  her. As they were getting ready to leave I told the father about the boy hitting and kicking the dog. He said boys will be boys. I had plan to find her a good home. I am sure you guessed it, that we're her new home. We cleaned her up and took her to the vet. A few nights later she had a seizure.  We made her an appointment at the vets. She had two more before her appointment. We found out she was beat bad enough ,that it could of caused the seizures. We have had her on meds for the past two years. She has one about once every 3 months. But tonight she had 5 in a row. I stayed with her and petted her head and tried to keep her calm. We have gone thru this before. But they were really bad this time. I was so afraid we would lose her. The vet warned us that she could die from them if they are real several. I know this is bad ! But I really want the old owner to have to go thru a seizure. Just to see what she has to go thru.  We found out she was chained and used only for breeding. The old owner was also abusing her On one final note He showed up about a year ago. He had the nerve to hint that we should of paid more for her. 

I know it sounds weird to ask people to pray for a dog,but we really love her.She is part of our family.

FLeece Throw

Finally got my husbands throw done. It only took me a year. He probably gave up on ever getting it. It's great to cuddle under with the winter weather coming. The two layers make it really soft and warm.I made one a while back with three layers. That one is heavy and great for the
bed.
These quilts are easy to make. Just cut 10 inch squares. the amount depends on how big you want it.( I did 7 rows across and 10 rows down for my husbands.)
For a two layer quilt just put wrong sides together and sew an x across the square. For three layers put a 10 inch piece of filler fleece in the middle. ( just a cheap piece of white or cream fleece.) Sew the x across the square.  Arrange the squares the way you want them to look. Sew a 1/2 inch seam to join them.Make sure to number your rolls.That way you won't lose track of where you want them. After all your rolls are sewn together. Clip your 1/2 inch seam with scissors just till you get close to sew line. ( Don't cut sew line.) Then wash at laundromat! Do not use your machine! The cut fleece will ruffle up ,leaving a lot of loose threads.  Dry and enjoy. The quilt will shrink a little. Almost forgot unlike other quilts do not wash your fabric first.

 I used outdoor fabric. There is a lot of great choice out there. One more good thing about it,is it's reversible. 

Maukie the virtual cat ( my new toy )

  This is a picture of my daughters cat. But I couldn't find the right picture and it wouldn't let me copy the picture of the widget. The widget I am talking about is the cat on the left column. If you run your mouse around him he will follow it. I have played with it every time I get on my blog.  I am guilty of getting on just to play with him. Hey, what can I say I am a kid at heart. It never hurts to feel young again. Thanks to Kathy I learned he purrs when you rub his belly with the mouse. SO CUTE! I just found out that if you run the mouse slowly between his eyes he MEOWS. Who knows what I will find next?

Best Turkey I have ever had!

 Went to my friend Heidi"s house for Thanksgiving. She found a brine recipe for turkey. That is out of this world. It had so much favor and so, so moist.. She did make a few changes to the recipe, that put it over the top. I am stealing that recipe. She posted it to her blog.  http://mysimplecountryliving.blogspot.com  But here is her secret Yes Heidi I.am giving it away..( for the good of mankind and it's stomach..) Add twice the amount of brown sugar that you add of salt. So if the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of salt, you add 1 cup of brown sugar..  She made 3 turkeys. All a little different ,but all every good.  Every thing was great I think I gained 10 pounds in one night, but it was so worth it!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

This is one of my favorite cookie recipes. My girls don't like raisins  so I had to come up with something different to add to it. The chips work so well that we make these a lot more often then we use to.

1 stick of butter softened, 3/4 cup of firmly packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon , 1/8 teaspoon of salt, 3 cup oats.1 bag of Hershey Cinnamon Chips

Heat oven to 350 In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars together till creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well. Add the oats and mix. Add the chips but mix with a spoon as not to break up the chips. Cook on ungreased cookie sheet till done. 8 to 10 min. You want then lightly golden brown. Cool for one minute.  You want them lightly golden brown. they will still cook a little as they cool.

Reeses Peanut Butter Cake

 Now that it's cooler I am in a baking mood. With the holidays around the corner,I thought I would try new things. This not only looks good,but people will think you got it from a fancy bakery. The great thing is it's fast and easy. My favorite way to cook

                                                                         RECIPE

One chocolate cake mix.

One package of chocolate pudding.

One jar of vanilla frosting
Three and a half tablespoons of creamy peanut butter

A bag of mini Reese's  Peanut Butter Cups. chopped up

Add the pudding and cake mix together. Follow the directions on the box to cook it.Let the cake cool. Mix the vanilla frosting with the peanut butter. Frost the cake. Then sprinkle the chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cup on top . If you want it to look fancier. Instead of chopping the peanut butter cup up arrange them on top.

mashed sweet potatos

 

This is a family recipe. We always had these at Thanksgiving, when I was growing up .I still make them today

.

RECIPE

3 large cans of sweet potato (drained)

1 package of cream cheese ( room temp

1 can crushed pineapple.( drained and juice squeezed out)

Put all the ingredients in to a mixing bowl and whip up together

Put the sweet potatoes in a baking pan and cook at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes till hot.

                                                                                          

   

Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies

                              

With Christmas on it way I thought now would be a good time to repost this. It was first posted about a year ago when I had only 45 followers. So hopefully this will be new to some of you.

                             Cranbeery choclate chip cookie gift jar

                     Ingredient

• 5/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Layer the ingredients in a 1 quart or 1 liter jar, in the order listed.
2. Attach a tag with the following instructions: Cranberry White chocolate cookies 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy. Add the entire jar of ingredients, and mix together by hand until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. 3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheets, or remove to cool on wire racks.

 I found this recipe on all recipe .com  I love it!

Disappearing Chicken.

 Had a lovely evening at my friend Heidi's house. Around 10 pm I went home and had to put the chickens up. Because of the wild life around I always count them. I know I only have 5, but this night I had 4.  I check around the hen house since their fenced in.  Nope. I called Heidi for help. So here we were with flash lights walking the neighborhood looking for a black chicken  Of cause we were calling it. Like it was just going to walk right up to us, because it heard us. Right! After about a half an hour we gave up and Heidi went home. I decided to do one last check around the hen house. Only to get the crap scared out of me. Something lightly touched my head.Okay yes it sent me running. ( I am only human.) After I was done freaking out. I looked to see what had touched me. There she was, my chicken up in the tree. Do you think it might be time to clip her wings again?

I am learning new things all the time. Like when to cut their wings. I am new to raising chicken,hence the reason for only 5. I stated when our friends Mirian and Jim were building a new hen house and asked if we would like the old one and some hens. I have wanted chickens for a while so a cause I said yes. My husband was a little surprise to come home to a hen house and hens in a make shift fence. But he grow to love them and build them a great area. But we will see how long it last if, they keep disappearing.

Chile Relleno and Chimis

My husband loves Chile Relleno. So I finally tried making them. I was really lucky, they turned out great the first try. The red sauce is from Heidi's blog My Simple Country Living. ( the button to it is on my blog too.)  It's great having a BFF who  also cooks.

These are the Chile Rellenos before the sauce and cheese. I used the poblanos from my garden. I roasted them, then peeled the skin off. Sliced them open then I devained and seeded them.  I stuffed them with cheese. Used a toothpick to help hold them together. Rolled in flour. Wait 5 minutes before dipping in egg mixture. Then deep fry.  This was a little hard. I finally put a spoon full of egg mixture in the oil then laid the pepper on top. Then spooned egg mixture on top and flipped. Be warned the mixture does spread out a little.

The egg mixture

3 egg whites beaten till fluffy peaks. then fold in the 3 yolks. Dip peppers in and fry.

These are my Chimis. I just cook up some hamburger added taco seasoning, sauce, and refried beans. I put a big spoon full in a flour tortillas rolled them and deep fried. I know,I know, not a healthy meal. But ohhhhh, so good.

I have linked this post to Deborah Jean's Dandelion House- 

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop!

& 

My Simple Country Living's

 Fall Harvest Blog Hop!

Check them out!

How Miss Priss got her name.

This is the story of how Miss Priss got her name. About a year ago I talked my husband into getting chicken.We were fortunate that our Friend had build a new bigger hen house. So we were offer the old one. With a little paint it was like brand new.We added a dog run to it.We have raccoons and coyotes,so we have to lock then up at night. We have a movable fence attached to the dog run  for the day time,for running room.

They also gave us 5 grown chickens. I am so blessed to have them as friends. My neighbors also have chicken and asked what I was going to name them. I had no intention of naming them. To me they were chickens not pets. It,s amazing how thing change in a year. Everything was going great,till the black one started  wanting to lay on the eggs. If you push her out of the nest she would get so mad. Since she couldn't attack me she would torment the other chickens. I in turn would chase her a way from the others. Me yelling at her and her with her feathers all fluffed up. My husband thinks I have  lost my mind. He said just leave them alone and they will work it out. I still have to push her out of the nest 2 or 3 times a day. But I stop chasing her when she goes after the other girls, since I caught my neighbor Ruth Ann laughing her head off. 

Ladies and Gentlemen may I introduce you to Miss Priss. Believe me she has earned that name.

My other girls are so sweet.

I had just kick her out of the nest.As you can see she has her feathers all fluffed out.And as you notice the other chicken are keeping thier distance. Miss Priss fits her well.

Where our food comes from. Worth the read.

George Houghtby's Photos

‎(ALWAYS READ THE LABELS ON THE FOODS YOU BUY--NO MATTER WHAT THE FRONT OF THE B...OX OR PACKAGE SAYS, TURN IT OVER AND READ THE BACK---CAREFULLY!
With all the food and pet products now coming from China , it is best to make sure you read label at the grocery store and especially Walmart when buying food products.
Many products no longer show where they were made, only give where the distributor is located.
It is important to read the bar code to track it's origin.
How to read Bar Codes .... interesting!
This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you.
GREAT WAY TO "BUY USA & CANADA " AND NOT FROM CHINA!!

The whole world is concerned about China-made "black hearted goods".
Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ?

If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA.
471 is Made in Taiwan .
This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the
public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.

Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA ", so they don't show from which country it is made.

However, you may now refer to the barcode - remember if the first 3 digits are:

690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA
00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 FRANCE
40 - 44 GERMANY
471 .... Taiwan
49 ... JAPAN
50 ... UK

BUY USA & CANADIAN MADE by watching for "0" at the beginning of the number.
We need every boost we can get! Pass this on to everybody on your E-Mail Contact List!! )See More

By: George Houghtby

Quick and Easy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Now that the weather has gotten cold I am in the mood for soup. A while back I wanted soup in a hurry,and came up with this recipe. I always have left over chicken in the freezer which really makes it quick and delicious.

This is all you need, well plus chicken. If you only need soup for two to three people just use one of each and 1  cup of water and one large chicken breast. For a large pot use two of each and 1  1/2 to 2  cup of water. Two large breast. The type or amount of chicken can vary to your taste.  Cook the chicken . Take skin off and put in stock pot add other ingredients and cook on simmer for 20 minutes . If you want it a little thinner add water. There is plenty of flavor,so you don't have to worry about losing flavor with the water. My family loves the recipe. We make it a lot. 

Mincemeat Cookies

I really love these cookies,which is funny,because I really dislike Mincemeat pie.

1 cup shorting,   1 1/2 cups sugar,   3eggs,   3 cups flour,   1tsp baking soda..   1/2 tsp salt    1 (90z) box of condensed Mincemeat Crumbled.

This is the Mincemeat I use. Make sure to use the box . The jar Mincemeat is to wet. The cookies are to soft and fall apart. Preheat the oven to 375.In a mixing bowl mix the shorting and sugar together until fluffy.Add the eggs ,mix well. Mix the dry ingredient together,,add to the shorting mixture.Mix well. Stir in the Mincemeat. Drop by spoon full onto a greased cookie sheet 2 inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

carrot cake jam

This is great on toast with cream cheese.

2 cups finely shredded carrots,1 cup ( 1 med. pear) peeled and finely chopped,1 can ( 15oz) of crushed pineapple with juice, 2 tbl lemon juice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 package of powdered fruit pectin, 4 cups sugar 2 cups brown sugar ,1 tsp vanilla.

In a 6 quart heavy pot combine carrots,pear,pineapple with the juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat , cover and simmer for 20 minutes stirring frequently . You don't want it to stick.Add pectin and stir till dissolved. Bring mixture to boiling stirring constantly.Add both sugars. Return to a rolling boil,boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam, then add vanilla. Ladle into hot clean half pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rim of jars. ( it won't seal if the rim is dirty.) Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes.(make sure there is a inch of water over the top of the lids.) Start timing after the water returns to a boil. Makes 6 to 7 jars.

Tips

It works better if you skim with a metal spoon. You can add raisins if you like. I don't, my girls don't like them. Your jam will look darker then the picture.For some reason it turn out lighter in the picture. 

THE MIGHTY BEEF SANDWICH

The Mighty Beef Sandwich

         2 to 3 cube steaks,  6 tablespoons of butter, 1 large onion, 4 large mushrooms, season salt, garlic powder, and black pepper, 9 to 10 dashes of Worcestershire's sauce, hot sauce( As to your taste. I use 4 dashes) and hogie buns.

Cut your mushrooms and onions. Put two tablespoons of butter in the pan. When melted add the onions and mushrooms. Cook over low med. heat till the onions are translucent. Then raise the heat to caramelise the onions and mushroom. Remove from the pan and place in bowl for later.

Cut your cube steaks  against the grain of the meat into strips or bite size pieces if you like. Sprinkle with the season salt ,garlic powder and pepper. Place in the pan that you took the onions and mushrooms out of . Add 4 tablespoons of butter Cook over med heat till done.( don't over cook it or it could become tough . )                                                                                                                                     

I know not a good picture, Sorry. My other picture won't post.  

 Add back to the pan the onions and mushrooms. Then add the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes to blend everything. Taste the meat. You can always add more Worcestershire and hot sauce if you like. It depends on your taste.

This part is up the you. Butter your buns,then put under the broiler till toasted. I like mine buttered then put in the pan, I just took the meat out of . That way I get the flavor of the meat on my buns. It's your choose.

This recipe make  4 to 6 sandwiches. Depending how high you pile it on. Mine like to pile it on,as you can see. I do make a few changes now and again. Cube steak can be expensive, so I some times use hamburger. I may also add a little brown gravy (not a lot) to the hamburger one. If you do this you may want to add more Worcestershire sauce. Wait a minute, that kind of makes it a different sandwich.

 Oh well, both are good.  Enjoy!

Zucchini and Blueberry crumble cake

I still have a lot of zucchini. I have given it away, dehydrated it , and froze it. I have come to the point where it's time to come up with recipes. This one turned out great. Hope you will give it a try. It's great with or with out the crumb topping.

   3 lightly beaten eggs, 1 cup veg. oil, 3tsp.vanilla extract, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 3 cups shredded  zucchini, 3 cups all purpose flour, 1tsp. salt, 1 tsp baking powder,1/4 baking soda, 1 tbl ground Cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, and 1 pint fresh blueberry.

In a mixing bowl beat together the eggs,oil,vanilla, and sugars Add the other dry ingredients.  Mix well. Stir in zucchini and blueberry. Transfer to greased 9 by 13 pan or two greased loaf pans and add crumble topping. (recipe below) Bake at 350 for an hour or until a knife comes out clean.
   
                                                       Crumb Topping


2/3 cup flour, 1/2 brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp Cinnamon,  and 1 stick soften butter.
Mix together with hand and sprinkle on top.

This recipe has been linked up to the FRIDAY FARMGIRL HOP at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House!

Link HERE!

Preserving corn

Finally got  a round to picking the corn from my garden.  Instead of canning I decided to roast and dehydrate at the same time. It gives it, the taste of corn that has been cooked on the grill when you rehydrate it

First step, is to husk and clean the corn. then place in a pan of boiling water. Blanch for 5 minutes.

Next. cut the corn from the cob. Using a bunt pan makes it a lot easier.

Lay out on a pan in a single layer.  Cook in the oven on 200 for 4 hours. Stir every half hour. The corn will dry out and turn golden. I know this takes some time. But the taste is so worth it. When it is dried hard  it is done.

Place in a plastic bag or sealed glass jar. When ready to use. Rehydrate in a bowl of water. They will puff back up just like they were fresh. Cook and enjoy!    Preserving

Spicy Pineapple Zucchini Bread

3eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 cups sugar, 2 1/2 cup grated zucchini, 1 can (81/2 oz) crushed pineapple drain and juice squeezed out. 3 cups flour 2 tsp soda, 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, 3/4 tsp nutmeg,1 cup walnuts finely chopped,  and 1 tsp vanilla

With mixer, beat eggs to blend. Add oil, sugar and vanilla. Continue beating until thick and foamy. add zucchini and pineapple. Combine flour, soda, salt, baking powder, Cinnamon ,nutmeg and nuts. Add to mixture mix just till blended.( don't over mix)

Divide batter between 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or in till a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out on a rack to cool.  While warm ( Not Hot) add the lemon glaze. (optional) Glaze recipe at bottom of page.

For more of a cake like texture, Just drain pineapple . Don't squeeze it. ( the extra liquid makes it moister)
                                                 Lemon Glaze
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 1 lemon, zest finely grated and 1 tbsp unsalted butter.

Mix the lemon juice, and sugar together in a microwave safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the zest and butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps. Then drizzles the glaze over the bread. Let it set for a minute before serving . You will have extra glaze. I set it on the side, just in case someone wants extra.

dehydrating veggies

 Wanted to try my hand on dehydrating veggies. I was surprised how many you could dehydrate.  Since I had two heads of cabbage,I thought I would start there.

What I really liked was the dehydrator did all the work for me. It  took18 hours to dry.

When I saw this I wasn't sure it worked. It looked really brown to me.I summoned all my courage up to try it. To my surprise it had a intense flavor,but really good.

I bagged it up and placed it in a cool and dark place . I did give one to my friend Heidi. She has hers on the counter. Which she eats as a snack.

Squash was next on my list.I cut it into 1/4 inch rings.It took two large size squashes.

I layed it in single layers. Any veggies you use have to be in single layers. All the time and veggies you can dehydrate ( It will surprise you what you can use.) are at. http://www.howtogardenadvice.com/  There is  also recipes  for the produce from the garden.