Quilt room tour and Christmas gift

Thoughts of Veggies dancing in my head.

We had a great Christmas this year. Now I find, I am ready to start planning my garden for next year. I have a bad habit of getting a head of my self. I am the type of person that Home depot and garden centers love. They always bring out all these beautiful plant ,way to early in the year.

Yes I know it's  way to early to buy or plant. But all those beautiful green plants just seem to knock the common sense right out of me. My eyes go glassy and I tell my self I can keep them alive. We  will have a warm spring. My cats won't eat the leaves this time...... ( Isn't denial great ! )

I am sure there are others like me who do the same thing. Why else would they  display them so early.  We buy, then they die, then we buy again. All the while the big man sit back  and counts his double profit off us.

Well not this year. No MORE buying seeds and putting them up and forgetting them ,till I have already bought a new batch.  NO MORE Letting those lovely green plants seducing me into  buying them way to early. This year I will be patient, I will watch the weather ,test the soil, and turn my back on the big man.  Yes this will be the year!!!!! ( Isn't denial great ! )

White Christmas The perfect gift to wake up to.

Last minute christmas decor and gift

Stretch your food bill. easy and inexpensive cornbeef and cabbage

Joey a women of true faith.

There is a blog I follow that is called This life I live. It belongs to Rory, of Joey and Rory. They are a country couple that sings and had a show on RFD TV. They are the true meaning of Faith. Their show was fun and entertaining. I really loved when they showed bits of their farm and live.
Joey has a smile that lights up the room. Even though they were only on my TV you could still feel the love that was in her heart. They truly loved the lord and you could see it even without them saying a word .
Joey has cancer and has left the hospital to go home and live and enjoy what time she has left. All her friends and fans have been praying for her. She is at peace with the answer God has given her. There is no anger in her.  She spends her day playing and singing songs to her little baby girl. She has shown me what TRUE Faith is. I pray that one day I may find that wonderful faith and peace she has found.

Happy Halloween

                     So you thought the candy was the only part of Halloween that was real.

Frugal Living : Feed a family of 4 on 1/2 pound of pork.

 I wanted to share this video with you from my You Tube Channel. These are so good even if your not on a budget. The tacos are wonderful and very filling. Great flavor for a little bit of money.

DIY Thanksgiving Centerpiece

 I wanted to share this great tutorial I found on you-tube for a fall centerpiece.  I can't do floral arrangements to save my life. But this I can do! Not to mention it's a whole lot of fun.

 I love how my centerpiece turned out. It was easy and cheap to make.

The baskets came from yard sales and the goodwill. The rest of the stuff was from the dollar store. You do need a glue gun . If you don't have one super glue should work.

 I was going to write everything down , but being a  visual  person like most people I decided it would be easier to post the actual  tutorial instead.   Hope you give this a try, believe me this was so worth doing . I will also be doing a Christmas one.



 Also check out her other videos . She is one very crafty lady.

Come join me at the San Diego Quilt Show.

Frugal Living : How to stretch your food budget.

Frugal living : Lunch made from leftovers

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I stared watching frugal and debt free living videos on You Tube. Which lead me to wonder how much money we wasted a month. Let's just say my mouth dropped open !  I never realized how easy it was to  spend  mindlessly.  So I made myself a challenge to pay attention to what I spent and what I spent it on.  This food saving ideal came from that.  Plus these turned out to be delicious. Next time I make Taco Soup I will defiantly save some for lunches again.

Weekend camping trip

How to kill a Ant Hill .

Easy DIY Rocket stove

  
For some reason the title picture doesn't show up. But the video does play.

My husband was on you tube when he found videos of this stove and decided to make his own version. So me being the good wife that I am thought I would drive him crazy by videoing the whole process.

Just Great Chicken

Ingredients

All you need is chicken, brown sugar and Italian dressing mix - and it only takes an hour!

About 3 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken

1 ( .7 ounce) packet of Italian dressing mix

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

Method

Preheat your oven to 350.  Grease a 12 inch x 9 pan. You can line your pan with foil for easy clean up. The brown sugar tends to stick  the pan. Mix your Italian dressing with your brown sugar in a clean shallow pan. Place your chicken in the mixture and press the mixture into your chicken. Place in pan with top of chicken pointing up. Sprinkle any left over mixture over the top and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Baste every once in a while with the juices that dripping off the chicken. Turn once  3/4 of the way thru cooking.

Making Tomato Powder

Tomato powder is very easy to make. You can us your own canned tomatoes .Fresh or store canned tomatoes work just as well. 

If your using fresh tomatoes just cut them thin and place in a single layer in your food dehydrate .  For canned tomatoes place in a blender or food processor and blend.

 For blended tomatoes you will also need to use a fruit roll screen or  parchment paper on your trays.  Pour a thin layer of your blended tomatoes on your trays.  Dehydrate over night till both your fresh and blended tomatoes are dry and is easy to crumble. (  Humidity and temp will play a factor in your drying time.)

After cooled and crumbled, place in a coffee grounder or some type of blender. Blend till you have a nice powder.  I place my power in a Ziploc bag with a oxygen absorber.

To use:
For tomato puree  1 part powder to 1 part water.

For tomato sauce   1 part power to 2 parts water.

mix together and let sit 1 to 2 minutes to fully rehydrate.
This powder is great for making dried hiking meals . They taste so much better and way cheaper. You can also use it for long storage meals.

Early summer garden tour of my homestead.

What to do with leftover wonton wrappers.

 I still had a half of a bag of wonton wrapper after I got finished with my pot sticker.( Pot Sticker recipe posted below this one.) I didn't want to wast them ,so I had to come up with a good way to use them. I remembered I had a can of pie cherries in my pantry so dessert became my best option. 

 I fried up the wrapper in a little oil.

 Placed the can of cherries in the food processor along with 3 tablespoon of the blackberry jam and blended.

 I warmed up the filling up, then layered the mixture between the fried wonton wrappers. . I used three wrappers. You can use as many layers as you like.

Next came the ice cream. These were so good that we had them last night and again today after lunch. And I am going to be really bad and have another one after dinner. As they say you only live once.

Shrimp Pot Sticker

This is a post I did a while back. Although when I went to look for it ,it had been deleted. Luckily I had saved it on my recipes page. So I am reposting it for myself and for those reading this blog.  This is one of my all time favorite recipes.

My husband loves pot stickers, I use to buy them from the store ,but they weren't that good. Then I started buying them from the Schwan's guy. They were good but got to be really expensive. So I decided to make my own. I found a great recipe and changed it a little to make it my own. My family and friends  love them. And it saves me a lot of money. I never knew how easy they were to make.
 

 RECIPE
1 and1/2 pounds of cooked Shrimp or 1 pound of any other cooked meat you may like.
4 chopped green onions
4 cloves roughly chopped garlic or 1 teaspoon of minced garlic.( Optional)
1 eggs and one egg white.
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
Wonton wrapper. There are normally around 60 in a package. ( Don't worry they freeze up really well)
 One husband or friend to do the frying.

HOW TO PUT TOGETHER:

Put everything in a food processor and pulse until combined and minced.

Wet all four sides of your wonton wrapper.

Place about 1/2 of teaspoon of filling in the middle.

Fold over to make a triangle. Gently push filling to the middle. Making sure to seal it all along the edges. This is very important. If it doesn't seal it will leak.  Your water helps to make it seal. Don't worry they seal really easy .

Place in a pan with a little oil They cook up really  fast. So make them all up at one time,placing them on a lightly floured sheet pan. Or have someone cook them as you make them up. I love my assistant. He looks so cute in his apron.

These freeze up great. I usually make a big batch for the freezer so I always have some on hand for lunches and snacks. But they still never seem to last long.

Have you ever just been tired ?

 I am running on empty. I use to love doing my Blog and you couldn't get me off Facebook or YouTube. Now I am hardly on I just don't have the desire. I still will get on my blog at least once a week to read the blogs I am following, but I can't seem to get up the energy  to leave a comment.  Most of the time  if I am honest,  it has to do with the fact that I never see these people on my blog and feel they could care less about what I have to say. And sometimes I just don't have anything to contribute  to the post. The same is true for face book.  I will go on the games I use to play and answer request, but that's about it. I am just not into playing the games any longer. It's like a switch has been turned off. Is there such a thing as media over load? 

UPDATE: Trailer is totally finished and ready for camping.

 A couple of years ago we visited Ricks dad in Arizona  . He is a snow birder, they spend every winter in Quartzite Arizona. While there I meet a lady that had redone her trailer to look as close to a home as possible. It was lovely and very inspiring. After we got home I couldn't get the look or feel of her trailer out of my head. So I set off to do the same thing on a budget.

 Our friend Kent made this head board for us ( that was not on a budget but so worth it). I just love it. The white curtains were found in a yard sale. The valance is done with fabric I got on sale. All I did was staple the fabric over the valance. The pillow were  some I no long us in the house.

 The hunters quilt at the foot of the bed was a gift I made for my husband.The mirror was a sore spot with my husband. He doesn't care for mirrored closet doors. To fix this I bought a roll of frosted window covering.  My talented daughter drew  the trees and moose for me. Then it was just peeling the backing off and applying it to the mirror.The bear in the right corner was also done by our friend Kent.

 This was so simple. We bought these decorated pieces from Home Depot and with a little stain and liquid nails we were done.

 You would never know they didn't come with the trailer.

 Pictures really added to that home feeling. As you can see we also took down the valances off the windows and added curtain I found at the dollar store.  I still can't believe I got them for only a dollar. Rick added the shelf above the window and behind the sofa for me. It's so nice to have somewhere to set my coffee cup.

 The tin on the kitchen wall was bought on sale at Home-Depot. Very easy to put up. I also add white curtains that were given to me and used some old fabric for the valances.

 We tore the carpet up and added a fake wood flooring. It's one of my favorite things we did. 

 It's amazing how little things like a small quilt or simple tablecloth can make a space.

When we bought the trailer they had cup holders between the chairs. We removed it and added this reading table from Lowe's.  We pretty much set in these chairs in the evening. The lamp is perfect for reading. The top of the foot stool comes off for more storage. It was also bought on sale. I love a good sale. I fell like I pretty much accomplished. what I intended to do.  For me it feels like our home away from home. Can't wait to take it out this summer/

The best part of Mothers Day

I woke up to coffee and breakfast smell waffling into my bedroom. My wonderful husband had made me breakfast. I also found flowers and a card on the table by my plate.
My twins came over after Church to make me cookies as well as take me out to dinner for Mothers day. They informed their dad he could come along too. This is when I realized that the card they gave me was so true.

My girls have a great seance of humor

 

I also received calls from my other two daughters. They live out of state. It was so good to hear from them.They both have family and are very busy so it meant a lot that they took the time on their own Mothers Day to just chat.  

Now for the best part . It wasn't the cards or flower. It wasn't the great restaurant or food. It's whats is going on right now as I write this. My girls are sitting on the couch watching Shaun the sheep on TV. It may not seem like much but to me it,s everything. It's been so long since we have been together just to watch  TV and enjoy each other company.  With their work and school, not to mention living out of town it seems like forever since we were able to take a step back in time to enjoy what it was like when they were young and lived at home. I miss those days. So I will cherish any time I get a little glimpse of when my girls were young. 

Advice from a Farmer

Ranch, cheese, and bacon, potatoes. OH MY !

I use  http://cookthat1.blogspot.com  picture instead of my own because I forgot to take a picture before we started eating it.
 These were so good , my husband gave them a 10.Which is rare for him when it comes to potato dishes. I will be making these quite often.

 Awesome Potatoes

 6  medium potatoes, peeled then cut 1/2 inch cubes
and one can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

one1/4 cups milk
one envelope ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided 6 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

Finally you need salt & pepper

Instructions :
First step to prepare this easy and delicious recipe is to add the potatoes to a saucepan full of water.   Bring to a boil; then cook between 10 to 12 min . Next  put drained potatoes into a greased 13x9 inch baking dish. In a separate  bowl combine together the soup, milk, salad dressing mix, 1 cup cheese, salt & finally  pepper to taste; then pour over potatoes. 

Next add the crumbled bacon & also the remaining cheese over the top. 
 bake, uncovered, 350 degrees F between 25 to 30 min
 or till potatoes are tender.

Check out http://cookthat1.blogspot.com she has a lot of great recipes.

Love, Love, Love this Pot Roast.

This is my favorite recipe for pot roast. You put it on in the morning and it ready for dinner that night.
 I have tried others  recipes but always have come back to this one.
1 chuck roast 3 to 4 pounds ( the size really doesn't matter. It can be bigger or smaller)
1 large onion chopped up.
6 to 8 button mushrooms.
 A hand full of the leaves from one stalk of celery or 1 stalk finely chopped.
1 can of mushroom soup
1 package of dried brown gravy mix.
1 tbs of minced garlic
2 full tsp of Italian seasoning (  Don't brush off the top of the measuring spoon when taking it out of the jar.)
about a 1/2 of a cup of fresh parsley leaves.
Mix the mushroom soup,Italian seasoning, and brown gravy together. DON'T ADD WATER . You will get plenty of liquid from the roast.  ( It will make it,s own thick gravy) .  Place your onions and mushroom in the bottom of your crock pot. Add your roast then spread your garlic on top of it. Pour your gravy mixture over the roast .  Add your celery leaves and parsley leaves. If you are using celery stalk add it with the onion. Turn your crock pot on high for three hours then down to low to finish cooking for the rest of the day.
If you have a high watt crock pot you can leave it on low all day. But I have found that giving it that three hours on high real adds to the flavor.

 The next night I cut up the leftover meat then added it back to the gravy, add sour cream to it   Poured it over noddles .  It was wonderful.

Goats are in our future.

Rick and I finally decided to venture into the world of raising goats. We plan to spend this summer getting everything ready for them. My dear friends Heidi and Jan are more then ready to help me along with this crazy plan.
First thing to do is get the side yard fenced in for them. Then comes their shelter, Rick and I are still going back and forth on that one. He wants the front all the way open then add dog igloos. I want the front partially closed  with stalls. It will take a little time, but I think I will win.
We are also looking for things for them to play on. Debbie found us this play slide for 10 dollars, she
 is always on the look out for thing I might  need for the goats. I don't know what I would do with out these ladies! The test will be if they can put up with all my questions.
I just notice I didn't tell you what kind of goats we are getting. Nigerians, I really like the taste of their milk and it great for soap making. Plus they are small and easy to take care of. I am only getting two. Everyone tells me they are addicting," but I am staying at two. "This is a chant I will keep repeating to myself over and over.
I know summer hasn't started yet this year, but I am so looking forward to next year. In the mean time I have a lot to learn. Jan also helped me with that one. She gave me a goat book for dummies. My friends know me so well !

Happy Easter my dear friends

Homemade Velveeta Cheese

I couldn't believe how easy this was to make.It only takes 4 ingredients to make it and one of them is water. In less then 10 minutes it's done. Best part is no ingredients I can't say or spell. Plus being cheaper doesn't hurt.

 Homemade Velveeta:

1 pound mild or medium cheddar cheese  ( Shredded your self. Pre-shredded cheese has a chemical that doesn't work well. with this recipe)
1 non flavored  gelatin package
1 cup boiling water
6 Tablespoons of instant non fat powdered milk
 In a blender or food processor put your gelatin and instant milk. Pour the boiling water over them. Mix a couple of times to blend together then add your cheese. If your mixer is small you may have to add a little at a time. Mix well, till your cheese has  melted ( a few un-melted pieces won't hurt anything) . Place in a bread pan lined with plastic and cover top with plastic. Make sure all the cheese is covered and all the air is out. If there is air trapped inside the plastic it could dry the top of your cheese. Place in frig over night or at least 12 hours.
Note: if you see a little liquid on the cheese after it is wrapped don't panic . This is normal due to the heat.

How to Make Microwave Bowl Cozies

 I love these . They not only keep you from burning your hands taking things out of the microwave, But they also help keep your ice cream cold.

This is the video I used to help me make these. The direction are super easy.
 I made the size ten bowl. It works great with my soup bowls.

 To made the other sizes  here are the size darts that you will need
15 " x 15 " size bowl holders: I used 1 " across and 3 " down for the darts
12 " x 12 " size bowl holders: I used 1 " across and 2 1/2 " down for the darts
10 " x 10 " size bowl holders: I used 1 " across and 2 " down for the darts.

No apples for you

Once again Mother Nature is telling me that there will be no apples this year. Last year was also a very warm winter with only one frost. But that was enough to insure that we didn't get any apples. My apple trees decided to bloom early again this year also. Thanks to the warm weather ( high 50 and 60 ).  All it will take is one frost and I am done for.This year I did make a big cover to put over it in case of frost. Don't know if it will work ,But it's worth a try.

Road to California Quilt Show

 Went to the Road to California quilt show Thursday with a group of friends .I was really good my husband gave me a hundred and sixty dollars for the show. It cost 10 for gas,14 to get in, 12 for lunch, and 10 for dinner, and I came back with $93. I decided a couple of months ago to live more simply.  I am so proud of myself for sticking to it I did buy some felt and a great cat quilt pattern. But I only bought what I truly wanted. Normally in the past if I had it I would spent it.
I also got to meet Eleanor Burns ( Quilt in a day ). She was so sweet and friendly to everyone.

 Can't wait for next year's trip. I thought you might like to see some of the Quilts from the show.
If you would like to know what made me want to live  more simply  just click on the link.http://www.michelleslittlepieceofheaven.blogspot.com/2014/12/shockers-and-changes.html