Our first graduate - 2008

Firstborn 2008

He's an introverted kind of kid, so I do think he was glad that high school was over.  And graduation was as much a celebration for all of us as it was for him. 

We are so proud of you, Spencer!

Gina

Our first graduate - 2008

Firstborn 2008

He's an introverted kind of kid, so I do think he was glad that high school was over.  And graduation was as much a celebration for all of us as it was for him. 

We are so proud of you, Spencer!

Gina

Meatball love

I love meatballs.  How great is it to just throw them in your crock pot with sauce? A jar of chili sauce and a jar of grape jelly make delish BBQ sauce for them.  A can of mushroom soup, some sliced mushrooms, and a little chicken broth make a nice sauce to simmer them, then spoon over mashed potatoes.  And marinara over them makes an easy sauce for pasta.

Mom's Meatballs
2 lbs. lean ground beef
4 slices bread
3 gloves minced garlic
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 c. minced fresh onion
4 large eggs
1 1/2 t. salt
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 c. dry breadcrumbs

Pre-heat the oven to 325 and grease a piece of foil on a cookie sheet. Cover the bread slices with a little water and set aside.  Mix all else in the order listed, except dry bread crumbs. Squeeze the water from the bread and crumble it in.  Add the dry crumbs last and mix it all well.  Shape into meatballs and bake 25-30 minutes. Cool and refrigerate or freeze.

This made enough for 2 meals - tonight it's tomato basil sauce over spaghetti.
The rest I froze for another meal.

I like the fresh parsley and parmesan in them - they smell wonderful.  And baking them was a thousand times easier than doing them on the stove top which makes a big mess. While they cooked, I cleaned up the  kitchen.  And now the house smells so good.

Check it out!

I added them to my crock with the sauce, then cooked the pasta and stirred it in.
  It's easier to serve that way, I think. Time to dig in!

Gina

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Meatball love

I love pre-made meatballs.  How great is it to just throw them in your crock pot with sauce? A jar of chili sauce and a jar of grape jelly make delish BBQ sauce for them.  A can of mushroom soup, some sliced mushrooms, and a little chicken broth make a nice sauce to simmer them, then spoon over mashed potatoes.  And marinara over them makes an easy sauce for pasta.
But I came upon a recipe for homemade that sounded good, and I wanted to make them myself. 

It called for pine nuts and raisins, which I am not likely to have success with.  People here will see a raisin in their meatball and wonder if I have lost my mind.  So here's what I came up with:

Mom's Meatballs
2 lbs. lean ground beef
4 slices bread
3 gloves minced garlic
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 c. minced fresh onion
4 large eggs
1 1/2 t. salt
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 c. dry breadcrumbs OR oatmeal


Pre-heat the oven to 325 and grease a piece of foil on a cookie sheet. Cover the bread slices with a little water and set aside.  Mix all else in the order listed, except dry bread crumbs. Squeeze the water from the bread and crumble it in.  Add the dry crumbs last and mix it all well.  Shape into meatballs and bake 25-30 minutes. Cool and refrigerate or freeze.
*Don't be afraid of dry oatmeal - it's actually pretty good in meatballs and meatloaf!

This made enough for 2 meals - tonight it's tomato basil sauce over spaghetti.
The rest I froze for another meal.

I like the fresh parsley and parmesan in them - they smell wonderful!  And baking them was a thousand times easier than doing them on the stove top which makes a big mess!
While they cooked, I cleaned up the  kitchen.  

And now the house smells soooo good...
Check it out!

I added them to my crock with the sauce, then cooked the pasta and stirred it in.
  It's easier to serve that way, I think.
Time to dig in!

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His achin' head

Bubbie gets headaches, and when he does, he usually toughs them out until they throw him down.  Then he finds his favorite place to crawl into (mom and dad's bed), rolling up in a blanket or sheet, and staring at the wall until he either falls asleep, or the Motrin I gave him works it's magic.

I really feel for him, migraines are a real pain.  It takes a whopper of a headache to slow him down, so you know he's having a rough go of it.  If I could, I'd bear it for him.  But all I can do is comfort him and hope he feels better soon.

Gina

My achin' head

Bubbie gets headaches, and when he does, he usually toughs them out until they throw him down.  Then he finds his favorite place to crawl into (mom and dad's bed), rolling up in a blanket or sheet, and staring at the wall until he either falls asleep, or the Motrin I gave him works it's magic.

Taking his picture doesn't exactly improve his mood...poor little guy.  I really feel for him, headaches are a real pain in the ...well....head.  It takes a whopper of a headache to slow him down, so you know he's having a rough go of it.  If I could, I'd bear it for him.  But all I can do is comfort him and hope he feels better soon.

Dinner, 2 nights

Have I ever mentioned before that I love my crock pots?  bought one of those small (about $4) HEB pre-seasoned pork tenderloins to cook in the small one and went on about my day.  When it cooled I chopped it and this is what I made for dinner:

Jamaican Red beans and Rice! With mango pico de gallo!
Make your red beans and rice, adding in one undrained can of petite diced tomatoes and juice and the chopped pork roast.  Top with pico de gallo and serve - leave out the mango if you don't like it.

And since I hate to waste even the smallest bit of cilantro I put together :

Boneless Pork Ribs with onions and cilantro.  

I sliced onions and cilantro and added to the greased crock with a few tablespoons butter.

Seasoned the ribs with Lowry's, plopped them onto the onions and seasoned the back.  Peppered them. Then added some of this sprinkled over the top:

It's sweet-hot, basically. 

I served it with potato salad and BBQ beans (another crockpot dish!)

Gina

Dinner, 2 nights

Have I ever mentioned before that I love my crock pots? I do! I have a large one which has a removable crock large enough to feed an army and which seems to cook everything on turbo, and a smaller one which is  the right size for side dishes,  smallish cuts of meat, and hot dips.   I bought one of those small (about $4) HEB pre-seasoned pork tenderloins to cook in the small one and went on about my day.  When it cooled I chopped it and this is what I made for dinner:

Jamaican Red beans and Rice! With mango pico de gallo!
What makes it Jamaican I have no idea - I don't even remember where I got this recipe from many years ago.  Make your red beans and rice, adding in one undrained can of petite diced tomatoes and juice and the chopped pork roast.  Top with pico de gallo and serve - leave out the mango if you don't like it.

**Disclaimer: Anyone with a cutting board and knife can make pico de gallo.
  Chop onion, tomato, cilantro,  and squeeze lime all over!**

And since I hate to waste even the smallest bit of 34 cent cilantro (seriously?)  I put together :

Boneless Pork Ribs with onions and cilantro - I'm on a cilantro kick... 

I sliced onions and cilantro and added to the greased crock with a few tablespoons butter.

Seasoned the ribs with Lowry's, plopped them onto the onions and seasoned the back.  Peppered them. Then added some of this sprinkled over the top:

It's sweet-hot.  You gotta love the art on the bottle - I have no idea where this came from, I just spied it in my fridge...I think it will go really well with the pork...we'll let the crock do it's magic...

I served it with potato salad and BBQ beans (another crock dish!) 

CHOW CALL!!

Pantry dry storage

A couple of weeks ago I undertook the project of re-papering my pantry, cleaning it out as I went, and re-painting it to make it spiffy.  I couldn't find the original green and white checked shelf paper - so I went with red and white.  

I like to use baskets to help corral small things like ramen noodle packages and snacks. I have one for baking things, too - small containers of baking soda, vanilla, etc.

  I have used these large re-purposed pickle jars for years to hold flour and sugar. Can you imaging what happens if someone drops this on my tile floor?  I have some old yellow Tupperware canisters  - but you can't see what's in them - so I don't use them. It was time to update my pantry storage:

My solution was these nifty Rubbermaid storage containers - unbreakable and stackable.  I printed my own labels and slapped them on with clear packaging tape.  The good thing about that tape is that it can be peeled off and replaced with another label, no problem. 

I really like the new containers and how easy it will be to get to my baking goods without having a huge disaster like dropping a large glass container.  I'll probably buy one more container as I need it for rice. Then I will give my glass jars to my mom. Why didn't I do this sooner?

Gina

Pantry improvement

Summer is a time when I look around and notice things to be done and

actually have the time to do them!

A couple of weeks ago I undertook the project of re-papering my pantry, cleaning it out as I went, and re-painting it to make it spiffy.  I couldn't find the original green and white checked shelf paper - so I went with red and white.  Red is OK with me.

I like to use baskets to help corral small things like ramen noodle packages and snacks. 

I have one for baking things, too - small containers of baking soda, vanilla, etc.

  I have used these large re-purposed pickle jars for years to hold flour and sugar. 
Can you imaging what happens if someone drops this on my tile floor? 

I have some old yellow Tupperware canisters  - but you can't see what's in them - so I don't use them. 

It was time to update my pantry storage:

My solution was these nifty Rubbermaid storage containers - unbreakable and stackable.  I printed my own labels and slapped them on with clear packaging tape.  The good thing about that tape is that it can be peeled off and replaced with another label, no problem.  And the red matched the shelf liner - WA-LA!

I really like the new containers and how easy it will be to get to my baking goods without having a huge disaster like dropping a large glass container.  Let's face it - I will probably never own a Cricut. Nifty as they are, I have to make myself happy printing labels and using clear tape to plaster them onto things. 

I'll probably buy one more container as I need it for rice. Then I will give my glass jars to my mom, along with the old Tupperware. Why didn't I do this sooner?

BBQ Chicken Salad

Every now and again, I stumble upon an idea for  a summer dinner that works beautifully.  It has to have these things:  a veggie, a protein, a yummy sauce, and make enough for six people.  If it's easy to fix, that's a bonus!  My new favorite: BBQ Chicken Salad.  So easy, and everyone loved it:

I bought pre-seasoned chicken quarters and threw them into the oven while we went to the pool.  When they had cooled, I shredded them and added 1 bag salad, 1/4 of a sliced red onion, a chopped avocado, some tiny red tomatoes, and some grated cheddar cheese.  As an afterthought, I added a can of black beans, rinsed and drained.

You could use a rotisserie chicken, too.  

I mixed 1/4 cup honey BBQ sauce with 1 C. ranch dressing
and let everyone drizzle on their own salad.

This was enough for two adults and two hungry kids. It was gone moments after I took this picture.  And it was de-lish-us.

Gina

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