I'm still here

Haven't posted in a while - but I'm still here.  I have added a couple recipes that I made recently.
For our Freezer Blessings small family group, I made Honey Lime Chicken and rice.  Have I told you about our Freezer Blessings group?  Each month 5 cooks make 6 meals of the same recipe and freezes them.  Then on the designated date (usually after church on one Sunday) we swap meals with the other cooks so we go home with 5 different frozen meals (our own and one from each of the 4 other cooks).  Meal #6 is donated to a family that we want to encourage or help out in a small way.
I believe it started in January or February and was very successful the first month.  Most of the families were 5 or more. We have only the 3 of us, but we like leftovers and it is also nice to have them for a meal to prepare when our daughter and her family come to visit.
Several single ladies or couples commented they would like to do something like that but the meals would be too big for them. So we soon started a small family (3 or less) group.  I usually participate in both each month. For June, I made the Honey Lime Chicken and since one recipe makes 6 servings, I just split it between 2 quart sized freezer bags.   I also made a large batch of rice and divided it into quart sized bags.  The recipients will just need to thaw and heat!
For the large family meals, I made Cranberry Chicken Kabobs - a recipe from the Wildtree website. I really like the Cranberry Poppy Seed Dressing.  Tonight I made Cranberry Apple Spinach Salad.

I have also been busy with crafts.  I finished up a couple quilt squares for a Robots, Aliens and Outer Space themed stitch-along.

I used variegated floss for these cute little robots.  The original design did not have any back stitching but I just felt it needed some.  

I saw this chart on Pinterest and just had to do it.  The design was too large for the usual 14 count Aida that I use so I had to get some 18 count.   It was very easy to do the black stitches to outline the areas, then I just filled in with the colors.   I never noticed it before but Rosie from The Jetsons reminds me of Hazel from the series of that name.  Wonder which came first, and if Hazel was the idea behind Rosie.

A friend asked me to make a couple thank you cards so I played around a little during my lunch hour. The colors are Tip Top Taupe, Calypso Coral, Pistachio Pudding and Very Vanilla.   After stamping the basket and flowers with black Momento ink I sponged some Pistachio Pudding to color the leaves, Then I colored in the flowers with Calypso Coral and Crisp Cantaloupe.

This is a simple anniversary card I made recently.  I used the heart shaped framelits to cut out the hearts.  Pink Pirouette and Soft Suede go really well together.

Busy weekend

It's been a busy weekend - and it's not over!

Friday night, the grands spent the night so Mommy and Daddy could have a break.  We did some stamping.

 She loves wearing my old t-shirts when she stamps.  Keeps the ink off her clothes. This t-shirt was actually one of two that we got from my sister's family for the girls.  So this may have been her mommy's shirt at one time.

 Here's our big boy, sort of sitting up on the couch.  He was playing with the ball and talking to Mickey on the TV.  He loves to make noise.  Sometimes he just sits and growls. 

We spent a lot of time relaxing on the couch.  They are laying on my lap.  We watched Mickey's Clubhouse on Friday evening.  Saturday morning pancakes were eaten while watching Toy Story. 

On Saturday morning we took the kids home and helped Mommy and Daddy clean out their garage.  Looked really nice when we got done.  Came home with a trunk full of things - some for charity donations and some for us :-)

Saturday afternoon when we got back home, I did 10 miles on the stationary bike and then tried some new recipes with my Wildtree products.

Marinated Cucumbers and Onions
Bacon Jalapeno Cheddar Bread

This morning I am enjoying some of the bread toasted and spread with some cream cheese. Yummy!

Comfort foods and craftiness

I've tried a few new recipes this week - mostly inspired by Pinterest.  All were hits so I have saved my versions to my Recipes blog.  I rarely use a cookbook any more - just my blog or a search on Pinterest when I need a recipe.

My Crescent Chicken is a combination of 2 recipes I found on Pinterest.  I had some shredded chicken in the freezer that I used and it was okay.  I think I would like it with large chunks of chicken.  I would also add some more seasoning to the chicken mixture next time - chopped onion and poultry seasoning maybe.    I used the Jumbo Crescents (had never seen those before - are they new?)   You could use regular crescent but would have to use less filling and would need more crescents. 
I used Parmesan cheese on top and I think next time I will use cheddar.  Might add a little cheddar in the filling too.

Tonight I made Tuna Casserole.  I have to confess, my tuna casserole is usually a box of Kraft Mac N Cheese, a can of tuna drained and a can of mushrooms drained.   Mix up the Mac N Cheese according to directions and add the tuna and mushrooms.  This recipe was worth the extra effort.
I found the original recipe here. That recipe only called for 8 ounces of noodles - half a bag - but I went ahead and cooked the whole bag thinking I would save half to use for buttered noodles some day this week. But when I got the sauce mixed up it just looked like way too much for half the noodles so wound up using them all. 


Another dish was one I made up as I went along, Mushroom Skillet Dinner. It is similar to a beef stroganoff and is like making hamburger helper - but from scratch. Tom really liked it - he ate it for supper the next 2 nights.  I love making large casseroles so we have leftovers for a few nights - just add a salad or some veggies and maybe some fresh fruit.   He likes it too since there is less clean-up in the kitchen. 

Tomorrow night we are going to a local barbecue place.  They are having a fundraiser and it's a good excuse not to cook - right? 


I have also been busy crafting - finished up this guy -

he will be going to Love Quilts Brazil by way of Quilts for Older Children and Adults. 
And I have doing some knitting - a new project is a temperature afghan.  I knit a row for each day of the year and the color I use is based on the high temperature for that day.   I got the idea here.  I used some different colors and assigned them for every 10 degree interval from 'below 0' to '101 and above'.   Probably won't need the below 0 since we rarely have a high in that range but just in case, I planned for it.

Mine is knitted rather than crocheted.  I looked at several ideas and the crochet ones were all overly long - some were about 12 feet long - 365 rows.   I found a stitch gauge that would be about 6 feet for 366 rows (leap year) and I added a navy border.   It will be interesting to see the colors.  I will give it to my husband on New Year's 2017 - so if you know him, don't say anything around him.   I am using his recorded daily high temps since he is such a weather nut. 
The brighter blue is for 0-10 degrees and the golden row is for 51-60 degrees.  You can see we had a day of 51-60 and then 2 days later we had 0-10 - only in the Midwest :-)  And the bright orange row is 61-70 degrees.  Quite a variety already.  Some have a row done that marks the end of each month.  I am debating about using the navy for that so between Jan 31 and Feb 1, I would do a navy row.   I think that might give it more meaning for him. 

Cold Weather Cooking

Something about cold weather makes me want to cook.  And on the weekend I like to cook a lot of food to eat throughout the coming week so I can just warm up or add finishing touches for a meal.  Makes our weeknights much easier.
I've also been trying to plan some healthier meals and work out with my Sweatin DVDs.

Thursday was Salad Bar night but we got off work a little early so I had time to put a batch of fresh bread but did not have enough white flour so I tried a recipe in the bread machine book.  

Whole Wheat Rolls were delicious brushed with some honey butter.  Mouth-watering!

Friday was Nacho Bake - like nachos but made in a casserole.  I served it with some warmed black beans to which I added some cumin and garlic powder.  A small salad on the side and it was a meal.

Saturday I made some Creamy Tomato Basil Soup  The Whole Wheat Rolls left from Thursday were great with the soup.  My daughter made some Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter muffins so I splurged and had one for a snack later - after working out.

Today I tackled a couple of the challenging items in the produce basket from last week. Spaghetti squash and pears.  Tom is not a fan of squash so I keep looking for different recipes. Today it was Spaghetti Squash Fritters  Heard no complaint. 

He also does not care for pears - just not a fan.  I made some cooked pears the last time we had them and he said they were pretty good so went with that. Baked Pears with Hazelnut Yogurt Sauce 

Oh and Baked Fish with Mango Salsa.  The fish was just dipped in eggbeaters and then in panko bread crumbs to which I added some Caribbean Jerk seasoning.  For the salsa, I used the recipe from Orange Crusted Salmon with Mango Salsa but left out the tomatoes. I had some diced mango in the freezer that I thawed and used for the recipe.  Not as good as using fresh - but it was okay. 

To get a start on the week, I made some Quick Chicken Curry today too. It made the kitchen smell so good.   We will have it tomorrow evening on rice with some stir-fried snow peas (also from the produce basket) and a small salad.   I enjoy cooking so it was a fun weekend. I also fit in a few movies and finishing a book for our family book club - and of course, the Sweatin DVDs.

Week one of Weight Loss Challenge

I joined a 12 week weight loss challenge on Facebook a week ago.  It has helped me already as I am much more aware of what I am eating and the competition was just what I needed to get me serious about losing those 15-20 lbs that have crept back on. 

And it has me thinking about what I am cooking and looking for lower calorie recipes. I found a real winner today - raves from the whole family. 

Chicken Verde (my name for it) was pretty simple. Using the frozen chicken tenderloins made it even easier.   I thawed the chicken breasts then placed them and the marinade in a big zip-lock bag.  Placed that in the frig for 4 hours.

While the chicken was marinading I worked on other parts of the meal. 

French Bread Rolls was one of those items.  Using the bread machine to mix up the dough makes them really easy.  I brushed these with some beaten egg before baking and they have a nice shiny crust. 

So far I have lost 4 pounds - weigh in tomorrow morning.   At least my pants are fitting a little better.  I don't want to have to go shopping for larger clothes!

More Quick Cooking and some Adelyn Time

Last night I made Curry Chicken Breasts.  Reminded me of a recent date night to India's Oven.  Very tasty and really easy.

 I served them over rice and had some fresh pineapple (very ripe) on the side.  Very good!  I will be making those again.

Tonight it was Brunswick Stew. 

I told my husband this morning that I was making Chicken Stew for supper and he turned up his nose.  I said -"Well then, it is Brunswick Stew" and he said "Like we had in Williamsburg on our honeymoon." and smiled.  It's all in how you present it :-)   He loved it and the fresh hot biscuits on the side. 

 And Adelyn is almost 6 months old!

Where has the time gone?  She changes so much every time we see her.  She and Mommy came over for a family brunch today and then just hung out for a while.  So blessed!

Productive Sunday Morning

I did not make it to church this morning because I am on call and had an issue to resolve just as I started to shower. Didn't have time after that and good thing because got called back about 15 minutes later.

So I made good use of my time by using some expired Greek yogurt (outdated yesterday) in some experimental recipes. 

The first was some Pear Scones.  I took a recipe for blueberry scones and used diced fresh pears instead. Also used pumpkin pie spice. They are okay but probably won't make them again. I'll put some in the freezer to pull out this winter. 

The loaf is Cranberry White Chocolate Tea Bread.  Most of it will go in the freezer too. If I keep it all out, I will just keep snacking on it until I have eaten it all. 

And after all of that I made. A pot of Vegetable Bean Soup. 

A beautiful fall day and such wonderful smells in the house. 

I love Saturdays

I love Saturdays - although I planned to work on some card designs, I never made it there (or at least not yet - there are still a couple hours in my day). 
Trying to get back to counting the calories with My Fitness Pal and a consistent exercise routine. The scale has slowly crept up about 10 lbs and some of the clothes are getting a little snug.   I am NOT buying larger clothes!!! So I am planning meals in advance instead of just winging it most evenings.   Pulled out a bunch of my Quick Cooking magazines last night and made up a menu for the next two weeks (and then I am off the hook for over a week - cruise! - and no calorie counting either)  First thing this morning I got my shopping done and then came home to a clean house (thanks to my DH who does all the housecleaning !)  and prepped the veggies for the week. 
Then a visit with my daughter's family.  Always happy to take a break with the granddaughter.  They had gone apple picking. 

She is rolling over a lot now and trying to talk.  If she is like her mama she will be talking up a storm in no time!  Won't be long and she will be crawling and sitting up.  No more cuddly little baby - but love seeing her grow and change.

After they left, I got busy on supper.  Lots of chopping - love my Pampered Chef chopper! Herbed Chicken and Rice (Quick Cooking),  Roasted Garlic Cauliflower (Allrecipes) and Provel Topped Tomatoes.  (So excited that Sam's has the provel cheese from Imo's.)

The whole meal was 474 calories  ( lots of Parmesan cheese on the cauliflower - which was good for something different and I had the calories to spare tonight but I usually make it without the cheese).
DH's favorite part of the meal - the tomatoes.  They really are tasty. 

Dinner for Two and a Show

This week our younger daughter is volunteering at a camp in Indiana so we have an empty nest. So I am cooking for two - which really means cooking for four since Tom usually takes leftovers for lunch but now we each can take leftovers.    And it is time to get serious about maintaining my weight as it keeps creeping up since the Wellness Wins ended.   I have a 40 year class reunion and our 25th anniversary cruise in October so time to buckle down and cut out the junk food.
So tonight it was Pan Seared Salmon with Tomato Relish, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Cucumber Salad  ( I used red and yellow bell peppers in place of the tomatoes) and Cantaloupe.  

After eating, Tom was at the kitchen sink doing his usually dishes and cleaning up and he said "Come here quick".    Right outside the kitchen window were two fawns.
We locked Buddy out of the kitchen and stood and watched them for a while.

 

Not the best photos - but they were sure a sight to behold!

No recipe cooking

Some evenings I like to just experiment and throw things together - sort of like Chopped.  The other evening I had some leftover potatoes and a wedge of cabbage that I needed to use.  Here's what I came up with.  The whole meal was a big hit.
Salmon over a bed of sauteed cabbage
Baked potato cup
Asian green beans (just to have a green vegetable)

Salmon over cabbage - 
I sliced up the wedge of salmon and had about 2 cups total.  I sauteed that in a small skillet with a little salt and pepper.   I used the recipe on the back of the bag of frozen salmon as a start.  Mixed together chili powder, garlic powder, sugar, and salt and rubbed it on the salmon.  I pan seared the salmon and cooked until it was done.

Baked Potato Cup -
I diced up the leftover potatoes and mixed with some sour cream and cheddar cheese.  Spoon the mixture into custard cups and topped with a little more cheese.  Heated in the microwave until the cheese melted.

Asian Green Beans -
Drained a can of green beans and tossed them with some Ken's Light Asian Ginger dressing.  Heated  until warm.

My husband really liked the green beans.  And it was ready in under 30 minutes.  Guess it was a combination between Chopped and Rachael Ray.

Finishing off the Weekend

In keeping with my 'goal' on Saturday, today I used up some more of my scraps and items I have gotten from the demo wish list.  I got these wolf and eagle images from one of the other demonstrators. 

 

They are statmped using Stazon black on Crumb Cake.  I added Chocolate Chip and Cherry Cobbler to amke some masculine cards.

 

 

I did finish off 2 ribbon spools - making room for more :-)  I also pulled out some retired designer paper that looks like wookgrain - some in browns, some white and brown and some red and brown.

And I got a lot of use from the Ovals Framelits that I purchased recently.  So I got to play with a new toy too. I got 2 cards done and still have more of the images but those will wait for another day.

 

 

I also had some vehicle images from the Need for Speed set.  I got these from a granted wish but liked them so much I wound up buying the set.  So the pre-stamped images sort of got forgotten.  I took care of that today.  This card design is taken from a birthday card I got from my niece.   It was really simple!  I liked the plain black and white image (and did not want to color them) so stuck with Basic Black, Basic Gray and Smoky Slate with a little bit of color accent.   For most, I used black and gray with the red accent.

 

 

For a few, I used Tempting Turquoise with the black and gray.  I also used Orange and Yellow  ....

 



 

and then tried Real Red and Pacific Point.  I was trying to make it a little more 'nautical' for the speed boat. 

 

It wasn't all masculine though -

 

 

I layered some more ovals in Smoky Slate and Strawberry Slush on this one.  Added the new ruffled ribbon around the largest oval.  It was so easy!  Love the ribbon!

 

 

 

For this one I stamped off the floral spray using Basic Gray and Gumball Green on a piece of vellum card stock.  I cut the larger oval from Smoky Slate and laid it on the Soft Sky card base.  I centered a smaller oval inside the larger one and cut that out. (the framelits make that so easy!)  I placed the vellum between the Smoky Slate and Soft Sky.  The flower and sent tag are Calypso Coral. The tag was made by cutting a rectangle around the sentiment and then just sticking the ends in the Moderm label puch to trim off the end. 

 

 

And I spent a little time in the kitchen - Fiesta Chicken Casserole and Roasted Asparagus for supper.  It was pretty easy and very delicious! 

So, ready for Monday.  Got lots of card therapy and looking forward to the holiday on Thursday and a family reunion next weekend. 

Weekend wrapup

 After a very stressful week at work, it was nice to get away a little bit this weekend.  We went to our daughter and son-in-law's home about an hour away and helped them prepare for a housewarming open house.

 Tom was put to work cleaning - he does it so well.  We made a pretty good team on the bathrooms - so glad he does that in our home. 

 We all got some Adelyn -time  Here Aunt Bekah is rocking her in the beautiful nursery.  Love the gray and yellow.

 And here is the star of the day - it was the first time that many of the guests got to meet her.  She was so good.  Not much napping and a lot of different people holding her. 

 Their little family.   Katie and Jake started dating in high school, got married midway through college and now are homeowners and parents.  Hard to believe that little girl I held in my arms many years ago ....

now has a baby of her own.   This picture was taken when Katie was about the same age that Adelyn is now.

Nigel helped too - here he is making sure the basket in the bottom of the linen closet did not feel unneeded while I was putting away the towels. 

And he waited to greet the guests. It was a very nice day and we all had a lot of fun but were tired at the end of the day.  It was good to do the physical labor after so much mental labor during the week.

Today, I was feeling it in my back.  I think it was mostly stress related and the heating pad did wonders.   Felt so good, I made a home cooked supper.  Hadn't done that much the past couple weeks.

Baby Ray's BBQ Chicken, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Roasted Garlic Green Beans and Mushrooms.  It was all very easy  - tasted great!
And just like that the weekend is over.  Back to work - looking forward to a visit from Katie and Adelyn later this week and Tom's family reunion in a couple weeks.   Always something to look forward to :-)

Another zucchini recipe

Found another way to cook zucchini that my husband will eat.  He says he does not care for zucchini but he sure does eat it. 

It was pretty scrumptious!  But how can you go wrong with melted cheese and garlic powder.  Roasted Zucchini Romano is a keeper.

I rubbed some boneless pork chops with cajun seasoning and threw a couple sweet potatoes in the microwave (did not have time to do them in the oven with the zucchini) and we had a meal.  I did mix up some Honey Cinnamon Spread for the potatoes.  That really topped the meal. 

Now, I am digging into my first workshop order from the new Stampin Up catalog - can't wait to see all the goodies in these boxes.  It isn't all mine - but most of it is! 

Chilly weekend - so lots of cooking!

I love to cook when it is chilly in the house.  And I love to cook on the weekend, sometimes making things we will eat later in the week. 
Saturday I kept busy in the kitchen.  First I made some Cabbage Soup.  I had a bag of cole slaw mix that was in the frig in the garage and it started to freeze so went looking for a soup recipe.  I did not use any one recipe but combinations of several and some of my own ideas to come up with my recipe.

 I got the soup done in time to have some for my lunch on Saturday - it was wonderful!  Had more tonight with some of the Pepper Jack Scones leftover from Saturday evening.
And that brings me to the next recipe.  I found a recipe on Pinterest for cheddar and chive scones.  I did not have cheddar cheese but had a block of pepper jack so used that and omitted the chives. 

These were a big hit with everyone. I can't wait to try some other flavors - both sweet and savory.  Surprisingly, one of my daughters does not care for biscuits but she likes scones. 

Along with the scones, I made some Zucchini Mini Quiches for supper on Saturday.  I had 3 zucchini from the co-op last week and even with doubling the batch, I only used one of them so I will have to find some other uses for the 2 that I have left.

The mini quiches were really a recipe I found on Pinterest for Zucchini Tots but mine were more like a quiche.  Everyone liked them - just not what I was expecitng.   I may make these again with what zucchini I have since the recipe said you could freeze them after baking by placing on a backing sheet and then place in a freezer bag. Bake from the freezer (do not let them thaw). 
So with all that good eating, I need to go work out - do some Sweatin to the Oldies.  Tomorrow starts the last week of the Wellness Wins challenge at work and I have exceeded the weight loss goal so I want to behave and not gain any this week.  I should get the full $200 this year - woo-hoo!!! Of course, I already have it spent on Stampin Up products from the new catalog.  But at least I will have that extra money coming in.