You NEED One of These

Jan 052012
 

Seriously, if you freeze a lot of food like I do, you need one of these.

If I had know that this was quite possibly the best thing next to sliced bread, I would have bought one years ago.  But I don’t buy myself luxury items.  That would be silly.

Instead, I casually mentioned the appliance to Nichole sometime last year, thinking nothing of it. Well, as you can tell, the girl spoils her Mama, and got me one for Christmas.

Yes, they are a little pricey (which is the reason I didn’t buy one for myself), but I know now that it would have payed for itself in the long run when I didn’t have to throw out unidentifiable food that has met the cold death of freezer burn.

When I first used it, I was like “Oh My Gawd, this is fabulous!”  I may have even giggled.  OK, I giggled.  A lot.

Watching it suck all the air out of the bag and seal it?  You can see my smile, right?  This is my new bestest friend kitchen gadget.  We are going places, I tell ya.

Well, I’m off to find more things to use this on.

*giggle*

 

Mama Mia!

Oct 132011
 

I love simple recipes (well, I love simple stuff in general, but when it comes to cooking, give me quick and easy!).

So last night I decided to make a dish that my Mom used to fix for supper when I was young (actually, a lot of the dishes I make were learned from her… go figure).

I don’t just love this dish because it is ohmysogood, it is also one of many that has less than six main ingredients (just 4 for this one – for the record, or course).

And the stars of the show:  hamburger, onion, cream of mushroom soup (I use 2 cans, I’ll explain why later)  and bread.

The dish:  Meatballs.

Yeah, yeah, I know, meatballs are for spaghetti.  Whatever.  Not in my house.  There are a meal all their own, my friends.

Now, there are other “add-ons” like spices and such, but we’re talking main ingredients.  You know, the ones that “make” the dish.

There’s nothing fancy to this:  throw the raw burger in a bowl along with the chopped onion, now finely crumble up that butt of the bread that nobody wants and combine.  Get in touch with your naughty side and throw both hands in there and squish that stuff together until it’s all happy.

You want to spice it up a little?  Throw in some seasoning salt, garlic, or whatever trips your trigger.  It’s your dish, make it how you like.

After everything is combined real good, start forming those golfball-sizes meatballs.  I generally get 16 out of one pound of hamburger, so about an ounce each.

Now comes the fun part.  Take your baking dish and spread about 1/2 a can of soup on the bottom.  Plop those babies on top of the soup and then spread the rest of the soup on top.

Here is where I get a little creative with the recipe.  I put a couple dollops of sour cream on top of that.  Think I’m gonna stop there?  Yeah, right.

Time to pull out the dill weed and sprinkle about a teaspoon over the top of the sour cream.

These last 2 ingredients add just a little “kick” to the sauce when it’s all done.

OK, now it’s ready for the oven.  Let’s say 350 degrees for about an hour or until the sauce has started to bubble.

That’s it.  Done.

This is great served over rice or noodles (buttered noodles, or course).

Now this is where you are going to see why I used 2 cans of soup.  The juices from the hamburger have mixed with the soup to make a wonderful gravy, and you’re going to want to have extra to spread over your rice or noodles.

Heck, sometimes I make this dish just for the gravy!

So if you need something simple to make for supper tonight, give this little dandy a try.

If it passes my family’s inspection, you know it’s a keeper.

Think Thor Would Wear a Necklace?

Oct 122011
 

Well, I finally did it.

After hemming and hawing about not getting the attic of the garage straightened out for the last 2 years, I finally did it.

Yep, I got up the gumption on Sunday and tackled the mess.  I was on a mission.

4 hours later I had boxes neatly stacked and organized.  I even set up the old kitchen table and made a nice little spot so I could start making jewelry again.

I missed doing this.  I used to make all my own jewelry at my store.  I was even gaining a reputation for fixing other stuff that people would bring in.

I like making simple things:  necklaces and earrings.  I’m self-taught, so therein lies the reason for simple.

I got right down to work and whipped out 4 necklaces in a couple hours.  My creativity was flowing like the Mississippi River at flood stage.  But everything came to a halt when I had to come back in the house and make supper. By the time I got done eating, I was too pooped to head back up there, so since I had Monday off of work, I decided what a better way to spend it that relaxing with gemstones.

Another 5 necklaces on Monday and I was ready to take pictures and find a place on this here site to share them with y’all.  Unfortunately, the lighting in the attic sucks, so I thought I’d bring them outdoors for a little “natural” light.

Yeah, that sucked too (or maybe it was just my lousy camera skills).

So against my better judgment, I brought them in the house to test out the kitchen ambience.

It wasn’t going too bad until Thor decided to check out what I was doing and lay down smack dab on top of a necklace and the black material I was using as a background.

Do you know what cat fur does to any kind of material?  Yeah, and this cat sheds so much I could make a whole new one every time I brush him.

The rest of the pictures turned out with fur all over the place. This is the reason I cleaned the attic – to find a little spot where the furballs wouldn’t decide that they needed to lay on/eat/play with the materials.

Oh well, back to the attic to see if I can work with the lighting I have and different background materials.  Wish me luck.

Usher in Cold Season

Oct 102011
 

Yep, it’s that time of year again.  Runny noses, sneezing, coughs, general ickiness.

It happens every fall:  we love the season but hate the change in the weather that brings about coughs, colds and flu.

Many people misinterpret all that sneezing as their normal allergy symptoms, but let me tell you, I’ve been around too many people that misdiagnose themselves right into pneumonia.

So let’s cover a few bases to help you not end up all miserable and achy.

Know your symptoms

Hey, you’ve been on this planet long enough to know if your allergies are acting up or if it’s something else.  There are subtle signs;  remember what they are.

Sneezing and watery eyes generally signal a problem with those allergies, and the normal procedures you take to alleviate them get them under control.  If they aren’t working, you can probably bet your bottom dollar that it’s something else.  Pay attention, it will be worth it, k?

The 5 day rule

If you aren’t feeling any better after 5 days, hightail it to a Doctor.  I used to have people come into my store and say that they’ve been battling “such and such” for 2 weeks and still feel like crap.  HELLO!?!  Hey, I hate the Doctor as much as the next person, but if push comes to shove, I’m gonna go to the doc.

Pneumonia hits hard, folks, and I’ve seen it happen to too many people that could have avoided it if they would have caught the symptoms early on and nipped them in the butt.

Prevention

There are tons or preventative measures that can be taken to help you make it through the cold and flu season virtually unscathed.

When it comes to my health, I’m doing this year round with the holistic approach that is incorporated into my daily life.  My little secret?

Garlic.

Yep, love it and use it alot.

No, I’m not the kind to chomp on a clove every day, but I do like it in and use it on most of the foods that I eat.

Garlic = love in my book.

Water

LOTS OF IT!  You gotta cleanse that body of yours, and there isn’t a better way to flush out any bad toxins than with pure, clean water.

Vitamins

Don’t know what to take?  There is a product that I have used for years and I have passed on to others:  EmergenC.  This stuff is fantabulous!  One packet a day gives you a ton of vitamins and minerals, plus a huge boost of Vitamin C.  When I don’t feel 100%, you know, like I may be coming down with something, I take 2 of the packets and mix them with a small glass of water and slam it down!  I get a boost of energy and kick whatever was trying to hit me right on it’s keester.

Cough it out

If you have a cold, don’t suppress it, EXPRESS it.  The only way to get that crap out of your lungs is to cough it out.  Too often we take cough medicine to stop our coughs, but that is something that is best left for when you want a good night’s rest.  During the day, take an expectorant that will loosen that stuff and help you get it out of your lungs.

Kid’s cough medicine is the best that I have found for this, but there is some adult stuff out there that has it too.  Do the research and read the labels.

Rest

This is the duh factor people.  If you’re not feeling well, kick back and give your body some rest.  Don’t go spreading those germs among your friends, family and colleagues.  I know you were taught to share, but not this kind of stuff.   We love you and would rather spend time with you when you are healthy, so eat Grandma’s chicken noodle soup (always a proven winner for illness) and curl up with your favorite book/movie marathon/kitty cat.

There are tons more that I could share with you, but I’ll bring them about in future posts.  So for now, let’s try to get through the changing of seasons with as little downtime as possible.

Is there some special secret you have to getting through the cold/flu season that you’d like to share?  I’d love to hear it!

 

I am not a Doctor nor do I pretend to be.  This information is from personal insight only and not intended to diagnose or treat any illness.   Please, please, please, always check with your physician before starting a health regimen.  Let them know what you are planning to do and take so that proper care and monitoring can be taken.

 

Cartoon courtesy of Google Images

Let’s Salsa!

Sep 222011
 

I got so long winded on my post about prepping tomatoes for canning that I plum forgot to let you in on my salsa recipe.

My bad.

I wish that I could give you the complete recipe, but I can’t.  I lost it.  Somewhere in my recipe mess.  But it doesn’t matter, I remember the basics, and that is what is important, right?

And what I did was take the basic recipe and, once again, tailored it to make it my own.

The main ingredients (from what I remember) are tomatoes (duh!), peppers, onions, splash of vinegar and salt.  Simple, right?

So now you’re reading this going “Well, if it’s that simple, what makes your salsa so special?”

It’s all the love, darlin’, all the love.  And my kind of love is knowing how my family likes their salsa:  thick and hot!

See where all that prep work with the tomatoes was leading?  hehehe

Until fancy schmancy upscale chefs got ahold of salsa, it was a fairly no-nonsense recipe that added onions, peppers and a few spices to tomatoes and viola:  salsa.

Nowadays it’s got mangos or corn or rainbows in it.  Hmph.

As the saying goes:  Keep it simple, stupid!  And that is what I do.  But simple to me means spicing it up with an assortment of hot peppers.

This cast of characters include Chili, Cayenne, Banana, Jalapeno and Habanero.  All grown by yours truly thankyouverymuch.

Sidebar:  Want to know a little secret?  I grew these over ten years ago.  Yep.  I dehydrated them and stuck them in airtight containers.  Whoever tells you that they will lose their potency after “x” amount of time is pure loco.  It has been disproven.  Just ask my family.

OK, back to the game.

Depending on the amount of tomatoes that you have for your salsa and the amount of heat you want this stuff to have, just alter the amount of peppers you add.

Same goes for all the ingredients, except the vinegar and salt.  These 2 are key ingredients in the preserving process.  You don’t need to be “exact”, but close it better than nothing.  A tablespoon each of vinegar and salt to a 5 quart pan of ingredients will do nicely.

Now with these hot peppers, the seeds are where all the heat is.  If you want the pretty color but not all the heat, toss aside some of the seeds.  It’s OK, I won’t tell.

After you’ve chopped them up, dump them in with the tomatoes.  Heck, throw everything together.  It’s a party!

Bring it up to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer.  Let these guys cook away for an hour or so.  You’re gonna notice that there is juice rolling around on the top, so if you want to get rid of some of it, just tilt the cover and let it evaporate.

Fill those jars, plop  ’em in the hot water bath and you’re in the home stretch.  When their done processing (according to the time tables for processing tomatoes) and you’ve heard that wonderful “pop” of the lids, the real waiting begins.

What, you think that now that the salsa is done you get to grab a bag of chips and dig in?  Not in my house!  The family is not allowed to touch this stuff for at least 3 months.  You’ve gotta let all those wonderful flavors meld together and let the peppers do their stuff.

When you’ve celebrated the new year, you have waited long enough.  Grab your favorite tortilla chip, pour a generous amount of salsa into a bowl and STOP!

CAUTION:  Because of the intense heat of the peppers used in this recipe, there is one precaution that I must warn you about.  DO NOT touch your eyes or certain parts of your body if you have gotten this salsa on your fingers, unless you care to have the most excruciating burning sensation of your life inflicted on your body.  I’m serious.  This stuff is delicious, but lethal in the burn department.

OK, you may resume.

The thing that my family likes so much about this salsa is that you actually get to taste all the flavors before that gentle burn starts in the back of your mouth.  The longer it sits in the jar, the hotter it gets.

My daughters found a jar that was 4 years old and decided to eat it.  The next day their bowels went a little spastic.  I don’t suggest you let it sit that long.  Actually, I’m not sure how that jar went undiscovered.

So there you have it.  Simple, delicious salsa to warm you up during the cold winter months (and through next summer, if it lasts that long).  Share it with your friends.

Just remember to clue them in on the caution part, OK?

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