Recipe Time!

I wish that I were talented enough..... to photograph,share and comment about the recipes I make,all in one blog...but I'm not. I'll work on it but... don't expect miracles. Per request of my friends and blog followers I will start sharing my favorite recipes! For those of you who don't enjoy the cooking part,sorry! Bare with me as I share one of my favorite hobbies :)

"Make Ahead Meal Day"

I am exhausted.

Today I accomplished a small miracle in my kitchen.

I made:

2 meatloaves

2 chicken casseroles

meatballs(for the first time)

2 pans of cabbage rolls(new recipe)

"riceballs"(From the leftover cabbage roll filling)

Double batch of chocolate cookies-some baked and some dough in the freezer for later)

24 vanilla cupcakes

24 chocolate cupcakes frosted with too much chocolate,vanilla and german chocolate frosting.

AND...

Aside from 2 lbs. of beef , 1 lb. of sausage and some veggies from our garden etc that I already had...

I only spent $55 to make it all!

6 meals in the freezer for nights we need a no brainer dinner!

With some practice I could get good at this..

I love saving money

AND

I love no brainers 

:)

PS.

Yes I remembered to make sweet little 3 year old Madison a "Carapackage" of cookies and sparkly cupcakes

;)

My-Day Friday

What did I do today?

I slept in until almost 11am. 

I love sleeping in 

but I don't like waking up feeling like half the day is already gone.

Chip and I went for coffee and a Milkbone and returned home,

just me and my favorite dog

and our favorite show,

those crazy Kardashian girls...

We also sat in the sun and shared stories with Del and Mikey.

They were setting up to work on the siding and porch overhang today.

Sometime around 1pm I became motivated enough to shower.

Vern came home and we escaped to go garage sailing. 

We scored a great REI back back for $10!

Ironically the sale was at Sheila Shannon's house!

(remember the previous post about how I was reading her book and she came to me for a haircut?)

Funny how I keep running into her.

She is sweet as pie :)

We took a detour through the mountains up beyond Mt. Peak.

At a lookout we pulled over to enjoy the view and I snagged a great chunk of moss to take home!

I love free "gifts"from Mother Nature!

(well, except the monthly one..haha)

I was a happy girl :)

As we rolled into the driveway I saw an awesome surprise!

My new solar powered lanterns were hung just the way I wanted them on the back porch!

The guys had pulled a fast one on me..and I loved it!

I hear it was all Del's idea but I know Vern and Mikey were in on it too ;)

I am a lucky girl!

As you can see the finish work is still coming along...I cropped out the lumber/power tool mess in the yard.

I have no desire to remember that!haha

While the camera was out I tried to take a few pics of Chipper but that crazy little dog never seems to cooperate during a photo shoot.

So here he is in one his more popular poses..

"May I have the treat?!"

I didn't even have to cook-

Vern took me out to eat at our favorite spot,The Lee.

A little local restaurant with good food and an entertaining parade of "regulars".

Trevor also works there as a cook/dishwasher but wasn't working tonight.

With full bellies we waddled home and...

There I was again-

snuggled in bed,

this time with my favorite person,

and some of our favorite shows.

Whale Wars I think..

Tomorrow I am cooking "Make Ahead Meals" to freeze for future dinners.

I am buying and preparing fresh beets and also quinoa for the first time in the next few weeks.

These two sound like cheap and simple super foods that might help change things up in our usual ol' menu.

I am also making cookies and cupcakes.

Cute cupcakes.

  Cute enough to wow a 3 year old girl..

She requested the "cookie lady" make her some cupcakes too! haha

How can I say no?

Oh I am going to have fun with this!

I will take pics :)

Independence.... Rocks

This was a long week. I wish I had the brain power left to make this a proper blog but...I don't,so bear with me :)

It's the time of year all cosmetologists secretly dread....back to school. Don't get me wrong,I love what I do but this time of year salons are packed with teenagers,one of the toughest age groups to please. Appearance is everything at that age and insecurities run high.

Thankfully it's only about 4 weeks a year and we are half way done :)

A friend of Del's gave us a rock tumbler.We have been needing one badly as we have numerous buckets of agates. This is all a new experience for me and I am super anxious to see all my beach finds polished and smooth. We added about 6 pounds of rocks into the tumbler,4 tbls of medium grit sand and enough water to cover the rocks 2/3.We put on the lid and wah la! Somehow I knew there would be a catch......So you put the tumbler on the machine and it turns and churns the rocks..but get this-you have to leave it on for 24 hours a day for 7 days! WhAt?! I have to be patient?!! That was NOT in the instructions and that's a LONG TIME! Let's just hope that means that they will look especially beautiful because good things take time? So in the meanwhile I sit here listening to what sounds like a little rock slide in our laundry room...and I will be...for 5 more days.Trying not to peek ;o) I'm hoping they look something like this..

Vern's son Trevor turns 18 in a few days.He wants to go to the zoo..I'm thinking they'll try to keep him!Haha Just kidding! I couldn't be more excited to go to the zoo! I have lived here almost 14 years and have never been-that's just stupid!
18 seems to be a bittersweet time for a parent and child. That time when every parent knows that what they have taught their children will be put to the test. The child goes charging off into the world with his new super power of "independence". All the while, the parent knowing how unforgiving and tough the world can be...and how quickly that independence can be taken away.
For a divorced father this is also the joyous time when he gets to stop sending the child's mother support! Yay Vern!! How weird a song just jumped in my head.."Ding dong the....

Let's be clear though-Vern will always be there for Trevor no matter what age he is. He is an awesome father and has always made sure Trevor had nice clothes on his back,food in his tummy and a few bucks in his pocket. The hard part was watching Trevor's Mom drink the support money away at the local bar. We see her rig there 3-5 nights a week if not more. I could go on but I won't. I could blame her for a lot of things but I won't.

I(We) will allow myself (ourselves) to celebrate Vern's (our) "independence" from her. I guess independence does feel good...and I can't blame the kid for wanting to experience it for the first time too,even though I know it's so hard for his Dad :')








We have harvested a cornucopia of veggies from the garden! Cabbage,broccoli,zucchini,green beans,snap peas and one ripe cherry tomato! The sunflowers are 8 feet tall and blooming like crazy! Mother Nature may I have just two more months of sun? Pretty pretty please?! I still have so many summer projects to do and not enough money to start the interior ones yet! I yi-yi-yi-yi....

Right now..Del is making me a grilled ham and cheese sandwich yummmm. Midnight munchies from him are always a cardiac arrest of goodness. I could say no..but I won't. But I do need to say ta ta for now-my sandwich is ready :)

Sekiu,WA August 2010

We had a wonderful 2 days on the coast!

I started my vacation off with a much needed nap in the peaceful quite woods.

All snuggled up on my sleeping bag with Chipper.
The sun was made the camping trailer warm and the buzzing boats in the distance lulled me to sleep.

It was bliss.

An hour and a half of warm sleepy bliss.

The perfect way to start vacation.

We spent most of our 2 days there beach combing and soaking up as much sun as possible.

The weather was perfect!

We ended the first day with a bonfire on the beach,eating s'mores and watching the meteor shower.

 The dark night sky sparkled with millions of stars.

It was so clear you could see the Milky Way!

We woke up early and walked the beach until we had to start out journey home.

Oh sadness,I hate to leave this place :(

Thankfully ....

Vern knew that a shower and a dinner date at King's Buffet in Silverdale on our way home would motivate me!

Goodbye Sekiu..

I'll be back soon.......

See You Monday

One more day of work and then off to the beach! 

Off to celebrate a friend's birthday and get some much needed beach therapy. 

Happiness :)

That means tons of new pics next week..

stay tuned.

Have a great weekend!

48 Hours

For the most part I did what I said I would today. 
 I slept in until almost 11am and then I finally rolled into the shower sometime around one.
I did my best to ignore all the chores begging to be done and watched a good dose of Keeping Up With The Kardashians,oh how I secretly love those Kardashian women...
BUT as the day rolled on and Vern got home I felt inspired to do some cooking.
I made a huge 9X13 meatloaf for dinner and topped it with cheese and frozen hash browns (Schwans has the BEST hash browns).
Here it is starting to bake in the oven,mmmmmm...

My secret to meatloaf is adding a box of Stove Top stuffing instead of bread or crackers. It's delish with beef or  turkey meat loaf.I made a huge meatloaf in hopes it will keep Del fed for a few days and I like to keep these types of left overs in the fridge :)
I also made a pumpkin cake with apple cider glaze.(It's the easiest recipe I know) I would share the recipe but due to a computer virus they were deleted from my system.
If you want any of my recipes,please let me know I am happy to share,I just need to type it out.
THEN I made a double batch of "Melody's Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies". I baked half and froze the rest. I love having cookie dough in the freezer for a last minute sweet tooth!
Whew,so much for taking it easy! Everything turned out great and I am making "Cara Packages" to share with our  coworkers.
I also took a little time to share the progress in my yard this summer...
Here's the view from the chairs in our side yard. Those sunflowers are 7 feet tall!

And blooming like crazy!

See my Zinnias and Dahlia's growing there in front of the fence? Yay for perennials!lol

We also picked our first harvest of broccoli!

Nothing is better than home grown produce! I think it just tastes better when you grow it yourself..haha
One more pic because I had mentioned Chipper's new haircut and I don't think I have shared a picture yet. Here he is in his handsome sweater,I tell him it makes him look smart ;p

We are off to the beach this weekend for a quick over nighter. I am very excited to get away!
Living with Del has a lot of positives but it's hard  not having much privacy and tolerating the continuous barrage of friends and family that stop by and never call first. Oh and did I mention his mother has a key to our house? Yes, she stops by a few times a week unannounced. If the door is shut and locked she just let's herself in...isn't that nice.
In 48 hours..I will get 48 hours away. Fair enough :)