Porch Update...

This is one of the first days the kitties were aloud out side onto the porch. Now a couple weeks later they claw at the animal door to go out there. It is screened in on this side and they love it. It is a big hit. Cooper stays out there almost 24/7. But a few hours a night I do close it and they all come in. But I let them go in and out to the porch when ever they please. So my totally in door kitties have grown to love the screened in porch. They are still a little skittish. If my neighbors go outside they fly back into the house.

I even have a new visitor. I don't know if she has a home but she come here to get fed. She was really really skinny when I first found her. But now she has gained a little weight. My neighbors was calling her one day but I know they are not supposed to have cats. So I don't know if they were just feeding her or if she is thiers. She does have kittens some where though. She is the sweetest girl.

Anyways the porch is almost finished. We have to fix a leaky spot on the roof and stain the floor and we will be done. "C" loves sitting out there. And we love it too.

Energy Smoothie..We will see....

Well I am really bad at finding smoothie recipes that satisfy me and my belly. Especially in the morning. Normally I drink it and my stomach is sick for next hour. Today I mixed up a simple smoothie. That had protein, fiber, Omega 3's. It didn't seem as heavy on my tummy as they normally do. Even though the cup felt like it weighed ten pound... It still went down smoothly. For the most part when I make smoothies at home I don't like the taste or texture. I am very picking. And smoothies should be a very easy thing to make. Anyways. Here is the recipe I used this morning: (Recipe to post soon)

And here is the end result....

The little bit of spinach I did put in turns the whole thing GREEN..... Yummy... But It really didn't change the flavor. It only took out some of the sweetness.

Cauliflower Sauce and Whole Wheat Pasta (NV)

Tonight I am finally taking the time to sit down and fill out some blog pages. So here is what we had for dinner on Thursday.

Sorry the pictures a little blurry..oops!

I watch a lot of cooking shows and when I'm not watching addictively I am on the web pages browsing for recipes. I ran across this one on Rachael Rays 30 min meals. I love to watch her even though she really doesn't cook that many veggie meals. But a lot of the stuff you can cut and replace to make it veggie friendly. At least thats what I do. Anyways on to the Goods...

1 Box Whole Wheat Pasta ( Try WW-pasta not the WW Mixed)
1/4 Cup EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
3 Gloves Garlic (Skin off/ Cracked)
1 Onion, Finely chopped
1 Head of Cauliflower, chopped(I used a good sized head)
1 Cup Veggie Stock or No- Chik Broth
4 Sprigs Rosemary (The only spice I don't own. Oops..)
3/4 Cup Romano
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Boil water. Add salt and pasta. Cook till al dente. Don't over cook. Drain and save 2 ladles of the starchy water.

While Cooking pasta make the sauce. Heat oil in skillet w/ oil throw in the garlic and let infuse for about 5 min. Chop onions and Cauliflower ( Take all greens and stems off the cauliflower). Then take out the garlic add the onions and cook them till they are translucent and soft. ( I cook mine a little longer. I don't like crunchy onions so I make sure they are really done.. lol) So cook onions for 5 to 10 min. Add cauliflower, stock/broth,& rosemary. Cover and cook for 15 min or until tender and ready to smash. Smash with a potato masher or blend up a little. ( Put in water if you want it. I didn't use the water) Mix in cheese if cheese is desired. Mix pasta & serve.
We also had glazed carrots as a side.
"J" and I enjoyed it. "C" helped me make it but the carrot went in her mouth and came right back out into my hand..... and the pasta she wouldn't even look at so...

Cabbage, Pasta, & Potatoes

Today new dish was quite tasty. It came from Rachael Rays cooking show and "J" and I loved it. My mother gave it a thumbs down though.

You will need:
2 to 4 Potatoes
1 Box Whole Wheat Pasta
1 Small head Savory Cabbage (Cored and thinly shredded)
1 stick margarine or butter
3 to 6 cloves Garlic, skinned and halved
16 sage leaves ( I always use powdered )
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 to 2 cups Romano

Bring water to a boil. Add potatoes and thick cabbage. Cook for 7 min and then add the pasta. Cook WW pasta for 8 min. Stir in cabbage let simmer for 5 to 7 min. Strain.

While the other stuff is boiling. Put the margarine in a separate pan to melt. Add the garlic and 6 sage leaves. Cook for 3 to 5 min. Remove the garlic and sage leaves. Add some sliced up sage leaves. Also put 2 ladles of the starchy pasta water in w/ the butter. Mix with the pasta mixture and add the cheese if desired.

Update Oct 2, 07:
This is really really good and we have had it 4 or 5 times since the first time. So we really love this....!

New Baby for "A"

Well I forgot to put up pictures of "A"s new baby when she was born so here they are. She was born August 16th, 2007. Congradulation !!!!!

My B-day & "C"s First day of school

"C" waiting for the bus on the first day of school. My 22nd B-day cake.

August 29,2007: My 22nd B-day which kind of freaks me out. Plus "C" had her first day of school ever. She loves it. So I will do "C"s day first. She got up around 7 am and had to catch the bus at 8:27am. But the bus missed her stop. So mom ran her to school. Which turned out to be a good thing because she was really scared. She started to cry but everything worked out. Mom and I both went to pick her up and she was really crabby..But she enjoyed school. So that is really good. She even has some new little friends. Her school has a program where parents ( well me the sister of "C") can go in and read to the kids and work during parties and I think I am going to do that. Mom really isn't into that kind of thing so I think it will be fun. Next My B-day. My 22nd. Which makes me feel really old actually. I see all my friends having babies and I want one. But I know right now probably isn't a good time. I would love to adopt but right now were we live just isn't suitable for kids so. Anyways back to my B-day. It was nice except "J" worked all day. (Thats ok though he is supposed to make it up to me this weekend). But I will run of my b-day list real quick. 4 Seasons of Degrassi (a guilty please of mine), Icing knives, Icing tip set & bag, 2 Matt & Nat wallets ( for those of you who don't know they are an awesome company who makes vegan products) I love my wallets, 3 sisters island books by Nora Roberts (I ordered these But they are from "J" :) ), $50.00, and something my Mom ordered but she hasn't received yet. My Mother also gave me a Bible that my Dads Mom gave her on her 22nd B-day. So That really means the world to me. She passed away when I was around 9. She was a great women and meant the world to me. I have other things of hers. But to have her Bible that she used everyday, that has her writing in it just means so much. So that was emotional for me. Bu I do think its kinda cool that my B-day fell on "C"s first day of school but she was really mad. She said she missed my B-day. :( Pictures will post later.

Blueberry/ Dried Cranberrie Muffins TGoV

Well I have cooked a little lately. I tried the Blue Berry Muffin recipe from TGoV. It turned out really good. I made some changes and added some Dried Cranberries. I think next time I will use all dried fruit for mine. "J" loved them I thought there was a few to many blue berries. I used frozen blueberries and they were huge so maybe if I found small fresh berries I would like them more. The berries fault not the recipe. It was just a basic recipe though. Yum Yum...Hopefully more recipes to come... Very soon. Update:Since I made this recipe I made it again and changed a few more things. This time I added 1/2 cup of blue berries and 1/4 cup of dried Cranberries. I really like the dried fruit. This time the muffins turned out just as moist as the first set. But they didn't fall apart like the original did so that was nice and "J" really enjoyed them in his lunch box and that was a good change. I haven't made that many baked goods lately. But I am getting everything cleaned up again so after my yard sale I plan on starting to cook again. O yeah and I am going to make cooking, muffins, & cupcakes to sample & sale at my yard sale which is really exciting for me. I can't wait.

Family Reunions 2007

"C" touching the lake before swimming.
Well every family Reunion in both sides of our family seem to fall in late July and all through August. We always seem to go to my parents reunions and "J" never seems to really want to go to his or maybe feels out of place there. I think next year if the car is running better I am going to try to talk him into going to at least one. There is 3 on his side I think. Any ways. My 2 reunions went very well. Beckley was first and it was a very very good trip. I only get to see them once a year and it is always great. This year it was held at Lake Stephens and the weather was awesome. I learned that my dads side of the family about 5 generations back was original from Austria which I think is pretty cool. After we visited we took "C" down to the lake to go swimming. That was her first time in a lake or anything like it. She had a blast! She was so happy. I didn't spend the former night though and I missed that but we really didn't have the money this year. But thats ok. The 2nd Reunion my Moms family is held every year in the same place. It was really nice as well. We visited with everyone and the weather was also great that day. The only thing about these reunions that I don't like is there is never really anything to eat... I had water melon and bread. So I guess I am going to have to start cooking something that travels about 4 hours and sometimes a night.... Any Ideas? :) Pictures will be posted soon."C" and 2 of our cousin "E"s kids (Dads Reunion) "C" and Shayla (Moms Reunion)

Mixed grilled veggies

Well nothing exciting today. I throw together some veggies (Peppers, squash, zuchnini, Onions.) They were cooked on the grill. I had a peper and onion snadwich. I was so engrossed that I forgot to the the other mixed veggies off the grill. Oops.. :)

NO food again...

"AR's" Baby Shower

Well I haven't blogged in forever. And isn't it awful that most of my blogs start out that way. Any ways a lot has happened since my last. I quit my job. Which I should have blogged about sooner. But here is what happened. My erythema nodosun was having a bad spell and I was in a lot of pain. To walk and get up and down stuff like that. So the doctor put me off from work for a week and like 3 days. While I was off from work I went to walmart to get stomach meds one day. A couple days later I went to pick up my new kitchen table which took about 30 min of me sitting at the store. Then the day after I went to get my prescription filled. Well I guess someone seen my out and the 2 main managers were talking about me. The day I went in to so her why I was gone and give her my slip. "D" Wouldn't even talk to me. I said hello 2 times and walked up to her and all she did was turn and walk away. So lets not act like we are kids here. Right. So the story goes on anyways. I handed in my resignation 2 days later. Sorry for going on and on.
My porch is coming along. John has been busy doing other things too. So it has been a slow process. We have planned a trip to my family reunion. I started doing Pilates. Which I have been meaning to do for a while. I really enjoy it. John & I took "C" to the Mannington District fair ( I forgot my camera :( )I am going to another fair I think so I might get to take some pics. I went to "AR"s baby shower. It was really nice to see her. I grew up with her and she is like my sister. I hadn't seen her in a while so I was really glad I went. But in the summer so much goes on.
On September 8th my town is having a Town Wide yard sale. So now I have to go through all of our stuff.Thats not bad though I have been wanting to have a yard sale for a while and have alot of stuff to get rid of. Although I Donated most of my extra stuff last year. But thats catching up on some stuff.