Sketti Sauce Anyone?

Yesterday I set out to make a little spaghetti sauce from few the tomatoes we got from my parents' garden and our garden. I like to have some in the freezer for a quick meal of spaghetti with some browned italian sausage or use for some pizza sauce for homemade pizza.

I made a whole lot more than I thought I would.

Maybe I shouldn't have added those two cans of tomatoes I bought at the store. Oh well.

Like my label?

I think I'll fix spaghetti for supper tonight.

The Post I Have No Title For

I haven't been able to think of a good subject to blog about, so I think it's time for a brain dump.

Caution: Non-cohesiveness ahead.

::: Blogger has changed their whole layout. I feel like a newbie trying to figure everything out. I guess I'll just resort to my usual "click until I get it" method.

::: I've gotten a kick out of watching the birds outside busily collecting twigs and dry grasses to build their nests. I watched a Mourning Dove repeatedly carry bits and pieces for its nest into one of the pine trees in the back yard. This morning I heard it singing. I love, love, love that sound. It reminds me of when I was a kid and would lay in bed in the mornings listening to those birds.

::: Hubby got a new boss and we are thankful for who the person is. The boss is someone Hubby has worked with in the past in another location and it's great they already know each other.

::: I'm trying to grow my hair out and have fantasies of what it can look like. Emphasis on the word fantasies. I'm not happy with it at the moment and I really hope that I won't say the words "chop it all off" when I go to my appointment on Monday. I'd wait longer to give my hair more of a chance to grow, but I really need my stylist to work her magic and hide that one color in my hair I am not a fan of.

::: We visited the kids last weekend. Always a highlight for me. I love just spending time with them. On our way south, we had supper with some college friends at our favorite BBQ restaurant. Then on our way back north, we had a meal with my sister and brother-in-law. Can I just say texting is one of the best inventions ever?

::: I'm currently sitting in our four season porch and it's 11 o'clock at night. I just heard a battle outside complete with a bit of howling and some kind of animal whining. Yikes. I'm a little nervous to look in the yard in the morning.

(I warned you this post was lacking cohesiveness...)

::: Hubby planted some seeds in the garden this week. I'm looking forward to garden-fresh lettuce, spinach, radishes, green onions, and cilantro. We'll be planting some tomatoes and cucumbers and basil as well. And by "we", of course I mean Hubby.

::: I have started to write about two or three different things and deleted them before I finished a sentence. I think that is a good sign that I should end this extremely disjointed post.

Daily Photo Journal -- May 30

Today was filled with family fun. We spent the afternoon at our niece's High School Graduation Open House. She's a sweetie!

And a wonderful bonus of the day was being able to see our daughter and son-in-law!

Daily Photo Journal -- May 29

We had supper out with my parents tonight. We had a wonderful time. My dad turns 80 on Wednesday and the next day they are jetting off to France, believe it or not.

Daily Photo Journal -- May 28

I know, I know. I didn't post a picture yesterday in my quest to post a picture every day in the month of May. Sorry. I went to a quilt shop in a tiny, tiny town about 20 miles away and on the way home I realized I should have taken a picture. Phooey!

Anyway...

This afternoon my hubby and I worked on some things in the basement. I know we moved almost a year ago, but we each had one room that still had a lot of stuff that needed to be sorted through. Hubby worked on his shop and I worked on my sewing room.

I have a chest of drawers that my parents gave to us when we got married. They bought it over 50 years ago to fit in a spot in their house trailer. I used it growing up. After we got some of our own bedroom furniture it became a place to stuff my sewing things. The other day I was looking for some interfacing and realized that I really needed to clean that thing out. I swear I have been shoving things in those drawers for 20-plus years and don't know if I have ever purged it.

Here's a shot of some of the open drawers:

This one is causing me the most fits:

First waste basket full:

(Any comments about the Panda Bear Waste Basket can be directed to my hubby. I hold no responsibility for it. It's a left over relic of his childhood.) 

(My niece was afraid of it when she was tiny.)

Now we are pooped from sorting and thinking and wondering what-in-the-world some of the things we came across were and are going to pick-up some supper from the grocery store deli and watch a movie. Sounds like a great Saturday night to me!

Oh, and neither of us finished our jobs. I see another exciting Saturday afternoon ahead! :)

Daily Photo Journal -- May 26 (Pioneer Woman - Migas)

My next recipe to tackle in The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook was something called Migas. Ree says that they are known in the Southwest and describes them as "an exceedingly flavorful scrambled egg dish."  Since I'm a Midwest girl, it's no wonder I've never heard of them.

These "exceedingly flavorful scrambled eggs" have onion, red and green pepper, tomatoes, and jalapenos in them. A quite unique ingredient is corn tortillas that are fried until almost crispy.

I actually think I'd like the corn tortillas more crispy. They were hard to cut up (Hubby to the rescue!), and they seemed kinda mushy in the mix with everything else.

Here's a shot of everything cooking:

The finished product on my plate with Monterrey Jack cheese and cilantro added. (Oh, I love cilantro!) I also added an avocado to my plate.

The verdict? It tasted okay. 

When I make something new, I ask two questions: 

1) Do you like it? 2) Should I make it again? 

The answers to this dish are 1) Yes and 2) No.

(Sorry, Ree)

Daily Photo Journal -- May 25

I guess it's good for the garden...(this 1.25" plus the 2" last weekend)

Daily Photo Journal -- May 24

Today I received my first year on blogging in book form! I ordered it from this site:

http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html

Now I will order the remaining years so I can have hard copies of this fun hobby!

Daily Photo Journal -- May 23

Can you smell the Lilacs?

Mmmm!

(I am trying to pretend I didn't see the thousands of tiny, tiny bugs on the counter as I was putting these in a vase.... 

and trying to pretend that I don't feel them crawling all over me....)

Daily Photo Journal -- May 22

  Tonight I photographed the sun as it was setting. I just love the view from this house. A beautiful ending to a wonderful weekend.

 

 

 

Daily Photo Journal -- May 21

The Praising was wonderful! I just love Travis Cottrell and band. Such God centered music. And it was loud so I could belt it out at the top of my lungs. :)

It was hard to get a picture of Beth Moore when she wasn't moving. She very dramatic and spirited Beth taught from Psalm 116 and Hebrews 12 (and a whole slew of other verses in typical Beth style). (But backing up scripture with scripture? The Best.)

I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. I don't think I mentioned one of my favorite things. The friend who came with me....??? MY HUBBY! He's the best!

Daily Photo Journal -- May 20

 Today's treat? Praising God with Travis Cottrell and Learning from the Word with Beth Moore.

Oh yes, it was a good night. And I look forward to more in the morning!

Daily Photo Journal -- May 19

Today's treat? 

A pedicure!

Ahhhhh... Happy Feet!
The color? Pompeii Purple.

Daily Photo Journal -- May 18

Supper was on the grill. Pork Chops (using this recipe) Green Beans, and Garlic Bread sticks.

Daily Photo Journal -- May 17

I was excited to discover one of my all time favorite TV shows on in the afternoon.

Any body else just love The Waltons?

Daily Photo Journal -- May 16

No photo from today.

It's not that I didn't do anything today, I just didn't document it with a photo. I spent most of the day helping my Dear Hubby out. He had to go through that recommended procedure that one does when one turns 50.
I did video him being a bit loopy afterwards just so I could send it to our son so he could have a chuckle, but I would not dream of posting it here.
No, I never entertained the thought.
Never.

Since it just doesn't seem right to not put a picture up, I'll post one of me and my grandma. I was in high school and am wearing a choir robe and have my hair pulled back. I had hair almost to my waist when I was a teenager. Grandma was very stylish with her color coordination and jewelry.

I miss my grandma.  She's been with Jesus almost 16 years now. She was great at writing me letters and phone calls.  She would always start a phone call with "What do you know?"

Daily Photo Journal -- May 14 (Pioneer Woman Breakfast Bowls)

Today's Daily Photo Journal is about my next entry in our cooking adventure through Pioneer Woman Cooks. If you forgot, because, really, it has been an eternity since I posted about this, my daughter, daughter-in-law and I are cooking our way through Pioneer Woman's cookbook and writing about it here. I have no excuse for slacking off because I'm not the one who is in Pharmacy School or Medical School. I haven't been studying my brains out so I can someday help with the health with their fellow human beings like Megan and Amanda. 

Maybe that's it, my brain isn't near as active as those two amazing young women... anyway...

Today for lunch I made Breakfast Bowls. I would say that I doubt seriously I would ever make these for breakfast, because it took me quite a while to do all the chopping and assembly and, hello??? Breakfast? That comes quite early in the day, you know! (Mornings and I don't get along very well.) (But, if you know me or have read this blog for very long, you are well aware of that.) (I'm not quite as energetic as my sweet, newlywed daughter.)

So I spent the late morning chopping onions, baking a potato, chopping tomatoes, slicing up leftover breakfast sausage links we had in the freezer, crumbling bacon, breaking open eggs, grating cheese (which honestly took about 10 seconds in my oh-so-cool food processor), slicing basil, and chopping mushrooms (Ree doesn't call for these in her recipe, but they were in the fridge. This is the kind of recipe you can add almost anything you want to it.)

After all that hard work is done (I suppose if you really wanted this for breakfast you could spare yourself all this intensive morning labor and do all this work the night before. At night. Like a sane person would do.)

The ingredients are layered in an oven-safe bowl. I used a Grab-It bowl. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the all and top off with cheese and throw it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

It turned out quite yummy! (I think I could have baked them a little longer.) Hubby says it was the perfect dish to have after working in the yard this morning on this cold and rainy spring (?) day.

Daily Photo Journal -- May 13

Tonight I made roasted chicken. And mashed potatoes. And gravy. I believe it was the first time I have ever made gravy. And it was good.

I have one of these nifty vertical roasters for chicken.

My poor chicken had a little lean to it.

But it still tasted amazing.

And so did the gravy.

Hubby liked it too!

Daily Photo Journal -- May 12

(I am technically posting this on Friday, but am dating it for Thursday. Blogger wasn't working last night and I went to bed before it was back up.)


We've had tickets this year to a concert series that are at the high school in town. Last night was the last one. It was a band with four brothers. I only had my phone with me, but the picture turned out okay. Not great, but okay. (Which is the same thing I would say about the concert....we left at intermission.

Daily Photo Journal -- May 11

There was excitement out the window today. I've been hoping to catch the farmer planting the field next to our house and today was the day! (Yes, I am hard up for entertainment.) An old college friend asked me if the planter thingy on the back was a mechanical or vacuum system. Like this city girl would have any idea... Do any of my readers know?

God gave me an extra bonus this morning! A Double Rainbow! Wasn't that sweet and generous of The Creator?

(***Sadly, Blogger had issues this day and lost the comments.***)