Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Pay It Forward

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.


2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will pay it forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!


3. The gift that you send to your 3 friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember it’s the spirit and the thought that count!


4. When you receive your gift, blog about it! If you are not one of the first three to comment on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! It's all about paying it forward.

Friday, April 24, 2009

"In The Navy..."

Name the group that sings that song.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Traveling in Style


Berkley headed up to Idaho today to spend some quality time with Grandma & Grandpa Mackay, Aunt LaRae & Uncle Gary, and maybe a few kittens, horses and cows.

As a child I relied on a book, a travel game (Travel Bingo, etc.) or my imagination to keep me entertained.

My how far we've come. Berkley is watching Dora in the car with headphones. I guess she will learn Spanish and daddy won't.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Chicken Pot Heaven

I've been looking for a good chicken pot pie recipe that is family friendly, easy and large enough to feed our family. I found one. It's not necessarily very quick, but could be if you had leftover chicken or cooked it the night before. I love to buy the roasted chickens at Costco and depending on what I make I can sometimes get 2 meals out of it.

Filling:
3 Cups chicken broth
3/4 C. minced onion (I used the dry onions from the cannery but only did about 1/3 C)
1/2 C. chopped celery
2 C. sliced carrots
1 C. frozen peas
1 C. frozen green beans
3 C. cooked and chopped chicken
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 C. water
1/3 C. flour

Bring the broth to a boil. Add the carrots, celery and onions, reduce heat & simmer until tender. Add the peas & beans and cook until warmed through.

In a separate bowl mix the water & flour until the lumps are gone. Add it to the vegetable mixture. Stir occasionally until it's thickened up. Add the cooked chicken.

Put in a casserole dish. Put in a 400 degree oven (covered) while you mix up the biscuits.

Biscuits
2 C. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 TBL dried dill (or 1 TBL fresh dill) *but this is totally optional.
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c. cold butter
3/4 c. milk
Mix the dry ingredients and the cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Add the milk and stir just until mixed. Roll dough to 1/2" thickness on floured surface. You can cut out biscuits and place on top of chicken mixture OR I just put the dough on the entire casserole dish, trimmed any excess, and then scored the dough into 12 squares so I could just dish out squares after it was cooked.

Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes until the biscuits are browned.

The dough is so flaky and yummy. You can ad hoc the veggies. We didn't have green beans (although I could have opened a can and cut them up a little), and you can add other veggies that your family likes.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

What My Mom Taught Me

I've been thinking a lot about what my mom has taught me over the years. Actually not just my mom but my grandmothers and my mother-in-law. Mom's really do know everything.

My Mom taught me if a cookie recipe DOESN'T have milk in it...you don't need to spray the cookie sheet. She taught me how to make bread WITHOUT a breadmaker. I kneaded it and rolled it up, making sure to pinch it so there wouldn't be big air bubbles in it. She taught me how to cross-stitch and attempted to teach me how to crochet (multiple times) but it never took. She gets points for trying. She taught me how to fold towels into thirds. This was because of the odd shape of the cabinet in our bathroom. She taught me how to care for others. I watched my mom take care of my grandmother when she was sick. My grandmother passed away in our house and I feel a lot of comfort in the fact that my mom with with her when she passed away.

Both of my grandmothers taught me a lot.
*Keep licorice in a drawer at all times just in case my dad comes over.
*How to color decorative glass bowels by putting them in the sun.
*How to count to 20 in Dutch.
*How to throw the BEST pinata party in the world.
*Having a 'game closet' with lots of fun and unique games and toys is THE BEST!
*Oil of Olay is the only thing you need to keep your skin soft.

And now that I have a mother-in-law that is a MACHINE she has taught me a lot as well. She has taught me that butter is better than margarine, meat will make my husband happy, and ALL THE MOTHERS have taught my, by example, to give of myself.

I probably should have waited until Mother's Day to do this, but isn't every day mother's day?