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Here lately I have been missing my Mama. So many things are happening in my life right now. Most of them good. All of them are topics I'd like to discuss with her. She was so good at coming up with solutions and giving such good advice. She was a typical middle child. The ultimate peacekeeper. She was also really good at being excited for the milestones in my life. We have hit SO many lately. Four years and I'm still not very good at being without her. Dang. Well....onto the food then. My Mama made simple, no fuss meals for us every single night. Even when she worked she cooked. One of our favorites was Chicken Rice Casserole. I will give you the recipe as she made it....and my adaptations.
Boil one chicken and set aside to cool. (I use three big boneless chicken breasts and pull out 2 c. of shredded chicken and freeze the rest)
In 1 c. of the broth, boil 1/2 c. chopped carrots and 1/2 c. chopped celery and 1/2 half a medium sized onion for about 5 minutes and set aside. Do not drain. (No...leave out the celery. It's gross. I usually add more rice and carrots so I use 2 c. of broth)
Melt 1/4 c. butter and add 1/4 c. flour. (I use about 5 TBS butter and a heaping 1/4 c. of flour)
Add 2 c. broth and bring to a soft boil to thicken. Add 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. paprika. Stir in 1 can cream of chicken soup and 1/2 c. uncooked (not instant) rice (I use 1 c. of rice and lately have used 1/2 rice 1/2 quinoa...delish!).
Add chicken (that you have pulled off the bones) and the veggies you boiled...water and all...and stir to combine. Put in buttered baking dish (9x13) and cover. Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350*.
This casserole is by far my favorite comfort food. When I am missing Mom...this is what I cook. Due to the unusual longing for her lately, I also made her Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, Applesauce Cookies. The last few times I have made these they have dried out pretty fast. My sister Kim is the ultimate cookies maker and they turn out for her every time. These cookies were the first thing I learned to make by myself. I would whip up a double batch on a Sunday night and take a bunch to my room to "help" me with my homework....you know, brain food!!
3/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. applesauce
2 c. oatmeal
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 (heaping) tsp nutmeg
1/2 (heaping) tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. milk
2 c. flour
Cream together Shortening and sugar. Add the eggs. Add the dry ingredients and then the rest of the stuff (yes, that is what my recipe card says). Using a medium cookie scoop (about a golf ball sized scoop) place on cookie sheet and bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes. The bottoms and edges will be brown...but not the tops.
So there you have the ultimate comfort food....for me anyway. It's not really working. I still miss her. What?? Food won't take away the hurt? No...it will. I just have to eat more :) Do you have a favorite comfort food recipe??
19 years ago this little girl came into our family. She was sweet and snuggly, but we were soon to discover that this girl had a mind of her own!!
She was adored by all her aunties and uncles (still is) and was Aunt Michelle's choice for a buddy and Aunt Kim's for an... EVERYTHING!! She was (and is) easy to hang with.
She never got that baby sister she wanted so badly, but found time and energy to devote to her beautiful cousins. She has taught them well.
Even when she hit that unenviable rough patch all kids get to endure...she was still funny and beautiful.
Of course she didn't ever lose that wicked sense of humor or her snarkiness (I blame her mother...oh wait...that's me).
But she used her strong will to over come many challenges in her life. She is kind and smart and strong. She is sweet and beautiful and strong...did I mention that?
I am so very proud of this young woman. She amazes me every day. My heart swells with pride just thinking about her. My eyes leak too...because I am sure I miss her more than any mother ever missed her daughter. She is not just my kid...she is my friend. I treasure our relationship and this girl. I am one proud Mama.
Happy Birthday, my darling girl. You are SO loved!!
My sister asked me to make a chore chart for her family. They all will have things to be responsible for every day. And some different chores for the weekend.
Of course I added some they can do if they are trying to earn some extra cash....like clean out their Mom's car and clean the fridge.
I do hope it works for their family and helps them stay organized (especially in the evenings when she gets home from work!). Here you go sister. Hope you like it :)
Here are the finished projects that I started on Monday. I love how different they all are. It all started with my desire to help my little sister be less stressed in the evenings.
Working a full time job AND being a Mother is like having three full time jobs. I wish I lived closer so I could help in a real physical way....but alas...it is not to be. Yet.
So I took sheet metal and glued it in a frame and Mod Podged scrapbook paper to it. I made magnets with glass marble thingies with a flat side and more paper and Mod Podge.
I printed some dinner ideas and laminated them. I folded an envelope to store them in and a hook at the bottom and there you have it.
I have this one sold to one of Kim's friends in Idaho. I hope she likes it. I am still trying to decide how to hang them. I love them in a big easel on the counter, but some folks (me included) don't have the counter space.
I have made a menu for years now and I love it. I make a list of things I will need (I usually make a two week menu, cuts down on going to the store) to make dinner for the week (or two) and BAM! Done and done.
I do hope this will help Kim with her hectic evenings. Planning for a weeks worth of meals on one day and getting all of the shopping out of the way is very helpful. I will probably send her a link for some freezer meals too. Those are always great to have on hand.
So if you know of anyone looking to buy a menu board....I have the yellow and gray one and the orange and gray available right now.
Next project will be a chore chart. Wish me luck :)
I love project day! Of course any day is project day at my house. It just so happens that I have a CUSTOM ORDER!! Yep, someone liked one of the projects I made for Kim so much that she wanted to pay MONEY for one. (Real American money...not even rubles or Pesos!!)
Still kind of in shock. But now the pressure is on. Will she like the finished product? Crap...it was a lot easier to just give away any extra projects I made (you know the three project rule)....but this one was a little too spendy to make three just for the heck of it.
So I am making a couple and will probably post them on Facebook to see if there is any interest. OH SNAP!!! The ultimate form of rejection....what if no one likes them....sheesh. Oh well. At that point I will just give them to Good Will. They won't let me down ;)
Without realizing it I have found the PERFECT colors for my craftroom re-do. Was I planning to paint? NO! But oh my color-love!!! Look at that coral-y pink and the navy....swoon!!! Throw in the gray that is on the other side of the navy and I am in LOVE!! Jim is going to be so happy!! bahahahahaaaaa!!!! {sorry honey}
So for now, happy Monday!!!
Why is it so hard some days to focus on what I am SUPPOSED to be doing. Hey wait, who says what I'm supposed to be doing? Not my Mom...My hubby gave up on that years ago...Who is it that I owe this debt of guilt to? Huh...anyhoo...I was SUPPOSED to be vacuuming and doing laundry and dusting, you know stuff that needs done during the day. But I didn't feel like it. I would start to move in that direction and would get pulled back to my craft room.
The problem was I bought some fabric a while back and wanted to get these 30 minute table runners made. Did I NEED them? No. Was my life going to be less without them? No. But they are pretty and easy and I needed something pretty AND easy....and let's face it, vacuuming and laundry are neither of those.
SO I sat down at my sewing machine and in less than an hour had three pretty (and easy) table runners to feather my nest. I do love quick, easy projects. They match nicely with my ADD!
I think this one is my favorite. I am still working on the pumpkin placement...I only took out half of my collection this year. Who really needs 40 zillion pumpkins anyway?
Next on the project list (other than a couple requests from my sweet, adorable, lovely sister...) will be a sash for my Life Badges. It will look similar to a Girl Scout sash...maybe with a little more glitz and glam.
What are Life Badges you ask...Simple. When you have learned a life skill, such as patience (that is a hard one to earn) or balance or even kindness you get a badge to sew (or hot glue, if you are in that camp) onto your sash. The beauty of the badge is once you have earned it, you no longer have to work on that life skill. It is yours. No repeat lessons required.
Now obviously to have mastered patience you must be patient for more than an hour. Probably even more than a day. Let's say two days. If you are patient in all your dealings for two whole days, the badge is yours. Similar time constraints can be established for each Life Badge. Some will be longer, some shorter depending on the skill required. Honesty for some will be harder than patience, while balance might come easy and happy might take a bit. No matter. It will all be worth it for the badge. Do you want a sash? What Life Badge will you be working on first? What will be hard for you? I myself, will be working on....being self motivated. I figure in three days I'll have it mastered and then I can move on....(bahahahaa) Aahhhhh.....if only......
We loaded all of Jo's things in the truck Clampett style...if only they'd had duct tape!! She didn't have much. Not many kids her age do. Just enough to fit in a small one bedroom apartment.
The backseat was filled with boxes and blankets and more memories than I could count.
I only took a couple photos of the inside. I will take more when I see her in October. They have a nice living area complete with T.V., chair and a futon (for those pesky visits from ME!).
Their room. Big enough for a bed and two small dressers, and hotter than blue blazes!! Had a hard time sleeping.
The other side of the room...the BIG dresser...to make up for the not so big closet. Oh well. They will learn to be very organized this way.
Tiny but functional bathroom. There is a nice sized linen closet to hide all their junk...if they'll use it.
The step saver kitchen has a cozy feel...like being upside down in a sleeping bag with your sister sitting on your feet. Cozy...
To take these pictures I didn't even have to move my feet. So convenient!!
Even with it's creaky floors and lack of cross breeze ventilation...this apartment is so cute. It could be because my baby Jo and her bestie Steph live there that I can't help but like it. She is going to love her independence and living so close to all of her friends. I will tell you about my (almost) pod of people moment. We were on our way home and we stopped at a gas station. I was washing my hands in the rest room and turned to grab a paper towel to dry them with. A person came out of the stall and I froze. I would have sworn in that second that this person was not the same gender as I. At that moment I didn't know who had gone in the wrong door...but I was sure it had to be me! I was so freaked out that I was in the men's room that I flung my paper towel somewhere near the trash and RAN out of there. Luckily I did not try to speak. Who knows what bad things would have happened then. I went to the pop cooler to find my love and I something to hydrate ourselves with and that same person was coming to the shelf next to me. Upon closer inspection it turns out she really was in the right place and SO WAS I!! She had the manliest haircut I've seen on a woman and the most painful looking facial piercings ever. Her tattooed arms and gruff demeanor finished her overall appearance. She was a woman...and a butch one at that. If she noticed my scramble for the door she probably assumed that her appearance somehow had me ruffled. While that is somewhat true...that fact of the matter is I really thought I had screwed up and gone into the men's room. So all is well that ends well I suppose. Fun things always happen when you least expect them....and usually in the bathroom!!!
