Nina & Pinta Traveling the Ohio

I read about this in our local newspaper tonight and thought that it was so cool that I had to share.

What an awesome opportunity to learn a little history.

We hope to catch a glimpse of them as they pass through our area.

To find out what cities they will be in you can visit their websitehttp://thenina.com/.

Biking Along the Ohio

My dad has been pedaling daily for the past few months on a bicycle.

Something that he has not done in years. He is trying to regain a healthier body and lifestyle after having high blood pressure since he was a teen, heart by-pass surgery about 5 years ago and his latest battle....diabetes.

He has gotten the whole family interested in pedaling with him so one Friday a few weeks ago we took the afternoon off from homeschooling and loaded the bikes up. We headed to the river where there is a bike/walk trail and here are just a few pics from our afternoon adventure.

We pedaled from Moundsville to Glendale where the trail ends at the old Marx Toy Factory. You can still see the Marx name on one of the tanks still standing there.

We took a rest and headed back to complete the last leg of the 5 mile trail. After completing our ride I took the kids to play on the playground. While they played I snapped some more photos.

For any of you Brad Paisley fans, you may recognize some of these sites. They are in the same spot that Brad filmed his "Letter To Me" video.

Moundsville Bridge crossing the Ohio River to Ohio

Looking North towards Wheeling

Looking across the River

River barge carrying coal

Well that's it for our day of play!

Great Way to Wake Up!

I was in bed all tucked away in my warm blankets when I woke up to the sound of the mail truck pulling up in front of my house. He was bringing me my winning package from Carmen over at Waxed Out Creative Life.

She had a giveaway to celebrate her 200th post and I was the lucky winner. She has been talking about opening up some sort of selling blog on the internet and let me tell you...she really should!

Every piece that she sent was perfect. There was a stuffed prim pear, a caramel apple candle, lavender scented wooden clothespins, pumpkin cheesecake room spray and she even sent me a bar of her homemade lye soap that she made.

Thanks Carmen,

I love it all!

Bubble Pizza

Here is another dish out of my MIL's recipe files. I remember the first time she made this. I was skeptical when I heard the name but how can you go wrong with the basics of beef, pepperoni, sauce, cheese and biscuits. It may sound strange but it's a great meal to make ahead of time and then pop in the oven a half an hour before you are ready to eat.

Bubble Pizza

2 lbs. ground beef

1 (15oz.) pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce

2 tubes (12oz. each) buttermilk biscuits

pepperoni slices

1 1/2 cups (6oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup (4oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

Brown beef and drain.

Stir in pizza or spaghetti sauce and simmer.

Quarter biscuits and place in a greased 13X9.

Top biscuits with the beef mixture.

Toss on some pepperoni slices and any other favorite pizza toppings.

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes at 400°. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5-10 more minutes till the cheese melts.

Enjoy!

I've got to tell you though that I didn't follow these directions exactly.

I used the above ingredients but made it into 2 separate pans. (Using a tube of biscuits in each pan.)My hungry family of 5 ate just one pan of this (with not a drop left) leaving the 2nd pan to have later tonight after the football game. I also added the cheese right from the start and cooked it for 30 minutes instead of adding it later. I think the next time I make this I will do the same thing. Make two- one to eat and one to freeze for later.

Free Stitchery Patterns

My newest hobby is working on stitcheries. They are so much easier on my eyesight than counted cross-stitch plus if you can draw...you can create your own patterns.

I however, can't draw worth a darn so I rely on these wonderful people that so kindly share their patterns. Here are just a few of my favorites sites.

Primitive Blessings by Twigs n Sprigs

Homeberries

Pattern Bee

Sew Little Fabric

The Painted Quilt

Bird in the Hand Primitives

Primitivebetty's

Jenny of Elefantz

Cash Strapped Crafting

Primitives By the Light of the Moon

Prim Patterns 'n Handmades

If you have a favorite that is not listed above and would like to share it with us, please do.

You can email me or just leave a comment on this post with a link to your favorite patterns.

Happy Stitchin' !

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Bars

Here is a quick dessert to whip up if you love coconut as much as I do.

I made this over the weekend and everyone enjoyed it!

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Bars

3 3/4 cups coconut

3/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3 egg whites

1 whole egg, slightly beaten

1 tsp. almond extract ( or vanilla)

1 cup chocolate chips

Stir coconut, sugar, flour and salt together in a bowl.

Add egg whites and stir gently.

Add whole egg along with extract.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread into a greased 9X9 pan.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes.

Cool overnight (or not) and then cut into bars.

Sorry for the blurry picture but I'm having issues with my Photoshop program and was unable to fix it.

Update on Katie:

I took her to have the cast put on her arm today. The Dr. showed me the two breaks and said that they should heal fine with a little time spent in a cast. Now the hard part is keeping the girl still. She sees no need for it to be rested and propped up and she doesn't understand why she can't ride a bike or do any of her usual activities.

I think it's going to be a long 4-6 weeks.

Wish me luck cause I'm sure gonna need it!

Long Day for a Little Girl

Sunday morning started off pretty good.

We all slept in, catching up on some much needed rest.

I made breakfast for everyone then we headed outdoors.

Katie wanted to play on the swingset. She was swinging away & decided she would try to jump off mid-swing just like her older brother does. Needless to say, it didn't work out the way that she had planned.

She ended up face-down with a bloody nose and a hurt arm. We ended up in the ER where they told me she had fractured both bones in her arm near where it joins the wrist. They placed her in a temporary splint till she sees the orthopedic surgeon sometime today to have a cast put on.

She did alright with it all day but by evening she began to complain of it hurting.

Bath time was NOT fun but once it was over I gave her some ibuprofen and she crawled up on the couch and fell asleep. She had a pretty restless nights worth of sleep so she's back on the couch now.

I know it's Monday but I sure hope today turns out to be a better day than yesterday.

Cheesy Steak & Potato Soup

I've got a soup recipe to share with you to warm you up on a cool fall evening. What I don't have is a photo to go with it. We came home from football the other night and gobbled this all up before I was able to snap a picture.

I actually cooked two large round steaks in a pot of water till they were thoroughly cooked and then shredded it. I used half of it in this soup and the other half was used the next evening in steak quesadillas. Both recipes turned out pretty yummy. So yummy that they were gone before I thought to pull my camera out!

Cheesy Steak & Potato Soup

1 onion, diced

1/2 of a green pepper, diced

1 tsp. olive oil

1/4 cup flour

4 cups beef broth

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

12 small potatoes, cut into bite size chunks

4 cups cooked, shredded beef

5 cups milk

8oz. cheese, shredded (I used mozerella but you could use whatever you have on hand.)

Saute onion & pepper in olive oil.

Sprinkle flour over top of pepper and onions.

Cook for a minute or two while stirring so that it does not burn.

Add beef broth & stir well.

Add shredded beef & potatoes.

Add milk and let cook till potatoes are tender.

Right before serving, stir in the cheese and let it melt.

Enjoy!

Time flies....

WHoaaaa... time flies when you are having fun!

Not really!

We are into our second week of homeschooling this year and there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. By the time I get schooling done then I hop on the household chores of laundry, dinners, errands to run and numerous other small tasks that seem small yet when you add them up it equals NO FREE TIME! At least no free time for MOM!

If I had a "real" job somewhere then I would at least get a lunch break and I'd get a paycheck! Right????

;0)

Now before anyone makes a comment let me just say that I choose to homeschool because even though I am not a teacher I feel that our kids can get a better education at home than what they do in our public school system. It does take a lot of time and thought on my part to put everything together and to make sure that they are getting what they need in an education but it is well worth it. You just have to listen to me whine & cry every so often when I/we am/are having a bad day.

Yesterday was THAT day but today is going much better.

I am still having a hard time adjusting to "school time". It is so hard to get in the house early in the evening and get to bed early. It seems that by the time we get home from football, do dinner and wash up the dishes that it's almost time to get ready for bed. However, my body clock doesn't want to shut down for sleep till way after 11 p.m. and then when the alarm goes off at 5:30 I feel like I just crawled into bed.

Does anyone else have these problems or is it just ME?

Oh well... all will get better as we get more into the swing of things. It just takes time!

On another note, I have slowly been changing my blog around a bit AGAIN. I am still working on it but I hope to be finished soon. I also have a few new recipes to share with you soon so you'll have to visit again!

Once-A-Month Grocery Shopping

I have talked before about doing my grocery shopping once a month. By doing so I am able to cut my grocery bill down by buying some items in bulk, shopping for specials at a variety of stores and using coupons.

This past Friday was "the" day.

I don't make a monthly meal plan because I never seem to follow through with it. Instead, I shop for bargains as well as stocking up on the basics.

By basics, I mean meats, eggs, flours, sugars, veggies & fruit, cereals, tea, butter, cheeses, etc. The basic ingredients that I can use to make many home-made meals and desserts.

This month, I allowed myself $500.00 to spend on groceries for our family of 5. In reality I spent $525.00 but it filled my shelves, freezers and pantry nicely.

(I know my shelves and freezer look messy but believe it or not I know exactly where everything is!)

I buy meat in large quantities and then I repackage them into dinner size portions and freeze. Then I plan my daily meals around what I have on hand.

For example this week I bought 2 whole boneless pork loins for a total of $25.00. When I got home I cut them up and repackaged them. I ended up with 4 pork roasts, 2 meals worth of boneless chops, boneless ribs and a package of thin sliced (quick fry) chops. Not bad when you figure that I now have 8 dinners planned for our family of 5 at a cost of just over $3.00 each night for the main course. All I have to do now is add the to-go-withs and maybe a dessert.

I did the same with ground beef. I bought 12 pounds and cooked and repackaged 6 lbs. of it so when I need something quick I can just grab a bag and make something easy & fast. The other 6 lbs. of beef I used to make meatballs, meatloaf & salisbury steak. Other meat staples included chicken, bacon, sausage and beef roasts.

My once-a-month shopping plan usually takes 2 full days. One to shop and one in the kitchen chopping veggies and repackaging meats but in the end it's always rewarding to see a fully stocked kitchen and some money still left in my wallet.

If you haven't tried to shop once a month I would highly recommend giving it a try. You will be amazed at the amount of money you can save by cutting out daily trips to the store.

I do still go to the store throughout the month for a few things like bread and milk but that is about it. We also eat out once or twice a month and that usually happens on my shopping days because I am too tired to cook by evening!

Have a great day!

Never Forget

May we never forget

those that were lost

during the attacks of

September 11, 2001.

Peanut Butter Milk Dud Cookies

I jotted this recipe down on a little scrap of paper one day when visiting my MIL. I think it might have been out of a Taste Of Home magazine but I'm not positive.
Anyways, I finally got around to making them this weekend and they were pretty good. They taste like a peanut butter cookie with a chewy caramel center.
*Ever notice that most of my recipes contain chocolate or peanut butter or both.*

Peanut Butter Milk Dud Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 cups sugar, divided

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

3 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

10 oz. Milk Duds

Cream the butter, peanut butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and brown sugar.

Add eggs and beat well.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and mix. Then add slowly to creamed mixture.

Cover and chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Remove and take about 2 tsp. dough and wrap it around a Milk Dud. Make sure candy is totally covered.

Roll in remaining sugar.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350° for 10-12 minutes or till golden brown.Remove from oven and let set for for 2-3 minutes before placing on wire racks.

Fall Stitchery, Pumpkins & Candy Apples

Here are a few fall crafts that I have been working on and have finally finished. I already showed you the stitchery but I finally got around to painting a frame for it. I hung it in the stairway and now I am looking for more patterns so that I can change it out as the seasons come & go.

You can find this free pattern by Diane Cook HERE at the Cross Eyed Crow. You will have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the patterns but there are tons of them.

The directions for the apples and pumpkins came from Char over at The Pickled Pepper Patch.

My crafts never come out perfect like hers but I always have fun trying.

I painted Modge-Podge on the pears and then sprinkled them with cinnamon. It was a bit messy but it sure smelled good.

I also used Modge-Podge mixed with a little paint to coat my candy apples. Now I just need a place to set them and maybe a few fillers around them.

I used the last of my orange fabric scraps to make the mini pumpkins in the first photo. I didn't follow the directions completely but they still turned out cute.

I envy all of you crafters out there. You gals come up with some very clever and unique ideas.

I'm just glad that you share them with us.

THANKS!

Who's in there?

Can you guess where they are hiding?

It's their favorite spot to run through at night with their flashlights!

We spent another great weekend in the backyard sitting around a fire.

The lil' darlings as well as a few of the neighbor kids had fun running around and playing hide-n-seek.

Here's the same photo as above except I used the flash for it.

Did you guess the correct answer?

.....in the corn stalks!

This last picture is of the full moon just as it was rising above the top of the hillside.

Well I better get a movin'. It's our first day of homeschooling this year and we have lots to do so I will have to catch up on all of your blogs later.

Have a great day!

Official End of Summer

Hope you all are enjoying this lazy Labor Day Weekend.

For me, this weekend puts an end to the summer season.

It's now time to think towards fall! (My favorite season!)

A time to enjoy the cool weather, beautiful leaves, trick-or-treaters and a fun gathering of family at Thanksgiving.

It's a rainy day here. Just perfect for laying around and being lazy and I'm enjoying EVERY moment of it!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

Here's a quick and easy treat that my family likes. The bars cut nicely and would make a great bake sale item or a simple dessert to take to the office party, family gathering or just as a snack at home.

You will have to overlook my photo, it's not the best by any means but it's kind of hard to take another picture when you just scarfed down the last one.

My photo also does not include the chocolate chips that SHOULD be in the bar batter. That is what happens when your kids see an open bag of chocolate chips on the counter and decide to eat half the bag. I did manage to save the other half of the bag to make the icing for these. ☺

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

1 cup peanut butter

6 tbsp. butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 bag of chocolate chips

In large bowl, combine peanut butter & butter till smooth.

In a second bowl, combine sugar, eggs and vanilla and then stir into peanut butter mixture.

Add flour and salt and mix well.

Stir in half a bag of chocolate chips.

Spread into a greased 13X9 pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes at 350°.

As soon as you remove from oven sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top.

Let them melt and then spread to cover all of it.

Cool and cut.

Enjoy!

It's Crock-Pot Season ~ Pork Chops & Gravy

Football season has begun and so that means it's crock-pot season in my kitchen.

I'm not a big fan of cooking in a crock-pot but during football it's all I've got unless I want to come home and make a quick meal of hamburgers and fries every night. Which is fine other than I get sick of quick meals. I want something good, oven baked & wholesome. We have a few family favorites that I make on a regular basis in the crock-pot but I am always looking for new recipes to add a little excitement to our table.

I tried this pork chop & gravy recipe the other day and it was pretty tasty. I whipped up some mashed potatoes so we could smother them with gravy and threw some green beans on the side.

Crock-Pot Pork Chops & Gravy

8 pork chops

salt & pepper

2 tbsp. oil

2 (10 3/4oz.) cans of cream of mushroom soup

1 large onion, diced

12 oz. can of evaporated milk

Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper and brown in oil.

Once browned, place in a greased crock-pot.

In a bowl, whisk together the soup, onion & milk and pour over pork.

Place lid on and cook on high 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

I didn't have the canned milk or the cream soup here at the house so I made mine with homemade versions of both. You can find the recipe that I use for evaporated milk HERE and the cream soup mix HERE at Keepin It Simple.

Blueberry Buckle

Here is another treat that I found in my MIL's recipes . I baked this yesterday morning and it definitely passed the taste test last night.

I have plenty of berries stored in my freezer so I am going to use this recipe and just switch out the berries. I think it will be yummy no matter what fruit you place in it.

( Berries can be fresh or frozen. I used some that I had froze earlier in the season. I just set them out on the counter for a few hours to thaw a little before placing them in the batter.)

Blueberry Buckle

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups well-drained blueberries

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, softened

Mix together the sugar, butter and egg.

Stir in milk.

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder & salt and then add to the egg mixture.

Carefully blend in the blueberries.

Spread into a greased & floured 9-inch baking pan (I used a pie pan.)

Mix the topping ingredients together and then sprinkle on top of batter.

Bake at 375° for 45-50 minutes.

You can serve this warm with ice cream or as my husband prefers, in a bowl with a little milk.

Enjoy!

Busy Morning and an Alabama Package

I'm rather late today in adding a post to my blog but this morning has been a busy one.

I canned another batch of salsa this morning and then went out and cleared some more of the garden off. I believe my tomatoes are just about done for the season. I still have green beans, peppers, zucchini and sugar pumpkins growing and of course I'm saving my cornstalks for fall decorating.

I also put a crockpot meal together so that we could have a decent dinner after football tonight and I baked a dessert for afterwards. I will be sharing those recipes later if they pass my families taste test.

Now on to the package!

I received a package yesterday from Alabama! To be exact it came from Stephanie over at http://thelifeofafarmerswife.blogspot.com/.

Remember, she recently had a giveaway and I was the lucky winner!

We couldn't wait to open it up to see what she had sent.

There was a t-shirt, pecan cookies that were oh so good, grape soda, BBQ potato chips as well as Dill chips, cotton ( they are cotton farmers), apple butter, a loaf of sourdough bread, Red Diamond tea bags and a bottle of yellow syrup.

I thought the cotton was cool! We don't grow cotton in the north so this was something that I had never seen. The other thing I had never seen or tasted was the yellow syrup. She suggested eating it on biscuits so I will have to give it a try.

Thanks Stephanie! We all enjoyed your package.

Now, I thought the idea of having a giveaway of state-made products or even items that your state is well known for was a neat & different idea.

So...I'm rapidly approaching my 200th post and if I can come up with enough state items that I can easily ship then I may borrow Stephanie's idea and have a giveaway myself so you better stay tuned. :0)

Have a great day!