Bowser

With the new K’NEX sets, you can build the world of Mario Kart – complete with racers, obstacles and power-ups like mushrooms and stars. The huge track sets are cool, but if you don’t have room for an entire race track and just want the mini-figures, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Bowser are now each sold separately. If you’re looking for Bowser, you better be willing to hunt. In an entire display of at least 50 mini-figures, K’NEX packed only 2 Bowser Building Sets. There is some good news, however – I just found one at Walgreens today! A certain young man is going to have a Mario birthday party this year, he just doesn't know it yet.

Pot Roast

Better than Chipotle! Wash, trim, and dry your chunk of roast. Gently heat about a tablespoon of oil in your crock pot. Add the roast. Sear both sides of the roast. Add about 1/2 C. of water, one envelope of onion soup mix, reduce heat to low, and place cover on your crock. Slow cook the roast ALL day. You can start the night before if your low temperature setting is low enough. Roast is done when it can be easily shred with a spoon. At this point you want to add a whole envelope of taco seasoning. Stir to mix it up good. Serve as the taco filling for burrito fiesta!

We had brown rice, taco filling, and salsa roja. Guacamole would have been good, too.

Lettuce

I planted my lettuce last weekend, but I had to bring it in last night because it got so cold. March...

Jeans and Hair Clips

Caturday

Spring Dress

I made this dress for my little niece. She is now a size 2T.

Stuffed Shells

1 tub cottage cheese
1 tub ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 tsp. minced garlic
pepper

Mix together until it forms a paste, then fill your pasta with it. Bake at 350* for about 30 minutes until the cheese looks like it might be melting then top with sauce.

Steak

It's Ohio, it's March, and there is usually snow on the ground this time of year, but it was 80*+ for the third day in a row. So beautiful! I could think of no better way to celebrate than to GRILL!!!

Steaks, peppers, wild mushrooms, and green onions with toasted pita pockets buttered and garliced. Cook steak to 125* then let rest, they will come to about 135* which is a beautiful medium rare.

Picture Loss

Late last night I had a small disaster. I deleted the folder I keep all my blog photos in. I have some of the photos and can replace them, but having black boxes instead of pictures isn't very nice; so, I am going to be deleting some of the older blog entries. Don't worry, there will be many more entries in the future. If you had any favorite recipes you referenced please drop me an email and let me know not to delete those posts!

Spaghetti

Guinness Stew 2

This is great for using all your St. Patrick's day leftovers

1 bottle Guinness Extra stout
1 package of stew meat
1 large onion
some carrots
sliced mushrooms
beef boullion
leftover potatoes
leftover cabbage

Brown your stew meat in a large stock pot. Add onions and caramelize everything real nice. Add bottle of beer to deglaze pan and boil until meat is somewhat tender. This will take awhile. Next add 1 cup water and beef flavor; stir to dissolve. Add carrots and mushrooms and cook until it looks more like stew. Add leftover cooked baby potatoes and leftover cabbage or Brussels sprouts.

Caturday

I saw a little green man, but I stopped him with my teeth.
He offered me his gold, but I gave him no relief.
He was a lot of fun to catch and to chase
But, I am a cat, and I won the race.
I gobbled him up; he was stringy and lean.
His parting gift to me is he colored me green.

Leprechauns

Leprechauns come in two distinct groups - leprechaun and cluricaun. A cluricaun dresses very stylishly with a jaunty cap, large silver buckles on his shoes, beautiful gold laces and pale blue stockings. Pass him by, for he never has any money, or any idea where treasure is buried. A cluricaun will steal or borrow almost anything, making merry and creating mayhem in your house during the hours of darkness.
A leprechaun dresses in old-fashioned clothes of green, with a red cap, multi-pocketed leather apron, and buckled shoes. He is quite fond of a smoke, and he is frequently in an intoxicated state. As well as cobbling, his other trade is banking, and he is guardian to the ancient treasures. If you catch a leprechaun, don't let him out of your grasp before he reveals his gold. He'll try to distract you with all manner of tricks and, in the blink of an eye, will dash out of sight.

Picnic

So, it was really nice here again today. Probably 80* or so. I just wanted to kick back in the hammock and have a picnic, but noooo, I had to work. Came home and was still feeling festive, so I decided to throw us a picnic anyhow. Beans with hamburger and bbq sauce, hotdogs with short peppers and pickles, and a veggie tray. The coleslaw was crummy so we won't talk about it.

Cream Cheese Swirl

1 package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
6 Tbs. sugar
vanilla

Using a hand mixer, blend until smooth. It will be a bit liquidy. Pour on top of 9x13 pan brownies. Using a spatula, cut into brownies and make a swirly pattern. Bake brownies as directed.

Chicken Filling

1 package of those dried pepper pods you see in the ethnic section near salsa
corn oil
some chicken
garlic
taco seasoning

Boil your chicken until you have shredded chicken. Stir in garlic and taco seasoning. In a sauce pan simmer 2 or 3 pepper pods broken into chunks, stems and seeds removed, in 1/8 C. corn oil. Do not turn the heat up or you'll deep fry and burn the peppers, filling your home with a horrible stinking smoke that clings to everything and upsets the neighbors. Gently simmer for 8 minutes until they start to get a little softer. Food process your peppers and oil until it is smooth. Add peppers to the chicken. This will give chicken a pleasant orange color and make it taste like tacos. Use as filling for tamales, enchiladas, or whatever. I served mine in flour tortillas with tamale sauce and home made salsa.

Soap Galaxy

I was washing my mixing bowl, and noticed a thousand sugar stars in the water.

Flower Cupcakes

Bake white cake according to recipe, omitting any flavoring. Mix in 1 package of your favorite Crystal Lite drink mix. These were made with lemonade flavor and tinted yellow. The frosting is butter cream, but instead of milk I used lemonade.

Hello Kitty

Carnitas

Pork chops were on sale! Take your (washed and dried) pork slabs and throw them in a casserole dish with some olive oil, 1 sliced onion, and one minced jalapeno (stems, seeds and all), some seasoning salt and black pepper. Cover dish and refrigerate until tomorrow. Sear pork in very hot pan. Remove all food from pan. Scrape off peppers and onions (otherwise they will burn and its too smokey and horrible to breathe burned peppers) and put back in casserole. Slice seared pork into small cubes (trimming fat or bone), then return it to the skillet. Sprinkle cubes with a small amount of taco seasoning, and allow meat to cook all the way through. De-glaze pan with 1/4 C. water so the seasoning is not burning. Add peppers and onions and saute all ingredients together. Serve with tortillas!

Clams

One thing I like about Lent in North Eastern Ohio is the abundance of seafood available for cheep. Tonight we had clams. Just steam them for like 10 minutes and they are good to go.

Hacky Sack

Use sport weight (cotton) yarn and a size E crochet hook. Rounds 4-11 are a great place for colorwork.
Round 1: ch 2, 8 sc in 2nd ch from hook, place marker: 8 sc
Round 2: 2 sc in each sc around: 16 sc
Round 3: (2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc) around: 24 sc
Round 4: (2 sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc) around: 32 sc
Round 5: (2 sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc) around: 40 sc
Round 6-10: change to Color A, sc in in each sc around: 40 sc
Round 11: (sc2tog, sc in the next 3 sc) around: 32 sc
Round 12: (sc2tog, sc in next 2 sc) around: 24 sc
Round 13: (sc2tog, sc in next sc) around: 16 sc
Fill hacky sack with dried beans until firm, but still pliable
Round 14: sc2tog in each sc around: 8 sc
Round 15: sc2tog in each sc around, finish off: 4 sc