Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Kielbasa, It's What's for Dinner!!


(photo courtesy of Group Recipes.com)


I have been trying to use up what is in my freezer and I came across a package of Kielbasa.  Since I wanted to make this in my crock pot, I started googling.  This is what I located at Group Recipes:


Slow Cooker Kielbasa Stew


  • 4 cups coarsely chopped cabbage
  • 3 cups peeled, cubed potato
  • 1-1/2 cups sliced carrots
  • 1 pound cooked kielbasa, sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushedshopping list
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 14-ounce cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • In a 4- to 5-quart slow cooker combine cabbage, potato, and carrots. Top with kielbasa. 
  • Sprinkle basil, thyme, and pepper over kielbasa. Pour chicken broth over all.
  • Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 9 hours or on high-heat setting for 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours.
Doesn't it sound delish??  What have you made in your Crock pot lately?  



A.Marie

Thursday, August 25, 2011

MY CANNER RUNNETH OVER

Presto Pressure Canner
(image courtesy of SimplyCanning.com )


See the picture right above?  That harmless looking green bean?  Well, not to complain or anything, but that innocent-looking vegetable is taking over my kitchen.... literally.  I don't know what happened out there in that garden, but those green beans must have decided to give it one last hurrah, because they are bustin' out of their rows....I canned some this morning, there is more to can on the kitchen table and still more to pick out in the ol' garden patch.


But, again, I'm not complaining.  I am very glad that Mother Nature graced us with "her" presence a couple of days ago and gave us that nice soaking rain.  It just made the green beans a little too happy, that's all I'm sayin'!   LOL  ;)


Okay, enough blogging....back to the canner I go!  


What are all of you doing today?



Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Things I Do For My Cat

WHAT! WE'RE OUT OF WET CAT FOOD??

Okay, Seriously....someone get me some kitty prozac so I can calm my cat down!  He absolutely LOVES his tasty wet cat food "treat" that I give him throughout the day.  But, since I was lazy and didn't make it to the store, I am all out of his favorite tasty yummies.  

So, I have been searching the internet to come up with something that I can make at home that will sort of resemble canned cat food.  After reading a ton of articles, I came upon one that said boiled chicken is fine for cats so long as it wasn't cooked with onions, garlic and salt.

YES!  I can do that!  I have alot of chicken in my freezer (breasts to be exact) and I am going to boil some, cool them, chop it really fine, and see if Mr. Picky aka thirteen-year-old-geriatric-fussy-pants-cat will eat it.  

I'll let you know!



Wednesday, August 10, 2011

BAND CAMP 2011

Band Camp is over for the summer and it's now time to move on to something else, like weeding the garden, picking the tomatoes and putting up corn for the upcoming winter.  Time marches on and life is a continuous ebb and flow, like the seasons, like the ocean's waves.


Since this is teen son's last year of high school, there will be many more "lasts," but then he will start college and that will start many more "firsts."  There can't be an ending without a beginning, so as we are going through this last year of high school, I will be thinking about how this all began in Kindergarten and is ending with his Senior year and will begin again (with college).  Life....gotta love it!!!  ;)

(walking off the field at the end of band camp 2011)

I also noticed something when I was busy volunteering at this year's band camp.  This was my last camp that I will be actively volunteering at all day, every day, and I didn't feel the need to "prove myself" like I did at the past camps.  I just did what I could from day to day and didn't leave with the feeling that I didn't get enough accomplished.  I just felt more relaxed and at ease.  Does that make sense? 


I enjoyed getting to know some of the freshman Mom's and really look forward to being around them during the next few months as the band performs at their band competitions.  Then, when the last and final competition comes to an end, and my duties as the Snack Queen are over, I'm gonna take my invisible crown, place it on the head of my successor, raise my water bottle to her in a toast and bid that part of my life adieu!   :)

(My trusty water bottle that has lasted for 4 band camps.  I felt it deserved a photo!)  LOL


Have a great day everyone!  I'm off to husk some corn, cut if off the cob, blanch it and bag it for the freezer!  It's gonna be alot of work but my family will enjoy it when the snow starts flying!!  



Saturday, August 6, 2011

DON'T "DO THE OSTRICH"




I have been busy, busy, busy this week doing the Band Mom "thing" for band camp.  My teen son is a Senior this year, so this'll be his (and my) last camp.  Someone asked me if that made me sad, but I was like, "not really."  I mean, it's been fun and all, but nothing stays the same, and it shouldn't.  Time marches on and we just have to adapt and move on right with it.  I enjoyed volunteering in the grade school, then the upper grade school, then the junior high, and now the high school.  And, when that is over, it'll be time to say, "C'est la vie" and embrace the next phase.  


Which leads me to what happened last evening at the annual potluck that is held after the first week of Band Camp.  It's usually a fun time meeting and greeting new Freshman parents and catching up on what is happening with fellow band parents.  So, hubby, son, and I were sitting with hubby's sister, and hubs was telling us that he had chatted with this other band mom and had said to her, "Can you believe that your son is a Senior?"  (Now, keep in mind that our son is also a Senior, but we have a very different approach to this question than she did!)


She got really upset that my husband asked her that and he told me that she just "clammed up" and wouldn't say another word to him.  When he told us about this little episode, I thought that she probably was just kidding around with him and decided to ask her about it when I saw her.  So, as "luck" would have it, she walked right by our table just as he finished telling me this story.  When she got by me, I said to her, "Hi! How are you doing!!!!  Can you believe that your son and my son are finally Seniors?"  


OH. BOY.  


WRONG-O THING TO SAY.


BECAUSE HUBS WAS NOT KIDDING.


SHE GOT REALLY MAD.


IMMEDIATELY her friendly smile withered away to nothing and was replaced by an ugly, angry scowl.  Her eyes turned cold as ice, her body language went from relaxed to stiffened as she clamped her lips firmly shut and stomped off.  I could NOT believe it!!  I shouted after her, "Hey, I was only kidding....seriously....are you really mad?"  And, she didn't turn around at all.  She just stiffly walked out of the building and went outside.


I was stunned.....so was everyone else sitting there.....The change in her, with that one sentence, was just incredible.  I said to everyone that saw it, "Boy, I feel really bad.  I really didn't think that she'd get THAT mad!"  But, there was not much I could do to make it better.  I decided to just go on with my meal and try to find her later and apologize.


Well, she came back into the room, stormed right over to where I was sitting, pointed at me and looked me straight in the eye and said with a very cold voice that held absolutely no emotion, "It's a good thing that you are a church going woman or I would say some words to you that you wouldn't want to hear."  And, with that statement, she stormed off again.......


Me thinks that there is something not right with her "upstairs" and I am going to A.V.O.I.D. conversing with her for awhile.  There is an obvious problem and I'm not willing to get myself all upset because of her.  Both of our sons are graduating and that is a fact.  Nothing can change that.  She can "stick her head in the sand" and avoid the obvious, and that is her choice.  But, that is not my choice.  I am going to enjoy this last year, because this is truly the last high school year.  I have no other kids in school.....teen son is the last one.  I'm going to have a good time, enjoy the camaraderie (for the most part), do what I can to help with the competitions, volunteer at the music functions, and when it is all said and done, next May, and those Senior kids walk down that aisle with their cap and gowns on, I'll shed a few tears and then just turn my face to the future and not look back. 


But, until then, there is much band mom "stuff" to do and I'm just doin' what I can and enjoyin' the fun!  (and, for those of you who are wondering....I haven't touched a screwdriver yet since this last post!   ;)


A.Marie