Things I have heard and some blessings!

I know we have the garmin but we still need a map! Really, like her sweet voice can't find our way there????




I am never, ever living in Kansas...or Nebraska! I can understand this one.



Only 329 miles til our next turn!!!!!



Steak again???? I think they are secretly missing my cooking on this one!



JoGail, Be Quiet! Understandable !



I can't use my itouch. There's no wifi out here in the middle of nowhere. There's not even any houses!



Corn. More corn. and more corn. Saw it in 4 states!



Can we go back to the Battle of Little Big Horn this morning? This was not said by a female person in the family, by the way!



What do people do out here? I have no idea because there's not much out here that I can see. Lots of grassy plains and some rivers....



JoGail can you please play the quiet game?



I spy with my little eye......cornfields!!!!



Look there's another car on interstate with us! In Montana and Wyoming



We drove halfway through Oklahoma and just now saw another car with an Oklahoma license plate on it! Uhhh this was pretty much true!





Now to the blessings



The weatherr has been wodnerful. Absolutely wonderful.



Coy has driven and not gotten sleepy even though we haven't had alot of things to look at.



The girls has gotten along really good so far. JoGail has entertained herself and played her games. She has gotten mad when Grace won't play the magnetic tic tac toe game Missy made for her.



JoGail has made friend in every hotel pool she has swam in.



We have seen lots of corn. Which means farmers are having good crops.



We have been able to eat good food. We have not eaten at McDonald's yet!

The girls have tried new foods.



I have had my Bible study in the car every day. Been nice. No excuse not to have it.



I have seen Grace reading her Bible in the back seat. She is learning and trying.



I have apparently caught up on some much needed sleep!



The girls have been to a real, 1960's style motel. They loved it! Complete with a flyswatter hanging in the closet!



We have seen beautiful countryside and desolate highways!



We saw the biggest dandelions we have ever seen at Battle of the Little Big Horn!



Purple mountain flowers are beautiful!

2 quick recipes

2 quick recipes before I finish getting everything ready.

Creamy Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

1/2 cup sour cream (I used low fat)
3 Tablespoons sugar or splenda
Juice of 1 lemon (or 4 tablespoons lemon juice)
1/4 teaspoon poppy seeds

Mix all together and refrigerate. Really good on berries.

Sherry's Italian bread

1 loaf french bread cut in half lengthwise
1 small jar hellman's mayo
2 small cans olives drained and chopped
1/4 c chopped green onions
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Mix mayo, olives. cheese and green onions together. Spread on both halves of bread. Heat in oven about 40-45 mins.

I think mushrooms would also be good to chop and put in the mayo mixture, too. We had this at Mandie's birthday celebration at Sherry's yesterday and it was good !

These recipes are linked to:
http://www.ourhomeschoolhome.com/2010/07/on-grill-sweet-potato-fries.html

a few wedding pictures

MawMaw and Toot dancing

Dino, his mother, and brotherEric and Mr. MillerMe and my parentsDaddy, MawMaw, Toot and Uncle DavidMy favorite picture! JoGail and MawMaw (her great grandmother)

Catching up from this weekend

Boy amI glad to be home! Of course I was only gone two nights and we were busy the whole time! My cousin got married (congratulations Eric and Lacy!). So JoGail and I went. Coy and Grace stayed home to get her ready for her Mission Trip (she left this morning) and to attend the 100 year celebration at our church)The rehearsal dinner was at a restautrant called The Junction in Huntsville, Tx. We had a choice of entrees and I chose the celebration chicken. It was AWESOME! I keep thinking I have to figure out the recipes. It was chicken with a little sauce and lots of button mushrooms. It was really really good! And then incredible fried ice cream to top it off! Then on Saturday joGail and I met my brother and Joey at the Houston Zoo. We spent about 4 hours there and enjoyed every minute of it. A little snippet here.......we have always called my brother Thom 'TAC' because that's his initials-Thomas Allen Cole....well, JoGail decided his new nicknake is Tic Tac!!! HAHA what was funny was he wanted her to stop calling him that but couldn't make her stop! They bought JoGail cotton candy and became her friend for life! Then it was back to Huntsville for more visiting and getting ready for the wedding. We shared a hotel room with my parents and had a good time visiting with them. They looked good.  The wedding was beautiful and about the right length. Not too long and not too short. Lacy was absolutely stunning and Eric didn't look too bad, either. The reception was fun, with dancing and a candy bar. A candy bar is tables decorated with big jars of various candies. You get a bag, use the scoops and make youself a bag of candies! It as a huge hit! (And I was talking to a friend this afternoon and we had the idea that it would also be a hit at a kids' birthday party!)  My brother and I called it teh Shorty Table. Shorty was my grandpa's brother that lived next door to my grandparents. When we oudl visit he would always load us kids up adn take us to the little store where would could get any candy we wanted. He took us once a day every day we were there. Those are some good memories! But back to the wedding...it was a wonderufl experience and really highlighted Lacy and Eric's personalities.

After eating all weekend, I made a hot ham sandwich for supper. It was soooo good! I am also making supper for a friend this week and am making the dessert tonight, which is the recipe I am going to post. I honestly do not know where I got this recipe from. I don't even have it written down yet yet. I just remember it. I would love to give credit to whoever it came from, but I have no clue! I have made this several times and it is always good. Sometimes it rises in the oven then falls when I take it out and it cools. It is still good, though. And there are only 2 ingredients!!!!  I have heard it's also good with lite pie filling but I haven't tried that. I have made both blueberry and cherry though and we enjoy both.


Angel Cake Dessert

1 box angel food cake mix (Disregard directions on box)
1 can pie filling

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13x9 pan with pam. In mixing bowl mix the two ingredients until well combined. Pour into pan. Bake for about 40 minutes. Let cool before serving. Really good with whipped cream on top or with a cup of coffee!

* Note--you do not add anything to this except the dry cake mix and can of pie filling.

~Laurie

Zuchinni Ribbons and Seasoned Drumsticks....

I tried two new recipes tonight and they were both a hit! I have been wanting to try Easy Peasy Chicken Legs from Mommy's Kitchen for awhile but wasn't sure how the gang would feel about eating their chicken legs with their hands....my gang can be kind of picky about that! But since we have been on an "No eating out" kick, I decided to slip it in. It was wonderful and not very expensive! I think the package of drumsticks was $4.36. I had the seasoning. So it was really really cheap! Then I got a hankering (is that a real word??) for the zuchinni ribbons I always order at Pappadaeux's. So I saved  one of our club sized zuchinnis and scrubbed it clean. I searched the net for a recipe and really didn't find one for cooked zuchinni ribbons. Most were used in salads. So I just decided to try a simple way. I just used my vegetable peeler to peel the zuchinni. I stopped when I got the seeded part. Sauted it in some real butter with salt and pepper....oh it was delicious! Since the zuchinni was so big I only used about half of it but will be cooking it up tomorrow-probably for a mid aftenroon snack! So that part of supper was free!!!! Then I cooked the girls some cauliflower and broccoli.....they love that stuff! Got out the leftover potato salad and sliced a garden fresh tomato...I figure I fed the family of four with NO leftovers for less than $8.00 total!!!!  And to top it off Coy ahs been trying his hand at making fresh pie crust and a new chocolate pie recipe! So we even have a dessert! He's trying a new chocolate pie recipe.....tomorrow we're going to make a lemon pie! I can't wait! That's my favorite! I do feel like he has somewhat invaded my territory in the kitchen though. He can't do it without me though, because he hasn't figured out my storage for everything. As you migth imagine, I don't keep things exactly where his mom used to keep them, so he has to try adn think where would Laurie put that!!! Haha Got him there!

Zuchinni Ribbons
1 large zuchinni (Mine was about a foot long and 4 inches around-from our garden)
1/2 cup real butter
salt
pepper
Cast iron skillet

Scrub zuchinni clean. Using a vegetable peeler, peel ribbons down the zuchinni until you reach the seeded part. (At this point I used a knife and cut the ribbons into thirds to make them easier to eat). Heat butter in cast iron skillet. Put ribbons in and sprinkle in salt and pepper. Cook til crisp...about 5-7 minutes.

Seasoned Drumsticks
(adapted from Mommy's Kitchen)

1 package chicken drumsticks...I think there were 12-14 in my package
Mrs. Dash Grilling Blends-Chicken

Spray roasting pan with pan. Sprinkle seasoning on drumsticks and place in pan. Bake at 350 for about and hour-hour and a half or until chicken is no longer pink.


This post has been linked to http://www.ourhomeschoolhome.com/2010/07/on-grill-memories-and-smoked-trout.html.

Enjoy~~~Laurie

July...already??

Time for a catch up blog!

Last Friday Grace go ther four wisdom teeth out. Almost a weeek later sheis still in pain so we are going back this morning. I suspect she has a dry socket, but we'll see. I don't do well when my baby (I know, she's 13) is up at 3 am crying because it hurts so bad.....don't do well at all.....she has just over a week before she heads out on her mission trip. We are starting to get things together.

JoGai lis enjoying her carefree summer...sleeping late mostly. She thinks that makes her soo grown up! I took her to Sherry's yesterday and she got toswin with Haley and she really enjoyed that. She has been to visit Leadan adn held her. She couldn't beleive how soft and small Leadan is! She is also happy because one of her kindergarten friends moved back and was at church last night! She was so excited to see Justin!

I met soem friends from Mabank and had lunch with them on Tuesday. It was great seeing everybody and getting a little heads up on some major changes coming our way when we get back to work. We'll survive....we always do! I have continues with the walking and have been working outside as much as possible, to help combat the prednisone effects. I think it's working. I'm not losing but I'm not really gaining either! I actually enjoy mowing, etc. Right now I am working on a project to move rocks...taking awhile but I'm slowly getting it done with the help of the little red wagon!

Coy is super busy at work. Trying to get the budget finalized and grant applications completed. I know he will be ready for our vacation in a couple of weeks!!!!

Gotta finsh my menu planning and make my grocery list....I have switched to google calendar for this and I like it so far. I hope I can pull it up at work when I need to, though!

Bisquick Chicken and Corn Flake Zuchinni

Yes you read the right...It is not a typo!  I have been seeing the recipe on my blogs and everyone was raving about them. Then we accumulated so much zuchinni from the garden.....and I'm sure there's more to come with the sweet rain we hav ebeen having lately....so I decided to try it. Coy added more seasoning to his but JoGail adnI loved loved loved it! Grace is still recovering from getting her wisdom teeth out, so she's stuck with blue box macaroni and cheese! It's been over 12 hours since she has even had an advil, so I think she's doing well. I tried the bisquick chicken for two reasons....I had the stuff and it reminded me of the chicken we used to make out the Mission Outreach Center in Brownsville every Wednesday.....I've been hunting that recipe and I thinkk I finally found something pretty close. It was wonderful. Just be careful not to let the chicken cook too long or it may dry out.

Tomorrow I will try to post again and show you a picture of what I made.....took awhile....but it should be pretty cute, patriotic, and tasteful!

I'm still working on how to add a page to my blog so I can index the recipes...it's like reading a foreign language to me at this point!

Bisquick Chicken
 1 tablespoon butter, melted
2/3 c bisquick (I had the heart healthy kind)
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 pounds chicken

Heat overn to 350. Put melted butter in baking pan (I used my cast iron skillet)
Mix dry ingredients in a pie pan. Dip chicken in dry ingredients and place in pan. Bake 30 minutes then turn. Bake 20-30 more minutes or until juices run clear.


Cornflake Zuchinni

1 1/2 cups crushed corn flakes
2 beaten eggs (can add salt/pepper to season)
1-2 zuchinni (depending on size)

Heat oven to 350. Get out baking sheet and line with foil for easy clean up. Spray with pam. Slice zuchinni. Dip each slice in egg then coat with cornflakes. Push cornflakes into zuchinni a little to help make it stick. Bake about 30 minutes. These are really crunchy!

optional.....you can put shredded parmesan cheese on top when they are almost done.

Nope I have not been on my diet today.....been a nice little break! I did walk extra long yesterday and this morning though !

This post has been linked up to Potluck Sunday at http://www.mommyskitchen.net/