Lauries Kitchen

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Green Light Salad

This is a salad I often forget about, but I love it ! I made some this weekend and it's good, even as a breakfast salad! 


For those that read my last post. I got most of the things on my list done. I didn't get the work computer out though, I just had too much to do. I went nonstop yesterday!  The garden is pretty much planted. Yes, Grace and I helped. I even got a little sun! We'll see how my allergies hold up! Plus I got a ton of stuff done on the inside of the house. Grace reffed most of the day. JoGail and Jaci played outside all afternoon. The weather was beautiful! Then the cold front came through and it was chilly today! 


Church was wonderful this morning! It was senior adult day ( I think). We got to hear some interesting testimonies about what God is doing in some lives. So neat to hear those stories.  I listened to them and thought about how much these people went through and yet God still USES them....


Ok, the Green Light Salad Recipe. I think I got this from a diabetic cookbook a long time ago. 


Green Light Salad
1 small package green jello
1 small can chunk pineapple, drained 
1 carton cottage cheese 


Mix all together and refrigerate before serving! 



Friday, March 25, 2011

A day in my life.....

Saw this on another blog. She does it every week and I thought it was interesting. Hehehe   For those that wonder what I' really doing and thinking......beware......I am honest with it!

Here's where I borrowed the  template from....http://4evermom.blogspot.com/


Outside my window..it's 76 degrees. It was a beautiful spring day here-enjoyed a good walk in the sunshine to eat lunch today (We went to Shorty's, Rachel and we missed you! ) 

Today I feel.....  Tired. I am very surprised I am even still awake! This first week back from spring break has been a booger bear and now there's 9 more weeks! 

I am thankful..my sister stopping by and visiting yesterday and Coy. He rubbed my neck tonight and it felt wonderful! I am also thankful I work with people I like. I know I say that a lot, but really the people I work with make it all better. ....afterall, we are a WOLFPACK! 

Tomorrow I am..cleaning out the fridge, doing laundry, and hopefully at least looking to see where I am at on my next report. Maybe, just maybe I will get a little more of it done.....I'm not holding my breath though !

I am wearing..an old USA shirt and gray shorts. No shoes. I am home and I am comfortable! 

I wish..Some people would realize that when you hurt others you ultimately hurt yourself. Being mean gets you no where. Nice matters. 

My schedule this week[end] includes..cleaning, laundrying and generally catching up on stuff and of course church. Grace is reffing Sat and then has a banquet at church Sat night.  Jaci is coming over to spend time with JoGail. They'll be outside and upstairs! 

I need to start..trying to figure out what in the world I am going to do with all the pictures I have in the computers. Yes, they are backed up on a external drive. I am trying to decide if I should just buy albums, get them printed and try to put them in some sort of order. Scrapbooking blows my mind and I have no where to really work on it. Any ideas????  Seriously I have been thinking about this for awhile......not sure what the best thing is. 

I am reading..I actually just finished three (series) Lauraine Snelling books from the library. I went to he library after school and got another of her series. She's christian fiction writer and I really like her. Not sure what I am going to read when I finish all her books the library has. 

I laughed today....when Beverly called me and asked me to put something at the beginning of the IEP goals because she has been studying the book of Phillipians in Sunday School and she has learned that they always put their names and title at the top of the scroll so people would know who wrote it. We are also studying it in Sunday School but are already behind (We started the new unit the first of March)...I think we are only to verse 8 or so......we're a slow learner group..... (work joke) 

I am working on..trusting God He has told me not to stress about something and I am trying to just let him have it. I also read something on some blog today about a guy who was given the assignment by God to take three rocks up the mountain in a wagon. He stopped and visited on the way up and everyone asked him to take something up for them and the load was so heavy he couldn't make it. Made me wonder how much extra stuff I a carrying up the mountain......God only asked the man to take the three rocks....yet he ended up with a load he couldn't handle! 

Yesterday I.. saw my baby sister and her family! And let me tell you she looks good!!!!  Alex was as honory as ever, but I'll still take him! He did drive her here afterall!!!! I just have so much fun around her and her family. We visited, ate and took pictures. Then I sent her on to MawMaw's! I am jealous that she got to see Baby Joy though !

I am hoping..To keep enjoying my kids as they grow up. I am truly blessed with two unique individuals and love them both dearly. 

I bet you didn't know..I don't watch many movies. I can't sit still and always irritate my family with questions because I just can't figure out why people would do or say certain things !  Just easier not to watch! 



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Monday, March 21, 2011

A family favorite...corn pone pie

I was looking through the recipes for something different to fix tomorrow and realized my corn pone pie recipe isn't listed on the side bar!!!!   Of all things!!!!  On the first Monday back from spring break no less!!!!!!!  So I knew that tired as I might be I have to get this recipe posted..Otherwise I would lay awake in bed and wish I had taken the time to post it. Not sure if this is what we will have tomorrow night or not, but I must get this posted.

This recipe is a family favorite. There is NEVER any crumbs left in the skillet. Sometimes JoGail and I put cheese on it, sometimes not. It's always good and always turns out! I always cook it in the cast iron skillet.


Corn Pone Pie

1 pound ground hamburger or turkey (I use turkey)
1 can rotel ( I drain this too)
1 drained can ranch style beans
1 package corn bread mix prepared or make you favorite cornbread

Preheat oven to directions on cornbread mix package. Mix hamburger, rotel and beans together. Put in skillet or oven proof dish. Pour prepared cornbread mix over all. Bake according to cornbread mix directions.

Laurie

Friday, March 18, 2011

Well...we got the tiller started but he's still not put on overalls!

Hehe....girls are laughing . They so believe it can't be close to spring if Daddy hasn't put on his overalls to work in the yard! Right now  they are out tilling and moving cut grass...windows are open to let the house air out.....chicken pot pie is in the oven....can't believe spring break is over and I didn't go more than 30 miles from my house!!!!  Evan Grace said it was nice to just hang out at home! I know, we'll pay for it next week when we hit the ground running with school. work track meets, etc. But it sure has been nice. I'm very thankful God gives us times of rest.

I made this new recipe from Gooseberry patch for supper.....oh my gosh is all I have to say!!!!!  They called it Easy Peasy Fruit Cobbler. It's in their Slow Cooker Recipes book. I like them on facebook and saw the recipe there and knew I had to try it! It really does say, bring on the spring.......and daddy's overalls!!!

Easy Peasy Fruit Cobbler
1 can biscuits
1 bag (16 oz) frozen fruit
1/2 cup sugar
cinnamon

Put frozen fruit in crockpot. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar. Lay biscuits on top. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of biscuits (I think cinnamon sugar would be great, too) . Cook on high for 3 hours.

I told you it was easy!  And it smells good while it's cooking, too!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Smothered Pork Chops

Monday of spring break......got a little done today....finalized vacation plans....worked on taxes....went to the phone store with Coy (2 of them, bless my soul) and made an awesome supper! We had baked potatoes for lunch and they were soo good! I got was reminded about them from a friend here in Eustace and I am so glad I was reminded! Thanks, Lee Bobbitt!!!!

For supper I took some recipes off the Internet and thought about them. (insert picture of thinking man here) Then decided to try the Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup that Laurie Boerner introduced me to and some CCampbell's french onion soup. Bought some pork chops. I opted for boneless because I liked their thickness, but you could just a easily use bone in and get more flavor. I seared the chops in a cast iron skillet, then removed them from the pan. I sliced some onion, caramelized that a little then added the soups. And mushrooms because my family loves them. I cooked the soups down a little then added the chops back in and covered them with the gravy, and then baked at 325 for about 30-35 minutes. 

 While those cooked JoGail cut up some red potatoes and we seasoned them and roasted them in another cast iron skillet in the lower oven (I LOVE having two ovens).  They were ready about the same time as the pork chops.

Speaking of JoGail, she made scrambled eggs for everyone for breakfast by herself! It's so wonderful having a junior cook in the house! She is learning about cleaning up after she cooks, slowly. She made some chocolate chip muffins in her cupcake maker for dessert for supper.

I must confess I am being a 'meany' to the girls right now. I didn't feel like reminding them all weekend to get their laundry done, so I said nothing. I am wondering when they will run out of underwear! hehehe    Coy just told me there is a mound of laundry in their bathroom. Guess I best make sure all mine is caught up before they realize what they need to do !

And I entered Coy's broccoli slaw recipe in a gooseberry patch search for recipes for their cookbooks, so wish me luck! I love my Gooseberry patch cookbooks and have almost all of them.  Having a recipe of HIS in their would make me a giddy......and you know how often that happens!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Three people.....Cathy K, Alex and last but not least--Melissa

Wow! Day two of spring break and I haven't done ANYTHING that isn't absolutely necessary! I have finished 2 1/2 books, caught up on my googlereader reading and searched for new recipes. And i took a nap this afternoon. Tomorrow is the day it ends, though.....back to finishing the laundry (there's a load either in the dryer or washing machine, I can't even remember which, dusting, sweeping and mopping, and vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, and maybe cleaning out some in the garage. Plus whatever Coy comes up with. He has told the girls they have to move rocks tomorrow, but we'll see. (He tells them to move them then has them move them back to the exact spot. I don't know why. They hate it and he loves it.)  I DO see the girls point on this one, though! But this post is not about my to do list. It's about three special people celebrating something today, March 13.

First  up is Cathy K. (notice I didn't even try to spell her last name....)  She is the daughter of a very special person to me-Mrs. Yarbrough. Mrs. Yarbrough was an awesome lady and a true teacher. she was the elementary principal when Coy and I got married and moved to Evant. She was more than an elementary principal. She had done a little bit of everything in that school and touched so many lives. At that time Cathy was a first grade teacher in Hamilton, a little ways down the road. When they moved me from PE to 1st grade, it was Cathy's classroom i went to visit. She was organized and everything looked wonderful. Little did I know how inept I would be as a 1st grade teacher! But there was a goodto being  to being in 1st grade that year. Cathy switched to teaching 2nd grade in Evant and was there to answer my MANY questions. Fortunately I was 'returned' to PE and Cathy and I grew even closer as her boys were naturals at sports and games. Cathy and I continued our friendship once we moved and she even came to visit me once! Cathy is the kind of friend I can tell anything to-any of my Laurie ways aer considered juts that and usually not offensive to her. She has always seemed to 'get me'. She remarried after we moved and I went back to her wedding. We don't always talk alot now. but I know I can count on her. (man, I miss that playground!) She is someone I can call in the middle of the night if I needed to and she and Mike would be here when I woke up the next morning. Happy Birthday, Cathy!


Ok, this next two come as as a pair, literally! Alex married my baby sister Melissa7 years ago this afternoon! Their wedding was one of the most beautiful I have ever been to. She looked beautiful, Alex looked stunning and Ben and John were just adorable!  Alex and Melissa have been a true asset to our family.. They have stepped up when someone needed to, often at a cost to their family, both money and time wise. Their house is where Mom and dad go when they doctor appointments or generally need something. She is the most creative person I know and he is the most talented person I know. She can make anything and he can pretty much fix anything, especially things on a vehicle. I never will forget my shock when Marcy passed. I looked in their garage and there sat a hippy van. Yes, he was working on a hippy van at the time!!!!  They have definitely been through some tough times-tougher than I want to go through and have come out stronger. They are two of teh most giving people I know. I never know when I'll find a box by the door from them. And let me tell ya it makes my day!   Melissa has become a best friend over the years and I never would have thought would happen. I always have felt like I missed a lot of her and Mike growing up because I was away at college during their teen years. I am so thankful we have become great friends and someone each other can count on. She can make anything and organize and clean anything she can't make. She is so talented and special!!!!!   I love you both and am very proud of you both!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Broccoli Cole Slaw

Oh my!!!! Coy has gotten into the kitchen this afternoon! He had this salad at work. He loves it and made it himself!  I bet we make this alot this spring and summer! I think he got the recipe from Debbie Myers.

Broccoli ColeSlaw

1 bag broccoli cole slaw (from store-has shredded broccoli, carrots and red cabbage in it)
2 Tablespoons ranch dressing
1 avacado

Split avacado open and scoop out the insides. Mash in a bowl. Add ranch dressing and mix well. Stir into broccoli coleslaw.

Waffles

HOO-WHEE ! This is my 301st post!!!!!!!!  Spring break has sprung and so far it feels great! I stayed up to finish reading a book last night! JoGail wanted waffles this morning, so she found a recipe online and to the kitchen we went! They turned out really really good. It was a great way to start spring break!

Waffles
from allrecipes.com

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Beat egg together, add rest of wet ingredients.
Slowly mix in dry ingredients-be careful not to over mix.
Cook in waffle iron.

I finished my menu planning (finally) for the coming week. I'm cooking up some favorites and some new recipes. So Coy and I will go to the grocery store this morning and hopefully get everything we need for the week. I soooo do not want to go back to the store!


It's a beautiful day here, so I'm getting outside this afternoon.....maybe....if I'm not napping!