Not what I had planned

I have been looking forward to this day for weeks! Why? My first day off after the kids go back to school and hub at work. Well, at least he's supposed to be at work. Damn you NWA! God only knows when I am going to get my day to myself. All I can say is it better dog-gone well be before the snow starts flying or I would have long since lost my sanity.

Some of you may be surprised at the video I have playing. It may seem a bit out of character for me but I have always liked Meat Loaf. That guy is incredibly talented! Like his music or not he is good. In my younger days, my first car was a white MG convertible. I would love to put the top down, put in my Meat Loaf cassette, "Bat Out of Hell", crank up the volume and cruise. (Don't tell anyone, but I still do occasionally, just don't have the convertible any more....have I mentioned I miss that car?) And this particular song has some awsome symphonic accompaniment. Oh well, it's my blog.....so either sit back and enjoy it or see that little red X up in the top right hand corner, feel free to click and return in a couple days when my taste in music is a little more "me".
***I just finished watching this video for about the 5th time and I have to say IMO this has got to be the absolutely best video ever made! Truly awsome!

"Until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change, things will remain the same"

Night Golf & Strike

Played night golf last night for the first time. That was a blast! Following this little glowing ball around and then swinging at it blindly in the darkness. You just have to trust your swing. Actually didn't do too bad considering......These balls don't hit quite as far and it's almost impossible to lose one. My biggest problem was depth perception in relation to how far the flag was. They are going to try and do one more in the fall. Count me in!!

I'm trying something to eliminate spam posts. I have activated 'word verification', which means when you post to my site you will have to type in some letters you see. It will only take an extra second or two, but hopefully this will eliminate all this spam clutter. Any comments deleted by me (site administrator) are spam comments.

Update on hubby's job. As most of you know, he is now on strike. We don't know how this is going to play out, he may end up permanantly out of a job. I don't normally support unions, but I happen to know what is going on and the company is really trying to screw these guys. They weren't left with an option. Not sure what my hub's plans are, I'm not sure he knows. I just know we are in for a bumpy ride.

Well, that's if for now. I have to go use up some more of this zucchini (yea, the 'Z' word as it's known around here now...LOL). Going to try some 'Z' cookies. If they come out good I'll post the recipe. Hope all is well with everyone.


"If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans" Van Zant, Help Somebody

Okay, Murphy is messing with me again. Here it is the end of golf season.....I golfed my last Wednesday morning league game today.....and wouldn't you know I hit the ball better than I have all summer long! We played a best ball scramble and we were the only 3 person team so we were at a disadvantage, but wouldn't you know it we WON! I got the longest drive on one hole and would have had the longest drive on the other hole except for the fact that Murphy again interferred. My ball flies down the fairway and wouldn't you know it hits the marker in the middle of the fairway marking the previous persons longest shot. Do you know the odds of hitting this thing?!?! It's a skinny little stake that only stands maybe 20" high and my ball hits it and ricoshays to the left. Had it passed it I would have also had that longest drive and in the middle of the fairway at that! AGH! My putting wasn't the greatest but still I felt good about my game. Now I have the whole winter to lose it only to start rusty again in the spring. Oh Well.....blame it on Murphy.

Since this was our last day we had a luncheon and there was an awesome dessert served that I have to share with you. So this is an early 'Sweet Thursday' Don't know what it is called so I am going to call it "Oreo Dream"

(Later tonight) I am going to post another recipe I fixed for dinner tonight. My husband actually commented on it and liked it. It's been a while since that has happened....he either A) really liked it....or B) He's hoping to get lucky tonight.
Here's the sweet recipe first....

Oreo Dream

1st layer: 1 large package crushed Oreos minus 1/3 cup
1 stick butter, melted

Combine and press in 9 X 13 pan

2nd layer: 8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powder sugar

mix, then fold in 12 oz. Cool Whip

3rd layer: 1 lg Package instant Chocolate pudding
(prepare using chococate milk)

4th layer: 8 oz Cool Whip

5th layer: 1/3 cup crushed Oreos; crumble on top

Refigerate after each layer.

Enjoy!!


Pat's Chicken & Rice

3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
a/2 tsp pepper
3-4 boneless chicken breast
1 1/2 Tbsp margarine
1 med green pepper; chopped
1 cup uncooked rice
1 1/2 cup water
2 tsp chicken boullion paste or 2 cubes
1 tsp Accent or seasoned salt
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chili's ( I used regular, use mild for less spicy)
2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese

Put flour, salt, pepper and paprika in bag and mix. Add chicken and shake until well coated. Brown chicken in margarine on med-high heat. Push chicken to side of pan; place green pepper, rice, water, boullion, and Accent in pan. Mix well with drippings. Place chicken on top of rice mixture. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add tomatoes and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover and simmer 5 - 10 min. more. Serve and enjoy!

When I get my hands on this Murphy guy!

Why is it when your budget has no more room to budge the costly unexpected happens?! Seems this happens all too often. Can you say.....Murphy's Law? I hate this Murphy guy who ever he is. I say we all gang up and have our revenge on him.

As some of you may know my husband is in jeopardy of losing his job. He is a mechanic for a major Airline. We won't say any more.....any way....he has been working a lot of overtime and we have been trying not to spend unecessarily (this has caused some interesting discussions). Last night my son comes home and tells me the truck is driving weird. Apparently it's not shifting into 2nd and shifting hard into 3rd (automatic). So I tell my husband about this this morning and he goes out to check it out and it won't shift into reverse. Seems the transmission needs to be fixed/replaced. This is not a cheap repair! UGH....but we do agree that it has to be done. So I follow my husband to the transmission shop (praying it makes it or else I will have to tow him). It will take about two days and $1500. There goes a good chunk of change. Then of course school is about to start and I have yet to take the kids shopping for clothes or supplies. I have told them not to expect a ton of new clothes, just some basics until we are on solid ground again with the job situation.

Well, got to run and register two youngest for classes. Will write more later......

Jager-bombed

Sorry I missed this past Thursday. Since I had posted a recipe on Wed, couldn't see posting another quite so soon. Also haven't had a lot of time to sit at computer unless it was late at night and by then I'm too tired to think.

Had couples league golf yesterday. Somebody please hit me in the head with a golf club if I even consider signing up for this again! Playing golf with my husband is not an enjoyable experience. This league is supposed to be fun. For me it is anything but.... He takes it way too seriously, expecially for someone who only gets out there and plays once a week and before this league it was 17 years since he had picked up a club. He expects to be able to get out and drive the ball 300 yards. Actually he is quite capable, problem is it's usually into the farmers field. He gets a good one in every so often but more often than not it's a duff, slice, hook or whiff. Now, don't take me wrong, I'm not complaining about his golf skills (or lack of) but his attitude about the whole thing. He swears after every shot, hits the ground with his club and is pure misery. I hit my share of bad shots but I just shrug it off and start a new hole with a new attitude. We play using a handicap (and ours is WAY up there!), but I just enjoy the company of others in the league. We play best ball but one of the rules is you have to use 3 of his drives, 3 of mine and the other 3 can be either/or. We usually end up the last two holes NEEDING his drives, and 9 times out of 10 he puts it out into the farmers field. He just tries way too hard. I have found one way to help deal with this is with a few beers. I buy a 6 pack at the beginning of the game, carry 3 with me then pick up other 3 at the turn after #4. Doesn't do a whole lot for my game but it helps me deal with the stress of my partner!

Well, then we go out to dinner. We usually do fish fry on Friday's at this local place in Britton. Another thing they are known for are Jagermeister and Jager-bombs. Every so often I will get one, and last night was one of those nights. Then about the time we are done eating I motion to the guy behind the bar (he also serves the food) to get us 2 boxes. I am pointing at my husband and myself and plates. Well, he misunderstands and brings us 2 'bombs'. Oh Man!! Well, I didn't want the guy to feel bad so I simply say thanks and look at my husband who is looking at me. He doesn't like these so guess who gets to drink both of them? Needless to say I was 'bombed" last night. Didn't feel bad this morning though, surprisingly. And tonight is going to be another one of those nights. No Jager for me, but I am playing night golf and from what I understand it is a real HOOT! I have a feeling a few drinks may be in order. Side note.....hubby will not be playing, he has to get up early tomorrow for work. Awww...too bad. Am I terrible or what?

Time for me to see what I can get done around here. Also need to take son to get a new golf bag. He has started golf practice with the school and he needs a carry bag. Only one more week till school starts...YAY! It's been a long summer. I'll try and post a new recipe soon.

Till then I will leave you with this quote.....
"Changing a roll of toilet paper is not rocket science!"

*Addendum: Night golf got canceled due to rain. Rain date is next week so crossing my fingers it will happen!

Got Zucchini?

Okay, well I'm sure you've guessed what todays recipe will have in it, but let me first catch some of you up on what's been up around here.....

First - My little bunny didn't make it. We did what we could but just couldn't replace mom. (Don't know why I thought I could....I know no one could possibly replace mine!) And in addition to that, a day or so after we got the first one my daughters boyfriend brought another over that was injured. Apparently his dog had gotten to it and it had a tooth puncture wound in it's belly. We cleaned it, and fed him but the wound kept bleeding., After the first one died I knew this other one would never make it so we took it way out back and let it go and let mother nature take her course. I am looking into getting Brit a domestic pet bunny. She has wanted one for a long time, and we live out in the country so I figure what the heck?.....(I wonder who will end up taking care of it???)

My son, Zach, got into an accident the other evening. Firstly....no one was hurt. In his defense, it was not his fault. He is a very good driver and I'm afraid that I may not even had handled the situation as well as he did. He was on his way home from having an early B-day dinner with his friends (his B-day was 8/8....17 yrs old!). He was driving down one of the back dirt roads, almost home, when another car came around the s-turn in the middle of the road with their headlights OFF!! What IDIOTS! This was about 10:30 at night. Zach saw them at the last second and swerved to miss them and did, by only inches, from what I understand from others in the car. But he ended up hitting an embankment which did minimal front end damage but the rear swung around and hit and this apparently bent the axle. So he and his dad have spent the last two days replacing that. But the truck is up and running again at not too large of an expense. Thank goodness!

I spent the better part of last evening dicing more zucchini, peppers, onions, and celery. Made enough for two different relish recipes. Was up till 1 a.m. doing that. Spent today canning then made dinner. Wheww....what a day. As much as I enjoy it all, it is very tiring.

So, for those of you over-run with zucchini....this is a great recipe idea. Lasagna a' la Zucchini. It was actually very good. On a 4 fork scale I would give it 3 forks. It takes a really awesome meal for me to give it 4 forks! But this was good and well worth trying. Although it is a meatless dish, no one here even noticed.

Lasagna a'la Zucchini

8 (2-inch-wide) uncooked lasagna noodles

3 medium zucchini, cut into thin slices

1 can (16 oz.) Italian -style sliced stewed tomatoes, drained

1/4 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced thin

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 container (16 oz) small curd cottage cheese*

6 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 c. (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

~

~

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions until tender but still firm. Drain, set aside.

3. Combine zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat 5 - 7 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Stir in tomato paste; remove from heat.

4. Combine cottage cheese, eggs and Parmesan cheese in medium bowl, stir until well blended.

5. Place 4 noodles on bottom of greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Pour 1/2 of egg mixture evenly over noodles. Cover egg mixture with 1/2 of tomato mixture, sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients, ending with 1/2 cup mozzarella.

6. Bake covered 30 minutes. Uncover, bake 10 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

makes 8 - 10 servings

~

*note - I used part-skim ricotta cheese

Sweet Thursday & baby bunny

Sorry this is so late but better late than never! >>>>>>First let me tell you about baby bunny. Again, I had to go into work early this morning and open, so I was running to get out the door and I hear my dogs barking incessantly at something outside. I go out to see what all the commotion is about and they just about have a hole dug under the fence to get at this tiny bunny in the grass. He is terrified lieing there and shaking, so I pick him up put him in a box and rush to work. I wasn't even sure what it was. He is so young he still hasn't opened his eyes. I tried a few times through the day to get some water into his mouth to at least keep him hydrated and later this afternoon I was able to get some kitty formula with a small bottle and tiny nipple. I have tried feeding him but he doesn't want to open his mouth. I am terribly afraid he is not going to make it through the night. Mother nature can be so cruel sometimes.....


Well, onto sweeter thoughts.....CHOCOLATE! This recipe is for my son's absolute favorite cake. I call it "Death by Chocolate" but it is Oh So Good!!

*and following last weeks theme, a little raspberry topping probably wouldn't hurt.....what'd ya think? ;)

Chocolate-Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup coffee-flavored liqueur or water

2 eggs

1 pkg (2-layer size) chocolate cake mix

1 pkg. (4 serving size) Jello Chocolate flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling

1 cup Semi-Sweet real chocolate chips

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, liqueur and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add cake mix and pudding mix; beat until well blended. Fold in chips. (Batter will be stiff.)

Pour into greased and floured 12-cup fluted pan. (Bundt pan)

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 5 min. or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 5 min. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Garnish, if desired. Makes 10-12 servings

~

~`

Well, it's already late. I was going to try and get to bed early (by 11p.m.) but as usual it didn't happen. 5 hours a night is just not hacking it! Spent much of the afternoon playing with my new cell phone. Old one finally died on me. Thank goodness I had a $150 credit to use towards a new one and on top of that I got a reburbished one (still new just returned) for 1/2 cost so I got a sweet deal on a sweet phone....2 more sweets!.....it really is a 'sweet' Thursday.

I need to win the lottery!

Geez, we spent a load of money yesterday! More than we should have but....it really was needed and we did get a great deal. My daughter has been sleeping on this metal bunk bed/futon for years. A bed I should mention we got for free. Well, her feet are sticking off the end and there is absolutely no back support to this thing. I believe this poor child is way overdue for a decent bed. We kinda got the hint last week when she proceeded to disassemble this bed herself, brought it out to the garage and has been sleeping on the floor since then. Ok, so we go out looking for a mattress set. Now I'm not one to pay a lot for name brand or think that more $$=better but sometimes you get what you pay for. A good mattress is something I think is worth a decent investment. We looked around and found a place having a sale and found a set Brit liked for $640 + tax. After some negotiating we walked out paying 597.00 (tax included + a frame) At this point I am satisfied and told her we would look for a bed (ie..headboard, footboard) at a later time when we could better afford it. She was ok with this. While waiting for mattress to be sent to delivery door for pick up we looked around and found they were having a tent sale outside. Under the tent I found this really cool headboard and footboard w/rails. The price was unbelievable! I went and found Brit, hopeing she would find it as cool as I did and she took one look and LOVED it! It's kind of a Roman/Greek style. Off white, posts are 6x6, pretty plain straight across back, but what's cool is the texture, it's like a stucco. Couldn't pass it up for the price. Looks great in her room. I will take a picture and post it. I told her she is a lucky girl! Heck! I don't even have headboard/footboard. I know what I want but my $ priorities have not allowed it yet.

What a beautiful day today! Bummer I won't be able to take my Tues. walk. Have an eye doctor appt. at noon. Eyesight is deterriating. Even with glasses have a hard time reading fine print. Joys of getting older! well, suppose I need to get a few things done around here before I leave. Hope everyone is doing well!