Family Reunion--2013

Family Reunions

Never enough time to...

Remember those who have gone

And meet those who have joined us.

To catch up on new happenings

And remember the old times.

To enjoy food off the grill

And save room for dessert.

To hug everyone hello

And hug everyone goodbye.

Thankful Sunday--July 14, 2013

I am thankful for timers.

I use the timer on my microwave the most.

I use timers for many things, but the best thing they do for me is to get me started doing something I don't want to do. I set a timer for two minutes, five minutes, 30 minutes, etc., and then work on a chore for that amount of time. Before I start, I tell myself that I can stop when the timer goes off. Often, I have completed the task in the amount of time I set, or I have gotten over my inertia and continue working.

I might have a cat sitting on my lap all day long if I didn't have a timer to get me started with things. :)

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--July 12, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. 

                                This Week's Food Waste

                                Bread

We have entered the hot humid time of summer when the bread on the counter seems to mold overnight. Or at least that's what happened this week. Maybe we will only unfreeze a 1/2 loaf at a time to see if that works better.


                  This Week's True Food Confessions  

Among other things we had this week, I made more cake balls for a friend's birthday.

We ate in all week and cooked several things. However, amongst all of this home cooked food, we seemed to be somewhat lacking in fruit and vegetables. Gonna have to work on that next week. However, there was one vegetable that was not lacking--the first local corn-on-the-cob of the season. Aunt Martha brought it to a cookout that we had on Saturday and I've been having it at practically every meal since then. I wait for corn time all year and this corn was all that I had been dreaming about--tender and sweet.

The recipe I tried this week was Taco Meat Loaf that was inspired by this recipe (and reprinted below) from All You magazine. When I make meat loaf, it is usually inspired by whatever leftovers we have in the fridge that I need to use up. This one was a little bit like that in that we already had the chips and salsa on hand that it called for. The recipe is good especially if you like the taste of corn meal. That flavor from the chips came through even though it was just a small part of the ingredients. Also, depending on the your taste and the strength of your salsa, you may want to cut back on the ketchup and add more salsa. I thought the spiciness was just right of our loaf, but the others thought it was a bit bland. We solved that by serving theirs with salsa on top. Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try.


Turkey Taco Meat Loaf
 

Prep: 10 min.
Cook: 1 hr.
Serves: 6
Cost per serving: 86¢
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. ground turkey (I used very lean ground beef.)
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup corn chips, crushed
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup salsa, plus extra for serving
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. pepper
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with foil, leaving 3 inches of overhang on both long sides. Lightly mist with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, using your hands, gently mix all ingredients until just combined. Pat mixture into prepared pan, scraping sides of bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary; smooth top.
3. Bake until internal temperature registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 hour. Let rest 10 minutes. Using foil overhang as handles, carefully lift meat loaf out of pan. Place meat loaf on a cutting board, peel back foil and slice. Serve hot with extra salsa, if desired.
Per serving: 283 Cal., 14g Fat (4g Sat.), 128mg Chol., 2g Fiber, 23g Pro., 15g Carb., 501mg Sod.



 

A Second Look--July 10, 2013

We've had hot, humid days with afternoon thunderstorms. Makes feel like I'm back in New Orleans where we lived for several years. Despite that heat, there are new colors of day lilies continuing to bloom along with the first blooms from the African Daisies. I think the baby bluebirds are still in the nesting box, but I haven't been able to look for several days to know for sure. If I even approach the box, the parents start swooping down over me. It's very unnerving, so I'd say they parents are doing a good job. Also, I have seen my first two swallowtail butterflies. I thought one of them had injured its wings, but upon closer examination, I think they just haven't unfolded all the way yet after hatching from the chrysalis.

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

Various day lilies that are bloom right now

This is one of the few coneflowers the Japanese Beetles haven't been heavily feasting on.

Swallowtail butterfly with folded wings on milkweed blossom.

Hydrangea

Kaleidoscope Abelia

Daisies--Gerber and African

Pictures don't come out very well from a small dark nesting box. However, here are four babyblue birds over a three week span.

A Mostly Good Idea

It seemed like a good idea from the air conditioned comfort of our house. You see, Ward and I had been working on paperwork and needed a break. We needed to get out of the house (or at least I did). After tossing around several ideas and convincing Ward that we really did need to leave the comfort of our home, we decided that we would check out a manor house and part of the Underground Railroad that wasn't too far away. After consulting maps, we hopped in the car and headed for our destination. 

Well, because we acted on impulse and didn't plan in advance, we ran into some problems. The manor house and grounds were being used for a wedding, and we discovered that the ranger lead Underground Railroad hike happened yesterday. My good idea was starting to look a little shaky. However, not to worry. Ward consulted a posted map, we started down the trail by ourselves.  

The trail started around some fields, so the beginning of our hike had us walking in the sun. The good idea, was definitely not seeming like a good idea at this point. The sun was beating down on us and the heavy humidity was making it seem much warmer than the 90°F that the thermometer was reading. Just as I was about to say that I had seen enough for the day, the trail ran into the woods for some much needed shade.  

There we hiked through hickory trees and raspberry bushes. It was quite pleasant actually. That was until we emerged into some more fields. The sun was definitely the enemy and the good idea now seemed like a bad one. Our hike was going to involve retracing our steps back to the car, so after more walking with the brilliant sun, I thought it was time to turn back. However, Ward insisted that we go just a little further around the next bend. And do you know what we found? A beautiful spot that contained the natural spring that the community was named for. Worth all of the extra time in the sun.

In the comfort of the car ride home, Ward and I agreed that we make a good team.  I get us out of the house and he keeps us from coming back too soon. And that is how we usually end up with mostly good ideas.