Thankful

for family.....

for friends...

for my "extra" kids....

for  country living....

for an awesome church family...

for food...

and flowers....

for horses....

and dogs...

and puppies!

Thank you God for all these things and more!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights..." James 1:17

Digging the taters!

I'm advocating "Peace For Potatoes"....actually a piece of potato would taste good right now. *wink

My helper....maybe it's good that he loves baked potatoes!

Load her up!

We were blessed with our best crop ever.

What do ya think? A Black and Decker drill?

A well loved teddy bear?

A wanna be sweet potato?

A boomerang!

Ok, a really big headed ugly man? He's looking to the right, has a jutting chin, no teeth, a very small ear, oh, and he's bald:)

Apple Pickin'

The other day a neighbor friend made a Facebook post of beautiful apples on one of her trees and advertised, "Free apples, you pick, bring boxes." Well, apparently I wasn't the only one who read the post and responded. Four families from our area showed up to help themselves. The kids had fun too since there's a trampoline in the orchard and a couple old horses that roam it too.

 Some of them got to sit on top of ol' Willy.

And while the little people got to sit on the horse and jump on the tramp, the bigger kids helped to pick the apples. No climbing ladders here, though.

We just have to make sure tractor mom doesn't get bored and start playing with the levers on the tractor. *wink*

There were plenty of apples for man and beast.

"Hey, can I have a bite?"

"Sure, Willy! Here ya go."

Fun, sun, friends and free apples!

Homemade Salsa

Ok, my claim to fame is definitely not salsa. My kids call mine "tomato sauce". But that's before I got some expert advice from my Mexican friend. That's the key, find someone who knows what they're doing!

Roasting comes first. She uses three peppers. Two jalapeno and one yellow pepper. Or, was it two yellow peppers and one jalapeno? Anyways, about three peppers. I actually only used two on this day.
Put those in a pan and roast them up good. And since I had room, I threw some tomatoes in at the same time.

Roll your pan around every now and then so they get good and roasted on all sides.

I had to share this picture too. See that little green jalapeno pepper. Yeah, the blurry one. I wasn't moving the pan around. That little spicy guy was hopping around all by himself!

Anyways, make sure the tomatoes and peppers are roasted up good all over.

Next I cut the peppers up a bit (for my blenders sake) and throw them and the tomatoes into the blender. Add a fresh clove of garlic and hit the power button! Don't forget to put the lid on first.

I know, I need a new blender. This one's pretty sad, but it least it still works. I just pour stuff out the side;) (I'll be taking donations for a new one. Please send your couch change, IRS refund check or student financial aid to: Mr. Woodman. Make sure and mark your envelope: The Cook Needs a New Blender).

Now I need to tell you, I roasted more tomatoes after that first batch. My friend, well, she told me to use three peppers and three tomatoes. Yeah, that was a bit hot for this fair skinned person, so I usually do two-three peppers and a whole bunch of tomatoes. Just start with a few, blend it a bit (don't forget to add some salt) and taste. If it's still too hot, add a few more tomatoes.

Yummy good, homemade roasted salsa with  a bit of kick!

Oven Roasted Garden Vegie Fajitas

I just had to share our lunch from the other day:) Loaded with color, flavor and nutrition!


First,  cut up some garden vegies; red onion, zucchini, yellow squash, yellow pepper, orange pepper, whatever colored pepper you have or like! Toss those all together in a bowl with a bit of olive oil, salt and oregano. Then just slip them under the broiler on a cookie sheet.

Here's an up close and personal shot. Are you salivating yet

Oh, and you should add some fresh garlic too. The recipe calls for it, but I forgot!

After the vegies have roasted a bit, it's time to add some tomatoes!

Sorry, this isn't the best picture, but it gives you the idea;)

After the vegies have roasted sufficiently (I like mine a bit browned). It's time to warm up a nice tortilla. I had these yummy tomato basil ones on hand already.

First put a layer of rice and beans down. The recipe actually calls for brown rice and chili beans, but I had leftover white basmati rice and black beans so that's what I used.

Next put on a nice serving of those yummy roasted vegetables.

Roll that puppy up and top with your favorite sour cream ( I like our homemade tofu recipe) and some yummy salsa. (Oh, I'll be sharing that one next!)
Enjoy!

And I can't even take the credit for this one....the inspiration goes to Cheryl Thomas-Peters and her More Choices Cookbook.

A Day in the Life of.......Me:)

5 am~Piper "alarm clock" goes off; let Piper and Pooh out. Go back to bed.

5:15~Let Piper back in.

5:30~Real alarm goes off. Hit snooze button three times.

6:00~Get up, let dogs out, fill water buckets, feed horses, give Scout his meds, get ready for trip to town.

7:00~Leave for town. Eat breakfast in truck. Drop Bunny off at the vet for spay surgery. Drive home.

(7:40~Normally, I'd be running my son to the "bus" stop right about now, but since I had to take the dog in, the college kid, dropped off the high school kid on his way in.

9:00~Arrive home. (Yes, we do live a ways from town). Check emails, phone calls, etc.

10:00~Let Piper out for a potty break, weigh pups, change Piper's bed, feed Piper, take Belle's temperature, take her out for a potty break and give her bath. Let Scout out again for potty break and put Belle's pic on FB.

10:55~Walk to in-laws to help brother-in-law unload moving truck. (He just moved here and got in late last night).

12:00~Home again; feed Pete (the parakeet), check emails, phone call, read The Pioneer Woman blog:) (Sorry it's my daily vice. Since I don't drink coffee or do chocolate, I think I'm entitled to some comic relief).

12:45~Tear myself away from computer to feed chickens, turn on drip system in garden, make spanish rice, (to go with beans I threw in the crock pot last night), put clean dishes away and wash MORE dirty dishes. (No, I don't have a dishwasher-I AM THE DISHWASHER).

1:00~Call vet and check on Bunny

1:15~Got call from head of social committee at church to discuss some plans. Yep, I'm on the social committee again. Throw husband's dirty, greasy nasty...um, I mean work clothes in the wash. Then out to the garden to hand water what isn't on the drip system and pick vegies. (Sample cherry tomatoes and grapes while I'm out there). (And this is where I thought to take pictures.)

2:00 Put Scout in crate for nap, potty Belle, potty Piper...oops, can't pups are nursing. Check Facebook (sorry, it's my link to the outside world), eat squash puffs, finish shopping list while eating rice and beans.



2:30~Leave to pick up son at school. Eat cantaloupe for dessert while driving. *Note to self~don't do that again.

3:00~Pick up son at school, rush to car licensing office before they close at 3:30. (it's in another town).

3:20~Whew! Made it and car is now legal again:)

3:25~Stop at Big R (farm supply store) for my son who wants to look at boots and jeans. (I'm ok with this as it's my favorite store in town).

4:30~Drag ourselves out of Big R. I didn't have anything on my list here, but came out with chicken food (it was on sale), a cute T shirt (IT was on sale), my son got his jeans, (not on sale, but that's ok, because I didn't pay for them), and taffy. Taffy?! Who put taffy in my cart?!

My "sale" T shirt~isn't it cute?!

I told my husband, now we have to buy a tractor so the shirt would be totally true. He said, "We have one." Does a lawn tractor count?

4:30somethingish~Stop at my mobile office. Ok, so I don't really have a mobile office...it's a gas station with free wi-fi.;) Didn't stay long though because I was having "technical difficulties" with my computer.

4:50~Stop for fuel. The truck was thirsty.

5:15~Pick up Bunny at the vet. She was still pretty groggy.

5:30~Arrive at......

6:55~Ok, so we were in there a while. But hey, I only go to town once a week for shopping.
And when you live in a small town setting like we do, you usually run into people you know. Sometimes if you don't see them in the store, they leave secret coded messages on your truck window with their chapstick. (I know my window is dirty..)

7:50~Arrive home. *tired sigh* Unload truck, let dogs out to potty, feed horses, make lunches for tomorrow, feed dogs and put to bed, give Scout his meds and temp Belle again.

9:00~Crash on the couch for a while before heading off to bed. (Oh, man, I shouldn't have bought that new video...) Night all!

Thanks for following me through my day....... stalker;)