Saturday, October 31, 2009

Bats, worms and bloody soup ~ OH MY!


Happy Halloween to all! We are going to a block party tonight, so I made my annual spooky meal for lunch. I have about 10 different recipes for Halloween and just rotate them as the mood and ingredient price strikes me - LOL Today we had Fried Flat Worms, Spicy Bat Wings & Legs and Bloody Mary Soup for lunch.


Fried Flat worms


1 pk. hot dogs

Cut each hot dog in half, then half again - length wise. Place on large griddle and cook until they are heated through and start to curl up. I use my double sided skillet and use the grill mark side, makes worms look like they still have 'dirt' on them. Serve with ketchup (blood) on the side for dipping.

Serves 4



Bloody Mary Soup

1 can tomato soup
1 can diced tomatoes, pureed
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup bloody Mary mix and 2 cups chicken stock (we use 3 cups V8 instead)
1 stick butter
several dashes hot sauce (we like Louisiana)
salt and pepper to taste (I use Lowery's and fresh ground tri peppercorns)

Mix all ingredients in large sauce pan and heat through until warm and butter has melted.

Serves 8



Spicy Bat wings & legs

4 lb. chicken wingettes (party pack) ~ thawed and drained
2 cups orange marmalade
several dashes hot sauce
salt/pepper to taste

Pre heat oven to 350. Foil a cook sheet and coat with pan spray. Mix 1 cup orange marmalade with hot sauce , salt and pepper. Coat chicken and place in single layer on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Then increase oven temp to 475, and baste second cup of marmalade onto chicken. Bake 20 more minutes. Cook until chicken is heated through and skin is golden brown.

Serves 6

I took pictures and will share as soon as possible.
Blessings, Beth Ann

Friday, October 30, 2009

Back in action

Just checking in to let everyone know we're still here. Had some utility issues this week and discovered that we could successfully live a whole week with no phone, computer or car for that matter! Most things seem to be back on track now. Funny how gas in your car tank can put a smile on your face! LOL

Well I put my back out Monday and schlepped around like Quasimodo. Wednesday was the Harvest Party at Church and I think the kids had a good time. I just found a chair and stayed put, back mostly only hurts when I move. Knew it was time to go when twin son lost his shoe in the bounce house and had a melt down. Besides, the cake crawl was over and all the cakes had found a home!

Today was shopping day, so I heated up my rice bag fanny pack and went out like a prehistoric hunter to find the best deal and bargains to bring home to my family. They are getting harder and harder to find and we are eating more and more bean/lentil based meals. Seems like fish is a thing of the past as most other meats are more reasonable for a family our size.

Since I was up and running around I dropped into the library to take care of business there. I bet sometimes they are glad to see me leave. Lets just say I always have an opinion about everything and find it necessary to share it with everyone. But they are a great group of people who work there and they indulge me and always are extremely helpful. I have been using one of the clerks as my knitting guru and now I am ready for binding off! Exciting eh?

Well I have a house full of kids tonight since Halloween is tomorrow night. See the significance? Me either but it seems to make sense to them. We are heading over to a friends house, she lives dead in the center of town and they close the entire block off for a huge block party thing. The Baptist church is doing hot dogs and such (right across the street from friends house), so looks like dinner is covered too! LOL Like anyone under the age of 18 eats dinner on Halloween!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Friday, October 23, 2009

Crockpot pumpkins


I had a friend doing me a huge favor today and I wanted to do something nice in return for her. I hadn't had a chance to visit with here since my return from vacation and thought since she is also my 'coffee' buddy, some fancy coffee was in order!
Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Latte
1 cup milk (I used soy)
12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 TBS. canned pumpkin
2 TBS. sugar
2 TBS. vanilla
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup strong coffee
whip cream to garnish
Using a 2qt. crockpot, add all ingredients except whip cream and whisk together. Cover and cook 2 hours on low and whisk again. Ladle into mugs and garnish with whip cream.
Makes 4 large cups
My friend brought over some single size twixx candy bars for the kids, but I grabbed a couple and used them for garnish as well, in place of like a cinnamon stick. It was soooooo yummy!
Blessings, Beth Ann

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Amazing

Amazing Blueberry Banana Muffins

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 c. butter milk (or milk mixed with 1/2 tsp. vinegar)
2 eggs
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed (frozen first works best)
2 cups flour (we use spelt)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix first 5 ingredients and blend until smooth. Add flour, baking soda, salt and blend for another minute. Fold in blueberries and bananas. Spoon into greased muffin pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Makes 16 (using a 1/4 c. measuring cup)

Had these for breakfast this morning and they truly are AMAZING, and yummy :) This recipe has never let me down once. Hope you enjoy them as well.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Here's the sitch


It has been brought to my attention that while I have loudly proclaimed my return to the cyber world, I have sorely lacked details on my vacation - thanks Grandpa D for pointing that out in a late night phone call, remember there is a time difference and some of us are whipped after a long day of . . . well, just plain KIDS! LOL - JK, love you guys!

So here are the highlights: I am proud to announce the replacement of my coffee cup - see photo. This will make my third in three years. Three times is the charm right? DH also picked up a new cup, it has the Piggly Wiggly pig on it. Lets face it, we're 'big on the pig'. Photos will follow after a trip to Rite-aide : ) Other highlights include: about 1 zillion crab sightings and captures (then release), including a horseshoe crab (those things are UGLY). Not a good year for shells, only about 100 of those brought home this year, opposed to the usual 500. Twin dd found the largest, a whelk, bummed out middle dd since it bumped her title. Celebrated another birthday with great local seafood. Visited the islands fall festival, with lots of arts and crafts. Twins learned to climb a tree, giant living oak - of course. DH set the canopy on fire while cooking on our picnic table, now it has a sunroof, if he would have done it just once again on the other side we would now have T-tops on our camping canopy! LOL Um . . . and logged to many hours to count relaxing on the ocean shore.

On a more serious note I want to share a blessing of faith here about our trip, please humor me. We had been praying heavily for well over two weeks prior to this event as we were not sure we would be able to make it. Yes we had already paid for our reservations, but now we needed gas money. That is no small thing when you are living on such a small budget as ours. We were hoping for some extra spending cash from my child support, but once again that source dried up and I only found out by accident from oldest dd. However that didn't leave us enough time to re budget for this setback. Anyway, we prayed right up until the day we were to leave and nothing showed up. We even tried to find someone else to gift the reservations to so that the money wouldn't have been wasted, no dice. Literaly minutes to no return we had a couple of unexpected sources come forward to help us out. Hallelujah! It was hard for us to let others help us, but we are learning to follow God's directive on this. Well with much rush and rejoicing we departed. About 40 miles from our destination our RV conked out. DH freaked out. I started praying, hard, on my knees. DH (who is certified mechanic) could find nothing wrong with RV - period. Then we prayed together as a family. Ten minutes later DH cranked it over and it started right up and we never had a lick of trouble with it again, either there or on the way home. DH who has a harder time with blind faith than me was shaken up and firmly convinced in God's presence with us there and in blessing the trip and we refused to take even one day there for granted. The minute we arrived we rushed to the beach and stood in the ocean and thanked God mightily as a family. Since our trip home DH has had a dream where God gave him a message and he knows this is a time of change for our family. I can see such a renewed sense of faith in my husband who has been so beaten down the past two years over our financial situation and as provider for our family. God is so good for showing all of us and reminding DH HE loves us.

On an ending note I just want to mention that our house sitter did a great job and our house was in one piece when we returned. However DH had swapped vehicles with his friend, we borrowed his truck for camping and he got to drive the Camero. Someone tried to break into the car and steal tools that were in the hatch. Shaking head here and just saying, figures. But if I had to rate this vacation . . . 5 STARS!!! Glad you asked ?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Crock Pot Recipe


I made this yummy recipe for dinner tonight with left over chicken I had from camping. I just cut the meat off the leg quarters and tossed it in : )
Hot cheesy crock pot chicken sandwiches
6 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 1/2 cups mayo
1 lb. Velveeta
1 cup celery, cut up
1/2 onion, diced
salt & pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low 3-4 hours. Serve on bread, bun, or over rice.
Serves 6
Cost break down: chicken - free
mayo - .65 cents
Velveeta- $1.50 (half a 2 lb.brick that was on sale for $2.99)
celery - .20 cents
onion - .22 cents
salt & pepper - .10 cents
buns - free (from church)
Total meal cost = $2.67
Not bad, add a veg. for .79 cents and total for dinner is $3.46! Take that $5 dinner mom - LOL
Blessings, Beth Ann

Grocery Round Up

OK, here is how I did yesterday and I only had $64 instead of my usual $75. Sorry no pic's, camera down, but food is food and I am sure you can visualize it : )

Piggly Wiggly: Cesar salad mix $2.50, 3 cans of veggies $2.37, pumpkin pie spice .99 cents, veg. oil $1.50 =Total with tax $7.89

Bi-Rite: Frozen blueberries $3.79, oatmeal $1.79, dried cranberries $1.99, ground sausage roll $1.19, spaghetti .79 cents, pasta sauce $1.25, pan spray $1, butter .99 cents, ketchup .79 cents, bologna .79 cents = Total with tax $17.12

Dollar General Market (not reg. store): 2 box mac & cheese .80 cents, hand soap jug refill $2.50, package tape $1.25, 2 pk. lip balm $1, T.P. $1, fish sticks $4, 2lb. carrots $1, 2 dozen eggs $2, bunch bananas $1.10, head of cabbage $1.50, 4 cans of chicken meat $4, 4lb. bag sugar $1.85, peanut butter $1.50, 3 cans tomato paste $1, 2.2lb. bag cat food $1, garbage bags $1, dish soap $1, Dixie cups $1.25, soy milk 1.85, Louisiana hot sauce .60 cents, 10lb. bird seed (sale) $3 = Total with tax $36.88

Total spent for week $61.89 Not bad, $2 left, which is good since I just realized I forgot onions - LOL For more grocery round up visit www.grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com

Blessings, Beth Ann

Monday, October 19, 2009

MPM - Back from camping


We're back from our week on the island and the cupboards are bare! We are also back on track for eating our four day rotation diet and $75 a week budget. This is for a family of 6 and their pets, we run an animal ministry for handicapped animals. The $75 must cover food, paper products and pet food. I know! But God always provides and we have never missed a meal yet : )

Breakfast: pancakes, amaranth porridge, blueberry banana muffins, eggs and toast, oatmeal, sweet potato muffins

Lunch: Noodles, fish sticks, mac & cheese, peanut butter and jelly, turkey dogs, tuna fish, chicken nuggets

Dinner: Spaghetti w/cucumber slices, Crock pot cheesy turkey sandwiches w/salad, Church (dinner and bible study), Crock pot cabbage rolls w/cornbread, Baked chicken w/green beans and rutabaga, Fish stir-fry over brown rice, B.B.Q lentils over mashed potatoes w/veggie sticks

Will try to be more diligent with recipe posting and check back to see how my shopping goes today. For more menu plan Monday check out http://www.orgjunkie.com

Blessings, Beth Ann

Friday, October 09, 2009

See Ya ~
















See ya in about two weeks! Keep us in your prayers and we will send warm island wishes your way! Blessings, Beth Ann
Sunrise on Edisto Island
















My flip flop on Edisto Island



















The twins on Edisto Island











"The Pier" on Edisto Island




















Full moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean, Edisto Island - South Carolina : )

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Pumpkins, pumpkins, who likes pumpkins . . .




I DO! LOL There right up there with coffee : ) I found a great pumpkin pie spice home made coffee creamer recipe to share, and it's economical too! Now I have heard a nasty rumor flying around about a canned pumpkin shortage this year, due to flooding and such. Not sure how true this is as finding canned pumpkin in my rural little town is always dicey. I have noticed though that when I do find it that the price is high. Pumpkins are in season now and the prices should be lower or on sale. So . . . if your out and about and see canned pumpkin, you might want to pick up a couple of cans. I'm just saying . . . After all, what are the holidays without pumpkin in someway, shape or another?


Pumpkin Pie Coffee Creamer


1c. half n' half

1/3 c. sugar

3 Tbs. canned pumpkin (leftover freezes great)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice


Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Heat until sugar is dissolved and ingredients are well blended. Cool. Store in refrigerator. Shake well before each
use.
Compare this to the price of the expensive stuff in the dairy dept. the next time your at the local store!


Blessings, Beth Ann
P.S. Notice the S.C. cup? That is the second one I have had in two years. They keep getting broke! Only 3 more days until I can buy a new one at the local Pig on Edisto Island!

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Doggie drugs


OK, so still busy running around getting ready to leave for vacation on Friday. So fare it has been an incredibly full day. Woke up late, got a bad hair cut, checked on books at the library on loan, put dog on Prozac, pissed off my teenage son and taught K to the twins : ) All before 2 p.m. How is your day going?
How many others out there have had to put their beloved furry four legged friends on drugs? I feel worse than when I put oldest dd on Ritalin for her A.D.D. ! This is the item bugging afore mentioned teenage son. It is his dog (don't remember giving it to him and I am pretty sure DH still thinks it's his) and he works at the animal clinic, so he was there for the "deed". Let me plead my case for a moment. For the past six month or so Hershey (the dog) has been having what can only be called anxiety attacks. He acts nervous. whines and will do ANYTHING to be with our son. If he sees Z leave the house . . . well, watch out and hope he doesn't break another screen or a window. If he sees someone wrestling/rough housing with son, then he nips at them! It's getting to the point we can't trust him or leave him unsupervised. He even broke the skin on DH last week, and he buys the kibble! So what other option do we have for a happy future with this dog, who is about 6 years old and a blue tick heeler mix? We have way to many kids in and out of our house and frankly I don't trust him with our house sitter when we leave. My son thinks we are over reacting and the dog is fine. Sigh ~ wish I were a teenager again and lived in the land of denial where parents foot the literal and emotional tab. Hershey will start with a 30mg. dose, and I will have to portion that out of a 40mg. capsule. The doc said to pitch the rest, but I don't see why we can't save it and after 3 days there would be another dosage, right? Either that or I give it to Howard, our mini doxin, who barks all the time. Heck, I'll take it! Someone will get it, I won't waste it, after all I am a home school mom! LOL
So just one more thing to worry about before we leave. Drugging the dog and taking him with us, or paying a million dollars to kennel him ~ sigh.
Blessings, Beth Ann

Sunday, October 04, 2009

What a week-end!


OK, so life got busy as soon as I said nothing new was happening here - LOL Friday was middle dd 13Th b-day. It was also a pay day, what a happy coincidence! Spent the morning going into the "city" to pick up last minute items and do my twice a year Hobby Lobby run. Well all the birthday run managed to do was remind me why I do the bulk of my gift buying online! Let's just say frustrating!!!! Hobby Lobby was a bit disappointing as well. I keep a running list of items I need, and they were out of half of them. Ended up driving over to Michael's (which I don't like as well) to get the rest of my fall/winter craft items. The only really cool thing I saw there were knitting and crocheting needles that lite up from within, for night knitting! I am thinking I NEED these = LOL They would be perfect for camping. Can't you just picture me sitting around the campfire, knitting in the dark with my light up needles? I also got a good deal on some eyelash yarn at HL. I got it on sale for 72 cents, reg. price $9.99. I KNOW. They had marked it down like four times and I guess now just wanted to get rid of it. I picked up a couple of skeins in two different colors. I started a cool blue/grey tweed eyelash scarf for myself (the horrors) this week-end. Maybe I will have it done when I come back from vacation at the end of the month, we leave in four days (still lots to do to get ready). Friday ended with hubby finely getting the plates on his Camero, and us once again being a two car house hold - hallelujah! To be fair it's a cool car, a '72 with T-tops.
Saturday was a circus! We had company the night before that stayed late, by my standards - LOL and seemed we were all dragging tail. DD was still celebrating her b-day, she had two girls spend Friday and Saturday night, so extra kids to entertain on top of my crew. I needed to grocery shop or we were all going to starve to death, and we all know there is nothing worse than cranky teenagers who are hungry! On the upside, we were blessed with a totally gorgeous day for our excursion. We took off for the pumpkin patch after lunch and made it in time for the two o'clock hayride and pumpkin picking wagon. After a very bumpy and allergy inducing ride, and after much contemplation, we all picked our pumpkins. In remembrance of Grandma S and Grandpa D, we made sure to grab a small extra pumpkin and blame it on Howard since Henry was with them ; )
Back at the pumpkin ranch, the kids played in the hay maze, corn maze, petting zoo, hay rolls, corn crib and fed the fish. Three hours later we headed home. While I showered off the 'nature", hubby went and got a bunch of pizza's. Company came over and we polished of a long, loud and hopefully for the birthday girl, happy birthday mega fest. It must have been to much week-end though, since one of the girls got up around 5 a.m. sick. I went to bed with a migraine and was soooooo not ready to get up at 5, but I did. I crawled back into bed around 6, after the girls dad picked her up, and hubby didn't get me up for church. I am not sure to be disappointed or happy that he is so thoughtful. He made me coffee, so I guess I will go with happy : )
I now have dinner in the crock pot, and most of my migraine is gone. I do however still have a houseful of kids, I know one left but another one showed up after lunch! I have been teaching myself how to pick up dropped stitches on the eyelash scarf I am knitting, with my new crochet needles. And . . . I just got my feed set up so that you can now follow this blog on Face Book. Not sure how I did that, but I did! So check out Beth Ann's blessings on FB, and don't miss a moment of the pandemonium we call life~
Blessings, Beth Ann