Saturday, July 24, 2010

Garden Update

I know I haven't posted in about a week, but it has been crazy here, more so than usual : )  Went out to the garden last night with oldest son and took a little tour, and took some pic's to share as well.

Here are a couple of my bottle neck gourds, hanging off the North side of the house.

Here hubby is holding his harvest from this morning, dig those crazy red noodle beans!

Just one of our 7 tomato plants.  Visitors enjoy picking some to take home with them, it has become a tradition.

Here Z is holding one of biggest tomatoes yet, it will be great on a BLT!

One of our many Luffa squash, hanging off the south side of the house.  I plan to make soap and sponges out of them, for Christmas.

A volunteer sunflower growing among the lufffas.

Sorry this didn't rotate, but here is another of our Chines red noodle beans.  We are up to about 8pound of them now.  They have a great meaty flavor I don't find with Green or yellow beans.

See ya next time, blessings ~Beth Ann

Monday, July 19, 2010

Lost and found

Have you ever lost something and never even knew it until someone else found it?  Exactly!  Anyway, that's what happened with some camping pictures I dropped off at Rite - aide.  I forgot all about them until they called to let me know that like 3 months was the max for holding pic's.  So I went and picked them up this past week -end, out of idle curiosity. 

Here is some additional photo's of our first camping trip of the season, back on Mother's day, at Defeated Creek.

Here is a shot of all the kids, well not all.  Z was home working and the other little girl belonged to our friend who was camping the next site over.

DC has great sandcastle  building sand, as evident in these two beauty's built by our kids : )

Here the twins show off their new fishing poles before breaking them in.

Hubby proudly displaying his Piggly Wiggly cup that we brought back from South Carolina last year.  It really makes the coffee taste better : )

I love this pic of E, it gives me a glimpse of what he will look like when he is older, he is 5 in this pic.

Lastly here is a shot of the Canadian Geese that seem to love it as well at DC and pro-create very profusely there!

We will be heading off to there again in about 3 weeks.  Hold onto your hats, there will be more pic's to share or Bob's not your uncle!  LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Big news and small news


OK, we will start with the big news . . . twin son lost his first tooth!  His twin sister is soooo jealous!  She is the clear leader of the two and feels she should do everything first.  Shh, don't tell her that her brother walked first too  - LOL  Now hubby is walking around all day saying things like, 'my little babies are growing up' and 'where has the time gone'.  LOL




Here is another random pet pic to throw you off kilter.  Levi and Zoey taking a nap.  Zoey hates to sleep alone.

Alright, back to the small news.  Here is our official pic from the library, for being summer reading winners.  Z was the biggest winner, $50 wal - mart card and a $50 books a million card.  Both of which are now spent : )  Read the whole article at http://www.cannoncourier.com/


LOVE, LOVE. LOVE this pic!  This graced the front of our newspaper this week.  Our newly refurbished courthouse framed by the first Dillon Park fireworks ever.  The park is behind the court house by a couple blocks, and we were there.  I can't explain how this pic makes me catch my breath and thank God I live here.  The gentleman who took it is a pro=hobbyist and is considering selling this as a framed print in the future.  I will be in line!  I also think it would make a great post card.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Whats new

Well it  was a busy week - end here for us.  Hubby had the week - end off (only happens like once every three  months), but we didn't see much of each other on Sat.  I went out of town with a friend, to visit another friend - gotta love that.  While I was gone I finished two, count them, two knitting projects.  Hubby stayed home with the twins (older kids have a life), and took them to Ace Hardware for lunch.  Yea, only a man thing.  They were having their customer appreciation day, freewas a very long hot dogs, chips and soda.  So yea, the kids had a balanced meal. : )  While there he entered for the door prize.  He won!   I got a set of nesting baskets - double : ) : )


Here is a nice pair of boulce' wrist warmers I made for a friend.  Now everyone wants a pair - LOL

Better shot of the thumb holes.  And a big thanks to my middle dd for modeling : )

Here is same dd cat, Tina.  She still is narcoleptic.

Here is the door prize hubby won from Ace.


                                                  They nest, aren't they cute?  LOL

I also wanted to take a minute to thank God for his mercy and blessings.  We were having a tough week here financially and spiritually.  I spent much time petitioning God over the week -end for some answers and the wisdom to see His will.  I will just say that it happened and I am once again blown away.  He lead us to his will in many areas that we were waffling on and once again HE provided DH with a side job to help us make it another week.  We are not eating steak every night, wearing designer cloths or even getting all our bills paid on time.  But we have never missed a meal, still have a roof over our head and the love of our family and friends and the one true God.  Please read Matthew 6: 19-34 and give God all the glory.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Tomatoes, beans and puppies


Our tomato plant BEFORE

Our tomato plants NOW!



We have 7 proud plants like this and we are so excited.  It is cool to see them go from teeny tiny to giants that climb up our front pillars. 


These are our Chines Red Noodle Beans.  Other names include: Yard long beans and Chines long beans.  They really can grow a yard long.
We have found homes for about half the puppies now and they will be leaving this week-end. 

This little guy found a patch of sunlight to call all his own : )
Blessings, Beth Ann

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Squash time!

We just did our first harvest from our garden, and it's squash!  Winter Squash, Spaghetti and acorn (butternut is ready yet).  I really prefer this over summer squash, but understand that cooking it can overwhelm some folks.  Since spaghetti squash is what we had the most of, I thought I would do a quick review of preparing it.

First you are going to slice the squash in half and scrape out the seeds, you can compost this : )


Then place face down in a pan with two tablespoons water, cover with foil and back in 350 oven for one hour.

When done, pull out of oven and bend corn of foil back to help cool the squash. 
Give it half and hour and your ready to scrape your squash.

Hold it in your hand and simply use a fork to pull out all the long 'spagehtti' like strands out of the squash.


I just scrape all mine into a collection bowl , then I either use it immediately for dinner or freeze it for latter meals.


From the collection bowl into a freezer bag : )  Will last well in your freezer for at least 6 months, but food never seems to last that long here!  LOL


Spaghetti Squash Casserole

1 spaghetti squash
1lb. ground beef
1 TBS. olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 fresh tomatoes chopped (or 1 can ro=tel)
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 cup whole grain bread crumbs

Cook spaghetti squash as instructed above.  While it is cooking, brown meat.  Add oil, onion and garlic.  Cook until clear.  The oil is especially important when using lean beef , such as "Laura's" brand.  Add tomatoes and simmer uncovered until most of liquid is gone.  Add seasonings.  Using fork, scoop out squash strands and add to meat.  Add bread crumbs.  Pour into 2qt. casserole.  Bake covered at 375 for 30 minutes.

*Optional:  You may cover the top with 1 cup shredded cheese after 30 minutes, and then broil for 3 minutes for a crunchy cheese crust : ) 

Yummy! Feeds 6


Monday, July 05, 2010

Menu Plan Monday

It's been awhile since I posted a menu and thought this would be a good week.  We celebrated the 4th in our little town on Friday, and things seem to be slowing down a bit now.  Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday.  Here is a look at our dinner this week:

Monday:  Taco mac & cheese (quinoa elbows)w/veggie sticks
Tuesday:  Chicken and cornbread dumplings w/ asparagus
Wednesday:  Beef and lentil bake w/brown rice and honey glazed carrots
Thursday:  Sweet potato chicken bake w/ broccoli
Friday:  Meatloaf w/mixed veggies and garlic home made bread sticks
Saturday:  Slow cooker chicken fajitas
Sunday:  Cheeseburger pie w/ green beans 

We are still working on our leptin/lo-carb diet here, as well as my son's fibro.  So it is all pretty much organic and natural for us.  Laura's lean ground beef, antibiotic free chicken and beef and free range eggs.  You get the point.  This is pricey so we tend to have these simple meals.  Fortunately the Laura's has been on sale most the summer at our Kroger.  We are even incorporating some meatless meals, such as lentils and veggies.  Remember that lentils when paired with brown rice make a complex carbohydrate which is healthy and full of protein.  I also find that mushrooms give veggie meals such as veggie taco's a 'meat' like taste and feel.  My favorite are the baby portabella and they are the star of my veggie egg rolls!  To see more Menu Plan Monday visit http://www.orgjunkie.com/

Whats for dinner at your house?  Blessings, Beth Ann

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Friendship, fellowship and fun !

Yesterday our little town celebrated the 4th for the first time in 5 years, and it was a mega  success!  Beautiful weather (only in the mid to low 90's), free food, wonderful live music and all the fellowship you could ask for.  We were one of the first to arrive and we set up our camping canopy and just plain spread our - LOL  We were quickly joined by friends and as the evening progressed, a steady stream of folk stopped in.  At one point I looked around and I do believe 90% of our church were with us : )

There were many activities to help keep the kids busy and a large area that the teens took over for football, socor and Frisbee.  The sheriff dept. brought their horses, and that was a huge hit with the kids.    The fire trucks also kept kids entertained, but thankfully were not needed.

OK, here's the deal :  with pic's : )  The twins are asking DH to take them to see the horses.

Then dd decides that the horses are to big and scary, and she can only pet them if she is on her dad!  LOL

And there they go!  All is well in the universe or at least in this little park on this blessed day as we remembered those who made our freedom possible.

An awkward shot of B sitting next to our former Pastor's dd, they were visiting from S. Korea.

Here is my friend S's dd and their Chihuahua, Bud.  He goes everywhere with them, well not NY - LOL


Kids and the 4th go together.  L to R: Our friends adopted son from Haiti, Z's girlfriend and Z.  They all seem to be wondering if the fireworks will be soon.

"I can see you", seems to be what twin son E is saying here : )


Here is a shot of DH and our good friend LG, she is such a blessing to us : )


Dusk approaches, and does the end of a great day!

Blessings, Beth Ann