So Much for Spring

Snow on our back porch.

We woke up to this today.  Nathan looked out the window, and said, "SNOW?!  Oh no"  I had the same reaction with a big sigh.  Davie is working all weekend.  I cannot quote his response since he was already gone when we woke up.  Bummer :(

Moment of the Week

Proud underwear wearer

POTTY TRAINED!

We haven't changed a poopie diaper in WEEKS!

Naptime pull-up is dry!

He remembers to tell us he has to go potty when we are away from home.(lowes, best buy, fabric city)

Accidents are few and far between, usually only when he sneezes or is throwing a fit. 

The parents feel liberated.

In Japan, a town rebuilds

Green Bean Quiche

I'm pretty sure I found this recipe in a checkout lane booklet. YEARS ago. Its a favorite meatless meal in our house. And I think its worth your time to give it a try. We enjoy it for dinner, I'm sure its meant to be brunch... but who cares its delish!

Microwave or simmer 10 oz frozen cut green beans in 1/2 cup water. Drain, set aside.

Saute' 1/2 cup finely chopped onion in 2 Tbls butter.

Once its going add 1/4 cup green pepper, diced.

Saute' till tender. (if you want to use fresh mushrooms add them along with the peppers)

*Beat- 6 eggs in a medium bowl, set aside.

*combine in a large bowl- 1/2 cup Mayo

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 teas salt

ADD- 4oz can sliced mushrooms, drained(unless your using fresh)

-1/4 cup crushed saltine crackers(8 crackers)(Nathan gladly crushes them for me)

-the green beans, drained

-the onion/green pepper mixture.

STIR in the beaten eggs.

POUR into a pie pan that you sprayed with PAM

SPRINKLE with -1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

-3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

BAKE 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. (it may take longer, your looking for the center to puff up and the edges will be golden)

LET SET for 10 minutes after you take it out of the oven. SLICE AND ENJOY

Sometimes we enjoy it with a breakfast meat(which kinda ruins the meatless label then eh?) But mostly we eat with fresh fruit/hash browns/salad. Whatever your in the mood for.

We totally dig the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

Nathan loves this meal! Cause it looks like PIE PIE PIE to him. We wouldn't push our luck by correcting him. :)

Japanese port damaged after Tsunami

This is footage from Hachinohe.

Japan Earthquake - Hachinohe Cleanup

Major Improvement

Our messy garage has been seriously reformed. THANK GOODNESS!

The barn took some of the junk.

So this is how the garage looks now. You see that spot to the left with the bag of dirt with the pot? Those things will go back to the barn and that spot is perfect for a little chest freezer!! I am really happy. I want to make freezer jam in a bad way!

This is where the rest of the junk ended up. Isn't it tidy?! Those black shelves weren't too pricey and they are made in the USA! The boxes to the right side have things in them that will eventually make it inside the house, but until then they will sit there.

This side has the tools and the shelf up top has car and dog stuff.

We feel much better! Rolling into the garage now doesn't make us cringe anymore!

Hallelujah!

The Barn

Happy Spring!

I am enjoying South Dakota's 60 degree weather, but I'm still waiting for a blizzard. I hear they get one every spring. So I haven't put the snow boots away yet.

We put our backyard shed together yesterday. When we arrived in January we just tossed a bunch of boxes in there. While I went to the shed I snapped a photo of our deck. The sliding door to the right is in our living room. The sliding door to the left is the dining room.

The deck is in desperate need of some paint. And we will definitely be taking care of that!

Just outside our fence line is our barn. Or so I've named it. Since we have a plastic shed I thought we would call this shed 'the barn' to ease Dave's understanding of where I send him to occasionally fetch items for me.

This is one of the bunnies that live under the barn. We haven't figured out how many there are yet, Dave said he saw 4 playing together. But I have spotted one under our barn from time to time. Its great fun for Nate to look outside and see the RABBIT!

The barn is quite roomy.

We lined one side with shelves. Its not as cramped as it appears in the photo.

And the other side has our Christmas totes and bikes

This is along our fence. I just love that tree!

I saw some birdies in it the other day and Jukibird was chirping back at them. (do tropical birds speak the same language as regular birds? Just wondering)

This is the front of our townhouse. There are 4 units. Luckily we are on the outside. You couldn't pay me a million bucks to live in the inside....okay maybe for a million dollars I would...but still. Not cool. The two inside units are empty right now.

This is our front door. The porch is in desperate need of some paint too. We shall take care of that!

I already have lots of ideas for pots along the walkway!

To be honest...

The hallway downstairs... Guest bed is the 1st left. Nate's room is the 2nd left. Bathroom on the first right. Our room is the 2nd right.

I haven't finished unpacking! This isn't the way I normally roll. I hate being unsettled, but we were unsure about where we would end up....Maybe we would still buy a house, maybe we would find an apartment in Rapid. I don't especially love our townhouse. I told Dave's mom the other day, the bathrooms remind me of an outdated Super 8. Seriously. But I happened to catch Suze Orman's Money Class the other night on PBS. And I realized it would be best to stay here. It costs less than an apartment plus we have a fenced in backyard... And we have been watching the same houses for over six months, and none of them have been sold. So buying makes us a little uneasy.

So now that we have decided to stay put, its time to move in. Or finish moving in.

Our guest room is a MESS. Its time to pull it together.

I started my scrapbooking stuff in the closet, but still haven't finish unpacking.

The downstairs bathroom.

Toilet and bath are in their own little room.

This is how our bedroom looks. We sold our big bedroom set, and have been putting things back together. We bought the headboard at Pier One on clearance. It was an awesome deal, and its exactly what I wanted.

I moved Aunt Alma's cedar chest to the end of our bed. Its very pretty, and will look even nicer once I finish the new quilt I am making. A new quilt, new throw pillows someday soon. I'm still working on them.

I found a dresser at a local antique store. Its exactly what I had in mind.

(the door to the left of my dresser is our bathroom. our house has 2.5 bathrooms. Its great for the potty training)

Dave's dresser is a salvation army deal. Its going to be sanded and painted a light yellow color. Now that the weather is above freezing he should bang it out soon. Not that he doesn't love the blue glitter paint and pink stickers. ;)

And our garage still needs help. Atleast we are able to park in it though.

I know what needs to be done. Now its time to do it!

Moment of the Week

Friends help each other out.

Pig??

Happy Saint Patty's Day to you!!

I wanted to share a conversation I had with Nate last night....

We went to sit down for dinner.

Nate sees the sausage, and starts his chicken chicken chicken song.

I tell him, "oh no its pork buddy."

Nate says,"pork??"

I reply, "its a pig Nate."

He thinks for a few seconds looks up points at this...

...hanging on the wall, puts a worried look on his face and exclaims, "PIG??!!"

me: "yep"

him: "oh"

after a few beats, he points to the sausage again still worried: "Mom, how did we get this pig?"

me surprised at his question: "the store Nate"

him relieved: "oh yeah, I see that."

I nearly tinkled myself. I didn't realize he always new the location of the nearest pig decorations. And, he has never asked me where anything comes from. But he was quite hesitant when I told him we were eating pig. I think he likes them, and was worried we might be eating Olivia for dinner.

I think we had better get used to these types of conversations since Nathan started the why why why stage a month ago.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Are you pulling out your Irish culinary skilz tomorrow? I'll be making Corned Beef and Cabbage tomorrow and wanted to share (Jackie) so you have time to run out and grab a hunk o meat and a bit o cabbage. These pics are from last year. Found em while I was trying to sort the pics from our old computer on our new computer. Whatta pain!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

You need:

• 3 lb Corned Beef Roast- w/spice packet
• 2 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 small head of cabbage, cored, rough chopped
• 2 cups Apple juice
• 1 cup H2O

Whatcha do:

• Arrange your carrots and onions in the bottom of your crock pot.
• Slap the meat on top
• Arrange cabbage around the meat put the spices on
• pour in liquids
• Cook on low 6-8 hours

Serve along with Herbed Red Skins

You Need

• 1 1/2 lbs baby red skin taters, cut in 1/2
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 1 Tbls chopped garlic
• 1 Tbls fresh parsley chopped

Boil taters 12-15 min. drain. toss with remaining ingredients

Quick Chicken Pie

Honestly I would love to have the time to make chicken pot pie often. But I don't. When Nathan could be destroying something during each second I'm preparing dinner, its important I have quick recipes. So here is one. If you are making your dinner menu and have a hankering for Chicken Pot Pie, this dish is a great compromise.

You need 4cups cooked diced chicken.

-I cooked the chicken in some evoo... but normally I would poach the chicken, however I was chatting on the telly yesterday so I needed it to be quicker.

While your chicken is cooking, start a package of biscuits to baking.

I like frozen Alexia, but you could use biscuits from a can. When they are done set them aside. I put them in front of the oven vent so they stay warm.

Pull the chicken out and set it aside. I wiped the pan out a little with paper towel.

Also, find a 2 qt casserole dish and Pam it.

Melt 1/3 cup butter in your large skillet

Stir in 1/3 cup flour. Stir stir stir until its smooth

this is mostly smooth, but I had a few clumps still. see???

Stir in 2 1/2 cups Milk

1 Tbls Chicken granules

1/2 Teas dried Thyme

1/2 teas pepper

Stir till thickened like in this picture above

Stir in

1- 4oz jar diced pimentos

1 cup frozen mixed veg or peas, thawed

Bake 350 for 30 minutes It will look like this.

take it out and arrange the biscuits on top. Then bake it 3 minutes longer, just to get the biscuits nice and hot again.

Please pardon the black glob on the bottom of my oven. It isn't typical.

Also, as quick as this dish is, Nathan colored the carpet with a purple crayon while I was making dinner. It was a bummer