Wednesday, August 31, 2016

My World, as I know it!: Happy Hump Day!

My World, as I know it!: Happy Hump Day!: Happy Happy Wednesday!  It's the end of the month, where did it go? I think once we reach a certain age, we just are happy to make it a...

Happy Hump Day!

Happy Happy Wednesday! 
It's the end of the month, where did it go? I think once we reach a certain age, we just are happy to make it another week. HAHA... I don't know about you, but weekends go by and weeks speed by. Pretty Scary! 
I have been so blessed not to have to work most of the time my kids have been home. With that being said, they have left the nest and I decided to start a fishing business and a blog site! Yes, I did say a fishing business. I sell plastic baits and shirts to the local guys. I attend a local tournament every Thursday and set up a tent with all my goodies. I do find it's almost impossible to carry every worm in this world that each person uses! lol! :O

Today I worked outside on my chicken coop. A storm is coming so we decided to hang tarps for protection. Hopefully it will stay a tropical storm or weaken, that would be even better! There were 5 eggs today, which was awesome considering I made a homemade chocolate pie!!!!

Dinner was homemade Beef tips and rice.

Ingredients:
2 cans Golden Mushroom
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery
1 cup of beef broth
2 pounds beef tips (lean)
Crock Pot

In a bowl mix all soups. Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Put beef tips in bottom of crock pot, then salt & pepper meat.  Next pour 1 cup of beef broth on meat and then cover with soups. Cook on high for 4 hours. 
I made rice with ours. It was hearty....:)

Dessert was so easy. I love chocolate pie, chocolate anything for that matter. I make a coca cola cake that is so good! I will share with yall soon!

Old fashioned chocolate pie!

Ingredients:

Pie Crust (i cheated and bought a pre-made one)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups whole milk
4 whole egg yolks (thank you chicks) I'm so blessed!
6 1/2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate ( I used Ghiradelli)
2 tbsp Butter
2 tsp vanilla
whip cream (yummy)

Bake your crust according to package directions and then set aside. 
Before you start, chop up your chocolate for easy melting and set aside. In a medium saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt, mix together. Pour in milk and egg yolks, mix together.  Stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a slight boil and thickens. It should be pudding consistency. Remove immediately from heat and add in chocolate, vanilla and butter and stir until smooth. Pour into pie crust. Serve with whipped cream!!! YUMMY!!!!

chopped chocolate and butter. LOL

baked pie crust


sugar,cornstarch, salt, milk & egg yolks

left over chocolate goodness!


Please like and share my blog with all your friends. I would love to see comments, if you like the recipes. Thank you. 

Shana 
xoxox





Sunday, August 28, 2016

Sunday Funday!

Good afternoon! Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. Me and my husband started the day at the flea market with no luck on what I was looking for, but I am determined to find it soon. Soon after, we headed to a cute little restaurant in Saint Augustine, Florida, that serves sandwiches, cookies, gourmet ice pops, fresh brewed loose leaf tea's and coffee's. OMG I'm in heaven, I could just set in there and sip on coffee and have a huge cookie! Yupp that is me! HA!
This would be the second visit for me. The first visit was with my mom from Arizona and it was outstanding! I couldn't wait to visit again. My husband being the champ he is, was impressed. The sandwich was awesome, he had a BAT (bacon avocado turkey) and I had a tomato, turkey and cheese on sourdough. This place actually ships their homemade gourmet ice pops! What?? Who does that? They do!!! Let me introduce to you,
The Hyppo Cafe http://www.thehyppo.com/
so cute! chalk board menu!

me and my hubby, waiting on our food!

I can't wait to come back! I got awesome news today. My mother is coming to Florida for a quick visit in December for the Vintage market days of Jacksonville. For any of you in this area that love antique's and vintage this is for you!  This is an upscale vintage indoor/outdoor flea market event. Here is a link to check it out! https://www.facebook.com/jacksonvillevintagemarketdays/

As always I have a awesome recipe for you. 
Crock-pot Potato Soup 
1 30 oz bag of frozen diced hash browns
1 32 oz box chicken broth
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans whole milk
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook all day on low. I always add half a bag of extra potatoes. hehe. You can add cheese and bacon for extra goodness!

I can't wait for cooler weather! Soups and chili! :)

YES, YES, YES!!!
Have you heard? Tomorrow at Duncan Donuts the pumpkin muffin & donuts and COFFEE will be here!!! Oh my....awwwwwww. Love is in the air. Starbucks too!  Feel free to send me gift cards to get me through the season! mommmmmmm....

Until Tomorrow....
Shana
xoxox





Saturday, August 27, 2016

There are so many beautiful reasons to be happy!

Happy Saturday!
My chickens are one of the reasons, I'm happy. I took a few pictures this morning.

They were happy to get a morning snack!  

I am so excited to get started with a few projects. I can't wait to share them with y'all. I am searching for some old wooden shutters & I need some old wood. With Halloween around the corner I have found the cutest crafts. I hope to get started this week. My daughter will hate me when I'm done because, I hope to display a lot of the pieces at her house. Shhhh.....:))
This morning I was debating on what to fix for dinner. Eating healthy is so hard, and I love food. It doesn't help that my husband will pretty much eat anything, well not broccoli or spinach, but ummm pretty much everything else. So with that being said its so easy for me to whip up something not so good for us, like a casserole. LOL!  Who doesn't love casseroles, they are so easy to throw those ingredients together and BAMMM dinner is done. Casserole's make me HAPPY! SO, let me introduce to you, a  yummy recipe.

The World's best Oklahoma Main Dish (thank you Grandma Cordie)
1 1/2 pound of ground beef (i use lean meat)
1 small Onion minced
2 tsp of salt (optional)
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg cooked wide egg noodles
Tomato juice ( I use about 2-3 small cans 6.5 oz)
1 cup of American cheese (Velveeta box)

Brown hamburger meat with onion, add salt.  Spray casserole dish with cooking spray. :) Drain off fat and put into a casserole dish. Layer all other ingredients in order given. Cover with foil & bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour.






Chocolate!!! Chocolate!!! Who loves Chocolate????? I'm going to break it to you fast. This recipe is for you chocolate lovers and you get your veggies too! HA! This recipe is called Chocolate Zucchini Bread. I will be making this recipe this afternoon. I will share pictures along the way! 
Chocolate Zucchini Bread 
2 eggs (farm fresh )
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 cups of grated zucchini
1 cup of chocolate chips 
1/4 cup of chocolate chips for top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 pans with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat eggs & sugar. Add oil, yogurt & vanilla. Mix well & add in cocoa. Next mix flour, salt, & baking powder and sift into the wet mixture. Stir until smooth. Add in zucchini just until mixed. Stir in chocolate chips, but don't over mix. Pour the batter into the pans, top with chocolate chips and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Let stand to cool and then remove from pans. :)


I'm excited to try some other zucchini bread recipes, I will post them as we go along. Tomorrow I'm heading to a huge flee market and antique store. I'm hoping to find some great items! Tomorrow sounds like a great day for crock pot potato soup!!!! :)))) You wont want to miss how easy this recipe is! 

Shana
xoxo

Friday, August 26, 2016

Happy Friday!

It's going to be a great start to the weekend! 
Football Friday is here. Football is big around here and every morning on the news they have the school of the week ready to hit that field on Friday night! College football starts soon! WooHOO!!! Were Gator fans at our house, we live an hour from Gainesville Florida home of the Gators, you know where the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is at...:)  The Swamp!  The first game of the season is right around the corner September 3rd, vs. Massachusetts. We can't wait. Hopefully we will attend more games this season.  It's nothing like attending those games with all those crazy college students, yelling, cheering, tail-gating and eating enough junk food to last you all weekend. I'm excited to post some of those recipes for game time! Who doesn't like football food??
This is funny!
One recipe from my mother is so good. I ate these growing up and made these at my daughter's College Farewell party.

Ham & Cheese Roll-ups

12" Flour Tortillas
1 - 8 oz cream cheese
1 cup of sour cream
6 green onions (finely chopped with some green)
                                                         1 small can diced green chill's (check for stem and skin)
                                                         1 cup of lean ham  (sliced really thin, I like bores-head)
                                                         Cajun seasoning for spice   
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and spread on tortilla to about 1/2" from edge. Roll up into a log and put on a cookie sheet seam side down. I lay parchment paper down first, to prevent a mess. Chill about 1 hour. Slice into 3/4" slices and stack in a container. Keep covered until ready to eat.
These are awesome for on the go....:) Thanks Mom for always having such yummy things for me to eat!! 
Another great idea is the Chili cheese wraps I mentioned in an earlier blog. How easy is that. Cook your chili the day before, put in the crock pot, have fritos and cheese and wraps!!! Yummo!!!! I grew up on frito pies and then I came up with the wraps at home. If your wondering. HA! Crazy me!

Another great, easy, quick, yummy recipe is ....... Sausage Balls! Who has had these?? LOL!

1 lb. sausage uncooked
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/4 cup bis-quick
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, you can use a mixer on this. Roll into 1" balls and bake on a lined pan with parchment paper for 20-25  minutes or until golden brown. :)

I will post more recipes as we get into the season. GO GATORS!!! HEHEH!!!

As, I finish out my day today, I had to say goodbye to my daughter. She came for the day for a quick visit. She was suppose to bring her laundry but forgot it, and that is ok, she has been overwhelmed with homework this week. I told her all of us girls as some time or another need a time out from everything, and that's perfectly ok. Once a week I told her to take 2 hours to herself, for her time. Please say a pray for her, that she finds her way.


I hope you have a wonderful weekend, what ever you do! 

Shana
xoxox

Meet me for breakfast tomorrow! :)






Thursday, August 25, 2016

Start each day with a positive thought!

Lets get to it..... I promised a recipe, Blueberry Oatmeal Bread, here it is... :)

Ingredients:

1 Cup of blueberries
2 cups of flour, plus 1 tbsp.
1 cup of sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup of Greek yogurt
2 eggs
1 stick of butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup oats

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9 x 5 pan with parchment paper or grease & flour your pan.
In a small bowl whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt together. In a separate bowl mix the yogurt, eggs, melted butter and vanilla together and then fold into the dry ingredients. Next, fold in the blueberries and oats, batter will be thick. That's OK! 
Scrape the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown. Check with a toothpick to see if done. 
Let set for 5-10 minutes and let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter! Yummy!




 I had a helper in the kitchen today.....Her name is COCO!
Silly girl....:) she wanted to play all day! 
So, I'm super stumped!
Regular Vs. Decaf Coffee????????? Who knows about this? Please feel free to enlighten me. I recently found out Decaf coffee really isn't decaf! http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/04/how-decaffeinated-coffee-is-made/
I'm still drinking my favorite yummy iced decaf, HAHA coffee from Starbucks or Duncan!
Interesting for those who can't have caffeine! I'm still going to drink that yummy iced coffee from Starbucks or Duncan!
The general decaffeinating processes includes soaking the still green coffee beans in hot water (160-210 degrees Fahrenheit) and then some sort of solvent or activated carbon is used to extract/dissolve the caffeine. The solvents typically used are methylene chloride or ethyl acetate.
I also read that decaf actually still has some caffeine! It actually depends on what kind of coffee bean they use. There is actually NO such thing as coffee with zero caffeine in it! HA!!!

FYI: My Blueberry Oatmeal Bread had fresh backyard wanna be farmer eggs in it!!! :))))
Loven those GIRLS!!! They blessed me with 4 eggs today. There not eating there food, so I think I might hold off on some of the yummy treats they get. 
Since I posted a pic of COCO, I'm feeling the puppy love, I'm going to share with y'all the other babies in the family!
Meet Tinker!


Meet Abby!

This is Rosco, My sons dog. He is a big teddy Bear!

We also have Ally cat!!! MEOW MEOW!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening.



XOXO
Shana

Monday, August 22, 2016

Happy Monday y'all!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Our's was awesome! We spent the day shrimping  in the nice blazing hot sun! HAHAHA!! This time of year the shrimp run in our Saint Johns River. Everyone gets a net and heads out to catch those tasty shrimp. http://www.afn.org/~gofc/shrscall.html
Scalloping is also a fun thing to do. We have been 3 times this summer and have such a blast going. We go to Steinhatchee on the gulf side and head out. Check out this link on pictures and information. http://www.steinhatchee.com/scalloping-information/  These are some scallops we caught.

Today for dinner I am going to make Creamy Bacon Carbonara with Shrimp!!! Why yes, I would love some!!! This is so yummy...:)

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of pasta
fresh or dried parsley flakes
2 cups of shrimp (seasoned to liking and pan seared. I use chicken sometimes too)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs (fresh for me)
1/2 lb. of bacon fried crisp then crumbled
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, cream, Parmesan, parsley, salt and the olive oil in a bowl and set aside.
Next in a large frying pan, fry the bacon until crisp, crumble and set aside.
Saute Shrimp and set aside.
With 1-2 Tbsp. bacon grease, saute the onion until translucent and golden, then add the cooked shrimp to coat.
Cook and drain pasta, while still hot add the onion and shrimp mixture and mix well. Finally, pour the egg/cream sauce into the pasta and stir over low heat for one to two minutes until fully incorporated.
Remove from heat and fold in bacon, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!
cooked in butter with chili powder, Greek seasoning and onion powder.

mushroom's cooking in fresh garlic in olive oil and soy sauce.

Egg, cheese & cream mixture.

mixing all together......yummy!

Finished product! :)
This is a wonder recipe.
Tomorrow, I will be making Blueberry Oatmeal bread. Sooooo Yummy. Please leave your comments or if you have recipes you want to share on my blog.

Shana




Saturday, August 20, 2016

Saturday!!!!

What ever happened to Saturday morning cartoons? Are they really gone? I must be growing up, or getting old. HAHA!! I know what your thinking MOM, hush!!!! I remember as a kid, getting up on Saturday morning to watch all those loved cartoons. Now you have Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon and who know's what......TV these days...... :0
Today we started our day with a concealed weapon class in Jacksonville, Florida. I have to say it was very informative. Thanks Shooters. Lots of good information! I was surprised by how many woman was in the class and the age range. Glad I went, thanks to my husband.
We headed to Gainesville, Florida to see my daughter for the afternoon and ended up at a local pizza joint called Blaze Pizza on Archer road . http://www.blazepizza.com This place was fun, you build your own pizza. We will definitely be back! Yummy!
I have to brag on my daughter for a minute, after we left she cooked dinner for herself, and this is the picture she sent me. GO JALYN!!!!
Hamburger steak with mushrooms, sweet potato fries & carrots!
I think she will be just fine. I always hate leaving and saying goodbye. I'm thankful for my house full of pets, lol....:)))) I have something to look forward to when getting home. Saturday was a good day for my girls (hens) I was blessed with 4 eggs, kinda slacking. I think they were mad, I wasn't here to give them treats earlier. I will make it up to them tomorrow! Who else has chickens and spoils them? Come on, I know I'm not the only crazy chicken lady out there.
Tomorrow I will have another great recipe to share. Join me to see whats new!
Love this..... Shana

Friday, August 19, 2016

Happy Friday! Let's get this weekend started!

Happy Friday Ya'll! This morning was busy running around doing errands and it hit me.... the holidays are around the corner. I don't know if any of you are like me, but I love the holidays! There are officially 73 days to Halloween, 97 days to Thanksgiving, 98 days to Black Friday (that's a holiday in my book, HA) & 128 days to Christmas! Sorry for those of you that didn't want to hear that!  So with that being said I will be sharing holiday recipes and crafts. This is the first holiday season my kids will not be in my home, but with all the baking I know they will be right around the corner heading this way! 

Tonight for dinner I will be putting on smothered pork chops in the crock pot. These are super easy and the family loves them.
Ingredients:
1/2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
6-8 boneless pork chops
2 Tbsp oil
10.5 oz box chicken broth (low Sodium is what I use)

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Mix together your flour,mustard,salt & garlic powder in a bowl. Then lightly coat your pork chops in the flour mixture (set the remaining mixture aside for later). Pour your oil in the skillet and brown your pork shops over medium high heat. Mix your remaining flour mixture with the chicken broth and pour in the crock pot. Place browned pork chops in the crock pot, cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 hours. This is soooo good! :)
Ingredients


browning chops

In crock pot to cook for 2 hours on high.
In reference to the blog yesterday, I posted the recipe of the Rice Krispy treats and promised pictures. Here they are. I can't wait to eat one!
Ingredients, I shop at Publix.. LOL

Line pan with foil, for easy take out

Spray with oil

Butter and vanilla & Salt


Melted ingredients, then pour on cereal.


Finished yummy goodies!


Gotta Run!