With School starting in the area, I thought this was just really cool. Maybe not something y’all would be interested in, however some of this stuff I want to remember.
This is from the journal of a teacher in Joplin, Missouri, as the
school year is beginning. It puts many things into perspective.
This may end up being my last tornado journal update. You want to know why?
Because for the first time in 87 days, I have been able to breathe today. I have been able to feel almost normal today. My kids were able to sleep and have something to wake up for today. We didn’t have to spend our summer days wishing the pools hadn’t been destroyed. We didn’t have to wish we could go to our favorite parks, only to remember that they are no longer there.
We didn’t have to do anything that revolved around the tornado. We got to get up and go to school!
With the help of donations from around the world, these kids came back in style! Every child received a backpack with Joplin Eagles and our eagle logo on the front that was filled with school supplies appropriate for the grade. Every high school student–whether they were going back to school at the mall campus or the old middle school–received a laptop in the backpack. They will do all of their learning via the computers since the textbooks were destroyed.
So a couple Sunday’s ago I made this for Sunday night dinner. Now the thing at Sunday night dinner is Moo doesn’t like yunions (onions) so we have to basically lie and tell her there aren’t any and she’ll eat whatever it is, but if you tell her there are yunions in it, well she refuses to eat whatever it is. Unfortunately Laura is much the same way… so Moo was in the kitchen when Laura asked if it had yunions and PC and I both said, No.
Ok so it did, but they were green onions as opposed to white or yellow :). And I didn’t even put all the recipe called for, I’m not a huge fan of green onions… I figured since there was broccoli in it, that it would cover up the green onions. Nope, Laura caught me. We didn’t hear the end of it either. Well then I felt bad but with Moo in the kitchen she couldn’t hear the word yes or she wouldn’t have eaten any of it.
Now Laura says she’ll never eat anything else we bring. Everyone else said, Your Loss. Ha 🙂
By the way, if you have a picky eater, just leave those out 😉
Directions: Unravel dough from can and lay out onto a greased baking sheet. Press dough out into a large rectangle. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the dough.
Top with chopped ham, broccoli, cheese, Parmesan cheese and green onion.
Roll the dough up, pinching the seam to seal.
Slice the roll into one inch pieces. You should get about 12 rolls. Place the rolls onto the baking sheet. {yeah I didn’t do this, last time I tried to cut a roll like this it didn’t end pretty}
Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly.
Usually I don’t give details to my photos… I kind of do wordless photos but I figured this one might need a little explaining so here ya go: Ok so you all may not be “Friends” fanatics like I am… but there was an episode where Ross was marrying Emily in London. Joey & Chandler decided to spend the day touring London. Joey had a map so they could find their way around the city and at one point stepped into the map while embarrassing Chandler. I did this while we were in Silver Dollar City last month as a joke and knew this was the photo for Project 52: Map. I almost think I embarrassed my hubby…
You read that title correctly… Orange Brownies. I’m not sure when I made them Hubby even knew what to expect. I have had them before so I knew :). Let me just say, they are YUMMY! 🙂
Our PEO group had our summer talent table at my house and this was what I made for the Pot Luck portion. I love pot lucks. I get to make foods I like, get one or 2 bites and everyone else eats them, you know, so I don’t eat them all myself 🙂
I found this recipe, oh goodness, back in like 2003 or 2004 in her magazine. I unfortunately don’t remember which issue or even which year, I actually copied it down on a piece of paper. But somewhere at my house I think I still have the magazine… not sure. I also googled it and found the recipe on Food Network.
Paula Deen Orange Brownies
1 1/2 cup flour 1 cup sugar 1 tsp salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 4 large eggs 2 tsp pure orange extract 1 tsp grated orange zest
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13x2in pan.
Stir together flour,
sugar
and salt in a bowl;
add butter, eggs, extract, and zest.
Using a mixer, beat until well blended.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven and pierce entire cake with a fork.
Glaze: 1 cup confectioner’s Sugar 2 tbsp orange juice 1 tsp grated orange zest
For glaze, mix all ingredients together and stir until smooth.
Pour glaze over cake. Cool and cut into squares. (I cut into squares after I put the camera away… use your imagination)
Paula Deen Orange Brownies 1 1/2 cup flour 1 cup sugar 1 tsp salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 4 large eggs 2 tsp pure orange extract 1 tsp grated orange zest
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13x2in pan.
Stir together flour, sugar and salt in a bowl; add butter, eggs, extract, and zest. Using a mixer, beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven and pierce entire cake with a fork.
Glaze: 1 cup confectioner’s Sugar 2 tbsp orange juice 1 tsp grated orange zest
For glaze, mix all ingredients together and stir until smooth. Pour glaze over cake. Cool and cut into squares.
So how about let’s be totally Random on Friday? Sounds good to me anyway 🙂
1. Do you notice what’s in this picture? (hint: The title gives it away)
Do you see it? It’s to the upper left side….
2. If you are a full time farmer, seeing skies like this probably have you torn. On the one hand it would be GREAT for your crop to get the moisture, but… if you have hay on the ground, you don’t want it getting wet. Decisions, Decisions!
Hubby and I had a gift certificate to use, so Saturday around 3:45pm we looked at each other and said, what plans do you have? I don’t have any what do you have? I don’t have any. Wanna go use the gift certificate. Hey sure why not.
Yup that’s how our conversation went. We also wanted to go to the Camera store, but of course it is only open until 5. We had to get dressed and then drive there, if we’d make it, it would have been like 15 minutes to spare. Just so you know, I took us to the wrong part of town and we didn’t make it. Woops, guess we’ll have to try again another day :(.
Anyway as we were driving I was just looking at the beautiful clouds. It’s been a very hot and dry summer here in SW MO and clouds have been pretty non-existent too. After we got those rain showers last week we’ve noticed a few more clouds in the sky, but look how pretty these clouds are. I was in awe! And I’m not even sure my photos do the clouds justice at all!
Oh and I have always loved the Charolais bull on top of the house. (yes it is a statue not a real bull)
But just look at those clouds! And you probably can’t see it in this picture but the white water tower that is kind of right above the mirror…
Here’s a little better shot. I didn’t have my telephoto lens on, just my 18-55mm.
But that water tower is where I did my student teaching, get this, 6 years ago. OMG, seriously, 6 years ago. Dang I’m getting old :(.
Ok back to looking at the clouds now.
They were all just so mesmerizing!
It looked like any minute they’d just descend down upon us. They looked so close.
And they’d stuck around pretty well all day long.
Oh well, here’s to day dream in the clouds down I-44… LOL 🙂 finally Missouri had some beautiful skies to share 😉
Sunday morning it was confirmed that we’d have Sunday night dinner at our house this week since we finally got the pool back up and going. Then around 3pm on Sunday Earl called and said that Pokey had fallen off a mule and possibly broken his arm, was there anyway she could bring the kids over and we watch them while she took him to the hospital.
We told her absolutely, bring their swimsuits!! 🙂 So the kids swam in the pool all afternoon.
By all afternoon, I mean all afternoon. They showed up around 3 or so and got out when it was time to go home around 8ish.
Pokey in fact shattered part of his arm. I’m not really sure the details but it wasn’t good. Especially since he’d planned a hunting trip with a bunch of people for September out in Colorado. Not sure he’s going to be going though because he had to have surgery yesterday. Dr. said everything was good but they had to add pins and plates to his arm… No Bueno!
Now Earl teases me that I take a bunch of photos but then she tells me she shouldn’t because I get some cute photos of her kids too… LOL so as I’m sure you all know, I got my camera out and played 🙂 Hey I can’t help it!
So without further adu, here’s my Sunday afternoon in photos!
One of my co-workers asked me the other day if I listened to Country Music and before I could answer, she answered for me with, probably not.
I grinned and said, yeah I do, the only reason I don’t here at work is because I get one station, and it isn’t country (it’s light rock mix) so that’s what I listen to but all the presets in my car are predominately country. Although I have 2 light rock ones on the pre-sets too 🙂
So I proceeded to ask her why she asked. She asked if I’d heard the Toby Keith song, My List.
For some people, they live by lists. I’m not completely that way, but I do have my lists of things I’d like to accomplish. Heck, I have one on this blog even, my 101 in 1001 days. Sometimes lists are good, they keep us on track and they help us remember.
But we also have to remember that lists aren’t life. Yes, my house may get cluttered every now and again or I’d like to redecorate that room or heaven forbid my cupboards get bare of food, I need that list, but we need to remember that life is short.
And sadly as we are getting older, our days seem to be going by even faster, or is that just mine? If it is mine, please tell me HOW to slow down! Did you realize that almost a year ago I got married? I just finished up a fabulous wedding shower and our joint bachelor/bachelorette party. I was putting the finishing touches on what still needed to be accomplished for my wedding and I was 3 weeks from becoming a Mrs.
Where has this year gone?
2 weeks ago the hubs and I spent every night with each other doing absolutely nothing. That is the first time we’d been able to spend 5 evenings in a row doing nothing since we’d started dating really. We’ve been on the run since the beginning basically. We don’t have a full-time live in child, so this must have just been things for us. Try adding one or two or like the lady in Arkansas (wasn’t it) 19 children, you basically run your life away.
Sometimes it is ok for the kid not to be involved in every sport. Sometimes it is ok to tell a friend, no I can’t do {insert task} tonight. Sometimes it is ok to spend 1 week just loving each other and being happy in the presence of each other and the company you provide.
I can remember many times growing up where I’d spend the evenings just with my parents and we were content. I didn’t have to be involved in everything. I didn’t have to be at this friend or that friend’s house. Sometimes it is just good for the soul to sit back and relax. Take a week off.
It is good for families to have quality family time together. Quality family meals together. Not always be on the run and the constant go. Sometimes when you are on the constant go, you miss out on things, the little things, the simple things, that are so small you may not see them or experience them unless you slow down. When did we decide that we had to live in a fast paced, be everywhere and involved in everything kind of world?
Now that summer is starting to draw closer to an end, kids are going back to school, holidays are fastly approaching, I just want to remind you, that some days it is ok to say Whoa, let’s slow down and take it one day at a time.
2 cups of shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend
2 tablespoons of Jamaican Jerk Rub (keep them separated) (Oh and this comes from Pampered Chef, but I’m sure you can come up with something comparable)
1 small yellow or red bell pepper (I like to us a combination of the two) (I didn’t actually have this so I left it out)
1 small lime
2 tablespoons of fresh snipped cilantro (I didn’t have this either but I’ve had it with this stuff… yummo!)
¼ of a cup of sour cream and 1 teaspoon additional Jamaican Jerk Rub (I didn’t have any sour cream either… I know, what’s the deal? It’s called go to the pantry and see what you do have!)
I had to start by cooking my chicken. We used the grill however a fast and simple way is to get a rotisserie chicken from the store.
Since I grilled mine we had to shred it also. You can do this with 2 forks or else, cheat and use a food chopper 🙂
Start by preheating your oven to 425°F. Arrange the tortilla chips in a slightly overlapping layer on a cooking sheet.
Combine the chicken, the cheese and 1 tablespoon of the Jamaican jerk rub in a bowl. Mix together gently.
Sprinkle the chicken rub cheese mixture evenly over the 6 cups of tortilla chips. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Then remove it from the oven.
While the chicken and chips are in the oven, dice the bell peppers. Then slice the lime in half(across). You should now juice half of the lime, into the Small Batter Bowl and add the remaining Jamaican jerk rub and bell pepper to it, then mix well. **If your lime doesn’t seem like it’ll have much juice pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds or else rub it really hard against the counter between your hands and the counter.**
Snip the cilantro.
Slice the remaining lime half using a knife or mandoline fitted with the v-shaped blade. Cut the slices in half.
Spoon the bell pepper mixture over the nachos and sprinkle evenly with cilantro. If desired, combine sour cream and additional jerk rub in a resealable plastic bag. Trim the corner of the bag to allow the sour cream to flow through. Spread the sour cream mixture over the chicken nachos and garnish it with lime slices.
Jamaican Jerk Nachos
6 cups of tortilla chips
3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
2 cups of shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend
2 tablespoons of Jamaican Jerk Rub (keep them separated) (Oh and this comes from Pampered Chef, but I’m sure you can come up with something comparable)
1 small yellow or red bell pepper (I like to us a combination of the two
1 small lime
2 tablespoons of fresh snipped cilantro
¼ of a cup of sour cream and 1 teaspoon additional Jamaican Jerk Rub
Start by preheating your oven to 425°F. Arrange the tortilla chips in a slightly overlapping layer on a cooking sheet.
Combine the chicken, the cheese and 1 tablespoon of the Jamaican jerk rub in a bowl. Mix together gently.
Sprinkle the chicken rub cheese mixture evenly over the 6 cups of tortilla chips. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Then remove it from the oven.
While the chicken and chips are in the oven, dice the bell peppers. Then slice the lime in half(across). You should now juice half of the lime, into the Small Batter Bowl and add the remaining Jamaican jerk rub and bell pepper to it, then mix well. **If your lime doesn’t seem like it’ll have much juice pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds or else rub it really hard against the counter between your hands and the counter.**
Snip the cilantro.
Slice the remaining lime half using a knife or mandoline fitted with the v-shaped blade. Cut the slices in half.
Spoon the bell pepper mixture over the nachos and sprinkle evenly with cilantro. If desired, combine sour cream and additional jerk rub in a resealable plastic bag. Trim the corner of the bag to allow the sour cream to flow through. Spread the sour cream mixture over the chicken nachos and garnish it with lime slices.
