WTH is Happening? – St. Patrick’s Day – Coronavirus Day 4

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In a matter of a few days, life has dramatically changed… It’s weird. What are we in for? I’m a little scared, but being scared doesn’t help things. 

Earlier today the little and I decided to make cookies before we headed off to my parent’s house to ride horses. We’re being advised to steer clear of all people over the age of 65 who are at high risk. Well, my mom and dad kind of fall into the age category. I’m not steering clear of them though. I mean, I don’t want to be the cause of something, but going without seeing them would suck too.

I made the choice to let my little grow up with her grandparents and taking that away from her or them… that’s not an option. We’re around them almost every day anyway. So anyway… Maybe I’m a jerk… (more…)

Time to Get Cooking… Coronavirus Day 2

So being shut in your house really gives you time to sit and think and think and think some more. Oy! I have to keep the radio or tv on or else I’m going nuts. And here we are on day 2. Okay, I might be overexaggerating right now. Truthfully, ask me on day 8 or 9 and that might actually be the truth. You never know.

But one thing that I have been thinking about a lot is cooking my way through the Julia Child Cookbook. Guys, this isn’t a new thought. Quite the contrary. I mentioned this in a blog post in 2018. OMG, I just looked up the original blog post to include with this. Get this, it was written on March 21, 2018. How close is that to current date? Today is March 15. That’s crazy.

I really want to do this. I’ve been talking to my husband a lot about in the last couple of months. I have a couple of holdbacks. First… have you seen the massive size of the cookbook? It’s huge. 2nd, While I try extremely hard not to be a picky eater, I’m afraid I might be too picky of an eater for this cookbook. (more…)

Keto Diet, month 1

Now… let’s put this out here first… My husband and I are doing Keto. No, I don’t need you telling me we’re stupid. I don’t need judgment. I just don’t. We did research and are doing with a doctor’s supervision so please don’t judge, yell, or tell me we’re stupid. 

Now that we have that out of the way… let’s proceed on. We are doing Keto. A lot of people are. It’s probably one of those fad diets honestly. So it’s a high fat, medium protein, no/low carb. That kills me. Quite almost literally. I love my breads and pastas. I’m not a huge dessert or candy fan and gosh I want those too. Really, I am a savory person, but right now I want sweets so bad sort of. 

So your carb intake is based on net carbs. So you take the carbs in your food, subtract out fiber and alcohol sugars, and that gives you the net carbs. You have to eat less than 25 net carbs per day. I’ve also read 20. Either way, 5 doesn’t really make you or break you. 2 days per week you are supposed to bump that up to 50 carbs to help avoid health problems you hear about. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE PASTA? That’s totally random at this point but I can’t help myself. (more…)

Friendsgiving 2019

Friends giving tends to be a newer concept. One that I really only remember hearing about maybe 10 years ago or so now. It’s quite interesting though that it has caught on. I mean truthfully a lot of people celebrated this long before it had a name/concept.

This year we decided to start our first ever Friendsgiving. After the interesting year we’ve had, why not. While the outcome of the year might not be what we all expected, we still have a lot of things to be thankful for.

We started a Facebook group to see who was bringing what. I kind of waited until everyone else picked an item before I spoke up with what I was going to make. At first, I thought I’d make bacon-wrapped green beans, but then I decided to go with the Green Bean Casserole. I found a recipe online to make it all completely from scratch. I didn’t get my green beans thoroughly cooked though, so they were just okay.

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Thanksgiving 2019

Thanksgiving 2019 has come and gone. Ah, I love Thanksgiving. That might not appear that way as it seems like I slide past it to Christmas, but Thanksgiving is totally about the food. Heck yeah! Anyone who knows me knows I like food.

The day before I decided to make the desserts. I knew the day of I’d be super busy. I got it in my head I wanted a Coconut Cream Pie Cheesecake. Now before anyone asks, no, I’m not pregnant. Yes, I’ve already been asked. I was told this was a weird combination. I didn’t think so though. I really like Coconut Cream Pie and Cheesecake is okay. Why not put them together.

My mom had some medical issues earlier in the summer, which has caused her to eat differently. Then she decided to follow a Keto diet so she gave me a recipe my dad came up with for a Keto Pumpkin Pie. Yey, everyone had dessert. When I invited my mother-in-law, she asked what she could bring. I told her to bring a Chocolate pie that she makes, you know, just in case my cheesecake didn’t turn out. btw, it was amazing! (more…)

4th of July Photo Journal – Dive Club

I saw a meme on Facebook the other day saying something to the effect, 4th of July is over, it’s now time to get your Halloween costumes, your Thanksgiving menu, Christmas Presents, and we’re basically at the New Year, Happy 2020. Truthfully I might have giggled a little too much because… the way this year has been flying by, that almost seems real! Here we are 5 days past the 4th of July. Hello, July 9. We’re quickly approaching the dawg days of summer. It is finally getting hot and humid in Missouri. Yes, we have humidity. Yes, it’s horrible. You walk out of your house and feel like you’ve just walked out of the shower. It’s nuts.

Spring has been crazy around here. Tornadoes on top of tornadoes. Rain and flooding. Cooler temperatures… you name it, we’ve probably seen it. Except for a Hurricane. If we see a hurricane in Missouri, we have real problems. Did you know I’m only just a few hours away from the dead middle point of the U.S.? It’s up on the Kansas border near Nebraska. I’ve never been there although that’s on my list of things to do someday. Why not… 

I actually live in a part of Missouri where within 30 minutes you can be further into Missouri, into Oklahoma or Kansas or Arkansas. And there is a point over near here where you can be standing on the border of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. 3 states in one swoop. Honestly, I’ve never been there either although I’ve always been within a mile or so of it. Why I never stop I have no idea.

This year because the 4th of July fell when it did, we got to celebrate twice. Once with our diver friends and again with my husband’s extended family. I overheard that some people think the 4th of July is only about bbq’s, fireworks, and spending time with family. That’s totally inaccurate. It’s about the birthday of our country. On July 4th, 1776 our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence freeing us from British control. It was only after a horrific battle called the Revolutionary War was fought and won. Just thought I’d throw that very broad, basic explanation out there for anyone who might be confused. Do they not teach that in schools anymore? Although the person who made the previous claim is closer to my age than not. I’m really confused.

4th of July

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Pigu {Italian Gougères}

Here while back, I came across a recipe for Pigu. What the heck is Pigu I wondered? Well, basically it is a little dough like thing filled with romano cheese. You start out by making the dough much like noodles, but I almost think it comes out tasting more like bread than a noodle dough. Basically, it is like an Italian Gougères.

Okay, I’ll bite (for you)… what is a Gougères? It is a choux pastry flavored with cheese (usually Gruyère), then usually filled with a savory filling.

So, we have dough, check.

We have cheese, check.

Well, it’s like an Italian Gougères, correct? We’re going to go with it and run! (more…)

Smoke on the Border

The big shindig… also known as… Smoke on the Border in Gravette, Arkansas. So, we made it. The boys signed up, we hauled everything down, and bam, we were entered. I say we loosely. I helped when they said they needed it or by washing their dishes, but this was all them!

Saturday was the People’s Choice event. Basically, people were allowed to come and walk through the 2 streets blocked off for the event. If people had samples, obviously they could sample it. Samples were cut off around like 2 maybe. Then, the People’s Choice meat was dropped off to the church around the corner at 5 pm. People could buy wrist bands for $10 and they basically got all you can eat meat plus possible sides. Sunday was the main event. So they had the option of entering in 4 categories… pulled pork, brisket, ribs, and/or chicken. The awards were held at the Methodist Church as were all things turned in. And bam, it was all over but the cleanup. (more…)

Smoke off Prep

I’m pretty sure these days I meet myself coming and going. I try not to but dang. Anyway, last week I mentioned something about a BBQ/Smoked meats thing. Well here are the details… FINALLY! 

So we started hanging out with our dive friends in 2013 when we met them. It wasn’t an immediate BAM, we’re friends, but pretty darn close. So throughout the last couple of years, hubby and Jared have been smoking different types of meats for different events. Events include just a night in with friends to dive club meetings to events for the Red Coaters at Chiefs Stadium. The big leagues… in our books anyway.

They have been honing in on our their meat preparations. Wow, that sounds weird. ha! Anyway, last fall they went to Kansas City to a Chiefs game and actually cooked for 60+ Red Coaters and family. Then the leftover meats, they tried passing out to passer byes. A lot of people around our hangouts really like their brisket and pulled pork and chicken, etc, so they told them they needed to start entering contests. (more…)

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites

Over the weekend I found myself in Gravette, Arkansas. We were at a BBQ Smoking contest called Smoke on the Border. I’ll delve into that more in another post, but… as Hubby and Jared were moving stuff down on Friday afternoon, I found myself in the kitchen. I had it in my head I wanted to make something on the sweeter side, simply because of all that savory food I knew we were going to be eating over the weekend. That’s when I decided on Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites. Still a little savory from the dough, but that sweet side from the sugar and the heat from the cinnamon. Just seemed like the perfect combination.

Handheld little bites of yumminess. Although as you can see on my hand above, being in a zip lock bag, I brought some of that topping out on my hand for a nice dose of stickiness too. Hey… you win some… you lose some… and in this case, I’m pretty sure I won because hello YUM! (more…)