Sarah Palin

So, we had to dress up for Halloween at work yesterday. Since I don't celebrate Halloween and what it stands for, I decided to do something political and dressed as Sarah Palin. It was a fun day and EVERYONE knew who I was and just kept saying I looked just like her. She is a great woman and I was proud to dress as her.

Congratulations!

Just want to say "Congratulations!" to our friends Micah and Nicole on their new baby girl -- Emma Francis!

Air Museum

We went to the Air Museum today with my mom. We went because they had this kid exhibit going on ... yeah ... not so great! Oh, well. Isaac enjoyed it and he kinda enjoyed the airplanes. So, it's definitely a place to take a little bit older kids. But it was still a good time with Grandma!

Online games

I enjoy playing games on Pogo.com -- I just tried out the New Monopoly that they have -- it is actually really fun -- the best part is most of the games are FREE!!!

	I love to play MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition Wheel and deal your way to the top of a real estate empire.
Pogo.com — play hundreds of fun games online!

Great Savings!

I got all of this today at Target. It was all originally $51.21 -- I got it for $21.03 -- a savings of $30.18!!! I want to thank Arlene for all the great blogs she has shown me that help you to save money. It really does work -- I also got this week $25 off at Omaha Steaks so we got 4 NY strips and 12 burgers for $23.00 (that included shipping)!! Pretty good! I think I enjoy this blogging thing more for the great deals than anything else ... oh, okay... I do enjoy keeping with all of my friends too!! :-)

What level reading is your blog?

I got this from Arlene's blog and thought it was cute! I'm glad to know I write at least at a High School level. Since I did graduate High School -- contrary to what society believes about home-schooled children. The question that's sometimes asked "How did you graduate High School?" I always want to say "I don't know ... How did YOU graduate High School?"

Zuppa Toscana Soup from Olive Garden

Update: This recipe is VERY good -- tastes very much like the Olive Garden soup. It is a little spicy though -- so if you don't like spicy food better use mild Italian sausage. :-)

So, it has been chilly the last couple of days so I thought soup sounded REALLY good right now. I went through my soup recipes, but just nothing sounded good. I thought ... "the potato soup from Olive Garden sounds really good." So, I googled for the recipe -- I knew somebody had probably came up with something similar to that soup. I found a recipe and tried it today. It is simmering on the stove right now. I'll be anxious to see if it tastes close to the one from Olive Garden. I will add to this post later and let you know if this recipe is good or not!

Zuppa Toscana Soup

5 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup light cream
2 medium russet potatoes
4 cups chopped kale (I didn't know what this is -- it's a type of cabbage -- so you could substitute cabbage or spinach)
1 lb. hot Italian sausage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Combine the stock and the cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Slice the unpeeled potatoes into 1/4 inch slices, then quarter the slices and add them to the soup. Add the kale. Grill or saute the sausage. When cooked and cooled, cut the sausage in an angle about 1/2 inch thick. Add the sausage to the soup. Add the spices and let the soup simmer for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally.

College Football & Food

My NE Cornhuskers were soooooo close to a win today -- I can't believe our quarterback made that last play -- he will never be able to live that down. It was a REALLY good game though. I hope we are on are way to a great team again!! Go Huskers!!

Also, here's a good recipe for those fun football get-togethers. I got it out of Taste of Home magazine. Really good!

Ham & Cheese Sandwich Loaf

1 loaf sourdough bread
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium green pepper, cut into strips
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into strips
1 celery rib, sliced
3 green onions, sliced
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 pound shaved deli ham
1 cup shredded Colby cheese
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Cut bread in half horizontal. Hollow out top and bottom halves, leaving 1/2 in. shells. (Discard removed bread or save for another use.)
In a large skillet, saute the mushrooms, peppers, celery, and onions in oil until tender. Remove from the heat; set aside.
Combine the mayonnaise, Italian seasoning and pepper; spread over bread. On the bread bottom, layer half of the ham, vegetable mixture and cheeses. Repeat layers, gently pressing down if needed. Replace bread top. Wrap tightly in heavy-duty foil. Bake at 400 degrees or grill, covered, over medium heat for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. Cut into wedges with a serated knife. 8 servings

Lots of Apple Recipes!

Since I just went to the apple orchard and since we have LOTS of apples, I thought I would post about some good recipes that I have made using apples!! These are all REALLY good recipes!

Apple Dumplings (from the kitchen of my friend Arlene)
2 tubes crescent rolls
2 Granny Smith apples (or whatever you have)
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8-12 oz. Mt. Dew (or Sprite, 7-Up, Squirt, Mellow Yellow)
Cinnamon

Peel and core apples. Slice into 8 pieces each. Roll up 1 slice in 1 triangle of crescent dough. Repeat with remaining fruit. Place in 13"x9" dish. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in sugar and vanilla. (Don't caramelize or dissolve completely. Keep it lumpy.) Pour over dumplings. Pour soda around contents of pan. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Bake @ 350 degrees for 40 minutes.


Apple Pie
1 package refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts)
6 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples
3/4 cup plus 1 Tblsp. sugar, divided
2 Tblsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. apple-pie spice
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tblsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 Tblsp. milk or cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Fit 1 pie crust into a 9 inch pie pan. Mix apples, 3/4 cup sugar, flour, apple-pie spice and salt in large mixing bowl until apples are coated. Turn apple mixture into pastry-lined pie dish; spread evenly. Scatter butter pieces over top of mixture. Fit top crust over apple mixture. Wrap excess top crust under bottom crust around edges. Press edges together to seal; flute. Brush top crust with milk. Make slits in top crust with knife to create steam vents. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake pie until golden, 40-45 minutes.


Apple Crisp
4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Cream or Ice Cream, if desired

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 8 inch square pan. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream or ice cream.


Chicken Salad
2 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
2/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped tart apple
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 tsp. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Croissants

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, cherries, celery, apple and pecans. In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise, buttermilk, salt, and pepper; add to chicken mixture an mix well. Spoon 1/2 cup chicken salad onto each croissant.

Locked out!

So, I went to the grocery store this morning -- my usual Wednesday morning routine. I did my shopping, paid for my groceries, put the groceries in the trunk of the car, went to put Isaac in the car and realized I had locked my keys in my trunk with the groceries!!! I couldn't believe it -- I have only locked myself out of my car one other time and that was almost 10 years ago! I felt so dumb. So, I had to call Jason and have him drive all the way from work to come and let us in the car. I couldn't call someone to just come get us -- my groceries were in the trunk! Thankfully, there was nothing that would get bad too soon and it was cool today so that helped too. I just hate when I do stuff like that -- I feel really stupid and I just want to kick myself!!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a local Pumpkin Patch last night with several of our friends. It was a really fun time. Isaac loved all of the animals -- chickens, sheep, cows, horses, pigs. We could have just gone to a farm with animals and saved ourselves some money. But it was a good time.

We took a hayrack ride out to the pumpkins. We bought a few small pumpkins to do some fall decorating with.

Isaac is in to shooting guns right now. So, everything becomes a gun -- sticks, straw, or whatever else he can find!

To my Honey!

Happy Anniversary to my honey -- seven years!! I can't believe seven years ago at this time we were getting ready for our wedding. It was such a wonderful day -- I loved every minute of it. I'm so thankful that God chose to bless me with such a great and Godly man. I have enjoyed every day of being a wife and pray that I will continue to be the wife God wants me to be.

Picking Apples

My mom and I went today and picked apples. Isaac loved it. We came home with so many apples -- I think he could have picked them all day. I just made some apple crisp and I think next week I'll make a pie or something else. But I have ALOT of apples!! It was fun though and it was a BEAUTIFUL day!!

Bruschetta Recipe

My mom gave me this recipe yesterday plus tomatoes from her garden. So, we are going to try tonight at dinner -- but I have already taste tested it!! It is good.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tblsp. balsamic vinegar
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup shredded mozzerella (or grated parmesan)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients except cheese. Put on toasted bread and top with cheese.

Seven years

Jason and I are about to celebrate our Seven year anniversary on October 5th. I cannot believe we have been married seven years -- it has gone by so fast. We went out to dinner last night for our anniversary (I was going to take our picture to post on here but forgot -- and we were dressed up and everything). Anyways, we went to a really nice restaurant here. It was VERY expensive but it was so nice. The food was SO good -- I want to go back but I know it won't be for a LONG time because it is expensive. Everything is sold ala carte so just my steak alone with nothing else was $29.99!!!! I know -- crazy! So, we have leftovers that we brought home -- I can't wait to eat them for lunch today! :-)