Reality…

Tags

devotional, life, reality, spiritual, truth, words

Got this in my inbox this morning.

The daily devotional I subscribe to.  I really connected to the last 2 lines, “Invest in heaven and the joys to come. This is not escape from reality, but escape to reality.”

Wow!  Such a powerful statement.  I love the way it’s put into perspective like that.  Rather than from reality we are going towards reality.

Especially because this has been my life anthem for the past 2 years.

I’ve always been in the mind frame of escaping reality and just taking the hard times as they come(which I still do) and rollin’ with it and finding some sort of escape whether it be going to the beach, listenin’ to the breeze & watchin’ the waves while sippin’ a cold  Bud lime or sitting out in the back yard with my morning coffee, contemplating life, enjoying a made-from- scratch Italian meal with a glass of Pinot Grigio and listening to jazz.

All those things are good and they definitely make life a little more enjoyable but these things will come to an end eventually.  Our lives are but a breath on this Earth.

Still it is good to know that there is always an escape.  To reality.

Pork Chop Skillet Meal Review

Tags

dinner, food, pork chops, review

I usually start dinner around 3:30 just so I’m not rushed around 6 when we like to sit down & eat. Hubby usually gets home by 5:30 and the kids are asking “what’s to eat?” around this time so I try & have everything done by then.  This afternoon I was going thru my recipes to see what I could come up with for pork chops.  I looked thru my pork Pinterest board & found this one that sounded pretty easy & not too time consuming.  I had everything on the list and I adapted it to some of the suggestions I read in the comments below the recipe.

I added some sliced mushrooms and some shredded cabbage to the mix.  I also had some fresh thyme so I used that instead of the dried as stated in the original recipe.

 I used to not love mushrooms at all. Couldn’t stand them but every since Pioneer Woman came into my life and showed me all the possibilities of the weird, edible fungi , I have been adoring them more & more.

I’m not concerned about salt intake but I did use some low sodium beef broth I had.

First I chopped up all my veggies then salt & peppered the pork chops.

 Instead of wasting a zip lock baggie or a bowl I just sprinkled flour right on freezer paper the chops were frozen & thawed in .  Less waste…

Get your skillet & pour a some olive oil in the pan, get it really hot before you add the pork chops so they can sear on each side.

Lookin’ good

Next dump all the veggies on top, then pour the beef broth over it.

Bring to  a boil, cover & simmer for 45 minutes.  I don’t have a top to fit my cast iron skillet, it’s really huge.  So I just used some foil & covered it as best I could.

Remove the meat & veggies from pan, dump the juice in a separate bowl then pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tbsp. butter in the skillet and let that melt.

Add a couple of tablespoons of flour to make a roux.

Let it boil then simmer on low until thickened.

Add all the juice, then let that boil & thicken.

Season with more salt & pepper and even a little garlic powder if you want according  to your liking.

I popped a couple of frozen biscuits in the oven to go along with this unexpected comfort meal.

Put a chop on a plate with a load of veggies & pour gravy over the whole thing.

Conclusion-I have to be honest.  I was really expecting this to be amazing. It was good but not great.  I can see how this would’ve been if I’d just simply fried the pork chops, roasted the carrots & used red potatoes (instead of russet) drizzled in olive oil & seasoned with cracked black pepper & sea salt, then pan fried the cabbage & sauteed the onions & mushrooms to add to the gravy.

 Since it all cooked in the brothy liquid, it seems so watery & flavorless.  The gravy I made, “made” the meal.  So, if you want a quick meal, than this would be it.  If you want ultimate flavor, then this is not it.

On a grade scale,

M-I give it a B-only good with the gravy on top.

Stephen-A- (which I am really surprised about) not a lot of flavor but meat was tender and the biscuits were good.

Jaidan-D-he didn’t like anything but the biscuit  meat and gravy.   He loves carrots but not cooked soft like this.

Jayde-doesn’t eat any meat besides chicken plus she said this wasn’t healthy enough for her.  Since she’s been on the Tone it Up plan, she hardly eats anything we do.

It all comes down to these important words…

Trust the taste buds.

4 days til 11

Tags

birthday, growing up, Jaidan, kids family

I can’t get over how my boy has grown.  It feels like a couple of years ago that I was bringing this little one home.

His birthday is this week.  He’ll be 11 years old.  I’ve been hanging on to 10.  He’s already saying “I’m too old for this…too old for that”, but I am still hanging on to the fact that he’s my baby.  I told him he’d forever be my baby.  He still plays with these guys.

See?  he’s still got signs of being a little boy.

His voice is already changing.  He’s getting the first few fuzzes of facial hair on his upper lip.  Yes, he’s prone to be a hairy guy.  Especially because he has dark hair.  Pretty soon he’ll be asking his dad for a razor and that’ll be the day I cry.  What am I talking about??? I’m already doing that.

I don’t want him to grow up, go off on his own and fall in love because I want to be the only woman in his life.  His mama.  The one he can count on for anything at anytime.  The one who will make him all his favorite foods and cuddle and kiss him till he’s giggling…”STOP”

But then again, I do want him to grow up, be a man and go off on his own, fall in love and experience all the wonderful things I know he can be.  Because, I’m his mom and I love him and I want to see him succeed.

But I’m holding on.  For as long as I can.

A Little of This n’ That

Tags

Family, home, house, projects, to-dos

Have had lots of projects in the works.  Here’s what’s been going on these past couple of weeks.

My sister-n-law gave us her table & chairs for helping her move & this is what I’ve done with it.

m

Sanded & painted them bright white.  Lovin’ it so much.  It brightens the dining room up just like I wanted and it was free so…double bonus.

We took off the old cushions & foam then were left with this wood & bungee straps which are pretty sturdy so I’ll just be adding new foam & fabric.

primed w/Zinsser & got one of those cool trigger sprayers that make it so much easier on your fangers.

Made this delish stir-fry in this wok my dad gave me.  I love snow peas.

Last Sunday we celebrated Cinco de Mayo by pressure washing the driveway.  Jayde decided the concrete was clean enough to lay on.

For lunch we ate hippo tacos from this little taqueria down the road.  Good stuff!

Then in the evening, we bbq-d with my parents, drank beer and played dominoes.  It was a great time.

Then during the week, I worked on this nightstand Stephen found on the side of the road long ago.  It had scribble marks on it and the door was broken off.  I went ahead and unscrewed that part then spackled all the dents and holes.

Then came primer and paint in Valspar’s La Fonda.  I really found out that I love spray painting furniture.  No brush marks.  This is what it looks like right now.

 Now all I gotta do is put a couple coats of furniture wax and find some wallpaper to put inside.  Got the idea from this.

source

I put some fresh pine mulch up in the front flower bed.  It smells really good.  I don’t have any new plants to put in there right now because I always plant something there then end up diggin them back up & transplanting it in the backyard.  I guess I haven’t figured out what looks good there yet.

But I did get some other filler type plants for the backyard.  Maybe I’ll take some pics of them after they’re planted.

Two other things we got were new flags to hang on the front fence.

Last thing, Jayde had to take some end of year tests last week so Jai had to do his school in Lowe’s parking lot using free wi-fi (in his pjs).  Glad those are over.  It’s hard to do school cramped in a truck.

Well, that’s my 2 weeks.  I’m finishing up those incomplete projects and hanging up Jayde’s new mini-blinds this weekend.

 you know how it is…

A P.Widdy food share

Tags

eating, food, pasta, pioneer woman

*This post comes from back when I had my old blog; circa 2010.

Well here it is. My first recipe blog comes from P. Widdy herself. I’m talking about The Pioneer Woman. She has so many good recipes. I made her Pasta Ala Marlboro Man the other day. I will share the reviews my family gave it at the bottom of this post.

PASTA ALA MARLBORO MAN

Forgot to get the Kosher salt in the picture.  Very important ingredient right here so don’t forget it.

You first start by chopping your onion.

Next mince your garlic.  I’m not real good at mincing with a knife so I use a mini chopper.  It’s super quick.

 Get your pan to medium heat & add the olive oil.

 Add the onion to the skillet.  Let in saute for a couple of minutes till it’s transparent. 

Next add the garlic & stir that up for a minute or 2.  It is starting to smell so good right about now. 

 

Then add your Italian sausage to the pan.  I used to only be able to find the Johnsonville in the casings but last time I went they had the ground up kind so I was really excited about that.  No more squeezing tubes.

Start breaking it up & mixing it all together. 

 Drain your fat.  It’s not good leaving that stuff all in.  Very artery-clogging.

I use this holy (not in saintly terms) lid that doubles as a strainer.  Love this.  It’s Wearever brand.

See how much that is.  You don’t want that stuff swimming around in your belly.

okay now add your salt.

Then.  Fresh ground pepper.  Love this stuff. I could not live without pepper.  To me, it’s the best seasoning you can have.  Taste test it right about now.

After you’ve tasted it & found out if it needs more salt, pepper…you add the canned tomatoes. 

While you let that  simmer a good 30 minutes…

Go ahead & get your water ready for your pasta.

When I made this, I ended up dumping the whole box in but found that there was way more pasta than there was sauce so you might want to cut that back to 1/2-3/4 of the box.

After your pasta is done to your firmness or softness…Put some in a bowl & add your sauce on top.  Sprinkle with some grated parmesan.  Ohhhhh….My…..Goodnesss.  Soooooooo good.

I also made her Garlic Cheese Bread which was pretty incredible too.  Perfect meal.  I give it an A++

We have a tradition here that at every dinner, my husband & kids rate the meal, no matter if it’s frozen pizza, or a time consuming new recipe that I’ve tried.  The kids are way more harder on me since they are more picky when it comes to meals.

  We go by a grade system.  I haven’t gotten an ‘F’ yet.  Well, I take that back, one of the first meals I made when me & my husband were first dating was a quiche & he told me don’t ever make that again.  Hey, it wasn’t that bad.  He hasn’t let me live that meal down til this day.

THE GRADES

Stephen:  A-  (he said the sauce was really great but next time tomato chunks instead of the whole blobs of tomato & he would love if I made that again but the cheese topping on the bread was way too thick.)  How can you have too much cheese?  umm, okay whatever!?

Jayde:  B+ (she didn’t mind the chunky tomatoes but she was in agreement with her dad about the bread.  She said it tasted weird &  didn’t taste like cheese.)  Girl, what are you talking about?!  It had almost 1 inch of your favorite cheese on it.

Jaidy:  A++ (he always adds another ‘plus’ if he thinks it’s ‘delush‘-his word for yummy.)

Only thing I didn’t understand. He said he loved the cheesy bread but only took one bite.  I guess he was full off pasta.

Jacoby:   B-  said  the bread was awesome! (he didn’t really like the sauce because he doesn’t like tomatoes.  Esp. the whole canned ones.)  He likes the pureed jar stuff.  Cept I already knew this when I was making it.  He’s my pickiest eater.

So there you go.  I will make this again but I’ll probably have to alter it according to their rating.  *sigh* just another job of being a mother.

Pasta alla Marlboro Man

by: Pioneer Woman

  Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour Difficulty: Easy Servings: 6

Ingredients   ■2 Tablespoons Olive Oil   ■½ whole Large Onion, Diced   ■2 cloves Garlic, Minced   ■2 pounds Ground Beef   ■Salt To Taste   ■Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste   ■1 teaspoon (generous) Ground Thyme   ■2 cans (14 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes   ■¼ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese   ■1-½ pound (to 2 Pounds) rigatoni

Preparation Instructions:  Heat olive oil in large skillet or pot over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook a couple of minutes, until starting to turn translucent. Add garlic and stir, cooking 1 minute, making sure not to brown the garlic.       Add ground beef and cook until brown. Drain most of excess fat. Add salt, pepper, and ground thyme. Stir to combine. Dump in canned tomatoes with their juice. Stir, reduce heat to low, and cover pot. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Uncover the pot and cook an additional 30 minutes.       Cook rigatoni according to package directions—don’t overcook! Drain and place individual portions into bowls.       Stir in 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan into the sauce. Check and adjust seasonings. Ladle sauce over cooked pasta, sprinkle with more Parmesan, and serve.