Something Fun

Nephews are a LOT of fun! You get to love on them…then hand them back!

Or not….

More Photo challenge catch up!

Something new: My Lipton’s Tea mug , purchased at Good Will in State College for a whopping 29 cents. Holds the perfect amount of coffee and I love the colors!

From a Distance: The Demolition Derby at the Huntingdon County fair. Definitely a perfect outing for an 11 year old boy! Mom enjoyed it too though….I was most impressed by a ‘78 volkswagon rabbit that lasted the entire time!

 

Close up: My grandfather. He’s 75 year old and I love him dearly. He was my first boss at my first job and always a good friend. I hated it when they moved away from us. I wish their visits lasted longer.

Childhood memory: This isn’t MY childhood memory…but hopefully it will be one for Simon. Spending time with Grandpa (papa) and great-grandpa (Grandpa) at the fair. Being together. Being happy. Knowing he’s so well loved….

Something I made: My hand bound “better than moleskine” journal. Is it better? Probably not. But I certainly enjoy it more! The covers were once the stiff cardboard back of a sketch pad, decorated with scrapbook papers. The pages are a mix of typing paper, sketch paper, acrylic paper and watercolor paper.

Faceless self portrait: “There was a crooked woman and she had a crooked back…” my back problems start from the feet up. See that there? That’s some serious flat foot/fallen arches mess going on. Add to that scoliosis. I’m a curvy gal!

“The first to hold the lone coyote…”

I know...I posted already today. But I rediscovered this song and wanted to share. I'm so in love with Amy Ray and have been since...I was 18! Oh baby!

Photo Challenge

More catching up to do! I’m having fun with this though!

Clouds: 

Favorite Color(s):

(Purple and Teal and Purple and Purple…..)

Something new:

Yoga! I’m just starting, in an effort to help my crooked back heal.

Valkyrie says “I’ll do it with you!”

Domesticated Jen

Yesterday while I worked, I went on a serious domestic spree. I put bread in the bread machine, soup on the pot and some cheesy zucchini in the oven. The results were wonderful!

The soup is one of my mom’s standbys. Super easy and very yummy. I made some adaptions and I’ll post that recipe here.

Chicken and Rice Soup, adapted for a small family:

Three frozen chicken thighs

4 cups water

3 carrots

3 green onions

1/2 cup brown rice (mom uses white, I went with brown for more fiber)

1 1/4 cup more water OR chicken stock if you have it on hand

1 bullion cube or a glop of “Better than broth” chicken broth concentrate. We always use the kind that is MSG free.

salt and pepper to taste

Put the frozen chicken in the water and bring it up to a boil. Boil it until done then skim the fat and foam off the water, pick the chicken off the bones and throw away the bones and skin. Put the chicken back into the pot.

Add to the pot the carrots diced up and the onions along with the brown rice, additional water and bouillon cube. Let this all simmer until the rice is tender, the carrots are done. Salt and pepper to taste. This makes enough for two people to have two big bowls.

The trick to the soup is that the rice will continue to get softer..soaking up more and more of the water so you really don’t want to many left overs! if you do end up with them…it will be a chicken and rice…thing. With no broth. Yummy but not the same!

For the bread I used this recipe: Honey of an Oatmeal Bread

I used one commenters suggestion and went with 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 bread flour. Yum. I’ve made this bread before with all plain white flour though and I do think I like it better….but the wheat is definitely tasty and dense. Made awesome breakfast toast this morning with strawberry jam!

The cheesy zucchini bake….okay. I couldn’t find ANY zucchini at my local grocery. How horrible is that? HELLO! It’s zucchini season! And the summer squash I did find was…less than stellar to say the least. But I went ahead with it anyway using the recipe I posted in my last post. It was tasty but very…very….VERY cheesy. I ate one helping of it and the rest is in the fridge I’ll have some for lunch. (With left over rice/no longer soup).

oh so yellow yellow squash….

And since I’m way off on the 30 day photo challenge, I’m going to post haphazardly until I can get caught up!

Somebody I love:

(This is an older picture but I don’t have my camera back yet!)

Technology:

vs.

(My work station)

30 day photo challenge: Day #1 Self Portrait

Day #2 What I Wore:

Recipes

I have a heaping ton of photos to share! Of course…I left my camera at my folk’s house when snapping pictures of my nephews and grandparents. Alas…I’ll have to share another day!

So here’s my plan for this week. I need to get some groceries, so I have two recipes I’d like to try. The first is this one: Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake. It’s low carb and it looks so good! I love zucchini…so the second recipe I’d like to try is this: Cream of Zucchini Soup. ummm….YUMMY!