rockncook

Evening everyone... Had a busy day today. Went this morning to run errands in town. I'm finally making a bit of money now so I could actually buy some things we needed. So nice to be flush again! Went to the thrift store and pickedup some shirts for both little kids, and some jeans for little DD. Her little legs are so short I don't do a lot of jeans for her, but they are good to have for the winter. Decided to go to the library and look for a book. I'm reading a series now and we are missing book 7. Thankfully the library had it. Then we went over to the farmer's market and I had a ball. I didn't buy much, cause I need to organize the freezers, but I did get several cantaloupes (they go FAST here!), a few lbs of green peppers, some onions, some tomatoes and some cukes. Then we went to safeway and walmart to get groceries and school supplies. When I got to walmart, the school supply area was totally decimated. I picked from what they had, and then went to find the front end manager. I said "Whoever ordered your school supplies..." and he smiles and says "Did a great job, they're sold out!" He's trying to joke with me, which I did appreciate, but then I said "Do you realize Aguilar District hasn't started school yet?" The look of panic on his face was, umm, priceless. I mean, I normally don't wait until the last minute, but due to finances I had to this year. Most people around here do NOT plan ahead at all, and this guy was obviously smart enough to know that, LOL. He did ask what was on my list that I couldn't find, and went and hunted those items down for me. I'm thinking someone else will be ordering school supplies next year, LOL. It was the best customer service I've ever had at that walmart, though. Then I came home and collapsed! We had some lunch, and then I threw the green peppers in the food processor and got them frozen. We ate so late I just cut up a couple of cantaloupes for dinner, LOL. OK...back to work, and I still have to put the onions up and get some beans on to cook. unike, hope ya'll don't get more rain than you need.

I freeze cookies and stuff like lemon bars all the time, and they are fine. Have never done pies, but I do remember reading somewhere that the meringue won't freeze well. This year, in March, to save on summer baking, I plan to freeze a boatload of baked goodies. I have one freezer that is "off limits" to the kids and that's where I keep the goodies LOL. As for muffins, some recipes do well, some don't. I have a very yummy apple muffin recipe, but they are mushy when they thaw (I heated them with milk and served them like oatmeal instead). Banana muffins have done fine, and one I have called French Breakfast muffins that don't have fruit in them.

Thank you so much, ladies!!!

afternoon everyone! Was busy this morning, went to get the mail (one more postcard, yay!), then went up to the school and showed my youngest around. She will be going to the preschool and is both excited and a bit anxious. I think showing her around helped a lot. Went to our little local market-today is the day they get their truck, so they usually have perishables marked down. Got there later than I wanted to, but I still scored 5 gallons of milk at $1.19 each. Their normal prices are high, but they have great sales and clearance! This weekend I'm picking up bananas on sale, more milk (not as good a deal, but still better than $3.50/gallon), garlic and a few other deals. I love having lots of freezer space, LOL. Then I had lunch and sat down here to get some work done. School starts in three weeks! While I'm happy that my youngest is finally going to school and I will have some quiet time during the day, I will miss having them here-trying to decide if that's just the empty nest thing or baby blues, LOL. OK, off to work!

OK ladies and gents... I scored 5 gallons of whole milk for $1.19 each. I know whole milk doesn't freeze as well as 2%-can I fix it any way so that it will freeze better? Thanks!

Just a quick thank you for all the lovely post cards in my PO box. I'll have more time once school starts!

WEll it's evening here...night, actually, but I'm here! Yesterday it was cold-and we got snow above 13,000 ft. Looks like a long, hard winter coming. Have made supply lists of the stuff we'll need if we're housebound for an extended period of time. The great thing is that we have a gas stove here so even if we're without power we won't be without heat/food. Today I worked in the kitchen and started thinking about getting the garden area ready. OK< so I"ve been thinking about it, LOL, but I was thinking about it more. I need to dig up the old stuff and get that out of there and then get those water thingies that soak up water underground and then mulch it. My kids will be back tomorrow so I will be working less and on a mmore normal schedule. So much for sleeping late, LOL. I have gotten a lot done the last two weeks, though, was nice to have that time..but darn I miss them like crazy! OK...back to work Love and miss you all! Mommy of 5

Sooooooooo easy... I put chicken in a baggie with italian dressing (I add extra garlic during cold/flu season) and let it set overnight, then bake in the oven till it's done. It can also be cooked on the grill this way. I did 5 lbs of leg quarters to one jar of dressing, but it probably could have used more.

Hey ladies, Have been busy with so many things, both good (daughter is coming home after Christmas instead of staying a full year) and bad (partnership thingie fell through, leaving me essentially jobless, but am doing some freelance stuff), will share more later when things calm down and I have time to finally process everything in my head. But.... I did get my postcard from peacefulhome, which is absolutely beautiful. I also got mine ready to go out, they will go out today!

Afternoon everyone! Dawn, I'm tired just reading your post from yesterday. Holy guacamole! Today I haven't actually done much except play with my oldest daughter ont he computer. We use MSN messenger and play games together that way. She's getting pretty homesick, which is a good thing...I do hope she changes her mind and decides to come home early. She was telling Mary that her dad doesn't trust her and won't let her go down to the park down the street. This really ticks me off. She's twelve, yanno? Let her go to the park! I think, because he's never really dealt with her at this age, that he's being overprotective rather than not trusting her, but I hope that common sense kind of comes through here. On the other hand, her step mom bought her a spaghetti strap cocktail dress to wear to her formal this fall, to which I absolutely vetoed. It's black with lavender lace on it, plus the spaghetti straps-certainly not something she should be wearing at TWELVE. I told her if she could find a jacket to wear over it that would be OK, but having a lace covered chest and spaghetti straps is a bit too much umm...flesh, for her to be showing at her age. Does it sound like I'm being unreasonable on any of these issues? LOL....she's too old for one thing and too young for another...although I think that is the same with a lot of issues when they are 12. Anyway, I did put a brisket in to cook in the CP today, we'll have beef and gravy with it, which will become stroganoff, and then I'll freeze the rest for later meals. It sure is nice to have on hand. Last weekend it got real cold and I used the last of the one I cooked before in chili. Yummy! Also did quite a bit of laundry, stripped a bed (we got to sleep in a BED last night!!!) and cleaned out the fridge. Oh, I forgot to tell you all I have been off my feet since late saturday night. I twisted my ankle really badly. It's so much better now, as long as I don't overdo it, but all day sunday I laid on the couch with it elevated. Was actually kind of nice to be waited on, LOL. OK, off to do more in the kitchen!

On Saturday, I really needed a break from the drama at work (more about that later), so we went for a long drive. On the way back we saw TONS of rabbits, and I was joking with my husband that we should have brought the crossbow and a cooler. When he went to work last night, the he was telling the manager of the meat market about it and he said if we wanted rabbit, he'd bring us plenty. I know you can fry it and make stew out of it, but those are the only ways I've ever had it. If anyone has any additional recipes, I'd appreciate it much! Thanks so much! Mommy of 5

With fall coming faster than the kids want to see it come, things are picking up a bit at the meat market, which is DH's second job. Last night he learned to do the basic slaughter of a cow. We were talking about it, and I asked him what the did with the heart if the owner didn't want it. He said it goes into the waste pile. So I told him to start bringing them home. At the VERY least, we can make stock from it. I've never had heart, so I have NO idea how to cook it. As the hunting season begins, I anticipate we will also have access to elk, venison and antelope heart. So, I would appreciate any recipes anyone has for heart. I think it's wasteful to be throwing this meat away and I'll be happy to make some kind of use from it! Thanks so much! Mommy of 5

There used to be this restaurant in a suburb of Denver, called Ritzy's (it had some initials in it too, but I can't remember those). They were one of those "old fashioned" restaurants that served the most incredible burgers and fries. They also had a separate ice cream counter where you could get just about any concoction of ice cream you wanted. I found out years later that they made most of their own ice cream. My favorite, favorite, favorite of all time was their Mint Oreo ice cream. It was so completely perfect in a hot fudge sundae. I remember doing Ritzy's for a few birthdays instead of cake, LOL. We moved out of Aurora to Golden, another suburb (well, kinda) of Denver, and home of Coors Beer. Even though they were both suburbs, driving on the highway it took over an hour to get from one to the other, so our trips to Ritzy's were done. As an adult, I moved back to Aurora and one of the first places we went was Ritzy's. I was sad to see that they had no mint oreo ice cream. I asked if they would have it some other time, and was told that there were new owners now, and they didn't have that recipe. It IS something I will figure out when I get an ice cream maker, LOL. When the movie theater closed down because a more modern theatre opened up just down the road, Ritzy's followed suit-even though they had some loyal customers, their primary business was when the movies let out. I went on their last day, had a burger and some fries, and remembered some of the few pleasant times I had with my mom, shared over mint oreo hot fudge sundaes. Thanks to whoever revived this post, this has been a pleasant trip down memory lane! Mommy of 5

Well, we've made it through another week! Hope everyone fared well. Today I defrosted the big upright-so far that's been about all I've gotten done, besides breakfast and kitchen clean up. It took about 2 hours to do the freezer, and I was surprised it took that long. But the ice was SO thick. Now we have lots of room for the goodies I'll be baking today and tomorrow LOL. I'm making lemon bars, a couple of different kinds of bread, some cookies, a lot of biscuits and cornbread, so that we can enjoy those with dinners when it's too hot to cook. I'm thinking I should make up a batch of pasties, too, for DH's lunches. We have some potatoes that need to be used up, and that's a perfect use for them! I found two small beef roasts that Mary had in the freezer, so it will be nice to have those on hand. Small roasts stretch real well when you cube them up, LOL. I thought Mary was going away NEXT weekend, but she's going this weekend, so I had to change dinner plans a bit. I bought pork roasts on sale, but Mary won't eat them, so, since she's gone, I put one in the crock for dinner, and then once it's all cleaned will make pot pie with it. YUMMY!! OK, off to do more fun stuff. I LOVE being in the kitchen! Mommy of 5

Oooh that sounds soooooo good-I think it would go great with italian chicken and some nice home made italian bread. Now I know what I'm doing with the rest of the italian chicken I made last night, LOl. Mommy of 5

YOu might also want to try a cobbler-I have used canned peaches in this recipe, and it turns out wonderfully, and I think I got it here. That way if you don't have all the stuff for the pie you have an alternative: Cobbler for a Lazy Day 1 stick margarine 1 cup sugar 1 cup self rising flour 3/4 cup milk 1 cup unsweetened cherries or any fruit, undrained 1/2 cup sugar Place butter in deep dish then place in oven to melt. Beat together 1 cup sugar, flour and milk to a smooth batter; pour over melted butter, but DO NOT STIR. Pour undrained cherries over batter. Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar on top. Bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes. Batter will rise to the top. When doing peach, I omit the sugar sprinkled on top, but do add a bit of cinnamon and splash of lemon juice if I have it. If all you have is all purpose flour, you can add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt per cup of a-p flour. Mommy of 5

OH man, I wish it were that easy here!!!! ROFL

Morning everyone! I'm recovering from payroll, LOL, and cleaning the kitchen and getting ready to bake. It's supposed to dramatically cool off today and tomorrow so I'm going to bake up a storm and freeze everything, plus do some laundry. I should sleep well tonight, LOL. Cat, I was so relieved to hear about your daughter's tests. OK, back to the kitchen!

This site is specifically for those with large families-it was designed by folks who live the Quiverfull lifestyle, and it includes recipes for large families, preserving tips of all kinds, shopping tips, etc. I found this site when I was looking for a chocolate ilk mix recipe and got lost in it!!! HOpe it proves helpful for someone! Titus 2 Cookbook Mommy of 5

I made rice krispie treats last night, so I'll put some of those on the table before I eat them all, LOL. And some sweet iced tea-nothing like a little elevated blood sugar before breakfast!! LOL Happy birthday Di!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mommy of 5

Touchy...Tuesdays are always touchy around here-well every other one is at least. Today I do payroll, for one of the last times. I'm very excited that I'm going, but a bit unsure about the future. I'm being brought in as a partner with a friend's business venture, and I"ll be doing marketing, but since it's a new venture, I"m pretty darn nervous, LOL. It's supposed to be 83 today with a 30% chance of rain. We got just enough last night to make it so we couldn't set the tent back up, so we got to sleep inside again. DH is working tonight, so no time to set up the tent, and we have to take it down again Thurs. cause they spray for mosquitoes every Thurs., so not really much point in setting it up Wednesday night LOL. God surely provides in mysterious ways! OK off to do payroll Mommy of 5

LOL....it's actually very tasty that way, although if you don't have a blender or food processor, you get small chunks of saltines in your dressing. My blender broke and I needed the mix so I made it anyway LOL...was still good, just umm chunky!

Morning (barely) everyone! Pansy, I do pray for rain for you all. I know how tough it can be to live with the threat of fire when it's so dry. Last year we could see the smoke just on the other side of the mountain from us, I had our bug out bags ready to go-but in all honesty there's no way we could get all the animals out and it would break my heart if we did ever have to leave. Today I feel icky. I am finally having my first real period after going off depo provera and boy, is it a doozy. Four days in now and I'm still having nasty cramps. It's one of t hose days wehre I just want to crawl back in bed, LOL. But, I have things to do. I did manage to find a way to spend some time this morning looking for a dry chocolate milk mix. That way I got to sit and still be productive. I did a websearch on teh ingredients of the tin of quik I have here and it looks like the cocoa won't mix well with the cold milk without maltodextrin, which is probably why I can't find a recipe for it, LOL. I can order the maltodextrin, but I dont know what else I"d use it for so I think in the end it would be a waste. I'm going to make up some chocolate syrup instead. Still cheaper than buying quick, and then I can mess with the flavors a bit, LOL. Raspberry chocolate milk, anyone? I'm putting a pot of beans on to cook today so I can use them for chili, and also making more rice crispy treats. I discovered with the last batch that they are the perfect period food LOL. Going to make the stuffed peppers for DH first, tho, cause those don't take as long and I won't have time to do it before the peppers get mushy. OK, off to go do some more dishes now that I've sat for a few. Mommy of 5

Snowy asked me to post my chicken quesadilla recipe-I don't really have a recipe per se, but here's what I do Take a bit of cooked chicken, some cheese of your choosing (I LOVE mixing cheddar and jack, but it usually ends up being just cheddar cause that I use the most), and perhaps some grilled onions or peppers. Place 1 tortilla on the griddle or in the skillet, and cover lightly with cheese. Take your chicken and onions and sprinkle it over half the tortilla. When the cheese gets a bit melty, I flip half the tortilla over so it's folded over into a half circle. Flip the quesadilla a few times until it's as crispy as you want it. Serve with salsa, guac, and/or sour cream, or just plain. If the chicken you have cooked is unseasoned, a bit of seasoning salt gives it a small kick without being overpowering for the little ones. Grilled chicken works best, but boiled is good, too. If you want softer quesadillas without the crunch, you can put them in the microwave instead. Momnmy of 5

Ranch Dressing Mix 15 Saltine Crackers ¼ c. Dry Parsley Flakes ½ c. Dry Minced Onions 1 ½ TBSP Dry Dill Weed ¼ c. Onion Salt ¼ c. Garlic Salt ¼ c. Onion Powder ¼ c. Garlic Powder Put saltines in blender on high speed until powder. Add parsley, onions, and dill weed, and blend again. Pour into storage container, add salts and powders, mix well. To make dressing, use 1 TBSP of mix, and add to 1 c. mayo and ¾ c. milk. (Original recipe calls for 1 cup of each, I find it's a little thin at that amount) Mommy of 5