About a month ago, a friend from back home asked if I would be willing to make & donate some items for a charity fundraiser she was hosting for a Breast Cancer Survivor. I said of course! She mentioned that the TMNT Hat I crochet, would be a hit. But I wanted to make it even better. So I made it with Switchable Masks (child size) . Yes, it has googly eyes :) I also decided to make a baby blanket using some fun & bright colors. It was a pattern I had never used before, but now I love it! It is so quick & easy. Can't wait to make another blanket using this pattern. The baby blanket ended up as a 46" square. It is so soft & cuddley. Another item I was going to donate, had been made previously. However, I was in a rush to get everything packaged, etc I for got to include it. I still think it is awesome though. It is an Awareness Ribbons Scarf.
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If you have kids, you have probably seen Big Hero 6 by now (maybe more times than you care to count). Lil Man is obsessed with Baymax. He has been asking me to crochet him his very own Baymax for awhile now. I decided I would use this to my advantage. He had to earn his Baymax Stuffie by getting a good report from school regarding his behavior issues. (Side Note: He has really been struggling behaviorally at school for the last 3 weeks or so. ). He really wanted to be able to take it for show & tell tomorrow. So with high hopes, I started making it yesterday.
Let me just say, he was so excited when he came home from school today. He finally got a good report! This motivated me to finish the last little bit of his stuffie. There was much joy & excitement when I showed him the finished product. Introducing..... Baymax!! The newest addition to our Stuffie Collection I was originally going to make Stuffed Shell Pasta cuz I have been craving it for years. Last week, Victorio posted on their FB this recipe they found: Cheesy Spinach Stuffed Shell Pasta. I decided now was the perfect time to make it, especially since I remember having some giant shells in the pantry. I made sure to include all the other necessary ingredients to the shopping list. Last night, I was gathering all the dry ingredients so it would be ready& together for cooking time. That is when I realized my giant mistake. I did NOT have big shells. I only had Rotini noodles. Please don't ask how I mixed that up. After panicking for a bit, I decided I would make it work. i would turn it into a casserole. As i was thinking about the conversion process, I realized it wouldn't have any meat cuz the Stuffed Shells recipe didn't include meat. Casserole without meat?! Unthinkable!! We were about to have a Carnivore Crisis!! Alas, no worries....we always have meatballs in the freezer. Whew! Carnivore Crisis averted. Below, is my version of the "Stuffed Shell Recipe" from the link above. I will also include my notes, changes & observations as usual. I hope you enjoy! Cheesy Spinach Pasta Bake
Ingredients: 16 oz box Rotini Noodles 1 15-oz container ricotta cheese 4 cups Italian Cheeses Mix (Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Romano, Fontina & Asiago) ** I choose to get the cheeses pre-mixed & shredded cuz I am lazy & cheap like that. 12 oz cottage cheese 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 30+ oz of your favorite marinara sauce **I used 24 ozs and it just wasn't quite enough. Next time I would add more sauce 10-12 oz frozen spinach, defrosted with liquid wrung out **I used 10 ozs. Hubs requested more spinach next time 1/2 bag of frozen meatballs **Or you can even use 2 lbs ground beef small amt Worcestershire Sauce & Butter (to brown meatballs in) Directions: 1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2) Put butter & Worcestershire in skillet & heat on medium. Add meatballs & cover. Cook until meatballs are browned and heated through. 3a) Boil the pasta in salted water. Make sure it is Al Dente , cuz it will cook a bit more in oven. Drain. 3b) While water is boiling for pasta, In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, cottage cheese, Italian cheeses, salt, pepper, n and spinach. Mix well. **Reserve about 1 1/3 cups cheese until later 4) Add Pasta & meatballs to big bowl & mix gently (don't want to destroy the pasta) 5) Spoon mixture into your greased casserole dishes. Spread smooth. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. 6) Cover with tin foil and bake 30 minutes. 7) Remove tin foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes to brown the top of the casserole. VOILA! You are done. Let cool & then serve! Sorry I have been MIA for the last month. I had a tonsillectomy on August 12th. It has been quite a journey.There were various complications so recovery didn't go quite as well as hoped. And then Lil Man started Kindergarten. He has had a really rough time adjusting. This is his first year mainstream and not Special Ed. And of course, 3 days into the school year, he brings home a nasty cold. Keep in mind, I had surgery 2 weeks earlier and was still in early stages of recovery. Well, the cold lasted for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I now have an infection in my throat, which. . So I am now on heavy antibiotics. Because of all the illness/recovery issues, I have not been able to eat a real flavorful meal/food in 5 weeks. It has been miserable. I am hoping with this last round of meds, things will finally turn around for the better.
Happy/Healthy Note: I have been able to ride the trike on occasion, but I can't wait until I can start riding it on a regular basis. On a whole new topic, Hubby is going to be out of town over night. He left a little while ago. So Lil man & I are gonna make homemade pizza & garlic bread sticks. I will post pics of the fun in the next post! For various reasons, I have never been able to ride a bicycle (not even as a kid). So I sadly have missed out on a great form of exercise. And even worse, I miss out on the bike/trike rides with Hubs & Lil Man. Hubs & I had been researching Adult Trikes for quite some time. We figured we would have to wait until after all the medical bills were paid off (especially since I have a Tonsillectomy scheduled for Aug 12). Unfortunately, they probably won't all be paid off until the end of the year. So I would have to wait until tax returns next year. Which I was a little bummed about, but pretty much ok with. About a month or so ago, I briefly mentioned it to a dear friend of mine. She looks at me and says, "Well, I have one you can have. I am getting a new bicycle soon. As soon as I get it, you can have my Trike." What?! I was in complete shock! What amazing timing & an awesome blessing! I admit, I am not a very patient person. So I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new bike, so I could get my trike. Well, I finally got the Trike on July 30th! She is lavender. I have named her Lulu. I am not sure who is more excited about me having a Trike, Lil Man, or me! Sadly, I had to wait a couple days to get air in the tires before I could go on my first ride. The wait was killing me! I don't think I have ever been that excited to exercise. 8/1-I did i, I did it, I did it! I finally got to go on my first bike..EVER! I rode a 1/2 mile to the grocery store with Lil Man in the basket, Hubs walked along I then rode the 1/2 mile back with tons of groceries in the basket while Lil Man & Hubs walked. So I did one mile on my 1st bike ride! I know it doesn't seem like much, but for this OWOSM (Over Weight Out of Shape Mom), I think it is pretty fantastic! Lil Man thinks it is pretty awesome too. On the ride he said to me "Mama, I am so proud of you! You are giving your body such good exercise!" I just love that boy!
8/2- I have to admit, every time I had to turn a corner on my first ride, I got off & manually turned the Trike. I was worried I would take the corner too wide or not wide enough and crash. So for my 2nd ride, I decided I would go the the church parking lot and practice circles and turning corners. I did about 1/2 mile worth of practicing. After my practice, I felt confident enough to take all 4 turns/corners without getting off the bike to get home. I have been a bit sore from using muscles I forgot I even had. But on a good note, so far non of the biking has caused a Fibro flare up! Which is very very good news. I am gonna be honest here, I really don't know why Meatloaf gets such a bad rep. I like it, it is easy to make, and it usually can be made with what you have on hand. Simple, Cheap and Tasty, what could be better?! We haven't had it in a while so that's what we are having for Lunch (aka dinner). Normally I prep everything the night before. But this is such an easy recipe, and one Lil Man can help me with. What kid would pass up a chance to squoosh meat?! I used "My Favorite Meatloaf" Recipe by The Pioneer Woman as my base/starting point. But as you know, I am trying to learn & experiment in my cooking adventures, so I will be making adjustments. So let's get started on this yummy cooking adventure! **The layout of this post is gonna be a little different than normal. I am trying some different formats. Please be patient 1. Prepped the veggies. Notice I left the roots on the onion. According to Gordon Ramsey"s How to Chop An Onion video, keeping the root on until the end, alleviates the crying that is bound to happen when cutting onions. It actually worked!! 2. Lil Man using the Pampered Chef Chopper to cut the veggies. I love that chopper! 3. All chopped and ready to go! ***Notice the Walmart bag in pic 1? I hang the grocery bag over the drawer in front of the cutting mat so I can just scoop garbage straight into the bag for quick & easy clean-up as I go. I hate getting everything all over my hands. II know some people find it soothing or something. I am definitely NOT one of those people. So I got it mixed about 3/4 of the way and then happily let Lil Man take over. Of course, he had a great time. It turned out really TASTY! We had 4 Cheeses & Rice on the side. I will admit, it came out of a box. I was running out of time and got desperate for a side dish. Lil Man was quite proud of all the work he did to help make Lunch! Mama's Meatloaf Recipe
Ingredients
Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 1) Pour milk over the bread slices. Allow it to soak in for several minutes. 2) Place the ground meats, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, and veggies in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs. 3) Mix the ingredients by hand until well combined. -Do I need to remind you to make sure your hands are extra clean for this part? And don't forget to remove jewelry/watches 4) Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat to drain. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil to avoid a big mess!)---Couldn't find my broiler pan, so we went old school & just put it in a Loaf Pan. 5) Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf. - No bacon today...so sad Make the sauce: 1) add ketchup, BBQ sauce, brown sugar, and Worcestershire/hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir together. 2) Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the top of the bacon/loaf. Spread with a spoon. 3) Bake for abt 45 minutes, then pour another 1/3 of the sauce over the top. 4) Bake for 15 more minutes. 5) Slice and serve with remaining sauce. So when you have Fibromyalgia, feeling like crap is a normal thing. You either don't have energy, hurt too much or both and then add some extra crap on top of it. You miss out on so much. Even missing out on the little things can get you really down after a while. So when you actually have a day where you feel good...or even more rare, when you feel GREAT, all you wanna do is make up for all you have missed. So you squeeze in as much as you can and have as much fun as possible. BUT there is always that little voice of caution in the back of your mind whispering "Take it easy. Don't over do it. Just relax. You do not want to suffer the consequences tomorrow". Well after my nap yesterday, I felt awesome. In fact, I haven't felt that great in a LONG time. So I went all out. Playing with Lil man in the pool, roughhousing, lifting tossing, everything (2 hrs of pool time). I even felt so good, I did some pool exercises. After a late dinner, we went for a late night family stroll. Once Lil Man went to bed, I decided to work on my mom's scarf until it was finished. (turned out awesome by the way-will post a sneak peek at end of post). Throughout all this, I heard that little voice that I mentioned earlier. I ignored it. In fact, I put that little voice in a box, and completely sealed it in with duct tape and shoved it in the back corner of my brain. Nothing was gonna ruin my perfect day, especially not some know it all little voice. I finally fell asleep around 5am. Lil Man woke up at 6:15, and he didn't wanna go back to bed. I convinced him to do a sleepover in my bed. He falls right back asleep as soon as he climbs into my bed. And of course, now I couldn't go back to sleep. Unfortunately, it was obvious that my perfect day had come to an end. My body has staged a mutiny. And who is leading the mutiny?, you might be asking. Yup, you guessed it. That little voice that I locked away yesterday. I already had to pull out the big guns and take a pain & muscle relaxer by 7am. Normally, I try to avoid taking them as much as possible and just use Tylenol Extra Strength. But that is a definite no-go today. I'm sure some of you are wondering..."was it worth it?". YES! I will answer yes, no matter what, every time. To see the smile & joy on Lil Man's face when I tell him I am gonna play in the pool with him. Or his surprise & excitement, when he asks (like he does every Saturday night) if I wanna go for a walk with him while he rides his trike, and this time, I say Yes! It is definitely worth it, and I would do it again. In fact, I can guarantee I will do it again and again on any "good" day I have! (although, I have a feeling it will be awhile before the next one ) I have no idea why I wrote this novel...but oh well. If you have read clear down to this point, you are either bored, curious or you just love me. Whatever the reason, now you have seen a little peek into my life. P.S. Here is an up close look at the scarf I made my mom. The trim is a yummy TnT (Thick & Thin) yarn that I recently won from Creations By Valorie. I call the colorway Sunflowers & Denim, since it is mainly yellows & greens with random hints of blue. It arrived while my mom was visiting and she fell in love with the colors and luxurious softness. How could I not use it to make her something with it?! I have enough of the green left to make a matching hat. I even have enough of the "fancy" yarn to make a small flower for the hat. Then she will have a matching set! Here is another picture of it. It is doubled over in this picture. I made it extra long so she can wrap it multiple times if she wants/needs. I do plan on taking better pics in a couple days. I will post them as soon as I do.
11:00pm Tonight I was going to attempt to make Stuffed Pork Chops. I have been researching a gazillion different recipes via Google & Pinterest. I didn't find "The One", but I did find different key elements that sounded good from many different recipes. So I have decided to be brave and take all the elements I liked, and make my own recipe. I will cross my toes for luck (Can't cross my fingers because I will definitely be needing them to cook. lol) I hope you will all join me on my newest Cooking Adventure! And remember, making something new can be very scary, but stay calm, breathe and try to have fun. You never know, you may just surprise yourself! ** When I got the pork chops out to start "stuffing", I discovered that they aren't the 1/2"-1" thick cuts that I was expecting. Hubs said they didn't have any thick cuts so he just got what they had. They are definitely not even 1/2" thick. So I had to re-think my game plan. Instead of stuffing, I just put the "cheese stuffing" on top. I baked them covered until last 10-15 minutes. I removed the tin foil to help cook/brown cheese topping a bit. Don't worry, I still plan to try a "Stuffed" Pork Chop Recipe in the future. In fact, I will be posting another Stuffed Pork Recipe I have concocted (in my head) in a couple weeks. Like I always say, "Cooking is an Adventure! You never know what will happen!" Becca's Cheese Stuffed/Topped Pork Chops Ingredients *4-6 of 1/2"-1" thick pork chops (bone-in) *small onion chopped *fresh spinach-you choose amount you want to use *1-2 tablespoons of Dijon or brown mustard (I used spicy brown mustard) *1 -1 1/2 cheese - there are a variety of choices you can use: Fontina, Gouda, Blue Cheese, Cheddar, Provolone, etc. (I used a bag of "Italian Style Cheese" mixture of Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Romano, Fontina and Asiago cheese (yes we love our cheeses) *Italian seasonings or just lemon pepper -to your tastes (I chose Italian) *butter *Worcestershire Sauce (optional) **toothpicks Directions
**Preheat oven to 350 & grease 13x9 casserole dish 1. In a large skillet, saute onions in butter & a splash or 2 of Worcestershire Sauce until tender. Add spinach, cook until wilted. 2. In a bowl, mix together onions, spinach, mustard, cheese, seasonings. 3. Using a sharp knife, cut through middle of each pork chop to the bone, creating a pocket. 4. Divide "stuffing" mixture and spoon into each pocket. Press down to flatten each chop. Secure with toothpicks if needed. 5. Place in greased dish. ( I actually cut up a couple squares of butter & add a couple splashes of Worcestershire Sauce in bottom of dish) 6. Sprinkle over top with seasonings 7. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 160. *If you would rather cook on stove top, instead of oven: Warm 2 tablespoons of veg oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook stuffed chops, turning once, until browned on each side (abt 3-4 minutes per side). Remove from heat, cover pan and let stand until cheese has melted (approx 4-5 minutes). Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I haven't been able to do as much cooking lately as I would have liked. Our truck has been temporarily out of commission for a month or two. So that just leaves Hubby's motorcycle for grocery shopping, etc. Because of this, I have been trying to keep the grocery list to a minimum. I am hoping the truck will be fixed in a week or two. Then I can get back to our cooking adventures. My mom came to visit. She lives in Oklahoma and we only get to see her about once a year. So I was busy spending time with family and having tons of fun little adventures. We went to the Living Planet Aquarium, Farm Country, and the Museum of Natural Curiosity. I had so much fun spending time with my mom and family. Lil man was also loving it. He just loves his Nana P and playing with all his cousins. It is awesome how my my nieces and nephews are so patient & willing to play with Lil Man. He is the youngest of all of them but they are willing to help me keep an eye on him when we were out & about on our adventures. I was especially grateful to my 14yo nephew "Masey". His willingness to hold Lil Man's hand and guide him to the different exhibits. AND for chasing after Lil Man when he would decide to run off. "Masey" is already such an awesome kid and is gonna grow up to be an awesome man like his dad (my brother).
Here are some pics of Family Time A little Coffee Image I put together last year. I LOVE coffee. But, as you know, I am trying to drink more water. I make myself drink at least 64ozs a day. I know I need to drink more, but it is a work in progress. Any way, In order to "force" myself in to drinking more water, I have a rule that I have to drink at least 30ozs of water before I can have my first cup of coffee. I admit, there are days that are exceptions, and coffee comes first. I try really hard to keep those to a minimum though.
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