Happy New Year! It's about time I get on here and update! (I know its late!)

I have completed 3 more tasks on my list - made a quilt, went one month with no pop and we served Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen.

Grace's quilt!

These are the girls on Thanksgiving eating after their hard work in the Soup Kitchen.

I have also made a bunch of yummy cookies and recipes! I will be sharing them in the next post!

A lot has been going on and I am finally getting the oppourtunity to catch up with this blog and my challenges.

Firstly, I have made a decision for my volunteering - I have choose to give my time to Hospice. Matt's father passed away on Nov 2 and this process with cancer has deeply touched us. He fought long and hard all the way to the end. Then my father survived colon and skin cancer only to later date from complications from a cancer they called a colangiocarcinoma - he had a cancer in his bile duct system that spread to his liver. Both him and my father in law were in the care of Hospice in their final days. This only feels like the best choice for me.

Also, we have to of my challenges in the works to finish out this year - we will be serving in a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving - something the girls seem egar to do. And we are doing the samatians purse gift charity for Christmas. Madelyn and Grace will each buy for a child thier age and we will send it off to be given for Christmas.

I am currently 20 days into 1 month with no pop - some days have been real hard with the lack of sleep and the fact that I do not drink coffee - pop was my caffine. I am about ready to crack this week and I have had little to no sleep in the last few days as the babies have been sick and up all night. Hopefully I can make it 10 more days!

I got my first Pedicure today - I have missed out on a lot - I will have to make sure that I afford myself this luxury more often.

Here a few of the recipes that I have used and the family really liked since I last posted recipes:

Fried Rice

2 cups enriched white rice
4 cups water
2/3 cup chopped baby carrots
1/2 cup frozen green peas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
soy sauce to taste
sesame oil, to taste (optional)

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine rice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
In a small saucepan, boil carrots in water about 3 to 5 minutes. Drop peas into boiling water, and drain.
Heat wok over high heat. Pour in oil, then stir in carrots and peas; cook about 30 seconds. Crack in eggs, stirring quickly to scramble eggs with vegetables. Stir in cooked rice. Shake in soy sauce, and toss rice to coat. Drizzle with sesame oil, and toss again.

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
12 skinless chicken thighs

Directions:
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Brush chicken with the sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Brush with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking.

Sage Pork Chops

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 center cut bone-in pork chops
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup water
2 cubes beef bouillon

Directions:
Combine the salt, sage and black pepper in a small bowl and rub on both sides of the chops. Melt the butter or margarine in a large skillet over medium high heat and saute the chops for 5 minutes per side, or until well browned.
Meanwhile, in a separate small saucepan over high heat, combine the water and the bouillon and stir until bouillon dissolves. Add this to the chops, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer chops for 45 minutes.

I did it! I used the crock pot everyday for 1 week (minus 1 day - we have leftover day in our house).
These are the dishes I made:
-roasted turkey
-roasted chicken
-shaghetti sauce
-pulled pork
-chili
-pot roast

This project actually made my life much easier last week - I threw the stuff in and left it alone - it made this week hard for planning what to make for dinner cause I am cooking again. I think the part that is hard is the fact that I knew I was using the crockpot all week, I knew I was throwing things in and leaving them - So I preplanned!! Preplanning is the key here - every other day I am thinking at noon - shoot I still have to get something out for dinner!! I think I have some options here - I know of OMAC (once a month cooking) that I think will be a new challenge for me on my next list :)

Recipes

I have been cooking up a storm making new foods for my family! With great success they are not that picky anymore!! Or maybe - I can cook :) I am going to share a few recipes that I have been meaning to post for the last couple weeks.

This first one was a new weekly recipe - and it also ended up being a new fish dish that the family likes:
Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
Ingredients:
1/2 cut Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 T mayonnaise
2T fresh lemon juice
1/4 t dried basil
1/4 t black pepper
1/8 t onion powder
1/8 t celery salt
2 lbs tilapia fillets

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the parmesan cheese, butter, mayo and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celer salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

The second recipe I am posting here is the Homemade (canned) Apple Pie filling - I doubt I will ever buy canned apple pie filling again:
Canned Apple Pie Filling
Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups with sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground nutmeg
2 t salt
10 cups water
3 T lemon juice
6 lbs apples

Directions:
1. Peel, core, and slice apples. Pour lemon juice over the apples.
2. In a large pan mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil, cook until thick and bubbly. Turn down on low - keep filling hot.
3. In steralized jars, pack apple slices into each jar leaving a 1/2 head space.
4. Fill jars with hot syrup - using a plastic knife to work the bubble out.
5. Please steralized lids on jars, process 20 minutes.

Lastly, I think I finally mastered the peanut cookie. My kids and husband love them. They are soft, peanut buttery and YUMMY!! These ingrediants make what would be a double batch. The key to these to truely bake them until the are just starting to turn brown. They may not look done but they are and they will be real soft.

Peanut Buttery Cookies
2 c butter
18 oz peanut butter
2 c sugar
2 c brown sugar
4 eggs
2 T vanilla
2 sm boxes vanilla pudding mix
5 cups flour
2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 bag peanut butter chips

1. Cream together butter, peanut butter, sugars and eggs in a large bowl. Then add the vanilla and pudding mix.
2. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and soda and salt. Stir into batter. Add peanut butter chips. Refridgerate for 1 hour.
3. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place onto a baking sheet. Flatten balls with fork tines in a criss cross pattern.
4. Bake in a preheated over at 375 degrees for about 8-10 minutes - or just until the cookies start to brown, do not overbake.

Apples, Apples - Read all about it!!
This is only a small amount of apples compared to what we have had around here lately! We are lucky enough to have a connection with a local Amish farm that gives us the 'seconds' from their produce stand. Seconds are basically the produce that we pass up because of its shape, size or bruising. So, I took these apples and have made homemade apple jelly, applesauce and apple butter. I have also made Apple Fritters! We also received peaches, onions, potatoes and beans. I have canned all of it except for a little bit of apples that are left - so I will make more applesauce with no cinnamon for Madelyn as she likes it plain.
Below are photos of my canning and Madelyn helping me make the first batch of apple butter.

Apple Fritters:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 T baking power

1 t nutmeg

1 t cinnamon

1 t salt

2 eggs

1.5 c milk

2 quarts oil for deep frying

4 large apples, peeled and cored

1/2 c confectioner's sugar for dusting

carmel syrup

Mix the first 8 ingredients together - this will resemble pancake batter. Wash, peel and core the apples - slice as desired.

Heat oil to 375 degrees in a fryer, or heavy bottomed pot.

Pat apples dry, dip in batter and place into oil - cook until both sides are golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels, dust with powdered sugar and carmel if desired.

Lastly, our GPS will be here tomorrow - I won it on Ebay for $83 - I found the same GPS priced as high as $480 - so I think we got a good deal. I can not wait to take the girls geocaching - I think this is going to be something fun that we will be able to do often!

Thanks for stopping by - this challenge has given me a change to feel acomplished!

The girls are getting excited - we have made our tradeable items for Geo-Caching. We made 14 ceramic tile magnants (for details on that go to http://www.stampingwithbettyboop.blogspot.com/). So we have 3 spots to locate - once Matt figures out the best GPS for us we are going to go on our excursion - I will be sure to take photos.

We also have started 2 more things on the list - Melaluca-nizing the home and Going Green - since these two things are the same. I purchased the Sol-u-mel all purpose cleaner, the fabric softener, diswashing detergent and Mela-gel. Let me tell you - so far so good. The fabric softener smells good, works good, and you use very little. The Sol-u-mel in full strength removes the permanant marker that has been on my kitchen table forever!! I also cleaned my bathroom with the Sol-u-mel - the sinks, counters, tub, toliet and shower - the soap scum, grime you name it - this stuff removed it! Since it is not a harsh product I did not gag the whole time while using it - no sneezing either!!! The dishwashing detergent also seems to be working well - and you use half the amount that a regular store brand. Lastly, the Mela-gel - an anticeptic gel - is AWESOME! Brooke got stung by a bee we think and she was screaming to the point of not breating - that gel was put right on the stink and she was perfect. The swelling went down in a very minimal amount of time and she didn't seem to be bothered by anyone touching the spot. That is awesome!

The quilt and camper projects have been at a standstill with all of the family events we have been doing together - the fair, air show, starting school etc. As soon we get back to these projects I should have something to update you on!

Lastly, I think we finished up with the last of the potatoes - so I wanted to share how I processed all of it for freezing:

Mashed potatoes: I decided to do homestyle potatoes because I did not have to peel them - so I washed and cut up a large pot of potatoes - boiled until ready. Once I drained the potatoes I poured them into a large bowl - I mashed the potatoes to the partly lumpy stage mainly because I made so much of them. I added milk and mixed well. Then I separated the potatoes into gallon sized ziplock bags. Smooched them flat getting as much air out as possible. I made 3 ziplock bags of potatoes and the store nicely in the freezer. To prepare to eat - I thawed the potatoes, poured into a bowl - microwaved for about 10 minutes - added seasoning,butter and milk - mixed well with a mixer and well-la yummy mashed potatoes.

French Fries/hashbrowns/potato wedges etc.: wash and peel potatoes if desired - cut into fries - blanch fries in boiling water for about 5 minutes - once they are well drained place in a single layer on a cooking sheet. I put them into the freezer for about 1-2 hours. Then I pour them into ziplock bag. Pre-freezing in a single layer allows you to take and cook what you need and they are not stuck together. If they do start to stick you are able to tap the bag on the counter to break them up. You can cook these potatoes as desired.

I have seasoned fries made up too - after they were blanched, drained I pour the seasoning over the potatoes on the cookie sheets before putting in the freezer. When ready to use - throw into the over at 350 to bake for about 20-30 minutes.

We tried a new recipe today:

Salmon with Lemon and Dill
Ingredients:
1 pound salmon fillets
1/4 cup butter, melted
5 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2.
Place salmon in the baking dish. Mix the butter and lemon juice in a small bowl, and drizzle over the salmon. Season with dill, garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper.
3.
Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until salmon is easily flaked with a fork.

I liked the salmon for the most part, but not sure if I personally would make it for myself again - Matt said the spices were a little strong for him - like really strong on top and bland at the bottom. So, this recipe will not qualify as a fish recipe that the family likes :(

On Tuesday, I took my mom to the social security office - she has applied for 3 different types of SS. I am now working with her case worker at job and family services to help her with medicaid, foodstamps etc. I also got her hooked up with a free cell phone through http://www.safelink.com/ - they give her a phone and free minutes monthly. I hope this helps me stay in contact with her while we get through all of these application processes. I then took here to get breakfast and get a few basic things that she needed grocery wise - she thought I was going to restock her place. I wish I could but I too have bills and food to put onto the table. I hate telling her no, but I just can not support her. Then she wanted ciggerettes - knowing that I had to take Grace to preschool I told that I just did not have the time to run store to store. Everytime she comes to the house she acts as if she is starving - maybe she is, and she is in dire need for that 'drag'. I do not smoke and from what I recall I have no addictions (except to chipotle - but being that I work from home now it is not readily available to me) so I do not know what it is like to 'need' something nor do I ever want to experience that. But, I also feel that if you can't afford it you just shouldn't do it. She basically puts the little money she gets monthly towards prepaid cell phone minutes and ciggerettes - not rent or electric or even FOOD. I can only do so much - but in my book ciggerettes are not a need its a want. Anyway - I hope this journey with my mom helps my relationship with her, but its truely hard at times. I feel that I can not bond with her because its like talking to my 4 year old.

I finally posted on my other blog - http://www.stampingwithbettyboop.blogspot.com/ check it out. I have decided that because I am behind on posting there I will need to complete posting to the blog 143 in 1001 days for me feel that I 'techincally' completed that task. Hopefully with all of the goals that I want to complete I should have plenty to choose from.

I really appreciate all of the support I am getting through this process. At least at this point I do not feel overwhelmed with this large 'to do' list and am starting to feel accomplished with things in my life - rather than just feeling like all I do is chase 4 kids around and work. I really don't have a lot of time for the things I want to do - rather I, at times just do not make the time. In any case - I am just glad this personal challenge is going well as it makes me feel good about myself.