Riverbend Ramblings

We haven't had to turn on the heat yet this winter--until this week. Only in Florida can you go from temperatures in the 80's one day to below freezing the next. Yesterday morning the thermometer read 28 degrees; this morning it was 32. Steven got the fireplace going for us to enjoy. There's just something wonderful about snuggling up in front of a fire.
Tonight I made something new for supper that The Pioneer Woman shared the recipe for earlier this week: cheeseburger salad. So simple and delicious! I can't believe I've never come up with something like this on my own before considering I've made taco salad about a million times. The kids loved it, and I'm thrilled to have a new, easy recipe to add to the rotation. If you try it, make sure you use the crunchy deli-style pickles and quality sharp cheese; you'll appreciate the good stuff. And, if you're lucky, you'll have diced pickles left over to much on while you do the dishes.

Labels: Daily Life, In the Kitchen

Teachers and principals look forward to spring break just as much, if not more, than their students do. I've really been enjoying the much-needed time off. This week while the kids have been sleeping in, I've had time to work on some deep-cleaning projects around the house.

This month's Real Simple magazine had a how-to article about cleaning the refrigerator in 20 minutes.  That sounded easy enough for me to tackle, especially since I was about to go grocery shopping and had a fairly empty fridge.  That 20 minute job took me an hour.

Keeping the laundry room uncluttered is a big challenge for me.  It's so easy to just close the door and let the clean clothes pile up in there.  In the spirit of full disclosure, here's what my laundry room has looked like lately.

I took everything out of the room (except the washer and dryer) and gave the room a deep cleaning.  I had purchased one of those special dryer vent brushes a while back and finally used it.  Here's what the laundry room looks like now after an entire afternoon of cleaning.
The kids each have a basket on the counter labeled with their name on it.  They are supposed to check it each night and put their clothes away, but they have a habit of grabbing one or two items and leaving the rest.  Now if I can just make sure that everything else is folded and put away before starting another load!

I have one more project that I would like to work on this week that involves the patio. Since we've had several inches of much-needed rain over the last few days, I haven't been able to get started on it yet. I might just have to go shopping instead, since that's an indoor activity. :)

Are you tackling any spring cleaning projects this week?

Labels: In the Kitchen, Keeping the Home, Our Home, Spring Cleaning

~Went to a spring training game with my hubby and watched my favorite team win. "Let's go, Red Sox!" ~Spent a Saturday with my mom and three of the kids at a local art/antiques fair. ~I've been trying to spend more time in the kitchen. We don't eat much pork, but I found a roast on sale (don't get me started on the price of meat!). It was yummy! ~Spotted this pretty cake in the window of a bakery and thought it would be fun to take a cake decorating class. Decided that an eighth day of the week would have to be created first. ~I turned 29 last week...again...for the sixth time. Let me do the math for you--I'm 35. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Family Life, Favorite Things, Fun Stuff, In the Kitchen, Special Days, The Kiddos

Ingredients 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup 1/2 C. sour cream 1 C. salsa or picante sauce 2 tsp. chili powder 2 C. cooked chicken, chopped or shredded 1/2 C. shredded Monterey Jack cheese 6 flour tortillas chopped veggies for garnish (tomato, green onion, green chilies, etc.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Combine the soup, sour cream, salsa, and chili powder in a large bowl and stir. 2. Stir 1 C. of this mixture, the chicken, and the cheese in a separate bowl. 3. Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas. If you warm the tortillas slightly first, they will be easier to roll. Roll up the tortillas and place seam side up in a baking dish. Pour the remaining salsa mixture over the filled tortillas. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. 4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Top with garnish and serve with your favorite side dish.

Labels: In the Kitchen, Recipes

The new-to-us fridge is in place. The aroma of potato soup from the slow cooker fills the room. A month's worth of coupons have been clipped and filed in my coupon box. I haven't been using as many coupons since I started doing a lot of shopping at Aldi, but I still use enough of them at other stores to make clipping them worth the effort. The leftovers are now headed for the recycling bin.The kitchen is sparking clean now. The question is... will it stay that way through the weekend? :)

Labels: In the Kitchen, Keeping the Home

Cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven--yummy!

Labels: Daily Life, In the Kitchen

Tonight we had lasagna for supper-- "healthy" lasagna. It's lower in fat and has more protein than a traditional lasagna. The flavor is a bit different, but very good. The kids helped themselves to seconds and thirds. Healthy Lasagna 1 & 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey 3 cups pasta sauce 2 cups mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 container low-fat cottage cheese (15 oz.) 2 eggs, beaten 1 tsp. parsley salt & pepper to taste The prep work is easy. I started out by browning a pound and a half of lean ground turkey. After rinsing the meat, I added 3 cups of spaghetti sauce from a jar (gasp!). I like mine with mushrooms. While the meat mixture simmered I combined 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, a 15 oz. container of low-fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, two eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley to make the cheese filling. Layering is the fun part. Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Place 3 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles on top, then layer with another cup of the sauce, three more noodles, and half of the cheese mixture. Continue layering the ingredients, then top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. I covered the dish with foil and baked it in my convection oven at 325 degrees for 35 minutes. A traditional oven would probably need 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Another thing I like about this recipe is that it is relatively inexpensive. I'm all for frugal when it tastes good and is good for you, too. The finished product is delicious. Let me know if you give this "healthy" recipe a try.

Labels: In the Kitchen, Recipes

Sweet potatoes (or sweet 'taters as we say in the South) are one of my favorite kinds of vegetables. You can use them in countless dishes, and they have a high nutritional value and are loaded with antioxidants. I like them best baked and then smothered with butter and cinnamon sugar. So much for all that nutritional value.:) Lately I've been using sweet potatoes to make fries. They're healthier than the traditional fry, and kids love 'em! Your kitchen will smell so good after you've cooked up a batch. Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries 4 sweet potatoes 1 Tbs. brown sugar 1/2 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 2 Tbs. olive oil Start off by washing the potatoes, then slice them in half lengthwise and around the middle, then in quarters. If you soak the slices in cold water for about 30 minutes and then pat them dry you'll have crispier fries in the end. Most of the time I just skip this step. Toss the potatoes with oil, mix in the spices, and they're ready for the oven. Cook for 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven, then flip them over and cook for another 5 minutes. Enjoy!

Labels: In the Kitchen, Recipes

It's been a nice, relaxing day here in the land of sun-then rain-then sun-then rain again. This morning I hit the road bright and early to check out a yard sale at a local church. Have you ever been to one of those church yard sales where you find all kinds of hidden treasures? Well, this was not one of those yard sales. It was packed, though, as church yard sales tend to be. The poor volunteers couldn't even get all of the stuff out on tables. Too much stuff and too many people for me! I drove back home and fixed scrambled eggs and whole wheat bagels for breakfast for me and my hubby. Saturday is a "free" breakfast day for the kids. If we have any unhealthy breakfast food in the house (a.k.a. Pop Tarts), they're welcome to have them. After breakfast I went to the grocery store to do my weekly shopping. I don't usually go on Saturday because it's just too packed, but today I went to a store in another town that wasn't quite so bad. Hubby grilled shrimp kabobs for lunch, and they were delicious! He and the kids spent some time playing in the pool while I took a cat nap. A blissful afternoon. :) This evening we attended the wedding ceremony of a sweet young couple. The bride was radiant, and the groom's smile as she walked down the aisle toward him couldn't have been bigger. After the wedding we stopped by the school cafeteria to pick up some spaghetti dinners from the volleyball team's fundraiser dinner, so I didn't have to cook. Instead of showing you pictures from my easy-going Saturday I'm going to share some random ones taken recently. Hope you all have a blessed Lord's Day on Sunday!:) ~~~oOo~~~ Recently we went with some friends of ours to McD's. Not just any McD's--it has the biggest McD's playland in the world. Two families with eleven kids under the age of eleven. Yes, we got many stares. Only in Orlando can you watch a man wrestle an alligator while you're eating a Big Mac. One of the ladies in our church made this amazing cake for our high school graduates. The cake rotated to display all of the graduates' photographs. I thought that was so neat! One afternoon my sweet tooth was screaming nicely calling my name. Since I've been trying to eat better lately, I thought a good compromise would be to add a few handfuls of chocolate chips to the banana bread batter. The bread turned out fine, but I think I prefer it without the chocolate chips.

Labels: Daily Life, Fun Stuff, In the Kitchen

This morning I came across an article about some common food additives. Since I've been reading food labels more carefully lately, I thought it was very interesting to read what is going into many of the foods we commonly stock in our pantry or fridge. It's no wonder we all have days from time to time when we just feel plain yucky! If you've not been feeling your best lately, check out the ingredients in the prepared foods that you eat. Look up those words that you have no idea how to pronounce and see what's really going into your food. You might be surprised what you'll find. Image from AllPosters

Labels: In the Kitchen

We don't eat much pork around here, but sometimes I get a hankerin' for a b-b-q pulled pork sandwich served with a side of slaw and a glass of fresh-brewed sweet tea. Yes, that's slaw on the sandwich, too. :) What did you have for lunch today?

Labels: In the Kitchen

I'm not a fast food junkie, but I do enjoy me some fresh fries now and then. I got hooked on Checkers fries when I was pregnant with Mickey. There was a Checkers drive-thru near my doctor's office, and I somehow seemed to end up in that drive-thru after each appointment. It was one of the those pregnancy craving things. I haven't had any Checkers fries in a long time (I'm more of a McD's girl now), but look what I found at the grocery store this week: They're not quite as good as I remember. I don't know if that's because I baked them or because I'm more calorie-conscious now. The kids loved them, and they were definitely worth the $2.50 I paid for the bag--much cheaper than going through the drive-thru!

Labels: In the Kitchen

This week is flying by! Last night we finished up our Bible conference at church. If I'm counting right, I think we heard 17 messages over the last four days from Bro. Larry Brown, Bro. Dennis Corle, Bro. Jeff Fugate, Bro. Sam Gipp, Bro. Lonnie Mattingly, Bro. Brian McBride, Bro. Bryan Sharp, and Bro. Rick Sowell. I am thankful that my schedule allowed me to attend the daytime services. If I were working outside the home, I would have missed out on some blessings! The Lord laid some things on my heart that I plan to continue to ponder and study over. Since I've spent so much time away from home the last few days, today there is quite a bit of catching up to do. I've kept up with the daily essentials, but several projects that I had started earlier this week never got finished. I'm hoping that everything will be caught up by tomorrow afternoon. If not, that's okay. Having a housekeeping routine allows time for regrouping. There are no deadlines to meet. Slow and steady applies to our housework, too. After all my bragging last week about our warm January weather, this morning I woke up to a very cold house. After turning on the heat and slipping on some cozy socks I headed downstairs to prepare breakfast. I selected the biggest grapefruit in the fruit basket and thoroughly enjoyed it.For those of you who buy grapefruit at the grocery store, here's a little comparison for you. I purchased a five pound bag of grapefruit the other day for $1.50, which is about as cheap as you'll find it. While driving home from the store I stopped by a roadside produce stand and spotted the biggest grapefruit I've ever seen. At 3/$1, I couldn't resist picking up a few. They are delicious, and just look at the difference in size! Sometimes it's worth it to pay a little bit more money for really fresh produce. Lesson learned. After breakfast it was time to tackle a few loads of laundry. My wonderful husband bought me a brand new washer and dryer set a few months back. They are front-loaders, and I love them! The clothes come out cleaner and dry so much faster.After finishing up the last load of towels, Lil' Nut and I enjoyed a perfect cold weather lunch: leftover Lazy Potato Soup and fresh-from-the-oven yeast rolls. Tomorrow is supposed to be another chilly day, perfect for staying indoors and tackling little projects around the house. Enjoy the rest of your day! :)

Labels: Daily Life, In the Kitchen, Keeping the Home

Hi, everybody! My mommy is typing for me because I don't know how to do it yet. I know my ABC's, but I don't know how to put them all together yet. Today I helped my mommy in the kitchen. Wanna see what we made? Mommy wanted to do some baking because it was raining outside. She'll use any excuse to make something sweet. She decided we would make apple crisp. That yellow thing up in the picture is a lemon off one of our trees. We squeezed some juice from it to use when we baked. Mommy said you're supposed to use sour apples when you make an apple crisp, but she just used Royal Gala since that's what we had. Mommy let me use a funny looking thing to mix with, and then I used a great big spoon to stir stuff together in a bowl. I licked the spoon when I was done. Mommy wouldn't let me stir with that spoon again because she said it had germs on it. I do not have germs! She put the baking dish in the oven because that's too dangerous for me to do. After hours and hours the timer finally beeped. I wanted to taste the apple crisp right away, but Mommy wouldn't let me. She said it had to cool off first. Here's what it looked like. After a little bit Mommy put some in a bowl and put a scoop of ice cream on top. She said I could have it if I promised to eat all my lunch later since it was only ten o'clock in the morning. Mommy never lets me eat dessert before lunch!!! What's going on???? Mommy must be sick or something. Mommy ate some, too, but hers was in a great big bowl. I guess she gets a bunch 'cause she's the mommy. Here I am eating my yummy apple crisp and ice cream. Cooking is a lot of fun, but eating is even better. Just wait 'till my brother and sisters get home and see what I've been up to! Thank you for joining me in the kitchen! Mommy said to tell you to have a good weekend. She'll be back on Monday.

Labels: In the Kitchen, The Kiddos

It's over 100 degrees here today. I don't feel like eating a heavy meal when it's so hot, so I opted for a light lunch--just some fresh fruit from the produce stand. Very refreshing! I also fixed a sweet dip for the fruit. The kids don't care much for it, but I do! :) Easy Fruit Dip 8 oz. cream cheese 1 small jar of marshmellow creme 2 Tbs. vanilla

Labels: In the Kitchen

It's been over a month since I've done any serious baking. Yes, I know that's just horrible, but moving made kitchen work rather difficult. :)

Huge bags of chocolate chips were designed with me in mind. Check out this 72 ounce bag of semi-sweet goodness. It's so nice to be within reasonable driving distance to S*am's Club.

They taste even better than they look! Just the right treat to go with a cold glass of milk.

Labels: In the Kitchen

I have been very quite here on the blog this week and very busy around our home. We had a full week of school lessons, met with our homeschool group at the playground one afternoon, worked in the yard, and completed the planned spring cleaning tasks.

Labels: Daily Life, In the Kitchen, Keeping the Home, Outdoor Life, The Kiddos