30 Days of Crafting: You in Action

Day 1: You in Action

This is my first attempt at trying a photo-a-day project. If I have something else to post I'll post that instead (like on Friday) and my 30 Day photo on my Facebook Album page

News

 I have been sitting on a piece of fantastic news. I was afraid to jinx it and so remained silent.

 Today, March 5, we officially adopted Stomper!

 I am so thankful for the huge crowd of people who came to make our special day even more special: Bumpa, Mimi, Grandma, Auntie, Auntie Teeny, Grammie Kay, Grandpa Tom, Holly the photographer, and Jessie who came to watch some kids sleep so my Mom (Grandma) could get away from work for a few hours.

The day we took him home from the hospital

Last week, so big!

When I told Stomper he was going to be a card carrying member of the family his response was: "Uh oh"

This Weekend We Are...

:: Discovering new blogs: Guns & Butter, Crappy Pictures, and Play Based Learning

 :: Dreaming of sewing these animals

:: Feeling I could make this  or this one on my own

 :: Welcoming a new life into our church family

:: Thinking I need to do this ASAP, because we all could use a bit of color

 :: Wishing Stomper was a bit bigger so we could do this for him

:: Thankful for a warm home to come home to

{This Moment}

{This Moment} A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.

~via SouleMama

Fun with Leftovers: Mock Stroganoff

Two days ago I put a frozen roast in the crock pot with some Worcestershire sauce, a chopped up onion, and a generous amount of garlic powder. I turned it on before 7:30am and for a few hours I left it on high until the roast completely thawed and started cooking. Then I turned it down to low and didn't eat it until 6pm that night. It made a very yummy supper. The leftover meat and the broth were put in separate containers and placed in the fridge.

A few days later I was in need of a quick lunch so I opened up the fridge. I pulled out the broth, the beef, and some macaroni noodles and stared at them for a few moments. I knew I had a quick meal, but what was it? First I poured a bit of the broth into a pan, got it hot, and added flour. I am not a gravy maker, at least not with out better preparation. I threw the clumpy mess down the drain and tried again. I chopped up the beef, poured the rest of the broth in the pan, added the beef to it, and brought it up to a simmer. Then I dumped in the noodles sprinkled on some grated Parmesan cheese and let that simmer for a few moments. Finally I took some slices of american cheese and laid those on top of everything, shut the heat off, and put a cover on. A few moments later, when the cheese was melted, I stirred it and served it.

Wow! Yummy! The kids ate it all up and so did my parents. I am definitely putting this in my back pocket for later. Here is a rough recipe for you to follow (you may need to adjust some of the amounts) give it a try and tell me what you think.

Mock Stroganoff (Rough Recipe)

Ingred:
2/3 Cup chopped cooked roast
1 Cup cooked macaroni noddles
1 Cup beef broth from cooking a roast
2-4 Tbs parm cheese (to taste)
2-4 slices american or other mild cheese (to taste)

1. Heat broth and beef in a pan until juices are boiling. Toss in macaroni noodles and simmer for a moment.
2. Sprinkle parm cheese over top and simmer for a few moments
3. Spread slices over mixture, turn off heat, cover with lid, and let it rest while the cheese melts.
4. Stir in cheese and serve

Yarn Along

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

Finally finished the gloves for my cousin. Now I just need to mail them out to her. The brown blob is the bottom half of a cow from Susan B Anderson's book "Spud and Chloe at the Farm". The cow was supposed to be a Valentines gift for Stomper, but you can see how well I did with that. I am now hoping to give it to him around Easter. I cast on for the head on Tuesday and I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the week. Not sure how well I'll do since I should be doing homework not knitting.

Right now this book  and this magazine are being passed around the family. We are all taking turns reading all that we get our hands on concerning chickens since we just ordered 15 chicks and 4 ducks that are due to arrive in May. I really like how this book is written. The woman who writes it is very frank. She writes stuff like: "put it in the stew pot" referring to chickens that are past their prime. I know this book is just the tip of the iceberg concerning all we need to know, but I think it's a good start.

I am still pecking away at Wicked, the story is starting to pick up. I still find all the strange jargon very jarring and unless this book ends with a "wow" I won't be reading the second in the series or recommending it to anyone. I do recommend "Barnyard in your Backyard" for a quick intro to animal farming though.

Around the House

:: Enjoying a gift from a friend. These are "fresh" apples out of her root cellar. She gave them to us as a thank you for lending her some baby equipment for her grandson during Christmas time. We made some apple crisp and the rest will be made into fresh apple sauce. What a treat!

:: Little man just keeps getting bigger and bigger. He can now climb up on things like chairs, couches, and even the stool from his work bench. 

:: The barn cats are enjoying giving Vinnie a hard time. He has to be hitched because he likes to cross the street to visit the trailer park. Now when he goes outside the cats get to rub on him and love him, in stead of him just running after them.

:: Dad had a birthday. We gave him a bunch of change so he could get some chickens or a camera. He choose chickens.

Saturday Morning

After playing hooky from my class due to illness, I woke up to snow on the ground, and some time to take a few photos. Other people have echoed this statement, but what a weird winter we are having. I was remarking to a friends husband at church last week, "I keep waiting for winter. I want just one big, real storm, I don't think that's too much to ask." He shook his head and replied, "You and my wife. I'm glad it hasn't snowed, I don't like moving it."

I'm going to enjoy the bit of winter we get this year, no matter how short and fickle it is.

{This Moment}

{This Moment} A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.

~via SouleMama

It has begun

These are the testing buckets. As in "I'm just gonna tap this one tree to see if the sap is running."