Here in Wyoming we are still in the dead of winter. I know that the first day of spring is just around the corner, but I am not sure Mother Nature has gotten the memo. I am one of the few who enjoys the continuous snow, the cold mornings, the frost on the car windows. I will stop now. It is getting close to calving and we need a little warm weather. So I will appreciate a little rise on the thermometer.
Every now and then, when the wind is howling and the snow is still blowing, I get a craving for a little piece of summer. You know that dish that will remind you that warm weather is not so far away. Well last week I was browsing through my recipe program and came across an all time favorite. I couldn’t resist. I had to make it. My husband had been complaining that I we did not have any lettuce or fresh veggies. So the next time I was in town I purchased all the ingredients to whip up this summer time salad. It is so fun to put together and even prettier to look at. But the taste, is amazing. Everything just mixed together to make a fabulous dish. Let me say that my husband and I devoured this salad. So run to the store and whip this baby up. You won’t regret it.
You can almost feel summer when you bite into this salad.
1 ½ cups turkey, bacon, or ham, chopped or crumbled
1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped
Mix together mayo, salad dressing, milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper. In a large bowl or 13×9 inch pan layer 1/2 lettuce, and 1/2 of the cheese, peas, eggs, turkey or bacon. Spread 1/2 of the mayo mixture. Repeat layers. Cover and chill 8 hours.
He has been feeling neglected because I have not made him anything. Well I found this hat with a brim. It was challenging to make. I used alpaca yarn so it will be extra warm
Around 2005 I was introduced to this amazing company. It is Thrive foods out of Utah. Let me just say it has changed my life. Well it changed my fridge and grocery bill. It also changed my cooking. I guess that does encompass my entire life. I am not sure what else I do someday besides cook, clean, cook again, clean, and repeat. Do you see a pattern? I think most wives experience this pattern. It’s awful, but it’s wonderful at the same time. I mean would I rather have my husband in the kitchen all the time? Ummm. No, probably not. I enjoy cooking too much.
I am not a one of those disaster nuts and I think that some see these foods as disaster planning. However I do have quite the stock of Thrive foods and I keep replacing what I use. Does that make me a stock nut? Maybe? There is quite a bit I have downstairs in storage for emergency use. But others I use on an almost daily basis.
I was skeptical at first. However after the party. (There is a sales rep, and you can do a home party just like Pamered Chef, tupperware, Mary Kay, etc. ) I wanted some things for when the power was out and when I was in desperate need. My Rep. Susan Pillen out of Newcastle, Wyoming, showed us so many recipes and ways to use the items. I was amazed at how good. Plus here is the BIG WINNER – NO PRESERVATIVES. If it says carrots, it is just carrots. DING DING Winner!! I love this. LOVE it!!!! Basically they freeze dry the
foods and they are amazing. It is so easy to throw them in recipes to plump back up and cook or you can put them in a little water and they plump back up to use as you wish! What is better than that? I’m not really sure.
Once my shipment arrived I began to use a few more items more than others. However I have used about everything. My kids love the yogurt in their lunches. Little dried yogurt bites. Why didn’t I know of this stuff when they were little. Ugh. It would have been my best friend. What am I saying, it still is my best friend.
My husband has always been a stickler for using the fresh veggies in our fridge. Let me say I was one that always bought carrots. Constanlty for use in soups and stews, etc. Other than that I didn’t really use them very much and guess what? Yep, they rot. I wish they didn’t, but they would. That is money thrown away. It was depressing because I like them in things and need occasionally. Now, with the thrive carrots. I use them when I need them. I rarely buy carrots unless I need whole baby carrots, which is maybe 1-2 times a year. These carrots are perfectly cut little pieces perfect for soups, stews, casseroles, pasta, etc. The list goes on. I don’t have to chop anything. I just throw them in.
My other is finely diced onions. What a life saver. My son hates onions and these are chopped so finely that you don’t notice them, but the flavor is outstanding. When he is cooking, he can get a little handful and throw them in. I don’t have to worry about him cutting onions or not putting them in because he doesn’t like them. He just opens the lid and Wham there they are perfect every time.
Check out their website! Host a party, do what you must, but Buy some of their food. You will never be the same. You don’t have to thank me. You will want to, but you don’t have to. Well you can. Just send me an email or better yet send me the recipe that becomes your favorite after you start using these products.
My mother and I recently went on a fabulous girls trip to Wisconsin. I of course had started crocheting and wanted to stop at different yarn and quilting stores along the way. Well Mom had not knitted in about 50 years, but then I got her to try a pattern and she was hooked. Or should I say needled. Lol. Anyway, she then made me this wool infinity scarf.
Oh! Cake Everywhere. This is a small snapshot of the spill!
Yesterday started out just as any other. I woke up, cooked breakfast for the kids. Then off to the school bus stop we go. I wished my lovely studious little children a good day and headed back to the ranch. Wow, what a grand life.
Once I was back in the house the plans for the day were discussed. My wonderful hubby gave me the details of the rest of my day. He was going to work on a few things, then after lunch we would move cows to another pasture. Burr, I thought. Then, bless his heart, he informed me that I could ride in the truck and call the cows, while he rode the four-wheeler behind. I tell you I almost screamed with joy. Yeah, won’t be cold.
This is the 5 ton feeding truck. Now you see why I enjoy driving it.
The rest of the morning I worked on cleaning out our old email account and doing a few other odds and ends. I joined JJ in the kitchen for a quick lunch and out the door we went.
It ended up I was driving the 5 ton army truck. Not a problem. I loaded up the dogs. In this I do mean I literally loaded them up. It is a ways up there. JJ had already loaded the 600 pounds of cake into the cake feeder. I was headed up ahead of him to start gathering the cows.
I love driving this huge truck. I am the king of the road, I am high up and can see everything. The dogs, I am not sure what they think. It’s loud. It’s bumpy. But they enjoy being with me, so down the road we go.
You know that feeling when things are just great. When your flying high on life because, well what can go wrong. It was a beautiful although windy day in the high 30’s. Moving cows is always fun. I was going to enjoy this time.
Then Wham!!! It all goes down the drain.
I got too close to the shoulder. Our new road that the oilfield companies recently built has a very steep shoulder. Let me say a 5 ton truck on a steep shoulder. Oh yeah, I was in a panic. I just new I was turning over. I quickly removed my foot from the gas and let it go down the shoulder and out into the pasture. Well army trucks don’t stop when your foot comes off the gas. They go, and go. I panicked. Then there it is. A large embankment. More like a motocross jump looking hill was coming at me fast. I remembered the brake and both feet hit it at once.
Did I mention I had 600 pds of cake in the cake feeder on the back of the truck. Well I did when I started. OPPS!!
I got it stopped as I crested the first hill. The cake feeder flew off the truck. When I looked back the cake was spread from the moment I left the road all the way to that hill. Well I drove it back up on the road.
I faced the facts. I had to call the hubby. I already checked the cake feeder, it was not damaged. Wheww. but it was definitely empty. oh noooo!
Well I called him and mentioned I was in a little accident. He was concerned but when I mentioned the cake was no longer available to feed with, well plans had to change.
He showed up, we moved the truck. The new plans were discussed. I would be riding a four-wheeler along with him on the motorcycle to move cows. Did I mention the fact I was going to be riding in truck, so I did not dress for being outside. He did take pity and give me his stocking hat. It was out of pure pity, I know.
Well it all worked out. The cows got moved, I survived riding in the cold. We picked up the kids and he didn’t kill me for spilling 600 pds of feed.
Well today we went up and scooped as much as we could and I picked up some more by hand. Everything worked out. I think at the end we managed to gather up around 300 pounds of cake and a lot of dirt!
Where I grew up we have the best little fast food place, it’s called Krystals. I know it is just fast food, but when you move away and can no longer consume grease covered fries and small fist sized burgers, you get a craving. It’s crazy but true. When I go home to Tennessee there are a few musts on my list that I make sure to cross off every time.
1. Eat at Krystals
2. Eat at Chick-fi-la
3. Go to Grandmother’s
4. Eat at the Great Wall
5. Well eat anywhere else
Do you see a theme? Yes, eating is number one. You see in my small little town in Wyoming. We have Arby’s, McDonalds, Taco John’s, and Pizza Hut. We don’t eat out very much, but then again you see our choices. So when I cross the Mississippi River I get down to business. There used to be Sonic and Cracker Barrel but those have moved west and I can enjoy them when I go to the big towns.
Back to the Krystals burgers. Well I found a recipe that is very similar to the taste of those little burgers. They are so good, that I think they are better. Well they are better because I can have them whenever I want. HAHA
Now there is a weird ingredient in this recipe. I was skeptical at first, but do it, just throw it in there. You won’t even know it exists. Trust me. I make these all the time in large batches. Then I wrap them in foil and throw them in the freezer. They are awesome to heat up in the oven. It is a great little thing to have on hand because you never know when someone will stop by and you need lunch or a snack for them. These work wonders. Plus I can throw them in the freezer at the cabin or wherever I am going for an emergency dinner if needed.
1.5-2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 tablespoon Peanut Butter
½ cup milk
1 pkg slider burger buns or small rolls sliced in half
1 pkg American Cheese Slices,thick sliced
1. In a large bowl mix burger, soup mix, peanut butter, and milk. Spread the meat mixture on a cookie sheet with lip. Use a cup or rolling pin to roll over the meat to smooth it out. Put it in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The meat will shrink. Take it out of the oven and put the diced onions all around the edges to flavor the meat. Place back into the oven for about 15 minutes.
2. Take it out of the oven. Spread out the onions and add the cheese slices. Put it back in the oven for several minutes or until the cheese is melted. Add the tops of the rolls and place back into the oven. for a few minutes to steam and warm the buns.
3. Take it out of the oven. Slice the meat with a pizza cutter and pick up the sliders and place back on the corresponding bottom or the roll.
4. Let cool and what you do not consume immediately, wrap in aluminum foil and freeze. Serve with pickles, ketchup, and mustard. Yummm.
This hat has been the devil in the making. I had to redo and redo because I had to adjust the hook I was using. It has beads and sequins in the yarn and it made it beautiful, but very hard to work with. In the end Loganne loved it and that made it worth all the trouble.
