Rest In Peace Sweetheart

Our hearts are broken.  We have lost our second dog in six months.  Our sweet girl passed away on Wed.  We have the kitties, but it's not the same without her here.

A Sunny New Look

I've had a lot of home projects going lately and painting my front door was one project.  I've thought for several years I would like a yellow front door and finally decided to get it done.

The brick on our house is a terra cotta color.  I haven't always loved this color brick, but I have to say that it has held up well.  Many of the homes in our neighborhood look rather faded or the cream color brick on some looks rather gray.  Ours looks like it did when the house was new.  I've had this wreath for years and it's held up well also.  I took one of the little beads from the door to Home Depot when I chose my paint color and I think it turned out very well.  A sunny new look for our house and for spring and summer.

I hope you are enjoying your spring so far.

Gina

Pot Pie Cups

I've been making pretty simple meals since Christmas.  We lost our sweet boy Rocky two days after Christmas and we miss him dearly.  I want to still have warm meals for my elderly mom, but with am not feeling the usual motivation to cook things that take more time.  Roast chicken is always an easy meal, and we get three meals from one chicken.  I had enough left in the fridge with some left over veggies, so I made some pot pie cups.

I always have the Pepperidge Farms frozen puff pastry cups in the freezer.  These are so handy for many things.  Great for desserts of fresh fruit, some lemon curd with whipped cream or even ice cream with a drizzle of chocolate.  They are also great for brunch with scrambled eggs inside.  Add a little cheese to the eggs and sprinkle some crumbled bacon bits on top and you have a nice Sunday breakfast, or even a light dinner or lunch.  I've used them with chicken salad, Mexican version with taco meat or chicken, veggies and cheese, and these pot pies.

I used a can of cream of chicken soup with herbs, 1/2 cup of milk, some left over veggies and diced chicken.  Just stir together and heat through.

Bake your frozen pastry cups according to directions.  Let cool for about 5 minutes and them fill with the pot pie mixture.  Couldn't be easier!  I have made my mixture using this recipe for a couple of years.  This time when I took my package of frozen pastry out, I saw the very same recipe on the box.

Have a nice Sunday afternoon.

Gina


Linking to Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday
                  Cozy Little House's Tweak It Tues
                  The Charm of Home

Christmas At Our House 2014

We have had our tree and decorations up for a few weeks, but have been busy with some medical appointments, so I'm just now showing my photos.

I didn't purchase anything new this year, except ribbon.  I wasn't sure if I would do something similar to last year or switch it up, but my mom asked if I would keep the look we had last year, so I did.

Birds, nests, snowflakes and natural items were what I used.  This year I didn't use anything breakable.  That meant leaving off my favorite glass pine cone collection that I always use.  I have two six month old kittens that hadn't seen a Christmas tree before, so that is always an unknown as to what they will bother on the tree.  I had to get a new tree this year, so I actually did buy something new, just not ornaments.  The tree we had was one of the first pre-lit trees, so it was pretty old.  I had trouble getting the mid-section to light the last two years, so when I came across a slimmer tree at Lowe's I got it.  It fits our tree space better and even though it's a slim tree it's more A lined than slim trees have been in the past.  When I brought it home, I set it up without decorations for about three weeks to get the kitten used to it being in the living room.  They have actually been very good about leaving it alone so far.

For the topper this year, I secured a large jingle bell in the bow, so I could hear if "anyone" started messing with the tree.  Again, so far, so good.

The last few years I haven't needed holiday decor in all corners of my house.  This year and last, just the tree, mantel and a few places with some favorite things.

A wreath with just lights and pine cones, adding in the same ribbon as on the tree. A little owl decided to take up residence there too.

A couple of favorite reindeer cookie jars on our coffee bar hold sugar free brownies and cocoa mix, along with our favorite Christmas coffee mugs.  We have our keurig set up on the buffet in our kitchen all the time.

Thanks for stopping by for a holiday visit!

Gina


Linking up to Cozy Little House, Joyful Homemaking and Saving 4 Six, Thrifty Decor Chick,
 The Scoop

A Special Birthday

At the end of this week, we have a very important birthday in our house.
Rocky will be 17 years old (in people years) on Halloween.  That's a really
old guy in dogs years, but with the good thoughts I asked for in a previous post
he has made it to his birthday this year.

We had a little crisis in the summer and ended up at the vet's office.  I thought I
probably wouldn't be bringing him home.  The vet said she could take care of the problem, but it meant a surgery.  I asked if she would do this for her own dog considering his age and she said she would.  She told me she would be honest about when it would be time to not prolong a life with no quality.  I had never been to this vet before, but her office was very close and it was some what of an emergency.  I ended up liking her very much and felt she was one of the most caring I had come across in many years.

The procedure went very well and he healed with great results.  He was much better in general than he had been in a couple of years.  The pain medication the vet put him on ended up being great for the arthritis in his front legs.  When he went back for his four week check up, the vet said we could just keep him on the pain medication at a lower dose and that she had done that for another elderly dog recently.

We ended up finding a wonderful vet for all our animals during this health scare for Rocky and it certainly did give him a better quality of life for a while longer.
He is a happy guy, and back to his strong willed self.  He enjoys his meals, walks in the backyard and barking with the other dog.  He walks well on his own power with the assistance of his medication.

We celebrate his birthday on Halloween, since we found him in the fall.   Not knowing his actual age when we took him in, we have had to guess how old he was.  Since we have had him for 15 years, and I know he was certainly two years old or older, that is how we have arrived at this age of 17.  I think he is the oldest of all the dogs we have had over so many years.  We count our blessings for every day we still have Rocky and that he is still enjoying life.

Sugar Free Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix (I used Pillsbury Sugar Free Yellow Cake Mix)
1 stick butter melted
2 eggs
1 cup five minute oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup nuts (I used pecans)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt butter and pour in to a mixing bowl.
Add cake mix, oatmeal, and eggs.  Mix on low just until combined.
Stir in nuts and raisins.
Using an ice cream scoop, place scoops of cookie dough on to parchment lined backing sheet.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until bottoms are lightly golden.  Don't over bake.

These cookies will be soft and chewy.

Enjoy with a cold glass of milk, coffee or tea.

Have a great week.

Linking to Tweak It Tues at Cozy Little House

Easiest and Best Pot Roast

I used to always have trouble making pot roast.  I could never figure out why mine wasn't tender.
I thought I was cooking it too long and it was coming out tough.  Turns out I wasn't cooking it LONG enough.   My favorite cut is a chuck roast.  I usually use a 2 and a half pound chuck roast.  For the two of us we get three meals.  The first day the roast with potatoes and carrots.  Second day we eat beef sandwiches on onion rolls with melted Swiss cheese and tomato.  The third day we make carne guisada with guacamole in soft flour tortillas.

I also use only three ingredients making my roast.  A packet of dry onion soup, undiluted mushroom soup and cracked black pepper.  That's it, except for carrots and potatoes if you wish.  I always cook mine in the crockpot on high for six to seven hours.  It comes out fork tender with the most wonderful gravy from the two soups.  Depending on your roast and crockpot, check half way through the cooking for liquid content.  Add a little water if the gravy is cooking down too much.  If it does cook down too much, at the end just whisk in a little milk, water or beef broth to make your gravy. I also put my carrots in during the last two hours of cooking, so they are mushy.   Everyone that I've served this roast to loves it.  It is truly no fail!

You can, of course, add potatoes in with your roast and I did this time since new potatoes was what I had at home.  I put them in half way through the cooking time and they came out perfectly.  But my family usually prefers mashed potatoes.  I have a faster way of making those also.  I bake my potatoes in the microwave as you would for baked potatoes.  Once they cool, I scoop them out of the skins in to a sauce pan.  On medium to low heat add your milk, butter, salt and pepper.  I use my hand mixer right in the pan.  They come out fluffy and wonderful and I didn't have to spend time peeling potatoes.  Not a fan of peeling potatoes. 

Have a good end to your week and great weekend.

Gina

The Best Banana Walnut Muffins

This recipe is one I saw Nigella Lawson make several years ago.  I've tried many banana muffin and banana bread recipes and I love this one the most, hands down.  These muffins have a lighter texture than most that I've tried and every one I've served them to agrees.

Banana Walnut Muffins

2 T butter
1/4 cup honey (I used 1/8 cup sugar and 1/8 cup splenda since we eat very low sugar.)
1/2 t vanilla
2 large, very ripe bananas
1 cup all purpose flour
1 heaping t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
health pinch of salt
big handful of walnut pieces
10 cup cake papers

Preheat over to 375

Melt butter and honey in a small sauce pan.  Add vanilla.

In a mixing bowl mash bananas, and stir in melted butter mixture.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon just until combined.

Don't beat with a mixer.

Stir in walnut pieces or if preferred mini chocolate chips.  I believe Nigella used the chocolate chips.

Line a muffin pan with 10 cup cake papers.

Spoon 2/3 full into muffin cups.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.

This recipe will make 10 regular sized muffins.

Linking to Cozy Little House
Joyful Homemaking,  Saving 4 Six
Between Naps on the Porch

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

Have a great week.

Gina

Give a Kitten a Home

The end of May I was walking on the side of my house and spied a little eye looking at me from behind an old air conditioner cover that was on the side of my neighbor's house.  I should have left well enough alone, but instead lifted the A/C cover to find four tiny kittens, not more than a week old.  They had their little eyes open, but were very shaky to stand.  Very tiny babies.

I took a large box from my garage, put in a towel and brought the box and babies to my front porch.
An hour after I relocated them, the neighbor mowed his tall grass and surely would have mowed right over the kittens.

I knew who the mother cat was.  A small feral orange cat I had been seeing for the past three weeks.
I could tell she was pregnant, but had tried resisting contact with her.  I finally ended up offering her some food (stupid me) because she just looked so emaciated and could hardly walk. 

I called several rescue groups in town and even though they weren't helpful, I thought if I could trap her with some food, that I could take her to a shelter before the kittens were born.  No such luck.  She was too smart to be trapped.   I was rather panicked at the thought of having to take care of the mother and four kittens.  The mother travels with a young male cat also, so that's six cats that need care, spaying/neutering, shots, etc. 

I called every single shelter in my large city, and all the surrounding areas.  Not one offered any solution.  The new philosophy seems to be: trap, spay/neuter, and get shots all at my own expense and then return them to where they were found to be fed for the rest of their lives (or mine), again at my own expense.  I had no less than nine rescue organizations tell me this. 

I have two elderly dogs with health problems and four rescued cats that I already support.  I have just enough room and funds to care for these.  I grew up with the idea that when you adopt pets, you give them the best care possible for the live time of the pet.   We have two "cat colonies" close in the neighborhood to us that feed large groups of cats, so there is an endless stream of feral cats in our area.  I have resisted for years even putting a water bowl out for these travelers.  But it goes against ever cell in my body to let these four kittens be mowed over by the neighbor.  I actually had one rescue woman tell me "then it just wouldn't be your problem".

The mother cat actually moved the kittens a little over a week after I put the box on the porch.  I knew where she had taken them and was still talking with the only two rescue people that would contact me.  Then two weeks after she moved them, she brought two kittens to my porch and left them.  Even though they were older, they were still too tiny to be on their own and had no protection from any dogs that might come by.  So again, stupid me, I let the two in and have had them since.

I still had hopes one of the rescue people would help, but that hasn't happened.  My brother visiting from Las Vegas made a large covered pen for them and that has helped make a place for them, so far. 

Recently, the mother cat and the other two kittens have been coming to be fed.  The neighbor puts food out for his two cats, that he doesn't take proper care of, so she goes between us and his house.   I don't need to trap the kittens, they will let me pick them up.  I just need to find someone to give them a home.  Really, I need someone to give the two I have inside homes also, but the two outside need help more right now.  Otherwise this neighbor will be a new cat colony, right next door to us.  The feral mother will get pregnant again as soon a she stops nursing these two kittens.  The two kitten I have are females and I'm pretty sure so are the two outside.  That will be three more breeding females, along with the young male she has in tow, plus the neighbor won't neuter his male cat.  I am facing having to find the money to get the two I have inside spayed and shots.  It's hard to do with Texas A/C bills right now.

If anyone in the Texas area can give one of these kittens a home, I would be so grateful.  It doesn't save the world, but it would save the one kitten that gets a home.   They sure didn't ask to be born and being the animal lover that I am, I think any animal deserves a home and to be loved.  I never really meant to do a post about this situation, but am out of options.  I see so many of the feral cats live  miserable lives in our extreme heat of the long summer season and on the winter days when we do get ice, sleet or heavy rains.  Our city claims to be a "no kill cat city" now.  When in reality, that is not what it is.  They just won't take the cats any more.  I even talked to animal control in our city and was told in reality, they just won't pick up cats and if they do, they sterilize them and put them back where they found them.  Then it's up to people like me to feed them or not.  I don't find that a humane solution.

Please, email me or leave a comment if you can give a kitten a home.

Gina

Asking for Prayers

I'd like to ask that any of you that may be out there reading send some prayers my way for my sweet dog Rocky.  He is the one laying in front of the fireplace in the photos.  He has had arthritis for a couple of years, but has some other issues now.  He sleeps almost all of the time, has a hard time walking not only from the arthritis, but everything is a great effort for him now.  He was a rescue I found on the street.  After seeing  him for three weeks, I finally got him to come to me for food.  He slept for two days straight and has lived in our home ever since.  That was in 2005.  We don't know how old he was when taken in, but the vet guessed about seven.  He has been a joy.  He is funny, smart and gets along well with our other dog and kitties.  All we can do now is make him comfortable.   I've had many dogs and kitties in my life and it never gets easier to see one age and eventually pass on.  I know all the animal lovers understand he is my baby.  There have been rough days and better ones recently.  Yesterday was pretty good.  Today, not so much. 

Thanks to any one reading.

Gina

My New BFF

I am a lover of using slow cookers.  Since I live in Texas, I will do anything to avoid turning on the oven in summer.  Summer for us is usually early May until much of Oct. 

I was lucky to win a great slow cooker from Pioneer Woman's blog.  I used it between one to three times a week for about six years.  After being a faithful friend, the heating element on one side started going out.  I ended up with whole chickens that weren't cooking on one side.  So, I had to say good bye to my friend.

Meet my new BFF.  The Ninja 3 in 1 cooker.

Besides being a great slow cooker, a feature I love about this one is that I can brown my meat right in the cooker using the Stove Top feature.  As someone that doesn't have a dishwasher, I am always looking for ways to cook using the least amount of pots and pans to clean afterwards.  My Ninja came with a decent cookbook and there are some recipes using the Stove Top setting and an Oven setting (different from the slow cooker setting).  I haven't tried those yet, but I know I will try some once it gets hot again here.

Clean up is a breeze with the great non-stick lining. 

What I did make on New Year's Day was a turkey breast.  I put a 6 pound  turkey breast (thawed) in on the slow cooker setting for about 5 and a half hours on high.   I used the juice of two oranges, a cup (or a little more) of water and a package of dry onion soup mixed together.  I put the used orange halves on the bottom, along with some chunks of fresh onion under the turkey and poured the liquid over the top with salt and pepper.  At the end of cooking time, I decided to brush the turkey breast with some melted butter and put the turkey in the oven on 375 for about 40 minutes to brown up, while a small pan of dressing was baking. 

This is what came out:

This beauty was so moist and tender and with browning a little afterwards in the oven, it was easily the best turkey we have ever eaten.  Such a simple way to make a lovely meal, with none of the basting and fussing that can go with baking a turkey.   This will be a go to holiday meal for us.

See you soon,

Gina

I'm linking up to Tweak It Tues at Cozy Little House
and Between Naps on the Porch

A Lovely Surprise

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day. 

We had a great day and got a beautiful surprise that I wanted to share.

 

Thanks Kathleen!!

My Winter Mantel

I'm back today to share my winter mantel.  I wanted something that I could keep up until spring. 

Here is a day time version.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to Christmas Extravaganza at DEBBIEDO'S
Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday
Cozy Little House's Tweak It Tues
Thrifty Decor Chick's Christmas Party


See you soon,

Gina

A Favorite Go To Meal

My quiche recipe is one of our favorite go to meals.  It's always a hit at dinner, reheats well for breakfast or is a great brunch dish. 

I actually make several versions with the same custard base.

Custard base: 

3 Large eggs beaten

1 cup milk

3/4 cup good mayo (NOT Miracle Whip!)

1 Tablespoon flour

Salt and Pepper to taste. 

Whisk all together.

 Versions I make:

Grated Swiss cheese, and vegetables.  We like mushrooms, chopped red bell pepper and zucchini.  Cook and drain your veggies first or they will make your quiche watery.

Tex-mex version of browned and well drained ground sirloin (season with your favorite spices), shredded Mexican Four Cheese blend or any shredded Cheddar cheese, 1 can chopped green chilies drained, chopped red bell pepper and green onions.

Grated Swiss cheese, browned and very well drained breakfast sausage (Owens or Jimmy Dean), and
green onions.  This was the first version of this quiche I learned from a friend many years ago.
It is the biggest hit at any potluck and people always ask for the recipe.  My father used to request this version for Father's Day every year.

Standard grated Swiss and bacon, very well drained.

I use one of the 9 inch pie plates I have.  One is more deep dish than the other, so I use between
6 to 8 oz of a shredded cheese bag.  I usually use most of the package of sausage and save the rest to freeze and use for eggs or on pizza another time.  Probably 3/4 a pound of the ground sirloin.

Fold in your selected meats, cheeses and vegetables to your custard base.

Use any favorite pie crust recipe you have or as I sometimes do, pie dough from the grocery store.

Bake any version for between 50 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees.  It's done when it's puffed, golden and knife comes out clean from center.  Depending how full you have filled your unbaked crust, it is a good idea to put your pie plate on a baking sheet. 

I have seen many quiche recipes and this is the best (just saying)!  So many have 8 or more eggs and to me are too "eggy" or solid.  The mayo addition makes this one puff like more eggs would, but it also gives the quiche a little more of a creamy texture. 

I hope you will try it and like it as much as everyone I've made it for always have.

Linking up to Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

See you soon,

Gina

A Snowy Owl Tree

I was able to work on my tree while the weather is too cold to go out much.

I used some little snowy owls, a pom pom garland, snowflakes and glass pinecones.  I have collected the pinecones for years and had seen the garland idea in a Country Living magazine years ago.  I kept forgetting about it until after I decorated my tree each year, but finally remembered to make one this year. 

I usually use a lot of red, and gold, but this year just wasn't feeling the red.   I wanted more of just a winter feel, with more white and green this time.

I didn't do the usual star, angel or bow this year either.  Just a little owl in a nest.

 

There is something funny going on with these little owls.  The last two mornings I have found two little owls at the foot of my bed.  Just sitting there waiting for me to get up and see them.

I feel sure they aren't flying in to my bedroom.  They have some help.

Looks like I have an owl stalker.  This is the culprit sitting high above on her perch.

I'll share my mantel next time.

I'm joining Between Naps on the Porch and Tweak It Tues at Cozy Little House and Thrifty Decor Chick's Christmas Party

Thanks for stopping by!

See you soon,
Gina

Decking the Hill

I've been busy here putting away fall and getting out Christmas. 
I decided to do some purging of things I haven't used in several years.
Timing was good with a notice from charity coming to my street for pick up.
I wasn't feeling like using much red this year, so boxed all of the red together of
things I was keeping.  Then I only had two boxes of things I "might" use.  It felt
good not to have so much to deal with.  I didn't get out much for fall this year, and
it was so easy to put it away.  Fitting into 1/3 of a plastic tub.

A few peeks of my tree.  I'm not done with decorating yet, and will post about it when I'm done.
I might join a few of the blog parties.

Happy decorating to all of you knee deep in Christmas!

Easy and Delish Potato Soup

Most folks have their own potato soup recipe.  I've used several over the years and most are good.  We were in the mood for some the other night, but I didn't want to spend time peeling a batch of potatoes.  So, the solution was to get out my crockpot and let it do all the work.

Here is my recipe, for the lazy:

1 bag of frozen hash browns (30 oz).  No need to thaw.

1 can of celery soup

2 cans of chicken broth

diced onion.  I used one small onion.

chopped celery

Salt and pepper to taste.

Here is the hard part:  whisk the celery soup and broth in the crock pot.
                                    Dump in the frozen hash browns, onion, and celery.
                                    Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
                                   
Let the crock pot do it's thing on low for 5 or 6 hours. 

Top bowls of soup with cheese, bacon, or green onions if desired.

That's it. 

A hearty, comforting dinner, for the lazy and hungry.

Joining Brenda's Tweak It Tuesday.
http://www.cozylittlehouse.com/2013/10/tweak-it-tuesday-60_14.html

A Sugar Free Cake

We eat sugar free or very low sugar in our house.  Luckily, there are some good options now and a little creative cooking helps.  Pillsbury has two sugar free cake mixes that I've used for more things than cake.  But, when you do actually make a cake with one, they always turn out great.  They don't cost much, and unless you tell someone it's sugar free, I promise they won't know by the taste.

So, here's the cake.

I realize many of you baking purists might not ever use a mix, but this is better than any low to sugar free item I've tried.  And cheaper.

Icing has always been a problem baking sugar free.  Most recipes use an entire bag of powdered sugar.  There is no sugar free substitute (that I know of) for powdered sugar.  I recently saw Trisha Yearwood on the Food Network making a coconut/nut icing that would normally be for a German Chocolate cake that used a cup of regular sugar, then was cooked on the stove.  I decided to try it and used a little less than a half cup of brown sugar and a little more than a cup of splenda.  It turned out great and does not taste low sugar.  I've found using all splenda doesn't taste very good and the brown sugar version is so horrible, I never, ever use it.   I don't enjoy standing at the stove constantly stirring anything, but this was my birthday cake, so I endured the stirring.  The result was really worth that trouble once a year.

Here is the original recipe from Food Network:

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar (I used a little more than 1/2 cup splenda and a little less than 1/2 cup brown sugar)
4 egg yolks
1 stick butter
10 oz coconut  (I used less, since it's sweetened)
1 1/2 cups nuts (I used more and used pecans)
1 t vanilla

Combine in a saucepan egg yolks, milk, and sugar.  Whisk until egg yolks are fully incorporated.
Add butter, melt and bring to a simmer whisking all the time.  Continue to whisk until thickened
which is 12 to 15 minutes over low heat.  Remove from the heat and add your coconut, nuts and the vanilla.   It says to let it cool, but I found it super easy to just spread it on the cake while warm.  I didn't make a layer cake, so you probably would want it cooled before trying that.

I also want to show you this super cute little wax melter my mother gave me as a gift.

I had a spiced orange wax cube to use and it made the house smell so "fallish".    I already had a melter, but it didn't have a lid.  I had stopped using it after we got this cherub, so she wouldn't get into the wax.

(Who me?  I would NEVER get in to ANYTHING!)

I'm going to try again to join Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House and get the link right this time.
Fingers crossed!

Fall Mantel

I decided I wanted to try linking up to a Fall Mantel party.  My first time trying this, so fingers crossed, I'll join the party.

I finally found a couple of small real pumpkins and added my little terra cotta turkey I've had for years.   My mercury glass pumpkin is from Pottery Barn at the end of season sale.  With a coupon I had and free shipping, I got that pumpkin for $4.00.  Love that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little floral is in the entry of my house.  I'm not going crazy this year with dragging out all my fall decorations.  I wanted to leave some areas free, so when we finally get more real pumpkins where I live, I can just put some of those out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to Thrifty Décor Chick