Sharing.....

On Monday I tried a new recipe for leftover chicken that both Harvey and I really enjoyed.

Thought I would share it with all of you. I didn't get a picture of our main course, but I was colourful, and it both smelled and tasted wonderful.

Chicken Pastry Squares

397g package of frozen puff pastry thawed
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup tomato pesto

1 1/2 cups shredded leftover chicken
20 cherry tomatoes halved
2 tbsp shredded fresh basil (or 1 1/2 tsp dried)

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (I used a bit more)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Roll out pastry on lightly floured board to 11 x16 inches. Carefully lift pastry and press into bottom and up sides of greased 10 x15 inch pan.

Combine sour cream, and basil in a small bowl and spread in an even layer over pastry.

Layer chicken, tomatoes, and basil in order given over the sour cream/pesto mixture.

Sprinkle with feta cheese and Parmesan. Bake on bottom rack in 450 degree oven for about 25 mins. until crisp and browned. Cuts into 8 pieces.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

Sunday Ramblings

Sunny and fairly warm today, and it made my morning and afternoon walks very pleasant. I enjoyed both immensely. Being out in the fresh air, even if there is no one else around, gives a person the ability to face social distancing.

Once home this morning I watched Mass on my computer, said a prayer (or two) for all those who are having problems social distancing or fighting Covid-19. Then started on the days chores. 

I managed to make my rhubarb loaves.

I even got a dish cloth started for Kris as he never seems to have enough.

I hope to get a few finished before we go back up this Friday. I will be using up some of my leftover cotton yarn doing so.

My lady wipes are finished. Nicely washed and folded. They are in the bathroom just in case the time comes and I need to use them.

Fabric for the face masks is washed and dried. I plan on ironing and cutting them out tomorrow. While I know they will not completely protect us, the little protection they will in fact give will be enough to let Harvey feel a bit of peace.

My list of household chores was completed for next week, and a few ideas for baking are percolating around in my head.

All in all a pretty good day.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Weeding, and Picking

Today after Mass I decided that the perennial bed really needed a bit of weeding. Grass seemed to be growing quickly and weeds were growing like, well, weeds.

While pulling out those pesky weeds I happened to look into the very center where my strawberries are planted. To my surprise I could see bits of red hidden under the green leaves.

Our first bowl of strawberries!! Usually Harvey manages to eat them all before I can get them into the house. Tonight these will be washed and a few will be sliced onto my ice cream. Of course Harvey had to do quality control. He says the one he snuck (only reason I knew was I could see him chewing) had lots of lovely flavour. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

This week has been one of trying to get ahead of myself. I have managed to complete all but 4 of my extra cleaning jobs for the month, and hope to complete the washing and waxing of the parquet flooring in our dining room tomorrow.

Now if only I could say I am doing as well working through my various stashes. Since I have now finished off two rather large balls of cotton yarn (just have to sew the seams on the two purses), I am hoping to spend some of my time in the sewing room over the next few weeks.

The garden is starting to produce.

Here are two cukes I managed to save for a photo op (seems as fast as I bring them in Harvey munches on them).

They aren't the biggest I have ever harvested, but hopefully I can keep up with them.

Yesterday I started dehydrating my herbs.

Trays of

basil.

Trays of

silver green sage.

Those were done by supper last night. Today saw trays of parsley and oregano completed. I am hoping to get some thyme and some mint done tomorrow.

Off to catch up with you all.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

A nice no spend day, in fact it was so hot I only went outside to water my plants and do a bit of gathering from the garden.

Most of the day has been spent inside where there is air conditioning. According to the weather pundits these mid to high 30's C temperatures will be with us for the entire week. Getting to the point where I would love some cooler weather.

I finished "Go Set A Watchman" and I am not sure how I feel about it. I will need to think a bit more before I do a review of it.

I also started another project.... Silly me who promised themselves not to start anything new for awhile. I have had some interest in monster leggings though and so I decided to give them a go. So far the pair I started are knitting up well.

These are going to use up some of the excess wool from other projects and the bits and pieces from scavenging at various yard and garage sales.

This is my garden pick for today.

 Three large tomatoes, 5 cucumbers, two large green peppers and a large handful of cherry tomatoes. Adding to the pantry with no extra expense.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

The Harvest Has Begun and Giant Mutant Potatoes

This past week has seen the beginning of harvesting the garden.

Surprisingly enough we are starting to get rather large cucumbers off very small vines.

These are three that I picked since the first three I picked to take to the family reunion. I don't think that I will have to buy cucumbers for a while. I made lots of dills last year so I will not have to make any this year. Relish on the other hand needs to be made. Harvey and our sons just love my homemade relish. It is from a recipe that Harvey's mother used.

I also managed to get this rather large bag of leaf lettuce picked.

It doesn't even make a dent in what is left to pick.

Funny thing, Harvey only gives the garden a good soaking once a week and today I wondered out into the potato portion of the garden. Yikes, I think we have mutant potatoes growing!!!! I have never, ever seen potatoes this tall in our garden.

Here I am standing in the midst of the potato patch. I am 65 1/2" tall so these potatoes are at least 50" tall and still growing!!!! If this keeps up they will overtake the corn very soon. I do hope that they are not all top with nothing under them.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Recipe Wednesday

Cheesy Chicken Pasta Bake

1 c Italian blend shredded cheese
2 c cooked rotini
3 c chopped leftover chicken
1/2 c diced celery
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Stir together 1/2 c cheese and next 6 ingredients. Spoon into lightly greased 11 x 7 pan. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 5 more minutes.

This was very good, but when I make it again I will be adding some green and red peppers as well as some mushrooms. I also used more cheese, because we love cheese.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Recipe Wednesday

Today I think I will share with you a recipe my mother-in-law made every spring.

Rhubarb is a spring fruit staple in Saskatchewan, heck the whole prairie region of Canada!

I try and make this rhubarb cake two or three times a season. It is always a big hit as you can tell.

Rhubarb Cake

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup shortening (or margarine)
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chopped or thinly sliced rhubarb
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda in 1 cup sour milk

Mix and put in a prepared 9 x 11 pan.

1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp softened margarine

Mix and sprinkle over the top.

Bake 35 min at 350 F.

Cool and enjoy.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

My menus were switched around a bit last week so this week I am hoping to get back on track.

Monday

Spaghetti, meat sauce, garlic bread and salad.

Tuesday

Leftover Chicken made into something awesome (I am going to find something new in one of my books), the leftover salad will be perfect with whatever I choose to make.

Wednesday

Baked Spaghetti. This should use up the leftovers from Monday. Once again I will add garlic bread to the menu.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge night. Should be lots of leftovers available to be used.

Friday

German noodles (aka Glace) served with eggs, potatoes and onions.

Saturday

Sausages. I am just not too sure how I will make them. I am getting a bit tired of the casserole so I will be searching for something new.

Sunday

Roast Ham, rice, peas and carrots, sliced raw veggies and dip (though this could change to a coleslaw).

Hopefully this will be followed closely this week. I do need to use things up badly.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Menu Monday

Can you believe that December is here already???? I sure can't, I now realize that my Mom was right, as I age the weeks, months, and years seem to speed past at an alarming rate.

Monday

Baked Pork Ribs, rice and corn.

Tuesday

Baked Spaghetti and garlic bread

Wednesday

Hot dogs, and baked beans

Thursday

I am already making a switch. We will do a clean out the fridge supper here instead of Saturday.

Friday

Fish Fillets, potato wedges, and green beans.

Saturday

Slow cooker chicken, rice, and carrots.

Sunday

Roast Beef, roast potatoes and roast carrots (using up the carrots in a bag in the crisper).

Another week's menu planning down, and another week of trying to change things up a tiny little bit while keeping the budget (something I do not always succeed in doing) as low as possible.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

All Is Quiet........

While I am not up that early this morning (I actually slept in a bit after a very restless night) things are quiet in the old homestead and outside. One might even say, "Not a creature was stirring." The really strange thing is that not a truck, car, or semi has passed up the highway in the valley in what seems like hours.

Today I am going to share the leftover pork roast hash I made a couple of nights ago. The next time I make this recipe I plan on tweeking it a touch. I usually follow a recipe the first time I make it (though I did add mushrooms and green peppers to this) and then if it is well received start with the changes. This one was well liked by Harvey so it will be tweeked to perfection very soon.

This is it.....

Here is the recipe via Southern Foods on About.com.

Leftover Pork and Potato Hash

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
3 tbsp butter or margarine
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
a few dashes of Tabasco sauce or ground red pepper
2 cups diced cooked pork
2 cups diced cooked potato
3/4 cup cooked frozen peas
1 tsp paprika

In a large pan, saute onion and celery in butter until onion is soft and golden. Blend in soup, milk, Worchestershire, and Tabasco or ground red pepper. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until heated through. Adjust seasonings after tasting.

Now my changes would include the can of mushrooms, the diced green pepper (one small or medium sized). In the next batch I make I am going to add another cup of cooked potatoes, and more of the ground red pepper. I used Hot pepper sauce and really a few dashes did not give the meal any noticeable kick. Adding more potatoes will make the meal a bit less on the creamy side and more like what I am used to from a hash type meal.

It did fill us up very nicely served with thick slices of homemade bread along side.

Cost of the meal as this serves 4 (probably closer to 5 as Harvey had two rather large helpings) is $1.63 per serving. I am thinking that the entire meal cost around $6.50 give or take a penny or two. The potatoes are from our garden and so cost pennies, and the soup was bought on sale for less than $1.00 a can. The leftover roast pork cost in the ball park of $3.00 for the package I froze, and the rest of the ingredients at a rough guess added up to the remaining say $2.00.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Menu Monday

This week will be one of using up leftovers in the fridge freezer. Must get that a bit cleaner for upcoming large meals with lots of leftovers.

Monday

Leftover ham made into Scalloped Potatoes and Ham Casserole. Served with a salad.

Tuesday

Leftover chicken served as a casserole. Salad once again on the side.

Wednesday

Clean out the fridge smorg.

Thursday

Hamburgers, pasta and beans.

Friday

Tuna Casserole and corn.

Saturday

Since I will be spending much of the day making Cabbage Bread, this is what we will have for supper as well.

Sunday

Roast Chicken, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.

So there you have it. Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Menu Monday

Beginning of a new week and the beginning of what looks to be more normal temperatures for this time of year. It is still getting cold at night though so planting anything that is above ground will have to wait a bit.

Monday

Baked Spaghetti, sliced cucumbers as a side.

Tuesday

Leftover roast pork made into a pork casserole (lo mein type).

Wednesday

Clean out the fridge. This will most likely be the leftover Baked Spaghetti served with a salad.

Thursday

Grilled Hot Dogs, and macaroni salad along with the leftover salad from last night.

Friday

Youngest DS will be home sometime this evening if every thing goes according to plans.

Lazy Perogy Casserole.

Saturday

This was going to be leftover Beef Roast, but I think I will change and make Chicken Cordon Bleu here. Served with mashed potatoes and mixed peas and carrots.

Sunday

Grilled Steak, baked potatoes (or cooked in foil) and a salad. I might have to pick up a steak for Kris but that is okay.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Menu Monday

Monday

Leftovers from Saturday nights supper.

Tuesday

Sweet and Sour Ribs made in the slow cooker, rice and sliced cucumber

Wednesday

Smoked Sausage, leftover noodles from Monday night, corn.

Thursday

Leftover ribs and rice for Hubby. I will end up grabbing a sandwich or something as I need to be at the Formation room by 5:30 to meet with one of the participants from RCIA.

Friday

Cod fillets (not sure what I am doing with them yet), oven fries and asparagus.

Saturday

Steak in mushroom soup, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

Sunday

Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and a salad.

So there is my line up for the week. Sure hope everything goes as planned.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

A Wonderful Start To The Weekend

I had a wonderful start to the weekend. The weather was great (except for the rather large rain drops whilst we were cleaning the Enclave out), I got to talk to Kris for a bit (he seems to be doing wonderfully) and even messaged back and forth with Kurt.

As far as working around the house (and by this I mean working in the sewing/craft room) things went really well.

I finished the little sun dress I started on Monday. Here's a photo.

It is a bit wrinkled and needs a good ironing. I also need to learn how to tie a proper bow. While this will be a dress, I think the pattern is also suitable to make a summer nightie or two out of. Hmm, wonder if I have fabric in my stash suitable for a nightie???

Then I also tried two new recipes for supper.

The first was a Greek Salad (can't believe that I have lived for 58 years and never made this).

Lettuce, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, thinly sliced onions, sliced green peppers and feta cheese. All smothered in a lovely dressing. Yum. To make things even better we have some for our dinner tomorrow night as well!!!

I also made this chicken casserole. I got to use up a package of the leftover chicken I had packaged up for the freezer.

It was very creamy and had a nice tang to it. However I think when I serve the leftovers I will make some noodles to serve it over.

I also worked on the rug project for awhile and plan on doing some more tonight. I am hoping to get to the burgundy yarn again by tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Mondays

Menu's for this upcoming week.

Monday

Steak, baked in mushroom soup, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Tuesday

Leftover Pork Roast made into something new and exciting I hope. Hopefully some type of casserole.

Wednesday

Leftover chicken made into another something exciting (do have an idea on this one may be a chicken pot pie).

Thursday

Clean out the fridge night.

Friday

Soup and sandwiches.

Saturday

Cabbage Bread otherwise known as Birokes in my family.

Sunday

Roast Beef, roasted potatoes and some carrots from the freezer.

So there they are, I sure hope I can stick to them this week.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

Today we had a baptism during Mass. How to describe it? Something wonderful beyond belief. The child in question had 5 god parents and belonged to one of our new immigrant Filipino families. This is part of their tradition in the Philippines. Seeing the glow of those 7 candles helped me to realize that we all have to share the light of Christ during not only these 40 days of Lent, but throughout our lives.

We need to reach out to everyone and share the love of God. Showing each of the people we meet that they are truly deserving of His love and forgiveness. This is something I, myself have a problem with and will work on over this Lenten Season.

I made a new recipe today and Harvey loved it. This will go in our regular rotation as well.

We were supposed to have roast chicken for supper, but when I went to the freezer ....... none to be found. So I searched through cook books to find a recipe similar to a roast chicken and found this. It enabled me to use up a couple of packages of chicken from the fridge. I did not have any carrots either (my am I getting low in supplies) so I cut up celery and put that in to roast as well.

To my surprise this is a very tasty meal and does taste like roast chicken and stuffing (must be the sage in the recipe).

I will keep the celery in it and add carrots the next time I make it.

Sage Chicken and Potatoes

Cut up chicken weighing about 1 1/2 lbs
3 unpeeled potatoes (I used 4 small ones) cut up into 3/4 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups baby carrots
1 jar of gravy (I made my own)
2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp dried sage leaves (I used ground sage)
1/2 tsp garlic/pepper blend (I used 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/4 tsp garlic powder).

Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven at 400 F. In baking dish, arrange chicken potatoes and carrots. In a small bowl mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken and vegetables. Spray some foil to cover the dish (sprayed side down) and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until juices run clear.

The best thing is I have enough leftover from tonight that we will be having another meal sometime in the upcoming week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

Posting this very early (for me) today as I have a long list to accomplish and I don't want to forget.

Monday

Smoked Sausages, rice and green beans.

Tuesday

Leftover pork roast made into a casserole. Salad on the side.

Wednesday

Turkey Soup from the freezer and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches made from home made bread.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge smorg.

Friday

Glace and eggs

Saturday

Leftover Ham made into Pasties.

Sunday

Sweet and Sour ribs served over rice and a salad.

So those are my menus for the upcoming week. Kurt should be home by Saturday so I am not sure how much in the way of leftovers there will be for the rest of the week........

Everybody have a wonderful day

God bless.

Menu Monday

I noticed a great many bits and bobs getting by me in the freezer a couple of days ago. Nothing that has spoiled, but enough bags of leftover meat from other meals that I need to clear them out!!! So my menus this month reflect a clear 'em up, move 'em out attitude. After all there will be plenty more leftovers come Christmas!!!

Monday

Leftover ham is going to be made into a casserole using up some broccoli and cheese from the fridge.
Should probably serve a salad with this.

Tuesday

Hot Beef Sandwiches and oven fries. This will use up the leftover beef roast from yesterdays supper as well as the drippings. There will be a salad along with this using up what was left from Monday.

Wednesday

I work all day so I am going to make Chicken Breasts on a bed of rice covered with mushroom soup. Veggie will be some green beans from the freezer.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge night!!!

Friday

Fish Fillets, rice and corn

Saturday

Chili and toast. Should have enough to freeze for another meal later next week.

Sunday

Roast Chicken, potatoes, carrots and salad.

So there we are. I should be great for shopping this week. Perhaps just dairy and produce on Saturday......

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Menu Monday

I am afraid that I was a bit spoiled when on vacation. This having to plan menus, and then cook them after almost three weeks of not having to is just about putting me over the edge!!!

Anyways here are this weeks menus.

Monday

Leftover Turkey Soup with egg salad sandwiches.

Tuesday

Baked spaghetti using up leftovers from the previous week. (I may switch Monday and Tuesday around). I will make cole slaw to go along with the main course.

Wednesday

Leftover turkey made into a lovely casserole or tetrazzini. Leftover slaw will be served with this.

Thursday

Leftover Beef Roast made into a stew. I will serve this with homemade biscuits or perhaps dumplings.

Friday

Salmon Loaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. There should be enough cabbage and carrots left to make another cole slaw.

Saturday

Slow cooker Italian Chicken Breasts with rice and peas.

Sunday

Pork Roast, roasted potatoes and beets.

Everyone have a lovely day.

God bless.