So very busy Saturday

I must apologize for ignoring all of my lovely friends today!  I have indeed missed you, but alas, I have been so busy.  The day began with a trip to Wally World for the essentials, milk, bread, TP, pull ups, waffle-maker (hey, some people consider kitchen appliances daily essentials ;P).

We had only spent about 2 hours in Wally World when my DH decided he would spend my Recipe win money on a much needed cause:  Golden Coral-the fanciest only store in town.  I might mention, that while GC is a great place, I am not a fan of buffets since I am a self proclaimed germaphobe.  It has nothing to do with the restaurant, food, or even cleanliness of the place, because all of those are good, it is the people touching the food as hey dish it up themselves.  Any who, the Chocolate fountain of goodness and cotton candy totally made up for all my phobias, so we survived.

Several hours later, when we finally arrived home, I discovered  that there was a great event of Trunk or Treat at the local Discount Furniture Store in town that was boasting 50+ cars giving away candy, so we decided we must go.  No problem, my 2 year old is a pirate, so he only needed a little makeup in addition to his costume.  My 8 year old is a Goth girl, and I can do some great divalicious Goth lips and eyes, although I rarely wear a lot of makeup.  In comes my 7 year old with her Avatar costume.  Micro braids.  I know how to braid, but I am not the best at doing hair. 

I literally sat for 3 hours doing micro braids on her head.  We would have never made it tonight if it weren't for my husband.  He is AMAZING.  He sat for 2 hours and did Avatar makeup.  The photos don't show all the detail, including the stripes, sparkle, and all the hard work he put in, but she looked amazing in person. Everyone complimented her.  And I couldn't be more proud of my uber manly, camo wearing, deer hunting, steel toed boot wearing man.  He spent 2 hours doing makeup to make a 7 year old girl happy.  I am sure he would have rather been watching football or playing PS3, but none of that matters when his children are concerned! 

I promised to start a giveaway today, but it seems that tomorrow or maybe even Monday are going to have to be the day because I have  some work to do before I can type it up.  Please be patient!!   I promise that I am starting something great very soon!

Thank Heaven's it's Friday!

It's finally Friday and I am so happy.  My DH has been off work since yesterday and doesn't go back to work until next Friday so I am looking forward  to spending some time with him!  Not sure what the weekend has in store for us, but I am sure it will be loaded with family and fun things.  I truly hope your weekend is going to be great as well, and that everyone stays safe as the Holiday approaches.

And, DRUMROLL please!   We have a winner for the lovely Channing &  Co turquoise and white bracelet.  The winner is.............. Rebecca R.  I am currently email her and she will have 48 hours to email me back before I select a second winner.  Thank you all who entered, but don't be dismayed, there is still an open giveaway and I am starting another giveaway tomorrow!  So, enter enter enter, you may be the lucky bunny next time!

3rd Place!

Today's post is really a brag all about me!  Usually I submit a drink that I love but today, I have some exciting news to share.  Last month I stumbled across a recipe competition for Wisconsin potatoes and was going to pass it by (y'all know my lack of cooking skills except for a few things) when on impulse I started typing away!

I had totally forgotten about the competition when I received a call from Wisconsin last week, and honestly when they said "Allyson?" after I said hello I was convinced I had a marketing firm on the phone and was hesitant at best.  However, Tim Feit quickly let me know why he was calling and I was FLOORED. 

I have never entered a recipe competition before in my life and I was informed that I came in 3rd place!  They had a local college test all the recipes and mine scored very high.  Most people wouldn't be happy with 3rd place, but this wasn't a BAKING competition, it was a COOKING competition and I am not that great of a cook, so I am thrilled.

I won Fifty dollars and on top of it all, my recipe is listed on the website as one of the winners!  I would love for you to check out my win here on the website, and I am going to share with you my award winning recipe!

Spicy Potato Wraps

Submitted by:	masugr
Preheat:	Medium
Source:	Pan burner on grill
Serves:	6 Use the slider to adjust the recipe to the correct number of servings
Prep time:	20 min
Cook time:	30 min
Total time:	50 min

Ingredients

2 cans	Rotel tomatoes with habaneros
6	potatoes, peeled and medium cubed
1 large	Videlia onion or two small/medium onions
1 package	Flour Tortillas
1 container	Daisy Sour Cream
salt and pepper	to taste
olive oil	2 TBS
1/2-1 cup	water

Steps

1. Prep to be done at home before leaving: Peel, wash, and cube potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Store in Zip lock bag with water and a little lemon juice to prevent oxidation. Also, halve and thin slice the onion, storing in Ziploc bag. Pour both cans of tomatoes in a bag for easy access at game. Do not drain tomatoes
2. 2. At game, turn side burner on grill to medium and heat skillet with oil in it
3. 
   3. When oil is hot, add onions and caramelize with salt and pepper
4. 
   4. When onions are caramel colored, add undrained tomatoes, potatoes, and 1/2 cup water
5. 
   Cover and simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft and all liquids are cooked off. Stir every 5-10 minutes and if all liquids cook off before the potatoes are soft, add more water to prevent burning.
6. When potatoes are almost done, heat the grill to low and warm the tortillas directly grate until grill marks are on the tortillas. Fill with mixture and add a dollop of sour cream on top.

Suzannah's Artwork on WW

This is my 8 year old daughter's art work she has been completing in school this year.  She has a real talent. I am so impressed with the details on the bird mask and the fish!

A Halloween mask she made in Spanish class, and of course Mika wanted to wear a "monster" so he is in the picture as well

A mask she made in art class for Halloween!

Bulking up my Stockpile with Oster Food Dehydrator!

Oster Food Dehydrator

About a month ago, my DH and I decided we are going to add a food dehydrator to our eclectic mix of Kitchen appliances so of course we headed to the one store in town that would have such a fancy gadget.  That's right, we went to Walmart.  It turns out that all the time we spent researching units online was for nought, because the only brand they have at our Walmart is the Oster food dehydrator, so we bought the Oster.

After one use, I am in love.  It is easy to use, doesn't have any complicated settings or buttons, is big enough to do quite a bit of food at a time, and once it is set up, it doesn't require anything further until it is done.  It has a simple on and off button that dries everything at the same temperature and four individual trays.  The ONLY downside I see of this dehydrator is that it is a little on the loud side, but my personal experience is my oscillating fan is louder, so that really isn't an issue at all for me. 


I about a week later to the Market and purchased some great bananas, Pineapple, carrots and Peaches.  I gathered a bowl of cold water, lemon juice, a compost bowl, a knife, my son and the dehydrator.



I thinly sliced the bananas on a diagonal and pre treated them in lemon water to help prevent oxidation.  I halved the peaches, left the skin on, and thinly sliced them, also pre-treating them in the water.  The carrots I simply peeled and  sliced thinly, and I arranged all on the dehydrator trays.

The manual said to let them dry for 12 hours, so I turned on the machine and set my oven timer for 9 hours later.  I found when I checked on them in 9 hours that the bananas and carrots were completely done but the peaches needed the full 12 hours due to moisture content.  They came out of the dehydrator right as 3 older siblings were getting off the bus so I completely lost out on getting pictures of the final product of the bananas and peaches.

 They were just gobbled down.  They liked the carrots, but I was able to get a picture of them before they eat them up completely.    All in all the dehydrator is a huge success & for costing right around $50, it is a super value!  I would definitely recommend it to anyone I know!  Stay tuned in the near future for my episode on homemade beef jerky!

Sunday and a Summary

Looking back on this week, it hasn't been so darned bad!  I had a lucky streak and won 8 sweepstakes, which is just awesome.  The three sick kids are finally getting over their illnesses, although my fourth is now suffering from a sore throat and headache (round two anyone?)  I had a very relaxing day today, watching Extreme Couponing, teaching my 8 year old how to cook, chatting with my chickens-hey don't knock it, my girls give me more eggs when I spend time loving them, and basically just enjoying my children and pets while my DH worked 36 hours over the last three days. 

Oh, yeah, and the little one that is 2 years and 5 months seems to finally be getting the hang of the potty.  It is still  a little hit and miss, but he manages to tell me half the time now which is a huge hurdle for us.  Honestly, I was beginning to feel like a potty training failure.  My first and third were four when they were finally trained, my last just didn't seem to understand WHAT he was supposed to do while aiming at the Cheerios, and my 2nd child-the one who does everything she sets her mind to-told me at 14 months she wasn't having another accident and hasn't EVER. 

So, although I was rusty in the baby category by the time child four made a surprise appearance in my life, I have regained my confidence in my mommy skills!  I have to say that between all my past careers, bartender,  building computer motherboards, working at a bank, teaching music for six years, and being a business consultant for five years, that I am finally at peace and shockingly enough it is at home with my DH, children, dog, chickens, and garden.  Oh, yes, and that reminds me thanks to all the fall rain, unseasonably mild days, and putting a sheet over my eggplant and pepper plants at night, I just harvested 7 eggplant yesterday, have more on the vines and a TON of blossoms on the vine for both peppers and eggplants.  Go figure!

All in all, life is good.  Life is content.  Life is peaceful.  I am loved and give love.  Even with life's struggles, I may not have riches, but I know I am the richest girl in the world.