Ohhhhhh Is Anyone There???

 Hi there everyone. Thought I would drop a line or two. Yes, I am still alive and kicking. As you can see by the dates on the pictures below, they are 5 years old, but they are Fall pictures, so I am using them today.

I have not been much into a blog mood, only because not much is happening in my life. Since JP's death, (1 year, 2-1/2 months) everyday just seems to blend into another. I have tried to get a lot done around the house, but sometimes I just find myself sleeping. I get plenty done in my mind, but my body does not cooperate.

Next month, 11/21 I will be 76 years old. WHERE did that time go to?? Never thought I would make it to this age.

Well, to update you all. I had my garage sale and made about $140.00 which did help in paying some bills. The sale was back in June. I thought I would have another one in July, August and possibly in September. But I decided not to. June was enough for me. I am still in the process of cleaning the garage and ridding myself of all the old garage sale stuff that did not sell. I gave "Good Will" 6 banana boxes of stuff already with 2-3 more boxes to go. 

I have decided I am NOT going to sell and move out of this house. And would like to stay here for as long as I can. To down-size, pack and move just sounds like too much stress and a hassle at this time in my life. I am not under pressure now, as I was even 6 months ago as I have made plans with the City to begin paying my property tax which will now keep me from foreclosure in two years. 

I have had a few other financial situations cleared up, so my future looks a little brighter, that's if this country does not go down the tubes with inflation, high gas and food prices and every other crisis that comes up. 

It has been hard to keep my nose above water these last couple of years what with the Pandemic, JP's sickness and death, trying to make ends meet has been a challenge. But God is Good, and He takes care of His own.

I had a really good garden this year with tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, onions, dill and basil. I am in the midst of drying the dill and basil. I think the beans are done as it was my second planting. I brought in my green tomatoes, and they are ripening in a dish pan. 

My card making has been at a minimum lately, have lots of ideas, but seem to find other things to do. Cooking for myself is not fun. When JP was alive, I cooked much more, always trying something new and different. Now I just cook what is easy, fast or not so healthy. Hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, fries, steak, beans, broccoli, and corn. Chicken when I can and porkchops anything that can be made in the Air Fryer or microwave. My Air Fryer is my new friend.

My car has a gas line leak, so it has been sitting in the driveway this week. Monday, I have to take it to the service station, hopefully there is enough gas to get it there and has not all leaked out. Then the guy won't be able to work on it till the 20th, maybe sooner. Hopefully the bill will be affordable.

Well, I guess that is all for now, this was going to be a short blog, but I guess I am just too wordy. You all have a great rest of the month...I am sure it will go fast. The days are flying by, enjoy them while you have them. Keep looking up!!! Better days are a comin'. Louise

Yummy Beans....

Hi there everyone. Hope your are enjoying the wonderful weather. Although it did rain yesterday...a lot...so much that our roof leaked into a bucket in the kitchen. My nightmare for the last 10 years. Never know where the next leak will be. Hopefully we can get this problem fixed within the next few months.

So the other day I made some really good beans....I think this will be on the agenda to make again...they were so yummy. Here is the recipe. "Spicy Stir-Fried String Beans"

3/4 cup water, 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1-2 Asian hot sauce, such as Sriracha, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 pound green or yellow beans, trimmed, 4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger, 3 large cloves minced garlic, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds.

In this recipe, I also added half a bag of crushed up raman noodles. If you can see the large white chunks, that would be the raman noodles. Preparation of these beans are: Whisk water, soy sauce, cornstarch and hot sauce to taste in a small bowl. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add beans, ginger and garlic; cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the sauce mixture;  cook, stirring frequently, until the beans are tender-crisp and coated with sauce, 4-6 minutes, Sprinkle with sesame seeds. In the top photo I added the beans to a microwave dish and was able to reheat a couple of times. The beans were good to the last spoonful.

Time to bring this blog to a close....if you try the beans, hope you like them. Have a great day and keep looking up.

If you would like to see my other blog at wordpress, here is the link. cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com
Cheers ~ Louise

A New Month and a Garden Harvest

Hi everyone, how are you all doing this first day of the month??? Wonder how fast this month will go by??? Hard to believe the summer is almost over except for a few more warm days ahead of us and then WINTER is just around the corner.....YIKES!!!!

Well, I thought I would post some vegies from my garden.  I made a tomato garden this year....so in the above picture you see some of my tomatoes. My but they were yummy this year.  BLT's  were absolutely divine!! My cucumbers are doing good this year as I planted the young plants in an old wheel barrel. I have tried planting in other areas but they just did not seem to grow.....the wheel barrel must have had perfect growing conditions this year.

I have onions growing all over the place....but none of the onions seem to get really big....more like small marbles...oh well, guess I will just buy them at the store. The rhubarb did not do good this year, no harvest. Had strawberries growing in the front of the house.....they did well, lots of sun and rain for those berries. Not a good year for beans....planted in two different places....they did not take off...oh well. My oregano and garlic are doing well. Peppers are growing along with the tomatoes. Oh and how did I forget....I planted potatoes in a container....they are still sprouting, so have not received a harvest as yet...that's if the squirrel does not get to them before I do......DARN that squirrel!!!!

We've been given lots of vegies though...tomatoes, peppers, jalapeno peppers, egg plant, cucumbers, cabbage have been bountiful, with more to come, I hope.

In this picture is my green apples..........I am so happy that these babies made it. As of this writing I have 11 containers of cooked up apples in the freezer. Each container will make one apple pie. Oh yum!!

Our Labor Day will consist of JP going out to the tree and getting some more apples off the tree. He is taller then I...so hopefully he'll get higher then I could. I think they are ready now, cause the apples that I cut open today....the seeds were black or almost turning. So I will cut some more apples up tomorrow, cook them and freeze some and make a pie for Labor day. We have company coming from Chicago....so guess what....they are getting some apple pie. Why buy dessert when I can make a pretty good pie here with some whipped cream...........oh my, I can hardly wait!!!!

Well, time to close, it is getting late and I need to get some sleep. Going to be a quiet day around here, we'll get some things done around the house before company comes next weekend. Have a great Labor Day and don't' labor too much......lol!!! Keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Mexican Lasagna and Pizza Bread



So today we took Kylie to the groomer. From there we went to Festival Foods for a few things, like dog food, flour and grapes. Usually on Tuesday and Thursday's Festival puts out "dented and scratched" food in a box for $10. If I get there at the right time, sometimes there is a box or two left. Today, I got a box of canned goods, noodles, soups, seasonings, cookies, juice, puddings, pickles. There was some lasagna noodles, diced tomatoes and refried beans. I thought, hummmm, wonder if I could make a "Mexican Lasagna". So I looked up on the internet www.cooks.com and found a recipe. Although I did not have all the ingredients, this is what I came up with, using what I had in "the box".
Lasagna noodles
Can of refried beans
Can of diced tomatoes
1/2 pound hamburger
1/2 chopped onion
1 bag of shredded cheese (mozzarella, Cheddar, or mexican)

Brown hamburger with onion (drain if you need to) add can of tomatoes and refried beans. Layer in a small lasagna pan, 1st layer is mixture, then cooked noodles, mixture, cheese, noodles, mixture, cheese, noodles, mixture, cheese, noodles, mixture, cheese (I think that is four layers), depending how tall your pan is, layer accordingly. I baked this at 350 for about 30-45 minutes.
It was not very spicy so if you would like to add hot sauce to a layer or two, that would be good.



Pizza Bread
Now this was really good!! Found the recipe from a book I got from the library. Called "Everything Flax" More than 100 easy ways to work flax into  your everyday diet.

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 Tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. crushed dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/4 cups skim milk (or 1%)
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 egg
1 small tomato, sliced
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Cover the sundried tomatoes with boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes, drain and dice.
Preheat the oven at 350, spray an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a bowl, combine rehydrated sun dried tomatoes, flour, Parmesan cheese, sugar, flaxseed, baking powder, oregano, salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, oil and egg and pour the liquid ingred. into the dry ingred. Stir just until the dry ingred. are moistened.
Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
Sprinkle the fresh tomato, bell pepper and mozzarella cheese over the batter.
Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until the wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven, and transfer the bread to a rack to cool.
This can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

MMMM Good!!!!!!!

I know the pictures aren't that great, but it all did sure taste good. Well, you have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

♥My First "little" Harvest♥

Well, here you have it my first little harvest of the season.....oh my, how delicious the beans, tomatoes, pepper and celentro were steamed altogether!!!! The pepper plant and bean plant were from Walmart. Tomatoes came from the hardware store and the calentro was from seeds I planted in my upside down planter. Got a little cucumber the other day. Looking forward to some zucchinni in the next couple of weeks...oh my we will have alot of zucchinni if all the plants produce. I planted 12 seeds and there are 8 plants growing....may be sharing alot of zuc's this year. Last year I had maybe 3 plants and only got 5-6 zucchinnis.....was a bad year for vegies from the garden.

We had a big storm the other day.....3 storms passed by, the last storm brought flooding in the back yard and 1 inch of water in the basement....plus our roof leaks very bad....so we had a flood in the kitchen also cause the bucket wasen't place in the right spot to catch the drip, drip, drip of the drops leaking through the roof into the ceiling. May be a long time before we can get that fixed....we need a ship to come through for us.

Well time to close this blog for now. You have a great day and keep smiling!!!

Louise