Scents

I have decided that Pier One really gets my senses.  I stopped by to use a gift card the other day, and fell in love with some of their scents.  Now their pumpkin spice scent has always been Fall to me.  I love it, and cannot get enough.  However, I hadn't realized they would have scents to speak to me in 3 other seasons.

First I smelled the Patchouli and was ok with it.  Then I found the Asian Spice.  I was in love.  My Suburban and my office smell like Asian Spice now thanks to the hanging air fresheners.  I purchased a oil diffuser thinking I was picking up the same scent.  Whoops, no, I picked up Patchouli.  I like it much more now that it is in my kitchen.  So much that I took an empty AirWick plug in oil diffuser and filled it with the Patchouli oil scent and plugged it in on the first floor.

I do love a house that doesn't stink!  (And I admit, our house has been pretty stinky lately)

Sad Day

Sad doesn't even describe the day.  It honestly sucked!  I just had a bad day, and it only got worse when I got home.  I peeked into Kaia's room while chasing a twin, and noticed Ratly in the corner of his cage.  Something didn't look right.  Our beloved Ben, aka Fatly Ratly, was dead.  Funeral services will be very soon.  For now, his body resides in our freezer, along with deer parts.  Long story, not as creepy as it sounds.

We will miss you Ratly!

Corned Beef Hash

It's what's for dinner!  We've never had corned beef hash.  Actually, I usually struggle to use up leftover corned beef, even though we all love it.  So tonight we will try hash.  I looked up many, many recipes.  Alton Brown, Emeril Lagasse, user submitted... all are pretty much the same. I'm going to take the leftover meat and potatoes, add onions, chop it all up, fry it and serve with eggs.  Hopefully the meal goes over well with the family.

Wednesday Night Supper

Dinner tonight continues to be cheap, gluten free and pretty healthy.  I'm cooking up 2 pork chops and several organic chicken drumsticks.  Both were purchased for $1.28 a pound.  This morning I boiled potatoes, and for a few weeks now I've had hard boiled eggs in pickle juice, I'll add some onion and celery and a bit of mayo for a potato salad.  We will also have brussel sprouts.  I picked up a few bags of frozen sprouts when they were on sale.  What's for dinner at your place?

I found this chart the other day, and I found it very helpful.  I hope you do too!

Food, Glorious Food, Wonderful Food

It's March, and gorgeous weather here in Central Washington.  That means we have begun planting our cold weather crops for the year!  Kaia has been especially eager to plant, and I hope she is just as eager in the summer when we need to  weed and water daily. 

We are still growing everything in the front year, as I want to give the backyard 1 more year to get rid of all dog poop.  (see I told you my life is full of poop!)  To date, we have planted Arugula, Mesculin Mix, Spinach, Lettuce blend, and Kale in pots out front. We have also planted sugar peas and radishes in the front garden.  Last year was pretty much a bust.  Nothing really grew, and I didn't plant too much.

This year will be different.  It already is.  We will also be planting, watermelon, cantaloupe, corn, beans, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers and more!  I hope to have most of our produce coming  from our garden and supplementing with the fruit stand that opens in late June next door. 

It's going to be a good year!  What are you planting?

Texas Hash, cheap and gluten free

This is a repost, but I wanted to share tonight's dinner.  It's a favorite in our house!



Ok now that you've read the recipe, Ignore it! 1 pound of ground beef and 3 onions?! No way. I use half a pound to three quarters of a pound. About half an onion or less works just fine too. Last, why in the world would you bake a rice dish like this? I never have. I usually use more than half a cup of rice too.

So prepare as directed with less ground beef, less onions and more rice. Add extra liquid to make up for the lack of liquid in the can. (remember it's 1 part rice to 2 parts liquid) Then cover on the stove and cook for 20 minutes until rice is done. You can also add some broken up spaghetti pieces during the browning. This gives the dish a bit more of a Rice-a-Roni feel. Sometimes we add some shredded cheese to the top of this too.

I turned this power and time consuming "Budget Casserole" into a quick and easy after work dinner. I hope you enjoy.

We're Back....

It's been a crazy year, and it's only March.  I've thought of blogs on occasion, I've wanted to write, but my hands have been full.  If you follow me on facebook, you will know that my life is full of chaos and poop.  Lots and lots of poop.  At some point though, I must pull it together and write again.  If not for your entertainment, then for my sanity.

So stay tuned!  I will be posting often.  I'm embarking on simplifying our life. First step, meals.  Next step, getting rid of excess clothing and toys.  The meals though are easy.  You will get regular posts of our recipes.  Our meals will consist of meat, veggies, beans, rice and potatoes.  Nothing fancy will be gracing our  home as we attempt to stick to a strict budget and eat healthy. 

Tonight's dinner is a bit fancy, as it's St. Patty's Day.  We are having corned beef, potatoes, carrots and cabbage.  I'll be using leftovers later this week in a hash.  Don't worry, recipe and photos will follow.

Today's Crazy:  Bry was playing outside with Kaia, and as he walked up the steps to the front door, he pulled down his diaper and peed in the dirt.  I'm sure the neighbors would appreciate that view!