June 30, 2010

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday, and I'm enjoying it so far, but that may be partially due to the codeine... 
You see, I've been coughing rather violently since oh, May and I've been trying not to blog about it. Who wants to hear a complainer?

BUT as I'm due for a blog update today, and just chilling quietly and enjoying the loopy feeling from the Codeine... here's my picture analysis of why I'm not a druggie.

APPARENTLY,
  +
+
 =


And



+
=
+
+
+



And all of that +


=
(AKA, swollen, incredibly painful ribs, and STILL more coughing)

which ALSO =

wweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
a loopy Betsy :-P

June 28, 2010

Adventures in a new house...

I've been waiting on new appliances for the kitchen since we moved in... and 2/3 of them are in today! whoo hoo!!  
THIS... is my old kitchen:



So I've got my BRAND NEW OVEN AND HOOD (SO happy they aren't "beige" anymore)



And our new refrigerator 



that actually holds stuff in the door!



Now to replace the nasty old broken dishwasher... 


hopefully the installers call me soon to set up a date/time...

(P.S. We didn't get new appliances cause the old ones were dated - the fridge didn't hold temperatures, the glass in the oven door was broken, and the dishwasher isn't level, and doesn't release soap, so I'm not THAT vain. lol.)

June 25, 2010

What's for Dinner? Margaritas :-P or in my case... rumiritas...

Alright people... it's hot out. I'm pretty sure it's hot EVERYWHERE, so I'm putting up my "I can keep all this in my house easily and not feel bad about it" recipe for margaritas. (P.S. I don't do tequila, so TECHNICALLY mine are "Lime Daiquiri's" but I like calling them rum-a-ritas instead. :)
This picture (and all of them today) are SO not mine.

For a pitcher:
1 container limeade concentrate
1/4 container of OJ (yes, orange juice)
1 container of tequila - these WILL knock you on your butt, but I was told they were delicious (I didn't have any, cause, duh? I used tequila)
LOTS AND LOTS of ice.
Blend till smooth.
oh, these are obviously blended margaritas... If you like them on-the-rocks, definitely add some water in there.

For a glass (when you're a rum-a-rita lover in a margarita world)
(this I did on the rocks - the blender was taken)
And as always, I OBVIOUSLY measured everything SUPER accurately.

In a large glass (16 ouncer was my choice) fill 1/2 with ice
Add water till the glass is 3/4 full.
Add 2 tbsp of lime juice (aka, an ounce, aka, a shot-ish)
Add 1 tbsp of SUGAR (we've got lime JUICE here, not limeADE)
Splash of OJ (yup, the orange juice again)
And then add clear rum - a shot or two, depending on how hard you want to hit the floor :-P
Mix well - like, really well, and you may have to let it sit for a bit in between mixings so the sugar can settle before you mix it again. Option 2: use superfine sugar or a simple syrup. Or just mix a lot like I did.



Simple Syrup:
Can be useful when trying to sweeten cold beverages. It's super easy to make, and if you need to sweeten cold beverages often, time saving. It's just 1 part sugar to 1 part water, cooked until all the sugar has dissolved. Many people use those ketchup squirters you see at diners and stuff to save it in and use at-will. I don't use that much sweetener, so I don't do this - or own one of the squirters, but I can see its usefulness if I did. Or just put it in a creamer container on the counter. Hopefully your creamer has a lid...




Superfine Sugar:
Also fairly easy to make, even if it's SUPER expensive to buy. This I DO have a stash of in my cabinet, but I never remember when it would be useful. Just take regular sugar, and process it in your food processor (I used my mini-chopper, cause it's all I got - you could try it in a blender... I don't know if it would work though) Process until it starts to "smoke."  More than that, and you could end up with powdered sugar. The smaller bits of sugar dissolve easier in the cold water, but will measure "less" too. You probably shouldn't use superfine sugar where a recipe calls for "sugar" but it's great for sweetening drinks and in the occasional crazy gourmet recipe that wants the superfine :)

Enjoy!

June 23, 2010

Treasury a week?

If only these treasury listings resulted in a SALE a week! :-P

But feel free to check it out anyway :-P

in
by
at

(woah - that's a lot of links!)

June 22, 2010

A Good Cause...

So a buddy of mine is involved with an organization who has applied for a Pepsi Refresh Grant (you may have heard about Pepsi Refresh on the radio... they give tons of money away every month to the top 10 people who can get the most votes on their idea) Dan is a mentor with the United Cerebral Palsy of Northern, Central and Southern New Jersey and their request is to nearly TRIPLE the amount of people that they can serve in their Teens & Young Adults with Disabilities program. Check out the Pepsi Refresh Site, and consider voting for these guys. You can vote once a day, and the voting ends June 30th. They have a long way to go, but the program is worth it and the need is great. .http://www.refresheverything.com/communitymentors. Plus! My birthday is June 30th, so it'd be a super awesome birthday present if they won :-P

June 16, 2010

Another Treasury!

I got an e-mail last night saying that I was put into another treasury!

And very exciting... I'm the first item :-P


Check it out!

June 15, 2010

What's for Dinner? Venison Steaks

So hubby's birthday was the other day, and he requested some venison steaks, grilled up. We have a favorite venison marinade, and I'm sharing it with you today - I'm sure it'd be pretty yummy for beef steaks too... but we have a favorite BEEF marinade too (that can be a later post).  I also made some flavored rice and some grilled veggies. Yummy!!



Venison Marinade from Wild Bounty, a Special Edition Game Cookbook

1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice (1 oz)
1/2 tsp onion salt (I use straight onion powder)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper

Just mix it all together and marinate the meat for at least an hour, but up to 4 in the fridge. Then grill for about 5 minutes on each side (for a 3/4 inch steak well done)

The rice I cooked in a rice cooker.

1/2 cup of uncooked rice (basmati, cause it's my favorite)
1 cup water
1 beef boulion cube (smashed up)
a sprinkle of onion powder
a sprinkle of garlic powder
2 tbs BUTTER!

and... cook till done :-P


And the veggies...
Zucchini and Yellow Squash sliced
1/4? cup oil
1 1/2 tsp/ seasoned salt
mix up in a baggy and let marinate if desired - you can also just cook right away
slice an onion, but keep in disks... after you've placed the squash on a hot grill, place the onion in the bag and coat it GENTLY with the seasoned oil, then place it carefully on the grill. Give it a few minutes to char on one side and then flip - the onion will take longer. Oh so yummy.

Happy grilling!

June 11, 2010

Friday? Already?

Is it really Friday? Really? OK, I guess I can post something again. I haven't done an Etsy update in a while. While we were in our moving phase, I was put in 2 treasuries and sold an item! Pretty good for doing absolutely NO advertisement AT ALL. 

The treasuries are... 
and

Go check them out!

June 9, 2010

What's for dinner? BBQ!!

So I confess, I write my blog entrys different days than they get posted. You probably knew that already. But today's "What's for dinner?" was actually written while I was cooking THIS dinner. It was delicious, and will DEFINITELY be cooked again.

(this is actually my photo this time, lol!)

Adobo Pork Chops, Quinoa and Broccoli

The recipe for the pork came out of a cookbook Hubby's dad gave him -The Ultimate Grilling Cookbook by Better Homes and Gardens.

Pork Chop Ingredients:
6 Boneless pork loin chops, cut 3/4" thick
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
2 tsp hot chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (optional, if you want a little extra heat)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cloves garlic, minced (I accidentally doubled this this evening, but we love garlic, so I don't expect a problem :-P)
2 tbsp sipped fresh cilantro

Directions: 
In a small bowl, mix all ingredients (except the pork silly!)
Combine marinade and pork in a zip-top bag and marinate for 2-24 hours (we did it for 1 hr, and just in the marinade bowl - I didn't start early enough to warrant the baggie :-P) turning bag occasionally
Drain chops and discard marinade
Grill over medium head for 8-11 minutes, or until juices run clear, turning once halfway through grilling.

For Quinoa, cook exactly like rice - I added 2 chicken bouillon to the cup of water (I know, only 1/cup! whatever!) for a little more flavor.

Steam broccoli until tender

Put it all on a plate, and EAT!

June 7, 2010

So... I missed a week...

Some of you may have noticed...
I missed a week (or two?) in there.

I have lost complete track of time, but since I last sat down to write, I've had 2 (or 3?) scheduled posts, 
took a 4 day trip to NJ, had movers in my house for 3 days packing all our lovely stuff up, movers in for another day putting it all on a truck, a weekend at a beach house with my hubsters (ok, not really, we spent the weekend priming and cleaning with me getting sick), A BBQ with my philipino Mama, then a run-around day resulting in our arrival in Virginia! Then we waited for the movers to drop off our stuff, 
and have been unpacking since, with a visit from my sister (the master-unpacker)
WOAH!

So as you may have guessed, I didn't have time (or internet)... but I'm back now and we only have 1.5 rooms to finish unpacking and then I can take a deep breath and say "OK, decorations" and once I've got THAT figured out... pictures :-D and visitors :-D