Puppies !!

So we you all know we have Yankee, Dixie, and now Belle from their first litter.  Ummm we just realized our Miss Dixie is soon to have another bunch of puppies!! We didn't want her to have anymore pups,  we are still recovering from the last batch!  Who ever said there is money to be made from having AKC registered pups are crazy!  Our dogs have a beautiful kennel that Steve worked his ever living ass off  building for them.  The place is HUGE!  the house is insulated and looks like a real house for heavens sake.  It's shaded, has a pool, and all the sticks Yankee could possible chew or chase.  Though by the end of the day they are house dogs,  they think they own place and everything in it.  They are spoiled, they have a plastic bucket that was for recycling bottles that Yankee has now claimed as his " toy box "  Dixie knows where the treat jar is in our bedroom,  and when she wants some she pokes it with her nose and stares at it.  Then there is my Belle  "one of the best gifts Steve ever gave me "  she is a little bit of both her parents.  Not only is she loved to death by us but her parents still clean her and she is 6 months old!

 My dilemma?   the work!!  I can't even begin to tell you how much work there was.  The food to feed them and keep them clean was unbelievable.  Poor Dixie had 9 fat ass pups who ate  like there was no tomorrow. Part of me and Steve are dreading it but, it was one of the nicest experiences I ever had and wouldn't have missed sharing that with him for the world.  So I am bracing myself to  do it all over again.  Her last batch was born on Valentines day,  I would love her to have them labor day but,  I don't think she will hold out that long.

Here's some pics of their sweet Puppy family.

 See Yankee loving his Dixie.

 OK, he is always loving his girl.

 Look at the proud Mama and tiny puppy is Belle, we know that because she always laid with her mama and still does till this day.

All I am going to say is...OUCH!

  Yeah,  Dixie did all the work and the the proud Dad just keeps a watch over his pups sleeping.

 My Lil Belle.

Yankee just loves Steve.

Steve with his two best buds & his family...

Canning

One of the reasons I've been gone was I've dipped back into the pool of canning!  I blogged earlier that I was going to try and can again if I could do it not going to the poor house.  As I  wrote a few post back Mandy found a farmer with pretty good prices so canning became possible.  I forgot so much that it took a bit of time to get familiar with the whole thing again as well as the pressure cooker which terrified me!  but once I started seeing all those shiny jars filled with my finished product I was hooked all over again like when I was young.


Canning has come a long long way over the years.  There is almost nothing you can't put in a jar safely. I have so enjoyed finding and trying new recipes.  Last week I made maple infused onion jam with sherry and thyme, sounded gross at first but I made it and loved it!  This winter when it's freezing out and we have a fire going how nice it will be to pop open some blueberry jam or tomatoes sauce.  To pop open a jar and have the smells and taste of the spring and summer will be so nice, especially if I make some home made bread or scones..

Here is just a peek what I have done so far.  I am sure there are many women who can put me to shame as far as quanity goes..lol   I am not done yet.  I still have some to do and wait for pear and apple season..

The Big Project

 OK so some of you know my husband Steve and I am sure you've heard me call him a hobo a few times over the years.  Hobo just doesn't describe how messy he is!!  Steve has a study and he has as you know many hobbies and interest but, since we bought this house,  I've come to realize he is a pack rat!  A year ago me and my daughter Holly went in and cleaned it really nice, hung new curtains,  you name it.  He had went to New York to get our son in laws car before he left on deployment so I took advantage of him being gone.  the room looked pretty good in such a little time.

Well it's been a year and lets say Steve has never cleaned since!  maybe he swept once in a while just so he could get to his chair at his computer...lol  We have three big Golden Retrievers and red clay for dirt that gets everywhere.  So I thought for his birthday I would do something big like clean and paint it.  I think I was in his room just a few hours when I realized I can't do it all alone or in 1 day.  So my other daughter Mandy offered to help.  We never thought it would take 4 days and one no sleep night to get it done but we did it!   I couldn't wait to show him.  He has such nice things to be covered with dirt and filth. We put so much though in to it. As hard as it was,  it was well worth it to see his face smiling!  Steve doesn't get happy very often and even when he does it never last very long. It makes us so sad and we know it will always be temporary but we do things to make him smile even if only for a minute because we think he is worth it.

Here is a pic of his Study..

Hers is a pic of Steve in his study...

I'm back...

Well I've been off here a few weeks and I am sorry.  I've had a lot of things going on here at home keeping me busy and very little time to just sit and write.  I have to say I have really missed it.  I use to blog a journal a few years back and wrote every single day, my good friend had access to it and said I should write a book.  I was very honest with my writing and blunt  maybe because originally it was only meant for me to see so I wrote exactly how I felt.   I found it so relaxing and therapeutic!  I started this blog thinking I could give some great insight to young moms or other women but as each day passe's I realize more and more that I'm nothing special,  just some woman who has survived life and and all that comes with it.  I think for my own sake and sanity I am going to change my ways and blog the way I want,  not to please anyone or make people think my life is just grand, If you read it and get something out of it that will be great!  I still plan to post recipes, pictures, and ALL that is or isn't going in my life.  Life is too short so honesty, frankness, and modesty,  here it comes...

You can.. can!

Last year I wanted to can some veggies and make some jam.  Steve went right out and bought me some Ball canning jars and I few days later my stove died,  and also it was a bit too late in the season to get much in the way of produce. I was so disappointed but determined the following year I would can my ass off!  Well it's next year  and a few months ago I scored some strawberries and black berries and made a dozen jars of jam.  I was so proud of myself until I realized how much money my daughter and I spent on making those jams.

My biggest reason for wanting to can is I used to do it when I was a young mother and I enjoyed it, plus I also want to have the freshest ingredients possible for me and my family to enjoy.  I remember how nice it was in the middle of the winter and you would open up a jar of tomato's or a jam and the smell was incredible!  You felt like you stepped back into summer when everything was there for the taking.

So I made my jams that day and thought this is just too expensive and I need to wait till I can find a deal on fresh fruits and vegetables as they come into season.  It's now August and all I have made since is 6 pints of white peaches.  " I got them at a good price ".  My daughter and myself keep looking for some good deals but even the farmers who sell on the street are just way too expensive!  you need a good 6-7 pears to make one quart and more than that for a quart of tomatoes.  Steve loves pickles and I promised I make him some,  well you need 36 cucumbers for to make about six pints.  If you go to your local store or farmer on the street corner it's going to cost you!  never mind if you have to invest in jars and supplies.

Finally my daughter came home and said she found a cute farmers market and I said I have one too but it's still too much money.  She said lets check it out anyways,  so reluctantly I did yesterday and I was happy as a clam!  It's run by an elderly couple and the produce is amazing and reasonable!  I was so excited that I bought a big basket of tomatoes and I plan on canning them tomorrow and if I can score some Kirby cucumbers over the weekend I will make Steve his pickles.

I am finally all charged up again about canning! I dragged out my cookbooks and started scoping out ideas!  We live on a small farm where our chickens give us fresh eggs so I am a happy camper!

tomato pie " pizza! "

 Pizza,  who doesn't love it ? 
My friend Lisa makes great pizza but, when I asked her how many calories she thought her home made pizza was she laughed and said I never thought about it I make so many kinds of pizza.  So I asked her to figure out how much calories was in her sausage & veggie pizza "mushrooms, onions, and peppers.



OK she got back to me and said Holly Crap!  I say about 355 calories per slice!  I said and how much of that is fat?  if you knew Lisa,  you would know she said shut up! lol

Lets face it,  there's no good news about low fat pizza,  I've tried ALL the so called great tasting low fat recipes and lets say they stunk!  So I decided that I would try my best to make it taste good and not kill us with the fat and carbs.  I also figured we only have it on our treat days.

Here is what you'll need to make 2 8- 10" pizzas

1.  1/2 lb dough for either one large or 2 smaller
2. 2 cloves of garlic minced
3. 2 pints of grape or cherry tomatoes roasted
4. Fresh asiago cheese  " the kind you can grate "
5. Fresh basil if you like  " I used dried myself "

 Now take the sausage out of the casing and saute in a non stick pan until all nice and crumbly along with the garlic,  add a bit of water if it starts to stick
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Now I always make my own pizza dough but you can buy a lb at a bakery or in the freezer dept.

Just make sure you divide it into 4 portions, put 1/2 a side for another day

Let the dough rest a good hour at least, this way you can roll it out as thin as possible with ease.

 Preheat your oven to 425 degrees

Sprinkle a little cornmeal on your cookie sheet or pizza pan,  this makes it crisp and taste authentic"
Place dough on pan, load up your tomatoes, sausage  and grate fresh asiago cheese all over it and baked it 10 - 12 minutes.   Take it out grate some more cheese and put on some fresh basil or dried and let it rest 5 minutes so when you cut it, it will stay nicely on the crust.   Enjoy!.

    Calories in my pizza is about 468 calories which isn't bad when you get your own whole pizza to yourself,  it's not totally guilt free if your watching your carbs but,  it's a smart choice you can enjoy with out all the guilt,  if you have the extra calories to spare you could have a small chopped salad with this to round out your meal as long as you don't go crazy with the salad dressing.  I thought I couldn't eat pizza and lose weight but,  I do and I've lost over 50 lbs so far and still losing.  I make little changes that make a huge difference.