Exceedingly Mundane

I finished another book in my Fall Reading Challenge last night, “The Reading Group” by Elizabeth Noble. I have had this book on my library list for a while, and I finally decided to check it out and read it. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I think that if I had read it at another time, maybe earlier in the year, I would have liked it a lot more. I seem to be a lot busier lately, and a lot less “into” my reading. I guess I’m in a bit of reading rut 😀

I liked the book, but it did take me quite a while to get into it. I don’t think it’s that the fact that’s it’s chick lit, as I normally love this genre. Nor do I think because it’s British, because I usually really like British fiction (think Sophie Kinsella). I think it’s the fact that there were so many characters and I really had trouble keeping them straight for quite a ways into the book. Thankfully, there was a “cast of characters” type page in the front, that I had to repeatedly keep referring to. It listed the main characters (5 in the reading group), their spouses, children, extended family, who was friend with whom, who worked with whom, etc. It just took me a while to get invested in the characters I guess, and get them all straight!

For the record, that makes 63 books read so far this year, with a total of 22,243 pages read. Next up to read is another book on my Fall Reading Challenge list, a book I own that it sitting on my bookshelf — “At First Sight” by Nicholas Sparks. This book is a follow-up to one I read earlier this year, True Believer, also by Sparks. I hope it’s good!!!

We’ve had a lot of rain lately, and poor Beau doesn’t understand why he can’t go out and play in the rain and the mud. From what we know of his background and what we saw at the foster home, Beau has probably always been an outside dog. He was outside in a kennel with other dogs at the foster home, and so he is accustomed to being out in the rain and weather.

I want Beau to be a part of our family, and my pet, and so I want for him to be like our last dog, who stayed inside (albeit, in the kitchen, on the tile floor) for the majority of the time. Beau has taken to this change pretty well, overall. He’s learning his boundaries and that he can’t come on the carpet. He tolerates us wiping his feet with a towel every time he goes out and comes back inside the kitchen. But, a lot of the time, I think he doesn’t really get it, and just wants to go back out and be an outside dog. Especially when it’s raining and muddy, like it has been a lot lately.

Here’s a couple of pictures I took of Beau earlier in the week, when it was raining or still muddy in the backyard. He was, of course, inside the kitchen with me, but he really looked like he wanted to go outside!

So, after it stopped raining, I opened a window so he could smell things outside. I think he likes it when I do that, but I also think it tortures him too, smelling everything and being stuck inside:

After several weeks of only making “tried and true” recipes, I have finally broken out of my same-ole, same-old mode and made a couple of new things. Yesterday, I tried a new recipe for a Crockpot Cranberry Chicken, which we both liked. It has sort of a sweet and savory taste to it and we both really liked it. I will do that one again. I didn’t take a picture, sorry. It wasn’t the prettiest dish, but it tasted good, and that is all that counts in this household! The sauce/gravy was good, and we had it over no-yolk egg noodles, with some steamed fresh green beans on the side (which I spritzed with fat-free butter spray, and then sprinkled on some salt and lemon pepper). I think the beans were my favorite part 🙂

This morning, I made a new recipe for a Baked Oatmeal. Tim, as expected, wouldn’t eat it, but I really really liked it. I had made one version (recipe here) a couple of years ago and it was good, but this one looked easier and so I decided to try it. I am trying to eat more oatmeal, and eat a little better overall. It’s always a lot easier on me to eat oatmeal in the fall and winter, when it’s cooler. In the summer, I just want my bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch or Cheerios with skim milk in the morning. Nothing hot. But this time of year, I love eating oatmeal. I bought some milled flax seed the other day in the grocery store, and am trying to sprinkle some of that on my oatmeal, to be a little extra healthy. I didn’t add any to this recipe, but I might try some next time. It was really good, and very filling. I have a bunch left for breakfast for me for the rest of the week. I will just take a square out, pop it in the microwave, and voila, hot oatmeal

P.S. The recipes are listed on the main website at Hambones.org (just click on the links above), so feel free to check them out. I must mention that I got both of these recipes from the message boards at the Cooking Light website. I always find a lot of really good recipes there, and I like reading all the feedback and comments there. The same with AllRecipes.com, I like to see what other people, “real” people, thought and what they changed or modified about the original recipe.

We just got back from voting. It always feels really good to get out and do your civic duty, and exercise your right to vote. Tim and I both think of it as both an honor and a privilege. Part of being an American and living in this great country.

Anyway, we walked to our polling place. That’s another one of the pluses about living where we do. Our polling place is on the outskirts of our subdivision, so we can just walk. It is so pretty out today. It’s still muddy from all the rain yesterday, but really nice and sunshiny, and in the mid 60’s today. Great fall weather.

We have finally entered the 21st century in our neck of the woods. We graduated from old style ballots to new electronic voting machines. It was really nice, especially for two geeky people like ourselves. They had to “show” us what to do, and they were all really nice and it was a lot quicker with the electronic machine. 🙂

Last week, I posed a what-would-you-do question that I stole from an online website. The question was – would you sneak a peek into someone else’s medicine cabinet in their bathroom (or drawers or other cabinets)?

My blog buddy Deb, over at Sugarfused suggested that I ask another question along the same lines… would you weigh yourself on a pair of bathroom scales in someone else’s bathroom? I probably would! It’s not nearly as nosy, and hey, you can say it’s for research, comparing your scales to theirs to see if they weigh you the same!

So, today’s Question of the Day, would you sneak a quick weigh-in on someone else’s bathroom scales?

P.S. Thanks Deb, for suggesting the question!!!

It’s that time of the week again, to post our menus and check out the other ones at OrgJunkie ‘s blog. I love seeing what everyone else is cooking, and getting some good ideas for meals. Love seeing new recipes too! 🙂

Sunday – Game Day Food …we grilled burgers and turkey burgers, have enough left for lunches for a couple of days.

Monday – new recipe for Crockpot Cranberry chicken, couscous or egg noodles, fresh green beans

Tuesday – Grilled Salmon (Stacy)/Grilled Chicken (Tim), baked sweet potatoes, butter peas

Wednesday – Light Night (Tim weighs in at his weight loss group on Thursday morning) – Grilled Chicken Salad

Thursday – Sausage Corn Chowder, bread

Friday – probably Date Night

Saturday – undecided…we might be out of town for the day

Sunday – Game Day Food – buffalo wings, oven fries

I’m also hoping to make a batch of baked oatmeal for myself for breakfast and snacks this week. I’ve made one before (this recipe) and while I liked it, I think I am going to try a different recipe. I found a Cooking Light version posted at their message boards that uses raisins, walnuts, applesauce, oatmeal, etc and I’m going to try to make that one to compare. If I get industrious, that is! Good intentions and all 😀

I posted a few pictures I had taken in our yard yesterday, but I didn’t post one because I have no idea what this is! I was hoping someone could help me out.

We have a small line of trees behind our fence, in our extra back yard. Tim hits golf balls there, and Beau runs around having a blast smelling all the trees and shrubs. There’s a tree that has been dropping these huge green ball things the last couple of weeks. I have absolutely no idea what they are. If you do, please drop me a comment and let me know! Thanks 🙂

Anyone know what this is?

I have taken a few pictures over the last few days of things outside in our yard and neighborhood, and thought I would post them here. We’re not having a lot of fall color, since we are so far south, but we are starting to see a little. The cooler temperatures we’ve had the last few days are really starting to help, I think.

I also bought a few more pansies yesterday, that I just finished planting. I *think* I’m through with planting pansies for this fall, although I have one more small flower bed I’m considering putting some in. My problem with flowers in the spring and fall is that I see them in the stores and nurseries and get all ga-ga over them… I love buying them and taking them home, and then I absolutely dread planting them! Isn’t that silly?! 😆

OK, here’s a picture of my Confederate Rose that started blooming about the third week of October. I don’t quite understand how this thing blooms so late in the year, with big huge blooms that are such a pale pink. These sooo look like spring bloomers to me, but they bloom in late October and early November every year. I love this one, because there was a bee buzzing around the bloom, look on the right:

Click on the extended entry for another picture of my confederate rose, some of the fall foliage on our street, and some of the pansies I just bought and planted 🙂

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OK, my sister Gail tagged me for this meme. The object, apparently, is to list 9 weird things about yourself. The innate problem with me doing this particular meme is that Gail and I are very very much alike. We’re more like twins separated by several years (although I’d love to tell you how many, Gail would kill me!!! ), so we like and dislike a lot of the same things, and surprisingly, we have a lot of the same quirks.

So, my answers could easily be many of the same ones that Gail answered (read hers here)… but, I’ll strive to be different. Without further ado, 9 weird things about me:

1. I have this thing about stuff being in the right place. For example, if Tim puts the mayonnaise jar back in the fridge (but not where it’s supposed to go, on the shelf on the door), I will move it back to it’s rightful spot the next time I open the refrigerator. Every single time.

2. Similarly, since I like things in their “correct” place, I have a tendency to move things like keys or coasters. Tim will drop his keys on the countertop in the kitchen, so I hang them up on their hook on the key holder. If he moves his coaster on the end table to the coffee table, I move it back to the end table. It’s the OCD/Monk syndrome in me

3. Tim offered this one for this meme – when I cry, I sweat a little on my upper lip. 🙄

4. When I read a book or magazine, I won’t use anything but a bookmark or a spare piece of torn paper to mark my page. I won’t stick anything else in it, bend it back on the spine, or turn the corner of the page down. I don’t like messing up my books and magazines 🙂

5. I used to win things all the time on the radio. I’ve won 2 trips (one to the Bahamas when I was 12 and one to Dallas to see the Dixie Chicks a few years ago), tons of movie tickets, albums, cassettes and CD’s (yes, I’m old), and even food. One year I won a honey-baked ham at Thanksgiving and one year at Christmas I won a huge tray of stuff from Chick-Fil-A. Alas, I haven’t won anything lately though. Since we got digital cable and I got an iPod, I don’t listen to local radio much anymore!

6. I have never seen the Wizard of Oz. And I never will. All of my family thinks that I am weird, but I don’t care. I didn’t see it as a child and I know it won’t mean anything to me as an adult.

7. On the same wavelength, I have never seen an entire episode of certain shows on television from start to finish. Shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Law & Order, etc. I have seen snippets, bits and pieces, but I’ve never sat down and watched one from beginning to end.

8. There are TV shows that I love though, and movies too, and I can quote long sections of dialogue. TV Shows like Friends and Mad About You (which I ADORED!) and movies like The Sound of Music, You’ve Got Mail, Princess Bride, all of the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies… I know tons of dialogue and even inflections in their voices and can replicate it.

9. Tim says that my obsession with Chinese food is “weird”. He gets burned out on certain kinds of food, and for the last several YEARS, it has been Chinese. I could eat it every day, but I have to settle for once every few weeks or months. He thinks I’m weird because I want to eat Chinese so much. I don’t think it’s weird, but I did ask his opinion on this meme, and he threw that one out at me

BONUS: I just realized, as I was sitting here at my computer, in my computer chair, thinking about these and typing them up, that I sit in my chair with one leg up under me (or sometimes, both legs!). I do it all the time, and never think a thing about it. Other people might think it’s weird though. I have to have one or both legs up in my chair when I’m at the computer. I can’t sit here correctly, ergonomically, with my feet on the floor in a correct position. I just can’t. 😛

I won’t tag anyone specifically, but please feel free to play along, either at your own blog, or leave me a comment here about something that is “weird” about you, or that other people think is weird, and you think it’s just fine!!!!

I blogged briefly yesterday about the black bean chili that I was going to make for supper. It was chilly and blustery here yesterday, and I had homemade bread rising, so chili seemed like the perfect complement to that. I should have taken a picture of the chili in the pot, but we were too hungry and we just dove right in and I never thought about it!

So, the Black Bean Chili is my submission for today’s Favorite Ingredient Friday meme, sponsored by Overwhelmed with Joy. Check out her beautiful blog for other participants.

Beefy Black Bean Chili

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground round (or ground turkey)
2 15 oz cans no salt added black beans — undrained
1 cup medium or hot chunky style salsa
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili seasoning mix
low fat sour cream — optional
shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese — optional
tortilla chips — optional

Directions

Cook meat in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until meat is browned, stirring until it crumbles. Drain, if necessary.

While meat cooks, drain and mash 1 can of beans. Add mashed beans, undrained beans, salsa, tomato sauce and seasoning mix to saucepan. Stir well. Cook over medium heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Spoon into serving bowls. Top with additional toppings, if desired.

NOTE: Original recipe says it makes 7 – 1 cup servings, but who eats 1 cup of chili for a main dish?! She noted that this was about 4 good servings. She used one can of black beans and one can of seasoned pinto beans with liquid, Newman’s salsa and Penzey’s chile powder, and also added some Penzey’s chipotle powder.

Stacy’s Notes – Made October 2003. This was quick, and really good! Used 1 pound ground chuck and 2 cans black beans as directed. I used 1 cup of On the Border brand salsa, about 1 1/2 tablespoons of chili seasoning from a packet, and a pinch or two of chipotle powder. Served with tortilla chips (fat free), sour cream and shredded cheddar. Also, I used 1 can plain tomato sauce and one can of roasted garlic flavored sauce. A definite keeper!

Source: Cooking Light message board

Well, all is right in my little world today. Mostly, anyway! I just discovered that Beau, the wonder dog, has chewed and scratched on some of my kitchen chairs. Oh well, it’s just furniture, right?! Other than that, everything is pretty rosy around here. I “survived” my doctor visit yesterday, and Tim got home really late last night. I’m so glad he’s back and didn’t have to stay the entire week on his business trip. Yippee! Plus, I got to watch the Dancing with the Stars results show last night, and Lost, both in HD. And tonight is another great TV night for us (CBS Thursday – Survivor, CSI, Shark). And…

Gosh, it’s just great weather here today!!! How about where you are? A storm front moved through yesterday, bringing us some rain, and a great drop in temperatures. It actually really feels like fall here. I love it! The high today is only supposed to be in the upper 50’s, which is great for us. Next week, it’s supposed to get back up near 80º again! This weather really makes me want to bake, and make a lot of soup and chili. Now that Tim is back from his business trip, I am revising my menu for this week. I think tonight I’ll make some homemade black bean chili to go along with the sourdough bread I have rising. I’ll post the recipe tomorrow as my entry into Favorite Ingredient Friday (last week’s recipes and links are posted here!)

I was blog surfing yesterday, and someone referenced a magazine I had not heard of, called Quick and Simple. I found their website, and was rather surprised to see that they had a poll up on their home page. The current poll is “Have you ever peeked inside someone’s medicine cabinet?” — which I thought would make a great Question of the Day. So, I’m hereby stealing it.

Today’s Question of the Day: Would you ever peek inside a bathroom cabinet or drawer at someone else’s home? Only if it were a friend or close family, or not at all, or do you do it all the time?!! Inquiring minds want to know 😆

Sandra, over at Diary of a SAHM mom, sponsors this each week. Be sure to go over and check out Sandra’s lovely blog, and also check out this week’s entries… everyone has been posting lots of yummy sounding recipes lately! Click here for this week’s entries.

This week, I’m going to post another oldie but goodie. I haven’t made this in a while, but will probably make it soon, now that cooler weather is upon us. It’s not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, just good comfort food. My husband likes me to make cornbread with this, and we just crumple our cornbread in the bowl and top it with this beans and sausage concoction. (As always, be sure to read all of my notes at the bottom!!! I have made changes to this one, and tried different beans and sausages)

Have a great day everyone!

Crockpot Four Beans And Sausage

Ingredients:
1 – 15 oz can drained Great Northern Beans
1 – 15.5 oz can rinsed drained black beans
1 – 16 oz can drained red kidney beans
1 – 15 oz can drained butter beans (see notes, can use different beans)
1 1/2 cups ketchup — see notes
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 green pepper — chopped
1 pound cooked smoked sausage — cut in 1/2″ slices
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cloves garlic — minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low 9 to 10 hours, or on high 4 to 5 hours.

Stacy’s Notes – Made June 03. I used canned great northern beans, black and red kidney beans, 1 can french cut green beans, and 1 box frozen baby lima beans. I used 1 pkg of our deer sausage and about 1 cup ketchup and everything else the same except no bell pepper. I cooked this in the crockpot on HIGH for about 3 hours, then turned to low. I served over a wild rice combo but Tim didn’t like the rice. He just ate it plain in a bowl, and he suggested that I make cornbread to go with it next time. So that’s what I do now, make cornbread for Tim, and if I’m ambitious, I make brown rice for me too! 🙂

More Stacy’s Notes – I have made this many times since originally posting the above notes. I have used different combinations of beans, but usually use a can of Italian cut Green Beans, Great Northern, black and red kidney beans. Sometimes I substitute frozen for the canned (baby limas, green beans). If I don’t have deer link sausage, I use Healthy Choice turkey sausage. This is definitely not gourmet, but very good comfort food. 🙂 Enjoy!

Source: Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook, page 208

Halloween night was fairly quiet in our house… how about yours? Beau, the wonder dog, did surprisingly well. He got really worked up, hearing the doorbell ring so much. He kept looking around for people to play with, after all – he heard the bell and their voices! (We are training him to stay in the kitchen and not in the parts of the house that are carpeted… it’s going semi-ok, he does pretty good MOST of the time!). I don’t think we had nearly as many kids as last year, maybe 20-25 or so. I have tons of candy left – anybody want some?!

I watched Dancing with the Stars, and man, that show is getting good! I really hate to see any of them go. I really like all of the dancers that are left, and they all did so well last night. I tried to call in and vote for Emmitt, but I never could get in, just got busy signals. I hope that’s a good sign!

Well, today is the day of the dreaded doctor visit. I dodge it as long as I can during the year, then finally give in and go in October, usually. Although this year I managed to push it to November I’m sure it will be fine, but I just hate and loathe every part of going. Hate needles and taking blood, hate having a mammogram and hate the rest of the exams too. Blech. I am always so relieved when it’s over and want to hear those words that everything is okay. I’ve had so much trouble through the years, and tests and doctors and specialists and drugs and surgery, that I’m always afraid they’ll find something else or new wrong with me.

So, here’s a Question of the Day – which do you like the least, the doctor or the dentist? If either! 🙂

Well, I guess we’re as ready as we’re going to be for Halloween. Halloween is really not that big of a deal in our house. I love the candy, and I love all the fun aspects of the holiday, but since we don’t have kids, we really don’t do that much anymore. When we were first married, we carved pumpkins, and we used to dress up. Tim has dressed up several times in the past and scared both adults and children alike inside and outside our house. But, sadly, those days appear to be over. These days, Tim can’t really even be bothered to get up and go answer the door. Which is a moot point this year anyway, with his business trip.

So, we’re really not doing anything very Halloween-y today. I have some fall decorations out front, and a big bowl of candy ready to give out. I guess that’s about as good as it gets around here this year!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Beau has a new toy, recommended to me by Stacy and my sister Suzanne. It’s a red Kong, and he really seems to like it. Of course, we’re filling the thing with treats, but hey, you do what you gotta do!

I had never heard of a Kong, but after seeing it and reading about it, I really like this toy. You can fill the inside cavity with any kind of food or treat, and the dog really has to work at licking the toy to get to the food inside. The red rubber itself is very sturdy and looks to be fairly indestructible. The first toy we bought Beau was a soft squeaky toy (like the kind we used to buy our other dog, a golden retriever mix), and that was a big mistake. He had chewed the ears off that toy and was pulling out the stuffing in just a few minutes. We realized right then that he needed something stronger and sturdier. I bought him some Nylabones at Petsmart last week, and he really likes those. But, we like to give him different toys and different things to chew on and play with.

I bought a bottle of Kong Stuff N Paste in the Liver flavor (they were out of peanut butter, which is what I wanted to try on him), and he LOVES this stuff! We squirt the paste in the cavity of the Kong, and he has a blast licking it and trying to get it all out. Both Stacy and Suzanne had told me that they put regular human-food peanut butter in the Kong for their dogs, so after we go through the squirt bottle of Liver paste (which won’t take long, he loves it and we’re giving him a good bit right now), we’ll try the peanut butter. (Hopefully he’s not allergic to peanuts or peanut butter… one thing at a time!)

Click on the extended entry to see some pictures I took of Beau with his Kong…

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