Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

1/2 lb lean ground beef
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
6 cups beef broth
1 pkg (1.35 oz) hot and sour soup mix*
1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup quick cook barley
4 eggs**

Brown ground beef, celery, and onion in dutch oven (or large pot) over medium heat until meat is brown and veggies are tender (6-8 min) Drain if neccessary.
Add broth, soup mix, tomatoes, beans, and barley. Cook covered over low heat stirring occasionally until barley thickens (11-13 min).
** optional addition: Break eggs, one at a time into saucer. Holding dish close to surface, slip egg into simmering soup. Cook until whites are completely set and yolks begin to thicken but are not hard (3-5 min). Do not stir.
Laden into bowls and top each with poached egg. Serve immediately.

I didn't do the poached egg step because I was cooking ahead to pack for lunches for myself and Jason. This soup is incredible either way!!

*hot and sour soup mix is found by the Asain food at your grocery.

Potato Soup

6 to 8 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 lb cubed ham
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
2 cups milk
1/2 box Velvetta or shredded cheese*
1/3 cup flour**
3/4 stick of butter

Place potatoes in large pot and cover with cool water. Season to taste. Bring to a boil and add ham cubes. Cook until potatoes are almost done. Stir in milk, butter, and cheese. Mix flour with a little water to make a thickening agent. Stir into pot and cook for 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Serve with chives, bacon pieces, sour cream, onions, shredded cheese, or any other garnishes you like.

*I use shredded cheddar (mild and sharp) instead of Velvetta because Jason doesn't like Velvetta.
**Adjust the amount of flour to give you a viscosity you like.
You can also cream the soup with a stick blender if you want, but we like ours chunky.

A fence gate start

Lessons I learned today:

There is a reason drill bits come in multiples in a package. Apparently a 1/8 inch drill bit is disposable and easy to snap off in a hole.

A pan head screw will fly off the tip of a drill and through the air at roughly the same speed as light and lodge itself on the bottom of a stack of 15 T post, never to be seen again.

No matter how carefully I try, the pilot hole I drilled is never in exactly the right spot again.

If you have an injured knuckle, you will bump it, scrap it, jab it, and nearly rip it off at least every 30 seconds. All other knuckles will be unaffected.

Any gate kit that says you can build a complete no sag gate in 20 minutes is LYING!

Additionally, if you are trying to do this yourself with no one to help hold anything, multiple that 20 minutes by 5. Add another 10 minutes if you have never built a gate before. Add another 30 minutes if you are clumsy.

Good thing I am to stubborn to give up... Stubborn and stupidity can look very similar to the untrained eye. Look how far I have already gotten.

My new brother in law. Oh, and my sister is married now!

These two beautiful people are my baby sister, Brandy, and my new brother in law, David. They got married on Thursday! I think David is nuts to join this family, but I am glad he did. :) They live in Northwest Arkansas and I don't get to see them near as much as I would like. David has two sweet little babies and Aunt Amanda needs some spoiling time. *hint hint* I love ya'll!
And just because I can, I leave you with their engagement and marriage picture, provided by yours truly. They don't know how it got permanently pinned to their facebook so that anytime they mentioned marriage or engagement, it would post. And I am not telling them how to get rid of it because it is so freaking cool ;)

Jason's Jambaylaya

Jason made this terrific jambaylaya for dinner tonight! As soon as I pulled in the carpot and opened the car door, the most wonderful aroma hit me. It tastes at least twice as good as it smells. And he was so adorable cooking :)




What you'll need:

1 1/2 pounds andouille sausage, diced
1 pound fresh pork sausage, removed from casings
1 pound bacon, diced
4 chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks separated)
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
5 celery stalks, diced
3 large onions, diced
2 green peppers, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 dried bay leaf
1 1/2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups converted white rice (Uncle Bens)
3 cups crushed tomatoes
3 cups rich chicken broth
2 1/2 pounds shrimp (preferably Louisiana white), peeled and deveined
1 1/2 pounds Louisiana crawfish, peeled and deveined (optional)
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1/2 Tbsp celery salt

How to make it:

1. Preheat a large cast-iron pot over high heat. Lower the heat to medium-high and add the sausage and bacon. Cook the meat as evenly as possible, stirring slowly, until the fat is released.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, add it to the pot, and turn the heat to high. Once the chicken has browned, add the celery, onions, green pepper, and garlic. Continue to stir, allowing the ingredients to brown without burning.

3. Lower the heat to medium and stir in the thyme, bay leaf, paprika, cayenne, and rice. Keep stirring for 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat.

4. Add the tomatoes and broth, raise the heat back to high until the liquid boils, and then cover and reduce to a low simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Season the shrimp and crawfish (if using) with salt and pepper, and add them to the pot. Keep the pot covered for an additional 5 minutes before removing from the heat and adding the green onions. Check for seasonings. Add salt, pepper, and the celery salt.

Makes 8 servings


Oh and that beautiful red Lodge dutch oven? That was an early Christmas gift for me. Have I mentioned how thoughtful and sweet this man is??

Workable Tool Organization

I love to be organized. I live by the motto "a place for everything and everything in it's place". When Jason asks, "where is the widget?" I want to be able to confidently say, "The widget is in the bathroom cabinet, third shelf, in the right corner of the blue basket", and the widget be exactly there. So I have been agonizing over my store room. This small room contains all my tools, tubs of pet food and bird seed, paint supplies,huge upright deep freezer, and the water heater closet. Thankfully I have a separate garage in the back yard to hold my power lawn equipment, wheel barrow, bicycles, etc...
Jason and I went to Lowe's and bought some peg board and 1x2 boards. I cut the 1x2s to proper length to make a frame on which I mounted the peg boards that I cut to size. We also purchased the pegged fixtures. I estimate that we spend less than $50 on all the supplies for this project. I am very happy with the results:

I put two shelves above the tool box to hold my circular saw (top shelf) and battery powered combo set. Notice how I used a scrap piece of wood to build a ledge on right side of the bottom shelf? This is to keep the battery charger from getting pulled off the edge.


Directly below the shelves is the "house use" peg board. This holds basic tools, various fasteners, tape measure, and duct tape.


The full length peg board has the least used items up top. A small step stool allows quick access to these items as needed. The black case holds my favorite screw driver and bit set.


The lower half has items I may need to grab more often.


A place for everything and everything in its place makes for less stress and a happier home. :)

Mashed Potatoes from a box???

I remember when I first discovered that some people got their mashed potatoes from a box. I was 17 years old and the year was 1998. I was shocked and disgusted. Really? You are to lazy to peel and boil a potato?? See I was fed for the first 12 years of my life by the best cook I have ever known, my great grandmother, Edna Mae Fuller. She was taught to cook by her mother, Lillie Mae (Eason)Gibbs. I can't recall a single day of those 12 years that potatoes were not peeled or cut up in our home. Mamaw cooked at least 3 meals a day. Mamaw and Papaw NEVER ate outside the house. When Mamaw got really sick we would have Arthur's BBQ sandwhiches on Wednesday nights that my Nonny (our name for my grandmother) would bring home. But even then, Mamaw and I would peel and cut potatoes to deep fry for homemade steak fries. When Mamaw died when I was 12, it was Nonny and me that cooked. We ate out ALOT after that because Nonny often worked late and I wasn't confident in the kitchen without my Mamaw. Still, I could boil a tater for crying out loud!
Well, flash forward 13 years. I LOVE these instant potatoes. I eat them at least twice a week. My momma can't figure out how I make a meal of nothing but instant potatoes. Well you add cheese and bacon bits and sour cream. :) I still make 'good' potatoes sometimes and anytime I am feeding anyone else. But for a meal quicker than a frozen dinner, I turn to those once disdained instant potatoes.