Don't buy that jarred stuff

Hi dee ho!!!

It's hump day Wednesday and I'm just chillin' while two strange men crawl on my roof in the hundred+ temperatures.  Never fear...insurance adjusters from that last crazy hail storm we had.

In other more exciting news..... I picked up a birdcage at the auction awhile back and it just was screaming to be painted....so, I did.

I painted it a nice ivory cream color then distressed it 

and now mama birdie has a freshly painted home.

Looks much better!!

my mantle is all dressed and ready for 4th of July

see those glass stars? dollar store candy dishes that I spray painted.

Yep, stand still and I'll either spray paint you or decoupage you.

So, since I told you not to buy the jarred stuff you are probably wondering what that was all about.  Well, I'm talking spaghetti sauce people.  Don't buy that jarred stuff full of crap just make your own.  Better for you and it tastes darn good too.  Don't fret, it doesn't take long at all and you've probably got most of the stuff on hand anyways.

You need:

1 med onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

3 Tbsp olive oil

2- 16 oz. cans tomato sauce

1- 16 oz can crushed tomatoes

3 Tbsp chopped parsley

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp basil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

chop up those onions

put them in the pan with the olive oil and let them cook until they are nice and translucent

then dump in the garlic and stir it around

now if you want meat in your sauce, add it now

this is just extra lean ground beef about a pound of it

sometimes I used 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 Italian sausage

Get that meat all nice and browned and mixed together

now dump in everything else

stir it around and let it cook for at least 15 minutes

Truth be told....make this at least a day ahead and then put it in the refrigerator then pull it out and reheat for dinner.   It's just one of those things that gets better with time in the refrigerator.  You can also pack it up and freeze it now.  I'm getting ready to do that for the college kiddos to have when school starts in the fall.   Then they just have to unthaw and cook some noodles. 

This is the hubsters moms recipe and this is a picture straight out of the book we found cleaning up her house.  It's nice to have all the recipes but even nicer when they are actually in her handwriting.

It just makes it personal. 

and this is dinner.  Instead of noodles we had cheese ravioli.  Nice change of pace.

(ok...truth be told, this wasn't dinner.  I forgot to do photos so I had to make a plate early this morning...then I had to eat it for breakfast. Tough life I know??!!!)

this is my plastic ware cabinet.  I cleaned it and I took a picture because it probably won't look like this by Friday.  Plastic ware is funny that way but for now, everyone has a partner.

So today's story...don't buy that jarred stuff.  Isn't your family worth knowing what is in their food? Besides, this is so much tastier and it really doesn't take a ton of time.

On a completely unrelated note...I have a horrible headache and I'd give anything for a diet coke. 

darn you artificial sweeteners and my decision to cut you out of my life.

What about you....what is something that you love but you've decided to cut out of your life because it's a healthier decision?   C'mon let's all suffer together and share our misery!! 

Peace, Love & Yummies

p.s.  seriously...this post just was willy nilly all over the place. Kind of like living in my mind.

sorry about that.  

Why I......

....have been missing, and assorted bits of odd information.

It's been crazy around here and I've just been completely spazzed, my apologies for my lack of posts. 

I wish I could promise I will be better and post every day but then I'd be lying and I hate that so I'll just be honest, I'm gonna post as much as I can and hope you will truck along with me.

First order of business...it's H O T !!!!

ok...now I'm not complaining I'm just stating a fact.  It's hot, very hot, very very very hot.

and we need rain.  the end.

Second....please don't try to plan a vacation that satisfies 3 teenagers (technically two are 20 now but let's not nit pick here) and only have a tiny limited time frame that everyone can go and think that you will make everyone happy.  It's just not gonna happen....I'm about to give up and you know, even if I plan the best vacation ever I'll still not do something that someone wants and they'll end up blaming me for the "failed" vacation. It's already happened once this year, it'll happen again I'm sure.  whew...I feel like Eeyore all of a sudden! 

Moving along.....let's play a little game I've dubbed "Why I......"

Why I love the dollar store

A fourth of July napkin, a clear candle holder, a clear plate, some decoupage and glue will get you this custom cake plate.   Wonder what kind of yummies I'll put on that plate for the 4th?

Why I'm obsessed with bedside coasters.

You get a new one every season, holiday, mood AND you don't get rings on your furniture.

Why I love saving everything

This was an old 4th of July wreath and an old valentines day wreath...combined together

Why I don't take my husband shopping with me.

We come home with approximately 24 12-packs of sale beverages.

on the bright side...guess what I don't have to buy the rest of the summer!

Why I do take my husband shopping!

He convinces me to buy completely impractical objects such as this little cotton candy machine

yes...it works and it's soooo cool!

Why I coupon

yes...I coupon to save money so I can buy completely re-donk-you-lous pairs of shoes.

Mind you I have no job... I stay home and most days don't shower until sometime after noon but yeah, these cuties just screamed to me.  The nice man at Famous Footwear didn't have my size so he mailed them to my house....for FREE. They arrived today and I smiled.

Yep... I love them and because I save money other places I can occasionally treat myself to something like these little beauties (yes, they were on sale...a little)

Why I shop the clearance aisles

As much as the rumpus bustin' wally world  drives me crazy...there's no denying the ability to score an awesome deal.   These little cuties were on sale for $4.  One has tea and the other lemonade...a perfect summer situation I think.

Why I miss giving up artificial sweeteners

oh my beloved..oh how I miss thee.  It's been 3 weeks and I still crave you every morning but you are bad for me and I've let you go.   ;-(    (sniff sniff)

Peace, Love & Yummies my friends!

there are no titles sufficient

So as you can probably tell there is going to be no rhyme or reason for today's post...some days you just go with it.

This is my lunch on Sunday....I made the chicken salad on Saturday and Hubster made me a nice sammie, with these new Jalapeno Ranch popcorn baked ranch chip things and some nice tomatoes.

I ate it .... it was good, the end.

I made some home made ice cream last night from a new recipe

This was the chicken I made for dinner.

You can find the recipe and instructions over here

I made this before and yes, it's still Some Kind of Amazing Chicken

This was dinner and it was yummy for my tummy

Since you are wondering....the camera has been set on beach mode ever since we got home and all our pictures have a funny tint to them. I think we fixed it sometime last night.

This was the ice cream, Strawberry Marshmallow.  It was good but just way way way toooooo creamy for any of us.  I think next time I split up the half and half with some milk.

This is Kiss dog...she wanted ice cream but she didn't get any. Sorry Kiss dog!!

This was a bowl of said ice cream, see it even looks really extra creamy

These are skewers, wine corks, ice pick and a sharpie marker

(the sharpie is MIA from the photo_as it usually is from the pencil cup)

I just wrote the name of the herb on the cork 

pierced the cork with the ice pick, inserted a skewer and then plucked them in the pots

Here we have Mr. Basil

Mr. Dill 

and of course, Mr. Thyme

On the phone front...My new one came today, it looks like this

I think I love it....but I don't know how to do much of anything with it.  :0)

That's all for today and if you stayed with me through this whole boring post...then bless your pea pickin' little ole' heart because I think I bored myself.   See ya tomorrow peepers!

Peace, Love & Yummies

Black Bean Stuffed Red Peppers

Happy Monday my peepers!!!

Well, it wasn't such an awesome weekend for me; On Saturday my phone just died. No rhyme or reason the hubster and I were driving to the movie (Fab Five) and I thought hubster was messing with me and turned my phone off, he wasn't and didn't so no phone.  

On a completely unrelated note....Fab Five was fabtastic!! I mean c'mon, The Rock (hello!!!!), Vin Diesel, Paul Walker.  How in the heck could it not be good!!!  If you like the other Fast & Furious movies you'll like this one and Ludacris & Tyrese...HYSTERICAL!

Back to the phone....on Sunday we head over to the ole' Verizon Wireless store to allow the sales person to pronounce my phone DOA.  Problem is that the phone I want is a tad too pricey and they were busy and weren't in the mood to make deals.  So we left but in my complete disgust over my poor dead "crackberry" AND I had to (ahem) visit the ladies room really really really bad; I sat on my Ray Ban aviator sunglasses.  I love my sunglasses...now they look like I had a few too many but I'm wearing them anyway because well heck I already have to buy a new phone!    I did call Verizon this morning and my new phone will arrive before 10:30 in the morning.  Thank goodness the Abogg is coming home this weekend to help me work that new contraption.

So the other day I tempted you with this photo:

First up find yourself some nice beautiful red peppers, there were 3 of us so I got three 

(aren't I smart that way??!!)

Clean those peppers out and then pop them in a 400 degree oven on a baking sheet and let them roast for about 15 minutes.

(after the 15 minutes were up, I just turned off the oven and let mine hang out while I was making the filling)

Now grab yourself a nice onion and chop it all up

Pour about 1 Tbsp of olive oil in the pan

Cook those onions until they are soft and begin to turn translucent

Add in 1 clove of minced garlic and stir constantly for about 30 seconds

Stir in 1 15 oz can of black beans (drained & rinsed) and 1 /4 cup water

Add 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch (or 2) of cayenne pepper.  Stir, cover pot and simmer for at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes.

While that is cooking shred yourself about 1/2 cup of Colby Jack Cheese

or if you are me, then make it a full cup.

Stir in 1/2 cup or so of corn

Grab those peppers out of the oven and divide the bean mixture into the peppers

When they are nice and stuffed just add that cheese right on the top 

Pop those under the broiler for about 3 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

We had ours with some 

of this yummy stuff

This was a whole new recipe for us.  Now I personally loved it when my mama made stuffed green peppers growing up but these are just a nice twist on that.  I personally really liked this version and the hubster deemed it dinner "rotation" worthy.  The Merebear...well she ate the stuff in the middle and we did decide that possibly the stuffing might even be pretty tasty rolled up in a tortilla. 

These were good but they also made me hungry for regular stuffed peppers and if I dig around a little I bet I can find my mama's recipe around here someplace.  :0)   I'll keep you posted!!

What are the wonderful yummies your family used to have at the dinner table that you've put a new spin on?  Drop me a line and let me know I'd love to hear them, unless it's meatloaf.....sorry I no likey the meatloaf!!!  haha  Actually you can even tell me about your meatloaf because you never know, you could be the one to change my mind about meatloaf!

Peace, Love & Yummies