Stir Fry Pineapple Shrimp with Rice Noodles

Confession Time:

This healthy writer has been neither healthy nor writing much.

The reason?

School started.

I've been teaching for two decades or more, and during that time there have been many, many changes.

One thing never changes. The first two weeks of school are mind-numbingly exhausting. The night owl has fallen asleep by 9:00 more nights than my tired brain can count.  When I stumble in the door at the end of the day, cooking something healthy is just more than I can manage.

So there has been a lot of pizza, quick-cooking things like chicken tenders and fish fillets (the breaded kind you buy in the freezer section).

But my body is rebelling. It's craving something healthy.

So I'm hereby vowing to make at least something healthy each week so I can post about it.

Today's meal was relatively easy.

I didn't want pasta so I picked up some Thai rice noodles. I had never cooked with them before, but it was easy and they were perfect for the meal.

All I had to do was soak them in hot water and then add them to the stir fry. (On a night that making rice seems too laborious, this was a WIN!)

But I get ahead of myself.

Step one was to thaw some pre-cooked shrimp.

Step two was to stir fry the shrimp with a spoonful of coconut oil and some freeze-dried garlic.

Step three - add in some frozen pineapple. Simmer until the pineapple warms up.

Step four - add in the noodles and stir around until warm (about 3 - 5 minutes)

Serve and enjoy.

I did enjoy it. The rice noodles were light enough that they picked up a light flavor from the  pineapple juice and coconut.

Definitely a success!



And tonight I get a real meal out because I'll be celebrating my baby's 31st birthday!

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Rodeo

Well, it's county fair time all across south central Texas. And that can only mean one thing.

Rodeo!

Where patriotism reigns.

Along with ropin',

Barrel racing,

Bronc and bull riding.

It's a tradition that's gone on for decades. And small town at its best.

But, boy, it'll work up an appetite and have your sweet tooth clamoring for something every bit as classic. And it doesn't get more classic than chocolate chip cookies.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and shortening.

Add sugars...

And beat until well blended. 

Add eggs.

And, you guessed it, beat well. Until it looks like this.

With mixer on low, add flour, salt, soda and cinnamon a little at a time so as not to send flour flying everywhere. Once everything is incorporated, beat at medium to high speed for another minute.

Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if you're using them. I didn't, because there are some in my house who frown on nuts. Brats.

 Spoon onto ungreased baking sheet. I like to use a cookie scoop, like this.

I have a larger one I use when I'm making cupcakes. It helps keep everything nice and uniform. 

Bake 8-12 minutes, or until golden.

There's a reason these cookies are a classic. And they always get eaten.

Now it's your turn. Have you ever been to a rodeo? If so, what's your favorite event? And more important, what's your favorite cookie?

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Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

Welcome September with Butternut Squash Soup

With a deadline looming, I'm not cooking very much. Suppers have been pretty simple: hot dogs, salads, sandwiches... but that is all going to change this week.

Soup weather is here! Our weather is turning decidedly fall-ish this week with highs in the 60's, and even the 50's later this week!

As I wrote my menu for this week, I went hunting for some of my favorite soup and stew recipes, and ran across this one that I shared several years ago. I can hardly wait to make it again!

Butternut Squash Soup

I love fall. I especially love fixing those warm, comforting fall soups and casseroles after a summer of salads and wraps!

This soup is so easy - and all because of one simple ingredient.

Did you spot my shortcut ingredient? That bag of squash cubes! Peeled, cubed squash. All set for your favorite recipe.

Does life get any better than this?

Here's the recipe:

Easy Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon oil - olive or coconut
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (or any other winter squash)
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
dash of chili powder for garnish (optional)

Buying the prepared squash saves so much time. The only other prep you need to do is to chop the carrots and onion, and mince the garlic.

Mini-lesson: Mincing the garlic is easy if you have a garlic press. But if yours is in the dishwasher because your son used it to make one of his delicious concoctions, you can mince your clove of garlic this way:

Lay the flat side of your knife on top of a peeled garlic clove.

Smash the knife against the garlic clove with a
sharp rap, then mince.

The veggies look fabulous, don't they?

Saute the veggies in the butter and oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the onion is translucent.

Stir in the squash, broth, salt, pepper and sage. Cook until the squash is tender - about 20 minutes or so.

Remove your saucepan from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Run the soup through your blender, half the recipe at a time.

Or use your hand-held blender. Go ahead. I'm not jealous.

Not at all.

Pour into a bowl, garnish with chili powder if desired.

This recipe makes two servings, or one if it's the main course of your meal.

Enjoy!

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com.

Burned Cheese, Rubber Chicken, and Other Kitchen Failures

by Missy Tippens

<Big, huge sigh.>

It's been a kitchen fail type week for me. I have nothing impressive to share today.

First, I burned cheese toast at breakfast the other day.

But doggone it, I really wanted that toast. That was the last of the cheese!

So... I carefully dug through and discarded the scorched part...

Ta-da! There was good cheese underneath the burned "skin!" I had salvaged breakfast (much to my family's chagrin when I shared the photos with them). Some comments from them that I read AFTER eating my rescued cheese toast:

Oldest Son: Yummy cancer.
Husband: I would have advocated starting over.
Daughter: LOL Woowww
Middle Child (sent no reply. He probably just shook his head.)

So I figured I was done with kitchen failures for the week. Then I quickly proved that assumption wrong.

I made my favorite chicken recipe the other night (here's the recipe). And for some odd reason, it was as tough as nails!! I mean I could hardly cut it with a steak knife. Do y'all think certain brands of chicken are tougher??? I really wish I knew what to look for and what to buy (instead of just buying what's on sale).

Then yesterday, I decided to force myself to eat that chicken leftover for lunch (because I knew my husband sure wouldn't try eating it again!). I thought I'd steam some sugar snap peas to add a veggie.

I put the bag of fresh peas into a deep skillet, add a bit of water, covered the pan, and put it on high to steam. All fine.

But then I walked away and forgot it!! Thankfully, I heard it and remembered. But when I walked into the kitchen, I could smell the scorch smell.

Ugh. Another dish ruined??? I snatched it off the burner, then grabbed some tongs. Only the bottom layer was mildly scorched! I could salvage something healthy to go with my rubber chicken! haha

I gingerly lifted off the top layer and enjoyed them with my lunch as my teeth and jaws got a workout chewing the chicken.

I have a feeling next week will turn out better. It has to! :)

MORAL OF THE STORY: ALWAYS USE A TIMER!


www.missytippens.com

A Season of Change on the Farm!

Well, it's that time of year, folks, when pumpkins of all colors...

And mums of all colors!!!

Come join us up front to be sold.

Bales of hay and straw to decorate people's yards.... Cute kids not included!

 Mums, just showing color! Pinks and yellows and reds and whites and purple and bronze and all shades in between! 1600 mums to choose from....

And the pumpkins!!!!

 Pink "Porcelain Doll" and peachy "Indian Doll" pumpkins, two beauties that have amazingly delicious dark orange squash inside... great for meals, pies, soups, whatever!

 Stacking pumpkins.... you have a "Fairytale" on the bottom, a Porcelain doll in between and a Speckled Hound on top... The Speckled Hound is like a buttercup squash and the other two are intense orange pumpkin.... Crazy good, and part of our French Heirloom pumpkin collection!

 A little side garden idea for customers... half a dozen mums (not quite blooming) and an array of pumpkins including one of our 60+ lb. Polar Bears.... a bale of straw... and a couple of stacks and single pumpkins finish it off. We do displays to give folks an idea of what they can do and at our wonderful prices, they can afford to have some real fun decorating for harvest... and then eat the decorations! Win!!!!

 Above are French Heirlooms: The green/tan are Fairytale, the orange are Cinderella and the bright red are Rouge D'Vif.... and yes, sometimes they cross and we get all kinds of fun mixed up colors (you can see a couple here!) but the pumpkin inside is still wonderful. Great pumpkin + great pumpkin = Great pumpkin! And we cook these (I roast them in the oven when it cools off) and use them in pumpkin muffins, pies, cakes, soups.... and just to eat.

Below you have more Indian Dolls and Porcelain dolls... and this doesn't even touch the BLUE PUMPKINS, the  Blue Dolls and the Jarrahdales (my personal favorite)

And the Tondos and Mini-warts and Warty Gnomes and One-too-manys.

:)

It's the season of color. A season of change... and it brings us right to Thanksgiving and Advent... a season of waiting.

But that's a blog for another day because right now, on this pumpkin farm, we've got color galore... and books releasing, and cookies to bake and animals to feed....

What's fall like in your part of the world? Are you surrounded by "leaf peepers", tourists looking for peak color in the trees... or are you in aspen world, turning gold?

And I first saw Larch trees, all golden and needly in the Southern Tier of NY.... I didn't even know what a Larch tree was!

Or are you in the desert Southwest? Or coastal crazy?

I love my Northeast woodlands. I love the change of seasons, I love all four seasons... and I might be part dryad because I love trees....

But when I'm in the Southwest and see those vast vistas of colored rock and rim...  I see the beauty there, too!

Multi-published, bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne loves her quaint pumpkin farm in Western New York and all its trees and colors and critters.... Did you know the woodlands have lots of critters??? :) She's got a bunch of kids and twice that many grandkids and a couple of dogs, cats, way too many chickens and two mini donkeys that she loves.... and a huge assortment of toads, frogs and snakes. She does not love the snakes. Or having a flying squirrel in her kitchen. Or for that matter, a baby gray squirrel in her kitchen. Mostly she likes cookies in her kitchen.

Find her online at ruthloganherne.com, friend her on facebook, follow Blodgett Family Farm on facebook or follow Ruthy on twitter @RuthLoganHerne.... And mostly she covets your prayers and gives hers in kind.


2 Chronicles 7:14 "if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land..."

I'm in favor of that!!

Avocado Potato Salad

Avocado Potato Salad

It's been a week already. And it's only Tuesday!

Well, Wednesday by the time you read this.

The first two weeks of school are always like you've gone lost in time. I don't even remember when the last time was I cooked before tonight. Well, tonight I bought an avocado, and then forgot to use it in my taco. Since my brain is that fried, and I now have an extra avocado, I decided ot dig out this recipe and share it again. 

Since our temps still feel like summer, avocado potato salad still feels appropriate!


Step 1: Boil the potatoes. I used red potatoes and skinned them first. You could leave skins on if you like them that way. I boiled them until they were cooked but still firm. Let them cool.

Step 2: Thinly slice onion. I used a mix of red and vidalia. I cooked it in a fool packet in the oven for a short time, just until they softened. You could do it raw, but I find this brief cooking keeps me from tasting onion for days!

Step 3: Mash an avocado in a bowl.

 

Step 4: Add some vinegar and oil to taste (I used Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar). Mash it in with the avocado.

Step 5: Add to the potatoes and stir.

Step 5: Enjoy!  Or, if you prefer it colder, chill, then enjoy.

Have you ever made alternative types of potato salad?

Caring for God's Tiniest Creatures

Hummingbirds are some of God's smallest creatures.

I'm absolutely fascinated by these little guys. As a little girl, I remember my grandmother having a hummingbird feeder outside her front window, and every once in a while we'd see a bird or two stop to get a drink.

Fast forward a few decades. When we were living in the city, we tried to come to ranch as often as we could. And three-day-weekends were always a given. Including Labor Day. I'll never forget the first time I walked into my mother-in-law's kitchen one early September day and saw dozens of hummingbirds flocking around her feeders just outside the door. I'd never seen anything like it. 

Well, now we live in that house. And once again, as the great hummingbird migration hits its stride, we are inundated with these tiny birds.

Feeding these little guys is so simple. All you need is a hummingbird feeder, sugar and water. You can find hummingbird feeders at Walmart, hardware stores... And they're pretty inexpensive. 

Then, to make their nectar, mix 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. That would be 1 cup of sugar mixed with 4 cups of water. I've had to double my batches lately and am usually making them twice a day as I try to keep three feeders going. 

Simply put the mixture in a pot on the stove over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool before pouring into feeder.

I promise, they will love it.

In case you haven't realized it yet, today is September 11th. A day that lives vividly in minds of many Americans. Like Pearl Harbor, we were sucker-punched. Almost 3,000 people lost theirs lives and countless others were impacted. Yet out of tragedy, Americans united. Churches were filled as people looked for answers. And as we look back on that fateful day, may we never forget. 

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Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com