A little Lift

Well, after being down for so long, and Ron being down, too, it was getting a little gloomy around here.  But, last weekend Randy and Trampis came to stay after a football game, and Ky, Kres and Beckham dropped in for a surprise visit!!  I was so happy to have everyone here for a short time.  Trampis and Randy did quite a bit of work around the place in the way of winterizing; and of course, Kres had to help.

                              Trampis isn't real comfortable holding babies, but Beckham didn't realize it!

                  Randy and Kres experimented with how high you can build a block tower before it falls over!

                                         Beckham, in the meantime, was exploring new foods!

Then the work began.  Trampis and Kres helped Randy put some summer things in the barn loft for winter storage.

                             Putting the 4-wheelers away for the winter was a fun job for Kres and Randy. 

                               Kres found an elk shed that was a little too hard for a little boy to handle!

                                                          ..So Randy helped him out!

                                                    Riding the saddles was an OK job, too.

                                          Bekham had plenty of time to explore in the familly room!

                                                      Beckham is so cute and sweet!

Putting the last touches on the clean up--Kres explores one more time.  All in all, it was a great weekend.   Thanks for dropping in, Ky and helping me in the house, and Thanks to Trampis and Randy for helping so much outside!    we love you all!

Fun Healthy Eating

Recentlyl, Ron and I decided to embark on a healthy eating life--quite different for us.  So, I count carbs and calories and try to go for a healthy balance  (I feel like a hospital cook, because I weigh and measure everything :))In the following recipes I will be showing you, when I refer to milk, sour cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc, it is always low fat.   Here are a few things we have tried and enjoyed.

I began by stealing Krissy's Light Meals cookbook from Taste of Home, and using my Fix it and Forget it Lightly crock pot cookbook.  Both are excellent sorces for healthy recipes.

for Chhili Mac Casserole, measure one cup of elbow macaronni or small shells, cook it and set it aside.

Brown 2 lb lean ground beef, onion and garlic.  Add 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can kidney beans, drained; 1 small tomato sauce, 1 small can green chilis, 1 teas salt, 1 teas chili powder, 1/2 teas pepper.  Now add the cooked macaroni.  Transfer to a large pan or casserole dish, bake for 30 min, top with 2 cups low fat cheese and bake 5 min longer.  One 1 cup serving has 343 calories and it is delicious.   I served it with green salad with low fat dressing mixed in and a sugar-free orange jello with mandarin oranges and cool whil mixed in.

Take the left overs from the dish above, add chicken broth--1 or 2 cans, depending on how many leftovers, and it makes a great soup!!  I served it with a slice of fresh homemade whole wheat bread and 1/2 an apple.

This was very good if you like Chinese food.  I sautaed 1 cup celery, 1 cup sliced onion, 1 lb package of bean sprouts, 1 small can mushrooms, 2 handfulls of frozen mixed vegies untilk limp but still crisp in canola oil.  I then added 1 can chicken broth, mixed with 2 TBS corn starch while cold and 1 TBS soy sauce and 1TB honey.  I then added some left over roast pork--but y ou can use any leftover meat you want to, or canned meat or shrimp.   I served on 3/4 cup canned Chinese hard noodles.  I served it with sugar-free jello made with 1 small can no-sugar added fruit.  It was yummy!

Brown 1 lb hamburger, add 1 TBS flower and 1 cup milk, 1 cup of frozen vegies (I used mixed)  Serve as a gravy over 3/4 cup instant mashed potatoes.  Serve with no-sugar-added applesauce and coleslaw with tomatoes and a light mayonais dessing.

This is the leftovers from above, served on 3/4 cup spiral noodles, coleslaw and applesauce with cinnamon, 1 TBS chopped walnuts and 1/8 cup raisens

Start with 1 cup fat free sour cream, add 2 teas lemon pepper and 1 teas dill.  smear a little of the sour cream in the bottom of the crockpot, add 2 boneless-skinless chicken breasts and put the rest of the sour cream on top the chicken.  cook on high for 2 1/2 hours, serve with 1 cup winter squash and sf jello.  Even Ron liked this one, and he doesn't like sour cream!

This is 3 oz salmon fillet cooked in 1 teas canola or olive oil, 1 cup winter squash, 1 cup spinich and 1 purchased dessert cake topped with 1/2 cup splenda sweetened rasberries and a dolup of cool whip!

We have enjoyed other yummy things, like ginger beef served on rice noodles, vegetable beef soup, and a 4 oz steak served with a ww english muffin and green salad with 1 TBS thousand Island Dressing.,

Hope you have enjoyed these menus and had a glimpse into our new healthy-eating plan.   It's actually kind of fun!!

YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!

I decided, in honor of NBM (National  Blogger's Month), :)  I would do a flashback post.  This takes us back to September of 1983. 

This picture takes us back to 1983.  My friend, Eileen Furguson (on the left) and I (right) were stay-at-home moms trying to think of ways to make a little extra money.   I had 5 kids and she had 3.  So, we decided to dress up like clowns and sell balloons during the Pendleton Roundup.   Here were are, all ready for the big parade.   We each carried 50 balloons, and we made Randy into a clown, too, tied 50 balloons to his suspenders (much to his chagrin), and we all went along with the parade sellling the balloons.  The idea was, when we had sold ours, we would take Randy's and then send him on ahead to where we stashed our helium tank to blow up more balloons.   About a block into the parade, Eileen sold her first balloon; and, not remembering that she was holding 49 other balloons, reached into her pocket to get change, and away they went.  The crowd loved it--but we weren't too happy.   We quickly untied Randy's balloons and sent him on ahead.  Twice during the parade, I was approached by carnival people who informed me the parade was exclusively their territory and we should get lost!   Well, we had bought a liscense from city hall, so we knew we were ok!  After the parade, we sold balloons near the entrance to the Round Up.  We did pretty good--2 parades and 2 days of selling before the show, losing 50 balloons and paying for them and a helium tank, we each netted a little over $800--and the balloons were sold for $50 a piece.   We were pretty successful, but we had bought 3000 balloons and had some left over, so we went to Ellensburg, Washington and did the same for their big Round-up!  Can you even imagine--ME as a CLOWN!!  It was fun!

Other happenings around the same time:  (From my journal) 

Kim went off to BYU.  She didn't really want to go, but she wanted to be there (if only she could take her family!)  A lot of tears were shed by Kim, me, Ky and Krissy!!

We have a Lamenite foster child this year--Craig Tapaha, from Wolf Point Montana.  This opens a new chapter in our lives!

No school today--it was declared a National Day of Morning in honor of the Korean jet that was shot down over Russia.

Ron had surgery to have a rather large tumor removed from his nasal cavity.  It was so big they had to break his nose to get it out!   Thank goodness it wasn't cancerous!

Robert is doing well in school and is the manager of the 9th grade basketball team--something he really enjoys!  He enjoys lots of friends and has a good social life.

Randy is determined to be a good athlete.  He was a starter on the 7th grade football team, and is on the traveling basketball team.  He is also 4th chair trumpet in the band.

Kylene loves school--she finished the 3rd grade math book in 1/2 a year and is now in the 4th grade book!

Krissy loves school and is doing well.   She has a special kind of personality and is full of self-esteem!! 

Mom's estate is finally settled, and we will receive $132 a month for 10 years! 

I am substituting a little and enjoying being a mom!

Hope you enjoyed my flashback!