My Practically Perfect Life

Potato Harvest from Fall 2011

2012-01-02T13:32:00.002-07:00

Here is the fruits of our Summer 2011 potato bucket!! We harvested them at the end of October.

Not too bad, ha ha, but at least we got something!! I rather doubt they got enough water and were totally shaded by the tomatoes.

We didn't do anything with them after I dropped in the starts other than toss some grass, garden dirt over the tops of the growing plant.

So I guess the turnout isn't too bad. LOL......

Next year............. well not sure yet...........

Perfect Changeable Present

2012-01-02T13:24:00.001-07:00

This was a quick but darling present.

1 Thrifted metal frame with glass- a wonderful find.
some dry erase markers or pens.
1 make up applicator wedge.
optional- beaded dragonfly.
patterned paper of choice for background.

This project cost only '1 current out of pocket dollar' for the frame, everything else was on hand at home.

All we did was to cut the paper to fit in the frame. Affix the dragonfly on the frame and proceed to write our first message. Now every time I visit my parents, I change the message. I am having fun doing this and I hope they are enjoying it too.

Chicken Tetrazini

2012-01-02T13:03:00.002-07:00

Chicken Tetrazini - really yummy at least my family believes it is.

We make this using fettuccine, spaghetti or even egg noodles- usually we use whatever we have on hand, even macaroni.

12-16 oz pasta or noodles- pre-cooked according to package to al-dente.

3 cups or so cheese, grated- we usually use a mixture of cheddar and montery jack, or whatever we have on hand.

2 Tbsp cornstarch MIXED INTO

2 cups liquid = Mushroom juice plus chicken broth to equal 2 cups

1/2 cup diced onion, sauted.

1- 4 oz can mushroom pieces

2 cups milk

3 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey

optional- sliced almonds or cashew pieces

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Prepare a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray. Pour mixture into pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Don't worry if mixture seems runny, it will thicken up during the baking time.

__________________

I use the following version when I have MSG Free cans of soup on hand-

Chicken Tetrazini -

12-16 oz pasta or noodles- pre-cooked according to package to al-dente.
3 cups or so cheese- we usually use a mixture of cheddar and montery jack, or whatever we have on hand.
1/2 cup diced onion, sauted.
1 can cream of mushroom soup- we use homemade*
1 can cream of chicken soup- we use homemade**
10 oz milk
3 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey
optional- sliced almonds or cashew pieces

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Prepare a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray. Pour mixture into pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

*Cream of Mushroom Soup Homemade-
1 - 4 oz can of mushrooms, juice drained into a measuring cup
1 cup total broth and mushroom juice (just add broth to mushroom juice to equal 1 cup liquid)
1/2 cup fine diced onion ( I use some pulverized dried onions, but only about a Tablespoon)
1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix cornstarch into milk or broth. Put all other ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat and stir until combined. Add cornstarch mixture, cook and stir until thickened. Season to your taste. Use in place of one can of Cream of Mushroom Soup.

**Cream of Chicken Soup - Homemade
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup fine diced onions
1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Salt & Pepper to taste.

Mix cornstarch into milk or broth. Put all other ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat and stir until combined. Add cornstarch mixture, cook and stir until thickened. Season to your taste. Use in place of one can of Cream of Chicken Soup.
1- 4 oz can sliced mushrooms

2012-01-02T12:02:00.001-07:00

OK- don't mind the glare or whatever in the mirror. I just need to document my new hair color and cut. I love it! A perm would make it all non-fuss, but it is quite easily done via rollers or flat iron.

October 12, 2011

for some reason I can't get this to remain rotated!

Gardening in 2011

2011-10-09T21:51:00.002-06:00

I had an experimental garden this year.

I planted my squash and green peppers from nursery starts on
July 9th.

The strawberry starts, onions, radishes, spinach, carrots and lettuce went in on the 19th of July. (The 19th is my very special friends birthday! Happy Birthday WLS!!)

The following photos were taken on 7-25-11:

Baby strawberry plant taking root.

A squash in an old ice cream maker bucket.
This guy didn't do too well, he didn't get sufficient water.

Here is our new front yard Cranapple Tree.

Ryan pretty well picked out all these flowers and we planted them together.
It was fun and I believe they are really pretty.

Here is our new east side forest. Ryan's Long Needle Pine.
A plumb, a peach, a 2nd cran-apple and a golden willow.
Will they get in the ground? not sure....

Here is squash buckets on my new rain gutter system.
In the front is the strawberry starts and onions,
both bulb and starts from mom & dad's green onions.

Green pepper buckets. Behind you see the black planter that was
from our new cran-apple tree. I planted potatoes in there and
we need to see if any grew- soon, I need to check this out soon!

Here are more squash buckets. In the front planter- top left is spinach,
barely growing here. Then are the radishes. Then the sparse place
in the middle has mini carrots, just starting out. The next green patch is leaf
lettuce and the dirt at the bottom right has more onion bulbs.

The 'rain-gutter' garden was planted on July 9th.

The tomatoes went in well before May- in wall-of-waters.

8-28-11

The tomatoes (in front below the porch), the toms have done great this year, only they don't have any special taste to them. Not that wonderful home grown taste that we all love. But Ryan who doesn't like store bought tomatoes has really enjoyed these. He really loves tomato sandwiches. Go figure..........

The cherry tomatoes are sweet and delish. The more Roma style are not
flavorful. But have been great to cook with and make sandwiches out of.

Green tomatoes are great for dicing and adding to scrambled eggs, stewed vegies, soups, stews, casseroles, well just anywhere you can use veggies. I use green ones all the time- I love them!

These guys are just happy on the vine.

Can't wait for tacos, sandwiches or just slice and eat!

Carrots picked 9-24-11 - two month worth of growing.
Right during the hottest days of the summer!

Yep. That's a penny and those carrots are tiny, but cute and they taste fine!

The following photos were taken on 8-28-11:

The full view of my 4 - 5foot gutter planters/systems.

This photo loaded upside down. Don't know why, I've tried everything
I can think of without doing research. So we'll just look at it as it for now.
Just showing squash blossoms and the carrot tops on the top left, radish tops on the top right.

How about these nice green peppers?!! They have sure tasted great.

Onions planted from bulblets and the shorter ones in
the middle are bushing/wild onions from my mom & dad. They might have been
brought from the Holladay property.

A yellow summer squash. He was yummy.

The one strawberry transplant is doing well.

I'm leaving this guy for seed? Well it is my excuse. I wanted to see him get
really big and see how the plant would handle him hanging. But maybe this variety doesn't grow big?

I am sure this photo has my potato plant in it's pot amongst the tomatoes.
But I'm not going to search it out tonight.
(spell check says that amongst is not a word, but I'm using it anyway!)

It is October 8th today and the plants are going strong. I hope we have several more weeks, but we will just wait and see. The carrots still need some grow time. The kids keep pulling them and eating them, but all they are getting is a tiny pea size bulb! it is so funny. But they do taste like carrots!! There are a couple that are getting to be the size of a small radish now. I hope they stay there and keep growing.

Fresh Garden Tomatoes in a Sandwich

2011-09-02T22:09:00.000-06:00

You take these and slice them. Put them on a slice of bread with
some mustard/mayo or plain mayo, top it off and you get......................

This wonderful sandwich!! Yum..... Yum....

Just tomato, mayo and bread. Can't beat that. And Ryan even like it!!

Spring 2011 - May 25th Ride up to Tibble - American Fork Canyon

2011-05-30T22:05:00.000-06:00

We took a ride up to Tibble Fork Reservoir, American Fork Canyon just before Ryan was to leave to work in Moab at Entrada- Scout Camp for a month.

The lake is completely full. I don't believe I have ever seen it this high before.

My favorite fishing pole is still on the bottom of this lake! Argh...........

This is where Ryan & I usually launch our float tubes. The tree is usually out of the
water and the rock barely showing is always fully out of the water.
There is usually a little shallow bay with plenty of big rocks to
help you get in your tube and get your gear organized.

The Spillway entrance is overflowing. No more water can be held by this dam.

This white water waterfall is usually just a trickle.
But with so much snow this year, it is tumbling happily down the mountain.

We had a nice ride, but I am sorry to say I am not excited to come fishing because the water is too high and it makes my nerves crazy!! Crazy I know, but true.

The other reason we took this drive was to see when the campgrounds for TERT were going to be opened. Not for several more weeks and maybe not in June at all. We will have to wait and see.

Baked Tacos

2011-05-17T08:41:00.001-06:00

So it was time for tacos again. This time I wanted to do something a bit different. Main ingredients: taco meat, hard shells, flour tortillas, beans and toppings.

I took hard shells and put them in a baking dish. I used foil to make a holder for them that allowed them to stand up. I just folded grooves into the foil.

Then I filled them with my cooked meat mixture. Added a sprinkling of cheese and stuck them in the oven for a few minutes to allow the shells to crisp and brown slightly, and the cheese to begin to melt.

See how they are crispy, the cheese is melty and the shells are standing up? This worked out great.

After I removed the tacos from the oven, I took a warm flour tortilla and spread a thin layer of refried beans on it and then wrapped it around the crisp taco. Yum! It was fun, good, looked good too. They tasted great. Easy-Peasy way to shake up a normal meal.

We rounded up the meal with corn, black olives, a spoon of refried beans and Mexican rice. Toppings were chosen from diced tomato, shredded lettuce, additional cheese and sour cream. Yum!

.....

Blueberry Muffins

2011-01-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Blueberry Muffins

Favorite Sweet Muffins

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbs water

1/4 cup applesauce (or oil)

1 1/2 cup flour

1 Tbs dry egg powder (whole egg or whites only)

1/2 cup sugar (or Splenda)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Optional: 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

(When using frozen blueberries, I add them to the dry mix and coat them well. Then I stir in the wet until just moistened. In order to keep from turning the whole batter blue, I do not thaw the blueberries. I quickly coat them and finish the batter. Then drop the batter into the pan. If the batter sits before panning, the blueberries will bleed as you scoop them into the pan- or at least this is what happens to me!)

bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.

Measure and mix all dry ingredients, until well incorporated.
stir milk, water and applesauce into dry ingredients.
mix until flour is just moistened.
Batter will be lumpy!
fill muffin cups 2/3rds full- grease cups if not using paper liners.
bake in middle of oven.
immediately remove from pan after baking.

(The regular recipe calls for 1 egg and 1/2 cup oil. If using fresh egg, just omit egg powder and the 2 Tbs water. Exchange the applesauce and the oil using the same measured amount.)

I found a Kitchenaid silicone muffin pan at the Thrift shop for $1.50- I love it!!! Got to love those bargains.

Someday I will experiment with fresh & freeze dried blueberries too. My guess is that fresh berries will fold into the batter very well without bluing it up too much. I will mix them with the dry ingredients first and proceed as stated above for frozen. However, I will cull the injured ones out- unless that is a lot. Hopefully I will get a good batch of berries with perfect skins and no cuts or nicks.

My freeze dried blueberries instructions say to reconstitute by soaking in water before using. I don't know how this will work. If the berries are whole and undamaged, they might reconstitute and hold the moisture without bleeding out into the batter. Or maybe I mix them in dry, add a little more moisture to the batter and let them reconstitute in the pan as they sit to bake and bake. Will be fun experimenting!!

Blue blueberry muffins look weird to me, but they taste fine. So nothing is lost with trying out different methods and products.

Recipes Found (they've been lost for nearly 4 years!)

2010-12-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

Finally after nearly 4 years, (yes 4!), I found my favorite cookie recipe.

But how sad that when I baked them, they weren't as fabulous as I remembered!! LOL.......... too funny. Isn't this always the way it is?

I remember our favorite chocolate chip cookies from when I was very very young. They were the best ever! Then we got a new oven. And we could never get the cookies to bake to perfection!! It was so sad. I wish we had had an oven thermometer back then and maybe that would have solved our problem. We think it was the oven temperature that made the cookies the best. But I don't think we have ever succeeded in duplicating them, maybe we never really tried hard enough? We maybe just moved on and were happy because they still tasted great, even if the texture wasn't perfect? I hope I don't have to move on from my favorite shapes........................

So after baking my favorite Shape Holder Cookies in my new (now 4 year old new) oven, (meaning a different oven) they did not come out how they used to bake up! What's up with that!!

Maybe I did not make the dough correctly? Maybe my oven temp is off? I know I baked the first batch too long, could that be the problem? But the second batch wasn't much better.

So many variables............ now I have to figure out how to make my favorite cookies work here and anywhere they get baked!!

However they still have a good taste and that might be what ultimately counts.

They are not the best tasters, but they are good, at least we think so. They were the best shapers though, they kept the shape you put them into before baking. That was fun.

Shape Holder Cookies

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp baking powder

3 1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder (optional)

bake at 350 degrees F for 6-8 minutes.

Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs and vanilla.
Mix/whisk baking powder, salt, cocoa and flour together.
Gradually add dry ingredients.
Roll out on floured surface and cut shapes or use cookie scoop and make 'ice cream' balls, my favorite way of doing this recipe!

The following recipes are ones that I used on a regular basis when we lived in Ruby Valley and the kids were younger. Now I have found these recipes too, and I am happy! I might make some of them up this next week and see if we still like them too.

The muffins will be great for grab and go breakfasts. You can add lots of fun things to make different variations, the recipe is a basic recipe.

Favorite Sweet Muffins

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.

Beat egg, stir in milk and oil.
mix in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened.
Batter will be lumpy!
fill muffin cups 2/3rds full- grease cups if not using paper liners.
bake in middle of oven.
immediately remove from pan after baking.

I have been making pancakes for the kids for breakfast for the last couple of months. It isn't too labor intensive and I really love the feeling of doing a warm breakfast for them in the mornings. I have not done this for many years if really ever and I love taking care of them and sending them off with a breakfast in their tummys. Starting the day with breakfast is very healthy! and I do try to make my pancakes using healthier ingredients.

However, the following recipe is typed as I used it years ago, without any healthy habits alterations. So, I will be substituting Splenda for the sugar and leaving out the oil, or using applesauce. Then it will be better for my kids.

Delicious Pancakes

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 Tb oil

1 cup flour

1 Tb sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tb vinegar

Beat egg, add milk and oil.
mix in dry ingredients.
beat until smooth.
add vinegar and stir in thoroughly.
cook on heated griddle.

This pizza dough was an easy fix dough and we used it many times in the old Ruby Valley days. However, I always did make it up in the Bread Maker on the dough only cycle. I am not one to make bread dough and knead by hand when the dough cycle on the Bread Maker will do.

Calzone - Pizza dough

2/3 cup warm water 80 degrees

1 tsp active dry yeast

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 Tb olive oil

Bake at 500 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.

Place warm water in a bowl, stir in yeast.
allow to sit at least 2 minutes until bubbly.
Place flour, salt, oil in mixing bowl and beat for 10 seconds.
add the yeast mixture.
beat for 1 minute, until dough is well combined.
Knead for 2 minutes.
Let rise for 30 minutes.
divide dough into four pieces for calzones or makes a 12" round pizza.

I am very happy that I found my long lost recipes! And now they are on the Internet and I should never loose them again!! Happy Blog Site Storage!!!

If you try them, I hope you have good luck with them and enjoy them too.

I always end up altering my recipes a bit each time, mostly because I don't precision measure, I do use what I have on hand, and I, well sometimes I just am weird and just make things. Many happy accidents have been enjoyed by my family and I over the years. But sadly, most of them have never been replicated!! I have sometimes taken the time to write my alterations down and that has been good and then I could replicate a good change, but those are few and far in- between!

Oops! I am rambling. Have a great day..................

....

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

2010-12-09T10:22:00.002-07:00

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

1 pkg (8oz) Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 cup butter, softenend

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

2 heaping Tbs cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 oz (2 squares) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

6 oz white almond bark

colored sugar sprinkles, crushed candies,

1) heat oven to 350 degree F.

2) beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla until well mixed.

3) mix in melted semi-sweet chocolate.

4) stir/whisk flour, cocoa & baking soda together. Add to creamed mixture. Dough will be stiff and you may have to finish mixing by hand/strong spoon.

5) make small balls and roll into 3 inch long ropes. Place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bend the top slightly to resemble canes.

6) bake for 10-12 minutes, until puffed up and set.

7) remove to wire racks and cool completely.

8) melt almond bark. I melted mine in a freezer zip-lock bag for about 1 minute. Follow melting instructions on the almond bark package. Clip a small bit off one corner of the bag for drizzling.
9) Working with small batches of cooled cookies, drizzle with melted bark and immediately sprinkle on decorations. Let coating firm up and then store in covered containers.

*notes:

Dough will be stiff. It may seem too sticky to roll, refrigerating 30 minutes will help. I find rolling in my hands quickly worked fine. If I spend too much time on a cookie, it will soften up and get stickier. So work quickly. I also make the balls with my small cookie scoop and drop them on a glass plate that I stick in the fridge between batches. That helps to keep them cold and make for easier rolling.

Butter should be used as the texture and baking properties will change drastically if margarine or butter substitute is is used.

Also, do not over bake. Remove when centers are set.

These are quick and easy. I usually make the cookies the night before I decorate them. So it really seems quick. We love these, I love these. Mostly because they are part chocolate!!

Bob's Cartoon 11-23-10

2010-11-23T09:56:00.002-07:00

Upcoming Wedding and Reception- idea photos

2010-11-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

One of my 5 beautiful nieces is getting married this December and she has chosen to have a cookie buffet for her reception plate.

Here are some ideas for cookie platter/stands that I am sending to her and her mother to see if they want to use them.

One with a Christmas theme. I have 4 of the same candlesticks.

One very tall, green spiral goblet. Might be able to borrow 3 more.

Here is one candlestick, a margarita goblet, the tall spiral
and a pretty juice glass in the front. Again I have 4 candlesticks
and only one of each of the rest.

The juice glass.

this one is just for fun as it is a cookie mug!

Photos of Shari with 36 pounds removed!

2010-10-15T19:28:00.001-06:00

August 20, 2009

October 15, 2010

September 1, 2010

October 15, 2010

September 1, 2010

October 15, 2010

August 30, 2008

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Bob's Cartoon 10-11-10

2010-10-11T10:01:00.000-06:00

Bob's Cartoon 10-9-10

2010-10-09T10:04:00.000-06:00

Bob's Cartoon 10-5-10

2010-10-05T10:02:00.000-06:00

Bob's Cartoon 10-3-10

2010-10-03T10:04:00.000-06:00

Bob's Cartoon 9-30-10

2010-09-30T10:00:00.000-06:00

Bob's Cartoon 9-17-10

2010-09-17T10:05:00.000-06:00

Angel's Birthday is Today!!

2010-09-12T18:03:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Baby!

Do I really have to pose with my cake?

My presents all decked out.

Cheesecake was the cake of request.

The wind kept blowing the candles out.

But it looked really pretty with the reflections off the tin foil.

The kids each had a quarter of the cake. Then

we took the other 2 quarters home and they finished it later.

Bob's Cartoon 8-29-10

2010-08-29T09:58:00.001-06:00

My Take Shape for Life Post are Moving

2010-08-28T13:07:00.005-06:00

(don't click on the above link with the title or you will go to the actual page of this post! Click below for my new Blog! See you there!!)

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I am moving my Take Shape For Life posts to a new Blog,

so come visit me here:

Shari's Experience With Take Shape For Life

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Take Shape For Life: Day 5

2010-08-28T12:33:00.000-06:00

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Take Shape For Life: Day 5

August 27, 2010 - Friday

Today was a very good day. Still no hunger pains. In fact I was late on getting lunch because I lost track of 'feeding' time and wasn't hungry. That is good and bad at the same time.

The process of feeding my body every 2 to 3 hours helps my body understand that I am not in starvation mode and that I have plenty to eat and that I don't need to hold on to my fat stores.

It is pretty wonderful that scientists and doctors have realized that our bodies store energy for hard times. The problem is that for nearly 40 years, my body has been prepared to take care of me during the famine times that I let it believe were coming. I have been carrying my 2 year food supply on my body frame- (OK, even as big as I am my stores would not last me 2 years! I really do know that!)

My phone holds my desired eating schedule and an alarm sounds when it is time to eat. I don't hear it all the time, but I generally stay on track. I also don't want to get used to hearing an alarm and having it become a trigger to eat. So I have to be careful with my alarms- if I could have a dedicated sound that was only for food maybe that would work. But as of now, the calender alarm sound is for all notifications and that really could be dangerous.

Maybe there is a 'take medicine app' that would work for me? I will have to look into that.

So for my Lean and Green today, I went again for dinner time. I fixed 2 boca burgers, with a touch of catsup and mustard. A half a pickle spear, lettuce and 2 tomato slices. I wanted to use the lettuce as a bun, but was too lazy to pull out the head of lettuce and grab a leaf. I just ate torn lettuce pieces with the burger. I also had a lettuce salad with mixed veggies- dices of tomato, radish, cucumber and mushroom. It was a large filling meal.

Overall: Great day! I have lost 6 pounds since starting Monday. I sure my weight loss is different from yours, but I am thrilled with it!!! It has been a wonderful day and now I am very content with the way of eating and grateful that the hunger pains and cravings for sugar, salt, fats and chocolate have subsided.

Keep Up The Great Work!!

...........

Take Shape For Life: Day 4

2010-08-28T12:01:00.000-06:00

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Take Shape For Life: Day 4

August 26, 2010 - Thursday

Lean and Green

OK so do you want to know what I had for dinner?

I baked some chicken breasts and then cubed them, weighed them and put them on top of 2 cups of lettuce salad. Then I added a Tb spoon of chopped tomato and a bit of sliced radishes. I also put a few, several drops of green taco seasoning as my dressing and the rest of my Parmesan cheese puffs, leftover from afternoon snack. (croûton) Not that I like croutons, but I thought I would try it that way. It was way wonderful eats and very filling!

Ryans meat was sliced and he drizzled BBQ sauce on them and he had a salad too. He could only eat half of his plate.

Michael ate his meat sliced, with the salad on the side.

Rachael has yet to eat. Not sure why she doesn't want to eat yet.

Now I have a little meat juice, chicken broth to use tomorrow- maybe I will add it to my chicken noodle soup instead of all water............... just thinking............. Well, Hubby thought he would put the juice out for the cat. That way the pan would be empty and he could wash it. So I have no broth for tomorrow. I can stop thinking now.

I have not been as hungry today. YES! In fact I was pretty, am pretty full after eating dinner. Good day overall.

I have been eating my Brownie snack for the last hour. There are still two bites left. It is good. I am just content and not feeling hungry, in fact I still am full from dinner. But the diet plan says to have an evening snack so I chose to have a brownie.

I am supposed to be eating my snack at the table and focusing on it 100%, but old habits die slowly. And I really wanted to get a few things done on the computer, so here I am typing, figuring, logging my daily foods and blogging as I eat my brownie.

But bottom line is: I AM NOT HUNGRY!!! I love it!!!!

Overall: Great day. Successful. Awesome. Not Hungry!!!! Oh and I have lost 4 pounds since Sunday. 8 pounds in the last week. So I am doing just great. I had energy enough for the day and was able to take the garbage out to the neighbors and back without a problem. (Garbage truck drove by our house and I realized he didn't stop. I looked and our can was not out to the curb, so I had to take it across and down the street. But thankfully I was able to do that.)

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Take Shape For Life: Day 3

2010-08-28T11:57:00.002-06:00

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Take Shape For Life: Day 3

August 25, 2010 - Wednesday

Wednesday and Day 3. What a great day! It has been so much easier today. I have not needed hardly any extra helps today. I finished my special soup yesterday so I was hoping I wouldn't need it today. I did add a pickle spear as a snack today, but didn't need anything else.

I felt liberated! I was not craving sugar, salt or fats! Maybe the transition phase for me has come and gone? I hope so. For the lean portion of the Lean and Green tonight, I made turkey burgers. I defrosted the turkey burger and added one egg white and half a can of mushrooms, that I whirred in the Magic Bullet before adding it to the meat. Then I had my hubby crank some salt and pepper into the meat mixture.

I grabbed a handful of meat and plopped it into the frying pan that was sprayed with Canola Oil Pam. I let them firm up and then flipped them to cook on the other side. Then back to the first side to complete cooking.

We had green beans and salad for the Green.

I put a tsp of mustard and ketchup on my burger that only weighed 3 ounces. Pilot and Hubby got about 6 ounces each. I got the leftovers. Angel wasn't hungry so she made a sandwich later when she was ready to eat. Since my Lean was so lean, or small; I made 2 eggs cooked in the crumbs from the cooked turkey burgers. It was like having bacon bits, in texture that is. I loved the little crunchy bits. I don't like bacon bits, but I like turkey bits.

Overall: Day 3 was very successful. I feel wonderful. It was a very wonderful day. I feel successful and empowered! Onward.......................

...

Take Shape For Life: Day 2

2010-08-28T11:55:00.000-06:00

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Take Shape For Life: Day 2

August 24, 2010 - Tuesday

My soup rescued me again today. I probably was not as hungry as yesterday, but one would never have know it. I was grateful for my soup. I also ate some pickled cauliflower, in fact it was the rest of a 40 cal bottle that I opened yesterday to help with my need to eat!, crunch and chew. Most of my issues are with sugar, salt and fat withdrawal as well as having a need to eat crunchy things.

Lean and Green

Tonights meat and vegetable was a stir fry. I chopped up some turkey, red and green bell peppers, celery, zucchini and mushrooms and stir fried them in my secondhand Wok like pan. It is now my favorite pan and it only cost me $2.00. ! I cranked some Lemon pepper salt over the food and splashed some soy sauce into the pan. Not much of course. But enough to taste good.

Dinner was enjoyed by all. Of course we had a nice veggie salad on the side. I don't use salad dressing, but then I have always tried to avoid them unless I am in a restaurant and then I get blue cheese and ranch to mix. I put some green taco sauce drops in my salad and was just fine with that. I have used lemon juice in the past but it is getting too strong for me in my older age.

I can't wait to get some money in so we can have some fresh broccoli and green beans and other veggies. Canned green beans and lettuce salad is going to get boring.

So I have been crunching a little ice today as well, but only when they are nearly soft enough to crush with my hand. I am NOT crunching fresh hard ice cubes, I don't want trouble with my teeth.

I ate about the same amount of calories today as yesterday, and pretty much the same 'extra' stuff (my soup, other snacks) as I did yesterday. In the future I will be sticking to the plan much closer and only having the snacks they recommend. But I had to make it through this second tough day.

Overall: Day 2 has been a success. I am glad it is over. I made it just fine.

If I can do it- you can do it!

....

Take Shape For Life: Day 1

2010-08-28T11:52:00.000-06:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take Shape For Life: Day 1

August 23, 2010 - Monday

I made it through the day, but it was a very difficult struggle. I miss my sugars, my salts and my fats! Where did my cheese go? My breads were gone too. It was really hard. But I know that this phase will end after the adjustment period is accomplished.

I am pretty sure I will be done with the cravings and feeling hungry in 3 or so more days. The program study materials say 3 to 5 days, I think. And I know that I was completely satisfied and not hungry when I was on a full liquid diet years ago.

I decided that in order for me to make it through this most difficult day, I was going to have to take matters into my own hand. So knowing that I was leaving a very high caloric diet and stopping all my vices and trying to get by on way more than half the calories I was used to.

Here is how I handled my first day needs for more food. I chose not to follow the Medifast 5/1 recommendations for the first and second days. So today I made a huge pot of soup. Well it was about 6 cups worth. I put in a package of coleslaw mix, 4 ounces of diced raw mushrooms, 2 celery stalks, a cup of diced zucchini, a medium green tomato finely diced, a small red tomato diced and a handful of chopped radish greens.

I sautéd the veggies in a sauce pan in their own juices. When they were getting tender, I added 4 cups of water and chicken bouillon granules for the 4 cups of water. Then I let it come to a boil and turned it down to simmer and blend the flavors. I also cranked a couple of cranks of Lemon, Pepper, salt seasoning into the soup.

I then ate as much as I needed for Day 1's lunch- which was the time I found myself the hungriest. I believe I had about 3 cups. This did help curb my hunger pains. But I realized that I was not exactly hungry, but just craving those foods I was choosing to avoid for the next couple of months. I also had to grab a couple of dill pickle spears and some celery sticks throughout the day. But I made it and still was way under 1000 kcal for the day. OK, I was at 850 kcal for today. Which is where I will be on most days anyway.

So the plan is to finish the soup tomorrow and make it through day 2.

Overall: Day was a good day. Successful in that I did not eat excess carbs, sugars and fats. Success!

.....

Take Shape For Life: Preface

2010-08-28T11:48:00.002-06:00

August 23, 2010

Monday

To be honest, this was a hard day. I have been down this road before, when the Medifast Meal Replacements were in their infancy back in the 80's. I don't remember feeling hungry when I did the Medifast Diet back then. But maybe the first couple of days were difficult back then as well.

All I remember is the wonderful weight loss program and the fact that I dropped 60 lbs in a few months. I loved the ease of the program, not having to make all the foods/meals makes the plan easy.

I didn't keep the weight off, as was usual for me. I have tried every diet, fad and doctor administered, most with some degree of success. But then I would slip into my old habits and the weight would come back on.

I have not done any kind of weight control for the last 10 years. I have just hung on to trying to keep myself from ballooning into a huge huge elephant. (Peanut gallery please hold your comments!)

I have been given an opportunity to have a couple of months on the Take Shape For Life Program and my desire is to use this program and the accompanying Medifast food supplements to get a hold on my weight problem by changing my behaviors and eating habits. I have signed up to be a TSFL Health Coach and desire to help others gain control of their physical health.

So join me on my progress as I do the Take Shape For Life program and take control of my health!!!

Watch my progress and be happy for me and my choice. Please don't throw comments my way that might be overwhelming to me and my progress. I am the kind of person that does not like to be in center stage or in the spot light, so the lesser the attention made the better. That said, comments coming from your hearts that are loving and supportive will be accepted, because I love my friends and family and know that they love me and support me through my challenges.

If you have any questions about the Take Shape for Life program, please ask me and I will be happy to answer them for you. If anyone would like to have me as their TSFL Health Coach and join me on the Medifast plan, let me know and I will get you set up and started on your way to good health. Having me as your Coach is free, you only have to pay for your food.

sharinskishe@hotmail is the best way to get a hold of me. If you want me to call you, send an email request with your number and I will call you. Or you may request my cell number via email.

Take Care! Have a wonderful day.

...

Taking Control of My Life and Addressing My Health

2010-08-28T11:45:00.000-06:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's Next in my Life?

So I have finished school and now am in the process of finding work in my field. I just have to get my license from the State. Should be here next week.

Now it is time to focus on my health- or lack of good health. I have been eying the Take Shape For Life Program using the Medifast 5/1 Diet plan for several months now, and feel like it is the plan for me. I did the original Medifast back over 20 years ago under a doctors care and did very well. So I know that the meal replacements they offer are doable. In fact, they are really pretty great and today there are so many more items in their plan, it is awesome. I also know that my health and weight loss were good at that time.

I also know that I have since gained that weight back and it is because I did not make any lifestyle and behavioral changes. I learned a lot about myself going to school this past year. I have a lot more confidence in my abilities to make changes and be successful, so I am embarking on another life changing journey.

I have the opportunity to do the Take Shape For Life Program, an opportunity I can not pass up. With the support of my Coach, I am heading into a somewhat familiar food regimen, and totally committed to learning how to eat correctly so that as this weight drops off, I will be encouraged to continue losing weight and making myself healthy. I am committed to changing my food beliefs and learning how to prepare meals that are healthy and wholesome for myself and my whole family, as well as friends and new friends. I have already been studying and reading new information concerning foods, health, fitness, eating behaviors and much much more.

I have many years of knowledge, some of which is being disputed in new studies and some that are being changed due to new technologies and information. But my basic knowledge is still available and helpful. The one thing that I really understand from experience after experience is that when I am at a healthier weight I feel better overall and can move and be active along the side of my loved ones, especially my husband and my children. So that is where my focus at this time is taking me- I am off to conquer optimal health!!!

Come along with me on this journey. Let me be your TSFL Coach and I will guide you to your optimum healthy weight target as well. You pay nothing to have me as your Coach, all you will need to purchase are your meal replacements and the foods for your Green and Lean Meal.

It is time for ME to make a change,

is it time for YOU?

...

Picnic Anyone? ME!!!!

2010-08-27T02:06:00.000-06:00

Sunday, August 15th 2010

Today, I didn't feel well again. Still have this horrible cold. Throat is still sore, ears hurt, nose stuffy combined with sinus headache. I couldn't go and teach nursery and share my horrible gems with the children.

So I asked the family if they wanted to go on a ride and have a picnic. Since both Pilot and Angel have the same cold it was an easy sell. Hubby did have to find a substitute for his Sunday School class but that was easy because his co-teacher partner was able to take that duty over.

And we packed up some food and headed for the Alpine Loop.

First we went up to Tibblefork Reservoir and on up to Silver Flat Reservoir. Then we went a short way up American Fork canyon following the river. This is the river that fills most of Tibblefork Reservoir. I think it would be fun to camp up the canyon in a non improved place. Someday........

So we then looked for a picnic area and they were all full! There weren't many open as we went up the canyon from Timpanogos Cave area, but I thought we would be able to find a spot on our way down. No Go!

So we headed up towards Timpooneke and didn't find anything that direction, so we just went to the campground that is reserved for TERT on the weekends.

Our TERT friend had already left and so we pulled out our stuff and got ready to picnic.

......

Here is Pilot's Rocket Stove. We cooked the dogs over the stove on my make shift grill, aluminum foil to the rescue. I was planning on using the stove to light the charcoal and then use our roasting sticks. But that did not work out.

Maybe it was too windy, or maybe it was that I had not tested the stove out and made some useful tweakings on it.

I didn't have the fuel shelf made yet, so I made one from foil. It did not hold up to the weight and stuffing of the twigs. I also did not have a grill, so when I decided to cast the roasting sticks away, I didn't have a backup method of cooking.

I also tried putting charcoal on foil and then roasting the dogs, but the wind was interfering too much and cooking on the stick was futile.

...........

The picnic worked out fine. Of course I improvised and made-do and everything was fine and we did have fun. Family Fun is the most important part.

.........

Now the next photo will show you how far I have come from that Sunday just 8 days or so ago.

Here the stove is back home. It is sitting on my dead gas grill. I am recycling the grill and will be remodeling it soon. I use it all the time as a charcoal grill, but I have grand plans for it's future.

Back to the Hotdogs!

I found a nice small heavy grill with a handle that works nicely on the Rocket Stove. I also found a pan that has an inner hole in the bottom just the size of the inner fire can. This helps funnel the heat up towards the grill.

This setup worked really great. The hot dogs were done very quickly, just a couple of minutes. They were actually overdone. But that is because the cook took off for a couple of minutes. Bad cook, bad cook.

I made a fuel rack/shelf out of a vegetable can. Hubby de-lidded the top and bottom from the can. Then I cut down the seam to open it up. I bent all the edges over for safety, as cut cans are very sharp.

Then I slid it into the rocket stove. It works great.

To cook the hotdogs, we used 3 small pieces of wood/kindling for the fuel. Amazing! I even pulled the last 6 inch parts that didn't burn out and doused them to use next time!

...

Green Tomato Eggs

2010-08-26T07:48:00.001-06:00

I tried this with some avocado and it was extra delish.

The avocado helped with the overly spiciness from my green hot sauce.

Green Tomato Breakfast

By Sharinskishe on August 23, 2010

Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 25 mins min
Serves: 2

About This Recipe

"delish"

Ingredients

1 cup green tomatoes
1/2 cup mushrooms
1 tablespoon green taco sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
2 flour tortillas

2 of 3

Green Tomato Breakfast

Directions

chop veggies into small dices.
brown and soften green tomatoes over medium heat.
splash with taco sauce.
flatten tomatoes on the bottom of skillet, so there are few or no holes.
sprinkle with grated cheese.
break open eggs over the top of cheese.
let eggs cook for a few minutes
then stir everything together.
continue stirring, turning and cooking until eggs are done.
soften tortillas in microwave for about 10 seconds.
fill tortilla very full with mixture and eat with a fork until able to fold the rest of the filling in the tortilla and finish eating.

3 of 3

Green Tomato Breakfast

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 (223 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 2

Amount Per Serving: %
Calories 277.9
Calories from Fat 124: 44%

Amount Per Serving: %
Total Fat 13.8g: 21%
Saturated Fat 5.8g: 29%
Cholesterol 233.6mg: 9%
Sodium 496.4mg: 20%
Total Carbohydrate 22.0g: 7%
Dietary Fiber 2.1g: 8%
Protein 16.6%: 33%

Rain, Rain, Go Away................

2010-08-25T07:16:00.000-06:00

Another Rainy ~~Day~~ Hour at Home

Aftermath of a Huge Rain Storm
8-5-10

See the fenced pool area- it is full of water, better there than in the basement though.
(click on image to enlarge it)

Way, way too much rain in way, way too short of a time.
Some of the neighbors had water in their basements.
It was not pretty.
....

A Rainy Day

2010-08-24T07:04:00.001-06:00

A Very Rainy Day

(4-21-10)

Rain! We need some.

Or is this snow............

No, it is just hail. We don't need hail.

It was a nice storm, we managed quite well.

...

Picture Necklaces= A How To Showing How I Put Them Together Efficiently

2010-08-23T09:50:00.000-06:00

Make-Do Monday

At Make-Do Mondays we discuss how we’re simplifying, downsizing, repurposing, buying used, and using what we’ve got.

It’s a carnival celebrating creative problem-solving, contentment, patience and ingenuity. To participate, share your own make-do solution in the comments or write up a Make-Do Mondays post at your blog, then return here to link via Linky Tools (aka MckLinky). Enjoy others’ ideas by clicking on their link in the Linky list.

*****************************************

*****************************

My Make-Do for this week:

I wanted to make some "picture necklaces" for my 18month to 3 year old Nursery children who attend my Ward- Church.

So I had the resource page copied and then my kids and I cut them out and hole punched them. We made 30 of them. It was taking quite a long time to collate them and line up the holes.

So I had to figure out a better way.

I had my Nursery binder open, (because that is where I keep some of my supplies, like the scissors, and some yarn as well as the lesson book and other resources), and I had a light-bulb moment.

The binder rings could be used to sort the cut-outs and line up the holes at the same time. I could sort 6 at a time and if I did one set of 6 and then sorted the next 6 upside down, I could get 12 on at the one time.

So I did that a couple of times.

It worked out beautifully!

.....

Then while the circles were on the ring,

I lined them up neatly.

.....

I carefully took each set off the ring.

.....

Then I laced the yarn through the punch hole.

....

Then pulled the yarn through and tied a knot. Now the necklace was done.

.....

Then next thing was to put them orderly in the binder for safe journey to Sunday's classes.

So I slipped them into the binders pocket and where they could travel safely to class.

Done with 30 picture necklaces for my darling little kids attending church.

Scones for Breakfast

2010-07-31T09:32:00.003-06:00

(More food from TERT Trip July 2010)

Scones were fun to make this trip. I made them twice and the kids loved them both times. Too bad I only made them once for Hubby and myself. Because we love them too. But the second time we had eggs and fried potatoes. Yum!

I made some Artisan Bread Dough just before we left for camping on July 1st. I did some research and learned about this method of making dough and keeping it for a week or so and pinching off what you need for the day. I tried it during this latest trip and I loved it. It was fun to use, easy to make and we had fun experimenting with it.

Even though this pan looks large, it is only about 5 inches across. I have two pans this size but they are slightly different, and they are from different manufacturers.

This is the second pan. Now I am hungry for scones! I need to get these posts done and away from my fire food memories.

Here is a plate of freshly fried scones. They have butter on them. They are waiting for some powdered sugar, jelly, honey or syrup.

Here is a powdered sugar with maple syrup scone. This would be Pilots. See- Pilot is stuffing his face full of fresh scones.

Here is Angel with hers. She is a powdered sugar with honey gal.

Here is the stove with the two small pans with a scone in each one. The $1.00 hot water pot from the second hand store. And my tall sided skillet with fried potatoes in it.

I should mention that each of the small cast iron frying pans were $1.00 each and the bigger skillet was $2.00. The larger skillet is a Lodge cast iron pan. A very reputable cast iron maker. The crock for the bread dough- $1.50 including the lid!

I feel blessed to have found so many nice and usable items at the DI thrift store. Saves money and let's us have some things we would never choose to spend our money on at full price.

I am soooooo very

hungry right

now..................

Wait!! Where did they all go?

......

CampPizza

2010-07-30T04:51:00.000-06:00

(More food from TERT Trip July 2010)

Fire baked pizza! so very delish, except for the ketchup sauce. I was not going to open a jar of pizza sauce for one small pizza. But again, food over a fire is almost always delicious. I loved it.

The kids were still full from breakfast to eat very much, but they both said they liked it. They had only had breakfast a couple of hours before. I split the rest of the Artisan bread dough and used half to make scones for the kids' breakfast. And the rest I put aside for the pizza experiment.

Hubby really loved it too. But then we were hungry. Hubby and I ate breakfast several hours earlier and we were getting hungry.

I started the pizza, got the Artisan dough ready. The bread dough was now 5 days old and I was wondering if it would still be good. YES! It was wonderful.

I put the ketchup on and a good sprinkling of Italian Seasoning. Then I turned the pizza making over to Hubby. I had sliced olives, sliced mushrooms, small Canadian bacon slices and cheese (Mexican blend) for him to build the pizza with.

We put the dough circle on a piece of non-stick aluminum foil so I could put it on the grate. I didn't have my pizza peel or I might have tried putting it directly on the grate- there would have been some nice grill marks.

Then I covered the pizza with our large stainless steel bread bowl. This became the 'oven' and the pizza baked beautifully. Bubbly cheese and nicely baked crust. I was in Heaven. I need a pizza now..............

....

Giant Campfire Roasting Marshmallows

2010-07-29T03:03:00.003-06:00

(From our July 1 to 6, 2010 TERT Weekend)

Playing with fire! No not really, in the fire...... well in the fire with food ...... not playing with fire in the dangerous sense.

Here is what I wanted to share about roasting marshmallows.

Campfire Marshmallows has come out with a Giant Roasting Mallow.

On the left is the new Giant Mallow. The middle with tan is the Vanilla Caramel Mallow, then to the right is a regular sized mallow. In the front is a mini-mallow. Don't you love the different sizes?

Here is our selection of marshmallows that can be found waiting for our next trip up into camping land.

We roasted the new huge marshmallow as well. But let me tell you, I can only eat one! And that is after it has roasted 3 times, as the shell comes off and then you roast the inside and this shell comes off and finally it is small enough to roast and come off leaving no shell!

We all had fun with this one, here is Pilot trying to eat a newly roasted mallow.

Oh, we also tried the vanilla/caramel regular size marshmallows. I really loved these ones. They are not as sugary for me, they didn't upset my stomach system like regular marshmallow do.

I don't know why, but I wasn't going to research it, I was taking it as a gift. I had fun roasting and eating them too, along with the kids. Not something I normally do anymore. But still I only had a couple. I kept my eating in check and didn't gain anything while we were gone. Well done, well done.

.....

Playing with Food over the CampFire

2010-07-28T02:07:00.003-06:00

(From our July 1 to 6, 2010 TERT Weekend)

So we were kind of bored at one time while camping. So we built up a fire and began playing in it! No not just playing with the fire, playing with cooking over the fire. We took bacon and wrapped it on the roasting sticks. It cooked up really crispy and was very tasty.

We wrapped hotdogs on the roasting sticks with bread dough and made pigs-in-blankets. This was fun and very tasty too.

Too bad the camera was on vacation. But believe me we had tons of fun.

***

Here are photos of other things we cooked:

Here are pearl onions, sliced onions, mushrooms sautéing in a skillet over the fire/coals.

We ate some of it and then froze the rest in the trailers freezer for later use at home.

Looks really good, right?

Here is some corn I cut from two cobs to roast, bake over the coals. I hate getting corn in my teeth when I eat it from the cob.

Here are two cobs wrapped in foil. They cooked in the coals and are ready to be eaten.

Doesn't this cob look nice? I buttered and salted it before I tossed them in the fire to bake/roast. All one had to do to eat a cob was open the foil and cool a tad, pick it up and eat!

Yum, yum was the reaction I got.

Campfire cooking is really easy and fun.

...

CampPeach Cobbler

2010-07-27T01:38:00.001-06:00

(another post from July 1-6, 2010 TERT Trip)

Peach Cobbler for the family-

made by Angel

(a recipe she learned from Girls Camp)

So Angel decide she wanted to make Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler. So she grabbed a box of yellow cake mix, a can of lemon-lime soda, and a can of peaches. Yes, I try to keep my trailers pantry loaded with things that we can make while camping.

Here is how it looked as we pulled it off the fire. We used our little dutch for this. It just barely fit, we didn't add the whole can of peaches, because it was a big can and I knew it wouldn't all fit into our little dutch.

The big one was cooking ribs so that the only choice we had was to use the little one.

Just look at how delicious this looks! I can taste it now just looking at the photo. Angel and Pilot are great cooks in the outdoors and I love it!

We added some whipping cream from the can and it was just delish!!

Happy Camping!

Happy Camp Cooking!

Happy Eating!

...

Baby Back Ribs in the Dutch Oven and Leftovers

2010-07-24T01:58:00.001-06:00

(Another post from our July 1-6, 2010 TERT Trip)

Sunday Dinner was wonderful. On the menu we had Baby Back Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Baked Potatoes and Peach Cobbler for dessert.

Here are the ribs: this photo show them dry, cooked to fall off the bone perfection and already picked at.

This photo show the ribs in the Dutch Oven. Yes we really did cook them in there. We cut a whole rack in half and put Pilot's secret dry rub on them. And then wrapped them in foil and let them cook away for a couple of hours over nice hot coals and coals on the lid as well.

As they were just finishing up getting ready to fall off the bones, we smothered them in Pilot's secret homemade bbq sauce. These were delicious. And four ribs a piece, was not enough for satisfaction fulfillment, it was enough for caloric intake and control.

But really, who can stop eating delicious ribs? I could eat them all day when they are prepared correctly. Correctly only means tender, fall off the bone soft, and tasty. I enjoy all different tasty flavors. I do have to say though, Pilot's experiments have all been tasty to me. I'd rather eat his, than eat ribs prepared by any restaurant, any day!!

After the ribs were done, we had quite a bit of bbq sauce left over. So I threw in the rest of the bag of meatballs from earlier meals, and carrots and pepper chunks, both red and green. I let this simmer until the veggies were tender and the meatballs were soft and juicy. This too was delicious!!

We tasted it and then put it in the trailer's freezer for another day- at home that is. We couldn't eat any more this day, the ribs were filling, the corn and potatoes were filling as well. And then to top everything off, Angel's peach cobbler was rich and very filling! It was a delicious Sunday of good campfire eats!!

...

Hobo Dinners = Foil Dinners and a Single Kabob

2010-07-23T02:54:00.005-06:00

(From our July 1 to 6, 2010 TERT Weekend)

It was time to do some foil dinners. You know the foil wrapped dinner you cook in the coals. Hamburger, slices of onion, potato and carrots, with salt and pepper. That you cover in ketchup and devour. In our photo you can see our latest hobo/foil dinner with meatballs and/or chicken chunks.

Everyone in the family loves them and they are pretty easy. The best part is that you can do some of the preparation at home before you leave. But if you don't, it isn't that hard to do in camp.

(Thanks to www.RangerDJ.com for the photo of preparation.)

Foil dinners vs hobo dinners. Well virtually they are the same. It all depends on where you come from and of course what you learned and your own personal experience.

I have usually called these foil dinners, but when I called them hobo dinners, everyone thought that was pretty ingenious. Of course it helps that we love to watch the movie, Kit Kitterridge which tells a story about the hobos and life during the depression.

After researching the Internet, I found some fun ways to change the basic formulation. I sometimes use a cream of mushroom or chicken soup addition to make a stew. Some folks add cheese and no soup, comes out more like a cheese burger with veggies.

There is a wonderful article from Heather's Happy Haven, explaining how she made hobo dinners at home and sent them pre-made and pre-wrapped to a Father's and Son camp out for her husband and son. They were already cooked and just needed heating up. Smart gal. Sounds easy and looks delicious.

I might make hobo-foil dinners at home in the future to take camping and we could toss them on the fire for the first night.

But I always seem to run out of time to do my pre-made meals. I suppose I should be assigning the kids to make these, so for future reference I need to involve the kids a bit more in the planning and getting ready part of our trips.

So here are the resulting photos of our Hobo Dinners:

Store purchased meatballs with chicken chunks, sliced onion, potatoes, carrots, fresh mushrooms and a spoon of mushroom soup over the top.

Heres a chicken one with a couple of diced green and red pepper chunks.

An all meatballs one.

Smothered with ketchup. I don't do this, a little catsup can be nice, but I like all natural.

The menu called for Hobo Foil Dinners or Kabobs. I had pre-cut the chicken and peppers into chunks to make easy Kabob making. But at the last minute I decided to use these ingredients in the hobo dinners. I also had not brought any hamburger for the patties in the hobo dinners, but I knew I could substitute the chicken chunks and also use the frozen meatballs.

Both of these meats were heading for kabobs. So I preempted the menu and altered the plan. I came up with the Chicken Chunk/Meatball foil dinners.

Then there was left over kabob chunks, so I went ahead and made one kabob. I have never really made kabobs before- as a meal. I always want to, I love how they look. I think they would be awesome, but I have never broken down and done them.

So I made one. And I didn't take care of it. My firepit was jammed pack full with cooking foil packets and making hot water to clean with and ........ well I don't remember, but it was full.

I also wasn't prepared with a place to cook kabobs. I do have the skewers, so I used one and then put it on the grill grate. I didn't keep my eye on it and so it got quite well done. I actually loved it, it didn't taste as burnt as it looks. It was good, but the hobo/foil dinners were much better.

Juicy and tender.................. just wonderful.

Tips:

Use your favorite meat. Cutting into chunks usually quickens the cooking time.
Pre cut/chunk and bag your ingredients before you go camping.
You can even pre-cook and pre-wrap at home so when you arrive at camp just reheat them.
Research the Internet- there are many ideas, tips, recipes and stories concerning hobo/foil dinners.
These obviously can be vegetarian meals. Adjust to your liking.
I usually start cooking them top side down and then halfway through I turn them over. I find that if I have not folded and sealed the foil correctly, I have less leakage during the first half of cooking. My wrapped bottoms almost never leak as I keep the folds and crimps on the top side.
Adding an ice cube per packet can help with moisture and keep your dinner from burning and drying out. Although remember if you use fresh mushrooms, they release water as they cook. So use your best judgement when added ingredients.

CampBrownies in a Dutch Oven

2010-07-22T04:31:00.002-06:00

(From our July 1-6, 2010 TERT Trip to Aspen Grove Trailhead.)

Have you ever been camping and needed a chocolatey snack? Well I have and I did.

I mentioned it to the kids and the next thing I know, Pilot had gone into the trailer and mixed up a batch of brownie dough. He brought it out and Angel finished mixing it and put it in a small square casserole lined with non-stick foil.

Then we placed it into a preheated dutch oven. Then the wait began. We\hen it started to smell delicious, we checked it and found it was not ready yet. So we let it go another 15 mins and checked it again. Angel stuck a knife in the center and it came out clean so we took them out.

OH MY GOSH! these were the best brownies I had ever had!! I know I could have felt this way because I was really craving them, we were camping and thus whatever they turned out like I would have eaten them and I just really needed chocolate and had not brought any real chocolate up to snack on.

It really doesn't matter the reasons, but I do know they were excellent.

Everyone in our camp loved them. They were thick, soft, chewy, chocolatey, not gooey, but pure perfection. I do hope we can duplicate them another time. I can't wait to try them again.

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I have to tell you that I hate my phones camera. For some reason, it is a pain to use and it does not have a close up feature. So since I forgot my old phone I have very few photos. After we got home, I have made it a goal to have my centro phone in my bag, ready and charged at all times. Has been working so far.

My Practically Perfect Life

Potato Harvest from Fall 2011

Perfect Changeable Present

Chicken Tetrazini

Gardening in 2011

Fresh Garden Tomatoes in a Sandwich

Spring 2011 - May 25th Ride up to Tibble - American Fork Canyon

Baked Tacos

Blueberry Muffins

Recipes Found (they've been lost for nearly 4 years!)

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Bob's Cartoon 11-23-10

Upcoming Wedding and Reception- idea photos

Photos of Shari with 36 pounds removed!

Bob's Cartoon 10-11-10

Bob's Cartoon 10-9-10

Bob's Cartoon 10-5-10

Bob's Cartoon 10-3-10

Bob's Cartoon 9-30-10

Bob's Cartoon 9-17-10

Angel's Birthday is Today!!

Bob's Cartoon 8-29-10

My Take Shape for Life Post are Moving

Take Shape For Life: Day 5

Take Shape For Life: Day 4

Take Shape For Life: Day 3

Take Shape For Life: Day 2

Take Shape For Life: Day 1

Take Shape For Life: Preface

Taking Control of My Life and Addressing My Health

Picnic Anyone? ME!!!!

Green Tomato Eggs

Green Tomato Breakfast

About This Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Nutrition Facts

Rain, Rain, Go Away................

A Rainy Day

Picture Necklaces= A How To Showing How I Put Them Together Efficiently

Scones for Breakfast

CampPizza

Giant Campfire Roasting Marshmallows

Playing with Food over the CampFire

CampPeach Cobbler

Baby Back Ribs in the Dutch Oven and Leftovers

**Hobo Dinners = Foil Dinners ** and a Single Kabob

CampBrownies in a Dutch Oven

Hobo Dinners = Foil Dinners and a Single Kabob