creative little daisy

Sloppy Joe, Sloppy, Sloppy Joe...*

I can't look at a sloppy joe without hearing Adam Sandler singing about the lunch lady.  Last night we had sloppy joes, sloppy, sloppy joes. I know you don't care, I just thought I'd share how quick and easy it was.  I may be the queen of lazy cooks, but I know I'm not the only one.

We had spaghetti one night this week, just Mitch and I.  Remember, our nest recently became empty. I haven't quite adjusted to cooking for just the two of us. The term serving size takes on a whole new meaning when you're cooking for a teenage boy.  Anyway, I made way too much sauce. Not usually a problem, since I happen to love left-over spaghetti. This time,  my sauce/noodle ratio was off, leaving me with no noodles and an excess of sauce. I know, spaghetti sauce freezes well and I could have done that. Instead, I squeezed another meal for this week out of it.  A meal that involved little more than reheating, my favorite kind of cooking. To the left-over meat sauce I added, some brown sugar, spicy brown mustard, and a little Worcestershire sauce. Throw it on a bun, open a can of green beans and you've got dinner. Not a great dinner, but dinner, and folks around here are perfectly happy with any dinner.

You have to click the Adam Sandler link for the title to make sense if you've never heard the lunch lady song

It's gotta be the drugs...

I'm all hopped up on steroids and getting things done like nobody's business. I felt the beginnings of something settling in my chest this past weekend, so I started taking some prednisone. For something to be so bad, that stuff is SO good. If you've ever had any problems resulting from inflammation and taken prednisone, you know what kind of magic it works. I have energy like a toddler, I breath so much easier, and have absolutely no joint pain. Can you say miracle drug? The only problem is, for all the good it does, it does equal amounts of bad, so I can't take it for long periods of time. I just enjoy the ride when I do and make the most of the burst of energy.

I've just about finished the bedroom.

I made some shams.

some fabric art,

and fabric covered balls.

I want to make a throw quilt for the end of the bed, and I think I'll call it done.

While I was working on the bedroom, for a little diversion, I decided to rearrange the living room. A little background- I used to be famous (or infamous) for frequently rearranging furniture. A combination of lack of options for furniture placement in this house and lack of energy has resulted in very little moving about of large furniture in the past 10 or so years. I'm telling you, I may be a small woman, but there was a time when I'd think nothing of moving the refrigerator if I felt it would look better across the room. Those days are long gone, except for the occasional prednisone induced surge of energy. Not long ago I found a site that's part of the HGTV website called Rate My Space. Fun stuff! I had so much fun looking at rooms, I decided to add a few of my own. You know how I like to join a party. Anyway, the first couple of comments I got sounded kinda like this. This room really needs a rug....the furniture placement could be better.... try this...do that.... My first reaction what Who the heck asked you? Then I remembered, duh...it's called Rate My Space, I guess I asked. I really didn't think of the rating aspect of it when I added the photos and initially I told myself, that's their opinion, they don't live here... but it stayed in the back of my mind and you know, I agree. The furniture arrangement wasn't a very cozy one, it just seemed to be the best one for the layout of the room. Sunday afternoon I pulled the couch out to vacuum the dust bunnies from underneath and behind, the sort of thing prednisone can lead an otherwise lazy person to do, and decided to try a different layout. Guess what? I think the RMS commenters knew exactly what they were talking about.

I swapped the positioning of the sofas and moved one away from the wall.

I wasn't sure about the traffic flow, but there's plenty of room to walk behind.

I moved a few other pieces and made a cover for the top of my great grandmother's sewing machine. (Energy overflowing, I tell ya!)

And just to prove it's not me, it's the meds, look what I did today,

Just because I saw this one and couldn't resist. (have I told you I don't like to cook?)

I was beginning to think the spirit of Martha Stewart had taken over my body, but dinner time rolled around, and I was relieved (sort of) to know, that I'm still me.

Frozen pizza anyone?* That's my piece with the peppers and onions. 

OK- I failed the dinner challenge. I made it two days, then it was the night before Casey's birthday and Mitch and I had to go shopping- so we ate in town. Then it was Casey's birthday (18!!) and we had pizza and cake and chips- then it was Saturday and Sunday, I don't cook on those days. I did cook last night, but after skipping 4 nights, I figured I was too long gone to redeem myself.

Wednesday post part 1- Dinner Challenge

Have you heard about Carrie's dinner challenge? I could use a little kick in the pants when it comes to cooking dinner, thanks Carrie! Here's what I came up with for dinner last night. I am going to challenge myself to cook every night this week, to try to use only food from my freezer or pantry and to try some new recipes. Last night we had pressure cooker pork chops with rice and peas.

A pressure cooker is the procrastinating chef's best friend. Mine is electric and can also be used as a slow cooker. I put these pork chops in the cooker partially frozen- cooked for 18 minutes and they were fall apart tender. I just winged this one, no recipe, but here's the rundown-

For the pork chops you'll need:

A pressure cooker
5 large pork chops
Black Pepper
1 envelope of dry onion soup mix
1 can beef broth

Give the chops a shake or two of pepper on both sides then brown in a little oil. Once they are lightly browned (just a minute or two on each side) cover with onion soup mix. Add just a little water- for 5 large chops, I added about 1/2 cup of water. Put the lid on and wait for the cooker to pressurize, then reduce the temperature enough to maintain pressure. I set a timer for 18 minutes and threw 2 cups of rice in my rice cooker (yea, I'm a sucker for kitchen appliances that have automatic in their name).  After 18 minutes I unplugged the cooker and let it sit for ~ 10 minutes, long enough for the pressure to release. By now the rice is nearly done.  Remove the pork chops from the cooker, leaving the yummy juices behind. Turn the temperature back up to get the juices bubbly and add about 2 tablespoons of flour, stirring constantly. Once the flour is blended, add 1 can of beef broth. I also threw in about 1/4 cup of red wine- just to increase the fancy factor a bit. Reduce the heat to a simmer and return pork chops to the sauce/gravy. Couldn't be easier, the pork chops were full of flavor, melt in your mouth tender and the entire meal took less than 30 minutes to prepare.

Chocolate Cake Anyone?

I had a really productive day for a change. Besides cutting out 3 purses. Completing one and getting another 1/2 done, I wrote a tutorial cooked dinner. (Steak and mashed potatoes) and made a delicious chocolate cake! I feel so Martha! So un-Autum. I am a little scared. The cake is as yummy as is it pretty!

Have a great weekend! Wish you could drop by and have a piece of cake!

The Way to a boy's heart is through his stomach

What is that?? Is that what you are asking yourself? It is meat loaf. Or it is the ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, ketchup, Heinz 57, salt and pepper and other seasonings that will combine to become meatloaf. Casey LOVES meatloaf and says I purposely don't make it often enough just to spite him. You see Casey is pretty sure I live and breath to find ways to make him miserable. So tonight I am making him meatloaf. But wait there's more. Casey loves corn bread almost as much as he loves meatloaf.

What did he think?

Excuse the "see food". He likes it! He likes it!

And now here he is hiding from the camera while he finishes his meat loaf and cornbread.

What is your favorite meal that your mom made for you?

Under Pressure

I just want to say "I Love my pressure cooker". Here she is in all her stainless beauty. Inside is a pot roast being pressurized to melt in your mouth tenderness. My friend Kelli has one too, just like mine. She is scared of hers and goes in the other room while the pressure cooker is doing its thing. Tomorrow I think I'll try Chicken and rice using Kelli's recipe. But I may stay in the room while the cooking is happening.