Category Archives: Projects

Gooseberry Patch Recipe #5 – Creamy Macaroni & Beef

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Half-way done with my recipes, before I give away a Gooseberry Patch cookbook! This was a big hit in my house, and very easy and cheap to make…the only thing that I had problems with were my noodles, but that was because I didn’t read the directions close enough! Ugh…I need a proofreader for my recipe-following! But it was still absolutely delicious! Just be sure to use elbow macaroni (as instructed) and do NOT substitute egg noodles. They melt into the dish. Still delicious, but we ended up serving it on toast…which was amazing!

Here it is:

Creamy Macaroni & Beef

All together now!

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
  • 2 10-3/4 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup (I used cream of chicken)
  • 8-oz. pkg. shredded Cheddar or mozzarella cheese
  • 7-oz. pkg. elbow macaroni, uncooked
  • 2 c. milk
  • 1/2 to 1 t. onion powder
  • 1/2 to 1 t. salt
  • 1/4 to 1/2 t. pepper

All mixed together, ready to cook.

 

 

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker; mix well. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 hours, or until macaroni is tender. Serves 8. (I cooked on high for 3 hours or so…just need to make sure macaroni is cooked, or in my case, dissolved. Oh, and when I realized that the noodles were going to be nonexistent, I added in a can of drained whole kernel corn, just to give it more substance…yummy!)

Costs:

  • Beef – $2.98
  • Soup – $1.75
  • Cheese – $1.50
  • Macaroni – $1.25
  • Total – $7.48, which serves 8, making it about 94 cents a serving. Not too shabby!

It was quickly devoured by my tribe...definitely a seal of approval!

 

 

Steve Jobs is not alone

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Cancer sucks. We all know that. But maybe someday we’ll have all the answers. This week we’ve lost a brilliant mind, one that didn’t give up when the answer wasn’t quick, one that thought about the unthinkable and achieved the amazing. Perhaps the next “Steve Jobs” of the world will be in cancer research?

Imagine all the goodies this bad boy (or should I say girl?) can whip up?

 

 

Here’s another story sent by a reader…and if you’d like to enter my KitchenAid giveaway for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, be sure to head to this post and leave a comment. Simple as that!

I was getting married August 28th, 2010, and was going to begin my first year of teaching August 22, 2010. So that summer I was very absorbed in my own little world thinking only of myself. The last week in June my mom had her annual appointment with her doctor and they had found a “small lump” and wanted to do surgery just to remove it.

My mom had told me not wanting to upset me (why do mothers do this?) that she was having a small surgery the first week in July to remove a small definitely benign lump in her breast and she wanted me to come stay with her in Bismarck and take her to the surgery ( I live in a small town in the south eastern corner of the state).

Honestly looking back it is ridiculous how uncaring I was at this point in time. I was thinking only of myself and my life and said sure I would come stay with her, but didnt really ask any further questions or offer much sympathy other than the minimal amount. I went to stay with her thinking that she was 100% sure that this was a non-cancerous lump and we went out to supper the evening before and probably talked about nothing other than me and my life.

The next morning at the surgery check-in everything was as normal (uncomfortable) as routine pre-surgery things can go. During surgery I sat in the waiting room reading my book thinking nothing would go wrong. After the surgery my mothers doctor came into speak with me and took me into a “private” room. She told me that it was as she and my mother had feared that the mass looked to be cancer. She said the lump was about the size of an apricot and they could not get it all so they would have to do more surgery and also do a surgery to test her lymph nodes.

I was shocked. Since my mom had not led me to believe anything could possibly go wrong, I was blindsided and felt instantly terrible.

SO began our journey with cancer. There were two more surgeries in the month of July.  She began radiation the week before my wedding and chemo after the wedding.  She finished treatment and was dubbed cancer free in the winter of last year. She is still cancer free. I cant even believe this happened to my family.

It really is true that you think that will never happen to me until it does. I still can’t believe it has happened. Just 2 weeks ago I was at a doctor appointment and they were updating my file and asked if there was any family history of illness they should have and i said “NO” then all the sudden it dawned on me “UHH, My mom had breast cancer”. The nurse looked at me like this girl is crazy how does someone forget that. I havent forgotten I think I am still in shock. I am amazed that my family even went through it.

While my mom was going through treatments her best friend from high school was also going through treatments so they found alot of comfort in each other. It truly is amazing how many people this disease affects.

Thank you so much for sharing. I think sometimes as parents we try to protect our children, even at our own discomfort. I’m sure your mom thought she was saving you worry, when in the end, it was harder to find out in such an abrupt way. As frustrating as it is, it’s all out of love. I know, my mom does the same thing!

Enjoy your weekend everyone…schedule a mammogram, screenings, whatever it is your doctor suggests. I have yet to hear a doctor that says, “Hmmm…it seems we’ve found this cancer too early.”

Hunk of Meat Monday – Gooseberry Patch Recipe #4

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It is definitely Hunk of Meat Monday…and today I’m featuring another fantastic recipe from my Gooseberry Patch Cookbook “Dinners on a Dime.”

And I’m also reminding you to head over to my latest blog post and sign up to win a Pink’ed-out Kitchen! That’s right, a pink Kitchenaid complete with accessories! Who can beat a deal like that? Check it out!

But now on to my recipe…this was a great one, but I learned a lesson or two!

Tac-Ole` Bubble Bake

Ingredients:

Simple, just the way I like it!

  • 2 12-oz. cans refrigerated biscuits, quartered
  • 1/2 to 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
  • 1 1/2 c. salsa
  • 1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
  • Optional: sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes

This is my meat of choice...hamburger!

Arrange biscuit quarters in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Spread beef (or leftover taco beef) evenly over biscuits. Spoon salsa over beef; top with cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes. Garnish as desired. Serves 4 to 6.

Little did I consider that the full dish would cause a problem...but still looks yummy!

Costs:

  • Biscuits – $2.27 each – $4.54 total
  • Beef – $2.97
  • Salsa – homemade (free!)
  • Cheese – $1.97
  • Total – $9.48 (6 servings = $1.58 per serving!)

Follow directions and be ready for some amazing food!

Lessons I learned:

1) Only use ONE layer of biscuits (one bigger container of biscuits will do it, don’t need two!) – Otherwise the biscuits rise to the point of making a mess while baking, then the inner biscuits don’t get done…and let’s just say that it makes a mess and a headache that’s not needed. One layer, one layer only.

2) Put a pan or something under it to catch the overflow…just in case you do something like what’s listed above and it makes a mess. Just a warning. 😉

Although it wasn’t an error-proof attempt (follow directions, Val, follow directions), it was absolutely yummy! And my boys ate it up like crazy!

Hunk of Meat Mondays

Fight Like a Girl

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Right now, it is Sunday evening, and I spent a fair amount of time watching NFL football today. Yes, I know, it’s a tad unusual for the wife of the family to be the avid football watcher, but that’s the way it works around here. And what I loved about today’s games was the sea of pink.

For those that don’t know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month…as far as I’m concerned, it could be Breast Cancer Awareness Month every month, or just simply Cancer Awareness Month. But October has received the designation. And in honor of the pinkest month on the calendar, I’m hosting a giveaway.

This isn’t just your ordinary, everyday giveaway either. This is a big one.

In fact…I wish I could win, because I’m giving away something that I don’t even own myself. That’s right, my kitchen is not complete. I do not own a Kitchenaid.

But one of my lucky readers certainly will!

On Halloween (that’s right, October 31!), I will draw one lucky winner to receive a pink Kitchenaid 5 qt. Artisan Stand Mixer. I’m not kidding. It’s on it’s way to my house right now!

Imagine all the goodies this bad boy (or should I say girl?) can whip up?

Not only will the winner receive a Kitchenaid mixer, but I also have a slug of pink Kitchenaid stuff to go with it. Including: whisk, bamboo spatulas, set of 4 prep bowls and set of 3 mixing bowls. Kinda cool, eh?

Not quite the tools needed to fight cancer, but great tools to use as a pick-me-up!

So, how do you win? Easy…comment on this post. Tell me one way cancer has changed your life, or affected your family, or made you appreciate all that you have. Leave a comment, and you’ll receive one entry. Only comments on this particular blog post will count towards winning the mixer and gadgets, but comments on other posts are encouraged as well! 🙂

Ah, but you can earn extra entries…send some Cancer Kicking Love on over to my blogging sister Leontien, leave a comment on her blog, letting her know that many others across the country are praying for her, and helping her be strong when she feels week. Do that, leave a separate comment letting me know you have, and you’ll earn another entry. I’ve even made it easy, just click on the button below!

And, if you so choose, you can earn five extra entries by emailing me at: wagntales@gmail.com and telling me your story. This month isn’t JUST about breast cancer. Tell me about your struggles, your fears, your moments of amazement. Make us laugh, make us cry, inform us with statistics. Whatever it may be. I hope to intersperse our stories throughout the month. You can stay anonymous (just tell me so in your email), or I can give you full credit. Whatever you’re comfortable with, I’m game. And I’ll be adding mine in as well.

For those that don’t know…my mother is a cancer survivor. It was a fluke, an accident, a cold that didn’t get better. And somehow a rare cancer of the soft palate of her mouth was found. I’ll tell you her story later, but I know that almost everyone reading this has a story. Cancer sucks that way. It touches everyone.

But the good thing is, we have each other…and pretty soon, one of you will have a Pink’ed-out kitchen!

Good luck, God bless…and Fight Like a Girl!

A Meal for a Crew – Steak Pizza

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I’m linking up to a Latte’ with Ott, A’s September Iron Chef Challenge. And this month, the ingredient of choice is Red Star Yeast. I was looking through recipes, and thought I would do The Pioneer Woman’s Steakhouse Pizza, but didn’t have much of the ingredients (except yeast, flour and steak!)…so I decided to make my own recipe.

I was nervous if it would turn out, but since the pan was empty in less than 15 minutes, I’m assuming that meant it was edible.

Here we go!

Great ingredients make for a great meal!

 

Ingredients (crust):

  • 1 teaspoon Quick Rise Instant Dry Red Star Yeast
  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil

Sprinkle yeast in 3/4 cup warm water. Let stand a few minutes. Combine flour and salt. Drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. next, pour in yeast/water mixture and combine until dough comes together. Coat a separate mixing bowl with olive oil and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it. (Note: I made the dough the night before. It worked really well the next morning!)

Mixed dough

 

 

Dough - after being in fridge for 14 hours!

 

 

Pizza ingredients:

  • Dough (see above)
  • 14-15 oz. pizza sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons BBQ sauce
  • mushrooms (or toppings of choice)
  • steak (arm, ribeye, skirt, cut of choice)
  • 3 cups shredded cheese (pizza blend is what I use)

Ready to hit the oven!

 

Directions:

On a cookie sheet, spread out dough. Combine pizza sauce and BBQ sauce. Spread evenly over dough. Top with toppings of choice, end with cheese. Bake at 400* for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese it bubbly and crust is turning golden.

Cook your steak as desired!

 

 

While crust is baking, cook your steak to about medium-rare. Let it rest. When pizza is done, slice steak into very thin slices and place on top of the pizza. Stand back and watch it disappear!

Did I say, Mmmmmmm?!?

 

 

Yummy!

 

 

This is what was left, about 15 minutes after it came out of the oven!

 

 

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Hunk of Meat Monday – Gooseberry Patch Recipe #2

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It is Labor Day, our first week of school is done, a fun weekend was celebrated and here we are…back at Monday.

I promised last week that there was going to be a special surprise added to my “Celebrate a Year of Blogging” celebration, so here it is: added to the prize package is a Smart Pot 5 1/2 qt. Crock Pot and a Gooseberry Patch Slow Cooker cookbook!!! With the crock pot craze of late, and with school starting and activities picking up, I thought that a crock pot would be a perfect addition to my celebration! Be sure to go to this blog post, and post a comment…or go to Facebook and “like” Wag’n Tales!

Celebrate a year with me! Win a Crock Pot!

I know that I L-O-V-E my crock pot…and I know many of you do as well! This crock pot is great! It cooks to your desired time, and then switches to keep warm! As soon as my old crock pot decides to kick the bucket, I’m getting myself one of these babies!

Well, enough about that, on to my Hunk of Meat Monday recipe!

Easy Cheesy Potatoes & Sausage

All ya need!

Ingredients:

  • 6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1 lb. smoked pork sausage, cubed
  • 16-oz. pkg. pasteurized process cheese spread, cubed
  • 1/2 c. butter, melted
  • 1/2 c. milk

I left my sausage in bigger chunks, that way it's easier to pick out for George.

Mix all ingredients together and transfer to a greased 10X8 baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for one hour, or until potatoes are tender. (I would suggest stirring occasionally.) Makes 6 servings.

All done!

Cost for this meal:

  • Potatoes – $1.77
  • Sausage – $1.50
  • Cheese spread – $2.50
  • Total – $5.77 – and since it makes 6 servings, that’s less than $1 per serving!
Hunk of Meat Mondays

Gooseberry Patch Recipe #1 – Iowa Freezer Corn

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A couple weeks ago, the readers at The Real Farmwives of America and Friends chose a cookbook from Gooseberry Patch for me to cook from. After I make 10 recipes from the cookbook, I’ll be giving a copy of the cookbook away! And the cookbook chosen was…”Dinners on a Dime!” Woohoo! What an appropriate title for me! 🙂

I took the cookbook with me to the hospital during George’s fiasco, and I had a lot of nurses asking about it! I can’t wait to share these recipes (and a chance to win the book), but I had to get home and back into the routine of things first.

So, yesterday I sent the boys off on the bus and I got to cooking…well, kinda. The first recipe I picked doesn’t take a lot of “cooking” expertise, but it’s just what I was looking for! Here we go:

Iowa Freezer Corn

You need:

  • 16 c. corn kernels, sliced from about 30 ears corn
  • 4 c. water
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1 T. salt
  • 10 1-pint plastic freezer containers and lids, sterilized (I used 3 1-gallon freezer bags)

Corn, sugar, water, salt...yummy!

 

 

Combine all ingredients in a stockpot; stir well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil 10 minutes, stirring frequently to keep from sticking or scorching. Ladle into shallow pans to cool; do not drain. Pack corn and liquid in freezer containers; freeze. To serve, simmer frozen corn with a little water until tender. Makes 10 containers.

Water, check. Corn, check.

 

 

Sugar, check. Salt, check.

 

 

My corn bags!

 

 

Now, I used freezer bags, because my freezer doesn’t have a ton of room in it. This way, I could freeze my bags flat, then stand them up in the door! They take very little room, and I could put as much as my family would eat in a meal in one bag! Super easy, super delicious, and a great way to clean up our first batch of sweet corn.

Since an economical book was selected for me, I’ll break down the money spent on each dish, so that you can see just how reasonable each meal truly is!

Recipe #1 breakdown:

Corn – free (in our garden)

Sugar – on hand

Salt – on hand

Water – from tap

Total extra cost in meal??? Nothing, nada, zip. Just two hours of my time…and that includes picking, shucking and cutting off the cob.

Wordless Wednesday – Siding project

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Quick hospital update: George’s surgery went smoothly. Tonsils and adenoids were definitely a problem. But so was waking up. Things didn’t go as smoothly as planned, with one seizure-like episode, but nurses were SUPERB and right on top of things. The evening went better, and we’ll see where the day takes us.

The doctor is extremely helpful, and is in no hurry for George to leave. He said it’s most important that he’s taking fluids and that I feel comfortable with him at home. I love it when doctors get that!

Anyway…on to my Wordless Wednesday, cool pics of our siding project!

Saturday's project step: front porch.

 

The rain on Sunday delayed us...once the window was out. Not exactly ideal.

 

Notice the finished front porch? And the window is in!

 
We were three sheets of siding short of finishing before George’s surgery and my parents’ quick vacation to Wisconsin. We’ll finish next week…just in time for more pics and a post! 🙂

He Thinks We’re Just Siding

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Imagine Trace Adkins song, “She Thinks We’re Just Fishing,” but use the words, “He thinks we’re just siding.” That’s what I’ve had in my head all day.

Yeah, I’ve been working on my parents’ house again. This time, we’re putting on a rock-type finish and new siding on the south and west sides…as well as six new windows.

West side of south porch...Saturday's project!

 
We finished the most of the porch on Saturday. My sister and her family were down to help. It went well and we had a lot of laughs!

Trim work...how many hands can you get in there???

 
But today…well, today was just me and Dad. And although there were times that we missed the extra hands, it was pretty cool.
 
But it wasn’t just siding. It was laughing, learning, and loving every minute of it.
 
It was joking about a broken hammer, laughing over a broken level, teasing over pinched fingers and blaming each other for the recurring rain storms. And it was fun. We didn’t get as much accomplished as we had hoped…but we accomplished more than I could dream. I have memories stored away, for those days that I need them.
 
I have pearls of wisdom, that only dad’s can give.
 
I have a feeling of accomplishment, every time he lets me know that I did something right.
 
I can look at that house, and always know that it was our sweat, our blood and our tears that made the latest improvements. And with every neighbor, friend and passer-by that stops and gives a compliment, it’s a sense of pride over a job well done.
 
But most of all, it’s time with my Dad.
 
And he thinks we’re just siding.
 

My Dad, Roger...he's even figured out a cell phone! 😉

And the Winner is…

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Laine!

You were lucky post number 9, which was the random number selected by random.org.

Thanks, Laine, for entering and leaving a comment! Hope you enjoy the cookbook, and I certainly hope Logan enjoys the meals! 🙂 If you could just message me your address, I’ll be happy to put it in the mail for you! Enjoy!

By the way, this was so much fun, I’ll be giving away another cookbook in a few weeks! Not only that, but once I finish sharing 10 recipes from the Gooseberry Patch cookbook, I’ll be giving away a few of those as well! Sounds like a great reason to stick around and read more, eh? I thought so.

Stay tuned!