November 2007 Archives

This is one of our low carb recipes. I was going to make this dish as my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner. However, as Josh has already mentioned, things changed.

Ingredients:
1 small onion, sliced very thin (2.5 oz)
1/4 cup celery, finely diced
2 tablespoons butter
2-14 oz cans French-cut green beans, drained well
4 oz can mushrooms, drained well
12 oz ham, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
8 oz pepper-jack, cheddar or Swiss cheese, shredded (I use the pepper-jack for some spice)

Directions:
Saute onion and celery in butter until very tender and a little browned. In 2-qt greased casserole dish, mix green beans, mushrooms, ham, mayonnaise and seasonings. Stir in onion mixture, then cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.

You can assemble and chill ahead of time. If you do so, add an additional 10-15 minutes to baking time.

Makes 6-8 servings.

;) WHAT'S THAT SMELL IS BACK! ;)

It has been a great week off. I am really dreading going back to work. I had to share this before I forgot it. I overheard Myra and Noah sitting if front of the fireplace this morning. Myra is warning Noah, "Noah, be careful around this fire. It's really hotting up my face!"

What a great Thanksgiving we had! Due to forces beyond our control, we spent the big day at home. I don't really like turkey much, so Chris had the idea to make homemade lasagna. Sounds kind of weird, but it really turned out yummy! Myra pitched in and helped me do the cooking and Chris conjured up some cheddar bread. While it cooked, I finally got to give my new recliner a decent test run. With a blanket in my lap, I had a fire in the fireplace, football on the tube, and my laptop in hand. Life was GOOD! During Thanksgiving dinner, I looked out the window to see....SNOW! Big flakes were falling fast! Unfortunately, it didn't stick, but we ran outside and played in the falling snow for a bit, catching them on our tongues and running back and forth in the wettest snow flurry I've ever seen. Finally we were able to drag the kids back inside to finish up dinner which we topped off with mini-pecan pies.

Then it was time to decorate the tree. Noah liked putting every ornament in one little place about 2 feet off the ground. Myra wanted every one of her ornaments to be at the top of her reach and by the window so people can see them from outside. It seemed like every ornament I put on needed to be out of the kiddos reach. In the end, we had to do some rearranging to make it look good. Chris drug out her Christmas village and spent an hour arranging and rearranging the little buildings and people. Myra and I began working on a village of our own. Keep your eyes out for some pics when we finish it. All in all it was a very relaxing and enjoyable day!

So this morning, Noah came into our room pretty happy and crawled into bed with us. We played cars for a bit until Sissy joined us. Then, it was tickle time. I can't really remember what Myra left the room for but she left followed by her brother several seconds later. As Noah was leaving the room, Myra was returning, running as fast as she could around the corner back into the room. BAM! After that, all the laughter stopped and the screaming began.

Noah cried "OW OW OW!" for a good 30 to 45 minutes. The good news is that Speedy Sissy didn't do any damage. The bad news is Noah was complaining about his ear ... AGAIN! A month ago (to the day), I took the little man in for an ear infection. All the fighting we do every time just to get him to take the any medicine ... I didn't want to do that again. So I decided if it was another infection, I'd ask for a shot.

Well, off to "urgent care" we went. Sure enough, it was another infection ... and an upper respiratory infection ... and severe allergies. The doctor even mentioned the possibility of tubes. I did the shot ... all $118 worth ($90 for the shot itself and $28 just to give it to him)! It's so worth it ... and insurance will reimburse me for it along with the $153 doctor visit. The good news here is that I've been to "urgent care" enough that I only had to pay for 1/2 the visit.

Okay, so he got the shot and TWO prescriptions. One was for an ear drop pain killer thing and the other was for chewable Claritin. When we arrived at the pharmacy, " That will be $187." WHAT?!? The ear drops were $80 something and the "Singulair" was $90 something. Singulair? We told the pharmacist that we were told it would be Claritin. Was there a difference? "They both do the same thing." That didn't answer our question. However, she was nice enough to answer the one where we asked if there were any generics ... "No."

We told her to forget about it. Noah hadn't appeared to be in pain since leaving the house for the doctor's. And the Claritin/Singulair was just a "preventative". I'm headed to the store tomorrow to see if I can't find Claritin at the store. (Yes, I just realized a couple minutes ago that Claritin has been OTC for a while now.)

I never knew ears could be so expensive! My parents did though. I guess I'm the one to blame for this ... or could I pass it off on my mom ... Ms Severe Allergy herself?

THE SHOT: It was one that goes in the "hiney". Noah was real good about laying down on his tummy (showing the nurse how he swims). I took his arms and the nurse took his legs just before poking him. He jumped and neither one of us thought about pinning down his bottom. Poor little guy received a nice three inch scratch that bled for a while (he didn't want a band aid ... I think he was afraid of the size of it) AND another poke ... this time in the other cheek. I had to lay across his entire upper body. I still say it was worth it.

Shawn has been working on a family recipe book. One of the moms in one of my SAHMs group mentioned doing a recipe swap. It's all got me thinking that I need to bring back everyone's favorite category ...

WHAT'S THAT SMELL?

Be looking for new recipes in the near future.

(I'm also hoping that this will get me cooking more ... and healthier meals so I can get my new fancy Food Network cookware for Christmas.)

Here's a couple more pictures from Halloween night for you to enjoy. (I guess Daddy had a little time on his hands at school today. He sent these to me "courtesy of GIMP".)

I think this has been our best Halloween yet.