HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!

Great and Quick Cold Weather Soup Recipe

I came across this recipe and then decided to make it turned out great although I did modify a little, instead of rotel I used fresh tomatoes I had and used S&W Chili Beans that had garlic, onion and chili in them. And I threw in a few more veggies when sauteing the onions, I had peppers and celery in there too.  Here is the recipe I hope you try it and enjoy!

Willy Strange's Good Soup

Several years ago, our church congregation did a community service project and cleaned up an overgrown cemetary in Rockwall, Texas.  The care-taker, an elderly woman, couldn’t afford to pay for our services but gave us something much better.  This recipe came from her.  It was an instant hit with everyone who took a copy, and has continued to be a family favorite which we share with our special friends.  I’ve decided that it’s just too good to keep under wraps.  So, sometime when you need to make a main-dish in just 10-15 minutes, give this a try.  You won’t be disappointed.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans Campbell's Minestrone soup
• 1 can Ranch Style beans *
• 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes (Mild or hot - you choose) *
• 2 cans water
• ¼ cup catsup
• 1 lb. hamburger
• 1 small diced onion
• * Rotel and Ranch Style are brand name products of ConAgra Foods. Their web site has a search feature to help you find a retailer near you that carries these two products. It's worth your time to find them.

Preparation:

Sauté the diced onion in a dutch oven.  Add the hamburger and brown.  Drain off the excess fat.  Add the remaining ingredients, heat and serve.

We sometimes add an additional can of tomato soup with an additional ¾ can of water.  You can control the spiciness of the soup by using the spicy Rotel tomatoes.

Our new SBO!

Last Friday Corky was voted Freshman Vice President at OHSU, and they are planning big time first thing they will be doing is a school trip to Lagoon for Frightmares!  There is a great deal that I will post as to how you can help OHSU raise funds just by going to Frightmares, a portion of your ticket price goes to the school.  But they are planning a night when they can all meet in person.  As far as I can tell they are very anxious to have this. I will be adding a few links for that.  We are all excited yeah Corky!

Home

Well we have moved back to our home of 13 years after a 6 month break.  It went smoothly and my DH can be quoted as saying its great to move back into somewhere you've already been then you know where it all goes.  I will still be blogging and we will still have fun!  Make sure you keep up to date!

Harvest 2009

Well it finally froze and so with the move I decided to go ahead and pull all of our Winter squash and anything left in the garden we could take.  As you can see we came out a little too well.  Those darn plants not all where supposed to live, I had actually planted them a little close together because of my homegrown transplants not all usually make it.  I didn't loose any, until the deer ate 3 of them.  All of the seeds are ones I have saved from last year, I have learned how to do this it's easy and an essential garden know how.  I did however buy Connecticut field pumpkin seeds and my sister gave me some pumpkin seeds as well.

My winter squash included;
Australian Butter Squash
Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck, mine never seem to crook though
Hubbard
Spaghetti squash
and Pumpkins, Connecticut and white

And other things in my garden;
Corn,(deer and grasshoppers got it)
summer squash:
  sunburst patty pan
  yellow straight neck
  zucchini
Cucumbers
  Slicing
  pickling
  Lemon
beets
carrots, red, orange, yellow and white
tomatoes
dill
Onions, red and yellow
watermelons
canteloupe
green beans (deer got them)
swiss chard
peppers, bell, banana and Anaheim
red potatoes
okra
broccoli
cabbage
turnips
rutabega

I was so glad to figure out that we pulled more than a thousand pounds of veg from the garden, a lot more than I was expecting-but then again you never know what you are going to get!

One turnip I pulled from the garden was 15.5 inches around!

Our Last Weekend in the Basin

 Sunday right before leaving

Last Weekend we stayed at the Limber Flag Yurt.  It was great cheap and secluded.  We had a lot of fun.  There were 2 full size bunk beds in the yurt and a woodburning stove and propane stove.  We cooked our dinner outside on the fire with M's family the first night and on the woodstove the next.  The kids just loved running around the yurt on the deck.

On Saturday we went to the Gorge and did the Dam tour, and ate our packed lunch.  Then we went to a beach and fished and went swimming.  With the kids all worn out we had them fed and in bed by 8:30 when the sun went down.

On Sunday everyone helped out and cleanup went fast.  This was our last great thing we will be doing before leaving the basin and it was great fun.

Our Family Reunion

 

Why is it boys always know how to shoot things?

We had a great time at our the family reunion, but sad to see that there were not a lot of family there this year, either they left early or didn't make it.  I think it was mostly just bad timing or something.  We hope to see more next year but had a blast anyway.