Sunday, November 21, 2010

Sweet Coleen, and a little bit of Nature

I didn't want Fall to come and go without showing you the "Annual" trip to the Pumpkin Patch photo.  This is my favorite of all the pictures that I took.  Isn't that outfit Fun! (Grandma) got it for her.  She even wore it to school the other day even though Halloween has come and gone.

These next photos are pictures of a little Squirrel that I've been feeding lately.  The first one shows the squirrel eating from a Sunflower plant that the back neighbors grew this summer.  The next photo is (maybe the same squirrel) with some peanuts that I've been leaving out.  Check out how many peanuts it was trying to stuff in it's mouth!

Hubby made me a feeder which we put out on the fence today.  So far I have not been able to get pictures of the squirrel in the feeder but I did get one of our "Squirrely" cats in the feeder before we put it outside!







Lastly I want to share Coleen's School picture because we just think it's so CUTE!




Back again this week with a few other photo's I'd like to share.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dinner is Served

So I'm at the dentist the other day and saw a recipe in the Better Homes & Garden magazine there.  It sounded good so I had them make me a copy of the recipe.

Here it is:

Slow Cooker Indian Stew.

2lbs. Skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cute into 1-inch pieces.

1 Medium onion, chopped.
3 Cloves Garlic (I only used 2) minced.
5 tsp. Curry Powder
2 tsp. Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper and or cayenne pepper.
2 15-oz. cans Garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained.  (I used reduced sodium beans).
2 14.5-oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained.
1 Cup Chicken brother (again I used reduced sodium broth).
1 Bay Leaf
2 Tbsp. Lime Juice (I used fresh lime juice)
1 9-oz. pkg. fresh spinach - Optional
Hot Cooked Rice - Optional.

Lightly coat a 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or oil.  Add chicken, onion, and garlic to the slow cooker.  Add Curry powder, ginger, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker.  Toss to coat.  Stir in drained beans, undrained tomatoes, broth, and bay leaf.  Cover and cook on high-heat setting 4-5 hours or low-heat setting 8-10 hours.  I used the low heat setting on our cooker.

Just before serving stir in the Lime Juice and add spinach to the pot.  Let stand 2-3 minutes to wilt spinach.  Serve with rice.
Yields Approx. 8 - 1.5 Cup servings.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween Tricks n Treats

Well here it is November 1st already! - Yes, Halloween is past now but I want to pay tribute to all those kids out there who dressed up for some Halloween fun.

First is Coleen and her teacher after school on Friday.  Mommy had forgot about sending her in her regular costume so Grandma had to rush home and get something for her to dress up in as she had a "mini-melt down" when she saw all the kids wearing the costumes that morning and she didn't have one on.  Thank goodness we had the Princess dress "Granny" (my mom) made her and a crown.


Next is our local Downtown Halloween celebration which was held Friday evening.

Coleen getting candy from the Madhatter.












A Mummy on the street (didn't know the kid but liked his costume).

Coleen and .... Can you guess what this is?  If you are a native to Walla Walla or lived here for very long you will recognize this as a "Walla Walla Sweet" for our famous sweet onions!
Coleen under a large scary cat.

My favorite from the downtown pics....Do you know what these two were dressed as.  I knew it was something that I was familiar with but couldn't quite place my finger on it.  At dinner I showed Mike the picture and he recogized it to but just couldn't figure it out.  Then it hit me so I had to do a "Google" search.  This is none other then:
"Spy vs Spy" from Mad Magazine.







From Halloween night, Coleen and my great-nephew Andrew.

Also my brother sent a photo of my other great-nephew Timothy that I had to share as well as he just looks so doggone adorable as a pirate.


Till next year....HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!