Hardwood Baby!

Have you missed me?
I have missed you too!
The word on the street this week is "Hardwood"

My nephew came up from Missouri late Monday night, and started installing our hardwood flooring.

~  through the entire house 

~ so I've been kinda busy

moving furniture every night........
~ packing up dishes
~ unloading cabinets

~ moving more furniture

~ unloading more cabinets

Really.....where do you put all this stuff?

~ ohhh, and don't forget moving the lumber from one side of the room to the other
~ putting felt pads under every single stick of furniture that touches the floor.

~ trips to Wal-Mart to get more felt pads.
~ trips to Wal-Mart to get the CORRECT size felt pads.
~ trips to Ace Hardware Dixon for more gun cleats

~ have to keep thinking about the end result

living room, dining room ~ CHECK
family room almost done
hallway is half done

See that stool?
That's where I'm sitting.
This room is prepped for tomorrow.
Yup, he is working through the weekend.
(I thought we were going to get a break.)


Gotta go.......

Slow Cooker Sausage and Vegetable Medley

Ok folks, this has turned into one of our favorite meals,
and it is especially good on those cold, snowy days.

It is called Slow Cooker Sausage and Vegetable Medley.


I chop up all the vegetables the night before and throw it all in the crockpot the next day.  

Well actually, I don't have a Crock Pot brand.  Mine is a Slow Cooker...I think by Rival.

And when we get home from a stressful day of work.

Whalla!  Done!

(I know what you are thinking........I really need to stage my pictures better.  I agree with you!)

But I do want to warn you.  I think the newer slow cookers cook hotter, so leaving for work at 6:30 and not getting home until 5:00 without stirring, ON LOW, results in this.

Not pretty, and not tasty either.

So, I have to make a pit stop home during lunch ~

either to stir the pot and turn it down to the "warm" setting if I have started it before work, or I throw everything in the crockpot at lunch and turn the setting to high.  Neither option is efficient.

In the meantime, I have put on my list to hunt down old crock pots at garage sales or estate sales.   

Here is the source for the recipe that can be found here

Slow Cooker Sausage & Vegetable Medley

 from Pinterest

A Year of Slow Cooking

--5-6 chicken or turkey sausage links.

I used 3 Itallian Seasoned Chicken & Turkey Sausage

and 2 Chipotle Spiced Chicken Sausages—

both varieties were from Trader Joe's

--1/2 package of mushrooms

--potatoes 1-2 medium brown ones or equivalent.

--few stalks of celery

--some baby carrots

--some brocolli

--some cauliflower

(the amount of veggies really doesn't matter---

t's completely up to you. If you have onion and

bell pepper, use them. Sweet potato, eggplant,

zuchinni, whatever; it's all good)

--2 cups chicken broth

--1/3 cup white wine (not necessarily necessary)

The Directions:

--cut all veggies into 2-inch chunks

--layer into crockpot, most to least dense

--add sliced sausage

--add broth and wine

--cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

--right before serving, add a handful of fresh spinach and

 cover for 10 minutes to wilt leaves

(I forgot.)

Delicious. And terribly easy--no spices are needed due to

the flavorful sausage.

I have used straight Italian sausage, and I have used a combination of the different sausages as stated in the recipe and we definitely like the different seasoned sausages better.  It adds a little more bite to the dish.  I have yet to use the spinach, or add the wine. 


Not a bad dish, and if you limit your intake on the sausage, calories are probably pretty low too, AND this is from a girl who prefers not to have sausage on her pizza.


Stay warm.  That snowy ground looks frigid out there this morning.

You gotta love it!

55 degrees and sunny on Wednesday 
Lunch hour WITHOUT a coat.

What a difference a day makes.

Thursday ~ frigid comparatively.

Today is supposed to be a high of 15 degrees with a low of 2.

AM Snow Showers.

Really, what are snow showers?

Is that a mix between snow and rain?

Drive carefully and stay safe people.

Winter in Valdez

Well, this weekend in the midwest continued 

with very mild temperatures, above average for 

the beginning of January.  Virtually no snow yet.

Yesterday with the sun shining, I almost thought I 

should be raking leaves, or doing something outside.

My cousin Tim has lived in Alaska for years

and posted to his Facebook page,

"Hey, lower 48, I know where all of your snow is".

20 inches of snow Thursday night in Valdez.

  

Some great pictures sent into the Alaska Dispatch.

Makes me glad it isn't here.

Check out the pictures and story here from the Alaska Dispatch for more.

Sunset on the 6th

 The beautiful sky looking southwest on our lot.  

Hey, how 'bout those lovely tire tracks? 

 Isn't it amazing what you see once 

you upload the pictures to the computer.

It almost looks like a fire in the background.

It was a fleeting moment, 

and then it was gone.

Timing is everything.

I'm enjoying my peaceful weekend at home.

Enjoy YES!

New Year's Christmas in Troy

Happy New Year everyone!

My mini vacation is over and the new year 

and the new work week is in full swing.

My weekend was pretty wonderful.  New Year's Eve morning, my niece and her twin 4 year old boys drove an hour to my house, 

and then we loaded up my vehicle (moving the dreaded car seats from her vehicle to my vehicle, and the gifts with no bows), and drove 4-1/2 hours south to my brother's house in Troy, MO.

 The twins turned 4 on the 17th but their grandparents and uncles missed the party, so we had another one when we got down there Saturday afternoon. 

 Aunt Sara baked them a "construction cake".

 

These two beasts, I mean toys, were some of their gifts.

 

Making wishes.........

Saturday night we spent the night gathered 

around the kitchen table playing games.

  My favorite was the game What's Yours Like.  

We were all laughing so hard. 

 I think I went to bed around 2:00.

Can't believe I made it to midnight.

Hello 2012!

Welcome January 1!

5:30 a.m. Sunday my cell phone is ringing,

waking me from a sound sleep.

It's the husband.

Terrible winds during the night

set off my niece's car alarm.

Car is locked in Illinois.

Keys are in Missouri.

No way to stop the alarm.

(Ooops.)

Apparently all of our neighbors are up as well.

Husband is not happy.

I told him to call the police.

Good thing too.

Police had already been called by several neighbors.

It took awhile but the good cop broke into the car

and husband was able to disconnect the alarm.

Husband now happier.

Life goes on.

Later that morning, 

the kids opened their presents.

Mia almost 4 mos with grandpapa.

Wyatt turned 2 in September

My youngest nephew Lucas.

My nephew Adam

(my brother is loaning him to me 

for several weeks to fix up my house ~

 starting to make out my to do list)

 

My nephew Ryan who moved to Paducah, KY a year ago.

He's a Marine and served our country.

My brother Parker.

Christmas/New Years Day Dinner.

It doesn't get any better than this.

Have a great week
and I'll see you this weekend.