Dinner with Lemons November 30, 2009

Venison Strogonoff

Enough Venison steaks to feed the family

1 bottle Worcestershire sauce

1 can beer

2 heaping spoonfuls minced garlic

Pound venison flat and cut into 1 inch strips. Place in a bowl with worcestershire sauce, beer and garlic. Let refridgerate for an hour.

1 large bag wheat wide noodles

Cook according to directions.

Dredge meat through 1 1/2 cups flour seasoned with 1 tbsp onion salt and 1 tbsp garlic powder. Coat a skillet with EVOO and fry the venison.

Remove cooked venison from skillet and add 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 1 cup of sour cream. Add a dab of tarragon and nutmeg. Add vegetable stock to create desired consistency. Season with Salt and Pepper.

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!!!

Nothing much really

Since all of my friends are updating their blogs I guess I might as well update mine. The very last day of October and the first two days of November have been very life changing.

Tommy took off to work as usual on Saturday morning, October 31, 2009. He called me at his first break and asked me to text his ex wife (Kayde) and let her know that his schedule for work was different than normal on Saturday so he would be at her house to pick Daelynn up for his "scheduled visitation" an hour earlier than usual. (I put those words in quotes because they have been quoted to me so much by Kayde lately that I could gag). He also let me know that his cell phone was almost dead because he didn't charge it the previous night. Make a long story short, Kayde pulled out the only loop hole that she had to deny Tommy time with Daelynn. She couldn't really come up with a good reason for him to not be able to pick her up. She pulled out their decree, did the math and in her Kayde way informed me that we "somehow managed to get our weekends switched, and in fact, it is not his scheduled weekend". She convienently did not recall that she voluntarily switched the court ordered weekends when she was dating Carl so that they could have all three children one weekend and we could have all three children the next. Hhmm...glad I don't have to look in that mirror. I am too honest of a person to pull something like that off. This has forced us into a less than pleasant situation. Now Chris & Kayla will not get to see Daelynn because they will be with Carl while Daelynn is with us. After discussing this with Tommy he called Kayde to discuss it with her. This is when my little bubble got deflated. Instead of standing up for all that I had battled with the entire day he simply caved in and conceeded to make the switch. Thanks for standing united. It will not be the optimal situation. I can rest easy about it because I know it is not by my hand. When Daelynn starts asking why she can't be involved in all of the family functions with Chris & Kayla or the family pictures, etc...I will be able to say that she should discuss it with her mom and dad. I hate it for my kids because that makes them hate Kayde that much more. I also removed some of my Facebook "friends" because it was a necessary thing for my own state of mind. That was very difficult and many tears were shed over it, but I hope it will be for the best. Fortunately, that was the only negative part of my update.

November opened a new door for us. We officially withdrew Chris & Kayla from public school today. We also began our homeschooling schedule today. It was a very pleasant day. We started the morning off with Chris reading to the family from Beowolf. Following that Kayla read to us from Polyanna. Both kids spent about 45 minutes brushing up on their math skills. Tommy took them outside and facilitated PE for an hour. We set up the criteria for the reports they need to write for Social Studies. They will be reading from a piece of literature titled Our Little Indian Cousin (Mary Hazelton Wade) 1901. This is a brand new adventure for us and I hope it is a pleasant one. Chris was chipper all day long and really enjoyed his "guy time" outside with Tommy. Kayla was very happy that she could wear her side ponytail and not have to listen to any criticism for it. I believe that the drama free lifestyle of homeschooling is going to be great for my kids. I am looking forward to seeing Chris & Kayla blossom into their own independent, unique selves. I am also glad that I am learning what to do for Logan when he is old enough to start school.

If any of my friends would like to start homeschooling their children and are intimidated by it, I am totally available to talk with them about it. I think it is the best thing parents can do for their children. I am surprised at just how happy I am as a granola mom!

Dinner with Lemons October 21, 2009

Momma made dinner tonight. :) We went for some good soul food! Beans, cornbread, and fried potatoes. It was great!

Dinner with Lemons October 20, 2009

Tonights dinner was a little more complicated than I anticipated! I didn't have any grilled chicken on hand, so I had to grill it on the griddle on the stove! I also didn't have any cheddar cheese soup so I added condensed milk to velveeta as a substitute. I am sure it will be awesome! Here is the link:

http://www.cupcakesandcasseroles.com/?p=249

Lemons Life current affairs

So much has transpired since my last update. Our most recent affairs have been challenging and we have all been successful! The biggest challenge has been moving. With the economy the way it has been life has proven difficult for us. Thanks to the dishonesty of ex's in our lives our income has far exceeded our lifestyle. We live quite a modest life. We don't have any credit cards. One car payment, rent, utilities, gas for the cars. The big hit comes from the responsibility of having a blended family, ex's (dishonest ones at that), and great morals. I am very thankful that I have a very close and supportive family.

By the end of this month we will be residing full time at my parents house in Inola. Once we get everything moved over to Inola and settled in I will begin my new adventure of homeschooling Chris & Kayla. Until we are settled we are transporting them daily to Claremore school. I am intimidated by homeschooling, yet I am positive that I will be successful and the kids of course will do great. We are planning on Kayla playing softball again when the season comes around. We are considering enrolling her in dance lessons. We are going to get Chris involved in martial arts. I am not sure if there are any other sports available in this area that are rec for Chris' age.

We have redesigned the girls' bedroom in an attempt to appease the critics in our lives. We set Daelynn up with an adorable canopy (Disney Princess will have to do for now) to cover her bed so that she feels like a princess. We filled her bed with stuffed animals and blankets and pillows. We put a night light under Kayla's bed to ward off any monster's that might find Daelynn appetizing. We also have two of the four walls reserved for whatever deco Daelynn would like to have put up. The next trip my parents make to my Uncle's house will include picking up the hide-a-bed that we got for Dae so that she will have more than just a mattress to sleep on. I find it very interesting that Daelynn has always been very happy with her bed. She liked the fact that she had a mattress on the floor because she didn't have to worry about falling off the bed. Seems as though the problem has been passed on from elsewhere.

Logan is doing just wonderful. He is such a happy baby. He is growing so much. At the last Dr's appointment he was four months old. He weighed 14 lbs 8.5 ounces and was 25 1/2 inches long. Everything is going great with him. We bought him a bounce bounce baby (it's like a walker, but has no mobility, just a pad to bounce on) and some new items to terrorize with his mouth. Tommy has changed his nickname from Super pooper to Super Soaker. It is insane the amount of drool that he can produce! I know that many people have suggested that we start him on solid foods. So far he has been exclusively breast fed and is thriving. Since he is so satisified and doing so well we have decided to wait to start solid foods.

Tommy and I are doing great! We are enjoying our children and family. School is going as well as can be expected for me. I am very fortunate to have Mom & Tommy around. They are both so willing to help me with whatever I need. Dad would be just as willing, but Mom & Tommy beat him to the punch. I am looking forward to Thursday night. It will be my very first ladies night! I am very excited to get to spend some time with some amazing women that I am blessed to know.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe time until next time!

Dinner with Lemons October 19, 2009

Wow!!! It's been a long time since I posted anything! Last nights dinner was a great hit! Kayla ate her meal in less than twenty minutes! AND she went back for a second helping. She didn't finish all of the second helping, but, if you know my babydoll...you know it is HUGE that she ate in less than twenty minutes, let alone seconds! So here is the 411!!!!

Your choice of servings of Tilapia (We used an insane amount!)

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Salt

Lemon Pepper

Two Lemons quartered

Pasta Roni (We used Angel Hair that was some creamy white sauce, kids always love it)

Creamed Corn

4 tbsp (or halve of a stick) butter

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover cookie sheets with non-stick spray. Season both sides of tilapia with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and lemon pepper. Place on baking sheet. Squeeze on quarter lemon over fish and place all quarters on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

Prepare Pasta Roni as directed.

Simmer creamed corn with 4 tbsp butter and 1/4 cup sugar. Add salt and pepper to tast.

It is relatively simple and pretty tasty. Once all is cooked, serve and enjoy! The kids ate so much of it that they weren't even interested in desert. Mom & Dad had some yummy Dulce de Leche ice cream. Hope you try it and like it!

Dinner with Lemons June 6, 2009

I have read a lot of information lately about techniques to naturally induce labor. I am 38 weeks and 4 days and ready for him to get here. I am not willing to medically induce until the last possible minute. Most of the techniques I have found are kinda scary. Castor oil is something I would like to be able to say I have never tried. Raspberry leaf tea doesn't taste very good. And the thought of what you are supposed to do with the Primrose oil is just not something I can think about. I have read though, that spicy food may help. What a great idea for dinner tonight! Tommy loves spicy food. The kiddos won't eat rotel without gasping from the heat so we normally don't do spicy. But hey, they aren't here tonight. It is just me and Tommy, and, while I am not a fan of spicy food, if it will help encourage Logan to get out of his comfy zone, I am all for it.

I had some bone-in pork chops thawed out (purchased at the 5 for $25 deal at Marvins in Chouteau) to cook up so we are having pork enchiladas.

Using Kosher salt and Cracked black pepper, season chops on both sides and sear in a skillet with about two turns of the pan of EVOO.

Once the chops are searing, add the following to the crock pot

1 whole chopped onion (I only had half of a white one)

Diced jalapeno (I had about 1tbsp chopped so I added about 1/2 tbsp of the liquid too)

Quater sized handful of chili powder

Quater sized handful of cayenne pepper

about 1/2 cup hot pepper sauce

2 heaping spoonfuls (I used a large spoon from the silverware drawer) of minced garlic

Nickle sized handful of cumin

Nickle sized handful of ground mustard

Nickle sized handful of smoked paprika

1 large glass of water

Add the chops once they are seared and cook on high for four hours.

Carefully remove the chops and shred in a large bowl, removing bones and excess fat.

Add 1 small container of sour cream and 1 cup of shredded cheese.

Pour the remaining liquid from the crockpot in a skillet and heat to a boil. Add 1/4 tube of tomato paste and 3 tbsp of flour. Bring to a boil and whisk together to form an enchilada sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix enough of the enchilada sauce with pork mix to bind. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with tomato sauce. Heat tortillas for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Spoon pork mix into tortilla and wrap up like a burrito. place seam side down in casserole dish. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce and bake in oven for approx 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with shredded cheese.

While enchiladas are cooking, heat about 1/2 box beef stock to a boil in a med sauce pan. Add 1 cup rice and simmer. Cover and simmer until rice absorbs all of the stock. Add approx 1/4 tomato sauce and some chopped jalapeno's.

Plate up enchilada's with rice as a side. If you and your family like refried beans, (which I LOVE) serve them along side. Tommy doesn't really like them and since this dish was all about him, I left the beans out.

I hope if you try this you really enjoy it!