Tuesday means cooking with canned stuff

It's another Tuesday with I've canned a whole LOTT, now I'm cooking in my bistro.

My canned items today are: green beans (1 qt) and canned tomatoes (1 qt). (second pint of tomatoes not pictured)

You could also do 1 pt and half the meat and noodles as well. You could also use store bought green beans and canned tomatoes for that matter. This isn't a fancy meal. It's a go-to meal at our house. That's Rachael Ray for it's a last minute meal that you always have the ingredients for on hand. It doesn't even have a name at our house.


Green bean, tomato, noddle stuff
1 pound ground meat (turkey is our favorite here, but ground beef is fine too)
1/2 pound ish noodles (we cooked up a variety of leftover noodles- elbow, bow tie, and wagon wheels)
1 qt tomatoes (or two cans or one large can from the grocery)
1 qt green beans or 2 cans green beans (french is our favorite here)

Hubby made dinner tonight. Brown ground meat.

Add green beans.

Add tomatoes.


Add cooked noodles and salt to taste. Cook just long enough to get everything all warmed up together.

I told you it wasn't fancy. The kids like it and it has all the veggies they need for a dinner all in one dish. Plus it's fast and I always have the ingredients on hand. You can't argue with that some nights.

Here's what we had for desert. Have you seen these adorable grapes at the grocery?


The kids get so excited when they find a baby grape. This container is ALL baby grapes. They were so sweet.


Visit these fine bloggers today for more ideas on cooking with your canned goods:

a Latte with Ott, A http://www.alattewithotta.blogspot.com

From Mess Hall to Bistro http://www.messhalltobistro.blogspot.com

Gourmet Meals for Less http://gourmetmealsforless.com

From the Hive http://mamabeefromthehive.blogspot.com/

Adriennes Food Adventures http://adriennesfoodadventures.blogspot.com/

Addicting purse

I stumbled on this pattern for a buttercup bag on Made by Rae this weekend and could not wait to make one up. She has several free patterns on her site. I love it. I'm kinda addicted to it. Can you be addicted to a purse? It was super easy to make and took maybe 45 minutes to sew. It's lined, has a little pocket inside,and uses a magnetic closure.


It's a fun size. I used the leftover fabric from my sister's bag. The inside is red with little white dots. (It's not really cool enough to be wearing long sleeves, I just convinced myself this weekend that I had a fever. I was in denial that this stomach thing is running related. I wanted it to be a little stomach bug.)

I am addicted to this bag. I'm making more. I know a couple of girls getting this purse for Christmas.... Thanksgiving if I can't wait. I usually can't wait.

running and now blah

Saturday was the 10K run that is in the series of runs I mistakenly signed up for this summer. I did it on purpose, but now am not sure what I was thinking. The 5 and 10 K runs have been fine, but the mini marathon is approaching and I'm really unsure about it.

Hubby and the kids came out for it too. Both Bee and Lou had been upset that they missed the last race. Poor kids.... here we are a few minutes after 6AM. When I woke Bee up she asked,"Why would you wake me up so early on a Saturday?" Then she insisted on wearing her running skirt and shoes.

My plan had been to spend the first two or three miles getting to a good place in the pack. By mile three I decided that I was in a good spot and didn't need to worry about passing people anymore, just keeping pace. That worked fine, but about mile 5, I got a little burst of energy and sped up my pace a little. I was able to moved up a few more spots.


I finished with a time of 58.02. It's been my fastest time for a 10K so far. Unfortunately, the increase in speed seems have done a number on my stomach. I have had a crazy stomach ache today. I thought perhaps it was the flu, but one of my sisters suggested that the running might have done it. When I googled it, I learned that 30-50% of runners experience some GI issues after a race. There seem to be a number of factors including hydration level, pre-race meals, and breathing rates. Blah.

happy birthday

Just a quick little one to share today.


It's not really anybody's birthday here. We've been pretending though. I made up this little cake for school. It's all laminated and has magnets on the back. I plan to stick it to the chalk board and fill it out during snack time at school when we have a birthday in the class. I think a dry erase marker should work well on it. Then the birthday person can choose the right number of candles and we can can count them up together and fill in the sentence strip about how many we see.

The end. Good night.

making chart and graphs with kids

Bee's really into making charts and graphs right now.

She asked everybody she could find this weekend to participate.

She came up with her own topics and categories.

Did you know there are only four choices of TV shows?



We used some very old M&Ms to make a pie chart or circle graph.

First you sort them out.

Then circle them up. We had to take out the dark brown since we didn't have room on the paper.


Trace a circle around the circle of candies. Draw a line from the point where the colors change to the center of the circle.

Remove M&M's and color in. Label as you see fit. You can eat the candies unless they are older than you are. In that case, toss them.


OK, taste one if you don't believe me, then agree to toss them.

oh, thankgoodness

For months now, Lou has been saying that he isn't going to school. Plain and simple. He isn't going. Last week, I took him in to help me in the room several days. I hoped that would change his mind. Nope, he wasn't going. Then, he received a 'welcome to school' postcard from his teachers. Didn't matter. He wasn't going. He threw it in the trash can. I dug it back out. Now, it's turned into a bit of a game. He throws it away and I hide it somewhere he might find it. I had to laminate it because it was getting a little grimy from the trash can. Look at those two sweet faces... how could he not want to go to school?

Tuesday morning was his first day of school. It was a 'bring your parents to school' day, so Thursday is sort of his first real day. Either way, we talked it up and made a big deal out of it. He got his Schultuete. He did agree to go to school this morning with Daddy.

In his paper cone, he had this little dog that rides a skateboard. Apparently, it's exciting.


Daddy took him to the open house day and he had such a good time that he has agreed to go back on Thursday. Oh, Thank goodness. I had feared a huge battle. A HUGE one.

potato soup, I do like you

I've been invited to participate in something called "I Canned a whole LOTT, Now I'm Baking in my Bistro." It's being organized by the two gals who did the canning week that I participated in two weeks ago.



Here's how it works. On Tuesdays for the next two-ish months, I will post a blog showing how to cook something using at least one ingredient that I canned. Then, I will also share links to other bloggers who are participating.

Here are all the participants for today:
a Latte' with Ott, A
From Mess Hall to Bistro
A Happy Valentine
Gourmet Meals for Less
Frog Belly Soup (who was my last minute guest- see recipe specifics)

My recipe uses canned chicken broth. You can use store bought or frozen too, but since I've joined the meat co-op, I have all these whole chickens... resulting in all this chicken broth. Yummy delicious chicken broth. (This jar must be from my first batch, where I did not take heed of the 'skim the fat' step before processing)

And here's the soup. It's topped with crumbled bacon (we like ours extra crispy) and served with focaccia bread. (Here's the recipe for the focaccia and a 'how to ruin dinner' episode)


I don't like potato soup. No thanks, not me.

But wait, what is this? Potato soup.... Oh dear, it's delicious.

I had it at one of the teacher days a few weeks ago and had to make it for hubby. He loves potato soup. I had to change it just a bit because it called for chicken bouillon... that has MSG, so a substitution was needed. Insert need for canned chicken broth/stock.

Potato Chowder
3 c potatoes chopped
1 pint chicken broth (or 1 can)
1/2 c water
2/3 c onion, finely chopped
1/2 t dry mustard
1/4 t pepper (or not-pepper= "blak")
3 c. milk (divided)
1/4 c. flour
3/4 c swiss cheese (shredded)
1/2 pound+ bacon (cooked)

Cook potatoes in a large stockpot with chicken broth and water. Add onion, mustard, and pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Mash potatoes (I used the immersion blender), don't drain. In a small bowl blend 1 c. milk with flour until smooth. Add to potato mix and blend well. Add remaining milk and also the cheese. Stir well. Cook over medium heat until soup begins to thicken. Top each bowl with cooked bacon. You could substitute ham if you prefer.... but why pass up an excuse for bacon. Invite last minute guests over to dinner. Devour.

I used whole milk and I think added to the deliciousness. There was also the fat on the chicken broth (see above photo) that may have added a little something. Doubled it served at least 10. I put some back in the freezer, we'll see how it does.

magazine find

I went to the magazine bin at the recycling center to collect some magazines for the kids to cut pictures from. I was surprised not to find the dozens of issues of Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, Better Homes and Gardens, and Parents magazines. There must have been 100 issues of girly magazines right on top. Naked girly magazines. I suppose they need recycled too! While trying not to look, just to dig, I spied a small stack of old Life magazine. These gems are from 1966-1067.

While and articles and editorials are interesting, it's the adds that I've enjoyed looking at the most.

This lovely car is just $1800.

Tanning cream anyone?

There are lots of alcohol and cigarette adds, and several for freezers and refrigerators. Perhaps there was a new fridge and freezer technology that had recently come out.


Hubby and I joked that the older men that volunteer at the paper recylcing center would be jockeying for the job of locking up after their shift. Perhaps one of them would 'forgot something and have to run back inside." Probably they are after the Life magazines. Probably.