Rainy Days & Mondays

I truly have been to0 busy to be "down" with the Rip-tail Snorter, Aiden, here visiting us ... but who doesn't love Karen Carpenter?

Morning around here was a little bit busy, however Aiden and Rob spent a few hours outside before the rain came.  This left me time to do "catch-up" with a bit of vacuuming, dishes, making beds, and a few other usual domestic chores.

"Before I knew it, it was lunchtime and they were all back in descending on me."

"Unlike myself, our #1 Rip-tail Snorter likes the Yolk before the whites."

Lunch over with, it was time to package up the Ground Beef and Loin Chops we had bought on sale the day before.

" 13 1/2 lbs of Lean Ground Beef for $41.23, & 8 pkgs. of two thick chops per pack for $18.07.  This will keep us going in these two selections for a little bit."

It was going on to 2:00 pm by the time all of this was said and done, then time for us to head down to Southampton to fill up our van and some cans with gasoline.  With the rain coming down it was a good day to be doing this ... as we took in some of the scenery along the way.

"We took Aiden down to see the fishing boats at the Southampton Harbor at the mouth of the Saugeen River."

"Only one of the Fishing Boats was in the water."

 "Who doesn't admire the Lighthouses, who have done such a great job over the centuries of guiding the sailors home.  Southampton boasts three such lighthouses."

"On our way home back through Hepworth, we stopped in to check out "With Love"."

"What a pleasure it was to meet the owner, Jaime Balsom, who was a sheer delight when showing us her wares and handcrafted items.  These glasses Jaime is holding up in this photo are "Red Neck Margarita Glasses", made from Balls Canning Jars, lol."

"Hand crafted children's hats and gifts.  A little bit of this and a little bit of that."

"All sorts of Beeswax items if the way of candles, soaps and such."

"More of a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

"These hand-crafted Quilts are made by Jaime's own Mother.  I so want one of these, as my paternal Grandmother used to make quilts like this from old coats and such.  A Queen size is $120.00.  The beauty about Jaime being open with displays this week is that everything is 1/2 price, making the Queen only $60.00 !!!  Oh man, why did I just buy one at Zellers two weeks ago."

" .... are these just not the "sweetest"?"

Okay now I have put out the tease by showing a few photos of "With Love" ~ Distinctive Gifts Your Heart Desires ~ here is how you can contact Jaime yourself (just mention you heard about her from me, will ya, as I love helping/supporting local businesses and would love to know if I am getting the "word" out there for them.), and don't forget everything is up to 75% off this week ! :

www.withLovegifts.ca  or  facebook.com/withLovejaime  or  withLove@email.com  


Located on right hand side just coming out of Hepworth towards Wiarton on Hwy. 6 you will see the sign !


** Further "special" dates can be acquired by contacted Jaime in person at her email as above, or notice of further "open" days after this week. **

We made it home just before it was time for me to get supper cooked and on the table.

"Kraft Foods Healthy Living ~ Ham & Cheese Puffs, with Spaghetti Sauce and Brussel Sprouts."

I didn't follow the recipe to "spec", as I had no "fat free" cheese, using med. white cheddar and mozzarella, whole eggs, and spaghetti sauce for topping.  Here is the original recipe:

Recipe Source: Kraft Foods Healthy Living, Living Well With Diabetes, Pamphlet

Ham & Cheese Puffs

Prep 10 min

Total 40 min, including standing time

Yields 12 servings of 2 puffs & 2 tsp. sauce each

What you need:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup baking powder

3/4 skim milk

1 egg white

1 cup Kraft 4 cheese Italiano Light shredded cheese

1/2 cup ham cubes

2 tbsp freshly chopped basil

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 cup pizza sauce

Make it:

Heat oven to 375*F

Mix flour and baking powder in medium bowl. Add milk and egg white; mix well. Stir in all remaining ingredients except pizza sauce. Let stand 10 minutes.

Stir batter; spoon into 24 mini muffin pan cups sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 20 min. or until puffed and golden brown. Meanwhile heat pizza sauce in small saucepan.

Serve puffs with sauce.

Calories 70, fat 2.0 (sat 1.9g), chol 10mg, sodium 180 mg, carb 8g, fibre 0g, sugars 1g.

Diabetes Food Choices: 1/2 carbohydrated + 1/2 meat & alternatives

I found these to be exactly like a Yorkshire Pudding with all the extras.  I enjoyed them.  Since Rob was having some leftover Layered Enchilada Bake for his supper, I haven't received his input as of yet.

This was pretty much our day.

I am thrilled that "Cindy's Recipe Exchange" on Facebook is one person short of 200 members !!!  I have had a fantastic suggestion from one of the Exchange Members today (thanks Toni), to setup and organize things a little bit better, since Facebook does not have a separate files within the groups to categorize the recipes.  Just to find "more" time to get this started is all I need ...

.... time is such a precious commodity, it is not?

Just a bit over an hour ago, Rob looked out our diningroom window and happened to notice ....

" ... a couple of gals who had come visiting in our hay field as Dusk was just setting in."

Now we no longer have our horses, maybe these girls will start to be "regular" evening visitors in our fields.

I am tired, my neck hurts (too much wall washing from last week) and a headache has set in, surely from the rain we have had since lunchtime.  What a change from snow squalls last Friday to chance of Thunderstorms tonight.  Oh man !  Make our minds up for us will ya?  Winter? or Spring?  LOL, Spring please.

I think I will go make myself a mug of Green Tea and take it easy from here on in the remainder of the evening, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".