Monday Mystery

Last week, we did a little geo-caching. More on that tomorrow. 

As we were strolling along, seeing the sights and learning a little history, I came upon this:

My immediate thought was "no way!" How could there be a single red maple leaf amidst all the brown ones. I actually had to touch it to assure myself that it was fake. But the mystery is: where did it come from? I looked all around. There were no other artificial plants anywhere--not a wreath or floral garland. There was nothing around. I guess it could have gotten caught up in some wind and blew here from---who knows where. But what are the odds that it would land amidst other maple leaves? Now that I think about it, I wish I'd have looked at the book page it rested on a little closer. If it mentioned leaves, that really would have been something!

Makes me wonder. It's a mystery.

Some Things for Sunday

Cooking healthy. So, I've been making a lot of new healthy recipes. New to me, but something I've heard about for years is spaghetti squash. I had no idea what I was buying, so just took a leap of faith. 

I found a recipe for Spaghetti Squash Lasagna. The first thing you have to do is cut the squash in half and scoop out the insides. I put Butch on it and he cut them very unevenly. To be fair, I put him on it because it was so hard to cut---sort of like sweet potatoes---only bigger. Then I made him try to even them up. We wound up with this!

I went ahead and put the extra sliver on the skinny side. Then they were sprayed with Pam, salt and peppered and placed upside down on parchment paper. They were baked at 375 for 45 minutes. When it was done, it scooped out like spaghetti! It seemed kind of miraculous--and fun to do.

Here's the finished dish. I use an 8" square baking dish. We got 3 meals out of it. It was really good---very good--in fact, delicious. But don't kid yourself, that squash in no way tasted or felt like spaghetti! Still so good. Here's the recipe--I multiplied it by 4 for 4 servings. Like I said, we got 6:

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

3 ounces Jennie-O Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage--I just used ground turkey

1/4 cup 2% Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

1/4 cup Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese--I substituted no fat cottage cheese because I had that on hand.

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder 

2 tsp grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 tsp dried Basil 

1 cup Spaghetti Squash, cooked 

1/4 cup Rao's Marinara Sauce 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Place spaghetti squash on a baking sheet and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Season lightly with salt and pepper, if desired. Place the spaghetti squash cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove from oven and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a fork, scrape the flesh to get spaghetti-like strands. Measure out 1 cup of spaghetti squash and place on the bottom of an oven-safe container. Sprinkle garlic powder and dried basil on top of spaghetti squash. Then drop small spoonfuls of the ricotta on top. Remove the Italian sweet sausage from their casings. Place the sausage in a medium sized skillet and cook over medium-high heat until cooked thoroughly. Drain the fat from the sausage. Measure out 3 ounces of cooked sausage using a food scale. Sprinkle the sausage on top of the ricotta cheese. Then add Rao's marinara sauce on top of the sausage. Next, add mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 to 35 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Makes 1 Serving (I made 4 servings and swapped out ground turkey for the sausage. I also used non-fat cottage cheese just because I had that on hand.)

Then I made this dish---Shrimp Puttanesca. I had some large shrimp that I wanted to use up. Plus, I got a new "zoodle" maker. Little did I know when I bought it that Mindy had one in her closet along with all the other wedding gifts they don't have room for! She doesn't even know what she has up there. I only noticed it because I have started baby steps to clean it out! 

Butch manned the "zoodle maker"---although it actually took two of us. I held the bowl. 

Shrimp or Chicken Puttanesca 

4 Servings

28 oz cooked shrimp (or 24 oz cooked chicken)

3 medium zucchini, spiralized (we only did two and it made a lot)

2 tsp garlic, minced 

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 1/4 C canned crushed tomatoes (I used a can of petite dice tomatoes)

3 Tbsp sliced pitted Kalamata olives

1 Tbsp capers, drained

2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

¼ C Parmesan cheese

Bring an extra-large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat. Cook and stir zucchini noodles until hot and slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a strainer, and thoroughly drain any excess liquid.

Remove skillet from heat. Clean, if needed. Re-spray, and bring to medium heat. Add garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir until garlic is fragrant and browned, about 1 minute.

Add crushed tomatoes, olives, and capers to the skillet. Cook and stir until hot, about 2 minutes.

Add basil, drained zucchini, and cooked shrimp. Cook and stir until hot and well mixed, 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

This was another really good recipe--even though I forgot about the parmesan cheese at the end! The shrimp I had were jumbo, so I cut them in half. I didn't have quite the amount the recipe called for, but it was enough. I cut the red pepper in half and it gave the dish a slight kick. But I'm thinking the full 1/4 t. wouldn't be too much. I'm going to try it with chicken the next time and put the full amount of the cayenne pepper.

The only recent healthy thing I've made that neither of us cared for was the mashed cauliflower. Somehow you are supposed to equate that with mashed potatoes. Uh, no! Not even close. We like cauliflower so there's no need to mash it and try to fool ourselves. That's just crazy. We can't be fooled. Potatoes are potatoes. You can't fake them.

Scrapbook Saturday

I really only wanted to have ONE pandemic album. But, I had too many layouts for one album. Sooo, one more should do it. I don't scrapbook chronologically much anymore, but I have to admit, I've enjoyed these pandemic layouts. This is the title page for the 2021 album.

"I was a very good girl this year" highlights all of my fabulous Christmas gifts. Making the little gift title was new for me.

"On the farm" is from the early 1990's. I don't have too many old pictures left to scrapbook.

"walking Route 66" is all about our family challenges. Route 66 was our first one--2200 miles!

I'm hoping to get a little scrapbooking done today. It's rainy and grey, so the perfect day for it. We'll see....

Friday Funnies

Five Things Thursday

1. 

This little girl had a terrible break. This time it required surgery and a rod. Josie is only 5 and this is her second broken arm--her first one was at age 3! She had "nursemaid's elbow: Nursemaid's elbow is a common injury of early childhood. It is sometimes referred to as "pulled elbow" because it occurs when a child's elbow is pulled and partially dislocates. I can't remember if she was two or three when that happened. Also, she had a fall that made her two front teeth push in. She's been through it! But what she was most unhappy about this time was that they cut her shirt! She loved that shirt!

Here she is with her permanent cast. All smiles! She's a girly girl and loves the sparkles in her cast that you can't see here.

2. So, Janet--my sil--has "hired" me to help her with her remodel. Janet cannot be rushed lest she be overwhelmed. So, I've been giving her weekly assignments. Last week we started on the clean-out. Honestly, if I was there, I would be helping her! Instead, she had this little helper.

Janet said Josie (her granddaughter) was a big help. When she had emptied this drawer, she said, "Ooooh, Gram---this drawer needs wiping out!" I'm glad there's someone to help her. Even a 5 year old can get in to cleaning out and organizing!

3. Little by little we'll get it done. I've asked for pictures, but this is the only ones she's sent so far.

She pulled out all the cooler cups from one of her cabinets. She sorted through them and discarded a bunch.

She reduced the numbers to this. Way to go Janet. 

This week, I'm having her continue cleaning out the cabinets in her kitchen. I've also assigned her 3 floor experts to call to come out and give her bids for refinishing her hardwood floors. I sent her the links so all she has to do is pick up the phone and make the appointments. Remodeling can definitely be overwhelming--where to begin. I ALWAYS start with a list. I've already made that list for Janet including tile, countertop and paint selections. Little by little I'lll stare it with her at the right time so she can make her choices.

After the beach remodel, I said I would never do that long distance again. But since Janet is my "woman on the ground," we CAN do it long distance! Once I get my second shot (again, no explanation necessary!), I'll go in to St. Louis to take her shopping!

4. Mindy sent me this picture over the weekend.

Downtown Nashville as if there wasn't still a pandemic going on! The mask mandate is still in place here, but no one pays any attention to it. Notice the rooftop too!

Exactly one year ago--exact same spot. Not a soul in sight. Tourism completely dried up. We're happy to have the bars and restaurants re-open---even with some restrictions. Hopefully these crowds won't cause a surge in Covid cases. We're on the right side of that now. Let's keep it that way. You know what would help? MASKS!! Just wear them!!

5. On Saturday, my sister, Janice was finally able to move in the her log home in Salem, MO. That was supposed to happen in early December. But you know what they say about best laid plans. 

Anyway, all of us siblings had planned a housewarming "Zoom" party for her. We had everything sent to Jennifer's house. The party didn't happen until Saturday. Or I should say, didn't really happen the way we'd hoped. Internet in the country is very unreliable. Some of us were on Zoom, but Janice and Jennifer were not able to maintain a connection. So, we did a Factime call with me holding my phone in front of my computer for the Zoomers to see. I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with that idea. But my arms were hurting trying to hold up my phone for so long. After spending 45 minutes---on again, off again with the connection, we finally gave up. We did get to see a tour of her "tiny" home. Jennifer sent us videos the next day of Janice opening her gifts.

Jennifer gave her this sign. So cute! When all the gifts were arriving via Fed Ex and UPS, Janice couldn't figure out what all Jennifer and Parvez were getting. She thought they order a LOT of stuff! I'm glad we were able to keep it a surprise. If anybody deserves a party, it's Janice!!

That's it for this week.

What I Make & What I Buy Wednesday

On Monday, Sandy sent me this photo of a little of her Easter decorating. she said that her little eggs were her favorite and just wanted to thank me.

We made these a few years ago. I reminded her that I hate  craft projects. I just do it because the family loves them! They are pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Speaking of Easter, I had this cute little bunny lighted tree sent to Victoria for her monthly surprise. I like to send a package each month of my grands first year of college. Since, due to the pandemic, Victoria got cheated last year, I started all over this year. Anyway, I thought that little tree was so cute! You can get it--cheap--from Lakeside.

While I was at the Lakeside website, I bought this for myself:

This cute bunny wreath was only $12.99. I also surprised Morgan with one when she stopped by to pick up the Chex Mix she requested. "Grandpa, can you make me some Chex Mix for my weekend to Gatlinburg?" He would NEVER say "no" to any of his girls. Actually, I don't either. Not to be left out, I asked her if she'd like me to make some of my famous chocolate chip cookies. Of course, she was all over that!

There you have it for this week.

Tuesday Thoughts About....

...Racism! 

Seems like that's a dirty word these days! With the recent announcement that several Dr. Seuss books were no longer going to be published, I got to thinking about Racism---again. It's hard not to as it's in our face ALL the time these days.

There are so many things that are considered racist now. After reading The Caste, I get it. I really do. But still, there are things that were never meant to be harmful and were embraced by the black community. I don't need to go in to all the food brands---you've heard it before. Or any other strictly black organizations, publications, etc. 

There are still things I just don't understand. Like the word antebellum. Now-a-days, that is really a dirty word. So dirty that Lady A changed their name. Surely they meant no malintent when they chose it years ago. I never associated that word with blacks and I don't think they did either. To me it just meant the south (which is almost another dirty word). So, knowing me, you can expect that I would look up the definition. 

an·te·bel·lum

/ˌan(t)ēˈbeləm/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

1. occurring or existing before a particular war, especially the American Civil War.

   
   

That seems pretty harmless to me. It just means a time period. 

I've been guilty of enjoying a good Pollock joke. Yet, I have absolutely nothing again Poles, nor do I thing they are dumb. I don't think blondes are dumb either---I'm proof of that. But I love a good dumb blonde joke. Does that make me a bad person or worse yet, racist? I sure hope not. 

One thing I've noticed is that people are much more aware---which is a good thing. But, BUT, I've also noticed that people will say, "I'm not racist or anything"---right before they say something that's racist. I am MORE aware for sure.

 Just last week when we went for our first dose of the vaccine (again, I think it's cool that there is no explanation necessary. When you say "vaccine" everyone knows what you mean), there was a lady in line behind us. She decided to chat me up. She was asking for good restaurant recommendations that offer senior options (didn't really have anything to offer except Cracker Barrel). Anyway, she started telling me about a place and said, "I'm not racist, but the place is full of hispanics." My first thought was, "Why does that matter?" My second thought was, "Are you kidding me? You are Asian!" Now there I go being racist. No hurt intended---just an observation. See what I mean? A slippery slope. A VERY slippery slope.