Hey y'all guess who is back, back again...tell a friend.

Ok so low and behold ladies.. I am still living and kickin... much like the proverbial chicken. Don't get it? Its a southern thing.. So here I am now.. Mommy of 3 kids... I had my little girl 1/10/13 with lots of complications before they finally took her and I will tell that story later.. But first what I would like to tell you is that there are going to be some changes up in this house.. My house.. my blog... you know my whole world. Now this may mean you will get excited... or you will get bummed.. Either way your gonna get something out of it.. What changes you ask? Well first and foremost... I am going to start losing weight.. and so to hold myself accountable... I am going to blog about it... now to keep it separate I started a new blog called Lose the Fat Save a Farm Girl there I will post my weight...and my efforts to lose it.. Second my husband and I are going to remodel our house.. like our whole house.. one room at a time.. on a limited budget..and then we are going to move outside and do it there to. So this blog will have my cooking posts...healthy and not so healthy... house remodeling... stories of the adventures in child raising...crafting and anything else I want to do. So in the next few days I will post some before pictures of our first project... also I would like to not this is our first real project together... I probably need to have a marriage counselor on stand by... and if that isn't complicated enough we all have a wicked cold.. as in the Hubbybubby, both monsters boys, and me... So far the princess has been kept in a bubble... and since I finally have a girl its a pink bubble with ruffles and polka dots. See you soon.. and this time I mean it...as in tomorrow people!!

I miss you guys!!

I just wanted to take a quick moment and tell you all I haven't left you. I am 37 weeks pregnant and have had a pretty rough time. Quite a few complications...more than a few hospital visits..and I am just tired and worn out at this point. She could be born at any minute... She and I are both currently healthy and fine.. Mom is a little battle scared but as long as my daughter is healthy I can handle it. Here is to 2013 may it be a fabulous year full of adventures... As soon as I have her I will post and hopefully when I get adjusted to life with a newborn...again.. I will get back to posting regularly... for now just stick around...check your reading list occasionally...or pop over to my pages... Love you guys

Cas

I want to be better...

Are you ready to rumble?? Seriously are you? That's what I feel like I am doing..preparing for a throw down... a holiday throw down. Except I cant quite get "there". Know what I mean? But its not just a holiday throw down..its a life throw down... Let me give you a glance inside of my head...please keep all hands inside of the ride...please remain in an upright position...and for safety sake do not unbuckle...ever.

My house is not clean. I don't mean it is dirty..well you know a little dirty but mainly its just stuff is piled here and piled there and watch out your going to step on a lego...or a hot wheel...or a tiny action figure..trust me they all hurt the same. The lego curse is alive and thriving in my home. I have a thousand things I need to get done before the baby comes. Projects that I need to attend too.. Like the stocking of my freezer with meals that my husband can easily help me prepare because I have to have a C-section. I am not due until Jan 22nd.. I wont make it that far though. I will be lucky to make it until Christmas. I am already having contractions with her... I have had a few almost hospital scares where the contractions all the sudden pattern up and you can just tell they are getting closer together.. I haven't had to go to the hospital yet to get the shots to stop it but only because this is not my first rodeo and I know all the tricks...so far those little tricks have been good enough.. but there will come a day where they aren't anymore...and that day is coming and it will be soon. I know it without a doubt in my mind. The thing is my contractions aren't for the most part because I over do it. Its just something that happens to me. My Dr described it as an incompetent uterus.. like all the sudden boom it goes stupid... So anyways its not really a shock that there is an organ in my body with a less than stellar i.q. The point of this post is that the holidays are right on me and I am so not ready. However I want to be really honest... I'm never ready... this year just happens to hit me where it hurts. There is an inside story to why I am even more off my game than I normally am. I turned 31 this year on April 18th. No age is not what is kicking me when I am down. As a cancer survivor age doesn't bother me much. It means I am here for another year.. but 2 days after my birthday on 4/20 the worst day of my life happened. I was driving down the road going to walmart with my then 3 year old while my husband and 2 year old were at home taking a nap. I had been anxious all day. I kept feeling like something bad was going to happen. My cell rang and before I picked up I knew something had. My grandpa...who raised me... who brought me home from the hospital was in a really bad accident on the farm. I knew as I had turned my car to follow the helicopter he was being carried in that this was it he was gone...one day I will tell the whole story... because I remember it so clearly that it kinda feels like I was watching a bad movie not living it...but right now at this moment I don't want to relive it. I survived a few gatherings this summer where he wasn't at the table...but the holidays were his. The man loved to eat... I cant think of a single memory of a dinner where he wasn't there and he was the life of the party. I have felt different since I lost him. I know its depression. I know the symptoms. I haven't had the energy I had. I also quit doing my part time business... that's a whole different story... I was accomplishing one of my greatest dreams. I just stopped it though..and so far haven't restarted it. This would normally be my busiest time of year. I sold jams, jellies, baked goods and country crafts. I have just been dragging really through life lately... I really thought I would be one of those moms who had her shit together....but guess what..  I am one of those Mom's that occasionally has pieces of it together...like half the puzzle..but then a good stiff wind comes and blows it all apart again. I read alot of Mom blogs and all I can think is... Some of these chicks are apparently taking good drugs... What is it? How do I get some?  I mean yeah I can play a good game in the kitchen. I mean I could possible score a few points of off them...because the kitchen is my escape I guess...but as soon as we leave the kitchen my ass is going down...because while I was in the kitchen trying to perfect my recipe for lets say Stroganoff... Mrs. Perfection got all down with her bad self and Martha Stewarted her entire house... The way my house looks I am pretty sure Martha would have it burned down. Anyways I guess what I am saying is I only have 2 kids and still am barely keeping my head above water... What happens when I add the third? I know this post isn't what you wanted to read.. you wanted a joke and a recipe.. I guess this is basically me searching for a recipe.. a recipe for my life... Like I need a recipe to be a better housewife...a better mom...a better wife... I just need a recipe for a better me... So maybe I will start posting my attempts at getting it together. I cant be the only Mom that feels like everyone else is doing it better... Everyone else has these days too right?


Im going to link up with some other Mom's @ Mommy Moments and Mom's Monday Mingle.

Not Your Moma's Roast Chicken....

Have you ever got poultry drunk? Or how about shot it up? Wait a minute its not what you think. I am not contributing to the delinquency of fowl...nor am I starting a drug habit in the animal kingdom.. What I am doing is making a really good and really yummy dinner. Have you ever made roast chicken? Like a whole chicken. Its one of our favorite meals. I have a yummy no fail method... you know as in you cant mess this up...I mean seriously I have two monsters doing laps around me at any given time plus I have pregnancy brain which means I forget things like constantly....um what were we talking about again? Oh yeah chicken. Anyways lets get this bird to going...


Here is what I started out with....

 That's a 6lb chicken...a bottle of beer.. not that you need the whole bottle...and injector needle...a meat thermometer and my rub of choice today.

First thing I did was wash the chicken and pat it dry... then I rubbed it down really good with my seasonings of choice. Inside, outside, under, over...under the skin on top of the skin... really get this bird covered...  I took a coffee cup poured the beer into it and drew some up into my needle..I pour some beer into a coffee cup so that someone who is not pregnant can finish the beer and it doesn't go to waste.  I stuck the needle into the bird all over it..in the breast legs etc.. I really plumped her up. Here so you can get an idea.

 

 

Ok now here is where I show you baby brain again... I forgot to take a picture of a few steps... So lets use our imaginations shall we? I took a half of onion cut into chunks and stuffed it up inside of the chicken after injecting..Then I washed my hands really well and started preparing our roasting pan. If you think getting my chicken drunk is the weirdest thing I am going to do to this bird...well you would be wrong...

 

 



 

No your eyes do not deceive you...that my friend is a bundt cake pan...and no I didn't forget we were making chicken and switch to a cake post midway thru...which to be honest if someone was going to do that.. I would be the one... Anyways take a cookie sheet and cover it in foil. Sit your bundt cake pan on top. I sprayed liberally with nonstick spray on the inside of my pan... Ok so you have your chicken..but you need to make your chicken a seat. I wouldn't dream of just dropping that pour bird down in that cold hard pan...enter vegetables... Now you can use any combo you want...potatoes carrots corn cobbettes etc.. This time I did carrots and onions because my kiddos love carrots..and they also requested mashed potatoes with this meal. So I took a 1 pound bag of baby carrots dropped them right in the bottom... half of an onion chopped up, salt, pepper, 1 T. of olive oil..and 1 T. of brown sugar. I mixed it all inside the pan.

 

 

Ok now you take the south end of your chicken and place it over that opening...ahem.

 

 



 

 

Tuck your wings behind the bird...and now put your bird in an oven preheated to 250 degrees and set your timer for 5 hours and walk away. Thetas right 250 degrees for 5 hours... So for 5 hours you don't have to do anything else...the oven is babysitting your chicken... Somebody has to watch that chicken...because I can't leave my monsters alone for 30 seconds...I don't have time for chicken watching... Of course at some point I have to peel potatoes and all but hey that's what they make duct tape for... so you can tape your kids to the wall and get a few minutes peace... Joking just a little mommy humor.. I would never tape my kids to the wall... it would be wrong..and it would probably ruin my paint job...lol

 

 

When she is done she will probably look something like this...

 

 

 

Now she is sitting lopsided... but she is perfectly fine. I took the chicken out and put it on a platter surrounded it with the carrots and onions.. .Then I had a go at the juices and broth left and made some gravy... Also just for safety sake I checked the temp of the chicken in the meatiest part of the thigh to make sure it was done and it was perfect... I served it with the roasted carrots, onion, mashed potatoes gravy, peas, and big fluffy rolls.

 

 

Ok now there are several ways you can vary up my recipe.... you can leave off the injecting with beer part I mean you may prefer your chickens sober...no judgement.  I just really like the flavor and moistness it imparts... you can stuff it with lemon halves... rub it with butter.. I mean seriously Ina Garten can make roast chicken thousands of different ways or so she says... Also if you don't have 5 hours you can roast it at 375 for 1-1.5 hours or until your meat thermometer says its done... What ever floats your gravy boat... All that you really have to do is make this chicken..standing up in a cake pan...because who doesn't love a talented chicken with good posture... It also helps it is so good and you don't want to miss out on it! Plus who knew a cake pan is useful for something besides cakes.

 

 

Linking up for fun at the following:

 

 

Clean and Sensible-Creative Spark

 

Well Crafted Home-Well Crafted Wednesday

 

Hope Studios-Tutorial Tuesday

 

Not Just a Housewife-Show me What ya got!

 

Home Stories A to Z-Tutorial Tuesday

 

Adventures of a DIY mom-Terrific Tuesday

 

Susie QT Pies-Fall Menu Plan

 

Family Food and Travel-Wonderful Food Wednesday

 

Sew Much Ado-We Did It Wednesday

 

Someday Crafts-whatever goes Wednesday

 

Southern Lovely-Show and Share

 

Creations by Kara-Look What I Made

 

Somewhat Simple

 

The 36th Ave Party Time

 

Beyond the Picket Fence-Under $100 Linky



Birthdays...Contractions...and Glazed Doughnut Muffins

I've been quiet for a while on here. Sorry about that.. I didn't disappear so much as I went nesting mode....and I have been having contractions.. which at 30 weeks pregnant isn't great. Unfortunately.. its the 3rd baby...and its happened every time. I will end up having to go to the hospital a few times...get pills to stop...and shots...then she will come early anyways. My Dr is shooting for 36 weeks...but she said she is afraid it will be more like 35 weeks. Can I just say I am not ready yet... I am not ready yet...I am not ready yet. In the mean time life has certainly been flying by. My oldest just turned 4 yesterday... I don't know how I didn't give him permission... seriously these kids are out of control...they age without permission and are born without permission... So on his birthday I let him choose pretty much every meal what he wants.. My little man has a muffin obsession...and a doughnut obsession...and one day quite sometime ago I found a recipe on King Arthur. I made them and the kids loved him..but the cinnamon and sugar topping...it went everywhere...everywhere I tell you... Any ways M1 (monster number one) asked for doughnut muffins... because he has a memory like an elephant...and I had already forgot all about them. So that's what I made.. except this time I decided these things would have to be glazed...because I wasn't going thru that whole cinnamon sugar episode again. Mine is just slightly different than the recipe. I added cinnamon less nutmeg and I think I even assembled them differently... plus instead of the lovely but messy cinnamon sugar...a nice little glaze.


Doughnut Muffins

1/4 cup butter softened

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups flour

1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 400. I used muffin liners but sprayed the inside of them to make sure they peeled off easy. I mixed the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl. I creamed the butter vegetable and both sugars together... Then I beat in the eggs one at a time making sure they were completely mixed in.. I mixed in the vanilla extract. Now I took the flour and sprinkled some in and poured in some milk.. I alternated like that and ended with the milk. Once I got them all mixed in I stopped so I didn't over mix them. I filled each muffin cup up evenly with a cookie scoop... It filled them all the way up and made a total of 12. I baked them for 20 minutes until they were just a light brown... I tested with a toothpick at 15min and it still needed to cook a few minutes more. I got them out let them cool till I could handle them and then I glazed them. Now the cinnamon sugar was good but I wanted something my little guys could maybe eat without me having to you know clean cinnamon and sugar off of them for 20 minutes. The glaze was easy. I melted 2 T of butter and a mixed with a cup of powdered sugar a splash of vanilla and then about 3 T of hot water.. mix it until you get a thick consistency.. I used a fork and did it till a thick strand dripped off.. Then I dipped the top of each one and let them set up for about 5 mins. They are really yummy and super easy... try them soon!...Oh and notice in the picture.. I let them dry on a cookie rack with a piece of wax paper underneath...makes it ever so much easier to clean up.

 

 

Linking up for more fun:

 

Project Inspire-Just Something I whipped Up

 

Naptime Review-Mom's Monday Mingle

 

Sew Can Do-Craftastic Monday

 

The Life of Faith-Mommy Moments

 

Sumo's Sweet Stuff-Market Yourself Monday

 

DIY Home-MMM #81

 

Susie QT Pies

 

Well Crafted Home-Well Crafted Wednesday!

 

Not Just a Housewife-Show what ya got!

 

Hope Studios-Tutorial Tuesday

 

Home Stories A to Z-Tutorials and Tips

 

Adventures of a DIY Mom-Terrific Tuesday

 

Family Food and Travel-Wonderful Food Wednesday

 

Sew Much Ado-We Did it Wednesday

 

Someday Crafts-Whatever Goes Wednesday

 

Southen Lovely-Show and Share

 

We Made That

 

Creations by Kara-Look What I Made

 

Somewhat Simple

The 36th Ave Party Time

 

Mommy Brain Mixer

 

Beyond the Picket Fence- Under $100 Linky

 

 

 

 



First Halloween...and a Happy Anniversary

So it wasn't really my boys 1st Halloween.. I mean yeah they are 3 and 2 but before tonight we never went trick or treating. I didn't feel right taking a little nugget around for candy they weren't going to eat. Now they do candy occasionally so trick or treating time it was... My 3 year old was Thor...my 2 year old was a dino...and my hubby was a biker and I was his old lady... Which technically my husband "was" a biker in real life. We sold the bike last year when we realized hey we aren't going to get to ride for a very long time...but it was kinda last minute... we got the boys ready and they got upset we weren't in costume... so I put on some "hooker" makeup... which is really just hot pink and black smokey eyes that I never have the occasion to wear..some long gorgeous eyelashes and then all black including my big tall knee high boots..My hubby pulled out all his leathers and pulled his hair back in a pony tail and off we went. It was so much fun. My boys didn't really get the whole candy part but while we were at my grandmothers church they got an apple and they were more excited about the apple than all the candy bars combined... They kept saying is the apple getting hurt by all this candy? I assured them it was fine....they did eat a sucker and a few pieces of candy.. I will let them have it in small doses for a little while.. We had the most fun just hanging out with friends and seeing friends. So now onto the anniversary part.. It was our 6 year anniversary.. let me put this into perspective because I heard this all day yesterday.. yes we have been married 6 years and now have 3 kids...and yes I have been pregnant for more anniversaries than I have not been pregnant for. But apparently we are doing something right 6 years still going strong. Apparently...lol. Anyways I love all my monsters... big, tall, little and small... Now marching on into November.

 

You didn't think you were getting out of looking at my monsters did you? Ha

My Cancer Story...I was never going to tell here..part one

I was never going to tell this story here.. not because I am ashamed of it...not because I don't want people to know. I just kinda wanted this blog to be cooking and crafts..and crazy parenting stories. But I woke up this morning with the need to tell this story...with the need to let it be known... Which you know what that means to me. Someone out there needs to hear it right now. Someone out there is where I was.. So share this story..send people to this page if you know they are fighting and need to hear it... Even when they give you no hope... there is hope.. there is always hope. I am living proof of that. I will tell it in parts..because its a very long story..and although I am proud to have fought it...telling it for me is reliving it. To be honest with you.. I wouldn't change a thing. It made me who I am today.. it shaped me and my heart.

I'm 31 and a stay at home mom... of soon to be 3 kids. I can close my eyes and I would still be riding horses down trails.. slinging mud on four wheelers ...chasing chickens around.. waiting on Friday night or Saturday morning..because that's when the adventures always began. It didn't last long enough... those care-free kid days. I lost them at 17 years old. I went for a job that required a physical. A simple finger stick changed my life. A few days after that finger stick I was told my life was over. When I was 17 years old I was diagnosed with A.M.L. leukemia. A rare and aggressive cancer. At the time they found it 39 percent of my blood was cancer. I was told no one over 18 percent had every survived it. Therefore I was terminal. They gave me 2 weeks to live. Every time those doctors opened the door and came in they had bad news...horrible news. I was then offered an experimental chemo... If I took this chemo...my hair would fall out... I would never be able to have kids not that, that mattered because I would live maybe 4 weeks. Boy did they sell it good. To a 17 year old what they just describe was as good as saying your gonna die anyways how bout you be a guinea pig first. I refused the treatment. Because in GA 17 is a legal adult and they couldn't do anything to my body that I didn't approve of.  My Uncle lost his mind on me. My Uncle Bron... I was always close to the men  in my family. My Dad wasn't around much... well my biological Dad I didn't meet until I was 16 years old... and my Step-Dad whom came into my life at 2 years old didn't have much time for me. But my Papa... my Uncle Bron and my Uncle Greg had plenty of time for me. I was the first born grand-baby. I was born to a teen Mom. Who loved me but my grandparents were controlling.. and so they and my Mom raised me. I bounced back and fourth between everyone in my family though. I was a village baby. What I mean is everyone had a hand in raising me. So today the person I am is as much pieces of my Mom as it is pieces of my Uncles and Grandparents...all squished into the pieces that could be only me. Back to my Uncle. I was in Atlanta 80 miles away...he drove towards me like on a mission. I believe I could even feel him heading for me. I waited in my hospital bed dreading what was coming... In stomps Uncle Bron... I figured he was mad he wasn't he was crying. Not openly but I could look in his eyes and read it. The tears he wasn't shedding in front of me. I could feel his fear..his sadness and his anger. He loved me...he wanted me to fight... we are fighters by nature.. Way too much Irish courses through our veins to lay down and take it. He begged he pleaded and eventually he conned me into it. So I took those treatments. He stayed with me through round one. Asked me if I needed or wanted anything... he would get it for me. I did. So I rattled off my list. Pizza Hut Pan Pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese, a tattoo and a corvette. He looked at me with a serious face and said I will get the pizza now... I will pay for the tattoo and hold your hand if the Dr clears it...and you will have that Corvette as soon as I can find you one.. He left and went all over Atlanta in search of Pizza Hut...  Its not one of the main chains down there so it took him an hour to find one and get back. By that time I was set up for my first chemo. I sat there with chemicals pouring into that central line that had only been placed this morning. My first in what would be a long line of surgeries. I couldn't feel the chemo going in. Just like they said. I wouldn't feel any pain from it... that would come later. Anyways my Uncle Bron walked in with the pizza and sat it down. I couldn't eat. I was a bundle of nerves. He walked over to the window and said here is your Corvette...pointing to what I thought was outside. I got up excited the chemo forgotten for a moment... and padded over to the window to look down. I couldn't see a corvette in the cars below.. He said its there keep looking. So I did I kept looking... finally I turned to him and he said look down. I looked down and sitting on the window sill was a hot wheel corvette. I busted out laughing.. Called him a jerk and got back in bed. He cleared the nerves out...and so I was ready for pizza... I ate that pizza only to feel the first of the side effects kick in just a few hours later and lose that pizza.. which he was also there for.. there to hold my hand for the first treatment and he was there to hold my hair back for the first of the side effects.... he was there beside me for the whole journey...off and on... the village that raised me was all there at one point or another.... I am looking at the corvette now. It sits on my desk.. it sits on my desk and reminds me everyday...everyday is a gift..and someone I love...loved me enough to beg me to value that gift...even if it was for 2 weeks... or a month. I am just blessed it has been 14 years now... Sadly the man who loved me so much is no longer with us... he knew more about the gift of life than I realized at that time.

To be continued.....
This was just part one of a very long story...