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Archive for Family

The Most Popular Revelings Post for 2012

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Renee Spindle

This recipe was posted over the summer months, and it has been the most popular post on my site for this year. If you missed out on the taco yumminess you may want to give this one a try. It’s definitely a great recipe for anytime of the year. Enjoy!

Taco Salad for a Crowd – Originally posted in May 2012

For the past two or three days it has been over 90 degrees here in So Cal, just a hint of summertime coming our way. The hot weather calls for some lighter and yummy dinners. Tonight I made the gang a Taco Salad. I called my Mom to find out the origin of this recipe, and we came to the conclusion that I was a recipe that was passed around the neighborhood when we were growing up. However, I have put my own twist on the recipe, with the help of my daughter Naomi.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef (whichever you prefer)
1 can of kidney beans (15 oz)
1 pkg of taco seasoning
1 bag of fritos (10½ oz)
shredded cheese (we like the cheddar & monterey jack combo)
shredded cabbage
tomatoes
green onion

Directions:

Brown the meat, and drain off the grease.
Drain the beans and add them to the browned meat. I like to do this to heat up the beans.
Mix in the taco seasoning and the amount of water that is called for on the package.
Simmer this mixture until you have cooked off almost all of the liquid.
While the meat is simmering;
Chop up the tomatoes
Chop up some green onions.
Chop the shredded cabbage into smaller bite size pieces.
Crush the fritos, in the bag, with a rolling-pin. Open the bag a bit first though to let out the air.

Salad Layers

For the salad assembly:

The layering effect is Naomi’s twist on the recipe.
In a large glass bowl layer the ingredients like this:
Fritos
Meat and beans
Cheese
Shredded cabbage
Tomatoes
Green Onion
Then repeat the layers for a second time.
You can either serve the salad layered, or if your adventurous like me you can toss the whole salad and serve.
For garnishments put out your favorite salsa, sour cream, and black olives (that’s ones for you Hilary!)

Variations:

This recipe can easily be made with shredded chicken or beef.
You could add additional cans of different types of beans (black or pinto).
You could flavor the meat with your favorite salsa instead of taco seasoning.
Any garnishments that you like can easily be put on top or served with your salad on the side.

This is truly a yummy recipe, and so easy to throw together. Oh and I like using the shredded cabbage because it does not get soggy at all. I put out the cabbage when we have just plain old tacos in the shell too. For this twenty-something household, this salad makes a great big meal and is great for staying on budget. If you’ve never made this before it’s a real treat. If you haven’t made it in a while you’ve been missing out like me. I’m definitely mixing this recipe in with my weekly summertime meal planning.

5 comments Posted in Around the House, Family, Food, Recipes

Are you Ready?

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Presents wrapped, cookies all baked? Are you ready for tonight and tomorrow?

I have been working on lots of crafts, and baking. I really can’t share any of my crafting goodies with you all until after Christmas Day. I don’t want to give away any secrets you know.

My favorite cookies to bake are always sugar cookies, and spritz. Love the buttery deliciousness of both of these cookies. The recipes that I use are from a Betty Crocker cookie book.

Nana Joan’s Sugar Cookie-

* This is a recipe that we cooked growing up. Always a favorite at Christmas time.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. shortening (use part margarine or butter)
I highly recommend using only butter. Butter makes everything better!
1 c. sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2-1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavoring. Beat until creamy.
Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Chill the dough for at least 4 hours.
For painting the cookies before baking use evaporated milk and food coloring.
Bake at 400 degrees on ungreased cookie sheets.
Baking time is 6-8 minutes

And the recipe for the Spritz cookie which require a cookie press go like this-

Spritz Cookies

Ingredients:

1 C. butter or margarine, softened (I recommend butter only!)
1/2 c. sugar
2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 tsp. almond extract or vanilla

Directions:

Heat oven to 400.
Mix margarine and sugar in large bowl.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Chill the dough for a few hours.
Place dough in cookie press, and form desired shapes.
Decorate with colored sugar or candies.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 5-8 minutes until set but not brown.
Immediately remove from cookie sheet.
Makes 6-7 dozen cookies.
Freeze any extras if you have them. These freeze well.
Great cookie to mail for the holidays.

Oh, and this is what my sweet baby granddaughter was doing while her mother and I baked our little hearts out last week.

Wishing you and yours the Merriest of Christmas seasons. I hope each and every one of you has a splendid time with your families near and far.

No comments Posted in Around the House, Family, Food, Holidays, Recipes

Christmas Tree Follies from Years Past…..

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Renee Spindle

So in Southern California we occasionally experience Santa Ana winds. These can be very strong like they were this past week, with the winds up to 100 miles per hour. The winds are either very hot or cold. Now if your asking yourself what this has to do with our Christmas tree just keep reading. This past week was a very, cold Santa Ana wind, but it reminded me that in December we always seem to have some kind of wind event.

Three or four years ago I decided we should get a live tree for Christmas. Up until this point we had gotten a few live trees, bought an artificial tree, and this particular year (I think it was 2007) we opted for a live tree again. Now, what you need to understand is that the Santa Ana winds are extremely, extremely dry. There is not enough Chap Stick or lotion on the globe to keep a person from feeling dried out.

So, we headed out for a live tree, found a suitable specimen, and brought it home. Travel Man graciously got it in the tree stand for me and brought it in the house. He doesn’t really like to do the decorating, but he does like it when the finished product makes the house look all festive and merry.

Before the Winds Tree

So the tree got decorated with the usual lights and ornaments, and we proceeded with our merry, festive Christmas activities. A few days later, here come the Santa Ana winds, dry yucky winds. So our lovely, live tree starts to become a fire hazard. After two or three days in the house Travel Man and I notice the tree feels like a kindling stick. The tree cannot drink enough water to keep up with the dryness.

So, we made a bold decision. We had to replace this tree. We did not want to have such a fire hazard in the already too dry house. So off we trudged to pick out a new live tree, and once we got to the store we decided to look at the artificial trees, and “just see what they had”. You all know how those decisions go, you’re just going to look around, see what’s available, and have no intention of buying. So after a few minutes of browsing the artificial trees I found “the one”. It was a great tree, it came in the box pre-lit, all we had to do was assemble and decorate. I was in for this decision. It didn’t take much to convince Travel Man, and off we went with a new artificial tree for our Christmas celebration.

After the Winds Tree

After the Winds Tree at Night

So, for all of you Southern California folks who long for the aroma of a real tree, just keep it simple and buy yourself a wreath. Our Christmas tree follies since 2007 have been fairly calm. I’m just glad Travel Man took pictures of this event for history’s sake. Happy decorating everyone!

No comments Posted in Around the House, Blogging, Family, Holidays

Our Christmas Tree Revamp

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Yes we have an artificial tree. Yes, I can put up my tree whenever I choose. Provided I have someone here to help me get it out of the rafters (thanks boys!). My artificial tree has (had) white lights Pre-wired to the branches. Lots of white lights. It’s a really pretty tree even of you don’t put any other decorations on it.

It would normally look like this-

Last Christmas I was having some issues with the lights on the tree shorting out. We bumbled along and made the lights work through the holiday time. When the tree came out for its annual decorating this year Travel Man helped me check the lights as we were assembling the tree. We figured out where there was a bad plug, got it repaired and thought we were golden. All of the lights were working, we were off to a good start.

Until……. the next morning. The entire middle section of lights on the tree had shorted out-again! Problem is once the tree is completely assembled , the branches are fluffed, and the tree is generally looking good it’s a total pain in the toukas to take it apart, and fix anything.

So, we made the executive decision to bypass the white lights all together. The white lights were not going to co-operate, and I had no patience for them. We were not going to take the tree apart, and we had two strings of colored lights to starts us off on the tree re-vamp. That meant we only had to buy three more strings to finish off all of the lights, and my budget could handle that expense. The white lights were unplugged and we put colored led lights on the tree, our collection of ornaments, and last but not least- the tinsel! Yes that’s right we have tinsel on our tree. I’m calling this our retro tree because the tinsel totally brings back childhood memories for myself and Travel Man.

Of course ours kids are divided on the appearance of the tree.

1-IMG_0067

What happened to the white lights? We changed them up decided to do something different.
Tinsel? Really who uses tinsel? We do. Another change to our traditional Christmas.

Grandson Evan tells me last night, “Grandma, I like the tree this way. It’s really pretty.” Melt my heart. I’ll put colored lights and tinsel on the tree every year just for Evan!

I have to admit I’m a huge fan of the all white lights on the tree. I think it’s because it reminds me of snowy winters in Illinois in a strange round about way. But going retro with this tree has been fun. Colorful, tinsselly fun. Is tinsselly really a word?

So for Christmas 2012, the decorations are complete, and my annual tree revamp is done, and I am happy. Maybe I’ll start doing a different theme for the tree every year. All Santa’s on the tree, or all angels on the tree. Maybe next year we’ll add garland, or the kids favorite garland – colored strings of beads!!

What your favorite Christmas tree theme? And was that a real tree or an artificial tree you put up?

2 comments Posted in Around the House, DIY Projects, Family, Holidays, Travel Man

How can it be December 3rd already?

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Hello dear friends and fellow bloggers. It’s been awhile since my last post, and I felt the need to just say hi, and get back into a good writing groove. My writing was definitely sidetracked in the month of November. I have a few stories to catch up on with you all.

Did you have as wonderful a Thanksgiving as my family did? We were fortunate to have my sister here from Montana for Thanksgiving dinner. That does not happen very often, so we were especially happy to have her smiling face as the table. My Mom was beside herself with emotion that day.

We also celebrated the birth day of our second grandchild, a baby girl. This is Evan’s baby sister, Miss Madison. Welcome to your Grandma’s blog, Madison. It was a special day, I’ll give you all of the details in another story.

And the past few weeks have been a rare treat for Travel Man and myself. He has been working from his home office for a few weeks, and it looks like we’ll have him home through Christmas. Everyone keep your fingers crossed please!

Now could someone, anyone explain to me how it got to be December 3rd already? My son will be celebrating his birthday this weekend. How did that date come up so fast? It’s the age-old adage, “Time just flies when you are having fun!”. Or in Renee’s terms, when you’ve been so busy the past few weeks that you finally look at the calendar and it’s time to turn the page to December.

So if your busy getting ready for Christmas, or baking, or making your list and checking it twice make sure you stop and have a latte, or maybe a nap. Happy Monday to you all.

*Photo credits to Hilary and Zachary Juedes.