2 large onions, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 medium carrots, cut into chunks
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 to 2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 small zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 small yellow squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup ketchup
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15-1/2 ounces) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, saute onions, green pepper and garlic in oil until tender. Add water and carrots; cover and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, broth, chili powder, sugar, cumin and oregano; cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add zucchini, squash, tomatoes and ketchup; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in beans and peas; simmer for 10 minutes. Yield: 12-16 servings.
- Kelly
- Making my way through the ups and downs of life, holding fast to my favorite Bible verse: "For we walk by faith, not by sight." ~2 Corinthians 5:7. I began blogging in earnest at Yahoo360 on October 24, 2005. (briefly using LiveJournal and blog-city prior to that) In June 2008 I moved to Blogger. I'm now at WordPress where I hope to remain.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Vegetable Chili
Here’s another recipe I tried this week. It came in an “e-letter” from Taste of Home and was provided by Charlene Martorana of Madison, OH. I thought it was good, but my husband wants me to add ground beef or venison to his portion next time.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Banana Bread
Our younger daughter is home for a few days this week for a break between her January term and her spring semester. I decided to try a couple of new recipes while she was here. This banana bread recipe is a little denser than my usual recipe, but just as good.
I had a warmed piece for my breakfast this morning along with a mug of tea. Yum! Betty joined me with sip from the new water bowl I got this week at Wal-Mart.
Banana Bread
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
¼ cup margarine
3 small ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
2 ¼ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans
Combine cream cheese, sugar and margarine, mixing until well blended. Blend in banana and eggs. Add combined remaining ingredients, mixing just until moistened. Pour into greased and floured 9x5-in. glass loaf pan. Bake at 325ยบ, 1 hour and 15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool about 5 minutes then remove from pan.
I had a warmed piece for my breakfast this morning along with a mug of tea. Yum! Betty joined me with sip from the new water bowl I got this week at Wal-Mart.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Birds... finally!
A couple of months ago I posted an entry lamenting the fact my new squirrel-proof bird feeders weren’t attracting very many birds. I was use to having cardinals and a variety of other songbirds feasting year round. Always in search of a design that would deter the squirrels, I finally happened on one that closes the feeding holes when anything heavier than a bird gets on it. It worked for the squirrels. Only problem was, I discovered the fat cardinals were almost too heavy as well. They did better with the tray type feeders (which might as well scream “come get it” to the squirrels).
Just when I was about to give up hope, along came the goldfinches. Hundreds of them!! I rarely look out my window and see any fewer than 50 at a time! They’re just messy enough with their eating that some seed gets scattered on the ground which keeps the dove and cardinals happy. All the activity has drawn a few other varieties back to the feeders, too.
Attention-drawing activity is not always a good thing, though. I noticed all of them rapidly scattering this morning. Expecting to see a dog trotting by, a movement across the yard caught my eye instead. There sat the culprit in a tree: a red-tailed hawk. Certainly a beautiful sight to zoom in on with my binoculars, but please…. stay away from my birds!!
Just when I was about to give up hope, along came the goldfinches. Hundreds of them!! I rarely look out my window and see any fewer than 50 at a time! They’re just messy enough with their eating that some seed gets scattered on the ground which keeps the dove and cardinals happy. All the activity has drawn a few other varieties back to the feeders, too.
Attention-drawing activity is not always a good thing, though. I noticed all of them rapidly scattering this morning. Expecting to see a dog trotting by, a movement across the yard caught my eye instead. There sat the culprit in a tree: a red-tailed hawk. Certainly a beautiful sight to zoom in on with my binoculars, but please…. stay away from my birds!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The honeymoon is over
When my daughter returned to college two weeks ago, I told her that I would need to be reminded at some point how cute I thought the pups were when we first decided to keep them. That time has arrived.
Yes, they are still cute, but reality has sunk in. Puppies are a LOT of work, especially when you have more than one AND when you’re acclimating them to life with two older dogs.
They are nowhere near housebroken yet, but things have definitely improved. We only have a few accidents a day now and most occur near the outside door. Then again, they have me trained to whisk them out every time they wake from a nap or finish a meal.
Esther still likes them, but I have to watch her carefully when the pups rough house. Also, she is very greedy with her toys and doesn’t like to share. (Poor Betty learned that years ago) Betty now gets along with them quite well. She still prefers to be in another part of the house when they’re inside, but has no problems going out with them and even playing with them some.
I was warned by several people that often puppies from the same litter, especially females, won’t get along. Betty & Veronica got along fine (though they were only five months old when Veronica died) as did Esther & JJ. Still….I’ve been on the alert for any signs of trouble. Puppies naturally play-fight. It’s how they learn to establish dominance between themselves. Alice and Mabel have been no exception. They love to wrestle, nip, and chase each other. Maybe I read too much into it, but there were a couple of times it seemed a little too serious and I’ve pulled Mabel off of Alice. A friend who has years of experience with dogs told me I needed to monitor this closely, especially when Esther and Betty are around. (I won’t go into the reasoning behind that!) She also told me it was time to put them in separate crates at bedtime. I knew that, but just hadn’t had the opportunity to buy another one. That problem was remedied yesterday.
The pups have been very good about going to bed at night and sleeping well. They’ve already learned they get a treat when they kennel up. I’ve had to switch back to an “early to bed and early to rise” routine since they tend to wake with the sun and secretly hoped putting them in separate boxes would eliminate their early morning playtime that obligated me to start my day so early. Of course I also knew in the back of my mind that separate boxes might instead cause problems at first. Last night was the first with the new arrangement. Alice cried and cried when I put them to bed, then rose long before dawn with more crying. She wet in her crate since she got up so early (which had not been a problem before). I know this will pass, but it hurts my heart to hear her crying!
I’m taking all this one day at a time. I hope and pray for the best, but am keeping in mind that I may have to eventually place one of these girls somewhere else. I’ve already let myself get quite attached, so I hope it doesn’t come down to that.
As an aside… it was a year ago today that we lost our Daisy Mae.
Yes, they are still cute, but reality has sunk in. Puppies are a LOT of work, especially when you have more than one AND when you’re acclimating them to life with two older dogs.
They are nowhere near housebroken yet, but things have definitely improved. We only have a few accidents a day now and most occur near the outside door. Then again, they have me trained to whisk them out every time they wake from a nap or finish a meal.
Esther still likes them, but I have to watch her carefully when the pups rough house. Also, she is very greedy with her toys and doesn’t like to share. (Poor Betty learned that years ago) Betty now gets along with them quite well. She still prefers to be in another part of the house when they’re inside, but has no problems going out with them and even playing with them some.
I was warned by several people that often puppies from the same litter, especially females, won’t get along. Betty & Veronica got along fine (though they were only five months old when Veronica died) as did Esther & JJ. Still….I’ve been on the alert for any signs of trouble. Puppies naturally play-fight. It’s how they learn to establish dominance between themselves. Alice and Mabel have been no exception. They love to wrestle, nip, and chase each other. Maybe I read too much into it, but there were a couple of times it seemed a little too serious and I’ve pulled Mabel off of Alice. A friend who has years of experience with dogs told me I needed to monitor this closely, especially when Esther and Betty are around. (I won’t go into the reasoning behind that!) She also told me it was time to put them in separate crates at bedtime. I knew that, but just hadn’t had the opportunity to buy another one. That problem was remedied yesterday.
The pups have been very good about going to bed at night and sleeping well. They’ve already learned they get a treat when they kennel up. I’ve had to switch back to an “early to bed and early to rise” routine since they tend to wake with the sun and secretly hoped putting them in separate boxes would eliminate their early morning playtime that obligated me to start my day so early. Of course I also knew in the back of my mind that separate boxes might instead cause problems at first. Last night was the first with the new arrangement. Alice cried and cried when I put them to bed, then rose long before dawn with more crying. She wet in her crate since she got up so early (which had not been a problem before). I know this will pass, but it hurts my heart to hear her crying!
I’m taking all this one day at a time. I hope and pray for the best, but am keeping in mind that I may have to eventually place one of these girls somewhere else. I’ve already let myself get quite attached, so I hope it doesn’t come down to that.
As an aside… it was a year ago today that we lost our Daisy Mae.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Come Before Winter and Share My Hope
Life is filled with ups and downs and mine has certainly been no exception.
Several years ago when some serious problems were starting to gather on the horizon a friend told me about a book that had brought her a great deal of peace. I located a copy for myself and set it aside until the right moment.
Come Before Winter and Share My Hope is a wonderful book of devotions by Charles R. Swindoll. Its 122 meditations are divided into three sections: Before Winter – a time of preparation, Mid-Winter’s Blast – a time of perseverance, and Winter’s End – a time of promise. Since it wasn’t designed as a yearly devotional, I chose to begin it last July and only read entries the days I felt compelled to, finishing it in December.
Although written more than twenty years ago, I found the devotions to be fresh and quite relevant to life today. It’s definitely a book to draw reassurance and encouragement from again and again.
Several years ago when some serious problems were starting to gather on the horizon a friend told me about a book that had brought her a great deal of peace. I located a copy for myself and set it aside until the right moment.
Come Before Winter and Share My Hope is a wonderful book of devotions by Charles R. Swindoll. Its 122 meditations are divided into three sections: Before Winter – a time of preparation, Mid-Winter’s Blast – a time of perseverance, and Winter’s End – a time of promise. Since it wasn’t designed as a yearly devotional, I chose to begin it last July and only read entries the days I felt compelled to, finishing it in December.
Although written more than twenty years ago, I found the devotions to be fresh and quite relevant to life today. It’s definitely a book to draw reassurance and encouragement from again and again.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Puppy update
Good news! We were able to transfer the six remaining puppies to the animal shelter today where there's a good chance they will be placed into good homes. Things for the outside girls are pretty much back to normal. The run has been bleached and the doghouse cleaned out and filled with fresh hay. Meanwhile, there is never a dull moment with all the inside girls!
Sharing a rope.
Mabel stretches out on a chair for a nap.
Sharing a rope. Mabel chews a bone while Alice chews Mabel's leg.
Mabel stretches out on a chair for a nap.
Alice curls up in a patch of sunlight with her big sister, Esther.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Alice and Mabel
Meet Alice and Mabel! They are the two newest additions to our family and bring our total dog count up to six (seven if you count Harry, but I’ll leave his story for another time).
The new girls are living inside along with Esther, our Rottweiler, and Betty, our Beagle mix. Esther and Betty are both nine years old, so we weren’t sure how they would take to having puppies around. Esther has been very receptive. She spends quite a bit of time in the room with them and even tries to play with them some. She’s very selfish with her toys, but that’s nothing new. Betty, on the other hand, wants absolutely nothing to do with them! She’s spent the majority of the past two days hiding out in my office (which is off limits to the pups). I feel bad for her, but she’s just going to have to adjust.
I had forgotten how demanding and time consuming puppies are!! Thank goodness for baby gates and vinyl floors. It’s only been 48 hours, so there hasn’t been much progress with housebreaking yet. Give it time.
We’re down to six puppies in the outside run. Our daughter’s ex took the two little boy pups to his house for our granddaughter to play with when she’s there. Even that little bit helps as far as feeding and keeping the run clean. The temperature has dropped some today so our outside girlies, Hope and Bella, aren’t too happy that they have to sleep in the carport instead of their doghouse tonight. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so that will probably just irk them even more. Maybe we’ll find homes for the rest soon so life outside can get back to normal.
Meanwhile, here’s a preview of who I’m dealing with inside. Alice is the dark one and looks like she might have some rottie in her. She’s the bigger chewer so far and wants to play the most. Mabel is already a mama’s girl and likes to cuddle. It’s fun seeing their distinct little personalities coming out. I’m sure I’ll post many more pictures in the future!
The new girls are living inside along with Esther, our Rottweiler, and Betty, our Beagle mix. Esther and Betty are both nine years old, so we weren’t sure how they would take to having puppies around. Esther has been very receptive. She spends quite a bit of time in the room with them and even tries to play with them some. She’s very selfish with her toys, but that’s nothing new. Betty, on the other hand, wants absolutely nothing to do with them! She’s spent the majority of the past two days hiding out in my office (which is off limits to the pups). I feel bad for her, but she’s just going to have to adjust.
I had forgotten how demanding and time consuming puppies are!! Thank goodness for baby gates and vinyl floors. It’s only been 48 hours, so there hasn’t been much progress with housebreaking yet. Give it time.
We’re down to six puppies in the outside run. Our daughter’s ex took the two little boy pups to his house for our granddaughter to play with when she’s there. Even that little bit helps as far as feeding and keeping the run clean. The temperature has dropped some today so our outside girlies, Hope and Bella, aren’t too happy that they have to sleep in the carport instead of their doghouse tonight. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so that will probably just irk them even more. Maybe we’ll find homes for the rest soon so life outside can get back to normal.
Meanwhile, here’s a preview of who I’m dealing with inside. Alice is the dark one and looks like she might have some rottie in her. She’s the bigger chewer so far and wants to play the most. Mabel is already a mama’s girl and likes to cuddle. It’s fun seeing their distinct little personalities coming out. I’m sure I’ll post many more pictures in the future!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Poor puppies
I honestly believe there must be a special place in hell for people who dump puppies on the side of the road!
The day after Christmas we received a phone call from the fellow who is our partner in the livestock business. He told us someone had dumped twelve puppies right across the road from our driveway. For the next day or two I could see little heads pop up every time I turned out of the drive. My heart ached for them, but I really didn’t know what I could do. Our partner had left food for them a few times, but didn’t know where to take them, either. Our local animal shelter was overflowing and not accepting any new additions. The city pound was the only place that said they might have room.
On our way home from a NYE party we saw that one of the puppies had been killed by a car. Sadly, we’d also had to stop on our way out that evening and tell our neighbors that one of their dogs had been hit and killed. It wasn’t a good evening for dogs in our neighborhood! Yesterday morning my husband couldn’t stand it any longer and decided he had to bury the one who had been hit. That opened the floodgate. All the other puppies descended on him and his heart melted. He came back to the house and announced that we had to do something about the puppies before more of them got killed. They were getting braver and venturing out into the road.
We gathered up all the puppies we could find (never could locate one) and ended up bringing ten back to our house. My husband put the gate back on our dog run and we penned them there until we decide what to do. Unfortunately, the holidays were a busy time for stray animals and now even the pound isn’t accepting any more dogs. What to do with 10 active puppies?!
Those of you who know me well know I’m a sucker for a puppy. Make that two puppies. Yes, we’ve decided to keep two of them! In fact, they get to live inside with Esther and Betty. Meanwhile…Bella and Hope want to know when the eight little visitors are going to leave so they can have their doghouse back!
Anyone want a free puppy??
The day after Christmas we received a phone call from the fellow who is our partner in the livestock business. He told us someone had dumped twelve puppies right across the road from our driveway. For the next day or two I could see little heads pop up every time I turned out of the drive. My heart ached for them, but I really didn’t know what I could do. Our partner had left food for them a few times, but didn’t know where to take them, either. Our local animal shelter was overflowing and not accepting any new additions. The city pound was the only place that said they might have room.
On our way home from a NYE party we saw that one of the puppies had been killed by a car. Sadly, we’d also had to stop on our way out that evening and tell our neighbors that one of their dogs had been hit and killed. It wasn’t a good evening for dogs in our neighborhood! Yesterday morning my husband couldn’t stand it any longer and decided he had to bury the one who had been hit. That opened the floodgate. All the other puppies descended on him and his heart melted. He came back to the house and announced that we had to do something about the puppies before more of them got killed. They were getting braver and venturing out into the road.
We gathered up all the puppies we could find (never could locate one) and ended up bringing ten back to our house. My husband put the gate back on our dog run and we penned them there until we decide what to do. Unfortunately, the holidays were a busy time for stray animals and now even the pound isn’t accepting any more dogs. What to do with 10 active puppies?!
Those of you who know me well know I’m a sucker for a puppy. Make that two puppies. Yes, we’ve decided to keep two of them! In fact, they get to live inside with Esther and Betty. Meanwhile…Bella and Hope want to know when the eight little visitors are going to leave so they can have their doghouse back!
Anyone want a free puppy??
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