Silly Boys

BD in the pot...........

Sushi man showing BDn how potsittin is done...

"Like this BD! See Bubba in the pot??"

Rent-a-gamei showing lil bit the ropes on the beach

Fun at the Beach!

Baby Logan laughing on the beach

Zach being silly "what'd i do??"he seems to ask

Logan on the boardwalk

in the sand

Logan and Daddy heading out to the water

Hey Good Lookin-Whatcha got cookin?

In these frugal days, I get a kick out feeding my family filling, somewhat healthy yummy meals that are easy on the pocketbook.  One favorite is the following.  I serve it with mashed potatoes or rice and a green veggie.  Butter beans work well and are Tony's favorite-but broccoli or green beans are also good. Today I found potatoes on sale-under 3 bucks for a 5 lb bag.  I am happy cause mashed taters and gravy are one of my favorite foods.  The trick to good  mash taters is -make sure you cook long enough-bout 20 min.  add margarine or butter(bout 1/3 a stick) after draining.  Oh, when you drain-keep the potatoes in the pot-the heat will take care of any liquid.  After mashing w/ a hand mixer a few min-DONT OVER MIX-add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup milk that has been heated  a minute in microwave.  trust me-it makes a difference.  Plus, that is what Tyler Florance once said on his fancy cookin show.  I think it was him . hummm, may have been Emeril.

CUBED STEAK AND GRAVY IN THE OVEN

thanks to Stephanie who taught me this much easier method of cooking "country steak"

If like me-you have made cubed steak by frying it a few pieces at a time then making a gravy-you be happy to get a great tasting southern dish w/ out the extra fat. popping grease and time standing at the stove.

ok-salt and pepper the steak-go easy on the salt-the gravy has a buncha sodium

flour it well.put in a baking dish 

In a small bowl, mix together a "McCormick" gravy mix-or thicken some beef broth if you don't like to use those things

Poor over the top-now you can top w/ thin sliced onions-I don't-cause my boys are picky

cover w/ tinfoil

Bake 45 mins in a 350 oven

that is it-It will make a great gravy-nice and thick from the flour on the meat.  The meat is very tender.  Hope you try!!

I got a pound of cubed steak that will fed our family for less than 4 bucks-the taters and butter beans were also on sale.  Fed a family of 5-including Logan who ate a bunch of beans for less that 3 bucks a person.  Banana nut bread for dessert that was also very cheap to make. You can feed a good meal to your family w/ out a lot of money or time at the stove. :)

 

My mom's cancer journey

Hey everybody!! Since several of you have expressed concern about my mom's health, I thought I'd take a few minutes to give an update. She is doing very well considering everything. Her attitude has been very good on most days-even remarkable during some tough days...

Last summer Mom found a lump. She was sure it was nothing..but it was something. In a matter of days she was down in Jacksonville scheduled for a radical double mastectomy. After the surgery , we were all devastated to hear the doctor say it the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. I think I can speak for my brothers when I say we thought the cancer must be everywhere. The type cancer she has is very aggressive, so Mom opted to do the 6 months of chemo-every Tue for 30+ weeks. She has completed that course and she began radiation this week. She called me yesterday and was doing pretty well. Putting aloe on the area treated will help with the skin damage. For those who dont know, radiation is horrible on the tissue-basically it cooks ya. Not pretty-but it kills those nasty cancer calls. SHe will have radiation for 6 weeks. Five days a week. Fred, her husband, has been very faithful to be with and support her during all this. Mom is having everything done in Jacksonville, so the stress of being away from home is tough. We are all so thankful that recent tests have had good results...however all this mess will take time to recover from.  We know she will be fine though, and we love her more than she will ever know.

Today I am asking for prayers for my courageous mom. Please say a short prayer that the treatments will not be too painful, the recovery swift. 
Thanks and call your mom if she is still around. Now that I'm a mom, I see how tough the job is. Mom's make mistakes, but they love us like no other ever will.