microwave corn on the cob

We eat a lot of corn on the cob. So good! We only need three ears for supper, so I wrap them in wet paper towels and cook them in the microwave rather than in a pot of boiling water. It’s easy, fast, and leaves no pot to clean. Before cooking, husk and clean the ears of corn.

DD demonstrates how easy it is to prepare the corn for cooking. We use a square of DRY paper toweling. We’ll wet it after wrapping.

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Place the ear diagonally across the corner.

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Roll it to the opposite corner.

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Don’t tuck under the side corners of the paper towel until the ear is completely rolled, corner to corner. If tucked in before the ear is completely rolled, it will be harder to unroll when it is hot and steaming.

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Wrapped and ready for the next step.

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Wet each wrapped ear of corn at the sink. Soak all the paper toweling.

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Place the ears on a microwave plate or platter. When cooking three ears, we place them in a triangle to aid in even cooking. I cook three ears on high for five minutes, turn them over and cook for one more minute. You will need to try your own microwave a few times to determine the best cooking time.

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Carefully unwrap each ear of corn. Be careful! It will be very hot and steaming.

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Butter, freshly cracked salt and black pepper…so good!

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~~Rhonda πŸ™‚

weekend company

Scott and Chris will be going back to work overseas next week, and we won’t see them for a while, so it was really wonderful to be able to spend some time with them this past weekend. I meant to get a nice family portrait of our friends while they were here, but we were too busy doing other things. πŸ™‚

We grilled pork steaks and hot dogs in the back yard. The meal that Chris described as “summer food” included corn on the cob, tomatoes and sweet and sour cucumbers, fruit salad (strawberries, peaches, and blueberries), and my favorite spinach salad. After supper, we made S’mores. Their three young boys enjoyed that, though the youngest skipped the graham crackers and the marshmallows and went straight for the chocolate. Smart boy! πŸ˜‰

makin' s'mores

When all was cleared and put away, we played Apples to Apples, which is one of our favorite family games. Even though two of their children weren’t reading yet, they still had a fun time playing. DH helped a bit when it came time to decide which card should be played.

watcha think?

It was fun to play something we could enjoy together.

apples to apples

I should have taken pictures of the train track they built and the marble game they constructed, as well! They had a full evening!

I try to keep the guest room cat free for the sake of our guests, but after company was gone, Happy found her way in and decided to check out the youth bed we had set up for the youngest little boy.

snoozin'

We always enjoy having company. Wonder who will drop in next time…?

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ september 1, 2008

We had a good weekend. Found out friends were coming through to visit the church family, so we invited them to spend Saturday overnight at our house. We grilled pork steaks and hot dogs on the grill and made S’Mores after supper. It was a lot of fun.

Today is Labor Day. DH is out on a long bike ride, I’m catching up on some computer time, and DD is practicing guitar. No big plans for the day.

Monday
chuck wagon casserole
salad
corn / peas

Tuesday
pork chops in the crockpot w/ stuffing
spinach salad
asparagus
corn

Wednesday
BBQ chicken in the crockpot / buns
veggies / chips / dip
grapes

Thursday
salmon
rice
corn / peas
pear/walnut salad

Friday
sloppy joes / buns
jello with strawberries
chips
cuke / tomatoes

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday ~ dinner at church
crockpot lasagna
Triple Chocolate Mess
ice cream

There are always more menu ideas on Laura’s blog.

I thought yesterday was dinner at church, but it turns out it is this coming Sunday. Hence the return of lasagna and triple chocolate mess.Β  πŸ™‚Β  We were leaving Sunday afternoon to travel a few hours north to celebrate my mother’s 75th birthday, so we had leftovers from Saturday’s supper for a quick Sunday lunch before leaving.

~~Rhonda

baby caterpillars

We found butterfly eggs on the parsley in the garden and brought in a few sprigs of parsley to hatch the eggs.

butterfly egg on parsley

Today we have six little caterpillars on the parsley.

tiny swallowtail caterpillar

swallowtail caterpillar

In a few days I’ll post the set up of the fish tank we use for raising caterpillars.

~~Rhonda

snoozles

DD#2’s cat, Zilli, is a very relaxed kitty.

snoozles

She slept like that for about 20 minutes, but we disturbed her slumber with all the funny pics we were taking of her. πŸ™‚

~~Rhonda

potting proliferations

Little plants, called proliferations, sometimes grow from the daylily flower stem. When the stem starts to turn brown, we cut them off and pot them.

cutting proliferations

Here’s a closeup of one.

daylily proliferation

A week ago last Wednesday, DH potted 27 daylily proliferations. ‘Little Fat Dazzler’ had 17. It was loaded with them last year, too. The other plants had 1-4 each.

27 baby plants

While working around the yard, I took a few pictures. Naturally… πŸ™‚

We haven’t had many rabbits in the garden this year. The outdoor cats take care of population control. This one lives under the hedge on the west side of the front yard. I see another one in the east yard every time I mow.

garden visitor

The cats haven’t managed to catch the fish, but they do like getting a drink from the pump barrel.

a cool drink...fish flavored, yum

Malva sylvestris ‘Zebrina’
This is a great little plant if you don’t mind pulling out some of the seedlings every spring. It reseeds like crazy. Which can be an asset or a liability, depending on your perspective.

Malva sylvestris β€˜Zebrina’

It’s nice to see some fresh flowers here and there, though the yard is definitely thinking “autumn.”

~~Rhonda

chocolate-chip banana muffins

DD has half an hour of piano practice and half an hour of guitar practice five days a week. She doesn’t practice on the day of lessons and she gets to pick one other day of the week as a “no music practice” day. She chose today this week, so I asked if she would like to make banana chocolate chip muffins. Who would say no to that??

She thinks it’s exciting to gather all the ingredients and mix the recipe.

baking lesson

I figured if she made the treat, she’d own the treat…more likely to want to eat them. πŸ™‚

chocolate chips makes it extra good

The recipe made 18.

great snacks

I changed the recipe just a smidgen and had DD use 1 c. all purpose flour and 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, and we used margarine instead of butter. Next time we’ll try it with 1/4 c. margarine and 1/4 c. applesauce.

mmm-mmmmm good

Chocolate-Chip Banana Muffins from cooks.com

1/2 c. (1 stick) margarine, softened (or butter)
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. sour cream
2 bananas, mashed well
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (6 oz.) pkg. Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate morsels (or 1 c.)
Paper muffin cups

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

2. Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer. Add eggs and mix well.

3. Dissolve baking soda in the sour cream. Let it “rise” for a minute, then add it to the butter and egg mixture. Mix well with beater on medium speed. Add bananas and blend in.

4. Add flour and baking powder together. Mix in thoroughly, but no longer than necessary. Add vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips by hand. Fill muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Recipe makes 18 muffins.

I should have taken a picture of the sour cream and baking soda mixture. DD was VERY impressed with all the bubbling and rising!

DD takes a snack to school each day and wants to take a muffin tomorrow. Success, I’m thinking.

~~Rhonda

crockpot chicken cordon bleu

I made Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu several weeks ago and DH and DD both loved it. Easy to make and delicious. We had it again yesterday.

The cast of characters:
crockpot (sprayed with cooking spray)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (flattened)
ham slices
Swiss cheese slices
toothpicks (optional)
1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. milk

ingredients

My butcher shop has the largest chicken breasts I’ve ever seen. Must be giant chickens. For this recipe, the chicken breast should be flattened. Put it between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it with a mallet or with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/4 thick. Or, you can do as I did, and ask the butcher to put the chicken through the cuber. I didn’t pound the chicken any thinner and it worked great.

flat chicken

Place a slice or two of Swiss cheese on the chicken. How much you use will depend on how large the piece of meat is.

swiss

On top the cheese, layer a slice of ham. I used Virginia baked ham from the deli.

ham

Roll the chicken and the cheese and ham layers together. You can use a toothpick or two to hold the roll together, if needed. My rolls stayed together fine without the toothpicks. I set them into the crockpot with the seam side down.

roll it up

Nestle the four rolls into the crockpot.

four chicken rolls

Mix together the cream soup and the 1/4 c. of milk.

sauce

Spread the sauce over the chicken.

ready to cook

Cover and cook on high for four hours.

Supper was chicken, steamed green beans from the garden, tomatoes from the garden, corn, and spinach salad with strawberries and pecans.

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

The pieces were large enough that half a piece made a nice size portion. That left us with plenty of leftovers. I’m sure we will be making this again in the near future.

~~Rhonda

making focaccia

Yesterday DD and I tried our hand at making focaccia, an Italian flat bread. I used this recipe, which was good, but am going to try a different one next time (using milk instead of water), in an effort to find one we LOVE. I added 1/2 tsp. salt and about a tablespoon of olive oil to the dough because my instincts told me to. Good reason or not? Not sure… πŸ™‚

Anyway, DD enjoyed making bread and the recipe is very easy. The bread was good, but I think we baked it a little too long. I’d like it a bit softer.

mixing

After mixing the dough, we kneaded it. I did most of this, as the dough was very stiff and it was difficult for DD to knead by herself.

kneading

After the bread rose and was punched down, we stretched it into a rectangular shape and placed it on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. DD brushed olive oil over the top and I sprinkled freshly grated sea salt over the oil.

baking

It smelled good while baking!

focaccia

To serve, I cut it into serving size pieces with a pizza cutter, lifted the parchment and dropped the whole thing, paper and all, into a bread basket. It was very good with our supper of spaghetti and meatballs.

focaccia

Focaccia is delicious dipped in olive oil that has freshly grated black pepper in it. Yum!

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ august 25, 2008

We’re home after a short trip north. Saturday afternoon DH took DD to a water park while I enjoyed several hours in a book store.

fun to float

Sunday we worshiped with my sister at her church, then spent the afternoon at her house. DD had a good time with her first cousin once removed, Tshepo. He and his mom (my niece) will be traveling to South Africa later this week to join his dad, where they will serve as missionaries for the next five years.

second cousins

On the way home this evening, I took some pictures out the car window of the beautiful, long lasting sunset. I especially like this picture.

lone tree

The coming week doesn’t have any big events scheduled. I think I’m glad. πŸ˜‰

Monday
spaghetti / meatballs
green salad
corn / peas
foccacia

Tuesday
crockpot chicken cordon bleu
asparagus
corn
spinach salad

Wednesday
porksteaks on the grill
coleslaw
tomatoes
sweet ‘n sour cucumbers
green beans

Thursday
tilapia
corn on the cob
steamed red potatoes
green beans
green salad

Friday
shrimp
green salad
rice
broccoli / cauliflower / carrots

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday ~ dinner at church
crockpot lasagna
Triple Chocolate Mess
ice cream

Crock Pot Lasagna
You will need the following four items to make the lasagna:

Meat Mixture
Mix together:
1 pound ground round, browned (with a diced onion if you wish)

Sauce
3-4 c. spaghetti sauce of your choice

Noodles
8 lasagna noodles, dry and broken into pieces

Cheese Mixture
Mix together:
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 c. ricotta cheese
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
3 eggs

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Spray a crock pot with cooking spray. Place enough spaghetti sauce on the bottom to cover the pan. Layer 1/3 of the noodles, then 1/3 cheese mixture, and then 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat with two more layers. Top with 1 c. mozzarella cheese.

Cook on high for three to four hours or on low for 6-8.

You’ll find more menu ideas here.

~~Rhonda