C'mon you guys, give it a rest.  Enough serious stuff for a little minute and on to other serious stuff.

Right Wing conservative.

On a stick...

Heeeey Nancy!  Why didn't you comment on my "Holiday Traditions" blog?  It was apolitical!  Why doesn't anyone ever comment on my blogs?  "Holiday Traditions" was a good blog!  It was the perfect place to plant your recipe!

{weeping}  You can tell me the truth.  My blogs are boring, aren't they? {sniffle}  That's why no one ever comments on my blogs.  And I TRYYYYY!  I try SSSOOOO hard! {hysteria}

I didn't see it Catherine or I'd have been all over it.  I LOVE food talk.  Unfortunatley happy blogs don't sell well on blogland.  The only blogs that get a lot of hits and comments are the controversial ones.

You're never boring my friend, it's the bloggers who have no taste (buds).

By the way..theres'a HUGE monster plane apparently doing T&G's tonight.  A 747 UPS plane or some such.  I heard the other day an F-16 was doing T&G's too.  I miss all the fun and miss the days when we could park at the airport and watch the planes come in.

Thanks, Nancy.

Weell, I'm making hot dogs (crowd pleaser around here.)  With salad and canned pineapple.  Yawn.

But ice cream for dessert!

Planes??? Hmmmmmm  we used to park on Panorama and watch the submarine races :-)

Would that be with a buddy or a boyfriend Witters?  Not a bad way to pass an evening.  :-)

What are you folks having for dinner?

Unfortunately, tonight, nothing particularly interesting, or healthy for that matter! Kids are eating apples, chicken nuggets, french fries, and yogurt as I type this. The other half just went out for a run and we'll probably order cheap take-out, like Plumberry's or something. 

My oldest is on a GF/CF diet, so his options can be pretty limited (and expensive!). The Ian's Chicken Nuggets he's eating right now are $6.79 for an 8 oz. box, and sometimes he eats two at one sitting. Not cheap! Tonight is one of convenience, though. I try to make things from fresh ingredients as much as I can.

But sometimes you just have to have "freezer night"!

Nancy: That was probably an MD-11. They come up here to do "shakedown" flights, testing several systems prior to delivery to the customer (FedEx, in this case.) One test they do is really fun to watch. Simply put, it involves a maximum performance takeoff, followed by a throttle "chop", the airplane pitches down rapidly and the pilots sit and watch to make sure the auto throttles advance and autopilot re-pitches to a climb attitude. It looks like the thing is going to crash. I have been on the flight deck of some smaller jets during similar procedures, believe me, it's a ride!

Oh, and on topic...Spagettio's with meatballs. The shame is so painful.

i made spaghetti sauce the other night, so this week it's spaghetti for dinner.  i start with from-the-jar stuff and add to it.

Used up some leftovers in an odd made up on the spot recipe...

Pork Tenderloin Medallions baked in Maranara sauce with Cheddar/Jack cheese melted over it during the last 15 minutes. Some Cali blend veggies and a quick peach cobbler (cheat w/Bisquik) and ta-da, it's dinner!!

Potstickers (from Costco..), steamed broccoli and leftover homemade mashed potatoes.

I was lazy tonight.

I recently received the recipe pyramid as well...have yet to get one darn recipe from anyone though.  I made a whole turkey for dinner, but not for me (I'm vegetarian), but for my dogs.  Turkeys are alot cheaper than chicken right now so what the heck.  At any rate, here's the recipe I sent in to the 1st person on my list...maybe one of you will give it a try.

1 lb. ground round (or chicken), 1 C chopped onion, 4 C's water, 2-16 oz. cans stewed tomatoes (undrained), 2-8 oz. cans tomato sauce, 2-16 oz. cans kidney beans (undrained), 1 or 2 pkg. taco mix.  Saute meat & onions.  Add all other ingredients.  Simmer briefly and serve.  Good topped with avocado, fritos, shredded chesse & sour cream.  Super easy to make & it really is good...especially on a cold evening.   

This is one my family loves and it is so simple:

Brown ground beef and drain

Fix a box of Rice A Roni spanish rice

Mix these together with salsa

Put in a casserole dish with shredded cheese on top (I prefer Monterey Jack)

Heat at 350 for about 10 minutes

Serve with flour tortillas

NANCY:  Whoever was the "kissey face" at the moment!!!  Kind of like "flavor of the month"!!!!!!

DINNER:  Stacked flat tacos!! I make it like a casserole. Taco shell(corn), re-fried beans (with cheese) warmed on stove, cooked hamburger with or without some sauce, cheese, onions, olives. new taco shell and proceed as above. Stack until is level with top of baking dish. Can bake in oven but is faster in micro - 2.5 to 3 min on "reheat" heat level, or "bake" level. Cut slices of "pie" for each person. Can add any accouterments you want, salsa, hot sauce, etc.  I usually make two casserole dishes full and put one in the fridge for the next day :-)  Two meals in one!!!

WOW..some great ideas here.  Thanks everyone.  I like the kind I can make a full meal with and divide the leftovers in baggies for individual portions later.  I do that with taco meant too and have bun tacos instead of tortillas.

H8, you must have heard to monster plane.  And you're right, it was FedX not UPS.  I bartended Antons at the arport years ago and loved watching the big boys come in.  I worked the day the presidents entourage came in but missed Air force one.  I got to watch the C130 Starlifter(?) and the other huge one(forgot what it was now) load jeeps and limos and take off.  The wingspan exceeded the width of the runway and boiled up tons of dirt.  Loved it.  The bar was so pretty at night with windows looking out over the runway lights.   The job didn't have a good ending though..lol.

Nancy: If you tended bar at Antons during that period of time, then you mave met my wife and I. We were in Antons a lot back then when we were dating. I used to fly airplanes at Meadows Field in those days. I was upset when Antons went out of business. We really liked that place. Small world. Oh, and you probably saw a C-141 Starlifter. I was a Crew Chief on Starlifters in the Air Force. I remember that day, too. I was on the ramp at the time, as well as when the C-5 Galaxy came in to offload the helicopters and the limos. Wow. That's amazing.

H8...Thanks for getting my airplanes right.  It's been a while.  That was the first Bush visiting.  Driving out there now seems to strange with the hotel, restaurant and bar gone.  It's funny that we probably met.  I was bar manger (in my snazzy pilots jacket), son in law was manager under Pat, the general manager and daughter was the food and beverage manager for American Airlines when the "big boy" as we called it,  used to dock here overnight.

I worked the afternoon/evening shift that day so all the security was gone, along with the prez, by the time I got to work.  It really was fun watching them load those planes and take off though.  Lots of excitement.  If you were around during those days you probably knew my daughter Deb and SIL Mike too.

Tonight I'm making beans with salt pork, au gratin potatoes, broccoli with butter and apple crisp for dessert.

The neat thing about this weather: my kitchen windows are fogging up from the stove.  So cozy.

Cathy that is strange, making your own pork and beans.  For me pork and beans have always come from a can.  For my dinner tonight I think I will saute a mahi mahi fillet with lemon and olive oil, side of brown rice and steamed vegis. 

I'm so tired from all the cleaning and decorating that Dad and I just ordered pizza, 2 mediums (onion/sausage and ham/bell pepper).  It's not on either of our diets.  But what the hey.

Last night though, I'm proud to say, we had cauliflower, creamed spinach, oven roasted pork chops, biscuits and a left over ceasar salad.   No dessert as usual.

I'm drinking sugar free hot chocolate as I sit here blogging.

Wafarer

Are you serious?  Pinto beans cooked with salt pork or ham hocks fed generations of Americans as they settled the west.  It's not cordon bleu, but that's to it's advantage.

There's one in every crowd.

Yeah Wayfarer--think of it as "cowboy beans."  If you have never had them, you're missing out on an easy and very nutritious meal.  Here's how you do it:

Buy 2lbs dry pinto beans in the bean aisle and a salt pork in the meats (packaged in plastic, near sausage.)

Rinse pinto beans in 3 changes of water; sort through beans for any oddball beans and throw them out.  Fill up big pot with water, add beans and salt pork, and boil for about 4 hours.  You need to remember to keep adding water or all the water will evaporate out and they will burn (almost set my house on fire that way one time.)  Add salt and pepper, and you're done.  You can sprinkle parmesan on the beans or add some salsa.  It's the typical beans that you see at casual catered events alongside deep pit barbecue.

Mom--yesterday was our big decorating night.  We had pizza, too--lg sausage and pepperoni and med mushroom and olive.  Tomorrow night I'm doing sloppy joes--unless we eat at your house.  ; )

Update: family happy with dinner.  Son ate almost everything, and I made him a big plate.  Husband said "that was a good dinner, Honey."  Baby still eating, smacking off her fingers and snorting like a piglet.  Mom happy, and tired now. : )

I didn't finish with the Christmas lights outside until after 8pm, so I went the easy route and pulled a bowl of turkey soup out of the freezer. FYI, noodles do not freeze well. Next time I'll have to make turkey rice soup and see if the leftovers hold up in the freezer better.