Sorry it's such a poopy picture.

It has been an eventful weekend here at the Muddy manicure. Saturday morning I put the dogs out and snuggled back in bed to read and when I let them back in I noticed Yotee was acting strange. I got him to hop up on my recliner and looked him over and discovered he had sliced his leg open! Yikes...I found out that he climbed up op my cold-frame window box and broke the glass, falling through. Well, looking at his wound I decided it was way beyond my vetting capabilities. So I bit the bullet and called the vet - I'd have to pay the emergency fee plus whatever treatment he needed. Let me tell you it was a pretty penny but Yotee is now stitched up and doing well. I just need to keep him from licking and tearing out his stitches.

So after our excursion to the vet we all settled down to rest and get down to the rest of our weekend. Saturday past in a blur but Sunday seems to be dragging for me. In order to speed life along a bit, I decided to bake. :) I had some seriously over-ripe bananas I needed to do something with. I decided muffins would be a great idea so I went to Tasty Kitchen and looked up a new recipe for banana nut muffins. I found a good looking recipe called, "Brown Butter Banana Nut Muffins" and set to work. I didn't have any patience to brown the butter traditionally, so I did it in the microwave. Turned out well actually. I also didn't have any buttermilk so I subbed in yogurt. The muffins are rather bland and I'm not sure if it was the subbing of ingredients or I missed something but I think I'll stick with my regular old banana nut bread recipe next time.

In gardening news, things are coming up like crazy! My corn, beans, pumpkins, cucumbers and zucchini are sprouted up and growing well. I am excited for this and am hoping the warm, semi-dry weather holds out long enough to get them all growing mad. Yum, yum for fresh veggies. I can't wait! :D

Now, I need to figure out something to eat for lunch. I think I'll head back over to Tasty Kitchen and find something to do with beef.

Mental Health Friday....

I took a mental health day today - I am very glad I did so! I went grocery shopping, which I desperately needed to do. I had no food in my house! Next time I think I'll shop more frequently instead of running out of everything before I go to the store. I used a bunch of coupons while I was at WalMart and while I can't say I saved a super whole bunch I was able to save around $10....better than nothing right? I picked up stuff to make the following recipe for creme cheese chicken enchiladas. They are auh-mazing! I found them on another blog called Homemaking on the Homestead; I find a lot of great things here! You should totally check it out! So here is the recipe and my comments:

Creme Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

* 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut in to bite size pieces (I shredded my chicken)
* 1 medium onion, chopped (I diced mine)
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 8 oz. creme cheese, softened & cut into chunks (I took it straight from the fridge)
* Milk to thin sauce (I used some of the table cream I bought for this recipe)
* 2 teaspoon chili powder (I used more)
* 1 teaspoon cumin (I have an allergy to cumin so I omitted this and used paprika instead)
* 1 cup salsa (I bought a regular size jar of Pace Picante sauce and used the whole thing)
* 12 corn tortillas (I didn't use this many but I would suggest doing so)
* 2 cups shredded cheese (I used more just because I wanted them ooey-gooey & cheesy)
* 1 cup cream (I bought "table cream" and just eye-balled everything)

In a large frying pan cook chicken, onion & garlic in the olive oil. (Here's where I shredded my chicken meat then added the onions & garlic.) When the chicken meat is fully cooked & the onions are soft, add the creme cheese. (I used a wooden spoon & paring knife to divide up the cheese.) Stir to mix everything together while melting the creme cheese. Add a little milk to make the sauce a gravy consistency. (Here's where I added the table cream instead of milk.) Add the chili powder, cumin and salsa. (Remember, I didn't use cumin but feel free to use it in your recipe.)

Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. (I forgot to do this but didn't have any problems with sticking) Lay half the tortillas in the pan. Spread half the chicken mix sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle half the cheese and salsa over the chicken mix sauce. Repeat the layers. (I got two layers in my pan.) Pour cream over the top. (I just eyeballed about a cup of table cream all over the top of the enchiladas.)

Bake at 375F for 30 to 45 minutes, until the enchiladas are golden brown on the top. (I am at roughly 2500 feet in elevation and only cooked the enchiladas for 30 minutes.)

I served my enchiladas up with some Uncle Ben's 90 second Spanish style rice.

I would also suggest some good re-fried beans and a salad but I was too hungry from making the enchiladas and just plain impatient to try how a new recipe turned out to make more than the rice! :)

I truly enjoyed my meal! I am going to save another serving for diner but the rest is going into my awesome new Tupperware and the freezer so I can have lunched for a while. Yummy in my tummy!

Totally gone! ;)

Overflowing with Rhubarb

My mom has a wonderful rhubarb plant, which originated with my great-grandmother, Elsie Lohman, and has been transplanted to each house we've ever lived in. It is an old-fashioned tasting plant; by this I mean sweet not tart like most rhubarb is. My theory is this is why our sugar laden society doesn't consume much rhubarb, as well as it's not commercially grown much.

I digress...anyways rhubarb signifies spring to me and though I'm not much of a fan I do enjoy spring. Spring is definitely in-house here in the Yakima Valley, and for those of you who aren't familiar with the area summer is literally two weeks away. We aren't much for useless seasons like spring and fall around here...winter and summer that's us!

I also enjoy cooking for others. The smile and pure enjoyment shown on their face when they see you've made something special for them is priceless. Cooking for others gives me warm-fuzzies! :) My dad always enjoys my baking; however, he is diabetic, which can make baking for him a bit of a challenge especially when trying to bake/cook in season. Recently, I stumbled upon a diabetic friendly rhubarb recipe online...yippee! So after trying it out ans making some alterations here it is:

Rhubarb Apple Crumble with Equal
Makes 6 servings

Filling:


3 cups peeled, cored 3/4-inch cubed Granny Smith apples (I used Fuji apples instead; they have a great
2 1/2 cups 3/4-inch cubed fresh red rhubarb                        sweet/tart combo taste.)

1/2 cup Equal® Spoonful*
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup water or apple juice (I used water because apple juice has tons of sugar in it!)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional) (I omitted this. I was going for sweet but will try it next.)
I also added approximately 1/2 tsp. cinnamon to this & think adding some nutmeg & cloves, or pumpkin pie spice would also boost flavor.)

Topping:

3/4 cup quick or old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1/4 cup raisins (I used golden raisins...auh-mazing!)
1/4 cup chopped nuts (Walnuts worked well.)
1/3 cup Equal® Spoonful**
2 tablespoons stick butter, melted
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Combine apples, rhubarb, 1/2 cup Equal® and cornstarch.
Place in 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.

Combine water, lemon juice and lemon peel. Pour over fruit
mixture. Cover and bake in preheated 400° F oven 20-25
minutes or until fruit is tender. (I ended up cooking this for closer to 35-40 minutes which made the filling have more of a cobbler consistency.)
Meanwhile, combine oats, raisins, nuts, 1/3 cup Equal®,
butter and cinnamon until well blended. Remove cover from
fruit mixture. Sprinkle with oats mixture. Return to oven
and bake, uncovered, an additional 8 to 10 minutes or until
topping is crisp.

It's important to follow the instructions to avoid globs or cornstarch and Equal.
Serve warm with frozen yogurt, ice cream or whipped topping.


* May substitute 12 packets Equal® sweetener.
** May substitute 8 packets Equal® sweetener.


Here is an amazing looking recipe I found at a blog called Mennonite Girls Can Cook. I haven't had the chance to try it out yet but I'm sure it is yummy, because you KNOW those Mennonite girls can cook! :)

Crust: (use half for the tart)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
milk

Put both the egg yolks in a 1 cup measuring cup . . give them a quick stir with a fork and then add enough milk to make 2/3 cup. In a food processor or large bowl, combine the flour and the salt.
Add the cubed cold butter and pulse until large crumbs form or cut in butter with a pastry blender.
Add the milk and egg mixture until combined.
Use half the crust dough to roll out and line a 10 inch removable bottom tart pan.

Wrap the remainder of the crust dough well in plastic wrap and seal in a heavy freezer bag and freeze for future use. . .unless you double the filling and topping recipe and bake it on a cookie sheet.

Filling
3 cups of thinly sliced rhubarb
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup minute tapioca

Topping:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Combine the rhubarb, sugar and tapioca and arrange evenly over the crust.
Cover lightly with some foil.
Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until the tapioca is nearly clear.
While the filling is baking stir together the topping ingredients.
Pour over the baked rhubarb filling and bake an additional 15 minutes or until set.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

If there are leftovers. . cover with a bit of plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Pacific Northwest Young Cattlemen's Conference

I recently attended a Young Cattlemen's Conference focusing on the cattle industry in the Pacific Northwest literally from pasture to plate. A group of approximately 120 young members of the cattle industry traveled to Pasco, WA to meet up and travel to a cutting edge dairy, a cow-calf operation, tour the Simplt feedlot and the Tyson meat packing plant. While at Simplot/Tyson we had an amazing BBQ beef lunch! In addition to the tours, PNW YCC attendees were able to listen to some world-class speakers from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, U.S. Meat Exchange, University of California-Chico, Colorado State University and Beef Northwest. We were treated to a prime rib dinner where as a group we were able to pick the brains of these speakers to find out more about the topics they talked about. The dinner was yummy and me being me snagged an end piece because I'm not a rare meat eater. It had all the seasoning an actually Jenna took the rest of what I couldn't eat because of that, and her's was super rare!

The next day we travelled to La Grande, OR and attended the 6th annual Cattlemen's Workshop, which featured the speakers we were able to chat with the previous night. I learned a lot and it was very interesting, but after closing down the bar two nights in a row I was having trouble staying awake. I am so proud of myself thought becuase I managed to stay awake and even take notes! And that's actually a big accomplishment for me with the whole thyroid thing - your energy levels deplete three times faster than a normal person. I am a walking miracle! ;) Lunch was BBQ'd beef and salads prepared by the local cattlemen's group. It was super yummy but I can't remember the last time I ate so much beef. After the conference we traveled back to Pasco and traveled home. The next day I do believe I slept most of the day away after returning home from a gun show. Nothin' says conservative like clinging to your guns (and religion) right?

Shifting gears I think attending the PNW YCC will help me greatly in my preparation and candidacy for the Ft. Peck extension job I am interviewing for on Feb. 9th in Poplar, MT. I'm not really concerned about the interview but I needed a refresher course on the buzz words and the PNW YCC was perfect. If selected I would be the agriculture and 4H/youth development extension agent for the Ft. Peck reservation. I am trying not to get my hopes up but I feel confident that I would be an excelletn choice. My main concern right now is putting together my presentation and finding a way to get there. One thing at a time, all things in succession right?

Ok, so here is your website to checkout and gather some awesome recipies for...you guessed it, beef. YAY!
http://www.beeffordinner.com/  and it even has a mobile compenant. Enjoy! :)

Fondue is Fon to Do!

So I need to make this quick because chaos has erupted between Ruby the Beagle and Annie the Mutt. :) I wanted to wish all a Happy New Year. We spent the evening with family and I learned how to make homemade fondue; previously we had always purchased the boxed mix. Thanks to one of mom's older (70's ish) cookbook we were able to find adequate substitutes since two of the three cheeses were unavailable. Here is the recipie:

1 cup white wine (Chardonay is what we used)
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 ounces Gruyere cheese, cubed (We subbed in non-smoked gouda cheese)
7 ounces Sharp Cheddar cheese, cubed
7 ounces Emmentaler cheese, cubed (We subbed in fontina cheese)

1) Bring the wine to a boil in a small saucepan.
2) Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 5 minutes (we only did about 2 minutes), stirring constantly to avoid sticking and burning.
3) Once the flour is cooked, stir the wine into the flour mixture slowly. Use a whisk to smooth the mixture. Slowly add cubes of cheese; stir until cheese is melted. Transfer sheese mixture to fondue pot. Keep warm over low flame.

I also melted cholated chips with heavy cream and some orange extract for "dessert" style dipping. Additionally, there were two pots of oil for meats with various dipping sauces we purchased. It was a supper yummy meal shared with good company! We also played cards and visited amonst ourselves for the evening. Uncle George and Della stopped by and shared some fondue action and then Uncle Lou stopped by this morning to wish us a Happy New Year.

I watched the NHL Winter Classic this morning which was played on an outdoor rink at Fenway Park - it was neat. The Bruins and the Flyers played and I chose to root for the Bruins. It looked bleak but with a clutch goal during sudden death overtime the Bruins pulled out a win, and to top it off the Bruins goalie was named to the USA Olympic Hockey team after the game.

I am working on a cross-stich blanket and planning on tracking down some new bread recipies. I have planted some onion-chive seeds and have made a mini-greenhouse with a gallon-sized Ziplock bag; that shall have to wait for some resulting photos.

As always I am applying for jobs and have a phone interview for a position in Provo, Utah on January 6th. Wish me luck! :)