Just call me Rip!

~~****Updated, 10pm, to say that the kitties are NAMED!! Boy cat is Jasper and girl cat is Jypsy(yes with a J, since his is), no longer Nuala. Five people trying to name two kittens is not fun. We are all happy with these names even if they aren't first choices****~~

I was feeling kinda nappish after lunch today even though we really needed to get to the pet store for some kitty toys and the grocery store for some food. So, I thought I'd take a cat nap before we went. Actually, my intent was to sneak some reading time. I've started the LOTR trilogy again, first time in about nine years. Neeeways, it was 12:44 when I glanced at the alarm clock after climbing under the covers. Next time that happened it was 2:47, when I just happened to wake up to shift or something. The next time was 3:54. Then it took several minutes after that to pry my body from the bed. Not sure yet if I'm refreshed or not but I had some Crazy-Daisy dreams! It truly feels like I stepped into another time.

Now for last night's dinner!! This will probably be the last of the food pictures for a while. I love sharing them but remembering to take pictures at various times during the process isn't something I'm real good at. That and I foresee several days in which I don't cook, or cook something simple like baked potatoes or sandwiches. I am making chili for Ryan's Super Bowl party with his church's youth group but that doesn't sound like good photo fare.


I use this dough for pizza and bread, it is fantabulous!!!


Kids pizzas just into the oven, Ryan's has mushrooms, girls' doesn't.


The grown-ups' pizza just out of the oven, my side is the one with onions.

I divided the dough into three pieces, then one of those in half for the kids. I used one of the thirds for ours and the last third to make a calzone with the leftover meatsauce filling and cheese, which I baked to a dark golden color. It made a huge one and I had a bit of it for lunch today. It was as good as, or better than the pizza was! It was hideously ugly so there wasn't a pic.

Fionnuala and Who??

That's right. He still does NOT have a name! We are down to Seamus(shaymus), Angus, Eamon(ay-mun). I think. Why is this so hard?







I had a name for both of them before they ever got here but Nuala's didn't fit her at all. She was going to be Breda(breeda) but she is definitely a Fionnuala. Boy cat is proving harder to name. His name was Lughaidg(looey) but Noola and Looey don't sound right together, plus it isn't his personality. His previous owner said it might take a while for him to become himself, he's a bit freaked out from the move to our house and becoming an inside cat. It may be a while before he is named then.

I want something Irish but not something real whack. I love Riordan or Tadhg but nobody else is going for it. Or Emmett or Kermit even. Sigh. Whoever he is, he's darn cute!



I'm done with the dinner challenge from Carrie's so I'm not posting my pizza pictures tonight. Maybe I'll put them up tomorrow.

In other news... We joined a health club!! It our birthday present and Mark's too(in April). Both of us need to get in better shape and he has just burned out on running for now. It wasn't as expensive as we first thought but we're only signed up for 3 months to see how it goes. If we like it and it is easy to do, we may re-up for a whole year. The club isn't big at all but they do have lots of equipment and a basketball court for the kids to play on while we work out. The exercise stations are on the sides of the court in "cages" so we can watch and talk to them. I think we're going to get a free eval/program by a personal trainer on Saturday so we'll know how to use the stuff. It has been a looooong time since we've done a health club, like 1991!!

Last Night's Dinner Challenge...

We were expecting rain but it didn't start til after we went to bed. So, I had Mark start the grill and we did Chicken Fajitas(no recipe, these are easy). My favorite part is cooking them and eating them. Oh wait, that's two parts isn't it? Oh well.





In other news... These two ragamuffins came for brunch today and decided to stay. They were born on Halloween and were ready for a new home. Perfect luck wasn't it? We haven't officially settled on names but the girl(right) will most likely be Fionnuala(FinOOla), called Nuala(Noola) for short. Her name, in case you wondered, means "Lady with White Shoulders" in Gaelic. The boy(left) might be Shadow or Seamus, or Lugh, I keep getting shot down with Fergus, Tadgh(Tyg), Angus, and Merlin, among others. They are just adorable and have settled in quite nicely. They are used to kids and other cats so we've not had much to worry with except the boy is a bit more timid that Nuala.

We had fun today!

But I didn't take any pictures(this is a quick, and really bad, pic of a few from my collection). We went to the East Texas Gem and Mineral Society's annual show with another homeschooling family. It was AMAZING!!!! If you are interested in gems and minerals, check out local shows and shops. Here's a list of minerala, Rainbow of Gems to start and a GREAT resource for kids and grown-ups too(I love this site) called, Rocks For Kids. I took my "mammoth tooth" along for the ride to see if I could get it positively identified(I had a feeling it wasn't what I thought). Turns out, it is petrified wood and I'm going to have it cut and polished in the next few weeks! I am hoping for some nice surprises inside!! I love, love, love rocks!!! Rock-a-holic I am.


(Ammonite that belonged to my grandfather, don't know where he got it)
****edited to add this: I'm so glad you told me Rosaline! I figured it was found in Oklahoma but had no idea where. For some reason I was thinking northwest of Rush Springs, don't know why. It is the neatest rock we have, I love it! There were some at the rock show but they were much smaller(about like a smooshed tennis ball), and not nearly as detailed. They were all incomplete like ours, guess it is hard to find a whole one.****

I did manage to keep up with the Dinner challenge, just didn't feel the need to post our dinner on Friday of scrambled eggs in corn tortillas or last night's baked potatoes. Tonight, however, I did a variation on our favorite pizza pasta.



1 chicken breast, cooked in a cup or so of water til done, don't drain unless you have more than a cup of water at this point. Add 20 slices of turkey pepperoni, 20 black olives(halved), 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 chicken broth cube, italian seasonings and garlic powder. Simmer for 15 minutes or so. Cook half a box of whole wheat elbow macaroni noodles(amounts are not real important in this). Combine drained noodles, sauce mix, 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, in 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Dinner Challenge Chicken Pot Pie...

Check in at Carolyn's blog, Laughing Duck to see what I won!! I'm getting pretty lucky with that these days. I told her that I won twice with her because I am using a (greatly modified) version of her Chicken Pot Pie for my Dinner Challenge tonight! It looked SO good but I didn't think I had what it took to make it. I looked again with open eyes and found the perfect ingredients for mine but I'm sure hers is MUCH better. This suits Carrie's Challenge because I didn't have to get anything special from the store AND I've never made it before, in any fashion so definitely not an "in a rut" meal! Don't forget to scroll down a few posts and support Bernie's A Place to Bark...and Meow Cause.

Mine is Fast because we stayed at the bookstore ALL afternoon for our homeschool "park day". It was too cold to visit at the park so those of us(hi Patricia) with older kids went to Books-A-Million to knit and sew and read. We didn't get home til after 4:30 and then I had to take Ryan and his friend to the friend's house to spend the night. Soooo, when I came home I quick thawed the chicken, thinking I'd oven fry it and make baked potatoes or something to go with, but I found Carolyn's lovely email and became inspired by her mouth-watering recipe.
****edited to add pictures****
Here ya go:



Fast Chicken Pot Pie(based very loosely on Carolyn's)

3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
2 medium baking potatoes
1/2 red onion
1/2 big bag of mixed vegetables
1 can 98% fat free cream of celery soup
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon(or shake) garlic powder
1/2 cup milk

Simmer chicken and cubed potatoes til the meat isn't pink. Cube chicken and drain the water out. Add veggies, soup, cheese, spice and milk. Stir well.

2 cups flour(I use half white, half whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1-1.5 cups milk

Stir dry stuff together, add butter and mix with fingers til course crumbs. Stir in milk and mix up. Put chicken stuff into a oiled 9x13 casserole dish, smooth out. Drop dough on top of that and bake for 35 minutes at 375. Yum!!

Cooking Challenge!!!

I'm taking part in Carrie's(of Sommer Designs) Dinner Challenge for the week, having just found her blog about an hour ago. Her challenge is to cook dinner every night for 5 nights, something you haven't tried before or something you haven't made in a long time. ***Edited to clarify that this doesn't have to be done with things you have on hand, just that you go shopping once with a good list, so you don't have to run out and get "only xyz" and come home $75 poorer*** To be fair, today was shopping day for me so some of the things in this recipe are not staples(cilantro and green onions aren't always in the larder)I got in on it a bit late but I do have my recipe from Monday's post(we had leftovers last night-deliciously served over spaghetti squash that I'm ashamed to say has been on my shelf for 5-6 weeks now!) and one tonight that I can share. This might be leftovers for tomorrow or Friday too so my 5 nights might take longer than a week to complete. I consider that a bonus!!

Tonight's Meal:

Baked Bean Dip

Stuff you'll need:
2 cans refried beans(fat free or not, your choice)
1 cup grated cheese(as you can see, mine is cut up because the grater was in the dishwasher getting all cleaned up)
1/2-3/4 cup salsa
1 cup sour cream(or more, depends how much you like it)
Combine in greased 8x8 baking dish(or 9x13 if using 2 cans of beans). Bake about 20 minutes at 350.


Meanwhile chop and combine:

1-2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup cilantro(chopped to make this much)
20-30 black olives(add green ones too if you'd like)
1-3 green onions(depends on size, I've got big ones but have seen some much smaller)


Take dip out of oven and let cool 5-6 minutes.


Spread the bean mixture with sour cream, I dollop it on with a spoon and gently smear around.


Sprinkle with the veggie mixture.


Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!!!

Wall Color and Helping Animals...

I've decided on a wall color!! For real! It this single color card. Called "natural" and is a very light toasted-almond, feathery soft, beige. It is less yellow, more neutral than a true beige. We'll use the satin finish for it and do the trim in kitchen paint in the same color. Mark was leaning toward something darker, Otter Tail(next-to-lightest on that dark card), that was a milk chocolate color. It is a beautiful color but I think we'd be really tired of it after a short while.

Now for the Helping Animals part. Go visit Susan's Farmgirl Fare blog and read her latest post(from today) about A Place to Bark...And Meow. Follow your heart and donate what you can to Bernie's cause. What a selfless woman she is!

And Sarah holding Magic Panda for some Peaceful Panda Time in her bedroom with soft music and dimmed lights. All the piggies get the Peaceful treatment now and then and they LOVE it!