It is Fix-it Friday!

Eliza's Mum has returned, although if you are looking for the second cutest sous chef ever, (barring my Pea of course) you will have to do without, Eliza is on strike again... but the recipe, oh, my, you must go partake!

Katie from the view from the hill has an idea to keep your kiddos happy on a summer's day for a LONG time, so be sure to give her a visit. By the way Katie, I LOVE your new header, the picture is too, too pretty!

Be sure to visit the links and see what other Fix-it Fridayers have to say.

Fix-it Friday

I made this recipe for our Sunday Dinner and it was a HUGE hit. We are kind of backwards. I use my crockpot in the summer when it is too hot to turn on the stove. This week I even put the crockpot out on the balcony so the heat generated wouldn't affect the apartment.

Crockpot Chicken, stuffing and mushrooms
Ingredients:
1 package herb-seasoned stuffing mix, prepared
4 to 6 boneless chicken breast halves or boneless thighs, without skin
1 can cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom
1 lb sliced mushrooms sauteed
Preparation:
Prepare packaged stuffing mix with butter and liquid as directed on package. Layer stuffing in the bottom of greased slow cooker. Place the chicken pieces on top. Chicken can overlap some, but try to arrange with as little overlap as possible. If there is room, you could use more chicken. On top of the chicken, pour 1 can of cream of chicken soup, or you could use cream of mushroom, or cream of celery, whatever you like. Just don't add the liquid the soup can says to use. Add the mushrooms. Be sure to stir the mushrooms around a little so they are coated with the soup.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

I Won't, I Won't And I Can't Want to!

I so totally stole that phrase from Butterfly. It fits in well with my life currently.
Yesterday I was soooo incredibly excited to get my new work cell phone. It is way cooler than my personal cell phone, it even has a camera! And it is from a reliable company, not the company that has its headquarters in the back bedroom of some one's double wide, which is where I suspect my cell phone service originates from. So perhaps my work phone won't drop calls randomly and often as my personal cell does.
Then. I realized. OMG, I have another cell phone. What the heck am I going to do??? I have a hard enough time juggling my personal cell, keeping it charged, remembering where the heck I put it and most of all, finding the freaking thing when it starts ringing. Now I have to do it twice??? And the camera? I shall just have to tell my work to bite it, they can't stop me from sending pictures that I have taken with my NEW phone to all my friends and family and who cares if it isn't work related?? NOT!
And today, I am playing coporate mommy, or corporate grand ma as the case may be.
There is something absolutely heavenly about being able to go back to bed when you are just too tired to be awake that day. And today, I did! But, it put me seriously behind. I was awakened at 9:50 by my sweet June Bug being dropped off and being told, by the way, she is teething and had a horrible night and she is having a rotten day too, sorry. I found at 10:40 I had an 11 oclock work conference call. So I coughed and coughed, (I am trying to get rid of a terrible cold and when they said it would be helpful if I muted my coughing I had to tell them I didn't know how to do that...sigh) And chased the June Bug and tried to give meaningful input into my first real job thing I have done so far. It is now 12:30 and I am not showered and not dressed. Hopefully the Stinkbug will go down for a nap soon so I can shower. And cough myself to death, in front of other people. Cause yeah, that part was the best.

Don't forget! Tomorrow is Fix-it Friday! Please think of something you do, or want to do, or someone else does, or a recipe, or anything so Jo doesn't feel like a total loser and last week 3 people did Fix-it Friday and I almost died from happiness! Leave a comment or email me at lakotajo2 at msn dot com and I will sooo link you up, front and center!

Answer Me This

So what would you do if you suddenly were given 20,000$? Not that this is happening to me. I guess I just wish it was happening to me. And I suppose I am thinking what I will do once I start making regular money, you know, with the job and what not. And we are still waiting for my dad's estate to clear probate. It will NOT be 20,000! More likely like 3000$. But still...
Rules. You can only spend 10,000$ on debt, otherwise you must spend the money as you wish.
Want to hear what I would do?
First. A different car. Not even a new car. Just a smaller car. We have undergrown our minivan. With just Bald Man, I and Little Man, the Minivan is serious overkill and we die everytime we have to put gas in it. I would choose a used Toyota or Honda sedan, (4 door). Not too many miles on it, but not new, because I just don't want to spend THAT much money on it.
Second. A laptop. Probably one of these. I have a Gateway desktop and it has been virtually problem free. But I am longing for one of these.
Third. A new camera. Specifically, a Canon Rebel. This is a serious wish for me. If I were forced to choose, I would probably get this before I got a laptop. Really, that is how much I want it. I have LOVED my Canon Powershot. I would have never thought of myself as much of a phototog before, but the quality of my pictures has improved so much with my Powershot, I have dreams that bumping up my camera quality would improve my pictures even more. And I think that dream isn't out of my reach.
Lastly, a trip to Hawaii. Bald Man and I were too poor to have a real first honeymoon. And there is nothing I would rather do than lounge somewhere on a beach with my honey for a week.
Your turn! Tell me what you would do!

Mountain Monday, Bah Humbug!

Remember how I said Spring had arrived? Yeah, well the day after I posted that, it was down into the 40's. Yuck. Rainy and not so nice for the rest of the week for the most part. I am not impressed. The only decent part of it is the clouds made for some good pictures today.













The boy had a birthday party today. It is only like his second one ever. He had a good time and the other mom was very patient with him. Little Man had a good time!





A couple of self portraits here, before I snagged my camera back from him.





And what would Mountain Monday be without really cute pictures???








Turn about is fair play!


The Pea has a thing about ungrillas (umbrellas) I LOVE the way she says it!








Jackie Boy has this thing he does. Sometimes, when I take him for a walk and no one is around, I let him off his leash and he just goes nuts! I call it his crazy dog or cartoon dog run, because it is the most flat out, full on, unbridled dance of joy and life you have ever seen. This last week I was lucky enough to catch some pics of his doggy joy!













Around and around he runs until he collapses into a pile of fuzzy, panting doggy happiness. He makes me smile!

He isn't the only one feeling Spring in the air, (Somewhere!)



Hope where ever you are, Spring is already there, or just around the corner, and that in spite of the weather, you have some joy in your life too!

First up we have Katie from a view from the hill She is discussing knitting and yarn! Delightful colors of yarn!

Next, we have a newbie, Torina from Busy Intersection has something very important each and everyone of us needs to take seriously and take action. If you have a child, love a child or know a child, this means YOU! Thanks Torina.

Another newbie, Jill, proves food doesn't have to beautiful to be appreciated. Go on over to Thou shalt not whine to be entertained and inspired.

Fix-it Friday

Cinnamon Rolls!
You really need to read Jill's post before you go on to read mine. I will wait....
hmm..... okay, are you ready now?
Take yeast dough, although I wouldn't suggest Jill's dough for rolls. You need rollable dough and I always add a couple of extra tablespoons of sugar to my dough when I am making these rolls. You can use frozen dough from the supermarket, or do as I do and make your dough in your handy dandy bread maker! We bought this expensive breadmaker years ago and it still works wonderfully! It even has a dough cycle.

After the dough has risen once, punch it down, and you are ready to begin.
Assemble ingredients:



cinnamon, butter at room temp, dough, brown sugar, and a little flour.
I spray the inside of the pan before I begin so it won't stick.


melt about half a cube of butter and pour it into the bottom of the cake pan.


Sprinkle brown sugar into the bottom of the pan. About 1/2 cup or a bit more. (This will melt together and make a fabulous caramel on the top!)

Lightly flour the rolling surface for the dough



Roll out dough, I roll mine really thin, because I like lots of layers. If you like thicker, doughier layers, don't roll it out so thin.



This batch of dough has 3 cups of flour in it. I used 1/2 of a cube of butter spread all over the top of the dough. (This is NOT a low cal recipe. Get over it.)


Sprinkle cinnamon.


Sprinkle brown sugar on top


Roll it up lengthwise


Slice into rolls (this is up to you. If you make them really thick, this will make one pan of goodness. Thin slices will make two pans)



Place in pan


Let rise until double


Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.


Place plate on top of pan IMMEDIATELY


Dump upside down and let sit for a minute. Remove pan and TAADAA!!!



I hope you enjoy all this delicious goodness. First from other blogs and then from my technique for making cinnamon rolls. If you lived nearby, I would SOOOO share with you!

For Mongoose

Mongoose had this to say:
And how come you never get this excited about ME visiting your blog? I'm in Hay River, right across the lake from Yellowknife, and I am an actual trucker, though I don't run the ice myself. Most of my friends do though, and it never used to be glamourous until that show aired. ;)

Well, my darling, it was YOU I was excited about! (Only I didn't know it at the time) My site meter has a little map thingy on it and when I checked it, it had a lone Northwest Territory visitor on it. When I did my little clicky thing on it, it said it had come from Yellowknife. It was very exciting and even more exciting that it is someone who actually comments on my blog! The map isn't terribly accurate of course, but still...
So there. Welcome to Utah from the Northwest Territories.
***edited to add*** If the other Northwest reader would comment, I could then die a happy person. Not that I am planning on dying soon, but the happiness would last the rest of my life. Really!
Love Jo

Blog Love

I have added a new name to my Shout Outs, aka blogroll. I am excited and thrilled to introduce my good friend Holly to all of you! She is new to the bloggy world, so go on over and show Holly some blog love. Walking In My Shoes
I have known Holly for quite a few years and she has been a wonderful friend to me. She is raising a daughter, a dog, a cat, and is a fount of wisdom and support in my times of need. We like to read the same books and share the same silly sense of humor. It is nice to tell someone something you think is funny and have them laugh too!
Now, a bit of this and a bit of that.
Job news. No we are not moving from Utah. My job will take place in this fine state, corporate headquarters are in Ohio, which is why I went there for my interview.

Perhaps you can help me with this conundrum. The Pea brought me this:


She told me, "this car is broken Bam-Maw". I said, "no it isn't dear". (We have had this Little People Fisher Price car for probably more than 20 years.) When I told her it wasn't broken, she then pointed to the car and said, "what is this?".
I am completely baffled. What is THIS called?


I know it is to put gas in the car at the teeny tiny Fisher Price Gas Station/Garage, but for the life of me I don't know that that little dimple is called. My first instinct of calling it a "gas hole" just doesn't seem right. So far no one in my family knows what it is called either. Bald Man who is the car person around here, called it a "gas fill tube". That sounds dumb to me and I don't think anyone else calls it that. Princess said it is the gas tank. I disagree. It the hole that leads to the pipe that goes to the gas tank, but isn't the gas tank proper.
So, wise and wonderful fellow bloggers, what is that called??? Inquiring minds want to know.
I got a visitor from Yellowknife Canada! (Waving merrily!) Bald Man and I are both familiar with the name from the History Channel show, Ice Road Truckers. Way cool and thanks for stopping by all the way from the frozen north.

Mountain Monday And I Think It Is Finally, Really, Spring!

Or dang, Summer! It has been in the 90's here, which, in my book, qualifies as Summer, not Spring. We turned on our AC, and um, yeah, nothing. The good part about having broken central air when you are renting is you don't have to pay for it and it looks like we will get a new AC unit. Until then, we swelter. BUT, the weather is paying off in being very pretty and I have LOTS of pictures for you.

The mountains look glorious in green!




We have been spending lots of time at the park. And no, Little Man hasn't gotten lost, (yet...)








































We fed the ducks/geese/eagles (Pea insists on calling seagulls, eagles)





Einstein McDuckersons


This goose has a surprise hiding:






How cute is that???







Lilacs


Meeko



It is a continuing delight to me to have it be EASY to get a smile out of the boy.



Hopefully you are not bored out of your mind looking at my last week's pics, but I had a great time taking them. Life is looking pretty back on track for now. Yay!