Adventures in food

   I haven't been wanting to cook in my kitchen lately since the ants moved into the wall between my kitchen and master bedroom bathroom.  However, after constantly cleaning my kitchen and keeping up with natural remedies to get rid of ants, they aren't as bothersome as normal.  I just have to make sure there are never any dirty dishes and I have to clean the microwave pretty much daily.  I guess it's not really a bad thing, a lot of people constantly clean their kitchen and don't let dishes pile up.
  Today's blog is actually about cooking.  I love cooking.  I love baking.  I essentially love making things for people to enjoy, that includes food.

   I'm going to share a "recipe" (I use the word recipe pretty loosely since I cook by mood) that is healthy and a not so healthy recipe.

  As summer looms over most people (or in the case of those of us in the desert, it hits us like a rock),I've come up with a recipe for a yummy summer drink.

Black and Blueberry Freeze
about 1 cup of blackberries
16 oz of concentrated blueberry green tea (I'll explain)
1 cup of ice
Sugar to taste if desired

This recipe can be easily modified to suit your taste.  I took my blackberries and blended them while my water was boiling.  I then took 2 blueberry green tea bags and let my them steep for about 4 minutes since my water wasn't boiling hot.  I then added sugar (I love my tea super sweet, but if you don't you can skip this step.) After sugar, I added a few ice cubes and stirred.  I then added my tea to  my blender and added the rest of the ice and blended until all the ice was crushed.  I tasted to make sure the flavor was to my liking and here you can add a little more sugar if needed or ice if you want more of a smoothie type drink.  I just wanted something cold.  This will make a full pitcher and you can share with friends or place it in the fridge and drink throughout the day (evening, whatever floats your boat.)

Now for the not so healthy recipe:

Stroganoff  Casserole

1-2lbs ground beef

3 cups cooked rice

1 can cream of mushroom soup

your favorite seasonings

shredded cheese

I used minute rice and as that was setting (I also want to add that I season the water as it boils with garlic salt) I cooked my beef with chopped onion and chopped bell pepper.  I also used garlic powder and a bit of smoked paprika for seasoning.  I didn't want to use anything salty because of the cream of mushroom, this is only a bit of guideline for this recipe and I suggest seasoning for your tastes.  After the ground beef was cooked, I drained the grease and then added the cream of mushroom.  This was a concentrated can that you add water to, I only added about 2/3 of the suggested amount though to keep it a bit thick.  When that was finished cooking, I got my casserole dish and layered rice then a bit of cheese then my beef mix on top and then another layer of cheese.  My oven was preheated to 350F and I popped the casserole in for about 15 minutes, however that may differ on your area/stove (I've found that my stove cooks things pretty quickly per other recipes I've made).  Just check and make sure all the cheese is melted.  

The taste reminded me a bit of beef stroganoff, hence the name of the recipe.  I recommend experimenting a bit, that's pretty much how I cook everything.  I rarely measure things so I have plenty of screw ups along with lots of happy accidents.  I cook the way I crochet, I just go with it.

Hispanicah/Festivus/Christmas

  As a lot of people who know me know, my parents and I started a tradition when I was about 13 years old where we open a small present a few days before Christmas.  Over the years it has evolved into a week long celebration that we have dubbed "Hispanicah." Why? Well, because we're hispanic and we thought it was fitting.  It starts the week before Christmas eve and for those 7 days we each take turns giving small gifts and having snacks and spending time together.
  I love it.  Yesterday we spent the last day of Hispanicah celebrating Christmas with my aunts, uncle, cousins and two grandmas.  We had a turkey dinner and it was amazing.  Not only that, my uncle and aunt made the most amazing posole I've ever had.  I mean... it was soooo effing amazing that I was stuffed to the point of being sick and still opted to eat another bowl because it was so effing yummy.
  I had such a great time yesterday.  I loved spending it with my family.  It was just awesome.  I got some great gifts and had a great time.
  Not only do I have my little family's wonderful tradition of Hispanicah, I now have the amazing tradition of Festivus that my wonderful friend, @atknitsend introduced me to.  It's a holiday for the creative.  I got my present from her today and it was partially open when the mailman delivered it to my door, so I figured, what the hey... and opened it to make sure everything was okay :) and I received the most amazing socks and yarn and shawlette!  I'm in love with everything!!!  I'm wearing the socks as we speak...  I'm so happy.  My heart is super smiling now.
  I love my family.  I love my friends.  I love my fur babies.  I love my honey bunny boo. I'm one lucky and blessed girl.

P.S.
If everyone could please keep my mom's dog Mayhem in your thoughts and prayers and send positive vibes our way, it would be greatly appreciated.  Please don't ask questions at this time, I don't want to talk about it, I just want to know that we have people thinking about and praying for this amazingly loving great dane/puppy/giant lap dog.