I ate an Albacore!

And I loved it!

If you would have told me ten years ago that I would put Tuna in my mouth, I would have ran to the bathroom and lost my lunch. Even when we first got married, Andrae had to make his own tuna because the smell would make me so sick. Then I noticed something, there wasn't any smell anymore....and a few months ago I got brave and put a very small piece of tuna in my mouth...it wasn't great, but I made myself chew on it in the interest of my health. I don't eat any seafood and I know I should.

Everytime I've made Andrae a tuna sandwich lately, I try to eat a bite....sometimes it's too strong, sometimes it's ok.

Andrae has always bought the "Light Tuna", but today my recipe called for Chunk White Tuna in a 12oz can....it makes a world of difference! The can had huge chunks of whole tuna (the only kind I can handle) and it was....delicious!
I really couldn't believe it as I stood there devouring the tuna, thinking how much better it was than chicken. It was absolutely tasteless....perfect for a person who can't stand meat. (I do eat meat, but I can't look at it or think about it while I eat it.)


I am coming closer to knowing what direction I am going to take soon concerning my "life".
Andrae and I have actually come to a decision, but I still want to pray about it and make sure it's what I need to do. It's really nice to just be able to relax, knowing that you have a goal in mind.

I can't stand living without any goals.

Well, Andrae's at the church playing his drumming apparatus.....so I'm gonna try to get some stuff done while he's doing that.

Tata!

J.R.

Salad Niçoise Sandwich

Salad Niçoise Sandwich

Niçoise refers to the bold flavors of southern France, Nice to be exact. This yummy sandwich takes about 20 minutes to prepare, or 10 min if you have your veggies sliced before-hand...enjoy!

Ingredients:

4oz. fresh Green Beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (about 1 cup)
12oz can Chunk White Tuna (water packed), drained and flaked
1 cup halved Cherry Tomatoes
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata Olives
1/4 cup finely chopped Sweet Onion
2 Tbsp chopped, fresh Mint, optional
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tspn Olive Oil
3 cups packaged, Mixed Salad Greens
6 Pita Flat Bread Pockets
6 short wooden skewers



Directions:

1) In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Once boiling, add Green Beans and cook for about 4 minutes.
2) Remove green beans and drain, rinse with cold water; drain again.
3) Place beans in a large bowl. Stir in Tuna, Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Onion and Mint. Add Lemon Juice, Oil and 1/8 tspn Black Pepper; toss to coat. Stir in Salad Greens.
4) Fill each pita with about 1/2 cup of mixture. On each wooden skewer, thread one cherry tomato, one olive and mint leaf; spear filled pitas.

The Lost Art...

I wish people still wrote letters, even though it was long gone by the time I could read, I miss the idea behind it.

Today when I want to contact someone, I send a quick email.
A hundred years ago I would have sat down at my desk, picked up my quill and made beautiful art.

Letter writing really is an art. If you study calligraphy, you'll find that it's more than cursive vs. print, it's putting emotion into the ink.

Further more, since the decay of letter writing, the simply skill of handwriting has gone to pot. I have terrible handwriting! And you know when I notice?? November of every year...because I am filling out Christmas cards. See...I said "filling out", so even then I am just writing a generic note to 200 people.

I write to my grandmother in Indiana, Dad's mom, every few months....and I really, really enjoy it. It's nice to sit down and really focus on the words, focus on the feelings, think about what you want to be felt as someone reads your words.
(That's probably something I should focus on in blogging too..lol I'm not very diplomatic.)

Oh well...I guess it's a lost cause. One time I sent a letter to someone and they laughed at me....that was the last letter I sent. LOL

I am considering changing my my blog to wordpress instead of blogspot, because I've been having trouble with blogspot lately. It isn't very reliable. Sometimes I want to put up a picture, but I often use my photobucket.com account because blogspot doesn't always do it.

Also, when I want to make a word bold or Italic, I have to highlight the whole word of phrase and then click b or i. I would imagine that if I had a paid account with wordpress, it would probably be more reliable.

But on the same hand, I'm not a professional blogger, so why do I need a reliable blog website?

So I guess I'll just put up with blogspot.


J.R.

Dirt Pudding

Oreo Dirt Pudding

Ingredients:

1- regular sized container Cool Whip, Thawed
2- Large size Instant Vanilla Pudding, Jello Brand
6 cups Milk
3.5 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1- Package of Oreo Cookies

Directions:

1) Using a blender, prepare Pudding packs as directed, pour into large bowl. Leave about 2 cups of pudding remaining in blender.
2) Add Cream cheese to pudding in mixer and blend well, pour into bowl.
3) Mix Cool Whip into pudding.
4) Crush 2/3 of your oreos and mix into pudding.
5) Crush remaining oreos and garnish pudding.
6) Chill and Enjoy!

J.R.

Greek Chicken Salad

Greek Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1- Deli Roasted Chicken
1- Bag spring mix or romaine mix Lettuce
1- English Cucumber
Cherry Tomatoes
Greek Salad Dressing with Feta Cheese


Directions:

1) Remove Chicken from bones, chop coarsely in bite-size chunks.
2) Divide Salad greens into bowls, arrange cucumber spears and Tomato "petals".
3) Arrange chicken over vegitables and drizzle salad dressing. Finish off with cracked Black Pepper.


Notes*
To make Tomato petals, slice almost all the way through tomato to make 4 sections.
For Andrae and I, one roasted Chicken left more than enough meat...so I used the breast meat for the salad and froze the rest to add to Chicken Pot Pie at a later date.

J.R.

Bandito Chili Dogs

Bandito Chili Dogs

Ingredients:

1 package Hotdogs, bun length
1 package of 8 hot dog buns
2- 15oz cans Chili without beans
1 small can Green Chilis, found in latino foods
1 can Cheddar Cheese Soup
Fritos
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Diced Onions
Mustard & Ketchup

Directions:

1) Place hotdogs in Crockpot.
2) In medium bowl, combine chili, green chilis and soup; pour over hotdogs.
3) Cover; cook on low for 4-5 hours.
4) Garnish Chili dogs with crushed chips, cheese, onions and condiments.

I prefer pork hotdogs for this recipe because beef hotdogs tend to get to "chewy" for me.

It's great for sundays because you can pop it in the crock pot around 7am and have lunch ready when you egt home from church.

I serve it with Texas Crispers French Fries, Bush's Baked Banes Honey Flavor, Pea Salad and Corn. It's great!

This would be great for parties like Superbowl and stuff too.

J.R.