Go-to, fast, easy, not-to-many-ingredients, kind-of-healthy recipes

My very favorite recipes are the kind that really serve as guidelines for creating quick¸ easy, somewhat healthy meals. I take the general idea and then add a little of this seasoning, some of that produce, etc . . . And it doesn’t take long, I don’t have to make a special trip to the store¸ and hopefully Brad and Joseph actually eat it, and even get some veggies in their veggie-phobic tummies. So, I thought I would share one of my favorite such “recipes” and hope I could persuade you, the reader, to share some of yours with me! I always enjoy new kitchen inspiration and thought this might be a fun blog experiment as well. So, leave a recipe as a comment, or email it to me at ruthbernstein@shoreham.net. If I get a few I will post them.

Super-Easy, Everyday Chili
Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic (add any colored pepper here if you like). When cooked, stir in canned kidney beans (drained and rinsed), canned diced tomatoes un-drained, canned tomato sauce, chili powder, basil, salt, and pepper. Add other seasonings, such as paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder etc, other beans (I usually add black beans or whatever else I have), other vegetables such as corn (Brad much prefers it with corn). Simmer for a bit and then serve. Can be topped with cheddar cheese and sour cream and great served with cornbread, if you have time to whip that up. Enjoy!

All these ingredients are ones I keep on hand, so this is a great recipe for when I look at the time and start to panic because I have no time. It freezes well and it has veggies that even Joseph will eat. Serve the next day on hotdogs. This is adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book Special Edition (thanks Debbie!).

Summer Fun

I just got a new computer (YAYY!!!), which actually works, so now I am working on catching up on my photos. Here are some more of my July photos. We had a really wonderful summer and did so many great things (more pics to come):



We finally got ALL the cousins together!

And the silly picture.

Brendan, Brianna, Amber, Jacob, and Joseph (Brendan and Bree are now both my height!)

Visit to Crown Point--the boys LOVED the old forts.

And then creemes. Yummm.

Hike up Snake Mountain with Mary (yes, she carried him the last part!)

Our landscape (farms and lake)

I don't want pictures mom, we finally made it to the top and I just want lunch.

French Heritage Day in Vergennes with Bob and Nora (great-gram).

First time playing the fiddle (with Lausaunne)

And then there was our FABULOUS camping trip! We had such a great time. Yes, it did rain two days and two nights, but it was beautiful two days as well (and one night). And that is what camping is all about.

On our paddle boat.

Bree is so wonderful playing with Joseph!

And it is incredibly exciting to me that Joseph is starting to get really comfortable in the water! (If you don't know, the water is one of my very favorite places to be.)

One rainy day we filled our time with a fun bowling trip (Joseph beat Bree, Jacob, and . . . I don't know why I am admiting this, me).

So cute.

First s'more

I think he liked it!

It only took a year and a half

But, I finally finished my first sweater! Yay! And it even fits him (which is lucky since he wasn't even walking yet when I started it). Working on my second one now (my goal is to finish by early winter) . . .

One of my favorite things

FOOD!!!!

Ratatouille with our zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, tomatoes, parsley, and basil. Also, Uncle Mark's garlic. Store bought: onions, oil, and chicken broth.

With my extra time, I have been really enjoying cooking using produce from our garden and other local sources. I like cooking and experimenting and it is even fun to try and take pictures. The garden was not as easy as last year, probably mostly because of the weather, but I finally realized my tomatoes were salvagible. We are now getting all sorts of things from the garden and I hope to make use of it all. I am also planning lots more experimenting in the kitchen soon. I hope to work on some canning and bread making. Feel free to share your best recipes and tips! (For some reason blogger doesn't like my photography and keeps turning the photos . . . and I can't figure out how to fix it. Sorry.)

Almost all local kabobs. My zucchini, and red and green peppers; beef from Brad's uncle (we bought 1/2 a cow) and store bought onions. Next year I guess I need to work on onions!

Lots of tomato and cucumber salads! Yum!

Zucchini bread of course!

My new very favorite summer meal.
Homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese with tomato.

The tomatoes are so beautiful (well, the healthy ones!).

Complaining, complaining, complaining

This past week has been a bit discouraging. Usually I post all the wonderful, happy, great things that happen in my life on this blog, but I think maybe it is time to round out this picture a little bit. Really I am mostly upset about #2 on the following list.

List of stupid, annoying crap that happened this week:

• Got a speeding ticket. Another one. I am not a fast or unsafe driver. I am just flighty/ditsy and have a (bad) habit of not watching the signs carefully enough. (Obviously a habit I have to change.)
• Almost got a new job that I think sounded pretty good (service coordinator at the local counseling service), but didn't ONLY because I have too many speeding tickets. URRRRRRRRRRHHH. Stupid. Driving is not an everyday part of the job and I drove one of their vans for an entire summer once. I drove for school as well. I have never had anything worse than a speeding ticket. There is a lower-level, lower-paying job they suggested . . . still think about it . . .
• Spent THREE HOURS getting Joseph to take his nap on Wednesday.
• Woke up to an unmistakable stench Thursday morning. Cat shit. Yup, Misha had peed and pooped right in our bed while we were sleeping in it. EWWWW.
• Realized my garden is crap this year. The tomatoes have blight and slowly each and every beautiful green tomato is becoming covered in scabs . . .
• Totally bailed on my diet due to discouragement.
• Started getting another wisdom tooth and Joseph is getting three molars! (Not really that big of a deal, but annoying, so they fit on the list.)

Happy things that were lots of fun and cancel out the annoying crap: (mostly SWIMMING!!)

• A morning at the lake with tons of kiddos (and mommies).
• Swimming and playing at a beautiful new-to-me place on the river Friday with Courtney and family. Joseph is really getting used to that water. He knows how to kick his legs and seems to enjoy being in the water. Hopefully he will grow to love it as much as I do!
• Fair all day Saturday with lots of family. Joseph LOVED it and went on each ride and the "scary house" about 20 times. He even liked the "scrambler" (a pretty scary ride for a two-year-old I think).
• A short bit at the beach by myself today: lying in the sun, swimming, and knitting!
• All Joseph's talking! He has so much to say these days and now I can understand most of it. He is like a big kid now with all sorts of ideas and the ability to communicate them.

Usually the happy list is longer than the annoying list. I guess that's why I feel so much like complaining this week! Of course, this is the way life goes and the counseling service jobwouldn't have been as perfect as it seems, now that I can't have it. So, I'll keep figuring things out and I know eventually I'll find a good job, but I'm still pissed at both myself and the regulations. Now, it's time to stop moping and move on with taking advantage of the extra time!

Margot and Misha

About two weeks ago we got some new kitties! It is actually a rather long, somewhat sad story . . . Brad saw free kittens in the paper and we decided to finally get some. There were two left when we got to the farm. One was playful and active, while the other had crusty eyes. The people said they were both 7 weeks old and that the orange one mostly slept, but was eating ok. We decided to get both and help them out, since they didn't seem to be getting the greatest care. We brought them home Sunday night and I could only get the orange one to drink and she continued to sleep a lot, but I thought she would be ok until the morning and I would then take her to the vet. However, when I woke she was not moving and died about 1/2 and hour later. So sad. I feel very bad I had no idea how sick she was. When I took the other one to the doctor later that day, he said she was actually 4 or 5 weeks old and she weighed one pound. The other one had been much smaller than that! He also said she was probably going to die no matter what and certainly wasn't well enough to be away from her mother. However, Margot seemed healthy, thank goodness. We buried the orange one. A couple of days later we saw more kittens close by and decided to get Margot a friend. These kittens were abandoned barn cats that were rescued at a day old and bottle fed, but very well cared for. Misha is the new one. He has funny non-symmetrical white spots and is scraggly and very funny. He puts up with Joseph sticking him in tractors and pushing him around and loves to lick. The original one is Margot and she is very pretty and dainty and also loves to cuddle. They are both two pounds now and seem to be doing fine. Very fun!


Do you know who they are named after?


Now we are off on our camping adventure! Woohoo!

MY new car!

July 4th Weekend

Bristol 4th Parade!!! Ok, so this was late in the parade, but it totally represents (how is that for correct English?). We had a great time at Joseph's THIRD 4th of July in Bristol. I can't believe he is now on his third time at annual happenings . . .

Don Gale!

SPONGEBOB BERNSTEIN! Oh dear . . .

After a good drenching (it didn't rain untill well after lunch, but then it poured for 10 minutes--pretty much like every other day this summer)

After the parade and festivities in Bristol, we joined the family in Milton on the Lake. My camera died and I didn't take many pictures, but it was so fun to have almost everyone together (something we don't do often enouph). Food, drink, fireworks, camping, fishing, skipping rocks, swimming, talk . . .

SO adorable!!

BEACH! SUN!!! First swim of the year!!!


Rocks on the beach. Throw. Skip. Build. Play-pretend . . .

Picnic on the beach