Russian Chicken

This supper was super easy to make, it's tangy and sweet,  goes perfect with rice or potatoes and it's  really good!!

Chicken pieces 
1 env. onion soup
1 bottle Russian dressing
4 Tbsp.  jam ( apricot, marmalade, peach)

1/2 cup hot water 

Put chicken pieces in a casserole dish. Mix together onion soup, Russian dressing , apricot jam and water : bring to a boil. Pour over chicken pieces. Bake at 350 degrees  covered with foil for 1 hour , then uncovered for 1/2 hour.

TIP: Line the casserole dish  with foil for easy clean up. 

Pork Meatballs with Egg Noddles

I'm really (no REALLY) not much of a cook but everyone loves my meatballs (and meatloaf~ I used the same recipe for both). I made this recipe a few nights ago and it was pretty delicious and very flavourful! And no trips to the emergency room ~Even with my limited culinary skills, I really recommend that you make this dish!  :) ENJOY!

 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 (6 ounce) box Stove Top stuffing mix (we use less sodium chicken)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup of milk
2- 4 Tbsp BBQ sauce
1 can of turkey  gravy
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg of egg noodles

Directions:1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.Mix ground beef, stuffing mix (dry mix, do NOT prepare according to box), milk & bbq sauce.
3.Shape into 32 meatballs (more or less, depending on how big or small you want them).
4.Place meatballs in 13x9" baking dish (use 2 dishes if the meatballs are too crowded).
5.Bake 25 minutes or until done.
6.Mix gravy, soup  and sour cream in large saucepan.
7.Add meatballs to sauce mixture, stir lightly.
8.Cook on low for 5 minutes.
9.Serve over egg noodles.
10.Enjoy!

Ingredients

added some leftover peppers to the meatballs

IRRATIONAL FEARS

Irrational fears make for great conversations. People will laugh at you, yes at you. Or, they may laugh with you since they have a similar fear. Or they may just look at you, sip their drink awkwardly, and walk away. Then they would probably gossip about you but at least you're the topic of conversation.So what is rational and irrational fear? Rational fear is a reaction about a real threat where we have to protect ourselves. Irrational fear is something we fear, even though there is no direct link or threat to us. I do not think I would be wrong to say that just about everyone I know has at least one irrational fear, for me I have a few things (I hate admitting this but maybe admitting it is halfway towards solving the problem) but not all of them are irrational, well in my mind they are quite rational.  

  1. Alright here it goes: I’m Cleisiophobic – {Fear of being locked in an enclosed place} I think a lot of people are; which may or may not make it less irrational.  I work at a local grocery store in the meat room where we have a walk in cooler and freezer.  I'm not so bad with the freezer b/c the door actually stays open but the cooler door has a tendency to slowly close.  I'm absolutely TERRIFIED that someone will close the door and turn off the light. I can feel the panic rising just writing this post. I can hear my heart beat pounding in my head, my breathing becomes rapid, I start to shake, the tears are ready to burst forth and there’s an overwhelming feeling that things are crashing in on me.”

The most effective way to overcome a phobia is by gradually and repeatedly exposing yourself to what you fear in a safe and controlled way. During this exposure process, you’ll learn to ride out the anxiety and fear until it inevitably passes. Thanks guys for your help with this one.

 2.  I also hate driving on highways {just called a driving phobia}. I usually take the back roads, even if it means a few minutes longer of a drive. I use to find myself clenching my teeth and my knuckles would turn white I’d be holding the steering wheel so tight. Over the last few years I have made progress with this one. When my son started working @ Tim Horton’s which is located on a busy highway and if I wanted the car I would have to drop him off. I still get anxious and grip the wheel a little too hard but I do it.

  3.  I absolutely can't sleep at night without some sort of blanket covering me. It can be over 100 degrees in my room, but I'll still need a sheet or blanket on me or I won't be able to sleep. Not just on my arms or just on my legs. It has to be completely covering me, except for my head. When I was little, I used to feel like there were monsters everywhere at night, and the only thing that could protect me from them was to have something hiding me.

4.  I don’t think I have Agoraphobia {Fear of crowds}, but do hate a crowded room. I'm sure that everyone has a different reason why ~mine is not hearing that well and I confused and very agitated with all the different conversations going on. I usually just avoid them whenever possible.

The thing that all these irrational fears have in common is that if I choose to believe them, they restrict me. They stop me from fulfilling all the potential I have inside of me. Having these fears reminds me that I am not perfect, that I am still human, and that I still have the creativity needed to be who I am now. Without these fears, life would be pretty boring. 

Does anyone else have any irrational fears? How did you develop the fear?

25 Funny Grocery Signs

25 26 Funny Grocery Signs

Grocery stores are hilarious places. With so many items and so many signs to describe those items, there’s bound to be an excess of inappropriate signs to baffle and amuse us. Some signs are so incorrect and funny, however, that they deserve to have their photo taken and broadcast on the internet. So check out these grocery store photos that show the weird and wacky things going on in some supermarkets (these are not my pictures).

1. Butts $1.09 lb

2. Breasts $1.88 lb

3.Succulent Ass

4. Ice Cold Cow Juice

5. Tangerines... really?

6. Apples

7. Cock flavoured Soup

8. Every baby needs beer & wines

9.Do not try on product... wow!

10. It wouldn't be a picnic without Trojans

11. Dried Crack

12. Fresh Idiots Rock Fish

13. Where do they keep the Cream of Spleen Soup

14. Everyone wants free Gas

15. Name or price... definitely the name

16. Essentials for breakfast

17. Unbelievable deals

18. a salty snack

19. Tards that pop

20. Red Flag savings

21. now that's a hot deal

22. cearl for breakfast

23. Bundles of English Ass

24. 1lb bag of snowman nose's

25. Curved Yellow Fruit

26. Out of Pretzels... and I'm out of pics

Hope you appreciate the signs in our local grocery store just a bit more. Have you seen any  funny grocery signs? Drop me a line or send me a pic to post.

Bits of my Birthday!

Well this week I celebrated my birthday. Woo Hoo! I embrace the birthdays. I don’t cry about getting older. As a matter of fact I like it. I’m 43 and I’m cool with that. I feel more relevant.

There I was all curled up and snuggled down in my warm comfy bed (enjoying my day off) when I was woken up by Boy1 and Boy 2 standing at the end of my bed with their homemade cards (I just LOVE homemade cards) and gifts.

 

Happy Birthday Mudder!  

We didn't buy you a card so we made this one instead! 

Here's $2 for a tea to roll up the rim and get you out of bed!

Love Boy 1 and Boy 2

Inside was a Toonie for my Tim Horton’s Tea (roll up the rim) and two tickets to the local comedy show held once a year in our area featuring local talent and is also a fundraiser for the fire department.

Then my mother in law stopped by with a cake, a card, and some scratch tickets. I checked Facebook and I had way over a hundred birthday wishes one was as far away as England from my cousin Kate, and lots of other  friends called or stopped by for a little chat ~ Thanks Cory , Lisa.

On Friday I went swimming with my Bestie Lisa .

I am grateful for every wonderful year, even though some have been tough! Thank you to all my family and friends who make my special day, so very SPECIAL!

Do you love or loathe your birthday?

One Little Word ~ Experiment 2013

I decided to try the One Little Word experiment (or at least my own version of it).

By now you've probably heard of One Little Word. I like the concept of "one little word" to reflect a year. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it is meant to sum up your goal(s) for the year or the attitude you hope to have... that type of thing. You pick one word and carry it with you, to try to live with and through that word throughout the year. (For more information about the OLW project, see Ali Edwards website http://aliedwards.com/one-little-word) 

Maybe you've been choosing your One Little Word for the past several years, or if you're like me perhaps this is your first year.The simple premise is to make your word more visible for you throughout the year with a single, focused creative prompt at the beginning of each month. I'm in love with this fresh take on new year's resolutions and how focusing on a single tiny word can take you to the most beautiful of places throughout this next year. You live with it. You invite it into your life. You let it speak to you. You might even follow where it leads. There are so many possibilities.

Are you considering selecting a word for yourself (or letting one find you)? There’s no right or wrong. The main thing to remember is that this is your word. It’s not for your child, parent, partner, spouse, sister, etc.

Examples:   act, action, active,  be, become, begin, , believe, celebrate, challenge, chances, change, dare, deep, delight, discover, enjoy, evolve, hope, joy, listen, magic, nourish,  perspective, reach, relinquish, shift, shine, soar, thrive, tidy, transform, understand, value, wish, yes, Zen, zip

That one little word is something to carry in my heart over the course of the year

that one little word will whisper to me "do better, try harder"

that one little word will remind me to live intentionally

that one little word is a stepping stone to get me closer to the person I want to be

My one little word for 2013 is . . . . Sparkle

With my version you make a post sometime during the month that reflects that months’ prompt.

January- Choose your word or let it find you and tell us about it

February- capture your word with a camera. It could be literal or figurative.

March- “doing one little thing,” taking an action to pursue your one little word .

April- -write a letter to yourself about where you are right now with our word. What's working, what's not working, and where we'd like to be a year from now? 

May- use your word in your title

June- create a to do list of sorts that relates to your word

July- Create , capture and share art representing your word

 August - take a photo of yourself that reflects your word (bonus add quote)

September - create a playlist for your life right now.

October- find photos that made you think about your word.

November - a series of "i" statements. Which really make you sit down and think seriously about where you are with your word this late in the year.  Use statements like: "I believe," "I know," "I love," etc as jumping off points. 

December- sum up how your word impacted your year.

Anybody want to share YOUR word? Or your thoughts about it. I'd love to hear what words you might choose.

Blizzard 2013

Friday , January 11^th 2013  We had our first Blizzard of the year.  Forecasts predicted upward to 75 cms of snow to fall with high winds.

I live on the Avalon Peninsula ( Carbonear) one of the areas predicted to be hit the hardest ( its located around the vicinity of the yellow 50 cm mark).Living in Newfoundland harsh winter weather is pretty much the Norm here as we are in the middle of the Atlantic.

the Cleanup

The Storm blew in late Thursday and gained momentum on Friday with wind speeds topping 110 km/h dumped from 25 to 55 cm of snow on the Avalon. Not exactly what was predicted but still reported as the worst storm in 7 years. The storm left the province at a standstill with everything from school closures to flight cancellations . The airport recorded wind gusts of more than 100 km/hr and 48 cm of snow before it changed to freezing drizzle in the afternoon.  Bonavista clocked winds as high as 130km/ hr.

Newfoundland Power reported roughly 60,000 customers were afflicted by the power outages across the province from the Avalon Peninsula, the Burin Peninsula, Clarenville and Gander all the way to Corner Brook on the west coast. We lost our power  6 am Friday morning  with it returning around 11:30 am  Saturday morning (although those on the south side of town had power back Friday afternoon  some residents in the valley never got power back til supper time Saturday.) I did get to work on Saturday but we closed early due to a downed power line that needed repair. Loves getting off early and still have power at home. Thanks to all those who braved the storm , left their families and worked above and beyond to give us power.

In St. John’s, snow-clearing crews were given the maddening task of plowing streets only to have two-metre high drifts blow right back in as the powerful storm raged across the island. We on the other hand had our neighbor come dig us out with his tractor (the next day)

Life is slowly returning to normal crews are out widening roads, everyone has power back and as we newfies do... we look back and say “ Sure dat Storm was nuttin, by’” ~ LOL

here's some more pics...

T.C Square Mall

Cousin Nicole

         

shovelling before the tractor got there...

Courtesy of Lisa Curran

a game of cards after supper was cooked on the wood stove

Courtesy of Cathy Downey of Brigus

Cathy shared this pic with the weather network after the blizzard 

Cathy Downey of Brigus, N.L. sent us today's chill (and smile!) inducing photo contest pick of her son Kyle after a Blizzard swept through their region. "Every Winter, we come up with one snow sculpture to create as a family," she wrote in the caption. "Last year we made the snow Hot Tub. This bed with night table seemed fitting as we all were a little tired and wanting a rest after shoveling out from this storm. Kyle's two sisters soon rolled him off and had a nap as well:) With the warmer temperatures today the bed is now a water bed!

 Do you have some winter storm pics you want to share?