A little glimpse of life, with pictures, woot!..........Last weekend, Collin went on a boys' weekend hunting trip with his friend Dale. He has guns that he had gotten recently from one of his co-workers. So in combination with him prepping for the trip, shopping for camo gear, and going to the shooting range to set the scope (or whatever you call it), the kids have been very interested in what he's doing. Meaning, guns.
I am NOT a gun person. Never have been. But with a husband who grew up hunting and target shooting, who am I to say that we can't have them when they are stored safely. We've had guns in the house forever. We have a gun safe for the guns and the ammunition (if we even have any) is in a separate locked container in a separate location. The kids didn't even know about them until a couple of years ago.

So, with all the trip prep, the kids have had a couple of lessons in gun safety recently. Lots of talk and hands-on about making sure it's unloaded; how you hold it; etc. I observe and never do the hands-on part. ....shudder... It's really interesting to see how interested the boys are; they just are. The girls pay attention but haven't wanted to 'get into' it like the boys. I'm sure it's because it's a 'be-like-Dad' thing but I find it intriguing.

He went on his merry way to freeze his butt off while I stayed home and held down the fort. Regular routine of life and such = work, errands, kid's activities, cleaning, sick-kid care and cooking. Made a nice batch of barbecued shredded pork that the kids adore; chicken stir-fry that was divine; some swiss steak that the kids would likely choose to never eat again. ...shrug....you can't win 'em all!

Collin had lots of COLD quiet time and didn't kill Bambi (thank goodness!) and managed to make the baggage check-in lady at the airport laugh. Imagine the lady's surprise, when she opened his gun case and found Camelia red beans and Community coffee surrounding his guns. Only in New Orleans! He (and all his tasty goodies)  made it home safely with Sean mostly recovered from his flu. Now another one is down for the count, poor little Ian............

Off to catch up on laundry with hopes that little dude with nap.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!! 2011; damn, time flies. I'm gettin' old and all that..........
I hate being an absent blogger. I don't mean to be; I have tons of random posts running through my brain but I never get around to putting channeling my thoughts to the computer.

The kids and I had a nice time in Phoenix, AZ for a few days. We visited my friend Sandee and her kids; went on a hike (and got snowed on; haha, my SoCal kids thought it was ash at first!); and just chilled out (literally; it was freezing!). School is back in session and I'm still on my bandwagon of cooking and healthy eating (for the most part). I have shared some yummy tidbits on my Facebook and folks have asked for recipes so I'll try to occasionally create a post for it to share with you all.

First up, Jambalaya -- I must apologize because my quantities aren't exact and it's sorta an eye-ball/consistency thing too; apparently my mother-in-law has taught me well.

Ingredients: one pound of cooked chicken breast (I boiled one bnls/skls. and kept the broth)
                  one pound of smoked sausage (1/4" slices, browned in skillet)
                  one pound of shrimp (I used frozen, pre-cooked [I hope this doesn't make my Louisiana friends   and family dis-own me!])
                  1/4 of an onion (diced)
                  two stalks of celery (diced)
                  some fresh parsley (chopped)
                  two cloves of garlic (minced)
                  bit of olive oil (or better yet, bacon drippings!)
                  14-15oz. can of petite diced tomatoes (all, do not drain)
                  six cups of liquid (water, chicken broth, etc.)
                  1-1/2 cups of uncooked rice
                  seasonings: dash of tabasco, couple of shakes of Tony Chac. cajun seasoning, bit of fresh ground  pepper, sprinkle of salt, shake of cayenne pepper (ya get what I'm sayin')

Procedure:  In a large Dutch oven, saute the onion/celery/parsley/garlic in the olive oil. While that is going, cut and brown the sausage; boil the chicken; etc. Once the saute of onion is done, add the can of tomatoes, and four cups of liquid. Remove chicken once cooked and cut up into small pieces; pour pieces & broth into Dutch oven; remove sausage once browned and dab off the excess grease, pour sausage slices into Ductch oven. Add shrimp and seasonings. Simmer for 15 minutes or so. After the flavors blend, add the uncooked rice and two cups of water. Simmer 30-40 minutes until rice is cooked. (Stir regularly; keep an eye on the water content b/c the rice will absorb it during cooking; recipe should be be too dry nor too soupy). Voila!! Serve with french bread. So delish :)

I hope that made sense. It really is super easy and SO GOOD. Comfort food. Let me know what you think. Tonight I'm making potato/corn chowder with salad (and rolls; no roll for me though: I'd rather fill up on soup!) I'll let you know how it goes.