Catfish and a mystery

We are still pretty much dieting at this house but on Saturdays, we eat what we want -with in reason anyway.

Tonight, we are going to have fried catfish with a few hush puppies and a big green salad.

The catfish was caught, cleaned and packaged by my parents, brother and cousins that like to fish. 
They usually go on 2 annual fishing trips in Arkansas, one in the summer and one in the fall. 

 I don't like to fish and don't really like to camp - but I do like to eat fish! 

The mystery is that our sink stopper disappeared.  I am not sure what day I noticed it was missing but I've looked every place I thought it could possibly be and have not found it.  How many places could a stopper be anyway?   I never use mine for anything else except to occasionally run it through the dishwasher. 

Jeff thinks I probably threw it in the trash by mistake.

But whatever,  we will be stopping at Lowes on the next trip to town to get a new one. 

If you are wondering why I did not post much this week - here is why. 

Sweet Elizabeth, 2 months, and Cute Gavin, 18 months, have been spending some of their days with me while their mommas and daddies go to work. 

To Fly Above The Sea

I have known Joanne as a very good internet friend for more than 10 years.  She has a big love of the sea and is an avid stitcher.  So I was very happy  when she posted that she had completed and published her first book of counted cross stitch,.   If you also love the sea or want to make a gift for s sea-lover,  you should look at her designs. 

Joanne is also an Ebay Seller and right now,  she has some great listings on very nice fat quarters and quil books. 

and one more thing about Joanne,  today is her birthday!  So if you stop by her blog or Ebay shop,  you might want to leave her a birthday greeting. 

Cabbage Soup Diet

Have you noticed I did not have any yummy food posts this week? 

 

Well, we have been eating lots of cabbage soup - it also has onions, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, celery and mushrooms. 

 lots of fresh fruit

 lots of green salad

 more fruit

a few baked potatoes with vegetables.

I first heard of this cabbage soup diet after my son Jimmy was born. My mom sent me a xerox copy of it that was going around her office. I remember I ate that soup pretty much for a week and lost most of the baby weight. Well, I came across it again and I think it may of had a few changes over the years.

I made the first batch of soup on Saturday and it is actually really good. It tastes just about like soup-stew I normally make but with no potatoes or meat.


I have been very, very  hungry while on this diet.  But I think that may be a good thing.  It certainly is a vivid feeling and helps to imagine how so many people feel all the time,  and not because they have chosen to go on a weight loss diet. 

I did modify it somewhat.  We ate fruits and vegetables every day. We ate the soup at least once every day, sometimes more.   By Wednesday,  we were "allowed" to add meat.  I did eat a few bites of meat but I've also eaten 2 ounces of nuts Weds. and Thursday. 


and so far I've lost 8 pounds. 

Disclaimer - I don't think doctors would approve of this diet.  I know what I am doing, have NO health problems,  take NO prescription meds,  don't have high blood pressure and have normal blood sugar rates. 
Even the diet says to only do it for 1 week and don't repeat until another month has passed. 

there are many links to the cabbage soup online, so if you are crazy like me,  then you can do  a search and do your own conclusions.

Harvesting seeds

 Here is one more baby step I just took in my hope to be a better gardener. 
I planted some marigold seeds this spring,  I got them as a freebie when I signed up for a sample of a cereal. 
They grew so tall and bloomed but they were really too big for the pots they were planted in. 
Well,  it is very hot here and I think they were about through for the summer.  Many of the old blooms were brown and dry as the desert. 
It occurred to me that there should be a way to save the seeds and replant them next year.  So I did search "how to harvest marigold seeds"  and found out.

 Inside the dry flower are many many seeds,  you just pull off the dry petals and the seeds are under the petals. 

See how many seeds  were in just one flower? 

that is a sandwich bag packed with marigold seeds,  all ready for sharing and for planting next spring.

There are 2 kinds of zinnia in my yard that should harvest just about the same way as marigolds. 
Our portulaca/moss rose has lots of tiny seeds in their dry buds too.  I will harvest them when they get drier.
I looked at the petunias but could not seeds in the dry flowers on them. 

Seed harvesting is very frugal - can you imagine how much that many marigold seeds would cost if you bought them in the little pouches? 

so, do you any of you harvest seeds and have any advice for me? 

and if you want to harvest your own seeds,  you might want to do a search to get more details in case I left out something in this post.

Chocolate Icebox pie

My mom made icebox pies often. She almost always made them in the 13x9 size. Hers were usually chocolate but she also made lemon. She used a crust on the bottom, pudding in the middle and then the top layer was Dream Whip or Cool Whip or whipped cream, whatever she had. Mom says she liked them because they were easy to make a day ahead. I remember we all liked to eat them.

I made icebox pie just about like my mom did. My hubby is not crazy about whipped topping so I leave that layer off the dessert. But I do keep a can of aerosol whipped cream in the fridge and it is easy to add to the top of my serving and anyone else who wants it.

Super Easy Crust
1 Cup Flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup chopped nuts like almonds, pecans or walnuts - nuts are optional
Just mix these ingredients and pat into the bottom of a pie pan.
If you are making a big 13x9 dessert, double the crust ingredients.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until just lightly browned. cool

Chocolate pie filling - this makes enough for one round pie, if you want to make a big 13x9 then double everything.

3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions
1.In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, flour, and cocoa powder. Mix well. While stirring, slowly pour in milk. Mix until smooth.
2.Cook cocoa mixture over medium heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue until mixture thickens, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat.
3.In a heat safe bowl, slowly pour about a cup of the hot chocolate mixture into the beaten egg yolks , whisking rapidly until yolks are incorporated.
Whisk chocolate egg mixture back into the saucepan. Bring back to a low simmer and simmer for about a minute, stirring often.
Stir in vanilla extract and butter or margarine. Pour filling into baked pie shell. Chill before serving. Store in icebox-refrigerator.

If you don't want to make the pie filling, you could use a Jello type mix. I think the from scratch pudding just tastes much better.


and if you don't want pie, then how about cake?
This is Nina and her little sister in law, Hannah. Hannah likes manatees and Nina has been baking her a fancy birthday cake every year. So this year's cake a very big manatee and it says "happy birthday Hannatee" Aren't they clever?