My Big Life Change!

Picture taken by Abby Austin of 1000 Miles on my own two feet.



MY GOALS FOR LIFE!

To transform my life, with God's help of course, one step at a time.

1. Get healthy & honor God with my body

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter


2.Become at least 50% sustainable with emphasis on doing our part to take care of God's planet.


3. Live life as an adventure, experiencing new places, things & people.
18 out of 150 bucket list goals accomplished


4. Become debt free & build security for my family, so we can then bless others financially also.

5. Continue to grow closer to God, building My family's faith & sharing the Gospel with those we meet, by using the talents and gifts God has provided us.

6.Continue to make money by creating and sharing my thoughts and beliefs through artistic expression: all the while hoping that my art will impact others. "Holly Kennedy

: All I know is, if you don't figure out this something, you'll just stay ordinary, and it doesn't matter if it's a work of art, or a taco, or a pair of socks! Just create something... new, and there it is, and it's you, out in the world, outside of you, and you can look at it, or hear it, or read it, or feel it... and you know a little more about... you. A little bit more than anyone else does... Does that make any sense at all?" Quote from PS I LOVE YOU

Monday, March 28, 2011

meatloaf, mac-n-cheese, and the Music Man

Okay so my weekend was great! I finally made 2 recipes that I have been storing and saving for. I also got to check out the local Family video in town and rented The Music Man.


The Meatloaf - I have never liked meatloaf. My husband loves it. One night at Bible study a friend had made barbecue meatloaf and I didn't want to appear rude so I tried it and it wasn't bad. You see I don't like the taste of  ground meat. I don't like meaty burgers that aren't seasoned well, and I have never liked meatloaf, because it taste like meat with ketchup on it. I definitely don't like ketchup on my meat. Anytime John wants meatloaf we would go to a buffet where he could eat meatloaf and I could eat something else. When we lived on Blackwelder Ave. we had cable tv and my favorite channel was the Food Network.  One day I saw the Neelys making a BBQ Turkey Meatloaf and it sounded like something I could try. After all if the meatloaf tasted like barbecue sauce then I might be able to stomach it. The same show they made their mac-n-cheese. I definitely could get into that. The problem with many chef recipes are that they A require many ingredients that are area specific, meaning that they are hard to find in good fresh quantities everywhere else. Or B are very time consuming and require many steps that average cooks don't have time or effort for. This was definitely the case with this meatloaf recipe. First it required their seasoning and their BBQ sauce. I could have used other barbecue sauce and seasoning but it's best to do it their way first and then adapt later. We had to buy spices we haven't had in the spice rack for awhile. Like dry mustard and paprika, Crab Boil seasoning? We don't eat crabs here so I have never had that in the house. After cooking the barbecue sauce for an hour and 15 minutes I realized that I didn't have any paprika. So I sent my hubby on an errand to get paprika and ice cream. We would definitely need the ice cram to tide us over till the meatloaf was ready. After all the work to make the barbecue sauce and the barbecue seasoning, then assemble the meatloaf. I was exhausted, but it was a very tasty meatloaf  with strong barbecue flavor and although it wouldn't be my first choice to eat, I would be able to make it again and have it once a year or so. The only thing I would add is that it is very hard to tell if the meatloaf was done and since I had never made meatloaf before I would like to know what the internal temperature is supposed to be. But it was done in the amount of time they gave us.

The Mac-N-Cheese - Now this macaroni-n-cheese recipe was much easier to make. I knew that cooked bacon was going to be on top so I made bacon for breakfast the morning before and saved 5 pieces to crumble later. The hardest part about making this recipe was making the Roux. I have never been really good at making roux. I am so afraid of burning the flour that I never seem to cook it long enough. It also isn't really clear on how thick the cheese sauce should get before you pour it onto the noodles. So I think my cheese sauce was a little too thick. But ultimately I think it turned out really well. It was very tasty. John has never liked mac-n-cheese and I was sort of hoping that I could make a mac-n-cheese that he would like, but no dice. I will not give up my quest to find that perfect mac-n-cheese that my whole family will eat. All in all these recipes were good, but I don't know if they were worth the effort. But I do not regret making them. I want to continue to make new recipes to increase my cooking skill and keep my repertoire open to new things. Do you have a favorite recipe? 

The Music Man - This was a wonderful musical classic made with the best of them.
Robert Preston and Meredith Wilson did a fantastic job of portraying the characters. I did find most of the music to be odd though. Shaboopy I think is the name of one song and I was cracking up because it was talking about finding a girl that wasn't a prude or a hussy. But the reason I was laughing was every time they said Shaboopy I heard She's Poopy. She's Poopy. I  don't know what it really means. But I thought it was funny, as my daughter runs around the room, I am asking myself, Is she poopy? I would definitely watch it again. 

5 comments:

  1. Even though I will eat it and make it occasionally for T, I don't really like macaroni and cheese either. Plus, the only meatloaf I have liked is my grandmother's recipe (which I know and can make well). Perhaps I'm too picky about food. :(

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  2. I'm a musical JUNKIE and have only seen the movie version of The Music Man with little Ronny Howard playing the little boy with the lisp who sang "Gary, Indiana" lol I loved it. You make me want to watch it again. I think it might be on Netflix instant play. I'll have to check that out.

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  3. Your recipes sound yummy and I've marked them in my favorites to make some time. Similarly to you, Meat Loaf is something I'm cautious about. But I would have the ope mind to try it again. And like you, I love mac & cheese and would like to make a real version of it some day. Thank you for sharing these! Experimenting in the kitchen is so much fun!

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  4. I read that entire post, and it has left me wondering, about a few things...

    (But I'll bite my tongue)

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