Southerngal

I have not forgotten about this place.   I have had some internet connectivity issues that have taken up a great deal of my time.  Although the problem has yet to be fixed it seems we are finally getting something done about it.   I have had an ongoing issue with my isp for about a year now.  Everytime I would call they would send a tech out here who would try to blame it on my equipment or a splitter.  All of which had been long ago eliminated as the problem.    After escalating my issue to the local area manager it seems they have confirmed what I have suspected for a while now.   It is a problem somewhere up the line between me and  my isp.   Still have yet to isolate exactly where it is but we are closer to getting it fixed than we were 1 year ago when the problem started.   I am expecting to see an engineer on Monday who will find the exact location of the problem.  The customer service for my isp is horrible and so are the supervisors of customer service that I have dealt with thus far.   In the last week I have spoken with no less than 8 people trying to find out why the technician did not show or call and had to reschedule 4 times all between Friday Oct 9th  and Monday Oct 12th.  I even had one supervisor go so far as to flat out call me a liar which was not only unprofessional but uncalled for as well.  A handful of the reps I dealt with have made an attempt to help but were not successful.   It is sad that in this day and age all the customer service reps can do is read from a script and not really help a customer who truly has an ongoing issue.

My husband recently found this recipe for Slow Cooker Lasagna. I did make some modifications to the recipe. Below is my version. I added low fat cottage cheese since most Lasagna recipes call for ricotta cheese and I am not a fan of ricotta but a friend had made a crockpot lasagna recently and successfully used cottage cheese with mozzarella. I was also not too hip on carrots in my lasagna so I used mushrooms. I also thought that the prep time was a little much for a crockpot recipe.  Even without the changes this is a wonderful recipe and I would make it again.

Ingredients

Serves 8

* 1 pound Italian pork sausage, casings removed
* 1 pound ground beef sirloin
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 pkg of sliced baby portabella mushrooms
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 jar of Amy’s Organic Mushroom Garlic Spaghetti Sauce
* 1 can (28 ounces) italian style crushed tomatoes in puree
* 9 lasagna noodles
* 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella (8 ounces)
* 1 16 oz container of cottage cheese

Directions

1. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, cook sausage and beef over medium-high, breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, 4 to 6 minutes. Add onion, mushrooms, and garlic; Cook until onion has softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in spaghetti sauce, then tomatoes with meat. Mix your cottage cheese and mozzarella together
2. Spoon 2 cups meat mixture into bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Layer 3 noodles (breaking them as needed to fit), 2 cups meat mixture, and 1/2 cup cheese; repeat with two more layers (refrigerate 1/2 cup cheese for topping).
3. Cover slow cooker, and cook on low, 7 to 8 hours. Sprinkle lasagna with 1/2 cup cheese. Cover until cheese has melted, about 10 minutes.

   A while ago I had tried a new recipe for squash casserole from Paula Deen that was yummy.   I am always on the lookout for new recipes.    I tend to add to or remove ingredients that I like so the recipe is to my taste.   Below is my version of this recipe.   I usually coat the pan with pam cooking spray or line it with aluminum foil instead of buttering the dish

• 6 cups large diced yellow squash and zucchini
• Vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 can of original rotel drained
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon of  tones garlic herb seasoning
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup crushed butter crackers (recommended: Ritz)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Saute the squash in a little vegetable oil over medium-low heat
until it has completely broken down, about 15 to 20 minutes. Line a
colander with a clean tea towel. Place the cooked squash in the lined
colander. Squeeze excess moisture from the squash. Set aside.

In a medium size skillet, saute the onion in butter for 5
minutes. Remove from pan and mix all ingredients together except
cracker crumbs. Pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish and top
with cracker crumbs. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

   Over the last year I have been thinking about friends that I have not seen in a long time.   This summer we attended my 20th High School Reunion and had such fun.   Since our class chose to have it so early in the summer we did not get to see a lot of people that I thought would attend.    Last night I did get to see a friend that I had not seen in 20 years.   I was so surprised when I found out that she would be visiting the states since she lives overseas.   We had so much fun chatting and having dinner last night.   It dawned on me that the three of us that met for dinner have been friends for over 30 years.  That is so rare to see friendships that have lasted that long.   A group of us have tried to get together as much as possible.  It started out as a monthly thing but has become more like every 2 or 3 months.  

  In the past few days since learning of poor Patrick’s passing I have found myself thinking this should be a weekend filled with watching some of my Favorite Movies that he is in.   In my earlier post  I failed to mention Ghost which happens to be one of my all time favorite movies.   There was a point in my life that I could watch this movie over and over again.  Right now I find it difficult to even watch the clips of the movie that have been shown on TV since his passing.   Although I enjoy the movie I told my husband that I would have a hard time watching that movie again.   With that said I think that I will list some my favorite movies that Patrick has done over the years.

The Outsiders

Red Dawn

North and South

Love and War

Heaven and Hell

Dirty Dancing

Roadhouse

Ghost

Donnie Darko

He has also done some other movies that I have yet to see.  I think maybe one day I will get around too watching them.   I may even be able to bring myself to watch Ghost again at some point but not right now.

As I was sitting here reading my email I just saw someone tweet that one of my favorite actors has passed away.    Most of the time I dismiss something like this until I saw that it was the L A Times reporting it.   It was not unexpected given that he had been battling pancreatic cancer for 2 years.   I remember watching all the movies that he was in when I was a teenager.   His poster decorated my room at my parents house and then my dorm in college and my first apartment.  He was such a wonderful actor.   My condolences go out to his family.  I will always remember him like this.   This was the exact same poster that I had on my wall growing up.      I think I may have to see if there are any good Patrick Swayze flicks playing this weekend so I can remember him the way he was.

 My dad is such a wonderful cook.   We often joke that my mom does not know how to cook.   I hear rumors that she used to cook when I was really young.   My grandmother moved in with us when I was just a little over 2 years old. She did all the cooking when I was growing up.   When she passed away in 1994 the cooking torch passed to my dad.   He was always a master on the grill and then took that to another level inside the house.   This is one of my favorite recipes of his and he makes it so much better than I could ever think of making it.    I hope you all enjoy.

Dads Spaghetti Sauce

1lb ground chuck
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
2 6oz can Tomato sauce
1 6oz can Tomato Paste
1 tsp garlic salt
3/4 c chopped onion
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp Oregano leaves
1/4 c oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions in oil a few mins. Add beef
brown,then drain off fat. Add spices and all the cans of tomatoes.
Cook with lid on for an hour
Lid off 30 min.
Add 1 tsp of sugar at end
You may add 1/2 c burgandy if you like at the end

Double recipe and freeze

Do you remember where you were 8 years ago today?    I do my husband and I had just moved to our first home that was not Military related.   My husband had just gotten out of the Navy 1 month and half earlier.   He was actually home sleeping when the news broke.   I woke up and got on the computer that morning as I did every morning.   I was looking at my hometown newspaper online and saw what had happened posted in the forums on the website.   I was in shock and could not believe that something like that could happen.   I even googled what had happened a number of times just to make sure I could get it from a respected source such as CNN or MSNBC not a local newspaper forum.    I finally turned the television on to see the second plane crash into the World Trade Center.  I think I stayed glued to the Television that whole day just to make sure that what I had seen and heard was true.    My biggest fear after that was that my husband would be called back into the Navy if we ever went to war.  Thankfully, he did not have to go back in the Navy because of that.   I would not trade our experience in the Navy for the world.  I have some wonderful friends that I met while I was a military wife for 9 long years.   It is hard to believe that it has been 8 years since this tragedy happened.   I  will always think of the families that lost loved ones on that tragic day so long ago.   I will always remember what I was doing on that day will you?

For the last year I have been on the lookout for a folding table with handles.  Something that I can carry with me to craft shows.  Last year I borrowed one from a family friend and loved it.    I know  at one time they had them at Sam’s club but they are $85 and could not justify spending that much money on a table that I use only about half a dozen times a year.   This morning after breakfast I was speaking with a friend and she said they had what I was looking for at  Lowe’s and they were on sale for $40 so I told her I was running out the door to get one as we spoke.  Well I get to Lowe’s and find them only you cannot see that they have handles on them.   So after a few minutes I get some help and the tables turn out to be exactly what I was looking for.   So now I am prepared for my next outdoor craft show with a table.  Now if I could only get some more pieces made and photographed.