Adult Mac and Cheese

We welcomed a new family member today! Baby Olivia JoAnne Rokohl was born to my niece Jesica and her hubby Eric!!! In honor of this blessed event, I am giving you an easy version of Adult Mac and Cheese! My sister Kelly loved mac and cheese as a child so here is a version the adults will really like and there are so many variations! 2c cooked noodles (any kind); 1 can of creamed soup ( I like mushroom, but cheese or celery would work); cooked meat (enough to make it look good)( I have used Italian sausage, ham, and prosciutto); 1c veggies ( I like mushrooms); and 1-2c cheese, grated or small cubes (Variety is the spice of life! I like any Italian cheese, blue cheese is even good in small amounts!); mix all and bake 350 for half an hour. Bon Appetite!

One of our family Christmas traditions is to have "Heritage Dinners". There are eight different countries that our ancestors are from: Italy, France, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, England, and Denmark. There are differnet traditions and customs for each country, and we explore each one. We have foods from the particular country, talk about their Christmas traditions, and sometimes the family memebers that came from there. We would celebrate these dinners in the month of December leading up to Christmas. Now that the children are older and it's harder to do that, we each pick a country and plan our dinner for a month that is close to December. This year I have Germany. We will have currywurst, onion pie, and gingerbread. Each child gets an assignment or recipe as to what to bring. It is fun and we vary the menus and hosts. In the past for Germany, we have had beef stew with potato dumplings, sauerbraten, black forest cake, molasses, cookies, and lots of other goodies. I am looking forward to Emi's Italian dinner and Scotty's Scotish dinner. (NO HAGIS!)

Celebrating holidays is something I personally love to do...every holiday! Christmas time is my favorite time of the year, mainly because I celebrate my birthday too! I brought a lot of family traditions into the lives of my children from my own childhood. They have the same stocking every year. I made each child his own stocking in their family color in various patchwork patterns. I have a Santa sit under my tree just as I did as a child. I was a year old when I received a Santa from my uncle. It sat under our family tree every year and when I got married it went with me to sit under my new family tree. It is so old now and quite worn out that I have retired it to the look at only phase of its life. Meanwhile, my mother sent me a stuffed "Santa" dog and it now sits under my tree every year. As a child we always had a real pine tree. Necessity made it so that the tree was only allowed to be up for about two weeks. (Darn those pine needles and watering stands!) We always put it up on my birthday. My sisters kept this tradition going with their own families. I however, being somewhat of a rebel at Christmas, I put mine up the first Saturday in December. (Mine is not a real pine tree, but a real "fake" pine tree!) One year, my nephew Kyle let his mom know that it was Auntie Paula's birthday. She kindly thanked him and called me. We talked for an hour or so and got caught up on all of the latest family gossip. The conversation was over and Kyle once again informed his mom that it was Auntie's birthday. He was not really concerned that I would be forgotten.....he wanted that Christmas tree set up! Having forgotten about that she quickly sent her husband to the tree lot, and she went in search of their ornaments and assorted decorations!

This past week I have been experimenting with sausage making. Yes, I know it is an off the wall subject, but it has been very successful for me. I find that commercial sausages are very greasy and have lots of preservatives. In my quest for a leaner sausage, I decided to try to make my own. I started with Italian sausage and used turkey as the base. I have a meat grinder attatchment for my Kitchen Aid that works beautifully for this. I googled recipes for the spices and found one to my liking and like magic I produced an Italian turkey sausage that is absolutely wonderful! Next, I decided to try kielbasa thinking this was a much harder process. I was so wrong about that. I did the hand rolled method, because I did NOT want to mess with casings. Again, I was pleased with the product. I used pork and turkey mixed for this project. My son Nathan said that he loves the taste and would eat a lot them. I would love to try chorizo as my next experiment. Wish me luck! Italian sausage spice recipe @allrecipes.com, and the kiebasa recipe was a Frugal Gourment on our Immigrant Ancestors cookbook.

I have been juicing this morning and decided to talk about it. There are so many juicers out there that you really need to study them and decide which one is right for your situation. I bought the Jack LaLayne Power Juicer, but it is now 4 years old. There are other brands out there that are much nicer and allow you to easily juice the harder vegetables such as carrots or pumpkin. I made apple orange carrot grapefruit juice today. It was nice; not too sweet and just a hint of tart. I couldn't even taste the carrot. I have experimented with a lot of different fruits and vegetables. I would also advise you to experiment with different amounts of each to find out what flavors you enjoy mixed together. I made apple carrot juice for my grandkids and they wanted more. I have tried juices from the store that are unfiltered and found that my juice is tastier. I like that there is less sugar (only fruit for mine) and all natural (no preservatives). I use whole fruit and while there is pulp in the juice (more than storebought), it doesn't detract from the taste. I know exactly what is in my juice and what I don't want in it.

Cheeseburger Chowder

My nephew Dan wanted this recipe. I made it for my kids when they were little. It is still a favorite. I took it to school last year for a BOS activity and my classmates all had to have the recipe! Cheeseburger Chowder: Layer all ingredients in a crockpot on low 4hrs or high 2hrs. 4 fist sized potatoes cubed, 1 small onion chopped, 3 carrots sliced, 1 lb browned hamburger, 1 can cream of mushroom soup spread evenly, 1/2 c hot water. Four hours later add 1 can evaporated milk and 1 lb cubed cheddar cheese. Stir every 10-15 minutes. When the cheese is melted, you can add more milk to thin it out or serve it thick like a chowder. I make homemade rolls or bread to go with it.

Tomorrow my sister Kelly Jo would have been 49yrs old. She was murdered on May 24, 2011 by her ex-husband. Kelly had alot of what some would call "attitude". We refered to it as being blunt. She told it like it was and made no apologies for it. She would give you anything she had that you needed. I have Christmas ornaments for my children, a strawberry box and soon a vegetable box, various craft items that she just knew I could use, and a vast memory collection. She is in almost all of my memories in one way or another. I talked to her after each of my babies were born, when both of hers were born, weddings, funerals, graduations, family reunions, and birthdays. Her spirit will live on in those she left behind simply because she cared enough to give of herself. My scrapbooks are full of picture of her and my kids, grandkids, parents, and assorted relatives. I have her with dogs, cats, holiday photos, and pictures that were just for fun. As long as there are family members, there will be a "Kelly" story. Some are hilarious, some are sad, and some make us angry. There is not a doubt in my mind that she is in heaven right now preparing her granddaughter for life on earth. I can just hear her telling the little one how she needs to behave and that the "Griz" are the only team worth cheering for - and that red is the most wonderful color there is.

Halloween

Our family has had Halloween parties since the kids were little. We have special foods, treats, and "themes". It is not unusual to arrive at the table to brains and eyeballs or worms and mummies. We have had a Harry Potter theme with roasted hippogriff, pumpkin juice, and butter beer. This year our theme is Dr. Seuss. We are serving pink snowballs, pink ink to drink, and of course, green eggs and ham! It will be fun to see what the costumes will be. My kids and grandkids all dress up for this night. Start planning your family Halloween party and see what fun you can have! Food ideas: Worms (cut hotdogs length wise and boil) serve with lots of ketchup or bbq sauce Mummies (wrap hot dogs in breadstick dough leaving an opening for mustard or ketchup eyes) Brains and Eyeballs (spaghetti and meatballs) Coagulated blood (red jello) Swamp Water (orange soda and root beer mixed half and half) Monster Eyes (stuffed shells with an olive in the center for the eye)

Hot Apple Cider

Hot Apple Cider 2 qts apple juice or cider 2t cinnamon 1/2t cloves Heat to boil and turn stove on low. Can be crock potted on low. My family enjoys this on those cool October nights, and I always have some on the stove for my trick or treaters!

Suicide Prevention

My granddaughter Kira was really on the ball this month and way a head of her grandma! The month of September is SUICIDE AWARENESS PREVENTION month. Nine years ago, my husband made the choice to end his life. We had no warning and he left no note. We later found out that he had been going off of his medication at a fast rate. Neither his doctors nor I knew about it until after his suicide. The choice he made has affected the lives of so many people, not just myself and my children. However, because of his choice, we as a family became stronger and have been able to help others. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has classes that are FREE. The people who teach these classes are family members of other people who are diagnosed with a mental illness. The classes are to help give you the coping skills necessary to live your life and help your loved one live their lives to the fullest. I take this class every 5 years or so just to keep up on the latest data and practices. One in four Americans will face mental illness this year. The statistics are high, but get educated and help others become educated. www.nami.org

Russian Tea

I grew up drinking "Russian Tea". As kids we loved it, especially in the winter months western Montana gets a bit cold at that time of year. I hope that you enjoy it also. I have been to different parts of the country and have found the same basic recipe called Wassail, Orange Tea, and Orange Cider. 1 large container of orange drink beverage 1 3oz lemonade (the kind with sugar) 1c instant dry tea (I omit this as I don't want the caffeine) 1t cloves 1t cinnamon Mix well and store in an air tight container. Use 2-3 spoonfuls in 8oz of hot water. This makes great Christmas presents. I put them in canning jars one year with plaid ribbons around the top. My kids fought over the Russian Tea jars vs. the Cinnamon Cocoa jars. The drink is really nice when you have a cold and want "comfort" food.

Where ever I go people seem to want my recipes. This is my way of reaching everyone who wants them. Some are "secret" family recipes and other I have developed myself.