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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Million Dollar Fudge Recipe

Million Dollar Fudge Recipe

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 large can evaporated milk
2 sticks butter or margarine
18 oz. chocolate chips
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups broken nuts

Bring sugar and milk to a boil in a saucepan - boil, stirring constantly for 10 (ten) minutes
Combine butter and chocolate chips in a large pan
Add boiling sugar mixture to butter and chocolate chip pan
Beat quickly until smooth and creamy
Add vanilla and nuts
Pour into an 8 X 12 inch pan - cool

Chocolate Fudge Supreme Recipe

This is an old favorite for chocolate fudge supreme - great recipe!

Ingredients:
2 small packages chocolate chips
1 large jar marshmallow cream
2 sticks margarine
4 cups sugar
1 large can evaporated milk
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix chocolate chips and marshmallow cream in a bowl.
Mix margarine, sugar and milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 9 minutes
Pour over chocolate chip mixture
Beat until glossy
Stir in nuts
Turn into buttered pan and cool

**original recipe calls for cutting into squares, wrapping each square in waxed paper and refrigerating

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Hamburgers and Mushroom Soup Gravy

My mom made this when I was growing up and it ended up being one of my kids' favorites. I had forgotten about it until the other night when my daughter asked me how I made it - apparently, those she's asked didn't get it quite right. Just something quick and simple and easy - we all have THOSE nights.

1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey - I do use ground beef, extra lean though)
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
Milk
Purple Onion

Make hamburger patties - 1 lb makes 3 large patties - season with salt, pepper and Season-All
While hamburger patties are cooking, mix 1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup and 1/2 can of milk (for 2 cans of soup, use 1 can of milk, etc. depending on how much you're making) and cook as directed on can - do NOT add water; you are replacing water with milk, only cutting in half so 'gravy' is thicker
Dice purple onion

Place cooked hamburger patty on plate and cover with Mushroom soup/gravy - top with onions and add salt/pepper to taste.
That's it! Enjoy!
 
Hamburger patties cooking

Mushroom soup/gravy cooking - I do always use Campbell's, generic brands tend to have a different flavor

For some reason, we always had purple onions on this - I must be a creature of habit!

Finished product - very good! (and cheap and easy!)

Monday, August 4, 2008

Deviled Eggs Recipe

Deviled Eggs Recipe

It's grilling season and I haven't even made deviled eggs this summer! What's wrong with me??

Ingredients:
Eggs
Mustard
Miracle Whip
Paprika

Boil eggs in water for at least 30 minutes
Allow eggs to cool
Peel eggs and cut in half longways
Scoop yolk out and place in a small bowl
Mash yolk with a fork
Add a couple tablespoons of Miracle Whip
Add about a tsp of mustard
Mix - add more Miracle Whip and/or mustard to suit your taste
Spoon yolk mixture back into eggs
Sprinkle paprika on top

Enjoy!

Potato Salad Recipe

I've always made my potato salad like my mom always did and it always gets rave reviews. I use Miracle Whip which gives it a different taste than mayonaise.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 potatoes
2 hard boiled eggs
1 medium onion
Miracle Whip
Mustard

Clean the potatoes and put in water to boil - Add the eggs to same water and boil at same time
Allow potatoes and eggs to cool - then peel potatoes and cube; peel eggs and dice
Put potatoes and eggs in bowl and add diced onions
Start with a couple serving size spoons of Miracle Whip and about 2 or 3 Tbsp of mustard - mix and then add more Miracle Whip and/or mustard to taste.

Place in refrigerator to chill before serving

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Goulash Recipe

Quick and Easy Goulash Recipe

My mom used to make this and I've continued the tradition. She invented it because as kids, we didn't like everything she put in it - this is the picky kids version! I know it isn't actual 'goulash', but that's what mom always called it, so I'll keep the name, thanks!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef)
1 16 oz. can tomato SAUCE
1 pkg. small shell pasta
1 yellow onion - diced
1 green bell pepper - diced
Pinch of Taragon Leaves
Pinch of Marjoram

Brown and drain ground meat (turkey or beef)
Cook shell pasta according to package directions while cooking ground meat - drain
Saute onions and peppers in butter while meat and pasta is cooking
Place meat, pasta, onions and peppers in a bowl
Add Tomato sauce, Taragon leaves and Marjoram - mix and eat

Enjoy!

Rice Pilaf Chicken & Cashews Recipe

Rice Pilaf Chicken & Chashews Recipe

This recipe was invented on one of those days that I didn't want to go to the store, so I opened up the cabinets and this is what I had to work with. Turned out great and still fix it quite often.

Ingredients:
Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts
Rice A Roni Rice Pilaf
Cashews

Rinse and cut chicken into bite size pieces - brown in a skillet with olive oil
Prepare Rice A Roni according to package directions in an electric skillet
**Use one box of Rice A Roni for 1 or 2 chicken breasts; 2 boxes of Rice A Roni with package of 3 or 4 chicken breasts
After rice vermicilli is browned and you add the water to the rice add the chicken as well and finish cooking the rice
When rice and chicken are about halfway done, add cashews and finish cooking - this allows the cashews to soften slightly and absorb some of the rice/chicken flavor

Enjoy!

Taco Salad Recipe

Here's an easy and excellent taco salad recipe - most requested by my kids' friends when they were growing up.

Ingredients:
Head of Lettuce
2 Tomatoes
5 or 6 Green Stem Onions
1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef if you prefer)
McCormick Taco Seasoning
1 Bag Taco Doritoes
1 package shredded cheddar cheese
1 bottle Otts Famous Dressing

Brown turkey or burger in a skillet - drain and add taco seasoning according to package directions
While ground meat is cooking, chop lettuce, tomato and green onion - put all chopped ingredients in a large bowl (take a pretty big one!)
Add seasoned ground meat
Add shredded cheese - if you do it in this order, the cheese melts slightly
Open bag of Doritos and cruch whole bag with your hands - add to bowl of veggies and meat
Put whole bottle of Otts on top

Mix it all up - I usually use two spatulas and just keep turning and mixing

**I've tried other taco chips and generic dressing and just don't get the desired taste, so I do recommend these specific ingredients.

Enjoy!

Potato Soup Recipe

Potato Soup Recipe

Here's a great potato soup recipe that even my kids loved! Easy and you probably already have the ingredients on hand. Note: some people like to add celery and other ingredients, but I prefer this simple recipe, but feel free to dress it up however you want.

Ingredients:
Potatoes
Onions
Milk
Butter
(pretty simple, huh?)

Peel and cut potatoes like you're making mashed potatoes - approximately 1" squares (don't get too picky on the shape)
Boil in water like you're making mashed potatoes - don't over boil as they'll be mushy
While potatoes are boiling, dice up a small yellow onion and put in with potatoes to boil
When potatoes are soft, drain nearly all of the water from them, leaving just a little in the bottom.
Put enough milk in the pan to cover potatoes, about 1/2 stick of butter and add the onions
Slowly bring to a boil, stirring often to keep milk from scorching - keeping the small amount of water in the pan helps to prevent scorching.
Turn to low and simmer for about an hour - stir often

When there is about 15 minutes left, make some grilled cheese sandwiches to go along with the soup. I usually use regular American cheese for the sandwiches as the Borden Fat Free cheese doesn't melt real well.

I like to add enough crackers to my bowl of soup to absorb most of the juice and then add salt (it will need salt!) and a lot of pepper.

Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken with Bacon & Cheese

Of course, this isn't quite Ruby Tuesday's, but it's a good alternative!

Rinse boneless, skinless chicken breast and place in 9X13 glass baking dish. Cover with barbecue sauce of your choice (we like Bullseye).

Bake for about 1 hour in 275 degree oven

When there is about 15 minutes left on baking, fry a few slices of bacon until crisp. I pretty much exclusively use turkey bacon, but I have to admit, this is delicious with regular bacon!

Put a slice of cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice) on each chicken breast - top with a few pieces of the crisped bacon. Leave in oven until cheese is melted.

Ruby Tuesday adds onion straws to their Bistro BBQ Chicken, but why add more fat than is already there with the bacon???

Serve with tossed salad with fat free ranch dressing or basalmic vinegrette (don't add any more fat to this meal!) and French cut green beans.

Enjoy!

Garlic Pepper Chicken

I'm always looking for something to do with chicken breasts. I prefer skinless, boneless, organic, antibiotic free chicken and buy that almost exclusively. One thing that we like and is very simple to make is garlic pepper chicken.

Simply rinse chicken breast pieces and place in a 9X13 glass baking dish. Put a couple pats of butter (Smart Balance Lite Olive Oil butter) on each chicken breast - no need to melt butter or make sure it's all over every piece of chicken, it will melt and run over the pieces. Sprinkle with Garlic Pepper (found in the spice section of your local grocery store).

Bake for about 1 hour at about 275 degrees - I baste some of the melted butter up over the chicken pieces while it's baking.

Serve with sides of choice - maybe some Chicken flavored Rice A Roni and Asparagus??

Enjoy!

Baked Sweet Potatoes instead of Bake Russet Potatoes

Instead of having baked potatoes, change to a baked sweet potato on occasion. This provides you with an easy alternative that is excellent in taste! We actually prefer baked sweet potatoes and eat them more often than regular baked potatoes.

A baked potato has 198 calroies per 100 grams; where a baked sweet potato has 90 calories per 100 grams. Both have about 1 gram of fat per 100 grams. But, consider all the topping that end up on a baked potato and your side dish can become 'loaded' with artery clogging junk!

A baked sweet potato has about 21 grams of carbohydrates; a baked potato has about 46 for the same size serving. The estimated glycemic load of a baked sweet potato is 9; a baked potato is 22 - typical daily glycemic load is under 100. Baked sweet potoates are also a great anti-inflammatory with an inflammation factor of 189; a baked potato is on the whole other end of the scale at -151 inflammation factor (meaning baked potatoes can aggravate inflammation).

Add the fact that baked sweet potatoes are a great source of anti-oxidants, vitamins A and vitamins C and you've got a healthier alternative to add to your meals!

Simply prepare as you would a baked potato. For those of us in a hurry at times :) simply wash potato, stab with a fork a few times, and pop it in the microwave - roughly 6 minutes for one potato; 7 minutes for 2 potatoes; 9-10 minutes for 3 potatoes (adjust until it's soft like a baked potato).

Make a slit in one side and open up - top with butter (again, I use Smart Balance Lite with Olive Oil) and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Enjoy!

Onion Soup Burger Patties Meal

Trying to do something not so 'common' on these posts. One thing that I like to do is to take ground turkey or ground beef (actually sometimes prefer ground beef on this one - sometimes ;) and add a package of Lipton onion soup mix - squish with hands to mix up (got a kid with clean hands???)

Make into patties and grill on BBQ grill - when done, top with slices of Borden Fat Free cheese and let the cheese melt. Remove from grill and top with a tomato slice and chopped green stem onion or cilantro (I just had a thought - wonder what pico de gallo or guacamole would be like as a topping?)

Serve on a plate like a piece of chopped steak (no bun, etc.) Can top with BBQ sauce or steak sauce as an option.

Serve with fried zucchini - slice zucchini into 1/4" slices and turn in milk and then flour - lighly fry in olive oil - salt to taste

Throw a few slices of pineapple (canned if you don't have fresh) on grill while burgers are cooking and you've got a decent meal that's not too unhealthy (could be if you let it) and is a little out of the ordinary.

Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

Here's a great recipe for Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 oz. red food coloring
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. salt
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. butter flavoring (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp.  baking soda
1 Tbsp. vinegar

Cream shortening, sugar and eggs.
Make paste with food coloring and cocoa; add to mixture
Add salt and flour with buttermilk, butter flavororing and vanilla
Alternately add baking soda and vinegar - do not beat hard, just blend
Pour into two 8 inch round cake pans (greased and floured)
Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees

Frosting Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cut butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Cook flour and milk on low heat until thick - cool
Cream sugar, butter and vanilla until fluffy
Add to flour-milk mixture and beat until mixture is like whipped cream

Frost cake when it's cool - keep cake cool so icing doesn't melt

Enjoy!

Meal Ideas....

I decided to add a category for meal ideas. Just simple, plain, everyday meals.

I've had a few requests for 'just something different' and remember raising 5 kids and when I would ask 'What does everybody want for supper?' They all wanted something different and they all wanted the same old boring thing we had last week. You know how it is. Man, it would have been great, back in the day, to just jump on the computer and get a new idea for a meal!

I would love some new ideas myself, so feel free to leave a comment with your own meal ideas!

One of my kids' favorites over the years was simple smoked sausage with potatoes and veggies. My daugther, who is a new mother, recently asked me how to make this, what I used, etc., and so I wanted to include it on here for my starter meal idea.

I do have to say, again, back in the day (before I knew what I know about fats), I usually made fried potatoes as a side. I can not tell you the last time I made or ate fried potatoes! I can feel my arteries clogging just from thinking about them. HA! Honestly, if I made fried potatoes, my husband would probably take me somewhere to get me checked - he can't eat fatty, greasy food very often anymore either.

Anyhoodle, I am who I am, so I buy, you guessed it, TURKEY smoked sausage (can't remember the brand, but it's in a green package if that helps LOL). Really, you can't tell the difference and my hubby actually prefers the turkey kind.

Slice the smoked sausage into 1/4" or so pieces, so you'll have a bunch of round pieces of smoked sausage.
Add olive oil (I use Smart Balance olive cooking oil) to a skillet to brown the smoked sausage pieces in

Dice potatoes into 1/2" or so squares and boil in water (like making mashed potatoes). Drain potatoes and add butter (I use Smart Balance Lite Olive Oil butter/spread) and top with a few bacon bits or chives - just to add some flavor since you aren't mashing with milk and butter

Grilled asparagus works great with this meal - but, I do like to splurge just a little and have 'Ranch Style' beans, because I like to put the juice on my smoked sausage.

**try your own variations on sides

Enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Here's a recipe for Shepherd's Pie that I use quite a bit. There are many variations of this recipe out there, but this is the version that I prefer.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef if you prefer)
1 can corn (drained)
1 can green beans (drained)
Mashed Potatoes

Peel and boil 3 or 4 potatoes to prepere for mashed potatoes - mash and add butter and milk

Brown ground turkey and drain
Place ground turkey in bottom of 9X13 baking dish
Layer with can of corn - drained
Layer with can of green beans - drained
Top with mashed potatoes - like you're frosting a cake

Bake in 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown on the peaks

Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Chili Recipe

Here's my recipe for a quick and easy chili that I make when I want chili, but don't have time to 'do it right'. This recipe is my own invention and is nearly as good as my regular chili.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef if you prefer)
1 can Bush's Chili Magic Traditional
1 can Bush's Chili Magic Texas Style
2 cans chili beans
1 can kidney beans
1 diced onion

Brown the ground turkey (or beef) - drain and add to crock pot
Dump all the cans in there and mix
Add the onion and mix
Cook on high crockpot setting for about an hour, then turn to simmer for a few hours - serve!

As an alternative, if I am in a big hurry, I make this in a pot on the stove in about an hour - just bring to a boil and then turn to low to simmer for as long as possible.

Also, I make this often and freeze for quick meals. I'll make a crock pot of chili, then divide into those single serving Glad freeze-n-serve containers. I also grab a bag of Fritos and divide into quart size freezer bags and stash those in the deep freeze or freezer as well. Fritos will keep for a long time and will not get soggy when you take them out.

When you need a quick meal, just grab a bag of Fritos and a container of chili. Thaw the chili in the microwave, then put Fritos on a plate or in a bowl and top with thawed and heated chili.

Top with cheese or onions if you want!

How Can I Use Ground Turkey

I use ground turkey in meals that call for ground beef quite often. I do seek out buffalo/bison meat as the healthiest choice of meat (and, wow, what great flavor!). If I can't get buffalo/bison, my next choice is ground turkey with ground beef being my 'last chance' choice.

With ground turkey, you treat it the exact same as ground beef and unless you tell people, they don't even know the difference.

Ideas for ground turkey:

Spaghetti
Chili - for an quick & easy recipe, click here
Tacos
Queso Dip
Lasagne
Sloppy Joes
Enchiladas
Meatloaf
Goulash
Shepherd's Pie - for my recipe, click here
Stuffed Peppers
Homemade Pizza

Basically, if a recipe calls for ground beef, just replace with turkey and save yourself some calories and FAT!

Chicken Parmigiana Recipe

I think I found this recipe for chicken parmigiana on All Recipes at one time. Maybe. Anyway, I found it somewhere and we love it:
Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
2 ounces dry bread crumbs
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese   


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 
Lightly grease a medium baking sheet.
Pour egg into a small shallow bowl.
Place bread crumbs in a separate shallow bowl.
Dip chicken into egg, then into the bread crumbs.
Place coated chicken on the prepared baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until no longer pink and juices run clear.
 
 
Pour 1/2 of the spaghetti sauce into a 7x11 inch baking dish. 
Place chicken over sauce, and cover with remaining sauce. 
Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses on top and return to the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
 
Enjoy!

Can you use soy milk to make gravy?

Can you use soy milk to make gravy? YES! Not only am I lactose intolerant, but I'm also allergic to dairy. When I have dairy the immediate result is a major sneezing 'attack' that lasts sometimes up to 30 minutes and ends with a congested head and nasal area for a couple hours - the lactose intolerant part of it catches up with me later. Although I can take something like Lactaid to ease the intolerance, there really isn't anything I can do about the allergy part. To be honest, one of my guilty pleasures is ice cream on the rare occasion - I just suffer through it and then vow not to do it again!

For the most part, I use soy milk for cooking and cereal. I mainly use Silk Vanilla Soy which has a slightly sweet taste and if you're health conscious, you can use this on cereal and skip the sugar. I used to drink milk a lot with meals and do miss that - not sure I would want to drink a whole glass of soy milk. The only butter I use is Smart Balance Lite with olive oil, as it doesn't seem to affect me - but, I use it very lightly. Just about the only cheese I use on a regular basis is Borden Fat Free cheese, which is actually very good. I can occasionally have a small amount of cheddar or swiss cheese as it doesn't have as much lactose in it as other cheeses.

So, this morning, I looked to see what I could fix for breakfast and wondered if I could use my soy milk for gravy??? I did some research on the internet and didn't really find a clear answer. When all else fails, JUST DO IT, right? So I did - and it was fine.

I fixed turkey sausage patties, which don't leave any grease in the pan to put the flour in, so I added just a small drop of bacon grease (I keep some bacon grease on hand for times such as this). I put my flour in and thickened it, then started adding my vanilla soy milk. At first, I didn't think it was going to thicken, but it did! Yeah!!

We poured the gravy over some Grand's whole grain biscuts, had sausage on the side, and had a very good and mostly healthy breakfast!

I should also say that my husband is neither lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy, but he goes right along with my need for soy milk and actually likes it. If you've ever had soy milk, you know it has just a hint of a 'grain' taste to it and this came through in the gravy, but only slightly.........so, try it, you never know!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Sassy Breakfast Burritos

Sometimes the fun of cooking is just opening the refrigerator and seeing what you have that you can put together. My aunt Lelia Belle was a genius at this! Of course, she was an awesome cook, no matter what it was she made. My hubby is also very good at this - when he decides to cook for me, he just throws things together - and it always comes out great!



I got up this morning and didn't want to have the normal turkey sausage and biscuts or grits or eggs...again. So, I dug around and came up with my own breakfast burritos........they were GREAT!



Ingredients:

Turkey bacon (c'mon, you're not still eating REAL bacon are you??? One slice = 21 grams of fat!)

Eggs - scrambled

Green Onions

Garlic and Herb Cheddar Cheese

Flat Flour Tortilla Shells



Fix turkey bacon in a skillet - chop green stem onions while bacon is cooking

Lightly brown one side of tortilla shell in same skillet bacon was cooked in - use Crisco Olive Oil pan spray -get the edges, too!

Beat eggs and scramble in same pan used for bacon and shells **add some pan spray again

Cook chopped onions in eggs as your scramble - add after eggs begin to thicken



Place tortilla shell on plate - browned side down. Layer with bacon strips, scrambled egg and onion mixture, and two round slices of cheese. Layer on one half of shell and fold other half over the top, making a half moon shape. Place in microwave for 25 seconds to melt the cheese. (used one skillet, one fork, one knife to chop and one bowl to scramble the eggs - that's it!)

Enjoy!



 
Chop three or four green stem onions


 
Garlic Herb Cheddar Cheese


 
Lightly brown one side of flat tortilla shell - only takes a few seconds!


 
Finished Product!! AWESOME - easy and different!

Sunday Morning Ramblings....

Well, it's been quite a week if I do say so myself! I haven't had much time to do more than post a few recipes and answer some emails and comments. I always INTEND to do more, but it just seems like I don't get everything accomplished. Such is life.

Life is a crazy thing. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get sidetracked and end up on a whole different 'thing' for the day than what I started out with. Some people might call this piddling. I call it research and learning; mainly because I think I forgot how to piddle. I remember when I used to get on the internet to chat with friends, forward masses of funny emails, download music, morph pictures. Just fun stuff. Now, I'm on here to build a business, connect with like minded people, carve out my little niche, and make money. I blame this on my husband. He is obsessive-compulsive. He is also a perfectionist. UGH! His dad told me once that if he doesn't make money from a business venture, it's not for lack of trying. AMEN. He is determined and OCD enough that whatever he's focused on - mostly money, since that's his mistress - he can stay focused on it for HOURS....even DAYS - straight. I thought I was bull headed!

We are different, hubby and I, in that he gets an idea and just jumps in with both feet and figures things out as he goes ~ sometimes this is a scary world we live in! When he decided to build a transport business, we had a truck but not a trailer. He didn't care, that was just a 'minor detail' to him. He found a cabinet business that neededs cabinets delivered - and they had a trailer, but it was a gooseneck trailer. He didn't worry about that either. He told them he would haul for them, THEN he worried about a ball hitch for a gooseneck. It cost us over $500.00 just to get the ball hitch before we could even THINK about actually pulling a trailer. And then there was the electronic brake control that he hadn't thought about either. A year and a half later, we have quite a thriving transport business going! Two trucks and two trailers and now an extra driver. He would get a load and then worry about minor things like trailers and fuel money to get where you're going to get paid. This was a very scary time for me!

I'm the analyzer. It would have taken me 6 months to research the cost analysis of transporting a particular item, the fuel cost by state, rules and regulations, accounting software and different ways to arrange the trailer to be most cost affective. You get the idea. This is probably why, when we met, I was a teacher (okay, I can say that I taught high school behavior disorders and emotional disturbances....that was the uncertainty of my days) and cheerleading coach. He owned a successful biker bar in Devils Elbow, MO that had been closed down for over 20 years. He took something that nobody thought would work and made it into a very well known and well loved hang out - I remember the first time I seen about 100 bikers coming down the road in the middle of a weekday afternoon.....they were a group from Scotland touring Route 66 on Harleys and this was one of their HAVE TO stops.

Since I'm the analyzer, I guess I've analyzed him......oh, surely not! HA! The thing about hubby is his lack of intimidation factor. Don't misunderstand me, HE is intimidating (big ol' tattooed biker called 'Bossman'), but he's not intimidated easily if at all. If he's doing something (like the bar or the transport business), he tells EVERYBODY and doesn't have any reservations about his business ideas being well known and the topic of conversation - or what anybody else thinks about it. THAT'S the secret to his success. There are always naysayers, but then again, they're getting up at 5:00 am everyday to go to work at a job they hate, so he doesn't pay them any mind. He just gives them a business card (he gives EVERYBODY a business card) and there's been more than a few who have called and said, 'hey, you still doing that transport thing? I want to buy this motorcyle off eBay....'

I, on the other hand, don't want people to judge me too harshly or think I'm not being a productive member of society......know what I mean? I decided to try selling AtHome America for a while. I loved their products and (yes, after analyzing everything) thought their business plan and pay plan was actually very worthwhile. Problem was, I didn't want to actually TELL anybody that I was in direct selling. First of all, you get that 'look' that says, 'oh Lord, just get a J-O-B like the rest of us already!' and the second thing was that when people know what you're doing and know you're going to invite them to a zillion parties, they quit answering your email and phone calls. Those same people will stop at the mall and purchase a picture for their newly decorated bathroom instead of buying through you and supporting your budding business. SO, I just gave up on getting people to parties........hubby would have made 3 special trips to their house and had a confirmation before he would have ever left them alone to ignore him! Then again, it's kind of hard to ignore somebody called 'Bossman'.

This leads me to my Sunday morning rambling. I've been thinking a lot this week. Okay, okay, analyzing. My son was home this week ~ he's in the Marine Corps., stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA. We hired a new driver this week (means I get to stay home and analyze some more, YEAH!). We got the new puppy this week. AND, last but not least, hubby has decided to try another business venture that I've been pushing him to think about for some time. Like I said, he's a biker called Bossman.....Harley Davidsons and biker folk just naturally flock to him and I've been looking into rebuilding classic bikes.......something along that line anyway. Besides, we have a 4,000 square foot home with TWO double garages, and it's just me and him and three doggies. So, he's in the downstairs garage cleaning and making a 'man shop' and been looking at salvage bikes and searching on eBay. Now, here's where I tell you that he may have already purchased a bike and I just don't know it yet.....he does that sometimes. He'll get all sweet and want to treat me to dinner or something...then, BAM, he'll tell me something like, 'what happened was.............I bid on this bike, not thinking I would get it, and guess what???? How 'bout that, I was high bidder!' I have learned that this always turns out okay - he comes up with a back up plan pretty quick when push comes to shove - and my best response is, 'what do you need me to do?' (yeah, I know, I'm a helluva wife! BUT, he's never let me down and for a big ol' biker, he's got to be THE sweetest, most loving man on earth)

ANYHOW, with all this going on and the opportunity to be home this week, I've decided to work HARD on my blogs and other online business ventures. So, will be working on CONTENT this week on all of my blogs. Also working on building traffic and networking with people. (this is my favorite part......I've 'met' some of the neatest people!). **as a side note, what I intend to do doesn't always come to be realized - sometimes hubby has a brain storm and then we're OFF in a whole new direction).

Analyze this: content vs. traffic - do you work on generating traffic, but have not enough content to keep them on your site? OR do you work on content without the traffic to support it? Hmmmmmm....that's what I'm pondering this morning. Just had to take the long road to getting around to explaining everything - consider it your bike tour for the day!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Meet Miss Mega Bite

Meet Miss Mega Bite ~ our new pom baby ~ we call her Meggy for short. She is 1.2 pounds at 6 weeks and orange sable (so far LOL)



I've had better luck taking pictures of adventurous toddlers! Every time I tried to get a pic, she would lunge at the camera lens. Apparently, this wore her out as she is now sleeping beside me.

 
Miss Meggy thinking my camera is a really cool toy ~ or about to get her!


Is that not the sweetest face you've ever seen????


Miss Meggy sleeping by daddy's arm ~ do ya think she thinks she's human?


Miss Meggy sleeping on our bed ~ just slightly bigger than the remote!