My hero's have always been cowboys, well...

not mine. My hero has always been a janitor. You see my dad is my hero, and to the same extent so has my mother.Today I was reminded of the frailty of life. I went to visit my parents today, i was greeted by my parents dogs, and mom. I asked where dad was and he was already in bed. Now dad being bed early isn't weird thong for me, but seeing him with breathing machine on is. He told me he was just tired, and need a little extra rest. I kissed him told him I loved him, and left the room. That is when I started to cry.My dad has always been the strongest man I know. He never missed work, never bitched about being sore or sick. That has changed in the past few years. You see my pops has congestive heart failure, he only has one working lung, and a bone disease that is slowly killing him. Yet everyday he goes to work, he doesn't want anyone thinking he is a bum. To see him, in bed at 430 and having been in bed since 1130 wasn't something I am used too.

I am a mommas boy. My mom is the single strongest woman I know. She has buried 3 kids, and is watching the man she loves slow go down hill. She takes care of everything that she, my dad and their pet's need. She is the butcher , the baker and the candlestick maker. Meaning she wears all the hats. I call her every day, mostly to hear her voice, but to also see how she is doing. People don't realize what others go through, I am blessed. I am healthy, I have a loving growing family. But yet I still need to know how they are.

Be mind full of the words we use for football, baseball player , actors etc. They may be cool, but rarely are they heroes.

Hamburger stew

With the weather turning a bit on the chilly side, I decided today I was going to make a stew for supper. It isn't fancy, but it is very simple. 1 pound of ground beef, 1/2 pound of bacon(roughly cut), 1 can cream of cheddar soup, 1 can of carrots, corn,5 golden potatoes(roughly chopped) and 1 can of cream of chicken soup. Add 2 cups of water and 2 tbls of beef bullion. Now I am cooking this in a dutch oven at 325, but you could cook this in a crock pot, or on the stove top. I am going to cook this all afternoon, but it could be done as soon as the ground beef is. I love trying differentr things, and this just sounded good for the breezy day we are having.

Beef pot pie

Tonight's beef pot pie is a little less then normal, I didn't have potatoes, so i used french fries. They're potatoes right? I started with a trip to Fareway to get a pound of stew meat, this is basically cubed top sirloin. I seasoned the meat with a little salt, a Little pepper, some garlic salt, onion salt and a touch of cayenne pepper. I cooked that in 2 tbls of butter( that will make my wife not so happy). After the meat was 50 percent cooked i added 2 cups of beef broth. i made these with some beef bouillon I simmered this for 15 minutes, then added some corn starch to thicken it. I then cut up some french fries, added them a 2 cups of frozen veggies to the mixture, cooked that for 5 minutes. Into the pie tin we go. after letting it rest for a few seconds, I placed a unrolled can of crescent rolls over then, brushed it with a whipped egg. Baked it in the oven for 25 minutes. the smell has made me make a stew next week.

Prep time 25 mins

cook time 25 mins

As the little man crawls

As I sit and type this, our little man is making his way over to me. I love watching him make his way around the house. I also love hearing Olivia ask me how he could get there, then she answers he crawled daddy, he crawled". I know life can't stay this simple, and I know there are going to be challenges, but until that time I am going to enjoy these days. I am going a tad bit stir crazy, as my only communication i have had for the last few days is with the kiddos, while Olivia can hold a conversation with me, I can only talk about Sponge bob so much. My life revolves around my family, and my job. I hate not being a work, but I also miss my family. The past few weeks have been rough, but this too will pass.

Today's meatloaf

Today I am making a non traditional meatloaf. I love meatloaf, but it can be very boring, so I like to liven things up a bit. I take one pound of ground beef, half pound of Italian sausage, and the eggs, oatmeal(not the instant kind). Then today I added 12oz of pumpkin puree. The smell is already great, and it has just started in the crock pot. I will be dishing up some mashed potatoes, and probably some corn for this meal.

On to a separate subject on food. This last Saturday was my 20th reunion for High school. We didn't go, but I still can't justify spending 45 dollars a plate in this day and age. 90 dollars will buy grocery for us for about a week. I don't enjoy eating out, you see I work in the restaurant business, and have for a very long time. So I prefer to eat at home, and love it when I am surprised by my wife ,who is an amazing cook, and she makes supper. My life is about being frugal, and loving my family.

Fun in the crock pot

Today I wasn't sure what I was going to make. The last few nights we have had a variety of just thrown together food. On Sunday Rachel made a dinner for me, it was father's day. I enjoyed it greatly. Last night I made supper that consisted of a pound of ground turkey, seasoned mexicany, a can of corn, and some fajita seasoned uncle Ben's. It was Delicious, but tonight I wanted a real meal. I went off to the store today with the little ones in tow. I got the usual stuff, buns, meat, formula etc. I really wanted roast, just not sure if I wanted beef or pork roast. I couldn't make the decision, so I got both. If you look hard enough, you can find roast pretty inexpensive. I look for the meat that needs to be eaten or frozen in the next few days. As we were leaving I asked Olivia if she wanted to have big carrots or little carrots, she wanted little. She then said she wanted sweet potatoes, we are having sweet potatoes. Tonight I seasoned the roast with Chipolte seasoning from Miss dash. It has no salt, which is cool because we all could use a little less salt. And if you are wondering tonight we are having pork roast.

For my sister

Today I painted a picture for my sister Sarah. She gave me a color scheme, but I had complete control of the way things looked. I enjoy doing this, I have for awhile. I used to find my release in drinking, drugs and what not, but I have now turn my attention to doing this. I hope she enjoys this as much as I did making it. Sarah, I miss you. I wish you lived close, but you don't so I want you to see this and think of me.

Crock pot use..

Growing up my mom made the best food in the crock pot, I never understood why or how, but it was always awesome. As I started growing up I just didn't know how. In my mid thirties, I got married and started to try and find ways to use our crock pot, and at first everything tasted as if it had been boiled. I never understood it, I bought good meat, I used the right spices, hell I have cooking for as long as I can remember. But ever time it was the same, boiled, and tough food. One day as I was talking to my mother-in law Bev, I just asked. The answer was so simple, too much liquid. I was indeed boiling the food. That day forward my crock pot skills have become amazing. I make soups, casseroles, meatloaf, and anything else you can imagine in them. Tonight we are having bbq beef ribs in the crock pot. Not too shabby. They will cook for 11 hrs on low temp. I have already added the bbq so that it will cook in while I work.

My art work

I have started to do some painting again, and to be honest they are just thoughts that appear to me as I am going on with them. They are very unique and something I just enjoy doing. I am going to start selling them, I think, but for now they are just for friends and family.

Pumpkin, bacon alfredo pasta.

Last night I made a pasta sauce I thought as going to be a little on the weird tasting side. As it turned out it was rather delicious. I started by cooking the pasta, now I didn't have 1 lb of the same kind of pasta so I mixed and match two kinds. Then after it was cooked, I saved back one cup of the starch filled water. Drained the pasta, and started cooking the bacon, in the same pasta pot. Now I used 1 pound of bacon, roughly cut, and Rachel said that she would have liked even better if I had chopped the bacon a little smaller. After the bacon was completely cooked, I drained the grease(I poured over the cooked pasta). Added to that 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 15 oz of pureed pumpkin, and 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. After bring that to a boil, I returned the pasta back to the pot, and added the cup of starched water. After a good mixing it was done. Now normally when you try new things it takes a few bites to like it, but with this I new I had a keeper right away.

Total prep time 20 minutes

total cooking time 20 minutes