Wrapperless Eggroll

Ground meat (turkey, pork, or burger) I had a 1 ½ pounds of pork on hand

Next time I make this, I'll actually take pictures!

Minced Garlic

Chopped onion

Ginger, fresh or ground; I had ground on hand

Cayenne pepper

Black pepper

Cabbage, 1 head (Chopped)

Sauce:

Soy sauce

Honey

Ginger

Cayenne pepper

Onion powder

Garlic powder

As usual, I don’t measure anything. So, basically this is how I prepared this meal (one that my Honey said he’d like to have again. J Yay!)

Chopped a medium onion, add it and minced garlic to a skillet over medium heat, along with a tablespoon or so of oil (I used coconut oil.) Cook until onion begins to go translucent, scoot onions to edges of skillet and add ground meat to center. Season meat with ground ginger, cayenne and black pepper, stir the meat and seasonings to combine then brown meat.

As meat is browning, cut up your head of cabbage. I just used regular old cabbage, but nappa cabbage would be very good in this as well. Once meat is browned, or if you get impatient like me, once the meat is mostly browned , add the cabbage and cover. Every 5 minutes or so, stir the cabbage into the meat to encourage its wilting. While cabbage is cooking, combine soy sauce, honey, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Taste sauce and adjust to your liking. I ended up with maybe ¼  a cup (or more) of sauce. Pour this over everything and stir well. Serve! 

This would be excellent over a bed of rice, but we had it as is, and it was scrumptious!!!

Essential Oils: A Skeptics View

by Kathy Hutson 2/2016

Yes, I know…you are seeing them everywhere! I have never been a trend-rider, but I have always gravitated toward more natural (aka alternative) health remedies.  

The biggest buzz surrounding essential oils seems to be which brand has the best oils. I am a natural skeptic and never just run with what someone says until I’ve looked into it. So, I did some research and basically this is what I have discovered: as is true with everything I have run into; you get what you pay for.  However, at the same time, that DOESN’T mean that the most expensive (and most touted) essentials oils out there are the best of the best either. There is some middle ground.

The bottom line is that some of the oils are more expensive because of the materials they are made from, for example Helichrysum Italicum, Melissa, and Sacred Frankinsense to name a few. You can shop around and compare prices…but if you find a company that offers all of their oils at the same price point, or the price is too good to be true…RUN!

Essentially, you want a company with several or all of these attributes:

·         On the small side (not a corporation)

·         One geared toward aromatherapists or those educated in essential oils

·         One who has a certified aromatherapist on board; ideally they would be the owner

·         One who has a batch-specific MS/GC spec report readily available on each essential oil sold

·         Have MSDS readily available

·         Well established and with an excellent reputation

·         Has a relationship with their distillers

I have and use several different brands of oils, and the brands have grown as my essential oil education has grown. As far as I can tell, they all seem to work. J  I particularly like Native American Nutritionals which has joined with Rocky Mountain Oils. I also have several of Plant Therapy oils, which I purchased on Amazon (yes, I know…but free shipping is free shipping). Many of them were less expensive than other companies, not rock bottom, mind you, but they met my financial need at the time and I have been getting results from them, which is the whole reason for using them, so there you go.

In a later post I will go into what oils I use most. I will also include my cheat sheet of which oil treats what condition.

Here are some excellent articles that helped me in my research:

The Quality of Essential Oils (2010) by Jade Shutes, B.A., Dipl. AT, Cert. Herbalist

How to Choose High Quality Essential Oils (2015) from the Herbal Academy of New England

Which Essential Oil Companies Should YOU Buy From? My surprising findings […] (2013) The Hippy Homemaker Blog

Now…go out and get oily!!! J

Green Chile and Sour Cream Chicken Skillet

Green Chile and Sour Cream Chicken Skillet

      by Kathy Hutson

Chicken (boneless breast, tenders or boneless thighs)

½ Onion chopped

Black Beans (1 can, rinsed)

Tomatillo Salsa (I like Herdez)

Shredded Cheddar

Green Chiles

Chopped Jalapeños

Sour Cream (I had a 16 oz container)

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Mexican Oregano

Cumin

Heat a pan over medium heat with about a tablespoon of oil.  I used coconut oil, but just use what you have on hand. Season the chicken with Salt, Pepper, Mexican Oregano, Cumin, and Garlic Powder, and then add to a pan and brown the chicken.

Rough chop the onion while the first side of the chicken browns. Once browned, turn the chicken and then add the onion to the pan. Cover the pan and cook until the onion begins to get translucent. At this time, add the black beans, and about a quarter of the bottle of Tomatillo Salsa to the pan, reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan and cook until the chicken is cooked through completely.

During this time, make the Sour Cream and Chile sauce. Mix about ½ the container of sour cream with about ½ of the remainder of the Tomatillo Salsa (give or take…I don’t measure!)  Combine these together completely, then drain and stir in the cans of chopped Jalapeños, and Chiles. Next add some salt (½ teaspoon??), pepper, and garlic powder, (all of these are to taste) then stir well.  Taste the sauce and adjust your seasonings and add more Tomatillo salsa if you want—you don’t want the sauce to be real thick or super runny…somewhere in the middle.

Stir the chicken in the pan, and then cover it with Shredded Cheddar. Next cover it with the Sour Cream and Chile sauce. Cover the pan and sauté on low heat about 5 minutes.

We ate it just like this, but it would also be good served over rice, or you could even add some tortilla chips (I’d go lighter on the salt during cooking if you do that though.)

Enjoy!!! We sure did!

Oh! The Struggle!!! Why I've Been MIA

So….I have sucked at keeping my blog blogging. Life got complicated. It is still complicated. We are still here in Washington. The job I got before we moved here flew the coop this summer. I have been trying to figure things out since then.

Have you ever made a choice you were sure was the right choice, then every step to bring it into fruition was an absolute struggle?  Why doesn’t it ever occur to you that maybe if it was the “right” choice the struggle wouldn’t be there? Looking back on my career choice, that is how I am feeling. It has been a constant struggle of some sort.  But if I don’t do that, what am I going to do that will even come close to the income level I can currently make???

Now, I'm not saying that worthwhile things do not take effort and hard work. They do, but I don't really think it should be a constant fight. My struggle has felt very akin to hammering a 3 inch square peg into a 2 3/4 inch round hole.

Things have occurred in my last two job sites that have totally stripped my confidence, leaving me feeling utterly depleted and completely uninterested in continuing in my career field. Combine this with the above mentioned feeling of constant struggle and you get me and my current situation.

Foggy, snowy view from my door, fitting my foggy mental state.

I feel paralyzed. Apathetic. Lost. I normally would be filled with anxiety not having a job and watching my savings disappear, but this is where the apathy comes in…and it bothers me.  I feel like I’m in a bubble and all the feelings I should normally have are just words swirling around beyond my bubble. I can see them, I agree I should feel them…but I don’t. This is a new form of depression I have not felt…at least as long as I have currently felt it. I’m on my meds, so who knows what a mess I’d be if I were off them! Yikes!!!

So, I am trying to figure out how to bust the apathy bubble, find the right path, and start moving again. Right now, I will have to go back into my career field, but I plan on exploring other options. What those are, I don’t know, but I damned well plan on finding out!

Let me know if anyone out there has felt the same at one time or another. How did you move beyond your funk?

GOODBYE 2014, HELLO 2015

Ok, so I'm a few days late on welcoming in the new year, but we just got an internet connection. 

2014 cruised in rather sedate, then ended up being fairly eventful in the last few months of the year. I quit my job (very out of character for me, but I did for really good reasons that I will not go into here) I got engaged, I got a new job across the country, and then I moved…from Arkansas to Washington state! I also bought a 33 foot RV to use as our home in WA (rent is insane!!!), and so moved again from the hotel to the RV.  I have to say, the year ended pretty stressfully, but 2015 looks promising!!!

A moment during the last leg of our move from AR to WA.

I don’t do resolutions. I hate setting myself up for failure. :-/ I do like to set goals, however, and one of my big 2015 goals is to save money! That is where living in an RV is going to come into play. It had a good size startup cost since we sold a lot of things off before we move from Arkansas and had to replace some of those things in some form or fashion. That got me a new vacuum cleaner though -- Shark Rocket detachable vacuum with a pet hair brush! That should help with cat hair management.  How is it that cats’ can shed what looks to be their entire coat, and not be bald???  It’s another of life’s mysteries, evidently.

Another goal for 2015 is to get my new home organized, and keep it clean!  I use to keep my house clean, not white glove clean, but I never worried about unexpected visitors. Then I got a job that did its best to take over my life, and I gained my Honey, and my house took the brunt of the neglect. At least there is not going to be a huge house to clean!

Getting myself in better shape is also something I need to address. As I get in the grove of my new life in the Pacific Northwest, I want to make sure to put aside time for walking or other exercise. One problem I am faced with in the winter months is that it gets dark around here at 4:30!!! Talk about short days!

I hope you have a great new year and meet all of your resolutions or goals! Take care!!!

New Chapter!

Well, a lot has happened in the last month. We moved over 2000 miles away, I started a new job the same week that we arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and we just purchased a RV! 

Our new Jayflight 33RLDS

We decided that we would save some money by purchasing an RV and living in it at an RV park for a year or two and sock away money.  Although, at the moment we are living in a hotel room until we can get the RV at the site. That should be at the end of the week. I am soooo ready to have my things where I can actually find them!!!

I'll get back to more productive and informative posts once I am settled & organized in my new place.

Sorry for my absence!!!

Sorry for not having any new posts. We are in the midst of a sudden move! So, the likelihood of my being able to finish my stair project is slim to none at the moment.

When I am able I will post more. In the meantime, here's a picture of my cat! LOL!