Wordless Wednesday - Angry Birds

Trudging along..

I had high hopes for February. Number one, it wasn’t January.

On February 1st we found out Moose now has diabetes most likely due to the prednisone that he’s been on for over 6 mths. We had been weaning him off the pred when we got this new diagnosis and have started him on 2 other meds since.

The first few days were a nightmare. He drank buckets of water and peed buckets too, often not being able to hold it. I can’t tell you how many times I have steam mopped my kitchen floor in the past 2 weeks, but lets just say, more than once a day on average.

We have to take his blood glucose every 4 hours, which means drawing blood. No fun. We also give him insulin every 8hrs, which means setting the alarm to get up at midnight to give him a dose, and letting him out again for the 12th time of the day, then getting a few more hours of sleep before he wakes us back up at 3am or 4am to pee again. We haven’t been getting much sleep.

The first few days of trying to get blood had me in tears. In desperation, I finally went on YouTube of all places and typed in “taking a blood sample from your dog” and lo and behold, I found lots and lots of videos and a new way to draw blood that is painless for Moose, which makes Mama very, very happy. We take his blood samples from inside his front lip and he doesn’t even flinch. I’m tellin’ ya, I have the most wonderful dog in the world. He’s been through so much and he’s still such a trooper.

So his glucose levels are finally coming down. We are breathing a huge sigh of relief.

This is going to be a lifestyle change for all of us, but we would do anything for our precious baby.

If you have a dog with diabetes, I'd love to hear from you. Any tips, suggestions, or just a few words to let me know it's going to be ok will really boost my spirits.

Roasted Parmesan Creamed Onions

Most of you who have read this blog for any amount of time know what an onion freak I am.

Up until this point in my life caramelized onions were my nirvana. Sticky, sweet and golden brown goodness. I could sit with a pan full and eat them until they are gone. Better than any candy, or cookie in my book.

Then I came across these.

HEAVEN IN A PAN!

If you are an onion lover like me, YOU MUST MAKE THESE.

Creamy, sweet and caramelized. Melt in your mouth good. I ate them straight out of the pan, and then forced myself to stop when I looked down and realized half were gone.

I found this recipe on Proud Italian Cook. I love her site. Every time Marie posts a recipe the words "I have to make this" come out of my mouth. I have one file just filled with her recipes alone. If you haven't visited Marie's site I highly urge you to get your Italian on and try any of the deliciousness she makes.

I’m not a big red meat eater, but a few times a year John and I will get a nice rib eye and grill it up. I’m so looking forward to making these creamed onions to go with that big fat steak for Valentines Day. Red meat and onions for Valentines, yup, that's how we roll.



Roasted Parmesan Creamed Onions
recipe from Proud Italian Cook
4 medium to large yellow onions
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup of white wine
Parmesan cheese

Peel and slice the onions into ¼ inch thick slices. Carefully place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, keeping the rings intact. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 375 for about 15 minutes.

While the onions are roasting, place the heavy cream and wine in a small saucepan and simmer until it starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and set aside.

After the onions are out of the oven, carefully transfer them to a shallow baking dish, again, keeping the rings intact. (I skip this step and keep them on the baking sheet). Slowly pour the cream sauce over all the onions. You can add more black pepper at this point if you’d like. Raise the oven temp to 450. Sprinkle each onion with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese.

Cover baking dish with foil and return to the oven for another 20 – 25 minutes. Remove foil and let the onions get nice and brown and caramelized for about 5 more minutes.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Brownie Babies & a Giveaway

We are a family that is all about composting. We have a big composter in the back yard, and even though my soil is frozen solid, we still save our scraps and I throw them on the pile or in one of the frozen raised beds.

Now you're probably wondering why I'm writing about composting when I have a post titled Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Brownie Babies huh?

Well the nice folks at Hefty sent me some Hefty Basics compostable dinnerware and some coupons for me to give away to 3 lucky blog followers. I know it seems silly to get excited about paper plates but I'm so happy to know that big companies like Hefty really care about the environment and designed a plate that I can rinse and thrown into the compost pile.

These plates are stronger than everyday plates. They are biodegradable and are free of inks, dyes and coatings. I think that's kinda cool, and if I'm going to buy disposable plates, I don't want them sitting in a landfill for 10 years. Hefty has also partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation on a quest to plant 10,000 trees for every 10 new likes on Facebook. They also sent me a cool cover letter printed on recycled paper embedded with wildflower seeds that I can plant whenever I can see the grass again!

So if you'd like to win a coupon for a free package of Hefty Basics Paper Plates, leave me a comment answering this question....

Do you compost?

If you're a follower, let me know, I'll give ya 2 chances to win instead of 1. Not a follower....well come on and join and you'll get 2 chances too.

I'll choose the 3 winners on Tuesday, February 15th by midnight EST.

I received this product to review and share. The 3 winning coupons were provided by Hefty.

Now on to the brownie babies!

Brownie Babies photographed on a Hefty basics plate no less. Huh, wonder how that happened???

I made these brownie bites for the Super Bowl. I thought they would be easy to just pick up and off you go.

I often make brownies in cupcake pans cause they are super transportable for the kids and cause, well they just look damn cute, the peanut butter filling doesn't hurt too much either.

You can top these anyway you like. I used whipped cream and cherries but feel free to put whatever you like on top.




Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Babies
recipe from Kraft Foods.
1 pkg (19 – 21oz brownie mix, 13x9 size) + ingredients to make the brownies.
1 – 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
¼ cup peanut butter
½ teaspoon vanilla

Oven to 350. Prepare the brownie mix as directed on package. Spoon batter (about 2/3 of the way up) into 20 paper lined muffin cups.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg, peanut butter and vanilla with a mixer until blended. Spoon 1 rounded tablespoon into the center of the batter in each cup, pressing it lightly into the batter. Bake for 30 minutes or until centers are set. Place on a rack to cool.

Wordless Wednesday~

Veggie and Barley Soup

It is so unbelievably hard for me to write down my soup recipes.

I don't know if you are like me, but soup is kind of a free form art for me.

I never really make it the same way twice.

I use up whatever veggies I have and throw in some frozen organic ones from Trader Joes. I just kinda make due with whatever I have on hand, so it's really a struggle for me to be able to blog a soup recipe, but I'm going to try to at least give you some direction, cause I think everyone should be able to make a decent soup.




Since nothing is growing in the garden at this time of year (yeah there is still a good 2 feet of snow on the ground) I utilize frozen veggies in this soup.

Oh, I have to tell you one little secret that my family has no clue about. I've been doing it for years and they have no idea.....ok..here it is...I put diced turnips in my veggies soup and tell them all it's potato.



They have no clue and eat it right up. I suppose if any of them read this post my secret is no more huh?

Veggie & Barley Soup
recipe from Lisa@ The Cutting Edge of Ordinary
8 - 10 cups chicken broth or stock or a mixture of both
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, sliced thick
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1/2 - 3/4 cup pearl barley
1/2 of a bag of frozen mixed vegetable
1/2 of a bag of frozen diced turnips
small handful of frozen peas
salt & pepper to taste

In a large stock pot heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add in the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the broth or stock to the pot. Add in the carrots and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer. Add in barley and frozen vegetables and simmer for an hour - hour and a half or so, or until the vegetables and barley are cooked.

Just a little footnote.....I have a very unhappy hubby this morning. Steelers lost. I want to say there is always next year but I'm sure that's the last thing he wants to hear today :(

Wordless Wednesday~