Everything pumpkin... and bacon!

My kid have this thing for Bacon... and Pumpkin (seems they have like for things before they become a trend).

While surfing the internet, I found a recipe for a pumpkin pie with a bacon crust...
If you try it let us know how it turns out! We already have too many pies scheduled for Thanksgiving...



Ingredients:

1 12 oz pack of bacon
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree or 1 can
3 eggs
1/4 cup walnut butter (or any nut butter or cheese if you choose to eat it, or leave it out completely, whatever)
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp anise seed

(or you can substitute canned pumpkin pie filling)

Line pie plate with bacon. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and drain off excess bacon grease.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add all the other ingredients. beat together then put in pie crust or just put the canned pie filling in.

Place extra bacon on the top... why, because more bacon is better!

Bake at 400 for approximately 45 minutes, then broil until bacon on top is crispy (for 5-10 mins).
Let cool a bit then drain extra bacon grease.

Enjoy.
Recipe curtsey of Caught some where in thyme blogspot

Everybody Poops

Everybody poops, but no one wants to talk about it.  Most don't even want to discuss it with their physician.  But one thing we all know is that poop stinks. So here is a new product you may want to consider investing in...

So what do you think... Real or Fake? 

 

Life is simple... Enjoy the journey!...

and laugh along the way.

Sometimes... I am my mom

And sometimes it scares me!










I miss my mom, she was a great lady.  I loved her with all my heart and there was probably not a thing, I would not have done for her.  Her last day on this earth was August 12, 2009 or that is what it says on her DC.  In her last few years she put some distance between us and it was not until recently that I figured out why.

Like I said, I would have done pretty much anything for my mom.  She gave me life, raised me, disciplined me, had my back when I was right, and was always there when I needed an answer. She was the type of mom I hope I was and am to my kids.

I was devastated when she died.  It was weeks before I could do more then put one foot in front of the other and it took me months to get through the grief and regain a sense of normal.  I can hardly  begin imagine how much worse it would have been without the emotional distance. So, as angry as I was when she pushed me away and hardly spoke to me, I now understand.

During the last couple of years, mom would only allow me to come and see her once a week. On that last day, after a short visit, I sat down on the sofa next to her to say goodbye, I sensed something different,  I asked "Mom, are you okay?, Do you need me to call the doctor?" Her response was "I have a bruise on my leg", She showed me the bruise and I said, "watch it for a couple of days and if it doesn't get better maybe you should call the doctor", then, in a casual tone, I said, "I love you, I'll see you next week".  I remember, at that moment, mom did something unusual, something she had not done in several years, she kissed me softly on the cheek and quietly whispered, " I Love You" and I remember the look of pure love in mom's eyes. That look spoke volumes in seconds, and at that moment, something inside me knew, something inside me didn't want to know and something inside me put it in a box so my heart wouldn't break right then and there so it would be safe and I could deal with trying to understand in time. It was a look of love so deep, so full and so innocent. At that moment, I was connected, I knew everything there was to know, but could put none of it in words. In words, that don't even come close, it was, I love you I'm sorry Don't cry It's time Thank you Your beautiful I'm okay You will be okay  I will always be here for you I will see you soon Don't worry and so much more. It is not something that one can ever explain to another, it has to be experienced to be understood.

Looking back now, I remember the flash of feelings, that never really registered in my conscious mind, the ones that told me mom was going to die and this was the last time I would see her. I understood it, all of it, even though my brain denied it. In a second, I knew everything there is to know... and in that same second, it slipped through my fingers, because you just can't hold onto it in the realm of time and space, in the here and now. My mom shared it with me, she showed it to me... all of it.

I know that I now know, and when I get there... it will be like going home.  In the mean time, I will strive to cherish the flashes of the pure love from the universe when ever I can.

It's true...

Life is simple... enjoy the journey!

More everything pumpkin...

I needed a little break from all the political nonsense so here is a something more for the season...

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread - (lightened up)

Yields 8 mini loaves or 2 regular

A lightened up Pumpkin Cream Cheese bread that everyone will love!!

Prep Time - 20 min
Cook Time - 25 min
Total Time - 1 hr

 

Pumpkin Bread

2 cups canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1 egg whites
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 t baking soda
2 t pumpkin pie spice


Cream Cheese filling
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese (room temperature or softened slightly)
4 tbsp sugar
1 egg
2 tsp flour
1 tsp vanilla


Instructions

Preheat oven to 350

Prepare one mini loaf pan (it should hold 8 loaves) or 2 9x5 loaf pans with nonstick spray.


For Bread Layers

In the bowl of your stand mixer or hand mixer combine pumpkin, eggs and egg white until smooth

In a separate medium bowl whisk together flour, sugars, baking soda & pumpkin pie spice

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixing until just smooth, set aside


For Cream Cheese Layer

In another bowl either for your stand mixer or hand mixer combine all ingredients until smooth


Bread Assembly

Pour or spoon half of the pumpkin bread mixture into the bottom of the mini loaf pan or the large loaf pan

Evenly divide the cream cheese mixture over the pumpkin bread mixture and smooth out using the back of a spoon

Pour the remaining pumpkin bread mixture over the cream cheese mixture, covering as much as you can

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean

Let cool for about 10-15 minutes and then remove from the pans


Notes

Each mini loaf is 9 WW+ points, so divide as needed based on how many slices you get from the loaf


Nutritional Info

Calories: 324 Total Fat: 2.8 g Saturated Fat: 1 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 85.2 mg
Sodium: 397.4 mg Total Carbs: 65.2 g Dietary Fiber: 2.5 g Sugars: 42.7 g Protein: 10.4 g

The blame game... Cut, Cap and Balance, lets try to be adults.

It's not the Democrats. It's not the Republicans. It's not your side or my side. It's the crap that we don't know about. We need to stand together to defeat the monster known as "Pork Barrel".

I read examples of government waste on the internet, things like 2.6 Million dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly, or a million dollar soccer field for detainees held at Guantanamo bay, 70 million dollars in bonuses being paid to IRS employees, 7 billion (with a B) dollars worth of military equipment being left behind in Afghanistan. But where does the general public find the evidence of this. Where do we see the appropriations bills. This is the crazy stuff that has to stop.

7 billion dollars worth of military equipment... that will have to eventually be replaced?! Where is the sense in this?

The mainstream media talks about the stuff that they know scares us.  Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, Veterans benefits etc etc.  I don't want to hear about that until you tell me why we are spending 384,949 to study Sexual Conflict, Social Behavior and the Evolution of Waterfowl Genitalia. Do I really need to know how a birds dick has evolved and how it decides to have sex with another bird?!?! Or wait here is a good one, how about the $60,000.00 spent by the IRS for a parody film of Star Trek and a parody film of Gilligan's Island that stared IRS employees. My daughter, Andrea, is a stage actress, can I get $60k for her to do a film... I think not. Let's see then there was $1.5 Million to Brigham and Women's Hospital to study why 3/4 of lesbians in the US are overweight and most gay males are not or 2.7 million to study why lesbians have more vulnerability to hazardous drinking.  Don't misunderstand, I have nothing against gay and lesbian people, I have dear friends of both.  The question is why do we need to study this shit, or spend $505,000.00 to promote specialty hair and beauty products for CATS AND DOGS! But my favorite, $10,000.00 for... wait for it...your gunna love this one... talking urinal cakes. Yes, that is correct, TALKING URINAL CAKES! Oh, that might not count because it was in 2012.   Go check it out some of these for yourself.



 Not only do we need to limit congressional compensation and benefits we need to cut the pork... Congress needs to stop acting like toddlers, stop playing games to get their way and start acting like adults. Things like spending more money shutting down the open air memorial than it costs to leave it open and telling fisherman that they can't fish in the open water of the Everglades National park until the government opens back up is stupid and childish.  Get a grip congress... or we will have to start a movement to convene a 5th amendment convention and oust all of you!

Remember when...

Life was Simple ... we enjoyed the journey.

The Fox is Guarding the Hen House! - warning strong language.

The more I read the more I understand the conspiracy theorists, preppers and occupy movement.  Don't misunderstand me... I am not going down their path, but I can see why they are on it.

As I said yesterday, I am not a political aficionado, hell, I can't even spell it without spell check. I do the daily just like most of America.  With all the BS that has been flying since Obama took office, I have been trying to make the time to better understand what is going on in our government. I find it to be very "heavy stuff".  It could easily become a full time job to read, sort and understand all of the information that is available.

So, my main focus these past couple of days has been understanding the federal budget, the government shut down and the waste in our government.

Right now, it is my opinion that, if we cut government waste, we can truly lower taxes. I believe that most Americans feel the same way, but, like me, don't know where the waste really is. I also feel that, cutting waste will cause a chain reaction, both good and bad.

The pros, if we cut waste and lower taxes, individuals and small business will have more money. More money equals more spending and more spending equals more jobs and a better economy.  The cons, if we cut out all the BS spending for things like, oh let me see here...2.6 million dollars to teach Chinese hookers to drink responsibly or $175,587 dollars to determine if cocaine makes Japanese quail engage is sexually risky behavior (WTF, yes you read it right), someone will lose a job and some politician will be pissed off because he promised his buddy that he would get it passed if only his buddy would vote on HB 123. This is the bull shit that most Americans don't know about and that we don't need.

Sorry about your luck if you are the ones teaching the Chinese hookers (oh wait, that should say prostitutes) about drinking, your going to have to get a real job.

We have to feel the pain. Yes, I know that is harsh, I know more people will lose jobs. But, when you have already lost your job because the financial system, the one that you trusted, fucked up and the company you worked for ended up shutting down and no one would hire you because you're a female in a male-dominated industry, who is over prime age for the workforce... so you start your own company because there wasn't an unemployment extension,(not that it was enough anyway), and the unemployment you were receiving ran out... then you're told, by the government, that you didn't work your ass off to build your company in the worst economic time since the great depression, the government did... ya, I am a little harsh!

 I AM A TRUE AMERICAN, I AM MAKING IT WITHOUT A HAND-OUT FROM THE GOVERNMENT!

Oh, and I have a budget!

So, as my painter Nick would say, Kiss my ass!

Back to the point, I downloaded a copy of the 2013 proposed budget (you can too, just click the link). It is 256 pages long and not really an easy read (so far I am on pg 6)... but I will read on. There appear to be several supplements to read when I am done with the budget. Somewhere along the line I hope to find all the junk spending, the stuff that really does not benefit the American people.  When I do, I will make a list for all of you who are doing the daily! 

Maybe we should get together and write a budget... or move to the mountains in Utah and prepare for the end of life as we know it. 

On another note, from the Washington Examiner...

--At the World War II Memorial on The Mall in Washington, where veterans have been staging protests to keep it open, Washington Examiner's Charlie Spiering reports that at least seven officials were dispatched Wednesday morning to set up a ring of barricades to block tourists from the memorial. That is two more than the State Department had in Benghazi a year ago on the night of the terrorist attack that killed four, including the U.S. ambassador.

and...

-- National Park Officials closed down the educational Claude Moore Colonial Farm near the CIA in McLean, Va., even though the federal government doesn't fund or staff the park popular with children and schools. Just because the privately-operated park is on Park Service land, making the federal government simply its landlord, the agency decided to close it.

I add this, The WWII Memorial is a 24-hour open air memorial. The Claude Moore Colonial Farm has been operated for 32 yrs after it was cut from the budget in 1980...

I think our government is playing games with us.  I still believe...

Life is simple... enjoy the journey!

Hope and Change... Where Do We Start, Procol Harum

Hope and Change... 

Let's start with change... Hope is for things you can't change, like 7 lost sailors at sea.  You can hope, you can help, but you can not change the fact that they are lost.

I hear people talking about what should and should not change.  I hear people complaining about the congressional system. I hear people complaining about society and gun control and kids out of control and debt out of control...  Then there was the sequestration and now the government shut down. So, let's start with the change... Oh, by the way, remember how they (the infamous they again) tried to scare us with the sequestration.  It just vanished out of the news media... on to the next topic to scare the masses into submission.

I don't know how to start the process of change... like most, I have ideas on what I think should be done, but I am by no means a political aficionado. I am like the masses who wake up every morning, go to work, make a living... doing the daily. Why should I even talk about this, what qualifies me you ask... nothing really, well other than being an American and having been a single mom raising four children on $950.00 a month, paying a mortgage and a car payment with no welfare, and still managed to have a savings account. Yea that might qualify me to voice an opinion... 

You wonder how I did that, it was called a budget. If it was not in the budget, it was not, PERIOD. If it needed to be, the budget got adjusted... NOT INCREASED. 

I wonder how many Americans know that this country has not had a real federal budget since 1997.  That's correct 1997 and we wonder why we are in such a mess. Some may call me out on this but is seems the "Budget" that was passed in 2009 was nothing more than a spending bill full of earmark projects. The following year... no budget because it was a midterm election year and a budget might have a negative impact on the election. On and on the excuses go... I mean reasons.

So, how have we continued to run this county with out a budget? Easy, with a whole lot of continuing resolutions and printing more money... and disaster looms...

Oh, change, that's right we were talking about change.  Let's start by changing the congressional compensation package.  Take a look at the congressional salaries and allowances as published by the Congressional Research Service (bet they are paid by the government too!). 

Look closely.  For example the MRA benefit, Members' representational allowance. For 2011 the MRA range was from $1,356,975 to $1,671,596, with an average of $1,446,009.00 each. Almost a million and a half dollars, EACH! And that is just one of the benefits.

I think we should go back to congress being a service and not a career. Let's stop paying them, $174K a year (plus all these benefits). Their salary is almost three and a half times what the average American family earns, at a median household income of $51K a year.  Let's start paying them what our combat soldiers are paid, with the same benefits. Better yet, pay them on the same scale as the Military Reservist are paid for their part time service.  Then require that they only be in session one weekend a month and two weeks over the summer. Let them use their "summer vacation" like our reservists do to serve our county. Then they can go back to their regular jobs and work like the rest of us, pay for their own healthcare and retirement.  Maybe then we can get people into office who really want to serve this great country and cut out all the BULL SHIT!  

And for those who do not know, most combat soldiers with a family (the guys who fight for our freedoms), qualify for food stamps and our housed in what is termed "Sub-standard Housing".

Let's start there... then let's look at the budget and start trimming the fat. 

I leave you with the lyrics to a song... read them carefully.

I know if I'd been wiser this would never have occurred
but I wallowed in my blindness so it's plain that I deserve
for the sin of self-indulgence when the truth was writ quite clear
I must spend my life amongst the dead who spend their lives in fear
of a death that they're not sure of, of a life they can't control

It's all so simple really if you just look to your soul

Some say that I'm a wise man, some think that I'm a fool
It doesn't matter either way: I'll be a wise man's fool

For the lesson lies in learning and by teaching I'll be taught
for there's nothing hidden anywhere, it's all there to be sought
And so if you know anything look closely at the time
at others who remain untrue and don't commit that crime

~Procol Harum, Shine On Brightly

I want government to go back to being like life...

Life is simple... enjoy the journey.