Tomorrow the snow is supposed to come.  We’ve also made it to January 11, 2012, without a major snowfall yet.  The most we’ve had so far, is about 2 inches and that was long gone already.  The weathermen tell us to expect 5-7 inches of white fluffy snow, that will be blown around like crazy, because of the wind.

So, no knit-night for us tomorrow!  We will be staying home!  Darn it all.  We went grocery shopping yesterday, so we don’t have to go shopping tomorrow.  I will probably have to work both my jobs tomorrow, because the snow isn’t going to be fast and furious. I’ll have to dig out the boots.

Back in November of 2010 (based on the comment I left on a blog post), Emily and I made Stuffed Acorn Squash and White Bean Chicken Chili.  I’ll be darned if I remember what recipe we used for the white chili.  I just remember it being good.  Then I remembered the yummy soup I made once for a Lenten soup and sandwich supper, that everyone liked and tried to remember where that was from.  Sheesh.  I googled chicken soup with spinach and rosemary and found this link:  Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup  Phew!

It will be fun to take pictures of snow, once we get it!  I took pictures of the yard, the other day, so I could document our snowlessness.  They are still on the camera, though!

Our Christmas tree from this year. It was a combination of a balsam and a fraser fir!  I’d never heard of that before.  My coolest gifts were a Mac Mini and a small 4-cup Cuisinart Food Processor!  The kids are having fun learning how to use the food processor.  Some day I won’t have to work so much and I can have a little more time to play with it.  I’m still working hard on getting my computer set up with my old files and trying to navigate a Mac.

A little girl needs your help.  She is 5 and just found she needs glasses.  She needs to know that there are lot of girls out there who wear glasses and are proud of it!  I myself got my first pair of glasses when I was 5, too. I really don’t remember a time, when glasses weren’t part of my life.  I’m 50 now, so I’ve been wearing glasses for 45 years now!

Girls with Glasses blog post!/

My childhood family has 4 girls with glasses and my current family has 3 girls with glasses! (Plus my dad wears glasses and so does my husband!)

3 cups water
1-1/2 pounds stewing meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 medium onion, diced
4 carrots, diced
14-1/2 oz can tomatoes
2 tsp salt
10-oz package frozen mixed vegetables OR your choice of frozen vegetables
1 Tbsp dried basil
1/2 cup dried vermicelli (We couldn’t find vermicelli, so we used orzo instead.)
1 tsp dried oregano
Added 1 15-oz can cannellini beans, because minestrone should have beans in it
grated Parmesan cheese

1. Combine all ingredients in slow-cooker. Stir well.

2. Cover. Cook on Low 10-12 hours or on High 4-5 hours

3. Top individual servings with Parmesan cheese

Also, we don’t add that much salt to our food.  We have sea salt in a grinder and I probably just added a couple turns of that.  I’m sure it wasn’t 2 teaspoons.

The 3 of us (Gary, Emily, and me) all loved it!  It was gone in a matter of days.

California Chicken

3-lb chicken, quartered
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup chili sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp chopped green peppers
3 medium oragnes, peeled and separated into sections  OR
1 13-1/2 oz can mandarin oranges

1. Arrange chicken in slow cooker.

2. In separate bowl, combine juice, chili sauce, soy sauce, molasses, dry mustard and garlic salt.  Pour over chicken.

3. Cover; cook on Low 8-9 hours

4. Stir in green peppers and oranges. Heat 30 minutes longer.

Variation:

Stir 1 tsp curry powder in with sauces and seasonings.

Stir 1 small can pineapple chunks and juice in with green peppers and oranges.

Plus, I made Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce in the crockpot, from Two Peas and Their Pod.

I love using my crockpot, because you can set it up with a minimum of work, then go about your day, and supper’s made when you come home at 5 or 6pm. I made the applesauce during the night, then transfered the applesauce to a container to go in the fridge, washed the crock, and got the California Chicken all set to go.  I’ve used it 3 times in the past two weeks.

Today, it’s been snowing all day!  There are probably 7-9 inches on the driveway and it was very much NOT done snowing yet.  The snow is almost up to Jasmine’s belly.  I need to measure from belly to end of legs, to find out how many inches that is.  Emily did not get a snow day and my clinic hours went on, as scheduled, so no slacking for us! I’m glad I had nowhere to go tonight!

We are hoping that the flu passes us by. So far we””””ve been lucky, although Emily and I recently had colds.  Mine is still here, but getting better everyday.  So far, Gary has still been healthy.  Emily is hoping they DON”T have a “flu-cation” from school.  She thinks it””””s bad enough that we have to make up the wintry days on June 12th and June 15th.

Today, the sun is shining and the temperature is in the high 50””””s, which is a huge improvement over last week””””s rain. A few blocks from us, a sewer collapsed, so a major intersection is going to closed off for a month.  Ugh. I hope the time goes fast.

• February – Kiss Me (hot purple in Bernat handicrafter yarn on US 7 needles – Lisa Millan of Digknitty)
• Mid-February – Circle Cloth (Tan Sugar’n Cream and Fiesta Peaches & Creme on US 7 needles – Hakucho)
• March – Pot O’ Gold (Yellow Peaches & Creme on US 7 needles – Emily Jagos)
• Mid-March – The Windmill Dishcloth (Aqua Mist Peaches & Cream and Teal Sugar’n Cream on US 7 needles – Sew-Funky)
• April – Illusion Egg Hunt (White Peaches & Creme, Light green Peaches & Creme, Hot Purple Bernat Handicrafter on US 7 needles – Deborah C. Tilley)

Also, since we happened to be driving through Fond Du Lac today, and stopped at Animal Outfitters to buy some Sam’s Yams sweet potato treats.  Jasmine’s Gotcha Day is in 2 weeks and we wanted to get her a special treat.  You can see that she enjoyed her slice of dehydrated sweet potato.  It is crunchy and has ridges, so it’s supposed to help keep teeth clean.

Sarah got a new cellphone today.  It’s an LG Banter.  It looks pretty neat and takes awesome pictures.  She will have fun with it.

It’s so cold out today. We did reach the 40′s, but that chilly northeast wind took away any semblance of warmth, that that temp might have had. Brrr. DH had to shoot pictures at a soccer game and was just complaining how cold he was. Standing out at recess was no fun, either. I wonder when spring will actually come.

The tulips keep getting bigger and the grape hyacinths are getting more purple by the day. Just imagine the leaves and the green grass we could have, if it would only warm up. Emily and I have planted a whole slew of things to go outside, in May: Zinnias, Cosmos, Coleus, Fennel, Parsley, Oregano, Basil, Lettuce, Poppies, and some others. We also bought some dahlias (pinkish/purple and white) and some Centerfold Lilies, also to go outside, when it’s a bit warmer. I can’t wait!

This week has been hard, because Emily has been trying to get caught up with stuff she missed and panicking when she checks Edline and sees less than “A’s”. LOL! Then going to bed frustrated because it all seemed so hopeless. So, she is down to just making up a test, that she will get done on Monday, so she is much more relaxed now.

Also, the solo and ensemble music festival is tomorrow. She is doing a flute solo, flute duet, and flute choir. I think she will be very happy when that’s all done, too.

Last night, she used my Tranquil Mint body wash and I heated up a hot pack for her neck with lavender and oatmeal in it, to help her relax. She was so wound up last night. I just felt so bad.

8-9 inches of snow today, when they originally predicted about 3-5. Ha! Winter still has a hold on us. Thankfully spring is on the way.

Emily found her voice, in a 4H play today. I would have never guessed that my 16yo daughter’s voice could fill up a high school auditorium. Wow!

I’m looking forward to going to Z-spot this morning and getting a chai latte for 50 cents less, since we will be sporting our “I Voted” stickers. DH will probably take advantage of the free cup of coffee at Starbucks. I don’t like plain coffee, so the free coffee doesn’t do me much good. Go Obama!