January 2013

Here are some pictures of this past January, some of you have seen some pics from instagram but for others who don't have here it is. We had some of the kids in our congregation over at our house, they're all cousins and brothers and sisters. The rest is when Abby and I finally had a weekend off together. Hope you like.

The kids playing dance central video game

Our "adopted kids"

our weekend off together heading out

Josh brought me to Sunken Gardens. Beautiful scenery.

So many varieties of palm trees and so tall

At the gift shop. Josh found finger puppets

We wanted to check the Chihuly museum. It's glass blown art, but we didn't have enough time. That thing is glass formed.

On our way home just before reaching the bridge, we pulled over to finish seeing the sunset.

Sunset right off the highway

We didn't wanna go home just yet so we went mini golfing

There was a portion that had live baby alligators and you can feed them. yes they are real.

Laundry time

So I found a recipe for laundry soap and an all-purpose cleaner i really like. There are 2 other blogs you can check out for these and other recipes, the second one has info on the price breakdown of making this laundry soap i like and how they put a scent in there's. i have not tried putting anything yet into mine for scent, i have skin allergy problems to certain detergents so wanted to make sure first that the soap didn't bother me-so far so good!

Here are the blogs:

http://trhr1972.blogspot.com/p/homemade-cleaning-supplies.html

http://thethriftycouple.com/2012/02/02/make-your-own-laundry-detergent-with-scent-like-tide-and-all-surf/

The laundry recipe I like is this:

(makes about 50 loads and the supplies you buy make about 3 batches)

2 cups borax

2 cups super washing soda

2 cups baking soda

1/2 bar zote soap (full bar if Fels Naptha )

I have an extra grater so i grate the soap and mix all ingredients in a plastic container with a lid. Use about 2 tbls. (or 1/8 cup) per load.

*You can also add Hydrogen peroxide and some baking soda to your washer if stuff is really dirty or use that with some water to soak clothes before washing (1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide with 1/2 cup baking soda and as much water you need)

The all - purpose cleaner:

1 spray bottle

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 tsp. borax

1/4 cup liquid soap (I used dawn to help with grease)

Mix all ingredients in bottle then fill to top with Hot water. You can also use they say about 20 drops of essential oil, but I have not tried that yet.

If anyone has tried these or some other recipes for homemade cleaning ect. products tell me how you liked them or what you did different! Email me or leave comment.

Some of my favorite recipes

Parmesan Polenta & Spicy Sausage

2 links sun-dried tomato chicken sausage, sliced

1 cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbls. chopped fresh oregano

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

2 (14.5-oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained 

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, divided

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

 3/4 cup quick cooking polenta

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, divided

Heat oil in a pan over medium, adding sausage. Cook sausage for 3 minutes until brown. Then add onion and saute for about 5 minutes till tender. Add garlic saute 30 seconds. Then oregano, pepper & tomato bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stir occasionally. Add 1/4 cup basil and cook 5 minutes.

Combine broth & water in a separate larger saucepan, bring to a boil. Add polenta, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes until thick, stir frequently with a whisk. Stir in half the cheese. 

Place 2/3 cup polenta in each of 4 bowls, then top with about 3/4 cup sauce. top with 1tbls. basil & 1tbls. cheese.

Roasted Asparagus & Tomato Penne Salad With Goat Cheese

2 cups penne

12 asparagus spears

12 cherry tomatoes

4 tbls. olive oil, divided

3/8 tsp. salt, divided

1/2 tsp. pepper, divided

1 tbls. minced shallots

2tbls. fresh lemon juice

1tbls. dijon mustard

1 tsp. dried herb de provence

1 1/2tsp. honey

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

2 cups baby arugula (i don't like so i used fresh spinach)

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Cook pasta according to directions, drain & put aside.

Place asparagus & tomatoes on baking tray. Drizzle with 1tbls. oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper. Toss gently to coat. Bake for 6 minutes until asparagus is crisp-tender. Remove from pan & then bake tomatoes an additional 4 minutes. Once done, let both tomatoes & asparagus rest. Cut asparagus into 1 inch lengths & halve tomatoes. 

Combine shallots & next 4 ingredients, through honey, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add remaining 3 tbls. oil, stirring constantly with whisk. stir in remaining salt & pepper.

Place pasta, asapragus, tomatoes, olive & arugula in a large bowl, toss. Drizzle juice mixture over & toss. Sprinkle with cheese.

* I also added chopped cooked chicken to this for some protein

Homemade Salsa

Roma tomatoes

onion

Jalapeno
Cilantro
Limes
Chipoltle powder
Garlic
salt

Use amounts needed according to how many people you are making it for. It does taste better if you make a few hours ahead to let it marinate. It is only good for about a couple days since it's all fresh veggies. It is the best!


Meatball & Escarole Soup
This is from my Gram and i love it! it's easy to make and great if you want meatballs but don't want to bake them.


 Meatballs:
1 lb. ground meat-loaf mix (beef, pork,veal)
2 slices white bread, soaked in water, squeezed dry
 1 small onion, grated
3 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 large egg
1/4 tsp. each salt & pepper



3 (14 1/2 oz.) cans chicken broth
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup chopped onion

1 (2-oz.) chunk parmesan cheese

3 cloves crushed garlic

2 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano or 1 1/2 tsp. dried

3/4 lb. escarole, torn into small pieces & washed

1 cup uncooked ditalini pasta

In a saucepan bring broth, tomato sauce & pepper to a boil.

To make meatballs, in a bowl combine ingredients and then shape them into 24 meatballs (about tablespoon full). Heat oil in non-stick pan, add meatballs to brown, turning about 6 minutes.

In a 5/6 quart slow cooker layer remaining ingredients except pasta in order listed. Place meatballs on top, pour hot broth over everything. Cover, cook on low 8-9 hours or high for 3 1/2-4 hours, until carrots are done. 

Add pasta, cover and cook on high for 15-18 minutes until pasta is al dente. Discard Parmesan chunk. Ladle soup into bowls.

Our new car!

So we ended up trading in our saab saturday morning for a 2012 Mazda 3! If you couldn't tell Josh is really excited about it.:)
Below is also some pictures from our work, as you can see from the last one it has been very busy with the holiday season, just now is slowing down.

some extra pictures

Here are some more recent pictures i got off my phone, most of them i posted on instagram, so this is for those of you who have not seen them yet.

this is from dad who met mr. chihuly at his museum in seattle

my first turkey which fed about 12 teenagers, i was just glad it turned out ok

grammy hammey taught me how to make pie from scratch, even the dough-this is strawberry rhubarb (one of my faves)

josh's first time wearing his winter coat for service, he was very happy

gram & i also made blueberry (one of josh's faves)

josh made mondo (its crab rangoon, but that what josh calls them)

my famous chocolate chip cookies

gram taught me how to make stuffed mushrooms, i heard they were good but i couldn't bear to eat them-i hate mushrooms

i made popovers for first time in my oven

family dinner at my house with gram & pop, and mom & dad

rosemary, lemon roasted chicken

dad slicing up a ham he cooked-it was so good1

Starting a new year

This past few months have just flown by so fast that we don't even know what happened. Just in the last 4 months we have changed job a couple times, dealt with the crazy holiday season at work, gotten sick, had district convention, 2-day assembly, had our congregation split & change meeting times (now monday nights & saturday mornings!) and had company. But we have made it through alive and are looking forward to this new year.
We also finally got a home phone and internet, so apologies for not keeping better in touch but we are looking forward to keeping up now. You can contact us through the blog, via email, skype, phone, xbox or instagram- i think that covers them all.
To those in Guam, we would love some "home" recipes! We have been trying to figure out how to make some Guam classics, but it's not going well. That is one thing we really miss- the food! And of course all our friends too!


We just had a recent visit from Gram & Pop Hammey so it gave us a little push to finish up some of our indoor projects on the house. It's pretty much finished now except for some trim painting. Take a look.....

laundry room finally finished -one grammy (the laundry queen) was proud of!

our dining/entry is getting there

the art corner in the laundry room

our guest room

The other day this is what i saw when i looked out the window: 

a buzzard chilling on our fence

Dessert tonight - homemade brownies with coffee ice cream, grammy h.'s hot fudge sauce and whip cream -yummy!

Here are the recipes for the brownies and gram's hot fudge sauce.

Brownies

2 cup white sugar
 2 tablespoons butter
 2 tablespoons water
 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
 2 eggs
 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
 1/2 teaspoon salt
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Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch square pan.
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and water. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies set up. Do not over bake! Cool in pan and cut into squares.

Grammy Hammey's Hot Fudge Sauce
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups chocolate chips (nestle)
1/2 cup white sugar
speck of salt

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir continuously till just comes to a boil.
Add:   1-2 tbsp butter
          1 tsp vanilla (real)
Stir until incorporated. Voila!
Serve over ice cream or strawberries.
Makes about 2 cups.