All posts by Melissa

Not Me Monday-First time for everything

Well,, it has been an interesting couple days. 

 No I did not actually write a controversial post(that you may or may not have read)on my blog and then I definately did not press the publish button because that would just not be asking for someone to come out of the wood work and post a rude comment!  I know, I know, I was asking for it, but I guess I just was really(really) not prepared for how it would make me feel.  I am not(this is true), a very out spoken person and I really don’t want to offend people or anything, but I felt it was something I needed to put out there(is this not my blog?). 

So I did not actually agonize over this the last couple days and wonder if I should have posted it at all, and then wonder what you all were thinking of me! 

Ok, sob story done.  So, let’s see. Saturday we did not laze around most of the day when we had planned to clean out the garage…Nope, we are too responsible for that!  We also did not head to 7-11 where we did not buy slurpees and then head to the park. I did not forget to take the camera so that I could have a picture to post here. Grrrr :)

Well, that’s all I could think of this time! Hopefully the next one will be a bit more interesting :)

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

You may also want to visit my Favorite Things Tuesday! This weeks theme will be “Favorite Things About- Your Town”  . Check out the post on Tuesday and add your link!

Obama Universal Health Care Plan


Losing our freedoms with every thing he touches!  I haven’t been keeping up on Obama’s universal health care plan as much as I should have. Today I finally was able to find clear details on this health care bill that he passed on Tuesday, without any republican votes I might add.Grrrrrr. This makes me sooooooo mad!! I want to scream! I’m not going to reprint the article, but I’ll just give you the link so you can go and read it.

http://www.christianpf.com/obamas-new-health-care-bill-means-for-us/

Friends,, we are being FORCED to comply with this plan! Every person in this country is going to be forced to have health insurance by 2014 whether you want it or not, or else,, wait for it,,,, PAY A FINE!  Employers are going to be forced to offer health insurance to thier employees,, or else,,,PAY A FINE of around $2000 per employee!! 

Where is our freedom in this!! Taxes are going to go up, we’re going to be forced to pay health insurance. We’re going to be paying insurance for people who are too lazy to work. More than likely we are going to be paying for people to have abortions too!  This is an absolutely absurd health care plan!  What happened to “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” (Abraham Lincoln)  No,no, that must be a mistake… because it seems like today it is “of the government, by the government, for the government”

I’m sorry,,, actually, no, I’m not sorry,, but anyway,,, this is just stupid. It really is.  We don’t hardly get to vote on anything anymore! Shouldn’t we the people get to have a say in something so important? After all, this is OUR country. Not the Barak Obama country!! He is not a dictator…at least not yet…….
Whatever your stand is on this Obama universal health care plan, You should be FURIOUS that You didn’t get vote on a bill that will have such a HUGE impact on our lives!!

I welcome your opinions on this topic,, but I will not tolerate rude or hurtfull comments, so please, Play Nice :)

Edited March 27, 2010:

Ok, I think I need to clear some things up here.  I was writing my thoughts down at the time, and I probably didn’t go into enough explanation with some of them. This is a personal blog, and I don’t claim to be the expert on political things, but I know what I believe and that’s what I write.

First off- I do agree that the health care system needs an overhaul. What our president has signed into effect is NOT the answer though.

Second- I do know that we already are paying for others healthcare and welfare and what not, And I am in favor of helping those who are truly in need and can’t help themselves, but I am not in favor of my tax dollars going for helping those who won’t help themselves and won’t work and are just mooching off the system. 

I believe we need a better system for healthcare and welfare. 

Third: Just because my tax dollars are already going toward that stuff(and as I stated above, I’m not totally against it-with the exception of abortion), does not make it ok to keep adding more! Just because our freedoms are already diminished does not mean that we can’t rally to get those freedoms back.

Fourth: Republican or Democrat- we could go back and forth all day about this,both have thier flaws, but the point is that the government has gotten too big for it’s britches and something needs to be done about it. Many democrats are against this bill too, I might add.

Ground Turkey Meatballs Recipe

Ground Turkey Meatballs over Rice with Green Beans

Ooooh, I just have to share this recipe! I love this ground turkey meatballs recipe that was passed down from my grandma.  I must warn you though. These are so good, I have to watch it or I’ll end up eating half of the meatballs in one night!  These turkey meatballs taste absolutely delish hot, and they also taste great cold the next day for lunch.  I always looked forward to these when my mom or my grandma would make them when I was a kid.

So here goes. A fabulous ground turkey meatballs recipe you are gonna love! And if you don’t,, well then,, you can just give them to me :)

Ground Turkey Meatballs

Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:

MeatballsGround Turkey Meatballs Ingredients

  • 2lbs ground turkey
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1tsp garlic powder(or to taste)
  • 1 cup cracker or bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)

Sauce:Ground Turkey Meatballs Sauce Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups ketchup
  • 1/4 cup mustard
  • 1/2 cup vinegar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add Ground Turkey Ingredients to bowlMix all of the meatball ingredients together in a large bowl. You can use your hands like I did (just make sure to wash them first) and kneed it like dough! Hey, I think it’s actually kind of fun! Almost like squishing mud between your toes :)

Ground Turkey Meatballs in pan

Ok, now make the turkey meatballs about the size you would make cookie dough balls, or you can make them bigger if you want, just make sure to cook them a bit longer so they cook all the way through. Place them in a 13x9x2 inch pan nice and close together.

Mix Ground Turkey Meatballs Sauce

Sauce:  Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and mix well so there are no brown sugar lumps.

Ground Turkey Meatballs with sauce

Now, put the ground turkey meatballs in the oven to brown for a few minutes (about 5-10 min.) before putting the sauce on. Once they are browned, take them out and pour sauce over each meatball making sure to completely cover each one.

Put them back in the oven, uncovered, for about 40-50 more minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes before serving.  These meatballs are great served over white rice!

So there you have it. A pretty simple, and very tasty Ground Turkey Meatballs Recipe! Try it and let me know what you think, I would love to hear!

You Capture-A Moment

This post is for the weekly challenge at I Should Be Folding Laundry

At first I didn’t think I had a really “great” picture for this one. I searched through my tons of picture files that I’ve recently taken(that’s the problem with digital cameras! Endless pictures!) and finally I found this one. Daddy and Baby-So cute!

Daddy and Baby Moment

We also spent a little while at the park last week, which was a nice few “moments” for me to relax while the kids played!

Kids Running At the Park

No Boil Lasagna Recipe-Cheesy, Meaty Goodness!

Cheesy No Boil Lasagna Recipe


I made this recipe last Tuesday night because I had a hankerin for lasagna, and we haven’t had lasagna for a long time.  So I have a recipe in my arsenal for no boil, cheesy lasagna, with no meat,, though I didn’t realize at the time that it didn’t call for meat. So, of course I had to put meat in it because it seems that to DH, a meal just can’t be a meal if it doesn’t include meat! 

Anyway, so I cooked up some hamburger and added a  jar of spaghetti sauce and just added that into the layers.

Also, did you know that you don’t have to cook the lasagna noodles first?? It’s sometimes called no boil lasagna. I’ve known about this for quite some time, but I just was so excited about it the first time I tried it! And I’m sure there are still some out there that don’t know this, but should(I wasn’t the last one to know was I?). Yes, you can make no boil lasagna! That is so wonderful, because I always hated, hated,(should I say it again?) boiling lasagna noodles and then having to pull them out to put in the pan, praying that they wouldn’t rip! ( I used a lot of exclamation marks there didn’t I?).

So anyway, this was the first time I’ve used this particular recipe and it tasted soooo good. Even the hubby liked it, and he is picky, picky, picky!  So, without any ado(?)  Here is the best(so far anyway) cheesy, no boil lasagna recipe, with my added meat sauce! Of course I’m sure it is wonderfull without the meat sauce too!

Cheesy Lasagna from The Hillbilly Housewife (Meat sauce by Me)

Makes 12 servings

  • 1/2 cup margarine or butter
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups milk
  • 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese(4oz)(I used some cheddar instead)
  • 1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese(4oz)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups small curd cottage cheese
  • 1/4 cup snipped parsley(I used 1/8 cup dried parsley)
  • 1 tablespoons snipped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon snipped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 12 uncooked lasagna noodles(just regular ones, nothing special)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Meat Sauce:

  • 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
  • 1lb ground beef

Cook ground beef until brown and add spaghetti sauce. Set aside.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Heat margarine in 2-quart saucepan over low heat until melted. Stir in flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly.  Remove from heat; stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

3.Stir in Swiss cheese, mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Cook and stir over low heat until cheeses are melted.

4. Mix remaining ingredients except noodles and remaining Parmesan cheese, in separate bowl.

5. Spread 1/4 of the cheese sauce mixture in ungreased rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches; top with 4 uncooked noodles. Spread 1 cup of the cottage cheese mixture over noodles; spread with 1/3 of the meat sauce, spread with 1/4 of the cheese sauce mixture. Repeat with 4 noodles, the remaining cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 of the meat sauce, 1/4 of the cheese sauce mixture, the remaining noodles and top with remaining meat sauce and remaining cheese sauce mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake uncovered until noodles are done, 35-40min. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

There you have it! A cheesy, meaty No Boil Lasagna Recipe that I’m sure you’ll love!

Favorite Things Tuesday-My Childhood

Me and Sandy my Arabian HorseAhhh, I have lots of great memories of my childhood. I think my most favorite thing, though, was riding and showing horses. Especially just going out for a ride around the property on my little Arab gelding. We bought him when I was 10 or 11. We had other horses, but he was the first one that was my very own. He had been a great show horse before he came to us and I had him for 2 years before I started showing him. He taught me so much! He was so patient even when I didn’t always treat him the nicest, thinking something he was doing wrong was his fault and not my own. 

 

Me and Sandy My Arabian Horse

Once I started taking lessons on him, I learned that he was the smart one, not me. He knew so much more than I did, and my instructor taught me to find the right buttons. Once I did, we just came together and he did anything I asked of him! Just thinking about that horse is bringing tears to my eyes right now.  We did so well the second year I showed him, but by that time I was outgrowing him and had gotten a yearling to train. So we sold Sandy. I got to give lessons to the girl that bought him for awhile, but she never went as far as she could have with him. It made me so sad. They just never did click. But he was a wonderfull horse for her younger siblings and they took awesome care of him untill he died at the ripe old age of 30 I believe, possibly a little older.  

I still remember racing across the field with the wind blowing through our hair. Feeling like we were flying! And then just sitting there on his back under the trees at the end of the field, daydreaming. Dreaming about riding show jumpers and soaring over the jumps. Thinking about some boy I had a crush on. Talking to Sandy  and telling him my thoughts.  The wonderfull, sweet smell of horse, sweat and leather.  Yes, those were the days!  Oh how I miss that!

Next week- Favorite things about: Your Town

Well, now that I’ve been reduced to tears! It’s your turn! Tell us what your favorite thing about your childhood is and post your link below. Read the Rules Here