3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

365project

Day 53/365: Cardinal Overhead

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Day 53: Cardinal Overhead

This was a day that I went outside to take pictures of frost on leaves and found a better subject. “Mr. Cardinal at your service, thank you very much. But,  you’ll have to be patient. I won’t pose for you. You’ll have to be quick, because I don’t stay in one place very long.”

My fingers froze as I waited behind the tree near the feeder. I tried not to move and could hear this little guy flying around me as he tried to find a secure place to land. Most of the time he was too far away for my camera to zoom in and get a really good shot. I was lucky with this one. I looked up and there he sat about fifteen feet above me in the tree. I had time for one picture before he was gone again.

Day 52/365: Angus Cow

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Day 52: Angus Cow

If this cow could talk it would say. Yeah it’s cold, but we live in Nebraska, so what you complaining about.  These Angus cattle looked pretty comfortable in the corn stalk field as I stopped the car to take pictures. How do I know they look comfortable. They weren’t huddled together to stay warm, but were scattered on the ridge-line casually eating corn and stalks. (There are more pictures of them in my Flickr page.) They probably thought I had some range cubes  or Crystalx tubs for them as they started walking towards me.

Seeing how I’m an Animal Science major from Oklahoma State University I could probably, and should, say more about this breed. But it’s late and I’m behind on my posting. I will that Angus cattle say they are the most popular breed in the mid-west and cows are often crossed with Herefords and called “Black Baldies” (love that name) . Their meat is considered the best in the world and the Japanese especially insist on “Black” Angus  beef. They will even visit Nebraska and inspect the cattle before they are purchased to assure the black purity.

Angus branded beef is considered premium, and displays significant marbling which results in superior taste, tenderness, and juiciness to other domestic cattle. There isn’t anything better than a  Angus T-Bone steak cooked on the grill in the summer.

Day 51/365: Home Made Chicken Vegetable Soup

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Again it’s soup time. I would call this Chicken Noodle Soup, but my son said it didn’t have the right kind of noodles and had too many vegetables, so it’s homemade chicken vegetable soup instead. Regardless, David had two servings, so it must of been pretty good. What more can I say about soup that I haven’t already said.

Homemade soup is ideal for anyone on a budget and who wants to save money. I buy raw carrots, celery, and onions, chop and freeze for easy use and then use frozen corn (better yet free farm corn from my neighbor), or add beans. When I find chicken on sale I stock up and put it in the freezer. Easy and economical.

  • Chicken $1.99/lb (3 lb chicken = $3.01 divided by 2 for another meal)
  • Onions $1.79 divided by 4 batches
  • Carrots $1.49 divided by 4 batches
  • Celery 0.99 bunch divided by 4 batches
  • Frozen Corn $1.00/bag divided by 2 batches
  • Seasonings (buy once use multiple times) $4.00

The onions, carrots and celery you chop and freeze for future batches of soup and the seasonings you can also use for future recipes. In the end you can make a over a gallon of soup for less than $5.00 a pot and less than 0.35 per serving. That is saving my friends.

I used some frozen chicken broth I had saved in the freezer (that reminds me I need to make some more) and just went into my refrigerator for the ingredients.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade Chicken Soup

Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe

  • 10-12 cups chicken broth (I don’t measure, I just what I have to fill the pot)
  • 1-3 cups Additional water (if you need it, I didn’t this time)
  • 4 chopped cooked chicken breasts (prepared and waiting in my freezer)
  • 1 cup carrots
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup celery
  • 2 TBSP dried ground parsley (Grind in your palm to release more flavor)
  • 1 tsp onion powder (or include real onion)
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 2 cups pasta (use whatever you have) Add last 15 minutes

Add all the ingredients together in the order listed above in a large pot, with the exception of the pasta. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer on low for an hour. Add pasta, increase heat to med low and simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Freeze leftovers for tasty meals later. My soup pot is rarely put away during the winter and my favorite freezer containers are the Ziplock Twist and Lock bowls. It is VERY important to have a secure lid when packing soup for lunch. I don’t want my soup spilling all over the car during my commute or in my lunchbox.

T-fal A92280 Specialty Nonstick Stockpot Stock Pot, 12-Quart, BlackZiploc Twist ‘N Loc , Medium Round, Containers & Lids, 2-Count (Pack of 2)The BrokeAss Gourmet CookbookFamily Feasts for $75 a Week: A Penny-wise Mom Shares Her Recipe for Cutting Hundreds from Your Monthly Food BillFreezer Meals: 39 Gluten Free Meals From Freezer To Crockpot Plus Shopping List To Save Time And Money-Cook On A Budget And Eliminate Gluten … Cooking, Freezer Crockpot Meals) (Volume 6)

 

More Homemade Soup Recipes

Day 50/365: Airport Adventure, With My Marine

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Can you find my Marine son in this picture? It’s as if he’s playing hide and seek. Now I can see why US Marines do not wear their cammies, ACU’s, or uniforms in public. They would stand out, and the purpose of camouflage is to hide and fit in with your environment.  The official regulations  on wearing uniforms at certain times is very strict in the Marine Corps and much too long to describe here. Since Nathan is strongly apposed to wearing it, I’m sure there are good reasons.

Day 50: Find the Marine

There is quite a bit of uniform envy around, if you can call it that, on both sides of the fence, with some very heated opinions on the pro and con. If you’re interested you can read more on the Terminal Lance forum. Terminal Lance also has a pretty funny Marine comic site that both my sons love to read.

Day 50: My son the Marine

We had quite the day, arrived at the Omaha Epply Airport early at 8:00 am just to find out we were six hours too early. So I got some extra quality one-on-one time with my son that we didn’t get during his leave.

The only thing I regretted was not being able to sleep late and wash my hair in the shower this morning.   To make it up he paid for my breakfast, blueberry pancakes, went shopping, and ran some errands  in Omaha. Lunch at Arby’s, again his treat.

Yup, I had a good day.

Day 49/365: Packing, the Dog Waits..

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Day 49: Can I have my bed back?

As my  son packed to go back to the U.S. Marine Base in Yuma AZ, the bed gradually became visible.   I can finally see the covers and it was amazing how everything fit. Only the important electronics, change of clothes, a very heavy suitcase, and backpack remained.

Brody even found enough room to curl up without Nathan catching him. It’s an “off the bed” policy when Nathan is home and Brody knows it. You can almost see the guilty, you caught me look in his face. It’s ok Brody, you can sleep with me and keep my feet warm. I may even give you a treat.