The female Cardinal keeping watch.

The male Cardinal eating some yummy bird seed.

If you look way in the back, in the trees you can see a red spot. That’s the male Cardinal sitting in the trees, wondering when we are going to fill the empty feeder for him. :-)

Some woodpeckers trying to peck through the plastic portion of the feeder. They eventually figured out where the opening for the bird seed was and started feeding from there.

Chicken Corn Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breast, cubed (put in the crock-pot raw, it will cook during the day)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I just used a tbsp of minced garlic)
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 ribs of celery, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 tsp. mixed dried herbs (I found a mixture for chicken that I used – it was good)
• 1/3 c. tomato sauce
• 12oz cream style corn
• 14oz whole kernel corn
• 3 c. chicken broth
• 1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients, except parsley, salt and pepper, into the slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low for 8-9 hours or until chicken is tender.
3. Add parsley, salt and pepper 30 minutes before serving.
4. ENJOY!!!!

Taco-Stuffed Pepper Cups

Ingredients:

• 3 medium green peppers
• 1 lb. lean ground turkey
• 2 tbsp chopped onion
• 1 can (16oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp taco seasoning
• 1/4 c. fat-free sour cream
• 1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 1/4 c. chopped tomato

Directions:

1. Preheat  oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, cook the turkey and onion over medium heat until meant is no longer pink; drain.
3. Cut peppers in half, clean out the seeds.
4. Stir in beans, tomato sauce and taco seasoning; bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 mins until headed through.
6. Spoon into peppers.
7. Place in an ungreased baking dish.
8. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until peppers are tender.
9. Top with sour cream, cheese and tomato.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp minced onion
• 1/2 c. flour
• 3 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 c. celery
• 1/2 c. shredded carrot
• 2 c. cooked wild rice (1/2 c. dry rice)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 c. half & half
• 1.5 c. cooked & cubed chicken

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a skillet. Add onion until soft. Add flour to make a roux.
2. Slowly add chicken broth. Make sure to get all the lumps out.
3. Add celery and carrots. Cook until soft. Add cooked wild rice, salt, pepper, chicken and half & half.
4. Simmer on low for 15-30 minutes to let all flavors mix together but do not let it come to a boil.

YUMMY!!!!!

In memory of those who have gone before us. All proceeds go to Special Olympics.

Location:
Reeve Park – Reeve, WI
Near intersection of Barron County Roads “A” & “K”
Between Clear Lake & Prairie Farm, WI

Parking:
Please park in the Reeve Church parking lot.
Reeve Church
205 1 ½ St.
Clear Lake, WI    54005

Registration:
9-10:30am
Registration Form & Couch-to-5k Training Schedule can be found on the Reeve EFC website.
www.reevechurch.org

Entry Fee:
$5.00/person
$2.00 for the 100-yard dash
$15.00/family

 Divisions:
Age 5 years or younger = 100-yard dash
1st-5th Grade
6th-9th Grade
10th Grade – Adults

Childcare:
We will provide childcare with games and fun activities for those not participating in the 5k.

A light lunch will be provided.

There will be t-shirts available for those who want to purchase them. These t-shirts are not specific to the Reeve 5k, they are specific to my mom, Caron Paulson. She is who I’m running in memory of. Please view the pictures to see what the shirts will look like. The shirts are a light blue with white lettering.

Shirt Costs:
$14: S-XL
$15: 2XL-3XL
$11 for youth sizes

 If you are interested in ordering a shirt, please let me know what size you would like and mail a check to:
Megan Burlingame
1190 Main Street
St. Paul Park, MN  55071

Please contact me with any questions, comments or concerns. I hope to see many of you there!!!

                               Here is the front of the shirt.                               

Here is the back of the shirt.

Yesterday I received a reminder email that Famous Dave’s is having their annual free food for Dave event tomorrow. No free barbecue for me.

Tonight, while prepping for the upcoming fantasy football season, I was looking over my “to bring” list for the draft party and realized I don’t need money for pizza this year. My vices will have to be shakes, Mt. Dew, and  Dr. Pepper.

Only four more weeks. Sigh.

A new campaign from MnDOT has been getting a lot of play on the radio this summer and, frankly, every driver needs to read this info. They’re advising drivers to wait to merge until you actually reach the merge, not before. Most people seem to think drivers who use the disappearing lane are jerks trying to cut in line; not true! It is safest and most efficient to merge where the lanes actually narrow, with cars taking turns merging. Check it out and see the full benefits of this system.

1. I really, really like our new stroller. I took the boys on a 4.5 mile walk today and was just impressed at how smooth it rode, easy it was to push and how comfortable the boys were. Their seats are completely independent of each other, one can lay down while the other sits up. They each have their own snack tray and cup holder. Their umbrella shades are independent of each other as well. There is a big basket below the seats which is great for storage. However, there is a bar that prohibits us from putting the diaper bag down there, which is ok because we can still hang it from the handle bars like before.

Here is a picture of the boys in the new stroller. It only took me about 15 minutes to put it together. We got it from Walmart.com for $150. In our opinion, it was a ‘steal of a deal’, especially considering how expensive double strollers can be. We also wanted to buy a new one because we will have it and use it for years to come.

2. I did this with Eli and I’m doing it with Noah and I still enjoy it…A LOT! I am making Noah’s baby food. I found a good website, www.wholesomebabyfood.com; I’ve tried many of their recipes and I’m looking forward to trying more. So far, Noah hasn’t turned down a single food item that I have made for him. He has eaten everything and always wants more! I enjoy saving our family tons of money by buying fresh, frozen or canned produce and making my own baby food. I can buy a big sweet potato for less an a dollar and get 6-10 meals out of it whereas baby food sweet potatoes can cost from 50-85 cents a  jar. That’s ridiculous! Now, I’ll admit that with Eli, if the food was on sale and I didn’t have a ton of time, I did buy some baby food for him. I generally block off a few hours, puree tons of food, put it containers in the fridge and as the ice-cube trays are freed up, I freeze more. I love having a variety of food for him to eat. We were blessed with about 60 jars of pureed meat (someone bought a TON (at 92 cents a jar) and their child didn’t like it so it was passed on to us) and Noah loves it! Each meal consist of some meat, veggies and fruit for dessert. All in all, I enjoy making the food and Noah is a very good eater.

Those are just two of the things I like today. Enjoy!