Month: September 2017

Personally Speaking

A Summer Time Treat

Katherine
I think that there are certain foods that are best eaten at a certain time of the year. I love casseroles and I think that they taste the best in the fall and winter. But there is one special casserole that I make every 4th of July and on family picnics.

My Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

There is just something about a chicken bacon ranch casserole that just fits. My family will agree with me. And so you have a chance to test it with your family I am going to share the recipe with you so you can give it a try.

A Few Ingredients

This makes 8 servings
  • 4 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 8 oz. freshly shredded cheddar cheese
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
    • It helps to pull the cream cheese out of the refrigerator ahead of time so that it can soften.
  • 12 slices of thick cut bacon
  • 1.5 lbs of fresh mushrooms
  • ½ packet of ranch seasoning (4 tsp)
  • Fresh cracked pepper is a requirement, don’t skip this part

A Couple of Directions to Follow

  1. Start by baking the bacon.
    • Line a pan with aluminum foil and place the bacon on it.
    • Cook for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees.
    • Cooking times may vary depending upon the thickness of the bacon.
    • The foil lined pan makes cleanup easy and very easy to save your grease, which is great for cooking.
  2. Chop up the chicken into bite sized pieces.
    • Add bacon grease (or olive oil, butter, whatever) to a pan on medium and toss the chicken in.
    • Season with the ranch packet.
    • You want to make sure to cook the chicken mostly all the way through.
  3. While the chicken is cooking wash and slice up your mushrooms.
  4. When the chicken is finished remove it from the pan and cook the mushrooms.
    • Season these if you want with a little salt and pepper.
    • Cook them until they get to the consistency that you prefer.
  5. Add the finished ingredients to a large greased (makes cleanup easy) casserole dish.
  6. When the bacon is finished chop it up into bite sized pieces and add all of the ingredients to the casserole dish, including the cheese, and mix thoroughly.
    • Important: top with fresh cracked black pepper!!
  7. Set your oven to 350 degrees and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Cook for 30 minutes covered and then 10-15 minutes uncovered.
  8. Let the casserole sit for about 15 minutes before serving it.

Note

My mother makes this (I actually found the recipe) and she has made some changes to the base. I don’t like them but my husband will gobble both up without thinking twice so I will share her changes with you as well:

Ingredients and Directions

  • 1/2 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 1/2 packet of Ranch Dip Seasoning (just used the half that I didn’t put with the chicken)
  • Mix together and pour over mixture before baking
Personally Speaking

Another Round

Katherine

We have been going through this trouble with moths, and it is really seriously driving me crazy. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Live with them.

We were originally told that they were waxworms. But my father confirmed that they were most certainly not. And I think that the people who told us that, were either having a laugh at our expense, or they just didn't know what they are talking about, both options are possible.

But I am still struggling to figure out where they are coming from. It turns out that they are not coming out of the comforters we had in storage, though they do have a nest in the room somewhere.

So far we have been using pheromone traps to attract all the males and sends them to a sticky death so they cant fertilise the eggs.

London, OH

Come to Ohio

Katherine
“Common sense normal thinking Americans, they should stand up and tell the extremes left/right to either contribute be constructive or go away, I mean think about this, this is the U.S.A and we are putting kids and young people who are contributors in jeopardy this is not the America that we all love”
I am happy that our state governor just so happens to be John Kasich.
Personally Speaking

Wax Moths

Katherine
So it looks like we had/have (I am still not sure if they are all gone) wax moths. At least that is what my husband was told at work. I honestly don’t see it. We had mothballs in the boxes so it should have kept them out. Which is why we’re getting the wax moth suggestions but looking them up, it seems like as their name suggests, it has to do with wax (bees’ wax) and yet I am still not certain. We actually do have hives on the property, my father keeps bees and he has some of his hives here. But when I told him about them, he was surprised and a little alarmed since he hasn’t had problems with them. I did read that they will colonize things like basements and such. Maybe I should try the paradichlorobenzene crystals that he suggested. Actually they are pretty interesting creatures.
Cooking

Things I’ve Learned

Katherine
When I was a little girl my mother showed me much of what I use today in my kitchen. One of my first lessons was there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. One day I was in school and I offered to bring cookies the next day. My mother was excited and was already to help me mix up a batch. But I told her that “I” had offered and I wanted to make them. She was happy that I was willing to take the responsibility on myself and so she offered no further help. I had made cookies plenty of times with her so I was positive in my eight year-old sort of way that I would get it right. Well, wouldn’t you know, it turned out to be harder than I had thought? Instead of cute little cookies I ended up with melted pancakes. My mother explained that the next time I should refrigerate my dough. It makes your cookies keep their shape better while baking, so they won’t turn into pancakes. An hour should be long enough. The flattening happens when the butter is too warm, so it spreads the dough out before it can be cooked.
Personally Speaking

Invasion of the Moth

Katherine
We have been having a little bit of cooler weather lately and I decided that I would get out the comforters. I am such a sucker for them, and the first opportunity that I have to use them I take it. So, while I could have waited a little bit longer I didn’t want to. And that is where the invasion comes in. I took them out of the spare upstairs bedroom that I use for storage space and when I opened the ceder chests that they are kept in I was greeted by a swarm of moths flying out. We collected them in big trash bags and took them outside and beat them clean. I was still uncertain if they were really moth free so I threw them in the drier and “cooked” them for a while. After that I was pretty comfortable with them and since we didn’t find and more signs of moth infestation in them or in the boxes I was pretty comfortable putting them on the beds. Where they came from is beyond me. We have only had a problem with them once years ago and I put moth repellent everywhere. Maybe I just need to freshen it up more frequently (I usually do it about once a year).