Stovetop Chicken Noodle Alfredo Casserole

While in the grocery store a few months back, I was talking to another lady in the aisle and we were discussing what to have for supper that night.  She told me about something her daughter really likes where she just mixes up stove top with chicken, stuffs it in large pasta shells, puts it in a pan then covers it with Alfredo sauce mixed with some Mayo, tops it with cheese then bakes it. 
I tried the large pasta shells and I’m here to say, that was not my thing.  While trying to stuff the shells, they were breaking all to pieces and I had a mess on my hands, so I decided to break up all the shells and do my own thing.  It tasted good and my husband and I both thought it was a keeper so I ventured out to make it again but I used regular pasta and omitted the Mayo.  Here is how my version turned out, and once again, it was a keeper.  I didn’t add any salt, pepper, or spices to the recipe but my husband and I thought it tasted great without it.
 



 

Full Moon – 09/26/15

I was just talking to my sister on the phone (9:30pm) and she said she forgot to go out and look at the moon.  I told her I took a picture and I would send it to her.  So, this snapshot is for you, sis!

Audubon’s “Yellow-Rumped” Warbler

These little birds are so cute.  The past few weeks, we’ve had oodles of them around our place.  They have been landing on our home windowsills and the trees all around our yard.
I’ve seen some of them getting flies.  If they are in the mood for flies, I hope they stick around for a long time.  Our home is a fly magnet, really.  It is a daily thing for me to vacuum flies out of our windows.  Even during the winter months, we have flies.  A few years back, we replaced all the windows in our home.  I so hoped that this would take care of our fly problem, but it didn’t.  Oh how I wished I knew how they keep getting into our home.  Wow, that turned into a soap-box….sorry. 
In all actuality, all I wanted to write about was the cute little birds.  By searching Google images, I’m thinking that these little birds are Audubon’s Warblers and are linked into a grouping of five species of warblers known as Yellow-Rumped Warblers.  Wikipedia states that these birds are insectivorous…..that would explain the fly eating, since flies are categorized as insects, because they have a single pair of metathoracic wings that are used for flight.  Now, if I get rid of all the terms and technicalities, I’m left with a cute little bird, that I love watching out my windows!

Mackay Free BBQ - 2015

This past weekend our little town held it’s annual, FREE BBQ.  For free, you get a BBQ’d beef sandwich with all the fixin’s.  If you want a drink, corn on the cobb, desserts, etc….you can purchase them at one of the many booths surrounding the park area.  Plus, while you are eating, free entertainment is provided.
My daughter, grandson, son-in-law, daughters friend, and her two children  arrived at our home on Friday.  That evening around 9pm, we went to the park where the BBQ is always held and watched them put all the roasts in the brick oven.  Prior to putting the roasts in, there is a wood-burning process that takes place the previous day to heat up all the brick.  Right before adding the prepared roasts, all the ashes and hot coals are removed from the oven.

The heat is so intense inside the oven that the firemen actually need to go to an area at the right-hand side of the oven and get hosed down.  When they come to the area to get hosed down, their fire protective clothing is actually smoking.

When all the ashes and coals have been removed from the brick oven, the process of loading all the tin-foiled, wrapped roasts into the oven begins.  People come from everywhere to attend this event so there are tons (LITERALLY) of roasts prepared to go in the oven, a total of 2,000 pounds.

First of all, a ramp is placed in front of the oven.  This ramp is used to roll the five-layered cart into the oven. 

Next, a five-layer cart is rolled to the front of the ramp and the process of loading the meat begins.

 

Three layers of roasts are loaded and topped with a thick layer of rock salt to prevent the meat from burning.

The cart is then pushed into the oven (with lots of man power) and the other two layers of roasts are loaded.

Once everything is loaded, a big metal plate is set in place and mudded around the edges to seal in all the heat and the chimney flue is sealed off.  Now all there was left to do was shut and seal up the heavy metal doors and let the roasts cook all night.

Let the BBQ  and entertainment begin………………

 

 

 

It was a perfect day for the BBQ……  Our little grandson didn’t want to hold someone's hand to go walking and he kept running off so we resorted to going back to our vehicle to get a retractable leash.  We hooked the leash on him and away he went running.  When he hit the end of his rope, he turned around, gave us the most pitiful look then sat down and gave us another look like….what just happened here.  Ha – this was actually really funny, for the adults!

If you would like to read the history of the Mackay Free BBQ that started in September of 1935, GO HERE.

Eastern Idaho State Fair

On September 9th, hubby and I drove to the fair in Blackfoot, Idaho.  We met our daughter and grandson in the parking lot at Wal-Mart and then followed each other to the fair.  We got there just after opening time (10am) and stayed till 1:30pm.  It was a perfect day for the fair….the weather was nice and not too many people.  At noon, however, Blackfoot blows a siren, everyday.  This siren is very loud and seems to go on forever.  We were all talking about how loud it was when we looked down at Grayson and saw this.…..TOO FUNNY.  The picture says it all – LOUD!  It really let’s you know how loud the siren is when a 19-month old toddler is plugging his ears.

We eventually made it to where the sheep were.  We stopped in front of a pen to let Grayson see the sheep.  Then suddenly and with a loud clang, a sheep pushed his head through the gate.  We were all laughing but it took 30-seconds or so and then Grayson started crying.  We didn’t know how bad it scarred him until we looked at the photo and realized how close the lamb was to him and how blurry Grayson’s head, hands and feet were.  Yep, I think he was totally startled.

When we were walking through the horse barns, my husband noticed this sign hanging on a structure by the Clydesdales and wanted me to take a picture of it. 

When we had seen all we wanted to see, we headed back to our vehicles.  Grayson was so good the entire time, well, with the exception of the sheep event.  We decided we’d better let him get his wiggles out before heading out so Grandpa walked him around for a bit.  How cute is that.

One last final….let’s play in the rocks on the road before we go.

Ok everyone, let me brush my hands off and we can go.

Mamma and Baby Moose

Last evening, a little before 8pm., my husband was looking out the window when he spotted a young moose in the field by our home.  I got my camera and went outside to get a photo.  I looked for quite some time before I could see anything.  Finally, I spotted a moose, lying in the field hidden by some tall grass.  I thought that was the baby and I asked my husband where the mamma moose was because you rarely see a baby moose without the mamma close by.  He informed me that this moose was the mamma moose.

I looked and looked and still could not see a baby moose anywhere.  My husband waved me over and had me walk out further into the yard, over by our flowering crab apple tree where I could see around the pine trees, and there stood the baby moose.  As big as they are, it’s hard to picture them as a baby.  But just look at that sweet little face……………Baby!

Stuffed French Bread….It’s a Keeper

I found this recipe for Stuffed French Bread on Life in the Lofthouse. And yep, you guessed it……it’s a definite keeper.  I used dried minced garlic in my recipe so I just put some dried garlic in a small amount of hot water before starting anything else and it was soft and ready by the time I needed to add it to the recipe.  I also added the celery and garlic just before the hamburger and onions were thoroughly cooked.  This recipe takes very little time to make and it is quite filling. 
This would be fun to make for a casual gathering of guests.  Put it with a salad or whatever you’d like, and you’ve got an easy meal on the table in approximately 30 minutes.

Model Airplane Flight Show

On Friday, August 21st, my nephew and his family came to visit us for a few days.  As we were headed up the road, my nephew, who is an airplane pilot, spotted some model planes at our airport.  So yes, we had to stop and check it out to see what was going on.  A gentleman had come to our town and was giving some flying demonstrations to a group of people.  As luck would have it, they were just finishing up and putting all the planes away when we arrived. 
My nephew really wanted to see the planes so he went over and talked to the gentleman for a few minutes and the next thing we knew, we were all summoned to get out of the vehicle.  There were still two planes that hadn’t been put away so the gentleman gave us a private little show.  It was amazing how he controlled the model plane, making it do loop-de-loos, flying upside down, etc.  These planes really fly at a pretty good speed.  Now, these model planes are not the type of plane I think of when I think of a model airplane…..these planes were huge.  It was fun and exciting watching him soar the plane around, just for us!

 

These are the controllers used to fly the planes.

  

After the flight show, the planes were wiped down and all the gas drained out.

Bottled Peaches - 2015

Canning……it all starts with a clean kitchen counter.

But then, it gets quite messy….fast!  The counter and stove gets loaded with pots, pans, steamer, bottles, lids, hot pads……….

 

As far as canning goes, I do not like it, not at all.  My feet and back do not like the long hours and It’s a lot of work preparing everything before you even start the canning process.

But then again, when it’s all said and done……the rewards are priceless!  I bottled 36 quarts of peaches last weekend.  For me, bottled peaches are my favorite fruit.  I love making peach cobbler and to just sit down with peaches and toast for breakfast is Heaven!

Burger Time at the Reservoir

On August 28th, my husband and I decided to stop in at Burger Time and grab us some burgers, fries, and shakes.

From there, we headed on up the highway to the reservoir.  It was a cloudy, but beautiful night.

As we were sitting there, this little fella got up on the post railing and kept running through the rock foundation.  He was so cute and fun to watch…….I wonder though, what got a hold of his tail?  After watching him for a bit, I threw him a couple of fries.  It didn’t take him long before he grabbed a fry and scurried away. 

By this time, it was getting a little after 7pm, the sun was glowing beautifully off the clouds, and it was time for us to head back home.  Yes indeed, it was a beautiful evening.