Quiche Lorraine

Our hens have been extremely prolific lately! We eat eggs regularly but the eggs are backing up.  I decided to make a large quiche for dinner and put all the eggs to good use.  I decided to use a springform pan (just to see)   The quiche turned out gorgeous but there are few things that I would need to do differently next time.  The mix was fairly thick but needed to be thicker b/c iit ran out of the pan and into the oven.  Next time I will add some softened cream cheese to the egg mixture to keep it from running everywhere.  

My guys are meat eaters so I decided to make Lorriane since it has bacon in it.  Here is a basic quiche lorraine recipe.  I make mine from memory but can't break it all down b/c I never do it the same way twice.

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
• 12 slices bacon
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/3 cup minced onion
•  8 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups light cream
• 3/4 teaspoon salt                   
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 oz softened cream cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).               
2. Place pastry in the bottom of a 8 in springform pan, press up the sides and let it form a rough (rustica) edge.
3. Place bacon in a large skillet, and fry over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels, then chop coarsely. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion into pastry shell.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, cream cheese,  salt, and cayenne pepper. Pour mixture into pastry shell.
5. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and bake an additional 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Allow quiche to sit 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.

We ate most of this quiche for dinner w/ salads and finished it off the next morning for breakfast.  Now, once again we have more eggs than we can eat so we'll make this again!!

Homemade Fabric Softener!!

This is tomorrow's project - like I need another project!!  I saw this today and it's just what I need!  I normally ues fabric softener w/ my homemade detergent.  I started w/ Downey (again, b/c of the smell) and then during slow weeks I purchased the Dollar Store brand refill and added a little water to it to make it go farther and it worked great! This recipe makes a Gallon and shouldn't cost more than $1.00 per gallon depending on the conditioner you choose.  Like I said, I haven't made this yet but the reviews were great on it.  I'll comment after I make it.

Homemade Fabric Softener

Ingredients:
6 cups water
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups hair conditioner

Directions:
1. Mix water, vinegar, and hair conditioner in a 1 gallon container; stir. Do not shake it; it will cause foaming.
2. Use the same amount you normally use in a rinse cycle or spritz it on a wash cloth and throw in dryer.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

You've probably seen this before but just in case you haven't, I'll post it.  I have added my own twist to it because I love the smell of Gain and couldn't get around the lack of smell (even when I added essential lavender). During baseball season I add a jug of Clorox 2 to the 5 gallon bucket b/c the baseball clothes need extra cleaning power.  Even w/o the added Gain or Clorox 2 this recipe makes an awesome detergent and cleans great. I've been making my own for over 2 years and was only tempted to go back when I had to buy a jug of Gain on vacation to wash Oliver's blanket after he had a virus - but that was just for the great smell of Gain!!   

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap – Front or top load machine

The homemade liquid laundry soap recipes:
4 Cups hot water
1 soap bar
1 Cup – Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax
1, Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
2, Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Add 1 apprx 90 oz bottle of your favorite detergent or Clorox 2.  Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
3, Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use.
tips: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

I like this b/c it allows me to keep costs low and still use Gain. I do ALOT of laundry w/ 3 boys and David's work clothes.  I make about 20 gallons of this recipe a year and I've only had to buy Borax & Washing Soda twice in 2 years so it really does make a big difference in my laundry detergent bill.

Family Revival

As you may have read, we recently took an impromptu road trip to Colorado.  Since we got back to Alabama early Monday morning I've had several conversations with friends & family who think I'm nuts for loading up in the car for 44 hours+ of car time w/ my husband and 3 boys.  I have to say "it really wasn't bad".  Yes, there were moments of tension and whining but that's to be expected.  I really came home feeling reconnected and revived.

I was apprehensive about the trip @ first but I got to thinking about the fact that they are only little for a short time, then they are grown and on their own.  My thought is that it's good to be locked up together as a family. AND when you get back home and the worst thing that happened was a bloody nose - be thankful!   I've had conversations where moms have said, "There is NO WAY that I could be locked up that long w/ my kids".  Why would you raise children that you couldn't be around? 

 My boys are far from perfect and  my grandmother recently told me that I need a visit w/ the SuperNanny.  But we survived and actually enjoyed the trip.  On the way home David said, "You know the destination was great, but the journey was pretty good too"!

 So be brave! Load up the family and take a Road Trip!!

Road Trip part 2

Parker's interview @ The Lowell Whiteman School went well.  We loved the campus! The faculty were awesome and impressive. The Students were friendly.   Parker would be very fortunately to go to school there next fall.

Our plan was to leave Steamboat after the interview/school visit BUT a HUGE snow storm slammed into Denver and closed I-70 (our route home) and hwy 25 (our route to 70).I believe the weather man said "Record Breaking Storm".   So we decided to stay an extra night in Steamboat, not a bad choice! The boys went snow tubing and we went to eat @ The Tap House - Awesome Black & Blue Burger!  Steamboat is an incredible area. The people unbelievably friendly.  We would sell it all and move there if we could make it happen...

This morning they opened I-70 after 8 am and we loaded up to head home.  Driving home was a little stressful from Steamboat to Limon, Colorado. We saw sooo much snow. Some areas had 50 inches in 2 days and it was beautiful, especially off the roads!

We drove "slowly and carefully" to Denver and through Colorado, then the roads cleared up significantly by central Kansas.  We decided to stop for the night in Salina, Kansas to rest for the evening. We would usually drive later in the night but it was tough and slow going this morning, we need a break.

The little boys have been awesome! I wasn't sure how Cooper would handle the cold. He usually hates it.  So one of our stops included a 2nd hand gear store and for $25 we covered him in a Columbia Snowsuit and Kamik Boots. He was one happy boy! The cold never got near him!  He couldn't get enough of it.  Oliver had snow bibs and we got him snow boots @ the same store.  They had a ball snow tubing! Well until Oliver came off a run and didn't look so hot and said his stomach was hurting. Enter the stomach virus... for rest of that evening we were in the hotel room taking care of Oliver and washing clothes.  Oliver was up and ready to go again Friday. Glad that passes quickly! And hope it doesn't hit anyone else on the way home. 
We are ready to get home and out of the Yukon. It stinks like boys and more dirty clothes! We plan to leave out again in the morning and go as far as we can. WE hope to make it all the way home.  Weather is crazy right now. Snow, high winds, freezing temps, flooding and tornadoes! Should be fun!!

Oliver on day 2-feeling much better

     

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Whiteman_School

Road Trip

Tuesday, David calls and tells me that he thinks we should drive to Steamboat Springs to take Parker for his upcoming interview @ The Lowell Whiteman School and that we could leave Tuesday night (David has several days w/o anything on the schedule)!  Now the "Planner" in my freaks!!  But I have learned in the 17 years that I have been married to David to be FLEXIBLE!  So I begin to make my mental lists to see if this would  be possible.  Both Principles said "yes", Mr. Jett actually said, "GO FOR IT".  So much for that obstacle :)   Too late to board the dogs, Zac says he'll feed them til Sunday, no problem there.  Car is ready.  Money isn't plenitful but it's enough for a low budget trip.  So OK, I guess we'll do it!  The thought of being in the Yukon for 22 plus hours w/ 3 stinky boys and my husband isn't the perfect travel condition but I will stay calm and proceed. 

Driving @ night means that the little boys will sleep and that will help. Parker is driving now, so we'll have 3 drivers instead of the ususal 2.  So we proceed.   At 1pm I take Oliver to his "scheduled"  Dr's appt, at 2:30 I start picking everyone up from school and tell them the plan, at 4pm I'm feeding animals and prepping them for my absence, I pack clothes, food and the cooler.   We leave @ 7pm.  I know I've forgotten something! 

  We swap out driving & sleeping and drive until 4 am then sleep in a rest area  :/.  I wake up @ 6 and realize that  I can't feel my legs and decide that I'm in so much pain that I can stay awake to drive. I drive until 10 w/ the help of a Mocha.  So far, so good.  We are in Kansas.  Let me just say that I despise driving through Kansas more than driving across Texas.  Flat & boring!   

We arrived in Silverthorne, CO 24 hrs after leaving Alabama.  Nasty and dirty, tired and hungry but still smiling!  We had a big dinner, showers and everyone passed out by 10.  AND that's where we are today.  We will drive up the mountain to Steamboat today, where snow is predicted for the next 3 days! The little boys will go snow tubing while we go to  Parker's interview Friday morning @ 8:30 then we head back to Alabama.

Our budget is nothing like our Disney budget but it's been pleasant so far.  We have spent less than the price of one plane ticket!  We only had one mishap- Oliver was aggrivating Cooper and Coop popped him in the nose. David & I were re-icing the cooler @ the back of the Yukon. By the time we got to Oliver blood was everywhere!  I started grabbing napkins, socks, whatever I could to soak up the blood.  Cooper got a spanking, Oliver has a swollen upper lip and I have laundry to do! 

We've seen 7 states, the St. Louis Arch (or as Cooper said "the Gateway to the West" ), Wind farms, Llama farms, Buffalo and lots of snow!!   I'll update tonight and hopefully have pictures. Please pray for Parker and his interview!!