Heinen's take Manhattan

My mom's family will get together at every holiday and the first weekend of August. They also try finding other ways to get together. My mom is number seven of nine kids (yes, I said NINE!).

Starting a few months ago, my cousin, Valerie, and her mom started planning another get together. This time, it wasn't at grandma's house. It was for the K-State versus West Virginia homecoming football game this weekend in Manhattan, KS.

My aunt, Donna, me, and my cousin, Payton photobombing us!

 My mom and my grandma

 



Just resting

We all brought our snacks and drinks and tailgated until kick-off at 2:45 pm. It was a chilly day out, but bearable. Only about half of our family game for the game (there are approximately 120 people altogether in this family).

About 20-30 minutes before kickoff, we all started making our way to the stadium to find our seats. We were all a little spread out, but still in close enough proximity to each other. Our seats were pretty high up. Not good for a person like me who is very afraid of heights. Let's say I felt a little nauseous that high up. We were on the fifth row from the very top of the stadium.

My brother and me

We were on the 50 yard line.

Go Wildcats!

K-S-U WILDCATS!

A little view of Manhattan, KS

Man, that sun was super bright!

Let's score a touchdown!

K-State won the game 28-12.

After the game, we all went back to our spot and some ate while packing their things up to head home. My sister and her boyfriend, my brother, and I said our good-byes and went to Aggieville to eat a little hole-in-the-wall taco place. It was good food.

Great way to spend my day: with my family!

Easy Apple Butter

I have wanted to try making apple butter for a long time. I came along this recipe and upon trying it, it was just like the name said: easy. Once the hot apple butter was in the jars, they sealed themselves, which was nice.

Ingredients:

5 cups applesauce (I used unsweetened since the recipe already called for a lot of sugar)
7 cups sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon cinnamon or allspice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat and turn down and let boil for 15 minutes; stirring occasionally. Pour into sterilized jars. Seal at once.

Husband's Delight

I have been intrigued by the Amish and Mennonite lifestyles for a long time. I like that they live simple, sustainable lives. The farming type community, coming together to help each other out in times of need, passing down from generation to generation recipes and hand sewn items. This is an Amish recipe I found somewhere online. It was fairly simple and really delicious.

Ingredients:

24 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup cottage cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 bell pepper, chopped
1 (8 ounce) package wide noodles, cooked as directed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Directions:

Brown ground beef and bell pepper; drain. Cook noodles as directed; drain. Add noodles, sugar, and tomato sauce to ground beef. Stir. Combine sour cream, cottage cheese and cream cheese. Put into a 3-quart casserole dish a layer of noodles and meat, then a layer of cheese mixture; add the remaining meat and noodle mixture. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Peanut Butter Pie

First off, I love peanut butter! By itself, with apples or carrots, or even a good old PB&J. So, when I found this recipe in a newspaper insert last fall, I figured I would keep it and give it a try. It was very delicious (and very rich!).

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ready-made chocolate cookie crumb pie crust

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except crust, in the bowl of a food processor and blend until very smooth. (Alternately, mix using and electric mixer on medium speed).

Fill crust with mixture. Place pie into freezer for minimum 2 hours.

Serves: 10

Banana Pudding

Last fall, I was looking for new recipes to try. I checked out a few books from the library and wrote down the recipes I liked or wanted to try. One of the books I was going through had recipes from different countries. This recipe was from Cuba.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this recipe, but figured I would try it anyways. In the end, I wasn't too fond of it. That's just my opinion so don't let it stop you from trying it.

Ingredients:

10 ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Mash the bananas. Add flour, sugar, butter, and nutmeg. Pour into a buttered 8-inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, or until delicately browned on top. Cut into squares and serve hot or cold, dusted with powdered sugar.

Prayers For South Dakota

Recently in the Northern part of the United States, there was very severe weather. Many farmers and ranchers lost hundreds to thousands of heads of cattle. For those who've never been around farming or ranching of any sort, livestock is a very big part of their livelihood.

I've been around livestock throughout my life. I spent time on my grandparents' farms. As a small child, my dad worked for a grain elevator, but also farmed on the side. We had cattle right outside my back door.

I also have friends who are from farming and ranching families and have spent time on their farms. There is so much work that goes into even the smallest farm or ranch. Losing livestock of any amount takes a very large bit out of these families income.

So for all of the farmers and ranchers in South Dakota, my heart goes out to you. Many prayers in the days to come.

*The cattle pictures added are obviously not the ones that have been being shown through the news. These pictures are ones I've taken at a farm in a neighboring town to where I live.

Five Can Chili

I don't know about you, but there are times I'm all about simple recipes. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, but when you're cooking for only one person, you don't really want to go through a lot of hassle.

I don't remember where I got this recipe, but it was very good.

Ingredients:

1 can mixed vegetables, drained
1 can (15 ounces) chili with beans
1 can (11 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chilies

Directions:

Combine all ingredients; heat through.

Serves 6.

*I divided up the soup into six containers to put in my fridge/freezer to bring to work with me for lunches. I like bringing soup with me when I work nights.

Old Lady in the Hen House

In January, I joined a dating site on a whim. To be honest, I doubted I would find a man that would be worth my time or that I would be lucky enough to find a man whom would treat me with the same kindness and respect I would show to him. I talked to a few guys from the site. One or two were okay and seemed decent enough.

In late March or early April, I came across a simple profile. For the fact that it was simple and not flashy, it caught my eye. Just like the man behind the profile, the fact that he wasn't flashy, but everyday ordinary, was part of what attracted me to him.

We got to talking through the site and then through Facebook, then texting and finally talking on the phone (I had to call him first because he was so shy or too scared to call me first!). After talking for a few months, he came to Kansas for a few days to meet for the first time. We talked and acted like we always did when we were on the phone with each other. I get to go see him in November for a few days. Trust me, the day I get there cannot get here fast enough!

We jokingly call each other names. He calls me "old lady" and I call him "old man". He's my man and I'm his girl. If I'm going to the yarn store, he says that I'm going to the "hen house" to gossip and talk like old ladies do.

When I was getting ready to set up a page on Facebook to sell items  I've made, I had a hard time thinking of something catchy enough to name the page. It finally occurred to me that since my items where yarn based, I decided on "Old Lady in the Hen House". I told him today what I named it and he thought it was pretty cool (and catchy). I did tell him also that he was who inspired the name.

Every day that I know this kind and funny man, I feel like the luckiest person. If you are ever interested and are on Facebook, check out "The Old Lady in the Hen House".

Getting a Leg Up - 4 Years Later

Here is a sort of stupid story for the year. A little over two months ago, my family went to a corn maze. We had been there once before about two years ago. After we had gone through the maze, one of my sisters wanted her picture taken with a huge corn cut out that had openings to put your face in. Once our mom got our picture taken with this piece of corn, my brother in law, step dad, and myself were going to go down a drainage ditch pipe like slide. The first two went down without a hitch. Me on the other hand, did not fair so well. When I landed, my feet planted into the pile of sand at the bottom and I broke the bone in the outter part of my leg and broke the inner ankle in two places.

We thought I sprained it really bad. My step dad and one of my brothers literally carried me to the pick-up and carried me into the house when we got home. 27 hours later I finally decide I cannot take the pain anymore. My parents pick me up and bring me to the Emergency Room where they told me the damage of the three broken bones.

Another added feature-surgery. A week after I broke my leg and my ankle, I had surgery. They put two screws in my ankle and a plate with six shorter screws in my leg. It's nine weeks later and I just finished my first week of physical therapy and it'll be another week before I can put any weight on it. Looking forward to the day I can get my boots on.

**This was my very first ever blog post. It's been 4 years since this injury happened. There are days that I get along pretty well. Then there are the days that walking hurts so bad. When the weather changes from warm to cold, those days are not my friend.

A year after the first surgery, I had a second one and had most of the hardware removed. I still have half of a screw in my leg. I even got to keep the hardware that was taken out.

Baking Like Crazy

I have always enjoyed baking cookies. I think it goes back to baking chocolate chip cookies a lot as a child with my grandma. In the past week, I've made three different batches of cookies. One recipe, I had never tried before and they turned out pretty good.

The first recipe I made was "Margaret's Special Oatmeal Cookies" from The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook. I've made these cookies several times before and are one of my favorites. Check out www.thefarmchicks.com for other recipes and ideas from The Farm Chicks.

The other two were from The Amish Cook's Baking Book. The first recipe was for "$250 Cookies". Someone I know requested cookies with chocolate chips in them, and these fit. These are delicious cookies. The second was for "Snickerdoodles". I had never made snickerdoodles before, but they turned out well. I think these are a perfect fall/winter type of cookie.

I plan on sending some cookies to a friend in Texas, bringing some cookies to work, and probably giving some cookies to my family.