Something old, something new, something not borrowed and something brown, not blue:

Something Old:
At the Givan house, we are still doing many of the same ole things.  Work, church duties, and some extra curriculas.

Something New:
Something new for me was taking Shona through a dog obedience class with Kate and Ben.  Oh, goodness I have watched Kate do this for years and it is not as easy as it looks.  In fact, I'm in trouble pretty much every week for doing something wrong.  It definitely is not a confidence builder. Kate and Benny of course make it look easy. Something else new are added job duties at the Cos.  I'm now operations coordinator which adds the front desk coordinating to my day.  We have a very good assistant front desk manager so it hasn't been a difficult job so far.  Mostly, I coordinate with other departments.  I have gotten the hang of selling tickets and one day I spent down there recently, I got more done than I do in my office!

Tim's something new is a new certification for his job.  He had to go to school for it and did decide that this could be it for the school learning.  It was rather stressful-the studying and taking tests.  He is also leading a new Bible study at church.  Oh, and he has discovered the joy of podcasts.  It is not unusual to find him "plugged" in to his ipod listening as he goes about the house.  Although, I have wondered if at times he is also using it to block Kate and I out!

Something not borrowed:
Well, we had our oven go out right before Easter.  I walked in the door with my frozen turkey in hand for Easter weekend dinner only to discover that  a power surge had taken out the oven.  Soooo.... you can't borrow someone's oven forever (although Gma and Gpa's worked to bake the turkey) so we now have a "new to us" oven.  It is very nice.  We also finally gave up on the washer.  If you were ever over here during the spin cycle you would have thought you were about to observe a shuttle launch.  Anyway, we now have a "new to us" washer.  It is amazing.  The clothes don't come out dripping water but are actually rung out.

Something brown, not blue:

Meet Ellie Mae.  Our something brown, not blue.  Ellie Mae is my very own pet.  Now you may think that is weird since we have several pets at our house.  You could also consider her to be my mid life crisis or maybe another attempt to find a hobby.  Whatever she is -she is very cute and loveable.  It is really fun to have a pet to sit with and greet you when you come home.  I plan to take her to an obedience class that Kate is co teaching this summer with the goal of doing Reading with Rover with her at the library.

Take care one and all and until next time.

Christmas Eve Potato Soup

Since the weather is so unpredictable, a soup can’t be too wild of a suggestion, can it? We just made this last week.

Christmas Eve Potato Soup

(This one has good memories for me since we ate it every Christmas Eve at my Great Grandma Tucker’s house, hence the name.)

5 lb potatoes
Onion to taste
2 sticks butter
16 oz sour cream with chives, or green onions to taste (we definitely prefer the fresh green onions!)
1 pkg bacon bits
milk to desired consistency
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and chop potatoes and onions (we use powder or none at all). Boil until tender, 20-30 mins. Drain. Add butter, sour cream, bacon and green onions (if using). Stir and add milk as needed. Top with cheese and enjoy!!

Uncle Tim G Recipes

Yummy and Easy Tilapia
4 frozen tilapia fillets
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP margarine
1/8 c. lemon juice
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp garlic salt (or lemon pepper if you don't like garlic salt)

Salt and cayenne pepper to taste (I usually leave cayenne pepper off)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Spray baking dish with cooking spray
Melt margarine in microwave
Place tilapia in banking dish
mix melted margarine, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic salt and parsley
Pour mix over tilapia

Bake in preheated oven for 13 minutes, broil for 3 minutes

Chicken Foil Dinner
For one serving:  1 boneless chicken breast, marinated in Italian dressing overnight in ziplock baggie
1/2 cup minute rice, 5-7 baby carrots, 6 broccoli florets, 1 TBSP margarine or butter, 4-5 ice cubes

Place marinated chicken in in center of large foil square (heavy duty foil is best). Add rice and vegetables, butter and ice cubes.  Wrap securely and place on grill for about 20 minutes.  Turn a couple of times.

A Taste of Missouri

So I like spicy things...and using black beans. That's a problem because I don't know how much of the family is in the camp of "not spicy" preferences and because black beans just absorb nearly every other flavor you add to them and cover it up so all you can taste are just black beans. Here's three recipes though that I enjoy making!

Black Bean Patties

This one's a little bland as the recipe stands: personally I've had luck adding garlic, paprika, or some chili powder, but that's probably not really everyone else's taste. Guacamole on top has been the best solution so far. Boiling and dicing sweet potatoes was a good choice, and another time I added sweet corn to pretty good success. They're good with pasta (either red or white sauce), or with the guacamole on top they're basically a vegetarian hamburger.

Time: 20m
Ingredients:
15-16oz Black Beans (get a can, cooking them raw is complicated)
15-16oz Diced white potatoes (I also recommend getting these or "sliced white potatoes" in a can to make things easier)
1/4c sauteed onion (this can be left out—in which case I'd really recommend adding something else you'll think will give the patties some more flavor).
1/2t parsley
1/2c oatmeal
olive oil

Instructions:
Mash the beans and potatoes together.
Add the onion, parsley, oatmeal, salt, and pepper (and anything else you've chosen to add)
Mix well
Shape 6 patties
Heat the oil
Cook patties about 5min per side or until done to taste

Carrot Falafel

I hesitated to include this one because I didn't want everyone thinking I only eat things that are round and shaped like discs...but it's a good one as well. The cumin is definitely a flavor we didn't eat a lot of growing up, and I don't know if that's just a Givan thing or if that's a pretty common experience for us all!

Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas (15oz)
2 cloves garlic (I'm not sure how substituting this one would work if you're not a garlic person)
1c chopped red onion (I leave this out all the time though, not on purpose, and it turns out fine)
2 carrots (finely grated)
A handful of fresh parsley
A handful of fresh mint
1/2t cumin
1/2t coriander
1/4t chili powder
1t tahini (this stuff is super hard to find...if you have seasame seeds you can grind them to a powder and use that. Other substitutions include very plain tasting nut butters apparently. I think you can just skip it...I know I haven't had enough falafel to tell the difference)
2 lemons (organic/unwaxed usually work best)
1 egg
1/2c plain vanilla yogurt
Pita

Instructions:
Mash the chickpeas.
Finely chop the garlic and all the herbs.
Finely grate the carrots.
Coarsely grate the zest of from the lemons
Add the egg
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Makes between 6-12 patties depending on  size.

Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, and tahini to make a dressing.
Serve on plain pita

Easy Bake Banana and Oatmeal Cookies
1/2c oatmeal
2 bananas
Whatever you'd like to add

Mash the bananas up and add the oatmeal. Add nuts, honey, dried fruit, etc, and bake for 15 minutes at 350.