Weekend Article Recap 8/30/2016

Just in case you missed one, here is a recap of this past week’s articles I wrote on my personal blog. Plus, a few I wrote on a website called BlogBourne.

Photo is from Pixabay, a free use photo website.

1. Buried In The Wrong Grave

This post explains the ordeal of finding my Uncle buried in the wrong grave. My family had to contact the funeral home and graveyard to get him moved in the proper place. After being moved, his metal place marker is missing.

© belongs to sandy KS aka rusty2rusty

2. Cheesy Sloppy Joe Biscuit Recipe

This recipe is made in the oven quick and easy.

© Belongs to sandy KS aka rusty2rusty

3. Homemade Breakfast Tacos Recipe

This is a healthy twist on most breakfast tacos recipes.

© belongs to Sandy KS aka rusty2rusty

4. Dining Out At Olive Garden

We dined at Olive Garden for my daughter’s sixteenth birthday. I give a review of our experience.

© Belongs to sandy KS aka rusty2rusty

5. Dining Out At Denny’s

My family dined at Denny’s after going to a super bug yard sale. I share our experiences, what e bought and a review.

© Belongs to Sandy KS aka rusty2rusty

6. Crab Bite Recipe

A recipe made with a babycakes maker.

Photo is from Pixabay, a free use photo website.

7. Food Banks Need These Items

Many families rely on food banks around the world to feed their families. This article is a run down of many items a food bank needs to have donated. 

Photo is from Pixabay, a free use photo website.

8. Catching Pokemon In The Graveyard

This article talks about my adventures catching Pokemon in the graveyard. It displays photos of different graves and the meanings behind them. One has a sinister story.

Photo is from Pixabay, a free use photo website.

9.10 Signs You Need To See A Eye Doctor

If you experience any of these 10 symptoms, you need to see an eye doctor. 

Photo is from Pixabay, a free use photo website.

10. There's A Hawk In The Air

This article gives warning to all small dog and cat owners and the dangers a flying predator can be. A responsible pet owner will know the dangers that look in their backyard and how to protect their pets.

Photo is from Pixabay, a free use photo website.

11. Just like Clockwork The Battle Begins

This article describes a daily struggle between a parent and a special needs teenager.

Photo is from Pixabay, a free use photo website.

12. Keep Your Cats Inside

This article shares a personal story of one woman's problem when cats became a nuisance in her trailer court.

Which of these articles did you like the best? What kind of articles would you like to see more of?

I want to personally thank each and everyone of my readers for stopping by, engaging and sharing my blog. 

Crab Bite Recipe

Last night I was in the mood to make something. Since I still have not replace the heating element in my oven. I knew I couldn’t use that. I still wanted to bake something. I immediately grabbed my Babycakes maker. Sure everything looks like muffins, but the Babycakes maker allows me to get baking out of my system. Plus, I don’t have to worry about heating up the entire house.

One thing I realized with the Babycakes making. I can make anything in a mini version, I want to bake in the oven.  

For April Fool’s Day I made mini meatloaf’s and frosted it with mashed potatoes to look like cupcakes. The teens fell for it. We all got a good laugh.

My daughter and I got the ingredients around. As I wanted to make a version of crab bites or mini crab cakes. After looking at all the ingredients, it was agreed to make crab bites. Even though the Babycakes maker will make them look like muffins or little cakes.

I was able to find the crab meat on sale at Walmart in those small packages of imitation crab for a $1.00 a piece. The can of biscuits I bought in a package of four.  I believe they were on sale at the time I bought them to. I can not for the life of me remember how much I paid for them. You should know me, if I can’t find a deal or on sale. I am not buying it.

Crab Bites Recipe

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8 ounces of crab meat (chopped)

4 ounces of cream cheese (softened)

1 small onion (diced)

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup of Stevia or other diabetic sugar

2 cans of refrigerated biscuits (I use Pillsbury brand)

1 egg

1 teaspoon of water

1 teaspoon Chia seeds

Add soften cream cheese, crab meat, onion, garlic salt, sugar, and ginger in a bowl. Mix til well blended together.

In a separate bowl, mix water with egg til well blended.

Take one refrigerated biscuit, fallen it. Place some of the crab mixture in the middle of the biscuit. Fold biscuit over and make sure all sides are closed. Place biscuit in Babycakes maker. Brush the top with the egg mixture. Top with Chia seeds.

Bake til golden brown or five to eight minutes.

Note : This recipe can easily be adapted to use in the oven. Or with crescents for a lighter outside.

Note : You can opt out of using the sugar. Unless you like a little sweeter taste.

If you try my homemade recipe. Please let me know what you think. I know everyone has their own taste and preferences. I do enjoy hearing if others have tried my recipes and if they made any changes to it.

Photo © belongs to me Sandy KS aka rusty2rusty.

Dining At Denny's

Earlier this summer, my family traveled out-of-town to go to a huge garage sale. It was cold and windy, the place had a crowd. I hate places that are so packed you can't turn around without bumping in to one another. Yet, you can get good deals if you look.

I did manage to spend about $20 picking up a few things. I grabbed a few shirts for my daughter and me for 50 cents a piece. I also found another old baking dish to replace the one I dropped and broke awhile back. I am not sure what all my boyfriend found.

Afterward we stopped off at Denny's restaurant to grab a bite to eat. As cracker Barrel was too busy. There was a wait to place your name on the waiting list. So, Denny's it was. It took us about 20 minutes to get seated. As the place was a little busy.

While we were waiting for our order, we got entertained by the man sitting next to us. As he was waiting on a bus, he decided to place his watch in his cup of water. He proceeded to take the watch out of the cup and pound on it with a spoon. Not my idea of a good time. The couple who had kids on the other side was behaving better than him.

Finally, our meals came. My boyfriend chose the Chicken Philly Cheese with fries on the side. He enjoyed the meal and ate it all.

I ordered a cheeseburger with mushrooms, pickles, lettuce and not sure what else was on it. Yet, it had plenty of veggies. It was delicious. The best burger I have had in a long time.

My daughter ordered a cup of the broccoli and cheese soup. Made with cheddar cheese. She ate it all. She said it was good enough to order a second cup. However, she was too full for that. It made me laugh.

Dining Out At Olive Garden

I want to write about my family's trip to Olive Garden. We went to celebrate my daughter's '16th' birthday. The birthday person gets to choose which restaurant they would like to be taken out to eat at. This is a family tradition we have had for many years.

My daughter's birthday was last week. Her favorite place to eat out at is Olive Garden. Since, we have to travel an hour or more to visit one. It is not very often that we go. Olive Garden is reserved for a special treat. Maybe once or twice a year.

Oh course my boyfriend had to get one of his funny photos in. While we were waiting for the main course to show up. I love this photo, it makes me laugh everytime I see it.

We had the house salad and unlimited breadsticks while we waited for the main course. I always liked dipping the bread sticks in the dressing that is left on the plate. After eating all the salad.

We did order stuffed mushrooms as an appetizers. After having stuffed mushrooms at the Water Street Seafood Company back in July for my birthday. These stuffed mushrooms at Olive garden do not compare at all. They were edible but disappointing. It will not be something I will order again from them. Sorry Olive garden, this is the first food I do not like at your restaurant.

Cheesy sticks was another appetizer. Neither my boyfriend nor my daughter liked them. I didn't bother to try them. If my daughter doesn't like something with cheese. That means there is some kind of issue. As she is a cheese freak. She will eat all the cheese I buy at home. We tease her and tell her she is a cheese princess.

If you're anything like my daughter or I, we don't visit Olive garden for the appetizers. We enjoy the house salad, bread sticks and main course.

My boyfriend ordered the spaghetti without meatballs. As he can't have pork due to being allergic. Most meatballs are made with some type of pork. Not wanting to take any chances. He did not order any. He did like the spaghetti and ate it all.

The birthday girl ordered the alfredo shrimp. It is her favorite dish. She will order it as often as she can. She ate it all. I order the same thing. As I can't have tomatoes. It wasn't easy to find a meal with no tomatoes. It sucks having allergies where you must avoid certain foods eating out.

My boyfriend told the wait staff that it was my daughter's birthday. She was allowed to choose a free dessert. She chose a chocolate mousse cheesecake. She loved it and ate it all.

I know my daughter's birthday is past. Yet, if she reads this blog. I want to shout out "Happy late Birthday Sis". I love you.

Do you go out to eat to celebrate? If so, where are your favorite places to go?

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Photos were taken by and © belongs to Sandy KS aka rusty2rusty. 

Homemade Breakfast Tacos

Tacos for breakfast is food my family has been eating. Long before Taco Bell started serving breakfast. I make a breakfast taco that taste nothing like a normal taco. 

Tacos for breakfast can be in many different ways. The ingredients varies depending on what part of the world you are living at.

I decided to make Breakfast tacos today with a little twist - Spinach. Yes, I added something healthy to my family's breakfast tacos this morning.

Do you like breakfast taco's? If so, how is your favorite breakfast taco's made?

HOMEMADE BREAKFAST TACO'S

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Ingredients :

1 cup of fresh mushrooms

1 cup of chopped spinach

1/2 cup of blue cheese

6 eggs
6 soft tortillas
6 slices of turkey

Topping:

Mexican cheese or cheddar cheese

Instructions :

In a sauce pan, sautee the mushrooms, turkey and spinach in olive oil. When done set aside. Add blue cheese. Mix and let set. The cheese will melt while you are getting the eggs ready.

In a bowl crack open six eggs. Whisk till they are thoroughly scrambled. Add to a pan with a little olive oil. When eggs are starting to cool, getting mixing together to get the scrambled look. When eggs are half ways done. Add in the other ingredients you set aside. Mix together till it is completely cooked.

Spoon in to a soft tortilla. Top with Mexican blend or Cheddar shredded cheese.

Options : 

You can use butter instead of olive oil for more flavor. Olive oil makes the dish a little healthier than using butter. 

You can also sprinkle a little sea salt for extra flavoring. I did not. I allowed each individual to do that.

You can substitute luncheon meat or use real turkey. If using real turkey. Only use 1 cup. Otherwise slice up the turkey. 

This dish made enough for three people to eat two tacos a piece. A total of six tacos were made.

Cheesy Sloppy Joes Biscuits

For lunch I wanted to make something fairly quick. I also wanted to use my oven. As it can cool off at night. Using the oven helps heat up the house. Or I use my babycakes maker to make these.  I will explain how I make them in the oven.

Placing it on seventy degrees and everyone is freezing. With my bad leg I can’t have the house freezing. As my leg doesn’t like to work in the cold since I was shot.  The landlord is aware the thermostats won’t kick on unless it is set at seventy degrees or higher. As he showed us that when we moved in over three years ago. He also said don’t place it above ninety. Otherwise it will kick off.

Back to what I made for lunch . I made a “Cheesy Sloppy Joe Biscuit”. I seen a quick video on Facebook on how to make it. Whenever I see a recipe. I tend to change something to make it my own.

I used four ingredients. Which made it quick and easy. The ingredients are : 

2 pre-made large cans of biscuits, one pound ground turkey, one can of Sloppy Joes mix, and velveeta cheese.

I started by frying up the ground turkey. I drained the grease and add the canned Sloppy Joes mix. Set aside. I heated the oven to 350 degrees.

I took out the large canned pre-made biscuits. You must use the large biscuit in order for the them to fit in the baking pan right. I opened them up. I flatten each one and placed in the pan to use as the crust. I place a heaping scoop of the Sloppy Joes in each biscuit. I topped off with a slice of Velveeta cheese. I baked it for 8 to 10 minutes. It made sixteen.

Let cool for about three minutes. Each one came out of the pan easily by using a fork. The sides come out golden brown.

I picked up two large canned biscuits at Aldi’s for a $1.00 a piece. The ground turkey was given to us by a local food bank. The canned Sloppy Joes was picked up from Aldi’s for $1.00. I picked up the Velveeta during the holiday season for $4.00. I didn’t use 1/4 of the cheese. I still have plenty to use for other meals. This meal was cheaply made. Which is well within my budget.

You can use ground beef or chicken for this to turn out well.

One of these biscuits will be enough to fill most people up. As my family found two to be a little much.

If you would like to purchase any of these products. You can find these products, similar ones and many more through Rusty2rusty's Chatter Amazon Store

Buried In The Wrong Grave

On Sept 17, 2015 my family found some closure. The problem started back in December 2014 when my Uncle died. 

In NW Ohio where I live it was winter time. Wet, cold, and snow-covered everywhere. We held his funeral. Family told each other come spring we would go out to his grave. Some went in the winter. With snow covering the ground, metal marker with my Uncle name was not noticed missing yet.

Come spring time, family made it to the graveyard. Only problem was, my Uncle was not buried in the family plot. This did not sit well with the family.

We had to get a hold of the graveyard and funeral home to get to the bottom of the mess. The family needed to know where Uncle Robert was buried. The graveyard said it wasn't their fault. So, did the funeral home. An investigation was started. It was found out Uncle Robert was buried across the road in another plot. Mom found it, not anyone else.

Can you imagine burying your family and not knowing where they were laid to rest. Scanning the graveyard one day by chance to come across his plot. Only by noticing the small metal stake that said his name. It seemed like no-one was really doing anything about it. Now imagine how my mother felt when she found her brother buried in someone else's plot.

After talking to the graveyard and funeral home some more. It was found out the funeral home gave the wrong plot number on where to bury my Uncle. Why? My family may never know.

The graveyard buried my Uncle in the proper family plot. Right beside my younger sister. If you think this was taken care of, your mistaken. As the plot thickens. 

His metal stake that says his name is missing. The graveyard doesn't have it. Even though my Uncle was buried. There is nothing to mark where. No gravestone. As we can not afford to buy one. No metal marker. Nothing. Mom and I know. As we were there to witness his burial.

From discussing things with the guy from the graveyard. We need to get a hold of my Aunt. As she has the burial papers. That explains in detail of the purchase of my Uncle burial. There is more to this story.

However, I am going to keep the rest of the details mum. As depending on what those papers say, there could be a pending lawsuit. There are too many unanswered questions that need to be answered. I want to prevent this from happening to any other family.

All events of this story are true.

Rascal And Moose Visit The Independence Dam

Yesterday, I had another chance to work with Rascal to get him closer to a large body of water. A couple days ago I wrote about Rascal having aquaphobia. It means he is afraid of water. I have decided to slowly work with him to overcome his fear. Or at least work with him to the point he doesn't freak out walking next to it.

The first thing I did was drive to the local Petco. As Rascal and Moose needed to be fit for a new harness. Rascal was shaking in the store. However, he did great working with the lady helping me find the right size harness. Rascal is in the size petite small. It is smaller than xx-small. No wonder he was being Houdini and getting out all the harnesses or collars I ordered off line. None were small enough to fit properly.

At the Independence Damn, both dogs wanted to get out. I allowed my daughter to walk Moose on his leash. Rascal seen Moose walking and started to follow.

We had to walk along a long path way to get to the steps to get closer to the water. 

Once you reach the bottom of these steps. You start climbing down big rocks. Rascal would not move to the rocks. Instead he jumped in my arms. Moose had no issues running down the rocks to the bottom.

Moose had no issues walking. As he took the lead on which way we would go. Rocks were a mere obstacle for him to get where he was going.

Rascal stayed near me. As my boyfriend walked him on the leash. So, I could take photographs. He stayed far enough away from the water to where I could not grab him up. Which was good. As I was struggling to walk on the rocks with my bad leg.

I finally got to a spot where I could pause for a moment and take a couple of scenic photographs of the Independence Dam and wildlife.

Moose decided to go exploring among the tall grass growing among the rocks. He is short enough you can not see him. However, my daughter was holding on to his leash. He is among the tall grass. I wonder if he was imagining himself as a lion stalking prey through the tall grasses.

I wasn't able to get a good shot of the flowers growing among the rocks and river bank. Between the mud and rocks I was ready to get back up those steps.

The Independence Dam is huge, with 525 acres to explore. Walking my dogs along the river bank or along the trail following the trees is a real treat. It is great exercise and work out. If you are in the Defiance, Ohio area. You may want to add this place to your list of places to visit. 

Photos taken by and © belong to Sandy KS aka rusty2rusty.