Chicken on the Grill, Pumpkins, and Ducks

Whew, how's that for an all in one title? Sorry folks, I have a lot to say!

First, how to cook a whole chicken on the grill.

This is one of our favorite summer meals. Take a whole chicken. Prepare and rinse well. Get a can of something. Beer is recommended, but I think Coke or any Cola works as well (you know, in case you live in a house where you don't keep can's of beer around and you don't remember to get one until Sunday, when you can't buy beer).

Drink about 1/2 - 2/3 of your canned beverage.

Jam the can (with the rest of the liquid) up the chicken's bottom.

Stand the chicken up, using the can and it's two legs to make a kind of tripod.

Smear it with something. We went with a Caribbean Jerk Marinade this time (tasty) but plan oil, salt, and pepper works fine too.

You want to use indirect heat to cook this sucker. Go if you have a gas grill, only light the outer burners and leave the ones under the chicken off. If you use charcoal, the when they are ready, use a shovel or stick or something to scrape them off to the sides.


Cook for about 1 - 1 1.5 hours over medium heat. (Use your meat thermometer to check for doneness).


Okay, so now that you have a recipe for chickeny goodness, check out our baby pumpkin! He's the first one! How exciting.

We also have some peas. The kids had to try one.

After dinner we went to feed the ducks and geese at Prickett's Fort. We do this pretty often (you know, every time someone leaves the bread open and it gets all stale!) and the kids love it. These are probably the fattest, best fed fowl in all of creation. Everyone in Fairmont brings them bread to eat!






While we were driving to the Fort, I asked Chris, "Do you want to feed the ducks or do you want to take pictures?" He decided he would be taking pictures because he's good at it (he is).


But the lure of feeding the animals was too great for him and I had to take the camera away. What is this thing he's feeding anyway? A duck or a goose? We couldn't decide, but they were very docile and nice.


Unlike this guy. He was not nice. Honking and hissing, nipping the other geese, and generally just flapping his wings at everyone.



After we've fed them all our bread, we want to make sure they get enough physical activity, so Jordan gently encourages them to fly.


I mean, hey, they've got to work off all that bread somehow. Right?

Bathtime, Splinters, and Bees.

Okay, we had quite a day. But instead of regaling you with tales of my frustration, I'm going to share a few cool little gems I've been saving up.

First, my new bathtime favorite...Johnson's Buddy Bar. I got it because, well, it was free. And I fell in love. First off, Celia can't dig her fingers into the soap and pull it all apart. Also, I discovered that when you take it outside (because I'm one of those moms that hoses her kids off in the yard in the summer) dirt can't stick to it. So if you're a camper, you might try it as well. If you want to get it for free, then find any $1 off Johnson's Buddies coupon and it's all yours. You can find printable ones on the internet even.

Second, we have a wood deck. With lots of splinters. Now, I haven't tried this yet, but I've heard that if you get a splinter (with a little piece still sticking out) spread some plain white glue over it. Let the glue dry, peel off. The splinter should come with it.

Lastly, if your kid (or you, if you're a baby about pain) gets stung by a bee, to kill the pain (after you have held your hysterical kid down and removed the stinger) run some deoderent over the sting. The white kind, not the gel kind. I don't know why, but it works. Then you are free to give your kid a talk about needless hysterics and way too much drama.

Sausage Roll

Over on the WV Bloggers board we've been having a discussion on what it THE WV food. Since the board is overpopulated by southerners.....they are saying bean and cornbread. (Ewww)

Sorry guys, no matter what the polls say, it's Pepperoni Rolls. Invented in WV still can't get them anywhere else. I'm not giving out a recipe, because it's pretty simple. Take some pepperoni, roll it in bread dough, bake. Your product will only be as good as the ingredients you put in it.

Today, we're talking about Sausage Roll. My family loves this stuff. It's an idea I got from my mom, but have adapted a little to make it easier.

You will need:

Some breakfast sausage (browned and crumbled). I don't know how much. Whatever comes in a normal size tub.

A can of French Bread Dough

6 slices cheese (We like Velveeta, but also do cheddar. Any cheese will do though).

Okay, so you've crumbled and browned the breakfast sausage. Drain it well.

Open the can of dough. Unroll it (just look for the seam, it's rolled up jelly roll style). Lay flat. Cover with cheese, leaving about an inch at the end clean for sealing.

Put the sausage on top of the cheese. Try to make it a pretty even layer. Again, leave that inch at the end.

Get that inch at the end slightly wet, roll the whole thing back up and pinch closed. Back seam side down according to the french bread dough directions.

Let cool slightly.

If we're having this as a main course for a meal (it's great for breakfast with eggs, or dinner with macaroni) then I slice it about 1 inch thick. If we're having it as a snack or I'm putting it out as a party appetizer, I slice it more thin.

Hmmm, I'll have to add some pictures to this post so you can see just how yummy this thing looks. I guess that means we'll be having sausage roll for dinner soon!

Blogger Blowouts and Bargain Brags.

Nice Alliteration, huh?

Alright, so most of my day was wasted by me playing around with my blogger template. I know, a complete waste of time as I had a perfectly fine template, but I'm tired of it. Last night I fought with a 3 column template, unsuccessfully. This morning I changed up my color scheme to my favorites (pink and brown). This afternoon I got the 3 column thing to work with a hack template, fixed all my links, then tried to change my color scheme. Nope, can't do it. But I'm learning...it'll get there. And I have a really great idea to give my page some individuality, but I need Chris to help me out a little on that one. He knows my MacBook better than I do.

I do have to share a Celia picture and story. While making beds this morning I discovered that sometime she has peed in her bed. Ew. How this escaped my notice yesterday or whatever day she did it I don't know. So we took the sheets of and threw those in the wash. But her mattress was a little.....unpleasant smelling. So I threw a layer of baking soda on it, got some fresh air circulating in there (yes, baking soda really does work that well. And if it doesn't, spritz the mattress with vinegar. I know, you're thinking vinegar is stinky stuff...but when it dries, the stink goes away and it takes all other stink with it.) We got dressed, went outside to play.

A little later we come in for lunch. She finishes, says "I'm done" and leaves the kitchen. I was still eating, so I sat there reading a magazine and eating my sandwich when I realised it was really quiet.

Quiet is not good.

So I call her name. No answer.

I walk around the downstairs, looking in all her favorite spots. Nope.

I start to get hysterical and check to be sure the doors are locked (I know she would run if she could get out. I never even had to shut a door when Jordan was a toddler, but this one is a runner. I live in fear of forgetting to lock a door and having her run away). I'm running around, screaming her name.

I know she didn't go upstairs, I didn't hear her to that. But as a last ditch before I call the police effort I run up there.

Sure enough, that little booger had tiptoed up the steps. She knew I would stop her, so she got sneaky and quiet. I found her just rolling in baking soda on her mattress, patting it on her face like powder, using her little butt (our house has apparently become a clothing optional resort for toddlers) as a powder puff to dust everything with baking soda.




I decided to her the shopping done tonight while I could leave the kids with Chris. To my delight I found that I felt fine at Target and Giant Eagle. No identity crisis there. I guess I'm just not a Walmart shopper.

Anyway, I feel like I did great, so I'm going to brag on my shopping a bit. First, for $50 at Target I got:

32 Rolls of paper towels ( I know this seems a little excessive, but you had to get this many to get the deal...they ended up being .40 a roll. I may never need to buy them again)

10 tin plant labels (just because they were cute)

3 Ribbon headbands (same darn reason)

2 Polos for Jordan

3 Doorknob covers (the socks and rubber bands looked a little ghetto, but I'm not sure these things will keep the little escapee in)

1 Polo for Chris

1 Pair of Jeans for Chris (they actually fit him, yay!)

A buttload of Star Wars stuff for my son's upcoming big birthday party...he's hitting double digits this year!

Okay, so not too bad a Target. Now on to Giant Eagle. Here's where it gets good. For my $50 there I got:

10 boxes Eggo waffles

5 Boxes Cap'n Crunch (How retro is that! I used to love that stuff)

10 bottles of relish

3 gallons milk

3 loaves of bread and a bunch of hot dog buns

2 things squeezable jelly

A monster bottle of ketchup,

Some more baking soda!

A bunch of really yummy looking produce, I even sprung for the good lettuce this time!

A ton of other stuff to piddly to list. I just love the totals on the bottom of my receipt..

Total Due: $49.53
Total Saved: $43.51

The bargain high I get....priceless.

Sorry if these past few posts have become a little too blahg and boring for some of you. Thanks to my favorite verbotomist (okay, so I only know one, but still favorite!) for giving me a new label to obsess over. Keep in mind, I'm writing this more for me than for you!

The Best Way to Cook Bacon

After much research, I have discovered the very best way to cook bacon. Quick, easy, almost no clean up. And I'm going to share it with you. But first, will you look at these peas?



Something I planted from a seed is actually growing. Every year I plant a whole bunch of seeds. About half of the sprout, then get knocked over by a cat or die for some strange reason. You know, like I forget to water them for a week or water them so much that the only thing that can grow in that boggy mess is a crop of mold?

Anyway, my peas are growing really fast and my pumpkins are sprouting up nice too. I'm going to be brave and put the peas out in the ground this weekend.

Okay, moving on to bacon. The best way to cook bacon is in the oven! No greasy splatters all over your stove top, no bacon smell in the microwave. Plus it's pretty fast!

Start by preheating your oven to 425. Get a baking sheet with a nice rim, cover it in foil. Place you bacon on the sheet, be careful not to overlap.

Stick pan in the over for 10-14 minutes (depending on how crispy you like your bacon). Keep an eye on it. You should rotate the pan halfway through so that it cooks evenly. Remove the bacon from the pan and place it on a plate with paper towel (or McDonalds napkins, if you have run out of paper towels again but happen to have a pile of napkins left over from when you friend brought you ice cream in an effort to stave off complete emotional breakdown last night).

If you let the pan cool the grease will solidify, so you can just remove the foil sheet, grease and all, throw the whole mess away.

The recipe I found (which I'm not linking because it had several inconsistencies) says you can place several trays in the oven at the same time. Don't try this. I found it burned one pan to a smokey crisp and left the other way undercooked, even if you switch them around in the middle. The result is you ruin half a perfectly good pound of bacon and don't have enough for what you planned to do with it, so you have to just sit down and eat the rest of it all by yourself.

So stick with one pan at a time. Soon I'll share with you my super yummy crouton recipe and then you can make yourself a nice salad.

How to make a diaper cake.

Okay, here we go! We're making a diaper cake. I'm not going to give you a big supply list, because it's up to you. You will need about 60-70 diapers and a cardboard base. I use size 2 Luvs....because I like Luvs and I like to give bigger diapers. You can buy a cardboard cake round, but I'm cheap. I trace a dinner plate on a piece of cardboard and cut it out. It ends up slightly smaller than my cake, so you never see it. If yours is larger, you should cover it or decorate it.

Step 1. Roll up a diaper.



Step 2. Fasten with a rubber band. Repeat 60-70 times. Usually while watching tv.


Step 3. Attach your center to your cardboard base. I'm using baby wash since I'm making a bath time cake. This is a good basic to use. You can also use a bottle, lotion, a paper towel roll, or even a can of formula. Anything relatively tall and cylindrical. I use glue dots or hot glue to attach it. Today I went with hot glue. There are glue dots in the photo, since a lot of people don't know they exist. Yup. People make and sell dots of glue, for your convenience.


Step 4. Put a large, sturdy rubber band around your center. Begin slipping diapers into the rubber band.


Step 5. Fill the first ring with diapers. It usually takes 6-8 diapers, depending on the size of your center. I like to make sure that they all face in the same direction, because I'm strange like that. You might not be so obsessive....in which case stuff them in there any way you like. Now carefully remove the small rubber bands from each diaper. New moms don't like to take of 70 rubber bands before using their gift. If you like, you can substitute some of the diapers for onesies or other small gifts. You can also ditch the whole first ring, wrap an entire outfit around the center and secure with rubber bands or ribbon.


Congratulations! You just finished the first ring. Do your happy dance and let's get back to work.

Step 6. Put another rubber band around the ring you have assembled.


Step 7. Start slipping diapers into the new rubber band to make your second ring. I don't remember how many diapers, just put some in. It should be snug. Don't forget to remove the small rubber bands. Repeat entire step for the third ring.



Woohoo! We're done with the whole first layer.


Step 8. Here is gets a little tricky. I want the top of my cake to be only diapers, so I'm using a toilet paper roll for the rest of my center. You can use a small bottle or a sippy cup too. If I'm using another gift as my center, I leave it off and begin to assemble my second layer. Since I need to do some creative cutting to make my toilet paper roll work, I do it now. If you like, you can also use some baby spoons or popsicle sticks between the diapers of the first and second layer for stability. Just stick one end into the center of a diaper in the second ring, then stick another diaper right on top of it when you get there.



Step 9. Just like your first layer, put a rubber band on and slip diapers in. Repeat for a second ring. You will only have two rings in this layer.


Whew. Onto the last layer.

Step 9. Put together your top layer. If you are using a paper towel or toilet paper roll center, stick a diaper (or two) down in there. This will make the top of your cake look nice. You can always leave the top of a bottle or sippy cup sticking out. One of my other favorite things to do is put a puppet over the center, leaving the head and arms above the diapers. Makes a cute topper.


Step 10. Slip on a rubber band and complete a ring of diapers. Only one ring on the top layer. Don't forget to remove those pesky rubber bands from each diaper!

Done! That's your basic cake. Time to decorate it! Here are some things I've used, you can search the internet for more ideas or come up with something on your own.


Tie strips of tulle around each layer


Use a nice ribbon


Tie a piece of curly ribbon around each diaper. Say hello to my ham of a husband. He can't stand not being in pictures.


You can also wrap the whole thing in blankets.....or hooded towels. Hooded towels are IMPOSSIBLE. If this is your first cake, don't use them. Unless your some crazy Martha Stewart over achiever. In which case, knock yourself out. But don't blame me when you get mad and throw your pretty cake across the room.

So here I am fighting with the towels. It took a lot of creative folding and safety pinning. Also, if you're going to use towels or blankets, dish out the extra buck for the good safety pins. Do not buy the value economy pack of safety pins so dull you can't stick them in butter. That will make you want to poke your eyes out with said safety pins. But you can't. They are too dull.


After fighting for a VERY long time with towels and pins, I get this sloppy mess. It will have to do.


Now I'm adding some ducks. I love me some ducks. And the ducks love me. Especially after I shove a pipe cleaner up their little ducky bums. Sorry boys, it's the only way to attach you to the cake.


This is not what I had in mind when I started, but I think it's passably cute. Wrap it in tulle or cellophane and you're ready to take it to a new mommy!


Here is another one of my favorites. I'm just waiting for someone to have a little girl so I can give it away!


So there you go! Make yourself a cake! If you know of a better way, please let me know. I'm always looking for new ideas...especially if you know how to make the diapers look like the spiral around the cake.

Time Change & Cool Stuff to do with Soap

Not much to talk about today. The government seems to have deviously planned good weather to make me enjoy the time change (against my will). I've got to say that playing in the backyard looks like it's going to be MUCH more fun this year than last. Celia is old enough to grasp consequenses so it's easier to keep her in the yard. I still want to do something about the fence (for safety reasons) so I sat out there thinking about that for awhile.

Last year I had this big plan to revamp the front of the house. Give it a little curb appeal....a little class. That plan bit the big one and by fall, the outside looked even more white-trashy than it did before. So no new plans this year, just try and fix the damage from last year. I was going to start today by chopping out a half cut out/dug up boxwood....but couldn't find an ax. So instead I cleared a massive about of weeds out of a small would-be flower bed in the back.

I also spent a lot of time looking at the playset we have. It's one of those treehouse style ones. The kids love it....but there isn't a swing extension, so I think it's dangerous. But it's a great playset.....and I think we could tweak it to be just what I want. Then I start thinking that the steps would be better on the other side of the porch....and a million other things. Someone please stop me now because these are NOT small projects and they aren't getting done this year!

So, a new addition to my blog. I'm forever reading about our hearing about cool little things, which I never get a chance to share and usually forget before I get a chance to try, so I'm going to start blogging them.

Starting with the wonders of blue Dawn (dish detergent). First off, if you're a bargain shopper, there are usually good coupons and you end up with this stuff for free of close to it. That's always a plus.

It's a given that you can use it for dishwashing and cleaning (removes grease well). But surprise, it has other, secret functions you never knew about.

The other bargain mommies at BBC let me in on the secret that it will clear clogged drains. Our toilet has been messed up for months....poured in half a bottle, let it sit, and it works like new. I don't know what that does to the environment, but it can't be any worse than Draino. Just sayin'.

Blue Dawn is also rumored to make the best home made bubble solution. Last year we got one of those super huge bubble maker things. Turns out that the bubble fluid you get with the cheapo bubble wands won't work for serious bubbles. Here is the recipe I found:

1 bottle blue Dawn (no fancy scented stuff!)
2 TBSP Corn syrup
Enough water to fill the rest of a gallon jug.

Combine all ingredients, let sit at least overnight. Enjoy your big ole bubbles!