DREAM BIG, EXPECT MUCH, AND LAUGH WHILE
ACCOMPLISHING GREATNESS!!!
Page 6...
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Suzanne's Tacklin' Turkey Joes!

For the 1st real blog post on this new account, here is another of "Suzanne's Recipes"


Recipes By Suzanne
 
Tacklin' Turkey Joes
Throw a lean and mean party for the next big game with this low-fat, but tasty version of sloppy joes. Great for picnics, cookouts, and family dinner too!

1 pound lean ground turkey
1-1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
? cup Heinz Sweet Relish ®
? cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup ®
12 ounces Heinz Homestyle Zesty Onion Gravy ®
6 sandwich buns

In large skillet, brown turkey, drain fat. Stir in chili powder then add gravy, ketchup and relish. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Serve on whole wheat buns. Makes 6 servings.

Thanks to those that have made the trip to this new account, as you can see below, the "Poco Feliz Navidad" design, by Bill of hobbyillustrator.com of Steve of NACER.ORG's mascot Poco, is now out, there's also another new design, "BOXES? SCHMOXES!" with Seth, Caleb, Debbie, Henry, THE BOX, and myself, that I will feature here on the next post, and you can check it out now at the top of the homepage at iamnotagenious.com, hope everyone has a Fantastic Week, take care and God Bless.....Mikey

Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Grandmother Vera's Apple Cobbler!

Here's another of "Chickasha Oklahoma Legend" Grandmother Vera's recipes that Dad sent this week...

Several years ago Vera gave me an envelope with a large amount of recipes in it.  Over 50 are in her hand writing and the rest came from just everywhere she could clip them out. I will be sending these out typed. All that I send will be from Vera's own hand writing and the best I can read them. Some are dated in the 70s and one seems to be from Claudene's high school days (Over 15 years ago).
Three days ago I tried this and it came out, the best apple cobbler I've  tasted. I changed the recipe a little. I used water instead of half & half. I accidentally used the 1/4 th cup of water when I was making only a half order and should have used 1/8th cup. When I stirred the mix it came out watery. I added another 1/4 cup of mix and sat it in the freezer while the apples cooked. Then I spooned the thikened  mix on the apples evenly. I used a regular size cake pan that was sprayed with cooking spray and dusted with flour.

Apple Cobbler

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup baking mix
1/4 cup butter (I used a little more thant that)
1/4 cup half & half
1/4 th Teaspoon of vanilla
2-21 ounce cans, fruit pie filling

Heat oven to 375 degrees, mix sugar, baking mix, cut in butter, mix in cream, vanilla, shape in balls and refrigerate 30 minutes. Pour fruit into 7 X 11 pan. Heat 10 minutes in the 375 oven.  Roll chilled dough out on floured surface. Place over hot fruit. Bake 25 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter (oleo). Sprinkle with sugar. The crust will rise and become golden.

Remember, I made a 1/2 recipe and spooned the crust over the apples. I used the $1.29 can of pie cooking apples and sprinkled powdered sugar over the top, once cooked. The $3.00 apples couldn't have been better.
Besides the "Poco Feliz Navidad" design for Christmas, Bill (you can see his work, when he gets his site going, at hobbyillustrator.com) is working on a "Sissy Merry Christmas" design, more info on it all when I start to get it finalized, hope everyone has a Fantastically Wonderfull Wednesday, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Fun With Miso!

In this blog there's a number of references to Miso (see 2/5/2006 post in the blog's archives), so here's a repost of recipes I came up with using Miso...

Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Dinner For Debbie v5.23.06
With Deb's health problems, me starting a business, and everything else that goes on at our zoo, every 2-3 weeks we go to marriage counseling with Buddy Scott at His Love Counseling Services (which a portion of the profits from MikeyWear with the "God Bless Texas" and "Jesus Loves Me" designs goes to) in Lake Jackson to keep our marriage on track...

So at our counseling session on Monday, it was decided that I would cook dinner for Debbie every evening, and since I'm a meat and potatoes man and she likes healthier meals, there will be nights that I will cook her a more healthy meal than mine, which works out because it leaves us both with leftovers for later...

Meanwhile, my Dad doesn't understand what I do on this blog and some weeks sends a bunch of  copyrighted recipes that I can't use here instead of transcribing one of "Chickasha Oklahoma Legend" Grandmother Vera's hand written recipes, like he did this week, so since there have been requests for recipes of healthier dishes, on the weeks that Dad doesn't send one of Grandmother Vera's recipes, I will be posting recipes of stuff I throw together for Debbie that she likes, starting with...
Dinner For Debbie v5.23.06

1 lb California Style Frozen Vegetables
Rotisserie Chicken left over from night before
1 big heaping tablespoon of Miso
2 cups Instant Rice, 4 1/2 cups Water
Pepper
Pour 4 cups of Water in pan and begin heating, tear Chicken into little pieces and cook in microwave for two minutes to insure no bacteria, dump chicken and Miso (for an easy way to find out more about Miso, click here, then scroll down a little till you see the "Blog Archive" box on your left, enter 2-5-2006 in it, and click "Go") into water and stir until Miso has dissolved, bring to a full boil, throw vegetables into pan, when water is again at a full boil, bring heat down to simmer for 8 minutes, bring it to a full boil one more time, turn off heat, stir in Rice, cover for 5 minutes, then stir to fluff up Rice, have Deb Pepper to her taste, pour in rest of water and heat again while stirring constantly, give it to Debbie to enjoy...

Would also like to mention that Buddy has written a Wonderful book, "Relief For Hurting Parents: How To Fight For The Lives Of Teenagers," I posted about this book back in January, so for an easy way to read more about it, click here, then scroll down a little till you see the "Blog Archive" box on your left, enter 1-10-2006 in it, and click "Go"

Hope everyone a really Stupendous Wednesday, take care and God Bless.....Mikey

Saturday, May 27, 2006
Dinner For Debbie v5.24.06, v5.27.06, & v5.27.06a
On top of everything else going on, Deb has knee surgery on Tuesday, so it may take a few days to get back on personal replies, to have some things up before then, I'm posting this now, then Erwin's Fun Facts when I get a chance tomorrow, then the Angleton City Council report some time Monday and so I don't scare off any new readers this time will precede it with photos of the progress on the Flea Market booth, including hopefully the new mannequin I should have finished tomorrow...

So for the 1st part of this meal (v5.23.06), see the Wednesday, May 24th post, and so you don't have to (although you are welcome to) read it's comments , because there was really too much rice in the dish, after she had eaten some of it, the next night in another pan...
Dinner For Debbie v5.24.06
 
1 lb frozen Peas and Carrots
2 cans chunk Chicken
1 Can chunk Turkey
1 Glob Miso on a tablespoon
3 cups water
Pepper
Leftovers from v5.23.06
Heat water and Miso to a simmer, Pepper to Deb's taste, throw in Chicken and Turkey and bring to a full boil, throw in Peas and Carrots and bring to a full boil again, then bring heat down to simmer for 10 minutes, throw in v5.23.06 leftovers and bring to full boil one last time, serve to Debbie...

And she loved it!

The after two nights of it and cereal (that's what she wanted) last night...
Dinner For Debbie v5.27.06
 
5 Boneless Pork Chops
1 Glob Miso on a tablespoon
5 Shakes Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 tbs Chili Powder
Pepper
Leftovers from v5.24.06
Sear 1 side of each pork chop and place to the side, wipe out skillet, throw water, Miso, Hot Sauce, and Chili Powder in skillet, Pepper to Debbie's taste and heat to a simmer, then place Pork Chops back in skillet and simmer while covered 15 minutes, place 3 pork chops and enough v5.24.06 leftovers for Deb to have enough and share some with Sissy too...

Deb loved it and Sissy gobbled up what she was given and enthusiastically licked the plate clean...
Dinner For Debbie v5.27.06a
(for Deb to eat tomorrow)
 
2 leftover Pork Chops from v5/27.26
3/4 cup Juice left from v5.27.06
(that's how much there was)
3/4 cup Instant Rice
Leftovers from v5.24.06
Cut Pork chops into small squares, pour Juice in new pan, throw in Pork Chops and heat to a boil, turn off heat and stir in rice, cover for 10 minutes, stir to fluff and throw in v5.24/06 leftovers, heat to boil, let cool and place in refrigerator for Deb to eat tomorrow...

I don't think this is going to be continued, as the next "Dinner For Debbie" will be probably be started from scratch, take care and God Bless.....Mikey

Meanwhile, I have a lot of new things going with the iamnotagenious.com project and hope to post an update Thursday or Friday, but 1st will be posting a new recipe of Grandmother Vera's tommorrow, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Monday, October 02, 2006
Suzanne's Stuffed Sausage Mushrooms

Here is another of "Suzanne's Recipes"

Recipes By Suzanne
 
Stuffed Sausage Mushrooms

8 ounces whole fresh mushrooms, washed, stems removed and finely chopped
1 tablespoon Butter Flavor CRISCO
4 ounces spicy bulk breakfast sausage, crumbled
2 teaspoons grated onion
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon freeze-dried chives
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt - Dash pepper
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs (unseasoned), divided
CRISCO Canola Oil for frying - 1 egg, beaten

In small saucepan, melt Butter Flavor Crisco over medium high heat. Add mushroom stems, sausage, onion, parsley flakes, chives, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until sausage is cooked and mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 tablespoons bread crumbs. Fill caps with stuffing mixture, packing firmly and mounding mixture slightly. In deep-fat fryer or deep saucepan heat 3 inches Crisco Canola Oil to 375ºF. Dip filled mushrooms in beaten egg. Roll in remaining bread crumbs to coat. Fry a few at a time in hot oil for 1 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately or keep warm in 175ºF oven.

Tip: To make a day ahead, prepare as directed. Coat with egg and crumbs; place on plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Fry as directed, adding 1 to 2 minutes cooking time

Hope everyone has a Wonderfully Fantastic Week, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Michael Stoldt's last Tuesday Evening in Angleton...
First off, I apologize for getting this out so late, between the frustrations here at MySpace and the "Family Maters" rearing their ugly head once again, just haven't been up to it and have been doing other things, but will mention that one of the other things is setting things up to bring the "Poco Feliz Navidad" design into the iamnotagenious.com project (which will hopefully be by the end of the week), have also been switching the advertising over to the October ads and working on adding more ads, so with that now out of the way...

The original delay on this report of the Angleton City Council Meeting was so I could cover Michael Stoldt's farewell reception on Thursday, but since it started at 3pm and I had an appointment in Houston's Westchase area at 4:14pm, well, I was only there for about 5 minutes, but was able to get this photo taken...

Thanks to Robert Heinemeyer for taking the photo...
So to finally get to Tuesday, it was a pleasant meeting that only lasted an hour and a half, which included informal discussion of the City Council possibly going to Lampasas to heckle Michael Stoltz, and if they do I hope to cover it...

I got there early and Angleton Parks Director Stan Weik came up and introduced himself, he's been involved in the Angleton Community for many years, including time serving the thankless job of a City Council member, there was a lot of positive discussion in Tuesday's meeting about him working with local Seniors to start a program for them at the Recreation Center...

Although they didn't discuss it much, next month is going to be one of those meetings, with a public hearing and possible action on the new smoking ordinance, I guess that there wasn't much discussion because only the folks on Smoking Ordinance Committee knew what it consists of and they weren't saying, so to write something about it I will go ahead and post here what I wrote to the committee...

Hi!

I would first like to thank you for your dedication to this thankless task, as I say on the blog, it's beyond me why the council and city employees are not tearing their hair out as they deal with us residents who are so set in their ways and work to bring this city to it's destiny at the same time...

When covering Angleton City Council meetings (unfortunately going to miss this month's too because it's my 47th birthday, but I will be back) and speaking to individuals at City Hall for the blog, it's obvious that the City is working hard to attract new businesses, now I am not quite yet a successful Angleton businessman and my status is still only "A Legend In The Making," but I am busy learning to become one, and based on what I have learned so far, I would think that destroying long established businesses with a smoking ban, when there aren't and probably never will be many smoking establishments in the first place, would not be attractive to some (most would not care, of course) of the business folks considering setting up shop in our great city...

You should also consider how many of of Angleton's residents that go to the establishments which would be shut down by a smoking ban, as a matter of pride, would not go to any other restaurants here, and if the smoking ban is implemented and a restaurant just outside the City Limits where folks could smoke was not started immediately by someone I would  really be surprised, with both of those resulting in a loss of revenue for Angleton...

As for myself personally, the only time I smoke in a restaurant is on Friday mornings and it wouldn't be a big deal, whether or not we moved to the new restaurant just outside the City Limits would be up to Micheal Boddy, of course...

Thanks Again!
Mikey

So to move onto a more pleasant subject, Angleton is working with the railroads and the US Government to turn the areas near the train tracks in the city into "Quiet Zones," where the trains won't blast their horns every time they go through, Angleton's City Engineer Herb Smith was praised for the proposal he wrote on behalf of Angleton to get this going and Michael Stoltz said he was jealous that he didn't write it...

Oddly enough there weren't any comlaints about dogs when the citizens who wished to address the Council did so, but there was a complaint about the bathroom in Bates Park being locked most of the time and the Seniors that visit the park not being able to use them...

The County Fair begins here on October 13th, it's been around so long that it pretty well runs itself, but Public Works Director Robert Heinemeyer is making arrangements for extra trash pickup along the parade route...

The rest of it was mostly routine stuff, but next month will be a big one, I will make a point not to miss it and report on it here, because after all, this blog is, in fact, Angleton's Oldest Source for the City's News, hope everyone has a Wonderful Week, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Quick Notes...
Hope everyone is having a really Fantastic Week, and since it is the 1st Tuesday of the month, after a 3 month break I will be returning to Angleton City Hall tonight to cover the City Council Meeting, since after all, this blog is, in fact, Angleton's Oldest Source for the City's News, this is Michael Stoldt's last one too, so it's a must that I be there...

In the mean time, you can read all of the previous Angleton City Council reports (and more about Angleton) right here...

Have finished the new banner to go up at iamnotagenious.com for the month of October, with NACER.ORG as the Featured Non-Profit Organization of the Month, and as promised, you are now seeing it here 1st...


I forgot to ask Dad for another of Grandmother Vera's recipes till last night and don't know when he will write it up and send it, so it may be a day or two late, but that will give me time to post the Angleton City Council Report by tommorrow evening, hope everyone has a teriffic Tuesday, take care and God Bless.....Mikey

Ps: Debbie said to tell everyone "Hi!"
 
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Ukes For Troops!

Well, with October drawing near and Ukes For Troops being the iamnotagenious.com Non-profit Organization of the Month for September, just realized that I almost forgot to repost this article on them from July 8, so...

There are some non-profit organizations that catch my eye as something really really neat, like Operation AC, which is dedicated to sending comfort items to our troops deployed in the Global War On Terror, so Ukes For Troops, that I found out about here on MySpace and was mentioned in yesterday's blog post, definitely got my attention...


Yep, they send ukuleles to our troops!
Since they initially only had addresses for the Hawaiian National Guard, many of the first ukuleles that were sent out went to the members of the 29th Support Battalion. Even though the 29th Support Battalion has gone back to Hawaii, they continue to receive and fill requests for more ukuleles. Most of these requests now come from Non-Hawaiians who have heard the ukuleles while the Hawaiians were there, or just heard about them and really want an ukulele...

And Ukes For Troops doesn't just send over one ukulele to a trooper. When a request for an uke comes in, they send 12 ukes to the unit, along with instruction book, tuner, and extra strings, so that they can all learn to play together...

As of April 2006, Ukes For Troops had sent over 500 ukuleles to the troops...

This brings a smile to my face every time I think about it and I'm proud to be able to help get the word out about this organization...

Some may have noticed that I haven't been on MySpace much, except to post here on the blog, been mostly taking a break from it to let Tom get the problems it's been having taken care of, have spent a lot of time on archiving the blog at www.mikeywear.com/page18.html  and working on he yard to get it ready for Fall...

Yesterday I got a final OK from NACER Steve (he's real hard to get hold of) for NACER.ORG to be the iamnotagenious.com Non-profit Organization of the Month for October, so will be making banner ads for this occasion as soon as I get a chance and you will see them here first, of course, hope everyone has a really Wonderful Weekend, take care and God Bless.....Mikey
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Grandmother Vera's Burnt Sugar Fudge!

Here's another of "Chickasha Oklahoma Legend" Grandmother Vera's recipes that Dad sent this week...


Several years ago Vera gave me an envelope with a large amount of recipes in it.  Over 50 are in her hand writing and the rest came from just everywhere she could clip them out. I will be sending these out typed. All that I send will be from Vera's own hand writing and the best I can read them. Some are dated in the 70s and one seems to be from Claudene's high school days (Over 15 years ago).
BURNT  SUGAR  FUDGE
 
2 1/2  Cups of sugar
2 Table spoons of Karo syrup
1 cup Whipping cream

In a large saucepan melt 1/2 cup of sugar until it is Carmel in color. Mix remaining sugar, syrup, & cream together & add caramelized sugar. It will look like a flop but keep stirring & it will mix together. Cook to soft boil (234 degrees).

Then Add:  
 
1/4 Tsp salt (A Dab)
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tsp. Soda

Beat until it begins to thicken & then add 1 cup chopped pecans. Pour into 9 X 9 Pan that has been buttered ahead of time. Let cool & cut into squares,  Enjoy.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Suzanne's Gridiron Potato Dip!

Here is another of "Suzanne's Recipes"

Recipes By Suzanne

Gridiron Potato Dip
2 cups frozen Ore-Ida Mashed Potatoes (firmly packed)
1 cup milk
½ cup light or regular ranch salad dressing
½ cup plum tomatoes, chopped
½ cup red, orange and/or yellow bell peppers, chopped
¼ cup pitted Kalamata or ripe olives, chopped
¼ cup red onion or chives, chopped
¼ teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Prepare potatoes according to package directions using 1 cup milk for 6 minutes in microwave (3-4 minutes on stovetop). Stir remaining ingredients into potatoes; cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Serve with pita or bagel chips and fresh vegetable dippers, such as wedges of bell peppers, carrots and celery sticks. Makes 3 cups.

The new iamnotagenious.com banner ad is now up at TheFacts.Com, just go to anywhere there is a banner on the site and keep clicking "refresh on your browser till you see it, and tomorrow will be posting a new "Chickasha Legend" Grandmother Vera recipe, take care and God Bless.....Mikey

Sunday, September 17, 2006
What MikeyWear is About - A Summary

Even though I'm currently liquidating the remaining stock of Quality Infant & Toddler Clothing at www.mikeywear.com to have more time to dedicate to the new iamnotagenious.com project, for the benefit of the new readers I would like to post this one last time, so they can find out what has been going on for the last two years...
For those of you who haven't had a chance to read all the different links at MikeyWear.Com, here is a summary...

WITH MIKEYWEAR YOU GET QUALITY (the durability that comes from a sports uniform company and the comfort of 100 percent cotton) t-shirts and jumpers for infants and toddlers. Clothing you could call high end, except the same types of t-shirts are available just about anywhere in the larger kid and adult sizes, you can now get here. With proper care, MikeyWear Will Not Fall Apart before the kids outgrow them. You can get MikeyWear Jumpers In Sizes Up To 24 Months Too! And even more than that, all MikeyWear clothing has one of MikeyWear's very own Special Designs!

HOW IT BEGAN

Debbie and I like to go to tourist traps and buy t-shirts. The weekend after the younger stepson got his high school diploma and 1st grandkid (older stepson's boy, but wife's grandma told me that grandkids were not to be stepped on) was born, we took a break for the weekend to hit a local tourist trap. While there we tried to buy a souvenir t-shirt for the new grandkid and out of all the shops there we could only find a 2T toddler shirt that he is just now able to wear. Since then we haven't been able to find any.

As he (and then his younger brother) grew older we discovered that t-shirts and jumpers that didn't fall apart before they outgrew them with designs that meant something, as well as jumpers larger than 12 month size, were not easily available.

After speaking to others about this, I realized that many folks want infant and toddler clothing like this more easily available to them, so I decided to pursue the American Dream by making clothing like this available and MikeyWear was born.

REGARDING NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS  

This all began when I decided on the first two MikeyWear designs and felt that I would be a hypocrite if I was going to sell "God Bless America t-shirts and didn't give something back to America.

This thought has continued to evolve, to where MikeyWear will now also be letting folks know (going to pass on the term "raising awareness") about non-profit organizations that I believe in.  

For Example:  

Brazoria County Humane Society: They operate as a "no kill" organization, only having animals euthanized as a last resort if the animal is severely injured or so ill that they cannot treat, and they are trying to raise the funds to build a shelter in Brazoria County.

Brazoria County Red Cross: Where money donated to the American Red Cross goes to national needs, there are also needs in every county in the USA. 100 percent of any money donated to a county's Red Cross goes to those needs.

His Love Christian Counseling in Lake Jackson, Texas: Provides professional counseling combined with Christian values. Does a real good job of helping kids with ADD/ADHD, parents with troubled teens, and couples with their marriages, as well as other counseling.

If you don't live in Brazoria County, there are organizations like this in most counties in the USA. If you want to help out organizations like these in your local area, please ask around to find them.

There are other non-profit organizations that I believe in. NACER.org is one of them. They provide free veterinary care, and support literacy and learning in the poorest areas of Southern Mexico. I am eventually going have t-shirts with NACER.org's dog Poco on them, but for now you can see what should be the Poco design for Christmas (MikeyWear was starting up too slow for this last Christmas) at the "