Favorite Movie Quotes

It is an old movie kind of weekend.  Do you recognize any of these, and can you tell me what they have in common?

“Sir!... Sir!... Here's a good stick, to beat the lovely lady.”

“Vindicator, you've got to stand on your own four feet. I mean it! You're a British bull with uncommon good sense and fine ancestors. We've had some fine times together. Now you've got to prove yourself and prove that Father was right. Go on.”

“You've caused a lot of trouble this morning might have got somebody killed. Somebody oughta belt you in the mouth but I won’t, I won’t to hell I won’t!”

“Sorry, ma'am. Back in Louisiana, when we meet any pretty ladies, we make love to them, we kiss them, spank 'em on occasion... but we never go around shootin' 'em.”

“ Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles.”

Martha Evans: What on earth are they doing?

Charles Ellsworth: It's called bulldogging, ma'am. That's Bulldog Burnett. He works for my outfit.

Hilary Price: Well, it's a perfectly silly way to handle cattle if you ask me.

Things That Make Me Smile

Picking up 2 feet with both Twain and the Cowboss neck calves at the same time and I'm the only other roper in the trap while the rest of the crew is trying to psych me out.

Cuddling with QT in the pickup while we wait for the Cowboss and Twain to get back from putting cattle away.

Watching Sheldon (Big Bang Theory) with my boys.

Indian Paint Brush, Wild Onions, Arrowleaf Balsam Root.

TR coming to the branding fire and saying "Ok mom, I'm ready to work," then helping give the Nasalgen vaccine during the first 30 calves.

Knowing I have blue painted toenails with little white flowers inside my cowboy boots.

TR leaving his spurs on his cowboy boots even when he isn't wearing them cause that's how mom does it.

Wearing the pink of my nylon rope.

Thoughts

I'm 95% sure that 910 isn't bluffing, and I don't want to find out for myself.  Everytime I step into a pasture or corral with her, her head comes up and she follows my every move.  I sure wish she would come up open!

I love Marie Calendar's Chicken Potpies.  Possibly it is because they are pie?  I don't know, but I love them like a fat kid loves cake!

I'm proud of the fact that my boys are morning people.  They wake up early.  Some days they wake up entirely too early.  I would rather have boys that wake up in the morning instead of kids that you have to drag out of bed at 7 a.m.!

We shipped out Cow number 111 this morning.  (She is the one that got me down and stomped all over me this winter while the Cow Boss laughed.  He PROBABLY wouldn't have laughed if I got hurt, but I was sore for a few days!)  I'm not gonna lie, I did do a happy dance when the vet pregged her open (twice just to be sure....I think the Cow  Boss liked her).  I would have celebrated today if I didn't feel so sick!

If anybody needs me, I am snuggled up on the couch with a rat terrier and a cup of tea, watching PBS cartoons, wishing I had some chicken soup!

Days

This last week has been a butt kicker for sure!  I had hoped that with school starting things would slow down and we would find a little bit of a routine.  Apparently our routine is running.  Running and waiting.  Run to the bus and wait for the bus to get here.  Run home and work frantically on college stuff, cow stuff, cinch stuff, and wait until it is time to run to the bus.  Run to the bus and wait for the bus to show up.  Lots of hurry and wait.

This past weekend we did take in the Van Norman and Friends Stock Horse Challenge, and Horse Sale. After promising the Cow Boss I WOULD NOT buy a horse.....

Meet "Pistol."

He is a 2013 Playgun baby.  If you follow horse blood lines at all, he goes back to Freckles Playboy and Doc O'Lena on the top side, and Doc Tari on the bottom with some Chex thrown in somewhere.  He's a cute little guy, and is registered as a Gray, so fingers crossed he will change.  Looking at his face I think he might.  But when you see all of him.....

I'm not so sure.  He is pretty dark.  I'm hoping he will have a little size to him.  Today we are considering keeping him a stud and breeding him, but obviously that is a long ways down the road!  These pictures aren't the best, you can expect some better ones in a week or two.  So far he is a kind, curious, friendly little guy, I hope he stays that way!

TR is finally thinking he likes school, but mom isn't sold on his teacher and has some reservations and concerns about how things are going.  I've had a few sleepless nights and a tension headache you wouldn't believe these last few days.  I'm hoping to meet with the principal in the next day or two to get things fixed.  Not sure what the out come will be, but I am trying to be optimistic we will get things fixed and he will have a good year where he is successful and enjoys it!

For today's Meat Eater Monday, I would like to share with you a great crockpot recipe that I got from my mom.  The great thing about crockpot recipes is that you can easily convert them to oven recipes if you don't have a crockpot, and the thing I like is that they are so convenient for these long fall days shipping, pregging, or processing cows!  I have had grand intentions of using my crockpot more on these days I am teaching in the evenings as well.

Work Person's Pot Roast

Ingredients:
1 Roast, can be any size as long as it fits in your pan or crockpot, and beef or lamb
1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Section of Fresh Garlic

Directions:
Place roast in the center of a large sheet of aluminum foil (if using the oven), or directly in the crockpot (I use crockpot liners because they make clean up so much easier!).  Cut slits into the roast and push in cloves of garlic.  Pour soup over roast and Worcestershire.  Sprinkle with dry soup mix.  Add Salt and Pepper to taste.  Seal in foil (if using oven).  Bake at 250* (for oven) or on low (if using the crockpot) from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The roast literally falls apart and has a great flavor.

I Love Them!

Meat Eater Monday: Should I be Concerned with Hormones in my Beef?

Let's start with a question?  Are there hormones in meat?  Yes, yes there are, but there are also hormones in you and me, milk, and even in cabbage.  But we do not need to be concerned about them.

"Cattle have been receiving hormone injections for well over 50 years and in fact it is well regulated, monitored carefully, & proven safe. Currently, over 90 percent of the cattle fed in the U.S. receive a hormone implant during growth and this usually occurs as the animal enters the feedlot. The effect of the hormone implant will have worn off well before the animal is shipped to market, basically meaning that the effectiveness of the hormone implant will have terminated well before the animal is slaughtered.  Therefore, residues and/or traces of this hormone implant is not an issue."  Are There Hormones in Meat 2013.  We would not inject our animals with anything that is potentially harmful to people, or our cattle.  

Hormone implants essentially give naturally occurring hormones in cattle a boost.  They help speed up the rate in which feed is converted to muscle.  As you know, muscle is what we are eating when we eat meat.  This means we are feeding them less, and they are producing more meat at a quicker pace.  There is no reason to be concerned at all.  The hormone levels in beef produced using growth hormones are well within range of naturally occurring levels in the animals themselves.  

With that in mind, go out and enjoy a steak!  =)

Now that the weather is finally cooling off a little, here is a great easy recipe for Taco Soup.  Not sure where it originated from, but it is super easy, and tastes delicious!  You can cook it on the stove, or toss it all in the crockpot and forget about it.  It is just right for a cool fall day.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Ground Beef

1 Chopped Onion

3 cans Chopped Green Chilies

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Pepper

16 oz can Pinto Beans

16 oz can Kidney Beans

16 oz Black Beans

1 pkg. Taco Seasoning

1 1/2 c. Water

1 pkg. Ranch Dressing mix

3 lg cans Tomatoes

Tortilla Chips

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Brown beef and onion in a skillet.  Drain beans.  Add all ingredients except cheese and chips to a large stockpot or crockpot.  If cooking on stove top, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  If cooking in a crockpot, cook on low about 4 hours, or all day.  Serve with chips and cheese.

Fair 2013 Entries

Blue Ribbon

Red Ribbon

Red Ribbon

White Ribbon

Why I Don't Bake Cookies

All I wanted was to make TR cookies for his lunch for the first week of school.  I wanted them to be oatmeal chocolate chip.  I got to the part of the recipe that reads "Add 2 cups of oatmeal" to find out I only have 2 tablespoons of oatmeal.  Seriously.  Who leaves 2 tablespoons of oatmeal in the box and doesn't add oatmeal to the grocery list?  So I scrapped that plan and went to Pinterest to find a different recipe that looked easy and I had all the ingredients for.  Do you have any idea the number of recipes for cookies on Pinterest that include oatmeal?

I finally found a recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies.  Brown sugar, butter, flour, eggs, salt, vanilla, and baking powder.  Sounds easy right?  So I mix up the dough and put the first batch of cookies in the oven and move on to my next task, Baked French Toast.  One of our favorite recipes, that you refrigerate over night and bake in the morning.  I got to the part in the recipe where you slice your french bread and put it over the brown sugar/butter mixture in your 13x9 pan, and guess what?  My loaf of French bread was moldy.  Grrrr! I finally found some hamburger buns in the freezer to finish the baked French toast.

Off goes the timer.  My 16 cookies on my insulated cookie sheet have morphed into one large, flat, gooey, doughy mess.  They don't look anything like the beautiful cake like cookies in the picture.  I thought to myself when I put them in the oven that I should have done a test cookie.....

1/4 of cup of flour more and I over cooked the test cookie, but it does resemble a cookie.  The Cowboss comes into the kitchen.  He took one look at the pile of dishes in the sink, the failed nasty doughy mess on the cookie sheet and asked if he could take me to dinner.  He's a smart man!

To Recap:

1.  I hate cleaning the kitchen after I've attempted to bake cookies.
2.  We live too far away from town to run to the store to pickup oatmeal because we are out.
3.  Things like chocolate chips and peanuts mysteriously disappear in our house.
4.  For the record, I think insulated cookie sheets are the worst invention ever.
5.  Oreo's are pretty dang good!

Love

Listening to my boys play in the other room while I drink my breakfast tea and catch up on current events.

Leaves changing colors and sweaters!

TR's passion and enthusiasm.

QT's free spirit.

The fact that I have a much better handle on my Rat Terrier than I do on my kids.

My fat sorrel horse and how we click on good days and tolerate each other on our bad days.