Thursday, December 13, 2012

Oscar's Soft Batch Doggie Cookies

    Have you ever met the real Oscar Fido? If you have ever stopped by the blogs that I write along with my daughter you probably have been introduced to the story Oscar...but have you ever met the real Oscar. He's old...16 in dog years...forever and a day in human years. His eyesight is going...he is just as likely to stand in front of the closet door when he needs to go out as he is to stand in front of the door to the outside. Did I mention that he can't stand up very well and that it's hard for him to walk...most of the time I just carry him up and down the porch steps. He spends part of his day sleeping and the rest of his day making messes in the floor. He is pitiful and it is heartbreaking...I have had him since he was a grumpy cantankerous puppy. (Thus his name...Oscar) Yet...despite all of these things that are failing him, he still manages to stand (albeit it barely) at the gate to his doggie nursing home (AKA: my laundry room) and kick and head butt the gate to get our attention.  He does all of these things because the one thing that has not failed him is his nose...and his stomach. THE DOG LOVES TO EAT. So what do you do when you have an old, blind, arthritic dog who loves food more than anything in the world....

You make him soft batch doggie cookies of course! They are simple to make and Quirky and I love making them for Oscar. When we start whipping up a batch of these treats, Oscar comes out of his arthritic coma and whines,cries, and does what Quirky calls "Dog Fu". He kicks the gate until he is falling over and won't hush until they are done and we finally give him one. To put it mildly...HE LOVES THEM. So what is our recipe?

Oscar's Soft Batch Doggie Cookies

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tbs baking powder
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup chicken broth

     Blend together flour and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl. Work the cup of peanut butter into the flour with your hands. Its messy and its fun. This is the part that Quirky likes. Slowly begin pouring the chicken broth into the mixture continue to mix until well blended and you have a thick dough. It will be the consistency of playdoh. Then you can either roll it out and cut out shapes or roll out balls and flatten them with the bottom of glass. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes at 375F.  What are you waiting for...go grab those kids and get baking!

                                                                                                                                                

Friday, December 7, 2012

The Ghost of Christmas Past

     Stay tuned for 5 minutes of programming after these 15 commercials...don't worry it will only take you 2 hours to watch this 20 minute show. BUY! BUY! BUY! It moves, it talks, and it'll even make your bed! You have to have these...you are so lame if you don't. What do you mean you don't have your own phone...every 6 year old should have one...go insist on one today! Open all night....prices just increased for the holidays!!! BUY! BUY! BUY! Go tell your parents now...time is wasting!!! OK so maybe I am exaggerating just a bit...but have you noticed the increase of commercials geared toward children? I have...but this year I am not getting fooled. Why not? Well I have the ghost of Christmas Past to...

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Almost Instant Oatmeal Muffins

     What should you do if you have five packs of maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal that everybody seems to be avoiding? I mean they are just sitting there...waiting...I mean wasting.


Make muffins of course! So how did we do it?

You will need:

5 packs of Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal
1 tsp of baking powder
1 egg (well beaten)
1 large banana mashed to pieces until resembles baby food
About 1/2 cup of flour (**see note below**)
Orange Juice

     Mix all dry ingredients together until well blended. Next add mashed banana and beaten egg mix well. Mixture will still be a little dry. Slowly add orange juice until mixture is moist and the consistency of a thick batter. Drop by the spoonfuls into a mini muffin pan. I baked mine on 400*F for about 8-10 minutes.

     Now how easy was that? Well considering I wasn't sure what I was going to make at first and I really didn't have a recipe...just a vague idea in my head...pretty easy. I have to confess I did look on the Internet...I even pinned a bunch of recipes to try later. The problem was that the ingredient lists are usually a mile long and have things on the list that I never have in the house...and oh yeah I ran out of milk two days ago.
OK, so I am not out to a good start. I almost gave up at this point, but I recouped...put my thoughts together and started pulling out ingredients. Mixed all ingredients with trepidation...what if this tastes like something that has been stuck on the bottom of someones shoe for awhile. Put in oven anyway...wait what seems like forever (not really). Delicious smells drift from oven...heave sigh of relief. Few minutes later...try to explain to Quirky that she can't eat them all in one night. The fact that she loves them...well let's just say its a major mommy ego boost.

     So don't just sit there...go grab your kids and get cooking! If you come up with a great spur of the moment recipe with your kids Quirky and I would love to hear about it.

** For the flour I actually used a packet of crumble mixture that I had leftover from a box muffin mix that I didn't use...it was just sitting around waiting to be used.**








Friday, November 30, 2012

Tis the Season for Holiday Traditions


      Tonight Quirky and I will be headed to see a local production of the Nutcracker. It is done through a local ballet and while the dancers may not be famous or as graceful as more experienced dancers they are perfectly imperfect. Just like us. A Quirky girl and her slightly neurotic mom. Yeah...I can admit it. I've got just a tad of panickycrazymomitis. A great portion of my life I have let fear lead my decisions...

Friday, November 9, 2012

Yesterday

     There are days when I wonder why I chose to go back to homeschooling. Beating my head against the wall thinking...OK how can I explain this another way? Is there another way? Start to panic and then have day dream nightmares about how I am screwing her up for life. Yes...I have this thoughts in my head. It's like a multi-screen cinema with various scenarios constantly running...AT THE SAME TIME! It could drive me crazy or to give up but, then there are days like yesterday...

Thursday, November 8, 2012

A Poem Resurfaces...

     I wrote this poem on a scrap of paper way back at the beginning of September, which seems to be my way...grabbing the closest scrap of paper and scratching out my thoughts while they pour out of my head unbidded. Be it receipts, grocery lists, or magazines no surface is safe. Over the years I know that I have lost many poems to my disorganized ways, but this time fate was on my side...my note resurfaced and I was able to relive the moment...

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Making Lunch, Peanut Butter and Honey Dip...Quirky Style

    Quirky helped make lunch today...she made the dip while I sliced apples and made sandwiches. She worked hard and did her work without any supervision. Want Quirky's Recipe for Peanut Butter and Honey Dip? It's great with carrots, apples, or crackers. It's bound to be one of your favorites...well maybe.  If you can get past the...well I can't tell you that yet... it will completely ruin my post. Are you curious yet? Well what are you waiting for...
While slicing our apples for lunch I had noticed Quirky out of the corner of my eye licking the spoon. At the time I thought nothing of it...I lick the spoon myself when I'm done with it. We don't stand on ceremony around here. Then as we were getting ready to sit down to eat I noticed Quirky licking the spoon again...still not thinking anything about it. Then we sat down to eat...and I finally thought about. While eating I thought about it some more...Curiosity finally got to me and I had to ask. Well here it is...

Quirky's Recipe for Peanut Butter and Honey Dip

(A Dip that Only Your Family Could Love) 
    
Scoop one large spoonful of peanut butter and place it in a small bowl.
Lick Spoon.
Dip spoon back into peanut butter and scoop another large spoonful of peanut butter.
Lick Spoon.
Squeeze honey into bowls while licking spoon some more.
Take spoon from mouth and use to stir bowls of honey and peanut butter.
Yuck.
    

Afterwords looking down at my half finished dip I'm not sure that I glad I asked. Oh go ahead a laugh...by the way would you like to come over for some veggies and dip?

Monday, November 5, 2012

The Silence of Swinging

Sailing through the air
On the breath of the breeze
Her eyes wide
Take in the moment.
My heart still skips...
At each new height.
Her laughter rings at
Some unspoken thought.
My heart still breaks
For each silent word.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Listen Up All You History Lovers...

     Quirky and I have been studying Ancient Mesopotamia the past several weeks. We have read book after book, watched video after video, and worked on project after project. I like to think she has learned something...at the very least how the inventions of the great civilizations that developed there have bearing on us today.
     In all the information that we have gathered, from all the different sources that we have used Quirky learned something that I didn't know...

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

Copyright J.Hagler
Hello out there and Happy Halloween! Do you have your kids costumes ready yet? Are you well prepared...Oh I bought that weeks ago or did you dash out at the last minute with that crazed mom on a mission look in your eyes and terrorize the shelves of your local Shop to You Drop Super Center? I kind of fall into that last category...except with a slight twist. What do I mean you ask? Well...

Thursday, June 21, 2012

MMMM...Something's Fishy Around Here

      Dork, Quirky, and I went out to lunch today...nothing special just lunch at our local cafeteria. Nerd that I am I got really excited when I saw fried green tomatoes on the bar. It brought back memories of my grandmother. When I saw them I could almost taste them...the subtle taste of

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The world is a stage

and your parents are the captive audience. Our house has a cat walk or balcony if you will...a glorified hallway that connects two bedrooms and a bath. More importantly though it has for many years served as Quirky's stage. Here she has performed for a sometimes willing audience

Friday, March 23, 2012

Flashback Friday.....Grooving to the Music

           Just about a half hour ago I sat in my favorite chair flipping through the pages of a newly arrived magazine and glancing out of the corner of my eye at Quirky. Dancing. No...Dancing is not quite the right word. Let's see...what does she call it?

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Throw a Fit Thursday...

          or at least that is what I feel like doing. Inside my house is a gated community...the real estate formally known as my kitchen and laundry has turned into a full time gate controlled
 nursing home for my geriatric dog. My slightly crazy dog (otherwise known as Oscar Fido at www.themisadventuresofoscarfido.blogspot.com ) is getting old..and even more crazy...or is it senile? I really don't know...all I know is that after cleaning up poop again and cleaning the floors again...I really and truly just wanted to through a fit. Like a two year old kind of fit...the gonna make the people stare kind of fit...

Friday, January 27, 2012

Flashback Friday...Got Velcro?

     In a jumbled pile inside my laundry room lays all three pairs of Quirky's shoes. Yes...you heard me. Only three pairs...she is no fashionista and getting her to try on and agree to those three was quite an accomplishment. (Just ask Dork he was the one who took her shoe shopping) That however is not what I am here to talk about. Its the shoes themselves. You see in that small pile at least one of those pairs...

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

I have had very few words or pictures coming my way...most of the time my head is so overflowing with words, ideas, and plans that I sometimes feel like I am drowning in my own head. Things just can't come out fast enough before there space is filled with something else.
       Lately though, things have been different...

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Hectic

                                                                                                               
        I wish I had the strength
to let things follow the path
that I cannot see
Walking at a slower pace
enjoying the moments
Individually
Instead I run forward
on the freeway
Lights blazing the way
God forbid
I should stumble
on Life.