Calling all muffin recipes!

So my kids LOVE muffins, but I HATE paying for mixes! I have to make 3 boxes of muffins to feed my kids....granted it's only about $5, some of you may say, but that is WAY too much for a meal in my house! Does anyone have any great muffin recipes that are from things already in my house.....for example, I don't want ot have to go buy All Bran.....$5! might as well buy the muffin mix and just add water, egg & oil! So, I'd love to hear of some recipes! Just stick them in comments or email me at amylords@gmail.com. Thank you! My kids will thank you, too!

And I DO intend to get blogging again! I have a TON of pictures and things we have been doing. Luckily I am keeping up my journal, so I'll remember what the picturs go to! :-) Have a super day!

PS The muffins don't have to be healthy.....just delicious!

Tasting Table...my house!

So I have a home based business, for those of you that don't know. It's called Alison's Pantry. It is like walking into Sam's or Costco and buying food and other products. Anyhow, I am having an open house Friday, Nov 19th from 6-8 at my house for anyone interested in coming to try some of our products. There will be LOTS of door prizes and food to sample. Please don't feel obligated to buy anything...just come by and sample some of our products. I went to a food show in Utah in September and tried a LOT of new things that I am going to have at this year's Tasting Table. Anyhow, hope to see you there! Let me know if you have any quesitons!

Justice in Salt Lake City

A friend of mine sent this to me:

Salt Lake City, UT (AP) - A seven-year old boy was at the center of a SALT LAKE County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him.. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible..

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him.

After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the BYU Cougars Football Team, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

Sorry I couldn’t resist. I am as big of a BYU fan as the next....but you have to admit....this was FUNNY!

Labor Day for us and the ducks

So we didn't do anything super exciting for the 3 day weekend. Campgrounds were all too full to go camping. I thought of that a little too late (a month ago is too late?) Maybe next year. Anyhow, we did go to the parade which was full of politicians and every sports team in Fallon. There were a few other things in the parade......like this truck from our dentist office. Dr. Jaques is one of Kevin's counselors and asked if I would make a sign for each side of the truck....what do you think? Cricut machine at work!

We then did what we usually do....go hiking! We drove over to Reno to pick up Melissa (our niece). Her 'bum' husband (typied with all the love of my heart) decided he had more important things to do! :-) We drove to Truckee, CA and hiked Sagehen Creek to Stampede Reservoir.


We even saw a snake! Baby snake! I thought it was a giant earth worm, but it definately had a head on it and was slithering like a snake.


Melissa, Nathan, Ryan & Comptyn



Our ducks also labored for us this weekend and laid 5 eggs! They look exactly like the chicken eggs! But we are happy they are finally being productive! Boyz were VERY excited this morning!

Daniel wanted a picture of himself in his Dollar Tree pirate costume! ARRRRRR!

Amazing Home Remedies

THESE REALLY WORK!! I checked this out on Snopes and it's for real!

AMAZING SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES:

1. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.

2. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH WOMEN ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.

3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.

4. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.

5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.

6. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.

7. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.

A friend of mine shared them with me! Hope they made you smile!

The veggies of our labors......

Apparently I have named a post that before because it came up when I started typing. At any rate, here is what I have been doing for the last 2 1/2 days. I have added the pressure cooker to my canning repetoire this year. I LOVE IT! I turned:
66 lbs tomatoes (Thank you Lattin farms for pick your own...our garden didn't do well)
20 lbs carrots (from our garden)
15 lbs beets (from our garden)
6 lbs stew meat
4 lbs of red beans

Into:
25 quarts of tomatoes
7 qts & 7 pts or carrots
2 qts & 5 pts or pickled beets
7 pts of plain beets
1 qt & 5 pts of beef
5 qts of beans


This picture of all the cans filled make all the pain and hard work worth it! Plus opening a fresh can and the yummy taste! Next week I am going to make some more beans, this time black and some more red. I am going to make some tomato sauce. A friend uses that as a base and then just adds certain ingredients for spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce. I am excited! Thanks Debbie for letting me borrow your pressure cooker!

Calling all Utah friends....

So I was wondering if anyone knows of an extension office or somewhere I can get my pressure cooker gauge tested. I bought one at a garage sale for $5 but I need to test the gauge. Our local one doesn't test them. So, any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!