Friday, June 12, 2009















I got caught up this morning reading a lot of different blogs. I think I could read blogs all morning and not get anything else accomplished. There is so much information out there, and I keep thinking that I could be missing something if I don't read another blog, then another blog, then another blog... Anyhoo, after all that, someone will still have to make lunch, then dinner, and the cycle gets repeated, daily. When I am under time constraints, I have a tendency to make recipes with ground beef. By adding a few ingredients that I usually have on hand, I can have lunch or dinner on the table in a flash. Here is one of my standby recipes. It makes a great lunch, especially for summertime in the heat.

Taco Salad

2 lbs. ground beef, browned and drained
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can, 15 1/2 oz. Ranch Style Beans
1 small bag tortilla or corn chips or 1 box taco shells, crushed
1 head lettuce, chopped
1 tomato, chopped

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Garnish with guacamole, sour cream and hot sauce. Serve with additional chips.

You can also make your own chips out of corn tortillas. Since I live in the country, I am the reigning queen of substitutions. Cut your tortillas into 8 equal triangles. Fry in oil until light brown on one side, turn and brown other side. Remove to drain on paper towels. Lightly salt. This picture is with homemade chips.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Branding

The branding went well this last weekend. It is not uncommon for us to have extra "hands" that help. We had one extra this weekend. His name is Mike. We had a lot of fun. We even had him branding with the iron. I thought you might enjoy the video of his first brand. My youngest son was pushing the calves down the alley, my middle son is running the head gate and squeeze chute and my husband's uncle is supervising. I was in charge of ear tagging and shots, but you missed it because I had to run the camera. Next time, I'll have to have everyone dress the cowboy part. It's hard to get them out of their caps and t-shirts. Enjoy!