BBQ Dog Treats

Seeing that i currently have a ton of BBQ sauce in my house (8 bottles from house party + ~8 bottles of Kraft I got free with coupons earlier) and Job needed some more doggie treats, I was excited to find this recipe that would take care of both.



BBQ Bone Dog Treats are nice. They make the house smell like good BBQ and Job really likes them. I would reccomend. It doesnt make quiet as many as my old recipe, but its a nice treat for Job and a way to use up some BBQ sauce.

June Update

FINANCIAL
1) Save 9-10% of your annual income in a savings account- life's unexpected things are making this hard. It is still a goal but is starting to look unachievable this year.

2) Save $1000 to go on a honeymoon/5-year anniversary- Still waiting on insurance money

3) Make 1 extra house payment- This month I did an additional 10%. Total ~45%


4) Spend less that $3000 on groceries and household needs for the entire year (does not include baby things but does include toiletries and cleaning products)-


5)Never use a credit card - No credit card use in June

6)Save enough money to buy Aaron a new chainsaw- WE DID IT! Aaron bought his new chainsaw on Mar 4th. He has already used it a couple times.

7) Save enough money to buy a new lawn mower- Still using the push mower. Maybe when the insurance money comes back we'll upgrade

8) Save $500 to buy a 1/2 cow or a pig for the freezer- After watching Food Inc and King Corn, Aaron and I both motivated to start eating more grass fed meat and supporting local farmers. This will be a huge change to our food budget so we are doing it slowly. This is still a priority of mine.

9) Have no debt (other than the mortgage) by the end of the year. Replaced by 9b.
9b) Pay off minivan in 12 months- Slow and steady wins the race.

10)Pay off all medicals bills from 2009 (Thanks a lot kidney and face)- DONE in February

11)Make $500 from selling things (yard sales, craigslist, etc)- We have had a couple people interested in buying some more stuff, but nothing yet. Hopefully in July.

12) Start a savings account for a new car- well we were able to put $1000 down with the money that we started to save. but this goal is now complete


FAMILY

1) Go on two weekend family vacations- We leave July 1st to visit family

2) Visit both families at least once- See above.

HOBBY
1) Make at least 2 batches of beer- Aaron is enjoying his first batch and plotting his second.

2) Make at least 1 batch of root beer- We made a batch of root beer and ginger ale this month. Both were successful failures. The root beer tastes great but did not carbonate (i let the activated yeast sit out too long). The ginger ale is very fizzy but taste strange. We need to tweak the recipe some. Hopefully we will get a second batch in on both before the trip up north.
3) Grow a successful garden- Its in partially. I will call it a work on progress.
4) Can 6+ months of corn, green beans, pickles, spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes, salsa, etc. -


SALLY
1) Get back to pre-Hannah weight- I'm getting there. I have started my EA sports Wii game. Right now I am really sore.
2) Make two dresses for Hannah- Completed in May
3) Learn a new hobby-

4)Make 2 books on picaboo- I am up today with May for Titus. I need to focus on what I want the other book to be. I have a couple half started
5) Read the entire bible-

6) Get more involved at the church- Still searching for my place.

7) Read 7 books - Well I have ten great books i want to read. Again, its just finding the time. I hope to be better about this.

AARON

1) Hunt something- Completed in May
2) Process one animal - Completed in May

3) Make a rocking horse


OTHER

1) Make our own breads (so my real goal is to not but any sandwich bread or breakfast breads for an entire year)- We are doing really good on this. Its hard to remember that we need it, but Aaron and I have both become expert bread makers.

2) Make 52 new recipes- With 6 months left, I am right on track.

Another Goal Complete: Root Beer

Last weekend Aaron and I tried making a batch of root beer and ginger ale. Both were semi successful and semi failures. The root beer taste great but I let the yeast sit out too long before mixing it in. So, the root beer did not carbonate. The ginger ale carbonate up very nicely but it has a funny taste. I'm not he biggest fan of the recipe. It has a nice ginger taste, but the lemon added is over powering. I think next time I would reduce the lemon amount and only add the juice, not the entire lemon.

This coming weekend we are planning on making another batch of root beer. Hopefully we will have some to bring home while visiting family. Pictures will be posted soon.

Book Review: Lies the Goverment Told You: Myth, Power and Deception in American History by Judge Andrew Napolitano

This book is about the 17 top lies the government has passed onto the American people including that "all men are created equal", "its only a temporary program", and "I'm the government, and I'm here to help." He discusses how the men and women in government have warped the government to be self serving instead of selfless. He gives many real examples of how laws and authority have been abused and covered up.

I thought the book was eye opening. I always new there were problems with our government, but he did a wonderful job putting face to some of the issues. While I may not feel as strongly about some of the issues as he does, it does show you how some kind of government reform and accountability is necessary.

Overall i enjoyed the book, mostly. I did find the book a little hard to read at times, but that might have just been me.

Note: I was given a complimentary copy of the book to review. this review is my own opinion and I was in way compensated for a good review.

Recipe #24- peanut butter oatmeal cookies... with fiber

So, I had a box if All bran bran buds that I wanted to use up. After some searches, I came across a couple recipes. The first one I tried was this... Fibertastic Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.

The cookies turned out pretty good. They are a nice chewy oatmeal cookie.. not the flat gooey kind. The peanut butter is subtle and the all bran can not be tasted at all.

We will definitely make these again. They are a good and they contain very little refined sugar.

Enjoy!

Dresses for Hannah

I finally got around to making some dresses for Hannah. OK, so these were really easy but i made them and Hannah LOVES them. She asks to wear the "cherry dress" every day.

Making Beer Part 1

Aaron has been very productive in May with completing goals.

This month we also tried making our first batch of beer. Below are some pictures for the initial steps. On Friday (May 28th) we will bottle the beer. Seven days later we will get to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

For the first batch Aaron went with "Fat Man's Porter"

The recipe was given to us by the brew shop where we ordered all of the ingredients
The malt and hops brewing made the house smell wonderful.

The yeast packet.

After everything had boiled for an hour, we poured it into the brew tank, added cold water, and added the year.

We have turned the guest bedroom into the brew room for a few days. (Catron Mom-if you look in the background you can see your two new cake plates)

The lid is sealed securely and the air lock is filled with vodka to make sure no bacteria gets in. Yes this is the only reason a huge bottle of vodka is sitting next to the beer container.

And now we wait. Once the yeast is done working, we will siphon off the liquid, add sugar, and bottle. Then the bottles sit for 7-10 days to carbonate the beverage. Then we enjoy.