Friday, September 10, 2010

mr. spider

this summer i discovered this lovely creature in my front yard... it is a "goldenrod crab spider". very very cool!!!! i had never seen a white spider with pink stripes on its side! they are attracted to white and/or yellow flowers. they do not spin webs but inject a poisonous venom into its prey and the prey dies almost instantly. then basically one gulp and bye bye insect!

i watched him eat this fly in one gulp! very interesting experience!
enjoy these pics...





a visit from the Pankiw's!

the wknd of august 18th...rocky, leanne and marcus came to visit!

here, marcus thinks he can fit in my container...
which held chocolate zucchini muffins later on! yum


we enjoyed a nice relaxing wknd. the boys went golfing on saturday. leanne and i relaxed. kerri and piper joined us for a bit of saturday afternoon too!



we convinced them to take home some kitties.... here marcus is proud of his new animals!


bye bye miss priss's kittens!


the good-looking family... now they're complete with a new baby girl!
congratulations to them!



couldn't resist posting this pic... very cute

Mr. Froggie

with all this moisture, we have lots and lots of creatures around...
here is mr. frog (august 13th)
we have had quite a few frogs. the other day curtis found a salamander and toad! very cool. i took the salamander and toad to school to add to our collection.


Thursday, August 5, 2010

a hazy night

it was very hazy tonight...
i went into the rail siting to take some pics... this one turned out kinda cool


TW Commodities Rail Siting

stuffed zucchini

i love zucchini.

i guess you have to if you grow it in your garden. they produce like crazy!

my favorite thing to make with zucchini is chocolate zucchini cake... mmmm... the most amazing cake ever!

now i have another favorite... stuffed zucchini...yum!



Ingredients
4 - 6 medium sized zucchini's, about 32 ounces or so (I used half of a big zucchini)
1-1/2 pounds
ground beef
2-3
cloves garlic, minced
a dash of
cayenne pepper or Tobasco sauce
1 medium
onion, diced, 2-1/2 ounces or about 1/2 cup
1
green bell pepper, diced
2-3 large
fresh mushrooms, diced or 1/2 cup, diced or about 3 ounces
1/2 tin
diced tomatoes, drained on paper towel (I didn't drain...leaves it nice and juicy)
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup freshly grated
parmesan cheese (or marble)

How to make it
Cut zucchini in half lengthwise.
Scoop out pulp, leaving 1/4" of flesh intact.
Discard pulp.
You can use a teaspoon to scrape out the pulp and seeds, then once most of the pulp has been removed, use the spoon to scrape out any remaining seeds.
Place zucchini shells on a greased, foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle zucchini with salt and pepper.
Saute the meat, garlic, cayenne or Tobasco sauce, onion, green bell pepper and mushrooms, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.
Drain any fat.
Add diced tomatoes and gently fold.
Fill zucchini with mixture.
Cover with foil and bake at 350ยบ 30-35 minutes or until zucchini is tender.
Uncover, top with cheese and bake to melt cheese, about 10 - 15 minutes.

(Since I used a bigger zucchini, the cooking time was more)



may your gardens flourish with zucchini so you can enjoy this dish!

in the mood for cookin'

today i made soup.
lentil tomato soup.

here is the recipe. it is tasty and super easy.




LENTIL TOMATO SOUP..............

saute 1 chopped onion and 1 garlic clove in 1 tbsp olive oil until softened...

Stir in 1 cup red lentils, 2 cups water, 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth and 19 oz can Italian-style stewed tomatoes with juice.

Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 10 min.

Stir often.

Serve with sour cream and warm pitas.........Good without the sour cream!!!!!

Enjoy


p.s. thanks to my mom for this recipe.

sask landing - august long 2010

going to the lake is good.

spent some time with the in-laws and the nephews and the rest of the dunnington clan (except brad) joined us for some time!

graeme kneeboarding


and spencer





hanging on for dear life!



lyle going for a ski, after leah.
i went wakeboarding too, but will not share those pics! ;)



then fri our boat overheats and breaks down...thx lyle for the rescue



going so slow we can do stuff like this!



and goof off like this!



sat am was a good golf game with the girls.
the girls that didn't come were almost hit out in the lake!
nice form, leah!


the girls' team


sat on the beach...
ty don't kill me for bloggin' this pic...caryn said i could that day!



birthday lunch sunday...
amazing fresh lunch...chicken, new potatoes, beets, beans and chocolate zucchini cake!



friends and sisters


maggie


the clan - sunday aft.
lois and boys had to leave



the rest of clan


oh my... a good luck kiss for wake skating


being a nerd


being normal for once (luv ya!)


my man... isn't he cute?!!

monday... a boat ride on wickedly rough water


we drove out to where the creek comes into the river... and lyle, curt and i had a swim.
the water was soooo shallow!


the clan survived the bumpy ride...
a few more screws loose... well for some!!! hahahaha