HELPING HANDS

Good evening darlings! How are you doing this frosty night? I am so sorry on my tardiness but I had a bunch of things I HAD to attend to today because we are expecting a hard freeze tonight and for the next 3 nights. I had to get some clothes washed, essential groceries bought, bills paid, and go help my mom (make sure her propane tanks were filled, etc. Then I had to help a little kitty who was wandering around stuck in a ravioli can! I ended up bringing it home and I'm gonna call him Ravioli LMAO! Needless to say, its been a busy day. Plus this cold is killing my joints and so I am in all my braces and STILL in pain. So please bear with me.

So tell me... did you miss me? LOL! I missed you guys. I actually was thinking about ya'll all day saying "oh they are gonna worry, oh I can blog about this or that, oh I gotta get this done". I was listening to the Houston news and how their new mayor, Ms. Parker, has been trying to open warming shelters and get all the city's homeless inside so they don't freeze to death. And I have heard other good deed stories all day. It warmed my heart and I was proud of humanity! I think they have a great mayor and will have alot of good times ahead of them!

So as much of the pipes are wrapped as I can get to, there is plenty of AntiFreeze worked through our vehicles, there is a makeshift shelter for all the critters that come around outside, food is bought in case we get "iced in" and LOL my kids are even making more blankets from the fleece we went and bought at JoAnn's this afternoon! They crack me up... I told you they had blanket fetishes!! So I think we are good to go the next few days. Just waiting to hear if they are having school tomorrow... in a way I want them to go (for my sanity) but I don't want them too if it ices up cause I don't want to have to drive in that! Anyways, so all the preparations are made... so what's for dinner? Well, when we got home, I made a big pot of jambalaya, a couple of large roasts (which heating the oven also heats the house up LOL) smothered with gravy, and a big pot of chicken noodle soup with some grilled cheese sandwiches! So there is no real dinner recipe to share for tonight. However I found one I am gonna try that seemed pretty by the picture. I'll share that one with you and we can learn about it together ok? Cool...



Pumpkin Bowl with Vegetables and Sausage

Ingredients

1 whole (10 pound) Cinderella pumpkin
1 (16 ounce) package kielbasa sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced, or amount to taste
2 cups parsnips, peeled and cubed (optional)
2 cups rutabagas, peeled and cubed (optional)
2 cups cabbage, coarsely chopped (optional)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
2 zucchini, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups canned or frozen corn
2 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 cups cooked white or brown rice (optional)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/2 (1.25 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1/2 (1 ounce) packet dried Italian seasoning
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil.
Cut around the top of the pumpkin to make a lid. Use a large metal spoon to scoop out the inside membrane and seeds.

Place the pumpkin on the prepared baking sheet, and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour, then lower heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Meanwhile, place the sausage in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Cook until evenly browned, turning frequently, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic; cook and stir until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. If desired, stir in the parsnips, rutabaga, and/or the cabbage; cook until the vegetables are almost ender, about 5 minutes. Add the red and green peppers, broccoli, zucchini, and corn. Pour in the chicken broth, add the rice, and cook 5 minutes more. Stir in the parsley, red pepper flakes, onion soup mix, and Italian seasoning. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Keeping the pumpkin on the baking sheet, spoon the vegetable-sausage mixture into the pumpkin, and replace the lid. Loosely cover the pumpkin with aluminum foil.

Cook the pumpkin in the preheated oven until the flesh is tender, about 4 hours. Scoop some of the pumpkin flesh away from the sides to combine with the vegetable mixture. To serve, place the pumpkin on a serving platter, and remove the lid to ladle out the contents.

Well kids, I'm really tired and hurting, so I think I am gonna go take my meds and lay down. As long as we don't have a power outage due to the freeze, etc. then I should be back here in the morning and back on schedule. I love you all and thanks again for your concern about me. Talk to you tomorrow! HUGS!