Mischief Monday - Abby Lab's Yearly Christmas Letter

Mom helped me get the last of my Christmas Cards addressed today (thank you Kismet for making up the list!).

You know how some people put a letter in their Christmas card, telling others all that they did during the past year.

I was going to go that, but then I figured that would use a LOT Of paper, so I'm just going to put my letter to you all here - you know, so you know all of my activities and accomplishments in 2018.

So here goes:

Dear Blogville friend:

This year I played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities,  played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities. played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities,played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, played, left pee-mail and yard land mines, ate, slept, barked at the mailman, UPS man, Fed Ex Man and squirrels, had treats, squeaked my stuffies, begged for bacon, went on walkies, took a nap, rolled in the grass. attended Blogville activities, and so on and so on and so on.

Yours truly,
Abby Lab

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Sunday Eats - Lasagna Bites

Want the yummy, cheesy goodness of lasagna with less fuss?  Trade in cooking lasagna noodles for fresh won ton wrappers.

Lasagna Bites (uses wonton wrappers instead of pasta).

Sauce:
2-3 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pound cooked ground turkey breast
dash of salt
dash of pepper
1 medium chopped sweet onion
a heaping cup of chopped mushrooms
14.5 oz can Muir Glen organic crushed tomatoes (best of all the brands)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 toothpick swirl for EACH of the following Young Living Vitality Oils (or one PINCH each of dried herbs)
thyme
basil
mountain savory
oregano
rosemary
marjoram
sage

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
splash of red wine
1/2 teaspoon wild honey

Note: If you are making this with sauce already prepared, use about 2 and a half cups.

Ricotta filling:

1 and 1/2 cups part-skim milk ricotta mixed with a pinch of salt and two or grinds of fresh cracked pepper and 2 toothpick swirls young living Vitality basil (or two pinches dried basil)

The Presentation: 24 small square wonton wrappers (usually found near the tofu in the refrigerated section of the produce dept)

Cheese:

1 and 1/2 cups of Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, Fontina, and Mozzarella mixed (or your favorite Italian blend)

Topping: chopped dried herb such as parsley or basil

INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat oven to 375ºF. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onions in olive oil until starting to soften, add mushrooms and cook a few more minutes Add the turkey and cook over medium until turkey is cooked through. In the last minute or so of cooking add the garlic. Drain off any moisture and add the crushed tomatoes, wine, honey, and seasoning, simmer on low until liquid thickened. About 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, a pinch of salt and pepper, and basil. Stir to mix well. Set aside.

Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Place 1 wonton wrapper into each of the 12 cups, pressing firmly in the bottom of the cup and up the sides.

Using half of the meat mixture, divide it among the 12 muffin cups. Next, using half of the ricotta mixture, spoon it evenly over each of the meat-filled cups. Sprinkle with about 2 teaspoons of the cheese blend.

Gently press another wonton wrapper on top of the first meat/cheese layer, pressing down into the sides of the tin to form a shallow bowl shape.

Repeat the process by distributing the remaining sauce and ricotta and finally the rest of the shredded cheeses.

Bake for 11-14 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the wonton edges are brown and crispy all around. For my oven, and as much as I stuffed them it was 14 and a half minutes.

Let the cups cool slightly, remove them from the pan ( a fork helps lift them out) and serve!

What Love Is - A Lesson from a Stuffie

The form of love.

When I was about three I got this really fluffy white bunny for Easter. I LOVED that bunny and carried it around everywhere and slept with it each night. Every so often, Mom would wash it and hang it up by the ears on the clothesline. A few years ago Dad found it tidying up my old room and mailed it to me. It has almost NO hair, no eyes, no whiskers. I didn't even notice - it was still my favorite bunny and I never stopped loving it as much as I did the first day I got it. I'm so very blessed to have a husband that feels that way about me (I still have my hair but my stuffing has shifted).

Thankful Thursday

What's for dinner Mom?

Abby T. Lab here. Today we join our friend

• Brian

for the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Today we are thankful for always having enough to eat.  Many people, and animals in the world, in our own country even, go to sleep hungry at night.  We have always been blessed with food on our table, and family and friends to share it with.  For that we are grateful.

Mom's Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna and herb biscuits. (recipe in comments)

(Note - this is a blog hop post and the Linky Tool brings up comments from a previous Thankful Thursday and won't let me post a new comment for the recipe so blog hop link disabled.  It IS working on Brian's post so go there and join!)

Wordless Wednesdays- Summer Wonder Memories

Abby Lab - Certified Bacon Sniffer

Sorry, Abby - we're out of Bacon, you'll just have to eat your bowl of dry kibble.

Me (to husband)- "Since you have the day off how about I make us some pancakes!"

Mix, pour, burn

Husband - "You put the ones that folded spindled and mutilated on MY plate.  Is that like the leper colony plate?

(English accent) "oh, Jeeves find some poor orphan to give this to."

Me - "I'll share the burnt ones but they aren't going in the final photo."

Me:  "Really Abby - no bacon - go back and eat your kibble."

Breakfast time!

 Greek Yogurt pancakes and thick cut bacon. 

 MMMBacon.

Hey!  You held out on me, you HAVE bacon.

"OK Abby - maybe you can have a little bite of one piece since you ate all your dry food."

I KNEW you had bacon in there.

Until Later. . .

I'll be back tomorrow.

I'm plotting something.

Abby T. Lab

The Twelve Step Program for Kongs

 There's got to be a little dab of peanut butter left in here.

 Right there at the end.

If I just stretch out my tongue a LITTLE bit further.

What do you mean I've had too much already?

I can stop any time.

Bark the Halls

 

"Frequently Barks Inside" dog is totally loving Christmas season. There are at least 3 packages a day coming from Amazon, USPeeS, or Etsy and so far in December, she's prevented 18 homicides from our (super nice) delivery people.

Snow Daze

You are SO not moving to Florida when you retire.

Abby Lab Thinks I'm Going Nuts

Monday's always crazy busy, so for night a very easy recipe to think about making for the holidays. 

Better than Beer Nuts. I make a big batch of these each holiday season to take with me to share with the team, everyone getting their own little baggie full.  It's a favorite of both the carnivores and herbivores and has a great blend of HOT and sweet.  The original recipe called for about 1/3 cup of butter.  To reduce the fat I left that out except for the little bit I greased the cooking pan with and they were still really good.

• 2 organic egg whites
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut or brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt (this really does add a unique flavor but you can use plain salt)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• dash of cinnamon
• 4 and 1/2 cups raw almonds (I toast them for a few minutes in the oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes, then cool, to make them extra crunchy)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. and grease a large baking sheet with sides and put it aside.  In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne.  (A jelly roll pan works great).

In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs, water, and a pinch of the salt until foamy (just shy of where it starts peaking).

Mix remaining salt, sugar and cayenne in a small bowl.

Add the cooled almonds and stir until moistened.  Add the sugar, salt, and spice mixture and stir until all the almonds are coated.

Ignore the food hound and try not and nibble any before they go onto the pan.

Arrange in single layer on the pan and bake for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Set the baking pan on a wire rack to cool.  Keep in an airtight container. 

Tis the Season

Mom, Dad! I heard a noise!  Maybe it's Santa Paws arriving early!

Abby, it's only the first day of Advent.  You just stepped on the squeaky stormtrooper.  Go back to sleep.

Sleeping past 5 a.m. What a concept!

Where the blog happens. But today - just breakfast with Partner. 

More syrup please on my silver dollar pancakes.

It's not the weekend without pancakes and bacon

Since we don't have a fireplace, Abby keeps watch on the back door for squirrels or Santa.

We need to find a place to hand up the new Dog Tail coat hooks.  But first a walk with Abby.

All around the village, little signs of Christmas.

Look Mom - it's Santa Paws!

Sorry Abby - It's just the Abominable Snowman

We've passed the house with the Blair Witch Birdhouses. . . so any second now.

Right on time.  Let's head back and make a pizza and then put up the rest of the decorations.

A lazy weekend day during the holidays is a wonderful thing.

Where'd Abby go?

The Force meets the Abominable De-Squeaker as Abby tries to bite his head off.

The light is almost gone, the house darkens.

But Mom - he Friended me on Facebook.