Snow, Snow and More Snow

Yesterday it snowed and snowed and snowed and at the end of the day and snow storm we had 12- 14 inches of snow. It was up to the door and in fact when I opened the screen door it would not open all the way because the snow was that high. I didn't get to do any blogging because we were afraid of losing power so I had the computer off. When I thought it was safe to try I turned the computer on and not 5 minutes or so later the power went out. Maybe I jinxed us, but luckily it was only out a minute or so but I decided to wait to turn it on till today. Now after we get dug out I will be back to blog more. Crocheting and reading helped to pass the time during the storm. Will have a couple of patterns for you later.  Hope everyone has a safe warm day.

Spicy Hamburger Hashbrown Dish or Nana's Mess

Have you ever had a day when your best laid plans for dinner just didn't work out. That's what happened to me tonight, so when the steaks were still frozen and dinner had to be done in a hurry I had to improvise. So taking what I had this is what I came up with and we called it Nana's Mess because I messed up and didn't thaw the meat out for dinner and was out of pasta.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (ground turkey would probably work too)
1 4.2 oz carton dehydrated hash browns
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup picante sauce
2tsp dehydrated onions
2tsp garlic salt
2tsp taco seasoning
4 slices of american cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbs ketchup
Parmesan cheese for top

Directions:
In a skillet brown the ground beef, onions, garlic salt and taco seasoning. Drain
Cook the hash browns as it says on the box. You can use frozen or fresh hash browns if you like I used what I had available. Just cook the hash browns as directed on the ones you use.
Combine the cooked hash browns and ground beef together. Add the diced tomatoes, picante sauce and stir. When this is warm add the sour cream and ketchup and stir to mix together. Cook on low. When heated through add the american cheese slices ( you can use shredded cheddar cheese here instead but again I was out). When the slices start to melt stir into the hamburger hash brown mix. Dish up and add the Parmesan cheese to the top like and dig in. Very good, filling and the family loved it.

Even though I didn't fix what I had planned and had to go to the pantry to make something, it really didn't turn out bad. You can add more of the onions, garlic salt and taco seasoning to your taste but in our house less is used because some don't like to much of the seasoning.

Give this a try it really was good. It can be gluten free if you use gluten free seasonings, sour cream, ketchup, picante sauce and cheese.
So Dig In and Enjoy!

Pretty in Pink Afghan

I have found when you need an afghan in a hurry that this pattern is the easiest that still has some flare to it. My daughter needed a baby afghan for a co worker and I needed to get it done fast so since she was having a girl I did it in two colors of pink. This pattern works for hot pads and dishcloths and washcloths as well as scarfs. Anything you want to be done fast and look good too.

Material:
1 skein red heart pink
1 skein baby rose pink
K hook

Instructions:
ch 131
Row 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc in next ch, dc in next ch, trc in next ch, dc in next ch, hdc in next ch, sc in next ch repeat in this pattern across ending with trc in last ch. ch1 turn
Row 2 sc in top of trc, hdc in top of dc, dc in top of hdc, trc in top of sc, dc in top of hdc, hdc in top of dc, sc in top of trc. repeat across.
Row 3-66 repeat row 1-2 at end of row 66 finish off. weave in end

On my baby afghan I started with the lighter baby rose pink for first 9 rows then switched to pink and then did the baby rose pink for last 9 rows.