Hard Work Has Never Hurt Anybody

I just finished day two of my Pesticide Dispenser Licensing course, which included writing a test in order to get it. Talk about a long day! This week is going to be busy for me with full work days, so I decided to make my Super Slow Cooker Chilli for supper. It's spicy, thick and loaded with lots of vegetables. It's super easy to make, which is great if you're on the go all the time like I am! So here are the steps to making this wholesome, filling chilli! (Now I have more time to play with the Kitties and my Pony!)

Getting ready to cook! Lots of ingredients. 

The tomato soup base.

Making it spicy! 

Blending spices 

Adding the veggies

Looks delicious already! 

If you don't want to mix all the spices yourself,
you can use this instead! 

Beans

Mixing

Ground beef 

Thick and Delicious! 

Alyssa's Super Slow Cooker Chilli

Brown:
1 lb Ground Beef
Dash of Salt
Dash of Pepper
1 TBSP Cajun Spice Mix

Mix:
1 Can of Tomato Soup (you can use two if you want a less "chunky" chilli.)
2 TBSP Cajun Spice Mix (you can use less if you prefer a mild chilli.)
1 TBSP Onion Powder
1 TBSP Garlic Powder
Cayenne Pepper (to taste. We like our food spicy!)
Chilli Powder (to taste as well.)

PS: If you want to, you can cheat and use a pre-mixed package for flavouring your chilli!

Rinse:
1 14oz can of Peas
1 12oz can of Sweet Corn
1 19oz can of Tomatoes (it can be your choice on this one. The Alymer's Accents make this dish delish!)
1 small can of Mushrooms
3 cans of Beans (can be your choice as well!)
2 Handfuls (accuracy is key here!) of Frozen French Style Green Beans

Directions:
Combine the tomato soup and spiced together over low heat in your slow cooker. In the meantime, brown up the ground beef with some salt, pepper, and the remaining cajun spice mix. While this is browning up, rinse out all of your veggies and beans. Combine into the tomato soup base. Once the ground beef is browned, combine into the mixture. Let it simmer for at least one hour. It can also be left in the slow cooker on low heat all day. Optional: add spinach in 10-15 minutes before serving (or until wilted) to add to the veggie power of this chilli!

Will serve at least 5 people.
Freezes well.

PS: This can also be made and served ASAP if you make it in a stock pot over medium/high heat!

Some other ideas for this one:
Choose the salt free (or the low sodium) veggies and beans to make this a more heart-healthy supper!
Strain your ground beef before adding it to your chilli to make it "fat-free!"
Try it with some ground chicken or turkey to make it a little more leaner!
And always try to use local, fresh ingredients to get the best flavour out of this one whenever you can!

I Never Liked This Apple Much

City love. That's what I'm slowly learning to do. Instead of doing some DIY projects the other day while I waited for my delicious Reese's Peanut Butter Bars to set, I decided to head down to the farm for a bit. I learned two things while I was driving:

1. You absolutely CANNOT turn left off of my street around 3:30. Unless you're okay with taking your life into your own hands, then maybe you could. 
2. As much as living in town drives me crazy, I need to embrace it all while I'm still here. It won't be like this for long and one day, I will think back to our cozy condo days and miss them so much. So I have decided to enjoy the city living a little bit more. There actually is something quite glorious about being so laid back and living in a busy town. You get more satisfaction out of where you are and where you're planning on going!

So, needless to say, my baking yesterday was 'hubby approved.' We could have eaten the entire pan ourselves, but we decided to spread the enjoyment out over a few days!

Today, I spent 8 hours in class. Yes, 8 hours. I'm getting my Pesticide License for work. I will soon be a certified pesticide dispenser. The more I've gotten into studying pesticides though, the more concerned I have become about using them myself. Chemicals are scary stuff. Even though I've grown up on a farm where the usage of pesticides is frequent, and it's always in a controlled manner, I think that I will try to avoid using them when I have my own farm someday.

Also, my husband may have found me a diamond harrow! (If you don't know what this is, then google it!) This may sound weird to some people, but I'm so excited to have a nicely levelled, well footed arena for my horses. I'm going to see him a bit later tonight and go for a tractor ride. 

And on that note, I leave you with some songs (no pun intended!) 

They're pretty good reminders to enjoy this very moment that you're in. 

And one tractor picture! So excited for my tractor ride!! 

Oh and PS: for those of you who don't understand the title, its from a John Mayer song called "City Love" 

Home Cookin'

Since we have had sun for the past few days, and today is the first day of rain, I decided to take a break from working my horse to do some grocery shopping. I also picked up some ingredients to make a recipe that caught my eye the other day on Pinterest (for those of you who don't know what Pinterest is, I highly suggest you find out! It's the grandest thing on the internet right now!)

Anyways, I came across a pin from one of my friends for Reese's Peanut Butter Bars. I traced it back to it's original source, which happens to be a delightful blog called "Let's Dish." Her blog is full of delightful food (that's one thing about us farm girls, we know how to eat!) So I decided to give the recipe a try. What makes this recipe so awesome is that it's a NO BAKE dessert! Now, all I have to do is wait for it to set in the fridge.....maybe its time to do some DIY projects while waiting..... 

All ready to begin

First, you combine graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter,
and icing sugar. 

Looks yummy! 

Then, add in melted butter. (I substituted margarine for this part) 

Sleepy kitty break! 

Melting the chocolate in my awesome pan that Trisha gave us
for our wedding present! 

Delish! 

Et Voila! 

So here are the directions for making this delish bar! 

Reese's Peanut Butter Bars

(From "Let's Dish") 

Ingredients

1 cup melted butter (or margarine)

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (use the boxed kind, or grind up your own in a food processor) 

*I bought my graham cracker crumbs from the bulk section and ended up with the same deal*

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup + 4 tablespoons peanut butter

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I subbed milk chocolate chips in on this one) 

Directions

In medium bowl, combine the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, and confectioner's sugar and 1 cup of peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of a 9 by 13 pan. In a metal bowl over water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips and the remaining 4 tablespoons of peanut butter together, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares. 

Also, here's the link to "Let's Dish" http://www.letsdishrecipes.com/ 

Big Old Barns

I have an obsession with old barns. There's something so fascinating about their walls, the structure of them, and how they age. They are beautiful, and I hope that one day my property has a nice, big old barn for me to explore on it.

I love all of the wood, and the textures that old barns have. There's history hidden within their walls. They tell tales of hard work, and they have paid their dues to this world by being a place of safety and refuge for many beasts.

An old barn in Armstrong, BC
one of my personal pictures

Another old barn in Armstrong, BC
one of my personal pictures

Exploring big old barns is nothing new to my husband. He grew up on the cutest piece of property that had a lovely old barn that was full of adventures and exploration. As the barn got even older, it became unsafe and eventually had to be torn down, but all of the memories that he has stored up of that old barn are fantastic. I envy the fact that I didn't have a big old barn to play in when I was younger! On the other hand, we have a lovely chicken barn and stable, so really I shouldn't complain!

Here is a picture of my stable, and my horse.

And here is the chicken barn, and my horse. 

Maybe one day, people will pass by my stable, note it's age and ponder exactly what happened in that spot. Hopefully they will get the sense that the horses that were kept there were dearly appreciated, and loved by two girls.

Primitive and Proper

One of my twiggy candle holders that I made

Since I now live in the city, I've had to find clever ways to countrify my home. I have to keep it looking primitive and proper after all! When my husband and I were on our honeymoon, we found these awesome, locally made candle holders while we were staying in Whistler. They're made out of fallen trees. I love them. Those candle holders were the first inspiration for our place. I decided to get creative and start making some things of my own for around our place. Now every outing is an expedition to find natural inspiration for our home. Pinecones, tree bark, pebbles, twigs. They all have a place inside of our home. I'm slowly, and creatively finding more ways to bring the outdoors inside.

While my "outside space" in my condo is limited, I plan on making full use of the patio that I have. I don't care where you're living, having flowers is a must! My spring planters will have lavender, poppies, and sweet peas in them. All shades of pinks, and purples to bring in the new season. That way, all of my visitors will be able to spot our place, and let themselves in.

Don't Mess With Me....I Was Raised On A Farm!

This is my typical day. Get up early, send my lovely husband off to work, start dinner first thing in the morning while I sip my strong cup of coffee, watch my cats chase each other around the couch and into the bedroom, get dressed to go to the farm, and work. This would be classified as the relaxing part of my day! 

After I have spent time with my horse, cleaned up after him, worked him, rode him, I get changed to go and do my four hour shift at work. I get home around 9 in the evening, have supper and talk with my husband about the day. 

It's a crazy schedule for me right now, plus I am also a student, working towards my Business Diploma. But I can do it all, I was raised on a farm, you see. I'm used to the early starts and working into the late nights. I'm so blessed that farm work taught me how to value time and efficiency. It also taught me that you have to do a quality job right to the very end of the day. It doesn't matter how tired you feel or how much you don't want to do it, you persevere anyways. 

I'm so blessed to also have such a sweet and caring husband, who is helping me go to school full time this autumn season, so I can finish my diploma quickly and get started on letting my dreams come true. I'm blessed to be able to work (even though it brings in very little) at a place that I love. It's a farm supply place, so whether at work or at play, I'm surrounded by the things that make me comfortable. I'm blessed to own a horse. Life lessons are taught through such magnificent creatures that you cannot learn from any book, course, or class. I'm also blessed by my two playful cats. They're much more fun (and wholesome) to watch than many of the things that are on TV! 

Our two cats watching the parking lot outside our condo.
Filly is on the left, and Colt is on the right. 

I believe that God loves an honest, hard worker. Both my husband and I fall into that category. We work hard to make other people's lives easier. The door to our house is always open. We believe the best way we can make an impact on other people's lives is through how we act and what we do.

My husband drives and operates tractors for a living. His days are long in the world of custom farm work. He's also Mr. Fix-It. Give him a wrench and a grease gun, and he will get it done for you! He is also my "bale boy." He brought me hay for my horses for years. That's how we met. He loves trucks, tractors, hard work and Jesus just as much as I do. We're starting small in our little condo, but we're looking forward to the future, and owning a bit of our own dirt one day. 

I think that I've covered most of the bases of our lives in this little introduction, but if by chance I've forgotten something, I'll add it in later! I'm hoping that this blog will help to leave a legacy in some small way, and show some truths to the others in our lives that we love so much. My next post won't be as weighted as this one. I'll get into some of the fun things that we do now that we're city dwellers! 

Back to the Basics

I have a simple heart. Nothing is more satisfying to me than to see the glories of the little things in life. Fortunately for me, there are many "little glories" to be spotted out in this tiny little space that I call my world. Growing up on a farm has taught me how to cherish these things. While farm living is hard work, it's also a step back in time to a much more simple way of being. Primitive dirt is what I like to call it. Simple, raw and true to itself. This is how I know life to be, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

.

Times have changed for me. I now live in a cozy condo in town with my husband and two cats, Filly and Colt. Even so, I still can't get enough of the simple life. Tractors and trucks, shall it always be for us! My husband and I are going back, though. We are true country-raised kids, and this is our journey






May we always stay true to our faith, and true to our boots!