Valentine cards

Masculine Birthday card

So I do like to have photos to show you. Problem is...I am always forgetting to take pictures of what I am doing. This is the card I gave to my Birthday Boy last night.  I forgot to take a photo of the cake, and it doesn't look that pretty right now. I peeled and chopped ten pounds of onions this morning, but wrapped them all up very well and threw them in the chest freezer. No pictures to show you. You will just have to take my word for it. I threw the onion peels in the crockpot with a bunch of celery ends and leaves, some tomato end slices, a heel of cabbage and some water. It will stew down into a nice vegetable broth for the freezer that I can use later for soup, making rice or a casserole (where ever it is needed). I have learned on-line that other people take these veggie peelings that would otherwise just go into the compost, and they collect them in a freezer bag until they have enough to make broth. I haven't used my carrot or potato peelings yet because I keep forgetting to scrub them first. It seems counter-intuitive to scrub veggies only to peel them afterwards. I will have to change my mindset.  I also fried up 3 pounds of hamburger with onions, celery and carrots to bulk up the meat so that I may freeze 4 containers worth for future casseroles. It also adds some extra veggie goodness. I keep some ground meat uncooked so I can make meatloaf or meatballs with oatmeal or crumbs as the filler. Depending on the casserole recipe I use, I may also bulk up the protein content by adding beans with the fried meat. Beans are filling and also make the casserole go further.  Speaking of which, I made a crock pot full of black beans yesterday. I freeze them in 1 and  2-cup measures. 

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I am sure the kids have received their valentines by now, so I will share  pictures of some of those ones. 

The first card with the ladybug was my first attempt at making a shaker card. All the little critters were cut out using my Cricut die cutting machine. These are great for making kids' cards.                                       

Is everybody ready for another blast of winter? Our coldest temperatures of the winter are coming for this weekend. Bundle up and I will talk to you again soon.