Another squash recipe

I thought I would try grilling some squash.  This recipe will need some tweaking---not as good as I hoped.  First, I cut the squash (I used one yellow squash and one smallish zucchini) into chunks and put it on a tray.  I drizzled olive oil on top and added sea salt and ground black pepper.

My dad had suggested to me to preheat the grill, and then when I was ready to put the squash on, turn the heat off under the squash and leave the other burner on.

The hamburgers turned out pretty good.....the squash was squishy and not crisp.  I also had trouble loosing squash through the grill.  I plan to try this again, but will use a grill basket.  Since I would like the squash to be more crisp, I will try limiting or maybe eliminating the olive oil and a little heat on the grill.

Here's my plate with a hamburger with melted cheese, grilled squash, and my Sun Chips.

MMMMM......

On Thursday, July 21, I tried a new recipe for supper.  Now, copying is the best form of flattery, right?  I just LOVE the The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond and even have her cookbook.  She makes the BEST foods and takes a picture of every step during the cooking process.  This is great for inexperienced cooks like me.  I followed her lead, but didn't take pictures of EVERY step in the process.

This is how I made Stuffed Squash for supper.  The recipe is a concoction from my dad and me.
First, I bought a yellow squash from a local (Rose Hill) gardener and purchased hamburger meat from the grocery store.

Next, I cut the squash in half and scooped out the seeds.  Be careful when scooping out the seeds that you don't go too deep and get to the meat of the squash...you want to eat that later with dinner. You will need to fry up the hamburger.  I had mine simmering while I was scooping seeds.  I seasoned the hamburger meat with sea salt, ground black pepper, and Italian seasoning.  (Sorry, no picture of simmering meat.)

Next, spray the inside of the squash with spray Pam.  My Dad said this would keep it nice since every part of the squash wouldn't be covered with hamburger meat.  The next step is to spoon the hamburger meat into the squash.  Originally, I was going to bake this in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, but since it was so hot, I asked my dad for an alternative.  He looked in a microwave cookbook, and we settled on a cooking time of about 7 minutes total.

I put the two halves on a dinner plate as it fits nicely into my small microwave.  I cooked the squash and hamburger for about 3 1/2 minutes, then checked the squash with a knife.  It wasn't quite as soft as I wanted, so I added some Parmesan cheese to the top and returned it to the microwave for about 4 minutes.  I did put a paper towel on top of the squash as it cooked in the microwave.

I found some slightly old hamburger buns on the counter and decided that would be nice grilled with the squash.  I put butter and some Parmesan cheese on the bread and grilled it on my electric skillet.  Below is the final dinner plate.  It was yummy, and Patrick even ate it without complaint. His main comment was, "Well, it's hard to keep the hamburger meat on the squash when you cut it to eat it."  He was using a knife and fork and I ate mine with a spoon, scraping the squash out.  Not sure which is the best way to "attack" this meal.

Fourth of July Weekend Trip

You won't believe this story--so I've got to tell it.  The plan for the weekend was to celebrate my dad's birthday on Friday, July 1 and then Patrick and I would take his mom with us to QuaPaw, Oklahoma for the annual QuaPaw Pow Wow from Saturday, July 2 --Tuesday, July 5.

Ok, so the birthday dinner was great with my parents and Patrick in Rose Hill.


On Saturday, the 3 Konecnys (3 Amigos?) left for QuaPaw.  We had reservations to stay at the Buffalo Run Hotel in Miami, OK, since the Downstream Hotel/Casino was booked up.  Now, Miami is not far from the Pow Wow grounds, but too far to walk.  And Buffalo Run hotel/casino was in the middle of NO-WHERE and too far to walk to town (Miami) and the pow wow.  We got to the hotel, got our room keys, unloaded the car.....came back to go get some supper and the car wouldn't start.  Yep.  8pm on Saturday of a holiday weekend where everything is closed until Tuesday.  Not good.  AAA couldn't even help us.  So, we missed the pow wow on day 1 (my dad's b-day) and we missed the pow wow on day 2 (car trouble). 

To make the long story a little shorter.....we got a tow (from AAA) on Sunday morning to O'Reily Auto Parts in Miami.  They let Patrick use their tools and even brought him a bottle of water after he was there an hour.  It was my car battery that had died...and thanfully, that was all.  But my car battery isn't simple to change....it is located behind a panel in the right wheel well. Yep.  Not good.  Took Patrick over an hour total to get the old battery out and the new one in...and he had never done that kind before but he did it!  I am SO proud of him!  Pat Ann and I told him that he is our HERO! 

Pow wow day 3---Patrick and I had tickets to see The Steve Miller Band at Downstream, so we were not planning to go to the pow wow.  The concert was GREAT and there was a fireworks show after-wards.  We had 3-D fans to look through and I caught some video.  At the time, we didn't know it, but the pow wow was rained out and didn't finish all the contests.

Pow wow day 4; Monday, July 4-- It was scheduled to begin at 8pm with a last grand entry, several dance contests, and the awards.  Pat Ann had seen the pow wow on the news the night before and it was really crowded, so we figured we would go about 5:30 or 6pm and could eat and look at the vendors.  Remember how I mentioned that day 3 was rained out.....well, they had rescheduled for 3pm on Monday and we didn't know it.  They finished everything before we got there at 6pm.  So, basically, we missed the whole pow wow.  Sheez.  It wasn't for lack of trying!  We did get to see the chicken dance, the awards, and a 49 contest.  We are planning on trying again next year to see the pow wow!

On the way home, we stopped in Dexter, KS at Henry's Candy Company.  This candy store made the O'Henry's bar.  I am pictured with my bag of candy below along with a few pictures from the weekend.

Motivation to Exercise

Ok, blogger friends, I want to pose a question:  How do you stay motivated to exercise?

Right now, I don't have "an exercise buddy" that is located near me who I can go with and I can very easily talk myself out of exercising.

Here's a list of things I've tried and they either don't work for me or I've lost interest or I may try again.

• Daily walks with the dog
• Keeping an exercise journal on my computer
• Keeping an exercise chart (on paper)
• Playing the Wii
• Being accountable to a friend
• Have a contest with Mom (how many minutes a day each person did since we like different activities and can't go together)

Please post your ideas!  :)