Country-style Ribs and Rice

I bought country-style ribs at Sam's because they were relatively cheap, but I didn't know what to do with them. I went on foodnetwork.com and found a recipe from Paula Dean, and read the reviews, which were mixed, and decided to try it, implementing the suggestions in the reviews. It turned out ok, not very flavorful though. Scott didn't like it at all, and neither did the kids. I liked it alright, but I think for nastalgic reasons. It reminded me of an old South meal my grandma would have made; warm, filling, and cheap, comfort-type food.
So, needless to say I had alot of left over meat and rice. I dumped the rice down the garbage disposal, cleaned the fat off the meat, and made a great soup. Here's my concoction:

1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic pressed
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 can white cannelini beans, drained
1 large carrot shredded
1/2 cup spinach puree
1 cup squash and zuchini chopped that I found in the freezer, we had grilled them back in the summer, so they added great flavor.
pepper
italian seasoning
salt
2 bayleaves
leftover meat, to desired meatiness

Simmer for a little while and enjoy.

Soups are a great quick and easy go to if you have some pantry staples and leftovers on hand. I think soup is one of the few redeeming things of winter. That and snowboarding!

Trick-r-treat

Here's Reece and Alli all ready to go trick-r-treating. Reece is Lego Indiana Jones, and Alli is Lego Asoka (from StarWars the CloneWars). I've found I can make anything with Duct Tape, boxes, a paper sack, and spray paint! You can go to Scott's site for more pictures.

Las Vegas

I went to Las Vegas with Scott in July. His company was having a trade show there. We stayed at the Paris. The whole experience was surreal. You get off the plane and are immediately bombarded with slot machines, right there at the gate! And then as you move through the concourse, the ads for all the nudey shows! We got to the Paris, and it's all fake like Disney World for grown ups. It's hot as hades there in July, kind of ironic considering all the sinning going on there! And it's so dry, I was in chronic thirst, also hades-like. All I did for the few days we were there is lay by the pool and read. This pic is the view from my chair at the pool.
The view from the window in our room. Looks majestic and relaxing! HA! Not! I have a hard time putting into words the spiritual oppression I felt there. On the flight in I was taking in the Grand Canyon and seeing all the glorious colors of the desert, and there are small mountains all around the city, really an artwork of God out there. But the city is designed to make you forget about God. All you can see from the street is man-made buildings, fountains and lights, all designed to distract you away from God and lure you in to the temptations beyond thier doors.
To top it all off, the food wasn't even that great. Except for the dinner we had at the hotel convention center. We had steak, some kind of potato gratin, and asparagus, a great salad, and creme brulee for dessert. It was all cooked to perfection, I could cut my steak with a fork!