Monday, March 26, 2012

Easy Fried Chicken


Easy Fried Chicken



Prep: Drizzle olive oil into a skillet and heat up to
med-high.

Start with:
2 lb. Boneless, skinless chicken strips

Dip them one at a time into:
½ c. Buttermilk





Then into a mixture of:
2 c. Flour
1 tsp. Salt

Repeat the
dipping process for thicker breading.

Place them in the preheated skillet, leaving a little
space between them. Flip when cooked just over
halfway through, about 10 min.








Remove when fully cooked. Eat up!










Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.






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Mom's Stew









Mom's Stew




In a dutch oven or other large pot, combine:

1 ¼ – 1 ¾ lb. Fully cooked, seasoned beef (Mom suggests using McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning, garlic powder, and salt for seasoning the beef. She just uses leftover roast and its juices -- yum!)


1¼ lb. Baby carrots (or larger carrots cut into wedges or baby carrot sized sticks)


1¼ lb. Russet potatoes, cut into pieces about ½” x 1” x 1”


½ large onion cut into 16ths



And:

½ - ¾ c. Heinz 57 sauce (depending on how seasoned the meat is)


½ tsp. Salt


2 Dashes of ground black pepper


½ tsp. Dried basil

2 Bay leaves about 2 in. long, broken in quarters.




Cover with:

Water - enough to just cover the ingredients.


Gently boil on medium for 1 - 1 ½ hrs. or until carrots and potatoes are tender.





Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Strawberry Apple Muffins



Strawberry Apple Muffins
Dry:
1 1/2 c. Flour (for a healthier twist, use 3/4 c. white & 3/4 c. whole wheat)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 3/4 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Cut in:
1/2 c. Butter, softened

Wet:
1/2 c. Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 c. Milk
1/4 tsp. Almond extract

Stir in:
3/4 c. Diced, peeled apple
3/4 c. Diced strawberries


Sift dry ingredients into a bowl, then cut in butter with a fork or a pastry blender. Mix wet ingredients together in a separate bowl, then stir in the diced fruits. Combine the two bowls, and mix together thoroughly with a spoon or hand mixer.



Spoon into 12 greased muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick into the middle of one and it comes out clean.




Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.



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Friday, March 23, 2012

The Blue Iguana



Blue Iguana

The orange and blue beads on this one's neck are most likely part of a tracking device for the recovery program.

Scientific Name: Cyclura lewisi

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Iguanidae

Genus: Cyclura


The Blue Iguana is also known as the Grand Cayman Iguana, because it is native solely to Grand Cayman Island.

These iguanas almost went extinct back in 2003. It is estimated that there were only 15 of these lizards left in existence at that time. A recovery program has been implemented and the population is now estimated at over 290 lizards.

Their scleras (the pare of the eye that is white in humans) are red. They are lighter and less blue when at rest. Their feet are much darker than their legs. They turn a brighter blue – the males especially – when trying to find a mate.

Blue Iguanas are designed with what is known as a parietal eye. The purpose of this eye is not sight. It is a white photosensory organ on the top of its head, which detects movement and is sensitive to
changes in light intensity.

Average Body Length: 20-30 in. (51-76 cm.)

Average Tail Length: 20-30 in. (51-76 cm.), equal to its body length.
Average Weight: 25-30 pounds (11.3-13.6 kg)

Babies: The mother iguana lays anywhere from 1-21 eggs in June or July in a nest she has carefully dug in just the right place in the soil. She'll often start on a nest and then change her mind, move, and start another nest until she's made one she likes. After she lays the eggs, she covers them up with soil. These nests are about 1 ft. (30.5 cm.) below ground.
When the babies are ready to hatch (65-100+ days after they're laid), they can take 12 hours to tear through the leathery egg with their egg tooth.
According to the Blue Iguana Recovery Program website, after the baby iguanas hatch, they store what is left of their egg's yolk in their abdomen and can live off of it for weeks before they'll need to eat or drink anything.
These iguanas are sometimes old enough to be parents at 2½ years old, but it is more common for them to be 3-4 years old before their first babies hatch.

Life Span: The Blue Iguana is one of the longest-living species of lizard. The average life span is estimated to be somewhere around 50 years. The record is 67 years.

Diet: Mainly fruit and plants, but also fungus and crabs.

Home: Cavities in rocks and trees.


There are many different species of iguanas. Blue Iguanas (below left) vary from the more common Green Iguanas (below right) – which are probably the ones that come to mind when you think “Iguana” – in several ways, including the following:

-Blue Iguanas do not have spines down along the flap of skin under their chin as Green Iguanas do.
-Blue Iguanas have what look like little horns on their cheeks, whereas Green Iguanas have a flat sort of plate back toward their necks with smaller plates surrounding it.

-Blue Iguanas' tails are solid in color, Green Iguanas' tails have dark bands across them.
-Both have spines running along their backbones, but the Green Iguanas' spines are long and scraggly compared to the Blue's shorter, straiter, more uniform spines.
-The Blue Iguana is also slightly larger than the Green.
________________________________________________________________________________
Photo credits in order:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cyclura_lewisi_-Queen_Elizabeth_II_Botanic_Park,_Grand_Cayman,_Cayman_Islands-8_(1).jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Iguana_in_tree.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cyclura_lewisi_-Grand_Cayman,_Cayman_Islands-8.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iguana_iguana.jpg





Copyright © 2012 Joanna Corley & Dabble Magazine, LLC.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

A Psalm for Your Day

Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:4-5

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Thursday, March 8, 2012

Feedback

Give me some feedback on the three issues that are out. Let me know what you like, what you didn't like, what you think needs improvement, and what you think needs to be added or taken away. Just shoot me an e-mail at: Joanna@ToDabble.com . And, as always, if you like the magazine, share it with a friend! Getting more readers and hearing what they think are what keep me going!

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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Issue 3

Issue 3 is ready! Click on "Magazine Issues" up top to read it! Feedback is welcome!




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