So Much Going On

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Hayden's 7th Birthday Party

It seems like life now is just flying by. Between dropping the kids off at school, working, fundraising, picking the kids up from school, homework, house keeping, feeding them, and then taking them to whatever activity they have, bath, and bedtime,  I feel like my days just pass in a blur.

Where does the time go? I don’t think I do all that much really. I am no different from any other parent am I? I can answer that question and it is a resounding N-O-NO! As a matter of fact there are other women who do a lot more than I.

I am not complaining. Nope, not at all. I actually enjoy how quickly time flies for me. We keep very busy over here. We just celebrated my sons 7th birthday at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour and let me just say it was absolutely crazy. If it weren’t for the fact we had a reservation and I was pre-warned about the busy-ness from the party planner it probably would have been miserable for us. But it wasn’t and we consumed copious amounts of ice cream and had a blast doing it. Which makes it all worth while.

Once again we are in the middle of our schools Annual Benefit Auction Dinner. I really enjoy doing this sort of stuff. Raising money to help benefit my kid’s school makes me happy. It’s the simple things really.

Fundraising seems to be the direction in which God has sent me in. I do the same for work as well. Working for a Non-Profit Thrift Store all of our revenues are distributed to three organizations. When we do good as a business, they reap the rewards. It’s very humbling watching all of our volunteers roll up their sleeves and pitch in wherever needed. And we do need them. With the running of two thrift stores it takes a lot of people to make it happen. I didn’t realize just how many until I started working here.

When I’m not at work or fundraising I’m driving my kids just about everywhere they need to go. The boy is in Cub Scouts and I have to say I really do like this program. It gives us weekend family activities to do together and with our den. Plus the boy really loves it. now if only I could get the girl to want to go back to Girl Scouts.

She keeps busy too. She plays the trumpet for school so she has her practices and now she’s practicing for her performance next month at our Fine Arts Festival. I’m so proud of her for auditioning and all of her hard work. I cannot wait to see her perform on stage =) I’ll be the one with the video camera right next to the other parents with video cameras.

Anyway, that’s us in a nutshell. Hayden hasn’t had a seizure in months and it seems as though his Keppra is working well for him. Let’s just pray it continues to work. We’re still working on the vanity. It’s disassembled and mostly sanded. All we have left are to work on the drawers and then paint. Elena’s very excited about getting it completed. This weekend shouldn’t be windy or rainy so we can dedicate a good amount of time to getting it completed and installed for her. I can’t wait to get that project finished. So very excited. I’ll post pictures soon…

As Granpa used to say “See ya round like a donut!”
SoCalMarisa

Thrift Store Find

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I work at a thrift store. 3 Way Thrift to be exact. We survive off donations. Some days there is something donated to the store I just cannot resist. This particular find is just that thing. As soon as I saw it hit the floor I knew I needed…neeeeeeded it for my 10-year-old daughter.

To you this may look like nothing but to me this is perfect for her. Well after a little bit of paint and repairing of a few parts. I have been looking for a vanity for her for a few years now. Keeping my eyes peeled at yard sales and the like. Most times something major is broken on the vanities I’ve found. For this one the good thing is all the mirrors are intact. That is a pretty good find considering the age. The seat is a little wobbly and will need some gluing, not to mention a new cushion. The piece itself needs to be cleaned up, sanded and painted.

So here it is. My Thrift Store Find. It was marked at $49 but I got to use my coupons and in store credit and paid wAy less for it. So the girl has her paint all picked out and we’ll start working on it this weekend. She is so excited. I catch her sitting at her stool every so often. Makes me happy to see her excited. I’ll post the pictures as we work on the vanity so you can see where we go with it. She wants to add the gold leaf back into the paint detail… this may take a couple weekends.

So begins the updating of my tweens bedroom!

As Granpa used to say “See ya round like a donut!”
SoCalMarisa

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

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Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Serves 36

Today I attended to a cookie exchange at my good friends house. I saw this recipe online and wanted to try it out. Before I introduced it I wanted to see how I liked it. During the baking I found a few things I felt needed changing. The end result is very good and I hope you like it too. I got the requisite oohs and aahs over the biscotti, they are after all very pretty what with the green pistachio’s and the red cranberry and the chocolate dipping doesn’t hurt they eyes either. I’ve made several batches of this last version and so far can’t keep enough on hand. I think this is my hubby’s favorite cookie now!

Ingredients:
¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¾ Cup Sugar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
½ Teaspoon Orange Extract
2 Eggs
¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Cup Dried Cranberries or Dried Cherries
1 Cup Raw Pistachio Nuts

Topping:
White Chocolate Chips
Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, vanilla, and orange extract. Beat in eggs. In separate bowl combine flour, salt, and baking powder then gradually add to sugar mixture. Once combined, mix in cranberries and pistachios.
  3. Divide dough in half forming two logs (12×2”) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky, wet hands with extra virgin olive oil to handle dough more easily.
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven and set aside for 30 minutes.
  5. Cut logs on the diagonal into ¾ inch thick slices. Lay each on their sides onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Return to oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool.
  6. Melt White Chocolate Chips (I used Ghirardelli) and dip biscotti into chips and set aside.
  7. Melt Bittersweet Chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli) and drizzle over biscotti. Let Chocolate Set then store in airtight container.

As Granpa used to say “See ya round like a donut!”

Steamed Pumpkin Pudding Recipe

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Steamed Pumpkin PuddingRecently Elena’s 5th grade did “A Taste of Colonial Foods” This is super yummy, sorry I didn’t post it sooner but it’s real easy to throw together and is best served warm with some whipped cream to top. Most of the 5th graders gave this a thumbs up, the others just have no taste. Enjoy!

6 TBS Butter
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 TSP Salt
1/2 TSP Baking Soda
!/2 TSP Ground Cinnamon
1/2 TSP Ground Ginger
1/4 TSP Ground Nutmeg
3/4 Cup Mashed Pumpkin or Canned Pumpkin
1/2 Cup Buttermilk

Cream butter and sugar together until light. Beat in eggs. Stir together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Mix pumpkin and buttermilk; add to creamed mixture alternately with dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Spoon onto greased and floured 6 1/2 cup ring mold. Cover tightly with foil. Bake 350 degrees for one hour. Let stand 10 minutes. Unmold. Serve with whipped cream. Serves 12 to 16 people.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Seizures in the Middle of the Night

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Our 6-year-old has Benign Rolandic Epilepsy, his seizures are primarily nocturnal. He was just 4 years old when he was first diagnosed. His first seizure was a Gran Mal and it happened while staying the night at his Grandparents house. Since then we have had several tests done on him and nothing has shown up on any of his tests. His seizures don’t even show up on his tests. Warning signs for him are wetting the bed, biting his tongue, waking with dark circles under his eyes, being exhausted and achy, and bad migraines.

Up until recently we have managed his seizures with Melatonin to help him sleep since his trigger is lack of sleep. But we have reached his peak age group from 6-8 for his particular type of seizure and everything has changed. Monday morning he woke us with a seizure. Since his seizures are primarily nocturnal we have a baby monitor in his room so we can listen in for changes to the boy.

At the onset of a seizure he will typically let out a loud cry and then start to seize. His seizures will last about 3-5 minutes with each instance. Typically he will curl on his left size and start to convulse. His eyes will be open wide but be dilated and sometimes will roll into the back of his head. He will gasp and gulp for air, he may even foam at the mouth. Sometimes he will move into a different type of seizure where he will then lie flat on his back and his arms will stiffen up and stick out in front of him. Other times he will stiffen up and just stare straight ahead. If we are lucky he will not vomit or wet his pants. He never remembers any of his seizures.

Hollywood does not have it completely right when they try to act out an epileptic episode; there is a great spectrum of the types of seizures one may have. We don’t put anything in their mouths to keep them from biting their tongue, unless they are indeed biting through their tongue. His body will more than likely correct that problem itself. We roll them on their left side and just wait for the seizure to end. We make sure they are in a safe place such as on the floor or a flat stable surface. No they cannot hear you. No they cannot respond. No we don’t call for an ambulance every time as we are the field doctors. Yes, we do contact their Neurologists immediately. Constant and open communication with your Neurologist is key.

Monday’s seizure was different in that he had more than one. Normally he will have a Grand Mal and then sleep for hours on end while he recovers. On monday he had his first Grand Mal at about 4:15am and then another at about 9:30am, followed by several of what are called absence or petit mal seizures. The degree is far less extreme and the duration is much shorter. To some it may look like daydreaming. If you look closely you’ll see the eyes have dilated.

This cluster of seizures was new for the boy. After several conversations with his neuro we put him on Trileptal. Up until now we have been med free. While some of you may not be able to wrap your brains around this; it wasn’t without lengthy discussion and advice from his neuro. Epilepsy is clinical, meaning there is no true path to medicate. There are several anti seizure medicines out there but not all are accepted in each individual body the same way. Their side affects can be very extreme and mood changing. Not only do we have the usual warnings one laughs at when the listen to those tv commercials with the minute long warnings but they have the potential of increasing the problem rather than decreasing it. They may decrease the amount of seizures but not all together stop the seizures.

Then you must add to the equation that Hayden’s seizures are not patterned. They don’t happen nightly, weekly, monthly. When they hit, it’s is generally out of the blue and simply because he’s over tired. Lastly his particular type of Epilepsy is Benign which means he may outgrow it by adolescence. His last seizure was back in July so we are talking months between. He has no particular pattern.

We put our trust in Hayden’s Neurologists hands and have followed his lead. We as parents hesitate to medicate him because of the side affects and the not knowing if it would help or hurt. His tests never showed any abnormal brain activity so we decided to wait and see, we decided together as a team with his doctors’ approval. This past Monday he said it was now time to start an anti-seizure and we agreed. In this society where we medicate everything for any little thing we wanted to be careful about adding chemicals to his little body that may be problematic.

You see, some anti-seizure medicines can make his seizures and symptoms worse instead of better. Most epileptics are not on their original medicine, they have tried several different ones before they find the right one for themselves. It’s not an easy road and so far we were able to manage with good eating, good sleep, and melatonin. But we knew we were going to have to cross that bridge eventually and now here we are on the other side.

Our first medicine is Trileptal and so far this is his second full day on the med and already he is experiencing side effects. Last night he had insomnia and slept poorly. Now, he is very active and he is constantly talking. This particular med works like a sedative and the expected side affects are nausea, tiredness/lack of energy, headache, confusion, and more frequent or more severe seizures. The insomnia is on the list of contact your doctor immediately if…

So, we’ve contacted his neuro and he’s made adjustments and we’ll follow them and see a few days more. Like I said, constant communication. If we don’t change his prescription then he will have an increase in dosage next week. I truly do not expect to have hit the mother lode with this first prescription. I fully expect to try a few before we find the correct one for the boy. I am praying more than anything the Benign part of his Epilepsy holds true and he will outgrow this.

So today we are just going to try to get him as much rest as possible. Stay in out of the rain, and pray he gets some sleep tonight. If he gets rest, so do I. I’m going to leave you for now and go slack on the couch with my boy. Today marks the 3rd day home from school for him. Rest assured, I’ll be back soon with an update from the home front.

As Granpa used to say “See ya round like a donut!”
SoCalMarisa

And We Have Achieved Normalcy!

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Phew! I know all of you have waited by your computers for my latest blog blast. Waiting with baited and anticipated breath. Well here it is! FINALLY!

School has officially begun and coincidentally that means the volunteering season has begun for me as well. To keep up my “strength” I returned to my small group which meets on Tuesdays and I just love those ladies. Plug: If you find you are in need of spiritual guidance, want to connect with like-minded women, and don’t need child care then you need to come to my small group for a bit of Bible study! End Plug.

The first week of school was filled with trying to remember how to wake at a designated time. All summer long our alarm clocks vacationed as well. Rarely were they put to use. Well that obnoxious blasting of the time-keeper in the morning was hard to get used to. Week one, short week that it was, was still a struggle for all of us.

Week two I interviewed for a job and will hear back on that by mid-October. Parent Orientation at school with the hectic run from classroom to classroom to meet the teachers. I met all but one teacher. Elena decided she wanted to join the band and we get to look forward to her trying to get a note out of her trumpet. Yes, I said trumpet. I wonder how many ear plugs I am going to go through! Next GEMS started again and the boy joined Cadets. So that means 90 minutes of free time, 2 nights a month. That’s music to my ears considering my hubby works swing shift!

Last but not least for week two; Hayden had his assessment at Kaiser with the Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician. It was a huge relief meeting with her. She said Hayden is a normal 6-year-old boy! Amazing! hahaha! She went over his file from Hayden’s Pediatric Neurologist and is on the same page. Neither believes we need to medicate! What a huge relief for us considering the possible medicines involved and their adverse side affects.

We discussed the possibilities of food allergies and she suggested to put him on an organic diet. So she ordered up some blood work so we can see if he does have any food allergies that we are unaware of and then we will make adjustments to his diet when the results come in. As you may remember we made changes to his diet and all that hard work of removing any and all dairy and the groundwork we did with the gluten was put to the side so we could re-introduce both to his diet. Next week is when we take him in for the blood work. I’m hoping and praying it’s something as simple as going organic. We could even go back to removing milk, although I really hope we don’t have to. The boy loves his cheese. The greatest extreme is the gluten factor. I really, really, really don’t want to cross that particular bridge!

Week three had us running with the Room Mom Orientation Meeting/Harvest Festival Meeting. I think this year is going to be a very good year for Both. Granted there are some adjustments and growing pains but I think this will be a good year. Next helped plan a service project and I’m not going to say anything about that just yet…. Ending the school week with our first Auction meeting of the school year. Yes, I said Auction. I know what you’re thinking….”Didn’t you just do Auction?” Well yes, but planning begins right after the previous Auction takes place. Same thing with Harvest. We started planning Harvest before school finished. So Plug: We are always looking for volunteers to help with the Auction… =) and if you want to vend at the Harvest Festival we are always looking for vendors…. End Plug.

Week four brings us to this week. So far this week has started out wonderfully. Today we met with the schools superintendent Mr. Groen and went over some fine points and I have to say I really like him. He was very easy to talk to and I think he will make an excellent superintendent for the school. Tomorrow is Apple Day. Then a boutique at a friend’s house and believe it or not, I don’t have anything scheduled for Friday…..YET! OK. Well that was a month in just under 800 words. Maybe my next posting will be a recipe. Hmmmmm, but what to put up? If you have any suggestions let me know cause now I’m thinking comfort food. Maybe clam chowder or how bout a nice bowl of chili???

Time to go for now. As Granpa used to say “See ya round like a donut!”
SoCalMarisa

Patriot Day

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Today we remember the day when our world changed. When we as a country stopped, watched, and listened. The day when work for most of us came to a standstill. The day when we at one point or another embraced a loved one and wept.

Where was I when I heard the news of a plane colliding into one of the towers? I was on my daily commute listening to Kevin & Bean and thinking to myself, WoW this is a sick joke even for them. It took a few moments for me to realize they were not joking and this was real life drama unfolding. I proceeded to pull my car over and cry. After I spoke with my family and collected myself I continued with my 50 mile commute. Understandably traffic was much lighter.

The day was really a shock for most of us. We sat in the conference rooms of our Irvine office with our TV’s streaming the news. We alternated between anger, grief, and just plain disbelief. Normally we could hear the roar of the planes as they flew into and out of John Wayne but not on this day. It was as if the world was holding its collective breath while we waited for news on the other hijacked planes. I had not realized just how much the sound of planes had become a part of our every day work life but they definitely were. To not hear those planes was eerie.

Not much later we were released from work early. I rushed to my in-laws to pick up my daughter and just holding her soothed me. As the days progressed my fear changed to anger and it increased as the devastation unfolded. I contemplated heads on pikes and men being drawn and quartered for what they did to my people. Yeah, I was a little mad. No, I did not lose anyone I personally knew as a result of 9/11. Losing my fellow countrymen made it painful enough. Thinking of their families’ grief hurt my heart.

Flash forward 10 years: Just the other day National Geographic aired an interview entitled “George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview” As a family we sat down and watched it. Some of the images were a first for Elena. Her 10 year old brain understands personally death and the grief associated with it. She is an empathetic person and listening to her as she cried over the innocent lives lost that day made me angry all over again. Explaining to her the scenes President Bush was talking about and the bravery of our citizens and watching her face when she realized how much hate there is in the world. How that hate is directed at us for our freedoms and way of life.Telling her about how some people are real bullies and truly cowardly for attacking innocent and unarmed individuals and calling it a victory.

I am not the person I was 10 years ago. I am not nearly as angry as I once was, nor am I as vindictive. At the time I was a believer but I was sitting curbside; now I am walking with the Lord. I no longer want to see heads on pikes and men being drawn and quartered. I do however have a greater sense of patriotic pride. I love my country. I love my freedom. I enjoy my rights. I love the fact I can vote for my beliefs. I love that I can enjoy my own religion without fear of persecution. I am not too crazy on being over taxed but you take the good with the bad. I am however, insulted when a fellow countryman disparages our military or our rights and freedoms. I pledge my allegiance to my flag and I sing God Bless America with my whole being. I am forever changed because of 9/11.

I am proud to be an American and I will always remember!

Hayden’s Trail Mix Recipe

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My kids love their trail mix. I always keep a bag handy. With our new quest for dietary changes I am now tasked with making a trail mix my 6-year-old son can eat and will like. This one is pretty easy and straight forward. Feel free to add other dried fruit or nuts to change it up. Just remember to keep your salty and sweets consistent. It’s Dairy, Soy, & of Course Gluten Free. Remember to read your purchased ingredients labels to make sure you use ingredients your children can consume.

2 Cups Raw Whole Almonds
2 Cups Raw Whole Pecans
2 Cups Raw Pine Nuts
2 Cups Salted Peanuts
2 Cups Salted Cashews
2 Cups Salted pistachios
2 Cups Craisins
2 Cups Chocolate Chip Morsels, I use Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate mini chips

Mix all together in large bowl. Enjoy.

As Granpa used to say “See ya round like a donut!”, SoCal Marisa

But I Love My Dairy!

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Recently we took Hayden off milk as a test to see if we could help reduce his hyperactivity and help him to get some much needed rest. Hayden is an Epileptic, diagnosed with Benign Rolandic Epilepsy, primarily Nocturnal Seizures, a couple years back. He had a few seizures at the very beginning of his diagnosis and then they stopped. About 6 months ago the seizures resumed. A side affect of his seizures is hyperactivity. The boy bounces off the walls, he is exhausted and it takes a few days for his body to get back to normal after a seizure.

Some studies have shown children with his condition could do better with removing certain foods from their diets. Dairy, Soy, Gluten, and any artificial anything are on the list of items to remove. Removing all dairy from his diet is a very new thing for us. And it is a real difficult challenge for me. It’s a challenge in that, dairy permeates just about every part of our diet. Have you ever stopped to consider just exactly how many things have dairy or a dairy product in them? Do it. Spend some time reading labels and you will be astounded. No, flabbergasted. It’s overwhelming really just how much we love
our dairy.

I am a baker. I love to bake. When I bake I insist on using real butter. I am totally 100% against margarine. It’s awful. It’s evil. It’s an abomination against the beauty that is butter. When Paula Dean fried butter on her show I thought to myself, mmmmmmmm. I bet that was yummy. Except when watching the show I pictured a little bit of fry bread wrapped around that little exquisite pat of butter before it was fried. Ok that may be a little extreme, but just picture in your mind’s eye you popping a warm bread dough ball in your mouth and the buttery goodness bursting free. Sinful. Simply sinful.

Butter is just the beginning too! Don’t get me started on cheese. Think of all the wonderful things we top cheese with. Oooey gooey pizza with that wonderful, stretchy, melty, stringy mozzarella just begging to be consumed. Or how about homemade macaroni and cheese made with a triple combination of sharp cheddar, Monterey jack, and mozzarella cheeses. The first step of this wonderful symphony of cheeses is to begin with a béchamel sauce. What is a béchamel sauce you ask??? Quite simply a roux of butter, milk, and flour, & that is before you add the cheese and bake this delectable concoction!

Have you ever considered cream? Real cream. As in whipped cream. We use whipped cream to top most of our decadent desserts. A Hot Fudge Sundae is not complete without its white mountain of freshly whipped cream covering your, what? Ice Cream. What’s Ice cream made of? You guessed it! Cream. Oh and that hot fudge, they used cream in that as well to give it that yummy creamy consistency. Want some coffee? Would you like some cream with that? Cream of broccoli soup, or my absolute favorite Clam Chowder.

Consider if you will the things we use dairy to top our foods with; corn on the cob, steamed rice, steamed veggies, bread, toast, mashed potatoes, and sometimes steak to give it that boost of flavor that sends us over the moon. We use butter to dip things in like crab or lobster, steamed artichokes in a butter garlic sauce. Sour cream for your nachos or enchiladas. Yogurt; frozen, regular, and greek. The list goes on and on. Now you understand why this is such a challenge for a foodie such as myself and my family. I am not a short order cook! I now find I am cooking two separate meals. One for us and a similar one for the boy but with changes, some good, some eh. Some items are completely off the menu for us. That thick and perfectly creamy chowder with fresh clams, Clam Chowder is a thing of the past for us now. My heart broke a little in writing that.

Now when I purchase milk for the family I also purchase Almond Milk for the boy. He has his own special “chocolate sauce” for milk and putting on top of his coconut milk vanilla ice cream. The odyssey for finding chocolate chip morsels that were both dairy and soy free was monumental but finally achieved. Now he can have his favorite trail mix, except it will be home made. I have not yet tried baking chocolate chip cookies for him. As I may just die a little in the process.

I think I will always struggle with this topic. And why not? I love my dairy too! This diet change for the boy is affecting me emotionally, simply because of my love for food and all the yummy things in it. The soy part will be the easiest thing for me to give up. He may miss the edamame and he definitely missed the soy sauce yesterday at sushi but I think he will survive. Now the gluten on the other hand may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. In this scenario I am the camel just so you know. We love our bread here. Sometimes it’s the meal. A little hunk of fresh out of the oven bread dipped in some
olive oil and balsamic vinegar or dare she say it….butter [gasp]. There are some gluten free options available but I’ve tried them and I have to say…..bleh!

Luckily we don’t have to go there just yet. We are slowly stepping him down, slowly  incorporating gluten free products in his diet. I have a few more weeks before I have to re-think anything with flour in it. Has this helped Hayden at all? I struggle to answer the question honestly. But yes. This one monumental adjustment has changed his physical appearance. The red blotches that have been a fixture on his person for too long a time are gone. He is slowing down and paying more attention. I realize when we remove gluten completely from his diet we should see another improvement in that he will be
able to focus better. Do I struggle with this new diet? Yes. Do I hate it? With every fiber of my being. Do I see a positive change in my son? Absolutely! Like it or not this diet seems to be working for him and we are more than willing to continue the slow removal of these foodstuffs from his diet. He is our son after all, and we only want what is best for him.

I am going to do my job as his mother and do what I can to make his life a little easier. Hopefully we are on the right path. Hopefully we will not have to resort to medication in order to control his seizures, and hopefully by the grace of God above his seizures will not escalate into another form of epilepsy. It is all in God’s hands really. What’s in my hands? Well, now my next course of action is to find some good vegan recipes for his favorite desserts! I hope I don’t die a little bit more in the process!

As my Granpa used to say “See ya round like a donut!”, SoCal Marisa

Meatloaf & Meatball Recipe

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Currently, my newest task is to change up my recipes to be dairy free. After the boy was taken off dairy I realized I am seriously going to need to change my recipes. Apparently I use a lot of dairy in my cooking.

This recipe will make 3-2+ pound loafs. I usually freeze the other two for later baking. This can also be used for meatballs.

6 pounds Ground Beef (1 warehouse store tray)
2 Cups Chicken Stock
4 Eggs
1 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1/2 Onion, Grated
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl whisk egg with chicken stock. Stir into egg mixture Onion, Garlic, Basil, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, and Bread Crumbs. When mixture is nice and soupy add Ground Beef and blend. I find it easier to use my hands for this. When well blended divide into thirds and place each third into a loaf pan. Cover with your favorite BBQ Sauce. Bake uncovered at 350 for about an hour to hour and 15 minutes. Check internal temperature when center reaches 170 degrees meatloaf is ready. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve. If there are any leftovers drain off juices before storing or the meat will get soggy.

For Freezing I vacu-seal in individual 2 pound blocks and defrost later then place into loaf pan and cover with bbq sauce before baking.

For Meatballs. Round meat into individual meatballs at your desired size and set aside. Heat Olive Oil in pan filing about 1/4 of the way up side of pan with Olive Oil. I use a Cast Iron pan for my frying for better heat conducting. Fry meatball in Olive Oil over medium heat. Using tongs, turn ever 2-3 minutes to brown on each side.  When cooked through remove to a large bowl covered with foil and let rest while cooking the remainder. Or plop into your favorite sauce. Or make meatball sandwiches. Either way….Enjoy!

As Granpa used to say “See ya round like a donut!”, SoCal Marisa