Stuff I do...

Here's some slideshows that explain stuff I do and stuff I make...

Easy Peasy Cookies

One box cake mix (pick your fave flavor)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened (i.e., one stick)

1 egg

Mix everything together till nicely blended.

Split dough in half, wrap in saran wrap and chill in fridge...an hour is good.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, flour or powdered sugar an area to roll the dough out, or get a couple sheets of wax paper or parchment paper and roll the dough out between them for less to clean up.

Roll it to 1/4 in thick and then cut out into shapes, decorate them with sprinkles if you want at this point, and then bake on a cookie sheet for 7 to 9 minutes depending on your oven.

You can ice them after cooling and put decorations on afterwards if you prefer.

Feelin' nasty

Hopin' I feel better soon.

Bugs

I have read this verse many times...

"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm
my great army that I sent among you
Joel 2:25 (NIV)

and I read it with great hope, hope for restoration after so many stresses especially of the past two years.

But I didn't really focus much on this other verse in the chapter before this...

What the locust swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left
other locusts have eaten.

Joel 1:4 (New International Version)

Yeah buddy, as they say in the South, that is where we are at!

That doesn't sound like a great spiritual tidbit to chew on but it makes me realize that yes, God does understand the massive stress and seeming abandonment we have felt, and is promising to restore us. I'll take that...and grab ahold of it with a fierce grip.

"Wash Me" taken to a whole new level

Take a filthy dirty car window. Usually you'd scrawl a request for water and soap. This guy has a whole different, much more creative, idea...

Easy peasy pumpkin muffins...

One white or yellow cake mix
One can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, just straight pumpkin).

I used the splenda reduced sugar cake mix and it worked fine.
I also added powdered ginger, freshly ground cinnamon, a dash of powdered cloves and allspice.
I added three T flaxseed meal for nutritional value and fiber, but obviously you don't have to.
Also, i would think that chopped nuts would be really nice, as would dried cranberries, cherries, raisins, or other similar ideas.

Mix together...batter will be quite thick.
Makes 18 muffins.

Bake at 350 for 15ish minutes.

Can't get much easier than that... *L*

This is also an extremely cheap recipe. If you bought the items from Aldi I think you would be hard pressed to spend more than around ten cents per muffin...or thereabouts. Cool!

We're thinking...

...that kiddo broke their hand. They punched a bowling ball (like usual) at the bowling alley, it's not normal but it's normal for them, ya know? It's par for the course to act up at the bowling alley if things aren't going well. Pounding the table, bowling balls, ball return, it's all stuff we're used to seeing. However, the kiddo seems to be in quite a bit of discomfort and then would only bowl a couple games during the "bowl for three hours for really cheap" special at the alley, complaining of pain.

Hope kiddo's mom gets it xrayed. Sure wish I could do something about it. Their neck is in a lot of pain too, hope eating pain pills is not the extent of the "treatment" for that...so far that's all there is on that one. Arrgh. Kiddo got hurt the other day, can't really go into it here, but kiddo did not have anything to do with it happening to our knowledge. Lots of stress...so what else is new? :-)

Anyone else need this post?

If you know me you'll know why I have linked to this post... ;-)

You'll even know why I linked to this one too... ;-P

Sushi Tutorial

"A Fridge Full of Food" (see link on side) posted a nifty sushi tutorial. I think I'll try this one more time...Thanks to this...

Tonight's potluck

...was moved to last night. Actually, our small group cooked and served the evening meal for a homeless shelter for families last night. We did a taco bar...we really try to stay away from spaghetti and lasagna because we know they get served those meals ad nauseaum.

I brought the rice and beans. I got some nice comments on the spanish rice. This is a variation of a recipe from simply recipes that is more kid friendly. I mean, what kid is willing to get chopped up onions and tomato pieces in their rice? Unfortunately, not that many, so here's my variation. Very inexpensive and tasty. The recipe doubles easily but if you need to feed a large crowd cook several double batches because a double batch is about all that will fit in a conventional cook's large pot at home. Now if you have a huge pot, all bets are off!

Spanish Rice

a few glugs of olive oil
2 cups of white rice
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Three Cups chicken stock (I used that nice concentrated stock paste, but bouillon or canned broth would probably be just ducky, watch the salt content, though...)
A scant cup of canned crushed tomatoes
A little oregano
Salt if needed/desired

In a large skillet brown the rice in olive oil on medium or high heat. Add the onion and garlic powders. Cook a little while to make sure the rice gets nice and toasted. This is important for the flavor.

In a sauce pan bring the stock to a simmer and add the tomatoes, oregano, and salt if needed. Add the rice to the broth. Bring to a simmer and then cover, lower the heat, and cook 15-25 minutes (based on the length of time your rice package says to cook the rice). Then turn off the heat and let the rice sit, covered, for 5-10 min.

Easy peasy!

Brush with fashion greatness

After my dentist appt (yay! no work needed beyond my cleaning!!!--that's a good one for me), I went to an uppity fabric store I hadn't yet visited. Fortunately there wasn't anything I absolutely had to have at that point, because it was up to $29.98 a yard for some stuff, and more for others. They had nifty patterns though.

I saw the great Manuel checking out...with a handler or assistant. That was kinda cool. Here's more about him...

But hey, par for the course in Nashvegas. I've worked with, sat by, shopped alongside, went to cross country meets week after week, with stars or folks who ended up being superstars, or their wives or exwives. Heck, even a very famous NASCAR driver.

And here in the Music City, we leave 'em alone. It's an unwritten rule. And I like it that way. They're off the road, they're at home relaxing or seeing their family, and that's how it oughta be.

I hear Nicole Kidman, known around here as "that Australian lady married to Keith Urban" (ha!) likes shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond in Cool Springs, and hanging out at Bread and Company in Green Hills. Apparently Keith and Nicole decided their main base oughta be here and just bought a bunch of land or a farm or something.

I just hope people continue to leave them the heck alone. You KNOW I will...

Hmmmm

All I can say is, it doesn't seem to get any easier, a big situation has happened we're dealing with. That's all I can say now. We had nothing to do with it, but we are dealing with it. That is a familiar situation. Not to sound corny, but I just keep asking God to take care of it and to help me have lots of joy anyway...:-)

Market

Guess I never posted about market. I try to cobble as many sales together as I can, but it is difficult with hardly anyone there. Three vendors just GAVE me stuff this week...that's a record. They hadn't been able to sell it. Of course I gifted them with some cucumber soap in return...

So many vendors have little to sell because of the drought. And it's too hot to sell scarves...and it's October! If there isn't a cold snap soon I won't sell them at all, crap...

Jekyll and Hyde, as "normal" (but it's not normal!)...

Yesterday morning I picked kiddo up at their abode to take them to school. Kiddo was pleasant, conversant, witty, nice to be around. Asking them a question invoked a response, rather than an outburst of loud and angry "I don't knows" or simmering rage. In this situation, kiddo makes me think "yeah, this kid really needs to be in a better school, and they could handle it."

But I know better.

After school the more predictable rages came again. This is "normal" for kiddo, but it's not normal in real life. A gentle question will get a "I don't know" in rage or a completely frustrated kid. I expect teenage angst, but this ain't it.

As I dropped kiddo off, they opened a zippered cooler to put a couple wrappers in it so they wouldn't be on the floor of the car (I didn't ask kiddo to to this, they just did.) The zipper didn't open easily so kiddo angrily attempted to basically rip the zipper open, trembling and raging. Somehow kiddo managed to knock a number of other things on the floor too, including my cell phone.

Told you, I know better. The second example is pretty much standard for this poor kid. Please, Lord, help kiddo get the help they need. They deserve it, and with health insurance it is easy to get now (kiddo's copayments are between $3 and $5, not exactly overwhelming...hell, I'LL pay 'em!) Sorry for the outburst. Lord, please deal with my unbelief, I still believe.

Tonight's potluck

In the refrigerator, there was leftover chicken, a couple turkey drumsticks, some celery, carrots, and some onion.

Sounds like a noodle soup waiting to happen.

So I put it in a large pot, added some water, some of that lovely chicken base (essentially evaporated / concentrated chicken stock), quartered an onion, cut up a few carrots, grabbed all the celery leaves and a couple of ribs and cut them up, and added bay leaves, parsley, italian seasoning, freshly ground pepper, and some of that light salt (hey, gotta control the salt around here). The turkey drumsticks and leftover chicken pieces are also simmering merrily.

Around lunch time or so (maybe earlier) I will cool it and take out any good pieces of meat, and put the broth in a large container and put it in the fridge. I'll come back after the school run and skim off the fat, and add some cut up carrots and celery, and diced onion, and I think a little lemon juice (which seems to be prevalent in most chicken soup recipes I've run across). Then, of course, the noodles.

Whether I like it or not I need to make a whole bunch of spanish rice too. When I asked my next door neighbor vendor at the market for some organic tomatoes and handed him some money, he brought me a huge box of tomatoes. Way more than I paid for. We're doing taco night at the homeless shelter next week, so I volunteered for the rice and beans.

To go with the spanish rice maybe I'll make some borracho beans. I have some lovely borracho bean seasoning direct from Texas, and I think I'll just take some canned beans, rinse them well, and add some of that seasoning and maybe a little beef broth. I have a nifty looking three bean organic bean blend that would look nice, along with some black beans smooshed up a bit. Cheese of course will make it more interesting to folks...so maybe I'll do that.

I have some lovely poblano peppers from another organic grower at the market and I can see them living quite happily in the rice, and in that chile relleno casserole I make (just click "recipes" and you'll see the post with that delicious and cheap recipe).

What would you do with ten grand???

Yesterday at church our pastor asked "what would you do if someone gave you $10,000?" He asked lots of kids to mention what they'd do with such a gift. You heard the video games, etc., kind of answers, but also a couple funny ones...

(14 year old kid) "I'd increase our food budget". (both he and his brother look well fed) ;-)

(13ish year old kid with nine, count 'em, NINE siblings) "I'd get my own apartment."

Me, I'd buy a fridge, fix my roof, and keep on helpin' kiddo. Oh, and I would like a vacation for Christmas, Mr. Santa... :-)

What would you do?

Save the celebrity children

Click here! :-)

Not entirely deserved; aka the cheese alert

A friend at church told me yesterday that I was a "rock" for having stood strong throughout the major disruptive events of our life in the past couple years.

Not really. Here's my cheesy phrase alert; you've been warned.

I'm clinging to THE rock. It ain't me. And strength must be defined by being extremely weak and knowing it, and trusting someone a lot stronger.

That does sound entirely cheesy; but it is something deeply experienced over the last stretch of time. Somehow it has become very real to me during this time. There really isn't anything else out there to cling to, and that's the truth. Wish there was sometimes, but honestly, there isn't.

Going through hell has made me want heaven all the more. And I am so grateful for friends who have encouraged along the way. Thanks guys...you are appreciated more than you know.

Thought the stress was over

but here we go again. Kiddo and my mom. Prayin like crazy.

Insane psycho people

have invaded our life. somehow I am still pretty peaceful in most cases, which is good. No real resolution is possible other than through the miracle of God, which is quite possible but is certainly nothing I have to do with. At peace with the inability to change things.

Crazy day...

Tons o stress. It has abated. Pray for kiddo. thanks.

Feeding the dudes meat, without going bankrupt...

...Here are things I do to satisfy the tastes of the meat eaters in my house. Kiddo is eating low carb a lot (thankfully not all the time) and between that and lots of exercise has lost fifty plus pounds as a result. Hubby is wanting meat items, too, of course. These aren't rocket science but maybe there's a few useful nuggets here...

*If at all possible have a freezer. If you can't afford a new one, try looking around for used. We found a full sized freezer years ago listed on an employee bulletin board at hub's work. $25. Seriously. It is ugly, but works like a charm. If you put it in the garage or basement (which is where ours is) who cares how it looks anyway?

*Shop the sales. I load up on stuff that is dirt cheap this week and freeze most of it.

*Be willing to do a little work. I bought whole pork loins for two bucks a pound, and cut them into nice thick chops (boneless, and less fat than other pork chops) with my electric knife. Took only a few minutes and I had around 32 boneless chops for about sixty cents each. With a few other ingredients, still a whole lot cheaper than a value meal...and of course far more nutritious! :-)

*Try marinades. This is good for lower fat cuts o' meat too. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, just some vinegar and oil, and some spices. Or be really easy about it and marinate stuff in readymade italian dressing. I recommend marinating in a double ziplock bag for good coverage.

*I do buy a fair amount of the closeout meat since I can freeze it right away. Has worked very well and is cheap cheap cheap.

*Frankly, another thing I do is buy stuff that I like that has no meat, like soy meat substitutes that are pretty darn good nowadays, or cook up a bunch of spaghetti with mushroom sauce that neither of the men-types complain about (heck, let's throw a few soy crumbles in that sauce too, or maybe a lot of them...*L*...but then again, don't tell 'em...). I substitute tofu for some of the ricotta and other cheeses in manicotti, enough cheese to get a good taste but enough tofu to really cut down the fat (low fat tofu in the asceptic paks is pretty good). Sneaky? Heck ya, whenever I can... *L*

The one thing I do NOT do is buy crappy cuts or fatty cuts. Boneless skinless chicken breast? Yep. Chicken quarters? I don't care how cheap they are, I rarely buy them. Regular ground beef? Naaaaah. 93/7 ground beef or turkey on sale? Yep, and I mix it with soy crumbles whenever appropriate, but don't tell the boys...:-)

Tonight's pot luck...

A Bisquick pie. Just go over to bisquick dot com and look over the impossible type pie recipes, and put one together. Don't bother to use their exact recipes, just mix up the eggs and Bisquick the way they say and add other stuff. I used eggs (use an egg and whites to cut down cholesterol if you want), drained a can of spinach thoroughly, and used cut up chicken, mozzarella cheese, and bacon bits. Bake according to their recipes. I used half a can of spinach per pie and made two...so one was available to freeze and use later. Be absolutely sure to drain the spinach thoroughly! I always used frozen spinach before but figured canned spinach would work for that, and yep, it does. They also have vegetarian ideas...and use the reduced fat Bisquick (well, I actually use the K-Roger stuff) if you like.

A couple of roasted chickens...hey, that was on sale. I marinated 'em in italian dressing.

Canned baked beans to which I added smoke flavoring, bacon bits, and some BBQ sauce.

Broccoli was on super cheap sale so I'm gonna shred the stalks and shred some carrots and make broccoli slaw...Here's a bunch of broccoli slaw recipes, grab a few and combine the bits you like into something groovy (that's how I plan to do it)...apparently broccoli is a lot more nutrient filled if you eat it raw, so why not! So long as I use light mayo so as to not obliterate its health benefits...;-P

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,broccoli_slaw,FF.html