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

Grabbing things through serendipity...

...yep, I'm always on the lookout for things that can be analogies, or speak to my situation, running them through the filter of discernment (hopefully!) along the way.

Today I saw a TV show (documentary) where an alcoholic took an entire bottle of tranquilizers. The person did it on camera. Days later in the hospital, after nearly dying, the person vehemently denied they took the pills, and blamed their mother, quite vociferously. Basically they said, "my mom must have slipped them into my drink." Yeah, right. Gee, remember your mom was thirty minutes away from your house? Gosh, musta been telekinesis from a remote location...;-P

The distraught mother, in a hospital waiting room, was told by another family member:

"She doesn't want to take responsibility for what she has done, so she needs to dump it on you instead."

Precisely. A moment of supreme clarity for my particular situation.

Always interesting

Who doesn't like to learn more about themselves, or have things confirmed that they already deduced? Thanks to Mel over at Praise in the Storm
http://praiseinthestorm-mel.blogspot.com , I went to Personal DNA and checked myself out. Here's their take on ole nashbabe...



You are an inventor.

• Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.
• You have the confidence to make your visions into reality, and you are willing to consider many alternatives to get that done.
• The full spectrum of possibilities in the world intrigues you—you're not limited by pre-conceived notions of how things should be.
• Problem-solving is a specialty of yours, owing to your persistence, curiosity, and understanding of how things work.

You are advocating.

• Being social, empathic, and understanding makes you ADVOCATING.
• Some people find being around others exhausting—but not you! You are energized by spending time with friends, and you are good at meeting new people.
• One of the reasons you enjoy conversation as much as you do is that you often learn about yourself while talking things out with a friend; you realize things about your own beliefs while discussing them with others.
• You have insight into what others are thinking and feeling. This ability allows you to be happy for others, and to commiserate when something has gone wrong for them.


They even gave me some recommendations...:-)

• While it's important to think about others, don't forget to take some time for yourself, and occassionally to put yourself first.
• Take some time to spend with a few close friends; although it's difficult to find people to trust, it's worth the effort.
• When you have great ideas, it can be hard to relinquish control, but it can also feel good to take the pressure off and enjoy someone else leading the way.

Today was market...

...and it was slow.

There was a lot more good stuff to it, however. My vendor friends and I had an important and helpful conversation that really helped us both, I think.

Hubs and kiddo were very helpful setting up and tearing down. Kiddo even said the night before "Do we need more time to set up in the morning? I can get up earlier if you want." Never mind that the kid is already getting up at 5:30 on Saturday mornings to help. I was deeply touched and said "thank you, that is so kind of you, but no, please don't get up any earlier."

Plus, I got an order for a custom apron from a regular customer. That's always fun.

I need a lot more stock for the booth, for wholesale, and for upcoming events. I also have a special project that needs a bunch of attention too.

Lots of work in the fall as usual...my challenge is to actually get some rest and realize that I DESERVE rest. Yes, that's not what the adults in my life told me when I was a kid, and it is deeply ingrained in me. But I DO deserve rest, darnit! Just need to learn that...

A dead giveaway

You know your life is too frantic and stressful when you put your shirt on backwards and don't notice for two hours. What a putz I am! ;-P

Commemmorating 200,000 Miles...

...our little green import (affectionately nicknamed "Kermit") has now reached its 200,000 mile mark.

We bought it from a pastor friend at 135,000, so I guess that means 65,000 miles have been piled on the thing in the last few years.

The major problem with it when we bought it was that it was the car of a fan of a vile NFL team. We exorcised that problem by applying an insignia of the correct NFL team ;-) which was meant to exorcise the demons of that vile team. *L* Oh, yeah, and we had to fix the AC. Compared to the first item of business, that was not a big deal... ;-)

The view out the front windshield is the most constant thing of my day...many miles...Kermit, I salute you! ;-) Could ya give me 50,000 more? Pretty please???

Ya can't argue...

with someone who's insane.

This is my problem. Hopefully I will be able to stay safe and secure both physically and emotionally. I have learned from some other situations that there's "no negotiations with terrorists."

'Nuff said. But what if they have hostages? I don't wanna be one, and I don't want anyone else to be one either...certainly not a largely defenseless person.

God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Even more apron patterns...

Skully flames, oilcloth, leather, knitted, log cabin patchwork, you name it.

Gusset Skully/Flames Apron (they don't show skullys but specifically suggest them in the apron directions):

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_needle_arts/article/0,2025,DIY_13768_5275315,00.html
Log Cabin Patchwork Apron

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_needle_arts/article/0,2025,DIY_13768_5275213,00.html

Knitted Strawberry Apron

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_5495820,00.html

Vintage Dishtowel Apron

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_needle_arts/article/0,2025,DIY_13768_5089794,00.html
Craft Paint Apron

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_needle_arts/article/0,2025,DIY_13768_5208377,00.html
Vintage Style Apron (very easy)

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_natural_homemade/article/0,2025,DIY_13767_5527070_02,00.html
Plastic Shopping Bag Apron (this one’s on the far edge of crunchy crafty) ;-)

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_clothing/article/0,2025,DIY_13751_5404592,00.html

Oilcloth Utility Apron

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_clothing/article/0,2025,DIY_13751_5404681,00.html

Leather Apron

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_needle_arts/article/0,2025,DIY_13768_5162756,00.html
Scarf Apron

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_clothing/article/0,2025,DIY_13751_5208231,00.html