Soup - Puppies

Last night we had Minestrone Soup. I just love Minestrone soup and am actually a bit picky when it comes to eating it. I set out to find a recipe that I thought tasted right. I am still going to try and get the recipe from Mom's dining room at her apartments, but this one is really good.  Just click on the link for the recipe over at cdkitchen which I just love their site.

Pesky shadow at the bottom again.  I took five different shots of this bowl, each from a different angle.  Still there, cannot figure what is causing it.  Any way, doesn't it look yummy?

I know that any recipe can be converted to use a slow cooker or crockpot, but for the first time on any recipe I like to make it exactly as the recipe states, with all the ingredients that it calls for.  Then, if I like it I will start adding my own little touches and tweaks.  That being said, I was forced to make a few changes in the original recipe, this is what changed.

I bought one large carton of vegetable broth, (32 oz) because it was absolutely all that Walmart had.  It was the Swanson's brand, which I rarely buy, but it was all they had.  No cans of vegetable broth, any brand, only this one carton.  Which was quite expensive. So, I added a can of chicken broth.  I have tons of that on hand at all times.  While at the store for the broth, I found Hunt's Fire Roasted Tomatoes.  OH MY GOSH! what a fantastic flavor.  So, I bought two cans of those for the soup using them instead of the one can of stewed tomatoes. I like lots of tomato so usually double it in all my soups and stews.  I substituted minced garlic when I found my whole garlic had to turned to black mush.  Must clean out the fridge today.  I used one onion instead of the two because not many around here eat them if they see them.  I found that I did not have any basil, so that was left out.  The last change in the original recipe was in the pasta, I used shell macaroni instead of spaghetti.  I have never seen minestrone served with spaghetti noodles and Olive Garden used the shells, so I bought a box of shells and used a little of that.  I did cook them separate and added the pasta to my bowl, not the pot of soup because I am hoping to jar up and process the left overs to put in the pantry for fall, recently found out that canning pasta is not good.  This will definitely go in to the keeper file.  Next time I serve it, I will grate off a little Parmesan cheese using the hand crank grinder I found in my cabinet.

Speaking of finds in the cabinet, I don't think I posted about my home made ice cream. I know I told some one about it, remember talking about the experience, but didn't see it on a post.  Don't have a photo, forgot to get that, I will next time I make it.  I was thinking about my dad, and we have finally started having rather warm temps (finally normal for this time of year) so went and bought the ingredients to make some ice cream. Since I was using my dad's old freezer, I used mom's recipe.

No Cook Vanilla Ice Cream
1 Lg. pkg. Vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 c. sugar
1 Lg. can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
Whole milk
Mix together until dry ingredients are dissolved, pour into container and add milk to fill line. Process according to manufacturer's instructions.

Simple, you can easily change it by using that as a base and adding different flavors. Next time we will add some crushed Oreo cookies or peaches.  Am also going to try a batch using Splenda.

Now, that all being said, let me tell you what ended up happening.  First of all, the wooden case of the ice cream freezer leaked like a sieve. Guess it was all those years of setting.  I gave this freezer to my parents some where around 25 years ago.  Dad used it often, but he pasted away in 2003, doubt he used it for a few years before that.  Since it leaked, the drum didn't freezer properly.  It was actually really soft at the top, got a little better as we got to the bottom.  We ate it however.  I then put the left over in a plastic storage container and put it in the freezer.  WOW did it harden up in there.  Still nice and creamy texture.  Here is the weird part, it tasted like banana.  Not strong, just a hint.  I did not add any banana so have decided that banana pudding was put in a vanilla box.  Next time we make it, I will use our freezer which is molded plastic.  It has never been used, found it when I cleaned out some shelves in the garage.

On a sad note, one of the puppies died.  It looked like the momma dog sat on him.  Daughter J was just devastated.  I keep telling her not to get attached, we are not keeping a single puppy, but it is too late for that.  We are still not keeping any of them, but she has become quite attached to them, one in particular.

I have a mountain of clothes waiting for me to put up and need to get a bite to eat right quick.  Tomorrow is pay day and we are out of so many things, will be a big bill just in paper goods (foil, baggies, toilet paper, paper towels) so need to get my list and coupons together.  In fact, if I get them all hung up and put away, hubby will wonder what is wrong with me that the bedroom is cleaned up.  I want to work in the bedroom this morning while it is still tolerable temp wise, will move to the cooler kitchen for the afternoon.  Following the menu plan, will be making chicken salad for supper.  Asian chicken salad with mandarin oranges actually.  I am using the left over chicken from KFC we had on Father's day.  I need to use it up, don't want to waste it, and this batch had a little bite to it which will be really good in the salad.  Of course hubby won't like it, he feels it isn't cooking a meal unless I prepare a meat and several sides.  It is predicted to hit the triple digits today, so I am turning that stove on at all.  It will be running late tonight as I set it to clean.  Okay, so just don't tell the family unit that my menu plan for this week is designed to use up the left overs in the fridge.  Most times if I can re-purpose them they don't notice. I just don't understand this aversion to left overs.

Thanks for stopping by, leave me a note if you like.  I love knowing some one read this.  Come back and visit again soon.

New Stamps

So...I went on a little spending spree. OKAY...a big spending spree. Really I spent too much at one time and am feeling a tad bit guilty about it. But, I am determined to make up for it, and of course I am the only one that knows I did this. LOL I hit some great sales though, so it was justified and I didn't buy anything that I didn't really need.

I bought some great new stamps. At least great for me. Still not exactly what I am looking for, but definitely a lot more usable than past choices. I am thinking that maybe I should try and unload some of my "poor choice" buys on Ebay, but part of me is positive that I will absolutely need what I get rid of two weeks after I do. Most of the stamps are all great for collage projects, but are great sizes for cards or ATC's. For some reason I am really hooked on vintage and collage style, so of course that is what I lean toward these days.

This card is another collage style card. The card is a green background, the next layer is a paper that I just fell in love with because of the colors and print design. I bought it for the opposite which is purple nautilus shells. Now why I wanted purple shells, no idea. Maybe needed purple for something and just picked up a few colors of purple, seem to remember a project with purple, at any rate, I turned it over and found the treasure of the other side. Kind of a vintage form of long hand script but with corral and jelly fish printed over it. Now I wish I had a few more sheets. Why can't I learn to buy more than one sheet of a design? At any rate, this is the card that came to be.

I stamped the image on one of the sheets I made from the alcohol inks. This particular sheet was one made by adding blending solution to clean the pad a bit. Kind of crazy, I figured with all the darker colors that totally blending them together would have mad a mud or brown color instead of the really interesting yellow and cream tones. I finished it off with a black frame from my Cricut then added some dimensional stickers that co-ordinate with a totally different paper stack and a little ribbon know that was ribbon I found in the clearance bin on this last spending spree.

I really like the end result, will have to do this a little more.

I have a couple of things I need to finish up for a swap and get them in the mail. Then I need to take a couple of days to do some housework around here. I think I will also do a little re-arranging in my craft room. I need to make a little more arm room and see if I can make things move a little easier. I don't really mind having to go up and down a step stool so often to get to things, figure at least it is a little exercise. But the constant moving around the room back and forth is just not working. I need to find a better set up for my computer so I can get it off the desk I use for my projects. That is the worst of the mess at the moment. I spread out the papers and cutter or stamps and ink, am working on something then inevitably need to pull up something on my computer so I have to move everything aside and make room for the laptop then move it out of the way to get back to the papers, well you get the idea.

The weather today is so gorgeous. I have the doors open, a window open and sunshine. In fact, it is so nice that I decided to cook supper outside. Albertson's has whole chickens on sale really cheap, so I bought a few. I am thinking beer but chicken for supper. Another grocery had red potatoes on sale so bought a few and will season them and bake them in the oven, or maybe put them on the grill with the chicken. I wanted to make a salad, but at 1.99 a head for lettuce, that will have to wait. Wow, the sign at the store stated a "severe shortage" on lettuce due to a freeze that destroyed crops. Stupid global warming.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thursday blahs

I am sitting at the computer, playing the farm games, waiting for the doctor's office to call so I can take hubby in. It is so frustrating to sit and wait. We could have already gone to the urgent care and been seen and some type of treatment started. I called them six hours ago.

Have been doing very well at cooking from the pantry.

Sunday - steak, baked potato, salad

Monday - taco ring, corn, beans

Tuesday - slow cooked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday (tonight - depends on when we go to doctor) - beef fajitas with rice

Friday - slow cooked Pork Carnitas, carrots, noodles

Well that has been the week and the plan at any rate. I rarely plan for weekends because I never know what is going to come up. Tomorrow morning I plan on cooking up several chicken breast. Although, if I can get a hold of the grill early enough, may just grill them. They are for cutting up and packaging so I have cooked chicken meat on hand.

Okay, so far, have spent right at $150 on groceries this paycheck. Of that, about $70 was actually food. I am planning on using the massive stockpile I have on hand and except for milk and bread and an occasional stray item, should be all I need for the month. We have one week we will be gone camping in there. Tonight, I plan to actually write out two weeks worth of menu plans and get back on track with that. Will join the internet group and post my menus on each Monday. Will also be posting how the recipes add up cost wise.

Back to the subject of the $5 Dinner Mom's Cookbook. I posted a comment about the inconsistencies in cost of items on the author's site. She wrote me an explanation explaining that when she made the various recipes some were with ingredients from sales and some were not. I do understand, but still think that it was just a bit misleading as to the cost. In my opinion she should have gone with the normal price and then if a person happens to hit a sale it is just extra savings. She also gave me a link to a comment from a fellow Californian who commented that prices were not so bad out here. I say bullcorn, they are ridiculous compared to the northern or eastern states and from what I have read on postings from fellow members of some of my internet groups it gets worse the farther west you go. However, I will say this about the $5 Dinner Mom's Cookbook. The recipes sound good and look forward to start trying them out. They look to be budget friendly and for the most part seem to fit my family's taste as well. What I would call normal foods, normal ingredients, not a lot of processed or pre-packaged stuff. One other thing that is a bit misleading is the title itself. One recipe that is under $5 does not make a $5 dinner. If you spend almost five bucks on the main dish, you still have to make a couple of side dishes and desert to go with it. Granted, a lot of the recipes are casseroles or include a pasta or rice, but really does not make a full meal. I like the book, just don't like the little details that are really wrong. I think the cost is very misleading.

Along that same subject, an interview on a talk show with a mom of 4 has been circulating the group postings lately. This woman apparently feeds her family of six for next to nothing because she uses coupons to cut the cost. She walked through a buying trip with the reporter and showed how she does it. I understand the concept of coupons, but there are some major reasons that it just doesn't work for me, and in all honesty never has. Here is why.


1. I can never get the amount of coupons she seems to. I have always looked through newspaper, mailbox, magazine ads, begged family and friends, joined groups that traded coupons, even paid a fee to subscribe to a coupon service, am big enough to admit that I have even stooped so low as to tear out a coupon or two from the magazines at the doctor's office. I know that you can download them and print them on the computer as well. The coupon queen pulled out coupons for meat, produce and milk. I have never come across those.


2. Not one store in our area doubles or triples the coupon value. Nor do they allow me to use a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon for extra savings. Not one store in my area (and by area I mean town) will accept a computer printed coupon.

3. Most of the items I buy on a regular basis are readily available in generic or store brands and the price is a lot cheaper than the brand name even after the coupon is deducted.

So, that is my thoughts on the subject.

I started this on Thursday but was sidetracked when I had to take hubby to doctor. He has some type of stomach bug that is causing severe diarrhea. They gave him IV fluids and a lot of lab work. He is still down and has no appetite, has lost almost ten pounds the last three days. Normally this wouldn't be a worry so much, except for the fact that when I almost lost him due to colon cancer a few years ago the symptoms were very similar. He told me not to go there, but it just happens. At any rate, I am forcing myself to wait until all the information is in before deciding anything. The doctor feels it is some type of infection, but needs lab work to tell if it is bacterial (antibiotics will be prescribed), viral (has to run its course), or if it is due to some type of parasite. At any rate, I felt bad when I woke this morning, but seem to be doing okay this evening. On the side of caution, I have decided to not visit mom for a couple of days. I would not want to get her sick or any of the dear oldies that live there.

Needless to say, my menu plan has changed since I started the post. Last night I fixed fish and mac & cheese for daughter and me, hubby didn't eat. I need to grill the fajita meat, but have no idea how to cook it on the grill outside so have to decided to just freeze it in the marinade until everyone is feeling better. For tonight, I have homemade chicken soup going in the slow cooker. Very easy for everyone to eat, easy to cook, and easy on the budget as I used left over chicken from Tuesday's meal. Still have no idea what I am going to make over the week end, guess it will pretty much depend on how everyone is feeling, but still working on planning next weeks meal.

Thanks for stopping in.