Learning curve.

I am learning all about low carb eating.  As I posted earlier, the reading of nutrition labels continues to be an education.  Also, am very put off that apparently if the store makes it in house they only have to list the ingredients, not the values.  Albertson's grocery store makes a wonderful yogurt parfait, but it is large and there is no way to know how many carbs are in it.  I would reason that it is similar to the large yogurt parfait from McDonald's, but have not investigated the weights to see how close they are.  The 5.3 oz. size carries 31 carbs.


I now have the finger pricking and blood testing down.  So much so that I am pretty sure I can stop logging my results each time since I can pull that info up on my glucose meter.  I am doing pretty good with the carb counting as well.  In fact, I am quite proud of myself.  I made this recipe last night for a pork chop dish in the slow cooker. It was pretty good with the stuffing cooked with the meat.  I added some green beans for an extra vegetable.  The pork chops were so moist and tender.  The stuffing however was a little hit or miss.  Great flavor with the apples and dried cherries, but the edges seemed to be cooking hard and dry so I added a little more liquid, which in turn made the layer on the bottom kind of mushy. The recipe is from the Sparkpeople website.  GREAT site for information, support, and tracker for weight loss. Anyone that is trying to loose weight or just change to a healthier life style should really check it out. However, in my brilliant half thinking mind mode, I did not catch that there was a corrected version of the Pork chop recipe which had about 9 more grams of carb.  Not a lot, but I was calculating based on the wrong information so ended up eating too much and my glucose level went a little higher than I like, but still with in my doctor's guidelines.


To me it just proved that my slow cooker is cooking way to hot, especially to be on low.  I may have to check in to purchasing a new one.  I also want a panini grill.  Which by the way, Hungry Girl has come out with a line of flat breads for sandwiches and sliders that are lower in carbs, fat, and calories.  If you are trying to loose weight, you really should check her out.  She has a show on the Food Network channel where she takes the everyday things we like to eat and gives you a healthier version.  If you go to her website, you can watch episodes online if you don't have access to the Food Network, which I think you can watch the episodes on their site as well.  While she does lighten the counts a bit, as far as calorie and fats, some times the lighter version is still a little heavy in the carbs for my restrictions.  I went to the Goodwill store and on Amazon (got to love that place) and purchased some books related to all the changes I am making.  Sadly, several of the books I bought at the Goodwill store were published before the new changes.  It is a bit interesting however to see how the medical community has changed the thinking on their dietary guidelines over the years.  Back in the early 1900's a diabetic was treated with a starvation diet of whiskey and coffee...only.  The whiskey offers about 800 calories and seemed to make the patient a little more comfortable while being starved. The last few years has seen a change from a high carb, high starch, no sugar diet tracked by and exchange system to just simply counting the carbs.  I like this system, it is much easier and don't have to formulate any numbers.  I have also purchased the newest version of MasterCook software for my computer.  I love this program, you can enter any recipe you have and it will automatically figure the nutritional and cost analysis for the dish.  Some other things you can do with the program: calculate changes in recipe for servings (go from a recipe for 2 servings to make it for 6 servings and vice verse), plan menus, generate shopping list, pantry and freezer inventory, has technique tips and videos as well.  You can purchase it from the publisher website, or from Amazon and such.


Which takes me to the next point of my learning curve.  One problem with learning and focusing on the carb count, I am not taking in enough calories.  Need to figure that one out because when you don't take in enough calories, your body reads it as starvation mode and tends to hold on to fat more.  


Due some health issues, family members not just mine, I have been unable to get to the gym this week so far, but am not giving up.


So, goals for the week end and coming week:
Clean house (so grand baby can come over)
Do ALL the laundry
Clean/organize/defrost deep freeze.
Get to gym
Clean up my work room so I can actually do some sewing once again.
Make menu plans for September.


Now that I have wasted way too much time on the computer this morning, I need to get a couple of errands done.  Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

August? Really?

Wow, had not realized how long I have been away.  As I posted earlier, so much is going on lately.

First of all, update on my grandson.  He is just doing amazingly well.

He is now a month old. Today he had a follow up appointment with the pediatrician who is totally amazed with how well he is doing.  Realize, he may be a month old (well a little over, was a month on the 10th) but he was not due until the 24th.

He has doubled his birth weight and grown 1.5 inches in length.  I know I am biased, but like my other two grandsons I think he is a keeper.

I had to add the other grandsons as well.  Mr. W just turned one and Mr. T is 8 and his mom Mrs. C my oldest daughter.

Other news, it is official, I have type 2 diabetes.  I have been sent to classes to manage this, have finally been given the glucose meter and have begun testing my blood three times a day.  I had thought that changing the diet would be the hardest part of this.  SO WRONG.  The hardest part is making my finger bleed for the testing, making sure to get the strip in the machine with out touching it on anything, and getting the blood in the strip before the time is up.  I am getting better though.  The first time I tested, I used up three lancets (the needle) and five strips.  At least now I am down to one lancet each time and for the most part one strip, getting the timing down as well.  Now, to learn how to eat correctly while cooking for the family.  I am allowed 45 g. of carbs per meal and can have a couple of snacks as well.  According to the class, it is all about counting carbs.  Once I figure the carb part out, then I will also concentrate on limiting my calories to 1500 per day.  It is a bit confusing, the 45 carbs the class has taught us is a bit different than what is recommended by some of the diabetic cooking plans but will figure it out.  Also, I have really started looking at the nutrition labels on the foods I like.  What an education that is.  Like I said, it is a little confusing when they tell you that you need three servings of diary, but each serving is 12 carbs, you need three servings of grains, that is 15 carbs each.  I am trying to be very mindful of what I am eating, tomorrow will start the food log of what I eat, but my family is not really too willing to give up their eating habits.  My hubby told me that he wasn't the diabetic one, I just told him "guess what, your cook is."  He eats out for lunch each day, he can have what he wants for that meal.  Supper time at home has just turned in to their healthy meal of the day. I say "deal with it", I have to all day every day.  I also hope to start back at the gym, not full force this week due to hectic days ahead, but daughter J starts back to school on Monday so I am heading to the gym after she goes to school.  My goal is three times a week, 15 minutes each time.  Long term goal is five times a week, 30 minutes each time.  We shall see. I think I may even end up loosing some weight in all this.  I hope so, I would like to loose 90 pounds all together and will find out in the morning if I have lost any over the last two weeks with the new changes.  Of course, it is all still new so may not be any loss yet.  At any rate, will find out in the morning how close my home scale and the scale at the gym are to the scale at the doctors.

As I mentioned, this week is hectic.  We took one last long week end camping trip this past week end before school starts.  It was just wonderful.  High up in the mountains, was nice and cool, relaxing, and the best get away.  I only rode my quad one time, taking the helmet on an off is just a little to painful still. It pulls on the cuts from the surgery. But I had so much fun on the ride while we went through the trails.  At any rate, we got back today.  Tomorrow morning I have a doctor appointment with my primary physician, Wednesday I have an appointment with the surgeon, a follow up for the eyes.  They are doing well, will try to get an after photo soon.  Thursday morning I have to take my mom for a blood test at her doctor to check her medication levels.  We are doing this every week for the time being.  Thursday night we are invited to come over to the kids house and spend some time with baby M once again.  My daughter-in-law has been so wonderful at allowing us to have time with him.  With the other two grand sons in Texas, it is such a joy to have one so close to us.

I have been following several shows, not that I normally have to see them, but I have really been stuck on these.  The first is Next Food Network Star.  Jeff the sandwich king won.  He is very funny.  I must say that I was really glad to see the Food Network pick a show dedicated to something so diverse as the sandwich and a topic that is not currently being done.  Last year they picked Arti, her show was titled Arti Party and is about Indian flavors (which was already being done on a show called Spice Goddess) which was disappointing to me, also that she had very few episodes actually air.  I plan to watch the debut of Jeff's show.  While I wish it wasn't on Sunday morning, I will be watching it if at all possible.  His motto is "every sandwich can be a meal and every meal a sandwich" which I think is a pretty neat idea.

Also, on the Food Network, another new cook with a new show is Ree Drummond otherwise known as the Pioneer Woman.  She started a blog long ago, all about how a girl from Los Angles on a trip home to Oklahoma met a cowboy and married him.  She calls him the Marlboro Man.  The blog is great, wonderful photos, humorous stories about life on their working ranch, awesome home cooking recipes.  She has written cookbooks and a children's book.  She even beat Bobby Flay in a Thanksgiving throw down.  Her show debuts on Sat. 27 at 11:30 am.

Come on Food Network, can you please put the new shows on air at time they can be watched?

Along the lines of cooking shows, I watched the recent episode of Master Chef.  I was sure that Christian was going to be eliminated, but no such luck.  He is just a cocky, rude jerk. Okay, I have another name for him, but this is a family blog.  I really hope he doesn't win, but he is the type of personality that Gordon Ramsey would go for.

On a bright note, it is almost time for the new season of Bones.  I am eagerly awaiting this new season.

I don't know when football officially starts, but I don't have to anticipate it, that will happen in this house on it's own.

Guess that is about all I have for the moment.  My meal planning is off track for the time being as I gather new information, new recipes, and will then start back.  Before I have only planned the supper meal since it was only me.  Now however, I will be menu planning all three meals.  I think too, I will switch over to posting the meals for the past week instead of the week to come.  I had mentioned this before in previous postings, but it just seems like the logical way to approach life now.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and please come back to see how things are going.

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.

Menu Plan Monday 6/20 - Rude Neighbors

Don't get me wrong, I like a party as much as the next guy.  That being said, my neighbors and their parties are the rudest people there are.  They have in the past kept the music, yelling, fighting, throwing glass and such going until 3 or 4 in the morning.  A couple of times it went straight through the morning not ending until around 5 in the morning.  Understand there is literally about 5 feet between where they sit around cranking it up and our bedrooms.  Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they would do this on a Friday night, but no...week nights when we have to get up to work.  Only two of the 8 adults living there actually have jobs.  I know I am being kind of hard nosed about the noise, but I would prefer to be able to hear my TV, my music, or sleep.  We all get up about 5 AM to start our days around here as well.  While I have enjoyed the weeks off from the party circuit, tonight is the worse yet.  They have a live band, with sound system cranked up.  The more they drink, the louder they get, they weren't on key to begin with, as the night progresses it just gets worse.  The guy cannot sing, the tuba player is choppy and the accordion player sounds like his instrument has been run over.  Sadly, there is absolutely no where I can go in the house to get away from the sound.

Menu planning around here is going to be kind of half hearted for the next two weeks.  This week is going to be a lot of cleaning  and high temps so I am doing some soups and salads.  Quick, easy and especially cheap (as in what is already on hand).  The following week, oldest daughter and the two grand sons are coming for a visit so have absolutely no idea what we will be doing what days.


That in mind, here is what my week looks like at the moment:
M. - Minestrone Soup and bread
T. - Chicken salad
W. - Baked talapia, salad, carrots
Th. - Pizza - home made
F. - CORN (cleaning out refrigerator night)
S. - Everyone on their own
Su. - Daughter arrives - probably burgers


For added inspiration, head over to Organized Junkie for her Meal Plan Monday post.  Hundreds of cooks link their blogs each Monday listing their own meal plan for the week and some are wonderful about sharing their recipes as well.


Momma dog Lexy and puppies #1 - #4 are doing well.  We numbered them, not naming them.  We are not keeping any of them.  No matter what daughter J wants.  I admit they are cute, but what puppy isn't.  I wish she could have waited about two more weeks though, until the grand sons were gone.  Lexy has decided that her little brood needs to be inside the house, which is fine until the grand sons come.  It will not work with them running about.  It was kind of cute though, J. went and stretched out by the dog bed and Lexy pushed on her puppies over next to J.'s arm.  It was really sweet to realize the trust this dog has in our family.


Tonight was kind of nice, our oldest son and his wife dropped by to eat and spend a few minutes with hubby for Father's Day.  I made all the sides (mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, cold slaw, baked beans) and then picked up the special $10 Sunday bucket for the meat, along with some biscuits.  Guess that is enough for tonight, need to go take some aspirin.  OH THIS MUSIC IS MADDENING!

Oh, and as an explanation of why I am writing this at night but posting of a morning.  I write my blog post for the MPM on Sunday nights, save it, then post it on Monday morning.  It saves time for me and I like trying to get high in the listings for all the blog links.

Getting Better? Puppies

Took Miss J. to the doctor's on Thursday afternoon.  With an appointment, once again, was there almost 2 1/2 hours.  And it was a slow day.  I really like her doctor, but two things I don't like.  He has to visit way too much during the visit, loves to hand out referrals for PT.  Problem with PT is that with our co-pay it cost us $25 each visit, which is usually twice a week for about 10 weeks.  I do realize that therapy will help her heal up quicker, but that is a lot of money.  So...we will evaluate that need when we get there.  Kind of just wait and see how it goes.

It really does look like it is worse, but it is much better.  Swelling has gone down and she is able to put a bit of weight on it now.  I know that a lot of times bruising does always look much worse before it gets looking better.  Still going through the color change stages (you know, a little purple to more purple and red, then the green and yellow show up just before it starts fading) but thankfully it really is a minor injury.  Doctors have checked x-rays again and see no breaks or cracks, skin wound is shallow so no stitches is needed.  Praise God that she wasn't hurt as bad as she could have been.

On the home front, my little garden, emphasis on little, is surviving.  I have two tomatoes, each on a different vine.  I harvested one lone strawberry, it was terribly tart, but the three strawberry plants are doing the best and at least look good on the patio.

I have also moved my cookbook collection around.  Previously it was located in about three different spots because I just couldn't find an area to hold it all.  Maybe I have too many cookbooks?  NO NEVER!  At any rate, I am trying to round them all back up and get them located in one spot.

I have left an opening for some books I hope to find.  I know I have them, have just not been able to find them yet.  The top portion is mostly all of my "collection" cookbooks.  In other words, they were made for fundraising and members of that group have all entered their best or favorite recipe and their names appear with it.  I love these type of cookbooks, the recipes are always what I call TNT (Tried n True) so you know that it will be a success.  Also, you know that the recipe is a family favorite of that member, or family tradition (may have been grandma's), the recipes are for the most use normal ingredients with no fancy techniques (in other words, just plain old home cooking).  There are also some really old cookbooks from the 40's and 50's that are just fun to have around. I think one of my interesting cookbooks is the Fredericksburg Home Kitchen Cook Book published by the town of Fredericksburg, TX as an anniversary edition of the town.  It was first published in 1916, this book is actually the 10th edition of this cookbook and was printed in 1971.  However, the town has a strong German heritage and so does my mom's side of the family so there is a double link there to my attachment.  The bottom section is mainly the yearly collection of the favorite recipes for Quick Cooking magazine.  It is published as an annual hard back book and at one time we would receive it free as a gift from our church's financial organization for being a member. This used to be one of the magazines from Reimer Publications  back in the day and has since been morphed (along with a couple of other publications) in to the magazine Simple & Delicious of today.  Yes, I have subscriptions to it and Taste of Home, which I read over and over and usually add many of the recipes to my meal plans.  I have decided to look through all these cookbooks and start adding in a few recipes each week from them.  Gives the family a little change and myself a new perspective on some common foods.

In moving my collection and going through them, I also found several little pamphlet style cookbooks. You know, that came with an appliance or such.  Some were printed in the late 30's and 40's.  One is for a refrigerator and I am sure they were developed to entice the home cook to purchase the product by showing her what all she can make by using the appliance.  I often think how much pleasure a homemaker would have in making the change from an old fashioned ice box (that cooled with a block of an ice) to an electric refrigerator.  I admit I would love to live the simpler life of days past, but I do dearly love my modern appliances.

Finally, for the newest news of the family.  Hubby went out back to work with the pool pump and found a mess which led him to the whimpering of one of the dogs. This is what he found.

Momma dog had four puppies.  This is her first litter, will be her only litter as we plan to get her fixed after this.  All is doing well and she seems to be doing everything that she should.  We have moved her and the puppies inside for a few days though.

Lazy Sunday

I am so worn out. All the canning has really gotten to me physically. However, I now have 45 quarts of green beans tucked away in the pantry. My house is a disaster because of being so busy with one task. All I can think about is how on earth our grand mother's and great grand mothers managed to do it all.

Of course, in the day, the household was significantly less inventory. Minimal furniture, minimal kitchen ware, and of course minimal clothing. I know that the next time I decide to do any canning I will be bringing out the aprons for sure. Not the little half apron that mom wore for the holiday dinner either. No sir, full apron that covers neck to knee. Now I will be on the hunt for cucumbers, pears, cherries, peaches and strawberries. Maybe some apples and carrots as well. However, around here, carrots are harvested 11 months out of 12 and are extremely cheap in the stores. If I come across a great deal on tomatoes I may can a few, but we just don't use them enough to bother with cooking, peeling then canning them. I do have two plants growing that are the variety that produce large fruits, another one that is the small grape size variety.
This is what I did with the old barbecue pit that has been standing in the corner growing spider webs. The burners and such no longer work, we have long since replaced it with a new and larger grill. In the middle are the two tomato plants I have planted in containers. Our whole back yard is swimming pool, in ground hot tub and cement. With four small dogs about, the flower beds were not an option, they are very small as well. So...the notion of container gardening came about. On either side of the tomatoes are pepper plants and you can't really tell from this photo but behind the tomato plants is a container that has some cucumber seeds and lettuce seeds planted. I am really hoping that they sprout and grow, but may be going and buying some starts as well.

This is the topsy turvy planter that I planted the tomato plant in that will produce the tiny tomatoes for salads.

This is my version of an herb garden. There are five different herbs growing in the planter that is hanging on my patio. I should be able to harvest off enough of what I want for just us with just this one container. There is oregano, basil, cilantro, chives and thyme. It is called the Mexican Fiesta container, just not sure what those herbs have to to do with Mexican flavor. This next week I will be taking my first clipping from the plants. Will see how things go with it. Before we had dogs I planted lots of herbs in my little flower bed beneath the kitchen window. The blooms would smell so good through the open window. I miss that. But maybe when hubby fixes the screen and I can once again open the window I will be able to catch the scent from the hanging baskets.

I will have a fuchsia plant more honey suckle growing as well. Then it will really smell nice.

Today I made Muffaletta for lunch.



I found this recipe in the June 2011 issue of Woman's Day magazine. You can find it here. There are lots of great recipes on their site. If you have never had Muffaletta you are missing out. It is a mixture of chopped olive, garlic and seasoning, spread it on each side of the bread, then add your lunch meats, put the sandwich together, slice for servings. I used one of the round artisan breads, called a boule. You can use what ever you can find though. One of the round bread loafs that are used for serving dips or chowders will work fine. Also, I added some chopped black olive in to the mixture as well. The recipe calls for Genoa salami and capicola ham which I don't buy, but I did have some sliced cooked ham and turkey. I know that I will be putting this recipe in my keeper file. It will be great to take to luncheons.

I am off now, have to get my next week's menu plan together. Come back soon.

Friday - Organizing Process

My goodness, here it is already Friday and I have only accomplished about half of what I had on my list. But at least there is progress, so I will take it.

OH MY this is so frustrating. My keyboard is not working correctly, every few keystrokes are being dropped, more like never getting there. I guess I am typing faster than the keyboard can register.

At any rate. I am taking a break to post a few things. I have been doing a lot of sorting and purging of my kitchen. Well, related to running the kitchen at any rate. I have been following so many things over on I'm an Organizing Junkie. I wish I had half the drive and passion that Laura does. I am continually inspired by not only Laura by her followers as well.

If you have been following my little blog, you already know that I am part of MPM, and am working on not only intending to plan the meals out each week, but actually putting it in writing. There are hundreds of fellow bloggers, although I am no where close to the same league as they are, that all post their menu plans as well, reading over them gives a person great ideas and some great recipes. Eventually I will add recipes to my postings, I just need to get it all together a bit more. Look back to here for my weekly menu.

Another great segment on Laura's blog is the 52 Weeks of Organizing. Each Friday she shares organizing ideas and other bloggers post what they are doing to get organized as well. I love all the creative ideas. There are also some great free printables to be found on the site as well. I caught some inspiration for my overwhelming collection of recipe print outs, cut out of magazines, cookbooks and just family shared that are written out. Before, I could not find the recipe I wanted that is one of the family favorites, couldn't even decided on what to cook that night for the meal much less think ahead for the next day. As a result, meals were thrown together and while they were edible, not very enjoyable. I used some tips from various blogs and here is how my organizing went for the week.

I needed to buy groceries and stock my freezer and pantry so I could actually get back to cooking. I couldn't even plan the day's meal because I had no meat to cook. So I thought, so I cleaned out the freezers to see what I could fine.











Was I ever shocked when I finished sorting and purging. I found enough chicken to feed this family every night for about six weeks. Found a couple of roast, package of steaks, some sausage, bacon (4 packages) and an assortment of vegetables along with a small treasure of processed single dinners for my lunches and such. I was elated. Meat is the most expensive part of the budget. I started a grocery list, did need some ground beef and pork. My family would rebel at chicken every night. Okay, then I moved on to the pantry.

Here are before and after photos of the spice cabinet, yes cabinet as I am a collector of spices and my hubby is obsessed with trying new ones. Besides, have no idea what else I would do with that little small cabinet right by the stove.


And, yes, those spices just sat all over the counter because there was no room in the cabinet. I purged out all the old spices. They don't really expire, but will loose their strength. If I opened the bottle and could not smell the spice, it went in the trash. I also had about two dozen old metal Schilling brand tin cans that still had paper price tags on the bottom. I am pretty sure that I cannot buy a big tin can full of Anise for .67 any more. I also had spices that I know where purchased when I first married, almost 30 years ago.











Here are the before and after pantry cleaning and organizing. I had so much empty space, that the after photo includes all the canned goods and such I bought when I got this bill of groceries. The pantry is the thorn in my side when it comes to this kitchen. I have a huge problem with little tiny brown moths. I will say it used to be worse, it was almost enough to drive me insane as I would walk in to the kitchen at night and hit the light to be swarmed by them. My only redeeming thoughts were that at least they weren't roaches or mice. At any rate, I found some pantry moth traps at Home Depot and those things are just awesome, true sanity savers. You see, they lay eggs that are about the size of a pin head, are sticky, and seem to melt through what ever they are attached to. Then the eggs drop through in to the box of flour, cereal, gelatin, pasta, anything and every thing. The eggs then hatch in to little larvae that look like maggots, which then spin a sticky web to hide in until they turn in to the little brown moth and start the whole thing all over again. It is always so disheartening to end up throwing away boxes of cake mixes, crackers, even rice. Long ago I took to putting most things in plastic containers, but they still get in. Well, you get the idea.

Now that I have my freezer all sorted, the spices and pantry done, had already done the fridge last week, I was then able to make a grocery list. But wait I thought, I should have some idea of what I am cooking for the next couple of weeks before I head out. I dumped all my recipes in the floor of my cave (what my hubby calls my sewing/craft room) along with my list of ingredients on hand. I was immediately overwhelmed. I quickly just pulled off about five favorites that I knew my daughter would eat. Hubby has been gone all week, so knew I could eat pasta and fish and such. I then just pulled together a more common grocery list of things I knew I was out of (because I had just cleaned the pantry out) that I use a lot of. It worked well so far.

Last night, I began sorting and purging recipes. Still have way more to go through. Also have my cooking magazines and cookbooks to go through as well. First I sort by what is TNT (tried and true) that are family favorites, then recipes I want to try sooner as opposed to someday. Then I sorted that down to meats and sides in one folder and desserts and breads in another. Once I get through all the sorting I will do a more precise sorting. I have MasterCook software on my computer and I plan to take advantage of that. I can enter the recipes (to get rid of all the pieces of paper laying out) then will save them in to a cookbook (the name of a file folder in the program) for just meal plans. I can then use the functions in the program to plan a menu, print the recipes for that meal, and it will even generate a grocery list based on the menu plan. If I really get it together, I can enter what I have on hand in to the pantry list and will check to see if I have it on hand before adding it to the shopping list. All that is farther down the road than I can realistically get to at the present, so I needed to go ahead and plan out a few weeks of of meals now.

With some ideas from a few other blogs and determining a system that would work for my way of thinking, I came up with a pretty organized little easy set up. While looking back and forth, literally across the store, through the scrapbook and school/office supplies, I found this really cool report cover.

It has a bound edge, a clear front, a clear pocket on the opposite side to keep the paper edges in for additional protection. So, I got on the computer in Excel and created a blank monthly calendar. Each week is color coded, to make it easier for the way our life works I started the week with Monday. A small open circle is in each day so I can add the corresponding date. Lines are included for writing the main dish and sides in. Now here is my creative twist. The report cover has two metal prongs to load the papers on so I can put a calendar page and all the recipes together. When I first started this, I had it in my mind that I would just use a dry erase marker and write it all in on the report cover, which wipes off easily for the next month. However, I have since decided that I will just print off one each month and just write on it with pen and note if I actually followed the plan. That will give me a record of what I made when, what was a hit and what wasn't and how long it has been since I cooked a favorite dish. Don't want to burn the family out on hamburgers. Now, I found this square cork bulletin board for pretty cheap at Walmart. When I purchased it, was going to laminate the calendar blank and use it with wipe off pens. I might eventually go to that, but felt that for just starting off this would work better for me and retain more usable information to keep me organized now that I am getting it all together. Besides, loved the little close pin clips. I just attached a piece a ribbon across it and just like hanging clothes.

Next, I wanted something that the family could look at and see what was for supper that night. You know I have a bit of an attitude from time to time so when they would ask "What's for super?" I would answer "food!" and go on with what am doing. Originally I had thought that I could make a version of a scrapbook page that permanently had the days of the week on it, a few lines beside it to write in the the main and sides, write in if we were going out or something that evening. It would be laminated so I could write in and wipe off the meal plans and activities. Would then put that on the fridge. Instead I found this cheap plastic easel type photo frame, and just used Excel to create blanks to load in the frame. I think it is a good idea.

In fact, I am going to purchase an extra easel frame to hold recipes while I am cooking. Easy hands free way of having the recipe in easy view.

The blanks are cheap to print off and then fill in. Eventually, I will get to the point to where I can just pull out the old menus, see what was liked, what wasn't and just recycle the meals. It will sure go quicker when It is all entered in the computer and I can just select the recipes for the menu plan, generate and print off the grocery list for those recipes and be done. It is a goal any way, after all, eventually I want to have the house organized so I can take the time to work on, and find the supplies I need, my hobbies. Maybe schedule it in like we do Miss J. and her ice skating lessons, Awanas, and such. I have scrapbooking on one day, laundry on one day, sewing on one day, weekly cleaning a day, quilting another day. Maybe then I will have time to do the things I want to do. Some things, like writing, blogging, reading or such are more of daily needs, but if I can get it all organized around the house, I can possibly set aside a few hours each day for the things I enjoy. Especially with the prospect of starting a little sewing business up. If I don't get my organized enough to keep the house up once it is all in order it will just not be possible to start up the little business for myself.

Also, have not been able to stick with the menu plan to well this week, but have been able to cook up a meal at home, so no expense of eating out. That is exceptional for me, what with hubby being out of town all week. Shows me that I can do it for the week that he will be gone again. We went last night an got Miss J her new glasses, which actually came in on Monday but no one from the optical called to tell me.

She is so happy to have them. She picked the frames out herself and made the comment to a friend how nice it was to be able to read the signs in the mall and be able to read the price tags. Poor kid, inherited my wonky eye sight, one eye near sided, one eye far sided. I remember getting my first pair of glasses (silver teardrop wire frames) when I was the same age as her.

The photo was taken with my new Samsung Galaxy phone. Still have a lot to learn with that thing.

Well, enough for today, I am off to move the laundry around and then back to sorting through my recipes. I am feeling really rough today so am just hanging around the house. Tomorrow is the scrapbook store's crop and bunco night and I am so looking forward to that. Probably more the bunco than the crop. The ladies at the crop are kind of snobby. I have learned however, that I am only going to work on one project. Taking only the essentials to work on that one project. I started a chipboard album for my mom and never finished it, have all the photos laid out on the pages, the papers as well as little do dads to add here and there. I am sure I will have to purchase a few things at the crop, but I am not going to overload myself again by taking so many things to work on that no progress is made at all. I will post the project on Monday. In the mean time, today will be laundry and working with the recipes. It will be a nice accomplishment just have my boxes of recipes all sorted and in one box. I have a plastic container with hanging files in it that I have designated for the use of cooking. In other words, recipes, menu plans, blanks for all of that, and the past ones. Any recipe I cook that doesn't turn out, doesn't go over with the family, will be tossed. I so look forward to being able to find what I am looking for instead of going place to place hoping to find what I am looking for.

Thanks for dropping in and have great day.

A New Year Begins. 2011

Wow, 2011. That is such a foreign concept although I know it is a reality. I am going to date myself here, I graduated in 1980. Had my oldest daughter in 1982. I remember her kindergarten graduation when the teacher introduced us to the class of 2000, my mind was thinking how far off that sounded. Now she is married, mom to two boys, a teacher and had her ten year reunion this past summer. Now it is 2011 and in one way it still sounds like some futuristic movie that I am watching. In another way, it sounds so normal.

Tonight, I made the traditional, for our family, meal. Ham, black eyed peas, potatoes. It started out as a meal for 11, then went to 10, then went to 8, down to 6, ended up as four. I went from worrying the ham wasn't big enough to suddenly going through ideas on how to get rid of a lot of extra ham. Not a problem I assure you, I am up for the challenge. My new organized self has planned on putting meal size portions in to bags and sealing them up and putting them in the freezer. Have already printed off a couple of great sounding recipes for ham. I did the same thing with the turkey, except I used Ziploc bags and have decided to re-bag them using the vacuum sealer to cut down on freezer burn. Am also going to buy a permanent pen for writing on the bags what it is and the date. Also, along with my resolve to change the way we eat, I did cook a bit differently. I made potatoes au gratin (which according to the cooking shows like Top Chef, I have been pronouncing wrong my entire life) from scratch. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but after almost 30 years of marriage this is the first time I haven't bought a box and cooked the little dried up potatoes in the microwave (oven years ago, but I go with the flow of the times). I am sure it was not the most healthy, with the cheese, butter, and milk, but I know that it was fat free cheese and 2% milk and no additives. I had quite a bit left over, but it was already in the oven when I found out the number for dinner had gone down to four. I did put it in a plastic container and threw it in the freezer. Now I have a side dish for future use. Maybe I will turn it in to cheddar potato soup?

For a little note of interest about my menu planning efforts. I am determined to plan the meals. This has been a very daunting task for me if not completely overwhelming. I sat down and gave it several serious moments of contemplation on just how to actual start the process. Paper and pen in hand, I numbered the page one to five. Week ends are just weird around here, so I figure 5 days of meals, one day to clean out left overs, the last day for what ever happens. That is a week. Using the 5 system, skipping a line between each group, I then jotted down the numbers for four sets of 5, which would be four weeks. I started writing out the meals I make that I know are liked. OH MY GOSH, suddenly I have not only the four weeks I started out with, but an extra week as well for a list of 5 weeks worth of meals. Now, tomorrow I will sit down and work on spreading them out a bit so I don't end up with 4 days in a row of chicken. I also want to throw in some recipes that I have not made before in an effort to try out some new flavors or foods. Maybe even try a new technique once in a while.

As for accomplishments for today, all the Christmas decorations are now gone from sight. I am sure glad that is done. Monday will go over and do the same for my mom. I also got the fridge all cleaned out today as well. Trash pick up is on Monday so want to get as much out as possible even though our dumpster is full.

We came home on Friday to find that our jerk neighbors had thrown a big bag of their trash in our dumpster because theirs was full. Of course it was full they are constantly having parties (until all hours of the morning) and there is at least 12 people living there on a regular basis, another 5 or 6 come in and out so much they might as well live there. My normally sweet natured hubby was so perturbed that he pulled the bag out and threw it in there yard. After a few minutes to calm down, he felt guilty for his actions and went to retrieve the bag and deposit by their trash dumpster which was literally overflowing. It had already been picked up by someone in the house. I told him not to sink to their level, lead by example, and of course he agreed. We were punished in the end though with the very rude awakening to the sound of fireworks sounding off close to our bedroom. He felt they were doing this on purpose, I explained calmly that they weren't because they didn't care enough to even have a seconds worth of thought as to how we would feel about being woke from a sound sleep but such a deafening sound, not to mention the cackler that laughs like chicken hen or the idiot man that likes to drop the f-bomb loudly and often. The one thing I truly do not understand about our neighbors and these parties that start up at like eleven at night is how they can do that to those little children living there. During warm weather, it would be midnight and we could hear the laughter, splashing, and every bounce on that diving board. We won't even get started on what a Foosball table sounds like at one in the morning with 4 to 6 drunk idiots playing it on the back patio which happens to be directly across from our bedroom.

Tomorrow's agenda:
Write out a week's worth of meals and make sure I have the ingredients on hand.
Clean out he freezer and cabinets so I actually know what I have on hand.
Wash towels.

Well, here's to starting the year off on a positive not. You have to live with what you have so make what you have priceless. Thank you for dropping in.

Project Finished

I finished a sewing project. My daughter's skirt and top. As I posted, she picked the fabric and the patterns. I think it took me as long to hand stitch the hem in as it did to make the skirt. LOL She likes it, all smiles, and it fits.


I think it turned out pretty good...or well. I will say, that next time I make the pattern there will be some slight changes. The skirt is Simplicity 2606. Three pleats in front and back with elastic waist and sash in two lengths. Miss J is a bit long waisted and long legged so I cut out the longer length to make sure I had it a decent length. Don't want her starting high school with backside peeking out you know. At any rate, the longer length is actually made to be just mid knee. I ended up putting about a 3 1/2 inch hem in but figured the it would help the hem lay better. Next time I will shorten it when I cut it out and will decrease the size about two inches so it won't be quite so full. The top is Simplicity 2593 and the directions are very wrong in my opinion. I don't like how the bias cut neck band/facing is attached and finished. It leaves the seams raw. The back of the top is a little gappy, not too bad, but I think a little gathering similar to the front would help or maybe decrease the size of it as well.

It had been so long since I had sewn clothing, that I was not sure about the sizing so I went by her bust and waist size. WOW, is the sizing totally off from what she wears ready made. But, I felt it would be much easier to take it up than to try and squeeze her in. LOL I will make it again, I really think a little denim skirt from this pattern would be cute on her. There is a Simplicity sale this coming week end so will probably get her a few more patterns. She is quite interested in my sewing her some clothes now that I have her looking at the style design, not the fabric of the pattern. You know, she would say, "the dress is cute but I don't like little pink flowers." Now she sees the pleats or straight lines. Hope that makes sense.

Now, to make something for me. LOL I am so ready. I know I have some fabric waiting in the plastic bins stacked in the garage, mostly quilting fabric, but there is some larger yardage that I bought for some clothing for myself. Now that I have gotten some vintage patterns, am ready to make something with some of that fabric. There are three pieces in particular that I can already see made up in my mind. Hopefully I can get mine to fit me as well as I managed for Miss J. I barely have my machines going again and my sweet little mom is wanting to hire me to make some things for her. Which I will...just after I make something for me and a quilt for that new grand son.

Speaking of getting the machines going. I found out last night that I am very low on elastic, which makes sense because it isn't used in quilts. I had 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch, a small shank of one inch, but not a piece one of the size I needed, which was 3/4 inch, for the skirt I was making. And, I have looked all over everywhere I stuck things today, I cannot find my bobbins, bodkins, pins, disc I Ito make bobbins and machine needles. No decent cutting scissors either. Guess I will have to get a list of supplies ready for a shopping trip.

Oh, and I did have that left over chicken from last night. Man was it good. Just the right amount of flavor, although the next time I make it will add a little chopped onion as well. Tomorrow will be something in the crock pot. The recipe is called Amish Dinner, the family really likes it, and I like it because it gets in a lot of vegetables with the ground beef. The quilt group at church meets in the morning and I am trying to get a bit more connected with the church so have started back in that group. Although they are not really working on any projects at the moment, I will still go for some fellowship.

Monday school starts back, daughter is so excited. I am glad to see her so happy about school as it was pure hell for me. I wouldn't go back over those years for million dollars. Well, there are a couple of things I would change, but neither of those had to do with school. LOL

Thanks for dropping in, I am off to clean up from a day of sewing, you know putting the pins and iron away, then off to a warm soak in the tub and bed early while it is quiet. I did decide that I would leave the old ironing board out and do a little ironing tomorrow. It is so hot here that I want to get a few of my cooler blouses where I can actually wear them. It is hard to believe that school and football is starting back when the temperature is in the triple digits. I am so ready for it to cool off. Wonder if I will post in winter that I am ready for it to warm up. No...I like the cooler weather. Am also hitting the gym back on a regular basis once school gets started as well, will see how those results come around. Have a good night.

Not quite as planned

So much for well intentioned plans. Thanks to the neighbors...again...I am running on low energy. The street is lined with cars, so they are gearing up for a fourth night in a row. There really should be something that could be done to stop this partying til all hours...loudly...mess.

I got daughter's skirt and top all cut out, am going to start sewing tonight, thinking about taking a dip in the pool to try and cool off. Right now, my chest is tight and am very light headed and realize that with all the late nights I have gotten off my medication routine. Not a good place to be. Ah, but this too shall pass.

I cooked my chicken dish. It smelled so good, looked so good, and will eat it tomorrow night as hubby decided he wanted to get a burger. I took cream cheese and mixed chopped black olives, diced green chile peppers and bacon bits together to make a filling which I spread on to the skinned boneless chicken breast, which I had flattened, then rolled them up and wrapped bacon strips around it. Spread left over filling over the top and sprinkled with seasoning salt and bread crumbs, covered with foil and popped in the oven. Like I said, will eat it tomorrow night since hubby has meeting to go to. It will just be daughter and I so at least won't have to cook again. Maybe I can get something cut out for me. It takes forever to cut out for me. I can sew pretty quickly though, depends on what I am making. I need to make newest grand son a quilt soon too. Saw the cutest denim fabric with embroidered sports balls on it which I think will be great for the back. Maybe a log cabin design with the center square out of fabric that has sport things on it.

Okay, enough of a break. Need to go take allergy medicine and then start sewing and see how it goes the rest of the evening.

Getting Started

I spent all day yesterday cleaning out kitchen pantries and feel really good about what I got accomplished. Only made it through one and a half cabinets, but the one cabinet is a converted small closet and the half of cabinet I completed is the top half of the main pantry and while isn't huge is nice size. I am upset that I had to throw so much away but found lots of expired food and those blasted brown moth's and their maggot looking babies were quite a few things as well. So, here is how the kitchen work has played out so far.

The small closet was converted by previous owner's of the home. It is actually located by the front door right across from the kitchen and am sure it was a little coat closet. I figure it is about two and half feet wide and about eighteen inches deep. There are four shelves and then the floor area. I mainly use it for extra storage of kitchen ware, not much food. One entire shelf is hubby's liquor collection. Of course, my friend Capt. Morgan, and his sidekicks amaretto, peach schnopps, raspberry liquor, and mixers are visiting there as well. For a couple that doesn't really drink much we are well stocked. Hubby likes a good margarita but I found that I have three bottles of tequila. Hmm, maybe some tequila chicken or margarita marinade is about to show up on the menu. LOL I keep my potatoes and onions in a big bowl in the bottom and yesterday when cleaning out I did however get rid of the healthy start in that bowl to homemade vodka. Man do potatoes and onion smell offensive when they melt in to mush. Some overlooked home canned goods were found underneath the fifty boxes of swifter refills. Okay, not fifty, but did count five open boxes. Two were the refills for the duster and three were boxes of the floor swiffer. I had no idea that ants were so attracted to those floor rags. I saw somewhere a pattern to make a crocheted swiffer type duster that goes on the handles and then you just toss it in the washer. I kept a copy of that somewhere and it is going to be one of my first projects when I get my little craft room up and going. Other than that, the cabinet mainly has baking supplies. You know, foil pans in all sizes, a box of chocolate chips, paper goods and lots of empty storage containers. The bottom is where I keep my gizmos that I have to have to help me cook...but never use. Like the meat slicer we bought when the boys were smaller and ate us out of house and home so we bought bulk cheese and and cooked hams and breast to slice up our self. It was a huge savings, we could buy a five pound block of cheese for about what one pound sliced from the deli cost. I would slice off part of it, grate a big bag full, then cut the left overs in to cubes for snacking. Now it is just the three of us, and most times just one or two for a meal. And, of course there is the big griddle, canning supplies, and the rice cooker. Although, I quit using the rice cooker because it just didn't seem to make enough, so it might get brought out again. Found a recipe yesterday that uses the rice cooker to make oatmeal and am going to try that one out for sure. I also have a two foot high, literally, stack of assorted Jell-o molds. There is a flag for patriotic holidays (never used), mold to make jiggler jelly beans (used a little), eggs (used a lot) and then the cars, footballs, Christmas shapes (never used) and for a lark when I was involved in a frog themed dinner there are some little frog molds as well and two molds to make what looks like a bundt cake or ring of Christmas trees. At least now I can see it all. Hubby was impressed so we just won't mention the three shelves in the garage that have baking sheets, enamel water canner (huge), roasters, canning pans, shaved ice maker, ice cream maker, pressure cookers (one large for canning and two small for cooking) pasta maker, coffee makers not used any more and the food sealer (which needs to be moved to the house because we use it a lot). Oh, and I just put an electric orange juicer out there too. That is left over from when we would go to the coast for the day and come home with a twenty pound box of juice oranges for $4. I would juice them and freeze the juice.

I am a gadget junky. Along with all I already mentioned, there is also a deep fryer, electric skillet, milk shake maker (won it at some picnic) blender, food processor, hand mixer, the thing you stick in a cup or bowl that blends, about five different crockpots (various sizes and shapes) and of course my bread machine that also makes butter. I found something yesterday that resembled what only a ninja warrior would carry, one twist and a zigzag of sharp blades would come out and cut what ever you had sticking in it. I tossed it. LOL

As for the actual pantry of food stuffs? I got the top half done and now know that I have seven cans of cream of celery soup (for example) to use in a recipe. This where I was very wasteful and threw so much out. Found jars of miracle whip that expired in 2008. It may have still been perfectly fine, but just wasn't willing to risk being sick or making my family sick. Same with all the cans and jars that had expiration dates. I am for sure going to keep a better eye on what I have and make sure to use it. I also put the items back in the cabinet and stacked the older ones in front so would use them first, putting like items together. Now all my green beans are with green beans in the same spot, corn together, peaches, and such. It is only half the cabinet, or all the canned goods, but I am seeing that pretty much all I need is some meat. Even found four cans of chilies in adobo sauce that I had on my list to buy because they were used in a recipe I saw on TV.

Now for the bottom half, which should go a little quicker. Mainly baking mixes, flour, sugar, cereal and such. What I call the boxed goods as opposed to the can. I know that when I get done with all of that I will be well stocked in that area as well. My goal is to get through the bottom section and then finally go through my spice cabinet. A little small cabinet by the stove, but loaded with spices and flavorings. I have been writing everything down as it goes back in to the pantry so I know what I have on hand and will probably spend tomorrow entering it in to my MasterCook program. From there I can enter recipes, create menu plans from the recipes, then create a shopping list which will check my pantry list to see if I already have it. Great help for the goal of organizing the meals. Only draw back... if you have five recipes that call for milk, it will list five milks on you grocery list. LOL I am thinking that when I plan my menus, I need to start trying some pressure cooker recipes along with at least twice a month try some new ingredient, like the chilies in adobo sauce, or a new vegetable or fruit.

Oh well, enough talking, I need to go to Facebook and check over my farms then back at it in the kitchen. I still have a cabinet full of pans that needs to be cleaned out as well and am hoping that Monday I will able to start on clearing out the vacant room so we can start painting. Here is the plan for that. Oldest son has moved out. That bedroom is going to be cleared, cleaned, painted, new carpet, and youngest daughter moved in to it. Then, her room will be vacant. That room will be cleared, cleaned, painted and new floor. Hope to get wood flooring down in there as it will become the craft den. I will move my computer in there, need it to load designs on card for machine embroidery. I will set up all my sewing machines and move in all my supplies for quilting, sewing, crocheting, machine embroidery and scrapbooking. My daughter and I will hang out in there. I even saved my dad's recliner to put in there and will sit in it, think of him, and do the hand work. I see my crazy quilting coming back to life. Oh yeah, of course there will be a TV in there as well. LOL I AM SO EXCITED just thinking about it. I can sew til all hours with worrying about the light or sound interrupting any one's (mainly hubby who seems to have to go to bed by nine) sleep. Although he snores like a chain saw, I am told I keep him from getting a restful sleep. I am thinking I may have to find a dressmaker's mannequin now that I will finally be able to make some clothes. Of course quilting will be first, and am very motivated to get it all set up so I can make new grand baby a quilt. Now that I am not working, I think it will probably be a homemade Christmas all around. LOL Hmm, wonder if daughter would accept some handmade infant wear?

Well off to other things. Will post my progress when I have any. Thanks for visiting.

The $5 Dollar Dinner Mom Cookbook

Rarely do I care to critique or review anything, much less take the time to write about it. Not a movie, a product or even a book because I feel that what may appeal or work for one person may not (and usually does not) work the same or appeal the same for another. HOWEVER, I am making an exception.

First, I should explain to you a bit about what it is that brought me to this endeavour. Really kind of the silly side, to begin with, but now it has grown in to a cause or mission so to speak.

It really was a humble little start. We went on a camping trip up the mountain to ride the trails with our dirt bikes and my quad, several minor things went wrong to cause a change in plans for the whole weekend. Our first choice for camping sight was still closed off to the public due to snow. Yes, this late in May and there is still a lot of snow up there. Guess it is all that rumored global warning. Don't worry, I am not getting started on my feeling about that propagandist lie. We, or rather my husband, had to back our thirty foot trailer down the single lane dirt road to get to a large enough spot to turn around. Now I ask you...would have really taken too much manpower or money to have someone post a sign at the BEGINNING of the road that the campgrounds were closed? You know back where there was room to turn around?

So on to plan B and off to our usual spot to camp. Normally this spot about the lake is really warm this time of year...but, a little front had moved through bringing cooler temperatures and rain. I always have a good stash of emergency ... shall we say supplies for alternate activities. Such as games, DVDs, crochet bag, magazines and such. About a month's worth actually. Growing up with Gilligan's Island am always prepared for the two hour tour to end up taking longer. We get set up and find that while the generator will turn on, it is not kicking over to create electricity. Hubby looked all over all the connections and announced we would be with electricity for the night and he would check it out the next morning when he had more light. Okay, we have battery lighting, propane cooking, fridge and heat. No problem. While I am heating up the chili for hot dogs, hubby and his margarita jump up from beside the fire, grab a flashlight and go check one more thing. He informs me it is now working, he found the problem. He plugged it in. PLUGGED IT IN?

So it was that on the last day of camp, my daughter-in-law and I decided we would let the rest of the bunch ride in the rain and cold while we would watch a movie. We watched Julia & Julie. Most definitely a chick flick, but now romance. I won't spoil it completely if you haven't seen it, but Julie, a modern day city dweller, obsessed with cooking, decides to create a blog in which she post about making all the recipes from her hero, Julia Child's cookbook. One year to make over 500 recipes. You understand that the cookbook is about French cooking for the American housewife? My family would throw it back in my face if I prepared a meal of tomato aspic. Why aren't there books about normal cooking? I don't get it. I understand about having a cause, I have one as well. I want to blog about, and read about, real meals with normal ingredients. Plan out the menu so I don't have to think about it, maybe even do some cooking ahead. I want to put a meal on the table and still have time for all my hobbies. You know, Farming on Facebook, quilting, machine embroidery, crocheting, scrapbooking and such.

So, after watching the movie, and being a little lost myself, well not really lost since I know where I am, which is back to being a stay home mom, but better to say overwhelmed with the changes, I started thinking. Thinking I needed something to motivate me, to feel so strongly about. No, not a blog about Julia Child, it has been done, and never mind the fact that there are probably less than ten recipes out the over 500 that my family would actually eat or that I could afford to make. I did however renew my desire to plan out some affordable meals that would be eaten. So, now you are up to speed with how it came to be that I pulled out a cookbook from my bag and started looking for recipes.

I recently bought a cookbook written by Erin Chase and titled The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook. When I first picked it up, the recipes sounded like my family would like them. That was a good start. Then, the ingredients were much of what I use normally. Another good start, no running off to specialty stores or the cost of those stores. She had frugal tips and strategic shopping guides, all of which sounded reasonable. And the recipes are set up for a family of four, and we are now three. The introduction to the book states, and I am paraphrasing, that the author set out to feed a family of four on $5 a meal using the best and most wholesome ingredients. All good at first glance.

Now I say this because some time ago I had gotten caught in to the web of frugality a little too much. I was a member of an internet group whose goal was to feed a family of four on four dollars a day. Four bucks for all three meals. That was about the same time I had gotten my Tightwad Gazette and both of those groups suggested going to the feed store to buy oats and making lots of oatmeal. They also lived in an area that had orchards and farms you could pick your own fruit and they raised their own eggs. Then, the four dollar group started posting their menus. Yikes, lunch was a half a sandwich? It may work for them, but not for my family, which at the time included two boys that ate double servings.

So, you can see how really good this book looked. I bought it. Then, I started looking at it a little closer, in a little more detail. First few glances were looking good. Each recipe listed the ingredients needed, and the cost of each ingredient, bottom line was that all the recipes were costing $5 or less for each meal. Even some recipes for homemade things like seasoning mix, baking mix, the everyday things. This was really sounding great. Now all I needed was to make a list of recipes to cook. Then, last night, my brain found it. The errors. Nothing really major, just what my dad would call "over thinking a bit" but enough to rial me up. Kind of like watching a movie about early Rome and seeing a watch on a Roman soldier or jet plane fly over as a multitude of arrows were released upon the enemy. I am the first to admit that I am one of those persons that notice these things, like typing errors or listing wrong descriptions. Like in a novel when the couple meet in a Chinese restaurant and after visiting with each other to set the stage for what is coming they order pizza. Or go to see a movie and leave from a play. Like I said, nothing major in the grand scheme, but bugs me.

You get my meaning. That is how it started. I would notice that a recipe for 4 people called for 2 cups of corn. That is like two can, which is a lot of corn, especially when added to a casseroled or soup. Then, the really irritating thing was when I noticed the price of ingredients. I pay close attention to grocery prices and the book is way off, at least for my area. So here it is, my take.

The book is:
1. Very inconsistent with pricing of ingredients. One recipe list 3/4 pound of ground meat for .76 while another recipe listed a 1/2 pound ground beef for .75 so am wondering where you buy meat that you get a quarter of a pound for a penny. Can I have three of those quarter pounds that cost a penny to make 3/4 of a pound for three cents? Of course not. And, in the book the same 3/4 of pound is also listed with the cost of $1.12 a pound. Now I am no math whiz, but the cheapest I find ground beef is $2.28 a pound which doing the math would make that come out to around $1.68 for 3/4 pound. Other ingredients are just as inconsistent. Roast listed on one recipe as one and half pounds for $2.73. Sorry, on sale roast is running over three bucks a pound. Another example is a recipe that list an egg for ten cents. WOW would I love to be able to get a dozen eggs for a dollar twenty. Or sour cream, half a cup for fifteen cents. Why do I feel like I am getting a huge bargain when it is on sale for $1.59? I want a carton of sour cream for thirty cents! I could go on with much more, but you get the idea.

It was enough to spur me on. To prompt me in to action. I will blog about the recipes in the book and evaluate my cost and families reactions to them.

I must say, the book has good home style recipes and her strategic guide to shopping makes sense. I just felt that the author and publishing company should have checked the final copy for the little details better. The author is soon releasing a lunch cookbook and in all honesty will probably buy it as well.

If you read this, please comment. It is always nice to know someone read it.