New baby - menu plan 7-11

OH MY! My newest little grand son arrived yesterday.  He is a preemie, only 33 weeks, weighed 3 lbs. 15oz. but he is doing really good.  The mom is getting to go home today, she is so ready to be out of the hospital after being there for a week.  They have been told that the baby will probably stay until his due date which is August 24.

He loves to have that one leg out of the covers for some reason.  I got to hold him last evening, was shocked when my son took me to the NICU and told me that it was my turn to hold him.  So very sweet.

Okay, menu planning is kind of up in the air this week.  The temperatures have so high lately that cooking is just not desirable.  Hubby doesn't want to stand out and grill either in the triple digit sun.  Also, I want to make mostly favorites this week, double batching so I can send one over to the kids.  We will be going back in forth to the hospital a lot am sure.  Here is a tentative plan though.

M - Enchiladas with Frito salad
T - Talapia with veggies and rice
W - Smothered Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
Th - Baked Chicken Fingers, rice, carrots
F - Baked pork chops, pea salad, corn
S - Surprise (because I have no idea)
S - Chili dogs, chips

Check out Meal Plan Monday for tons of postings from others that plan their meals and get inspired.  Be sure and check out the rest of I'm An Organizing Junkie's website when you do.

What a week.

Another week gone. Where oh where did go? It feels like it just disappeared in to thin air. Two more weeks and the school year will be over, of course dear daughter Miss J will then start summer school right away. That means I will be driving her to school first thing in the morning, picking her up at noon, then take her back to school for volleyball, back to pick her up. If you lost count, that will be four trips to the school each day.

OH dear gas please drop your price just a little?

I spent time working on menu plans last night. Have decided to try a huge number of new recipes. I have been working really hard to organize my pages of recipes. Came up with a very detailed system. Will post more details about that later in the week. The bad thing about last week's menu plan is that it was not followed much. I got so busy with cleaning and purging that I just didn't stick to it much at all. Mid week we had a birthday dinner for oldest son, he picked the menu, and I just didn't even try to get back on track. Good thing about last week's menu plan is that I can just use it as a plan for this week, changing the days that were actually used. In other words, mostly a repeat of last week.

I had to take my mom to the ER today, while she has to stay at least over night, it is so very tiring to sit and wait. I took a couple of cook books and made to look over while I did wait. Pulled out my handy little notepad and made a list of all the recipes I want to try. Since this is a neat little OAMC cookbook, the plan is to prepare a few of these dishes during the week to put straight in to the freezer. Not to eat now, but later on. A lot of them are chicken recipes and I know my daughter in law likes chicken so will probably put some of them up to give her for when the baby comes. Hopefully it will make life a little easier for them. I know that when I had my babies I would have loved to have had meals already made just waiting to be popped in the oven. When my youngest, Miss J, was born, a dear friend from church brought over a whole meal for me. The church ladies also did that when my hubby had pneumonia. What a blessing.

Our church we go to now is so large that it would be impossible to do something like that for the members. We have a whole little club of ladies that cook for funerals though. Maybe it would be nice to see about being a part of that group. I think I need to find some way to connect myself to the church in more ways. Yes, I think I will make that my goal for the fall. Most every group is shutting down for the summer, but when it all starts back up in the fall I am going to try and join in a bit more.

I am ashamed of myself for spending money on a weight program that I just did not utilize to the fullest. I won't say that it was a waste, have lost about 8 pounds and have learned some valuable exercises to do on my own when I go back to the regular gym. It is kind of a long story, but I have this gym membership, love going to that gym, but had absolutely no idea what do, much less how to do any work outs. It is a great deal on the price that cannot be found any where else. Also, I am quite determined to throw some energy that way. Timing has been my problem with this additional program. I did the program to get access to trainers, but just could not get a good time which made it hard to get in to a routine. I am a person that needs routine. The time with a trainer has been scheduled, but the time I will spend at the gym is pretty much when ever. That will be helpful for me I am sure. I am actually planning that I can take Miss J to summer class then head straight for the gym and work out, head home to do a few chores then go get her. It just might work.

Well, thanks for dropping in for a visit. Guess I should get back to going through all the email, read a few blogs, then tackle another few feet of my desk top.

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.

Thursday

It has been hot here. In the high 90's the last few days, supposed to cool off a touch on Saturday and through the first part of the week. That will be nice. At any rate, we have not gotten the air conditioning going yet so it has been pretty miserable by evening. My bedroom and kitchen both face the west and really heat up. So, I changed up the menu plan a bit to try and reduce the heat in the kitchen of an evening, by not using the oven.

Last night, hubby surprised me and took us out to eat to get a break from the heat. I had decided last night that I would pay back the kindness and make a nice meal, instead of the quick cook casseroles I had been making. I used the crock pots so as to not heat up the kitchen.
Cooked roast beef, baby red potatoes and green beans. Man the house smelled incredible all day. It was time to eat, you see my plate, and I ate all alone. Hubby told me when he got home he had football meeting to go to, daughter Miss J opted to accept a friend's invitation to go eat at the bowling alley. Go figure!

Oh well, such is my life around here. LOL

I finally got through all my receipts today and have finished my price book. I looked at a lot of different kinds that people had made, then I came up with what I think will work for me. It is a small green binder that is just the size to hold index cards. I bought colored cards and used white as well, breaking my groceries in to about 14 categories. I figured this would be easier for me to carry with me, which is what I want to do so I can check to see if the sale price is really a great price while in the store. It also has a pocket that I can put my coupons in.

The last big grocery shop I did, spent about 4 hours preparing for it. Wrote a list of what I needed to buy, different list for different stored based on sale fliers. This worked out really well as I also wrote which items on my list I had coupons for, how much the coupon was for, and exactly what I had to buy to use the coupon. OH MY GOSH was that really helpful for me as I got to one store and found out that their regular price was cheaper than the sale price. My last trip I spent a tad over $200.00 after my coupons. I actually saved about $75 between the coupons and shopping sales. I had estimated that I bought enough to make my rough meal list for 4 weeks, maybe 6. Well, I have done beyond wonderful with all my planning. We get paid again this week end and so far it is a very short list for the grocery shopping next week. This is so wonderful, will give me extra money from the grocery budget to take advantage of any sales. Only need milk and bread and of course toilet paper. I am really digging this, finally feel like I am getting my act together. I already have next week's menu plan ready to go, have a few more weeks worked up, but that will depend on the sales. Sure makes my life easier when I know what is cooking a head of time. Of course, since I changed up the menu and no one was home to eat it, there will be left overs for the week end whether they like it or not.

On to other topics. I have determined a way to have a small garden. I have no room in the back, it is all pool, hot tub and cement. Having very narrow flower beds that the four dogs love to roll around it. The front yard is not much better as in my neighborhood all the fruits of my labor would literally walk away. Because of the dogs, don't think the raised bed or square foot method would work well for me, and there is the issue of only patches of full sun. Not to be defeated, I do have my three topsy turvy planters. I have lots of places for hanging baskets that I can plant herbs in as well. We have a rotted out BBQ that really needed to be hauled off that I went out and took a second long look at. While it is no good for cooking, I have come up with the plan to use it for some tomatoes and peppers. Tomatoes in the pit part, potted peppers to sit on the little shelves that are for holding platters and such. I will post photos as I get it all going and growing. Will be buying plants on Saturday to get started.

I am too tired tonight, but tomorrow evening will get the embroidery machine out for a bit to embroidery a couple of names on the corners of some little baby blanket animals. A dear lady at our church is going through chemo for breast cancer and they are for her grand babies.

Thanks for stopping in and check back soon for recipes I am going to post.

OH MY It Has Been A While!

My goodness it has been a while since I last posted. How terrible of me. I am really in the middle of so many things, too many to really take time and talk about, but I am going to post about a few things.

I am having fish issues. I have a silver molly (I think that is what it is) that suddenly swelled up while we were on vacation. Was sure it was pregnant, went and bought an isolation box that goes in to the tank so that when it has the babies (called a fry...which I find very amusing) it won't be able to eat them. We are going on three weeks now, still looks like a balloon about to pop, and often I find the fish laying on it's side or belly up. Just when I think the thing is dead it starts swimming around again. Some time this week, I will be cleaning my tanks and moving some fish from the big one to the smaller one. The larger tank has about a dozen brand new red platy babies. They are too small to safely net and move, plus, have a fish I am not sure would be nice to them. I need to conquer the vacuum, other wise will have to some how talk hubby in to doing it for me. It really is a simple thing, but the trick is to get the suction action to work with the water level. Maybe YouTube will be useful.

Speaking of YouTube, isn't that place great? I have found all kinds of helpful information on there. Just today, did a search and found a video on how to clean a beef tongue. Bless the people that have nothing better to do than to make a video of them self doing these kinds of things, but I could never do it. This tongue project is just plain grossing me out, but if hubby likes it then it will all be worth it. Our town, well this region, has a unique type of food called Basque. It is passed down from the sheep herders of long ago. There is French Basque and Spanish Basque which each has it's subtle spice differences, but for the most part is the same. The restaurants serve you family style as was the tradition of the old days. The women would cook the food and take it to the herders, which ate in shifts so that the sheep were never left alone. It is very pricey to go to one of these local restaurants, but so very good. Served in 5 to 6 courses, the Hors D'oeuvres brought out are pickled beef tongue and tomato salad. My husband and sons love the tongue, all of us love the tomato which is marinated. I was looking through an old copy of my church's cookbook and found many of the recipes from one of the local restaurants called Wool Growers. Click on it to see more about the restaurant or history of the food. The tongue and tomato salad are the first two I am trying. The soup recipe is in there too and am possibly going to try it tomorrow to go with them.

OH MY, have a show about the real pirates of the Caribbean going. This guy just loaded a cannon with silver ware to see if it is a myth. When he fired the cannon, the boards set up to be the target was loaded with embedded silver ware and impressions of some that hit hard enough to leave indention, but not stick. I have to laugh though, what he is calling a knife is actually butter server. You know, put in to the tub or stick of butter to serve during a meal. Kind of looks like a short skinny spatula.

Now am back to cooking shows. I watch way too many of them. Have seen contestant on some of these shows use plantains, so I bought some, HAVE NO IDEA what to do with them. Thank you internet. Did find some on the Food Network which were interesting enough to print out and try. Although, I should do a little more research on an item before I just buy it. The people working the meat department told me that Basa fish was in the cod family, cooked like cod, tasted less fishy like cod. Guess what? Did a little Googling for recipes and found out quick that it is actually in the catfish family. I do not like catfish at all, but thankfully the family does. Along the lines of food, have been working on some new menu plans and coupons, more like the organization of all of it. My desk is over flowing with print outs of recipes, calendar pages, coupons, magazine pages I tore out, receipts for the price book I am working on. You get the idea. I couldn't even sew a stitch or glue a card if needed to.

Speaking of card making. I got so behind last month on my swaps that I wondered if I would get them all out. Still have not taken time to scan all the great cards I received, need to work on that this week as well. I did. But vowed to take the month of May off and may even take off through the summer to get a bit caught up. I would really like to do some quilting, need to make a couple of quilts for my new grandsons. One is already 9 months old and the other one will be here in August. The oldest grand son is almost 8 but he got his quilt back when he was born. Although, I have not seen it since, so not sure he even still has it.

Oh, and my camera is dead. I have been unable to find my battery charger, which is a special charger for the odd type battery it takes. I have no been able to find the batteries that I bought before that would work, just not rechargeable. It is frustrating. Apparently my Kodak camera has been discontinued and am no longer able to buy the batteries, charger, or USB cord. It is almost to the point to where it would be cheaper in the long run to buy a new camera. And I really need my camera. I took some photos during spring break, need to download them so I can post them.

I threw out the hints, just hope they stuck. Told my daughter that for Mother's Day I wanted the family to eat together at home, just wanted them to pick up a bucket of KFC and then we could fix some sides here. Also told her that I don't want flowers, they can get me some herb plants to grow in pots around the house, some plants for my hanging baskets as well.

I have had a nice little break here, so need to get back to work. Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

Menu Plan Monday Jan 17-23

Wow, am I ever in the middle of a job. I have tackled the mound of clothes on the floor in my bedroom, hanging up some of them, some of them the dogs have been all over so have to wash those again.

I enjoy participating in Menu Plan Monday (MPM) and I wanted to make sure that I got my menu posted for the week, so taking a minute to go a head and post. Am still working on a menu plan for the next few weeks as well, but it is still in the tweaking stage.

This week - Jan 17 - 23 - at our house:

Mon. - Pork Roast, mashed potatoes, Dutch green beans.
Tue. - Stuffed bell pepper, hominy casserole.
Wed. - Baked pork chops, carrots, broccoli.
Thu. - Chicken spinach enchiladas, Frito salad.
Fri. - Salisbury steak, potatoes, green beans.
Sat. - Spaghetti, salad.
Sun. - Tamales, rice.

For more inspiration for your own meal planning, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie to see all the fellow bloggers that participate in MPM.

Thanks for dropping in, I will try to post recipes this week as I cook. Have to get back to my cleaning, purging job so I have a bed to sleep on. Will post details of my progress later.

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.

WOW! A week of this year is gone.

Goodness, a week of 2011 has already gone by, 51 more to go. Guess that is assuredly one of those "how you see it" things. Like a glass is half full or half empty. The majority of the time I tend to be a half empty type of person. Probably due to being raised by the unofficial queen of guilt and doom. I truly believe my mom just can't be happy unless she has either piled on the guilt to the point of making a person throw up their arms in surrender or unless she has at least one major point of life or situation to worry about.

For example, she worried no one would want her house, then she worried it wouldn't sell quick enough, then worried it wouldn't sell for high enough price, now it is all over and done and she is worried she will live longer than she has money to live on. I just give up with trying to figure it out. Realize that this is the same person that in one sentence tells me how proud she is of me, how talented I am, what a good mother I am. five sentences later is telling me I am a disappointment on a number of levels. You think I would just get used to it and get over it. But no. Why you ask? Because just know she tells me that she knows I have a lot of work to do around the house because she I have been having to help take care of the house contracts and such for her...hopes that now things are over we can settle down a bit and just relax or that I can get things done around the house that I need to...oh by the way, when are you coming over again?

Such is my life.

Hubby and son G. are embarking on their big ski week in the morning. They are taking our RV and staying in it. Hubby said he would pay for the campground and gas along with his lift ticket and that G. pays for his lift ticket and buys the food. He planned out the week, bought the groceries and brought them over here to load in to the trailer. He is quite a cook in all honesty, am impressed with his skills. Hanging out with the chefs on his breaks has paid off. He bought enough food to feed an army. There is no danger of starvation on that trip.

Speaking of food, it is once again time to post my weekly menu. Last week did not go as planned, mainly since I was playing around with a new gadget a few nights. But, that works out in the end as well. Yesterday I brought home my new Kitchenade mixer. I can't wait to try this puppy out and such an ordeal to get it. But today has been full of ordeals and I am still here, so those are stories for another time. I still am ticked off with AT&T at this point, but will have my revenge in the end. I already have it figured out.

Okay, here is the menu I will be posting on MPM over at The Organizing Junkie. There was 471 fellow bloggers that posted their meal plans for the week along with some recipes last Monday. I am always excited to see who all is cooking what. A HUGE INSPIRATION, so here we go.

Mon - Tamales and beans (Schwan delivery tomorrow and they are in the order)
Tues - Chicken Asian Salad
Wed - Subway (busy night with J helping at Awanas and me to a scrapbook class)
Thu - Chef Salad
Fri - Sloppy Joe's, chips
Sat - Crop & Bunco - so will find what ever in fridge
Sun - Chicken & dumplings

I am cooking very simple this week as it will only be J. and I, and the only for supper as she eats lunch at school. Also, both daughter J. and I are trying to change our eating habits to healthier ones and she asked me to make some salads. Walmart has heads of lettuce for .25 each and avocados for .25 each, another store is having a sale on grape tomatoes and bulk mushrooms so it will be pretty cheap eating as well.

Tonight I made oven baked bbq chicken, seasoned potatoes with onions and the best strawberry salad I have had at home. It is a new salad kit that contains baby spinach, dried strawberries, almonds, and strawberry vinaigrette. I am getting to where I kind of like the baby spinach. Have half of the spinach left over and will use it for the Asian chicken salad tomorrow, okay actually it will be Asian Turkey Salad as I am using left over turkey from Christmas. I put up meal size bags in the freezer to use for any recipe that calls for cooked chicken. As you can see, I cook with a lot of foil. My metal baking pans are discolored and while still perfectly functional I just can't stand the thought of my food on what looks like rust spots. Besides, makes cleaning up a breeze and since I have taken over doing ALL the dishes ALL the time I am going to make it as easy on myself as possible. Guess some would call my...reasoning...with the dishes a bit OCD, but honestly I just decided that if I am the only one doing the cleaning and putting away of the dishes then I am the only one to blame if they are put up still dirty or put away in the wrong places.

I have a lot planned for this week and if I get even a tenth of it accomplished it will a positive in my book. Thanks for dropping in, come back and visit any time.

Electric Pressure Cooker

Isn't it funny how a set of letters or a word can be the same spelling but totally different meaning based on the context.

For instance...PC

To me that always meant personal computer. Now that I am walking down some different roads I have learned that it also means Pressure Cooker and Pampered Chef.

Enough of a diversion there. Last night was my second experiment with the electrical Pressure Cooker that I had purchased. I cooked a small roast. Funny, hubby came in and saw me getting ready to brown it and commented that it was a really big roast. He has no clue as to how much they shrink when cooked. Our son G happened by, told me about his phone emergency (he dropped it in the toilet) saw the food and decided to stay long enough to eat. Weren't we so privileged? (Okay, see the huge sarcastic look in my eyes as they roll when I say that) At any rate, there was four of us for dinner. Now remember, I haven't bought groceries, my menu plan was based on what I had on hand. So, I rummaged through the pantry and found a lonely package of instant mashed potatoes, a jar of beef gravy, then made a salad to go with it all. Had some rolls left over from New Year's as well. I will be buying groceries soon, today is payday, but since I strayed from the meal plan will be able to take my time going shopping.

Back to the PC. I followed a popular recipe from my internet group, followed the limited directions for operation as well. Again, it took two cycles to cook. The roast tasted good, but could have cooked a little longer. Just about the time I finish eating, I am thinking what am I doing using this gadget if it is going only be about 10 minutes quicker than cooking it in the oven. I cleaned the kitchen and sat down and found some info on the web about this particular cooker. One comment was made about the difficulty sealing the lid and that it blocked the pressure rod. Due to the handle design, I had some reservations about how long before it broke. However, when I had cleaned the cooker back up, I did investigate and found that my lid is locking to seal, but is blocking the pressure rod. So...back it goes to the store and I will get a different model later on.

Mom's house finally sold and the final contract was sent to her yesterday for signing. It was some kind of ordeal to be sure to get that thing signed. At any rate, I am pleased that in between the trips to mom's I was able to get that nasty spice cabinet cleaned out. It was stuffed to the hilt with all kinds of spices and herbs. Many of which I have had since my first years of marriage, almost 30 years. I know they don't spoil, but at some point am sure they loose their flavor. I knew they were old because they were little tin boxes and the bottoms still had the grocery tag on them, from before scanning days. Yes Virgina a little plastic gun was used to stamp a price then attach it to the product. I had a large tin of Marjoram, barely any used out of it, I have never cooked any dish that called for it. At any rate, anything old, showed and expiration date that was expired, all thrown out. I cleaned out the cabinet shelves and put down new liner paper as well. OH IT LOOKS SO NICE! And I can actually find what I am looking for. Today I will start on the freezer and pantry. It is pay day so am ordering in pizza tonight. Shhh, don't tell hubby until it is already here. LOL

This is before.







This is after.











Well, I am off to do some household chores. Oh, can't forget, I am got my steamer. Looks great and it had really great reviews for this model from those that purchased it. Next week will have some tamales and try it out. When I buy groceries, am getting ingredients to try and make my own tamales and well as flour tortillas. Guess I need to cook a pork roast for dinner one night and then pull and shred the left overs for the tamales. Also, my mom is getting me a Kitchenaid mixer. I am making payments for it, but there is a huge sale on one I like so I can get it while it is on sale. Was putting some things away in the garage earlier and spotted a pasta maker I bought and never used. Something about mixing everything on the counter that really grosses me out, but it is something I have wanted to try. If I like it, there is an attachment for the mixer I can buy separately. I always wanted an electric one to save my arm from mixing and rolling, but the machine bought was very cheap and I can use it later on for other things as well.

Schwan man is coming on Monday. I don't buy much, but do buy things that I would never make from scratch or things I want to try to see if I like them. I am always careful and set my limit before I order and never go over. Poor guy will not be getting rich off of us. I am looking forward to trying a gnocchi dish created on the show Top Chef. I love dumplings in all forms, so know that I will probably like it. However, have been waiting for the right time to try it. My problem with cooking cheap around here, I mean frugally, is that my bunch doesn't much care for pastas or rice. Leaves out a lot of possibilities. I have two weeks this month that hubby will be gone so can try some new dishes and eat some fish.

I almost forgot, I also went yesterday and signed up for two little classes at the scrapbook store. Both are next week while hubby is gone. The first class is a Cricut class, she will show me all the features on my machine and teach me to use it. The store also has a Cricut club that meets once a month and they have over a hundred cartridges that I can take my machine to the store and rent the cartridge out to make cut outs. I think that is just amazing because I can try one out and decide if I will use it enough to buy it. Thankfully, our Walmart carries the cartridges at a much cheaper cost than the craft stores, but they don't carry some of the specialty ones or the retired ones. Then, on Saturday they are having a crop and bunco night. I paid for J to go with me and she is so excited. We play bunco up at mom's place with the ladies, and really have fun with it. I have however, in order not to be overwhelmed as I usually do to myself at crops, am only taking tools, photos, and plan on finishing up a couple of projects in progress plus I really want to try out some of those cartridges. I won't let myself dive into the crafts until I have this whole house cleaned up. I tend to get focused in one thing and want to do only that. I have a couple of sewing projects to finish up as well, but I am really ready to make a few pages and really want to make some cards. I have all these supplies that really need to be used. There is a card making class and a flower making class later in the month that I want to take as well.

Drop in again and have a great weekend.

Tuesday

I think I will have to re-think my schedule a bit. I now know that some things are workable on some days and some just aren't going to happen. Although, yesterday was a unique situation. I totally blew my time yesterday. I had so many things planned and doubt I will be able to make it up today. I will do my best though. As I said, things weren't the normal yesterday or today or that matter, but I need to learn to adapt and roll with the flow.

Yesterday I started out on time, but then got side tracked at the DMV with renewal of two of our vehicles. OH DOES IT GRIPE ME to have to pay that huge amount of money to the state that has no idea or interest in managing their funds responsibly. I will not head off in to that direction or comment on the spike in gas prices. The delay at the DMV was just enough to hit mom's place a little later than I wanted. Then, spent the better part of an hour playing detective to find out where a funeral in Texas was being held and send some flowers. OH MY GOSH, I cannot believe how expensive that has gotten. My only thought at those prices was the hope that because we will be right here in town when mom passes that the flowers may start out little cheaper than they are ordering by phone. So now, a little over two hours behind schedule, it is time for mom to go eat. She ask me to go with her. I knew she was needing a little company due to death of a dear friend. He was actually my dad's cousin, but growing up they were constantly together, just like brothers. Their mother's were sisters. Any way, then by the time we got our food and ate I had lost another hour and a half. Service is very slow at mom's dining room. Now, three and half hours behind I finally was able to start taking down her Christmas decorations. For someone that didn't want to put up anything, she put up quite a bit. That at least went pretty much as planned thanks to mom putting away here ornaments while I did the rest. Then she asked me how much she owed me. LIKE I WOULD ever charge her for helping her do anything?

I left the house a little after 9, got back a little before 3. I didn't post here yesterday, but did get my link made to MPM. At least I am making baby steps forward.

Last night I tried two new recipes. One I followed, the other I improvised due to lack of some of the ingredients. While they were both edible, they weren't great. The Savory Pork Chops were actually pretty darned tasteless. Last night I had determined to toss that recipe, but today I think I will put it in the "Try" stack again and try it one more time with better meat. I am trying to use up what I have in the freezer and am sure those chops had been in there for a long while. The fried onions used for the coating was a little stale as well. In all fairness, I do believe that fresh ingredients will make a world of difference. The rice dish was a total failure. Well, not total, as it was edible, just not great. Also, I made rice for four servings. If I had made only 2 servings there would not have been so much left. I wasn't thinking that by the time I added in the bacon bits, mushrooms and almonds it would make it go further. I am putting the recipe for that rice dish back in the "Try" pile because due to lack of ingredients it was nothing similar to the recipe. We also had green beans that were left over from Christmas dinner. They were still delicious, but threw out the left overs as it had been a week already. That is my new limit for left overs. ONE WEEK - period. Speaking of which, this morning I have got to get what is left of the ham in the freezer. I will pack up some slices, but since most of the recipes I want to try out with the left over ham call for it to be chopped or diced have decided that I will go ahead and do that and then bag up in portions for one meal. Hubby will be gone all next week and since daughter J. eats about anything I put in front of her I have planned that week all recipes to use left over ham and turkey. The plan today is to tackle some laundry and defrost and clean out the deep freezes. I have one medium size deep freeze we keep in the garage, usually where the bulk of the meat goes, I stock up when I catch a sale. I have a huge side by side in the kitchen so have that small freezer and then hubby has a small fridge in the garage for beer, he used to brew his own, which I use part of for extra milk and such. It has a small top freezer as well. It was full of the 22 pound turkey that fed us well at Christmas, so it has space now as well. I have decided to use it for chicken.

I am picking J. up at lunch and we both have eye appointments today. Was so pleased that I was able to get us both in at the same time. I won't need my eyes dilated, just need to see about an adjustment in my prescription. It has been three years since this last pair of glasses. However, they may have to dilate my daughter's, which will be kind of awkward with her skating lesson this evening. Will just have to play that one by ear. At any rate, because of her lesson, I planned ahead for a fast fix meal and will be using left over sausage that is already cooked and left over potatoes that I had put in the freezer. Again, won't be the greatest tasting, but will be absolutely edible. Although, I have some ground beef that needs to be cooked, really soon, so I may pop in the grocery to pick up a cornbread mix to make the Tamale Pie tonight. Just switch today and tomorrow's menu plan.

I have to say, yesterday on Facebook I posted an old photo of my husband from our first year of marriage. Our church hosted a halloween potluck at the barn of one of the members, went dressed as Raggedy Ann, he was a fairy. OH MY GOSH! Blond curly wig, star tipped antennae, pink leotard, pink tights, pink tutu, even make up and a wand. It was so funny to see this guy with a mustache in this outfit, chest full of hair showing through. He didn't know that I had posted it so he finally came and ask me what was going on because he was getting all kinds of comments posted. They show up on his phone through email notification. It was hysterically funny and I needed that laugh.

Thanks for stopping in for a visit, leave a comment if you like. This isn't getting the chores done so am off to see what I can get done before I have to go pick up J. and then the eye appointments.

Menu Plan Monday

So far so good with staying on task. Of course it is only the second day of the year, but hey, am batting 1000 for the year so far.

I have spent the entire afternoon and evening trying to organize my stacks of recipe pages only to realize I have a whole bunch of them missing. They are in a box somewhere, just have to run across them in this house, which I will eventually. The down side to that is that those are the TNT recipes (tried and true - family endorsed as keepers).

There is this awesome blog site called I'm An Organizing Junkie that host Menu Plan Monday. Hundreds of links to blogs that all menu plan and post their week of menus each Monday. It is a great resource for gathering ideas and just inspiration for the chore of making meals. Like so many of you, I get stuck in a rut when it comes to cooking. Either because I just can't think of something to fix, my family's limited taste buds (okay, they are just a bit picky and spoiled) or I just flat forgot to set out any meat. My challenge at the moment is to use up what is on hand until pay day, and this is the lowest I have ever been on meat. I didn't even begin to work on cleaning out the pantry today because the weather turned gloomy again and spent a very peaceful afternoon and evening listening to the rain pour down, going through recipes and watching the Food Network. I would love to take some cooking classes and learn how to do some of that stuff. Now tomorrow morning I will go to my mom's apartment and pack up all of her Christmas decorations. I am sure it will take longer than anticipated, seems it always does, so will not be able to do much around here. Hopefully, Tuesday will be spent cleaning out the pantry, spice cabinet and freezers. They I will be all set to buy groceries and know more of what I need and already have.

In keeping with the Monday Menu Plan, here is what I will be cooking this week.

M - Savory Pork Chops, Green Beans, Rice, Fruit Salad
T - Sausage With Peppers & Onions, Potatoes Au Gratin
W - Tamale Pie, Salad
Th - Pinto Beans, Cornbread
F - Chicken Enchiladas, Rice
S - Hamburgers, Chips
Su - Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Rolls

As I said earlier, I will get groceries later in the week when we get paid. Except for the roast, I know I have everything on hand for all the meals. I plan to better spread out the beef, pork and poultry and introduce some fish at least twice a month. I wanted to give the family a break from poultry, after two turkey dinners. No meat left over from Thanksgiving, but a lot from Christmas. I bagged the turkey up into meal size packets which I will use later in the month, tomorrow will bag up the ham in the same manner. I plan on using the ham bone later in the week when I cook the pinto beans. I also need to plan a couple of quicker meals or crock pot meals for the busy evenings. Daughter J has ice skating lessons once a week as well as her involvement with helping at Awanas at our church each Wednesday night.

A few weeks ago I had purchased an electric pressure cooker that was on sale. After thinking it over a few days I have decided I will return it to the store. I have a stove top PC that I think I need to learn how to use instead of spending money on something so similar to what I already have. Besides, I will be purchasing a steamer and deep fryer with my Christmas cash that I will need to find room for as it is. I also have my eye on a stand mixer and am going to take note of how much I would actually use it over the month. Feel I need to really justify my purchases since I know longer work. My birthday is coming up in Feb. so if I can't talk my hubby in to an XBox Kinect maybe I can talk him in to the mixer. I want to start doing Zumba at home where no one can see how ridiculous I look, need Kinect to play it. Have heard from a lot of people how much fun the Kinect is as you really have to do a lot of movement in the games.

Today was pretty productive though in part though, woke up early so emptied the dish washer, did the dirty dishes, started some laundry, filled the hummingbird feeder - twice (don't ask) and then of course the whole recipe mess as well.

Tomorrow everything goes back to normal, in other words hubby will be up early for work and will have to get J up and off to school as well. I am heading to the warm bath and then to bed early for a change. Well, early for me. Thanks for stopping by and come back to see me soon.

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.

Where Has The Year Gone?

Okay, so I am on Pacific time, so technically it is still 2010 here. It kind of blows the mind to think about the time zone thing because here on the west coast it is New Year's Eve and across the globe it is already half way in to New Year's Day. Of coarse on the east coast it is barely New Year's Day. Then again when you sit back and look at the "Great Big Picture" time is only relevant in the way you look at it. I suppose there are some that are glad the year is finally over, then there are some, like me, that can't believe the year is over.

I wanted to post one last time in 2010 as I have sat here this evening and debated in my head the directions I will and will not allow my emotions to lead me. Now everyone makes resolutions for the new year with the greatest of intentions, some are successful, most are not. But we all mean well, so it is kind of a cosmic joke about making those resolutions, and I have a list for myself as well. So, to keep myself accountable, here are a few of mine. Like I said, I am looking at things a bit differently presently so it just might be all accomplished.

I WILL NOT think about the 95 pounds I need to loose. I WILL work to loose 10 pounds in January. I will not think about how much I did not get the gym and will strive to go to the gym once a week in January.

Okay, when from this point forward, when I say this month, I refer to January.

I WILL NO LONGER have a pity party for myself. I WILL find time once a week to work on some type of project that makes me feel happy again.

I WILL NOT look at how dirty and chaotic this house is. I WILL clean, de-clutter and purge through each room of this house, completely ceiling to floor, one room a week.

I WILL NOT feel bad because I failed to post to my blog for months. I WILL make an effort to blog more often. The goal is once a week.

I WILL NOT start a new project. May write down the plan and a few notes about it, but not start it. I WILL finish one of the many projects I have left in various states of progress each month. It would literally take about 5 years at that rate, but when I finish one, will start the next until each one is finished. Maybe I can hit on some projects that are already nearer to completion from time to time so that I can possibly get more than one a month, but I will get at least one a month completed.

I WILL NOT overwhelm myself with planning months of menus. I WILL plan a month of menus for January.

I WILL NOT purchase any food (excluding essentials of milk and bread) until I know what I have in the house. I WILL clean out and reorganize the pantry, fridge and freezer.

I WILL NOT purchase any fabric or scrapbook supplies until I just have to have it. I WILL use what I have first.

You get the idea.

The recommended amount of weight loss is 2 to 2.5 pounds a week. I figure that 2.5 a week, four weeks a month, I should be able to manage 10 pounds a month. With a change in eating habits and exercise that is. There fore, actually going to the gym that I am paying for each month, menu planning for different way of cooking and eating will be essential.

In the interest of time, since I want to actually post this before midnight, I will close with a wrap up and go in to more details in the days to come. Now that I have literally I been worked on top to bottom, I want to get back to my hobbies, that of sewing, quilting, crochet, scrapbooking, and such. I am making myself a vow to work as much as I possibly can with all the supplies that I already have on hand. My oldest daughter visited for the week and one day worked on some scrapbook pages for her grandmother's (my mom) book. I showed her the supply closet, she told her hubby about it and he called me a paper hoarder. I told her I am just well stocked. May need a few little interest do dads, but will get the pages or cards done and then see if I really need anything else.

Same with my pantry. I read on one of the blogs I follow about an organized pantry challenge and I am all up for that. After doing the holiday cooking I realized I have spices from when I first married in my cabinet. I found the jar of pimentos, I spent 20 minutes looking for before deciding to leave it out of the recipe, after the dish was half way cooked. My cabinets need to be cleaned and organized so I know what I have and what I need in order to cook meals around here. I can honestly say that I could probably cook for two months off of what is in my cabinets, wouldn't be the family favorites, but they wouldn't starve either.

I also enjoy writing and want to get back to that as well. I realized this past week that I won't die, nor will anyone else, if I don't get on Facebook and Farm Town. While I enjoy the game, and reading what my friends and family post, I also came to realize that while I was mentally complaining that I didn't have time to work out at the gym, I some how found hours a day to play the game. Hence, I am writing down schedules of my time for what and throwing in a checklist to get the house cleaned and kept clean as well.

Enough blubbering about for one night. I am off to a warm bath and then plan to see the New Year in with a goodnight prayer and falling fast asleep.

Yes I know, I lead such an exciting life. Seriously, here's to a God filled and blessed year to come. Taking it one day at a time, one task at a time.

Pop on back over from time to time and see what I am working on and how I am doing on keeping my resolutions. In the mean time, thanks for stopping in and fill free to leave a comment.

Missed Monday

Okay, had every intention to post my menu plan on Monday, for Menu Plan Monday over at Laura's blog that I follow called I'm an Organizing Junkie. It is a great site for dinner ideas and real motivator for keeping on track. All the inspiration with over 300 fellow bloggers that all post their MPM (Meal Plan Monday) menus for the week. I am constantly both amazed and surprised at the variety, you really should grab a glass of tea or cup of what ever and just sit and read through them. Every type of dish, from meat and hearty to vegetarian to light and everything in between. From all over the world too. I learned that a pie doesn't mean the same thing everywhere. LOL

This week's plan:

Mon - Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes, beans
Tue - Chicken Rice Enchiladas, Frito Salad, cantaloupe
Wed - Baked Talapia, Salad, Dutch Green Beans
Thu - Crock pot Sloppy Joe, Tater Tots
Fri - Pizza
Sat - Sandwiches, Chips
Sun - Steak, Baked Potato, Salad

Although, Wednesday may change a little since it is expected to be 110 degrees here, and since my kitchen is west facing, not sure I want to do any baking tomorrow. But, that is the plan.

On a more positive note, tonight's dish was a huge hit. Didn't have a recipe, which happens around here a lot, but here it is.

It was so good, and you know how I tell if it is a hit? No left overs. And this particular main dish was very cheap.

I bought some rice mixes on sale, this one was a mix for Spanish rice and it was .75 and was prepared in the microwave. In to the rice I chopped up the last few pieces of some packaged fajita chicken strips costing about .50 which is pre-cooked. Flour tortillas that cost about .80 and about 2 cups of grated cheddar, divided for another 1.40 for the portion I used. There was also about .30 worth of red enchilada sauce and an avocado that was .25 sliced up. Here is what I did with all of that. I mixed the chicken and rice together. In the baking dish I layered the rice, just a thin layer to cover the bottom. Then, mixed in about half the cheese with the remaining rice mixture, spooned it in to a tortilla and added avocado slices, rolled up and placed a toothpick to hold it closed. Layered these on top of the rice. Poured a little bit of the enchilada sauce over the tops of the rolled flour tortillas. Layered the rest of the cheese all over the rolled tortillas. Placed slices of avocado on top of that, loosely covered with foil and popped in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, opened the foil and spooned sour cream on topped with sliced black olives, placed back in oven to just warm the sour cream. Total for the main dish was approximately $4.20. Add in about $2.00 more dollars for the salad and cantaloupe and dinner was a total of $6.20 and there is actually enough left over for my lunch tomorrow. Not bad, since I am having a little trouble adjusting my cooking to servings of 3. I cooked for so long making everything for 8 because when the boys were home they ate seconds on everything. Then, went down to cooking for 6, when oldest son left home and since I was working would just take left overs with me for lunch. Now, youngest son isn't home anymore so it is just the three of us and I am trying to eat healthy breakfast, light lunch, and then healthier family dinners so the goal is no left overs.

Speaking of eating, thinking of tables, and all these vintage garments running around my head pleading to be made up. I know, long run on fragment of a sentence there. At any rate, while I was going through boxes and bins of fabric and treasures that were packed away, I came across these and had to share.
I saved these from the estate sale we had when moving mom out here. They are just too precious. They are placemats, probably from late 30's or early to mid 40's, I estimate this because according to mom they were pre-married life. My parents married in 1946 not long after dad got home from the war. The flower is appliqued down with the bottom petal left free so the tip of the napkin can pull through to hold it in place. There are embroidered details on the leaves and vines as well. I just love the scalloped yellow edge which is hand stitched. I have eight of them. Mom believes in settings of eight for everything when it comes to the table. Always has.

Tomorrow is the kick off for the women's bible study at our church. Since no longer working, I am so looking forward to getting back to the group. And...big news here...for me anyway...I was asked to run for a position on the women's ministry board. The elections are in September, so will let you know how that turns out. I thought I wanted to try for one position, but after looking over the position descriptions, I am so happy that they needed me for the one they suggested and I really hope I get to be a part of this board.

Thanks for stopping in an visiting my little world today, feel free to leave a comment as it is always nice to know that someone read it.

Good evening.

Well, it is late at night, but good night always sound like I am heading off to bed. Not quite there yet. LOL

Oh my, I have been having such a busy week. Did some shopping over the week end, bought some new patterns and a dress form. JoAnn's was having a big sale, Simplicity patterns were 5 for $5 with a limit of 10, so took daughter in with me and let her by the extras. LOL I also was so lucky to receive an 80% off scratch off spot on my coupon that was on the mailer. I was so surprised at such a large discount, I used it to by my new dress form. I think it will be a huge help to have since I am now sewing for three people. I just hate trying to stand in front of the mirror to judge if something is fitting or not. Have always wanted a dress form, I remember the one my mom used to have years ago. They are much nicer now, easier to adjust the sizing. They were out of the large, which doubt it would have had my fat waist measurement anyway, but the medium size form's range easily adjusts to my bust and waist, as well as all of daughter's measurements. I figure it will be a little bit of incentive...I plan to put some padding on the waist to increase it out and the goal is to reduce it as I reduce mine. That will be a great day when I can decrease the measurement.

When I went to work full time, it became obvious I would not have time to sew. I threw a private pity party and packed away all my machines and fabric. The bins of fabric have been sitting in the garage for a few years, was sure most of it would need to be thrown away as we have had a rat problem. To my surprise and a few "Thank you God" praises sent up, it was all in great shape. I was even elated to find that I had actually saved so much fabric for garment construction. Was sure I had gotten rid of all of it when I gifted out about 10 big black trash bags of fabric when hubby told me to decrease it or loose all of it. At any rate, I have some beautiful pieces that will be just perfect for some of those vintage patterns (re-releases of retro or vintage patterns but at today's sizes) that I have recently bought. I also have been organizing a bit in the sewing room as I took the time to make a master list of each pattern, the size, and brief description. Am actually contemplating scanning each pattern and saving to disc so I can print out my own little catalog to decide what I want to sew with what fabric with out spending hours hunting through everywhere to find it.

I have made menu plans for the next three weeks, have to tweak them a bit tomorrow, but now have a grocery list and will do that shopping tomorrow. This will be a very busy week for us. School starts tomorrow so will be taking daughter off to her first day of high school, women's bible study starts back up at church, a woman's group gathering later in the week as well. Of course football starts as well too and that means that I become a single parent/football widow/woman on her own until after the playoffs around the end of November. I LOVE this time of year, because my time becomes my own while everyone else is doing their thing. Also, this will be my first fall season not working in a long time and I will be able to just putz around in the sewing room after I get laundry going and the evening meal in the works. It also means that I will have some free time to go back to gym on a regular basis. I hope to drop at least two sizes by my birthday, or next summer for sure. My over all goal is three sizes, which I know will take a while, but I got time. Just need to work my butt off, literally as well as figuratively. Now, if it will just turn to fall temperatures, still in high 90's and expecting it to hit 106 mid week, I will be just happy as little clam.

And...I just had to post this photo.

I just love this photo of my new grand son. It almost looks like he is grinning. I wish I could just hold him again. I am hoping to see them at Christmas, but not looking too good at the moment. Will probably be spring or next summer before I get to see him again, he will be walking and running by then.

Well, I am off to soak my achy bones in some lavender water and then off to bed. Have to get up early in the morning and get a kid moving. Thanks for stopping by.