It is a day of failure.

Ever have one of those days when every thing you attempt ends in failure? That is just how today has felt.

First, my women's bible study started back up today. I wasn't sure I was going to go, but my sweet DIL went to the ER last night with spotting. They were sure they had lost the baby, just found out a few weeks ago that she was pregnant, but a sonogram was done and a heart beat was found. She goes to the doctor tomorrow for a check up. At any rate, I woke up this morning thanking God for his protection and blessings last night and decided that I should go to bible study and praise God, even though I had not picked up the study book and had not done the first lesson in preparation of today's session. A couple of things happened to me as the morning went on to delay my leaving. Now, normally I would have just stayed home rather than showing up late. However, I reasoned that since it was the first session and since they never start on time, I went on and had a wonderful bible study and fellowship. So that turned out well in the end.

As I was leaving the church, the school calls and my daughter was having an asthma attack but had failed to take her inhaler with her. So, I headed to the house to pick one up, then noticed that I was out of gas. Stop at the gas station, which for some reason has removed the automatic pump flow so I had to stand there and hold the pump on the whole time. Finally to the school to find my girl sitting on a bench crying. Calmed her down and was on the road again. She is having a bit of a rough time at the moment, yesterday we got her eye glasses ordered and she was actually disappointed that she couldn't get them for about 7 - 10 days.

Next stop was to Walmart to pick up a few things with my Christmas money. I bought a steamer, some new canisters, some other kitchen items, and some dry beans. A little before Christmas I got a wild idea, popped in my head when I found it on sale for a big discounted price, and purchased an electric pressure cooker. It is Cook's brand.

Which is the JC Penny's Brand. I had grand plans of being able to cook a chunk of meat in to some type of wonderful meal like the chefs on the tv shows I have been watching. After I thought it through a bit more, and looking at the book that came with it, wondered if I hadn't made a huge mistake. As a matter of fact, I had actually decided to just take it back. Well, today my mind blew a few cobwebs out and thought that I should at least give the gadget a go before sending it back. Hence, the purchase of the beans and the beginning of everything I attempted ending in total failure. First, I made the cornbread, it didn't rise and just thinned out like big corn pancake, crunch browned pancake. Then, I read the directions to operate the cooker. Totally inadequate in my opinion. The step by step directions are vague at best, totally confusing, but I started it anyway. When the timer cut off, I let the pressure vent, opened the lid, found lovely looking beans with the ham bone and thought this was great. Cooked beans in 30 minutes. Until I tasted one, it was still crunchy. I had wondered if I had operated the cooker correctly. After all, it took it quite a few minutes before it heated up, the regulator didn't make any noise or move the whole time. So, I thought maybe I should try it again and cook it one more time. Doing the regulator a little different this time, it was just a few minutes this time before I could hear that traditional hissing. I then made a second batch of cornbread and put it in the oven. That pan came out so much better. When the timer went off this time, I vented it, and opened it up to find a very cooked ham bone and nice looking beans that tasted very nice. In the end, my hubby said they tasted good, just needed a little more salt.

I am wondering if I need to heat the food up a bit before locking the lid and starting the pressure timer? On the way home from picking up J I ran in the grocery and picked up a roast that was on sale. I am going to try that tomorrow night and see what happens. I figured hubby would be upset that I had bought the cooker, was discussing the meal when he surprised me and asked me if I could heat up fried chicken and the cook it in the pressure cooker. That was what they did at a store he worked at when he was younger, I told him that is what KFC does. He was actually listening when I explained that the more expensive cookers would be better at that.

I guess this does kind of blow my menu plan, but it is all in the interest of research. Yeah that's it, research. That's what I'm sticking to. At any rate, out of failure comes knowledge. Somewhere in all of that is knowledge I will take away.

Come back soon.

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.