What's been cooking

 Having been on vacation from the school and also been off several days from the hospital I have been doing more cooking at home.  I've kept it simple doing pasta with marinara sauce, grilled pork chops, soup from the freezer, etc. On Christmas eve I made our traditional dinner of pork tenderloin balsamico, white and wild rice, salad, rolls and ice cream for dessert. Christmas day I did a roast beef for son's house taking some of that along with leftover rice and salad for my own dinner .  Oldest son packed up leftover turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn, roast beef, and mashed potatoes which I made into dinners for my two weekend shifts. Monday I was off for my pre-surgery appointment and had appetizers at my friend V's birthday celebration. Tuesday was my off day and V and I went out to a local bistro for dinner. Yesterday I put together a riff on a Pampered chef recipe penne with Sun dried tomatoes, spinach and grilled chicken.  Today I made a new recipe I found on Pinterest for a honey-garlic shrimp and broccoli. Here is the link: 

http://homemadehooplah.com/recipes/honey-garlic-shrimp-and-broccoli/

New Year's resolutions

  I've never been big on resolutions for a new year. But I recently came across an article that mentioned 7 that everyone should do to lay down the foundation of a better life and decided that sounded pretty good.
The first was get out of debt. I feel I am making good progress towards this although my mortgage will not be paid off until a long time in the future. Four more car payments and that will be done leaving me with just the standard insurance and utility bills.
The second was rid your life of toxic people. Clearly I am on my way there since the greatest source of toxicity and negativity in my life is gone. I will surround myself only with those that will help me succeed in life.
The third was to continue to better yourself or get more education. I have already researched getting my medical terminology certification online and plan to take the course once I am back on my feet financially following surgery leave. Then once my year in housekeeping is over I can start applying for those 'office-y" type jobs at the hospital or one of the family health/surgery centers (where you don't work weekends or holidays) within the health care system I am already employed by.
The fourth was exercise more. I have begun this but plan to add some yoga to what I do now.
The fifth was to find happiness within you. I lost that ability somewhere along the road in the last 8 years. I am determined to get that back and never give it up again.
The sixth was to let go of grudges. A hard one when people insist on sharing all the bad details with you but one which I vow to work on diligently. Mostly because I think it will lead me to that happiness within.
And the final one was connect with those you care about. I have been doing that more but will make a concerted effort to do so even more in the future instead of letting life get in the way.
Here's to laying the foundation for a truly awesome new life.

Goodby Annus Horribilis

  As this year draws to a close I realize that it has once again been two months since I sat down and shared life. The last two months have been difficult for me. Just as I felt in a good place following my break-up word spread that the ex-Gf was not the gentleman I thought he was and despite the fact that we will have to occasionally see each other at family functions (he is my daughterinlaw's uncle) thought it would be a grand idea to trash talk me behind my back. I'm a big girl and I can ignore that kind of stuff, consider the source (someone who at all costs must be in the right & build himself up by tearing someone else down), realize that what he's saying is pure fiction, know that anyone who knows me doesn't beleive a word of it, and move on. But when it hurts my children that makes me angry. And I also discovered the reason behind the break-up. While making the deal for college age son's first car the Ex also made a deal to hook up with the seller of said car. That hurt. It still hurts. Ouch. Pain and Anger, two very bad companions I intend to leave behind in the new year. The fact that he continues to text me randomly as well as on holidays as if we are still BFFs shows me he also thinks I'm stupid. Not. Hopefully the fact that college age son and daughter both returned the gift cards he sent them for Christmas will get through to him that no one wants his charity (part of what he's saying is that he basically supported us for 8 years..clearly why I had to work 3 jobs). And this will be the very last time I ever mention him again.
Work-wise I am in a much better place. I've settled into my permanent area, Pediatric emergency and have begun to forge good work relationships with the staff there. I actually got a very high compliment from my hospital supervisor last night, she said "they love you in PEDS and it looks great" Considering the joint commission on hospitals is due to inspect us next month this is a big deal. My school job is also pretty much stress free this year. So much better than last school year!!
I have had some health things going on. On the upside as of two days ago I have dropped 30 much needed pounds due to all the walking around I get at the hospital! My blood pressure is back to normal, my heart rate is excellent, and I feel good. My cholesterol is still high but a prescription for Lipitor is getting that back on track. My hospital likes you to have all the routine tests for your insurance so I recently had my first colonoscopy and I am extremely grateful that I did. A polyp was removed and while it was benign it was also unusual so a follow up scope next year is on the schedule. I have a routine mammogram this coming week and the big one is I am scheduled for carpal tunnel surgery a week from tomorrow. The right arm first then if it is healing well two weeks later the left. The downside to this news is that I will be on recovery from the hospital job for a month and once my few days of PTO run out I will be without a paycheck. Ouch. However the aftercare director at school is going to hire me to work temporarily three  hours a day (so the business manager doesn't go crazy that I exceed the 8 hour limit) while I am on leave of absence from the hospital. I don't have to use my arm at all for that job and all the lifting etc. that is required for the cafeteria job will be done by my assistant. Paperwork I can take care of with one hand. So a little income coming in in addition to the cafeteria paycheck will cover gas & insurance costs. My oldest son has already offered to help out if I need it and of course adult son who lives at home will contribute the regular towards utilities. My last paycheck of this year will take care of the mortgage, the tv bill, and the homeowners insurance and put a little cushion in the checking account.
Knowing this was coming up I was frugal with Christmas expenses although happily it was the same 'sized' Christmas as it has always been.
I had to work at the hospital Christmas Day and I was very sad about that. But all of my children except middle daughter and her family came for Christmas Eve and I spent Christmas morning before work with Middle Daughter and her family. So all in all it was something to be thankful for.
I will be working tonight until 11:30 and then stopping at my neighbor and dear friend V's house to raise a glass to the New Year. I can't say enough good things about V. She has been my rock the last four months. Getting me out and about, listening patiently to my boo-hoo-ing, serving worms for my pity parties, and giving sage advice. When God gave her son to my oldest son as a 'brother from another mother' and best friend he also gifted me with her. A truly special gift.
So goodbye horrible 2015 and welcome what I am determined will be an awesome 2016.

The Times they are a changing.....

It has been almost two months since I have sat down and shared life. In that time I have gone through some big changes. My 8 year relationship with the GF has come to an end. Seeing as how it was totally out of the blue and he felt no explanation necessary I was quite upset at first. However it has been a month now and I find, surprisingly, that I am fine. I like my own company, I don't feel I need a man to "complete" me and I have plenty of friends to fill social occasions. I am also quite happy to focus on my own home in the limited amount of free time I have these days.
And speaking of free time it has been packed with all kinds of things, birthday celebrations, a fun Halloween night at the zoo, shopping for the house with a good friend, and just some nice quite time with said friend. A little wine, a little tv, a lot of good conversation.  I am happy and contented in this life.
And work fills in a LOT of my time. Working two jobs consumes most of the waking hours. And I am still doing the occasional Bake and Take with kids from school on nights I don't work the hospital.
I finally received the check from my two years of overtime from the school. I paid down the remaining balance of my car loan by half. The entire loan will be paid up by April if I make the usual payment, sooner if I add some extra each month.
I have also bought a few nice things for my house, some new dishes (the stoneware ones just became too heavy for me with my carpal tunnel issues), some small fall decorations, and a new vacuum after the old one totally died. And I have begun Christmas shopping with the purchase of a couple of books from the school book fair.
Not a lot of need for grocery shopping however. Most of my meals for my night job are leftovers or salads made at school. With the crazy schedule my kids have between work and school most of the time if I eat at home I am eating alone. Besides fresh produce, dairy, and some snacky items for the lunch box as well as things like laundry soap and toilet paper. This in itself is a change.
And leads to the next change. I have dropped 22 pounds since my prework checkup in August. I feel fantastic!!!! Change is good.

Settling in to my new work schedules

  I have finally gotten a handle on the new almost continual work hours. I am back at school M-F from 9-2. The hospital schedule is a bit more complicated. The work week begins on Sundays. I work at the hospital every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Beginning today I work every other weekend and when you work on Saturday (last day of the week) you also work on Sunday (first day of the week). On the week I work on Saturday I have Thursdays off (so I was off this last Thursday) and on the week I work on Sunday I have Tuesday off (so I will be off this coming Tuesday). Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Confused? You aren't alone. I actually had to put it  into my calendar to understand it. Labor Day is also my first holiday to work. You get every other holiday off, so I will be off Thanksgiving and work Christmas Day. I believe the new holiday calendar year starts on New Year's Day so I probably will work that as well. This way no one works every Christmas Day for example every year. And Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are not holidays (neither is Easter).
So on Thursday it will be 30 days under my belt. How do I like it? Well it is taking some getting used to.  I've been assigned to the Pediatric ER and the work is not demanding. Actually I would prefer to be a bit busier because the night sometimes drags but on the upside with working two jobs not demanding is a good thing.
And I have to say that first paycheck really made my bank account smile! Speaking of financial matters the issue with overtime pay at the school for the last two years has finally been settled. A deposit will be made in my checking account this coming Friday. I will pay off half the remaining balance on my car loan, pay back GF for the brake work he did on my car last month, and pay back two small loans from a couple of my kids that got us through August. The remainder will be in the savings account.
We are also saving money like mad on food. With school starting I've just been taking lunch leftovers to work at the hospital  for dinner . Adult son, college age son, and college age daughter have been fending for themselves. Now that I have a regular hospital schedule I will be able to sit down and make a modified dinner schedule for night's off and weekends. And next weekend I will do a little food shopping. We still have a ton of stuff in the freezer but do need fresh produce, dairy, and some odds and ends in the pantry.

A quickie

I am in my second week of training at the hospital and it is a wild ride. First off I have to say that my area (ER) is always busy so there is no chance of getting bored, lol. There has been a lot to learn and a lot to remember but I think I'm getting it down. Once I have access to the EVS closet and can swipe into my area all will be well. I even spent 15 minutes last night totally alone on the floor doing rooms due to a shift change and staff shortage. My one dread now is how my body is going to handle two jobs once school begins next week. I also need to get myself super organized so that I can keep up on things like laundry and meals to take to work. I had to buy a knee brace because my left knee was killing me after two days. Wearing this under my uniform is helping. I am also having nonstop lower back pain. I am doing stretches at home and wearing a back brace around the house as well as taking a hot shower when I get home from work but I think this is just something that will work itself out as my back becomes used to the movements I am now making. A reminder that I am not as young as I used to be and am really carrying around more weight than I should. However, this job may help the weight problem since by the end of the day I've been averaging just over 20,000 steps.. And that is without school starting.  I have also had to purchase a really good pair of shoes. I settled on New Balance with memory foam in them. Very comfy and was surprised when a new co-worker gifted me two pairs of clog type nurses shoes!
Training was initially supposed to be on the day shift but after one day of orientation, one day of online training, and one day of on the floor training they've switched me to my regular 2nd shift hours. This is good because it gives me an idea of how it will be before school begins. As for meals I've been creating a dinner to go just before making my lunch at  home. I will need a new plan for when school starts next Wednesday. Right now I expect to be working both Monday and Tuesday at the hospital (unless a supervisor tells me one of those will be a night off and puts me on the weekend schedule for that upcoming weekend) so this weekend which I know I won't work I will be putting together about three dinners that I can pop into the freezer for the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday after the beginning of the school year.
So far I have packed:  a roast beef sandwich (made with planned overs from dinner) with carrots w/ hummus, and a nectarine (my first online day), bought lunch (my second day, can't do that on nights because the cafeteria is closed), leftover chicken paprikash, peas, applesauce;  penne with sauce, salad, vanilla pudding; and last night a salad with steak & blue cheese on it with homemade dressing, and apple slices.
And now I am off to finish making today's dinner and have some lunch before grabbing a quick shower and getting ready to go in to the hospital!

Finally......

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/4/5/8/4/1402853364844279301nineteen-fifties%20people%20looking%20up%20and%20pointing.jpg After what has been a tremendously long wait it appears that things on the financial front are finally looking up! Last week I went for my job physical and strength test. I have to admit I was not optimistic about passing that test but I got the phone call yesterday that I am cleared to start my new position!! I will be working at a local hospital cleaning patient rooms after they are discharged, waiting areas, restrooms, break rooms if any on whatever area I get assigned to. It is a full time, 40 hours per week position from 3-11:30. It does mean working every other weekend and every other holiday (Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Years Day, Memorial Day). The money AND the awesome hospital system health benefits, life insurance, and retirement benefits make this a winning situation for me. I will continue to work (at least this school year) at my part time day cafeteria position (9-2 M-F). It will be a lot of work but since I get one weekday off from the hospital each week I will only work both jobs 4 days a week. And there are several no-work days as well as holiday weeks off from the school. AND as icing on the cake I was notified by the powers that be that I am owed back overtime pay from the school for all the hours I worked over 8 in any given day for the last two years!! Of course those responsible for cutting this check are taking as much time as they can before doing so. Eventually though they will have to send this to me. My goal for the future is simple, I will pay off my SUV as soon as possible, making double payments. I have 13 more payments to go so I hope to have this done in 6 or less (most of the overtime check will go towards eliminating this debt). I cannot describe the relief I feel knowing that I won't have to worry constantly about where the money will come from for groceries, for gas, or for anything repairs that may need to be done around here. I feel as if I've been hauling around a huge chunk of cement behind me that I am at last getting relief from.

Summertime catch up

 Not a lot going on around here in the last two weeks. A little bit of grocery shopping where I picked up some produce and milk. I decided that we really didn't need to hang on to the two drawers and one cabinet of VHS tapes any longer and cleaned those out. I was unsuccessful at finding anyone who was interested in taking these and finally just bagged them up and tossed them in the trash can. We have curbside pickup so this cost me nothing. I then determined to use the freed up drawer space for table linens (everyday and holiday) and the cabinet for storage of serving pieces I don't use that often. This cleared up two china cabinets and two drawers in the dining room. I must say the cabinets look so much better without so much stuff piled in them.
Other than that I 've been reading and taking advantage of our free month of Netflix as well as doing the necessary housework and yardwork.


I did receive a phone call from the hospital on the job. They have made me a job offer contingent on me passing the physical and the strength test. I am scheduled for those this coming Wednesday. I have no worries on the physical exam but I am a bit concerned on this strength test. I watched the video they sent me on this and I am hoping it all goes well. After that I have an appointment at HR to fill out all the necessary new employee tax papers. IF I pass the tests then my first day of official employment will be August 10th, an all day orientation day with two weeks of daytime training to follow. School starts August 26th. This is going to be cutting it VERY close.

Remembering to count....

my blessings today. Yes I currently have $2 in my savings and $67 in my checking account but I have this twice a month cleaning gig and will be paid today meaning I can put $25 of gas in the car (which will fill it up) and get milk and still put $100 in my checking account to give it a cushion for utility bills until the next paycheck is deposited (another blessing is having my check divided into 52 weeks). I also unexpectedly found a brand new large box of dishwasher detergent in the basement, stuck in a box I looked into hunting for something else, so I don't need to buy more.  I also noticed a bottle of dish soap stuck up on top of the stand up deep freezer, another item I was low on and will not have to purchase! Financial blessings for sure.


And then there are the blessings no amount of money can buy me, good health, a loving family, the GF,  and good friends.


God is good.


All the time.

Good Eats

 With the food budget having very little in it at the moment even though I will be cleaning tomorrow (need to fill up the gas tank and get dishwasher detergent and milk with that) I am concentrating on using up what we have on hand right now. So far this week I have had:
Monday:
Breakfast: Toast with cashew butter, banana, coffee (kids don't eat breakfast)
Lunch: treated to lunch by a friend I treated to dinner last time we ate at Cracker Barrel together
Dinner: grilled cheddar brats, buttered elbow macaroni mixed with peas (off the dinner menus but adult son asked for this)

Tuesday:
Breakfast: toast with cashew butter, nectarine, coffee
Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, carrots and celery sticks w/ hummus
Dinner: Two cheese sticks, a plum, and a handful of pepperoni (all by myself and I just didn't feel like cooking anything)

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Blueberry muffin, coffee
Lunch: cottage cheese w/ homemade pineapple jam, plum
Dinner: Roast leg of lamb, beef rice a roni, salad , strawberry shortcake

Thursday:
Breakfast: Blueberry muffin, coffee
Lunch: grilled tomato-mozzarella Panini

This is my version of what used to be my favorite sandwich at Panera that they no longer offer. I took a ciabatta roll (from Aldi), split it, spread Sun dried tomato pesto (from Aldi) on both halves, topped each half with sliced fresh mozzarella, topped with slices of tomato and some sun dried tomatoes. Sprinkled it with basil then brushed the outside with melted butter and pressed in my Cuisinart 5-in-1 Grill/Griddle/Panini Press.

 This handy little tool is used so often I keep it on top of my microwave.

Dinner: Pasta Au Pistou, salad.  I've been trying something a bit different with my recipe for this. Instead of using my food processor to blend fresh parsley, fresh basil, parmesan cheese and olive oil together I am using jarred pesto sauce, mixing it with the sautéed chopped onion, canned diced tomatoes and brown sugar called for in the au pistou sauce. Just as delicious and half the work and expense.

 

Today I have had Cream of Wheat cereal and coffee for breakfast. Lunch will be leftover rice a roni  and salad

Dinner is going to be grilled pork chops, scalloped potatoes, and corn on the cob (slight change in menu plan due to having corn that needs to be cooked).

Update: Lunch turned out to be Chipotle, a treat from college age daughter for driving her around to do some errands! Dinner got tweaked a bit when I decided to make garlic & parsley redskin potatoes (at GF's house, need to use these up) and peas and carrots (another item in GF's freezer that needs using up).

 



Baking! Blueberry Muffins and Biscuits

 On my to do list today was some baking. I had a pint and a half of fresh blueberries and wanted to use some of these up in muffins. I turned to my all time favorite basic cookbook, The Joy of Cooking. On a food message board that I used to participate in there was once a discussion of the best version of this cookbook. The majority agreed that it was the early 1970s version, an opinion I sided with. My much beloved copy finally fell apart due to so much use and I reluctantly purchased the newest version which revised the version that updated the 1970s one. I have to say it is way more like the 1970s copy that I had than the awful updated one. Lots of my favorite recipes reappeared (like tuna noodle casserole).
Both the muffin recipe and the biscuit recipe are ones I have been using forever from this cookbook (which btw all my married/on their own children have received as a gift).
I used the basic muffin mix recipe and added 1 1/2 cups of blueberries (that I lightly floured to prevent sticking together).

Blueberry Muffins:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Mixed together
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup oil
added to the dry ingredients and mixed on low until blended
1 1/2 cup blueberries
folded into the batter.
Using my handy Pampered Chef scoop in the largest size they sell  I filled paper muffin liners with the batter:

 

I had preheated my oven on the convection baking setting to 375 degrees. They baked for 17 minutes and turned out looking delicious:

 

I upped the temperature on my oven to 400 degrees for the convect bake and turned to mixing up the biscuits.

 

Basic Rolled Biscuits:

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold butter

I mixed the flour, baking powder, and salt together and cut in the butter using my KA mixer. I then added:

3/4 cup milk

and mixed the dough together. I turned it out onto my marble pastry board which I had lightly floured and used my marble rolling pin to gently roll the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. I used my 2 inch biscuit cutter to cut the biscuits out:

 I placed the biscuits evenly spaced on one of my stoneware baking sheets and lightly brushed the tops with melted Smart Balance:

 

I baked these for 13 minutes and am very happy with how they turned out:

 

So we have blueberry muffins to snack on (minus four which are going to a friend as a small thank you for something she did for me) and the biscuits will be served topped with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert!

 

 

 

 

 

Rainy Day To Do List

 I cannot remember another summer so rainy as the one we are having now. Last month the local weatherperson let all of us who may have been in a cave asleep know that we only had ONE day without some kind of rainfall in our area in the month of June. July actually got off to a roaring start with 5 whole sunny/partly sunny days. But our streak ended Tuesday with more thunderstorms. 
On the downside the grass is growing super fast and there is a limited window for cutting it. On the upside all my plants are getting free watering.
Today is going to be one long rain storm so I am going to focus on doing some things around the house. I intend to bake: Blueberry muffins & baking powder biscuits. I made bread yesterday (a loaf of white whole wheat) and I cut up the really ripe strawberries and sugared them for shortcake, hence the biscuits. I am also doing laundry: load one in the washer (I have used my clothesline a grand total of twice this summer and laundry needs to be kept up so the dryer it is). Drying racks are on my "needs" list if I get this job so that I can do inside drying on days like today. The basement is far too humid to hang anything down there and expect it not to smell damp. Despite fresh Damp-rid bags. All this rain, ugh.
I am also going to give the house a nice clean ( outside of the daily sweeping, swiffering, vacuuming ) and I will dust, mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, and clean the bath, the kitchen and the upstairs hallway.
Then I plan on settling in with a murder mystery before playing taxi driver for both college age daughter and college age son who both need rides to work later.
I also have more good news on the job front. I received an email asking for 5 references. Something they don't do if they are not considering you (according to my middle DD who works there). Prayers are still very much appreciated.

My last Aldi run

With very limited funds these days I have been cautious about how much money I am spending at the grocery store, limiting myself to no more than $250 (what I earn from my cleaning gig) for the month and having that amount cover household cleaning, health & beauty, and paper supplies as well as food. So far, so good. I've been to the farmer's market a couple of times, spending $70.72 the last run there for lots of fresh produce and couple of other items (apples, nectarines, plums, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, fresh green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, lemons, eggplant, celery, carrots, red bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes, 6 ears of corn,  fresh mozzarella, a tube of polenta, and a small bag of pepperoni).
I finished off with a stop at Aldi where I spent $38.27 and brought home this shopping bag of goodies:

a tube of Pringles chips, two boxes of tri-colored rotini (for 4th of July pasta salad), a bottle of Zesty Italian dressing (also for pasta salad), a can of whipped cream, a box of crackers, a bag of shredded cheddar, a block of Colby-jack cheese (also for pasta salad), a bag of sliced provolone, two blocks of white NY sharp cheddar, a container of hummus, 2 tubes of buttermilk biscuits, 2 boxes cream cheese, 1 quart cottage cheese, 1 pint sour cream, 1 package fresco cheese, 1 bag string cheese, and 2 blocks Colby cheese.

These two shopping trips were necessary because my college age daughter thought it would be a good idea to clean out the fridge, tossing all of the fresh produce and most of the cheese without looking at sell by dates while I was at GF's house. I know she was trying to help out but honestly, LOOK at what you are throwing out.

Catching Up and July Menus

 I cannot believe it is July already and I have been on vacation for a whole month. Does not seem that long. I have been enjoying my time off, reading lots of murder mysteries, watching lots of Netflix, I've gone to the $5 matinee several times, gone to the zoo several times, and even spent three glorious days in the Pennsylvania countryside with my BFF (since jr. high) at her summer farmhouse. I've done some grocery shopping, mostly fresh produce and some small items from Aldi and worked my  2x a month cleaning job.
In bigger news I got called for a second face to face interview with the hospital. I really have no handle on how it went, I've never had an interview with a panel of people (3) before. They said I should hear something in about a week, this was exactly a week ago and still no word. <sigh> In the meantime I am focusing on my mental health, taking each day at a time and being grateful for the break.
I am a bit behind in my menu posting too. Here are the July menus I put together. I actually ate out the first two days of July, once with a friend, the second time with the GF and of course on the fourth we had our traditional all day family picnic at the park followed by fireworks viewing. GF provided the food and I did the cooking. I am trying several new recipes this month all found on Pinterest. Those are in bold print. Recipes using planned overs are in italics.

 

July Menu Ideas:

Apple glazed pork chops, rice a roni, peas

Spaghetti with meatballs, salad

Grilled Caprese chicken, risotto, corn on the cob

Polenta with grilled vegetables in balsamic sauce

Roasted leg of lamb, white and wild rice, salad

Shepherd’s pie, mixed veggies

Honey Apple Pork kebobs, chicken rice a roni, salad

Baked Cod, garlic redskin potatoes, peas

London broil, baked potatoes, salad

One Pan Balsamic chicken and veggies, rice

Salad Nicoise, rolls

Slow cooker beef brisket, mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts

Papardelle with salmon, zucchini & walnuts, salad

Grilled pork chops, scalloped potatoes, green beans

Beef and Noodles, candied carrots

Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, corn

Asian Summer salad, rolls

Turkey enchiladas, Spanish rice

Horseradish encrusted tilapia, homefries, broccoli

Turkey salad sandwiches, hand cut baked fries

Turkey creole,  rice, salad

Honey mustard pork scallopine, german potato salad, green beans

Tuna and sun dried tomato penne, broccoli

Grilled chicken provencal, basmati rice, salad

Slow cooker chicken paprikash with drop dumplings, peas

Fettucine with pesto sauce, tomato salad

Spinach and tomato white pizza, antipasto salad

Pasta au pistou, salad

Trying a Pinterest tip

  While browsing through Pinterest the other day I came across an interesting 'hack' for making beat up wood floors look better. You simply take a couple of tea bags and steep them in boiling water until the water cools down then mop the hardwood floors with the tea.

Since I had the water from processing the pineapple preserves on hand I added three tea bags and left this to steep and cool:

 

I poured this into a small bucket and used my mop

 

Our floors are pretty 'shabby chic', weathered, scratched, and 85 years old but I was happy with the tea results. They aren't shiny but the color is better:

 

I will be treating the floors with this again, probably about once a month.

Pineapple Preserves

My hunt at the grocery store for pineapple preserves being fruitless (ha ha) I turned to the internet for a recipe. And I got lucky finding one that is only two ingredients which I already had in the house! What I didn't have was jam sized canning jars. But Target had them on sale, a dozen for $7.99. I just happened to have turned all the loose change from the bottom of my purses into paper money ($40!!) so I dipped into some of this and bought the jars.
This morning I added the jars to my almost full dishwasher to make a full load so that they are clean and sterilized and ready to go. Then I assembled my ingredients:

 a can of crushed pineapple in juice and sugar. Put them in the pot

stirred them up and brought them to a boil.

  Stirring constantly for 20 minutes and the preserves were thick. I spooned them into two sterilized jam jars put on the lids and rings and processed them in a boiling water bath in my dutch oven. AND thinking ahead I saved the water for another project that I will share later.

Here are my two homemade jars of pineapple preserves (cost: 89 cents for crushed pineapple, 50 cents for 2 cups sugar bought at wholesale club, so total cost is 69 cents per jar not counting cost of jars ( 66 cents each which will be used over and over again).

 

 

Odds and Ends

  Besides enjoying myself at the matinee the last two days (odd thing happened yesterday, I got charged sales tax for my movie ticket..according to the woman running the ticket window this is a new state tax and by new it must mean NEW TODAY since on Monday I was NOT charged tax. And it was 8% holy cow...and speaking of taxes Amazon decided to build a warehouse in my state so now I get to pay sales tax to them too..yippee..but I digress) I also ran a few small errands to pick up some odds and ends of food items.

On Monday I stopped into a local small Italian grocery/deli where I spent $21. I brought home a delicious loaf of sesame seeded Italian bread, a ball of pizza dough, a small jar of their pizza sauce, a box of choo-choo wheel shaped pasta and a box of some pasta that was totally new to me, it was called Mother-in-law's tongue and was wide strips of multi colored pasta, red, white & green all on the same strip of pasta. I changed up dinner plans and made this pasta with a garlic butter sauce for dinner. It was visually interesting but as for flavor, not much different than plain pasta.

I then dropped into the regular grocery store. They had boxes of Keurig coffee on sale for $8 so I picked up two boxes (hazelnut and cinnamon) as well as a jar of peach-mango preserves. I am on the hunt for pineapple preserves but it would appear that no one is making this anymore. I love to mix these into cottage cheese and am hoping the peach-mango will be a good substitute. Total cost as the regular grocery store of $20.

Yesterday after the movie I stopped at a local farmer's market/tiny grocery store where college age son's girlfriend works. I spent $14.51 and came home with 8 large nectarines, a bag of green grapes (on sale $1.49 per pound), a bag of fresh spinach, and a small container of organic spring greens for salad.

And then last night adult son talked me into splurging on a pizza from the local pizza place where college age son was formerly employed. Another $11 spent.

$5 Fun

 While I continue to await that important interview phone call (adult daughter K tells me the work grapevine says another round of interviews will be done within the next two weeks so keep hope) I am focusing on getting things done and having fun while I am on vacation.
I worked the twice-a-month cleaning job on Saturday and earned some much needed cash and after a quick discussion oldest son and I decided to split the cost of the family zoo membership this year. It is a family plus membership which includes one additional adult as well for admission. The cards will have my daughter-in-law and my name on them and son will be the 'guest' when they go. This way she and granddaughter can enjoy the zoo while son is working this summer without always having to go with me. I also had a 15% off coupon for renewal so we all did well.
After working GF and I went to a local classic car cruise that we attend annually. Five hours of walking around in the sunshine is a boost to my health, lots of exercise and vitamin D! Then we went to another local church festival for a couple of hours. Getting these in while I can. Sunday was granddaughter's first birthday party. GF and I split the gift cost since she is also his great-neice and adult son asked me to contribute my pasta salad to the food. Done. Fun time and she was of course adorable (but I might be a bit prejudiced, lol).
Mondays are $5 movie days for the Atlas chain of theatres here and Tuesdays are $5 movie days for the Regal Cinema chain. College age son and I went yesterday and saw Jurassic World, a good fun summer action movie and today adult daughter K and grandsons and I are taking in Home, an animated children's flick. I love going to the movies but I hate the regular price. $5 I can do!

Living Well

 I was browsing along through my Facebook page last night and stopped to read an article that was linked on the news feed that looked interesting. I took quite a bit of heart in my own situation from this article and found it to be an inspiration.
Here's the link for anyone interested in reading it themselves:

http://www.wisebread.com/how-one-family-lives-well-and-even-owns-a-home-on-just-11-an-hour

Dinner for One

  Tonight I dined alone, something I am slowly getting used to. Adult son and college age son were both at work and college age daughter is out of town with her boyfriend's family. I took some of the leftover roast eye of round and cut it into strips. I had two bags of frozen stir fry veggies in the deep freezer so I heated up the wok, added some oil and the defrosted veggies. I threw in the beef and some stir fry sauce. In a small pan I cooked the noodles from a package of ramen and then added this to the whole mess. A whole new meal out of leftovers:

Zoo Fun !!

  Continuing to make the most of what time off I am going to have this summer and trying to be patient on waiting for an interview today I joined middle daughter and two grandsons on a trip to the zoo. Today I got in free on her family plus membership. We had an awesome time, got to see the elephants walk between enclosures (grandson L's favorite zoo animal), the porcupines (grandson J's favorite zoo animal) alert and dining on a log (first time I've ever seen them doing something besides standing around, lol), and the giraffes peeking out from the indoor enclosure to keep an eye on the construction going on in their enclosure area (my favorite zoo animal). We also checked out the temporary penguin exhibit, took a train ride around the Australian exhibit and had lunch with the lions!!
Adult son and I did a bit of texting and agreed to split a family plus membership in half this year. It includes two named adults plus one adult guest and up to 6 children and I had a 15% off coupon good through the end of the month. We love our zoo and will go multiple times throughout the year! And a definite bargain for the year at $46 each.

Paying some attention to the 'garden;'

 I have a list of jobs I want to complete during this week and the next and one of them is to purchase and plant my summer flowers and herbs. Another one is clearing all the weeds from the brick patio out back and then washing down the table, chairs, and umbrella so we can use them. So far we have had three days of rain on and off and the patio project is moving at a snail's pace.
I did go to the nursery yesterday and ended up going over my budget of $60. I kind of figured this amount wasn't going to be enough. I spent just over $100 ($119 and some change) but the largest amount of that was for the hydrangea bush that will fill the space previously occupied by a rose bush that didn't make it through the harsh winter last year. It was $45 because I wanted one that had some growth on it.

 

Adult son will be doing the heavy digging and getting this in the ground.

I also purchased a beautiful hanging basket of Superbells in a buttercup color for the shepherd's hook in front of the porch:

I rounded out the purchases of two pots of purslane in a yellow color

These I will transplant into bigger pots along with a variety of the three flats of flowers I purchased

blue lobelia

assorted colored nicotania

 

and these lovely pink and white striped torenia.

I made up two nice pots with nicotania and lobelia

and two large pots with purslane, torenia, and lobelia

and a small planter box with torenia

 

The remainder of the flats will go into a large planter for next to the side door, a couple of smaller planters as well as an empty hanging basket for the back patio.

 

 

 

 

Produce Run

 While out yesterday running college age daughter around on her errands I stopped at a local year round farmer's market and picked up some fresh produce. I spent $38. 07 in cash and came home with two pints of raspberries, a quart of strawberries, a pineapple, 8 nectarines, a bag of green grapes, a bag of cherries (SUPER expensive but I yielded to temptation anyway), a loaf of rye bread, a half pound of sandwich pepperoni, and 3 lbs. of oranges. College age son had asked for some roast beef lunch meat but I almost fell over when I saw they were asking $11 a pound for this. YIKES. I have an eye round in the freezer I will roast for dinner and then use my meat slicer on the leftovers to make our own 'lunch' meat. Dinner last night for just myself was a grilled mozzarella and pepperoni on rye sandwich and grapes. Simple to make and delicious, although not part of the original menu plan.

Free and not so free to me

At the close of the school year I was the recipient of two very nice gift cards to Target, one for $50 and a second one for $30. On Saturday I made my way to the store to use these cards for some items I'd been wanting. Not things we necessarily needed but things I'd had on my list of items for the house. I picked up a new broom and dustpan (our old one while still serviceable just wasn't doing the job I'd like it to do, it will become the cellar/driveway broom), a container of carpet deodorizer (ok at least one item was something we needed), a set of taper candles in cream as well as a ball shaped candle in cream to replace one that had gotten broken on the iron candle holder in the living room.

The new candle is the slightly larger one in the center. The empty space has been driving me nuts for quite some time. I also used the gift cards to "purchase" two new summer weight (not fleece) throw blankets for the two leather couches. To keep the room looking not quite so masculine and to soften it up a bit I have accessorized with throw pillows and blankets on the couch, love seat, recliner. All throw pillows have been either gifts or purchased at Big Lots (I love their home décor section and the prices)

I also purchased a new white tablecloth for the next FREE item I received this week. My married daughter K was the recipient of a beautiful pottery barn farm table and spindle back chairs in a cherry wood finish that will seat 8 people. She had a smaller farmtable with black legs and a maple finish top with 6 spindle back chairs that she asked if I would like to have. I snapped it up since the oval dining room table I inherited from my mom was very wobbly and two of the nuts that held the legs on were stripped and would not tighten any longer. Adult son J and I took apart this table and hauled it to the tree lawn for trash day. He then used his pickup to get the new set. I  had purchased four nice faux leather dining chairs with maple legs a couple of years ago. We decided to use one of these at the computer desk, a second one at the roll top desk in our living room, and the other two for the head and foot of the new table. Four of the spindle back chairs that came with this set went on the sides of the table and the other two replaced the worn oak ones we had in our kitchen. The two oak chairs went on our large front porch around the drop leaf table that is out there for a small outdoor 'eating' section. 

 

The tapers and tablecloth are new from Target:

 

GF and I dropped into an estate sale also over the weekend. I spotted a waffle weave cotton throw in a red and white for $2 and snatched that up for the leather recliner.

 

I also picked up a nice framed country setting picture for $10

 

and a set of four Currier and Ives decorative small plates that match the prints I have in the living room for $3 for the whole set. Unfortunately I forgot to grab the plates out of GF's car so I have no picture of those. I will use a plate hanger that I already have to display these in our dining room.

It makes me feel good to tweak our décor at home and gives the rooms a fresh look. It will also be great to eat at a table that doesn't move around on you. At a total cost of $18 out of my pocket for the estate sale items I think I did mighty good.