Tis the Season!

We are in the midst of the holiday week. What a great time for our family! We had Christmas Eve at our house, a moving worship service at Ascension, Christmas Day with the In-laws, and the day after with my extended family. It was good to see everyone.

Then we got wonderful news about DH's cousin's wife. She had surgery on Tuesday and a large benign mass was removed from her abdomen. No cancer, thanks be to God. She will recuperate and continue to be the healthy, productive, creative and joyful person we have come to love.

My presents were wonderful. Mom gave me a trip to Paducah to the quilt show this spring! We will travel by tour bus, stay in a hotel, see the show, the National Quilt Museum, the Eleanor Burns quilt tent (a special treat), and many other things. It will be fantastic!! I have to get new shoes in March so I can break them in, as there will be a LOT of walking in those 2-3 days.

I also got a fabulous 6 qt cast iron dutch oven. I have wanted one forever, and this one is going to be put to frequent use. My youngest gave me a huge sack of books (My bedtime ritual requires a bit of reading each night, and books are expensive! I do a lot of re-reading because of it, so new books are always welcome!), a great knife block with very nice knives, a beautiful sand painted ornament for the tree, and a limited edition collection of a capella music by my SIL and her family. They are talented vocalists and the CD is a wonderful way to share the music they have been performing at church and other functions. Oh yes, I got a great gift certificate from my boss, and friend, at the quilt shop. I am so going to have fun spending that!!

We are just so blessed. I admit that 2011 seemed to pass quickly, but I look forward to 2012.

Twas the Week Before Christmas

Well at our house the weekend is really Sunday and Monday due to Hubby's schedule. We had a fairly productive weekend. Though I felt lousy, we got the carpet cleaned in the living room and the hallway. Thanks again to my brother and his magic carpet cleaning machine! The whole livingroom is clean, the tree is in the process of going up, the windows have been flocked with nifty pictures of snowflakes, wreaths, pine trees, and Santa. We got the entertainment center moved to the Daughter's room to hold her game console (a vintage Sega) and the old TV. The rug is out and cleaned for the middle of the living room floor. Tomorrow evening I will wash and dry the Christmas Flannel quilt for the back of the couch, and put the table runner out (that matches the quilt)

We got a bit done to the kitchen, but not as much as I had planned. Frankly, there were just so many things that kept getting in the way. However, the dishwasher was run, many things were put away, and the trash went out. Progress was made, but its slower than I wanted it to be. Still feeling icky in the tummy is keeping me from accomplishing as much as I would like. Tomorrow evening we will attack it, and conquer part of the mess, Wednesday we will finish it up.

The hardware finally arrived for our bed frame. Crazy but true, the whole things arrived without a single screw or nail or directions! I guess we are supposed to put it together intuitively? That is what we will attempt. I am hoping to be able to keep the bedroom door open and show off the bed. We will see.

The In-Laws are back from their cruise. They have been down the Pacific side of South America. I am sure they had fun. Who doesn't have fun on a cruise ship? But I am glad to have them back in the US.

Noteworthy things that happened this weekend: The last of the US troops left Iraq. Kim Jong Il died in North Korea. There is a big time snow storm hitting the Southwest and Central Plains.

I think we have the shopping done. Once the tree is up and the kitchen is clean, I will feel like we can enjoy Christmas. Usually I am at the last minute doing stuff, but this year might just be different!

Counting your Blessings

Well, I guess I should be stressed and worried. The rear axle went out on the car, broke actually. That's gonna be expensive. The house is a mess because its time for the annual crazy cleaning before Christmas, and this year everyone comes here for Christmas Eve. The oven is still not working, so I can't bake cookies.

Crazy but I am extraordinarily happy. This year the shopping is nearly completely finished already! Its getting colder, and we might have flurries. That's a good thing. I think this year I am in a different frame of mind. I am okay with Advent, I have a plan for family gatherings, and I am just so pleased with life. My kids are happy and healthy, my grand-baby is just adorable. My husband is working at a job he likes, and I have a part time one that I love.

Sure things could be better, that's always true. But there is virtue in being content and in knowing, deep in your bones, the real reason for the season. God has blessed us immeasurably, and I am so grateful.

Back to the Beginning

I have been very lax recently about keeping myself accountable regarding the money spend at the grocery. This has to stop or there will be no Christmas at our house! So... I am rededicating myself to getting myself organized.

We had a great mega sale or two in the last month at Kroger and I have stocked up on a lot of things. I did a search for a Pantry Inventory (in all black ink, because the color is shot atm.) and found one that I can use. I have also been checking out some new online resources for frugality. I am adding a link to Frugal Living, a great forum site where there are many knowledgeable people who have good ideas and wisdom to share.

Now I will spend a few hours filling out the pantry inventory. I know we have plenty of food here and we shouldn't need to hit the store for a good 3-4 weeks, except for fresh milk. Though I dislike not having diet cola available, mostly for the caffeine but the bubbles are helpful too when I am fighting sinus issues, it looks like iced tea will be the drink of choice here.

I have the crock pot going. Got a whole fryer for .69 cents a pound today and its baking away with carrots, celery, potatoes, and onions for dinner. Will be yummy and make a fabulous pot of soup for tomorrow too. The dehydrator is working away on celery.

I am pondering how to best reorganize the kitchen storage spaces so that the appliances all have a home. These small things, the crock pot, the blender, the dehydrator, the bread machine, the electric skillet, the electric can opener, I love these things. They do make my life easier. But honestly, I just don't know where to put it all!

Now that Angel Food is no longer operating (*sob*) I have to find a new source for sturdy and unwieldy boxes. My food box boxes have been wonderful for storing canned goods, but I need more than I have.

I have been working on a customer quilt, and working at home on Christmas gifts. I have been checking the Screaming Penny newsletter daily for wonderful deals on quality gifts for seriously less money. I love that email :) Faithful Provisions and A Smart Shopper are also great for sharing gathered deals out on the web and at local stores. I highly recommend checking them out!

Enough for today.

Book Review: 100 Day Pantry

This month when I went to the site to order my Angelfood I found a message saying they will not be doing a September distribution. They have been hit by the financial crunch too, and are reorganizing so they can continue the program. I hope they are able to do so, but I was faced with the knowledge that I have to plan on not having access to the program in the future.

I started looking around for recipes that would let me work with what I do have access to, and found this book: 100 Day Pantry by Jan Jackson. All of the recipes are put together using canned and dried food. They are adaptable to situations where clean water is not readily available. This intrigues me so we are going to give these recipes a whirl and see how it goes. I went to Save-A-Lot and got several flats of vegetables and soups. We have plenty of pasta and rice.

As I try them I will document the results here. Since the massive bronchitis attack ate up most of my summer I was not able to tend the garden as I wanted. We got pretty much nothing, couple of peppers, 3 small tomatoes and a few herbs. I am watching for things to dehydrate, and organizing the cabinets to hold more veggies for soup. Potatoes are going to be big for the dehydrator over the next few weeks.

Got to spend a bit of time with my Oldest and her Hubby Sunday. It was SIL's birthday and we had some ice cream cake to celebrate. The grandbaby was charming and babbles a lot now. It was nice to see them.

Seasons of Life

Its Labor Day weekend. A really busy time for us. Usually we have a birthday gathering for my MIL, and a family reunion. However this year, we had a funeral. My SIL's mother went home to her reward after a valiant struggle with cancer. She was quite a woman. Very devoted to her family and her church.

As a result I have been pondering life and death. Weighty subjects for a mere human, I know. I ran across a quote by C. S. Lewis yesterday, "You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." What an interesting perspective. I think on some level I have always believed this, because cemeteries hold no comfort for me. I don't return to graves to seek a connection with the people I have loved. What is left feels like a shell to me, kind of like a cocoon. Its never been the being dead that worried me, its the transition that piques my curiosity and trepidation.

My oldest came home this weekend for the services and brought the grand-baby. What an amazing cycle God has given us. She is so tiny, so helpless, and yet she grins and all is right with the world. Ginny is be coming such a good momma. I am proud of her.

This post rambles around a bit, but then that is the state of my mind tonight.

Who's laughing now??

Well Irene has come and gone, leaving destruction in her wake. Millions of lives have been disrupted, vacations ended early, homes destroyed by flooding, infrastructure damaged. I am in Kentucky, so I didn't suffer any issues from the hurricane, but it has opened the eyes of some people regarding the necessity for emergency preparedness.

I saw a commercial on CNN suggesting that people should have a 72 hour bag together "just in case". It was great! My family thinks my cousin and I are kind of crazy for storing food to prepare for market instability/disruption. Now I have to tell you, my cousin has a better handle on this than I do. Our life circumstances are different and she is able to invest in her food storage on a much larger scale than I am. And with both hubby and I out of work, we have had to rely on ours more than she and her family have. But boy am I glad that I have purchased and stored up.

So this week, I am blessed to have my Angelfood in the freezer. We had burgers and fries (AF) yesterday with fresh garden tomato. We grilled pork chops (AF) and had mashed potatoes and green beans (AF) the night before. And tonight I opened the 2lb package of chicken breasts (AF) and made some awesome soup (one of 3 chicken breasts, 3 potatoes diced up, and a bag of frozen veggies[AF]) and corn bread (AF).

Now you may not know this about me, but I have a very specific idea of what corn bread is supposed to taste like. Growing up we always used water ground white corn meal. Mom make baked corn bread with buttermilk and an egg that was just to die for! Fish was always accompanied by scalded corn bread (boiling water, corn meal, and an egg). It tastes very differently than yellow corn meal, and I was an adult before I ever tasted corn bread with actual corn kernels in it.

But tonight I have found a way to enjoy yellow corn bread! Not having any fresh milk, or buttermilk, in the house, I used a Jiffy corn bread mix (courtesy of a previous Angelfood purchase), an egg, 1/2 a cup of Magic Mix, and enough water to make a batter. Oh my... its a little sweeter than any corn bread I ever made but it was a real hit here. Hubby crumbled it up into the soup and was mightily impressed. I bet we do this again!

Seems like whenever we are pressed for funds I turn to soup making. Yes its a comfort thing, but its also excellent food thrift. All the left overs can go into the pot and with a little love from seasonings and some broth you have a wonderful meal. I am going back to youtube to check out the dehydrate2store lady's videos on crockpot soups from dehydrated food. I think I need to be looking at what should go into the dehydrator since we have such lovely weather (I load it up and plug it in outside so the heat doesn't tax the AC in the house).