Cream Soup Substitute

While perusing the Internet this morning I ran across a healthy substitute for those cream soups that recipes sometimes call for. Sometimes you want a healthier alternative or you might not have one on hand. Either way, over at www.Cheaplikemeblog.com/food/recipe-cream-soup-substitute/ check out the recipe. I'll be filing this one away for future use!

Happy Dance

Yes...I am doing the Happy Dance today. I just found out that the insurance companies have paid for our little mis-hap; rental car vs. Montana deer. It was not a pretty picture. This past summer we flew to Spokane, WA, and picked up a rental car. We spend the next week touring Idaho, Montana and Washington. On the next to the last day of vacation, a deer jumped out of the brushy road right of way and crashed into our car. Me being the frugal one that I am had declined the car rental companies insurance policy. We have our own car insurance and you are covered in a rental car with that same policy. The only down side to that is you still have to pay your deductible, which in our case is $1000. We always carry a high deductible to keep our premiums low. So I was feeling a little low after that vacation. But then in a statement from Avis, it mentioned that if you pay for your car rental with a credit card, sometimes there are provisions for situation like this. I promptly contacted Discover and .......Happy Dance......they covered the deductible! Yeah!!!! So the lesson of the day......Check with your Credit Card company when something like this happens to you!

TMM

TMM is the buzzword now in our block class at school. Teacher Made Materials. We have to make 8 of these and it's a little daunting besides the Lit. Cluster of 40 children's books, twice weekly observations at our assigned pre-schools with the manditory written reflections to be turned in for grades.....eeeekkkkk! Does anybody have any good web sites for TMM's? We're already in week #5....just counting down and trying to keep the old head above water! Housework is on the back burner and the garden gets visited about once weekly. I don't get to go to the farm since the Mr.'s days off are Mon. and Tues. and I'm in class those days. I'd love to go to the farm and help him with the fencing! Or just be able to spend the night and watch the morning begin....we have beautiful sunrises up there. Oh well......life goes on.

Cereal Bag Recycling

Here's another helpful household tip. Had you ever thought about reusing those bags that cereal is in, inside of the box? They are heavy duty and once they are shaken out (outside for the birds, they love the little pieces) are wonderful for freezing meat. Just use a twist tie to seal the bag shut. Now you can feel that you have recycled just one more thing! Does anyone have any other uses for them?

Thrifting

This past weekend was the community wide yard sale. You could shop all day long for 2 days. This was one of my treasures....$7.50. I have been looking for a meat grinder for the venison that the Mr. brings home. Most of it I take to the butcher to be ground, but sometimes I keep out more roast than we need and wanted a grinder to take care of that. I dont' know that I'll use any other part of this as I have a great Kitchenaid mixer, but it's nice to know I've got it if I need it. I tried out the grinder the other day and it does just what I wanted.

I was also able to find the candle holder and candle for $1.00 and the cute little footed bowl for .50! Gotta love yard sales....so much entertainment for so little money! Be sure and go out and do your part for recycling!

Feeding Finches

In the front flowerbed of the house, grow echinacea. After their pretty blooms have faded, I am tempted to cut them down, but I have hesitated because I know the birds will feed on them. Here's the proof.....

Hummingbird food

You know with today's economy, we've got save every penny we can. But it wouldn't matter what shape the economy is in, I don't like spending unnecessary money. I was visiting with a friend outside her house and we were admiring all the hummingbirds at the flowers and feeders and she remarked that the replacement food for her feeders was so expensive. I asked her if she wasn't making her own and she told me that it was a lot of trouble. Now how much trouble can it be to stir sugar into water? She thought that you had to boil it, but I told her no, you might have to warm it a bit to get the sugar to dissolve. I hope y'all out there aren't spending money that you don't have to, simply mix 4 parts water to 1 part white granulated sugar. Or, for each cup of water stir in 1/4 cup sugar. Stir til dissolved and pour in your feeder!
There's your helpful hint for today! Tomorrow I'll tell you about some of the things I found at the community yard sales!

Good Morning,

I just discovered a good deal this morning. Over at One Kings Lane, if you join, you'll get a $15.00 credit......and that's a good thing in these times. Anytime somebody wants to give me money.....I'll take it! They've got home decor and it's worth a look.
Yesterday and today, our community is having their yard sales and you never know what you'll find.....could be trash or could be a treasure!! So, I'm off to see what's out there and I'll let you know if I find a treasure! Remember to recycle, reduce or reuse :)

Household tip

Here's your helpful tip for the day....Did you know that by unwrapping your bars of soap and letting them dry, they won't get as gushy in the shower. It also makes them last longer. Find a pretty bowl or glass container, or whatever goes with your decor, unwrap several and display them in your bathroom. Be sure and leave the lid off for several days to allow for drying. It also makes the room smell good!

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I've been working on a project for school for the last 6 hours and I'm finally done. I've looked over a powepoint for a test tomorrow and thinking about tomorrow's class and what more can be assigned! We're in our 4th week and I just hope I can stay on top of all this work.... It's 10:15 and I'm tired and going to bed.....Good night all!

Good Morning all!

What have you got planned for the day? Just for fun, see what you can do to make someone else's day a better day. I always pray that I may be a blessing to someone today. No matter what bad things are happening to you, if you can do something good for someone else, you will feel incredibly better. It may only be a smile and a kind word to someone, but that maybe the only positive contact that person or child has all day. You don't know what someone else is going through. So go out there and make the world a better place!

Good Morning..What a beautiful day it is! We woke this morning to a cool 50 degrees and it felt wonderful. Make sure to spend some time outside to day and observe the changes of the season. I've noticed some of our trees are beginning to get some color to them, probably because of the stress they endured the last couple of months during our drought conditions....hot and dry! And the butterflies are being seen more often since it rained. The hummingbirds are still here and haven't begun their migration to the south. Enjoy the day and all of God's creations!

5K

Good Morning World!

We woke again this morning to thunder and rain....it really is a wonderful sound. This morning our local FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) are sponsoring a 5K run/walk. I'll be doing the walk, thank you very much. I never have understood running....I like to take my time and enjoy the scenery! They planned it for today in conjunction with a chili cookoff that's happening in the State Park. Ought to be a delicious day! Sprinkle in a few homework projects and I'll be busy again from sunup to sundown. In between I've got to spend time with the new puppy. It's Petie and she's about 12 weeks old. She's a mix of mini daushound and ?. This is the first small dog we've had in many years and we're still trying to get used to having a small one around the house again. We had to buy a small collar and a small crate and small food, but she is such a joy! She's a bouncer and comes bounding towards you at the sound of your voice! Even better she's a snuggler....she loves to snuggle! You can't have anything but a great day with this happy little girl around! If you want to be happy...adopt a puppy! They will love you unconditionally and there are so many of them in the shelters around the country...give one a good home!

Bar-B-Que Sauce

Whenever I can, I like to make my own condiments and Bar-B-Que sauce is one that I have found to be very quick. With just two of us in the house, a whole bottle of the stuff just goes beggin. This way, I can control the quantity and it's just pretty darned tasty too! Hope you like it!

Bar-B-Que Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon liquid smoke, optional

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, hot pepper sauce, garlic powder, mustard powder, and salt. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before brushing on your favorite meat.

Light Cracked Whole-Wheat Bread Recipe with Garlic and Rosemary

This last weekend, while the kids were visiting and my Mom and Dad, I made spaghetti. Well...you know if you have great spaghettti...you have to have great bread and it's always better if you make it from scratch. So I dug around in my many recipes and I was searching in some that I haven't tried before and ran across this one which sounded interesting. I always love using fresh Rosemary in my bread so I chose this one. It was great and a couple of days later we warmed the leftovers to have with spaghetti leftovers and it was still good!

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar or honey
1 cup plus 2 tbsp warm water
2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Stir yeast and sugar into the water and set aside until the yeast is foamy, about 5 min. Begin mixing your dough with your dough hook of your mixer or by hand, adding in the remaining bread ingredients. Turn on and mix til dough pulls clean from the sides of the bowl. If it is too wet, add more flour by tablespoons til it is of the right consistency. Of if dry and crumbly, add more water by tablespoons. Mix til well kneaded and uniformly supple and elastic. Now, cover and let rise in warm place til doubled, about 1 hour. Prepare your baking stone, and place dough on it. Press out til about 1/2" thick. Make divets in dough with your fingers so this next mixture will settle in the pools.
Mix together to top dough:
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced or 1 tbsp.
1 tbsp chopped fresh Rosemary

Spoon this mixture over the top of the dough, spreading it out. Sprinkle with coarse Kosher salt. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven til browned! Enjoy!

9/11

I'm watching the History Channel and they are showing clips from 9/ll and the Trade Center. I makes me remember the numbing grief I felt as I watched it happen the first time and then over and over again as the television replayed the events. I can still remember exactly where I was at the time. I was taking classes at the Community College and had just arrived at the school to find everyone huddled around the various televisions in the buildings. Classes were canceled, so I made my way back to work which was a print and copy shop that we owned in downtown. We immediatly went to work to show our patriotism and made a banner to hang across our awning. I hope all that saw it appreciated it as much as we did after making it. It was red, white and blue and said "God Bless America". Please take time now to remember those that lost their life on that tragic day.

Blessed Rain!

What a wonderful way to wake up hearing the blessed rain. After an extremely long, hot and dry summer the rain is very much welcome. Perhaps some remnants of the garden can be salvaged. The tomatoes have a chance to give us more of their fruit and the okra too before the first frost. Here we plan on anywhere from mid September to late October for our first frost. I might even replant the green beans as I didn't get to pick any this year. The first crop failed even though I watered. They were a pitiful sight! Now....homework then off to school for a couple of classes and then to the health department to have my final TB test read. It was mandatory as I will be observing and working with pre-school children this semester. Y'all have a great day!