I Hope You Dance

Saturday, February 28, 2009

WOW!

By now you have probably figured out that I enjoy the "groups" I'm involved in. For so many years there were only groups having to do with school. I'm glad my boys are grown and I'm finished with the school stuff!
Now the groups I'm involved in are:
Yayas - lifelong friends from back in our school days, who are the greatest.
GRINS - Gals Reading In Nixon-Smiley. A small group who love to read, talk and eat.
Breakfast Club - There are 3 of us who meet once a week for breakfast and fun. We often have someone else see us having a good time and sit down to eat with us.
Comal River Riders - Our motorcycle club that Jesse and I have so much fun with.

Well.....yesterday I was invited to join another group, the WOW Bunch. To explain -it's the Women Of Wine Bunch. It's a new group who have only met 3 other times. There are around 5 or 6 members who meet once a month. Each member brings a bottle of wine and a snack. The wines are critiqued while everyone has a fun time. I am really looking forward to joining in with this group of ladies. For the next meeting we are ask to bring a wine with a crazy label or name and a funky snack. If any of you have suggestions, please let me know.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Something's Up !

Something's up and I think it's lettuce.

The garden seems to be producing plants very slowly, but maybe it's just me watching and waiting. We are still under drought conditions and we desperately need a good rain.

Dr. Report: My surgery has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 10th at 4:30 pm. It will still be done at the downtown Santa Rosa Hospital. Depending on how I do after the surgery, I should be in the hospital 2-3 days.

Sample Alert: WalMart always offers free samples from their website, Free samples. It's a good way to try something before you buy. I have ordered many samples from this site. I'm not sure how often they change to new products.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

I'm Learning !

Before I start the main subject of this post I must say
Happy Birthday Elaine!

I went to my local grocery store (which is doubling coupons) today to buy a few items. I looked online before I left to print out a few coupons on items that I intended to buy. I bought a few things that weren't on my list and took advantage of some in-store specials. I even picked up a $.79 candy bar that I just couldn't pass up. LOL
Bottom line......I bought $66.50 worth of groceries and paid $41.10! A $25.40 savings. I was very happy! Included in that was 5 packages of meat that will stretch to make 8 or 9 meals.

Since I'm not working, and have plenty of time, I think I'll enjoy organizing coupons and looking for sales. It's almost like a game. :o) I'm sure this won't be the last you hear about my new adventure. In fact I think I will do a Coupon alert when I find a good one to share with those of you who want to save. So here is my first.

Coupon Alert: For a $1.00 off coupon for Velvetta cheese, 1 lb or larger pkg, go to the Kraft Foods website and click on the bottom left where it says $1.00 off coupon.

If any of you have a printable coupon to share please give us the web address in comments.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Tightening Our Belts

With the economy the way it is, Jesse and I have decided to try to be more frugal. We both know how to live this way.

When Jesse was growing up he hunted for a lot of the family's meat and then helped to butcher it. His Mom cooked everything from scratch and he helped her cook and clean the kitchen, so he became a very good cook. They also always had a large garden which provided them and their friends and family with plenty of vegetables.

In my home my Mom seldom wasted anything. She cooked from scratch and usually cooked what we could eat for that meal so that there was no waste. She even washed used pieces of aluminum foil and then smoothed and folded it to be reused in the future.

A few things we are doing to conserve are:

Buying generic items at the grocery store when it doesn't make any difference to us.

Jesse is taking lunch to work instead of eating out each day.

Raising our own veggies and canning, freezing and dehydrating what we can - plus sharing the produce with others.

Not eating out as often as we used to.

No more paper plates. (We used to eat almost every meal on Styrofoam)

Cooking more from scratch instead of buying prepared foods. (this is healthier too)

No more soft drinks in our refrigerator! (another healthier choice)

We are riding the motorcycle, instead of the car, when we need items from out of town. (of course it's more fun to do this!)

Making more meals out of leftovers.

I'm planning to start clipping coupons for the items we use. Our one grocery store doubles coupons.

We're seriously thinking about getting a converter box and doing away with satellite TV service.

No more buying bottled water!

I'm sure there are more things we are doing to cut back that don't come to mind right now. I would love to hear what you are doing to conserve, or any suggestions that you have for us to do. Click on comments below to type your suggestions.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Parakletos

I learned a new word last night - Parakletos (par-ak'-lay-tos) which means counselor, advocate, and intercessor. I thought it was an interesting word.

Jesse and I have been reading a devotion each morning and one each night to start and end our days. Parakletos was in our reading last night.

Dr. Report: My surgeon has scheduled my surgery for March 3rd at the downtown Santa Rosa Hospital at 7:30 am. I think the Santa Rosa Hospitals are some of the best in the city. The staff seems to be so caring. So I am happy with the choice.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Don't Peek !

I tried a new recipe for dinner last night and we really enjoyed it. The No Peek Casserole was shared by someone in my discussion group several years ago, and I finally got around to trying it.

No Peek Casserole

2 lbs stew meat
1 can Campbell's Chicken Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup Ginger Ale
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 4 oz jar mushrooms, drained (optional)
Preheat oven to 300. Combine ALL ingredients (DO NOT brown meat and DO NOT dilute
soup with water) together. Mix well. It will be lumpy before it's cooked. Pour into a casserole dish and cover. Bake 2 1/2 to 3 hours. DON'T PEEK!! Serve over pasta, rice or mashed potatoes.
The smell as it's cooking is WONDERFUL

I didn't have ginger ale, but did have some Dr Pepper, so I substituted and it worked just fine. I also used the house brand chicken mushroom soup and onion soup mix. I served ours with rice. What I really liked about this recipe is that it's quick to put together and then just stick in the oven and forget about it. It's a keeper!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Yes, I Do Work !

We've been working in the garden this weekend. Friday we planted sweet corn, onions, garlic, carrots and leaf lettuce. It is a little late for the onions and garlic, but I'm hoping we can harvest some this Spring. We will plant more of them in the Fall.



Today we planted potatoes. Jesse's son, Joshua took a picture of me so that you would know that I actually do some work in the garden.



Jesse watched me plant the potatoes. I'm not sure he watched so that he would learn, or so he could make sure I was doing it right. LOL
I still want to plant some sweet potatoes. It's time to plant them now, but I just started growing my slips and I'm not sure how long that will take.

Dr. Report: I talked to my surgeon last Monday and she is checking her and Dr. Mayoral's schedules to see when they can do my next surgery. I plan to call her office tomorrow to see if they have a date yet. I will post it here as soon as I find out.

Monday, February 09, 2009

The Fun Bunch

Women's Friendship groups are a big part of my life, and obviously I'm not alone. Yesterday morning I was watching Texas Country Reporter on TV. They had a segment about a group of ladies in Coleman, TX who get together everyday at 10am for coffee and visiting at the Owl Drug Store. What makes this group of ladies so unique is that they've been meeting like this for over 50 years! They all went to Coleman High School. They met to visit while dating, getting married, raising kids and now enjoying grandkids and waiting on the great grandkids.
They refuse to argue about politics and religion. They don't always see eye to eye, and have their little tiffs, but the next day they meet for coffee again and all is forgiven.

Photo courtesy of texascountryreporter.com

Seeing this TV show reminded me of the books that I've read involving women friendships. Several that come to mind are:
The Red Hat Club by Haywood Smith
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
Circle of Grace by Penelope J Stokes
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble
The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney
Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish
The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King
I'm sure that I've missed some, but most of these were pretty good.
And I am now reading The Friday Night Knitting Club

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Comfort............

That's comfort as in comfort food. I've often heard the question asked, "What is your comfort food?" I could never say. Could it be fried catfish with a spicy breading? No, that's a food that I absolutely love to eat, and I would call it delicious food, not comfort food. I finally realized what my comfort food is and it started when I was a kid, probably around 10 or 11 years old.

I used to spend many weekend nights at my friend Jennifer's house. On day Jennifer ask me if I wanted an egg sandwich. I wasn't sure, as I had never heard of an egg used that way. I was hungry, so I told her that I would like one. She showed me the correct way to prepare our sandwiches, which started with melting some butter in a skillet, then adding the egg. After the egg was cooked on one side she used a spatula to turn it over and then squash it to break the yolk and let it spread all under the egg. When that side was cooked, she lifted the egg and placed it on a slice of bread, salted and peppered it, and then covered with another bread. The finished sandwich was then placed on a plate along with a dill pickle on the side. (all our food was accompanied by a pickle, LOL) Ahhhh that is comfort!

I still occasionally decide to make an egg sandwich. When I put that egg in the skillet it always reminds me of those fun childhood days. Thanks for the memories Jennifer!!!

Now it's your turn. What is your comfort food? Just hit comment and type away.