Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Nov. 30, 2012

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

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This week I'm mixing together my Food Waste section with my True Food Confessions section because they were all mixed up like I was. Let's just say that I haven't recovered from Thanksgiving travel and various other recent activities.  

I'm not sure what we've been doing for food. We've had burritos and pizza out of the freezer, and sloppy joes another night that we cooked. Ward's favorite Chinese take out has blessed our table along with Subway sandwiches. We actually had a salad one night as well as some Oreos. There hasn't been much waste, but I know that I left half of a McDonald's breakfast burrito too long in the car one day for it to be safe to finish. So out it went.

I'm hoping that I can reset this weekend and get back on track. Expect a good report from me next week. I'm gonna think positive.

We did not eat any of these things this week. Consequently, we did not waste any of these things this week, either.

A Second Look--November 28, 2012

I didn't have much chance to explore the yard this week, so the pictures are mainly from our bird feeder and a stop we made on our drive home after Thanksgiving.

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

This woodpecker is enjoying the new suet cake.

This sparrow spent at least 1/2 hour on the feeder. Other birds would come in and out, such as this chickadee, and the sparrow just hopped up and down the perch out of their way.

This blurry picture is a bird flying away from the feeder. I thought it was interesting that the shape of  its body looked so much like the shape of an airplane.

Crows have been visiting us recently.

Rhododendron at Cooper's Rock State Forest.

Overlook at Cooper's Rock.

I Spy a Mess

or 
What Happens When Your Office is Getting Recarpeted,  

You Visit Your Parents Who are Cleaning Out Their Attic, 

and the Christmas Ads are Flooding the Mailbox

Can You Find?

1. A notebook that Ward and I use to "organize" our life

2. The new cardboard box that all of the cats like to chew on.

3. A 10 # garden basket used by my father to put tomatoes in.

4. DVDs of my favorite show on TV Land.

5. Suet that needs to be put out in the second suet feeder.

6. The ads that have come in the mail over the last three days.

7. A PVC pipe book-holder that was an "invention" Wally made in fourth grade.

8. Books ready to be delivered to an ailing friend.

9. The basketball Wally and Theo played with at their grandparent's house.

10. The boxes I hope to have sorted and processed by Thursday.

Socks

or Holey Moly, I Can See My Toe

Yesterday, I left for work with a perfectly good pair of socks. However, I came home with a pair of tattered socks that were ready to be retired. At some point that morning, my toe poked through the end of my sock and I was annoyed for the rest of the day. It's amazing how fast they went from a favorite pair to a pair that I probably won't wear again. You see, I'm very particular about my socks. Some people don't mind a hole in the toe of their sock (like my son), but I can't stand it. Also, I don't like it if my socks are too big and wrinkle under my feet, and I don't like it if they're too tight either. You might say that I have sensitive feet.

But the sock gods were watching out for me yesterday in another way. After I came home disappointed with my holey sock, an almost miraculous thing happened. I was finally able to match all of the family's white socks while folding the laundry. Every sock in the odd sock pile was matched with a sock in yesterday's laundry. Something that hasn't happened for a long, long time. That certainly was a very satisfying event and almost made up for my sock disappointment that morning.

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But Wait, There's More:

What are your favorite kinds of socks? Do you have a brand or style you would recommend? I am always in search of the perfect pair of socks.

Thankful Sunday--November 25, 2012

I am thankful for small town radio stations.

Ward and I spent a lot of time in the car over the last few days visiting relatives for Thanksgiving. We really enjoyed listening to local, small town radio stations with no set play list and locally produced commercials.

Gone for a few days

Over the river, and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go...

 

Grandmother and Grandfather in their early years.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

 

A Second Look--November 21,2012

I am amazed every week that I am still seeing flowers in bloom. Some of them look like their buds escaped the frost and are choosing to bloom when we have a warmer day. Also with most of the leaves down, I now get a chance to see the silhouette of the bare trees against the sky--a beauty all of its own. Both of these are treasures among the droopy, brown plants that predominate the yard.

Here are a few of the things I saw this week 

when I took a Second Look.

Three stages of a Blanket Flower bloom.

Sweet gum leaf caught on its way down.

Lunchtime for the cattle

Lunchtime for a squirrel

Mums

Unidentified piece of skull

Geraniums

Maple Tree

Turkey Frying

With so much turkey talk out there, I thought I'd mention our favorite way to cook a turkey--frying. This was a popular thing when we lived in New Orleans, but we never learned how to do it there. Then several years ago, we watched a neighbor cook a 20 lb turkey in under two hours and decided that this was something we had to try. (Not to mention the fact that Ward loves them cooked this way.) So Ward got the equipment as a gift for Christmas that year, and the frying began. Below is a post about a turkey we fried for Theodore's birthday last year to give you a little idea about the process and links if you want to learn more.

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Birthday Turkey

I live with a family of wannabe carnivores. According to Ward and the boys, meat would be the sum total of every meal if we didn't need those pesky vegetables to stay healthy. Therefore, I was not surprised when Theodore said he wanted a “Meat Event” for his recent birthday. After some discussion, it was decided that the event would be a fried turkey.

Our turkey fryer setup

Everyone I know swears that a fried turkey is the best turkey they've ever had. Also, they claim that since the oil doesn't penetrate the skin, it's still healthy. Well, that's not entirely true, a little of the oil does go into the meat--why else would it taste so good? But overall, it's not a bad choice, nutritionwise, in the meat world.

350 degrees is optimum frying temp.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with frying a turkey, but the concept is simple. Basically, you take a full size turkey, submerse it in hot oil, and fry it until it is done.* The first time we fried a turkey, I was very excited because a large size bird was only going to take about an hour to cook--what a time saver. However, we failed to realize that the setup and the heating of the oil to cooking temperature took a couple of hours. Lunch was a little late that day.

Ward getting ready to carve the turkey.

Ward was the mastermind behind frying the turkey for Theodore's meat event. He beautifully fried a 10 pound turkey most of which was eaten during the birthday meal. Did I mention that the males of the family like meat? We topped the evening off with a birthday cheesecake—but didn't fry it. Maybe next time.

*A word of caution if you are going to try this at home. A frozen turkey can explode in the hot oil.

Thankful Sunday--November 18, 2012

I am thankful for community theater.

Quality Production + Good Prices + Easy Parking = a Good Time.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Nov. 16, 2012

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste

This week so we had no waste!

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This Week's True Food Confessions

My favorite of these dishes was the tomato casserole. It had cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, Italian seasoning and bread crumbs.

We struggled a bit this week. Our regular schedules changed and stress seemed to be piling on for various reasons. These things combined with no menu plan made it hard not to have carry out pizza every night--but we didn't. We had a big crock pot of chili that lasted for a couple meals and rotisserie chicken that went a long way. Another night we had mac and cheese with salad and a tomato casserole using up the last of the tomatoes that Miss Landers gave us. Also, we had some tasty carry out burritos on Saturday when we were out all day. That was the day I also experienced the case of the missing fork tine. I don't remember, but there must have been some pizza in this week somewhere. One of our weeks is not complete without it.

Next week will be unusual because we are traveling for Thanksgiving. However, my goal is to have some healthy and easy meals to eat before we go. All bets are off after that.

Excel

or Pride Goeth Before the Fall

I had a class on Excel earlier in the week that I was not looking forward to. Excel, for those of you who might not know, is a spread sheet program that is both powerful and tedious at the same time. This was an intro class, so I thought I might be really bored as they spent all day teaching us to put data into the program. However, I was pleasantly surprised as the instructor was able to make it interesting and tailor the material to the different background levels of our class. During the morning session, I thought I was asking very good clarification questions and clearly summarizing the points that the teacher was making. It was a good feeling and I was rather pleased with myself.

That was until after lunch. Then I couldn't remember the details of what I had “learned” in the morning . The instructor seemed to be going faster and I was lost more often. Maybe the easiness of the morning had been replaced with after lunch lethargy. Or maybe I had become a prime example of the saying, “Pride goeth before the fall.”

In the end, I learned that in Excel functions need parentheses, but formulas do not and the world is full of very capable people with different abilities including me.

A Second Look--November 14, 2012

I'm glad that I was out earlier in the week during the warm weather because today it was sleeting. The rain and wind brought down most of the remaining leaves, however there are still a couple of maples that are in their prime. Also, a few flowers have been protected from the frosts and are providing delicate color here and there. I know colder weather is coming because I saw a junco which migrates here for the winter.

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

Japanese Maple

Asiatic Bittersweet Berries

White tailed deer

Sweet Gum Ball

Sage

Early morning at the bird feeder

Wild cherry growing in fork of a maple tree.

Mum

Barbie

or One of Her Friends

"Barbie" and some of the clothes I made for her.

 When I was growing up, I had toys. I had dolls and stuffed animals. I had a bike and a tree swing. And I had the ever important sticks and rocks. But I didn't have any of the TV or popular toys. That was until my older sister got one for her birthday from a friend. She got a Barbie. I was only four at the time, but I understood the importance of this doll. There was status associated with having a Barbie.

It was my older sister's doll for a long time until it eventually got passed down to me. I loved “my” Barbie. Many hours were spent playing with this grown up doll. However, eventually “my” Barbie became my younger sister's Barbie. That was okay with me because I understood that she was a family toy.

So recently when my mother was cleaning up and found Barbie, I was thrilled that none of my sister's wanted her. They said I could have her. However, they told me she wasn't Barbie. She was Midge, Barbie's friend. No, that couldn't be. I made them prove it to me and they were right. All of these years when I thought I had a Barbie, I only had her friend. It shouldn't have a difference, but it did. I felt like I had come in second place when only the first place got a prize.

My reaction surprised me that something so long ago of very little consequence still meant a lot to me. But I guess some things never change. We all want to fit in one way or another and having a Barbie made me feel like I fit in in an important way. As an adult, I can convince my grownup self that things don't matter--actions do. However, my young self still wishes that I had had Barbie and not just her friend.

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But wait, there's more...
I had a friend that grew up next to the real Ken and Barbie. The real Ken and Barbie were nice and no, the real Barbie did not look like the Barbie doll. I knew that you would be interested in this tidbit. This story is almost as interesting as the time I met one of the Pips of Gladys Knight and the Pips. I'll tell you that another time.

Today

Today I'm going to pay better attention to

 details than I did yesterday.

I looked down in the middle of eating this salad and saw that one of the tines of my fork was missing. I have no idea when it broke off or where it went. It gave me pause for concern that I was unaware of a detail like that.

Do you ever have times when you wonder how you missed something that was staring you right in the face?

Thankful Sunday--Novemeber 11, 2012

I am thankful for our new GPS.

As someone who gets lost very easily, I think the GPS is the greatest invention since sliced bread. I didn't get lost once yesterday when I was driving in new territory.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Nov. 9, 2012

 It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste

This piece of candy was saved, but several others like it were not.

Some candy went to waste this week. A container of orange slices fell out of the cupboard and several landed on the floor. I didn't get a picture of them because I was too busy trying to decide if they could be saved. Here's how my thoughts went.

• Does the five second rule apply here?
• Is it five seconds or ten seconds that food can be on the ground before it's contaminated?
• Didn't they test the five second rule (or the ten second rule) on Mythbusters? 
• Now what was the result of that test? I think that stuff does get dirty when it's on the floor for a little bit.
• Or was that result from the double dipping of a chip in dip?
• Wonder if I wash these pieces off, would they be okay?
• Gosh, I need to rearrange that shelf, so things don't fall out on the floor when I open the door.
• I guess I will throw out the candy. It's not like it's chocolate or anything.

Then into the trash it went.

Thanks to Simply Being Mom for hosting Food Waste Friday this week.

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 This Week's True Food Confessions

 
This was a pretty good week again. We were out all day Saturday, but came home to a pot of pea soup that I had put into the Crock Pot that morning. In the past, we would have eaten on the way home even if food were waiting.  When we're hungry, we're hungry. We had a snack instead. Sunday was also a busy day during which we had leftover soup.  Another night was meat loaf, potatoes, and salad that served us for a couple of dinners. And to round out our week of leftovers, we had pizza for two meals.

One of Those Days

Or The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

Ever have one of those days (or weeks), that things just weren't going right? We had one of those times recently. It all started when Ward decided that one of our cars needed a new battery. Not a big deal. We usually take it to a local discount store where we get a new battery put in. We've done it many times before but this time was different. Some how they got the battery in backwards which blew the main fuse of the car and nothing electrical worked. And, it was Sunday when there was no place open to get a part to fix it. After many hours of gnashing of teeth, Ward called Wally to pick him up as he no longer had a working car. In the meantime, Theo was waiting for a car, any car, so he could drive back to school before dark. That didn't happen because I had one car at work while the the other cars were either being exiled in no-fuse land or retrieving Ward from no-fuse land.

However by the end of the evening, Theo was back at school and the rest of us were at home (minus a car). But, we didn't have any heat. The furnace didn't seem to be turning on—a problem that we had dealt with before and thought we had fixed by getting a new thermostat. But apparently, that didn't fix it. So Ward and Wally went to bed that night tired and frustrated, but happy to be home. Meanwhile, I went around singing, “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow.” Sometimes, I can be annoying that way.

But the sun did come out tomorrow. Or maybe I should say the moon came out tomorrow. By the 11 PM the next night, we had a working car and a working furnace. It took a lot of complicated coordination of schedules and work from repairmen, but it all got fixed. The great thing about “one of those days” is they never last forever. The sun eventually does come out.

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But Wait, There's More.

As for the battery: we got a substantial discount on the whole bill. While never actually saying they did something wrong, the store took care of us and compensated us adequately for the problems they had inadvertently caused.

As for the furnace: We had the furnace tuned up at the end of August when it was determined that we needed a new chimney. Until we got the new chimney, the serviceman turned off the oil to the furnace and disconnected the wire, so we wouldn't run it without the proper exhaust. However, he neglected to tell anyone. That, along with some other things, made this a complicated problem to solve. However, it did get solved by a very good repairman and we have heat. There was no extra charge for this fix.

A Second Look--November 7, 2012

Things have been busy around here recently, so I haven't had much time to spend outside. I didn't get out to do a Second Look this week until is was almost dark. And on top of that, I spend most of the daylight I had left, talking with my neighbor about the price of heating oil. So, I didn't get a lot of pictures. But nevertheless, it was interesting to me to see what has survived the frosts and to see which trees are holding onto their leaves.

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

Enough dried leaves are down now that they provide a nice crunch to shuffle through.

This noisy blue jay is among the increased bird activity we have been seeing.

All of the marigolds have finally succumbed to the frost.

Most of the mums are holding up though.

It gets dark now around five o'clock.

I Spy Red

I Spy Red

Can You Find?

1. A sign that used to hang in the boy's bathroom when they were little.

2. A favorite sour candy

3. A cardinal that I cross-stitched

4. My favorite keep-warm sweater for the house

5. An old fashioned spell check

6. What we stand on when we brush our teeth

7. Tomatoes that Miss Landers gave us when she pulled her vines last week

8. The back of a Chinese Checkers board

9. Theodore's kindergarten graduation gown

I Baked Cookies

or The Low Barometric Pressure of Sandy

If you have read this blog before, you may have to come to understand that for me cooking is an activity that just gets in the way of more interesting things to do. So if there's a short cut, I will take it. For example, when baking cookies, I make them all bar cookies--no matter what kind they are. All of the cookie dough goes into a baking pan and bakes at one time. I discovered long ago that cookies taste just as good when they are cut into little squares as when they are round.

However, something unusual happened recently. Monday after all of our storm preparations were done, I decided to bake cookies the old fashioned way. I didn't use a mix* and each cookie was placed one at a time on the baking sheet. It did take a lot longer, but it seemed as if it were the right thing to do at the time. I don't know what possessed me. Maybe it was the low barometric pressure of the storm or maybe it was the full moon. Who knows? But if I ever have that urge again, I'm going to check the weather. I wouldn't want this to become a habit. :)

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In case you're wondering what I baked, it was Andes Mint Pudding Cookies and they were delicious. A very nice blend of chocolate and mint flavor in a perfectly chewy cookie. The cookies were based on a recipe I got from A Place to Reside but you know how I can never follow a recipe? Marilyn's cookies used vanilla pudding and peanut butter cups, but I used chocolate pudding and Andes mints.

*I have found that Betty Crocker has very good cookie mixes and if you get them on sale, they aren't very expensive. Including baking time, I can have an entire batch of Betty Crocker cookies fresh out of the oven in about 20 minutes. Of course, you have to bake them bar style to do it this quickly.

Thankful Sunday--November 4, 2012

I am thankful for fuzzy socks.

These are my favorite lounging socks in the evening especially now that the weather is colder.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Nov. 2, 2012

 It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This week's food waste.

This week I found some shriveled and rotting carrots in the bottom of our vegetable drawer. I don't think we have been snacking on as many carrots recently and these show it. Either this is telling me that my family is tired of carrots or they don't look in the bottom of the vegetable drawer to find snacks. Maybe I should find out which one it is before we have more waste like this in a couple of weeks.

This Week's True Food Confessions

A week of Hurricane Sandy eating.

This week we ate mostly with Hurricane Sandy in mind. While preparing for her arrival, we ate out of the refrigerator and freezer to reduce our perishable food in case we lost electricity (luckily we didn't). For the couple of days that she lingered, we ate easy food that didn't require much cooking so we wouldn't be in the middle of cooking in case the power went out. We continued our easy eating after the storm with scrambled eggs and sloppy joes. During this unusual week, the highlights were the three pizzas from the freezer we had on Monday before the storm, and the Halloween candy we had after the storm. It may not have been the most nutritious week, but we ate at home and we had some yummy food.