A Second Look Follow Up

or What's that bug?

Webworm moth

In the last Second Look post, I didn't have a chance to identify all of the pictures as I usually do. Now that I've had a bit of time to do research, I have identified the yellow and white bug that was on my sedum. It is an ailanthus webworm moth. The bright colors you see are the upper wings of the moth that it has folded around itself. The hidden bottom wings are a nondescript brown.

The webworm moth is native to South Florida where its host, the Paradise Tree, grows. However, it has found another host which has brought it to my area in the Mid Atlantic--the Tree of Heaven. The Tree of Heaven is a fast growing, invasive tree with soft wood and  leaves that smell like rotten peanut butter. However, woodpeckers seem to like it for making nest cavities--in my yard anyway.

After noticing the webworm moth for the first time this week, I have seen several more on the sedum. However, I have not yet seen one with its wings spread. Maybe soon.

Until next week.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailanthus_webworm
http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Ailanthus-Webworm-Moth

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--September 7, 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

No one at my house likes this.

This week I had to get rid of some moldy cranberry sauce. I got it to use on ham roll ups, but it turns out that no one likes it that well. I knew that I didn't like it and I found out the others only like it with Thanksgiving turkey. News to me. Thankfully I only bought a small can.

This Week's True Food Confessions

A sampling from our dinners this week.

This was a very busy week during which we started out cooking, but couldn't keep it up. After having a very tender pork roast that we cooked in the pressure cooker, mashed potatoes, zucchini continental, hot dogs, and spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and spinach, we began grabbing what we could. We had frozen dinners, snacks, pizza, sub sandwiches, and a church dinner. When things got really busy, we probably could have had more home cooked meals utilizing the crock pot and make ahead casseroles, but we weren't that coordinated. Maybe next week.