This is for you Ash K. Here's my cellulite!

I know a gal from MoPS who is funny.  I mean hilarious!  The kind of funny where you have to go to the bathroom before you read her posts because you know that something will happen.  She has a blog in which she seems to detail my entire life. How does she know that same thing is going on in my house?  I, too, have a husband who thinks showering every other day is the norm.  He's lucky if I get dinner on the table in a timely manner.  Side dishes?  Nope not tonight babe, SOL, maybe on Thanksgiving when we're over at my mom's house.  But, dare to dream that someday it will happen! 

She says things I wouldn't dare say.  Believe me, I can say some shocking things but she does it in a way that it makes me pee a little when I laugh.  Here is her latest posting.

You said that we're productive, so are you!  Raising 3 boys to be men of God is no easy task. Don't worry Ash, my family is one of THOSE families.  It's like trying to wrangle a herd of monkeys on crack & Red Bull.  So when I get something done, I'm excited about it & have to post it.  Sorry I won't be posting unflattering pictures of myself, there are sooo many it would be hard to choose. 

So here is my cellulite in word form:

1. I am forbidden to paint anything.  After the awful turquoise fiasco of 1999, I have been stripped of that privilege.
2. I have an awful sense of direction, I can't find myself out of a paper bag.
3. Decorate? Yea right, see #1.
4. Fashion?  I have NONE.  You're lucky if my shoes match my purse or you can't see my grannie panties.
5. I now know that there are at least 20 different kinds of farts each with their own names & descriptions, taught to me by my oldest.

Be happy in knowing that you posts are productive, informative & not to mention "Don't laugh or I might just pee" funny. 

Too many pee jokes?  Crap I've turned into my kids.  Keep the posts coming!

My Safeway trip $9.55

Yup I spent $9.55 for all of this.  With the Just4U prices & coupons everything was CHEAP!  First log onto Safeway.com & sign up and add your personalized deals to your card.  I would wait a few hours or even the next day before trying to use your deals.

Spinach was $2 each, use the $2 off coupon. 

Jack Daniel’s Barbeque Sauce on sale BOGO (2/$2.99)
Buy 2 Use $1/2 coupon from 5/20 RP insert

Tostitos (2/$5.00) use tear pad coupon $1/2

Best Food Mayo on sale $2.77
Use $1/1 coupon from 5/20 RP insert

Heinz Ketchup (32-36 oz) on sale $1.49 with weekly ad coupon or load it to your card 

Use $.25/1 coupon from 5/20 SS insert

The International Delight creamer, I got free just by contacting the company.  No coupons for milk & potato salad.  I really wish the IRS would give a tax deduction for buying milk.  Now to answer your question as to why I bought 5 bags of spinach, I cook it down & freeze it.  I'm going to try my hand at making raviolis.

Chicken Parmesan

I was in the mood for something different for dinner yesterday.  I scoured my recipe box and found this gem.  I never tried it before, so glad I tried it.  I was even more excited that I picked up a bunch of bagged spinach for free a while ago, cooked it down & froze it!

Chicken Parmesan Bundles

4 oz cream cheese

1 pkg thawed well drained chopped spinach

1 1/4 C mozzarella cheese divided

6 T grated Parmesan cheese divided

6 sm boneless skinless chicken breast pounded to 1/4inch thick

1 egg

10 crushed Ritz (or other kind) crackers

1 1/2 c spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 375*.  Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella cheese & 3 T of Parmesan cheese until well blended, spread evenly onto chicken breast.  Roll up tightly.

Beat egg in shallow bowl or pie plate.  Mix remaining 3 T Parmesan cheese and crumbs in separate shallow bowl or pie plate.  Dip chicken bundles in egg and roll in crumb mixture.  Place seam sides down, in 13x9 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 30 min.  Served topped with the spaghetti sauce & remaining 1/4 C mozzarella cheese.

I did everything but the spaghetti sauce & the swapped out 6 pieces of chicken with 4, but I did cut them in half.  It was delicious.  The chicken wasn't dried out at all.

Vintage canning tips

The internet is full of handy little tips!  Here is a site that I found that had canning tips from the 40's &  50's from Tipnut.com.  I'm still rather new at canning so I thought it was informative.  These are some of their tips:

1. When canning catsup, pour off the watery liquid on top of tomatoes after running through sieve. Your catsup will have a bright red appearance and cooking time will be cut in half.

5.To label jars of food, write on the jar while it is still hot with a bright colored crayon.

10. Make sauerkraut when the moon is new until the first quarter, and the juice will stay on until it is used.

11. That teaspoon off your metal measuring spoons makes a handy gadget for coring fresh pears for canning, salads or desserts. Cut pears in half and then run metal teaspoon around the core. Presto, out it comes in a jiffy!

This time of year my thoughts are turning to canning

From now until well into October my thoughts are on canning.  What things I will be canning?  Where did I find the best deals last year?  Do I need to can more than last year?  And the ever looming WHAT IS THE YIELD OF CANNED FOOD WILL I GET FROM FRESH FOOD?

This is my fourth year canning.  Each year I seemed to can more & more, due my my growing children & how confident of a canner I have become.  I have to admit, I love it when my children say that they like my canned food more than anyone elses (i.e. can food from the store or school).  I know it's prideful.  But it does this mom's heart good.  I was never raised canning so it took a while for me to come around.  I know it is extremely hard work, but I am so glad when I hear those little voices praising my food.

While perusing through the homesteading books, I came across this little gem of knowledge:

Oooh boy!  I wish I found this a couple of years ago.  Their figures seems to be a couple of quarts off from I remember I did, but it is a good "ballpark" number.

So if it seems like my posts are few & far between during the summer months, you know what I am doing!  I'll be keeping you updated on canning recipes & tips. 

An open letter to my gallbladder

Dear Gallbladder,

Wasn't I good to you?  Didn't I give you everything you needed?  A nice house, easy steady work, anything you can ask for?  Let's face it, you had a pretty cushy life.  Why, oh why, did you stage a revolt against me? 

Yes I know I sometimes ate like a twenty something male college student during rush week or a 5 year old who inhales everything from the pantry while his parents aren't looking, but come on  I was really nice to you.  But in the end you were evicted, you wreaked your havoc & were kicked out.  So long, goodbye, adios, au revior, and vale. . .

All I want to eat this:

But instead I eat this:

I want to eat this:

Now I have to choose this:

I was taking this to help:

 

Now I'm taking this:

I have won the war dear gallbladder.  Mint leaves made into tea helps digestion.  Hot or cold tea, it doesn't matter.  No more ingestion, heart burn, nothing.  It's natural.  Probably better than the sucrose (sugar) and calcium carbonate found in the over the counter stuff.  So long gallbladder.  It was fun while it lasted.

Michelle