Oh No, Just 41 Weeks Till Christmas

The 41st week before Christmas is now in the books. Did I get something done? Yes. Was it as much as I planned or hoped for? Nope. So what's new?

I located a few new (to me) Christmas books through my Libby app. In one of them I found instructions for something I plan on making for my DIL's. I am not saying anything about what it might be in here because they sometimes read my blog and I don't want any spoilers. 

The upside is I can make most of it right now with just a little hand work needed as Christmas nears.

 It will not be a big gift, just a little “add in “present because I really do like to have multi gifts for each person.

I decided to create a Christmas folder on might computer as well as my hard copy that I am creating. It make saving the digital ideas I find so much easier.

And once again I successfully managed to avoid doing a single thing in the terrible room filled with remnants of holidays past. I would like to figure out what is wrong with me, other than “ out of sight, out of mind “.

I am still not worried because there are many weeks left to get it done, but I need to get my rear in gear and get it done. Maybe this week, but probably not. And now begins the 40th week before Christmas. Get thee behind me procrastination!

Happy Holidays or Hollow-days. Your choice

Anne

Wonderful Yet Strange Week

This was a weird week filled with some really good days and good weather, followed by a couple of not so great things that happened during the week, tornado activity, and less than 12 hours later ___another glorious spring day. Strange!

Possible meals that were planned for the week:

1. Grilled tuna, baked potato, asparagus, tossed salad (maybe, maybe not)

2. Conecuh sausage, cooked cabbage, cornbread

3. Veggie meal TBD

4. Cheeseburger salad, rolls

5.  Smoked trout toast (been a possibility for weeks, this week for sure) tossed salad

6. Out to eat

7. Chicken divan

Meals and joys that happened:

Monday joy: We started the day with a zoom call with DIL3's parents. We really do like them and it was nice to talk "face to face". Funny how close technology bring two families crossing the big pond in the process. The only difference was the initial greeting of either "Good Morning" or "Good Evening". 

Right after the phone call I  headed to Aldi to get the food I needed for the afternoon.

I had a cooking date scheduled at my happy place, so once the shopping was done I headed there. The participants at Independence Place never fail to make my day.

We/They made colcannon in homage to the upcoming St. Patrick's Day. I took my grater 

which turned the cabbage into such a fine shred that even the cabbage haters did not find it objectionable. 

The result was an overwhelming thumbs up, except for J. He only wanted to make something sweet. Next time, J!

Monday dinner: It was a gorgeous day and the change to DST meant it was daylight much later. Perfect for firing up the grill.

Grilled tuna steaks. asparagus, coleslaw, baked potato

Tuesday joy: I stayed home all day wearing no makeup and soft knock about the house clothes. It was a great day. My beloved Sister came by for a bit, which was fine. She has seen me at my best and worst and is immune to being frightened when seeing me "undone". Of course she will tell me I look like crap, but then, what are sisters for if not to lay a truth bomb on you.

Tuesday dinner: There was a head of broccoli in the fridge and some cooked chicken in the freezer. 

Chicken divan, tomato onion cucumber salad.

Wednesday joy: I went to my Wednesday class then out for lunch with 2 friends JA and E. Loved dining al fresco on such a beautiful day while laughing and talking.

Wednesday dinner: I had half of a large head of cabbage left over from Monday's IP visit and wanted to go ahead and use it.

Conecuh sausage with steamed cabbage, pineapple chunks

Thursday joy: The day was beautiful and though the redbud trees in my backyard are no longer at their prime they are still beautiful and filled with happy bees.  A bonus is that every time the wind blows a little I can see lilac colored petals falling and covering the pool surface. They are hard to remove but look so pretty floating on top of the water.

I stayed home all day got some research that needed doing completed. 

Thursday dinner: I went to ThePig Monday for their free items, but had to spend 10 bucks to get it. They had some discounted meats, which changed the weeks menu plan.

Pork chops, brussels sprouts, baked potato

Friday joy: TheHub and I both stayed home and did a little planning for our upcoming trip. We had a lot of fun (she said sarcastically) trying to decide on the amount and denomination of pesos to take with us. 

One of us used a mathematical formula for conversions that required three steps and was completed to the correct decimal point. 

The other one of us just moved the decimal point one place to the left then halved the number to get a close estimate of the amount. Why? Because one of us does not need to be exact and close is enough.  

I am not saying one way is better than the other, of course we all know I think my way is.

Luckily no humans were harmed in the process.

After our fun with conversions session, we watched basketball, softball, then more basketball. Alabama won their basketball game and split a double header in softball.

Friday dinner: It was an every man for himself type of night.We had bits and pieces of whatever could be found in the fridge (nothing much was there) 

I had a bite of chicken, 2 ribs of celery, 3 slices of a bell pepper and 6 cherry tomatoes. Aren't you glad you were not invited to dinner.

Saturday joy: We spent most of the morning preparing for what was supposed to be the storm of the decade. (Getting all laundry done, charging everything that could be charged, relocating anything that could possibly be blown around outside, moving all the potted plants inside the house, while listening to the Auburn/Tennessee game. We did actually watch the last couple of minutes of it. 

The Alabama/ Florida game followed and we had it on knowing that as the storm neared we might lose connections. As it turned out we were able to watch the entire game and got to see our favorite team lose badly. It happens and life goes on. Right now I would pick Florida to come out as the winner of the NCAA tournament. They are good and have many weapons.

Saturday dinner: We had decided to have a simple supper in the event we had no power. There was no outage here but we had the planned meal anyway

Hot dogs and all fixings

Sunday joy: We skipped the early morning communion service and just went to our 8:30 church followed by Sunday School. I was tired and really wanted to skip it all but I am so glad I did not. We have a very young assistant minister who gave the sermon. I have heard him talk before, but never heard him from the pulpit. His message was excellent and he has an incredibly bright future in the ministry. 

Wen we headed home form church we decided to go out for lunch instead of coming back to the house to eat. Saw's in Hoover had some wonderful specials including brussels sprouts with a hot pepper jelly glaze. Sounds weird, I know, but don't knock it until you've tried it. Delicious!

Once home, the pollen that is blowing everywhere hit me hard and a sinus headache followed. I kicked back in the newly bought reclining loveseat and woke about an hour later, just in time to watch Alabama softball. 

Watching Alabama sports is one thing TheHub and I do together, and I swear if Alabama had hoola hoop contests with other SEC schools we would be watching and cheering them on. Obsession???

Sunday dinner: What I thought was frozen browned ground chuck, turned out to be taco seasoned beef. Brakes on and change plans!

Taco salad

Planned for the week:

Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes

Take out

Other than that there are no plans other than eating what is in the fridge and needs to be eaten

Books read in March:

I used to like you until . . .

That Librarian

Southern Grit (yes I read cookbooks from cover to cover)

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

Watch Out!

 

Beware the Ides of March!!!!

My Beloved Sister has issues with the month of March. In fact, throughout her life, nearly every thing unpleasant that has happened to her happened in the month of March. 

She has a particular aversion to the Ides. And of course being the sweet person that I am, for decades on the Ides I give her a call, pitch my voice as deep as possible (which is remarkably deep) say "Beware the Ides of March" then hang up.

 Of course she calls me immediately after and we both laugh. You would think after decades of doing it, it would lose it's humor. Not So!

Now the Ides is throwing a different complication our way, as we prepare for what I hope will amount to not much, but it sounds treacherous. Intense storms with possible tornados are heading our way and it seems Birmingham is in its direct path. We have battened down the hatches and have everything charged and ready for possible power loses.

I called My Beloved Sister again and told her I am putting the blame of this entire weather system on her.

If you are in this storm's path be careful!

Oh No, Just 42 Weeks Till Christmas

This kind of sums up my planning for Christmas in the 42nd week prior to the big day. As fast as January and February flew by, and now March is rolling past, I have much less time than I thought I did. But it's spring here and I though I don't have the blues about trying to organize Christmas, I had rather be planting zinnia seed.

I found 2 different free to me cookbooks with recipes and Christmas customs from Sweden and France, and another book about Christmas in Nigeria. I was thinking it might be fun once a week during the Advent season to have a meal using the recipes and customs of a different country. I could easily do it for just the two of us, but it might be a great impetus to get my rear in a weekly holiday entertaining mode.

I've read through all three of them and there are some wonderful sounding recipes as well as some tips to make the meals "feel" more authentic.

I have already added this idea my Christmas to-do calendar. Right now I have it planned for Wednesday nights during advent, but that is subject to change, obviously.

I will need to try some of the recipes in advance and plan to do that sometime in the spring. We are planning a trip at the end of the month through mid-April and I don't want to buy any unusual ingredients before we leave. (Translation: I plan on doing the minimum cooking until we leave and just don't want to be bothered doing anything out of the ordinary.)

I did get all of my Dickens Village houses packed neatly and safely away. I have 14 houses and to keep all the boxes they came in takes up too much space. Instead I keep them in a huge storage bin all wrapped snugly in thick fleece, then I use the same fleece to fill in any gaps so there is no movement or shifting. I had taken them down long ago but had just moved them and not carefully packed them away. Now they are happy and if the container gets bumped in the room of chaos I so fondly call the decoration closet room, there is no longer any worry of them breaking.

Wrapping and securing the wrappings with rubber bands does not take very long at all. It's fitting them in the container like a jigsaw puzzle that takes a while. But now it is done and one more item is crossed off the list. Just don't ask what else was done to the room or closet because the answer might possibly be nothing. I am a master at avoidance.

Other  than reading a few newly found on the library app Christmas magazines and listing a few ideas I might like to use next Christmas, I did nothing. 

I had said I was going to read one Christmas book a month and found some through my library app, but it is too early to request them since I plan on reading during the trip.

And that all I have. Now I begin the 41st week before Christmas with no plans other than avoiding the room of terror another week.

Ho, Ho, Ho or Ho, Ho, Hum; your choice!

Anne

I wonder where my mind wanders

I begin each week with a meal plan, and a plan for the week's activities and chores. Then I see something shiny and become distracted. That is when things change and I start mentally wandering from whatever task or plan I had.

Monday joy: I stayed home doing a few chores in the morning, before running a few errands.  My latest pet peeve and the reason for one of my errands concerns the US Post Office. 

We no longer have any free standing mailboxes outside the Post Office. It seems people break into them then wash checks. Even our  neighborhood mail carrier no longer picks up outgoing mail from our home mailbox. 

Before I could run mail to a drive up box near my house, right before pick-up time. Now I have to get out of my car, go into the P.O., and stick it in the mail slot, which means I have to at least be presentable enough so I won't scare dogs or small children. Thanks A-holes that ruin things for everyone! 

While I was out and about a crew came to "trim" the crepe myrtles in my yard. Crepe murder was more like it. They had been given a flattop rather than a trim. Yes I know they will grow out during the summer, but they will look really funny until then. For the record evidently TheHub told them to do it that way. I will choose my battles carefully and crepe murder is not one of them.

TheHub went with me in the late afternoon to run a few errands and do a little shopping. The Pig's Monday special coupon was a 24 case of water for 99¢. We don't drink bottled water normally, but keep it on hand for traveling. I only get their specials if it is something we will use and 99 cents for a case was too good to pass up. I buy all my meat at The Pig and never buy it until I see what the Monday special is so I can fulfill the required $10  purchase to use the coupon. Whatever protein is on sale is what I buy to either use during the week, or freeze for later. (And that just might be why my freezer is always so full)

Monday dinner: Our neighbor's generous gesture last week provided enough for us for two meals.

Gumbo, jambalaya, cornbread, coleslaw

Tuesday joy: This was a drop dead gorgeous day  but the winds were really high. I had no where to go so I stayed home and did all kinds of work around the house read. Late in the afternoon, the skies darkened, and the winds howled. By about 8 pm the floodgates opened and rain poured while wind blew, and blew. We were lucky we did not lose power like a lot in our area did.  

Tuesday dinner: We observed Mardi Gras with a fattening feast.

Pancakes, bacon, fruit cup, late night blueberry shortcake 

Wednesday joy: When daylight came we could look for wind damage. Other than a chair and a trash can being blown into the pool we had nothing except a few leaves and a couple of small downed branches. The winds were still high and the temperature had dropped considerably, and continued dropping throughout the day. 

No matter, I put on warm clothes and made my way to Independence Place. No way I would allow anything other than being sick, and afraid I might pass it on to them to keep me from going. There is nothing more heartwarming than going somewhere that everyone is glad to see you. One of the participants knows I do not like to be called Miss Anne, so the moment I walk in I hear "Miss Anne" and see an ear to ear grin on his face. His mother told me he only messes with people he likes so I actually feel honored that he teases me calling me "Miss Anne" the entire time I am there.

Wednesday night: I just was not feeling the cooking thing so we went out for takeout. In addition to getting dinner we were rewarded with a gorgeous tangerine sky peeking through dark clouds.

Chicken green beans, mashed potatoes or coleslaw

Thursday joy: Left home at 6:30 am to head to Jasper (about 1 hour NW of Birmingham) for the 30K mile checkup for my vehicle. OK so technically we were a good bit over 30K but still needed the tune up before we drive to Dallas in a couple of weeks. We had priced having it serviced locally and all 3 nearby locations were 250-300 dollars more than the Jasper location for the very same service. For that amount it was worth the drive, and we turned it into a little mini adventure.

After waiting a couple of hours in the dealership waiting room (Actually, I waited while TheHub looked at a possible new car for him) we headed to the downtown area for brunch at Main Street Market. 

It was an adorable small bakery/restaurant/gourmet food store all rolled into one. 

In addition to having a delicious breakfast scramble bowl, their pastries looked fabulous. According to the person waiting on us they make them fresh every morning but I did not get one because I had decided to eat no sugars during Lent.  TheHub brought a scrumptious looking apple muffin home.

And another pleasant surprise was finding both wild mushroom and sage , and black truffle infused olive oils. There was an olive oil store locally where I could buy it, but it closed about a year ago. I was almost out of both of those and was happy to find more. I told TheHub they actually cost nothing because we bought them from part of the money we saved having the car serviced at such a lower price. Logic!

Thursday dinner: TheHub wanted to have a veggie dinner but I had not even begun to cook when he mentioned it. Not only did we go to a meat and three, but after we ate we ran across the street and watched the sun set from the bluff. Dinner and entertainment?

Coleslaw, green beans, and mixed veggies/ or turnip greens, something, and something else (I don't remember what all TheHub ate.

Friday joy: The day was sunny but still windy. Other than watering the plants, I had an in the house kind of day doing a boatload of laundry. 

It is time for me to start changing over my clothes. Though I am sure we will still have some cool/cold days there are things I will not wear again this year because they just look too wintery. Consequently I am washing a lot of delicate load items that all have special care needs. I am currently out of space to place sweaters on a toweled flat surface. I know. First world problem. 

Additionally I had quilts and blankets from the upstairs bedrooms to launder. I am holding off, though on changing our bed into a spring summer bed. There will still be a few nights that require heavier covers, and I am not about to be cold while sleeping if it is something in my control. 

Another joy, and this sounds very selfish, but I was alone until mid afternoon and loved it. TheHub worked out at the gym, ran to his old office (still doing a tiny bit of work there), met Son2 for lunch, then hit some golf balls and visited with a friend. 

The absolute best thing about being alone was I could have a slice of cheese and some pickles for lunch without feeling obligated to ask anyone else what they wanted, or have anyone else question what I was eating. I should never have to explain my love of sharp cheddar and dill pickles.

Friday dinner: TheHub came home shortly before an Alabama softball double header, which we watched with dinner planned between the two games. Originally I planned on hamburgers, but changed to cook in the house rather than on the grill. Hamburgers can wait for another night.

Ground beef patty, with onions and mushrooms (lots of mushrooms because I really like them), coleslaw, tater tots (TheHub's request)

Saturday joy: What can I say? Alabama beat Auburn in basketball on Auburn's court. Women's softball also won 2 games. It was a good sports day.

Saturday dinner: We ate from the freezer and pantry. It was not great, but it was not bad. 

Chicken with artichoke hearts in a cream sauce, mashed potatoes, tossed salad

Sunday joy: To add insult to injury on the first day of Daylight Savings Time it was cold and rainy. We did make it to church for both the communion and early service, then had Sunday School. We stopped at Everyday Market (Walmart's take on a grocery store) grabbed a few things, got wet, and came straight home. I could not change clothes quick enough, threw on sweats and socks to get warm, ate lunch then read.

After dinner, we caught up on 1928, one of the Yellowstone series set in '28. Crazy name huh?Sunday dinner: It was still cold, rainy and windy so I went to the freezer for inspiration and found enough for 2 servings. Hooray for a heat and eat night. This is why I cook large amounts sometimes and freeze in 2 person serving sizes.

Chili, corn chips or raw veggies.

Potential meals for the week:

1. Grilled tuna, baked potato, asparagus, tossed salad (maybe, maybe not)

2. Conecuh sausage, cooked cabbage, cornbread

3. Veggie meal TBD

4. Cheeseburger salad, rolls

5.  Smoked trout toast (been a possibility for weeks, this week for sure) tossed salad

6. Out to eat

7. Chicken divan

Books read in March:

I used to like you until . . .

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

Oh No, Just 43 Weeks Till Christmas

I am becoming less and less enthused about prepping for Christmas next year, when everything in me is excited about spring. 

I did find a cute door decoration that was a nutcracker printed on canvas made to hang from a doorknob. I was not about to pay 10 bucks for a printed piece of canvas, no matter how cute it was. However, I saved the photo of it, have some balsa wood around the house, and decided to try my hand at painting my own. Heaven knows, I have a multitude of door knobs in this house and at least 3 or 4 of them could stand a little Christmas cheer.

I also added a few recipes to my Christmas cookbook. I have found Google knows no end to a search simply titled Christmas. There seems to be no limit to the number of rabbit holes I can disappear in, which is fun but time consuming.  With that time, though I have found a plethora of recipes  and traditions I had never seen before. 

Now I have to be on the lookout for lomaconi to use making a traditional Spanish Christmas soup. I was thinking that our  entertaining plans for the next holiday season needs to include having close friends over for a simple soup dinner, with three or four different soup choices. Might as well try soups from different parts of the globe, but I will want to try them first.

Did I even set foot in the room that is covered in Christmas and other holiday stuff?  Nope not at all.

There is always next week, right?

Goldilocks Week: Not to Busy and Not to Slow

This past week had gorgeous weather, warmer temperatures and a lot of sun. My hibiscus plants are showing off, and my lime tree is covered with blossoms. The redbud trees in the backyard are in full bloom, daffodils are up everywhere, and I am sneezing a little. It must be spring.

Plans that mostly didn't happen:

1. California roll cucumber salad, dinner rolls

2. Steak, baked potato, salad

3. Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad, rolls

4. Smoked trout toasts, coleslaw

5. Veggie meal TBD

6. Out to eat

7. Thai chicken curry, rice

Monday joy: I spent the day doing laundry and catching up with the TV show "Lost". It is Pip's favorite show and since we will be seeing her the end of March it is always good to have something in common to talk about. That said, I really do not like the show, but have found a different way of "watching " it. 

There is a website called TV Tropes which has a summery of each episode. I watched the first 3 shows in the first season to establish the characters. From there on I read the summery of the episodes, and only have to watch when a new character is introduced. I understand this is like a Cliff Notes approach, but it is working for me.

Monday dinner: Once again the freezer came to the rescue. 

Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, tossed salad, dinner rolls

Tuesday joy: I went to Independence Place, was met at the door with smiles and hugs, then proceeded to show them how to make the worlds easiest chicken and dumplings. 

It only takes chicken broth, canned chicken breast chunks, a can of cream of chicken soup, water, and flour tortillas* cut into 8ths like a pizza. 

Put the broth, chicken, cream of chicken soup  and water into a large boiler (Had to have a large one because they had 10 participants Tuesday but you can scale down as much as you want since there are no official measurements. Just eyeball everything) 

Once it is boiling toss in the tortilla bits, one at a time, stirring so they won't clump. (Stir after each addition.)

Cook until the tortillas are soft and hold their shape and the broth thickens up a bit. 

They loved it, and it is a meal they could make either by themselves, or with minimal assistance.

I did have a request for next time I am there that I will not honor. Miss H wants me to cook  a turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy. Not happening!

Tuesday dinner: We were in the mood for a veggie dinner

Squash casserole, green beans, coleslaw

Wednesday joy: I had my Wednesday class, and since I was dressed anyway TheHub wanted to go out for lunch. We went to a meat and three on the bluff and had veggie plates with a view! While we were out we ran a couple of errands before coming home. 

Sprouts grinds their own peanut butter and I really do prefer getting it there rather than the jarred stuff from the regular grocery store. Since I was stopping by anyway, I picked up several things there I am unable to find at some other places I buy groceries. 

I wish their store nearest me had not closed because I went there every Wednesday on my way home from class. Now I have to make an effort to go, so I don't get by there as often as I used to.

The day was so gorgeous it was easy to justify staying out anyway.

Wednesday dinner: The evening was perfect for firing up the grill.

Steak, baked potato, tossed salad

Thursday joy: Fiber as an internet option was finally available in my neighborhood . We were seriously glad to make the change from Spectrum as it is about 30 bucks a month cheaper and a good bit faster. But we had to wait around for the installer, so we both planned stuff to do while hanging around the house. The upside is that I got a good spring cleaning job done to the den.

Shortly before sunset we rode to The Pig to grab a few things then planned to swing by the bluff to watch it disappear. We missed the actual setting but did get to see some of the beautiful afterglow. We probably should have ridden to the bluff first, Oh well!

Thursday dinner: Because of the installation, we both had lunch much later than usual and we just did not want much for dinner.

Tossed salad

Friday joy: We left the house a bit after nine and headed to Athens, Alabama to meet Son3 and DIL3 for lunch. Athens is halfway between Birmingham and Nashville and a good meeting spot. 

The day was just perfect and TheHub and I talked the entire way up there. We pulled in to The Southern Table restaurant right as they got there too. The food was delicious, the restaurant was charming and the company was great. We were able to have a leisurely lunch, then shopped at a delightful gift shop next door.

I had been to Athens before but never to the downtown area. It is a beautiful Southern town that is thriving. TheHub and I will definitely be going back.

On our way home we stopped at the Dutch Oven Bakery in Falkville. We did quite a bit of damage there, but came home with 3 bags of deliciousness. We actually needed to take something to two of our friends, so it was not all for us. 

One friend's mom had recently passed away so we dropped by her house to give her a cake, and visited for a little bit. 

Then from there we stopped by to take a cake to another friend who is recovering from a knee replacement. While we were at their house we also saw their neighbors, who are mutual friends. The results? A glass of wine and some wonderful conversation with everyone. 

We left, had one more stop then finally made it home by about 6:45.

And, at about 9:30 that night our neighbor rang the doorbell. They had a Mardi Gras party Friday night that we had to decline. I figured we would be cutting the time close, but I had also screwed up my left knee and knew I could not manage climbing her driveway without re-injuring it. Wonderful friend and neighbor that she is, she came bearing gifts. She stayed and we had a nice visit for a couple of hours.

Friday dinner: I forgot we had to use February's monthly minimum we are obligated for, and being as we had been gone all day, we opted for takeout rather than dine in.

Grilled cobia, broccolini, rice pilaf

Saturday joy: We hung around doing odd jobs, laundry and watching (off and on) Alabama softball and men's basketball. The men were literally beaten at the buzzer.

Saturday dinner:  The gifts my neighbor (the one who came over with Friday night) brought were the most delicious edible kind.

Gumbo, jambalaya, cornbread, king cake. 

Sunday joy: We woke early for our church's communion service, followed by early church, then Sunday school. It was also communion Sunday at the early service, so we were double communed that day.

Our Sunday school class had a guest speaker who was about 30 years younger than all of us, but it was very nice to hear the perspectives from someone of a different generation.

TheHub and I came home, ate lunch then watched both Alabama softball and women's basketball.  Sunday is the only day of the week I take a little nap, so I obliged and fell asleep on the loveseat for about 35 minutes. It was bliss.

Sunday dinner: I did not really feel like cooking but there was a package of ground chuck I had thawed that had to be used.

SOS*, coleslaw

Possibilities  for the week that probably won't happen:

1. Smoked trout toast***, coleslaw or salad

2. Pancake dinner, sausage, bacon, fruit compote, decaf latte

3. Hamburger with all the fixings, tater tots (weather may change this)

4. Leftover gumbo, cornbread, cajun coleslaw

5. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, cucumber onion tomato salad

6. Chicken and waffles w/hot honey,  tossed salad

7. Out to eat

Books Read in February:

Confessions of a Christmasoholic

Long List

A Confederacy of Dunces (a re-read)

Anxious People

You Like It Darker

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

* for 10 people (about 3/4 c. serving) I used 2 lg. cans of chicken, one family size container of broth, 1 standard size cream of chicken soup, 1 1/2 soup cans water, and about 18 tortillas

** You either know what this is, or you are really young and have never heard people who served in various military operations speak of their not so hot  K-rations. For anyone trying to figure it out, the 2nd S stands for shingle.

***The smoked trout is vaccuum sealed in the freezer, so it has  just been hanging out in a controlled setting for the past few weeks that I have had it on the menu plans and not yet made it.