Still Getting My Learning On

I learned this most valuable tip from Son2 recently and thought I would pass it on.

I was doing laundry, started doing other chores and completely forgot about the load of clothes in the dryer. If it had been towels or sheets I would have just folded them and put them away, but this was a load of clothes that were wrinkled beyond the folding stage. I was kicking myself in the butt for forgetting about them and dreading the thoughts of ironing everything when he offered this brilliant solution. Put the clothes back in the dryer with 3 or 4 ice cubes and dry for 5 minutes.

Voila! The ice melted and provided just enough steam coupled with the rotation of the clothes in the dryer to knock out the wrinkles. How come I never thought of that. Slow learner, I guess?

Another great tip___Head over to Sluggy's at Don't Read This; It's Boring!
She has a girly girl giveaway going on so hop over and enter! Like she said__Someone has to win so it might as well be you. (or me!)

Shelftember First Full Week

Because I found out about Shelftember after the first of the month, I just began this the day I found out about and counted 7 days worth of meals. I had some successes and some failures but I am posting this guilt free no matter what. As of last week I have spent much less than I usually would, and not bought many items, but we did run into a couple of time warps. Life!

Tuesday: I did not feel like cooking and TheHub had eaten at a Chinese restaurant for lunch so what was I to do? Sandwiches, of course! We had some bologna (one of TheHub's recreational shopping buys) cheese, humongous tomatoes, a hunk of onion in the fridge and a half of a loaf of bread. I toasted 2 slices of bread for each sandwiches under the broiler, turn them over and put sliced gouda and chopped onion on one side and bologna on the other and ran them back under the broiler till the cheese melted and the onion wilted a little. Each sandwich got a huge slice of tomato and a smear of mayo, and that was good enough for a low keyed weeknight meal. TheHub ate the last of the ice cream after dinner, so I see a recreational shopping trip for him unless I beat him to the punch Wednesday. Day1 of Shelftember is in the books.
Used: leftover bologna, 3 slices gouda, 1/2 tomato. 2 slices of onion.4 slices bread, mayonnaise

Wednesday: I had to go to my new attorney (Thank you to the person in my life who is drawing several of us who have nothing to do with anything into her own personal "Jerry Springer" lawsuit Hell. There is nothing greater than giving up 2 days of my life plus legal fees to be deposed for something I know little about and care about even less) Immediately after that I had to run cancel the refrigerator I bought for Mom on Tuesday and find a different fridge that could be delivered asap. I got home later than I like Wednesday evening (oh yeah, because I had to look for the fridge at 3 different places and go to a fourth to cancel the sale), I foraged the freezer for something quick and relatively easy. (because I forgot to take anything out in advance)  Finding nothing that could be ready in 10 minutes or less we did the logical thing and went out to eat!  Oh well!

Thursday: TheHub and I were both on unusual schedules today and he ate later than he normally does at lunch so he was not very hungry at dinner time. I pulled out about a half a pound of frozen browned ground beef, a can of beans and created a taco salad over a big bowl of lettuceI had a bag of tortilla chips so I added 4 to the side of each salad and called it good enough. It was really pretty tasty and more then filling for the late lunch crows.
Used: 1 small pack frozen ground beef, the leftover tomato half, 1 thick slice of the leftover onion, half a head of lettuce, the tail end of a bag of shredded cheddar (leftover from Son 3's visit), can of navy beans8 tortilla chips, salsa from the fridge 1 half head of lettuce.

Friday: Tonight we were having an easy night in, but by the time I finished all of the  Mom duties for the day, it was nearly 7 and no thought had been given to dinner. TheHub worked late since I was doing Mom things and we both pulled in the driveway at the same time. I suppose I could have come in and rustled up some sort of meal but instead I hopped in his car and we headed to a local meat and 3 to grab a take out vegetable dinner. Yumlicious!
I did make a yogurt pie this morning so At least I used something I had on hand.
Used: graham cracker crumbs from the freezer, leftover yogurt (from Son3's visit, whipping cream (left from same visit) 1 package sugar free lime jello

Saturday: I had a special request for Saturday night.  It was a ball game night and TheHub wanted something we could easily eat in the den while we watched the games (euphemism for sitting with
the remote and flipping back and forth between 4 games). Pasties and a glass of wine. Great pair!
Used: 1 cup(ish) Bisquick, shortening, additional flour, 1/2 pound ground beef, 1/2 onion, 1 carton mushrooms, 3 carrots, 1/2 bag spinach, last of a bottle of barely drinkable wine, couple of tablespoons heavy cream.

Sunday: I had about some browned ground beef left over from the freezer pack I used Saturday night, so it became the featured player in the Sunday meal. I made a very simple beef and veggie casserole and a side of marinated cucumbers, tomatoes and onions. In addition I made a pineapple upside down cake because TheHub is starting to notice he is out of ice cream and if I have a dessert available for him I might be able to deflect his recreational shopping habit for a couple of days.
Used: 1/3 pound ground beef, 1/2 onion, carton of mushrooms, 1/2 can mushroom soup (had no idea I even had that in the pantry) small pack chopped zucchini (frozen) about 1/4 bag of shredded hash browns (freezer) 1/2 cup shredded cheese, can crushed pineapple, pineapple cake mix (thought it was a yellow cake when I bought it)

Monday: Because of potential high winds, which almost always means loss of power around here, I sorted through the freezer to make room so I could move everything from the refrigerator freezer to the big one in the laundry room. We all know an unopened big freezer stays frozen for a couple of days, so it just made sense. While I was rearranging I found a full container of dressing. (Cornbread stuffing that is baked in a pan for you non-southern types). Our dinner was chicken and dressing. sliced tomatoes and green beans and some Levian Bakery type  cookies (they are so good)
Used: 4 frozen chicken thighs, container of dressing,green beans from big Trader's Joe's frozen bag,
1 tomato, flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar,1 egg, 1/2 bag chocolate chips.

Pasties, It's Not What You're Thinking

Before I get into the main point of this post please allow me to share with you what our Saturday's during the college football season are like. We wake and turn on ESPN's GameDay. Generally I take a look to see where they are, I look at the crowd to try and find the Washington State University flag. (So impressed with those guys who must have a boatload of time and money on hand to go to every single GameDay broadcast with their WSU flag.) Then I go about my business and come back just before 11 to see which mascot head/hat/headdress Lee Corso dons as his Gameday final prediction. This week he chose Brutus Buckeye. Bzzzzzz! Wrong pick Lee! Oklahoma State lead by Baker Mayfield won the game. (How sad is it that I am an old Alabama gal yet I know Baker Mayfield is the Oklahoma State quarterback. Does this give it away that I am the sole female in household of guys?)

Anyway, TheHub went to the Alabama game with Son2 and wanted something "totable" for dinner when they returned. Saturdays during football season are the only nights in the year that we might possibly eat in the den instead of at the table, and that is only if the night games are particularly good.

This week's were Clemson/Auburn, Notre Dame/Georgia. South Carolina/ Missouri and USC/Stanford. We watched Clemson/Auburn mainly but flipped back and forth among the others to keep up with them. After the Auburn game was over we watched the last quarter and a half of Georgia /Notre Dame, so it was worth making an easy, neat dinner that was self contained, relatively decent for us and survived sudden outbursts and yells!

Lest you think with the headline post "pasties' that I have taken a new job working the pole at Sammy's Go Go lounge, rest assured this is referencing a dinner recipe, not "clothing" of an exotic nature.

                                              Pasties, it's what's for dinner!

Pastry Crust for a double crust pie (homemade or purchased, no judgements)

1/2 pound ground beef (browned)

1/2 onion, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1 carton mushrooms, cleaned and diced

1-1/2 bag cleaned spinach (I had 1/2 bag in the fridge that was hidden under the lettuce so__)

1/2 cup wine (leftover from Son3's recent visit, bad for drinking, great for cooking)

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon savory

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons heavy cream (leftover from Son3)

Brown the ground beef, toss in the carrots and onions and cook until both are tender, adding the wine as needed for liquid. (If it gets too dry add more wine or water, but wine is better) Throw in the mushrooms and let them soften, then add the spinach and let it wilt. Give every thing a good stir, add the seasonings and cook for a couple of minutes until the mixture is almost dry. Stir in the heavy cream and continue cooking until it is reduced by half, then remove from the heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes.

While the mixture is cooling, roll the crust into 4 thin circles about the size of a breakfast plate. (If I had used  pre-made crusts I would not have rerolled it, I would have just taken it from the tin, put it on a pastry cloth and made a giant pastie (because I am an efficient time manager lazy) but I actually made my crust* so I did the 4 balls rolled into circles thing.

Put about 1/2-3/4  cup of the mixture into the center of the pie crust dough in a nice compact mound fold the top over the bottom and seal together using the tines of a fork to press the dough together. Trim off any excess. (which I did not do because I didn't care what it looked like since it was just the two of us so I just pressed it together with my fingers and it was not pretty. Carefully place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for about 15 -20 minutes until the crust is nicely browned. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. If you try to take them off the pan too soon you will have nothing but a broken crust and a big mess. Remove with a wide spatula and serve. Ummmmmm!

*Since the aim of my cooking this month is to use us some of my food storage items, I used about a cup and a half of Bisquick then added enough flour and shortening and water to make 2 crusts. Because the Bisquick has leavening in it, I did get a weird rise, but like I said it was just the two of us and it didn't matter.  The taste was the same and now an additional box is gone from the pantry. Double win!

Late to the Party

As usual, if there is a party invitation it gets lost in the mail heap or I misplace it until right before the date of the event and I am left scurrying to find something to wear. It seems that even in these days of social media I am still late to the party. Reading through all of the blogs I read regularly I heard about "Shelftember" which is a month of super low food budgets while you use foods from your pantry and freezer storage. (I would go back and look through all the blogs I read to post a link but I am honestly just too busy lazy today to do it. If you will let me know in the comments I will edit the post here with a link back to your page)

Since I read about it after I had done a moderate Aldi's run August 31 I am starting today.(Technically I will be observing Shelftember correctly, but we all know I was buying things for September the last day of August.)  My goal for the month is to buy minimal groceries (fresh produce, milk, bread and coffee) and use things I have socked away. I hope to spend about 30 bucks a week (or less) and hope to make a substantial dent in my frozen foods and pantry. There are 2 exceptions to this challenge though. If there is a tremendous sale on meats or poultry I might do a stock up buy, but it will be put in a different part of the freezer and remain unused throughout the month. Also September is my birthday month and I am not sure if we will go out of cook something delicious out. Either way I am planning on paying no attention to Shelftember on that day. Sue me!

I thought I would record our dinners only since breakfasts are bleak if not non-existant around here. TheHub eats lunch out every day (working lunches with meetings attached to food most days) and I eat bits and bobs of whatever is left over from meals during the week. Somedays I think it would be nice to have whatever suited my fancy for lunch, but that just doesn't happen except for the occasional lunch out with friends.

I am starting this challenge with 2 dozen eggs, 3/4 gallon milk, 1 cauliflower, 1/2 head cabbage, 6 tomatoes (huge tomatoes) 4 onions, a dozen or so small potatoes, 2 cukes, 1 bell pepper, 1 head of lettuce, 1 lb. of carrots, 1/2 lb okra,  some grapes, 2 cartons of mushrooms, a couple of limes and a couple of lemons  and every condiment known to man in the fridge.  Everything else is unknown and either frozen or in the pantry. Should be fun (or irritating because it requires planning and I hate cooking pre-planned menus. First. World. Problem. eh?)

So now I am off to the races with a quick freezer inventory to see what I have to work with. I might be cooking something  interesting and tasty or it might be craptastic, but either way it will make a huge dent in my food excess storage.  Wanna play along?

Rachel at Credit Card Services

I am in a quandary about what to do with the ever increasing robo calls. Long ago I signed up with the "do not call" system and they abated for a while. And then along came the robot caller.

Rachel with credit card services started calling. While I appreciate her automated honesty that there is nothing wrong with my credit card (no shit!) I am tired of her calls every single day. And the hussy is not only brazen enough to call daily, but the witch changes numbers so that even though I block them religiously she pops up with a new one. And now she has gotten clever enough to use numbers from the same area code with local prefixes.


Next let's throw in the guy from "Microsoft" who calls at least once a week to tell me something is wrong with my computer. Amazing, especially since I have a  Macbook.  He uses local ever changing numbers also.

And we should not forget the guy from the "IRS" who only wants to help me with the lien and outstanding charges the IRS has filed against me. He honestly only wants to help and I understand if I want his help I will be routed to either CVS or Rite-Aid to send E-cards with 5 grand to assure all actions will stop. Did I ever mention TheHub is a CPA?

 Last but not least is the the robo nameless woman who calls me to help with legal issues. It seems that 3 criminal warrants have been filed against me, but she only wants to help in this police matter and if I will go to Rite Aid or CVS and send money to her, all the charges will magically be dropped before I am served. Though I do not have a criminal lawyer, we do have an attorney and I am pretty sure I would call him first and let him refer me to one of his contemporaries who deals in criminal law if I had done something illegal. (Though I will admit sometimes I do drive over the speed limit and I have been known to cut the tags off of pillows and mattresses. Shhhh don't tell anyone!)

And before you think I am an idiot for answering these calls, I don't. Unless I know the number on caller ID I do not answer it, but these suckers leave me messages and I have to cull through them to delete. So if you call me and I don't answer your call, leave a message in your best non-robo voice and I will get back to you. I hate it that voice mail is my only form of defense against the persistent intruders.

Fakin' Bakin' Fried Green Tomatoes

For the past two weeks we have been lucky to have the extraordinarily talented, beautiful Girlfriend3 sharing our home. Yeah, we let Son3 come here too, but he is not quite as pretty as she is.  Since she is from the world, Swedish descent, but lived in Switzerland before landing last year in New York, we felt it was our job to expose her to as much Southern Culture (Redneckism) as possible. At the same time we were filling her head with colloquialisms like "I'm fixin to carry Mom to The Pig" (loose translation: In a few minutes I am going to drive to Mom's, pick her up and drive her to the grocery store) we were also filling her stomach with southern foods.

What would be more appropriate for a traditional meal than peas, okra, creamed corn, sliced tomatoes and fried green tomatoes? Except I really no longer fry okra or green tomatoes, so I thought I would share with you an easier and slightly healthier (very slightly) method to oven bake crispy coated green tomatoes.

This is not a recipe as much as it is a method, since the amounts will change based on how many tomatoes you choose to "fry".  First preheat your oven to 350. Spray a baking sheet with raised edge twice with Pam and set aside. Slice nice firm green tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick. Get 3 shallow bowls, one with plain flour, one with a beaten egg, and the third with a mixture (half and half) of corn flour and corn meal. Dredge the tomato slices through the flour, until all are coated. Then dip them in the beaten egg on both sides and dredge in the corn meal/corn flour mixture. Place on the baking sheet and continue until all the slices are coated. Spray the tops of the tomatoes twice with pam and pop them in the oven for 10 minutes. Take them out, spray twice again, then flip each tomato over. Spray the flipped tomatoes once and pop them back in the oven to continue cooking. (My oven took about 8 more minutes) Remove and lightly salt before removing from tray.  Serve piping hot for some down home Alabama goodness.

p.s. You can  "fry your okra in the oven too, just cut it and let it sit for a couple of minutes, coat it with meal and put it in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet that has been heated in the oven for about 3 minutes. (I use olive oil) Then spray the tops of the okra slices about 3 times with Pam. Flip it after about 10 minutes. Spray the flipped sides about 3 times with Pam and continue baking until it is brown and crunchy (About 10 minutes in my oven)

p.p.s She loved the okra but was not crazy about the tomatoes. I just think it was great that she would try things without flinching! They have only been gone an hour and I already miss them!

Filling the Void

I have been away from blogging and am really not back, but I thought I would fill the blogging void by answering the following questions about myself, (It was easy to copy and paste so I swiped this from a Facebook friends post.) I hope some of you will copy and paste it as well and we can have a little getting  to know each other a little better experience.

I am being very honest here!

 What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Chocolate Ice Cream
2. Where was your profile pic taken? Uh, I don't have one.
3. Worst pain you've ever experienced?  Last hour of a natural childbirth
4. Favorite place you've traveled? Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.
5. How late did you stay up last night? 4:00 am
6. If you could move somewhere else, where would it be? I would love to have a 2nd home in Portland, Oregon (Give me 3 years and it will most likely happen)
8. Which of your Blogger friends lives closest to you? Linda @Practical Parsimony lives just an hour North of Birmingham
10. When was the last time you cried? A few days after Dad died
11. Who took your profile photo? Again, I don't have one
12. Who was the last person you took a picture with? Participants at Independence Place
13. What's your favorite season? Autumn
14. If you could have any career, what would it be? Selecting music to be used in films
15. Do you think relationships are ever worth it? Absolutely
16. If you could talk to ANYONE right now who would it be?  Dad and Leonardo Da Vinci
17. Are you a good influence? Depends on whom you ask!
18. Does pineapple belong on pizza? Never! It is pizza blasphemy
19. You have the remote, what channel? NatGeo
20. Whom do you think will play along? I don't think anyone in particular will, but I hope a lot of you do. It only takes a few minutes to complete!