Another rather dull weekend. Keith worked on the patio on Saturday and I guess it's actually finished now except for the ground underneath it all which is still dirt and weeds and someday we'll have paver blocks on the ground instead of dirt and weeds. He got a bonus check for 1000 days of no accidents at work last week which after taxes was like $175 and he is supposed to spend that on pavers. I think I'll need to remind him to go get the pavers this week before the money in his wallet gets frittered away on chips and beer like so many other little bonus checks have had a tendency to do.
Then Sunday was football and naps. I didn't take a nap but was bored all day and kind of restless and really didn't feel like doing much of anything.
I put some steaks in the crock pot yesterday, following a recipe that I think I'll try in the oven next time instead. You take your steaks and stick them in the crock pot and then mix up 1 cup of ketchup and 1 cup of brown sugar only I did 1/2 cup of each because we didn't have 6-8 steaks like the recipe said and that sounded like a whole lot of sauce for only 2 steaks. You sprinkle some salt, pepper and a few dashes of worchestershire sauce on top, then you cook on high for 3 hours, then low for 3 hours. The flavor was good but the steaks were incredibly dry. Tender, but dry, dry, dry. I know lots of people swear by their crock pots but it seems that every time I use it I'm very disappointed in the food. It's always dry or overcooked or something. So, back in the cupboard you go, crock pot.
I tried another new recipe this weekend that did come out good and kind of different. Healthy, too. Low fat and all that crap. This made enough for two meals or feeding a bunch of people.
Three Chili Turkey Tacos
1 lb ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/3 cup beer (I had to send Keith to the store to buy some beer for this, he wasn't too unhappy about that)
1/3 cup chili sauce- the bottled stuff
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
3 1/4 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1 garlic clove, minced (I left this out because garlic really disagrees with me these days)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
taco shells or tortillas to make your own taco shells or whatever. We only eat the expensive low carb tortillas.
shredded cheese and lettuce or whatever else you want on your tacos.
In a large skillet, cook turkey, onion, and red pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, drain. My turkey had no fat in it to drain, I actually had to add a little oil to the skillet to keep it from sticking to the pan.
Stir in the beer, chili sauce, chilies, etc. All the rest of the ingredients except for the taco shells and cheese. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5-7 minutes or until heated through.
Eat.
This was good, kind of sweet from the red pepper and chili sauce rather than spicy. I would definitely make this again.
Showing posts with label another boring weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label another boring weekend. Show all posts
Monday, January 23, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
We Are Still Boring
Very boring. Sometimes I think we are about the most boring people in the world. We did next to nothing all weekend. Just the usual housework and messing around on the computer for me with a little bit of time spent working on things and for Keith, a weekend of football and reading a book. The reading a book part is actually very unusual for him, he likes books but mostly nonfiction train books. For him to sit down and read a novel is well, quite a novel occurance.
I had bought a stack of thriller novels, killers and cops type of novels at the Goodwill bookstore. A big stack that cost $8.40- love the Goodwill bookstore! If you don't like the book all that much you don't feel guilty for spending money on a book and then not reading it, you just take it back to the Goodwill and let it recycle through again or if it's really beat up and not worth taking it back, toss it in the recycle bin. Anyway, he found a book in my stack about cops and murders in Los Angeles and he got involved in the story and didn't put it down all weekend.
Of course nothing else got done by him all weekend except for the part where I handed him a bag and made him clean out the cat boxes, but he does deserve a weekend of relaxation every once in a while, his job is very demanding physically and he comes home totally worn out every day.
I did make a decent dinner this weekend. Twice actually! It was a plan-over type recipe that I found in one of those cooking magazines and it came out edible and was easy to make. Here is the original recipe that I cut in half for us.
Honey and Spice Baked Chicken. I thought this might be too spicy for me but it was just right.
3 tps garlic powder
3 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 tbsp honey
2 tsp cider vinegar
Combine first six ingredients, rub over chicken. It did not specify, but I rubbed both sides of the chicken. Put the chicken in a big greased baking pan. Or sprayed with Pam baking pan or whatever.
Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Combine the honey and vinegar, baste over chicken during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Save some chicken for this next recipe.
Chicken Chimichangas
3 honey and spice baked chicken breasts, cubed
1 cup refried beans
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
6 flour tortillas, warmed
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
oil for frying
optional toppings like sour cream, lettuce, whatever you like on your chimichangas.
Combine first seven ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Cover and microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Spoon 1/2 cup off center on each tortilla, sprinkle with cheese. Fold up edge nearest filling, fold in on both sides and roll up. Secure with a toothpick if you want but it wasn't necessary because I fried with the folded down side first which kind of seals it all together.
If you have an electric skillet or deep fat fryer, heat to 375 and fry until golden brown on all sides. If you aren't all fancy and just have a skillet like me, just fry them up in some hot oil.
This chicken would also be good in just about any recipe calling for chicken with a little spice on it. We make a southwestern chicken salad that it would be perfect for. It's basically just lettuce with black beans and corn (drained of course), olives, tomatoes, grated cheddar cheese, and tortilla strips with the chicken on top and ranch dressing.
I had bought a stack of thriller novels, killers and cops type of novels at the Goodwill bookstore. A big stack that cost $8.40- love the Goodwill bookstore! If you don't like the book all that much you don't feel guilty for spending money on a book and then not reading it, you just take it back to the Goodwill and let it recycle through again or if it's really beat up and not worth taking it back, toss it in the recycle bin. Anyway, he found a book in my stack about cops and murders in Los Angeles and he got involved in the story and didn't put it down all weekend.
Of course nothing else got done by him all weekend except for the part where I handed him a bag and made him clean out the cat boxes, but he does deserve a weekend of relaxation every once in a while, his job is very demanding physically and he comes home totally worn out every day.
I did make a decent dinner this weekend. Twice actually! It was a plan-over type recipe that I found in one of those cooking magazines and it came out edible and was easy to make. Here is the original recipe that I cut in half for us.
Honey and Spice Baked Chicken. I thought this might be too spicy for me but it was just right.
3 tps garlic powder
3 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 tbsp honey
2 tsp cider vinegar
Combine first six ingredients, rub over chicken. It did not specify, but I rubbed both sides of the chicken. Put the chicken in a big greased baking pan. Or sprayed with Pam baking pan or whatever.
Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Combine the honey and vinegar, baste over chicken during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Save some chicken for this next recipe.
Chicken Chimichangas
3 honey and spice baked chicken breasts, cubed
1 cup refried beans
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
6 flour tortillas, warmed
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
oil for frying
optional toppings like sour cream, lettuce, whatever you like on your chimichangas.
Combine first seven ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Cover and microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Spoon 1/2 cup off center on each tortilla, sprinkle with cheese. Fold up edge nearest filling, fold in on both sides and roll up. Secure with a toothpick if you want but it wasn't necessary because I fried with the folded down side first which kind of seals it all together.
If you have an electric skillet or deep fat fryer, heat to 375 and fry until golden brown on all sides. If you aren't all fancy and just have a skillet like me, just fry them up in some hot oil.
This chicken would also be good in just about any recipe calling for chicken with a little spice on it. We make a southwestern chicken salad that it would be perfect for. It's basically just lettuce with black beans and corn (drained of course), olives, tomatoes, grated cheddar cheese, and tortilla strips with the chicken on top and ranch dressing.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Littering and Diets
Did everyone see that story about the family that was walking along the top of a cliff in LA somewhere and the dog fell down the side of the cliff and the boy went after him and they were both stuck there for like 2 hours and had to be rescued? And the whole thing started because the dad tossed a bottle over the side of the cliff and the dog went after it? The dog was quite naturally assuming the man was just playing fetch.That's what's wrong with our country today, people who litter and then fall down the side of a cliff and thousands of tax dollars need to be spent to rescue them.
We are all on diets this year, cats included. They are all too fat and eat too much, so they are just getting dry food twice a day and wet food only once a day. Those little cans add up to lots of dollars spent when you are opening four of them a day. Yesterday was the first day they didn't get wet food in the afternoon and they all looked at me like WHAT THE HELL LADY! We are too fat and eat too much also, so it's healthy eating time with no junk food allowed in the house. And I'm already STARVING.
Last night we had pork chops with two different vegetables. I was hungry about 2 hours later so had a 60 calorie low carb yogurt and an Atkins low carb candy bar. You have to watch those low carb high fiber Atkins bars, though. DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT eat these during the day unless you want to have a great deal of gas later on. Only eat them late at night where if you do get gas you just sleep through it.
We had a rather boring weekend, Keith slept a lot with taking like 3 naps one day. At one point he was 'watching' football where he had the remote in one hand and a beer bottle in the other and was sitting straight up sound asleep. He did get the back yard raked up just in time for the green waste trash truck to come pick up the can yesterday. Here it is January and our back yard trees are just now dropping their leaves. And some of them are even budding already. While dropping their leaves. I think they are just totally confused this year.
Besides our food diet, we are also on a money diet this year. I was explaining to Keith that if we didn't spend so much money on food (like the $180.00 he spent last weekend) we could maybe have some extra money to do more fun things like little trips or going to the movies or whatever. Like most Americans, we spend an extraordinary amount of money on food, half of which gets wasted because we never eat it all or forget that something is in the back of the fridge. So, better menu planning and simpler meals this year. We'll see how that goes.
We are all on diets this year, cats included. They are all too fat and eat too much, so they are just getting dry food twice a day and wet food only once a day. Those little cans add up to lots of dollars spent when you are opening four of them a day. Yesterday was the first day they didn't get wet food in the afternoon and they all looked at me like WHAT THE HELL LADY! We are too fat and eat too much also, so it's healthy eating time with no junk food allowed in the house. And I'm already STARVING.
Last night we had pork chops with two different vegetables. I was hungry about 2 hours later so had a 60 calorie low carb yogurt and an Atkins low carb candy bar. You have to watch those low carb high fiber Atkins bars, though. DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT eat these during the day unless you want to have a great deal of gas later on. Only eat them late at night where if you do get gas you just sleep through it.
We had a rather boring weekend, Keith slept a lot with taking like 3 naps one day. At one point he was 'watching' football where he had the remote in one hand and a beer bottle in the other and was sitting straight up sound asleep. He did get the back yard raked up just in time for the green waste trash truck to come pick up the can yesterday. Here it is January and our back yard trees are just now dropping their leaves. And some of them are even budding already. While dropping their leaves. I think they are just totally confused this year.
Besides our food diet, we are also on a money diet this year. I was explaining to Keith that if we didn't spend so much money on food (like the $180.00 he spent last weekend) we could maybe have some extra money to do more fun things like little trips or going to the movies or whatever. Like most Americans, we spend an extraordinary amount of money on food, half of which gets wasted because we never eat it all or forget that something is in the back of the fridge. So, better menu planning and simpler meals this year. We'll see how that goes.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday Morning
And while I really miss the money I'm kind of glad I didn't have to get up and go to an office job this morning. I really really do miss the money though.
After a rather long dry spell I actually have a few orders to go out in today's mail. I have been working on redoing my pictures YET AGAIN! with just a plain white background but some of the pictures come out kind of gray or blue instead of white so I have to lighten them up a whole lot in picnic, therefore I've been spending a lot of time the past 4 or 5 days sitting here messing around with pictures and editing my listings and wondering if it's all worth it. I was renewing all the etsy listings as I edited, hoping that somebody somewhere would see it and buy my crap already, but that 20c a listing really starts to add up after a while. So, anyway, glad to see a few sales come from my efforts.
There is a website that ranks etsy sellers by items sold into top 100 and top 1000 lists. I'm actually at number 79 in the top 100 jewelry sellers, and at 349 in the top 1000 in all the handmade categories combined. I got to thinking about it, there is something like 200,000 sellers with active shops on etsy and if I'm up in the top 100 in the jewelry category, think how many of those 200,000 sellers are like me and struggling for every sale. I was all ready to close my shop at the end of the year, but then I get a few sales and maybe it's worth it to stay on etsy after all, but it costs me SO MUCH MONEY to try and sell there.
I compared Etsy and Artfire on the Alexis ranking website and Etsy is way up there, but Artfire is not far behind. Etsy gets almost all of their traffic from internal browsing, while Artfire mostly comes from internet searches. So, anyway....don't know what to do so I'll see how the rest of the year goes before deciding for sure whether to go or stay on etsy.
What else is going on around here besides not much?
We went downtown to the home and garden/train show at the fairgrounds Saturday morning. Keith invited our neighbors to meet us there and hang out with us, but the only problem with going with other people is that you kind of have to keep up with them and they weren't all that interested in trains, so Keith got his hand stamped and went back later by himself. I'm not all that interested in trains either, so that worked out for me, too. Keith can spend hours looking at all the displays and stuff for sale and talking with all the train guys while I stand there bored out of my mind. We were hoping to see Joe at the train show but he wasn't there that day. Keith did tell some of his train club buddies to tell him hi for us.
I thought it was pretty ingenious for them to combine the train show with the home show, but the poor train show had to set up in a building that is kind of hidden behind the main commercial building, so I'm sure most of the home show goers didn't even bother to venture back there.
We did see some really big fish, they always have the koi club set up at the home shows and some of those fish are HUGE. Very pretty, too.
Then we went grocery shopping yesterday and now it's back to the work week for poor Keith, and back to whatever for me. It's time to go clean the cat box now.
After a rather long dry spell I actually have a few orders to go out in today's mail. I have been working on redoing my pictures YET AGAIN! with just a plain white background but some of the pictures come out kind of gray or blue instead of white so I have to lighten them up a whole lot in picnic, therefore I've been spending a lot of time the past 4 or 5 days sitting here messing around with pictures and editing my listings and wondering if it's all worth it. I was renewing all the etsy listings as I edited, hoping that somebody somewhere would see it and buy my crap already, but that 20c a listing really starts to add up after a while. So, anyway, glad to see a few sales come from my efforts.
There is a website that ranks etsy sellers by items sold into top 100 and top 1000 lists. I'm actually at number 79 in the top 100 jewelry sellers, and at 349 in the top 1000 in all the handmade categories combined. I got to thinking about it, there is something like 200,000 sellers with active shops on etsy and if I'm up in the top 100 in the jewelry category, think how many of those 200,000 sellers are like me and struggling for every sale. I was all ready to close my shop at the end of the year, but then I get a few sales and maybe it's worth it to stay on etsy after all, but it costs me SO MUCH MONEY to try and sell there.
I compared Etsy and Artfire on the Alexis ranking website and Etsy is way up there, but Artfire is not far behind. Etsy gets almost all of their traffic from internal browsing, while Artfire mostly comes from internet searches. So, anyway....don't know what to do so I'll see how the rest of the year goes before deciding for sure whether to go or stay on etsy.
What else is going on around here besides not much?
We went downtown to the home and garden/train show at the fairgrounds Saturday morning. Keith invited our neighbors to meet us there and hang out with us, but the only problem with going with other people is that you kind of have to keep up with them and they weren't all that interested in trains, so Keith got his hand stamped and went back later by himself. I'm not all that interested in trains either, so that worked out for me, too. Keith can spend hours looking at all the displays and stuff for sale and talking with all the train guys while I stand there bored out of my mind. We were hoping to see Joe at the train show but he wasn't there that day. Keith did tell some of his train club buddies to tell him hi for us.
I thought it was pretty ingenious for them to combine the train show with the home show, but the poor train show had to set up in a building that is kind of hidden behind the main commercial building, so I'm sure most of the home show goers didn't even bother to venture back there.
We did see some really big fish, they always have the koi club set up at the home shows and some of those fish are HUGE. Very pretty, too.
Then we went grocery shopping yesterday and now it's back to the work week for poor Keith, and back to whatever for me. It's time to go clean the cat box now.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Again?
Another weekend gone by? Another dull weekend gone by? We did try to think of something, anything to do this weekend but came up with nothing, folks. Keith napped a lot.
I did make him go for a bike ride Saturday morning, and our weather has so far been cooperating so that we can go for a bike ride without having heatstroke. It's been really mild for us here, temps only getting up into the mid to high 90s later in the day with the mornings being cool enough to open the windows instead of living in a dark cave with all the curtains shut and the a/c blasting away. I'm hoping that this continues for a few more weeks, it's really odd but really nice that we are not having our usual over 100 degree days.
I went to the Goodwill bookstore and got two bags of books for $10.80. Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE the Goodwill bookstore? I was in Target the other day and was looking at a book that was $12.00 and was very tempted to buy it but then realized that I could get 12 books for that same amount of money over at the Goodwill bookstore. I'm getting cheaper by the minute here.
I even made my own cleaner refill for my Clorox mopper thing. It's the cheap version of a Swiffer mopper and I was all set to mop the bathroom floor (shocker, that!) and the cleaner jug thing was empty so I googled homemade refills and made my own. Because I didn't want to spend the four bucks or so for the commercial refill stuff. Ah, frugality at it's best.
I cleaned out the refrigerator and washed all the shelves. I didn't quite get to the pantry and have it on my list for today, but we'll see. I think it's time to clean it out because the other day I got out the corn starch and looked at the date on it and it had expired like last year sometime.
Yesterday I fooled around with making little paper pillow party favor/gift boxes out of some of the immense amounts of paper I have around here. They came out really cute and kind of addicting to make. I will have pictures tomorrow and will be listing some in the shop.
What else?
I've already cleaned up two piles of cat vomit this morning and the cat boxes are waiting to be cleaned. Harri usually stands right by the box as I'm cleaning it and jumps in as soon as I'm done. I guess she likes a fresh bowl. (Ally McBeal reference there)
And that's all.
I did make him go for a bike ride Saturday morning, and our weather has so far been cooperating so that we can go for a bike ride without having heatstroke. It's been really mild for us here, temps only getting up into the mid to high 90s later in the day with the mornings being cool enough to open the windows instead of living in a dark cave with all the curtains shut and the a/c blasting away. I'm hoping that this continues for a few more weeks, it's really odd but really nice that we are not having our usual over 100 degree days.
I went to the Goodwill bookstore and got two bags of books for $10.80. Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE the Goodwill bookstore? I was in Target the other day and was looking at a book that was $12.00 and was very tempted to buy it but then realized that I could get 12 books for that same amount of money over at the Goodwill bookstore. I'm getting cheaper by the minute here.
I even made my own cleaner refill for my Clorox mopper thing. It's the cheap version of a Swiffer mopper and I was all set to mop the bathroom floor (shocker, that!) and the cleaner jug thing was empty so I googled homemade refills and made my own. Because I didn't want to spend the four bucks or so for the commercial refill stuff. Ah, frugality at it's best.
I cleaned out the refrigerator and washed all the shelves. I didn't quite get to the pantry and have it on my list for today, but we'll see. I think it's time to clean it out because the other day I got out the corn starch and looked at the date on it and it had expired like last year sometime.
Yesterday I fooled around with making little paper pillow party favor/gift boxes out of some of the immense amounts of paper I have around here. They came out really cute and kind of addicting to make. I will have pictures tomorrow and will be listing some in the shop.
What else?
I've already cleaned up two piles of cat vomit this morning and the cat boxes are waiting to be cleaned. Harri usually stands right by the box as I'm cleaning it and jumps in as soon as I'm done. I guess she likes a fresh bowl. (Ally McBeal reference there)
And that's all.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Just Another Monday
Mondays not being all that different from any other day of the week when you don't have a job, but...
It's typically the day that I try to get the house all clean and sparkly which just might happen today. Maybe. I did start a load of laundry already and it's only 8 am.
Keith spent ALL DAY yesterday (well, the whole afternoon and evening anyway because we did go for a bike ride in the morning and stuff) working on hooking up a new antenna for the TV. We had an antenna for years that just kind of laid on top of the entertainment center and when a channel wouldn't come in we would jiggle the thing around and every so often it would fall off and just kind of hang there by its cord. Well, a few weekends ago he got really mad at it and threw it on the floor and something came loose inside it and it just wasn't quite the same not so great antenna anymore, so...we bought a new bigger and better antenna. That really needed to be attached to the roof outside for optimum TV viewing. A new antenna that sat on the cat's condo for about a week because that's where it got the best reception, much to the consternation of the cats who were wondering why this rather large metal thing with a big long cord was taking naps on their condo. A cord that you were in danger of decapitating yourself with if you were trying to get to the back door to take the trash out.
So, anyway, yesterday was lets get this antenna properly hooked up day, which of course necessitated not one but two separate trips to Home Depot to pick up cables and wall box things and assorted screws and whatever else. And each time Keith goes to Home Depot he is gone for at the very least an hour or two because Home Depot is The World of Wonder when it comes to Keith shopping there, with each nut and bolt having to be inspected and each packet of cable or wall plate having to be price and quality compared.
There is no cable outlet on the wall where our TV is, so holes were cut into the wall and the back of the house, and cables were strung, and outlet plates were screwed in and more trips to Home Depot were made, and then finally by about 9 pm the TV was up and running again. With a real antenna that has a specially made by Keith bracket on the roof.
And that was our weekend.
It's typically the day that I try to get the house all clean and sparkly which just might happen today. Maybe. I did start a load of laundry already and it's only 8 am.
Keith spent ALL DAY yesterday (well, the whole afternoon and evening anyway because we did go for a bike ride in the morning and stuff) working on hooking up a new antenna for the TV. We had an antenna for years that just kind of laid on top of the entertainment center and when a channel wouldn't come in we would jiggle the thing around and every so often it would fall off and just kind of hang there by its cord. Well, a few weekends ago he got really mad at it and threw it on the floor and something came loose inside it and it just wasn't quite the same not so great antenna anymore, so...we bought a new bigger and better antenna. That really needed to be attached to the roof outside for optimum TV viewing. A new antenna that sat on the cat's condo for about a week because that's where it got the best reception, much to the consternation of the cats who were wondering why this rather large metal thing with a big long cord was taking naps on their condo. A cord that you were in danger of decapitating yourself with if you were trying to get to the back door to take the trash out.
So, anyway, yesterday was lets get this antenna properly hooked up day, which of course necessitated not one but two separate trips to Home Depot to pick up cables and wall box things and assorted screws and whatever else. And each time Keith goes to Home Depot he is gone for at the very least an hour or two because Home Depot is The World of Wonder when it comes to Keith shopping there, with each nut and bolt having to be inspected and each packet of cable or wall plate having to be price and quality compared.
There is no cable outlet on the wall where our TV is, so holes were cut into the wall and the back of the house, and cables were strung, and outlet plates were screwed in and more trips to Home Depot were made, and then finally by about 9 pm the TV was up and running again. With a real antenna that has a specially made by Keith bracket on the roof.
And that was our weekend.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Rainy Monday
We were promised rain and it was actually delivered this morning. A nice gentle rain is falling and the wind is blowing and I'm almost glad that I don't have any orders to go out today so I can just enjoy the rain from behind the windows.
We don't have any leftover Easter candy to eat this week since we don't have any kids that we had to buy baskets for and didn't get Easter baskets for the cats since we aren't quite that far gone in our cat craziness. Nor did we dress them up in bunny ears. Although I did buy a Cadbury caramel egg a few weeks ago, but it just didn't taste as good as I remembered. I was really tempted to buy some of the malted milk ball eggs (my absolute favorite) but I managed to resist them for this year at least.
Yesterday was a very quiet day for us, Keith napped for a while then mowed the lawn and I redid a bunch of pictures for the shop and spent the afternoon uploading new pictures. Every few months I get tired of the look of my shop and want to do an overhaul.
I had Keith cut up some nice pine boards for collage blocks and made two on Saturday and will probably make some more today. I'm also waiting on an order of wood circles for more pendants.
Soon to be in the homebeforedark shop.
We don't have any leftover Easter candy to eat this week since we don't have any kids that we had to buy baskets for and didn't get Easter baskets for the cats since we aren't quite that far gone in our cat craziness. Nor did we dress them up in bunny ears. Although I did buy a Cadbury caramel egg a few weeks ago, but it just didn't taste as good as I remembered. I was really tempted to buy some of the malted milk ball eggs (my absolute favorite) but I managed to resist them for this year at least.
Yesterday was a very quiet day for us, Keith napped for a while then mowed the lawn and I redid a bunch of pictures for the shop and spent the afternoon uploading new pictures. Every few months I get tired of the look of my shop and want to do an overhaul.
I had Keith cut up some nice pine boards for collage blocks and made two on Saturday and will probably make some more today. I'm also waiting on an order of wood circles for more pendants.
Soon to be in the homebeforedark shop.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Another Weekend
Gone by with not much done around here.
We had to do grocery shopping after paying all the bills and ended up going to three different stores. Vons on Friday night for stuff they had on sale, like oranges and a huge package of london broil for 9.00. I'm talking huge, I cut it all up into four pieces and put it in the freezer for four future meals along with a package of chicken breasts that were on sale and a big roast that was on sale. The roast was so big that it also got cut up into two pieces for two different meals.
Then Saturday was Winco for all the staples and some pork chops. I tried this recipe for pork chops that you brown and then simmer in apple juice last night, but was unimpressed and won't do that again. Not that they tasted bad, just kind of blah. Saturday night I did a recipe for quick chicken noodle soup where you use the already cooked rotisserie chicken which came out okay but also kind of blah. I used whole wheat pasta in it for some extra fiber. I didn't save that recipe either. Whenever I try a new recipe that just isn't all that great Keith always makes suggestions for adding things to it to make it less blah but I figure if the recipe doesn't impress us the first time around there is no sense in trying to doctor it up to make it taste better.
Sunday morning we went to get gas and hit Trader Joes for their lunch meat and cheese and these really good olive oil tortillas that we got last time we were there. I'm hoping that after going to three stores we will have enough eats to last until next payday.
We wasted $14.00 on going to the Home and Garden show at the fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon. We haven't done anything in so long we thought it would be a treat to get out for a little while but the show was as unimpressive as the chicken soup. I wanted to get a coffee drink but when I saw the long line and the prices at the only coffee/cinnamon roll stand that was there I figured I could go without coffee. The cinnamon rolls smelled really good, though. Then Keith saw the beer stand but I wouldn't let him spend $5.00 on a cup of Coors light, I told him he could wait and get a whole six pack for that $5.00.
The only really interesting parts of the show were the koi fish that they always have in big plastic pools and the greyhound dogs. You could even adopt a fish, starting at $5.00 for the little bitty ones. They had a couple that were about 2 feet long, just huge! You could also adopt a greyhound, all rescued hounds from dog racing. They were beautiful dogs, very friendly and calm, and incredibly soft fur. The lady said that they probably wouldn't get along too well with our cats, though, after all those years of chasing but never getting that rabbit.
Keith was going to do some more work on the kitchen on Sunday but got sidetracked by the overgrown mess in the back yard so he weeded and cut the grass/slash weeds. Someday we will have enough money to finish the back yard along with all the other unfinished projects around here. Hopefully anyway.
After a week of warm spring weather we have a cold front moving in with some sprinkles and a chilly wind blowing right now and rain forecast off and on this week. That's fine with me, we definitely need that water and we're already dreading the hot summer to come.
We had to do grocery shopping after paying all the bills and ended up going to three different stores. Vons on Friday night for stuff they had on sale, like oranges and a huge package of london broil for 9.00. I'm talking huge, I cut it all up into four pieces and put it in the freezer for four future meals along with a package of chicken breasts that were on sale and a big roast that was on sale. The roast was so big that it also got cut up into two pieces for two different meals.
Then Saturday was Winco for all the staples and some pork chops. I tried this recipe for pork chops that you brown and then simmer in apple juice last night, but was unimpressed and won't do that again. Not that they tasted bad, just kind of blah. Saturday night I did a recipe for quick chicken noodle soup where you use the already cooked rotisserie chicken which came out okay but also kind of blah. I used whole wheat pasta in it for some extra fiber. I didn't save that recipe either. Whenever I try a new recipe that just isn't all that great Keith always makes suggestions for adding things to it to make it less blah but I figure if the recipe doesn't impress us the first time around there is no sense in trying to doctor it up to make it taste better.
Sunday morning we went to get gas and hit Trader Joes for their lunch meat and cheese and these really good olive oil tortillas that we got last time we were there. I'm hoping that after going to three stores we will have enough eats to last until next payday.
We wasted $14.00 on going to the Home and Garden show at the fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon. We haven't done anything in so long we thought it would be a treat to get out for a little while but the show was as unimpressive as the chicken soup. I wanted to get a coffee drink but when I saw the long line and the prices at the only coffee/cinnamon roll stand that was there I figured I could go without coffee. The cinnamon rolls smelled really good, though. Then Keith saw the beer stand but I wouldn't let him spend $5.00 on a cup of Coors light, I told him he could wait and get a whole six pack for that $5.00.
The only really interesting parts of the show were the koi fish that they always have in big plastic pools and the greyhound dogs. You could even adopt a fish, starting at $5.00 for the little bitty ones. They had a couple that were about 2 feet long, just huge! You could also adopt a greyhound, all rescued hounds from dog racing. They were beautiful dogs, very friendly and calm, and incredibly soft fur. The lady said that they probably wouldn't get along too well with our cats, though, after all those years of chasing but never getting that rabbit.
Keith was going to do some more work on the kitchen on Sunday but got sidetracked by the overgrown mess in the back yard so he weeded and cut the grass/slash weeds. Someday we will have enough money to finish the back yard along with all the other unfinished projects around here. Hopefully anyway.
After a week of warm spring weather we have a cold front moving in with some sprinkles and a chilly wind blowing right now and rain forecast off and on this week. That's fine with me, we definitely need that water and we're already dreading the hot summer to come.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Yawn
Well, I hope everyone else had a more exciting Valentine's/President's Day weekend than we did. We watched some Olympics and I did some housework and laundry and Keith did some yard work and more sawing and sanding and nailing in the kitchen. Next weekend the trim should be ready for painting. Maybe.
We had planned on using a gift card for Applebee's that we got for Christmas to go out for a Valentine's lunch but neither of us had been feeling all that well with stomach and digestive issues, I'm wondering if we gave ourselves a little touch of food poisoning or something, so we decided to save the gift card for when we would enjoy the food more. We did start feeling better last night, so whatever it was seems to be going away.
I went ahead and opened a second etsy shop over the weekend which was probably a bad time to open since it seemed like nobody but the sellers were on etsy, all the buyers were busy vacationing for the weekend or spending their money on flowers, champagne, and chocolates, but the shop is up and it will be for the non-jewelry stuff, so we'll see how that goes. Here's a link if you want to check it out:
http://homebeforedark.etsy.com
And here's some of what's going to be in it.
Today I'm going to fold the laundry that's still in the dryer and re-clean the house since the sawing and sanding and nailing got dust all over the place, clean some cat boxes, and maybe even work on some more collages.
We had planned on using a gift card for Applebee's that we got for Christmas to go out for a Valentine's lunch but neither of us had been feeling all that well with stomach and digestive issues, I'm wondering if we gave ourselves a little touch of food poisoning or something, so we decided to save the gift card for when we would enjoy the food more. We did start feeling better last night, so whatever it was seems to be going away.
I went ahead and opened a second etsy shop over the weekend which was probably a bad time to open since it seemed like nobody but the sellers were on etsy, all the buyers were busy vacationing for the weekend or spending their money on flowers, champagne, and chocolates, but the shop is up and it will be for the non-jewelry stuff, so we'll see how that goes. Here's a link if you want to check it out:
http://homebeforedark.etsy.com
And here's some of what's going to be in it.
Today I'm going to fold the laundry that's still in the dryer and re-clean the house since the sawing and sanding and nailing got dust all over the place, clean some cat boxes, and maybe even work on some more collages.
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