Home Spun Rose

The Duggars

Has anyone been watching the shows on TLC the last two weeks about the Duggar family? I have, and I have to say that it's the best hour of TV I watch all week. Last night the eldest, Josh, asked for his girlfriends hand in marriage. To use the word "sweet" would be an understatement, lol. I have always felt so uplifted watching this family on TV, they are a true inspiration to me and others, I'm sure.

OH well, just my thoughts today!

We are all pumpkins!

The Simple Woman's Daybook for October 6th

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW....Sunny and beautiful  day...getting ready for some rain tho.

I AM THINKING....that I hope my husband gets rid of the virus he has come down with very fast and that no one else gets it.

I AM THANKFUL FOR... that the sugar cane grinding season starts this week and that now I can stock the pantry and freezers full of food with the extra money it brings in.

FROM THE KITCHEN... grilled chicken strips with onions and peppers along with cheesy potatoes.

I AM CREATING...a better food inventory system. I kept messing up with the old one.

I AM GOING...outside in a minute to take in the beautiful weather.

I AM WEARING...red shorts, a striped shirt and pink slippers.

I AM READING.. ....the most recent issue of Mother Earth News.

I AM HOPING...that the rain holds out for a bit longer to let grinding start without a  muddy mess.

I AM HEARING...Little House on the Praire playing on the TV in the front room.

AROUND THE HOUSE....a sick hubby and a bored teenager.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS....the Fall air.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK....start taking down curtains for a washing and cleaning some walls and ceiling fans, ( I saw a couple of spider webs, yuck).

HERE IS A PICTURE THOUGHT I'd SHARE WITH YOU...

We use the moss for Halloween decorations most years.

10 Predictions no matter who wins the election!

The cool air brings out the worker in me

Yes, the cool air does bring me outside more and the work is much more appealing to me without having to sweat like a pig. LOL  So here are a few before and afters of what I've been doing around the homestead.

The storm messed up my back yard something fierce. Here is the day after picture with the guys trying to clean up the tree limbs.

You can see my chicken pen with it's damage and the pile of whats left of my shed.  The shed itself was way in  that back field.

 And here it what it looks like after three days of me and Zach working at it.

Here is where the shed was.

And then for good measure, and also because I was in the mood to keep going, here is a before shot of my front pathway.  For some reason I thought if I let the grass grow over it, it would look like stepping stones. Well NO, it didn't, it just look like a mess. LOL

So I got a hold of last night and this is how it looks now. It took me two hours to pull up all the grass. I remember now why I let the grass grow over it, it was  all cracked up from where my husband drove a dump truck over it to put some dirt in our front yard. Oh well, it's done now. LOL

Well, I think I'm going to run to the home and see my mom for a bit, maybe bring her some ice cream to munch on. Hope you all are having a great weekend. Loving this fall air. Might light the fire pit this afternoon.

Thankful Thursday

First, I am thankful for the peace of mind that I received yesterday at the nursing home. While the power was out here for almost two weeks, mom was unable to lay on her air mattress and developed a small  boo boo on her back end. I was sure it would get worse with her being in the home. Well yesterday afternoon my dd and I went to visit with mom and she was laying in her bed for a nap.  She was on her side so we decided to take a peek at her hinny. Clear as a bell! Thank you God for that. I left there with tears as usual, but also with a better feeling about the place. I had never heard anything bad about the place mind you, but I guess my own guilt was letting the devil attack my senses. I'm a lot less worried  for now.

I am also thankful for the full pantry and freezer of food.  To do without even for a couple of weeks is eye opening to say the least.

I'm thankful for my wonderful children and family, the lights of my life.

I am thankful for the beautiful weather outside. I have all the windows opened up and the breeze is blowing through the house. LOVE IT!!!

Thank you God for so much!                        

Making the Most

With the economy in the shape its in right now, everyone must learn to make the most of what they have.  Its time to quit running here and there without planning ahead and making the most of the fuel in our vehicles, time to quit making last-minute choices for our meals, and time to start using our brain to greater capacity.  In other words, its time to get back to the basics and that's what I'm going to talk about here for a moment.

Let's face it-our dollars aren't going as far as they did a year ago!  Many folks are already living paycheck to paycheck, and with the budget being stretched beyond its limits nowadays, we must learn to cut back.  One way to do this is by planning ahead.  We know our children have birthdays, so let's keep our eyes open for bargains throughout the year, pick them up when they're on sale, and put them back for gift-giving.  The same thing applies to many other areas, as well.  Stock up on supplies whenever the price is lowest.  If your budget won't allow you to stock up all at once, just purchase an extra pack of toilet paper, or an extra bottle of shampoo, and put them back in the storage closet.  Forget they're there, and go ahead and buy it again when the sale rolls around the next time, and do the same thing.  Before you know it, you'll have an extra 6 months worth of supplies stored away!  I do this with many items, including canned goods.  The key to this is rotating your "stock."  When you purchase something new, put it behind what you already have on hand and use the oldest items first.  You won't have to worry about expiration dates that way!  It's not a bargain if you keep it so long it expires and is no longer usable!

Another way to save is to plan ahead with your meals.  Sit down and make a list of your family's favorite entrees.  You may have a dozen things listed, or you may end up with a list of 30 or more!  Either way is fine.  After that, sit down with another piece of paper, and plan your menus for a week or two (or even a month, if you want to!).  Go through the grocer's sale papers and make a mental note of what is a bargain this week.  Then go to your entree list and find those things that can be prepared with what's on sale.  If there's a great buy on ground beef, then plan to use a lot of it.  If nothing else, purchase extra and freeze it for the next week's meals.  If chicken is on sale, do the same.  It helps to freeze things in portion sizes, or even to cook ahead and freeze things for later use. 

I like to make entrees ahead of time and freeze them for those days when I'm rushing (okay, yes, that's nearly every day, but you get my point!).  If I'm making spaghetti sauce, I'll double up and then freeze a quart or two.  Sometimes I'll even cook an extra box of spaghetti noodles and make a dish of baked spaghetti to pop in the freezer.  That way I only need to pull it out the night before and let it thaw in the refrigerator, top it with mozzarella the next day and bake it for an hour or so.  Served with a salad on the side, it's become an easy meal for me to get on the table to feed a hungry family!

As the last of the summer produce goes through the markets, pick up some extra and freeze or can it.  Broccoli can be cut into pieces, blanched, and then frozen (plunge into boiling water for 1 minute and then immediately put into ice water for a couple of minutes to blanch it).  You can spread it out on a cookie sheet in the freezer, and then when its frozen, bag it in freezer bags, label and date it, and you'll have frozen broccoli when you need it.  The same works for corn (yes, even on the cob), carrots, green beans, and many other veggies. 

When planning your menu, think about what you can make for one night and then reuse the leftovers for another night.  An example:  I made chili the other night, and then took the leftovers and made it into a topping for spaghetti.  I served the spaghetti on the plate, topped it with the chili, then put diced onions and shredded cheddar on top of that.  Very good and very popular at a certain restaurant I love to go to!  If I had had any more leftover chili, I could have made a chili pie out of it--pour the chili into a baking dish and top with spoonfuls of either thick cornbread batter or biscuit dough.  Bake until the chili is hot and the topping is browned, and you have a delicious chili pot pie!  There are many possibilities (don't forget the ever popular chili dogs!). 

As you can see, it pays to plan ahead, especially with your menus.  Don't just think about today, give thought to how you can simplify your life and your budget by planning ahead a bit.  That's called Getting Back to the Basics in Life!

Hugs,Cynthia Robin

Healthy Cereal Treats

We all want our children to have healthy snacks!  However, it's much too easy to just pick up prepackaged snacks at the grocer's or run through a drive-thru somewhere.  Well, I've found a recipe that is not only quick and easy to prepare, but much healthier for your children (and you!) than anything prepackaged.  I'll give the original recipe as it was shared with me, and in parentheses will note the changes/choices I made.  My grandchildren absolutely love these--they've quickly become a favorite after-school treat in my home!

Crispy Rice Treats

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup Natural chunky-style peanut butter (I used Smucker's Natural and increased it to 3/4 cup)

6 cups crispy brown rice cereal (I used Kashi 7-Grain cereal)

2/3 cup chopped dried cherries (or dried blueberries, raisins, dried cranberries, or carob chips)

Cooking spray

Combine honey and peanut butter in a large pot and heat over medium-low heat until melted, about 2-3 minutes.  Add cereal and cherries and stir to combine until mixture is sticky.  Press into a 9"x13" pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Let cool, and then chill in refrigerator about 30 minutes.  Cut into squares (or rectangles, or diamonds, or use cookie cutters for fun shapes).  Enjoy!

Hugs,Cynthia Robin

A new day, A new season

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday morning it was wet and dreary and so was my mood. This morning a brand new day, new season, and new attitude.  After much prayer about my mom, I actually feel at ease, maybe not totally, but much more than yesterday.

Happy Fall everyone! I love fall, it's my favorite time of year. It still a little hot here in the south, but so much better than even last week. It puts me in the mood to bake. I have some bread pudding in the oven as I type this. Made the rum sauce, minus the rum of course, lol.  I can't have too much. Oh, I don't think I've mentioned this on here but over the last month I have managed to lose 20 pounds. Yeah me! I do think most of it was from stress, but I'll take it either way.  I started a better eating routine and have surprisingly stuck with it. I do have to say tho, eating healthier is so much more expensive.

 Have been eating lots of salads with grilled chicken and very small amounts of whatever I cook for supper. The one thing that I am lacking is excersise. Still haven't gotten that fitted into my day. I know my results would be better if I did, but a baby step at a time, LOL.

So again, Happy Fall  everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful day and week to boot.

The storms of life leave many scars

     Sometimes the storms have names, such as Gustav or Ike, but many times our storms are just called LIFE.  As you drive down almost every road, street, and avenue in our area you can see the trees and their branches along with other trash lining the sides of  each road and street.  Everything from trees to chairs to tin roofs fill the sides of these byways. You can also see the blue "FEMA roofs", as we call them, other wise known as tarps, on top of 60% of the homes on these streets. There is still a boil ban in effect in our parish, which means our water still  isn't fit for consumption. We are still  cooking and drinking from bottled water, which I hate, having to deal with  all the plastic, but right now there is no other choice. There are some still living in shelters due to the fact that have no homes to go back to. Others are still lining up for that food stamp ration that everyone is getting. I am not ashamed to say that I too waited in the hot sun last Sunday with my daughter to get my $426 worth, and am also not ashamed to say that I have spent all but $6 of that allotment filling my freezer and pantry back up, LOL. I am ashamed to say that our "FRIENDLY" neighborhood grocers are raping us with the highest prices ever. My mother in law paid $20 for 5 lbs. of ground beef the other day. Milk is  way over $5,  and a three lb. tub of butter is $4 when last month I was paying around $1.99 for it. These are just a few things, there is many.  They think because we were getting help via these food stamps that we are not actually paying for the food.  The stamps are to help us get back on our feet, but the stores are making it hard to do that. BUT, on a good note, they are going to reload our cards for another month because of the second storm hitting our area too.

    Another storm that has hit my life, is me having to place my mom in the nursing home. The first two days were really rough on me, I cryed all the time. The third day I began to feel somewhat better, THEN the nurse calls me to inform that mom is refusing to eat.    Sometimes the only way a person with condition issues can fight back is by refusing to eat, and I guess that is what mom is doing. So I started to cry again, cryed myself to sleep the last two nights. Today things were looking up a little, her sweetheart went by this morning and fed her breakfast and my dd and I went by for lunch. She did eat for both him and I, so thank God for that. I do think that some of these people that work in places like this have so much to do in a short time that they really can't spend the amount of time on one person that is needed. Some days it took me over an hour to feed her even a very small amount of food. I do hope she cooperates with the staff for her own good.

     Also during the storm we did not receive mail for almost two weeks, and in that time I did not receive many of my bills such as  my auto insurance renewal form. Well guess what?  Friday when I sat down to do all the bills I noticed it wasn't in the stack. So upon more investigation, we were dropped. Wonderful huh!!!! So tomorrow I have to get a neighbor to drive me across town to see if I can get that straightened out. My luck if I try to drive myself, I will get pulled over.

    On a good note, my chickens have settled in nicely with their new owner and has begun laying eggs for him.  Flowers are starting to bloom and I am beginning to want to plan a small fall garden. It's not much, but at least it's something.

  An once again, thanks to each of you who continue to pray for my and my family. It is so appreciated...........With love.......