Transforming my life AND my day old doughnuts

Eat the Food: Last week when I was craving doughnuts, I made pancakes instead. Though I love my recipe, the pancakes did NOT end my craving.

Skill Up: Yes, mending my gloves was a way for me to "skill up" as part of the Independence Challenge. Does the fact that I pricked my finger say it all? ;)

Preserve Something: As you can imagine, Grandbaby, strapped to my chest in her infant carrier, was a big help when it came time to finally use that salsa mix that'd been in my pantry for so long. Still lacking the confidence to actually can anything, but feeling pretty good about the jars of salsa now in the freezer!

Make Over Leftovers: No, I wasn't thinking 'Now, how can I make doughnuts less healthy?' Just trying to enjoy the dozen day old doughnuts I bought when I at last gave into my craving. I froze the doughnuts right away, so I could eat them a few at a time. These'll keep me from giving into the urge to drive into town next time I get a craving. A real money saver, eh? *wink* Anyway, my dad came up with this method to slice stale doughnuts and fry them in a smattering of butter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and EAT WARM. The ultima comfort food!!

Now, don't get me wrong, I like my life but there's always room for improvement. I keep taking on new challenges because the only way I'm going to steadily improve my life (Kaizen, baby!) is to change what I do for something better. Doing something different daily seems to be the key. Loving this Indpendence Challenge because it helps me to daily think of categories certain to improve my $$ bottom line.
   Time for me to get off this computer now and go do something different!
   Whassup in your world? Taken on any new challenges lately? Leave a link if you're so inclined!

Minimal animal protein and dairy for life--can she do it?

Made spaghetti recently with only a 1/4 pound of Italian sausage, and Hubby didn't even notice I'd reduced the meat! Had enough leftovers to make chili, and since it was chock full of black beans, onions and peppers, Hubby didn't even notice that there was VERY minimal meat. Any time I make chili or other casual, stain-producing meals I use our oldies-but-goodies cloth napkins. BTW, Grandbaby serenaded us during this lunch with her baby drum--that girl can jam! ;)

My most recent pot of Potato Soup contained only scant pieces of chicken from the homemade broth made from the carcass of my most recent Roasted Chicken (a variation of this one). Actually, the majority of our meals contain minimal meat, except for the first night of eating a newly roasted chicken or smoked pork loin, for instance. My challenge will be to keep Hubby from eating mega meat on those first nights, to spread the animal proteins even further. Aside from any health benefits, no doubt this challenge will save us money!

Oh, yes, I DID eat my chocolate ice cream with peanut butter mixed in while in my car with a copy of The China Study glaring up at me! The kinda folks who praise this book are impressive, to say the least, including a Nobel Prize winner. Not even finished with the book, I am convinced that eating MINIMAL animal proteins/eggs and MINIMAL dairy is the way to go for optimum health. (Starting right after eating this free ice cream gotten with a previous purchases reward card!)

A BIG Thank You!
Thanks, Yummy Little Cooks, for thinking me Liebster Award worthy! Of course, her lovely, absolutely yummy site would definitely make my short list of the blogs with less than 200 followers that I enjoy immensely. (Never got around to becoming a "follower" of any blog; I subscribe to folks' RSS feeds.) I have a tough time making lists because I hate leaving anyone out, so very many of you edu-entertain me. I will have to name another five very soon!

1. Yummy Little Cooks (Like my own private cooking school with glimpses into an exotic cuisine.)
2. Minting Nickels (Dunno how many followers Lindy has, but she makes me laugh while reminding me of my goal to save $$.)
3. Simply Self Sufficiency (Becky mixes frugal, simple living with preparedness.)
4. Sue's Garden Journal (When I visit Sue's site, I feel like I'm looking over the shoulder of a master gardener.) 
5. Living a Little Greener (Bruise Mouse offers a little bit of everything. Always worth a visit.)

   Time to close this post and go read an intriguing article over on Organic Soul's site: Fighting Your Nature Deficiency: Tips for Natural Health. Oh, and I cannot wait to try this recipe over on Seasaltwithfood's site: Baked Potato Skins Pepperoni Pizza. Where are you headed next??

Make do: Fix broken powder makeup

Don't even want to think about how many of my face powder compacts have crashed and burned in my years of wearing makeup. Wish I'd known all along that there IS a way to salvage the shattered mess and keep from wasting my good money!! If interested, check out: KatrinaLomidze.com: How to: Fix your broken powder makeup. Just found a video on youtube too, if you'd like a tutorial of the general process. Happy saving!!

Wish I hads and had nots

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Carl Sagan

Wish I had not been wishing there were more hours in the day. Woke up this morn at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep. Ugh! Blame it on the decongestant I'm now on. Guess the bright side is my loss of appetite. I cooked a soup at lunch (a riff on La Cuoca Ciccia's Chard Chick Pea Stew recipe), so I ate a protein bar for supper. As you can see from his plate of Venison Stir Fry, Hubby had something better in mind.

Wish I had bought this motion-sensing nite lite years ago for night trips to the mud/laundry room. Now I don't have to turn on the multi-bulb ceiling fluorescent light when all I need to do is put one little thing in the washer. Btw, LOVING my new camera (Sony Cyber-shot; sure beats the TWO that I tried and then returned. Wish I had bought this one first!

Wish I had tried growing mung bean sprouts long before now. Soo easy--some of these are destined for our salads at lunch today. Not sure if the leaves should be discarded. Anyone know? Guess I'll find out soon enough!

Hope your wish I hads and wish I had nots grow fewer and fewer every day...and I wish the same for me!

Lost camera leads to Photo-palooza!

Hoping this Kentucky State Fair showcase will inspire me to get off this computer and go create something equally yummy in my own kitchen!

Well, maybe it was inevitable: I LOST my little camera I'd been dissing lately. Hopefully at some point I'll find it and be able to post the pics I took of the absolutely scrumptious spread that my aunt M presented yesterday at her annual Christmas breakfast. Meantime, here's a mish mash of photos I've collected over the past year but never got around to posting. Mostly a bunch of quirky, disparate sights that caught my eye.

Evidently some things are more important than grammar. Yeah, it's risky laughing over someone else's grammar, when I've no idea how many grammatical errors have slipped past me here. ;)

Our meat slicer has more than paid for itself over the years; keeps us from eating thick slices when a thinner slice will do.

While motorcycling through rural Kentucky, we happened on this tiny polling station.

Some free spirits in Owensboro greet visitors with this "yard art" placed in front of their home. The mechanical horse's tail swishes back and forth. Makes me smile every time I drive by.

Can't even remember in what Kentucky town we happened upon this crooked house, but what a hoot!

Finally got smart and put our commercial dishwasher detergent in a container that lets me spoon out only one tablespoon per load, as recommended by the manufacturer. Using the pour spout on the original container made it too easy to use too much detergent. Yes, I still alternate using a commercial detergent with my cheaper, greener homemade detergent.

Hubby repurposed a couple of wine corks to extend this baby toilet seat, so it would fit onto our elongated toilet seat without slipping back.

 This city's sign, which has been there as along as I can remember, never fails to crack me up!

Because I would always rather look at food than anything else, I'll end with this pic taken at Moonlite BarBQ. This locally owned joint--biggest feedbag in town--is a favorite of out-of-towners, so we're sure to have a family get together there sometime during the holidays.

   There are ten HUGE apples in my kitchen waiting to be baked into a pie. Trouble is, I soo do not feel like cooking today. Wish me luck in getting motivated!

On My Mind: Great Grandma sews, inspired by Joel

Inspired by the DIY Baby Sun Ray Toy over on Made by Joel, Great Grandma (my mom) sewed a baby "book." Needless to say, the book's a big hit with Grandbaby!! 

Great Grandma's creation, inspired by Joel. Gotta love those crafty folks who can turn scraps into something fun. Grandbaby says THANKS, GREAT GRANDMA!

   Thanks, Rhonda at Down-to-Earth, for this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today?

2nd Post: Graham Hill--Less stuff, more happiness

"Less equals MORE." "Small is SEXY!" Gotta love this guy!

Lazy cooking: Roasted Chicken; Treehugger's Backyard House

Oven Roasted Chicken. Oy vey, I forgot to take an "after" pic...until we'd demolished the bird! Seriously, we don't generally eat half a chicken at one sitting, but this one turned out too yummy to resist.

Back before Hubby retired and I stopped working, boneless/skinless chicken breasts were the order of the day. I seldom bought anything else, because I figured boneless/skinless was the quickest way to get dinner on the table when I finally got home at night. (Those were the days before I was turned on to the concept of eating like our ancestors did and started consuming poultry WITH the skin. Y'know, eating Real Foods.)
   Besides, now that I've switched to buying only humanely raised chickens, I can't bring myself to buy anything but the whole chickens, which are cheaper than buying parts. That's when I discovered roasted chicken, and OH, MY, they are soo easy...easy enough for a lazy, don't-feel-like-cooking day!!

Roasted Chicken before. Just took out that innards sack, stuffed the cavity with a microwaved bacon end, rubbed the thing with a chili lime seasoning, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and then sprinkled with a little bacon grease and Worcestershire sauce. For the last 10 minutes of its baking, I poured some salsa over the bird's top and dotted it with a couple of tablespoons of butter.

Made a quick taco soup to use up the last of the leftover chicken: Bush's Black Bean Fiesta, leftover navy beans, salsa,  powdered vegetable soup base and a little water. I got a boat load of Bush's beans at Target at closeout sale prices awhile back. Gonna really miss that stuff when I use 'em all up, 'cause they sure make for quickie soups.

   On another note, I want one of the Backyard Houses I saw over on Treehugger's site! Too cute!! Hope you're having a terrif weekend!!

On My Mind: Partly greening baby

Guess cloth diapering is like riding a bike...it comes back to you. Some 28 years ago, we used only cloth on our DD, but after all those years, here's my second attempt at getting one on the grandbaby. Now, I'm back up to pro status! 

  As an at home mom those many moons years ago, with only Hubby's income to meet all our needs, cloth diapers were our ONLY option financially. When Grandbaby comes to visit, DD brings us plenty of disposable diapers to use, but I can't stand to see the dirties pile up in the trash, headed to the landfill. So, once Grandbaby gets past her usual couple of morning poopy "blowouts," I switch to using cloth.
   Using cloth diapers for the majority of the time when Grandbaby is here saves DD from buying quite as many disposables, so she's all for it! Even when they're at home, DD's not up for using cloth herself, and I can't blame her, 'cause I still get grossed out by washing out the poopy diapers. Ugh!
   When Grandbaby begins eating solids and her stools aren't as loose as they are now, you can bet I'll be watching her face for signs that it's time to hold her over the toidy. By keeping a watchful eye out when we were home, I seldom had to clean out a poopy diaper once DD was about 4-5 months old! (They even have books out on the subject now.)

Would you believe they had NO infant-sized diaper covers available locally? Finally decided to order some online but the ones I'd bought were too tight on baby's legs. Then I came across and bought this adjustable Thirsties Duo Diaper Cover online...lovin' it!! Now that I know it works, I'll order more, 'cause it doesn't take long to get one dirty if Grandbaby decides to surprise me with an additional blowout.

   Well, that's what's on my mind today. What's on yours? Hope you'll share your link here or on down-to-earth!

On My Mind, conceived by Rhonda at down-to-earth  

Savin' the bacon for minimal meat meals

Don't remember where I came across this idea, but once discovered, I've been doing it ever since: separating the bacon to freeze. If I don't freeze some bacon, Hubby will soon have it all cooked and eaten for his breakfasts before a week is out. This way, I manage to keep some bacon on hand for when I need it for seasoning a soup or a stew or a pasta or...
   Freezing the stuff saves us money, since it stretches a pound of bacon into several meals. But don't feel too sorry for Hubby--he took four slices out of the freezer this morn to cook for his breakfast!

A couple slices of bacon were just the thing to perk up this week's veggie soup!

   This peppered bacon that Kroger started carrying recently is pretty good, but why can't I find any of that good tasting applewood smoked bacon that they serve in restaurants? I am forever trying new brands, searching for the holy grail of perfect bacon. To me, some brands' bacon smells just like a pig farm while it's cooking. Am I the only one who thinks that?
   And am I the only one who thinks bacon ice cream sounds good right about now? Hmnnn...just realized that just about anything sounds good right now. Must be dinnertime!!  

Not buying it: Ice Cream Sauce

Homemade Chocolate Sauce. Hot Caramel Sauce in container on right.

Chocolate sauce cooking. Being out of cocoa (looking for organic), I used some chocolate baking squares. I was even in a hurry and didn't bother to make sure every last little chocolate fleck melded. Tasted just as good! Oh, goodie!

Caramel sauce at full rolling boil.

Caramel sauce that's boiled awhile and arrived at the desired golden color.

Hubby had the sundae above on a Chewy Chunky Blondie out of the freezer. Here's the one I ate yesterday on top of a couple of Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops. (Freshly baked from dough that'd been balled and frozen.) Oh, yeah!!

These relatively inexpensive sauces are soo very easy to make that even lazy ole me will decide to make them in a heartbeat. No more commercial sauces with their scary ingredients!
Chocolate Sauce
1/4 lb. butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cocoa (or two chocolate baking squares)
Combine all ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring constantly until completely blended. Thickens as it cools. (Sorry, unknown origin of this recipe.)
Hot Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until color is golden, skimming off foam as you go. Makes about 2 1/2 cups. Recipe from Babi's Bed and Breakfast, Iowa, as seen in Specialties of the House Cookbook by Julia M. Pitkin. Sauce will separate upon refrigeration. Just reheat to serve.
   Hope you're having a fabulous weekend. It's soo gorgeous outside here in western Kentucky--what am I doing on the computer!?! Whassup for you after you finish surfing the computer today? Something memorable, I hope!!

No such thing as leftovers around here, by golly!

Eggplant Parmesan becomes Eggplant Pasta with the addition of penne, fresh tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Such slight changes are the equivalent of the "spoonful of sugar" that makes the leftovers go down for Hubby. Luckily, he will eat most anything without complaint, but he seems to feel a bit better about leftovers if they are transformed into something new.

Are you like me...one of those people who can eat the same thing over and over and be perfectly fine with it? Or do you HATE leftovers?

Freezer love!

   Hubby doesn't actually hate them, and he's not one to complain. BUT he's not exactly enthusiastic in coming to the table when leftovers are on it. My mom claims to be able to eat the same thing over and over, but their refrigerator tells a different tale, cram-packed as it is with leftovers destined for the trash can. Oh, the waste!
   Around here, leftovers mostly morph into something else. Sometimes soups, which Hubby will eat the first day and I eat on daily until gone. What won't easily transform goes into the freezer, to be eaten anew another day.
   Okay, okay, I'm admittedly not perfect. Leftovers sometimes languish undetected behind something bigger and get tossed. *SIGH* But I'm better about staying on top of things than I used to be. Gotta love that! (Check out 10 Tips to Reduce Your Food Waste over on Slate.com.)
    As Hubby has gone to the farm for the day, I get to eat some leftover soup. What'll it be at your place today: leftovers or original issue?

P.S. Tomorrow is Ten on Ten. Won't you join us??

On my soap box for everyday wine

First tipped off to the drinkability of Bota Box wines by Wine Spectator a few years back. We ditch the box and toss the bag in the cooler when we go camping. Nothing could be simpler. (Of course, my scale stays at home!)

Trust me, this stuff is not the Kool-aid sweet wines that used to be all you could get in a box. Last year we enjoyed Bota's Merlot. (Sorry, I forget which year.) Their Merlot isn't as good recently and neither is the Shiraz (at least what's available around here), so we tried their Pinot Grigio. Success! *Lucky for me, Hubby won't let the flops go to waste.*
   Unlike an open bottle, boxed wine doesn't get air, so it won't age once opened. As we don't polish off a whole bottle in an evening this stuff saves us money. Granted, we don't drink enough to save loads of money, but still...
   Also, the bag of wine is lighter for travel than a bottle would be, which makes it perfect for when we're hauling in everything when we're camping. So, is admitting I like some boxed wines even more shameful than the fact that I like Gorton's Tilapia? ;)

Longstanding love affair with Lincoln Boyhood Park

Lincoln Boyhood Living Historical Farm. This recreated log cabin is only one square foot larger than the one President Lincoln lived in as a boy in Indiana. The pegs jutting out of the wall to the left of the fireplace are steps up to the attic. Abe and his brothers climbed such steps to their beds each night.

Having visited many times since I was a little kid, I'd always called this place Lincoln State Park, but evidently the Lincoln Boyhood Living Historical Farm is a National Park.

This seasonal ranger said the shoes were made to be worn on either the right or left foot and that, back in the day, shoes were rotated from foot to foot, so that if something happened to one, a single shoe could be bought to replace it. Now, how frugal is that!?

LOVE these pegged shutters! Having finished installing my folks' new replacement windows, Hubby priced vinyl window shutters for them yesterday @ around $45 to $55 per pair. For some reason I couldn't convince him that he should make some pegged shutters instead. ;)

Lawn darts anyone? I managed to land only one of these corncob/turkey feather darts in the hoop lying on the ground by the tree.

How's that for a sturdy chicken yard fence? One of the rangers said that the eggs are the ONLY thing produced on the farm that they are able to share and take home at the end of the day, but I got the impression that eggs get wasted, because the workers can only use so many. *sigh*

Located in the memorial center, this may well be the largest braided rug I'll ever see.

Recent purchases of the truck and dishwasher really dipped in the till, so "brown bagging" lunch was the money-saving choice on this day's excursion. I keep forgetting to put some picnic flatware in our day cooler. We keep some plastic utensils in the cooler's side pocket and have washed and re-used them for ages.

"Labor is the great source from which nearly all if not all human comforts and necessities are drawn." Abe Lincoln

   On that note, time for me to go labor a little...laundry and ripe bananas are awaitin'! What labors await you today? Necessities or comforts?

On my mind: Family recipes, yard sales and homemade yogurt

Reading a book about stories of family recipes reminded me that I have a cookbook compiled by folks on my dad's side. Seemed the perfect time to recreate my beloved Aunt K's yummy eggplant casserole. Full of buttery goodness (recipe below), this casserole takes me back to the Thanksgiving spent at my aunt and uncle's...the one where someone passing the roll basket let the napkin under the rolls get a bit too close to the candle. My uncle doused the flames with his beer!

This Taste of Home recipe for Yeast Corn Bread Loaf makes a lovely textured loaf that tastes like cornbread but with a soft-bread bite.

This is my "Doing vs. Should Be Doing" pic. Here's me making a pie, instead of dealing with the tomatoes. But since I needed to bake bread, might as well get another use out of the stand mixer bowl before washing, eh? (Ended up making tomato juice to use up the tomatoes.) Incidentally, these tea towels were once a charity sale-bought tablecloth. The tablecloth had a stain but seemed the perfect weight for towels, so I bought it and the mumsy sewed it into four towels for me.

Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Yesterday, Mom and I hit a yard sale at a senior citizens' housing tower. Mostly a bunch of junk but I found something I'd been putting off buying retail!

I've been wanting more canisters! By the time I took this pic, I'd already emptied the flour into the compost bin. As it's of unknown origins, can't bring myself to eat the sugar either, so I'll use it to make a sugar body scrub. Please let me know if you have a tried and true recipe that seems better than the one I just found!

By jove, I think I've got it...my own homemade yogurt! Love, love, LOVE my new yogurt maker! (Just 42 ounces of room temperature organic whole milk mixed thoroughly with 6 ounces of room temperature plain whole milk yogurt...no cooking involved for the thickness suitable for smoothies!)

Hubby teased that the yogurt probably just had a skim on top and was watery underneath, but this stuff is THICK! Perfect for my morning smoothies! (Made my smoothie in a jar using the immersion blender this morn.) I'd been paying $3.50 per 32 ounce container of Stonyfield Farms plain organic yogurt, and I use around 6 ounces every day. Though I did manage to get free magazine subscriptions to Organic Gardening and Martha Stewart Living with the Stonyfield reward points, seems more cost effective to make my own yogurt, buying the stuff only as needed to jumpstart my own.

Aunt K's Eggplant Casserole (my version)
1 medium to large eggplant, sliced and pan-roasted 'til cooked through
Combine:
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese--divided
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed--divided
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted--divided
Starting with the eggplant and ending with the mixture, layer cooked eggplant with the egg/milk/cheese/cracker mixture in the baking dish. Top with 1/2 cup of crumbs tossed with a couple of tablespoons of the melted butter. Then sprinkle top of casserole with 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Bake in a covered casserole at 350F for 30 minutes.

   I think I'll bake a cake today so something fresh will be on the table for tomorrow's cheat day! I'm thinking chocolate. ?? Maybe I'll head over to Foodgawker to get some ideas. What kind of cake sounds good to you today?

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today? Share your link here or on down-to-earth.