Would you believe it was 82º here yesterday? Disgusting! Lettuces, spinach and the like refuses to sprout or do anything at all this season, what a bust. The good news is that the high today was early in the morning and as of right now it has fallen to 48º, keep going!
Fall colors finally appearing...
An early holiday gift for me, and no doubt my only one - and I am just fine with that! Santa needs to pay bills, not buy unnecessary objects this year! Plus, I asked "Siri" if I needed anything else this year and she told me me that she was all I needed, solved. :)
Wouldn't you know that I don't hear from the school all year, and then when my phone breaks down, that's when they are trying to call me. The school nurse has called twice in the past 6 weeks from Finn's school and I was the "bad mom" who couldn't be reached, figures! But no more. Also, if any of you are among those who I need their phone numbers, please send me an email with them, as all my contacts vanished.
With the lack of decent fall growing temps for greens and broccoli, we have been deficient in fresh so we have really been using up all the goodies that were put away last season.
I'm not sure what the deal is, but the kids will eat their veggies as long as it's in stir-fry - although of course they have to exhaust the noodle or rice supply first before they move on to the nutritious stuff!
A couple of nights ago I went to a social event with some other gals at our church. Very fun - the "assignment" was to cook a dinner for your family on a set budget that varied with the family size, and then bring it in and tell everyone about it. The amount was a modest $5 for a family of 4 and went up from there. This particular meal came in at approx $2.99 just for the 99 cent large package of Phillipine noodles (half the package will make one family meal leaving half for another night), and I estimated $2.00 for the amount of sliced chicken breast that went into the skillet with it. Of course, the cost of my snow peas, beans, peppers and onions from my harvest stash were "free"... or were they?? Ha! The evening was really fun, we all ate a ton of good stuff and came away with some new recipes from others to try. Now I wonder if everyone fed their families before leaving the house with the cooked meals, LOL!
Random strange sighting of the week:
What? You've never had Canadian Bacon in your purse? Don't judge :)
I'm progressing at a snail's pace on the apron, but progressing nonetheless. Here's the fabric, kind of a funky Swedish folksy print I had oodles of on hand, can't remember what the original intention was but it was definitely kitchen related, and the pattern is cut out finally. I'm hoping Sunday will be the day for indulging in quiet time with my sewing machine!
I have been scrapbooking a bit too, another reason I have been M.I.A. for awhile, I just can seem to find time for it all - I had like 7000 photos that needed to be transferred from a backup to the new computer and I did it, but they are all out of order, ugh. One more thing, I am starting to get into couponing quite seriously, and that requires a lot of time as well. I'll be sure to post what little I know so far on that soon, but I saved about $80 today in coupons, on things we actually use! I'd love to be able to say that I don't have the time for that, but in all honesty it's become a necessity in order for us to be able to give our kids a nice Christmas this year, and unfortunately we can't even think about traveling home this year, it's just too cost prohibitive, on the bright side at least it's "in vogue" to be concerned about the economy and it's effect on the family LOL, now it's cool to be cheap... crazy, huh?! Things will look up in the next year, I just know it - we just have some mud to wade through first.
I do know that I am thankful to have a happy and healthy family and plenty to keep me busy so I don't ever become bored with staying at home, and my great extended blogger family - I have gotten an email with the best news from Annie's Granny, a box just arrived this evening from Patty, a couple more emails checking on me and making sure all was okay during my unusually quiet hiatus... I am very thankful for all of you! Now I'm looking forward to spending some time with some hot chocolate this evening and catching up on everyone's posts!
One more thing - this is how lame I am lately -
Don't think for one second that these are mine, no, not this year...
These are Loch's! These are what he brought home the other day from the plots at the school garden he volunteers at. If it wasn't for Loch this year our fall harvest would be a complete fail! I hope he doesn't get too confident that he'll outdo me in 2012, I'll show him - I'm not ready to pass the torch yet!
Soooo jealous of your warmer temps. At least you don't have to run the air or the heat. I had to give in early and turn the heat on down here. And that apron fabric, I LOVE IT! Super cute! Can't wait to see the finished product. You all talking about aprons has got me wanting to make one!
ReplyDeleteSo good to have a post from you with so much interesting news . . . just like the old times! ;o} We all go through periods where it just doesn't feel right to blog or we simply don't have the time. But it is good to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteThe pics of your dinners always look so yummy. I always get ideas from them even if they don't contain specific recipes.
Can't believe your weather is still so warm. It's 20 degrees here right now and looking like it could snow.
Sorry to hear you won't be able to make it "home" to Minnesota for Christmas this year. I know your folks and other family will miss you lots.
I like the material for your apron -- very cheery. I have a purse full of "puppy clean-up stuff" -- but I've never had Canadian Bacon in my purse :-)
ReplyDeleteHmm, Canadian bacon- no. But I had a frozen package of lamb brats in there last weekend, does that count?
ReplyDeleteLove the apron fabric- it's too cute! Can't wait to see what you come up with.
And the weather- wow. Sometimes I miss living in Virginia. You're just now getting fall color- ours is finally all gone and it was 20 here this morning. Brrr. Of course, I don't miss the year round fleas on the dogs!!
Glad to 'hear' from you.
Judy
I'm always puzzled why they call it Canadian bacon. We don't call those round slices bacon, we call them ham. Bacon is that strip stuff that you fry up.
ReplyDeleteI love your apron fabric! I can't wait to see all the new aprons. My excuse is my sewing machine is broken and I don't cook often so have very little need of an apron.
We had the first major snowfall yesterday.
I'm glad you have so many things to keep you busy--it's what makes you so interesting. I know that , come winter, I pretty much disappear. I have WAY too many hobbies. And I'm glad!
ReplyDeleteUm, do you get cravings for bacon during the day?
It's good to see you back, we missed you, and your adventures. Ummmmm, no, no bacon in my purse, but I did have a half a banana in mine a couple of days ago, for my grandson, and it got a bit squished before I could give it to him. Required some serious cleaning out.
ReplyDeleteOur weather is doing its usual thing here in Northern Indiana, bouncing around between snow flurries and upper 60's. You never know what to expect, and turnips, chard, kale and snow peas are doing well in the garden. I waited too late to plant the fall lettuce though, and it isn't coming up at all.
I am looking forward to snowy days when we just stay in and veg, simmering soups on top the wood stove and sipping tea to keep warmish with a good book.
I'm glad you're back Erin! Your stir-fry's always look sooo good, I wish I could get my kids to eat them. The "cooking" night sounds like a really good idea, sadly I don't know anybody who'd like to participate in something like that. :-(
ReplyDeleteWill you tell us a bit more about your couponing? I know several coupon queens around here, but truthfully, they buy a lot of stuff we simply would never eat. How is the couponing working out at the commissary, or have you started shopping elsewhere to get better deals? We finally have an Aldi here and I started doing some of our grocery shopping there. But then I struggle with myself, do I buy the cheaper Aldi brands, or do I buy the "better" organic brands in the commissary?
Sorry about the fall garden. Some years the weather is just too weird for words. It's plenty cool here, though. Our first frost was back in October, and this morning it was 29 degrees outside when we woke up.
ReplyDeleteSounds like things are busy, as usual, at your place! Glad to hear that the couponing is working.
Boy, have we missed you! You can always tell a "Northerner" because they just get so fed up with warm, nice weather and want cold! That being said, I would like another two weeks, please, then it can snow! Sounds like a fun group at church - and your couponing sounds amazing! Details!
ReplyDeletewow,you could teach a class on how to live frugally!and I'm as bad as you ,I have been on a hiatus of my own making pity and sorrow.but now I need to come back for awhile and get my mind off things and you gals do,DO THAT for me
ReplyDeleteMelissa, so funny we all want the opposite weather!
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Mama Pea, I never use recipes EXCEPT when baking - I wouldn't dream of baking something sweet without the chemistry figured out for me LOL! We are pretty disappointed we can't make it up there this winter, but we have to take the "responsible" road this year... looks like maybe we'll be up during the warm season next time!
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DR MOMI, it's amazing what comes out of a purse LOL!
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Judy, lamb brats definitely count, that's a good one!
Sparkless, its always fun to hear things called differently, I know some Canadians who call it "back" or "back bacon". Did you know the cheese we call American Cheese is called Canadian Cheese in Canada....LOL
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Sue, I know - I really want cold weather to come so I don't feel bad about relaxing with a book or knitting all day :) What happened with the bacon is that I ran to the fabric store, which led to me running next door to Trader Joe's to grab a gallon of milk, and passing the Canadian Bacon and knowing that hubby was at home making pizza with the boys, I grabbed some as a topping and then of course told the cashier I didn't need a bag! As I threw my open purse on the carseat I looked and just started laughing... :)
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Trailshome, a book and soup sounds SO good right now! I can't take this weather yo-yo anymore :)
Anke, I definitely will do a post soon on my coupon adventures. I don't shop the commissary much because I loathe the surcharge and having to tip the baggers and making sure I have "cash" for that... crazy since I literally live only 1/4 mile from the commissary, I could walk there LOL. I tend to use both Farm Fresh here and BJ's (like a CostCo), sadly we don't have Aldi's but I've heard it's good.
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AGWH, yes... at this point I'm just looking forward to a fresh start in 2012!
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Susan, I definitely prefer the northern climate! Of course there's always times we get sick of and would like warm temps for a few days, but that's IT - just a few days LOL!
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Judy (2), me teach a class? I have SO much to learn, that's why we are still struggling LOL! I keep on trying though :)