I have been up to my ears in busy since Wednesday. In no particular order two Holiday parties Friday and Saturday night. I am very glad that I am not a drinker, fruit juice spritzers most of the way. The end result is no hangover and nothing to worry about they next day.
I did learn a lot about my new sewing machine in between the parties. Taking a class on 4 hours of sleep was certainly interesting and not to be tried again. Eric's new bibs go into production next week. He needs between 2 and 3 dozen at about an hour per bib so if you can't find me next week I will be holed up in the craft room. There will be some design changes so I will make the first bib and see how whats in my mind translates into the fabric.
We had a lot of sick days and long nights I am I hoping for a much better week although it looks like I have a boy who will be home tomorrow but an over night miracle will not be turned down.
Not much left the needles last week,but a lot of yarn decided to hopped on the needles so I am up to an uncountable number of UFOs. Which means I really don't want to know how many projects I have going, that would mean sitting and finishing things.
I am glad that my friend Nancy is recovering well from surgery so well. I am also glad that she was gracious enough to let me bring lunch and knit with her for a while.
Well it is time to start the dryer and head to bed. So enjoy your families and have a great week.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Chicken Casserole
Chicken Casserole
2 chicken legs and thighs washed
salt and pepper
1 pound mire poix mix from Trader Joe's or mix 1/3 pound each of diced carrots, onions and celery
10 ounces mushrooms
1 pound small potatoes
1/2 cup of water.
In a small oven proof covered casserole dish sprayed with non stick cooking spray, Layer the ingredients in the order given. Cover the casserole and bake for one hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If your are using a glass casserole dish lower the oven temperature to 325 and cook for 1 hour15 minutes for the cooking.
For a change of pace you can add some raw biscuit dough to the casserole in the last 20 minutes of baking to make quick dumplings. When I do this I use the plain Pillsbury biscuits. You can also use Bisquick or any biscuit recipe from the Internet. Just make sure it is a basic flour and shorting mix with no added chilies or cheese.
After you wash the chicken make sure you clean out the sink with a cleaner like Comet before you wash the vegetables to avoid cross contamination.
This recipe serves 2 to 4 people and there is no vegetarian or vegan replacement for the chicken that I have tried.
2 chicken legs and thighs washed
salt and pepper
1 pound mire poix mix from Trader Joe's or mix 1/3 pound each of diced carrots, onions and celery
10 ounces mushrooms
1 pound small potatoes
1/2 cup of water.
In a small oven proof covered casserole dish sprayed with non stick cooking spray, Layer the ingredients in the order given. Cover the casserole and bake for one hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If your are using a glass casserole dish lower the oven temperature to 325 and cook for 1 hour15 minutes for the cooking.
For a change of pace you can add some raw biscuit dough to the casserole in the last 20 minutes of baking to make quick dumplings. When I do this I use the plain Pillsbury biscuits. You can also use Bisquick or any biscuit recipe from the Internet. Just make sure it is a basic flour and shorting mix with no added chilies or cheese.
After you wash the chicken make sure you clean out the sink with a cleaner like Comet before you wash the vegetables to avoid cross contamination.
This recipe serves 2 to 4 people and there is no vegetarian or vegan replacement for the chicken that I have tried.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Why I Should Never Plan
Why do I even try to plan my life? Sometimes it just get thrown into a blender. Take yesterday for instance. I was suppose to get the men out of the house and then go through my long end of the year to do list and a little bit of shopping for my self, a trip to the post office. A little knitting thrown in for just the heck of it. It sounded perfectly reasonable to me.
Well here is how my day actually went. Sunday night Eric started eyrping and continued to do so until 3 am Monday morning. I got Eric settled by 3:30 am. To tired to change and not wanting to wake John up I fell asleep in the guest room. Yes I was even too tired to bother to turn out the lights too.
The day started at 5:30 am with a quick shower and it did not even remotely wake me up. Eric's morning aide agreed to skip the gym and watch Eric for me while I took a much needed nap. I did get to nap until 1 pm.. I woke up to eat a very late breakfast and just in time for Eric to spike a fever. Which meant that Eric earned another day at home for Tuesday. Did I mention that going to sleep with very wet hair meant a bad hair day to boot. We had a great time watching TV and I did some knitting. Then made a very fast dinner with the end of the leftover turkey.
I am thankful that Eric slept most of Monday night and only woke up at 4 am with his fever. I settled him down by 5 am in time for a short nap before the day started again at you guessed it 5:30 am. I managed to get Eric's aide to stay until 2pm today and got my errands done. The trip to the post office which turned into a teaching experience. The Postal workers had never heard of stitch markers so this being post the latest scare the box was opened and inspected. I then explained what the markers were used for, which was very easy as when I have to wait in line I always have a small knitting project with me. Before it was repacked they told me it would be shipped the same way to New Zealand but putting it in a priority mail box would be more expensive. So into a readdressed padded envelope they went, I did not even have to fill out a new customs declaration. By the way our post office employees are great that way.
It was 42 degrees Fahrenheit when I pulled into Starbucks to get my iced tea, in deference to the cold I had them go light on the ice. I was still to tired to try a hot beverage. Then off to Goodwill with the latest overflowing box. Then it was time to drive across town to pick up some clothes that I had put on hold. I can not believe that the store put the order under my first name instead of my last which meant it took 20 minutes to find the order.
I don't know about you but when I am cold and over tired I crave yeasty sweet things. I managed to drive past my favorite bakery not just once but twice with out stopping. Being just a few pounds lighter than last year I found it easier to find clothes and want to keep the trend going and maybe loose another dress size by the end of next year. I did a quick stop at Trader Joe's to pick up things for dinner. I also managed to skip the goodies there too.
I had time for a quick lunch and then it was time for the aide to leave. So Eric and I watched a little TV and I did some knitting. I do feel a small flare up coming so I did manage to take a short nap before I made dinner. The chicken casserole will be tomorrows blog just in case you want the recipe.
I think I also managed to break a few fences that need to be mended before the week is out. I do hate broken fences. So now it is time to put the finishing touches on tonight's dinner. So have a good evening and enjoy your families.
Well here is how my day actually went. Sunday night Eric started eyrping and continued to do so until 3 am Monday morning. I got Eric settled by 3:30 am. To tired to change and not wanting to wake John up I fell asleep in the guest room. Yes I was even too tired to bother to turn out the lights too.
The day started at 5:30 am with a quick shower and it did not even remotely wake me up. Eric's morning aide agreed to skip the gym and watch Eric for me while I took a much needed nap. I did get to nap until 1 pm.. I woke up to eat a very late breakfast and just in time for Eric to spike a fever. Which meant that Eric earned another day at home for Tuesday. Did I mention that going to sleep with very wet hair meant a bad hair day to boot. We had a great time watching TV and I did some knitting. Then made a very fast dinner with the end of the leftover turkey.
I am thankful that Eric slept most of Monday night and only woke up at 4 am with his fever. I settled him down by 5 am in time for a short nap before the day started again at you guessed it 5:30 am. I managed to get Eric's aide to stay until 2pm today and got my errands done. The trip to the post office which turned into a teaching experience. The Postal workers had never heard of stitch markers so this being post the latest scare the box was opened and inspected. I then explained what the markers were used for, which was very easy as when I have to wait in line I always have a small knitting project with me. Before it was repacked they told me it would be shipped the same way to New Zealand but putting it in a priority mail box would be more expensive. So into a readdressed padded envelope they went, I did not even have to fill out a new customs declaration. By the way our post office employees are great that way.
It was 42 degrees Fahrenheit when I pulled into Starbucks to get my iced tea, in deference to the cold I had them go light on the ice. I was still to tired to try a hot beverage. Then off to Goodwill with the latest overflowing box. Then it was time to drive across town to pick up some clothes that I had put on hold. I can not believe that the store put the order under my first name instead of my last which meant it took 20 minutes to find the order.
I don't know about you but when I am cold and over tired I crave yeasty sweet things. I managed to drive past my favorite bakery not just once but twice with out stopping. Being just a few pounds lighter than last year I found it easier to find clothes and want to keep the trend going and maybe loose another dress size by the end of next year. I did a quick stop at Trader Joe's to pick up things for dinner. I also managed to skip the goodies there too.
I had time for a quick lunch and then it was time for the aide to leave. So Eric and I watched a little TV and I did some knitting. I do feel a small flare up coming so I did manage to take a short nap before I made dinner. The chicken casserole will be tomorrows blog just in case you want the recipe.
I think I also managed to break a few fences that need to be mended before the week is out. I do hate broken fences. So now it is time to put the finishing touches on tonight's dinner. So have a good evening and enjoy your families.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Another Day of Fun and Cleaning.
I did set a new house record for the Wii Island Free Cycle of over 10 Wii miles in 30 minutes. I hope that all the Wii fit I have been doing is contributing to the slightly smaller me. The thing I really think is unfair about exercising is that it takes about an hour to burn 250 calories but I can consume those same calories in minutes. Such is life in the big city.
I did some clothes shopping today. Nothing to dramatic. I have lost enough inches to get into a brand that I have wanted to try but in the past there has been a little too much me. In my usual brands I am down one size from last year. To make room for the smaller items, I filled one box for Goodwill and plan on adding some more items to the Goodwill drop off pile tomorrow.
I got a lot of ganga's* today. most of the items were 40 to 70% off the original prices. Plus the store was having a buy so much get $10 dollars off your next purchase. So I had the sales lady ring it up in 5 different transactions. I don't think that is what the store was planing but it did help to bring the cost of everything down just a bit more.
After a nice lunch at Sweet Tomatoes we came home and did some more work around the house. There is always laundry to catch up on and this time of year the junk mail is enough to comfortably fill the large blue recycle barrel every week. I also packaged 50 sample bags of stitch markers for a sample box. Look for details later.
After dinner we caught up on Haven, which is a cool new show on the Syfy network. If you have not seen it catch up on Hulu it is a terrific new show. Yes I would love to have it come back for another season. well I think our boy has finally gone to sleep so it is now my turn. Goodnight and enjoy your families.
*Ganga - Tucson speak for a great deal
I did some clothes shopping today. Nothing to dramatic. I have lost enough inches to get into a brand that I have wanted to try but in the past there has been a little too much me. In my usual brands I am down one size from last year. To make room for the smaller items, I filled one box for Goodwill and plan on adding some more items to the Goodwill drop off pile tomorrow.
I got a lot of ganga's* today. most of the items were 40 to 70% off the original prices. Plus the store was having a buy so much get $10 dollars off your next purchase. So I had the sales lady ring it up in 5 different transactions. I don't think that is what the store was planing but it did help to bring the cost of everything down just a bit more.
After a nice lunch at Sweet Tomatoes we came home and did some more work around the house. There is always laundry to catch up on and this time of year the junk mail is enough to comfortably fill the large blue recycle barrel every week. I also packaged 50 sample bags of stitch markers for a sample box. Look for details later.
After dinner we caught up on Haven, which is a cool new show on the Syfy network. If you have not seen it catch up on Hulu it is a terrific new show. Yes I would love to have it come back for another season. well I think our boy has finally gone to sleep so it is now my turn. Goodnight and enjoy your families.
*Ganga - Tucson speak for a great deal
Friday, November 26, 2010
A Very Busy Week
It has been a very busy week since I last blogged. John had the week off so we got a lot done around the house. The craft room was semi cleaned and the 2 old machines, manuals and parts went to our Local Goodwill for their program. They will be cleaned and refurbished for someone else to use. So 2 more boxes out the door.
I also picked up my new sewing machine. I practice on some pillows for some small dogs. They are filled with scrap yarn, old clean rags, sewing scraps and poly fill picked up from the thrift store. The fabric is left over from other projects. They are a real up-cycle project. I still need to fiddle and play with the machine before I start making some new bibs for Eric. But so far so good.
Eric finished one of his favorite holiday projects. He gets to choose some toys that he thinks that other kids will like. He then gets to deliver them to a Toy for Tots drop off location. I really think that he enjoys this more than the people collecting the gifts for the kids.
We landed up with an extra turkey for Thanksgiving. Don't ask. So John made a mad dash to the Tucson Community Food Bank with a frozen turkey in the back of his car. It was all the way across town in the middle of rush hour and dropped it off 2 minutes before the food bank closed. We really hope that this will make someones X-mas meal a little better.
John and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner together. John sliced and diced. I mixed everything together. Since it was just the two of us we skipped making a pie and sweet potatoes. The rest of the day was a just hang around the house day. We did get to talk to Teri who spent Thanksgiving with a classmates family. It was just to much for us to ask her to fly home in the middle of finals for a few days.
After a very slow start to today we did manage to do some clothes shopping and sneak out to our last dinner out for this vacation. Well it has been a long busy week and I think my closet is next on the cleaning agenda.
I almost forgot. I am thankful for all my family and friends. So have a good weekend and enjoy your friends and families.
Eric finished one of his favorite holiday projects. He gets to choose some toys that he thinks that other kids will like. He then gets to deliver them to a Toy for Tots drop off location. I really think that he enjoys this more than the people collecting the gifts for the kids.
We landed up with an extra turkey for Thanksgiving. Don't ask. So John made a mad dash to the Tucson Community Food Bank with a frozen turkey in the back of his car. It was all the way across town in the middle of rush hour and dropped it off 2 minutes before the food bank closed. We really hope that this will make someones X-mas meal a little better.
John and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner together. John sliced and diced. I mixed everything together. Since it was just the two of us we skipped making a pie and sweet potatoes. The rest of the day was a just hang around the house day. We did get to talk to Teri who spent Thanksgiving with a classmates family. It was just to much for us to ask her to fly home in the middle of finals for a few days.
After a very slow start to today we did manage to do some clothes shopping and sneak out to our last dinner out for this vacation. Well it has been a long busy week and I think my closet is next on the cleaning agenda.
I almost forgot. I am thankful for all my family and friends. So have a good weekend and enjoy your friends and families.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday
Wonders of wonders, we actually got out of the house two days in a row. Yes we did see a movie today. Eric and I saw Morning Glory. The movie was so good that not a lot of knitting got done after the first fifteen minutes or so. I did not even notice that I lost a stitch marker during the movie. Oh well I will just have to make myself some more. John saw Skylight which he said was good but not for Eric. I landed up eating almost a whole small bag of popcorn during the movie and landed up skipping lunch. A little shopping later and it was time to head home.
We came home and made chicken soup together. I did something totally different today. I took my tea strainer to de gunk the pot and get all the small floaters out of the soup. The plus side to using my tea strainer is that the mesh was so small I was able to get most of the chicken fat out of the soup without leaving in in the fridge over night. I am really not a big fan of fatty chicken soup.
I am almost finished with a few projects and hope to show off some on the blog this week. I have a full day tomorrow so it is time for me to turn in.
We came home and made chicken soup together. I did something totally different today. I took my tea strainer to de gunk the pot and get all the small floaters out of the soup. The plus side to using my tea strainer is that the mesh was so small I was able to get most of the chicken fat out of the soup without leaving in in the fridge over night. I am really not a big fan of fatty chicken soup.
I am almost finished with a few projects and hope to show off some on the blog this week. I have a full day tomorrow so it is time for me to turn in.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Saturday
OK, we actually got out of the house with Eric today. We took Eric to see the new Harry Potter movie. He is a big Harry Potter fan and dress up like Harry every Halloween. This is the best Harry Potter film yet and the special effects are awesome. No I am not going to tell you anything more, but if you are going to knit during this movie I recommend a very light yarn. I am no spoiler. But I will say that if Teri does not find time during finals to see this movie I will go see it again. Enough said.
Here is one spoiler that I am willing to give away. I just picked up the November copy of Simply Knitting and I will be making the blue shrug on the cover for Teri and I. I will let Teri pick her yarn out when she is home for winter break. The cowl on the front cover looks cool too.
As you can tell from this blog I did get a full nights sleep and Eric is doing much better. A lot of knitting got done today but I have so many projects going on at one time that nothing got finished. I guess knitting is like reading, I have to have a couple of books going at one time too.
Well it is time to do some more knitting.
Here is one spoiler that I am willing to give away. I just picked up the November copy of Simply Knitting and I will be making the blue shrug on the cover for Teri and I. I will let Teri pick her yarn out when she is home for winter break. The cowl on the front cover looks cool too.
As you can tell from this blog I did get a full nights sleep and Eric is doing much better. A lot of knitting got done today but I have so many projects going on at one time that nothing got finished. I guess knitting is like reading, I have to have a couple of books going at one time too.
Well it is time to do some more knitting.
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