Thursday, December 3, 2009

Breakfast:

• 2 pieces of toast with butter and honey with coffee, water

Lunch:

• 1 fried egg sandwich with a salad, coffee and water

In Between:

• 1 bite of a Baby Ruth Candy Bar – yum!
• Coffee with friends

Dinner:

• 1/2 of the McD’s Southwestern Salad with chicken, a few sips of Coke and an apple pie
• 1 glass of wine  and then coffee with cream

Exercise:

• None – still taking it easy

Goals:

At home…

• Still going through magazines and books to donate
• Organizing Homeschooling Cooperative Curriculum and FB Group page
• Cat (me) maintenance – manicure and pedicure

At work…

• Cleaned out the book drop and scan materials in
• Shelve books
• Feed the fish and Guinea Pigs

I love going into the library when it is closed.  I also love getting a head start to the day for my co-workers.  Tomorrow morning, when they come in, there won’t be these stacks of library materials to process.    It is fun doing that!!

Today’s Outfit:

Black cable knit sweater – I have had this for years

Fuchsia scarf

Levi’s

Black Dr. Scholl’s Clogs

Silver hoop earrings (which Sarah has decided she would like to have), silver charm bracelet, silver/gold watch

Signature fragrance

Conclusion:

Today we had our pre-meeting for our homeschooling cooperative.  We hammered out schedules, classroom locations, curriculums, projects, materials we would need, etc.  The hours just flew by – they always do when we get together.  I brought in hot chocolate, marshmallows (gotta have plenty of those) and cookies for the kids and coffee for the moms.

xo Cat

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Breakfast:

• 2 waffles with Blaine’s butter and honey (from a friend’s farm), coffee

Lunch:

• 1 peanut butter and banana  sandwich

In Between:

• Coffee with 1 peanut butter cup and a Pepsi

The first day of my “friend” and I was feeling the low energy I have on this particular day.  The Pepsi was just what I needed and a quick way to get the sugar pumping through.

Dinner:

• Meatball subs (homemade) with cheese and red sauce, salad and a glass of wine and then Coffee with cream afterwards.

This meal took about 40 minutes from start to finish.  While the meatballs were cooking, I made the salad, toasted the bread, set the table, picked up the house a bit and cleaned the dirty dishes as I went along.

If you find that you don’t have oodles of time to spare, try to use what you do have wisely.  I could have made another batch of meatballs, cooked them and then froze the extra for another time.  Or another option, since I had the ground beef thawed out, I could have had another pound thawing and made a meatloaf, cooked and then frozen or stored in the fridge for another meal.

I have the stove going (using the electricity) why not take advantage of the usage?!  You will save energy and time later on. 

Exercise:

• None today – allowing myself a bit of a rest.

Goals:
At home…

• Keeping on top of things – just the basics
• School work plans for the children and tests as well as plans for the co-op

At work…

• Winter Reading Program
• Patron Cards – filing, etc.
• Calls – books on hold and ILL’d

Today’s Outfit:
White (long) tee shirt (Target)

Light blue denim shirt (thrift)

Dark Blue Blazer (JCP)

London Jeans (thrift)

Black ballet flats

Turquoise earrings, silver rope necklace, silver charm bracelet, silver/gold watch

Signature fragrance

Blaine stopped by at the library to pick up a few things, he is on the Board there, and told me he liked the look – casual mixed with the business.    He made my day especially when I was not feeling my best.

Conclusion:
We have a new schedule at work now.  Being low staffed, we are having to all do extra time at the front desk, extra tasks we would normally have to do and still have to find time to do our other jobs.  We are a little stressed but we are still giggling in the back office.  It is like a family there.  There will be someone coming in to volunteer 2 days a week to help us.  This will definitely lighten the load a bit.
xo

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Breakfast:

• 2 waffles with butter and honey, coffee

Lunch:

• Chicken noodle soup with cheese, carrots, lettuce and celery (leftovers from a salad), mineral water, yogurt with granola – I love cheese mixed into soups

In Between:

• 1 dark chocolate bite and coffee

Dinner:

• Pizza, glass of wine

Exercise:

• I did some leg exercises using my stairs – Otis, one of our dogs, kept looking at me so strangely.
• Walked to work.

Goals:
At home…

• Magazines – still going through and finding what I can use at work vs. donation
• Books – working on a big donation pile

At work…

• Winter Reading Program – finding projects for the children to do regarding horses and finding it not so easy
• Youth Book Club this evening – their books came in via courier later this afternoon which meant a quick scramble to get the books processed in time for their meeting.

Today’s Outfit:

Black sweater with a mock shirt (white w/black and red stripes) – thrift

Jeans skirt – thrift

Black tights

Black loafer shoes with a slight heel

Silver hoop earrings, silver necklace (Sarah’s), silver & gold watch

Signature Fragrance

Conclusions:

The children had their book club meeting tonight which is always fun.  While the kids are chatting away, so are the parents.    Blaine made butter (his first time) all by himself and even froze a batch.  Came home, had a simple dinner, changed into some comfy clothes and we all watched a movie.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Breakfast:

• 2 pieces of toast with butter and coffee – did not feel like having more than this.

Lunch:

• 2 fried eggs, 2 pieces of toast with butter and jelly and salad.

In Between:

• Coffee (a few sips), 2 bites of Sarah’s danish and a few sips of Pepsi – just too busy today.

Dinner:

• Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, cream of wheat, a glass of white wine and coffee with real cream.

Goals:

At Home…

• Consolidate calendars (purse calendar with the family calendar on the fridge).
• General clean-up and finish laundry.
• Go through a basket, we have in the kitchen, that tends to collect stuff and ditch the majority of it.
• Start collecting magazines that need to be donated to library and some to be used for monthly themes.

At Work…

We are so swamped at this point and time that I feel blessed just to keep some order to the front desk. We are down 3 people now and one out sick…can we say c-r-a-z-y?  Still having fun though!   I love the people I work with and especially love seeing the people from town come in.  We are not your typical quiet library.  It is more like the old time-y general store or gathering place where you come in to catch up and chew the fat for a spell.    People don’t seem to mind the chatting back and forth and will, many times, jump right into the conversation from wherever they are at – front desk chats can be added to by someone sitting at the computers or even behind the book shelves which will conclude with peels of laughter from the entire room.    Being a small town…we can get away with that kinda of stuff!

Exercise:

• Walked to and from work – I love that I can do this!

Today’s Outfit:

Black tank

Gray v-neck sweater

Black denim long skirt

Black and white knitted scarf

Black low heeled boots

Silver hoop earrings, silver charm bracelet and silver/gold watch

*No thrift store items today but clothing I have had fro many moons.  I guess that still could be considered thrifty.    You read about buying 1 or 2 major pieces a year that will go with everything and something you will get the most mileage from – I call that being very practical not to mention very smart.

Conclusions:

We have been busy doing this and that around the house.

Blaine started and finished painting Sarah’s bedroom – it looks so nice.  He also went through and sealed up the windows and gaps that were letting in the cold air in her room.  Sarah has an outside door that leads to a balcony and with the exposure that side of the house gets during the summer, repairs to the door area are needed.  Our house is over a hundred years old – gaps are a given as well as the creaks and just adds to the charm of it.  I hope Blaine remembers that as I get old and cranky.  I mean…creaky! 

xo Cat

 

30 Minute Meals: Pasta with Sautéed Sausage

Not possible you say?  Sure it is.  I even clocked myself while making this meal and it was right on 30 minutes – from start to finish.

The Menu:

• Pasta with Italian Sausage
• Salad

Here’s what you will need:

For the Sausage…

• Italian Sausage (pre-cooked, packaged in 2 long links)
• garlic cloves (garlic seasoning will work)
• Italian Seasonings (oregano, basil, etc)
• salt & pepper
• butter or olive oil (I use bacon grease – typical southern cook and boy does it add a wonderful flavor)
• skillet/sauté pan

For the Pasta…

• 1 box of spaghetti
• 1 stock pot or large sauce pan
• water – enough to cover and cook the amount of pasta you are using
• splash of olive oil (veggie oil will work too) – optional

1.  Add water to stock pot, add a splash of oil to the water and bring to a boil.

2.  Heat up your skillet on medium/low and add the oil of your choice.

And while you are waiting for the water to boil and the skillet to heat up…

3.  Mince, dice or squish your garlic – if you are using garlic seasoning, wait and add that with the other seasonings – after the sausage goes into the skillet.  Add garlic to the skillet and lightly sauté.

4.  Cut sausage links into 1/2″ (?) slices and add to the skillet and stir.

5.  Add your seasonings – salt, pepper, Italian mix, etc.

6.  Brown the sausage to your liking and keep warm.

7.  Check on your water for the pasta.  It should be close to boiling.  If so, place pasta in the water and stir.  This will keep your pasta from sticking together.  (Remember when you made plaster of Paris from flour and water in school?  Pasta is made from…flour and when you add water, it becomes like glue and why you need to stir pasta, separate it a bit to keep it from stocking together).

The pasta will take roughly 10 minutes to finish which gives you plenty of time to…

8.  Start your salad – lettuce, tomatoes, etc. and set on the table with favorite dressing.  If you make your dressing from scratch – you still have plenty of time.

9.  Set the table

10.  After the pasta is al dente, drain and place on platter or in a bowl.  Pour sausage and pan drippings over pasta and dinner is ready!

Tips:

• Clean up as you go along and it will make the cleaning up afterwards a breeze.
• Leftover pasta water can be used to make bread with or used to water your garden (after it has cooled).
• You can sauté two packages of sausages at the same time using half for the recipe above and the other half for:  making Italian sausage soup, diced to add to a casserole – use the energy wisely and save time in the kitchen later on.
• Boil extra pasta to use in a spaghetti casserole or soup.

Fowl Proof Chicken Noodle Soup

I was sharing with someone a simple way to make chicken noodle soup the other day. This person has a very busy schedule and is rarely at home and when she is, she is busy studying for her classes she takes in between working full time. Cooking from scratch is just not in her cards right now, money is tight and understandably so. I shared with her my cheater’s version of making chicken noodle soup. You can put it together in the amount of time it takes to heat up your kettle.

Normally, I make chicken soup from scratch but must confess.  I have been cheating ever so slightly!  Now I know you can’t substitute the taste of homemade (from scratch) chicken soup – it’s impossible! No matter what the can or box tells you – it just doesn’t taste the same. Making soup (from scratch) can be a bit daunting to the first timer and I’m here to tell you it really isn’t.  It is so easy you won’t believe it.  Instruction on how to do this will follow.

If you are just learning how to cook or have never attempted to make chicken (noodle) soup before or just don’t have time – I have an easy quick and cheap version of chicken noodle soup. Now, if you are a “make it from scratch” snob – DON’T READ ANY FURTHER and just skip to the next part! If you are new in the kitchen and don’t know where to start, don’t have a lot of time or money – stick with me.

Here is what you will need:

• 1 package of Ramen Noodle Soup – Chicken Flavor
• 1 egg (optional)
• Leftover bits of day old salad (carrots, celery and lettuce)
• boiling water

1. Add water to the kettle (sauce pan) and let it come to a boil.

2. Open package (over a bowl as not to lose any of the noodle bits) and place in bowl. At this point I usually break the noodles up a bit and then add the bouillon packet.

3. Add the egg and break the yolk – this will add flavor and color to the soup – similar to egg drop soup but with the yolk.

4. Add salad stuff.

5. Pour boiling water over to cover noodles and veggies and stir.

6. Allow to steep for a few minutes and voila!

The veggies will cook just enough to add flavor but not too much that they are mushy with exception to the lettuce. The carrots will give off a sweet taste with a slight crispy bite. The egg, my oldest son’s tip to me a few years ago, really does add a nice flavor not to mention up-ing the nutritional value to the, what I am sure is a MSG-filled bouillon packet.

Do I recommend this on a regular basis? No! But it will do in a pinch.

The Real Thing

You will find that making soup is so easy and takes no time at all. My favorite type of soup is what I call refrigerator soup. It is whatever I have left over and can be used to add to my soup. More on that in a sec. First let’s start with the chicken!

• 1 whole chicken (chicken parts, chicken breasts or whatever is on sale)
• carrots, celery (a must – it is what adds that certain flavor to soups) and if you have onions and garlic – even better!
• salt and peppe
• water to cover
• stock pot

• 1 or 2 eggs to add later (again, optional)

If you only have salt and pepper, that will work but to get that added boost of flavor, you really need the celery, carrots, onion and garlic. They are simple, basic ingredients and should be something you have on hand should you plan on doing more cooking in the future.

Rinse your chicken off and if you are using a whole fryer, make sure to take out the neck and innards from the inside cavity of the bird but don’t throw them away. They can be used to add flavor to your stock (water) and tossed later.  I like using the neck and heart/liver to make a gravy with but that is for another time.

Add bird to the pot.

Roughly cut up your carrots, celery (use the whole part of the celery), onions and garlic and throw them on top of chicken.  If you have a bay leaf or two, add it.

Add salt and pepper and enough water to cover and then some. I always add enough water so that it does not spill over the top when boiling. How’s that for measurements?!

Bring to a boil and turn the heat down a bit to allow a slight boil. If the water is jumping out of the pot, you need to turn the temp down a bit more.   We want a slight bubbling/gurgling thing going – no jumping ship kinda stuff.

Let simmer for an hour or more until the chicken turns white and you can pierce the chicken meat and have clear (not bloody) liquid come out..

If you are using a whole bird (bones and all), you will need to allow the water temp to cool down enough so that you can debone the chicken. At this point, whole fryer or bits and pieces, I strain the stock pot into a bowl (using a strainer) and allow the chicken to cool so that I can deskin, debone and shred keeping the stock in the bowl for later.

You know what you have now?

No! Not a great big mess!

You have chicken stock and/or the makings of chicken (fill in the blank)!

That was not that hard. When the stock is brewing, I know I have about an hour to do something else. I don’t forget the chicken is on the stove because it is not long before the whole house is smelling absolutely wonderful!  You can do this while doing other things in your home.  If you run out of time, put the whole stock pot in the refrigerator, cover and finish it the next day.

Now if you want to make chicken noodle soup…

Add your shredded chicken to the stock you made, chopped or diced carrots and celery, 2 eggs (whisked & optional), spaghetti noodles broken in half and bring to a boil and allow to simmer until the noodles have become al dente. You can also use egg noodles. Or, if you really have the time, make your own pasta.  They are actually very simple to do and do not take long to make.  You can start them while your chicken is simmering on the stove.

With this very basic recipe, you can make…

• Chicken and Dumplings – dumplings are simply a biscuit mixture that is added to the last 20 minutes of simmering.
• Chicken salad or salad sandwiches – save the stock and freeze in 2 or 4 cups servings in air tight bags or containers.
• BBQ Chicken sandwiches – shred the chicken and add your favorite BBQ sauce.
• Use breast of chicken to make salads, sandwiches (whole pieces with cheese melted on top), mixed in with pasta and red sauce, etc.

Need more help?  You Tube has some great instructional videos on how to make soup.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Breakfast:

• 1 bagel with cream cheese, yogurt cup with fruit and a topping of granola and…coffee
• 1 teaspoon of blackstrap molasses
• Green tea

Lunch:

• 1 peanut butter and banana sandwich on wheat bread, chips and mineral water

In Between:

• Cookies made with a pizzelle iron – yum!
• 1 chocolate bite and a few sips of coffee

Dinner:

Out with Sarah to do some last minute shopping for her trip this weekend…

• 1 6-inch chicken/ham and cheese sub with Sun Chips and a few sips of Cola.
• 1 glass of red wine

Goals:

At home…

• General tidy
• Laundry (mine and Sarah)
• Go over calendar for next month

At work…

• HA! Still trying to figure who, what, where and how we are going to cover the front desk. I did manage to update a few things I needed. Baby steps…making baby steps.

Exercise:

This is where I love my job! It keeps me hopping – I love that! I drove into work today – I had a car full of stuff to unload – so no walking.

Today’s Outfit:

Off-white short sleeved sweater (thrift)

Navy blue blazer

London Jeans (thrift)

Black ballet flats

Gold/diamond solitaire hoop earrings, ditto for the necklace, silver/gold watch, gold charm bracelet with hearts all around it – my oldest son gave this to me when he was little.

Signature fragrance

Conclusion:

I had someone today ask me if I was a perfectionist. Of course I denied it!   (I was putting up a display around the library – making adjustments, finding the best spots for them.)

I don’t think myself a perfectionist – maybe I am kidding myself here. I do like things a certain way and, for the most part, I will work to see that come to pass. Does it always work out that way? Nope! I don’t get upset about it. I am flexible but…

The person who asked me was quite nice about it and it sure got me to thinking about it.

Blaine has been a wonderful influence on my somewhat perfectionistic quality. (Notice the word “quality” here and is perfectionistic even a word?!) Like me, Blaine likes things to be in some order. He is very methodical in his thinking – I so admire that about hi. At the same time, he has such an ease and low key quality and I can only hope some of that has passed on to me over the years. It has and I am truly better about having things a certain way but there is always that but!

xo Cat

Cat-ching Up…

Caught up on some much needed rest…

Last night I went to bed shortly after dinner and slept for almost 10 hours. It has been a whirlwind few days/weeks.

• We (Blaine) finished painting the office room – it looks so nice! We have spent some time trying to get it organized, well, again, more Blaine than me – it is his room for the most part. It has been a goal of mine to get this room in order so that Blaine could start writing again. Last night, as I was falling asleep, I could hear him typing away and working on another project!! Now to start painting in Sarah’s room.

• Our library put on another production of a murder mystery play with 2 showings this year – we are exhausted! We auctioned off some of the props used in the play – stick horses – that brought us $2,025. Much needed funds for our small library especially now that part of our funding has been cut.

• Saturday morning, the whole family, along with a few friends, ran in a local 5K called the Turkey Trot. I had to pace myself. Not having done this kind of thing (running) in a long time and stopping every few minutes to blow my nose – I did pretty good. A little discouraging when 3 fast paced walkers in their 70s passed me by but I can giggle about that one!!! There was a good turn out and it all goes to a great cause and the point yes?

• My hours at work have changed slightly. We are down one person now and trying to adjust our schedules accordingly which has only added to the fun. It is a challenge to get things done and not allow ourselves to get sloppy in the process – this only creates more work and that we don’t need! I am up for the challenge. It makes you think more efficiently and keeps you on your toes. For me anyway it does.

• My diet these past few days has been…well…not too great. Most of it has been on the run kinda eating and grabbing what I could, when I could. I had someone ask me how it is I could eat the things I do and not gain weight. Simple! I stay active. I walk when I can, use the stairs in our home quite frequently, yoga, my job is not a sit on your butt kinda thing (thank goodness) and here soon, the children and I will be joining a hiking group. I don’t have a maid to clean my home – this would be a missed opportunity to get some exercise in and plus it is great therapy!

I am back to my normal posting the same ol’ boring stuff…I know y’all can’t wait!

xo Cat

Blog Award

Thank you to Observations of an Irish Girl in Boston (aka Lunasa – side side bar) for thinking of me. Now, I get to pass this on to 15 new and/or interesting to me blogs! Don’t you love discovering new blogs to check out? There are so many inspiring people out there with different views and outlook on life.

Here are the Rules:

To accept the award…post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have recently discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers you’ve awarded to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Below are the 15 blogs that I have recently discovered and think are great!  They are not in any particular order. Some are along the same vein as what you read here while the others will give you different look at life. We may not agree with one part or whole of one’s blog/opinion but they give you an insight into understanding the world around us that can connect us all together. That right there I love (the heart connection) and  that we all share it whether we agree with those views or not. I try not to be closed minded in the blogs I read but look at it as an opportunity to learn something new – to see and understand what others think and feel about the life around them.

Here is my list. They are varied, different and unique and ones I enjoy reading on a regular basis.

1. AnneMarie ~ Defining Grace, Manners & Style
2. French Kitchen in America
3. Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen
4. Love and a Licked Spoon
5. Elsie’s Yoga Kula: Free Online Podcast Classes
6. Living Luxuriously with Less
7. The Daily Connoisseur
8. My Wardrobe Today
9. The Pretty Project
10. Forest Street Kitchen
11. Grand Rants – I love that this guy feels free to voice his opinion – agree or disagree – it is a view you may not have thought of before and why I enjoy reading his blog (Blaine…this is the blog I was telling you about.)
12. Our Scented Cottage
13. Everyday France
14. Highland Happenings
15. French Word-A-Day

I will try and notify the blogs above about the award later today – please do not feel you have to respond in the same manner. I am just happy to share with others what I have found so interesting in your blog.

And Lunasa…thank you honey! You are so sweet!

xo Cat

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer…had a very shiny nose.  And if you ever saw it.  You would even say it glows (like a light bulb).

That’s me in a nutshell.  Just call me Rudolph!

Breakfast:

• 2 pieces of toast with butter and strawberry jelly – coffee.

Lunch:

• Pierogies and a salad

In Between:

• cheeseburger, coffee with cream and 1 glazed donut – not my normal in between but…okay and mineral water.

Dinner:

• 2 pieces of pizza and a bunch of grapes, a glass of red wine and coffee with cream (as I sit here and type this).

Goals:

My plan was to do this…

Snuggle up with the furry ones (Miss Sydney was hanging out behind me), coffee and maybe a much needed nap. The kids had other ideas! So off we went and me with half a box of tissues in my purse (which I promptly went through). I told the kids that when I got to the last tissue…it would be time to go. We bought a few necessary items for the weekend – Sarah has a friend sleeping over and on Saturday we are all doing a 5K run. I am hoping to be well enough by then.

I have to giggle at the dogs. Ellie always sits at the feet, Otis curled up right next to you and under a blanket preferably and Anna likes to hide her whole head behind your back with her paws pushed against you. Just know that if you come to our house and you stay for an extended period of time, the dogs will gladly share the couch with you!

Today’s Outfit:

Black turtleneck sweater (Ross Dept. Store Years ago)

Red/black plaid jacket (Costco years ago – bought it for our trips up to the cabin)

London Jeans (thrift)

Black boots (JCP’s on sale just recently)

Diamond solitaire earrings, silver/gold watch and silver charm bracelet. I was going to wear something around my neck but got sidetracked and forgot. I did not intend to go out today and did not give it a second thought.

Signature fragrance

It took some effort to get up and get dressed today. I would have loved nothing more than to sit around in my pjs and take it easy. My head is stopped up and I feel as if I am walking around in a fog. As I have shared before, I find it helps to get up and at least get dressed when I don’t feel well. Sometimes it is all I need to feel better or enough to get on with the day.

Conclusion:

What I find amazing is the ah ha moment you get sometimes when an influence is taken away or moves out of the way long enough for “that” realization to hit you.

It’s like when you stop watching television or listening to the news, your outlook changes. News for the most part is depressing and negative. Take that influence out for a time and what do you find? Things you once thought were bad are not so bad anymore. So what happened? What is it that made our outlook change?

Last night as I was walking back from our church’s Thanksgiving meal, this realization hit me. Not a “you could’ve knocked me over with a feather” kinda of thing but pretty close. A myriad of thoughts crossed over me like a wave. I would have written about it last night but I could not collect my thoughts quick enough before more understanding/awareness of how things were that came to me. At this point I was nodding my head saying to myself that “I got it” and “When am I going to learn…”

Sometimes we can look up to or admire someone so much that we don’t see things as clearly as we would minus the influence they have but only because we have allowed it – we have put them there ourselves. It is like being in love with love and you don’t see things that others do because you are looking through rose colored glasses. When those glasses come off, the view can hit you like a ton of bricks. I have had that happen to me a few times in my life.

So, I sit here, processing all these realizations and being me, needing to let it sink in to some degree, allowing whatever I need to see and understand about it some time. Time can be a healer of so many things if only we would allow ourselves that time.

Funny how something so simple as turning off the (fill in the blank) can open up a whole different view.

I know this sounds cryptic yet again.  My point here is not to point out or point to but this is more for me and my need to write it out and see it in print.

xoxo Rudolph (aka Cat)