Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

Are you good at what you do? What would you like to be better at.

Am I good at what I do?  Well, I know there are plenty of people out there who do not think I do much of anything.  But the absolutely number one thing I do in my life is be a wife.  This is not anti feminist, I chose to make wife my full time vocation.  Not because I have to, or because I have no other options, but because I want to.  Shortly after we married, we made the decision that it no longer made sense for me to continue in my full time job.  It was a choice we made together.  So I embraced my role as housewife.

Some parts of that job are things at which I am great.  Cooking is probably my greatest job related skill.  I love to cook, Hubby loves having a wife that cooks, so it works out well.  By cooking most of our meals home made, I save money, and make it easier to insure we are putting healthy, nourishing food in our bodies.  Am I perfect at it?  Nope, there is always room for growth and improvement.  Along with the cooking, I do the majority of the shopping for the household, both food and goods.  I like grocery shopping, not so much clothing shopping, but I have gotten to where I am good at both, in terms of both efficiency and thrift.  Cleaning, well, I am not one of those women who loves to clean.  Our house is clean, but often cluttered (mostly with books).  I do somewhat enjoy doing laundry, I just dislike putting away the clothes once clean, mostly because we do not have room for them all.  Hubby and I split dishes and laundry, as well as pet related duties.  So, if I were given a work evaluation on my job as a housewife, I think I would meet or exceed expectations in all areas.  But again, there is certainly room for improvement, and hopefully I improve every year.

Beyond my main role as housewife, there are plenty of other things I do.  I am a crafter, an amateur photographer, a writer, a fund raiser, a community advocate, and an advisor.  These are all things that I really enjoy doing, and according to the feedback I have gotten over the years, I do them well.  Of my hobbies, I really want to improve my writing skills (something I am starting to work at) and my photography skills.

I will soon be starting a new role, working at a local library.  Everyone seems to think I am going to do a wonderful job at this, so I hope they are right.  I can tell you that I am incredibly excited, and have a million ideas brewing up in my brain.  Thank goodness for Pinterest, right?

So, what do I do?  I live my life, and I try to do it in the very best way possible, full of optimism, joy, love, and kindness.  That does not mean I do not wish I could be better.  Every day is a balance of gratitude for the abundance of blessings in my life, and a desire to use those blessings in even greater ways.

Cartoons by Hubby: The Beans Got Burned

The Backstory: I had a bit of a cooking catastrophe today, which is pretty rare for me.  I wanted to make black beans as part of dinner.  I had dried beans, but forgot to soak them overnight.  However, I know you can cook them in the pressure cooker without soaking them first, you just need to cook them a little longer.  Apparently, I judged poorly.  The beans burned, and charred bean residue was stuck inside my pressure cooker.  Hubby had a unique suggestion on how to clean it.  A suggestion, as I pointed out, that could have messy consequences.  As a result, he drew an entire comic strip dedicated to the Burned Bean Issue of 2013.

Home Improvements: Living Room After

After two months of hard work, hours of time spent on the floor and new paint, weeks of eating our dinner at the kitchen sink because all of our living room furniture was crammed into our dining room, we finally finished our living room last weekend.  We finished touching up the paint, moved the furniture back in, and we are finally enjoying the fruits of our labor.

I present to you our completely redone living room.

What do you think?  I adore it.  There are lots of little details, including the vintage crates we found in the basement that we are now using as mini bookcases.  We even have a cozy little reading nook.

There are a ton more pictures in a flickr set you can view here.

The first night after the room was finished, as we were sitting down to dinner, Hubby glanced into the living room and whispered "Our house is awesome."  In that moment, the past two months totally became worth it.

Home Improvements: Living Room Before and During

When Hubby and I bought our house 3 1/2 years ago, it was pretty much move in ready, which is exactly what we needed.  We were in a time crunch, due to my apartment's lease running out.  So, we closed on the house the end of July, and moved in the very next weekend.  And then our wedding was in October.  As a result, we did not have time to do much with the house.  No painting, no major changes in decor, nothing.  Therefore, we had to make the best of it, which we did.  The living room was a soft yellow color, with cream carpeting.  We bought some neutral furniture, and made the best of it.

Two rounds of puppy housebreaking and crate training later, our carpet was completely ruined.  Which is why, last summer, we decided to pull the carpet up and take our chances with the hardwood underneath.  So the living room, stairs, and upstairs hall were de-carpeted.  What we found was, well, disappointing.  The wood was structurally sound, but cosmetically trashed.  Scorch marks, large paint smears, and even concrete/plaster covered various sections of the floor.  It became clear that we were going to have to do something.  New carpet would just get ruined, and refinishing the hardwood would be a little too costly.  So, I decided to investigate different do-it-yourself strategies.

I stumbled upon a web article that talked about using brown paper bags to cover a floor.  You glue pieces of bags down, and cover with several coats of varnish. While the brown paper looked nice, I was struck by a moment of inspiration.  As a book reviewer, I get a ton of Advanced Reader Copies of books.  These are uncorrected proofs that cannot be resold or donated.  And it seems like such a waste to just throw them away.  So, I thought, why not use them to cover my floor and decorate my home?  I got busy making a board on pinterest, but waited a while to pitch the idea to Hubby.  When I finally did, he was a bit skeptical, understandably so.  What I was proposing was unlike anything we had ever seen before.  So we waited, and waited, and waited.  I even bought stuff to do a test patch, but we never did it.

Finally, on New Year's Day of this year, we bit the bullet and did a test patch.  And we loved it!  So, I immediately got to work.  

The first step was to take the books were were using, remove them from their bindings, and tear the pages into pieces.  We opted to go with old books, because the typefaces used in them would give the floor the vintage feel we were looking for.  Then I could use all those Advanced Reader Copies in decorations.  Once we had all the pages torn up, we used a 1:1 mixture of glue (just regular old white school glue) and water to make a thin paste.  We brushed a layer of paste on a small section of floor, then began overlaying pieces of book page on the floor, covering with another later of paste.

 We slowly did this until the entire floor was covered.  We allowed this to dry for a day.  Then we covered with a layer of a polyurethane that had varnish mixed in.  This gave the paper a slight tint.  We allowed this to dry for a day, then did a second coat.  Another day of drying was followed by a third coat.  The result was amazing; it looked almost antiqued.

We did the upstairs hall first, then every other step on the staircase, then the remaining steps, and finally the living room floor.

Each different section presented it's own set of difficulties, and at one point the cat ended up in the duct work.  But finally after about 5 weeks, the floor was completely finished.

Since we had to move all the furniture out of the living room to work on the floor, I suggested we go ahead and paint as well.  We selected paint colors, and purchased all the accouterments.  Another 3 weeks were devoted to painting the walls, ceiling, and trim.

So, how did it all turn out?  Stay tuned!

To see more pictures of the floor in progress, view my entire flickr set here

   

It's Always Sunny in Kittanning

Hubby and I are huge fans of the show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".  We fully acknowledge that it is a show full of really screwed up humor, but man oh man, is it funny.  Over the holidays, we watched the entire series, every episode up to date.  This is probably the third or fourth time we have done this since we the days where we were just dating.  We often quote the show, and sing the songs from "The Nightman Cometh" episode.  So, yeah, we kind of love the show.  Which makes the fact that the following situation took place not at all surprising.

We are redecorating our living room (more on that to come in future posts), and we are in the painting phase right now.  Yesterday, we taped the room, and I spent a lot of time spackling holes and other flaws.  Today we moved on to the paint itself.  While painting, Hubby says to me "Where is Charlie when you need him?".  I knew immediately, he was referring to Charlie Kelly, a character in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" who always get's stuck with the grunt work. After Hubby posed that rhetorical question, the following exchange occurred:

Me: Yeah, this is totally Charlie work.
Hubby: Most definitely Charlie work.
Me: Though, to be fair, would you really want Charlie painting our house?  Who knows what it would end up looking like.
Hubby:  At least there would be no rats.

Now, you really need to be a fan of the show to appreciate the awesomeness of this conversation.  But to those that are fans, doesn't this conversation absolutely make sense?  We could totally be on that show.

Influenster Review: Palmolive Fresh Infusions

As I mentioned, I recently got a chance to try out Palmolive Fresh Infusions thanks to Influenster and Palmolive.  I received 3 bottles, each a different scent: Ginger White Tea, Lemon Thyme, and Lime Basil.  Upon initial inspection, each bottle smelled fantastic.  The scents are light, and clean smelling, and do not smell artificial.

I shared a bottle with my friend Erin.  The scent she chose was the Lime Basil.  She was super excited, and really seems to like it.  Like me, Erin cooks a lot, so she ends up washing a lot of dishes.  This soap can really perk up this unpleasant task.  She was also excited that the soap matched her kitchen, which is a soft lime green color.  I think that the Lime Basil scent smells a little like Lime Lifesavers, and Erin agreed!

I also got some coupons to share with my friends, which I was excited about.  In fact, one of my friends on Facebook was so excited about the Fresh Infusions picture I posted, I sent her some coupons in the mail!  It was really fun to be able to share this product in a tangible way!

While I like all three scents, I have to admit the Lemon Thyme scent is my favorite for a lot of reasons.  When I was a kid, the dish soap we always had our house was lemon scented, so the Lemon Thyme scent reminded me of my childhood and happy memories in our family kitchen.  The Lemon Thyme scent is so bright and sunny, it has really helped pep up my mood on these cold, dreary winter days we have been having lately.  Everything about these scents is bright and uplifting (and make me crave summertime!).

In terms of performance, I really thought the Fresh Infusions did a great job.  My dishes are clean, with no residue.  Also, true to Palmolive form, the product is really gentle on my hands.  I wash a lot of dishes, so between the hot water and the cold winter weather, my hands can get cracked and sore.  Palmolive Fresh Infusions does a great job of keeping my hands soft and moisturized.  With this product, I was able to tackle my dirty dishes, with no gloves necessary!

The product is reasonably priced, and is available at WalMart, which is pretty convenient!  All in all, I am really happy that I got to try Palmolive Fresh Infusions and share it with my friends!

Disclaimer: I received a complementary sample from Influenster for the purposes of testing and reviewing the product.  All opinions are original and honest.

Influenster First Impressions: Palmolive Fresh Infusions

A few weeks ago, I received a VoxBox from Influenster and Palmolive, containing 3 bottles of the new Palmolive Fresh Infusions dish soap.  You can watch me open the box in this video:

Initial Impressions:

• My first reactions to the different scents were, wow, these smell great!  

• As part of the Influenster review process, we were encouraged to share a bottle with a friend, and I really loved that aspect of the campaign.  It was fun to share a new product with someone else in a real, tangible way.

• I thought the bottles were bright colored and fun looking, and I was excited to try the dish soap out (full review in the next post!).

• Palmolive is a brand known for being gentle on your hands, so I was also curious to see if this new product would be as gentle as the older products had been.

• We were given coupons to share with friends, so I was excited about that, as some of my friends already use  Fresh Infusions and love them!

After gathering my first impressions, the only thing left to do was use the product for a while and see how it went!

Thankful for... leftovers

Photo Courtesy of Arthaey

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to cook.  A lot.  And most recipes that I cook make at least 6 servings, often more.  I love cooking in large quantities.  It allows me to buy ingredients in bulk, and take advantage of great sales, which helps maximize out budget.  Sometimes, it allows me to provide a no fuss meal for friends in need, like when I helped our close friends prepare for the birth of their son.

Cooking in large quantities also allows me to freeze meals.  Sometimes, I will cook a meal, and immediately freeze half of it.  This helps us prepare for busy schedules, or other unforeseen events.  It prevents us from wasting food as well.

Most importantly, cooking multiple servings of a meal can provide us with leftovers, so that I do not have to cook every single day.  Believe it or not, there are days that I do not want to cook.  Today was one of those days.  I woke up very early, after very little sleep, and immediately got to work.  I stayed busy all day, to the point where I forgot to eat lunch.  By the time I did grab a bite and took some time to relax, I realized that I was feeling a little under the weather.  So, cooking was just about the last thing in the world I wanted to do.  Luckily, I made a huge batch of roasted vegetable curry, so, even though I have no interest in food tonight, Hubby is able to eat a hot, healthy, home cooked meal.

I used to turn my nose up at leftovers when I lived alone.  This was because I had no freezer space, and eating the same thing 6 days in a row can get pretty boring.  But, tonight, I am very thankful for leftovers.

 

Thankful for... water

Photo Courtesy of John K

My day started out pretty normal.  Woke up, had some delicious oats for breakfast, snuggled with the dogs, and read.  Around 11 a.m., I went downstairs to let the dogs outside, and started washing dishes.  I was just soaping up a plate when Hubby called from work, telling me to not use our water for any reason.

Apparently, the water in my town tested above the pH threshold, and was unsafe.  There was a no use order  that caution against drinking, bathing, or using water for any purpose.  That meant, no teeth brushing, no hand washing, no dishes, no laundry, NOTHING.  This was bad bad news, as tonight was our town's Light Up Night, and I was supposed to volunteer.  So, here I was, no way to shower or clean up.  We did have a couple of jugs of water, but those needed to be conserved for drinking for us and the pets.  I had contemplated going to stay with relatives, or even in a pet friendly hotel, as we were getting very little information, and rumors were saying this could last for days.  Light Up Night was cancelled.

Hubby and I kept in pretty close contact throughout the day, and events unfolded.  He determined he would get some water from a store near his office (our town was pretty much out), pick up some food, and head home.  I was a bit of a grump, what with not being able to use water all day.  Hubby got home, we ate, and settled in for the night when we learned that the no use order was lifted!  HOORAY!  We are still under a boil order for using water for drinking or food prep.  We had to drain our hot water tank, and clear the lines completely, but that is a minor inconvenience.

It kind of embarrasses me what I wimp I have been, not being able to use our water.  It did not even last for 12 hours.  Millions of people have NO access to clean water and sanitation.  It really makes you think about the everyday blessings we take for granted.  So today, I am thankful, not only for my water, but for all the people who worked so hard today to get our water service restored in a timely manner.  Now excuse me while I take a bubble bath.

Naturals Voxbox Review: The Original Dish Drying Mat

Although we do own a dishwasher, we rarely use it.  I feel like it rarely gets the dishes all that clean, and I often end up rewashing them.  That ends up wasting water.  As a result, we almost always hand wash our dishes.  And since I cook a lot, we have a lot of dishes.  Often, we have more dishes than will fit in our dish drainer.   While you can set the dishes on the counter, they do not drain properly, and the counter gets soaked with water.

Enter the Original Dish Drying Mat.

Made of high absorbency microfiber, the Original Dish Drying Mat is a much better solution than dish towels.  It absorbs much more water, while cushioning the dishes.  The mat can be machine washed, and folds up for easy storage.  And it just looks nice.

I tried the mat out with the items that take up too much space in our drainer: bowls, cups, and mugs.  The mat fit conveniently on the counter, and the dishes sat securely on the mat while drying.  The manufacturer suggests that you allow the mat to fully dry between uses.  I wonder if the mat will take on a sour smell, the way wet dish towels tend to do.  It will take more uses to determine.  If the mat does start to smell, it can be machine washed.  I imagine you would not want to use fabric softener on it, however, as that may reduce its absorbency.

So far, I am quite pleased with my Original Dish Drying Mat.


See all my Naturals Voxbox photos on Flickr and my Naturals Voxbox board on Pinterest!

Disclaimer: I received a complementary sample from Influenster for the purposes of testing and reviewing the product.  All opinions are original and honest.

Cartoons By Hubby: Midlife Mysteries

"Nancy Drew and the Case of the

WHAT THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO PICK UP AT THE STORE"

Backstory: This morning before leaving for work, Hubby mentioned that he was going to stop at the store, as we needed sandwich bags for his lunch and garbage bags.  Hubby was insistent that there was some other dry good type thing we needed to get.  I ran through the basics (paper towels, toilet paper, laundry soap, etc.) and with each suggestion, we discussed how we had plenty of that item, so it must be something else.  He was thoroughly frustrated that he could not remember.

Around noon, he texted me and said "Kitty litter is the mystery item we need".  I congratulated his discovery, to which her replied (I am paraphrasing) he would like to see that no good so and so Nancy Drew figure that  out any faster.

Thirty minutes later, he sent me the drawing.  This is what almost-middle-aged people do.

Thankful for... living in town

Hubby and I both grew up in fairly rural areas.  Well, let me clarify, we both grew up in rural counties in our respective states of residence, and within those counties, we both grew up on rural county roads, as compared to "in town".  So, when we decided to buy a house smack in the middle of the town that is our county seat, we both knew it would be a bit of an adjustment.

I had less of an adjustment, since I had moved out at 24 for graduate school.  I lived "in town" the entire time I was in graduate school, then when I moved to Pittsburgh, I lived in (several of) the South Hills suburbs, which were in and of themselves little towns.  So, for me, it was more an adjustment to living in a house, as opposed to an apartment.  I had been used to hearing other residents moving around my building, so the first few times I was in our house alone, it was a little scary!

For Hubby, the adjustment was much bigger.  He, too, had moved out for college and grad school, but when he was finished, he moved back in with his parents.  When he moved into our house, it was his first real, permanent, move.  Dealing with street parking, lots of sirens from the 3 local fire houses, and neighbors 2 feet away from our house, not to mention all the changes our particular street has undergone in the nearly 3 years we have lived here (nearly 3 years?  already?!).  Luckily, we happened to buy a house on a fabulous street.  We live on a one way street that is a mix of long term residents and young families.  Once we got over a few bumps adjusting to neighbors, I can say that this is probably one of the nicest, quietest streets in town.  Last fall, a large housing development was added for seniors at the end of our block.  We all had concerns, but honestly, we rarely ever see any of the neighbors from that development, and the pretty houses and landscaping have really perked up the street.

All in all, people keep to themselves on our street, but everyone is really kind.  We are all so busy that we just do not see each other much.  But today, I was reminded why living in town has become a blessing to us.

Our neighbors to each side had fencing along the side boundaries of our yard, so our first full summer here, Hubby and my dad fenced in the back and put fencing up to the house, so our back yard is completely fenced in.  This is great for the doggies.  However, it is a pain for cutting grass, because we have to drag the mower out through the gate to cut the side and front yards.  On top of that, last summer, I talked Hubby into buying a manual mower to help be a little greener (and to help us get some extra exercise).  It is quite cumbersome to drag it through that gate.

With the early warm spring weather, our yard had become a jungle, and today, I decided to give Hubby a surprise but tackling the first mow of the year.  His current work shift gets him home after dark, and I knew if we waited until next weekend to mow, it would be a complete mess.  As I was dragging the manual mower up from the basement, and trying to get into the groove, our next door neighbor was mowing along his side of the fence line.  He stopped his mower, and remarked that he saw I was manually mowing, and since he knew it would take me a long time, he was going to mow my front and side yards for me.  I was beyond grateful!  He cut my mow time in half, simply because I would not have to maneuver the gate and fence.

In this small act of kindness, which took him a fraction of the time it would have taken me, my neighbor reminded me how truly thankful I am to live in this town, on this street, with these neighbors.

Modified Mulligatawny

When we went to The Harmony Inn for dinner, I had one of the soups as part of my meal.  It was so amazingly delicious, the problem was none of the staff could get the name right.  Millet Mollie?  Chicken Mulligan? Chicken  Megan Mullally?  At this rate, I knew I would never find a recipe for it, since we had no clue what it was named.  On a whim, I asked one of the staff members if the cooks would be willing to share the recipe, and, they did!  It was called Chicken Mulligatawy.  However, I was sad to see the ingredient list included both milk and heavy cream.  I am trying to delete a lot of dairy from my diet, and cows milk and heavy cream would be terrible for me.  So, today, I decided to try to replicate the soup in a healthier way.

First off, I put chicken breast tenders on to boil.  I know, I know, not the tastiest way to prepare chicken, but it is healthy, and there will be plenty of flavor added on later.  While that was boiling, I got busy chopping my other ingredients.

I put about 1/4 cup of chicken broth in a pot, then added each of the following as I chopped them:

Celery

Onion

Granny Smith Apple

D'anjou pear

Eggplant

I added 1/4 tbsp curry powder at this time as well.

Once the chicken was fully cooked, I chopped it up, and added it in the curried mixture.  I also added 1/2 cup jasmine rice (I precooked it slightly, having learned my lesson with the stuffed pepper soup).

In order to give the soup a nice creamy texture, I added cream of chicken soup, as well as more chicken broth.

Some more curry, a little salt, and a lot of black pepper, and we are almost done.  One last secret ingredient.

This is coconut manna.  It is high in fiber, and has good fats in it, plus it adds a bit of creamy richness.  I used just a little, 1/2 tbsp.  That was all it needed.

I let this cook until bubbly, the reduced to simmer for 45-60 minutes.  I cannot wait to have it for dinner.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast tenders, boiled

1 c celery

half a medium yellow onion

1 medium granny smith apple

1 medium green d'anjou pear

2 cups cubed peeled eggplant

2.5 cups fat free chicken broth, divided

1/2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 cup jasmine rice 

2 cans 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

salt, pepper to taste

1/2 tbsp coconut manna

For those curious here is some nutrition info.  These are approximations using an online nutritional calculator.
Serving size: 1.25 cups
Calories: 240
Carbs: 33g
Fat: 4g
Protein: 19g
Fiber: 7 g
WWPlus points: 6

Let me know if any of you try this, and what you think.  Should I change any of it?

Big cooking day

In the past, I have approached cooking by deciding either that day, or the previous night, what we should have for dinner, making sure I have what I need, and then just cooking.  Even with lots of leftovers, it means I am usually cooking 4 days a week.  And while I love cooking, since I started working again, I have found I do not always feel like cooking, I do not always remember to take meat out in the mornings to thaw, and we have been getting take out more.

I know lots of women try to approach cooking for efficiently, cooking once a week for the whole week and freezing the meals, or premaking meal starters that can easily be turned into one of several dishes with little work.  But the other day, I found this blog that talked about making whole crock pot ready meals and freezing them.  I decided to give it a whirl last night.

Hubby picked me right after work and went to the store with me.  In less than 30 minutes, we got the ingredients for 2 sets of 4 different meals: BBQ chicken and veggies, goulash, chicken curry (all 3 from that same blog) and beef stew (my own recipe).  We went home and I got to work.

Each recipe gets seperated into 2 one gallon freezer bags, so I decided to do that up front.  I lined up my bags, all 8, and through all the recipes, distributing the veggies one by one as I chopped.  It was a little tricky keeping the recipes straight, and dividing the total recipe in half to get the right amount in each bag, but it really was so efficient to do it this way.  It took, including a break for me to eat, slightly less than 3 hours.  Each bag will last for 2-3 meals.  And each serving is less than $2 in cost (I had to estimate because I got other groceries and non food items at the store as well), probably closer to $1.50 per serving.  The meals are healthy, hearty, chock full of veggies, and sitting in my freezer as we speak.  (yes, the time on that clock was right, I finished just before 9 pm).

Now all I will need to do is grab a bag, thaw it for 30 minutes, and dump into the crock pot before work.  This might be my new favorite thing.  I am a little nervous about the recipes from the blog, they are pretty different from anything I have ever made, but since I was using that bloggers model, I thought it best to use her recipes too.  If this works out, I will do some different recipes next time.

My only complaint was the chicken.  I tend to use breasts or tenders, which are more expensive.  These recipes called for legs and thighs.  I left the skins on the legs, and used just legs for the bbq chicken.  I used the thighs for the curry, but I had to deskin and debone them, I could not stand the sight of the skin on those thighs, and all that fat, ick.  It may detract a little from the flavor, but it was a sacrifice I wanted to make to reduce the fat.  I was exhausted by the time I was done, but I think it will all be worth it in the long run.

Thankful for... a cooking disaster

Photo credit

I pride myself on being a pretty awesome cook.  I was raised by two parents who are both fantastic cooks, and at a young age I started watching and learning.  I still call my parents for cooking advice, and we often swap recipes.  I am one of those cooks who opens the cupboards, throws things together with no recipe, and creates a home cooked masterpiece.  Of course, I have setbacks or small mistakes here and there, but rarely do I have a full scale cooking disaster.  So when I had one Monday, I had to do some pretty fast thinking.

We were staying in for the holiday weekend; most of our friends were out of town, so Hubby and I decided to do a cookout for just the two of us.  I had picked up some hot dogs, salad makings, and ground beef for hamburgers.  I noticed that ground turkey was on sale, and since I am trying to eat healthier, got some with the intention of making turkey burgers.

I should point out that I have never before cooked with fresh ground turkey, and was unaware how soft it could be, as well as the fact that turkey burgers needed and additive like breadcrumbs to make them keep their form.  I thought I could just shape patties like you do with beef and I would be good to go.  As I was shaping them, I noticed the soft, pliable texture, but figured it would be fine.  Five minutes into grilling, Hubby alerted me that the turkey burgers were falling apart and into the grill.

Unwilling to waste all that food, I grabbed a skillet and we carefully scraped as much of the ground turkey off of the grill racks as possible, and into the skillet.  I then went inside to brown the 3 pounds of ground turkey, since it was partially cooked.  As I was cooking it, I said to Hubby "what are we going to do with 3 pounds of browned ground turkey?  I hope you like turkey burritos".  At which point, Hubby got very excited.  He was ready to forget the whole cookout, and have me make turkey burritos immediately.  I convinced him to wait until Tuesday.

On Tuesday, I went to the store to get burrito ingredients.  I decided to pick up some extra canned tomatoes and some beans with the intention of also making turkey chili.  I personally do not like red chili much, so I really did not know how to make it.  I decided I would wing it.  That afternoon, I cooked up the chili, and put it in the fridge.  I hear chili is better the second day, so I made the burritos for Tuesday's dinner, with the chili being Wednesday's dinner.  Both recipes made enough for multiple meals, so my cooking for the week was done.

Much to my surprise, both recipes, which I winged my way through with no real recipe to follow, were delicious!  Since the burritos consisted of wheat tortillas, tomatoes, ground turkey, brown rice, fat free refried beans, and lowfat cheese, they were incredibly healthy as well.  Score!  And the turkey chili was also healthy, being full of fiber and protein.

I am really proud that I took one of the biggest cooking mistakes I have ever made and turned it into two delicious recipes that I am sure will become staple meals for us.  Best mistake I ever made!

Sweet and Sour Tiffany: Extreme Couponing

A huge trend in the housewife/mommy circuit right now is the concept of extreme couponing.  It used to be ladies were just sharing their coupons among friends, but now there are how to books and seminars devoted to how you can save thousands of dollars a year by couponing and watching deals in the sale ads.  Heck, there is even a television show devoted to extreme couponing.  So, I can think of no better topic to discuss for another Sweet and Sour installment.

The Sweet

No one will argue that today's economy is tough.  High unemployment rates, ballooning costs of living, and stagnant salaries all mean we should be trying to get more for our money.  So, it only makes sense that some people will do whatever it takes to make it in tough times.  If that means scouring newspapers and the internet for coupons, so be it.  It could mean the difference between the water staying on or the lights getting shut off.  So I totally get it.

A lot of people have a "go big or go home" attitude, and for them, saving 35 cents on toothpaste and 75 cents on bread is just not enough.  I think for people who are extreme at anything, it involves a rush.  Who would not feel like a total champ knowing they got $1000 worth of groceries for $100?  If people get high from that feeling, as weird as I may find it, then that is a whole lot better, physically at least, than drugs and alcohol.

The Sour

I think, in reality, extreme couponing is not what it appears.  To me, I see a lot of people getting GREAT deals on a bunch of crap they do not need.  Who cares if you can get 40 boxes of diapers for a dollar if you don't have kids, and will never have kids?  Who cares if you can get condiments for pennies if no one in your household uses them?  I often think that these extreme couponers are shopaholics who use the money they are "saving" to justify the amount of totally useless crap they buy.

And while the coupons are saving them money at the checkout lines, they are costing them in other ways.  I have heard that these couponers spend up to 8 hours preparing for the shopping trip, and up to another 4 doing the actual shopping.  Plus the costs of buying the magazines/newspapers to get the coupons, or the paper and ink to print the online coupons.  WHAT A WASTE!

***

In short, I am sure coupons are valuable to some people, but I personally cannot justify it.  Why waste hours trying to save money, when that time with your family could be priceless.  And if you are buying things you do not need, are you really saving at all?  I know some people do it, and later donate the items to get a tax break or credit.  Meh, I would rather save myself the hassle, go to Aldi's or SuperWalmart, and spend my time enjoying life.

So that being said, if the Sweet and Sour didn't completely fill you up, move along to the fortune cookie.

Thankful for ... broken dishes

We have a fairly small kitchen, in the sense that there is not a lot of counter space.  It is very easy to run out of room for our dishes in the sink or drying rack.  Often, we find ourselves playing jenga with the dishes, piling them high, and later trying to remove them without the whole thing crashing down.

Last weekend, Hubby graciously washed the dishes, and as usual, we ran out of space.  He rearranged them all, and had them perched just so, to allow for the optimal drying to space saving ratio.  He went upstairs to check his email before we embarked on a project, and while he was up there, something bad happened.  The tower shifted, and the next thing I know, I huge crash resounded throughout the first floor.

I timidly walked into the kitchen, knowing it would be bad.  There, on the floor, were the remains of 3 of the dinner plates from our 8 place set.  Hubby was so upset.

The funny thing is, however, I really was not.  I even tried to joke with him, telling him there were easier ways to let me know he did not like washing dishes (he was not amused).  We had gotten the set as part of our wedding registry, and before this incident, several of the plates, bowls, and mugs had cracked or broken.  They were unfortunately not of high quality, despite being fairly pricey.

I know a lot of women would have been so angry if something like this had happened, but honestly, I was more upset about Hubby feeling bad.  This was so totally not his fault.  He sadly said "go buy whatever dishes you want".  Many wives would have gone and taken the opportunity to buy expensive or fancy dishes, but instead I opted for an inexpensive set, and a new tablecloth to tie the color in with our dining room decor.

Maybe I am not like most wives, who would complain or be angry over this incident.  In the grand scheme of life, I really do not care about something as inconsequential as our dishes.  Shoot, I would eat off of paper plates for the rest of my life, so long as I was sitting down to dinner with my Hubby.

My First Time

Well folks, it finally happened.  Something I had been both dreading and looking forward to for a long time now.  Today, it was my first time... cutting grass.

As a kid, my dad always did the grass cutting, so I never learned how to use a lawnmower.  I figured I would either live in an apartment, or be married and have my husband do it.  And for years, I got away with that working.  Hubby did all the grass cutting last year.  However, his work schedule has him getting home a little later now, and will be even later next month, so by the time he gets home, the grass is too wet with dew to mow, and waiting until the weekends does not work.  First off the grass is too high, and secondly, it has been raining most weekends lately.  So, I came up with a plan.

Since I am afraid of unfamiliar with the workings of a gas powered mower, I convinced Hubby that we should buy a manual lawn mower.  You know, the old fashioned kind, with no motor.  So, he humored me, and we got one that looks like this.

Photo source

Now, I am pretty sure Hubby was betting on me never actually being the one to use this mower.  I am sure he figured I was too lazy busy to actually get the grass cut.  To my dear doubtful darling's defense, I have been feeding him empty promises of how I will learn to play Illuminati for well over a year now (I really do want to learn Hubby), so it is only natural that he be suspect of my plan.

But today, I proved him wrong.  I hauled that manual mower up from the basement, and I cut our grass.  Now, being that this was the first time I ever did it, I had no clue what I was doing.  Are you supposed to just do straight lines, follow some sort of pattern, what?  With the wheels being so big, I could not get up against the fence too well, so that will need weedwacking, and I could not move the patio table, so I mowed under it as best as I could.  But other than that, the yard is done.

I will never claim that this is the best haircut our lawn ever got.  I certainly did not do a perfect job.  In fact, I am not even sure I did a passable job.  But the point of the matter is, there was a job to do, and I did it.  And in true Tiffany fashion, I did it in a dress.

I want to be like Claire

Image from Dover Publications
http://store.doverpublications.com/0486476073.html

Thanks to Netflix, both the dvd service and the streaming, I have been able to watch some of my favorite television shows from childhood.  Sure, some are a little dated, but I can't help but think two things: 1.  they do not make t.v. shows as good as they used to, and 2.  When I grow up, I want to be Claire Huxtable.

Claire seems to so easily balance a very successful job, parenting 5 kids, running a household, and dealing with a lovable but patience trying husband.  All while looking fierce by the fashion standards of her time.  I know Claire is a fictional character and all, but, I really strive to be more like her.

As a mother, Claire is patient with her children, but also a stern disciplinarian.  Her children are taught morals and values, but always with a calm, gentle voice.  She and Cliff rarely fought or disagreed on parenting standards.  The children respected her, but also felt a close bond with her, and could come to her with their problems.

As a wife, Claire contributed to the household not only as a breadwinner, but also displaying her domesticity. She was often found cleaning the house, doing the bills, and supporting her husband.  She knows how to take care of Cliff when he is sick, and is able to gently show him the occasional error of his ways.

As a woman, Claire respected her body, had fantastic fashion sense, and was a strong independent woman.  She took time for herself as a person, aside from her other roles within the family structure.

In short, Claire was pretty much perfect.  How can I ever try to attain that?

Well, for starters, I have my very own version of Cliff in my beloved Hubby.  He is proud of my achievements, and supports my ambitions.  He knows the perfect blend of seriousness and silliness to make each day bearable.  He shares household responsibilities with me without ever complaining.  He loves me with undying fervor and devotion, and is not afraid to romance me.

So, it would seem that with such a foundation, I can easily be like Claire.  And if I ever have kids, I do hope to channel a lot of her motherly skills.  An episode I watched today included her having a talk with a sad 5 year old Rudy, explaining that while 5 can be tough, it had it benefits too.  At the end, Rudy cheers not only for her self and her 5ness, but for her awesome Mommy as well.  Someday, I want my kids to cheer for me the same way.

So, while we may not be the Huxtables, and have their level of perfection...

we are the Harkleroads, and at being that, we are perfect in our own right.