Peeling hard boiled eggs

Hard boiled eggs can be the most frustrating job in the kitchen. There are times I won't make deviled eggs just so I won't have to peel them. Most of my eggs look like they've gone through a meat grinder. I have tried everything from using old eggs, letting eggs get to room temperature, adding vinegar, boiling then immediately plunging into ice cold water, and I still have those few eggs that are just hard to peel. I read a post a couple of weeks ago, and as soon as I find the source, I will add the link. Hold your hat. Steam the eggs. Fresh or old, doesn't matter. I know, I did both yesterday. Each and every egg peeled and my eggs look edible.

Place eggs in a steam basket. Place lid on pan. Steam for 12-15 minutes. You can then allow them to cool naturally, but I was in a hurry, so I plunged them into some ice water for 5 minutes. The shells just slipped off. I had a dozen eggs peeled in less than 5 minutes.

I know there are dozens of methods. But knowing how quick this worked, I will use this method.

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Dehydrating Potatoes

I am on a mission. I am teaching myself to be more sufficient in making and processing food that is not loaded with harmful chemicals. I am slowly but surely eliminating processed foods out of diets. Not to say, I occasionally use boxed foods.
A little while back, my sister-in-law gave me about 20 lbs of potatoes. Red and white. Not sure how long these last, I started to dehydrate them. I was also worried about them turning black. They didn't~so, yea me! Below is the process I used.

First peel and rinse potatoes. Thinly (paper thin) slice potatoes. I used my Pampered Chef mandoline. Soak thin cut slices in water. You will see a bunch of starch in the water. At this point, put a nice sized pot of water on to boil. I sprinkle a little salt in the water. After all your potatoes have been sliced and rinsed, add sliced potatoes to the boiling water. Boil for 8 minutes. Immediately remove from boiling water and put in a bowl of ice water. This stops the cooking process.
Once all of your potatoes are cooked and cooled, place potatoes on a dish towel and pat dry. I usually dab with another dish towel.
Layer potatoes on a food dehydrator and allow to dry for 24 hours. Place in a tightly sealed glass container.
You can also put your dehydrated potatoes in a food processor and process until powder form. These would be great for mashed potatoes or as a soup thickener.

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A freezer challenge....starts NOW

Knowing that fresh fruit and vegetable season is just around the corner, I know, without a doubt, that my upright freezer needs cleaned. I don't know how it happens, but it is a mess. I try and keep it organized. Meat on one shelf, veggies on another, boxed foods on another and leftovers on their own shelf. However, right now, my freezer looks like food was just tossed in it willy-nilly. Today will begin my freezer cleaning. We are going to eat as much as we can out of it for the next month. I have a lot of fresh garden food that will be replaced shortly. I've also been making double casseroles and storing them for "sports" nights.

First step to accomplish this feat...I will be purchasing a dry erase board that is magnetized so I can keep track of what goes in and what comes out.

Next, I will make a list of what I have in it right now and start preparing my menu. This should be fun. NOT! I don't mind the menu, it is trying to use all the ingredients we have in there already.

Last, when it is warm enough, defrost and wash it out. Replace any food left in an organized fashion. Yeah right. I wonder how long this will last?

This is what it looked like this morning~

 

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Alternative (healthy) to Cream of Chemical Soup

Here is a healthy alternative to the Cream of Anything soups. It takes 5 minutes to mix the ingredients, but you will have about 9 cans of soup mix available. Use a large glass jar with a tight lid. This will stay fresh for a very long time. The flavor is amazing.

4 cups powdered milk

1 1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup vegetable or chicken bouillon

4 t. minced, dried onion

2 t. each thyme and basil (crushed)

1 t. pepper

Mix and store.

To use:

1/3 cup of mix added to 1 cup of cold water in a saucepan. Stir and thicken over medium heat. At this point, you can add 1/2 cup of minced or chopped chicken, broccoli, onion, mushrooms or celery. The ingredients are endless.

 

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A week gone wrong...

What a week! One I hope doesn't happen too often. It started out well enough, but by yesterday, I was mentally worn out.

With my UCTD condition, I take Plaquenil every day to keep my antibodies in check. I like to call my prescriptions in when I'm down to a weeks supply. Doing just that last weekend, I waited patiently for the call from my pharmacy saying it was ready to pick up. That phone call never came. I was out of refills. The pharmacy faxed my doctor and never got answered with a new prescription. By Wednesday when I hadn't heard from them, I called. The pharmacy still didn't have my doctor's approval, so I called the office myself, only to find out that my doctor was on vacation until the following week. The on-duty nurse told me to have the pharmacist give her a call and she would approve my prescription. As they say, long story longer...the pharmacist did this 4 times and was given the run-around. The on-duty nurse couldn't approve my meds that I would have to wait until Monday. So in my panic, I called her back and was able to get just enough meds to get me to Monday. I don't take narcotics, so this shouldn't be a problem with maintenance prescriptions.

Let me tell you what it feels like to miss just one day. First, within 12 hours of missing the meds, I get sharp pains through my shoulder blades. This feels like a knife cutting through my back. I have a hard time getting any relief. The antibodies are already attacking the nerves. By the end of the day, both my toes and my fingers feel as if they are being broken. It is hard to walk with that feeling. Imagine now, waiting 5 days for a refill. I went into a panic, setting off the shoulder pain.

It has taken me two years to get to the place I'm in now. I rarely have pain. I'm running again. Working full-time and getting so much done around here. I am enjoying my life again.

There has to be a better procedure for things like this when the doctor is on vacation. I have an appointment at the end of the month with him, and I plan on having this very discussion.

As they say, onto the next....

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I've been crazy busy

WOW! I haven't been on here in such a long time. There has just been too much going on. I think about getting on here, and that's that. Just think about it. Just a short update on what has been keeping me so busy. First, let me tell you, I don't like the month of May. End of the school year crazies. End of piano lessons for the summer. This year I was making sure my oldest had his senior project completed. I also made sure his lazies stayed at a minimum. If you've had a child graduate, you know what I'm talking about. They are so close to being finished with school that they consider themselves graduated. Believe me when I say....that last test does count! I had to prepare for out-of-town guests. Book hotel rooms, order a lot of food, order the cake, borrow tables from friends, make sure I have enough paper plates, etc, and get the invitations out. Let me not forget...keep up with my 9th grader. And on top of all of that, go to work several days a week. Whew...tired again just seeing it in front of me.
Graduation went off without a hitch. Take a breath~on to the busy summer.....

Frustrated beyond belief

You would think that with small businesses closing every day, business owners would have better customer care and do everything they can to fix a problem with their product. Well, I'm here to tell you, that is not the case. So many are too complacent! I have two such business owners that have now tested my patience! We had new counter tops installed last year. I love the color and the look of them. Within 8 months of being installed, the counter split in a corner where there was no seam. We've had several company inspectors in to view their product and they came to the conclusion that it isn't their product. It is the problem of the installer. We have called the installer. He blames the split on the product. Back and forth. Back and forth. At this point, I don't care who fixes the counter, but let's get this fixed. I haven't heard from our installer since mid-last week. Time to make another phone call.
Next on my list of poor business owner's is the business that is fixing my son's car. My son wrecked his car on the 24th of January and we were told at that time it would be 3-4 weeks in the shop. Two weeks ago all the parts had come in. This past Friday, the car was finally put on the lifts and they told our son it was going to be stripped down and started. Here we are 5 days later, and when my son stopped to look at it today, nothing had been done....it wasn't stripped down or started! Saturday will be 5 weeks. So, we are now looking at a 6-7 week time frame. This is putting us in limbo now. With one kid that works, he needs my car at night to get to work. The youngest is supposed to start driver's ed on Monday. I have to see if she can attend the morning class, as I do not have a car in the evenings.
I'm tired! I'm frustrated! I'm angry! Is there any kind of work ethic out there anymore?

Too much time off

In looking over my last post, I realize I haven't been on here in a long time. Hopefully now that will change. For those of you that don't know me, I've been seriously ill. I've been doctoring since April 11th, nonstop. I was given a diagnosis last week and started a round of medicine. Not feeling a lot better yet, but it is right around the corner. I have Undifferentiad Connective Tissue Disorder . Layman's terms...I'm allergic to myself. My skin, nerves, bones, joints etc. The pain has been horrible at times. In a few more weeks, the medicine should start doing its thing.
With being such an active person, I'm struggling more with what I can't do. I was am a runner, but haven't run since this last round began. I love to garden, but I can only do that for a few minutes. Swimming causes pain in my arms. Thank goodness I could still cook. Since I am never hungry, that is the only thing holding me back with that. I did manage to go with my husband and some friends for a Harley ride yesterday in The Blue Ridge Parkway. I loved the day. It is not loving me today. I have a rash and a fever. Last night the pain was too much for me so I went to bed early. Today will be spent resting. One day, and hopefully soon, I can start to do more.
Now on to the rest of my life.....I can at least post my recipes and tips. Typing doesn't hurt like it was the past few weeks.

Abs of Steel and the Flu

I have had the flu now for 6 very long days. My abs are rock hard and ache to beat the band. I'm actually holding back on coughing since they hurt so much. I hope to be back to light exercise by the end of the week. At the very least, I can get in a walk.


Labels: Exercise and Diet

I'm back and behind

It has been 2 very long weeks in our household. I picked up the swine flu from one of my 1st graders a couple of weeks ago. To say this flu is awful is an understatement. I was in bed for the first 10 days. Missed Thanksgiving dinner, decorating the house the day after and Black Friday shopping. I am on the road to recovery. I am no longer contageous, however, the side effects have not been good to me. I am still coughing (not as bad) and have pain in my legs. Dr. is not sure why the leg pain, but if it isn't better by Friday, back in for more testing. Last night was the first night I've slept all night since this started. I don't know if I'm feeling better, or if it is from exhaustion. Who cares, I slept!!!!


Today my plans are to make 4 batches of cookie dough and freeze it until Saturday. I need to also finish making my cards and work on my calendars. Other than that, I will rest a lot in between.

As I make the dough, I will post the recipes for you.

It was bound to happen...first snowfall 2009

Winston-Salem had the first significant snowfall of the year. It looks as if we have maybe 5" of the fluffy white stuff and it started snowing again. The kids will be overjoyed this morning. Time to warm up the dryer, get the sub-zero snow gear out and have a ton of hot chocolate ready to go.


Listening to "old wives tales" over the years, I do believe we are going to be seeing more than our fair share of snow this year.

Cancun take me away.....

Labels: Whatever stuff

New Year's Resolution

The concept of making a resolution is rather annoying to me. I don't want to have this hanging over my head and worry about "failing". I am much better with the idea of having "suggestions" or "possibilities". Some of the possibilities for the New Year:


Dieting...nope, not gonna do it. I love to eat. The key for me is moderation

Exercise more..I already do this one. Keeping consistant as long as I stay healthy.

Organize all areas of my house...this is an on-going battle. I hate it!!!

Go through magazines...again, on-going battle. I should read it once and let it go. But no, I store it and then read it again.

Scale down my arts and crafts. I will never do cross-stitch again. It is just too difficult to see those tiny little instructions.

Learn to sew. Been debating this one for a few years. I just need to take the time.

Clean the files and shred papers that are old.

Go to bed on a set schedule. The kids have me all messed up during the holidays. They are up til all hours and I've found that I'm staying up later than I like. I can DVR tv shows for a later date. I feel much better with more sleep.

Volunteer some of my time to the Assisted Living Home.

Read my Bible more.

Labels: Whatever stuff 12/28/09

Baby it's cold outside

I woke up with the bright sun streaming through my window and thought this is going to be a gorgeous day. First of all, I overslept. I'm usually stalking around the house at 5 AM. I decided to lounge and stretch a few minutes before getting my day started. Once I was really ready to jump out of bed, it wasn't long before I realized just how chilly it was outside. As I made my way down the steps, it got more and more chilly. Do I dare take a look at the thermometer? Sure, why not, it can't be that bad. 23...23 and ....nope 23 degrees outside. Let me just say, I am NOT a chilly, artic, cold person. I hate it. Moved South to get away from most of that kind of weather. I have a bad feeling that we are going to have a very cold winter.


As much as the sun is shining, I will NOT be braving the cold outdoors today!!! Well, maybe once to feed the birds battling over the last bit of birdseed in the feeders. Then again, I have kids that would do that for me. Isn't that a perk of parenting?? Look pathetic and claim body chills and they will do it for me!

Labels: Whatever stuff

Angel, Beth and the Mountain Lion

Last June (2009) I took the kids to Pennsylvania for vacation and to visit my side of the family. We stay with my Mom out in the country. She has a very nice house in a clearing with a gorgeous view of the mountains. I attempt to keep up with my exercise routine while I'm vacationing, and this is the perfect area to go for long runs. No cars to worry about running me off the road. Just beautiful scenery. This past year it was rainy. I struggled to get out for a run. One evening, after the rain had cleared out, my cousin Angel and I decided to go for a walk before it started to rain again. The walk was nice. All the farmland was so green and the air smelled fresh. Fresh means, no chicken house or manure fragrances in the air. We were about a mile into our walk, when suddenly, Angel screamed her head off, grabbed hold of me or pushed me, I can't be sure because I was scared to death, which then caused me to scream for dear life. Out of the corner of my eye, during the scream, I caught the image of a tan, huge beast running towards us. We both heard it growl. Or thought we did. Upon reflection, it was struggling to breath. Grunting to be more precise. My very vivid imagination told me that a Mountain Lion was after us (there have been sightings of them).


Now, as you can see, we are still here to tell the story. So, it wasn't an actual Mountain Lion. It was a dog. It was a rather intimidating dog. He may have reached my calf. We were being chased by Benji! After catching our breath and getting ourselves under control, we continued on our way with the dog right on our heals. We're not sure where we picked him up, but at the next farm, we were able to lose him. To this day, I think that was the hardest I've laughed in years. In fact, I know it is.

Labels: Believe it or not

It's official...I'm a hoarder

Today I thought would be the perfect day to clean my closet. It's a rainy, dreary day. I decided that it was time for a break. I was starting to show signs of having heart failure. Shortness of breath. Blurry vision and the need to lie down on the floor until the room quit spinning at warp speed. I don't know when it happened, how it happened or why I'm just now noticing my problem. I am a hoarder. Yep, I said it, a hoarder. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, it is heriditary! My father has it, my grandparent's had it and now I see it in my own house. Katie will be the next victim if I don't stop this habit now!


I found shoes in my closet that I haven't worn in 15 years. They're still in good shape and probably back in style. I will never wear these shoes again! I gave up on high heels years ago. I also have 2 pair that are 20 years old. I do wear these. The soles are good , the leather is not worn at all. The only thing needing replaced were the shoestrings. I'm keeping these. I've cleaned out half the shoe tree. Let me just say, my pop trained me well on hanging on to shoes and shirts until they can no longer be held on. I draw the line at duct tape.

On to the shirts and coats. One of the shirts that I just couldn't part with is leaving my closet. I don't like the shirt, it just has a memory attached to it. Back in 1984, I was home on leave from the Navy and my grandmother helped me with my laundry. This shirt went missing. I looked everywhere I could think of. At that time, it was one of my favorites. Same thing happened to a pair of shorts. Long story longer, my grandmother "stole" it because it reminded her of me while I was gone. Quite a few years later, I found that shirt and shorts hidden in the basement. We were helping cleaning up a mess from flooding. I will never forget the look on Gram's face when I found those clothes. Deer in the headlight look. That wasn't the first time she'd done that. A few years later when Katie was 2 she gave me a very pretty dress to give to Katie. Come to find out, it was mine from when I was about Katie's age. Gram took it from my mom and let mom think it was gone. Mom paid a lot of money for that little blue dress. I didn't tell mom that Gram had this dress. I had Katie's pictures made of her wearing it. Mom was shocked when it dawned on her that it was my dress. I'm sure if I asked around, my cousins and sister also had clothes come up missing.

Last but not least, the files. I keep every owner's manual possible. Toy manuals that mean nothing. Watch manuals etc. Not anymore. Even receipts. I need to sort through those manuals and receipts at least once a year. My grandfather kept receipts for 40+ years and used lightbulbs. I laughed when I heard that, but now, this hoarding issue is no laughing matter.

Alright folks, I know you have "stuff" that you are hoarding. So while you are laughing at me....think of all the things you are keeping that mean very little. Better yet, who could use this stuff?

I am on a mission to downsize my side of the closet by 1/3. Kevin's on his own with his side. For now.

The Sock

Have you ever wondered where in the world all the socks go that disappear in the laundry? Sometimes I've found them behind the washer. This is from a kiddo trying to shoot hoops with their socks and missing. Therefore, not telling me where it went. That would take time out of their day. Once a month I manage to crawl on top of the washer to see what treasures I can find behind it. As I get older, this is not an easy task.


For years, before the new dryer, I thought the dryer ate them. Or some little green monster stole just one of them so I would go nuts looking for them.

How about finding them under the kiddos dresser because they were too busy to find the laundry?

Better yet, Ruber, the sock lover could have dragged it away and got it under the furniture somehow.

I know my kids don't throw them away, because I am constantly seeing them walk around with holes as big as Texas in them and I wonder just how the heck do those socks stay on the feet when they walk. I've seen their entire heel!

Last week I saw my daughter walking around with 2 different socks on. At first I thought she was trying to set a new trend. The look got the better of me, so I asked her. Her reply was "because I can't find the matching one."

Well, I finally saw where my daughter's socks go. Brace yourself, because you are NOT going to believe this one!

I went for my morning walk Monday morning and was thinking about how much it had rained the night before and amazed at the amount of water running down the small gullies in our neighbor's yards. About 3 houses down the street, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. Black and blue and filthy dirty from being in the gully. My daughter's sock. Just one of them. I'm quite sure the other one is in the washer. I'm taking a guess that the static in the sock caused it to stick inside her shirt or jacket and fell out as she walked to the bus last week. I thought about leaving it there, but they were brand new. I cleaned out most of the mud in the puddle and brought it home. Hopefully the neighbor's didn't see me doing this.

Now here's the kicker. My husband went for his morning run Sunday and saw that same sock and thought it looked familiar. Didn't bother to pick it up and see if it was ours. Daughter saw the sock Saturday afternoon on her way to her friends to play. She didn't bother picking it up because it was dirty. So the task was left to me.

Now I tell you...the dryer is NOT eating the socks. They are being washed away when we have a gully washer! From now on....they can go check the front yard for those missing socks.

Labels: Whatever stuff

Us vs Them

I had an interesting conversation for the umpteenth time the other day with my sister regarding just how challenging hard kids have it these days. I know you have had to heard the same complaints in your house. We spent quite a few minutes comparing our growing pains with theirs. Let's see just how difficult life has become...


Us..we walked, rode our bike, used the bus or if we had a friend that had a car we shared the ride. Momma did not sit in the car rider line waiting to pick us up. How many wasted hours do you spend in these lines?

Kids..cars or buses

Us..typewriter...at school only. Had to learn how to change the ribbon and use erase tape if a mistake was made. Sloppy papers had to be redone or you had a lot of red writing on that paper regarding sloppiness.

Kids...computer

Us..Book reports...had to race to the library to get a copy of the book and actually read the book to do a report on it. Don't even think about clif notes. These teachers read what they dished out to us.

Kids...internet.. everything is out there at your fingertips. Copy and paste.

Us..dictionary to check spelling. Teacher's had no fear of circling misspelled words in red ink.

Kids..dictionary.com, spell check

Us..dial phones. We had to stand still to talk to someone. No one called at dinner or late in the evening.

Kids..cell phones. Unlimited use. Can be used almost everywhere.

Us...carried our books in our hands

Kids...bookbags

Us...pencil with an eraser and paper

Kids...mechanical pencils, pens, dry erase markers, crayons, stickie notes etc. etc. etc

Us..limited channels on the tv and had rabbit ears for a signal, unless you had cable. What was that? 15 channels?

Kids..300 channels and nothing on...huh?

Us...cooked dinner and ate as a family most nights. Eating out was a treat

Kids..drive thru...too much. Very few meals together as a family.

Us...friends to hang out with. We found stuff to do. Neighborhood football/baseball games. Hide and seek at night. Flashlight tag. Riding bikes for hours. Wearing the metal wheels off on our roller skates. Fishing. Board games on rainy days. Pong video game. You could write a book report in the amount of time it took that little ball to bounce back over the net. No wonder we found stuff to do.

Kids..texting, xbox or other video games. Bored. Little or no time walking/riding bikes. Bored. Too many kids micro-managed that didn't learn how to play by themselves. Bored.

Us...camping out, sleeping in the barn (this was so much fun), sleeping under the stars in sleeping bags

Kids...summer camp, beach house

Us..radio

Kids...iPod with over 5000 songs

Us...70's clothes...flares and mini skirt..80's clothes...big hair for men and women. Stirrup pants and leggings and sometimes at the same time.

Kids...Aeropostle, Nike, American Eagle etc.

Us...movies were a treat

Kids..Netflix, PPV, purchase the dvd



I'm sure I've missed at least 10 things for every one activity we thought of. Imagine what it will be like for their children and what devices they will have.

Labels: Whatever stuff 2/

What I learned today

I learned that I loved not subbing for the past 3 months. I had a very interesting demanding class. During recess, one of my gals decided it would be fun to trade classes with her twin sister. Not good for her. Her twin was very disruptive, and would have gotten away with it had she been behaving in my class. Both young ladies ended up in the principals office. The other sub had no idea that there was a switch.

I also learned that I need to take a heavy coat on cold, windy days. I usually won't go outside under 40 degrees. It was 38, close enough to 40 for me...so out we went. They needed it. Too many days inside.

Labels: Whatever stuff