Just Blog Talk...

I haven't done any chatty posts lately, and thought I'd just do a quick re-cap of this past week.

Monday was groceries as you could tell from that post. I had my times mixed up for the chiropractor's office, so I didn't make it by there for my adjustment.

Tuesday resulted in a long day standing over dishpans of peaches. I canned 3 canners full (which comes to 28 quarts total) of peaches. My back, neck and shoulders were "killing me" by the time I was done, and I regretted not going back to the chiro. Monday afternoon - and even thinking that maybe I could get by with just 1 visit a week!! ha ha!!

Wednesday was a regular day. It was our first choir practice after our August break. I enjoyed being home 1 more evening in the week, but choir is fun, too.

Thursday I baked a peach pie for Daniel's dad's birthday. We took it to the cafeteria (where they eat their dinners) and surprised him with it. He gave a slice to one of the head cooks there that we sorta know (she used to come into the grocery store where I worked), and she came out, walked up to me and said "Girl! you can bake ALLLLMOST as good as I can!!" We all laughed, and after a few more comments, I said "But Amy, I'm not as old as you are, either!" That brought more laughter :) She's a great lady, always happy and cheerful (and not old by any means - probably mid 40's or so).

Friday - I DID go to the chiropractor, and it felt so good to get everything cracked and back in place!! Ahhh.... I don't think I'll skip a visit this week, I'm not sure it's worth it. Then in the afternoon I chopped up a 7 3/4 lb. pork roast that I had crock-potted all day Thursday and refrigerated overnight. I mixed up some "dump-n-stir" BBQ sauce and put it all back in the crock pot for a small-group get together Friday evening. I also made a peach cobbler to take, and homemade English Muffins for the BBQ buns. Daniel ended up having Friday off, so he did some re-wiring in the dining room, and some other remodelling related stuff. Our small group get together was fun, as always!! The one couple had to leave early (9pm), and then the other (host) couple and us stayed up and played a card game. Then Daniel and the host-husband had fun with paper airplanes and the living room ceiling fan.... for probably an hour! It was fun to watch 2 grown men tossing paper airplanes back and forth, trying to get them caught in the fan, trying to get them on TOP the fan, seeing which way the fan would make it fly.... The wife and I just visited while they were playing :) We left there right at midnight :)

Saturday Daniel pulled up the dining room floor, and I piddled around. I have pictures, but am too lazy to load them onto the computer and post them. Having him home so many days in a row spoils me!! Then we watched Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves last night for a "date". And today is Sunday!!

I'm not sure what all we'll do tomorrow, but probably some work and some play.

Showalter's Chicken Casserole

This is a very, very good chicken casserole, probably one of my favorites. It takes a little more time to make, but it is soooo good when it's done! I haven't done a price breakdown, but it can't cost too much to make, and it makes a whole 9x13 FULL.

Showalter's Chicken Casserole
1 lg. hen, cooked and picked from bone
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 cups chicken broth (use from cooking chicken)
2 eggs, beaten
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
4 cups crushed crackers (I use whatever kind I have)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In 9x13 baking dish (the deeper the better) layer: chicken, onion, celery and crackers (may divide each in 1/2 to repeat layers if desired).

Sprinkle cheese on top of casserole.

Combine eggs, broth, mushroom soup, salt and pepper. Pour over casserole. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

Check out Gayle's Blog for a whole ton of great recipes and tips!!

Thrifty Thursday - Cloth "Paper-towels"

Daniel eats his breakfast on his way to work every morning. And that means he gets an egg sandwich - every morning. He likes something wrapped around it while he carries it to his work van, and for a long time that was a paper-towel or napkin. I bought the very cheapest kind because that's all we used paper towels for, and he threw them away anyway.

Ta-da!! Over time we accumulated some of his worn out, stained or ripped work shirts (T-shirt style) that weren't wearable anymore. I thought "ok, most of this material is still good material, I don't want to just throw them away!" (you can't give them to thrift stores, donate them, etc - company policy, and that makes sense - it'd be like a Dr. giving his badge to Jo-Schmoe), so I scratched my head and came up with this:

You bet! A nice stack of "paper-towels!" I laid the shirts out on the table, and cut the sleeves off right along the shoulder seams, then cut the sleeves open along the bottom seam. Then I basically cut the main body up both sides and across the top shoulder seams, then each front/back half I cut straight up the middle, and straight across the middle.

They are not meant to be beautiful, but they are meant to be serviceable, and they are VERY serviceable. He now gets one of these around his breakfast sandwich each morning. When the pile starts to run low, I let him know, and he brings me a grocery bag full of dirty ones that have collected in his truck. They get thrown in the washer with his load of laundry, and I have a clean stack of them again.

They also double as napkins at our dinner table (unless we have company, then I do pull out real, paper napkins that are a LITTLE nicer! :) ), rags to wash the floor, rags to wipe up spills, quick hankerchiefs (for Daniel who doesn't like my Puffs Plus With Lotion tissues), and anything else that a rag or paper towel comes in handy for.

And it saves us $$ from buying and throwing away paper towels!

What is that stuff??

The sky is overcast - that's nice - it's not as hot :) But why is my car wet? Why are the back steps wet? What is dripping off the trees? Why is the laundry that I forgot to get in last night (yeah, I was tired - didn't even notice Daniel going outside to turn the water for the garden off, and I was sitting right there on the couch with him) wetter than when I hung it out?

Wait! I've heard of this stuff called RAIN. Maybe that's what it is. I bet so! Hmm... I think I remember it raining a LONG time ago... like back in MAY?? Maybe a few showers since then, but that's the last time we've had "real" rain. And today's "rain" isn't too real... more like an occasional mist from above. I will take whatever we get, even if it means we'll have to mow our yard for the 3rd time this year.