Garage Sale Season has Started!! WhoooHooooo

My Favorite Season of the Year :)

I know you in the south have been enjoying garage sale season for a while already. But, here in the north. . . they just started. I have no pictures to share with you all. I'm in bed with a rotten chest cold/sinus thingy. . . but before I got sick I hit a few on Thursday. I found a Mr. Coffee Ice Tea Maker with an extra pitcher and lid for $5, makes GREAT iced tea. We don't drink Sweet Tea here in the north. Just plain brewed iced tea. . .yummy! I also found a great little table that needs some TLC for $15!. . . and I found some really nice costume jewelery (yeah, like I need more of that my youngest said). The weather here is absolutely beautiful. Low 70's. That's perfect in my book. Before taking to bed, I helped hubby put out all the outside yard things yesterday. We re-installed our rock pool, I uncovered and changed the lights in our fountain in the front yard, put out the pots, yard ornaments and the gazebo tent. It is so nice to be done now doing these chores at both homes. More mulch added to both homes, yard & patio things in place.

Now. . . we can just sit back with a tall iced tea and enjoy the beautiful weather. :)

Have a wonderful week. When I'm up and feeling better I have some baking and cooking to do and a birthday cake to make for hubby. He's turning 52 on Thursday. Where does time go?

Oh yes, did I mention everyone will be back to school and work from Easter Break tomorrow? Yes, that's my real Whoooo-Hoooo!!! Then, I'll be back to myself shortly because I will actually be able to rest!

Blessings. . . until next time,

Are You Tired of Eating These Yet?

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and were able to spend time with loved ones.

We went to our cottage for the weekend and had our Easter dinner there. I made our usual Easter dinner: Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Corn I had froze from the end of summer, Homemade Yeast Rolls, Freshly cut Pineapple, tossed salad and Deviled Eggs! (Yes, we had a lot of hard boiled eggs. My family is not nuts about them plain, but make them Deviled and look out. . . they are GONE!!) Then we had apple pie, peach pie and ice cream for dessert.

It was a beautiful weekend at the cottage. We added mulch to all of our landscaping there too, same as we did to our home a few weeks ago. We hauled out all of the summer items from storage and have all of our patio furniture out and ready to be used. Next trip, we'll probably be able to put the boats in the water.

We took several walks and enjoyed each and every step. It was a very relaxing and restful time for our family. I also brought up a treasure I had found recently on Craigslist. I'll show you a picture as soon as I download it from my camera.

Blessings. . . until next time,

CHOP - CHOP!!

DO YOU LIKE "CHOPPED SALAD?"

We love chopped salad. So many restaurants charge an extra dollar (or more) just to chop it. You know, into those perfectly bite sized pieces so each and every forkful is perfectly blended with all the salad fixings! My daughters and I love to order salads at restaurants that offer it chopped like California Pizza Kitchen. But, we don't like the price tag!

Well look what I found. . . at Target today!! A Salad Chopper by Oxo so I can make our own "chopped salad" at home. It may be frivolous to some, but my family enjoys just being able to have perfect forkfuls of salad. It also blends the flavors so perfectly.

It comes with this very deep 5 quart plastic bowl with a rim that makes it easy to rotate. The chopper, pictured inside of the bowl looks like a double pizza cutter. I inadvertently placed it in the bowl upside down. You are supposed to use it the other way, pressing down and rolling. The pieces are then cut bite sized (the dimension between the blades). I am normally pretty frugal, but this we had to have.

I made lasagna tonight for dinner with a perfectly chopped salad with Romaine, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers and a few sesame seeds sprinkled in. Some like to add the dressing before serving. We all like different dressings around here, so I serve it minus dressing so everyone can add their own. My family all commented on how nice the dinner was tonight and how much they loved the chopped salad. They asked for a repeat tomorrow night.

The price, $24.99. To me, it's worth it. I wish I could have just purchased the chopping tool, but that's not how it comes. I'm looking forward to making perfect fruit salads this summer with this tool as well. Yum, yum!

Blessings. . . until next time,

CARDINAL LOVE!!

For the BIRDS!!


Don't you just adore this cute, little chubby pair of cardinals? They make me smile each and every time I pass by them! They are sitting here and patiently waiting for Spring. Well, here in Michigan they'll have a long wait. February and March are sure to bring snow. . . hopefully, by April we'll have at least the start of Spring.

So. . . until then, I just keep plugging along with my home projects. I really don't mind winter much at all. I get so much done in this "down time" as I call it. Cleaning out the closets, basement, under bathroom cabinets, purge, straighten, donate and organize. Baking, cooking and trying new recipes. That's my role right now.

What about you? What do you do to make it through the long winter months? That is if you live in a state with long winter months :)

Blessings. . . until next time,

WALDEN FARMS - WOW, WHAT A RESPONSE!!

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT????!!!!

I can't believe all the e-mails I received regarding this dressing; what does it taste like (wonderful), where can I buy it (various locations), how much is it ($3-$4), what's the ingredients (see my prior post edited to add ingredients). I've tried all the dressings in the above photograph and I have to tell you they are excellent. It is a thinner dressing, not a thick mayonnaise type dressing. But the taste is unbelievable!! Here's the link to Walden Farms to locate a store in your area. Just type in your zip code. http://www.waldenfarms.com/

I do not work for Walden farms, I'm not getting a discount on my dressings, I'm not getting any free coupons (I wish) . . . just so you all know ~ LOL!!


Blessings. . . until next time,

Homemade PIZZA!!

CUTTING THE EXPENSES:

In an on-going effort to reduce our expenses (including food) and increase our savings (I used to want to continually increase our investments too, but since those have "tanked" ~ I just WANT OUR MONEY IN THE BANK! ~ I mean hey, we do have one kid in college and one right behind her ~ and that is soo expensive!!) I've now stopped all eating out for this family. When I first announced this "no more eating out" no one was happy with me ~ no one at all ~ including my hubs. I think "eating out" had become our past-time, our "something to do," our bad habit and an unhealthy one too.




No more eating out. . . includes "take-out". . . like PIZZA. I think that hurt them the most. So, I did what I must. I found a great alternative that I could just make at home. I found a great recipe on the web for pizza dough that I could make in my bread machine. How easy was that? The recipe for the pizza dough is included at the end of this post. When our 14 1/2 year old came home today she did look at me very strangely. You see, this recipe calls for 1/3 cup of flat beer. She saw the can, looked at me and asked if I (who doesn't drink much at all and never, beer and never, ever at 3:00 in the afternoon) was drinking (gasp) a beer? I assured her I wasn't, it was for the pizza crust. :)

One recipe for this dough, makes two crust. You can substitute 1/2 whole wheat flour for the 1/2 of the bread flour. It makes it healthier. One pizza has green peppers, mushrooms, turkey pepperoni and light cheese. The other, turkey pepperoni and light cheese. I make my own pizza sauce by using a jar of sale spaghetti sauce mixed with a can of tomato paste. It's a much healthier way to make pizza and waaay cheaper too. We had this for dinner with a Romaine lettuce salad. Yummy!! And, my family loved it to boot! Our 14 1/2 year old took one bite and gave me a double thumbs up. Not bad, huh?

Come on, unpack that bread machine that has been collecting dust and give this a try. This is the year that I am going to dig out those seldom used appliance (you know which ones I mean, we all have them) that were purchased to make my life easier. . . and well, use them to make my life easier!!

The World's Best Bread Machine Pizza Dough Recipe

Makes 2 Pizza Crusts

· 1 1/3 cups water (Or 1 Cup Water and 1/3 Cup Flat Beer for better flavor)
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 1 teaspoon sugar
· 1 teaspoon honey
· 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
· 2 tablespoons cornmeal
· 3 1/2 cups flour
· 1 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
· 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
· 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
· 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Add ingredients to machine in order listed.
Set to “Dough” mode.
Once completed, place in greased pan (2 - 9x13 inch or round pizza pans).
Let dough rest on pans for 10-15 minutes
Spread dough out in pan.

Add light layer of sauce and pre-bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
Remove from oven and add toppings of your choice.
Bake in oven at 400 degrees until done (approx 17 - 20 min, depending upon topping thickness).

Enjoy!!

Blessings. . . until next time,