Water - Frozen & Not

No, our water pipes are not frozen. Thank you, Lord.
Yes, there is still snow on the ground but the main roads are clear and most of the surface son our subdivision roads have melted that we can get to the main roads when needed. It was interesting that it never got above freezing but still the snow and ice on the roads melted. Maybe it was because we did have sunshine for a few hours and I guess it was enough warmth to heat the dark road? If you know a better answer, I will listen.

- - - and water that is not frozen that I am thinking of, would be drinking water. Have you read what Don Colbert, MD says about drinking water? His books are great. You can find them in many health food stores as well as Christian and other bookstores. His writings are what caused me to begin taking supplements for the arthritis in my knees. Anyway, he believes many health problems can be cured by just drinking adequate amounts of water each day. Dehydration causes many problems from arthritis to heart burn to memory loss and back problems in your spine. Drinking enough each day can cause you to have more energy and even look younger. It can even reduce high blood pressure and lessen asthma symptoms for some people.

The Seven Pillars of Health is EXCELLENT. I would also recommend Eat This and Live! That one has most of the same information but is presented in a more appealing format with pictures on almost every page. He suggests keeping a record of how much you drink each day because it might not be as much as you think - - - and if thirst is your reason for drinking, then you are probably dehydrated. Your body functions better if you drink regularly and not get to the dehydration point. Or did you know all this? Even though I am very diligent about drinking water rather than soft drinks, I was surprised to find out that I was falling short of my body's daily requirements. Oh well . . . . . . one step at a time and eventually we get to our goals.

Jesus said, . . . . "Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst - not ever." John 4:14a

More Snow

This is no big deal for those of you in the northern states but for us, it is because some side roads have to melt before they are clear. Melting will not happen tomorrow since the forecast is a high of twenty-five degrees with northern winds. We have very little accumulation but there doesn't have to be much frozen on the roads to cause problems.

As we were coming home tonight, a good-looking, newer truck was in front of us getting ready to make a right hand turn. The problem was the driver got out of the main lane onto the wide paved shoulder. The shoulder was covered with snow. They hit their brakes and slid into the ditch. Although I grew up in upstate NY, I never drove on snow before I moved south. However, I know you don't hit your brakes when you are moving along at a pretty decent pace on snow.

My husband is scheduled to go into work tomorrow but I don't have to be anywhere. So I will stay home, get laundry done, etc. and read a book. If you connect to this link, you can see some of the most recent books I have completed. Hope you enjoy your weekend. Stay warm. Stay healthy.

YOU have made summer and winter. Psalm 74:17b

Restaurant Bargains

Do you like to go out to eat but it's cost prohibitive? Do you ever watch the East Tennessee Shopper on Monday night at 8 pm? If you have cable, it's on channel five. Someone without cable told me it's on 27 on her TV. The show offers coupons for restaurants. Generally it is $20 worth of food for $12. If you are one of the ones who is a first caller and gets a coupon, you go to Mr. & Ms. (hair salon) on 25th St by the recruiting office (near MacDonald's) to pay for it by Friday of the same week you watch the show. We had forgotten that it was back on but I was reminded today. So we are going to Dovino's sometime soon. - - because I was a first caller. I love their pizza. Many other restaurants were featured including Kerri's Restaurant (old Holiday Inn), Smokehouse Restaurant, and Deli Boys Sandwiches - -- among others.

That's it tonight - - - - me talking about food again. hmmmmm - -- but the good news is I have been exercising and (believe it or not) careful about what I eat which has resulted in a weight loss of about 8 pounds in about as many months!!! I probably need to lose at least 15 more - - but I will patiently continue towards that goal.

Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy? Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Isaiah 55:2 (The Message)

Honeybaked Ham

Someone gave us a Honeybaked Ham for Christmas. Since it was frozen, we kept it until New Year's. I will not try to elaborate and tell you how good it tasted. Delicious would be an understatement. We are not ham connoisseurs but if there was a contest, the Honeybaked would take the blue ribbon without question.

. . . . . . . and tomorrow we resume a normal work schedule. It has been a GREAT vacation but you can't have a vacation without a job - - - so, back we'll go. As I have told you before, we both enjoy our employment.

Today after church, my husband and I went to visit a dear friend who has been a wonderful mentor to our younger daughter. This woman was the coordinator/supervisor/worker in our church's preschool. She not only gave our daughter opportunities to work but also has been a great encourager to her. My husband used to give this woman chili a couple of times a year when he cooked it. That was our main reason for going to her home today. Our conversation with her and her children was truly enjoyable.

My husband thinks this recipe for chili is the best he's eaten.
Chili - - 6 Quart Recipe
6 cans Light or Dark Kidney Beans 15 oz.
1 can 28 oz Diced Petite Tomatoes
1 to 1.5 pounds hamburger browned in Skillet
3 cans Rotel (can go from mild to hot depending on how hot you want it)
1 chopped bell pepper
1 can 15 oz.tomato sauce
Jalapeno peppers diced (10 to 15 of the cut slices from the jar that can be found in the pickle aisle but they are not pickled)

Spices
Chili powder 3/4 cup (can be reduced to taste)

On the following, use a few shakes of each 5 - 10 shakes each for flavor.)
Onion powder or diced onion
Black Pepper
Salt
Paprika
Red Pepper

Mix in crock pot. Cover and cook on high until it starts to bubble. Turn down to low. Usually takes at least 4 hours depending on the crock pot.

"Give me some of that red stew - I'm starved!" Genesis 25:29b

Happy New Year

What a wonderful way to begin a new year with two more beautiful days of vacation ahead and no commitments to be anyplace other than home with my family!

And like the true Southern girl I am - - not - - - I have the blackeyed peas on the stove cooking. We will cook some greens (cabbage) later. I was raised in upstate NY but when I married my husband who was raised in Georgia, I found out about this Southern tradition. You cook those items to give you prosperity in the New Year. The peas represent coins and the greens represent folding money. Of course we don't believe that but traditions are what make a holiday special. Plus we have joked that my deceased mother-in-law would come back from the grave if I didn't have blackeyed peas and greens cooking for her son on January 1. She would always call us that day to make sure of our menu. It was a concession on her part to "let me" cook cabbage rather than collards. We still miss her even though it's been over 12 years since she left this earth.

- - - - - and I know you are going to be excited to hear this - - - - our freezer is again organized and this time - - inventoried!!!! I did that yesterday. We have a chest style freezer so it is easier for things to fall to the bottom and get forgotten. This year we have done pretty well in keeping up with what's in there. However, I did need to shuffle some meats around to get the older dates on top. I know I have told you in the past that we buy meat on sale and then vacuum-seal it in serving or cooking portions. The up side to all of it is we can definitely make quite a few menus out of the pantry and freezer until the next big sale.

I have done all this good organizing with good intentions. Someone ask me in six months - - - or even three months if I am updating my pantry inventory lists - - - subtracting & adding as things are cooked or bought! haha

And with those resolutions, let me go and exercise - - - I am so becoming one of my dear friends. She is a great role model - - - who is settling back in on the mission field again today after being home with her family for Christmas vacation.

(And my Scripture (last verse) today is a continuation of my younger daugher's thoughts.)

"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back." Philippians 3:13-14 (The Message)

Quesadilla

You may not be able to tell but our spices are now sorted in alphabetical groups, e.g., anything from A - C is on the top shelf. This is not OCD. It is better time management. I would love to regain all the time I have spent in the past going through most of the jars to find the one I want. Now I just have to look at one small shelf at a time. And so my mind will not have to remember the proper location, there will be a cute little label attached to the front of each of the shelves. The food pantry closet is to the left - - - and those shelves have been cleaned and rearranged this week, too. At the end of this year with the beginning of the next around the corner, it's always nice to try and start January out the way you would resolve to live in 2010.

And yes, this seems like it will be the food blog again today. Within the past 2 or 3 years, we have discovered quesadillas - - thanks to our younger daughter. I buy the tortillas that are wheat or multi-grain so we have fiber and protein in the bread. My favorite quesadilla to this point has been a philly cheesesteak-type combination. However, there is now a tie or a close second. Today we used thin-sliced barbecue from Couch's (near Chattanooga), light Mexican blend cheese on one side of the meat. On the other side of the meat, a few thin-slices of sweet onion, a bit of Sweet Baby Ray's Barbeque sauce, and some mozzarella cheese. Oh my, oh my, oh my is that good to the tastebuds!

. . . and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat . . . . 2 Samuel 17:29a

Organized by Lists

This is the week I start getting ready for the New Year - - - making new file folders for paid invoices - - - beginning a new Excel spreadsheet for $$$$$ saved during the year. That is something new I started in 2009. You can set it up however suits you best but mine totals on separate sheets for each month and then has a cover page with month summaries and the annual total. On each month, I list the store and the amount saved - - either in coupons or sales. Let me tell you it can get pretty impressive to see what you saved. My husband said it's not all true sales because he wouldn't have paid the original price to start with on some of the clothing! However, I can still sort on Excel with just the grocery stores and we recognized that the budget was stretched considerably.

I don't know about you but I like to shop name brands. Years ago, I went with the generic store brand on Cream of Chicken Soup and I ended up with a casserole that had a slightly greenish tint due to the incorrect amounts of food coloring they had used in the soup. Yesterday I was checking out a generic store brand and although the price was half as much as the name brand, the ingredients were not the same. It was kidney beans. The name brand had 100 calories per serving. The generic had 160 per serving! It appears they had put fructose syrup in addition to the sugar. So - - - - - if you save more at the cash register but the nutrition is not as good - - - - have you saved? You will end up paying in poor health and doctors' bills in the future to save a few cents now.

Our stores seem to be "pushing" us to switch to generic brands. Juices are another item. On one brand, I saw stamped in small letters - - apart from the label - - that it was made from concentrate from either China or somewhere in South America. My question - - - how can it be as good as American grown and still be half price after it's imported? hmmmmmm . . . I am going to do a further investigation on some and then if I find many more nutritional deficiencies, I will write to the main office. I am sure they will take notice of my one letter - - ha!

So do you use coupons? I do but often some expire. I don't let those bother me but rather focus on what I have saved. Does anyone else track their savings? It's encouraging to do so.

Which brings me to a similar area - - - - organization!!!! How I wish some of the books I have read in the last few years had been available to me years ago. I did not grow up learning to "stow as you go", i.e., put stuff away or carry it to another room as you head for that location. That it is easier to keep it picked up as you work rather than doing it once a week. So there is something you may not have known about me or were able to figure out by being around me.

One thing I have learned though is to keep lists. It makes your day more productive. Prioritize the things most important for you to complete each day. The book at the beginning of this post goes one step further and divides the lists into four quadrants. DO, GO, WRITE, & CALL. CALL would be the phone calls you need to make. WRITE are the notes, emails, & maybe your bills. GO are the errands - - - or I am using it for anything outside the house that requires leaving the driveway or yard. DO is just about everything else either at home or work. Really it would be better to keep a separate list for each place.

This book is one of the better ones I have read. It gives ideas on dealing with things that side-track and steal your time - - - everything from interruptions to bits of ADD & OCD. My favorite analogy in here is when your day is compared to a bookcase. hmmmmm - - wonder why that was appealing? haha Basically time is like a bookshelf. There is only so much space to put stuff. You can group that stuff in an orderly fashion so it can be found quickly and easily. You can leave a little space at the end of each shelf so another item can be added. Relating this to your schedule, you should group "like" activities together and you should build a cushion of time into each segment - - or remember that a project generally takes longer than originally planned. That way you have built some flexibility into your schedule without your schedule running your life. Calendars and lists are tools to help us more efficiently use the time God gives us. The benefit is we are more relaxed at the end of each day.

I can tell you all this but still have to confess that I haven't mastered it yet! However that doesn't keep me from trying. My biggest "failure" in this area is my Christmas letter did NOT go out this year. So how did I get it done last year after our daughter's wedding at the end of November but could not complete it this year? And those are the mysteries of life.

Behold, I shew you a mystery . . . 1 Corinthians 15:51a