My Momma Said---

Post # 206

I'm still thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving meal.  Those of us here in the United States are familiar with the green bean casserole most of us serve on Thanksgiving.  I love it!  In case you haven't ever had it ...where have you been? ....I will post the recipe from the Campbell's Soup Company at the bottom ....  but first something that tickles my funnybone that my grandson said...
Even left over the next day I think this dish is wonderful but it does take on kind of a gray color, uh, just not the most attractive dish right out of the refrigerator.  Warm it in the microwave and it tastes great, just don't concentrate on it's looks.  When my grandson was 2 yrs old it was a day or two after Thanksgiving and I had pulled out all the leftovers and had them on my counter.  I was holding him in my arms and pointing to different dishes and asking him if he wanted some of that on his plate.   When I pointed to the leftover green bean casserole he got this wary look on his face...eyes just llike the Precious Moments kids....and he slowly shook his head and said very seriously "Ohhh, my momma told me don't EV-A put that in my mouth!"  Where he got that nobody knows, or what he thought it was! That story is one of those in my "bee happy" notebook of things that make me chuckle.
Here is the recipe from the Campbell's Soup people...

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions
Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining onions.
Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

COW POOP!

Post # 205

     :)   This post is not for the weak stomached!  Today driving through downtown I was at a streetlight next to a cattle hauler.  This reminded me of something so I whipped out my camera and took a photo for you in case you don't live where cattle trucks are common. 

    Being a single mom was not always a piece of cake. My boys knew I was occasionally, well, a lot of the time, a pushover.  Some times I truly believe the Lord stepped in to give me a hand.  Our city is intersected by two highways...I-40 east and west and I-27 north and south.  Being in cattle country means a lot of cattle hauler trucks travel these highways.  The trailers have two levels, a double decker so to speak, and hold a lot of cattle.  Those cows poop and urinate so they are standing in a nasty smelling sludge.  When my boys were young, maybe 7 and 8, we were driving up I-27 through downtown next to such a truck, which is just about a daily occurrence.  It was summertime, I had the car A/C on and the boys were in the back seat with the windows down. I asked them to roll the windows up since the A/C was on, which was followed by "it's hot back here" and "the A/C doesn't even get back here, Mom" from them.  I repeated my request, they repeated their protests while I was stopped at a street light next to the cattle hauler.  As the light turned green the truck and I both started moving forward and at the same time I rolled up the boys windows with the electronic controls. The timing was split second perfect.  The second the window was closed on the side of the car next to the truck that truck lurched forward sloshing enough of that sludge so that my son's window was completely covered in green/brown stinky, nasty, gross, cow poop sludge.  I didn't have to say a thing and we were all too stunned to say anything but eeuuwww! anyway --- we all realized that had I not rolled the window up when I did their little faces would have been covered in that nasty mess. I had no idea that was going to happen! But believe you me, I took that as a teaching moment.  I told them from now on whenever I asked them to do something they had better do it without questioning me because sometimes I know things that they don't and to remind them  if they ever did hesitate I would say "COW POOP".  It worked like a charm!!   Throughout their childhood I said 'cow poop" a million times and whatever I asked for got done!  I have been driving next to a cattle truck a million times in my 57 years and never before or since have I seen cow poop sludge slosh out on a car!

Planning for Thanksgiving

Post # 204
I am retired and the money I live on comes once a month, therefore, if I am going to have money to cook Thanksgiving dinner I have to plan and save now.  Usually I make a pretty simple version of Thanksgiving dinner:
turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, green salad, pink stuff*, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, pumkin pie w/cool whip, apple slices w/apple dip*.
*pink stuff...my kids love this
     mix  1 carton cool whip
            1 small carton cottage cheese
            1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
            1 pkg strawberry jello, dump it in the bowl dry, not prepared
     mix well and chill
*apple dip...beat together with a mixer one 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened and one 15 oz jar of marshmellow creme, enjoy with sliced apples!
Grocery prices have gone up so much here in Texas so I made a run through the grocery store today. 
$ 13.80     turkey - 20 lb
     2.29     turkey baking bag
     1.00     disposable foil pan
     1.99     sage
       .78     corn bread mix - 2 pkgs
     1.99     stuffing mix
     1.29    celery
       .40    onion
     1.99    32 oz chicken broth
     1.99    5 lbs potatoes
     3.99    gallon milk
     2.19    dozen eggs
       .99    pkg of Blue Bonnet oleo sticks
     1.19    l can cranberry sauce
     5.00   2 pkgs Sister Schubert Rolls
     1.98   2 cans green beans
     1.09   1 can cream of mushroom soup
     2.99   1 container French Fried Onion Rings
     2.58   2 cartons cool whip
       .85   box of jello
       .99   1 small can crushed pineapple
     2.19   1 small carton cottage cheese
     1.99   pumpkin pie spice
     2.69   1 large can sweet potatoes
     1.79   brown sugar
       .79   marshmallows
     3.58   2 cans of pumpkin
     2.78   2 cans of canned milk
     3.19   2 pie crusts
     1.59   1 jar marshmellow creme
     2.29   8 oz cream cheese
     4.68   3 lbs Gala apples
     2.99   bag of salad
     3.99  cherry tomatoes
     1.99   Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing
     5.99   20 pk Coke or Dr Pepper
     2.50   foil
 $96.38
What do you make and how much will your meal cost?

3 Ingredient Casserole & Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

Post # 203
       My sister told me today what she does with  leftover chili.  She said this is really, really good.  "You take your chili and put it in a casserole dish, top with one cup of grated cheese, top with tater tots and bake for 30 mins till tots are done.  then you top with 1/2 cup cheese. and let melt."
       I love cheesecake!   Strawberry cheesecake DQ blizzards!  Real cheesecake or Jello cheesecake mix! I saw this recipe for strawberry cheesecake cookies on another blog and if I had the ingredients I would be in the kitchen trying out this recipe right now! Sigh. I think I will have a bagel with strawberry cream cheese and pretend.  If you try these let me know what you think, and thank you, Thrifty Mama, for the recipe.
 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AdventuresOfAThriftyMama/~3/xkovSxA-2HQ/strawberry-cheesecake-cookies-week-6-of.html

REAL MEN WEAR PINK pinkfiretrucks.org

Post # 202  Pink Fire Trucks stop in Amarillo...saw them on my way home and since I had my camera I stopped by.  Amarillo Fire Dept was there selling their T-shirts.  A couple of weeks ago I bought T's for me and my sister at the fire station around the corner from me.

Coldest Night So Far This Fall

It was cold when I left home this morning and I never did get warmed up.  Right now with the wind chill factor it feels like 24 degrees outside.   We had gusts up to 49 mph and the wind blew all day, making it feel so cold.  I am grateful I have a home to be in.   My weather forecast was wrong...we did not have mudballs....the wind blew the rain clouds away before we got a drop to mix with the blowing dirt.   For dinner I had a bowl of chili.  I don't have a complicated recipe....brown hamburger with diced onion, stir in a pkg of Williams Chili Mix, add a can of Rotel Tomatoes & Green Chilis, a can of diced tomatoes (I like a lot of tomatoes), a can of pinto beans, simmer and enjoy. 

God Bless Those Who Can Comfort Soldiers

post # 200
I wanted post #200 to be something other than I usually do like I cleaned my bathroom, or I made cookies that I like but I am afraid you won't like them because I get paranoid about suggesting things, or here is a pic of a turtle in my yard.    I wanted post #200 to be something special.....I think I found it.....a link to

http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

I read a blog written by a quilter (http://www.patchworktimes.com/) and her post today was re: this lady needing quilts for Quilts of Valor for the No Soldier Forgotten project in Colorado.  What an absolutely wonderful thing this lady, and all those who make quilts for this cause, are doing.  So far, the quilters I have read about online have all been super generous and caring people.  Judy from the site above has spearheaded missions to provide quilts for TX wildfire victims and for victims of the tornado at Joplin.   I wish I had the equipment and money it would take to make quilts as I would love to make quilts for hospitalized soldiers.  I think I will put that on my vision board.
     Vision board? I first heard about vision boards on Oprah....  http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Go-Beyond-The-Secret_1/3   I am not pushing any one's book or ideology. I just believe in the power of positive thinking.  Anyone out there ever tried a vision board and have something positive you want to share?  And I miss Oprah.

Cloudy With a Chance of Mudballs

Post # 199
Amarillo weather forecast for tomorrow....
"By daybreak strong winds will commence blowing stiffly out of the north behind a cold front at 25 to 35 mph, with higher gusts. Get ready for a cold day! Temperatures will start out in the 40s, but then drop into the 30s during the afternoon. Wind chills will make the air feel like the 20s....Brrr. To add to the fun, a rain snow mix will be possible in our northern counties. On the high side, a couple of inches of snow could be seen across SW Kan/Ok Panhandle. during the day. Even Amarillo could see a drop or flake. However,it looks like blowing dirt will be the main airborne irritant for the Central and Southern Texas Panhandle. By late tomorrow night, the weather will settle down with light winds and a clear sky. As a result, a hard freeze (20s - low 30s) will be witnessed by most locations on early Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon will be pleasant with highs close to 60, followed by a return to the low 70s on Friday." I can see it now, because I have seen in before, blowing mud ice pellets that sting when it hits you.  And visibility...cloudy with a chance of mudballs.  Carwashes will be busy on Friday.

Post # 198 The Best Is Yet To Be

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/mona-simpsons-eulogy-for-steve-jobs.html?pagewanted=all

Steve Jobs' sister delivered the euology for her brother.  You can click on the link above to read it if you like.  I'm happy her brother found her.  She was 25 when she got a call that she had a brother and he wanted to meet her. During the eulogy one of the things she said was "Steve’s final words, hours earlier, were monosyllables, repeated three times. Before embarking, he’d looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life’s partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them.  Steve’s final words were:
OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW. "
                                               ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
I think those words must have been so comforting for them. To me it is close to saying 'no one dies, life goes on, the best is yet to be', don't you think?

ROFLOL!!!!

Post # 197
Besides working at the library from 1990 to 2010 I had various part time jobs after my youngest became an adult.  I would put in my 8 hours at the library, leave at 6 p.m., grab something to eat and then go to another job for 4 more hours from 7 p.m until midnight.  One was working for a power company at their call center.  We took payments, set up service, basic customer service.  We also took calls during power outages.  Oh my, the stories I could tell you about those calls. People without power in a winter storm can be very unhappy people.  I worked in a call center in TX but took calls from Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota and Michigan where winters can get pretty nasty.  I stocked at Wal-Mart.  I worked in towels & bedding but during the holiday season I had to help out in toys.    Stocking, put things back where they belong, answering phone calls from frantic parents looking for a specific toy that had been sold out for weeks.  They can be unhappy people too if you have the wrong answer.  No one has lived until they have worked the Wal-Mart toy department during Christmas or took calls from customers in a storm after days without heat!  A long time ago I noticed that I tend to remember every unkind, hurtful thing anyone ever said to me but nice things I tend to forget. One day at a bookstore I found a small spiral notebook with a bumblebee on it that said "Bee Happy."  I got it and decided to write down every time someone paid me a compliment that meant something to me, when someone sincerely said something nice, and when things just tickled my funny bone.  Just anything that made me "bee happy".  Way too often I just didn't find the time to write things down but it was a great idea and I wish I had written down more things.  One of the things that just cracked me up was something my grandson said to me when he was little, and it still cracks me up just as much.  Anytime I am getting sad I remind myself to think of what Travis said to me...I will get to that in a moment. Yesterday on "The View" Paula Deen was a guest.  I forgot what she was talking about but she said 'head' just like my youngest grandson did when he was a toddler ... pronounced more like hay-ED. Whenever Paula said hay-ED it would just crack up Sharon Osbourne.  I like Paula Deen.  Southern. Butter. Funny. Nice. Strong. Determined. Inspiring.  She has a very interesting biography---  Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin' .  In her book she talks about a 20 year battle with agoraphobia, the fear of being outside of one’s home or in a crowded area.  She says her fear was so intense that even going to the supermarket was a challenge. “I learned to cook with the ingredients they kept close to the door,” she told the New York Times.  That she could overcome agoraphobia and do the things she does today is an inspiration to me.  I have struggled with agoraphobia since my first major panic attack when I was about 33...a long time ago.  Most people that know me casually would never guess because I could function pretty well as long as I was with people I considered "safe" or places that I considered "safe."  I suspect Paula can do what she does because of her husband and her sons being her "safe" people.  For the past two years I haven't had that many "safe" people or "safe" places that I can be around.  But anyway, there is a special place in my heart for Paula Deen and then yesterday when she said "hay-ED" like my grandson did, that was just too funny!  My grandson, Travis, did not have to talk for a long time because his older brother, Mason, was always eager to speak for and take care of his little brother.  Mason is 17 months older.  When they were about 2 and 3 Travis said his first sentence!  I had this box of Velcro rollers.    For all of my children's lives I kept my hair in a very short pixie cut (4 kids & 1 bathroom, it was just easier that way) but every now and then I would let it grow out some and then I would roll it up with these Velcro rollers when I felt like curls.  Since I seldom used them but they were in my room my grandsons would occasionally find them and play with them, sticking them together to build things, like playing with Legos, except....not.  Well, this one day my daughter came to my apartment and I had my hair in rollers.  She was holding Travis in her arms, he was about 2, and he looked at me with this astonished look and he said his first sentence to me....."WHAT dhat on U hay-ED????"  His eyes never wavered from the rollers in my hair.   After a second of being astounded that he could say so many words plainly enough for us to recognize, I told him that it was just my rollers, and reminded him that he sometimes played with them.  Eyes glued on my head he shuttered like this vision of me in rollers was the scariest thing he could even imagine and then he said "Well, get dhat OFF U hay-ED!!!"   Maybe you had to be there for it to be funny to someone other than me, but no matter how depressed I am just thinking of that can make me smile.