If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Sunday, February 12, 2017

A little sick here, a lot of sick there, sick everywhere

There is a stomach bug going around our area that seems to be visiting almost everyone. Some people are just sick a couple days.  Others are sick for a week.   And after the bug seems to be gone, it sometimes comes back.
All our grands have had it.  Some of their parents have had it.  My dad was so sick, he needed rehydration by IV at the emergency room.  My husband and I had a short-lived bout with it.

Some school districts have closed.

Anyway,  I am really concerned about it and did some research,
These 2 graphics  are from  stopthesromachflu.com



This one really has lots of points that I never thought of.  I had no idea this bug could be contagious so long.  

There are also lots of natural ways to help with this bug on Pinterest.  

I hope none of you are dealing with this but if you are,  some of this might help.  

We had some lemon lime soda, jello, Gatorade, bananas, rice and saltine crackers on hand before we got sick.  We sure appreciated having these things here and not having to ask for help.  I will be restocking those things very soon - just in case! 



No,  I have not been sick the entire time since I last posted, and I will have a more normal post soon. 

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Recipes, Mabel and sewing


First, here is a link to a recipe like the dish I cooked 2 days ago.  The original blog where I found it doesn't seem to be available any more.  This recipe is just like the one I used, except I've used lean ground beef and lean ground turkey for the meat.  This one uses sausage which I am sure is good too.
Also, we cook the rice separately and serve the bean mixture on top of a spoon full of white rice.
SpicyCajunRice


The cheeseburger soup was a blend of 2 Internet recipes.  I'll try to explain what I did
Brown about a 1/2 pound of lean ground beef with 1/2 a chopped onion.
When that's done, add about 3 big potatos, peeled and diced, 3 carrots, peeled and diced and 1/2 cup finely diced celery.  Pour in about a quart of chicken broth and bring to a simmer
When the vegetables are tender, add 2 cups of milk that has been whisked with 1/4 cup of flour and about 1 cup of diced velveeta chees.
Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until slightly thickened and the cheese is melted.
This soup is good and reheats nicely.  Despite it's name, it tastes nothing like an American Cheeseburger.  You could easily use your choice of vegetables and cheese.




Second,  Mabel the puppy, has been with us for 1 month and we estimate she is 3 months old.
She is growing but not a lot.  She happily eats Puppy Chow and sleeps in her crate.
She likes all the grands and is sweet to them (but 2 of the grands don't like her and we hope they will come around)
She doesn't shed much and she creates an illusion that all our tile floors are clean as she searches out and licks up any crumb or splatter.








Third, I've had time sew this week because some our grands have had a virus and have stayed home.  They are all on the mend and the virus didn't spread to any one else because their parents kept them home.

I bought a chevron beach towel when CVS was doing their summer clearance and I think it cost about $2.  I cut it up and hemmed the edges to make 4 hand towels and 2 wash cloths.  They will be going to one set of the grands for their bathroom.


I finished the 3 double sided fleece blankets.
This one, I sewed the 2 pieces about 1 1/2 inches from the edge and then cut fringe about 1/2 inch wide.  It took more time but I think it will the favorite of the grandgirls.


This one has rounded corners and is sewn about 1/2 inch from the edge.

The red and black fleeces are both fuzzier than the pink ones.
They will all be quite warm being double sided.  

That's what has been getting done here 😄

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Cooking, tackling a job and some sewing

This post is far from perfect - I did it on the iPad with the blogger app that has a mind of it's own 😫

hello everyone
Yesterday, I spent about an hour cooking 2 dishes that will feed us several times.
I made a batch of cheeseburger soup where I loosely followed 2 recipes.
The other was a batch of Dirt E Rice, which is a Trim Healthy Mama diet recipe, and we just like the way it tastes.
I used  a pound and half package of lean ground beef and divided it for the 2 recipes.  They both use basic ingredients,  what you see in the photo as well as bell pepper and sage in the rice dish, and milk and cheese in the soup.











I know some people turn up there noses  at leftovers but we really like have homemade food that we can reheat and enjoy at our convenience.  



Wendi at My Heart Is Always Home has  been doing some Tackle It Tuesday projects where she cleans and organizes small areas in her home.  Earlier this week I straightened up our extra pantry.  
Today I worked on our silver ware drawer.  


 Before and it is just crazy how many crumbs were hiding in there 😱




After - yes we have lots of silverware - and it gets used when we have a big family gathering.  I happily use paper plates then but we all prefer real flatware.







I also worked on making 3 reversible fleece blankets from the Joann remnants.  




They were quick to sew up and I'll show the finished blankets tomorrow.  Right now they are in the washer,

Our big table was a nice surface to spread out the fabrics and trim them. 
See the plastic sack? My sewing tip is to keep a sack handy for corralling all the unusable scraps as you work and then just throw it all away