Library Books

I’m a pretty voracious reader.

Unless I have company in the evenings, I normally read right on up until bedtime and can finish a book per night.

This is this week’s selection.

Last night I read Con Law, which I enjoyed.

I liked the mix of politics, law, and mystery.

I enjoyed the debates about the Constitution and the “founding fathers’ “ intentions.

Labor Day Weekend

We're having a quiet weekend at home.

Since the weather is rainy and blah I'm planning to read, crochet and watch movies.

The bottom five books are for research for a current project.

The top three books are for pleasure reading.

For the movies, we have decided to do a James Bond themed weekend.

As far as the crocheting goes, I'm working on a "Lost Souls" skull shawl.

New to Me

I admit to being a total book lover.

So far this year I've picked up 5 new books to come home with me.

The Taste of Home Fast Fixes with Mixes is one I have been checking out from the library.

I had a chance to buy a copy for a penny.  I paid $3.99 in shipping for a total of $4.

Now I know that mixes may not seem like the most frugal option at first, but as I have mentioned before I am not cooking for many people anymore and sometimes a small mix is just the right amount.

I also bought this book with a second consideration.

My daughter, who for various reasons has difficulty with slicing/dicing/etc., needs to know how to not rely on take out as she goes out into the world. Mixes are a good alternative for her and we are working on building up a repertoire of dishes she likes and can prepare easily.

The New Basics Cookbook came home from the library booksale.  

I paid $2.00 for it.  

Reading the bread recipes alone made me feel like it was well worth what I spent on it.

The Souper Recipes with Campbell came home from the same booksale. 

I paid $1.00 for it.

It falls under the same category as the Mixes book and I am actually looking forward to trying some of these recipes.

The last two books were for me and also from the library booksale.

I love reference books of all kinds and at $1.00 I couldn't pass up the book of synonyms.

The book about Ben Franklin ($1.00) is one I'll read and put back on my shelf.

He is an individual I have always found fascinating and I am looking forward to reading this to see if I learn anything new.

Entertaining and Trying New Recipes (Recipes Included)

I love cooking and I think if I had a love language it would be expressed in feeding people.

We had a great visit tonight and I really enjoyed the company.

 

 

I started the morning out by baking a carrot cake.

This is a modified version of a Betty Crocker recipe.

 

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease either a 9x13 pan, or two 8 or 9 inch pans and set aside.

 

Open an 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple (in juice) and drain.

Set aside

 

Grate carrots -- 3 cups total.  (This took me 3 decent sized carrots)

Add 1/2 cup of coconut to the carrots and set aside.

 

In large bowl combine:

2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsps. of cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together.

Set aside.

 

In mixer bowl:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Mix on low until blended.

 

Add flour mixture to mixer bowl and blend on medium speed for 1 minute.

This is a thick batter.

Stir in 1 tsp. of vanilla

Stir in the carrots, pineapple and coconut.

 

Divide evenly between greased round pans or pour into a 9 x 13.

For the 9 x 13 bake for 40 to 45 minutes and cool on rack

For the 9 inch pans bake 30 minutes, cool on rack 10 minutes, and then flip out.

For the 8 inch pans bake 35 minutes, cool on rack 10 minutes, and then flip out.

Let cool completely before frosting -- at least an hour.

 

Frost with cream cheese frosting.

 

 

I had purchased chicken over the weekend, but knew I would use veggies from my freezer for the sides.  A bag of frozen corn from Aldi, seasoned with chicken broth and chopped bell pepper was one side dish and I steamed broccoli for the second side dish.  (Sorry I didn't get photos of full bowls, but such is life. I took some but the first ones were blurry.)

 



 

 

 

 

The main dish was this chicken and rice casserole, which is one of the recipes I marked in my library book as one to try.  My kitchen lighting isn't great, but everyone liked the dish so I am considering it a keeper.  It wasn't difficult to pull together and it cooked rather quickly.  I did change a few things from the original recipe, so I am sharing what I did here.  The original recipe is from Taste of Home.

 

Italian Chicken and Rice

 

Preheat oven to 425F.

 

In a plate or shallow bowl, mix:

2/3 cup Bisquick

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheee

2 tsps. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. paprika

 

In second bowl, pour 1/3 cup of evaporated milk.

(You will use a whole 5 oz can for the entire recipe.)



 

Cut up 4 large chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) into roughly equal sized hunks.

I basically went for thirds.

 

Dip chicken in milk, then coating, and set on a platter.

 

Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Pour in 3 cups of Instant Rice.

Pour in 2 cups of boiling water with 2 tsps. of chicken bouillon added.

Dot with 2 tbsp. of butter.

Pour the remaining milk into your measuring cup and add enough boiling water

to make another cup. 

Pour that over the rice.

 

Arrange your chicken on top and bake uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes or until your chicken is done.

(Mine took about 37 minutes.)

 

(This fed 5 adults and I have two pieces of the chicken left and the rice that was under them.)

 

Notes -- In the future, if I was not serving corn with peppers, I would add diced bell pepper to the rice for a pop of color.  Another thing I would consider is adding green peas or perhaps broccoli if I wanted an all in one casserole.

 

Shopping Trip

 

Saturday was a busy day for us.  We ran a few errands -- including a trip to the library.

We ground grain, inventoried the freezer, did laundry, and a few other household chores.

I ran out of steam by late day and I sat down with a cookbook I borrowed from the library.

There were several recipes I wanted to try and they called for some items I don't normally buy -- such as ramen noodles, boxed potatoes, etc.

 

I'm still working on adjusting to cooking for two people and sometimes three.  I find buying fresh produce in bulk like I used to do is just not working well.  While I've never been a big believer in using tons of mixes I've decided to incorporate some in.  I think that it will help me with meal sizes and will also have the added bonus of helping me have quick meals on hand.  My daughter, who has no desire to cook from scratch, is more likely to help cook if mixes are used so that is another plus.

 

I used my freezer inventory, my pantry supplies, etc. to make out a fluid menu plan for this week...fluid because I will do my best to use up leftovers and that may require some tweaking.

 

However, from my menu plan and freezer inventory I came up with a simple list:

 

Dollar Tree

3 family sized boxes of Au Gratin potatoes

1 large box of broccoli and cheese rice

1 soy milk carton (for my husband)

1 package of chicken ramen noodles

1 package of beef ramen noodles

 

Neighborhood Market

3 Sam's Choice 2 liter sodas

1 box of Stevia packets

1 large box of Bisquick

2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix

2 cans of evaporated milk

1 box of marked down bran flakes

1 box of marked down cornflakes

1 jar of marshmallow crème

1 turkey ham

5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast

 

I spent in total $47.86 so not too shabby.  This leaves me with about $77 of my budget left for this week.

 

The chicken was $10 of it and is for a family meal.  My sister and her boyfriend are coming Wednesday and I am making a casserole for the main dish.  (I'm sure it won't take all of it, but I wanted plenty.)

 

As I try the new to me recipes I'll share how they go.

Plans are a potato and ham casserole, ramen noodle stir fries, broccoli cornbread, corn casserole, a chicken and rice casserole, and a few other recipes from the cookbook.

Household Binder and Bullet Journal

 

I'm still working on reading one of my library books.  The heroine is a female Sherlock Holmes.  I'm not horribly far into it, but so far I am enjoying it.

 

 

In keeping with my down time rules, I am doing a lot of sitting.

Emphasis on "a lot" !

 

However, I have put the time to good use.  Years ago I used to keep a household binder and had gotten away from it.  I've been watching videos about Bullet Journaling and while I don't think the Bullet Journaling alone would work for me, I do believe a combined household notebook and journal will.  My rules were I didn't need to go out and spend money to create one and it had to be highly functional.

 

I repurposed a notebook I had been keeping French notes in, pulled out a package of colored pens from Dollar Tree and got started.  (Those papers are now in the filing cabinet should I ever have need of them again.)  So far I have the following things in it:

 

1.  Index

2. Year at a Glance and Monthly calendar followed by weekly calendar (with menu planning space on the back of the sheets) for all 12 months

3.  Master cleaning list, monthly kitchen cleaning list, canning list, and freezer inventory sheets

4.  Birthdays and holidays lists and plans

5.  Budget (2016 totals, this years budget, and actual expense sheets)

6.  A personal section that includes goals, crafting projects, books read, etc.

7.  I created a miscellaneous section too.  It will house whatever I need to add.

 

Today I hope to add addresses and important phone numbers to the third section.

 

While this isn't a picture perfect scrapbooker's type journal, I think it will work for me.  I've left myself plenty of space to jot down things, to doodle, or whatever crosses my mind.

Up and About

We decided I was doing well enough to go out and help run some simple errands.  My husband drove me, did the cart pushing, and all the lifting.  Bless his heart!  However, I think we accomplished everything and are set up for the rest of the month.  (We do have one more errand to run on the day I have a doctor's appointment, but beyond that I think we are finished.)

1.  I had to return a school book by mail.  This will net us a full refund minus the small amount of postage.  He handled this errand for me and I sat in the car.

2.  We dropped off a donation to Goodwill and I walked down one aisle.  I'm looking for a 9x13 casserole dish that does not have the end handles like typical Pyrex does.  My small oven will not hold my dish because of the handles.  Sadly, they didn't have one.  I'll keep searching.

3.  I had a short list for Dollar Tree.  I needed Valentine's Day cards to mail to my nieces and nephews.  I bought oatmeal crème pies, 4 jars of mushrooms (thanks Carol for the head's up that they had them), 2 rubber spatulas, 2 sets of measuring cups, 6 aseptically sealed cartons of soy milk, 2 graham cracker crusts,  and 1 small baking pan, 1 cake mix, and 1 brownie mix.

4.  While I was in Dollar Tree, my husband, who had a coupon for five pads of paper for $1.00, walked to the Staples next door to pick that up.

5.  In that same complex is Michaels.  In keeping with my resolution to not shop for crafting items unless I need them for an ongoing project, I picked up two skeins of yarn to go towards the afghan I am working on.  I believe I now have enough to finish it.  (This will be my first completed Christmas present for my 2017 list.)  I also bought a ball of #10 thread.  I use this on and off and had just finished up my last ball.  I had a coupon for 30% off all yarn purchases and used this to reduce my costs.

6.  We went to the library to pick me up a couple of books.  I picked up two mysteries to read and one audio book so that I can listen while I crochet.

7.  On our way back home, I thought I was running out of energy, but by the time we got nearer I thought I could finish up by hitting Aldi.  We had a reasonably small list.  We came home with:
4 bags of corn chips (on sale for 99 cents each), 2 jars of organic salsa, 1 package of mint cookies, 1 package of fig "newtons," 3 containers of vanilla soy milk, 1 carton of lactose free milk, cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, 2 bags of radishes, 2 bags of kitty treats, 5 lbs of red potatoes, bananas, 2 boxes of pop tarts, 4 cans of vegetable soup for my husband to take with him, and 3 cans of vegetarian chili.

Needless to say by the time we got home my daughter said I was walking like an old lady.  I was exhausted.  After all was put away, I made us a quick and simple lunch.

1 can of the vegetarian chili, 2 baked potatoes, and a bit of Daiya cheddar crumbles -- easy, less than $1.50 a person.
 

Borrowing Cookbooks from the Library

I have a weakness for cookbooks. I can sit and spend hours reading them.  I mentally adjust recipes, look for things I might like to try, and just in general enjoy them. 

I picked up these three from the library Sunday afternoon. 

My general review is based on the number of recipes I could see myself making some version of.

Isa Does It only has about 4 or 5 recipes I might try. None of them were particularly earth shattering to me.  This was one I am glad I checked out before considering purchasing it.

However, Vegan Brunch, which is written by the same author, was marginally better. Mostly I found a few pancake and bread type recipes I might would try. Again not high enough to qualify for me to spend money on.

Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson is one I would consider investing in.  I made a list of 26 must try recipes and a long list of several other possibilities. Most of the recipes I immediately ruled out were because of nut and or peanut ingredients.  Some could be easily altered though.  Of course, I have admitted before I am partial to her books.  However, the plan is to try the recipes I have marked and see if we like them. If we do and I consider them worth investing money in I will begin a search for an inexpensive used copy of this book.