[Jean]

Good Afternoon/Evening, Flowers! Bob has a meeting so Ernie and I am home alone. It's been another cold day with lazy snow flakes falling all afternoon. The roads are slippery! Lots of changes coming at school next year.

Today two of the IAs were called into the office and were told their hours would be 9 to 5 next year. Now they are 7:30 - 3:30. One is the Media Center IA and the thought behind her is that the computers will be available for after school homework. The other IA is the building aide and they are moving her into the principal's office (copy machine and all the rest of her office "stuff"). She is to supervise the students who have study hall out in the student center, and supervise after school detention so they don't have to pay a teacher extra money to do that. The assistant principal is moving away from the main office (where the action is) down another hall where the principal's office was years ago, and is now a small classroom. The principal will move into the asst. principal's current office. They want to move the special ed. teacher, where my desk is now, and put her in the little room that is now the copy room. It has no heat and no windows -- not a nice room for a classroom! Lots of changes coming and I don't think I will miss that part at all. I'm too old for all that change at once!

"Gma" -- I do remember you talking about the Cubs tickets and wanting to see the 'Jersy Boys'. Good luck with your sweater; I hope it works! I'm glad that Kelly is feeling better. I know from what MIL went through this summer that a lot of people are on too many drugs or ones that don't work well together. I didn't realize Jack had to be at work that early. What time does he leave? I suppose he avoids some traffic at that time of the day.

Gail -- Enjoy your week at home. There are lots of things, family history-wise, that I wish I would have paid more attention to as my parents would tell stories of their grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I have a box of pictures that my mom was always going to go through and write who was who on the back, but never did. I have no clue so will have to pitch some that aren't labeled.

Susan -- I am typing my retirement letter tonight!

Maggie -- Good luck at WW tonight! Smoothies sound cold! I am drinking HOT tea right now.

Not much is newsy from my corner of the world except school and weather. I'm glad Monday is over. Have a relaxing evening and a terrific Tuesday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD EVENING MAGNOLIAS

Yep I am a happy camper for I showed one pound down. Going in the right direction feels good. I picked up the "Now & Later" cookbook at WW meeting tonight and it looks like a good one. I like the feature it has for the "later" using the left overs. I am so glad that my main squeeze will eat once before served dishes. In fact some of the dishes I have had later have really tasted better the second go round.

JEAN on your decision to finally retire. Got a plan for what you will be doing with your time? Gotta do something ya know. I was certifiable for at least 3 months when I first retired because it was sudden and I didn't have a plan. It was spitting a bit of snow when I got out of WW this night but nothing like you are having. Sounds like Ernie has settled into your family nicely. I want to get Ragg Mopp a kitty and am still looking for a Manx. Maybe in the spring I will find one. Thank you friend for starting a new thread for us.

Everyone sleep well. Type at y'all later. I am going to look at each page now of my new cookbook.

[GailR]

Good Tuesday morning. It's snowing very very lightly. We're not supposed to get much accumulation by the time it's all over with tomorrow. At some point we'll get that "wintry mix" that the weather people like to say so much so it could get very slippery out on the roads. I will be inside my nice cozy warm home for the duration. Books to read? Check! Yarn to knit? Check! Food? Check..check!!! I plan to start walking on the treadmill. Again. I had gotten into the habit of taking walks at Dad's house so I would like to keep that habit going.

Congrats Maggie on the weight loss! I love WW cookbooks. I have most of them. Not all but most of them. Wayne and I were sitting in our home office looking at them all as we brought up another tall bookcase up from the basement storage area. I have all kinds of cookbooks--I bet I have over a hundred total--maybe more--I need to count them. I have quite the library! What is so funny...or not...is I have all these weight loss cookbooks and I'm overweight! Kind of makes me laugh. Or not.

Jean, I agree with Maggie, you need to think about what you would like to do once you retire. Congratulations to you--you will love retirement...as I've told you before! I had to retire suddenly also and I was at a loss what to do with my free time. Everyone I know who has retired all say they went through some kind of transition period. What helped me was that I retired at the end of October (two years ago) so I had the holidays to help me spend my time. I enjoyed that Christmas holiday so much that year--I could take my time holiday shopping during the middle of the week while everyone else was working! I had unrushed time for wrapping presents and decorating the house. I love to read and knit. I still meet once a month with my girlfriends for lunch--we've been meeting for 18 years now. I have a new group of girlfriends that want to make up another group and meet regularly so that will be another group that meets. I used to babysit regularly and as much as I looooove my grandchildren I don't want to be tied down on a weekly basis but I'm there for them on an emergency basis. (My favorite kind of babysitting is for 2-4 hours at a time.) The only drawback is the income is reduced--pension checks are nowhere near what the paycheck was! And now Wayne and I are about to embark on HIS retirement starting at the end of this week. He's going to take a couple of months off and then hopefully go back to work through the electrician's union. What we would like to see happen is that he works the warmer months and takes off the winter months. He doesn't think he will ever totally quit working. For him, I think he's right, because he's the type of person that needs to keep busy...even if he ends up just working part-time in a store somewhere. Again, congrats on your decision to retire!

Today, I'm cooking a chili recipe from an older WW cookbook. I bought the ingredients yesterday. Wayne does not like chili so I'm making him steak sandwiches for dinner. I'll let y'all know how the recipe tastes. Simple...it's out of one of those 5 Ingredients 15 Minutes WW cookbooks from a couple of years ago.

It's snowing heavier now....

[gma22]

Good morning to all you fine ladies! I see it is cold and snowy in our worlds. Well, now snowy, but a bit rainy in mine, but certainly cold for here as it is in the 30's.

Jean: Jack gets up at 5 and leaves at 6. He gets to work earlier than anyone else, but it gives him time for his paper and coffee and he can't stand being close to being late. Everyone else gets there pretty much right on the dot. I am now making a dog sweater for Fortune. It is a raisin colored purple turtleneck and I am putting little dog bone and fire hyrant buttons on it. I think it will be really cute when I am done. I wanted him to have a new sweater to wear to Indiana and they are so expensive to buy and I can't ever find what I want. I am a good halfway done with it. Oooh, I am so glad you are retiring. I know you will enjoy being at home with Ernie and Bob when he is home. You can do all the things that you never had time for before and maybe even take up knitting again! How far away are you from Clear Lake? I see they are having a big do over the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Rickie Valens dying.

Gail: I am making chili too! Jack is VERY picky about his chili. He grew up in New Mexico and they don't put beans in their chili so I have to put my beans in my bowl and cover them with chili! lol He doesn't like pieces of tomato so I use tomato soup as a base instead of canned tomatoes and such. It makes amazingly good chili actually and using only 8 oz of ground sirloin, onions, garlic and chili powder you can have a big ole 3 cup bowl for like 9 pt. Right now, Jack and I use our larger pts for dinner so I keep it around 12-15 at night. We eat so early that it isn't a problem going to bed with a big meal or anything. I make corn muffins with skim milk and egg beaters so they are only 3 pt each. I can't wait for warmer weather to walk outside. I don't have a warm coat to walk in 30 degree weather so I just have to use the treadmill or work with weights or something like that.

Maggie: Congrats on your lbs down!!!!! I like leftovers called once befores! That is cute!

We have Thomas's Blue and Gold cub scout banquet the end of next month where he goes to his next level and gets all his pins and stuff. They do a carry in from the parents usually along with buying the meat. Kelly being the cubmaster's wife will probably coordinate so I am going to ask her what they plan on having so we can keep to WW as much as possible and plan ahead.

I need to get some breakfast, unload the dishwasher and such and get cleaning done for today then I can go back to my dog sweater.

Have a great day everyone and watch what you eat today!
Faye

[Maggie]

GOOD MORNING (LATE) MAGNOLIAS

It is almost noon here in the heartland. I just finished my early 10 minute walk around the house and plan on doing another 10 later this day. "They" say two 10 minute walks is just as good as one 20 minute one and I am a believer for that is the way I can get it in. Chili. Yep we both love chili. In fact I have some in the freezer in serving sized bags. We like it chunky and every one of you have your preferences it looks like. It can be made in so many different ways. It has snowed here about 2 inches so far and looks like it has stopped with the temperature at 25 degrees. Will is out picking up the ingredients for the fruit turnovers I will make from a good sounding recipe in the "WW 5 Ingredient 15 Minute" cookbook. They are 4 points each and the recipe makes eight. So I am going to find out how well they freeze. And another thing, at WW last evening they gave each of us a bag of those multigrain chips for 2 points a bag. I sat and enjoyed mine and then bought the last box they had on the for sale table. One of the workers there told me that they are really good crumbled on salad. I will definitely give that a try since I like "crunch."

GAIL That is good that you are going to get on your treadmill and do a workout. Not a good idea to let too much time elapse from all that good walking you were doing. At least that is for me. I had to start out with just a few minutes and add to it each day.

DONNA I imagine you must be looking forward to when the Red Buds bloom. I love those. I can imagine that cub scout do is a lot of fun. Those little guys really get into the program and what a treat for the adults to observe.

Well Magnolias I am off to get some lunch started for it is now Noon O'clock. Have a lovely day all y'all.

[GailR]

So...because I was curious, I counted 114 cookbooks and no telling how many I'll have by the time I get all my Mom's cookbooks to Delaware. I never know what I'm going to find inside my Mom's cookbooks because she makes notes and I come across recipes she's clipped out of newspapers and magazines and some she's received from friends.

Maggie, let us know how well that fruit dessert recipe freezes. As you know, Wayne is a fussy eater so I like recipes that I can freeze individually for myself. Your snow fall sounds like my snowfall. About 2 inches (if that really) and it's in the 20's here. Snow has stopped although the weather person has said we will get more along with the wintry mix. Gotta love that wintry mix! About six months ago, I was browsing in a bookstore and I came across "another diet book" and this young woman's secret to her weight loss was walking for 20-30 minutes after each meal. Can't remember the name of the diet book (had recipes also) and can't remember the author's name either! (Not much help with that am I? Funny, the things I remember!)

I just made that chili recipe. Well...it's okay. It's edible. It may taste better tomorrow...like spaghetti sauce always tastes better the next day (in my opinion). Here's the recipe:

ZIPPY BLACK BEAN CHILI

3/4 lb. ground round (I used 93/7 fat ground round)
1 T chili powder
1 (15-oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 (8 oz.) jar hot salsa

1. Cook ground round in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain well. Add chili powder; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. Add black beans, tomatoes, and salsa; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)
Points per serving: 3

Recipe taken from Weight Watchers Five Ingredient 15 Minutes Cookbook (Winter 2006).

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

I don't want to bore you but I did get in my afternoon walk for 10 minutes so I did do my 20 total today. I really can't believe I am doing it.

GAIL Thanks for that recipe. Girlfriend we do like the books don't we.

Here is a recipe I just finished mixing up. I picked it up at the meeting last night and got the ingredients today. It is a good tasty one that Will says is alright so it is a keeper.

CEREAL SNACK MIX

9 oz Kix cereal
13.75 oz Cinnamon Toast Crunch, reduced sugar
6 oz Craisins
10 oz Chocolate chips or any flavor you want
6 oz Pretzel sticks

Makes 24 cups (a cup fits nicely in a snack ziplock bag)
1 Cup = 2.5 points

Remember if you alter the amounts you change the points.

The containers I got were bigger than was called for so I weighed each item before adding it to a large plastic bag to mix. And any of the cerial I dropped on the floor Ragg Mopp cleaned up for me.

Type at y'all later

[QuilterInVA]

Good evening, ladies! Cold and raining today...at least it isn't snow!

Great mind think alike - I had chili tonight, too. WW Bestever Chili, 6 points for 1-1/2 cup serving. I had it over 1/2 cup of Bulgar (only 1 point). A salad and I had a tasty filling dinner. I love chili.

COLOR="Purple"]Maggie/COLOR], Keep up the walking. You can also get a ton of exercise in if you stand up when the commercial comes on and march in place. on another pound gone! I hope we get a bag of the chips at my WW meeting. I'll make a salad, top it with chili, and crush up some chips and top it with a little FF Sour Cream and FF cheese - Taco salad, yum!

Gail, My cookbook collection was only exceeded by my fabric collection but I got rid of 3/4 of them. I got tired of dusting them and trying to find room for more. I had more than 200. I have nearly all the WW cookbooks, back to the first one that had such delicacies as "Macaroni" and Cheese - made from bean sprouts, and "Oatmeal" made from crumbled bread cooked in milk. I am really thankful the program has changed even though that was the plan I lost my weight on. Keep that going!

Faye, It's about time you make Fortune a new sweater, he was feeling left out! The Cub Scout banquet will be fun. I love how serious they can be on occasions like awards.

And I did go to Curves after work today.

Have a good evening!

[Jean]

Good Evening, Flowers! The sun was shining but it was a cold day in my neighborhood today. We got our heat bill yesterday . . . $309! Bob said he didn't care because he wanted to be warm when he is home. His office building is on "automatic" and it cools down after 4:30 and on weekends. He has the middle office but it is cold in there for some reason, and he uses a space heater.

I had a meeting at church tonight. A friend talked me into being on this committee which nominates other people to "volunteer" their services in different areas of the church. She didn't mention meetings, and silly me thought it would probably be once or twice a year whenever there were vacancies to fill. It turns out we are to come up with the names, the pastors check the list over, and then we are given names to call.

Maggie -- Congrats on another pesky pound gone forever! After school is out I have a house that needs lots of attention -- bedrooms painted, crooks and crannies deep cleaned, not to mention the stuff I can sort through a second and third time. I thought I would volunteer more at the hospital since I all ready have my foot in the door there. I can always volunteer at the elementary school to help read, do math, or whatever. I don't think I will be subbing though. Thanks for sharing your recipe. We got the multigrain chips last week . . . Bob thought they tasted like cardboard.

Gail -- WOW! You do have a lot of cookbooks! I have quite a few but not near that many. I don't even like to cook. I am a sucker for cookbooks with lots of pictures even though my stuff never looks like the pictures. Thank you for sharing your recipe too. Bob will have to find a part-time job when he retires. He is hoping they will let him keep the ***S and crop insurance which would keep him as busy as he would like to be.

"Gma" -- I'll bet Fortune will look pretty spiffy in his new sweater! We live about 2 1/2 hours from Clear Lake and the Surf Ballroom. When I was in high school we went to see the Everly Brothers there. My hometown is 40 miles away from there. I remember the Blue and Gold banquets and what a big deal they were. Some days that seems like a lifetime ago.

Susan -- The "old" WW recipes sound pretty bad. I went years ago when they were pushing fish and to this day I remember how the fish smelled laying on the counter . . . not good! I know how much you enjoy Curves -- glad you got to go today.

I need to tweak my resignation letter so best get that done. Have a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow!

Jean -- in Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning to you all! Just a note to the newbies: If you post on a closed thread we may not see it so be sure if I have closed the thread telling you to move to the next number to not post but look for the next one. We want to read what you post!

It is sleeting and snowing here! UGH! Jack took the new car as I am not getting my behind out in this weather, period! I hope it will melt by the end of the day as it is supposed to get up around 40. Jack called me to tell me how much the gas was and said it was snowing to beat the band and blowing. That was at 6 or so. It is now 7:30 and it has stopped snowing and must be starting to melt already as it is dripping water off the condo.

Jean: I imagine our utility bill will be outrageous too. It is all inclusive and we don't have gas. It includes our electric, water and sewage. I just can't sit in the house freezing to death. We have to keep it low at night or it gets way too hot to sleep so I try to remember to turn it down to 68 at night and if I get cold I turn it to around 73 during the daytime and sit in 2 pr of socks a blanket and a sweater! lol I laughed when I read you had to tweak your resignation and thought, "Yeah, I hereby quit and leave you all to deal with the brats!" 'nough said!

Maggie: I read someplace that phyllo dough isn't that fatty because the sheets are so thin. I would like to make some little meat pasties like the brits do out of phyllo dough sometime. I bet you could use some ground turkey or even gr sirloin and mix it with veggies and put into a little ff gravy made from ff broth and they would be spectacular in a little triangle. You could fool around with all kinds of cereal, crackers and stuff and make snack mixes. I buy mini choc chips to put in stuff.

Susan: When I put together my bowl of chili I put in a lot of beans. I am so glad I like beans because they are so good for you, ff and provide lots of good fiber. Our soup bowls hold 2 cups so we only spent 6 pts for our chili last night and 3 for our muffin. I use the box muffins but use egg beaters and skim milk to lower pts. Can't taste the difference. What exactly is bulgar? I keep thinking it is wheat with the stuff kept on the outside instead of shucked off????

Well it is almost time for "The Sopranos" and time to eat my breakfast, Cheerios, skim milk and a banana! lol
Keep warm and dry today!
Faye

[GailR]

Good Wednesday morning. We have a sheet of ice over the snow that fell last night. Not much snow--about 2 inches but it's that ice that is dangerous. Needless to say, I am inside for the day! Wayne went to work. He has two more "get-ups" before he's officially retired.

Good for you, Maggie, for getting that 20 minutes of walking in!! And thanks also for that recipe--I'll buy the ingredients on Friday when I do the weekly grocery shopping. I like that serving size for the amount of points. Most of the time for a 1/4 - 1/2 cup serving it's about 3-4 points. I like volume. Gotta love Ragg Mopp! He's helping you clean house!!

Susan, awwwww...stashes! For you it's material. For me it's yarn, yarn, and more yarn! The old WW cookbook you speak of? Oh yeah--got that one! Copyright 1972. Do you remember the bread? In order to make a 2-sliced sandwich, one had to slice it HORIZONTALLY? Now that is going back in time! I agree--I like the program much better now.

Jean, I'm not going to tell you what my last electric bill was. We have gas heat and it was horrible. Just horrible. Everytime the heater comes on all I smell is money burning. We keep our thermastat on 65 degrees. Cold. I have to be in the mood to cook. If Wayne wasn't such a fussy eater I would experiment more often. But I do love looking at the pictures of food! Wayne thinks I torment myself! I must admit it's not just a matter of keeping Wayne busy after he retires, he will have to go back to work...at the minimum at least part-time. We cannot live on our pensions alone and we're too young for social security. And we can't draw on our IRAs yet and we don't want to touch our 401K either. In fact, we were talking last night that both of us might try part-time work and see how that goes. But right now I have my Dad to think about and he needs me to help him with legal stuff. Anyway, Wayne and I are talking over our options to bringing in more income into the house. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about healthcare--he keeps his. I never enrolled in healthcare through the state of Delaware but I think I'm going to look into that in May when there's a new enrollment period.

What to do today? Definitely not going outside. Perhaps I'll make some soup. Dust and vac the house which won't take long. Knit. Read. Keep warm!

[GailR]

Donna Faye, we were posting at the same time... You would be cold in my house! You'd be thinking I need insulated underwear! My youngest daughter told me her last utility bill (which includes electricity, trash pick-up, and water/sewage) was over $400. (Mine was higher and only covers electricity and gas.)

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

It has warmed up here in the heartland and the snow is almost all melted. I got my 20 minutes of walking in this day and am still surprised at myself for sticking with it. And I don't use exercise points. Not anything out of the ordnary going on here.

GAIL I do have several recipes for snack mixes and they seem to all be higher in points. The winter is hiting hard out your way isn't it. I read where the ice is a couple inches thinck in some areas. Don't slip, don't fall.

DONNA I have used phyllo sheets, yes mam. I have even made pumpkin pie with that as the crust. Instead of sprading butter inbetween the sheets the spray works well and saves points and calories.

JEAN You do have lots of things to do when you are retired which will be a good thing when that day rolls around.

Have a lovely afternoon folks. Type at y'all later

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's another sunny cold day in my corner of the world. I turned my early retirement paperwork in today so it is a done deal. That is unless the school board would refuse my application which isn't likely. Tonight I have bell choir practice at 6 instead of 5 from now on. One of the "ringers" whined because she does taxes and 5 is "just too early" for her. Heck, she owns the business so think she could name her own hours for one day! We didn't get to vote so some of us aren't too happy. We used to practice at 7 so guess I should be happy we didn't go back to that.

"Gma" -- I wondered about your weather when the weatherman showed the U. S. map this morning. I hope it has warmed up for you! I had to laugh at your idea of tweaking my letter. As luck would have it, most of the kids who caused me grief last semester have dropped out. I'm just sorry they waited until second semester to do it. The worst one is working at the DQ; we haven't gone there since last summer when a Mexican family bought it and painted it orange. We went once and the service was so slow; they didn't mess up our order like they did the couple before us, but the food was luke warm.

Gail -- I think you got the weather we were supposed to get. I know the eastern part of the state got more snow yesterday and we didn't. I keep telling Bob to keep his options open or he will end up being the WM greeter! He is not good at just sitting around doing nothing, especially so in the winter when he can't be outside or puttering in the garage. He won't be retiring any time soon.

Maggie -- Congrats on the exercise for today! Keep going!

I need to put in a load of laundry and decide what is for a quick supper. Have a relaxing evening and a terrific Thursday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[QuilterInVA]

Good evening, ladies - got just like spring today, up in the high 60s, but we had pea soup fog this morning and it rained off and on all day.

I guess I have a lot to be thankful for - my gas bill was $104 last month, electric is on budget so $86 every month, water and sewage are about $30 a month. I keep the thermostat on 73 during the day and wear a sweater but I'm warm enough. At night I put it down to 66 and also while I'm at work or away for the day.

I think my boss should not have any kind of phone. Spent another morning getting his cell phone to sync with his email. He never knows what he did but somehow it just happens. His is the only one so I hardly think it's the phone. Of course it had to be today - he's going to a funeral in NY tomorrow and has to have it. Then to top my day the airline called to inform me that his flight would probably be delayed because of the ice and snow storm there. You would have thought I caused the storm. I've got to get him to go on a long vacation out of the country again.

I know you will think I must be making this up but it is unbelievable to me. Another of my friends died at noon today. She had a bad cold last week and it kept getting worse but she wouldn't go to the emergency room. Monday morning her husband called 911 and they took her to the hospital. There they said her lungs were full of fluid and infection and septsis had spread so there wasn't much they could do. They put her into an induced coma because she kept trying to pull out the ivs and gave her super strength antibiotics but it was too far gone. So that makes 7. My grandmother always said deaths happened in 3. I'm hoping that's not true because this is just too many already. My friend and I figure there's a nice quilting bee going in Heaven because 6 of them were quilters.

Jean, I know you are breathing a sigh of relief that the letter has been turned in.

Maggie, I use phyllo sheets instead of pasty when I make a quiche. It makes a great turnover or a topping for a potpie. A lot of people seem to think I should be living on frozen dinners and cans and boxes or eating junk food at the drive-ins and are surprised when I tell them I still cook myself good meals every day. I deserve it!

Faye, here is a description of Bular:

Bulgar is man's oldest recorded use of wheat. Bulgur is made by soaking and cooking the whole wheat kernel, drying it and then removing part of the bran and cracking the remaining kernel into small pieces.

Its uses are numerous from salads to soup, from breads to desserts. It is a nutritious extender and thickener for meat dishes and soups. Bulgur will absorb twice its volume in water and can be used in place of rice in any recipe.

Bulgur is convenient since it can be either soaked in water or cooked to be edible.
It has the same nutritive value as whole wheat.

Basic cooking instructions: 1 cup bulgar to 2 cups of water. Rinse bulgar. Bring water to a boil, add bulgar. Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes until soft.

It has a nice nutty flavor and at 2 points a cup is less points than rice. I also think it is more filling than rice.

Do use use the little boxes of corn muffin mix (makes 6 muffins)? I'd like to try your recipe but don't want too many because I'll have to freeze some and they don't keep very long and still be good.

Gail, the WW cookbook I have is even older - 1969. I remember trying to cut the bread so I could make a sandwich. The good old days - grateful they are over!

Have a good night!