Good morning all! It is chilly here this morning, 33 wind chill so we woke up with the house being 63 degrees! I caved in and turned on the heat as I was freezing even with socks, a sweater and a blanket on. My body is ready for spring! I saw Jean's post about starting a new thread and since she didn't thought I would just do it.
Maggie: Thanks for the burrito recipes. Jack won't eat any breakfast burritos and rarely eats them at all, but I like them once in awhile and make myself one for breakfast. I usually do just egg and veggie as I am not a huge sausage fan. I crumble a slice of bacon in once in a while though.
Jean: Glad Kolby is finally coming around. I know they have been putting out PSA's on measles again. I guess there has been concern over it coming from across the seas and people bringing it in to this country again. We were supposed to have sunshine the rest of the week, but we got about an hour's worth yesterday and nothing since then. It is real gloomy looking outside at the moment.
Susan: Hope you don't wear yourself out today running place to place. I imagine the Magnolias will be blooming here soon since the other trees are already in full bloom.
I finished the first sock last night, decided the toe area would be uncomfortable to wear with the yarn I used so ripped it back several rows and made a proper sock out of it. It needs to be washed and blocked and when I finish them both I will post a picture. This is a stretch yarn and seems like the oils in your hands and such kind of pull it out of shape so at the moment it doesn't look as nice as it should. The yarn color is nice though and the yarn makes a nice lightweight sock, and since my sister divides her time between Southern California for her job and Scotsdale, AZ where her husband's job is, she doesn't need heavy socks.
Today is Jack's MRI on his knee. He said the cortizone has kicked in and his thumb area on his hand feels better and he can manuever it without pain now for awhile. He wears his brace, but not all the time. He said last night the brace was making the thumb hurt so he took it off.
Took Fortune over to the groomers. I am giving him one last shot at grooming Fortune correctly or I am going to find another groomer. I pay $40 to have him groomed and I want him groomed the way I want him groomed. I don't want him to look a mess a week after he is groomed and last time that is what it was. He didn't cut him short enough because he said "I didn't want to stress him out." I told him this morning to be firm with him and make him stand up that Fortune is not going to have a heart attack from someone being firm with him. I told him the previous groomer was firm with him and he loved her. I think that offended him, but as nice as he is, I still want him groomed properly for that kind of money.
Well gals, back to knitting the ole sock. You all have a nice Thursday. Faye
It is a sunny 43 day here in the Heartland as I type. My eye is some better this day and doesn't itch as much as it has been. I am sure glad both of them don't itch at the same time. I am going to make my Beef Stroganoff recipe I have from WW years ago and have updated the points information from 4 to 5+. It is a good recipe and this is a good day to make it. It takes 4 - 5 hours in the crock pot so will be done for dinner in good time. I have a new building I want to work on today which will go nicely in my village. The dogs are napping and Will is out running errands and all is well. I don't have a clue what weather we have in the forecast but what they say rarely even comes to pass anyway. We have no snow and it isn't raining.
DONNA FAYE Thank you for starting us a new home. Thing about that burrito recipe you can change the ingredients and points+ value also to suit your taste. I remember how some yarns don't really look in shape untill the garment is blocked. All out of whack but it all comes together. I am happy for Jack that his hand has finally had some relief. We use our hands for so much. Are the red buds blooming yet? I love springtime in Tenn. We have not yet really decided just which state we like we are going to retire to.
JEAN Corned beef sounds good ~ wonder if we have it here in the cans. We aren't in that tradition like some folks are of eating corned beef and cabbage but do like it on occasion anyway. Kolby is a smart little guy to play chess. I haven't played that in so long I wonder if I still know how.
SUSAN Girlfriend, I don't know where you are getting your information but in the WW booklet "Getting Started" I have for the new points+ program the Garden Vegetable Soup is zero points+ and not the 1 p+ you said it is. Now maybe your books out on that right coast are different then the ones we get here in the Heartland ~ do ya think. I bet that quilt will be lovely when you get all the blocks together. OOO ~ daffodils are my very most favorite flower. Our bulb plants are about 2 inches tall now.
I need to go get my ingredients rounded up and into the crock pot for dinner to be cooking. Life is good. Type at y'all later.
I just thought I would share this recipe since we like it so much.
BEEF STROGANOFF
Makes 4 Servings ~ 5 POINTS PLUS
1 pound boneless beef top round, sliced
1 cup beef broth
⅓ cup dry sherry
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 small onion sliced in rings
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
¾ teaspoon dried oregano (or Italian mix)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
Mix all the above together in a crock pot
Cook for until beef is tender, 4-5 hours on high
Mix together:
½ cup fat-free sour cream
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water
Stir in about 1 cup of the hot liquid
Stir the mix into the crock pot
Cover and cook on High for 30 minutes
or until thick and bubbling.
Discard the bay leaf before serving.
Serve over noodles or rice
Count the points+ of what ever you serve it over.
Susan -- I'm glad that your weather is "springy" today. We still have snow cover in the back yard, BUT the sun has come out finally! The wind chill is 15 because of the slight breeze blowing. You have a busy day with both jobs. Do you know if figuring points + on the old WW frozen dinners will give the new count? I ate a chicken teriyaki that said 4 pts. on the box but figured 6 pts. using the calculator. Ok, back to the quilt block questions . . . does someone pick a pattern and colors or does everyone do their own thing?
"Gma" -- I had to chuckle at you turning the heat on and our's hasn't been turned off for months. Kolby went to school today and I'm so in hopes Maddy doesn't come down with it now. I'm glad Jack's shot is helping his hand, and hope the MRI will put a plan into action for him. When I saw you have posted on the old thread, there was NO #12 to go to. Honest!
Maggie -- I'm too lazy to go back and check, but did I share that the store manager called yesterday afternoon and told me that they had pulled corn beef because of a tainted batch from South America? It wasn't the Hormel brand though. Why we get cb from there is beyond me! The beef stroganoff sounds delicious; thanks for sharing the recipe. You do like to cook!
WW wasn't pretty this noon as I knew it wouldn't be. Onward . . . and . . . downward next week! I have to get back to everything I bite!
I am taking a break from my days activity. I got so busy I didn't eat anything until 3 oclock and decided I needed to but wasn't hungry. I ate one of the WW frozen breakfasts of scrambled egg whites and ham that was real tasty after I added some salsa. I have been smelling that meal in the crock pot for awhile and it sure smells good. It is so easy to make I don't know why we don't have it more often. I am going to be mixing up a new batch of my rice mix. The instructions say to add butter when you cook it but I use Butter Buds and it keeps the points down to just the rice. I cut the butter out when ever possible. Some baked goods just have to have it though. So my version of the recipe says to use Butter Buds. What I mix up makes 40 servings. I still have some of it mixed up but I want to try instant rice in a batch so it won't take so long to cook when we are out and about camping and such. My instructions on how to prepare it will necessarily change. I haven't used much instant rice so it will be interesting if the points+ also changes with using that. Will is bringing some home this day so I will find out soon enough.
JEAN Do you eat CB often? I really don't know a whole lot about it ~ just corned beef and cabbage. There certainly must be other ways to fix it. A lot of our food doesn't come from the USofA now days.
Everyone have a lovely evening. Type at y'all later.
Good early morning gals. Jack got up to go to the bathroom then couldn't go back to sleep and it disturbed Fortune who wanted out then wanted to eat, so here I sit downstairs on the computer instead of sleeping.
Wes did a decent job on Fortune yesterday so he has a reprieve. He sure smelled good when he came home and looked so cute with his green bandana with snoopy and shamrocks on it. Of course, he has been trying to "rub" it off since he came home, but I make him wear it at least a couple days because they are always so cute.
Jean: I am sorry if I screwed up the new thread. I may have closed out the other one and not posted the new one immediately and you just happened in before I did it. I try and make sure what happened didn't happen, but sometimes my p's and q's get mixed up. Thanks for the "puzzle" story. I laughed for 5 minutes at least. It just tickled my funny bone. Like I said, when I went and peeked at the birds either mama or papa was asleep on top of the egss and I couldn't even see their head. It was blowing a good clip as the feathers were ruffling pretty hard.
Maggie: Thanks for another recipe. We eat canned salmon and I eat canned Tuna and I have to say it always makes me a bit nervous nowadays. I read an article that New Orleans was concerned tourists would stay away because of thinking they wouldn't be able to get seafood down there for Mardi Gras with last summer's fiasco with the oil spill. I used to use long grain rice in spanish rice all the time until I noticed most of the restaurant mexican food they use instant so I started using instant. I like it well enough and is sure speeds things up that's for sure.
I have all but 5 rows of the leg done on the second sock so Jack is gonna lose his bet! He was teasing me about it last night that it won't get done and such, knowing it would. He did get his MRI yesterday though he said it is hard for him to lay totally still like they need to. He said towards the end he got a twitch in his leg and said it was really hard to keep it still. It takes awhile that's for sure. He left here at 11:45 and didn't get home until after 3 pm.
I think I am going to get in the recliner and knit and listen to an audio book I have that is pretty good, but will have to back it up a bit because I fell asleep listening to it last evening. It is a Nora Roberts book I got on the cheap from Audible.com. It only cost me $5 and is unabridged. Can't do better than that. I downloaded a free one for joining, the new one she writes under another name J D Robb, but am saving it for the trip over to Arkansas a week from Saturday.
To give you a laugh for the day:
From the "Faye is a true blond files"...... We have one of the "western" tv channels on direct tv and in the evening right after supper we watch some of the old tv westerns like "Wagon Train," "The Virginian," "Gunsmoke," etc. A few nights ago we were watching, "Have Gun Will Travel." I knew the premise of the show, but really didn't watch it when I was a kid. On the show as you probably know, his name is Palladin. He carries business cards with a picture of a chess knight on it (which my smart hubby says is called a palladin btw) that says, "Have Gun Will Travel" and underneath that it says, "Wire Palladin" and underneath that it says "San Fransicso, CA. I said to Jack, "What a funny name he has, Wire Palladin." He looked at me and burst out laughing. I said, "what?" I then realized what a total moron I was that he was telling people to "wire" him in San Fransisco if they had a job for him. We got to laughing until the tears came and of course now every night when it comes on he calls him Wire all night long. I do provide lots of comedy relief for my husband Faye
Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is shining!!!! It isn't all that warm yet but the sun makes for a much nicer day. My house is picked up (and reasonably clean) so think I will work on a closet today. Bob has shirts he doesn't even remember he has because I didn't put them back in his closet, so I think they are heading out the door.
Maggie -- I have a casserole recipe that calls for a can of corn beef, onion, noodles, cheese, soup, and peas. My friend calls it the funeral casserole although I've never had it at a funeral. My "mom" made it one summer when we were in MN and I've only made it once. It really makes a lot so we eat leftovers for awhile.
"Gma" -- I'll bet Fortune is cute in his bandana. I'm glad you like his style this time. At least he didn't come home with bows in his ears. I could never figure out how the groomer could get the tiny little bows tied in the fur. You didn't screw up the new thread; I usually go back to the old thread if I see that I'm not the last one to post on it. The eagle is awake this morning and has turned around in the nest. I was surprised that I could see it after dark. Bob hated the MRI machine! He isn't claustrophobic, but they had to pull him out and start over because his heart rate went up too much. It would be hard not to move; my nose always itches when I'm in the dentist's chair.
I need to check my grocery inventory and see if I have the ingredients to make a chicken casserole. Bob mentioned we haven't had it for quite awhile and it does sound good. Have a fantastic Friday and remember to smile!
It is a sunny 49 degree day here in the Heartland. I just got back from watching the eagle nest which is 80 feet up in a cottonwood tree. I got to see the eggs being moved around and the nest being refirbrished with more of that grass. It looked like there were some snow fluries and the eagle snuggled down tighter into the nest. There were a couple vehicles moving along I could see on a road that runs catty corner in the upper right corner of the video screen. Must be a highway over there. We have friends that have a farm real close to there and said the eggs are due to hatch around the frist of April. It is interesting that they have a ticker that tells how many are watching at the tine. It fluctuates when someone comes or goes. When I left there were 8366 watching the nest. Who would have thought that we could be high up in the trees getting an eye view of an eagles nest right on our computer screens. Technology. I do not have any plans on cooking this day. What I made yesterday was 4 servings and we will have the other 2 servings for dinner this day. Tomorrow I think I will do a stir fry. I can cut up the veggies today and have them ready though.
DONNA FAYE How cute to have a scarf on your pooch. I love the little things that groomers put on dogs after their bath. We don't have anything put on the dogs though because they each remove the others. I am just happy they come home smelling nice. AH ~ this coming Monday is their day. You were up early this day. Instant rice is fine and in my mix it just takes twice as much. Instant is 1/2 cup uncooked to make 3/4 cup cooked where the long grain is 1/4 cup to make a 3/4 cup serving. I have to be aware of that difference when I make up a batch of my mix. It costs the same points+ wise. At least the box of rice I have does. I imagine there are different brands that may count different.
JEAN Could you post that recipe for the ingredients sound interesting and I just might want to try it if it is not to heavy in the points+ category. I do have BH&Gardens best ever "Potluck Favorites." Little magazine type thing that has "56 incredible dishes to share" which I have put the point+ values in. It has a variety of sections: appetizers, sides, main dish and desserts. But, alas, not any corned beef recipes. But I do have some recipes in my other cookbooks using corned beef. I do like Reuben sandwiches. Wanna clean my closets? The one in my office could use a good going through.
SUSAN & GAIL Hope the two of you are having a lovely day.
I am off now to do something with glass. Are you surprised? Type at y'all later.
I knew for some reason this was a very special day and it just came to my addled mind. ~
GAIL I hope this day is very special to you for it is a turning point. They say that when you turn 60 it is just a plateau where you can see where you are going and not over the hill as once thought. Have a wonderful day my dear friend.
Good afternoon, ladies! 50 degrees and rain on the way.
I had water aerobics this morning, came home and made some of the hash brown potatoe soup with vegetable broth, then after lunch went to Joann's to get some interfacing for a purse I am making.
Maggie, my leader Tonya is a District Manager for WW and very good about getting us the official WW stand on things. I also looked it up on the website and this is what is the official position in the "15 Essentials" list it says:
#8 Fruit (and vegetables) in recipes still contribute toward the PointsPlus values. Just as we've always done with 0 PointsPlus value vegetables, even 0 PointsPlus value fruits contribute toward the total PointsPlus values of a recipe, whether it's a Weight Watchers recipe or one you build yourself in the Recipe Builder. Recipes add up the nutritional info for all their ingredients.
If you look at the recipes on the WW website, even those like the Fresh Vegetable Soup, Italian Vegetable Soup, etc. that were 0 points and now 1 point per cup. The winter fruit salad and mint citrus salad, for example, are 3 points and 2 points and they only have fruit in them. I guess the word hasn't reached the west coast yet. There were many wrong points in the printed information resulting in 4 pages of corrections as well. Count it as you want, but that is WW teaching. I have that WW Beef Stroganoff recipe, too. It's very old. Its good so I should cut it down and make it again. I use the Instant Brown Rice all the time. It's so easy to make.
Faye, when will Jack get the results of his MRI? If you told us, I already forgot. I think the puzzle lady would have done better with fruit loops to make the rooster than cornflakes. I knew you'd have the socks done in time. You could take a picture of Fortune with his bandana for us. I'll bet he is cute.
Time to quilt so have a great rest of the day.
Jean, we all make the same block and it changes from month to month. We've done 9-patch, churn dash, half square triangles and the next is hourglass. Each month is a different color - green red, pink and blue. We'll have scrappy quilts when we are done.
Susan: Here is my little ham. He loves sitting on the new loveseat with a blanket for some reason. He usually is sitting on my sweater, but I snatched it away before he could get on it!
Taking a break and sipping on my latte and here I am.
SUSAN Well my dear it is a district manager that gives me the 411 and if she doesn't have the latest 411 then that is WW's doings for not seeing that all managers have the same information if they do want them to have it. Maybe they do things according to the area they are in. She wanted to know who was trying to fill me up with that information that you gave me & she laughed when I said it came from a leader out on the right coast by way of a cyber friend ~ This isn't the first time that the East coast did things differently then is done in the Heartland and on the West coast. Nor will it be the last I do believe. WW moves in mysterious ways. Her suggestion to me was to count the points+ as they do it where I live ~ here in the Heartland. You go right ahead and do things as you are told on that East coast for that is where you live. I have made all the changes that the web site put out in my booklets and do hope their next printing is all corrected. The web site is according to the map where one lives also I do believe. Because if you remember I was getting different things on the web site than you were. I get different things than they do out West also. This is like one size doesn't fit all. They sell different products in the meetings across the nation also. It's all about marketing techniques. I do appreciate your trying to set me straight but your information doesn't fit what they are doing in the Heartland or on the West coast. We aren't dumber than a box of rocks here but do march to a different tune then those that live on the Right and Left coasts do. You might even say we are 10 or 20 years behind the times. I like it that way. I love living in the Heartland where folks are still folks. You have yourself a wonderful day.
DONNA FAYE What a darling photo. Thanks for sharing.
Maggie -- The wind has come up big time, but the sun is still shining and the sky is a bright blue. I'm glad I didn't have to go anywhere today. I wish there was some way to get the eagle web cam on the tv; I suppose there is but I'd have NO clue. I will share the recipe although it is not WW friendly. I misspoke saying it had peas in it and it doesn't, it's green pepper. I hate cleaning out closets because I have a bigger mess before it gets sorted through and organized again.
Gail -- to you! I hope your day has been a special one and may you enjoy many, many more.
Susan -- Congrats on going to water aerobics this morning! Are you making a quilted purse? Would you like to be a WW leader again? I'll bet you were a good one!
"Gma" -- How could anyone not love that darling little face?! I'm glad Fortune feels at home on the new loveseat.
Mix together:
1 12 oz. can corned beef -- I break this up into tiny pieces first.
1/2# American cheese, cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 green pepper, chopped or to taste
Place in greased casserole dish and top with:
3/4 cup crushed cracker crumbs and bits of butter scattered on top.
Maggie, the quote I gave you was from the WW website. I thought that was pretty accurate. Ask your friend about the recipes on the WW website because I don't understand how they have points if we aren't supposed to count them. Anyway, I'll follow the website info since that is the official WW take.
Steel Magnolia #12
Thankful Thursday
It takes 4 - 5 hours in the crock pot so will be done for dinner in good time. I have a new building I want to work on today which will go nicely in my village. The dogs are napping and Will is out running errands and all is well. I don't have a clue what weather we have in the forecast but what they say rarely even comes to pass anyway. We have no snow and it isn't raining.
I'm glad Jack's shot is helping his hand, and hope the MRI will put a plan into action for him. When I saw you have posted on the old thread, there was NO #12 to go to. Honest!
The beef stroganoff sounds delicious; thanks for sharing the recipe. You do like to cook!
everything I bite!
What I mix up makes 40 servings. I still have some of it mixed up but I want to try instant rice in a batch so it won't take so long to cook when we are out and about camping and such. My instructions on how to prepare it will necessarily change. I haven't used much instant rice so it will be interesting if the points+ also changes with using that. Will is bringing some home this day so I will find out soon enough.
Faye
It isn't all that warm yet but the sun makes for a much nicer day. My house is picked up (and reasonably clean) so think I will work on a closet today. Bob has shirts he doesn't even remember he has 
You didn't screw up the new thread; I usually go back to the old thread if I see that I'm not the last one to post on it. The eagle is awake this morning and has turned around in the nest. I was surprised that I could see it after dark. Bob hated the MRI machine! He isn't claustrophobic, but they had to pull him out and start over because his heart rate went up too much. It would be hard not to move; my nose always itches when I'm in the dentist's chair. 
I hope this day is very special to you for it is a turning point. They say that when you turn 60 it is just a plateau where you can see where you are going and not over the hill as once thought. Have a wonderful day my dear friend.
I will share the recipe although it is not WW friendly. I misspoke saying it had peas in it and it doesn't, it's green pepper. 
I'm glad Fortune feels at home on the new loveseat.
