Steel Magnolias #40

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  • Weigh Day

    GOOD EVENING MAGNOLIAS☺♫


    Will just bought me the latest “Best of Cooking Light 2013.” Here it is this year is not even half over yet ~ bet they are recipes from last years magazine offerings. It has 96 top-rated recipes they have previously featured last year with one I had saved smack dab on the front which is Lemon Squares ~ I love lemon squares. They are so very good and only 3P+ each. I love the bold tart lemon filling. I am very pleased to have the lightened version of this treat and have some in the freezer from when I made them awhile back. I love it when they put out one of these specialty magazines without any advertisements ~ just recipes.

    We had a nice outing today. Will has a volunteer job to locate where some folks are buried in the cemeteries around here. What it is ~ folks that have moved away have grandparents or such buried and they contact the folks that do this service and then they contact Will with a list of cemeteries within our area to go to and take a picture of the tombstone and then send it in and they send it on to the folks that requested the search. For the cemetery we went to today, which was about 30 miles from here, there was a list of 8 graves we were to locate and we found 5 of them but will go back when the weather is nicer and go further in the cemetery to locate the others. We had to give up today’s search because it got just too cold with the wind blowing to be walking through the rows. Will takes the pictures with his I-Pad and then can send them on to the man that distributes them. Seems like lots of folks are doing an “ancestor” search these days. Someone in my family did a search a few years back and I have records dating clear back into the 1600’s of my history. This place Will is doing it for doesn’t charge the folks anything for the search for it is all done by volunteers. Other organizations of this sort are charging folks big bucks for the search to be conducted and pictures of the tombstones to be taken. A lot of the cemeteries around here are small and others not so small. We will get our walking in for sure.

    Yipekio I showed an unexpected loss of 0.6 of a pound at weigh in tonight bringing my total loss to a big 87.4 which brings me exactly to the half way mark in what I plan on losing. The next 87.4 will be downhill ~ I wish. Being half way there kinda puts a smile on my face.

    SUSAN I know you are going to have a fabulous time at that quilt show. Good planning keeps you from needless spending for things you really don't need. Enjoy!

    JEAN Will got his lap top back today and it all well now. It seems strange to not have any mail on a day where everything else is open for business as usual. Well, almost everything for some places close for any opportunity.

    Have a lovely night Magnolias
  • Good morning ladies. No, I didn't fall off the earth, we just had a nutso weekend all the way around. Everytime I would try and sit down and read your post and post something would come up. We had commissary weekend, several things were to be delivered to our house, we had errands, and on and on the whole weekend right through yesterday.

    I am glad to report after 6 days on the hormones, no diahrrea and no bleeding, spotting, etc. I am hopefully we finally have me on the right dosage. My doctor was smart though. She made my prescription for 20 mg twice a day, which was what I was on last time. She said to take just one a day as we had agreed, but she made it for twice a day in case the one a day wasn't strong enough and I started spotting again. She said that way I wouldn't have to come back in and get another prescription and refill it, etc. I am certainly ok with that. I have a regular dr appt tomorrow with a new gp to get my bp meds for the year and talk to her about my health and such. My gyn said I will like her. She said, "You two are alike." Don't know if that is bad or good, but my gyn told me I was her favorite patient because even when I felt bad I had a smile on my face and would listen to what she told me and would discuss my health not sit like a bump on a log. She said I would be amazed at how many people just let things go and not because of lack of insurance, but just because of laziness or fear or whatever.

    We got hit with our credit card yesterday. We rarely use our credit card, but someone tried to charge $800 at best buy and $6 at some hotel. We got a phone call yesterday afternoon so we had to cancel our credit card and get new ones reissued. Luckily, the one thing we had purchased, which was something to do with the cruise, was authorized already and will be paid. We are not sure it is the same people as my bank card. There isn't a whole lot you can do about it. We had an issue one time with someone trying to use our bank card at a Target in California and it hadn't been out of our possession at that time either. In this day and age, you can only do the best you can do, which is don't order online from anyone without security, keep your firewall up on your computer, be careful with your cards and don't lose them, etc. I have read posts by people that things like lifelock don't work any better than your bank if you have a bank that stays on top of things. Unlike what they say, lifelock doesn't disallow charges, they just don't let people open new accounts with your ss#. If you have money in your checking, savings or credit card account, they can still authorize it then the bank has to pay you back. Our bank declines any charges that are over a certain dollar amount online, are foreign, etc, etc. For purchasing in person someplace, that's different, but they still require some security stuff that someone who has hacked your account would not know. That's why we call them when we are going on the cruise so we can use our credit and bank card. With us though, we took cash to buy souvenirs, used our credit card only for purchases on the ship, and our bank card for hotels, case and stuff onshore. I check and balance everyday so if something does come through that we don't know, I can call them right away and get things shut down. It can be a pain, but it is the world we live in these days.

    Susan: Hope you had a good time at your lock in and accomplished some great quilting. Have a grand time at the quilt show!!! Where is it being held? They have knitting shows sometimes, but always too far away for me to go for a weekend or whatever since we only have one car nowadays. I had to laugh when the lady shut my bank card down and reissued my card she asked me if I wanted to buy a new car they were having a big discount sale. I told her no, we wanted to pay off the one we had before taking on another car payment. The price of cars these days two car payments would be like a mortgage I would think.

    Maggie: I got my new crockpot last night and it is great. It also came with a 70 page free downloadable cookbook so I have a bevy of new recipes to try out. The only think I don't like about it, but they seem to have done away with is the removable "crock" doesn't have handles anymore so it is more difficult to remove it with food in it from the base. I looked at about 6 brands and not one of them had handles on the removable part. Guess I will just have to be extra careful taking it out. We have a couple of really old cemetaries around here and up in Indiana. It is interesting to see where people are buried a long time ago.

    Jean: Whole Foods is a great store. It is more expensive, but you can get unusual items of produce you can't find like at WM or Krogers and stuff like that. It is sort of like Fresh Market if you have ever seen one of them. If I could afford it, I would shop at Fresh Market all the time, as they have lots of things you can't get elsewhere, but they are really expensive compared to a regular grocer. We got the wind and rain yesterday and a real big thunderstorm. Our car is filthy, but we have had so much rain that everytime we plan on taking it to get it washed and such, it is either going to rain that day or rain the next. We wanted to take it this weekend, but it rained and it is going to rain tomorrow again. I keep hoping sooner or later it will give us a few days of sun right in a row so we can clean it up.

    Well girls, I am trying to play catchup with cleaning the whole downstairs today so I need to go. Have a great Tuesday! Off to clean the bathroom. Faye
  • Thankful Tuesday

    GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS☺♫

    In the “hand out” given out last evening at WW is a recipe for Feta & Vegetable Frittatas which sound delicious. I am going to round up the ingredients and make half of the recipe which will be 8 and a serving is one ~ so that makes sense for just the two of us. They say they freeze well. Plus I don’t want to make the whole recipe of 16 if we don’t even like them but reading the recipe I do believe we will like them. They are 2P+ each. Next grocery shopping day I will add the ingredients I don’t have on the list to be purchased.

    The weather folks say we are to get some snow Wednesday and Thursday. Let it come. Rain would be nicer but snow will be welcomed for we do need the moisture. In our drive yesterday we noticed the spring fed watering holes for the cattle are still holding their level but the ones that depend on rain or snow are getting low and some have dried up which is sad to see. The wild animals will relocate to where the water is still available. The ranchers that have those natural springs are fortunate they have them on their land. The creeks through the land have shrunk from their banks and some of them have dried up ~ no water in them at all.

    I am still so jazzed that I am half way there on my weight loss journey. Half way ~ it thrills me. I am planning on sticking closer to program on losing this next half. That’s my plan. Watch me shrink.

    We have some left-over meatloaf that needs to be used so that is the plan today. I will make some veggies to go along with it and have a good meal.

    DONNA FAYE There is someone out there always working to bilk us out of our money and we can only try our best to stay one step in front of them. I received the item that was on back order for my pasta machine and now I am going to take all the money off my debit cart and get a new one. Just trying to stay a step ahead. Guess to keep the cost of the crock pot they didn't enclude the recipe booklet and have you download it. Smart marketing on their part. That is different that they don't have those little pieces of the crock to protude making it easy to take it out. Probably when I ever need to replace the ones I have they will have them back again.

    Have a lovely day Magnolias
  • Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's cold and windy, but the sun is shining! We are in a wind advisory until midnight, and it feels like -2 outside. The weatherman keeps talking about the coming storm; I was supposed to go to crafty club on Thursday but the hostess canceled because of the storm prediction. We probably won't get anything after all the hype. This morningI counted money at church, left before I had time to post to go to a hospital auxiliary board meeting, and then back to the church to finish. Being in and out of the cold car, I've been cold all day. The auxiliary had a CD coming due and decided to donate it towards a piece of ankle/foot equipment for the MRI. The CD was earning .2% interest. That is almost an insult! We made a little over $2 in 5 years. I have laundry to do since Bob needs a white shirt for a funeral tomorrow. He is a pall bearer and the burial is out of town.

    Susan -- I was surprised when you said your recycled bag hadn't been picked up. Our guys get Christmas Day "off" and that's all. Have fun at the quilt show, I know you will enjoy it.

    Maggie -- on losing another .6#! I really like lemon bars too, but mine never taste as good as someone else's. I always find it intereting to drive through cemeteries and look at the tombstones. We had leftover meatloaf for lunch too; I'm not sure what's for supper.

    "Gma" -- I'm glad the hormones are working for you! Did the credit card company call you? It's good someone was paying attention. I charged my iPad at Best Buy and the clerk never batted an eye when I handed my card to him. He didn't even ask for ID. We had several places ask for ID when we were in Florida. Remember I live in a rural area and we are lucky to have two grocery stores let alone a Fresh Market or Whole Foods. I wonder if they even exist in the Midwest.

    I need to get busy and accomplish something around here today. I will go to the funeral tomorrow morning, have a church meeting in the afternoon, and bell practice later, so won't be home much. Enjoy the rest of your day and evening. Stay warm!
  • Back To Yack

    GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS☺♫

    JEAN Thank you for the congrats on my weight loss it really means a lot to me because as you know it is so hard to take it off and when I reach such a milestone I want to celebrate ~ with non food items though. I was wondering what your weather looks like in the mid week for we are said to be getting 6 to 8 inches of snow in the storm coming Wed & Thur.

    I was not aware that Will had ordered any Girl Scout cookies but he came home with 3 boxes which I promptly figured out the points per cookie. I am so glad they freeze well because I don’t like them sitting around calling my name. My favorites are still the Shortbread ones which are 3P+ for 4 of them. He got Lemonades which are 2P+ each and Thin Mints which are a point each. He loves cookies and has been staying away from them for quite awhile now.

    Have a lovely day Magnolias
  • Maggie, at noon the weatherman said 6 - 7" with gusting winds. We are still in a wind advisory and it's supposed to rev up more tonight. You have done well in your weight loss effort and should be proud of yourself! I bought the new Mango cookie and it is delicious! Cookies are my downfall.
  • Wonderful Snowey Wednesday

    GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS☺♫

    It’s snowing. Lots of it has piled up on the ground which is a good thing but I am staying inside but Will who “must” go deliver an item he fixed for a fellow is out having a great time driving the Jeep in it. I chose not to go along ~ too much snow for me to navigate through to get into the vehicle since ~ nothing has not been plowed. No path through the yard full of snow has yet been made.

    Needless because of the weather I will be staying inside. I have much I can involve myself in here and it’s not like I will get “cabin fever.” We had last evening instead of my cooking the pork chops so we will have them for dinner this day. I have a black bag which is currently sitting on the floor in my office which holds some guns and ammo that makes it easy to grab when we are off to the range to do some target practice. It is zipped closed and the cat is trying his best to get that bag open for I think he wants to hop into it. When he finds out how to unzip things I will have to put the bag in the closet where it usually is kept. I didn’t take it to the range yesterday because the wind was blowing some and it was very chilly. Will had to go to test fire a gun he had worked on so he could get it back to the fellow today. That is where he is going now during this snow storm. He really could have waited to deliver it but knowing him a little snow would not stop him.

    I have some really pretty fall silk leaves that the wind deposited next to our fence from the flower shop. I now have them in a container on my desk. I noticed there was a poinsettia out there also but didn’t get back out there to get it before the snow came.

    I got an e-mail today saying I had won over a million dollars in a lottery ~ if I don’t even play how could I win is my question. Those “gotcha” things are really coming out of the woodwork these days more than they used to.

    I ordered a few little things that will make my life easier in the kitchen. I am going to be a proud owner of a stainless-steel rolling pin from Chefs Tool Catalog. What you do is put it in the fridge then when rolling out your dough it doesn’t split. They come in 3 different sizes and I am getting the middle sized one that is 14”. The other two they offer are a 7½“ and a 20” size. I think the 14” one will do me just fine for all my rolling needs. I will keep it in the fridge ready to be used. I am also getting a set of 3 stainless-steel breading trays. I have been using paper plates and these will be so much better and dishwasher safe to get them nice and clean. They will also fit much better in the space they will be used on the counter than the round paper plates did. The breading I use is the Panko, which I have in the plain and lemon pepper kinds. I like the Panko on all kinds of meat and they bake well with it as a “breading.” I also orderd myself a half dozen black all cotton knee sox. The black ones I now have are looking like they are very dark gray and not exactly black anymore but they are still good enough to wear with most things but not my black trousers.

    JEAN I didn't know they made Mango cookies but I don't know what kinds they are offereing now days anyway. Are you getting snow today like we are? Stay warm.

    Have a lovely day Magnolias
  • Good Evening, Flowers! We had sunshine today! It was also cold, -3 when I got up this morning. There was just a breeze so the weather was better than expected for the trip to the cemetery. After lunch I went to get my nails done, next I headed to church and spent $4000 of the memorial money on the chapel remodeling, and finally bell practice. Tomorrow is WW unless we get "stormed" out. I have a house that needs some dirt, dust, and fur bunny control. The boys need to learn how to shake the litter off their paws before they leave their bathroom!

    Maggie -- No snow today . . . and you don't have to share yours. I'm pretty sure we will get some tomorrow, or at least the weatherman sounds convincing. I know you will enjoy your new kitchen "toys." I can't believe the junk mail I get in my spam folder. I don't know why it even gets through; some of the sites I know I have never visited.

    Guess I will catch the news before I head to bed. At 6:00 the weatherman said we could get up to 10" starting around noon. I almost wish it would hurry up and get here so they will quit talking about the "maybes." Have a terrific Thursday tomorrow; be careful if you have to venture out in any kind of weather!
  • Good morning to you all! Sorry I didn't get in here yesterday. I had an 8 AM dr appt plus our garage door is acting up so it kind of consumed all my thoughts and I plain forgot.

    I used my new cast iron skillet for the first time last night and like it very much. It does have a down side that the handle gets hot and the pan itself stays hotter longer so you can't jump up and clean up, but other than that, I love it. I am going to look for a pattern for a handle holder to knit since I have so much stash yarn. There has to be one out there as there are patterns for everything else. Sweater is coming along nicely, but it is slow work as my hands and elbows have been hurting lately. Guess it is the cold weather.

    I love my new doctor. She reminds me a lot of my first resident doctor only this lady is staff. She was very friendly and I had my yearly blood tests for hemoglobin, thyroid, cholesterol, etc, a flu shot finally and my new prescriptions. She said I don't need to see her until next year unless I have a problem or their is an issue with one of the blood tests. They moved my biopsy appt to the 15th yesterday. They called as I was walking out the door of the dr's office and I told her I was right outside the building!

    We are having chicken and noodles for dinner tonight. A night keep me warm kind of meal.

    Jean: It is extremely cold here this morning for us at least, though no snow. We got sleet last night and it sounds like it may be doing it again this morning, but no snow at all. I know you guys were supposed to get slammed with snow. Hope you don't have too much running around on your plate today as it sounds like your weather is going to be dicey.

    Maggie: Congrats on the loss. Since I am on the meds again, I am having to fight the hunger it makes me feel so I have been a little shaky WW wise, but I am trying to get the wheels rolling again and hopefully it will start losing. You guys be careful with all that snow.

    Jack let me pick out a new handbag for Valentine's Day and it got here yesterday. Holy cow, it is the size of an overnight bag. I love it though. I will just have to be careful not to put too much in it and make it too heavy. it is nice to have a bag I can easily carry my yarn around in though.

    I guess I should go girls. I am going to knit for awhile then get up and do chores for the day. I have upstairs cleaning to catch up on today. Have a good day today and try to stay warm and dry. Faye
  • Good Morning, Flowers! No snow yet but it is cold, windy, and gloomy. I made a quick trip to the grocery store thinking it would be really busy and it wasn't. Maybe people went last night since originally our snow was supposed to start last night. I have a kitchen counter to clear off and then am going to work on the afghan. I am on the border edge so hope to finish is SOON. Will asked me if I would start his when I finish Beth's but I can't find the yarn he picked out. He may have to choose something different.

    "Gma" -- I never think of a cast iron skillet but think of the cartoons and comedy shows where one is either being thrown at someone or being chased by someone waving one. They are heavy! I have seen quilted, like a pot holder, handles in kitchen stores. I'm glad you like your new doctor and hope you get to keep her. I had to at the size of your new handbag.

    I'm out of here to work in the kitchen. Hope you all ave a terrific Thursday and enjoy!
  • Thankful Snowey Thursday

    GOOD EVENING MAGNOLIAS☺♫


    It continues to snow today and they say it will snow until early evening. It is a lot of the dry kind and not the heavy wet kind. We can’t tell how much has fallen because of the breeze that redistributes it around. When Will made a path from the patio to the fence so he could get to the Jeep the snow was up to his knees. We have to watch our step on that path for that is where the dogs will dump because it is easier than digging in the snow for them. That nice man who has a great snow blower is out using it on our front walk even as I type. Good neighborhood to be in.

    For my lunch yesterday I had some delicious vegetable soup which I made with cans that I had in the cupboard. It was so yummy I wrote down what cans I used so one day I can repeat it. I made enough to have some left-overs another day and today is a good day for some. I know it is one soup Will would eat for he did taste it but he was having the left-over pizza yesterday but he can have some soup today. While Will was out and about yesterday he brought me a surprise from the museum ~ a horsehair zipper pull which is 4 inches long from the top of the zipper pull to the bottom of the tail for it looks like a horses tail. It is so cool looking and will look great on my jacket.

    I have a couple packages of hamburger meat from the “used meat” bin that I am going to mix an envelope of onion soup with and make it into patties and freeze them for later meals and a meal tonight with a box of potatoes, green beans and a nice leafy green salad.

    DONNA FAYE How nice that you like your doctor. If you like your doctor it makes it so much easier to have conversations about your system with her/him. I would think in their studies they would be required to take a "communication skills" class. I have a couple of nice suade leather handle covers and a quilted one for my cast iron skillet handles. The leather ones work the best. It is best to slip it off when you aren't using it and back on when you want to grab the handle so the pot holder doesn't get hot. I have 3 different sized fry pans, a round griddle, ridged grill pan, ridged grill press of cast iorn, smooth grill press. I also have some some footed dutch ovens ~ 8" (2 qt), 10" (4 qt.), & 12" (6 qt); 12" "deep" (8qt.)for outdoor use. The ovens with shallow sides of about 4" are called "bread" ovens and the deeper sided ones are known as "stew" or "meat" ovens. The 12" to 14" regular ovens are excellent for baking pies, cakes, breads and biscuits or rolls. The "deep" oven can handle turkeys, hens, hams, and roasts.

    JEAN Your snow may start soon. Ours is coming down like gang busters ~ quick and heavy. Our neighbor is still out plowing, bless his heart. Hope you have all you need to stay in for a day.

    Have a lovely day Magnolias
  • Maggie -- Even though it is dark and gloomy here, it isn't "evening" yet. My friend, who lives over by Sioux City, just called to tell me the snow arrived there. I imagine we will be seeing it in about an hour. Did you use a recipe for your soup or just put cans of veggies in a pot? Sounds good on a cold day like today. Have fun with your new horse tail zipper pull gadget.
  • Back To Yack

    GOOD EVENING MAGNOLIAS☺♫


    JEAN No I didn’t use a recipe. I just looked in my cupboard and got down cans of veggies that would go good together to make a tasty soup along with a can of chopped tomatoes and a can of chicken broth and some seasonings. It all together made 6 cups of good tasting soup. It will be interesting when the “talking heads” decide just how much snow we did get. There are still some light flurries falling this afternoon.

    Schwan’s ® sticky buns are a whopping 13P+ each which are so delicious but so spendy in points. I received a recipe from the Pillsbury® folks to make Caramel Sticky Buns for 5P+ each which are well worth a try. I don’t eat the Schwan’s® version but Will loves them so much I will try making the Pillsbury® ones and see if they satisfy his taste. He is doing well in cutting back and since he likes those types of things so much more than I do that I will make some for him for I believe they will freeze well. I am sure I will sample one. If anyone wants that recipe I can e-mail it to you ~ just let me know.

    Yack at y’all later.
  • Good Morning, Flowers! It's a beautiful "winter" morning with the sun shining brightly on the new snow. Bob blew the driveway and he thought it was about 6". I had cat tracks on the deck so "somebody" was here looking for food. I felt bad as once it started snowing I brought the food inside. Bob used his new snow thrower on the deck and I put critter food out. So far they haven't come out of hiding.

    I get to stay home today and have lots of projects I could work on. My main goal is to finish the afghan! In working around the edge I have found a few missed stitches or else the yarn has stretched making it look that way. . I added a stitch or two to fill in and moved on. I doubt anyone will notice.

    Maggie -- The sticky buns sound delicious. I'm sure they would call my name no matter where I stored them.

    I wish you all a sunny day and hope you enjoy yourselves.
  • Finally Friendly Friday

    GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS☺♫


    It is currently 12º here in the ♥-Land and I am staying inside . We have a lot of snow yet in our yard and since it is so cold I imagine we will have it for a few days to come. There is a fellow going to come to plow the snow off the church sidewalks leading up to the building and along the sidewalk to our house which will be most helpful. Will did shovel the snow off our front sidewalk yesterday so delivery folks could get to the front door. The Schwan’s® this morning thanked him big-time for doing that because everyone hasn’t gotten to that in their walks yet. If we still had that huge snow blower we had in MN it would be a cinch to get it all done ourselves. But that was then and this is now so we do what we can with what we have.

    I think for dinner this day I will cook a dinner that is in the freezer before it gets too old to have any taste left. Cecil doesn’t quite know what to do with himself today because there is so much snow in “his” backyard. He has been wandering about the house this morning. Beanie is the one that goes out and frolics in it then wants to be petted when he comes in. I have a towel ready for those times.

    Will has gone to Wal*Mart for sodas and bottled water and whatever he can find in the “used meat” section that we might want to freeze. I froze those burger patties that I had mixed with dry onion soup on a cookie sheet overnight and used my air sucker appliance to bag and freeze them in 3 bags of 2 each. They will be yummy on another day. Last night they were very good so a re-run will be welcomed one day. I have visions of them being cooked on the grill outside and in toasted buns. Will just called and said he found a new WW magazine type cook book that I don’t have so he is getting that and that all the stores down town are not open today. A little snow storm shut their doors so to speak. Well we did get quite a few inches and folks have been told to stay inside unless they have 4WD vehicles or just have to go somewhere. Lots of cars are off the roadsides where they slid during the storm. This is more snow in this one storm than we got all last year so hopefully the stock ponds are getting full which will make the cows happy.

    JEAN Your animal friends will love coming to your deck for a meal now that you have it all ready for them. Things I put away in the freezer don't usually call my name. Out of sight out of mind. I hadn't even thought about those GS cookies until right now when I made that statement. But I don't want any right now. But if they call your name you are better off not bringing them into your home. If we are going to be getting snow storms like this one Will may start thinking about getting a snow blower ~ we'll see.

    Yack at y’all later.