Hello ladies, :wave:

Angie - my family always used to congregate wherever I was, too. Now it's just Neal and me, and I miss that. Only fifty-nine days until we go after Katie, though. Sixteen kids! Yikes, hope it's a big house and a big budget, too, lol.

Crtisti - Mary smoked for awhile, too, until she got pregnant. Then she never went back, thank goodness. Hey, you could just light one of the Yankee candles that smell like sugar cookies, or apple pie when you're expecting someone to come view your house. They smell like the real deal, lol. Our house should be ready soon, except for the porches. Btw, I use IE, too, and never have a problem. Guess that's your best bet.

Sue - I hope the rain is gone for awhile, but now they're saying maybe some snow! I can't wait for spring, but we have to admit this has been a record-breaking mild winter!

Nancy - we have tornados and warning here several months of the year. Scary business! Probably you're just showing some water weight. Hope you have some sun today.

Well, we skipped church today since I am still coughing and sneezing. Thought I'd do the other parishioners a favor and stay home.

I've got a turkey breast in the crock pot, and the smell of it is making my mouth water. I've been using the new crock pot liners, and man, are they ever a great invention! I learned the hard way to spray them with Pam, though.

Have a great day, ladies.

Spray the pot with pam before putting the liners or the liners before teh food? I saw those advertised and wanted to to try it.

We have had weird weather here too, normally we are minus 25 and colder but we have had plus 5 and warmer. We have had winder like conditions for the past couple of weeks.


I finally fell asleep at 1 am last night and had a fitful sleep...so now Im all groggy and can't get my act together. Monte is saying hes not feeling well so going to send him back to bed.

Love my slow cooker. Last night I served a ww recipe for 3-bean and pork chili to friends...an awesome recipe. Right now I'm making a carrot and coconut soup...smells amazing. I haven't used the liners - mine cleans up so easily I haven't felt the need. Of course, my husband does the dishes...

Hello ladies,

Just a brief post today, I feel like crap. Had dgd over last night, we had lots of fun, but woke up feeling rotten. IT's just the cold that has been going around but glad I didn't have to work today. Went back to bed when dgd left but son #4 came over for me to help him with his taxes. Now he's gone, I am going to take a hot shower then crawl back in bed. Took some meds for it this morning, makes you tired, so I may as well get some more sleep. Kept waking up to my chest gurgling....didnt' like the sound of that..

I rode my bike a little over 8 miles yesterday. I need to see some improvement on the scale to give me some motivation to keep going.

Your soups sound good. But not cooking anything today. Had chicken soup for lunch, not really hungry, just want to sleep.

Well, will check in again tomorrow. Hope you all have a good day.

Ginny

Ginny have a care with chest colds...don't do too much strenuous exercise.

Carrot and coconut soup? That does sound like a strange combo. Let us know how it was.

Brandon has his specialist appointment tomorrow. Fingers crossed this Dr. can help him.
Need to call Becky and see if she has season 3 of Smallville, as sad as this is Im hooked...lol

It has been a bad news, good news day. My DDs grandfather died this morning (my ex FIL) after suffering a heart attack. Such a nice, good man. My DD and DGS are coming in from CA which is the good news. Too bad it will be such a sad occasion. But it will be good to hug them and spend some time with them just the same.

I went and bought some boots so I could help DH on the lot. We spent awhile there this afternoon clearing brush. Well, he sawed and I carried. I also picked up trash that had either blown or been thrown over there. Really wasn't too wet even after all the rain we have had. Hope that means it has good drainage.

I will have a busy day tomorrow and probably a busy week....but I will be back when I can.

The soup was good! The flavor was like a yellow curry - it had coriander, green curry paste, and ginger as flavorings. It was a little spicy - I was kind of heavy handed with the curry paste, but it was really good. Cleared my sinuses out, too! I might try adding some butternut squash to it - it would make it a richer flavor. But overall, it was a success. So far, I've only made one bad recipe from the WW Slow Good cookbook.

We still have sickies here in the house. Hopefully, he gets better on his own. If he is still the way he was on Sunday, then I will call the doctor’s office. He had a fever of 100.4 degrees F at about 9pm. He got some Tylenol, and hopefully that was enough to help him get through the night.

I noticed on Friday that one of my diamonds fell out of my wrap on my ring. So, I have to get that taken into the jeweler when we get a chance.

Cristi~ Yup….we might be moving again. We figure it out this way, since there is no work up here, we might as well move to where the work is. At least this time, I am NOT pregnant when we move!

I will have to check out that recipe thread when I get a chance!

Gotta cut this short, Mr Brandon is awake.

Good Morning Ladies-

Had a wonderful weekend w/Jhanai! I took her out to lunch on Saturday and then yesterday we went to the mall because one of the departments was having a closing out sale. Jhanai kept telling me that time was running out and we needed to check out the sales!

Ended up getting her quite a bit of tops that she wanted (all the jeans were gone!) and I saved $40!! That was pretty cool. And she was right , only a week left before the place is closed.

Got up early this morning to say goodbye to James, he's heading back down to KFalls. So I had a great weekend w/both of them.

Sounds like we have a few sick people out there. I hope you all heal quickly.

And the weather seems to be bizarre all over the states!! We had that horrible snow/ice/hail mixture, then this weekend was absolutely gorgeous!! Sunshine warmed everything up.

I think I'm going to head back to bed since I have to go to work tonight. So you all have a great Monday and I'll check in after my nap!

Hugs!:hug:

Hello ladies...

Yep, seems the weather is weird all over. We had beautiful weather yesterday...reached 80 but the wind was H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E! Of course this was after a freak hail storm at 5 a.m. and then a short thunderstorm. Today, it is cold!

JANE...yeah, banana bread just didn't do it for me as far as smelling the house up. I should have just lit the apple something candle that smells like oatmeal/sugar cookies. I can't believe how they can get a smell like that in a candle and it actually smell like you are baking.

ANGIE...16 kids?! YIKES! I always thought it would be nice to have a big family, but not 16 kids. Did you get to see season 3?

NANCY...the three-bean pork chili sounds really good. Want to share the recipe? When we lived in Thousand Oaks, CA in 1986-89 we had what they called a freak snow storm. I was born in AR so I had seen snow before but the kiddos were born in CA so it was pretty special to them. Had to take pics of them, it was too weird for CA. I think there was another time (can't remember where) they had a tornado which you don't see oftne in CA, but has happened.

MINDEE...well, I hope you guys get the house.And you are right, you have to go where the work is. Hope all the sickees get to feeling better soon.

MARTI...glad you had a nice weekend with James and Jhanai. How long will James be in KFalls?

SUE...sorry to hear about ex-FIL. :hug: At least you get to see DD and DGD's.

GINNY...hope you are feeling better. Seems to be going around. DH just got over a cold and now it's back and in his chest. So be careful and get plenty of rest.

Ms. SUSAN...where are ya? Hope you had a good weekend.

Well, I need to get going. Got on the computer a little later than usual. DS's key broke off in the car yesterday and had running around to do this morning to get it fixed. Thank goodness for locksmiths! Guy came out to the store/gas station where his car was and fixed it in about 10 mns. Was longer waiting and driving down there than it was to fix it. Then got an e-mail from my mother...my Uncle died over the weekend. Anyway, need to go get my laundry done. Have a good one!

Oh, almost forgot...I asked Suzanne if she could change my username to Cristina04 and I also changed it in my signature. I have never really cared for the nn Cristi so if you guys don't mind from now on I would prefer Cristina. If you slip, that's okay. :) I had posted and when it showed up I noticed she had already changed it-that was fast!

Hi ladies,

Angie - spray the crock pot liners with Pam before you add the food. You'll be glad you did. How was Brandon's doctor apt?

Nancy - the liners could come in handy especially for carry-ins. I often take something in a crock pot to family dinners and church functions. Just a thought.

Ginny - hope you're better today. Yay for all the miles you've been doing on your bike. Surely the Iron Monster will be kind to you soon.

Sue - glad you get to see your DD, even under such circumstances.

Mindee - Mary's 3 girls are sick, too. They all went back to the doctor today, but I haven't talked to her since then.

Marti - glad you had such a good weekend with Jhanai. Don't you just love a sale? All the winter stuff is marked waaaay low, and the early Spring sales are going on, too.

Cristina - sorry about your uncle. Will you be going to the funeral?

It's been raining here for days, with high winds. Now that's stopped and a cold front is on it's way. Can't wait for Spring!!! My daffodils are blooming, and they always bring hope of warmer temps. :)

Neal's off bowling, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do this evening. I should've made plans with a friend, but wasn't sure if my cold would be better or not. Thankfully, it is.

See you mañana!

Cristina (and anyone else who's interested) - here's the chili recipe. I substitute 1 tsp. chipotle chili powder for the regular chili powder...gives it more of a bang! And I use the canned chipotles instead of the jalapenos. It's my favorite chili recipe! :chef:



Three Bean and Pork Slow Cooker Chili


POINTS® Value | 5
Servings | 10
Preparation Time | 35 min
Cooking Time | 480 min
Level of Difficulty | Easy

Ingredients
1 medium onion(s), chopped
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 cup carrot(s), chopped
1 Tbsp chili powder, medium-hot
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1 small jalapeno pepper(s), seeded, chopped (don't touch seeds with bare hands) or 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 pound lean pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch chunks
15 oz canned black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup canned tomato puree
29 oz canned diced tomatoes, with green pepper, celery and onion, undrained
6 oz canned tomato paste


Instructions


Combine onion, garlic, carrots, chili powder, oregano, jalapeno, salt and pepper in a 5-quart (or larger) slow cooker; stir. Add remaining ingredients; stir again.


Cover and cook on HIGH setting for 6 to 8 hours. Yields about 1 cup per serving. (Start cooking the chili at a HIGH setting so the ingredients quickly reach a safe temperature. You can reduce the heat to LOW after 3 to 4 hours, if you prefer.)


This recipe is part of our Make Ahead Soups, Chilies and Stews series. To learn more about this cook-and-freeze feature, click here.

hello all
I haven't posted in awhile. I popped in now and then for a quick read.
I hope all is doing well.
That recipe sounds yummy... I'll have to give it a try :)

Well, all is good at my end. Weight, well I haven't been to good the past 3 weeks.
I have to get back on track. I can't seem to get organised.

I hope you all had a very good weekend.
My oldest daughter and I rode (our horses) on Sunday, was great to get out of the house and just spend some time with my her one on one :)

Better head off.

Have a good one girls :D

Good morning all,

Christina, sorry to hear of your uncles passing. are you going to go to his funeral?
I was watching tv about natural disasters and they talk of all the changes the world is going throu,,,kinda scares me.
About season 3, Tanner and I went to wally's last night to buy it. Got home to start watching it and taking of the plastic wrapping, we noticed that it looked like gouges on the sie, the spine was cracked,,,ok no big deal. But once opening it noticed that 2 out of 5 discs were seriously scratched, and the 5 disc was missing so... this morning I have to go and exchange it.

Jane, thank you will be going out to buy those liners. I use the crock pot alot. Does your crock pot have plastic handles? Mine do and both cracked, hate bringing it anywhere in case the handles completely snap.

Brandon's Dr appointment went as expected. He had more xrays and the Dr. comes in checks his feet, looks at the xrays and goes, so what do you want to do? 1 of 2 choices, leave it alone (not possible) or surgery on each foot seperately, fusing the 3 largest bones together. Not an easy surgery.
So he told Brandon that he needs to loose as much weight as he can in the next 4 months. Hes 6'2 and 250 lbs. So now I have a diet buddy at home.

Annette, Im anything but organized right now,,,worry that in 3 weeks I am going to be a total basket case,,,(going back to work)

well Im going to get ready and do a wally run...
ttyl