Life On The Planet

WFMW: Need Material Organization Ideas

I'm a bit out of the loop on the whole Works For Me Wednesday thing. Three scout camps and a vacation in one month will do that to you. In any case, I need help. So, I'm ditching the whole theme thing and begging for your assistance.

Butterfly came back from the Grandparents with a sewing machine. THEY BOUGHT HER A SEWING MACHINE! One of her very own! She's over the moon. The problem is not with the machine. It's great. However, my mother also sent her home with this...

HUMONGOUS pile of material. We appreciate the material, but helpful storage ideas are needed!

We need to get this stuff organized. Help. Please. Thanks.

 

Works For Me Wednesday (Backwards Edition): Rising Food Costs

I just spent $54.00 on five bags of groceries. Ouch! That definitely isn't working for me! With three children and a growing husband to feed, the cost of groceries is seriously causing me grief. I could use some advice on how to keep the cost down without having to take in the kid's waistbands. They are already skinny enough. (My waistband is another subject entirely!)

So, give me your best ideas, suggestions and tricks on how to keep my cupboards stocked and my wallet from whimpering. I could use a few pointers. Thanks!

Works For Me Wednesday: Drawer Organizer

If you are one of my six faithful readers, you know of my constant struggle with organization. It keeps me awake every third night.

First there was the messy desk. Then the heavens parted, the light shone down and it was clean. Next, there was the messy drawer. After seven hours (not really) of exhaustive research, I found a neat (ha! a pun!) office drawer organizer at Target. It comes in five pieces so, unlike one piece divided organizers, you can switch it around to suit you...

 

Or you could divide the pieces amonst your various junk drawers...

 

Or you could dance around the dining room with one on your head - but that's another post.

Finally, the drawer is clean!

 

Isn't it lovely? Now, if only the coat closet off of the living room were as tidy!

Maybe next week...

For more tidy drawers and organized closets, check out Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday: Avoiding Library Fines

An overdue library book isn't great, but an overdue library video - Ouch! The fine for an overdue movie is $3.00, you heard me right, THREE DOLLARS. Ugh!

To keep this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad fine from ever having to be paid again out of my pocketbook I put a basket on the television. All movies are placed there the very second after they cross the thresh hold. They are only allowed to exit the basket with my permission.

I will not pay $3.00 again, and that's my final answer.

To find other helpful hints, visit Rocks In My Dryer. Good advice. No fines.

Works For Me Wednesday: Picking Your Battles

This is my son's hair.

Cute, ain't it?

He is a really terrific kid. He is smart and nice and funny and extremely well behaved. (Take my word for it and don't ask the sister.) The only rotten apple in the basket, the only thorn in the side is the hair. I cringe at the thought of the hair.

At a recent family reunion, a little girl who was there asked him if he was one of the Jonas Brothers. Funny, huh? (Don't ask the sister about that, either!)

I've decided that I can live with it. There are other battles to fight, and, hopefully, this one will pass on its own.

For other Works For Me Wednesday ideas, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

All photos of wild masses of hair were used with permission of individual trapped under its tremendous weight.

WFMW: A Safe Family

This week's theme for WFMW is online shops, and I had a few different ideas on what to post. However, life intervened, and this post will have little to do with that. If you need a place to spend your money, the Red Cross could use a little, I'm sure.

Yesterday I felt just awful, but the children had their annual Youth Group fundraiser planned. So, I dragged myself out of bed and took them to church. The C.F.O. was driving back from Nashville and wouldn't make it in time.

The weather forecast wasn't great, and as we arrived the tornado sirens sounded. For about an hour we huddled around the radio. We finally moved the youth from the activities building into the church. As we were walking (okay, running) between the buildings, we looked over to the west. Hovering over the general area of my home was a greenish, black swirling cloud. We were safe, but it was evident that our neighbors were not.

The C.F.O. called to say he was in Jackson, TN and on his way. I told him to stay there as he would be driving directly into the storm. He opted to continue home, and shortly after he left, Jackson was hit hard.

Fortunately, no one was killed in our town. My grocery store is out of commission and I believe the local highschool was hit. They are both about half a mile from our house. I am very thankful that it wasn't worse than it was. For many families across Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky it was.

While you are drooling over all of the neat shops listed on Rocks In My Dryer, please give a thought to those who lost life and property in the storm. If you are able, please give a donation to an agency that will help our neighbors.

Thanks!

Panache? Not today.

I can't quite live up to Grandma's Word of the Week today. I'm afraid I am sadly lacking it. The C.F.O. has Man Flu (think Man Cold times ten), and I am dragging tail. (She pauses to spray copious quantities of Lysol on her gas mask.)

What's the word? It's PANACHE, of course. Someday soon I'll have a little.

WFMW: Money For Blogging

Okay, here it is. Budding capitalist that I am, I'm thinking about trying to make a little cold, hard cash off of this blog. No flashing lights, or anything. Just something tasteful that I wouldn't be ashamed to let my mother, Aunt Sandy, or my nine-year-old see. I'm not looking for a fortune. Just enough to cover my blogging expenses (and maybe pay for a night out now and again).

So, give me your advice. Let me know what you think. What have your experiences been? Help.

Oh, and head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for other bloggers' cries for help. I'll be there shortly, myself.

WFMW: Not Spitting On Our Troops

I am sitting at my keyboard, typing merrily away, without one thought about my personal safety. Well, I did lock my door, and we have safety lights outside, but thanks to our police (on a local level) and our military ( on a national level) I do not need to worry obsessively about whether or not I will be blown to smithereens tomorrow. As Martha Stewart would say, it's a good thing.

I grew up on or near Air Force bases. Airmen were the nice guys and gals we waved to on a daily bases. We had nothing to fear at night. They were there to protect us. My sister is now an officer in the Air Force. She has served our country, and she has missed irreplaceable portions of her child's life as a result. She is someone I admire.

With this frame of reference, you can imagine how appalled I was to read this post about a young Airman being spit upon and told that he was going to die. First of all, I cannot imagine anyone walking up to a total stranger and spitting upon them. Second, if our country is ever attacked, this Airman has signed up to stand between me (and the person who spit on him) and the attacker. How could anyone not realize this?

I am certain that a great many of you are not in favor of the war our country is involved in. Quite frankly, for the purposed of this post, your opinion on that matter one way or the other is irrelevant. That is not what this post is about. Also, I am personally neither registered Democrat or Republican. I have no political ax to grind.

This post is about respecting those individuals who are willing, if our country is attacked, to defend it. It is about respecting those men and women who guard us while we sleep and eat, go to work and drink Vanilla Bean Creme Frappuccinos (which, I must add, are divine). It's about learning to control ourselves when we encounter someone who doesn't agree with us, and voicing our opinions in an adult-like manner (i.e. call your Congressional Representative, form an action committee, protest, shout it from a street corner, etc.). Let us not act like three-year-olds on a playground. Spitting!

I have turned comments for this post off. I have no desire to offer up this blog as grounds to debate a war. There are many other places where that is appropriate. However, if you are as horrified as I am that a young service man was treated in this manner, I encourage you to leave a message for him on his mother's blog.

Here's what would really work for me this Wednesday. If you don't have anything nice to say, then please, call your Senator. Call your Representative. Call the White House. Just leave our troops alone. 

For more WFMW ideas, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Post Script: I emailed Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer to be certain this post was okay for the WFMW format. I respect that WFMW is her stomping ground. She replied (after I had posted and linked) that since it wasn't a "tip," it regretfully would have to go. However, I am leaving the link to her site as I understand her position. (And they have some really good ideas over there!)

WFMW: Quick Supper

When I read the theme for this week's Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks In My Dryer, I thought, "Ten Minute Suppers? She does know that's frozen pizza night, right?" Seriously, if I need food in 15 minutes or less, it's coming out of the freezer. But if you want a supper that is nutritious and can be made in thirty to forty minutes (depending on your number of helpers), I've got just the meal for you.

Main Dish: My Mom's Italian Soup that she made to imitate one she ate at Olive Garden, only I don't use cream in it because I'm lactose intolerant. Honestly, that's what it's called.

Side: Italian Bread (from Wal-Mart) with garlic and Mozzarella.

Dessert: Ms. Letty's Chocolate Eclair Cake. I don't know who Ms. Letty got it from, but I got it from her, so she gets the credit. If it was your recipe first, call Ms. Letty.

Okay, all dishes are made simultaneously, so I will be switching back and forth. There is no down time in this kitchen. Idle hands and the Devil, and all that...Remember, the ingredients are in blue.

Set the oven to broil. Remember to raise the rack before the oven is hot. Ouch.

Start the soup by browning loose sausage. (As opposed to patties or links. Don't laugh, someone might be wondering!)

This is pork. You can use beef.

Ideally, this job is done by a Kitchen Elf. Preteens work r-e-e-a-l good.

While the Kitchen Elf is browning the sausage, pour chicken broth into a large pot. In case you are wondering...

this is chicken broth. I use three 32oz. containers. I also use fat free. This is to eliminate all guilt over the mozzarella on the bread. Everything in moderation.

After you pour the chicken broth into the large pot...

add the sausage that has been browned to perfection by the Kitchen Elf. You could do all of this in one pot if you like. I prefer to dirty more dishes.

Crank the burner up and wait for the mixture to come to a boil. While you are waiting, you and your Kitchen Elf will have different tasks. You will...

cube 5 or 6 potatoes. Wash well first as you leave the skins on. You can use whatever type of potato makes you happy. Then you will...

slice a handful of fresh spinach lengthwise. Use however much you want. I use as much as I can without complaints being filed. I also chop the spinach in half after I slice it. I find I can sneak in a little extra that way.

I use about this much. That's in planetary measurement system. Please, don't confuse it with metric.

You set the potatoes and spinach aside for a moment, and zip over to help the Kitchen Elf who, in your absence, has made two 3.4oz packages of Vanilla or French Vanilla instant pudding according to the directions on the packages.

Mix into the pudding 12oz of Cool Whip.

Trust me on this one, it ends well. Now, grab a box of Graham Crackers (regular flavor). Use crackers to cover the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch pan...

 

thus. (Isn't that the best word?)

Pour half of the Vanilla mixture on top of the Graham Crackers.

Layer crackers again, and then pour in the rest of the Vanilla mixture. Add one more layer of crackers. You should have two layers of pudding mixture and three layers of crackers. Now, heat in a microwave a sixteen oz. container of chocolate icing for fifteen seconds. But first...

**WARNING** unless you want to meet your neighborhood firemen, REMOVE THE FOIL SAFETY SEAL FROM THE ICING. Let's learn from the mistakes of others, shall we? After the icing is toasty, give it a stir and...

spread it on top of the last layer of crackers.

 

Stick the finished product into the fridge. It's really good, but I can't eat it. Darn, that lactose!

Okay, now the pot is boiling, or rather the chicken broth and the sausage are boiling. It's time to add...

 

the potatoes and...

 

some Italian Seasoning, to taste. Please, don't ask for measurements. Who do I look like, Martha Stewart? If you have time, use the fresh stuff. This is SPEED cooking, so we're using the dry.

Stay with me now, we're in the home stretch.

While the potatoes cook, place the Italian Bread from Purgatory, I mean Wal-Mart on a tray and stick the pan in the oven on the top rack until the bread is lightly toasted.

 

Turn the bread over and rub it with crushed garlic. Sprinkle shredded Mozzarella on each piece and put the pan back in the oven. Watch it! Burnt bread = Very Bad.

While it is toasting...

add the spinach to the pot. Let it wilt, then the soup is done. You can add cream at this point if you want, but all of that lactose! Blech!

Take the bread out of the oven.

 

It should look somewhat like this.

 

Look at you, you made supper. My Kitchen Elf and I did this in under 40 minutes (and that includes taking photos, dealing with uncooperative chicken broth boxes and their agents...).

I have a really good recipe for Finger Licking Good Chicken that Aussie Kim makes, and I contemplated making it for you, but I was unhappy with the state of chicken wings in Purgatory, I mean, Wal-Mart.

Maybe next time. Bon Appetite!