It was a very productive few days

The cooler weather really does give me the extra umph I need to get things done.  I’m a very cold weather person.  I started out thinking if I just cleaned out one corner in the livingroom I would call it a good day.  It’s pretty hard to get things like that done when I have a demanding two year old in the house.  And that time with her is precious to me.  I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Emmi cooperated so well today, I was able to do the whole livingroom which desparately needed my attention. I pulled everything out and swept behind and under and moved a few things around and trashed a few things. It was a good day.  Unless you want to take into account the aches and pains that follow.  Especially my back.  Shoving furniture around and doing windows and things isn’t nice to one’s back.

 

Cleaning out things in the livingroom, I came across lots of recipes pulled from here or there.  Some were mine, but many were my mother’s.  I really need to get a handle on the recipes I have and make decisions on what to keep and what to pass on or trash.  If I cooked 24/7 the rest of my life and lived to be 90 there is no way I could use half of the ones I have.  Time to pare down a bit.

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I’ve been feeling the need for protein and cranberry.  My days don’t feel right unless I start them out with those things in the morning.  Some people need to start with something like oatmeal.  That would be good too, but I just feel like my tummy feels better with the eggs and toast breakfast.  2 slices of whole wheat toast, two micro poached eggs and a glass of cranberry apple juice.

 

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Why can’t it be easier to find games on TV these days?  Where did the days go that we had three channels, cut and dry, if something was on TV it was easy to find?  Well I don’t really want it to go back to that!  But it took us forever to find the Ohio State game Saturday.  It ended up being on a channel we didn’t even know we had!

 

After the game was over, we went to use the gift card the kids got me for my birthday.  Thanks Rusty, Cait, and Emmi, for a super meal!  The waitress we had suggested we try the steak with original seasonings and cooked on the fire.  Superb!  Best steak we’ve had in a long time! 

 

I looked at her and asked…”You aren’t from here are you?”  She told me no mame, she wasn’t.  She was from Dallas.  I knew it!  I could just tell she was Texan.  There is something about Texans that stands out so strong.  She thought it was the little bit of an accent she had.  I told her no, it wasn’t her twang (her word).  It was because she was polite and attentive.  She told me she couldn’t help it.  “Daddy raised me that way and I can’ t change it.”  Good!  We need more of that around here!

 

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I finally got that basketball sized head of cabbage handled.  I now have 24 cabbage rolls in the freezer plus we had what I called Cabbage Ball Casserole for dinner one night. 

 

Cabbage Rolls

 

For the filling, mix:

2# pork

3# beef

10 mini carrots, chopped fine in the food processor

1 med onion, chopped fine in the food processor

ends of celery that weren’t big enough for much, chopped fine in the food processor

2 eggs

some of my homemade bread crumbs

my mix of garlic, salt and pepper, good amount

 

I took that huge cabbage (1.50 at a local farm market) and boiled it whole to soften the leaves.  It almost didn't fit in my biggest stock pot!  And it is very big! 

 

Once the leaves were softened, I peeled them off, cut off the thick center vein and rolled small hands full of the meat mixture into it. 

 

On Sunday, I made the casserole out of the cabbage that was too small to turn into cabbage rolls and the leftover meat mix.  A layer of cabbage, a layer of meatballs, a layer of cabbage, cover with a can of tomato soup, cover the casserole and bake until done.  I think it was about an hour.  It must have been pretty good.  It was me, Cliff, Kennedy and Emmi eating and it was completely gone!

 

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Sunday really was a cooking day.  I made a casserole for breakfast.  I’ve been in this eat more protein mood.  I had some frozen hashbrowns that had to be used up, some ham ends from when I cut up the lunch meat, a few small hunks of cheese that were getting old.  I layered the potatoes first.  Next I chopped the ham hunks into itty bitty bites and shredded the cheese.  They were layered on.  I mixed up 10 eggs and a can of evaporated milk and poured it over top.  I then baked it until a knife came out clean when inserted in the middle.

 

Lunch was BLT’s at the request of Kennedy.  I don’t do mayo on mine and it’s just fine.  Cutting back, I’d rather eat bacon than mayo.  Gotta make choices.

 

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We trashed my recliner.  It was getting terrible!  I don’t know why they don’t make a good and comfortable one that will last!  I took one of the other ones in the livingroom and claimed it as mine.  Oh it may have been a big mistake!  I HURT!  I kept thinking it was too stuffed.  I stood it as long as I could but was going nuts.  Finally I flipped it over and started to investigate.  I was looking for a good place to cut a hole so I could dig out a bunch of the stuffing.  Low and behold, you’ll never guess what I found!  Zippers!  There were zippers in each section!  I pulled out a big garbage bag of stuffing.  It’s a little better but no where near perfect.  It’ll do for now.

 

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Sunday evening we took Kennedy home to her mom’s.  We’d had a good weekend. 

 

When we got home, I started another elf.  It’s so exciting making these little guys!  I think the most exciting thing though was deciding to charge $15, listing that on my facebook and within five minutes having someone purchase two!  That really gives me the incentive to do more.  I’ve also got the makings for my treetop/shelf angels out and ready to go.  I’m hoping to make at least a couple this next weekend. 

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Change it up. Variety sells. Ham and eggs just wasn’t going to cut it.  Too boring.  Instead, I made ham and egg sandwiches. We had the sandwiches and cranberry peach juice for breakfast. 

 

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Some of you caught my facebook status the other night.  Yes.  Nelly did eat the entire loaf of garlic bread!  I’d put it on my pizza stone to toss in the oven and toast and gone in the livingroom until time to pop it in the oven.  I already had a meatloaf in and was boiling the water for corn on the cob.  When I went back in to put it in the oven, it was missing!  At first I thought I might be losing my mind.  Maybe I hadn’t gotten it ready.  Then I glanced at the floor which was globbed with the butter, garlic and parsley topping.  BAD DOG!  Lol

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The first two elves have been mailed to their new home in California.  A couple FYI’s. 

FYI – Paypal charged something like 3.7% fee – I should have added that in

FYI – The post office makes you use debit cards as debit and won’t let you run it as credit – fee

FYI – Those priority boxes are free.  You just pay the postage when you send it.

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Today, Thursday the 27^th, was my friend Jennifer’s birthday.  A group of us went to the English Pub in Ravenna to have a little meeting/get together and wish her happy birthday.  It’s good seeing friends.  Being back in touch, finally, with classmates and childhood friends really adds something to your life.  We all spent so many years raising our families that most people fell out of touch.  Now our families are mostly raised and we’re into the roll of grandparents.  Reconnecting means leaving all the past in the past and connecting as we are now.  The childish little groups we might or might not have been a part of don’t mean a whole lot.  Now, we have so much in common.  We are happy to have made it this far in life.  We are sad that so many have gone before us.  We care for each other in all new ways.  No one has anything bad to say about anyone else.  We are truly one now.  It’s just a little sad it took so many years.

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The friends who grew up with you deserve a special respect.
The ones who stuck by you shoulder to shoulder, in a time
where nothing was certain, all life lay ahead, and every
road led home.
~~ The Wonder Years

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It took me too long to finish this.  I’ve got to get better.  Especially since I have plans with a friend to possibly start another blog.  Stay tuned…

Hugs and love,

~~Mama Sage