My Weblog

Produce Queen

Did my shift at work today and headed straight for Sprouts. I got beautiful garnet yams, fresh pineapple, more butternut squash and more celery. I have two bunches of celery on the dehydrator even now. I'm also still trying to get some oranges dehydrated. Those things are HARD to actually get dry!

When dehydrating, it's important to get every vestige of moisture out of whatever is being dehydrated. If one fails to get all the moisture out, there is the possibility of mold. Since the whole idea of dehydrating is to preserve food, you can see that moisture is the enemy. And some of my orange slices have been on the dehydrator more than 24 hours!

I have a bunch of stuff to dehydrate now. I figured the celery was the most perishable, so that's where I've started. They had 4 bunches of organic celery for $5. That's better than the price I was paying at S&F for non-organic. And, I can't prove it, but I really think that these organic bunches are bigger than the non-organic ones I've been getting. So, it's a win/win. Now I will have celery to use in recipes. I don't usually keep celery around because I never seem to use it all and then I end up with some of it spoiling. That's a total waste of money. Now I'll have celery around when I need it and I don't have to risk it spoiling.

Once again my Vidalia Chopper has proven itself invaluable. You wouldn't believe how quickly I chopped up that celery.

Nothing eventful happened at work today. I think I forgot to tell you about something that happened a few days ago. We had a "celebrity" in the store, one Mr. O. J. Simpson. I didn't see him. I think I was on break. But I DID hear about it later, LOL. Almost as big a deal as having Nicholas Cage come into Target to buy TP while I worked there........

I did get to spend a little time in Lumber today, about an hour. The rest of the time I was up in the main part of the store. It was not busybusy, but busier than I thought it would be. It is, after all, just 3 days from Christmas.........

I work again tomorrow and then I have my two-day "weekend". My "weekend" is made up of Sunday and Christmas Day. No "holiday" for me..........

Anyway, that's it for me tonight. I'm tired and I didn't have a nap after work today.

Didn't make it.........

It is very windy and cold here. We had gusts up to 40mph with lower winds at 25 in between the gusts. And the temp on the thermometer in the van coming home was 47. I was offered the chance to come home a little after 1:30 and I took it. I really don't know what it is about that place but my lungs hurt more when I'm there. Then I come home and the pain and soreness ease up. Anyway I was grateful to see the inside of my house and today I truly don't care how messy it is! I came back hurting after break and I think the girl I was relieving "ratted" me out because I was using my inhaler. I wasn't intending to leave early but it really was a blessing. Besides, the store is into the "let's save on hours" mode again.

I did stop at the bank. I was able to use the drive thru which meant I was somewhat protected from the wind. That helped a lot. Funny thing--the ATM machine refused to take $30 of my deposit. I have no idea why......... But, my bank balance looks healthier so I'm happy.

I don't think I told you that I have some sliced oranges on the dehydrator. Last night I grabbed some that were mostly dry and broke them up and poured boiling water over them. I guess I had orange "tea" without the tea. Anyway it tasted good. I figure this is one way to get more water into me and more vitamin C as well. Some of the bigger slices are still on the dehydrator, but I think they'll be done tonight. Then I'll do more........ I'm getting a little bit more than one orange per tray.

I also have two trays of tomatoes on the dehydrator. I am inching closer to my goal on the tomato powder. But, I have only a little tomato "sauce" left to dehydrate until I make it to Smart & Final. What I have left won't even fill one tray.........

So, that's it for now.

Working day 4 of 6

Well, I'm past the halfway mark on this 6 day run of workdays. That's good.

Not much to report. I continued on with making tomato powder last night. I have more than a pint now. My goal is a quart and it's going to take another can of tomatoes to get there.

I did a load of laundry last night. Funny thing--I had 3 days off in a row and I didn't do the laundry! I am normally all over that laundry thing, particularly since I started using the indoor drying rack. I know it will take longer than half an hour to dry a load of clothes on the rack so I get an early start. But, somehow, I just shined it on this past weekend.

Yesterday, for whatever reason, my back was a problem. It's been a while since that has happened for which I am VERY grateful. But I worked every minute of my shift so that's good. Hoping for better today.

They've started using me "in the middle". It's a refreshing break. It's nice to be able to look outside through the exit doors and see sunshine and palm trees. The register I have traditionally occupied (the "refrigerator") has a glorious view of the entrance to the restrooms, LOL. It's also less busy "in the middle".

After work tonight, I need to make two stops. First, I need to go to either Smart & Final or Sprouts. S&F has no specials that interest me this week but they are my source for #10 cans of tomatoes and for canning jars. Sprouts, on the other hand, has garnet yams for $.77/#, Pineapples $.98 each, butternut squash for $.77/# and Organic celery for 4 bunches/$5. Yes, I WILL need jars! But my stock of pre-cooked and canned food is going to go up! And so will my stock of dehydrated foods!

I also need to go to the bank. I have used the debit card for purchases that should have come out of the envelopes. Time for the envelopes to reimburse through the end of October. Can't have the bank account looking puny and the envelopes looking fat. That's not a great idea.

Well, that's it for now. Soon I will head out the door and put in another shift. I am praying for friendly customers..........

 

 

Another Day, another dollar

Well, I worked today, day 2 of a 6 day run. I get a kick out of my schedule. In most places I've worked, one gets a 2-day weekend off. Then one gets an additional day for a holiday. Or, one works 5 days but takes one day of vacation, thus only working 4 days. Where I work, these things do not hold true. I do get 2 days off at the end of the 6 days of work, but the two days are Sunday and Monday. As I see it, I get a 1-day weekend and Christmas Day off and I'm back to work. Working, therefore, 5 days for next week.

I told you I just found out a couple of weeks ago that I have more vacation time coming. I took one day this past Friday. I've scheduled myself off for all 4 Wednesdays in January. What do you want to bet that I'll work 5 days each of those weeks anyway?

By the way, when I returned to work yesterday, after 3 days off including the Friday vacation day that was never approved, no one said a word about my not being there Friday. I guess they figured it out, but nothing was ever said to me about it............. So, no forgiveness, no permission..........

I was doing fairly well at work today until a couple of goof ups who work for the store as contract employees decided to spray paint something INSIDE the store. The fumes were overwhelming and I actually put on a mask and kept doing my job. The funny thing was that the head cashier knew it would bother me and offered me a mask. Well, I had one so I didn't need the one he offered. I guess what struck me was that it was sort of an "official" acknowledgement that that sort of thing would cause me problems. Yeah, no kidding. There is another woman there who has some problems with her lungs. She experienced the same problems, using her rescue inhaler first, followed by her steroid inhaler.

Apparently the other woman has been refusing to do more than back up a break in Lawn & Garden. Says the last time they left her out there for more than 15 minutes, she ended up spending two days in the hospital. Gee, sound familiar??? I didn't go to the hospital, but only because I had everything I needed to take care of myself after getting a prescription for antibiotics from Urgent Care. But, I was still sick for two weeks and lost two weeks pay because of it.........

I've kept myself busy enough tonight. I had laundry to do and I've got the dehydrator going again. I have two trays of pureed tomatoes and two trays of sliced oranges going. The tomatoes will eventually be turned into tomato powder, probably tomorrow night. I may experiment with the oranges and see if I can turn them into "orange" powder as well. If not, my intention is to add them to tea or just drop them into a cup with some hot water, trying to increase my hydration level and my Vitamin C. I'm taking Moringa capsules twice daily and they contain, ounce per ounce, 7 times as much Vitamin C as oranges, but more can't hurt........

So, that's it for tonight. I have my little hacky cough tonight and I'm bringing up phlegm. Oh joy............ But, these are just symptoms. The cause of the symptoms is healed, according to the Word of God.

 

No birthday cake for me..........

But I did get a BIRTHDAY PIE! I went to Sprouts today to cash in on their special on oranges. I looked around their bakery area and there weren't but two kinds of cake to choose from, one more expensive than the next, and both quite small. I kept looking, hoping for more cakes, when I stumbled onto a table with pies. And I was thrilled to discover pumpkin pies on there! I've been hungry for pumpkin pie since before Thanksgiving.

It's not that I don't make a mean pumpkin pie. I do. I have a recipe developed by my grandmother that has been handed down and that I REALLY love. But, my canned pumpkin is in the big 28 oz can which is way more than I need for one pie. And my hips don't need more than one pie. Besides, I only know how to turn out a reasonable pie crust if I use a recipe that turns out 10 single crusts at a time. Now what would I do with all those?

I already owned some whipped cream. I'd bought it weeks ago in anticipation of the elusive pumpkin pie. So, I came home and carved myself a piece. It's good though I think they could have rolled the crust out a bit thinner. And I'm likely to have another helping before I head to bed. Happy birthday to me!

Dinner was leftover chicken alfredo sauce over spaghettini. The sauce had turned to concrete in the fridge but I managed to revive it with the addition of some milk. And it's still tasty. And, believe it or not, I have enough left for yet another serving! This was supposed to be a recipe to feed one person........... All I can say is that that one person must have some kinda appetite!

I felt okay when I went in to work this morning, but as the day wore on, I felt less fine. I coughed and coughed the last hour. It was bad enough that I was offered the opportunity to leave early. But, it was already 2:46 and my shift ends at 3:00 so I stuck it out.

I got another talking to at work today. I had a civilian DOD employee who thought he ought to get a military discount. Well, no. Not entitled. That discount is for veterans, retired, and active duty military personnel. Being a secretary or whatever at the VA doesn't get you a "military discount". I have encountered this before. The people I've encountered have been VERY insistent that they should get a discount. I've asked the head cashiers and been told that they are not entitled. So I held the line. The guy informed me he was former military. I asked if he had any form of military ID on him, whether he had "veteran" on his NV driver's license, whether he had the regular ID card the VA gives vets. I even asked if he had a copy of his DD214 on him. We're not supposed to take those because they are not photo ID. However, I figured I could check his driver's license and match it up to the DD214. No, he had none of that. I went through the whole new program that will be implemented come the first of the year. Under that program, the military discount will be linked into our "customer loyalty card". All a military person has to do is approach a cashier and say "I have a military discount. My phone # is............" So, for example, if I can find Joe's DD214, I could sign him up and I could then legitimately use the military discount because I was the wife of a vet.

The new program makes more work for cashiers but it eases the burden on those who are eligible for the discount. They do not have to carry ID with them. Some of our customers are quite elderly and they have a pistol of a time just finding their military/vet ID in their wallets and extracting it. I'm sure some of them have severe Parkinson's and others are just plain not in good shape. So, going forward, after the first of the year, the customer I had today can just register for the discount, have his MILITARY service verified, and follow the new procedure and get his discount. If I understand correctly, the whole purpose of the change is to make it easier for vets/military to get their discount and to curb this exact kind of abuse.

I was a civilian government employee. I know what those IDs look like. I used to carry one. And, if I knew of a business that gave a discount to government employees, I claimed my discount. I would not THINK of trying to get a military discount for which I could not prove I was eligible using my government credentials! There are any number of governmental agencies located in this city. Only those from the DOD have ever given me trouble about it.

Anyway, this guy called the store manager and complained because I wouldn't give him the discount. Geez, Louise............

About those oranges: I got 10 large ones for about $3.50. I just may decide to go back tomorrow and get 10 more! I have to say that one of the nicest things about them today, considering how I felt when I left work, was that they were displayed about 10 feet inside the door. I did not have to go trooping through the store to get to them. And the bakery department where I went on my cake hunt was just adjacent to that display. Mission accomplished quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively. What more could I ask?

So, still not feeling great. I'm trying to avoid the nebulizer. I don't know if that will work or not but it's worth a shot.........

Happy Bday to me.........

I get to celebrate another year of living with my Lord today. I am blessed!

Have I done enough this year? No. But, what I have done beats the alternative, and I'm certainly not done yet. I have roughly 6 dozen jars of canned goods on my shelves. That's not much, but given my budget, etc. it's pretty good. Getting going in canning is expensive. You not only have to buy the ingredients but you also have to buy the jars and equipment. But the jars and equipment are reusable, over and over, so it's an investment, not an expense, right? My dehydrator works with only a brief break there and there. I have cans and jars of dehydrated food which make cooking SO easy.

It has taken pretty much the whole year, but I have a 3 x 12 raised bed WITH soil, waiting for February when stuff can go into the ground to grow. That means I have bought and hauled 36 cubic feet of soil this year.

I have kept myself fed and clothed for a full year. One medical bill has been paid off. I am within $200 of paying off the Water District, something I'd despaired of. I have a little bit of extra cash. I have paid cash for a new-to-me computer. I have paid cash to have the patio cover repaired and to deal with some trim on the house that was rotting. I have moved a bunch of stuff out of this house. I got new lamps for the living room. I bought kitchen stuff--sorely needed and deeply appreciated--stuff like my metal mandolin, my Vidalia Chopper, my immersion blender, and more. I have purchased a new vacuum. And it's all been done for cash--no debt. I have acquired medical insurance and life insurance.

God has been faithful. Though I lost the contents of the freezer, twice, it's 39 years old and still running. The van got an oil change this year and, though it's 12 years old now, it still has under 70,000 miles on it and it's still running very well. The house needs repairs and paint, but it's still standing and sheltering me from the heat and the cold.

There have been rough times and peaceful times this year, some very significant losses and some gains, but "Through it all, Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word. I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys, I thank Him for the storms He brought me through. For if I’d never had a problem, I wouldn’t know God could solve them, I’d never know what faith in God could do." (My thanks to Andre Crouch for putting into words what I could never have expressed.)

So, today I celebrate. I may even stop somewhere and buy myself a birthday cake! I think maybe my Daddy would want me to have one...........

Unstuffed cabbage roll soup

I've made cabbage rolls for years. I love 'em and Joe did too (though he drowned his in vinegar..........I can agree that a little vinegar works, but he used an excessive amount. I always wondered if he could actually taste the cabbage rolls around all that vinegar.). So, unstuffed cabbage roll soup is a natural for me. I'm only sorry it wasn't known to me many years ago. Sure would have saved me a LOT of work.

I used 2 pints of my canned ground beef. It was time. I added just under 4 cups of ground puree from tomatoes (Yes! I got the big can open!). I also added one chopped onion (a big one), 3 Tablespoons of minced garlic, an 8oz can of tomato sauce, extra water (a good 2 cups), and some salt and pepper. I tasted and it just wasn't "right". So I added about 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, 1/2 tsp oregano, 2 bay leaves, and 1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice. NOW it's "right". As soon as all the cabbage is cooked, I'll be tearing into it! It's delicious.

I said above that it was "time" to use the ground beef. Well, that's debatable. My grandmother had canned goods that sat on her shelves for years. However, new research into "safe" canning methods has caused Ball, the manufacturer of most lids and jars, to rate their lids as good for 1 year. More recent lids are rated "safe" for 1.5 years. My ground beef was canned in January of last year. Besides, it's the only ground beef I have left after the freezer fiasco.............

For those who are interested, my heart rate has come up about 10 beats per minute, a much more reasonable rate. I think I'll make it a while longer, LOL.

Almost gone

Not sure what is up, but my heart rate is down around 60. I assure you it is NOT because all my aerobic exercise has strengthened my heart to the point that it beats so strongly that it doesn't need to beat as often! I've checked the heart rate using both the blood pressure cuff AND the pulse/oximeter. So, yeah, that's really what it is. And that's after drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette........... Oh, well, my heart is all cleaned up before the Lord. No fear here.

I bought another big can of tomatoes to work on making some more tomato powder. Guess what? I bought a new can opener and the thing is a total piece of junk. I really kinda thought it might be when I bought it, but it was recommended by a friend so I decided to give it a try. Garbage I tell you. So, though it was my intention to work on that today, I will probably turn my efforts in another direction. I have celery to dehydrate. I could work on that. I also have enough butternut squash to make it worthwhile to dehydrate that. And, if I decided to pull on a pair of pants (I'm roaming around the house in a VERY oversized shirt) I have canning jars in the van and I could can up some black beans. Or some white beans. Seems a shame to let the day go by without doing one of these things.........IF I can get that can open, I will probably use some of the tomatoes to make a batch of unstuffed cabbage soup. I bought the cabbage yesterday.

It's a good day to stay inside and a good day to make/eat soup. The temperature has dropped about 10 degrees from where it's been and we have wind, lots of wind!

I've been up for a while but haven't accomplished much other than some kitchen clean up. And, if you saw my kitchen, you'd probably think I'm lying. I'm not--it was THAT bad. Better now, but hardly "good". I have pretty much decided to dump my failed apple jelly down the drain. I have two sets of directions on what to do with it to "fix" it and they don't match up. In fact, they're kind of opposite of each other. So, not knowing how to proceed, I am thinking of just buying back some real estate on my countertop! That would help a LOT. It's not like I have a lot of expensive ingredients in those jars--that failed jelly was made from peels and cores..........

Last night I went after the jars of French Onion Soup. You can them and then you're supposed to leave 'em alone for 24 hours. I don't know why, but my jars really had a LOT of hard water crud on them this time. But, I cleaned them up with vinegar and they are sparkly and wonderful on my shelf.

Speaking of shelves. I have a shelf unit wedged in next to the computer desk. I really would like, ultimately, to get it out of there. But it's a bugger. It's oddly constructed and has to be deconstructed from the bottom or lifted out intact. I don't have a snowball's chance of lifting it out intact, so deconstructing is the only option. To do that, I would have to contort myself into a very small space and work on the bottom of the thing. I have decided that for the winter only, I may just put my sparkly canning jars on there. Being right in front of a window, those jars should sparkle really nicely and since it's winter, they should be cool due to cool air that leaks in around that window.

I took the scrubby side of a sponge and some scouring powder and went after the outside of one of my pots. It's shiny and pretty now. I think I will end up doing the same with the canner though it's aluminum and not likely to be shiny even when I'm done with it. While the oven was trying to autoclean, it apparently released some grease along with the heat. I did have the exhaust fan on, but there's a greasy film all over the outside of the pressure canner. Seems it was sitting next to the area where the hot air vents from the oven.........

Well, onward. I need to do SOMETHING.

The adventure continues...........

My oven has needed to be cleaned for a while now. With all the breathing problems I've been having, Easy-Off is out of the question. Fortunately, my oven has a self-cleaning feature. However, the cleaning feature really heats up the kitchen and I'm sure some of that heat leaks out into the rest of the house. So, in that it has cooled off and I don't need A/C any more, I decided tonight would be a good time for the cleaning thing.

I started it at about 4:50PM. Somewhere around 6:30 I went out to the kitchen. I'll be darned if the bugger wasn't blinking with "PF" on the screen. Power failure........ But, it was still hot as buggers in the kitchen. I was scared to death that somehow the oven (the stove is gas but it has computerized (electrical) controls) would just keep on getting hotter and hotter and burn the place down. But, no matter what I tried, I could not cause the oven door to unlatch nor cause any change in the blinking "PF" nor find any assurance that the cleaning cycle had been interrupted.

I had no clue what to do. I tried to call Mr. Fixit. Not only did he not answer but I kept getting messages that he had not yet set up his voicemail. So, not going to get any advice from him, assuming I could get him to shut up and actually listen to the problem. Then I tried to call Mr. Fixit2. No answer there either. Holy Toledo!

Finally I decided to try checking the fuse box. I went out to the van and got my itty bitty flashlight. (Just last week I was thinking I really should get myself a REAL flashlight, not that itty bitty thing I told folks to buy last year for stocking stuffers. Now I'm wondering: was that the Holy Spirit talking to me and I just didn't recognize it????)

And I found my way to the fuse box. Most of the fuses are unlabeled. Maybe they were labeled in 1983 when the house was built, but whatever was written there has mostly worn off. I could see the fuse marked "garage". I also saw one marked "DR" which I assume meant Dining Room. I'd have been thrilled to find a "K", but no such luck. I ended up flipping every stinking fuse from where it was to off and then back. I'd flip one and go peer through a window to see if the flashing display on the stove reset to 12:00. Finally, it did. And, when I came back into the house, I found the oven unlocked and I was able to make sure the cleaning cycle was no longer running and the risk of the oven continuing to heat up had been averted. Believe me, you wouldn't have wanted to check my blood pressure during all this!

My next concern is whether or not the freezer is still working. Remember, the "PF" on the stove was blinking when the freezer stopped running too. I tried to check but it's still plenty cold so I can't tell. I guess the freezer will be my first stop come morning...........

Well, I wonder what comes next...........

Sometimes I forget............

that there are some really stupid people who walk among us. I went to Smart & Final today. I had to go get my replacement turkey! They had a new checker. (As opposed to the experienced checker who screwed me last week to the tune of $19.81). I actually remembered to take my reusable bags out of the car and into the store--I was so proud of myself. I carefully laid them on top of the first groceries she would encounter. She tried to ring them up! Fun fact: one bag says "Publix", two have the Target bulls eye on them, one plainly says "Trader Joe's" on it, and so on. I couldn't stand it after the first two when she called for help because she couldn't scan them. I explained to her that they were reusable bags purchased at other stores and, therefore, would not scan on her software. Then I went back to watching what she was checking vs. what showed up on the visual display. I really didn't want to end up being rooked for another $19.81.

The next time I looked at her, I saw her stuffing my groceries into plastic bags. I stopped her and explained to her again that I brought reusable bags for her to load with my groceries. So she says "Well, does that mean you don't want plastic bags?" It was all I could do to keep from saying "Duh!" I'm pretty sure God had his hand clapped over my mouth. Apparently she discerned from my face that I didn't want to carry my groceries out in the plastic bags. So, she began stuffing the plastic bags into the reusable bags! I had brought an insulated bag for the turkey. She decided to stuff my fresh veggies into it. I finally asked her "Will there be room in there for my turkey?" She decided that wouldn't work. So, she removed the fresh veggies and put the turkey in there. By that time, I began bagging my own groceries (the ones that were left) into the reusable bags and unloading the plastic bags and moving that stuff into the reusable bags. When she finished ringing everything up, I paid using my debit card. While I was doing that, I'll be darned if she didn't grab the remaining plastic bags with stuff in them and shove them into the reusable bags. 

The sad part is she probably votes too! And, no doubt, is capable of procreating..............