3/30/2011

Last week we spent with our kids and it was a great week. On Monday we visited Carter Caves in eastern Kentucky and went to Ashland for the day. Tuesday we went to Louisville to have dinner with my husband's family. Wednesday we went to Maysville KY and walked around the old town there. Thursday we went to the Creation Museum in Petersburg KY. Friday we went to Lexington shopping. Saturday we went to the Amish store near our house. Sunday Daniel & Larissa went home.

We did a lot of eating out at little places in small towns. We ate at C.J. Maggie's http://www.cj-maggies.com/ in Ashland. I had one of the biggest sandwiches I had ever tried to eat and it was delicious. I didn't really care for their homemade chips, but didn't have enough room to eat them anyway. Larissa had a calzone, Daniel had a fish sandwich, Greg had a 3 pigs and a chicken. It was all really good and really big. And the prices were very reasonable.

We ate at Pasquale's in Maysville. Again there was too much food and very reasonable prices. It is an Italian restaurant. The food was pretty good, not as good as Olive Garden but for the price it comes in really close.

We did go to Olive Garden, a Chinese restaurant in Louisville, Long John Silvers and Eduardo's. It's been a long time since we have eaten out so much. I did manage to bake a turkey, cook pork roast and rice, shredded pork bbq, and fried chicken with the trimmings. I think I gained 10 pounds over the week.

We did have a lot of fun with the grand girls. They were fun together. I don't know if you know what a "tickle hill" is, but they both do. They are little hills that kinda of make your stomach flop when you go over them fast. They both begged for tickle hills when we went out. It was pretty funny.

All in all it was a great week and we are pretty tired from it all. It is Wednesday now and I think I am about to get caught up.

Mae

3/11/2011

We are excited that our son Daniel and his wife Larissa and daughter Dixie are coming for a visit. It's been 5 months since we have seen them and can't wait for them to get here.

I know have been posting about deals and coupons a lot lately. I do not intend to turn my blog into a coupon blog, even though I am a big fan of several coupon blogs. But, I can't help but pass on a good deal when I see one. I am here to help my kids save as much money as possible, and that's what my blog is really for, my kids. I haven't stopped being a mother and I never will. It is one of the most precious, enjoyable jobs I've ever had. So if it seems as if I blog about a lot of different topics, I do. It's all about things I want my children and grandchildren to know.

Our farming is kind of at a stand still right now. We got rid of all of our goats. Being away from home for such long hours during the day didn't leave much time to take care of animals. Until we find a way for one of us to stay home or work closer to home we just can't have goats. We are considering raising a couple of pigs and maybe a couple of cows but not until maybe next year.

In general we are rethinking what we are trying to do. We want to raise a lot of our food. So this means more than just meat. We never intended to eat goats so I really don't know why we started out with them. I do like them as pets and I know people all over the world love to eat them...I'm just not one of those people.

We are considering some new garden ideas. We are thinking about turning our current garden into a strawberry patch and starting a new garden a little further back on the property. I also want to plant some rhubarb next to the strawberry patch. We would also like to plant a few more fruit trees this year. If we can get the fruits and vegetables established then moving onto animals will make more sense to us.

We are also looking for some more chickens. Our flock has dwindled a little and we aren't producing as many eggs as before. We are going to buy some that are about 19 weeks old instead of baby chicks. It cost quite a bit of money to raise that chicken for 20 weeks until it starts laying. So we are going to pay a little more for the grown chickens instead of feeding chicks.

I am also looking into raising worms. I will post more about this later.

Have a great weekend!
Mae

Great Deal

Just letting you know about a great deal next week.

Walgreen's will have the new Purex Crystals Softener for $4.99 and you will get a Register Reward for $2.00. There will be a $2.00 coupon in this Sunday's paper. You will spend $2.99 and get $2.00 back to use on your next purchase. This makes the Crystals only $.99. That's a good deal.

Clean Enough

Why have we gotten so afraid of germs? Okay, I know no one wants to be sick. But do you really want to live in a bubble? It amazes me that now there is an automatic soap dispenser for your home. We use paper towels to clean our homes, antibacterial wipes to wipe everything. I think we have succumbed to the fear that the advertisers have fed us.

I mean we really do need some germs. And our septic system will not work if we fill it full of antibacterial cleansers and bleach.

I have to admit I keep a little thing of antibacterial hand cleaner in my purse, but I very seldom use it. Is washing your hands with regular old soap and warm water, not good enough? Can we not clean our homes with cleaning rags and vinegar? How can we afford to continue buying all of these germ killing apparatus? With the way prices are rising can we really afford everything that comes out on the market to kill germs.

Here are a few ways I kill germs without breaking the bank and how often I do them.

Wash your hands after sneezing, coughing, touching food, using the restroom or touching animals or their waste. Use clean warm water; apply soap; rub your fingers and hands together for 20 seconds (sing Happy Birthday twice); rinse with clean warm water; dry with a clean towel.

Use the “Sanitize” setting on your dishwasher (if someone is sick).

Use a cloth soaked in vinegar & warm water to wipe down counters and surfaces that come in contact with food. I usually do this at least once a week. Dry with a clean towel.

Wash kitchen towels and cloths in warm water with 1 cup of vinegar added. Line dry, if possible. If someone has been sick I will use hot water.

Clean the toilet by adding 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes. Scrub with toilet brush and flush. My toilet has never looked better than when I started doing this.

For Christmas my husband got me a steam mop. I love it. I use it to mop my floors, clean my kitchen cabinet doors, blast the mildew off the bathtub; I even cleaned my washer and dryer with it. I don’t know but I would think something that was cleaned with steam would be pretty much germ free. Anyway it’s a lot cheaper than all the cleansers I used to buy. I do still buy some cleansers, if I get a really good deal on them, but I use them sparingly. I can’t seem to get the vinegar to work on glass as well as glass cleaner does.

I guess the main point I am getting at is there are a lot cheaper ways to kill germs than buying all the antibacterial stuff.

I think you still have to do what you can live with, but I encourage you to research other/cheaper ways to clean and kill germs.

Mae

Roasted Rosemary Chicken & Potatoes

You all probably know by now how much I love my slow cooker. It is a wonderful thing to come home at the end of the day and have dinner all ready. The recipe below is one I adapted from Taste of Home Magazine for the slow cooker. Man does this smell really good when you walk through the door!

Roasted Rosemary Chicken & Potatoes

• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary or 2 tablespoons dried rosemary, crushed
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 whole roasting chicken (5 to 6 pounds)
• 6 small red potatoes, halved
• 6 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 medium onions, quartered

In a small saucepan, melt butter; stir in the seasonings. Place potatoes, carrots, and onions in the bottom of your slow cooker. Drizzle with half the butter mixture. Place chicken breast side up on top of the vegetables. Drizzle remaining butter mixture over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat for 7 hours.

Yield: 9 servings.

I think I am going to make this, this week. It is soooo yummy!

3/9/2011

One time when I was maybe 5 or so, daddy took me fishing. I remember that it was on a Saturday. I don’t remember where all the rest of the kids were but, I know that my next to the oldest brother, Bill was at work. The rest of the kids could have been fishing with us or they may have been somewhere with their friends. I just remember going fishing at the pond across the dirt road next to the house. It was the first memory I have of actually catching fish. I caught 3 and that was all the fish that was caught. Daddy and I took them home and cleaned them and put them in the fridge.

Then Mama, Daddy & me went to town, grocery shopping. I was really excited about mama cooking those 3 fish for me for dinner that night. I could almost taste them. And the thought of having 3 fish all to myself was almost more than I could stand. You see we were a large family living on a very small budget and we didn’t get a whole lot of meat, very little desserts or candy, and not many snacks.

When we got home I ran in the front door and Bill was sitting at the table eating. He had cooked my 3 fish (probably because it was the only thing to eat in the house), and was eating them! I couldn’t believe it! He ate my fish! All three of them!

Of course, it was really hard to stay mad at Bill; after all he was my chair! I sat in his lap to eat dinner, we didn’t have enough chairs, and to ride in the car when we all went somewhere together. So, I guess I owed him those 3 fish.

Another Link

This is a link for Groupon. Groupon offers discounted daily deals. I have purchased several and it has worked out well for me. My most recent one was Redbox, 3 movie rentals for $1.00. That is a great deal.

If you use my link and sign up through it, I get credit.

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu4439934

Enjoy!

3/3/2011

Here is a link for a coupon on Purex Complete Crystals. If you'd like to give it a try, a coupon will come in handy.

http://www.purex.com/MXTQEPZOXYOMU3756AXODMQMFIYLHZ

Enjoy!