Soldiering On

It takes a while for things to sink in sometimes.  For all my talk of the luxury of leisurely sunrises viewed from a front porch seating and snuggling for naps into a comfy chair, I am a driven woman.  And this week as I struggle to recover from this illness, I've come to a sorry realization:  I'm not focused on the right battle!

I've been fretting over laundry and vacuumed floors, and dishes and meals and bills, and the need to grocery shop and who needs me to be where and when.  But the truth is I'm not up to it.  Not all at once.  Some of it, not at all.  As I dragged myself from one activity to another yesterday, weak with weariness, I asked myself "Why are you struggling so.  Just battle through this!" 

And then I had that revelation, a God whisper, that asked "What do soldiers in battle DO?"  "Well, they fight!"  "What do they fight?"  "They fight the enemy.  They fight for their life.  They fight to return home."  "And what are you battling?"  Meals.  Laundry.  Other's expectations.  My own stubborn refusal to acknowledge illness.   I'd just the night before picked up one of those vintage homemaking magazines I love and found a plea to wives and mothers to keep concerns and petty annoyances and household problems out of their letters to their soldiering men.  And here I was presenting my battling body with a list of concerns that are neither here nor there in relation to the battle I was fighting. 

I'm sick.  I don't want to be sick.  But my body is demanding a bit of time and attention, obviously something I've been denying it for some time.  And just to prove it's determination to make me focus, I've been presented with a new outbreak.  So the dishes will wait.  The laundry will get done and the floors will be swept, eventually, by someone.  But I'm taking a bit of a break just now from all of it.  I'm going to nap when I feel the need and rest and forget elaborate meals.  And I'm going to take care of myself so I can truly 'soldier on'.

A Year of Savings - May 13 & 14

May 13:  Milking It.  We were running low on milk this morning when we had our cereal.  No problem, I made my own bowl a 'parfait' instead, using plain yogurt and bits of dried fruit with the usual cereal flakes.  No problem later either, when I used sour cream to moisten a dish that called for milk.  Oh we'll have to buy some sooner rather than later.  But in the meantime, we've saved a trip into town and the cost of a gallon of milk.  Savings: $4.61

May 14:  Waste Not.  The Mozzarella I bought had neared it's expiration date.  I didn't chance letting it go to waste.  I shredded it and put it right into the freezer.  It will be handy for pizza topping later on.  I realized that I'd just created a 'convenience food' from potential waste.  Here I have 'pre-shredded' Italian cheese which typically costs a bit more than a chunk of cheese.  It took only a couple of minutes and a little effort to save the difference in price of shredded over chunk: about $2.

Total for May 1-7:  $68.05

Total for May 8-14:  $419.61

Sunny and Cheerful

Last week as I was going through one of my vintage magazines I came across the following quote:

Marriage may be made in heaven, but many a one is unmade at the breakfast table.

The quote was in an article on the appropriate furnishings for a dining/breakfast room and recommended that homemakers have a sunny, cheerful spot to serve a meal.  Now that is not easy when the husband leaves well before sunrise!  But certainly there are any number of things that might make the first meal of the day a cheerful experience and one to be looked forward to.

I pondered on that a bit.  You see, Chance tells me often that many of the women with whom he works laugh at the idea that he is served breakfast each morning prior to leaving for work.  They honestly don't believe that he's telling the truth.  I'm sure they'll be shocked to find out that indeed he is telling the whole truth and nothing but!

I truly believe that how we start the day can change the course of how we finish it up.  Start off the day with accusations and quarrels and anger and you'll likely have a bum day to go with the raw start and more harsh words to finish the day off when you're back home.  So a pleasant peaceful tone is what we strive for in our home, especially in the morning hours. 

The best ways to assure that are as follows.  A good night's sleep.  A reliable alarm clock to help  rise on time.  Laying out clothing the night before.  Gathering items that need to go with you daily in one spot, where they may be easily retrieved prior to walking out of the door. A good breakfast.

I know several who'd tell me that they can manage all but the very last thing: the good breakfast.  But really breakfast need not be a tediously prepared meal with a huge mess left behind.  It takes only a few minutes to scramble eggs and make toast, or to serve a bowl of cereal with fruit.  But boredom will make breakfast seem a tedious thing too.   I try to keep a running list of menus for breakfast.

Peanut butter toast (with the addition of fresh peaches, apple slices or bananas for a change) is nutritious and easy to make.  But cream cheese spread on toasted bread is equally as tasty and here too adding fruit is nice (sliced strawberries, crushed pineapple, orange marmalade).  You can use a pancake or english muffin or bagel instead of toast. 

Scrambled eggs may be varied by serving them with the addition of cream cheese and chives or shredded cheddar.  Every now and then I'll toss in some browned sausage or bacon bits with the cheddar cheese.  And if time allows, an omelet takes only a few moments longer to prepare than the scrambled eggs.

On weekends I make french toast, biscuits, muffins and/or pancakes and set a few aside for the coming week.  Then I'll cook extra bacon or sausage, as well.  Now all I need do is reheat in the microwave for a minute or two at most and a ready made hot breakfast is at hand, easily prepared and ready well before time for Chance to leave home.

Breakfast sandwiches are tasty.  On toast or English muffin half, hollow out center slightly then pour in a beaten small to medium egg.  On second slice of bread (or other half of muffin) put slices of cheese and ham.  Bake until egg is set and cheese has melted.  These require a little extra time but are worth the effort if you do have time.  And if not, then make a scrambled or fried egg sandwich of toast, prepared eggs and cheese.  Put in the microwave for a moment or two.  The same fillings in a warm tortilla or English muffin are just as delicious and filling.

I make up a variety of muffins: banana nut, blueberry, strawberry, oatmeal raisin, or even chocolate chip and top with streusel or sprinkle on plain sugar to give them a flavorful topping.  But every now and then I like to make something unusual like a sausage muffin cup.  I line muffin tins with bulk sausage meat (ham or bologna slices may be pushed into the cup form as well) then crack into the meat liner and top with cheese.  Bake until egg is set and cheese melted.  These little meat muffins are easily warmed in the microwave and are tasty as can be. 

Any of these breakfasts will be welcomed by your family and help to insure that their day is off to a sunny and cheerful start.

Menu Plan Monday

I didn't prepare all of my planned meals last week.  So we'll lead out with the one I just can't do without, especially since I baked a chicken yesterday while Chance was at church and he in turn, brought home deli fried chicken,lol.  Good thing I had a chance to plan menus while he was gone!

Monday:  Chicken Pot Pie, Peach Salad, Whole Steamed Green Beans, Cranberry Sauce, Vanilla Ice cream

I'd love to have a proper pastry crust for the chicken pot pie, but I'm not really up to playing hard in the kitchen just yet.  I'll settle for that easy pour on topping of 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, half a stick of butter.  It makes a nice thick gravy over the chicken and vegetables and is so good.

Tuesday:  Italian Pepper Steak Sandwiches, Chips, Fresh Grapes   

Years ago Daddy told Mama about a sandwich he'd eaten from an Italian vendor who sold lunches to workmen.  Thin slices of beef, peppers and onions with a special sauce on Onion rolls.  Well Mama was a great one for playing with food in the kitchen (now you know where I get it from!) and came up with an easy home version that Daddy approved of.  She used thin slices of breakfast steak and bottled Italian dressing to get the sauce just right.  Easy peasy and so good.  I have some thin slices of leftover roast and I'll use that instead.  Yummy!

Wednesday:  $ menu at the local BK before church and after a visit to the grocery and library.  We're combining errands here to save on gas. 

Thursday:  Pork Fried Rice, Homemade Egg Rolls, Homemade sweet and sour sauce, Canned Pineapple Chunks

This is an economical meal.  I'll use some pork chops that were more bone than meat to provide the pork, and whatever vegetables we have on hand to make the fried rice.  And pre-shredded coleslaw mix bought on sale to make the eggrolls.  I still have wrappers from our last  venture in making our own.  

That canned pineapple is going to do double duty.  The pineapple chunks will be our dessert, served chilled with a sprinkling of shredded coconut and  chopped maraschino cherries.  The juice I drain from the can will make the sweet and sour sauce.  I got this super easy recipe from the back of a bag of frozen egg rolls years ago.  Combine 6 ounces pineapple juice with 2 tbsps of catsup and 1 tbsp of cornstarch.  Mix well then cook over low heat until thickened.  Very tasty and who needs to buy a bottle of the stuff to eat with egg rolls when it's this easy?

Friday:  3Cheese Pizza, Green Salad, Ice Cream Sundaes    

I'm ready for a pan of homemade pizza.  This near the end of the pay period we don't have so many fresh veggies on hand.  So we'll have a green salad and skip the usual vegetable toppings on the pizza.

Saturday:  Split Pea Soup, Homemade Croutons, Brownies   

Chance requested this meal especially.  He wanted grilled cheese sandwiches to go alongside, but I'll save him a piece of cheese pizza if he feels he wants it.  I had a some meaty chunks of ham in the freezer and I cooked them with the bag of split peas. 

Sunday:  Loin of Pork with Pan Roasted Vegetables, 24 hour salad, Buttermilk Sheet Cake

Potatoes, carrots, onions are roasted with the pork loin.  A 24hour layered salad of lettuce, radishes, frozen peas, and mushrooms will be made Saturday afternoon.  And for dessert a Buttermilk Sheet cake.  Mama took the standard 'Texas Brownies' recipe and left out the cocoa and cinnamon.  It made a tasty, moist, tender vanilla cake.  With the boiled chocolate frosting on top it's very good, especially if served warm. 

A Year of Savings: May 8 - 12

May 8:  A loaf of bread, a jug of wine...  Omar had the right idea and I'm here to wholeheartedly agree.  There's nothing better than a picnic luncheon for two!  We traveled out of town last week and we stopped for two picnic lunches, one on our way and one on our return.  The weather was lovely, sunny and breezy and the company perfection.    Our second picnic required the purchase of a few food items to complete it, since we'd depleted our supplies during our trip down and our stay.  But I think we did very well overall.  Total expenses out of pocket for two lunches and two suppers (we did eat breakfast out) was just $7.  Gracious, we saved a bundle, nearly enough to pay for our night at the hotel!  Total savings $80 for four meals we might have eaten at a restaurant.

May 9:  Perks:   I think it's absolutely wonderful that these days hotels provide a coffee pot and coffee so you can prepare your own right in the room.  What with the continental breakfasts offered you can save a nice amount of money right there in your hotel room.  And what can better than waking to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee?  That part comes under the priceless heading...Total savings: $8 the cost of two cups of coffee and two blueberry muffins from the local coffee shop.

May 10:  Owie.  I came down with a painful malady while we were out of town.  A malady that required a visit to the local ER on Saturday and a follow-up visit to the drug store after.  Fear of medical expenses can leave you reeling.  Fortunately having worked in the hospital environment and a doctor's office I've learned a few tricks.  If you don't have medical insurance tell them so right away.  Many doctors order tests to confirm their diagnosis even though they are pretty sure what is going on with the patient.  Add up the cost of bloodwork and xrays and on site pharmacy supplies and you're adding a whole lot of pretty pennies to an otherwise reasonable bill (about $100 for a straightforward visit).  Typical mark-ups for pharmaceuticals alone are 200-300%.  So a single dose of Tylenol that you might have taken at home is going to cost you more than the large economy sized bottle!

Fortunately I saw a doctor who respected the out of pocket expense to her patient.  She offered me her opinion of my condition and prescribed medications and sent me home.  No labwork fees, no pharmacy charges.  I'm sure that alone reduced my hospital bill by $200.

The follow-up visit at the pharmacy could have been another scenario for a nightmare.  Again the local pharmacist is all too familiar with the high cost of prescription drugs for the uninsured.  She recommended generic medicines and  and saved me another $100.

May 11.  Unsatisfactory Service.  Our satellite is out again.  Remember we just had it repaired Friday was a week ago after a week's outage?  We are not happy.  Granted we've had our system for over ten years.  And we've had no trouble with it whatsoever except the occasional buildup of static in the system, relieved by unplugging for 30 seconds then allowing the system to reboot itself.   However, after losing one week's service and now facing another three days without service, I was a bit upset.  After all we pay a lot of money for our service.  Losing 1/3 of the month due to service problems means I'm paying for service I'm not getting.

When I called to report the outage yesterday, I asked if we could get a discount for the portion of the month we didn't have service.  It never hurts to ask!  I'm so glad I did.  First I was offered three months free of a movie channel package.  I declined.  If we'd wanted that package we'd have ordered it already.  And I'm sure the company is very hopeful that accepting the package you'll find it's something you can't live without after the free period is over.  No, that just wasn't for me.

Then the representative said she could offer me one other alternative: $5 off service for the next three months.  That's a total savings of $15.

May 12:  Send Me No Flowers:  What with shopping earlier than usual (prior to last pay period's end) and being out of town etc, I've not made my usual pay period run to the grocery.  And being under the weather yesterday, I stayed home from church to recuperate.  I had all I need at hand.  But I sure did miss that bi-weekly flower purchase.  Well there's no way I can justify asking my family to buy me flowers during one of the holidays when flower prices soar...but thankfully my own flower border netted me 1 dozen of the prettiest, most fragrant roses to arrange in my old creamers.  And I saved the cost of my usual bi-weekly purchases: $10.