Monday to do list

Here is my weekly to do list.  After 2 very busy weeks, this week is much less scheduled.

We were able to pick some wild plums yesterday, what we call Oklahoma Sand Plums.  They are not good to just eat raw, but when cooked down for their pretty pink juice, Sand Plums make wonderful jelly.   Both of my Oklahoma grandmothers, my aunts and my mom all made Sand Plum jelly and it is truly a family favorite.  It was the only jelly one of my brothers and many of my cousins would eat.

 I washed our 5 gallons of sand plums last night.  Then today, I simmered them until they released their juice and strained them.   I hade one big pot full, one medium pot full and 2 little pans full.  It just seemed better to cook them all at once.  

I ended with enough juice to make at least 4 batches of jelly.  Yum!   

I've had already several requests from family members who hope I will share.  Of course I will and we may be able to pick more plums in a few days when they have finished ripening.  

The downside of all this cooking is the cleanup to do afterward.  

The stovetop was a mess but cleaned up without much effort 

And my trusty dishwasher washed 3 loads today!  

Hope you all had a good Monday! 

CVS - Last week of August 2015

I don't think I've shopped at CVS in 2 or more weeks.  Their sales were just not things I needed. 

But this week's ad interested me and I had $10 Extra Care bucks to use. 

Instead of writing out the sales I want to do, I started clipping out the ad sections I like and use a smear of glue stick to mount them on a sheet of paper.  I also paper clip the coupons for the deals, any ECBs and my CVS card to this list.

The key to getting good deals is be organized.  

Below is what I bought - I actually bought everything I planned too. 

Colgate toothpaste was free after the redbox $2 coupon and $1 coupon in today's paper.

The beverages are 2/$2 and give a $2 ECB.  My husband drank part of the Gatorade on the way home from church.

Any Tums are part of the Zantac deal- buy any 2 and get $5 ECB.  Each roll was $1.49 and I got back a total of $10 ECB.  So on these, I got back more than I paid.  

The Excedrin are spend $20, get back $10.  Excedrin works for me when I get a headache and with the coupons in today's paper, I really liked this deal. 

I spent a total of $15.24 in cash and got back $22 in ECBs.  

A little baking and some littles painting

When I rummaged around the fridge for produce yesterday, I found this never opened pint of heavy cream.  It was hiding on a middle shelf way in the back.  It was almost a month out of date but I was brave and opened it.  The cream was just fine so I mixed up a double batch of a tried and true biscuit. 

  Biscuits 

I've made this recipe many times.  I keep the biscuits in the freezer and then just take out how many I need to bake for a breakfast.  The recipe uses cream instead of milk and shortening and is very quick to mix up.  

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  I was wanting to bake something from the Mary Berry cookbook I showed in the previous post and I picked this very simple Fork Cookies recipe.  I doubled the recipe and added some vanilla.  

This dough mixes up fast and was in the oven baking in very little time.  

We packed some in a tin for our house and some in a jar for my parents. 

I like this recipe a lot, it makes a nice butter cookie.  It was not the grands favorite cookie though, they didn't think the Fork Cookies were sweet.  

4 of the grands had a Friday night sleepover here. 

We had homemade pizza and fruit for supper.  Then we walked down to a little pond in our neighborhood where the children climbed in a big tree and threw sticks into the pond and just had fun.

 With supervision from their uncle, they painted a dozen Sun Catchers from a kit.  It was a good project for the older 2.  The younger 2 enjoyed painting 1 each and then they were off to play.  

Use what you have

Hello everyone

We shopped at the commissary last Saturday and I haven't been to any grocery store since then.  While our pantry and freezer are still pretty full, I knew we had used all the bananas, grapes, melon, leaf and romaine lettuce.  Grand children will be here today and maybe more family for supper so I wondered if I should go shopping. 

I looked to see what was in the fridge.  I found about half a pound of strawberries that were still fresh so I washed and quartered them.  

Then I found 5 nice oranges so I peeled and separated them. That will be plenty of fruit for today. 

There was only a quarter head of iceberg lettuce and I knew that would not make a family sized salad but when I added half a bell pepper, 4 shredded carrots, some purple cabbage, red onions and tomatoes, it turned out to be a very nice sized and delicious looking salad.  

So,  I don't have to go the store today!  

I also mixed up pizza dough in the bread machine.  It will hang out in the fridge all day until I make pizzas for supper.  

I'm sure I will shop for produce tomorrow to get through next week but I feel so thrifty using what we already had for today's meals. 

I've been looking through this recipe book.  One of the authors is Mary Berry.  We have become a big fan of hers by watching The Great British Bake Off on PlayOn on Roku.  I think it is in the 6th season now.  Some of the episodes are also on YouTube.  Australia and Scotland also have versions of the Bake Off and they are good too - much better than the American version that aired here in the summer of 2014.  

The British version focuses on the baking skills and the history of different baking traditions.  It is also a family friendly show.  But it will make you want to go in the kitchen and whip up some scones or croissants. 

Yesterday,  baby Jackson was my laundry folding helper.  He was happy while I was moving all the laundry around as I folded it but by the time I decided to take a photo, he was tired of it all.  

How yesterday went

These 3 little cousins spent all day with me.  Two are 3 years old and one is 2 years.  

After they got here,  we went for a long walk in our neighborhood and they climbed on some rock piles.  Exercise and fresh air are good for children,  I think it helps them sleep better, eat better and just be healthier.  

After that walk, they played on riding toys in our driveway.  

We came inside after 2 hours of outdoor fun.  We washed up and then it was time for play dough.  

Then we had lunch and watched one episode of Daniel Tiger.  

Nap time!  They all slept at the same time but only for 90 minutes or so.  

They moved on to doing some art.  Little ones love stickers and I have a good supply of them, much of them are from my Mom's downsizing.  

Snack time - apple slices, string cheese and juice drinks.  

A couple of selfies from our walk - the grands picked these beautiful flowers for me.  Shhh- don't tell them they really just picked some Oklahoma weeds.  

It was a fun day, and I slept quite well last night.  I expect the 3 little cousins did too.  

grands coming today!

3 preschooler cousins will be here today.  I think the weather will be pleasant enough for lots of outdoor play.  

Indoors- I set out 3 babies, all with their own blanket and bottle.  Toddlers are not fond of sharing but we are working on it.  

Stickers, big crayons and poster board for art time 

An assortment of spill proof cups so they can each choose - and a dry erase marker so Grandma can remember who's is who's.  

The planes, motorcycles and construction vehicles are ready for play!  They will be flown and driven all over the house by the little boys.  

Yesterday. I did some food prep- cooking 4 pounds of ground beef into taco meat filling.  Some will be for supper tonight and 2 meal size containers went into the freezer for future meals.  

And I got some fresh fruit ready for either lunch or supper today.  

It will be a fun and busy day.  It will be easier with some preparations done ahead.  

This week's to do list

Hello everyone!  I didn't mean to stay gone so long.  July and August have  just been busy.  I spent lots of time with my 7 grands.  The 2 new babies are so precious and the 2 oldest are now both in public school full time when the new school year started last week and the 3 in the middle are wonderful and keep us all on our toes.  

July was also doctor appointment month as I saw my doctor, eye doctor and dentist.  I needed a filling, my first in many years, and I needed new glasses.  I am glad all my appointments had good results but they sure use a lot of time.  

The other big event is my parents just moved to our town into a brand new and beautiful retirement home.  They grew up in Oklahoma but have lived in East Texas for more than 50 years.  So they are happy to return to Oklahoma and especially happy to be so close now to their grands and great grands.  They are still unpacking and decorating but I hope to post some pictures when their apartment is photo-ready.  

This is my first pretty to do list after a 3 week break.  

The purple polka dot fabric tape is from Dollar Tree.  The designs are made with rubber stamps. 

I did a little CVS shopping over my blog break but not much.  Frankly, we are stocked up on most all drugstore products.  But I may go this week for a few things and I will sure blog about them if I do.  

Have a good week everyone!  I not only didn't blog for the last 3 weeks,  I have not read many blogs either,  now I hope to catch up with you all.