Nothing interesting......

Hello everyone.  I've not done a bit of decorating in our home for Christmas yet but my daughter and son in law have been busy at their home.  This is their mantle,  simple and very pretty.  

I'm working on getting our home clean and doing some reorganizing.  I didn't even make a pretty list of my chores, just a list in the note section of my iPad.  

Some of it is completed but not as much I'd prefer-   So I better get back to work.  

This a busy time of year, isn't it? 

CVS, sunrise and easy breakfasts for the visitors and me

hello everyone- days are busy here so I'll just do a short post to catch up

My CVS haul this week- I used coupons on my CVS app as well as manufacturers coupons and $20 in CVS extracarebucks from previous purchases.  My total went from $89 to $6.00 when everything was subtracted.

2 gallons of milk, 2 mens hair trimmers, 2 boxes hair color, 2 deodorants, 2 juice, 3 facial tissue, 4 bags candy, 1 toothpaste, 1 Duo antacids, 1 vitamin C, and
10 giant KitKats because they were on clearance for 19 cents each. 

And I got back $10 in extracarebucks for my next trip.  

I won't be doing any Black Friday shopping but CVS does have some great specials.  If you'd like to check them out before tomorrow's paper arrives, their ads are always published early at www.iheartcvs.com 

My husband had an early morning appointment at the VA hospital in Oklahoma City this week.
(knee troubles )
 We watched a  beautiful sunrise in the rear view mirrors.  But my photo doesn't do it justice.

This week in the USA, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. 

We will eat our big Thanksgiving meal at our daughter's home and we are taking some of the food.  We will have some  company here, in and out,  for 4 days or so. 

That will include our 8 young grandchildren and I want to visit with all of them when they are here.  So I put on my thinking cap to come up with easy and family friendly meal ideas. 

One evening my husband will grill steaks and turkey sausage,  I'll add baked potatoes and a veggie or 2. 

Lunches will be sandwiches-

Breakfasts will be sweet rolls and breads to heat or toast,  bacon and sausage patties that just need needed and orange juice and milk. 

We bought lunch meat, bacon and sausage all on sale at the commissary as well as ready made orange juice.

The sausage was roll sausage that I sliced and cooked, then packed with layers of parchment between before freezing. 

All the bread products are from Aldi.  Aldi's taste good and are a good price,  even when buying a box full . 

There is also fruit, yogurt and I'll add scrambled eggs if possible. 

In a perfect world,  I would be making everything from scratch and fresh,  but to keep my sanity and keep everyone fed,  we are going to easy this time. 

The 4 oldest local grands already had one sleepover here this week- this is fresh from their showers, all wearing the 25 cent Star War pajamas I got on clearance a while back.  Cousin sleepovers are fun and even more fun when dressed alike

they enjoyed some Aldi doughnuts and precooked bacon for breakfast and all gave it their seal of approval. 

this grand is not much of an eater but he sure liked the doughnuts! 

Happy Thanksgiving to all my USA readers

You're a Grand Old Flag

No politics please. 

My daughter works at a library at a public school.  They had a mock election for the students. 

The local American Legion brought  over 100 flags to decorate.  Hopefully the huge flags inspired and  helped the students be proud of their country.  

That's our 1st grader Elizabeth posing with the flags.  She and little brother JJ were in awe 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

November Giveaway at Sluggy's

Sluggy (Denise) is having another giveaway.  I won one of her giveaways and they are very nice stuff.
You can enter at her blog everyday through Nov. 20.  Please go enter if you fancy some toiletries and candy.  Sluggy's giveaway

kitchen spruce up- so far

good evening everyone!  I had planned to have everything in my kitchen put in it's place before I took pictures, but I live in a real home with real people.  My husband and grandson are here,  I'm cooking our supper and if I don't take photos now,  it won't get done today.

so, here is my real kitchen- not ready for Pinterest but just how it is :)

from one end of my kitchen,  it looks into the formal dining room area
on that ledge is the all jalapenos, bell peppers and a little okra my husband picked today. 
also bubbles for the grandchildren to play with in the backyard

and when you turn around,  this is the breakfast nook that we switched over to where our big appliances are. 

The white cabinet holds play dough and other child things,  flashlights, paper towels,  my scented waxes.....

on top is a basket of snacks,  sometimes fresh fruit and cups and straws

this is the only BEFORE photo I took - half of the plastic containers and probably the most messy of all the cabinets I worked on

  After

the cabinet beside that one also holds more Tupperware- most of it is in baskets that can corral the small pieces and be pulled out for easy retrieval

that same cabinet with the baskets pushed in

Dish cabinet- our everyday dishes- most are white Correlle

on the top shelf are disposable plates and bowls as well as soup mugs

next to it is drinking glasses - not much fancy as most of the grands use sippy type cups.  My husband and I prefer big insulated cups that don't sweat in our humidity. 

Baking cabinet- most of the changes in it were on the top shelf so I can store the new salad spinner there.  The Tupperware canisters hold things like flour, sugar, etc

Below it is the where the stone baking things and pots and pans are

I don't think I changed a thing in the Pyrex cabinet

Below that is sort of a no-man's cabinet.  It has hidden storage about 2 feet deep on the left but it is also very hard to reach. 
Now there are just big things stored there that are easy to access- punch bowl, big platters, cake keeper and dome.
The white basket holds  vases. 

Above the stove is where all the drink containers are

to the right of the stove is this narrow cabinet- it holds small baking pans, a grater and chopper

the lower cabinet under it is narrow too.  it holds skillets on one shelf and unbreakable baking pans

the next spot is a nook where the refrigertator is supposed to be. 

Now that upper cabinet holds just glass jars and lids- before it was a just a jumble of junk. 

underneath it is the lower cabinet we added. 
It has a lot of storage and I keep cutting boards,  baking pans and sheets there. I like that the cabinet is tall enough to stand them up like library books.  It makes it easy to retrieve one. 

our kitchen has 2 pantries.  This one holds food top to bottom and I think it is about as full as possible

the bottom part of the food pantry

just across from it is what was supposed to be a broom closet but we add extra shelves and now it holds appliances like a meat slicer, fryer, crock pots, mixer......also medicine and cleaning products on high shelves

I really was cooking supper and I let the spaghetti sauce bubble a bit more than normal- must of happened while I was taking photos.  No harm done, though

I baked a lemon chess pie from the King Arthur site for our supper.  It is delicious but just too rich.  I don't recommend it unless someone just wants a very heavy, rich dessert. 
When we ate,  my husband and grandson and I together ate about 1/4 of it and it was truly all we wanted.  We all are big dessert fans too but this one is very satisfying. 

So,  if you got this far, then you are really interested in other people's kitchens :) 

if you have a question about how I store anything, Ill try to answer. 

Have a good new week, everyone~

Cooking and thrfiting and a little chitchat

hello everyone.  I'm still working on my kitchen but I don't have any photos to share.  I'll try to take them and do that tomorrow.  I did deliver 7 containers of stuff to a thrift store and I have a shopping bag full of my daughter's things to return to her. All of that freed up so much  lot of space.

I cooked a new recipe this week and it was so good!  It's also quick and on thrifty side and is reasonably healthy.   I looked at several similar recipes online for Korean Beef Rice bowls and changed it up to suit the ingredients I have and like----

Korean Beef Rice Bowls 

1 pound of lean ground beef

1/2 onion- diced

2 carrots grated 

3 T low sodium soy sauce

6 T sweet chili sauce 

Brown the beef and drain.  

Add the veggies and cook till softened. 

Add the 2 sauces and some black pepper and cook on low until heated.  

Serve on top of hot cooked rice 

That's it!  

I bought the sweet chili sauce in the Asian section at Walmart.  It is a little sweet, but not nearly as sweet as  sweet and sour sauce, and it is HOT.  So this dish made with this sauce is probably not for children or people who don't like spicy.  

The sweet chili sauce is supposedly what Panda Express uses for their sweet fire chicken.  

More veggies would be good in this like zucchini or celery or bell peppers or water chestnuts. 

My son and I visited a thrift store today and found a few treasures.  

4 Rubber stamps for me- not a necessity but aren't they cute?  I think total they were $7

2 yards of fabric - it's cute too!  but I bought it because of its sentimentality.

This fabric is from a children's clothing factory that used to be in our town.  They sold their extra fabric twice a year and I always went to the sale as things were priced so cheap and it was all very nice quality.  I made an apron from this fabric way back then and I wore it often. 

One of my children would also put on this apron, and tie a bandana on their head, whenever we were doing chores.  - what drama but a fun memory. 

My son was looking for plaid fabric to make a swag for an archway for his apartment for Christmas. 

He didn't find enough fabric but he did find a plaid dust ruffle for just $1.50 as the linens were 1/2 price.  He cut off the plaid part with my fabric scissors and will try it out in his space for size.  He ended up with many yards of nice plaid but it may be too narrow so I may need to do some simple sewing to adjust it. 

He also ordered some things from Pottery Barn and had it delivered to our house.  That is fine with me because we will now get their catalogs in the mail..
Pottery Barn says plaid is the in thing for Christmas decorating this year. 

I can't imagine I will order anything myself but the PB catalogs do have lots of good ideas and pretty photos.  I'll enjoy looking at them. 

My Texas brother recently came to Oklahoma and stayed with my parents. 
So, I took supper to them one night. 
Chicken and Stovetop stuffing casserole - it was baked in pyrex and transferred to plastic for traveling
Baked carrots
Loaf of bread made in ABM
sugar free orange jello with mandarin oranges
and a rustic but delicious blackberry pie made with some of my freezer pie crusts.  One of the crusts "broke" so I used it for the top crust and just went with it

I'll take kitchen cabinet photos tomorrow- I am really happy with how better my kitchen is working. 
Have a good sleep and a good Sunday everyone

Day 2 of kitchen ship-shape

I spent a lot of my free time yesterday and today working in the kitchen.  I think I've got rid of all th trash as well as 3 sacks and 2 boxes full of stuff to be donated .......

And these currently unused dishes were stored in hard to reach spots so I packed them up and they will go to my husband's backyard work building.  Instead of using tape to label the tubs (tape might fall off after a few years) I wrote the tub contents on sheets of paper and put them inside the  clear tubs.  Those should stay in place 👍

That's about the extent of my progress.  There is cleaning to still be done and a bit more organizing.  

Now, my cabinets are nothing like a game of Jenga.  Everything is easy to see and take out or put back.  

I heard on the radio that for the first time, more homes with 3 car garages are being built than 1 bedroom apartments.  They said it was because more multi-generational families are living together and that's why we have bigger homes. 

Nope, I don't think that's why.  I think people want bigger homes because they have so much stuff! 😂

What do you think?  

a plastic canvas gift. a supper oops and my EEK! kitchen situation

well- I'm still having blogger app problems so I am typing this on our desktop. 

this is my latest craft project- a plastic canvas Headdress for my father in law- to replace the one I made him about 20 years ago.  The top on is the new one and the bottom on is the old one.  The red yarn on the old one faded to off-white. 

He will hang it off the rear view mirror in his pick-up.   

Last night's supper- first we had a big green salad.  Then I planned to serve sloppy joes with some sloppy joe filling that I froze a couple months ago.  But when I heated it up,  it just didn't seem right.  I already had the buns toasted so we just put slices of cheese in them and served it with the spinach and corn that was ready. 
It was OK- and much better than cooking something else or going out. 

my kitchen right now- there is too much stuff on the counters because there is too much stuff in the cabinets and pantrys.  I have some free time over the next 4-5 days so my plan is to clean and organize every kitchen storage area. 
I want my kitchen to be useable and happy again.  This is a perfect time to get organized too with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner. 

so by weekend's end, I hope to have it all done and have after photos to share with you all.