Name three things - 2017

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Winchester

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Well, it wasn't what we were really looking for. We were looking for something to make toast. And grilled cheese sandwiches and the like. It didn't keep good time; the clock was about 7 minutes faster than anything else in the kitchen. It took ten minutes for three slices of toast (I think that was more my fault; I didn't realize that the temp had to be turned up to 450 F to do toast and nowhere in the instruction manual did it say that!). I don't know how long it took to toast Rick's bagel because he gave up on it and ate it, semi-toasted, meaning....warm. He wasn't amused. I baked a casserole and, after the 30-minute time period, it could have gone at least another 15 minutes or so. I baked a cake in it and at 350 F, what normally took about 45 minutes to bake, took not even 30 minutes in the toaster oven; the streusel on top of the cake was burned into the cake. And, at that point, Rick said, "Enough!" And we took it back. We bought a cheap toaster and let it go at that. FWIW, the toaster works beautifully. :lol: (I was looking for something that would bake a cake in the summer without having to heat up the regular oven. And then Rick said to me, "Dear, you have a double oven; why don't you just use the smaller oven to bake your cakes?" :paperbag: I guess the answer to that is because I'm a idiot and don't think about it.) So that's the story on the toaster oven.
  • Breakfast for the kids, 3.25 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, grabbed a shower (I was going to stop at the library on my way into work this morning, but there's a real sleet storm outside and I didn't want to deal with it.)
  • Go to the library at lunch. I also must go to the place where Rick's mother got her hearing aids to get some batteries for her.
  • I have the county planning commission meeting after work this afternoon.
  • Must grab a few groceries.
  • Scoop the boxes
  • Rick's mom's Kindle Paperwhite should be coming today....I'll have to figure out how to use it so I can show her! (We got it for her as an early Christmas present.) And we also have to figure out how she can keep somebody at the nursing home from stealing the thing (I hate to be pessimistic, but well, things do disappear sometimes).
  • Try to stay awake long enough to watch Lucifer at 8:00.
 

muffy

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in these kind of situations, i find myself thinking of the things i'm grateful for -- like that i have two upright freezers and a spare fridge! so i haven't had a single thing go bad from the kitchen fridge or it's freezer. oh, it's quite inconvenient to be sure/,


I would love to have an extra freezer but I just don't have room in my tiny kitchen. The freezer that comes with the fridge is just not big enough for me. My mother had a small freezer for me but like I said I just didn't have the room.

How do you make your own soda?

Ellen
 

Kat0121

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Well, it wasn't what we were really looking for. We were looking for something to make toast. And grilled cheese sandwiches and the like. It didn't keep good time; the clock was about 7 minutes faster than anything else in the kitchen. It took ten minutes for three slices of toast (I think that was more my fault; I didn't realize that the temp had to be turned up to 450 F to do toast and nowhere in the instruction manual did it say that!). I don't know how long it took to toast Rick's bagel because he gave up on it and ate it, semi-toasted, meaning....warm. He wasn't amused. I baked a casserole and, after the 30-minute time period, it could have gone at least another 15 minutes or so. I baked a cake in it and at 350 F, what normally took about 45 minutes to bake, took not even 30 minutes in the toaster oven; the streusel on top of the cake was burned into the cake. And, at that point, Rick said, "Enough!" And we took it back. We bought a cheap toaster and let it go at that. FWIW, the toaster works beautifully. :lol: (I was looking for something that would bake a cake in the summer without having to heat up the regular oven. And then Rick said to me, "Dear, you have a double oven; why don't you just use the smaller oven to bake your cakes?" :paperbag: I guess the answer to that is because I'm a idiot and don't think about it.) So that's the story on the toaster oven.
  • Breakfast for the kids, 3.25 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, grabbed a shower (I was going to stop at the library on my way into work this morning, but there's a real sleet storm outside and I didn't want to deal with it.)
  • Go to the library at lunch. I also must go to the place where Rick's mother got her hearing aids to get some batteries for her.
  • I have the county planning commission meeting after work this afternoon.
  • Must grab a few groceries.
  • Scoop the boxes
  • Rick's mom's Kindle Paperwhite should be coming today....I'll have to figure out how to use it so I can show her! (We got it for her as an early Christmas present.) And we also have to figure out how she can keep somebody at the nursing home from stealing the thing (I hate to be pessimistic, but well, things do disappear sometimes).
  • Try to stay awake long enough to watch Lucifer at 8:00.
Those are exactly the reasons why I hate my toaster oven. I have a fancier Black & Decker. It doesn't toast right, it takes too long to bake stuff and I'm about ready to donate it. I hate turning on the big oven since it's almost always hot here.

Good thing you didn't get the Breville. That's one brand on the very long list that Bed Bath & Beyond will not take the 20% off coupon for. I was looking at the coupon the other day and was wondering what brands DO they accept it on? :rolleyes2:
 
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Winchester

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Our old toaster oven (that was actually a toaster oven) was a Black and Decker. It toasted perfectly and it made perfect grilled cheese sandwiches. We had that thing for well over 20 years before it finally died. I didn't use it much for baking, but it stayed on the kitchen counter, solely for those grilled cheese sandwiches. It was perfect.
 

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I have a Cuisinart, larger toaster/convection oven. It is 5 years old. I do use it a lot more than heating up my oven for just one or 2 potatoes, or to reheat pizza.

I do cook in it. I have done chicken breasts, thighs, ... smaller items that would be lost in the regular oven. The convention helps, but not by that much.
 

micknsnicks2mom

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I would love to have an extra freezer but I just don't have room in my tiny kitchen. The freezer that comes with the fridge is just not big enough for me. My mother had a small freezer for me but like I said I just didn't have the room.

How do you make your own soda?

Ellen
since it's an upright freezer, i just have it out in the unheated enclosed porch. i agree, the little freezer compartments on most full-sized refrigerators really don't have enough space.

i recently bought a soda maker, a couple co2 tanks (can be refilled or exchanged at most welding supply stores -- the soda maker co2 tanks (20 oz or 24 oz) cost just as much to refill/exchange, as what i pay to exchange my 10 gallon co2 tank), and (the best price i could find online, and much better than those tiny sodastream flavorings) some cases of 4 one gallon bottles of soda syrup. so i use a soda maker to make my soda! :D



today i'll wash the dishes, scoop the litter boxes, move the frozen items back to my kitchen fridge's freezer, and do some other tasks.

yes, my electrical issue has been repaired!!! :banana1: it ended up being normal wear over time. it was one of the wires to one (of the two) kitchen outlets on one circuit breaker. i had my electrician come out, instead of waiting for the home trust warranty, and the total cost was no more than (and quite likely less than) it would have been for the HTW repairman to do the job.

our Punky quite enjoyed our visitor! she's my little helper, loves to help, to supurrvise things. she loved watching 'Mr Man' with his equipment -- through the screen door (kitties were in the living room while he was working). i joked with him that Punky was thinking, 'oh look! Mr Man brought toys with him!'.
 
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Winchester

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Great, micknsnicks2mom micknsnicks2mom , I'm glad he got there for you! We have two freezers, a chest and an upright; the upright belonged to my parents, when they passed away, we took it. Both freezers are used all the time.

Rick had a bad sinus headache yesterday. He came home fed the kids, and went to bed. I got home from my meeting and he was still out of it, so I made a sandwich and sliced an apple for my dinner and left it go at that. When he got up, he heated a can of soup and that was all he could handle. No groceries, nothing. It was an early night for both of us. He still has the headache this morning, but he says it's better than it was yesterday.
  • Breakfast for the kids, 3.5 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, grabbed my shower
  • Dropped books off at the library on my way to work....I ended up working over lunch yesterday to get some last-minute revised plans reviewed for the meeting last night. Two plans came in yesterday morning (technically, that's a no-no as revised plans are supposed to be here by the Wednesday prior to the meeting. But I was in a good mood, so I cut the guy some slack. :) I did tell him not to expect it all the time!)
  • The new bathroom designer is coming in this afternoon to measure the bathroom and then she'll draw something up for us; she seems really nice and very knowledgeable. She called us yesterday to confirm the appointment today.
  • Groceries tonight, since we didn't get there last night.
  • Scoop the boxes
 

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I'm taking a mini break from work for the next few days :D Today I need to mail a package at the post office and buy stamps, then drop off books at the library (couldn't get into one of them. It's more for business executives than a general book for all as reviews said:rolleyes2:), ATM, then UPS store to drop off an Amazon return. After I'm done with my errands in the square, I'm going to go to Trader Joe's.
 

muffy

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i recently bought a soda maker, a couple co2 tanks (can be refilled or exchanged at most welding supply stores -- the soda maker co2 tanks (20 oz or 24 oz) cost just as much to refill/exchange, as what i pay to exchange my 10 gallon co2 tank), and (the best price i could find online, and much better than those tiny sodastream flavorings) some cases of 4 one gallon bottles of soda syrup. so i use a soda maker to make my soda! :D


I bet they taste good but that is too much hassle for me. I don't even know where there is a welding store. I'm not suppose to be drinking them anyway.

Muffy
 
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Our new bathroom designer actually showed up yesterday! :dance:She measured, she took pictures, she talked to Rick and me, we showed her some pictures of what we were looking for and then she left. She's going to design it, we have to OK it, and then she'll send us a list of everything we need for the cabinets so Rick can order them through his work. She is also stopping off the the granite store where we looked at granite; we have two designs we're looking at, so she wants to see them. He's really excited now again. :)

Good grief, but the price of cream cheese is getting up there. I remember when I used to be able to buy Phila cream cheese at 3 for $5. Now, an 8-oz. package is $2.49. I need a package to make spritz cookies (3 oz. for one batch), so I'm going to buy it. But geez.
  • Breakfast for the kids, 3.5 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, sorted laundry, and grabbed my shower
  • Stopped for gas in the Tucson this morning on my way to work
  • Walk over to the farmers' market during lunch for some cinnamon candies and teaberries for cooking baking this weekend. I may get my molasses over there, too. I'm also looking for a smaller leaf cookie cutter than the one I have now. I have pumpkins and turkeys in various sizes, but only one leaf and it's kind of big for cut-out cookies.
  • Laundry night
  • Trash night
 

micknsnicks2mom

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Our new bathroom designer actually showed up yesterday! :dance:She measured, she took pictures, she talked to Rick and me, we showed her some pictures of what we were looking for and then she left. She's going to design it, we have to OK it, and then she'll send us a list of everything we need for the cabinets so Rick can order them through his work. She is also stopping off the the granite store where we looked at granite; we have two designs we're looking at, so she wants to see them. He's really excited now again. :)

Good grief, but the price of cream cheese is getting up there. I remember when I used to be able to buy Phila cream cheese at 3 for $5. Now, an 8-oz. package is $2.49. I need a package to make spritz cookies (3 oz. for one batch), so I'm going to buy it. But geez.

<snip>
yes!!! :woo: your new bathroom designer actually showed up, and she seems to be thorough and professional. most wonderful!! :)

i think that may be happening at many stores now -- the significant 'jump' upwards in prices of certain items. :agree: yesterday i needed to buy a head of celery, shopping at wegman's this month. all they carried there was organic celery at $3.49 for what was a small head of celery...:jawdrop: and they didn't look very good either, had brown and shriveled leaves on them. i'm suspecting that many/most shoppers simply passed on that. i bought one this time, but will be looking into buying a food dehydrator. that way i can buy a couple heads of celery when i shop at Aldi's, then dehydrate a good portion of that and use it when needed. on the good side, i made note that wegman's seems to put their 28 ounce cans of tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes on sale for 79 cents each this time of year -- that's lower than Aldi's price.

Great, micknsnicks2mom micknsnicks2mom , I'm glad he got there for you! We have two freezers, a chest and an upright; the upright belonged to my parents, when they passed away, we took it. Both freezers are used all the time.

<snip>
thank you! it's such a relief to have that dealt with. i did lose 4 jars of my homemade apple butter, casualties from the electrical issue. they looked...questionable, so i decided not to risk that they could have turned to/towards bad.

and i must thank you for mentioning that you were thinking of going back to buy a second turkey to put in your freezer. that got me to thinking that i'd be better off buying two frozen turkeys at 48 cents/pound, than buying one turkey and two roasting chickens (at 99 cents/pound). so yesterday i bought two frozen turkeys, one 18 point something pounds and the other 17 point something pounds. one is in the upright freezer, and the other is in my fridge thawing now. this month, and late fall/early winter, is when i generally make my yearly meat/poultry purchases. i'm waiting to see if the 'family pack' (6+ lbs) of ground beef goes on sale, before i make that yearly purchase.



today i don't have much planned, not after two very long and tiring days.

i'll likely do some work on my budget this afternoon. and i'll be looking into recipes using cabbage, and (orange) buttercup squash -- i bought those at the produce auction on tuesday evening. the head of cabbage is literally the size of a basketball! the cabbage cost $1.50, and the buttercup squash cost $1. i'm thinking i'd like to make some unstuffed cabbage rolls type recipe, likely two or three batches and then freeze in portions -- maybe a slow cooker recipe. and i'll make at least a couple batches of coleslaw. :yummy: i'll likely end up making another batch of cinnamon applesauce in the slow cooker too, in the next 3 or 4 days -- i bought some lovely apples, two 1/2 pecks, at the produce auction too -- for $1.25 each.

that should be plenty for me to get done today. after that i'll watch a tv show or two.
 

Kat0121

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Our new bathroom designer actually showed up yesterday! :dance:She measured, she took pictures, she talked to Rick and me, we showed her some pictures of what we were looking for and then she left. She's going to design it, we have to OK it, and then she'll send us a list of everything we need for the cabinets so Rick can order them through his work. She is also stopping off the the granite store where we looked at granite; we have two designs we're looking at, so she wants to see them. He's really excited now again. :)

Good grief, but the price of cream cheese is getting up there. I remember when I used to be able to buy Phila cream cheese at 3 for $5. Now, an 8-oz. package is $2.49. I need a package to make spritz cookies (3 oz. for one batch), so I'm going to buy it. But geez.
  • Breakfast for the kids, 3.5 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, sorted laundry, and grabbed my shower
  • Stopped for gas in the Tucson this morning on my way to work
  • Walk over to the farmers' market during lunch for some cinnamon candies and teaberries for cooking baking this weekend. I may get my molasses over there, too. I'm also looking for a smaller leaf cookie cutter than the one I have now. I have pumpkins and turkeys in various sizes, but only one leaf and it's kind of big for cut-out cookies.
  • Laundry night
  • Trash night
I noticed the price of cream cheese over the weekend too. It's insane. The 2 pack of Philadelphia was $5.25. A single one was like $2.75. :doh:
 

micknsnicks2mom

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I noticed the price of cream cheese over the weekend too. It's insane. The 2 pack of Philadelphia was $5.25. A single one was like $2.75. :doh:
yes, it is insane! and if they're not careful, some of these stores that are going nuts with their pricing will end up driving customers away. :agree:



well, i located several recipes that i'll use for the squash and the cabbage. so later today will be working on the budget, and i'll get some ground chicken and pork cubes moved to the fridge to thaw this morning. i'll prep the veggies for these recipes today too.
 
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The designer sent us PDFs with her design. Overall, it's very nice, but we do have a couple changes. Rick will talk to her to get things cleared up, she'll do another design and that should be it. The changes deal with the way she laid the lower cabinets out; that's not what we had envisioned and I'm the one who doesn't like it (of course). But he did agree with my changes, so that was good. It will be fine. She loves both of our granite designs, but she thinks that the one I chose will look nicer overall with the black sinks. We'll see how things go. Meanwhile, Rick got the cabinet catalog from work and we're going through that now.
  • Breakfast for the kids, 3.5 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, grabbed my shower
  • Must walk to the store during lunch for unsweetened chocolate and molasses and the blasted cream cheese (weather providing as we are to get showers today)
  • A quick vacuum about the house tonight
  • A hair mask and facial (Rick is bowling tonight, so it's a good night for me to do "my" stuff
  • Supernatural, if I can stay awake
 

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That's so weird about the cream cheese. I haven't noticed that and just checked my weekly ads. One local store has Philly cream cheese on sale for 3/$5.
 
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I just looked at our Giant ad. Phila cream cheese will be on sale, starting Friday, at $1.99 for an 8-oz package. I guess I shall wait until tomorrow to go to the store! I do wish it were 3/$5 around here!
 

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i washed the dishes, scooped the litter boxes. i also made more freeze dried chicken treats crumbles, for my cat's 'toppers' -- to 'top' their wet food.

later today i'll be making two batches of Harvest Pork Stew, using a good part of the orange buttercup squash --
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/125552...ingContentType=recipe hub&clickId=cardslot 23
Harvest Pork Stew Recipe

i'll portion that into containers, then into the fridge overnight. tomorrow i'll freeze it all -- except one meal's worth, for my late lunch today.

after that, and washing the dishes from it, i'll work on my budget for a bit, then watch a tv show if i find the time. i'll also turn the turkey thawing in the fridge, and check on the ground chicken to see how that's thawing.
 

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Iron a few pieces of clothing.
Vacuum and mop the floors in kitchen, dining room, laundry and office.
Cook some fresh veggies. I have a cabbage and some zucchini. Then I want to cook some applesauce with a bag of Galas I bought at Aldi.
 

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I just looked at our Giant ad. Phila cream cheese will be on sale, starting Friday, at $1.99 for an 8-oz package. I guess I shall wait until tomorrow to go to the store! I do wish it were 3/$5 around here!
They are on sale at Publix as of yesterday 2/$4.00. I don't need any right now- of course :rolleyes2:

I bought some last week to make krab cheese wontons (or rangoon to some). Yummy. I think I will make some on Thanksgiving- appetizers instead of dessert :yummy: :lol:
 
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Winchester

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That Harvest Pork Stew sounds pretty good. Pork, apples, and squash....what's not to like?

I'm using the cream cheese for our spritz cookies over the weekend; Rick said he was hungry for spritz and it has been a while since we made them. I make the dough and he pushes it through the cookie shooter because I don't have the patience. I'll make a batch of red, some green, and then some chocolate. It's a very old Betty Crocker recipe that his mom used to make.
  • Breakfast for the kids, 3 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, and grabbed my shower
  • Walk down to the store during lunch for the blasted cream cheese (on sale, starting today) and the unsweetened chocolate for the brownie cookies
  • We have to take Rick's mom's batteries up to her; I finally got them yesterday. She said she has six batteries left for her hearing aids.
We're going down to the kids tomorrow to bake cookies with Sarah. Our son is home with our granddaughter for the day and they've decided to do some baking. We are making gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and some kind of gluten-free brownies. Sarah said she wants to make pizza for supper and our son wants to try our pizza oven on his grill. (We are thinking about taking The Beast with us in the truck, so we don't have to come home right away. They have a golden retriever puppy and it's time for the puppy and The Beast to meet! I don't know who will tire whom out first.)
 
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