Happy Thanksgiving

Just a quick note to wish you Happy Thanksgiving!

I drove by Kroger today and it was packed.  Just looked miserable.  So glad I didn’t need anything.  I’m “thankful.”

Also, I can’t believe how many emails I’ve gotten for black Friday stuff.  It is not just from retailers.  It is from all types of organizations.  Even the food storage sites are going crazy with these emails.  So from Walgreens to Emergency Essentials to Focus on the Family…. I am overwhelmed.

More musings about grocery shopping

If you’ve read my blog for long, you know I have a passion for grocery shopping.  I get 100 times more excited about a good coupon promo / sale than a ladies shoe sale.  I am weird in that way.  We’re all weird in our own way.  If you are not weird, then you are weird for not being weird.

The week before Thanksgiving and Christmas is a slight bummer for me.  I avoid the grocery store like my husband avoids the gym on January 2nd.   Everyone in Houston decides to buy groceries at once and the stores are incredibly packed.  This week I’ve been thinking about this trend.  Each week I need groceries regardless of Thanksgiving.  Granted I have a stocked pantry and could go weeks at home, but I like to keep it replenished with the weekly deals.

So where are all these other shoppers each week?  Why isn’t it always this packed?  I think this shows how many people do not cook.  Twice a year they have to get stocked for a certain meal.   They all run to the store and get the selected items.  On Friday, they are back at Chili’s eating out.  Friday the grocery stores will be empty… except for me of course.  I plan to go black Friday clearance meat shopping and get a freezer full of discounted meat.  I’ll post a pic if I have any luck.

H1N1 Vaccine recalled b/c of life threatening allergy risk

I can’t believe this popped up so quick – see article here. I thought we’d be hearing the bad side effects months or years down the road, rather than “in season.”  So many people had concerns about this vaccination.  Our family elected not to take the H1N1 vaccine.   I have greater reservations on the side effects of the shot than fears of the flu.

I’m getting more concerned about vaccinations than ever.  When I was a little kid, we didn’t get so many shots.  Now I think they are giving our kids shots b/c of economics rather than health.  We had our kids take the chicken pox vaccine and I regret that decision.  My friend elected not to get it and her kids went through the pox.  I think your body is stronger after the pox than the vaccine.  Problem is if you don’t get the pox and don’t have the shot, you can get the pox as an adult.  That can be more serious.  The pox is not deadly.  So why are we vaccinating?  My theory is economics.  It is one week out of school for a kid, which reduces the funding for the school b/c funding is based on attendance.   And since both parents work in many cases, it causes employees to be away from work to care for their child.

I’m not against all vaccinations.  I am, however, questioning the wisdom of vaccinating a whole population against non-life threatening illnesses.  I think it is making a weak society.

PewNews IQ Score

click here to take this test:

“The U.S. government has a lot on its plate right now, which means that the American public has a lot to keep up with in the news. The Pew Research Center’s latest News IQ Quiz finds a mixed picture of public awareness on key issues, with majorities aware of some key facts on health care and the economy. But other questions stump large segments of the public, including the current size of the U.S. military commitment in Afghanistan, the approximate level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the name of a key environmental proposal being debated in Congress.”

I got 11 out of 12 correct.  I missed #12.  My 10 yr old daughter took the test and she scored 6 out of 12 correct.  I was proud that she knew about half the answers and didn’t get them with a guess.  Her score turned out to be 56% above the general public.  How did you do?

Update:  I just had my 8-year-old take it.  She got 7 out of 12; which is 66% above general public.  A few were good guesses – like the number of troops in Afghanistan.  I can’t believe she missed the one about Glenn Beck.  I had to turn off fox news in front of the kids b/c of all the sick commercials they show.

Food Insecurity in American

I found this link on survivalblog.

Here’s a quote from the article:  “The USDA report estimates that 49 million Americans had trouble getting enough to eat in 2008. That’s the largest figure since the annual survey of food security began in 1995. It represents nearly one in seven U.S. households, and it’s a sharp increase from 2007, before the global recession began, when about one in 10 households were food-insecure.”

And a rep from a food bank commented:  “First-time visitors are coming seeking food assistance,” she said. “Middle-class individuals who would never think they would have to come the food bank are now coming to us for food. And I’ve even heard of a case of a former donor who used to support the food bank is now coming to us for food assistance.”

Our politicians are spending a ton of money on bailouts, looking at healthcare and other stupid stuff.  Our government has gone mad.   Our country used to store food.  Now we are a net importer.

My mom attended a meeting at her church and a representative from the local food bank spoke to them.  She said the local food bank has 4 times the amount of families requesting food as this time last year.  And we’re in a part of the country that has not been hit the worst.  Granted if you are unemployed, that statement is meaningless.  I make that observation only to surmise that in other parts of the country there must be an even greater need.

It is a really weird time.  We eat out about once a month.  I always look around the restaurant and think about a portion of our society that is carrying on as usual and another that is worried about food.  I’m not saying we should not eat out.  If everyone quit all at once, then a large amount of jobs would be lost.   It is a time where you look around and people very similar to you are struggling.  They have families and worked hard for years living the American life.  And now we’re in a time where many are experiencing food insecurity who have not made poor decisions or gotten themselves into trouble.

We all have our society issues that touch our hearts.  For my husband, child or animal abuse will make him very upset.  Mine is knowing there are families without enough food. These articles get me every time.

Homemade Frozen Cookie Dough

Today I’m joining lifeasmom for frugal Fridays.

My family loves to have cookie dough in the freezer.  And their favorite way to eat it is raw.  I cringe b/c of the raw egg, but I too must have a bite.  When I started couponing I purchased Pillsbury and Nestle refrigerated dough free or almost free.  But at some point I stopped.  When you look at the ingredients they are just terrible.  Cookies aren’t the best for your body to begin with, but the processed stuff from the store makes it much worse.   And after the latest recall of Nestle b/c of contamination, I’m finished buying this stuff.

I recently came up with an alternative.  I made several batches of homemade dough from scratch.  I formed the balls for the individual cookies and froze them on a cookie sheet.  After they were frozen, I placed them in a freezer bag.  These are not the most healthy things in the world either, but they are a huge step up from the refrigerated stuff in the store.  And now I can have homemade cookies in minutes without much mess.  I made choc chip, white choc chip, peanut butter, pecan sandies and oatmeal pecan cranberry.  I got the recipes for the last three from an old betty crocker cook book.  Cookie recipes are very basic.   I think most will freeze well.  I’ve had good results from all these.

I’m thinking of trying frozen brownie dough.  You can buy it in the store.  Please let me know if you’ve tried this and how it turned out.  Thanks!

Yum Yum.

Johnny Depp wins his 2nd ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ title

I was logging into yahoo mail and saw this as “news.”  I’m not up on Hollywood, so I don’t know much about this guy.  But when I looked at this pic and saw the title, I thought “what have we become!”

The article quoted some guy saying:  “Johnny Depp was someone who was sexy 10 years ago. He’ll be sexy 10 years from now. He’s someone who appeals to multiple generations of women.”  WHAT!?  They are so out of touch with American women if they believe this.  Or I’m the one out of touch.  Put a pic of one of our soldiers fighting or a 9-11 fireman.  And why do we even care about being “sexy.”  What about putting out an award for being honorable?

Hollywood is all worried about the environment and pollution.  Their pollution is more toxic than anything that comes from the Houston Ship Channel.  Granted, our society creates the demand for this stuff.  Makes me sad.  I hope one day our country’s media puts real heroes out front instead of pics like this one….

Freedom for imprisoned Christian ‘apostates’

I think these Iranian women are so inspiring, beautiful and brave.  Read their story here.

Maryam Rustampoor, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30

Clam Spagetti

 

Thanks Angela for this recipe.   I posted last week I’ve never cooked with canned clams, so she kindly sent me this.  I have a few cans of clams I found in a clearance bin that I need to put to use.  I can’t wait to try it.  It looks healthy and delicious.

2Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves of sliced garlic
1 brunch broccoli rabe (trimmed and cut into 2 in. pieces)
2 cans (6oz.) of chopped clams (undrained)
1/4c. unsalted butter
1/2c. dry white whine
1/2tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4tsp. black pepper
1lb. spaghetti
1/4c. grated Parmesan
-Boil slightly salted water in large pot
-In skillet heat oil over M. heat, add garlic and broccoli rabe; saute for 5 min
-Stir in clams with liquid and butter. Cook till butter is melted
-Add white whine, red pepper fakes and black pepper.
-While the sauce simmers cook spaghetti as directed then toss with sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Traffic Camera

A man was driving when he saw the flash of a traffic camera.

He figured that his picture had been taken for exceeding the limit, even though he knew that he was not speeding…

Just to be sure, he went around the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly, but again the camera flashed.

Now he began to think that this was quite funny, so he drove even slower as he passed the area again, but the traffic camera again flashed.

He tried a fourth time with the same result. He did this a fifth time and was now laughing when the camera flashed as he rolled past, this time at a snail’s pace…

Two weeks later, he got five tickets in the mail for driving without a seat belt.