This week’s Houston City Council agenda – let’s get involved!

Each Friday afternoon, the city posts it agenda on the web.  Here is what will be discussed at this Tuesday’s meeting.  If you have questions or issues with anything on the list, call the city secretary and ask to speak to the mayor / council members.  It will cost you an afternoon and $20 in parking.  We need to start making our voice heard against the tide toward socialism and support our reps who are fighting for conservatism.  Locally is the best start.

http://www.houstontx.gov/citysec/agenda.html

I glanced at these.  One caught my eye:  30. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing various contracts for Elderly Services provided through the Harris County Area Agency on Aging between the City and (1) THE CITY OF JACINTO CITY, TEXAS, (2) THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, and (3) TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY; providing maximum contract amounts – $2,552,000.05 – Grant Fund.  I wonder what that $2 million is for???

Also, if you have other political issues that need to be examined by conservative Houston moms, please leave a comment here.

Randall’s Trip

I took the kids to Randalls this morning to use the $10 off $50 coupon.  Everything didn’t get in the pic.  My helper who carried in a bag placed it in a hiding spot.  Good thing it wasn’t refrigerated stuff.  Not pictured are three bags of lentils and two bags of marked down dark chocolate.  I don’t think she meant to hide the dried beans : )

I spent $44 and saved about 50%.   There is a Post cereal promotion.  When I bought 2 boxes of Grape Nuts, I rec’d two more coupons.  One was $2 off my next purchase.  The other was $1.5 off two boxes of Grape Nuts.  I used both of these to get two more boxes.  Then I did it once more.  The 3rd time I checked out I only got $2 off my next purchase, the $1.5 off two didn’t print out again.  : (

see here for the sauce I made with the meat

I got:

• 6 boxes of grape nuts
• 2 packages of grass fed organic ground beef
• 1 package turkey sausage
• 5 jars of blackberry jam
• 2 boxes of dark chocolate
• 3 cans of spag os.
• 1 box frosted mini wheat
• 1 carton of butter
• 1 dozen eggs
• soy sauce
• Asian red hot sauce
• smart source oil
• one gallon milk

Swiss Chard quiche / egg pie, Broccoli soup and spaghetti meat sauce – what a combo!

I did a few dishes so I could be out of the kitchen for the next 3 days.  Tonight we’re eating at a friends, but I have lunch and the rest of the weekend to provide meals.  It seems the weekends are the hardest for mealtime because we’re coming/going and not on a schedule.  So I really like to have a few things to pull out and heat up.

Thurs I picked up our veggies from the coop and had swiss chard in my box.  I think I’ve made it once before and that dish was a dud.  So I read up on ways to use this veggie.  Many people use it like they would spinach.  The key is to cut out the stalk.  I used it in a egg pie or quiche.  Eggs have been on sale so we have an excess of eggs to use. Dave loved this until I told him it had swiss chard and then he pretended to not like it after eating a whole slice.  He’s giving me a hard time (in a good way) about introducing these new veggies we don’t typically eat.  This was really good.

To make this, put a store bought frozen pie crust in a pretty tart dish.  Bake at 350 until barely cooked.  Mix 4 eggs, one cup sour cream, one cup cheddar cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.  Saute  2 cups chopped chard or about one bunch, and 2 or 3 chopped green onions in a tablespoon of butter and then add to the egg mixture.  Pour mixture into pie and bake for 20 to 40 minutes, until the top looks like the pic above.  You want it to puff up and not be too soft in the middle.   Let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.  This is good for brunch, with a salad or soup.  Also good for a high protein snack.

Next I had a ton of broccoli I needed to cook.  I’ve never liked a broccoli soup that I’ve made.  Most have been creamy/cheesy soups and were duds.  So I did more research and found many were using potatoes in their broccoli soup.  That makes sense b/c the potato will serve as the thickening agent.  This time my soup was really good.  Saute a chopped onion in butter.  Add 1.5 quarts of water and chicken bullion and pepper.  I did not add salt b/c bullion is high in salt.  I used at least 2 teaspoons of bullion.  I also added two teaspoons of blend herbs (fine herb blend).  And I tossed in 4 chopped red new potatoes.  Boil til potatoes are soft.  Then add broccoli and cook until broc is soft, but don’t overcook until it is mushy.  I pureed this in my blender about two cups at a time.  This soup is good hot or cold.  You can top with cream when you serve.

Then today I went to Randalls to use the 10 off $50 coupon.  In the meat clearance I found Italian turkey and a package of grass fed beef.  These were perfect for a large pot of spaghetti sauce which is so easy to whip up and is great as a leftover meal.

Brown 2 pounds of meat in a large pot and drain.  Add three cans of pureed tomatoes and one small can of tomato sauce.  I only had diced so I pureed in my blender.  I seasoned with onion flakes, dried garlic flakes, italian seasoning, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon salt, ground pepper, two pinches of red pepper, one teaspoon of worcestershire sauce, 1.5 teaspoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of dried parsley.  I like it better with fresh onion, red bell pepper and garlic but my kids like it better with a mild tomato flavor.  The dried herbs work better for a milder taste.  This is great to freeze.  I think it only cost about $5.50 to make the pot and would serve at least 12 people.  I’ll freeze in small portions and use for lunches.

Shoe boxes for food storage

I’ve cut back on the amount of clothing in my closet, including shoes.  Now that I’m a stay-at-home mom, I don’t need the extra dress shoes for an outside career.  I had a ton of clear shoe containers for all these shoes that are now empty.  This week we found organic rice on clearance.  see here for picture of our loot.  However, I’m running out of food storage containers.  We’ve had a mice problem in the past and I didn’t want to lose this rice to rodents!  So I cleaned out these boxes and used for food storage.  I left the rice in the original plastic bags and just placed in these boxes.  I wouldn’t use these for open bulk food because they are not food grade.  But they are fine for food in their sealed original packaging.  Another bonus is that they are light weight and stack nicely.

George Friedman Interview – Good news for the USA

Here’s a podcast where Medved interviews George Friedman.  Friedman wrote a book on the next 100 years.  He talks about which counties will rise and fall.  He is much more optimistic on the USA than I.  It was refreshing to hear something positive versus doom/gloom.  I took it with a grain of salt.  I see our country turning from their Christian heritage, and any civilization who has done this (in all world history) has fallen.  I won’t even start on how this could play into end times events, if we are that close to the Trib.

Here are a few highlights:
• The U.S.-Jihadist war will conclude—replaced by a second full-blown cold war with Russia.
• China will undergo a major extended internal crisis, and Mexico will emerge as an important world power.
• A new global war will unfold toward the middle of the century between the United States and an unexpected coalition from Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and the Far East; but armies will be much smaller and wars will be less deadly.
• Technology will focus on space—both for major military uses and for a dramatic new energy resource that will have radical environmental implications.
• The United States will experience a Golden Age in the second half of the century.

http://acu.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=426660

Krogers Clearance Finds

Today Dave was in the Kroger’s on West Gray and found this in the clearance section.  Now that is true love when hubby checks the clearance racks and calls home with the finds! We have plenty of gourmet mustard and organic jasmine rice.  We’ll use it all.  When you cook at home for almost every meal you go through a ton of food.  And the kids are starting to eat more as the get older.

Right now Melissa is dying b/c she shops at this Krogers.   Dave got all the Organic Jasmine Rice and it was a really really really good deal!  I’ll give you a bag Melissa!

Time to clean out kids’ closets

Each season, I go through the girls’ closets and take out clothes that don’t fit.  I move Bethany’s clothes into storage for Maggie.  Maggie’s clothes to Shea.  And Shea’s to the resale shop.  Getting clothes ready for the resale shop is a ton of work.  You need to get them in at the beginning of the season to get the most $$$ when they sell.  You need to wash them – they must be spotless.  Look at the end of the sleeves and check for yellow spots.  Sometimes a little bleach or oxy clean will get these out.

By the time clothes get to Shea, there are many.  We’ve cut back on what we buy, but the years of excess are still filling her closet.  Here’s what I pulled out for resale:

For more “Works for me Wed” ideas, see wearethatfamily.com

Good ending from yesterday

The Houston Mayor Bill White was on 700 am KSEV today.  He thanked me for going to City Hall yesterday.  We’re all going to HAVE TO GET INVOLVED and take our country back.  I’m a motivated mommy.  Go down there and make your voice.  I rec’d a warm welcome.  They didn’t bite.  Let’s make our voice heard.  The silent majority must speak up.

Check this out…. utube video about this crazy idea from Texas Watchdog.

http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2009/02/chroncom-mayor-drops-plan-to-use-tax-dollars-to-pay-down-personal-debt-for-new-homebuyers/

More coverage from today…

Here’s the video from the local Fox station

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/090224_taxes_credit_debts

You can fight Houston City Hall – credit score enhancement program

I learned a lot today.  I thought today would be a day of baking bread and homeschooling, finished with a visit from my friend Julie.  But it was a visit to Houston City Hall instead.

Melissa sent me an email about what our city was proposing.  $3,000 grants to get homeowers “credit worthy” for home loans.  Translation: the city will pay down your credit card debts so you’ll qualify for a mortgage you can barely squeeze into.  I checked the paper and it was on the front page of the Houston Chronicle.  In a time when our country is failing economically b/c of bad mortgages, among many things… I could not believe the nonsense of this proposal.

I am not politically active.  I vote, write an occasional letter to Washington D.C.,  and rant on my blog.  That’s about it.  But lately I’ve realized that people like me are going to have to get active or we’ll lose this country to socialism.

I called the city to find out the requirements for a peaceful protest.  I wanted all the details on permits, etc.  (I didn’t want to get arrested in front of my kids.)  I learned you don’t need a permit to protest outside Houston City Hall …(for now!) .  Then I called the council member’s office who was opposed to this proposal, and told them I was trying to organize a peaceful protest.  They told me about the public meeting today where I could voice my concerns to the mayor and city council.

This happens every Tuesday.  Regular folks can get on the list and speak to the mayor and the city council about issues.  I never knew this.  I got on the list.

After I had my afternoon appointment booked (which sounded easier than organizing a protest with picket signs…kids would have loved making those), I went back to baking bread.  I turned on Rush Limbaugh and he was talking about the Houston proposal.  This silly proposal had made national news!

When I arrived at city hall, there were several reporters covering this story.  Since I was the ONLY citizen who showed up to voice an opinion on this subject, I had the microphone and took it.  Afterwards, I gave two interviews to local news channels and one to the Houston Chronicle.

To my amazement, I was the only citizen who showed up on this issue.  Well, it was two b/c Maggie went with me.  This proposal was so crazy, the national a.m. radio shows picked it up.  But ordinary folks are so busy making a living, they have a hard time carving out an afternoon to speak to city hall.  Dave had a very busy afternoon and would have had a hard time breaking away. Thankfully, many fellow citizens bombarded city hall with phone calls and emails blasting this proposal.

Normal folks are stuck in a vicious circle.  We don’t have time to be involved and therefore don’t have representation.   Then they tax us more so we have to work more.

It is also very intimidating speaking at these meetings.  The mayor and all the council members are in a semi-circle looking at you.  You stand at a podium with a microphone and have 3 minutes to state your case.  Then they respond.  You stand there while they go back and forth discussing what you said.  They were very vocally appreciative that I came, even if we didn’t agree on all points.

I’m glad I did it.  I will be looking for more ways to be politically active in the future.  We’re all going to have to find ways to be vocal.  Today Houston city council got tons of emails and calls on this subject and they responded.  This proposal died.  We must have a voice and use this voice to make positive change… to the extent we can in this craziness.

Here’s an article quoting me:

http://www.click2houston.com/news/18787593/detail.html#-

here’s the link to the video

http://www.click2houston.com/news/18787593/detail.html#video

Here’s the Houston Chronicle quoting my rant…

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6277344.html