The cowboy and the congressman

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced toward him out of a cloud of dust.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the cowboy, “If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?”

Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie,then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, “Sure, Why not?”

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech,miniaturized HP LaserJet printer, turns to the cowboy and says, “You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.”

“That’s right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,” says Bud.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then Bud says to the young man, “Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?”

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, “Okay, why not?”

“You’re a Congressman for the U.S. Government”, says Bud.

“Wow! That’s correct,” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?”

“No guessing required.” answered the cowboy. “You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don’t know a thing about how working people make a living – or about cows, for that matter.

This is a herd of sheep……

Now give me back my dog.

 

 

 

 

Black Friday Clearance Meat

I went clearance meat shopping on Black Friday.  Last year I went the day after Christmas and really scored.  The day after Thanksgiving was good, but the day after Christmas was much better.

I spent $42 dollars and did not use any coupons.  Everything I purchased was on clearance except for the half/half creamer.  Pic at bottom.

• 10 boxes of whole wheat pasta on clearance – $1 each
• Ribeye Roast – regularly $43 – pd $13.
• Whole Buddy’s all natural chicken – $3.07
• 2 large containers sour cream
• 1 med size container sour cream
• 2 boxes of breyers ice cream (the cartons had a small dent so they were clearance with frozen goods)
• 4 filet mignon steaks wrapped in bacon
• 3 packages of 97% lean ground beef (about two pounds each) They were $1.18 per pound
• 2 packages of boneless skinless chicken breasts – $1.39 a pound
• 1 package of boneless skinless chicken from butcher – 70 cents a pound
• Rancher Reserve beef tenderloin
• Family package of pork chops
• One package of sausage links
• One package of bacon

To see other great shopping finds, see moneysavingmom.

Pantry Chili – Part 2

A few weeks ago I began experimenting with pantry chili.  I define pantry chili as all items must be from your pantry except ground beef (or whatever meat you use).  If you make bean chili, it could be 100% pantry.  Why do this when we have a plethora of fresh at our fingertips?  Sometimes fresh is more expensive and requires a drive to the store.  Many in this country have lost the art of cooking from the pantry and making a very tasty meal.  It is easy to run to whole foods or Central Market and gather fresh organic ingredients for a gourmet feast.   Cooking from the pantry and achieving excellent results can be more challenging.  So this past year I’ve tried new recipes and had a few failures and a few successes.  Chili has been a success.

One item I keep in my pantry is tomato soup, but I don’t use it regularly and found it was expiring.  I researched and found a few recipes using this ingredient - see here.  One was chilli.  This recipe uses condensed tomato soup and manwich.  The tomato soup gives the tomato base and the manwich adds bell peppers, onions and some seasoning.  This large pot only required 3 cans total.  The tomato soup is condensed so I needed less than I expected.

The cost for this huge pot was approx $8.70.   It would serve 10 nice size bowls.  So about $0.87 a meal per person.  If I made beans and added it would stretch this meal and become even less expensive.  Of course when you add cheese, green onion, sour cream and crackers it gets higher.

• 2 cans of soup – 80 cents with coupon
• 1 can manwich – 50 cents with coupon/mega deal a few months ago
• seasonings – $1.50
• 5 pounds of ground beef:  $5.90 (got on clearance this morning)

First brown you meat and drain.  Then add cans of sauce/soup.  Then add spices.  I don’t measure.  I toss and taste.  Chili is easy that way.  Just start with a small amount of spice and add as it cooks.  You can always add more later, but you can’t take it out.

• dried onion, jalapeno and garlic
• Ketchup (yes it is a spice in my home)
• smoked paprika
• smoked chipotle powder
• chili powder
• salt
• epazote seasoning

For other frugal ideas see lifeasmom.

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….