Violet

Michael, I am sorry you were hurt ! Praying you heal quickly.

I seem to have something similar. Not tons of sinus drainage, but a little that is clear. Then, every morning I wake to sinus pain. Trying Allegra instead of Zyrtec, too. I take it every day. I saw an ENT specialist. He is totally puzzled buy this. Tried Mucinex, but no difference. I did have a couple sinus infections. One just before Christmas. I am supposed to do a sinus wash every day. Use salt and a drop of baby shampoo in it. We tried FloNase instead of Nasacort. Did not make a difference which one I use. Seems this is worse at night once I lay down. A little cough once in a while, but not bad. I should get oregano oil. I have some blend I am trying called On Guard from DoTerra. Just got it a couple days ago. My dd said I should get one called Breathe. Oh, and it does help in the mornings to rub some diluted peppermint and lavendar oil on my face over my sinuses. Still, I am TIRED of this !!! The ENT doctor said it could be a new allergy. Interesting you have the same sort of thing going on. I was fine for 10 years. I had sinus surgery back then. Same doctor I am seeing now. Then all of a sudden, here I go again with sinus infections and this horrid pain every day.

Here Z packs are an antibiotic.

Philbe, I could teach you .. I know I could ! I have been working with my 62 year old neighbor gal. She could not bake a thing ! It was horrid. Last week I went over and watched her and helped her step by step. She had perfect gumdrop cookies ! First time ever good cookies for her ! She was beating things to death, so they were dry and tough. You need to treat cookies and things gently. Plus, her oven temp was off. I got her an oven thermometer. Then, using dry measuring cups for dry ingredients and a liquid cup for liquid things can make all the difference. Yes, there is a difference. Have you tried the cake mix cookies ? They are really easy and good ! Let me know if you want some help. I will sure try ! It also makes a difference if you try to use margarine "spread". It is too much water in it and it will not work. Butter is best.

I don't know if it is really penny pinching, but I got 12 to 14 ounce bags of Christmas m&m's for $1.12 a bag. I got 10 bags to store. Could be a source of fat and carbs for later on. Will put in a food bucket with an O2absorber. Maybe the 2 with peanuts will be frozen instead, I don't know. Don't want to risk the nuts getting rancid. They should be fine with an O2 absorber, though, right ? My freezer is packed. One thing I will do is sort some for Valentines Day and St. Patricks day. Red for Valentines, the green for St. Patricks day. My grandson won't think a thing about it. Can put in some Valentine container or something. Those are really cheap at thrift store. May use a ziploc with a printed bag topper to be even more frugal.

I have to reorganize all the cleaning junk under the kitchen sink. I got new plastic bins to put things in. Have to go to the post office and send off some pictures to my dd. They are to be shown to the lawyer next week. She hopes she has a case to show neglect of her godchildren. Stop at store for a few things. Take something out for dinner. Do laundry Fix dinner. Would like to work on a quilt. Maybe this evening after dinner I can do a little bit.

I am confused. The flu is not an intestinal thing... it is cough, congestion, fever, etc. When I had the influenza I never had any stomach issues.

Do you have a restaurant supply near your home that is open to the public ?

I have not had anything go bad in the buckets with the O2asborbers.

You can store chocolate for years in a bucket or something with an O2absorber. Any kind of candy for that matter.

Gunplumber, I use for Valentines gifts, etc. As I said, I am cheap and separate the colors for the different holidays. I used silver ones for New Years last night.

Candles are just as good of a bargain. I do that, too ! Can't find any generic looking wrapping paper yet. Bags of bows were 29 cents. I got tape on sale, too.

I plan to order the oregano oil soon. Hear it is very good at killing all kinds of things. I am just learning about using oils. Other than tea tree oil, that I have had for several years now. What brand of oils do you buy, CG ? I got lavender from DoTerra, then another brand. The other one stinks ! The DoTerra is so expensive, though. I keep having sinus issues again. Have had no problem for about 10 years, then bam ! Keep getting sinus infections and daily pain, and my ears are stuffy. Had CT scan. Showed nothing. I am going back to the ENT again this week. I have been adding a drop of tea tree to my sinus rinse. Maybe oregano is better, I don't know. People hear also have that cough. I have it some from sinus drainage. Hard to function when a person feels rotten all the time.

Sorry they are so ill. Once off the meds for a bit, can they get pnuemonia shots ? Also, I would be sure to read up on vitamins and essential oils, too. There are some great natural things to give children for their immune systems. You can rub essential oils on their feet and it will go through their bodies. Dilute some peppermint oil and some lavender oil and rub on their cheeks and chests. Just be sure the peppermint is not too strong or it will make their eyes water. Give lots of vitamin c and d, too. Steroid are awful to a body. I never want to take them again.

Yes, you can take 2 candy canes and hot glue them together, making a heart for Valentines day ! I sorted some of my candies last night while watching the news. Hmmm, a few are missing, though !

Being frugal is important to all of us. So, yesterday I bought markdown Christmas candies for 48 cents a lb. Red, green and white gumdrops and red and green jelly beans. I am going to sit and separated the colors. Voila ! Instand red and white for Valentine's day and green for St.Patrick's Day ! They are fruit flavored, no Santas, bells, or trees. Just plain candies. You can freeze them if you are afraid they will get stale. The hard part is not eating them all between now and the other holidays ! I think I should have gotten more of the gumdrops, though. You can use them in gumdrop cookies.

Tinker PicklePants !

Not really roasted, but you get them hot before you put into the jars.

I do hope you get reimbursed ! That is awful. I see no reason to get a money order, then. I had no idea. I usually get a cashiers check from my credit union instead.

It needs to be frozen, not canned.

I suppose you could precook, but all the people I deal with say canned ham is pretty bland after canning it. Commercial industry can use all sorts of additives to their products. We just cannot duplicate some things at home. Personally, I don't recommend canning ham, but each person has to decide from themselves if they want to try it. All I can do is post what I know and let you all decide what to do with the information. Now, as far as I know, there is city ham and country ham. Here we just have city ham. Country ham is totally different and you do soak it first. My folks were from the south, so I know what it is. Sorry, but YUCK to country ham. To me it tastes like salty spoiled meat. No red eye gravy for me, either. So, do you have country ham or city ham ? There is fresh picnic hams here, that is just pork with the skin still on it. Guess you call it skin. The pork roasts just are raw meat, where the picinic hams that are not smoked have a skin on them, but you cook like a regular pork roast. It is not smoked. Oh, why do they have to confuse us all ? LOL !

Yes, it sounds like your old recipe is just that, old, and needs to be replaced with a new current one. It would take a long time with just canning 9 pints at a time. At least you can still can ! Some folks don't even have this luxury of using a pressure canner. Count your blessings and enjoy that sauce ! I am glad for you that they all sealed.

That is why I have 2 pressure canners, both of them will hold 18 pints. You will be happy to have that food stored ! So, what recipe would you use that didn't use the pressure canner for spaghetti sauce ?

No, Philbe, that is a cooker, not a canner. Unless it would hold at least 4 quart sized jars, not pints, it is only safe for cooking. You must wait and get a real pressure canner, sorry.

I dried apples that were free. I am making a gift basket for the neighbors. Put in a quart of apple pie filling, makes some oatmeal pancake mix, and a package of gift tags I made so far. I have peanut brittle frozen to add. Not sure what else I will put in. Maybe a couple of my embroidered flour sack towels. Should find some small things for the kids they have. One 13 year old boy and an 8 year old girl. Today I am sick and don't feel like doing much. Another rotten sinus infection.