rockncook

Thanks, ladies, I will start smelling them. My dad hauled potatoes for years, so I know how to look for ones that have been frozen, but had never thought to smell them, although that is logical. Wish we could empty out the bags at the store, LOL-I'm willing to repack them! They are so expensive when you buy them unbagged, though. Mommy of 5

Afternoon everyone! I was so glad to read that your niece is doing better, Snow. Today I wrote an article on smart shopping and will work some more on a website this afternoon. Taking my lunch break a bit late, LOL Mommy of 5

Wow, Westbrook, thanks. That is a lot of information. I'm really bummed that they were old and that I lost that many. I'm wondering, is there any way to tell when they're older when you pick them up at the store? When they got home they were stored in my Hoosier cabinet in the kitchen. Probably a bit warmer than they should have been, but not too much, as I have turned off the heat and still have to run around with a jacket on. They were processed the day after I bought them at the store.

Snow, Does housework that makes ya sweat count at all? Vacuuming, sweeping, scrubbing the floor, etc? Thanks! Mommy of 5

I had thought about that, but with them being already cooked, I'm not sure what they'll do. I do suppose it's worth a try.

Afternoon! First chance I've had to sit down and breathe. Snow, our prayers are with your niece and her parents. It is 70 here today. Absolutely beautiful! We are going to spend some time outside when DD gets up from her nap. Kids are feeling fine, just so ready for a break, I think. My son has a slight cough from his allergy/sinus gunk, but nothing major. He'll be home tomorrow cause preschool doesn't have school tomorrow, too. Thanks so much for asking! Today I got caught up on my yahoo groups, worked some on a website that I got contracted to do (SUCH good timing!) and worked in my bedroom. I had this pile next to my bed of clothes to be donated and it's sat there and gotten merged with dirty clothes and probably a bit dusty, so now that is all picked up and ready to be rewashed, then it will go DIRECTLY into bags that we can drop off at the church on Saturday. I also did a strict budget for the year, so I'm pretty pleased with that. Now I know what we need so I can really watch the sales closely. Once I'm done posting here I'll be making that pasta sauce, finally. Oh, I also made a small batch of chili-enough for 3 lunches for DH, youngest DD and I. Mommy of 5

I bought them at Safeway, which is where I buy about 90% of my fresh produce in the winter. They were in the big ad, not a local store thing, and were probably on sale for St. Pat's Day. Thanks! Mommy of 5

I froze a whole bunch of potatoes on Sunday that I had bought on sale. Fried up some russets, and boiled some reds. While I was cooking, I smelled what smelled like acetone (nail polish remover), but I was getting a migraine and smell odd things sometimes with them. Tonight, I pulled out a batch of the boiled reds and heated them up. As soon as I tasted them, I knew that I hadn't imagined the smell, and told everyone not to eat the potatoes. Did I do something wrong, or is it just the potatoes? I'm horrified to think that the potatoes may have had something that smelled that way on them. It may not have been acetone, but it sure as heck wasn't something natural. I'm going to throw out the whole batch of reds, cause I don't know for sure what the problem is, and I surely don't want anyone eating them. Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated. Mommy of 5 Who is greatly saddened at the loss/waste of 20 lbs of food.

Well I have gotten exactly NOTHING done today, LOL. Watched a movie with the kids and then read some. Fixed lunch and read some more. Got in the shower, then came back here to talk to my brother on the phone, now going to read a little more while my hair dries a bit more then take the kids out for a walk. I think I'll just declare today a LAZY day! My DS has decided he wants to stay home from school this week, LOL. He's 5, so he can't really get behind, LOL. My oldest DD wants to take a day off, too, but she's doing CSAPs this week, so I promised her she could have a day off next week if she still needed it. I do kinda wish we could have all had our lazy day together! Especially oldest DD-she's very into spending time on her own (although she is a great help, most of the time), and they don't get home from school till around 5, so I don't feel like I spend enough time with her. She's too young to be this old! LOL. Mommy of 5

Thanks!!!

Me too, please! If I make the commitment with witnesses, I've REALLY made it, LOL.

Morning everyone Still to cold for me where you are! Yesterday we went out walking and it was a bit windy, but not too bad. We all really enjoyed the walk. It's supposed to be 67 today, but not sure if we'll get to spend as much time outside today. I have to make laundry soap and work in my bedroom-when we moved in it became the place to put everything that didn't have a place yet, LOL. I keep finding things and thinking "Now why did I move this?" LOL. I'm hoping the NEXT time we move will be the LAST time we move!

Morning everyone! Well, I only got about 30 lbs of potatoes done. Going to do the rest tomorrow. Well I'm going to AIM for getting the rest done tomorrow. We have plastic on the inside of the windows-once again we can only tape it cause whatever the inside walls are made of/coated with, we can't staple or even put nails in. Cinderblock, maybe? So, again, the wind pulls it off, LOL. Outside is vinyl siding, so we're stuck there, too. I just realized this afternoon that it sounds like I have an answer for EVERYTHING on this subject, LOL. What I'm trying to say is that we've tried that. It worked well except for the windows in the living room, which have no frame or anything to put the tape on except the paint over the cinderblock. I do so appreciate your suggestions, tho. I am just sooooooo completely frustrated over the utility bills. I have NEVER had bills this high, and am usually very careful. I put weatherstripping on the doors, I keep the thermostat as low as we can handle it-if it's warm enough that I don't have a jacket on, then it's too high, LOL. I bake a lot so there's that heat, and not so much gas being used. so, I'm not shooting down everything you say, nor trying to be a smart alec. I DO appreciate what you've said. This is teh LAST time I let DH pick a house for us to live in. It's nice and roomy, but...he just doesn't think about some of the things that need to be thought about, LOL. Next time we go house hunting, I'm going to make a list of things to check before we put down our deposit. We were in such a rush last time that I didn't think about that. Anyway, today the only things I HAVE to do is make massage oil, make a master bath salt mix, and make tortillas to go with dinner, and dinner, thankfully, will take about 10 mins. So I think we're going to get out in the yard. It's supposed to be 67 today, and my 5 yr old is home, too, so we're going to go pick up some and pull some weeds in the front yard. I tried to make an indoor clothesline this weekend-it compeltely didn't work, LOL. I'm going to have to figure out a way to put one in. The dogs tend to get anything I hang in the back yard.

Thanks everyone!

Morning everyone! Snowmom, glad you got back into your house. And nope, I can't beat that story for yesterday! All I did was grocery shopping and work. Not nearly as exciting or frustrating. And you're right about the landlord, BUT, it's also very difficult for me to pay a $350/mo. utility bill because the window won't shut. It's one of those ones that swings out to open so I can't jam anything in it to block the air. We tried taping it, but the wind blows the tape off. I don't want to epoxy it shut because if there's a fire we'd not be able to use it to go out of. We finally decided to go ahead and eat the cost of replacing it, which we'll do this summer. Today I will be freezing the 70 lbs of potatoes sitting in my kitchen. I will be so excited when canning equipment goes on sale-I can't wait to get started canning so I can buy stuff cheaper and have a good stockpile! Mommy of 5

Yes, we do LOVE to dream, LOL. DH has this home designer program that he bought on clearance for I think $4.00 LOL. You can design houses on it-we've come up with about 50, rofl.

Most of you don't know me very well, yet, and NONE of you know what a big, silent help you've all been. We've been going through some rough times. Nothing major, in the grand scheme of things, but plenty stressful. Things seem to be looking up a bit, finally, and I'm so completely thankful for that. But reading your posts, seeing the love and respect you have for each other, reading of your own struggles and how you dealt with them, seeing your faith so clearly evidenced, and just being a part of this community, even a new part, has been very helpful to me here lately. I haven't whined and complained-I don't know y'all well enough for that, yet, LOL. But, still, you've been here, and I know that you would have listened if I had needed to share what was going on. You've offered your friendship and your time. You've shown me ways to be more self sufficient, through the older messages here. You've answered my sometimes silly questions, and pointed me in the directions to find the answers myself. You've shown me that I'm stronger than I thought, and, even though you didn't know it, you probably helped hold me up a little bit during the hardest times. So thank you all for the help you didn't know you were giving. I am so looking forward to getting to know all of you better, and doing some holding up of my own when it's needed, even when it's not asked for. I can't tell you how blessed I feel that a group of people came together and formed this community that loves and cares about each other. Sharing knowledge is one thing. You folks share your heart, and that's a priceless thing! With much love, Mommy of 5

Oh I can't wait until I can have deer walking through the yard. That is so neat! DH and I were talking about our "dream home" last night. We're going to leave the front area open, and then put up a privacy fence around an acre or so in the back, so that the dogs can't jump out and nothing can jump in. I'm worried about coyotes getting them, or a deer hopping the fence and them getting it. Of course, I'll plant lots of corn, hehe. At our old house we got lots of cows and horses in the yard. The horses were great, cause then the kids got to see them. They weren't nearly so excited about the cows, LOL. Today is grocery shopping and library, then work. Tomorrow I'll be cooking all day. I found out you can get LEAP for emergencies if you have broken windows. We have one that won't close completely, and it's an entire unit, containing 12 windows, and the landlord has agreed to do "one window per month". Umm, no thanks. So now, hopefully, the state will be on him to fix them, or give us the money to fix them, although I'd hope the LEAP program would go after him for it. The bad thing is, DH installs glass for a living, so we'd get the glass at a discount, and we offered to not bill the landlord for labor AT ALL, cause, well, we're living here. Cheap jerk. LOL. So I'm very thankful that we'll be getting some help with that.

I didn't have a chance to get in here this morning. We had to take DS to his kindergarten screening, where he passed with flying colors. Then we had to drop off the computer we sold and run to the bank, then come home and have lunch. PHEW! I am so completely ready for a nap, I may take one when the kids go down this afternoon. Then I have to finish up an oil order and get it ready to ship. I will be so glad when this one is out of the house LOL. Also have to make the grocery list. That's so much more fun to do when I have more money to spend. But, in the grand scheme of things, I have food and water, so I shouldn't complain! Talk to you soon!

Thank you!!! I feel tons better this morning-could use a bit more sleep, I think, but that's about normal for me, LOL. Mommy of 5

Anyone know how to make this? It's one of DH's faves, so I figured I'd make some for him when it goes on sale (it hasn't yet here, which I find a bit odd). Thought I'd buy quite a bit and make it and freeze it. If not, I'll search for a recipe on the net, but I like y'alls recipes so much more LOL. Mommy of 5

Evening everyone Well I got everyone healthy just in time to get it myself. And I have been soooooooooooo careful, but, when you're cleaning up messes, in the middle of the night, careful isn't exactly on your mind. I feel tons better now, ate a bit. Snowmom, I'm glad the meds are working. BeccaAnne, it's good to know that your school is supportive and will be giving the boys some help. My stepson has been in and out of programs and hospitals and they just keep throwing more meds at his problems. I'm glad to see that there are some schools that make the effort to help! Gives me hope LOL. I divided 25 pounds worth of flour into 5 lb bags yesterday before I realized I was actually sick, so I'll be throwing all of that in the freezer tonight to kill any "bugs" I may have put into it, LOL. Other than that, I'm just going to hang with the kiddoes, since I spent much of last night away from them. Night everyone!

Morning. Finally got some GOOD sleep last night! Everyone is all done with the stomach bug, I think. Today I'm doing more spring cleaning, and making some treats. I'm all out, LOL. Well, I have some stuff in the freezer that can come out, but not much, and I want the kids to have some variety. I wish we had flowers. This yard is in such horrible shape. I am going to look through my seed packets and maybe plant something in the front to pretty it up, although the front faces the north so we don't have a lot of sun, and our yard is sloped-don't know what it's going to be like when it starts raining. I also have to fix the fence that the neighbors drove over shortly after we moved in, that they PROMISED to fix but haven't yet. I will be SO glad when we can get back out into the country and not have close neighbors. People just bug me, LOL. Mommy of 5

Well I missed chat last night-they dryer wasn't cooperating, and after a having sick ones Sunday I was out of wash cloths, so it made cleaning the kitchen and cooking dinner difficult-I didn't even get that started until about 5, so I wasn't in here working, so I coudln't make it to chat. Is it just Monday nights? Mommy of 5

Today I'm starting my spring cleaning-focusing on allergens this week, so I'm washing all the linens and then vacuuming about 50 times. At least this will give me an excuse to get the boxes in my room unpacked from when we moved in here-in OCTOBER, LOL. What time is chat? Mommy of 5