Recipe Time: Slow Cooker Jambalaya

I got a request the other day for my Slow Cooker Jambalaya recipe.  Here you go, with my compliments.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Slow Cooker Jambalaya

1 pound chicken breast or breast tenders, cubed
1 polish kielbasa link, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes (I like the petite diced)
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (I use Tony Cachere's)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound peeled, veined shrimp
Hot cooked rice

In sprayed slow cooker, combine all ingredients except shrimp and rice.  Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours or on high for 3 -4 hours.  Stir in shrimp and cook on low for an additional 1 hour.  Serve over hot cooked rice.  Serves 6.

Move It Mondays

Happy Monday!  I've been moving it indoors today, on account of the almost non-stop rain we're having.  It's currently drizzling, but we've had light to heavy rain all morning.  As a matter of fact, this has been the wettest summer I can remember, and the rains have continued into fall without any signs of letting up.  The humidity and heat indexes have been high everyday for months now.  Our saturated ground could use a break!

This weekend my youngest son and I attended the Awana conference here in South Florida.  What a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement!  I've gotta get a post up describing some of the things we learned.

Anyway, with all the rain I haven't been able to finish mowing the lawn.  Instead I began the day by putting some jambalaya in the crock pot.  It smells delicious!  In some places there's no school today because of it being Columbus Day, but South Florida doesn't care too much about Columbus because it's a regular school day (to my son's utter chagrin).  So after breakfast I dropped him off at school and came straight home.  I folded the clean socks I'd washed yesterday and started a load of towels.  Next I cleaned the master bathroom, the kitchen, and the family room.  I've made some white rice to go with my jambalaya, and I'll be having lunch in a few minutes.  Afterwards, I think I'll do some ironing before it's time to pick up my son from school again.  Did I mention my son's grades have been steadily improving?  We give God the glory for E's 5 B's and 1 C (in science; we're hoping with the science fair project he can bring that grade up too).  It's a joy to see my son work hard to keep his grades up.

Since the weather forecast calls for rain all day, we'll be staying indoors after school.  My daughter works today, and she's thankful for food she can pack for work.  I'm thankful I can provide it :).  My oldest son will be heading for school in the evening, so we'll keep him in prayer for safety.  Have a blessed day everyone!

Health-Wise Wednesdays

I weighed in at 132.4 lbs today. I'm thrilled that I'm maintaining my weight between 131 and 133 each week. Maintenance has been tough for me in the past; keeping a close watch on what I eat has helped me overcome that.

And how do I keep watch? By measuring calories and food portion size. It also helps to make meals that are low in fat, like in my trusty crockpot. Here's a recipe for jambalaya that has only 193 calories per serving, only 8 grams of fat, is filling and nutritious, and is easy to make. Can you beat that?! Not with a stick.

Homemade Jambalaya

6 chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces
1 polish kielbasa sausage link, sliced
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 medium sized bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes with chilis
1 tbs. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. Creole seasoning
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Put all ingredients except shrimp into crock pot on medium for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Stir in shrimp and cook an additional 45 minutes. Serve over white rice.

Move It Mondays

It's 11:35 in the morning, and this is the first opportunity I get to sit down (other than eating breakfast).  It's been a busy and productive morning.  Feeling good about that!

First off, though, let me talk about the weekend and Casting Crowns!  Oh, the concert was amazing!  The drive was long but we got there in time to park up close to the venue.  It's an outdoor amphitheater in a park, with VIP seating in front of the stage or bring your own seating behind and around it.  Since my daughter won the tickets she and her friends were sure we would get preferred seating.  I wasn't convinced, so we brought some folding sports chairs.  Boy, am I glad we did!  We went to Will Call as instructed, gave our names and, lo and behold, we were not on the list.  That kind of scared me a little, since we'd driven an hour to get there and the cheapest seats were $30 each, which I didn't have.  Thankfully, they had someone check in the computer, and when my daughter was asked where she'd gotten the tickets it was sufficient.  We got stamped, but found out we were in general admission, meaning no chairs for us.  I'm not upset about it, though.  The VIP seats were nothing more than folding chairs - our chairs were more comfortable!  The only rough part of the evening was the weather - it was in the low 50's and windy, meaning it felt cold!  I had on jeans with a sweater and a top over it, my warm coat and a blanket and I was still shivering.  Even my daughter, who doesn't typically complain about cold weather, was tucking herself under a blanket.  Glad we thought to bring those too!

The concert started about 15 minutes late but lasted 2 hours with a 15 minute break in between.  What I really love about Casting Crowns is that it isn't just about the music.  It's a ministry, with the goal of bringing the Gospel message, and what an encouraging sight to see many come up to receive Christ as their personal Savior!  It was really inspiring.  The music was great too, don't get me wrong.  I cried during a couple of the songs, danced, sang my little heart out and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  But there's something about seeing people get saved that really makes the evening special.  I'm so thankful that my daughter and I got to experience that night together.

Next morning it was hard to get out of bed, thanks to 52 degrees outside and warm, cozy bed inside!  Service was amazing once again.  Pastor Matt is such a dynamic and passionate speaker.  Since he came in January to serve as our lead pastor, the church has been getting more and more packed.  I'm excited to see what kind of a turnout we get this Easter!

This morning was the coldest we've had all winter.  It was the first time I had to turn on the heat!  It was 43 degrees when I got up, and the wind made it feel like 41.  I don't care where you hail from, 41 degrees is cold!  It's 61 degrees now but it still feels chilly.  The windows are open so the house can air out.  I much prefer having days when I can open up the windows and let the cool air come in instead of having the a/c running all day long.

Since my daughter will be having her wisdom teeth removed on Wednesday, I decided to get her room cleaned up really good.  She's working at both her jobs today so she won't have a chance to do it.  I washed Molly's bedding, dusted the room from top to bottom, and mopped up her floors.  Then I moved on into my son's room.  I cleaned up the same in there but also helped my son get the desk a bit more organized.  Boys can be pretty messy if you let them :(.

I knew I'd be busy today, so last night I filled up the crock pot with the ingredients to make jambalaya.  All I had to do this morning was take it out of the fridge and turn it on.  I put the shrimp in a few minutes ago, and lunch should be ready in about 40 minutes.  The house smells so yummy!  And jambalaya is perfect for crisp, cool days like today.

I finished putting away 2 small loads of laundry, so after lunch I'll clean up the bathrooms, then see about getting the branches from the backyard into the trash can, since tomorrow is trash day.  It looks like it's gonna be a hectic week, so I'm thankful I have Monday to get myself in gear!  Have a blessed one!

The Simple Woman's Daybook - March 30 Edition

For today, March 30, 2009

Outside my window...is a bright and sunshiny day, about 70 degrees. We got a little rain this weekend, and hopefully some more today.

I am thinking...about some high school friends I found on Facebook. I graduated from HS 28 years ago, but it seems like only yesterday when I find my dear friends.

I am thankful for...a good meeting I had with E's teachers this morning. He's doing much better, and is expected to pass to 4th grade. Praise the Lord!

From the learning rooms...we'll be working on plot development which is similar to main idea for reading comprehension.

From the kitchen...crock pot jambalaya with white rice.

I am wearing...a burgundy blouse, grey skirt and (now) house sandals. I was wearing my black pumps when I went to meet with the teachers, but took them off as soon as I got home. I always dress up when I go see my son's teachers. I believe he deserves to have a mommy that looks presentable.

I am creating...this week's menu. I'm a bit behind.

I am going...to get out of these nice clothes and into some shorts. Need to start cleaning up after hubby was working on the bathroom again yesterday.

I am reading...chapter 7 of Really Bad Girls of the Bible, and Matthew chapter 27. I've broken it down so I can really get into it.

I am hearing...my son getting up. He worked last night so he slept in.

I am hoping...my son continues to do well in school and his reading continues to improve.

Around the house...laundry, bathroom cleaning, and get rid of some dust. I've managed to keep everything as clean as possible despite the construction, but I need to go over the floors everyday.

One of my favorite things is...seeing old friends. Pastor Bill and his beautiful wife Rebecca were visiting from Connecticut yesterday, and it was great to see them and their 3 gorgeous daughters.

A few plans for the rest of the week: more construction work will be going on, though not as quickly as with the master bath. We're doing this one ourselves, so it's more about doing a little each day. Wednesday is April Fool's Day - don't get caught!

Here's a picture thought I'm sharing: I swiped this from Marybeth Whalen because it's so true:

To join in the fun, visit Peggy at the Simple Woman's Daybook. Have a blessed week.

Monday Quiz About Me

It is Monday, right?  Good!  Welcome to Monday Quiz About Me - hosted by Acting Balanced and Touristic.

Here are FOUR QUESTIONS that everyone can answer and then I add a fifth question of my own for those who are visiting my blog to answer in the comment section, along with commenting on the four standard questions I answered!  Here we go:


1. On a long road trip do you prefer to be the driver or a passenger? Or do you prefer to travel a different way all together?
That's easy.  Long or short, I'd rather be the passenger on a road trip and not the driver.  I enjoy traveling by car, I just prefer not to drive.

2. Do you use a slow cooker? Favorite thing to make?
Oh yeah!  Best appliance in the kitchen!  My favorite thing to make is jambalaya.  I add chicken, smoked sausage (kielbasa) and shrimp.  Delicious!

3. Which type of festival would you rather go to... Wine and Food, Music or Sports?
Music, especially if my daughter is playing :)

4. What is your favorite fallacy?
"Favorite" fallacy?  I don't know if I have a favorite.  Fallacies are falsehoods, and I don't like falsehoods.

And my question:

5.  Who are you rooting for in the Super Bowl?
Okay, I'm gonna be honest here.  I only know the Super Bowl is this Sunday because it was mentioned at church yesterday.  I don't even know who's playing in the Super Bowl.  I'm hoping the answers here will shed some light. :)

The Simple Woman's Daybook - Jan. 19, 2009

FOR TODAY January 19, 2009...
Outside my window...it's another sunshiny day. 64 Degrees this morning when I got up. Should get a "cold" front this week, bringing the temps down to a bitter 40+ degrees on Wednesday.
I am thinking...the TV will be saturated with inauguration programs all week.
I am thankful for...the love of my Savior.
From the learning rooms...I think we'll play some Scrabble today. It's fun, and educational.
From the kitchen...jambalaya in the slow cooker. One of my favorites.

I am wearing...haven't changed out of my house dress, and it's almost 10:00. Shame on me.
I am creating...a plan for renovating the master bathroom.
I am going...to enjoy today with my son at home.
I am reading...Numbers for my morning devotions. I've ordered a couple of books from Amazon which should arrive this week. Good, 'cause I need some fresh reading material.
I am hearing...the hum of the computer, and my youngest son's ramblings. He's a talkative little critter.
Around the house...bathrooms and laundry. House is pretty clean for the most part.
One of my favorite things...is board games. We played tons of them when I was growing up, and we have fun playing them now, especially when everyone is home and willing to play.
A few plans for the rest of the week: back to school tomorrow. I hope to go with my hubby to the tile store so we can decide on a design for the bathroom. I'd like to get that done and over with as soon as possible. Awana on Wednesday. Sunday we have a guest speaker at church, Dr. Bob Barnes, who will speak on marriage and relationships. I promised that I would teach one of the children's classes so that the teacher for this week can go to one of the services and hear Dr. Barnes. I'm sure we will be blessed by his message.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...I actually don't have any new pics. I need to get the camera out. Keeps it more fun.

To join in the fun, visit Peggy at the Simple Woman's Daybook. http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Move It Mondays

It's another bright, sunny Monday morning, another blessed day in my life, and I hope to take full advantage of it! I'm thanking the Lord for Mondays - it's the start of the week, and what better way to start than praising our Savior! I've got plenty of stuff to get done today. I've had my breakfast this morning: Chocolate Cheerios. I love this stuff! It's crazy that something that tastes so good can also be good for me! I'm enjoying my morning coffee, and I can see the slow cooker already cooking up today's afternoon meal: jambalaya. Mmm!! Here's the rest of today's list:

Fix bed

One - two loads laundry (I was caught up on Friday)

Take E to park to sign up for swimming lessons

Get oil changed in car

Clean patio floor, water plants

Hopefully I'll get everything accomplished today. Of course, man plans but God commands; whatever He sees fit for today, I'm there.

Hope everyone has a blessed week. Move it Mondays is hosted by Kristilea at In The Lord's Path. Let's get moving!

2 More Days - Happy Christmas Adam!

That's right, Christmas Adam.  You know, Adam came before Eve?  I'll let ya'll think about that for a minute.

I have a cute stuffed snowman on my bed, dressed up in overalls with a bag on his arm filled with snowballs that count down the days till Christmas.  Only I lost the last snowball, the one that has 2 on one side and 1 on the other.  Here he has been counting down the days since December 1st and he can't finish his job.  What a bummer.

Last night I downloaded a new app, Errands.  It's a to-do list to help me keep track of what needs to get done on a daily basis.  I had Any.Do for a while but it wasn't working properly.  Half the time it wouldn't let me put anything in that was too far in advance, it wouldn't repeat tasks, and sometimes would erase stuff.  I'm liking Errands so far, but since I just started using it yesterday I can't give it a proper review.  I'll see how I feel about it a week from now.  I was going through Facebook before going to sleep, and saw that Bare Escentuals has a contest/sweepstakes type deal going on, where someone can win free product, up to $575 worth.  I tried over and over to sign up but I guess there were too many people on the site, so I went in this morning and registered.  I told my daughter about it and she said, "Sign me up too!" so I did.

My day started with my trusty crock pot.  I knew I had outdoor work to do today, so I planned on jambalaya that I could set and forget.  It was in the pot cooking by 8:20 am.  I had my breakfast, 2 slices of bacon and some leftover cornbread with my coffee, then I made the brine for the turkey.  I decided to make a good sized turkey for Christmas Eve dinner that would carry over to Christmas Day because, who wants to be stuck in the kitchen on Christmas?  I like making a big breakfast on Christmas morning, pancakes or waffles, sausages, bacon, the works.  But I don't want to have to be in the kitchen roasting a turkey and making all the fixin's too.  I want to be able to sit back and watch The Christmas Story and Miracle on 34th Street and all the other classic Christmas movies with my kids.  Though I suspect they'll be busy with all their new goodies to be bothered with anything else.

So, lunch in the crock pot, brine on the stove, I got to work in the yard.  I haven't mowed the lawn in about a month.  It's been dry so there hasn't been a whole lot of growth, but the grass was starting to look messy and in need of a good trim.  In the summer, when the heat and humidity are at their highest, it will easily take me 90 minutes to mow the front and back yards.  Today, with the air so dry and a cool breeze blowing, it took an hour.  Instead of coming inside red as a tomato and drenched in sweat, I was covered in dirt that blew up from the ground, and I was pretty dry.  It was nice not having to fight with the lawn mower because the ground was soggy from the rain and humidity.  While I was at work in the front yard my neighbor's little girl came over and gave me the cutest Christmas card with a picture of herself inside.  She's 4 years old now, and just as sweet as they come.  Her grandma told me she was making out her Christmas cards and the little one told her, "Grandma, don't forget the neighbor!"  God bless her, she is a real doll.

Once I was done I came inside and showered.  There was still plenty that could be done, but my nose was not having it.  I take Allegra daily, and it has kept my allergies well under control, but even maintenance medicine can get overwhelmed when there are that many weeds and dryness in the air.  I figured I'd better play it safe and come back inside the house before a severe allergy attack came on.  As it was I was sneezing quite a bit.  My body was trying to get rid of all the allergens.

Yesterday I mentioned that I baked an orange streusel loaf for my daughter's coworkers.  She works at the church office where she attends church.  There is one other girl that works in the office, and all the rest are men.  Nine of them.  She says they attacked the cake.  I can't lie, it made me smile from ear to ear.  I am extremely gratified knowing I put some joy in their tummies ;-).

After my shower I had lunch, then vegged out for awhile.  I watched some videos on youtube, then my daughter and I watched The Biggest Loser on Hulu.  While I was having lunch, a package arrived for my son R from Think Geek.  He loves all the wacky stuff they sell.  When my daughter and I sat down to watch The Biggest Loser, we noticed a new present under the tree.  We were pretty intrigued; who was this for?  I got up to read what it said on the wrapping, and we both laughed:  "To R From R.  No, I don't have to justify buying myself a Christmas present."  My daughter and I both agreed that was a great idea, and we should do the same when our Bare Escentuals order came in.  I went to check the tracking number to see when it would be arriving.  I had received an email last Thursday stating it was shipping that day, but FedEx only showed that a label had been created.  I decided to call and find out if the error was at FedEx or at Bare Escentuals.  Let me just say, they have the nicest customer service people I have spoken to in a long time.  They were polite, helpful, and looking for ways to help me as best as they could, considering the shipping warehouse is not at the same location as their offices.  The lady thought it was very strange that I hadn't received this order, especially when a second order that I'd placed after this one had already been received.  She asked if I would be willing to call FedEx and find out if they had the package.  I agreed, and called FedEx.  Total contrast!  The customer service rep at FedEx literally yawned in my ear as she asked me my name.  How unprofessional is that?!  It annoys me when customer service reps are not at the top of their game.  So many people out of work would love that job!  Appreciate what you have!!  *Rant over*  The woman told me that they'd never received the package from the shipper, so I called Bare Escentuals back.  This time I was told that the label had been created but for some reason the package had not shipped.  Since I placed the order before the deadline I was guaranteed delivery by Christmas (I placed the order on 12/15, and I believe the deadline was either 12/16 or 12/18).  The woman promised to look into it, and have someone call me about having it shipped to receive by the 25th.  Within 20 minutes she called back, but unfortunately she didn't have good news.  She isn't all together sure if the package was picked up by FedEx and not scanned, or if it never got picked up.  The offices are in San Francisco, and the shipping warehouse is in Ohio.  The warehouse had already closed for the day so she couldn't contact them, and there was no way they could ship Wednesday and still receive the order on Christmas because FedEx is closed.  So we are looking at Friday or Saturday delivery, IF there isn't any weather problems.  I could have gotten mad, but what would that do?  It wouldn't get my order here any faster.  I told the girl we'd manage, and that it was alright, and she was so apologetic and grateful that I was being so understanding.

I've put the turkey in the brine and tidied up the kitchen.  My son R is at work, and my daughter A is at the Christmas Eve Eve church service.  There will be another service tomorrow which I plan to attend with my son E.  She has to attend both because of work.  To be perfectly honest, I have done nothing productive after calling Bare Escentuals.  I pretty much just lay around the house.  So really, there's nothing else to tell.  Tomorrow is a new day, an exciting and fun day, and we're all looking forward to it.  Good night and pleasant dreams.

Wednesday Mid-Week

Today was a slightly more relaxed day than yesterday.  I like days that are even the slightest bit more relaxed.  I'm a relaxation loving gal.

I awoke to the sounds of my daughter coughing up all the nastiness that has been plaguing her the past few days.  It reminded me of her brother just last week.  That Mucinex-DM really does work, let me tell you.  Her voice is slowly returning though she whispers most of the time just so she doesn't strain her throat.  That's been the hardest part for her: my daughter the chatterbox doesn't know how to "not speak".  She went back to work today because she had to, not because she wanted to.  Her boss at the tutoring place told her that she'd had to cancel two of her students because there was no one to replace her.  My daughter felt bad, even though this is the first time in a year and a half that she's missed a day of work.

Since today was the last day of the semester and my son is completely done with all his work, I just asked him to do some reading for the day.  It made no sense to try and figure out something for him to do.  I did a bunch of cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, laundry...basically kept busy with all the inside housework.  I'm thinking tomorrow I'll work outside; there's plenty to be done, and the weather has been nice, though today it was pretty hot out.  Apparently it's supposed to cool down over the weekend again.  We've had temps in the upper 50's and lower 60's during the night and in the mornings, and 70's in the afternoon.  Today actually got up to about 80, but that's not supposed to last.  I'm glad; it's much easier to do yardwork when it isn't too hot outside.

We had Awana tonight.  One of the leaders told me my makeup looked really nice, which made me happy :).  I'd taken my time fixing my makeup and hair, and it was nice that she noticed.  When I got home I cleaned up the kitchen, then prepared the jambalaya for tomorrow.  I prep everything and put it inside the crock pot, then leave it in the fridge till tomorrow morning when I set it on high for about 5 hours.  That's why I love the crock pot so much: it takes about 10 minutes to prepare everything, and the crock pot does the rest.

So that was pretty much my day.  Nothing exciting, no big adventures, just a quiet, ordinary day.  Well, quiet when my daughter wasn't coughing :( .  I'm desperately hoping I don't catch this cold; she hangs around me a lot, and I hate telling her to keep away, but I really, really don't want to get sick.  Here's to hoping!  Have a blessed, restful night everybody.

Move It Mondays

Move It Mondays is hosted by Kristilea over at In the Lord's Path.

I've got alot of movin' to do today. I've had my breakfast: a bowl of nice hot Cream of Wheat with vanilla soy milk. That'll keep my tummy happy as I tackle the following busy list for today:

2 loads of laundry, including towels
clean both bathrooms
sweep all floors
clean ceiling fans

Sounds like alot, but I think I can get it all done before the morning is over. Besides, food's already in the crock pot - jambalaya, which I didn't make last Friday.

Enjoy your Monday! Have a blessed week.

Move It Mondays

Happy 1st Monday in December!  Can you believe it, this year is quickly coming to an end!  For those of you expecting the world to end on the 21st it may not be a happy time, but for those of us who believe Christ will come as a thief in the night with no forewarning, it's the greatest month of the year!  At our house it's even more special - not only are we celebrating the Lord's birthday, but mine, my daughter and my youngest son's.  It's always festive for us this time of year!

I got up this morning and had a pumpkin spice Eggo, bacon and coffee breakfast.  After dropping my son off at school I came home to get my daughter so we could go grocery shopping.  I needed to get a hair appointment but I couldn't find the girl's number, so I figured I'd call after I got home.  As I was driving to Walmart my daughter was checking out Facebook and said, "My hair salon has an event this week - bring in a brand new unwrapped toy and get a free haircut."  Now, my daughter goes to one of these upscale salons that charge $65 for a haircut and blow-dry, so I never go there to get my hair done.  I go to a place next to our Winn-Dixie, get the $30 shampoo and cut, then come home and blow-dry it myself.  When I heard this deal, though, I got super excited!  I know where the special clearance aisle is at Walmart, and they put some really neat stuff there at great prices - like the Sorry Sliders Cars 2 Edition board game I got for $11.50!  That's the game I'm taking to the hair place tomorrow to get my free shampoo and wash!  Blow drying would be an additional $35+ so I'll still be drying my own hair, but who cares?!  I'm getting a high end haircut for $11.50, so I know I can't go wrong.  That there is a blessing from heaven!

Lunch/dinner today is jambalaya which I made in the crock pot.  It's nice and spicy and oh so delicious!  After lunch I went to finish grocery shopping.  I get my canned and dry goods primarily at Walmart, but deli meats and cheeses I get from Publix (along with some gift cards to stuff in my kids' stockings) and meats I get from Winn-Dixie.  Of course I didn't need meat this week since I doubled up last week, but I went to Winn-Dixie for salad fixings and rice.  That's another thing I don't get at Walmart - produce.  It never looks as good as the produce at Publix or Winn-Dixie.  I think the Walmart produce is over-priced; the fruits and veggies are small and don't look nearly as fresh.  The salads go bad faster too.  It doesn't pay to save a few pennies if it'll get thrown out later on.

Well, Molly's been fed, E is watching some cartoons on his computer before starting his homework, and I'm munching on an apple.  I think I'll watch a Christmas movie with dinner again tonight.  I've watched just about all the Christmas movies on Netflix, and now I'm going through my own library of Christmas DVD's.  Some people think Christmas movies are cheesy, but they are my all-time favorites!

Have a fun filled rest of your Monday everyone!

Thursdays Post...On Friday

Yep, I'm late with my post again.  I was pretty busy yesterday, and by the time I remembered to blog I was already in bed, half asleep.  It happens.  Certain times of the month, it happens.  Girls know what I'm talking about.

No school yesterday or today - teacher service days, meaning my son's teachers are still grading papers and getting calls made.  My son still doesn't know his algebra grade.  He's got A's in all his other classes, but I suspect he got a B in math, just because he had an 89% before midterm finals, and he got C's in 2 of those.  We don't know what his score was on the last portion of the exam, but whatever it was, it wasn't going to be high enough to bump his grade back up to an A.  Still, I'm pretty satisfied.  His grades are improved from last year, and I'm sure they're better than they would have been had he been in public school.  His science teacher called him to say he'd gotten one of the highest grades on his exam: an 87%.  He was so thrilled about that; he'd always worked hard in science but his grades would never reflect it.  Last year his science teacher was very disorganized, and she had zero control over her class.  She spent 70% of her time disciplining or yelling at the students, then the end of the grading period would come and she was behind in all the lessons.  I was the one that ended up teaching him from his book.  She was always behind in posting grades in his grade book, so I didn't know what areas he was having trouble with.  I would email her but her answers, when they came, were vague.  It was so frustrating, because I wanted to be involved in his schooling but it seemed some of the teachers were working against me.  Not the case anymore.  His teachers are on the ball, even though they have more students.  And I'm his primary learning coach, so I have full access to all his lessons and can help him better.  Homeschooling may not be for everyone, but it's been a win-win situation for us.

Since there was no school, my son asked for a haircut.  E had initially said he wanted to go to a hair stylist and get his hair styled, but in the end he realized he doesn't want his hair to be too long.  Most styles now are fades, with the hair on top of the head long and the sides short.  The problem with that for my son is, he has wiry hair.  The hair styles that are popular for men now are for straight hair.  He'd have to let his wiry hair grow out long enough to blow dry, and he's not going to do that.  He can't stand how it feels.  So I cut his hair, then cut R's hair as well.  My boys appreciate the fact that I'm cutting their hair: E because he can jump in the shower right away afterwards, and R because it saves him money.  Another win-win.

I made jambalaya in the crock pot.  It was spicy and delicious; so much so that there were no leftovers.  After lunch I went to pick up some dried up coconuts and branches from the yard, and saw that my little pepper plant, which looks more like a weed than a plant, had 4 more peppers on it.  I haven't even been attending to these plants, but they're producing.  I figured it out: this is the time to plant in Florida, not in the summer or fall, but in the winter.  So I cleaned up my garden area (which had become overgrown with weeds), threw away everything that had dried up, and moved my pepper and tomato plants closer to the house.  I then got some of the larger containers, added more soil to them, and planted green beans, green peppers and cucumbers.  I was going to trim the raspberry bush, but I saw a bunch of buds on the branches.  Who knows, we might finally get some raspberries from this bush!  I'm excited to see if I have better results from my garden this time around.

I was debating whether or not to go to the ladies bible study at my church.  The group started up again last week, and I missed it because of midterm finals.  My son E was actually encouraging me to go, so I did.  Boy, am I glad!  We're doing Beth Moore's study of the book of Daniel, my favorite Old Testament book.  Let me just say, this is not a study for wimps.  She goes into this book deep, both biblically and historically.  I'm super excited now!  I have to catch up in my workbook since I didn't attend last week's class, but I'm determined to do 2 lessons per day so I don't miss any of the information.  Can't wait till next week for our next class!

After that I came home, cleaned up the kitchen, then went to bed.  I had a slight headache, which hasn't gone away yet.  I'm gonna take some Tylenol, then get started with my day.  Catch up with you later!

Monthly Menu Plan

I worked on my meal plan for October this week. Most folks are experiencing fall weather; South Florida won't know about this till November, sometimes December. Still, I love classic fall cuisine, so I added a few favorites to this month's menu plan, along with some staples and a new recipe I saw Mandy make on her YouTube channel, Mandy in the Making. Here's what I came up with for this week:

Soups and chili seem to cry out, "It's Fall Y'all!" so of course I added beef chili to my list. Comfort foods also scream fall to me, so I've added meatloaf, chicken & dumplings, mac & cheese, and sausage gravy & biscuits. The new recipe I want to try out is Chicken Bacon Ranch soup. You can watch the video here. I figured, it's got chicken, it's got bacon, and it's made in the crockpot; what's not to like? Another crockpot meal for this month is jambalaya. Mine isn't what I'd call authentic but it's a family favorite. I posted the recipe on my blog several years ago. You can check it out here. 

Off I went, first to Aldi's and then to our neighborhood Walmart. 

I got a bunch of meat from Aldi's. I'm praying the worst of the hurricane season is over so I don't have to worry about having too much food in the freezer. For this month's menu plan I needed a lot of ground beef; thankfully it's back down to $2.99/lb. at Aldi's. I also got ground turkey to make turkey patties, and pork chops to fry up. I needed green beans and mixed vegetables but Aldi only had the green beans.

Most of what I got from Aldi was produce. All my produce except for the bananas were from Aldi. I didn't get bananas from Aldi because the store was packed and I couldn't get to them, which happens often. Aldi's prices, especially on produce, are usually better even than Walmart. I got onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, tomatoes, apples, bell peppers, salad mix, along with lactose free and almond milk.

I didn't get a whole lot from Walmart, just what wasn't available at Aldi. I did get a couple of large salads that were reduced because their sell by date was Sept. 25. That doesn't bother me, since I ate one already and the other will disappear today. What's really funny (and the reason I think they didn't sell) is that these are supposed to be Caesar salads made with romaine lettuce, but instead they were made with iceberg lettuce mix (the one that includes shredded carrot and red cabbage). Someone dropped the ball whenever they made these salads. I didn't care; I like both iceberg and romaine lettuce.

I had a small dry goods haul from Aldi, but y'all, I can't even tell you how excited I got when I saw they had pumpkin spice oatmeal!! I first tried this last year and I could not get enough of it. It is so delicious! I didn't have oatmeal on my shopping list, but whenever I turned around and saw this, I knew I had to grab it. I'll admit it, I'm a pumpkin spice junky. Give me pumpkin spice everything! The net zero bread is for my daughter. She asked me to pick it up for her, since she's doing keto and knew I'd be going to Aldi this week.

I also got a few dry goods from Walmart; again it's what I couldn't find at Aldi, like the chili diced tomatoes. Aldi usually has fire roasted diced tomatoes that are really good, but they didn't have any this week. I buy my son this big box of Pringles that lasts him a couple of weeks at least. And of course his flavored waters, but I also got him some small cans of Pepsi. He has a computer art class Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:30 am, and the soda helps keep him awake. I would have bought Coke but they didn't have any small cans.

Now the big question: how much did I spend? I didn't get any household goods this time around; everything was food. All my meats were from Aldi, and there was quite a bit of it. I spent $90.69 at Aldi, and $41.74 at Walmart. I find it surprising that my Aldi bill was just a little over double my Walmart bill, but I got so much more food at Aldi (including meats which totaled $36.79). While it's true that Walmart is right around the corner and I have to drive out a little farther to get to Aldi, I think in the long run it's definitely worth the trip.  

Less than a week till October! 

Observing My Senses

For today, August 5, 2013...

I am seeing...clouds, and the wind picking up. We might just see some rain. Again. 

I am feeling...frustrated with this son of mine. He hates shopping or trying on clothes, but the only way I'll know if his school pants fit him is if he puts them on. You'd think I was sending him to Alcatraz for crying out loud!

I am hearing...said son as he looks for ways to distract me so he doesn't have to try on his pants. It's not working. 

I am tasting..my coconut fruit bar. How I love the pieces of coconut it has!

I am smelling...jambalaya. I made it nice and spicy. No complaints from anyone :)

It just takes moment to observe your surroundings. Won't you join me?