Oops, there it went

Menu Plan Monday came and went, see my penance recipe for Sticky Chicken at the end of this post.

My reason was this: I got a heads up from I-don't-remember-where that Food Lion had whole chickens on sale for 49 cents/pound. Wow! I hadn't seen that price in a while, so it was worth the trip three miles away for the deal. This was Monday morning, early, when I was the only person awake in my house. That way, I didn't detract from our regular schedule. I entered Food Lion with the intent of purchasing 10-15 chickens. However, when I got back to the meat department I quickly realized that I had stumbled on a jackpot of reduced meat. Now, if you remember the Food Lion meat scandal of the early 90's, you're probably thinking "ew, gross", but I think after that, Food Lion probably became one of the safest places to buy meat because of the scrutiny they received. Anyway, I got so many good bargains to last a while. The reductions were just taken (the date said 4/28, which was yesterday). I got several 5 pound Boston Butt roasts for 87 cents a pound. I got beef ribs, which my family adores. We normally wouldn't eat beef ribs because of the price. I also got a few Chuck Roasts, which can be slow cooked in a way that they are tender and juicy. I will be going back to Food Lion again on another Monday for more meat deals.

Sunday - leftover spaghetti dinner
Monday - Southern Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwiches in the slow cooker, cucumber salad, pasta salad, Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Tuesday - Lentils and Vegetable Soup, leftover pulled pork sandwiches, Green Leaf Salad
Wednesday - Sticky Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Steamed Vegetables, Butter Flake rolls
Thursday - Day Old Bread Casserole (using leftover chicken), rolls, peas
Friday - Pizza night
Saturday night - out of town company = out to eat!


and, now, from the family archives:


Sticky Chicken

---

Serves: 4

This chicken is an absolute family favorite. My family would eat this once per week, but I wait until I get a really, really good deal on whole chickens to keep it special by not serving it so often. Cooked, these resemble those tiny Tyson Rotisserie Chicken, or the expensive rotisserie chickens at the certain Market store. The skin is crisp, the inside is so moist! For my family I make two, so we have a little leftover.

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon white peppers
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 whole chicken
1 cup chopped onions

Combine all spices (first 8 ingredients) in small bowl.

Rinse chicken, inside & out. Drain well.

Rub spice mixture over skin and the inside of the chicken. Place in a resealable bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast, stuff cavity with onions. Place chicken breast-side-up in roasting pan.

Roast, uncovered, at 250°F (that's not a typo...it's really 250°F). Baste occasionally with pan juices or until pan juices start to caramelize on bottom of pan and chicken is golden brown, about 5 hours.

Anything over 225°F is safe as long as the chicken reaches an internel temperature of at least 180 F, which this does, and more for about 5 hours.

OR

Following regular chicken roasting instructions as follows: Pour melted butter over chickens. Place on roasting rack in shallow dish. Roast at 475 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees. Roast an additional 30-45 minutes, or until internal temperature is 180 F.




Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Menu Planning Software from DVO Enterprises.

Lessons learned

My Palm Pilot crashed about 10 months ago, taking with it my addresses, birthdays, important dates, shopping lists, recipes, etc. I'd thought about replacing it, possibly even with a Blackberry that I'd had my eye on. It's interesting that as simple as I am, I enjoy gadgets. However, I've found that sometimes, they just take too much time. With my Palm Pilot, I simply placed it in the cradle at night, hit the sync button, and it would back up and recharge all at the same time. My Palm Pilot files on my computer are now corrupt, as are the back up files...so I am resorting to plain old paper and pen. How simple...and I'm loving it!

Also, now that my way of shopping has changed, thanks to my trusty coupon binder, I realize that it would be difficult to manage my coupons with my Palm Pilot. I've learned that simplicity has its merits!


Here's a picture of my
trusty binder with its cute
and distinguishable Cheep Chick.

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FINAL POLL RESULTS: Have you felt the impact of the worsening economy reflected in your grocery budget?

73% said "yes"
21% said "no"
5% said "not sure"

Lots of olive oil, fresh vegetables and grains this week!

Sunday: Roast Sticky Chicken (two chickens), toasted pastina with herbs, turnip greens, spinach salad
Monday: Leftover Chicken (chicken nuggets for the picky one), Snap Pea Salad, Cucumber Salad, Basmati Rice
Tuesday: Hamilton Life Church 7:10 Fellowship Dinner
Wednesday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Butterflake Rolls, Spinach Salad
Thursday: Boca Taco Salad in Tortilla Bowls (light fare to be followed by music class reception), grilled fajita vegetables
Friday: Who knows?

Cod Liver Oil

Can't be that bad if it lowered my husband's blood pressure from 210/110 into the normal range. Of course, I think a good dose of fervent prayer helped also!

There has been some discussion on www.moneysavingmom.com about vitamins: to take or not to take, and which one? There are so many to choose from. A lot of them are just junk, loaded with fillers and minerals in a form that your body really can't use optimally. I've never tried the Supermom brand, but they look like a decent supplement. I'm all for green foods like spirulina, alfalfa, algae and sea weeds...just be careful that you do not have allergies to the ingredients before loading up on vitamins. For years I took Nature's Way Alive without Iron, and felt wonderful. I recently stopped because I felt it necessary to start a regimen of Cod Liver Oil and Glucosamine/Chondtroitin/MSM to manage my autoimmune arthritis. Together, it would have been a near toxic dose of vitamin A. After 6 weeks on this regimen, I feel much improved. My knees don't grind, my shoulder has a normal range of motion, and my thumbs never get locked up any more. I cannot praise those little cod enough, they have made a vast difference in the health of my family! I have had to switch to a more palatable capsule, but my husband will finish off my bottle of lemon-lime liquid oil.

You might want to consider cod liver oil, too, if you are seeking a remedy or management for any of the following: high triglycerides, migraines, depression, secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease or stones, and also for inflammatory conditions such as asthma, gingivitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. To read about the merits of cod liver oil, click here.

For more information from a favorite source regarding health-related issues, click here.

Going Mediterranean

We all have those friends in our lives. You know the ones who inspire us with their motivation or talents? Today I was reminded by the thoughts of one such friend...I need to eat right. Learning about nutrition is something that I enjoy doing. I don't always hop on the latest trend, but I do know a good diet when I see one. On the menu this week: we are going Mediterranean. Our top foods, according to the Mediterranean Book (as well as other successful campaigns like the South Beach Diet) should be:

1. TOMATOES – cooked, they are rich in the antioxidant lycopene
2. OLIVE OIL
3. RED GRAPES
4. NUTS - full of Omega-3 Fatty Acids
5. WHOLE GRAINS (fiber!)
6. FISH (or fish oils, as my case may be. I cannot find a decent, mild fish in this area!)
7. BERRIES (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, any berries!)
8. GARLIC
9. SPINACH (we like this raw, but we'll eat it steamed also)
10. ORANGES (rich in folic acid, and vitamin C) this week, we'll be doing lots of lemons!

The Desires of My Heart

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart: Psalm 37:4

This morning at Life Class, we are asked to take a minute to think about the desires of our heart. What were they? If they didn't come to fruition, would we still believe that Abba Father was looking out for us with our best interests in mind?

I've been all over the field with this thought for the past five hours. I could bitterly remember all the times in my life when I didn't obtain the desires of my heart, when things didn't go according to my wishes. But then, I wouldn't be where I am now...and that has to count for something. I wouldn't have learned many of the lessons that God wanted me to learn had life been so non-stop wonderful. I can tell when my focus starts to shift away from course, when I become content. Not that I wouldn't like to be content forevermore, but there is a fleeting sense of satisfaction when I finally get it. I learn a God-mentored lesson, and in a moment of revelation, I say "OH! Now I understand!"

I also have heard people insist that God wants to give me things. He wants to bless me. Partly I can agree (only because I'm a Mom, and I can understand wanting to give your children nice things), but...what if the desires of my heart may have some undesirable effects later in the game?

What are the desires of my heart? I thought, and thought, and thought some more. What I came up with went something like this:

I. Trivial, temporal desires of my heart

A. A brand new dual oven
B. A hybrid vehicle
C. An entire wardrobe of
size 12s that I can fit into
D. To enjoy exercising
E. My decks to
magically be pressure washed and sealed
F. An entire line of Basic Grey
scrapbooking supplies
G. To not have to work a job
H. A Japanese Maple
I. A 52" plasma, although I only watch two hours of television all week
J. and so on, etc., etc.

II. Desires of my heart that have nothing to do with me, but I want these things for others

A. My sister to be saved, to recognize that there is a Creator, Savior, Friend and Father.
B. My husband to have a renewed vision for his ministry and a renewed joy.
C. My other sister and her three children to stop focusing on the temporal, name-brand satisfactions of his world, and more on the spiritual.
D. My daughter to have realistic post-graduation goals.
E. My husband to be proactive in managing his 210/110 blood pressure.

III. Spiritual desires for myself
A. Tongue taming boot camp
B. One weekend in a hotel room, by myself, with all six books that I am currently reading, and my Bible. I'm certain that the same person that enters the hotel room will not be the same person that leaves the hotel room.

C. To lose 60 pounds. Spiritual? For me, yes. It would allow me the energy to more effectively minister to others.

List I represents my desires that I perceive as things that I feel unjustified in asking for, or that for some reason I would feel selfish about if I were to actually obtain (guilt!?)

List II is the essence of who I am. It's my nature to nurture. I love to see others grow, I love to see others commit their lives to Christ.

List III always seems to be the least of my priorities, or the things that loom the largest and therefore require the extra time/energy that I never seem to have.

How about you? Have you thought about the desires of your heart? Are you living your life in proportion to those desires and where you spend most of your time and energy?

My definition of a good day

It's Saturday. There is no school. There is no work. The house is relatively clean. The lawn is mowed. The children are happily playing with friends. The cherry on top? I got a new Everyday Food Magazine in the mail, and it was free! Remember when Publix had Land O' Lakes Sweet Cream Butter on sale a month ago? I stocked up, not because we eats tons of butter, but because I will use it eventually and it can be frozen. I have twenty pounds of butter in my freezer ($1.50/pound). The best part is that the UPCs can be registered here, and redeemed for prizes through June. I redeemed mine for 4 FREE movie tickets through Fandango.com, and also for a one year subscription to Everyday Food.

Maybe you think I'm weird for getting so excited about a cooking magazine. I love to cook, what can I say? You may even think that I'm strange for loving Martha Stewart, but I do (sorry, sis!). Combine the two elements and it makes for one dreamy afternoon perusing some new recipes! This magazine is chock full of wonderful recipes. The recipes veer away from the mundane, typical type of home cooking recipes, yet manage to keep the ingredients basic and easily obtainable. Tonight we had grilled chicken, spinach salad and couscous. I added a fresh loaf of Three Seed Bread and some freshly made Sweet Tea with lemon. Mmmm.

When life gives you lemons...

there's so much more to do with them than make lemonade! I talked to my sister yesterday. She'll be 46 in a few days, and is starting a regimen of nutritional counseling with her chiropractor. What advice did her chiropractic physician give to her? Eat lemons! Why? Lemons are one of God's most beneficial creations. I know that lemon juice is an excellent stain remover and air freshener. Cosmetic reasons aside, take a look at the health benefits:

Lemon juice is one of the best detoxifying agents/cleansing agents ever known to man. The vitamin C in lemons is a potent antioxidant. Antioxidants are necessary to rid the body of damage caused by free radicals.

Lemon juice can resolve nausea, as well as cure heartburn when mixed with hot water.

Lemon scent is a good "pick-me-upper".

For more on the benefits of lemons, click here.

Tonight, while shopping for a new set of salt and pepper shakers in Bed, Bath & Beyond, I came across this nifty gadget. Had to have it (extremely rare impulse buy), and I'm happy I did! The price on the gadget was $9.99, but it rung up as $19.99. They ALL said $9.99, which was a misprice, so the store gave it to me for that price. Then, I pulled out my nifty 20% off any item coupon, for a final price of $7.99! That may seem like a splurge, but we go through so many lemons during the summer, it really was a bargain! This will be a real time saver! Why didn't I know about this before? Culinary life begins at 41, I guess!

The Squeeze

I've added a new poll, just for curiosity's sake. I suppose I want to feel that I'm not the only one who is feeling the squeeze of the worsening economy. I thank God that I was led to thoroughly examine and adjust the grocery budget 6 months ago, and feel better prepared to deal with an economic crisis. Still, I have felt the impact. We are fairly healthy eaters and the cost to supply the family with fresh produce and good meat and dairy simply does not come at a discount. I make nearly everything from scratch because it is better for us, and the cost savings are usually huge. However, the cost of basic ingredients is climbing. For instance, did you notice that there were no egg sales this Easter? Usually eggs are deeply discounted at this time of year. I've seen them in recent years as low as 79 cents/dozen. This year? $1.89! I buy our milk at the corner store where it's $3.89/gallon for 2% and $3.39/gallon for skim. I have been buying a gallon of each and mixing them (unknown to my picky husband). Until very recently, I was buying organic or raw milk, but can no longer afford it. We could never drink powdered milk, though I do use it for baking. I don't think the cost savings is enough to justify the taste. I occasionally buy soy milk for 50 cents/half gallon at Publix with stacked coupons. I use it for baking also, or for smoothies as a treat.

Another cost saving measure that we may have to take will be utilizing one meatless dinner recipe per week during produce season. Main dish salads are pretty popular in my house, and we already do lots of those for lunch.

It would seem strange to our generation to have to so drastically reduce our food budget. What would you do if the cost of milk rose to $7/gallon, a loaf of bread to $4? The days of government imposed rationing are in our very recent history. My mother remembers government imposed rations. She was born in 1943. My father-in-law was born on October 22, 1929, exactly one week before the stock market crash of 1929, which furthered the damage inflicted by The Great Depression. He remembers the latter part of decade long scarcity, and has spent the last 70 years preparing for another collapse.

I am not an alarmist, but I do feel the squeeze. I thank God for His provision, but I also feel that stewardship is my responsibility. I am so thankful for a group of Godly women who have been my mentors throughout this learning season.

Tonight is our local homeschool mom's group Mom's Night Out! Hooray! I haven't been since October of last year due to my work schedule, so to say that I am excited about it would be an understatement! We are going to Applebee's, one of my favorite restaurants. I did, however, do the Proverbs 31 woman type of thing and prepare a meal for my family before taking off!

Sunday: Easy Santa Fe Style Stuffed Peppers
Monday: London Broil , red potatoes, green beans (thanks, Jackie!)
Tuesday: Beef Tips and Gravy, Rice, Winter Mix vegetables (couldn't be more appropriate!)
Wednesday: Chicken and Rice, Broccoli, Salad
Thursday: Italian Sausage and Cheese Ravioli, Romaine Salad, Garlic Bread
Friday: Hamburgers on the grill, corn on the cob, picnic fare

Priorities

One of the biggest challenges to being a mom is scheduling and managing our lives. In life class yesterday, the pastor's wife read an excerpt from Ed Young's Outrageous, Contagious Joy.

Here are our three priorities: (1) relationships (2) worship (3) work . My project for the week is to write down everything that I have to do in the course of the week and to analyze if I am living according to these priorities. I can tell you, I don't think that I am...and I want to! How about you?

Take some time to prayerfully consider your schedules. What works, what doesn't? Why? Are you joyful?

Perpetually striving to be the Proverbs 31 woman...that's me!

And the winner of our grocery store blog poll is...

Publix! You all do my heart good!

I often hear that Publix is high priced, but as with any store, it depends on what you buy. Publix also does not inflate the price of their BOGO specials, as I've noted with other stores. And of course, the customer service can't be beat.

I did find myself at Aldi last week for the first time in a long time, buying flour for 99 cents a bag. You simply can't beat that price with the cost of a bushel of wheat having risen so dramatically in the past month. I have a stash of Bob's Hard Red Wheat flour in my deep freeze, but I do make my loaves with a mixture of flours, both white and wheat. Here's my favorite recipe that I developed several years ago, trying to copy off of Publix' Seven Grain Bread in the bakery. It's very similar.

Try it!


Three Seed Bread
Can be used for bread machine or makes two stoneware loaf pans, baked at 375 for 30-40 minutes

1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cups poppy seeds optional


Put in order that your machine says, and put on LIGHT crust setting. The crust will be a little firm and very chewy. Makes the BEST toast grilled cheese sandwiches!

Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.

There is an alternative to bleach

Chlorine bleach is a hazardous material. Sure, it's an excellent cleaning medium, but do you really, really want the toxic exposure when there are alternatives?

I found this at Publix this weekend: Chlorine-free bleach. Active ingredient? Hydrogen peroxide, citric acid and water, which breaks down into harmless oxygen and water. Does it work? Yes.

I paid $1.50 for mine, works great on stains!

Try it!

Product review: glass cleaner

A friend recently sent me an e-mail of suggested uses for 3% hydrogen peroxide. Determined not to just jump on the bandwagon (as I had done with vinegar for a while) until I used my year's supply of FREE Windex collected during my initial spurt of couponing, I set the e-mail aside for a later time. When I finally read the e-mail thoroughly, I decided to try the hydrogen peroxide on my bathroom mirrors. WOW! Where has this knowledge been all of my life?! It is amazingly streak-free and certainly economical. I like it better than commercially prepared glass cleaner, and as a bonus, it is FUME-FREE!

I was never too impressed with vinegar as a glass cleaner, but I like the idea of natural.

Try it!

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It's late on Monday...but's it's a plan (already in action!). Dinners only.

SUNDAY: Rosemary Cashew Chicken with rice and peas, green salad
MONDAY: Chicken Pot Pie (made with leftovers), homemade croissants, coconut custard pie
TUESDAY: Boca Enchilada Casserole, Mexican Salad
WEDNESDAY: Thanksgiving Dinner (gotta' use my turkey in my deep freeze)
THURSDAY: Hot Turkey Sandwiches (leftover), potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie
FRIDAY: Barbeque Beef Sandwiches, corn on the cob, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese
SATURDAY: Crockpot something...we'll be gone all day at Outdoor Chattanooga.

Did you know this about corn?

With all the great deals on corn, here's a clever way to cook it! Please try to buy local produce...it's better for you, better for the farmer!

You can pull back the husk (but not remove it!), remove the silk, place the husk back around the ear of corn, microwave for 2 1/2 minutes for one ear, 5 minutes for two ears, 7 1/2 minutes for three ears, etc.

Or, if you do not own a microwave or have reservations about microwaving your food, you can cook it in the crockpot:

Remove husk and silk from the ears of corn, place in your crockpot, cover with warm water, and cook on high for 2 hours.

Did I mention how much I love my crockpot?

Publix says "Buy theirs, get ours free"

From today's Time Free Press insert, back page.

How much will it cost you to buy THEIRS?

Cascadian Farms Raisin Bran = $3.39 - $1 printable
Heinz Organic Ketchup = $2.65
Delmonte Organic Sweet Peas = $1.39

Dealing with Seasonal Headaches

In a total act of desperation to relieve my seasonal allergy related headache, I took a pill. It was a free pill, Wal-Zyr, FREE after rebate from Walgreens for the month of April. It is the generic equivalent of Zyrtec. It worked, yes. It also knocked me out! I have been feeling exhausted lately anyway, but this little pill really pushed me over the edge and I took a long, long nap after I got home from work yesterday afternoon.

Today, I decided to be more creative and try an all-natural product recommended to me by one of my health-nut friends: HeadOn Sinus Headache Relief. It's the product with the cheesy commercial, but there is nothing cheesy about this product. It worked, and my husband (the skeptic) agrees! I like the fact that it is all natural, and that it did not knock me for a loop like most antihistamines do. I simply rubbed it on my forehead. Most physicians (according to online articles) will poo-poo the idea that it could work, but they do that with most natural products anyway. Perhaps because it is a product that does not require a trip to their office to obtain an Rx? Maybe, maybe not...but something to think about. HeadOn worked for me. I noticed a tingling, cooling sensation on my forehead and the faint smell of BenGay, but not overpoweringly so. My technical guess is that the cooling sensation on the skin diverts blood flow away from your sinuses, thus reducing inflammation. Less inflammation means less pain. I have the need to figure out why things work, so that's my guess. Price $7.99 at Walgreens (BOGO last week, making it $4).

Note: I am not receiving compensation for this product review.

Chickened Out

Last night I thought about how nice it would be to come home from church to a leisurely Sunday meal, already prepared in the crockpot. I had thawed the chicken breasts in the fridge and had decided on one of my new crockpot recipes, Rosemary Cashew Chicken. Everything is made in the crockpot these days. This, too, shall pass.

Anyway, the Rosemary Cashew Chicken sounded elegant, easy, and just like what a Sunday dinner ought to be. This morning, all I had to do, was put the already assembled crock in the warmer, turn it on low, and it was ready when we came home from church. It smelled heavenly when we walked in the door. But, I discovered something about myself: I don't like rosemary. In my opinion, the only thing rosemary is good in is the Simon & Garfunkel song Scarborough Fair. Yuck, yuck and yuck some more. Why would I post the recipe if I didn't like it? Because you might like rosemary, and it makes a beautiful, spring themed meal spread. This recipe received rave reviews online.

Rosemary Cashew Chicken

1 chicken (3 to 4 pounds), cut & skin removed	1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 medium onion, thinly sliced	1/2 cup chopped cashews
1/3 cup orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon salt

Place chicken in a slow cooker.

Combine onion, orange juice concentrate, rosemary, salt and cayenne; pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Remove the chicken and keep warm. Serve with rice, pasta or potatoes. Sprinkle with cashews prior to serving.

I also discovered that I am chickened out (tired of chicken), and need some cooking inspiration. This evening, I'll be pulling out my Taste of Home cookbooks to do some meal planning!

You've found me!

If you've clicked the link from Eyes on the Prize, you've landed at the right blog!

What you'll find here on my new blog are ways to creatively be a wise steward of resources, my thoughts on managing my home, recipes that I'd like to share, and of course...coupons, freebie links, product reviews and shopping results ( as well as the occasional advertisement). Join me as I attempt a metamorphosis into a (practically) Proverbs 31 woman!