My Penn Foster Career School Experience

An Easy Way To Save a Buck...Or Four

2009-11-20T14:58:00Z

With winter fast approaching, I’m sure your outdoor plants are now dying if they’re not already dead. So what do you do about that herb plant that looks like death warmed over? Well don’t throw it away!

Spices that are sold in stores start off as fresh herbs and when your fresh herbs begin to dry out on their own then it’s time to just let nature take its course. If you’re unable to bring these plants into your home and keep them alive then let them die, but prior to tossing out the plant carcass take a large bowl and place it underneath the stems of the plant and pull the dried herbs off. You can place these dried herbs in marked Ziploc bags and use them instead of buying them in a grocery store. As a matter of fact, I was looking for a spice in the store the other day and I couldn’t believe how expensive they were for the tiniest containers. I simply couldn’t bring myself to spend $4.00 on a tiny little container of Cumin.

You can buy inexpensive spices at stores such as Walgreens and CVS as they regularly have sales that are 2 for $1.00. Now that’s my kind of price, but you probably won’t find anything but your basics there. My suggestion would be to check out Dollar stores or (what my mom used to call) the Five and Dime stores. Many places such as Big Lots get overstock products and can provide you with that bottle of cumin at a fraction of the cost. As for myself, I checked out the Hispanic markets and found a wonderful assortment of spices (including saffron flowers which can be ground up into saffron with a mini chopper) for less than a dollar a package.

Make sure you do your research before buying your next spice off the rack, and definitely save those dried herbs. By doing these few things you can save quite a bit of money on your grocery bill.

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...and on the bright side of things.

2009-11-19T00:49:00Z

The news finally came and I will not need to have surgery on my right foot. As a matter of fact the bone spurs that were causing so much pain are actually getting smaller. I do have a very large stress fracture that's going from the top of my heel to the bottom of it, thus causing mucho quantities of pain. My specialist will be putting me in a high fashion boot to keep my foot immobile and I'll be stuck in the wheelchair for a few more weeks, but I'm looking at the bright side.... NO SURGERY!!!

Now all I have to do is continue to get my family to help me in the kitchen. Granted this week I'll be stuck in the bedroom with the flu, but after that my plan is to work any and everyone that graces my doorstep to the bone. I mean hey.... I've got to live vicariously through them so why not have them make a gourmet meal while I bark orders from a wheelchair in the corner of the kitchen?

My oldest son will be going out of town for Thanksgiving this year so I guess that means I'll have to abuse my youngest son and husband regarding the preparation of the bird. Sadly I'm going to have to live with boxed stuffing (another story in itself), but the family wouldn't dream of having canned cranberry sauce so I'm sure someone around here will volunteer to make the fresh stuff.

All I know is that I can't wait to get out of this chair and back into my kitchen.

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If you want it done right....teach someone the right way to do it.

2009-11-15T00:29:00Z

There's this saying that goes something like, those who can't do...teach. Well I think that's a load of malarkey. And since I'm a "can't do"er right now, I thought I'd teach.

My son's girlfriend wanted to make something special for their anniversary. Since my son's favorite food is eggplant parmigiana, that's what she wanted to cook for him. Along with that her plan was to make a special dessert and some garlic bread.

After a long discussion we decided that the best thing for her to do was to spend the night with Tyler at our house the night prior to their anniversary and then the moment Ty left for work, we would get busy preparing the special meal.

The kitchen started off spotless, but as the day went on it grew messier and messier and we had a blast. I sat in my wheelchair and directed her on what to do as well as monitored the frying eggplant. I taught her how to cut, peel, soak and wash the eggplant as well as the Brooklyn way of breading it. I showed her how to prepare the first layer of the dish then had her continue with the recipe and checked each layer. I showed her my secret ingredient for making a moist cake and swore her to secrecy and I taught her how to make strawberry filling/topping from scratch.

At the end of the day we rushed her back to her house (just a couple of miles away) with a pan full of delicious looking eggplant parmigiana, some garlic bread and two miniature strawberry filled cakes decorated with love.

Teaching her how to do this gave me as much gratification as making it myself and the best part about the day was simply the laughter and fun we had.... And the pan of eggplant she left here for us didn't hurt either.

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Things are looking up

2009-11-07T18:26:00Z

When people ask me "what have you been up to?" I can honestly reply, "I've got a new look on life." The look I have is from a completely different angle than most, it's from a wheelchair.

Not long ago my husband and I did our yearly naval reunion, and towards the end of it I noticed that my right foot hurt terribly. I did go to the doctor for it, but we didn't think it was anything major. I then went on a trip to California to visit some old friends and family and by the time I came back I knew that my foot was getting worse. After 48 hours of no sleep from pain I finally caved in and went to the ER (which referred me back to my podiatrist) and now I'm in the process of going through test after test to see whether or not I'll be needing an operation on it. In the meantime I'm in a wheelchair because there can be absolutely no weight put on my right foot.

Not being able to stand up in a house that's not handicap accessible makes it difficult to prepare any sort of food. On occasion I'll use one crutch and grab a bowl of cereal (if no one is awake to get it for me), but other than that... let's just say we've had a lot of takeout and insta-food.

I miss being in my kitchen and chopping up veggies, meats and creating new and exciting recipes. I truly miss studying and learning about things I never knew before, but most of all I miss being independent. Being able to just walk from my bedroom to my living room without pain or a crutch has become my new fantasy.

For all of you out there that believe, I ask that you say a little prayer for a quick and speedy recovery. For those of you that don't believe....what could it hurt to just say, "Hey....I hope Cat gets better soon." My family and I could use all the help we can get.

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Overworked and Underpaid!!!!

2009-09-29T16:43:00Z

These past couple of month’s life has been too busy. There was a navy reunion to finish planning and attending. Then I had to make sure that everything ran smoothly while I was stricken with a respiratory infection on the first day we arrived in Rhode Island. There’s the typical stuff, like running your household, grocery shopping, home schooling, vet visits, doctor’s offices and then, IF you can find a moment, you try to study. Since I didn’t even find time to bathe every day, I guess you could say studying was the lowest priority there was for me.

Between all of these wonderful domestic goddess chores something happened to me. I got hit in my back (my arthritic back) with an extremely large flat of canned goods at Sam’s Club. The pain that I normally suffer with seemed to multiply by a thousand. It truly immobilized me for almost two weeks. I was on medications that made basic things seem like a three hour workout and my brain just wasn’t functioning properly.Needless to say studying was completely out of the question.

As I was dealing with the representatives from Sam’s to settle my claim I used the salary.com site which calculates what a stay at home mom is worth. When I presented this number to the agent she proceeded to tell me that I was “worthless” because I didn’t have a job outside of the home. Eventually we came to an agreement, but I cannot even express how angry I was at being called worthless.

The work that I do each day (well it’s like that old Army commercial, “We do more by 9am than most people do all day”) is endless. It’s not 9 to 5, its 24/7/365. And no, I don’t get a paycheck, but I get something more than money, I get the knowledge that I am doing something for my child that will benefit his future.

I’m feeling better now and will resume my studies by the end of next week, but until then may I make a suggestion to you. Thank your wife or your husband for doing the little things around the house that make your life easier and make sure your partner knows that they’re not "worthless," but priceless.

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