In a Hurry?….”Mix in the Plate” Pie Crust

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 1/2 cups sifted flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 2 tablespoons cold milk

Put flour, sugar, and salt in a 9-inch pie plate and mix together. With fork, whip salad oil and cold milk and pour over dry ingredients in pie plate. Stir and press with you fingers to form pie crust. Prick with fork and bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.

Self Defense Products

dscn1258.JPG

Have you ever been on a trip and found yourself in a scary situation? When I was growing up, my family went on vacation and was traveling at night when it started raining really hard. Before we knew it , our car stalled in the water on the highway. Another car passed us and we could see that it drove out of the water a little further on. Finally, our car started and we drove out of the water. The car that had passed us was waiting for us. A man got out of the car and came up to our car to see if we were OK, only it turned out he wanted to rob us. Our dog, who had been sleeping, could sense the man’s tone of voice changed when he said he wanted our money. Our dog jumped up and scared the man who took off running. I don’t know what we would have done if our dog hadn’t been there. In situations like that, it helps to have self defense products. You never know what might happen.

Mother’s Holiday Fruit Salad

My mother passed away in 2000. But I can remember while I was growing up and while she was still able to cook, she would fix this salad at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mix the following for a refreshing salad:

  • 1 cup pineapple chunks (if you use canned, be sure and drain)
  • 1 cup mandarin oranges, drained
  • 1 cup miniature marshmallows
  • 1 cup sour cream (if you don’t like sour cream, you can use Cool Whip)
  • 1/3 cup coconut (if you don’t like coconut, leave it out)

At Christmas time, it looks pretty to add some maraschino cherries on top.

“I Don’t Feel Good” Soup

I didn’t feel good at all on the day I wrote this post. My husband’s been sick, and I’ve been fighting off his sick germs. I felt like I wanted some really good homemade soup, but I didn’t have the energy to make it all from scratch. So I used four cans of soup plus some chopped onion, herbs, and frozen veggies, and the soup turned out so good. I made enough for us to have soup the next day, but we ate most of it right after I made it. I felt a lot better after I ate two bowls of the soup. I hope I can remember exactly how I made it. I’ll try to remember, so here goes:

  • 1 can chicken broth
  • 2 cans reduced sodium chunky chicken noodle soup (this is what I had on hand and actually used: Campbell’s Chunky Healthy Request Chicken Noodle Soup & Progresso 50% Less Sodium Chicken Noodle Soup)
  • 1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 onion chopped (1 to 1 1/2 cups of chopped onion)
  • 4 teaspoons of dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • fresh ground pepper (1/4 teaspoon or so)
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces of frozen peas and carrots

First, I put the broth in the pan. Then I chopped the onion and added it to the broth along with the parsley, rosemary, and pepper. I let that simmer for 10-15 minutes with the lid on, and then I added the 3 cans of soup, olive oil, and peas & carrots. I stirred well and let it simmer until we were ready to eat which was probably around 45 minutes, then served it with crackers.

(I’m posting this recipe so I’ll remember how I made this soup and can make it again sometime. lol)

Crunchy Chicken Crescents

I got this recipe from my daughter, Christi, and it’s really good!  It uses stuffing mix which makes it flavorful.

  • 2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
  • 2 of the 3-ounce packages of cream cheese with chives
  • 1 1/2 cup cubed, cooked chicken (or canned chicken, drained)
  • 1 of the 8-count packages of crescent rolls, separated
  • 3/4 cup melted margarine or butter
  • 1 cup seasoned stuffing mix (or seasoned bread crumbs)

Cream the softened butter and cream cheese together. Add the chicken, mixing well. Spoon 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture onto each roll. Wrap dough to enclose filling, sealing well. Dip each roll into melted butter. Coat with stuffing mix. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Plasma TV Lifts

We know several people that have huge plasma TVs. We still have the old kind, a 32 inch that we’re perfectly happy with. But I guess some day we will have to get a new TV if and when we can’t get reception on the old kind. I was looking at Import Advantage’s site, and they have a plasma tv lift that is really neat. The huge TV screen is concealed in a nice looking console cabinet when the TV is not in use, and then with the touch of a button, the TV raises up out of the cabinet and is high enough for easy viewing when the TV is being used. I like the idea of the TV only being seen when it’s being used.

Gift Ideas for Families

Eve has some great gift ideas for families. One thing that she mentions is the Wii. We got one when they first came out, and it is a great game system for the whole family. Young children, kids of all ages, teenagers, parents, and even grandparents can all enjoy this system. There is a wide assortment of games to meet everyone’s interest. In case you don’t know about the Wii, you can hook it up to your TV and everyone can see what’s going on at all times. And the really neat thing is that it brings everybody together in a fun way.

E-ToolsNow.com has Great Gifts for the “Toolman” in Your Life

If you have a “toolman” in your life, then you might want to check out E-Tool Now’s selection of air tools, power tools, cordless tools and more. They carry an assortment of Ingersoll Rand air tools. I think of the TV show, Home Improvement, and how “Tim the toolman” would have loved all of these power tools. I can hear him revving up his voice as he talked about power tools. So for your “toolman,” check out these power tools.

Homemade Gift Ideas

Homemade gifts have that special touch to them. Here are a few ideas:

  • One thing that our daughter made for us a few weeks ago was a personalized box frame with pictures of Baby J on all four sides. She got the unfinished box frame at Hobby Lobby, painted it and put captions for each picture and Baby J’s full name on top of the lid. It’s a gift that we treasure.
  • One year, our daughter made homemade soap and gave each person soap in the shape of their initials.
  • A plate full of an assortment of fresh-made homemade cookies. You can get pretty Christmas plates at Dollar Tree, by the way. And if you don’t have time to make all the cookies from scratch, Pillsbury & Toll House refrigerated cookie dough is great for part of the cookies. You can always add a pecan half, a small piece of Christmas candy, or Christmas colored sprinkles on top of the cookies.
  • Meg has some ideas for several homemade things, too. Click here to see more gift ideas.

Asbestos & Mesothelioma

The hazards of asbestos were known as early as the 1920’s, and the first lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers were in 1929. Many of the businesses that manufactured products containing the toxic asbestos chose to use asbestos because it was cheap. There was an alternative fiber they could have used. Now, an aggressive cancer called mesothelioma strikes over 3000 individuals per year. Some of those people contact a mesothelioma lawyer.

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the mesothelial cells and the only known, established cause is exposure to asbestos. In pleural mesothelioma, the toxic asbestos fibers are breathed in and become lodged in the pleural membrane that encases the lung. Peritoneal mesothelioma, which is a cancer of the membrane that lines the abdomen, is a more rare form. There is presently no known cure for mesothelioma.