A Visit to Civilization...

Pro:  Parking lots that allow me to drive up OR down each row, and to back out any direction I please.  Apparently, my arrow-ed and procedur-ed life is making me forget the free world out there...

Con:  Losing my car every single time I parked it.  Real-world parking lots are mammoth.

Pro:  Being back in a large, fashionable city, where I can seriously find anything my little heart desires.  Mustard yellow sling back 2.25" heels?  "Right this way, ma'am..."

Con:  Having a meltdown in the clearance jewelry section of Kohls, because there were so many options.  *hyperventilating*

Pro:  Wearing nothing but shorts and tanktops for four straight sunshiny days.  Can we say Vitamin D?  I actually look alive again!!

Con:  Driving "home" through a blizzard - still wearing our flipflops and t-shirts...

You Might Be In Rural America If

(1)  If the white-collar tire-sales office has antlers on the wall.

(2)  If the white-collar tire-sales office has a vending machine full of Jack's Beef Sticks.

(3)  If the entire white-collar tire-sales office staff spend ten minutes worriedly discussing Angel's surgery, before someone mentions that Angel is a cow.  Bob's cow.

I might be grumpy if--

I've realized that I am often grumpy for extremely quantifiable (and preventable) reasons.  Here are my top three...

I might be grumpy because:

(1)  I tried to cheer someone up, and they totally didn't notice.  Or I did a nice deed, but someone disregarded me (and my deed) utterly.  I reached out emotionally, and got slapped.  OR someone else is grumpy, and I can't figure out how to cheer them.  And so, I'm now sulking bitterly, and have vowed never again to waste my energy on selfish human beings.

(2)  I haven't been adequately productive.  I procrastinated; I didn't tackle that neglected, undesirable, looming task.  Maybe I browsed Facebook for an hour, claiming a right to have "downtime."  Maybe I just ignored parts of my to-do list.  Bottom line:  I somehow wasted time today, and I don't want to admit it, but I know it - and I feel it keenly.

(3)  I need light, or warmth, or food, or sound.  Sometimes it takes me hours to realize I'm working in a dark room, or to walk upstairs and put on warm socks, or to heat up a bowl of soup - because I'm "busy."  And often, I just need sound.  Music.  A background video.  Radio.  Sound makes a world of difference for me, and puts me into "productive" mode, which assists in avoiding Reason #2 (see above).

How about you?  What curable things cause your grumpy moments?

3 (More) Cheap Meals

1) Breakfast for Dinner:  Omelettes, Oatmeal, Dutch Baby Pancakes...

 

Who in their right mind decided that restaurant omelettes should cost $8-10?!  The actual cost of an omelette (assuming 1-2 veggies, and a healthy amount of cheese) hovers right around $1.  Yup.  Not even kidding.  Using 6 eggs, 1/2 minced green pepper, 1/2 a diced onion, and a sprinkle of cheese - you can feed 3 adults nicely.  In other news, instant oatmeal actually saves you hardly any time (despite the "instant" marketing - boiling oats the old fashioned way takes around 3 minutes) and costs you alot of extra money.  Try using the "stovetop" formula on the side of the Quaker Oat canister, to economize your breakfast.  Finally, ever hear of Dutch Baby Pancakes?  Basically the best combination of flour, butter, milk, and eggs EVER...

Note:  The "pancake" is supposed to puff up, and then fall.  So, don't freak out.

Total Cost (three servings):  Under $3.

2) Beef and Barley Soup

Now, you're about to protest that beef is expensive.  I agree.  Mildly.  But, not if you shop at Paul's, and not if you use a crockpot (which, on low for 8-12 hours, can render ANY cut of beef into a tender, mouth-watering substance).  And barley, let me just brag on you a moment.  Barley is SUPER good for you, and SUPER inexpensive.  Barley lowers cholesterol in study after study, and is a yummy part of a fiber-rich diet.  Barley tastes delicious, and uses only water to cook.  Conclusion: Barley is our friend. 

To make this soup, simply put 1-2 lbs of beef into your crockpot at O'Dark-Thirty (10-12 hours before you want to serve it), with about 1-2 cups of water, any spices you like, carrots/onions, and a spoonful of Beef Better-Than-Bouillon (if you want extra-delicious broth).  Then, leave the lid on.  Seriously.  That is the hardest part.  Eventually, a few hours before supper, boil the barley in a TON of water (at least three times as much water as barley) and after it's thoroughly cooked, add it to the crockpot.  (I prefer this method, because then my barley absorbs less of my yummy broth  :-))  This meal will also stretch for a while - and costs as little as you want.  Water is free, beef is negotiable, and barley is cheap.  So are carrots, and onions.

Total cost per meal (2-3 servings): Under $2.

- Pork (or ham) and Bean Soup

If you live where we live, hearty soup dinners are a balm to your soul.  Kinda like how chapstick staves off that searing wind out there?  You know exactly what I mean...

So, try putting 1 diced onion, 2 diced carrots, 2 lbs of pork (or ham), one bag of mixed "soup" beans, (presoak them for at least 1-2 hours - overnight is best), and 2 tbsp soy sauce in your crockpot (exclude if you're using ham).  Cover liberally with water.  Cook for about 8-10 hours.  Season with bay leaf/Mrs. Dash, salt/pepper as you like.  The entire pot will cost you under $5, and will last you for, like, a week.  Not even kidding.  Freezing is recommended, after Day #3.  Not because it won't keep in your fridge - it will, indefinitely.  Mostly because you'll be sick of it, long before it runs out.

Total cost per meal (2-3 people): WAY Under $2.

3 Cheap Meals

These are for the times when money (savings) outranks nutrition (within reason - we still don't advocate ramen-level-departures from health...)  I hereby acknowledge that these (at least, #1 and #2) aren't diet foods.  However, they make great family meals.

1)  Fried potatoes with ham and onions. 

This one is easy (and one of husband's favorite).  Saute one chopped onion in (minimal) olive/coconut oil, then set them aside.  Chunk red potatoes (6 or so) and fry them on medium-high (in the pan with the previously-used onion oil) until crispy, then add the onions and one package of diced ham ($1 at the commissary).  Salt and pepper to taste (and ketchup, if you like) make this a comfort-food winner.

Total Cost for 2-3 People:  WAY Under $3.

2)  Fried Rice. 

You can do this the junky way - with a cheap, instant, boxed mix (complete with three days' worth of sodium) - or you can do it the old fashioned way and spend roughly the same amount and have a much healthier meal.  Just scramble 2 eggs (approximately $0.50, even if you buy the organic kind, like we do), cook brown rice, then remove the eggs from the pan, add a tad of oil, and combine the rice, frozen mixed veggies (any kind!), and scrambled eggs.  Add a smidge of soy sauce, if feeling indulgent.  ;-)  (Ditto to making your own chow mein - just saute sliced cabbage and soy sauce and noodles.)

Total Cost for 2-3 People:  WAY Under $2.

3)  Rice and Beans. 

At $2.00 per 2 lb. bag, one serving (1/4 cup uncooked rice) is exactly $0.10.  Not joking.  Beans are similar, if you're willing to buy the dry kind, then soak and gently simmer/cook them yourself.  Which isn't hard.  =)  Then, add whatever you like/can afford! Avoid/minimize using cheese, sour cream, avocados, and pre-made salsas, as they cost more per ounce.  But, pork is an inexpensive meat to include, (especially from Paul's) as is chicken (sometimes).  Also try diced celery, raisins, corn, (think: Chipotle) tomatoes, onions, cilantro, a splash of lime, and sea salt... mmm!

And guess what?  You're still WAY under $1, per serving.  WAY under $2, for 3 portions.

... and now, don't you feel inspired?!  In spite of today's undulating economy, rising gas prices, and exorbitant food costs, we can manage.  Just watch us, world.

3 Perks to Small Towns

The grey, baby mouse was curled into a tight fetal position, and looked so cold/scared that I (in spite of my gender) instinctively pitied it. 

But then, I flinched.  The tiny creature was perfectly flattened against the pavement, the obvious victim of a heavy, rural truck tire.

This all happened at the edge of the shadow cast by Paul's Grocery, the town's family-run market.  I was picking my way across the icy, cracked asphalt in an effort to obtain my "10% off" military discount, offered on the one day when our commissary is closed (clever businessmen, these smalltown folks). 

I shuddered, veered around the mouse, and darted through the automatic door - which has a tendency to close randomly, so you better be quick.

Inside, I found a tub of raw, wild, local honey for a fraction of what the neatly labeled, machine-manufactured, bear-shaped options cost.  And lamb (which isn't sold in the Commissary).  On clearance!  And people waved at me as if I was an old friend.  No one assessed my clothes, or my hair, or seemed to judge me at all.

Thus, I gradually recovered from my trauma with the mouse and began realizing that, as much as military spouses complain about living "in the middle of nowhere!" (which is true) and wishing for "civiliation" so on... there are a ton of (easily-overlooked) perks to living here.

I'll list only three today, because, well, it's the daily number... but, you can add your own.  Or I may add more, next Wednesday.  ;-)

(1)  I can do several consecutive hours of grocery bargain hunting/couponing, and my frozen groceries stay conveniently rock solid, even in our car.  Score!

(2)  Old folks are extra-well-preserved here, because it appears they simply have to keep living (and living) at the normal pace.  92 year old men are trim, and still fit into their 3-decade old Wranglers.  Possibly because they don't so much as have benches here.  Not even at the pharmacy.  Moreover, there's no mall where they can nap.  Only thing close to a mall here is the hardware store, where loiterers congregate as if it's the Mayberry Barbershop.  And there are no benches there, either.

(3)  We never wash our car anymore.  Ever.  (We don't even own a sponge.)  We'd just be considered snobs.  After all, who's gonna judge you for being a little muddy/dusty? 

Oh wait - only city people would.

It's on the internet

Three BESTS from this week's websurfing: 

(Disclaimer:  By "websurfing," I mean browsing Facebook and IMing my very-cleverest friends who actually websurf, and find this stuff - thanks, guys!)

Best Cooking Find:  Awesome instructions to make one chicken stretch six days!

Best Short Film:  Can I be infatuated with a YouTube video?  Absolutely worth the sixteen-minute length.  I watched it twice.  (Actually, being honest - thrice.)

Best Couple's Blog:  Pithy perspective, and constant humor, amidst the reality of marriage.  Definitely read their Story and Ten-Top-Things, too!

Three's Day!

K, so I've decided to nix Fashion-Attempt Wednesday.  It's not working for me.  At least, taking and posting pictures of myself isn't working for me.  Not my new favorite activity.  I had delusional visions of being this hilarious girl, whose blog I giggle at, daily.

But, I'm so not her.  I mean, we're both tiny, yes - and we both chatter, yes.  But basically, our similarities end, when it comes to, oh say, fashion and photos.  Yup.  So, I'm going to stop wishing I were her.  And start reusing outifts, without having a crisis because "I already wore that one...!"

Instead, I've decided that Wednesday will be "brought to you by The Number 3." 

(Sesame Street flashbacks, anyone?  Admit it - you just mimicked Count Von Count's villanesque "Ah Ah Ah," didn't you?!  .... Yeah, that show left a deep impression on my three-year-old brain.  Clearly.) 

With Wednesday being the third day of the work week, and usually one of the drabbest, I figured it could use some cheering.  So I'll post three interesting, edifying, or entertaining things - ideas, links, tips, photos, whatever.  I'll be freer, and you'll be more entertained.  Hopefully.  That's the idea.

Or I might try this for a month, and then nix it too.  *grin* 

So, DO leave comments, if you want it to stay...