AAAARRRGGG! Printers!!

January 30, 2012
I got some good suggestions on printers to replace my almost new Kodak hunk-o-junk that was supposed to save me ink and was the worst ever! It won’t accept my brand new, fresh from the airtight package cartridge I installed. It is fixated on the idea that I’m out of ink, despite the fact that I know the cartridges I’ve tried all have ink and one is brand new. I might even be able to take it back to the store!
I went to Target to look for a lazer printer. Since most of what I use my printer for is black and white manuscript pages, and my son told me that for a $10. toner, he could print several reams of paper, it seemed like a good one to have. 
Target doesn’t have lazer printers. None, not one. But I wanted to print a letter I needed to send to a literary agent snail mail, and I didn’t want to mess with shopping for a printer all over town. I think I’ll scout them out online.
So. . .Target did have an HP printer for $29.99. It WON’T scan or fax or copy,but I have other ink-less printers that will. I can scan things to a computer and then print on my barebones printer. Since that was cheaper than the separate ink cartridges for my other printer, and it comes with two cartridges. . .I brought it home, hooked it up in about 5 minutes and printed a clearer letter than I’ve ever had from the Kodak. I’m thinking I’ll take my camera to the Walmart photo center for pictures and this little one will get me by for a while.
By the way, the how-to-outsmart-the-anti-refill-device-on-your-printers advice has never worked for me. Maybe my new little barebones device will be kinder on that score. I have a quart of black ink taunting me in my office drawer!

Vegetables for Dessert: nutritious, flavor dense, and EASY

January 26, 2012
If all of you are like me, you’ve been trying to improve your health this year by shedding extra weight and including more exercise in your routine. But that skinny diet begins to wear a little thinner than your waistline about now.
  “Studies show” (the phrase that people too lazy to cite a certain study or expert proof) that making positive goals rather than negative ones are more effective in achieving the end you desire.  Instead of saying, “I won’t eat desserts” you say, “I will have a fruit or vegetable with every meal and snack.” Instead of “I won’t eat seconds,” You say, “I will double my portions of vegetables.” Instead of “I will cut back on my carbs,” you say, “I will consciously try to get 100% of my RDA (that’s recommended daily allowance for you newbies) of fiber.”
SOOO, here’s the recipe:
In a large bowl, mix:
1 cake mix of either spice or carrot cake any brand
1 30 oz can of solid pack pumpkin
1 6 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips. (The bittersweet are a little TOO bitter for this recipe.)
Spray a 9×11 cake pan. Dump in batter. It’s thick like brownie batter. Spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Serve with a dollop of whipped topping.
Yummy! A full serving of vegetables in every serving. Rich in Vitamin A, No cholesterol, and the only fat is from the chocolate chips. 1/16 of the recipe (without the whipped topping) is about 175 calories. It’s very filling, so you’re not tempted to eat a giant serving.

computer printer woes

January 19, 2012
Is anyone else getting a little fed up with ink cartridge issues for their printers?  If you’ve tried to refill lately, you know that the manufacturers have added a chip so that the printer won’t reset on a refilled cartridge. I followed the directions online for my Kodak printer (I’ve had it less than six months), and no go. . .no matter what.
The bigger problem is the sense that I’ve been ripped off in the purchase of this machine. I paid more for it, justifying it because they advertise lower ink costs.  The truth is that the ink cartridges cost less, but you get many fewer prints out of each one. The quality is awful and most of the little squirt of ink you DO get goes to printing tests and cleaning the heads.
Beside that, the quality of document printing you get is awful, no matter what level you select. It’s always fuzzy like a Siberian husky.
Does anyone have any good recommendations for a printer with refillable cartridges or at least with decent print quality for a good price? I need it right away.

Oh my, my children are too gullible.

January 17, 2012
One after another of my adult kids have burdened their poor mother with money mistakes that were so avoidable, it aches. Both my father and my father in law succumbed to scams. They just couldn’t believe that people could be so dishonest. But that’s the hard fact, folks. Lots of people are dishonest. SOOO here are the rules for my family, my friends, everyone that ever was a friend and everyone that would like to be a friend.

If something seems like it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
If someone offers something free but then needs your credit card information, hang up.
If a business charges shipping and handling, it isn’t free.
Sometimes legitimate businesses are linked to scamming companies.  Like the time I ordered a nose and ear hair trimmer off an infomercial on TV.  The  second set was supposedly free, but they charged double the shipping and handling for the second set, making it the same cost as the first. I told them that I didn’t want the “free” set and they had to call a superviser and gave me rigamarole for half an hour. When I said, “nevermind. Cancel the order,” they sent me one set. Then they started an insurance policy automatically withdrawn on that credit card that I had to call them and tell them I didn’t want it in order to avoid the charge.  If I hadn’t opened the junk mail that day, (which I almost never do,) the charge would have started.
You don’t ever need to prove balances in ANY account except to take out a loan.
Never, ever, ever, ever, give out a credit card number, account number, debit card number, or social security number over the phone or online unless you initiated the call to pay a bill.
Just because a business advertising on the Internet, radio, TV or newspaper doesn’t mean it isn’t a scam. The media have no obligation to verify the legitimacy of their advertisers.
Use paypal for online purchases. I’m convinced it’s safe and insured and they’re pretty easy to work with.
Most beggars are scammers. Carry small bills if your conscience bothers you when you pass them by.
Some businesses do drawings and give aways for publicity and to attract customers. But if they ask for a list of identifying information, other than name, and one method to contact you, (like the cars in the mall that you just slip the entry in the crack of the window), their purpose is to resell your information to junk mailers and spammers to the enth degree.
  If a stranger has a sad story that isn’t immediately verifiable, don’t believe it.
Be watchful, be careful. There’s no glory in being a  dupe or paying for the next round of liquor or drugs for a scam artist.
If someone asks me for money to buy food, I offer to buy them food. They’ve taken me up on it a few times.
Anyway, it’s time to shut down the scammers. BE SMART!

What is a famine like?

January 12, 2012
The weather has turned cold and icy and I heard that in a part of Alaska they’ve gotten 15 feet of snow from a storm that is still producing.  Think about how much snow that is!  Almost up to the eaves on a TWO story house. People will have to tunnel in it, rather than ‘dig out.’
But after a dusting last night that didn’t produce enough moisture to keep my fruit trees happy, (lawns in OK are dormant this time of year), a big ol’ pile of snow sounds rather nice. So I’ve sent in an order for half of Alaska’s snow.  Just six or seven feet, piled outside the garage door.  Plenty to play in. Too much to travel in.
   Sometimes that just sounds lovely. I know the unintended consequences of praying for moisture can be impressive, but we DO need it.
   And I’m ready, too.  I just finished reading a book called “The Secret Holocaust Diaries”.  It is a translation of diaries kept by a Ukrainian girl through world war two. I’ve read half a dozen similar accounts and I’ve come to realize something. When famine comes, whether from an artificial shortage, (did you know that the Russian govt. deliberately killed a couple million Ukrainian people by cutting off their food supply?) or from the genuine crop failure globally, or a war stopping the food supply chain, people become desperately brutal when they’re hungry. They become savage when they’re starving. There’s no such thing as property rights or anything else. 
The winter that the Germans marched into Russia, temperatures dropped into the minus 50’s. Starving German soldiers would come into the kitchen where a few Ukrainians were burning the last of their furniture and when their feet had thawed enough to remove their boots, their skin and muscle of their feet would stay in the boot, with only bone still attached.  When thier faces thawed, their noses and ears would fall off. Obviously, thousands of soldiers died from the elements.
   I recently posted about food storage. I’m much too young to have memory of a famine brought on by war, and there hasn’t been one that caused it here in the US since the Civil war. But the whole rest of the planet has had famine in their country for reasons beyond
the citizen’s control in the last hundred years. 
Make no mistake.  No matter how much you like the current US president, no matter who he or she might be, food can’t be legislated.
Right now, there is plenty of food all over the US. We should fill our pantries and store it under the beds and at the back of closets. If we had any notion of how fragile our food supply chains are, we would invest in food.
It might interest you to know that Ukraine is thought to be one of the very most fertile, protentially productive areas of the world. City dwellers mostly have little garden plots outside the city where they grow fruit and vegetables that they live off of in the cold months. But when a hostile government, (their own in that case) decided to starve them out, millions died! 
  The same story, with variations on which war caused the problem, has been told in Korea, China, all of Europe, Russia, and in the south during the Civil war.
If you’re still not convinced, go just 24 hours without eating. Most Americans have never been truly hungry.
The best food to store is 1. stored without moisture. (grains, pasta, beans, dry potatoes, dry milk)  2. nutrient dense, (grain, pasta, dry beans dry potatoes, dry milk). 3. Inexpensive (whole grains like oatmeal or bulk wheat, pasta, dry beans, dry potatoes). Dry milk is more expensive than wet milk, and also must be rotated. But you wouldn’t regret having it if you couldn’t get the wet milk.
  I’m troubled by the advertising that says “Why store food if your family doesn’t love the taste?”  The answer that fat Americans have lost sight of along with their toes is, “To keep alive and healthy!  Pre-prepared meals, like MRE’s and other ready to eat foods are at least 10 times more expensive than the true staples we need to keep healthy and energetic.
You don’t need to do it all at once, but start buying an extra case of spagetti noodles, (they store in the least space per pound) when you go to the market. Toss in a box of powdered milk each time you go. Buy one of each type of dry beans and peas on that grocery isle and as you try them all out, buy lots of your favorites.  If you do as I suggest, you’ll bless my name when the time comes that we all need it. 
Well, I have to go out this morning. . .into the cold, January day. Happy preparing!

What food to store long term

January 6, 2012
I’ve had a few friends ask me what foods they should store as “food insurance”.  You’ll be surprised how short the list is.
1. Grain.  Wheat is the best, widely available grain. It is high in protein, carbs and fiber. The drawback to wheat is that you need a grinder to turn the grains of wheat  into flour.  Oats are also nutritious and inexpensive. You can make oat flour in your blender, but oats have very little gluten and will not make good bread.
Corn has no protein and malnutrition results from a corn-based diet. High in carbs.
Rice is high in carbs but contains almost no protein. If you’re alergic to wheat or gluten, you can mix the gluten free grains and add some xanthum gum to provide texture for breads, pancakes etc.

2 Milk.  Obviously, unless you have a cow, you’ll store powdered milk.  Milk supplies animal protein and calcium and carbs.

3. Salt.  It’s cheap, so stock up.

4. Oil.  You need a souce of fat in your diet. Canola is the best for storage because it’s best nutritiously, other than olive oil and it’s much less expensive.  Oil will become rancid if not rotated, so be sure to rotate your new purchases with old.

5. Sugar.  Plain white sugar stores easily and adds flavor and carbs.

You can live fairly well on just those few things. But you’ll also want to store yeast or baking soda to leaven your bread.  If you really have to live on your storage, you’ll be glad if you store a good supply of split green peas, and or lentils, (great types of protein) dry beans, potato flakes, (store the unflavored kind. They have a much longer shelf life and never go rancid. They’re a good source of vitamin C, too) dry pasta, (best to store the garden (tricolor) type. That type of pasta is surprisingly high in vegetable content.) I also keep a big supply of tomato paste on hand.  Not only does it add flavor and vitamins, it’s a lot easier to face beans or pasta if they’re flavored in a tomato sauce.   When you’ve got those secondary basics, you can add parmesean cheese, spices and flavorings like vanilla, cinnamon, garlic powder, chili powder etc. 
If you’re clueless on how much to store per person, see the food storage calculator online.  I think it’s still posted on LDS.org, too.
It’s easy to find space for storage under furniture. It’s all better stored in a cool, dry place that is not going to be much warmer than about 75 degrees. (so attics are out except for sugar which doesn’t care). Feel free to click the word “comments” below, (sometimes there’s a number in front of that word) if you have questions.

HGTV Dream Home

January 5, 2012
This time of year, I love to enter the HGTV dream home giveaway. This year, the house is built on the Provo River with mountain/river views from every window. It’s near Midway Utah, but they’re promoting it as near the more glitzy Park City. I don’t care about glitz, it’s one of their best projects yet. It truly is my dream home! The chances of my winning are somewhere between 1/10,000,000, but it occurs to me that if all my US readers enter twice a day, (both at HGTV.com and Frontdoor.com) I might take a couple zeros off that probability and end up having a part in somebody cool winning it.  (Not that previous winners weren’t cool, just that my readers are COOLEST!) So go see the house at HGTV.com and enter the sweepstakes!

favorite soup recipes (low cost, too)

January 4, 2012
Okay, I’m cheap. I keep my house a little cooler than shirt-sleeve comfortable and if I sit very long, my feet get cold and realize I’m craving something hot. Here are a couple of recipes that I make in large quantities and never seem to get tired of. They’re ideal for January because they’re filling, satisfying and not high priced or high calorie.

Number 1 all time favorite soup,

Chicken Gumbo: Note the word “gumbo” means “okra” in one of the African languages. Don’t omit the okra. It not only thickens the soup, it is highly nutritious and adds a flavor dimension necessary for this recipe. It will make your tummy purr!
In a large stock pot:
Saute three large onions in a little oil until golden
Add two diced poblano or bell peppers. (I like the poblano because they’re a little more flavorful, a little hotter and  deeper green.)
Add 4-5 sliced celery stalks. (leaves are okay too)
Add 2 pounds bite-sized chicken chunks.
Toss in half a dozen chicken bullion cubes or the equivalent bullion in another form
Add two cans of diced tomatoes with green chilis.
Add some(about 1/2 pound) chopped polish or breakfast sausage OR a teaspoon of fennel seed.
Add a generous teaspoon of minced garlic or equivalent garlic powder (not garlic salt)
Add about 6 cups hot water (it’s fine to substitute chicken stock for the bullion and water, I just never have enough on hand.)
Add 1 cup raw white rice
Add one package (12-16 oz) of sliced okra. 
Bring to boil, turn down heat to simmer covered for 20 minutes or longer.

After I’ve served this a couple of times, I take the left overs and bottle them in pint jars in my pressure canner. Then they’re ready to go for a hot, filling, delicious lunch or supper. I do the same with the following recipe:

Chili soup: This is a BIG recipe. You’ll need to freeze or pressure can the left overs unless you have lots of people helping to eat it.
soak 1 pound black beans or pinto beans or kidney beans or black eyed peas for a few hours if you think of it in time. If not, bring dry beans to boil in a pot of water, let stand for half an hour, dump out and refill with fresh water. OR if you don’t have time for that either, do what I usually do:
Place 1 pound dry beans in a 12 quart pressure cooker and cover with about three quarts/liters of water
Add two teaspoons of salt.
Add about 2 pounds well browned (cooked) and drained ground beef (sometimes I have beef chunks, roast or stew meat that is a little freezer-weary. I throw that in frozen and add some beef paste (‘Better than Bullion’ is the name) to amp up the flavor in placed of the browned ground beef.
Add two generous handfuls of chopped onions (about two large)
Add two cans of corn with liquid
Add four 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
Add two cans of tomato paste
Add two cans of chopped tomatoes and green chilies OR a quart of home bottled tomatoes, squished up(with liquid) If you don’t have the tomatoes and chilies, chop up fresh chilies, peppers or add a teaspoon or two of hot pepper flakes.
Add 2 tablespoons of garlic powder
Add 2 tablespoons chili powder
Add 1 tablespoon cumin
Add 2 teaspoon black pepper
Add 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke

Cover and cook at 15 pounds of pressure for an hour. (longer if you’re using old beans or large beans) Even LONGER for large and old beans! If not using a pressure cooker, this will take about three hours on medium heat. Be sure to cover your pot!
Cool pressure cooker under cool water, open and taste beans. Stir and return to heat and 15 pounds of pressure if they’re still tough. If the chili is thick, stir in some water before returning to heat. check again in half an hour.
I like this chili best if I have it with equal parts of plain tomato soup with a little cottage cheese on the side. But it’s great alone, over baked potatoes, served with corn chips or in burritos with lettuce and sour cream.

Fast Chicken-noodle soup (works with turkey or ground beef)

Brown two large, chopped onions in a little vegetable oil.
Add one12 oz can of chicken with broth (or about a pound of chopped chicken or other meat)
Add three chopped celery stalks
One or two shredded carrots or a couple of handfuls of shredded cabbage, (packaged slaw) or both.
One chopped green pepper
Add 1 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic
Add 6 bullion cubes and 6 cups water OR 6 cups chicken broth. (48 oz)
Bring to boil and add half a package of garden (tricolor) pasta, any shape.
Lower heat to medium and cook until pasta is done, about 10-15 minutes.
This works just as well with turkey or ground beef but you must first cook and drain the ground beef unless it’s very lean. Browning improves the flavor. This is very low calorie and tasty!

Resolutions or Re-Soul-lutions: Lose weight, control money, control mouth.

January 3, 2012
Re-soul-lutions: Planning your 2012 Christmas Gift to yourself!

What have you resolved to do this year?  If the Mayans and the ancient druids are right, this year is shorter by 10 days, since the world is set to be “born again” with a “new heaven and a new earth” at the winter solstice, which is the orbital beginning of the new year. It falls on Dec 21st. So if you are going to be reborn ahead of the earth, you better get crackin’.
   But I’ve been making, (and often keeping) New Year’s resolutions for years. I usually don’t have the “lose weight” one on my list, since I only make goals for which I am truly motivated to succeed. But some blood work last summer showed my cholesterol too high and triglycerides nudging the naughty range, and I decided to take control. I’m about half-way there. . .with mental allowances made for the wedding celebrations, travel and the holidays.
  I notice that my three goals, (as listed in the title) each have to do with control. Self control. There is only one other influence or pressure that can affect my behavior other than that which resides in my own heart and mind. That is the effect of a loving Heavenly Father who wants me to succeed when I act in my own best interest. He can and will help us, through the Holy Spirit, to keep our resolve and triumph over our temptations and appetites.  Here is the way I keep my resolutions.
   First, I make my resolutions prayerfully. I ask for help. I ask for reminders before I break my resolutions.
Second, I allow myself chances. . .over and over. If I eat the forbidden fruit of Willy Wonka’s Eden, I repent and do better the next day. If I speak meanly of someone, I repent and desist. I pray that I won’t volunteer information that might set off a gossipy conversation. I don’t usually waste money, but I do need to re prioritize sometimes. I always want to get the most bang for my buck and that takes forethought.

Third, I make a practical plan. Success in goals requires positive behaviors, not avoidance behaviors. So my ‘lose weight’ goal is really a series of good behaviors that will have the side effect of my losing weight, (lowering my cholesterol and getting/staying  in shape.)

Here is my plan. Feel free to borrow it. I’ve tried it out and it works well for me.

Drink a slim fast (knock-off recipe posted earlier can be used in hot milk) cup of cocoa for breakfast each day. (find the recipe in an earlier blog) 2. Buy at least 20 pounds of fresh produce at the market each week and with help from the other folks who live in my house, eat it all. 3. Walk 10 miles a week, either on my treadmill or in the neighborhood in good weather. 4. Eat a tasty, low fat, low cholesterol lunch each day of between 400 and 500 calories. Eat fruit or vegetables for two snacks a day, and eat a bowl of oatmeal or high-fiber cereal for supper.
Note: I have no caffeine, soda, or juice, in the plan.  Caffeine has a diuretic effect and it also dampens the appetite, but as it wears off, you get a headache or anxious feeling that stimulates evening eating. Even if it has worn off during the day, it can disrupt sleep patterns and cause that anxious “neediness” that causes us to reach for a pick me up.
Note also: I read a story reprinted in the Reader’s Digest that said that people who eat the same things every day tend to be lighter weights. I suspect this is the result of not having to make decisions at every turn and looking forward with pleasure to a known meal.
Note 3. Two or three times a week, I’ll have a treat. I’ll control the quantity by serving it on a plate or dish but I’ll really relish it. Sometimes it’s cheese and sometimes it’s sweet, but it’s always part of the plan and I don’t feel a bit guilty.

Goal number two: control money
I am blessed to be too busy to enjoy much shopping. So I’m not usually too tempted to spend money I don’t need to spend. But the main way I can and want to improve is to control food costs.  If I shop at Aldi, I will usually save about 25%. If you don’t have an Aldi nearby, stock up on food items you usually cook with when they’re on sale. Buy enough to last through to the next sale.
  If you haven’t gotten a pressure cooker yet, it’s time!  When meats are on sale, you can preserve them by bottling them in teriaki sauce or bar-b-que sauce, or gravy and then when you’re tired and hungry and might be tempted to stop for ‘fast food’ you’ve already got a dinner ready to be heated and eaten without any work. It’s super easy, (just put the meat chunks in the canning jars (available at the grocery store) and fill with sauce. Tighten lid and process on 15 pounds of pressure for about an hour. There will be instructions and recipes in your pressure canner.) You can also do stews and soups this way. My favorite of all is homemade chicken gumbo soup. It’s yummy, filling, and low calorie! (I’ll post the recipe in a separate post) My favorite type of pressure cooker is the Mirro (matic) in the 12 quart size. I also have a 6 quart pressure cooker for smaller quantities.)
Donate the clothes you don’t like to wear and while you’re at the thrift store, find something you DO like and buy it. Just one thing. If you don’t find anything, slip over to Kohls and check out their clearance sales.  They sometimes have clearance merchandise priced lower than thrift stores.

Christmas shop all year. . .Especially in the few months right after Christmas. Clearances can save you a bundle of money and time later in the year.

My last goal, to control my mouth is the most difficult of all. Jesus said that it was not what we put into our bodies that defiles them, but what comes out of the fountains of the heart. But I do know that I can increase my faith, love and peace by avoiding stirring up contention or trouble or spreading gossip.  I do not accept the excuse that truth justifies the repeating of facts. I know I am far too opinionated to relate information about anyone without expressing my opinion. My goal is not so much to avoid speaking about others as it is to repeating only the good or constructive, purposeful information about others. I reserve the right to criticize public figures who I believe are deceiving people, (voters) are disingenuous, or are immoral. I suspect that the less hateful, contentious and gossipy I am, the more weight my opinion will carry when I DO criticize. (So as I LOSE weight by controlling what goes into my mouth, my opinions will GAIN weight as I control what comes out! Brilliant!)
 
So every morning, I’ll ask my Heavenly Father to give me control over my appetites, my behaviors and my communication. I’ll go forward in faith and hope and cheerfully start over as many times as it takes.  I’ll check back with you in 353 days. . .or the end of the world, which ever comes first.

Heavenly cinnamon rolls, including caramel or orange roll variations.

December 16, 2011
I posted this roll recipe in the holiday recipe post, but for those of you who haven’t made cinnamon rolls, this has more specific directions. Try this recipe (be sure to use that specific type of shortening and bread flour) and I promise these will be the best rolls you ever ate.
Light and lucious potato cinnamon rolls
2 T active dry yeast
7 cups of warm water (baby bath temperature)
1 cup of white sugar
dissolve yeast in sugar water
add:
1 1/2 cups potato flakes
4 large eggs
2/3 cup oil
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
2 1/2 Tablespoon salt
Stir in 7 cups bread flour. Use hands to knead in 4-5 more to make soft, rather sticky dough
Knead only until blended,
Soak 1 cup raisins in warm water (optional)
Let rest 45 minutes. Divide in quarters. Roll first quarter into quarter-inch-thick rectangle. Coat with melted butter, Sprinkle with 4 Tablespoons white sugar then sprinkle generously with ground  cinnamon. Sprinkle with soaked raisins. Roll, cut 1 inch thick slices with serrated knife or string. Place flat in baking pan, with 1/4 inch space between them. Let rise until double.
Bake in 375 oven until golden, about 17 minutes.
Glaze:
2 pounds powdered sugar,
1/2 cup melted butter
2 t. vanilla,
enough water to make a thick icing. (add a tablespoon at a time)

Variations:
Instead of sprinkling with sugar and cinnamon, Layer the butter with brown sugar and chopped nut. Use a caramel sauce instead of the glaze.

Or roll the dough, coat with melted butter, then mix a tablespoon of fresh orange zest with the sugar and rub on dough. (No cinnamon) Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired. Make powdered sugar glaze with 3 tablespoons of lemon or orange juice in place of the water. (O.J. concentrate is even better)

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