Saturday, June 9, 2012 (Meat Loaf and Cobbler Recipes)

Good intentions went out the door. I slept late - 10 o'clock when I woke up. Fortunately Ken had things done by the time I woke up -- he had taken the rug out of his room to the driveway, soaped it down, rinsed it, and had it out to dry. After I got up he did a first vacuum of his room. I was supposed to do a second "good" vaccuum and then shampoo the room. Hasn't happened. Maybe tomorrow. I checked email, worked the shockwave jigsaw puzzle, checked out Facebook.

Ken has needed a new blind for the longest in the window in the front room we use as his office. The blind has to be cheap - we are penniless. Friend had told us she bought blinds for the entire house for about $5.00 each at Lowes. So we went there. Wasted gasoline, and we had only put in $10 (3 gallons) of gas in the car. The gal at Lowes didn't understand when I said I wanted a CHEAP blind...she wanted to show me all the expensive things...I said no, I wanted to see the cheap blinds. Turns out the cheap blinds at Lowes don't come in the size we need. If we bought a larger (wider) blind they would not cut it down unless it was a Levalor. What the HHHH? Home Depot doesn't treat us this way! So, we went to Home Depot.

At Home Depot we looked around but no one was available - person who works blinds was out to lunch. We didn't see anything we could use at a price we could afford. Finally I asked the youngish lady working the paint counter if there was someone who could help. She asked me what I was looking for and immediately told me they had some discontinued blinds they were selling for cheap. She found one - but it was a 47"x72" and we needed a 42.25"x72". Her response? We can cut it down to whatever ou need!!! She cut it down for us and we went on our way for $20. The difference in customer service is amazing.

Came home, piddled, and then I made meatloaf. I've been making meatloaf the same way since I was a teenager...following the recipe that Mrs. Agnes Wiggins taught me long ago! One lb of ground beef, one sleeve of crushed saltine crackers (NOT oatmeal), chopped onions (and bell peppers when I have them), one can of tomato sauce, one egg, salt and pepper. Put in loaf pan, cover with ketchup, cover with foil, cook at 350 for 1 hour 15 minutes. Turns out the crackers we had were not salted crackers but I crushed a sleeve of them and used them anyway. And I had purchased a can of tomato stuff that was supposed to be for meatloaf. I mixed everything up, it looked pretty, I cooked it the appropriate amount of time.

Came time to eat I tasted the meatloaf -- YUCKO, nasty! Those crackers must have been OLD, and that meatloaf sauce was nasty. We ate it anyway - couldn't waste it...and the dogs liked it, that's for sure.

I had also boiled new potatoes and heated up blackeye peas, one of my personal favorites. Ken not so much. He's lucky - I could have fixed butter beans!

While everything was cooking I made a strawberry cobbler...used a recipe I found on line...like my old one better. This one is too juicy and the "dough" didn't cook all the way as it should. I'll do better next time.

I'm assuming Ken got the blind up -- he upset me and I left the room and would not help him with it. Too bad. I am sick of his nastiness to me while he lives here for free without contributing to anything. He has to get a job so that he can pay his way. I've been telling him that for 3 years now...I didn't sign on to support him. Never did. Told him that from the beginning. And now that I'm retired he is bleeding me dry. He needs to man up - I don't care if he works sacking groceries, he's got to do something.

Tonight I finished the last section of PowerPoint training. I already know PowerPoint and the rest of Microsoft Office Suite, because I've been earning a living with software for YEARS as a software engineer. But every potential employer I talk to wants to know if I have certifications!!! So, I'm having to do tutorials and take tests so I can get a piece of paper that says I'm certified. Ridiculous. I don't know what I'm going to do about Access - for some reason it is not loaded on my computer. And of course "no one" knows where the Microsoft Office disk is - because NOTHING is ever put back in the sleeve and put up. At least I've completed Excel, Word, and almost have PowerPoint completed. I've just been watching the videos, taking the quizzes, and doing the required assignments and turning them in. Thus far I've missed 2 questions out of 10 tests. Hopefully I'll find Access soon.

So that's about it for our big Saturday night. Not making any promises, but with any luck I'll get up in time to go to church tomorrow. We'll see. Thinking about going to Everman Baptist. Just going to start visiting churches to see where I think I fit in.

Take care, be blessed. Have a wonderful Sunday.

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Meat Loaf

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 lb ground beef
1 small can tomato sauce
1 sleeve saltine crackers crushed fine
1 egg
1/2 to 1 onion chopped in small pieces
1 bell pepper (I use green) chopped into small pieces
(my secret: I buy frozen packages of chopped onions and peppers)
Garlic or garlic powder (I buy garlic powder to have on hand and buy jars of minced garlic...fresh produce goes bad on me)
Salt
Pepper
Ketchup

Grease or spray a loaf pan...I keep spray on hand

Take off all rings and make sure hands are clean. Put everything into a big bowl and with both hands mix thoroughly. Place in loaf pan, pat down. Wash hands thoroughly with soap. Cover top of meatloaf with ketchup. Cover loaf pan with foil. Place on cookie pan and in oven. Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove foil, place back in oven for 5-10 minutes to brown.

Cobbler - Any fruit flavor

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Equivalent of 4 cups of fruit - I use frozen or canned. I also mix fruits.
1-1/2 cups Jiffy or Bisquik baking mix
1 egg
2 tbs butter (salted)
3 tbs butter - melted
1/2 cup granualted sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
Pecans or Walnuts if wanted

In 9x13 oblong pan, place 2 tbs of butter and place in oven until melted. Mix fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, granulated sugar, nuts if using, water, and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar together. When butter is melted, move pan around until butter covers bottom of pan. Place fruit mixture in pan on top of the butter. Set aside (not back in oven).

In bowl place the Jiffy (or Bisquik) with the egg, milk, 3 tbs melted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix and pour or spoon over the fruit in the pan/oven proof dish.

Place uncovered in oven (at 400) for 15 minutes. Turn down to 350 and cook for additional 10 minutes. Cobbler is best if allowed to rest for a while after baking. Otherwise the "dough" will taste doughey.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Checked bank account...scares me to be living this close to the edge. Thankfully there's food in the house and if we are very careful we may have enough gasoline to get back and forth to where we need to go. My SS check should hit the bank by Wednesday of next week. Until then we have about $124 for prescriptions, miscellaneous, gasoline, whatever. It's been a really long time since I've had to live like this! And I don't like it. Of course if I wasn't paying $918.78 per month for health insurance, and if we count what we also pay for Ken's Medicare every month ($100) that's over $1000 for health insurance per month. That could buy a lot of groceries, gasoline, etc. Right now I need to buy a graduation gift, need to send the grandchildren $$ for completing the school year, etc. Just have to wait.

I'm trying to find a job, but I don't know what to do because no one will grant me an interview much less hire me. We are praying that one of us will find a job quickly. We can't survive much longer the way we are. The stress is about to get us.

10:30 p.m.: I planned to go to a networking workshop at Texas Workforce that started at 1 p.m. today. About the time I needed to jump in the shower to get ready I received a telephone call from a government agency in Washington, DC about the resume I sent May 21 for a position in Fort Worth. The lady liked my credentials and the fact that I'm somewhat familiar with things. Of course as always they have to wait until a proposal may or may not go through for contract. But it was nice to at least have had a first phone interview. She said she is going to pass it to her upper management and recommend me for the job. We'll see.

I went on to the workshop - got there about the time it started. I told Juan why I was breezing in. I told him it was a position I found through workintexas.com but it wasn't listed as a job in my field - it was listed as executive something or other rather than project management or change management but the requirements are just about everything I've done and the credentials are exactly what I have. He used it as a "lesson" to the workshop -- don't just look for particular titles.

Later Juan told me to stay after class - he was going to take me to see Eddie. Eddie and Juan work together to place people in some positions...such as actually working for Texas Workforce. Eddie came in and told me he would meet with me afterward. Tonight I had to take a couple of assessments on line and have to get those back to Eddie tomorrow. Then I have a meeting with him next Wednesday. I'm hoping something works out. But, the assessments came out pretty strange!!! After all my years of experience in analytical and engineering positions, the assessments indicates I should be doing something with my music!!! I'm anxious to see how he handles that.

So nothing much exciting. Tonight I fixed smothered pork chops, rice and cheesy broccoli. I took out chicken thighs for tomorrow night and canvassed my Facebook friends for different ways to fix the since I never buy thighs (I buy boneless breasts). Got some wonderful ideas so I know tomorrow night will be good.

Listened to some Ricky Van Shelton music tonight...love to hear that man sing. I especially like this one: Take My Hand