Photo Wednesday: Welcome October

I snapped this photo today while we were out on a walk on the wonderful trails near our house. Fall has certainly arrived and it was a great day to stomp and wade through leaves.

Bus follies

I like the idea of public transportation because it makes me feel good. However, the real world experience sometimes the idea surrounding public transit leaves me frustrated.

I regularly have meetings in a busy part of town. It is busy on the best of days. Now, it is in utter chaos due to construction. I have two choices: (1) drive, look for a parking space and freak out when I can't find one. Or (2) take the bus.

Most times, I take the bus. I took the bus today. The bus ride was unremarkable until we got to a major stop along the Transitway. Everyone off, announces the bus driver, because this bus isn't working.

What? It got us here, didn't us? Fine. Get off the bus. Wait for a second bus. Try to quell feelings of panic of possibility being late for meeting. Get on new bus. Cross fingers, hoping new bus doesn't break down. Make it to meeting on time.

Getting home to the suburbs in the middle of the day, so close to rush hour is always interesting. I had just missed an articulated bus, so I waited for another bus. Bus arrives. Door opens and the sight of wall-to-wall people greet me. Although I don't nearly have as much bus riding experience as dear husband, I've been on my share of busy buses and this bus took the cake. There were people crowded around the driver. I had expected the driver to tell me to wait for another bus, but nope, I guess there was enough room for one more because he opened the doors. And he kept on accepting passengers and we kept on making room.

Fish around arms, backpacks and bodies to get tickets into the fare box. Smushed. Try not to get too personal with my fellow bus passengers. Hard not to when everyone is forced to invade each other's personal safety circle. See a line of people smushed together down the aisle of the bus. Praying I don't fall. Praying I don't break an arm trying to hold myself up. Try to move out of the way of people trying to get off at the Park and Ride. Stare back at people giving me dirty looks. (Listen people, not my fault this bus is packed and there is no room for me to get out of your way. Not my fault I've had to stand in the aisle while you've snoozed in your seat!) Admire the new snazzy stop-call system.

In a nutshell, that was my latest bus experience. However, it comes no where close to the many crazy bus stories dear husband has. I still like the idea of public transit. Just not during rush hour.

Crock Pot Mondays

Happy Thanksgiving Monday to all my readers.

This week's Crock Pot Monday somewhat inspired by Thanksgiving. If you have some leftover cranberry sauce and frozen cooked meatballs hanging out in your freezer, I suggest making meatballs with cranberry barbecue sauce.

I deviated from Stephanie O'Dea's original recipe. Instead of using turkey meatballs, I used 1 pound of meatballs that I had previously made from a recipe that can be found in the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook. Then I followed Stephanie's instructions of cutting up jellied cranberry sauce, laying it flat in the Crock Pot stoneware and adding a 1/2 cup barbecue sauce and a tablespoon of soy sauce. I cooked it on high for about four hours.

This recipe did not disappoint as I ate the leftovers for breakfast. However, the next time I make this recipe, I will be using whole cranberry sauce and reducing the amount of a barbecue sauce as I'd think I would enjoy these meatballs more if they had more a cranberry taste to them.

Circle time stress

I'm in a tizzy about circle time.

Honestly, I'm not too sure why circle time exists. Sure, it may be fun to jump up and down, sing songs and listen to stories, but isn't free play more fun and less of an effort on the part of adults who are in charge in leading circle time? Am I alone in this thinking?

My circle time stress started last month at a fabulous playgroup we are now a part of. It is wonderful. There are plenty of activities to keep the little one occupied, good conversation among parents and yummy treats. I must admit when it is circle time, my stress level increases. Darling daughter has no interest in sitting quietly with the other children, listening to stories. She has no interest in sitting in a circle participating in singing and dancing. Luckily, the organizers don't seem to mind that my kid is running in circles at the other end of the room while circle time is going on.

My circle time stress level was manageable until we completed our first preschool session. When I was picking up darling daughter, the instructor remarked that she doesn't do well in circle time. To be fair, she's young. It is hard to tell a two year old that playtime is over after playing with fun toys for about 45 minutes.

My circle time stress level went into overdrive this week when I was on parent duty day at preschool. I learned that in fact there are two circle times. For the first one, I had to keep myself busy washing paint pots and brushes. The second one I had to sit with darling daughter and urge her (and there was a bit of pleading on my part) to sit and participate.

It is funny how I will stress out about things. I remember I stressed out that darling daughter wouldn't sit up. Now she sits up but won't sit still for circle time. I know it will come in time, but honestly, what is the point of circle time? Isn't it more fun to play with toys?

Knitting overdrive

I'm in knitting overdrive and I better get going because despite the fact I've got one project done, I've got several more in the queue.

First off, I've been making these hats (pictured above) since the end of August. I sold several to raise funds for the CIBC Run for the Cure. Selling these hats, along with a bake sale and a garage sale, I managed to raise $270 for the run. I'm very proud of this achievement as I didn't ask friends or family members for a cent, not even dear husband. Times are tough. Besides, it was a bit of a personal challenge for me to see if I could raise the minimum $150 goal through other fundraising initiatives.

I call these my ugly pretty hats because although I do like them, there is a just a hint of tackiness to them. According to my husband, the term “ugly pretty” is a compliment in his seaside hometown, so that’s what I’ve decided to call them. (Ugly pretty shouldn’t be confused with pretty ugly because pretty ugly is certainly not a compliment by any means).

So when I thought I was finished my last ugly pretty hat, I got an order on Saturday to make three pumpkin hats by the end of this week. I am pleased to say the hats are done, but my work isn't done.

So here is in my queue:

* Socks for me. I signed up for a selfish stash-a-long. The premise is to make something for yourself out of your stash. I'm making socks. The last time I made socks was when I was in high school. I made them out of purple acyclic yarn and they were way too big (for the simple fact you don't make socks out of worsted acyclic yarn unless they are Christmas socks). Plus, I don't think I've ever knitted a garment for myself. Lucky for me, deadline is November 30, so I do have time.

* Test knitting a sweater. It is super cute, but it is a very cable-y sweater. I have yet to cast on, but I will soon. Just have to finish printing off the cable charts. I tried doing that last week, but the printer ran out of ink.

* Knitting a market bag for part of a prize pack for my online moms group. It's started, but not done. Now I just have to find where I stashed it. . .

* Darling daughter's preschool shirt. I had initially wanted to make her a back-to-school shirt to mark her first day for preschool. However, I learned at orientation that the kids do a lot of painting and it isn't advisable to send them in nice clothes. It will become her playgroup shirt. I'm halfway done, but I haven't touched it in over a week.

* Hats and mittens for darling daughter. I want to make matching hat and mittens to go with her new fall coat. It shouldn't take long, but I need to find the time.

So as you can see, I'm busy knitting up a storm these days. It has been pretty busy. I hope to finish most of these projects by the end of October. But we shall see as my queue always has a way of growing, not shrinking.

Crock Pot Mondays

Welcome back to another edition of Crock Pot Mondays. This week, it is a tale of two recipes -- the one that was a hit and the second that was a total disastrous messy miss.

The hit this week was hamburger stew. I've never made hamburger stew, but it is super easy. Regardless of the concern I had about the amount of canned condensed creamy soups this recipe calls for, I made it anyway. I'm sure you could tweak this recipe to suit your own taste buds and concerns about sodium intake. I can't remember exactly where I got the recipe, but I do believe it was off one of the message boards on Ravelry.

Hamburger stew

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef (feel free to use less. I used 1 1/2 pounds).
1 can of cream of celery soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cheddar cheese soup
1 1/2 cups water. (The next time I make this recipe, I'm going to use a bit less).
5 quartered potatoes
1 small bag of baby carrots
1 sliced onion
1 can corn. (The recipe doesn't call for corn, but I tossed some in anyway. I think you could add in frozen veggies if you like, maybe towards the end of your cooking time).

Method:
Brown ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Put veggies in slow cooker Put ground beef on top of veggies Mix soup and water together in a large bowl. Pour into slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high until 3-4 hours or until veggies are tender. I used my family size crock for this.

Last week's total miss was honey cake. This was a mess. The photos below speak for themselves. I've been meaning to make a cake in the crock pot and when I came across this recipe on Stephanie O'Dea's blog, I thought I'd try it. It was a disaster. I followed the directions, but when the surface of the cake hadn't completely cooked in 2/12 hours after I took the lid off the crock pot, I decided to investigate. The top wasn't cooked at all. I had to scrape it off. The bottom of the cake was a completely different story. In fact, it was charred. I basically had to scoop out the cake from the crock pot and then chip the burnt parts off my stoneware. I had to soak my crock pot for two days, scour it, before placing it in the dishwasher for a good scrubbing.

This is what the cake looked like after I scraped off the uncooked surface. Please take note of the crispy edges. While at first I was a bit daunted after the whole honey cake fiasco from baking in my Crock Pot again, I think I'm going to give it a try again in the very near future. Next time I'll be lining the stoneware with aluminum foil as cooking spray wasn't enough.

Bulk shopping

About two weeks ago, when I was trying to find an obscure spice (it is likely not that obscure, but if it is beyond salt, pepper, and garlic powder it is classified as obscure in my books) I went to Bulk Barn. The problem with Bulk Barn is that the candy aisle is too big of a temptation for me. Regardless, when I was shopping for spices, which are much cheaper at Bulk Barn, a little thought occurred to me: "Why aren't I shopping here on a regular basis?"

I posed this question on the message board of a local moms group I belong to: can you save money by buying at the Bulk Barn? Respondents said yes it is cheaper to buy some stuff at Bulk Barn. They also noted you have to shop around because you can get some foodstuffs cheaper at other stores.

Last night, I returned to Bulk Barn to get supplies for next week's meals. As you can see from my receipt, no candy was purchased. I bought croutons for 97 cents. White liquid honey cost me $3.05. Steel cut oats, which were on sale, set me back 64 cents. Green split peas, $1.20; non-instant skim milk, $2.28; non-instant buttermilk, $2.38. In total, I spent $10.52. Total savings in regards to items being on sale: $1.19. Sweet!

I like the Bulk Barn for a variety of reasons. Although bulk in prominent in the name, I like the fact you can buy smaller amounts of various products. I have no need for a huge bag of powder milk, but I do need some for my bread machine. It would be ridiculous for me to buy a huge bag, spend $7 to $10 at the grocery store, only to use a bit of it before it expires. I plan on making bulk shopping a part of my grocery shopping routine, but I'll be skipping out on the candy aisle so I don't impact my waist line or my budget.