Epic Crock Pot Fail

I made dinner tonight and used the crock pot.  I was so very excited.  I had boneless pork chops, rice, carrots, broccoli and orange sauce.  Sounds delish!


I put the rice, pork chops, salt, pepper and water in the crock pot.  Turned it on low.  Checked it throughout the day. About an hour before serving, I added the frozen carrots, broccoli and the orange sauce.


I went to serve the kids dinner.  Put the food on a plate and it smelled delicious.  I tasted it.  It was ice cold.  The crock pot was unplugged, but not all the way. It was in the socket, just not plugged all the way in.  When I added the frozen veggies it must have gotten unplugged.


Anyway, I plugged the crock pot back in, but I'm not sure how dinner turned out.  We all had chicken nuggets for dinner.  Here are the pictures I took.  It looks good.  Lol

The ingredients 

The finished product (sort of)

Realization

If you're a friend of mine, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you would know that my husband works long hours and last week and now this week, will work on Saturday too.


This has made us both pretty upset.  Last Saturday was my birthday and those birthday plans were cancelled.  I had a good weekend, but wasn't able to do what I wanted.  This weekend, because we told my son twice now and cancelled, were suppose to go to the drive in.  I actually promised him we would go.  I never break a promise. Promises are serious business in my family.  I can't take my son myself. The problem is, we have one car and my husband goes to work at 4am.  Watching a movie in the dark is only going to put my husband to sleep.  Not fun.  


After spending almost an entire week now, just pissed off, I came to a realization that sort of helped me, not be so upset.  I hope when I talk to my husband, he'll feel the same way.  What is the realization, you ask?  Well, this is peak season for selling ice cream.  It is hella hot here California and people like ice cream when it is hot.  It is just like working retail during the holiday season.  You work a lot of hours.  


It is going to die down considerably during Winter.  My husband will have shorter hours and less money will be coming in.  Then we will be bitching that he is working too little.  I'm going to start thinking more positive about this.  No, I'm not happy that I don't see my husband because he comes home and goes to bed, and that he only has one day off.  I am going to be happy that he does have a job and that he is making good money. After the peak season, I will see more of him.  


You have to take the good with the bad.  Sometimes, we let emotions get the best of us and forget to think clearly.  Emotions sometimes cloud our judgement and we can't see past them.  So, I will accept that, it is what it is.  I'm grateful that we are so fortunate to be able to have money coming in.  We are all healthy and when we do have time together, we choose to spend it as a family.  


I'm not saying the bitching will end, but I am going to try and be more positive about the situation.  In a few months peak season will end.  


On a side note, if you like my blog, please subscribe by email, Google Connect or RSS feed. There are links to the left and right.  Oh, and tell your friends.  Thanks    :)

Ireland Vacation (Original post 5/13/2009)

Last year, my family took a vacation to Ireland. This is a vacation that I never would have dreamed we could have taken, much less afford to go on. I was lucky to find a great deal and was able to take this dream vacation. I received and email from Septre Tours and they had a great deal that I could not pass up. A couple of days ago, I receieved another email with a similar offer that I used and I wanted to share with you. The deal is $499, per person for 6 night stay in a townhouse, air and car in Ireland. This is a remarkable price and they have other offers available too.

Ireland is wonderful place to visit. I wish that we had more than a week to visit. I will definitely be visiting again. We stayed in Waterford, which is a beautiful town. Everyone there is so very friendly. I hope that you are as fortunate as I was to take advantage of this offer. If you do, let me know about your trip.

Crock Pot Refried Beans (Original Post 5/10/2009)

This is a very loose recipe. I'm not one who follows recipes. I kind of just make things up as I go along, and I go by my own taste.

Anyway, I use to think that making refried beans would be difficult, boy was I wrong. They are so easy to make. And very inexpensive. You can buy a bag of pinto beans for a little over a dollar at most grocery stores. I use 1/3 of a bag for my family of four. You can use as much or as little as you need.

Put the beans in a bowl full of water. Make sure the water covers all the beans. Soak the beans overnight or for at least 8 hours. This softens the beans and releases some of the gasses.

Drain the beans and place them in the crock pot. Cover the beans with water. Now this is were you add your seasonings. I add different things all the time. You can add whatever your family likes. I always add onion powder and garlic powder. And a few other things that I find in the cabinets. Go crazy and have fun with it.

Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 8 to 10 hours. After the beans are cooked and soft, turn the crock pot off or if it has a warm setting you can choose that. Get a potato masher and mash the beans. You can mash them as little or as much as you like, it is what you prefer.

When you are ready to eat, take the beans and put them in a pan and fry them. That is what makes them refried beans.

You can top them with cheese or put them in your tacos or burritos. Enjoy!

Electrasol/Finish (Original Post 5/10/2009)

As of the re-posting of this, I still use this detergent.  It is the only detergent I use in my dishwasher.  :)

I have been using Electrasol, now called Finish for about a year now. I usually used whatever I had a coupon for, or what was the cheapest product available until I tried Finish. Target always has Finish for a great price, so tried it. I was incredibly impressed. I am one who usually rinses my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. With Finish, I didn't have to do that. The dishes came out clean. There are no water spots on the glasses when dried. There is no residue left on the dishes. I also like that they are tablets. It makes it much easier to grab a tab and put it in the dishwasher, instead of dealing with the powder or the liquid. Not that I make a mess or it's hard, but the tabs are just easier.

I still use other products if I find a deal on them, but Finish is the best dishwashing detergent I have used so far. You can usually get a box of 36 tabs for $4.99 at Target. If you have a coupon, you can get an even better deal. Finish usually puts out a coupon every couple of months.

Happy Mother's Day (Original Post 5/10/2009)

I just wanted to wish all you Mom's out there a Happy Mother's Day. I hope you are able to have a nice relaxing day.

If you do not know the history of Mother's Day, here is bit about our special day.

The tradition of this holiday seems to have stemmed from an English celebration in the 1600's honoring the mothers of England called, "Mothering Sunday." Employees were given the day off to visit their mothers, and many people gave their mothers a special treat called a "Mothering Cake." With Christianity came a different celebration called "Mother Church," which honored the spiritual protection from the church. This holiday eventually combined with "Mothering Sunday" to form one day of celebration.

In 1907, a woman from Philadelphia, named Ana Jarvis, started a campaign for National Mother's Day to be held on the second day of May in honor of her mother. Her mother, also named Ana, died two years earlier in 1905. She gave her daughter the idea after she organized a "Mother's Friendship Day" to heal lingering emotional wounds of the Civil War.

Finally in 1914, Woodrow Wilson made an official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day a national holiday. West Virginia was the first state to recognize the holiday, and today the holiday has spread beyond the USA to countries such as Australia and Denmark, which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

Source: Biography.com, Holidays on the Net

Inexpensive Entertainment (Original Post 5/4/2009)

How do I entertain the family on a budget? I think everyone has asked that question at least once. Spending quality time with the family is sometimes hard, and you don't want to spend all your hard earned money on one day trip. I have a few ideas that my family enjoys doing together, and they don't cost much.

Some free family entertainment is watching your local little league games. We are lucky enough to be within walking distance of two fields. These games are a lot of fun to watch and it is great support for our local teams. Another free idea is to take a walk or bike ride around the neighborhood. What a wonderful way to meet your neighbors and get some exercise. You can also pack a lunch and go to the park. On a nice day, this is also great exercise and a fun way to bond with the kids.

A favorite of my family is to have a family game night. We choose a game (usually Monopoly) have some snacks and just enjoy the fun, and each other. Another favorite of ours is movie night. We pick out a couple of movies, pop some popcorn and enjoy our favorite movies. You can all cook together. Make some fun of it. Pick a theme and pretend to be in a restaurant. Let the kids be the servers and the cooks. They can make a menu, take your order and serve the food.

Now, all those suggestions are things that you can do for free. Here are a few that can be low cost. Pick a local attraction in your area and visit it. Pretend to be a tourist. A lot of people live in an area and never get the chance to really explore where they live. Take a drive. I love getting in the car and taking an "adventure". We get in the car and drive. We don't have a particular destination, we just explore. Try a new restaurant. If you find some local coupons, use them. My family has found some great hidden gems, by using coupons at restaurants, that we probably wouldn't have gone to.

This last tip isn't very inexpensive up front, but throughout the year it is good to have. If you live near a museum, zoo or theme park, buy season or yearly passes. If your family has a day together, you take advantage of those passes and have an awesome family outing.