October Dreams

Its time to say good bye to another October, my favorite month. For me, October is that wonderful month that ushers in the Fall season, colorful landscapes, pumpkins, fragrant candles, crisp mornings and that first chance to put on a warm and comfy sweater. My coffee tastes so much better in October, even with the sugar free creamer I am using. There is a slight chill in the air inside the house this morning which makes cradling my hot mug of coffee in my hands so nice.

October, I'll be here waiting for you next year......

So where does the path lead now?



To November..... my second most favorite month!

Oven Fried Chicken

I recently took advantage of an offer for the All You magazine - a 2 year subscription for $18.00. If you aren't familiar with this magazine, it is sold at Walmart and is loaded with coupons.

My first experience with buying it was when I was waiting in line to check out at Walmart and picked one up to leaf through to pass the time. I noticed a coupon in the magazine for an item I already had on the conveyor belt at the cash register. The amount of the coupon paid for the magazine, so I quickly tore out the coupon and bought the magazine.

My first issue came this past week and it really is full of coupons. Now, If I can just find time to clip them and organize them!!!

Last night I made oven fried chicken using a recipe from the magazine. It was actually in an ad for French's french fried onions. There was a 55 cents coupon for the french fried onions also.

This picture was from the magazine. Mine didn't turn out this pretty!



I recently stocked up on boneless chicken breasts when they were on sale at a good price at Food Lion. Each pack of chicken that I bought was about $3.00 and I was feeding three people, so that's not too bad. The pack of chicken had 3 large pieces, so I cut each one in half.

It turned out very tasty, was quick to make and the cost was reasonable.

Here's the recipe:

Crunchy Onion Chicken

2 cups (4 oz) French's French Fried Onions
2 tbsp Flour
4 (5 oz) boneless chicken breasts
1 egg beaten

Crush french fried onions with flour in plastic bag. Dip chicken into egg; then coat in onion crumbs. Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees until cooked through. (My chicken was thick and not quite thawed out completely, so I cooked mine for 30 minutes)

Taking into account the fact that I bought the chicken on sale and had a coupon for the french fried onions, this is a fairly frugal dish. Also, I utilized several leftovers from the fridge to go with it. These leftovers were chicken pot pie, corn, rice with gravy and sweet potatoes. Not a bad meal!

Autumn Organization

1. My light eating plan progress:

This was on the "Launch Pad", also known as the washing machine, yesterday morning as I was going out the door to work. According to this picture I should be smart, slim, fit and light!

At first glance you might think my food for the work day was full of processed food. You would be partially right, but you must put it into perspective. The Slimfast shake that I had for breakfast is absolutely full of vitamins and minerals and supplied 50% of my daily needs for calcium. For 190 calories I was satisfied until lunch time.

The Smart Ones lasagna contained 300 calories and satisfied my carb addiction. Besides that, it was way cheaper and definitely better for me than going through the drive through at McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King or the like.

The yogurt for an afternoon snack isn't too bad nutritionally for 80 calories. I can use all the calcium I can get, because I cannot remember to take my calcium supplement.

Today my food for work will be a Slimfast shake for breakfast, a homemade chicken sandwich made from baked chicken, whole wheat bread and light mayo and broccoli with light ranch dip for lunch and peach yogurt for an afternoon snack.

2. Fall Clothing Organization:

Last night I spent some time organizing my side of the closet. We are in that time of the fall season when the temperatures fluctuate wildly. I still need some short sleeve tops, but definitely need some long sleeve tops and jackets on other days. However, the cooler days are slowly taking over the warmer ones, so some closet organization was definitely in order. Besides, everything in there had gotten all mixed up.

I enjoy getting dressed much more if the pants are together, the skirts are together, the long sleeve tops are together, the jackets are together and each category needs to be grouped by color. It also makes getting dressed much faster and I can use all the extra time in the mornings I can get.

3. Fall and Winter Planning:

November, December and January are going to be very busy months for me, as I'm sure it will be for all of you too. Before November 1st, I plan to sit down with my calendar/planner and get organized. I need to make a list of all the things I need to do in advance. I think now is the time to do this to reduce some stress in the coming months.

Example 1: My Step-daughter is getting married in January. For my to-do list in connection with this I need to: purchase shoes to go with my dress, make sure my undergarments are in order (hosiery, etc), purchase wedding gifts, put together outfits for bridesmaid's luncheon and rehearsal dinner, work on quilt that I hope to have ready by the wedding day.

Example 2: My husband and I are going on our annual anniversary trip in November. I need to pull out my packing list and start working on this. Arrangements need to be made for responsibilities at home and work. I need a to-do list for this trip.

Example 3: Thanksgiving and Christmas. Enough said!

Example 4: Menu planning. Planning menus and grocery lists ahead of time will be helpful to help me move through these upcoming busy months smoothly.

I think a separate section in my notebook for each of these examples would be helpful to me. I can place in there all my to-do lists and notes and have everything all organized and in one place!

Weekend Plans

Happy Friday!

I am looking forward to a quiet weekend, with no commitments that I know of. Saturday is forecast to be rainy, just my kind of Saturday. I must plan my soup/stew/chili that will be simmering on the stove or in the crockpot. Lets see... what sounds good. Maybe some white bean soup? With cornbread? I should be able to eat this on my light eating plan, if I watch my portions!

My hubby is craving baked sweet potatoes and old timey dried link country sausage. The sweet potato must be cold. Something about his having eaten this in his childhood.... sounds easy and good to me. I will send him on an errand to a country store that sells the sausage. We already have sweet potatoes that he brought home a couple of weeks ago.

I need to be vigilant about cooking our regular potatoes on a regular basis to make sure we use these, bought at Food Lion at $1.99 for 10 pounds, before they start going bad. The bags they were bought in have air holes in them, so we have stored them as they came. A potato dish of some kind is in order over the weekend.



I have about 4 quilts in progress, but plan to concentrate on two of them. I plan to prepare "Early Autumn" for quilting, which is the part where I tape the backing on the floor, then put down the quilt batting, then the quilt top, and pin baste the quilt sandwich. Of course there is plenty of ironing to be done to both the backing and the quilt top before they can be basted!



I need to finish "Sweet Savannah" and also pin baste it in preparation for machine quilting. It is baby size, so it can be done on the kitchen table.



Hopefully, I can begin machine quilting at least one of them!

HAPPY HOMEMAKING!

Debbie J.

A Whole Lot of Healthy

These are a couple of my "on the run" meals during my current attempt to eat less and move more.

You can get a whole lot of healthy for about 200 calories with a cup of cheerios, 1/2cup low fat milk and 1/2 a sliced banana. Doesn't that look yummy?



This is one lunch I ate at work recently for about 300 calories. The can of soup is big, but its mostly liquid, which is why there aren't many calories in there!



The weather has been wonderful this week for walking during my lunch break, so I've gotten in 20 minutes of brisk walking before eating my light lunch each day.

The scale isn't showing a huge drop, my clothes are definitely looser. I am loving that! I really want to drop a size and am almost there.

Easy Removable Pillow Cover Tutorial

Today is Whatcha Working on Wednesday at Leslie's blog, My Country Home.

I have been thinking of some handmade gift ideas for Christmas that are quick, easy and frugal. We do still have two months in which to put together handmade Christmas gifts, but its time to get busy if we are going to get them done.

I made this pillow for my grandson this past weekend and thought I would write a tutorial on how to make this simple pillow cover with an overlapping back.

The ideas you could come up with for these pillows for gifts for your family and friends are endless. You could do sports themes, feminine themes, kids themes, needlepoint, applique, you name it!



I often make this type removable pillow cover because it can be replaced so easily. You can change the cover with the seasons, or remove it for laundering. I have Christmas pillow covers that I place on our regular throw pillows in the living room. After Christmas, I just remove the Christmas covers and store them until the following year.

You can purchase pillows to cover very frugally. Just look for decorator pillows of all sizes that are on clearance at places like Walmart or at regular price at places like Dollar General. It doesn't matter what color they are, since you will be covering them. Another venue for finding pillows is the thrift store or a yard sale. I often find decorator pillows, remove the covers that come on them and make new covers.

My grandson likes the "Cars" children's movie, so when I saw this fabric on the remnant table at Walmart, I decided to make him a pillow. I purchased this pillow form at Walmart in the craft section. I plan to make more covers for this pillow as his interests change. For a little over a half yard, I can cover an 18 inch pillow.



These are the directions to make a cover for an 18" pillow form:

Cut a piece of fabric into an 18 1/2" square to be the top of the pillow.

Then cut two pieces of 18 1/2" by 12" fabric to be used for the overlapping back of the pillow.

On one long side of each piece press a 1/4 inch hem, fold this over another 1/4 inch and press well. Then sew along the edge of these folded over hems on both pieces.



Lay the right sides of the backing pieces on the right side of the pillow top so that the hemmed edges face center and overlap one another.





Align the raw edges of the backing pieces with the raw edges of the pillow top, pin well all the way around the square, and machine stitch along all four sides with a 1/4 " seam allowance.


Turn the pillow cover right side out and insert the pillow form.

The back of the pillow cover:



You can easily adjust the size of the cover to fit what ever size pillow form you want to cover. Cut the top piece of fabric 1/2" larger than the size of the pillow form. The two rectangular pieces for the back of the pillow should be the size of the pillow front on one side and wide enough to over lap on the other side.

A Country Corduroy Christmas Stocking

In keeping with my goal of making one new Christmas Stocking each week, I made this one this past weekend. My plan for it was a "country" look. Hence, the corduroy fabric and plaid cuff and lining.

I need to read my own tutorial HERE, because I forgot to add the seam allowance!!!!! I decided to finish it as it was by sewing very narrow seams to make up for the lack of seam allowance. It did turn out a little smaller, but will be ok.

Here are the three I've made so far:

Etsy Shop Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the drawing for the Apron and Fabric Bag!

I really appreciate each and every person who reads my blogs and wish that I could send the prize to each one.

Here is the stack of names who entered:



The names in a pot:


Hubby drawing out a name:



The winner is CARAPACE!

A Slice of My Life

Good Morning! Happy Friday!



Here's what's going on in my life:

1. I'm so happy that I've finally been able to lose a little weight. Since passing over that birthday, that shall remain un-named, it has been a whole different ballgame when it comes to losing weight. When I was younger, I lost weight easily. Now its very hard, but I'm doing good this time. My goal is to lose 10 more pounds by November 13th and then to never gain it back! I'll keep you posted.

2. My new quilting blog, ANGEL SCRAPS QUILTING, is taking off! I entered a quilt in the Fall Quilt Festival being held by PARK CITY GIRL last week and have had several hundred views of that post. In addition, I joined some quilting groups on line and have received some interest through those. I love this new blog!

A peek from a recent quilting post:



3. I have been to two different malls within the last 2 weeks! EEEEEKKKK! I needed to find a dress to wear to a function and as usual, had a hard time finding the right thing. Well, yesterday, I finally found it. Now hopefully I won't be visiting any malls for a while. The dress is beautiful! It has a long and flowing skirt with a cute little jacket.

4. Fall has really arrived here. Its was only 49 degrees outside at lunch time yesterday, which is very coolish for this time of year in this area. Its very hard to know how to dress when one day its in the 80s and the next day its in the 50s. I tend to dress on the cooler side so as to avoid too many "hot episodes". :o)

5. I didn't get a Christmas stocking made this past week. My plan is to make one a week, but I just plain old forgot to work on it last weekend. I was so into working on my quilts, it never entered my mind. I hope to complete at least one stocking this coming weekend.

6. I want to make some Christmas gifts. One idea is to make some of the velcro wallets that I made earlier this year. This would be a great gift for my co-worker/ friends. It would also be nice to put a small gift card inside the wallet. These go together pretty quickly, so I might be able to find time to get these done before Christmas.

I'm thinking about doing a tutorial for these wallets, if anyone is interested. The way I make them is a combination of other tutorials that I've seen and my own ideas.



7. Don't forget to sign up for my give away in the previous post. The drawing is first thing Monday morning!

I hope you have great plans for your weekend. I'm really looking forward to another Fall weekend

Etsy Shop Give Away

Its time for a give away! I previously listed these two hand made items in my Etsy Shop, but the listings expired before they were sold.

The first item is a ruffled half apron made from chocolate covered strawberries fabric. The second item is a pink and white calico reusable fabric grocery/storage bag.

You can enter the drawing for these items by leaving comments on either or both of my blogs, Homemaking Dreams or Angel Scraps Quilting until Monday Morning, October 19th. Each comment will place your name in the pot, so comment each day to improve your chances of winning. Signing up as a follower is another way to put your name in the pot. Just leave me a comment letting me know that you are already a follower or that you have just signed up as a follower.

If you don't have a blog or if I don't know you, you can still enter, just be sure to leave your email address so I can let you know if you win.

I will announce the winner Monday Morning, October 19th. Both these items will be sent to the lucky winner.

Have a great day!

A Peek Into a Frugal Fridge

You didn't think I was going to let you see the whole thing, did you? It really needs to be cleaned out!

My good blogger friend, Lyn, of Essential Thrift posted a list of what is in her refrigerator yesterday. If you've read the Tightwad Gazettes you will remember the article about what's inside a frugal person's refrigerator. The author, Amy Dacyczyn's, fridge was full of frugal things like a half-eaten apple, homemade foods and upside down bottles of ketchup.

Mine is not as frugal as it should be, but here's a list of what is in there this morning:

Apples, thanks to my sister in law who brought them to us from the mountains.
A bottle of water that was a freebie at the bank's customer appreciation day.
A partially eaten jar of salsa
Leftover canned mixed fruit in a covered plastic container
Light Sour Cream
A half eaten jar of my Mama's homemade sweet pickles
A jar of yeast
Tub and stick margarine
One full store brand gallon of 2% milk and a smidgen of milk left in another gallon jug.
Fat free Hazelnut creamer (yum! thanks to dh) Not frugal, but worth it.
An almost empty gallon pitcher of homemade sweet tea
A 2 liter Diet Coke
In the veggie drawer: home grown or free - squash, zucchini, bell pepper and okra
A bag of corn meal
A bag of self-rising flour
2 bags of shredded mozzarella cheese
A nearly empty container of light pimento cheese
Leftovers from Sunday Lunch: Pork chops, homemade mashed potatoes and a squash/zucchini/onion dish
1 dozen and a half eggs

And yes... way too many condiments. But there are always frugal bottles turned upside down in order to get it all out! And most of them were bought with coupons or were the store brand.

What's in your fridge?