Various topics

Yesterday was Cliff’s payday (the day Social Security arrives).  All we really needed to do was go to the bank and get our monthly allowances (we pay cash for groceries and such), pick up a prescription, and buy three or four grocery items; then we should have gone the fifteen miles home.  But there were a couple of things we only get at Costco.  Yes, we were there last week.  No, it wasn’t necessary to go.  Cliff wasn’t excited about driving to the city once again, but since he seldom takes me anywhere, he figured this was the easiest way to fulfill his obligations so I won’t make him take me to see some concert.

I grabbed what we went for and decided to get a five-dollar rotisserie chicken.  Those Costco chickens are noticibly larger than the ones at Walmart and other grocery stores, and never over-cooked.  I had some left-over food from the day before, and I told Cliff we needed some chicken with our leftovers.  When we got home, I warmed up the leftover pasta, baked a couple sweet potatoes in the microwave, and we each got our favorite part of chicken:  Leg and thigh for me, breast meat for Cliff.  This morning I de-boned the rest of the bird and ended up with enough diced chicken for a low-fat version of chicken jambalaya today and tomorrow, and chicken salad sandwiches the next day.  We always get three or four meals out of that five-dollar chicken.  I also boil the bones and skin for a couple of hours, for broth.  My jambalaya requires 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, so I got some frozen broth out of the freezer.  I keep the canned stuff around for emergencies, just to have on hand; but it’s inferior to home-made broth in every way.  If you’re interested in the Better Homes and Gardens recipe, you’ll find it HERE.  It’s a great, healthy way to use leftover turkey, too.

We picked our little girl up at day care yesterday after lunch.  She was happy and lively, and we really enjoyed her visit.  She got sick in the middle of the night last night, though, vomiting and all that goes with it; she’s here again today.  She seems to feel OK now.  She and her dad ate at a Mexican place last night, so perhaps it’s a case of food poisoning.  There’s a lot of produce being recalled lately!  

We can see her learning so much, now that she’s getting some pre-school help.  Try as I might, I couldn’t teach her anything about numbers or letters or writing.  She’s a smart kid, but she’s also hard-headed.  She wasn’t about to let this amateur teach her anything school-related, and I figured if I tried to push it, I’d do more harm than good.  I taught her a lot about gardens and cows and cooking, though.  I’m very thankful to have such a great daycare/preschool in our little town with caring, loving staff.  I’m glad to be the backup babysitter when the local grandma has other obligations.  The kid and Cliff are playing with little Legos in this picture:  Actually, she’s playing with them while Cliff does the talking for some of the tiny people in the lego set.  He’s so patient, he’ll sit there yawning for hours, chatting away with a five-year-old.

And that’s the way it is at our house today.  

Love, Donna.