A few weeks ago I noticed small black ants crawling around in my dining room. I vacuumed, mopped, put down black pepper around the door frame and windows and...moved them into the kitchen. So when Hubby got home, we waged all out war on the ants. First, deep cleaning. Second, caulking some places (around some cabinets, the counter) we saw the ants hiding. Third, bug spray, carefully applied where needed. And voila, the ants were gone.
Now we have large, black, ant-looking bugs with wings in the kitchen.
A small amount of watching these bugs lead me to the culprit - a drafty window. Many of the windows in our house are (most likely) the house's original windows, and the ones in the kitchen are no exception. They are drafty, but until today I didn't know it was because the glass in one of the windows is at least one-half inch away from the frame at the bottom. The bugs were flying in and out of my kitchen through there.
So, I caulked it. Caulked it good.
Now I have caulk on my finger, but the bugs are gone (I vacuumed up the ones that were already in the kitchen) and I am victorious.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
The return of Menu Plan Monday...for me
It's been a while since I've participated in Menu Plan Monday, but I really need to get back into the swing of it. Hubby is home from his Army training (Yay!), but since he got home we've been eating out. A lot. It's bad on the budget and the waistline. I'm also trying to cook out of my pantry and freezer this week. Anyway, onto the menu.Monday - Chicken florentine casserole, rice, veggie, bread
Tuesday - Crockpot tamale pie, rice, bread
Wednesday - Baked ham, scalloped potatoes, crockpot macaroni and cheese (recipe at end of post), veggie, rolls
Thursday - Crockpot lentil soup, bread
Friday - Noodles with ham and mushrooms, veggie, bread
Saturday - Scrambled eggs with ham, muffins/toast
Sunday - Potato soup, bread
Crockpot Mac 'n' Cheese
3 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I use cheddar and mozzarella or jack)
2 eggs, beaten
1 (12-oz) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 oz small shell pasta, uncooked
*
Whisk together eggs, milks and seasonings. Stir in pasta and 3 cups cheese. Pour into a greased crockpot, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook on LOW 4 hours or until pasta is tender.
For more menu plans and menu planning tips, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Earthquake!
This morning (5:40 or so) I was awakened by the bed shaking. Before I figured out what was happening, it was over and I was laying back down to go back to sleep. After a moment I heard little feet on the bedroom stairs and into the room pops Little Boy.
"Mama, something's shaking our beds and we want to know if we can watch a movie."
So I went downstair to tuck them back in, let them know they were not to get out of bed, and reasure them that whatever it was had passed. It was sometime around then that the word "earthquake" popped into my head, so I flipped on the tv and sure enough, the boys and I had felt an earthquake. In Indiana.
Man.
Hubby is so missing out on the exciting things.
Earthquake shakes Indiana, startles area residents
April 18, 2008 08:28 AM EDT
More on WISHTV.com
(The Republic/Wire Reports) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck the Midwest at 5:30 a.m. today, startling residents across Bartholomew and surrounding counties who felt their houses rattle.
The USGS Web site says the quake was centered near West Salem, Illinois, or about 40 miles northwest of Evansville, Indiana.
The earthquake was felt as far north as Kokomo, Rochester and Warsaw in Indiana, as well as in Evansville and Indianapolis. It shook tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in Bartholomew County.
Local dispatchers were flooded with calls in a 45 minute period from 5:38 a.m. until 6:15 a.m.
The four dispatchers on duty received 132 calls from residents with concerns ranging from an aircraft crash to a pipeline explosion, said Ed Reuter, director of Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center.
"There was no idea what was going on," Reuter said.
He said he was at home asleep and thought a truck had hit his house.
At one point, all 20 incoming 911 and administrative lines were ringing.
"They couldn't keep up with all 20 lines going at once," Reuter said.
The Indiana State Police post in Versailles, which covers Decatur County, has issued a release saying no official reports of damage have been received.
Florence Finley of Edinburgh said the quake awoke her with concerns that someone might have broken into her house.
Finley, who lives alone, said she had her bedroom door shut and heard noise throughout her house.
"Then all the sudden, it felt like someone trying to get through my bedroom door," Finley said. "Then my bed started shaking. It really scared me."
Finley said she checked up and down her hallway for intruders and turned on the television to see the breaking news.
"It kind of relieved me that no one was in my house," she said.
Janet Howe, who lives in a mobile home at Candlelight Village, said she and her husband were awake talking when the quake hit.
"I thought my dog was under the chair scratching, so I turned around to yell at her, and she was just looking at me all puzzled," Howe said. "Then I thought maybe some wild creature had gotten in."
She said she saw no damage to the mobile homes around Candlelight.
"It was rocking and rolling there for a few seconds," Howe said.
Earthquake: 'My heart is still pounding,' area resident says
April 18, 2008 08:24 AM EDT
JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. (The Johnson County Daily Journal) - An earthquake jolted Central Indiana this morning, waking residents and shaking homes.
Aftershocks are being reported.
No damage has been reported in Indiana after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck the midwest Friday morning.
Morgantown resident Brenda Maulden felt the earthquake as she was reading the newspaper and called the experience scary.
"I've lived in Central Indiana all my life and this is the third time I've felt a quake," she wrote in a 6 a.m. e-mail to the Daily Journal.
"The rumbling started small at first, and I heard objects rattling in the cabinets. Then it intensified and the whole house shuttered," she wrote.
She said the earthquake woke her husband up.
"Fifteen minutes later and my heart is still pounding. Feeling a quake is something that you don't forget," she wrote.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office reported getting numerous phone calls after the quake. As of 7:30 a.m., no one had reported any damage, according to the sheriff's office.
The U.S. Geological Survey Web site said the quake was centered near West Salem, Illinois, or about 40 miles northwest of Evansville, Indiana.
Authorities in Evansville, Vincennes and Terre Haute said they recieved no reports of damage or injuries.
``The things on my curio were rattling and the water in the fish bowl was splashing,' said Seymour waitress Kelly Bolte. ``It felt like the dog was running through the house.'
Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle of the Evansville post said he was shaken out of his bed by the earthquake.
Another Evansville resident said he felt a rolling motion from the earthquake.
The earthquake was felt as far away as South Bend and Fort Wayne in Indiana. It shook tall buildings and rattled windows in downtown Indianapolis.
"Mama, something's shaking our beds and we want to know if we can watch a movie."
So I went downstair to tuck them back in, let them know they were not to get out of bed, and reasure them that whatever it was had passed. It was sometime around then that the word "earthquake" popped into my head, so I flipped on the tv and sure enough, the boys and I had felt an earthquake. In Indiana.
Man.
Hubby is so missing out on the exciting things.
Earthquake shakes Indiana, startles area residents
April 18, 2008 08:28 AM EDT
More on WISHTV.com
(The Republic/Wire Reports) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck the Midwest at 5:30 a.m. today, startling residents across Bartholomew and surrounding counties who felt their houses rattle.
The USGS Web site says the quake was centered near West Salem, Illinois, or about 40 miles northwest of Evansville, Indiana.
The earthquake was felt as far north as Kokomo, Rochester and Warsaw in Indiana, as well as in Evansville and Indianapolis. It shook tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in Bartholomew County.
Local dispatchers were flooded with calls in a 45 minute period from 5:38 a.m. until 6:15 a.m.
The four dispatchers on duty received 132 calls from residents with concerns ranging from an aircraft crash to a pipeline explosion, said Ed Reuter, director of Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center.
"There was no idea what was going on," Reuter said.
He said he was at home asleep and thought a truck had hit his house.
At one point, all 20 incoming 911 and administrative lines were ringing.
"They couldn't keep up with all 20 lines going at once," Reuter said.
The Indiana State Police post in Versailles, which covers Decatur County, has issued a release saying no official reports of damage have been received.
Florence Finley of Edinburgh said the quake awoke her with concerns that someone might have broken into her house.
Finley, who lives alone, said she had her bedroom door shut and heard noise throughout her house.
"Then all the sudden, it felt like someone trying to get through my bedroom door," Finley said. "Then my bed started shaking. It really scared me."
Finley said she checked up and down her hallway for intruders and turned on the television to see the breaking news.
"It kind of relieved me that no one was in my house," she said.
Janet Howe, who lives in a mobile home at Candlelight Village, said she and her husband were awake talking when the quake hit.
"I thought my dog was under the chair scratching, so I turned around to yell at her, and she was just looking at me all puzzled," Howe said. "Then I thought maybe some wild creature had gotten in."
She said she saw no damage to the mobile homes around Candlelight.
"It was rocking and rolling there for a few seconds," Howe said.
Earthquake: 'My heart is still pounding,' area resident says
April 18, 2008 08:24 AM EDT
JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. (The Johnson County Daily Journal) - An earthquake jolted Central Indiana this morning, waking residents and shaking homes.
Aftershocks are being reported.
No damage has been reported in Indiana after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck the midwest Friday morning.
Morgantown resident Brenda Maulden felt the earthquake as she was reading the newspaper and called the experience scary.
"I've lived in Central Indiana all my life and this is the third time I've felt a quake," she wrote in a 6 a.m. e-mail to the Daily Journal.
"The rumbling started small at first, and I heard objects rattling in the cabinets. Then it intensified and the whole house shuttered," she wrote.
She said the earthquake woke her husband up.
"Fifteen minutes later and my heart is still pounding. Feeling a quake is something that you don't forget," she wrote.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office reported getting numerous phone calls after the quake. As of 7:30 a.m., no one had reported any damage, according to the sheriff's office.
The U.S. Geological Survey Web site said the quake was centered near West Salem, Illinois, or about 40 miles northwest of Evansville, Indiana.
Authorities in Evansville, Vincennes and Terre Haute said they recieved no reports of damage or injuries.
``The things on my curio were rattling and the water in the fish bowl was splashing,' said Seymour waitress Kelly Bolte. ``It felt like the dog was running through the house.'
Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle of the Evansville post said he was shaken out of his bed by the earthquake.
Another Evansville resident said he felt a rolling motion from the earthquake.
The earthquake was felt as far away as South Bend and Fort Wayne in Indiana. It shook tall buildings and rattled windows in downtown Indianapolis.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
To tide you over
Just in case anyone actually stops by here, I thought I'd post a little something to see. Life's been hectic and I haven't had much time to blog lately.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
My Escapee
I came downstairs this morning to find the Princess waiting for me in the living room. She somehow escaped her crib this morning for the first time. I'm not sure how she did it. The slats in her crib are completely smooth instead of that Jenny Lind style. I'm also not sure how she hit the ground because had she fallen off the side of the crib she would have hurt herself and I'd have heard her crying, but I don't think she could have scaled the side of the crib. It's a mystery.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
MPM : April 5 - 11
Another week without Hubby, and we have quite a bit of lunchmeat and leftovers in the fridge to eat through, so this week I've tried to plan meals that won't make many leftovers. At the bottom of the post is one of my go-to recipes for bread in the breadmaker. For more menus and menu planning tips, visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.Saturday - Pizza at my parents
Sunday - Sandwiches
Monday - L/O chicken and rice, bread, green beans
Tuesday - Mushroom burgers, potato wedges, veggie
Wednesday - Lentil quiche, bread, veggie
Thursday - Fish fillets, mashed potatoes, bread, veggie
Friday - Cauliflower soup, bread
Flax and Sunflower Seed Bread
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup rye flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon breadmaker or instant yeast
*
Layer all ingredients in breadmaker, starting with water and ending with yeast. Do not put yeast and salt together. Select basic white cycle or dough cycle. If using basic white cycle, remove loaf from breadmaker when machine beeps and cool on rack. If using dough cycle, when machine beeps remove dough, kneed briefly to de-gas, and form into a loaf. Place in a 9-in loaf pan, cover and allow to rise until double, about 30 minutes. Bake in a 350* oven for 25-40 minutes, or until bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Monday, March 31, 2008
MPM : 29 March - 4 April
It's Monday again, so it's time for Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie. Head over there if you want to see more menus and menu planning tips.Hubby is still gone, so we're doing another week of kid-friendly dining at my house. Frankly, all this kid-friendly stuff is both fun and boring. I know how to cook all of it and it's all easy stuff, but at the same time none of it is a culinary challenge. I wonder how long it's going to take to get back into the swing of cooking when Hubby gets home. Anyway, on to the menu.
Saturday - Out to Olive Garden with a friend
Sunday - Dinner at my sister-in-law's house
Monday - Baked fish, spicy rice pilaf, cooked carrots, bread
Tuesday - Chicken and gravy, rice, veggie, bread
Wednesday - Potato soup (recipe at end of post), bread
Thursday - Spaghetti with this sauce, bread
Friday - 1-Dish chicken pot pie, parmesan rice
This soup recipe is something my mom made all the time when I was a kid, but I never made until recently. I've vowed to have it more often because 1) it's easy, 2) it's cheap, 3) it tastes so yummy!
Easiest Potato Soup Ever
5 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
water
salt and pepper
Put potatoes, onion and garlic in a soup pot and add water to just cover. Turn heat to medium-high, cover pot and bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer until potatoes are fall-apart tender, about 30 minutes. Do Not Drain! Turn heat off and mash potatoes in pot until soup is the consistancy you want. Salt and pepper to taste. I like to top each bowl with cheese.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
