I won't be needing it anymore, so whatever is least expensive for the survivors is fine with me!

   

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

100208 Why?

Why does Open Office co-op all my other documents? I ALWAYS write in Word Perfect, because I like it. I used to teach it. Version 12 came with my computer, but it has only word processing. I use Open Office for spreadsheets, but it tries to take over all my documents, too.

Yeah, I’m cheap. If you have been reading my posts, you know why, and you have suspicions about why I haven’t been online for awhile. Home is where the Internet isn’t.



100208 Icewind Dale vs. Housework

The two hardest things to do when the creeping crud hits are housework, and laying down. Avoiding housework is obvious. It’s not a lot of fun even when I feel well, and sickness saps whatever energy is available.

Rest. Colds need rest, so what to do? I didn’t really need sleep. I couldn’t lay flat. I didn’t want to sit by myself in the bedroom with nothing to do and no desire to read. Enter the computer and Icewind Dale. It’s an old game, but we don’t like to risk a lot of money on new games we don’t know, and this one occupied the same world where another, favorite game was set - Baldur’s Gate. Both run their adventures in the Forgotten Realms and use D&D rules. (We have Neverwinter Nights too, but the designers changed the ‘feel’ of that game and it’s not as interesting.)

I felt like an addict! Thursday through Sunday, I played twelve or more hours per day! I took breaks only to feed my daughter and for other necessary activities. Moon was in New Orleans, DH working, so only Agent interrupted me. She made me join her for a little Stargate SG1. I will never, ever subscribe to WOW, nor Everquest, nor any other online game. DH and I get too sucked into those things. My excuse for this weekend: I was sick.

Maybe later today, however, my drawf and his crew can finally defeat Ishar and Madae...

Yesterday and today, I cooked a lot. Crazy Aunt always posts pictures of her delicious renderings, but I don’t have a digital camera. Our family income is below the poverty level, but the agent at the local health department decided that since I homeschool, we don’t deserve help. She wants me to get an outside job. The state says that homeschooling is my job, but she denies this even after I quote the report from the TWC. What she’s doing is illegal; some have asked me to fight it, but I don’t have the time, the money, nor the emotional fortitude to go to court. I’d rather let God bless us day by day.

So last November, Dh started this job soon enough to get a free turkey from the company. We expected something between 10# or 12#. They gave us the king tom of the yard! That sucker weighed 28#! Dh cut it into pieces, which I roasted immediately, then sliced and packaged it for lunches. The small pieces made a good casserole. How many people just throw out the carcass?

I have a four gallon stove top pot. I cooked that carcass in water and a teaspoon of vinegar all day long. I cooked it until the bones were soft! The broth then contained the calcium from the bones. This is vital, because my daughter and I are lactose intolerant, and supplements cost money we don’t have. I cooled it, and skimmed the fat. The dog got that by measure on cold days, because she lives outside. It gave me four gallons of excellent turkey bouillon, which I put into our 15 ft3 freezer.

Today, I made turkey soup with the last of it.

8 cups turkey broth (which had bits of meat in it)
1 large sweet potato, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 large stalks of celery, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon dill weed
½ teaspoon cayenne
1½ teaspoons salt (or to taste)

It’s a little sweet, but that’s the way I like it.  This was a MEAL for four people, and it cost me about $2.00 in ingredients plus time and whatever electricity I used. That’s fifty cents per person! Some people might want to add bread or a salad, so that would bump the cost up a little, depending on the bread and the salad. So what does that make it? A dollar per person? My point is that food can taste good while not breaking the budget.

Do you have a tasty, yet inexpensive recipe?