Leslie's Litter

We don't have kids to help us celebrate Halloween, and the kitties don't like to dress up (but I got 2 of them to wear hats for 30 seconds), and we live on a quiet neighborhood then doesn't get any trick-or-treaters, however  we still celebrate with apple cider and pumpkin decorations, so... Happy Halloween! Boogs was a Growling Witch, and he Played the Part Perfectly!   Milo Midnight Decided to be Extra Creative... A Black Cat!

While my 1st attempt at making Apple Pie was not a full failure, it was not the prettiest site, as all of the edges were burnt...completely black. I made another pie yesterday, which I covered with foil while baking, and had a great turnout!  We even started eating it before I remember to take a picture, so here it is partially eaten! I used a frozen pie crust and filled it with the apple mixture (recipe below) and then covered with a Pillsburry Rolled Pie Crust that I cut into pieces and created a lattice pie topper.  I then drizzled caramel on top while the pie was still warm so that it would soak in.  The finished project...delicious!  Even my husband (a pie snob) loved it. Apple Mixture (Recipe from Pillsbury) 6 Cups Thinly Sliced, Peeled Apples 3/4 Cup Sugar 2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour 3/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon 1/4 Teaspoon Salt 1/8 Teaspoon Nutmeg 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice Mix All Ingredients Together and Spoon Into Pie Crust, Cove...

6 years ago today we brought in the oldest kitty of the litter, Milo Midnight.  Since we don't know his birthday we celebrate today, and since we are not sure of his age (since he was a stray), but we are guesstimating 13 years old already... Every time that I hear "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts the following part stands out and makes me think of Milo and how much I wish I had more time with him, especially as he gets older, moves slower, and sleeps longer and longer each day... This much I know is true That God blessed the broken road That led me straight to you I think about the years I spent just passing through I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you But you just smile and take my hand You've been there you understand It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

As I mentioned before I have been saving up money in my Amazon account that I have received from surveys, panels, focus groups, etc.  I want to be able to get something special with this money that we will enjoy and not just spend it here and there getting things for every day life and forget what my reasoning behind the "hard work" was in the first place. Here are a few things that I started adding to the wish list, but my heart is not quite set on any of them... I guess it is a lot harder to spend the money when you have worked on it, rather then just putting it on a credit card and dealing with it later. An Apple iPad 2 with WiFi Capability,  or a Buffet for Our Dining Room (Option #1) (Option #2), or this Beautiful Lawn Chair for the New Patio?

As I stated before I will be trying to implement menu planning into my weekly routine to help save time, wasted food, last minute eating out, and multiple fast-food trips because there is no plan in place.  I have decided not to include breakfast because I normally don't eat in the morning and our schedule will look a little different then most because I eat at work when we have events.  Here is what I plan on making this week, and the other days will be filled in with leftovers, meals at work, and our traditional dinner out with my family. Crock Pot Minestrone Soup Here is what I have so far: Lunches Minestrone Soup (From Dinner Batch) Beef with Onion Gravy (From Dinner Batch) Chicken Caesar Salad Dinners Minestrone Soup (From  Kraft Food Website ) Cheese Soup (Family Recipe - Once I Try It Out I Will Share!) Beef with Onion Gravy and Noodles (Slow Cooker Cook Book) Chicken Quesadillas with Family So Far, So Good...We'll See How...

My favorite catalog came in my mailbox yesterday...Tiffany & Co. The Tiffany Blue Envelope, the simple layouts, the new designs...Everything traditional, beautiful, and timeless, as always expected. My love for Tiffany & Co. started years ago when my husband surprised me with a trip to Chicago for our first anniversary of dating.  I was asleep in the car thinking we were driving home from a friend's house so he could go to work, and instead I woke up to the Chicago Skyline!  We walked around window shopping, drank Starbucks, and talked about our futures, and Breakfast at Tiffany's (my favorite classic).  As we started to walk back towards the car he took me into Tiffany & Co.  We looked around, I showed him the set that I had wanted for months, and when we spoke to a clerk we made the same jokes they do in the movie, and I'm sure it was the first time she heard them. ;)  We ended up finding a beautiful necklace, ring, and earrings se...

Through reading other blogs and talking to friends who enjoy saving, couponing, and taking surveys I have become even more inspired to try new things that will help us to lower our budget, save more towards our goals, and help those in need when they least expect it.... This week I am going to try Menu Planning.  I have done some research and found quite a few interesting suggestions and ideas on how different people make their menu plans. Here are some of the things I am going to try to help me with my menu planning as I try to find a plan that works for me and my litter. *Plan Out a Week at a Time (I have decided that a Month at a Time is not right for us right now) *Include Some Freezer Cooked Meals That Can Be Prepared Ahead of Time *Include Leftovers from Dinner Into Lunch *Try New Recipes That I Normally Wouldn't Have Time For (I have tons of printed recipes, copies of old family recipe, magazine clippings, and cook books that I have been collecting for years and ...

I am a little embarrassed to show you the finished product, so here is a shot of it just going into the oven! This was my first half-way (store bought crust) homemade apple pie, and the taste turned out great, BUT it doesn't look so wonderful.  I left it in the oven just a few minutes too long and the edges of the crust are burnt.  Also, as you can see I had some issues rolling out the dough without it cracking, but no one noticed once we started eating! I am going to try to make another pie for a Fall Party I am hosting this weekend, but I doubt between work and cleaning I will attempt to make my own crust, so it will be another half-way homemade pie, but I am ok admitting to that. I do have to say that I found a new reason to love the apple-peeler that my husand bought me for Valentine's Day (romantic, huh?).  It cut the time of peeling, slicing, coring, AND cutting the apples down to a minute or two for 6 cup of apples with nothing else needed, except f...

At our house we always have a full list of half finished projects, great ideas that we want to work on, and the realization that it takes our family 3 times to get anything done correctly...  This week has been no different! This is a picture of the "list" that we keep right next to the door coming in to the house from the garage, but there is too much we should be doing, so we just leave our list blank as our goal! On Sunday morning we woke up with the great ambition to get started early, and accomplish as much as possible, but by 1 p.m. I was ready for a nap, but I kept going and crossing things off the list and so did the  rest of the litter.   Here is a break-down of the projects that got some attention from all of us. Milo's List: * Keep the Bed Warm * Make Sure the Pillows Were Comfortable Miley's List: * Chase Away All Spiders * Give Possum a Bath in the Water Dish Boogs's List: * Watch the S...

I have come to love Lazy Saturdays, and learned to use this time to make some extra money.  The TV is set to College Football, my husband is focused on the game, the litter is focused on watching the chipmunks and squirrels run around the backyard, and I have time to work on some of my survey sites, without feeling like there is something else I should be doing. During the week I try to limit my survey taking time so that I can still get some of my to-do list completed, but the weekend is  great time to play catch up on these sites!  I have found that during 1 quarter of a football game I can go through my list of survey sites and earn between $5.00 - $10.00.  It doesn't seem like a lot, but it all adds up in the end!  My 2011 goal was to earn an extra $1000.00, however I took quite a few breaks throughout the year where I just got overwhelmed with too many sites (many of which were not right for my situation), took a few vacations and just couldn't get bac...

Welcome to my blog!  The one I have been talking about starting for weeks, months, probably a few years by now... but time just keeps slipping away, far too quickly.  Today I decided that it is finally time for me to sit down and write, instead of turning on old re-runs and taking a nap on the couch, like I find myself far to often. Here is a little about me, and my "litter"... I am 26 years old, working at a job I love, married to my best friend, and living only a few short blocks from my parents in the city that I grew up in.  My husband and I recently celebrated 8 years of sharing our lives with one another and creating the good, the bad & the priceless memories.  We have a small litter of cats that have come into our lives, one by one, over the last 5 years, and they bring us so much love and laughter that we don't know where we would be without them.  We always thought we were going to be a pet-free home, until each of them c...