Vegmom Moments

Amazon Black Friday Deals

Check it out... Black friday from the comfort of your own home and its not even Friday yet!

 

 

And speaking of sales, the Breville Juice Fountain I have is on sale again too:

Do you brave the crowds for Black Friday?

 

FARBERWARE POTS

I've had the same metal farberware pots for 17 years.. I like my boring metal pots! Hubby has brought home others with fancy colors or stick free innards, rounded fancy glass lids...NO, I like my plain metal pots.

We even tried one of those fancy shmancy things from a home party business..but I will use my boring pots anyday!!

Until last weekend, *sigh* hubby noticed a crack in one of the handles and said I couldn't use it any more. "What do you mean?? What will I use??".

He said he didn't want the handle to break while carrying hot water from the stove...OK, I guess I'll give him that! Turns out two of them were this way..
So I start my search for new Farberware plain metal pots...Ummmmm do you know how hard that is to find... What's up with that, am I the only person that likes plain metal pots?

No I don't want a copper bottom for quicker heating and NO I don't want non stick stuff, that's what vinegar is for and NO I don't want a handle that curls just so, or a glass lid so I can see inside while stuff is bubbling and melding to the glass... I just want a plain METAL POT! Silver... Not red or green or blue... SILVER METAL POT!!

I stopped at a store yesterday that is going out of business and guess what I found hidden behind boxes of the non plain kind of pots..

Yup A single lonely broken up box with the very last set of "classic edition" Pots.

Sheww, mission complete!

CHANGING PLANS - NEW APPLIANCES

Wow, today did not end up as I planned it to be! 

After we got back from our trip, I had a very busy work week... And some late nights, that meant not getting anything done around the house.  I did however make some family and friend and me time a little each day.. which meant even less house stuff getting done!  So today, I had No Outside Plans!!  It was a cleaning day.. Get the whole house straightened from top to bottom!  That was my PLAN.. Catch up from last week, and look ahead to the coming week... I was prepared to be stuck in the house from sun up to sun down, getting EVERYTHING done!!...

HA ----And then hubby says "can you pick up the dog poop before I start mowing"  SURE...  I thought to myself... this is just one minor diversion in my plan, but it will go quickly!  So I go outside...and from then on my day went like this:

"Mom Mom, can I play in the sandbox while your picking up the dog poop?"

<Yes, of course>

I pick up the lovely piles that I find, while Hubby is trying to start the push mower... It doesn't start... Nope, it's dead.... He's annoyed, tries to fix it, needs new spark plug... Nope, still dead... then he realized he put the weed eater gas in the lawn mower... OOPS!  Thats bad! 

So he decides to unveil the riding mower... Ruh Roh... It has a flat tire... Now he's really annoyed!  So he gets the electric pump, and realizes the tire is not just flat, it is cracked!  Yeah, so the pump wasn't working very well....  And he goes back to the push mower to try to fix it....

Very frustrated at the two mowers, he decides to cut some tree parts using his new Chain Saw that he got from a Thrift Store.... this will release some manly aggression... Power tools seem to do that!   And out he goes with his new Chain Saw... It starts, its good, its happy!  Until he puts a load on it by actually trying to cut a limb... and it dies!  Yup Dead!  Won't start back up!

I told hubby at this point he needed to give up power tools for the day, so he goes inside and checks on the Dishwasher... Guess what!  DEAD!!!  Yup.. for real !! Its not sucking water in and just spinning making an awful sound.   We new this day was coming but funny that it decided to run its last cycle today after the power tool mess.....

Oh so now Hubby is fit to be tied!  I'm laughing of course, because when this many things go wrong in a one hour period you just have to laugh.....  But the best part was when our sweet little boy said he would mow the yard for Daddy... He heads out in to the grass with some hedge trimmers, and is cutting and clipping (for the next two hours)  He was sooo proud of himself and had the best time...

REWIND:  Back to the poop picking up... while I was back there I saw that some shrubs have gotten to high, so I started trimming them back... which led me to find some Ivy, so I have to remove the ivy from the house, which led me to find another shrub... So I begin cutting that away from our A/C Unit...  which led me to find some more stuff on the ground..... TWO WHEELBARROW Loads later, I'm finally satisfied with the back yard....

Hubby, now decides since he can't use power tools today that he will cut tree limbs with the long telescoping tree cutting thing...  Which leads me to find more things to cut... Soon there are tree limbs and shrub guts all over our yard... Which of course need to be picked up....  (Veg is still mowing with his clippers)  And while that is all being picked up and put in to neat piles, Hubby gets the mower started!  Not sure how.... but it worked... He decided to remove all the tree limbs from the property, while I decided to mow... WHAT WAS I THINKING????   Its a big freakin' yard!  But I mow... Great exercise!  And I mow, and mow some more...I finish the front yard, Hubby does the back yard.....

4 hours later, we are back in side!!  All of us showering, and eating soy ice cream.... drinking tons of cold water, and then OFF we go... Ate lunch at a restaurant.... stopped to get Veg some Crocs (yes I finally caved)....  And then OFF to look for a Dishwasher.

Do we find a Dishwasher?  YES!  Could I leave the appliance store with JUST a Dishwasher?  NO!!!

I leave the appliance store with a Dishwasher, and a Clothes Washer and Dryer!  (Nope won't be getting a Vitamix and won't be going to the beach *smile*)  But I will be doing TONS of laundry, in my new Uber Huge Capacity Washer and Dryer!!!

I've never been so excited about appliances in all my days!  This thing will wash a KING SIZE Comforter without even straining...  And if a King Size Comforter can fit.... then can you imagine how many clothes it will take?  I'm going to be a washing fool!!!  Not to mention the Dishwasher that claims to be quiet.  We shall see if that is true!!

They are being delivered tomorrow and Monday!  Yes, delivery on a Sunday!  Is that cool or what?

Why, you may ask do I need a Washer and Dryer... well because mine our 17 years old.  The washer works great as long as you only use the setting on the left.... All the others, not so much!  The Dryer still works great too, as long as you complete three full drying cycles per load.... I'm pretty sure, my new fancy shmancy machines will be a tad more energy efficient, then my 17 year old dinosaurs.. not to mention the time savings!

Soooo, At 6:30pm we get back home and I begin making dinner... It is now 9:40 and I'm typing this post, but have not done a SINGLE bit of inside house work!!

Isn't it funny how plans change?

INDIANA SPUD

I think I have a new favorite Potato Head.... Is he not the coolest??

STORE CHANGES - HOW COULD THIS BE

I always thought my Hubby was the one that didn't handle change well... I'm the one that goes with the flow.. I adapt, I deal with change and make everything work......but today it was me.  Anxiety, Stress, a horrible feeling came over me...  A new feeling!  Something I'd never felt before..... What happened you may ask???

I walked in to my favorite health food store... Mind you, its the only one within 300 miles thats bigger then my kitchen (and I have a very small kitchen) to find that they have moved EVERY THING.... I couldn't find ANYTHING, my heart started fluttering, my palms were sweaty, my face lost all color... How could this be??  How dare they change the store??  They are "re-designing"  WHAT?  WHY?  It was fine just the way it was!

People redesign their family rooms... Stores just re-stock, they don't RE-DESIGN?  This is NOT OK?  I don't go to the health food store to look for design, or cute, or warm and fuzzy... I don't walk in to the store and say, "Now, if they just moved this over there it would look perfect"  OH NO!  I don't do that!  I walk in the health food store to buy health food and natural things.  That is my only purpose. 

To walk in this evening and not be able to find my favorite things, to see 1/2 the displays gone and 1/2 the coolers empty.... I quickly realized, I don't adapt to change well.  Especially when it comes to my favorite store. 

Sure, pick up my life & move 1000 miles with no family or friends, drop me in to a new job and a new home, a marriage, throw in some dogs, a kid... HA, None of that phases me!  But re-design the Health Food store and my nerves unravel.  Is there such a thing as "Post health food store re-design syndrome"?

If there is, I'm sure that I have it... Positive of that!  I wonder what type of therapy they provide for this???

PAPER OR PLASTIC? NOPE!

First let me say ---- YAY!  I can load pictures again....  Unfortunatly I've still lost many pictures and my archives lost their style sheets... *sigh*  Thats what I get for trying to be Tech Savvy!  Ugh!

Now - The reason for this post....  I was told by a fellow Mom that  Target had Reusable shopping bags and she went on to explain how they folded up and were so convenient, etc. 

Personally, I've never been a reusable shopping bag kind of person... I'm going to look goofy walking around with my own bags?  What if something leaks?  What if I forget to use them?   Why would I pay for bags that save the shopping center money?  Blah blah blah! 

And Then... I listened to that Mom along with some others..  While at Target yesterday I found the bags she was talking about, and found my self compelled to buy 2 of them.  The red one pictured below is the bigger one...  And when I checked out of the store, I used my new shopping bags.   NO PLASTIC ONES!!!  For some reason it just felt good.  (maybe because I had just been so wasteful by throwing out all the expired stuff)  But It was nice.  And all my groceries fit inside those two bags.  I couldn't believe how much they held.  When I got to the car, they were easy to carry.  And fit nicely, leaving plenty of room in the Trunk for my next stop. 

At The Health Food store where I got the rest of my groceries, I saw two pretty bags (pictured below), of which I had to buy.  They were even bigger then the Target ones and held even more.

Once home, it was very nice, to just put all the groceries away and then have 4 bags that I could fold up and put back in my car for our next shopping trip.  Instead of having an entire floor filled with plastic shopping bags that I then had to find a place for. (that is always so annoying)

So I have to admit that the Reusable Shopping Bags ARE COOL!!!  And I may even have to buy a couple more!  *smile*  My sorting nature says that I need to have one for frozen foods, one for fridge, and one for pantry items.

I mean really.... If the frozen stuff sweats it will make my non-frozen stuff soggy - We just can't have that!!!  So there, it is said...  I need at least one more pretty shopping bag.  *smile*

   

NEW YEAR - CLEAN CABINETS

It's a New Year, don't forget to check the dates on all your spices, flours, etc. 

My Rule - If it doesn't have a date, but I can't remember when I baught it or when I used it last... Then Its Expired by default...

And Obviously all the out-dated items go away... I know its wasteful but unfortunatly is a necessary Evil....  And actually when going through my cabinets today, I was surprised how much had expired...I now have some pretty clean cupboards though, which is a good thing.  And throwing that stuff away, reminds me to be more careful this new year...  Only buy what I need and when I need it.

I started by putting a piece of paper and pencil on my counter.  Every time something is empty or missing, I add it to that list, so I'm not trying remember a week later and there is no possibility of getting duplicates.  If its not on the list then I won't buy it.  I'm on my 2nd week of this new technique, so we'll see what the rest of the year holds!

VEGMOM GIFT GUIDE

The gift giving season in our home has sort of been a month long process.  When my Mom was here we got some gifts.  While going to our friends holiday gathering, we received gifts... and boxes have been arriving on our doorstep from everyone else....  So I must share some of  the unique gift hi-lights of Christmas 2007!!  Sorry, in advance if I forget anything...

Bananagrams - Its like Scrabble but with out the board, points and brains.   Our friend got us this and it is actually much harder then she led on... Oh Yes, she said you didn't have to be smart to play, so I thought we fit that category very well.   However, it is quite challenging.  Hubby and I played tonight and it took over an hour to clear the pile and make words.   I did win this first round, by the way... must throw that in!  *smile*

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101 Things to do with Tofu - This too was purchased from my same friend who knows that I'm always looking for fun (easy) recipes.  This book has over 100 easy recipes that even I can do.  From Appetizers to Dessert and everything in between.  Can't wait to start using this and making lots of new things.  Perfect timing, now that Hubby is on board with this Veg thing... I'll need to be creative with food choices and this will be sooo helpful.

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This Vera Bradley bag is from my MIL.  There was some confusion on the colors, but she did get the one that matches my backpack.  And it is a retiring pattern..  Its supposed to be used as a Hand Bag.  But I've never used anything called a "Hand Bag" and don't plan to at this time... Oh No!  I have changed the name to "Veg's Travel Bag"  It will perfectly hold all my toiletry items and cords and phones etc when I'm traveling.  It has pockets and more pockets, then a big center area for brush, travel size bottles and such.  I'm actually pretty excited about this one.. Especially since I have a trip coming up soon

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VTech Vsmile Pocket Handheld - It's actually called "VTech V.Smile Pocket Learning System"  However, NeeNee went all over her State to find the "Vtech Handheld"... Only to find out it was called a "Pocket"...  *smile*  Poor NeeNee... But she found it and our Veg is Very happy.  The cool thing about this is that it holds all the same games he already has for his bigger Vtech System.  Which means we didn't have to buy any new games.  But it did come with a game that he didn't already have so that was a bonus.  NeeNee also bought him two more games to go with his collection.  So he is Stocked.  This little system is small enough that it is easy for travel but big enough that he can control it and the screen is easy to see.  And even better, you can plug it directly in to the TV and play off the big screen if you choose.  This will be great for traveling..  Another cool feature is for those kids that are Lefties... The controllers flip from lefty to righty with the flick of a button.  It is a VERY cool gadget! 

Silly Sentences  - This silly game was a complete surprise from another friend.  We met the other day and she surprised Veg with this Christmas Gift. 

Veg looked at it and said "AW Cool, I have one of these, but this will give me more pieces"  I just love the way he sees the positive in things.  I remember when I used to do that more often.... (note to self, get back to thinking positively about things)....

Anyway, when we got home, Veg had already started taking a part all the pieces and ran to get his similar game.  They were the same but different.  One is called Silly Rhymes.  And this new one is called Silly Sentences.  Basically for both of them you have to make sentences using puzzle like pieces.  We ended up having a lot of fun reading and making word groups all last night.  The fun part was that he could tell if he was missing a word to make a complete sentence because the puzzle pieces didn't match.  So fun and very educational...

In addition to the items above, I also got my craft organizing cubes, shown here!  and A new Vera Bradley laptop bag and some crafty supplies.  Veg has received clothes, lots and lots of toy cars, a giant Excavating Truck thing, handmade gifts, a Playmobile Nativity Set, games, and more. 

So the Holiday isn't even over yet and our house is full of stuff.  Good news is, Veg agreed to begin getting rid of stuff after Christmas.  So I think that will be a new tradition.  The day after Christmas pack up all your old things and ship them off to make room for the new.

Thanks to everyone, for so many fun and wonderful things.  I can't wait to use and play with everything....

CALIFORNIA BABY - LOTS OF BUBBLES

  I will start this post by reminding you that I DON'T DO BATHS!!  I still think the whole idea of soaking in your dirt is very counter-productive and not to mention quite disgusting... Hence I'm a shower gal and so is the Vegman.

UNTIL about a week ago when I bought some California Baby Bubble Bath....  No, we are not having a baby, and I still don't like baths!   BUT Veg had a croupy cough and therefore a whole bunch of steamy tub soaks were in order.    I needed something to make him enjoy the bath or getting him in was a struggle.  So I tried the bubble bath.  (Thanks to a wonderful recommendation from our local Mommy Board)...  And it was amazing.

I got the "Overtired and Cranky"  (because it was the only one at that store)  and not only did it get the congestion out of his noggin, but it also made him a happy camper.  And he slept through the night with out a single cough for the first time in 3 nights..  Even better then all that is the bubbles themselves.  The bottle comes with a bubble wand and we blew bubbles until I could no longer feel my lips.   30 minutes at each session at least.  These were better then any bubbles I've ever had.  And while in the tub he could catch the bubbles or merge them and make extra big bubbles..... Oh and it smelled like tangerines!  YUM! 

Even a NO-BATH person like me actually enjoyed watching our Veg play in the tub... Of course he showered after to rinse!  Gotta Rinse!  *smile*

Anyway, yesterday I bought the Cold and Flu one.  It has all my favorite sick bug ingredients.  Tea Tree Oil, Aloe, etc.  We haven't used it yet, but I'm excited to have it on hand in the event that we need it.

They have tons of other natural products worth checking out, if only I had known about them a few years ago! 

OPTI-MASH PRIME POTATO HEAD

The newest Potato Head to join our family...

Opti-Mash, the Transformer Potato Head !!! 

AMAZON HAS GROCERIES

Ok, so maybe Amazon has always had Groceries, but I'm just finding this out and when I looked at some of their links I'm pretty excited!

From Wipes to Diapers to Pet products and my absolute favorite..... the NATURAL & ORGANIC Section... They even have Method Products!  Yippee!!!

They have instant rebates, shipping specials (mostly free shipping), product sales, and the best part is you can buy in bulk.  So you save tons and it ships to your house.  Not to mention you can share with friends, split the cost... the possibilities are endless.

As you can tell I'm ammused easily, but this is really the coolest thing, especially for products that are normally so pricey.  I'm going to be spending and saving lots... I can see this already!

SPIDEY SPUD

OK, Now I've seen it all !!!  And YES, we had to BUY one for Hubbies Collection! 

VINTAGE

Came across this great EBay site for Vintage Jewelry.  Good enough to wear Daily or special occasions, which I don't do... but thought I'd pass it on because every once in a while she has a great Crafting Lot.....joet-kingdom vintage jewelry .  She just got rid of one but check back because she seems to update often. 

(sorry nothing funny here just a recommendation)