Boys And Their Toys

All in all, we scored some pretty good deals on Black Friday.  My Black Friday actually started a little earlier than I thought it would.  After dinner, I hit up Michaels with my Mother-in-Law and scored some awesome deals.  I'm in the process of switching our dining room decorations to Christmas decor and needed some decorations to go with my color scheme of red, gold and silver.  Most of the stuff for the dining room came from Michaels, and I think I got a heck of a deal on it all.  I probably saved 50-60% overall on everything.  I was able to score Christmas ribbon for 70% off and some wreaths for around the house at $1 per wreath.  I also picked up several boxes of ornaments to decorate the tree in the dining room. 

Next up on our trip was Target.  Yes, we were standing in line before it opened.  We stood in line for about 30 minutes before getting into the store, but it really wasn't terrible.  Hats off to Target for conducting a very organized Black Friday.  Luckily, the items we were picking up weren't exactly hot ticket items.  The main reason I was at Target was to grab some great deals on DVD's and CD's.  I walked around Target for a while after getting what we went in for while trying to talk myself out of purchasing a Dyson vacuum cleaner, and a Keurig coffeemaker. The Keurig was on sale for $99 with a offer of a giftcard at Target.  Man did I want that coffeemaker bad, but I don't need it.  One might argue I didn't NEED anything I went out and got on Black Friday.  I have a perfectly fine coffeemaker at home which will last me many years, so I convinced myself I didn't need a second coffeemaker.  In total, I was at Target three times in a 24 hour period.  We were there once for Black Friday, once to do grocery shopping at 6:00 AM, and once to pick up a few other quick groceries.  Every time I was in the store, I forced myself to walk out without the Keurig. 

Next up on our list was Younkers where we scored a deal on some pants for Andrew for work.  We got three pairs of pants for the price of one!  Younkers was a whole new set of temptation for me.  I again had to talk myself out of the Keurig and also out of the Starbucks Verismo system.  I made it out of the store safely without any purchases of my own.  We walked the mall for a while trying to decide if we were going to stay up for round two of Black Friday shopping at Lowes, or go home and catch a few hours of sleep first.  While we were walking around, I was wondering where on earth the parents of all the teenage kids at the mall were.  Did these kids parents seriously just drop them off? 

After the mall, we opted to go home and grab some shut eye before heading to Lowes.  We set the alarm for 3:30 AM and passed out.  3:30 came a little to soon for me, but I made some coffee and sucked it up.  Lowes was our major spot to hit.  We were in the Lowes parking lot by 4:15 for the 5:00 AM opening.  Luckily, people hadn't totally lost their minds and were staying in their cars.  It wasn't until about 15 minutes before they opened that we went out to wait in line.  Major kudos to our Lowes for their customer service on Black Friday.  We were greeted outside the store with Dunkin Donuts, hot chocolate, and a propane heater.  I liked our Lowes (it is five minutes from our house, so it is ours) before, but they just scored major points in my book!  When the doors opened, we beelined it straight to our destination: Table Saws!!

Andrew is now the proud owner of a Kobalt table saw.  Funny story with this saw; there was only one in the store because they didn't get their shipment in.  So, Andrew got the one and only saw they had.  We scored it for $179, which was $100 off regular price.  We walked around the store for a while so Andrew could talk himself out of purchasing more tools.  I had to again talk myself out of a Dyson vacuum cleaner as well as a new fridge and a new washer and dryer.

I would say we had a pretty successful Black Friday and managed to not get too carried away with our purchases.  Anyone have any super good deals they scored?  I love to hear about good deals!

 Our garage is quickly filling up with tools! 

A Black Friday Rant

I'm going to put a disclaimer/warning out right now.  If you have been linking articles to facebook this week about how terrible it is stores are opening on Thanksgiving, you might not want to read this.  If you are boycotting shopping on Black Friday because you think it is taking away from Thanksgiving and time with family, do not proceed with this article, please. 

I would like to point out this isn't the first Thanksgiving people wont be with their families.  Have you ever gone to the movies on Thanksgiving after dinner is over?  Who works at the theater?  It certainly isn't robots.  No one has complained about this before.  Have you ever had to go to the hospital on Thanksgiving?  I'm pretty sure the doctors and nurses are at the hospital and didn't get the day off.  Ever been pulled over on Thanksgiving?  If not, good, but you know the police are out on the streets.  Don't you hope the firefighters are also working on Thanksgiving?  I know I sure hope they are working.  I remember a Thanksgiving when I was really thankful there was 24 hour emergency plumbing service.  The people in these industries know when they enter them that holidays are part of the gig.  I may grumble when Andrew works late nights during the holiday season, and I may be annoyed when he comes home late on Christmas Eve because he had to make sure people got their packages, but I also know that is part of his job.   

If you don't want to go shopping on Thanksgiving or Black Friday, that is fine.  No one said you have to go out and shop.  However, there are people that want to shop.  There are people that spend the day with their family and will go out at night to shop.  Andrew and I will be out shopping at 8:00 PM on Black Friday. Yes, we will spend the day with family eating, drinking, and watching football.  We will have the All American Thanksgiving.  After Thanksgiving dinner is done, we will head out to brave the cold and shop. 

Santa's Workshop

Last weekend Andrew busted out some power tools and worked on a Christmas gift.  This was the first time he got to use his router since he got it (he has had the router since before I was around).  I would love to tell you about the project, but that would ruin the surprise.  This project is based on something I saw at a craft show recently.  I wanted to make something similar, and I really wanted to be able to say it was something made with love.  Andrew's part of the project is done and now I have to finish up with painting.  I can't wait to give this as a gift this year!

Recipe Wednesday- A Yummy Fall Treat

Now that there is snow on the way and I have had to bust out my winter coat, I'm feeling very into the fall and winter flavors.  You know it has reached almost holiday time/cold weather time, when I order the first peppermint mocha of the year at Starbucks.  I had my first one today, and it was delicious.  No, it was not low carb, and no I really don't care.  It was was delicious in all its carby goodness.

Keeping with the total lack of concern for carb counting today, I thought I would share with you a fall treat I made last weekend when our neighbors came over for dinner.  Our dessert wasn't quite in line with our Mexican feast we had, but it was good nonetheless.

A New Week Better Than The Last Week

Last week was a bit crazy in the Wood household.  I shouldn't even say the whole week was crazy, it was really just the last three or four days of last week.  Thursday morning, I was darn near out the door when we had a bit of a situation with Maya.  Every morning when I go downstairs for breakfast, Maya comes to hang out with me and eventually ventures outside for her morning potty break.  Thursday morning, I went to pick her up so I could coax her outside like I have had to do since it turned cold, and she yelped.  I thought maybe I startled her and didn't think much of it.  She went outside and came back in like usual and I went back upstairs to finish getting ready.  Maya hung out downstairs, which is pretty normal for her.  I heard her whining from upstairs and thought she was acting odd.  I figured someone was walking in the green space next to our house, but she would normally bark at anyone walking by.  I went to the top of the stairs to see her sitting on the bottom step looking up. 

When I went down to pick her up and see what the deal was, she started yelping and nipping at my hand to get free.  That is when I knew something was wrong.  For a dog parent, there is no worse sound than your dog yelping in pain.  Andrew was instantly out of bed.  We were able to coax her with treats and got her to walk around a bit so we could determine what was wrong.  We narrowed it down to something with her right hind leg.  Luckily this was right before 8:00 AM, which is when our vet opens.  We were able to get an 8:30 AM appointment with our vet.  Maya stood stiff as a board when she was on the exam table and didn't make a peep, which made it a bit difficult to determine the source of the problem.  The vet was able to determine that she had swelling, but wasn't able to determine much else since Maya wasn't being very cooperative.  They sent us home with some Tramadol and Meloxicam and told us to keep an eye on her.  Within a day she was running around like normal.  We have no idea what she did, but we are glad she is feeling better!

Thursday while we were both home with Maya, we noticed toward the late afternoon, an odor similar to burning hair or rubber.  We tried to sniff out the source, but came up empty handed.  We stood down by the furnace expecting a strong smell from there, but we didn't smell anything out of the ordinary.  The strange thing was the smell was only in one part of the house.  We thought maybe something was in the ducts, but didn't know for sure.  We shut the heater off and called the company we have do our annual maintenance.  They put us on their emergency list and came to check things out Friday afternoon.  We learned that the blower motor had gone out in the furnace and would need to be replaced, which would run us between $450 and $500.  I was less than thrilled with that diagnosis, but happy when I discovered that our home warranty would cover all but the deductible.  Getting someone under our home warranty to come out and fix it was another story.  The first company they dispatched to come fix the issue never called to come out.  After some coaxing, they agreed to pay the emergency fee and have someone out first thing on Saturday morning.  We weren't thrilled about sleeping another night in our cold house.  The temperature in the house had gone down to 62.  We got creative and put a small space heater from my office in our bedroom and closed all of the doors to keep the heat in.  That kept us warm through the night, and they were out by 8:00 AM on Saturday morning to fix the furnace.  We are now back to being warm and happy. 

A New Adventure In Sewing

Since it is getting colder outside, I'm turning my attention from projects in the yard to inside projects that will carry me through the winter.  I will be slowly planning our spring yard projects over the winter, but I need something else to keep me busy.  Work is keeping my mind pretty busy trying to remember all the things I have learned in my new role.  I also recently joined my mom in a Bible study over the book of Daniel, so that has been occupying some of my time as well.  Of course, there is my other favorite past time of spending hours on Pinterest.  With Black Friday around the corner, I have also been spending a fair amount of time surfing for leaked Black Friday ads.  The last couple of days they have been released left and right, which I'm pretty excited about!

My main project for this winter is going to be sewing.  My Grandmothers sewing machine was delivered to our house, thanks to my wonderful parents, about a month ago.  It has been sitting in the basement making crazy eyes at me for the last month.  Every time I went downstairs to do laundry or to work, I felt like it was talking to me and asking me when I was actually going to plug it in.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and plug it in.  I was also happy to find, although this shouldn't surprise me, the original instruction manual for the sewing machine in one of the drawers along with a box containing several feet to go with the machine.  I have clung to that manual the last couple of weeks to guide me through threading the needle and learning different kinds of stitches.  I haven't had to change out the bobbin yet, but the time is coming and I am terrified.  Currently, I'm trying to teach myself how to do a blind hem so I can fix some hems that have come undone on a couple of my pairs of dress pants. 

This sewing machine has been around the block a couple of times.  I found the original sales receipt with the instruction manual.  My grandmother purchased the sewing machine in 1965, and it is still running strong today!  I can promise you that machine has a long history of getting projects done: clothes, quilts, home decorations, American Girl clothes, Barbie clothes, and my personal fond memory of fixing my favorite baby blanket.  I'm proud to have this very important piece of my Grandmother in my house. 

 A piece of history right there!

 No pedal on this machine, this bad boy is operated with your knee using that lever you see.

 You can see I have already made a trip to the store for some supplies!

Like I said, right now I'm sticking to the simple projects.  I'm trying to come up with some good holiday ideas to make with the sewing machine.  The obvious choice is stockings, but I think that is a little too big for me to tackle right now.  Eventually, I would love to have an embroidery machine, and then I could make stockings until the cows come home.  For now, I will try to make my Grandma proud with her machine.  I would love to get to a point where I could quilt.  There is something about it that really appeals to me.  My shorter term goal is to get to a point where I would be able to create the quilt for our son our daughter's crib when the time comes.  We will see where this winter project takes me, and I will keep you posted along the journey.  For any experienced sewers out there, let me know if you have any tips or tricks!

Recipe Wednesday- Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken

In a never ending quest to find low carb foods for dinner that don't taste like cardboard, I came across this recipe on Pinterest that looked promising.  The recipe did not disappointment and packed a delicious flavor punch.  I put this recipe off to the weekend, however, because I kept forgetting to do the marinade.  I'm guessing I could have easily done this in the morning before going to work and put it in the fridge so it was ready to cook when I got home.  This was delicious served with a side salad and vegetables.

A Low Carb Update

Earlier this week, I posted a slight rant about the cost of different flours used in low carb baking recipes.  Bound and determined to find a healthy way to make pancakes rather than just giving up, I checked the baking aisle at another local grocery store this week.  I was thrilled when I found a 16 oz bag of Bob's Red Mill Low-Carb Baking Mix.  The baking mix can be used cup for cup just like you would use regular flour, and it cost $5.50 rather than $13.00 for a bag, which is what I would have paid for almond flour.  I haven't actually made pancakes yet with the baking mix, but there is a recipe right on the bag for pancakes that I am going to try.

There are a couple of other products I have been able to switch out to cut back on normal carb intake.  I started using almond milk in my cereal in the morning.  It is a little more expensive than normal milk, but I really don't notice a difference when I have it with cereal.  We still keep a 1/2 gallon of milk on hand each week because sometimes there is just nothing better than a good glass of milk.  The brand of almond milk I have been using the last couple of weeks is Blue Diamond Almond Breeze, which costs a little less than the Silk brand.  Be sure to get the unsweetened almond milk which comes in either vanilla or original.  If you don't get the unsweetened, you really aren't saving on carbs much.  Each serving has less than 1 gram of carbs, which in my book is nothing.  Anything that has less than 1 gram of carbs gets counted as zero for me.  The regular almond milk has about 8 grams of carbs per serving versus 1% milk, which has 12 grams of carbs per serving.  If given the choice between regular almond milk and cows milk, I would pick cows milk hands down each time.  It is cheaper, better tasting to drink by the glass, and only four more carbs per serving than almond milk.  So remember, unsweetened almond milk = no carbs in Natalie's book.  I should mention that I have also used the unsweetened almond milk in several recipes, including soups, that call for milk and find it to work great as a substitute.

My other go-to food on my low carb adventure has been Kellogs Special K Protein Cereal.  When I first saw it, I was pretty convinced it was likely going to taste like cardboard, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It has a light cinnamon taste to it, and actually tastes really good.  Are there times when all I want is a big bowl of Lucky Charms?  Yes, but I'm trying to stick to my plan.  You might wonder how I am counting this as a good low carb breakfast option when I tell you it has 19 grams of carbs.  It does have 3 grams of fiber, so you can subtract that from the total carb count for 16 grams of net carbs.  Using the almond milk mentioned above adds nothing to the total carb count for breakfast.  In addition, the cereal has 10 grams of protein, and we all know protein is a good thing!  I like to compare cereals when I'm at the store, so here are a few I have compared: Lucky Charms have 22 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.  Multi-Grain Peanut Butter Cheerios have 23 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, and 2 grabs of protein.  You might be asking, what about something healthy?  Ok, let's look at Kashi 7 Whole Grain Flakes Cereal, which has 41 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.  Even taking out the fiber, there are still 35 grams of net carbs in the cereal.  I would also like to mention there are also 170 calories in a serving versus the 110 in the Whole Grain Peanut Butter Cheerios, 110 calories in Lucky Charms, and 120 calories in Kellogs Special K Protein Cereal.

Some of you might be asking, "why not just make an egg for breakfast, those are really healthy?"  There are a couple of reasons for not making eggs in the morning.  The first reason is, I don't like eggs all that much unless they are loaded with cheese and normally coated in ketchup.  The other reason being I simply don't have time for eggs in the morning.  I am generally running late in the morning, and the last thing I want to do is cook.

So, there are a few of my go to items for my ongoing low carb diet.  My one other go to item is cheese, of any kind.  I thank the food gods that cheese is low carb.  If I had to go without my taters, bread and pasta and add no cheese on top of that, heads would roll. I'm finding a pretty good rule of thumb for my low carb adventure is if it is diabetic friendly, it is also probably low carb friendly.