TBT-Throwback Thursday

Let's get into the time machine and go all the way back to Halloween of 1960........

This one was taken after Trick or Treating in the Portlock section of South Norfolk(now Chesapeake), Virginia in that year.

My oldest brother Dennis is dressed as Heckle or Jeckle(you decide), my older brother David is dressed as Donald Duck, but who is that cute as a button bunny with them?

Why it's moi!
At 1 year and 9 months I already have a sweet tooth on this first year I got to go Trick or Treating.

And I am ready to go back out for more candy-the good stuff.......me wants no stinkin' apples. lolz

Amazingly this is the only set of photos I can find with any of us dressed up for Halloween.  I know I had some pretty nifty costumes and went out tnt-ing regularly when I was a kid, as did my brothers, but my mother just never took any photos of us dressed up for Halloween before or after 1960.
What a shame......

Sluggy

Grocery Store Trip to Weis....WTF?

I went to Weis(PMITA)Markets earlier today.
And all hell broke loose when I encountered the zombie cashier!
Seriously, did this woman have a brain cell or what?

Go check out the video HERE.
Once I get around to getting all the refunds they owe me I'll have a 44.21% savings rate on this particular shopping trip.

I just wish I didn't have to work so hard to get it right.....

Sluggy
 

Well You Knew This Was Going to Happen

If y'all remember a couple of weeks ago I got some deals at Weis(PMITA)Markets.

 

Among those deals were pickles and Kool-Aid(among the flavors I got was cherry).

With all those jars of dill pickles sitting around here, it was inevitable that this would happen...............

Remove pickles from jar and retain brine.

 

 

Measure out Kool-Aid powder and pour into brine.

 

Seal lid and shake vigorousl until Kool-Aid dissolves.

 

Return pickles to jar and seal the lid.

 

 

 

Refrigerate for 4 days at least.  Shake and turn jar every day until pickles take on a red color.

"Grandma, what a nice unnatural red color you have turned!" lol

You have now made KOOLICKLES.
Open jar and eat them.

I made these because my Daughter made a remark about somebody at her work at made and brought these in but they didn't give her any to try.
So I made this batch the morning of the day Kim came to visit so they'd be ready by the time Daughter arrived on Sunday.
And that ungrateful child would NOT put one in her mouth and try them!
After seeing what they turned out to look like I have to say I don't blame her....lolz

But I got brave a couple of days ago and ate one............

Note the intrepid look on my face.....*snort* 

Ok, I wasn't sure about doing this, but I was able to eat one as long as I didn't look at it. ;-)

My verdict-it's definitely an acquired taste.
If you like sweet and briny together you'll enjoy these.
It's sort of like eating a sweet and sour or bread and butter pickle, except for that cherry flavor thang going on with it too.

Maybe use a little less Koolaid/sugar next time except in my case, there won't be a NEXT time here.......

I do think that the McVal Household would enjoy this concoction and she should put it in her next Cheeseburger Pizza.  8-)
I would volunteer to send her my jar of Koolickles if she wants to try it on that recipe!


Sluggy

 

The Saga of the Foot

Well the last 2 weeks now have been all about the foot at Chez Sluggy.
The left foot to be precise.

It started aching 2 Tuesdays ago right before the lovely Kim of "Out my Window" and her DH came to visit for a day.  Luckily I was still able to hobble about on Wednesday.

But it just got worse until it felt bad enough for me to ask Hubs to take me to the ER on that first Friday evening.  The pain was identical to 2 years ago when I had a DVT in the left ankle so I didn't want to wait any longer to seek medical attention.

So after 6 hours in the ER and both an ultrasound and a couple of X-rays they could find nothing causing the pain....no blood clot.
So they told me it was probably an infection, gave me an antibiotic and 5 days' worth of painkiller and sent me home.

The Daughter arrived home for a week long visit late that Sunday night, we had a modified Labor Day picnic/cook-out(I didn't cook a thing!)and on Tuesday morning the Daughter went off to visit friends in Rochester NY and then to Erie PA.
I sat in bed basically for two days trying to feel better.  I did get out of bed and sit at the sewing machine and/or the ironing board and could do a bit of sewing in between elevating the foot.

On Wednesday the painkillers ran out and the foot was no better since the trip to the ER the previous Friday so I tried to get more drugs and an appointment to be seen at the doc's office.  But the office staff didn't seem to take my pain seriously and just didn't get around to having anyone get back to me.
So after a stern conversation on Thursday with the doc's office I finally got an appointment for Friday morning.

The Daughter took me in, 2.5 doctors examined me(2 full docs and a medical student who only counts as .5 of a doc).  I was told that indeed I did NOT have an infection in my foot so had been prescribed the antibiotic just so the ER could get me out of there and still make me think they had actually treated me. lolz
New docs decided to send me back to the hospital for two more ultrasounds later that day.....one to redo the original ultrasound(as a clot could have formed after the ultrasound I had last Friday and could now be the issue)and then to have another more involved  Doppler test to check the arterial flow in all four of my extremities to see if the left leg had some kind of anomaly or occlusion.

If these tests didn't turn up anything amiss then the next step was an MRI.
BUT......insurance won't pay for an MRI on my foot until after I have tried physical therapy on the foot.

I got the results back this morning on the two ultrasounds and all was negative, nothing found.
So I begin physical therapy this Friday for my foot.
I can't see how PT is going to fix anything.  Sure they can give me exercises for my foot but if I can't put weight on the foot without pain how are they suppose to make my foot better?

After two weeks of pain my foot is now getting a bit better on it's own.  I can walk more(albeit slowly)on the foot but stairs are still very difficult because not being able to put the full weight on the left foot means I put added pressure on the right knee when climbing stairs and my right knee is now not happy.
And I do tend to overdo and walk more than I should be at this point.
If this keeps up we'll have to put a bed for me on the first floor of the house.....at least as a temporary measure.

The family reunion is in just over 10 days from now but I am not positive yet the foot will be well enough to allow me to attend.  I would hate to miss it but I may have to at this point.  I can't be overdoing it on the foot and why go if I am in pain and can't enjoy myself?

So that's where my head is at right now.
Just trying to get through this.

Sluggy
 

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Good to Have the Kid Home" Edition--

 

This was taken on Labor Day and I don't know WHAT THAT FACE was all about?! lolz
We were sad to see her leave for the airport at Dark O' Thirty Sunday morning to go back to Louisiana.

Onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week.......

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out
2. Monday--cook-out foods(burgers, dogs, corn, etc.)
3. Tuesday--?
4. Wednesday--?
5. Thursday--?
6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

 

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out
2. Monday--cook-out foods(burgers, dogs, grilled squash, beans)
3. Tuesday--leftover Chinese take-out
4. Wednesday--Lasagna, Salad
5. Thursday--a Burrito, Chili and Cheese
6. Friday--Turkey Panini out
7. Saturday--Greek Salad out(along with Dolmades)

Only 2 meals were cooked at home last week as I was indisposed.  Hubs and Daughter cooked the cook-out foods on Monday and Daughter made me a burrito with chili and cheese on Thursday at home.  Every other meal was take-out or we went out.
So much for me cooking many of Daughter's favorite foods while she was home.....
 

As for my grocery spending last week......let's just say it's difficult to grocery shop when you are bedridden.
After the Dr. appt. on Friday we stopped at the store and bought a watermelon, some scrapple and a birch beer soda, because Daughter wanted those 2 things.
They also went to the store on Labor Day for a couple of things so last week's total  spending was $12.43.
Added to the first week's spending I am at $20.16 spent for all of September.

I have spent very little of my $350 food budget money and we are already almost halfway through the month!
That said, I don't want to talk about how much we've spent on take-out or restaurant meals instead.  ;-)  Totaling it up in my head without the receipts it had to be at least $200 on Take-out/Eating-out. bleh.
 

Here is this week's food plan--

1. Sunday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Collards(leftover)
2. Monday--Chicken Tacos(using a crockpot recipe Daughter gave me)
3. Tuesday--Fish, Squash and Onions
4. Wednesday--Spaghetti(leftover)for Hubs, Broccoli Soup for me
5. Thursday--Beef Pie(depending on how well I feel)
6. Friday--Chili(leftover)for Hubs, Broccoli Soup(leftover)for me
7. Saturday--Leftovers(either Chicken Tacos or Beef Pie)


What I need to buy for this menu?......Velveeta and milk for the Broccoli soup.  I'll probably have Hubs pick these up for me on his way home from work one night so I don't have to worry about going to the grocery store this week.

Of course the whole meal plan is up for revision depending on how I am feeling.....if I am up for this much hobbling around and up and down the stairs.  I need to attempt to take myself out alone twice this week to appointments so IF it happens I may not have the umph to also cook from scratch those days.  It may be another solid week of take-out and leftovers after Monday instead.
Time will tell....
 

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?    

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy