Christmas Goodies. . .

Christmas just would not be the same without some Hello Dollys (7 layer cookies).  My mom has made these since I was little.  They are the best ever cookie and to me they sing Christmas.  I am fixing these today and maybe some butter cookies.  The butter cookies are not really Christmasy but I do love them.  The butter cookies are from my sister.  She used to make these all the time when she was in college.  I have had a little bit of a craving for both of these.    Let's do the Dollys first:
1 stick of butter melted in a casserole dish
1 1/2 pkgs. of graham crackers crushed
1/2 bag of chocolate chips
1/2 bag of butterscotch chips
1/2 bag of white chocolate chips
1 can sweet and condensed milk
1/2 bag of flaky coconut
1/2 pkg of pecans chopped

After you have melted the butter in the casserole dish sprinkle the cracker crumbs in the bottom then layer all of your ingredients and top with sweet and condensed milk.  Bake at 350 25-30 minutes or until brown and bubbly.  With my oven pre heated it only took 25 minutes. 

Here is the butter cookie recipe:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1egg

2 1/2 cups flour

1tbsp vanilla

2tbsp orange juice

Cream butter, egg, sugar, vanilla and OJ then add flour mix well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  It can be left overnight.   When ready to bake let the dough warm up just a bit.  I make balls and  flatten them.  Bake 400 for 6-10 minutes.  

Stay tuned tomorrow may be more baking, baking is kinda crafty right.  

Techno Tuesday. . . Defragment the Hard Drive

I am running behind today, sorry for the late post.   Here are the thoughts for today on technology.
If you have an older computer using an older hard drive you should defragment it at least every few months.  If you feel like your computer is running slow then you should defrag more frequently.  If your computer is newer and has a solid state drive you do not need to defragment and in fact you should not degrament it.   The deframent program is strictly for older hard drives that have the platters (HDD).  Windows has a deframent program that comes with it but there are other programs you can use too.   Here is a site to check out for this and one other program you should know about.
www.auslogics.com 
At this site they offer FREE downloads of some of their products and then they offer premium product for a fee.  I use their FREE products and they are great.  The defragment program is very good.  Keep in mind if you have not defragmented your drive in a while or ever this will take some time.  This will also speed up your computer because your files will not be scattered all over your hard drive.
The other program that is helpful is the Duplicate File finder.  This program will find duplicate files and allow you to get rid of them.  This will free up disk space as well as speed up your computer.  You may think, I do not have any duplicate files,  but you do.  You will be surprised at how many duplicates you may have.  Under each of these programs it offers more information about them.  Check this out before you download to make sure you are getting what you want.   I love FREE downloads but I am very cautious of them too.  These were both given to me by my instructor and I trust him and his opinions.  I will not recommend anything that I do not trust or have not used personally.

Mom Babbles. . .

Here are my random thoughts on this past week and the week to come.    I was honored to be inducted in to the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society on Friday.  I was shocked and thrilled to be recognized for my school work these last two years.   My cap on my implant fell out Friday night and that meant an emergency visit to my oral surgeon on Saturday.   This week will be crazy with dentist appointments and a flury of antibiotics and pain medication.  Ughhhh
Mom's do not get sick days though, so kid duty will continue.  Luckily, other than needing a driver, my kids are self sufficient.   The driving may be tricky this week. 
I will be knee deep studying for finals this week too.   Looking forward to Christmas break with the kidos and some down time.   Good news is my tree is up and decorated, bad news I have not put up all of my ornament boxes yet.  I will add that to my list of things to do this week.  I will be baking this week too,  check back on Wednesday for some Christmas goodie recipes. 

Happy Friday! Topic Today the Big B. . . Budget

Yep, it is time to revisit that nasty word, Budget.   That word always carried a restrictive connotation with me for many years.  It is actually very freeing to be able to sit down and tell each dollar where it is going before you get it.   If you do that you want be wondering where it all went at the end of the month.   I told you when I started this that I was terrible at balancing my checkbook and doing a budget.   I had never balanced my checkbook till I took Dave's class and worse than that I had never really looked at my bank statements before either.  I know, that is the worst.  That is why I tell you, I have made many mistakes and I wish I knew about Dave or anybody else for that matter earlier.  It would have saved me so much money and heart ache too.
Let us get down to the nitty gritty of the big B.  Dave says, managed money is like getting a raise.  That is so true, I would have never thought that before I put together a budget.  Do not look at your budget as restrictive, look at it as spending on paper for a purpose.  (another Daveism) The first thing I did was write out, longhand, what we spent in a month.  Even though we are in the technology age I still like using pencil and paper when working with my budget.   I took old bank statements and looked at each one and wrote down what we had spent to try and compile my budget.  Group your items together for example, restaurants, groceries, insurance, car payments, house payments, utilities, and phone bills etc. . .  Do not forget to put give and save at the top of your list.  Remember what your grandparents always say the more you give the more you receive so, always keep giving at the top.  You also have to remember to pay yourself (save).   If you are at the height of your debt snowball you may think, how can I give and save if I am paying crazy to get out of debt?   You may have to cut back on saving during your debt snowball period.  That is ok because once you are out of debt you will be able to save and give like crazy.  I did not believe it either but it is possible and we are giving and saving like crazy.  We are still paying down our house but it is not like before.    Dave says during the debt snowball that everything should be going to pay off your debt.  He talks about using your savings to get out of debt.  I guess if you were in several hundred thousand dollar debt then that would be understandable, we were not that bad off so we did not use any savings to pay ours off.  We used everything else though and, we never stopped giving.  To me giving was the most important part of our budget.  The old adage stands true the more you give the more you receive.  We are proof positive in that.  I cannot tell you how many times early in our marriage that we did not know how we were going to pay bills but we never stopped our giving and we never missed any payments.
Being able to budget and get out of debt has been a huge blessing and I want everyone to know how to do it.  Imagine a debt free world, imagine the amazing things that could be done if there was no debt hanging over our heads, imagine the lives that could be changed.  That is what I hope for, amazing changes for everyone.

Hand Made Christmas Gifts. . .

I love making goodies at the holidays especially Christmas.  I also enjoy sharing what I have made with others.  I used to make trays of goodies for my neighbors: different kinds of cookies, bars, and chex mix.  I would buy an inexpensive tray or plate and use that to deliver my sweets, my neighbors were to keep the tray as part of their gift.   My mom used to make all kinds of goodies and do something similar for her friends and neighbors and I guess that is where I got the idea.  Most of the time my sweets are well received but, one time one of my neighbors responded, I don't have anything to give you or I cannot repay you.  I do this because I like sharing with others not because I want something in return.  It really hurt my feelings that someone would think I expected something from them.  A simple thank you and Merry Christmas would have been wonderful, anything except  a question of my motive.   That next year I didn't bake my sweets for my neighbors because I felt so bad.  The year after that I decided I did not care what anyone thought and I made even more sweets to share.   Do me a favor, if someone in your neighborhood or office bakes you goodies just respond with a simple thank you and Merry Christmas.  
I also enjoy making ornaments with the kids.   I helped my nieces make some glass ornaments one year when they came to visit.  We took clear glass ball ornaments and we drizzled glue in the ball and rolled it so it would cover the inside.   Then we took glitter and shook it inside the ornament and shook it around to cover the inside.  They make beautiful ornaments and the kids can make them with adult supervision.   My sister made me some ornaments out of her sheeps' shearing.   She took the same type of glass ball and she put the sheep's wool in the ball.  You can buy those glass ornaments at AC Moore or Michael's or any craft store.   Below are some pictures of those ornaments and my tree because I just finished decorating today.  Wheww! 

Kung Pao Chicken. . . In the Pot

I missed my techno Tuesday, sorry about that.  That is my life though, sometimes there are bumps in the road.  I will catch up next week. 
On to the spicy Kung Pao chicken cooking.  I found this on Pinterest and it was a huge hit with my hubby and the oldest.  Big T did not care for it.   I may have spiced it up a wee to much.  True to my routine I did not follow the recipe specifically.   Here is the link if you want to check it out,  www.thefrugalgirls.com
I will tell you what it originally called for and what I used instead.
It called for cooking your 4-6 chicken breast in the crock pot for 3 hours on high and then removing and draining the juice.  I decided that was too much work.   I boiled my chicken in 15 minutes and cut it up then put it in my crock pot.  Next you mixed up pineapple preserves and Kung Pao sauce.  I did not have pineapple preserves,  I did have pineapple juice and some molasses.   Yes, I subbed in the pineapple juice and molasses.  I added 4 oz of pineapple juice and 2 tbsp of molasses to a bottle of the Kung Pao sauce and mixed it up.  I poured that over my chicken cut up in the crock pot.  The recipe called for red and green peppers to be chopped and added.  I used some of our own hot peppers and I added them whole.   I cooked my recipe on low for most of the day and then dropped it to warm.  I served it over rice, it was very spicy and very good.   It would clear out your sinuses quickly.  This will go into the list to use again.  

A Mother's Opinion. . .teens driving

I am going to weigh in on all the kids that have been killed in car accidents these last few weeks.  I feel very sorry for the families that have been affected by these tragic events.  I pray every night for each of them.  With that said, here is my opinion.
I think teens today have had a lack of parental involvement.   The economy is bad,  most families require both parents working and the kids are left  to their own.  Our kids are over indulged and under parented. 
A friend of mine is trying to set up a driving program for our high school to better educate our kids for the road.  I applaud her for trying to do something. I don't think that is the root of the problem.  Teens today have no respect for authority, themselves or anyone else for that matter.  They are a very self-centered group.  I see it everyday when I pick up my kids at school.  They are checking their phones and not paying attention to their driving.  You can see it on Facebook with the sketchy photos of young girls.  Read it and hear it on the news about the sexting.  This generation is growing up way to quickly and they are not mentally able to handle it. 
They all believe it cannot happen to them but sadly,  it is happening every day. 
The latest I read was a 15 year old driving with two 16 year olds and a 17 year old at 2 in the morning.   The 15 year old and two others are dead.   I do not understand why parents are not keeping a closer eye on their kids.  Yes, I guess I am an old fart with backward ideas.  I am not trying to be my child's friend,  I am their parent and disciplinarian.   Not a fun job some days but it is my job to make sure they abide by the rules.  I love my kids too much to give in to every whim and let them get by with misbehavior.    I hold my kids accountable for their actions and that is not popular these days.   These days the popular thing to do is deny it happened or blame someone else.  

Your kids really want your time not your money, they are begging for it everyday.  When they act out and do things they know are wrong, that is a cry for attention.  

 Please do not think I am heartless or callous because of what I have written.  I have a 15 year old that is learning to drive and my heart breaks every time I hear about another wreck.   We need to encourage our kids to stand against the "crowd" and not be afraid to be different and to do what they know is right when the "crowd" is doing what our kids know is wrong.   If we do not we may be getting that late night call of tragedy, and I do not want that to happen to anyone.   

This is just my opinion, and my kids are not perfect by an stretch of the imagination.   The difference with my kids, is I know they are capable of stretching the truth on occasion and I know how to catch them.  They also know I will find everything out one way or the other.   "There is nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known" Matthew 10:26