Lactose Intolerant

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It’s official (at least in my mind) I am lactose intolerant. Especially after last night’s late night stomach problems after eating macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Most of my adult life I have suffered from what I would call random stomach problems and stomach problems suck right? The most frustrating part is that people love to tell you what they think is your problem (trying to be helpful) but in reality there could be a 1000 different reasons and combinations of foods that make you sick when you eat them so I have just always stayed away from eating much in public. I especially would never eat anything fried or greasy out unless I knew I was going home right after.

About a year ago I had one of the worst bouts of stomach upset I have ever had and it was at a party we were attending. About half an hour into the affair (the other guests said later) I all of a sudden turned green and then I left and headed straight home. All that night I was sicker than a dog. Stomach upset and ache, diarrhea, chills, nausea. I was so frustrated.

At one point a month later I had been feeling pretty good, no stomach upset for a while and then I realized it was because I hadn’t had a glass of milk in weeks. Hmmm…. But I had had ice cream and cheese and such but no pure milk.

Right then and there I stopped drinking milk entirely and voila, no more massive stomach upset. Life-changing to say the least. My doctor was on board with it. She said I didn’t need a test to tell me if I felt better cutting out dairy.

Now I am still able to have dairy once in a while without too much upset but last week I was eating way too much and I was suffering for it. A Klondike bar everyday and mac and cheese (even though I used Lactaid to make it) really bothered me. Not the massive stomach bothering that milk does to me but enough bother to slow me down.

I haven’t tried taking a Lactaid pill before I eat dairy. I will have to experiment with that. At this point I just avoid dairy all together and my tummy thanks me for it.

Don’t worry I will not walk into my next party and announce I am lactose intolerant to everyone. That’s just not my style lol!. -MM

Dinner Ideas

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I have been so frustrated with cooking lately because I feel like I get no help doing it. I don’t bother asking what anyone wants anymore because I get the same answers, either “I don’t know” or hot dogs.

In fact I was so frustrated the other day that I took a notepad and wrote down every dinner choice I could think of off the top of my head. You know what? I came up with almost 70 choices! Nothing fancy, just regular old standbys but we tend to forget some of the classics when we get stuck in a rut right?

This actually helped me a lot. I thought I would post what I came up with in the hopes of giving you some ideas too:

  1. Roast Pork
  2. Sausage with peppers and onions
  3. Grilled pork tenderloin
  4. Shake and bake pork chops
  5. Hot dogs (of course)
  6. Hamburgers
  7. Spaghetti and meatballs
  8. Fish Fry
  9. Loaded baked potatoes
  10. Grilled thick pork chops
  11. Pan fried pork chops with mushrooms and pan gravy (easy)
  12. Soup with grilled sandwiches
  13. Steak and mushrooms
  14. Turkey breast
  15. Full turkey dinner
  16. Pulled pork sandwiches
  17. Sliders
  18. Beef Stew
  19. Chicken Pot Pie
  20. Big Salads
  21. Ribs
  22. Salmon
  23. Fried Shrimp
  24. Breakfast for dinner
  25. Meatloaf
  26. Pot Roast
  27. Mac and Cheese
  28. Tacos
  29. Nachos
  30. Fajitas
  31. Kabobs
  32. Filet steaks
  33. Chicken kiev
  34. Chicken cordon bleu
  35. Roasted chicken
  36. Fried chicken
  37. Chicken parm
  38. Fried chicken cutlets
  39. Crockpot chicken and chili sauce
  40. Stuffed chicken breast
  41. Chicken rice casserole
  42. Tuna noodle casserole
  43. Sausage and corn
  44. Pizza
  45. Wings
  46. Chicken fingers
  47. Chicken soup
  48. Beef soup
  49. Potato bacon soup
  50. Cauliflower soup
  51. Ham and Bean soup
  52. Lasagna
  53. Stuffed shells
  54. Ham
  55. Ham and scalloped potatoes
  56. Ham and Cabbage
  57. Chicken spiedies
  58. Meatball subs
  59. Chili
  60. Spaghetti and meat sauce
  61. Ratatouille
  62. Stuffed peppers
  63. Stir fry
  64. Chicken or veggie Alfredo
  65. Smoked pork chops
  66. Goulash
  67. Spanish Rice
  68. Sub Sandwiches
  69. Rotisserie chicken (dinner in a pinch)

This list really helped me see that I do have choices for dinner I just forgot what they were! Haha These are just the main dinner choices I came up with. Next post I will list all of the side choices I came up with. Hope this helps you as much as it helped me! -MM

Damaged Canning Lid Update

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Last post I told you about the canning supply shortage and the shipment of lids I mistakenly purchased from a company in China.

I have received a $6.96 credit towards my over $45+ purchase for the damaged lids. I wasn’t very happy with this and I would never buy from this company ever again but I guess it is something right? And they were very prompt with getting back to me.

Below are a few screen shots of the exchange:

What do you all think? Should I have pushed for a bigger refund?

Lesson learned this time. I will, from now on ALWAYS research better who I am buying from and if I cannot find a mailing or shipping address on a website I will not buy from them.

Now on to the pumpkin shortage crisis sigh… – MM

SAL Fraktur Hex #15

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I feel very accomplished this last three weeks!

Here is where I left off last update:

And here is where I am now:

I am all the way to the center now and I got a little more done on the last corner.

Please visit the other stitchers in our SAL. They are doing wonderful pieces. Thank you to Avis for continuing to keep us on track and organizing all of us. See you in another three weeks. -MM

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Canning Supply Shortages

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If you are a canner or preserver of food than you must have noticed that supplies are scarce this year. Every store I have called locally is out of canning supplies and no dates in site for re-stocking.

Along with TP and sanitizer, yeast and flour the newest shortage, at least in my world is canning supplies, in particular the lids.

I saw it happening about a month ago when at the beginning of the canning season the grocery store I work at part time could not get supplies in. We had some left over stock from the previous year but that did not last long.

I immediately went online and Amazon had lids but they were over $20 a box! Nuh uh…not doing that. I ended up buying 6 boxes of regular lids from mason-official.com. THAT was a mistake. I found out later that mason-official is not an American company at all but a company from China.

The lids took almost a month to get to me but finally today I received them. But they came in a BAG. None of the lids were in boxes. Just loose in baggies. Coming all the way from China in a bag and you probably already can surmise what I found when I opened the package today. At least a third of my order is damaged. The lids are bent. Not surprising considering they shipped them from China in a BAG. Did I say a bag? Yes, a small bag. That’s the last time I’ll say that.

I can’t use bent lids of course so I emailed the company. They immediately emailed back and said to email them photos of the damaged lids, tracking number and SKU on the BAG. Oops I said it again.

I did what they asked and sent them photos. Let’s see what happens right?

This isn’t the first time I have had an experience like this. I have purchased items on Ebay and Etsy and have found out later that the items I purchased were actually coming from China. I have nothing against China but when I buy from a company supposedly saying they are an American based company with an American sounding name (Jane Smith in the case of Etsy) one would expect to receive their package from somewhere in the US. Needless to say I think I got one Ebay seller shut down for selling me a bootleg set of Legos. Pissing off an American momma on Christmas morning is not a good idea!

My advice when buying online is this:

If you can’t find an actual address for the company you are buying from beware. Read ALL of the description of the item you are buying and if it says it will take 7 to 14 days to ship to you it is probably coming from another country AND if there are any typos or the grammar is off anywhere on the website that’s also a red flag.

I think it’s time for a “Call to Action”. There is a shortage of canning supplies this year and if you have canning supplies you would like to pass on because you aren’t using them anymore or if you are a canner in need of supplies let’s connect with each other! Feel free to get in touch with me by clicking on the CONTACT button in the header above. Tell me about your experience this year with supply shortages and what’s going on in your neck of the woods. Hopefully we can help each other!

Don’t worry I’ll keep you updated on my canning lid saga. 🙂 -MM

SAL Fraktur Hex #14

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Even though I had the busiest week of my life last week I still made time to stitch.

Here is where I left off last update on Fraktur Hex:

And here is where I am today:

You can start to see some of the middle design!

I hope to get the last corner done by next update but remember it has 37 leaves 😳

Please visit the other stitchers in the Stitch-a-long hosted by Avis by clicking in their links below. See you in three weeks!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

SAL-Fraktur Hex #13

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This has been such a busy month that I have had no time to stitch so I woke up th his morning and stitched a bit before posting today just to say I got something accomplished lol!

Here is where I left off last time:

And here is what I did this morning. Lots more leaves to go!

I hope all my fellow stitchers have been more productive than I! Please visit their blogs to see what they have accomplished the last three weeks. See you in 3 😊-MM

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Victory Garden Update

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I can’t believe I have forgotten to post about my garden this year. I am fully embracing the victory garden life this year. Mentally changing my gardening experience to embrace the idea of victory gardening has changed my perspective. Growing food as a hobby is one thing. Growing food to survive and as a necessity is another.

Here are a few snapshots of what my garden has grown into this year.

What I am growing so far includes:

  1. Lettuce
  2. Shallots
  3. Red Onions
  4. Basil
  5. Parsley
  6. Lemon Balm
  7. Sage
  8. Rosemary
  9. Thyme
  10. Chives
  11. Pumpkins
  12. Red Raspberries
  13. Sour Cherries
  14. Peaches
  15. Pears
  16. Apples
  17. Yellow Squash
  18. Zucchini
  19. Eggplant
  20. Green Onions
  21. Peas
  22. Green Beans
  23. Dry Beans
  24. Jalapenos
  25. Sweet Bell Peppers
  26. Lunchbox Sweet Peppers
  27. Roma Tomatoes
  28. Purple Cherokee Tomatoes
  29. Butternut Squash
  30. Lavender
  31. I am foraging black raspberries, wild ramps, wild garlic, and dandelions

I still have time to get some other things in the ground like beets, and carrots. I hope to use some season extenders as well to grow into December.

Another mission I have in regards to my growing food this year is to document how many pounds I harvest. I am trying to prove to the naysayers that say growing your own food is too expensive for what you get out of it and too much hassle when you can just go to the store and buy it. Yeah that’s a bunch of bullshit in my opinion. I intend to prove my point by the end of the season.

Total harvested so far this season since starting to document it May 26th is 417.1 oz. which is 26.06 lbs of food. These foods include: Lettuce, Lemon Balm, Peas, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Black Raspberries and Sour Cherries.

I’ll try to update more regularly! Hope your gardens are all doing well 🙂 -MM

Not Impressed With Our Debt – Update

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The last time I did an update on our debt was in my March 27th post. In that post I updated that I had gotten my medical bill paid in full and paid our Town/County taxes. The goal for April was to pay off the Bank of America credit card but I was a little leery because of the pandemic and whether I should just make minimum payments to keep a flow of cash if needed.

That was a short lived thought for me! I paid off the Bank of America card two weeks later which was about $1300. Not only did I pay off the BOA card but I was also able to pay the NYS and Federal taxes we owed from our 2019 tax return. Don’t worry I definitely stimulated the economy with our stimulus check but I also took it as an opportunity to pay off some debt!

Now the next goal will be to pay off Scott’s Honda which sits at about $1600. My goal is to get it done in July because we have five paychecks that month.

I have been working to pay down our debt for almost two years now. I am not completely happy with where we are after two years but I will talk about that in my July update. For now I plan on working hard and getting that car debt paid in July.

How are you doing on your debt? -MM

Fraktur Hex SAL #11

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Just a very quick update for me this time. I STILL did not get my 3rd corner done. Just haven’t had the time to work on it!

Here is where I left off last time:

And here is where I am now:

Not a lot done but it will have to do.

Please visit the other members of this lovely SAL group by clicking on the links below. Can’t wait to see what everyone is up to!


Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen