Black Mask & Pale Rider: Part Thirteen

The elven gunslingers ride into West Virginia, where they learn a few secrets and become the target of a watchful eye.

Black Mask & Pale Rider: Part Thirteen

Think Smart While Shopping

I’ve been surfing the ‘net most of the morning, looking for food recipes that I can  can use for my family and my sitting charge.  I have found some really really good and tasty looking homemade meals over at Simply Recipes. At the bottom of one of the pages I was looking at I seen something that caught my attention.

How to Save Money on Groceries? Stay OUT of the Middle Aisles.

At first I was confused as to what this meant. I thought it meant to stay out of the aisles that contained nonsense. General merchandise, plates, chairs, lawn/patio furniture even toys. Obviously I had enough common sense to stay away from those aisle seeing as how I am broke and couldn’t afford the $500 wicker patio set.

However this isn’t what Alanna Kellogg was blogging about. She was writing about staying out of the aisles in general. Stating that they were full of unhealthy and empty calorie items. She only listed off the bad parts of some aisles, the ones that contained junk food. What Alanna didn’t mention was snacks that you do find in the middle aisles. Like plain unsalted, dry roasted nuts, or dried fruit, even sugar free items like instant pudding.

While part of me agrees, the rest of me disagrees. I commented on the blog, seeing that it was well written and did change my mind slightly, but not enough to keep me out of the main food aisles.

I travel up and down the aisles once a month looking for things to feed my hollowed legged boyfriend, my bottom less pit brother and my picky three year old. This really limits my choices on creativity and what I can cook for them. A big staple in my house hold is Mac and Cheese. More often then not I buy cheese and elbow noodles and make it myself.

I guess I am blessed with the fact my son can’t stand sweets, and adore cheerios. Getting him to eat meat is tricky, he can’t stand the texture, so I have to discover ways to get him to get iron protein and other good vitamins into his system.

I keep a look out for bargain sales like 10 for 10 mix and matches and that is when I go on my stocking up binges. My cupboards may not be the healthiest in the world, but it does have some healthier aspect than Cheetos and kool-aid. (which is what my brother lived off for a whole summer while my mother was on “strike”)

For the most part I am a full time mom now, I don’t get my five to eight hour work break to go make actual money, seeing as I am unemployed. Being a mom of a hyper active and over affectionate child is enough to exhaust anyone. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom job, but I love when 9pm comes around and my son goes to bed.

I would prefer to make a lot of things from scratch, but there are times when it’s just not able to happen. Sure the middle aisle usually contain things that aren’t healthy, but once you get past the muck you can actually find decent items.

For example: Juicy Juice 100% real juice. Let me repeat that REAL JUICE Frozen juices aren’t usually “healthy,” they just have a bit more survivability in the freezer. These juices are packed full of sugar and are usually concentrated. The process of concentration involves boiling, which means that it cooks away a lot of the good for you, nature made goodies.

Things that are on sale aren’t just unhealthy foods. You can find stuff on sale that is one heck of a value. Things like lunch meat. Ham, turkey, etc. Often much cheaper than the deli counter which doesn’t even offer you the nutritional information.

A major thing that people have stopped doing is carrying a grocery list. I make an extensive one that I use once a month. I get it right down to how many pounds of ground beef I am going to purchase. Yes I go for price and quantity of how many meals I am going to get from it, but I look for ways to take things and make them healthy.

When I buy ground beef, I purchase 70/30 something or other. This is the fat/lean content or something like that. Either way it’s there’s more grease in the pan then there would be if I had 80/20 or higher. I don’t want to feed that to my family, so I turn the faucet on hot, drain the beef, and rinse it off. Then I season it with salt and pepper and continue to make my meal.

When my shopping list is complete, I go through it and think to myself “Do I really need this again, or is it just a luxury that was inexpensive at the time of purchase?” If I answer Yes I need it, then it remains on the list, if not then I cross it off.

I also have a snack food budget. Ten dollars for each person in the house. Though mine is split with my son. I usually buy 5 chocolate bars or something to curb my sweet tooth when it flares up. Each person gives me a list of things they would like to have to snack on in the house. Then it has to last them the whole month.

I would like to make it clear that I am not bashing the middle aisle blog post, I’m just adding my opinion to it. There are some really good ideas in the blog post, such as getting the major basics. Bread, milk, and eggs. Pop is not a necessity, it’s a nicety. Fresh produce doesn’t hold up in the fridge or even on the counter. Flash frozen vegetables still have their nutrients in them. Cheaper to go with frozen.

Spices are great, but buy in bulk or better still, grow your own. You can get small little pots and make cute little planters that you can pick as needed. If you can find and buy fresh herbs and spices, then go for it. Check around to see if your town has a co-op, usually you can find organic and bulk items at these stores. And because it’s local and not corporation, it tends to be cheaper as well.

I will say, that Alanna’s blog is going to have me scouring over my items even more and seeing about finding healthy and yummy alternatives, but I’m not going to stay out of the middle aisles.

Keep it real and rockin’

<3

Tim’s Hijack

Okay, so you may ask why I have an opinion.  Well, I’m a bachelor, and I shop for what I need.  And a lot of the things I need are in the middle aisles.  I live in a small town, so any of the produce items I’ll pick up at the local farmer’s market.  Even bread there.  Or pies.  I’ve even found some great pasta there.  I will point back to an old post about that.  That leaves little to get in the local Riverbend Co-op.  And a lot of the things I need there are down the aisles.  If I didn’t go down the aisles, then there really wouldn’t be any point to going grocery shopping there.

Down the aisles is the place where you find the quick meals that you will often times need.  Down the aisles is where I’ll find the snack foods that I’ll sometimes get.  Down the aisles is where I’ll find my coffee, sugar, tea, and spices that I need for my other food.  And down the isles is where I’ll find the pasta sauces (if I don’t make them myself).

If it wasn’t for the aisles, then I’d have absolutely no reason to go to the grocery store.  Quick soups, for instance, or even the broth for making my own thick vegetable soup.  Oxo cubes as well.  And let’s not forget crackers.

I’ll go to the farmer’s market for some of the produce and bread I need.  But leave me to the aisles.  If there’s people out there that avoid them, then there’s more selection for me.

Until next time…

…keep ‘em flyin’!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Sites

Have you ever clicked on Lolcats and looked to the right side. You usually see advertisements. But have you actually clicked them? Probably not. However, they appeal to me.

Why?

Because I am a female who likes shiny objects. I like jewelry, and shoes and clothes. For the most part, I am a full-figured woman so I can’t wear the clothes. They just don’t come in fat ass. As much as I would love to see sizes bigger than small, medium, large and x-large, it just doesn’t happen as much as I would like.

This doesn’t stop me from drooling over other little goodies. I like unique jewelry. Preferably metal and sort of steampunk-ish. For that I tend to look at  Leviticus Jewelry and Clockwork Zero. There are several other steampunk jeweler’s out there and their stuff is amazingly well done. But being female, I demand a certain amount of shine and sparkle.

Sure the pictures give the fix I need when I want to look at jewelry, but the prices sometimes curb my dealings. This isn’t to say they aren’t inexpensive, because the prices range from $15.00 to $100 give or take a few dollars. The quality of work is simply exquisite. Eventually, I will have enough money to get my wish list sorted out.

For clothes and shoes, I look to Mod Cloth. The style of clothes ranges throughout the eras. Classic 1940’s to the Wacky 1980’s. The shoes follow in suit and you can always find a great look to match any day. While their sizes run smaller than me, it’s still nice to look at in hopes of one day being able to purchase some clothes from there.  They also have some great and funny accessories/ decor. Things like High-top socks and Space Invader ice trays. Clever items to make people laugh when they come to visit.

Another clothing and shoe site I visit is Plasticland. They also specialize in retro and vintage style clothing and shoes. They have a large selection of goodies as well as Mod Cloth. However there are differences in between the two sites. For example, Plasticland gives an arts and crafts section for those who want to learn how to knit, or crochet their own stuff. This isa growing trend that I have notice seems to be coming back strong with the younger people of today.

All in all as long as these few sites keep pulling my attention from reading lolcats they totally have me as a browser. And one day I may just be able to buy the 1940’s inspired mary janes from Plasticland or the Aster Beret at Modcloth. But of course I would have to get jewelry, specifically The Hanging Keys from Leviticus and Silver Black Star Earrings over at Clockwork Zero’s..

If it’s one thing that keeps people coming back is unique designs and being able to have something that someone else doesn’t. I am no different. I love being different and unique but not tacky. There’s a difference between tacky and tasteful. I perfer the latter.

Keep it real and rockin’

<3

Black Mask & Pale Rider: Part Twelve

A new adventure awaits Shani and Pania.  But first, they take in the celebrations of the small town after successfully vanquishing Ya’Row.

Black Mask & Pale Rider: Part Twelve

Weird Fact Wednesday

More facts of the strange and bizarre.  If you have any strange oddities, drop us a line or even add them to the comments listings.

The starfish is one of the few animals who can turn it’s stomach inside-out!

Eskimo ice cream is neither icy, or creamy!

A jellyfish is 95 percent water!

In Bangladesh, kids as young as 15 can be jailed for cheating on their finals!

The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs!

A company in Taiwan makes dinnerware out of wheat, so you can eat your plate!

More Monopoly money is printed in a year, than real money printed throughout the world!

The elephant is one of the few mammals that can’t jump!

The penguin is the only bird who can swim, but not fly!

Q is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the United States!

Gamers Bargain Bin: Carnivores Series

There was one series of games I never really got into, and that was hunting games.  But there was one hunting game that I actually liked.  That was a small series called Carnivores.  In total there were four games in the series; Carnivores, Carnivores 2, Carnivores Ice Age and Carnivores Cityscape.  We’ll deal with the first two today.

Carnivores 1 and 2 were unique in that the hunter went up against dinosaurs.  Set on another planet in the far flung future, a company called DinoHunt Corp has created a “safe” hunting environment for the big game hunter to take on the ultimate prey.  Or, they are the prey.  Equipped with a crossbow, shotgun, pistol and sniper rifle, the hunter would traverse several different landscapes in the quest to take down the ultimate trophy.  At times, you actually got the feeling that you were being hunted, because from time to time you could hear the snort of a velociraptor somewhere in the distance.  Staying in one spot was not an option.

Here’s information direct from the publishers about Carnivores 2.

Events of sequel take place on the same planet FMM UV-32. To deliver more exciting hunting experience DinoHunt Corp. opened some new locations with new and some old types of dinosaurs. Also it have changed the rules of hunting. By now, they are as follows:

At the beginning you are given a credit of 100 points. They allow you to purchase simple weapon and choose an easy-to-hunt creatures. Once you hit them, you earn more points, depending on creature type and artifact usage. Earnig points gives you an opportunity to purchase advanced weapons, artifacts and a licence to hunt more expensive dangerous dinosaurs.

The game (both 1 & 2) became popular enough that the developers and publishers decided it needed another sequel.  Carnivores Ice Age didn’t do as well.  So they went back one step, but instead of another hunting sim, created an FPS with multiplayer capability in Carnivores Cityscape.  The premise behind Cityscape was simple.  You lead a tactical team that is sent in to prevent dinosaurs from destroying the populace after a transport ship crashed.

OR…

You are a dinosaur that is desperately trying to survive.  It was a bit disappointing, because the beginning of the game pits you as one type of dino, but later you become another kind of dino.  Still, it was unique in it’s setup, if not taking from a genre that already existed.

Carnivores Series: 3/5  A decent series for something new.

The Way I See It: Take the real out of reality

This morning I watched a reality show.  It involved a man who had some trouble starting his car.  He was on the verge of flooding it.  What made this interesting is I could be a participant, like many reality shows.  But instead of merely voting, I could actually offer suggests.  Kind of like on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire with the life line choices.

Before you start asking what channel this was on, or which network, stop for a moment.  Think.  What interactive thing could allow me to offer advice to a person on how to start their car and prevent it from flooding?  Well, such interactivity would be incredible for the entertainment industry.  But there’s one problem.  The entertainment industry could never actually do it.  You see, the network was called my balcony.  That’s right, it happened in front of my apartment.

What exactly is the reality in Reality TV?  It can’t be the scenarios, because most of them are scripted.  Reality TV ended when COPS went off the air.  That was Reality TV.  Dirty Jobs, that’s Reality TV.  Big Brother?  Survivor?  Fear Factor?  Gimme a break, those are so scripted it’s not even funny.  I know for sure that I’m always stuck in a house with gorgeous people that barbecue and lounge around in a hot tub.  Or get dropped onto some tropical island and have to “survive”.  Survivor should really try this.  Drop the bikini clad set in the Arctic.  In January.  Oh that’s right, they wouldn’t do that.  You can’t see toned bodies through a parka.  You want survival, that would be survival.

At least the educational shows have some merit.  Dirty Jobs shows you some of the dirtiest jobs in the world.  You actually learn something.  Survivor, Big Brother and any show like them should stop calling themselves Reality TV and start calling themselves what they really are.

A game show.

They hold no more value than Monty Hall and Let’s Make a Deal.  At least with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire you could learn some interesting trivia.  With Survivor you just learn how absolutely cutthroat and manipulative people can be.  Instead of promoting the best in people, it promotes the worst.  At least with Let’s Make A Deal people put on funny clothes and could make you smile.  Even if a person won a crappy prize (like a donkey pulling a wagon) they still seemed happy because for a brief moment, in all that craziness, the spot light was on them.  Survivor just makes me feel dirty after watching an episode.

As reality shows go, I’ll take the ones where I can learn something.  Or watch the guy try and start his car.  My advice, by the way?  I’m not a mechanic.

Until next time…

…keep ‘em flyin’!

Some Days You’re The Bug, Other Days You’re Windshield

It’s taken me several years to fully understand the meaning of the title. Really what it means is no matter how you look at it you’re squished or splatted. Recently, this is what I have felt like at home.

I have no job to speak of, unless you include being Suzy Homemaker/wrecker, and a full time mom. Some days are worse than others but for the most part, I am looking forward to getting a paying job. Don’t get me wrong, my jobs do pay off in the end. Raising my son and watching him grow over the years is wonderful, but I want payment in the monetary form.

I’m so sick of being so poor that dirt looks richer than me. I’m perfectly able to to work, it’s just a matter of finding a place to hire me.

Today I blew up big time at everyone in my house. I was yelling at my son because he wouldn’t stop his incessant crying and whining over not being allowed to have cake, I yelled at my brother who has spent the last few weeks either in the shower or on my couch sleeping because of his ears bothering him, and I yelled at boyfriend because all he does is sit around and watch me clean. He doesn’t offer help.

I understand he’s working 99.9% of the time, but would it kill him to empty the dishwasher on his day off? Or even vacuum the living room. I’m not asking a lot from the household, just enough to make it not so overwhelming for me. I have a hell of a task of getting my brother to pick up his underwear off of the bathroom floor. Which three days later I ended up doing because I was sick of stepping on them.

Then there is the fact my brother isn’t a little boy. So when he uses the toilet he’s literally makes my toilet cry and instead of getting some pine-sol and tossing it on the floor, he tosses down a towel and walks out. Meanwhile he knows full well that I’m the one washing clothes by hand because I can’t afford to do laundry.

I’ve lived in my apartment for two months now and I have done laundry once. You would really know that since most of it is bagged up and I keep it well out of sight, but really if you look close enough you’ll see where a weeks worth of clothing is waiting to be washed. What would normally cost me fifteen dollars to do will now end up costing me thirty, and that’s just to wash.

I’m not blogging because I want pity, I’m not even blogging because I want help. I’m doing it so that maybe someone will be able to relate to me and offer me ideas on what I can do, short of leaving. I’m overworked for someone with no job and unpaid entirely for the crap I have to put up with.

I will admit that I did slack off a few days, excitement with the computer coming in and being able to catch up on things I missed over the past month. Who wouldn’t take some techie time to just chillax? However, I need to start cracking down on myself and limit how much I’m doing during the day so I can keep up after the boys in my house.

The only joy I’ve gotten in the past few days is a new kitten that boyfriend managed to catch from a litter of farm cats that live on his grandmother farm. She’s a precious little thing with white body and calico patchwork all over. I’ve named her Koko. Eventually I will have pictures but I have to go finish cleaning the kitchen.

I can only hope that I will have my apartment in order for when Tim comes to visit else I’m going to end up extremely embarrassed or canceling him come to visit.

*sigh* What’s a girl to do?

Keep it real and rockin’

<3

Tim hijack

Well, for starters, there’s no cancelling (short of my car blowing up).  Seriously, though, I know how that dirt poor aspect feels.  I was that way for a long, long time.  I honestly can’t relate with having three other males in the house that aren’t roommates (although, there was this one time I had a roommate on a “temporary situation”… but that’s a story for another time).  However, I can offer some encouraging words.

Time will always have something better.  I know, it sucks hearing that, because honestly, a person wants it (needs it) right now.  The “it” I speak of is a better situation where you can live day to day without worrying about food bills, electric, phone and so on.  These are basic needs a person has to have, and we need them right now.

But each and every one of us wants the luxuries.  Why?  Because for a lot of us, we need them to stay sane.  To have a little bit of heaven, so to speak.  All I can say is, it will come eventually.  You just have to keep plugging away.  Sometimes, it feels like a sacrifice, and you just want to curl up into a ball and wait until it’s all over.  But the pay off is what makes everything worthwhile.

This is partially for Zodi, mostly for a lot of other people.  If you feel like you’re down, and there’s nothing that is coming your way, keep faith, keep working, keep believing.  You can do it.  I was there at one point.  I am also mindful of the fact that as easily as I have found the place I’m in right now, it can all just as easily go away tomorrow, so you have to keep working hard.  That becomes easier when you realize that you have made it to a better place in life.

Two things I always tell myself; Never give up.

The second; I win, I always win.

If you keep those in mind, and keep positive, then good things will come around.  At some point, even for me, it feels like it’s all going to come unraveled, and everything I’ve worked for is going to go away.  When times like that happen, I try to pick myself up and keep going.

I can’t say anything more than what has already been said in other places and by other people.  All I can say is there are people out there that have similar fears, similar needs, and just finding someone to lean on often times helps.

For now, I’m gonna bring things full circle.  Zodi mentioned the Windshield and the Bug.  And it made me think of this.

Until next time…

…keep ‘em flyin’.

2009: A New Rider Season

The Saskatchewan Roughriders began a new CFL campaign this weekend.  They opened the CFL season at home to Western Rivals the B.C. Lions; and came away with a victory.

It wasn’t one that was picture perfect.  Starting quarterback Darian Durant wasn’t perfect as he gave up turnovers.  But like the past two years, the Riders’ D stepped up.  Omar Morgan came through with a touchdown on an interception.  Between both the Riders and the Leos, the two teams turned the ball over 15 times.  Fortunately for the Riders, B.C. won that stat.

There was some concern coming into this season, with the departures of many Riders on defense, including defensive co-ordinator Ritchie Hall, who accepted the head coaching position in Edmonton.  Those concerns for the most part were answered on Friday.  The Riders still have a very good defensive set.  On offense, they have one of the most dangerous receiving corps with Jason Clermont, Wes Dressler, Andy Fantuz and Rob Bagg.

This first game was a test, and the Riders came out on top.  But it was the first game of a long road.  Last year, the Riders came out of the gate with a 6-0 season, going onto a 12 and 6 record.  Durant has been given the starting quarterback job.  He seems to be the future of the position in Regina.  He’ll make some mistakes, but if given room to grow, he could have a very long and successful career in a place that has brought up QBs the likes of Ron Lancaster, Kent Austin, John Huffnagel and others.

Next game on the road as the Riders take on the Toronto Argonauts.  The Argos looked good against Hamilton on Canada Day.  We’ll see how game 2 goes for the Riders.

Black Mask & Pale Rider: Part Eleven

Shani and Pania come face to face with the ancient elven vampire, Ya’Row.

Black Mask & Pale Rider: Part Eleven