My spices are alphabetized.....and the kitchen is well organized......if only the rest of the house (and life) were as well organized! :-)

Oh  Special, wouldn't you just love to take a trip to Boston to start your organizing business!!

Special....my garage looks like...."an outhouse in distress".  :-)

Thank you all for the welcome!

We are having grilled burgers (I'm having mine without the bun), with leftover vegetables as the sides, and probably fruit. 

SpecialK, do you make house calls? Because mine needs you! LOL

There's a hole in the bucket.....LOL

I did throw away quite a few old spices. If they were whole like star anise I kept them. Now I need a list to replace some of them. But referring to my first sentence. I sat in front of the stove to do the cabinet. And got suckered into cleaning the stove front. I thought it was clean til I saw it close up. Then as I was doing that the oven window was not good so I tried that. Which meant I opened the oven. Cleaned that inside window. Found out the drip is on the inside of the outer glass. So can't figure how to get that out. But noticed the grates of the oven were not good. So scrubbed those. Then common sense finally hit before I scrubbed the oven. I can turn on the self clean for that. But since I was in the corner by my oils, I realized there was the empty oil dispenser that I needed to clean before I could refill it. So spent time scrubbing the dried gummy oil off of that one. Then realized I had to re label them because the olive oil was a larger size than the last one I bought. Arrrggg. There's definitely a hole in my HEAD Never mind the bucket! LOL! !!! But I guess it does look much better. LOL

Gosh Nancy mine are strung from 3 different rooms. I need to clean out DD's room (who visits only rarely) and claim it. Only problem is it has no cable outlet or I would have camped in there this winter since it's much warmer than any other room.

I have misplace somewhere in the house my recipe notebook. I just haven't had the urge/urgency to poke in a million piles to find it. Now we have to have part of water line replaced. New water heater started leaking out overflow. Got a part order/labor author. since under warranty. Not the problem. Says our pressure regulator at the meter has blown out and our house pressure is way way too high. So tomorrow DH gets to shepherd plumber on his day off. I may go the city library - free. Haven't been there in years.

i did get glassware put in the new little dining room cabinet I bought over a month ago. Something did get accomplished.

Monica - I've never used my self clean, frankly afraid of it. First I would have to find the instructions or do you just hit the self clean button? It's a 10 year old GE. Maybe something for next (hopefully nearly the last) cold day DH is home. Call me chicken - buck, buck.

Welcome Aunt Paula. This is a very friendly bunch even if their cooking skills are wayyyy beyond mine. Lol.

Debbie - Love breakfast for dinner. We did that last week. Kodiak pancakes and bacon. DH even liked the wheatiness of the Kodiak mix. Tonight is leftovers - yay since I need to get sink cleaned out. Since bill is on us plumber is also going to work on faintly leaky kitchen faucet.

Debbie - yum!!  Thanks for posting.

Luv - I've never tried the Kodiak pancakes.  I see the web site says Central Market so maybe I can find it there.

Lacey, glad you're having a wonderful time at your son's home.  The grandkids sound really cute.

Debbie, just what you need, for your dh to have diabetes.  That sugar level sounds dangerously high. 

Nance, you manage very well without recipe organization. 

Monica, my GE gas stove is 20 years old and I think I've used the self-clean twice.  I use the oven quite a bit but it stays fairly clean when you don't look TOO close! 

Dinner tonight was a chicken breast and two thighs.  A version of chicken parm without parm cheese.  The cheese on the tomato sauce topping was ricotta salata (firm) and some grated pecarino romano.  The lone side was some microwaved mixed veggies with a little butter melted on it.  Tasted really good since I was very hungry.  I worked all afternoon doing our federal tax return and, yes, we have to pay more taxes. 

I lost 4 tenths of a lb this past week, thanks to the birthday eating.  Hoping to do better this week.

Very sorry to hear about Joyce's mother. 

oh. Deb. That's a cool menu! I am sorry hour DH has Diabeties. I hate that. Just count carbs aim for 45 to 60 each meal. That's the easiest.depending on his health that could change but that's the basic to aim for. One serving of carbs is 15 mg. And I would rather have a spoon of real jelly or jam on 1 piece of bread than more on 2 slices! Just me. I don't really like the fake sugar stuff. 

Joyce Mom is in my prayers too. 

Carole and LMG, I've used the self clean 2x. The stove is 3 years old! LOL. No use cleaning it in November or Dec. Or Jan. After that, I clean it one day when I am going to be home and when it's not hot. So some time soon would be Good. Somehow it always spill something so I am glad for it! 

To all Much love. 

My son and I have a date for a baseball game, but I think we're going to eat before we go. I'm planning on grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, and brown rice. (Plan B is baseball food and is dependent on how lazy I feel by the time I get home. )

luv- sorry about the leaky plumbing what a pain that must be! Input most of my recipes in my hotmail that way even if I lose stuff on my computer I still have my email address. Are the pancakes all wheat? Sounds yummy!

Minus-

Deb-wonderful looking menu it's gotta be pickity place? How are you doing?

Carole- havnt had flank steak in a while but it is one of my fav cuts if meat

Monica- thanks for letting me know I am still learning and had no idea about how many carbs per day!

Eric - oh that is so sweet about your mom bet it made her feel so good.

Carole, here's one I haven't tried, but sounds good:

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/sausage-and-lentil-soup/

I made your tomato soup the other day and it was quite good. I used some of our garden tomatoes that I had frozen.

Tonight was oriechette with broccoli in a tomato cream sauce. Rich, but it didn't take much to satisfy.

Tomorrow is a Costco trip so dinner will probably be a rotisserie chicken.

Deb, that menu is amazing!

My DD called and we chatted. I asked what she was eating and she had chicken chili. I'd forgotten that recipe! Its so easy and in a crock pot.

Take leftover chicken or you can add chicken thighs. Toss in a jar of red salsa. Whatever kind you like. Add a jar of green salsa. Add in a big can of what ever beans you like. Northern work. So does a small can of black and a jar of white kidney beans. Your choice, mix and match! LOL Add chicken stock til crock pot is 1/2 full. Cover and cook till chicken is done usually 6-8 hrs on low. If using leftover or rotisserie chicken Just till it heats up will work. It's a version of a weight watchers recipe.  You can top with a bit of shredded cheese and cilantro if you like. It really is good. 

carole - I catered a party for a friend at Christmas and served thinly sliced pork tenderloin on Hawaiian rolls with a sauce.  The sauce was the most requested recipe from her co-workers, here it is:

2 T. butter
1 large shallot, very thinly sliced
1/2 c. peach preserves
1/3 c. bourbon
2 T. country style Dijon mustard
1/4 t. red pepper flakes

I cooked the shallot in the butter until almost caramelized.  Then added the preserves and cooked until fully melted and incorporated.  I added the bourbon, mustard and pepper flakes and continued cooking for at least another 15 minutes because I wanted the sauce pretty thick since it would be spooned on the tenderloin on the roll.  This was a heavy hors d'oeuvre cocktail party and I knew people would be walking around with the food.  You could use a butter substitute, or olive oil, and peach fruit spread to cut the calories.  This sauce was that great combo of sweet and spicy!

Special...we posted simultaneously......yummy pork recipe!