Bacon Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Here's a yummy potato recipe my Weight Watcher leader shared with the group:  Bon Appetite!!

Bacon-Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Makes 4 servings (1/2 cup each)

POINTS® value per serving: 3

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
2 Tbsp fat-free milk
1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/3 cup shredded low-fat sharp cheddar

2 slices center-cut bacon, crisp cooked and coarsely crumbled

1 scallion, finely chopped

1.Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover by 3

inches; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until fork-tender, 20–25

minutes. Drain and return to the saucepan.

2.Add the sour cream, milk, salt, and pepper; mash with a potato masher

until the potatoes become creamy. Stir in the cheddar, bacon, and scallion.


Recipe adapted from Weight Watchers Cookbook Comfort Classics©2009, Weight
Watchers International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Here are the final swap cards to share with you.  Hope you have enjoyed them and got some inspiration.  I know I have!

Recipe:  by Michelle Fischer (SDiegoGal on SCS)

Stamp:  Serene Snowflake

CS:  Basic Grey, Black, Vanilla, Apricot Appeal; Sage Shadow; Nouveau Riche DSP

Acc:  Black Grosgrain ribbon; distressing tool; paper piercer

Recipe:  by Lorien Clark (vz5dzh)

CS:  Pendant Park

Ink:  Old Olive; Choc Chip

CS:  Choc Chip; Vanilla; Old Olive

Acc:  Old Olive 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon; Texture Cuts Wood Sheets; Background I Texturz Plates

I'm headed in to town to cheer on my Steelers although sad to say, I'm not too optimistic!

Sheetload of Cards

I subscribe to SheetLoad of Cards.  Every month, I receive in my in-box a free monthly e-zine (you know, like an on-line magazine) with sketches and card ideas.  They have a different sponsor each month and this month, it is DRS Stamps.  I love their stamps and their affordability!  Each month they encourage us to submit cards to them using the sketch in the e-zine.  So, this time, I decided to take them up on the challenge and actually made TWO cards!  Here they are:

I love this DRS stamp!  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up.

Isn't he the cutest??

So, check out Sheetload - they are offering free shipping for their featured sponsor this month!!

Candy

Here's a beautiful blog candy up for grabs!  Check it out!

Deal of the Week, Digital Studio and movies to see!!

Back again this year ..... During the month of October, Stampin' Up! will offer several discounted products as "Deals of the Week." No limits and no minimum purchase required.

Trio Flower Punch - $10.99
5 Flower Punch - $10.99
My Way Punch - $11.99

The Digital Studio is now available for purchase.  Watch a video HERE.  I have seen lots of cool things made with this software package.  It is not just for scrapbooking!  I don't have it yet so I can't give you any first hand knowledge.  BUT .... it is on my birthday want list.  My birthday is coming up in 3 weeks and I have already mentioned it to Sonny.  (Although I think it might have fallen on deaf ears ..... Ashley .... hope you are reading this!!)

I accompanied Sonny to the doctor's office today for that wonderful colonoscopy.  The procedure itself is not bad - you're out and don't feel anything.  If they could just come up with a better solution to the "prep work."  But, when you consider it's a test for colon cancer, I guess it's all worth it.  The doc did find a polyp and it was sent off for evaluation.  Unfortunately, that puts him on the "short list" and he'll have to do it again in 5 years!!  Maybe they'll come up with something better by then!

After the procedure, we enjoyed a good breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then headed to the movies.  Our choice today was The Informant with Matt Damon.  Uhhh ... not so good, in my opinion!!  I was falling asleep in the first hour so I got up and wandered around the theatre trying to find another film more to my liking!!  I found the Jennifer Anniston movie Love Happens.  I really enjoyed it!  Yep, it was a chick flick but I like chick flicks!!  Another thing I loved about the movie was all the great views of Seattle!  As you know, we moved to NC from there 3 years ago.  It is one beautiful place!  Anyway, I would recommend the movie although it is not getting good reviews. 

more swaps

I have a few more swap cards to share with you.

Recipe:  by Rachel Sztonyk

Stamps:  Hello Again & Sprinkles

Ink:  Choc Chip; Orchid Opulence, Old Olive, Razzleberry, Versamark

CS:  WW; Kraft; Old Olive; Textured Razzleberry; Choc Chip

Acc:  1" & 1/2" circle punches; Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Razzleberry ribbon, white gel pen; oval punches; Crafters Tool Kit

Recipe:  by Tandra Boyer (Inkalicious on SCS)

Stamp:  Graveyard Gala; Frightful Fence jumbo wheel

CS:  Basic Grey; Black; Brushed Silver; WW; Nouvequ Chic DSP

Acc:  Sage Shadow marker; Color Spritzer; Top Note die; black 5/8" grosgrain ribbon; silver brads

no recipe included with this one

Fall has arrived to NC!!  The weather today was perfect!  We were able to turn off the A/C and sleep with our windows open last night.  It was great. 

Blog Candy

 Here's a new blog for you to check out.  She's trying to generate traffic & is giving away Blog Candy!  Check it out HERE.

Red Cross can help

I've had a busy couple of days!  Yesterday I played bridge and afterwards, stopped by my Mom's house for a visit.  We only live about 20-30 minutes away but I'm really bad about not stopping by to visit more often.  After being away from family for 30+ years, it's just been hard to adjust to having family so close.  I have to stop and think every so often how I'd feel if the shoe was on the other foot and it was my daughter not stopping by to visit me!! 

Last night after dinner, Sonny and I were just settling in to catch up on some tv shows we'd taped and had just finished scooping our ice cream in our bowls when we got a call from the Red Cross DAT (disaster) team leader.  We are volunteers for the DAT team and have been for almost a year but have never been called to a disaster.  Every few months, we have the DAT bag for the week and are "on call" but the pager has never gone off.  We figured it really didn't work!!  The gal who had the bag this week knew we had never gone out so when she got the call, she called us to assist her ... plus the house fire was in Troutman which is not too far from us.  By the time we got there (about 11 pm) there were about 5-6 firetrucks and numerous other vehicles.  The fire had been put out but the double-wide trailer was demolished.  The poor lady who lived alone luckily was not at home when the fire started.  She is 56 years old and has a lot of health issues.  Poor thing was just so upset.  The worst part was she had no insurance!!  How can people do that??  She had lived there for 22 years and everything she owned is now gone.  Every few minutes she'd cry out about something that had perished .... from her church clothes, her hats, her 27 wigs, a whole library of old books and the paperwork she had started to get her GED.  She told us she was always the one who helped her family out when they needed something.  She said she used to pay into the United Way when she worked and never dreamed one of those types of services would one day be assisting her.  The Red Cross can't do as much as it once could due to the recession but we were able to give her a debit card with money on it for food, clothing and three days in a motel.  We told her when she found an apartment or somewhere to live, we would pay her first month's rent also. 

All day today I have thought about this poor lady and gone back and forth from feeling sorry to other thoughts.  And here are my reasons.  Last night while talking to the client, she told me she had just pawned her jewelry so she could buy a VCR/DVD combo and hadn't even watched it once .... on her flat screen TV that she bought this year.  She said she had a 72" TV that she had bought in 2007.  She had muscle/nerve damage to her arm and told me she has gone to therapy a few times for it and was supposed to go more often, but it was too expensive - they want $50 for therapy!  Hello???  You can afford the tv, DVD, etc. but not do the things the dr advises to make you feel better.   I know everyone has the right to spend their money the way they see fit (even our government!!) but I just have to shake my head.  My friend at Red Cross told me the client called today with many questions regarding more assistance and wanted to know if the Red Cross would pay a downpayment on a new trailer to put on her lot!!  

The Red Cross is a great organization and is there to help in times of need.  If you like to help people, I urge you to consider volunteering with the Red Cross.  They provide all the training you need so you will be ready to respond to disasters, work at blood drives, deliver messages to US Service personnel, re-connect families that have been displaced.  My husband drives a Red Cross van each week taking people in our community to doctor appointment, dialysis, etc.


Here are some Red Cross facts for you:

Volunteers constitute 96 percent of the total work force to carry on their humanitarian work:


Every year the Red Cross responds to more than 70,000 disasters—including approximately 150 home fires every day.


About 11 million Americans turn to them to learn first aid, CPR, swimming, and other health and safety skills. Last year, more than 158,000 people volunteered to teach those courses.


Half the nation's blood supply— six million pints annually—is collected by more than 155,000 Red Cross volunteers .


Among their emergency services for the men and women of the armed forces is the delivery of urgent family messages—around the clock and around the globe.


More than 30,900 volunteers serve as chairs, members of boards of directors, or on advisory boards for local Red Cross units - chapters, Blood Services regions, and military stations.


As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Red Cross reconnects more than 8,000 families separated by conflicts and disasters around the world through international tracking services and Red Cross messages.

Tonight my sisters, mom and Sonny and I went to downtown Charlotte to the Levine Museum of the South for a program about Hurricane Hugo.  Hugo hit the Charlotte area 20 years ago.  I didn't live here at the time, but my family all lived in Charlotte and still have nightmares about that storm.  Hugo ranked as the eleventh most intense hurricane at time of landfall to strike U.S. this century and is rated as the second costliest hurricane with over $7 billion in damages. Hugo's storm surge was the highest ever recorded on the East Coast. It was estimated at 20 feet just north of Charleston. Hugo's 150 mile wide swath destroyed about one billion board feet of timber and resulted in major damage hundreds of miles inland. The total number of deaths associated with Hurricane Hugo is 82.  The exhibit was sponsored by the Red Cross which I didn't know until shortly before we went tonight.  It was a very interesting exhibit.  I thought it would have been much larger, but they did a good job with what they did have.

Tomorrow will be a little more slow paced!  I'll be hiding away to eat my meals though!  Sonny is scheduled for a routine colonosophy on Thursday so tomorrow will be a liquid diet for him.

More Swaps

Thanks for the kind comments some of you have sent me regarding the garage sale!  I don't normally "do" garage sales and guess that is why!!

Someone out there is NOT pulling for my Steelers!  Can't believe we lost that game today in the last 2 minutes!  GRRRRR  Guess we won't be going back to the Super Bowl this year.

Here are a few more of the swap cards I received.

Recipe:  by Mary Rindal

Stamp:  Friends Rock

CS:  Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, WW

Ink:  Black; Melon; Curry

Acc:  Iridescent Ice EP, Melon Mambo ribbon; paper piercer

Recipe: by Crystal Spencer (caspen1973)

Stamp: Season of Friendship

CS:  Celery; Bermuda Bay; WW; Close to Cocoa

Ink:  Same as above + Old Olive

Acc:  Bermuda Bay ribbon; white gel pen; designer brads; Backgrounds I Texture plates

Recipe:  by Lorien Clark

Stamp:  Razzle Dazzle

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo; Black StazOn

CS:  Crushed Curry; Melon Mambo; BB, WW

Acc:  Crushed Curry ribbon; white gel pen; scallop edge punch, iridescent ice EP

Recipe:  by Michelle Fischer (SDiegoGal)

Stamps:  Dasher, Christmas Punch

CS:  Dusty Durango; Crushed Curry; Soft Suede; White Glossy

Ink:  Dusty Durango

Acc:  Dusty Durango DSP; punches, brads, soft suede ribbon; Dazzling Diamonds

Gargage Sales and Christmas Cards

Lately I have felt like I was back in Washington state!  It has been rainy for over a week now!  Today's garage sale was a bust!!  Luckily, I didn't have that much to sell - just a box load of books and the rubber stamps.  I really didn't figure stamps were going to be a big garage sale item, but thought I'd give it a shot.  I was right!  I set up about 7:30 in the parking lot of our clubhouse in the misty rain.  I sat in the car and read a book and waited, and waited and waited ....  I had 3 people stop by in 3 hours!!  One person bought $10 worth of books.  Sonny came up about 10:30 to bring me the key to the clubhouse bathroom and we waited around for another half hour.  Then I called it quits!!  All the stuff is still in my car - that's another job for tomorrow!  After taking a quick "cat nap" at home, I ran into town and had lunch.  Then I headed over to the stamp store for the final "Christmas Card Make & Takes."  Every Saturday, we've done Christmas cards at the stamp store in Mooresville.  Here are a few of the ones I made:

This one was the one I demo-ed: