Over the Hill We Go

Remember the nestled in the hills type of town I talked about here? Well guess what!? It is Saturday, June 9, 10:00 a.m. and I am p-a-c-k-i-n-g. This is our third move in the past 10 months and hopefully we can stay put for at least 2-3 years.

I want to thank those who have prayed for us regarding this move to lovely Los Angeles. I am so glad for this experience. I am so glad that Vlad and I get to exercise our faith in trusting the Lord to lead us in this.

It is very humbling to look back into the past 6 months and see how much God has blessed us in this transition. He is so faithful, patient, and merciful. It feels like so much has happened in such a short span of time. My priorities, values, and outlook on the material aspect of our life have definitely shifted; and I continue to pray to God for encouragement in this-- to keep my selfish- stuff wanting- self at bay.


 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. - Hebrews 4:12-13

Still Hunting

Remember when I told you I might be a hunter, here. Well, other than for the deficit of coupons because I have yet to figure out a system on how I can get my hands on Sunday paper's coupons without a subscription and without having to go find a paper each Sunday morning... stands run out of this paper faster than places run out of pancakes (so I heard). Anyways: who runs out of pancakes?!


But here are some pretty cool finds:

Detergent and dish-washing soap: less than $2 for both.

 4 Dial Hand-soaps: $1.44 for all four (0.29 each)

 Paper towels: $4.24 (that's 0.53 a roll.... still learning here---- it is supposed to be even cheaper)

 $4.09 for both shampoo and conditioner... ugh. CVS cashier went against the store coupon policy and wouldn't let me do the actual deal- I got worried and flustered so he won...this time.

 This one is my favorite: $3.87 for all that PLUS $5 gift card which means I made $1.13 in this transaction... (2) shampoos (2) conditioners (1) deodorant and (1) floss.

Peanut Butter Cookies

After making honey walnut shrimp- I had an entire of can of condensed milk left over and not really wanting anything dulce de leche style I opted out to look for a recipe that I could incorporate this can of condensed milk. Of course, I wanted to keep it super simple (ei. very little amount of ingredients).

After browsing through numerous recipes I found one that included only the ingredients I had on hand and found it here on the Eagle Brand website.

These are the ingredients I used:
- 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup of peanut butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups biscuit baking mix---- I used Bisquick for this... and it worked :)
- chocolate chips
- Sugar

Instructions:
- Beat sweetened condensed milk, peanut butter, egg and vanilla in large bowl. The instructions called it to smoothness... it was rather thick... but smooth indeed. Somewhere in your beating of the batter... incorporate the chocolate chips--- I always just eye ball how much chocolate I want in my cookie goodness.
- For about an hour place your smooth batter into the fridge to chill...
- Heat oven to 350°F.
- Shape the cookie dough into 1-inch balls, roll in sugar and place on the baking sheet. Flatten the dough with a fork in a criss cross pattern.
- Bake 6-8 minutes.... warning... over baking will give you pretty hard cookies.

It's a Potato Kind of Thing

I am definitely a potato kind of person... Yup, if it was up to me I would eat potatoes every day, prepared in different ways- boiled: then mashed or tossed and buttered, fried: thinly cut or house potatoes kind of style, baked: either with bacon wrapped around it or topped with sour cream and I can keep going... but point being- I like potatoes.

When Vlad asked me what I was doing right now, I replied that I am figuring out how to store our potatoes, he grabbed his head and said, "oi oi oi mne bi tvoi problemi!" (haha- pretty much means I wish I had your problems). I just laughed because I am ENJOYING these kind of problems.

This is how we store our potatoes now:

In a plastic neon green bin--- excuse them being bagged, I usually "de-bag" them- because that is what you are supposed to do.

After looking around at my options I have found a solution:

source

Now wouldn't something like that be nice? I sure think so, not for that price tag, but I think this can be recreated/customized and do it's fine dandy job... and store my potatoes.