state of the Sooky

Writing: 1729 on Pride of the Rangers
Today's total: 1729 total
Monthly word total: 17445

Editing: none

Reading: Eye of the Witch

Workout: none

Flying: made bed, swished and swiped, laundry

Crafting: blue and white scallop afghan, red heart scarf

Media: none

Business: none

Job Hunt: applied at Macy's and UPS

My tweets

• Wed, 02:34: state of the Sooky http://t.co/p8nHhpZA

Adventures in cooking

I am a kitchen witch without an oven! As the weather gets cold, I like my muffins.

So today I tried microwave muffins.

MICROWAVE BANANA BREAD

1 1/2.c flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp. soft butter
1/3 c. milk
2 eggs
2 med. bananas, sliced or mashed
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. pumkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine ingredients in order given. Mix well. Lightly butter a microwave pan. Sprinkle with remaining nuts. Pour in batter. Cook for 7 to 9 minutes on full power or until done. Let stand 5 minutes before turning out of pan.

7 minutes is too long for a coffee mug! that one was a brick. I had a silicon mini bundt pan and the middle two rows came out fine. The end ones didn't cook.

nice texture, moist and very tasty. I substituted oatmeal for 1/2 c. of flour.

Frugal cooking

My old cookbook:
http://www.oocities.org/valarltd/cook.html
basic stuff, but good.

Basic muffins:
2 to 2 1/2 cups grain (flour, oatmeal, wheat germ etc...)
1 cup milk
up to 1/4 cup fat (oil, butter, peanut butter etc...)
1 egg
up to 1/2 cup sweetener (sugar, honey, agave etc...)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
up to 1 1/2 cups additions

Mix all together & bake approx 25 min on 350F
When using very wet additions, reduce the milk or oil somewhat.
I like pumpkin, raisins and some pumpkin pie spice.
Zucchini, cocoa powder and chocolate chips are just decadent.

TVP is your friend. Find a health food store that carries it in the granulated form. It looks like a bag of grapenuts but is substantially cheaper. Blend with water, let stand at least ten minutes. I like to mix it with the hamburger the night before so it can pick upo better flavor.
This is best for meatloaf and salisbury steak.

Rethink meat. Instead of making a slice of it the main dish, add itr in as one more ingredient. 4 pieces of chicken serves six people if you put it in pasta or rice, with vegetables.

Mama's Basic Casserole
serves 6

12 oz-1 Lb cooked starch: pasta, rice, barley
1/2 lb meat
1 lb frozen vegetables.
Sauce

Coordinate the meat and sauce and vegetables. Chicken with mushrooms, onions and rice calls for chicken gravy. Pork with mixed vegetables in pork gravy is good with barley. Beef in a stroganoff sauce is nice over a baked potato. Chicken in chicken gravy is good over stuffing. Tuna with pasta needs peas and mushrooms in a cream sauce. Tonight was bowtie pasta with fake crab in dilled white sauce.

Chili. Make it from dried beans instead of canned. Soak 'em overnight. Put them in the crockpot with the meat and tomatoes.

Potatoes. Baked potatoes can be topped with leftovers for a second dinner.
Hash. Leftover meat, potatoes, onion.
Pot pies: leftover meat, vegetables, gravy under a crust.

websites to help:
http://notesfromthefrugaltrenches.com/frugal-food/
http://notesfromthefrugaltrenches.com/2008/07/05/top-10-ways-to-cut-your-grocery-bill-by-half/
http://www.wisebread.com/25-frugal-food-changes-you-can-make-today
http://thepathtofrugality.blogspot.com/

Wish List 2012

It's that time of year again.

My needs are few but large. My wants are a little more extensive.

Needs:
1) A job. I was fired at the end of October and under circumstances that mean I can no longer drive professionally. (All I want to do is drive or write.) My criteria are high. The job must pay $800/week, have full benefits (medical, vision, dental and 401K) I am in the Memphis area.

2) HVAC work done. Our ducts are ALL bad. If we run the furnace, we can spend a thousand dollars heating the attic and still freeze. We're making do with space heaters and layers. Likewise, a modest repair would allow us to use the AC again in the summer.

3) A repaired oven and range. I have a burned out wire and my wall-oven hasn't worked since August. We're getting into baking season. Two of my four range burners work, and only on high.

4) Shoppers and Readers. I write books. I have written 12 novels (11 are out, one is in edits and slated for January). My top seller has sold 1200 copies. I'd like to sell more. More Amazon reviews would be nice as well.

http://www.brooksandsparrow.com Mostly same sex, but some heterosexual.

Also for the pagan folks with kids:
http://jupitergardens.com/picture-books-for-children/
I am Rowena Wishom. My artists are very talented ladies who are seeing almost no return on this work.

Shoppers: looking for a home-made Christmas gift? I have an Etsy shop. Visit the Den of Debauchery's Gift Shoppe for one-of-kind goodies. I also do special commission work (crochet only)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/valarltd

5) Authors. If you have a story, any kind of original story (no fanfiction, please), that you feel is ready for prime time, talk to me at http://www.inkstainedsuccubus.com I have three pieces currently contracted for spring release, and I would love to see yours. Reprints are fine, especially if you have enough for a complete collection, as long as you have your rights back. Nonfiction is all right too!

6) Artists. I'm looking for artists willing to work for back-end money (i.e. a share of sales, 40% split between artists based on the number of illos they do) on a gaming source book.

My Wants are less major:

Shop small this holiday season. Small press, independent crafters. Watch my LJ for a list of some of my favorite places.

Give if you can. Toys for Tots (donate locally). Project Linus. Rolling Jubilee. Or to your local charity or food pantry.

Be thankful for your loved ones and let them know it (assuming best circumstances here). Tell your children how proud you are of them. Tell your parents how much you love them. Let your spouse know how much they mean to you. Do the same for your friends.

If you appreciate something: a book, a bit of art, a piece of music, a video on youtube, leave a comment. Also, tell someone you know! Especially the books. Reviews at Amazon and Goodreads are an author's lifeblood. Word of mouth is the best advertising ever.

Yarn. I am a crafter and always accepting yarn. Doesn't have to be bought special. If you have some you'll never manage to use, send it and I'll put it to good use. I'm partial to boucles, but basic acrylic is fine.

A Claire's gift certificate, any amount. My daughter wants to get a cartilege piercing for her birthday. And I want one too, for cosplay reasons.

Someone to walk me through, step by step, small business set-up and loan acquisition from the SBA.

Fimo-clay handle crochet hooks. I have one and I love it. As my hands grow more arthritic, I find it easier to hold than the metal (particularly the narrow ones).

Fan-art for any of my books. Even a pic of you cosplaying as one of my characters would thrill me to no end.
(A link to one of me as Angelina Calamity: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/valarltd/conshots/timetravelerballDC09.jpg )

I can be reached by PM
or my email is valarltd at yahoo.