Here's mud in your eye...

Because I have a memory like a sieve, I want to start with the stuff I told you last night that I wanted to mention first.

Here's the cookie I want to make but I haven't yet.  I want to take a Krusteaz peanut butter cookie mix (made according to package directions) and then I want to take a box of milk duds.  Now, the next step is still a little sketchy.  I don't know if it would be best to place the milk duds on top of the cookies while they are baking or if I should go ahead and put them in the mix and bake it that way.  I haven't made these yet because I kept eating the milk duds.  All three boxes.  The movie theater size boxes.  Whatever.  Probably the same thing would happen in your house.

I like soup.  I don't make it alot.  Hubs doesn't believe that a meal is a meal if it isn't roughly 80% meat.  Sometimes that is tricky with soup.  One of the moms from my kiddos' preschool suggested doing a soup exchange.  We make a big ol' batch of soup and divide it up so that you can share with a few different family.  I got 4 different kinds of soup.  Baked Potato, Turkey Noodle, Chicken Rice and Chili.  I had the Baked Potato last night.  It was really chunky and hearty.  I loved it.  Tonight I had the Chicken Rice.  It was really creamy and delicious.  Peanut had the Turkey Noodle last night and ate it all down.  This was just such a fun and easy idea.  I guess I'm gonna have to make good on my contribution.  I owe 4 families my soup.  I'm making Taco Soup.  I'd feel guilty about how easy it is except for the part that it's delicious.  And now it's also time to stock up on a whole mess of crock-pot liners because it's getting to be time for me to plan a little less and work a little less and still provide food for people.  If you have any favorite crock-pot recipes - feel free to share!

Ginger and Zinger were strays dogs.  I drove about 1.5 hours to a shelter to check one (Zinger) out because his picture was on their website.  And since we wanted two dogs so they could be pals, I "interviewed" some other dogs with Peanut and Big Stuff.  Ginger was the very last and was perfect.  The shelter didn't really have any information to pass along about our new family additions.  I do know that Ginger's demeanor was timid and gentle and I wondered if she had been abused.  We have a short fence in our backyard that they manage to jump over.  Originally, Ginger would circle around to the front door and come back in.  Zinger was the wily one.  I always had to chase him down.  Now Ginger is just as stubborn and they run straight past me to check out the four legged neighbors.  They even have the audacity to run as close to me as a skim as they keep going and I can't get my hands on them.  Yesterday, though, I was fuming.  It took 15-20 minutes to get them - 15-20 minutes of running through mud and strangers' yards and various breeds of dog crap.  I get that dogs' memories are nutty.  They go insane if you left the room for 1 one minute and come back and they go equally insane if you take a month vacation and come back.  But really?  This is a good life here.  Sure, the kids smother them with attention but they aren't neglected, they aren't abused, they aren't hungry.  Trying to run away from us??  After all the time and money and investment. Ingrates.  Suckers.

I made a long to-do list today.  I think I accomplished 1.8 items on it.  I'm counting a .8 because there was an important thing that wasn't on my list but I needed to do it and I did it.  And so I didn't get the grocery store.  And after yesterday's experience of taking all 4 kids to Aldi, there was no way in ha ha that I was taking even half of them to another public place.  Let me just walk you through a little of it.  I was looking for some cheap turkeys and a ham and I knew that Aldi had what I needed.  And I thought that if there was even one store that I could manage all of them in, it would be Aldi.  Here's why.  It's a small store.  I couldn't lose anyone.  No nooks and crannies - it's pretty much one room.  Also.  I figure that I would be in good company.  I'm not slamming on Aldi or the people that shop there.  I mean - I'm there!  But I do figure that the more kids you have, the more you need to save money on food, the more you need a place like Aldi and the more kids you have, the less control you have to spread across more people.  I'm hoping I'm making any sense.  Let me lay this down.  I stood out at Aldi.  I was a lunatic.  They were running, they were yelling, they were ignoring, they were soliciting comments from others along the lines of "you have your hands full..." etc.  On the other hand, there was one lovely woman who said "I'm glad it's not just me".  Me too.  Meeee toooo

Today's new thing is Muddie Buddies.  I have enjoyed Muddie Buddies before.  I have never made Muddie Buddies before.  And it may be dangerous that I made them on this day.  Part of the problem is that I have all the ingredients to do it again.  A few times over.  And now I am armed with knowledge in the form of the recipe.  Because it is Yummy.  You know how some things just taste better when someone else makes them for you?  And then you make it and it's not quite as good.  Yeah.  This is not that.  It doesn't really matter who mixes chocolate chips, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and chex cereal together and then sprinkles powder sugar all over it and shakes it up in a bag for to keep all the ingredients locked in and on the cereal.  My only beef is that that box said from start to finish 15 minutes.  Apparently, even though the likelihood is that you are making such a fine, nutritious product for children, there are no children in the vicinity to bother you while you make it while they ask what it is, when it will be ready, if they get to eat some when you are done, standing in the way so that they can stare at the chocolate mixture in the clear bowl while their eyes glaze over.  I think start to finish was actually more in the realm of uhm, one hour.  It's worth it.  Believe that.  10 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.  I LOVE the beginning of the holiday bake season.

That's all I do for today folks.  I have to get up and go to Meijer at 7am.  Don't get me started...