Random Acts of kindness

Hello there and Happy Holidays!

Tom and I have been continuing our random acts of kindness and here are two of the latest!

We taped quarters to the gumball machines at Kroger one night last week. It was strange, walking in we both had this feeling like we were going to get in trouble. We noticed people staring at us and I overheard a couple behind us while we were taping....
"what are they doing?"
"I don't know, must be on drugs"
It was funny, but at the same time sad that kindness is so uncommon we automatically think people are doing something wrong.
Anyways, we hope that some kids enjoyed our RAK!!

Our next RAK was my favorite so far. We found these gorgeous Poinsettias the weekend after Thanksgiving at Home Depot for 99 cents, so we bought 6 with the intention of taking them to a nursing home. We explained to the nurse what we were doing, and asked her to please help us give these to (6) residents who don't get many (or any) visitors. We met some amazing people, who were thrilled to get such a nice surprise....but I think mostly to have a new face to talk to. One lady commented on how handsome Tom was, and I think was a bit sweet on him. I don't blame her ; )  The residents were so grateful, and I realized that even though it's fun to spend money on friends and family......it's a truly moving experience to reach out to those who don't have a lot, or maybe don't even have someone to celebrate with. It's really doesn't take much to make someone's day.

I didn't get a chance to get a good picture as we were walking around, and didn't want to post the residents we saw.....but here is a blurry Tom anyhow.

Till next time Happy Holidays and spread the love!!

Adventures in Holiday Kindness

It seems before Thanksgiving can wind down, we are already gearing up for Christmas. Anyone else feel forced to get out Christmas decoration boxes as you are putting away your fall decoration ones?  I do get excited about the tree and the decorations and getting into the Christmas spirit. It's the one time of year I feel I can be generous without people think I am dying and working on a bucket list. And with the exception of Black Friday, I find that people are a little more "jolly" this month.

This year Tom and I decided not to get each other gifts....as we have an expensive year coming up (wedding!). Instead we are going to do Random Acts of Kindness (RACKs) together. This will be a way for us to reconnect as a couple and enjoy some time together....and also spread some love and cheer while we are at it. It's a win-win!

Follow me as I blog about our adventures in kindness this holiday season. Maybe it will inspire you to do the same. I would love to hear about your RACK experiences.....receiving or giving!

......Our first RACK was to send some gifts to the military. I chose (2) random soldiers from the www.anysoldier.com site. This is a great tool for those who like to support the troops this time of year. You can choose a person by branch, home state, length of tour....etc. Most have a "wish list" that makes it easy to shop. Our two soldiers asked for movies, Doritos, Ramen noodles, and powdered drink mixes. Tom and I set our budget for $50 and headed off to Sam's Club! For just under $50 we were able to get....

(8) movies: $20 (sale 2/$5) Good movies too, like V for Vendetta and Blood Diamond!
(50) individual bags of chips $11
(50) packages of Ramen noodles $6
(50) individual Crystal Lite packs $9

We wrote a letter to send with the packages, added some pictures and headed off to the post office!

Now I will say mailing things to the troops is not easy or cheap.....anyone who wants to brainstorm a way to make this better during the holidays has my support! But it is well worth it.....just plan on some time at the Post office.

And here is the BEST PART! While we were at the post office and man approached us and asked if we were sending stuff to troops, and we said yes. He gave us a $10 bill and said, "Thank you. Here is some help with postage" I almost cried. Our first random act of kindness and it's already spreading! Can't you just feel the love and cheer oozing out around the city!?

 

On our way home we stopped at Long's Bakery to pick up a couple donuts, and there were some tree and gutter men working outside on the building across the street. It was a terribly windy and cold day so we decided on a spontaneous RACK and bought them yeast donuts (only $5) and said "Happy Holidays!"

We all have thoughts of generosity. I encourage you to spend just one day acting on those thoughts and seeing how different the world can be. You truly can make a difference!

Till next time!

More dinners

Still chugging along with my dinners. This cabinet, which used to be PACKED full, now has some breathing room. And I am making a huge dent in my stash of frozen meat.

So without further delay,  here is what we have been eating ther past few nights:



Grilled Cheese & soup

This one was pretty easy. I totally scored and found a loaf of bread in the back of the freezer! Hooray! You can eat just about anything when it is on bread. I also founds some cheese slices I bought on sale and froze. Note: cheese freezes well but gets crumbly so the slices were great for grilled cheese. I also found 1 can of tomato soup (for Tom) and a veggie soup (for me). A nice comforting dinner.

My grade: B (only because it was sort of boring)

Fiancee: A

Chicken Parmasan

sorry for the blurry pic, I was in a hurry to eat!

I could not believe I actually had everything for Chicken Parmasan. Thank goodness I saved 2 slices of motzarella cheese from grilled cheese night. If you have never made C.P. before, you should try it, it is easier than it looks. I put the breast between plastic wrap and pound them out till they are about 1/4" thick (flat). Then season with S&P. Dip in flour, then a beaten egg, then Panko bread crumbs. the secret is PANKO bread crumbs and not normal every day bread crumbs. I also added basil and oregano to the Panko. Cook in a small amount of oil in a pan till almost done then top with sauce and a slice of cheese and pop in the oven till the cheese is brown and ooey-gooey delicious.

My grade: A+

Fiancee: A+

Sloppy Joes

I had bought these deli roll/bun things for a shrimp po-boy recipe. But since my recent allergy to shrimp has popped up....the recipe and the buns have been lost in the freezer. But when I found the soup the other night, I found a can of Mamwich.("Really I bought a can of mamwich?") Anyhow, I had a pound of ground beef in the freezer so it worked out great. This was a nice carb loaded dinner that made you feel like you wanted to explode when done. Why can't I find forzen bags of strawberry and spinach salad?

My grade: B

Fiancee: A (he is so easy to please!)

Pasta Surprise

I don't even know what this is, but it was really good. This is the definition of throwing things you find together to make something half way edible. The ingredients are:

-Pasta

-The remaining alfredo sauce from the pizza we made the other night

-half of a red bell pepper (used the other half in the juicer)

-a found found bag of frozen asparagus (total score!)

-chicken breast, cubed. The other 2 breast (from package of 4)  from the ones thawed out for Chicken Parm night.

My grade: A

Fiancee: A

A couple others we have had that I forgot to take pictures of are:

Pork chops with yellow squash, yellow bell pepper and rice.

chicken sausage on those deli roll/buns with green beans and some pre-packaged-noodle-just-add-milk thing.

So I am at about 15 dinners, and I got to say I don't think I will make it to 30. We are going to run out of stuff. However, so far I am pleased with how it is going. My cabinets, freezer, and fridge are not so crowded and I don't feel so overwhelmed looking thru it all. This also sets us up for starting to eat healthier by getting the "junk" outta here, without wasting it and just throwing it in the trash.

Cheers!