Erin Go Bragh!

Freezing Your Nuts

Literally.
I was making my favorite salad for lunch today and I wondered how many of you realized you can freeze nuts? I happen to buy bags of walnuts, pecans and pine nuts at Costco and keep them in the freezer and use them as I need them. I also toast them and keep small amounts on hand in the refrigerator for tossing in salads or pasta. Lightly toasting or roasting the nuts really brings out the flavor. Pine nuts "toast" well in a saute pan on low for 5-7 minutes, stirring often. I toast the pecans and walnuts in the oven at 350 for 5-10 minutes, set the timer in 2 minute increments because once they start to cook, they can burn in the blink of an eye. Store in your refrigerator for up to 3 months. Nuts can stay in the freezer, tightly sealed, indefinitely.
Now for the good stuff!

Catherine's Spinach Salad
Baby spinach
Toasted pine nuts
Canned mandarin orange segments
I use either Light Creamy Balsamic dressing (Kroger Private Selection) or Girard's Raspberry dressing

A very simple salad but the oranges help you absorb all the iron in the spinach, the pine nuts give it a great nutty flavor and both dressings compliment the whole salad. Substitute strawberries or walnuts or add a little goat cheese. YUMMY!
Everything was purchased at Costco except for the salad dressing.

Possible RX From Prescription Drug Prices

I received this story by email this morning. I did check it out on "Snopes" and their research showed the information to be correct. Just remember that there is no guarantee Costco will have the lowest price on generic drugs, but their pharmacy will fill prescription for non-members, just be prepared to pay by cash or check.

"Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought everyone should know about this.
It pays to shop around! This helps to solve the mystery as to why they can afford to put a Walgreen's on every corner. On Monday night, Steve Wilson, an investigative reporter for Channel 7 News in Detroit , did a story on generic drug prices gouging by pharmacies. He found in his investigation that some of these generic drugs were marked up as much as 3,000% or more. So often we blame the drug companies for the high cost of drugs, and usually rightfully so. But in this case, the fault clearly lies with the pharmacies themselves. For example if you had to buy a prescription drug, and bought the name brand, you might pay $100 for 100 pills.
The pharmacist might tell you that if you get the generic equivalent, they would only cost $80, making you think you are saving $20. What the pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100 generic pills may have only cost him $10!
At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether or not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice, and he said that Costco consistently charged little over their cost for the generic drugs.
I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any drug, and get its online price. It says that the in-store prices are consistent with the online prices. I was appalled. Just to give you one example from my own experience I had to use the drug Compazine which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients.
I used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS. I checked the price at Costco, and I could have bought 100 pills for $19.89. For 145 of my pain pills, I paid $72.57. I could have got 150 at Costco for $28.08.
I would like to mention, that although Costco is a 'membership' type store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there as it is a federally regulated substance. You just tell them at the door that you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in."

How do you like them apples?

GREAT IDEA
Have you tried Craig's List? Free classifieds, job postings, homes for sale and personals. I have sold an elliptical, a stereo receiver and a handheld game system--all for free and for the price I wanted. Give it a try @ Craigslist.org

A Little Levity

I think the time has come for a good laugh. I can't even read the headlines these days without going into a deep funk. So my wish for today is that this story gives you a good laugh. I always thought that if I ever pursued a career as a stand up comedian, this would be something I would work into my monologue.
I was about 19 or 20, home from college on summer break and getting ready to go out for the evening. I was putting on my makeup and I used a headband to keep the hair away from my face as make up application is critical and stray hair can be very annoying. That past Valentine's Day, my mother had given me a three pack of cute cotton underpants decorated with hearts and trimmed in red. My sweet mother, always thinking I was a size or two smaller than I actually was, had way underestimated the size I would actually need to cover my rear end (thongs were not the thing back in the 80's) so I tucked them, unworn, into my underwear drawer.
On this particular day, I could not find the stretchy elastic headband that I used to keep the hair out of my eyes during the all important make-up application. I looked everywhere but could not find it and then had a sudden "bright idea" and reached into my underwear drawer and pulled out a pair of the Valentine panties. I popped them over my head and then pushed them back up to keep the hair out of my face. Worn thus, a casual glance wouldn't even give away the fact that I was indeed, wearing panties on my head. I proceeded with my make up application only to be rudely interrupted by my father who reminded me that I had promised him I would go to the liquor store to pick up his order. The order was a large one (I loved that about my dad, go big or go home!) and I had to take his big Lincoln Town Car to get the whole load o'booze. So I hopped in my dad's car and off I went. Upon arriving at the liquor store, I happened to glance in the rear view mirror and the panties were still on my head! Whew! Close call! I whipped them off, fluffed my hair and stuffed them in the garbage can in the car. I got the liquor, finished my errand, finished getting ready for my big night out of what? I remember so many details but not what I was doing that night! I didn't give the underwear another thought.
A few days later my father came home from work very red faced and agitated. He was a manufacturer's sales rep, a salesman, and spent much of his time in those days calling on accounts. My father had discovered my underpants in his car and realizing they were mine, since he had seen me wearing them on my head and had just shaken his head and not commented, put them in his pocket on his way home from work. He decided to make one last call that fateful day since it was on his way home. It was to an old customer and as they were wrapping things up and my father stood chatting with the store owner, he had a coughing attack. My father always carried an handkerchief in his pocket for just such an occasion since he was prone to coughing. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out what he thought was his handkerchief only to wipe his face with the heart covered panties. My father was horrified, as it was VERY obvious what he was holding in his hand, but innocently made this situation much worse by declaring "Oh don't worry, these are my daughter's!"


TIP FOR THE DAY
Dryer sheets. I love them, but I tear them in half. The laundry is just as fluffy and soft and I get twice the amount!