First, I want to apologize for not checking the comments until today from last week’s post. I got caught up in a few things, and didn’t check my blog for a few days. If you get time, several great ideas came in about good foods to cook when you get unexpected company or are cooking for a crowd, so you might want to check the comments from last week’s post if you’d like to read them, and you can always add yours. Since my comments are all moderated, I have to read them before they post, which means I have to read them……you get the idea! I’ll try to keep more on top of things this week.
Today, one of my sisters came and we cleaned and started to set up for Thanksgiving. We had a great time chatting and the housework seemed to do itself. What fun!
I had fun putting out some fall decorations. Last summer, Rob stumbled upon a huge box of artificial fall flowers at a yard sale and it was free. So, of course he grabbed it and put it in the shop for me to see if I could use any of it. This week, I was delighted to find brand new stems of flowers, a basket, some burlap, and some already finished table decorations. I’m not done digging in the box and am already super excited. I put some things from other years with the new items and it’s starting to look festive around here.
There were quite a few people though the house this week. I have been cooking up a storm. Besides the puffy green bean bake (basically cheese, eggs, gf bread crumbs, dried onions, a little 1/2 and 1/2 and of course leftover green beans) and apple crisp, I made ham and beans, a huge vegetable-beef soup, and experimented with a new Instant Pot recipe for jambalaya. It’s the second time I’ve tried this recipe and switched it up to make it less ricey and less spicy. It came out great, but I have a little more tweaking to do.
I had 2 sizable, separate gifts of food this week. I’m very thankful. It seems that the more I serve out, the more God brings to my door. I never run out of food, no matter how many people eat here.
I took Patsy and my niece, Michaela, down to the church to help with the Operation Christmas Child collection. Michaela really wanted to help this year, and since she was spending the weekend with us, we got to tag along. This is actually something that is near and dear to my heart, so it was nice to get a chance to do it again. Our church is a collection site. That means individuals and groups from all over the area bring the boxes to the church, and volunteers pack them into large cartons to then be loaded onto semis and transported to the warehouse to be sent around the world. We received over 900 boxes just on Saturday! Wow! It was so nice to see the community coming together in such a powerful way to show God’s love around the world.
I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. We have much to be thankful for, and it will be so nice to gather together as a family again. I have some fun activities planned with the kids to keep bringing the holiday spirit to the day, so will share what we made later.
Rob’s mom gave us quite a few Butternut squash she got from her brother. One has already been cooked and eaten. They store very well, so we will eat them over the next few months.
The super ugly dill was the remains of my dill patch in one of my raised beds. I saved some seeds for growing, but these seeds are probably immature, so I put them in a baggie for cooking. Rob also used some of this dill in cooking. We are trying to put every last bit of the garden to use, and I’ve been surprised that a few things are still lingering so late in the season. We finished up the lettuce I had picked and Rob told me there are a few more snow peas out there. I’ll have to go pick them soon.
Last year, my niece gave me an African violet. It’s blooming! I did not kill it!!! Also, I noticed there were two little plants in the container, so I re-potted them both this week and they now have more room to grow.
I took my grandson to the park a couple of times this week. He loves to hold bouquets of fall leaves we pick up on our way there. I also love that he’s wearing the bomber jacket Rob found at a yard sale or thrift store (can’t remember) for way under $5. I keep it at our house so he always has a coat there. Today, the kids/babies came to church and then over for lunch after. I pushed Malcolm down to the park and we tried the swing again. He enjoyed it, smiled and even laughed today, for the first time. Before today, such as when this photo was taken, he’s not been so sure he likes that swing. We also took Jake down to the same park another time, and went for quite a few walks this week, with kids and without.
Rob and I were just talking this week about how thankful we were that his hip surgery was so successful. He has walked more in the past year and a half then he had walked for years and years. He had a routine re-check on his hip and it’s doing great.
I cooked a lot, as we had a lot of people through the house this week. (The busiest day had 4 of my children, 1 niece, 1 nephew and 2 grandsons, along with Rob and I…) I sent Rob down to the store for groceries. I didn’t need much–produce and dairy mostly, so I just sent him to the Winco near our house. He got out of there for under $40, which I was thrilled with. I didn’t need the specials from some of the other stores this time–carrots and celery are very cheap anywhere you buy them around here, and those were two of my main needs this time.
Yesterday, one of my daughters offered to go buy some groceries if I wanted anything as she was going to a certain store anyway, and they eat here a lot, so wanted to help out. I happily made out a list of basic items I could always use and she brought me those, plus things that were on sale there, such as 2-lbs of shredded Kroger cheese for $3.97, potatoes for $1.99, whole milk that her baby drinks, the spinach I forgot to write down for Rob…stuff like that. Rob had asked for some sausages that were on sale and she didn’t know which kind he liked, so got him 4 packages, all different kinds. He’s already eaten the hot Italian package. Yum, I guess–I left it to him:). Then she threw in a couple of bags of chips for good measure and donated it all to our cause. That really helped out this week, and kept me under budget.
Here are some ways I keep in budget when so many keep coming over for lunch/dinner/every time in between:
I almost always have white rice cooked and ready to go in the fridge. They eat it with butter, salt and pepper, or with milk and cinnamon sugar or one adds it to her stir-fry. It seems to be a favorite of all.
I make soup for those who eat it. Since I’m dealing with special needs and lots of preferences, Rob and I are the ones who eat the most of that.
I buy meat and seafood on sale and in bulk–for example, last summer I got shrimp for under $3/lb. and bought several 2-lb. bags, which we are using now. That was the best price I’d ever seen. We are expecting our 1/4 beef to be ready one of these days. When chicken was 67c/lb, we got 4. 2 girls eat only seafood and dairy–no other meat, one son wants hamburgers all the time, some visitors only want cinnamon sugar toast or cold cereal or ramen noodles….you see how it is around here, so I get everything on sale or in bulk if possible, especially protein. My grandson, however, will eat every single thing I give him, other than bananas. How refreshing and fun to cook for, I must say:)
I do a lot of taco/taco salads as people can add or subtract at will–and it’s one daughter’s favorite meal of all time, and enjoyed by all.
I often make baked potato bar–same story–they can add or subtract at will.
I use dry beans to make refried beans, chili, chili mac, and other recipes. These are very economical.
I make lots of crisps and other fruit-based desserts or just serve canned fruit in a bowl, as it is very accessible to me in the summer to can or freeze and I always have lots on hand.
What do you do when lots of people come over to eat at your house?
Last night, we helped at a harvest party at the church. It was especially nice that the grandsons could come. I think the girls did a great job dressing them up. We signed up to help with whatever Miss Carol needed at the event, so along with set up and clean up. Rob and I were assigned the “treat walk.” We used piles and piles of cookies and treats many church ladies made and donated. We played the music, stopped it, drew numbers….and what do you know? Every single person won! :). :). There were so many treats, so why not? We had a ball. I was surprised at how many children did not know what a cakewalk was or how to play. So I ended up leading them around and around the circle. Since we had several hundred children come to the event, and the ones who chose to play this game could do it as many times as they wanted, I ended up with over 12,000 steps by the end of the evening when they were added to the walk and the lawn mowing I had done earlier in the day. It was a double bonus to me! Rob figured some of them were young enough that with things being cancelled for Covid, they likely had never played the kinds of games that were there (cakewalk, ring toss, etc.). There was also a super cool blown-up slide no one had to tell them how to play, and a parking lot full of trunk-or-treat cars, each with a game inside.
Although much of the week was filled with babysitting, I slipped out to the garden one day and was delighted to find some good lettuce and snow peas. I also kept pulling up old tomato plants and other spent bushes. There’s a lot of outside work left to do, but I’m cleaning out the old plants whenever I get a chance, between rain showers. While cleaning out one raised bed, I found some small onions. I thought I had planted some green onions there, but…small, round onions there were. So I pulled them and we are eating them fresh.
Although we do have a bin full of baby toys that were given to us, Malcolm has decided a partially emptied water jug is a really good toy. He carries it up and down the hall, in and out of the rooms……for quite a while.
He also has his own style when it comes to hats….although I’m sure the rain won’t stay out of that hat! (It’s a colander)
I continue cooking from the freezers and pantries. This crisp was made from lots of odds and ends of frozen fruit. It’s mostly blackberries, with a few raspberries, blueberries and peaches thrown in. Ice cream was 77c/carton this week, so we got some. We also got cheese for $5/brick, 67c/lb whole chickens, 97c frozen pizzas, cream cheese for $1/pkg and some other basic cooking things.
Of course, we used our pantry, home-canned and frozen food, and made lots of tasty meals. We cooked the last older chicken left in the freezers, boiled the bones and made chicken-noodle soup, chicken salads, and just plain roasted chicken. I got 2 new packages of ground turkey, so used an older one to make meatballs. I saved the last bit of spinach in a bag by using them in the meatballs, even though they had been placed in a bad spot in the fridge and were starting to freeze a bit. All this rotation, and constantly using things that are coming to the end of their days is a bit of work, but it’s what keeps us eating food that is not freezer burned or old, purchased at the lowest possible prices.
Peanut butter was $1 a jar, so I bought 10 and used 1 to make peanut-butter/chocolate chip cookies. Most were frozen. I only have to make these every 2-3 months, as we don’t eat many cookies, but I like to have some frozen for times when we want them for one reason or another.
I’ve had the pleasure of watching babies, mostly Malcolm, for the past 9 days, for at least a little while each day and one overnight, as his mama and auntie are packing. I mostly did that during the evenings, as Jake and Michaela were here for their usual times, plus Jake stayed over one night. Rob, Patsy, and a couple of friends’ kids are over there today, helping them actually move it over to the new place. They’ve been dropping in for meals at unexpected moments, so I’ve been cooking extra. I’m glad they are finally actually moving now, although I think it will take a few days for them to get settled and the old place cleaned all the way. With the housing market the way it is around here, we are more than thrilled that they finally found a place to move into. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t cheap. But, they have another roommate so they can split the cost, and that helps, so they were able to get a 3-bedroom house. I’m happy for them. I’m itching to get my fingers into their boxes and help them unpack, but they were convinced that it would be more help for me to watch the baby today, so….I’m having a pretty relaxing day after all.
We had a great week filled with family and fall fun. One thing we did was get a pumpkin for Malcolm for only 9c/lb at Safeway. Auntie Patsy helped him carve it. Actually, as fast as she scooped the insides out, he tried to load them back in…it was really cute to watch. We got way more than $1.80 worth of entertainment, just watching the show!
In fact, it was so fun, they did it again the next day with Patsy’s pumpkin. All the pumpkins, plus the 3 little pie pumpkins are decorating our front porch and look great.
I cooked several “slow” foods this week. First, I made another batch of refried beans. I froze several cartons of those as we have been burning through the ones I made the other day. I also cooked several packages of pinto beans and froze them for future quick meals. I made some split pea soup and also some vegetarian black bean taco soup. I call these slow foods because first I soaked the beans all night, then cooked them in various ways over the next couple of days. They also take a few hours to cook down. After that process, they become “fast food” for me as I have the finished products ready for quick thawing and eating on busy days. I have quite a few dry beans, lentils and split peas out in my pantry as I buy them in bulk when I get low. They are very inexpensive when purchased this way and keep a long, long time.
Mom came over one day and the grandbabies came over to play with her. We all had fun.
I got to spend quite a bit of time with the boys this week, as they and their Mama and Auntie are moving. The landlord where they rent wants the house back, and they just finally found a new place to live. So, I anticipate spending quite a few hours with one boy or the other this week as packing and moving goes on. Rob and Patsy already took one van-load of items to Union Gospel Mission for them, but they have a ways to go.
I’ve been using the grocery ads to keep the pantry stocked up. Butter has been under $2/lb around here lately, and I got 5 dozen eggs for $5. Milk has been 88c for 1/2 gallon and there was Safeway cheese for $5/2-lb brick or bag of shreds.
I fed people the soups I made, a vegetable-beef soup, burritos, salads, bbq’d chicken Rob made, some cube steak he fried, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, and a big batch of deviled eggs. We used canned and frozen fruits and veggies as well and many other items I have preserved like pickles and relish, red cabbage and apples, peach crisp from home-canned pie filling, dilly green beans and more. The girls and babies are eating over here quite a bit lately, so I just keep cooking. Good thing I love to cook! I’m very thankful for all that I was able to preserve. Once they get moved, they won’t eat here as much, but for now, this just works for all of us.
I’ve also grabbed napkins and paper plates for Thanksgiving, as the shelves continue to empty as fast as they are stocked for some items. We had Patsy run into the Dollar Tree for some plain colored napkins–I wanted red, orange and yellow, since I was having trouble finding fall-decorated ones. She said the shelves looked empty in many places and there were few choices of any kind of fall decor. She got red and yellow. I’m going to use those to supplement the few “pretty” ones I found at JoAnn’s on Saturday. I can use my plain-colored tablecloths and Rob found some artificial fall blooms at a yard sale in a free box a while back, and I’m going to make centerpieces from them, so I feel pretty well set now.
The weather has turned rainy and windy. I’m still dashing outside whenever there’s a break and pulling old flowers, and weeds so was able to fill the yard debris bin this week, always a triumph for me. I transplanted strawberry runners into a raised bed and pulled out some spent vegetable vines/plants. I was able to pick a few more flowers and bring them in to enjoy.
Rob and I continue to exercise by taking frequent walks. I also push the baby down the street in the stroller whenever I get an opportunity. It’s win-win for both of us.
Fall has really arrived. We are enjoying the colors we see in the trees and bushes as we go on our frequent walks. We’ve had a little rain now and then and there is quite a bit expected in the next week. Of course this means that we are frantically trying to get the fall chores done outside.
I spent quite a bit of time on my front yard this past week. Sadly, it was in pretty bad shape. It looks better, but there’s still a lot to be done. I dug up some calla lily bulbs that were taking over a section of the flowerbed. They were even growing through the bushes. I pulled spent flowers and planted a few pansies. I planted some Canna Lily bulbs a friend gave us and divided and moved some irises. I removed some tulip bulbs that were too close to the edge of the flowerbed and re-planted them. I’m hoping these changes will make things easier in the long run as I fill the beds with more perennials.
I’ve been picking little bits of this and that from the garden. There’s not a lot left, but we are eating what there is. Rob put a dryer of tomatoes on. I just haven’t gotten it done and we did use the ones we dried last summer. We had our first frost earlier this week, but it wasn’t severe. Many bushes are still alive, but growing very slowly with the cold nights. Veggies that do finally mature rot or mold quickly. The garden is clearly almost done. There are still a few flowers left, so I happily picked some today.
I didn’t need much from the store this week, so used my grocery money on things to fill holes in my pantry. I got Progresso clam chowder for 99c/can. It is gluten-free, and makes a handy lunch on busy days. This is the second time they’ve had that extremely good sale this fall, so I have purchased over 30 cans in all. That is more than I bought last year, as we ran out and didn’t find them on sale again. Instead, the same cans were between $2.50 and $2.79 when I did find them, and I left them at the store:). I got a few more items as well, along with a little fresh produce and dairy.
We did have to go to 2 Safeway stores, a Dollar Tree and a Fred Meyer store to get what we needed and we spent less than $50 all together. The empty section of shelves seem to be quite random, according to which store we were in. The Dollar Tree was the worst, Rob said. Thankfully we only needed a couple of things from there and we were fortunate enough to find them.
We had a missions conference at our church Saturday and Sunday. I haven’t attended anything like that for so long, I think I appreciated the opportunity even more than I would have before. On Saturday, a young couple we know came home with us for lunch on the spur of the moment. Rob slapped together some peanut butter sandwiches and some others made from some of our home-canned tuna. I warmed up the soup I had made a couple of days earlier and added the carton I had frozen for the future. I popped open a jar of home-canned peaches and we had lunch in a hurry, since we had to go back for the afternoon session. I was so glad I had so much “fast food” in my cupboard so we could enjoy our time with them. I really loved the fact that they brought their baby and toddler over with them. You know I love babies:). It was nice to be able to save both families the cost of eating out, as well.
Jake spent several days and a couple of nights at our house this week. We had a “party” one evening. It involved some treats to eat, a movie of his choice, and some fun. My sister came over that day and played games with him endlessly (thank you sis! It’s a true sign of love for our nephew to play Clue…and more than once!!!). We also enjoyed the babies that day. It was a pretty chaotic day, and lots and lots of fun. At one point, we popped Malcolm into his stroller and left Rob in charge of the chaos at home and took off and pushed him down the street for a couple of miles. Everyone was happy. (In this picture, Patsy has wrapped him up tightly, like a burrito, with a blanket and surrounded him with cats, books, pillows, etc……..they were having a great time just goofing around.)
After a week of being busy every single day, I was so happy to stay home today and really clean up my extremely messy house. I swept up an amazing pile of dirt and dog hair, mopped away what felt like an acre of dirt from the floors, dusted, cleaned that much-used bathroom (we only have one and there were a LOT of people through this house this week!) and even cleaned SO MUCH dirt off the the ceiling fan over the table.
This evening, I’m just sitting and basking in the cleanliness while it lasts. Which won’t be long. Just sayin’. But it’s nice tonight, and alway nice to know it’s “clean underneath” no matter who comes to call, throw toys or track mud tomorrow.
The cauliflower has ripened in our area. I’ve been waiting for this moment. On Saturday, Rob and I decided to make our giardiniera. Last year was the first time I had ever made it. It was hard to know exactly what recipe to choose because there were so many variations out there. We just picked one that wasn’t too sweet, made a few jars, and Rob loved it so much he was rationing it by January or February. We wanted to make a large quantity this year.
I sent him out to buy cauliflower from a farm stand, carrots from the restaurant supply place in a 25-lb bag, and lots of celery. While he was gone, I washed jars and picked all of the remaining peppers I could find. I also started peeling all of the tiny onions we had separated out into a box for this purpose. Some were only an inch or so, and some were larger. Those were cut into 1/4ths. When he got home, he kept peeling onions. That was time-consuming, but provided a way to use some onions that would have possibly gone to waste.
We may have gotten a little carried away. As I was cutting veggies, I just kept having to get more bowls because they were so full I couldn’t stir the veggies up. They were really, really big bowls. Rob quickly filled all the jars I had washed and needed more. I had to climb to the attic in the shop where we store “un-needed” jars and used every single one of my empty wide-mouth pints, except 2. I had to make batch after batch of brine. 18 quarts and 50 pints later…..well, needless to say, this project went on for about 10 hours. It’s a good thing I had Rob pick up another gallon of vinegar while he was out and about. I did get 15 pints of carrots canned in the middle somewhere….so that job is done now, as well.
The entire 25 pound bag of carrots was used, except about 2 pounds I saved for fresh eating. 4 heads of cauliflower didn’t sound like much when he called from the stand….Again, I saved enough for a meal to eat fresh but there was still a lot more than I thought.
It was a big project. I’m delighted it’s done. I’m really glad to know that no one will need to ration vegetables around here.
Yesterday, we stopped by a different farm stand where they had cauliflower for only $3 for huge heads.
Even the colored ones were only $3. I got 6. I cleaned, cut, blanched and froze 12 baggies of white and 16 baggies of mixed colors. This is about double what I froze last fall. We were completely out by a little after Christmas. Sometimes it’s quite amazing to think about how many vegetables we eat around here. It’s why I keep very detailed records. Otherwise I wouldn’t believe we could eat as many as we do.
You may wonder why I don’t grow my own cauliflower. I tried a few times. It turned out terrible. It was small, buggy, bitter, or didn’t grow at all. One time Lovana grew one nice one. Not me. So I support local farmers who have it down to a science.
Last, but not least, we needed to pick the basil and make our pesto before it frosted and possibly froze the bushes. That meant we had to do it yesterday. We did 2 double batches and got 2 ice cube trays full. It’s incredible how many basil leaves it takes. We don’t eat a lot of pesto, but we love having it on occasion. I already made some salad dressing with some of it. Yum!
I left some in case it didn’t die from frost just yet, but it’s on its last leg, regardless, and it won’t be long until I pull what’s left of it. I’ve been pulling other plants each week, but still have quite a bit of clean-up to do outside.
The weather has changed. We’ve had a fire in the wood stove several times now. It’s been raining occasionally, and did frost last night. I’m getting ready to snuggle down and do some inside tasks. Each season has it’s own set of things I enjoy, but I do have to admit I will miss being in the garden so much.
My plants are getting a little sad and sorry looking, but I’m still enjoying every last blossom I see. We had a pretty heavy frost this morning, the first of the fall, but many plants are still alive.
Since frost was predicted, yesterday I picked what I could find in the garden.
It’s looking pretty bad out there:)
I may still get a little more, but the nights are getting so cool that the growth rate of the veggies is very, very slow and the plants are looking about finished in most cases.
I’m glad I put the cover on the raised bed. I’m not sure what I’ll get from these tiny plants this fall, but they should be able to put on some growth in the spring if the slugs don’t consume them and I’ll have early veggies. I’m hoping the walnut shells will be discouraging to the slugs. It seemed to help last winter/spring.
I soaked pinto beans and made both refried beans and chili. At the beginning of Covid, we had a choice between 50 pounds of beans for about $23 or no beans at all. I’ve shared a few and we’ve eaten a lot, but trust me, I’ve still got lots of pinto beans to work my way through. I added peppers and onions from my garden to the refried beans to give them flavor. Later in the week, I made some enchiladas with some of them, we ate some and froze the rest. Our meals were very simple this week, as I was extra busy with many things.
I made salad a couple of times from this leaf lettuce mixed with a head of iceberg from the store.
We had a few days of beautiful weather, and a few days of much-needed rain lately. On one of the nice days, Rob played bubbles with our grandson. Bubbles are one of the most economical “toys” a person can buy, and boy are they a favorite. I’m sure I could save even more by making my own, but I’m quite willing to spring for the 50c or $1 I paid for these for the sake of time. I took him for a walk in the rain another day. He seemed to enjoy that, too. Almost every time he comes over, I push him down the street in the stroller we used for his mother. We are sure getting our money’s worth out of that!
It looked like quite serious business to me, at times!
We read a book about apple picking during school one day and went on a field trip to pick one bucket of apples from a near-by orchard. Jake was dying to ride in the wagon, so we took turns pulling him.
The kids really got into posing for the “apple-picking photo” and in fact posed for 3 or 4. I was surprised about how much fun they had at an activity they’ve done many times before, and how quickly that bucket filled! You could fill it for $15. We offered to pay an extra dollar or two because ours was ultra-full. But, they declined additional payment, which was kind, I thought. The kids would have filled several buckets they were having so much fun, but I didn’t need more, and I didn’t want to can a whole bunch as I’ve already done applesauce and pie filling. We do like dried apples and also canned apple slices and wedges with red hots, but I can always go back if I get enthusiastic.
I canned a few more diced tomatoes and did stewed tomatoes for the first time, ever. Rob fondly remembers his Mom making them and he loved them. Her method was to fill her sink with tomatoes, peppers, onions and celery and stir it around with her hands and can it up. I needed more direction, so got a recipe from the new Ball Canning Book I bought this summer. It was called stewed tomatoes with vegetables and I had to can it in a pressure canner. The 11 jars came out great. Rob made some jalapeño jelly, as well.
I picked tomatoes, peppers, green beans, lemon cucumbers and zucchini from the garden. I used chives from one of the raised beds.
I put coverings on one raised bed to encourage the tiny lettuce, spinach, snow peas and cilantro that came up. The kale and cabbage look awful. I think the slugs are the victors this time, but we will see. I spread old walnut shells around to discourage them, but…..
I started removing a few old tomatoes bushes if they looked done and started cleaning up a couple of spots in the flower beds. There’s going to be a lot to remove and I don’t think I can do it all at once! I put what I could in our compost bins and filled the yard debris bin with branches, ivy and weeds that had gone to seed. It’s so nice to fill that when I can as I don’t want any more ivy or weeds around here!
Rob and I did a little sorting in the freezers. We wanted to know how much beef was left from last year’s quarter beef we bought to make sure we really needed another quarter as our beef farmer was asking us. We inventoried the other protein as well while we were at it. I’ve got lots of chicken, trout, 1 turkey, 1 ham and a little pork, a lot of hamburger and a very few other pieces of beef. We will get the beef, as usual, but may share some of it, and some of the cost with another person who has an interest.
I’ve been working hard at fall cleaning. The garage was my first mission. It was a huge mess, and that’s an understatement. I tend to just dump things out there and run to the next thing on the list during heavy canning season. Now, all of the homeschool materials are sorted, binned up, and organized in a better fashion for both Patsy and Jake. The grocery sack of books I got for $2 at a yard sale are shelved. The pantry shelves are organized and inventoried. A huge pile of old clothes and a few other items have been hauled away and donated. Bulk foods have been re-packaged into my old ice cream buckets and glass jars and labeled. The seeds are semi-organized for next year in their section of the garage.
We use our garage for an extra room, mostly for storage as our house is very small. I plan to host Thanksgiving here this year and plan to have extra seating out there so everyone does not need to be so close together. (I’m aware some family members still may not want to come, due to Covid, but some do.). I love that the garage could be set up for a party right now, so there will be no pressure later as long as I keep it clean. I love that I know exactly what food supplies I have in my pantry. Very little gets wasted that way, since I go through that a couple of times a year. Occasionally I find something that we just don’t like and I can’t get anyone to eat, and this year was no exception, but I had very little I chose to throw away.
I identified gaps in my pantry and placed an Azure Standard order for some bulk buy to fill it in. I also made a small list for Costco and a few other stores.
I continue to cook mainly from the freezers, pantry and garden and to use the grocery money for bulk purchases. The garden is still producing a few veggies so I want to use them as much as possible while I still can. I also want to use the little tidbits I found while organizing the shop freezers. It’s so easy to “lose” things out there, especially in the chest freezer.
This week I plan to cook or have already cooked: corn flake-coated chicken drumsticks (using older corn flakes found while cleaning garage), teriyaki beef and chicken (from a package of beef that had strawberries spilled all over it somehow and chicken that had been around for way too long but was still fine), a new potato soup recipe from a library cookbook in my Instant Pot (using very sad, old potatoes found in garage under something, 1/2 brick cream cheese that needed using and some other ingredients), potato salad (from rest of old bag of potatoes), stir-fried vegetables (zucchini, carrots, onion from garden), white rice (from 50 pounds purchased for$10 at beginning of Covid), brown rice (from a package that was getting old), ground pork sandwiches (from frozen, already cooked pork in freezer), something from some pork roast and lots of home-canned and frozen fruits and vegetables, plus garden produce.
We were allowed into the library for the second time since Covid started. We had to make an appointment. I made one for the first hour, first day available and had a great time:). Holds are finally starting to come in less than 4 months, although I still have some things that have been on hold for that long or longer. Things are looking up:)
God has been blessing us right and left. When we need something, it’s there. It’s that simple. We have had several needs met lately by people who had no idea we even needed anything because we didn’t tell anyone. Anyone but God, that is. It’s a little early for Thanksgiving, but we feel very thankful and blessed right now, so I couldn’t help throwing that in today:)
This week, we celebrated the arrival of fall by doing some extra activities with the kids. On the first day of fall, we decorated the extra fall-shaped sugar cookies I had frozen before we went to the beach. Then, we made fall cards.
Rob organized the project. It involved collecting fall leaves on our walk, then spattering them with watercolors so that when the leaf was removed, the shape of the leaf was left on the card.
Another day, we made some cinnamon puffs. They are like little fritters. The kids enjoyed the project and they were soon eaten, especially when the big girls and babies dropped by later in that afternoon and helped eat them.
We had 2 birthday parties. One was for sweet Allison and one was for my aunt. I made hamburgers, coleslaw, and beans along with the big chocolate cake and we had some ice cream for Allison’s party. We played games and had fun with our son, Anthony and his girl, Allison. For my aunt’s party, my sister did the hosting. I took a pan of enchiladas–easy! Both gatherings were kept extremely small, but it was nice to get together.
A friend gave us some dahlia starts in pots earlier in the summer. A few of them recently bloomed. I’m trying to get an idea of what they look like and how tall they are before I plant them in the flowerbeds. This one is especially pretty.
I canned the rest of the whole tomatoes I needed and 3 more pints of diced tomatoes. I also made 7 pints of enchilada sauce, using all the tiny tomatoes, yellow ones and cherry tomatoes I could gather. There are just too many for us to eat fresh. They are winding down, though, so I’m glad I pretty much have what I need. When Rob’s cousin graciously offered us more tomatoes, I was able to say “no,” gratefully and thankfully for the offer, of course, but still “no.” Truthfully, many of my jars are filled now. The shelves have only a few small spaces left. I have plans for those spots and will fill them, but there comes a time where I need to move on to other things that need to be done and not can just to can, not fill jars just because I have a few empty ones left…. Other than things that are ready yet, like cauliflower, I’ve preserved what I need and a little more for a carry-over.
One of those things that desperately needs done is cleaning. My house is a disaster. It makes sense. I’ve spent up to 14 hours some days growing or picking produce and dealing with it. So I started with the garage, which became a handy place to drop boxes, buckets, food items, toys, crafts and garage sale items over the past few months. I’ve put in about 2-1/2 hours so far, over 2 days, and you can hardly tell at all. I plan to clean a little, in short increments, several times a week until it is done. Once things are sorted through and organized, I will be able to tell if I have enough for a garage sale, or just want to donate the excess. I go through my food storage pantry shelves a couple of times a year out there, so I should make faster progress when I get to that section as it shouldn’t be too messy.
I cleaned out the freezer over the fridge in the kitchen. I found lots of food I had frozen for future meals so we are eating a lot of that this week. I put empty ice cream buckets I’d saved in there, one for baggies of frozen fruits and one for frozen vegetables. I’m hoping I have stopped the avalanche each time the freezer is opened. So far, so good!
I made vegetable soup, clam chowder, enchiladas, zucchini noodle lasagna, and thawed several pre-cooked items I’d cooked in the past.
We were able to get 24 cans of Progresso clam chowder on the 99c/can sale this week. All of my regularly budgeted grocery money this week has gone on stocking the pantry–things like this soup, 25 pounds of 1 to 1 flour, etc. and a little dairy and produce. Since we ate the camper freezer food, and now the house freezer food, I really don’t need much so this is a perfect time to load up on pantry items.
I was asked for the salsa recipe I use. Here it is:
Tomato Salsa (using paste tomatoes)
from: Salsa Recipes for Canning (A PNW Extension publication)
7 quarts peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes (I pour boiling water over a big bowl of tomatoes, drain it off, cover with cold water, peel and pulse in a food processor, then measure it out)
4 cups seeded, chopped long green chilies (Anaheim mostly, some Ancho in this batch–again, clean them, then pulse in food processor, then measure–it’s whatever grew for me. None of these have heat in my garden, but they do have a good flavor. The heat comes from the other peppers.)
Jalepeno or Hungarian Wax (hot) peppers–I used 8, but you have to taste as you go–add 4, then taste, then add more if needed. The temperature varies so much in my home-grown peppers. I’ve added a Serrano in the past if I needed more heat.
5 cups chopped onions
6 cloves garlic, pulsed with a batch of the tomatoes, onions or peppers
2 cups bottled lemon juice
2 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons cumin
3 Tablespoons dried oregano leaves
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
Combine all ingredients except spices and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. I actually use 2 pots if I make the full batch, 1 if I do 1/2 batch. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add spices and simmer 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle hot into hot pint jars. Leave 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in hot water bath for 15 minutes at 0-1,000 feet altitude, 20 minutes at 1,001-6,000 feet, 25 minutes above 6,000 feet.
Yield: 13 pints
This works best with Roma tomatoes. If you have to use a lot of the more juicy ones, there is another recipe that suggests using a little tomato paste to thicken or to cook it down for quite a bit longer to thicken it up. I use this in cooking sometimes, but mostly it is eaten right out of the jar on chips, tacos, taco salad as dressing, etc. Jar after jar after jar after jar:). They love it!
