Category Archives: Cooking for a crowd

Cooking for a crowd, Holidays, Mission trip

What Happened to March? 2024

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My life has been such a whirlwind that I blinked…..and March was gone! I cannot believe it is April, but the calendar says it truly is:). What have I been doing? So many things. Here are a few of them.

Easter was amazing. First we went to church and had a wonderful service. I was in the choir, and we had been practicing for weeks on a couple of very powerful songs, and I enjoyed singing them. After church, we had a house full of family and friends…probably around 26 or 27….and I mean a house full, because, as you know, we live in a house with about 1,100 square feet. The weather cooperated and it was nice, which took a lot of pressure off the house itself since people could go out into the yard.

I cooked and cooked and cooked for that. So did Rob. He bbq’d shrimp, the huge fish he caught last summer, ham, chicken and pork. I mashed 10 lbs of potatoes. I used green beans from the garden (5 quarts) and made a huge green bean casserole and boiled some home-canned corn. I made black-bottomed cupcakes, ice cream angel food cake and a white chocolate-raspberry cheesecake. People brought things like salad, some drinks, pie. etc. Still others slipped me some cash to help buy the ham, etc. We put tables and chairs in every crack and corner of our house…. even some in Malcolm’s bedroom and outside.

After we ate, and ate and ate (there was very little left over–just enough for people to take a few leftovers), a friend set up an Easter egg hunt for the kids out on the lawn. They had a great time.

We did so many other fun things in March, as well. Spring break was an especially busy week. We took our grandsons and nephew up to OMSI one day. We took one grandson and our nephew to the Oregon Coast Aquarium one day. There was an afternoon at the church where kids could come play in the gym, and Rob and I were in charge of the snacks, Of course, we took boys to that, as well. There were other times during that week that we helped out with some organizing and cleaning down at the church, to get ready for the return of the kids that are in the after-school program. Thankfully, there were many volunteers and we did a minimum amount of that job, but we still wanted to help.

During the month, our weekly commitments of teaching Sunday School, and cooking for the young adult group continued. We cooked things like tacos, pulled pork and chicken, soups, muffins, desserts, and more…all with gluten-free and dairy-free options. You never know if there are going to be 25 or 40 people, so we all make lots! There are 3 families on the main cooking team, so it’s nice that I don’t need to make it all alone. One night, a lady that is not on the team bought lots of pizzas at Costco for the group because she wanted to be supportive. She sure was! We have breakfast-for-dinner, ham (bought before Easter at 77c/lb), and chicken legs (bought on clearance for 50c/lb and frozen) planned for this upcoming month.

We have also been working an exceeding amount of hours lately, for various reasons.

Rob and I are trying to slip out and take a walk whenever we can. On this day, we were being silly and trying to take a selfie in front of the gorgeous tulips. I was having to stand on my tiptoes to get tall enough for the phone to catch both me and the flowers….

If all this wasn’t enough, we received some exciting news. Rob was asked to go to Kenya in MAY (yes–this May!) to help with VBS for around 300 kids, Sunday School for 150-twice, and some work with children in children’s homes. The team will also be working with some of the people who are in the agriculture program…looking at their efforts and I’m not exactly sure what else Rob could do other than admiring what they’ve done. (We do grow a huge garden and Rob has some agricultural experience in raising our own pigs, chickens, turkeys, etc. in the past, plus some other farming experience, but I think they have experts who help them with the actual farming practices in their area, but I don’t really know. Some others on the team may be doing more with that part–time will tell). This is the same mission organization that Rob went to Bangladesh with last year, and, when they needed more help for this trip, they thought of Rob because he has a lot of experience in working with children. After praying about it for a couple of days, he said “yes” and we are in a whirlwind of planning now. I’m so excited for him.

I will be holding down the fort here, as I did last year–working as much as I can while I help take care of Malcolm and try to be in two different places at the same time quite often….. I can’t tell you how many times Rob is picking someone up while I’m picking someone else up at the same time, but we will figure out a way. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up! The same God who laid it on people’s hearts to ask him to go, the same God who laid it on his heart to accept that invitation is the same God who will provide both the funds for the trip and the strength and ability for both Rob who is going, and me, who is trying to organize all the things at home. I’m excited because I love to see God do amazing things!

Cooking for a crowd, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week-Feb. 28, 2024

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The peppers in the greenhouse are up! Rob planted them a few weeks ago, but peppers are notorious for taking a long time and being a bit fussy in our greenhouse. I’m so glad they are up so strongly and we are almost ready to begin up-potting them when needed. The basil in the back certainly needs to be put into larger containers right now!

Rob has also planted several varieties of onions. We are doing Patterson (storage, yellow), Red Mountain (a new red one for us, supposed to be good for storage), Red Bull (leftover seeds from last year), white (don’t store well), and green onions. They are starting to come up.

He has planted some delphiniums and pansies and they are coming up, as well.

Today, we went out together and got cabbage (Quick Start, Pintree Mix, Red Acre) and celery (Tango) planted. We do need to get some broccoli started in the next few days, as well.

We did a few frugal fun things over the past couple of weeks. My niece and nephew stayed with us for a few days while their parents were out of town. On Sunday afternoon, we took them down to the carousel. Our grandson is still more comfortable in the wagon, vs. the horses that go up and down, but he had a great time playing on the playground equipment and riding a couple of times.

Our niece rode the entire time, as much as she was able. Because she is special needs, she can have 5 free rides per day, and she enjoyed every one of them.

There was also a day a couple of weeks ago, where a news station out of Portland did a feature on the adaptive horse riding organization my niece always rides at. Rob got to take her down there because she was asked to be a background rider. She got to have an extra ride that week as she was mounted on the horse and they took her through the arena, out for a ride on the trails outside and back in. She knew she wasn’t going to be interviewed, and didn’t care! She was just so happy for the extra ride! There was a time or two where the camera panned the arena as she and Rob were walking in, and you can see them standing in the entry, waiting for her turn. That was enough publicity for both of them, especially Rob:)

On President’s Day, we were not working and there was no preschool, so we loaded Malcolm and his bike up and drove down to the coast. We went to a paved trail at South Beach State Park and started at the rest area. We walked, and he pedaled over 2 miles. It was fun to get some exercise in a different place. We took a picnic lunch and drove over to a viewpoint where there is a great view of the ocean and ate it there. We were grateful that the morning was fairly sunny and pleasant, and that it waited to rain until we were safely in the car eating lunch.

I’m still working on using up things from the freezers and pantry. This batch of food I just pulled out includes frozen meatballs, frozen chili, berries, cauliflower, cookies, and a pound of hamburger. We will eat the chili and meatballs for lunches and I plan to make an “impossible pie” from the hamburger as I have some gf Bisquick I want to finish up.

I really haven’t needed to buy much at the grocery store in February until this past week, when it seemed as if I was going there every few days! I grabbed a lot of chicken legs for 89c/lb. We ate some and Rob barbecued a lot of them for the young adult group we cook for. We also bought produce for salads a few times, along with milk. Rob found a huge stack of super heavy duty foil pans on the clearance rack for $1.26/each. That only 1 penny more than the dollar store and the quality is SO much better. We use those a lot when we cook for the group.

I also used fruit from the freezer and pie filling from the cupboard to make crisps for the group and for a potluck we attended at church.

I fed my niece English muffins we got for free when we volunteered at the food bank. She loves them and ate a lot! We go again this upcoming Saturday to help out, and I will see if they have any available. If they do, I will grab a couple more packs and freeze them for the next time she’s hungry while over here.

Birthdays, Cooking for a crowd, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week-Feb. 12, 2024

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I got to do some fun baking this past week. First, they were doing some kind of birthday celebration at the Young Adult group, so I did a couple kinds of cupcakes for that.

We also celebrated a couple of family birthdays yesterday, so I made cake for that. To make things simpler, I made all the cake and cupcakes last Tuesday and froze the ones I needed for the family party. I frosted them Saturday, after I defrosted them.

I soaked a large amount of pinto beans.

I cooked some and made chili and froze a baggie for later.

I made a huge crockpot of refried beans from many of them, along with peppers and onions from my freezer. I also pulled 8 lbs of hamburger from the freezers and made taco meat. Much of this I had gathered on super sales from Safeway and some was from the 1/4 beef we purchased last fall. When you volunteer at the food pantry, you can take whatever bread products you can use. I got quite a few packages of tortillas, even some gluten free ones when we were there last Saturday. That, plus cupcakes, was sent to the Young Adult meeting Tuesday. Other people brought taco toppings and sides. They had around 40 there this time….you just never know. There were still leftovers, which we ate. I also pulled out some refried beans and froze 3 cartons because I purposely made extra for that purpose. I was happy there was some left. When attendance ranges from 25-40, it’s hard to gauge what will be consumed on any given week. This was a week where I had volunteered to make extra because I had this burger I wanted to use up. This week, my part is much simpler since there are others helping out, too.

We used our membership to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and took our nephew and grandson.

As always, we all had a great time.

The play structure is very cool and both boys enjoyed playing for quite a while. Malcolm is too small to climb up the big slide, but Jake went up multiple times.

Malcolm had plenty to do on a smaller slide and a little fake mountain and these bouncy leaves. After we visited the aquarium, we took the boys out for lunch and to a candy store. It’s kind of a tradition to get a few pieces of taffy and let them choose candy and they really enjoy it when we do that.

We worked a lot of hours over the past couple of weeks, which kept us busy thinking up fun activities to keep everyone busy. We are always on the lookout for low-cost, but fun activities to do with the kids. Almost every night, when our nephew was here, we had a popcorn “party” which simply means I made popcorn and he ate it while he played his Switch. Easy-peasy. There was a free activity at a near-by center where he could play electronic games, do Legos, or play games, so we did that one day. Even a trip to Safeway where he could get a free cookie is a fun activity for him. Rob took him to the library one day and he chose books. They also went on a drive, searching for Pokemon on his phone. The aquarium was our “big wow” because our nephew didn’t have school one day and we wanted something that filled hours and hours and was fun.

I continued using things from the pantry and cupboards and had to go put away my basket of emptied jars more than once, which is always a good sign that I’m using things up the way I want to. I went through the potatoes I had in the garage and threw away the few that were spoiling and used a lot of what was left. We made Swiss Steak with mashed potatoes, potato salad, fried potatoes and threw some in soup. Rob made bacon-wrapped pork bites after we had them at our oldest daughter’s house when we went there for lunch last weekend. We also had some pretty lame meals because we were busy, such as pieces of lunchmeat on a plate with other odds and ends from the fridge, salad with the last of a head of lettuce and a jar of giardinera stirred in because I was out of toppings (actually pretty good), leftovers that did not go together AT ALL, the same leftovers 3 days in a row because it was easy…..what can I say? We all got fed. It all worked out:)

Cooking for a crowd, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week-Keep Using It up!–January 30, 2024

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Although we had a somewhat stressful week, I continued to use things from the pantry, freezers and canning cupboard to continue my project of clearing out some of the items that need using. I also received an Azure Standard order and did a small Costco run. Even with those purchases, there are starting to be small spaces showing up on the shelves and in the freezers. That is good, because I need to do some cooking ahead and want some freezer space to put it in.

As people know that have been reading the blog for some time, I cook every Tuesday for the Young Adult Group from our church. Usually, this entails 5 servings of gluten-free, dairy-free food. Lately, though, I’ve been asked to just bring dessert for the entire group, including some for the allergy-friendly eaters. Last week, I made 2 tarts. I used cream cheese for the crust and for the layer of yummy goodness under the fruit. I purchased 10 before Christmas for 99c/each, and have slowly been working my way through them. They don’t expire until March. In those tarts, I also used some kiwis. My sister grows them, and gave us 2 big boxes in the fall. They have been slowly ripening on the porch and now a whole bunch are ripe. We cannot use them all, so I took a bunch of them down to the church and they were used for the after school program we run down there.

I took some gluten-free, dairy-free cupcakes I had made previously and frozen, and baked a box of brownies that were also gf and df. There are around 25 people, typically, but it can be up to 30 or even 40, so lots of dessert is always welcome. We did get some leftover tart back, and it was delicious.

Today, I just finished a huge batch of peanut butter cookies. They are gf and df. I was hoping this recipe would come out good that way, as peanut butter has a lot of fat so less other fat was needed. I used an alternate butter I had purchased B1, get 1 free a while back, but it is more expensive than butter and I don’t enjoy the taste as well. It worked in these, though. They taste great. I used peanut butter purchased long ago for $1. When we had our youngest daughter living here, she ate a tremendous amount of peanut butter because she really loves it. I guess the rest of us aren’t so fond of it because I found jars and jars out in the pantry, left over from she lived here. I used more than a jar in these peanut-butter, chocolate chip cookies. Trader Joe’s has gf/df chocolate chips, I recently found out, and they are much less expensive than other alternate kinds and taste great.

The group will also be munching on lemon (lime) bars and a few Krispie treats. I used up some lime juice I had frozen a while back and used a lemon bar recipe with gf flour in it instead of all-purpose.

I had quite a few meals to make for people, as well as the cooking for the family. As I often do, I made some soup. I’ve actually made, eaten and shared chicken-rice and vegetable-beef recently. I was able to pull lots of frozen things like onions, broth, and chicken to use. I was able to open jars of broth, use beef that was canned last summer but didn’t seal so was frozen,

The first kind of muffin I made was applesauce, using canned applesauce. That is another item that I have too much of, as the daughter who loves it is off doing her own thing. Even when she visited for a couple of weeks over the holidays, she didn’t make a dent in the applesauce supply! The second kind was lemon-poppyseed. I had one lonely carton of lemon yogurt that had been hanging around the fridge for ages, so it got targeted. Boy were those good. Makes me with there was another carton in there:). I do have some applesauce ones frozen for later, but the lemon ones….all gone!

My aunt gave me some thyme she couldn’t finish up, along with a couple other things. I put the thyme in a 250 degree oven for a little while and it dried quickly. I was almost out of thyme, except for a small amount I dried from the garden last summer, so I was happy to add it to my stash.

A chicken noodle casserole was made, using canned chicken from the pantry and peas frozen from our garden. I made about 1/4 of it with no peas for those who don’t like them or cannot have them. One person I shared with cannot have peas.

Enchilada casserole was also made. I used frozen(by me previously) whole-grain rice, a can of corn I had won at the grocery store in the past and never used because we preserve our own, home-canned enchilada sauce, canned beans, beef previously canned and frozen when the seal didn’t seal, corn tortillas I received for free when we volunteered at the food pantry (volunteers can have bread products when they help out), and cheese I had.

When we went to see my mom, she had this gorgeous amaryllis lily that is blooming. It was cheerful and encouraging in a pretty busy, stressful week. We’ve had 2 deaths in the extended family, one funeral so far, a family member who slipped and fell in the aftermath of the ice storm and is hurt pretty badly, a friend who’s wife has received a hard diagnosis, a couple of other hard things I won’t name, and many people who need a little extra care…all added to our normal busy, crazy life. Through it all, I can say, with assurance, that God has been with us every step of the way. On Sunday, one of my favorite hymns was sung at church. It’s an old one, and we rarely sing those, but this Sunday, we did. It was as if God knew I needed to hear it and I can truly say, it IS well with my soul. Because it is. Because of Him.

Birthdays, Cooking for a crowd, food preservation, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week—June 12, 2023

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This week, I went to a U-Pick strawberry patch, all by myself:). I know he would have enjoyed it, but I was so glad he wasn’t there when I saw the (seriously) 150+ people who were swarming the field. I got enough for a batch of jam and some to freeze for smoothies and some to eat fresh. It was hard to find ripe berries, actually. After seeing the people come and come and come, I could see why. I may try again soon, or just make out with what I got.

I think Malcolm is trying to wink at Papa. He loves “bahberries.” In fact, I stepped outside for a minute the day I brought them home and came back only to see the floor littered with little green tops–he’d eaten as many as he could grab. We got those picked up and I turned my back and …….yep! We had to clean the floor again. I’m so glad he didn’t get sick.

The garden still takes quite a bit of time each day. It’s growing so well, as are the weeds. We are eating lettuce daily and sharing with many. The peas are almost ripe. I mean they maybe would plump up if a certain little boy wasn’t out there stripping off any that look like they are growing….It warms my heart to see him enjoy them so much and like Rob says, “He’s eating vegetables, we can always buy a bag of peas at the store.” I’m pretty sure we will get a big batch one of these days–it will be beyond what he can eat.

We are harvesting a few snow peas every couple of days and my cilantro is bolting. I’ve been using the lower leaves anyway in salads and marinades. I will pull that out and let the next planting be used very soon. I put more seeds in the ground but have none yet. I may need to replant.

The compost heap on the right has been emptied completely. I’ve been working on it for a while and now we have started dumping new scraps in there. I have side-dressed the celery, some cabbage and cauliflower and some onions with part of it, as they were struggling where they were. These 3 buckets are all that’s left to disperse and I have plenty of places that could use it. There’s never enough compost! There is one more bin that needs emptying on the other side of the garden.

Malcolm has spent hours and hours working on this project and pouring his buckets all over the place. It’s so cute! I’m glad to have this bin finally empty and he still has another bin to get into in a different place. Otherwise, he just digs holes in the garden. That works, too.

We went to the library this week and watched a preschool show. We also signed up both Malcolm and my nephew, Jake for summer reading.

It was party week. We attended a graduation ceremony Friday, a grad party Saturday and a birthday party Sunday afternoon. I haven’t cooked a whole lot this past weekend.

I did make gluten-free hamburger buns early in the week. They came out great. I made pulled pork sandwiches for us and the college group I cook for weekly. I used extras for sandwiches a few times.

We loaded up on $1.99/lb boneless-skinless chicken breast and thighs today. 3 packs in all. I froze them in meal-sized portions. I popped some Mexican-inspired marinade on some of the chunks to use tomorrow for SW chicken salads for the college group and some to freeze. Milk was $1.29 for 1/2 gallon so we got 2 of those. There were sausage rolls for $1.99 and those kielbasas for $1.99 each. I grabbed a few of those.

We passed up the $5.99/package tator tots. Seriously? It wasn’t even a big package. We got 10 lbs. of potatoes for about $5.

I’m already having an easier time stretching my time between grocery store trips, due to the abundance of lettuce in the garden. I’m also still loaded up with home-canned food and things I froze last summer. This is a wonderful time of year to be cooking and there’s so much more growing out there. I love it!

Cooking for a crowd, Garden, Mission trip, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week-April 18, 2023

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We had 2 nice days last week. By late afternoon on Friday, I was able to get into the small part of the garden that I planted a few weeks ago. Those have been the only two dry periods this spring and it’s been raining ever since. I knew I needed to work out there as much as I could. I did what I could Friday evening and then started in at 7:15 Saturday. I finally stopped around 5:30, with a couple of breaks in-between. I will admit I was tired and sore, but felt wonderful to finally be able to get outside.

Rob had a lot of other things to do that day, so gave me moral support and a little help in the morning and throughout the day as he breezed in and out, everyone else had other plans as well, so it was just me and Malcolm digging in the dirt all day. It was a dream day for both of us.

Mac loves to dig in the dirt so much that he spent quite a bit of time moving dirt from one flowerpot to the raised bed. He used a little shovel and bucket and dug out so much dirt and surviving flowers from last fall. They aren’t looking so good anymore. They survived winter, but not Mac. He took so much dirt from the pot that I finally got him a bag of steer manure compost and let him spread it on a raised bed, one little shovelful at a time. So then, the pot didn’t have much dirt left and he started in on other pots. Rob got a bag of cheap soil at the store and we poured it into the pot when he wasn’t looking and he started on that again, hopefully saving our overwintered geraniums:). My little pot of lettuce wasn’t so lucky. I’m so glad he likes it outside and I want to cultivate that in him, so all this is worth it to me.

The blackberries (Marion berries) needed attention. I dug out copious amounts of quack grass from underneath. It was a terrible mess, to be truthful. We untangled the new canes and cut out the old ones. We tied up the new canes. Some organic fertilizer was applied later and Rob picked up a van load of steer manure compost, soil and mulch at Home Depot. Some of that will go on those berries, but I figured I could do that when it was raining, so I focused on the things I needed to do while it was not pouring rain.

During the previous dry few days a month or so ago, I worked on the raspberries and got those all tied up. Friday evening, I did start to weed out underneath them again–of course the weeds are having no trouble growing. I will put down the amendments and mulch once I finish.

Between the two days, I was able to hoe, hand weed and thin all of the area I had planted. I’m so happy that the crows did not decimate my peas–there’s a great stand there in the middle–5 rows. The seeds Rob saved for carrots and beets came up so thickly that I went ahead and started some rough thinning. I may need to thin more later, but baby plants can still get eaten by slugs, bugs, or birds, so I left a good amount until I see what happens.

I planted cabbage–both Copenhagen and Pinetree Mix, Romensco broccoli and Hybrid Broccoli Blend from our greenhouse. In this picture, I had only started planting onions, but I did finish that row. It’s half White Sweet Spanish and half Red Bull onions. I have many more to plant, especially my Patterson storage, but I ran out of tilled earth.

I planted some lettuce starts–Romaine, Drunken Frizzy Headed Woman lettuce and a few seeds of a mixture. In one of my raised beds (not shown), I planted another small area of snow peas, lettuce, marigolds, a few more radishes, and a few extra leftover plants of broccoli and cabbage. I did put in a few kale plants, as well.

We did get a few more things done this week. Rob found these jars at a thrift store. He ordered new seals from Amazon for the ones that needed them and replaced the old ones on all but one. I have some bulk foods in them now and they seal up very well when I close them.

The boys made snickerdoodles on the day after Easter. I guess more sugar was needed:)

They had fun.

Later in the week, I made pumpkin cookies with cinnamon frosting. Most of these cookies were frozen and I sent some along to the young adult group I cook for on Tuesdays.

I sent Mustard Barbecued Chicken Drumsticks, Cranberry-Walnut Coleslaw, green salad and cookies to the group today. Guess what our meal was today. Hmmm–chicken, coleslaw, salad and cookies? Yes! You got it on the first try. That and chicken soup.

I also made lasagna, pork roast, chicken-rice soup, Peanut Chicken with Rice Noodles, a large pot of brown rice which was eaten with a sweet and sour chicken Rob made and by Malcolm, who loves it with milk and cinnamon sugar. We finished up the soups from last week, and the chili.

I had so much food left over from Easter that I skipped a week of shopping. I did go last evening and got a few items at Safeway and a few more at Grocery Outlet and we are all set again.

Although I’m longing for nice weather so I can get outside again, I see lots and lots of rain predicted when I look at my weather app. Still, there’s plenty to do inside and I may need to drum up a couple more “inside” projects if the rain keeps on.

Rob continues to prepare for his upcoming trip to Bangladesh. One thing they are doing at church to help out is to collect school supplies to take there in his extra suitcase. The children at church have a campaign going to “fill Mr. Rob’s suitcase” and they have his extra one down there, filling it up. There have been lots of supplies gathered and he’s excited to take them. In fact, he’s getting so excited about the whole trip. It’s good to see him so excited.

Cooking for a crowd, food preservation, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–April 5, 2023

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We have had an exceedingly cold, wet spring. Things in the greenhouse are growing, but very, very slowly, in some cases. Peppers are having the most trouble, because they love more heat than we have right now. The tomatoes are looking great, as are all the cool-weather crops such as onions, cabbage, broccoli, etc.

Despite the fact that we had SNOW again, my little lettuces are still alive. Once it warms up (if that ever happens), they will take off. The seeds I planted in the garden a few weeks ago are sprouting, as well. I have French Breakfast radishes and Buttercrunch lettuce up. The beets are just coming up, as of yesterday.

I’m worried about the Maestro peas, though, since the crows have been out there feasting. Some are up, and it remains to be seen how many seeds those crows left.

I’m still working on this cabbage that Rob found in the garden a few weeks ago. I used another part of it in a huge salad I made last night for the young adults group we cook for on Tuesdays. It’s holding up really well.

Last evening, we cooked for the entire group, not just for the gluten-free ones. That’s about 25, plus the usual gf 5. Rob had cooked a ham on Monday and we boiled the bone for broth. I made a large crock pot of ham and bean soup and sent that over.

We also pulled a turkey from the bottom of the chest freezer and cooked it, took the meat off the bone, and made broth. From the meat, I made huge turkey-noodle casseroles–2 large pans from some regular wheat noodles I’d gotten for 50c/package a long time ago with regular Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, and 1 small one using gf pasta and gf cream of mushroom soup. Walmart carries a nice canned gf cream of mushroom soup that works well in casseroles for under $2/can. I added a bag of frozen mixed veggies, peas, dried onion, odds and ends of several kinds of cheese that were in the fridge, and baked it all together.

Some bananas that were looking sad became a banana-walnut bundt cake and I used berries from the garden with canned apple slices to make a crisp. Both were gf, so everyone could eat the same desserts. I had never made that cake before, but found the recipe in an old cookbook. It was SO good. It’s a keeper and I’ll make it again.

Rob got several bags of grapes for 97c/lb on sale at Safeway and I cut a large plate of grape clusters. I used one head of lettuce, one leaf lettuce head, 2 carrots, some red cabbage and cherry tomatoes to make a large tossed salad.

I made another batch of the beefy-basil pesto soup. We love that soup so much I’m already running low on my pesto. I make it from garden basil, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and parmesan and freeze in ice cube trays.

I went shopping and got a few things–spent about $45. I’ll go again later in the week and finish up any last minute shopping for Easter.

My counter and dish drainer are both filled with drying baggies. I know I’ve used lots of freezer items this past week, since I pulled both a turkey and a ham out, as well as all the fruits and veggies from those bags. SO WHY IS MY CHEST FREEZER STILL SO FULL? Maybe it’s just fluffed up? That is the question of the century, and a mystery that only Sherlock Holmes could solve, I’m afraid. I’m still working on that project this month–it’s now “clean-the-freezer April.”

I even canned a load of turkey broth so I didn’t have to freeze it! Of course, I did freeze the rest that didn’t fit into the canner, plus the ham broth that wasn’t used in the ham and beans ….a little bit of the mystery explained.

I used broccoli, peas, frozen beans and corn, broth, meat bits and pieces, baked goods, bread, and proteins such as fish, burger, etc. I’ve also emptied many, many jars this past week.

We celebrated our daughter’s birthday Friday, and I made a huge chocolate layer cake. Yum! I also made her lasagna, which she requested. It was simple and tasted great.

Because I have used so much freezer and pantry food, I was able to cut my normal weekly grocery budget drastically in March. Since our grocery budget is purposefully quite small, we always use every cent, but I was able to send some in other directions than our local grocery store this time. (We’ve tried to set the amount at what we actually need to spend and seem to be in the ballpark) I saved some in my envelope for the 1/4 beef we get each fall, and am using the rest for an Azure Standard order (bulk food and some cleaning supplies and soap). I’m especially happy about already setting aside money toward the beef–I’ve really made progress towards that in the last 2 months.

I will not be one of those people who let the pantry go all the way down to zero–that makes it impossible to eat from the pantry any more without a huge, huge, expensive stock-up. I like to just fill gaps as I make them with fresh supplies and keep rotating what is there.

Cooking for a crowd, Projects, Use it Up

Cleaning the Pantry and Garage–Part 3–January, 2023

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I didn’t clean another area in the garage, per say, but did tidy up small places to keep the places I’ve cleaned so far from slipping back into chaos.

Instead, this past week was full of cooking up items that needed to be used from my pantry. I had several extra meals to cook, including food for 25 people that I was taking to the college group from church on Tuesday.

I started with a boxed mix for pumpkin bread I found when cleaning. It was a conventional, wheat-filled mix, so I had not used it. I used the rest of some squash I’d thawed and a mashed banana to finish up the cup I needed. I threw in some mini chocolate chips from the freezer and baked it up. I have no idea what it tasted like, as I could not taste it, but I’m sure it was delicious. What’s not to like about chocolate chips, right?

Rob marinated and grilled chicken legs and thighs for the group, us and my sister’s family. I did not use the new chicken I purchased on such a good sale last week. Instead, we pulled the frozen packages we already had, thawed and used them to keep things rotating properly in the freezers. They were purchased on sale, as well, not long ago.

I made 3 kinds of cookies or bars, to use items I wanted to target. This one is fudge toffee bars. It used a can of sweetened condensed milk that was close to date, the rest of the toffee chips from a recipe a few weeks ago, some coconut that had been lingering and some glittery “disco” chocolate chips I had gotten on a super bargain. They were normal Toll house chips, but with some kind of glitter on top….go figure:). I guess they weren’t super popular, as they were at the discount store. They were kind of pretty, to me, though.

I made raspberry jam oatmeal bars with oats and home-canned jam that was a couple of years old, but so, so yummy! I wanted to use some old-fashioned rolled oats I have and we liked the bars so much I’ll make them again.

The third kind was peanut butter chocolate chip. I sent a few of those on my cookie tray, but froze most of them in the shop freezer. I like to make a batch every couple of months and we eat them slowly. I used a jar of peanut butter I got for 97c.

Normally, I would not make so many kinds of cookies for the group. I just wanted to use these ingredients in a creative way. We had plenty of cookies to eat and share and have a large container in the freezer still to use.

We got a bag of romaine from the restaurant supply store and added a bag of spinach from Safeway, as I had a coupon to get it for $1.50, for a big salad. I added shredded cabbage from my garden, grated carrot and just a few cherry tomatoes on top for color.

To finish that meal, I soaked and cooked a large pot of pinto beans, as I still have quite a few from the 50 pound bag we got at the beginning of Covid. At that point, it was about $22 for the entire bag, and they were in short supply. It was either buy that or no beans at all, at the time, and we were out. They still cooked up beautifully. There were no issues getting them soft. I made Western beans with southwestern seasonings such as cumin, and froze the rest for later use.

I tried a recipe for egg flower soup from a cookbook I checked out from the library. I added tofu cubes at the last minute so they wouldn’t crumble. It tasted really good. The broth was given to us a while back and was almost at “Best used by” date and the tofu was a 97c bargain at the discount store. Rob loves tofu…I’m not as much of a fan, but it was good in this soup. It also used up some green onions that were starting to wilt.

One of our sons came over one day for lunch. I used hamburger buns that were lingering in the freezer and served burgers and extra salad from the big batch I made for the college group. I didn’t make much else, as he only wants hamburgers, hamburgers and more hamburgers:)

Last, but not least, I made some salmon patties and fries in my air-fryer. There were some cans of salmon on the shelf that needed to be used. I shared some, and we ate some. One thing Rob did was make a fish sandwich from them. He liked the patties that way. I tossed the potatoes in a tiny bit of oil and added parmesan, salt and pepper and they came out very tasty.

I can see some small spaces already forming on the pantry shelves, which I’m very pleased about as I just organized it to be full and straightened. Once another large space opens up, I want to reorganize all of my tea. The freezers are in good condition, but will need cleaning before too long.

Food management is a big job around here, and I have plans to continue my pantry project for a while longer before moving on to the freezers. Unfortunately, there are still a couple of areas to clean out there in the garage, and happily, there are still many, many delicious items to put on the top of the “use-it-up” list. Thankfully, most of the items that urgently needed to be dealt with have been used!

I really enjoy cooking, and like to be able to find what I want on my shelves, so it’s worth it to me. Also, organizing it allows me to buy several of each item when the price is low, and have plenty to use when the prices rise, without wasting! It really needed to be done and I’m glad I finally got around to it.

Cooking for a crowd, House Projects, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week(s)-Nov. 1, 2022

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We took the boys to the church’s harvest party last night. They were so cute in their costumes. Auntie Lovana got those together from thrift stores and ordered a few accessories. They cost about $6. She was happy they were so cute for so little cost, and that they will be able to wear the clothes again. They were very unique in a sea of Spidermans, Elsas, and so forth.

I took the opportunity over the past 2 weeks to do some really deep cleaning, sorting and organizing.

Since Patsy has decided to move out, but didn’t want to clean her own room out :(, I did it. I boxed up anything I thought she might want later and stored it in the shop, packed a bunch of it that she picked up Sunday, threw massive amounts away, cleaned up 6-10 U-Haul boxes of stuff one of her sisters had put in there and apparently stirred and threw around, and then I cleaned it and painted it blue. Our house is very small. I am so excited about having another room in use!

Now it is set up for the boys, with some sewing things still in part of the closet. I worked so many hours in there, and it wasn’t my favorite activity, but now it looks great. I used a X-stitch I had made when the kids were small, along with a few pictures I had to decorate. Some had been stored, so it was nice to get them out and use them, especially the X-stitch, as it took many, many hours to complete back in the day.

Now all the toys are in that room, instead of my living room and garage. The bed is still in there, for when it is needed.

Our 1/4 beef was ready at the place where it was cut and wrapped. When we drove out to pick it up, there was a pen of goats and sheep, which Malcolm enjoyed very much.

We used to cook once a month for the young adult group at church. Recently, they have been meeting again, and we cooked for all of them once. I made chili and cornbread. Then, although others signed up to cook for the main group, it became apparent that some gluten-free food was needed for about 6 members, some of which are so sensitive that they will simply sit and watch others eat, rather than chance getting sick. That’s not a very fun way to spend an evening. Because I’m the same way, we’ve been cooking gluten-free food for 6 and Rob’s been taking it over there each week.

If I ever have a week where I don’t want to or can’t, there is another who can bring allergy-friendly food. But for now, I’m amazed at the way the Lord is providing for this ministry and for us personally. I should not be surprised, but I always am when I see Him stretch our resources to fit the needs that come our way, or how He lays it on someone’s heart to give us something we need, at just the right time.

For example, the other day, Rob walked into a store, and found a manager’s special of chicken drumsticks for 60c/lb. That’s what they are getting tonight. One of my sisters sent boxes of apples from her tree that had a bumper crop–apple crisp on the way! I do love to cook, so it’s win-win.

Rob was running low on coffee and found GOOD K-cups for $1/box. Really! He bought several. And, so it goes.

We’ve been blessed with gifts and bargains, both, plus a huge crop from our garden. My canning cupboards are stuffed beyond what they can hold and have spilled over into boxes. My freezers are full. We are very grateful for everything we’ve been given. As Thanksgiving comes closer, I really want to focus on the goodness of God and how he continues to care for us and meet every need we have.

Birthdays, Cooking for a crowd, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–June 5, 2022

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Oregon State Parks had a celebration commemorating the first park that was donated, 100 years ago. Rob was asked to barbecue for the event. I was asked to hand food out.

It rained. That was not really a surprise. We do live in Oregon:). There was another couple, the park hosts, who helped at our station, as well.

The organizer made it easy, and had him do hot dogs. We served them with chips and packages of condiments in a little paper boat. There were also Oregon State Park birthday cupcakes in our area, and a huge cake and more cupcakes in another area. She got all the supplies and had the park rangers put up tarps and tables and all we had to do was show up and deal with the food.

I got to walk around a little and enjoyed the classic car show. They had various booths set up all around the park. One was recreation through the ages and had a mini frisbee golf course, croquet, and nerf sports set up. I wasn’t there when children were actually playing on the games, but I’m sure they had a blast between rain showers.

There were speeches, a birthday song for Oregon, a huge cake, and they even found several descendants of the lady who donated this first state park in 1922 and had them take part in the ceremonies. I did not listen to those speeches, as I was at the hot dog station, but Patsy did and said they were nice.

Rob and I had a lot of fun. We have benefitted so much from the Oregon State Parks through the years and it felt good to be able to give back a little. I talked to some people I have never met before, went to a state park I had never visited, and found out about another place I’d like to visit that isn’t too far from home. They gave us a pin and a picnic blanket as a thank-you gift.

I cooked basic foods this week, and focused on using up any leftover party food.

I just finished making a huge batch of refried beans. They are in old cottage cheese cartons, cooling on the counter so I can freeze them. I’ve had to buy a few cans lately. Although they are not expensive, making them is even less expensive, and we love all the peppers and onions I add in. I’m also still working on the 50 pound bag of pinto beans Rob got at the beginning of Covid. At that point, there were shortages, and it was 50 pounds, or nothing, and he took the big bag. It was only about $22, if I remember correctly, and that’s a lot of chili and refried beans! I’m doing chili next.

Rob worked in the greenhouse. It’s really getting funny. Now that the word is out that he enjoys growing dahlias, he continues to be given dahlias, dahlias and more dahlias. He planted another bag full someone gave him. We have many, many plants in the back of the garden, the side of the shop, the front of the house, and anywhere else we could fit some in. It is going to be gorgeous around here in a few months.

He started me some head lettuce, which was promptly chewed off by bugs or slugs, so he started some more. There is a succession planting of cabbage and broccoli growing in there, as well. I worked several hours weeding and hoeing in the garden until it started raining again and became too muddy. I re-planted a couple of things that didn’t come up.

I have been very pleased with the germination of Rob’s home-saved seeds. This is something he has only been doing for the past 2-3 years, and he knows he is still learning. All of our pole beans, both Blue Lake and Purple/Violet Podded have come up very well from saved seeds. We still buy seeds–lots and lots of seeds, but it’s so nice to be able to cut that down whenever we can. It’s also a skill he enjoys learning.

We were given a pickup load of chopped, split wood. We are very excited to have it and will be stacking it up in the back for next winter’s fires. There will be more to come, and that’s exciting, as well.