mommato3boys

I am with Phibe on this, since it is just me and hubby, I still make the same amount as I used to but I have the little tin pans that I put half in and freeze. The other half I cook for us and then we have lunch. Look at it as a modified once a month cooking. You cook for one week and have meals for 2 or 3 weeks. :-)

Cooking in the summer when it is so hot makes it difficult. We grill everything on Sat or Sun then eat on it for the week. That or salads.

When hubby worked in the oil field I made meatloaf in the muffin tins, Then I would send a couple with him for lunch. Use the mini muffin tins and you can make meat balls.

Since it is just me and hubby and it is HOT I have introduced more "light" meals like wraps, southwestern stuff avocado, pasta salads.The pasta salads are great I can make a big one and then we can eat off it for several days. I will start a new thread so as not to hijack this one watch for Quick Easy & Light meals for summer

Looking to replace our washer and dryer. I want to be able to stack them so that they will fit in the hall closet. When I googled stackable washer and dryers I came up with the Bosch brand. Does anyone have a Bosch washer and dryer. If so I have questions for you...

Do you like them

How well do they clean

Are they high maintenance

Would you recommend them

Are yours stacked, if so how do they handled being stacked

So this year I decided I needed to revamp some of our favorite recipes and make them using storage items. A couple of things I have learned...

1. If it is powder mix it with liquid before adding it to anything or it will lump.

2. It takes more water than you think.

3. It takes less time to cook than you think.

4. Some shelf stable products are good, some are ok and some well I will only use them in recipes..like dried eggs. Ok so I am spoiled I like FRESH yard eggs and cooking with dried eggs well there is a BIG difference. I will eat them but they have to be in something like omelets, breakfast bake or something else that helps with the "dried" texture.

The good news is I have been able to adapt pretty much all of our "go to" recipes for using shelf stable food.

You DO know that you're feeding my irrational need to acquire more and more and MORE electronic books which I already have no time to actually READ????

 

 

 

 

:24:

I got a Kindle for Christmas and I haven't stop downloading freebies yet.

Working on mine now. gathering stuff up to make my starter trays at the end of the month. Then planning my raised bed garden. Hope to start working on it next weekend, getting it prepped and marked off. Have wait till the snow melts before I can do that.

I am using the huge Vlasic pickle jars for 'canisters.' (you DO have to eat the pickles first.................or get 'empties' from your neighbors )

 

LOL if we at pickles I would have plenty of jars but we just don't eat pickles.

Is it this one?

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Anchor-Hocking-Cracker-Jar-with-Lid/16520333

Yes madam it is. I love them....

I love glass jars but they tend to be heavy so I have to be careful as to how big of jar I use. I have found the perfect size for just about everything. It is the "CRACKER" jar that is sold at Wal-Mart. It runs about $6 a jar but I can get my fat hand in it with no problem and it is not too heavy for me to lift. So I am slowly replacing all of my plastic storage jugs with these cracker jars. Right now I have 3 of them one for tea, one for coffee and one I had dehydrated hashbrowns in and everything stayed fresh. And the best part the coffee beans didn't smell up the cabinets.

I got mine from Catwrangla, today and I love it. I have lost track of which ones I have received. I love them all. Since we didn't have a tree up this year (still surrounded by boxes from the move and didn't have room) I have them all lined up on my computer desk and am enjoying them. I am glad to know that a few of you received yours before Christmas.

Ok so maybe this year I should have opted out but I love getting the ornaments. I have had mine done for several weeks ... ok about 6 weeks actually. Made them while sitting with mom in the hospital, but lost them in the move. Found them last night so they will go out today. I have received several but have not opened them because I didn't want to loose them so they are in the basket of bills that have to be paid.

Thanks y'all. This has been a long hard fought battle. We have tried buying a house before and things just didn't work out. Last year before moving to TX we had a house in TN sold out from under us because the other person bid was higher and they had the cash so they got it as is. I was heart broken. But this is an awesome little house that will all us to fix it the way we want it. Best part is it is cheaper than rent and I have a blank slate to work with when it comes to landscaping.

Hubby has a new place to hang his hat...that is right we bought a house! It is not my dream house of small house and 20 acres in the country but it is a small house in town with a 75x125 lot. I will have plenty of room for a garden and I can plant some blueberry bushes and have some strawberry plants. And best of all it is cheaper than rent and we will have it paid off in less than 5 years! I am so excited. It needs some TLC but it is liveable as is so we can live in it and work on it as we have time and money. We have key and will start moving next week. We will spend Thanksgiving in our new house!

I don't feel so bad now. I just got started on mine today.

Yes! Or, simply keep the can in the fridge and it will last indefinitely.

That is what I thought. Just wanted to make sure.

Ok so I am opening a #10 can of cheese powder. However, I am afraid it will go bad before I use it all. Can I divide it between glass jars vacuum seal it to keep it fresh?

You have to pop in once in a while to let us know how things are going.

I hope and pray it doesn't turn on your mother.

Personally I would only put dry ingredients in a jar and freeze it and I don't even like doing this, sorry when I think glass the last place I want it is a freezer.

Me too. We have one that does not have the pour spout in the top.

Be sure you put it in a big pot and heat to a boiling before putting in the jars. The crockpot doesn't make it hot enough to go directly into the jars.

According to the Ball's canning book it says says nothing about boiling just simmer. When I laddled it up from the crock pot it was bubbling.

That's how I do apple and pear butter. I have a batch of pear butter to can today,

 

 

 

John

Pear butter...I haven't even thought of that an they are on sale!

Accomplished something I have never even tried. Fruit butters....yummmm

I did peach and apricot butter in the crock pot. It was so simple and it cooked while I was at work then I canned it up when I got home. This year was a "test run" to see if I could make it and how well it stores.

Next year I will do lots more.

I used my little 2qt crock pot and cooked the fruit about an hour before I left on high then used my imerson blender and then let it cook down while I was gone. I forgot to raise the lid on one batch so the steam would escape so it took longer but the next couple of batches I laid table knives acoss the top and it worked wonders. I cooked it on low.

I did not add the spices just fruit, sugar and lemon juice and it turned out really good. Going to try apple butter this way too but will add the cinnanmon to it.

How thick is the mylar material?

 

 

MtRider

5mil

http://www.amazon.com/Mylar-Ziplock-Food-Storage-Bags/dp/B004WYTCEA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379821597&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+mylar+bags

Thanks. I had even thought about buying the bigger ones and cutting them down, then I saw the ziplocks and thought they would be perfect for dry beans. Plus I can flatten them and store them in tubs and they will take up less space.

Those darn tables and chairs they just like stopping anywhere to chat. LOL Glad you are ok. Road hazards for sure.