mommato3boys

Oh my, I can now add another reason to my "Why I don't ski" list. 

Well today goes down as one of the worst days in history. A dear, dear friend of mine, she is my sister by another mother - grandson took his life the weekend of 1/28. He was only 19. Today was his memorial service. To say it has been a tough day is an understatement. The memorial service was at 10 this morning then helped with the lunch for the family. Got home around 1:00, made it to about 3:30 but then I crashed and burned. I slept for 3 hours, feel like I could go back to bed and sleep the entire night. Now we are waiting for the snow to arrive. Not sure which report to believe the one that says we are expecting one inch of snow or the one saying we are expecting 6-8 inches. Who knows, I just know it is supposed cold and snow until around noon tomorrow. We are not supposed to get above freezing until Monday afternoon. Poor old achy bones are so ready for Spring. 

I love the tomato bullion. It has saved several of my recipes.  There is also a shrimp bullion. It is awesome in fried rice.

Don't forget:

Chinese 5 Spice

Old Bay Seasoning

File'

Well today I am making a list of meals that I can put in the freezer. I was offered a contract job with the Department of Health and Human Services yesterday. It is about an 18 month contract so we will be eating a lot of freezer meals. I am trying to come up with 30 ground beef, 30 chicken, 30 pork and 30 seafood recipes. 

7 hours ago, snapshotmiki said:

Thanks for the update @Midnightmom!  I'm glad you are well!

Someone tried to use DH's bank card for $1.56 on Amazon.  I caught it within 1 day so they are sending him a new card.  Weird thing is that he hasn't used that card for 6 months to a year, if he has ever used it @Littlesister.  Wonder how they got the number.  And he has never ordered anything on Amazon.

I used to deal with farm eggs at the dairy when I was making cheesecakes for them.  Definitely, one egg at a time @Mt_Rider!  Only had bad ones a few times, thank goodness!

 

Already walked. It was chilly!
Taking my friend who doesn't drive, to an eye appt at Walmart doc.
Then to Aldi's and home.
Fellows are supposed to work on re-plumbing under house today.
Maybe I will get to work on the roses today.

 

Snapshotmiki, hubby's card was always getting hacked and we were told they were getting it from gas stations. He never orders anything online. We always use my card if we order online. Now hubby doesn't pay at the pump he goes inside. We also have it set up through the bank we are notified via text when our cards are being charged. We were told by the Fraud department that they do little charges for several months and if nothing happens they hit the account with a large charge.

I know it is just February but I am slow and get side tracked way too often. So I started a list of homemade gifts for this year.

I am thinking of getting some lien and making bread towels. My sewing machine does the cutest border. Of course there would be a loaf of Amish Friendship bread and starter wrapped in the bread towel. 

I have a huge stack of old jeans from when the kids were little. I am thinking about making scrap quilts for the three grands.

I saw a the cutest apron pattern, maybe all the DILs would enjoy a new apron. DIL and granddaughter could have matching aprons.

Granddaughter is in to Barbies now so I am pulling out my old doll clothes patterns and making her a bunch of doll cothes. May go to the thrift store and find an old suitcase and turn it in to a wardrobe for all the cothes. 

Hubby said something about making GS#2 a truck to hang on his wall for all of his matchbox cars. It is going to have to be a big truck, I think that kid has a million match box cars.

I want this year to be totally homemade gifts. 

What are some of your homemade gift ideas?

He was one of my favorite country singers. You are correct he will be missed by many.

39 minutes ago, euphrasyne said:

Wednesday night, I fell over the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs when it swung the wrong way.  I fell up the stairs.  Now my face looks like the poster child for domestic abuse.

Oh No! I hope you are ok. At least it was up the stairs and not down.

19 hours ago, Mother said:

I hadn’t heard the term but it is certainly not new.  I have been into cottagecore since I was in my early teens if not before.  Thanks for the info, Ambergris.  

What is that country song I was country before country was cool....well like you Mother I was cottagecore before cottagecore was cool. 

4 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

Some people prep for hurricanes.  Some prep for nuclear disasters.  Some prep for the zombie apocalypse.   I prep for economic hardships as much as anything else.   There is a time and place to use your preps, and when Eggs were $5dzn, that was time.   Now Bell peppers are !.25 each and that is time.  I have plenty of dehydrated and I USE THEM NOW.   If I refuse to use the resources at hand, then I'll never make it to a 'worse' resource needed time.  That is my philosophy.  30 years from now, I have time an energy to replace the bell peppers I'm using today.  I'll appreciate them more today than cleaning out the pantry in 30 years.  

EXACTLY Euphrasyne

My "prep pantry" is our normal pantry that we eat out of year round - you know store what you eat and eat what you store. Basically I prep for economic hardships which we have had an abundance of lately and winter weather where we do not want to get out and drive because #1 - it is to freaking cold and #2 - snow/ice. When winter sets in I am like a squirrel, I am in my little nest all snug and warm with my stash of acrons. 

I buy stuff that we use when it is on sale and put it in the pantry. I will not stock a pantry for 30 years down the road only to struggle now. I only do 5 year plans now, I am old anything after 5 years I maybe pushing up daisies. My ultimate goal is to have a well stocked pantry that will last two years allowing me to get through hard times replacing things as we use them and have the resources.  

Now that is not to say I do not have "long term storage items" like corn and wheat, etc. I stock whole grains because I do not want a bunch of chemicals in my flour and meal. 

I was raised by depression era parents. You raise a garden and store the abundace to get through to the next harvest. You buy reduced meat and meat when it is on sale or raise your own. You make do and repair or do without. Left overs are not tossed but put in a bucket in the freezer for winter soups. Cornbread is not tossed either, it goes in the freezer to make dressing, that is if it is not eaten as a snack or dinner with milk. Biscuits are froze and thawed later for breakfast or served at dinner with hamburger gravy and potatoes.  

Today is laundry day and I want to work in the pantry some. It is also leftover day, so no cooking but I do need to make tortillas and start a loaf of sourdough bread rising. 

We were back in town yesterday for hubby's doctor's appointment and ran by Wal-Mart to grab something I forgot. I decided to grab another couple rolls of breakfast sausage. It had gone up 20 cents from last Thursday (1/18) when I went grocery shopping. TWENTY FREAKING CENTS  if it is any consolation eggs had dropped a $1.01 for 18, last week they were $4.14 this week they were $3.13. I didn't price anything else since I didn't have my previous receipt with me - the sausage was bad enough.

I hate clear caulk it is a pain in the bum. Did I say I hated clear caulk? More like detest, we have run into the same problem. A box cutter became my best friend when I was trying to get rid of that horrible stuff.

I have been trying to decided what to do about storing Alfredo sauce. We are not fans of the dry pack that you make up nor do I like the canned sauce. It has a metalic taste to me. We like chicken alfredo pizza and eat it quite often. Hubby also likes Alfredo Sauce and noodles with broccoli and mushrooms.  So this past week I bought the small bottle of Wal-Mart brand Alfredo sauce. Tonight we had chicken alfredo pizza and I was quite impressed with the WM brand. It was actually passable. Hubby liked it on the pizza. So I will add it to the panty list for now. 

1 hour ago, Jeepers said:

Weren't there 7 of them.

Sorry Jeepers, but there were 10 plagues. If is any consulation Locust was the eighth plague. 

Blood

Frogs

Gnats

Flies

Livestock

Boils

Hail

Locusts

Darkness

First Born

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/01/16/cicadas-2024-emerge/72241240007/

These insects are known for the screaming noise they make and for numbering in the millions.

This year two different groups, or broods, of cicadas will emerge across multiple states with one singular goal: mating and laying millions more eggs.

After 13 years, Brood XIX is set to emerge in the spring of 2024 in 14 states across the Southeast and Midwest, and the 17-year Brood XIII will emerge in five Midwestern states around the same time, according to Cicada Mania. This double emergence is the first time this has happened in 221 years. According to ScienceAlert.com, this won't happen again until 2245.

Of all the states where the broods will emerge this year, they are expected to overlap in Illinois and Indiana.

You may remember the last brood of cicadas, Brood X, which emerged in the summer of 2021 across multiple Eastern, Southern and Midwestern states.

Here's what to know about this year's two cicada broods.

What are Brood XIX cicadas?

Brood XIX (19) is estimated to emerge in these states beginning mid-May and lasting through late June:

• Alabama.
• Arkansas.
• Georgia.
• Illinois.
• Indiana.
• Kentucky.
• Louisiana.
• Mississippi.
• Missouri.
• North Carolina.
• Oklahoma.
• South Carolina.
• Tennessee.
• Virginia.

The brood last emerged in 2011, and has a 13-year life cycle.

According to Cicada Mania, they will begin to emerge when the soil 8 inches underground reaches 64 degrees, and are often triggered by a warm rain.

What are Brood XIII cicadas?

Brood XIII (13) will emerge these states in mid-May and ending in late June:

• Illinois.
• Indiana.
• Iowa.
• Wisconsin.

The brood may also appear in Michigan, Cicada Mania says. Like Brood XIX, they will begin to emerge when the soil 8 inches underground reaches 64 degrees, and are often triggered by a warm rain.

Unlike the other brood, these cicadas have a 17-year life cycle, and last emerged in 2007.

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What is the life cycle of a cicada?

Cicadas have the longest life cycle of any insect, waiting 13 or 17 years to emerge, but once they're above ground, things move pretty fast. Female cicadas lay eggs in trees, which drop to the ground and burrow, waiting for years to emerge, depending on their brood.

Once they emerge, adults cicadas will mate, lay millions of eggs and die, all in about five weeks.

What is the difference between annual and periodical cicadas?

There are two types of cicadas that are common in Eastern U.S. states: Annual and periodical cicadas. Annual cicadas emerge every year, while periodical cicadas emerge every 13 or 17 years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

What is a brood?

According to the University of Connecticut, broods are classified as "all periodical cicadas of the same life cycle type that emerge in a given year."

A brood of cicadas is made up of different species of the insect that have separate evolutionary histories. These species may have joined the brood at different times or from different sources. These different species are lumped together under the brood because they are in the same region and emerge on a common schedule.

Hubby is finally vaping only now. He had quit smoking for 16 years but 2000 was a horrible no good year for us. With all the stress he was under he started smoking again. Then when my mother passed away in 2014 he started vaping and has been vaping ever since. Yes we stock up on vape juice for him. His favorite online source closed up shop and now we have to buy local and it is so much more expensive. The only draw back to vaping is he can vape in the car and it doesn't bother me. Smoking is not allowed in my car or my house so he would take smoke breaks when we travel. Now he jokes he only gets 100 miles per potty break from me 

Yesterday was food prep day. I managed to make a half gallon of Pico, a quart and half of Verde Sauce and enchilada sauce, a dozen taquitos (there is enough chicken for another dozen but it was the last thing I worked on and ran out of steam), a pound of dry beans cooked and a pound of breakfast sausage cooked for breakfast burritos cooked before I ran out of steam. This morning I made a dozen breakfast burritos and 10 are in the freezer.  Oh and 3 and half quarts of veggie broth. The veggie scraps in the crock pot over night and was divided up and froze this morning. So maybe the $156 will last a month. We will see. 

Oh how I miss Aldi. When we moved to Texas I was so upset, the closest Aldi is 4 1/2 hours away. I either have to travel to OKC or Wichita Falls. The closest HEB is 3 hours away in Lubbock. So I am stuck with Wal-Mart, United,or Cost plus. There is a Sam's Club just over an hour away in the large city. I want an Aldi backI only shopped Aldi when we lived in NC. I would hit Kroger when they had their 10 for $10 sales but for the monthly shopping (I only got paid once a month when we lived in NC) I would clean the car out fold down the back seat and go shopping at Aldi. 

2 hours ago, Littlesister said:

I don't really care for brown rice and do eat white rice about once a week

I am not a fan of brown rice either; however, I do like Quinoa (pronounced in suthern - Ken-wa) I bounce between Quinoa and Cauliflower rice. Hubby doesn't care for white rice but will eat parboiled. He had rather have brown rice. 

16 minutes ago, Littlesister said:

Hopefully the Farxiga will get that weight off like he said it would

Littlesister, I hope that works for you. It did not work for me, if anything it increased my appetite. I didn't loose any but I didn't gain any either. 

Since it cold again today my outside plans have been postponed. Today has offically turned into meal prep day for the meals over the next few weeks. 

Things that will be prepped today:

Breakfast burritos - will go ahead and make up about a dozen and get them in the freezer.

Marina sauce - this will probably cook overnight in the crock pot since I am using both of my crock pots now. 

Dry beans - the black beans are already in the crock pot. Pintos have just gone in the other crock pot so they will be ready tonight to bag up and freeze.

Chicken - the chicken is cooking now for the taquitos. I plan on making about 2 dozen and freezing them - this is hubby's go to for snacks

Today is "feed the starter" day so I will make pizza dough with the discard and freeze it.

Enchilda sauce like the marina sauce this will need to simmer for a while, the long the better. I have a pot simmering now since we are having enchilda casserole for dinner. The rest will be froze in ice trays and stored for later use. 

That will just leave slicing up some onions. I try to keep one or two in the refrig sliced and diced to make it easier when cooking, the onions I have are old and trying to sprout so they will all be sliced and diced and froze.  

*****UPDATE***** 

Wal-Mart was the cheapest this week except for potatoes if I wanted to buy seconds. I could get them for $2 for a 5# bag. More on that later. We have three grocery stores in our area without traveling to Amarillo. Wal-Mart, Cost Plus (this is where you pay "cost" plus 10% and also where the potatoes are on sale) and United Supermarket which is part of Albertson's (think Publix, Food Lion) It is where the influent people (or at least they think they are) shop so the prices are higher. 

Everything on my list was 20 -40 cents more expensive this week. A lady I used to work with husband is an assistant manager at Wal-Mart and I spoke with him today. He advised me to go ahead and buy things I am going to need for the next few weeks because the next shipment of frozen veggies will see a minimum of a 10% increase. I bought the pepper and onion mix that had already gone up a dime from last week and the stir fry I had planned on using like week 3 or 4 had gone up a dime. Cilantro went up a nickel. My canned green chilies had goine up 12 cents and the zucchini had gone up 20 cents a pound. And to think Wal-Mart was the cheapest. I did catch 3# of ground turkey marked down to $10.06. They no longer carry the rolls I used to buy for $2.25. Potatoes had gone up like 30 cents. Jalapenos had gone up 56 cents a pound. The Riccota cheese had gone up a dime so I bought cottage cheese instead. It was 20 cents cheaper and had 6 more grams of protein. 

I did buy breakfast sausage which was not on the list. Hubby was adamant that the breakfast burritos would have sausage in them. I bought two one pound rolls of the WM brant for $2.87 each. I also bought smoked sausage which was not on the list and it was 2.81. But will be used in week three for the sausage skillet. It was Earl Campbell*  brand. The only other meat that was bought was 10# of leg quarters for 7.72. There were 8 leg quarters in the bag so I cut them up and divided them into just thighs and legs. One thigh will give us plenty of meat in the stir fry and two thighs will make about 2 dozen taquitos. That 10# chicken will last the 4 weeks (or else ) 

As for the potatoes I don't like shopping the Cost Plus store, it smells bad and the people are rude. So I bit the bullet and paid extra for the potatoes since that is the only thing I would have bought while in there. We usually buy peppers, roma tomatoes and cilantro there because they are always cheaper but not this week. Once you factored in the extra 10% they were the same price as Wal-Mart. 

Long story short I spent most of my budget for the month. I had alotted $175 for the month and I spent $156 but like I said I bought stuff for week 2-4 also. I need to sit down and figure out exactly what will be used this week and see if I stayed within budget. I know I spent extra on dessert ingredients since we have a function to attend Saturday and I am taking dessert and that was like $7. 

*Earl Campbell funny - I meet him when he played for the Houston Oilers many many moons ago. He had an account at the bank where I worked. Because of who he was he skipped the teller line and went to one of the VPs and the secretary would bring his deposit straight to us to be processed. Well one day the VP, Mr. Campbell and one of Mr. Campbell's friends brought it in on their way to lunch. The VP trying to be impressive introduced him. I was polite and said nice to meet you. The VP went on to explain who it was and I said that was nice. His friend nudged him and said that I must be upset over the botched play from the weekend. Me being who I am said " no I am not a fan of football" the team mate lost it. I thought he was going to wet himself he was laughing so hard. The VP turned red and Mr. Campbell smirked. I apologized and said I was really not a sports fan, I was more of a bookworm. 

Today is grocery shopping day. We are going to go ahead and start our $20 week challenge since we really need to get moving on a few projects and plug some major holes in the pantry since the move. It is going to be a little more than $40 this week since I have to buy coffee. I can't believe I ran out of coffee. I thought I had at least another bag but I can't find it. I think one of the kids went shopping in the storage pantry and the coffee was on there list . Kids gotta love them. I will also pick up an extra couple of sweet potatoes and sprout them. I can't get sweet potato sprouts here, actually seed potatoes are hard to get here also. I am on the hunt for organic potatoes today also just in case I can't find seed potatoes. I am going by Tractor Supply to see if they have this seed and fruit trees selection out yet. I want blueberry and blackberry bushes this year. Plus a few more seeds I am looking for, I have checked all the suppliers I trust online and they are out of most of the ones I want so now I have to hope and pray locals stores will have some.

9 hours ago, Mt_Rider said:

Glad you have a storm shelter, Mommato3!  Tornadoes, etc are too common down there!  Can it be a root cellar too

Mt_Rider we hope use use it as a root cellar ... maybe... We are trying to decided if it can be used to store propane and gasoline as well. I had rather store those things in there if we have to choose. The closest gas station is about 15 miles away so we need to have extra stored but don't have a locking garage to store it in. We may end up investing in one of those garden tool sheds and store the propane/gas in there. There is so much to be done and moving has set us back and helped also. The to do list keeps getting longer and I am not marking off "got 'er done" fast enough. It seems for each marked off item I am adding 4 or 5 to dos.