mommato3boys

Mother I know I am late to the challenge but I wanted to share my experience. 

First of I have had the worst luck with container gardening the past 2 years. I think it has been the soil.  Others here in my area have had issues too. Hopefully we will be out of the apartment around the first of the year and in a house.

When we get into a house we will do square foot gardening again. When we lived in NC I had a square food garden and had more veggies than I could handle some times.  

I like the square foot gardening because I didn't have a lot of weeding. Since I was working full time I needed a low maintenance garden. 

I have it all planned out I just need a yard now LOL 

Well, my storage is a mixture of ideas. My working pantry is arranged by hubby, in other words it is all just stuffed in the cabinet (OH MY OCD BRAIN) My storage is a little different since it is all over the apartment. You know I had to find room in this tiny apartment.  Long term is by product, yes, all my green beans are together, soups are together, and they are arranged by kind of soup, ie all veggie soup are together, all potato soup etc (you get the idea). Then my favorite, my oh crap I forgot to put something in the crockpot or I really don't want to cook. I too saw the bags with meals and incorporated those into my food pantry. I have about two dozen that I can grab and throw together a meal. It may be as simple as meatless spaghetti or mac&cheese tuna casserole. I call these my oh crap meals. They are not my favorite meals but they are my quick and easy meals. I went to the Dollar Store before it became the 5 Quarter store and bought the bags with handles and put everything needed for the meal in the bag. Wrote on the bag what the meal was and set it on the self above the washer. There is also a 5x7 index card in each with written instructions so that hubby can prepare the meal. Got to love him he tries LOL.  When I use one I take the bag go to the storage bins and gather the ingredients and restock the bag. One this helps rotate my food and two when the work day as whipped me good we still have a decent meal in minutes. 

I have learned one system will not work for everything. My working pantry is arranged by hubby because he does most of the cooking during the week and he likes things grouped a certain way. My food storage, we both agree, needs to be by item so we can see the holes. Then we have our camping food, aka get the heck out of Dodge meals, these are for when / if we have to grab and go in case of natural disaster or an emergency (and when we do weekend camping trips just to have a break). These are mostly no cook meals or take little to no prep and can be eaten cold ...camp food... like beanie weenies. soup, cheese and crackers, pop tarts, granola bars and beef sticks. We keep these in Bug Out Bags so they are easy to grab and go. The BOB has about 10 days worth of food for the two of us. I am trying to figure out how to make it a whole month. I figure it would take that long to get the supplies again if we are lucky. Then there is my oh crap bags as explained above. Food storage a multi facet system and it takes time to find one that will work for you. 

On 4/10/2022 at 1:32 PM, Annarchy said:

I became disabled/unemployable, the system automatically put me on Part A.  DH was a fed employee with full coverage for both of us, so I didn’t choose to enroll in Part B.  We choose each year, from the OPM site.  Ensuring that we get a full coverage HMO, without going broke on a fixed income. 
 

Do we have to get Part B?  Would there be any advantage to getting it?

 

Yes, you automatically get Part A. 

No, you don't have to get Part B... BUT...you must have covered under another policy because at a later date you will be penalized if you decide to sign up for part B and have not been covered under another policy. 

The good thing about Part B is you do not have to have referrals to specialist. You can use any doctor you want as long as said doctor takes medicare. With HMOs most require referrals to specialist. 

Do your homework, figure out how much it would cost you to purchase part B and a supplement then compare it to what you are paying for your current coverage. Another thing to take into consideration is if your current policy covers short term and long term care. This is a big consideration. 

On 3/27/2022 at 8:02 PM, Dee said:

I keep thinking/hoping hams will be on sale at Easter. They usually are but who knows this year?!?!?

You are hoping for ham, I am hoping for chickens and Cornish hens. We don't eat pork and very little beef even though we live in beef country it is way too expensive. 

3 hours ago, Dee said:

Our foster daughter is no youngster AND she was taught to cook with me.  She lived with us her 4 years of high school and will be 60 in April. Wow, what does that tell you about my age?    

 

I taught her to bake, can, etc. and she does it well.  She just likes giving me something different and this year it was from the Apple Orchard in Ft. Dodge.  I'll also add that was not all that was in the Apple Orchard bag.  I'm sure she spent close to $100.  She knows I cook mostly from scratch and was just giving me some nice things to try that I would never have spent the money on.  She's a great wife, mother, grandmother and so on and has been a part of our family since 1976.

 

In the bag was also a jar, not quite a pint of jam, some kind of dark berry, I can't remember which for $8.95.  Again, I can't imagine that price but it was good.   I can't remember what else but I felt like a queen using that expensive stuff. 

I agree with Martianchick, Foster daughter may have bought those through a school fundraiser and thought hey these would make great Christmas gifts. I have done that, bought stuff the grands were selling only to turn around and give it for a gift. I was able to support the grands and bless someone else. No matter the cost your Foster thought enough  of you to realize you would probably enjoy it. So chalk it up as a gift and forget what was stamped one the box. 

My two cents, even if someone spent that much on something like that and put it in their panty, well at least they were making an effort. Not everyone out here on this big blue marble are cost conscious as I am. But they are trying to do something. I know a young family that is trying to stock their panty, but they don't shop like I do. They spend way more than I do but at least they have something in their panty. They are young and are buying the "best" of everything and name brands to boot, which may serve them in the long run. I am old, I know how to make do or do without. So....

3 minutes ago, Dee said:

 

Am I just old and cheap or do others find this expensive?

 

 

Yes Dee, you are just old and cheap....NOT!!!!!!  I wouldn't pay that price even for baked and ready to eat. But then again, I don't buy coffee at Starbucks either.

These were in south Texas around San Antonio and Austin. The video of the red truck in the tornado in Texas was in Elgin, TX east of Austin. I am in the panhandle 10 hours north of there. The day of the tornado in south Texas we had snow...go figure.

Welcome back...you are living in my dream home!!! It is beautiful.

Avoiding the news...keeping my head down and looking for a better paying job. Have stuck with this place through everything the past two years but, I am officially burned out and tired of being used and abused. So, I am on the hunt. I like my job, but Wal-Mart is starting their employees out making $5 more an hour than I am making. $5 more an hour to do other people's shopping. If they had better insurance, I would apply there in a heartbeat. Although, I detest shopping, I had rather scrub toilets than shop, still it is $5 more an hour. Plus, you get (or used when the kids worked there) a discount when you shop at WM. Sorry to be Debbie-Downer. Like I said just burned out.

7 hours ago, Annarchy said:

@mommato3boysthank you ever so much for thinking of me. It is beautiful.

 

 

Whew...I took a chance on the address. I wanted it to be a surprise so I wouldn't ask for your address. I am glad it arrived.

Snowmom, USPS shows your's delivered today. I hope it arrived in one piece.

Midnightmom, I got your's today. 

Thanks everyone. It has been a whirlwind of a week. I went back to work after a week of vacation and 2 days of Thanksgiving holiday on my birthday. But we had a blast on vacation. We went with some wonderful friends and that made it all the more special.

On 12/9/2021 at 1:35 PM, Midnightmom said:

Not here yet, and not showing on my Informed Delivery dashboard as being delivered today either. 

Hopefully it will get here soon. 

Please let me know if you have not received it. According to USPS it has been delivered.

Snowmom, yours is still in transit. I can't believe it taking more than a week for you to get yours. I sent them all out on 12/4.

Has everyone else received theirs?

If you are on facebook you will see this post on my facebook page. But I wanted to share here also...

This past week we made a trip to Kansas City, Missouri with friends to see the Auschwitz display at Union Station, the return trip we stopped in Oklahoma City to see the OKC Memorial. I encourage each of you to visit these two memorials. I believe the Auschwitz display will be at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri until the end of March. Wear good walking shoes and take a couple boxes of tissues. The OKC Memorial will also take three to four hours and be prepared for a range of emotions. The Auschwitz display suggest that the display is for 12 and older, but I would say no younger than high school age. It is gut wrenching and it will shred your heart. If it doesn't I would say you need a heart check and not from a cardiologist. It was all I could do to emotionally make it through the tour. Several times Paul and I sat down along the way and I just leaned into him and cried. I could not contain the emotions. Even as I write this I have cried, rewritten and cried more.

The story of the “sinful” woman who washed Jesus' feet and dried them with her hair in Luke 7:36-50 made an impression on me. I still remember the scene from Forrest Gump where he was sitting on the bench and told the lady that his mother said you could tell a lot about a person from their shoes...where they go, where they've been. But I, myself, have never really given much thought to peoples feet and their shoes; however, after visiting the Auschwitz display and the OKC Memorial that all changed. Shoes have come to represent a life that is no longer with us. A life that was taken too soon. A life that may or may not have known my Lord and Savior.

Walking through the Auschwitz display shoes where part of the gripping tell of the terrible loss of life. How people were rounded up and herded to the end of their life, from the old and sick/infirmed to the very young that had just begun to live. I had to ask myself how this could have happen, why no one fought back. I learned a lot through that three hour tour. Not only where my feet hurting but I had a new respect for life as I know it. One gripping story was from a survivor that told how she had to sort the bundles of clothes left behind. When she opened a bundle there on the top was the sweater she had last seen her brother in before they were separated. Used to when I heard the word Auschwitz I my first thought was Jewish people, but I learned not all that suffered Auschwitz was Jewish. Yes most were, but many were handicapped, sick, brown-eyed, gypsies, and those that tried to help the Jewish people. Shoes were about all that remained of these people.

One of the first things you see when you tour the OKC Memorial was the rubble from the building and in that rubble was a shoe front and center. It told the story of horror, destruction and the loss of life.

“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Social-Democrats, and I did not speak out because I was not a Social-Democrat. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.” German pastor Martin Niemoller, incarcerated 1937-1945

After listening to the tells of horror and survival by those that experienced Auschwitz, I see just how this is slowly being repeated. We must speak out, we must speak for those that are unable to speak for themselves and stand beside those that can speak out and help make their voices louder.

Well ok so I was probably the first one that finsihed her ornaments and will be the last one to send them out. We just returned from vacation and I guess what I found on my computer table...my cards waiting to be mailed. I thought I mailed them before we left. OOPS. I will get them in the mail this afternoon or first thing tomorrow. Laundry is going right now. 

Little Sister how about a cubby that holds those cloth cubes for your clothes. Then after your dresser arrives you can use it to store preps.

Well snapdragon, why didn't I think of that for my spaghetti. Must pick one up and stop the avalance of noodles. 

price updated on 9/22/2021

50 pounds of pinto beans at Sam's club $30.72 

35 pounds of liquid shortening (Member's Mark brand) $44.24

50 pounds whole corn (Producer's Price) Tractor Supply $12.29

I believe it was suggested:

two bags of beans - total $61.44

one 35 pounds shortening - total $44.24

6 bags of corn - total $73.74 

Total $179.42 - these are west Texas prices.  This would be a good starting point. 

One of the first things I would add to this list is canned tomatoes and canned peppers, like green chilis, jalapenos and chipotles. Seasonings will make the most bland boring meal edible. 

Pinto beans make good charro beans. This recipe is modified from Mexican Please. I have made a few changes for my convience and hubby's taste buds.

Ingredients

4cups of cooked beans

1/2 lb. bacon (approx. 7-8 slices) - I use porkbelly or you may know it as salt pork if I use any meat at all 

4-5 plum tomatoes - I use canned tomatoes 

1/2 onion - more or less it depends on the onion I use, a white onion I only use half a yellow onion well it will all probably be used.

1-2 chipotles in adobo add more if you want it spicer. I have even used green chiles and jalapenos instead of chipotles in adobo. Hubby likes the jalapenos.

2 cloves garlic (I actually use about 4 cloves. We like garlic)

2 cups stock (chicken, beef or veggie. I will use beef stock if I don't use any meat when cooking the dry beans)

1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (optional - yes there is a difference between Mexican oregano and the "oregano" you use in Italian dishes or at least I think there is a difference)

1/2 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste - I normally omit the salt because I will add it once the dry beans are cooked)

freshly cracked black pepper (try chili pepper instead of black pepper )

Another filling bean meal is Enfrijoladas. (https://www.mexicanplease.com/enfrijoladas-made-peruano-beans/)

He uses peruano beans but my DIL is from El Naranjo Mexico and she taught me to use pinto or black beans. 

You can take left over charro beans and make some awesome refried beans. Then you can have tostados or bean burritos. Corn tortillas can be used to make taco shells, or tostado shells. 

Corn Tortillas (http://www.mexicanplease.com)

2 cups Masa Harina

2 tablespoons lard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1.5 cups warm water

Instructions

Add 2 cups Masa Harina, 2 tablespoons lard, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a mixing bowl.  Add 1 cup of the warm water and stir until the water is absorbed.  Add the rest of the water incrementally until the flour melds into a dough.  Use your hands to knead the dough into a cohesive ball.

Separate the dough into golf ball sized chunks -- this will make tortillas approximately 4 inches across. Flatten the dough balls using a flat bottomed pan or a tortilla press. Be sure to line each side of the dough ball with plastic or Ziploc pieces

Heat a skillet or comal to medium-high heat.  Add a tortilla to the skillet and flip it after 10 seconds. Then cook each side for about a minute or until light brown spots are forming on the underside. (Lately I use a tad over medium heat on my stove and this will have brown spots forming in about 60 seconds.)

Continue cooking the rest of the tortillas. I usually put one in the skillet and flatten the next one to expedite the process. Once cooked you can keep them warm by wrapping them in a tea towel or using a dedicated tortilla warmer. Serve immediately.

Store leftovers tortillas in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, cook them in a dry skillet over medium heat until warm and crispy.

Notes

Sometimes it can take some fiddling to get the consistency of the dough right.  If it's sticking to your hands simply add a few sprinklings of Masa Harina to dry it out. Conversely, if the dough is still crumbly then you can add splashes of water until it becomes cohesive.

There is so much that you can do with pinto beans. You don't have to just eat a boring bowl of pintos with cornbread; although, we do that a lot around here, thank goodness hubby loves a good pot of dry beans. All you have to do is be willing to try ethnic recipes. 

Littlesister, even her in ranchland where there is nothing but beef prices are horrible.

3 minutes ago, Mother said:

Keystone used to come from the same processor that produced the Lehman’s canned meat.  Less expensive and I found no difference between quality or taste.  That was years ago.  Does anyone have recent cans of both to check?  I didn’t care for the ground beef not just because of excessive fat but the texture was too soft.  Though used in sauces and casseroles it was not noticeable and I wouldn’t be picky in an emergency for sure.  We liked the beef, turkey, chicken, and pork.  I’m looking forward to a review as i have been thinking of stocking some canned meat.  

Mother, it was tasteless. The beef chunks I bought was actually good but this was tasteless.  No sure I will spend the money on it again.

Under the threat Cyberattack on Beef processing plant we discussed Keystone meat. I have bought two cans. One was the beef, it has the consistency of other beef chunck meat and was good.

HOWEVER, the ground beef was a little shocking when I opened the can. There was a lot of fat that congealed. I thought I had gotten it all and dumped it into my chili. I freaked out because there was a lot more than I first thought. I won't be dumping the can straight into the pot any more, first into a bowl to scrap away the fat then into the pot. It was gross. OK I am spoied, I mean really spoiled, because it is just the two of us I splurge and buy 97/3 ground beef...no fat. If I ever buy 80/20 I cook, drain rinse and then proceed to make my dish. I have forgotten just have greasy ground beef can be. 

Defintely canning my own groud beef. That was just to much grease for me.

Watch for an updated on this for taste and texture.... not sure if I will give it a good review or not. All I can see in my mind is the congealed blob.UPDATED

UPDATED: TASTESLESS!!!! Literally I could not taste the ground beef. Hubby wasn't a fan either.

On 9/11/2021 at 9:32 PM, Mt_Rider said:

I went in to my doc in Feb 2020 and she fussed at me for being low in Vit D.   "It's winter in Colorado, Doc!  Not a lot of sunshine!"  She said: around these parts, sunshine isn't going to be enough...supplement!  OK.  But as COVID was just starting, DH made sure we had all the vitamins/minerals stocked and taking them.  This year she was very pleased with my lab results. 

 

MtRider  ....good thing you've been persistent, Beryl!    
 

I can't find the article now, but when they tested covid patients most had a vitamin C and D deficency. So take those supplements.

So this was actually a 4 day weekend for me. I covered half a day for one that is out with COVID and then the rest of the day I did my job. I did 5 days 10 hours a day. I was one tired puppy Thursday evening, but I had a job interview 2 hours away Friday morning at 10. So we went and spent the night with youngest and family. The job is 30 miles from them which beats the 70 that we are now. I am hoping and praying that I will be offered the job, but haven't given up on my 5 year plan for here where we are. 

Any way I said all of that to say this morning I put a whole chicken in  4qt crockpot on high, I will get four meals out of it.

1. Chicken and dumplings

2. Chicken and rice with broccoli

3. Chicken and dressing

4. Either BBQ chicken baked potatoes or chicken quesadillas - I haven't decided yet.

This is also giving me 4 qts of chicken broth. Yep those bones and skin are going back into the crockpot with a carrot, celery and some onion for a nice rich broth.

In my 6qt crockpot I started spaghetti. I signed up for the meal train for a new mom at church and am making them spaghetti. It is just as easy to make a big pot as a small pot. So I will have one meal for them. I have offered sauce to the kids, so there is another two meals. That will leave two meals for us. We will have regular spaghetti then we will have stuffed shells. There may even be enough left to make my spaghetti casserole. So that is at least is six meals for the week. I will throw in dry beans for a meal and we will have 7 meals. WHOOT WHOO!!

The only thing I had to buy for these 7 meals was onions and a can of cream of celery. I can't believe I was out of fresh onions. Actually I could have gotten buy without fresh onion because I had dried onion and onion powder, which I used in the spaghetti sauce. I am the only one that likes celery in the family so I learned a long time ago in order to get the flavor of celery in my dressing I could use cream of celery soup. It works wonders and helps keep the dressing from drying out. 

After doing a detailed inventory yesterday I discovered I could easily put together another 10 or 15 meals by just adding fresh veggies. I not as bad off as I thought. Those 10-15 meals do not include dry beans or things I could make from them like burittos, tostadas, or molletes. So I think I can chill out a LITTLE BIT and focus on adding things to my larder that I can make what I have go futher. I discovered we had 20# of plain unbleached flour. I didn't even know I had 3 of those bags. Because I had no idea of excatly what we had or how much of each item we had I did not realize that we can easily survive a month if not longer. If we have access to water. That is a major whole in my preps. I need to invest in some more water containers and hit the Windmill (filtered water place) and fill them up. We can get 5 gallons for a $1. We easily go through 15 gallons a week not including what we use from the tap. We use the filtered water for coffee, drinking water and cooking water. AND there is just TWO of us in the house. Water storage has moved to #1 on the list of GET YOUR BE-HIND IN GEAR AND GET IT DONE!!!! I hope one day to invest in a Berkey system. That is in the 5 year plan. 

I need to bite the bullet and invest in dairy items powder, like eggs, butter, freeze dried cheese we depend on getting those fresh from the store or friends that have chickens. So I am lacking those items. Another short fall is condiments like mustard, ketchup, and pickles. I need to stock up on oil but it has been hard finding oils and shortenings will an expiration date of longer than 6 months. We are at the end of the delivery chain here so we get all the left overs. I would like to start ordering on line but then again I don't trust the expiration dates. Last time I ordered I had to use the items within 6 months because of the expiration dates. I know those dates are "just" suggestions but I don't like to use oil and shortening past the date. 

I have started a small notebook for meal preps. As I make a dish and realize DUH this would be a good "prep" meal I write it in down in my notebook. I am writing down easy meals that call for simple and few ingredents. That way as I have extra money I can buy what I need for that meal and add it to the larder. Yes Mother, I too cook large meals and divided them up for lunches and freeze for later meals. I used to do Once A Month Cooking when the boys lived at home. That way ever who got home first could start dinner or I could it in the crockpot before leaving for work. I have just gotten away from that and now I need to put on my big momma panties and get back to doing that so there will be more peace and less stress in this house. It will also help me stick to my grocery budget way better than I am doing now.

I feel a little better and am a little less stressed. We are gonna survive this craziness if not I know where I am going and the food left behind can go to the kids or someone that needs it. There will be a lot of "poverty" cooking but you know what...we grew up eating those poverty meals. There is nothing wrong with dry beans and greens and cornbread if we have it. I am trying to think when did I get out of the mindset of cooking simple meals and think we had to have a meat drowned in a rich sauce, two veggies, an appetizer and a dessert as well as a bread at a meal or come home and say I don't feel like cooking lets eat out. I need to get back into the mindset that we need to eat to survive not survive to eat. 

Today I am adding tortilla soup and enchilda soup to the menu. I actually have everything in the kitchen to make these two meals. 

Euphrasyne, I love your veggie "nugget" recipe. I am going to have to try that for the grandbabies. Grandson is 3 and in the chicken nugget stage...nothing but chicken nuggets, maybe by mixing veggie nuggets in with chicken nuggets we can get veggies down him.