euphrasyne

We got a rotisserie chicken yesterday for $4.99 I cannot get raw chicken for that much so it was a good deal. We pulled it apart and got about 6-8 cups of chicken out of it plus bones and skin. 3 Dinners: Day 1: chicken enchiladas. dehydrated onions, shredded chicken, cream cheese, cheddar, green chilis, green enchilada sauce. Mix, stuff tortillas, cover in sauce and cheese and bake. 425F 30m. roasted cabbage: cut into steaks. butter both sides and sprinkle generous fajita seasoning and garlic. 425 1H. flip half way through. (so good! sometimes I eat leftovers of just this for lunch) 450F 40m if it is the only thing in the oven. Even DD14 eats a big helping of cabbage if I cook it this way. Spanish rice & refried beans. Day 2: Chicken salad on croissants. I haven't decided on a side yet. Probably salad, chips, or potato salad. Trying a new recipe made with chicken, green onion, pecans, and dried cranberries. Dressing was mayo, sour cream, honey, dijon mustard, salt, and poppyseed. it seemed good when I made it last night, but I won't be sure until tonight. It did seem a bit dry so I added extra mayo. If I keep the recipe, I'll probably double the sauce ingredients next time. Day3 I put the bones back in the package to make chicken soup on Tuesday. DD14 will be home as it is teacher work day so I can show her the proper way to make it from scratch. Well semi-scratch as it is a rotisserie. Chicken, corn, lima beans, celery, carrots, smoked sausage, onions, garlic, and seasoning to taste (bay leaf, salt, pepper, italian or cajun depending on preference) Sometimes i add green beans or peas. Make in the usual way for broth then cook remainder according to type (canned, frozen, dehydrated, fresh.) Mine is always a mixture so I'm adding various things to the pot all day. Sometimes I use bullion and canned chicken if that is what I have on hand. No one seems to notice fresh vs not fresh. Going to make bread to go with it. Not sure what type yet. I was going to leave the green onion out of the chicken salad, but my eternal green onion on the deck is still growing. DD19 started it years ago from a store one and it is still going. Sometimes it gets 2-3ft stalks that still taste good. That onion has been good to us.

Spent all morning trying to make a pick up order from BJs only for the website to stop adding things to the cart when I clicked them. So half the stuff I'd added did not process in....because you can only order 40 items at a time. PFFFFT. Who goes shopping for less than 40 things? Not me. I hate shopping and I stock up so I can NOT go shopping using up gas, time, and health risks for as long as possible. So we went to BJs after lunch. I got WAY more than 40 things and I paid a fortune for it. It was easily 30% more than I usually spend there and I didn't get anything fancy --just the normal stuff that we go through within 3 months. I did get a few extra easy snack type foods, and a lot of hygiene items we were low on. DH is super picky about stuff and will only use very specific things, so I wanted to make sure he had enough to last just in case things get interesting. It is amazing how much prices have increased in the last 1, 5, 10, and 20 years respectively. The rate of increase is higher in this one past year than the difference from 10 to 20 years ago.

The most common reason meringues fall is usually either older eggs or overbeating them at a high speed. Use room temperature eggs and start on a low speed, gradually going higher and don't overbeat for best results. You want them to hold the air bubbles and not pop and this will help insure that. Also avoid making on humid days and let cool on the counter to avoid cracking. Also bowl and beaters need to be 100% fat free so make sure you use soap on them if you just used it to make something with fat in it. Another thing that will make them fall is adding the sugar too much at a time. Add 1/2 while beating and rest after. Regardless, you should only incorporate about 1T at a time to avoid it falling. If it is weeping, then you overmixed it or undercooked it. Turn up the temp or cook it longer. Cracked, you cooked it too high a temp. Tough meringue usually needs more sugar or a less humid day.

Went to Merry Market today and bought a dress for our elf on the shelf (husband's thing), a knit pumpkin, and did lots of baby crafts and pics with Santa. It was too many people and I was not impressed at prices vs materials because most of the things offered, I can make myself. I believe in paying for time spent on a craft, but when I can make it myself for 1/10 or less of the price.... just no.... they are great but I can do the same or better. I like to pay for homemade, but I'd probably spend more if I could not make it myself. I'm too crafty for my own others good. I spent way too much for an elf on the shelf costume because I intend to trace the costume and make my own pattern from it to sew more. This afternoon, I cleaned and organized my office with the help of kids DD14 and DD2. Some people call it a craft room or a She Shed, but my office is where all the magic happens.

Those look so tasty and amazing! I don't usually do meringue much since I'm the only one who likes lemon, but those make me want to bake pies! MMMM butterscotch. I'm also the only one who likes that. I'm going to try one of those hacks with foil that make half lemon/ half chocolate and do that this year. You have inspired me.

I don't bother to individually wrap breakfast items. I assemble them, flash freeze them on a non-stick /cookie sheet combo then just layer them all in a big bag. If dh wants to take one to work instead of eating it at the house, he just dumps one into a tupperware. I don't usually have an issue with them sticking since I flash freeze them first. I do the same with pancakes and they stick occasionally, but not often. My crew mostly prefers waffles and I used to make these giant Belgin waffles when the teens were little. They froze so well. Pro tip: English muffins in that little white box--make them into breakfast sandwiches, flash freeze, then store back in the box with multiple boxes in a giant ziplock bag.

I've been watching the baby, binging netflix, and doing a bit of cooking. I was being very good by avoiding buying frivolous things, but then I discovered that they make GLOW IN THE DARK YARN. I did not know that was a thing. Yes please Mr. Bezos, send me a box full. DH took care of permanent family planning this week and has been walking along all bowlegged. Bags of ice, bags of rice, he prefers cold beer cans and says that helps the most, so we are avoiding the grumpy man with beer in his pants except to offer pills and treats. In other news, I think I have a hernia. The last two years have been a health roller coaster. I just want everyone to all be healthy at the same time.

Frozen soup = empty Chinese quart soup containers. It holds just the right amount. I also use the round Tupperware bowls if I'm out of take out containers. Some things like premade burritos, waffles, pancakes, etc I put in ziplock bags, but mostly that is grab-and go microwave stuff. Anything that actually needs to defrost, I prefer to have its own container. I then set the defrosting stuff in a plastic dollar store bin in my fridge. It keeps it together and prevents drips in the fridge. I just have to wash the bin.

Sausage: Breakfast burritos frozen for grab n' go sausage, potatoes, kale, chicken broth soup Meat in spaghetti sauce Fry patties for breakfast sandwiches various asian stir-fries eggroll in a bowl (fry it with coleslaw shreds)

All of my manuals are in 3 ring binders. I buy those clear sleeve protectors and stuff the manuals in them. Some have multiple manuals in the same sleeve and others just one. It is very easy to organize and find things this way. I sort them by binder: (outside stuff green binder, major appliances and kitchen items white binder, rest in a black binder.) then each binder has a sections like kitchen/laundry/house or garden/recreation/tools or medical/craft/etc. I further subdivide stuff then alphabetize it or group like things together under a common collective name ie.. scrapbook tools, drills, etc.

I use rice flour, wheat, almond meal, bean flour, oats, and cornmeal the most. Occasionally I use rye or other specialty, but not enough to keep a large stock of it and I stock absolutely nothing I don't/ wouldn't eat on a random Tuesday.

My experience with kitchen wood is nope. Give me stainless steel every time. It is easier to clean and care for.

I am trying to stay busy as that helps me to not thing about what is going on personally, politically, economically and such. My father and lack of communication is much on my mind. Today I spent time with the teen and the baby and made orange marmalade. 5 half pints, 1 pint canned and about 1/2 pint in the fridge. yum. I adapted my usual orange/grapefruit jelly to be marmalade and changed the seasonings to include pumpkin spice, ginger, cardamon, and cloves. DD14 helped and said it tasted like Christmas morning. It is delicious. DD14 and I also organized all my canning supplies. I'm really lucky to have DD14. She is a rock for me. I don't know why cooking and recipes consume me but they do and I am happier when I know how to cook rather than how to follow a recipe. DD14 and I talk about it often. She was working on sewing a skirt for her friend most of the day. I'm really proud of her, her skills, and her compassion/ friendships.

Dee, I love your stories. Please keep them up. I'm sure your family will treasure them as the years pass. My father's family farms for a living and its always been something I want to do more of. I have great memories of visiting that farm and of visiting my maternal aunt in the country and going to Saturday evening auctions. Your stories make me really nostalgic about the better parts of my childhood and that is one of the happiest things for me right now. Thank you for sharing.

If you freeze them in smaller baggies, you can make crowd omelets. Crack eggs and scramble into a baggie. usually about 2 eggs per baggie. Add meat and veggies. Store in fridge or freeze. Defrost before using. Boil water. Place baggies into water for 13 minutes or so. Boom Omelets for 50 done in under 30m. Works on stovetop, commercial stoves, or campfires. Quiche is my favorite way to freeze egg dishes. Also breakfast burritos and sandwiches. You can make a large rectangle of scramble that can be cut into smaller squares for breakfast items by baking them on a cookie sheet lined with a nonstick mat. They peel right off the mat and I just use a lasagna cutter or pizza cutter to cut squares in the desired size.

I saw that before. I love squirrels! I collect squirrel stuff with lots of pictures, figurines, and such in the house.

I usually bought 5dz eggs or else got fresh eggs from my grandfather. and I measured about 1c per bag because that was how much I needed to cook. I'd cook them up at the start of the week and people ate them for grab and go breakfasts. I usually got about 10-12 bags from the 5dzn and less from my grandfather as fresh eggs are smaller than grocery ones. Any leftover I'd just go ahead and cook that day. I'm not really a morning cooker, so food at that time of day is always either grab and go or DIY. Also I'd wash and reuse the baggie for the next batch. I was either cheap or great for the environment that way.

I got a facebook text from a cousin I don't remember on my father's side. She wanted to call me. I knew right when I read the text why the call needed to be made. I told my husband to watch the baby because a random family member needed to tell me my father was dead. The call was made and I started it off with all the usual pleasantries and how-are-ya'lls. Yep. Dad is dead. Yesterday morning, had been in hospice for months. His ex wife (the one I like) was with him. The last time I saw him was in 2000. The last time I heard his voice was in 2003. He was the one who cut contact, not me and not over anything I did. I had been expecting a call like that for years and thought I would handle it better. I did not. I broke down crying. It ended up being a hard night and I fell stepping down the 2 steps into my bedroom. I fell into my big dresser and hurt my left leg & hip and my right elbow and two spots on my head. Nothing seems broken, but I feel old. I've been having a lot of falls lately. I need to find some sort of railing I can put on those steps to help me go up and down them. They are a bit weird and you can see them in the background of the cats fighting over my husband's lap. It wouldn't do much good to attach the railing flat to the walls, so I need something that curves out or goes on the floor. Needless to say I did a whole bunch of nothing but hold the baby today. The other day after reading the insect thread, I was in the kitchen while DD14 was cutting up chicken for dinner. I told her 'your options are that food is scarce and you can either eat insects or die. which do you choose?" she looked up at me deadpan, shook the knife, and asked me if i would teach her how to butcher people*. This child is more like me than any of the rest. *Obviously a joke we would never do that. We do however enjoy watching zombie movies and Hannibal.

I used to freeze eggs when I lived in MS. Crack 60 into a giant bowl, scramble them. Add a 1TB salt and divide the scramble into ziplock bags. Freeze flat. Did that for years with no issues.

Jeepers, they make a step that undermounts beside the door and folds in and out for short people. They range from $50 to $1500 with the average being around $500. The $50 are too small in my opinion, but the ones around $300-$500 work quite well.

@Snapshotmiki I talk like that The guy does a lot of skits. My husband and I like him because it is usually things we do or know people who do.

Jeepers, my husband found this and shared to his FB. It made me think of you. *Warning this is a southern man making fun of southern things. Be prepared for all things redneck. https://fb.watch/g1fVVoveJ9/

I try to keep 3 sets of sheets for any adult beds and 5 or 6 for children under 8. Adults: 1 for the bed, 1 for the wash, 1 spare just in case Children: 1 for the bed, 1 for middle of night accident, 3 for wash because who has time to wash that much, 1 spare. Adults get 3 blankets each. Even if you sleep in the bed with someone else, you get your own blanket. This makes life MUCH happier for everyone. Babies have more blankets than I can count because I and many of my family crochet or sew. Seriously do not ask me to count baby/toddler blankets. I have a secret dresser stash that everyone is scared to open.

As a woman of childbearing age, I never ever buy plain colored sheets unless the color is rust. When I buy them, I find the right way to put them on the bed, then I take a permanent sharpie and write on each corner TR, TL, BR, BL so I can just look at them and see. The marker ends up under the mattress and is invisible.

Orange juice always makes me feel like I am going to die since my GI surgery in 16. I carry around motts fruit snacks packets in my purse. The kids love them and shut up are quiet after being given them as a treat and they help me with low blood sugar almost instantly without any tummy issues. Yes, there are healthier options, but none seem to work as fast or travel as well as those small packets of fruit snacks. I buy them by the 90 ct box at BJs.