euphrasyne

beef and rice burritos --I had that for dinner tonight. Meatloaf, hamburgers, hamburger steak, Swedish meatballs over mashed potatoes or rice, tamale casserole, cabbage rolls (we love cabbage rolls uses cooked rice and ground beef), shepherd's pie Rice can be a casserole filler with chicken and sauce. Natchitoches Meat Pies --its like a hot pocket with hamburger, bell pepper, and garlic.

I am not having a good week. The post office did not even try to deliver my package but sent it back as undeliverable --I was home the entire time. Friday the van went in for some recall maintenance work. They found that a varmint had gotten into the wiring and ate it. It is covered by insurance but we have a high deductible. They do cover a rental which we went to pick up today. I stepped off the curb wrong and fell down hard. Left leg has been giving me problems lately (knee issues for years on that side.) I fell on my right side. Scraped up forearm below elbow, but was wearing wrist brace so my wrist took no impact. Fell hard on my right knee. Deep cut, ankle swollen and barely supporting weight. My hair went flying and so did my purse. I was completely embarrassed. So we are getting take-out for dinner and I had them bring the walker back downstairs because it is not fun to be me.

We dubbed it Redhead Chili because it was hot and would burn your behind if you had a lot. One of DH's co-workers if from Nigeria and they grow a lot of hot peppers. That is where we get them. Dh and I were both very redheaded before the grey kicked in. 3 of the girls are strawberry blonde.

It has been a busy week. I had my final occupational therapy appointments and have been discharged from there and the doctor. I'm supposed to continue to work on activities at home. Did STEM activities with DD14 and we are growing crystal geodes and sorting rocks this week. Got the downstairs housework mostly caught up and did a lot of cooking. Someone left the freezer open a tad and the top shelf started to thaw so we had a lot of meals from that. I ground up a roast and made chili with ghost, reaper, and scorpion peppers we had frozen. Sent it to DH's work for them to enjoy and froze the rest in smaller containers of 2 servings each so DH has some lunch options for later in the summer. We ground up 2 packs of chicken and made chicken kotletki and DD14 says that is her new favorite dish. Not a huge fan of the green borscht we made with it though. She made a late night dessert fancy pudding sundae thing. Summertime is fun time.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Our local recycling pickup with the city ends this month as they are trying to save money and have decided that recycling is too expensive. We will only see savings of .04 per 100 tax dollars, but they will keep on budget. We have around a thousand boxes from amazon, etc. We are trying to cut back, but it is hard. Things to do with boxes: 1. Boxes as trash bags. Fill them up. Bonus put them out for porch pirates. 2. Burn them in the firepit as starter 3. Turn them into baskets. Open top of box. Cut off long side top flaps. Fold short side top flaps in half with edge on the outside. Cut a U shape into flaps with the top attached. Fold U inward to get quadriple reinforcement on handle. Bam handled basket. Paint, wrap with paper, or leave plain. Fill with stuff. Great for presents, carrying laundry, kids toys, etc. 4. Make a cat fort or a kids fort depending on the size of the box. So many options here. DH is working on 'cat L-Deck'. 5. Use them as garage sale containers to send with people. 6. Thin food type chipboard boxes ( beer box, cereal box, etc.) are basically scrapbook items if no food stains. Use them to make mini books etc and cover them in paper or paint. Please let me know what you do with extra boxes besides put them in the trash!

We have 2 kids at home still and 2 grown. DH got a nice box of grill items as that is something he enjoys. Yesterday I cut up meat into the marinade and this morning I cut up veggies into some different marinade. DD14 and I will skewer them in a bit and DH will grill everything. Lunch menu: Kabobs (beef, smoked sausage, hot dogs, chicken, onion, bell peppers in 4 colors, mushrooms, pineapple.) Meat marinade is homemade greek. Veggie is homemade italian with pineapple juice Potato salad (amish mustard type) Hummus with garlic & chips Watermelon I decided to make a cardboard /basket out of an amazon box rather than wrap everything to give it more of a DIY-man feel. Dh cut the basket handles in for me but thought I was working on a summer craft for the kids. I made him some homemade dry rub that he wants try sometime in the next week or so. I need to thaw more meat.

Had to go to my GP today. Saw a bunch of ducks while there. After I came home, I made some hotdog / sandwich buns from scratch. I put a pack of the Lumberjack smoked sausages by it for size. We are going to grill tonight and serve sausages with onions, peppers, and homemade buns. I made the yellow potholder and orange dishcloth awhile back. I still cannot hold my crochet hook correctly because of my wrist and I'm ever so slightly sad every time I use them.

I lived in MS for over 30 years and a decade of it only about 2.5 hours from 'Nawlins and 5 minutes from LA/MS line. Hot, Humid, could not pay me enough to move back. It was not any sort of experience I want to repeat. I am not a fan of The Big Easy even though I personally know several people who live in and around there. Most of them move out to Kenner at least since living in the city is so expensive and horrid. Been on the east coast about a decade. Hot summers, cold winters, still humid. I hate the beach and love the mountains. I'd take east coast over south LA anytime. North LA is not as bad --especially if you get up around Arklatex. We are hopefully moving somewhere cold and humid. I'm one of those oddballs who could live in an underground bunker for 20 years and be just fine. One person's heaven is another's hell. DH is navy civilian and is seriously thinking about Crane, Indianna. They would pay him to move there and he could be in the armory for a few years until retirement kicks in. Alot of our retirement decisions are based on money/politics/local laws/ and what available positions are up on USA jobs in his range in a few years. Army service sold back counting to navy stuff we've got roughly 30 years in now.

One of our next door neighbors has chickens. They used to get over the fence and into my garden, but my kid said something when putting the chicken back on their side one time and they put in a coop. It has been peaceful ever since. Their chicken coop is one of those portable screen gazebos. 80% of their yard is an inground pool and they have the coop right up against the fence by us. I'm not sure how the inside is set up. He is military and gone frequently, she is deceased wife's mother and raises the kids. DD14 was friends with the oldest daughter, but her dad was deceased wife's 1st husband and her dad came off deployment so she went to live with him. The grandmother speaks Spanish and not a lot of English. Sadly, I only speak a little Spanish and the eldest daughter is gone so we don't talk much anymore.

Sure, put me down. Notice the dill is growing out of the wicking tube on the planter. I love dill. I hate dill.

Our garden is pathetically small this year. I forgot to get pics of the pear tree, but it is blooming. We have 2 raised beds, several fruit trees, and some in buckets and planters around the deck. Pics: 1. tomatoes that were given to us and I have no idea what they are. DH planted them and they seem to be doing well. There are 3 of those 2. The rosemary strangled the zucchini, but the strawberries are still there in the corner. This planter was originally planted in spring 2000 and has not been touched since except to harvest. 3. Both planters view. Planter 2 has basil, thyme, the tomatoes, and some yellow pear tomatoes. Planter 2 was all put in by DH this spring. 4. We need to thin the peach trees again. The neighbor likes to use the wood in his smoker. 5. Close up of the peaches. There are thousands. Literally thousands. We have to thin them out or they don't grow to a proper size. 6. Backyard hydrangea. I have some in the front also. I love hydrangea. 7. Green onion tops on the deck. These were put in sometime around 2017/2018 and have just kept going. It was a kid's project that got handed down to another kid. 8. This dill was put in 2017. It spread. It was everywhere. EVERYWHERE. 2nd floor gutters everywhere. This is, thankfully, all that remains now. 9. Carrots in buckets. They were planted as seed in 2020 spring. They are still growing and still not rotted. They are about 3 inches long. Yellow, orange, and purple. Kids' project. 10. Blackberries in buckets are fruiting this year. Those went in as 4" tall plants in 2020. It is doing well. Slow and steady. Will probably transfer it to bigger bucket or ground this fall. 11. Close up of planter 2: basil, thyme, assorted tomatoes. DH put them all in. All I do is go look at them. Not sure how I will pick them with the wrist, but we will see how it goes. It looks awful to me, but in view of all the health issues in the last year, I'm actually amazed that we did this much.

Thank you for all the kind wishes. It was a wonderful day. DH mopped the downstairs as part of my present. Ladies, he is taken.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I am depressed because yet another year or crazy without me feeling like I've accomplished anything useful. We went shopping on Friday and it was a comedy or errors. Dollar tree was self check out only and the squirt bottles were all missing tops, BJs didn't have the diapers we needed to return for being the wrong size, Once upon a child didn't want 90% of the items I'd hoped to exchange for store credit, Ihop server took 20m to get our order, and I forgot to go by the bank to deposit garage sale $. I did manage to get all the swimsuits and dresses River will need through summer so that is a bonus. I got really good second hand store clearance prices too. It will be dresses only for the summer as I cannot do pants with my wrist. She is so cute. Today I did a lot of nothing. Played with the baby, computer, and phone games. It was very relaxing.

We should get together and can or such at some point when we are both in good health Littlesister. We have a lot of similar interests. Things are hit and miss for me to find. I see things I am not currently looking for, but then a few months later are looking for. It is hard to predict. The biggest problem is that family changes what they want every few months. Stock up on X? Suddenly everyone is sick of X and wants Y. Currently we are doing way more takeout/ delivery than usual because of my wrist etc. I do not anticipate this lasting but it is where we are at in the moment. I am using pintrest to find other uses for X to get it into the rotation.

06/12 euphreasyne

I have Hoosier Hill heavy cream powder and I love it. I add it where I need a bit of extra dairy fat in powder form. Amazon.com: Hoosier Hill Farm Heavy Cream Powder, 2lb (32oz), Gluten Free & Hormone Free : Grocery & Gourmet Food

Dehydrated hashbrowns are loose shreds. Frozen hashbrowns can be loose shreds, cubes like potatoes o'brien, or patties. I have all of the above in my pantry/freezer. When I get commercial shelf stable ones, I usually buy the cartons of Idaho Spuds. It makes just the right amount for 2 meals for us and is super simple. I do stock instant potato flakes and potato slices dehydrated. I find those to be super useful. I also have canned potatoes from home canned and commercial.

I usually purchase condiments and such in 3s or 5s depending on what it is. Soups I get in multiples of 10 or 12 ( 3 goes into 12 so that is ok). Seasoning packets in multiples of 5. I have a particular type of flat shoe that I have worn for a long time. I always buy 2 black pair and one tan pair when I get them. My 3s and 5s sit on a shelf one behind the other like at a store. Usually they are in neat rows by type of item, but....baby. Currently everything breakable is crammed up at least 4ft high or higher so a bit disheveled at the moment. So if things stack up or behind each other....usually prefer odd numbers. But piles beside each other must be equal either by number or by size. One is none. Two is one. Three is redundant and perfect. Most of my various hobby things are in groups of 3 or 5. One two buckle my shoe Three four shut the door Five six pick up sticks Seven eight shut the gate Nine Ten a big fat hen.

Its my birthday this weekend so we treated ourselves to Not Just Pies as a delivered meal. Got a Swiss Chicken pie, pork tenderloin, and the rhubarb pie. No one liked it. Everyone agreed that it had a texture and flavor similar to a green olive with lemon. None of us had ever had it so we were not sure if that was how it normally is or if it was just a bad pie.

Rules and lists need to have multiples of 3, 5 or 10. Seriously I will add things to a list until it meets one of these requirements. I like prime numbers and base 10 systems.

I use dehydrated hashbrowns all the time. Just soak them in hot water then use as you would frozen only the cook time is much much less. I like having the ingredients on hand to make things rather than the made thing. it gives me greater use and more possibilities.

Dehydrate them

So I've never actually had rhubarb. Everyone talking about it made me decide to order a pie from a local place. Not a fan. It tasted like a lemony-olive pie. Is that what it is supposed to taste like? If I got some fresh/frozen what could I do with it to make it taste better?

You cannot beat the taste of Morning Moos for powdered, but it will not set up in pudding, custard, etc. Even if you cook it with eggs or try to make flan.....it just won't. Great for drinking; terrible for cooking. That is why I quit buying it. We stopped drinking so much and mostly I cook with milk these days. Budget 101 has a ton of DIY mixes. I usually tweak them, but they are my go-to for the base of many modern mixes. Complete Mix Recipe Index (budget101.com)

Or the little half cup or cup mason jars. Like for doing fancy jam in. Easy to store, microwave, and wash. Sometimes I put pudding in them for DH's lunch. They are also good for small things that need to be heated --like the meat for a soft taco lunch. Make all the cold stuff on the flour tortilla, meat in the mason jar. Heat meat and dump on wrap. boom. lunch.