euphrasyne

Tapestry crochet carries the yarn, but if you are looking at older graphs, they are usually done in Tunisian crochet and the pattern is then crossstitched onto the item with yarn afterwards.

One trick I use is that I buy beef flavor TVP. Then I freeze .75 lb bags of hamburger meat. When I defrost it, I mix 1c TVP and 2C water with it to make tacos. I can usually get a 5lb chub of ground meat on sale for about $8 or $10 and I usually buy several when they do go on sale. It works best in dishes with 'loose' meat rather than meatloaf as the TVP doesn't hold as well and you have to add an extra egg if you want to use it that way.

I need to defrost the deep freeze, so we're planning meals around using certain things up from there and from the pantry rotation since it is nearing the end of the year. I have to feed 3 adults and 2 kids so I try to balance it so that there is something that everyone will eat. My dh will eat anything, but his mother lives with us and prefers very bland cooking so I always try to include something unseasoned with dinner.

Yesterday:

Baked beans with extra BBQ sauce and smoked sausage cut up into it (poured over the potato cakes to serve)

leftover mashed potatoes mixed with flour, egg, and milk then fried up into potato cakes

steamed mixed vegetables

grapes

Tonight:

Cobblestone bread (homemade dough snipped into a greased casserole with herbs and baked)

Roasted beef (sale beef cut into strips with mushrooms, red wine, onion soup mix, & carrots)

egg noodles (leftover so a bit mushy but good with beef over)

green beans

Tomorrow:

Lasagna (from the freezer)

leftover green beans

leftover bread

I cook 3dz boiled eggs a week for the family. Put desired number of eggs in a pot just big enough to hold them. Put your index finger on an egg and add enough water to reach the first joint. Heat to a rolling boil over high heat (unsalted water) and turn it off. Do not remove the pot from the stove. Set a timer for 10m. This time does not change no matter how many eggs you boil. Drain the eggs and fill the pot with cold water. Peel each one by smacking it on each long end then gently rolling it on the counter. Pry up a cracked section and the whole peel usually slips right off. They are hard cooked with no green, only yellow in the centers. For soft cooked, let them sit closer to 5m before peeling.