Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: February 4 ~ 10, 2023

Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
It's 55 degrees here, partly sunny. Yes, I will be grilling hamburgers and pork chops on the grill, some for the freezer. I took my bike out at lunch for a very short ride. Nice!

I know -- don't get used to it. Winter is going to come back next week. Hey, my physical fitness is coming along well, and I didn't need to join a gym. Being able to walk on the trails is saving me a ton of money. I can tolerate colder temperatures. I just want to avoid ice.

Wishing everyone a happy day!
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Meemur said:
It's 55 degrees here, partly sunny. Yes, I will be grilling hamburgers and pork chops on the grill, some for the freezer. I took my bike out at lunch for a very short ride. Nice!

I know -- don't get used to it. Winter is going to come back next week. Hey, my physical fitness is coming along well, and I didn't need to join a gym. Being able to walk on the trails is saving me a ton of money. I can tolerate colder temperatures. I just want to avoid ice.

Wishing everyone a happy day!
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It's not quite warm enough, yet, for any grilling. Needs to be in the 70's at least for us, LOL. I'm looking forward to it, though.

Good for you, Meemur. Physical fitness is an important part of being and staying healthy. I walk every day, unless it's raining or too cold. Shorter walks during the colder months. I like to walk and roam the woods in the summer, foraging and just being surrounded by nature. Cary and I have talked about getting bikes for each of us, but that's been a "no-go". It's been so long since we've ridden that we're afraid of falling and breaking something.
 
kyrsyan

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Bone weary tired. I just wrapped up. I couldn't complete the last minute estimate but I got it 3/4s of the way done. Since he has to wait on two subcontractors to get back to him, it should be good for now. The twitch is back in my eye, for the third time today. I'm about to go prep a Liquid IV for the 2 in the morning drink. And throw a few in the clothes bag. And maybe a few protein bars. Because I know that the hospitals don't like keto.

And then I'm just going to rest. Maybe go to bed early since I have to be up at hours of insanity. I've done all I can do for now.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Forecast high for today, 70. I'll take it! More work to be done on the wood pile. Another nice day for a long walk, too.

I managed to get more decluttering done, yesterday afternoon. I had accumulated a lot of throw pillows that I finally tossed. I love throw pillows for decorating, but I had way too many. The newer ones I saved.

I'm finishing up on all the laundry, today. That will be it, until next week. I can hardly wait for Spring when I can begin to hang it outside to dry. It's still too cold in the mornings to do it now. 38 degrees right now.

Nothing else really planned for today. I'll probably get bored and find something to do, though. There's always something to do.

Prayers continuing for you, Kyrsyan.
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Hope all is going well for you, Kyrsyan!

Another warm day here. Did a lot of online work for my 2nd job and am getting ready to go to my main job in a few minutes. No walk, yet. I'm going to do it at work, if it doesn't pour. Yes, rain is back in the forecast. The water tables need replenishing, so no complaints from me.

Honestly, it feels like mid-March weather-wise. It's going to be hard going back to winter. At least it won't be for very long.
 
aviax2

aviax2

Veteran Member
Thinking about you @kyrsyan I hope all is going well with you.

We’re having beautiful springlike weather here, it’s going to hurt when winter returns as it will.

DH and I got a late start yesterday but decided to drive to Franklin TN and go to Costco. The last time we were in one was a few years ago when you had to be masked up to be in the store. Even as careful as we were as to what went in the cart, both us were still surprised at the total and I checked the receipt to make sure it was correct, it was! The only meat we got was a pack of sliced ham for sandwiches and 2 rotisserie chickens. Dairy was a few quarts of heavy cream, sour cream, a tray of a variety of cheese slices (cheaper than buying each cheese). A bag each of frozen berries and mixed veggies, 10 lbs each of fresh russet, yellow potatoes and onions. A container each of spring mix lettuce, spinach and tomatoes. 20 lbs of unbleached flour (flour has really went up in price) a flat of canned mushrooms (saying that went up in price would be a huge understatement). We also bought 2 large jars of preserves that DH like and it’s cheaper there than the few other places that even sell it, a jar of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and a small container of chocolate covered caramels. So for the most part, real actual unprocessed food! I probably forgot a few things and we did pick up dish soap, shave gel, a dress for granddaughters upcoming birthday but I don’t include those things in my grocery budget. $252. for actual food. No wonder people eat so much processed crap, it’s cheaper.

The drive home was miserable heading right into the sun. It was dark by the time we made it home and got things unloaded. Today I’m very tired and sore, that’s the first time I’ve been anywhere since before Christmas when I had to go to the Dr. and I feel it!
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
aviax2 said:
$252. for actual food. No wonder people eat so much processed crap, it’s cheaper.
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I once thought cooking from scratch and eliminating all the processed foods was less expensive. Now, it's the other way around. Cheap processed foods that are quick in and out of the microwave/oven or from a box is cheaper overall. What makes it even more expensive is when you try to buy organic as much as possible.
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Another beautiful spring like sunny day. Clouds and rain starting tomorrow for a few days.

I buy organic when available and stay away from boxed processed foods. We mostly eat wild game. But I do have some of the wm angus beef patties in my freezer, they are yummy, nothing added but what they eat is a crap shoot. We only have them from time to time and not on a regular basis. I guess our worst processed food would be Jacks frozen pizza, we only eat them from time to time though.

I never buy smithfields anything.
 
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moldy

Veteran Member
I have not gotten much done today, other than the followup with the oncologist. Like I thought, "You look good, everything looks good, see you in 6 months." I'll take it! A lot better than the alternative!

I did manage to repot my aloes today and take off the babies. I've been meaning to do this for.... at least 18 months!! Out of 3 pots, I got 15 aloes! The 'babies" are at least 6-8 inches high and the mamas are HUGE! No really great deals this week, so I don't plan on shopping unless something comes up.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
moldy said:
I have not gotten much done today, other than the followup with the oncologist. Like I thought, "You look good, everything looks good, see you in 6 months." I'll take it! A lot better than the alternative!

I did manage to repot my aloes today and take off the babies. I've been meaning to do this for.... at least 18 months!! Out of 3 pots, I got 15 aloes! The 'babies" are at least 6-8 inches high and the mamas are HUGE! No really great deals this week, so I don't plan on shopping unless something comes up.
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That's great news, moldy! Praise God!

My "mama" aloe plant got so big I had to move it outside. It didn't overwinter too well. I lost it, but I got several "babies" off of it.

I got another great long walk in again today while Cary was working on the woodpile. I have to get those in while the weather is warm and no rain. Rain coming back in on Friday and a bit cooler.
 
aviax2

aviax2

Veteran Member
SouthernBreeze said:
I once thought cooking from scratch and eliminating all the processed foods was less expensive. Now, it's the other way around. Cheap processed foods that are quick in and out of the microwave/oven or from a box is cheaper overall. What makes it even more expensive is when you try to buy organic as much as possible.
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There is definitely way more processed foods out there than there was when I was growing up and early years of marriage. Yes, it was expensive to buy those things and scratch cooking was cheaper. I definitely use some convenience items on occasion but that’s not the majority of our food. And yes on the organic being more expensive, several items we bought yesterday was organic including the flour and mushrooms!

@moldy So happy to hear you got great news.
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
I've re-done my budget so that I can buy local meat and fresh produce out of season, although I don't buy a lot of it. I still try to eat at least one small salad each day, even if it's Israeli cuke-tomato-yogurt salad.

Yes, it takes effort to eat well. I could toss some freezer food, like a Hot Pocket, into the microwave and be done with it, but a constant diet of that stuff isn't good for my health or weight.

It might go up to 60 degrees today (a record!) -- it's already 52 and wall-to-wall sunshine.

I'm going to try to spend as much time outside today as I can. Cheap Vitamin D!

Added: Shhh! I'm also turning 65 today. Huge milestone . . . I didn't expect to make it this far. I'm going to have the main celebration on Saturday. :flngl:
 
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SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
aviax2 said:
There is definitely way more processed foods out there than there was when I was growing up and early years of marriage. Yes, it was expensive to buy those things and scratch cooking was cheaper. I definitely use some convenience items on occasion but that’s not the majority of our food. And yes on the organic being more expensive, several items we bought yesterday was organic including the flour and mushrooms!

@moldy So happy to hear you got great news.
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I've been shocked to see our local Walmart, once it was finished with the renovations. Now, the store caters to those who want easy and quick processed foods. It's almost turned into a "yuppie" store. Going woke, I guess. The foods that actually are used to cook from scratch or almost from scratch are very limited. The only great thing they have going for them is that they have a large organic fresh produce section now where they only had a small one before. I buy organic as much as it's available. I, too, use convenience foods, but rarely. I try to keep one or two convenience foods in the freezer just to have on hand for whatever might pop up. Cooking almost everything from scratch/semi scratch and using as much organic foods as I can is one of the main reasons my monthly grocery bill is so high. It is now the most expensive way to cook.

I had let my pasta stock get a bit lower than I like. I restocked that, and I took all of what I bought a few days ago out of the freezer to thaw. I converted it all into vacuum sealed storage containers this morning. We rotate through a lot of pasta.
 
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ReneeT

Veteran Member
Temps in the low 50's, blue skies and puffy while clouds if I look out the west door; but looking out the east windows I have irritable looking cumulonimbus clouds looming over the tree line and cirrus clouds higher up; plus intermittent gusts of wind. I guess I won't be clearing the yard of winter detritus today since I don't want to get knocked in the head by a falling limb. I do have a grandson asking for work to earn some $ so that chore can wait until better weather. I'd probably better pick up some hot dogs or brats to have on hand when he comes out - one more small growth spurt from the youngest one and all three of my grandsons will then be taller than me :)

I've got plenty of other work I can do inside - darn it! - I need to do a pantry inventory, make a list of items that I'm low on, and carry down some home canned food to the downstairs pantry. I'll need Hubby to move the TP and paper towels down a shelf so that I'll have room to restock them.

Later this week I'm going out to the machine shed and inventory the canning jars out there - I put some of them in wooden crates last year and stacked them in one of the shed's store rooms, but I didn't label the crates as to whether they were wide or narrow mouth jars. I do know that they are almost all quarts though. I also want to stash some cardboard to have on hand to put in the bottom of the crates so that I can put the jars in the crates mouth down - the flats that cat food cans come in work fairly well.
 
M

moldy

Veteran Member
Still trying to organize/clean/inventory here. We did get peppers started on sunday - I need to get more herbs started either today or over the weekend. I am having a bunch of plastic crates delivered today so I can actually get things put away and organized better. It's a huge long process.

It's very labile here - cloudy, cold and windy this morning, now sunny (still windy) and warmer. Always busy here!
 
aviax2

aviax2

Veteran Member
It’s very windy here this morning and the winds are getting stronger and cooler, so I’m sure our beautiful weather is almost over.

Ive got a long list of things that needs to get done but I’m moving at a snails pace today. My poor houseplants have been so neglected the past month and a half so they are at the top of list. Some have only survived thanks to youngest grandson doing some watering.

On the decluttering front that I started last year (and didn’t get finished with) I’ve made progress. It took awhile but I’ve went through almost all of the kitchen cabinets and drawers and got rid of a bunch of stuff. Anything I thought my daughters might like was set aside until they could take a look (they each took a few things) and everything else was packed up for Salvation Army. Some of that was wedding gifts from 1976 that we never used and was just taking up space. DH finally finished going through his closet and packed up two or three boxes. It was so nice when all those boxes left the house and I hope it all can bless others. I’ve still got more rooms to go before getting to the basement but it’s gotten easier without me second guessing myself! Cleaning and organizing is so much easier without all that extra “stuff” in my way.


@SouthernBreeze I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been in a Walmart so I don’t know if the ones around here have changed up or not. DH does the majority of our shopping at Walmart. Then at Kroger and a store called Cash Savers, Kroger can be very expensive and C.S. is one those stores that adds 10% to the price of everything so we cherry pick at those stores.

@Meemur Cucumber and tomato are one of my favorite salads. I use the European or Armenian type cucumbers because the regular cukes really repeat on me. A little onion and some Italian salad dressing and I’m a happy girl.

@kyrsyan Im sure you’ll be much more comfortable being home. I had a hysterectomy the old fashioned way almost 20 yrs ago where they took everything. Had it done on a Monday morning and I was home in my bed by lunchtime Wednesday. I rested/slept so much better at home in my own bed. Prayers for an easy recovery.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
aviax2 said:
It’s very windy here this morning and the winds are getting stronger and cooler, so I’m sure our beautiful weather is almost over.

Ive got a long list of things that needs to get done but I’m moving at a snails pace today. My poor houseplants have been so neglected the past month and a half so they are at the top of list. Some have only survived thanks to youngest grandson doing some watering.

On the decluttering front that I started last year (and didn’t get finished with) I’ve made progress. It took awhile but I’ve went through almost all of the kitchen cabinets and drawers and got rid of a bunch of stuff. Anything I thought my daughters might like was set aside until they could take a look (they each took a few things) and everything else was packed up for Salvation Army. Some of that was wedding gifts from 1976 that we never used and was just taking up space. DH finally finished going through his closet and packed up two or three boxes. It was so nice when all those boxes left the house and I hope it all can bless others. I’ve still got more rooms to go before getting to the basement but it’s gotten easier without me second guessing myself! Cleaning and organizing is so much easier without all that extra “stuff” in my way.


@SouthernBreeze I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been in a Walmart so I don’t know if the ones around here have changed up or not. DH does the majority of our shopping at Walmart. Then at Kroger and a store called Cash Savers, Kroger can be very expensive and C.S. is one those stores that adds 10% to the price of everything so we cherry pick at those stores.

@Meemur Cucumber and tomato are one of my favorite salads. I use the European or Armenian type cucumbers because the regular cukes really repeat on me. A little onion and some Italian salad dressing and I’m a happy girl.

@kyrsyan Im sure you’ll be much more comfortable being home. I had a hysterectomy the old fashioned way almost 20 yrs ago where they took everything. Had it done on a Monday morning and I was home in my bed by lunchtime Wednesday. I rested/slept so much better at home in my own bed. Prayers for an easy recovery.
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Living in a very small house, I don't have room for a lot of extra stuff to start with. I still have to clean and organize what I do have. Cleaning and organizing seems to be a never ending process even if one has just a little. I still find myself getting rid of old stuff that just gets in my way like all the throw pillows I had accumulated. I got rid of most of those a couple days ago.

Kroger shopping is out of the question for me. It's the most expensive place in Big Town to shop, plus the distance to get there. I don't know of a single discount grocery store near us. I can get by shopping at Food Giant, but a lot of their food is higher than Walmart. I might have to start shopping there again, only because Walmart doesn't carry a lot of foods that I buy anymore. I may have to shop both places.

I had a complete hysterectomy about 20 yrs. ago, too. I was hospitalized for a week. It was done the old fashioned way, too. I had to have some repair done on my bladder and small intestine from endometriosis while they were in there. It took me a full 6 weeks to recover.
 
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nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Happy birthday dear lady, hope its a good one. I will be 77 later this month.

DH had to go to the VA in Shreveport today to get his INR checked. He also wanted to go to urgent care because he's got a UTI again. so I went with him. For some reason I could hardly walk, weaving all over the place. I was fine when we finally got home. They gave him a script for the uti and want him to see a uroligist and ortho for his knee.

It got up to 72 today but no sun. Feels rainy and we have a 40% chance of it, but that means 60% of no chance. Its a crap shoot.

We cross a large lake on the way and it has been way down with little islands all over the place. Well no islands today and its high. We need rain but not a deluge.
 
patriotgal

patriotgal

Veteran Member
Happy Birthday Meemur!

Beautiful but windy today. Went to get some potatoes only to find that mice somehow got into my garage pantry and made a horrible mess out of my sweet potato stash.

DH found a place between door and trim that was probably how they got in. Tomorrow morning I will be cleaning and sterilizing all the shelves. DH made sure there were no possible entrances now.

Also had a mouse run across my dryer so the war is on. I also mixed up peanut butter bait balls for the rats in the outbuilding.
 
paxsim2

paxsim2

Senior Member
So glad you're home krysyan!
My sister and I split a quarter of a beef. She had room but I don't just yet so that's on my agenda. We have friends who raise cattle and we got it from them. We used to raise a charlois steer every year, such good meat.
Dh has started seeds. We have lettuce and bok choy in the greenhouse. Cabbage under grow lights in the garage and in the areogarden. I'm planting garlic tomorrow.
Time seems to be speeding up.
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Thank you all so much!

It has been a wonderful day. We reached a record high here in Iowa (63 degrees), and I got to have meals today with people I haven't seen in a long time.

I must make a better effort to connect more. I really needed today. It's nice to talk face-to-face with good friends.
 
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