Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: February 5~11, 2023

aviax2

Veteran Member
I called and set up an appt. for later this week with my Dr. but went on in this morning for a blood draw since the office now has to send it somewhere else SMH. Went by for a visit with my mom since she lives in that town, then went to Kroger for a few sale items. Zipped through the drive thru of a local hamburger place and ate on the way home. Since I hadn’t had coffee this morning starting the pot was the first thing I did when we got back, then started a load of laundry while it was making. Two huge mugs of coffee later and I’m still feeling tired but it was delicious!

We didn’t buy much we only cherry pick good sale price items at Kroger and since I decided that Jan. and Feb. grocery spending was only going to be for stock up items at a good price (Jan. was chicken tenderloins and bacon) or something we were out of (applesauce and pumpkin) or fresh produce and dairy and not very much of that. I’m trying really hard to make good use of any produce that was already on hand and rotating things out of the pantry and freezer. So for prep storage I added 4 jars of Prego sauce, I have several jars but it was $1.49 a jar so not too bad. I glanced at a purple cabbage with the idea of mixing it with some green cabbage for slaw, but decided fairly quick that the green cabbage already in my fridge will do just fine since the purple was $1.59 a lb. Only produce I bought was a small bundle of green onions and bananas.

hd5574~ Thank you for the info on epi pens. I had no idea they were supposed to be kept cold. Back when I kept one I just left it in my purse 24/7, a lot of good that would have done if I had needed it! My allergy Dr. was the one who first prescribed me one and told me to keep it with me, never anything about keeping it cold. I was on allergy shots for almost 7 years for various things I’m allergic to.

Judy~ I understand totally on having to do a little at a time and then resting. Some days are better than others for me but on the better days I tend to over-do and pay for it!

I got most of my laundry room cleaned up yesterday afternoon. Looks and feels so much better in there. Still need to dust fan blades/light and tops of the freezer, washer and dryer but I have to a little along.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We made it back for our shopping trip, and I'm so tired, after putting everything away. Dated and rotated. I bought a few extra items for the new recipes I'm going to be trying this week and next. Everything else was my regular 2 week items. I'm glad to be stocked back up on all my salad greens. I've really missed my salads. We're a week late about doing my shopping. That's why I ran out. One thing was a surprise to me, today, and that was the eggs were only $3.60 for a dozen large. I bought 2 dozen. I picked every single egg up out of the carton and examined them, too. Gas was $3.09/gal as compared to $2.97 last time, so I guess it's on the rise again. There were no shortages at either Food Giant or Walmart. Both were so stocked that pallets were blocking some aisles.

Stopped in at the wine shop and replenished what we had used from our cabinet. Cary decided to go in with me, today, because he wanted to get more bourbon and straight whiskey for our medical alcohol. I let him choose that, since I don't know the first thing about the "hard" stuff.

I got all the laundry from the dry cleaners. It was all the dress clothes from the funerals.

Went by the bank for cash. We use cash only.

We had to go in Cary's Jeep, today, because when we went to unlock the car doors with the fobs, we couldn't get them to work. Cary has a key, and when he tried cranking the car, the battery was stone cold dead. He just replaced the battery 3 months ago, so we stopped in at Auto Zone where he bought it. They told him to bring it back, and they would replace it. Cary's Jeep was filthy, so we stopped at the car wash to get it washed.

Now, all my pantry holes are filled, so I can relax for another 2 weeks, til time to do it all over again.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Back when I kept one I just left it in my purse 24/7, a lot of good that would have done if I had needed it! My allergy Dr. was the one who first prescribed me one and told me to keep it with me, never anything about keeping it cold. I was on allergy shots for almost 7 years for various things I’m allergic to.

All of my epi pens have had on the instructions to store at room temperature. I never kept mine cold, since it was always in my purse. I never had one that didn't work.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
On the epi-pens... please ask your pharmacist about how they need to be stored. The epinephrine injectable in vials (we always kept some on hand for the cattle) HAD TO BE refrigerated, or they lost potency quickly.

But the pens are *supposed * to be able to be carried with you. I wouldn't leave them in a hot car for days, but in my limited experience, stored at reasonable room temp, they last and work a LONG time past their expiration date.

My daughter used to pass on the ones they kept for their oldest son when they expired. One day, our Amish hired hand suddenly developed a bad reaction to a hornet sting... his 3rd in a week. He was bright red, sweating and wheezing. I grabbed a pen, gave it to him, and within 10 minutes his symptoms had subsided. Benadryl kept it under control after that.

The pen had expired 17 months earlier.

Summerthyme
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
On the epi-pens... please ask your pharmacist about how they need to be stored. The epinephrine injectable in vials (we always kept some on hand for the cattle) HAD TO BE refrigerated, or they lost potency quickly.

Yes, before epi pens were a thing, I had to use the injectable epinephrine in vials, and they did need to be kept in a cool place. Now, the epi pen's instructions that come from the pharmacy says to store them at room temp. If I'm going to be out in very hot weather for an extended period of time, I leave mine at home. When camping/hiking, I just took a large bottle of Benadryl with me. I always have a bottle of Benadryl with me at all times. Never thought about putting the pen in our cooler.
 

philkar

Veteran Member
Just checking in. Trying to digest world events. Just can’t wrap my brain around it. Got all the blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries planted. Transplanted a kiwi and planted 2 others. Finished planting sugar snaps. The best thing tho was picking a half gal of Brussels sprouts!! Cooked them for supper and boy were they great! Will freeze the rest to enjoy later! And we put up the trellises for the peas. That’s one of my least favorite jobs. Prep wise we are reviewing EMP’s and making sure we are doing all we can. For all that are ill please know that our family is praying for you.
 

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
Worked in our oldest orchard today, and got everything pruned. Tomorrow will be the youngest orchard and one of our vineyards. I also need to prune all our berries as well.

Our walking onions, garlic, and the rest of our onions are starting to grow, and I noticed some of our herbs are growing.

I'm planning on starting our incubator up later this week, since our chickens are laying well. I'm so thankful we have this opportunity!
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I've been debating dwarf fruit bushes for blueberry, blackberries, and raspberries. I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on those this year. I'll have to get one of each and then propagate a few to fill in areas. They have new varieties. I have some of the raspberry plants but they need to be moved to a spot with more sunlight. If the roots survive the freeze.

Part of the plan is for them to appear to be part of the landscaping that most people won't recognize. At their size I can run them down the front of the garden beds as the "edging".
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
It was so nice, weather wise, last evening that I took a walk around the yard, even though, it was very wet and mushy. I enjoyed the sunshine for a change. Not only are my walking onions and chives doing really well, I noticed my garlic bed is about 8 inches high with new garlic. All of my buttercups are in full bloom, too. I'm getting a little anxious about all those new azaleas I put out last year. They are showing no signs of budding out. I hope the deep freeze we had didn't kill them. They are usually in full bloom in April.

More rain and thunderstorms coming in tonight and tomorrow. Some could be severe. Temps in the 70's for highs tomorrow. We need a chance to dry out. With our temps beginning to warm, I want to get out all of my spring seeds and get those in the ground.

Cary is taking the car battery back to Auto Zone this morning. I think he plans to stop in to get a haircut, too, while he's in town. He wanted to get one, yesterday, but the shop was too crowded. He didn't want to wait that long.

I vacuum sealed more jars with food items I bought to replace the jars I had used this morning. Now, the holes on my kitchen shelves are refilled. It's also a big laundry day.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Last night DH and I were in the kitchen, DH remarked at where I had had stuff stacked up, did you ever think this space would be empty, I said no. Its wonderful to be clearing out the clutter.

I decided to drag my recumbent bike out of the walk in closet to the living room, I had finally cleared out the area where I wanted to put it. I dutifully got on it and peddled for as long as I could. Bike riding is excellent for knees, builds up the quads which helps the knees. I'm going to try to ride it off and on through out the day.

A couple of days ago I started my diet, but neglected to weigh myself, so I did this morning. I've had too successful days and didn't feel deprived.

I didn't do the laundry yesterday because the electric meter was being read, so as not to run the bill up anymore. I viewed the bill online and it was just about the same as last month, $311. Praise the Lord it wasn't higher. So on to the laundry today.
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I took a nap today. I finally took a look at my body's behavior and realized that it's way overly inflamed and overloaded with trying to cleanse itself of toxins. With the way I feel, it'll probably be through the weekend before I start to feel somewhat normal. I'm going to see about a dr appointment because I am, 100%, not willing to do this again if I can prevent it.

And prepping helped my sanity today. Dinner is pot roast leftovers that I froze a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what tomorrow's dinner will be. Maybe chili.
 

anna43

Veteran Member
I'm discovering how important prepping is for just when life hits. Today I made a casserole from all canned goods. dH hasn't complained yet, and it saves my energy for something else.
Moldy, I 100% agree on the importance of prepping. My back has decided to give me serious problems and I'm suddenly using a walker to get around the house. I'm so thankful that (1) I had a walker on hand and (2) for my pantry. A friend came over yesterday, and we took my "shopping" list to the basement pantry and shopped for the week. She carried everything up the stairs for me. I don't think I could stay on my feet long enough to grocery shop, but I'll keep my list updated for when I can shop. If it comes out of the pantry, it goes on my list. I've been for x-rays and am scheduled for a MRI so hopefully I'll know what's going on in a week or so.
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I have a friend whose ex has made her very resistant to prepping. But she is slowly coming around as she sees samples of how prepping helps with regular life stuff. And honestly, I prep for life. Life has more then enough ups and downs.
 

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
I'm discovering how important prepping is for just when life hits. Today I made a casserole from all canned goods. dH hasn't complained yet, and it saves my energy for something else.
On days I'm really busy on the farm, I plan easy meals from the crockpot. I use the liners or non stick spray to help with clean-up. I also use disposable plates occasionally.
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
Moldy, I 100% agree on the importance of prepping. My back has decided to give me serious problems and I'm suddenly using a walker to get around the house. I'm so thankful that (1) I had a walker on hand and (2) for my pantry. A friend came over yesterday, and we took my "shopping" list to the basement pantry and shopped for the week. She carried everything up the stairs for me. I don't think I could stay on my feet long enough to grocery shop, but I'll keep my list updated for when I can shop. If it comes out of the pantry, it goes on my list. I've been for x-rays and am scheduled for a MRI so hopefully I'll know what's going on in a week or so.

Try some Biofreeze. It's a topical roll on pain reliever. To me,it's almost as good as a pain pill. Maybe someone can get you some if you don't have any on hand.
On days I'm really busy on the farm, I plan easy meals from the crockpot. I use the liners or non stick spray to help with clean-up. I also use disposable plates occasionally.

I use paper plates all the time now. It hurts my arthritic hands to do dishes, and I have decided that it's cheaper to buy the plates than to waste water to wash stuff.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Some years back, I made a list of all of the main dishes (and some sides) that I cooked. It's come in handy many, many times when inspiration failed to strike. It used to be on the bulletin board on the side of my tall pantry cabinet; I'll have to see if I can figure out where it migrated to. Having home canned meat on hand like chicken, beef roast chunks, pork roast chunks, and corned beef; plus some store bought canned 'main ingredients' - like salmon, tuna, etc... made it much easier to figure out what to fix for supper. I've been known to improvise now and again - one of my favorites is pot pie. I open a quart jar of home canned veggie soup with meat and dump it in a cast iron skillet, add some seasoning, then some flour or corn starch to thicken the liquid and stir it in. Use homemade or store bought biscuit mix, a bit of seasoning, and milk to make a pourable crust, or mix up a batch of corn bread ditto; then pop it in the oven until the crust is done.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Marseydoats, I had to giggle a bit - I went back to always hand washing my dishes because the hot water eased the pain in my hands. Hubby uses generic Voltaren gel as a hand cream to sooth his achey hands - he just has to remember not to rub his eyes.

Anna, prayers offered for you.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
My Rheumatologist told me years ago that I would have lots of days where fatigue would be a problem. I took him at his word back then, and I sat down and made out a lot of quick and easy meals to prepare on those days. I keep a good stock of all the ingredients to make those meals in my pantry. I'm still looking for more recipes. There are days without pain, but the fatigue is terrible. I have to push myself, often, to get anything done.

Biofreeze helps my joints, along with Voltaren. I use Voltaren like a hand cream, but I have to be careful not to rub my eyes, which I do often. I've even put gloves on to keep me from getting it in my eyes. Cary helps me with doing the dishes. He washes, and I rinse, dry, and put away. I make my rinse water as hot as I can stand it, and it really helps my achy fingers, too.

More rain and storms for today and tonight, but the temp is going into the 70's. I've already been outside for my walk this morning, and you could feel the storms brewing.

I'm making baked boneless pork chops dredged in melted butter and rolled in breads crumbs with spices, sesame oil stir fried frozen veggies, and am boiling Cary some potatoes. We'll have toasted sesame seed Kaizer rolls, too. That's tonight's menu.
 
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ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
Oh MY!!!
I have been leaving out some of you with medical issues that NEED the LORD'S healing touch!!!
Please forgive me!

I am adding to my prayers:
Marseydoates
Kyrsyan
Anna43
Southern Breeze
Summerthyme
Renee T
Rabbit

Those in addition to:
Moldy
Skwentinaflyer
Nomifyle

I had not realized so many of us who frequent this prep thread were in serious need of prayer!!

If I have missed anyone, please let me know, either here or by PM.
PLEASE do NOT feel this is a burden for me!! I actually love doing intercessory prayer, and cherish ALL of you, and consider each one of you my friends!!!
 

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
I'm almost done with pruning. I still have 3 mature fruit trees to prune and the blueberry bushes and raspberry bushes. I forgot I had pruned the blackberry and black raspberry bushes in the fall, and I'm thankful for that! I also need to finish both vineyards, but that won't take long. My goal is to be finished with pruning by Saturday evening, then I can start mulching everything.

I'm making chicken fajitas with a side of queso for dinner. It's fairly healthy, quick, easy, and my family likes it.
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I'm almost done with pruning. I still have 3 mature fruit trees to prune and the blueberry bushes and raspberry bushes. I forgot I had pruned the blackberry and black raspberry bushes in the fall, and I'm thankful for that! I also need to finish both vineyards, but that won't take long. My goal is to be finished with pruning by Saturday evening, then I can start mulching everything.

I'm making chicken fajitas with a side of queso for dinner. It's fairly healthy, quick, easy, and my family likes it.
I wish I had that energy right now. That is part of the to do list for spring.

But I am feeling better. I slept a lot yesterday. A whole lot. I woke up still sore today but the headache and other aches are diminished to a level that is noticeably different. And I am definitely ordering new glasses this week or next week, just to make sure that isn't part of the headache issue. Aside from the clients who don't really understand bookkeeping headache part.
 

anna43

Veteran Member
ioujc --Thanks for your prayers. I've been praying for Moldy for quite some time but missed many of the others. My goal for the future is to stop and pray for everyone on this forum each time I open it. I'm sure there are many who need prayer who have never said anything so my prayer will include them. Even those who don't "need" prayers will hopefully be blessed too. Never can pray too much.
 

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
Well, it is getting cold again ..just VERY ready for it to be SPRING!!!

I believe I may have a case of Cabin Fever!! It is 46 outside this morning and currently 56 inside. Don't really want to turn the heat on today, but I may have to.....

I am also wanting to get my garden going. I am SOOOOO TIRED of the sky being GRAY!! It started raining Tuesday night and has just stopped this morning. And it was like DRIVING RAIN!! HARD!! I'm sure the yard is a mud ball... haven't been outside yet, but I have things I NEED to do today.

I plan to prune my grape vines sometime next week, and then I want to try to root some of the cuttings. Also, want to put up my fencing, got it yesterday. I already have corral fencing around everything, but apparently that is not adequate to keep others out. I plan to add HOT electric to the top of the fence and if the dogs present issues, on the bottom too.

I also need to clean and groom the garden.....but not dry enough to do ANYTHING out there!!!

The wind has been whipping things around since last night. Gusting here up to 50 mph. So, yeah, it's whacking things around.

Well, already drank my 4 cups of coffee, so I need to get up and get into ACTION!!!
 

moldy

Veteran Member
Ioujc, I am so happy to see your energy rebounding! I would love to start some gardening, but we are still getting snow and there is still a lot of snow in the ground from the last storm.

The last 2 days have been pretty good and I am slowly getting a few things done. I still need a nap in the afternoon, but I'm feeling so much better.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
It's just going to be another ordinary day for us, today. Nothing special as far as preps go.

After all the rain we've had, lately, we got several downpours again overnight. No severe storms, but we got hit with a wall of wind that shook our whole house with debris hitting the roof and outside walls. I was afraid that something was going to blow through windows. I thought, at first, we were being hit by a tornado, but then I remembered we had been warned about the wall of wind coming in overnight. It lasted for quite a while, too. It's a good thing that there were no leaves on the trees, because it would have definitely brought some of them down if they had been fully leafed out. Cary put on his boots and made a "walk about" around the property and inspected the house this morning. No damage.

I hope we don't have a long, cold, and wet Spring. I'm ready to start our gardens for this year. Itching to get my hands dirty and begin to start hanging all my laundry outside to dry.

I finally managed to get the laundry room cleaned and organized, plus cleaning out my closet. Next will be to clean and reorganize the kitchen cabinets.

My attempt at bread making is still on hold. The weather needs to change, and I couldn't find any rye flour at either grocery store the other day. I'll keep looking. It's been a long time, since I bought rye flour. I don't know if both places were just out right now, or if it's hard to find anywhere. No, I don't order from Amazon.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Rain late yesterday afternoon and early evening and then it blew over. The sun is shinning today and high 60's. My green onions are getting tall again.

last night at church we had cowboy cornbread. I'd never had it before, it was tasty but it was too spicy for DH, it had rotel tomatoes in it. Its something to consider making without the rotel. It was very filling and I could have made myself sick eating it but I only had one serving. Even though I went over the calories that I set for myself, it was still only about 1200 for the day. Back to much less for today.

Back to cleaning and clearing out today. All those beans I found in the bucket are now in mylar with o2's and hand warmers. I now have quite a few small boxes of raisins that I'm putting in mylar, we have a ton of them in glass jars.

I found a big bag of chopped bay leaves, I have no clue why I bought them that way, must have been all I could find at the time. I put bay leaf in just about everything I store. But I don't use it for cooking.

I've found some other beans that I need to soak and cook a few to see if they are worth saving.
 

aviax2

Veteran Member
The wind was wild here last night too, we didn’t get much sleep and we’re going to be feeling it today.

I had DH take out some pork loin from the freezer to thaw and I cut that up and pressure canned 15 pints yesterday. I’ll get the jars cleaned up and marked later today to send to the basement. I‘m planning to get some beef from the freezer canned next, maybe next week. I’d really like to get one of the freezers less packed so we can find things easier. We had part of a seasoned beef brisket frozen and although DH told me he knew just where it was, he actually couldn’t find it the past few months LOL! He finally found it when digging out the pork loins and I cooked it in the Instant Pot and had it sliced for supper on Tuesday and last night as brisket sandwiches and there is enough for DH for lunch. It’s really good cooked in the IP.

moldy~ I’m happy to hear you’re feeling better.

ioujc~ I’m happy you’re better too.

Judy~ Rotel comes in different heat levels, there’s mild and original with green chilies and they have a hot one that’s made with habaneros. The original is plenty hot for me and when I make taco soup I always double the recipe but use one mild and one original to tone it down. I don’t think I could take the hot one.

SB~ I’m still slowly working on decluttering, cleaning etc. too and my closet is the spot where everything that doesn’t have a home elsewhere goes. I dread even starting on it because I’ll end up having a huge mess in the bedroom to deal with!

Little granddaughter has a tummy bug so didn’t come today but DD says she’s feeling better than yesterday.

Even though I’m trying to keep spending as low as I can for food items this month I did put in a Sam’s order for 2 packs of tissue and 1 pack each of paper towels and toilet paper. With those items I think we’ll be okay on paper products for awhile. I need to have a talk with the grandsons that the paper towels are not for them to use to clean up their drink spills. Drives me nuts!
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
SB,
I have been able to find rye flour on Walmart'.com but not in the store.

Since the wind is pretty bad here today, I'm not doing any extra outside work, and our lights are flickering, so I'm not starting the incubator. I'll wait a day or so.

Thank You! I'll check. I've got everything I need to get started, except the rye flour. Gosh, I had to pay $5 for a small bottle of caraway seeds for it! We like the seeded Jewish rye. I didn't cringe too much, since I can use the caraway seeds in other bread recipes I've found, too. We like sesame seed topped breads, also, but I have an abundant stock of those already.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Spinner, my Daughter told me that if something happens to me, she's just going to bring in dumpsters, particularly for all my books (we were in the room with the bookshelves at the time). I told her that's where I hide my cash. It's not, but I 'salted' a dozen or so books just to mess with her for threatening to send my books to to the dump :lol:
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I crashed hard and early last night. As I result, I woke up at 2 am. That lasted about 2 hours before I crashed out again. Feeling better today, moreso than even yesterday. Although the back muscles thought about cramping again. I pulled out two of the reusable hot packs and put them right on the spot. Didn't take long for the muscles to reconsider that behavior.

Glasses are ordered. There's a part of me that just wants to wince but I need the new prescription and the set for when working at the computer. And while I'm wincing, Zenni's price was still better than anywhere else was offering.

I'm finally done work for the day. I can't work on my other account until someone answers questions. Which they are being reluctant to do. Ugh.

Going to go finish yesterday's laundry so I can get patterns cut. And more cleaning. And just moving around. It's soooo beautiful outside today.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
I'll trade you weather, kyrsyan.... I walked out to take the trash out this morning; the temp was 36*F and the wind was blowing so hard from the north that my pine trees (that I planted as a child) that are 30-40 feet from the driveway were bending waaaay over. I decided to move the van into Hubby's parking spot; he can decide if he wants to park in my spot or by the machine shed.

Walgreen's used to have some reusable heat packs you could nuke in the microwave - I think they had some sort of clay in them; then a flannel cover you slipped the pack into to keep it from burning you. I may have to stop in the next time I'm in town and see if they still have them. I figure that electric and propane rates are going to just keep going up, so we will probably need to find other ways to stay warm. I remember putting one of those heat packs in a sleeping bag when I'd sit down to read - I'd climb in with the zipper to my front and zip it up to my chest; then fold what was left over my arms/chest; those heat packs would keep me cozy for a long time while I read.
 
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