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

[aviax2]

DH and I went to Aldi and Sam’s yesterday, that’s the first time we’ve been or done any big shop since before Christmas, he has mostly been just picking up a few things as needed as I’ve been working on rotating out things from the freezers/pantry.

For the most part we stuck to the list I carefully made out over the past week along with price checking, but I was still mildly shocked about the total. Every item we bought was food (although that may be stretching the definition on the potato chips and jar of candy DH bought) no OTC meds, no cleaners or paper goods, just food. Mostly we bought fresh fruit & veggies, bananas and grapes, potatoes, onions, carrots, lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, etc. and heavy cream, sour cream, milk but no cheese at all. The only meat we bought was a rotisserie chicken, one pack of chicken breast and 2 boxes of breakfast sausage. The only thing I can think of we bought for storage was a container of coffee.

SB~I like trying out different recipes too especially ones that uses things I normally have on hand that stores well. Our internet isn’t the greatest but sometimes I’m able to use the hotspot on my phone and watch a few YouTube videos, one I like is Mandy in the Making and you can look at the recipes on her site if you don’t want to watch the videos.

I am worn out from yesterday, between the trip there and back and all the walking just does me in. I’m hoping to get some work done in the kitchen today getting some of that produce ready to use but it may have to wait until tomorrow.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

SB~I like trying out different recipes too especially ones that uses things I normally have on hand that stores well. Our internet isn’t the greatest but sometimes I’m able to use the hotspot on my phone and watch a few YouTube videos, one I like is Mandy in the Making and you can look at the recipes on her site if you don’t want to watch the videos.

I was sitting here at my computer one day, and I was trying to come up with something to make for supper. I wanted something different. I decided to Google "quick and easy ground beef recipes". Wow! A whole world of recipes came up. I did the same for chicken, ham, roasts, and pork chops. I also did a Google search for easy crockpot meals. Now, I'm addicted, LOL. I love to cook, but with my energy level being so low most of the time, I like the simple recipes that I don't have to spend half the day preparing or using exotic ingredients that I never have on hand. It's worked great for me.

 

[aviax2]

I was sitting here at my computer one day, and I was trying to come up with something to make for supper. I wanted something different. I decided to Google "quick and easy ground beef recipes". Wow! A whole world of recipes came up. I did the same for chicken, ham, roasts, and pork chops. I also did a Google search for easy crockpot meals. Now, I'm addicted, LOL. I love to cook, but with my energy level being so low most of the time, I like the simple recipes that I don't have to spend half the day preparing or using exotic ingredients that I never have on hand. It's worked great for me.

You sound like me!

 

[kyrsyan]

I've been trying to keep up but life just went sideways this week. It'll be good for the paycheck but has utterly wreaked havoc on any plans I had for garden and house.

Oh, and the crud that laid my butt out starting 2 weeks ago, well that crud was Covid. Had to go to the docs today, because of ER visit over this past weekend. (Severe, continual, tear inducing back and chest pain. And that is a whole story in and of itself.) I have sniffles from allergies (everything is clear, no colors). Doc insisted on testing. Not the flu, COVID.

The ultimate in making me want to hit my head was telling me they were calling me in an antibiotic. I thought it was for the possible uti. But then the Sam's pharmacy called me to double check if I wanted the scrip filled because it is an anti-viral for COVID, not an antibiotic. And apparently, if you don't have insurance, it's pretty pricey. What was amusing is that they also sent it to WalMart, where my new insurance insists I go. And the pharmacy tech heard my entire conversation with the Sam's Club pharmacist. So when I hung up with her, he told me the scrip was the same thing. The truly crazy part, beyond telling me it was an antibiotic and then sending the scrip to two different pharmacies, is that it is only effective if started in the first 5 days of infection. I'm on day 10 or 11. I'm almost completely asymptomatic at this point. And I told the assistant that!

 

[anna43]

nomifyle, we solved the rowdy kids problem in two different churches by having men join the children's teaching team. Young boys especially pay better attention to a man and are less likely to act up when men are part of the team.

kyrsyan, I hope you feel better soon and do not have any long-lasting issues.

When I went to the doctor for Covid I actually thought I had bronchitis, but she insisted on testing and sure enough it was covid. She did prescribe an antibiotic hoping to prevent me going into pneumonia and a steroid which was for the Covid. Just in the past two weeks I'm finally hoping that I'm getting beyond the Covid fatigue that's been kicking my butt since I had Covid the first of October.

I finally got my tomato and pepper seeds planted. A little early for tomatoes and a couple weeks late for the peppers. The only other seeds I started are parsley and basil. I ended up with way way more tomatoes than I should have but I want so many different varieties. Three are new varieties so I planted seeds for similar old faithful varieties "just in case" I'm not happy with the new ones. Sure hope my old body holds out for another gardening season!

 

[ioujc]

Well, I am now the proud owner of 6 baby OATIE GOATIES!!! 5 little does.....2 that are 4 weeks old and 3 that are 6 weeks old, and a 4 month old buck. Plus, I have my little buck who is also 4 months old.

I have built stalls in the Quonset hut and they are currently resting in their new bed.

I have also set up barter deals with 2 people that live less than 1/4th of a mile away. Since I have no use for that many baby goats, they want to trade a couple and the buck for work I need done and other items. We are also going to barter rabbits and I've already gotten chickens from one of them.

I am very excited about everything and about how things are working out for me. Now, if I can get the garden up and going, and juggle all these other things......chickens, goats and rabbits, I will be sitting pretty-------AND CANNING all the produce from the garden!!!! I really don't think I will have time to be lonely or depressed any more!!!! I just hope I can keep up!!

 

[nomifyle]

LOL how can you have too many baby goats? Just kidding.

 

[moldy]

Ioujc, I want to be like you when I grow up!!

Kyrsyan, hope you're having a better evening.

Moldy tell me about this slaw that you speak of…at your convenience of course. TIA!

I just shred up cabbage, onion, and carrots, maybe 8 parts cabbage, 2 parts carrots, one part onion, then blanch it and freezedry. You could dehydrate it too. Use for slaw or egg roll filling or to make cabbage fritters.

 

[John Deere Girl]

LOL how can you have too many baby goats? Just kidding.

I'll tell you how next month...I bred for April/May births, and barring no issues, we should have at least 10 babies, but possibly more.

 

[philkar]

TY! Have to try that!

 

[drafter]

Almost finished building a new deck on the house. Ordered some more seeds. Wife picked up a few seed starter trays. Ordered some items to build another get home bag. Our 20 baby chicks are doing well. Just so many projects to do. Never enough time!

 

[kyrsyan]

I got a replacement trackball for the computer. Just too many problems with the computer mouses. Even with cleaning them very regularly. I got tired of it. And with limited movement space on the desk, track ball is just more practical. But I had to wait until today to connect it. Because if there were issues, I didn't want the stress of work needing to be done on top of figuring out whatever is acting up. Fortunately, it seems that everything is working correctly. I'll have to get used to the trackball being quite so sensitive to movement, but that's about it.

 

[philkar]

We are in big town as Sherree says for a doc appt. Going to top off a thing or two and catch some lunch. Keeping an eye on Israel and SVB. Beautiful drive over as everything is blooming ie dogwoods etc. The wisteria is beautiful. Lots of little projects for “later”. Knocking them off 1 at a time.

 

[Digger]

We went to the local Kroger yesterday. I thought I might get some of the produce on sale. The cabbage was the size of soft balls. The strawberries and pineapple had almost no aroma, so that means no flavor. We didn't buy any of it. I would really like to can some more coleslaw. Hopefully the produce stand will have some nice cabbages again this spring. I did get a few items while we were there. Just replacing what we used.

Today I decided to give up my hot chocolate that I add to my coffee. It is calories i don't need. So it may just be a once in awhile treat. It will help the grocery bill too. Every little bit helps.

 

[philkar]

Oh Digger don’t give up the hot chocolate! My favorite coffee additive!

 

[moldy]

.... and if ya throw a little crushed peppermint in it, it's even better!

 

[SouthernBreeze]

My prep for today was to learn how to make homemade buttercream frosting, LOL! Buttercream is our all time favorite, but I haven't been able to find the storebought cans in a long time. I guess they aren't making it as much as they once did. I can't even find a store brand. One grocery store worker even told me they no longer carried it. I don't go everywhere looking for it, though. So, I did a search for a homemade recipe, and it's so easy! Do any of you make your own?

 

[moldy]

Always make your own frosting! My favorites are penuche or orange cream cheese. Canned frostings are gross!

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Always make your own frosting! My favorites are penuche or orange cream cheese. Canned frostings are gross!

Yeah. I always make my own, except for the buttercream. I didn't know how easy it was to make and didn't know how to.

 

[Barb]

My husbands favorite was oatmeal cake with penuche frosting.

 

[Toosh]

I overheard the meat department manager asking what they should do with the meat in the cooler considering the power failure. They had generators but I made him an offer and he sold beef and chicken for a steal of a price. Purchased 40 lbs. beef and 45 lbs of boneless chicken pieces.

With both canners set up on the outdoor propane cooktop, (my electric was out) we chopped veggies by headlamp and set up an assembly line to can qts of pot roast, beef stew, meatloaf and beef stroganoff along with chicken fajitas and oriental chicken. The meat was supercold but not frozen when I got it but I had no way to keep it cool other than a few igloo-type coolers so we canned non-stop, 24-hrs for 3 days. ...whew.

Lordy what a canning extravaganza that was. Glad I did it - it was a learning experience. Hubby even jumped in to help which was a blessing. But glad it's over and done. Power is back on. This week I will refill the propane and look for a good deal on canning jars - I used all of my stand-by stash.

I was happy to have everything I needed and was somewhat organized - enough to set up within a reasonable time. Hubby had to rig up tarps to keep the wind and blowing rain at bay while we canned. This week I need to brainstorm on organizing quick-deploy, temporary walls for around the outdoor cooking area.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Always make your own frosting! My favorites are penuche or orange cream cheese. Canned frostings are gross!

I always make icing from scratch. Not a fan of canned frosting either.

 

[ioujc]

LOL how can you have too many baby goats? Just kidding.

I would LOVE to keep them ALL, but it is the feedbill that has me worried!!

 

[John Deere Girl]

I would LOVE to keep them ALL, but it is the feedbill that has me worried!!

I'm only keeping a third of what we have. I'll sell the others, and then use the money to buy their hay for the winter.

 

[nomifyle]

I would LOVE to keep them ALL, but it is the feedbill that has me worried!!

ours are brush goats, we don't buy feed for them, except a bale of hay every year or so. We have several acres fenced for them. We have nine.

 

[Taco Salad]

Always make your own frosting! My favorites are penuche or orange cream cheese. Canned frostings are gross!

if you do have to use store bought in a pinch at least take the time to whip it. Makes it lighter and better, plus it goes twice as far.

 

[kyrsyan]

if you do have to use store bought in a pinch at least take the time to whip it. Makes it lighter and better, plus it goes twice as far.

That thought popped in my head yesterday. Except we don't really eat cakes. Too many diet issues in this house.

 

[kyrsyan]

Friend helped by picking up grocery orders today. Son is having issues with riding in the car right now. We think it might be because he's still feeling cruddy so friend got the pickup orders.

I decided to restock seafood this week. It was on sale for good prices. But I maybe have gotten too much for the freezers. At the moment they are full and I have pork chops, ground turkey, and beef hot dogs to repack. We'll see if I can squeeze stuff in. Because space will be there naturally in a week. Seafood is something both son and I enjoy and it's easy to fix.

But on a whole nother level, there is deep satisfaction in knowing they are full again. I may just use the ground turkey to do canned taco meat. I experimented a few months ago and discovered that if I just lightly brown the meat, it doesn't end up with dog food texture. Or over cooked flavor. It would be nice for trips, and the occasional night where I'm too wiped for even tacos.

Laundry, dishes, cleaning, food repacking, and other misc today. Lots to do before the body quits.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I'm doing laundry, sweeping, mopping, dusting, got chicken ready to bake tonight, washed dishes, and cleaned the kitchen. I'm about ready to run out of energy. I didn't sleep well last night, because a pack of yotes were having fun just over our fence in the back. They must have been having a party. Kept our dog all messed up, too. I started to get up and shoot a few! Cary slept through the whole ordeal. Then, at the crack of dawn, 2 owls decided they wanted to get in 2 of the oak trees just off our front porch and talk to each other. Our bedroom is right under those 2 trees.

Cary is at neighbor's house cutting up more firewood, while it's not raining. More rain coming in this afternoon through tomorrow. Will it ever stop? I know it will, but I'm losing hope in being able to plant an early Spring garden. He can't even pull the trailer up to where he is cutting for digging out ruts in neighbor's yard (too mushy). He's cutting and toting it to neighbor's driveway to load it. He took the log splitter with him. He'll be ready for lunch and a nap when he gets home.

eta. DS just pulled up bringing us a truck load of firewood he cut up for us from the trees down in his yard. I don't think we're going to be short of firewood anytime soon! We've got firewood coming in from all over.

 

[Taco Salad]

Friend helped by picking up grocery orders today. Son is having issues with riding in the car right now. We think it might be because he's still feeling cruddy so friend got the pickup orders.

I decided to restock seafood this week. It was on sale for good prices. But I maybe have gotten too much for the freezers. At the moment they are full and I have pork chops, ground turkey, and beef hot dogs to repack. We'll see if I can squeeze stuff in. Because space will be there naturally in a week. Seafood is something both son and I enjoy and it's easy to fix.

But on a whole nother level, there is deep satisfaction in knowing they are full again. I may just use the ground turkey to do canned taco meat. I experimented a few months ago and discovered that if I just lightly brown the meat, it doesn't end up with dog food texture. Or over cooked flavor. It would be nice for trips, and the occasional night where I'm too wiped for even tacos.

Laundry, dishes, cleaning, food repacking, and other misc today. Lots to do before the body quits.

I see a few people on the forums that can taco meat like you do but we haven't done it yet. Actually we've never canned ground meat at all. I guess for us it's because the regular cubes of meat break down easily making them very versatile. A good example is today my wife is sick and I didn't take anything out to thaw either so my son and I will be having a rotation day.

One of us will grab a jar of meat out of the pantry (beef brisket, pork loin, venison, or chicken breast) and then we'll decide if we want pizza, tacos, or BBQ sandwiches and then whip it up. I'm leaning toward tacos myself since the greens in the knock-off Aerogarden need cut again.

I think next time B/S chicken thighs are on sale in the $.69-.79/lb range I'll suggest while we're grinding them that we can up some 3/4 quarts to play with.

 

[kyrsyan]

Been going non stop today. Except for dishes. Can't seem to motivate for dishes. But everything else going well. But ground turkey won't seal. So putting a few at a time in the freezer.

 

[briches]

Sounds like everyone is making great progress towards their goals. Great job everyone.

 

[Hfcomms]

Have spent a lot of coin the last few weeks taking care of a few items. I have several hundred pounds of wheat berries from Y2K and haven't done too much with them. I have a couple of hand grinders but these grind pretty slow and I have been more on a high fat low carb diet but I have begun to change my mind about that.

I've known for years that white flour is pretty much death as the nutrients have been stripped out of it but I didn't realize how much disease can be traced back to the early 1900's when the steel rolling mills began to be used widespread and the bread was now done on an industrial scale with just the endosperm being ground up as whole grain flour turns rancid because of the oils.

Ran across this great video by Sue Becker and it set me on the course of rethinking some things. Sue is a Christian and also has degrees in nutrition and food science and she presents a very informative presentation here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43s0MWGrlT8

RT 3 hours

As Sue shares there are 44 nutrients required for healthy living and fresh milled grains contain 40 of them if you bake your bread shortly after milling the grain. If you have never seen this before it will leave you impressed.

Natural vitamins and minerals is preferred to supplements and supplements are going to be hard to come by when everything falls apart. Getting the vast majority of what you need from the stored wheat is a no-brainer.

Anyway I have a lot of grain and am starting to bake again and I decided to bite the bullet and buy a high quality electric grain mill and dough mixer.

I bought a Nutrimill harvest grain mill and an Ankarsrum dough mixer.

 

[Crusty Echo 7]

Just swapped the gas I keep in jerry cans and the generator. The old stuff (15 month old) was treated with STP but the new fuel is treated with Pri-G. I always try to rotate every year but life happens. Next weekend everything gets fired up, put under load (the Kamala treatment), oil changes new plugs if needed, air filter service, greased and blades sharpened.