Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: November 24 ~ 30, 2019

SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
nomifyle said:
The flour keeps it from sticking, I think 1 T of flour in a bag to keep the turkey from sticking would not cause the turkey to have gluten. That's the only way I've ever cooked a turkey myself.

Judy
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Thanks, Judy. I know the flour won't be a problem for the turkey, but her mother plans to make the gravy out of the drippings when she gets to my house, so there can't be any flour in the drippings. That's the problem. She plans on using some kind of tapioca something or other.. I've never heard of it before. One would think that only one tablespoon of flour wouldn't hurt anything, but if she knows it's got any flour at all in it, DIL won't touch it. I may take the chance of the bag not bursting, and not use any flour. Pray!
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
SouthernBreeze said:
Thanks, Judy. I know the flour won't be a problem for the turkey, but her mother plans to make the gravy out of the drippings when she gets to my house, so there can't be any flour in the drippings. That's the problem. She plans on using some kind of tapioca something or other.. I've never heard of it before. One would think that only one tablespoon of flour wouldn't hurt anything, but if she knows it's got any flour at all in it, DIL won't touch it. I may take the chance of the bag not bursting, and not use any flour. Pray!
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Poking holes in the cooking bag prevents the bag from bursting, the flour keeps the meat from sticking. I've used arrow root starch in the past instead of flour or what about a little cornstarch to prevent sticking. I've never mastered making gravy with flour, I always used arrowroot starch. Good luck, I bet you are a great cook.

Judy
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
nomifyle said:
Poking holes in the cooking bag prevents the bag from bursting, the flour keeps the meat from sticking. I've used arrow root starch in the past instead of flour or what about a little cornstarch to prevent sticking. I've never mastered making gravy with flour, I always used arrowroot starch. Good luck, I bet you are a great cook.

Judy
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Yeah, you would think that poking holes in the bag would prevent it bursting. I always do that. On the bag instructions, it specifically says to poke the holes and use flour to prevent it from bursting, though. I'm afraid to take that chance. I'm thinking that I will just roast the turkey the old fashioned way, not using a bag. Next year, she can do the turkey any way she likes, LOL! I can just see half way through the roasting process, the bag bursts and ruins my turkey!

Great cook?! Hardly. We get by, though. I'm just a born and raised country gal that only knows how to cook and eat country.
 
mawmaw

mawmaw

Veteran Member
prudentwatcher said:
Tomorrow I take care of my biggest prep of the year--getting my knee replaced. I have been wanting to get this done for a couple of years, but the doctors didn't want to do it for a variety of reasons. But tomorrow it finally happens. This has been the year of taking care of health issues and making sure things are good---teeth (cleaning, one extraction), eyes (exam and new glasses, though the prescription didn't change much), and general health (new cpap finally, and a colonoscopy). All of my immediate medical needs are covered and I have a six month supply of my meds, none of which are required for me to live.

I also did some early Black Friday shopping. Bought two pairs of New Balance sneakers--25% off and free shipping--and a new laptop (Christmas present from my sweetie). A few more things will be added I'm sure over the weekend as things show up in the email list, but it's a good start. Bought three pair of sweatpants and some Christmas presents at Walmart on Sunday as well.

Time to go to bed. Have to be at the hospital at 5am. I am not a morning person.
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Praying for a easy recovery !! Be Blessed !!
 
P

prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
Surgery went great. Was at the hospital at 5, surgery at 730, in recovery by 915, and home at 3. No pain as I have a nerve bock and am on a pain pump. Walking okay with the walker. Was really blessed. Surgeon said it was a bigger mess than he thought. Now for six weeks of pt.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,
 
20Gauge

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
prudentwatcher said:
Surgery went great. Was at the hospital at 5, surgery at 730, in recovery by 915, and home at 3. No pain as I have a nerve bock and am on a pain pump. Walking okay with the walker. Was really blessed. Surgeon said it was a bigger mess than he thought. Now for six weeks of pt.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,
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My mother is about a week ahead of you. She told me there were a lot of people who didn't do the exercises before hand and were having trouble afterwards.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
prudentwatcher said:
Surgery went great. Was at the hospital at 5, surgery at 730, in recovery by 915, and home at 3. No pain as I have a nerve bock and am on a pain pump. Walking okay with the walker. Was really blessed. Surgeon said it was a bigger mess than he thought. Now for six weeks of pt.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,
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Am so happy to hear that everything went well for you! Take it easy, and may your healing process be blessed!
 
20Gauge

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
Update on our pantry position.

I did something today I never do. That is go shopping with the wife for groceries. I still do not enjoy the experience, but I was very pleased at how it went.

As I have said before, like others we are now trying to eat out of our pantry and only buy groceries to restock. In the past we were at the 25% range at best.

With today's shopping... we are now at the point where we only are buying to restock or get snacks. Every item the wife got, I asked about and without exception, it was I am down to 1 or 2 cases / boxes and need to get some to replace what we used. These are the results we were hoping for when the pantry started.

Items to improve...

We do have six months of food, but as we eat out of the pantry, we are learning that we eat a bit seasonally and do not have 6 months of every thing. Example: we eat a lot of chili during the cooler months, we have a case or three. Not enough for six months. Could we eat out of the pantry for six months? YES! Just not the things we want at that time of year.... so more work needs to be done.

Cat food..... we need a lot more to get to the point of not having just enough. We do have plans to improve this, so I do not consider this to be a biggie right now.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
20Gauge said:
Update on our pantry position.

I did something today I never do. That is go shopping with the wife for groceries. I still do not enjoy the experience, but I was very pleased at how it went.

As I have said before, like others we are now trying to eat out of our pantry and only buy groceries to restock. In the past we were at the 25% range at best.

With today's shopping... we are now at the point where we only are buying to restock or get snacks. Every item the wife got, I asked about and without exception, it was I am down to 1 or 2 cases / boxes and need to get some to replace what we used. These are the results we were hoping for when the pantry started.

Items to improve...

We do have six months of food, but as we eat out of the pantry, we are learning that we eat a bit seasonally and do not have 6 months of every thing. Example: we eat a lot of chili during the cooler months, we have a case or three. Not enough for six months. Could we eat out of the pantry for six months? YES! Just not the things we want at that time of year.... so more work needs to be done.

Cat food..... we need a lot more to get to the point of not having just enough. We do have plans to improve this, so I do not consider this to be a biggie right now.
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That's wonderful, 20Gauge! LOL, DH loves going grocery shopping with me. He tells everyone that I can't go shopping without him, because he pushes the cart while I fill it. He just says that, but from the beginning of our 43 yr. marriage, we have always shopped together.

I love the fact that you and your DW have got to the point of eating only from your pantry. That's what we do. I only buy groceries to replace what we use out of mine. It's like having a mini grocery store in your own home. Just walk in, get what you need for a meal, and cook it. That way, everything stays on a good rotation cycle, and you always know what you have. I go through the pantry and make out a list of things that are getting low, whether it's a few bottles of spices or cases of something. When I go shopping, those are the items I buy. Of course, if I see something, like a few snacks or things to cook for a special occasion, I buy that, too. Mostly, though, I only buy in order to restock.

It takes time to build up to the point that you only eat from your pantry. Seems you're well on your way! Congrats!
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I want to go grocery shopping but I look around and can't find anything that we need and really not to replace. We put two wild pigs and two deer in the freezer in addition to all we already have. We are eating out of the freezer, since I'm only eating animal products and DH really prefers just meat, we are in good shape.

20guage, the dollar tree has a chili that DH likes, he's not keen on any spices, so if you like spicer all you need to do is add spices to it. That same brand of chili (southgate) also has a beef stew that DH likes. It can be used as a base or eaten just like it is. At $1 a can I have close of 52 cans of each. He eats one or two and I replace with 4-6.

I've used all the TP I had stashed in my van or my pantry room, well I just took the last 24 pack out of the van, it was buried deep. However, I have many many packages stashed in my camper, in addition to the more than one year supply I put up over ten years ago, guess I need to use that first and package my extras from the camper like I have those packaged.

I did buy a 50# bag of dog food at walmart last week, nearly killed me to get it in truck, DH got it out. He said I could get dog food from the feed store when he buys his animal feed. So a couple more bags of 50 pounds should be enough for now. I need to buy more 5 gallon buckes and mylar bags to store some up for later.

I know I have a couple of years of food for DH and I but then I think about if my sons showed up with my grandchildren and then I think I need to store more. But what could I store long term that the picky eaters (all of them) would eat? I have wheat to grind to make baked flour products (I could probably make some kind of bread in a cast iron pot). I have many cookbooks to work from.

When I was preparing the ribs for DH's thanksgiving meal I had to trim off a lot of fat. I'd been wanting to render fat and I did in the crockpot and now I have almost a quart of pig lard to use for cooking.

Judy
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
nomifyle said:
When I was preparing the ribs for DH's thanksgiving meal I had to trim off a lot of fat. I'd been wanting to render fat and I did in the crockpot and now I have almost a quart of pig lard to use for cooking.
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I don't buy or use lard anymore. I use bacon drippings, and right before Thanksgiving I realized that I was out. I needed bacon drippings to season some of the veggies with. I thawed out 4 pounds of bacon, fried it up, and strained the drippings. The fried bacon went back into the freezer to have on hand for bacon bits and such. I try to keep some on hand to have on short notice, so freezing them works for me. The can I collect the drippings in was half full at the end.

I remember my mom and dad and grandparents killing their own hogs, and cooking out lard into lard cans. Grandma's cracklin's were the best! I'd love to have some of her cracklin' cornbread right about now, too. Those were the days.
 
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nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
SouthernBreeze said:
I don't buy or use lard anymore. I use bacon drippings, and right before Thanksgiving I realized that I was out. I needed bacon drippings to season some of the veggies with. I thawed out 4 pounds of bacon, fried it up, and strained the drippings. The fried bacon went back into the freezer to have on hand for bacon bits and such. I try to keep some on hand to have on short notice, so freezing them works for me. The can I collect the drippings in was half full at the end.

I remember my mom and dad and grandparents killing their own hogs, and cooking out lard into lard cans. Grandma's cracklin's were the best! I'd love to have some of her cracklin' cornbread right about now, too. Those were the days.
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DH insisted I turn the lard off and that the fat would never turn into cracklins. I put them in a jar and am going to freeze them and sometime when he is not at home, I'll put them in a smaller crockpot and cook them until they turn into cracklins. He's a yankee so what does he know about cracklins. I'm pretty sure he was thinking about pork rinds, but why argue. He's a great husband and I like to keep the peace.

I always use bacon grease for cooking and besides bacon I get bacon ends and pieces that also produce a good amount of grease, plus there are some delicious thick pieces of meat in them too, I eat them fat and all.

I've never used store bought lard except to grease cast iron pans after washing them.

Judy
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
nomifyle said:
DH insisted I turn the lard off and that the fat would never turn into cracklins. I put them in a jar and am going to freeze them and sometime when he is not at home, I'll put them in a smaller crockpot and cook them until they turn into cracklins. He's a yankee so what does he know about cracklins. I'm pretty sure he was thinking about pork rinds, but why argue. He's a great husband and I like to keep the peace.

I always use bacon grease for cooking and besides bacon I get bacon ends and pieces that also produce a good amount of grease, plus there are some delicious thick pieces of meat in them too, I eat them fat and all.

I've never used store bought lard except to grease cast iron pans after washing them.

Judy
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Yeah, CaryC will eat pork rinds, but will not touch a cracklin! He's never even eaten one, even though, I've spent 43 years trying to countrify him, LOL. He was born at Ft. Benning, GA, so he qualifies as a Southern boy. While still a baby, he and his parents went back to Germany where he was raised, then back to the States to Illinois. Moved back here when he got out of the Army, and married me! I tease him about being a Yankee! I was surprised that he even knew what a cracklin was when we got married.
 
R

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Ordered 2 - 10# pails of Non-fat milk and 2 aquabobs from the group buy today; will look around for smaller size butter powder than was available - I'm afraid a #10 can would go bad too quickly. I have canned butter stocked, but would like to have some powder as well.
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
ReneeT said:
Ordered 2 - 10# pails of Non-fat milk and 2 aquabobs from the group buy today; will look around for smaller size butter powder than was available - I'm afraid a #10 can would go bad too quickly. I have canned butter stocked, but would like to have some powder as well.
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Thrive Life has pantry size cans of butter powder, I though about buying it but just a bit too expensive for me.

Judy
 
D

Digger

Veteran Member
I bought a knee brace. Several years ago I sprained my left knee. I don't even remember how I did it. But in the last 6 weeks I have hurt it twice just climbing into the trunk. I stepped up on to the running board and the ligament popped loud along the outside of my knee. I am not sure what happened, but a couple days in a brace and it is much better. Standing does not hurt or sitting, but getting from sitting to standing does. Or lifting my leg together in the truck. I guess it is old age catching up with me.

I better get busy. We are cooking our Thanksgiving dinner today.
 
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