Maybe I’m a little Weird

I keep thinking about recipes I want to try.  For example, I’m wanting to create a chicken enchilada soup .. and a chicken tortilla soup.  I also want to cook a pot of vegetable beef soup with barley.  Then, there are the Pinterest recipes I’ve pinned.  The problem I’m having is that there aren’t enough days.  Red beans and rice, black eyed peas, shredded chicken.  I could go on for hours.

Ever since before Thanksgiving, I’ve had this issue.  For the Friday after Thanksgiving we made a pizza at home and planned to eat leftovers the following day.  Unfortunately, our schedule got scrambled and we ended up eating out Saturday and having those leftovers Sunday evening.  Monday comes along and I have a networking group to attend, take out subs is what we eat.  Tonight, I made BLTs and a small pot of potato soup (I had a surplus of tomatoes that I didn’t want to go bad).  Tomorrow, dinner will be some tortellini and sauce I have “leftover” (from a family sized pack) in the freezer.  Wednesday we will eat some smoked pork chops from the freezer along with a box of Mac and cheese and maybe, if they’re still good, some fresh Brussels sprouts.

My problem is that I’m trying to be frugal.  First priority is not letting food go to waste, second priority is eating out of our kitchen freezer.  It is way too full.  I guess we’re blessed to have these things but I really want to try out my new pressure cooker again and try some recipes I have in my head.  I’ll just put my patience hat back on for a few more days.

Nothing says “Thanksgiving” like Pumpkin Pie

It’s a tradition in my house, I make pumpkin pie from scratch.  In the early years, I always doubled the spices but as our digestive systems have matured, now I just stick to the recipe.  Some years, I make my own pie crust and I have, on occasion, made fancy crusts trims and decorations.  This year, I’m keeping it simple.  I used the recipe on the back of the Libby’s can of pumpkin.  Shorting the milk just enough (two ounces)to make it fit in a deep dish crust.

Pumpkin pie is really easy to put together.  I add the milk last and you have to stir it a bit to get it mixed in well.  I usually use a whisk to speed up the process.  Place you pie crust on a baking sheet before adding the filling then carefully place it in the oven.

 

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 50 minutes.  Sometimes you need to add another 5 or 10 minutes to set the custard.  A knife placed halfway between the crust and center should come out clean.

Quick Cooking

For almost a year, I’ve been thinking about getting an InstaPot - or another brand - to speed up meal preparation.  At first I thought this would be helpful when I went back to work full time but when that didn’t happen, I put it on hold.  The cost was also an issue with InstaPots being in the $100 price range. 

I hated to spend that kind of money on something I really wasn’t sure I would like or use enough to be worth it.  I had a stove top pressure cooker years ago so I am familiar with the benefits.  

A couple of days ago, I saw a Bella brand electric pressure cooker on sale at BJs Wholesale.  The regular price was $79.99 for the 8 quart size (the big one).  They were advertising this for $49.99 after a clipless coupon.  I had thought that it was a Black Friday only deal but it was already on sale and available in store.  DH and I headed out there Sunday and picked one up. 

 

This cooker can cook rice (like a rice cooker), can operate as a slow cooker, and a pressure cooker.  It also has a sauté option so any pre-browning is done in the same pot.  The cooking bowl is non-stick, removable and dishwasher safe.  

Tonight,  I put it to use.  First, I made a pot of rice.  I think for my tastes, I will use a little more water so the rice is a little more tender next time.  Of course, this is a personal preference.  I made Mongolian Beef from a Pinterest recipe as the main course.  The only complaint was that I couldn’t get the cooker to return to sauté after pressure.cooking to thicken the sauce.  I had my wok out to make broccoli so I just poured it in the wok and thickened it quickly.

Later, I tested it and I was able to use sauté so I think it was just a fluke or user error.

Dinner was delicious.

Saturday Outings

My Dear Hubby and I are working towards starting a small business in the new year.  As a way to get some early name recognition, we have been going to events and locations over the past two months taking pictures and posting them on line.  It gets examples of our photography out into the public eye, puts the company name out there and give us practice in many aspects of photography.  (We both worked as professional photographers years ago in weddings, portraits, aerials and real estate.)

Today’s adventure was taking pictures of a hometown Veterans Day celebration complete with a parade, ceremonies and dignitaries.  We have both video and still photographs of the event that we re working with now to develop something to post.  As the events wrapped up, we stopped in to a local sandwich shop on the square for some lunch.  While we nourished ourselves, the cameras rested.

Everyday Purse

I’ve been carrying a Miche purse for several years now.  I really like it when I was working because I could quickly change the style/color of my purse to match what I was wearing.  It was also easy to carry into work and put it away for the day, then carry it home.  In my new daily schedule, this simply wasn’t working.  The short handles required that I either carry it in my hand or under my armpit which caused discomfort in my shoulder.  It was also difficult to put it in the car when I had a passenger.

I also had issues “loosing” my debit card.  It would fall out of my purse organizer if my purse fell over - usually in the car.  After the third “lost card incident,” I decided that I needed a change.  I was looking for a wallet that would be small but still hold multiple cards securely.  Ideally, I wanted a wallet that would fold over on the cards so they couldn’t fall out.  

I checked at Target but couldn’t find a wallet that would fit the bill.  Then we stopped at Walmart, bingo!  I found an inexpensive wallet that met my criteria for less than $8.  I also checked their purse selection and found something that would work.  It has an adjustable strop that allows it to be used as a shoulder bag OR a crossbody bag.  It has an outside pocket large enough to hold my cell phone and allow easy access.  Two outside zippers hold personal items you don’t want people looking at.  It was $12 and change.  Neither the wallet nor the purse will last for years like the Miche bag but it’s serviceable for everyday use this winter.

Recipe Challenge: 23/26

I challenged myself with goals for 2017. One of these goals was to try 26 new recipes during the year.  I figured that one new recipe every other week would be enough variation without be unrelenting.

The latest recipe was an Apple Pancake recipe I found on Pinterest.  Overall, it was good.  I think next time, I will increase the butter slightly and add just a pinch of baking power to give just a little lift to the pancake as it was a little dense.

Throughout the year, I’ve tried a variety of recipes but perhaps my most favorite was an Alton Brown recipe for guacamole.  Absolutely fabulous!  I’ve tried soups, firecracker chicken, sesame noodles, and many others.  Now, with seven weeks left in the year and only three new recipes, I’m wondering what I should focus on.  One definitely needs to be Holiday oriented.  I’m thinking about “creating” a chicken enchilada soup to mimic the chicken enchiladas, it is soup season after all.

Smoked!

Two to four times a year, I venture across town to a great little meat market that’s famous for its fresh and smoked meats.  About this time of the year, we start thinking about holiday get togethers.  Today was the day.

It was my first day off in almost two weeks so I headed over to pick up some meat.  Unfortunately, they were entirely out of bacon so I focused on what they did have.

I purchased two pounds of mild Italian sausages.  I have removed the casings and have them pre-freezing.  I will vacuum seal once they are firm.  I also bought almost two pounds of Alpine salami (similar to a summer sausage).  I had them slice it thin and prepared two packages of the slices with 16 slices per sheet and 48 slices in one pack and 30 slices in the other.  I can pull out a single sheet or thaw the whole pack as needed. 

Finally, I bought two pounds of double smoked beef sausage.  I used about 3/4pound in some stuffed bell peppers for dinner.  I will cube the other 1/4pound to be used in a casserole or soup.  The other pound was vacuum sealed and ready for the freezer.

I need to stop by the dollar store tomorrow for some trays for my freezer.

Perseverance

After an additional six weeks of hand quilting, this beauty is residing on our bed - keeping us warm and brightening up the room.  It reminds me that seemingly impossible tasks can be accomplished by simply it taking it one step at a time.

I found this quilt on a Facebook group and fell in love with its beauty and simplicity.  I ordered the book that contained the pattern/instructions and proceeded to make a plan.  It was definitely a stretch to my quilting skills.  I systematically created patterns and graphs to crete the panels.   After I created four or five squares, I decided that 16 squares would be “too much red” and overwhelming.  I reduced it to 9 squares, elimated the red triangles and altered the border to accommodate the revised design.

It took five months to create the flimsy and three months to do the initial hand quilting.  After looking at it for a while, I decided it needed some additional quilting but I didn’t like the original design.  I created a cardboard pattern and put additional circular quilting around the squares.  I added vertical lines on the outer borders three inches apart.  Now, it has enough quilting not to pucker.

I took the plunge and put it in the washer last week.  I was fearful that it would run but it did not.  For now, it is keeping us warm at night and proving beauty during the day. (At lest until I create a new one!)

Gaining an hour?

Today, we “fell back”an hour and ended daylight saving time.  I’ve never understood why we continue this silly tradition.  We don’t actually gain an hour of daylight unless somehow the earth is spinning faster or slower.  I used to really hate daylight saving time when the kids were little.  All I wanted was to get them into bed as soon as possible after dinner but when the sun stays out til 9pm, that is very difficult.

Why don’t we stop this foolishness?  I read an article earlier this week that said only the grill and charcoal industries benefited from the extra summertime daylight.  About the only good thing I can say about daylight saving time is that the little kids can trick or treat at twilight instead of total darkness.

Whew! What a week.

Ever since I’ve been working my part time gig as a Retail Merchandiser for Hallmark I’ve had somewhere between 8-15 hours a week if I volunteered for extra work.  This past week, Hallmark had allotted 31 hours for me to cover my three stores.  I didn’t have quite the number of hours at one store since I had help there.  The second store was operating on a deficit since I received help in it the week before.  My third store had the full 13 hours.

I volunteered to help at two other stores Friday to pick up a couple of extra hours so I wasn’t able to make my full time in my own stores.  I am carrying over three hours in my Publix and one hour in my Kroger store this coming week.  Even so, I worked 25.5 hours total this week in a very physicalmoving heavy boxes, building displays, etc.  it’s not quite like working 40 hours behind a desk and I was feeling it by 4Friday afternoon.

Saturday’s weather was pleasant enough but the sun never really did more than peak out between the clouds and we had rain by 4:30.  No photos were taken today but we met a woman and purchased a used camera body and lens from her.  New, it would have been about $900 for the body and (maybe) $150 for the lens.  It’s in excellent condition and we got a great deal.

We’ve been trying to purchase a lot of our equipment for our new business venture ahead of time and, when possible, used to save money.  

Tomorrow, we have a small photo project.  We also need to make a trip to Home Depot to pick up supplies for a house project we need to finish this week.  Some odds and ends will likely round out the day.

Apples to Applesauce to Apple Butter

We planned to go to the Apple Festival this year but circumstances dictated otherwise.  I did acquire some apples and made applesauce for the person who gave me the apples.  With the apples left over, I made three pints and 12 half pints of applesauce.  With about five cups of the apple sauce I put it in the crockpot along with sugar and cinnamon to make apple butter.  I couldn’t find any half pint jars since I had used them all on the applesauce.  I did find some four ounce jelly jars so I canned eight of those with fresh, homemade apple butter.  

I’m looking forward to enjoying this over the winter,

The Holidays are Here!

That’s my husband’s thought - as soon as Halloween is over, the holiday season begins!  In some ways I agree.  I’ve been putting out Christmas cards for a week now and have so many left it seems unfathomable that they can all sell before Christmas.  Some days I come home covered in glitter from the cards. I’m working EVERY day this week which is really unusual.

I feel like I’m on top of things, I pulled down the Halloween decorations this afternoon.  After dinner tomorrow, I will put out some fall/Thanksgiving decorations.  Part of the holiday season for me is stocking up on pantry and baking items.  All this year I have been using items in my pantry and freezer and culling out old items.  It was time to start building it back up.  So far, I’ve added to my canned goods (tomato products, green beans).  Tonight I stocked up on beef and chicken broth, canned corn and pasta - 10 each at th  Kroger Mega Event.  I spent $36 and saved $40.  I still need to add some kidney beans, beets, carrots, etc.  Additionally, I have stocked up on ground beef (Sam’s club) and chicken breasts (Zaycon).  We have a supply of red snapper in the freezer from a summer fishing trip.  I’m planning a trip to the sausage store next week on my day off.

As soon as this week is over, I will start working on Christmas gifts that I am making.  I have three things completed and three smaller items to work on. I will probably put my tree up before Thanksgiving since I will be working Black Friday.  Still thinking about this.