Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Denim Deb]

I'm proud of you as well. I'd be glad just to keep the dishes all clean!

Oh, and the best way to get on top of the house is w/a ladder.

 

[hqueen13]

Wow way to go on the dishes! I'm not site I know when I last accomplished that feat....
Hope Tipitu got warmed up!

 

[Britesea]

Titipu is doing fine now. She's been fully incorporated into the flock and I saw her snuggling up to Big Boy yesterday when everyone was sitting around estivating.

I have half of my 50# bag of onion finished dehydrating; it filled up a 1 gallon jar. Now I have to finish the other half and then I have the rest of the miniature bell peppers and some apples from our tree to do. I also have 40#s of sweet potatoes to can up (they were less than 2#'s for a dollar!).
My half-pint jars came in, I plan to make up a bunch of ghee (which will keep better than regular butter) in the small jars for my Meals In A Jar. Some of the other "special" ingredients they use are powdered sour cream (which I have on order), powdered eggs and powdered vanilla (which will go on order next payday). I really love the idea of having these meals ready to go so I don't have to worry about whether I have all the ingredients or not, and a lot of them are almost instant (open and heat a jar of Saucy Joes and serve on hamburger buns from the freezer, and various pickles). The worst thing about dinner for me is trying to figure out what I feel like making when I'm already tired from a day's work and I'm pressed for time.
I still like having a good selection of just ingredients, for making something a bit more special. For instance last night, we had roast duck with apple stuffing and glazed carrots. Tonight I think it will be oven fried chicken thighs with Jo-Jo's and Hears of Palm salad, with perhaps baked apples for dessert.

I went to my Water Aerobics class yesterday, being careful to avoid any of the exercises that would be bad for my knee. I feel sore today, but my knee doesn't hurt any worse than usual. I plan to start going twice a week, plus on Saturdays they have classes in Tai Chi as well. All of this is free to the public at one of the local (elegant and expensive) assisted living centers here. I guess they hope that this way we will see what a superior facility they have and will come to live here ourselves eventually.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I know the Saucy Joes was just an example, but if you have a hot roll mix on hand, fold the roll dough around a serving of the meat and bake that way. That way you don't need to keep the hamburger buns in the freezer- they always taste funny to me when stored in the freezer for any amount of time and they always seem to get daamged.

 

[Britesea]

The book also had "sidekits" of things like Naan bread, which could be used the same way you suggested. I'm thinking this would go nicely with Indian Fry Bread, too.

 

[hqueen13]

What is the book called? This really sounds like a book I could use! I'm already worried about tonight.... is either going to end up being pasta again tonight or greens and beans again, which would require the bf to make 2 stops on the way home instead of one....

 

[Britesea]

It's called "Meals in a Jar" by Julie Languille (although Amazon had more books on a similar theme)

http://www.amazon.com/Meals-Jar-Jus...qid=1414714473&sr=1-1&keywords=Meals+in+a+jar

 

[hqueen13]

Great, thanks! Added to my Christmas wish list!

 

[Britesea]

Came home from shopping yesterday with:
a 5# bag of lemons to dehydrate
20# of broccoli crowns to dehydrate
10# of mushrooms to dehydrate
25# of pork picnic cushion meat for canning

Last night I was able to cut up 2 trays' worth of the broccoli, and 3 trays' worth of my miniature bell peppers for the dehydrator, plus one tray of onions-- the last of the 50# bag from last week (that made nearly 2 gallons when dehydrated).
This morning I turned the trays, and added 1 tray of sliced lemons. The last of my bell peppers are quartered and ready for seeding and placing on trays; that will fill up the dehydrator until later today when I figure the stuff I put in last night will be done. Then I can get on with the broccoli and mushrooms.
Then I have to cut up the pork and set it up for a long slow roasting in the oven before it gets canned with a nice spicy barbecue sauce.

Since I was gone most of yesterday, the kitchen didn't get cleaned up. I've got a promise from the guys that they will take care of dishes for me so that I can concentrate on all this food prep. I really want to keep up the clean kitchen I've been enjoying lately!

It's raining pretty hard today, so I won't be able to work outside. I need to finish planting my garlic, especially since the weatherman is using the "S" word for this weekend, but the rain hasn't been helpful.
I think I'll make some Rhode Island clam chowder today, we've decided we like it much better than either Manhattan or New England style. I've got enough clams and juice to make a nice big batch so I should be able to can some leftovers.

Hubby had a doctor's appointment yesterday and we have bad news and good news. The bad news is that one of the anchors for the ligaments came loose. He was given a choice of going through the surgery again and starting all over with the healing process (with no guarantees that it wouldn't happen again) or just going through physical therapy and trying to maximize what flexibility and strength he can in that wrist. The chances are good he will eventually get arthritis in that wrist and need surgery to fuse the bones together-- but considering that he has flat feet with neuropathy, bad knees, bad back, gout... arthritis just sort of sounds like a burp in the general run of things.
So the good news is... he can go back to work! He has a 10# weight restriction on his right arm, but he and his boss figured out some workarounds for the more difficult parts of his job. He starts Monday. I know he is really relieved-- for a while he thought he might not be able to work again, and the stress was getting to him. He even still has some sick leave and vacation time left- the benefit of not taking sick leave for 12 years...

 

[goatgurl]

so glad DH is getting to go back to work it had to have been so hard on him. and where in the world do you get your food stuffs in that quantity and i hope you get it good price