That flu bug is sneaky. You think you are over it, for the nasty symptoms have disappeared. But then there is a week or so of feeling weak and tired. That's where I have been. Spent way too much time in my recliner, under my green fuzzy blanket. Finally this morning I woke up feeling close to normal. Well, normal for a chubby grannie with various and assorted old age things going on. Guess I need to call that the 'new normal.' :)
So as long as I was feeling pretty chipper, I took look at my canning shelves. Seems I have used food from them a bit more often than I realized. I'm going to have to stop being a lazy slug and get busy, replacing what I have used.
I need to can corn and peas. For those of us who can't garden any more, I find that buying frozen vegetables on sale works well for me. I just pour them into a pot, cover with water and heat them until they are thawed and warm. Then it is to can them the same as if they were fresh. They turn out just fine.
I am waiting for chicken legs to go on sale. Four legs will fit nicely into a quart jar. I add water or broth and run them through my pressure canner for 75 minutes. They are good for a variety of meals, but I particularly like them for chicken and dumplings.
Although I have lots of soups canned, I need to make more vegetable soup. I have chicken vegetable but want to have some vegetable beef soup on hand. It is super easy to make. It takes bags of frozen mixed vegetables, cubed potatoes and carrots, onions, tomatoes and cubes of beef roast. I usually brown the beef cubes first for flavor and then just mix it all together with broth for the liquid. If I don't have broth on hand, I just use water with some beef bouillon mixed in, and can pints for 75 minutes.
Guess I had better stop talking about it and get busy. I will be ordering some of the ingredients in two weeks when I do my next grocery order. Sometimes I get a bit complacent, thinking that I have well stocked shelves. Can't let that happen. Preparing isn't just a one time thing. It is a lifestyle. About the time I let thing slide is the time when a life changing event will come along and I might wish I had been a bit more diligent.
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Hello again...So glad you are feeling better! I think it is wonderful that you had all of those home canned foods prepared and available to eat while you were under the weather. You are very wise to replenish your supplies now that you are able. We cannot be too prepared for the craziness that seems to get worse and more scary every single day. I hope you are fully recovered and stay that way for a good long while. CWfromIowa
ReplyDeleteThanks, CW...It wasn't that I was so sick. It was more like being run down and tired all the time. You are right about having food canned up so all I had to do was open jars and heat up the contents. Makes life easier sometimes.
DeleteI sure do agree about being prepared. I most times think the world around us has gone bat guano crazy. If you listen to the ranting of most politicians, it seems like they spout some of the most outrageous things and then assume we are dumb enough to believe them. I doubt they would make it in your world or in mine. Reality isn't something they are familiar with. :)
I'm glad you're feeling better, Vicki; just don'r overdo it and take a setback.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gorges...It is good to be back among the living!!
DeleteI'm being careful. I have had enough down time to last me good long while. These days I mostly go at a turtle's pace - slow and steady. Takes longer to accomplish what I want to do, but at least it gets done - eventually. :)
I was diagnosed with the flu on Dec 17 and just felt normal two days ago. Yes, my "new normal," too. I overdid it and now am just exhausted. I thought I was not tired, but I was clearly not recovered from overdoing it. I desperately need to wash dishes, never mind food. Really, I do have plenty of food! I am glad you are better. It is no fun being sick.
ReplyDeleteLinda...I'm so glad you are feeling better. This flu just knocks the stuffing out of us. Takes longer to recover, it seems. It is hard to keep from overdoing when we are trying to catch up from being sick. I'm just taking baby steps with rest in between. Seems to be working so far.
DeleteAt the end of the flu, I ended up in ER with major uti. That further weakened me. Now, I am better, but with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, I don't get much done.
DeleteLinda...It is OK if you don't get much done. Sometimes we just need to back of and let our bodies tell us how much we can accomplish each day. We worked hard when younger. We have earned some rest.
DeleteSo glad to hear you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kristina..Guess I just don't bounce back as quickly as I did when I was 20. :)
Deleteglad to hear you are feeling better. just don't overdo it!
ReplyDeletethank you for the tip on the chicken...just was talking to Mtn Man about canning some. Got me thinking! ;)
Thanks, Mary...I am being careful. Overdoing it is not on the schedule these days!!
DeleteIt is nice to have both chicken legs and thighs canned whole. So many ways to use them. I seem to can more chicken and use it up faster than any other meat.
better too much than not enough.
ReplyDeletepractical parsimony
i keep plastic spoons, forks, paper plates and bowls. very handy in sickness and who wants to rise from the sick bed to a sinkful of mess.
don't buy walmart paper bowls, they melt if you put soup in them.
read advice to ave 4 rolls of toilet paper for a month.
writer obviously thinks that societal collapse will have no effect on the stout bowels of his kinfolks, nor will they ever suffer from flu or other disease.
toilet paper is definitely in the have- way- too- much -because -not- enough -is -just- not- acceptable category.
deborah...Thanks for posting your suggestion to Linda about keeping disposable dishes and cutlery on hand. That is something I had not thought of, but will be adding to my preps. Makes sense.
DeleteI have to wonder which planet the writer who advised 4 rolls of TP per month, lives on. Not this one, obviously! Even used as sparingly as possible, 4 rolls would not last me a whole month. Because storage space is at a premium here, I will be ordering some flannel when it goes on sale, cutting it up into 6-inch squares, running a zig-zag stitch around them so they don't ravel, and stacking them in a cupboard in my bathroom for use as washable TP. Some won't consider this option because of the 'icky' factor, but if they can get past that, it makes sense to me to have this on hand should we be unable to get or store regular TP.
Please don't over do it. We too used up more then I thought we did. Gee, do you think the cold weather as something to do with it. "We need to run to the market to get..." Never fear, we have it here!!.
ReplyDeleteRob...I think the part where we don't need to run to the store like so many do when a storm is headed our way is one of the perks of a deep pantry. I know both of us could go for quite some time on what we have stored. Just makes sense.
DeleteThat flu is murderous this year. Georgia is having a really bad time with it. I'm glad you are getting well, but I would not try to do too much right off.
ReplyDeleteHarry...It hasn't been much fun here either, that nasty flu bug. I would have thought our sub-zero weather would have killed it off, but no such luck. Even when we think we are over it, that flu will come back and slap us upside the head, just to remind us of how ugly it really is. Having learned that lesson the hard way, I'm getting caught up just a little bit at a time. So far, so good. :)
DeleteOh dear, I was wondering about you! Take it easy and gets lots of rest still.
ReplyDeleteJenn...I am taking it fairly easy still. I pushed the envelope a bit too hard before and paid the price. Now it is just a little bit at a time until I have my strength back. That doesn't make for interesting blog posts, but it keeps me well. Don't want to mess with that flu bug again!!
DeleteI got two flus (flues? Flooz?) in a row. One took me right out for a week and the other was an intestinal one right after.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it is because I am older... but it seems to me the intensity of these bugs and their symptoms are getting meaner all the time...
Glen...I know what you mean. I have had a couple of go-arounds with the flu. The initial symptoms weren't too bad. It is the aftermath that is driving me a bit crazy. I think I am finally over it, but am left feeling tired all the time and my energy level is in the basement. Haven't even had the energy to come up with a decent blog post. I have been blaming it on my age, but I think you may be right. This bug has gotten meaner.
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