So Wednesday I ordered some chicken and a salad to be delivered. I was lazy. My kitchen was clean. I wanted it to stay that way. Anyhow, about that time Number One Son shows up with one of my favorite foods - onion rings from the little Mom and Pop restaurant on the corner. It has been years since I treated myself to a plate of their onion rings. They are wonderful! There were so many in the carry-out box that I could only eat about half, and half the chicken.
So this morning, following directions from my son, I heated my oven to 400 degrees and put the leftovers in for about 4 minutes. Perfect. Breakfast of champions!!
So here is what have been up to today. And tomorrow. And maybe Saturday.
My grocery order was delivered today, including 10 lbs. of potatoes, 4 bunches of celery, 2 lbs. of onions, 8 lbs. of carrots, 1 cabbage and 4 bags each of frozen green beans, peas and corn.The fresh vegetables all need to be sliced, diced and chopped. The frozen vegetables are thawing in the fridge. Into my big roaster and largest stock pot they will go, along with several quarts of home canned tomatoes and maybe a pint or two of the tomatoes I canned a couple of years ago, with bell peppers and onions in them. I will add beef bouillon cubes, parsley and black pepper. The whole shebang will be heated to a boil and then simmered for an hour or so. Then into jars it all goes and will be run through my pressure canner.
I use this mixture as vegetable soup. Or I add home canned beef cubes for vegetable beef soup. Or I thicken it for beef stew. It is basically the same recipe, minus the tomatoes, that I use for chicken vegetable soup. Both are my go-to home canned foods for a quick yet nourishing meal.
Be back when I have worked my way out from under this pile of vegetables. :)
Opus 2024-078: Prisoners of the Green
3 hours ago
While you cook, I will be digging my butt out from another 4" of snow. Sigh
ReplyDeleteI have been watching the radar - looks like we will get hit about the same. I am so done with winter.
DeleteYum!
ReplyDeleteGorge - Looks pretty good so far. Smells wonderful. If you were closer I would invite you and the Mrs. over for a bowl or two. :)
DeleteI LOVE onion rings! What a nice son! A clean kitchen? A big delivery of groceries and soon to be homecanned food for your shelves? I think you are one blessed woman for sure! The joy of it all put a smile on my face...CW
ReplyDeleteCW...These aren't the onion rings that come in a box from the freezer at the grocery. These are huge, sweet onion rings in a crispy, deep fried batter. I love our little Mom and Pop restaurant!
DeleteMy kitchen didn't stay clean for long. Right now it looks sort of like a farmer's market exploded in it. But I think the soup will be worth it. :)
good morning.
ReplyDeleteI read your comment from the last post first. Slow and steady wins the race. I know first hand that's frustrating at times. I keep thinking my 60+yo body should be able to function like when I was 30, or even 50! And there's no point in fighting it, that just uses up energy I don't have.
So, I pickup my wheat order on Monday and perhaps will meet some new people. The order is from a local food buying group that I've known about for awhile but hadn't joined. So I took the plunge so to speak. Next up will be to get the grain grinder and bread maker going. Hopefully I don't end up with doorstops for bread. Oh,joy, to be on the learning curve.
Enjoy your day and looking at all those glorious filled jars when you're done.
Cheers, SJ
SJ...Sometimes I get the notion that I am still 50, but then my body reminds me I am an arthritic 72. Sigh. So I got some rest, finished chopping vegetable this morning and have the first load in the pressure canner. I may have over-estimated just a tad, for the first 7 quarts didn't hardly make a dent in the veggies. I don't think I will get it all done today, but even so, I will be glad to have that much stored.
DeleteI wish I had the space to store wheat, but I don't, so I buy flour. I'm not sure if my limitations would make wheat a problem to grind, especially if there is no electricity. I have had good luck by dividing a 25 lb. bag of flour into several gallon-sized freezer bags and storing those in 5-gallon buckets.
I have never baked bread in my bread machine, but use it on the 'dough' cycle to stir and knead. Then into bread pans it goes and is baked in the oven. I just love the smell of baking bread.
It is back to veggie central for me. You and Mr. Dog have a lovely day.