The Week Behind: Keeping It Simple

Saturday:  In my quest to find recipes for both pantry foods and current seasonal meals, I keep stumbling across recipes that have been made unnecessarily complicated.  Now I'm sure that in the realm of foods they taste amazing, but it's practicality that they lack.  I love cooking and I love learning to make new recipes but right now my focus is just not on how to make an old standard a gourmet treat.   So when I read a recipe for an onion dip that involved slicing two pounds of onion to caramelize and then having to make my own beef broth reduction, I rolled my eyes.  My motto for summer: keep it simple.  My motto for cooking from my pantry: keep it simple.  

While the gourmandized onion dip might well be amazing, it's using what I normally have on hand to make meals we can prepare without adding in still more steps that I'm looking for at present.  I'll save that extra time and make my dip the old fashioned sour cream/onion soup mix way.  Then I'll use the extra time to say make yogurt or sour cream or bagels or hummus, things that have a big impact on the budget and keep the pantry going strong.

I slept pretty late this morning until at least 9am which was just lovely.   I had blueberry Cinnamon Crunch coffee and Orange Sunflower bread for breakfast followed by a cup of smoky Lapsang Souchong tea.  

The skies today are sunny and clear but it's fairly warm out there and there is a more than steady westerly breeze.  We've had rain nearly every day this week but the wind is one Granny would have called a 'drying wind'...terrific for laundry, not so much for grass and plants!  I'll go out this evening and deep soak the potted plants to try and give them a sustaining boost.    I've already watered those plants on the front porch this morning.  The Kalanchoes and the Mandevillas are thriving.  The Mandevillas are particularly lovely but I'd forgotten I'd bought red ones last year and they don't really 'go' with my front porch colors of pinks and turquoises, but then neither does the red front door, lol.

This day has gone right on and been busy in a way.  I hadn't prepared foods ahead for the weekend as I do like to do most Fridays, but only because I was just too busy with the baby and ready to sit when he napped.  So I made a big salad today, which I've featured over on Gathering Fragments.   Katie called earlier and offered to bring me lasagna left from a meal they had this week.  I happily accepted and told her it could be dinner one night next week.   As it happened it was dinner tonight since they ran out this afternoon.

John and I had a chuckle over our supper.  You see, this was a Stouffer's Lasagna.  I used to make lasagna pretty often in the days when all the kids were at home.  I'd stuff it full of every vegetable in the fridge and use little or no meat and the kids thought it was just fine, but Stouffer's Lasagna was something we had only rarely, usually on one of our infrequent vacations.   

As I took a bite, I was suddenly in our double hotel room with kitchenette overlooking the ocean on the second floor of a hotel in Panama City.  It was such a tinky set of double rooms and not a great hotel so I won't mention it if it's still in business but it was what we could afford and only if we made meals in the room.  Well, Stouffer's Lasagna was one of those meals to feed children hungry from hours in pool and ocean, swimming and playing and walking.  I told John, "Remember how we'd heat up the room because the lasagna had to cook for almost two hours? And we thought it was such a big treat because the room was air conditioned which was something we didn't have at home?"   John started laughing with me.   Now here we are in an air conditioned house and I do my best not to put the oven on at all in summer, lol.

The reason for Katie and family coming out wasn't to bring me lasagna but because John's mower broke while he was mowing Sam's yard the other day.  Ugh...Sam's mower is broke, ours was broke...Note I said 'was' about ours, because the purpose in coming out was that Chad has a welder and was able to repair ours which is a big blessing.  All the rain and hot sunny days makes the grass grow and grow.  John mowed our yard on Wednesday and it needs mowing again right now.   So I'm especially grateful that family skills once again save us time and money!   John will spend his Sunday after church mowing our yard.

I made a stove top version of the 'roasted vegetable' dish which was okay.  I do like it better roasted but the toaster oven was in use and I wasn't about to crank up the big oven in the early evening hours.  I did make use of our basil and added some to the dish.  I must say it did nothing but good things for it.  Basil is something I love to grow and rarely use even though I love the smell and the taste of it.   I'm trying to remedy that and use it more.  John's no great fan of pesto so that is out but I'm going to make up at least one batch and freeze dollops because I like to use it as seasoning in tomato sauce.

Katie also asked if I'd like some square glass canisters she had.  I told her I'd be happy to take those.  I can always use another canister.  I've been trying to replace the Ball jars I've purchased and was using as food storage with canisters so that I can use the Ball jars for canning later on.  No I'm not planning to can anything right away but I figure it's one of those things I'll need when I do reach that point and I might as well start by freeing up the jars I have on hand.  I'm planning to buy more but 'start where you are' comes to mind.

I've also been saving the cute little 4 ounce sized glass jars that some of Caleb's baby food comes in.  For one thing I prefer to make gelatin and pudding and immediately pour into single serve portions.  For another, once upon a time I made jelly and topped it with paraffin.  I never had a jar go bad ever.  And it seems to me those little jars would make perfect little jelly jars, too.  

I've also saved a couple of bottles.  One formerly held maple syrup and the other once held a lovely organic apple cider vinegar I bought at an orchard.  Melissa Norris shared this post on her blog about her experience and I think I'd like to give it a try.  So yes, saving my glass syrup bottles, too.  I'm thinking ahead, you see.

Sunday:  It is 3pm, and I can tell you all that I'm not finished but I'm done.  

But I'll start where we started this morning, which was rising at 6:15...Okay I rose at 6:30 and gulped a cup of coffee down before I went to shower.  I had planned breakfast the night before and I knew what i was wearing to church.  I skipped making the bed in favor of stripping it and the bathroom down after our showers.   That way the mattress could air while we were gone.

Yes!  We made it on time again this morning and even had time to eat breakfast.   But I did wonder on our way home this morning if we'll be as keen on the early service once it's still dark at 7:30...We shall see.  Plenty of daylight savings time in the meantime...

We came straight home from church today.  I spied an iris blooming when we were leaving this morning and couldn't believe I was seeing right.  When we got back I walked over to that side of the yard and sure enough, Iris, in bloom.  Boy is that plant confused!   But also very lovely and it was a nice surprise.  

I started work the moment we got in the door this morning.  I took off my jewelry and while still in my clothes for church went right out and potted that lovely blue Plumbago I bought last week.  I had a pot on the patio that was nearly full enough of soil to pot it and managed to get it filled with a little more soil.  I won't do any more potting up of anything until I buy more potting soil now.

While I was out there, I went ahead and weeded that corner flower bed.  Not so much weeds this time as a pretty little blue flowered wild plant that has taken over.  I rather like the plant but it is invasive and keeping it pulled up and back is a task though not a hard one since it's shallow rooted.  I noted that Maddie had unintentionally done me a favor...She covered a stem of the hydrangea with soil in digging out her hole a little deeper and the stem has taken root.  I told John it's the equivalent of a $30 hydrangea for free, lol.

And from there to the little turkey foot oak across the yard to weed that little space.  I'm almost tempted to plant about that tree but I know I should regret it...I did put out spider lily there but anything more would be foolishness.

Back indoors then having been outdoors as long it took John to leave the house and go to town to buy gas for mowing the lawn.

I changed clothes and must say that the weather was so pleasant earlier that I didn't break a sweat in my work the whole while.  I did hang my clothing up to air out though.  I generally do that instead of putting it right in the closet or drawer, I hang it up to air out at least 12 hours and then I put it away.

I made the bed after that and added an extra pillow to the bed for each of us.  Anyone else find as they get older they require more pillows?  One for the knees to keep the hips from being painful and one for hugging (me) or to go under a painful hip (John) and one each for our heads.

Yesterday evening new pillow covers arrived in the mail for the living room.  

It's not the English country look I went for over winter but finding a pretty floral pillow cover is hard work!  I  did find something lighter and brighter.  They aren't expensive but they'll do until I find something I really love.  In the meantime, I have something  that lifts the heaviness the needlepoint gave the chairs, much as I love those needlepoint pillows.   I'll put them back come autumn...

For the record, I am just not that keen on the Home Sweet Home pillow but that problem was solved easily enough by putting it behind my back on my chair.  I never have to look at it.

Okay, made the bed, picked up the kitchen which was messier than you'd believe it could be and then I unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it.  

Then I cleared the fridge of all the stuff that I need to use this week so I'd have a clear idea of what is there.  I'll be planning on using those foods here shortly.  

I had a plan for dinner today.  Even though Taylor couldn't come this weekend, it was Gramma's Fried Chicken, Potato Salad and sliced fresh tomatoes.  I made some pudding for our dessert.  Just a box of instant vanilla but I dressed it up.  I'll share about that in another post.

I worked the whole time that John was mowing the lawn and worked right through him coming in to take a shower and then I cleared away our late lunch dishes.  After that I decided it was an acceptable quitting time. 

This evening John went out on the porch and announced at the open door, "It's nice out here!"   Now I know full well that John and I have a different notion of what constitutes 'nice' weather but I'm a sucker for it every single time.  So when I finished up the dishes, I went out the door and found it too warm and still for my taste.  

But I also know of late, due to our disagreement over what is acceptable TV time, we often spend an evening in our own little worlds albeit we sit side by side.   He's lost in some MMA or news debate and I'm smiling at Stephanie over on the Chateau Diaries or watching Jamerrill feed the children and sort out the moving boxes.   It's not exactly a personal time.

So I went out to sit with him despite the heat and the stillness.  Misu was instrumental in what came next.  I went to 'my' chair, a chair that like the one in the house is right beside the chair John prefers.  Misu jumped up and lay down in it and I said "Fine." and went to sit over across from John facing  him.  Well the view was out of the ordinary for me.  I'm accustomed to facing the sheds.   Instead I was facing both John and a really lovely tree on the side of the yard I'd never noticed even once.   I was lost in admiration of it when the dogs came to join us because once we're outdoors the whole family has to be there.  I settled into my chair and stayed.

And we  had a really lovely conversation about this and that, spiritual things and family things and personal things.  A breeze started to blow cooler air and then it blew in a grey cloud that was lurking within my vision and rained gently all about us.  A cricket started to sing in the Faith tree.  

I thought about all of this as I sat there talking with John, how often I tend to bypass a moment because of the heat or the walk is a bit further than I feel up to, etc.  I don't want to keep passing these sorts of moments up because I think I might be uncomfortable.  Maybe it won't  cool off and rain every single time and maybe the walk will be a little far but I've never died from heat or walking yet and look what I almost missed!  

Monday:  Little boy arrived bright and early this morning.  We had our breakfast after he had his.  I've noted he's not real happy watching us eat if he's had nothing himself even if he's not hungry right then, but he's perfectly content to sit and play with a spoon and watch us once he's fed.

I made biscuits this morning because I wanted the dough to do double duty.  I've been using a tomato paste can with both ends removed to cut our biscuits.  It's smaller than the average biscuit cutter but I get nearer the number of biscuits the recipe is meant to make using that as a cutter, so the biscuits last us longer.  We've plenty leftover and will have them for another meal or possibly two.

I put on a load of clothes first thing this morning when I got up.  I didn't do laundry yesterday and I'd talked John out of doing a load of clothes so there were two loads this morning with the sheets and towels and the clothes from the weekend.   I filled the lines full, filled up the rod in the closet and used the dryer, too, trying to get everything dry.  It started out overcast outdoors but soon cleared up and became sunny.

I made up a meal plan last night but it got all mixed up today.  It's okay...I used foods on my list of to be used items but not in the ways I thought I might.

Aside from taking care of Caleb and doing laundry, making the meals I made the day went right on by.  It's amazing how much time a little boy can take up, lol.   And how much of our energy he uses up as well.

I'd had a plan for supper but then realized I'd given away the box of stuffing I had meant to use.  It was an honest mistake.  I knew I was going shopping again and could buy another box...Obviously I didn't.  So on to plan B and then back to my planned menu and a found item on the shelf.  I made a box of Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice and my goodness that was good!  I mean really good.  I do prefer the homemade version but this was way better than I'd thought it might be.  John and I ate seconds, something we typically don't do these days.  Yum!

Katie told me this evening that Bess is keeping Caleb tomorrow.   John is having lunch with his former work partner and then they are doing a guy thing: looking at lawnmowers and weed eaters.  Soooo sorry I'm gonna miss out...  I've had fourteen possible plans run through my head for what I'll do with my time.

Tuesday:  I had one of those wretched nights last night.  I itched.  I tossed and turned.  I'd doze off and jerk awake.  I saw 3am and 4 am and finally slept so hard I didn't hear John get up and leave the room.  I woke at 9am only because Bess texted me asking if I'd like to have two dozen eggs.  I said Yes.  Had you seen the oh so pale yellow eggs we had at breakfast this morning you'd understand why I said yes so readily to more eggs after I just bought 5 dozen last week.

Since I had food for chickens to walk over, I offered to come fetch eggs.   That also meant I got to see FOUR grandchildren at once.  Millie has gained weight.  She's still petite looking but she weighs something when you lift her up.  Caleb is so much a Bess's boy when he's with her he was utterly unfazed by Gramma coming in and sitting down and gave me a sort of half smile and nothing more.

Bess handles all four children with aplomb and pluck and God bless her...Gramma knows too well that multiples of children will try and test any adult and do and is content to let the younger ones have a chance at it!

I loved visiting and enjoyed my walk over.  I wanted to check on the Queen Anne's lace.  Burnt to a crisp.  

After I got home, John called and I shared my idea of what we might do today, ride up to Dickey's farm and purchase peaches and have peach ice cream.  John was all for it even though it's a little trek up to Musella.

It was mighty hot outdoors but I packed ice in an insulated bag and off we went.  I loved the ride and the chatter and the views.  And I'm telling you, no joke, that just 15 miles from my house, the roadsides are lousy with Queen Anne's lace blooming and looking so graceful and lovely!  Oh the envy!!  I told John I'm going to order seeds next year and take my chances but I have no idea why we get a few stems here and there and they curl up all brown and die and just that close to home it's so beautiful.

I knew Bess would enjoy peaches as well.  So I bought two baskets and then John and I agreed on a large waffle cone with peach ice cream.   

Can I just share a thought with you all?  I didn't grow up in the 'supersize' days.  When we grew up if you ordered a small Coca-Cola at McDonald's it was an 8 ounce cup with ice and soda.  If you ordered a large it was 16 ounces at best.   It's only been since I became a full grown adult with nearly grown children that a small soda is now 16 ounces and they go up to 64 ounces in size which to me is utterly ridiculous.   

Ditto for Fries.  Small was maybe 4 ounces.  Now you supersize and it's like a 12 ounce serving which is a lot of potato.

But I forget this.  I forget this every single time.   So I ordered the LARGE waffle cones thinking we'd have a cone with a scoop on top.

No.  There must have been a pint or more of ice cream in each of those cones and it's soft serve so it was swirled up a good six inches over the top of the cone.  John laughed out loud when he saw me coming with ice cream in hand.  

And now we'll remember something else I forget too often.  July in Georgia is HOT.  Ice cream, especially soft serve, melts mighty fast in HOT weather.  We had ice cream dripping all over our hands and clothing.  We licked and gulped and ate until we got brain freeze and I finally looked at John in desperation and said "I can't do this!  It's TOO MUCH!"  He nodded.   "Maybe they will give us cups to put it in?  We do have that ice in the insulated bag."  So I trekked to the spot where the ice cream line ended and found that fourteen people joined it from the other side.   With thirty people in front of me I figured it was pretty pointless to wait in that heat for a cup and went back to John.  "Nope...We're going to either eat it or toss it. "   So we tossed it.  I hadn't even made it to the top of the waffle cone but I took one obligatory bite of the edge of the cone just to say I had had some of it.  

When we got to the car, we took my bottle of water and washed our hands off.   We agreed it was good value for the money spent even if we did have to toss it, but I will remember in future to order a small and that in today's world that will likely be way more than we think we want even so.

It was a very nice day.  I've seen people I love dearly who are little boys and a tiny girl, as well as Bess and John.   I had a lovely walk.   I had quiet time to myself.  I had a lovely ride, there are fresh peaches in the house and I had a peach ice cream which is a summer treat for sure.  I guess this constitutes a pretty good day in July!

Wednesday:  I had a wonderful night's rest last night.  It makes a huge difference in how you feel, doesn't it?  

Littlest boy came in this morning in a great mood and was happy all day long.  He has decided that Grampa is the man of the house and therefore his best buddy.   It's been fun to watch this one as he's on one of those cusps of several 'big' things like learning to crawl and pull up and sit up.  He's taken to standing between my feet for several minutes at a time and today actually stood alone with no hands helping him do so.  He squeals loudly with excitement each time he does this, lol.

It wasn't a big day at our house at all.  Just a day of simple tasks and simple things done.   

It's been hot, just as it ought to be in July, and I am deeply grateful for air conditioning.  I don't know how on earth I managed to live without it for all those years I did.   I just know that there were many hot days and sleepless nights when the air was so still you could feel it's weight against you when you moved.   I'll say too that I'm grateful as can be that our AC is affordable.    And then I'll share that due the heat the AC isn't quite keeping up.  It's not struggling as it did in years past and losing the battle but it's off by a couple or 4 degrees from where the thermostat is set.   So I just eased it up another two degrees.  Maybe it won't work as hard in trying to keep us cool.  I'll continue to help it by pulling the curtains closed on the sunny side of the house.  In the mornings, that's just the one double window in the kitchen sitting area but in evening it's the living room and master bedroom and bath windows.  Until about 6pm when the sun finally dips behind the pecan tree and casts shade on that side of the house I'll keep them closed.

Thursday:  We slept until almost 8 this morning.  John and I were surprised to hear we were having the day off from keeping Caleb again.  I'd thought it would be one free day a week but Bess can't get enough of that sweet boy for herself and requested that she have him again today.

We had leftover biscuits split and toasted for our breakfast.  Honestly, it's one of my favorite ways to eat biscuits.  

After breakfast I did some housework.  Today was all about floors really.  Even the outdoor floors.  I used the blower to clear out behind the washer and dryer and then swept the kitchen.  I vacuumed the guest room while John took care of the other floors.   I blew off the front porch and patio.  My little Faith tree has been shedding yellow leaves and they have blown all over the front porch and patio.

I got the guest room dusted and cleared up and it feels so much nicer now that's it all neat once again.  I'm longing to go play at the sewing machine but can't do that and watch a baby, too.  Maybe I'll get a chance this afternoon.  

Noted that the rose bush has buds all over it.  I guess it has appreciated the fertilizer, too.  Only one bloom on the zinnias at present.  I wish they'd all start blooming away and be pretty!  Patience, patience.  

later notes:  Bess brought Caleb over about 1pm.  He is very much more vocal than he was a week ago and he travels the living room by rolling.  So far he's sticking to just the living room side but it won't be long before he's in the dining and front entry, our bedroom and the kitchen.   He also insists on standing.  A lot.   Goodness he's on one of those rapid learning curves and I'm getting to see it all!

I made fried rice for a late lunch.   John came home bearing lots of snacks of the salty and sweet variety.  I never eat all of these things at once but eat a portion here and there over several days.  No need to overdo even if it is a favorite item.

Supper tonight was super simple: Frozen chicken strips from Aldi and Oven Fries (frozen name brand).  I did everything in the toaster oven in stages and avoided heating up the house.

Friday:  Went out this morning during Caleb's nap to empty compost and water the hydrangea, rose, and plumbago.  I brought in a few flowers to enjoy indoors.  I love a mixed bouquet of all sorts of things and will combine just whatever I find that seems pretty.

Today I have two zinnias, a single cosmos, a rose bud, rosemary, some lantana, and some ivy stems I plan to root.  I noted too that the moss rose and the coleus have roots on them.  These were the stems I picked up from under the hanging baskets at the discount grocery about a week ago.  I'm so pleased!  Free plants for me to add to my garden, albeit small ones at present, but even those will add up eventually.

Planned weekend meals.  Taylor and Matt are done with quarantine and so we'll see her this weekend.

Gramma's fried chicken was pulled from the freezer and put in the fridge to thaw for Sunday.  I can't say I much want fried chicken, but I know she will.

Now I hear a little boy humming to himself which means he's about ready to get up and eat again, then roll all over the floor for a few more hours.   I'm so glad we got a chance to do our Shabbat cleaning on Thursday morning.  It does make a difference to come into a weekend with the house clean and nice.  I'll do a few minor tasks today but all in all the housework is pretty much done and so I can devote all the attention to Caleb, though he's not a demanding sort of baby this week.  He's too busy figuring out how to get over there and touch that thing, lol.