Journal of a Slow Week: Stopping Point

 

Friday:  Reset.  

I wrote a long whiny bit to fit this day and after letting it sit for 36 hours, I have erased it all and we shall begin again.  

I was sick.  Nothing earth shattering there and nothing remarkable.  When I sort of 'came to' so to speak the state of my kitchen distressed me horribly.  I whined and wept a little and pushed through and got it cleaned up but my gosh...

Reminder to the future me: ASK for help!  John will do anything he can for me...IF I ASK.  If I don't ask, then he assumes it doesn't bother me and therefore it doesn't bother him so it can wait.  

We opened the windows of the house and filled it with sunshine and fresh (pollen-filled) air.  It was a case of which is worse, staying indoors with all the sickie germs or sneezing and snuffling just as much with a fresher home.  Option two won.

Getting the house aired and the kitchen cleaned were major things for the day.

Saturday:  The price I pay for spending three days in more or less a sleep state is that my body is now fighting me all the way.

Early morning emergency necessitated keeping the kiddos.  They were apparently still asleep when I arrived, but they soon drifted out of their rooms.  Josh made himself and Millie breakfast and told me when Isaac got ready to eat, he'd make him something too.  Isaac decided he wanted eggs and ham.  Millie and Josh ate cereal.

Well Josh was good as his word and did a most excellent job of making scrambled eggs.  Isaac found the ham his dad had just bought which I reluctantly opened.  I showed Josh how to heat the two slices through.  Isaac was very happy over his breakfast.  And Josh didn't need a single bit of help from me.  Not at all.   I was very proud of him and his skills.

John called to say he was on his way home.  Sam had texted Bess asking her to pick him up and take him home.  John asked if he should bring lunch.  I suggested hamburgers. He was reluctant to pick up take out.  I gently suggested he go into the grocery store and pick up burgers and buns.  Reminder to self, be more specific...

He stopped locally at the hometown grocer.  He has a great love of frozen burgers, i.e. Bubba Burgers.  No such thing in the store that he could find but he came in with a box of frozen burgers, the sorts that are such a low-end product that you can smell the grain fillers before they've thawed and what wasn't grain becoming something like 2 inches of grease in the pan as they cooked.  

I bit my tongue.  I was determined to make the best of what had been a very trying morning for all of us, and most especially for my husband who had not yet had a single cup of coffee and it nearly 2pm.  Those burgers were surprisingly good.  Not sure if not having had breakfast made them good or if they weren't as bad as I feared they would be.      They tasted well enough and were tender.  

We came home once Sam had returned and that was pretty much all of our Saturday.

Sunday:  Nothing much to report.  A much cooler day today.  I puttered about the house and made it almost tidy.  The biggest thing today was stripping the bedding.   This is where I discovered that because I had been washing and immediately putting the same sheets back on the bed, I was unaware that I didn't have another fitted sheet.  I had an extra flat sheet.  I had a full set of sheets and cases, but no single fitted sheets that I could find.  

I opened the new package of sheets. I did a quick inventory of the dishtowels I'd stockpiled.  I'm down to one set of dishcloths and two packages of towels.  I realized that I've focused hard on food inventory, but I've completely ignored the rest of my supplies, those things that are also meant for the long term.   

So that job will go on my list of things to do this month. 

I worked steadily today.  I rested a lot in between tasks, sometimes several times during each task.  The house is decent.  Not yet clean. But the messes are controlled.  Good enough.

Talked briefly with Sam and he was hanging in there and feeling a good bit better than yesterday when he returned from the hospital.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Monday:  Stupid cold.  I can do this, or I can do that, but I cannot do all the things.  Today I chose to shower, something you might think would be easy enough and generally is, but I was so drained afterwards that I got nothing else done all morning.   It made me feel very peevish.  I am at the stage where I have ambitions.  I have ongoing lists in my head of things to tackle this month.  I do not have the energy to even get out of the starter box.

I got the checkbook totted up for the first time in a few weeks' time.  I hadn't meant to let it go but thankfully I had only one small item I'd failed to write down.  

I don't know how your balancing goes with your checkbook, but I was trained in bookkeeping in both high school and business courses later.  I worked for years in bookkeeping.  I know how to balance a checkbook, and I'm very familiar with our system of setting amounts aside and keeping track of them, etc.  Yet I seem to run into this cycle where whatever I find my balance to be one month, I will be down by a decent sum from what I think I ought to have.  Then next month, I'll be over my idea of what we have by about the same amount...HOW?!  I balance the account the same month after month.  How does this happen?     And yet, it has been so for YEARS now.  I don't get it.    

I am at a loss where meal plans are concerned.  I couldn't think of a single thing I even thought I might like to make this week.  I cleared the fridge and wrote down everything in there that we need to use.  Then I went to the freezer and took out one item from the basket of chicken, one from the basket of pork and one from the beef basket.  I am hopeful as the week goes on, I get an idea of what to make.  We'll see.   

Not a bit of that meat will thaw in time for tonight's meal and since I'll be up at Sam's until he gets back from the doctor, I won't have time nor energy to prep foods anyway.   I think tonight we'll have soup and grilled cheese for supper.  Easy.  

Sam had made split pea soup this morning and set aside a container for us.  I made a grilled cheese and hot dog sandwich to go with the soup.  I have only ever had split pea soup from a can and I don't particularly like it.  Sam's soup was absolutely delicious, but I still find the texture (the hard bits of split peas) a little unpleasant.  I think I'd prefer the whole pan to be blended smooth.  

Tomorrow, I am going to try to get out of the house and go to Kroger.  Officially I have no grocery money.  Also officially, it's the last day of a sale on butter and I really want to stock up now while it's at this price.  I am also out of eggs.  And asparagus is on special, the first of the season and I very much want some.  While it's in season we will eat asparagus upwards of twice a week and I'll toss a few stalks into roasted vegetables and such as well.   It is my plan to keep expenses to about $30 overall, buying the maximum allowed on butter and at least two pounds of asparagus, plus eggs.      

Tuesday:  I slept hard last night.  I was convinced all that good sleep was going to set me on the road to feeling more energetic today.  It did not.  I showered and was as weak as I was yesterday.  All my plans went out the window. Instead, I realized this morning that I was done.  I am not going to get out of the house today and go buy butter.  I don't have that sort of energy.  I'm not going to tackle big house projects.  I'm not going to work in the yard.  I am going to do all I can to have enough energy to get to the doctor visit tomorrow that is a follow-up from our visit in early February.

John and I keep having minor run-ins and this morning I ended up crying.  It's not him.  I'm the one being hateful and whiny and he has had enough, as well he ought.   I'm pretty darn tired of myself, too.

I am sick of most everything from my meals to life in general.  It's time to make some changes, I know it is.  All of my former ways of coping and managing and handling things is not working for me at all.  The truth is, I am older now than I was when I used to do things the way I keep trying to do them these days.  I cannot keep up with things the way I did five years ago.  

Wednesday:  It was quite warm yesterday afternoon.  Then we had a heavy thunderstorm roll through in the wee hours of the morning, which immediately lowered the temperature all over again. By the time we left to go to the doctor, it was sunny and clear and windy.  

As I suspected the bloodwork showed a higher A1C number than I wanted.  Not so terribly high that the doctor was shocked.  More like, "Hey let's see what we can do with this..." kind of concern.  His suggestion was a prescription medication, one that I admit I was reluctant to consider but agreed.  It doesn't matter if I did agree.  The pharmacy immediately contacted me to tell me how much it was per month, and it can't be done on our budget at all no matter how much we trim and cut and do without.  Alternate suggestions proved to be equally out of any hopeful range.

Upshot after discussions with the manager was that I'll be seeing the nurse practitioner who has trained specifically under my former doctor, and we'll work at some holistic solutions which should be far more doable for me overall.   I was given some supplements to use and between those and diet we'll follow up with new labs and a return visit in 3 months.

I'm not going to lie though.  It was a double whammy today where money was concerned.  The follow-up visit fees were hard hitting, high enough I had to put them on the credit card, and the sinking feeling when the pharmacy called...it certainly kept me in line at the grocery store.  There was no sale on butter now, but milk was on sale, and we got eggs, bread, rye bread.  Forget $30...It was $42.    John and I were very careful not to pick up any extras, not even good things like vegetables or fruits.

One thing that is relatively free was the ride home.  We took the long cut and drove through miles and miles of back roads we haven't been down since sometime last summer.  I found it very calming and centering.

I figure it like this:  God knows right where I am health and budget wise at present.  He knows I cannot pay nearly $1000 out of pocket each month. He knows that if we drained savings there would be nothing extra to go back in place of what we'd have spent.  I have to trust that he knows what is good for me and will provide it in the right combination of holistic health options and diet to bring about the needed changes.  

There's just a lot of necessary changes ahead and I find that overwhelming at present combined with this illness and the other things we've got going on as a family.  

I feel it's time to stop for a bit and see if I can sort things out in my life.   Too much of my life is not working for me at the moment.  My routines aren't working, my diet isn't working, my systems for keeping track of inventory and such are not working.  I'm beyond tired with this illness aftermath despite sleeping quite well at night.  I feel it's time to come to a full stop in every way and simply figure out what is working and then add to it as I figure out why the rest of it isn't working.

Thursday:  Reality thinking today is that the doctor, while he did push the high-priced drug at me, was not upset or worried over any of my numbers.  He felt everything was pretty much easily handled with dietary and movement changes.    I sat down this morning and reviewed the labs.  I only had two high markers and when I reviewed the ranges both of those sections simply were a little high.   I was more alarmed reviewing John's paperwork.  He had a lot of High markers.  Yet the doctor seemed to feel there was no need to fret over any of John's things.

I know myself well.  I'll get all gung-ho let's change go go go and then get overwhelmed.  So, I sat down this morning and looked at things very realistically.  One thing we can change that will make a difference in our diets is to eat oatmeal three times a week for breakfast.  Just 1 cup of oatmeal three times a week will make a huge amount of difference.  It's that simple and easy.

I will not allow myself to get overwhelmed and come undone with my thinking in this area.  Easy, simple changes are all that is needed.  Slow and steady steps.  

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen this morning.  It is my hopes to streamline meal processes because frankly I feel I am spending far too much time there every week.  It becomes boring to me to be involved in cooking, cleaning and repeating three times a day.  I am going to try to embrace a meal prep day once more with an overall plan for the week that requires simply using what is already made and not fresh brand-new preparation every single meal.   

I realized that my choice to not have a microwave any longer does hinder me somewhat.  For instance, in making up several breakfast sandwiches, we've always thawed and heated in the microwave but now I shall have to plan for different means of heating.  I've figure it all out.  I just am tired of living my life in the kitchen and that's the truth.

Another thing I've been thinking of in regard to my kitchen is of doing away with a slow cooker.  My original thought was a nice cast iron Dutch oven would do me very well.  My current slow cooker is that metal West Bend which I really like, but it only comes with a non-stick finish and that finish is now lifting.   That means I need to replace it.   I've had nothing but issues with traditional ceramic liners because I seem to always end up with mine cracking and leaking.    I think rather than order anything new I'll go to the thrift stores and see what they might have.  I have looked online in hopes that I'd find a new pan that would fit mine and be stainless steel but no luck there.

Friday:  Having given a good old college try, I'm quitting the sour dough journey.  I've just made two loaves of bread, both flat as can be and pale and pallid to boot and about 15 small English muffins which feel akin to hockey pucks.  I let my starter get really good and hungry and then fed it yesterday using some potato flakes to boost it since it had been a week without feeding.  That rose up lovely and bubbly which is why I got busy making the bread last night.  It smells good as well.   This morning's starter (fed last night) was nice and bubbly, too and I used the discard to make the English muffins but then I set the starter aside.

I've come to two conclusions: my flour is all wrong for this journey.  And since I have 75pounds of it on hand, I do not see myself going out to buy more flour.  The other thing is that my house, specifically my kitchen, is too cold as well.  

But ultimately, I realized that sour dough is not convenient for me.   Since I make all of our breads from scratch anyway, I don't find it easy to wait for a 12 hour rise of dough before I can shape it with another 4 hour or so rise to follow that.  I can make a standard loaf of bread in my bread machine from start to finish in under 3 hours.   And my results are consistently good.

I'm feeling a good bit of stress and pressure just lately and adding in sour dough is not benefitting me in the way I had hoped.  Perhaps I'll go back to my old potato flake sour dough recipe in the future, but just now, I think I'm going to stick with the easy thing, the tried and true.

The weekend is ahead.  I've still got a tight congested chest.   John has done nothing the past few days but sleep in his chair.  I don't know if it's depression or if its illness.  He won't own to either one but I am suspecting he's got a touch of whatever vile thing I had.  

I've just cleaned up the kitchen for the nineteenth time today...I think I'm going to relax and perhaps allow myself to take a nap.  God willing we'll both feel better before the weekend is done.

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Spring Goals for March...And Beyond.

 

Hello you all.  I'm not really ready to tackle March just yet, because my ambition at present is heavier than my strength to do.  However, my mind is active as can be as I move about my house trying to reclaim it from the last week of February failures.   I thought I'd just list all my ambitions down, which I am sure will be far too much to do in March alone.  However, if that is so then I shall repost the things I didn't do for April.  How's that?

I'm going to set this up a little differently than usual.  I'm going to go space by space in my home and tell you what I hope to accomplish in each and why.  Some of the things listed will be purchases I want to make so that definitely won't all get done at once.  Some are repairs that will require a bit more effort.  That's why I don't expect everything on this list to get done this month.

To Do List for the First Week of March: Pollen Season

 

I know this is late and all of my first of the month posts likely shall be.  That's just the way it goes at times.  I'm not going to let it bother me.  Don't let it bother you either, okay?  My chief goal since last week has been to get well and fully recovered.  

I was not horribly sick, beyond the two- or three-day blur of sleeping countless hours but I do find that illness takes a heavy toll on me, my sleep patterns, etc. these days.  Katie texted us on Friday that Caleb woke with fever.  She ended up taking him the pediatrician since he was already whooping with his annual allergies, and this stuff has been a chesty sort of illness.  

Journal of My Days: Sick Bed

 

Saturday:  We had another night of freezing temperatures.  I will say that these super cold mornings make that cup of hot coffee so enjoyable each morning.  I've always had coffee in the mornings, even as a child, but I swear that the older I get the more I enjoy it.  Sometimes, even when I want to 'lie in' as my British friend says, I will go ahead and get up early because there is coffee.  

What I Learned in the Pantry/Freezer Challenge 2025

 

I'm already thinking about Pantry Freezer Challenge 2026...  Seriously, I know I'm (almost) done with this year's pantry freezer challenge, but I'm already looking ahead to next year.  There are a few things I want to change about how I managed this year so that I can do better next year.  

1.  Meat.  I had more than enough meat on hand, except hamburger meat.  Truly we rely heavily on ground beef and chicken to help keep our budget under control and I had not realized that I had so little on hand.  Thankfully we had several roasts on hand that I'd 'saved' since I knew them to be the more expensive cuts.  But I want to be more mindful about my supply of ground beef and that means I need to buy at least nine pounds a month.  How do I figure that?  

Final Week of the Pantry/Freezer Challenge

 

I didn't think I could do it.  I didn't think there was any way I could possibly manage 8 weeks of the Pantry and Freezer Challenge, but here we are.  Only the last meal will use meat that was purchased in the past 6 weeks.  Everything else is from the pantry or freezer.

So, while I was ruminating about what to make with all the older freezer items in weeks past, I more or less just ignored the pantry.  Oh, I'd think to grab a few things here and there that I knew were expiring like cranberry sauce, pineapple, tomato soup, black beans, but I completely ignored the wealth of canned meats on the shelves and the variety of other things that might be used to nourish us as well.  

To Do List: Last Week of February

 

I know February is the shortest month of the year, but anyone else feel like it was about as long as could be?  Mind you, we had a lovely mix of weather: cold and warm, wet and dry, cloudy and sunny.  Variety was there, but the weeks just lingered and lingered...Or so it seemed.

And may I confess that the older I get the harder I find it to take the cold?  On Thursday when I was out with Mama, I stopped to refill her car with gasoline and despite having on several layers of clothing, I was chilled to the bone by the time I hopped back in the car.  That wind was cuttingly cold.  Brrr!  I still shiver just remembering how cold it was.  

Journal of My Week: Winter Again

 

Saturday:  We went to the Homeless Outreach this morning.  It's funny...Two years ago, John asked me to go along with him and I was in such a poor mental/emotional state at that time that I literally felt pain looking at the unfortunate people who came to be served.  A year into John's role as worship leader for the pastor who oversees this ministry, I realized as I looked around the room how many faces had become familiar to me.  I noted which children had grown.  I watched various folks and noted who looked better than they'd looked a few months ago and who was looking the worse for wear.  

What We Really Ate This Week: Seventh Week of the Pantry and Freezer Challenge

 

Saturday:  Breakfast Sandwiches.  I used canned Spam slices as my breakfast meat.  I still haven't restocked breakfast meats.  I only have one more can of Spam, too.  I always make a sort of well in one bread slice, then crack the egg into it and then I layer cheese on another bread slice and I lay Spam flat on the pan with the toasts and bake it all at once.  It's really quite a hearty breakfast which is what we needed today.

Coffee Chat: Dandelions and Daffodils

One morning a couple of weeks ago we were headed out to an appointment.  We had to leave early that morning and I was hurrying across the yard.  I was stopped in my tracks by a strange little flower in my path. It was perfectly round and white.   I leaned to look closely at it and realized it wasn't a flower at all, but a Dandelion gone to seed.  The fluffy seed ball had captured moisture from the fog that morning and looked much more substantial than the seed heads do in their dry state.  It had been completely transformed by that coating of fog and was unrecognizable as a dandelion.  

Last Grocery Shop for February

 

John and I went to Sam's Club today.  I will confess I spent a little more than I'd planned but there was nothing frivolous about the shopping.  I looked for a whole lot more that I never found at all.  We have yet to make it through the whole store.  We always end up too tired!

Meal Plan for the Seventh Week of Pantry/Freezer Challenge

 

I was absolutely convinced last week would be my very last week doing this challenge.  And then...I was plundering in the freezer for an item and came across a few packages of meat that I know too well have been there quite some time.  I decided to try to do one more week of this challenge and realize now that I could quite possibly go two more weeks.  We shall see.  I'll plan for this week first.

To Do Third Week of February

I've just reviewed last week's to do list and found I missed only a portion of one item.  The front porch got cleaned off but not the patio or back porch.    Then I went to review February's plans as a whole and realized that I am okay on that list.  I haven't by any means completed all the jobs and things I set myself, I completely missed out on half of the family getting even a card for Valentine's Day, but I've two weeks to go in this month and should be able to manage to hit hard at that remaining list.  

What We Really Ate: Sixth Week of the Pantry/Freezer Challenge

Saturday:  Protein Pancakes, Spam.  I had a very upsetting blood sugar reading this month.  While it might appear the rest of the day I cast worries to the wind, I did not.  I was very careful under the circumstances and drank loads of water in addition to practicing precautions.

Journal of My Week: Sweet Week

 

Saturday:  I woke from an awful dream that upset me mightily.  Then I checked my blood sugar which had spiked at a number that I personally found shocking.  

We went across the field today to celebrate a late birthday and an early birthday.  Millie and Isaac have birthdays just 8 days apart and each year they do one party for them.  They each get their own cake and presents, and they seem perfectly happy to share their party at this stage.

First February Grocery Haul

 

At the end of January, I made two grocery shopping trips.  Those counted towards February and consisted mainly of meats to help restock the freezer and a bit of produce to see us through these past two weeks.  I have not shopped since then.

Tuesday, I went out grocery shopping with Katie.  I'd looked over sales and found nothing much to consider buying but I knew I had some outages that I wanted to fill.  I also wanted to restock our produce.  We were down to a single head of lettuce, carrots, celery and two mandarins.

Opinionated Again!

 

I got well and truly ticked off the other day at a statement made by someone online.  Ticked off enough that I quickly wrote out a response before reading anyone else's comments.  I found the majority of people were in agreement with me but still, the offhand comment made really riled me.

Meals for the Week Ahead: Last Week of Pantry Freezer Challenge

 

I think we'll mostly be at home this week.  I know I'd like to go out for groceries but I'm not planning on eating out this week.  I would like to finish this week strong in my pantry/freezer challenge.  As I near the end of the week I'll determine if I'm going to try and continue through the end of February.  There's a chance.

To Do list for this week

 

I always dread going back to look at last week's goals and plans when I get ready to write the post for the new week.  Something in me is just certain that I planned a whole lot that didn't get done.  I must have been using my right-thinking brain last week because I could happily check off every single item on the week except having guests and that was because poor Bryan got terribly sick, and they decided to pass on bringing it to us.

Journal of My Week: It Was Lovely

 

Saturday:  I spent all day long working on my genealogy, notebook one.  My purpose going through this time is to organize information that I have and get it printed on the same pages for each relative rather than having random notes all over the place.  I thoroughly enjoyed that time.

What We Really Ate: Week Five of the Pantry/Freezer Challenge.

 

True confession: It is 1:30 a.m. as I start this post.  Why so late?  My mind would not shut off. John was just up checking to see if I'm all right and I assured him I am just fine.  The headache I had when I initially went to bed is gone.  But as I told him, in my mind, I have cleaned and organized and straightened everything we own and then I began to replan the meal plan I'd already written up and thought of umpteen dishes I might make with what we already have on hand.  And for your benefit I'll add that none of that planning included the meats I bought in the past week, only the foods already on hand when January began. 

Change Your Mind

 

Here of late, I've been realizing more and more that there are things I've 'always' done or thought and that by simply changing my mind I can save us a bit more money.   It started when I was watching "Old World Home" vlog.  Hilary makes bread for her family every week and she always uses packets of yeast. Someone asked her 'Why don't you buy yeast in bulk?"  Sheepishly, she admitted that it had never occurred to her to buy it in bulk...

Winter Coffee Chat: No Regrets

 

Hello dears,

Here we are in a new month and six weeks or so of winter remaining.   Fortunately, for us in the South, our winters are not generally terribly cold, or terribly grey.  Nor do we do with a lot of snow and ice.  Admittedly those things make life a good bit easier.  We might hit a spate of rainy miserable days (or weekends while weeks are sunny and bright) and want to shelter at home but for the most part our winters are tolerable.

What's In Season This Month: February 2025

I know it's just February, but in my area, it will soon be Florida strawberry season.    I can't wait!  I love strawberries.

In the meantime, let's see what we can expect to use that is in season this month.  I've mixed citrus and fruits in with vegetables this month.  I'm more than a little surprised at how much we can expect to find seasonally speaking.

Pantry Freezer Challenge: Week Five of 2025

 

Just as I am getting deep into the swing of cold weather cooking, we warm up.  It was in the 70's last Thursday.  There are more of those days ahead for this week.  Lovely weather.  Kind of makes you not want the heartier foods though.

Never mind.  I've got plenty of food in the freezer and cabinets and I'm certain I can make some good meals whatever weather we have.  You'll see some things that will look like repeats, but they are meals I planned but we didn't eat.

To Do for the First Week of February 2025

 

1.  Hopefully having guests the first of the week.  Bryan and Ginny are supposed to be in town this week and it's my hope we will get to see them before they head back to Texas.  I did not hold their feet to the fires in a promise but did let them know they are welcome and that we're really looking forward to seeing them.

What We Really Ate: The Last Week of January's Pantry/Freezer Challenge

Saturday:  Bagels and Croissants.  

Pizza with the kids.

Cheeseburgers and chips. When I was digging in the freezer doing an inventory last week, I found two beef patties at the bottom of the basket.  I pulled those out to thaw, along with the last two homemade burger buns and made Cheeseburgers for supper tonight.  I've no idea how old that meat was but I'll say they were from before July because that is when I started dating meat that I put in the freezer.

First of the Month: February 2025

Goals for February:

1.  Finish the deeper cleaning.  I didn't quite finish that task up.  I confess this last week of January I took it easy and thoroughly enjoyed doing so.  I've read two books, am itching to take up a third...but with a new month, I definitely want to finish what I started in deeper cleaning.  I want to get the guest room and bath deep cleaned and then I want to go back to the living portion of my front room and get it cleaned up really well.  Honestly there's no reason why this should take me a long while this month, but I do know it will be intense, so I'll give myself grace enough to work on it properly and not rush through it.

Journal of My Week: The Last Week of January 2025

 

Monday:  I didn't take time to write this weekend, so I'll quickly catch you up on what we did.

Saturday, I took the kids to the library.  They really enjoy playing with the toys and on the computers and almost always get books.  This week Josh said "No thanks" to the books, but Isaac and Millie brought some home as did I.  

A Grocery Haul...Restocking the Freezer

 

I don't have pictures.  I never seem to think to take pictures of the groceries I buy but this weekend I was in three different grocery stores, and I thought I'd share what I bought.

Saturday:  I stopped at the local grocery to pick up frozen pizzas to have with the kiddos from across the field for Saturday lunch.  I probably won't do that again and I'll tell you why.  Locally, a Red Baron pizza costs $7.19 each.  I can get them on sale at Kroger for $3.99 and sometimes for $2.99.  

Final Week of the 2025 Pantry Freezer Challenge

 

I'm pretty pleased with the Pantry/Freezer challenge of 2025.  I've saved money.  I've been using up older food items.  My pantry and freezer are holding up fairly well to a month of eating from them without purchasing to replace those items used (with the exception of produce).

To Do List for the Last Week of January 2025

We had a great week last week.  Nothing spectacular mind you, pretty much just ordinary (well aside from SNOW), but it was all lovely and steady and pleasant.  I'm finding more and more that the ordinary, everyday things, the gentle rhythms of daily living, are what bring me the most pleasure.

What We Really Ate: Third Week of January

 

I always get concerned at the onset of a Pantry/Freezer challenge that I won't quite manage a month...And along about week Three I think seriously I could go another month.  

I'll be doing a complete inventory this week.  I am NOT good at keeping up with what I use or put into my freezer.  I think I am going to try to keep a sheet notebook and pen in the kitchen and write down what I put in or take out each time I go into the pantry or freezer.  Then I'll enter those into my actual inventory sheets at the end of each day.  We'll see how that works for me.

Journal of My Week: It's Chilly!

 

Sunday:  The temperature has been steadily dropping since this morning.  We started the day at 60.  It's now 30.  All I can say is 'Brrr!'  

We went to second service this morning at church but I extracted an agreement that we'd not linger talking to folks but actually scurry for the door so I could spend some real time with Taylor.  We arrived a good half hour before service started and so we were able to visit with and see a few people before service. I told John that was like the best of both worlds as far as I was concerned. 

Coffee Chat: DO-ing Things

 

Hello dears.  I was very opinionated last week, and you all were kind enough to not only read but comment.  Thank you.  Even if you disagreed you did so nicely.  And each of you explained your own reasons which all had good merits.  Opinions are just like everything else.  Everyone has one and some are different.  That's what makes the world go round, right?

This week I am not sharing opinions.  I am sharing the things I haven't started or having started haven't finished.  I suspect that every one of us has projects around the house that they keep meaning to do and some they keep meaning to finish.  So, I thought I'd share some of my things that I am hopeful I will tackle here in 2025.

What Do I Do With That?

 

You've been cruising the grocery store, looking for protein bargains and clearance items that you can use in your meal plans as a way to stretch the budget.   What you find in the meat case is not what you'd call a sale.  

Have you considered checking the deli?

Pantry and Freezer Challenge: Week Three

 

Last week I decided to get everything I'd planned for meals out of the freezer on Monday to start thawing in the fridge.  Naturally we didn't eat nearly as many meals at home as I thought we might.  I came to the end of the week with two meals not used at all and for one of those I had meat thawed.  I've planned that meal to be a crockpot meal for Saturday.  I'll just chop my vegetables in the morning then leave in the fridge and start it up when we get in.

To Do List for the Third Week of January 2025

 

Weather truly does play a part in our lives doesn't it?  It's supposed to rain all day Saturday and later in the week it's supposed to get extremely cold again.  Extreme for us, mind you.  We've even been promised a possible wintry mix...We shall see.

What We Really Ate this week: Second Week of January

 

This likely will be a brief post, but I thought rather than record daily meals on the Journal post, I'd start a separate post of our meals of the week so you can compare it to what I planned for the week.

Starting back at Friday evening: I wanted something comforting and warming.  It was cold and dark and dreary all day long and was pouring freezing rain when we came to the end of the day.  I dithered around trying to figure out what I'd make.

Journal of My Week: Technically

January 12, Sunday:  Since I've yet to fall asleep and it's only just after midnight, I want to type Saturday but technically it is Sunday.  Mind you, I went to bed about an hour and a half ago, but I can't sleep.  I've planned menus, I've half-written a short story, I've lived over conversations I had with the boys yesterday (technically, but still today for me) and half argued (only in my mind)with John over an incident this afternoon that I'd love to address but he extracted a promise from me last month that we'd NOT discuss the matter again until February, so...My mind has held too many conversations in the past hour for me to rest peacefully.

Coffee Chat: Opinionated

 

I'm being opinionated.

I've been thinking of dozens of things lately and one of those things is home decor.  I've followed along on Instagram with many 'decorators', not pros but homeowners, who love to putter in their homes.  One trend that I cannot get on board with and which I feel strongly about is the 'no curtains' look in homes.

Just this morning I sat near a window putting on my makeup and I was sincerely chilled.  There was a closed blind, a pair of sheers and a full set of curtains between me and that double paned window, and I still felt the cold radiating off it as though the darn thing had been open next to me.  How do people live without any curtains at all on their windows?!

Pantry/Freezer Challenge: Week 2

 

Really, I could say 2.5 weeks since I began this before the New Year was well underway.   I admit I got nervous this week as I noticed meat baskets getting lower.  I have put back almost as much as I've taken out in various forms but it's meals not meats going back into the freezer.  

Things To Do This Week: Week 2 of January 2025

I have been doing so much in the house, I almost said to myself, "I've got nothing to do this week!"  Don't you believe it.  There's still plenty to be done!  

Journal of My Week: Cozy and Warm

January 4, Saturday:  Gosh but today was a lazy sort of day and a chilly one, too.  I put a kettle of water on the stove to add much needed moisture and a slight additional warmth to the house.  John and I both felt we were fairly frozen.  

Home Economy in The Long Winter

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder is a book just full of home economy.

The book opens with Laura and Pa working to put up hay.  Pa decided to cut the Slough grass and put it up, too, even though he said it was not the best hay.  Early frosts came that year and on the first day of October a killing frost hit the prairie.  It finished off the garden the family had planted.  

Their harvest was small.  Pa dug five bushels of potatoes, then they pulled all the dead bean vines and Pa set those aside to finish drying out for more food.   He figured they'd get about a bushel of dry beans from the vines. Ma and Laura gathered the tomatoes, ripe and green.  There were enough ripe tomatoes to make a gallon of preserves. Then Ma made 2 quarts of green tomato pickles from the green tomatoes.  

Pantry/Freezer Meals This Week

 

Technically I meant to begin this challenge last week, but John wanted to take me out to eat last Sunday and I had planned to get Chinese for New Year's Day.    Since this week begins our first full week of January, I think it's fine to begin with our meals on Saturday. 

I went to the grocery on Friday where I purchased fresh produce (broccoli, lettuce, Brussels Sprouts, onions, mandarins, apples, carrots, bell peppers, and cabbage), eggs, and half and half for my morning coffee.  I also bought cheese and cream cheese. For snacks, I bought chips.  John is giving up sugar in January, so I'll pull something from the freezer if I want a sweet of any sort.

To Do List for the First Full Week of January, 2025

 

The week behind was just fine.  I got enough work done to feel I'd made a right good start at the New Year.  I've also 'practiced' a bit at the fasting I plan to do for the 21-day fast. 

I thought I'd go back to my old habit of including a quote about economy on these posts each week.  I came across this quote last week on Jennifer's blog:

Jenny of Elefantz:  I was surprised last year when studying about economy to learn that the original meaning of the word 'economy' has nothing to do with government spending. Big aha moment to be sure! The original word is taken from the Greek oikonomia which means 'the management of a private household'.

Journal of My Week: Oh Deer!

 

Dec. 28, Saturday:  Last night when I shut the shades just as dark was coming in, I saw deer on the front lawn.  They come most evenings to graze on the front lawn.  Not at all unusual.  What is unusual is that a deer has literally been wandering the yard today.  Front and back and around the house, coming nearer and nearer.  That's unusual behavior.  Admittedly it's been nice to watch her.

Today has been easily as overcast as yesterday.  None of the promised rain has come as of yet.  My bones feel this weather.  

What's in Season in January?

 

I laughed when I read the Georgia farm chart for what was in season.  Sweet and to the point we had:

Collards, Turnips and Green onions.

I'm pretty sure there's a bit more food available this month, just not necessarily grown in my state!

New Year's Resolutions

 

I skipped making resolutions last year and you know?  I missed it!  I missed having a goal in the back of my mind to work towards and I missed the sense of accomplishment that comes when you either meet or are well on your way to making a goal.  I don't consider it a failure if I don't complete my goal, as long as I've made measurable steps towards it.