Cool Yet Tragically Unhip

This was a mostly low key week. I need a couple more of them to get things ready for Thanksgiving. November is generally a low social activity month for us with the exception of a play and Thanksgiving. I honestly like it that way, because December can be harried.

Did I mention how much I hate the time change! Nights last forever!

As part of my holiday prep I decided I needed to defrost the freezer, and that decision changed my last week's meal plan a good bit. Additionally it took over this week's menu, as well as many in the upcoming weeks.

Meals may not be exactly what we want, but it should be a challenge that might be interesting at least. We have always decided what we feel like eating on any given week rather than rely on what we have at the house. We are just going to have to see dinners in a different light.

Monday joy: I was able to stay home all day long and loved it. There are days I just want to  throw on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, pull my hair back, and get some things done. (Even though I did not do as much  as I should have)

Monday dinner: I had previously made enough spaghetti sauce and frozen it in containers for 2 different dinners. Nothing like having an almost thaw and heat meal

Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad, dinner rolls

Tuesday joy: I was able to vote easily. 

After voting we stopped by ThePig to pick up a couple of items and to grab the weekly free item. This week it was a bag of croutons, which we do not eat, but it will be a great thing to have while the family is in town for Thanksgiving.

I also got to speak via phone to all 3 sons. It is unusual to do that except on my birthday or Mother's Day. Don't misunderstand me, I do talk to all of them regularly, but all three is one day does not usually happen.

Tuesday dinner: We used our monthly minimum to purchase an offered takeout meal. It was enough for dinner with sides left over for an additional meal, plus TheHub still had my slice of cheesecake to eat another night.

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, tossed salad, cheesecake

Wednesday joy: I was supposed to go to my Wednesday class, but had stayed up until 3:45 waiting on the election to be called. They outlasted me and I was unable to keep my eyes open any longer. At 7:00 I woke and made the decision to skip class. I was tired but figured I would just spend the morning with my best friend ___caffeine. 

I am so glad I didn't go because DIL2 called to let me know the number of participants from Independence Place who would be there that afternoon.  What? I had not put it in my calendar and if it is not written there, it does not exist in my world. How could I possibly forget to about going to my happy place?

At least I had a little time to scrounge around and figure out what to do. This is why I keep a well stocked kitchen. (OK not really, I am a little bit of a food hoarder and I have no idea why) I was able to pull all the ingredients for individual cheesecake mousse cups, including the cups to serve it in, and the necessary fixings for a graham cracker base.

I have learned that I need to have enough steps in every recipe for each participant to be able to have a hand in the process. This worked perfectly with all 16 having a specific chore, even if it did mean cutting the cream cheese into 4 blocks for 4 different people to add and mix. It really is critical for each of them to feel like they are a major part of it. 

Once they finished eating what they made I always ask if the final product was a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs sideways (neutral). 

There is always someone who doesn't like something, but this time 👍 was unanimous. Even "T", whom My Beloved Sister and I refer to as Eeyore, liked everything about it, which was a first!. Every other time there was at least one thing to complain about.

Thanks to hands free phone options, I was able to have a call with Sluggy and Mr. Sluggy on the drive home. Laughing is good for the soul.

Wednesday dinner: Monday afternoon I had cleaned and organized my "Stash" which is non-perishable food items that I store in my laundry room, because my pantry is always at full capacity. It means checking the dates on the cans (which I truly believe is just a suggestion and has nothing to do with the quality of the food inside) and rotating them so the nearest expiration dates will be used first. 

I found a can of pumpkin puree (I had no idea it was even in there) that was past its "best by" date by 3 years (if you will notice most cans are not labeled "expiration"). I pulled it out as a "use immediately" item. I opened the can and it looked and smelled no different than one I had bought and used recently, so it became part of our supper. 

(Plus I do not mind living life on the edge, but please do not tell TheHub. He is an extreme rule follower and even though he has been eating what I cook for decades and lived in spite of my disregard for the dates, it would freak him out.)

Pumpkin sausage chowder*, dinner rolls

Thursday joy: Our tomatoes are still producing like gangbusters and every day I am getting 4 or 5. For the past several days, I cooked them into either thick sauce or cooked them down even more to a paste consistency to be frozen for future meals. Today was no exception and I put them on before I was having my first cup of coffee.

Then it was off to tackle the laundry room. TheHub promised me he would help me defrost the freezer, so I needed everything to be ready for said chore. It is a cold messy job, but with four hands rather than just mine, the process should go much faster.

Thursday dinner: I had too many leftover items so we had a smorgasbord of sorts.

Conecuh sausage, mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, sliced tomatoes 

Friday joy: This was not terribly joyful other than the joy that it was over and I don't have to think about it for another 6 months. I have a fairly large upright freezer that was filled to the gills, but so much frost had accumulated that it was hard to move things to find what I needed/wanted. 

When that happens, the only thing to do is defrost the dang thing.  I always dread doing it because no matter what, at the end I am a freezing cold damp mess.

TheHub was here and I had guilted him into helping, which he did.  And I truly do thank him for lugging the large pot of steaming water to the freezer, then taking it out and dumping it x 4. I normally have to do it all and it does take longer when you are doing everything. Then he did hold the hairdryer while I scraped the buildup. I am fairly certain if I had kept it all I could have built a very tiny snowman. 

However, once it was defrosted I had the honor of cleaning the insides, wiping each item that was going back in and reorganizing.  And anyone who messes with that organization will meet  the wrath of Anne.

One upside was finding several single serving frozen leftovers that I placed in a separate plastic bin for grab, thaw, and warm lunches. TheHub was not too sad I also found an apple strudel that needed to be cooked right away.

An aside: I am pretty sure we could eat for 3 months buying only produce and milk, and if I buy anymore Conecuh sausage before the first of the year I need to have my head examined!

Friday dinner: So of course after cleaning out the freezer and seeing such an overabundance of food available without leaving the house, we did take out from Zaxby's.

Chicken tenders, coleslaw

Saturday joy: It was ball game day and our plans were to stay at home, watch games, and do some chores whenever the games were boring or in between them. We pretty much accomplished our goals. 

Bama beat LSU which I was not expecting, but was happy with the outcome.

Saturday dinner: We needed a quick meal that we could scarf down between football games

Grilled tuna steaks, baked potato, tossed salad

Sunday joy: We woke and went to church, came home and talked with two of our sons. Of course we/they talked about the ball game.

The day was gloomy and TheHub decided not to hit golf balls. Instead we had a leftover soup lunch and a catnap. I am not one of those people who can actually get in or on the bed during the day, but I can curl up on the loveseat in the most uncomfortable position known to man for a 20 minute snooze.

Sunday dinner: The roast had thawed and needed to be cooked. It was delicious but we have tons of leftovers.

Rump roast, potatoes, carrots, onions, tomato slices, cucumber slices, dinner rolls

Menu plan for the week (based of things I had forgotten were in the freezer)**

1. Corned beef^ and cabbage

2. Hot dogs^, coleslaw, corn on the cob^

3. Chicken fried rice^ shishito peppers

4. Beef stew with traditional stew vegetables + green beans***^, tossed salad or coleslaw

5. Grilled salmon^,  dilled potatoes, tossed salad

6. Meatloaf^ squash casserole, brussels sprouts

7. Out to eat

Used from the freezer:

1 pack spaghetti sauce - dinner

2 keto hot dog buns (not particularly good, but they were eaten anyway - lunch

1 bag riced cauliflower - dinner

1 pack Conecuh sausage ( 4 pound pack separated into meal size portions ) - dinner

2 tuna steaks - dinner

3.5 lb rump roast - dinner

2 s/f popsicles (had no idea they were even in the freezer, purchased by TheHub who had forgotten them) - snacks

4 keto "cornbread" mini muffins - lunch

Added to the freezer:

Leftover cooked roast for beef tips and rice some other week

2 strip steaks (too good of a deal to pass up)

1 lb Italian sausage  "

Books read in November

What Have You Done?

The Goddess of Warsaw

 

*This was delicious

** All I really need to buy for the week is cabbage, lettuce, and possibly a cucumber or two. Unfortunately Aldi has their Holiday baking supplies on sale so, most likely, I will succumb before Wednesday. But at least there will be no freezer purchases.

***Odd stew ingredient, but it will get rid of one small pack of cooked green beans, and the extra vegetable surely won't hurt us.

^ Found in the freezer when defrosting