beginning at the beginning

With January beginning on a Thursday this year, this weekly update is a short one, just to get it back to a regular Monday recap post. 

Thursday, Jan.1: NYD. My Beloved Sister, Son2 and DIL2, came over for lunch (which is counting as dinner since it was a full meal.

I stripped the Christmas things off the table and replaced them with a New Year/winter themed table scape. I used my Mother in Law's china which is has cool tones and a winterlike feel to it. 

After we ate and laughed a little we headed to the den to watch Alabama get stomped and slaughtered by Indiana. Hats off to IU! They played well and were well coached.

Both MBS, Son and DIL left at halftime. They both had to get home to take care of their respective dogs.

After the blood letting Alabama game, we watched another episode of "Ripple", then turned on the Old Miss/Georgia game. After the fiasco with the Old Miss coach leaving before the season was over, I was glad to see them win.

What I learned this day: I had always believed I must never use soap on my cast iron. Turns out that was leftover from days when soap was made with lye and using it would strip the seasoning off the pots or pans. New Year's Day I washed my cast iron skillet, used for making cornbread with Dawn. (But I still oiled the pan after it was dry) Thank youYouTube video.

Dinner: Ham, black eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, cheesecake (leftover from Christmas day)

Friday, Jan.2: My rear end was dragging. I have enjoyed the holidays, but the pace and lack of sleep caught up with me. I had a slow start to the day and stayed in slowmo all day. It felt great, even though I accomplished very little.

What I learned this day: I have been reading a book about old Christmas traditions and found that pigeon pies were originally spicy and sweet. I have no idea why that was interesting, other than the fact that at the time of sweet main dishes, sugar (hard to come by) was sold  to the general public from an apothecary and was thought to be medicinal. It was doled out in small amounts (think about a teaspoonful). There was a big advantage to being wealthy as far as obtaining sugar went. They could buy it by the cupful.

Dinner: Air Fried chicken, potato salad, leftover collards

Saturday, Jan. 3: I slept later than planned, but did not sleep the morning away. I am not exactly sure what I did most of the morning but at some point I decided it was time to tackle another kitchen cabinet. This one stores all of my food storage containers. A lot of you might be appalled * at what I do, but I save Chinese takeout containers, sour cream containers, take out soup containers, and cottage cheese containers and reuse them to hold refrigerated leftovers.

 

I know if I had health department officials at my house they would deduct points for using what they term one use containers. In my mind they are "free" Tupperware or rubbermaid, the ones which are designated as multi use. My kitchen my rules. 

During the course of reusing them, lids disappear or the bowls become wonky, so my job for the day was to make sure everything in the cabinet  was functional and had a matching lid. The "old maids" were recycled.

And of course who starts cleaning cabinets and stops at just one? Before I knew what was happening I had cleaned 6 cabinets and 2 drawers. I found several things to add to my Goodwill pile, tossed some things and realized I will not need to buy aluminum foil or gallon freezer bags for at least 3 years. I also found a couple of things I had forgotten I own, like a pineapple corer and chef's torch. They are accessible now. 

What I learned this day: This was one of those in your face learning days. 3 items I had on my shopping list were hiding in the deeper recesses of my lower cabinets. I have always known to shop at home first, but I learned the necessity of storing small items (especially those in a bottom cabinet) in easily accessible containers. Do you have any idea how far back an unopened box of sandwich bags can be pushed by other items?  

After messing around in the kitchen for most of the day, I really did not feel like cooking.

Dinner: Chili which was leftover from a few days ago.

Sunday, Jan. 4: We woke and were headed to our early morning communion service when we realized we needed to go back in the house for a second. That small delay was the difference in making it on time or being late and disruptive. We opted to just go straight to the sanctuary so we were very early for early church, after which we went to Sunday School.

We ran by Walmart's Neighborhood Grocery to pick up drugs and a couple of things I needed, came home, and ate a quick lunch (it was not good).

TheHub watched football games  and worked because that is what he  does, and I read because that is what I like to do. After a celebration dinner**, we watched the last episode of Ripple. 

What I learned this day: Our Sunday school lesson was based on the non-canonical books concerning immaculate conception, Mary's birth and Mary's Childhood. Some of the things that were mentioned I had never heard before.

Dinner: Porterhouse steak***, baked potato***, tossed salad, bolillo roll*** 

(I am keeping up with the following two items mainly for me)

Used from the freezer:

2 chicken breasts

1 porterhouse steak

Groceries bought this week: 

1 lemon

1 garlic bulb

6 bolillo rolls

1 large baking potato

8 pk. small diet Pepsi

Movement on the "aims" front:

Ran into a friend I have not seen for at least 10 years. We made plans to meet for lunch in late January

Started the cabinet/kitchen clean-out

A midnight bedtime is not happening

Contacted a friends I have not seen or talked with in over two years.

Menu plans:

Something from the remaining list or possibly something else entirely.

Vegetable soup, cornbread

Pumpkin sausage soup, salad, rolls

Bean soup, cornbread, coleslaw

Chicken and rice soup

Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, tossed salad, garlic toast

Steak, baked potato, tossed salad

Crock pot beef brisket, mashed potatoes, green beans

Beef stew, coleslaw, cornbread

Hamburger patty, asparagus, mashed potatoes

Mexican ground beef casserole, chopped veggie salad

Mongolian beef, rice (bookmarked)*

Korean style ground beef, rice, Asian veggie medley

Greek Chicken, new potatoes, Greek green beans

Persian Chicken, rice, broccoli

Chicken parm, spinach salad (bookmarked). 

Butter chicken, rice, kale salad

Greek style veggie bake, dinner rolls (bookmarked)

Mushroom goulash, broccoli, apple slices (bookmarked)

Veggie frittata , fruit compote

Black eyed peas, mac and cheese, coleslaw

Eggroll in a bowl

Pizza in a bowl

Pork chops, mashed potatoes, asparagus

Pork butt, collards, potato salad

Stuffed baked potato w/ leftover bbq pork butt, tossed salad

Sliced ham, corn pudding, green beans

Grilled tuna steaks, baked potato, tossed salad, dinner rolls

Shrimp alfredo, kale salad 

Grilled scallops, broccoli salad, baked potato

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*I do own Hefty, Ziploc, Tupperware, and Rubbermaid containers, but they are not as handy for storing small bits of leftovers. For example, one serving of leftover tossed salad fits perfectly in a sour cream container, which then turns into the bowl I eat it from, then it goes straight into the dishwasher. I usually get a dozen uses from those type of containers before they are no longer usable, and then they go into the recycling bin.

** Though TheHub officially retired in June of '24, he has done independent contract work continually since his retirement. He finished the gigantic year and a half project Sunday evening

***TheHub and I only eat half of a steak so we always share. We also split the potato because it was hugs, and shared the bolillo roll as it was big also.