Would I survive?

As the outside temperature warms up and as I read about people planning spring gardens; I am reminded of how spring used to be for me..... umm, about 35, 40, or 45 years ago.  Every spring, after about a week of above freezing temperatures, the utility company had what I called "field day" as a multitude of trucks rolled out to turn off utilities.  You could see the trucks going from house to house down streets turning off the utilities in the low income neighborhoods.  People's utilities would remain turned off until we managed to pay the high bill or cold weather arrived again.  People in low income neighborhoods know utilities are not a necessity; they are a luxury.  Since utilities today cost way more than they used to, I expect to see a field day in my neighborhood any time now.  The temperature has been above 50 for several days now.

I keep asking myself, would I survive through the summer if this happened to me today?  Could I survive a summer without utilities as I used to do?  Sure, I could probably get by for a couple of weeks as I did during the ice storm of 2009.

After the wind storm, not long after the ice storm, I did ok too.  Ladybug and I spent lots of time together by kerosene lamp light for three weeks that time.  She was too small to care about anything but warm milk, dry diapers, and plenty of cuddles.

I keep asking myself over and over again..... could I survive as I did back when I fully expected my utilities to be turned off for several months every year?  Could I survive if there were a major disaster here and things wouldn't get back to normal for several months?

Back then, I anticipated the spring event and started preparing for it in January.  I knew I had a couple of months to use up the food in the fridge and to wash then dry as many clothes as I could.  I would stock up on foods that could be cooked using my grill as a strange looking wood stove.  I would get out the cooler I made with triple insulation around it.  Back then there were lots of preparations I did in expectation of long months without utilities. 

Could I survive that way today?  Looking around my house today at first I didn't believe I could.  Too much of my life revolves around the use of electricity these days.  I have a freezer which I didn't have back then.  The freezer is full of food.  I could probably cook a lot of it during a temporary power outage because I have a gas stove.  But what if the gas was turned off too as it used to be done?  I no longer have a charcoal grill or a supply of wood branches to burn in it.  I don't own a pressure canner to can the meats in the freezer.  I'm saving for one but my change jar savings don't add up as quickly as they used to.  Even if I had the canner, my supply of canning jars is very limited.  I have 9 dozen pint jars and a meager supply of lids.

My income revolves around the use of electricity.  Without electricity a quilting machine won't sew.  Sure, I do have my much loved treadle machine.  I could use that for machine quilting if I needed to do it. 

I took a look at some of my non-electric kitchen appliances.  The food grinder is missing the wing nuts to hold it together.  My veggie slicer is ok though.  I still have my cast iron cookware which were and are very valuable for outdoor cooking.  I still have my percolator and some other non-electric kitchen items.

Back in those days I was much younger (of course) and physical labor wasn't an issue.  I could handle washing clothes by hand and carrying heavy loads of tree branches for fire with no trouble.  I'm not so strong these days.  Back then I walked long distances to find fallen branches and carry them home.  Today, I fear the roaming packs of neighborhood dogs so walking to find wood would be out of the question.  Back then I had a very small backyard garden to pick fresh veggies for daily meals.  Today, too many tree roots in the ground and too many overhead branches keeping out the sunlight, which prevent planting a garden.   

Am I a prepper or a survivalist?  Today's buzzwords define prepper and survivalist to refer to someone who believes there is an apocalypse about to happen.  Back when I knew for certain I would have to live a whole summer without utilities it felt like an apocalypse to me.   I thought of myself as a prepper because I got myself prepared for the event.  I thought of myself as a survivalist because I believed I would survive long hot days of summer without a fan or air conditioning while standing over a fire cooking our daily meals.

Could I survive a utility field day as I live right now?  At first I didn't think so but with only a few changes I'm sure I could.  It would take some thought on my part to remember what I used to do in preparation for utility field day but I know I could manage.   If I can find it, I still have my notebook of ideas I used back in those days. 

I would still need electricity to run my quilting machine.  Anybody know how to hook up a Gammill to a treadle?  I can live without a tv and hardly miss it but the internet I would miss a lot.  I like writing my blogs and visiting the blogs of others.   I have enough non-electric items that I could survive.  Finding those items is something else entirely.  Hmm..... maybe it's time I thought about locating these things and listing them on a "find it" list to put into my household manager notebook.  Now where did I put that notebook?  I know it's here someplace.

 

Bittersweet tangerine/orange jam

Recently I found good bargains on lemons, oranges, and tangerines.   I have plenty of frozen oranges in the freezer already.  What do I do with a windfall of several oranges and tangerines?  I decided to make tangerine/orange jam.   This is a bittersweet jam. 

This jam can be made with only oranges.

Or it can be made with only tangerines or a combination of both.  Use whatever you find.

Here is the basic ingredient list:

5 oranges (or tangerines or both)

2 lemons

1 1/2 cup honey (or 3 cups sugar)

This basic recipe makes 3 half pints.  I'll explain the recipe but the photos are of a much larger batch.  I had bunches of tangerines and oranges so I multiplied the ingredients to make lots more. 

Take one whole orange, remove the seeds, slice into small sections, rind and all.  Put this into a blender or a food processor and grind it into a paste.  The rind should be very tiny pieces.  In this recipe the rind provides the pectin and the juice provides the acid.

Now peel and remove the seeds of the lemons and the remaining oranges.   Put these through the blender or food processor too.  Put it all into a large pot big enough to allow for expansion of the liquids during cooking.  I'm using a large stock pot for my larger batch.

Add the sugar and stir together. 

Place over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until it comes to a boil that can't be stirred down.   It will start to foam but this is ok, do not remove the foam.   Be sure it doesn't boil over.  

Boil at a rolling boil for at least 10 minutes or until it resembles a thick syrup.  Stir frequently.  The foam will eventually die down. 

Turn off the heat and pour jam into jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.   If you made the small batch then the jars can be allowed to cool and stored in the refrigerator.  Allow the jam to age for atleast two weeks before eating or it will taste very bitter.  Aging improves the taste. 

I made a big batch for long term storage so I processed my jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.  My batch made 9 pints. 

I have enough tangerines, oranges, and lemons to make 18 more pints.  Some will be given to neighbors.

More discount bin bargains

Monday was shopping day.  It's different now that I shop once a month.  When I shopped every 3 to 6 months it would take me well over a week to preserve the bargains I found.  This time, I've been in the kitchen for 3 days with 1 more to go before I get back to the quilting work.

  Here's a few of the bargains I found.  This flour was one dollar a bag.  A lot less pricey than flour has been for quite awhile.  I bake my own bread and make my own scratch cakes.  Umm..... I use flour for lots of other things too.

I found these and bought them.  They are tomato bullion with chicken flavor.  I can use these in soups or as an ingredient in meatloaf.  Also in any food that a tomato flavor can be added.  I might even use this for making tomato soup.

These were a dollar and a quarter a bag.  I haven't seen that low price in several months.  Not a discount bin find but a good price anyway since I was out of cornmeal.

Grapes were on sale for 99 cents a pound but I found these on the discount table for 75 cents a pound.  I put these in the freezer first thing.  Grapes go bad very quickly and I didn't want to loose the money I spent on them.  Eating frozen grapes is sort of like eating a grape Popsicle.   Set some on a counter for awhile and they are just like fresh picked.

I found green peppers and onions on the discount table too.   I have enough of those in the freezer to use in my cooking so I decided to make pepper/onion relish.    I had just enough to make 6 pints.  It's used sort of like you would use pickle relish..... but there's no cucumbers in it.

I found a really good bargain on lemons and.....

tangerines and oranges.

I have more than enough of these in the freezer too.  I decided to make orange/tangerine jam with them.  I'm going to do a tutorial on this. 

I also found discounted ground pork and chicken thighs.  I'm going to make chicken/pork sausage today. 

I found a really good non-food bargain too.  This is a wind up radio and flashlight.  I bought one for me and one for my brother.   What's really neat about this is that it can charge up a cell phone too.  A few cranks of the handle is all that's needed...... IF it works like it says it does.   This will be great for when there's a power outage. 

For several months I've been searching for rennet tablets.  I was unable to find it anywhere.  Imagine my surprise when these showed up on the discount table at the store I had searched the most often.  It's used for making ice cream but that's not what I want them for.

I wanted rennet tablets because I thought maybe I would try making my own cheese.  I drink powdered milk but sometimes I find whole milk that's discounted.  I'm thinking it can't be very different to make an aged cheese.  Well, I had looked and looked for rennet.  I asked at several stores but no one seemed to know what rennet was.  When asked what I needed it for; I told them I planned to make cheese. 

I got some really strange looks from them.  None of the store personnel could believe I actually planned to go to the trouble to make my own cheese.  I'm sure those same people never think beyond what's for dinner after a long day at work.  I can always tell when someone is a "future planner" and someone who is not.  Someone who thinks ahead and plans for the future would be all ears and questions when I mention making my own cheese.  Or they might tell me they do the same thing.  Those who don't plan for rising prices and a worsening economy give me blank stares. 

It's the blank stare people who sadden me the most.  It reminds me how far away from the way life used to be that we've gone.  The life we had back when people were not living paycheck to paycheck.  A life when women and men did things at home.   The folks of my generation have failed to pass along our knowledge to our children.   Our children are no longer interested.  This is so sad. 

Well, I'm going to continue my move back to a simpler life.  Now that I'm no longer chasing the almighty dollar just to spend it acquiring more useless stuff.... I'm much happier.  I write this blog for the benefit of those who think like me and want a simpler life too.  I don't have all the answers but it makes me happy to know someone, somewhere cares enough to visit as I learn new skills or re-learn forgotten ones. 

To all my blog readers...... THANK YOU.

Oh my goodness!

I've talked several times about how we should always check the amounts on our bills and what gets rug up at a cash register .  Never trust a bill or a cash register!  Always check it for accuracy.  Even a small error in the favor of those who bill us is money out of our pockets.  That's money we could use for food or shelter.  Well, sometimes the errors I find are down right ridiculous. 

Recently I read that our water bill would be going up.  I knew this was going to happen and sort of prepared myself for the rate hike.  Yet, when I got the bill I was very shocked.  I wasn't shocked by the amount of the raise.  I was shocked by how much water they claimed I was using.  It was double my normal usage.  Double in one billing cycle.  Yikes!  Now let me tell ya... there's absolutely no way I'm suddenly using double the amount of water!  Not with all the ways I've cut back. 

I call the water company and I'm told I must have a water leak someplace.  Ok, I can accept that as an answer.... for now.  I'll get a plumber to come check it out.  In the meantime, I talk with several other people who have said the same thing.  They were billed for double the amount of water than is normal.  These people have also called the water company and got the same answer.... there must be a water leak someplace.  Granted one or two people who know each other might have a water leak but all 10 of us?  Ten out of ten is pretty high odds that we all have water leaks under our houses don't ya think?

The trouble with double checking our water usage is that the meter is underground and impossible to check for accuracy by the homeowner.  Anybody know who I could file a complaint with other than the water company?  

Ok, how about a bill from a nursing home for the care of a patient who is not even in the nursing home?  Mom was in the hospital from just after Thanksgiving until after New Year's day.  The bill had charges for December.... twice.  Bills for October and November which were already paid.  AND.... billing for January.  January hadn't even arrived yet at the time I got the bill.  I got this bill on December 27th.  How can they charge for care that hasn't been given?    Hmm... it's kind of like being charged for surgery when you haven't been operated on yet.  Or paying for groceries when you haven't even filled the cart yet. 

I do know when a patient leaves the nursing home and is admitted to the hospital you must pay a fee to hold the bed.  If you don't pay the bed hold fees they can give the spot to someone else.  Which leaves the patient without a place to go back to if not paid.  It took a couple of phone calls and this was straightened out.  A computer hiccup was the cause..... or so I was told. 

Well now, moving on, we all know about the cost of groceries going up... am I right?  I know I sure do get sticker shock every time I go to the grocery these days.  From one trip to the next, I find the cost of everything has gone up.  I don't care what the tv news tells us about the economy getting better.  In my personal opinion, the economy is only getting better for big wigs and wall street, not main street.  I believe what I see with my own eyes every time I pay higher prices for groceries.  Uh, DUH!  Maybe I should change that?  Maybe I shouldn't believe my own eyes anymore. 

Let me tell you about my shopping trip yesterday.  My readers know I love to buy discount items when shopping for groceries.  There are certain discount produce items which make me as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning.  When I find bananas, oranges, onions, bell peppers and stuff like that on a produce discount table I am very happy.   I don't take it all but I do take enough to last me for awhile.  Yesterday, I had just about given up on getting fresh bell peppers, which I'm completely out of right now.  I had already been to Kroger where the price was $1 each for very small ones.  None were marked down.  I believe the cost of a pound of bell peppers is comparable to the cost of a pound of t-bone steak these days.  Don't believe me?  Maybe you will in a minute or two.

When I get to Meijer, I'm delighted as I spot bell peppers on the discount table.  I saw them from way across the room.  I rushed to get a few before everyone else spotted them too.  I quickly grabbed a couple bags of the color ones and a couple bags of the green.  I put those in my cart along with a couple bags of over ripe bananas.  Ok, are you ready for some sticker shock too?   Can you believe this? 

Yup, it says $109.59 for three reduced price bell peppers.  Isn't that about the cost of t-bone?  A very, very expensive t-bone?  Ok, how about this price tag?

Yup, the price is $62.39 for two reduced price peppers.  The price is $79.99 per pound.  Wow, talk about sticker shock!  After looking at those price tags, the hair on my head stood up, I had a look of sheer surprise, and I'm standing there shaking from the jolt I got.  I'm in the produce isle looking sort of looked like this..... (click to make the picture larger to get the full effect)

I look around to see if anyone else has as much sticker shock as I did.  Yup, I looked kind of like this too as I stand there looking around at other people who are also rather shocked. 

Trust me, I do not want this kind of sticker shock very often!  A little giggle from the produce manager and all the tags were changed.  Hmm... I wonder why she giggled instead of feeling embarrassed or saying she was sorry?  Do you think there might have been people who actually paid that price without ever checking it?  It's quite possible.  Next time I go grocery shopping I think my clothing should include a grounding wire from my waist to the floor. 

Now do you see why I tell people to always check?  Excuse me while I end this post and get a cuppa coffee.  Maybe the caffeine will calm me down a bit.  With all the shocks I've been getting lately I'm almost afraid to go near the quilting machine.  I might damage it with residual shock current coming from my hands.

Buying discount foods

I've type-talked quite a bit about how I find lots of discount bin things.  Here is one example from the fabric store.  I bought these cabone rings months before I actually used them.  I knew I was planning to make window quilts for all my windows and would need these.

I also found these in the discount bin at Walmart.  I knew I would need these  for my window quilts.  I bought these a couple of years before I actually got around to using them. 

If I'm very patient I can find almost anything I need in a discount bin eventually.  Most people can understand and appreciate buying at least some discount stuff this way.  What really makes people squeamish about buying from a discount bin is buying food.

Most people believe that if a food has a red discount sticker on it that it's not safe to eat.   Red means danger doesn't it?  So what is the safe eating date?  Packages have several different dating systems.  There's the best by date. 

The sell by date. 

The use or freeze by date on meats.  The use by date on dairy products.  Or simply a date with no words on bakery products.

And several other terms that guide the store in rotating stock.  These dates are given to the store (and us) by food producers. 

So who determines these package dates?  The food producer of course.  What better way to get the consumer to buy more of their products than to give us a shortened date.  If people are convinced a product is not good beyond the date stamped they won't eat it.  The food is tossed out and new bought.  It's very hard for me to come up with the right words to describe this but I'm trying. 

A long time ago, I noticed a "use by" date on a bottle of honey.   The date stamped was about a year from when I purchased it.  I thought it odd, very odd, to have an expiration date on honey.   Honey has a natural preservative and it never, ever goes bad.  You ever heard of a bee hive tossing out it's oldest honey?  Honey will start to get a grainy texture that is easily fixable by warming it..... but honey does not go bad.  

 I started wondering about other dates on packages.  I noticed the wording of a date on a container of sour cream.  It was a "best by" date.  What the heck does a best by date mean anyway?  Best for the store to sell it by that date?  Best eaten by a consumer by that date?  Not as good tasting after that date?  Will I get food poisoning if I eat the sour cream after that best by date? 

I started thinking about my Grandma Mama and how she knew when foods could no longer be eaten.  For example we milked the cows every morning and every evening.  Some milk was sold to neighbors and some we kept.  Grandma Mama knew just how long the milk would last before it was no longer usable.  Even sour milk was used in recipes but at some point she knew not to use it anymore and gave it to the pigs.  Then there were the foods Grandma Mama canned herself.  She dated every jar with the date she canned it.  She did not put a "use by" date on her jars.  It was knowledge that told her how long a canned jar of green beans would last.  Knowledge taught to her by her mother.  Carefully using the oldest canned foods first meant her stock was always rotating.  Grandma Mama had knowledge and experience to know and remember how long foods were safe to eat.

We, as consumers, have lost our ability to know the safe shelf life of foods.  Well no wonder.... we are taught to listen to the producers and follow their confusing date systems.  We've been taught the date means "don't eat it, throw it away".  Knowing the true safe life of foods has not been taught by one generation to the next.  Grandma Mama's foods were preserved in ways that she could look at it and know if it was safe to eat.  Looking inside a glass jar of green beans, without opening, and she knew to either use it or toss it by the color of the food.  Can we do that with green beans bought in the store today?  Green beans are either in metal cans or frozen in plastic bags which we can't look inside to see for ourselves if they look ok or not.  Do we have a choice about the packaging?  No!

Well, what about fresh produce?  Hmm.... Grandma Mama had a garden and fruit trees.  She picked her produce and preserved it.  Food from the garden and orchard had blemishes.  Bugs ate on it or the hoe nicked it.  These days if an apple has a slight blemish people won't buy it.  If a mushroom has a single dark dot on it people won't buy it.  If green beans look slightly wilted people won't buy any.   Lucky for me people feel this way though because I can find lots of food in the discount bin and buy it.

Next time you look at the date on a package of food.... before you toss it out..... think about it first.  Next time you see a red discount sticker.... take a second look before walking right on by.  I'm not telling you to eat rotten produce or freezer burned food.  I'm just saying the date stamped on a package by a food producer may not be it's true expiration date.  Let knowledge and experience (and your nose) be your guide; not just a date stamp given to you by someone who wants to sell you more than you really need.

Powdered milk

There are basically two types of powdered milk.  There's a non-instant variety commonly used for long term storage and there's the instant variety you find in the grocery stores.  I get powdered milk from the senior commodity program and I buy powdered milk too.  Both of the types I use are instant variety.  The brands I buy at the store are for drinking and the commodity milk I use for cooking.  Why?

Well, there are two different tastes to instant powdered milk.  It's how the milk is made that makes it drinkable for me or not.  One way producers make powdered milk is by cooking it.  Milk is dripped onto a very hot barrel device which evaporates the moisture from the milk.  In effect it's cooked to remove the moisture.  It works like an ice cream maker in that it scrapes the milk off in thin sheets.  Cooking anything changes its flavor.  The other way powdered milk is made is by spraying in a vacuum chamber evaporating the milk instantly.  It has a more natural taste because nothing changes except the moisture is removed. 

If you have trouble drinking powdered milk it may be because you don't like the cooked taste of the milk.  I suggest you keep trying until you find a variety of powdered milk that suits your taste buds.  For me the commodity milk has too much of a cooked taste so I use it only in my cooking. 

I do drink powdered milk because paying from 4 to 6 dollars a gallon at the neighborhood store is a bit much for my budget.  I had to train myself to drink powdered milk.  I searched until I found one made without the cooking process.  The box does not tell you what process is used.  I added vanilla to the milk which masked the taste until I felt comfortable drinking just plain milk.  Mixing powdered milk and regular milk doesn't work if you are trying to fool someone.  Again, it's the cooked taste that sneaks in there.  First find a brand that is not cooked then try mixing them together or add some vanilla. 

Even if you just can't bring yourself to drink powdered milk, at least give it a try in your cooking. 

Freezing corn

I've said lots of times how we should not be paying for our own personal chef when buying groceries.  Frozen corn on the cob is one of those personal chef convenience foods.  The cost of buying tiny ears of frozen corn on the cob is far more than it should be when it's so easy to do it yourself. 

Most of the time I would pass right on by fresh corn on the cob that's been shucked and put into packages as fresh convenience foods.  You know the one's I'm talking about?  The packages of fresh fruits and veggies all cut up and ready to use.  I don't like paying a personal chef to prepare my fruits and veggies for me either.  I'm perfectly capable of cutting up my own fruits and veggies for half the cost of convenience.

I'm also a discount bin cook.  If the price, marked down, is less than buying corn with shucks on them I'll buy it.  Only if I actually need the corn though.  Ladybug loves corn on the cob so I decided to spoil indulge her a bit.  I bought two discounted packs to put into the freezer just for her.  The cost of the two packages discounted was half the price of regular ears of corn. 

I remove the rest of the shucks and silks then break the ears in half.  Hmm.... My son once asked me why they are called ears and not noses or chins?  Stopped me right in my tracks.  Duh, I don't know, go ask your Daddy.

I start a pan of water to boiling while I'm cleaning them.

I put a few into the boiling water.  I realize that's too many in the pot.  I remove one.

I want room around the corn so the bubbling water will turn them for me.  I won't need to stand there making sure all the ears are turned for the blanching.

When the water starts boiling again I set the timer for 10 minutes and go do something else.

I get a bowl of really cold water.  Adding ice is optional if the water from the tap is already cold from the weather.

When the timer goes off I remove the corn and put it into the cold water to stop the cooking process.

I put the drained corn onto a tray to flash freeze them.  The liner on the tray is a corn flake cereal bag I cut open.  Nothing sticks to it.  I wash it and reuse it all the time. 

I set the timer for an hour and go do something else.  When the corn is frozen I put it into packages for the freezer.  I could have wrapped the corn individually but chose to put them into a bag which will go inside another bag that's numbered for inventory.

That's it.  Now wasn't that easy?  So why would anyone pay double the price in order to pay a personal chef do this work for them?  Personally, I would rather use the extra money for something or someone special. 

Dehydrating eggs

Eggs from the store have a "sell by" date on them.  It's not a "use by" date.  Eggs can be stored in the refrigerator several weeks past their sell by date.  When I think my eggs were getting close to the maximum storage time, I cook them or freeze them to extend the storage time.  You can test an egg to see if it's usable or not without opening it.  Float an egg in some water.  Fresh eggs sink.  The more an egg floats the older it is because it contains more air inside.  If it completely floats.... get rid of it immediately without cracking. 

Well ok, here's another way of extending the life of your eggs.  Dehydrate them.  I saw this on Angie's blog.  A very frugal lady who quilts.   She has a large group of followers.  You might like her site too. 

Take a dozen eggs. 

Use a whisk to mix them up like for scrambled eggs.  Do not add anything to the eggs.   I used a blender because I have one.  I used the "stir" setting for 3 seconds. 

Now scramble the eggs in a non-stick pan.  You do not want to add any oil for the cooking because eggs are already naturally oily.  That's why a non-stick pan is important.  You are cooking only to remove as much of the moisture as you can before dehydrating.  Scramble the eggs into somewhat smallish pieces to help in the drying process.

Put the eggs in a dehydrator if you have one.  If you don't, then use your oven on it's lowest setting with the door cracked open.  Watch them carefully so they don't burn in the oven.  Check every half hour or so.  You want dry but not burned.  It will probably take 4 or 6 hours in the oven.

When the eggs are dry they are quite hard and oily feeling. 

Run them through a grinder to get egg powder.  These are not the same as powdered eggs you can buy already made.  Store bought powdered eggs are made using a special industrial blower machine.  The homemade version of powdered eggs are simply used as an extender in a recipe so you don't loose the food value of the eggs.

 I believe the ratio is one tablespoon of egg powder equals one egg in a recipe.  I can't remember exactly.  Store the powdered eggs in a jar in the cabinet or a shelf ready to add to your recipes each time you cook.  My best uneducated guess is they will last a couple of months on the shelf and about 4 to 6 months in the refrigerator.  If you plan to store the eggs for longer storage then it's best to vacuum pack them.  I will use these dry eggs in combination with fresh eggs used in my cooking.  Again, it's not the same as fresh eggs but an added food value.  The eggs I dehydrated were not good for making an omelet or scrambled eggs.  I tested it and got a mix of water and grit. 

Menu planning is hard

I'm seriously not very good at menu planning.  Mostly because I just look at my freezer list, decide what needs to be used, then create a meal around it.  Lately, with the boxes of food left by the food fairies, it's even more difficult to plan a week or month of meals when I don't know what I'm gonna get.  The food left for me must be eaten too.  I also like to do what is called "planned leftovers".  In case you don't already know; that's when enough extra of something is cooked so the leftovers can be used to create another dish the next day or later in the week. 

Well, after giving this a little thought I came up with something that may help me with menu planning next year.  I won't know until October of next year if this works or not because it will take that long to develop my plan.  You may think right about now that Anita's lost it... call the men with the straight jackets.

What I have done is print off calendar pages from the internet.  Everyday (or once a week) I will write down what I had to eat each day.  I'll keep the calendar pages to be used as next year's menu plan.  I have one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

If you enlarge the picture you can see that on Friday I made a pot roast with potatoes and baked loaves of bread.  The next day, Saturday, I made beef pinwheels with the leftover beef.  I also made beef flavored mashed potatoes with the left over potatoes and added carrots peas to the menu.  (need to change that on the calendar)  I had left over mashed potatoes made into potato cakes on Sunday and added sausage to the menu.  Monday the left over sausage was used to make S.O.S. to put on toast made from leftover bread I baked on Friday.  Get the idea?

When I absolutely don't want to use the leftovers for another meal; I make my own hot pockets to put into the freezer.  (read about it here)  I can pull these out and heat them up for a quick lunch or snack. 

One advantage of keeping up with this afterward menu planning is that next year I'll have a clearer list of what I would need to keep stored in my food pantry.  A year's worth of meals listed that I could use to plan my food storage stockpile.  For example; I'll be able to see how many times I made loaves of bread which will give me an indication of how many pounds of flour to have on hand.  I'll be able to see how many times I make spaghetti so I know how much ground turkey to keep in the freezer. 

Even if I don't exactly follow the menu plan sheets next year, I will at least know how many times I fix the same meals. 

Food, food, and more food

Here lately I've been getting food boxes left on my porch.  I don't know who is leaving the boxes but I  suspect it's a neighbor that goes to the food bank regularly.  This doesn't matter because I don't turn down food.  My grandmother always told me "if you like someone you feed them".  Well someone sure does like me alot. 

I never know what's going to be in the boxes.  Some items I know and use regularly.  Some are foods I've never tried before.  I'm willing to try new foods. 

I also get senior commodities once a month.

The problem I'm having is.... what to do with it all.  A storage problem and a what to cook with it problem.  There are only so many peanut butter sandwiches and only so many macaroni and cheese days I can handle a month. 

One of the problems with getting food from a food bank (or from food fairies) is that you never know what you're going to get.  It's a challenge to figure out recipes to use it all.  The workers at a food bank don't put idea sheets in the box, just random foods.  Food is donated to the food bank so they don't know what they are going to get either. 

At the rate I'm getting food, I won't need groceries for a very, very long time except for meat and fresh veggies.  (big ol' grin)  This should help my budget a lot.