Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: October 18 ~ 24, 2020

Morning, All! Hope you all are doing well this morning!

Today the chicken finally is thawed enough to work up so once Hubby gets up and around we will make chicken broth in one of the canners, then can chicken in broth, can chicken veggie soup, put some chicken strips in the freezer, and make chicken enchiladas for supper. I expect it to take in to the afternoon to finish up - along with the usual chores, but I hope to try to fit in some time to re-pot some of my porch plants and start carrying them inside for the winter months.

We did a bit of main floor pantry clean up yesterday - the shelves that are above my head, I pretty much ignore most of the time since I'd have to drag a step stool around to reach whatever is on them. That's where things like the apple peeler/corer/slicer, mandoline, cherry pitter, etc.. live; and where Hubby puts his lunch stuff since he can see it and reach it without a step- stool. Somehow, some jars of home canned stuff and other food stuff got stuck up there - some of them were dated 2008!! So the compost pile got a boost, and I won't have to carry jars up from the basement to deal with the chicken. Now I just need to figure out something to store up there that I don't use very often in order to prevent this from happening again - maybe 2 gallon buckets of sugar or something - the shelves are heavy enough to handle it. While I'm in there fussing around, I want to move a few other things around while I'm at it - Hubby just sticks things wherever there is an empty spot; I want this shelf area for canned meat, fish, and soup, this one for canned fruits and veggies, this one for pasta and box/bag mixes, the bottom one to have an easy to reach area for the grandkid snacks, drinks, and things they like to make like Jello, etc... We'll see how far I get - especially if the grandkids show up today

Take care all; have a safe and happy week if you can!

I managed to finish the 8 by 15 pad yesterday. I actually moved 1200 lbs of rock and 2000 lbs of concrete to do so. I actually felt pretty good once done. In the past I could barely move after doing just a 1000 pounds of concrete.

I must be getting in better health....lol

Today is take down frames and pick up trash...

Put a load of frozen mixed veggies in the dehydrator this morning after my Walmart run - at 84 cents a bag they work really well.

Then cut up a loaf of Orowheat Potato Bread to turn into bread cubes for dressing. Bought this loaf a week or so ago at Costco, but it's so sweet it makes my dentures hurt! Why can't they cut back the sugar in bread??????

I got hooked on this stuffing mix back in SD from Fareway and can't find it here, so I make my own. Has every type of bread (white, wheat, black pumpernickel and other odds and ends) in it. It's super yummy when done with oysters and chestnuts (and I do it in the crockpot).

Also going to put a bunch of stir fry beef strips (love the ones from Wally as they are thin enough) in some Teriyaki marinade which will sit in the fridge for a couple of days before I turn it into Jerky. This batch is for my GS who is paying me to make it.

Since it's 0%'ng outside (Colorado speak for it's raining idiot weather person) when the forecast was for no precipitation and sunny - yeah right, 50 degrees and kind of icy drizzle. That should help the fires.

20Gauge

Dude - I can barely move after dragging a bag of quick-crete across the porch! Total Respect!!

Fall break is over so it’s back to babysitting our granddaughter this week.

Renee-I need a step stool to get things on/off the top shelves too. I try to keep lightweight things (paper towels, potato chips, etc.) and things I don’t use often. Ugh, my pantry is such a disorganized mess right now! Hoping to get at least a couple of shelves taken care of this week.

The changes in the weather have caused flare ups with health issues and I really need it to settle down so I can get more done. Guess who got another bushel of Golden delicious apples LOL! And a 1/2 bushel of Honeycrisp!

ReneeT said:

20Gauge

Dude - I can barely move after dragging a bag of quick-crete across the porch! Total Respect!!

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Not bad for 57 and 60 lbs overweight....lol

Found room for a couple more small shelves in our storage room. Now I need to order more stuff.

We got away for the weekend--our first trip since the virus. Weren't around many people and had a great time. Nice to mentally relax a bit and just have a change in scenery. It did a lot for my mental health.

I ordered 6 cans of Keystone meat from Walmart.com--2 beef and 4 pork. Should be here on Tuesday. Prices were good and shipping was free. Might try that one more time.

Have plans to go to Sam's tomorrow and Walmart on Wednesday. Nothing major needed at either place, but I have a long list of "nice to have's" that I will purchase if they are available. Then I will be more than ready to hunker down. I have already voted and I work from home, so I shouldn't have to go out much.

I did a walmart pick up this afternoon. They were out of a couple of kinds of beans that I wanted so I stopped at SavALot. They had plenty with no limits. I also fond cream style corn there and haven't seen it in the longest time at walmart or Super One. SuperOne had limits of 2 of many things and 4 of vegetables. I didn't find any biscuit type mix at all three stores. but superone did have a couple of small boxes of bisquick.

Even though I was doing a pick up at walmart I went in the store. They had a couple of 5.0 cf chest freezers so I go one for DH's processing shed. They had 7 boxes of canning lids, I got four. SuperOne had canning jars, I got three cases, one regular mouth, one widemouth and one pints.

Every where I went there were some refrigerated cases that were empty.

Since I'm in the process of reorganizing some of my shelves I think it has made me think I have more space than I actually do have, sad.

I also got a counter top ice maker, but I'm having second thoughts on that, maybe, maybe not.

God is good all the time

Judy

Slow and steady continues for me -
Yesterday paid bills and tweaked my budget (an important prep in my mind - don’t want consumer debt so stick to my budget for purchases) —

Hubby and I did some fishing over the weekend - didn’t keep what we caught, but it was fun practice to do.

We did stop and get a half ton of the fire bricks we burn in the wood stove. We are able to buy them directly from the manufacture, they burn absolutely clean, and no mess. It works for us.
For us, it’s better than buying a cord of wood. We now have enough for this winter.

One great find we discovered at the second home we bought is an old generator. We initially thought it was a pressure washer from afar because it had wheels on it. Nope - an older generator. Hubby can fix most things so hopefully next weekend we will be bringing that home for hubby to get running.

Also had a friend who is giving me a brand new dehydrator so am excited about that. It’s not a fancy kind, but I think it will be great to start with

Slow and steady continues!

Yay! I've twisted Cary's arm to the point that he gave in, and said I could buy a new chest freezer, once this old one has been emptied! The old one will be moved out, and used for storage items in my mini barn. I don't know how long it's going to take for us to eat all the meat in there, and I also have several pounds of butter and cheese in there as well. So, it's "steady as she goes".....If things begin to look too much worse on the world and US stage, I will go ahead and get it just to make sure I have one.

At first DH wasn't interested in the ice maker, but when I got up this morning he'd already taken it out of the box and had it set up, guess we will be keeping it. We never have ice because the refrigerator freezers are too full to put ice trays in. I'm keeping the box for awhile in case the ice maker has issues.

God is good all the time.

Judy

nomifyle said:

At first DH wasn't interested in the ice maker, but when I got up this morning he'd already taken it out of the box and had it set up, guess we will be keeping it. We never have ice because the refrigerator freezers are too full to put ice trays in. I'm keeping the box for awhile in case the ice maker has issues.

God is good all the time.

Judy

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I've considered getting one of those but never knew anyone who had one. Let us know how y'all like it, what you don't like about it, OK?

So I went to Sam's this afternoon. It wasn't very busy, though there were a couple of families that looked like they might be stocking up, but were including frozen and refrigerated stuff. The place was pretty well stocked and I got the things on my list: salt, a case of ramen, a case of coke (mini cans), a box of multi-grain crackers, a jar of cashews, and a big box of minute rice. Also added a big bottle of generic motrin and a 3 pack of Krusteaz pumpkin mix (which I love!), a 6 pack of the canned chicken, some velveeta and cheese microwave cups, some peanut brittle (the really, really good stuff), a box of face masks and 3 sets of winter pajamas as Christmas presents for the grandkids. AND I also got a four pack of those long lighters and a 3 pack of lifestraws for $39.98. So I came in at $200, which was a lot more than what I had planned, but I feel good about all of it. I just transferred some money from the emergency fund to cover it.

The remaining "to get" list is now very short and should be done on Wednesday.

Got the 20 amp branch circuit pulled into the Safe Shed. Tapped the panel in the wellhouse for the circuit. Got the 1000 watt grow light mounted and 40 pound ballast mounted. Nomenclature says it draws 9 amps. Have a dozen tomato starts and lettuce starts. We are going to see if this works or not, I reckon.

Turned in my paperwork (finally) to get my concealed carry permit. That counts as a prep, right?

briches said:

Turned in my paperwork (finally) to get my concealed carry permit. That counts as a prep, right?

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Yes ma’am it sure does!

Foliar-fed all the food-producing plants and some of the ornamentals. Replaced the lumbar support on a vintage Aeron chair, so now I have an ergonomically friendly place to sit. Bought a mat and frame at Goodwill so I can hang the 91st Psalm on the wall. Got new Rx for eyeglasses and a treatment plan for dental work I'd like to complete before everything goes to hell.

thompson said:

I've considered getting one of those but never knew anyone who had one. Let us know how y'all like it, what you don't like about it, OK?

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I was just talking to my cousin and she said they are great.

God is good all the time

Judy

A local grocery store is having a sale on Red Gold brand tomato products (buy ten and they are priced at .39 each) so I went and picked up twenty cans. Tomato sauce, diced chili ready, diced with chilies. Nice score and all for less than nine dollars! Will make a nice addition to the pantry.

That is an excellent price, Blackguard! I think Red Gold also has an Italian one with garlic/onions that is excellent to add to pasta salad and other Italian type dishes.

Well, the last two canner loads are in and almost finished up - both are quarts of chicken broth. Looks like both meals today are gonna feature chicken - I didn't eat before I went to the pool this morning and was starving by the time I got home so looked in the fridge and found a little tub of Arby's BBQ sauce in a door pocket, dumped part of it over a 1/3 of a cup of chicken (picked off the bones that I tossed in a canner with water to make broth) and heated it up; it went well with some BLT type pasta salad and an apple for lunch. Supper is going to be chicken biscuit stew - a white sauce made with milk AND chicken broth, frozen mixed veggies and chunks of cooked chicken stirred in; then once it's cooked for a bit you cover the surface with drop baking powder biscuits and slide it in the oven until the biscuits are done. I'll probably break out a jar of peaches to go along with it since Hubby plaintively asked if we could have something that didn't start out with an apple I was raised in an apple orchard, I don't get tired of them very often!

Speaking of biscuits... I made a quick dash to my work town early yesterday morning to pick up some massage lotion for daughter - her order from Amazon didn't come in; she got a notice it was out of stock Sunday evening; had ordered it two weeks prior. It ended up being $5 cheaper than online, the shop is close to Rural King and opens at 8 am so I told her I'd be happy to do a pick up for her as she needs it. While I was at her house, I saw a pan of biscuits on the counter and asked if I could have one since I hadn't had breakfast; I complimented her on them - and she reached in the freezer and handed me a bag of Pillsbury frozen Grands biscuits They weren't homemade, but they also weren't bad. Darn it. I had to hit the Evil Empire for ice cream so I snagged a bag of them while I was wandering around the freezer section. I think Hubby ate three of them with his lunch

Soooo - to keep me from getting tempted to hit the freezer aisle again, I'm going to mix up a batch of my homemade sweet cream freezer biscuits today:
6 cups flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cup heavy cream - I use two pint cartons of heavy whipping cream from Aldi, then add a little half and half if it seems too dry. I'm too cheap to buy a third carton for just 4 oz

Mix dry ingredients together, make a well in the center and pour in cream. Mix well, knead lightly. Roll to 3/4 inches thick, cut with 2" cutter (I use a tomato sauce can (empty and washed, of course) as the cutter when I cut them out.)
Freeze - the recipe says that you have to do this before baking in order to solidify the butter fat in the cream, but I bake them freshly made with no problems.

Pre heat oven to 425*F or so, put frozen biscuits on baking sheet and bake until lightly browned.

One of the neighbors dropped off some bags and boxes of left over rummage sale clothing on Sunday; it's all nice and clean so I don't even have to wash anything before I figure out where it's all going to go - I'll sort out anything I might want, then sort out stuff that is appropriate for our patients (no strings, low cut, political, crude messages, etc...) and bag it up to carry in to work this weekend; the kid clothes I'll check the sizes on and keep anything the grandkids might need and check with daughter to see if she knows anyone who might need the rest before I donate them. The rest will go to the thrift store unless it has damage: those I'll cut up for shed rags as Hubby says we are running low on them. I've already got a bag beside my chair of things I need to cut up for rags but need to get a new pair of Fiskars before I do - the ones I keep in the kitchen drawer don't seem to want to cut much of anything...

Well, I better finish this up here shortly - I need to go out and vacuum the van before it starts raining this afternoon - two weekends with the tan granddog and a black/grey interior in the van... He does have his own seat in the van, and I bought some clearance tan seat covers to put over his seat, but he likes to lean up and put his chin on older grandsons seat, and then there is the happy tail wagging and bouncing around when he sees his cup of ice cream being handed in the window when we go to DQ.... Lord, I do love that dog Doesn't hurt that he's the best behaved and quietest of the 4 boys

You all take care out there - hope you all have a safe and happy week!

ReneeT they absolutely do have the Italian flavored but unfortunately the store didn't have any of those I was so hoping they did. I really like that product.

I am going outside to relax and look at the meteor shower, and Northern Lights.

I have been hunting spruce hens every morning.

blackguard said:

ReneeT they absolutely do have the Italian flavored but unfortunately the store didn't have any of those I was so hoping they did. I really like that product.

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Don’t forget to ask for a rain check. Most stores will offer them. Just something to think about.

briches said:

We did stop and get a half ton of the fire bricks we burn in the wood stove. We are able to buy them directly from the manufacture, they burn absolutely clean, and no mess. It works for us.
For us, it’s better than buying a cord of wood.

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Could you tell me what kind of bricks these are? We moved into our current house this last winter and it has two wood burning fireplaces that were capped and unused. One was in need of major overhaul so we left it capped, but the other had an insert. We're getting that one serviced next week and plan to start using it. I've got plenty of available firewood on the property but wouldn't mind having something like these bricks to reduce the amount of cleaning I have to do. Thanks!

I have a huge order for Walmart pickup going, I'm just waiting for them to get our dog food back in. We use Biljac for our 11 year old pup and he does well on it. I thinking about ordering a bread maker but to be honest I can make bread pretty quickly in my kitchenaid so I may skip it.

I've placed 2 Christmas orders and need to find a couple of other things then fill in with gcs. We do stocking stuffers with the family and everyone loves it. I'm in charge of the saran wrap game so that's next on the list.

Going to cover up the few things in the garden when the temps get low next week. I have radishes and swiss chard. I wanted to plant some frost hardy bak choy but didn't get in the ground.

Washing up blankets, hoodies, warm pjs and making sure there's plenty of cocoa for next week!

Cleaned the gutters, raked and burned leaves and mowed. Rain/snowon the way.
Way to early for this!!!!

We've been outdoors today taking down an old fence and posts. Cary has been trimming limbs off some of our trees that were hanging too low, mowing, and looking for other things that needed doing, before winter sets in. I cleaned up some more flower beds. I did notice that I have garlic coming up!

briches said:

Don’t forget to ask for a rain check. Most stores will offer them. Just something to think about.

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Thank you for that reminder. I had completely forgotten that.

DH asked me if we have more pepto, one of the goats has bad diarreah, I'm pretty sure we do but I placed an order at walmart.com for that and more tylenol and diahrreah tablets for DH. DH bought more chicken laying pellets, corn and some Triple 13. He said corn has gone up.

Been going through clothes that have been packed away for awhile and found things I can use this winter. Before I moved here 10 years ago I stocked up on warm winter clothes, but have not really been wearing them, not that cold. But since a colder winter is predicted I thought I'd better get them all laundered and in a handy place.

God is good all the time.

Judy

Blue 5 said:

Could you tell me what kind of bricks these are? We moved into our current house this last winter and it has two wood burning fireplaces that were capped and unused. One was in need of major overhaul so we left it capped, but the other had an insert. We're getting that one serviced next week and plan to start using it. I've got plenty of available firewood on the property but wouldn't mind having something like these bricks to reduce the amount of cleaning I have to do. Thanks!

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They are called Liberty Bricks. They are $200 a ton - they are two pound bricks that come ten to a package. They burn clean. No mess. No bugs. We buy them from the guy who makes them directly.

Hubby says there are a few brands out there that might be more expensive (enviro bricks). Tractor supplies sells another variety of them.

They work great for our need!

Today’s “prep” included ordering some oyster spat (oyster babies).

The other house we recently bought is on the Chesapeake bay and has oyster floats. We will be “reseeding” them this weekend. I’m picking up 1,000 spat with the plan of 500 more in the spring and 500 more next fall.

I have a lot to learn about this, and can’t wait to learn all I can.

Finished another hunting knife today. I just added it to the pile.
Here is what this one looks like.

Stopped by Harbor Freight to pick up a few things--some fuel transfer pumps, some zip ties, a tarp. Then to Walmart where I got everything on my list except distilled water and bleach tablets.

Last night our heating element in our stove caught fire. Replacing it didn't work as the oven temp thing got fried from the surge, so we ended up ordering a new stove (old one was over 12 years old). It should be here on Monday, so no baking this weekend.

My Keystone meats came in from Walmart.com.

We placed an order from chewy.com and had delivery within 14 hours, an advantage of living close to a distribution center. We got 4 buckets of kitty litter and some cat treats.

Will probably get some milk and the distilled water this weekend. But I am done. Nothing out there I "need". Will always have things out there that I "want", but I am happy with where I am. Just hoping I get to use all of these preps in peace and prosperity, rather than in upheaval and depression.

Got a 7 cu ft Hotpoint chest freezer on sale at Lowes. I will fill it as my monthly checks come in. I can always take up space with frozen milk for my coffee and OJ or cider. ( You just have to untwist the top and take some out as it expands when it freezes. ) Can also freeze some butter and shredded cheese, maybe some stick or brick cheese. Has anyone ever frozen cream cheese? I do seem to like dairy products.

marsh said:

Got a 7 cu ft Hotpoint chest freezer on sale at Lowes. I will fill it as my monthly checks come in. I can always take up space with frozen milk for my coffee and OJ or cider. ( You just have to untwist the top and take some out as it expands when it freezes. ) Can also freeze some butter and shredded cheese, maybe some stick or brick cheese. Has anyone ever frozen cream cheese? I do seem to like dairy products.

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We got our freezer over the summer and last be having it! We are using it a lot and it brings comfort.
Curious to what others say about the frozen cream cheese.

My mom has always used a lot of cream cheese. She loves the stuff. LOL, I think she's addicted to it. IIRC, she has always frozen hers in the freezer. She buys up several packages when she finds it on sale. I don't use cream cheese so, I don't know first hand.

Hubby is scheduled for a spinal injection on the 30th. I pray it helps. He really should have had it sooner.

The leaves are falling, so we have started mulching the garden. Hubby uses the grasshopper to chop and vacuum them up and I tell him where to dump. Then I spread them out. Starting earlier than usual I hope to get more coverage since we won't loose leaves as much.

Going to vote today and stock up some more.

I have heard that freezing cream cheese is fine--best to use the cheese for cooking though, not for spreading on bagels and the like. The texture does change a little bit. Since I don't like cream cheese "straight" it wouldn't matter to me. I only use it for cooking purposes anyway.

I'm fully expecting another shutdown for our state right after election day, so I'm topping off toilet paper, soups, and November 1st, I plan to buy the Christmas candy for the stockings.