Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: Feb 1-7, 2026

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hd5574

Veteran Member
I have a recipe that DH loves for those chicken breasts..can use it on the pork chops too.
Dip in seasoned four...fry until golden...remove to a baking dish...in small pot mix and heat 1 cup of sour cream, half cup of milk and 1 package of Lipton onion soup mix...to very warm not boiling. ..pour of the breasts or chops...cover pan tightly with foil bake at 350 until done...sprinkle the top with dried onions..serve with salad or veggie..
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

TB Fanatic
hd5574 said:
I have a recipe that DH loves for those chicken breasts..can use it on the pork chops too.
Dip in seasoned four...fry until golden...remove to a baking dish...in small pot mix and heat 1 cup of sour cream, half cup of milk and 1 package of Lipton onion soup mix...to very warm not boiling. ..pour of the breasts or chops...cover pan tightly with foil bake at 350 until done...sprinkle the top with dried onions..serve with salad or veggie..
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I have a lot of chicken breast recipes. One is very similar to yours. We don't eat sour cream, though. I think mine calls for cream of chicken, instead.
 
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anna43

Veteran Member
I also seldom buy beef beyond ground since I can stretch a pound for many meals. I buy boneless pork either loin or chops and chicken. Seldom buy bacon although I love it due to return on cost. I have a good supply of canned tuna and salmon. The salmon is usually salmon patties, and one can makes 4 which for me is 4 meals. Tuna might turn into a casserole or salad sandwiches. We are often given 5-pound bags of chicken hind quarters in the bi-monthly food boxes which I cook, pick off, use many ways and freeze. I used to can the chicken, but I have many jars already so haven't been canning any. I have home canned ground venison, chunks of turkey, chunks of pork loin, diced chicken and one lonely jar of ground beef. I usually buy one Cure 81 ham a year and freeze slices which typically I stretch through a year. Vacuum sealed it keeps wonderfully. Hot dogs I buy on sale during summer and have them occasionally as they are not a favorite. I like Aldi's sausage and try to keep a couple packages in the freezer.

I can remember when an arm roast or 7-bone roast were 69¢ a pound and round steak 89¢ so my brain cannot compute today's prices ... I look and then it's uh-no. I got a grocery gift certificate for our Christmas in January and used it for a round steak which was huge, so I had the butcher cut it in two and wrap separately. I will have my 4th meal off one half leftover for supper this evening. Fareway has their roasted chickens for $5 on Wednesdays but I never seem to shop on Wednesdays. I love those and can stretch them to many meals for myself.

A while back Aldi had grass fed whole chickens marked down half price, so I bought one. Oh, my goodness, it was the best tasting chicken I've had in forever. I think even at full price I might buy another although I haven't seen them sense. That is a drawback of only shopping once a month.

It's sunny 37º/feels like17º due to being very windy. It did get up to 40º for about 5 minutes around 1 p.m. High forecast for tomorrow is 36º and Sunday 40º. As long as temps don't have a minus in front of them, I'll try hard not to complain!!
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie
Congrats on the bread, SB! You're more experienced now. I knew it would be fine! :geek:

As for meat, I didn't have a chance to share a split hind of beef with several friends. It just didn't work out this year, so I've been buying various cuts of meat here and there, depending on price.

- I eat a lot of pork chops and single slices of ham, mostly from Fareway. That's the most affordable meat in my area, right now.
- I buy whole chickens, directly from the farms, when I can (at winter farmers markets).
- I buy hamburger on sale where I can find. it, mostly Fareway.
- I eat a fair number of hot dogs from a local butcher, 100% beef, and he has a lower sodium version. In the summer, I sometimes buy mild sausage from him and use that with hamburger for meatballs or a special dish.

As for roasts, steaks, and other cuts -- most are too pricey. I buy strip steaks and rib eyes now and again, usually on sale and for the freezer, for a holiday meal. I sometimes buy minute steaks when I see them (Not as expensive but they are very hard to find!)

And I buy stew beef when I find a sale AND it looks okay. It's been looking rough lately, too much fat.

I'll probably get a roast or make beef stew for Easter.

Once the garden starts producing again, I'll eat a lot less meat and a lot more salad and produce.

Added: I'll eat 1 - 2 dinners a week with some sort of fish during Lent. That's the only time when fish is good in Iowa.
 
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WanderLore

Veteran Member
hd5574 said:
My house is very old wooden style two story farm house built in the late 1800s....it was built by the local doctor who was a distant cousin of mine from the mid 1700s..the oldest front section was a two over two...with a stone foundation...rock from here...there is no plumbing in that portion of the house...but the original chimney was built from site brick..Virginia has lots of clay...

later the original family added a two over two addition..out of the back of the house on a block foundation..so the house is a T shape..this when plumbing started..it is a very shallow crawl space under the house ...plumbing was a new thing when this was added...a kitchen was in the new addition and another chimney was built for a cook stove..that one goes down to the dirt in the crawl space....in addition to the chimney..there were some large rocks...that were just left under the addition...

the original well...hand dug well is bricked..about 25' deep 36 inches wide..and is in a block well house behind the house...our current well is bored and 30 inches wide.and 75 feet deep...all the well parts are in the well house..
All original plumbing is copper....and old....the sink was put on the north side of the house...the opening for the crawl space is on the west side of the house..in the corner by the north wall..and few feet in is one of those large rocks..so the plumbing to the kitchen sink is in the coldest..corner of the house...we had problems with the plumbing in that area..the came in on that side..and runs under the west side of the house over to the water heater and washer ..

DH worked with a guy that was a plumber in a prior life...we finally cut the copper under the house replaced with pex...and ran the pex inside the house up against the inside back wall....but there is no way to run the water line to the kitchen sink..dishwasher and fridge..inside the house..but we did manage to run pex to that area ...

That was a challenge...they had to drill a hole in the pex..to attach a heavy piece of wire to it to pull it over the rock to get it under the house to the sink and up..into the cabinet...getting the heat tape around it was even worse.....we also have a trouble light that hangs on old copper..that adds heat.. after all this
We haven't had trouble with that area until this winter...but these crazy temperatures here have been much colder than we usually get..and not getting above freezing for days at a time.. getting down as low as 10 is really cold here..
But we have been going sub zero...at night...we have added extra heat in that area with a buddy heater blasting under the sink...running water...and only frozen the sinkhot water line once..but got to it right away ..and got it going again with out a break..we have had a couple warm nights upper teens...but we are back in the cold weather warning again with single digits coming again..

So Wonderlore...my heart breaks for you...i remember so well the sound of water running from a broken pipe...it was end less for us for a while..praying for you that this will be over soon..each day gets us closer to Spring..the sun IS coming north..PTL
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My plumber is so great. 4 hours hard work he never took a break once. Always happy and positive. He was trying to hurry up to finish everything because his twin daughters birthday is today and they're having a party tonight.
He had to pull out the bathroom sink vanity everything upside down, also change out all the plumbing and p-trap all that run it differently into the septic get rid of all the metal. He put two water shut off for me on the bathroom sink. Bunch of other stuff. Worth every single penny.
Hopefully this will fix things for the most part for now. It is supposed to get extremely cold for 8 hours tomorrow from 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. like 15 below. I hope not. It got up to 35 today for a little while and stuff is melting but there's still a ton of snow out there.
Son just went to work again 48 hour shift.
I got a complete kitchen drain repair kit from tractor supply hopefully that will work for under the kitchen sink.
It is not a crawl space under there it is a Michigan basement which is stones concrete floor and dirt you can walk around and they're fine. I did put a second can of spray foam on the back wall and then shoveled a good bit of the dirt that's there up top on to that. I hooked the softener back up waiting to see if it will start working again. I appreciate everybody's helpful comments I sure do I was about to have a heart attack yesterday from all this stress.
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie
Awesome! Sounds like you're in much better shape to face the cold. I hope that the last of the extreme stuff for you for awhile!

I remember the first time I went through -17 (actual) in Ohio. I was in a trailer in N. Ohio. It had heat tape, but I still left the taps running and still lost my hot water for three days, That was just too cold. Oh, and the front door froze shut. I had to take a heat gun to it!

I'm not going to say "Good times!" I was glad to get out there and move to a little house in Columbus. At that point, Columbus was a city on the move and a very good place to be.
 
Shadow

Shadow

Swift, Silent,...Sleepy
SouthernBreeze said:
I love it when an experiment turns out to be a success!
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Two women friends of DW were talking about why there are practically no great women chefs. They decided it was because men will do the same thing every time, while they enjoy experimenting. One said her husband will say he really liked how she made a dish two weeks ago, and, she has no idea what she did. It was an interesting conversation.

Shadow
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
SouthernBreeze said:
Cary loves beef over any other meat. He's had to adjust to less of it, because of the price, too. I only buy ground beef, and even that is expensive. It's versatile enough that I can use it many different ways. Same with chicken.
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I use to love it most too but what we get here just doesn't have the same taste it use to so now it's in a tie with chicken for me.

hd5574 said:
I bought a cool meat tenderizer on amazon...there are bunch up there that are similar....they have a handle and a lot of spikes...and push down on them...i got cheapest ...the prices change from week to week cause I looked for my cousin..we get those giant chicken breast...yes the tough ones..in a big package of them..even cheaper that way..and vacuum freeze them 2 to a bag...2 of them is enough meat for 2 meals for us...also get the really thick pork chops..also very tough....but very inexpensive at our BJs..its like Sam's or Costco...them we poke them over and over with that tenderizer ....they come out so tender...that we can almost cut them with a fork...I paid under $10 for my tenderizer...fast to do it and basically no mess like marinade..I haven't tried on a cheap cut of beef....I think it will do the same...now I wonder why I didn't have one years ago..
We also get 3lb rotisserie chickens there for $4.99 and save a ton with those..we eat a couple meals on the plate with veggies on the side....boned a bunch..last one I made creamed chicken over biscuits with boned meat...then had one giant breast left and made a large pot of chicken noodle soup with veggies..onion sweet peppers...in colors.. celery..and carrots...and the colored italian noodles with veggie powder... In cool shapes...I get at Lidl.....so at least 5 meals from that chicken..for 2 people..sometimes I use the boned chicken in a casserole ..plus the dog gets her share...
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WM's rotisserie chickens are the only ones we have access to and they are hit and miss at best. The last one we got wasn't done and sometimes they are almost burned so we haven't had one in a while but we use to love them. Back when ours were good, we'd eat every last bit too in different dishes but you've given me some ideas. I still bake a chicken every week or two. We eat the chicken with sides the first night. The last one I did, I made a big pot of chicken and dumplings the next night and we got several meals from that too.

I've got a couple of vintage mallet style meat tenderizers...sounds like I need to put them to use. I've got a really nice one in my antique booth with a melamine handle. If it's still there next time I go to restock, I'm bringing it it home with me.
 
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hd5574

Veteran Member
Wildwood said:
I use to love it most too but what we get here just doesn't have the same taste it use to so now it's in a tie with chicken for me.


WM's rotisserie chickens are the only ones we have access to and they are hit and miss at best. The last one we got wasn't done and sometimes they are almost burned so we haven't had one in a while but we use to love them. Back when ours were good, we'd eat every last bit too in different dishes but you've given me some ideas. I still bake a chicken every week or two. We eat the chicken with sides the first night. The last one I did, I made a big pot of chicken and dumplings the next night and we got several meals from that too.

I've got a couple of vintage mallet style meat tenderizers...sounds like I need to put them to use. I've got a really nice one in my antique booth with a melamine handle. If it's still there next time I go to restock, I'm bringing it it home with me.
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Take look on Amazon..these new are so easy...work so much better..than mallet style..I have that style also ..now retired top if kitchen cabinet with all the other kitchen antiques..when come up something dh dh likes/love jot it down on a recipe card..
Another one is cook ramen noodles in chicken bone broth..throw away the seasoning pack...add chicken pulled or canned...a handful of veggies..even dehydrated..season your way...uber fast chicken noodle soup..I think if kept dry those noodles have a thousand year life..and they are super "cheap"
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie
I've not had good luck keeping Ramen noodles for over a year without vac sealing, and I think 1.5 years is about their limit, even when sealed. They taste "stale," at least to me around the 1.5 year mark.

I have the same problem with crackers. Wasa bread ("cracker") keeps a bit longer.

I make an effort to keep the Ramen and crackers rotated. If we ever had a disaster, and I had time for one last shopping trip, they would both be on the list, although I have flour and know how to make noodles. My homemade crackers aren't good, though.
 
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anna43

Veteran Member
For everyone dealing with winter/freezing water issues, please do not forget and get busy with your summer life. Summer is the best time to winterize your plumbing to the max. Spray foam will stick better when temps are above freezing. It's so much easier to do all that's necessary when you are not in a crisis situation and it's colder than cold. You can go way over the top in insulating and other preps, getting heating tape installed and electricity sorted. Emergency fixes are necessary but it's a lot more fun to take those preparations over the top when you aren't freezing. Now might be the best time to buy the heat tape, insulation etc. that might not be available until fall if you wait.
 
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hd5574

Veteran Member
Meemur said:
I've not had good luck keeping Ramen noodles for over a year without vac sealing, and I think 1.5 years is about their limit, even when sealed. They taste "stale," at least to me around the 1.5 year mark.

I have the same problem with crackers. Wasa bread ("cracker") keeps a bit longer.

I make an effort to keep the Ramen and crackers rotated. If we ever had a disaster, and I had time for one last shopping trip, they would both be on the list, although I have flour and know how to make noodles. My homemade crackers aren't good, though.
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I put my crackers in glass canning jars...and vacuum seal them...used them years old without any change ..seal my meat a vac seal bag..then drop in a second vac seal bag...write info on apiece of paper and put between the bags...it lasts nearly..all noodles go in jars and are vac sealed
I have one of those new rechargeable sealer that are small ...and just drop over the jar...I have all sorts of jars of pantry stables in jars...and have a cool small lid lifter..than doesn't damage the lids..for example..jar of rice, open take out what need..and instant reseal and suck the air out..I got mine on Lehman's on sale..it is rechargeable..things like dehydrated veggies in jars, barley to add to soups..tons of things..dried onions and garlic you get the idea..i make my own bread crumbs and seal they last a couple of years...
I also have a food sealer for the bags for meat...and all sorts of things that don't work well in jars...
I can buy things like crackers on buy one get one and seal jars...saves me a lot of money
 
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anna43

Veteran Member
Soda crackers that I've vac sealed in jars were stale when opened. They were stored less than a year.

I have so much pasta stored that I do not buy any including Ramen. We are given pasta in nearly every mobile pantry box and I've accumulated a lot. It seems to keep without special treatment. I leave in original package and store packages in buckets kept in the basement pantry.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

TB Fanatic
Shadow said:
Two women friends of DW were talking about why there are practically no great women chefs. They decided it was because men will do the same thing every time, while they enjoy experimenting. One said her husband will say he really liked how she made a dish two weeks ago, and, she has no idea what she did. It was an interesting conversation.

Shadow
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I've just recently, over the past year, learned how to bake bread that is eatable, LOL. I'm getting really good at baking my tried and true bread recipes. I wanted to broaden my horizons by learning to bake artisan breads, too. I was seeing all these bread recipes on the 'net about baking in a Dutch oven to get that artisan bread crust. So, I tried it, and it worked. I like trying new things.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

TB Fanatic
Cary loves Ramen noodles. He, sometimes, eats them for his lunch. I keep several of those cases that we get at Sam's in storage all the time. First, I freeze them, then store in large totes. They stay on a regular rotation cycle. I freeze all pasta and rice, before final storage.

Not as warm, today. High of 54 with 28, tonight. Sunny skies. I'm still hoping for an early Spring.

Just household chores for me, today.
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie
It's 26 and sunny. No complaints from me! The sidewalks and trails are clear and dry. I'm going for a long walk about noon. Right now, I'm drinking coffee while the dishwasher finishes. Then the laundry goes in, and I'll do some homework.

While the house isn't spotless, I've been keeping up with the dusting and tidying, so it's presentable. That's giving me a mental lift. I'm glad that I not working at a second job right now. It's nice to have some energy on the weekend and not have to push myself to finish the chores!
 
D

Digger

Veteran Member
Yesterday, I felt off all day. It felt like I was coming down with something. Both ears were bothering me, not just the left one. Mid afternoon I took a dose of ivemectin. Today I feel better. I think I am going to take it and see if it helps clear my ear. I am just not sure how often to take it, maybe once a week. I slept really well too. My sciatica is improving with time. I am trying to be very careful with that. I need it to get well before garden time.

Today we may plant more fruit trees. Our son is buying some this morning and we bought 3 cherry trees yesterday. I hilled ours into the mulch pile.

I guess I should get around and do something. Have a blessed day everyone.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

TB Fanatic
Meemur said:
While the house isn't spotless, I've been keeping up with the dusting and tidying, so it's presentable. That's giving me a mental lift.
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As I get older, I can't seem to get motivated to keep my house spotless anymore. It's helping my mental state knowing that everything doesn't have to be perfect. I'm tending to let things go that I used to think had to be done like clockwork. My house is still tidy, but not spotless. Cary nor I have ever been messy people, so that helps.
 
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hd5574

Veteran Member
Meemur said:
You may want to open an older box of pasta and make something with it. I suspect it will taste off, although it could be me!

HD, you've had better luck than I have. Perhaps my food was stale to begin with.
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I really don't have an answer..
We were shopping at Costco a lot...but have now signed up for BJs...because they carry Perdue's chicken with no antibiotics at great prices..
Costco was carrying pasta from Italy...I just can't eat American pasta it makes me sick....there is a difference in our flour and their flour..there I was getting all all kinds of pasta in cool shapes...some with various veggie powders...and some just plain...more the size of mac..and putting in jars and sealing..nothing has gone bad..it great because it is such a great meal extender..the pasta from Italy has a better texture..I also get it from Lidl...they bring in a lot of foods from Europe...
I was telling a cousin about it...and she told me that one of the ladies at her church...had a daughter who couldn't eat pasta...it made her sick..the daughter ate pasta on a trip to Italy and was fine...until then she thought it was a gluten allergy...the non gluten stuff is so expensive...
It might be the difference in the flour...that it doesn't go stale..
DH and I both had depression Dads...both of them were raised eating things like canned, sardines, kipper snacks, mackerel ..we both started eating them young..and love them...I get the ones in olive oil...both our Dads ate them on saltines...But DH likes Club and Town House...that is what I store..in jars and seal....a bonus is that they frequently in my area go one sale 2 for 1...
Mom made salmon croquettes from canned salmon and she just used...Dads saltine crackers but I use the ones i get they
..it seems like there are some broken crackers in every box.. so I just crumble them and make a jar of cracker crumbs..to use in cooking...and seal
 
Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie
Good news! My checks arrived (and they are correct). They were shipped via USPS from TX on Jan. 17th. It's now Feb. 7. Who knows where they have been? The tracking is still "unavailable." But I'm thankful that they're here.

Yes, I know there was a storm and everything! But that was a few days later. Gotta love the "post awful."
 
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anna43

Veteran Member
Currently 36º/feels like 19º with the wind 20 mph. Forecast calls for 43º tomorrow and 59º for Sunday with 40s for the rest of the week. I'll take it!! The wind must be gusting much higher than 20 mph because every once and a while it shakes the house. My neighbor's dead ash trees worry me when it gets windy even though I do not think they would hit my house. One is very close to his house and the other likely would get hung up in other trees neither of which is a good outcome. He is on maintenance chemo which keeps him too broke to take the trees down. The men from the church took one or two of his down last summer ... the day they took 40 trees down in one day one of which was huge and close to power lines ... on the hottest day of the summer.

Got my sheets washed, dried and back on the bed. Other laundry folded and put away. Dishes done and supper in the crockpot, Bible reading done, daily devotions done and therapy done, so I guess I'm on a roll today. I had one skip day for therapy this week which is within my acceptable limits. Too easy to slack off so only one slack day allowed per week.

I've not been to church in three Sundays but with the weather improving I'm planning to go tomorrow. It will still be in the 20s when I go but I can cope with that for half a block! I won't walk when the street is icy but the cold I can cope with if it's above zero.

SouthernBreeze said:
As I get older, I can't seem to get motivated to keep my house spotless anymore. It's helping my mental state knowing that everything doesn't have to be perfect. I'm tending to let things go that I used to think had to be done like clockwork. My house is still tidy, but not spotless. Cary nor I have ever been messy people, so that helps.
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When I was first married, I thought I had to keep things perfect. Then when I had a child and was working full time and couldn't scrub the floor on Friday and the world did not come to an end, I realized it was okay not to attempt perfect. Later I learned to keep the living room dusted and picked up and people coming in would not notice it wasn't perfect. Before I go to bed each night, I make sure to straighten the living room and each morning I wipe down the bathroom which means I would not be ashamed to invite friends in. I'm also trying to do a better job of keeping dishes done up. I do not have a dishwasher to hide them!

When we had a house listed for sale, I'd asked the realtor to give me an hour's notice before each showing. One evening he called and said he'd be there in 10 minutes. I'd been canning and supper dishes were piled and I was dirty and so were the kids. I quickly put dirty dishes in the fridge and oven, wiped the counters, put the kids in p.j.s and washed parts showing and put on a floor length granny dress for myself, washed my face, combed my hair and opened the door. It's amazing what you can do in 10 minutes!!!!
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

TB Fanatic
anna43 said:
Currently 36º/feels like 19º with the wind 20 mph. Forecast calls for 43º tomorrow and 59º for Sunday with 40s for the rest of the week. I'll take it!! The wind must be gusting much higher than 20 mph because every once and a while it shakes the house. My neighbor's dead ash trees worry me when it gets windy even though I do not think they would hit my house. One is very close to his house and the other likely would get hung up in other trees neither of which is a good outcome. He is on maintenance chemo which keeps him too broke to take the trees down. The men from the church took one or two of his down last summer ... the day they took 40 trees down in one day one of which was huge and close to power lines ... on the hottest day of the summer.

Got my sheets washed, dried and back on the bed. Other laundry folded and put away. Dishes done and supper in the crockpot, Bible reading done, daily devotions done and therapy done, so I guess I'm on a roll today. I had one skip day for therapy this week which is within my acceptable limits. Too easy to slack off so only one slack day allowed per week.

I've not been to church in three Sundays but with the weather improving I'm planning to go tomorrow. It will still be in the 20s when I go but I can cope with that for half a block! I won't walk when the street is icy but the cold I can cope with if it's above zero.


When I was first married, I thought I had to keep things perfect. Then when I had a child and was working full time and couldn't scrub the floor on Friday and the world did not come to an end, I realized it was okay not to attempt perfect. Later I learned to keep the living room dusted and picked up and people coming in would not notice it wasn't perfect. Before I go to bed each night, I make sure to straighten the living room and each morning I wipe down the bathroom which means I would not be ashamed to invite friends in. I'm also trying to do a better job of keeping dishes done up. I do not have a dishwasher to hide them!

When we had a house listed for sale, I'd asked the realtor to give me an hour's notice before each showing. One evening he called and said he'd be there in 10 minutes. I'd been canning and supper dishes were piled and I was dirty and so were the kids. I quickly put dirty dishes in the fridge and oven, wiped the counters, put the kids in p.j.s and washed parts showing and put on a floor length granny dress for myself, washed my face, combed my hair and opened the door. It's amazing what you can do in 10 minutes!!!!
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I've been a homemaker, since our second son was born. I've always tried to keep my house clean and tidy for when Cary got home from work. I wanted him to feel comfortable after a long day. I never wanted him to walk into a mess. That's the way I've always been, even now that he is retired. I don't work, so I have all the time I need to keep everything clean and tidy, but I no longer feel that I have to be unrealistic with it. Mentally, it feels like a small burden has been lifted. If I let things go too far, I still have a tendency to get panicky with a feeling of being overwhelmed.
 
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moldy

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The fair went well. It was more informational than selling, but I had a lady approach me and pre-pay for some elderberry and a flower essence. I will get them made up and deliver them tonight. I already knew about half the vendors, and they things they said to me were a huge ego boost. There are days I am overwhelmed by the kindness of others.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
I don't now what got into me today. As soon as I finished my coffee, I decided to reclaim the big tin bottom drawer in my hoosier. I've used it for so many years as a place to put my excess utensils...the ones I only use a few times a year. I have no idea what inspired it but one thing led to another. I threw a ton of that stuff away, DH took a few things he can repurpose when he's inventing a part for something broken and made a pile to see if DDIL wants anything out of it. I scrubbed the drawer well and as soon as it was good and dry, I arranged all my bread in it but I can see right now, it probably won't work out...I'll give it a few days.

Next I tackled a little wooden spice cabinet hanging in my kitchen...one of those little oak ones with eight tiny drawers. I never used it for spices but I did tuck almost forty years worth of tiny treasures into it like baby teeth, rare stamps, vintage marbles we'd find around here, old keys, youngest DS's old hunting license and his duck stamps, baseball cards and lots more tiny stuff, half of which we don't even remember lol. I did find a few sentimental things I was tickled to lay eyes on again. I forgot my collection of old paper milk bottle lids...must have been close to a hundred but they don't take up much room.

After that I got into a large drawer in an antique work table I have in my kitchen. It holds pens and pencils, safety pins, paper clips, magnifying glasses, all my ear bud accessories, and my collection of antique ice picks lol. The surprise in that drawer was also a bunch of crochet hooks I've collected over the years even though I don't crochet but have had lifelong intentions to learn how.

I set aside a few things to sell...those with no sentimental value. DS will take his stuff home. It sure was nice to see some of those things again. I found one true treasure in the little spice cabinet...a keychain I bought on a field trip in the fifth grade. It had one of those magnifying things you could look through and see scripture you could actually read. I'd done my actual built in kitchen cabinets and drawers several months ago so I'm calling my kitchen done in the big declutter plan. It's a big room so it's an accomplishment.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
Meemur said:
I've not had good luck keeping Ramen noodles for over a year without vac sealing, and I think 1.5 years is about their limit, even when sealed. They taste "stale," at least to me around the 1.5 year mark.

I have the same problem with crackers. Wasa bread ("cracker") keeps a bit longer.

I make an effort to keep the Ramen and crackers rotated. If we ever had a disaster, and I had time for one last shopping trip, they would both be on the list, although I have flour and know how to make noodles. My homemade crackers aren't good, though.
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I can't keep them tasting fresh here either but they are so cheap I toss them and buy more...I actually make sure I have the new ones and then toss them lol. I can make them last a about a year but this last batch has lasted longer than any I've had in a long time...we may actually finish the case because it's low. They are on my grocery list right now because I thought I had a new case and can't find them. We don't eat them as aften a we use to but they are the best when a person is under the weather.

I agree, if things look dicey, I'll get extra if I can. At this age, my mandatory minimum amount of lots of things has been scaled down some and I'm a little more frugal now. We've got to get DH's shop finished and the last of his tools replaced while we still can so most of our extra funds are put towards that.

He's calling to get the electric turned back on next week. The fire took out the pole and all involved with it so he's been running off our house electric to work on everything for the last few years but it can't run some of his tools and equipment. It's a big step and I can't tell you what a turning point it is..we've gone through discouragement a few times. We are so excited about that because the building for his lumber kiln is done and only needs that electric. It is a new addition and will help get the lumber cured faster for the last part of his build. It will also give him furniture quality wood a lot cheaper.
 
W

Wildwood

Veteran Member
I forgot to mention the best thing I found in one of those tiny drawers...my mother's homemade roll recipe. She came over when she knew she was sick, well before the rest of us knew but we had started worrying. I knew why she chose that time which makes it even more bittersweet. I had thought it was in there but I never could find it...guess it was under something. She didn't feel good and was in a hurry...I had to grab the closest piece of paper and write as fast as I could. It was the back of a deposit slip.

She brought her favorite spoon with her and gave it to me because it's part of the recipe...that spoon rounded over is how much sugar and shortening was involved. She already knew she wouldn't be using it any more but I didn't. It was one they handed out at all the small country churches and meeting places when the home extension folks would come teach them how to use what little food they had in different ways. They were old Army spoons made out of stainless, wonderful and heavy duty. They were left over from WWII. It was her mother's spoon given to her when my mother was a little girl. The community then came out with a little cookbook they handed out to all the women who came to the meetings. It had all their own recipes and had a hand sewn fabric cover...it's precious.

I use that big old spoon every day. I show it to my grandkids and remind them what it means to us if they walk in while I'm using it.
 
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