Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: January 1~7, 2023

[skwentnaflyer]

Well, I finally did something....ordered some herb and eggplant seeds, as well as a few flowers. We had to move in November, the landlord sold the property, and there went my nice garden. I’ll be starting all over, so I’m going to use lick tubs wherever I can fit them, while I work on the back yard. It’s pretty weedy, doesn’t look like good dirt, unfortunately.
It may be a blessing in disguise, got the biopsy results on my lung and I’ll be starting chemo again, so I may not have the energy to do very much.

 

[moldy]

Thinking the same thing. I asked DH when we were starting seeds, and his response was, "We may not have a garden this year. It depends on how you're feeling." Still having good days and bad days, and I should be finished with chemo by February.

 

[kyrsyan]

I had been prepping beans for a month at a time using my instapot. That was getting me mush.

So this time I did an overnight soak. Then I bagged them and tossed them in the freezer. Tonight I used the first of them. I pulled them and got them going in a pot on the side while I was preparing the rest. That worked. By the time I needed to add them they were ready. That will likely be my method from now on.

 

[ReneeT]

Renee, somewhere on a homestead site I ran across a video of a great idea. Someone made a table that would roll over the plants. Just high enough that their hands could easily do all the work, and propel them further as needed. If you're going to do strawberries, that might be an idea to save your spine.

I'm still a massive book dragon. But about a decade back I started trading in my eaay reading stuff. I found it as ebooks or I borrow it from the library. I have kept the books for cooking, sewing, gardening, etc. I need physical books for that type of stuff. Although, honestly, I'm about to start thinning that out, especially the excess cookbooks.

I do need to get my hands on a few beginner books for loom knitting. The ones the library has as ebooks assume you've already done some projects.

The neighbor lady has offered to loan me her garden seat that has wheels

 

[briches]

Well, I finally did something....ordered some herb and eggplant seeds, as well as a few flowers. We had to move in November, the landlord sold the property, and there went my nice garden. I’ll be starting all over, so I’m going to use lick tubs wherever I can fit them, while I work on the back yard. It’s pretty weedy, doesn’t look like good dirt, unfortunately.
It may be a blessing in disguise, got the biopsy results on my lung and I’ll be starting chemo again, so I may not have the energy to do very much.

Praying for you!

 

[ioujc]

Here are pics of my new chickens ...IF I CAN GET THEM TO POST!!

The first is a beautiful Speckled Sussex, which is one of my all time favs. I had a matched pair if these at one time, and that rooster was AWESOME!!!! But a possum finally got him!!

The second, which you can only see the bird, if you click on the thumbnail, is a Golden Laced Wyandotte.......and she is gorgeous !!

 

[Marseydoats]

The neighbor lady has offered to loan me her garden seat that has wheels

Just a heads up, the metal ones with 3 wheels and a tractor seat turn over really easily. I am the world's biggest klutz, and somehow I got my legs tangled up in the thing and couldn't get loose. My good old dog went and got hubs or I'd probably still by lying there.
The heavy plastic ones with 4 wheels are much more stable.

 

[ioujc]

Sorry...... can't get the stupid video to pause and then export the frame. I am NOT super patient with technology!!

 

[ioujc]

Renee, somewhere on a homestead site I ran across a video of a great idea. Someone made a table that would roll over the plants. Just high enough that their hands could easily do all the work, and propel them further as needed. If you're going to do strawberries, that might be an idea to save your spine.

I'm still a massive book dragon. But about a decade back I started trading in my eaay reading stuff. I found it as ebooks or I borrow it from the library. I have kept the books for cooking, sewing, gardening, etc. I need physical books for that type of stuff. Although, honestly, I'm about to start thinning that out, especially the excess cookbooks.

I do need to get my hands on a few beginner books for loom knitting. The ones the library has as ebooks assume you've already done some projects.

I want to do some loom knitting too!!!
I have an Inkle loom, but have only the foggiest idea of how to use it.....

And the rolling table idea is AWESOME!!!! Especially for strawberries!!

 

[Digger]

We bit the bullet and went to the Walmart super center. I did not find a picture frame that I liked. I guess I will look online. I also did not find Bull's Eye BBQ sauce. That is 3 stores in the area that we have checked and they have none. I did get 2 more cases of wide mouth pint jars. The other items were just replacing what we had used.

My sons blood pressure is much better now that he is on medication. It may need a slight increase when he goes back for his check up, but not a lot. He looked good when we saw him in town the other day.

I need to take down my Christmas tree, but I hate to this year. I really am enjoying it. Hubby said to leave the lights on the window if I want to. I am not sure. I guess i will decide after the tree is down. I dread hauling all that back to the attic.

We opened one of our long term storage cans of hashbrowns. We had some for breakfast yesterday. They were good. We need to keep an eye out for them to go on sale again.

 

[ReneeT]

It's a 4 wheeled version, Marseydoats; but I can be kind of a klutz sometimes, so - assuming I remember by the time they bear - I'll give it a try and see if I can manage not to fall of it Honestly, I'll probably just bend from the hips to pick like I used to - luckily I'm built close to the ground already I may need to keep a walking stick handy to help me stand up straight just in case though. A thousand plants is a small plot to me - we started out with an acre of U-Pick, then somehow eventually ended up with 3 acres of the darn things. Working full time 12 hour nights, 3 acres was just too much for me to deal with until Pop retired. And then there was the day that he fired my whole picking crew... I'd probably be smarter to start with 500 plants - let's see if I end up being that smart I have over a year to get ready as we usually didn't let the plants bear the first year - would just let a few plants do so for fresh eating.

We had a good heavy frost on the ground when I woke up this morning; and it still hasn't melted off - sun is up but the temp is 26* so it may take a bit for it to melt off. So far, I haven't done much of anything useful other than doing some laundry and feeding the cats. I do have a couple of things on my list - carrying some things down to the store room that have somehow migrated upstairs, and running a couple of loads of the grandkid's outgrown clothes through the wash and bagging them up to donate. I may go down basement and empty and clean the small upright freezer - that should be enough work for one day. Doing that would also give me the opportunity to update my inventory lists - a lot of things like that went by the wayside over the past few months while I was dealing with all the stuff that was going on at work.

Well, Hubby has been pacing back and forth behind me - I think he wants to use the laptop to check on some items he has listed for sale on Marketplace, so I'd better let him have it.

Take care all; stay safe out there!

 

[kyrsyan]

Woke up way early. Heard son so I gave him another dose of meds. And prepared for a possible migraine for him today.

I started giving him Liquid IV in hopes that it might help with the migraine. It's expensive but it's also one of the few electrolyte formulas he can have. Yes, I know I can make it at home. But I can't flavor it at home without using all the crud I'm trying to avoid. There are plans to start getting natural flavors, and experimenting with soaking them into the sugar/salt, and then dehydrating that. But haven't gotten that far.

He woke back up about an hour ago with a headache. He came in and was trying to use the Bactine to make it hurt less. So I rolled with everything up to the prescription. If that's not helping in an hour, I'll pull the big guns out. He's already been feeling cruddy, I'm not going to have him suffer if I can stop it.

And while I was handling that, Dad sent a group message that he and Mom are at the hospital. She has extreme vertigo and nausea. The docs think she's had a stroke. After this, we're going to have to have a talk about keeping us posted about exactly where they are. All any of us know is that they're at a RV rally somewhere in Florida.

Taking a deep breath and keeping on keeping on.

 

[ReneeT]

Prayers offered for your Mama, Kyrsyan; and hope that your son starts feeling better soon!

Daughter and I both have I-phones; I don't know if it is something that you can only do on an I-phone, but if I bring her up on text messaging, click on her name, click on info, and click on send my current location, it shows where she is. She used to take trips where she would drive through the night and I could check on her to make sure she was where she planned to be. She does have to give permission for this, I'm pretty sure.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Prayers being said for your mom, Kyrsyan.

Mom called with bad news this morning. My aunt (uncle that just passed) fell again and not only broke her other hip but dislocated it as well. She is 90 yrs. old and is in really poor health. Doctor placed her on Hospice, and he's not giving her but a few more days. He didn't do anything for her hip, except pain management.

I finally got all my housework done, so now I can breathe again, LOL. I'll wait about the deeper cleaning, until things settle down a bit more. I put the last load of laundry in the washer this morning.

 

[Illini Warrior]

Homemade Mac and Cheese Mixes

Many, many years ago, a close friend was lamenting about one of the foods she and her family would miss most when things collapsed, Kraft Ma...

prepschooldaily.blogspot.com

the subject of DIY Mac & Cheese - for the kids - using long term storage foods comes up regular >>>> good article covering all the angles

 

[kyrsyan]

It's apparently that time of year? Prayers for your aunt. I don't know that I can agree with withholding treatment because someone "thinks" she's going to pass. That is a slippery slope of decisions and not one the doctor should be making. My grandparents lived well into their 90s, fragile health and all.

We're on AT&T. They used to have an app for that. They don't anymore but there are versions available. I may suggest that. They are intensely private. I don't know why they don't like sharing anything but the most general details, but they don't. It's not like any of us are going to show up uninvited and unannounced.

 

[ReneeT]

Prayers offered for your Auntie, Sherree; and may the hospice staff keep her as comfortable as possible. You have had more than your share of sorrows these past few months; praying that it becomes less so.

 

[philkar]

So sorry to hear your sad news Sherree. We will be praying for all of you to be able to find pease and comfort during this trying time.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

It's apparently that time of year? Prayers for your aunt. I don't know that I can agree with withholding treatment because someone "thinks" she's going to pass. That is a slippery slope of decisions and not one the doctor should be making. My grandparents lived well into their 90s, fragile health and all.

If my aunt's situation were different, I would agree. She has Parkinson's disease, and she can't eat. She has to be fed with a dropper. Her mind is almost completely gone, after she had surgery on her first hip break. Her doctor says that her heart is already too weak for surgery. Plus, her and my uncle have never spent a day apart, since they've been married (72yrs.). She wants to go be with him.

 

[aviax2]

Wow, I’m so surprised by how many don’t like sour cream and/or cream cheese. Those are regular must have items in our house. Granted I don‘t normally have 13 blocks of cream cheese on hand, more like 4-6, but we use them both so much in cooking/desserts/snacks. I made two kinds of dip just yesterday using a quart of sour cream. I found a tub of soft unflavored cream cheese at the back of one shelves in the fridge so I’ll be adding seasoning to that for a cracker/bagel spread.

SB~I don’t care for unflavored/unsweetened yogurt either, it’s so easy to make and you can add in so many things. Frozen or fresh fruit, jam, orange or lemon curd, my grandson likes to add chocolate in the form of syrup or instant pudding mix. There’s also many extracts other than vanilla to try and powdered sugar is a great way to sweetened it to individuals taste. I added a pint of cranberry salad to the last quart of yogurt and youngest grandson was all over it as soon as he got here yesterday.
So sorry about your aunt, prayers up for her.

I made a pot of beef stew for supper yesterday using up some slightly sprouty potatoes. I’ve been working so hard trying to get things used up with the least amount of waste possible. I don’t know if it’s because of the busyness of the past few weeks or what but seems I’ve had several fresh food items that almost got away from me. I hate waste anyway but with prices of everything right now, it downright scary. On the upside, I’m finally seeing a difference in the refrigerator.

Krysyan~ Prayers for your mom and son going up.

Digger~My daughters MIL left her tree up a few years ago and each month changed the decorations, hearts for valentines, eggs for Easter, etc. It was a big hit with all her grandkids.

skwentnaflyer~Prayers going up for you.

moldy~Continued prayers for you.

Renee~The thoughts of planting/picking all those strawberries wear me out LOL!

ioujc~Love your new girls and it’s good to “see” you.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Quick question on using plain yogurt instead of sour cream. Can you freeze yogurt to have on hand? I've never frozen any.

 

[moldy]

Yes, yogurt freezes well, but the texture does change some. It can break down and get watery.

 

[kyrsyan]

Quick question on using plain yogurt instead of sour cream. Can you freeze yogurt to have on hand? I've never frozen any.

Yes. I used to freeze it all the time. The fancier ones might change texture. The regular ones will need a good mixing when defrosted and they'll be back to normal. Even had one company tell me that the probiotic whatevers that they had in their yogurt would actually not die when frozen and would reactivate when the yogurt was defrosted.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Yes. I used to freeze it all the time. The fancier ones might change texture. The regular ones will need a good mixing when defrosted and they'll be back to normal. Even had one company tell me that the probiotic whatevers that they had in their yogurt would actually not die when frozen and would reactivate when the yogurt was defrosted.

Thanks! I learned something again, today! I wouldn't mind having a small tub or two on hand in my freezer. I've passed over so many recipes in the past, because of the sour cream issue. Not anymore!

 

[aviax2]

SB~I’ve only frozen a few tablespoons at a time to use as a starter in a future batch of yogurt.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

SB~I’ve only frozen a few tablespoons at a time to use as a starter in a future batch of yogurt.

Can a small tub be frozen for a few months at a time, maybe? If not, I'll just buy as needed.

 

[nomifyle]

Thanks! I learned something again, today! I wouldn't mind having a small tub or two on hand in my freezer. I've passed over so many recipes in the past, because of the sour cream issue. Not anymore!

You might consider trying it once with fresh yogurt before stocking up on it. You might not like it.

We are still organizing the pantry room, it was/is a huge task. I just found two 4 gallon buckets of red beans and some pintos that have been in those buckets just in the original bags for maybe 5 years. I'm not sure what we will do with them, toss or put in jars. I'm not that fond of them anymore but DH does like them in his chili, I prefer pintos.

 

[aviax2]

Can a small tub be frozen for a few months at a time, maybe? If not, I'll just buy as needed.

Oh I would think so, I was just saying that I hadn’t frozen any myself except for the few tablespoons I would need for the live cultures I needed for a batch of yogurt. It separated a bit but stir back in, of course as I was adding it into milk to make yogurt, it didn’t matter. As Judy says you make not like it so might want to try it first. I have used my homemade yogurt in place of sour cream on the rare occasion we’ve ran out in making dip and we couldn’t tell much if any difference but it’s been awhile.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Oh I would think so, I was just saying that I hadn’t frozen any myself except for the few tablespoons I would need for the live cultures I needed for a batch of yogurt. It separated a bit but stir back in, of course as I was adding it into milk to make yogurt, it didn’t matter. As Judy says you make not like it so might want to try it first. I have used my homemade yogurt in place of sour cream on the rare occasion we’ve ran out in making dip and we couldn’t tell much if any difference but it’s been awhile.

I have a recipe for crockpot funeral potatoes that I've always wanted to try. It has sour cream in it, so I've never made it. I'm going to try it with yogurt, instead. Will that work?

 

[summerthyme]

I have a recipe for crockpot funeral potatoes that I've always wanted to try. It has sour cream in it, so I've never made it. I'm going to try it with yogurt, instead. Will that work?

It should. Use full fat yogurt, not low fat, for best results.

Summerthyme

 

[SouthernBreeze]

It should. Use full fat yogurt, not low fat, for best results.

Summerthyme

Thank You!

 

[philkar]

What a great idea to do a few tablespoons at a time for starter for the future

SB~I’ve only frozen a few tablespoons at a time to use as a starter in a future batch of yogurt

 

[moldy]

I freeze a tub of store bought yogurt after putting in an ice cube tray. 2 cubes is enough to inoculate milk for a quart of yogurt.

 

[aviax2]

I freeze a tub of store bought yogurt after putting in an ice cube tray. 2 cubes is enough to inoculate milk for a quart of yogurt.

I only do 2 Tablespoons per gallon of whole milk.

 

[aviax2]

I have a recipe for crockpot funeral potatoes that I've always wanted to try. It has sour cream in it, so I've never made it. I'm going to try it with yogurt, instead. Will that work?

I don’t see any reason why not. And as ST stated, I’ve only use whole milk to make my yogurt and I believe that definitely would make a difference vs low/no fat yogurt.

 

[moldy]

I only do 2 Tablespoons per gallon of whole milk.

I think that's about the same amount I use.

 

[philkar]

I only do 2 Tablespoons per gallon of whole milk.

ice cube tray! Eureka! I think that is Moldy's idea! TY!

 

[aviax2]

I think that's about the same amount I use.

I misunderstood your reply, I thought you meant 2 cubes for 1 quart of milk.

 

[kyrsyan]

I went on a very short thrift store run today. Found a Cricut Expression and cartridges for $10. That was worth the risk of it having problems. This one, if it works, can be used with an alternate program and I can design my own patches from scratch. Yeah, I'm not real big into paper crafts. But I'll have fun with fabric patches and other clothing enhancements.

Found an ironing board, which is great because my full size one is missing and I need a full size one for this project.

Also found a nice zero degree sleeping bag that crushes down small. That will get washed and repacked tomorrow. And tucked in the bin in the van.

The last find was an electric shiatsu foot massager. I've been looking at them for a while. I need to start walking again and I need something to help the feet and legs. Hopefully this can do it.

Next stop was Costco. The Liquid IV didn't completely wipe the migraine but it helped it a lot. So I got a pack there. And grabbed a few things for friend's pantry. We're trying to help him eat healthier.

Last stop was TSC. I had tried to site to store some feed for another friend. That went sideways when they wanted almost double the feed cost as a freight fee. It turns out that our local stores have the feed for $5 less than hers. So we grabbed two bags.

I have two pairs of pants to patch. And then back to the other projects. But for tonight, I'm calling it. Mom and Dad are still in the ER awaiting transport. And it looks like that won't happen anytime soon.

 

[Slydersan]

I want to do some loom knitting too!!!
I have an Inkle loom, but have only the foggiest idea of how to use it.....

And the rolling table idea is AWESOME!!!! Especially for strawberries!!

If you have the bandwidth, I highly recommend searching for videos on youtube. Loom knitting is how I started out and was totally baffled at first until I watched a few videos (i'm more of a visual learner). Since then I've made a bunch of hats, house slippers, even a blanket. They have lots of videos on how to loom knit. I've never tried the inkle loom, but I'm sure there are how-to's on there too.