Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: November 4 ~ 10, 2018

[ReneeT]

Well, here it is - a new week already My internal alarm clock went off at the usual time, so I have an extra hour to lollygag over my coffee this morning before heading in to work - just hope the donut lady at the grocery store woke up on time

Yesterday was not a good day for raking my co-workers leaves as the boys and I had planned - heavy fog and drizzling rain - so after I picked them up we made a quick trip to WM where the boys picked out a dozen kid size stocking caps and pairs of gloves to donate to youngest grandson's classroom; I also snagged a bonus package of 13 pair of boys socks that was marked down due to damaged packaging and put them in the bag as well - with snow in the forecast for this week, I can just see some of the kids showing up with wet shoes/socks. We then had a nice - mostly quiet - day at my house before I took them home after supper. I taught them how to make quesadillas for lunch and 'pizza bread' for supper. Pizza bread is slices of French bread with spaghetti sauce spread on it, then whatever toppings you want before adding some shredded cheese and putting it in the oven to bake. They were initially grossed out because my quesadilla didn't have cheese - it had peanut butter 'n jelly (and yes, I know the quesa/queso is cheese) but I had to make another one after they 'sampled' mine and it disappeared.

I have Monday and Tuesday off work so prep plans for this week include canning the beef roasts I picked up on sale - hopefully Hubby will cut the roasts into chunks for me while I am at work today, and I will can them tomorrow after I return home from an appointment and the pool. I will make a broth from two packages of onion soup mix and a gallon of water; dip them into the boiling broth to seal the outsides before packing the into pint jars and adding broth to the shoulder of the jar, then pressure canning. We use this type of beef for a lot of different dishes - stroganoff, beef stew, Italian beef, hot beef sandwiches, beef and noodles, beef vegetable soup - just to name a few.

Tuesday's plans are voting and going to the pool; then I am on-call in case anyone needs a ride to the polls in my area. The rest of the week is still in the planning stage as I am the fall-back plan for a co-worker who needs to trade days. We have snow in the forecast for Wednesday night, so I'm hoping she doesn't want to trade for Thursday!

Guess I'd better get up and get moving, take care all; have a safe week out there!

 

[Dinghy]

Today I canned 7 pints of vegetable beef soup, and a dozen pints of chicken breasts in broth. Our store had boneless breasts for $1.49, the cheapest I have seen in a long time. I bought some a few days ago and packaged it to freeze, and today decided to get more to can.

 

[Marseydoats]

I added 2 months of dog food to the stash yesterday. I guess the days of being able to get in and out of the store on Sunday mornings are gone. Used to be there would just be a few people in there picking up several items. The entire store was packed and everybody was buying full buggies.

 

[Digger]

Our heat pump has been running for a week or more. We have not built a fire in the wood stove yet. I think it will be this week though. We should have our first freeze Friday night. It will be time to teach the grandbaby about "hot".

My daughter is sick and plans to stay home today. That means I have the day off from baby sitting. I plan to go dig some more snake root. Digging will be over with the freeze. I have some blackberry roots to finish processing too. The buyer last trip this way is the Friday before Thanksgiving.

We got our hay baled. We sold 50 bales off the field. The rest is in the barn. We don`t need much. We hope to sell more. People will be looking during the winter. They always are.

I still have apples to can. I want to do some pie filling and a little more apple sauce.

We voted last week. I pray our country can fend off the socialist at the ballot box. The place my kids work were notified that they will be getting a .55 cent an hour raise. That is a good jump at one time. They had already gained $200 a month with the tax cut.

 

[nomifyle]

I added 2 months of dog food to the stash yesterday. I guess the days of being able to get in and out of the store on Sunday mornings are gone. Used to be there would just be a few people in there picking up several items. The entire store was packed and everybody was buying full buggies.

First of the month shopping probably. I've been remiss about stocking up on dog food and need to remedy that, thanks for the reminder.

Judy

 

[prudentwatcher]

I hit a KMart that was closing. They offered up to 30% off, but there weren't many good deals. KMart has never been cheap in our area and it seems they raised some of the prices (new sticker tags on the shelves) before the "sale". I did manage to get 28 cans of cat food at a reasonable price, 2 packages of underwear at 20% off, and 3 pr of shorts at 60% off. Another odd and end here and there, but not much. I was very disappointed.

Still no decent sales on anything. Some extra money coming in from side jobs, which is always helpful. And my shoulder PT is helping immensely, so I guess I really can't complain too much.

 

[ivantherussian03]

Holiday candy was 90 percent off, so I bought it all. Less than a dallor a bag....awesome. I bought nearly all of it. Inexpensive Xmas bags.

 

[Illini Warrior]

Holiday candy was 90 percent off, so I bought it all. Less than a dallor a bag....awesome. I bought nearly all of it. Inexpensive Xmas bags.

if can you find any Halloween hard candy - that'll store for just about forever - except for suckers the trouble is that it's not a kid's fav and not big on the retail shelves ....

 

[20Gauge]

I got nothing.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Well, we thought we had all of the yard work done, before winter set in, but NO! We had several tornadoes go through last night, and limbs are everywhere! Got a lot of clean up to do, again. No damage to our house, barn, workshop, or wood shed, thank God!

Will be going to Sam's Club tomorrow to pick up several of their whole, boneless hams to put in the freezer. I buy enough of them at one time to last us all year. They only have them during the holiday seasons, so I have to get them while they're in store.

 

[ReneeT]

Some weeks are just like that, 20Gauge; just keep your eyes open for possibilities!

Our beef canning yield was 18 pints but the last four jars were only about 3/4 full of beef; we filled up the space with more broth. Those will work out just fine for using with some of the packaged noodle or rice mixes that we sometimes fix for the the two of us as the broth will substitute for some of the water called for. I also had a quart jar of trimmings that I added water to in order to fill it to 1" below the rim - we always do this when we can beef; we used to use the canned scraps to add a little fat to our dogs' meals when it would be cold out. Since we're currently dogless, it will go into the pantry for emergency use.

I went to vote this morning, then went up to the pool with the neighbor lady - I could tell that I'd slacked off a bit last week, so will have to kick the exercise up a bit. I found a text from daughter on my phone when I got back to the car, so headed her direction after I got home. I returned some items to WM for her, picked up more hats and gloves - these for older grandson's classroom (teacher didn't get back to me until yesterday), and then took a look around while I was there. The grade school is having a program for local Veterans and the first graders are supposed to wear red shirts, second graders are to wear white - I don't have any third or 4th graders but I'm betting some of them will be wearing blue. I have plenty of red shirts at home, but white is another story as they just stain too easily. I lucked on to a rack of white polo shirts marked down to $1 each at WM, so picked up 10 in assorted sizes to send to school with our 2nd grader in case someone else's closet looked like ours (grandson does have a white dress shirt). If they don't need them, I will donate them to the private, church based school that my cousin's children attend as that is what they wear.

I popped into the local Senior Citizens thrift store to kill a bit of time until daughter would be out of an appointment; snagged a new (tags still on) red print top for myself, plus two 3X men's shirts for the clothing pantry at work for $6 and change. I'm trying to remember the last time I bought an actual new shirt vs a new to me shirt - think it might have been when JC Penney ran an internet special on petite size long sleeve t-shirts sometime last year and I ordered five at $5 each for work. Those are starting to look a little faded; I need to grab a bottle of black dye and freshen them up so they'll be good for a couple more years.

Found a grocery ad in the mail when I got home. Ham - shank portion 99 cents/lb, butt portion $1.19/lb. Turkey breast 99 cent/lb, and whole turkeys 39 cents/lb with a $25 purchase, limit 1. Wonder if daughter has any freezer room..... The $25 purchase won't be too difficult to make - butter is on sale, ditto chocolate chips, Chex cereal, and a few other pantry staples.

3pm already - guess I'd better change shoes and head out to fill the bird feeders before I lose track of time and look up to discover it's dark already!

Take care all; stay safe!

 

[ReneeT]

Dollar General - in my area, at least - is having a three day sale November 8,9 &10. Among other items, they have their brand - Clover Valley - of canned veggies on sale 3/$1; and their fleece throws and blankets are buy one - get one 50% off. I'm pretty well set for veggies so will probably not avail myself of that sale, but will likely check out the throws - if they seem to be warm enough to suit me I will snag a few for holiday gifts or to put in the van and truck - I already have sleeping bags in both, but those are awkward if you just want a little extra warmth; and the fleece blankets would add an extra layer of warmth inside the sleeping bags as well.

 

[Illini Warrior]

Dollar General - in my area, at least - is having a three day sale November 8,9 &10. Among other items, they have their brand - Clover Valley - of canned veggies on sale 3/$1; and their fleece throws and blankets are buy one - get one 50% off. I'm pretty well set for veggies so will probably not avail myself of that sale, but will likely check out the throws - if they seem to be warm enough to suit me I will snag a few for holiday gifts or to put in the van and truck - I already have sleeping bags in both, but those are awkward if you just want a little extra warmth; and the fleece blankets would add an extra layer of warmth inside the sleeping bags as well.

canned goods are one of those frequent Thanksgiving comer items >>> the basic veggies always common on sale - but check for the possible inclusion of other variety of beans & peas ..

Food for Less discount branch of Kroger has "Del Monte Veggies" at 50 cents - possibilities there - and at 49 cents gravy, broth and Cambells soup ....all worth a stock up run and a $$$$ investment ....

 

[ReneeT]

I have some Campbell's condensed soup coupons, so am waiting for another sale to stock up on cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and chicken noodle - the so called 'sale' price in the IGA ad today was 99 cents/can; I think I'll wait a week or two to see if it improves any!

I spent a little time today digging and potting some herb starts - mint, rosemary, sage, thyme, and lemon balm. I need to pop in to Rural King and pick up a 24" fluorescent light fixture to mount under one of the shelves on the set I bought a while back to put my porch plants on - I just didn't have enough space to put all my plants inside where they'd get good light, so hopefully the light will carry some of 'em through to spring. As I was toting the shelf set up to the checkout, I noticed some boot trays on an end shelf - picked one up and checked to see if it would fit on the shelves and it was a perfect fit - no more hodgepodge of drip trays, foil cake pans, etc... to catch the overflow when watering! I also used one of the boot trays on top of the dresser that sits under a south facing window in our bedroom; I was always afraid to put plants on it for fear the pot would leak and ruin the finish on the dresser, but I think this will keep it safe.

I work this weekend; Hubby only works a half day on Saturday and is off work on Sunday so I think I'll ask him to pick up some weatherstripping for our kitchen door and get it installed Saturday afternoon. We have possible snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow; then temps going down into the teens on Saturday. I'd better remember to wear my long johns under my scrubs to work and to take some hand warmers with me as it takes forever for the hospital to catch up to temperature changes. Dang, I'd better add handwarmers to the Rural King list - I've got some on hand, but want to add a big package to each vehicle (and daughter's vehicle), and also my locker at work.

I made a pot of chili for supper tonight after I saw the weather forecast; now I'm thinking about taking the fixings for beef veggie soup or cheesy chicken and vegetable soup with me to work on Saturday to toss in the crock pot we keep in the break room...