What we've been eating for the last couple of weeks

It feels like a long time since we shared what we've been eating for weeknight meals. So I thought back to the last couple of weeks. Obviously, our meals while we were out of town were considerably different from those we eat at home. I did my best to keep us from spending an exorbitant amount of food for those 6 days, from bringing snack lunches for the plane, to buying snack foods, fruits, chips, crackers, and juice at markets for in between meal times, and shopping at the market for some of our lunches. We still ate our share of restaurant food, but we stuck to food courts and take-out places to avoid sit-down meal pricing.

Anyway, here's what we did for dinners, beginning with our week away through to today.

While we were away, we did a combination of meals from local markets and restaurant meals. We didn't have kitchen facilities where we stayed, but we were able to do salads, sandwiches, fruit, crackers, chips, etc, outdoors several days and food courts or take-out meals on other days.

We returned a week ago Monday. That was the day our afternoon flight way delayed until evening. With the airline-provided meal vouchers we had entree salads, sandwiches, chips, and fruit. I bought the meals shortly before boarding time, and we ate in flight. When we got home, I made myself a cup of cocoa and then went to bed.

Tuesday I woke up sick. My two daughters took over dinners Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I hadn't planned anything for those days yet. So everything was up to my daughters. It's a bit of a blur what we ate, but I think we had spaghetti with meat sauce, scrambled eggs, and beef and vegetable stir fry. Sides would have been canned or frozen vegetables, fresh, frozen, or dried fruit, and rice, bread, or pasta.

Friday we had our usual pizza and movie night. My daughter made a scratch cheese pizza, mixed vegetables (frozen), and crabapple-applesauce (from the freezer).

Saturday we had leftover stir fry that my other daughter had made earlier in the week with orange wedges.

Sunday after church I went to Walmart and picked up cabbage, apples, bananas, and milk. My husband made refried beans, oven-fried corn tortilla chips, Cole slaw, and steamed carrots.

Monday I roasted a whole chicken. I got tied up in taxes earlier in the day. So getting dinner to the table in time meant I skipped making gravy. We had roast chicken with chutney, leftover cooked pasta heated with frozen spinach, garlic, and olive oil, cabbage salad with vinaigrette dressing, and dried Asian pears and prunes.

Tuesday I made gravy for the leftover chicken. We had hot chicken and gravy sandwiches on homemade bread, cabbage and avocado salad with salsa/mayo/avocado oil dressing, and green beans.

Wednesday I pulled chicken off the bones to make a chicken, rice, and vegetable (carrots and Brussel sprout leaves) casserole in a creamy soy milk and cheese sauce. With the casserole we had frozen peas and tangerines.

Thursday I simmered the chicken carcass for several hours, then pulled the very last of the chicken off the bones and made a chicken and vegetable soup to go with fresh bread and more home-dried fruit. I only had about 1 cup of chicken meat, so I also added an egg to the soup for a quasi-egg drop soup. I was able to freeze a couple of containers of chicken stock for future cooking, too.

I've been going through the deep freeze, looking for what is left from last summer's harvest. It's looking emptier and emptier with each passing week. That's a good thing. It means we're actually eating what we have. I need to do something to get the rest of my family to use some of these frozen foods in meals they prepare. I think it's more difficult for them to remember to use those frozen foods, as they don't see them as often as I do. Anyway, I need to continue to use those foods. Before I know it, it'll be time to defrost the garage freezers again.

What's been on your menu the last couple of weeks? Do you have any tricks for economizing on meals when you're traveling?

Have a great weekend, friends!

Share-Time: Your Best Instant Lunches

While on vacation, a group of us were talking about how to handle lunches on days when there is no time to cook or even to prepare much, especially since we don't buy lunchmeat on a regular basis. We all agreed that there are days when you just can't be picky, and anything is better than nothing. It's a matter of just putting random foods onto plates and calling it good.

By the way, my definition of an instant lunch is one that takes 5 minutes or less to throw together.

Here's my instant lunch from today:

apple quarters (fruit) with peanut butter (protein), slices of cheese (protein/dairy), canned pumpkin puree mixed with salt and butter and heated (vegetable), 

and for dessert, two of these part whole wheat applesauce-raisin bars (grains).

Mostly, I try to include a fruit, a veggie, some protein, and some grains or other starchy food. It's usually some version of peanut butter and/or cheese, a bread product, and any type of produce (canned, frozen, fresh, dried).

When I needed to grocery shop after church on Sunday my priorities were cheese, peanut butter, and fresh fruits and vegetables. I can throw together very basic (but complete) lunches, snacks, or breakfasts in minutes if I have those items on hand. And as these are normals foods that I almost always keep in stock, they're very budget friendly. If I didn't have the bar cookies, I'd have had a slice of bread and butter.

These are the types of lunches that we all call working lunches. I may be working on taxes, getting dinner prepped, cleaning, starting seeds or tending the garden, or working on a home painting project. My lunch sits on a plate and a grab a bit here and there.

For those of us who commute to work, these foods can also be grabbed in minutes before heading out the door when there are no leftovers waiting in the wings -some bread and butter, slices of cheese, apples or oranges, and a carrot make a complete lunch.

By the way, years ago we were in Scotland. In a pub they had something called a Ploughman's Lunch. It consisted of a chunk of bread, a wedge of cheese, an apple, and some pickles. Nothing fancy, but it got the job done. My instant lunches remind me of that simple Scottish cold meal.

So how about you? What's your favorite instant lunch? Bonus points if you can take the meal on the go, and extra points for lunches that use ingredients that you have in your kitchen right now.

From Packet to Plate: What criteria I use for choosing which vegetables to grow in my garden

It's seed-starting time!

Although I have a good-sized backyard vegetable garden, I still need to be somewhat selective in what I grow, as space is not unlimited. I've come up with 4 rules for how to choose what to grow each year.

grow what I want to eat

I didn't say what I love to eat. There are foods that I want to eat for their wellness benefits. But I do think of these choices as what can I eat and at least mildly enjoy.

grow what grows in my area

I don't limit this to what grows best in my area. Otherwise, I might be eating nothing but kale. But if I can get a particular vegetable to grow modestly well, then it's a "go." I do have to say no to melons, eggplant, okra, and a few other veggies/fruit that I would enjoy having, as I just don't have the time, energy and resources to get those varieties to grow where I live.

grow what makes economic sense

I've discovered that cabbage grows well in our garden. So I grow green cabbage every summer. But green cabbage is a budget vegetable. So I'm really not saving all that much money by growing green cabbage. My family also enjoys red cabbage. And red cabbage is more expensive per pound to buy in the grocery store. So it makes sense to at least try to grow a few heads of red cabbage this summer. Kale may seem ordinary to my family because we've been eating it every summer for years. But kale is a pricey fresh vegetable to buy. I grow 4 types of kale and hope to add a 5th this summer. Salad, slicing, and Roma tomatoes are the standard grocery store varieties. They're the ones that I find for about $1/pound at WinCo all summer (and in winter sometimes, too). Less common tomatoes, like yellow pear, are also nice to have in summer but more expensive per pound than the grocery store standard varieties. I continue to grow salad tomatoes in my garden, but I've added yellow pear tomatoes to last and this year's gardens. 

grow what makes me happy

This final category takes into consideration what will please me just to see them growing. For me, this is pumpkins. There's something exciting about growing pumpkins for me. They're my babies. I practically skip out to the garden each day to check on them.

Keeping a vegetable garden isn't just about saving money on groceries. Having an abundance of fresh produce each summer and fall motivates us to eat a healthier and more varied diet than if I were to purchase all of our fruits and veggies. We eat what we grow, and we eat it freshly harvested, something not possible with supermarket veggies. Beyond these material motivations to garden, touching the soil, smelling the earth, and caring for my plants have a grounding affect on my mind. It's a therapy of sorts. 

I may be choosy in picking which seeds to plant each year. But once those plants are in my garden, I love and care for every one of them as if each is my very favorite.

If you plant veggies each year, how do you decide what you'll grow? Is there a veggie that everyone says grows really well in your area, but you just can't stand?

Okay, let's try this one more time . . .

So, a week ago I posted that I'd just returned from some time away with my family, that it was late, and that I was tired. I also said I'd be right back. Well, I woke up the next morning really sick. I spent all of last week recuperating. It wasn't until Saturday that I felt remotely like myself. I've still got a lot of congestion, but I am able to do a normal workload again. Fortunately my daughters pitched in with the cooking all last week. And more fortunately, I was the only one who got really sick. 

Sunday after church I made it to the grocery store. We were out of so much! When you're out of milk, peanut butter, cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables, you know you need to get yourself to a store soon. Since I didn't want to tire myself so soon after being sick, I just did a small shopping at Walmart. I'll do a big WinCo stock-up in a few days.

Last Monday, we got home a few hours later than we'd originally planned, and perhaps that contributed to the degree of illness I experienced. Our flight was delayed due to a mechanical issue. I don't know if you know this, but if a flight is delayed 3 hours or more (not related to weather, however), most airlines will issue meal vouchers to passengers. Our airline issued these through the email used for making the reservations. I was checking my phone for emails, and there were the vouchers. Alaska's vouchers were for $12 per person. Unfortunately, airport food is expensive. For something non-junky, $12 doesn't go far. We found sandwich-chips-fruit meal bundles for $14 and entree salads also for $14. This meant we had to spend $2 per person to buy meals in the airport, which isn't too bad. Even though we would have made dinner at home if the flight had been on time, the food we would have cooked with would have cost something too, maybe not $8, but it would have cost something. I'm glad to say that it all worked out.

I don't know if you feel this way too, but when I return from a trip away I don't feel the blues or down that the trip is over. I feel grateful for the experience and energized to tackle daily life once more. Yesterday I was making plans for spring and summer in our yard. I'm excited to have home-picnic lunches on the lawn, enjoy quiet moments in the garden, and host fun cook-outs around the fire ring. I guess I truly feel there's no place like home -- my own bed, my own cooking, our good PNW water, the comfort of my own routines.

I'm glad to be back, glad to be feeling better, and glad to be back to connecting again with you. Tomorrow, I really will be back to regular posts! Have a great rest of your evening/day.

"Leaving on a jet plane" . . .

. . . I don't know when I'll be back again. Well, actually I do know. I'm back right now. My family decided to take some time away for a few days together, which we did. I'm now back. We got home late this evening, and I'm tired.

But I did want to show you something that I put together for each member of my family for our first day of travel. I made little snack boxes, one for each of us, using mostly what we had on hand. I did buy a box of crackers, but that was it.

In each snack box:

• sliced cheddar and mozzarella cheese
• carrot sticks
• dried fruit -- apricots and cranberries
• 4 chocolates (gift at Christmas from a neighbor)
• homemade fruit roll-ups (under the chocolates)
• crackers
• plus a tangerine on the side.

I've long wanted one of those pre-made snack packs that they sell on the plane. But these were very tasty, as well as very affordable.

I'll be back to full posting tomorrow!

Welcome Signs of Spring: Blossoms Around the Property, and What I Cut for Indoors Even in February

I know it's still very wintry in other parts of the country. However, I wanted to provide some encouraging photos -- winter will eventually end. Here's what I found in our yard and on our deck.

The native plum is beginning to blossom. It does fruit, a little.
But the plums are small and best for jam or leaving for the squirrels.

Here's a pot I showed last March.
The primroses stopped blooming in the heat of summer
but returned in late fall.
The grape hyacinth next to the birdie's head, bloomed in spring,
 dried up, then put on growth in fall to bloom this month.

I have two pots of petite daffodils that are
the earliest of my spring bulbs to bloom.
As they're on the deck, they bloomed earlier than those in the ground.

The forsythia is just about to bloom.
In about 4 weeks or so the bush will be fully yellow.
But I did find a few blossoms this week.

In February I like to bring some forsythia cuttings indoors.
Right now they look like bare branches.
In about a week to 10 days the cuttings will provide an indoor show.

For cuttings, I look for branches that have
just a touch of yellow in one or two buds per branch.

Winter can't last forever. My hope for you is that your spring will come sooner rather than later and will bring lots of cheerful blossoms.

More Movies for Free Streaming

The Freshman. 1990. PG. Comedy/Crime. An N.Y.C. film school student accepts a job with a local mobster who resembles a famous cinema godfather and who takes the young man under his wing, after demanding total loyalty.

For Richer or Poorer. 1997. PG-13. Comedy/Feel Good Romance. An unhappily-married Manhattan socialite couple flee from the IRS and end up in Amish country, where they pretend to be visiting relatives.

Midnight in Paris. 2011. PG-13. Comedy/Romance. While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.

The Harassed Hero. 1954. no rating. Comedy/Crime. Comedy abounds in this British farce about a hypochondriac bachelor who uncovers a plot by a gang of counterfeiters. 

Blast from the Past. 1999. PG-13. Comedy/Sci-Fi. A naive man comes out into the world after spending 35 years in a nuclear fallout shelter.

I really enjoyed all of these movies. Midnight in Paris was a surprise to me how enjoyable I found it, as some of the subject matter had to do with historical figures in the art world. My degree is in Art History. The Freshman had some fun twists, which is always refreshing. My family stumbled upon For Richer or Poorer when looking for a New Year's Eve movie. We didn't watch it then, but put it on a list to watch later. This was simply a fun and heart-warming movie. As many of your noted last time I offered some good clean-cut movies to stream, I have a penchant for old black and white films. Well, I managed to convince my family to watch The Harassed Hero with me. They agreed that it was a great movie. We watched Blast from the Past just this past Friday. This one took a fun look at early 1960s America's involvement in the Cold War. But mostly it's just a sweet movie about what life would be like if you somehow missed a few decades and were dropped into modern life.

All of these movies were available to stream for free on Tubi, Classic Comedy Channel, and Kanopy/Hoopla (library-based streaming services).

If you watch any of them, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

"Thrift is a virtue,"

as my grandmother used to say. 

My paternal grandmother lived in a time and place where just about all ordinary people seemed to believe this. People were generally thrifty, not always out of need, but according to the belief that being prudent with your resources was the wise and right thing to do. Although she raised a family during the Great Depression, I suspect her thoughts on thrift were formed in her childhood in the early 1900s, as my great grandparents were known to be thrifty.

My grandmother had all sorts of lessons on thrift to teach us young kids. But she always tempered economizing with a few (very) moderate extravagances. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my sister and grandmother when an ice cream truck drove past. Us girls became excited to hear the little tune of the truck. My grandmother asked if we liked ice cream. Well, yes! Did she need to ask? For a moment we thought she would hand us 10 to 15 cents each to buy an ice cream treat. She didn't. Instead she asked us to help hang the laundry on the line outside, and then she had a surprise for us. Okay, so no ice cream, but a surprise is always good, right?

When we all finished with the laundry, my grandmother said she needed to get a couple of things for supper at the market a few blocks away. We all walked to the store. On the same block as the market was a drugstore with an ice cream counter. Before getting the foods for supper, she took us into the drugstore and bought us each a cone of our choice. As we licked our cones she began to explain why she chose to take us there instead of buying a treat from the ice cream truck, She explained that a single cone at the drugstore costs 5 cents, whereas treats from the ice cream truck were a dime. And you had so many more choices at the drugstore. Then she asked us what we could do with the nickels that were saved? We both listed off bunches of treats that we would like. She asked us to instead of buying more treats, if we would take the "saved" nickels home and put them into our piggy banks.

My grandmother taught us that when we are careful with our spending, we are able to save money for some time when we need it. She never put it to us that she couldn't afford to spend 10 cents on the ice cream truck for each of us, but instead, finding a similar treat for less is the prudent and wise thing to do. In her words, "thrift is a virtue."

In my teen years, when I had an after school job, somehow this lesson disappeared from my mind. It seemed like I had so much spending money all of the time. It wasn't until I was living on my own that I recalled my grandmother's wise lessons on thrift. When my own kids were young and wanting things they saw at the store, in TV ads, or that other kids had, I explained that we could buy those things. However, their dad and I didn't think it was wise to buy everything the kids wanted. Instead, we chose to spend our money, wisely, on experiences or items that would be memorable for them later on. Our kids mention to this day that I always put it that we were careful with our money because we were smart, not because we were poor. Some things come full circle.

Share-time: Your favorite 30-minute meals

Our quick dinner on Saturday

• tuna salad on dressed shredded cabbage
• garlic toast
• cinnamon apples (not shown)

I was in a bind on Saturday and knew I would only have 30 minutes to get a dinner onto the table in the evening. I realized this in the morning, so I was able to make 1 item/ingredient ahead, the pasta. 

So, with some cooked pasta, a can of tuna, 2 previously boiled eggs, fresh celery and green pepper, frozen peas, mayo, relish, olive oil, vinegar and salt, I made a pasta-tuna salad. I served this over dressed shredded cabbage, with garlic toast (using burger buns), avocado wedges, and cooked cinnamon apples on the side. 

From the moment I walked into the kitchen in the evening to the moment plates were served up, 33 minutes elapsed. That's pretty good, I think. It included cooking the apples, making the garlic toast, shredding cabbage and chopping/assembling everything for the salad.

So, my question for you is what is your go-to, mostly scratch meal you make that takes about 30 minutes to get onto the table? Share in the comments, please. I know some of you are very adept at cooking on short time.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for a Very Chicken-y Week

I was thawing a whole chicken over the weekend and roasted it on Monday. One whole chicken yielded 4 family dinners, leftovers for 3 days of lunches, and extra stock for the freezer -- all delicious. However, I'll now be glad to have beans, canned tuna, and beef for a few meals. What are your favorite ways to use leftover cooked chicken?

Friday

Friday
scratch heart-shaped pepperoni pizza (made by daughter)
cabbage, celery, tomato salad in creamy vinaigrette
frozen mixed vegetables

Saturday

Saturday

Valentine's Day Brunch:Mickey waffles, using my thrifted waffle iron from Goodwill a couple of years ago

turkey sausage links

pork bacon

fresh strawberries

orange juice

coffee

Dinner: Mexi-burgers, hamburger patties, topped with avocado, green pepper, onion, tomato, cheddar, salsa on homemade buns

roasted frozen broccoli

orange wedges

cherry pie

Sunday

taco bowls, cooked pinto beans, canned corn, tomatoes, avocados, salsa, cheddar, baked corn tortilla chips

frozen peas

leftover cherry pie

Monday

Monday

roast chicken and gravy

oven-roasted potato wedges in beef fat

frozen mixed vegetables

beet and celery salad

fruit salad

Tuesday

Tuesday

Chicken Divan casserole, using leftover chicken, cooked pasta, homemade Mornay sauce, frozen broccoli cuts, shredded cheese, bacon bits

carrot-raisin salad 

stewed prunes

Wednesday
just before baking
I made these in individual baking dishes.

Wednesday

chicken and biscuits, using leftover chicken, gravy, potatoes from Monday, frozen mixed vegetables, and herbs

carrot-cabbage slaw

gingered pears

Thursday

Thursday

chicken-vegetable soup, using more leftover chicken, various vegetables, plus mushrooms

buttered toast

cabbage-green pepper-avocado salad with salsa and avocado oil dressing

dried prunes from last summer

Shopping this week
I stopped at Walmart twice since last week. Last Friday (day before Valentine's) I went to Walmart to buy some chocolate candies for my family for Valentine's day. As I had to pass through the produce section, I stopped to see how the strawberries looked. They actually looked very good for February strawberries. I bought 1 pint. So at least if I'm going to impulse buy something, it;'s the smallest of what Walmart offered. I spent $1.97 on that pint of strawberries. And yes, they were very good for commercial strawberries.

This morning I needed a couple of items from Walmart -- laundry detergent, ibuprofen for my husband, milk, and bananas. The milk and bananas cost $4.37.

So for this week's shopping I spent a total of $6.34. That feels a lot better than the almost $200 from two weeks ago. Our fridge and freezer still has a lot of produce to use. I won't shop again until at least the fridge looks more bare. It could be my big spend a couple of weeks ago was because I simply bought a lot of food.

How were your meals this past week? Did you make anything heart-shaped on or near Valentine's Day? 

Have you ever thought about your favorite grocery store's layout and how it might affect your shopping?

I will say, I'm a list-shopper. I make a list and pretty much can't think off that list. That in itself can mean I miss some sales that I didn't notice or plan for. But that's the downside I have to live with in exchange for being good at sticking to a list.

Anyway, I was thinking about my favorite store, WinCo, and how the different departments are laid out. There is only one entrance for WinCo. You pickup your cart outside and 10 feet away is the one entrance door. Inside a little vestibule at the entrance are a bunch of foods displayed, often seasonal foods, such as special bakery goods related to upcoming holidays. At the opposite side of this vestibule (and adjacent to the actual door opening into the store proper) is the dispenser for sanitizing wipes. As you pause to grab a wipe and clean your cart handle, you are surrounded by expensive bakery goods. Just inside the door, you're again prompted to stop and check the large cooler full of the sale meat of the week.

You may think you're now in the clear and you can go about your business of buying the foods you had planned. However, the entire 30 foot narrowish walkway to the produce section is flanked with displays of various packaged foods, most of which are a featured sale. I don't mind this section all that much, as this is where I discover when mayo, mustard, or canned veggies are on sale. But there are also sugary cereals, boxed cocoa mix packets, and packaged snack mixes along the walkway. I can imagine this is a difficult section to travel if you have impressionable kids (or spouses) with you shopping.

Now finally, you get to the produce section. Right there at the end of the packaged promotional foods walkway you are faced with a display of the most perishable fruit in the section, the berries. And just beyond the berries are the pre-cut fruits and vegetables, like fruit bowls/cups, raw vegetables and dip, and salad kits. You have to wade through those produce items before you can get to the budget-friendly produce like apples, bananas, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions, and celery. 

The produce section is crowded with barely enough room to navigate a large cart. I try to get what I need as quickly as possible and get out. I have noticed that I buy a lot of fresh produce. I wonder if the crowded feeling compels me to buy more than I would otherwise. And I wonder if this quasi-stressful feeling early on in the grocery shopping trip prompts me to over-buy additional food as I navigate other aisles.

Opposite the produce section is the seasonal section, with candy for holidays closest to the walkway and less impulse oriented holiday items (like gifts and decorations) further down that aisle. I try to ignore this aisle altogether.

Just beyond the seasonal aisle are the snacks, candy, cookies, cracker, soda aisles. I'm sure some corporate executive did a study to see if people put more items into their carts at the beginning of a shopping trip compared to later in the shopping. I would assume snacks, candy, cookies, and crackers are high profit margin items.

Finally, canned goods, pasta, rice, and ethic foods finish that side of the aisle. Across the way (and beyond the produce section) is the bulk section followed by the bakery. Like the produce section, the bulk bin section always feels crowded. You may think of grains and beans as the mainstay in the bulk bins. In fact, there are a lot of bins of candy, snacks, and treat foods. I'm a little surprised that the bakery is in a dead-end corner. It doesn't get much traffic, unless someone is deliberately looking for bakery goods.

Turning the corner is the meat section, deli, and condiments/salad dressings. You literally have to walk through the meat section to get to the rest of the store. Beyond the fresh meats are two large aisles of dairy/refrigerated foods. The milk and eggs are in the very back corner. But you can't skip the other dairy/refrigerated aisle if you want cheese, butter, or lunch meat. 

Wrapping around are the freezer cases. The first freezer you come across contains pre-made breakfast foods, a large section of pre-made breakfast foods. I can imagine a frazzled mother with young kids might be thinking about now "what can I get that will make meal prep easier and the kids will like?"

And now beyond the freezers are baking ingredients and mixes, cereal, tea and coffee, fruits and fruit juices, etc. I'm a little surprised that the boxed cereal aisle is not more prominently located. Boxed cereal seems like it would be a good impulse buy.

Just before hitting the checkout are pet supplies, OTCs, health and beauty, and household items. My guess is these items don't attract impulse buyers. You either need pet supplies or you don't. Ditto with vitamins or shampoo.

Opposite the checkout is commercial bread products, jams, and peanut butter. I see these items as last minute,"yes, we can always use more peanut butter and bread" items. 

And of course, at the actual checkout are individually packaged snacks, chilled bottles of soda, candy, and a few small toys, trinkets, and assorted small notions.

Just as you think you've survived all of the impulse/kid-attractive traps of WinCo, you have to leave through the one and only exit, which is lined with coin-operated games and soda machines. A mom with kids just can't win.

It always annoys me that I have to shop the produce section before canned goods, or heavy bags of sugar or flour, or large jugs of milk. All of the easily-dented produce can quickly become crushed by later items if I'm not careful to rearrange my items as I shop. 

A contrast to a consumer grocery store like WinCo is a business/restaurant supply store like Chefstore. The baking supplies are at the front of the Chefstore and the produce section is near the back. While Chefstore has end caps with sale items, I'm not sure impulse buying is a very large part of their profit strategy. Restaurant owners are more incentivized to keep to a list or stay within a budgeted amount. Their profits depend on minimizing waste and unnecessary purchases.

I still love WinCo for grocery shopping. But it does seem like the store's layout has been carefully designed to increase purchases.

At the grocery store where you regularly shop, is the produce section at or near the entrance to the store? How to you "manage" the produce put into your cart, if it goes in first, keeping it from becoming crushed by bulkier packaged foods later in the shopping? Would you ever consider doing all of the shopping in other departments first, then backtracking to produce to get those items last to prevent bruising?

How do you divvy up the after dinner kitchen chores?

I should preface, we haven't had a working dishwasher since 2023. So, in my house, we may have more after dinner chores than at your house. But I am curious, have you found a system that works for your household for kitchen cleanup in the evening? Do you have formal jobs for each household member? Does one of you do all or most of the cleanup? If you all pitch in, do you rotate chores?

Up until about a month ago, after dinner cleanup was a bit haphazard in our house. Someone always washed dishes. The other three would do everything else -- dry, clean counters, sweep the floor in the toe kick area of the cabinets, put leftovers away, etc. But we had no real system for these auxiliary chores.

Then a month ago, after some frustrations between us and minor resentment that maybe some were doing less than others, I decided we would formally divvy up the tasks. We now have one person who washes dishes and wipes out the microwave (usually me), another who puts everything away from the dish rack from the day's washing and sweeps in the toe kick area in the cooking zone, a third who dries and puts away clean dishes/cookware from dinner, and the last one transfers dishes/cookware from the counters and stove to the sink, puts away leftovers, and wipes the counters and stove down. Four distinct jobs that take approximately equal amounts of time to perform. 

A couple of the jobs can be completed (or mostly so) before we sit down to dinner. So someone or someones can request to do those jobs if they have something going on in the evening and would like to be done earlier. An example, I wash dishes all day long and leave them to air dry in the dish drainer and the top shelf of the nonworking dishwasher. One daughter has evening meetings a couple of days per week. On those nights, she'll be the person who puts away everything that has air dried during the day, doing so before we sit down to eat. My husband also likes to finish up early in the evenings and will take that job on other nights. I don't mind washing, and honestly, I do the most thorough job while saving the most water, plus I'm very quick. It just makes sense for me to have that job most nights.

On nights when one or both daughters are out for dinner, I usually plan something super easy and that also has very little cleanup. Cleaning up after two people can be a lot easier than doing so for four.

What we've noticed

We are done very quickly now. As we're finishing dinner, we all choose the job we want. Everyone knows what is expected of them and just does the work. It takes about 10 minutes, and we enjoy conversation while working. But mostly, we've all commented that the work is done quickly, and no one feels that they are doing more than anyone else.

The exception

We make one exception each week to after dinner cleanup. Friday night we watch a movie while eating dinner. Since it's later than usual when finishing with dinner/movie, we leave the mess until Saturday morning. Then on Saturday, we each tackle a bit of the mess as we're making our breakfasts. While the cleanup is not organized, and we do have to wake up to a messy kitchen on Saturday, this is a way to give all of us a night off from KP.

So I'm curious, how do you now or have in the past divvied up after dinner chores? What works best for you? If you had to change one thing about your after dinner kitchen cleanup, what would that be?

Vintage February Desserts and Treats

I know that Valentine's Day is now in the rear view mirror. However, I thought I'd share some photos from my vintage 1959 Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cookbook and my vintage 1963 Better Homes and Gardens Birthday and Family Celebrations Cookbook. Not all are Valentine's oriented. I included a couple of the recipes so you could get an idea of how those items would be made. Enjoy!

Six February desserts
starting at top:
Pink Meringue Hearts
Washington Pie
Chocolate Chiffon Pie
Frozen Valentine Rounds topped with Gelatin Heart Cutouts
Red Devil's Food Cake
Red Cherry Pie

large: Valentine Cake
individuals: Strawberry Hearts (gelatin dessert)

the recipe for Washington Pie (for Washington's birthday)

a blurry close-up of the Washington Pie
more of a cake and not a pie with a vanilla pudding
filling, vanilla glaze, and chocolate drizzle

another Washington birthday treat

For Lincoln's birthday -- no photo of the finished Lincoln Log cake.

From reading the recipe, it's a chocolate jelly roll cake with peppermint ice cream filling

 and chocolate glaze over the rolled cake.

Valentine Ring-around Salad
gelatin salad with cottage cheese, cream cheese, gelatin, salt, seedless
green grapes, pecan pieces, chopped chives, whipping cream,
then topped with raspberry gelatin heart cutouts

Salad Hearts made with fruit cocktail, lemon jello, maraschino
cherry syrup, lemon juice, cream cheese, mayonnaise, mini
marshmallows, cherries, whipping cream, red food coloring

heart cutout sandwiches

Cherry Meringue Torte
large round meringue, baked
then filled with a layer of whipping cream, then cherry pie filling,
and finally a heart made of remaining whipping cream

Since we have to eat: Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Week

A little over a week ago I wrote about my meal plan for that week. I had a beef roast and a whole chicken to use for meat for the week. By Friday I had roasted the chicken and used it in 2 meals. Friday is our pizza night, so we set the chicken aside for a day, then used the last of it Saturday and Sunday. Here are the meals we made this week.

Friday

scratch pepperoni pizza

steamed spinach

tangerines

applesauce snack cake

Saturday

chicken, vegetables, and dumplings

applesauce snack cake

Sunday

chicken and vegetable tortilla soup

dried prunes

applesauce snack cake

Monday

tuna-macaroni salad

avocado slices

gingered pears

pecan pie (My daughters baked us a pecan pie over the weekend. Wasn't that sweet of them?)

Tuesday

ground beef stroganoff

brown rice

steamed broccoli

tomato slices

pecan pie

Wednesday

spinach frittata

turkey bacon (I said yesterday that I didn't buy any treats when grocery shopping last. I forgot about 3 packs of turkey bacon -- on sale -- and 1 pack of pork bacon for Valentine's Day.)

oven fries roasted in beef fat

avocado, celery, cabbage salad in homemade apple cider vinaigrette (This is the apple cider vinegar that I made in the fall.)

tangerines

Thursday

beef fajita enchilada casserole (slow-cooked beef, peppers, onions, canned tomatoes, seasonings layered with corn tortillas and topped with cheese, then baked)

canned green beans

sautéed cinnamon apples

By Friday I just wanted to bake something sweet, but I wanted it to be easy. So I went with an applesauce snack cake. I've posted this recipe before, but I'll add it here again. It's a winner and so easy to make. It freezes well, so you could cut the cake into squares or in half, wrap and freeze some for another day. No eggs, no milk. And you can mix the batter right in the (ungreased) pan.

Applesauce Snack Cake

1  2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar (or white sugar with a spoonful of molasses added to the liquids)

1  1/2 teaspoons ground allspice (or cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg or any combination)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vinegar

Mix flour, sugar, spices, baking soda, salt with a fork in an ungreased 8 X 8 X 2-inch baking pan. Stir together the liquid ingredients and incorporate with the dry in the pan.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the top springs back when pressed lightly.

This Saturday we're planning a Valentine's brunch for the four of us. It'll be low-key, but I hope tasty. I'm planning on waffles, preserves and homemade fruity syrup, bacon, sausage, and a fruit salad using fresh pear, apple, banana, and tangerine. I'm not sure what I'll make for dinner, but I am planning a cherry pie for dessert. 

What was on your menu this past week? Have you planned anything for Valentine's Day? Have a lovely weekend!

Stress Shopping vs. Mindful Shopping

I recently heard someone say that a blog is simply a person working out their issues in a public way. So, here I am today sharing a current issue of mine and how I'm working it out.

This is the cart after leaving the produce department, before adding anything else.
I filled the seat and the full bottom of the cart with fresh produce.

Grief shopping

I went grocery shopping over the weekend and spent almost $200 for a cart full of groceries. That's a high for our household. I was grief shopping. It wasn't that I was filling our cart with expensive processed or treat foods. I was buying the usual foods, just in excessive amounts. I really didn't want us to run out of any of our "regular" foods. We count on having these foods to maintain consistency in our days. And especially right now, that consistency is especially important to us.

A story from my younger years

I was 24 and my sister was 26 when our mother was dying. One day when we were talking, I confessed to my sister that I'd been spending more money than usual. She revealed that she had been doing the same. 

We were living through a terribly stressful situation -- losing our mother bit by bit each day. Much of what I purchased were actually useful and would help me set up a home a couple of years later. I worked in a department store. I did buy some nice clothes, but I mostly bought household items, like small appliances, silverware and dishes, and linens. We use almost all of these items today (a mixer quit on me years ago). However, I can see in hindsight that my shopping patterns then were unhealthy. Fortunately, I didn't incur any negative consequences as a result. But this was my first experience of large-scale stress shopping.

What drives stress shopping?

Stress shopping, grief shopping, retail therapy -- these are all names for a disordered type of shopping experience that attempts to relieve negative emotions. It's a bandaid on a problem that wasn't properly dealt with. 

As far as I can see, there are three primary features of stress shopping, an attempt to impose some control, an attempt to reestablish safety and comfort, and the activation of the pleasure center of the brain with a dopamine hit.

Control -- grief is a period that lacks a sense of control. It feels like a free fall with no visible safety net at the bottom. Stocking up is a way that I ensure we won't run out anytime soon, my method to impose control over our situation.

Comfort and safety. Food is comfort for many of us. We stock up on foods that we enjoy. Having the same basic foods that we've always enjoyed boosts a sense of emotional safety. Keeping regular routines and meals provides a place of refuge in a difficult period.

The dopamine hit counters these feelings of stress, albeit temporarily. Shopping addictions are a real thing for a reason. For some people, making a purchase provides an instant "high". 

What's the answer to stress shopping? 

Mindful shopping. Mindful shopping involves thoughtful planning to meet one's needs. Ironically, mindfulness is also a way to regain control in one's life through reflecting on needs, creating a plan for their fulfillment, and making that happen with purpose. I can still purchase comfort foods while being mindful, just perhaps not in excessive quantity. 

How can I implement some mindfulness in my shopping going forward this month? 

Well, it's not like I can return some of the food that I purchased after having it in my kitchen several days. Unlike returning the purchase of new shoes or gadgets, I can't recoup what I spent on those foods. But, I can ensure we use what I bought, through thoughtful use of the most perishable foods first, And, for my second (and final) shopping of this month, I can use what we have in abundance instead of buying new foods. I may need to buy milk, cheese, and one or two other necessary foods. But I believe that we can refrain from buying much more. I expect in another couple of weeks (when I shop again) that our family will be in a better place emotionally, and my shopping will be under better control. In the meantime, there is zero reason for us to get takeout or dine in a restaurant while our fridge, freezer and pantry are so full.

How about you? Have you ever found yourself stress shopping or buying items that you wouldn't normally due to the stress or grief in your life? How did you handle it?

Loving Through the Darkness: Supporting My Grieving Husband

finding peace in planting flowers

As a wife, I have the need to make my husband's life feel okay again. I've had to move myself forward, so that I can be a supportive help to him. Today was a beautiful, sunny day. It was cold, but the sun was beautiful. I had bought some spring flowering bulbs and plants over the weekend with the intention of filling a pot with spring cheer. The work was good for me, the sunshine was invigorating, and the result was uplifting. In the process I found myself connecting to the birds chirping and woodpeckers pecking in the background. And the ducks, the ducks are back in the pond again! My husband likes to take them a small handful of cracked corn around lunchtime. 

When I've been very down before, finding what is lovely in this world lifts me up. I've also been listening to some of my favorite hymns while doing chores around the house. Pretty flowers, friendly wildlife, meaningful music -- these are things that help me find peace in difficult times. 

It helps to nurture something or someone else, too. That could be tending these plants, or my husband feeding the ducks, or cooking for my family. These little acts bring us back into the world of the living, so to speak.

Most of what we do when we're supporting someone else in the grieving process are considered small acts -- a hug, a shared prayer, a kind ear, a baked treat. I think the small acts are the most welcome in times like these. And it's easy to sprinkle these moments into my husband's day, providing a comforting place in our home for him to find his own peace.

Grief doesn't go away overnight or after a shared prayer or after eating a favorite meal. It hangs in there like an invisible cloud in the room. It's an unseen weight that the bearer carries throughout their day. But I hope to be the partner he can count on to share in this burden, the two becomes one concept of marriage.

Hi friends,

I'm sorry I left my blog so abruptly last week. Our family had some really sad news. My husband's brother passed away. I'm trying to get us back on track this week, while still processing our grief and shock. Again, I'm sorry if you looked for a post from me and didn't find one nor an explanation until now. I hope all is well for you and your families.

What's been the very best money-saving kitchen tool for you?

There are lots of kitchen tools that are simply essential for cooking, such as knives, pots/pans, measuring cups/spoons, mixing bowls, etc. But there are a few tools that many folks might think are non-essential, but having them save you so much money over time.

I did a Google AI search for money-saving kitchen tools and it suggested Soda Stream, bread maker, citrus juicer or reamer, immersion blender/food processor, digital food scale, instant read thermometer, reusable silicone storage bags/bowl covers, and a quality chef's knife.

From its list, I wouldn't buy a Soda Stream because we don't drink soda or sparkling water enough to warrant spending the money. I would see it as a toy. 

I do have an instant read thermometer that I use for making yogurt, heating liquids to a correct temperature for a recipe, making candy, caramel sauce, and preserves, and to test meat temperature. It is a convenience over old-fashioned methods, but I wouldn't consider it really money-saving for my uses. I would still make jam, jelly, candy, and cook meat, but would use methods like dropping a bit into cold water (for candy), or indications like sheeting off a spoon (for preserves),  coating a spoon for a custard, or wiggling the leg of poultry to test for doneness. The only true money saver would be using it for making yogurt. I don't know any other way to tell when the milk is at the right temperature to have a successful batch.

We have a second hand glass citrus juicer that comes out of the cupboard a few times per year. I wouldn't make more dishes with citrus juice if I had an electric juicer or a reamer.

A digital food scale has been on my want list for a while. It would be nice to weigh meal portions, both raw and cooked meat, dough for baking, flour and other baking ingredients. But this is a want for now. Would it save me money? It might for creating specific sized portions (preventing overeating or under-eating of more expensive ingredients or meals). I might also be able to bake a better loaf of bread if I could be more precise, or 3 uniform loaves of bread when I do a larger baking, instead of 1 large loaf and 2 smaller ones, as often happens.

I have both an immersion blender and a food processor, and yes, I do think both of those are money savers. I cook and process whole pumpkins every fall to make my own pumpkin puree for baking and smoothies. An immersion blender can save a lumpy batch of gravy or puree microwaved vegetable mixtures with stock for quick soups. Both are handy and save us money.

There's an appliance that Google didn't suggest, but that I would put at the top of my list of money-savers, a stand mixer with a dough hook. We've had two stand mixers during our (long) marriage. The first was my parents and handed down to me when we were first married. When it failed, we bought another one. Even paying "new" prices, I still believe this has saved us a bundle of money. I've baked between 3 and 5 loaves of bread every week for 11 years with this mixer. That's 2288 loaves of high-quality whole grain bread. If I saved only $1 per loaf, I saved $2288 with that mixer. And I use the mixer for other recipes as well. 

So, how about you? is there one kitchen tool that you feel has been the best money-saver compared to its original cost?