I thought I would lump all my questions into one post and hope for some great answers.
One
One of my daughters wore through her high school backpack mid-year last year. I loaned her my travel backpack for the rest of the year. It's a Jansport, and really hasn't been used all that much. But this summer, it's beginning to show wear in the bottom of the backpack, like see-through wear. So, this daughter needs a new backpack. We replaced the other daughter's backpack early last school year, as her high school one bit the dust a loooong time ago. We went to REI and used a gift card to buy her new one. So, my question -- have any of you found an especially great brand of backpack that would last through daily use for 3 years or more?
Two
When I was sick last week, I had a hard time putting together dinners. Everyone in the family gets home so very late, that dinner needs to be on the table when they walk in the door. As illness strikes with no warning, it wasn't as if I could just prepare ahead of time and stock the freezer. I was sick all week, and we went through every prepared food in the freezer that I could find, and still needed more meals. To complicate things, our budgets are strained even further this summer, with some medical bills needing to be paid, and the medical fund needing to be replenished. So, just ordering pizzas won't work for us. My question here -- what quick and easy dinners do you put together under similar circumstances?
Three
Finally, my 3rd and last question burning in my mind this week. How old is too old for using gravy? I roasted a whole chicken a couple of weeks ago (on a Saturday). I made gravy with the drippings that night. The leftover gravy sat in the fridge all the following week (until the next Friday morning), when I finally realized that it was not a container of some peanut butter-y concoction of one of my kids, but indeed was chicken gravy. I immediately tossed it into the freezer, at about 6 days old. What do you think? Is 6 days in the fridge (40 degrees F) too long for gravy? If I heated it through real well, would it be safe to eat?
Thanks, to all of you! I just know I'm going to get some really great and useful answers!
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
This, that and the other thing
This
On Thursday, I did a little clean-out of the pantry. My am I ever a pack-rat. I save a lot of stuff. If someone brings a take-out container into the house, I wash and save it. If my husband brings an aluminum catering-size pan home, I save it. When we finish a can of coffee, I save the canister. So, on Thursday, I made myself cull through that stuff and toss or recycle as much as possible. I did save 2 catering pans, 1 oatmeal canister, and there's this 1 extra large canister from chili powder. My guess is it would hold about 3 quarts of liquid, it's that big. (I buy a couple of spices in super large sizes then store in the freezer.) I washed out the chili powder canister. It's a nice size, and see-through, so would be good for storing something. I just haven't figured out what yet. It just looks too good to toss. I know, I'm a pack-rat.
The pantry is a lot more organized, now, and I made room for autumn stock-ups.
That
Evidently, everyone else's appetites were off last week, too. I didn't make nearly as much as I usually do for lunches and breakfasts to-go, but there was a lot leftover at the end of the week. This turned out to be a very good thing, for me, as I used all of this to make Friday night's dinner. We had refried bean, herbed rice and cheese tacos, and rhubarb sauce for dinner that night. Easy cooking night for me.
And that other thing
frugal spinster's blog post on Friday reminded me that this is the time of year that bread products go moldy. It's warm and humid right now, enough for those tiny mold spores to proliferate. I lost a pancake last week (I was looking forward to having the very last pancake with my breakfast on Friday, boo hoo), to mold. I realized that it's that time of year to keep all baked goods in either the fridge or freezer. So, I went into the kitchen and sliced up the last of the loaf of bread, and tossed it into the freezer. It was a good reminder, and at least I only had 1 pancake grow mold.
On Thursday, I did a little clean-out of the pantry. My am I ever a pack-rat. I save a lot of stuff. If someone brings a take-out container into the house, I wash and save it. If my husband brings an aluminum catering-size pan home, I save it. When we finish a can of coffee, I save the canister. So, on Thursday, I made myself cull through that stuff and toss or recycle as much as possible. I did save 2 catering pans, 1 oatmeal canister, and there's this 1 extra large canister from chili powder. My guess is it would hold about 3 quarts of liquid, it's that big. (I buy a couple of spices in super large sizes then store in the freezer.) I washed out the chili powder canister. It's a nice size, and see-through, so would be good for storing something. I just haven't figured out what yet. It just looks too good to toss. I know, I'm a pack-rat.
The pantry is a lot more organized, now, and I made room for autumn stock-ups.
That
Evidently, everyone else's appetites were off last week, too. I didn't make nearly as much as I usually do for lunches and breakfasts to-go, but there was a lot leftover at the end of the week. This turned out to be a very good thing, for me, as I used all of this to make Friday night's dinner. We had refried bean, herbed rice and cheese tacos, and rhubarb sauce for dinner that night. Easy cooking night for me.
And that other thing
frugal spinster's blog post on Friday reminded me that this is the time of year that bread products go moldy. It's warm and humid right now, enough for those tiny mold spores to proliferate. I lost a pancake last week (I was looking forward to having the very last pancake with my breakfast on Friday, boo hoo), to mold. I realized that it's that time of year to keep all baked goods in either the fridge or freezer. So, I went into the kitchen and sliced up the last of the loaf of bread, and tossed it into the freezer. It was a good reminder, and at least I only had 1 pancake grow mold.
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