What's everybody doing today?

[snappy1]

I slept in this morning so no walk yet. Might do video, not sure yet. I slept 9 and a half hours. That has to be a record! Fed dogs and walked them. Made water bath full of Chicken vegetable soup to pressure can from all gifted chicken and vegetables. Have 14 quarts going and one quart in the fridge!
Should do some eBay photos today. We will see. And Church tonight.

 

[Amish Heart]

Took husband to the big city this morning to get an epideural shot in his spine. He was so happy that it took the pain away, although it is temporary. Went out to the Amish restaurant for breakfast when we came back into our town. Cleaning house today and doing some extra cooking. Lady cousins come tomorrow to make shelf stable rice recipes, mylar bag some stuff (a first for them), and have lunch.

 

[Meerkat]

Spent time with music instead of news.Feel better than I did this time yesterday.
Mr.Meer cut some grass. I cooked and worked out a little more than usual lately.
May be all I do today,not sure.

 

[Sparky_D]

Up at 5AM so I could do my follow up labs and Dr appointments.

Labs are fantastic! This new (to me) kidney is working overtime!

Still sore from the actual surgery, but mobility is improving daily.

The post-transplant anti-rejection drugs are doing their job, but have left me with virtually no immune system, so I'm staying as isolated as I can until my system recovers. I'll always be imuno-compromised, but eventually I'll be able to fight off the simpler things on my own.

Just taking it one day at a time...

 

[Duncan]

Do any of you use a working pantry backed up by a food storage system? I am trying to do just that now and I am running into issues. The debate revolves around how much should I put in the pantry vs the food storage area... For example: Is a one pound bag of each type of dry bean in the pantry with the remainder in buckets in the storage area the right mix? I am finding that the wife is going for 5+ pounds of everything in the pantry, which seems like overkill to me.... Anyway would just like to get a little enlightened feedback.

I think Amish Heart's idea of small amounts in the kitchen pantry with most of your supplies in the basement (or outbuilding, or wherever you have a place to store it is a good idea) makes a lot of sense. However, we use a different approach. Our house was built in 1916 and added on to many times, and it "jest growed". We have an 8' X 14' room off the kitchen which we made into our pantry. When we were remodeling, the first thing we did was to build shelving, and put in a laundry sink and a one-burner propane stove for canning.

Since it's only a few steps away from the kitchen, we do all of our storage there, except for our potatoes and onions and root veggies, which we keep in the dungeon ("basement" is a little to hi-falutin' for that space). Of course, the basement is usually around 65 deg F in the summer and down to 50 deg in the winter. What I'd like to do is to cut a hole in the floor of the pantry right above the basement and put in a floor-mounted grate with a filter and maybe a small fan, so the basement could keep the pantry cool. But that sounds like a lot more work than I'd be comfortable with...at least not yet.

As far as how much food you store in one place rather than the other, you might want to talk to the boss about having a weeks' or ten days' worth of ingredients available in the pantry. which means you'd only have to make one "refurbishment" trip to the food storage area every week or so.

 

[LadyLocust]

Do any of you use a working pantry backed up by a food storage system? I am trying to do just that now and I am running into issues. The debate revolves around how much should I put in the pantry vs the food storage area... For example: Is a one pound bag of each type of dry bean in the pantry with the remainder in buckets in the storage area the right mix? I am finding that the wife is going for 5+ pounds of everything in the pantry, which seems like overkill to me.... Anyway would just like to get a little enlightened feedback.

I like quart jars for easy access with larger quantities for backup, but like Duncan, my pantry is right off the kitchen so not a big deal other than a few items.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Thanks, @Amish Heart, @Duncan, and @LadyLocust; Your suggestions are in line with what I was thinking. Right now the working pantry is 6'X8'X14" divided into 18" increments, there are 28 drawers in the lower half and about a dozen shelves above the 4’ line.

We have always supplied from the bottom up (First in First Out), eat what you store, store what you eat. But this new pantry has the wife thinking I should be moving more up the stairs. I would prefer to keep just enough of what we use on a regular basis ( I was thinking like 2 cans tuna, 2 turkey, 2 canned pinto.....) She started taking about moving full flats into the thing and I was afraid I was off base...

When we bought the house 20+ years ago I put in 2 sets of floor to ceiling shelves in the basement, made with 3/4 ply and 2X4 frames, each row of 2' wide shelves is 36' long, here is a 3' wide walkway between 2 rows and a pass through between the first 2 - 8' segments to allow for access from both ends. 24' of that is my food storage, and next to that is my growing station and freezers.

It's hard enough to track what is in the inventory, my argument was if we have a standard loading in the pantry, then all I have to buy is what we have used (I can keep a tally sheet hidden next to the pantry to keep score as we go). Her argument was if we have more in the pantry we don't have to go as often... But, we need milk and eggs at least every other week, so it won't change the timing much from my perspective.

 

[Duncan]

@UrbanHunter my man, you definitely have your excrement together! I am jealous.

 

[Bacpacker]

Work has been pretty decent this week, catching up on paperwork and training. About noon today I start hearing about some new equipment that a different group wants to install in one of our stack monitoring cabinets. We built those to contain everything we need to have there and for ease of maintenance. We had one extra 20 amp circuit built in for a AC unit if we needed it. The cabinet runs very close to the max temp most of the time and now they want to install 2 detectors and a computer in it. It will add enough heat that we will need the AC. And probably don't have enough spare power to run everything. They also want everything installed and operational by next Wednesday. Not sure how we are gonna make that happen. Kinda blew my day. Worked late trying to get a head start on tomorrow. 2 meetings early tomorrow then see where I go from there.

 

[Weedygarden]

I had a friend volunteer to help me with the large flower garden out front since my back has been giving me fits for the last couple weeks. He came today and it is about 1/3 done. He was here for 5 hours and will be back on Friday. Peat moss will be added before tulips, daffodils, anemones and crocus get planted.
I planted 55 saffron crocus bulbs today, on my hands and knees, in a garden bed I had reworked a month or so go and amended with peat moss. I planted 25 of these saffron crocus last fall. I have seen those coming up recently. The instructions said they should be planted by October 15. They are fall blooming and the saffron is to be harvested as soon as they bloom.

 

[Amish Heart]

You have more cupboard storage in your kitchen remodel, Urban, than I do. I have less here in kitchen storage than I did in our New Mexico house. Didn't make sense, until I figured out that the room next to the kitchen (which is now a laundry room and toilet room) used to be a pantry. Lady cousins are coming tomorrow morning to create rice mixes, so I just made a number of trips down to the basement to bring up: about 15 spices in large bottles, 4 different bouillons, mylar, crimper, food saver and attachments. I keep small quantities upstairs. This is how it works here. The basement looks like the grocery store, not so much the kitchen.

 

[Meerkat]

GOOD NIGHT ALL and sweet dreams.

 

[Patchouli]

@snappy1 is there something that helps you sleep so well? I go to sleep usually too late, I wake up always too early. Lucky is getting 5 hours. People keep telling me it's because I'm aging. ha. haha. hahahaha. @Amish, what do you think?
Plus, I am interested in learning about what you and your cousins will be doing in the kitchen!
Sounds like fun.

 

[snappy1]

@snappy1 is there something that helps you sleep so well?

Ha! Like I said, that has to be a record! I was up at 3 this morning. Payback for getting good sleep the night before. I usually get between 4 and 6 hours sleep.

So, when it gets light, I will walk, feed dogs, and walk them. Not much on my list today. Making taco seasoning mix, taking eBay photos and maybe weeding in garden if the rain is done. Otherwise just puttering around.

Have a good day folks!

 

[Dadio]

Dehydrating peppers and tomatoes, using a new pole saw (how did I survive without one) to clear up neglected trees and to clear up around tree stands, picking black walnuts, working for a paycheck, selling the old house ( we have a contract). And a little painting.

 

[Amish Heart]

Oh, man, Patchouli, I don't do well on five hours of sleep. I cherish any sleep I get because husband doesn't sleep well, so I wake up and listen if I hear him up. Kids are having breakfast at 6:15 am before school, so I'm up. I even shower before bedtime because you never know who stops in early around here. Husband is lucky to be showered and dressed by 9. His med ritual in the morning takes alot of time. I know I can't have coffee after 2 pm. I love my 8 hrs of sleep, or something close to it.
OK, so I have three newbie Amish prepper converts. My favorite cousin, one of her daughers, and one of her daughter in laws. They all love rice mixes like Zatarains, Rice A roni, Knorrs. So we are making dry mixes of copycat recipes. Storing them in mylar, or canning jars using the foodsaver jar sealers, and some for immediate use in ziplocks. So I have a stack of recipes out and alot of ingredients. They are bringing rice. This is great for food storage, plus it saves alot of money. I think my cousin's daughter may be bringing cake mixes to mylar, too. And I'll bring out my master recipe books for dry mix main meals and other stuff if they want to think about more stuff another day.We used to do this with our "group" in New Mexico, and it's how I stored a years worth of food economically years ago.
Then we our having lunch. Hamburger soup and muffins. And whatever they bring to go with it. And lots of talking.
Got a text last night from our friend from New Mexico that came to visit a few weeks ago with his son. Said he's been home two weeks and can't stop thinking about being here. Wants to come back in a few weeks with his wife. That was a surprise.

 

[Patchouli]

Amish, You're awesome! Exactly what ive been wanting to do...mixes with seasoning, prepackaged, by me. Sounds like things are rolling along for y'all. You haven't mentioned critters much lately.
Snappy, sorry you had a poor night. I think UrbanHunter doesn't sleep so well either.

 

[Bacpacker]

Oh, man, Patchouli, I don't do well on five hours of sleep. I cherish any sleep I get because husband doesn't sleep well, so I wake up and listen if I hear him up. Kids are having breakfast at 6:15 am before school, so I'm up. I even shower before bedtime because you never know who stops in early around here. Husband is lucky to be showered and dressed by 9. His med ritual in the morning takes alot of time. I know I can't have coffee after 2 pm. I love my 8 hrs of sleep, or something close to it.
OK, so I have three newbie Amish prepper converts. My favorite cousin, one of her daughers, and one of her daughter in laws. They all love rice mixes like Zatarains, Rice A roni, Knorrs. So we are making dry mixes of copycat recipes. Storing them in mylar, or canning jars using the foodsaver jar sealers, and some for immediate use in ziplocks. So I have a stack of recipes out and alot of ingredients. They are bringing rice. This is great for food storage, plus it saves alot of money. I think my cousin's daughter may be bringing cake mixes to mylar, too. And I'll bring out my master recipe books for dry mix main meals and other stuff if they want to think about more stuff another day.We used to do this with our "group" in New Mexico, and it's how I stored a years worth of food economically years ago.
Then we our having lunch. Hamburger soup and muffins. And whatever they bring to go with it. And lots of talking.
Got a text last night from our friend from New Mexico that came to visit a few weeks ago with his son. Said he's been home two weeks and can't stop thinking about being here. Wants to come back in a few weeks with his wife. That was a surprise.

I'm interested in the dry mixes as well. Keep on posting.

 

[Amish Heart]

Critters are good. A hundred chickens, about 2 months old outside, divided into 2 areas with protected runs coming off the hen houses. So far, divided by breed. Threw all the dark colored ones to one side, mixed on the other. Husband thought I was segregating (ha) but we ordered 8 breeds, some of which are new to me so I'm trying to figure out what is what. Next will be separating the roosters from the hens. I can kind of guess right now, but not completely accurate, so maybe another month. Then just keeping two roosters, and selling or butchering the remaining. Odds are I have half roosters (50), but we'll see. Jay Rod the cat has decided to live here, instead of next door. He slept in the tree out front last night and is on the porch ready for breakfast. Granddaughter had work last night, but grandson tried out the Mennonite church youth Bible study last night and liked it. Small group of 10 highschoolers. The church isn't having service, but are having people meet in small home groups because of covid. Convenient for the youth, though, it's our church "down the road". My grandparents are buried there.

 

[Amish Heart]

I'll report in what the favorite mix was today. I have bets it'll be the zatarains red bean and rice, because I know it's loved here with cut up sausage. A good meat stretcher recipe.
Or it'll be the mix with the cheddar sauce and broccoli bits.

 

[Patchouli]

Amish, yes, sounds yummy, waiting.
That's a lot of poultry. Always wish we could get some photos from you chicken adventures.

@Sparky_D so glad to hear everything is on the mend for you and yes, stay away from everybody. My sister has low immunity and has to be cautious of where she goes and limiting people exposure. Not easy.

 

[The Lazy L]

I maintain a web site for an organization. They texted me to tell me their web site isn't responding. I slipped into Technical troubling shooting mode by habit. My experience is 95% of all problems are customer induced. From home I can access their web site. I wasted a day trouble shooting with customer before a bell went off in my head. Same problem last year at about the same time. I turn off wi-fi on my phone and retest, web site is not accessible!!!!!!!! Web Server and my Internet Provider are on the same network. If I go off network (by turning off my wi-fi on my phone) and use my cell phone Providers Internet, web site is inaccessible. There is a network router out there in la-la-land that doesn't know where to redirect the customer's domain name. Contact the customer's Hosting Sight at 3:00 AM and by 8:30 AM I get a confirmation that the problem is fixed. Unfortunately it takes up to 36 hours for the Domain Name update to filter through out the Internet hierarchy.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Oh, man, Patchouli, I don't do well on five hours of sleep. I cherish any sleep I get because husband doesn't sleep well, so I wake up and listen if I hear him up. Kids are having breakfast at 6:15 am before school, so I'm up. I even shower before bedtime because you never know who stops in early around here. Husband is lucky to be showered and dressed by 9. His med ritual in the morning takes alot of time. I know I can't have coffee after 2 pm. I love my 8 hrs of sleep, or something close to it.
OK, so I have three newbie Amish prepper converts. My favorite cousin, one of her daughers, and one of her daughter in laws. They all love rice mixes like Zatarains, Rice A roni, Knorrs. So we are making dry mixes of copycat recipes. Storing them in mylar, or canning jars using the foodsaver jar sealers, and some for immediate use in ziplocks. So I have a stack of recipes out and alot of ingredients. They are bringing rice. This is great for food storage, plus it saves alot of money. I think my cousin's daughter may be bringing cake mixes to mylar, too. And I'll bring out my master recipe books for dry mix main meals and other stuff if they want to think about more stuff another day.We used to do this with our "group" in New Mexico, and it's how I stored a years worth of food economically years ago.
Then we our having lunch. Hamburger soup and muffins. And whatever they bring to go with it. And lots of talking.
Got a text last night from our friend from New Mexico that came to visit a few weeks ago with his son. Said he's been home two weeks and can't stop thinking about being here. Wants to come back in a few weeks with his wife. That was a surprise.

I'm interested in the dry mixes also.
As for sleep it's over rated. 4 hours consistently is my normal.
Otherwise it's a couple hours here and there.
Which is why the other day I greeted everybody with "Good Morning Everybody".
I got 6 hours of consistent sleep.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

GoodMorning MoBook and glad the n-hood is peaceful today.

Thank you.
Nobodies up but me.
I get up about 0530 so I will be up for first dog walker at 0600 hours.
Besides I got 6 whole hours of sleep last night.
No sirens, no raids,no alarms going off.
It was a good night in neighborhood.

 

[WVDragonlady]

@Amish Heart
Please start a topic in the recipe section for those mixes. I think a number of us are interested.

I use that Zatarains red beans and rice with the diced sausage here too. I can get away with only using half of a smoked sausage link and can use the other half in another recipe lol
I also use their jambalaya mix too.

Today I plan to start the battle of my closet again. The closet trolls have wreaked havoc in there this summer. And I have the containers to store things in now ( seasonal clothes) so that will make more room on the shelves. Can spread things out some

 

[Weedygarden]

There is a thread for make your own mixes I started a couple years ago. I have a copy of Amish's recipes. I don't want to take anything from Amish, but I could add some of her recipes.

 

[Weedygarden]

@snappy1 and @MoBookworm1957: I wish I could function on that little sleep.

The grandmother whom I more resemble always needed 10 hours of sleep a day. She didn't sleep 10 hours at night, but would nap as needed during the day. If something interfered with that, she might just fall asleep where she was sitting. But before they moved to town, she was rarely sitting, except when she was sewing, mending, eating. She would lay down and could be asleep within a minute. Once she was widowed and living in town, she sat more.
I don't sleep 10 hours a day, but more like 8 hours. You don't want to be around me when I am short on sleep. It was essential for me when I was teaching to have my sleep. On the weekends of those teaching days, I might sleep 11-12 hours at least one night to catch up.

 

[snappy1]

I'll report in what the favorite mix was today. I have bets it'll be the zatarains red bean and rice, because I know it's loved here with cut up sausage. A good meat stretcher recipe.
Or it'll be the mix with the cheddar sauce and broccoli bits.

I do a yellow rice seasoning that is good. Order a small amount of saffron off of eBay.

I make mixes so there is no MSG or cornstarch which give me a reaction. I use tapioca starch instead. No reaction there.

 

[LadyLocust]

Today is Hubby & my 9th anniversary so we will go out to supper - only 2nd (or 3rd?) time since March I think.
I make quite my own mixes too (taco etc. no packets), but not those that have been mentioned so would also be interested. Amish might laugh, I would come help clean the coop. I miss my chickens I'm sure if I cleaned a coop or two I might not miss them quite as much

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Today is Hubby & my 9th anniversary so we will go out to supper - only 2nd (or 3rd?) time since March I think.
I make quite my own mixes too (taco etc. no packets), but not those that have been mentioned so would also be interested. Amish might laugh, I would come help clean the coop. I miss my chickens I'm sure if I cleaned a coop or two I might not miss them quite as much

Happy Anniversary!