MENU.

 First thing I do is check what is leftover in the frig... what can I make it into or add to it for enough for a meal. Might be a small meal for lunch or enough with something else added for supper.

Bfast: granola with dried mixed fruit, bagels, pancakes with berry pie filling, eggs, muffins with fruit, baked pumkin doughnuts, yogurt with fruit and grapenuts on top, leftover rolls with jam, scones, and sweet rolls.

Lunch: leftovers or plan overs (leftover pork chop got chopped finely into omelet). Lunch meat wraps with apple (Hubby's favorite when he worked) , cottage cheese, applesauce and beets (my go to).

Supper: 

Dom's (Dom Tiberi channel 10 Columbus OH recipe) meatballs with spag. and homemade sauce, broccoli and cauliflower, mixed fruit.

Meatloaf, mashed sweet potatoes, peas and carrots, apricots.

Pork chops, hominy and spinach, applesauce and rolls

Chili, tropical fruit, corn bread

Sausage patty, mac and cheese, green beans, peaches

Casserole of leftover mac and cheese, drained can of tuna, can of cream of chicken soup(no water) topped with homemade bread crumbs. Cranberry sauce (in the can) 

Tacos and burritos (taco meat from freezer)

Cottage pie(or hamburger pie or what ever you call it) using leftover mashed potatoes, corn and sloppy joe from freezer.

Homemade baconater (like Wendy's) with potato chips and homemade chip dip.

Homemade pizza. Dough, sliced pepperoni and sausage crumbles from freezer, pizza sauce,  mushrooms, black olives and mild banana peppers from pantry, Cheese from frig.

Baked chicken breasts, wild rice, cranberry sauce, mixed veggies.

London Broil, rice, sliced veggies that was going to go bad to top rice.

M's veggie soup with rolls(has hamburger and elbow mac in it)

Chicken chili with white beans and corn bread

Breaded fish, breaded mushrooms and breaded cheese sticks with fruit cocktail

Shrimp with buttered thin spaghetti, garlic bread using leftover sub buns from freezer and California blend mix veggies with diced mango

Store bought Phlly steak subs (Freezer dept. Add bell peppers, mushrooms and black olives.) 

Leftover Philly steak filling mixed with rice, added Chinese sauce to it, airfry egg rolls

Airfry chicken nuggets, breaded ravioli, breaded cheese sticks and breaded mushrooms and serve with sliced apple

When you combine down grid with homesteading and finances LOL

 

These cover what I had trouble getting during the pandemic especially when the milk cow next door went dry. I got my oats and speltz flours from the Amish bulk store.

Hopefully the new place that is going to grind flour for the Amish will be open this year.

I restocked medical supplies.

I need to check paper products, dog items and restock the cresote logs when we stop using the wood stove. 

I will be starting seeds next week in the grow cart.  SO I will need to cut other places to pay the rise in the electric bill. I already got it down almost $35 a month the last 3 months. 

I might be able to cut the amount of propane I usually order also. Will know by May.

We got news that there could be a drought late summer going into fall so I will plant with that in mind. As we already are in a drought, our pond is so low the Amish didn't cut ice from it. Neighbor bought square buckets like we use to freeze ice for them in summer for ice cream making, and filled them with his well water and let them freeze during the sub zero weather. Said he had his ice house filled and extra in one week and didn't have to be out in the cold at all.

We still have 16 yrs on mortgage, already cut 14 yrs off the 30 yr loan. We have been paying this loan 4 years. So I need to reset that and stay focused on getting it paid off. Right now our interest rate is half of what current farm interest rate is.

If I save $5 on something, penny found on the road,etc.I put that in the saving and note it on the calendar. At the end of the month I add those savings up and transfer to the mortgage. Refunds go there also. Our withholding on taxes changed, I put the differnce in savings. When our Social Security comes in and I pay the bills, I more that savings to the mortgage. I actually save more doing that instead of letting it sit for months in the savings. 

The only things I need to put in stock for food is corn, asaparagus (Cross fingers it doesn't get frozen before harvest like last year), peas, cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts. We are almost out in freezers of those in freezers.

SIGH

 Sorry...really sorry... 

I disappeared in canning pork and lard then beef. Froze some of both also. All freezers are full

Then went into freezing and dehydrating 24 winter squash

Then went to roasting and freezing 28 lbs of sweet potatoes. Also dehydrated some. Then moved the garden wagon that had the sweet potatoes back out to the barn and brought the grow cart in. 

I need to deal with the last of the onions. 

Then got the result of skin cancer (very small amount, like a pin head) around my nose that was removed... then today got the notice they want deposit of $100 and deductible AND permission to do an automatic withdrawl for what ever amount they decide on and Did NOT bother to give me a estimation of payment for the bill to check to make sure they got it all to begin with. Guess AG is getting a message from me as I really don't think that is how it should be done especially the day before the surgery. I already got the number for a local doctor which I probably should have done when we moved here that several of Hubby's family has used.

As disabled son pointed out we need to see doctors we can get rides to when we no longer can drive ourselves. Something he is having issues with where he lives.

Placed my order for next year's meat. Steer will be grass and chemical free corn that was raised in the field behind us LOL. 

I kept track we buy about 500 lbs of beef and 500 lbs of pork, 6 of 20 lbs turkeys, 52 lbs of white meat chicken and 52 lbs of dark meat chicken and seafood every 3 months. We stock for 18 months, will have extra for when we have company and share with the kids when they need help with groceries.

I need peas, corn, asparagus,broccoli, caulflower, brussels sprouts,cabbage and white potatoes for next fall.

We started pruning the asparagus. Usually have the Amish neighbor do that in the fall but his "mower" broke and the one he went to borrow was broke also. I don't mind not pruning the berries but the asparagus and the flowers need pruned.

Hubby pruned the apple trees and took the twig pile (that's what he called it) over to neighbor as he already had a "to be burned" pile started. 

Amish have started tapping maple trees !!!!

It warmed up yesterday so we let the wood stove go out. I will clean it today. It's supposed to be in the high 40s to mid 60s the next 4 days so good weather even if it rains a bit to work in the gardens. We have a cold spell in forecast for mid March for about 2 wks so going to move wood around for that before we get hit with it.

We got our taxes done. Didn't even have anything owed on school taxes. So that was good news. 

Blessed be 

Stay safe and well