in the kitchen

As the year ends one of my habits is to go through my kitchen to get clear away what isn't working for me and to set how I want it to function for the new year.

Hubby bought me a new cast iron griddle and a separate cast iron grill that fits over the middle burner of my gas stove... which we can celebrate that the stove is now fixed, under warranty and I no longer have to use a lighter to ignite the largest burner I have.

I have to have something for Hubby to pack in his lunches that could be eaten cold if he doesn't make it back to the post so he can reheat it. I bought a thermos from Amazon that I had saw on The Prudent Homemaker blog that she had looked at.

Mondays I will clean both refrigerators as Tuesday is our trash day. I will be noting what I have to throw out in the trash or compost..I will also be keeping an eye on leftovers. I've been packaging them and put them back in the freezer for nights we get in late or I am sick and Hubby doesn't feel up to cooking for himself.

The food budget is $250...non food is $40 with the note the dogs are a separate budget.

I have a calendar on my kitchen wall with the "menu" . It's more of what protein I will be cooking that night.

Monday is Mexican, that can be beef,pork, poultry or beans , something we did when we first got together was go to a local Mexican restaurant and have a drink (soda or coffee as Hubby worked nights and I was driving) and got the "snack" bar for free. It had refried beans, salsa, sour cream, black olives, scallions,  and fresh cooked tortilla chips. I now have a tortilla press and many of the spices etc I need to make our own Mexican. (Dec 31st we will have BBQ pork ribs).

Tuesday is pork( pork loin, tenderloin, chops, roasts, ground pork, sausage patty and bulk, smoked sausage, and ribs)which works this week as I have leftover pork roast in the freezer that will go with the leftover kraut and some mashed potatoes for Jan 1st.

Wednesday will be Asian... when Hubby was working in Alabama for 2 yrs and I stayed in Ohio raising the last 4 kids as they were in the last 2 years of high school. I would go to the local Asian restaurant after going spending time with church friends.. Since I don't want my meal swimming in sauce that is high is sodium and years of working in classes with a Thai chef. I will be starting back to cooking my own. Hubby prefers beef and I prefer chicken... I am still floating thoughts of doing both but using the same veggies or doing one this week and the other the next week. I will be going back to making my own egg rolls, either with cabbage or bean sprouts and will try my hand at pot stickers aka fried dumplings ,once we eat through the 3 bags we have in the freezer

Thursday is poultry. I still have 5 frozen turkeys and 18 meals of shredded turkey in my freezers. I also have 26 meals of chicken so I think we are really set in that area.

Friday is a floating day... either vegetarian or seafood. ... pizza or calzones could fit in there also

Saturday is beef , 24 beef briskets, 6 prime rib roasts along with chuck roasts, chuck steaks and hamburger.

Sunday is left overs that I don't shove in freezer, soup.or breakfast

Since I have home made soup canned, it can be real simply to use for Hubby's lunches when supper isn't something he wants to carry.

The idea is to write down what I buy, what I cook and what is tossed with note of why.