Fabulous Food and Freezing Finds

FIND #1

We got a flier for Albertson's the other week that included some coupons. One of them was for pork loin for $0.99 per pound. Since the pieces were all quite large, I got $40 worth of meet for under $10.

FIND #2

Since there is no way that we could eat a 10 pound piece of pork even with several guests, we cut a little over half of it into several roasts to freeze. I used the remaining 4 lbs to make an apple roast pork recipe I had run across on the internet. The cooking method was nothing special; I cooked it in the oven and then shredded it. The gem of the recipe was how to freeze the leftovers!! The instructions are for freezing single portion sizes. Since I always struggle with there being way to much food for the two of us, this was the major attraction of the recipe. I sprayed a muffin tin with non-stick spray, filled the cups with the shredded meat and juice, and popped the tin in the freezer. Once frozen, the individual servings can go in a plastic bag, and Andy can pull them out whenever he likes.

FIND/THOUGHT #3

I think the muffin pan method will work well for chicken broth, among other things. As I was cleaning up in the kitchen, I realized that my mini-loaf pan would also work and be PERFECT for casseroles. Andy gets so tired of having to eat the same thing over and over because there is so much left over, even in a small pyrex pan. I can't want to put these to use again!!

To say the least, I was proud of each of my finds. By the time I'd finished, I was ecstatic!!

Soups

Andy's cousin Emily came over for a few days to help me make him some soups. I like to make a whole bunch at once so that I am able to use up all of the ingredients like carrots, celery, green onions, and herbs. I had how I only need one of two of them for a recipe and the rest go to waste. Even when I plan really carefully for the weeks meals, we aren't able to finish off the rest of the stuff. So, I make a whole bunch of soups to use up most of the leftover vegetables. I hope that sometime in the next year I will be able to find a used upright freezer for under $200 so that I don't have to play tetris when I get something from or put something in the freezer. After a week's worth of cooking and many games of tetris, he has a freezer full of soups that should last him several months. This variety should keep him happy.

Carrot Soup

Blueberry Lemonade Soup

Zucchini-Potato Soup

Creamy Cucumber Soup

Tomato & Bread Soup

Delicious Sausage Soup

Minestrone

Hearty Bean & Vegetable Soup

Chilled Avocado & Mint Soup

Remodeling our great room

Before moving back to our house, we had about two months to fix or change anything and move slowly. We made the decision that we wanted to change the flooring in our great room from carpet to laminate wood flooring. While we were at it, we switched out the baseboards for a larger and nicer design.

Since we wanted to spend less money on the project, we decided to do the work ourselves. We thought that we had tools we could borrow from others if we didn't already have them. Unfortunately, we found that many times what we had or borrowed didn't work as anticipated. So, Andy got a bunch of new tools including a table saw, reciprocating saw, (larger) nail gun, air compressor, and shop vac. Here are some pictures of his new toys that we are oh so glad that we purchased after getting over the sticker shock.

Those two were part of a package deal. He was really excited that the air compressor has a removable chest and is on wheels!

Do you see that big grin??

This buddy is my friend. I don't remember having used one but quickly found out that it was worth its weight in gold (well, maybe not at $1000+/ounce). I can't imagine our mini construction project with out it.

So, over many weekends, interrupted by other small projects, we put the floor in. I laid out the flooring pattern, Andy made the cuts, and we worked together to put in the pieces. Andy finished the quarter round and transition pieces once we moved in to the house.

Before:

During:

We removed the carpet, and Andy worked hard to rip up the carpet tacks and baseboards.

We readied the concrete foundation and laid down this black plastic with the help of friends.

Then, the foam underlayment went down and I started laying out the laminate pieces.

Finally, we are making progress!!!

However, each time we would make good progress, we would find that there was something wrong with a current or previous row. So, we'd have to remove that part to figure out what was wrong. It was two steps forward, one step back. But then finally we were finished with the flooring and moved in to the house.

Finished project:

Great room and kitchen

Living room

Dining room

And now that we've finished that project and have all of these wonderful tools, clearly, we need another project...can't you hear Andy groaning... At least the other projects on our list are smaller and are not immediately necessary.

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth

Since February, there have been quite a few highlights. I'll dedicate individual posts to the full details and pictures, but this list will give you the gist of things.

We've packed up, moved back to our house, unpacked, and decorated.

Before moving in to the house, we changed our flooring in the great room.

We've worked on the landscaping some; unfortunately, our wildflowers didn't come up. We're planning on planting a garden in the backyard.

I've been sewing and have more to do.

Andy is now able to telecommute at least one day a week.

We've had lots of family gatherings. Meg, my sister, has even flown in a few times; we've seen each other more in the last year than probably the previous five!

I've stocked Andy up on soups for a while. There is NO room in the freezer!

I am researching homemade and natural alternatives to some household items. Hopefully, I can save us some money and help us be healthier.

And maybe the biggest winner is that our cat now goes potty outside (unless he is sick). No more kitty litter mess in the guest bathroom! No more stinky odors! Less work for Andy!

SHOES

My cousin, Beth, came down to Texas for the weekend. I met up with them in Lewisville to visit my mother. It was great to spend time with all of them. I was really excited that I wore real shoes for the first time since New Year's Eve when my toenail got flipped up. For several weeks, I've been able to wear tennis shoes, but Sunday I walked out in my black boots that have a two inch heels. While my feet were quite tired after walking through the mall, my injured toe didn't bother me at all. Yippee!!! Maybe after a few more weeks, I'll be able to go without a bandaid on my toe. That would be just in time for open toe shoe season. Here's hoping!!

Caramelized Cajun Chicken

I found this recipe in Southern Living, but made some changes. We made it the other night and really enjoyed it. It is really spicy, but you could cut the cajun seasoning in half to make it more mild. As the recipe reads, I had to suck down a glass and a half of milk to cool off my mouth. Andy on the other hand just kept eating; he loves spicy food! I'm sure that a side of rice would help with the heat. It was really easy to make and didn't require much time or clean-up.

Caramelized Cajun Chicken

• 4 skinned and boned chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (cut in half for mild heat)

1. Heat a pan over medium high heat. We used a non-stick grill pan. If your pan is not non-stick, you might need some olive oil.

2. Mix the brown sugar and Cajun seasoning in a small bowl.

3. Place the one chicken breast in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Use a heavy pan to beat the chicken to 1/4" thickness; it will thicken back up some when it cooks.

4. Rub both sides of the chicken breast with the brown sugar and Cajun seasoning. Put the chicken in the hot pan.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each chicken breast.

2010 New Year's Letter

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that it is now 2010; Andy has his 10-year high school class reunion this May!

This past year has been one full of celebrations. Andy’s paternal grandparents, Jim & Norma Walker, both turned 75. Mary’s maternal grandmother, Charline Rodgers, had a large party for her 80^th birthday. Andy’s parents had a party for their 30^th anniversary in which they renewed their vows during a ceremony at their ranch in May.

Mary has been feeling better this year. The doctors changed her medicines at the beginning of the spring. With the improvement from the altered doses, Mary has been able to slowly build up her stamina and strength. In addition to keeping the house running and Andy well fed, she has been able to do a little bit of tutoring this fall and winter.

The effort required for graduate school has ramped up Andy. He has to sequester himself away for a few hours each day to work on homework or research – even when traveling for work. As it turns out, hotel rooms make very quiet study halls. Andy will continue his research this spring and hopes to defend his thesis by the end of 2010. Since he has a few remaining courses, graduation will be around the end of 2011.

We had several short trips this year. When Andy went to South Dakota for some training, Mary visited a friend in Austin. At the end of the summer, we went down to Corpus Christi for a friend’s college graduation. Mary was able to show Andy around her college campus and visit with several of her friends who still live there. On our way home, we stopped off in San Antonio and Austin to say hi to family and friends. Thanksgiving was our major trip for the year. We drove a U-haul trailer to North Carolina where Mary’s sister, Meg lives. In addition to celebrating the holiday, we played with our niece and nephews, Teresa, William, and Peter, put up Christmas decorations, and sorted through Mary’s mother’s stuff.

For our fourth anniversary we went to a New Year’s Eve dance. The night was going great until Andy’s shoe flipped up one of Mary’s toenails. We headed home early but missed the ball drop since we were trying to get a nice picture while all dressed up.

We hope to simplify our lives this year by finishing some major projects, like Andy’s research and thesis and sorting through Mary’s mother’s things. We plan to enrich our minds through education, both at school and on our own and enrich our lives by making more time to spend with each other and with those we love.

Many blessings in 2010,

Andy & Mary

December - The Holidays

We were snowed and iced in for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we sat on our love seat watching Christmas movies on the TV and the snow come down outside our windows. It was amazing to see how large the flakes were and how much snow kept coming down. We really enjoyed having a slow, relaxing time together that evening.

Much of the holiday was spent at Andy's parents' ranch. We worked on lots of projects, spent time with family, and help take down Christmas decorations. We also made a trip up to Lewisville to see my mother. We made it a short visit as she had just gotten into bed.

Andy was thrilled with his presents. We were both very excited about going dancing on New Year's Eve to celebrate our fourth anniversary. We both looked fabulous as we headed off to eat a little bit of dinner before the dance. Everything went well until Andy went forward with his right foot and I went back with my right foot. The result was one of my toenails being lifted up. We didn't investigate how bad the injury was for fear of making it worse. So, we headed home early; my toe has been bandaged since.

We took this picture soon after my toe was injured and right before we walked out the door of the dance to go home. Fortunately, the adrenaline was running high enough that I wasn't feeling too much pain....that would come later.

December - lead up to Christmas

We were back home from North Carolina, and there was more of Mother's stuff to deal with. We had to bring some stuff back with us from Meg's and of course there was everything that we hadn't taken. As I type this most of it is still left to deal with...one project at a time...

Of course, I had missed a few things that Meg wanted us to take to North Carolina with us. So, I mailed that off. Then, it was on to Christmas planning. I had a great surprise for Andy for Christmas. He wanted to hear wonderful music, and I knew that he would love to go dancing.

My plan was to find a fabulous dress so that I had a great outfit for New Year's Eve. His present was finding out that we were going dancing on New Year's Eve and the next day; then, we would go to a reenactment of a medieval Christmas celebration. I finally found the great dress and accessories after many shopping trips.

I also tutored during this time. It was great to have the additional income and someone to help. I also found some new soups for Andy; so it was great to restock the reserves in the freezer!

November - Thanksgiving

We had plans to visit my sister, Meg, in North Carolina. So, we tried to gather all of my mother's stuff so that we could take everything to her in one trip. Andy & I took a trip to my grandmother's shop in Denton to get mother's remaining stuff; we took Andy's dad's truck and full horse trailer. We didn't think that we would need that much space, but it was available. With the help of my grandmother and one of my uncles, we got all of her stuff out of the shop. By the time we drove away, the trailer was packed, front to back, side to side, the bed of the truck was full, and we had stuff in the back seats of the cab. It was soo much more than I expected.

Once home and unloaded, the sorting process began. As I discovered more and more things, I realized that there was no way we would be able to take everything to Meg. So, I took pictures of a bunch of dishes, furniture (and other large items) and her holiday collections. I then uploaded all of the pictures to Shutterfly. Meg and her husband, Greg, were able to look at things through the Shutterfly album. We were able to cut down stuff by at least half; it made a huge difference.

The Thursday before Thanksgiving Andy packed everything in the U-haul trailer. We woke up Friday ready to begin our trip. As we checked everything and loaded the vehicle, Andy discovered that the evening rain had leaked through a small hole in the roof of the trailer. So, he had to repack things in the trailer and wrap them in plastic to protect them should we have to drive through more rain.

Finally, we were driving away from the house, and driving....and driving...and driving. The trip took 2 full days of driving with a stop over in Birmingham, Alabama.

We enjoyed spending time with Meg, William, Teresa, and Peter. We stayed incredibly busy all week long with kids, food, parties, sorting, talking, and decorating. We had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner (thank heavens Meg knew how to cook a turkey; I knew nothing!). We set a beautiful table with crystal (from Mother's stuff that Meg inherited) and china (our great-grandmother's china that Meg has inherited). Here are a few pictures of our time there.

I grabbed Teresa and William for a quick hug and picture while they helped Andy get the lights ready to put on the outside of the house.

Andy and his diligent helpers preparing the strands of lights for the house

Andy, my monkey, is putting up the lights for the third-ish time. The first time there was a bit of a gap after the second or third strand; he started on fixing that before we asked him to correct it. Yes, my sister and I are both struggle with control and perfection issues...we think it's in a good way most of the time... It was great for us to be able to share some of those moments together while visiting. Thankfully, Andy was already aware of some of my tendencies and took Meg's as par for the course! The second time with the lights going up, Meg and I noticed that he hadn't started them right at the corner of the house (the one in the picture). So, he started over again.

We remembered to grab a picture of all of us right before we left. Andy is holding Peter (1.5 years). Meg is holding William (5.5 years). I am holding Teresa (3.5 years old).

November - my birthday

I had a nice birthday. Andy got me several great organizing gifts. So, now we have more space in our coat closet and a kitchen cabinet. I also got some really cool bags from Container Store to use when I go to the store. They have a little pocket built into the bag that the bag can actually stuff into; it ends up being the size of a fist. They are so neat and convenient. I would recommend going by the store if you are ever in the market for any such bags; I haven't seen anything similar at other stores. I LOVE to organize, and Container Store is a fabulous place to go drool and dream.

Where Have You Been?

I'm sure that you've all asked this question multiple times since I'm only a few months behind. I wish that I could say that one of my New Year resolutions is to blog regularly, but I knew that I would break that rather quickly. All I can say is that I'll try to give some updates....maybe even one a month.

We've been crazy busy!

I'll try to give you some idea of our whereabouts in the subsequent posts.