Monday in the Kitchen

 This is why I don't get much stitching done! I'm not complaining - I love spending time in the kitchen.

There were things I knew I had to do this morning and knew most of my morning would be in the kitchen. The first thing I saw was an empty jars in the sink . . a jar that had been used for Vince's sunflower butter. I always use 2 pounds of roasted sunflower seeds, one pound of butter in each of two pint jars. I also knew that the empty jar meant he was totally out of sunflower butter because a couple of weeks ago he told me he had finished one jar and started on the second one. I don't mind making it but I don't like cleaning the blender after making it. 

1. I got the two pounds of sunflower seeds made into butter and got the blender cleaned and put away.

Last night I went up and made the sourdough "sweet stiff starter" so I could make bread today. That was the next thing I did - stirred up the bread, let it rise while I was doing everything else, then when it had risen enough, I got it into the pan, let it rise more and baked it.

2. The bread for the week was made.

I had one bag of ground beef defrosted. It was the first meat to use from our new beef and we were quite pleased with it. I weighed it and it weighed 1 pound, 9 oz. I cut off the 9 oz. and used that to make meatballs. I used the 1 pound to make Philly Cheese Steak casserole.

3. I made the meatballs, added the spaghetti sauce, simmered that for a while, adjusted the seasonings, divided it up into three containers for three meals. Two containers will go into the freezer and Thursday Vince will have spaghetti and meatballs for his meal. I'll have leftover Philly Cheese Steak.

4. I made the Philly Cheese Steak casserole and divided it up into three dishes - two for the freezer and we ate one today. 

The jar of spaghetti sauce is what Vince will have Thursday. The other two containers went into the freezer. The green stuff is freeze dried okra that's soaking in water to rehydrate because that was part of our dinner.

I had been wanting to make Martha Washington Candy but had decided not to do it, then decided I would do it. So . . I did it.

There was a ton of the inside part. I thought I would use about 1/3 of it, which is shown above. Then I talked myself into doing another 1/3 and there's still 1/3 more to be done.

5. Candy is made!

Next, I baked the bread. That didn't take a lot of effort.  <G> I just put the pan in the oven and set the timer.

6. Bread is made!

Then I cleaned the kitchen and was ready to go downstairs and stitch  . . which actually never happens.

There was a little snafu during my cooking. I have an OLD KitchenAid mixer. I got it in 1993 after we had a house fire. I don't even remember what mixer I had that was ruined but after the fire and we found a house to rent, I got a KitchenAid. Many years later, I learned that mine was made by Hobart and it wasn't long after mine that Hobart no longer made KitchenAid mixers. So . . my 32 year old mixer is not doing well. Several years ago, Vince took it apart, changed some bushings, repacked some grease. He watched a video and I'm not sure what happened but it was kinda noisy and squeaky after that. I was in the middle of mixing the center for the candy and the mixer got really loud and really squeaky so I couldn't continue using it.

Back when Vince worked on my mixer, he found a couple of KitchenAids from the Hobart era on eBay and he bought them but they aren't great either.

When I really got into making bread with fresh milled flour, I bought a Bosch mixer. I bought the cookie paddles and the whisk attachment but I always used the KitchenAid for everything else so haven't used the accessories much (probably not at all). Here's the weird thing . . and you know there's always something weird!  A couple of days ago, I watched a video and the lady was talking about wanting to get a stainless steel bowl for her Bosch mixer. When I bought mine, probably in 2012, it came with a plastic bowl. As I was thinking about whether or not I wanted to spend $$ on a new bowl, I thought . . I have not seen the cookie paddles and whisks since we moved here (5 years ago). I told myself if I buy a new bowl, I'll just buy new cookie paddles and whisks and not waste time looking for them.

Then, this morning . . there I was needing the cookie paddles! I pulled the mixer out of the appliance garage so Vince could look at it and guess what was in the appliance garage . . the paddles and whisk for the Bosch. Lucky for me! I was able to finish mixing up the candy with Bosch.

After that was done, I told Vince . . I think I'm going to buy a stainless steel bowl for the Bosch. Shopping . . he was on it. I don't think there's an ER2 Bosch mixing bowl for sale in the whole wide world! They're out of stock EVERYWHERE! Pleasant Hill Grain, my preference for buying things like this, is expecting more in February but they're not taking pre-orders. Apparently these bowls have quite a few people wanting them. No matter how many any retailer gets in, they seem to sell out within 5 minutes. I can live without a stainless steel bowl! But, it does kinda make me nervous that my plastic bowl could break or something and then I'd be in trouble.

Vince decided to start shopping for a new mixer. I said NO and about the 5th time I said NO, I want my old mixer fixed. I don't need a new mixer.  There's so guy Vince found online that sells a "complete kit" for rebuilding the old KitchenAids but that's out of stock too. Vince said "We're probably replacing old parts with new parts that aren't so great either!" Ugh . . I just want my old KitchenAid to work.

Maybe tomorrow I can get some stitching cone.

Ezekiel Bread

 Vince loves Ezekiel Bread. I do not. In the mornings, I like to eat breakfast around 9 or 10. Vince wants to eat something when he first gets up. I try to eat everything I'm going to eat during the day within an 8 hour period so if I eat breakfast at 9, then we have dinner between 2 and 3, I'm good. 

He's happy to have this bread for his first breakfast. He will slice it, toast it, and sunflower butter (which I make from unsalted roasted sunflower seeds). He tops that with guacamole, which he makes fresh every morning, then adds chia seeds and flax seed meal. I think that's all pretty health.

I make three loaves in the cast iron loaf pans. I think they're 8.5" x 4.5" and I make them when he's almost to the end of his last loaf. He will put two in the freezer while he uses the first one. I think each loaf lasts about week so I don't have to make it very often.

When I fix breakfast around 9, one might argue that it isn't always so healthy! Yesterday was biscuits, eggs and ham. I love these layered biscuits. I couldn't find my usual biscuit cutter and had to use the smaller cutter. They aren't so pretty but they tasted good.

Vince still will not agree to getting chickens - probably never will, but I'm thankful for friends in the neighborhood who have chickens and sell us eggs. Love those bright yolks!

Today's breakfast is leftover biscuits, eggs, grits and bacon. It's 9 a.m. . . guess I should get myself upstairs and cook.

When I got up this morning, our weather station showed 7 degrees outside. The dogs were very quick doing what they had to do and getting back inside. They've been sitting on the heated throw ever since they came back inside. I don't think they're going to be happy about having to get up!

Today is Oscar's birthday. He's 4 years old! 

Cranberry Juice

 A quick search of Facebook to try to find out how long I've been making cranberry juice tells me I was making it in 2014 - not sure if that's the first time I made it or not. Vince doesn't drink it as much as I do but we usually go through two quarts per week but sometimes we use a third one. I would like to get about 80 quarts of it made but not sure that will happen. I don't think I have that many quart jars empty and I am NOT buying more jars.

This is the recipe I use to make the juice.

A friend posted yesterday that she had canned 64 quarts of the cranberry juice yesterday. She said she canned 99 quarts last year and has 28 remaining so with the 64 and the 28, she has 92 jars for the coming year. 

My day of juice making didn't start out so great. I had the large All American canner full of water on the basement stove, put the first few jars in and one of them cracked. The jars were hot, the water in them was hot, the water in the canner was hot - no idea why it cracked but all the contents poured out into the canner of boiling water. I pulled out the remaining jars, took them upstairs and canned the rest in the kitchen in the water bath canner. I started with 21 jars but ended up with 20 after the one cracked.

You can see what they look like when they first come out of the canner.

This is a jar of last year's juice once I strained the berries out. It's pretty strong so once I drain the berries, I will fill the jar with water and that's the "juice" we drink. There's always a debate over whether it's infused water or juice. In reality, it's probably infused water but it's delicious and I feel like it's healthy so I drink it almost every day with breakfast.

It's very pretty, very tasty and festive!

Twenty quarts done, at least 40 more to go . . hopefully 60.

Once the berries are strained out, here are a few things I do with them:

1. Mix them with chopped apples or pears and add them to overnight oats. 
2. Add them to cranberry bread, or Sourdough English Muffins (you may notice I fed my starter and it's sitting on the counter - I make English Muffins at least every other week and add cranberries.)

3. One of my favorites is Morning Glory Bran Muffins. I will often leave out the raisins and add cranberries.

4. At some point, I will save the leftover cranberries, freeze them until I get enough, then mix with some fresh cranberries and make cranberry sauce to can. I will add a little pectin since the berries that were in the water may not have a lot of "gel" capacity left in them. We use cranberry sauce with rotisserie chicken, even on smoked chicken sometime . . it's not just for the holidays at our house. I will can it in half pint jars so we don't have it go to waste after the jars are opened. Homemade cranberry sauce is also really good on cream cheese or Brie with crackers!

Food Costs - Menu, Cooking Ahead & Budget

 First, I have never really understood the concept of a budget and Vince is more than happy to vouch for that fact. I figure we have to eat and I want to cook the best meals I can cook for a reasonable price. I do my meal planning, then buy whatever groceries we need. I try to fix at least two meals per week that will have leftovers for that week and two that will have leftovers for the freezer. One week each month, we eat meals from the freezer and there's very little cooking that week. Since we had that load of beef coming this week, I had used up all the leftovers to be sure there was room in the freezers for beef so now I need to build the heat and eat meals back up.

I do not have a grocery budget. I don't see the need for a "budget". I buy what we need. I cook what we buy. I have limits on what I will spend and as sad as it makes me, I will NOT buy my beloved Dr. Pepper at the price they are today. I'm sure my body thanks me. I do get them when we go out to eat because I'm pretty picky about water and in this area, water can be pretty bad. There's a Mexican restaurant we like and Vince brings water from home. 

I've had questions about my grocery shopping. I'm not an expert. I just do what works for us. We eat almost every meal at home. When my friend and I get together once a week to stitch, we eat out. Otherwise, we rarely eat out. About the only times we do eat out is when we go out with friends or when we have several appointments in town and it's just easier to eat out. There are several reasons for this.

 I try to have the meal plan ready at least a week in advance but two weeks is better.

This morning, I did as much as I could to get ready for this week's meals.

First, I had a ham bone from ham we had a few days ago so I got it out, simmered it most of the morning, then canned 6 pints of rich ham stock.

Today's meal is Stir Fry so I got all that prepped.

In the background, you can see the half gallon jars of pasta sauce that's about 2/3 full. A few days ago while putting the beef in the freezer, I came across two gallons of tomatoes. I thought I was done with tomatoes. That wasn't enough to fill the freeze dryer so I made them into pasta sauce. Since I don't eat pasta sauce, I'll probably put that into pint jars and can it this afternoon. That should give me 5 or 6 pints.

I also grabbed a package of ground beef because on Christmas week's menu, I have Philly Cheese Steak Casserole and Pasta with Meatballs. I will get both of those done this weekend and put them in the freezer so I can take those things out, defrost them, heat them and have dinner without a big mess or a lot of time.

When we got the beef, I counted the packages and divided the total cost by that number so every package I take out, I will put the cost down as $11. The ground beef was to be put into 1.5 pound packages but they don't really weigh it (I guess!). Some packages are always over and some are under. The package I took out this morning was 1.75 pounds so 1 pound will go into the Philly Cheese Steak Casserole and 3/4 pound will go into meatballs. The cost per meal will be based on that division of $11. I am really not concerned about the cost - it is what it is but I would like to know how it all comes out in the end - buying a cow and having it butchered vs. going to the grocery store. I don't even care if it's more to buy the cow because I get it from a friend whom I trust 100% and when I buy it in the store . . that kind of trust is not there!  :(

And, when I use a package of prime rib or cook 2 ribeye steaks, those will each go on my list as $11 because it's per package.Here's the menu/cost breakdown for this week's meals.

We will eat 3 meals out and we are eating at places where we go when we do eat out so I can fairly accurately guess what we'll be paying - about $60 for those three meals out. Definitely not fine dining but it works on busy days. For four meals at home, the cost is $28.26. I count breakfast at about $6-7 per day. We mostly have eggs, bacon and toast or ham and toast. Some days we have pancakes or Dutch Baby . . typical breakfast things.

Sometimes there's a zero for costs - like the pasta sauce. I made it from tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, oregano, etc. from the garden so I didn't add in any cost for that.

I don't add in for salt and really normal things - bread crumbs I make from leftover bread. I should have included Parmesan cheese for the pasta so every single thing I used isn't listed but it's a fairly close estimate to what I spend on meals.

Here's our menu plan for Christmas week!

The Snowflake Serving Board

 Denise had asked to see the snowflake so I figured others might want to see it too. We found this at Aldi.

I didn't measure it but I'm guessing it's at least 14" across the middle. My thinking is that I'll paint it, maybe white but I'll wait til I get a cross stitched piece I want to mount on it and then decide. A cross stitched piece might be mounted onto a fabric covered foam board and then a bow added to the bottom. I probably won't finish it this year but hopefully by next year.

I'm adding photos of the tags hoping it might help someone find the board if they're looking for it.

December, 2025 Grocery Trip #2

 I had mentioned that we were getting a cow (I'll always call it a cow but it's steers we get) butchered and while it's kinda crazy to put that all on one month's grocery bill, I'm going to do it and just get it out of the way because, the way I shop - i.e., buying grains, beans, sugar, flour, etc. in 50 pound bags - it really has to be averaged out over a longer period. Otherwise, it will appear that I've spent a crazy amount one month and then some months, I'll hardly spend anything.

Between paying for the cow and paying the butcher for what he does, including (but not limited to - you're welcome!) cutting, vacuum sealing in bags and freezing the meat, we spent close to $3,000. The price per pound comes out to being a good bit less than grocery store meat. I think 93/7 ground beef at Walmart was almost $9/pound but I see (online) that it's about $7.50/pound now. I paid less than that per pound of meat including ground, steaks, roasts and bones. Even though we won't eat the bones, I'll make bone broth with them and good quality bone broth is at least $6/quart in the grocery store so I feel like we got a great deal on the meat and it was raised by a friend and I'm certain the quality of life the cow had was good and I'm certain the quality of what the cow ate was good.

Some of this meat will be given to Chad and we will probably plan on getting another cow in early spring, 2027.  Because it will probably take us about 18 months to use all this meat, the average cost for this is about $166 per month. We will use other things - chicken, fish, pork - during those 18 months but, as I said, some of this meat will be going to Chad

While we were in Pittsburg, KS today we went by a grocery store there that has good meat. We bought two pork butts for making buckboard bacon. I bought three packs of sausage that's as close as I've found around here to good Cajun sausage. I bought two pounds of Italian sausage - made in the store. That area has a lot of Italians so their Italian sausage is some of the best I can buy around here. I bought two packages of pork country style ribs and one package of St. Louis ribs and five pounds of bacon. 

That was another $120 but everything reported in this post is meat and, we will still buy a box of chicken thighs, chicken breasts and whole chickens from Sam's as soon as there's room in a freezer.

Total so far for December - $3,274.73.

More About the Onions

 A reader asked about about the onions yesterday. Here are the answers.

1. What size jars did I use?

I used 52 one-half pints and two quarter pints. I only used the quarter pints because they just came out of the dishwasher and it was easier to use them than to put them back on the empty jars shelf. I would recommend quarter pints, half pints or pints, depending on how many you use. Onions are low acid and if canning, should only be pressure canned. 

2.  How did I can them? What's my process?

I do NOT use sweet onions because after peeling and slicing just a few of them, my hands sticky and all the skins stick to my hands. It's much faster to use plain yellow or white onions. After caramelizing, they actually taste quite sweet.

I use large cast iron Dutch ovens on top of the stove. You will need a pot with a heavy bottom and cook on a low temp. You don't want to stir so much that the onions because mush but you don't want to leave them on the bottom of the pot long. I use a Rada spatula and turn the onions more than stir the pot.

I'm not sure if this is an approved "recipe" or not so use your own judgment. I added about 1/2 stick of butter to a Dutch oven (some people say do not use only butter as it can lead to scorching but I've always used only butter and been happy with the results), cleaned and sliced 6 pounds of onions. I sliced them probably about 3/8" thick . . less than 1/2" but more than 1/4" and added them to the Dutch oven and "cooked" or sauteed them until they were caramelized. There was a bit of liquid in the pot that had cooked out of the onions so I added that to the jars. I do not add salt! A six pound bag of onions filled between 7 and 8 half pint jars. I pressure canned the half and quarter pint jars at 11 PSI (check your elevation and use whatever pressure is recommended) for 40 minutes. I have canned onions this way for 20+ years so  .  . we're happy with them but, again, use your own judgment.

3. How long will 53 half pints last us?

I'm not sure if this means "How long will they last before they go bad?" or "How long will it take you to use 53 jars?"

According to most home canning "rules", they should last about a year. I try to make enough to last us for at least two years.

4. How do I use them? And a question no one asked but sometimes I asked myself . . Why do I do this?

First, I think the caramelized onions have a great flavor and when cooked to release the liquid and then canned in that liquid, it's a very pleasing flavor. I

I make Hamburger Steak or Salisbury Steak often and after I brown/cook the meat patties, I'll make a roux and add water (or milk) and add a half pint jar of the onions. Then I'll add additional seasonings. The meat had salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and, of course, Cajun Redhead seasoning but any herbs or spices could be added. Simmer until the gravy is as thick as you want it. Taste one more time to check for adjustments to the seasonings.

Vince doesn't love French Onion Soup but I do so it's very easy to add 1/2 pint of the canned onions to a pint of homemade beef broth. Simmer for about 10 minutes, add a little dry sherry and ladle into a bowl. Top with grated Gruyere cheese. Check to see if salt or peppers are needed before adding croutons to your bowl . . yummy, simple and perfect!

Chuck Roast is another great use for these. Cook the roast any way you want - Mississippi Pot Roast, every day pot roast with potatoes and carrots - any way you want to make a roast and just before serving, add in a jar of the onions, continue to cook until everything is hot and the onions have simmered 10 minutes or so.

Green Beans - I like to dump a quart of home canned green beans into a skillet with a little bacon grease. Simmer until the liquid has almost all cooked out. Add about a tablespoon of minced garlic and a jar of the onions, continue to simmer til most of that liquid has cooked out.

Now to the question I ask myself - WHY?? 

1. Having any food in jars is comforting to me. My preference for storing any food is in jars. Freezers can go out; power can go out - once it's in a jar, it's pretty safe until it's used.

2. I don't always have fresh onions. We have wood floors in the kitchen so if I'm going to keep onions loose in there, they have to be in some kind of leak proof container because sometimes, onions that are fairly fresh will go bad and leak. Our kitchen is on the east side of the house and it's open to the breakfast room and the breakfast room is basically all windows and it gets HOT in the kitchen so onions don't last every well in there. I end up keeping them in a wicker type basket in the basement but keeping a couple of jars in the kitchen is more convenient.

3. Vince isn't crazy about onions but he likes the caramelized onions ok.

4. If we're going out of town - to spend a few days in a cabin or visit my uncle in Louisiana, I can pack up enough food in jars to take and never have to go to the grocery store while out of town. If we use what I bring, fine; if not, we just bring it home and put it back on the shelf.

5. Canned onions save time - I don't have to clean or cut them; I don't have to caramelize them - just open a jar and dump!

Do I still keep fresh onions? Yes but not always. If I have them, I use them, if not, it's minced dried onion, onion powder, canned onions or freeze dried onions. They all get the job done!  :)