Our nearest Aldi is twenty miles away, but since we don't leave the house a lot in winter, sometimes we just drive to Blue Springs with the idea it's a road trip we needed. That way I don't have to worry about money spent versus gasoline consumed, because it's, you know, for pleasure. This week, Aldi made me very happy: ten pounds of chicken leg quarters at 49 cents per pound. I hadn't bought one of those big old bags of chicken for years, not since we first began filling the freezers with beef several years ago. You see, my mindset is this: Don't buy meat in the store if you have a freezer full of meat. So we haven't been using a lot of chicken. But then the tragedy happened. I'm sure if you're a regular reader, you remember that while we were on a road trip, one of our two deep freezes quit working, and a lot of money went down the drain in meat, not to mention the cost of raising that steer and the fee paid the butcher shop. While I do wish it hadn't happened, I'll admit it's rather nice to know I can go ahead and buy chicken sometimes without feeling guilty that I'm not using what I have on hand.
I've blogged before about how I cook 10 pounds of chicken, debone and de-skin it, and freeze it in two-cup amounts for casseroles. That entry is HERE. For only five bucks, I went through this rather messy project yesterday and came up with seven two-cup freezer-bags of cubed chicken, five two-cup bags of broth, and two four-cup bags of broth. Many casseroles that call for cooked chicken also require chicken broth. Any time I see I'm not using the broth as fast as I need to (I like to keep it in the freezer no longer than a year), I add it to soup. Or make noodles.
I love casseroles. They are oftentimes quick and easy. With some of them, you simply mix a bunch of stuff and stick it in the oven. I surfed over to allrecipes.com, did a search of recipes using the words "casserole" and "chicken", and came up with more than you can imagine. Click HERE to see them, or just do the search for yourself at your leisure.
When we buy a cooked Costco chicken, I often freeze enough of the chicken for two or three casseroles after we've both eaten our share with a meal. I doubt if I'll be buying any of those for awhile, armed with all this prepared chicken.
A casserole can be the whole meal by itself, although I usually have green beans, broccoli, peas, carrots or a baked sweet potato with a casserole. I grew up with a mother who said, in her declining years, "I like to eat anything that grows in the ground." I guess that made an impression on me. I will find a way to add vegetables to the meal, unless soup is the main course. Even if we're having chicken salad sandwiches (another use for that chicken in the freezer), I cut up some carrot sticks and celery to have with them.
I use All-recipes like crazy lately. Unfortunately, I've used it for things Cliff and I don't need, like cookies and breads, but that's the story of our lives together, I suppose. I've found two of the best cookie recipes of my life in the last few months and need to force myself to quit making them or we will soon wind up being blimps... or corpses, you decide which... or you could wait and find out later.
I always choose the most highly rated recipes for whatever I'm looking for and haven't had any disappointments. I usually read some of the comments people leave on the recipes, but I won't make any of their suggested changes until I first try the recipe like it was meant to be. If that turns out well, next time I make it I'll read some comments and decide if any of the changes others have tried would be something I'd want to use. Usually, they're not.
I'll be posting the link to this entry on Facebook; I'm doing it especially for a young woman who asked for some recipes. We're having tenderloin today; and pancakes, sausage, and bacon after church tomorrow. But after that, I see many casseroles in our future.
Sincerely,
Donna
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Nashville is in our future
I love these days that have the smell and feel of spring. After a few days of not going for a walk, due to rain or discomfort from the fire in my innards, I got back to it today; I didn't go all the way down the biggest hil todayl because when I traversed it two days ago I had problems; I wasn't going to be able to climb back up it that steep incline. It was a day my stomach was bothering me anyway, and I think I just let myself get weak, laying around feeling sorry for myself. Yesterday and today have been good days.
I went to see the nurse-practitianor at our doctor's office Tuesday to tell her the omeprazole wasn't working all the time. I told her all the things I'm doing to try and get this fixed: I quit drinking coffee and tea; Cliff raised the head of the bed 8 inches; I've stopped eating anything after 6 PM (three hours before bedtime). She said there's one more thing we could try, and I was ready to try anything. So now I have a pill that I take four times a day before each meal and at bedtime. It's pretty tricky. If I didn't have Alexa in the house, I wouldn't get it done properly: I'm to take a pill an hour before a meal, on an empty stomach. So I set a timer to remind me when to take the pill, then another hour timer so I know when to take the omeprazole Then I can't eat for thirty to forty-five minutes. Also, I can't take the new pills with my other meds. This pill is only to be taken for four to six weeks, the hope being that it will heal me in that time. I sure hope it works. It isn't just the discomfort when it flairs up, but even when I feel fine, I'm afraid to make plans not knowing whether I'll be up for doing anything when the time comes.
And we do have plans! Cliff, his sister, and I are planning to go to Nashville next month. I have our Grand Ole Opry tickets paid for and the hotel room reserved. I would have liked to rent a house for three or four days through VRBO, but you can't cancel those if something goes wrong at the time of the trip; so I played it safe. Things are pretty expensive in Nashville, but there are lots of things to see and do.
We've been there before: When Cliff was working at the butcher shop, his boss paid for rooms for the employees and we all stayed in the Opryland Hotel. We went to the Grand Ole Opry, too. That's about the cheapest vacation we ever went on (not for his boss, maybe)! Then one time Cliff's mom, his two sisters and I went down to go to the Opry. It was in late March. Cliff's dad, who was always a perpetual prophet of doom, said we shouldn't be going at that time because it would be sure to snow. I laughed, telling him Tennessee is farther south and probably didn't get snow in March. Guess what? After we got down there and stayed for one night, it began snowing. Those people cannot drive in snow! The whole trip home was a mess, and really, the snow is the main thing I remember about it. I don't recall who starred on the Opry, although I know Jean Shepherd was there both times I attended. Evidently she performed on most of the shows. Not this time, though. She's dead.
The pussy willow that was barely more than a twig when my cousin Betty gave it to me is actually looking like a bush now and comes up to my chin. The buds are swelled up as though they can't wait to do their thing.
I believe that's it for today. Looks like a nice weekend coming up for the working folks.
I want all my friends who live with chronic pain to know I think of them on those days when I don't feel well; I realize how lucky I am that, in my 75 1/2 years on earth, I've not had a lot of pain. My knees are achy, but really that doesn't affect my quality of life unless I do too much walking; even then, when I sit down, I'm fine. I feel for all those folks who get up every morning knowing it's going to be just one more painful day in a series, with no relief. I've prayed for these people many times in the past, and surely will continue. You know who you are.
Peace.
I went to see the nurse-practitianor at our doctor's office Tuesday to tell her the omeprazole wasn't working all the time. I told her all the things I'm doing to try and get this fixed: I quit drinking coffee and tea; Cliff raised the head of the bed 8 inches; I've stopped eating anything after 6 PM (three hours before bedtime). She said there's one more thing we could try, and I was ready to try anything. So now I have a pill that I take four times a day before each meal and at bedtime. It's pretty tricky. If I didn't have Alexa in the house, I wouldn't get it done properly: I'm to take a pill an hour before a meal, on an empty stomach. So I set a timer to remind me when to take the pill, then another hour timer so I know when to take the omeprazole Then I can't eat for thirty to forty-five minutes. Also, I can't take the new pills with my other meds. This pill is only to be taken for four to six weeks, the hope being that it will heal me in that time. I sure hope it works. It isn't just the discomfort when it flairs up, but even when I feel fine, I'm afraid to make plans not knowing whether I'll be up for doing anything when the time comes.
And we do have plans! Cliff, his sister, and I are planning to go to Nashville next month. I have our Grand Ole Opry tickets paid for and the hotel room reserved. I would have liked to rent a house for three or four days through VRBO, but you can't cancel those if something goes wrong at the time of the trip; so I played it safe. Things are pretty expensive in Nashville, but there are lots of things to see and do.
We've been there before: When Cliff was working at the butcher shop, his boss paid for rooms for the employees and we all stayed in the Opryland Hotel. We went to the Grand Ole Opry, too. That's about the cheapest vacation we ever went on (not for his boss, maybe)! Then one time Cliff's mom, his two sisters and I went down to go to the Opry. It was in late March. Cliff's dad, who was always a perpetual prophet of doom, said we shouldn't be going at that time because it would be sure to snow. I laughed, telling him Tennessee is farther south and probably didn't get snow in March. Guess what? After we got down there and stayed for one night, it began snowing. Those people cannot drive in snow! The whole trip home was a mess, and really, the snow is the main thing I remember about it. I don't recall who starred on the Opry, although I know Jean Shepherd was there both times I attended. Evidently she performed on most of the shows. Not this time, though. She's dead.
The pussy willow that was barely more than a twig when my cousin Betty gave it to me is actually looking like a bush now and comes up to my chin. The buds are swelled up as though they can't wait to do their thing.
I believe that's it for today. Looks like a nice weekend coming up for the working folks.
I want all my friends who live with chronic pain to know I think of them on those days when I don't feel well; I realize how lucky I am that, in my 75 1/2 years on earth, I've not had a lot of pain. My knees are achy, but really that doesn't affect my quality of life unless I do too much walking; even then, when I sit down, I'm fine. I feel for all those folks who get up every morning knowing it's going to be just one more painful day in a series, with no relief. I've prayed for these people many times in the past, and surely will continue. You know who you are.
Peace.
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