Less food waste...

I know I'm not alone in sometimes letting foods sit in the fridge or the pantry until I forget about them, then being disappointed in myself for having to throw something out.  

Well, I have found a way to minimize this kind of waste.  I got the idea from Becoming a Farm Girl on Youtube.   I can't find the precise video at this point, but if you're into canning, preserving food, cooking... I encourage you to check out her videos.  

It's one of those ideas that when I heard it, I wondered why it hadn't occurred to me before.

Basically, the idea is to periodically go through the fridge, freezer(s) and pantry and pull out stuff I want to get eaten.  Stuff that's been in there long enough already, maybe stuff I've even been saying I want to cook, but am just not cooking.  The fridge stuff I gather and put in a container that fits in the fridge, the freezer stuff I just make sure it's in the kitchen refrigerator freezer, the pantry stuff I put in a plastic basket and put that on the counter where I'll see it.  And then I make a plan for using this stuff before it goes bad.  

I found an inexpensive plastic container (at Meijer, I believe) and I gave it prime real estate in the fridge:   

To be honest, some (well sealed) things can hang out in "must-go" container for weeks, but pretty regularly I take something out of the container for a meal.  Different food gets rotated into this container often, so its contents are ever changing. When a few days have gone by and I haven't pulled something out of it, I might take it out and sort through it just to remind myself what's in there.

Here's what's presently in the fridge must-go container:

Only recently did I go through the pantry doing the same thing.  I was kind of surprised to find a small basket's worth of stuff that has either expired, or is going to soon.

I don't overly worry about expiration dates - unless the contents smell or look bad when the can is opened, or a can is bulging, or an item is stale.  Of course, those would go straight into the trash.

This exercise can help me see what shopping habits I may need to rethink or change.  For example, I can readily see now that I tend to buy beans and don't get them used in a timely manner.  For what it's worth, there are more (newer) canned beans in the pantry, too.  I need to decide if I'm going to be more dedicated to eating beans, or stop buying them!

Having collected and taken an inventory of foods that have been hanging around too long, I now I make a plan to fix some dishes that will incorporate these things - starting with the oldest stuff.

Yesterday I mixed some mashed-up red kidney beans into some canned chili-dog sauce and used that over some hotdogs.   Hey - I don't claim everything I fix from this collection of items is going to be exactly healthy.  I'm just going to try to use things up before too long so nothing goes to waste.  Today I plan to make taco salad, and I think I will add some black beans to that.  Soon I will heat up some chili I froze a couple of weeks ago and will add some red kidney beans to it.   At the moment, I'm looking for some interesting recipes for the tofu as I've never actually cooked with it before.  I bought it in December or January and it has been sitting in the fridge intimidating me ever since.  

I plan for the pantry items to take a couple of weeks (or more) to use up - because I don't plan to eat only this stuff 'til it's gone - I have plans for other meals, too.  The perishables probably need to get gone within a week.  

Another thing I've done for years to keep food from going to waste is to label everything in the fridge.  The label must say what's in the container, and the date the food item was first placed in the fridge.  Sometimes something gets put in there without a label, but labeling everything is my goal - even if I plan to eat it the next day.  I have learned that when I forget to label a thing, it gets overlooked day after day until eventually it needs to be tossed.    

In the above picture of the fridge, there isn't a whole lot of food on the shelves, but when the shelves fill up, labels are invaluable.  When I open a package of cheese, I label what's left with the date the cheese was opened.  Leftovers are labeled and dated.  If a can is opened but I only need to use part of the contents, the rest gets put into an appropriate container and labeled and dated.  When jarred food can be left in the container it came in (like spaghetti sauce, pickles, olives...) I try to remember to write on the lid the date I opened it.

Since the problem (for me) of wasted food is usually that I simply forget about it (because it's often out-of-sight, out-of-mind), these actions keep the must-goes front and (almost) center so that every time I open the fridge I see the things I'm wanting to eat, or work into a recipe.  And I can see on the counter the pantry items I need to eat up (or just toss if necessary).   I can't say I don't still sometimes throw something away that's sat in the must-go container too long, but I've been doing this since last November and I've found it to be a huge game changer for me regarding food waste.

Once, again, if you like cooking, fermenting, preserving, and making the most of the food you buy (or grow) check out Becoming a Farm Girl - another favorite Youtuber of mine:

Waiting in the wings...

I've started a gentle getting back to cross stitching, but I also go long stretches forgetting about it. 

The stitching is upside down and what is shown is the back - because that's how I try to store this so dust doesn't fall on the front side.  I had set this aside in our "office" room for I don't know... a couple weeks?  Forgotten and neglected.  When I saw the morning light falling across it through the semi-closed blinds I thought the effect was kind of "atmospheric", as Linda (a fellow needle worker) mentioned one time regarding another photo I posted, so I decided to snap a picture.

The tabletop stitching stand that I bought a few years ago when my hands started hurting is very helpful as my left hand continues to heal from CMC surgery I had five months ago.

O-dark-thirty...

I was awakened this morning by the sound of silence.  

Forgive me, Mr. Simon.  I'm not plagiarizing.  I really did think of it myself this morning.  Before I remembered that you penned the phrase.

For years we have slept with the white noise of a fan in the bedroom.  I have a terrible time sleeping without it. I don't remember when we started the practice, but at this point it helps to mask the tinnitus I've had for more than a decade now. 

At 4:00 a.m. I suddenly woke up.  To silence.  Except for the low level screechy locust-y sound that is my constant companion when there's nothing loud enough to cover it.

In the silence, I instantly knew that the power had gone out.  I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but after a while I gave up.  Middle son spent the night here (as he does sometimes when he commutes from his northern home down to Indy for his once-a-week in-person work day).  And I knew he would be surprised to wake up a few hours later to darkness he couldn't banish with the flick of a switch.  Not that he couldn't figure that out well enough, but when he found out we didn't have running water, I wanted him to know where to find stored water I've collected for just this occasion.  Having a well is great when we consider we don't receive a monthly water bill, but today, for the first time since moving here, we experienced the downside.  Without a battery back-up to the well pump, we have no source of running water 'till the electricity is restored.

So in addition to finding it hard to sleep to the sound of silence, I didn't want to leave my son stranded in the morning not knowing we had a back-up plan to having no running water, nevermind that the plan is only slightly better than the plumbing possibly his great, likely his great great, and most surely his great great great grandparents had in their childhoods, and possibly into adulthood.   At least he didn't have to go outside and pump his wash water into a bucket.  Or use an outhouse.

To pass the time I thought I'd check email on my phone.  At which point I was reminded my older phone has a tired battery that doesn't keep its charge for long.  Then I decided to try to sleep in a recliner, so I set my phone's alarm to hopefully wake me up a little earlier than I thought my son would.  

But I still couldn't sleep.  

Looking out the windows I could see stars like I'd not seen them in ages, and I realized it's the first time I've seen it this dark out here - just a few miles away from town because all the neighbors' security lights were snuffed out.  If it wasn't windy, a bit chilly, and a tad spooky, I might have gone out back and soaked in the last of the star display from the patio, but I decided to be content to take it in from the relative warmth of the inside. 

Finally, sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 (I think) it started being early morning, instead of middle of the night.  Our house faces pretty directly west, and the den windows at the back of the house face east.  I stood at the den windows for a while looking out at the still eerily dark back yard and I noticed an occasional light off in the distance flick right and then left.  After focusing on it a bit I realized I was seeing the headlights of vehicles traveling northerly and southerly on the state highway.  Looking at a map, I can see the distance I was viewing from (as the crow flies) is about 2 - 2 1/2 miles.  And I could only see these streaks of light in the breaks between the trees, and only because there were no leaves on any trees.   I'm not sure what time I started noticing them, but I know by around 6:30 while there were surely even more cars traveling on the highway, the sky had started to lighten just a bit on the horizon to the point I couldn't see the streaks of the car headlights anymore. 

It wasn't anywhere close to sunrise when the eastern sky started changing from a solid dark color (was it blue? was it black? I don't remember) to a light gray on the horizon.  A good half hour before I could see the first glow of the sun, I could see the day dawning.  At 6:45 I heard the sound of the school bus that makes a stop at the corner by our house.  Having nothing better to do (and feeling a bit Mrs. Kravitz-ish), I went to the front door to watch.  I could only see one car from this angle, and one little boy - 1st, 2nd grade, maybe 3rd  grade age left the warmth of his parent's car and with his backpack about a third as big as himself wave at the bus driver as he waited for the bus to stop.  Then he ran across to the other side to get on the bus.  While I don't catch this sight often, it isn't the first time.  And it isn't the first time I've had the thought that o-dark-thirty seems awfully early for little ones to have to skip onto a bus and start their journey to school.    

Ah well...  as each minute passed, the sky brightening more, before I knew it the gray dawn had given way to an amber-colored sun rise.  And once again I was witness to a glorious new morning from what still feels a bit like our "new" home.  Birds were chirping like it's spring (because, as far as they're concerned it probably is) and somehow after seeing the sunrise, I forgot how few hours I actually slept last night.

Son woke up, took not having running water in stride, and got himself cleaned up and ready to leave for work.  I wish I could go with the flow so easily.  

And by 11:00 a.m. the power suddenly came back on.  Only seven hours later.  A power outage in February is one more reason we've been thankful for this unseasonably warm winter we're having.  It was 66 degrees today!

And March happens next week already!   

~~~~~

Redbud tree...

I've noticed that the redbud tree outside the den window has looked worse for wear all winter.  

For the longest time I thought all those raggedy things in the tree were dead leaves, but I hadn't even bothered to walk up to it until a week or so ago when I could clearly see they are seed pods. 

Hundreds and hundreds of seed pods. I didn't recall seeing these in the tree last winter, so I went looking for some photos I took then when I was snapping lots of pictures of birds on the bird feeders - pictures in which this redbud tree was in the background.  

I found this close up of some birds in the tree where there are clearly just a few seed pods hanging last winter:

Photo from January, 2022

So I'm remembering correctly that there weren't anything like the number of seed pods I'm seeing this year.  Makes me wonder why there's such a difference.  Now, I recall that this tree took a bit of a scorching on a couple of limbs when Hubs lit a too-large fire once in the firepit this past summer.  I wonder if this year's prolific seed pod production is due to some stress from that and the tree sensed that it needed to pull out all the stops in its attempt to reproduce itself.

Guess we'll have to go through several cycles to see what is normal for this tree.  

And I may need to keep the matches away from Hubs.  

As if that is possible.

Let's sharpen up why don't we...

Trying to cut a neat slit in bread baked earlier this week I realized my kitchen knives were in need of sharpening. 

So I pulled them all out (except for any serrated knives) and I did the deed.   My knife sharpener is an inexpensive, foldable little gadget, but it does make a difference. 

You can't tell they're sharper from the picture, but I'm going to be a happier cook for a while now.

I have this memory of watching my dad sharpen kitchen knives on an electric bench grinder and sander in the garage (a heavy duty thing screwed into the workbench).  It both amazed and terrified me as a kid.  

I'm curious...  How do others of you sharpen your knives?

The heat wave continues...

Today it was sunny and warm, so mid afternoon I asked Hub if he wanted to do something.  Go somewhere.  He replied in the affirmative and we ended up checking out a local salvage store, that while we have donated stuff there, I had yet to venture into.

What a cool place.  I look forward to getting back there at some point to see how much and how often their inventory changes.  Today I  bought a milkglass luncheon plate to use as a paint palette.  I was looking for something white and almost bought a plain stoneware dinner plate, which would have probably been a bit more practical for mixing watercolors on, but when I held it next to this sweet plate:

well...  the choice was obvious.

Then we stopped in next door for some ice cream.  Fellow retired homeschoolers own and run a candy/ice cream shop in town.  It was at this point it finally occurred to me to try to take some pictures - you know... for my Daily Life Photo Challenge.

At 66 degrees, sitting in the sun, we were over-dressed with a light jacket and light sweater eating ice cream outside on the 15th of February.  Middle son's 31st birthday is today.  We'll hopefully celebrate together in a week and a half, but today we had ice cream in his honor.

  

We could have used some umbrellas for shade today.

Then before heading home, Hub drove us past a local yarn store (that I also hadn't been into, though it opened last September).  It's owned by a lady from our church and we enjoyed a good chat.  While sock knitting is on hold, I have not given up on the idea, so I bought some sock yarn and had it wound up.  

A pretty blue (a little darker than the picture) 

with purple fibers throughout. 

Tomorrow is forecasted to be stormy, and temps will drop into the 30's for Friday.  But then it looks like we'll go back to above normal temps for the next couple of weeks.  While I hope none of the new growth I'm seeing outside gets nipped by frost over the upcoming weeks, I'll not complain about days as beautiful as today.  If we can have an early and long spring I'll be super happy.

~~~~~

I'm pretty sure it's too soon for this...

Last week I noticed from the den window that the daily lilies were poking through the ground:

Today we're only half way through February!  Curious, I decided to walk around the yard and see what else might be bursting forth.

I found the stone crop was already growing:

And the bearded irises were putting out leaves:

With rain tonight and again on Thursday, and temps in the 50's until Thursday, when it's supposed to rain again with highs in the low 60's, I'm just hoping all these things survive 'till spring.

Edited to add a picture of daffodils also growing.  I loved seeing these flowering last spring.  Note to self:  plant more next fall.

At least the asparagus isn't popping up out of the ground.  I think I've read the soil temperature needs to be around 50 degrees before asparagus appears.   Last year that happened in early April.  Something tells me to expect it earlier this spring. 

~~~~~

No Knead Artisan Bread...

I was inspired by this Rain's Kitchen and Garden post to try out her recipe for Overnight No-Knead Bread.  Video tutorial here, and the written recipe here.

I prepared the dough Sunday evening, and baked it today.

A few things I did different:  I replaced a half cup of unbleached all-purpose flour with a half cup hard whole wheat flour.  And I baked my loaf in a stoneware casserole dish and used a parchment paper liner, rather than grease my baking dish.  

My stoneware baking dishes are some that Pampered Chef used to sell that my mother-in-law gave me many years ago.  While stoneware is very heavy, I have found it great for baking round loaves of bread in.  But if I didn't have it, I'd definitely use a dish like Rain does.  Rain's round loaf rose higher, and it looks beautiful.

My crusty and delicious artisan bread fresh out of the oven:

Nevermind the burned places.  They add flavor.   

And my makeshift "dutch oven", if you will:

Cooking with unglazed stoneware results in permanent staining like this.  It's not pretty, but I wanted to show what I use in case it's helpful to anyone else.

And the inside:

Having seen Rain's baking dish, and looking at this picture, I'm suddenly thinking I might try baking a loaf with this large piece on the bottom. It would sure be easier to handle than the way I do it..

~~~~~

Saturday morning...

I don't drink coffee very often, but sometimes a moment (or day) just begs for it.   Like...

...when I make a special breakfast

...when I have to function on very little sleep

...when a few-days-old zucchini bread is calling...

~~~~~

 

Chili and cornbread...

Dinner out with friends last night was a nice break from our "routine" - such as it is.   Today it was back in the kitchen to make Chili and Cornbread.

   
It's the first time I've baked cornbread in a cast iron skillet, and wow!  It bakes nicely, and clean-up was a breeze.   

Since eggs have been so expensive, I've been experimenting with egg substitutes and I have found success in a couple of baked items lately using 1 tsp of baking soda mixed with 1 Tablespoon of distilled white vinegar (substituted for one egg).  I cut the salt out of the cornbread recipe because I was afraid of this being too salty, and it worked out fine.

Actually, Hub said it was the best cornbread I've made.  I confess, I normally make cornbread from a box mix and it's hit or miss as to how well that holds together, so I'd better cut the recipe off the bag of the Pearl Milling Company yellow cornmeal I presently have in the pantry and save it for future reference.  Though I suppose I should record that I used buttermilk instead of milk (because I had some that needed to be used) and added some plain Greek yogurt (maybe 1/4 cup, I didn't measure).  Hmmm...  I wonder if it would have tasted as good without those things.  I'll probably find out some day.  I almost never have buttermilk hanging around for one thing, and I don't know that I would have thought of the yogurt if I hadn't been looking at another recipe that called for that.

Chili was made using a Taste of Home seasoning mix recipe I clipped from their magazine many years ago.  Here's a link in case you're interested.  In spite of it being called Spicy Chili Seasoning Mix, the chili is only as spicy as you make it - depending on how much seasoning you mix in. 

The chili used up three quart jars of tomatoes I canned last summer, 2 gallon size bags of frozen tomatoes, and several cuts of beef that I was glad to use from the freezer.    Edited  the next day to note:  I made so much chili we made two meals of it and had enough to share a couple servings each with one son and one single friend, and still freeze four servings for eating later.  While I way over-made it this time, it always feels good to share.

I have it as a goal to not do any grocery shopping during February.  Well... except for maybe milk, eggs or fresh produce.  I think everything else I either have plenty of, or we can do without for a few more weeks.

~~~~~~

A sweet treat...

Yesterday I found three good sized zucchini in the fridge I was coming close to forgetting about.  I sautéed slices of one for yesterday's lunch and I made a mental note to make zucchini bread today from the other two.

 

Considering I spent all day thinking today was Monday (when it was actually Tuesday), I'm so glad I didn't forget the plan to make these.  Mmmmmmm...

Magic beans...

Last week I jumped into Mindful Art Studio's  Slow Drawing Patterns challenge with a sharpie pen, small pieces of watercolor paper, and a simple little child's paint palette.  I'm using this palette because I was too impatient to go looking for a larger set  of tubed  watercolor paints I bought once upon a time.  Most of my art supplies are leftovers from when our boys were young.  It has taken me too long to start playing with them all by myself!  

Turns out I'm glad I'm using these paints as it's interesting to see what colors I can make with such a limited palette.   Every Wednesday a drawing prompt is given, with some basic instructions to let the pen go where it take you (or something like that), and participants are told to interpret the prompt and their own drawings however they like.

The shape is described by the instructing artist as "Peguin" so penguins are, of course, the first place my very literal brain wants to go.  But the shape below looked more like a bean, so I drew some cartoony vines and tendrils to go with it.  I'm no artist, so imagine how happy I was to make what appear to be the beans inside a dried up pod.  You may see something else, or nothing at all, but my interpretation of this picture is a dried up bean pod hanging onto its shriveling plant in late October.

The impression of  beans was made by using a clean wet brush to lift off some of the green/yellow/brown paint.  I just moved the brush on its side in a circular fashion as I pressed into the paint, then lifted the brush while still moving it round, and like magic, that created the edges of bean bumps and some lightening of the color in such a way that the bean shape looks kind of dimensional.  No one else may be impressed, but I couldn't have done better if I'd tried to actually paint something that looked beans.

That's it for today!  Just something fun I'm up to recently so it's game for a "Daily Life Photo".  

Thanks for popping in!

Sunday morning sound duty...

Yesterday Linda commented that the black and white picture looks atmospheric.  Liking the sound of that, but not really understanding what that meant, I looked it up. 

_____________

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages 

at·mos·pher·ic

/ˌatməsˈfirik/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

1. 1.

   relating to the atmosphere of the earth or (occasionally) another planet.

   "atmospheric conditions such as fog, snow, rain"
2. 2.

   creating a distinctive mood, typically of romance, mystery, or nostalgia.

   "atmospheric lighting"

----------------

Yes!  The second definition is what she was referring to.  The black and white photos definitely give (me, anyway) a sense of nostalgia.   As if these pictures are from a time in the past.  

So now I'm wondering...  Do we simply feel nostalgic when when see a modern photo in black and white because it reminds us of an early time?  

Or...   How much is the quality (or other characteristics) of modern-day picture changed when the same picture is shown in black and white?

Your thoughts are welcome.  I think I'll be looking into this more...

At the ready...

 

Kitchen towels stored in the laundry room

Just for fun I tried the B&W filter in my photo app.  To be honest, I like both images, but for different reasons.  Interestingly, I notice things in the black and white picture I didn't notice in the color picture (until I saw it first in B&W).  For example, even in person, I'd never noticed before how some of the screws are covered with wooden covers, but most are not.  I wonder why that is, but mostly I wonder why I didn't notice before.

How is it possible that it's February already?!?

Getting a late start setting up my day journal...

Teach us to number our days, 

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.   

- Psalm 90:12

Fajitas for supper...

 

The seasoning I use is Kroger brand fajita seasoning mix (in the little packet, not bottle - I don't care for the flavor of the Kroger brand seasoning that is sold in the bottle) sprinkled directly on the meat and veggies as they are sautéing in avocado oil.  Chicken sautéed first, then the peppers and onions together - to just barely cooked (I like the veggies a bit crunchy).  The avocado slices are my latest addition.  

An easy, relatively healthy meal made with low carb tortilla shells.

I have no idea if this seasoning mix creates fajitas as they are supposed to taste, but we like it:

photo pulled from Kroger's imstacart.com website