If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

To dos, keeping produce fresh, bulk cooking and CVS

Hello - another illness bug came to visit me the end of February.  I was the only family member that had this one.  I did almost nothing for 5 days but I'm better now, and trying to get back on track.  

Today was a free day for me, no grandchildren or appointments,  so I wrote out a list of things that needed done at home and I added some more things as I thought of them,  



Because of the 2 bouts of illness in February and my husband being away helping his parents for a week,  we didn't use very many of the groceries we bought at the beginning of the month.
While we were sick, we mostly ate crackers, rice, jello, canned soup and easy to digest foods.



I store our clean, fresh produce in the fridge and I seal it in either plastic containers with tight seals or in plastic bags with the air squeezed out.
I've always thought our produce keeps a good while and this month, it really stayed nice.

These boxes hold mini peppers, celery and broccoli. 

Below are the receipts for when I bought this produce.  All were purchased the very end of January.  
Some was from Aldi and some was from a military commissary. 



More of the old produce- but still plenty fresh enough looking that I'll be using them,
A head of cabbage and 4 heads of romaine lettuce.  

I also straightened up the freezer and saw a lot of meat.  We didn't have much prepared meat so I pulled out ground beef and a roast.  



I cooked 1 pot of chili and almost 5 pounds of taco meat. 

The roast beef was cooked with pepperocini and beef broth in a slow cooker until very tender.  
I shredded it and then froze it in the broth and peppers it cooked in.  This makes a really nice hot sandwich filling.  


I ended up with 4 meal sizes of chili, 6 of Taco meat and 4 of pepperocini beef.  
Having meals started ahead of time is almost as good as having money or time in the bank.  They are really welcome on busy days.  

In the afternoon, I made a short  shopping trip to CVS


I used $10 in extracarebucks from last, some coupons from the CVS red box, $1 Xtra and $2 Fructis coupons from coupons.com 
After deductions, I paid $10.58 and got back $10 extracarebucks for next week.




Today is Andie's 5th birthday.  She was born a preemie and took a helicopter flight right after that to a big hospital.  She gave us all a scare but you would never know now she had a difficult beginning.  She is the tallest child in her class and smart as can be ❤
She's not lacking in the self confidence department either.

There was a Mardi Gras party yesterday afternoon at my parent's retirement home.  I took little Jackson and he celebrated like a Proud Cajun.  He put all those beads on himself.  
Let the good times roll ❤ 


19 comments:

  1. I'm glad you are feeling better. You were very productive. Great buys at CVS too!

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    1. Thank you,and it only looks like I have been productive. I'm not happy about all that downtime I had while sick. 😫

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  2. Your grands are adorable!
    Love love love the St. Patrick's tree!

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  3. Your grandkids are so cute! My daughter was a preemie too and it didn't stop her one bit. They are the comeback kids! Thanks to you I'm keeping my produce longer. If you have got just a little time it actually pays to keep it ready to go like that.

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    1. Thank you.
      I don't think I've ever been as worried as when tiny Andie was born.
      Taking just a bit of care with fresh produce really makes it easier to eat and keeps it fresh.

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  4. Rhonda,

    Your grands are so adorable! I enjoy hearing about them. You made some freezer meals that are making me drool. I am glad that you are well again.

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    1. Thank you! We love having some precooked food on hand. Days with all these grands get rather hectic sometimes.

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  5. Super darling grandbabies, Rhonda! You are so organized. I use your trick about squeezing out the air in lettuce all the time. Amazing that such a simple little thing makes such a difference. Thanks so much for the tip!

    Hugs
    Jane

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    1. Jane, I'm so glad the bag and air trick for you. That's why I keep blogging about it, I want everyone to do it.

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  6. Your roast recipe sounds delicious. I def need to try this soon.

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    1. The pepperocini beef is a favorite of my husband and son. If you need more specific directions, look on Allrecipes.com Its really a no-brainer recipe

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  7. What cut of beef do you use for your roast beef - chuck roast? It looks good with the pepperocini. I will have to try that next time. Happy birthday to your granddaughter! So sorry you'd been sick at the end of Feb. Hope you are better now. Your family has had more than its share of illness lately.

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    1. Yes, we have had too much illness but some winters are just like that.
      We buy our roasts at the commissary and we get very lean ones called top round or eye of round. That recipe would work fine on any roast beef cut. We just prefer the really lean ones.
      I expect your husband and Tim would like the pepperocini beef. It is one of Jeff's and Jimmys favorites.

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  8. Ummm, can you pass me those Cadbury eggs please?! I also wouldn't mind a sandwich with that roast. Your whole post made my mouth water!!!

    I'm sorry you were sick again. I lost all of January to pneumonia so I sure sympathize. It feels good to be back to normal!

    Your pics were darling. Love the tree and the grands. I wore my Mardi Gras beads to my quilting luncheon on Tuesday! And a little crown. :)

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    1. Thank you for all the compliments. But I can't pass you any Cadbury eggs, they have already been enjoyed. 😂
      I bet you looked darling in your beads and crown.

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  9. Hello Mrs. Rhonda,

    I am so glad to hear you are feeling better. I also store my fresh produce similar to you and it keeps well.
    Your grandchildren are adorable.
    Blessings,
    Mrs.B

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    Replies
    1. Hello Mrs. B,
      Thank you. I'm glad you store your produce so it lasts. It's so expensive, it's silly not to, right?

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  10. I just bought some pepperoncini yesterday to make Italian beef sandwiches this week. Great minds, right? :)
    Happy Birthday to Andie!

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