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

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

Saturday, April 1, 2023

Hello- not an April Fool’s joke

Hello everyone, if anyone is still out there to read this neglected blog. 
I’m fine, everyone in my family is OK.  I’ve just been busy straightening out our home, regular housework and a little relaxing too.  
So I’ll just jump right back in here.  

One of the projects I worked on while daughter and family were living here was to clean and season 4 cast iron skillets.  It was a big project!
I coated them with oven cleaner and let them sit in the sun in black trash bag.  Then I scrubbed and scrubbed with steel wool and an iron bristle brush.  It took multiple soakings and scrubbing to get them back to bare metal.  
Then they needed to be greased and baked in a hot oven.  This took multiple tries and It was a big effort but now I have 4 seasoned cast iron skillets.  
Even after all that work, I haven’t been cooking with them.  

So I decided for April,  I will cook everything I can in cast iron.  
Today,  I started the morning cooking myself some hash browns and an egg.  
  
Cooking 
And after-  the egg didn’t stick! 

For lunch I made a beef dish and for supper I made a chicken dish.  (We didn’t eat all of both recipes.  We like leftovers and the leftovers are  dished up in the fridge and will be reheated as desired) 
Anyway,  both recipes cooked nicely and the clean up was easier than I expect.  
So day 1 into my plan and so far, so good.

But I’ve always preferred cooking in nonstick, so come May,  if I’m not loving this cast iron,  I’ll buy some new nonstick cookware.  


We did get all our windows and 2 doors replaced.  The installers were great and the new windows and doors couldn’t be nicer.  I’ll share some photos soon.
One of the inside changes we made was moving our freezer into the breakfast room.  It has been in the garage for years.  
It’s better for the freezer to be in the house because it is  hard for the freezer to keep up during really hot summers and really cold winters.  
It’s more convenient for me to have the freezer right by the kitchen. 
The draw back is purely looks-  the breakfast room is much prettier when it’s not so full of appliances.  
But right now,  I’m liking convenience.  

I was reading Terri’s blog one night when I couldn’t sleep.  She talked about making chicken broth and it reminded me I had more than enough chicken bones and celery stalks saved in the freezer.  
Since I couldn’t sleep and my husband was out of town,  I started a batch of broth cooking about midnight.  
By then I was tired and able to go to sleep.  
I slept all night and woke up to a big crockpot of chicken broth.
  
I chilled the broth until the chicken fat hardened and was easy to remove.
Then I froze it 2 cup containers. 

Inside the freezer that is now in the breakfast room.  


Much of the USA had some unpleasant weather yesterday.  In Oklahoma,  we had so much wind all day,  50 to 70 MPH gusts which is really hard wind. 
I was nervous all day but thankfully our home had no damage.  Many people in Oklahoma lost their homes to fire.  Lots of trees fell and lots of power lines and poles fell too.  


We had nice weather today and next week’s forecast looks very pleasant especially compared to yesterday.  



April looks to be a busy month- one grand has a birthday, Easter, a vacation for my husband and I,  a very short visit from our son and family, another grand has 2 musicals in April.  
How is your April looking?  

I plan to blog this month too
Thanks for reading 

❤️Rhonda 



15 comments:

  1. So glad to see you back! You were missed. I go back and forth about cast iron. I love the idea of it. I need a new large nonstick pan.

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  2. Hi Rhonda! Welcome back :) As for the freezer in the breakfast area...I'm starting to realize that I could loosen up a bit on having everything look perfect and my house would be more interesting and less predictable :) I can totally understand the freezer being inside. And we've had really windy days here too (in S.E. Texas). April is turning out to be a busy month on the calendar so far!
    Have a great week!

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  3. Still here. Checking randomly to see if you are back. You are my connection to peer into OK. I miss it.

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  4. Still here!!!!! I love cast iron and use it most of the time. Nice on the new windows! Love that you brought the freezer in and made it handier to use.
    Glad to see you - have a great week!

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  5. That is one well-seasoned cast iron skillet!

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  6. Good to hear from you. I understand life gets busy.

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  7. Good to see you back, Rhonda! You did a great job on the cast iron. As for the freezer in the breakfast room, sometimes practical has to become a priority over pretty. Besides, there is a certain beauty in functionality. Homes were made to be lived in.

    Hugs
    Jane

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  8. Yay! Glad to see you back! I love my cast iron, but it is a learning curve in caring for it. I have my DH's grandmothers 10" skillet, a big 12" chicken cooker skillet, a 10" deep cooker and the lid that doubles as a griddle.
    Grandma's is the best and very non-stick.
    I made beef broth this weekend. I was checking the freezer and found multiple bags of beef bones and vegetable scraps. I had enough to fill my large roaster. I cooked it all day yesterday and overnight. Then got started this morning on straining all the solids, washing jars. I have an electric pressure canner that I love. Only downfall is it only does 5 pints at a time. So 3 batches later, I have 20 pints for the pantry.

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  9. Good to hear from you again! I love my cast iron skillets. Seasoned properly and used frequently, they become non-stick. And they're non-toxic, unlike regular non-stick skillets. I also have a set of stainless steel Cuisinart pots and pans, which I also love. The pans aren't non-stick, but no big deal. I just use avocado oil, olive oil or butter when I need to.

    How nice that you and your hubby are taking a vacation this month! We can't go anywhere until our kitty passes over the Rainbow Bridge. She is 14 and is in stage 4 kidney disease. She requires a lot of care (including subcutaneous fluids) and attention, so we can't leave her alone.

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  10. I cook almost exclusively in cast iron. I love it so much. About the only thing I don't cook in it is fish or boiled eggs. If you do have problems with something sticking, fill it with water & boil it. It should boil right off.

    So glad you are safe from all the crazy winds.

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  11. I keep looking around my upstairs for a place to put our two freezers. Running down and up the stairs takes a great deal out of this rather oldish body. I have never used cast iron so I am finding your usage very interesting.

    God bless.

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  12. For years I used cast iron and it was definitely was nonstick which I proved by scrambling eggs often every week. What do you do with the schmaltz? (chicken fat) Try cooking with it. I made biscuits. The were very soft but delicious.

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    Replies
    1. I threw it away. I’ve heard of cooking with it but right now, I’m not planning to.

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  13. Welcome back to the blogging world! I had to laugh as I was reading along and saw my name mentioned. Glad you were able to make the chicken broth. I use cast iron and for the most part love it. I still have no luck getting eggs not to stick so I do use my non-stick pans for that.

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  14. Enamel cast iron is better than nonstick. My kids even use it on their "funky glass top" cook stoves LOL

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