May 8- to do lists

Good morning!  So far we’ve had a very mild spring with no need for the air conditioning and little need for the heater.  

But warm weather is here so now the grass and things outside will start growing.  

I said last week that I thought I would accomplish everything on that to do list,  well- 2 things didn’t get done.  

I didn’t finish one top I’m sewing and the hall bathroom paint didn’t get touched up.  I’ll try to get to those this week. 

Also I never made a sandwich toppings box but I did use those ingredients for something else. 

That’s what my lists look like as the week goes on. 

Here’s my new to-do list. 

Hope you all have a productive and pleasant week 

❤️ Rhonda 

May 5- freezer cooking and food storage

Hello 

When we visited our son in January,  I looked through a few of their cookbooks.  I found a slightly different way to cook beans, especially to I

use the beans in future dishes.  I bought quite a few dry beans during the pandemic and with meat so expensive, this seems like the perfect time to eat those beans 

I don’t know what cook book published this- I just took a few phone photos of the recipes I was interested 

I did red beans, just like the recipe except no garlic and I used 2 bay leaves. 

I’ve always presoaked dry beans and I’ve never put in the salt until the beans were cooked tender.  

But this method worked great! 

I think I ended up with the equivalent of about 10 regular size cans of beans with one recipe.  

While I had the 4 quart crock pot cooking red beans, I made a big batch of pasta sauce in the bigger crock pot, 

 also to put in the freezer.  

http://ahomewithasmile.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-ive-been-up-to.html

Above is a link to my first blog where I explained my method for making what we call Roma Sauce (other people just call is spaghetti sauce 😉)

Another task on my weekly to do list was to look over our canned goods and food storage, to kind of check dates, quantities and if we short on something important.  It’s truly hard to know how much to have on hand.

I straighten everything up in the sewing room closet and the kitchen pantry.  

For 2 people living in our household,  I think we have plenty.

That shelf has canned meat and tomatoes. 

Lots of canned goods in the cubbies- each shelf will hold 32 regular 15-16 ounce cans- plenty of soup, vegetables, fruit

And probably more fabric than I will ever sew up 

Kitchen pantry - 

I don’t think you can really see everything in the photos - but after straightening everything, the only thing I put on my future grocery list is olive oil.  

I’m just showing this in case it’s helpful to anyone.  

And because it’s Cinco de Mayo, we had a sort of Mexican inspired supper.

2 grandsons are here and we ate late, after their ball practice 

Our favorite kind of nachos

Tortilla chips topped with refried beans, a jalapeño slice for people who like them and any kind of cheese

Then bake or broil until the cheese melts and the chips toast a little.  

Serve with toppings like salsa, etc if desired 

These are so yummy! 

❤️Rhonda