Cooking ahead… Just in case

My husband spent a week in Arkansas, helping his elderly parents.

When he returned, he had a horrible respiratory illness. He did not go to the doctor, so we don’t know what it was, but he had the worst cough, and just felt terrible.

I was afraid I might catch his cold.

I washed my hands all the time and we stayed in different rooms

And I was just as careful as I could be.

But just in case I might get sick, I spent some time doing some cooking so we would have easy things to reheat

(But if or your family don’t like “leftovers” this blog post is not for you) 

I used this big package of extra lean ground beef that had been in the freezer for awhile 

I used these fresh ingredients plus some cherry tomatoes

Those are the dry ingredients

Results - 

Tossed salad, A box with sliced tomatoes and lettuce for sandwiches, and another container with toppings for tacos

I used about a fourth of the hamburger to make the goulash, the dish with tomatoes, bell peppers and macaroni

I  used about a fourth of the meat with brown gravy mix and it can be served over the cooked egg noodles

Then, about half of the meat was seasoned with taco seasoning, onions, and bell peppers

We don’t normally eat beef meal after meal but I was cooking with what I had and was doing it easy. 

 It’s also 96% lean beef 

I cleaned up as I went

From start to finish it took just a little over an hour

And I’m very happy to have the mess of cooking over with for several days.  

After I loaded the dishwasher, I sat down with a bowl of grapes and my bowl of water

    

To help my memory, and in case, my husband ends up doing meals, I wrote down the ready made foods and put the list on the refrigerator  door. 

My husband got back Wednesday and he is so much better now.  And so far on Saturday, I have no symptoms of what he has.

He had the worst cough, I really don’t know how he is doing so much better so fast.

Other times, when either one of us have had a bad cold or respiratory situation, it has taken at least 10 days to get over it

When he got back here to Oklahoma, he started taking this daytime and nighttime medicine

We don’t know if that’s why he got better so fast. It certainly seemed to help his symptoms.

I’m not a doctor and I’m not giving medical advice. I’m just telling you what worked for him.  

I was told by a visiting nurse who was caring for  my older relative that there is some sort of a mystery respiratory disease going around, it has symptoms like Covid and RSV but it is neither one of those.

And again, we don’t know what my husband had except what he had mostly had terrible respiratory symptoms

I hope you all are staying healthy and warm, if you’re living in this cold weather right now.  

❤️Rhonda 

Sewing in 2024

I have not sewn much in the last few years but my fabric and sewing supplies have multiplied several times because of getting so much stuff from 3 different people.  

So one of my plans for 2024 was to get my sewing room organized.

You’re going to see a lot of stuff and I even did a big declutter around November.  

The main thing that needed done was there so much fabric stacked in the closet and when I did want to sew, I couldn’t find what I wanted.  

I really should have taken before photos but here are the after photos.  

It’s nothing Pinterest-Worthy but now  I know where everything is and can find what I need in the future. 

The closet in this room is big but the sides are hidden by the wall so I don’t plan on using either end of the closet except for big things.  

There are several empty drawers.  So I may do even more organizing or I may just leave them empty.  

We are just 2 people living in a 4 bedroom house and that’s why I can have a whole bedroom dedicated to sewing.  

We’ve talking about moving someplace smaller but moving is so complicated…..so for now,  we are staying here.  



Here are my first sewing projects for 2024- extra large heat protective mats 

We tend to serve most of meals buffet style and so does our daughter

In their home, they have a huge kitchen island covered with a man made stone
I made the mats for their house very thick- denim on the bottom, 2 layers of Insulbrite and a thick twill on the top.  

I gave them to her Monday and she took them home and served their supper on them that same night

They had Thanksgiving leftovers that had been frozen.  

I made ours with just one layer of Insulbrite and quilting cotton fabric on both sides.  

All the mats are about 18 inches wide and 43 inches long.  

Now when I serve meals,  I won’t need to use wobbly trivets or all my potholders under the hot foods.  

If you don’t know sewing products- Insulbrite a heat protective fabric used mostly to fill potholders.  

Around Christmas we were at our daughter’s home and they cooked  4 sour dough pizzas for a group.  We were spreading our every potholder they owned to protect their 
island from the hot pizza stones.  

These runners will look better and be much safer than potholders.  I know they will use theirs often.  

❤️Rhonda 

Easy supper

Some of the grands are here so I cooked a kid-pleasing, easy meal- burgers with lots of fresh toppings and brownies.  

Much of it is compliments of Kroger. 

Oklahoma has no brick and mortar Kroger stores but we can get Kroger delivery from a distribution center about an hour away. 

Before Christmas,  I placed a large order, maybe 15 bags full.  When it arrived,  there were packages of frozen burger patties that I did not order in 2 different bags.

When stores mistakenly deliver things,  they never want them back and tell the customer to enjoy or pass the product on to a friend.  

Kroger Delivery offers 2 Free-bees every week.  A few weeks ago,  one was brownie mix.  The past Free-Bees have been products like peanut butter, barbecue sauce, canned vegetables, food storage bags, etc. 

The buns were also from Kroger, from their flash sales available just before you check out.  

I rarely find sales I want in local grocery stores so I’m very thankful for Kroger delivery.

The grandsons and my husband were especially happy with their supper tonight 😋

❤️ Rhonda

Happy 2024 🎉

I certainly hope it’s going to be a happy 2024- who knows though…..the last few years have been pretty rough.  

But I’m an optimist so I’ll be looking for happy days ahead.  

I made a new to do list for this week.  

To celebrate the new year coming in,  we watched a livestream from Branson last night.  It was by the Haygoods and Clay Cooper and team.  

It was really good and certainly cheaper and easier than an actual trip.  

At midnight,  they had a big ballon drop that looked really impressive on screen. 

Today,  our daughter and family came for our traditional new years lunch, based on old Southern traditions 

Black eyed peas, cabbage, rice, cornbread muffins and sausage.  

JJ is growing but I still think he and the New Year elf, bought years ago at a thrift store, resemble each other.  

Goals for 2024 

My list is short and realistic for what I could accomplish 

Daily I plan to 

Read Bible

Sew anything 

Walk 

I want to do  Casual couponing 1 or 2 deals a week 

Last week I went to CVS and got a giant jug of Tide for about $9

I plan to do small deals on products we use.  But it will be very casual.  I thought about going to Dollar General Saturday when they have the $5/25 coupon but I didn’t feel like leaving home.  

Continue decluttering and downsizing home possessions - I’ve done a lot over the last 2 years but would still like to do more. 

Pay off Avalon My husband couldn’t drive his pickup anymore (back issues) so he traded it for a comfy sedan the end of the summer.  There is a small loan with a low interest rate for the difference.  We’ve been paying extra and hope to pay it off in the spring.  

Double savings account at the credit union 

As weather permits- get back yard straightened up 

❤️ Rhonda 

New to do list and new stove

Hello everyone

It’s Tuesday but it feels like Monday so I wrote out a new to do list

It’s not real long as this isn’t a normal week but some  things need done 

My husband helped and we got quite a bit done. 

 It’s not checked off but the laundry is also finished and the Christmas decorations are packed away.  

Our decorations were up a long time this year.  

Supper was an easy meal- I used carrots, potatoes and fresh spinach that all were due to be used.  

I baked the chicken and carrots. 

About a month ago,  our bottom oven quit working and then about a week before Christmas, the top oven quit working.  

Also, the controls on the top were looking like they were on their last leg too.  

(Out stove was about 10 years old and looked like a normal stove but it had 2 ovens.  I used it so much,  I think I just wore it out) 

So my husband went stove shopping.  Our local Lowes doesn’t have much in stock but he found one that was on sale.  

It’s a Samsung and so far it is cooking so nice.  

No photos but it baked 3 batches of cookies beautifully.  

It baked 2 batches of muffins when grands were here for a sleepover. 

Chocolate chip muffins and Betty Crocker’s French Puffs 

I’m very thankful to have it.  

My only complaint is the timer sounds a little like the music from the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind 🙄


❤️Rhonda