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Archive for April, 2020

Are you making a list?

April 25th, 2020 at 07:41 pm

After watching the news, both local and national, and reading stuff online, I often wonder how the food supply is going to hold up. There were stories where dairy farms were dumping milk and Florida farmers were plowing under crops because they could not get their products to market. More recently many of the meat processing plants have had to close due to Covid 19 cases and I read an article in the Chicago Tribune last night where some of the places that do the actual butchering are also closing. I'm not saying let's go hoard food, but do you think it is likely we will have a shortage in the next few months?

I always try to keep a full pantry and freezer, but decided the other day to be a little more organized and made a list of things I feel I need to have on hand. Most of the stuff I already have, but I figure it was a good incentive for me to check to make sure.

Pantry Staples

Dry Goods:
Rice
Risotto
Spaghetti
Macaroni
Noodles
Cous Cous
Grits
Flour
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Corn Meal
Popcorn
Dry Milk
Saltines
Oyster Crackers
Other crackers
Chex Mix
Snack foods like potato chips
Dried beans
Oatmeal

Condiments/Extras:
Pepper
Salt
Turmeric
Ginger
Cumin Paprika
Ketchup
Mustard
Olive oil
Canola oil
Worcestershire Sauce
Condensed milk
Soy Sauce
Vinegar
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Cocoa Powder
Yeast
Lentils
Mayonnaise
Molasses
Honey
Pickles
Relish
Peanut Butter
Pudding
Vanilla
Herbs: Oregano, Basil, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Celery Seed, Garlic
Corn Starch
Coffee
Tea
Lemon Juice


Canned Goods:
Soups
Green beans
Tomato Sauce
Tomato Paste
Spaghetti Sauce
Corn
Sweet Potatoes
Canned fruits
Mushrooms
Applesauce
Jellies/Jams
Beans
Chicken broth
Chocolate Chips
Tuna
Chicken

Dried Fruits/Nuts:
Prunes
Apricots
Cashews
Peanuts

Frozen:
Hash Browns
Tator Tots
Ice Cream
Fruit/Vegetables
Meats

Anyway, here's my list. Is your similar?

Sunny Sunday Sort of

April 19th, 2020 at 07:30 pm

After a cool, dreary week, it has been nice to see the sun yesterday and today. Well, so far today. It's supposed to get cloudy as a cold front moves in with a chance of showers, but right now it is bright and looks springy.

DH is impatiently waiting until the chance of frost passes so he can start to plant part of his garden. We picked up some bell pepper and herbs as well as a few tomato plants before the governor has said lawn and garden places can only sell online or do curbside service. So, we move the plants inside on cold nights and then take them back outside when it is nice. We are getting our exercise anyway by doing this.

I'm impatient about the lettuce I planted way over a month ago. It's been so cold and gloomy that it has come up, but not much else. I have been covering it at night when it gets cold trying to keep it from getting frostbitten. It will probably surprise me and get big all of a sudden and I'm looking forward to when that happens.

We received our stimulus money and we let it sit in our checking account a couple of days and then moved it into savings. Right now we are doing OK money wise. I did order some whipped honey online this week and did a small Kohls order for underwear, but other than groceries and paying the regular bills, haven't been spending a lot. Other than these items, we haven't need anything. Just waiting and staying home, hoping this will soon pass.

We've seen things get a little better at the grocery stores the past couple of weeks. We shop at Aldi and Kroger. It's funny though, Kroger was totally out of flour and sugar last week. We didn't need any, just happened to go down that aisle to get something else and noticed the bare shelves. But Aldi had both. Kroger honestly had regular size packages of name brand tp too and Aldi had no tp. So, I guess it depends on the store and clientele as to what is available and what isn't. I was happy to be able to buy the loaves of bread we like. We haven't been able to for about 4 weeks.

Hope everyone is doing OK in the SA community. Hope you are all hanging in there!

Happy Easter and Are You Planning a Garden?

April 12th, 2020 at 10:35 pm

Happy Easter!

We watched our church's Facebook streaming service. I will say our Pastor and his helpers have done a good job trying to keep things normal and uplifting.

I haven't really had much to write about. Just the day to day stuff. We've been staying around the house like everyone else. Grumbling about the neighbors who don't follow the shelter in place orders who are running and visiting and doing whatever they darn well please.

Like many, DH has been working a lot in the yard. We bought this house about 22 years ago this month. So, sometime after that he planted what were labeled "dwarf" burning bushes. I tease him it's a good thing he didn't buy full size ones since they are over 7 foot tall. Well, one of his projects has been to trim them down. What a chore. I helped him as much as I could. Due to allergies and the fact I sunburn so easily even with sun screen, I don't usually do much outside. But we got both trimmed and the branches cut up and put in lawn bags. Then we had a wind storm with big branches and DH had to deal with those. I'm sure the lawn waste guy wasn't happy to come by our house. But we are not allowed to burn, so this is the way we have to get rid of these items.

I planted some lettuce in two different pots, two different plantings. Both have come up and if we had decent weather this week, I bet one would be ready to use. But we are supposed to get really cold weather this week with a chance of snow. I covered the pots up this afternoon because there is a chance of storms and then possible freeze.

DH planted onions, radishes, and lettuce almost two weeks ago. His radishes and onions are starting to peep through. Hopefully we won't have extreme temperatures. He's worrying about getting tomato and bell pepper plants the first of May. Hopefully the place where he does will have them and be open.

I read that many folks who haven't planted gardens are thinking about it due to food shortages. I see Miracle Gro has an ad about gardening and suggests planting a "Victory Garden" like people had during World War II. Are you planning to plant a garden this year?