Okay, not really, but it did get to be just above 50F today. Those of us with garden space started to get really, really itchy to go outside and play. We'll be back to cooler temps in a few days, but it is nice while it lasts. I am giving serious consideration of getting some plants started this month so I have a really good head start on getting them outside.
Got the soup into the freezer and started the spaghetti sauce. I discovered I need to buy a bigger pot. The one I use was barely big enough so I had to use my stock pot, the 26 QT stock pot, which was WAY too big, but it did the job. I had to transfer the sauce back to the other pot to put in the fridge as the stock pot would not fit. I'm thinking of getting something along the lines of about 10 qts or so.
While making the sauce I decided to add a splash of some leftover merlot. OOOOO boy, did that make the sauce tasty. Added a nice depth to it. I am hoping I will have more then double what I had last time to put in the freezer. I use the 1 qt sized zip lock baggies and I put in 2 cups of sauce and carefully flatten them to get the air out and then zip them shut. By doing them flat, they stack in the freezer very nicely.
Got the crock pot working again today, this time with a pot roast. I put it in with a can of cream of mushroom soup, some onion soup mix, seasoned salt, pepper, garlic powder, worchestershire sauce, basalmic vinegar and water. I have a crock pot that has an auto shift setting, so it starts off on HIGH for about an hour or so and then switches itself to LOW for the rest of the day. I should have a yummy, shreds just by looking at it roast with its own gravy. I think I'll do oven roasted herb seasoned potato wedges to go on the side and a veg.
Hubby was a sweetie yesterday, he dug out the extra speaker wire and is running it into the bedroom and hooking up speakers so I can listen to the stereo or even the telly without cranking the sound loud enough the neighbors up the hill can hear it. Now we just need to figure out a set up so we can run the satellite feed down and we can watch the dish in bed :D It would be great for those days I'm feeling ick and don't want to move intot he living room.
Handy money saving tip of the week: instead of spending 75 cents to a dollar on those bags of chips, pretzels or peanuts in the vending machines at work/school, check to see if you have a grocery store with bulk bins, or shop the dollar store. We get 1 1/4 pound bags of pretzels at the dollar store and we can buy peanuts and other nuts in bulk at Winco. I like to use the gladware type containers for chips and such (less breakage) and pack my morning coffee break snack in those. If you prefer muffins or such, make a batch of your favorite baked goods on the weekend and pack those instead of paying the outrageous costs at your local Starbuck$$. I also avoid paying out a small fortune for flavored coffee by making my own mocha mix. You mix baking cocoa (I like the dutch processed cocoa), powdered milk and splenda, tho you can use sugar if that is your preference. I put that all in a container, mix it up and a couple of teaspoons full in a mug of coffee is just right and it saves a LOT of money on a daily basis.
Got the soup into the freezer and started the spaghetti sauce. I discovered I need to buy a bigger pot. The one I use was barely big enough so I had to use my stock pot, the 26 QT stock pot, which was WAY too big, but it did the job. I had to transfer the sauce back to the other pot to put in the fridge as the stock pot would not fit. I'm thinking of getting something along the lines of about 10 qts or so.
While making the sauce I decided to add a splash of some leftover merlot. OOOOO boy, did that make the sauce tasty. Added a nice depth to it. I am hoping I will have more then double what I had last time to put in the freezer. I use the 1 qt sized zip lock baggies and I put in 2 cups of sauce and carefully flatten them to get the air out and then zip them shut. By doing them flat, they stack in the freezer very nicely.
Got the crock pot working again today, this time with a pot roast. I put it in with a can of cream of mushroom soup, some onion soup mix, seasoned salt, pepper, garlic powder, worchestershire sauce, basalmic vinegar and water. I have a crock pot that has an auto shift setting, so it starts off on HIGH for about an hour or so and then switches itself to LOW for the rest of the day. I should have a yummy, shreds just by looking at it roast with its own gravy. I think I'll do oven roasted herb seasoned potato wedges to go on the side and a veg.
Hubby was a sweetie yesterday, he dug out the extra speaker wire and is running it into the bedroom and hooking up speakers so I can listen to the stereo or even the telly without cranking the sound loud enough the neighbors up the hill can hear it. Now we just need to figure out a set up so we can run the satellite feed down and we can watch the dish in bed :D It would be great for those days I'm feeling ick and don't want to move intot he living room.
Handy money saving tip of the week: instead of spending 75 cents to a dollar on those bags of chips, pretzels or peanuts in the vending machines at work/school, check to see if you have a grocery store with bulk bins, or shop the dollar store. We get 1 1/4 pound bags of pretzels at the dollar store and we can buy peanuts and other nuts in bulk at Winco. I like to use the gladware type containers for chips and such (less breakage) and pack my morning coffee break snack in those. If you prefer muffins or such, make a batch of your favorite baked goods on the weekend and pack those instead of paying the outrageous costs at your local Starbuck$$. I also avoid paying out a small fortune for flavored coffee by making my own mocha mix. You mix baking cocoa (I like the dutch processed cocoa), powdered milk and splenda, tho you can use sugar if that is your preference. I put that all in a container, mix it up and a couple of teaspoons full in a mug of coffee is just right and it saves a LOT of money on a daily basis.
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