Catching Up

Every night since I last wrote here, I’ve thought to myself that I need to come post something. And then I look at how late it is, and think about how tired I am, and say, “I’ll just do it tomorrow…”

Suffice it to say, I’ve been busy.

In the last five days, I’ve:

• Gone to Charlie’s U-Pik and spent 3 and a half hours picking fresh produce
• Washed, blanched, and frozen 12 half-quart servings of green beans
• Washed, blanched, sliced and frozen 3 cups of okra
• Washed, chopped and frozen 24 cups of green bell pepper
• Washed, sliced and frozen 5 half-quart servings of green bell pepper
• Washed, cut/sliced/minced a five gallon bucket of cucumbers
• Made a make-shift canning rack for my 24-quart stockpot out of mason jar rings and flower arranging frogs
• Made and canned 12 half-pints of dill pickle and bell pepper relish
• Washed, sliced, pickled and canned 5 pints of hot banana peppers
• Made and canned 6 quarts of garlic dill pickle chips
• Made and canned 6 quarts of garlic dill pickle spears
• Blanched, peeled, and pureed 25 lbs. of Roma tomatoes (with a dear friend’s help!)
• Cooked and canned 12 quarts and 1 pint of spaghetti sauce
• Canned 3 pints of homemade spicy pickled okra
• Minced 16 cups of red, yellow, and green bell pepper and 1 cup of jalapeno and then:
• Made and canned 12 half-pints and 24 eighth-pints of pepper jelly
• Roasted and froze 1 1/2 gallons of Poblano peppers (after you roast them and freeze them whole, the skins will just wash off when you run them under warm water to defrost!)
• Roasted and froze 1/2 gallon of Anaheim peppers
• Froze 1 1/2 gallons of jalapeno peppers
• Washed, dried, and put away 6 loads of laundry
• Washed, dried, and put away 24 sinks full of dishes
• Unpacked the guest room, set up the bed and furniture in there, and unpacked six 37 gallon tubs of medieval garb to hang in the closet
• Carried the Man’s giant mirror upstairs and attached it to his dresser

I think that’s it? Daddy was away with friends this weekend, so it was just me and the girls.

This morning, I was out of the house by 8 AM, and headed (with coffee) to the first of three grocery stores I hit today. Last night, as we were prepping to grill with some friends, I realized that my freezers (inside and big chest freezer in the garage) had no meat other than salmon and smoked sausage. I did a pretty darned good job emptying them out before the move! Last night, I surfed the ads for the three markets most highly recommended by the woman I trust most about such things, and made a list.

Three hours later, I returned to the house with 57 lbs. of meat, a selection of produce, dairy, and some serious pantry staples….

I spent a total of $303.25. Including a 6-pack of paper towels and some cleaning products not pictured. The most expensive meat I purchased was $2.99/lb. Almost all of my produce was organic, along with the milk, non-dairy milk, and yogurts. I’m pretty proud of myself 😉

I got all the meat portioned into labeled freezer bags and into the chest freezer. I cut up the 2 lb. log of Amish Roll Butter (pastured cows) into 1/2 lb. slices and tossed those into the freezer as well (the 6 blocks of Kerry Gold butter went into our fridge inside).

I have yet to do all of the dishes in the sink or chop up and freeze the six pounds of yellow onion I purchased today (instead, I’m taking this break). I also need to slice up the 2 heads of cabbage and get it salted for the batch of fermented sauerkraut (we’re out).

Then it’s time for some serious work for my business trip on Thursday. The rest of this week (aside from all the normal housework, cooking, childcare, and gym trips) will be devoted towards trip prep (which also includes prepping food for the Man and kids while I’m gone). Next week, I’m planning on a trip to the organic blueberry farm to get gallons upon gallons of blueberries to freeze. And then on the 23rd, it’s back to Charlie’s to get round and salsa tomatoes, more green bell peppers, and a few other things.

Enough stalling, time to get back to work!

 

 

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