Working on the Weekend

When I'm on my own, I can't sit still.  I was tearing the trailer apart to clean in back of things on Saturday.  If The Big Guy was with me, I'd be fixing him something to eat or something like that.  With him around, I'll sit back and relax. However when I am on my own, I feel I am slacking if I'm not getting something done. What is wrong with me? In any event, there was quite a lot of dust in back of things. Lots of spider webs too.  In fact, I smushed maybe two dozen spiders. Sorry not to be kind enough to let them go -- but I don't want them back inside the second time around!

This morning I drove into town to stock the fridge with perishables for next weekend. TBG's senorita di bicletta will be with us.  We'll want eggs for breakfasts, sour cream for dip and to put on baked potatoes, hot dogs for lunch, sherbet and cookie dough for dessert (not necessarily together).  There are turkey giblets for the pup.

Sunday is the one day that all the field workers seem to have off, so the supermarket in town was crowded. I hate disparaging talk about immigrants and workers from South America.  The people who work in the orchards aid the local economy, work hard and spend money at local businesses.  One family has a wonderful restaurant and I'm going to be sure we take the seniorita there because I have a hard time negotiating the authentic menu.  I'll bring up non-perishables next week but not having to pack multiple coolers will save a lot of time and space.

There's one camper who doesn't "work" but she does work at having fun. 

If you can imagine, this is what I swim with in the warm weather, she snorts the entire time, drinks water, and when we're together, she body slams and tries to drown me.  All fun for her!

Small Space Stovetop Solution

My sister gave me this induction unit over a year ago and I never got around to using it.  I wish I had tried it sooner as it is an awesome small space cooking solution.  This is easier to use than the gas stove in our trailer.  In fact, here's some food for thought: One of these units goes for a little more than 60 bucks on Amazon.  Four would set you back $240.  The cost for a four burner ceramic cooktop by GE is over thirteen hundred bucks!  You could have four burners that you stash in a cabinet or under a counter for a fraction of the cost -- and you would only have to take out those that you needed to use at any given time.  Hmmm....

I boiled my Ronzoni three minute pasta and at the end threw in a couple of handfuls of frozen pre-cooked shrimp (peeled, tail off). While this was going, I nuked a Steamfresh packet of veggies in a light garlic sauce.  It all got tossed together in the pot of drained pasta and I added some plain yogurt and ranch dressing.  Once I took turned off and unplugged the burner, I was able to wipe it down and set it aside.  It's still on the countertop because I plan to use it soon -- but I could have just as easily stowed it away.  I'll need to put it in a pouch or wrap it somehow to protect the surface, but I think this will be my go-to heat source when I'm not using my electric fry-pan at camp.

I'm tossing out the idea of the single burner induction unit for those who want the convenience of a ceramic cooktop but don't have the cash or resources to have a full cooktop or stove installed.

We're At Camp

Teddy and I got to camp and noon today.  We both agree that I failed to pack enough snack food.

Next weekend is Memorial Day and we're having a guest. I'm going to try to get the trailer close to being ready for that but at the same put some effort into going through cabinets and various storage spots to get rid of things I know we just don't need. 

I've got my laptop and slow wifi access up and running, so maybe I'll stay into Monday rather than leaving on Sunday like usual.  Not having to be back at work on Monday doesn't suck.  It's cooler here than I had thought it would be but it is very sunny.  I've also got a few good books to read.

For anyone who is looking to start a small business or just fed up with big business, I suggest the book I've been loaned: "Rework" by Jason Fried and David Heinmeir Hansson.  It puts into to words what I've been feeling for some time now and has solidified my belief that the next step in my professional life will be small rather than big.

Two-fer Thursday

Last night was another "cookie sheet dinner."  Maybe I should make that a post label!  The split chicken breast was on sale at Tops for $1.18 per pound. The plan was to grill it but I could not get the danged thing to ignite, so the meal was made in the oven.  I had figured the bone would help keep the chicken moist on the grill but it was brined as well for extra juiciness.  In addition to the equal parts sugar and salt with white vinegar (and water, of course), I added some of my Badia bitter orange concentrate and lemon concentrate with a handful of spices and some onion.  I then made a garlic, lemon and rosemary based rub.  That's corn on the cob in the foil.

The meal was delicious but I did not have an opportunity to post because I was embroiled in the technicalities of doing a full system back-up of my PC.  I have just enough technical knowledge to know what I should do but not enough brains to execute it cleanly and without a problem.  We also had drop-by guests with their dogs so I got tied up in the yard so The Big Guy did the dishes and wrapped up the left-overs.

Here's what I did with the chicken, potatoes and corn.  I scraped the corn, peeled and chopped the potatoes.  Teddy got the potato skins and extra fat from the chicken -- but the poultry skin went into the salad. That rub gave it too much good flavor to throw away. Fat be damned!  There lots of other stuff -- onion, mushroom, carrot, sundried tomato, capers, chopped baby spinach and other stuff I've probably forgotten. It's tossed in a lemon, orange, pepper, ranch, Greek yogurt and vinaigrette dressing mix.  It will  be our dinner tonight.  We're having two guests who want to visit with our dog and one has a new car to show TBG.  We'll order a pizza if I don't have a chance to make one.

Whenever I make a meal on a cookie sheet, there is always plenty left for at least another meal.  This effort was no exception!

Dinner for Three

We had a dinner guest tonight.  The Big Guy rode with his "Senorita di Biciletta" and called me when they were finished to say he'd be bringing her home for dinner.  For me, this is no big deal.

As far as I'm concerned, having a "surprise" guest is a treat.  We always have enough food and nothing says you are open to positive things in the world better than being able to take an extra person in for a meal.  All I had to do was make another salad.  Because I always have plenty of dough made up, pizza was no problem.

The truth is that I thought he'd ask her and she'd decline because she is not American and is unaccustomed to "dropping by" or showing up in sweats or without something to offer.  But he's convinced her we do not stand on ceremony.  In fact, I got Teddy out for an extra romp this afternoon so she'd be a little less energetic and ready to cuddle.  Being comfortable married folk without kids, we are always willing to take in strays who don't have a spouse or a family or who have found themselves a little at odds. If you have a comfortable home, I think one of the best ways to enjoy it is to make it comfortable and welcoming to others.

I would think most of my readers welcome guests and don't stand on ceremony.  While our guests might think we're being generous, I think they're being generous in providing a way for us to share our home. Plus, it's nice to know people want to spend time with you.

Yes, it's nice to plan a specific meal or make plans, but it's also swell to let things just happen.  Who agrees?

Super Market Mark-Downs

Half Cut Chuck Roast was the "Special Today" marked down meat to grab at my Wegman's.  I could have gotten other cuts (sirloin tips, veal stew meat, organic lamb chunks and a few others) but this cut was the cheapest.  I like to challenge myself to make the tastiest meals out of the cheapest cuts of meat whenever I can -- so three packets fit the bill (although there were five of them).  This was $3.49 a pound and the package was about four and a half bucks.  The Indian spice kits were marked down half price.  Two items I always look for as markdowns at Weggies are meat and Indian or Asian sauces.  The sauce packets or mixes make delicious meals and I don't have to go to the expense of keeping a full array of spices I am not familiar with.  Each package was marked down 50% and set me back $1.96 each.  I don't have the inclination to coupon these days, but I do look for store mark-downs.

The chuck was rubbed with garlic salt and pepper and then pan seared.  I had carrots and a large potato to use up and I picked up a large onion, a can of whole peeled tomatoes and a can of cream of mushroom soup.  With a loaf of bread to bake, I wanted to take advantage of a heated up oven so the bread and the clay pot cooked at 350 for an hour and then when the bread was done, the oven went down to 200 for a few more hours.  Here's what I ended up with.  The intention was for it to be soupy -- and the meat was super tender.  I only was able to fit half the big potato in the pot anyway!

The meal used up a potato I had on hand, opened stock from last night's dinner (veggie and chicken broth), and a carrot and a half stuck in the back of the veggie drawer.  The plan was for this to produce enough liquid so I could serve it with the tail end of a bag of thin egg noodles.  As a splurge, I also included a pop-and-bake tube of  biscuits.  The meal was a success.  There's one leftover portion for a lunch and some extra liquid that will be gravy for something tomorrow.  My guess is that the meal set us back eight bucks.  Not having copious leftovers was part of the plan.

While $3.49 per pound is perhaps on the upper end of what I spend on meat per meal -- the exception to that is when I use seafood, I still consider this a good frugal meal.  And to be honest, my portion was way to big.  It's no surprise that I'll never be a skinny woman....

Spring Jinx

There's nothing like putting plants in the ground to cause a total weather reversal to imperil their existence.  Yesterday's plants are now facing cold blowing rain and possibly snow.  It figures!  Luckily, the planters can be housed in the sun porch.  They'll stay warm and dry in there and I hope that what they've already experienced today doesn't turn out to be too much of a shock for them.

I didn't bring the larger planters in because they are too heavy for me to move.  They'd also be potentially messy and take up more space than we have.  I'm hoping to protect each plant with empty sauce jars.  Because the pots are so close to the garage, I don't think the wind will blow the jars off.  At least I hope not!   Being one to save jars, I know there are always plenty of uses for them.  This is one to keep in mind.  I've always wanted to get my hands on a big jar to turn into a terrarium -- doesn't that sound like a cool idea?  Maybe I'll do that this summer if I have time.

The plants in the ground have been covered with pots that have pieces of slate on top to hold them down. I sure hope this works!  These guys were looking pretty rough and I believe the sudden drop in temperature was truly a shock to them.  It is supposed to be warm and sunny by Tuesday so let's hope that this mean streak of weather won't be their undoing.

I've got to get myself prepared for my meeting tomorrow with the organization I will be volunteering with. I'm guessing they'll be using my technical background most and hope that while I am out of work I can give them one day per week.  Once I get a job, we'll see if I can work in a few hours at odd times.  Should the job I've gotten a nibble on pan out, fitting this in won't be as easy.  However, if I don't get that job my skills will be much more marketable to law firms.  So I think that regardless of the outcome, I can turn this into a winning situation.

Now, let's hope for better weather up North!