Conversations and Cooking

We have had conversations about three things.  These did not happen in the same context or at one time. These three conversations were over a few months. 

1) I mentioned last Fall that I would like to have a Big Berkey water filter, the small one, one that sits on the counter. Tommy acted like I had lost my mind. I remained calm and started a little research. (Some people can water to fill the canner. Then, there is that to use in an emergency. )

2) Since I lost my gas grill, I have missed it for peace of mind in emergencies. He was adamant that we did not need a grill. I was going to catch one on sale last Fall. But, I missed the sales! Last week, I was lamenting how awful it was for people who could not keep warm and could not heat anything at all. He said if we could not heat anything, we would be building a fire on the ground. His strong reaction really surprised me. So, now I am looking for the right grill. He will be open to buying it.

I really want gas, but can use charcoal or wood. 

Lost with my house, besides the grill, was an old gas grill that I could have burned wood in. I had plenty of wood in my yard, even if it had to be cut down. But, limbs fell all the time. I guess that would work. Also lost were tiny, one-time-use grills that I came by for free with rebates. Some are still in my storage unit. 

3) On Sunday, I asked him if he kept cash in the house. No. I told him he should get at least $100 in small bills. He, again, was adamant that he never needed cash for anything and he was not going to keep any here. I could have been a Martian. Monday, we went to Hardee's for his sausage biscuit and coffee. Well, they could not take cards, only cash. He just looked at me and I pulled out $5 bill for $4.07 while he got in his penny stash. 

When we left the eye doctor's office on Monday and went out the parking deck, a man was waiting and told us the card machine was not working. Only cash would work. Tommy looked at me again. I pulled out a $10 and he gave me back the $5 bill. 

That gave me the perfect opening to talk about keeping money here. Of course, money in the house would be of no use today. But, you get the idea. 

We also discussed bathroom problems and solutions and water for flushing. He liked the idea of putting a plastic garbage bag in the commode. He cannot sit on a five gallon bucket. I probably could and would just fall off trying to get up. Also, we talked about having water to flush. We both agreed that two liter bottles would be perfect for storing water. But, we never use that size. I don't trust milk jugs not to leak.

Friday night, I put 16 meatballs in a tiny casserole and put spaghetti sauce and mozarella cheese over it and served with a salad. 

Saturday night, same meal. 

These are tiny meatballs, about one-inch. So, enough but not overeating to eat eight each, hence sixteen meatballs for our meal. One night, for some reason I only counted out ten and we ate five and were satisfied. 

Sunday night, I absentmindedly left the spaghetti sauce in the refrigerator and opened a new jar. Why? That night, I put half a can of mixed vegetables in with his meatballs and put sauce and mozarella cheese over his. I put these in two tiny casseroles so I did not get any mixed vegetables.

Monday night, I put 16 meatballs in the square casserole and put raw spinach in the dish! Spaghetti sauce and mozarella cheese finished it off. 

Tommy liked all these iterations of meatballs/spaghetti sauce/mozarella cheese. However, this is the last I will serve these for a long time. 

After dinner, I used two small square glass casseroles and put 16 meatballs in each. I took the newly opened jar of spaghetti and emptied it on these two casseroles. I sliced the last of this package of mozarella cheese and put into two snack bags. I will freeze the casseroles and then add the tiny packages of cheese. Score two meals (meat, anyway) frozen and ready for other nights. 

There are still 321 meatballs to be frozen and put in the freezer! Obviously, there is still work to be done!

Besides all the packages of meatballs I froze two weeks ago, there are many packages of cooked poultry. This week, I am baking a huge packages of thighs, so I will be prepared with protein!

What meals have you put into the freezer lately? Do you ever freeze the meat only?