Into the Freezer

 A few days ago, I cooked 2.5 lbs. of ground beef with onions and froze it in small packages. Tonight, I froze another 2.5 lbs. raw, and it is in the freezer. Four of the packages were large enough to make a meal that would serve four, so two meals for each of us. Sounds like leftovers to me. The last package was puny. But, I told Tommy I could make a meatloaf that would feed both of us a meal. Or, I could cook it for spaghetti. 

Edit: I know this sounds like tiny portions, but I will put this in spaghetti or make meatloaf or some other recipe to stretch it. If we want a hamburger, which we seldom do, we can always use a package for four meals and use it for two meals, one for each of us. It is flexible packaged raw.

The only way I got this work done was by having Tommy bring a cookie sheet type pan, the meat, a spatula, pint freezer bags, waxed paper. I worked from my lap and got nothing on hands, sheet pan or anything. I am careful. I scooped the ground meat onto a square of waxed paper and folded it to put it into the pint bag. It is labeled and in the freezer. That feels like quite an accomplishment since feeling puny, I was afraid it would the meat would spoil. Of course, I could have had Tommy cook it all in a pot on the stove. 

Tonight, I also made slaw on my lap. 

After a good sleep Monday night, and a very good nap today, I feel just a smidgen better. 

Tuesday morning, Tommy washed a load of underthings and nightgowns. So, tonight, I am hanging them to dry. I have not felt like doing this earlier. They will hang in doorways until tomorrow night unless company comes by. 

I got behind on reading newspapers to send to recycling, so I am working on catching up. I feel a renewed effort is worth it to send the papers to the animal shelter. Plus, we both want them out of the house. 

Today, I found one of the wildflowers is ready to bloom. These were embedded in a postcard from Johnson and Johnson. But, none of the Stella D'Oro bloomed, and I am not sure why. Not enough sun? We had clouds and a slow and gentle rain today. 

Dinner: Tommy had sirloin filet, slaw, leftover potato. I had hotdog with no-beans chili and cheese, slaw. I am not eating a bun with these hotdogs, just a little chili and a lot of cheese.

I had breakfast around noon: Special K, half a banana, milk. Then, at 3 pm, I had a huge salad with chicken, cheese, and Caesar salad dressing. 

We went out for a small chore at phone store. But, we did not take the password. I did not want to go home, get it and go back. Then, I did not want to get the milk we both needed. I just wanted a nap. Not only was it a good nap, I dreamed all my photos magically appeared on my laptop. 

The dog next door barked for a solid hour because the kids across the street were playing basketball. Of course, no one came out to quiet them. Surely, the mothers must become annoyed at some point. Or not.

What did you have for dinner on Tuesday night or this week? I am planning to cook chicken on Wednesday. What will you cook for this week? Are you lucky enough to have leftovers?

Sunday

I think the injection in the little bag is gone. Maybe I knocked it out of the car as I got out at the dinner on Thursday night. It was sort of dark. I give up.

Today was the first of the month birthday breakfast. I got up and beat and strained a dozen eggs. The eggs were not cooking, so I decided to turn up the heat a bit. Then, in pain I sat down in the living room. When I rushed back, the very full skillet was puffed up. The bottom was tough and browned. I raked it out and left the runny part in the middle to continue cooking.

I ate that bit and determined I would just buy something from Publix. I had slept about 15 minutes on Saturday night. yuck

As I ate, Tommy said it was too bad we did not have more strawberries. WHAT!? I can take strawberries! He said he ate a half  quart and there would not be enough. I reminded him there were two more quarts tied up so he would not get into them. I was going to make strawberry shortcake on Monday.

I quickly washed the other full quart and almost full quart. I put them on a clean dish towel. I had him wash his hands and slice off the top. There was at least a half inch of white on the strawberries. So, they fit into the little square serving dish I was going to use for scrambled eggs. Saved!

At the breakfast I was shocked. A woman in her 40s with a cognitive deficiency was in front of me. We both got a donut. A few moments later, I heard her mother yelling that the woman could not have the donut, to stop. The mother rushed over and grabbed the plate. There was much loud talking back and forth about her not eating the donut. No one knew why not.

Finally, I figured it out. She had given up sweets for Lent. ???  I have no words.

After church I bought more strawberries because I cannot find my nail polish remover and wanted to buy some. I have put about six layers on because  could not locate it.

At the breakfast I asked a long-time friend of Tommy's if she knew of a cleaning woman. Tommy did not say a word. In church I asked a man behind us who lived next door to Tommy, just a year younger. He said he did. So, I gave him my number. Tommy did not say a word. I suppose he will pay without a fight.

First day will be the kitchen. Next time--bathroom. One room at a time. Since I am not sure what the cost will be, I am not sure how quickly this will go. Whatever she charges, it will be worth the cost.

Progress....

Laughing here...Before we left the house this morning, I told Tommy to get the milk in the freezer. About an hour before we left, I put the half gallon with enough milk for me in the freezer. I knew it would not freeze enough to be even icy once we took it in the car and waited to eat.

At church I pulled out a full half gallon. He does not listen to me.

Then, after I got up about five o'clock this evening, I was looking for my purse and he insisted on going out to the car and looking for it. He brought in the half gallon of milk we had left in the car. sigh Not his fault or mine, just happened.

THEN, I got out the nail polish remover from the bag where I brought it in. THE BOTTLE WAS OPEN AND LEAKING!!!

Does it seem that things keep going wrong when you are at your lowest, lacking sleep? Tell me about it.

Ma Tahng and Breakfast and Sunday

On Saturday or some day when there was no rain, Tommy and I went somewhere, not sure and don't remember. Anyway, we got a Coke from the fifty cent machines. I got a regular Coke and he had a Diet Pepsi. He insists his sit in the drink holder nearer the back of the seat and that mine should sit closer to dash board. Okay, fine with me.

That day, I thought he picked up my drink and sipped from it. As I looked toward him, he was saying, "Ma tahng, ma tahng!" I asked him what he said, and laughed and he said the same thing over and over. I asked him why he was talking that way. He asked if there were high fructose corn syrup in the Coke. I laughed until I was ill. He sort of laughed. It was good we were in a parking lot. When he could talk and I could quit laughing and listen, he told me that when the sugary drink hit his tongue, it felt like his tongue was swelling in one spot.

This Sunday was the monthly birthday breakfast at church. I bought cherries and had the store wash them. I took them in a cookie container from the store, one they gave me. They were a hit. They are not quite sweet enough yet.

I had a piece of thinly sliced and well-cooked ham, a cheese biscuit, jello with stuff on top, cherries, a nasty little biscuit/sausage that was bought frozen in a store, and a bagel half with cream cheese. These cheese biscuit was too hot, so I gave it to Tommy. I brought a pint jar with about 10 ounces of my a2milk. Then, I drank a bottle of water. The bagel, cream cheese, and ham and cherries was mostly what I ate. I wanted scrambled eggs. But, I had no eggs to cook.

On the way home, we stopped again at Publix and I bought 18 eggs, two 8-oz chunks of Kraft Medium Cheddar Cheese, olive oil, and two plastic bins that were bogo.

Then, on the way home, I asked him to show me somethings he had said he would around Birmingham and the area. We decided we would go see where Paighton Houston was found. I had looked the location up and remembered the roads. It is very close. The house is little and rundown with part of the porch or something falling off. The yard seemed to have been mowed. The person who lived there had to be removed because he or she was old and ill. It was just a nasty little house with junk in front and backyard. The surprising thins was this area had rundown and tiny homes right next door to Mc Mansions. Many of the homes were around 10,000 sq ft. We were fascinated by the strangeness of it all.

Then, on the way to Tannehill State Park, we passed a derelict motel that burned last week. Tannehill is located near where a during the Civil War cast iron was made for the Confederacy until in March of 1865, Union soldiers destroyed it. Tommy even showed me where the old stage coach road was still in evidence. Fascinating! When we got to the place to pay to enter, neither of us wanted to go in. It was getting late, we were going to need to eat soon. Plus, we could not walk to see anything. So, we turned around and came home. It turned out that we were over 25 miles from here.

When we arrived home, I decided I wanted to drive my car. The front two tires were almost flat. Well, the had 20 lbs. of air. We went to one of the pay places to fill the tires. After I got quarters, a man had come to the air hose. I asked him if he would check and fill the tires. He did willingly and without impatience. This air pump took credit/debit cards. His card ran twice and he almost did all my tires and his. I gasped when I realized I had not put quarters into the pump. He said to just give him the $1.50 that I had in my hands. All four tires needed air. Then, I went to the scary car wash where I have to let go of the wheel and take my foot off the pedal. Tommy has to coach me through this. I keep trying to grab the wheel. My car drives better when clean. Air in the tires helped. We left here at am and got home after 4 pm. Long day!

Now, I will go heat the pork, take the sweet potatoes out of the oven, and eat the rest of the cranberry sauce.

I could barely get out of bed this morning, felt miserable during the breakfast and church. I did not feel well on our Sunday ride, but it made me feel no worse. The temperature was mid 50s today, dry, and we drove under a cloudless sky. Beautiful

Oh, at breakfast at church, we got there about ten minutes late. The woman who told me to get up from her place was not there. So, I sat in the same place I have for five months. he came in much later and made a show of kissing Tommy with a huge smack, not something she regularly does. Stupid woman.

Sunday Breakfast

We had a Minister's Appreciation Day last month, so the minister had a `Congregation Appreciation Day today. The minister and his wife bought ingredients and made breakfast for the congregation.
They prepared bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, grits, sausage gravy, pancakes, syrup, butter, cantaloupe, coffee, orange juice, cake, tea and milk.

I took my own milk and ate scrambled eggs, milk, bacon, pancakes, and syrup and butter. And, I did not go back for seconds even though I wanted more...lol. The bacon was crispy and eggs solid without white showing. So, all I got was enjoyable. Tommy had much more and ate the biscuit I put on my plate but did not want.

Then we played Bible trivia with prizes. Tommy won Andes mints, and I won a Pez dispenser with three flavors of Pez. They would not let me answer more since I had won something. So, I whispered the answer to the elderly lady next to me who did not raise her hand for any questions. Who came and asked for the body of Christ? Joseph of Arimathea! She won a box of Tootsie Rolls in lots of colors and flavors. She was very happy as she kept candy for her grandchildren. I was pleased I could help her. One woman won a small Snowman and Tommy said he mainly remembers candy being won. One person won a glass cannister type thing with Hershey's Miniatures.

Since I had only slept 2 hours with something to help me sleep, I came home and was ready for a nap. I only slept three hours this afternoon, so I hope sleep comes easily tonight. Saturday night it was warm outside, so nothing came on. We both got up at the same time to use the bathroom, so I noted I was suffocating. He turned on ac and it is still on at 10 pm.

Tonight, I got out the three foot tree I decided to bring here. Tommy will pull all the branches out since that makes my hands itch and break out. I was thrilled to see I had bought a prelit tree. When one light goes out, the rest stay lit. I need to buy ornaments for it. I bought the artificial Christmas tree several years ago, either 75% off or 90% off, forgot which.

Then, I addressed a few Christmas cards. I have boxes of ancient Christmas cards, most notable Black person on a whole box of cards. I would rather sell these. They are from 50s or 60s. And, there are many Christmas postcards. I suppose stamps are still cheaper for postcards unless things have changed. I bought the stamps a few weeks ago, so there is no crunch to buy them this month.

We ate the last of all the Thanksgiving dinner today except for Tommy's Jello salad. I took out turkey legs to thaw and need to find the chicken breast packages to thaw and then cook turkey legs and breasts in one cooking bag. I need to cook more sweet potatoes so we can eat off those this week.

That was Sunday, very quiet and we spent nothing. This weekend has been beautiful and mild, with temperatures in the low 70s. Okay, Tommy said it only got to 69 today.