Bluapple, Dogs, Hummingbirds

The TODAY SHOW has a bit on about products we cannot live without. I saw the BLUAPPLE and ordered it. This is an expensive little apple in which you place a packet to absorb ethylene gas that is put off by ripe fruit and causes other fruits to ripen. 

The little packet is activated charcoal. 

I think I could use any little container and punch holes in it. Then, I could fill little squares of coffee filters with activated charcoal. This would save money. But, it is done. Tommy was all for this and paid for it. 

Have you used this technology? Have you heard of it? 

We ran out of spoons and have been forced to wash plastic spoons. Tommy does not want regular cutlery. Today, he said, "Do you think you could find plastic spoons on the internet to order?" So, that is what I will do. 

It is Thursday afternoon and I must cook this meat! But, I can barely walk or sit up. But, Tommy will help.

The people next door finally put up the dog pen. Instead of it being a square, they bolted it together in one long fence that runs from their patio to their back fence. Good! Now, the children don't wave, just stare. I suppose the parents are mad and talking about us. They will still get cupcakes when I can manage. The dog house is as far from here as possible in a far corner.  It seems it is best where it is under a tree instead of where they were going to put it where it has full sun all day. 

I saw the first hummingbird today! I was so excited. When we were talking to Lynda in her driveway, Tommy saw a hummingbird at the edge of her patio. So, they have arrived. 

As awful as I felt, we had to get the meat cooked. I went and held onto the sink and told Tommy what to bring me. I put in a cooking bag four huge thighs and six chicken tenders, half a red onion, three small potatoes, and five carrots. 

Tommy had already gone to the kitchen to brown a huge package of ground beef. When I went in there, he asked me if I were going to peel the carrots. I said I was not and if he didn't have time, we just would not have carrots. I came back and he was scraping the carrots on his walker and stirring meat at his elbow. So, we had carrots, too. 

He had turned on the oven, so the chicken and vegetables went in quickly. I had to recover in the living room while he finished the beef. We ate while we watched Gunsmoke. 

I thought I had a second package of chicken tenders thawing. When Tommy put all the thawed meat in the sink, I was thinking one package of tenders looked very old, maybe not good. When I started loading up the cooking bag, I realized that one package was pork loin chops. I suppose it would have been okay, but I did cook the pork in a different bag. 

There are two "meals" of chicken in the refrigerator--one glass container with thigh and two chicken strips and three pieces of carrot, another container with thigh and two chicken strips. Plus, a third container with chicken. Six cups of ground beef are in another container. Five pork loin chops and onion are still in the oven. I will most likely freeze all the chops and eat the chicken the next three meals. I am going to make taco soup tomorrow with some of the ground beef, freezing two cups of the soup. I will freeze at least five bags of one cup each of the ground beef after putting some in the taco soup. 

Normally, I would have made half the ground beef into a meat loaf, divided it and frozen half. But, I was not up to making meatloaf. Maybe I will make Spanish Rice with brown rice, using up the some of the ground beef. A can of green beans will make an appearance somewhere. I want cole slaw, so we may get a bag. Well, Tommy will have to go in to get it. 

We have plenty of salad fixings to have a salad with the chicken. There is plenty of fruit to eat. I don't dare eat any oranges or grapefruit since I am very allergic to citrus and especially in the spring. 

I am not better nor getting better. I may call the doctor in the morning. 

Did You Know?

Easter meal was delicious! We ended up with pork loin, potato salads, deviled eggs, cole slaw. I forgot the green beans, tomato. I was exhausted when it was all done because I waited until Sunday to make the potato salad. That was a lot of chopping. 

Tommy's bowl of potato salad was yellow-orange from all the mustard. He really helped me a lot with cooking. He brought things to me to chop and took potatoes back and put in the pot, salted it, took away potato peelings, brought celery, brought the onion. He washed two large bowls I needed for the potato salad. Well after eating, he washed the pot in which I cooked cabbage and the huge one where I boiled potatoes. 

Sweets: I bought Tommy a gold-covered Lindt Easter bunny that was in a little train. He shared it with me. I didn't even get the Jello dishes made, either. Those can be made another day. I decided to forego Easter candy this year. I miss it. 

Have you ever used celery to get the onion smell from your hands? It works. I took the end of one of the stalks and rubbed it on both hands. Then, I took a wilted top and rolled it between my hands almost like I was using the leaves to wash my palms. Tommy did not know why, but I asked him if he could smell onions on my hands. He said that my hands smelled like celery. Now, 15 minutes later, the celery smell is gone too, all without washing my hands. Did you know celery removes the stink of onions or garlic from your hands?

Shopping hint: While I am perfectly capable of using food coloring and vinegar to dye eggs, I have bought the dying kit on sale after Easter. One year, I bought 6 or so after Easter for ten cents each. I sent one to my daughter and used the others in subsequent years. I stored them where I kept the plastic wrap because I came home and put them there to keep them off the counter. There they stayed. I did give one to a friend with 6 children. At any rate, you might be able to get the kit cheaply for use next year.

I suppose this is the first year ever in the last 75 or so years that I did not have colored eggs for Easter. Sometimes, I have made Jello eggs and put them on a bed of green lettuce on the table. That did not happen, either. I am okay with that. 

While I was chopping celery, I chopped the whole head of celery. I saved back a bit from the potato salad to use in tuna salad or something else this week. While I was chopping, I should have chopped the last four of the free red onions. 

Even though it was cloudy all day before Easter, about 6 pm, the sun shone through the clouds and the clouds lessened. Then, on Sunday, the day was sunny and warm, but Sunday night, thunderworms developed. All in all, I was disappointed with the wet grass for children to hunt eggs, but it was not stormy all day like I expected. 

I cannot believe my oldest child turned 54 on Saturday! And his son will turn 16 this week. I now send gifts as egift cards from Amazon. 

How was your Easter?

Cooking Marathon

 Thursday, at 6:15 pm, we cooked meat. I had three package of chicken tenders from Publix, a total of about 5 lbs. and a package of six huge drumsticks, also from Publix. I used garlic powder on all the chicken. I put all four packages into one cooking bag that cost 60 cents. They went into the oven. 

Garlic powder tastes nothing like garlic to me. I like both, but it is so easy to sprinkle the powder over all the chicken. Plus, there is no salt. I never use garlic salt. Garlic is delicious. By using garlic initially, we can put any kind of spin on the cooked chicken.

Then, I put the pork loin, a small one, into the crockpot. I had left it frozen solid on the counter in front of the microwave which is next to the freezer. I use this bit of space to place things as I work things into the crowded freezer space. Well, four hours later it was sitting there still, limp and fully thawed. So, two days later I am cooking it. No, I don't think it spoiled. Tommy sees how dark it is in the kitchen although he swears he can see just fine. grr. So, he got the crockpot on high. Oh, I washed the teriyaki flavor off, so we can eat it. There is enough flavor left. It is in the freezer for Easter. 

While I was unpackaging the chicken, He cooked and chopped 1.75 lbs. of ground beef. Lots of it will go into two packages for the freezer since he is done. 

The rest of the ground beef will be made into a meatloaf and cooked after the chicken comes out of the oven.  Okay, meatloaf done and in two packages in the freezer. I did not have bell pepper, so I will somehow get it incorporated into the meatloaf later.

This makes over 30 helpings of proteins for meals from what we prepared in thirty minutes. His help is immeasurable! 

Now, for the vegetable front. I sit in my chair and put the month and year on top and front of cans so I will know which to eat first, not when they will kill me. After I got up from a long nap Thursday, Tommy told me what he found. There was a can of black beans under the edge of my chair. It was crushed almost in half! That can will be eaten in the next few days unless I find it was crushed and opened. I cannot believe I did that. 

Tommy asked what we will have of those meats for dinner. I told him--your choice. So, he chose chicken and a salad. I know I will have chicken and tomato, not sure what else. 

At this point, I still need to make the meatloaf. Okay, meatloaf done. I used one of the cheap cans of tomato paste. I might use a smidgen of catsup on top. I had no bell pepper, so I will cook it without bell pepper, find or buy some before we eat it and poke little pieces into the done meatloaf. We both love bell pepper in meatloaf. I used the last tablespoon of catsup in the bottle for the top of the meatloaf. 

Oh, and I finally made the hummingbird food! 

While I napped, he washed the rugs from the bathroom and hung them on the ramp railing to dry. I asked or he would never have done it. 

Friday morning

I had saved the juice from the crockpot pork loin. I used it with water to cook navy beans. Plus, I shredded the cabbage for slaw. It will be a coarse slaw since I cannot use the grater like I did before hand injuries.  I may use some of the cut cabbage for colcannon or for soup, and will definitely freeze some. 

That cooking marathon was fun but tiring. Do you having cooking marathons? 

Meal Kit

 Thursday night, we had a pork loin, quinoa with red peppers, zucchini, and squash, with a sauce of maple and apples for the meat. Sorry, but quinoa has a foul taste to me. And, there was barely a half a cup of the three vegetables together. Quinoa was the largest portion. This was a meal kit  and not worth the $15.95 sticker on it. Of course, it was two servings and could easily have been enough for two meat meals for two. So--four servings and other vegetables added. It was given to me, so I am grateful. Tommy ate more zucchini to fill out the vegetables. I have not gotten anything else to eat yet since I only had the pork loin. He just went back for seconds on the quinoa and zucchini. So, he must like it. I will have a salad left from lunch on Wednesday. 

This was a very tiring day though I have done nothing but put on the meal and let the oven do its work. I did microwave the vegetables. Tuesday and Wednesday exhausted me. 

Well, I did do a bit of shuffling around things that needed to go into the food bedroom. I do not need 22 cans of tomato paste on shelves in the kitchen, so 22 went out of the kitchen and onto a dresser. 

We went for a drive to see Halloween decorations that are up. Tommy is quite taken with the spider webs over houses and shrubs. He exclaimed every time we saw them. 

Tommy just brought me a bird body and two wings from the car to glue together. Now, I need red paint to make it a cardinal.