Senior Sustainable Living with Jo

So I went back to the store and hit a major sale on chicken leg quarters. We actually drove across town to a store we no longer frequent to catch this sale. It was even my off week for shopping. This store had leg quarters, in 10lb bags, for $4.  I snatched up the 4 bags, all that was in the case. Yep! This is one of the few times I'll do this. If you just browse the news, all they talk about is future shortages and how we are headed for the hyperinflation scenarios. Well, I've got a family to feed and care for. So 40lbs of meat will go a long way to stop hunger pains from happening.  Instead of deboning all forty pounds, I canned about half in whole pieces. Four chicken legs, or thighs, or a combination of both fitted nicely in my pint and a half jars. These I raw packed with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. I know the astringent qualities in sage will turn canned foods bitter so I make my blend without it for canning. I can add sage later when I cook it up. I did skin the...

Have you heard of store shelves left empty without restocking? I witnessed it today. It was like the panic buying before a hurricane. I asked a stock person if there was any dishwashing detergent in the back. Sadly, he shook his head. I was left the grocery not buying quite a few items on my list. Now, I use coupons to shop with. I don't buy twenty or thirty of the same items. I'll buy maybe four of a given item. That's my personal maximum.  I have made a conscientious decision toward stock piling items in my stores of open one buy two to replace it. This way there is enough for everyone. Sounds logical and responsible, right? Pre COVID lock/shut down there was abundance, if not a glut, of choices. Since the reopening the choices are limited brands available and number available. Not that I'd buy a case of anything at today's prices. There would have to be a very good prices cut like 2000 prices. Today, I'm missing our chickens and quail. I bought two 10lb bags ...

  Do you love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? Who doesn't? We used to frequent a buffet house that made this cream pie that was fabulous! Every imitations of this pie, but none came close. I asked one of their bakery people how they made theirs. She told me she couldn't tell me, but I could watch her make one and she winked at me. Of course, I watched and figured out the basics rather quick. I could reproduce the pie much better. There was no bigger fan than my beloved. Last week, we would have celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary and his 73rd birthday. Yeah, I was kind of in the dumps the whole week. Lost in memories of better times and a life cut way too short. In honor of this double celebration. It's the first one I made since his death. When completed, I held it up high. "Here's to you, honey. I miss you." Reese (ish) Pie Makes one 9' deep dish pie. What you'll need 1 box vanilla instant pudding mix 3.4 oz 1 box chocolate instant pudding mix 3....

Julie, The Farm Wife . and some other folks I follow and read their blogs are talking about planning for next year and the long term. In principle, this is a very good idea. Last week, I planted the onion seed starts and garlic cloves in their area of the garden. The garden is all neatly set up to grow vegetables in the spring. They won't be ready for harvesting until next summer or early fall. I also purchased two dwarf cherry trees and two dwarf apple trees to plant along the fence line with plans to espalier them. They'll joined the kumquat tree already planted there. Here I was planning ahead, just like they were talking about. I was happily doing my own thing and I forgot THE two major rules about planning ahead 1) And 2) I'm surprised I overlooked this one. It's been my governing force in my life since I met Mr. Murphey some 35 years ago and married him almost 30 year ago. God rest his leprechaun soul. There's one thing about life, it's constantly changing...

My project that I've taken on is the family's food provisions. September is Preparedness Month. Actually, I started this project in June. This house has a 20'x25' pantry with two upright, 27 cu ft freezers plus an additional refrigerator/freezer in it. It was almost bare. I've having fun trying to fill it. I've laid in a couple months of paper goods like paper towels, napkins, and toilet paper. But things like Tampax, menstrual pads, urinary pads, and adults diapers are also stockpiled. Once again, couponing has saved my bank account as I squeeze pennies into dimes. In  fact the $5.00 a week I spend on Sunday papers (2) more than pays or itself in savings. A lot of weeks, I'm buying about $500+ of products for at most $75. My goal is not years or decades, but are least six months with to start with. I've reached my goal in laundry supplies and most of the nonfood goals. I'm not ignoring the food stock either. Slowly, I've been getting this big ci...

I finally broke down and bought our family's needs worth of pineapple last week. I've watched the prices of the fresh, tropical hover between 1.50 and $1.75. I kept waiting for it to drop to a $1 or below but alas it didn't happen this year. So I bit the bullet and paid the $1.49 asking price for two dozen, mostly green ones. I would have preferred ripe, golden ones, but I realize they have to pick them green to ship them to the mainland. I set them all in my southern facing windows to ripen. It took a full week. Even the fruit flies didn't notice their existence until the day before I started to cut them up to can and freeze. I pulled 6 wide mouth pint jars out of my stash. These would be for pineapple rings. The about a case of jars worth would be crushed in my hand powered food processor with the rest being cut into cubes for canning or freezing. I knew my daughter could not help me because she has an allergic reaction to raw pineapple. But my granddaughter was anoth...