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Tag Archives: food

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

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Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
I'm making all the spicy foods today.

These are delicious!

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These are delicious!

Twenty Four

Hours, 7 Days a week. Never a day off=Mom Life

Today’s plan is to head to the Ninilchik job and see if we can get in. So much snow and wind, most likely drifted in…

Going to work was a bust. The driveway is too drifted in and the snow plows have the pull off buried. So it’s back home. I’ll get time to finish up that school paperwork now.

I loaded up my weekly supplements last night. I’m more likely to remember them when they are all ready to go. I’ve been hit and miss the previous couple of weeks. Hoping to get back into the daily habit. I added a colon cleanse capsule for the next week. With a little over an hour drive to work I’m already thinking maybe that wasn’t such a good idea…. 😳

Stuffed peppers for dinner tonight.

Once a Month Canning?

I’ve read a few blogs recently where they focus on canning something different every month. Usually something in season, like Salmon in June or garden produce in August. During the off-season they still find something to can like beans or meats. This keeps the pantry stocked and adds variety, which is always good.

I love the concept and I’m thinking of giving it a try. It’s more motivation to keep me on a regular schedule.

I managed to get my turkey soup canned up on the last day of January (WTG me!) and so I’m ready to figure something out for February.

First thing is to check the pantry and see what’s needed. Well, not fish, for sure. Or jams/jellies, we’re pretty well stocked. I’m down to one jar of canned black beans, out of soup (good thing I’ve got some fresh jars to move into the pantry today) and out of canned beef and moose. I still have some canned chicken.

Soups are an important mainstay in our winter diet. Soup and sandwich for lunch on a cold day is so warming and filling.

I think that’s where I need to focus. Beef stew sounds good but I’ll have to keep my eye open at the grocery store for special deals, that will be my deciding factor. Bean soup sounds hearty and tasty too. Our local butcher, Echo Lake Meats, makes a beef Canadian bacon that is so tender and delicious. It would work to sub out for the ham in this recipe. Mexican chicken soup sounds delightful as well.

Homemade cream of mushroom sounds good too… Or this version of you want a already thickened cream of mushroom soup. And I just happen to have some mushrooms on hand. But I could also make this, decisions, decisions.

Off to gather ingredients!

I settled on making some beef stew and bean soup in pints. Processed 11# for 75 minutes. That will give us a nice variety for our work lunches!

And just like that, I’m off to a great start with once a month canning!!

My canning shirt from my Seester.

Twenty Three

On a roll.

One more day of snow removal for Dean means one more day home for me. Plus we have a new weather system hitting today that promises up to 6″ more snow from Nikiski south to Homer. Who knows when we’re going back to work!

I ended up with 9 quarts of turkey soup and three pints of dog food. There was enough leftover for a large pot of turkey & noodles last night. Which was a hit with the kids. (For the dog food I put everything in the jar that we didn’t eat, some skin, cartilage, small bones, scrapes of meat, organs and broth, and can it. She will get a spoonful of this mixed into her regular dog food for extra protein and taste. So one jar lasts a while. She loves it and there’s no waste!)

Today I’m going to take advantage of the canning stuff being out and work up a batch of something or other, time will tell what I come up with!

And also figure out dinner… All these other people in this house always want to eat. 🤷🏼‍♀️

If I get bored there’s always cleaning to do. 🙄

Black Jack

Three weeks today. 21 days.

One things for certain, I’m paying more attention to my body. This used to be normal everyday behavior for me. Guess I’ve really fell out of the habit. If nothing else, it’s been worth it to reconnect with myself. Now if I can be more proactive in listening to my onsies.

Today is jam-packed with things to do. Of course I must watch KC’s playoff game with Cincinnati. Make some crockpot mushroom pozole Verde soup, can up a big batch of turkey soup and broth. And maybe catch some snippets of the 49ers game later. Cut the big boy child’s hair. And straighten up my bedroom. Oy, I’m tired just thinking about it!

Nineteen

These days are flying by. I’m glad I finally committed to do this. I do feel better but I’m still hopeful for more positive results.

You know, things like clearer skin, less congestion/mucus, no bloating, maybe some weight loss. I realize I may need to continue this little experiment a tad bit longer, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

While I’m enjoying the fruit I’ve been eating I’m kindve hankering for some tasty treat that’s, you know, more like a cookie. I’ve found a few no sugar added recipes on Pinterest that I’d like to try.

Most sugarless recipes that I found call for a sugar alternative. While I’m not opposed to using monkfruit or erythritol later I’m not interested in using them during this 30 days. So I’m looking for a dried fruit based recipe. I found this one that I made sans chocolate chips plus hemp hearts. Pretty tasty.

I scored a big box of bell peppers for $10 at the local IGA and chopped a gallons worth for the freezer, a quart in the fridge, along with four large sliced up for dinner tonight. I also got a flat of mushrooms for $5, best deals ever. Dinner tonight is vegetarian fajitas with refried beans. We’ll have peppers, onions, mushrooms and jackfruit in our fajitas. Sour cream, guacamole and salsa with corn tortillas. I’m hungry now!

Eighteen

Woke up to three inches of fresh snow with it still coming down. ❄️

I’ve been trying to eat fruit with each meal or at least three times a day. I had some banana slices and blueberries with breakfast. I grabbed a smallish pale orange for lunch. We’ve been enjoying all these oranges and grapefruit. I peeled my orange and after the first bite realized I had a largish dark lemon. 🤪

So I’m behind on eating my fruits for the day. Need to double up now. Lol

Salmon for dinner. Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice to drink.

I’m off tomorrow for an appointment. Looking forward to sleeping in a bit.

Dancing Queen Day

Only because it’s 17. I’m not really dancing. Lol

Looking forward to a few days off and some R&R this weekend. Not sure how much R&R I’m going to get tho ’cause we’re cutting firewood.

We’re also forecasted to get more snow tonight, time will tell

Keeping our dinners zero added sugar has been a bit of a challenge. I didn’t realize how many times we used sweet Thai chili sauce, BBQ sauce, baked beans, etc that all have lots of sugar in them. So trying to keep to savory sauces without sugar has me trying some different things.

Tonight we had boneless skinless chicken thighs sauteed in oil with garlic then finished with a gf cream of mushroom sauce. Baked sweet potatoes and cheesey broccoli. Delicious and the kids loved it. No sugar! 😉

A Fortnight

Today marks two weeks since I’ve had anything with added sugars or booze. So far, so good. I feel like I’m not as tired by mid-afternoon. More energy is always a good thing.

Today is a lazy day. Watching the playoffs, maybe getting some food prep done for this week. Maybe doing some laundry. Maybe. Maybe not. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thing 2 went outside and found a moose shed this morning. Pretty nifty find! I wonder if the other one is nearby? We’ll have to look once the snow melts.

Moose Antler Shed

Panda and I went for a little walk-about. She had fun playing in the snow.

Snow Dog

How ’bout them KC Chiefs?!?! What a great game.

Steak & cheese melts for dinner. I know, not on the anti-inflammatory diet but oh so good.