Mrs.J

On 6/20/2020 at 12:05 PM, psuhoffman said:

He is 5.  He has a practicality to him. When our Disney trip in April got canceled he was disappointed but said “but I don’t want to get sick so ok”.  Last year he saw a flood video on the news and said those people needs boats now and then we need to build them new houses but on top of something so that don’t happen again”. Recently he said he can’t really understand racism because he doesn’t understand why anyone would be mean to people because of how they look.  He also constantly asks me difficult questions that are way over his weight. Sometimes I’m not sure how to answer. 

We aren’t totally sure how old Lily was, she was rescued. But around 11/12. Old but not that old. But she had a liver condition her whole life and it finally gave out. 

This morning my 2 year old almost made me cry when she crawled into Lily’s bed by the window like she often did to cuddle her and was saying lily and whimpering. 

He sounds like the oldest Miss J. She has an old soul ever since she was born. Sorry to hear about your kitty, she will forever hold a place in your hearts. 

14 minutes ago, Rhino16 said:

You can’t trick me! You painted that!

It does have a filter on it to enhance the contrast. The sun was washing the image. 

We are over South of Lovettsville, VA and got this shot. 
 

8 hours ago, wxdude64 said:

lol, true. I buy 1/4 beef off a local guy, he only raises 7 or 8 head a year. He only grass feeds with occasional grain when necessary. No hormones or junk like that, a Mennonite family cuts up/butchers each year. Used to do 1/2 back when wife was alive and the son was still home. I only eat chicken/pork when out due to that.

Yep we buy from a local grass fed farm here in Frederick. They sell by the cut and keep it as freezer beef. So you can go in weekly and load up if you want. Like this week I need 2 lbs. ground beef and a flank steak. They run specials also and you can get bulk with a price discount. We do not eat a lot of red meat so this option works great. And I love seeing the cows out grazing as I drive in. Taught my girls where their food came from. 

7 hours ago, BlizzardNole said:

I laughed when I saw this.  I have a very picky eater too.  She's still like that and she's EIGHTEEN.

I like Mrs.J's recipe list up there -- might try to add some in to our revolving list.  Unfortunately my wife does not like to cook at all, so almost all of it falls on me.

If you need any of the recipes just let me know. 

19 hours ago, mappy said:

she just started getting into fish sticks and nuggets. butter noodles with parm cheese is her new go-to. ive had noodles for dinner myself a bit now too lol

Not going to lie, I still occasionally eat fish sticks! Thinking of getting an air fryer for fish and chips. I have done baked versions but honestly fish and chips just needs to be fried. 

4 minutes ago, mappy said:

That's impressive! i def need to figure out a better way to plan meals. we have two busy nights a week with the kiddo and gymnastics, that usually ends up being "whatever" nights (leftovers, cereal lol). We do try to plan during the day, take out meat to defrost or whatever. But the kiddo is still a big picky eater and her meals are so narrow that i usually end up making two dinners. one of us and one for her. thankfully shes easy (pizza, butter noodles, grilled cheese to name a few). i save bigger time consuming meals for weekends. but lately with the pool now opened, its all gone to the wayside as wed rather be outside. so we've done a lot of carryout the last couple weeks

Yep you do what works best for your family. You can keep her stuff on hand and just cook for two. I hate turning on the oven in the summer so we do a lot of sandwiches and grilling. 

2 hours ago, mappy said:

2 weeks? im lucky to know what to make for dinner each day let alone 2 weeks worth. Teach me the ways!

About 15 years ago Mr. J asked me if I could work out meals off of paydays. He gets paid every 2 weeks. So I started to put together easy and fresh dinners that were enjoyed by all and would allow one grocery run, minus the fresh things like milk, eggs, fruit, veg ect...  Although with the milk and eggs we now get them delivered by a dairy service and in the summer are part of a local CSA for fruit and veg that we get weekly. 

Some people go off of what is on sale meat wise, my mom did that growing up as there were 6 of us to feed and 3 were men/boys. But I am able to take the proteins we mostly like and utilize the freezer and buy 2 weeks out. We eat mostly chicken, pork and fish/seafood although we occasionally do beef and have a local beef farm that does single portion freezer beef and is open Thur-Sat. I go through my recipes and ask family what sounds good or something they have been wanting. I pick 14 dinners out and then figure out what day we will have them on. It allows me to cater to busy days vs days that I can do a more involved recipe. Weekends are my experimental days as I like to pick at least 2 new recipes a month. I go through all the recipes and write down what I need for each one, and check the pantry to see if I already have items. Then I print out a sheet with dates and what meal is on that date. I will put in my current sheet for this Friday's grocery run. It allows me to know what I have planned and my girls don't have to ask what is for dinner.

As for breakfast and lunch it is pretty easy to push out two weeks. Eggs, cereal and toast are a hit along with yogurt and granola that we just make at home to save money. The youngest Miss J can pack in granola so it is cheaper to just make. For lunches I have to get creative. The girls are not fans of lunch meat sandwiches. So tortellini pasta, cut smoked sausage, cut cheese and crackers and soup. Plus any leftovers. 

Meal Plans June 19th thru July 2nd

19th Youngest Miss J's B-day camp out Cheeseburgers, Baked Mac n Cheese, TX sheet cake, S’mores, Breakfast biscuits fixins

20th Take out @ Analia’s Cafe

21st Easy Spicy Baked Chicken Tacos (Sandstone Show)

22nd Cajun Shrimp & Corn Salad (RTSB pg. 110)

23rd Lemon Parsley Baked Cod & Salad

24th Smothered Burritos (Beef)

25th BLT’s and Summer Pasta salad (RTSB pg. 156)

26th Chicken Taco Salad (Dinnertime pg. 54)

27th Grilled Lamb Skewers (RTSB pg. 105)

28th Asian Pork Tenderloin

29th Balsamic Basil Chicken w/ rice pilaf

30th Sizzling Sherry Shrimp w/ garlic (AR summer pg. 57)

1st Grilled Chicken w/ red & yellow peppers salad (RTSB pg. 83)

2nd Beef Bulgogi w/ veg and rice

14 hours ago, H2O said:

Looks yummy. I wish I had taken pics of the bacon wrapped pork chops we had. Damn, they were good!!

Ah yes you should have!!! Bacon on anything makes it just that much better! I just found a recipe for grilled rosemary bacon wrapped chicken breasts that made me drool. 

11 hours ago, yoda said:

We need to have a zoom meeting/cooking class with @Mrs.J... everything she cooks and makes both looks and sounds fantastic 

Of course we can add others as well who cook well... which is not me lol

I would be up for that. I have a lot of recopies that would work. Actually working on my 2 week meal plan today as grocery day is Friday. 

2 hours ago, rclab said:

Mrs J. The small image you see below is the unintentional attempt I alluded to. Mrs L and I had a long and sometimes contentious relationship and being a bit of a sometimes foolish sentimental romantic, I would buy her a fresh rose every so often. Depending on the state of our relationship at the moment the rose would either be lovingly placed in a bud vase or the nearest circular receptacle if I wasn’t within throwing distance. When I lost her I made the side room on our floor a memory room. I placed a live rose by her portrait. It would last a week or more and then I’d replace it. I felt bad disposing of them so began holding on to them. What you see in the photo, is the result. The pandemic stopped me from the purchase so I placed a permanent crystal rose by her portrait. A portrait of her done a few months before her 17th birthday. Mrs L’s last gift to me was the illustrated book “ The Giving Tree”. I purchased it, at her request. She was too ill to leave the house. It was five weeks before her passing. I keep it on my night table. I even wrote a review for Amazon. It was the only way I thought I could thank the author. “ Now as an old man I sit where she rests. I dream and remember”.  That was the last sentence of my review. Thank you, Mrs. J for the beauty you bring to the forum, as always .....

What a wonderful memory you have in that bouquet. And the crystal rose is beautiful. So glad I am able to bring a bit of beauty into your life. 

Dinner tonight 

A shot from last year this day. Forgot about it. 

6 hours ago, WxWatcher007 said:

Never any doubt that you could do it all  

Thanks. I actually grew up with a lot of doubt I could do anything. I am Dyslexic. My mom was told by the school system I grew up in I was not bad enough to be tested. She finally took me to my Eye Dr. who at the time diagnosed me with a Left/Right reversal and lack of comprehension. Which I have now found out is on the Dyslexic spectrum. I struggled all through school except with art and music. And any class that was hands on. I was the only girl in my Industrial Arts class aka Shop that could take apart a Brigs and Stratton single stroke lawnmower engine, clean it, put it back together and make it run like it was new. I got through college because I changed my major to Fine Arts. It has taken me quite sometime to be comfortable in my own skin. All the things I excel at are hands on. But I have finally gotten to that point. And being able to share all that I can do with everyone here and with my family is great!

2 hours ago, rclab said:

Mrs C, your hydrangeas +  are a living example of why artificial stimulation is unnecessary. If you have a yard or can find a green space all you need is to open your eyes and enjoy what has always been free. If I ever figure out how to add a photo to a post I’ll share an un-intentioned floral creation of mine with you. As always ....

Would love to see it!

So I am not just a baker/cook. I tend to be a jack of all trades. Over the years I have spent time and money getting my back garden organized so that it could be a vase garden. This year it has exploded with all my work. Here is my first vase bouquet from my yard. 

2 hours ago, Eskimo Joe said:

If this post is inappropriate for this thread please remove. This morning I found out that my best friend from college (he was the best man in my wedding, I in his), his wife and his mother all tested positive for COVID. His mother is now in hospice and went from healthy to on death's doorsteps in 3 days. This is a nefarious disease and the sooner we get a treatment protocol the better.

So sorry to hear this. My brother who lives in OH and is an essential employee tested positive. He did not have any issues but we were worried as he has underlying conditions. It is a nasty virus that picks and chooses and that is what is scary about it. 

So on the baking front today. Warm front all the way with the making of tortilla chips. The two Miss J's down tortilla chips like chocolate so in an attempt to save money found this recipe that is so easy. Sealed Chips last for over a week fresh and crispy. 

Baked Tortilla Chips

14 hours ago, nw baltimore wx said:

That was a great read and, more interestingly, it makes me consider opening a twitter account.  Well done!

If you do you can find this pink haired lady.

Also if you like writers check out @jnjoneswriter. Mr. J writes flash fiction and has won many awards for it. It is dark but also funny. 

1 hour ago, losetoa6 said:

Definitely high in sodium and salt . A good ol saltwater gargle works great too..I'm sure you know that 

Told her to do that and the look I got from her was of you are crazy! 

1 minute ago, losetoa6 said:

Definitely get outside as much as possible..good for everyone!

Remember the chicken and stars condensed soup ....the chicken was microscopic and all stars lol. My mother fed us that every other night in the 80s ( it was el cheapo). The other nights we ate macaroni and cheese 

Totally remember that! My mom would make it with grilled cheese and would dip it into the soup. Although I always preferred the fat noodles over the stars, something about being able to slurp them up.

I usually am a soup snob but I know when the good old condensed salty canned chicken soup is needed. The soup helped her gums relax from the braces so will need to keep a couple of cans on hand for adjustments. 

So went to our first horse show since March today. Absolutely beautiful weather, and some nice outside time. Several people wore masks, those who did not I just kept my distance. Pretty easy to do at this farm as it is very spread out. The youngest Miss J got her braces put on this morning and in hind sight maybe should have taken it easy. She rode well but did admit that her mouth was bothering her quite a lot. Pulled out the condensed chicken noodle soup for this job and a bowl of fresh made pudding.

Getting in on the end of this line. 

16 hours ago, mappy said:

Puppies! 

As my girls would say. Squeeeeeeeeel!!

1 hour ago, RDM said:

That looks mouthwatering Mrs. J.  Reminds me of the pies my mom used to make back home in Ohio, all from fresh ingredients.  We'd go pick strawberries at the lock u-pick farm near Troy, OH (normally about 80 quarts a year).  We were fortunate they didn't weigh each of us before and after we picked (it was 4 in the basket and 1 in your mouth etc.).  We grew the rhubarb in the back yard next to the gooseberry bush.  Gotta ask, do you make gooseberry pie too?  

We'd pick wild blackberries along the railroad tracks at the edge of town, get blueberries from Michigan, peaches from Georgia, make applesauce from the apples on our apple tree, and cherry jam from our cherry tree (got over 30 gallons off that tree one year) and grape jam from our grape vine.  All of the home grown stuff from a 1/3 acre lot.  Back then in the 60's, you bought or picked whatever you could when it was in season - there was no such thing as year around oranges and strawberries like we have now.  

I have never made a gooseberry pie. We get them with our CSA so will have to try that this year. Mr J usually uses them to infuse vodka.