Monthly Dinner Schedule 2

Last week I talked about going to the grocery store. I ended it by saying I had some other thoughts. I also want to explain a few things.

I had in bold print  that Family night and Date night needs to go on the calendar in ink. After getting married in May of 1979 Kev and I moved to Marin County, California. Kev was going to seminary at Golden Gate Seminary. We would have Queen's night on the calendar written in pencil. Many times it would get removed to put something else there. It took us awhile to learn to treat this like any other meeting or appointment. We still have things that trump it but they are things like weddings, funerals, and occasional work related dates that can't be moved for any reason like when I was the owner of a florist - weddings, prom, Mother's Day, Valentines's Day, etc. When making your appointments with a client tell them the same thing you would if it were another client's appointment on the calendar on that date.

Take it from me, my daughter is married and living 12 1/2 hours away, children grow up faster than you think.
 
Back to grocery day. Okay you are at the store and coming up to the cashier. This part also takes a little planning but you will be happy you did it when you get home.

Only you know how your cabinets are organized. We have cans on a shelf, boxes on another shelf, etc. We put items in the buggy and on the conveyer belt like they will go in the cabinet. We like to bag our own groceries if we have the choice. If someone else does the bagging watch to see if something needs to be fixed before taking them in the house. Take the bags in the house and put them at the cabinet, freezer, etc where they are to go. Putting away is much easier and at this point you are tired.

 Cold things for the freezer go together, cold things for the refrigerator go together. Our freezer is in the basement. We don't want to have to go back through all the bags to find what goes in the freezer. And we definitely do not want to find something later in the freezer, that should have been in the refrigerator. I know we would be frustrated if it was time to sit down at the table and the sour cream for the  tacos had accidentally made it to the freezer.

Here's what we did with the 10 pounds of ground beef we cooked and packaged. We would sometimes go ahead and add the taco seasoning to some of it and  label those packages "Tacos". I like to freeze the bags of ground beef flat. Then I stand them up like file folders. Write on the top what is in the bags. Same with cooked (Grilled, baked, fried) chicken breasts, pork chops, green beans, strawberries, etc. They are easier to get out and have less chance of freezing in a stack and unable to get out without poking a hole in one. Of course somethings go in the way they are packaged.

The other ground beef if it needed onions added, Who ever was cooking would sauté' onions and garlic with olive oil and then add the package of ground beef from the freezer.

We have a stand up freezer. We have beef, chicken & turkey, venison on shelves and one shelf is Misc. like ice cream, strawberries, string beans, cup cakes from our daughter's wedding, etc.

We didn't start out having all these things figured out. We learned what worked for us by trial and error. We did the same thing you are doing, looking for ideas wherever we could. Well, we didn't have the technology of today but we listened to other people talk about what they did, read books and magazines. Try not to get overwhelmed. Pray for God to let you pick out the things that are right for your family and not to stress over the things that aren't.

I like jalapeños and pickles. If you buy the large size, it costs just a little more and you get a lot more product. I put jalapeños and pickles in canning jars. Those go in the door of the refrigerator. The large jars go in the very back of the refrigerator. This helps in two ways. It saves money and it keeps food from going to the back of the refrigerator never to be seen again until it is unrecognizable. Not that we've every had anything come out of the refrigerator that we looked at it and said,"What do you think this was?" (haha)

Another little tip is that Duke's mayonnaise jar lids fit regular canning jars. Put the little disk on the jar, if you want, then use the plastic jar lid to close the jar. I also use canning jars in the refrigerator for left overs. You can see through them, you can heat food in the microwave (take off the lid) and they clean up better (no grease residue).

Institutional (Restaurant) Size

Have a Great Day, and Happy Shopping,
Mama D

Phil. 4:12 (NIRV) I know what it's like not to have what I need. I also know what it's like to have more than I need. I have learned the secret of being content no matter what happens. I am content whether I am well fed or hungry. I am content whether I have more than enough or not enough.