February grocery shopping

It has been one of those months again where I don't seem to be able to find ten minutes to myself to drop in here. Busy doesn't even begin to cover the last two weeks. I've attended a baby shower, finally worked a full week, attended the big Home and Garden show, visited the newest casino in town (and came home $42 richer, lol),  worked my twice a month cleaning gig twice, and spent a couple of snow days cleaning and running around.  I've also been to the E-check station for my mandatory every other year check on my vehicle and gotten my new license plate stickers. And had a very nice dinner out with my sweetie on Valentine's Day.
I have also managed to get my grocery shopping for the month completed. Two separate trips this time, one to BJs after the baby shower and one to Aldi on my last snow day.
My trip to BJ's was $241.55. I spent $32.92 on household items (magic erasers, laundry detergent, and Comet cleanser), another $15 on cat food, and the remainder of  $193.63 on groceries. I came home with a whole boneless pork loin, a corned beef, a case of yogurt, a turkey breast, 3 lbs. of lemons, a container of organic spring greens, a bag of red bell peppers, a bag of broccoli slaw, 3 lbs. brown sugar, 5 lbs. sweet potatoes, 5 lbs. of sweet onions, 3 lbs. granny smith apples, a bottle of organic mango juice, a 2 pck. of ruby red grapefruit juice, 2 lbs. of strawberries, a box of clementines, one container marinated mini fresh mozzarella balls, one package fresh basil, a large container of grape tomatoes, two English cucumbers, one package of fresh cheese ravioli,
and a two pack of coffee creamer.
I used the snow day we had after President's Day to finish up at Aldi. I spent $119.52 all on food. A lot of snack foods and some frozen things for youngest son to make himself a quick 'second lunch' when he arrives home from school. He was complaining that dinner is so late now that he really needs something to eat mid afternoon. He was with me so he chose the items.  I came home with 6 'slim jim' snacks for the kids, 2 packages of frozen cheese manicotti, 2 packs of cheddar brats, a box of taquitos, 2 boxes of frozen pocket sandwiches, 1/2 gallon of cookie dough ice cream, 1/2 gallon vanilla bean ice cream, 4 boxes of Yakisoba noodle bowls, 1 box spaghetti, 1 jar cinnamon applesauce, 1 bottle C boost organic juice, 2 bottles ruby red grapefruit juice (my teen son LOVES this stuff), 1 bottle organic apple juice, 1 bottle 100% cranberry juice, 1 bottle 100% cherry juice, 10lbs russet potatoes, 1 hunk of sundried tomato-basil cheese, 1 pint lowfat cottage cheese, 2 hunks NY white cheddar, 1 bag string cheese, 1 package potato gnocchi, 1 bottle basil olive oil, 2 packages organic bacon, 1/2 gallon organic 2% milk (new item giving it a try), 1 bag spinach, 1 bag cheese puffs, 1 bag nacho chips, 1 pack chocolate pudding cups, 1 can whipped topping, 2 boxes
rice a roni, 1 bag shredded cheddar, 1 bunch celery, 1 box cinnamon graham crackers, 1 box 'cream of wheat'cereal, 1 bag penguin cheese crackers, 1 box regular graham crackers, 1 box ritz style crackers, 1 box mini peanut butter stuffed crackers, 1 box mini cheese stuffed crackers, 2 bags of kettle chips, 1 bag baby carrots, 1 bag beef jerky (an adult son request), and a dozen eggs.
Youngest son suggested a meal that was off our menu plans but for which we had purchased all the ingredients so we ended up our day with Pasta Carbonara Florentine, a salad, and watched a taped episode of Sherlock.

Let's talk groceries...

I have been increasingly intrigued by the idea of CSAs(community supported agriculture) while reading about another blogger's adventures along these lines.I have seriously been considering this option for myself and just coincidentally I recently had two spontaneous conversations about CSA 's available in my area with two different people at work. I definately wanted an opinion from someone who'd done this here and it was pretty funny/odd that both of these women brought up the topic. What they had to say made me think.  Both of them had chosen to do a CSA last season and both had two very different opinions, although both had also come to the same conclusion. Co-worker 1 was basically happy with her program, although she had a few minor complaints about pickup times and locations. She did think the foods available were varied and quality was consistent and she liked the 'artisan' items that were included.  She did say however that she wasn't going to choose this option this year because of the difficulties involved in picking up the items and the price increase for the coming season. Co-worker 2 hated the whole thing. From the pickup issues to the items offered. She also said she'd not try this again because she did not feel she was getting good value for her money.
I did some research myself and took a look at the limited number of CSAs with pickup locations/times (I was surprised that so many of them only had 'during work hours' times) that were not inconvenient to me. I found all of them to be more money than I am willing to spend. We have so many local seasonal farmer's markets (as well as two excellent year round ones) with lots of fruit farms within driving distance that do pick-your-own or who sell their own products on sight in this area that I think I will pass on this option. I am not willing to dedicate what amounts to $65 a week for 22 weeks, paid in full upfront, from my food budget. Having taken a year end look at what I averaged on groceries last year (just over $400 a month, or $100 a week) this is more than half my weekly expenses.
So now I am turning my interests towards looking at what I can grow in my back garden and which local seasonal markets I am interested in patronizing this year. Adult son has promised to make me two more raised bed boxes and fill them with dirt as a birthday present again this year. I am good with that and am currently browsing seed catalogs deciding what to grow.

February Menu Plans

 Since I am home again today I decided it was an excellent time to prepare my February dinner menus while having a second cup of coffee.
I am going to follow my previous plan of alternating slow cooker meals with quickly prepared meals on work nights. There are a few special occasions coming up in February, a birthday party for youngest son and his cousin, Valentine's Day (GF & I will go out to eat), my birthday (once again GF and I will go out to dinner) and a raffle that we attend each year. Also on Friday nights GF has been either cooking or taking me somewhere to eat since I do not get out of work until late. So the only Friday I needed to plan for was the last one of the month since my aftercare job has been cancelled for that evening due to a big school fundraiser. (another hit to the bank account..boo). Slow cooker meals are in bold. Meals using leftovers are in italics and meals prepared in under thirty minutes are underlined. I am also trying a couple of new to me recipes that I have indicated with an *.

Dry Rubbed Pork Roast*, mashed potatoes, green beans with walnuts

Pork Stir fry, steamed rice, egg rolls

Beef Brisket, egg noodles, broccoli with garlic and herbs

BBQ Beef sandwiches, oven fries, peas

Pumpkin Lentil soup, Hawaiian rolls

Chicken Marsala, parmesan risotto, salad

Roast Turkey breast, stovetop style stuffing with dried cranberries, Corn

Slow Cooker Swiss steak*, egg noodles, broccoli

Turkey burritos, yellow rice, green salad

Mom's One Pot Dinner* crescent rolls

Shrimp Orzo Skillet, salad

Spaghetti with meatballs , salad

Herb crusted eye of round, au gratin potatoes,  green beans

Honey glazed chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies

Skillet Lasagna, salad, garlic toast

Corned beef with cabbage, potato pancakes, carrots

Balsamic glazed Salmon*, basmati rice, broccoli

Gail's Pork Adobo (giving this a try in the slow cooker), steamed rice, asian blend veggies

Horseradish encrusted tilapia, garlic potatoes, coleslaw

Chicken stew, whole wheat biscuits

Mom's Chicken paprikash, drop dumplings, green beans

Modenese Pork Chops* white and wild rice, corn

More Days off

  We have gotten yet another blast of arctic cold yesterday and today which means subzero temperatures and more time off from work. I'm not a fan of going out in the cold weather but I am a fan of getting paid and when we have these days that does not happen. So I am less than happy about the unexpected time off. On the upside I am saving money on gasoline, my house got a good clean and I didn't have to do it after an 11 hour workday, and I am all caught up on my dvr'd tv shows.  Yesterday was youngest son's birthday (also nice to have time to spend with him) and for his birthday dinner he requested the Broccoli-cheese soup I buy from BJ's Wholesale club

And instead of traditional birthday cake son asked for a Cheesecake factory frozen cheesecake. This I can also get from the wholesale club.

So despite the frigid temperatures I was off to the wholesale club to pick up these special items for my baby. I have to admit that his idea of soup and crescent rolls for dinner really hit the spot. And the cheesecake was wonderful.  I added a nice pot of lapsang souchong tea to my meal

Today's plan includes laundry. I have a couple of loads built up in the hamper that need doing. My refrigerator needs a good clean out as well and I want to wash down the walls in the upstairs hallway and down the staircase. Despite having hand rails and nagging from Mom people just kee putting their dirty hands on the wall itself.
I also am going to bake. A loaf of bread and a batch of shortbread cookies.
Tonight I am headed over to oldest son's house and I will take cheesecake leftovers for pregnant DIL with me. Oldest son is not a dessert fan. We are going to be going window shopping for a travel system for the upcoming baby. This will give me an idea of what to budget for this item that I want to get for them. Then son suggested we get our favorite Chinese carryout and eat at their house. I am on board with this plan.

My son the miracle worker!

  Believe it or not we have been without a fully functioning bathroom sink for about 2 years. It amazes me how long that time frame looks in print when it really didn't seem that long in actual time. Adult son renovated our old and tired bathroom while college age daughter and teen son and I were visiting family out of town two years ago. At that time we were having issues with the sink draining very slowly. Despite removing the pedestal sink from the room, replacing the drain pipes inside the sink and running a manual snake down the pipes inside the wall the drain continued to be so slow and eventually stopped draining entirely.
We moved tooth brushing operations to the kitchen sink and hand washing to the bath tub. On and off adult son has putzed around with the sink trying to get it to work. No luck. Son in law that used to work in plumbing tried and said he thought we'd have to tear out the kitchen ceiling to get to the section of pipe running from the sink. The ceiling already has issues from the bathroom renovation (replacing section of drain pipe from bathtub) and a leaking second story porch that adult son has since fixed. The holes remain and frankly I just didn't want more holes. Adult son has promised to totally remove and replace ceiling but there just hasn't been the time and the money all at the same time so far. Needing to get serious about this issue he has promised this ceiling will get replaced SOON.
In the meantime son had a few days off from work and according to him got bored. I wish he'd be bored more often. He has a buddy with an electric snake that he borrowed. He once again removed the pedestal sink from the bathroom to get to the pipes inside the wall and ran that snake. Funny thing happened, when the sink drained the water backed up in the bath tub. Hmmmm....Adult son then made use of the hole in the kitchen ceiling to remove a section of bath drain pipe and run that electric snake directly into that pipe and amazingly enough that seemed to do the trick. Both tub and sink now drain beautifully!!!!! According to son the problem was at the t-joint where both sets of drains came together.
Now that the sink was working once more son decided we needed to upgrade it a bit. It is the original 1929 bathroom sink that was put in when the house was built. The porcelain is in great shape for a sink so old ( few rust stains but overall not bad) but it had two separate faucets for hot and cold water. It also had a capped off center hole that we suspect once held a soap dispenser. Son took a trip to Home Depot, came home with a center faucet, a new drain cover  (the old drain cover was a simple rubber stopper), and two caps and got to work. The result:

 

All three of the kids and I agreed it is really awesome to once again be able to brush our teeth and wash our hands at a bathroom sink. Its the little things in life.

Country Pork Stew

  Saturday was my twice a month cleaning day at the company my GF is a plant manager at,  so despite wicked weather and nasty roads it was off to work GF and I went. It sure was a nail biter of a ride and the snow just continued to fall through out the morning. We had a bit of a reprieve temperature wise with it being in the high teens (been a long time since I thought of those kinds of temperatures being relatively warm, lol) and on the ride home to GF's house we actually had some sunshine.  GF treated us to a lunch at Chipotle with some gift cards he got for Christmas then we made a quick run into the grocery store to pick up some minor things for dinner and Sunday breakfast. Minutes after we arrived home it began to snow again and continued until well after we'd called it a day.  All I have to say is the 2014 Farmer's Almanac has been spot on correct so far this winter. I am going to go out on a limb here and say I expect that its prediction of even more snow for February is going to be a good one. <sigh>
Thinking about dinner for the two of us (college age daughter and teen son opted to remain at home with adult brother) I dug around in GF's freezer and came up with a package of pork cubes. We'd picked up some potatoes and carrots as well as a can of diced tomatoes on our shopping trip so I turned to an old favorite recipe of mine for Country Pork Stew.
In a heavy dutch oven over medium heat I heated a bit of olive oil, added 2 teaspoons of minced garlic and the pork cubes to brown. Once I had a nice color on the pork I added the can of diced tomatoes, a large onion (peeled and cut into eighths) 4 potatoes (peeled and cubed), a half pound of baby carrots, 4 tablespoons of tapioca, 4 cups of beef stock, some freshly ground pepper, a teaspoon of sage, a teaspoon of thyme and a half teaspoon of rosemary. I popped on the lid, turned the temperature to low and let this simmer for 2 1/2 hours. A package of crescent rolls baked in the oven was the side dish.
For GF who is a major fan of pork this was the perfect winter dinner. Unfortunately my cell phone camera is acting squirrely and I was unable to get any pictures. :-(
Hot, filling, delicious.

Antarctica called....

and it wants its weather back. It seems as if Mother Nature is playing the same song over and over this year. Snow. Cold. Cold . Snow. Snow and Cold. Regardless of the weather the work week goes on. Temperatures have yet to get so cold and the snow so bad that another snow day would be called. For that my checkbook is grateful. I'll take that morning commute being three times as long as usual if it means getting paid. One issue we are having at home though in regards to the cold is that when temperatures hover around zero degrees in the early morning our furnace is struggling to get the house warmed up. We have a programmable thermostat similar to this one: . It is set for 68 degrees from 6 am until 8 am, then 60 degrees from 8 am until 2 pm, then 68 from 2 pm until 10 pm, then back down to 60 overnight.  Friday morning we awoke to zero degrees outdoors and  I noticed that after running for over an hour the main floor of the house was still only 63 degrees. A discussion with adult son J and looking at the subzero temperatures predicted for the upcoming week and we are going to try something new. Instead of fluctuating temperatures we are going to leave the thermostat at 68 degrees around the clock. We are hoping that this means the furnace will have to run less to maintain a constant temperature. The natural gas bill I received for heat (stove and hot water) mid January included the two days of polar vortex temperatures in early January. It was more than twice the amount of last year's bill for the same time frame (2013: $111.11....2014:$230.80). We have covered the main floor windows with window insulation, covered our French style patio doors with a sheet the is secured at the bottom with a heavy draft dodger and a throw rug pushed up on top of that (this door is always drafty). Our front door is insulated as is our side door. A shower curtain hangs at the top of the basement steps to prevent cold air from immediately hitting the furnace. We've taken all the measures that can be done to keep the main floor as warm as possible. Hopefully our new plan of a constant temperature while the weather is so severely cold will help the bill.

In the meantime we wander around wearing hoodies and snuggies like a cape and cover up with multiple throw blankets when sitting down.  And when we get really cold we all huddle in the bathroom where despite the furnace vent being completely closed it is perpetually sub tropical hot.