I found some things

 I found some things today, some not very pleasant things, and I'm going to tell you about them.  

But first, you should know that a family of foxes has taken up residence under one of our decks.  There's a mama, a daddy, and at least 5 babies.  They're right outside our bedroom window*, and the foxes have been providing for Hubby a pleasant distraction from work during the past couple of weeks. 

You should also know** that I have mixed feelings about a fox family living under our deck.  The fox family will have absolutely no qualms about killing and eating my chickens, if they get the chance.  In fact, it is likely that these foxes are the ones who injured Rocky and took Buttercup and probably Koko last year.  That was not very nice of them.

On the other hand, if they're living under our deck, we know where they are, and can use that information to protect our girls.  If they were living somewhere else, I might not even know they were around until something bad happened.  Plus those pups are so dang cute.  I watched three of them pouncing on leaves and each other for about 20 minutes the other day, and I was charmed.

So, now that you know that, here's what I found, in order of discovery:

1. Fox poop.  On our deck.  It's like dog poop, but more fibrous: all that fur they eat passes right through.  That wasn't pleasant.

2. A dead chicken (not one of ours), with its head missing.  Very unpleasant.  None of the neighbors that are immediately adjacent to our property have chickens, so whatever killed it took it from at least 1/4 mile away and transported it here.  Having gone to that much trouble, I don't understand why the predator (probably one of our fox parents, since it was in the general vicinity of their den) didn't bother to eat it.  

3. A granola bar, still half in its wrapper, in our garbage disposal.  Also not pleasant.  It was soggy because we'd been using the sink all day.  How did it get there?  I don't even know what to say about that one.

Thankfully, that was it for the day.  I can think of some things I could have found that are even less pleasant than these, so I guess I'm glad those were all the things I found.

How about you?  Have you found anything, pleasant or not-so-much-pleasant, lately?

*****

* Which is also Hubby's "office" window during business hours.  

** You should also also know that foxes are not dangerous to humans unless the foxes are sick.  And these foxes are acting like typical foxes, that is, afraid of humans, so they don't pose a danger to us.

Menu plan for the week of April 18

 When I went to the grocery store last week, there were zero hot dog buns.  Zero.  What a random thing to be out of stock, right?  All of the other regularly stocked breads were there.  There were no hot dog buns, so I decided to make my own.

I've attempted hot dog buns in the past, but haven't really had much success.  I mean, I've succeeded in making something that kinda looks like buns, and it does the job, but the family hasn't been impressed with my efforts.

So I found a new recipe, with a new shaping method, and made the buns*.  They look good--like hot dog buns.  I'm pretty sure they taste good, too**.  But I'm also pretty sure my family will prefer the el-cheapo hot dog buns from the grocery store that they're used to.  It's good, though, to be able to make my own versions of items that I'm not able to find in the grocery store.  I feel like it doesn't even occur to most people to even try.

I also didn't find panko bread crumbs at the grocery store last week.  I am so glad I didn't, because the recipe called for 4 T of crumbs, and I would have purchased probably 12 ounces of crumbs, which is significantly more than 4 T.  And then the extra crumbs would have sat in my cupboard for months, or possibly years, getting stale, while I looked at them every couple of weeks and told myself I should figure out how to use them up.  It would have never, ever occurred to me that I could make my own if they'd been in stock at my store***.

Here's what's on the menu for this week:

Supper:

• FFS
• Tacos
• Easy beef stroganoff, corn, applesauce
• FFS
• Pizza casserole, broccoli
• Hamburgers or hot dogs, buns, chips, carrots
• Grilled chicken, salad, mixed veggies

Other:

• Ham stock
• Ham & bean soup
• Muffins
• Mini waffles--gonna do some with sprinkles this time.  Not sure how the natives will feel about that.
• Death cookie

* * * * *

* I made 10, instead of the 9 called for in the recipe, because the math**** was easier.

** The reason I don't know whether or not they taste good is because we haven't tried them yet.  We need 6 or 7 buns when we have hot dogs and brats for supper, and we already had 6 in the freezer.  I wanted to buy more just in case we needed a 7th, so when I couldn't buy any, I made some.  We did not, in fact, need a 7th this time.

*** So easy!  And easy to make just the amount I needed.

**** Yup, I weighed the dough to help me divide it evenly.  I rarely do that, but it seemed important in this instance.

Menu plan for the week of April 11

 

Supper:

• Nachos, guacamole, taco toppings, cake & ice cream
• Pulled chicken, BBQ sauce, buns, pickles, green beans
• Easy beef stroganoff, corn, applesauce
• FFS
• Taco casserole, salad
• Hot dogs or brats, buns, carrots, jello
• Ham, mashed potatoes, roasted parmesan green beans

Eating in shifts

 The other day, I was talking with a friend* and she mentioned that her family was going to have to start eating in shifts soon.  Her two children are involved in activities, the times of which mean that the two parents are going to have to divide and conquer, and all the people will not be home at the same time to eat supper.  She said she would have to look up my blog post about eating in shifts to get some ideas.

Which means, I guess, that I have to write a blog post about meals that can be eaten in shifts**.  

So here we go: some meal ideas that can be eaten in shifts:

• Soup: This feels obvious.  Soup can be made in a slow cooker, then kept on warm, or made on the stove and transferred to a slow cooker to keep warm. Anyone can then eat it at any time.  Here are a few of my favorite soups.
• Taco bean soup
• Lasagna soup
• Sunday night stew
• Creamy chicken wild rice soup
• Zuppa Toscana

• Sandwiches: Another obvious choice.  Cold sandwiches can be made ahead of time, and hot sandwiches can be put together quickly.  Here are a few ideas:
• Crispy southwest chicken wraps
• Grilled cheese (put them together ahead of time, then grill or air fry just before eating) (these were so, so yummy!)
• French dip sandwiches (keep the beef and au jus warm in a slow cooker)
• Quesadillas (may I suggest these chicken fajita quesadillas?)
• Tacos (keep the meat warm in a slow cooker, or don't.  It's easy enough to reheat)
• BLTs
• Turkey ranch club wrap

• Crock pot meals: especially if your slow cooker has a warm setting, crock pot meals are a good choice.  Here are some that I like:
• Chicken chili verde (don't worry--no beans!  Serve this over rice or greens or in tortillas)
• Slow cooker Salisbury steak
• Slow cooker Olive Garden chicken pasta
• Bacon ranch meatloaf (or use your meatloaf recipe)

• Breakfast foods: make the batter ahead of time and store it, covered, in the fridge.  Or make the whole thing ahead of time, freeze, and heat it up when you want to eat it.  Some examples:
• Pancakes
• Waffles
• French toast 
• French toast sticks (I would probably make and freeze these, then heat them up in an air fryer, but you could certainly just get everything read and cook them as needed)
• Breakfast burritos (I would freeze these and heat them in the microwave, or, if you like them crispy, in an air fryer)
• Breakfast sandwiches

• Convenience foods that can be heated up quickly: these don't have to be preservative-laden foods from the freezer section--you can make your own version, then store it in the fridge or freezer to be heated up later.  A couple of my kiddos' favorites:
• Chicken nuggets (make them in the air fryer if you don't want to fry in oil)
• Corn dogs
• Pizza rolls
• Hot dogs (five minutes in the air fryer)

• Almost anything that you don't eat in shifts.  It's true.  You can make something for the first shift, and the second (and subsequent) shift(s) can heat it back up to eat it.  It won't kill them, I promise.

So there you have it, friends.  Hopefully these ideas will see you through your eating-in-shifts period, or if not, at least inspire you to come up with your own ideas.

* * * * * * *

* This is a gratuitous*** footnote.

** I have written about eating in shifts, but only to complain about how difficult it is to come up with menu ideas.  Although, now that I'm past that stage in my life, it feels so much less difficult than it felt at the time. 

*** Gratuitous (adjective): not necessary; with no reasonable cause****

**** In this case, there is a reasonable cause, but it's definitely not necessary.

Menu plan for the week of April 4

 I had a shelf-cooking win this week.  I decided, suddenly, on Saturday evening, that we needed vanilla wafers for Sunday morning.  So I found a recipe, and made some, probably cheaper than had I bought vanilla wafers (even the store brand), and definitely cheaper when taking into account the transportation cost.

They tasted pretty similar to commercially available vanilla wafers (at least as far as I remember), and had a very similar texture, too.  Shelf-cooking is a state of mind.  Or, a game, if you prefer.  If you want a certain food, but you don't have it, or have all of the ingredients to make said food, how can you make it without running to the store? 

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Supper:

• FFS
• Kielbasa and Cauliflower Stir Fry and Kielbasa and Potatoes, green beans
• Bowtie pasta with Italian sausage and cream sauce, broccoli
• FFS
• Pizza, salad
• Hamburgers or hot dogs, buns, chips, carrots, jello
• Grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli

Other:

• Bagels?
• Granola?