Welcome sweet friends to today’s blog post. Today I’m sharing what feels like STOCKING UP FROM SCRATCH! We used a lot of food when we weren’t feeling well – like our homemade chicken stock, lots of eggs, pasta, and fresh veggies.
I’m going to share a quick food haul, what we did with the food to stock up our freezer, plus a little bit about Paul’s parents and what’s going on with our little house in South Carolina. Just a JAM-PACKED post!
Let’s dive right in.
Our Budget-Friendly Food Haul
Food prices are still up there, but last week ShopRite had some AMAZING deals and we stocked up! The eggs we’re going to show you (I checked this week) are STILL that price now, so we thought that was an AMAZING price per dozen!
Here’s what we got:
- English cucumbers for $1 each (look at the SIZE of these!)
- Red onions for $1 a pound
- RED PEPPERS for $1 a pound (you were allowed to get 4 pounds and you can best believe I got 4 pounds!)
- 5 pounds of Idaho russet potatoes for $3
- Tomatoes on the vine for $1 a pound (I took most of the vine off because why pay for the vine? My cousin told me that once!)
- Two green zucchinis (not on sale, about $1.79 a pound)
- Three bananas for myself
- Sour cream for $1.99
- Hatfield bacon for $3 a pound (we got two and put them right in the freezer)
Now let me share this EGG STORY with you before showing the rest! At home, we had TWO eggs left. I’m looking at ShopRite, and their large eggs are marked $7.99 a dozen. I go over to Eggland’s eggs and cannot find a price ANYWHERE!
I pull out my ShopRite app and scan the barcode on the Eggland’s eggs – look at the price! Do you see what the store did? It was only advertising ITS eggs for $8 a dozen, and we got TWO DOZEN of Eggland’s for $8.49!
Eggs are a great source of protein, and at this price, they’re coming out to be 35 cents each! Make sure you SCAN and ASK for prices if they’re not displayed! For just 51 cents more than ONE dozen of ShopRite’s eggs, I got a WHOLE ANOTHER DOZEN!
This was just a little food haul with lots of whole ingredients. The bacon may not be something you would buy as a whole food, but for us, we use it for flavoring or have a piece as a special occasion on a Saturday. It freezes beautifully!
What We Did With Our Food Haul
As I mentioned earlier, we had used a lot of food in the week to 10 days that we weren’t feeling well. I always tell you to keep healthy, easy foods in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer so that when you’re not feeling good or times get busy, you’re OKAY and have healthy foods that you can prep easily!
Making Homemade Chicken Stock
We used up all but one small container of our chicken stock from the freezer, so I pulled out packages of chicken wing tips, a leftover chicken carcass, some fat, and necks to make more stock.
Into the crockpot went:
- The frozen chicken pieces
- Onion
- Celery
- Carrot
- Two cloves of garlic
- Ground peppercorns
- Italian herbs
- Water (filled to about 2 inches from the top)
- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (this removes the collagen from the bones – my sweet viewers taught me this, and BOY does it work! And no, you don’t even taste it!)
I covered it and put it on low to cook all day.
Roasting Vegetables
I wanted to roast some vegetables, so I took:
- Two of our beautiful peppers
- The two zucchinis
- About half a red onion
- A sweet potato
I do this at 425°F. I cut the potato smaller so it cooks quicker and the zucchini larger so it cooks slower – this way I’m not pulling that tray of veggies in and out of the oven!
After washing all the vegetables, I:
- Chopped the zucchini into chunks
- Removed the seeds from the peppers and sliced them into strips
- Thickly sliced the onion
- Cubed the sweet potato into smaller chunks
I added about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and tossed the vegetables BEFORE adding the seasoning. This way, the oil adheres to the vegetables, and then the seasoning adheres to the vegetables!
Next came some Italian herb seasoning and garlic powder, another toss, and a little more seasoning to make sure everything got covered.
I spread this beautiful medley on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a baking mat (you can use parchment paper too), keeping the veggies as much in a single layer as possible.
These gorgeous vegetables went into a 425°F oven for about 15 minutes, then I took them out, turned them, and put them back in for about another 20 minutes. The potatoes came out tender, the zucchini didn’t fall apart, and the onions were a little crisp.
Once roasted, I let them cool slightly and stored them in the refrigerator. They’re a WONDERFUL accompaniment to any meal! We made them with eggs one day (like an omelet) and ate them as side dishes. So delicious, healthy, and good ingredients that just help us feel good!
And look at this pile of wonderful scraps we had for our compost – NOTHING goes to waste in this house!
Freezing Peppers
We had that plethora of peppers, and Paul’s going to show you what we did with those!
First, Paul washed them real good, then sliced them up:
- Lay the pepper down carefully
- Take your knife and cut out the seedy part (this goes into our compost outside)
- Knock off the little ends
Paul likes to take a non-stick mat, put the sliced peppers on a tray, and lay them there to freeze. Once they’re frozen, he takes them off the mat and puts them into food saver bags, takes the air out, dates them, and puts them in the freezer. They’ll last for MONTHS! This is a great way to prepare sale items for the future!
We buy the plastic by the roll for our food saver, which is much cheaper than buying individual bags. You can make whatever size you need! After sealing one end, Paul puts the peppers inside the custom-made freezer bag, seals it up, and it’s ready for the freezer!
The best part is, when we need to use them, we just cut along the top edge with scissors, remove what we need, put the bag back into the machine, reseal it, and put it back in the freezer. We can do this all the way down until we use everything up – it’s a great way not to waste the plastic as well!
Finishing the Chicken Stock
After the stock was done cooking, I let it cool slightly and put it in the refrigerator. Once cool enough to handle, I strained it and put it back in the refrigerator overnight.
Look at how much meat I got off the carcass and bones! I did skim off some of the fat this morning (I left a little) and portioned it up to freeze.
I made two dinner-sized portions of chicken soup (you can see all that meat) and two smaller containers for individual portions if one of us just wants a little soup. This turned out EXTREMELY successful – we’re restocking our freezer with all this wonderful food!
Life Update: Paul’s Parents
Paul’s parents have been in the same home for 56 YEARS. His mom and dad are both in their 90s now, and they think they’re ready to go into maybe an assisted living facility.
What are we doing to help them ease into this transition? We’re helping them by:
- Decluttering the house
- Continuing to care for them
- Shopping for them
- Cooking for them
It is taking more of our time now because we want to get them into a lovely environment. There’s a lot of research going on, plus phone calls and trips to their home. Paul and I are packing up their belongings so some of the things they want to take can go with them (if not, we’ll donate).
It’s a whole other dimension to caring for them at this point! Not that we have an issue with it at all, but it does take time, and we appreciate you all understanding. We’re navigating waters now that we are not 100% familiar with!
We did do this with my mom, but she was younger and went into an independent living apartment – it was a smoother transition for her. Hopefully, this will be done quickly – we’ll get them settled, they’ll be super happy, and then we go into the process of deep cleaning the house completely and getting it ready to sell.
Our Little House in South Carolina
So many of you wrote and were worried about the wildfires down in the Myrtle Beach area! We’re about 20 miles north of the wildfires. We checked again this morning, and they said they’re about 45% contained. We thank God there’s been no loss of life!
Along with that, I’ve noticed our electric bill from the little house down South has been exactly the same for the last two months – like NO usage at all! And we have the air conditioning/heat set to automatic. Why isn’t this changing?
I called the electric company, and sure enough, they said, “Yeah, we’re not seeing any heat go on.” OBVIOUSLY, there’s something going on there, which – OH MY GOODNESS – we’re 800 miles away!
We think there’s something wrong with our HVAC system. We have our property manager looking into it and trying to figure out what’s happening, but we may have to make a trip down to the little house sooner than later to rectify the situation!
Final Thoughts
That’s what’s going on with us – A LOT OF STUFF! We are well, we are plugging along, Paul’s parents are well, our son is good, and Dixie is fabulous (she just rolls with the flow, such a good little dog)!
With all that being said, there are some weeks where Paul and I may not be able to post. Of course, we’d let you know, but as we navigate these waters that are new to us, we ask that you be understanding and hang on with us!
If we have to run south quickly or if Paul’s parents get placed quicker than we’re thinking, things may speed up. We ask for your patience, support, and continued prayers and encouragement. We thank you for the comments that have been left supporting and loving us – you have NO IDEA how much that means to us!
Question of the Day!
Literally tell me some GOOD NEWS! What is going on in your life that makes you SMILE? Did you get some good deals? Did you get to spend time with family? Is the weather getting warmer, and you’re seeing flowers bloom?
Share with us down below because not only will it encourage Paul and me, but our readers as well! We appreciate that SO MUCH!
We thank you so much again for all your love and support! Be well, be safe, and above all, we wish you BLESSINGS until next time! MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU!