Grocery Shopping, A New Frontier.....

So, today I went grocery shopping.  "So What?" you say?...well, the "So What" is I went shopping armed with my list of what I actually NEEDED to complete the next 2 weeks worth of meals, aside from fresh Veggies that is.  As I pushed my Son in the Race Car Shopping Cart up and down the isles, crossing the items off my list as I went, I realized this is the first time in a long time my mind wasn't buzzing with activity trying to figure out what I MIGHT make for supper this week or in the near future.  Grocery shopping was actually more relaxing than I expected, armed with my new list of what I needed.  I didn't roll up and down the isles staring at the items on the shelf wondering if I WANTED any of them, I knew what I NEEDED and all I had to do was find it.

I also purchased two binders, one will house the months recipes in order of which they are going to be used.  It is bright orange so a "certain someone" can't say they don't see it.  The other one is bright green and will be used for my notes and holding recipes not being used this month.  Or that's the plan for now.

So far there's only one recipe in the binder, tomorrow's recipe :)

Things are slowly coming together.....I will conquer this challenge!  I am already feeling good about it, much better than I felt last week when it seemed like things would never come together.  What's nice about it is, even though I posted a list on the fridge to write down our "favourite meals", I have started going through my cookbooks again.  I'm rediscovering recipes I used to love cooking.  The one I'm cooking tomorrow is one of them.  Asian Marinated Pork Tenderloin.  YUM!  I am so looking forward to tomorrow nights supper!

Making a meal plan will also help me decide what to do with our "cuts of meat" this year.  Last year we used most of the roasts for home smoked ham, even though I don't really care for ham......  Today I had to purchase a boneless loin roast.  Doesn't make sense to have 6 hams in the freezer and no roasts.  We had roasts but they are all gone, we eat way more roasts than ham.  Last year I mentioned this, it fell on deaf ears, this year I'm insisting NO hams, or maybe one, and the rest are roasts.  Sorry, a bit off track.......

Since I'm already off track, here's a picture of some berries I picked from our little strawberry patch, they are delicious!....

Okay, Back On Track!!!......

Just curious, has my meal planning journey encouraged anyone else to start a meal plan?  Or if you have already been planning your meals, what's your strategy?

Thanks for visiting!  Please come again!

Menu Planning update

I'm still working on it!  I am realizing how it's going to help use up the leftovers as I am incorporating them into future meals, this I already knew but seeing it on paper makes me happy.  I am by no means organized and ready.  I am still filling in the days, I don't have the cookbooks listed or the ingredients listed, or my shopping list prepared!  In reality my monthly meal plan may turn out to be a two week meal plan for the first month since I almost have two weeks complete.  I still have to do an "inventory" of my cupboards.  My goal is to get those first two weeks planned out and prepared for, then tackle the next two or three weeks.

And, to be honest, there are some days that are simply going to be "take out" days.  I used to watch a program where she called them "fright night" and had an easy meal for the family to prepare that night.  I am trying to plan for that but on the days I get home at 6:30 and hubby leaves for work at 7:00 after he just got home at 8:30am, it's probably going to mean a take out meal!

So far I have some frozen chicken and gravy in the freezer for a work night meal.  I am going to prepare some home made lasagna for another work night meal.  Today was going to be grocery day but I changed my plans, trying to get this menu figured out so I can get my grocery list made!

I keep forgetting running this household is another job all of its own!

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Monthly Meal Planning OVERLOAD!

As I mentioned I have been working on my July Meal Plan.....So far I have 8 days planned for...the rest are incomplete....I have posted our work schedules on each day so I know who is home to cook, how many will be dining etc.  I have also listed events we have scheduled so I know if we will actually be home!

Tonight I got out one of my favourite cookbooks to choose some recipes to add to my favourites list.  That's when it hit me, the ingredients listing, the organizing, the shopping....  Oh my, I have a long long way to go!!!!  Panic set in, I took a deep breath and reminded myself "Rome wasn't built in a day".  I will get this, I will accomplish what I have set out to do.  It may take a few months to get it down pat and I guess I will always be working on the "ingredients list" every time I add a new recipe.

I am taking my "favourite meals" list with me to work tomorrow as well as a print out of my calendar.  I will work on it during my lunch hour.  It's going to take time but I will figure it out.  I'm starting by filling in my calendar with meals, then I will look up those meals and prepare the ingredients list.  I will then do an inventory of my cupboards to see what I already have, last step will be preparing the shopping list.  Doesn't sound so complicated when it's written down.  :)

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Over the Hedge...

I love that movie, the squirrel is hilarious.

Sorry, back on track.....Today, while shopping for larger pepper plants and cucumber plants for my garden I came across a great sale on Green Boxwood.  We have been wanting to plant trees or a hedge of some sort near our property line for some time now and this was a great opportunity to get a good start on it.

Unfortunately I couldn't get nearly enough to do the job complete but it's a great start.  Our property line goes on a sharp angle, very narrow in the front, very wide in the back.  I wish they used straight lines, it would make life so much easier.  We ran a string from one marker to the other to make sure we gave the plants enough room to grow, giving them 3 feet on our neighbours side.

It was a very hot day today, I am hot and exhausted from working in the heat so I'm now working on my menu plan for July, setting under a ceiling fan.  This is my first attempt.  I am posting our work hours on the menu plan so I know what we can do on that day.  The first few months will be the hardest, things should get easier the more plans I do.....  I have 6 days before July 1st!

Spring on the Farm Photo Gallery.....

Here's a photo gallery of our Farm this spring.....

These are our Turkey Chicks we hatched using one of our broody layer hens.  They are Beltsville and Bourbon Red....

These are the Turkey Chicks present day.  They are in their new home in the new barn.  Yesterday we put chicken wire on the outdoor access hatch to give them fresh air and sunshine.  We were hoping to get the run built yesterday but decided to put some plants in my garden before the plants died and/or it started to rain again!

Here is the Pig Shelter.  They love it.....

And here's the boys.  They are growing nicely.  They have a pasture 65' x 75' to roam and dig......

Here's their water barrel.  It's placed within the trees in hopes that helps to keep the water cooler.  For a treat I sometimes over fill it to put a puddle under it where they can wallow and cool off......

Here's our Solar Fencer.  We selected this type so we can move the pig pasture anywhere on our property and not have the concern of running extension cords or batteries....

 And finally the garden is getting ready for planting.  As I believe I mentioned I considered not planing a garden this year.  The weather has been so miserable.  But when the sun stayed out for more than a day the fever hit me.  I also found 4 tomato plants/pkg for 75 cents on Friday.  I couldn't resist that deal so that sealed my gardening fate for sure.  I will talk more about the variety of tomatoes I planted in another post......

And there they are, planted and sheltered from wind until they get stronger, 16 tomato plants.  Every year I say I'm not planting any more than one pkg of tomato plants and every year I get drawn into the different varieties and can't resist trying something new.....

I hope you enjoyed this little look at what we're up to these days on our busy little farm.

Thanks for visiting!

Busy with a capital B....

We have been so very busy on our little farm.  The Pig Shelter is complete and they are loving it.  Their water Barrel is complete and, well, they like it but would prefer the puddles they are used to.  Which then explains why my garden is not planted yet.  The rain that caused the puddles the pigs love so much has also delayed the planting of my garden.  At one point I was wondering if we should be building an Ark instead of a pig shelter.  Basically we have been faced with deciding which part of the household/farm to work on when the sun is shining, trying hard to divide it up so priority gets taken care of as well as a bit of something else which needs to get done...

On the rainy days....Amongst the projects I have been working on is a monthly menu plan.  Our freezer is full of beef, pork and chicken but I haven't been planning far enough ahead to utilize it.  I used to prepare a weekly menu, a long, long time ago.  That was before two home based businesses and a busy little boy!  Our lives get so very busy here, often on a moments notice.  I have not been able to rely on preparing a weekly menu plan for a long time.  Not that I don't think about it or try!  Recently, I have been given new hope.  My friend and neighbour writes a fantastic and informative blog and has given me renewed hope in organizing our family meals.  I am currently compiling a list of meals we enjoy and ones we will tolerate.  I have a husband who can be a picky eater, though he won't admit it, thus the "tolerate" section of my "favourite meals".  He doesn't like most vegetables and definitely doesn't like cut up tomato, peppers, onion etc in his meals.  I have explained that the days of cooking meat only meals are coming to an end.  If I prepare a casserole with chopped up tomato, pepper, onion etc. in it he will just have to waste his time picking them out.  I need flavour, colour and I need vegetables!  I have given in to his picky ways for way too long, I'm done.  Sorry, getting off track and a bit emotional ha,ha!  The hardest days for me are work days.  My hope and intention is to plan easy meals or leftovers for those days to avoid the temptation of stopping at fast food joints.  When Hubby is home I will have something planned that's within his cooking ability ie: spaghetti or a homemade frozen lasagna.

Don't get me wrong, we don't eat out for every meal.  As I said, the worst days are my work days.  We obviously eat at home because our two freezers that were filled to the brim with meat just last Fall are now only half full.  I do love to cook, time and planning stand in my way.  Getting organized is more than half the battle.  I am happy I am taking the time now to figure out a new system, one that fits our super busy lifestyle.

Here is my friend's blog post I spoke about:  http://thelittleacrethatcould.blogspot.ca/2013/06/how-i-learned-to-not-waste-food.html

Well, that's all for now folks.  I have spent the day in the garden planting, time to shower off the dirt and nurse the fly bites.  Stay tuned for a "photo album" depicting all the changes the farm has taken over the past couple of months.  Including the additional and growing animals.  :)

Thanks for visiting!

A never ending cycle.....

Wow, it has been a long time since I even attempted to write!  Here's the post I started way back on May 27th!  I thought I would post it for you to bring you up to present day.  


We are still working hard to finish our newest building on the farm, our pig shelter.  Right now they are enjoying a make-do shelter we created for them, not near as fancy as the little barn we are working on.  The pigs are growing.  No, we have not named them, I have a problem naming something I intend to eat.....

Just this evening I discovered one of our baby layer chicks got its leg caught under the wall that separates the two brooders.  We have no idea how it could have gotten its leg under there as it was quite a chore for us to get it out.  Since its leg is quite bloody we are nursing it back to health in the comforts of the house.  Its own box, heat bulb, water and food.  Right now it is resting.  I'm sure it was quite traumatic to be stuck like that.  It drank a bit of water but hasn't eaten anything yet.

We have 5 turkey chicks.  We're trying to raise turkeys again this year, hoping we learned from our mistakes in the past....