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Well, this is my first week dropping back to part-time at work.  That means today was my first Tuesday at home!  I made myself quite a to-do list to help me stay on task and not kill too many brain cells on the computer all day.  I actually crossed off every single thing on my list!! Jobs worth mentioning… I got all of my tomato seeds planted.  I had worked on some on Sunday & Monday but finished up today.  Roma, Big Month, Amish Paste, and Rutgers.  All together there are over 250 of them if I’m counting right.  I’m starting them almost a month late but considering the weather I’m not too concerned! I slowly started to work on organizing the basement too.  My two goals for that today were 1) get all the storage containers put up on the shelves I built last year and 2)build a shelf for the extra sink and countertop to set on.  We’ve had this sink top leaning against the wall down there for years.  Eventually we’ll have a canning kitchen down there so we’ve been holding on to it.  I built a shelf to hold the top that will also hold 4

If you do it right you can have ground beef already browned and packaged loosely enough that you can scoop out however much you need for any particular recipe.  Here’s how I do it. Ingredients: Fresh or frozen ground beef A NOTE ABOUT USING FROZEN BEEF: If you’re buying your beef from the grocery store you should try to time it so you’re cooking with fresh beef.  It is not recommended to thaw beef and then refreeze it.  However, if you are buying beef from your local farmer it will usually be frozen solid already when you pick it up.  In that case I have no concerns about thawing it and then refreezing it this way.  This is because it has been frozen so quickly and in such a fresh state.  If you question how your beef was handling don’t be afraid to ask your farmer and/or your processor. Thaw beef completely.  I thaw mine by placing the frozen packages in a large metal bowl and filling with hot water.  It will thaw in several hours setting out on the counter or a couple days in the fridge.  I wouldn’t set it out on a really warm day, other than

I did my freezer cooking day a couple weekends ago.  I had intended to get together with some family to do it but when that didn’t work out I decided to post it all here.  This way anyone who would like to follow along can plan their own day of cooking. I started with 20 pounds of our homegrown frozen ground beef. Contrary to modern food safety practices I thawed it by starting with a bowl of hot water, setting the plastic bagged packages in it, and leaving the whole thing out of the counter for several hours.  I set it up before I left and stuck it in the fridge when I got home about 6 hours later.  A few hours later I pulled it out of the fridge and the meat was mostly all thawed enough to be workable.  I would not feel comfortable thawing at room temperature during the summer: our kitchen that day was about 60-62 degrees F.  Do it your own way. Another thing… I would not recommend buying fresh beef from the grocery store, freezing it, then thawing it to use for freezer cooking.  Either get your meat direct from a farmer so it

These are great for getting that last bit of zucchini out of the freezer.  We just happen to have some applesauce that turned out kind of blah so I’m using that up too. Ingredients: 3 eggs 1/2 cup oil (I use Canola or Soybean oil) 1 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 cups zucchini*^ 1 cup applesauce* 3 cups AP or bread flour (or whole wheat, but expect a heavier product) 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. baking powder 1 tablespoon cinnamon dash of nutmeg 1 tsp. salt 1/2 cups nuts of your choice (optional) *Amounts of applesauce and zucchini are interchangeable so long as your total equals 2 1/2 cups.  Use what you have. ^I used thawed zucchini out of my freezer and did NOT pour off the water.  If using fresh zucchini you may want to add a bit of water to ensure of moist muffin. Preheat oven to 325 F. Beat eggs.  Add oil, sugars, zucchini, and applesauce.  Mix well gradually add in the dry ingredients saving flour until last.  Stir in nuts (if using).  Ladle into greased muffin pans.  Store in airtight container.  I keep mine in a Pyrex baking dish. Yields 24

These basic meatballs are great to have fully cooked and frozen.  There are all sorts of way to fancy them up later on. Ingredients: 4# ground beef 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 cup dry bread crumbs 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper 2 cups milk Generous sprinkle steak seasoning (optional) Combine all ingredients in a large metal or glass bowl.  I use 2 large spoons to start mixing and finish up with my hands.  Shape into balls about 1 1/2″ across.  Place on to lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 F for 25-30 minutes or until nicely browned. If your meat produced much grease during baking carefully pour it off.  Allow cookie sheets to cool enough to touch.  Set them on a level surface in your freezer for about 30-90 minutes until balls hold their shape when gently squeezed.  Use a metal spatula to remove them from the cookie sheet.  Freeze in large Ziploc bags or airtight Tupperware style containers.   Label containers with “Basic Meatballs: Fully Cooked.”  The original recipe was supposed to yield 80 meatballs, I got 93. I’ll be posting more ground beef freezer cooking recipes over the next few days

Amish Paste $2.50 Big Month $1.75 Roma $1.75 Rutgers $2.00 Sugar Snap Snow Peas $2.50 Golden Bantam 12-row Corn $3.00 All ordered from rareseeds.com, just like every other year.  $3.00 shipping.  I’m pretty sure this is my smallest seed order since we’ve lived here.  Hopefully, I’ll keep good enough records this year that I can narrow down the varieties and save seed eventually.  I grew the same 4 tomato varieties last year but I started all the seeds from each variety together in one tray and some trays got neglected so that wasn’t really a far study.

I really don’t mean for this to turn in to a pregnancy journal.  It just seems like this is the stuff that is so important to remember that I can’t skip it.  It has turned in to a great way to keep my family and friends up to date on baby stuff.  If you’re one of my normal readers looking for other content bear with me for awhile, check back, someday it’ll be here again. Our 20 week appointment was on Feb. 23rd.  It was  a “hangnail appointment” as Brian calls its: basically an in-and-out waste of a drive but still exciting to get good news.  I have gained 5 pounds since becoming pregnant.  They would have preferred me to gain twice that by now but since baby is measuring well they aren’t concerned at all.  The nurse practitioner said my metabolism must just be running extra fast.  She gave me permission to eat whenever I’m hungry which I already do (and more!).  They measured my belly (fundal height) and it is spot on for 20 weeks.  The heartbeat was nice and strong and in the 150s. Looking good – halfway there!!

We had our ultrasound on Feb. 16th.  It was awesome!  I’ll save the more intimate shots but let’s just say that as soon as the tech turned the camera on there was no doubt about it… Baby Becker is a boy!! He’s a thinker… and is very healthy and strong.  Everything checked out great! We are so blessed! 😀  

January 26th was our 16 week appt. I’m was exactly 16 week.  I met the OB for the first time. He was running so far behind and was in a hurry but he did take the time make sure all my questions were answered. He wasn’t too concerned with exercise and cleared me to start a DVD routine. I also asked about taking fish oil which he said is fine. HR was 150 and everything feels right on for 16 weeks. He did question me about any signs of depression which at first scared me because he made it sound like I had been struggling with that. When I looked confused he just explained that they really want to keep tabs on how I’m feeling all the way through the pregnancy and after the birth. I had a bout of depression as a teenager so I am at a higher risk for PPD, which I already knew. Anyway, he said definitely do some form of regular exercise at least 2-3 times a week and get outside as much as I can despite the crappy weather. Which I think I do a pretty good job of since I can’t exactly do