Monday Again!

I've got another busy week planned.

This morning I did my morning class,

now I'm going to workout for 30 minutes

then Kyle and I want to do a little yoga

to increase the flexibility of his neck.

Then we need to run to 

1. Walmart

2. Tractor Supply

3. Sams

And then home to .... do a bunch of stuff.

Hahahahaha

We have been prepping the gardens for the 

spring planting.

(Yes, it's February - spring around here...)

Kyle has been having some trouble with his neck,

so I did all the weeding, and I'm doing all the

planting. He is overseeing, and doing the daily

watering. (We ditched the drip system,

our water is just too hard - the calcium/iron build

up in those skinny little tubes SO quickly and it

is nearly $500 every time we need to replace them....

so hand watering it is...)

Anyhow.

When we get back from the store it will be

later in the afternoon and maybe a bit cooler.

(mid 80's right now)

I've already planted the rattlesnake beans on the

tunnels, and 2 beds of slenderette green bush beans.

And 3 beds of black-eyed peas.

And 1 bed of pintos.

But I want to plant a couple more pintos,

and 2 beds of okra,

and then some purple potatoes.

That should keep us busy.

And fed.

Chili and Spaghetti

 I guess I forgot to take before pictures.

Anyhow.

After we tried Skittles...

(ugh... SO MUCH SUGAR!!!!)

We made a double batch of chili

(in the pressure cooker)

and a large batch of spaghetti & meatballs.

(on the stove)

And then we put them on trays and into

the freezer for 24 hours.

And then into the freeze dryer!

We tried the spaghetti last night for dinner.

It was really good!

The meatballs took a long time to rehydrate,

I even cut them into 8ths!!!

So today for Rod's lunch I put it into a

container and added water.

Then at lunch he just has to put it in

the microwave for about a minute 

and lunch will be FRESH and ready.

The chili was REALLY crumbly,

so I just crushed it up and put it

into a bag (until I put it into jars / mylar)

and you just scoop out 1 cup and add

hot water, stir and EAT!

It is OUR beef, 80/20% mix.

So pretty fatty.

(And flavorful...)

You are "supposed" to rinse the beef after

you cook it to get rid of the fat, because fat

doesn't freeze dry well.

But for short term it's fine.

It just won't last for YEARS.

But we'll eat it in the next few weeks,

so that's not a problem.

We are going to try it for dinner tonight.

Fingers crossed!!!

Annual Rodeo

 We really enjoy going to the Silver Spurs Rodeo.

We try to go every year, but sometimes I'm

out of town teaching....

Last night was a really good one!

There was LOTS of rough stock action.

And lots of steer wrestling and

calf roping and barrel racing.

And then they set up some big garbage pails

in a barrel pattern, but much closer together.

And brought out 4 young men from the local

high school (probably the rodeo team?)

(They weren't big enough to be football players...)

Anyhow,

they followed the clown and ran the

barrel pattern, and then an assistant brought

out 4 BIG yard size garbage pails and they

had to put them on their heads. 

Covered them to their waists.

And then they had to run the barrel pattern.

It was HYSTERICAL!

They had a good time hamming it up,

intentionally ran into each other,

lots of pile ups....

One headed straight down the arena

and ran into the back wall at full run.

Bounced back a good ways.

They had a blast.

And the crowd LOVED it!

Speaking of the crowd,

it was a FULL house.

Sold out.

Standing room only.

(Notice all the people standing at the top

all the way around the arena!)

It was packed!

Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The clown and announcer had a good

time teasing folks from other states and how

they compare to Florida.

All in good fun.

This clown has been working this rodeo 

for 27 years and gets better every year.

"Anti-Photo" Kyle was there with us.

We had a really good time!

Traffic was a nightmare getting INTO the facility

because they were also running the fair.

It took an hour to drive to Kissimmee and

probably another 30+ minutes to get into a

parking spot. The line to TURN into the road that

leads to the road to the parking was three miles long!

We stayed long after it was over to give the impatient

ones a chance to get out of the parking fields.

Rod was walking by the concession as they

were closing and a young lady handed him

two trays of chips and cheese (nachos???)

for free... so we shared a snack

and then we headed home.

Kyle chauffeured us in his fancy new truck.

He fit right in with all the rest of the

big fancy trucks.

A good time was had by all!!!

Another Successful Meeting

 It turned out really well!

And I forgot to take pictures!

LOL.

We had... 19? women show up?

So that was good.

Sunday / Monday? I sent individual texts to

each of the sisters serving in Primary 

and Young Womens (I figured the ones

that went to Relief Society got the message)

inviting them.

I don't know a lot of them, so I'm not sure

if the ones who showed were the ones I

messaged or not.... but I was happy with the #.

Thankfully there was another group using

our RS room when we got there and they

had the short banquet tables already set up

with 3 chairs at each, so we just left it like that.

I brought three large glass canisters (the kind with

the sealing lid with a metal clasp.....)

(Like this but larger)

One had freeze dried mangos and strawberries,

one had freeze dried butter pecan and cookies & cream

ice cream bites and the third had root beer float

ice cream bites.

I handed them out each with a set of tongs for them

to pass around and munch on while we got started.

Began with making the cake.

I brought 3 freeze dried eggs and reconstituted

them right there at the table. It was so cool!

(First time I've done it, so I was as excited as

they were that it actually worked.... lol)

Then while the cake was "baking" we chatted a bit

about the difference between slow cooking and

pressure cooking and which is best for what method.

When I taught the class in 2019, there might have been

4 sisters who had them and NONE of them were 

comfortable using them.

Last night I would say 90% of them have them and

most are using them at least on a semi-regular basis!

So it was fun to go around the room and see

who was using it for what and if they had any great tips!

We got the lasagna casserole going in the other pot

and set up in the kitchen, (last time I tried to plug

them both in right there in the room and blew the

breaker - so this time I plugged them on different

sides of the kitchen and that worked fine... the kitchen

opens into the RS room...)

It was a really fun, semi-informative, extremely informal,

chatty, laughy, visit-y kind of evening.

We didn't end until nearly 9:00!

But everyone seemed to have a good time.

(And I got a couple of requests to "rent time" on

the freeze dryer.... lol. Maybe in a couple of months

when I feel like I've done all I need to...?)

Anyhow.

It turned out well, and now I can switch my focus

to the Stake Primary Activity on the 5th.

More on that later....

I had a nice visit with Sondra this morning.

And then off to the Town Hall for the day.

Then home to do.... something? And then feed,

walk the garden with Kyle and figure out our 

plans for next week - we have GOT to get the beds

cleaned, fertilized and re-planted.

And then I had a Stake Primary Zoom this evening.

Tomorrow I'm teaching the morning class and then

back to the Town again. I've worked every day this week.

We (she) have SEVEN new house permits in various

stages, but NONE are issued yet and some have been

waiting for a significant period of time.

I told her I would work every day this week and we HAD

to get them all out.

Because I am NOT working every day again next week.

So... I think we got out 1.

So far.

We are "closed" on Fridays so I'm hoping she will get

a move-on tomorrow morning so when I get there at 2,

we can just bang the rest of them out.

Sheesh.

Then Saturday morning I teach the final morning class

for the week and then we have tickets for the

Silver Spurs Rodeo on Saturday night.

And then it's ward conference in Ft. Pierce on

Sunday so I have to drive down there on Sunday.

And then we start all again on Monday!

Meeting Formerly Known As Homemaking

 I never know what to call it.

Night Relief Society?

Whatever.

Anyhow.

Tonight I am teaching another pressure cooking class.

But I wanted it to be sort of a pantry challenge.

SO.......

We are doing my tried and true

Electric Pressure Cooker Lasagna Casserole.

It is DELICIOUS and ridiculously easy, fast and CHEAP.

I bought a box of elbow mac for $0.78.

A jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce for $1.78

A small tub cottage cheese for $1.28

A small bag of mozzarella for $2.42

TOTAL $6.26

Personally I prefer it WITHOUT the mozzarella.

I don't love the string-y-ness.

But whatever...

You put the macaroni and the bottle of sauce 

along with a bottle of water into the pressure cooker.

Set it to cook for FOUR minutes.

Quick release, then stir in the egg, cottage cheese and

mozzarella if you are using.

Mix it well and EAT!

Fast, easy, and cheap!

Oh, and yummy, Rod loves it!

And then last night I experimented with a couple of

cake recipes.

In the pressure cooker.

A box of Pillsbury cake mix.

My Walmart has them for $1.00!!!

I did white and chocolate.

I mixed some of my freeze dried raspberries into the white one.

It was YUMMY!

Make it up according to the box directions.

My eggs are VERY large so I cut back on the water a bit.

It calls for 3 eggs, 1/2 c oil, 1 c water.

I used 3 eggs, 1/2 c oil, 3/4 c water.

Then I poured it into two little sprayed pans I have

that stack on top of each other.

 Stacking Pans

These aren't them.

Hahahahahaha.

Mine come in a 2 pack/stack.

But I'm in a hurry and don't have time to search further.

Anyhow.

Spray the interior, pour the cake batter in.

Put the whole rack and pans into the pressure cooker

with 1-1/2 C water.

Pressure cook for 35 minutes.

Let natural release for 10 minutes and then

remove from the pressure cooker.

Cool for a minute and then transfer to a rack.

(Or a fork!!!)

NOT faster than in the oven, but SOOOO moist and delicious!

Ok, gotta run.

Teaching class this morning.

And then working at the town this afternoon.

And then teaching my class tonight.

Sheesh.

Things We Have Learned

 We've had the freeze dryer for about a month now.

And we are learning things.

I bought some (really expensive) tray covers that also

work as tray stackers.

I don't like them.

I will be trying to return them this week.

(I like the little pizza things for a fraction of the price

WAY better... and last night I saw someone just 

lays a stick across the tray to keep the next 

tray stacked above... BRILLIANT!)

When prepping mangos,

be sure to wear gloves!

Or you hands will have this weird 

yellow glow.

Ick!

Also 18 large Peruvian mangos will nicely fit

on 5 large size trays.

And the internet DIDN'T lie this time, you CAN

run a mango down the rim of a glass and it will

peel it nicely for you!

And if you put a microfiber cloth UNDER the glass

it won't continually slip out and splash all over the place.

Kyle LOVES freeze dried mangos!

(And neither of us actually LIKE mangos....)

Seven (and a half) dozen eggs will fit nicely

on 5 large size trays!

They look pretty as they are freezing.

And possibly even prettier in their bags.

We will be putting them in mylar, but needed to put

them in zippies so we could smash them.

They are pretty powder-y.

2 Tablespoons of egg powder + 2 T water = 1 egg.

CONVENIENT when you don't have a bunch 

sitting on the counter,

or you need to add to baking,

or you want a scrambled egg and you are

camping, hiking, whatever.....

So we will be packing them up in mylar

with an oxygen absorber for LONG term storage.

We still have a TON of carrots to wash,

slice, blanch and freeze.

But I don't have time today.

I just finished my morning class and now

I'm going to grab a quick bite and head

out the door to the Town.

We are WAY behind on some new house

permits - so I'm going to go in and run interference

at the front desk while she hides in the conference

room with no interruptions. 

We have GOT to get these processed.

Fingers crossed!!!!!

The EYES Have It!

 Yesterday afternoon I took Rod to the Dr.

And he had cataract surgery on his left eye.

These days he actually sees better without his

glasses in many cases, but the cataract was 

starting to really bug him, so we decided it was

time to get it taken care of.

The patient is doing well!

He lost his sight in the bottom quadrant of his

RIGHT eye - maybe because of the two retina detachments?

Or the glaucoma? Or who knows?

But he deals well with it.

Until you put a patch over his LEFT eye!

Now he can't see anything below about chest level.

And Beau insists on walking / sitting right

under our feet.

So poor Rod is having to be VERY careful

how he walks so he doesn't trip.

But other than that, and the fact that he can't

bend forward, backward or to the side for

TWO WEEKS (or lift anything over 5-10 pounds)

he is doing really well.

He goes in for a follow up this afternoon

and I expect her to be very pleased.

Ice Cream!!!

 AND we are experimenting again.

Monday we went to the grocery store and bought

FIVE different flavors of ice cream.

Pistachio Almond.

Mint Chocolate Chip.

Butter Pecan.

Cookies and Cream.

Root Beer Float.

And then we scooped them out onto trays

and put them back in the freezer to harden up.

 I bought fancy lids for my trays,

but these are a little tall so I'm using those

little pizza stacker thingies again.

I had to work late Monday night so we didn't get them

in the machine until early 11:30 pm.

They take about 24+ hours to dry.

So they were still working when we went to bed last night.

This morning I got up and pulled them out.

We have five bags of FUN and YUMMY

treats this morning!

Rod is taking a variety pack with him for

his lunch and I have a variety pack for me

to take with me to the Town later this morning.

And the rest are on the counter.

Then I re-packed the trays with the rest of the

ice cream and they are back in the freezer

for the next round.

The guy we watched on YouTube did them on

cookie sheets and then when they were re-frozen

solid he packed them tightly on his actual trays.

But we were experimenting and 

1. didn't want to wait that long

2. weren't sure which flavors were going to work.

I also tried just dumping the whole tub of

mint chocolate chip on the tray and spreading

it with my off-set spatula and then putting a

divider thingie onto it to make it into squares.

It was easier, but I'm not happy with the result.

Notice the big bag on the top left.

Those are the squares.

They are too big for a single bite

and they fall apart if you try to bite them.

The others are a better size.

So I did 4 more trays of ice cream (that's all I had left)

and then did a tray of frozen avocado that I bought

at Costco the other week.

(before we cancelled our membership.)

We'll see how THOSE work.

(I did a very loose, small load because if they

don't work, I don't want to waste them!)

So..... it will take about 2 hours for the machine

to re-set. It has to thaw the ice from the previous

round and then get back down to 0F.

And then I'll put in the next batch, so we should have

more ice cream chunks sometimes tomorrow afternoon-ish.

This is such a fun adventure!!!!!

Oh yeah!

We LOVE the root beer float - it tastes VERY

root beer-ish.

The cookies and cream is really good too.

I think my least favorite is the pistachio which is 

strange because I love that flavor of ice cream.

And the mint chocolate will be awesome

once we do the right sizes.....

Monday Monday.....

 Popping in to give an overview of my day........

It didn't start the way I planned.

I had intended to start a new workout this morning.

But I didn't.

No excuse.

I just didn't want to.

So instead I got up and headed into the Town Hall

to help Denine transition back after being out

for over a week.

Good thing I did - she was LOST.

I spent about 2 hours with her,

helping her get it all figured out and back on track.

Then home to grab Kyle and we headed to

WalMart to buy FIVE different flavors of ice cream.

Then we came home and put little tiny scoops

on some freeze dryer trays and put them in

the deep freeze to re-freeze them.

Then I headed over town to get a hair trim.

(NOT a cut... just a trim)

And then home again and while Kyle made

the dog food (he is the new expert)

I made some German Pancake for Rod's dinner,

and then got ready to teach my class this evening.

Oh, and somewhere in there I cleaned

the kitchen and the bathroom.

Whew!

I just finished all my paperwork - it's 10:34.

Kyle and I will put the ice cream in the 

machine and it should be done in about 24 hours.

Hope its tasty!

We did mangos over the weekend.

OH MY GOODNESS they are delicious!

Unfortunately the cold snap last weekend

did a number on our mango tree AGAIN.

So hopefully Rod's friend will be able to

share some from his tree like he did last year.

OK.

I gotta run.

Hope you had a great day!!!!

Random picture of one of Kyle's carrot beds.

Having Fun???

 Soni and the "boys" are in Tucson!!!

I'm sure they are having a BLAST!

It looks like it's been COLD out there.

It's been absolutely gorgeous here this week.

Just in time for Gary and Lisa and their family

to come and enjoy the theme and water parks.

They are leaving this morning.

As a cold front is coming in.

The high yesterday was 84 at my house.

We hit the high for today at 7:30 am.

It was 66.

It's 62 now.

Awesome.

At least its not FREEZING and we aren't

getting any snow.

While I was teaching my final class for the week

this morning, Kyle put another load in the 

freeze dryer. Raspberries (THE BEST)

and some of the mangos from our tree.

And some of the blueberry's from Rod's

brother's blueberry farm.

Fingers crossed it will all be delicious.

Meanwhile.

Rod had to work from 6-2 today.

They rotate working Saturdays.

Anyhow.

Last week I finally got around to making

MY Christmas present from Kyle.

We bought some chunky yarn for him

and I "arm knit" a blanket for him to 

throw over himself while watching TV in his room.

And he loved it.

So he bought more chunky yarn for me

to make myself one.

But I didn't love arm knitting.

It's hard on my arm and my bony wrist.

And the holes are really big.

So he researched and found a YouTube that

taught how to do rib stitch just sitting at 

the table.

So last weekend I sat at the table and did it.

It's nice and big and super warm and snuggly!

It's BEAUTIFUL.

Meanwhile...

We are watching Astra get ready to launch their

very first little rocket.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

It's LITTLE!

Watching on Kyle's phone...

It's just barely bigger than the light pole!

Kyle is having a great time teasing them.

It reminds us of the Boy Scouts standing in a field

with a big red button.

No fuel tanks,

two semis.

The WHOLE ROCKET fits in semi trailers.

The company said they only need a launch pad,

internet, 

and a fence.

It's on an "official" launch pad, but not one

of the big ones they launch other stuff from.

It kind of looks like its just out on the road.

Unfortunately its pretty cloudy today,

so we probably won't be able to see it.

And since it's tiny, we might now have been able

to see it anyway unless it was dark out.

Split screen of the rocket on the right and their

little mission control in California.

(It's a small walled off room in their factory.)

Notice the guy on the back row!

He put googly eyes on his computers!!!!

These people know how to have fun at work!

But it's exciting!

Fun to see new companies trying to expand

the space industry.

Wish them LUCK!

Oh darn....

while we were watching they had to scrub

because somebody was in their range.

Darn it.

(SpaceX had to scrub last week because a 

CRUISE SHIP launched during their window.

Sheesh. Some Harbor Master is getting a fine!!!)

They'll try again tomorrow.

Meanwhile...

I washed the floors and now I'm heading

back out into the main house to make some lunch

and ... clean something, I just can't remember what it was.

Hahahaha

(Oh, and practice the hymns for tomorrow.)

SO BUSY!!~~

 Denine is still in the hospital.

So after teaching on Monday I headed over

to the Town to help out for a bit.

Then Kyle and I did the grocery shopping for the week.

We got to watch an AMAZING rocket launch.

More later.....

Tuesday I went to Town Hall from 9-5 (WOW!)

I'm not used to working that many hours!

But it flew by - I was BUSY!

Then home to finish processing all the onions

and peppers that were finally ready to come out 

of the freeze dryer.

Whew! The ice in the machine smelled VERY

onion-y. After it all melted and Rod tossed

the water, it wasn't as bad.

Yesterday I taught until 1 and then Kyle and I

jumped in his truck and headed up to Samsula

to pick up feed for the animals.

Got home about 5:00 and after unloading the

trailer and cleaning up the feed room

(we took down the cat's crate and the banquet

table it was sitting on and put all that away)

then it was into the house to make some

German Pancake for Rod's breakfasts for the 

next week. And some pork loin, mashed potatoes

and veggies into little trays and in the freezer

for his lunches. Then I chopped a bag of carrots,

blanched them and got them on a tray in the freezer.

Did 3 more trays of green beans, and a tray of

frozen peas (store bought - we ATE all the peas from

the garden...) got all that into the freezer and 

ready to put in the machine this morning before work.

I also cleaned the inside of the machine with some

rubbing alcohol - they recommend doing that every

now and again - just to keep it clean and I figured

it would help kill the last of the smell......

I left the door open overnight. Should be good this morning.

By then it was nearly 8:30 and I collapsed on the couch.

This morning I was up at 6:30 to type up my notes

and thoughts for the Stake Primary Activity we 

are having next month. The theme is Noah's Ark

with a focus on all the different things we learn from

Noah's Ark. Bullying, making friends, gathering Israel  

(instead of gathering animals)

emergency preparedness,

and BUGS! (hahahaha)

Along with maybe a photo booth.

And then lunch.

Anyhow. We are having a stake primary zoom this

evening but I'm going to take Kyle and go meet Gary

and Lisa for dinner instead, so I had to get all my thoughts

on paper and send them to the Presidency.

And now I've got to get the freeze dryer turned on and

cooled down and get the trays in there

and then head off to the Town for the day.

WHEW!

Here's a lousy picture of the AMAZING rocket launch

from Monday evening. It was probably the best we have seen!

This is when the rocket boosters separated from the rocket

and began their flight back down to the Cape to LAND!

I don't know why it's more impressive that they landed back

where they started than when they land on a BOAT in the OCEAN.

But it was pretty neat.

Kyle put his drone up 136' in the air and we could see it

actually LAND at the cape! It was so cool!

Anyhow.

I have GOT to get this day started.....