My Tireless Retirement - Week 192

 

Hello my lovelies!  Happiest of holidays to all of you as we head into the Christmas season!  In so many ways it is difficult to believe this is where we are at the moment, but in hindsight this year seems to me to have lasted an eternity, in many respects.  Nonetheless, I plan to make it as spectacular as always with good food, fun and celebrations.  How about you?  Are you in?

 

To start things off rightly enough I woke up last Friday morning with a migraine.  I can’t really complain about that because it has been well over two years since my last one, I think, and that is a HUGE improvement over how I used to have two per month.  Instead of getting upset I just canceled my plans, took some medicine and stayed in my jammies all day recuperating.  My supper was a pre-prepared dish of Thanksgiving leftovers I had made the day before.  All I had to do was reheat it in the microwave and I was all set.

 

Saturday morning I was relieved to wake up to no headache and a long list of things I wanted to do.  First up was to start the laundry and then gather up all of the Fall décor I had set out in my house back in September and get it all stored away in its bin and on the shelf in the garage.  Then I brought in the Christmas bins and got busy.  I took my time dusting, vacuuming and deciding what I wanted to put where.  By the end of the day I was happy to see my humble home transformed into a cozy Christmas abode.

 

I used the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers – mainly dressing, gravy and mashed potatoes along with a jar of home canned chicken and a half bag of leftover frozen broccoli to make myself a nice little casserole that I was able to “bake” in the microwave.  I served the mashed potatoes on the side with a little bit more gravy and it was delicious.  I had enough left over of my leftovers for three more meals, just without the mashed potatoes as I only had one serving of those left.  The casserole on its own however, was just fine, but after this I was officially carbed out.

 

Tuesday morning I left the house with a short shopping list.  I went to Cash & Carry to pick up cream, Winco for fresh produce and a few packages of meat – beef, pork and chicken, then to the mall to pick up a freebie from Bath & Body Works and to walk around and see all of the Christmas displays.  I have to say the Mall was not decorated at all as in years past and to be honest was more than a little bit disappointing.

 

On the way home I made a quick stop into Fred Meyer with a $2.00 OFF meat coupon that was set to expire hoping to find something affordable.  I was not at the store I normally shop at and was sad to see the meat department was far from fully stocked and the prices outrageous.  Fortunately I found a package of assorted pre-seasoned taco meats with a fairly clean ingredient list and was thrilled to leave with three pounds of meat for just over a dollar per pound.  Inside of the package were three vacuum sealed bags so I was able to just put them away in the deep freezer until I need them.

 

Wednesday morning I portioned out three of the five boneless skinless chicken breasts I had purchased at Winco and after vacuum sealing them I put them away in the deep freezer.  I cut up the pork loin into nice thick chops and vacuum sealed and froze those as well.  The carne asada style beef I ended up putting into the slow cooker with onions, mushrooms and beef broth and cooking until tender. I used that to make a few pre-prepared entrees to tuck away in the kitchen freezer.  The rest of the chicken was also used to make my meals this past week.

 

I worked a half day Monday and then again on Thursday evening taking a group of seniors out for dinner at a local brewery and then to a Christmas play A Sherlock Carole.  The performance was wonderful and I got home way past my bedtime, but it was worth it.

 

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful first week of December.  Have any of you put up your tree and decorated yet?  How is your Christmas shopping going?  Take care and have a wonderful weekend!