More on Feeding the Multitude

A while ago I did a post of feeding a sort of large family. We only have 5 children each evening, but 3 are teen aged (or almost) boys and one is a 9 y.o. girl that can put away the food.

The most expensive thing out there is meat and next to that is milk...I just saw that Swiss brand was over $4 a gallon at Wallyworld today. Maybe we need to go time share on a cow.
For meat I shop at a bulk food/almost expired food store. In this area there are many large families and we have a number of stores like this. The chicken I referred to in my other post had been frozen, probably just before its expiry date. Each bird was tied like the rotisserie chicken you buy at the "clubs" so it probably came from a place like that.
I honestly don't know how I would feed this bunch if we did not have a store like this.  I do know that soups  make the meat stretch further.

Last night I made a soup with some left over ham...I had bought a bone in ham a while ago and after I baked it I sliced and froze the rest. I threw the ham (almost 2 pounds) and about 12 potatoes and 7 carrots in a big kettle. Added some chicken bouillon/broth and a bit of pepper. Cooked it till the carrots were soft. Added a few slices of American cheese and served.

Now...the biggest waste at our house is the leftovers that get shoved to the back of the fridge and when I find them...well, lets just say that green ham and eggs makes a good story, but lunch?
I try to be prepared for leftovers and if I purposely make a big pot of soup, I have a couple of quart jars ready  along with lids and rings. Fill the jars with boiling hot soup. Wipe the rims, pop on the lids and tighten the rings.  With a pot holder, flip the jars upside down (careful!!)  and let set for a few minutes. (Doing this makes the lid hot and helps seal the jar.)  After supper is cleared away. Store these quart jars in the back of your fridge...if they stay there a month they will still taste good, as long as they stay sealed.

The reason I scoop out the soup before I serve the food?  There are fewer contaminants in the food at that point than if you wait till the whole family has scooped around in the kettle and it has cooled.

If the left-overs are a surprise....put the kettle back on the burner and bring everything to a good boil...add liquid if needed...then place in the jars like explained above.

Now remember I am not an expert...these jars should stay in your fridge. If you ever open a jar and it smells "off"   don't eat it!  But this has saved me a bunch of waste and is a quick meal for one of those busy nights.

Sandwich meat is the other expensive thing. I don't pay $3 a pound for the meat I put on the supper table, why would I spend that much for a lunch box?  I have not broke them of the habit of good sandwich meat (turkey and ham)  so I only buy a pound and by Wednesday or Thurs. it is gone and they get peanut butter...that is a bit less expensive.  ( Our schools do not have a hot lunch program..well, if you don't count the mom-run program that gives us hot lunch twice a month)

Breakfast?  finally I can make oatmeal for breakfast and they all eat it...the picky eater got married :^)  (see if he reads the blog)

Use milk instead of water for cooking the oatmeal and add pancake syrup for sweetening.   Or if I'm on time, I flip pancakes...add an egg or two to the batter for some protein. And some vanilla and cinnamon for flavor.

Oh and spinach? Buy it in a big tub. I had this one for almost 3 weeks, bought it at Sa*'s Club and frying it and eating it with odd things like pizza, mix it raw with spaghetti. Some of the kids are trying it (Joe) and I like it...maybe it will catch on.
Actually the best way to eat this stuff is ...
Heat oil in a large frying pan...add some minced garlic...after that turns nice and brown...throw in the spinach and turn off the burner...it cooks very quickly..do this at the last minute.

You can do broccoli like this too...it takes a bit longer to cook and usually need to add water to help steam it a bit.

Monday

Started very ambitiously...

Four neck pumpkins....




Before I freeze all that, might as well make this....Healthy Pumpkin Bread 
(in the back) or Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread
we liked the Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread the best

While I am doing all that better be doing this....

 
Oh and that Christmas order....better be working on it....

 
Then first night of revivals...topic tonite "Woe is me"  Isaiah 6:5 comparing our
nastiness to God's greatness. Not a pretty picture.  The evangelist challenged us with this...On a scale of 1 - 100   God's greatness being 100 and the worst criminal you can think of being "1"....where would you put yourself?

Non-Electric Sump Pump

Today we woke up to MORE rain, and then got the dreaded phone calls... first a 2 hour delay then school closed for today.

OK...what do I do with 5 kids around when I expected to have a free day to dig into the next quilt project?

Well...let's see... the basement stayed dry all week, even though Lee was pouring rain on us all week...the carpets that we lugged out after Irene were clean and dry....I know!!

Let's put the carpets back in their places and clean up the basement....especially since my family was coming over the the abbreviated weekend campout....(we were going to camp in the house and hopefully at least cook outside)

We had just put the carpet back in place and I was talking to hubby on the phone "no, no water...well just a trickle in the one corner...we'll watch it" As I was talking I walked down into the basement to check on the trickle....

We had 1-2" of water covering most of the basement!   I feel petty fussing about the small amount but we don't normally get water in our basement (we discovered the reason later this evening)

Suddenly we had lots of work for all those kids who didn't have school...

 Even the one that was not allowed to get his compression socks soaked with flood water

 I figured we had about an 8 gpm pump going...maybe faster when I was helping J

 Yes Hope, you might need a second shower today

After Irene, I declared I need to clean out the basement...get rid of some stuff...but I needed to have the camp out first and finish a quilt first....well the camp out is cancelled...maybe a yard sale? maybe just a dumpster?

Play Area

This summer the girls played and played with the strangest assortment of
toys.
The barn...devoid of animals
The little cars
The chairs are part of a stacking game
The animals were given as part of a learning tool
The J*nga blocks are used in different variations
The dominoes...somedays they are a road, the next day risers for the
bears to stand on to rehearse the Christmas program...the next they are
desks for the bears.
The wooden blocks get arranged as a stage.
The barn is a parking garage.
The whole room is a mess, but we left it there sometimes 2 weeks in a row.
Finally today I told them the floor must be cleaned up because.........
(wait for it.....)
SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!!!!!
I'm as excited as they are. But I better be the first one up...my alarm
is set for 5AM...there are extra steps this year
pin care...wrap the legs...cart the wheel chair....and I'm sure he will
want to take his new walker....but I think he should practice a bit more
with it...using a walker one handed takes a bit of practice. Oh and you
should see his new crocs...daddy cut an old pair down to cushion the
walking surface and since they were sisters old ones...they are sporting
a fine new coat of blue paint.
--
Chris
http://shallrunandnotbeweary.blogspot.com/

Another Driver!

The long awaited 16th birthday arrived and of course the DMV is closed
on a Monday in our area.
We braved a very long line at 8:30 AM to take the permit test for our
state on Tues. He passed with 100% ....now we parents have to take him
driving Yaay! I told the girls that by the time I teach them to drive I
will have no hair left....gray or black.
Joseph thought "It's fun when Ben drives" A couple of the curves were
a bit more exciting than when I drive.
He is still working on the car. It was his great grandfather's car,
bought for $100 at a family auction...so let's not fuss about the
wheels OK?

Life in These Parts

That wheelchair is getting many miles on it and not from the patient!
Thank goodness for big brothers and little sisters that play games.
Grandma sent a "flower" arrangement.
Tonite we had the first episode of phantom toe pain "felt like an ant
crawling on my toe and I tried to move it and my leg "popped "
First tears in days, gotta start somewhere, he has been so easy-going
ever since the surgery....well, except for when the nurses flushed the
IV site...that requires open mouthed wails...
anyway- the easy going-ness is a bit unusual....maybe it is relief.

Did They Always Fight?

The other evening,I was teaching and missed the conversation, the girls
were having an argument and Joe asked DH, "Did the girls always fight?"
Ray said that when Faith was very young, Hope would tell her what to do
and Faith would listen.
Now since Faith is older, she has her own ideas and does not always like
what Hope is decreeing.
He said "Oh, they looked like such nice girls on the pictures."
Very funny observation, but tonight he put another twist on this.
He asked ME, almost the same question while looking over his photo album.
This time though he said, "Did they fight before I came home?"
I said "yeah, why?"
"I think maybe they just fight since I came home."
I tried to assure him that they would still probably fight, even if he
wasn't here.
Wonder what was behind that question?

How to Feed a "Big" Family

 First you bake 8 loaves of bread...it will last about a week

 Then you hope that you can score a 35 pound box of chicken breast for $20. Or a 40 pound box of whole chickens for $12. If they are frozen on a big lump....you wash your hubby's pry bar and get him to help you pull the mess apart so you can bag them.

 Buy apples by the basket they are cheaper that way and they are even nutritious...

 Fifty pounds of potatoes will last a few weeks all you gotta do is wash 'em and cook 'em. (sorry that the picture is side-ways)

Then you buy yourself a BIG 14" fry pan and you can cook for the masses!

Cooking is a lot more fun if you have the equipment and the food to go in the pan.