Dark (Snowy) Days Update

Got snow?  We do…

Here’s the road in front of our house:

Our driveway:

The woods:

Goodness, I enjoyed this little taste of summer in a jar!

These bread and butter pickles were really good, if I do say so myself.  I will definitely make these again next summer.

We’ve been eating out of the freezer a lot these last two weeks.  Ground beef, pork, bacon, sausage and chicken are all the basis of many meals, along with the canned and frozen tomatoes and sauce, usually a veggie from the freezer and potatoes or squash that we’re still enjoying.

One of the ground beef meals we had was shepherd’s pie with Rock Farm ground beef, corn from the freezer, and homemade mashed potatoes.

I have to confess that in my pre-local days I used to put some of those crazy french-fried onions that come in a can on top of my shepherd’s pie (they get all crispy and yummy), and next time I make this I’ll think ahead enough to save some of the onions from the ground beef mixture to sprinkle on the top.  Oh well, it was still yummy!

Roast pork leftovers became groovy tostadas on homemade tortillas:

We’re still buying organic lettuce, cucumbers and carrots for salads, and I’m slowly working through the pantry items.  I’m definitely learning that planning ahead saves time and energy later in the week.  I want to make a chicken this Sunday for dinner, which means we’ll have something with the leftovers at least once or twice during the week, along with soup from the stock.  But I had to remember to take the chicken out of the deep freeze yesterday so that it’ll be ready to cook.  Planning for those leftovers has become an important part of morphing meals later in the week.

So, bring on the snow, Old Man Winter!  My freezer and I are ready for you!