Sam Potter

So I have tried a few meal planning rotations and love cooking. But I find that since we eat seasonally and closer to our front door it is harder to predict what we will have available in a weeks time or even a couple of days ahead. Maybe we will find a mess of oyster mushrooms or the neighbor drops off a 55 gallon barrel of sweet corn. Now of course preserve to use later is a important tool for spreading out these blessings but when there's a fresh glut I like to base our meals off it. I have a loose system of vague meals that can take a lot of fluctuation of ingredients that I pick from.  Such as Soups and chilies on Saturday, Leftovers on Sunday. Monday we have a meatless bean dinner. Taco Tuesday is more of a general Mexican theme. Wednesday is for rice and a topper. Thursday is not my problem and I make someone else cook. and Friday we grill stuff. This normally works for us but come the hot months it gets busy and I will stop using it.  I want to try changing how we do this and was wondering what others do to help them keep cooking to provide three meals a day, every day, for every mouth at the table. With a pantry of ever changing ingredients.

I did our living room floor in used laminate flooring. I had to nail down the planks after cutting the tracks off them cause they were a bit beat up and warped. It was a quick free way to redo our floor. Im not sure how long it will last but for now its very nice.

My sons room is small and the only one that doesn't get shade in our 100 year old poorly insulated house. Il have to try this out and see if there's much of a difference in there. I have him sleep downstairs in the summer cause I worry about the heat otherwise.

Im in the same boat! I feel like me and the dog are in a sports team practicing our moves. Were also training to herd on command. The little guy is small but his ancestors were originally used to herd cows in the mountains of the Welsh country side. I am also small and my ancestors used to farm the Welsh mountains but I think Iv started my training a bit late and I have alot of catching up to him to do. Im not sure who learns more, the dog or me!

I am always reminded why I sharpen my knives before every use when I cook in a different kitchen. Everything is way harder to chop and the motions go from a smooth cut done with intent and thought to hard movements pushing and shoving the knife just trying to cut a potato in half. I don't think a lot of my people notice that a knife should glide smoothly thru a potato until they use my collection of sharpened cheapo thrift store finds. That and my people are always trying to use the pairing knife for chopping stuff! WHY! Your gonna chop your finger tip off! Grumble.
Sorry I currently have a friend who comes over to help cook and she has great taste but no skill yet. Iv now had to stock up on bandaids twice!

Just downloaded and thinking of using a quick twist with using chalk on the paving stones for our weekly summer lesson! Thank you for the help!

I ferment them and blend with onion and garlic to make a sriracha substitute to put in pretty bottles. They make great Christmas presents. Maybe dry some and make some dry rubs as well to give out with it.

OR dry them whole on strings and hang them in fruit trees and tomatoe plants to keep deer and squirrels away. Might even work to keep mice out of the house? I haven't tried it but I bet theres a way. Mammals dont like the smell or taste of it so they avoid it.

Looks like some sorta long horn beetle. They are harmless to people and critters so no worries. They do like decaying wood and bright lights. Might want to see if any of your trees are getting soft and squishy or if he was just passing thru.

My cast iron is my baby. It used to be my childhoods friends robber deterrent for when we went to the citys. We kept it under the drivers seat of her SUV. We found the cast iron in another friends junkyard and figured it would work to hit some would be car burglar in the head with like in the movies. We were not the brightest at that time. The SUV got totaled by a train and I got the cast iron.(everyone is safe and sound) Its my favorite piece of cookware and I see no reason why it wont move on to a new home when Im done with it and it was free.

Otherwise my pressure canner is used weekly as a canner and all the time as a stockpot, Mason jars are great for canning as food storage. All metal or wooden utensils are my preference. Plastic dose weird things in the kitchen over time. Glass pyrex dishs are lifelong and easy to find in a thrift store for a good price. Most of these things can be got for the cheap used. Its being passed down because it really dosnt go bad!  

I use our left over tile as pathway mulch. I pull them up to look for fishing bait all the time and the first year we had alot of slugs but now its slug free. I bet my grapes would like the darker seasonal sides for in the fall and spring. Il have to try it and see!