See You Later, Alligator

Jeremy left on another trip the beginning of October. It was a quick trip. He had a one day balloon build in Wyoming, but he missed a few things while traveling and building.

There was the Grand Lunch at the elementary school. It is supposed to be like a grandparents sort of lunch but not everybody has grandparents near enough so the elementary school invites anyone "grand" in your life to come. I think that's sweet.

I noticed a while back that when Lucky brings a lunch from home, he writes part of "The Jabberwocky" on the outside of his lunch bag. He went through the whole poem and finished it the day of the Grand Lunch. 

Since I want to be like my kids, I thought I'd join in and wrote part of a poem (from my elementary school days) on my lunch bag that day. Tee Hee.

(I did miss celebrating Shel Silverstein's Birthday on September 25 due to being sick.) 

When it was time for Jet's lunch, I came over to join him and he got so excited to see me there, he was giggling. Awwww. I like that reaction. It makes me feel good when my children want to see and be with me. He asked if Daddy was there but I had to remind him that Daddy was on his trip.

That evening was Lucky's parent teacher conference with his teacher. Jeremy joined in on speakerphone as he was not physically able to be with us.

October 1 was Fire Pup Day so Lucky helped me make squid pups which we had with hot sauce.

When Jeremy got back from his trip, he made it home before the kids went to school, so he went when Jet asked him to take him to school. 

After school, Jeremy was busy getting ready for another trip, so when Jet came out of school, the first thing he did when he gave me a big hug, because that's our ritual after school, was ask, "Where is my Dad?" What a sweetie. He wants both parents.

That night I made curry because... comfort food. I wanted something welcoming for Jeremy. We had homemade sourdough on the side because... I'm learning.

Shelftember

I participated in Shelftember again. 

When I did go to the store (which wasn't very often), I stuck to my shopping list. Because I spent less money on bulk snacks at Winco, I was able to spend more on chicken and ground turkey (not super expensive but not the best deals, either).

I took some of that new chicken and my friend, Stephanie, and I got together to make Instant Pot meals again. Honey Garlic Chicken- it's a favorite.

 

Jeremy came back from his Twin Falls fair with ripe bananas so of course I made chocolate chip banana muffins. Then I pulled corn tortillas, rotisserie chicken, cheese, and spices out and made taquitos. Shelftember! 

 

I baked a lot of bread during the month, including sourdough. I think I'm making progress on figuring out how to do it successfully.

 

I did have to send Jeremy to grab some bread at the store one night because I didn't have any bread to make sandwiches for a trip we were taking. It was better for me to sleep that night than to try to bake bread and let it cool and cut it. I had to get up really early the next morning in order to drive down to Southern Utah (more on that adventure later). Safety is most important. I was too tired to drive home so Jeremy did have to stop at a gas station to get a caffeinated drink and something to eat. But again, we had saved money on other groceries during the month so in order for him to be safe while driving, while I kept dozing off in the passenger seat, it was worth the money.

 

As I mentioned before, I got sick the end of September so we ended up spending more money on groceries than I would have liked the end of the month because Jeremy had to get pizza a couple of times for me as I was getting my appetite back and didn't have energy to make meals. Before I got sick, I was also getting what sounded good for Jr. because he was sick before me.

Oh well. It started out as a good Shelftember. 

I Learned Something New

Sourdough. It's a thing. I've seen enough demonstrations. I've heard plenty about the benefits. I've also recognized that it is a time consuming process so I haven't thought seriously about attempting it. I don't have time for sourdough. Until...

for a Relief Society activity in June, we had a hands on lesson in sourdough. And I mean hands on. We each got a bowl with flour and salt and a wooden spoon. Then we passed around the sourdough starter and water and a kitchen scale. Wow. That doesn't sound good. Let me try again.

We were given instructions and followed them together in our activity. I even learned how to stretch and fold and did it both at the activity and when I got home. 

Thanks to a friend who took pictures of me at the activity and texted them to me. 

 

I took some starter home with me to put in the fridge. This is not my first sourdough starter but I have never gotten to the point of feeding it before so eventually it just gets thrown out. But since we were really doing a hands on thing here, I was determined to feed it a week later. Before that, however, I realized that the hands on part of the sourdough process isn't actually that much. There's just a lot of letting it sit. And I've baked enough bread products that letting something sit is not abnormal for me. 

Anyway, so I actually made sourdough bread for the first time and second time and so on.

I've even fed the sourdough starter several times since the class, with or without intent to bake.

I've had varying levels of success with the bread and with the starter but I've done it. Yay, me. I actually tried something new.

I'll leave you with a last pretty loaf as compared to the sad one before.

 

So You Want to Know Even More About August, Huh?

August 19 was International Bow Day. Jet and I did some coloring on a Minnie's Bow-Toons coloring page. We may have watched a little bit of the cartoon later (I can't remember).

Ah, bonding time.

It was also National Potato Day. Continuing with using A Season of Family Meal Plans by Jordan Page, I learned how to make "baked" potatoes in the Instant Pot. I like doing it that way. Along with the potatoes we had Sheet Pan Bell Pepper Chicken but I cooked it on the stove instead of in the oven. I can do that. I'm a shelf cooker.

It was also Mr. Snuffleupagus' Birthday. Our kids don't know who Mr. Snuffleupagus is. They didn't grow up with Sesame Street. Jeremy and I had to explain to them who he is.

August 20 was National Lemonade Day (it used to be in May). We made a pitcher of lemonade to go with our Tex-Mex Bowls (using leftover fajita filling) and spanish rice. I made Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing from A Season of Family Meal Plans, volume 3. The recipe in there is simpler than the recipe I've used in the past to make cilantro lime dressing. I liked it better after it had been refrigerated for at least a day. Mmmm.

Jet was my little kitchen helper again. He decided to help spin lettuce this time. He didn't bother waiting for me to cut it up first. That's fine. I'm so glad he likes to help me make food. I hope it continues.

August 22 was Be an Angel Day. Dinner was angel hair pasta (of course) with leftovers. Jet was an angel and ate better than any of the other kids when it came to dinner. He got first choice of cupcakes for dessert.

After dinner, Nichole and I went to a Relief Society activity, a sourdough class. It was cool to again see a demonstration but it reminded me that I am not in the season of my life to make sourdough. It is a long complicated process. I did enjoy the samples and socializing, though. I do like to eat sourdough. I just can't commit to it right now.

August 23 was National Cuban Sandwich Day. I tried out some new techniques with cooking (I am constantly learning) and made Cuban Sandwiches (even if they weren't authentic).

August 24 was National Waffle Day. We made a whole bunch of waffles with the intent to freeze some of them for easy breakfasts. Ha. They didn't last long enough to be frozen. 

That day, Nichole, Jeremy, and I went on a UCB field trip to Jordanelle Reservoir- Rock Cliff area. That felt good.

Jeremy also decided to try out a new look that day. Look closely.

August 26 was National Toilet Paper Day. I used some to wipe up tears while I was crying.

August 27 was Banana Lovers Day. After our Cajun Green Beans & Pork Bites and roasted potatoes (both from that same cookbook listed above), we had Frozen Banana Bites (also from that same cookbook). 

August 28 was National Bow Tie Day. We had bowtie pasta along with macaroni with our dinner. We also had Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps, apples, and carrots.