Another Day...and a question

Yesterday was a horrible weather day so I stayed inside. It made the day really long though. I can't wait for the warmer spring weather when I can get outside and enjoy the warmth and sunshine! It won't be happening for a while though. Sigh. Yesterday I talked with Mum for a while. I really enjoy our Wednesday chats. We always seem to end up talking about something and I usually learn something new about her.

Today I did manage to get out. There's supposed to be another snow storm on the way for tomorrow so I thought I'd make the most of it and get out, take a walk and run some errands. If I have to stay in on Friday at least I was out for a while today and put off most of the jobs for tomorrow. It was cold out again. Yesterday had been a little warmer so some of the snow melted and then refroze so the paths at the park were pretty icy and uneven. I had to really watch where I was stepping. The stream had defrosted a little so the ducks were back. I took some more food with me and they were really happy!

I even saw the heron flying about today. I thought they always left in the winter but apparently not. I usually catch a glimpse of it near/under one of the bridges.

I tried a new recipe for tonight. I had printed something off the Internet and then I tweaked it more for what I wanted to try. The guys really liked it so now I have to remember what I actually did! I forget to take a photo for it. I can't even remember where I got it now! I know that I liked the site as I was able to choose how many servings I wanted to make and it will tell me how much I needed for the number of servings I'd chosen. I'm trying to cut down on how much of something I make. I chose 3 servings but it certainly made more than that! I ended up freezing some and will do them in a couple of weeks.

Which brings me to another question - how do you organise your freezer? Especially for the items you cook and freeze. Do you have a rotation so things get used, but not repeated that often?

Thanks for reading and for the comments!

Tuesday

Another grey day. I'm missing the sun! It was a little warmer. I did get out for a walk, but it's not easy to take photos in such terrible light. I'm hoping tomorrow will bring some sunshine but it's not looking good, though the temperature is supposed to reach a really 81F (27C). My body is having trouble keeping up with these temperature changes. I've given my cold/flu to hubby. He was complaining of aches as well as a sore throat. Mine has progressed from runny nose to being stuffed up, so much so that when I was walking I felt quite dizzy.

I did get caught up with my yearly photo project - I am now on October. So pleased I got this caught up. I also managed to start sorting out clothes. My goal is to get at least one bag for donation and toss away anything stained or holey (even if they are my favourite comfy in-house clothes lol). I was halfway through a second large drawer when my back was hurting so I stopped. I think my whole body is just aching from the cold/flu thing.

I did make sausage rolls - which was on the menu this week. I started to make a menu, had looked through lots of recipes and then given up. I shall finish the menu tomorrow.

And no, I didn't make the pastry from scratch - I cheated. I should make up several batches and freeze so I don't have to cheat. It's just so time consuming. Anyway, that's it for today! It was a semi-productive day.

Rainy Day

I woke up this morning and it was raining so no walk today. It's a little cooler too so I decided to turn the oven on and make some sausage rolls for tea tonight. I thought about going up in my craft room but nothing catches my eye right now - still on a holiday hangover - so picked up the knitting I was doing before leaving for England. I had the patterns row memorised before I left but it's taking a little to get going again. I'm hoping the knitting kick starts the creative juices. I really need to work out the Christmas craft gift thing.

Changing leaves adorned with raindrops.

Sausage rolls fresh from the oven - I cheated on the puff pastry.

Knitting still on the needles waiting to be worked on.

Cooking

I learned to cook when I was in school. This was back in the days of Home Economics when you basically learned to cook for your husband. Don't know if anyone remembers the little book you learned from but I remember mine - you learned about the different types of meals men who worked different jobs would need. I didn't mind the lessons though I probably would have liked them more if the teacher I had would have remembered my name. She had taught my older sister (who is ten years older than me) and I always got called by my sister's name.

For a while I lost the enjoyment of cooking. I liked baking - cakes, brownies and cookies, yum. Real food, dinner food,  was basically a way of feeding our family of five on not a lot of money while trying to include the food groups. When I started working full time that added another component to the mix. I'm not superwoman and I wasn't good at juggling everything.

Now that I've taken a breather from work and there aren't so many of us in the house I am rediscovering my enjoyment of cooking meals. I have been cooking from scratch. I don't like fussy things with lots of ingredients that I'll never use again but I do like cooking simple food and trying out new recipes.

This was tonight's dinner. Middle son came up to eat and requested them. Sausage Lasagna Roll-Ups. I did beef because I had it leftover. For mine I left out the meat. These are so yummy. I used to buy prepared lasagne and it always seem to upset my stomach. I don't eat meat and a lot of the prepared foods over here in the US contain meat products even if it isn't a meat-based dish. Cooking my own food means I know what goes into it. My stomach certainly appreciates the extra effort!