From Crystal: What We Ate and What We Bought at the Store This Past Week

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We had snow on the bottom for 8 total days — all of final week and spilling into this week. Which suggests it was what is taken into account “very chilly” right here in these elements of TN (and truthfully, 2 levels is tremendous chilly… although I do know some locations have been seeing temperatures of one thing like detrimental 37, so 2 levels sounds balmy!!).

When there’s snow and ice and chilly, the whole lot shuts down right here as a result of we don’t have the tools to clear off all of the ice and snow. So, our youngsters have been off faculty all final week! We stayed residence and did a lot of cozy issues like baking and studying and watching films/reveals (Jesse and I completed watching the newest season of The Superb Race! Have you ever seen it! We actually loved it and have been rooting for all three finalist pairs!).

My First Makes an attempt at Sourdough Bread

One of many issues I used to be most enthusiastic about was truly making sourdough bread and it TURNING OUT! I’ve been so scared off by sourdough bread for years. It felt so time intensive and scientific and I simply was positive I’d fail at it miserably.

However I discovered this account known as Acts of Sourdough in December and I watched her step-by-step movies (I’m very a lot a visible learner!) and I used to be like, “I actually suppose I can do that!”

So I ordered the starter from her and adopted the instructions. And, get this, my starter began effervescent after which it doubled in measurement after which it tripled in measurement! I used to be so excited that it was truly working and it wasn’t in any respect as onerous as I’d envisioned!

I had set the objective to learn to make sourdough bread as a yearly objective since I figured it will take me a lot of tries to get a superb loaf of bread. To my shock, my very first loaf turned out fairly fantastically and tasted scrumptious!

I’ve since made three extra loaves and every has gotten progressively higher! I truthfully can not imagine this! In actual fact, I’m feeling so inspired by this entire expertise that I ordered a Kombucha Equipment and a Water Kefir package and am decided to learn to make these subsequent.

Folks on instagram are joking that that is my Ma Ingalls yr. I’m probably not positive what to name it, however we’ll simply say that I’m loving it and will even begin sharing some sourdough recipes right here as a result of it’s so cheap (simply flour, water, and salt!) and SO, SO simple!! Plus, the bread is simply wonderful!

I made Sourdough Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with a number of the sourdough discard — and I had been exterior quite a bit that morning, so I used to be nonetheless sporting my coat and hat whereas I used to be nonetheless thawing out!

In the event you’re new right here, I don’t do a inflexible meal plan most weeks; I often simply be sure we’ve sufficient available for 8-10 totally different dinners after which I plan that day what we’re having primarily based upon the time I’ve and what sounds good.

I do know that this technique doesn’t work for everybody, however it’s labored fairly nicely for this season. I additionally be sure to have back-up emergency dinner choices within the freezer (rooster nuggets/strips + frozen pizza) in order that if I simply don’t really feel like cooking in any respect or run out of time, we nonetheless have choices which are a lot inexpensive than takeout.

If you’re the sort who wants a structured meal plan and you are feeling caught in a rut, try my 10 Weeks of Cash-Saving Menus for a few of our very favourite cheap and straightforward recipes — all performed for you, full with grocery lists! (And you too can obtain my FREE 60 Meals to Make As a substitute of Getting Takeout checklist for some nice last-minute dinner concepts.)

What We Ate This Previous Week

Monday: Sourdough Pancakes + Mac & Cheese

Tuesday (the youngsters have been gone at buddies’ homes): Jesse went out to drop the youngsters off and ran by the shop and picked up a Rotisserie Rooster + Caprese for us to have for dinner.

Wednesday: Leftover Rooster and Twice-Baked Potatoes

Thursday: Sausage and Potatoes and Banana muffins

Friday: Rooster Barley Soup, Sourdough bread, and apple slices

Saturday: Fend For Your self

What I Purchased on the Grocery Retailer

Due to the snow, I wasn’t capable of do my traditional grocery pick-up order (they have been under-staffed and also you needed to wait a minimum of 4 days to do a decide up order), so I ended up attempting grocery supply. I paid about $20 additional to have somebody store and ship groceries (that was for the charge + tip), which truthfully wasn’t too unhealthy. I used to be additionally very impressed that they didn’t mess something up on my order and I obtained the whole lot I ordered!

(The final time I attempted grocery supply by way of Instacart, I had a less-than-great expertise. Examine it right here.)

I stocked up on cereal, shampoo, and sausage and was excited in regards to the deal on strawberries ($1.99 with the digital coupon — although they didn’t look that nice!).