It wasn't really planned, but the first day of November was dedicated to resetting my home and health, and recharging for the fall/winter chores.
The travel coffee maker (single, but cheap brand) was cleaned up and put away. The cooler we traveled often with, was also put away. Counters completely cleaned off and sanitized (I like my homemade 4 Thieves cleaner), extra purchased dry goods were canned and vacuumed sealed, travel totes with paper plates etc. were put back in storage, and the suitcase put back in storage.
I have two absorbant coffee pot/grinder mats. While one is being washed the other is put out. It really helps keep the coffee pot area tidy. We like coffee.I double checked canning supplies, expiration dates on pectin, and so forth. Checked the winter tea supply, and even dehydrated more sage.
I had a half bag of sugar sitting on the counter for a few weeks, and finally put it canning jars, and vacuum sealed them. I did not can a lot of my regular condiments this year, due to lack of garden harvest, and it needed to be stored for future use.I did the same with some extra oats I purchased as well. I am, however, running out of wide-mouth canning jars.
There is nothing better, than to wake up to a spic n' span cleaned up kitchen. It was then, that I could light a candle, relax, re-write my to-do lists, and really recharge physically and mentally.
Kitchen Tip: Did you know that if you are out of baking soda, you can substitute 3 teaspoons of baking powder for 1 teaspoon of baking soda?
I just learned this, but typically we have more baking soda on hand than powder. I thought I would share this tip, but I have not needed to try it.
The first Sunday morning (time change for us), despite it being 36°F out, I took my coffee to the porch to watch the sunrise. There were 4 deer that came out for viewing. There were 3 bucks and a doe grazing in a harvested corn field. You can see the bigger buck the very right. We saw two more later in the mid-morning (doe and a buck).
We finally did a garage clean out. Whew! I could not believe how much we were able to donate, give away and toss out. It really was a big mess in there. I even moved all of my empty plastic drawers (used to store yarn) out there to organize things.
No menu plan yet this week, but I came up with the most delicous breakfast burrito with leftovers. You could eat this as a scramble too.
(husband added hot sauce to his, but you could also add jalapeno if you froze any, or even fire powder)
I used leftover scrambled eggs from my husband's to-go breakfast, diced up leftover brisket, cooked half of a butternut squash that was already cubed, added bell pepper, onion, garlic, rosemary and sage. We added just a bit of shredded cheddar cheese. It turned out so good, and we wasted zero leftovers
The to-do list is pretty much the typical list for November, although much of it was done in October last year. We are finally getting rain this morning, and we are expecting a warmer month. I'm still waiting on cooler days to roast and preserve pumpkins, spaghetti squash, acron squash, etc. I have tinctures in the making, and oils infusing for salve making, so the month will not be idle (but yet a much slower pace).
Until next time. Toodles.
