It certainly wasn’t warm and overcast yesterday. Weather liars are liars. Dunno what it will be like today, but I’m hoping for more cool and clear, but not quite ‘cold’ and clear. We’ll see.
I did auction and kid stuff yesterday. Had my drop off pushed to today, but made a couple of pickups. Then it was Tuesday night, and for some reason that means a lot of local auctions closing all at the same time. I did manage to win a few preps. Couple more kerosene heaters and some propane hoses. Some bleach and cleaners. Couple small things for the BOL. Couple things for my non-prepping hobby. Another 100w solar panel. I passed on the beekeeper stuff. Keeping bees looks like a lot more work and trouble than I have time for right now.
I passed on the chicken stuff too, but there has been a fair amount of it. Waterers and feeders, incubators, automatic coop doors, water heaters for their water bucket… even chicken plucker machines. Nesting boxes and shredded bedding too. I think the reality of chicken raising led to a lot of stuff being returned. Some is estate stuff, but the majority is returns. My thanks to @stevef for his ‘slice-o-life’ tales from the coop. I’d like to have eggs, but keeping the chickens sounds like a million ways to screw up to me, and a big project. It’s definitely one of those things you should start BEFORE the need arises, but I’m already a bit past “maxed”.
Which is why you need a network and a community. No one can do it all by themselves. It’s why humans are social creatures who form groups and bonds- so we can work together.
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Dinner last night was a bit of an experiment. It worked out so I’m sharing. I’d previously cut some thin pork chops from the “dark meat” end of the pork loin, pan-fried them and served them to the kids successfully. I was looking at a pork shoulder roast (pork butt) in the fridge, thinking about breaking it down into my normal big chunks for pulled pork or carnitas, when I thought I could carve off a couple of big steaks. They’d be like the “shoulder chops” sold as cheaper alternative to pork chops, only sliced thicker. So I boned out the roast, and sliced off a couple of 1″ thick steaks from the biggest chunk of meat. Battered and put in pork fat in the big cast iron skillet…
Well, the batter was just panko crumbles, so really just ‘breading’ and it didn’t stick, but the steaks browned up nicely anyway. For sides I did instant potatoes (baby reds, mashed), and pork gravy from a packet. Probably could have used some more color on the plate, but it was all delicious, and I should have cooked a third steak. Kids were licking the plates. One more cheap meal in the rotation, hooray.
While I had the pan hot, I cut the rest of the roast into big chunks and browned them for carnitas. 2 3/4 pounds will go in the slow cooker today, the other 2 3/4 pounds got vac sealed and frozen.
Preps used- cheap meat, instant potatoes, instant gravy mix, cast iron cookware, and saved up bacon fat. A can of peas would have been nice too.
There you have it, another cheap meal that was simple and delicious. I used Adkins spice mix on the pork but it’s basically just salt, pepper, garlic, and maybe some citrus zest? KISS principle in action.
Cast iron cleaned up easy so I’ve got a decent ‘seasoning’ going on that piece too. Love it when I get a chance to use a piece in every day cooking.
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So, stack some stuff, but also try some new things. You might find a new fan favorite.
nick