13 January 2008

Sidetracked again....

I'm on a homemade kick right now. My goal? Avoiding processed foods...or at least avoiding the ones I can make myself, and especially the ones I can make cheaper. So I started today with high hopes and big plans- bread, pocket pies (courtesy of Good Eats), pasta noodles, maybe some cookies....Also I wanted to make some pudding and Jello so it would be ready for lunches next week.

First on the list bread. I pulled out my new KitchenAid Mixer (thanks to Dad and Nick for my pretty red Christmas present). Pulled out the recipe that goes with it. Read through it, checked on the ingredients, and was ready to go. Well, of course, in order to make something in my miniscule kitchen, I have to wash the dishes. While I'm washing the dishes, I decide I might as well dry and put them away. So I do. While I'm putting them away, I notice that the rice is still in two different containers, so I combine, and create another dish to wash. And since I'm putting the pitcher away, I might as well make Kool-Aid and put it in the fridge so it's ready for later. And I need to pull out hamburger for dinner. Well, I might as well straighten out the freezer since I'm already moving stuff around. And I'll pull out the chicken for the pocket pies. After all this, I start the bread and get it to the point where I'm waiting for it to rise.

So I cook up the chicken, dice it, then stick it in the fridge. I reevaluate my plan, and decide not to make pasta today. Side trip to Costco for rice, yeast, and oil. Of course the roads were packed, and Costco had the longest lines I've ever seen. So our short sidetrip took much longer. Off the list comes the cookies.

I finished with the bread and put it in the oven. Time to make dinner- Hamburgers and French Fries. Luckily, I have a bag of fries that I was finishing from the freezer. So dinner didn't take too long. But now it's time for the Patriots game. We bought a new shedless brush for Stitch. While the game is on, we tackle Stitch and brush him. I was amazed at the amount of hair it pulled off him. Almost enough to make another dog! But that's less hair that will be on my floors, and on my bed, and everywhere else. Now, I hurry to make the pocket pie dough. Then I sit with Nick and shape it out while I watch the end of the game.

Mentally I start to reevaluate what I will truly have finished today. Not much, but my kitchen is clean, the bread looks, smells, and tastes wonderful, the pocket pie dough is all set for filling, the fillings are ready, and the dog is brushed out. Oh, and I have enough yeast, oil and rice for at least the next 6 months!