A Mini Azure Standard Grocery Haul Just in Time Before the Extreme Winter Weather Hits...

We had to run into the city to pick up our Azure Standard order and top off our gas tanks. It was the first time that we have had to pick up an Azure Standard order in the dark. I usually do not place orders during the winter months due to the possibility of dangerous weather conditions, but I was out of several items and decided to take a chance. 

Number One Husband and I both enjoy dates and pumpkin seeds. We use oats in things like breads, granola, cereals, hot oatmeal and healthy treats. The thick cut oats are our favorite. Yellow split peas are super high in protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and aids in reducing the risk of certain diseases. I also purchased a pound of mustard seeds that are not shown in the picture. Woops!

Everything that we purchased from Azure Standard was less than half of the cost of lower quality products at the grocery store with the exception of the Kimchi. The Kimchi was only a couple of dollars cheaper. Azure Standard has the best cheese and cheese prices. Grocery store prices are double, and their cheeses are not as high quality compared to the cheese that we purchase from Azure Standard. Their sea salt is also better sourced and less expensive. I love Kimchi, so I ordered a large container.

My monthly shopping is finally complete. This month was a bit odd since I had to be in the city for a doctor's appointment earlier in the month and unfortunately, I wasn't able to schedule my appointment and my Azure order pick up on the same day, so we had to go into the city twice. It all worked out just fine and we will probably skip going into the city next month if at all possible. We will see.

However, we barely made it before the forecasted extreme winter weather moves into the state. The highway and interstate signs all warn of the impending snowstorm with sub-zero temperatures beginning tomorrow. We have been experiencing harsh negative temperatures in our area during the overnight hours for a week now. It was negative -18 this week already. 

The second storm moves in on Sunday evening and I expect our chance of snow to increase before then. I also expect our temperatures to drop well below the highs and lows forecasted since we are already below the forecasted temperatures. That is just the way it works way up here in the mountains. MLK Day's forecasted high is 10 degrees along with more snow. I'm glad that it is a postal holiday, so we don't have to go anywhere.  

• Friday Night

  

  Low: 5 °F

  Snow Likely

• Saturday

  

  High: 15 °F

  Snow then
  Chance Snow

• Saturday Night

  

  Low: -13 °F

  Chance Snow

• Sunday

  

  High: 14 °F

  Mostly Sunny

• Sunday Night

  

  Low: -12 °F

  Chance Snow

• 
  

 Stay safe and warm,

 Mrs. Smith

Picture of the Day - Extreme Weather

I tried to take pictures of the wolf moon and mars through the very iced over kitchen window. I will try again tonight for the full moon. It was so big and beautiful last night that I thought it was actually full. 

It was - 18 degrees last night. It should be like - 35 degrees this time of the year. Crazy weather. I think we have snow moving in next week and colder temperatures this week. We will see what actually transpires.  

If you look closely, you can see the mountains and the 
reflection of the inside of the house. 

The moon is shining like a flashlight through the window.

Mrs. Smith

Sabbath Rest...

It has been a very busy of week of food preservation. We enjoyed French dip sandwiches and French fries for our Sabbath dinner last night. It was fast and easy because I cooked a small roast while Number One Husband rendered beef fat into tallow in the oven. I sliced it up and served it on homemade French bread. You can find the recipe here: French bread recipe This was the last of the roast. It was really tender and juicy. I stuffed it with jalapenos and garlic for an added kick. French dips and Ruebens are my favorite sandwiches. 

I made a large pot of green chicken chili and served it with cornbread and sour cream. I added green chilis to make green chicken chili. It turned out great. I used this recipe and made it my own. I found the recipe here:  White Chicken Chili

Tallow

We cut up a whole chuck roll, packaged it and put it in the freezer.

I preserved whole cabbage heads. I have a gallon of wine fermenting
in the background. 

We finally received our Sam's delivery yesterday. We were concerned about the delay since it has been so cold and what effect the cold would have on the mayonnaise. I will open up a jar and find out in case we need to have it replaced.

We accomplished more, but this was just last week's highlights and now it is time for rest...

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs. Smith 

Breaking Down and Hand Trimming a Whole Chuck Roll - Rendering Beef Fat into Tallow

This was our first time cutting up a chuck roll. This blog post is not a how-to post, but I will link the video from YouTube that we followed. I would highly recommend learning from an expert.  

We purchased a whole chuck roll from Sam's Club on
our last grocery haul.

Sharp knives are a must. 

I drained all the liquid from the chuck roll.

We separated the actual chuck roll from the rest of the meat.

This is the end where the butcher cut off the ribeye steaks.

We cut off three chuck eye steaks and cut the rest into chuck roasts.

We cut the rest of the meat into Denver steaks, Sierra steaks,
stew meat and we reserved the beef fat to render into tallow.

I will use the fattier beef chunks for Guisada (Mexican stew) and
the leaner beef chunks for stew meat.

The cuts are now packaged and ready for the freezer.

Number One Husband started the process of rendering the tallow. I must say that
we prefer the oven method over the stove top method. 

The oven method requires nothing but the heat from the oven and about 3 to 4 hours. Whereas the stovetop method required someone to watch it closely and it needed to be stirred to prevent burning.

Number One Husband had great success rendering the fat. The only part that was discarded
from the whole chuck roll was the little rendered crunchy fat pieces. I fed them to the chickens.
We could have eaten them with a little Cajun seasoning, but it wasn't our thing.

Here is the link that we used to learn how to: Break down a whole chuck roll

Mrs. Smith

Fermenting Whole Cabbage Heads - Sauerkraut

Fermenting sour kraut is easy, but fermenting whole cabbages is even easier. There is no chopping involved. This method is used for fermenting large or small amounts of cabbage heads fast. The whole outer leaves are used in dishes like cabbage rolls. I will go a step further and use them to make Dolmas. Pickled grape leaves are outrageously expensive.

As I stated in my previous blog, I could only find three cabbages
that had tightly packed leaves. 

What you will need:

Whole Cabbages

Spices of your choosing

Salt, preferably sea salt or pickling salt

Spring water, well water (Tap water has chlorine that will impede the fermentation progress) 

Coring knife and cutting board

A Crock, food grade bucket or barrel with a lid

Cut the core out of the center of the cabbage heads.

Add a generous amount of salt to the center. This will aid in pickling
the cabbage throughout. 

The cabbage should be packed tightly together inside the container. 
I cut some of my heads in half and salted them to help pack them
into the crock. 

Here I am salting the cabbage halves.

The brine solution that I am using is 2 tablespoons of sea salt
for every four cups of filtered water.

Gently poor the brine over the cabbage until it is covered by
at least one inch of brine.

Add the spices if you chose to use any.

Once the cabbage has absorbed the brine, add more brine if needed.

Use a plate or weights to submerge the cabbage completely.

Place the lid on the crock.

Store in a cool dark place. Check the brine level for a couple days to
ensure that the cabbage is completely submersed. Let set for at least
40 days. 

After 40 days, check to see if the cabbage is pickled to your satisfaction. At this point, it can be stored as is in a cold room or refrigerated to slow down the fermentation process. It will continue to ferment, but at a much slower rate. 

The brine solution is very good for you. It is full of probiotics and can be served as a beverage over ice. If you cannot have salt, do not drink the brine. It is salty. It is the perfect beverage after a workout or a day of exertion. 

My plan is to use the larger leaves to make Dolmas, cabbage rolls or to chop it into sauerkraut. My original plan was to ferment using my 10-gallon crock, but I will have to wait until I can find enough cabbage to fill the crock. Maybe they will be abundant and on sale around St. Patrick's Day.

Enjoy,

Mrs. Smith

Grocery Haul - It's Been a Hot Minute

It has been at least six months since I have done any major shopping at Sam's Club or Azure Standard or anywhere for that matter. It was definitely time to place an order at both places. We picked up our order from Sam's Club after my appointment on Friday in the city. 

There were a few things that we could only get if we had them shipped, so I have placed an order to be delivered along with a modest Azure Standard order that I will pick up. I had to go inside the store to pick up a few things that I wanted to hand pick myself. The store was packed. I think that some people we panic buying. It sure looked like it anyway. The line to get to the eggs was deep. I was in and out in short order because I knew what I wanted and where it was. I maneuvered through the store and around shoppers with ease. 

I did notice that there are less options available, again. Mayonnaise was one of those items that I had to order. What store doesn't carry Kraft Real Mayo? They only had brown beans in 12-pound package, and I wanted black beans. They are carrying smaller packages with less options these days. This seems to be the new trend. If stores like Sam's are not going to carry large bulk items, what is the point? 

I also noticed that they were low on most meats, eggs and milk. Milk was definitely not bargain at all. I didn't peruse the whole store because I just wanted to get out of there asap! Bread flour was another item that I had to have shipped along with the black beans and mayo. I haven't been able to buy bread flour at Sam's for several years now. At least I can have it shipped.  

When I tried to put peanut butter in my cart, the only option I had was to have it shipped. I was certain that that couldn't be, and I was right. I was certainly wrong about the mayo. The store had plenty of peanut butter and it was on sale for $2.00 off. I bought two. I think all in all that I went over my budget by $10 and this was one of the reasons why. Dang sales!

It was also time to buy meat. Ugh! Beef has really shot up in price, so Number One Husband decided that we would purchase a whole beef chuck roll and hand trim it into the cuts we need. This made the price $5.98 a pound for premium cuts of chuck. I also purchased a 10-pound roll of ground chuck at $4.38 a pound and a boneless leg of lamb for $4.98 a pound.  

Hand trimming a chuck beef roll coming soon.

I ran into the Walmart that was next door, also packed, to pick up cabbage, bell peppers, Romas, and celery. I was only able to find four Roma tomatoes that were decent enough out of the miniscule amount that they had to offer. They only had three heads of cabbage that were well formed out of the seven heads available. I really needed four, one for soups and stews and three for preserving. The bell peppers were okay, and the celery was good at a great price of .96 cents. 

Fermenting whole cabbage heads coming soon!

We topped off the tank and headed back into the mountains. It was good to get home, but then I needed to get everything put away before the Sabbath started. Getting an almost 23-pound chuck roll and a 10-pound roll of ground chuck to fit in the refrigerator along with everything else was no easy task. 

Until we process the meat, the fridge is just going to be bursting at the seams. I cooked up the rest of our old eggs from the refrigerator and fed them to the chickens. They were getting dried out, so I made the hens and the raven very happy this morning. 

I started the process of organizing the freezers this morning. This time of the year I am able to use our antique propane and kerosene refrigerators that we have in the shop as freezers. They give us additional freezer space in the winter months without using any fuel. I carried out extra items from the inside freezer to our makeshift winter freezers this morning to make room for 38 pounds of meat. This should give us enough freezer space inside the house for the chuck roll and the ground chuck. 

Once the meat is processed, I will finish up re-organizing the fridge and the freezers. It's a good thing that we are not picking up our Azure Standard order for a week or so. I should have plenty of time to process our first haul. 

Happy Day!

Mrs. Smith