In Over My Head

I will be the first to admit, I’ve never been the best at keeping house. I mean…it’s not dirty. There aren’t roaches or bedbugs. But, I’m just like my grandma…I would MUCH rather be outside on the tractor or with my hands in the dirt or writing or doing art or camping. Let’s face it, I would rather be doing just about anything besides housework.

It gets particularly bad in the summer. Between camping and mowing, things just get put down…not put away. Mr. FixIt is one of the most patient people I’ve ever met. I drove all three of my other husbands crazy with my messy piles and things you have to walk around. So, the other night when I heard a slight hint of aggravation in his voice as he declared there wasn’t any place in the kitchen to set something down, I knew I’d just about pushed the envelope as far as I dared go.

I got up way before my sweetheart and headed in to the kitchen first thing yesterday morning. I fixed my yummy cup of RYZE Mushroom Coffee and set to work. The first thing was to go through the spices. It’s been a few years since I had and they really needed cleared out and out of date stuff tossed. I took out the Lazy Susans and gave them a good wash and wiped down the inside of the cupboards. Once the outdated spices were gone, I put just what I needed back in the cabinet and the ones I use the most in the basket next to the stove.

Ever since the covid lockdown and my foray into baking sourdough, there have been four huge jars of different varieties of flour on the counter. Between them and my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, they were taking up entirely too much room. I couldn’t tackle that until I worked on the storage shelves in the hall in back of the kitchen. Again, covid found me canning to my heart’s content and some of the things I canned just missed the mark. Like all that butternut squash.

I don’t know if they were a little two ripe or if it’s normal for them to pretty much turn into a soggy mess, but they never looked appealing to me. I had about twenty pints of it canned in 2020 and I’d never once cooked with it. I also had about ten pints of bread and butter pickled zucchini. I don’t know what I was thinking when I put these up, but I just put a couple teaspoons of Pickling Spice in each jar. In my mind, they were going to be softened by the canning process. Not so much. They were like eating pickles with potpourri in them. I always felt they tasting like I swept up the sidewalk and just dumped it in my pickles. I knew we were never going to eat them either, so out they went!

With the shelves all cleaned and reorganized, I had room to put the large jars of flour on the bottom shelf, thus making more room in my galley kitchen. After washing all the dishes and jars and putting them away, I was finished for the day. My accomplishment? I cleaned one cupboard and about three feet of counter space. But it’s a start. Mr. FixIt came home from his trip to town to pick up the new garage door and I helped him unload it. It started thundering at 9:30 last night so we went out and covered it with a tarp to keep the box from getting wet.

I discovered something new for supper. I’ve been craving Mexican food, so I bought some Taco Seasoned Ground Turkey and fixed lo-cal burritos for supper. They were really good. I used Ole Brand High Protein Tortillas (that are only fifty calories each), a couple tablespoons full of the ground turkey, a generous pinch of finely grated low fat mozzarella cheese, and a serving spoon of my home canned pinto beans. I added shredded lettuce and a generous spoonful of salsa and it was a low fat, quick, and yummy meal!

Mr. FixIt has to go to town again today to do something for his friend Joe. He’s also going to get the oil changed and tires rotated on my truck for me. I’m staying home and continuing on the big purge of the pantry next. I know I always feel so much more at ease when my environment is tidy. It’s just so hard to get it and keep it that way.