Yah, it's Friday

 Happy Friday and happy weekend ahead.

It's been a busy week of errands and trying to find this and that for upcoming birthdays and projects so I'm a bit late with posting.

I captured these sky shots in early morning hours. I'm actually a night owl as that is when I seem to get more energy to do things but I do love to see the sky and feel the cool air in the very early morning hours before the city gets loud and busy.

 

 

 

 

My herb garden is overgrown. Too hot to cook. I guess I should freeze some.

I've slowed down reading but I have a number of books to keep me busy. I'm reading a little out of each one and hope I can finish them all before they are due at the library or unavailable for further renewals. I also picked up these magazines awhile ago. I seldom buy magazines any more but I'm sure I will enjoy them. I especially love looking at nicely decorated spaces and beautiful gardens. It relaxes me.

 

Last weekend I did a lot of meal preparation and batch cooking for the week. It was lovely since I've been feeling rather tired. It enabled me to focus on my errands and a few other things instead of cooking every day.

In the Kenyan mission field, Pastor Jonah has been kept busy with Livingstone's leg issues. Livingstone has been back to the doctor several times for follow up, had his cast redone numerous times and had multiple x-rays done. His leg is not healing very well but then again it's only been just over a month.  I have tried to insist that they stop redoing the cast and expecting Livingstone for such frequent follow-ups but that is how they do business at Kenyan hospitals. In the west that doesn't typically happen since it takes months for leg fractures to heal properly. We'll see how it goes moving forward.

There has been an outbreak of Covid 19 in various parts of Kenya due to mass political gatherings that were held weeks ago.  Certain communities have been hit hard including the one where we focus the missions work, the town of Kericho and surrounding villages.  It means curfews and restricted travel are again in place in much of the country.

Regular readers of this blog will already know that Livingstone has had Covid but was able to recuperate at home with prescribed medicines. Ernest, the other man that had a broken leg, had been hospitalized for weeks but is now okay. 

There is a woman I am concerned about. Her name is Rose. She is 52 years old and several months pregnant. She landed in hospital with Covid like symptoms and ultimately tested positive for Covid. She has been in a small hospital for almost 2 weeks and in need of a great many medicines (I have no information on how these might affect the unborn child).

Another younger woman named Joyce was admitted to hospital with pneumonia like symptoms and later tested positive for Covid.

All these needs at once are stretching my resources since I also try to help certain households with regular food and  helps, 

If any of you are so inclined to help out please feel free to reach out to me. I can be reached at kerichojoy[at]gmail[dot]com. Pay Pal donations can also be sent there. If you experience any problems kindly let me know. I've heard of two people now over several months who have had problems sending donations. They were ultimately successful after trying several times. I could also send you a payment request through Pay Pal if you send your email and how much you would like to donate. I thank you in advance for considering the needs.

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I tired myself out this past week by going out almost every day for hours at a stretch. I'm not used to that at the best of times.  So this weekend I hope to catch up to some chores, some reading and some rest.

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Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your week ahead. 

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Checking In

Thanks everyone for your kind comments on my last post. I'm still not quite myself but am keeping busy and feeling better each day.

Mostly I'm focussed on trying to get a lot done in the next little while.  My niece will be here this weekend and will visit for a week. It is the one time over the year when I cancel all appointments so I focus on taking things slowly and enjoying my time with her.  She is autistic and needs my full attention and care.  When she leaves I need a time of rest and recovery and to slowly get organized again.

To make this week go smoothly I've done some batch cooking.  I didn't have a plan to do batch cooking but the thought came to me that this would be a good idea so I spent an afternoon preparing the following:

•  4 servings of rotini and meat sauce filled with vegetables which will be eaten with side salads
•  2 servings of vegetable fried rice and fried pork chop
•  4 servings of hamburger hash made with plenty of freshly chopped vegetables, frozen vegetables and rice
•  4 servings of BBQ chicken drumsticks which will be eaten with steamed rice and side salads
•  a large pot of rice pudding for desserts. I wasn't planning on making this but I made some IP rice intended for the stir fry and it was quite mushy so I turned it into rice pudding.

I didn't have enough containers to portion and freeze the foods so I used baggies.

Today I have also prepared a large batch of chicken soup for lunches.  I'm also soaking some pinto beans which I'll cook up tomorrow.  These days I cook my beans in a pressure cooker and there is no need to pre-soak them.  But today  I  watched a YouTube video where a lady said that pre-soaking beans helps with flatulence. I didn't find this to be true when I used to soak my beans overnight before cooking but I'm willing to give it another try.

I haven't ever done batch cooking before but I have done some sporadic meal planning.  Now that I've tried my hand at batch cooking I think it will be something I do more regularly for a number of reasons:

• It will save time in the kitchen during the week, both time for food preparation and time washing dishes each day. I still hand wash my dishes though I do have a dishwasher.
• I found some reusable silicone storage bags on Amazon. If I purchase them or something like them, I can greatly reduce the usage of plastic bags going to the landfill.  I will need something more than the few glass containers I already have and silicone bags stand up or lie down taking up less space. You can also use them to store soups without spillage. I also found some lightweight stackable containers that would work better since they help you with portion control and you don't have to thaw out excess food that you may not want at one meal.
• I've mentioned that I've done meal planning from time to time. Mostly it was done as a way to make sure I use a variety of foods, especially vegetables.  Now I am hoping to meal plan to save money, help prepare the weekly or bi-monthly shopping list, stop myself from buying way too much food (fresh or otherwise) and make sure I use the food I already have on hand.
• It will help free up my refrigerator storage space (and cupboard space) so I can put what is most important in there: fresh fruits, sprouted breads, yogurt and fresh snacks.
• It saves me from having to come up with (interesting)  meal ideas every day.
• It will help reduce buying food on the go. If I haven't got anything prepared or haven't planned ahead I often buy something when I'm out and it isn't always the best choices health-wise.
• It will help improve the consistency of meal times.
• It will help me streamline my daily task so I can focus on other tasks beyond the kitchen. 

Meal planning and batch cooking at not new concepts but they are activities that one has to feel ready to use.  Like any new habit it takes some thought and practice to implement.  To date, I haven't felt the need to consistently practice meal planning or employ batch cooking.  As time goes by I see the usefulness of both of these activities.

Meat and poultry is heavily used in the first batch cooking experiment because it's what was in the freezer.  My goal is to incorporate more plant based meals so as the meat and poultry is used up I will be buying more plant foods. I did eat strictly vegetarian and/or vegan for many months at one time in the not so distant past so the change won't be huge.  However I do need a system to make sure I implement the plan.

It will be nice to be more organized about meals and shopping for food. Earlier this week I bought a new daily and monthly planner and also a menu planning booklet with space for shopping lists.  I know many people make their own charts and list but I like ready made if they are not too expensive. I got mine on sale at Michael's at 40%  off.

Menu planning and batch cooking help to keep a modern household running smoothly and more efficiently.  Especially if you have children, hold a job, or are trying to get healthy or maintain health.

If you already do meal planning and batch cooking I'd love to hear about your experiences.Fee free to leave a comment short or long, in the comment box below.

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I haven't had much time for photo taking this week but I did capture these beautiful skies.
The first two photos were taken at 5:20 a..m. a few days ago just as the sun was coming up.

The garden at dawn.

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The next sky photo was taken on Sunday night.

As for reading, I'm still working on the book about Denys Finch Hatton entitled Too Close to the Sun. I find I'm having to read this book quite slowly. It isn't a long book so I should have finished last week.  On the other hand I haven't picked it up much due to being busy with other things.

I forgot to mention what has been keeping me busy.  I did get to the dentist. The next step will be to get some fillings next month after my gums have healed and settled a bit.  Initially a crown had been proposed.  However it seems I don't have enough teeth in the back where surgery was done or enough strong roots to support a crown.  This was in the opinion of a new to me, older experienced dentist.  I tend to agree with his assessment after the explanation. It is a pity because I've worked so hard over many years to preserve my teeth but it is what it is.

Also, I bumped into someone I knew some years back with whom I'd lost touch.  He moved many provinces away and was only in the city temporarily when I happened to find him on a bus ride home. We got together a few times for dinner and chit chat to catch up on a few years news. Other than that I was treated to a nice dinner late last week by another friend who I only see once or twice a year. It is always nice catching up with her.  We never seem to have a dearth of things to discuss.

I have no updates from Kenya at this time though I'm touch with various dear ones over there on a daily basis.

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Joining Our World Tuesday 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Have a wonderful week ahead.