Some food, some seeds....

Been tinkering with some seeds...

Trying out cactus- I got a packet from Pinetree and one from Baker Creek. And a succulent mix from Johnny's.
Taking time to write down notes on a calendar of what I need to start when. I'm doing a lot more perennial and annual flower seeds than my usual.

Tossed out the black oil sunflower seed that mice got into in the solarium... and boy have the birds been happy about that. Also put out the one suet cake I had in the freezer- and it it not as popular, lol.

Random cooking over the last few days...

Yesterday I tried out one of the Knorr "one skillet" mixes. I picked up a bunch of different kinds on clearance over the last few months. A few of them have been rather good, and this one is no exception. I think I'm going go copycat a few of them so I can start having my own homemade mixed in the house again.
Anywho, this was the Southwest brown rice and quinoa. Add in chicken, corn, and bell peppers. I also added in a can of drained and rinsed black beans, and used Mexican marinated chicken strips from the freezer instead of the plain breast and a T of flour the packet calls for.
Sad that it was the last of the fresh corn from last summer- now I have to wait till at least late July for more, lol. But it was really tasty. Did a small tossed salad with greens and microgreens for a side.

Saturday I did a good ole batch of Kraft quick spaghetti. Hadn't made that in ages. It's likely to be dinner tomorrow, it makes a LOT for two people.

Friday I pulled a second-to-last pound of homemade gyro meat out of the freezer. Made homemade sauce and a little tomato and onion salad. Didn't have any feta, sigh. But the pepperonchini and garlic stuffed olives were great.
Pulled a packet of roasted butternut squash out of the freezer too. It got diced up and mixed with a can of drained and rinsed chick peas in a tasty sauce.
Sauce was a couple teaspoons red wine vinegar, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and a teaspoon of honey. Couple tablespoons of olive oil.  Generous teaspoon each of oregano and dill. Didn't need any salt, but a bit of black pepper was nice. Just popped the bowl in the oven to warm while doing everything else.

Thursday did some Sour shawarma cube steaks with onion spaetzle and a heap of steamed broccoli and carrots. I use shawarma seasoning, a bit of red wine vinegar, and a dash of worstershire along with a handful of dried mushrooms and a small bottle of a sweet red moscato for the deglazing. A bit of salad on the side.

Wed was a batch of Asian style beef short ribs in the instapot. Served over rice. Straight up meat and carbs there, no veggies, lol. Damn good.

Tonight I'm trying another packaged product,  shrimp scampi sauce. Got some cocktail shrimp to add into it and doing a pasta. Roasted up some zukes and red onions in a bit of my homemade Italian spread from the freezer... and tried out a boxed biscuit mix- Red Lobsters rosemary and garlic.

Today was also a shopping day. Meijer as usual took as long to shop as it did to check out. If they had self-scan over 20 items I would so use it for days like this. But the one to the south does not have that option, lol.
Then over Aldi for fresh veggies for the most part. And dang if they didn't have broccoli, they were out on the shelf at that moment.
A quick pop in at Michaels to see if there was anything interesting on sale/clearance- there wasn't. And TX Maxx for interesting food- there wasn't.
So over to the Hispanic grocer. Needed some Seven Blossoms tea and dry packet chicken noodle soup... also found a big bag of bay leaves and an equally big bag of tropical hibiscus, AKA jamaica. I frigging love hibiscus, damn fine as a hot tea and a cold one... and makes a wicked good jelly.
As a seed thing.... ordered roselle to try again this year, even though I know my growing zone is sketchy. But hey, I just got a nice big bag of jamaica to brew up :)

For those not familiar.. tropical hibiscus, jamaica, roselle.. it's tart and tangy, like cranberry or rose hips. Got a lot of vitamin C. And incredibly red, like how red beets can instantly dye, so can this. The calyx of the plant, which is also rather pretty to grow.

Then hit Big Lots real quick- they have the spinach and lentil curry I love for cheap- and good luck they were having a 20% off everything day. Picked up a couple extra and some other interesting bits.

Had to hit Hardings on the way home... still needed broccoli. They had celery on a good sale too :)

I was a good wandering around day that shopping always take up half of. Cashed in a couple bags of cans, got some fun new colors of nail polish- instead of 7.89 they were 70 cents, gotta love the seasonal clearance sales.

The weather is still freakishly mild for this time of year. The summers ticks are going to be horrible. I think this might be the year to install some opossum homes out back and perhaps try out the dry ice traps.