I had a great Sunday with my friend, Sarah! She came over earlier. We did mini home spa treatments. I did full skincare spoils for her because she doesn't treat herself to spa facial treatments & deserves some pampering. Afterwards, we went to the outdoors expo, at Juan de Fuca Rec.
Just got back home & am relaxing as my #Vietnamese#BòKho (beef stew) finishes simmering. I put it on slow cook before going to expo.
We got their 3 packs for $20 expo deal. 2 black pepper & 1 original. To share. Beef jerky is one of my fave snacks. I bring with me on many outdoor adventures.
As I said last night, homemade beef jerky and crusty Italian bread were on the menu to be made today.
Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men always run awry.
I had a migraine for the majority of today, and the meat that I pulled out for the jerky was pretty thick, and was thawing slowly. Therefore, the most I could do jerky-wise was getting the meat cut and into the marinade.
Then, it was onto the crusty bread. Simple to make, and absolutely delicious. I happened to overwork the dough a little bit, so the loaf came out more dense than I would've preferred-- which you can see in the last photo-- but it is still tasty.
This means-- aside from the obvious of not spending money-- that it is time to get creative with what we have in the freezers and pantries.
There is very minimal spending allowed, and it is really only if necessary for fresh produce. This is fine.
I made a batch of potato and onion soup that I have been eating through, as well as having eaten a small piece of the family's pot roast last night. Tonight, they had sausage and potatoes.
While looking through what we have, I decided to make butter with the heavy cream we had leftover from another project... which lead to the next plan of making a crusty Italian bread tomorrow that can be eaten with the soup, dipped in oil, or slathered in butter.
Not one to be known to take on an appropriate amount of projects simultaneously... homemade beef jerky is also on the menu for tomorrow. I figure the jerky is a good protein packed snack that will last for a bit, and even longer if I vacuum-pack it.