Way back when I first lived on my own (1970), you could purchase meat entree's in boiling bags. I would pop one of them in the boiling water, add a potato and either fresh brussel sprouts, cauliflower or broccoli. I lived on those. They really didn't cost very much either.

Fast forward to 1999 and I am newly separated from hubby #1, I am on commodities from church and the county of Lincoln in the grand state of Oregon. The meat I got was enough for a family of three - so I made up meals and put them in sealed, boil-able/nuke-able bags, then froze them. The next year I grew my own salad makings. For those two years the two sister missionaries and myself ate pretty well. I also perfected my bread making skills. I sped up the process by making large bread sticks = elongated rolls, rather than loaves.

It is time to start dehydrating vegetables that I can't cook-n-eat before they spoil. Even if it is only a tray or three.

Getting new appliances, new flooring and a brand new super high rise faucet has flipped the get-up-and-go switch in me. Good thing, all this getting things done tires me out at the end of the day and I am getting to sleep before 4 AM. Another Good Thing.